Preface to the Special Issue

Welcome to the special issue on selected papers from the ELECO-2013 Conference!, the 8th International Conference on Electrical and Electronics Engineering, held 28–30 November 2013, in Bursa-Turkey. ELECO conferences go back to 1986, when it was initially organized as national ELMEKSEM Electromechanical Conference by the Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO) Bursa Branch and upon that success repeated in 1988 and 1993 and 1997. The Bursa Branch has further gone on to organize a series of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Conferences in Bursa. ELECO conferences are organized at international level in odd numbered years and as national conferences in even numbered years, such as ELECO’2013 is the eight international conference which participants coming from various countries, presenting papers from the wide spectrum of electrical and electronics engineering. ELECO 2013 is jointly organized by Uludag University, Bursa; Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Istanbul and the Chamber of Turkish Electrical Engineers (EMO) Bursa Branch. The IEEE Region 8, IEEE Circuits and Systems (CAS) Turkey section and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey are co-sponsors of ELECO 2013. Taking the broad scope of the technical program, it is probably the largest electrical and electronics engineering conference ever held in Turkey. The scope of the conference covers topics ranging over electric power systems, electrical machines and drives, power electronics, high voltage techniques, electrical materials, electronics, circuits and systems, signal processing, electromagnetics, antennas and propagation, microwave theory, communication systems, mechatronics, control theory, control applications, automation systems, robotics and intelligent control systems. Two hundred and thirty five papers have been submitted for presentation and 138 papers have been accepted. If we look at the contributions with respect to geographical point of view, it is seen that ELECO 2013 contributions are coming from 17 different countries. Selected papers from previous international ELECO Conferences were invited to be published in extended form in special ELECO issues of international journals, under peer review. Three special ELECO issues appeared in the journal Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing containing selected papers from ELECO’2001, ELECO’2007 and ELECO’2011. Furthermore, four special ELECO issues appeared in the journal TJEECS: Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences where selected papers from ELECO’2003, ELECO’2005, ELECO’2007, and ELECO’2009 were published in extended form, respectively. This special issue on selected papers from ELECO’2013 contains extended versions of 12 papers presented at the conference, chosen among 19 recipients of the call for the papers for the special issue. All papers had to undergo the usual ALOG review process before they were finally accepted for this special issue. One of these papers is selected from invited talks given by world-known scientists during the conference. Six papers are selected from the papers presented in Special Session on Advances and New Design Possibilities for Analog Signal Processing. The other five are chosen from regular submitted manuscripts. H. H. Kuntman (&) S. Ozoguz O. Cicekoglu Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: kuntman@itu.edu.tr

The International Institute for FRP in Construction (IIFC) was formed in 2003 with a mission to advance the understanding and application of fiber–reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in civil infrastructure. Since 2005, IIFC has enjoyed a fruitful association with ASCE via co-sponsorship of the Journal of Composites for Construction (JCC). Therefore, it is fitting that this present JCC issue commemorates the 10th anniversary of IIFC. This is the third special IIFC issue published by JCC; the first two issues were in April 2007 (“Recent International Advancements in FRP Research and Application in Construction”) and April 2011 (“In Honor of Professor Urs Meier”). The flagship events of IIFC are undoubtedly its biannual worldwide and Asia-Pacific regional conference series, which are known as FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE) and Asia-Pacific Conference on FRP in Structures (APFIS), respectively. These conferences are held in alternating years at differing locations around the world: CICE in 2001 (Hong Kong), 2004 (Adelaide), 2006 (Miami), 2008 (Zurich), 2010 (Beijing), and 2012 (Rome); and APFIS in 2007 (Hong Kong), 2009 (Seoul), 2012 (Sapporo), and 2013 (Melbourne). CICE 2014 will be held in Vancouver and CICE 2016 in Hong Kong.This special issue of JCC has been timed for release prior to CICE 2014. IIFC also co-sponsors other international conference series and workshops. To better disseminate knowledge to the wider community, IIFC makes the proceedings of most IIFC official and supported events available on its website (http://www.iifc-hq.org) for free download. IIFC publishes a newsletter and all copies are also held on the IIFC website. The newsletter commenced in 1993, and for its first 10 years, was known as FRP International. IIFC also runs several working groups that offer tangible benefits such as educational resources, state-of-the-art reports, conference special sessions, and journal special issues. IIFC recognizes excellence in the form of several awards, namely, IIFC Medal, Distinguished Young Researcher Award, President’s Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, conference best paper awards, and IIFC fellowships. The IIFC website contains lists of all award recipients over the years, in addition to far more information than can be contained in this editorial. IIFC is a dynamic organization that has been positively influenced by numerous individuals over the years. It is governed by an Executive Committee, which is overseen by an Advisory Committee. The Council is populated by up to 40 elected leading figures in the field from around the world, plus members of the Advisory Committee. At present, 21 countries are represented on these three committees and several of these leading figures also serve on the Editorial Board of JCC. This special issue contains 18 invited papers contributed by members of these committees and their collaborators, addressing a diverse range of topics that are representative of the breadth of activity in the field. More specifically, the papers are of an experimental, analytical, and numerical nature and address: • FRP for strengthening concrete; namely, prestressed FRP plates, strips, and rods (two papers), confinement (one paper), FRP patch anchors (one paper), limits to the application of FRP for repair (one paper), near-surface mounted FRP (one paper), cementitious bonding agents (three papers), and large strain capacity FRP (one paper); • FRP for strengthening timber (one paper), steel (one paper), and masonry (one paper) construction materials; and • FRP for new construction; namely, hybrid FRP tendons (one paper), FRP bars (two papers), FRP beams (one paper), and stay-in-place structural forms (one paper). There is plenty of work still to be done in the field. In particular, more systematic and in-depth research is required on the long-term behavior of both FRP structures and FRP strengthened structures to substantiate the common claim that such structures have superior durability over other structures. Innovative combinations of FRP with either traditional construction materials or new materials to produce new structural members and forms will have an important role in designing the next generation of high-performance and sustainable structures. There is no doubt that the conversion of research findings into workable design guidelines and standards for use by design engineers is critical in widening the applications of FRP in civil construction. The contributions of numerous individuals are acknowledged in the preparation of this special issue. The authors of the papers in this issue are thanked for preparing high-quality manuscripts. Professor Charles E. Bakis, Editor-in-Chief of JCC, is thanked for handling the paper review process and ensuring maintenance of the high JCC standard. Professor Bakis is also supported by Ms. Renee Lindenberg and a large team of reviewers; their contributions are all acknowledged. The idea of an IIFC 10th anniversary special issue was positively received by Professor Lawrence C. Bank, IIFC President, and by the members of the Executive Committee following discussions after CICE 2012. For that, they are all thanked for their support. Finally, all members of IIFC, past and present, are thanked for their various contributions over the years, which have enabled IIFC to move into its second decade on a sound and positive footing.

Injury-related morbidity and mortality disproportionately impact vulnerable groups, including children under the age of 5, older adults, racial and ethnic minority populations, and people of low socioeconomic status.1–4 The Emory Center for Injury Control (ECIC) is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Injury Control Research Center5 charged with reducing the health and economic impact of injuries in Atlanta, Georgia and worldwide. The ECIC seeks to achieve its mission by focusing specifically on translation research and vulnerable populations. Moreover, the ECIC is committed to encouraging innovative, interdisciplinary collaborations in the realms of research, training, and outreach. Examples of successful interdisciplinary activities include outreach to local emergency departments (ED) to screen patients for mental health symptoms and exposure to intimate partner violence and collaboration with the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel to evaluate its processes and identify risk factors for death among children in state custody. At the grassroots level, the ECIC serves as the research/scientific arm of the Metropolitan Atlanta Violence Prevention Partnership, providing scientific support and technical assistance to this community-level organization of partners working in inner city, disadvantaged settings. In order to disseminate the research findings generated by faculty and researchers associated with the ECIC, a partnership with the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine editorial team was formed to dedicate special thematic journal issues featuring research underway by the ECIC. We are delighted to report that this is the third special issue from this partnership, and we are very excited to present the injury prevention community with new research findings to inform programs, policy, and future research. The current special issue presents findings on a range of topics that highlight injury-related health disparities and vulnerable populations. More specifically, there is a commentary regarding the healthcare disparities in trauma care as well as a manuscript addressing the benefit of a tiered trauma activation system.6,7 Another manuscript examines the predictors of post-traumatic stress disorder among trauma victims and yet another manuscript assesses ED visits for traumatic brain injuries among older adults.8,9 Two other manuscripts examine poisonings.10,11 In addition, there are several manuscripts on intimate partner violence and unwanted sexual intercourse. For example, 1 study examines the latent trajectories of intimate partner violence and seeks to determine if childhood experiences impact these trajectories.12 Three other studies examine intimate partner violence victimization and health behaviors among women, the racial and ethnic differences in unwanted sexual intercourse among girls, and the feasibility of using social media to study intimate partner violence among gay men. 13–15 Another manuscript related to youth examines bystander motivation in bullying incidents.16 Moreover, one manuscript examines the associations between temperature and violent crime.17 International research included in this special issue examines intimate partner violence and social pressure among gay men across 6 countries and violence victimization and perpetration among youth in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. 18,19 The range of manuscripts and professional affiliations reflected among the authors of the manuscripts included in this special issue underscore the strength and breadth of the ECIC – a ‘center without walls or silos.' The ECIC links numerous professionals and disciplines at Emory University with counterparts at Atlanta-area public universities, private colleges, government agencies, and community-based organizations. In addition to its academic partners, the ECIC is closely aligned with local hospitals (particularly Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta's largest Level I trauma and burn center), and stakeholder groups directly affected by violence and unintentional injuries. Our consortium includes individuals with national and international reputations in the fields of neuroscience, injury epidemiology, criminology, poison control, health policy, rehabilitation, prevention science, acute care, disaster preparedness, public health training, and translation research. It is through these partnerships we can build the momentum to truly reduce injuries in vulnerable populations and to strengthen our capacity to reach underserved populations.

Editorial

The increasing population growth, depletion of natural resources, and rising energy demand have sparked enormous research endeavors in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. For example, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are ubiquitous in everyday life. Mechanics plays a critical role in designing a wide range of energy technologies. The emerging field of electro-chemo-mechanics, the interplay of mechanics and electrochemistry, is crucial for understanding the coupled physiochemical processes. The electrochemical phenomena can govern the mechanical response such as stress generation, deformation, fracture initiation/propagation, elasticity, and plasticity. Similarly, mechanical phenomena also influence the electrochemical properties such as device reliability and durability. Therefore, the in-depth mechanical study of electrochemical systems is urgently necessary for fundamental science and technological applications. Over the past few years, there has been significant progress in modeling, theories, and experimental characterizations of mechanical aspects of energy storage and conversion. This timely special issue addressed some recent advances in electro-chemo-mechanics. We have selected eight papers covering a wide range of issues in batteries and fuel cells such as (i) deformation, microstructural changes, creep, overcharge detection and prevention, optimization of structural parameters in batteries and (ii) temperature and load variations, metal-free cathode catalyst in fuel cells. The selected papers cover a gamut of electrochemical-mechanics centric research in energy storage and conversion.In this issue, Adams et al. used ex-situ X-ray microtomography to study cycling-induced microstructural changes in alloy anodes for Lithium-ion Batteries. They showed that besides mechanical degradation of electrodes, excessive volume expansion could also influence transport networks in the active materials and supporting phases of the electrode. Dienemann et al. measured the time- and temperature-dependent mechanics of two thicknesses of commercial lithium anodes inside a dry industrial room, where battery cells are manufactured at high volume. Furthermore, they examined the anisotropic microstructure of lithium anodes and its effect on bulk creep mechanics. Zaidi et al. proposed a robust passivity-based control scheme for 1.26 KW proton exchange membrane fuel cell under temperature and load variations. Li et al. performed experiments to study overcharge detection and prevention with temperature monitoring of Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, they developed a linear regression-based machine learning model to validate the experimental results. Nguyen et al. experimentally studied the deformation behavior of single prismatic battery cell cases and cell assemblies loaded by internal pressure. They demonstrated that the use of nominal cell casting characteristics significantly underestimates the resistance provided by the cell case to counter swelling of the active battery components. Bao et al. performed combined experiments and computation (computational fluid dynamics and multi-objective optimization method) to study structural parameters of the air-cooled system for the lithium battery pack. Woodcox et al. performed density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate 19 CaxSn1−x structures (six bulk materials and 13 alloys) as potential battery anodes. They found that for stable/metastable compositions of CaxSn1−x, those sharing the same chemical composition (stoichiometry) also share remarkably similar material properties, indicating that such materials would be advantageous for uses in battery anodes. Miao et al. developed a two-dimensional, two-phase transport model to investigate the transport characteristics in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) using platinum group metal (PG)-free cathode catalysts. To achieve the projected performance target of 300 mW/cm2 peak power density, catalytic activities of both the anode and cathode catalysts need to be improved by one order of magnitude compared with the state-of-the-art commercial catalysts.We believe that this special issue will be a valuable contribution to the energy storage and conversion literature and open new frontiers for the researchers. The interdisciplinary field of electro-chemo-mechanics is rapidly evolving. Our special issue will motivate many researchers to implement novel techniques such as artificial intelligence, digital twins, and automated advanced manufacturing in this field and initiate new collaborations between experimentalists, theorists, and modelers. We would like to thank all contributors to this special section issue for submitting their latest high-impact work addressing the mechanics aspects of electrochemical energy storage. Also, special thanks would go out to the invited reviewers for helping us further enhance the quality of the articles. A special issue of ASME Applied Mechanics Reviews is also being planned for the second half of 2022 and developed in collaboration with the ASME Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, dedicated to state-of-the-art reviews that highlight contributions of the discipline of electrochemical energy conversion and storage to research in applied mechanics.

Synthesizing specificity: multiple approaches to understanding the attack and defense of plants

Filtering the good from the bad: A focus on kidney development and disease to celebrate John Bertram's long‐standing career in anatomy and renal research

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer an editorial introduction to the special issue on “Gender and diversity in organizations in South Asia”.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the state of extant research on equality, diversity and inclusion in South Asia. It also offers an overview of the papers included in the special issue and the unique contributions they make to this field of knowledge.FindingsFindings vary for each paper; however, overall, the special issue brings to the fore theoretical ideas, alternative organizing and organisations and challenges involved in diversity management in South Asia.Research limitations/implicationsThe papers offer fresh insights in theorizing and managing diversity and equality which depart from the dominant Anglo‐centric theorizations in this field.Practical implicationsEducators, policy makers and managers in organisations may take into account various findings and recommendations offered in the papers leading to greater awareness of the challenges and opportunities to formulate context‐sensitive policies and practices of diversity in South Asia.Originality/valueBarring a few exceptions, the topic of gender and diversity management in South Asia, as for example the centrality of national culture and values, remains generally ignored in work and organization studies. Papers that are published appear in a wide variety of journals rarely achieving a critical mass. The current (special) issue of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion addresses these gaps and seeks to strengthen understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion pertaining to the region classified as South Asia.

Introduction to this special issue on Geostatistics and Geospatial Techniques in Remote Sensing

Geophysical Research Letters will publish a special issue on comets in March 1986. The editor invites experimental and theoretical papers on the results of the Comet Giacobini‐Zinner encounter as well as theoretical predictions relevant to the Comet Halley encounter. To be considered for the March special issue, manuscripts should be received by the editorial office before January 24, 1986. Manuscripts received after that date will be considered for subsequent special issues on comets that are being planned for GRL.

This volume is the second of two special journal issues compiled from the best papers presented at the fifth Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) conference, held at the University of Southern California in June 2011. The first of these special issues was published by the International Journal of Robotics Research, Since its inception in 2005, the conference has continued to attract scientists working on the algorithmic and mathematical foundations of robotics, robotics applications, and analysis of robotic systems. The papers presented in this special issue represent the best of robotics research in statistical inference, machine learning and planning, expanded and rigorously reviewed for journal publication. All papers share a common theme of providing new and fundamental algorithmic insights into the principles that govern how robots and intelligent machines operate in the real world.

Open AccessMoreSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Cite this article Rees Martin 2010Celebrating 350 years of the Royal SocietyPhil. Trans. R. Soc. A.368909http://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2009.0267SectionOpen AccessPrefaceCelebrating 350 years of the Royal Society Martin Rees Martin Rees Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Martin Rees Martin Rees Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for more papers by this author Published:13 March 2010https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2009.0267Back in the 1660s, the Royal Society’s founders met regularly to discuss scientific ideas and perform experiments; the outcomes of their experiments and discussions were recorded in the Society’s Transactions. The world of science has been utterly transformed since that era. Nonetheless, these activities, pioneered by the Society, remain the accepted procedures whereby scientific ideas are criticized, refined and codified into publications that become part of ‘public knowledge’.The papers in this special anniversary issue of the Philosophical Transactions address themes that, in some cases, could not have been conceived even 50 years ago. But their range reflects, nonetheless, a continuity and concordance with the Society’s earliest years. The ‘ingenious and curious gentlemen’ who established the Royal Society enjoyed speculation. But they were also intensely practical and engaged with the problems of their time: the rebuilding of London after the great fire, improvements to timekeeping, navigation and so forth. The papers here cover topics ranging from the remote parts of the Universe to literally down-to-earth issues of energy and material science.Right from the start, the Society was networked internationally. That is, of course, even more the case today; and worldwide expertise is reflected in the distinguished authorship of the papers in this special issue. This special issue is a most welcome contribution to the range of activities and events whereby the Royal Society is marking its 350 years of support for science and scientists, and highlighting the importance of science in meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century.FootnotesOne contribution of 17 to a Theme Issue ‘Personal perspectives in the physical sciences for the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary’.© 2010 The Royal SocietyThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Next Article VIEW FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD PDF FiguresRelatedReferencesDetails This Issue13 March 2010Volume 368Issue 1914Theme Issue 'Personal perspectives in the physical sciences for the Royal Society's 350th anniversary' compiled and edited by Michael Pepper Article InformationDOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2009.0267PubMed:20123738Published by:Royal SocietyPrint ISSN:1364-503XOnline ISSN:1471-2962History: Published online13/03/2010Published in print13/03/2010 License:© 2010 The Royal SocietyThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citations and impact Subjectsatmospheric chemistrymathematical physics

This special issue contains extended full versions of selected papers presented at the International Workshop on Computing with Biomolecules held on August 27, 2008, in Vienna, Austria, in conjunction with the 7th International Conference on Unconventional Computation, UC 2008. The topic of the workshop, and of this journal issue, lies within molecular and cellular computing, with special emphasis on membrane computing. The articles represent different approaches and cover a wide variety of research topics in these rapidly developing scientific areas, ranging from models of properties of DNA to different variants of P systems, i.e., membrane systems. Additionally, one paper belonging to the general area of biocomputing was submitted specifically for this special journal issue. All contributions were thoroughly refereed and revised, according to the usual standards of Natural Computing Below we provide a summary of each of the seven papers featured in the special issue. The articles are listed in alphabetical order according to the first author. In the first paper, Bogdan Aman and Gabriel Ciobanu consider a new class of membrane systems (P systems), characterized by mutual mobile membranes with objects on the surface. The rules of this class are inspired by the pino, exo and phago operations. The authors investigate the computational power of this class of P systems and establish universality results already with a small number of membranes. In the last section the model is compared with brane calculi. Mark Daley, Ian McQuillan, James M. McQuillan and Kalpana Mahalingam study formal-language-theoretic models for transposable genetic elements. The aim of their work is to improve our understanding of mathematical modeling of transpositions. The genetic transpositions are abstracted as operations on words and languages and the authors investigate the computational power of applying different types of transpositions iteratively.

In the fall of 2019, the Journal of Science Policy & Governance and the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth teamed up to launch a joint call for submissions for a special topics issue around the “implications of emerging technologies on inequalities and sustainable development.” This is the cover memo to the "Special Issue on the Impacts of Emerging Technologies Inequality and Sustainability" with the guiding questions for the authors and commentary from distinguished leaders.

This special issue covers a range of topics in Southeast Asian marginal seas, including continental rifting, basin evolution, seafloor spreading, plate subduction, and associated sedimentation processes. Two of the papers in this issue deal with subduction processes. Xia et al. (2015, this special issue) uses a 3-D seismic velocity model to quantitatively evaluate the distribution and degree of serpentinization and water contents of the forearc mantle wedge of Kyushu subduction zone. They suggest up to 12 % serpentinization, with the largest degree of serpentinization occurring at about 40–50 km depth. By examining the changes in radial seismic moment of earthquakes occurred in the Sumatra area, Lin et al. (2015, this special issue) show how intraplate stress state responded to the Great Sumatra–Andaman earthquake on 26th/December 2004. The other works in this special issue mostly focus on marginal seas, especially the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea. The kinematic evolution of the West Philippine Basin (WPB) is controversial. In order to better understand the structure and evolution of the northwestern part of the WPB, Doo et al. (2015, this special issue) analyze the newly collected multi-beam bathymetry data and the records of seafloor magnetic anomalies of the West Philippine Basin and the Huatung Basin and, based on these interpretations, establish a new age model. They propose an age of between 47.5 to 54 Ma for the northwestern corner of the West Philippine Basin, and between 33 and 42 Ma for the Huatung Basin. Interesting tectonic and sedimentation processes are revealed with the help of high-quality data processing. In a case study of pre-stack depth migration of seismic data in the South China Sea, Wang et al. (2015, this special issue) show high quality subsurface depth images from their data processing scheme. Through Pre-stack depth migration analysis of seismic profile NH973-01, Song and Li (2015, this special issue) identify two major unconformities, namely, the breakup unconformity (BRU) and the midMiocene unconformity, in the two conjugate margins of the Southwest Subbasin. They further discuss the dynamic transitional process from rifting to seafloor spreading. During the early extension stage, the west continental margin of the South China Sea was affected by strike slip faulting along the Red River Fault zone. Zhao et al. (2015, this special issue) argues that the simple shear deformation in the west Qiongdongnan basin may have been controlled by the combined results of the left-lateral movement of the Red River Fault zone and the Cenozoic rifting along the northern continental margin of South China Sea. Liu et al. (2015, this special issue) propose that the Qiongdongnan Basin developed a structural shelf break in the rifting stage and a sedimentary shelf break in the post-rifting stage. During the post-rift stage, the Qiongdongnan Basin experienced a distinct tectonic reactivation since Late Miocene (11.6 Ma) (Mao et al. 2015, this special issue), and strong fault activity and rapid subsidence created a small subbasin with the formation of distinctive axial low topography and a central canyon. In the east part of the Pearl River Mouth & Zhen Sun zhensun@scsio.ac.cn