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Bridges in Ukraine are one of the most important components of the infrastructure, requiring attention from government agencies and constant funding. The object of the study was the methodology for quantifying the condition of bridge components. The Artificial Neural Network-based (ANN) tool was developed to quantify the technical condition of bridge components. The literature analysis showed that in most cases the datasets were obtained during the inspection of bridges to solve the problems of assessing the current technical condition. The lack of such a database prompted the creation of a dataset on the basis of the Classification Tables of the Operating Conditions of the Bridge Components (CT). Based on CTs, five datasets were formed to assess the condition of the bridge components: bridge span, bridge deck, pier caps beam, piers and abutments, approaches. The next step of this study was creating, training, validating and testing ANN models. The network with ADAM loss function and softmax activation showed the best results. The optimal values of MAPE and R2 were achieved at the 100th epoch with 64 neurons in the hidden layer and were equal to 0.1% and 0.99998, respectively. The practical application of the ANN models was carried out on the most common type of bridge in Ukraine, namely, a road beam bridge of small length, made of precast concrete. The novelty of this study consists of the development of a tool based on the use of ANN model, and the proposal to modify the methodology for quantifying the condition of bridge components. This will allow minimizing the uncertainties associated with the subjective judgments of experts, as well as increasing the accuracy of the assessment.

The characteristics of excess aerobic granular sludge, related to its structure and chemical composition, limit the efficiency of anaerobic digestion. For this reason, pre-treatment methods and compositions with other organic substrates are used. In earlier work, no attempt was made to intensify the methane fermentation of the excess aerobic granular sludge by adding fatty waste materials. The aim of the research was to determine the effects of co-digestion of pre-hydrodynamically cavitated aerobic granular sludge with waste fats on the efficiency of methane fermentation under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The addition of waste fats improved the C/N ratio and increased its value to 19. Under mesophilic conditions, the highest effects were observed when the proportion of volatile solids from waste fats was 25%. The amount of biogas produced increased by 17.85% and CH4 by 19.85% compared to the control. The greatest effects were observed in thermophilic anaerobic digestion at 55 °C, where a 15% waste fat content in volatile solids was ensured. This resulted in the production of 1278.2 ± 40.2 mL/gVS biogas and 889.4 ± 29.7 mL/gVS CH4. The CH4 content of the biogas was 69.6 ± 1.3%. The increase in biogas and CH4 yield compared to pure aerobic granular sludge anaerobic digestion was 34.4% and 40.1%, respectively. An increase in the proportion of waste fats in the substrate had no significant effect on the efficiency of methane fermentation. Strong positive correlations (R2 > 0.9) were observed between biogas and CH4 production and the C/N ratio and VS concentration.

Car-sharing services are developing at an ever-increasing pace. Taking into account the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and pursuit of the sustainable development of transport, implementing electric cars in car-sharing fleets is being proposed. On the one hand, these types of vehicles are referred to as emission-free, but on the other hand, their environmental friendliness is questionable due to the emission of carbon dioxide during the production of energy to power them. Although many scientific papers are devoted to the issue of reducing emissions through car sharing, there is a research gap concerning the real production of carbon dioxide by car-sharing vehicles during car-sharing trips. To fill this research gap, the objective of the article was to analyze the actual level of carbon dioxide emissions from combustion and electric vehicles from car-sharing systems produced when renting rides. The test results showed that the electric car turned out to be significantly less emitting. The use of electric vehicles in car-sharing fleets can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from 14% to 65% compared to using cars with internal combustion engines. However, the key role during car-sharing trips is played by the driving style of the drivers, which has been omitted from the literature to date. This should be properly regulated by service providers and focus on the proper use of energy from electric vehicle batteries, especially at low temperatures. The article provides support for operators planning to modernize their fleet of vehicles and fills the research gap concerning car-sharing emissions.

This project contains the data obtained as a result of the Preludium Grant no 2022/45/N/ST8/01425 of the Polish National Science Centre fundings. Within the "Aeroacoustic investigations of streamwise vortex generators for boundary layer separation control" project, two main research tasks were defined: 1. Post-processing and analysis of acoustic measurements using beamforming techniques to investigate RVGs effect on acoustic sources 2. Post-processing and analysis of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data to investigate a flow structure downstream of RVG The resutls from these tasks are uploaded here. The details of the data are included in the EOP_medata_1.docx document uploaded. Further information regarding the data is published in the paper https://www.researchgate.net/publication/380825438_Aeroacoustic_effect_of_boundary_layer_separation_control_by_rod_vortex_generators_on_the_DU96-W-180_airfoil

Nowadays, heating using wood, briquettes, or pellets is a curious replacement to fossil fuels such as coal, oil, or gas. Unfortunately, the combustion of biofuels, especially in low-power boilers with unstable operating conditions, releases a lot of gas pollutants (e.g., carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), and various organic compounds) that are usually generated due to the incomplete product combustion. The combustion of biofuel in grate boilers with top-down ignition is a new approach, popular in society (mainly used for coal fuels), which improves the combustion process and reduces the amount of pollutants emitted. This study evaluated the impact of ignition techniques on the emission level of gas pollutants during the combustion of wood logs, briquettes, and pellets of pine in grate-based charging boilers. The combination of top ignition mode with pinewood logs allowed us to achieve a reduction of 6% in CO and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission into the atmosphere. However, the combination of top-down ignition mode with pellets and briquettes produced, in fully operational conditions, 1- to 18-fold higher levels of CO and SO2 respectively, than bottom-up ignition, after an initial period of low level CO and SO2 emissions. During the tests (mainly with ignition from top), substantial emissions of NO were observed of up to 400 mg·m−3 at 10% O2. Therefore, further research is required to decrease emission related to the content of nitrogen in biomass. In this respect, research of impact on the combustion temperature of such emissions is needed.

This dataset contains the results of research conducted at Purdue University, Agricultural&Biological Engineering during research stay in the period 15.11.2021 - 14.02.2022. The aim of the research was to investigate and analyze the breakage probability of different types of grains for various moisture content levels: 10%, 14%, 18%, 22% and 26 % and particle sizes. The experimental part involves compression tests of selected grains (rice, corn) and specific breakage energy determination. In the result the breakage probability equations in dependance of moisture content and particle size were developed. This dataset contains: the results of initial moisture content measurement, the results of moisture content measurement after wetting, The results of bulk density measurement, the results of compression tests for low compression rate (1.25 mm/min) the results of compression tests for high compression rate (125 mm/min) The research was funded by National Science Centre of Poland under the project 2021/05/X/ST8/00114: Introduction of moisture content as a parameter of the breakage probability function of granular biomass – research internship at Purdue University, USA in the period 30.08.2021-30.08.2022

# Reproductive data Fagus sylvatica: Widespread masting breakdown in beech [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qz612jmps](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qz612jmps) This dataset, used in the Global Change Biology article "Widespread breakdown in masting in European beech due to rising summer temperatures", contains 50 time series of population-level annual reproductive data by European beech (*Fagus sylvatica*, L) across Europe. The dataset builds on the open-access dataset [MASTREE+](https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16130), and expands it for European beech. ## Description of the data The dataset column names follow that of MASTREE+. A description of MASTREE+ column names (Modified from Table 1 in the [MASTREE+ article)](https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16130): | *Columns* | *Description* | *Contains NA?* | | :-------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------- | | Alpha\_Number | Unique code associated with each original source of data, that is, the publication, report or thesis containing extracted data, or the previously unpublished data set included in MASTREE+. | No | | Segment | Temporal segment of a time-series containing gaps (note that years with no observations are not recorded). Individual timeseries can consist of multiple segments. | No | | Site\_number | Code to differentiate multiple sites from the same original source (Alpha\_Number/Study\_ID). | No | | Variable\_number | Code to differentiate multiple measures of reproductive output from the same species-site combination (e.g. where seeds and cones were recorded separately). | No | | Year | Year of observation. | No | | Species | Species identifier, standardised to The Plant List nomenclature. ‘spp.’ is used to indicate a record identified to the genus level only. ‘MIXED’ indicates a non-species-specific community-level estimate of annual reproductive effort. | No | | Species\_code | Six-character species identifier. | No | | Mono\_Poly | Monocarpic (semelparous) or Polycarpic (iteroparous) species. | No | | Value | The measured value of annual reproductive output. | No | | VarType | Continuous or ordinal data. Continuous time-series are recorded on a continuous scale. Ordinal series are recorded on an ordered categorical scale. All ordinal series are rescaled to start at 1 (lowest reproductive effort) and to contain only integer values. | No | | Max\_value | The unit of measurement, where VarType is continuous (otherwise: NA). | No | | Unit | The maximum value in a time-series. | No | | Variable | Categorical classification of the measured variable. Options limited to: cone, flower, fruit, seed, pollen, total reproduction organs. | No | | Collection\_method | Classification of the method used to measure reproductive effort. Options are limited to: cone count, cone scar count, flower count, fruit count, fruit scar sound, seed count, seed trap, pollen count, lake sediment pollen count, harvest record, visual crop assessment, other quantification, dendrochronological reconstruction. | No | | Latitude | Latitude of the record, in decimal degrees. | No | | Longitude | Longitude of the record, in decimal degrees. | No | | Coordinate\_flag | A flag to indicate the precision of the latitude and longitude. A = coordinates provided in the original source B = coordinates estimated by the compiler based on a map or other location information provided in the original source C = coordinates estimated by the compiler as the approximate centre point of the smallest clearly defined geographical unit provided in the original source (e.g. county, state, island), and potentially of low precision. | No | | Site | A site name or description, based on information in the original source. | No | | Country | The country where the observation was recorded. | No | | Elevation | The elevation of the sample site in metres above sea level, where provided in the original source (otherwise: NA). | Yes | | Spatial\_unit | Categorical classification of spatial scale represented by the record, estimated by the compiler based on information provided in the original source. stand = <100 ha, patch = 100–10,000 ha, region = 10,000–1,000,000 ha, super-region = >1,000,000 ha. | No | | No\_indivs | Either the number of monitored individual plants, or the number of litter traps. NA indicates no information in the original source, and 9999 indicates that while the number of monitored individuals was not specified, the source indicated to the compiler that the sample size was likely ≥10 individuals or litter traps. | No | | Start | The first year of observations for the complete time-series, including all segments. | No | | End | The final year of observations for the complete time-series, including all segments. | No | | Length | The number of years of observations. Note that may not be equal to the number of years between the Start and End of the time-series, due to gaps in the time-series. | No | | Reference | Identification for the original source of the data. | No | | Record\_type | Categorisation of the original source. Peer-reviewed = extracted from peer reviewed literature Grey = extracted from grey literature Unpublished = unpublished data. | No | | ID\_enterer | Identification of the original compiler of the data. AHP, Andrew Hacket-Pain; ES, Eliane Schermer; JVM, Jose Moris; XTT, Tingting Xue; TC, Thomas Caignard; DV, Davide Vecchio; DA, Davide Ascoli; IP, Ian Pearse; JL, Jalene LaMontagne; JVD, Joep van Dormolen. | No | | Date\_entry | Date of data entry into MASTREE+ in the format yyyy-mm-dd. | No | | Note on data location | Notes on the location of the data within the original source, such as page or figure number. If not provided, NA. | Yes | | Comments | Additional comments. If not provided, NA. | Yes | | Study\_ID | Unique code associated with each source of data. M\_ = series extracted from published literature; A\_ = series incorporated from Ascoli et al. (2020), Ascoli, Maringer, et al. (2017) and Ascoli, Vacchiano, et al. (2017); PLK\_ = series incorporated from Pearse et al. (2017); D\_ = unpublished data sets. NA is attributed if no study ID has been previously associated with this time-series in MASTREE+ v.1. | Yes | Note that the new beech reproductive data has been assigned an arbitrary Alpha_Number for the purpose of this study. Future MASTREE+ updates which incorporate this new data may alter the time series ID columns (e.g. Alpha_Number, Site_number, Variable_number). MASTREE+ updates can be found on [GITHUB](https://github.com/JJFoest/MASTREEplus). Climate change effects on tree reproduction are poorly understood even though the resilience of populations relies on sufficient regeneration to balance increasing rates of mortality. Forest-forming tree species often mast, i.e. reproduce through synchronised year-to-year variation in seed production, which improves pollination and reduces seed predation. Recent observations in European beech show, however, that current climate change can dampen interannual variation and synchrony of seed production, and that this masting breakdown drastically reduces the viability of seed crops. Importantly, it is unclear under which conditions masting breakdown occurs, and how widespread breakdown is in this pan-European species. Here, we analysed 50 long-term datasets of population-level seed production, sampled across the distribution of European beech, and identified increasing summer temperatures as the general driver of masting breakdown. Specifically, increases in site-specific mean maximum temperatures during June and July were observed across most of the species range, while the interannual variability of population-level seed production (CVp) decreased. The declines in CVp were greatest where temperatures increased most rapidly. Additionally, the occurrence of crop failures and low-seed years has decreased during the last four decades, signalling altered starvation effects of masting on seed predators. Notably, CVp did not vary among sites according to site mean summer temperature. Instead, masting breakdown occurs in response to warming local temperatures (i.e. increasing relative temperatures), such that the risk is not restricted to populations growing in warm average conditions. As lowered CVp can reduce viable seed production despite the overall increase in seed count, our results warn that a covert mechanism is underway that may hinder the regeneration potential of European beech under climate change, with great potential to alter forest functioning and community dynamics.

The hygrothermal behaviour of an internally insulated historic wall is still hard to predict, mainly because the physical characteristics of the materials composing the historic wall are unknown. In this study, the hygrothermal assessment of an internally thermal insulated masonry wall of an historic palace located in Ferrara, in Italy, is shown. In situ non-destructive monitoring method is combined with a hygrothermal simulation tool, aiming to better analyse and discuss future refurbishment scenarios. In this context, the original U-value of the wall (not refurbished) is decreased from 1.44 W/m2K to 0.26 W/m2K (10 cm stone wool). Under the site specific conditions of this wall, not reached by the sun or rain, it was verified that even in the absence of vapour barrier, no frost damage is likely to occur and the condensation risk is very limited. Authors proposed further discussion based on simulation. The results showed that the introduction of a second gypsum board to the studied technology compensated such absence, while the reduction of the insulation material thickness provides a reduction of RH peaks in the interstitial area by 1%; this second solution proved to be more efficient, providing a 3% RH reduction and the avoidance of further thermal losses.