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The current challenge for forecasting smart meters electricity consumption lies in the uncertainty and volatility of load profiles. Moreover, forecasting the electricity consumption for all the meters requires an enormous amount of time. Most papers tend to avoid such complexity by forecasting the electricity consumption at an aggregated level. This paper aims to forecast the electricity consumption for all smart meters at an individual level. This paper, for the first time, takes into account the computational time for training and forecasting the electricity consumption of all the meters.

A novel hybrid autoregressive-statistical equations idea model with the help of clustering and whale optimization algorithm (ARSEI-WOA) is proposed in this paper to forecast the electricity consumption of all the meters with best performance in terms of computational time and prediction accuracy.

The proposed model was tested using realistic Irish smart meters energy data and its performance was compared with nine regression methods including: autoregressive integrated moving average, partial least squares regression, conditional inference tree, M5 rule-based model, k-nearest neighbor, multilayer perceptron, RandomForest, RPART and support vector regression. Results have proved that ARSEI-WOA is an efficient model that is able to achieve an accurate prediction with low computational time.

This paper presents a new hybrid ARSEI model to perform smart meters load forecasting at an individual level instead of an aggregated one. With the help of clustering technique, similar meters are grouped into a few clusters from which reduce the computational time of the training and forecasting process. In addition, WOA improves the prediction accuracy of each meter by finding an optimal factor between the average electricity consumption values of each cluster and the electricity consumption values for each one of its meters.

This paper aims to identify the most common fungal species that grow on paper manuscripts and cause bio-deterioration. It also detects the impact of additive materials on fungal degrading and builds a wide database. Thus, it helps conservators understand this phenomenon.

In total, 15 samples were collected from different paper manuscripts suffering from fungi. The achievement of the study objectives depends on using a variety of analyzes, such as a microbiological study, which indicated that three main fungi grew on the paper samples. Then, a digital microscope and an environmental scanning electron microscope were used to detect the effect of fungi on paper fibers. Fourier transform infrared microscopy was used to identify the binding medium and the X-ray diffraction method was used to measure the crystallinity index of cellulose of the paper samples.

Arabic gum was used as a binder medium with the samples. Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus Fumigatus and Aspergillus Clavatus were the most common fungal species that grew on the Qur’an papers under investigation. They also caused much common damage to the paper samples. The results of the analyzes also showed that the highest crystallinity index of cellulose was in the samples that contained the lowest rate of fungal growth.

This paper highlights the relationship between fungal degradation and the multi-component nature of paper manuscripts. It builds a wide database that correlates the composition and the degradation of the Qur’an papers.

This paper aims to investigate the ability of traditional biopolymers, such as funori or the nanoscale form of cellulose nanocrystals, to consolidate fragile paper and preserve it for as long as possible.

Degraded papers dating back two centuries were separated into paper samples for consolidation processes. Funori – a marine spleen – was used as a traditional consolidation material and a mixture with ZnO NPs compared with modern materials, such as cellulose nanocrystals. The samples were aged for 25 years, examinations and analyses were performed using scanning electron microscopy and color change was assessed using the CIELAB system, X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

According to the results, using traditional materials to consolidate damage, such as funori, after aging resulted in glossiness on the surface, a color change and increased water content and oxidation. Furthermore, samples treated with a mixture of ZnO NPs and funori revealed that the mixture improved the sample properties and increased the degree of crystallization. Cellulose nanocrystals improved the surface, filled gaps, formed bridges between the fibers and acted as a protector from aging effects.

This paper highlights the ability of nanomaterials to enhance the properties of materials as additives and treat the paper manuscripts from weaknesses.

This study aims to determine the efficiency of three types of essential oils (EOs) as antioxidants on wood pulp paper samples: camphor oil, clove oil and lavender oil. Because of the detrimental influence of the oxidation process on wood pulp paper, this type of paper suffers significant disintegration.

The evaluation methodology is based on scanning electron microscope and three directions laser microscope, the hydrogen ion concentration measurement, color change measurement using the CIELAB system and infrared spectrum analysis, as well as investigating the mechanical properties of paper as represented by tensile and elongation to determine Young’s modulus values.

According to the findings, camphor was an effective antioxidant for paper samples, protecting them from the damaging effects of oxidation and the impact of artificial aging processes while also improving the mechanical properties of paper.

This paper emphasizes the concept of using environmentally friendly materials derived from EOs, owing to their ease of application, lack of environmental impact, distinctive properties, low cost and distinctive properties in both curative and preventive conservation of paper manuscripts.

This study aims to examine the role of the board of directors in affecting earnings management practices across small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) life cycle.

Data is collected from 280 SMEs listed on the London Stock Exchange during the period of 2009–2016. Fixed effects regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses.

This study shows that the impact of the board of directors' roles on earnings management practices varies depending on the SMEs life cycle stage. In the introduction, growth and decline stages of SMEs, the wealth creation role of the board is negatively significant with earnings management, while the wealth protection role of the board is positively significant in the growth and maturity phases. Results suggest that the board's responsibility to create wealth deters early-stage earnings management strategies, while protecting shareholder interests, in latter stages, leads to a decrease in earnings management.

The findings suggest that corporate governance should be customized to the specific stage of the SMEs life cycle. Additionally, different life cycle stages may impose different requirements on corporate boards to shape the effectiveness of these mechanisms and constrain earnings management practices.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study offers one of the first insights on the UK SMEs to understand how board functions and earnings management practices vary over SMEs life cycles. It will offer important information on the effect of board features on earnings management in SMEs in the UK and is anticipated to be of importance to policymakers, regulators, investors and practitioners.

The aim of the present paper to compare the cleaning treatments of paper samples exposed to artificial aging, toluene and isopropyl alcohol gel in cleaning wax stains.

In total, paper samples were made from wood pulp. They had a deterioration phenomenon represented in the stains of the paraffin wax, so two types of cleaning were used: A traditional method using a toluene solution and another new method using isopropanol gel by a cotton swap in a circular movement until the completion of the cleaning process. Then, all paper samples were treated with toluene and isopropanol to handle the second artificial aging and detect how the samples were affected by artificial aging. For identifying the efficacy of these materials in removing paraffin wax stains, a range of examinations and analyses were used, such as universal serial bus, scanning electron microscope, infrared analysis (IR), pH analysis, color change analysis. Moreover, these results were compared with the standard sample’s results.

The results of examinations and analyses proved that the use of toluene affected the paper samples. Their effects were twice as weak, fragile and degraded paper fibers compared to isopropanol gel. Therefore, the isopropanol gel is preferred for paper cleaning to the toluene solution.

This paper highlights the efficiency of isopropyl alcohol gel in cleaning wax stains from historical paper supports.