bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Malignancy Grade-Dependent Mapping of Metabolic Landscapes in Human Urothelial Bladder Cancer: Identification of Novel, Diagnostic, and Druggable Biomarkers
Authors: Iliou Aikaterini , Panagiotakis Aristeidis , Giannopoulou Aikaterini F. , Benaki Dimitra , Kosmopoulou Mariangela , Velentzas Athanassios D. , Tsitsilonis Ourania E. , Papassideri Issidora S. , Voutsinas Gerassimos E. , Konstantakou Eumorphia G. , Gikas Evagelos , Mikros Emmanuel , Stravopodis Dimitrios J.
Published: March 2020

Background: Urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) is one of the cancers with the highest mortality rate and prevalence worldwide; however, the clinical management of the disease remains challenging. Metabolomics has emerged as a powerful tool with beneficial applications in cancer biology and thus can provide new insights on the underlying mechanisms of UBC progression and/or reveal novel diagnostic and therapeutic schemes. Methods: A collection of four human UBC cell lines that critically reflect the different malignancy grades of UBC was employed; RT4 (grade I), RT112 (grade II), T24 (grade III), and TCCSUP (grade IV). They were examined using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Mass Spectrometry, and advanced statistical approaches, with the goal of creating new metabolic profiles that are mechanistically associated with UBC progression toward metastasis. Results: Distinct metabolic profiles were observed for each cell line group, with T24 (grade III) cells exhibiting the most abundant metabolite contents. AMP and creatine phosphate were highly increased in the T24 cell line compared to the RT4 (grade I) cell line, indicating the major energetic transformation to which UBC cells are being subjected during metastasis. Thymosin β4 and β10 were also profiled with grade-specific patterns of expression, strongly suggesting the importance of actin-cytoskeleton dynamics for UBC advancement to metastatic and drug-tolerant forms. Conclusions: The present study unveils a novel and putatively druggable metabolic signature that holds strong promise for early diagnosis and the successful chemotherapy of UBC disease.
Functional Consequences of Low Activity of Transport System A for Neutral Amino Acids in Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Authors: Chiu Martina , Taurino Giuseppe , Bianchi Massimiliano G. , Dander Erica , Fallati Alessandra , Giuliani Nicola , D’Amico Giovanna , Bussolati Ovidio
Published: March 2020

In cultured human fibroblasts, SNAT transporters (System A) account for the accumulation of non-essential neutral amino acids, are adaptively up-regulated upon amino acid deprivation and play a major role in cell volume recovery upon hypertonic stress. No information is instead available on the expression and activity of SNAT transporters in human bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), although they are increasingly investigated for their staminal and immunomodulatory properties and used for several therapeutic applications. The uptake of glutamine and proline, two substrates of SNAT1 and SNAT2 transporters, was measured in primary human MSC and an MSC line. The amino acid analogue MeAIB, a specific substrate of these carriers, has been used to selectively inhibit SNAT-dependent transport of glutamine and, through its sodium-dependent transport, as an indicator of SNAT1/2 activity. SNAT1/2 expression and localization were assessed with RT-PCR and confocal microscopy, respectively. Cell volume was assessed from urea distribution space. In all these experiments, primary human fibroblasts were used as the positive control for SNAT expression and activity. Compared with fibroblasts, MSC have a lower SNAT1 expression and hardly detectable membrane localization of both SNAT1 and SNAT2. Moreover, they exhibit no sodium-dependent MeAIB uptake or MeAIB-inhibitable glutamine transport, and exhibit a lower ability to accumulate glutamine and proline than fibroblasts. MSC exhibited an only marginal increase in MeAIB transport upon amino acid starvation and did not recover cell volume after hypertonic stress. In conclusion, the activity of SNAT transporters is low in human MSC. MSC adaptation to amino acid shortage is expected to rely on intracellular synthesis, given the absence of an effective up-regulation of the SNAT transporters.
Liquidity and Corporate Governance
Authors: Berglund Tom
Published: March 2020

This paper discusses the relationship between stock market liquidity and corporate governance. Both concepts are widely investigated from different angles in the literature. It is generally agreed that they are related so that better corporate governance implies higher liquidity for shares of listed companies. However, the importance of good corporate governance for the market liquidity of the share will differ depending on the characteristics of the firm’s business. Good corporate governance will be particularly important in reducing agency problems in firms where the business is subject to a high degree of uncertainty. Proper corporate governance, in other words, matters most for firms where external assessment of the firm’s business prospects is difficult, while it is less important for value creation in firms where the business is easier to understand.
Piston-Pin Rotation and Lubrication
Authors: Allmaier Hannes , Sander David E.
Published: March 2020

The rotational dynamics and lubrication of the piston pin of a Gasoline engine are investigated in this work. The clearance plays an essential role for the lubrication and dynamics of the piston pin. To obtain a realistic clearance, as a first step, a thermoelastic simulation is conducted for the aluminum piston for the full-load firing operation by considering the heat flow from combustion into the piston top and suitable thermal boundary conditions for the piston rings, piston skirt, and piston void. The result from this thermoelastic simulation is a noncircular and strongly enlarged clearance. In the second step, the calculated temperature field of the piston and the piston-pin clearance are used in the simulation of the piston-pin journal bearings. For this journal bearing simulation, a highly advanced and extensively validated method is used that also realistically describes mixed lubrication. By using this approach, the piston-pin rotation and lubrication are investigated for several different operating conditions from part load to full load for different engine speeds. It is found that the piston pin rotates mostly at very slow rotational speeds and even changes its rotational direction between different operating conditions. Several influencing effects on this dynamic behaviour (e.g., clearance and pin surface roughness) are investigated to see how the lubrication of this crucial part can be improved.
Structural and Morphological Quantitative 3D Characterisation of Ammonium Nitrate Prills by X-Ray Computed Tomography
Authors: Léonard Fabien , Zhang Zhen , Krebs Holger , Bruno Giovanni
Published: March 2020

The mixture of ammonium nitrate (AN) prills and fuel oil (FO), usually referred to as ANFO, is extensively used in the mining industry as a bulk explosive. One of the major performance predictors of ANFO mixtures is the fuel oil retention, which is itself governed by the complex pore structure of the AN prills. In this study, we present how X-ray computed tomography (XCT), and the associated advanced data processing workflow, can be used to fully characterise the structure and morphology of AN prills. We show that structural parameters such as volume fraction of the different phases and morphological parameters such as specific surface area and shape factor can be reliably extracted from the XCT data, and that there is a good agreement with the measured oil retention values. Importantly, oil retention measurements (qualifying the efficiency of ANFO as explosives) correlate well with the specific surface area determined by XCT. XCT can therefore be employed non-destructively; it can accurately evaluate and characterise porosity in ammonium nitrate prills, and even predict their efficiency.
The Importance of SiC in the Process of Melting Ductile Iron with a Variable Content of Charge Materials
Authors: Janerka Krzysztof , Kostrzewski Łukasz , Stawarz Marcin , Jezierski Jan
Published: March 2020

The article presents issues related to melting ductile iron grade EN-GJS-400-15, with different proportions of feedstock (steel scrap and pig iron). The main attention was paid to determining the impact of silicon carbide on the structure and properties of melted cast iron. In the conducted melts, carbon and silicon deficiencies were supplemented with a suitably chosen carburizer, ferrosilicon, and SiC metallurgical silicon carbide. The percentage of silicon carbide in the charge ranged from 0 to 0.91%. The basic condition for the planning of melts was to maintain the repeatability of the chemical composition of the output cast iron and cast iron after the secondary treatment of liquid metal with various charge compositions. Based on the tests, calculations, and analyses of the results obtained, it was concluded that the addition of SiC may increase the number and size of graphite precipitates. Increasing the SiC content in the charge also caused a change in the solidification nature of the alloy and the mechanism of growth of spheroidal graphite precipitates, causing their surface to form a scaly shell. The influence of the addition of silicon carbide on the reduction of the temperature of liquidus in the alloys was also observed. Silicon carbide had a positive effect on the structure and properties of melted alloys. The introduction of SiC into the melting in the studied range caused an increase in the content of carbon and silicon without causing an increase in the amount of impurities in the alloy.
Properties of Styrene–Maleic Anhydride Copolymer Compatibilized Polyamide 66/Poly (Phenylene Ether) Blends: Effect of Maleic Anhydride Concentration and Copolymer Content
Authors: Aksit Alper , Menzel Teresa , Aksit Merve , Altstädt Volker
Published: March 2020

Polyamide 66 (PA66)/poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) (PPE) blends with a ratio of 50/50 (w/w) were produced by a twin-screw compounder. The immiscible blends were compatibilized using two different styrene–maleic anhydride copolymers (SMA) with a low (SMAlow) and a high (SMAhigh) maleic anhydride (MA) concentration of 8 and 25 wt%, respectively. Furthermore, the SMA content was varied from 0 to 10 wt%. The influence of MA concentration and SMA content on the morphological and thermomechanical properties of PA66/PPE blends was investigated. Herein, we established correlations between the interfacial activity of the SMA with blend morphology and corresponding tensile properties. A droplet-sea to co-continuous morphology transition was shown by scanning electron microscopy to occur between 1.25 and 5 wt% in the case of SMAhigh. For SMAlow, the transition started from 7.5 wt% and was still ongoing at 10 wt%. It was found that SMAlow with 10 wt% content enhanced the tensile strength (10%) and elongation at break (70%) of PA66/PPE blends. This improvement can be explained by the strong interfacial interaction of SMAlow within the blend system, which features the formation of nanoemulsion morphology, as shown by transmission electron microscopy. Very small interdomain distances hinder matrix deformations, which forces debonding and cohesive failure of the PPE phase as a “weaker” main deformation mechanism. Due to a lack of interfacial activity, the mechanical properties of the blends with SMAhigh were not improved.
Potential of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Resources in Nanocellulose Hydrogel Production for Versatile Applications: A Review
Authors: Padzil Farah Nadia Mohammad , Lee Seng Hua , Ainun Zuriyati Mohamed Asa’ari , Lee Ching Hao , Abdullah Luqman Chuah
Published: March 2020

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is considered the cheapest natural fiber with good properties and exists abundantly in Malaysia. It has great potential as an alternative main raw material to substitute woody plants. On the other hand, the well-known polymeric hydrogel has gathered a lot of interest due to its three-dimensional (3D) cross-linked network with high porosity. However, some issues regarding its performance like poor interfacial connectivity and mechanical strength have been raised, hence nanocellulose has been introduced. In this review, the plantation of oil palm in Malaysia is discussed to show the potential of OPEFB as a nanocellulose material in hydrogel production. Nanocellulose can be categorized into three nano-structured celluloses, which differ in the processing method. The most popular nanocellulose hydrogel processing methods are included in this review. The 3D printing method is taking the lead in current hydrogel production due to its high complexity and the need for hygiene products. Some of the latest advanced applications are discussed to show the high commercialization potential of nanocellulose hydrogel products. The authors also considered the challenges and future direction of nanocellulose hydrogel. OPEFB has met the requirements of the marketplace and product value chains as nanocellulose raw materials in hydrogel applications.
Devulcanization Technologies for Recycling of Tire-Derived Rubber: A Review
Authors: Markl Erich , Lackner Maximilian
Published: March 2020

In general, composite materials are difficult to recycle. Tires belong to this class of materials. On top, one of their main constitutents, vulcanized rubber, is as elastomer, which cannot be remolten and hence is particularly challenging to put to a new use. Today, the main end-of-life routes of tires and other rubber products are landfilling, incineration in e.g., cement plants, and grinding to a fine powder, generating huge quantities and indicating a lack of sustainable recycling of this valuable material. True feedstock recycling is not feasible for complex mixtures such as tires, but devulcanization can be done to reactivate the cross-linked polymer for material recycling in novel rubber products. Devulcanization, i.e., the breaking up of sulfur bonds by chemical, thermophysical, or biological means, is a promising route that has been investigated for more than 50 years. This review article presents an update on the state-of-the art in rubber devulcanization. The article addresses established devulcanization technologies and novel processes described in the scientific and patent literatures. On the one hand, tires have become high-tech products, where the simultaneous improvement of wet traction, rolling resistance, and abrasion resistance (the so-called “magic triangle”) is hard to achieve. On the other hand, recycling and sustainable end-of-life uses are becoming more and more important. It is expected that the public discussion of environmental impacts of thermoplastics will soon spill over to thermosets and elastomers. Therefore, the industry needs to develop and market solutions proactively. Every year, approximately 40 million tons of tires are discarded. Through the devulcanization of end-of-life tires (ELT), it is possible to produce new raw materials with good mechanical properties and a superior environmental footprint over virgin products. The devulcanization process has become an interesting technology that is able to support the circular economy concept.
Improved Accuracy of Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy by Specimen Cooling during Measurement of Hydrogen Concentration in a High-Strength Steel
Authors: Fangnon Eric , Malitckii Evgenii , Yagodzinskyy Yuriy , Vilaça Pedro
Published: March 2020

Thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) is a powerful method for the measurement of hydrogen concentration in metallic materials. However, hydrogen loss from metallic samples during the preparation of the measurement poses a challenge to the accuracy of the results, especially in materials with high diffusivity of hydrogen, like ferritic and ferritic-martensitic steels. In the present paper, the effect of specimen cooling during the experimental procedure, as a tentative to reduce the loss of hydrogen during air-lock vacuum pumping for one high-strength steel of 1400 MPa, is evaluated. The results show, at room temperature, the presence of a continuous outward hydrogen flux accompanied with the redistribution of hydrogen within the measured steel during its exposure to the air-lock vacuum chamber under continuous pumping. Cooling of the steel samples to 213 K during pumping in the air-lock vacuum chamber before TDS measurement results in an increase in the measured total hydrogen concentration at about 14%. A significant reduction in hydrogen loss and redistribution within the steel sample improves the accuracy of hydrogen concentration measurement and trapping analysis in ferritic and martensitic steels.
Deformation and Failure of MXene Nanosheets
Authors: Zeleniakiene Daiva , Monastyreckis Gediminas , Aniskevich Andrey , Griskevicius Paulius
Published: March 2020

This work is aimed at the development of finite element models and prediction of the mechanical behavior of MXene nanosheets. Using LS-Dyna Explicit software, a finite element model was designed to simulate the nanoindentation process of a two-dimensional MXene Ti3C2Tz monolayer flake and to validate the material model. For the evaluation of the adhesive strength of the free-standing Ti3C2Tz-based film, the model comprised single-layered MXene nanosheets with a specific number of individual flakes, and the reverse engineering method with a curve fitting approach was used. The interlaminar shear strength, in-plane stiffness, and shear energy release rate of MXene film were predicted using this approach. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that interlaminar shear strength and in-plane stiffness have the largest influence on the mechanical behavior of MXene film under tension, while the shear energy release rate mainly affects the interlaminar damage properties of nanosheets.
Ligno-Cellulosic Fibre Sized with Nucleating Agents Promoting Transcrystallinity in Isotactic Polypropylene Composites
Authors: Thumm Armin , Risani Regis , Dickson Alan , Sorieul Mathias
Published: March 2020

The mechanical performance of composites made from isotactic polypropylene reinforced with natural fibres depends on the interface between fibre and matrix, as well as matrix crystallinity. Sizing the fibre surface with nucleating agents to promote transcrystallinity is a potential route to improve the mechanical properties. The sizing of thermo-mechanical pulp and regenerated cellulose (Tencel™) fibres with α- and β-nucleating agents, to improve tensile strength and impact strength respectively, was assessed in this study. Polarised microscopy, electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that transcrystallinity was achieved and that the bulk crystallinity of the matrix was affected during processing (compounding and injection moulding). However, despite substantial changes in crystal structure in the final composite, the sizing method used did not lead to significant changes regarding the overall composite mechanical performance.
A Numerical Computation of Zeros of q-Generalized Tangent-Appell Polynomials
Authors: Yasmin Ghazala , Ryoo Cheon Seoung , Islahi Hibah
Published: March 2020

The intended objective of this study is to define and investigate a new class of q-generalized tangent-based Appell polynomials by combining the families of 2-variable q-generalized tangent polynomials and q-Appell polynomials. The investigation includes derivations of generating functions, series definitions, and several important properties and identities of the hybrid q-special polynomials. Further, the analogous study for the members of this q-hybrid family are illustrated. The graphical representation of its members is shown, and the distributions of zeros are displayed.
A Result on a Pata-Ćirić Type Contraction at a Point
Authors: Karapınar Erdal , Fulga Andreea , Rakočević Vladimir
Published: March 2020

In this manuscript, we define a new contraction mapping, Pata-Ćirić type contraction at a point, that merges distinct contractions defined by Seghal, Pata and Ćirić. We proved that in a complete space, each Pata-Ćirić type contraction at a point possesses a fixed point. We express an example to illustrate the observed result.
Riboregulation in Nitrogen-Fixing Endosymbiotic Bacteria
Authors: Robledo Marta , García-Tomsig Natalia I. , Jiménez-Zurdo José I.
Published: March 2020

Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are ubiquitous components of bacterial adaptive regulatory networks underlying stress responses and chronic intracellular infection of eukaryotic hosts. Thus, sRNA-mediated regulation of gene expression is expected to play a major role in the establishment of mutualistic root nodule endosymbiosis between nitrogen-fixing rhizobia and legume plants. However, knowledge about this level of genetic regulation in this group of plant-interacting bacteria is still rather scarce. Here, we review insights into the rhizobial non-coding transcriptome and sRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation of symbiotic relevant traits such as nutrient uptake, cell cycle, quorum sensing, or nodule development. We provide details about the transcriptional control and protein-assisted activity mechanisms of the functionally characterized sRNAs involved in these processes. Finally, we discuss the forthcoming research on riboregulation in legume symbionts.
Editorial for Special Issue “Minerals of the Southern Grenville Province”
Authors: Robinson George W. , Chiarenzelli Jeffrey R. , Lupulescu Marian V.
Published: March 2020

The southern Grenville Province is famous for both the large number of mineral localities and the diversity of the mineral species found [...]
Medication Discrepancies in Community Pharmacies in Switzerland: Identification, Classification, and Their Potential Clinical and Economic Impact
Authors: Imfeld-Isenegger Tamara L , Pham Melanie Bich Tram , Stämpfli Dominik , Albert Valerie , Almanasreh Enas , Moles Rebekah , Chen Timothy F , Hersberger Kurt E
Published: March 2020

Background: Transitions of care are high-risk situations for the manifestation of medication discrepancies and, therefore, present threats for potential patient harm. Medication discrepancies can occur at any transition within the healthcare system. Methods: Fifth-year pharmacy students assessed a best possible medication list (BPML) during a medication review (based on medication history and patient interview) in community pharmacies. They documented all discrepancies between the BPML and the latest medication prescription. Discrepancies were classified using the medication discrepancy taxonomy (MedTax) classification system and were assessed for their potential clinical and economic impact. Results: Overall, 116 patients with a mean age and medication prescription of 74 (± 10.3) years and 10.2 (± 4.2), respectively, were analyzed. Of the 317 discrepancies identified, the most frequent type was related to strength and/or frequency and/or number of units of dosage form and/or the total daily dose. Although, the majority of discrepancies were rated as inconsequential (55.2%) on health conditions, the remainder posed a potential moderate (43.2%) or severe impact (1.6%). In 49.5% of the discrepancies, the current patients’ medication cost less than the prescribed. Conclusion: Community pharmacies are at a favorable place to identify discrepancies and to counsel patients. To improve patient care, they should systematically perform medication reconciliation whenever prescriptions are renewed or added.
Prescribing and Safety of Direct-Acting Oral Anticoagulants Compared to Warfarin in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation on Chronic Hemodialysis
Authors: Davis Estella , Darais Dallin , Fuji Kevin , Nekola Paige , Bashir Khalid
Published: March 2020

ESRD patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) were excluded from landmark trials evaluating direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in atrial fibrillation (AF). The objective was to evaluate prescribing and bleeding with DOACs compared to warfarin in AF patients with chronic HD. A retrospective, observational study of patients receiving warfarin or DOAC from April 2010-April 2016 from area health system hospitals and Dialysis Clinics, Inc. records. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and chi-square. Ninety-one patients were included with warfarin as the initial OAC in most patients (n = 76) at average dose of 29 mg/week. Fifteen patients were initially prescribed apixaban (n = 12) or dabigatran (n = 3). Most switches in OAC therapy were to apixaban. When the initial OAC was a DOAC, it was not dosed appropriately in five with one bleed, two dosed appropriately had bleeds. When initial warfarin was switched to a DOAC, it was not dosed appropriately in seven with five bleeds. More bleeds occurred with warfarin alone (n = 18) vs. those on warfarin switched to DOAC (n = 5) vs. DOAC alone (n = 3), p = 0.022. All but four patients that bled had HAS-BLED scores three or higher. Warfarin was most often prescribed and associated with a higher incidence of bleeding compared to DOACs in this population of patients at high risk for bleeding. Larger studies should be conducted to analyze the impact of DOAC dose appropriateness on safety and clinical outcomes.
Geochemical and Geophysical Monitoring of Hydrocarbon Seepage in the Adriatic Sea
Authors: Rovere Marzia , Mercorella Alessandra , Frapiccini Emanuela , Funari Valerio , Spagnoli Federico , Pellegrini Claudio , Bonetti Andree Soledad , Veneruso Tiziana , Tassetti Anna Nora , Dell’Orso Marcello , Mastroianni Marco , Giuliani Giordano , De Marco Rocco , Fabi Gianna , Ciccone Francesco , Antoncecchi Ilaria
Published: March 2020

Hydrocarbon seepage is overlooked in the marine environment, mostly due to the lack of high-resolution exploration data. This contribution is about the set-up of a relocatable and cost-effective monitoring system, which was tested on two seepages in the Central Adriatic Sea. The two case studies are an oil spill at a water depth of 10 m and scattered biogenic methane seeps at a water depth of 84 m. Gas plumes in the water column were detected with a multibeam system, tightened to sub-seafloor seismic reflection data. Dissolved benthic fluxes of nutrients, metals and Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) were measured by in situ deployment of a benthic chamber, which was used also for the first time to collect water samples for hydrocarbons characterization. In addition, the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as major and trace elements were analyzed to provide an estimate of hydrocarbon contamination in the surrounding sediment and to make further inferences on the petroleum system.
Smart Privacy Protection for Big Video Data Storage Based on Hierarchical Edge Computing
Authors: Xiao Di , Li Min , Zheng Hongying
Published: March 2020

Recently, the rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an increasing exponential growth of non-scalar data (e.g., images, videos). Local services are far from satisfying storage requirements, and the cloud computing fails to effectively support heterogeneous distributed IoT environments, such as wireless sensor network. To effectively provide smart privacy protection for video data storage, we take full advantage of three patterns (multi-access edge computing, cloudlets and fog computing) of edge computing to design the hierarchical edge computing architecture, and propose a low-complexity and high-secure scheme based on it. The video is divided into three parts and stored in completely different facilities. Specifically, the most significant bits of key frames are directly stored in local sensor devices while the least significant bits of key frames are encrypted and sent to the semi-trusted cloudlets. The non-key frame is compressed with the two-layer parallel compressive sensing and encrypted by the 2D logistic-skew tent map and then transmitted to the cloud. Simulation experiments and theoretical analysis demonstrate that our proposed scheme can not only provide smart privacy protection for big video data storage based on the hierarchical edge computing, but also avoid increasing additional computation burden and storage pressure.
An Efficient Certificateless Aggregate Signature Scheme for Blockchain-Based Medical Cyber Physical Systems
Authors: Shu Hong , Qi Ping , Huang Yongqing , Chen Fulong , Xie Dong , Sun Liping
Published: March 2020

Different from the traditional healthcare field, Medical Cyber Physical Systems (MCPS) rely more on wireless wearable devices and medical applications to provide better medical services. The secure storage and sharing of medical data are facing great challenges. Blockchain technology with decentralization, security, credibility and tamper-proof is an effective way to solve this problem. However, capacity limitation is one of the main reasons affecting the improvement of blockchain performance. Certificateless aggregation signature schemes can greatly tackle the difficulty of blockchain expansion. In this paper, we describe a two-layer system model in which medical records are stored off-blockchain and shared on-blockchain. Furthermore, a multi-trapdoor hash function is proposed. Based on the proposed multi-trapdoor hash function, we present a certificateless aggregate signature scheme for blockchain-based MCPS. The purpose is to realize the authentication of related medical staffs, medical equipment, and medical apps, ensure the integrity of medical records, and support the secure storage and sharing of medical information. The proposed scheme is highly computationally efficient because it does not use bilinear maps and exponential operations. Many certificateless aggregate signature schemes without bilinear maps in Internet of things (IoT) have been proposed in recent years, but they are not applied to the medical field, and they do not consider the security requirements of medical data. The proposed scheme in this paper has high computing and storage efficiency, while meeting the security requirements in MCPS.
Correction: Gulimire Tuerdi, Nuerguli Kari, Yin Yan, Patima Nizamidin and Abliz Yimit *. A Functionalized Tetrakis(4-Nitrophenyl)Porphyrin Film Optical Waveguide Sensor for Detection of H2S and Ethanediamine Gases. Sensors 2017, 17, 2717
Authors: Tuerdi Gulimire , Kari Nuerguli , Yan Yin , Nizamidin Patima , Yimit Abliz
Published: March 2020

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]
Motion Assessment for Accelerometric and Heart Rate Cycling Data Analysis
Authors: Charvátová Hana , Procházka Aleš , Vyšata Oldřich
Published: March 2020

Motion analysis is an important topic in the monitoring of physical activities and recognition of neurological disorders. The present paper is devoted to motion assessment using accelerometers inside mobile phones located at selected body positions and the records of changes in the heart rate during cycling, under different body loads. Acquired data include 1293 signal segments recorded by the mobile phone and the Garmin device for uphill and downhill cycling. The proposed method is based upon digital processing of the heart rate and the mean power in different frequency bands of accelerometric data. The classification of the resulting features was performed by the support vector machine, Bayesian methods, k-nearest neighbor method, and neural networks. The proposed criterion is then used to find the best positions for the sensors with the highest discrimination abilities. The results suggest the sensors be positioned on the spine for the classification of uphill and downhill cycling, yielding an accuracy of 96.5% and a cross-validation error of 0.04 evaluated by a two-layer neural network system for features based on the mean power in the frequency bands ⟨ 3 , 8 ⟩ and ⟨ 8 , 15 ⟩ Hz. This paper shows the possibility of increasing this accuracy to 98.3% by the use of more features and the influence of appropriate sensor positioning for motion monitoring and classification.
Design of a Fully Integrated Inductive Coupling System: A Discrete Approach Towards Sensing Ventricular Pressure
Authors: Hernández Sebastián Natiely , Villa Villaseñor Noé , Renero-Carrillo Francisco-Javier , Díaz Alonso Daniela , Calleja Arriaga Wilfrido
Published: March 2020

In this paper, an alternative strategy for the design of a bidirectional inductive power transfer (IPT) module, intended for the continuous monitoring of cardiac pressure, is presented. This new integrated implantable medical device (IMD) was designed including a precise ventricular pressure sensor, where the available implanting room is restricted to a 1.8 × 1.8 cm2 area. This work considers a robust magnetic coupling between an external reading coil and the implantable module: a three-dimensional inductor and a touch mode capacitive pressure sensor (TMCPS) set. In this approach, the coupling modules were modelled as RCL circuits tuned at a 13.56 MHz frequency. The analytical design was validated by means of Comsol Multiphysics, CoventorWare, and ANSYS HFSS software tools. A power transmission efficiency (PTE) of 94% was achieved through a 3.5 cm-thick biological tissue, based on high magnitudes for the inductance (L) and quality factor (Q) components. A specific absorption rate (SAR) of less than 1.6 W/Kg was attained, which suggests that this IPT system can be implemented in a safe way, according to IEEE C95.1 safety guidelines. The set of inductor and capacitor integrated arrays were designed over a very thin polyimide film, where the 3D coil was 18 mm in diameter and approximately 50% reduced in size, considering any conventional counterpart. Finally, this new approach for the IMD was under development using low-cost thin film manufacturing technologies for flexible electronics. Meanwhile, as an alternative test, this novel system was fabricated using a discrete printed circuit board (PCB) approach, where preliminary electromagnetic characterization demonstrates the viability of this bidirectional IPT design.
A Multi-Scale U-Shaped Convolution Auto-Encoder Based on Pyramid Pooling Module for Object Recognition in Synthetic Aperture Radar Images
Authors: Tian Sirui , Lin Yiyu , Gao Wenyun , Zhang Hong , Wang Chao
Published: March 2020

Although unsupervised representation learning (RL) can tackle the performance deterioration caused by limited labeled data in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) object classification, the neglected discriminative detailed information and the ignored distinctive characteristics of SAR images can lead to performance degradation. In this paper, an unsupervised multi-scale convolution auto-encoder (MSCAE) was proposed which can simultaneously obtain the global features and local characteristics of targets with its U-shaped architecture and pyramid pooling modules (PPMs). The compact depth-wise separable convolution and the deconvolution counterpart were devised to decrease the trainable parameters. The PPM and the multi-scale feature learning scheme were designed to learn multi-scale features. Prior knowledge of SAR speckle was also embedded in the model. The reconstruction loss of the MSCAE was measured by the structural similarity index metric (SSIM) of the reconstructed data and the images filtered by the improved Lee sigma filter. A speckle suppression restriction was also added in the objective function to guarantee that the speckle suppression procedure would take place in the feature learning stage. Experimental results with the MSTAR dataset under the standard operating condition and several extended operating conditions demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model in SAR object classification tasks.
Embedded Bio-Mimetic System for Functional Electrical Stimulation Controlled by Event-Driven sEMG
Authors: Rossi Fabio , Motto Ros Paolo , Rosales Ricardo Maximiliano , Demarchi Danilo
Published: March 2020

The analysis of the surface ElectroMyoGraphic (sEMG) signal for controlling the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) therapy is being widely accepted as an active rehabilitation technique for the restoration of neuro-muscular disorders. Portability and real-time functionalities are major concerns, and, among others, two correlated challenges are the development of an embedded system and the implementation of lightweight signal processing approaches. In this respect, the event-driven nature of the Average Threshold Crossing (ATC) technique, considering its high correlation with the muscle force and the sparsity of its representation, could be an optimal solution. In this paper we present an embedded ATC-FES control system equipped with a multi-platform software featuring an easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI). The system has been first characterized and validated by analyzing CPU and memory usage in different operating conditions, as well as measuring the system latency (fulfilling the real-time requirements with a 140 ms FES definition process). We also confirmed system effectiveness, testing it on 11 healthy subjects: The similarity between the voluntary movement and the stimulate one has been evaluated, computing the cross-correlation coefficient between the angular signals acquired during the limbs motion. We obtained high correlation values of 0.87 ± 0.07 and 0.93 ± 0.02 for the elbow flexion and knee extension exercises, respectively, proving good stimulation application in real therapy-scenarios.
Analysis of the Functionality of the Feed Chain in Olive Pitting, Slicing and Stuffing Machines by IoT, Computer Vision and Neural Network Diagnosis
Authors: Lucas Pascual Alberto , Madueño Luna Antonio , de Jódar Lázaro Manuel , Molina Martínez José Miguel , Ruiz Canales Antonio , Madueño Luna José Miguel , Justicia Segovia Meritxell
Published: March 2020

Olive pitting, slicing and stuffing machines (DRR in Spanish) are characterized by the fact that their optimal functioning is based on appropriate adjustments. Traditional systems are not completely reliable because their minimum error rate is 1–2%, which can result in fruit loss, since the pitting process is not infallible, and food safety issues can arise. Such minimum errors are impossible to remove through mechanical adjustments. In order to achieve this objective, an innovative solution must be provided in order to remove errors at operating speed rates over 2500 olives/min. This work analyzes the appropriate placement of olives in the pockets of the feed chain by using the following items: (1) An IoT System to control the DRR machine and the data analysis. (2) A computer vision system with an external shot camera and a LED lighting system, which takes a picture of every pocket passing in front of the camera. (3) A chip with a neural network for classification that, once trained, classifies between four possible pocket cases: empty, normal, incorrectly de-stoned olives at any angles (also known as a “boat”), and an anomalous case (foreign elements such as leafs, small branches or stones, two olives or small parts of olives in the same pocket). The main objective of this paper is to illustrate how with the use of a system based on IoT and a physical chip (NeuroMem CM1K, General Vision Inc.) with neural networks for sorting purposes, it is possible to optimize the functionality of this type of machine by remotely analyzing the data obtained. The use of classifying hardware allows it to work at the nominal operating speed for these machines. This would be limited if other classifying techniques based on software were used.
MODELO HOLÍSTICO DE PLANIFICACIÓN CURRICULAR PARA INSTITUTOS Y COLEGIOS UNIVERSITARIOS DE TECNOLOGÍA
Authors: Bastidas Terán Felipe Antonio
Published: March 2020

El artículo que se presenta a continuación muestra el desarrollo de un modelo de planificación curricular, basado en los principios de la holística y en los aportes de la hologogía. La propuesta se basó en una investigación realizada en el Instituto Universitario de Tecnología de Caripito, en el estado Monagas, Venezuela. Se hizo una investigación proyectiva, con un diseño de fuente mixta (documentos y fuentes vivas). Para determinar los requerimientos del sector laboral de la región, se estudió la oferta laboral de la zona y se hizo un estadio predictivo a fin de anticipar tendencias futuras de demanda laboral. Después de los procesos de investigación realizados, se logró construir el Modelo holístico de planificación curricular (Mhoplan), que presenta un proceso continuo y organizado, con énfasis en la investigación, e incorpora seis etapas en un bucle recurrente: Diagnóstico, Viabilidad, (Re) Diseño, Aplicación, Evaluación y Fortalecimiento.
Introduction: Yeats and Mass Communications
Authors: Dwan David , Morin Emilie
Published: March 2020

W. B. Yeats’s pursuit of an audience led him into the world of mass media—a landscape populated first by newspapers and later by radios, which he learned to navigate with shrewdness and skill. The purpose of this special issue is to examine Yeats’s various ventures in mass communication. Enlisting a broad range of critical approaches, contributors to this volume show how the demands of print journalism and radio broadcasting informed Yeats’s poetics, his thinking about the social vocation of art, and his ideas about how literature might be best received and structured. The essays also examine the reception and legacies of Yeats’s experiments with mass media, showing how he was at once self-consciously archaic and exultantly avant-garde. This article provides an introduction to this special volume of International Yeats Studies and attendant critical concerns.
Broadcasting the Rising: Yeats and Radio Commemoration
Authors: Bloom Emily C.
Published: March 2020

In a series of radio broadcasts from 1931 to 1937, Yeats presented several of his poems about the Easter Rising but, curiously, not his most famous Rising poem, “Easter, 1916.” The poems he chose, as well as those he omitted, reveal his understanding of radio’s commemorative properties. Radio’s ephemerality and its intimacy were especially well-suited for Yeats’s minor poems, which were better able to present shifting perspectives on the Rising from the vantage of the present moment, unlike “Easter, 1916,” which was quickly settling into the canonical version of the event. Through multiple broadcasts responding to historical developments, Yeats presented new perspectives on the Rising and emphasized the event’s changing meaning. Yeats recognized the role of mass media in shaping historical memory and was early to see the radio as a key medium for reframing the Rising as it began to settle into history. Broadcasting his 1916 poems provided a means for Yeats to subtly alter previous statements on the Rising during the early years of the Irish Free State and to re-contextualize some of his own earlier work.
Stakeholder Engagement: Methods of Inclusion in South Carolina State Water Plan Decision-Making
Authors: Walker Thomas , Pellett C. Alex , Allen Jeffery
Published: March 2020

Stakeholder engagement in natural resource planning has become increasingly important at local and state levels. Including stakeholders in decision-making can increase buy-in and public support of final regional and state recommendations. It can also lead to policy change and improved implementation outcomes resulting from these planning processes. South Carolina is developing a stakeholder-driven water plan, although it is several years away from being finalized. The methods used in this process are a departure from past efforts. Stakeholder inclusion in decision-making in the water planning process is described and analyzed in this article. The focus is on the specific phases of the process and the methods of inclusion used or those anticipated to be used. In this cycle, stakeholder involvement in decisions range from informational/advisory to consultative to decision-making.
The Lower Palaeozoic now fully cored and logged on Bornholm, Denmark
Authors: Schovsbo Niels H. , Nielsen Arne T. , Klitten Kurt
Published: March 2020

A 558 m long, complete section of the Lower Palaeozoic succession preserved onshore southern Bornholm has been compiled from five fully cored scientific wells, carried out between 2005 and 2012. The scientific programme included coring and geophysical logging of the five scientific wells that yielded a total of c. 750 m of partially overlapping cores as well as re-logging of water wells and acquisition of shallow seismic data. The last well drilled, the Sommerodde-1, cored the youngest preserved Silurian strata on Bornholm including strata not exposed in outcrops. The well penetrated 168.1 m of Silurian shales, 42.7 m of Upper Ordovician shales and 27.9 m of Alum Shale before it terminated at a depth of 250.3 m in the Lower Cambrian Norretorp Member of the Læså Formation. Th e Sommerodde-1 well documents that the Lower Silurian Cyrtograptus shale is at least 91.7 m thick and that the Rastrites shale is 76.4 m thick. The complete Lower Cambrian succession has previously been covered by the 316.0 m deep Borggård-1 well that terminated in basement rocks (Nielsen et al. 2006).
Consistency of postglacial geodynamics for the Kattegat region, southern Scandinavia, based on seismological, geological and geodetic data
Authors: Gregersen Søren , Voss Peter H.
Published: March 2020

The earthquake map of Denmark is constantly being improved. Together with data from western Sweden and southern Norway it shows more and more convincingly a gradual, scattered earthquake activity across the Kattegat region from low activity in the Precambrian basement of Scandinavia to lack of earthquakes in south-western Denmark and northern Germany. The activity is only partly connected with mapped geological features.
A quartz-wolframite-molybdenite vein and scheelite in amphibolite horizons from Thrudvang peninsula, Skjoldungen, SE Greenland
Authors: Rosa Diogo , Ulrich Thomas
Published: March 2020

During the South-East Greenland Mineral Endowment Task (SEGMENT) expedition in 2012, the possible mineral potential of the Skjoldungen region was investigated. The region is part of the Archaean North Atlantic Craton, and includes the Skjoldungen Alkaline Province (Nielsen & Rosing 1990; Blichert-Toft et al. 1995; Kolb et al. 2013). A quartz-wolframite-molybdenite vein with phyllic alteration was identified during the reconnaissance work in the northwestern part of the peninsula of Thrudvang, close to the Kangertikajik fjord (GGU 446946; Figs 1, 2). The c. 30 cm wide, subvertical vein is hosted in mafic granulite. However, the deformed nature of the vein and steep terrain did not allow us to establish its extent or general trend.
Greenland ice sheet melt area from MODIS (2000–2014)
Authors: Fausto Robert S. , Van As Dirk , Antoft Jens A. , Box Jason E. , Colgan William
Published: March 2020

The Greenland ice sheet is an excellent observatory for global climate change. Meltwater from the 1.8 million km2 large ice sheet influences oceanic temperature and salinity, nutrient fluxes and global sea level (IPCC 2013). Surface reflectivity is a key driver of surface melt rates (Box et al. 2012). Mapping of different ice-sheet surface types provides a clear indicator of where changes in ice-sheet surface reflectivity are most prominent. Here, we present an updated version of a surface classification algorithm that utilises NASA’s Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite to systematically monitor ice-sheet surface melt (Fausto et al. 2007). Our aim is to determine the areal extent of three surface types over the 2000–2014 period: glacier ice, melting snow (including percolation areas) and dry snow (Cuffey & Paterson 2010). Monthly 1 km2 resolution surface-type grids can be downloaded via the CryoClim internet portal (www.cryoclim.net). In this report, we briefly describe the updated classification algorithm, validation of surface types and inter-annual variability in surface types.