bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RAFT Polymerization of Tert-Butyldimethylsilyl Methacrylate: Kinetic Study and Determination of Rate Coefficients
Authors: Nguyen Minh Ngoc , Margaillan André , Pham Quang Trung , Bressy Christine
Published: February 2018

Well-defined poly(tert-butyldimethylsilyl methacrylate)s (TBDMSMA) were prepared by the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process using cyanoisopropyl dithiobenzoate (CPDB) as chain-transfer agents (CTA). The experimentally obtained molecular weight distributions are narrow and shift linearly with monomer conversion. Propagation rate coefficients (kp) and termination rate coefficients (kt) for free radical polymerization of TBDMSMA have been determined for a range of temperature between 50 and 80 °C using the pulsed laser polymerization-size-exclusion chromatography (PLP-SEC) method and the kinetic method via steady-state rate measurement, respectively. The CPDB-mediated RAFT polymerization of TBDMSMA has been subjected to a combined experimental and PREDICI modeling study at 70 °C. The rate coefficient for the addition reaction to RAFT agent (kβ1, kβ2) and to polymeric RAFT agent (kβ) is estimated to be approximately 1.8 × 104 L·mol−1·s−1 and for the fragmentation reaction of intermediate RAFT radicals in the pre-equilibrium (k-β1, k-β2) and main equilibrium (k-β) is close to 2.0 × 10−2 s−1. The transfer rate coefficient (ktr) to cyanoisopropyl dithiobenzoate is found to be close to 9.0 × 103 L·mol−1·s−1 and the chain-transfer constant (Ctr) for CPDB-mediated RAFT polymerization of TBDMSMA is about 9.3.
Biocompatible Chitosan Oligosaccharide Modified Gold Nanorods as Highly Effective Photothermal Agents for Ablation of Breast Cancer Cells
Authors: Manivasagan Panchanathan , Bharathiraja Subramaniyan , Santha Moorthy Madhappan , Mondal Sudip , Nguyen Thanh , Kim Hyehyun , Phan Thi , Lee Kang , Oh Junghwan
Published: February 2018

Photothermal therapy (PTT) using biocompatible nanomaterials have recently attracted much attention as a novel candidate technique for cancer therapy. In this work we report the performance of newly synthesized multidentate chitosan oligosaccharide modified gold nanorods (AuNRs-LA-COS) as novel agents for PTT of cancer cells due to their excellent biocompatibility, photothermal stability, and high absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The AuNRs-LA-COS exhibit a strong NIR absorption peak at 838 nm with a mean length of 26 ± 3.1 nm and diameter of 6.8 ± 1.7 nm, respectively. The temperature of AuNRs-LA-COS rapidly reached 52.6 °C for 5 min of NIR laser irradiation at 2 W/cm2. The AuNRs-LA-COS had very low cytotoxicity and exhibited high efficiency for the ablation of breast cancer cells in vitro. The tumor-bearing mice were completely ablated without tumor recurrence after photothermal treatment with AuNRs-LA-COS (25 µg/mL) under laser irradiation. In summary, this study demonstrated that AuNRs-LA-COS with laser irradiation as novel agents pave an alternative way for breast cancer therapy and hold great promise for clinical trials in the near future.
Parametric Study of Effects of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment on the Wettability of Cotton Fabric
Authors: Kan Chi-Wai , Man Wai-Shan
Published: February 2018

In textiles processing, wettability of fabric plays a very important role in enhancing processes such as dyeing and printing. Although well-prepared cotton fabric has very good wettability, further enhancement of its wettability can effectively improve the subsequent dyeing and printing processes. Plasma treatment, especially atmospheric pressure plasma treatment (APPT), a continuous process, is now drawing attention of the industry. In this study, we investigated the effect of APPT under four operational parameters: (1) discharge power; (2) flow rate of oxygen; (3) jet travelling speed; and (4) jet-to-substrate distance on wettability (in terms of wickability and wetting area) of cotton fabric. Experimental results revealed that the four parameters interact with each other in affecting the wettability of the cotton fabric. The results are discussed comprehensively.
Biosynthetic Pathway and Genes of Chitin/Chitosan-Like Bioflocculant in the Genus Citrobacter
Authors: Takeo Masahiro , Kimura Kazuyuki , Mayilraj Shanmugam , Inoue Takuya , Tada Shohei , Miyamoto Kouki , Kashiwa Masami , Ikemoto Keishi , Baranwal Priyanka , Kato Daiichiro , Negoro Seiji
Published: February 2018

Chitin/chitosan, one of the most abundant polysaccharides in nature, is industrially produced as a powder or flake form from the exoskeletons of crustaceans such as crabs and shrimps. Intriguingly, many bacterial strains in the genus Citrobacter secrete a soluble chitin/chitosan-like polysaccharide into the culture medium during growth in acetate. Because this polysaccharide shows strong flocculation activity for suspended solids in water, it can be used as a bioflocculant (BF). The BF synthetic pathway of C. freundii IFO 13545 is expected from known bacterial metabolic pathways to be as follows: acetate is metabolized in the TCA cycle and the glyoxylate shunt via acetyl-CoA. Next, fructose 6-phosphate is generated from the intermediates of the TCA cycle through gluconeogenesis and enters into the hexosamine synthetic pathway to form UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, which is used as a direct precursor to extend the BF polysaccharide chain. We conducted the draft genome sequencing of IFO 13545 and identified all of the candidate genes corresponding to the enzymes in this pathway in the 5420-kb genome sequence. Disruption of the genes encoding acetyl-CoA synthetase and isocitrate lyase by homologous recombination resulted in little or no growth on acetate, indicating that the cell growth depends on acetate assimilation via the glyoxylate shunt. Disruption of the gene encoding glucosamine 6-phosphate synthase, a key enzyme for the hexosamine synthetic pathway, caused a significant decrease in flocculation activity, demonstrating that this pathway is primarily used for the BF biosynthesis. A gene cluster necessary for the polymerization and secretion of BF, named bfpABCD, was also identified for the first time. In addition, quantitative RT-PCR analysis of several key genes in the expected pathway was conducted to know their expression in acetate assimilation and BF biosynthesis. Based on the data obtained in this study, an overview of the BF synthetic pathway is discussed.
Atmospheric Correction Inter-Comparison Exercise
Authors: Doxani Georgia , Vermote Eric , Roger Jean-Claude , Gascon Ferran , Adriaensen Stefan , Frantz David , Hagolle Olivier , Hollstein André , Kirches Grit , Li Fuqin , Louis Jérôme , Mangin Antoine , Pahlevan Nima , Pflug Bringfried , Vanhellemont Quinten
Published: February 2018

The Atmospheric Correction Inter-comparison eXercise (ACIX) is an international initiative with the aim to analyse the Surface Reflectance (SR) products of various state-of-the-art atmospheric correction (AC) processors. The Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) and Water Vapour (WV) are also examined in ACIX as additional outputs of AC processing. In this paper, the general ACIX framework is discussed; special mention is made of the motivation to initiate the experiment, the inter-comparison protocol, and the principal results. ACIX is free and open and every developer was welcome to participate. Eventually, 12 participants applied their approaches to various Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 image datasets acquired over sites around the world. The current results diverge depending on the sensors, products, and sites, indicating their strengths and weaknesses. Indeed, this first implementation of processor inter-comparison was proven to be a good lesson for the developers to learn the advantages and limitations of their approaches. Various algorithm improvements are expected, if not already implemented, and the enhanced performances are yet to be assessed in future ACIX experiments.
A Study of Rank Defect and Network Effect in Processing the CMONOC Network on Bernese
Authors: Wu Weiwei , Wu Jicang , Meng Guojie
Published: February 2018

High-precision GPS data processing on Bernese has been employed to routinely resolve daily position solutions of GPS stations in the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC). The rank-deficient problems of the normal equation (NEQ) system and the network effect on the frame alignment of NEQs in the processing of CMONOC data on Bernese still present difficulties. In this study, we diagnose the rank-deficient problems of the original NEQ, review the efficiency of the controlled datum removal (CDR) method in filtering out the three frame-origin-related datum contents, investigate the reliabilities of the inherited frame orientation and scale information from the fixation of the GPS satellite orbits and the Earth rotation parameters in establishing the NEQ of the CMONOC network on Bernese, and analyze the impact of the network effect on the position time series of GPS stations. Our results confirm the nonsingularity of the original NEQ and the efficiency of the CDR filtering in resolving the rank-deficient problems; show that the frame origin parameters are weakly defined and should be stripped off, while the frame orientation and scale parameters should be retained due to their insufficient redefinition from the minimal constraint (MC) implementation through inhomogeneous and asymmetrical fiducial networks; and reveal the superiority of a globally distributed fiducial network for frame alignment of the reconstructed NEQs via No-Net-Translation (NNT) MC conditions. Finally, we attribute the two apparent discontinuities in the position time series to the terrestrial reference frame (TRF) conversions of the GPS satellite orbits, and identify it as the orbit TRF effect.
Accuracy of CHIRPS Satellite-Rainfall Products over Mainland China
Authors: Bai Lei , Shi Chunxiang , Li Lanhai , Yang Yanfen , Wu Jing
Published: February 2018

Precipitation is the main component of global water cycle. At present, satellite quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) are widely applied in the scientific community. However, the evaluations of satellite QPEs have some limitations in terms of the deficiency in observation, evaluation methodology, the selection of time windows for evaluation and short periods for evaluation. The objective of this work is to make some improvements by evaluating the spatio-temporal pattern of the long-terms Climate Hazard Group InfraRed Precipitation Satellite’s (CHIRPS’s) QPEs over mainland China. In this study, we compared the daily precipitation estimates from CHIRPS with 2480 rain gauges across China and gridded observation using several statistical metrics in the long-term period of 1981–2014. The results show that there is significant difference between point evaluation and grid evaluation for CHIRPS. CHIRPS has better performance for a large amount of precipitation than it does for arid and semi-arid land. The change in good performance zones has strong relationship with monsoon’s movement. Therefore, CHIRPS performs better in river basins of southern China and exhibits poor performance in river basins in northwestern and northern China. Moreover, CHIRPS exhibits better in warm season than in Winter, owing to its limited ability to detect snowfall. Nevertheless, CHIRPS is moderately sensitive to the precipitation from typhoon weather systems. The limitations for CHIRPS result from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) 3B42 estimates’ accuracy and valid spatial coverage.
Vertical Deformation Monitoring of the Suspension Bridge Tower Using GNSS: A Case Study of the Forth Road Bridge in the UK
Authors: Chen Qusen , Jiang Weiping , Meng Xiaolin , Jiang Peng , Wang Kaihua , Xie Yilin , Ye Jun
Published: February 2018

The vertical deformation monitoring of a suspension bridge tower is of paramount importance to maintain the operational safety since nearly all forces are eventually transferred as the vertical stress on the tower. This paper analyses the components affecting the vertical deformation and attempts to reveal its deformation mechanism. Firstly, we designed a strategy for high-precision GNSS data processing aiming at facilitating deformation extraction and analysis. Then, 33 months of vertical deformation time series of the southern tower of the Forth Road Bridge (FRB) in the UK were processed, and the accurate subsidence and the parameters of seasonal signals were estimated based on a classic function model that has been widely studied to analyse GNSS coordinate time series. We found that the subsidence rate is about 4.7 mm/year, with 0.1 mm uncertainty. Meanwhile, a 15-month meteorological dataset was utilised with a thermal expansion model (TEM) to explain the effects of seasonal signals on tower deformation. The amplitude of the annual signals correlated quite well that obtained by the TEM, with the consistency reaching 98.9%, demonstrating that the thermal effect contributes significantly to the annual signals. The amplitude of daily signals displays poor consistency with the ambient temperature data. However, the phase variation tendencies between the daily signals of the vertical deformation and the ambient temperature are highly consistent after February 2016. Finally, the potential contribution of the North Atlantic Drift (NAD) to the characteristics of annual and daily signals is discussed because of the special geographical location of the FRB. Meanwhile, this paper emphasizes the importance of collecting more detailed meteorological and other loading data for the investigation of the vertical deformation mechanism of the bridge towers over time with the support of GNSS.
Erratum: Maresma, A., et al. Analysis of Vegetation Indices to Determine Nitrogen Application and Yield Prediction in Maize (Zea mays L.) from a Standard UAV Service. Remote Sens. 2017, 9, 648
Authors: Maresma Ángel , Ariza Mar , Martínez Elías , Lloveras Jaume , Martínez-Casasnovas José
Published: February 2018

After publication of the research paper [1], the authors noticed an error and wish to make the following correction.[...]
Sparse Bayesian Learning Based Three-Dimensional Imaging Algorithm for Off-Grid Air Targets in MIMO Radar Array
Authors: Jiao Zekun , Ding Chibiao , Liang Xingdong , Chen Longyong , Zhang Fubo
Published: February 2018

In recent years, the development of compressed sensing (CS) and array signal processing provides us with a broader perspective of 3D imaging. The CS-based imaging algorithms have a better performance than traditional methods. In addition, the sparse array can overcome the limitation of aperture size and number of antennas. Since the signal to be reconstructed is sparse for air targets, many CS-based imaging algorithms using a sparse array are proposed. However, most of those algorithms assume that the scatterers are exactly located at the pre-discretized grids, which will not hold in real scene. Aiming at finding an accurate solution to off-grid target imaging, we propose an off-grid 3D imaging method based on improved sparse Bayesian learning (SBL). Besides, the Bayesian Cramér-Rao Bound (BCRB) for off-grid bias estimator is provided. Different from previous algorithms, the proposed algorithm adopts a three-stage hierarchical sparse prior to introduce more degrees of freedom. Then variational expectation maximization method is applied to solve the sparse recovery problem through iteration, during each iteration joint sparsity is used to improve efficiency. Experimental results not only validate that the proposed method outperforms the existing off-grid imaging methods in terms of accuracy and resolution, but have compared the root mean square error with corresponding BCRB, proving effectiveness of the proposed method.
Supplier Selection Study under the Respective of Low-Carbon Supply Chain: A Hybrid Evaluation Model Based on FA-DEA-AHP
Authors: He Xiangshuo , Zhang Jian
Published: February 2018

With the development of global environment and social economy, it is an indispensable choice for enterprises to achieve sustainable growth through developing low-carbon economy and constructing low-carbon supply chain. Supplier is the source of chain, thus selecting excellent low-carbon supplier is the foundation of establishing efficient low-carbon supply chain. This paper presents a novel hybrid model for supplier selection integrated factor analysis (FA), data envelopment analysis (DEA), with analytic hierarchy process (AHP), namely FA-DEA-AHP. First, an evaluation index system is built, incorporating product level, qualification, cooperation ability, and environmental competitiveness. FA is utilized to extract common factors from the 18 pre-selected indicators. Then, DEA is applied to establish the pairwise comparison matrix and AHP is employed to rank these low-carbon suppliers comprehensively and calculate the validity of the decision-making units. Finally, an experiment study with seven cement suppliers in a large industrial enterprise is carried out in this paper. The results reveal that the proposed technique can not only select effective suppliers, but also realize a comprehensive ranking. This research has enriched the methodology of low-carbon supplier evaluation and selection, as well as owns theoretical value in exploring the coordinated development of low-carbon supply chain to some extent.
The Difficulty of Climate Change Adaptation in Manufacturing Firms: Developing an Action-Theoretical Perspective on the Causality of Adaptive Inaction
Authors: Meinel Ulrike , Schüle Ralf
Published: February 2018

Climate change induces various risks for supply chains of manufacturing firms. However, surveys have suggested that only a minority of firms conducts strategic adaptations, which we define as anticipatory and target-oriented action with the purpose of increasing resilience to climate change. While several barrier-centered studies have investigated the causality of non-adaptation in industry, the examined barriers are often not problem-specific. Furthermore, it has been shown that even in cases when managers perceive no barriers to adaptation at all, strategic adaptations may still not be conducted. On this background, the present analysis focuses on the logic of adaptive inaction, which we conceive, in particular, as inaction with regard to strategic adaptations. Adopting an action-theoretical perspective, the study examines (a) which aspects may shape the rationality of adaptive inaction among managers, (b) which more condensed challenges of conducting strategic adaptations emerge for managers, and (c) how the theoretical propositions can be tested. For this purpose, the study employs an exploratory approach. Thus, hypotheses on such aspects are explored, which may shape the rationality of adaptive inaction among managers. Subsequently, predictions are inferred from the theoretical propositions, which allow testing their empirical relevance. Methodologically, the hypotheses are explored by reexamining existing explanatory approaches from literature based on a set of pretheoretical assumptions, which include notions of bounded rationality. As a result, the study proposes 13 aspects which may constrain managers in conducting adaptations in such a way, which serves the economic utility of the firm. By condensing these aspects, 4 major challenges for managers are suggested: the challenges of (a) conducting long-term adaptations, of (b) conducting adaptations at an early point in time, of (c) conducting adaptations despite uncertain effects of the measures, and of (d) conducting adaptations despite cross-tier dependencies in supply chains. Finally, the study shows how the propositions can be tested and outlines a research agenda based on the developed theoretical suggestions.
Evaluating Urban Quality: Indicators and Assessment Tools for Smart Sustainable Cities
Authors: Garau Chiara , Pavan Valentina
Published: February 2018

The analysis of urban sustainability is key to urban planning, and its usefulness extends to smart cities. Analyses of urban quality typically focus on applying methodologies that evaluate quality objectives at environmental, urban, and building levels. Research has shown that a system of indicators can be useful for developing qualitative and quantitative descriptors of urban environments. The first step in this study was to formulate a methodology to measure the quality of urban life based on investigative checklists and objective and subjective indicators, aggregated to develop an index to evaluate a city’s level of smart urban quality. The second step was to apply this methodology to evaluate the city of Cagliari (Italy) at the neighbourhood scale, which is considered by literature the most suitable as a self-sufficient spatial unit for showing redevelopment results. In addition to sharing its research findings, this study aims to verify whether the methodology can be applied to similar urban contexts. The main outcomes of this research pertain to opportunities to numerically measure both objective and subjective aspects that affect urban quality. In this way, the most critical areas to be requalified have been highlighted in order to prepare policies congruent with the local context.
Forecasting Renewable Energy Consumption under Zero Assumptions
Authors: Ma Jie , Oppong Amos , Acheampong Kingsley Nketia , Abruquah Lucille Aba
Published: February 2018

Renewable energy, as an environmentally friendly and sustainable source of energy, is key to realizing the nationally determined contributions of the United States (US) to the December 2015 Paris agreement. Policymakers in the US rely on energy forecasts to draft and implement cost-minimizing, efficient and realistic renewable and sustainable energy policies but the inaccuracies in past projections are considerably high. The inaccuracies and inconsistencies in forecasts are due to the numerous factors considered, massive assumptions and modeling flaws in the underlying model. Here, we propose and apply a machine learning forecasting algorithm devoid of massive independent variables and assumptions to model and forecast renewable energy consumption (REC) in the US. We employ the forecasting technique to make projections on REC from biomass (REC-BMs) and hydroelectric (HE-EC) sources for the 2009–2016 period. We find that, relative to reference case projections in Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2008, projections based on our proposed technique present an enormous improvement up to ~138.26-fold on REC-BMs and ~24.67-fold on HE-EC; and that applying our technique saves the US ~2692.62PJ petajoules(PJ) on HE-EC and ~9695.09PJ on REC-BMs for the 8-year forecast period. The achieved high-accuracy is also replicable to other regions.
The Effects of Gliricidia-Derived Biochar on Sequential Maize and Bean Farming
Authors: Castro Ana , Da Silva Batista Nilcileny , Latawiec Agnieszka , Rodrigues Aline , Strassburg Bernardo , Silva Daniel , Araujo Ednaldo , De Moraes Luiz , Guerra Jose , Galvão Gabriel , Alves-Pinto Helena , Mendes Maiara , Dos Santos Juliana , Rangel Marcio , Figueredo Mariela , Cornelissen Gerard , Hale Sarah
Published: February 2018

The addition of biochar to soils can improve soil fertility and increase agricultural productivity. We carried out a field experiment in which biochar produced from Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp. was added to low-fertility Brazilian planosol and tested to increase the yield of maize (Zea mays) and snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in sequential, organic cultivation. Biochar was applied at a 15 t/ha rate, combined or not with Azospirillum Brasiliense inoculation and organic fertilizer (Bokashi). The application of biochar resulted in an increase in soil pH and of the content of macronutrients such as phosphorus and potassium. Contrary to evidence from elsewhere, biochar had a limited effect on increasing maize yield. In the case of beans, when combined with fertilizer, biochar increased the production of beans pods and biomass, but the significant increase was observed only for inoculation. Beans are the principal component of Brazilian diet and increasing productivity of beans is of upmost importance for the poorest in Brazil, and in other tropical countries.
Relationship between Park Composition, Vegetation Characteristics and Cool Island Effect
Authors: Wang Xinjun , Cheng Haoming , Xi Juan , Yang Guoying , Zhao Yanwen
Published: February 2018

The Land Surface Temperature (LST) of a park is lower than the surrounding environment, and thus the parkland forms a Park Cool Island (PCI). However, more case studies are needed to reveal the relationship between park composition, vegetation characteristic and PCI development. The LST and Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) of 18 different sized parks in Changzhou, China were obtained from Landsat-8 and Mapworld Changzhou data. Then, a sample investigation method was used to calculate vegetation characteristics of these parks by an i-Tree Eco model. In order to reduce the impact from the external environment on PCI, the Temperature Drop Amplitude (TDA) and Temperature Drop Range (TR) inside the parks were analyzed by ArcGIS 9.3. Impact factors were tested by Pearson correlation analysis and curve fit to reveal the relationship between these factors and PCI formation. The result shows that a park area threshold of 1.34 to 17 hectares provides the best PCI effect, that park shape (perimeter/area), Leaf Area Index (LAI), density, tree cover, water cover, and impervious surface cover have significant correlation with PCI development, vegetation health and global climate change affect the PCI development. Advice is proposed to improve and maintain PCI effects.
Research in Sustainable Tourism: A Longitudinal Study of Articles between 2008 and 2017
Authors: Qian Jianwei , Shen Huawen , Law Rob
Published: February 2018

The influence of tourism on the environment has led to research on the development of sustainable tourism. Scholars from popular destinations and their governments are actively conducting sustainable tourism research, and their contributions to the field have achieved global renown. Without data from the natural sciences, knowledge from tourism dominates this area. This work utilizes content analysis to systematically review these studies to present the current state of existing research with the aid of visualization tools. The findings delineate the development of research on sustainable tourism in terms of collaboration, impact, knowledge base, and thematic coverage. Six major themes are selected to showcase recent trends in sustainable tourism research and guide future studies. Accordingly, this study can contribute to the development of sustainable tourism research and guide industry practices.
Educating Professionals for Sustainable Futures
Authors: Janhonen-Abruquah Hille , Topp Jenni , Posti-Ahokas Hanna
Published: February 2018

The recent discourse on sustainability science calls for interdisciplinary research. The home economics science approach ranges from individual actions to the involvement of communities and societies at large, and thus it can provide important perspectives on cultural sustainability. The aim of the research is to study the linkage between cultural sustainability and service sector education to support the creation of sustainable professions. In the present small-scale empirical study, the food service degree curriculum of a Finnish vocational college and teachers’ group interview data were analyzed to find how cultural sustainability is presented in the curriculum and how it is understood by teachers and integrated into teaching practices. Previous cultural sustainability research identifies four perspectives of cultural sustainability: (1) vitality of cultural traditions; (2) economic starting point; (3) diversity together with maintenance of local culture; and (4) possible influence on the balance between human actions and environment. Findings indicate that sustainability, including cultural sustainability, is integrated in the curriculum and considered important by teachers. Translating these into practice remains a challenge. The balance between human and nature was mostly understood as recycling, use of public transport, sustainable consumption, and taking trips to the nature nearby. Cultural sustainability as a concept is not well known, although themes such as multicultural issues, equality, charity, and environmental responsibility were included in teachers’ practical lessons daily. Feasts and celebrations in learning were opportunities to view cultural sustainability widely. This paper provides a way forward for the teachers to develop further their pedagogical practices.
Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Urban Expansion along the Guangzhou–Foshan Inter-City Rail Transit Corridor, China
Authors: Li Shaoying , Liu Xiaoping , Li Zhigang , Wu Zhifeng , Yan Zijun , Chen Yimin , Gao Feng
Published: February 2018

Understanding the urban expansion process along inter-city rail transit corridors is critical to regional integration of city groups. Though numerous studies have considered the influences of rail transit on land use and urban form, most have focused on local station areas or intra-city urban structures. Few studies have examined the effects and dynamic process along inter-city rail transit corridors at a regional scale. In this study, multi-remote sensing images, landscape metrics and gradient analysis were combined to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion and regional structural changes along the GuangFo inter-city Metro in the Pearl River Delta, south China. We introduced Thiessen Polygon into quadrat zoning for landscape gradient analysis, and clearly revealed the spatial variations of landscape changes along the metro transect. The regional expansion stage and inter-city structural changes were further detected based on the theoretical framework of diffusion-coalescence growth. This study revealed that during its construction the GuangFo Metro significantly impacted urban expansion at the urban fringes. Before construction the urban patches became irregular and fragmented as the gradient moved from city centers to city fringes. Influenced by the GuangFo Metro, the urban patches expanded and consequently coalesced into a homogenous urbanized area, which indicated that coalescence was the dominant expansion stage and the regional structure become more aggregated. This suggested that the inter-city rail transit has played an important role in promoting the integration of the GuangFo metropolitan region.
Dynamics of Metropolitan Landscapes and Daily Mobility Flows in the Italian Context. An Analysis Based on the Theory of Graphs
Authors: Ganciu Amedeo , Balestrieri Mara , Imbroglini Cristina , Toppetti Fabrizio
Published: February 2018

The distribution of services across a territory generates daily commuting flows, which have a significant influence on the development of the territory and often causes congestion in large areas. This negatively affects the environmental, economic and social components of the metropolitan landscape. Using the graph theory, we constructed and analyzed various (in typologies of transportation and moving time) flow networks in the two main Italian metropolitan areas: Rome (MCR) and Milan (MCM). The analysis of these networks provided us with strategic information on the dynamics of the two urban macro-systems. In particular, the aim of our study was to: (i) identify the characteristics, distribution and direction of the main attractive forces within the regional systems under study; (ii) identify the main differences in size and structure of commuter networks between the two metropolitan areas and between the two regional systems that include the two mother cities; and, (iii) identify the main differences in the size and structure of the two commuting networks by transport modes (private, public, non-motorized mobility) and the travel time. The results highlighted significant differences between the two case studies regarding volume flows, complexity and structure networks, and the spatial extension of the territories that are governed by the two metropolitan areas. MCR is a strongly monocentric urban system with a regional influence centred on the mother city of Rome, while MCM is a diffused polycentric regional metropolitan system centred on multiple mother cities. The findings many have a role in urban planning choices and in the evaluation of policies aimed to favor sustainable mobility.
The Spatio-Temporal Characteristics and Modeling Research of Inter-Provincial Migration in China
Authors: Fan Xiaomei , Liu Hongguang , Zhang Zimeng , Zhang Jie
Published: February 2018

The national census data during 1995 and 2000 and during 2005 and 2010 are selected in this paper to make an analysis of the spatio-temporal characteristics of the inter-provincial population migration in China. In addition, the general regression model, the extension regression model considering the historical dependent variable and the spatial lag model are established based on the gravity model to make the regression model on China’s inter-provincial population migration over two periods of time. The results show that: (1) the inter-provincial population migration increases rapidly in size with strong geographical proximity; (2) China’s inter-provincial population migration is still in the primary stage of the general process of population migration. In other words, the inter-provincial population emigration and immigration levels have increased greatly with the economic development; (3) Statistically, the inter-provincial population migration is negatively correlated with the level of economic development in the emigrant place and the migration distance and positively correlated with the level of economic development in the immigrant place and the population scale in the emigrant and immigrant places; and (4) The spatio-temporal factor is an important explanatory variable of population migration. The introduction of the historical dependent variable and the spatial lag factor can improve the regression effect of the gravity model greatly, and the historical variable and the spatial factor have strong explanatory power for the inter-provincial population migration.
Some Aspects of Nonlinearity and Self-Organization In Biosystems on Examples of Localized Excitations in the DNA Molecule and Generalized Fisher–KPP Model
Authors: Shapovalov A. , Obukhov V.
Published: February 2018

This review deals with ideas and approaches to nonlinear phenomena, based on different branches of physics and related to biological systems, that focus on how small impacts can significantly change the state of the system at large spatial scales. This problem is very extensive, and it cannot be fully resolved in this paper. Instead, some selected physical effects are briefly reviewed. We consider sine-Gordon solitons and nonlinear Schrodinger solitons in some models of DNA as examples of self-organization at the molecular level, as well as examine features of their formation and dynamics under the influence of external influences. In addition, the formation of patterns in the generalized Fisher–KPP model is viewed as a simple example of self-organization in a system with nonlocal interaction at the cellular level. Symmetries of model equations are employed to analyze the considered nonlinear phenomena. In this context the possible relations between phenomena considered and released activity effect, which is assessed differently in the literature, are discussed.
Symmetric Representation of Ternary Forms Associated to Some Toeplitz Matrices †
Authors: Chien Mao-Ting , Nakazato Hiroshi
Published: February 2018

Let A be an

n
×
n

complex matrix. Assume the determinantal curve

V
A

=

{

[

(
x
,
y
,
z
)

]

∈

CP

2

:

F
A

(
x
,
y
,
z
)

=
det

(
x
ℜ

(
A
)

+
y
ℑ

(
A
)

+
z

I
n

)

=
0
}

is a rational curve. The Fiedler formula provides a complex symmetric matrix S satisfying

F
S

(
x
,
y
,
z
)

=

F
A

(
x
,
y
,
z
)

. It is also known that every Toeplitz matrix is unitarily similar to a symmetric matrix. In this paper, we investigate the unitary similarity of the symmetric matrix S and the matrix A in the Fiedler theorem for a specific parametrized family of

4
×
4

nilpotent Toeplitz matrices A. We show that there are either one or at least three unitarily inequivalent symmetric matrices which admit the determinantal representation of the ternary from

F
A

(
x
,
y
,
z
)

associated to the specific

4
×
4

nilpotent Toeplitz matrices.
MERS-CoV: Understanding the Latest Human Coronavirus Threat
Authors: Chafekar Aasiyah , Fielding Burtram
Published: February 2018

Human coronaviruses cause both upper and lower respiratory tract infections in humans. In 2012, a sixth human coronavirus (hCoV) was isolated from a patient presenting with severe respiratory illness. The 60-year-old man died as a result of renal and respiratory failure after admission to a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The aetiological agent was eventually identified as a coronavirus and designated Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). MERS-CoV has now been reported in more than 27 countries across the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and Asia. As of July 2017, 2040 MERS-CoV laboratory confirmed cases, resulting in 712 deaths, were reported globally, with a majority of these cases from the Arabian Peninsula. This review summarises the current understanding of MERS-CoV, with special reference to the (i) genome structure; (ii) clinical features; (iii) diagnosis of infection; and (iv) treatment and vaccine development.
Fowl Adenovirus 4 (FAdV-4)-Based Infectious Clone for Vaccine Vector Development and Viral Gene Function Studies
Authors: Pei Yanlong , Corredor Juan , Griffin Bryan , Krell Peter , Nagy Éva
Published: February 2018

Fowl adenovirus 4 (FAdV-4) is associated with economically important poultry diseases. Recent studies of fully sequenced genomes of FAdV-4 isolates suggest potential genomic regions associated with virulence and amenable for manipulation and vector development. Direct manipulation of viral genomes is cumbersome, as opposed to that of infectious clones—viral genomes cloned into plasmid or cosmid vectors. In this work, we generated an infectious clone, pFAdV-4 ON1, containing the entire viral genome of a nonpathogenic FAdV-4 (ON1 isolate). pFAdV-4 ON1 was used for targeted deletion of open reading frames (ORFs) 16 and 17 and replacement with the enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) expression cassette to generate recombinant viruses. These viruses were viable, and EGFP was expressed in infected cells. Their replication, however, was significantly reduced with respect to that of the wild-type virus. These observations suggest the potential utility of FAdV-4 as a vaccine vector and the importance of ORFs 16 and 17 for virus replication at wild-type levels. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an infectious clone based on the FAdV-4 genome, and our results demonstrate its utility for studies of virulence determinants and as a platform for either vaccine or gene delivery vectors.
Temporal Evolution of Intramural Esophageal Dissection with 3D Reconstruction and Cinematic Virtual Fly-Through
Authors: Wong Ying Mei , Makmur Andrew , Lau Li Ching , Ting Eric
Published: February 2018

Intramural esophageal dissection is an uncommon condition, involving the separation of the esophageal mucosa from the muscular layers. To our knowledge, the temporal evolution of intramural esophageal dissection on computed tomography has not been previously demonstrated. We present a case of a 51-year-old male who first presented to the emergency department with fever, odynophagia, and dysphagia. He was treated for acute tonsillitis and discharged, but presented again after 10 days with worsening symptoms. A series of radiographs and computed tomography studies, with 3D reconstruction and cinematic virtual fly-through, in these 2 admissions depicts the temporal evolution of intramural hematoma to subsequent intramural esophageal dissection. Recognizing its appearance on imaging is invaluable in distinguishing it from other important differential diagnoses. A complete description of the case, relevant radiologic imaging, and review of the relevant literature are provided.
Los movimientos sociales en América Latina y el Caribe, la evolución de su papel e influencia, y su creciente fuerza
Authors: Fuentes-Nieva Ricardo , Nelli Feroci Gianandrea
Published: February 2018

El presente artículo sostiene que estamos presenciando nuevos procesos de participación y activismo social en América Latina, caracterizados por la ausencia de centros de deliberación y coordinación definidos, y por liderazgos transitorios. Este activismo es parte de una ola más amplia de protestas sociales en el mundo que empezó con la Primavera Árabe en 2011, y con la cual comparte rasgos como el factor generacional, el rol de las redes y medios sociales, el uso de tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC), la brecha entre las políticas institucionales y la ciudadanía, y el debilitamiento del poder de convocatoria y movilización de los movimientos sociales clásicos. El período 2011-2015 se caracterizó por el surgimiento de este nuevo tipo de activismo social en América Latina. Esta forma de activismo emerge en un contexto regional específico de crecientes contradicciones, producto de un desarrollo socioeconómico excluyente y de un desarrollo humano incompleto, caracterizado por desigualdades sociales radicales en democracias que siguen sin atender las necesidades de gran parte de la sociedad. Aunque estos movimientos sociales pueden parecer nuevos, en verdad son expresión de las tensiones subyacentes presentes en la mayoría de las sociedades de la región; son puntos de tensión que por largo tiempo han representado el núcleo del conflicto social en América Latina: la desigualdad, la pobreza y la exclusión que ambas implican. Esta exclusión es social (falta de acceso a los servicios básicos, a la educación, a la salud, al transporte, etc.) y política (falta de participación en los procesos de toma de decisiones, clases políticas autorreferenciales y procesos institucionales opacos y una ausencia de rendición de cuentas en el ámbito político-institucional).
IDENTIFYING DEEP BREATH EFFECT ON CARDIOVASCULAR SIGNALS USING CONDITIONAL ENTROPY: AN INFORMATION DOMAIN APPROACH
Authors: Helen Mary M. C. , Singh Dilbag , Deepak K. K.
Published: February 2018

This quantitative study identifies the coupling changes occurring among cardiac (RR), vascular (SBP) and respiratory (RESP) signals during deep breathing. The deep breathing measures the dysfunction of the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system. The traditional methods based on cross-correlation and coherence analysis lack to measure nonlinear structures and unpredictability of physiological subsystems. Therefore, information domain coupling method based on conditional entropy is proposed to detect the coupling changes. Thirty healthy volunteers were examined for 5[Formula: see text]min at normal breathing and 5[Formula: see text]min during deep breathing (6[Formula: see text]cycles/min). The reduction in respiration rate detects a significant increase in information flow from RESP to RR, RESP to SBP and SBP to RR. The increased interaction from RESP to RR and RESP to SBP at reduced respiration rate indicates the enhancement of respiratory sinus arrhythmia that results in the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system. Also, the balanced cardiovascular interaction observed on normal breathing from RR to SBP disappears, but interaction occurring in baroreflex direction (SBP to RR) increases that helps in the reduction of blood pressure during deep breathing. This detected direction of information flow helps in identifying the coupling changes occurring during parasympathetic nerve activity.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF DRILL QUALITY ON BONE TEMPERATURE IN DRILLING
Authors: Alam Khurshid , Imran Syed Husain , Al-Shabibi Abdullah , Ghodsi Mojtaba , Silberschmidth Vadim
Published: February 2018

Bone drilling is widely performed in orthopedics for fixation and reconstruction of bone. In bone drilling, a hard metallic drill penetrates into the bone tissue which may cause trauma. Shear deformation of the bone material and friction between the drill and bone may induce elevated temperature in bone tissue. Temperature above a certain level may seriously harm the tissue, leading to several postoperative complications. The purpose of the current study is to measure and compare temperature in bone drilling using sharp and worn drill. Drilling tests were performed on cortical bone obtained from femoral shaft of a cow. A parametric study was conducted to quantify bone temperature using a range of drilling speeds and feed rates using drills having sharp and worn cutting edges with and without cooling environment. The temperature was measured using thermocouples, and wear of the cutting edges of the drill was measured using a scanning profilometer. Experimental results demonstrated lower temperature in bone using a sharp drill compared with a worn drill for similar drilling conditions. The bone temperature was found to rise with drill rotational speed, rate of penetration and size of the drill with and without cooling. Blunt drills were found more crucial for inducing thermal necrosis in bone.
Developing Practical Data Skills in Undergraduate Students Using Ocean Observatories
Authors: Schofield Oscar , Glenn Scott , Kohut Josh , Miles Travis , Roarty Hugh , Saba Grace , McDonnell Janice
Published: February 2018

AbstractDeveloping the workforce to meet the needs of the blue economy will require changing undergraduate marine science programs to provide a wider range of skills developed by “doing” rather than just “reading.” Students also need training on how
to effectively work in a team, critically analyze data, and be able to clearly communicate key points. With that in mind, we developed a new undergraduate course (called Ocean Observing) focused on conducting research by analyzing data collected and delivered to shore in near real time from
the growing global network of ocean observatories. The course structure is based on student teams that use data to develop a range of data products, many of which have been suggested by state and federal agencies as well as from maritime companies. Students can take the Ocean Observing course
repeatedly throughout their undergraduate career. A complimentary second entry course (called Oceanography House) was developed to entrain freshmen first-term students into research on their first semester on campus. The Ocean Observing course has increased the number of marine science majors
and the overall diversity of the marine science program and resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of independent student theses conducted each year. Over the last 10 years, student data profiles from the course emphasize the importance of conducting research in a public way so students
can partake in the “adventure” of research before the outcome is known. To increase the public visibility of these “adventures,” collaborations between departments across the campus have developed nationally broadcast documentaries and outreach materials. Going forward,
we seek to build on this success by developing an accelerated Masters of Operational Oceanography and link these undergraduate students with external companies through externships and coordinated research projects.
The determinants and measurement of trust in tax authorities as a factor influencing tax compliance behaviour
Authors: Bornman Marina
Published: February 2018

To trust is to believe that another person will cooperate for your benefit and will not take advantage of you if an opportunity to do so arises. Trust is valued as a relational variable providing the base for voluntary cooperation. This article aims to determine, by reviewing studies on the effect of trust in tax authorities on tax compliance, the determinants, effect and measurement of trust in this context. Findings from a number of studies indicated that trust in tax authorities is positively related to tax compliance, and it was found that perceptions of fairness, treatment by authorities, norms and attitudes, and subjective tax knowledge are the main factors determining trust in tax authorities. However, many studies use very limited descriptors when measuring perceptions of trust in authorities, and it is suggested that a standardised survey instrument could be developed to measure such perceptions.