bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bearing Fault Diagnosis Using a Vector-Based Convolutional Fuzzy Neural Network
Authors: Lin Cheng-Jian , Lin Chun-Hui , Lin Frank
Published: March 2023

The spindle of a machine tool plays a key role in machining because the wear of a spindle might result in inaccurate production and decreased productivity. To understand the condition of a machine tool, a vector-based convolutional fuzzy neural network (vector-CFNN) was developed in this study to diagnose faults from signals. The developed vector-CFNN mainly comprises a feature extraction part and a classification part. The feature extraction phase encompasses the use of convolutional layers and pooling layers, while the classification phase is facilitated through the deployment of a fuzzy neural network. The fusion layer plays an important role by being placed between the feature extraction and classification parts. It combines the characteristics and then passes the feature information to the classification part to improve the model’s performance. The developed vector-CFNN was experimentally evaluated against existing fusion methods; vector-CFNN required fewer parameters and achieved the highest average accuracy (99.84%) in fault diagnosis relative to conventional neural networks, fuzzy neural networks, and convolutional neural networks. Moreover, vector-CFNN achieved superior fault diagnosis using spindle vibration signals and required fewer parameters relative to its counterparts, indicating its feasibility for online spindle vibration monitoring.
An Effective Motion-Tracking Scheme for Machine-Learning Applications in Noisy Videos
Authors: Kim HaeHwan , Lee Ho-Woong , Lee JinSung , Bae Okhwan , Hong Chung-Pyo
Published: March 2023

Detecting and tracking objects of interest in videos is a technology that can be used in various applications. For example, identifying cell movements or mutations through videos obtained in real time can be useful information for decision making in the medical field. However, depending on the situation, the quality of the video may be below the expected level, and in this case, it may be difficult to check necessary information. To overcome this problem, we proposed a technique to effectively track objects by modifying the simplest color balance (SCB) technique. An optimal object detection method was devised by mixing the modified SCB algorithm and a binarization technique. We presented a method of displaying object labels on a per-frame basis to track object movements in a video. Detecting objects and tagging labels through this method can be used to generate object motion-based prediction training data for machine learning. That is, based on the generated training data, it is possible to implement an artificial intelligence model for an expert system based on various object motion measurements. As a result, the main object detection accuracy in noisy videos was more than 95%. This method also reduced the tracking loss rate to less than 10%.
Plasma-Activated Water Affects the Antioxidant Contents in Water Spinach
Authors: Hsu Shu-Chen , Kong Ting-Khai , Chen Chung-Yu , Chen Hsiu-Ling
Published: March 2023

Several studies suggested that plasma-activated water (PAW) increases crop yields and confronts drought. This study determined the total phenolic (TP) and total flavonoid (TF) contents of water spinach to elucidate whether PAW induced changes in the antioxidant potential of water spinach planted in soil with and without metal contaminants. PAW was selected as the irrigation water for pot experiments. Results showed that PAW increased the TP of water spinach planted in soil without any contaminants and, to some extent, in Cd-added soils but decreased the TP of those planted in Pb-added soil. PAW significantly enhanced the TF of water spinach planted in Cd-added cultivation soil, but not for Pb-added cultivation soil. Meanwhile, PAW can elevate the TF of water spinach by adding fertilizer and sunlight exposure. This study demonstrated that PAW application could increase TF, powerful antioxidants of water spinach planted with fertilizer and sunlight, in the cultivation soil with Cd, or without any contaminant.
Designing Collagen-Binding Peptide with Enhanced Properties Using Hydropathic Free Energy Predictions
Authors: Boone Kyle , Cloyd Aya Kirahm , Derakovic Emina , Spencer Paulette , Tamerler Candan
Published: March 2023

Collagen is fundamental to a vast diversity of health functions and potential therapeutics. Short peptides targeting collagen are attractive for designing modular systems for site-specific delivery of bioactive agents. Characterization of peptide–protein binding involves a larger number of potential interactions that require screening methods to target physiological conditions. We build a hydropathy-based free energy estimation tool which allows quick evaluation of peptides binding to collagen. Previous studies showed that pH plays a significant role in collagen structure and stability. Our design tool enables probing peptides for their collagen-binding property across multiple pH conditions. We explored binding features of currently known collagen-binding peptides, collagen type I alpha chain 2 sense peptide (TKKTLRT) and decorin LRR-10 (LRELHLNNN). Based on these analyzes, we engineered a collagen-binding peptide with enhanced properties across a large pH range in contrast to LRR-10 pH dependence. To validate our predictions, we used a quantum-dots-based binding assay to compare the coverage of the peptides on type I collagen. The predicted peptide resulted in improved collagen binding. Hydropathy of the peptide–protein pair is a promising approach to finding compatible pairings with minimal use of computational resources, and our method allows for quick evaluation of peptides for binding to other proteins. Overall, the free-energy-based tool provides an alternative computational screening approach that impacts protein interaction search methods.
Ten Questions Concerning Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Models: The Development and Applications
Authors: Zhang Dadi , Mui Kwok-Wai , Wong Ling-Tim
Published: March 2023

In the past two decades, with advances in data collection and in analytical techniques and tools, there has been a significant increase in research on indoor environmental quality (IEQ) assessment. To better understand the relationships between the overall IEQ performance and individual IEQ aspects, namely, indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustic quality, and visual quality, IEQ models have been developed by many previous studies. In this paper, the IEQ models proposed in the literature in the period from 2001 to 2022 are examined and summarized into ten questions, including but not limited to indicator selection, data collection, analysis methods, interpretation, and implication. The proposed answers aim to provide insight into current studies on IEQ models and identify gaps for future research. It has been found that the existing IEQ models differed for different building types or occupants. To compare the IEQ performance of various buildings in other countries, standardized data collection protocols are necessary, including the selection of IEQ aspects/indicators and their corresponding objective measurement strategies and standardized subjective survey methods. In addition, the data analysis approaches used to develop the IEQ models must be unified. Moreover, criteria for overall IEQ performance and the individual IEQ aspects should be provided. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of all the steps involved in IEQ model development. The answers to these ten questions can be seen as practical instructions for establishing an improved, standardized, and repeatable IEQ assessment model.
Design and Implementation of an Active Vibration Control Algorithm Using Servo Actuator Control Installed in Series with a Spring-Damper
Authors: Kim Soo-Min , Kim Dae W. , Kwak Moon K.
Published: March 2023

The membrane-type air spring can be used to suppress lateral vibration of a vibration isolation table. However, compared to voice coil actuators, pneumatic actuators are difficult to use for precise vibration control, because servo valves have nonlinear dynamic characteristics. Therefore, actuators, such as voice coil actuators, can be placed in parallel with air springs, allowing force-type actuators to provide additional force to the system. These actuators generate force. In the case of a ball-screw mechanism device or a linear servomotor, it is an actuator that generates displacement. These actuators are represented as serial active systems. Serial active systems are structurally simpler than parallel active systems. However, there are very few studies on vibration isolation systems using serial active systems compared to parallel active systems. As the two are different types of systems, a new control algorithm suitable for the serial active system is needed. This study proposes a system in which an actuator capable of accurately controlling displacement is connected in series with a support spring-damper. A new active vibration control algorithm for the proposed control system is also developed, which is termed the position input and position output. The proposed control algorithm uses the displacement of the system as an input and outputs the desired displacement of the actuator installed in series with the damper and spring. The proposed control algorithm increases the damping at the target frequency and reduces the response of the system. Numerical studies and experiments were conducted on the single-degree-of-freedom and multi-degree-of-freedom systems. The results show the efficacy of the proposed control system and the novel control algorithm for the vibration suppression of the lateral vibration of a vibration isolation table.
Design of Low-Power ECG Sampling and Compression Circuit
Authors: Zhao Zuoqin , Nai Yufei , Yu Zhiguo , Xu Xin , Cao Xiaoyang , Gu Xiaofeng
Published: March 2023

Compressed Sensing (CS) has been applied to electrocardiogram monitoring in wireless sensor networks, but existing sampling and compression circuits consume too much hardware. This paper proposes a low-power and small-area sampling and compression circuit with an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and a CS module. The ADC adopts split capacitors to reduce hardware consumption and uses a calibration technique to decrease offset voltage. The CS module uses an approximate addition calculation for compression and stores the compressed data in pulsed latches. The proposed addition completes the accurate calculation of the high part and the approximate calculation of the low part. In a 55 nm CMOS process, the ADC has an area of 0.011 mm2 and a power consumption of 0.214 μW at 10 kHz. Compared with traditional design, the area and power consumption of the proposed CS module are reduced by 19.5% and 31.7%, respectively. The sampling and compression circuit area is 0.325 mm2, and the power consumption is 2.951 μW at 1.2 V and 100 kHz. The compressed data are reconstructed with a percentage root mean square difference of less than 2%. The results indicate that the proposed circuit has performance advantages of hardware consumption and reconstruction quality.
Inulin Supplementation in Diets for Tropical Gar (Atractosteus tropicus) Larvae: Effects on Growth, Survival, and Digestive and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities
Authors: De La Cruz-Marín Eduardo , Martínez-García Rafael , López-Hernández Jenny F. , Méndez-Marín Otilio , De la Rosa-García Susana C. , Peña-Marín Emyr S. , Tovar-Ramírez Dariel , Sepúlveda-Quiroz Cesar A. , Pérez-Jiménez Graciela M. , Jiménez-Martínez Luis D. , Asencio-Alcudia Gloria G. , Álvarez-González Carlos A.
Published: March 2023

The effect of adding inulin to balanced diets for tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus) larvae on growth, survival, digestive enzyme activity, and antioxidant activity was evaluated. The diets were supplemented with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5% inulin in addition to a control diet (0% inulin). A total of 1800 larvae of A. tropicus distributed in 18 tanks were used; the larvae were fed five times a day (8:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, and 18:00) with Artemia nauplii from the absorption of the yolk (from 3–7 days after hatching, DAH) up to 10 DAH, which was mixed with the experimental feeds from 8–11 DAH (co-feeding) and exclusively with the balanced diets from 12 DAH to 21 DAH. Larvae fed the control diet (0% inulin) had the highest growth in weight and length, followed by fish fed the 2.5 and 2.0% inulin inclusions. However, survival showed that the fish fed with the inclusion of 2.5% inulin had the highest percentage (34.7%) compared to the rest of the treatments. On the other hand, the highest digestive enzymatic activities (acid and alkaline proteases, amylase, and lipase) were recorded in the larvae fed with 2 and 2.5% inulin. Likewise, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were higher in larvae fed the control diet with 0% inulin. Supplementation of 2.0% to 2.5% inulin in the diet is recommended for A. tropicus larvae as it improves survival and digestive enzyme activity during this early stage of life.
The Role of Crop Management Practices and Adaptation Options to Minimize the Impact of Climate Change on Maize (Zea mays L.) Production for Ethiopia
Authors: Feleke Hirut Getachew , Savage Michael J. , Fantaye Kindie Tesfaye , Rettie Fasil Mequanint
Published: March 2023

Climate change impact assessment along with adaptation measures are key for reducing the impact of climate change on crop production. The impact of current and future climate change on maize production was investigated, and the adaptation role of shifting planting dates, different levels of nitrogen fertilizer rates, and choice of maize cultivar as possible climate change adaptation strategies were assessed. The study was conducted in three environmentally contrasting sites in Ethiopia, namely: Ambo, Bako, and Melkassa. Future climate data were obtained from seven general circulation models (GCMs), namely: CanESM2, CNRM-CM5, CSIRO-MK3-6-0, EC-EARTH, HadGEM2-ES, IPSL-CM5A-MR, and MIROC5 for the highest representative concentration pathway (RCP 8.5). GCMs were bias-corrected at site level using a quantile-quantile mapping method. APSIM, AquaCrop, and DSSAT crop models were used to simulate the baseline (1995–2017) and 2030s (2021–2050) maize yields. The result indicated that the average monthly maximum air temperature in the 2030s could increase by 0.3–1.7 °C, 0.7–2.2 °C, and 0.8–1.8 °C in Ambo, Bako, and Melkassa, respectively. For the same sites, the projected increase in average monthly minimum air temperature was 0.6–1.7 °C, 0.8–2.3 °C, and 0.6–2.7 °C in that order. While monthly total precipitation for the Kiremt season (June to September) is projected to increase by up to 55% (365 mm) for Ambo and 75% (241 mm) for Bako respectively, whereas a significant decrease in monthly total precipitation is projected for Melkassa by 2030. Climate change would reduce maize yield by an average of 4% and 16% for Ambo and Melkassa respectively, while it would increase by 2% for Bako in 2030 if current maize cultivars were grown with the same crop management practice as the baseline under the future climate. At higher altitudes, early planting of maize cultivars between 15 May and 1 June would result in improved relative yields in the future climate. Fertilizer levels increment between 23 and 150 kg ha−1 would result in progressive improvement of yields for all maize cultivars when combined with early planting for Ambo. For a mid-altitude, planting after 15 May has either no or negative effect on maize yield. Early planting combined with a nitrogen fertilizer level of 23–100 kg ha−1 provided higher relative yields under the future climate. Delayed planting has a negative influence on maize production for Bako under the future climate. For lower altitudes, late planting would have lower relative yields compared to early planting. Higher fertilizer levels (100–150 kg ha−1) would reduce yield reductions under the future climate, but this varied among maize cultivars studied. Generally, the future climate is expected to have a negative impact on maize yield and changes in crop management practices can alleviate the impacts on yield.
Faster, Better, Cheaper: Solutions to the Atmospheric Shipping Emission Compliance and Attribution Conundrum
Authors: Smyth Tim , Deakin Anthony , Pewter Jani , Snee Darren , Proud Richard , Verbeek Ruud , Verhagen Vincent , Paschinger Pierre , Bell Thomas , Fishwick James , Yang Mingxi
Published: March 2023

Global concerns regarding air quality have over the past decade led to the introduction of regulations by the International Maritime Organisation curbing the emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides (SOx, NOx). These limits were implemented initially in so-called “emission control areas”, defined where the density of shipping activity combines with large coastal population centres such as northwest Europe or eastern USA. However, any legislation requires a scientifically robust and rigorous monitoring program to ensure compliance and prove attribution to an individual vessel. We argue the case for adherence to the mantra “faster, better, cheaper”, where widespread adoption of independent low-cost solutions of onboard, in-stack sensors, combined with existing, globally ubiquitous satellite-based “automatic identification system” (AIS) data telemetry, provides an excellent solution to the affordable compliance and attribution conundrum for shipping companies and enforcement agencies alike. We present data from three field-campaigns which have significantly advanced the concept of onboard real-time monitoring of atmospheric ship emissions.
Nowcasting of Wind in the Venice Lagoon Using WRF-FDDA
Authors: Conte Dario , Tiesi Alessandro , Cheng Will , Papa Alvise , Miglietta Mario Marcello
Published: March 2023

The Four-Dimensional Data Assimilation module (FDDA) is used in combination with the WRF model for the analysis of two case studies of high tide (on 4 April 2019 and on 12 November 2019) that affected the Venice Lagoon in the recent past. The system is implemented in the perspective of an operational use for nowcasting of 10 m wind, which will be part of a numerical system aimed at the forecast of the sea level height in the Venice Lagoon. The procedure involves the assimilation of data from meteorological surface stations distributed within the Venice Lagoon and in the open northern Adriatic Sea in front of the lagoon, as well asthe radiosonde profiles available within the simulation domain. The two cases were selected considering that the real-time forecasts missed their evolution, and the sea level height was significantly underpredicted. The comparison of the simulated wind with the observations shows a fairly good agreement over short time scales (1–2 h) in both cases; hence, the WRF-FDDA system represents a promising tool and a possibly valuable support to the decision makers in case of high tide in the Venice Lagoon.
Forecasting Maximum Mechanism Temperature in Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) Data Using a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Neural Network
Authors: Porter Warren Dean , Yan Banghua , Sun Ninghai
Published: March 2023

Among the monitored telemetry raw data record (RDR) parameters with the STAR Integrated/Validation System (ICVS), the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) scan motor mechanism temperature is especially important because the instrument might be unavoidably damaged if the mechanism temperature exceeds 50 °C. In the current operational flight processing software, the instrument automatically enters safe mode and stops collecting scientific data whenever the mechanism temperature exceeds 40 °C. This approach inevitably leads to the instrument entering safe mode unnecessarily at a premature time, causing the loss of scientific data before the mechanism temperature reaches 50 °C. This study seeks to leverage the influence the main motor current, compensation motor current, and main motor loop integral error have on mechanism temperature to forecast the maximum mechanism temperature over the upcoming 6 min. A long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network predicts maximum mechanism temperature using ATMS RDR telemetry data as the input. The performance of the LSTM is compared with observed maximum mechanism temperatures by applying the LSTM coefficients to several cases. In all cases studied, the mean average error (MAE) of the forecast remained under 1.1 °C, and the correlation between forecasts and measurements remained above 0.96. These forecasts of maximum mechanism temperature are expected to be able to provide information on when the ATMS instrument should enter safe mode without needlessly losing valuable data for the ATMS flight operational team.
Future Changes in Thermal Bioclimate Conditions over West Bengal, India, Based on a Climate Model
Authors: Bal Sourabh , Kirchner Ingo
Published: March 2023

Changes in extreme human bioclimate conditions are accepted evidence for and serve as a broad measure of anthropogenic climate change. The essential objective of the current study was to investigate past and future thermal bioclimate conditions across West Bengal (WB), India. The daily physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) was calculated by considering definite climate variables as inputs. These meteorological variables were captured from the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX)-South Asia. The initial results from this research work present the mean monthly distribution of each PET class over the considered stations of WB during the period (1986–2005) and three future time periods: (i) near future (2016–2035), (ii) mid-future (2046–2065), and (iii) far future (2080–2099). It was observed that the months from April to June comprise heat stress months in terms of human thermal perception, whereas thermally acceptable conditions begin in November and continue until March for most stations. Results from future PET changes over WB in the context of the reference period (1986–2005) reveal a prominent increase in warm and hot PETs for all future time periods in two different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. During the far-future time period, stations within a kilometer of the Bay of Bengal such as Digha, Diamond Harbour, Canning, and Baruipur account for the highest percentage in the warm PET class (35.7–43.8 °C) in high-end emission scenarios. Simultaneously, during the period from 2080 to 2099, Kolkata, Dum Dum, Kharagpur, and Siliguri will experience a PET greater than 43.8 °C for close to 10% of the days in the year and more than 10% in Sriniketan, Malda, Asansol, and Birbhum. During the far-future period, a negative change in the very cool PET class (<3.3 °C) indicating a decrease in cold days was the largest for Darjeeling.
Influence of Meteorological Parameters on the Urban Heat Island in Moscow
Authors: Lokoshchenko Mikhail A. , Alekseeva Lyubov I.
Published: March 2023

The urban heat island (UHI) intensity in Moscow and the influence of various meteorological parameters are discussed using weather station data. The maximal and average in-space UHI intensities, i.e., a comparison of air temperature T either in the city centre or in the whole urban area together with rural zone have averaged 1.9 and 0.9 °C, respectively, in recent years. The UHI in Moscow has stabilized over the past decade and is not growing. Under conditions of a strong anticyclone, the maximal UHI intensity in space and time reaches 11–12 °C. Low cloudiness and amplitudes of diurnal air temperature, as well as surface temperature, demonstrate the closest relationship with the UHI intensity among other parameters with the correlation coefficient of up to −0.67 for low cloudiness and the maximal UHI intensity. The effect of wind speed, total cloudiness and relative humidity on the UHI is slightly weaker, but still significant. The relationships of all meteorological parameters with the maximal UHI intensity are closer than those with the average one. The multiple correlation coefficient between the maximal UHI intensity and both parameters (low cloudiness and average daily wind speed) is 0.76–0.82. The UHI intensity function of air temperature has a minimum in the range from −4 to 0 °C; its growth both at lower and higher T is due to the influence of anticyclonic weather. The UHI intensity function of wind speed decreases with wind strength. The threshold value at which this function asymptotically approaches its lower limit is 10 m/s in the 40–200 m air layer. The UHI intensity functions of both total and low cloudiness decrease with increasing cloudiness and the differences between them are significant if the cloud cover is more than 50%.
Characterization of a Continuous Beam Cold Atom Ramsey Interferometer
Authors: Manicchia Michael P. , Lee Jeffrey G. , Narducci Frank A.
Published: March 2023

The use of atom interferometers in inertial systems holds the promise of improvement of several orders of magnitude in sensitivity over sensors using current technology such as micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) devices or ring laser gyroscopes (RLGs). This paper describes the construction and characterization of an atomic interferometry system for eventual use in a dual-atom-beam accelerometer/gyroscope sensor. In contrast with current state-of-the-art atomic sensors which use pulsed cold atom sources and pulsed laser beams, the investigated apparatus relies purely on continuous atomic and laser beams. These differences can result in a sensor with reduced complexity, a smaller physical footprint, and reduced power consumption. However, these differences also introduce challenges resulting from laser and atomic beam divergences and from velocity averaging due to both longitudinal and transverse velocity spreads. In this work, we characterize our rubidium-based atom beam system and show that Ramsey-style interference can still be observed. The implications for future research are also outlined and discussed.
Photoionization and Opacity
Authors: Pradhan Anil
Published: March 2023

Opacity determines radiation transport through material media. In a plasma source, the primary contributors to atomic opacity are bound–bound line transitions and bound-free photoionization into the continuum. We review the theoretical methodology for state-of-the-art photoionization calculations based on the R-matrix method as employed in the Opacity Project, the Iron Project, and solution of the heretofore unsolved problem of plasma broadening of autoionizing resonances due to electron impact, Stark (electric microfields), Doppler (thermal), and core-excitations. R-matrix opacity calculations entail huge amount of atomic data and calculations of unprecedented complexity. It is shown that in high-energy-density (HED) plasmas, photoionization cross sections become 3-D energy–temperature–density-dependent owing to considerable attenuation of autoionizing resonance profiles. Hence, differential oscillator strengths and monochromatic opacities are redistributed in energy. Consequently, Rosseland and Planck mean opacities are affected significantly.
Semantic Communities from Graph-Inspired Visual Representations of Cityscapes
Authors: Balaska Vasiliki , Theodoridis Eudokimos , Papapetros Ioannis-Tsampikos , Tsompanoglou Christoforos , Bampis Loukas , Gasteratos Antonios
Published: March 2023

The swift development of autonomous vehicles raises the necessity of semantically mapping the environment by producing distinguishable representations to recognise similar areas. To this end, in this article, we present an efficient technique to cut up a robot’s trajectory into semantically consistent communities based on graph-inspired descriptors. This allows an agent to localise itself in future tasks under different environmental circumstances in an urban area. The proposed semantic grouping technique utilizes the Leiden Community Detection Algorithm (LeCDA), which is a novel and efficient method of low computational complexity and exploits semantic and topometric information from the observed scenes. The presented experimentation was carried out on a novel dataset from the city of Xanthi, Greece (dubbed as Gryphonurban urban dataset), which was recorded by RGB-D, IMU and GNSS sensors mounted on a moving vehicle. Our results exhibit the formulation of a semantic map with visually coherent communities and the realisation of an effective localisation mechanism for autonomous vehicles in urban environments.
A Mathematical Model for Zika Virus Infection and Microcephaly Risk Considering Sexual and Vertical Transmission
Authors: Ibrahim Mahmoud A. , Dénes Attila
Published: March 2023

We establish a compartmental model for Zika virus disease transmission, with particular attention paid to microcephaly, the main threat of the disease. To this end, we consider separate microcephaly-related compartments for affected infants, as well as the role of asymptomatic carriers, the influence of seasonality and transmission through sexual contact. We determine the basic reproduction number of the corresponding time-dependent model and time-constant model and study the dependence of this value on the mosquito-related parameters. In addition, we demonstrate the global stability of the disease-free periodic solution if R0<1, whereas the disease persists when R0>1. We fit our model to data from Colombia between 2015 and 2017 as a case study. The fitting is used to figure out how sexual transmission affects the number of cases among women as well as the number of microcephaly cases. Our sensitivity analyses conclude that the most effective ways to prevent Zika-related microcephaly cases are preventing mosquito bites and controlling mosquito populations, as well as providing protection during sexual contact.
Controllability for Fractional Evolution Equations with Infinite Time-Delay and Non-Local Conditions in Compact and Noncompact Cases
Authors: Salem Ahmed , Alharbi Kholoud N.
Published: March 2023

The goal of this dissertation is to explore a system of fractional evolution equations with infinitesimal generator operators and an infinite time delay with non-local conditions. It turns out that there are two ways to regulate the solution. To demonstrate the presence of the controllability of mild solutions, it is usual practice to apply Krasnoselskii’s theorem in the compactness case and the Sadvskii and Kuratowski measure of noncompactness. A fractional Caputo approach of order between 1 and 2 was used to construct our model. The families of linear operators cosine and sine, which are strongly continuous and uniformly bounded, are used to achieve the mild solution. To make our results seem to be applicable, a numerical example is provided.
A Note on Generalization of Combinatorial Identities Due to Gould and Touchard
Authors: Rathie Arjun K. , Lim Dongkyu
Published: March 2023

Using a hypergeometric series approach, a general combinatorial identity is found in this note, and among its special cases are well-known and classical combinatorial identities due to Gould and Touchard.
Optimising the Optic Fibre Deployment in Small Rural Communities: The Case of Mexico
Authors: Moncayo-Martínez Luis A. , Salcedo Ante
Published: March 2023

Over the years, connection or access to the Internet has shown a positive impact on users in their everyday activities, such as entertainment, online education, online business, and productivity increments in their communities. Unfortunately, rural communities, which usually are far away from cities, cannot enjoy these benefits due to inefficient or inexistent Internet access. We propose an algorithm to select which communities to connect to maximise the number of people connected to the Internet while minimising the length of the network, or while maximising the number of connected communities, or while maximising the linked people per kilometre of fibre. The algorithm estimates the shortest driving distance and the minimum spanning tree. Then, the algorithm creates a subset of linked communities to select the next one to connect based on one of the three criteria described above. To test the algorithm, we used data from a set of rural communities in Mexico. The results showed that the minimum length of the network to connect the 597 rural communities (with 454,514 people) in our test case was 949.09 km. Moreover, there was a difference of 204.1 km in the network length to connect 90% of the total population depending on the selected criterion to connect the communities. If the decision-maker wants to connect 90% of the population, the maximum number of connected communities was 507 using the PC criterion.
Approximating Multiple Roots of Applied Mathematical Problems Using Iterative Techniques
Authors: Behl Ramandeep , Arora Himani , Martínez Eulalia , Singh Tajinder
Published: March 2023

In this study, we suggest a new iterative family of iterative methods for approximating the roots with multiplicity in nonlinear equations. We found a lack in the approximation of multiple roots in the case that the nonlinear operator be non-differentiable. So, we present, in this paper, iterative methods that do not use the derivative of the non-linear operator in their iterative expression. With our new iterative technique, we find better numerical results of Planck’s radiation, Van Der Waals, Beam designing, and Isothermal continuous stirred tank reactor problems. Divided difference and weight function approaches are adopted for the construction of our schemes. The convergence order is studied thoroughly in the Theorems 1 and 2, for the case when multiplicity p≥2. The obtained numerical results illustrate the preferable outcomes as compared to the existing ones in terms of absolute residual errors, number of iterations, computational order of convergence (COC), and absolute error difference between two consecutive iterations.
Experimental and Numerical Investigations of a Thermal Management System Using Phase-Change Materials and Forced-Air Cooling for High-Power Li-Ion Battery Packs
Authors: Zhang Yulong , Zhao Shupeng , Zhou Tingbo , Wang Huizhi , Li Shen , Yuan Yongwei , Ma Zhikai , Wei Jiameng , Zhao Xu
Published: March 2023

The thermal management system of a power battery is crucial to the safety of battery operation; however, for the phase-change material (PCM) thermal management system of a battery, the thermal cycling of phase-change material under large discharge rate conditions will lead to thermal conductivity degradation and thermal stress problems. A method of manufacturing PCM containers with metal fins to package pure phase-change material is put forward to solve the problem. The system temperature under different conditions is studied using numerical and experimental methods. A thermal resistance model is built to analyze the thermal transfer performance of PCM containers with fins. The results show that the PCM container structure can effectively control the battery temperature within the suitable temperature range under the low discharge rate, but the maximum temperature of the battery pack at the high discharge rate of 3 C will exceed the optimum operating temperature range. Adding fins can reduce the maximum temperature and improve the system temperature uniformity. By combining fins with forced-air cooling, the maximum temperature and maximum temperature difference of the battery pack at a high discharge rate can be effectively reduced.
Detecting Safety Anomalies in pHRI Activities via Force Myography
Authors: Zakia Umme , Menon Carlo
Published: March 2023

The potential application of using a wearable force myography (FMG) band for monitoring the occupational safety of a human participant working in collaboration with an industrial robot was studied. Regular physical human–robot interactions were considered as activities of daily life in pHRI (pHRI-ADL) to recognize human-intended motions during such interactions. The force myography technique was used to read volumetric changes in muscle movements while a human participant interacted with a robot. Data-driven models were used to observe human activities for useful insights. Using three unsupervised learning algorithms, isolation forest, one-class SVM, and Mahalanobis distance, models were trained to determine pHRI-ADL/regular, preset activities by learning the latent features’ distributions. The trained models were evaluated separately to recognize any unwanted interactions that differed from the normal activities, i.e., anomalies that were novel, inliers, or outliers to the normal distributions. The models were able to detect unusual, novel movements during a certain scenario that was considered an unsafe interaction. Once a safety hazard was detected, the control system generated a warning signal within seconds of the event. Hence, this study showed the viability of using FMG biofeedback to indicate risky interactions to prevent injuries, improve occupational health, and monitor safety in workplaces that require human participation.
Investigating the Timing and Extent of Juvenile and Fetal Bone Diagenesis in a Temperate Environment
Authors: Hale Amanda R. , Ross Ann H.
Published: March 2023

It is well understood that intrinsic factors of bone contribute to bone diagenesis, including bone porosity, crystallinity, and the ratio of organic to mineral components. However, histological analyses have largely been limited to adult bones, although with some exceptions. Considering that many of these properties are different between juvenile and adult bone, the purpose of this study is to investigate if these differences may result in increased degradation observed histologically in fetal and juvenile bone. Thirty-two fetal (n = 16) and juvenile (n = 16) Sus scrofa domesticus femora subject to different depositions over a period of two years were sectioned for histological observation. Degradation was scored using an adapted tunneling index. Results showed degradation related to microbial activity in both fetal and juvenile remains across depositions as early as three months. Buried juvenile remains consistently showed the greatest degradation over time, while the blanket fetal remains showed more minimal degradation. This is likely related to the buried remains’ greater contact with surrounding soil and groundwater during deposition. Further, most of the degradation was seen in the subendosteal region, followed by the subperiosteal region, which may suggest the initial microbial attack is from endogenous sources.
Error Size Shape Relationships between Motor Variability and Implicit Motor Adaptation
Authors: Matsuda Naoyoshi , Abe Masaki O.
Published: March 2023

Previous studies have demonstrated the effects of motor variability on motor adaptation. However, their findings have been inconsistent, suggesting that various factors affect the relationship between motor variability and adaptation. This study focused on the size of errors driving motor adaptation as one of the factors and examined the relationship between different error sizes. Thirty-one healthy young adults participated in a visuomotor task in which they made fast-reaching movements toward a target. Motor variability was measured in the baseline phase when a veridical feedback cursor was presented. In the adaptation phase, the feedback cursor was sometimes not reflected in the hand position and deviated from the target by 0°, 3°, 6°, or 12° counterclockwise or clockwise (i.e., error-clamp feedback). Movements during trials following trials with error-clamp feedback were measured to quantify implicit adaptation. Implicit adaptation was driven by errors presented through error-clamp feedback. Moreover, motor variability significantly correlated with implicit adaptation driven by a 12° error. The results suggested that motor variability accelerates implicit adaptation when a larger error occurs. As such a trend was not observed when smaller errors occurred, the relationship between motor variability and motor adaptation might have been affected by the error size driving implicit adaptation.
Transcriptome Analysis of the Immortal Human Keratinocyte HaCaT Cell Line Damaged by Tritiated Water
Authors: Zhang Yan , Zhou Yuanyuan , Wu Hui , Yan Zhuna , Chen Jinwu , Song Wencheng
Published: March 2023

Radioactive elements, such as tritium, have been released into the ocean in large quantities as a result of the reactor leakage accident. In this study, an MTT assay demonstrated that the viability of HacaT cells decreased after tritiated water treatment. Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze gene changes in the HacaT cells. The sequencing results showed 267 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and GO enrichment analysis showed that the DEGs were mainly divided into three parts. The KEGG pathway analysis showed that the up-regulated DEGs were involved in Wnt and other pathways, while the down-regulated DEGs were involved in Jak–STAT and others. A Western blot assay was used to verify the parts of the sequencing results. This study was the first to explore the mechanism of tritiated water on HacaT cells using Transcriptome analysis. The results will provide a theoretical basis for the study of tritiated water hazard mechanisms.
Validation of Recombinant Heparan Sulphate Reagents for CNS Repair
Authors: Lindsay Susan L. , Sherrard Smith Rebecca , Yates Edwin A. , Cartwright Colin , Thacker Bryan E. , Turnbull Jeremy E. , Glass Charles A. , Barnett Susan C.
Published: March 2023

Therapies that target the multicellular pathology of central nervous system (CNS) disease/injury are urgently required. Modified non-anticoagulant heparins mimic the heparan sulphate (HS) glycan family and have been proposed as therapeutics for CNS repair since they are effective regulators of numerous cellular processes. Our in vitro studies have demonstrated that low-sulphated modified heparan sulphate mimetics (LS-mHeps) drive CNS repair. However, LS-mHeps are derived from pharmaceutical heparin purified from pig intestines, in a supply chain at risk of shortages and contamination. Alternatively, cellular synthesis of heparin and HS can be achieved using mammalian cell multiplex genome engineering, providing an alternative source of recombinant HS mimetics (rHS). TEGA Therapeutics (San Diego) have manufactured rHS reagents with varying degrees of sulphation and we have validated their ability to promote repair in vitro using models that mimic CNS injury, making comparisons to LS-mHep7, a previous lead compound. We have shown that like LS-mHep7, low-sulphated rHS compounds promote remyelination and reduce features of astrocytosis, and in contrast, highly sulphated rHS drive neurite outgrowth. Cellular production of heparin mimetics may, therefore, offer potential clinical benefits for CNS repair.
Prognosis Risk Model Based on Pyroptosis-Related lncRNAs for Gastric Cancer
Authors: Jiang Min , Fang Changyin , Ma Yongping
Published: March 2023

Gastric cancer (GC) is a malignant tumor with a low survival rate, high recurrence rate, and poor prognosis. With respect to this, pyroptosis is a type of programmed cell death that can affect the occurrence and development of tumors. Indeed, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were broadly applied for the purposes of early diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic analysis in regard to cancer. Based on the association of these three purposes, we developed a novel prognosis risk model based on pyroptosis-related lncRNAs (PRlncRNAs) for GC. The PRlncRNAs were obtained via univariate and multivariate Cox regression in order to build the predictive signatures. The Kaplan–Meier and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) methods were used to evaluate the overall survival (OS) and functional differences between the high- and low-risk groups. Moreover, the correlation of the signatures with immune cell infiltration was determined through single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA). Finally, we analyzed this correlation with the treatment responses in the GC patients; then, we performed quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions (qRT-PCRs) in order to verify the risk model. The high-risk group received a worse performance in terms of prognosis and OS when compared to the low-risk group. With respect to this, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was found to be 0.808. Through conducting the GSEA, it was found that the high-risk groups possessed a significant enrichment in terms of tumor–immunity pathways. Furthermore, the ssGSEA revealed that the predictive features possessed strong associations with immune cell infiltration in regard to GC. In addition, we highlighted that anti-immune checkpoint therapy, combined with conventional chemotherapy drugs, may be more suitable for high-risk patients. The expression levels of LINC01315, AP003392.1, AP000695.2, and HAGLR were significantly different between the GC cell lines and the normal cell lines. As such, the six PRlncRNAs could be regarded as important prognostic biomarkers for the purposes of subsequent diagnoses, treatments, prognostic predictions, and the mechanism research of GC.
The Lysophospholipase PNPLA7 Controls Hepatic Choline and Methionine Metabolism
Authors: Harada Sayaka , Taketomi Yoshitaka , Aiba Toshiki , Kawaguchi Mai , Hirabayashi Tetsuya , Uranbileg Baasanjav , Kurano Makoto , Yatomi Yutaka , Murakami Makoto
Published: March 2023

The in vivo roles of lysophospholipase, which cleaves a fatty acyl ester of lysophospholipid, remained unclear. Recently, we have unraveled a previously unrecognized physiological role of the lysophospholipase PNPLA7, a member of the Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2 (iPLA2) family, as a key regulator of the production of glycerophosphocholine (GPC), a precursor of endogenous choline, whose methyl groups are preferentially fluxed into the methionine cycle in the liver. PNPLA7 deficiency in mice markedly decreases hepatic GPC, choline, and several metabolites related to choline/methionine metabolism, leading to various symptoms reminiscent of methionine shortage. Overall metabolic alterations in the liver of Pnpla7-null mice in vivo largely recapitulate those in methionine-deprived hepatocytes in vitro. Reduction of the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) after methionine deprivation decreases the methylation of the PNPLA7 gene promoter, relieves PNPLA7 expression, and thereby increases GPC and choline levels, likely as a compensatory adaptation. In line with the view that SAM prevents the development of liver cancer, the expression of PNPLA7, as well as several enzymes in the choline/methionine metabolism, is reduced in human hepatocellular carcinoma. These findings uncover an unexplored role of a lysophospholipase in hepatic phospholipid catabolism coupled with choline/methionine metabolism.