bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
R.E.N.A.L. Nephrometry Score Profile of Kidney Cancer Patients in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital
Authors: Hariwibowo Rinto , Hamid Agus Rizal AH , Mochtar Chaidir Arif
Published: October 2019

Background: The variation of sizes, shapes, and location of kidney cancer complicates the choices of surgical treatment.To determine which technique to use, R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry scoring systems were established. This study was conducted to evaluate R.E.N.A.L.-NS profile in kidney cancer patients at CMHMethod: The data were collected retrospectively from patients that underwent both open and laparoscopic Radical (RN) and Partial Nephrectomy (PN) procedure from 2014-2017. R.E.N.A.L.-NS was calculated based on (R)adius, (E)xophytic/ Endophytic properties, (N)earness to the collecting system, (A)nterior or Posterior position of the tumor, and (L)ocation of the tumor. It was categorized into three complexity: low (4-6 points), medium (7-9 points), and high (10-12 points). Subjects then divided based on the procedure given. Profile of R.E.N.A.L.-NS was shown based on each procedure.Result: In this study, 63 patients were included. 52 underwent RN and 11 underwent PN. In low complexity tumors, all patients received PN. In medium complexity tumors, 22 (78.5%) patients received RN and 6 (21.5%) received PN. All high complexity tumors received RN. Mean renal score in all patient 9.03 (+1.72), RN 9.59 (+1.11), PN 6.36 (+1.6). Higher (R), (N), and (L) scores mean a higher prevalence of RN.Conclusion: Higher complexity tumors were more likely to be treated with RN. Furthermore, (R), (N), and (L) score can be useful to determine RN or PN as a treatment of choice. This study could be used as a reference to another study regarding R.E.N.A.L.-NS in Indonesia.
Panteleimon Kulish’s Dramaturgy: Historical and Spiritual-Philosophical Features
Authors: Moros Larysa
Published: October 2019

The paper explores the ground of the ideas, plots, and schemes of conflicts in ideological dramas by P. Kulish. The two of them are conditionally symbolic while the other three are based on real historical material. The libretto of the musical performance “A Woman from the Farmstead, or Singing Praise to the Bride in front of the Wedding Guests” and multifaceted drama “Herod’s Trouble” show combination of biblical, i. e. international, elements, while the latter also contains traditional folklore features of the Ukrainian Nativity Play. The other group of works makes up the trilogy, although P. Kulish interprets the selected topics in different ways and every time uses special literary techniques. The tragedy “Baida, Prince Vyshnevetskyi” depicts the conflict between the real historical figure, who was the founder of the regular Cossack army and folklore character, and representative of the Cossack poor, therefore between the knightly and lumpen forces. The heroes of the drama “Petro Sahaidachnyi” are prominent figures of the Ukrainian authorities, church, and culture of the 17th century, so the main conflict is determined by the concern for the development of cultural life; it unfolds in intellectual and philosophical sphere. The characters reflect on the problems of confrontation, combination of faith and science, possibility of spiritual or political struggle, etc. The ‘Old Ruthenian’ drama “Tsar Nalyvai” (the action takes place in the hot 1596) is the most dynamic; it has the most elaborate intrigue, but here the focus is rather on the deep symbolic language than on revealing the emotional or intellectual world of the characters. There are also some common features in all the dramas by Kulish. The author interpreted historical events estimated as the most important in a way of ideological conflict, combining historical phenomena and figures with symbolic (biblical and folklore) images and details.
Can People Really Do Nothing? Handling Annotation Gaps in ADL Sensor Data
Authors: Abdel Hakim Alaa E. , Deabes Wael
Published: October 2019

In supervised Activities of Daily Living (ADL) recognition systems, annotating collected sensor readings is an essential, yet exhaustive, task. Readings are collected from activity-monitoring sensors in a 24/7 manner. The size of the produced dataset is so huge that it is almost impossible for a human annotator to give a certain label to every single instance in the dataset. This results in annotation gaps in the input data to the adopting learning system. The performance of the recognition system is negatively affected by these gaps. In this work, we propose and investigate three different paradigms to handle these gaps. In the first paradigm, the gaps are taken out by dropping all unlabeled readings. A single “Unknown” or “Do-Nothing” label is given to the unlabeled readings within the operation of the second paradigm. The last paradigm handles these gaps by giving every set of them a unique label identifying the encapsulating certain labels. Also, we propose a semantic preprocessing method of annotation gaps by constructing a hybrid combination of some of these paradigms for further performance improvement. The performance of the proposed three paradigms and their hybrid combination is evaluated using an ADL benchmark dataset containing more than 2.5 × 10 6 sensor readings that had been collected over more than nine months. The evaluation results emphasize the performance contrast under the operation of each paradigm and support a specific gap handling approach for better performance.
High-Bandwidth Active Impedance Control of the Proprioceptive Actuator Design in Dynamic Compliant Robotics
Authors: Lund Simon Hjorth Jessing , Billeschou Peter , Larsen Leon Bonde
Published: October 2019

Dynamic compliant robotics is a fast growing field because of its ability to widen the scope of robotics. The reason for this is that compliant mechanisms may ensure safe/compliant interactions between a robot and an external element—for instance, a human operator. Active impedance control may widen the scope even further in relation to passive elements, but it requires high-bandwidth robust torque and active impedance control which induces high-noise issues even if high-end sensors are used. To address these issues, a complete controller design scheme, including Field-Oriented Control (FOC) of a Brushless Direct Current (BLDC) motor, is proposed. In this paper, controller designs for controlling the virtual impedance, motor torque and field are proposed which enables high-bandwidth robust control. Additionally, a novel speed and angle observer is proposed that aims to reduce noise arising in the angle sensor (typically a 12-bit magnetic encoder) and a Kalman/Luenberger based torque observer is proposed that aims to reduce noise arising in the phase current sensors. Through experimental tests, the combination of the controller designs and observers facilitated a closed-loop torque bandwidth of 2.6 k Hz and a noise reduction of 13.5 dB (in relation to no observers), at a sample rate and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) frequency of 25 k Hz . Additionally, experiments verified a precise and high performing controller scheme both during impacts and at a variety of different virtual compliance characteristics.
The Value of High School Graduation in the United States: Per-Person Shadow Price Estimates for Use in Cost–Benefit Analysis
Authors: Vining Aidan R. , Weimer David L.
Published: October 2019

One way for jurisdictions with limited analytic resources to increase their capability for doing cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is to use existing shadow prices, or “plug-ins”, for important social impacts. This article contributes to the further development of one important shadow price: the value of an additional high school graduation in the United States. Specifically, how valuable to a student, government, and the rest of society in aggregate is a high school graduation? The analysis builds on the method developed by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy and presents numerical updates and extensions to their analysis. For the U.S., the estimated net present value (the social value) using a 3 percent real discount rate of this shadow price is approximately $300,000 per each additional graduate. In appropriate circumstances, this value can be “plugged-in” to CBAs of policies that either directly or indirectly seeks to increase the number of students who graduate from high school.
A Study on the Potential of IAD as a Surrogate Index of Quality and Storability in cv. ‘Gala’ Apple Fruit
Authors: Sadar Nadja , Zanella Angelo
Published: October 2019

The decline of relative chlorophyll contents during fruit ripening is considered to be an important indicator of fruit physiological condition. The recent availability of low-cost portable visible spectrum (VIS) spectrometers has spurred research interest towards optical sensing of chlorophyll changes in intact fruit, with many scientists attempting to link the shifts in optical signals, attributed to chlorophyll changes, to different maturity and quality parameters. One of the widely available portable devices for non-destructive estimation of relative chlorophyll contents is the DA meter, which provides a maturity index that is calculated as a difference between absorption at 670 nm (near the chlorophyll-a absorption peak) and 720 nm (background of the spectrum), abbreviated as IAD. In the present study, the evolution of IAD and its relation to starch pattern index (SPI) and fruit flesh firmness (FFF) was monitored in fruit of two cv. ‘Gala’ clones during maturation and storage, aiming to identify a potential existence of a usable IAD range for the assessment and prediction of the optimal harvest window and storage potential. In both clones, canopy positions, fruit sides, and seasons IAD, SPI, and FFF generally changed in a linear fashion over time, but with partially very different slopes, i.e., they were changing at different rates. What all of these parameters had in common was the presence of a very high biological variability, which is typical of apple fruit. Significantly powerful estimations of SPI (r2 > 0.7, p < 0.005) and pre- and post-storage FFF (r2 > 0.6, p < 0.005) were achieved. However, the very large biological variability could not be neutralized, which means that the predictions always included large confidence intervals of up to 0.46–0.59 units for SPI and 0.82–1.1 kgF FFF, which ultimately makes them unusable for practical applications. Experiments done under real-life conditions in a commercial fruit storage facility on several different fruit batches confirmed that IAD measured at harvest cannot be used indiscriminately for predicting post-storage FFF of cv. ‘Gala’ originating from different orchards. Nevertheless, mean IAD values that were obtained at optimal maturity from samples of the same orchards remained stable over seasons (0.8–1.2), which strongly suggests that, provided that the calibrations and validations are not only cultivar, but also orchard-specific, IAD has a potential for estimating maturity and storability of apple fruit. In this case, IAD could replace standard maturity indices, otherwise it would be suited for use as a supplementary index for determining fruits physiological maturity status.
The Influence of Copper and Silver Nanocolloids on the Quality of Pressed Spring Rapeseed Oil
Authors: Kachel Magdalena , Matwijczuk Arkadiusz , Sujak Agnieszka , Czernel Grzegorz , Niemczynowicz Agnieszka , Nowicka Aldona
Published: October 2019

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of virgin oil pressed from spring rape seeds cultivated with the use of colloidal nanosilver and nanocopper solutions for processing seeds and as foliar fertilizer. The results show that the use of nanometals for seed processing and foliar fertilization increased the content of carotenoid pigments in the oil. The pigment concentration was higher compared to oil pressed from control seeds. The application of nanocolloids onto the seeds and subsequently on the growing plants contributed to the increase of the oxidative stability of oils. Both the acid number (AN) and peroxide number (PN) values were higher in the studied oils as compared to the control, but did not exceed the required allowable levels. Increased content of silver ions and slightly increased copper content was observed in the pressed oil. An infrared spectral analysis (Fourier-Transformed Infra-Red) conducted in combination with chemometrics allowed the classification of the studied oils in terms of their chemical composition. The analysis revealed the presence of bands characteristic of Cu-O-H vibrations after soaking the seeds and spraying the plants with copper nanocolloid, and of C-O-Ag after fertilization with silver nanocolloid.
Weed Suppression in Only-Legume Cover Crop Mixtures
Authors: Elsalahy Heba , Döring Thomas , Bellingrath-Kimura Sonoko , Arends Danny
Published: October 2019

Weed suppression is a potential benefit of cover crop mixtures, as species diversity may allow for combining early and late-season competition with weeds. Here, we studied if this is possible for only-legume mixtures containing species with different growth rates, by testing two legumes, alsike clover (AC; Trifolium hybridum L.) and black medic (BM; Medicago lupulina L.) in two field trials sown in 2016 and 2017. Five AC:BM ratios (100:0, 67:33, 50:50, 33:67, and 0:100) were grown at three densities (50%, 100%, and 150% of recommended seed density). Cover crop and weed aboveground biomass (CCB and WB, respectively) were harvested three times, after establishment in spring (H1), in summer (H2), and in autumn after mulching (H3). Compared to fallow plots, all monocultures and mixtures showed early-season weed suppression in terms of biomass production and more efficiency over time with an average reduction of 42%, 52%, and 96% in 2016, and 39%, 55%, and 89% in 2017 at H1, H2, and H3, respectively. Out of 54 mixture treatments, only eight mixtures showed stronger weed suppression than monocultures. Mixtures reduced WB by 28%, as an average value, in 2017 compared to the respective monocultures, but not significantly in 2016, indicating that the crop diversity effect on weeds was dependent on the growing environment. Weed suppression was significantly higher at 100% and 150% seed density than 50%, but no significant differences were determined between 100% and 150% seed density. After mulching, no density effect was observed on CCB and WB. In conclusion, AC and BM can be used as a keystone species on weed suppression for sustainable agriculture as they possess plasticity to suppress weeds when higher biomass productivity is limited by environmental conditions. However, their diversity effects are time and condition dependent. Appropriate seed density and mulching can successfully be employed in weed management, but seed density may not have an effect after mulching.
Promoter Identification and Transcriptional Regulation of the Goose AMH Gene
Authors: Yang Shuang , Deng Yan , Chen Da , Hu Shenqiang , Zhang Yingying , Huang Huilan , Hu Jiwei , Li Liang , He Hua , Wang Jiwen
Published: October 2019

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is recognized as a reliable marker of ovarian reserve. However, the regulatory mechanism of goose AMH gene remains poorly understood. In the present study, both the full-length coding sequence (CDS) and promoter sequence of goose AMH have been cloned. Its CDS consisted of 2013 nucleotides encoding 670 amino acids and the amino acid sequence contained two structural domain: AMH-N and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) domain. The obtained promoter sequence spanned from the −2386 bp to its transcription start site (ATG). Core promoter regions and regulatory elements were identified as well as transcription factors were predicted in its promoter sequence. The luciferase activity was the highest spanning from the −331 to −1 bp by constructing deletion promoter reporter vectors. In CHO cells, the luciferase activity significantly increased by co-expression of AMH and GATA binding protein 4 (GATA-4), while that significantly decreased by mutating the binding sites of GATA-4 located in the −778 and −1477 bp. Results from quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) indicated that levels of AMH mRNA in geese granulosa layers decreased gradually with the increasing follicular diameter. Taken together, it could be concluded that the transcriptional activity of AMH was activated by GATA-4 to inhibit the development of small follicles in goose.
Effects of Mannanoligosaccharide Supplementation on the Growth Performance, Immunity, and Oxidative Status of Partridge Shank Chickens
Authors: Zhou Minyu , Tao Yuheng , Lai Chenhuan , Huang Caoxing , Zhou Yanmin , Yong Qiang
Published: October 2019

Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) can be used in poultry production to modulate immunity and improve growth performance. So, we hypothesized that our enzymatic MOS could achieve the same effects in broilers. To investigate this, a total of 192 one-day-old Partridge Shank chickens were allocated to four dietary treatments consisting of six replicates with eight chicks per replicate, and they were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g MOS per kg of diet(g/kg) for42 days. Treatments did not affect the growth performance of chickens. Dietary MOS linearly increased the relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius and jejunal immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) content, whereas it linearly decreased cecal Salmonella colonies at 21 days (p < 0.05). The concentration of jejunal secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and IgG at 42 days as well as ileal sIgA, IgG, and IgM at 21 and 42 days were quadratically enhanced by MOS supplementation (p < 0.05). Also, chickens fed MOS exhibited linear and quadratic reduction in jejunal malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this enzymatic MOS can improve the immune function and intestinal oxidative status of Partridge Shank chickens.
Effects of Chromium-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles on the Intestinal Electrophysiological Indices and Glucose Transporters in Broilers
Authors: Tahir Sajid Khan , Yousaf Muhammad Shahbaz , Ahmad Sohrab , Shahzad Muhammad Khurram , Khan Ather Farooq , Raza Mohsin , Majeed Khalid Abdul , Khalid Abia , Zaneb Hafsa , Rabbani Imtiaz , Rehman Habib
Published: October 2019

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of chromium-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (Cr-CNPs) on the electrophysiological indices, gene expression of glucose transporters, and tissue glycogen in broilers. A total of 200 one-day-old broilers were randomly divided into five groups, with each having five replicates (n = 8). Group A was fed a corn–soybean meal diet, while the diets of groups B, C, D, and E were supplemented with 200, 400, 800, and 1200 µg/kg of Cr as Cr-CNPs, respectively. On day 35, the jejunum was collected for electrophysiological study, gene expression of glucose transporters, and tissues glycogen determination. The basal short-circuit current and tissue conductance before the addition of glucose was the same in all groups. Following the addition of glucose, the change in short-circuit current decreased (p < 0.05) in the jejunal tissues of birds supplemented with 400 and 1200 µg Cr-CNPs compared with the control group. Gene expression of SGLT-1 and GLUT-2 remained unaffected with supplementation. The serum glucose and liver glycogen concentration decreased (p < 0.05) linearly with supplementation, while no effect was observed on muscle glycogen. In conclusion, Cr-CNPs supplementation decreases the glucose absorption and liver glycogen content, without affecting the gene expression of glucose transporters.
Given the Cold Shoulder: A Review of the Scientific Literature for Evidence of Reptile Sentience
Authors: Lambert Helen , Carder Gemma , D’Cruze Neil
Published: October 2019

We searched a selection of the scientific literature to document evidence for, and explorations into reptile sentience. The intention of this review was to highlight; (1) to what extent reptile capability for emotions have been documented in the scientific literature; (2) to discuss the implications this evidence has for the trade in reptiles; and (3) to outline what future research is needed to maximise their captive welfare needs. We used 168 keywords associated with sentience, to search through four journal databases and one open-access journal. We recorded studies that explored sentience in reptiles and those that recognised reptile sentience in their experiments. We found that reptiles were assumed to be capable of the following emotions and states; anxiety, distress, excitement, fear, frustration, pain, stress, and suffering, in 37 articles. We also found four articles that explored and found evidence for the capacity of reptiles to feel pleasure, emotion, and anxiety. These findings show that reptiles are considered to be capable of experiencing a range of emotions and states. This has implications for how reptiles are treated in captivity, as a better understanding could help to inform a range of different operational initiatives aimed at reducing negative animal welfare impacts, including improved husbandry and consumer behaviour change programmes.
Effects of Storage Time and Temperature on Lipid Oxidation and Protein Co-Oxidation of Low-Moisture Shredded Meat Products
Authors: Wazir Hazrati , Chay Shyan Yea , Zarei Mohammad , Hussin Farah Salina , Mustapha Nor Afizah , Wan Ibadullah Wan Zunairah , Saari Nazamid
Published: October 2019

Studies on the oxidative changes in meat-based, low-moisture, ready to eat foods are complicated due to complex food system and slow lipid-protein oxidative deterioration. The current study evaluates the oxidative changes over six months of storage on shredded beef and chicken products (locally known as serunding) for physicochemical analysis, lipid oxidation (conjugated dienes and malondialdehydes) and protein co-oxidation (soluble protein content, amino acid composition, protein carbonyl, tryptophan loss and Schiff base fluorescence) at 25 °C, 40 °C and 60 °C. The lipid stability of chicken serunding was significantly lower than beef serunding, illustrated by higher conjugated dienes content and higher rate of malondialdehyde formation during storage. In terms of protein co-oxidation, chicken serunding with higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) experienced more severe oxidation, as seen from lower protein solubility, higher protein carbonyl and Schiff base formation compared to beef serunding. To conclude, chicken serunding demonstrates lower lipid and protein stability and exhibits higher rate of lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation than beef serunding. These findings provide insights on the progression of lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation in cooked, shredded meat products and could be extrapolated to minimize possible adverse effects arising from lipid oxidation and protein co-oxidation, on the quality of low-moisture, high-lipid, high-protein foods.
Isolation of Phytochemicals from Bauhinia variegata L. Bark and Their In Vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Potential
Authors: Sharma Neha , Sharma Anket , Bhatia Gaurav , Landi Marco , Brestic Marian , Singh Bikram , Singh Jatinder , Kaur Satwinderjeet , Bhardwaj Renu
Published: October 2019

Plants have been the basis of traditional medicine since the dawn of civilizations. Different plant parts possess various phytochemicals, playing important roles in preventing and curing diseases. Scientists, through extensive experimental studies, are playing an important part in establishing the use of phytochemicals in medicine. However, there are still a large number of medicinal plants which need to be studied for their phytochemical profile. In this study, the objective was to isolate phytochemicals from bark of Bauhinia variegata L. and to study them for their antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. The bark was extracted with methanol, followed by column chromatography and thus isolating kaempferol, stigmasterol, protocatechuic acid-methyl ester (PCA-ME) and protocatechuic acid (PCA). 2,2-azinobis-3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) and 2, 2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) radical scavenging assays were utilized for assessment of antioxidant activity, and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) dye reduction assay was used to determine cytotoxic activity against C-6 glioma rat brain, MCF-7 breast cancer, and HCT-15 colon cancer cell lines. The compounds were found to have significant antioxidant and cytotoxic activity. Since there is a considerable increase in characterizing novel chemical compounds from plant parts, the present study might be helpful for chemotaxonomic determinations, for understanding of medicinal properties as well as for the quality assessment of herbal supplements containing B. variegata bark, thus establishing its use in traditional medicine.
Multi-Switching Combination Synchronization of Three Fractional-Order Delayed Systems
Authors: Li Bo , Wang Yun , Zhou Xiaobing
Published: October 2019

Multi-switching combination synchronization of three fractional-order delayed systems is investigated. This is a generalization of previous multi-switching combination synchronization of fractional-order systems by introducing time-delays. Based on the stability theory of linear fractional-order systems with multiple time-delays, we propose appropriate controllers to obtain multi-switching combination synchronization of three non-identical fractional-order delayed systems. In addition, the results of our numerical simulations show that they are in accordance with the theoretical analysis.
Video-Based Contactless Heart-Rate Detection and Counting via Joint Blind Source Separation with Adaptive Noise Canceller
Authors: Lee Kanghyu , Lee Junmuk , Ha Changwoo , Han Minseok , Ko Hanseok
Published: October 2019

Driver assistance systems are a major focus of the automotive industry. Although technological functions that help drivers are improving, the monitoring of driver state functions receives less attention. In this respect, the human heart rate (HR) is one of the most important bio-signals, and it can be detected remotely using consumer-grade cameras. Based on this, a video-based driver state monitoring system using HR signals is proposed in this paper. In a practical automotive environment, monitoring the HR is very challenging due to changes in illumination, vibrations, and human motion. In order to overcome these problems, source separation strategies were employed using joint blind source separation, and feature combination was adopted to maximize HR variation. Noise-assisted data analysis was then adopted using ensemble empirical mode decomposition to extract the pure HR. Finally, power spectral density analysis was conducted in the frequency domain, and a post-processing smoothing filter was applied. The performance of the proposed approach was tested based on commonly employed metrics using the MAHNOB-HCI public dataset and compared with recently proposed competing methods. The experimental results proved that our method is robust for a variety of driving conditions based on testing using a driving dataset and static indoor environments.
Analytical Solution for Heat Transfer in Electroosmotic Flow of a Carreau Fluid in a Wavy Microchannel
Authors: Noreen Saima , Waheed Sadia , Hussanan Abid , Lu Dianchen
Published: October 2019

This article explores the heat and transport characteristics of electroosmotic flow augmented with peristaltic transport of incompressible Carreau fluid in a wavy microchannel. In order to determine the energy distribution, viscous dissipation is reckoned. Debye Hückel linearization and long wavelength assumptions are adopted. Resulting non-linear problem is analytically solved to examine the distribution and variation in velocity, temperature and volumetric flow rate within the Carreau fluid flow pattern through perturbation technique. This model is also suitable for a wide range of biological microfluidic applications and variation in velocity, temperature and volumetric flow rate within the Carreau fluid flow pattern.
Towards Efficiently Provisioning 5G Core Network Slice Based on Resource and Topology Attributes
Authors: Li Xin , Guo Chengcheng , Xu Jun , Gupta Lav , Jain Raj
Published: October 2019

Efficient provisioning of 5G network slices is a major challenge for 5G network slicing technology. Previous slice provisioning methods have only considered network resource attributes and ignored network topology attributes. These methods may result in a decrease in the slice acceptance ratio and the slice provisioning revenue. To address these issues, we propose a two-stage heuristic slice provisioning algorithm, called RT-CSP, for the 5G core network by jointly considering network resource attributes and topology attributes in this paper. The first stage of our method is called the slice node provisioning stage, in which we propose an approach to scoring and ranking nodes using network resource attributes (i.e., CPU capacity and bandwidth) and topology attributes (i.e., degree centrality and closeness centrality). Slice nodes are then provisioned according to the node ranking results. In the second stage, called the slice link provisioning stage, the k-shortest path algorithm is implemented to provision slice links. To further improve the performance of RT-CSP, we propose RT-CSP+, which uses our designed strategy, called minMaxBWUtilHops, to select the best physical path to host the slice link. The strategy minimizes the product of the maximum link bandwidth utilization of the candidate physical path and the number of hops in it to avoid creating bottlenecks in the physical path and reduce the bandwidth cost. Using extensive simulations, we compared our results with those of the state-of-the-art algorithms. The experimental results show that our algorithms increase slice acceptance ratio and improve the provisioning revenue-to-cost ratio.
3D Convolutional Neural Networks for Remote Pulse Rate Measurement and Mapping from Facial Video
Authors: Bousefsaf Frédéric , Pruski Alain , Maaoui Choubeila
Published: October 2019

Remote pulse rate measurement from facial video has gained particular attention over the last few years. Research exhibits significant advancements and demonstrates that common video cameras correspond to reliable devices that can be employed to measure a large set of biomedical parameters without any contact with the subject. A new framework for measuring and mapping pulse rate from video is presented in this pilot study. The method, which relies on convolutional 3D networks, is fully automatic and does not require any special image preprocessing. In addition, the network ensures concurrent mapping by producing a prediction for each local group of pixels. A particular training procedure that employs only synthetic data is proposed. Preliminary results demonstrate that this convolutional 3D network can effectively extract pulse rate from video without the need for any processing of frames. The trained model was compared with other state-of-the-art methods on public data. Results exhibit significant agreement between estimated and ground-truth measurements: the root mean square error computed from pulse rate values assessed with the convolutional 3D network is equal to 8.64 bpm, which is superior to 10 bpm for the other state-of-the-art methods. The robustness of the method to natural motion and increases in performance correspond to the two main avenues that will be considered in future works.
Shape Optimization of Single-Curvature Arch Dam Based on Sequential Kriging-Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Wang Yong-Qiang , Zhao Rong-Heng , Liu Ye , Chen Yi-Zheng , Ma Xiao-Yi
Published: October 2019

Shape optimization of single-curvature arch dams using the finite element method (FEM) is often computationally expensive. To reduce the computational burden, this study introduces a new optimization method, combining a genetic algorithm with a sequential Kriging surrogate model (GA-SKSM), for determining the optimal shape of a single-curvature arch dam. At the start of genetic optimization, a KSM was constructed using a small sample set. In each iteration of optimization, the minimizing predictor criterion and low confidence bound criterion were used to collect samples from the domain of interest and accumulate them into a small sample set to update the KSM until the optimization process converged. A practical problem involving the optimization of a single-curvature arch dam was solved using the introduced GA-SKSM, and the performance of the method was compared with that of GA-KSM and GA-FEM methods. The results revealed that the GA-SKSM method required only 5.40% and 12.40% of the number of simulations required by the GA-FEM and GA-KSM methods, respectively. The GA-SKSM method can significantly improve computational efficiency and can serve as a reference for effective optimization of the design of single-curvature arch dams.
The Role of Optical Wireless Communication Technologies in 5G/6G and IoT Solutions: Prospects, Directions, and Challenges
Authors: Chowdhury Mostafa Zaman , Shahjalal Md. , Hasan Moh. Khalid , Jang Yeong Min
Published: October 2019

The upcoming fifth- and sixth-generation (5G and 6G, respectively) communication systems are expected to deal with enormous advances compared to the existing fourth-generation communication system. The few important and common issues related to the service quality of 5G and 6G communication systems are high capacity, massive connectivity, low latency, high security, low-energy consumption, high quality of experience, and reliable connectivity. Of course, 6G communication will provide several-fold improved performances compared to the 5G communication regarding these issues. The Internet of Things (IoT) based on the tactile internet will also be an essential part of 5G-and-beyond (5GB) (e.g., 5G and 6G) communication systems. Accordingly, 5GB wireless networks will face numerous challenges in supporting the extensive verities of heterogeneous traffic and in satisfying the mentioned service-quality-related parameters. Optical wireless communication (OWC), along with many other wireless technologies, is a promising candidate for serving the demands of 5GB communication systems. This review paper clearly presents how OWC technologies, such as visible light communication, light fidelity, optical camera communication, and free space optics communication, will be an effective solution for successful deployment of 5G/6G and IoT systems.
Effects of Water-Soaking Height on the Deformation and Failure of Coal in Uniaxial Compression
Authors: Qian Ruipeng , Feng Guorui , Guo Jun , Wang Pengfei , Jiang Haina
Published: October 2019

The stability of water-preventing coal pillar plays an important role in preventing gob water inrush. The gob side of the water-preventing coal pillar is soaked in a certain height of mine water. Different soaking heights may affect the stability of coal pillars. Few studies have been conducted on the properties of coals with different water-soaking heights. We carried out uniaxial compressive tests on coal specimens with different water-soaking heights to gain a better understanding of different water-soaking-height-induced weakening characteristics of coal. Results show that: (1) The water content of coal specimens increases with the soaking height. Water significantly weakens the strength of coal specimens. However, the extent of strength weakening of the coal specimen does not increase with the increase of the soaked height. The strength of the fully soaked coal specimen is lowest among all groups of coal specimens. The strength of the three groups of partially soaked coal specimens is between the fully soaked coal specimens and the coal specimens without being soaked in the water. In the three groups of partially soaked coal specimens, the strength of the coal specimens increases with the increase of the soaking height. (2) The acoustic emission activities of complete water soaking and nonsoaking coal specimens are relatively concentrated, occurring mainly in unstable fracture expansion stage and post-peak destruction stage, and acoustic emission exhibits main-shock mode. Partially soaking coal specimens, especially the 25% water-soaking height and 50% water-soaking height coal specimens, produces obvious acoustic emission activities during the fracture expansion stabilization phase, and then generates more acoustic emission activities during the unstable expansion stage and the post-peak stage. The acoustic emission presents foreshock—main shock mode. (3) The softening effect of the water soaking on the coal specimens is obvious. It was further found that the deformation of coal specimens with partial water soaking is not synchronized in different layers, the nonuniform deformations of partially soaked coal specimens aggravate its damage.
Genomic Study, Phytochemical Characterization, and Antiproliferative Activity of Two Different Genotypes of Jatropha curcas L. Obtained by a Breeding Program
Authors: Calabrone Luana , Martelli Giuseppe , Mazzanti Gabriela , Vitalone Annabella
Published: October 2019

Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceaefamily) is a multipurpose plant with considerable potential in biodiesel production, and in cosmetic and medicinal uses. The part of J. curcas usually used is the oil obtained from its seeds, whereas the leaves generally represent the waste material. The aim of this study was to characterize the composition and to preliminary investigate the biological activity of J. curcas leaves obtained from plants by a breeding program. To describe genomic structure, molecular markers were applied. For biological study, two genotypes (JA and JB) that are genetically divergent were selected by cluster analysis. A phytochemical analysis was carried out to characterize the chemical composition of the extracts, which resulted rich in biologically active compounds, whereas toxic phorbol esters were absent. Biological assays showed an antiproliferative effect on the Buffalo normal rat liver cell line (BRL-3A), with genotype B being more potent than that of the counterpart (JA). The purified compounds isolated did not show antiproliferative activity, suggesting that the effect observed was due to the phytocomplex and should involve several secondary metabolites. This study highlights that a plant of the same genus and same species that has been cultivated in the same soil and climatic conditions can be characterized by a high variability. This is what makes research in pharmacognosya complex process.
Imaging Correlography Using Ptychography
Authors: Li Zhixin , Wen Desheng , Song Zongxi , Jiang Tuochi , Zhang Weikang , Liu Gang , Wei Xin
Published: October 2019

Imaging correlography, an effective method for long-distance imaging, recovers an object using only the knowledge of the Fourier modulus, without needing phase information. It is not sensitive to atmospheric turbulence or optical imperfections. However, the unreliability of traditional phase retrieval algorithms in imaging correlography has hindered their development. In this work, we join imaging correlography and ptychography together to overcome such obstacles. Instead of detecting the whole object, the object is measured part-by-part with a probe moving in a ptychographic way. A flexible optimization framework is proposed to reconstruct the object rapidly and reliably within a few iterations. In addition, novel image space denoising regularization is plugged into the loss function to reduce the effects of input noise and improve the perceptual quality of the recovered image. Experiments demonstrate that four-fold resolution gains are achievable for the proposed imaging method. We can obtain satisfactory results for both visual and quantitative metrics with one-sixth of the measurements in the conventional imaging correlography. Therefore, the proposed imaging technique is more suitable for long-range practical applications.
Modeling Implicit Trust in Matrix Factorization-Based Collaborative Filtering
Authors: Yuan Yuyu , Zahir Ahmed , Yang Jincui
Published: October 2019

Recommendation systems often use side information to both alleviate problems, such as the cold start problem and data sparsity, and increase prediction accuracy. One such piece of side information, which has been widely investigated in addressing such challenges, is trust. However, the difficulty in obtaining explicit relationship data has led researchers to infer trust values from other means such as the user-to-item relationship. This paper proposes a model to improve prediction accuracy by applying the trust relationship between the user and item ratings. Two approaches to implement trust into prediction are proposed: One involves the use of estimated trust, and the other involves the initial trust. The efficiency of the proposed method is verified by comparing the obtained results with four well-known methods, including the state-of-the-art deep learning-based method of neural graph collaborative filtering (NGCF). The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method performs significantly better than the NGCF, and the three other matrix factorization methods, namely, the singular value decomposition (SVD), SVD++, and the social matrix factorization (SocialMF).
Unexpected-Behavior Detection Using TopK Rankings for Cybersecurity
Authors: Parres-Peredo Alvaro , Piza-Davila Ivan , Cervantes Francisco
Published: October 2019

Anomaly-based intrusion detection systems use profiles to characterize expected behavior of network users. Most of these systems characterize the entire network traffic within a single profile. This work proposes a user-level anomaly-based intrusion detection methodology using only the user’s network traffic. The proposed profile is a collection of TopK rankings of reached services by the user. To detect unexpected behaviors, the real-time traffic is organized into TopK rankings and compared to the profile using similarity measures. The experiments demonstrated that the proposed methodology was capable of detecting a particular kind of malware attack in all the users tested.
Effect of ElectroSpark Process Parameters on the WE43 Magnesium Alloy Deposition Quality
Authors: Renna Gilda , Leo Paola , Casavola Caterina
Published: October 2019

This research aims to investigate the effects of process parameters on the quality of WE43 coatings deposited on homologue substrate by ElectroSpark Deposition (ESD) technology. ESD is new technology used to apply coatings or for the restoration and refurbishment of worn or damaged high valued parts. The depositions were processed using five different levels of Energy input (Es, Spark Energy). The microstructure of both the base material and deposits cross-section were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopies. Also, X-ray diffraction technique was used. In addition, stereological studies of the through-thickness heterogeneities of the deposits (e.g., voids) were performed. The mechanical properties were evaluated by Vickers micro-hardness. The results show that the deposits exhibited a fine grained microstructure due to the rapid solidification. The average micro-hardness values of the deposits are lower than that of the substrate and distributed in a small range (49–60 HV). The lower hardness of the deposits respect to the base material is due to the presence of defectiveness such as spherical, laminar and random shaped voids. The defects area percentage inside the deposits remains well below than 11%. All the deposits were mainly affected by laminar morphology defects. The results indicate that the deposits defectiveness decreases as the energy input increases.
Synergy Effects in Electromagnetic Properties of Phosphate Ceramics with Silicon Carbide Whiskers and Carbon Nanotubes
Authors: Plyushch Artyom , Macutkevič Jan , Kuzhir Polina , Sokal Aliaksei , Lapko Konstantin , Selskis Algirdas , Banys Jūras
Published: October 2019

Hybrid composite materials based on an aluminium phosphate matrix with silicon carbide whiskers and multi-walled carbon nanotubes were studied in a wide frequency range (20 Hz to 36 GHz). It was demonstrated, that the addition of the silicon carbide whiskers enhances the dielectric permittivity and conductivity. This was explained by the difference in tunnelling parameters. Hybrid ceramics with nanotubes and whiskers also exhibits substantially improved electromagnetic shielding properties. The hybrid ceramics with 10 wt. % silicon carbide whiskers and a 1 mm thick 1.5 wt. % carbon nanotube layer, show higher than 50% absorption of electromagnetic radiation.
High-Precision Roller Supported by Active Magnetic Bearings
Authors: Park Cheol Hoon , Yoon Tae Gwang , Kang Dongwoo , Rodrigue Hugo
Published: October 2019

Magnetic bearings support rotors in a non-contact way using magnetic force. Therefore, there is no friction and it is possible to measure and control the position of a rotor in the air gap. In this study, the rotational vibration of a roller was minimized using magnetic bearings, and a precision roller capable of automatic alignment using the position control function of magnetic bearings was proposed. A rotation accuracy of approximately 4.6 μm (peak-to-peak) was observed, even under a rotation of 30 rev/min and a radial force load of 300 N. The rotor position control experiment for magnetic bearings showed that 1-μm resolution position control is possible. To further improve the accuracy, the automatic alignment algorithm was proposed using magnetic bearings for the roller misalignment condition, and it was confirmed that alignment is possible at a level that the pressing force difference between both ends of the roller is within 0.3 N. Through this study, it was confirmed that rollers with magnetic bearings can be applied to precision equipment. It is expected that the implementation of the automatic alignment function will simplify the equipment configuration and maintenance compared to conventional rollers with ball bearings.
Robustness of the Active Rotary Inertia Driver System for Structural Swing Vibration Control Subjected to Multi-Type Hazard Excitations
Authors: Zhang Chunwei , Wang Hao
Published: October 2019

In traditional structural disaster prevention design, the effects of various disasters on structures are usually considered separately, and the effects of multi-type hazards are rarely considered. The traditional Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) and Active Mass Damper/Driver (AMD) are ineffective for the control of swing vibration. The Tuned Rotary Inertia Damper (TRID) system has the problems of being ineffective under multi-type hazard excitation and exhibiting a limited robustness. The Active Rotary Inertia Driver (ARID) system is proposed to solve these problems and the robustness of such an active control system is investigated in this paper. Firstly, the equations of motion corresponding to the in-plane swing vibration of the suspended structure with the ARID/TRID system are established. The control algorithm for the ARID system is designed based on the Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) algorithm. Next, numerical analyses carried out using Simulink are presented. Then, numerical analyses and experimental investigations corresponding to five working conditions, i.e., free vibration, forced vibration, sweep excitation, earthquake excitation, and sea wave excitation, are introduced. Lastly, the numerical analyses and experimental results of the ARID system, and numerical results of the TRID system, are compared to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the ARID control system. It can be concluded that the ARID system is effective and feasible in structural swing vibration control and it exhibits a better control robustness than the TRID system. Furthermore, the feasibility of applying the ARID control system to multi-type hazard excitations is validated.