bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antibody engineering and phage display technology
Authors: Dormeshkin Dmitri Olegovich
Published: March 2017

Here we provide our pipeline for antibody discovery process. Starting from de novo isolation from custom made phage display libraries to expression and downstream applications; it allows us to obtain recombinant antibodies with desired properties to vast set of antigens. We also developed the CYB5-fusion system for periplasmic expression of multimeric proteins with the possibility of process monitoring. The combination of redox dependent absorbance spectrum of red-colored cytochrome b5 with its high value molar extinction coefficient allows us to monitor antibody fusion proteins localization, redox state and quantify them in reliable way in turbid solutions. Moreover, it was revealed that due to outstanding stability and solubility, cytochrome b5 significantly enhances expression level of antibody fragments in Escherichia coli periplasm.
Traveling Words: A Reflection on “Rotundamente negra” and Afro-Descendant Women's Cultural Politics
Authors: Mosby Dorothy E.
Published: March 2017

This paper is both a personal reflection and critical analysis of the circulation of the poem “Rotundamente negra” by Afro-Costa Rican poet and cultural activist Shirley Campbell among Afro-descendant women in Latin America. As I heard various recitations and interpretations of the poem at several meetings of Afro-descendant social movements across the Americas, I was also bearing witness to the process by which creative cultural expressions become politicized and popularized by their audiences, especially Afro-descendant women, to reflect a collective desire, goal, and identity.

When the poem was first published in 1994, its circulation was limited among literary circles in Costa Rica and the local Afro-Costa Rican women's movement. Now a quick search on Google reveals hundreds of “hits” on social media sites and electronic magazines, revealing not only the impact of technology, but also of the physical transnational flows of Afro-descendant women and their ideas at conferences, meeting one another, and finding common ground through political activism and poetry. Most significant is the meaning women attach to the poem and the places where it is interpreted, recited, or posted. The circulation and the appeal of the poem signals that Black women in various parts of the Americas are collectively using it not only as a tool of self-expression, but also as a point of departure for consciousness-raising, identity formation, and collective action.

In a region where Black women live doubly-invisible lives amongst the most marginalized of the hemisphere, the poem is both a self-affirmation and a battle cry. The poem relates to the “everyday” of Black women's lives and reveals itself to be a seemingly “innocent” but influential tool of empowerment. Black women recognize themselves in the verses and they “recognize the array of forces controlling their lives” (Bobo 1995, 6). “Rotundamente negra” politicizes as it circulates through the Americas with its message of racial identification and pride that defies the homogenizing tendencies of mestizaje and blanqueamiento. The poem has become an affirming instrument to support, but also a meaningful platform for Black women's organizations, activists, and individuals.
Afro-Latin American Women Writers and the Historical Complexities of Reproducing Race
Authors: Morrison Karen Y.
Published: March 2017

This essay describes the common concerns about the social reproduction of race found in the works of pioneering Afro-Latin American writers Maria de Fermina Reis, Irma Pedroso, Carolina Maria de Jesus and Daisy Rubiera Castillo. Each was the first African-descended woman in Brazil or Cuba to author a fictional novel or testimonial autobiography. Although separated by time and place, they were united in their projection of a black racial pride that transcended the racist marginalization inflicted upon them and their communities. Each was an unacknowledged theorist of race, who sought to minimize its most oppressive characteristics, while celebrating blackness in their own powerful ways. Recognizing them as organic intellectuals of race and racialized reproduction opens a new character in Latin American intellectual history.
Exclusion of Nonspecific Geocodes and the Representation of Ridership Profiles in Survey Data
Authors: Silver Dan , Seltzer Julia , Hsieh Stan , Seidl Dara , Siraj Farhad , Rhindress Mindy
Published: March 2017

To construct responsive travel models, transportation modelers must have accurate geocoding data; only the addresses with specific geocodes (i.e., addresses with high specificity) are retained in the data, and addresses with nonspecific geocodes (i.e., addresses with low specificity, such as at the municipality level) are excluded, replaced, or imputed. Whether this practice introduces bias in the data and leads to potential inaccuracies in models that are subsequently constructed has not been evaluated. Between December 2014 and November 2015, the Metro-North Railroad (MNR) Origin and Destination Survey collected data from Hudson Line riders, who were asked to chronicle trips from start to finish. The accuracy and specificity of the address data varied. Some respondents provided information in all possible data fields (street address or intersection, city, state, and zip code), but their addresses were geocoded to a lower level of geographic accuracy because the batch geocoder could not interpret a valid address from the combined data. The differences between MNR riders who provided specific destination addresses and MNR riders who provided nonspecific destination addresses in New York City were analyzed. The primary cause for this difference was found to be a respondent’s reasons for traveling and destination type and not a respondent’s demographic profile or specific destination location within the New York City region.
Evidence accumulates indicating periodontal disease as a risk factor for colorectal cancer or lymphoma
Authors: Barton Mary Kay
Published: March 2017

Key Points

Periodontal disease is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and NHL.

Research to determine whether periodontal disease is causal and to identify the mechanism is needed.

More communication between dental and medical professionals is indicated.
Raising Crop Productivity in Africa through Intensification
Authors: Tadele Zerihun
Published: March 2017

The population of Africa will double in the next 33 years to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. Although roughly 60% of the continent’s population is engaged in agriculture, the produce from this sector cannot feed its citizens. Hence, in 2013 alone, Africa imported 56.5 million tons of wheat, maize, and soybean at the cost of 18.8 billion USD. Although crops cultivated in Africa play a vital role in their contribution to Food Security, they produce inferior yields compared to those in other parts of the world. For instance, the average cereal yield in Africa is only 1.6 t·ha−1 compared to the global 3.9 t·ha−1. Low productivity in Africa is also related to poor soil fertility and scarce moisture, as well as a variety of insect pests, diseases, and weeds. While moisture scarcity is responsible for up to 60% of yield losses in some African staple cereals, insect pests inflict annually substantial crop losses. In order to devise a strategy towards boosting crop productivity on the continent where food insecurity is most prevalent, these production constraints should be investigated and properly addressed. This review focuses on conventional (also known as genetic) intensification in which crop productivity is raised through breeding for cultivars with high yield-potential and those that thrive well under diverse and extreme environmental conditions. Improved crop varieties alone do not boost crop productivity unless supplemented with optimum soil, water, and plant management practices as well as the promotion of policies pertaining to inputs, credit, extension, and marketing. Studies in Kenya and Uganda have shown that the yield of cassava can be increased by 140% in farmers’ fields using improved varieties and management practices. In addition to traditional organic and inorganic fertilizers, biochar and African Dark Earths have been found to improve soil properties and to enhance productivity, although their availability and affordability to African farmers remains to be explored. The concept of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) has been successfully implemented in some African countries in the Great Lake Region. Other innovative technologies favorably accepted by farmers are the “Push-pull System” (an elegant method of controlling a devastating insect pest and a parasitic weed) and NERICA (New Rice for Africa, in which rice varieties with desirable nutritional and agronomic properties were developed by crossing Asian and African rice). This review calls for African governments and institutions not only to provide conducive environments but also to abide by the Maputo 2003 Declaration where they agreed to invest 10% of their national budget to agricultural research and development as the outcome has a positive impact on productivity and ultimately improves the livelihood of farmers.
Epitope Specificity of Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibodies
Authors: Trier Nicole , Houen Gunnar
Published: March 2017

Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies are primarily associated with a progressive course in the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, a disease with a chronic and inflammatory nature. These antibodies do not appear to have any strict dependency for reactivity except from the presence of the non-genetically encoded amino acid citrulline, which is the result of a posttranslational modification, catalyzed by calcium-dependent peptidylarginine deiminase enzymes. Nevertheless, several amino acids surrounding the citrulline residue notably influence antibody reactivity, especially with a central-Cit-Gly-motif being essential for antibody reactivity. Most importantly, these antibodies have been proposed to be divided into two groups, based on their ability to recognize multiple citrullinated peptides. Thus, an “overlapping” antibody group, which appears to recognize several citrullinated peptides, and a “non-overlapping” antibody group, which only recognizes a limited number of citrullinated peptides, have been proposed. Based on these findings, we suggest that antibodies recognizing several citrullinated targets, also referred to as cross-reactive antibodies, primarily are backbone-dependent, whereas less cross-reactive antibodies primarily depend on the side chains of the amino acids comprising the epitopes for stable antibody-antigen interactions, which reduces the degree of cross-reactivity significantly. Clarifying the reactivity pattern of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies may contribute to determining their true nature of origin.
An IoT System for Remote Monitoring of Patients at Home
Authors: Park KeeHyun , Park Joonsuu , Lee JongWhi
Published: March 2017

Application areas that utilize the concept of IoT can be broadened to healthcare or remote monitoring areas. In this paper, a remote monitoring system for patients at home in IoT environments is proposed, constructed, and evaluated through several experiments. To make it operable in IoT environments, a protocol conversion scheme between ISO/IEEE 11073 protocol and oneM2M protocol, and a Multiclass Q-learning scheduling algorithm based on the urgency of biomedical data delivery to medical staff are proposed. In addition, for the sake of patients’ privacy, two security schemes are proposed—the separate storage scheme of data in parts and the Buddy-ACK authorization scheme. The experiment on the constructed system showed that the system worked well and the Multiclass Q-learning scheduling algorithm performs better than the Multiclass Based Dynamic Priority scheduling algorithm. We also found that the throughputs of the Multiclass Q-learning scheduling algorithm increase almost linearly as the measurement time increases, whereas the throughputs of the Multiclass Based Dynamic Priority algorithm increase with decreases in the increasing ratio.
Determination of Boron, Phosphorus, and Molybdenum Content in Biosludge Samples by Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (MP-AES)
Authors: Vudagandla Sreenivasulu , Siva Kumar Nadavala , Dharmendra Vummiti , Asif Mohammad , Balaram Vysetti , Zhengxu Haung , Zhen Zhou
Published: March 2017

A novel analytical method for accurate determination of boron (B), phosphorous (P), and molybdenum (Mo) content in biosludge samples based on a relatively recent analytical technique, microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MP-AES), is developed in the present work. Microwave assisted acid digestion method is utilized to extract B, P, and Mo from biosludge. To demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of the present MP-AES method, its results are compared with those obtained using two well-established techniques, i.e., flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Matrix variation in the MP-AES technique is found to result in minimal changes. Precision and accuracy of the developed method are demonstrated using replicate analyses of certified sewage sludge reference material, EnviroMAT (BE-1). The limit of quantification and detection of B, P, and Mo in the extracts are determined; the linear regression coefficient was greater than 0.998 for all the three techniques. Analytical wavelengths are selected according to the sensitivity and interference effects. The results obtained in this work demonstrate the potential of MP-AES technique for the determination of B, P, and Mo content in biosludge, which achieved lower detection limits, higher accuracy, and better reproducibility as compared to other techniques.
Interface Crystallization of Ceria in Porous Silica Films for Solar Applications
Authors: Helsch Gundula , Deubener Joachim
Published: March 2017

Antireflective (AR) coatings with photocatalytic activity for solar cover glasses are extensively investigated at present, mostly in multilayer systems including titania. In this study, bifunctional single coats from porous silica in combination with up to 33 mol % ceria were prepared by sol–gel dip-coating on low-iron soda-lime float glass. After heat treatment for one hour at 350 °C, the coated glasses were characterized. Solar transmittance decreased with increasing ceria content, whereas photocatalytic activity increases. Crystallization of cubic ceria was detected by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction. Chemical depth profiling by secondary neutral mass spectrometry revealed the enrichment of cerium at the coating surface as well as at the interface to the glass substrate. Self-assembled ceria crystallization at the interfaces resulted in a three-layered mesostructure of the coating, which was verified by field-emission scanning electron spectroscopy. Cubic ceria crystals at the interface act as a barrier for the sodium diffusion from the substrate, which prevents the poisoning of the photocatalyst, while those crystals at the surface act as an electron donor for photooxidation processes, both enabling adequate photocatalytic activity. The triple-layer architecture with the sequence of high/low/high refractive index materials allows for optical interference sustaining the AR-function.
Psychological and Behavioral Impact of Participation in Ovarian Cancer Screening
Authors: Andrykowski Michael
Published: March 2017

Evaluation of costs and benefits associated with cancer screening should include consideration of any psychological and behavioral impact associated with screening participation. Research examining the psychological and behavioral impact of screening asymptomatic women for ovarian cancer (OC) was considered. Research has focused upon potential negative psychological (e.g., distress) and behavioral (e.g., reduced future screening participation) impact of false positive (FP) OC test results. Results suggest FP OC screening results are associated with greater short-term OC-specific distress. While distress dissipates over time it may remain elevated relative to pre-screening levels for several weeks or months even after clinical follow-up has ruled out malignancy. The likelihood of participation in future OC screening may also be reduced. Research focused upon identification of any beneficial impact of participation in OC screening associated with receipt of “normal” results was also considered. This research suggests that a “normal” screening test result can have psychological benefits, including increased positive affect and beliefs in the efficacy of screening. It is concluded that any psychological or behavioral harms attributable to OC screening are generally very modest in severity and duration and might be counterbalanced by psychological benefits accruing to women who participate in routine OC screening and receive normal test results.
“Over-Learning” Phenomenon of Wavelet Neural Networks in Remote Sensing Image Classifications with Different Entropy Error Functions
Authors: Song Dongmei , Zhang Yajie , Shan Xinjian , Cui Jianyong , Wu Huisheng
Published: March 2017

Artificial neural networks are widely applied for prediction, function simulation, and data classification. Among these applications, the wavelet neural network is widely used in image classification problems due to its advantages of high approximation capabilities, fault-tolerant capabilities, learning capacity, its ability to effectively overcome local minimization issues, and so on. The error function of a network is critical to determine the convergence, stability, and classification accuracy of a neural network. The selection of the error function directly determines the network’s performance. Different error functions will correspond with different minimum error values in training samples. With the decrease of network errors, the accuracy of the image classification is increased. However, if the image classification accuracy is difficult to improve upon, or is even decreased with the decreasing of the errors, then this indicates that the network has an “over-learning” phenomenon, which is closely related to the selection of the function errors. With regards to remote sensing data, it has not yet been reported whether there have been studies conducted regarding the “over-learning” phenomenon, as well as the relationship between the “over-learning” phenomenon and error functions. This study takes SAR, hyper-spectral, high-resolution, and multi-spectral images as data sources, in order to comprehensively and systematically analyze the possibility of an “over-learning” phenomenon in the remote sensing images from the aspects of image characteristics and neural network. Then, this study discusses the impact of three typical entropy error functions (NB, CE, and SH) on the “over-learning” phenomenon of a network. The experimental results show that the “over-learning” phenomenon may be caused only when there is a strong separability between the ground features, a low image complexity, a small image size, and a large number of hidden nodes. The SH entropy error function in that case will show a good “over-learning” resistance ability. However, for remote sensing image classification, the “over-learning” phenomenon will not be easily caused in most cases, due to the complexity of the image itself, and the diversity of the ground features. In that case, the NB and CE entropy error network mainly show a good stability. Therefore, a blind selection of a SH entropy error function with a high “over-learning” resistance ability from the wavelet neural network classification of the remote sensing image will only decrease the classification accuracy of the remote sensing image. It is therefore recommended to use an NB or CE entropy error function with a stable learning effect.
A Chance-Constrained Economic Dispatch Model in Wind-Thermal-Energy Storage System
Authors: Hu Yanzhe , Li Yang , Xu Mengjie , Zhou Li , Cui Mingjian
Published: March 2017

As a type of renewable energy, wind energy is integrated into the power system with more and more penetration levels. It is challenging for the power system operators (PSOs) to cope with the uncertainty and variation of the wind power and its forecasts. A chance-constrained economic dispatch (ED) model for the wind-thermal-energy storage system (WTESS) is developed in this paper. An optimization model with the wind power and the energy storage system (ESS) is first established with the consideration of both the economic benefits of the system and less wind curtailments. The original wind power generation is processed by the ESS to obtain the final wind power output generation (FWPG). A Gaussian mixture model (GMM) distribution is adopted to characterize the probabilistic and cumulative distribution functions with an analytical expression. Then, a chance-constrained ED model integrated by the wind-energy storage system (W-ESS) is developed by considering both the overestimation costs and the underestimation costs of the system and solved by the sequential linear programming method. Numerical simulation results using the wind power data in four wind farms are performed on the developed ED model with the IEEE 30-bus system. It is verified that the developed ED model is effective to integrate the uncertain and variable wind power. The GMM distribution could accurately fit the actual distribution of the final wind power output, and the ESS could help effectively decrease the operation costs.
Biogas Engine Waste Heat Recovery Using Organic Rankine Cycle
Authors: Benato Alberto , Macor Alarico
Published: March 2017

Italy is a leading country in the biogas sector. Energy crops and manure are converted into biogas using anaerobic digestion and, then, into electricity using internal combustion engines (ICEs). Therefore, there is an urgent need for improving the efficiency of these engines taking the real operation into account. To this purpose, in the present work, the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology is used to recover the waste heat contained in the exhaust gases of a 1 MWel biogas engine. The ICE behavior being affected by the biogas characteristics, the ORC unit is designed, firstly, using the ICE nameplate data and, then, with data measured during a one-year monitoring activity. The optimum fluid and the plant configuration are selected in both cases using an “in-house” optimization tool. The optimization goal is the maximization of the net electric power while the working fluid is selected among 115 pure fluids and their mixtures. Results show that a recuperative ORC designed using real data guarantees a 30% higher net electric power than the one designed with ICE nameplate conditions.
Improved Electrogeometric Model Suitable for EHV and UHV Transmission Lines Developed through Breakdown Testing for Long Air Gaps
Authors: Deng Yeqiang , Wang Yu , Li Zhijun , Dai Min , Wen Xishan , Lan Lei , An Yunzhu , E Shenglong
Published: March 2017

As a type of engineering model used for solving lightning-shielding problems, the electrogeometric model has been widely used for assessing lightning-shielding failure in high-voltage and extra-high-voltage transmission lines. However, with the increase of voltage levels in ultra-high-voltage lines and the growth of the air gap, the results previously yielded by the electrogeometric model are no longer consistent with those observed. Therefore, this study corrected the equation for the relationship between lightning current and striking distance, by using data on a negative polarity 50% discharge voltage from the rod-rod gap −20/2500 μs switching impulse test wherein an air gap of up to 10 m was first tested. Subsequently, the return stroke velocity distribution observed by Idone was newly applied. In addition, the correction factor for the ground was corrected in this study. Thus, an improved electrogeometric model for application in EHV and UHV transmission lines is proposed in this paper. By employing the improved electrogeometric model to calculate the frequency of lightning strikes of 500 and 1000 kV transmission lines in Japan and a 1000 kV transmission line in China, we found that the results calculated using the improved electrogeometric model were closer to the actual observations in Japan than was the original electrogeometric model. The improved electrogeometric model provides a more reliable foundation for lightning-shielding design of extra-high-voltage and ultra-high-voltage transmission lines.
Impact of Calcium and Magnesium in Groundwater and Drinking Water on the Health of Inhabitants of the Slovak Republic
Authors: Rapant Stanislav , Cvečková Veronika , Fajčíková Katarína , Sedláková Darina , Stehlíková Beáta
Published: March 2017

This work aims to evaluate the impact of the chemical composition of groundwater/drinking water on the health of inhabitants of the Slovak Republic. Primary data consists of 20,339 chemical analyses of groundwater (34 chemical elements and compounds) and data on the health of the Slovak population expressed in the form of health indicators (HI). Fourteen HIs were evaluated including life expectancy, potential years of lost life, relative/standardized mortality for cardiovascular and oncological diseases, and diseases of the gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. The chemical and health data were expressed as the mean values for each of the 2883 Slovak municipalities. Artificial neural network (ANN) was the method used for environmental and health data analysis. The most significant relationship between HI and chemical composition of groundwater was documented as Ca + Mg (mmol·L−1), Ca and Mg. The following limit values were set for these most significant groundwater chemical parameters: Ca + Mg 2.9–6.1 mmol·L−1, Ca 78–155 mg·L−1 and Mg 28–54 mg·L−1. At these concentration ranges, the health of the Slovak population is the most favorable and the life expectancy is the highest. These limit values are about twice as high in comparison to the current Slovak valid guideline values for drinking water.
Nonfatal Injuries and Psychosocial Correlates among Middle School Students in Cambodia and Vietnam
Authors: Peltzer Karl , Pengpid Supa
Published: March 2017

The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of nonfatal injury among middle school students in Cambodia and Vietnam. Cross-sectional data from 7137 school children (mean age 15.5 years, SD = 1.4) who were randomly sampled for participation in nationally representative Global School-based Health Surveys (GSHS) in Cambodia and Vietnam were analyzed. The proportion of school children reporting one or more serious injuries in the past year was 22.6% among boys and 17.5% among girls in Cambodia and 34.3% among boys and 25.1% among girls in Vietnam. The most prevalent cause of the most serious injury in Cambodia was traffic injuries (4.7% among boys and 4.3% among girls) and in Vietnam it was falls (10.0% among boys and 7.0% among girls). In multinomial logistic regression analyses, experiencing hunger (as an indicator for low socioeconomic status) and drug use were associated with having sustained one injury and two or more injuries in the past 12 months in Cambodia. In addition, poor mental health was associated with two or more injuries. In Vietnam, being male, experiencing hunger, current alcohol use, poor mental health and ever having had sex were associated with having sustained one injury and two or more injuries in the past 12 months. Several psychosocial variables were identified which could help in designing injury prevention strategies among middle school children in Cambodia and Vietnam.
The Health and Working Conditions of Women Employed in Child Care
Authors: Linnan Laura , Arandia Gabriela , Bateman Lori , Vaughn Amber , Smith Natalie , Ward Dianne
Published: March 2017

Over one million women are employed in child care and are among the lowest wage workers in the US. The health and working conditions of 674 child care workers (118 administrators and 556 staff) from 74 centers is described using baseline data from a larger intervention trial. Participants were 39.9 (±13.0) years old; 55.4% African American, 37.1% Caucasian, and 5.3% of Hispanic ethnicity. Seventy-six percent reported having an Associate’s degree or less; 42% were classified as at or below poverty (<$20,000); and exhibited many health risks such as excess weight, insufficient activity, poor diet, and inadequate sleep. We investigated potential differences by income and job category. Lower income participants were significantly more likely to be current smokers (19.9% vs. 11.7%), drink more sweetened beverages (1.9 vs. 1.5), and report higher depressive symptoms (15.5 vs. 12.6). Administrators worked more hours weekly compared to staff (46.4 vs. 40.6), are less active (100 vs. 126 min/week), more sedentary (501 vs. 477 min/day), and reported higher job demands (13.3 vs. 12.5). Given the numerous health issues and challenging work conditions, we hope our results serve as a call to action for addressing low wages and the work environment as a means of influencing the health and well-being of child care workers.
Elderberry and Elderflower Extracts, Phenolic Compounds, and Metabolites and Their Effect on Complement, RAW 264.7 Macrophages and Dendritic Cells
Authors: Ho Giang , Wangensteen Helle , Barsett Hilde
Published: March 2017

Modulation of complement activity and inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production by macrophages and dendritic cells may have therapeutic value in inflammatory diseases. Elderberry and elderflower extracts, constituents, and metabolites were investigated for their effects on the complement system, and on NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages and murine dendritic D2SC/I cells. The EtOH crude extracts from elderberry and elderflower and the isolated anthocyanins and procyanidins possessed strong complement fixating activity and strong inhibitory activity on NO production in RAW cells and dendritic cells. Phenolic compounds in the range of 0.1–100 µM showed a dose-dependent inhibition of NO production, with quercetin, rutin, and kaempferol as the most potent ones. Among the metabolites, caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid showed the strongest inhibitory effects on NO production in both cell lines, without having cytotoxic effect. Only 4-methylcatechol was cytotoxic at the highest tested concentration (100 µM). Elderberry and elderflower constituents may possess inflammatory modulating activity, which increases their nutritional value.
Mechanical, In Vitro Corrosion Resistance and Biological Compatibility of Cast and Annealed Ti25Nb10Zr Alloy
Authors: Cotrut Cosmin , Parau Anca , Gherghilescu Ana , Titorencu Irina , Pana Iulian , Cojocaru Danut , Pruna Vasile , Constantin Lidia , Dan Ioan , Vranceanu Diana , Vladescu Alina
Published: March 2017

Compared to other alloys, Ti6Al4V is the most used in medicine. In recent years, concerns regarding the toxicity of Al and V elements found in the composition of Ti6Al4V have drawn the attention of the scientific community, due to the release of Al or V ions after long term exposure to human body fluids which can lead to a negative response of the human host. Based on this, the aim of the paper was to manufacture a Ti25Nb10Zr alloy consisting of biocompatible elements which can replace Ti6Al4V usage in medical applications. In order to prove that this alloy possessed improved properties, the mechanical, wear and corrosion resistance, wettability, and cell viability were performed in comparison with those of the Ti6Al4V alloy. The corrosion behavior of this new alloy in simulated body fluid (SBF) and Hank solutions is superior to that of Ti6Al4V. The cast Ti25Nb10Zr alloy has a good tribological performance in SBF, while annealed Ti25Nb10Zr alloy is better in Hank solution. Cell viability and proliferation assay after five days indicated that Ti25Nb10Zr presented a good viability and proliferation with values of approximately 7% and 10% higher, respectively, than the ones registered for pure Ti. When compared with Ti6Al4V, the obtained results for Ti25Nb10Zr indicated smaller values with 20% in the case of both tests. Overall, it can be concluded that cell proliferation and viability tests indicated that the biocompatibility of the Ti25Nb10Zr alloy is as good as pure Ti and Ti6Al4V alloy.
Application of Mineral Sorbents for Removal of Petroleum Substances: A Review
Authors: Bandura Lidia , Woszuk Agnieszka , Kołodyńska Dorota , Franus Wojciech
Published: March 2017

Environmental pollution with petroleum products has become a major problem worldwide, and is a consequence of industrial growth. The development of sustainable methods for the removal of petroleum substances and their derivatives from aquatic and terrestrial environments and from air has therefore become extremely important today. Advanced technologies and materials dedicated to this purpose are relatively expensive; sorption methods involving mineral sorbents are therefore popular and are widely described in the scientific literature. Mineral materials are easily available, low-cost, universal adsorbents and have a number of properties that make them suitable for the removal of petroleum substances. This review describes recent works on the use of natural, synthetic and modified mineral adsorbents for the removal of petroleum substances and their derivatives from roads, water and air.
Which Specialized Metabolites Does the Native Subantarctic Gastropod Notodiscus hookeri Extract from the Consumption of the Lichens Usnea taylorii and Pseudocyphellaria crocata?
Authors: Gadea Alice , Le Pogam Pierre , Biver Grichka , Boustie Joël , Le Lamer Anne-Cécile , Le Dévéhat Françoise , Charrier Maryvonne
Published: March 2017

Notodiscus hookeri is the only representative of terrestrial gastropods on Possession Island and exclusively feeds on lichens. The known toxicity of various lichen metabolites to plant-eating invertebrates led us to propose that N. hookeri evolved means to protect itself from their adverse effects. To validate this assumption, the current study focused on the consumption of two lichen species: Usnea taylorii and Pseudocyphellaria crocata. A controlled feeding experiment was designed to understand how the snail copes with the unpalatable and/or toxic compounds produced by these lichen species. The occurrence of two snail ecophenotypes, represented by a mineral shell and an organic shell, led to address the question of a metabolic response specific to the phenotype. Snails were fed for two months with one of these lichens and the chemical profiles of biological samples of N. hookeri (i.e., crop, digestive gland, intestine, and feces) were established by HPLC-DAD-MS and compared to that of the lichens. N. hookeri appears as a generalist lichen feeder able to consume toxic metabolite-containing lichens, independently of the ecophenotype. The digestive gland did not sequester lichen metabolites. The snail metabolism might be based on four non-exclusive processes according to the concerned metabolites (avoidance, passive transport, hydrolysis, and excretion).
Theoretical Reactivity Study of Indol-4-Ones and Their Correlation with Antifungal Activity
Authors: Zermeño-Macías María , González-Chávez Marco , Méndez Francisco , González-Chávez Rodolfo , Richaud Arlette
Published: March 2017

Chemical reactivity descriptors of indol-4-ones obtained via density functional theory (DFT) and hard–soft acid–base (HSAB) principle were calculated to prove their contribution in antifungal activity [...]
The Emission of the Floral Scent of Four Osmanthus fragrans Cultivars in Response to Different Temperatures
Authors: Fu Jianxin , Hou Dan , Zhang Chao , Bao Zhiyi , Zhao Hongbo , Hu Shaoqing
Published: March 2017

Floral scent is an important part of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from plants, and is influenced by many environmental and endogenous factors. To investigate the influence of temperature on the emission of the floral scent of Osmanthus fragrans, the number of chemical compounds and their relative release amounts from four cultivars of O. fragrans under different temperature treatments, were identified using the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in this study. Results revealed that the numbers and release amounts of floral scent components were significantly influenced by different temperatures, and depend on different cultivars and different types of compounds. Overall, most cultivars had the largest number of chemical compounds in 19 °C and the numbers of chemical compounds decreased with the increase or decrease in the temperature. Alcohols and ketones were the two main kinds of compounds responding to temperature change. The response of a specific chemical compound to temperature change was different in four cultivars. Generally, linalool, α-ionone, β-ionone, and γ-decalactone accounted for the highest proportion in the nine main compounds, and changes of these four chemical compounds to different temperatures had obvious contributions to the floral scent of O. fragrans. The results obtained provide evidence that temperatures can greatly influence the emission of floral scent.
The Shock Pulse Index and Its Application in the Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Element Bearings
Authors: Sun Peng , Liao Yuhe , Lin Jin
Published: March 2017

The properties of the time domain parameters of vibration signals have been extensively studied for the fault diagnosis of rolling element bearings (REBs). Parameters like kurtosis and Envelope Harmonic-to-Noise Ratio are the most widely applied in this field and some important progress has been made. However, since only one-sided information is contained in these parameters, problems still exist in practice when the signals collected are of complicated structure and/or contaminated by strong background noises. A new parameter, named Shock Pulse Index (SPI), is proposed in this paper. It integrates the mutual advantages of both the parameters mentioned above and can help effectively identify fault-related impulse components under conditions of interference of strong background noises, unrelated harmonic components and random impulses. The SPI optimizes the parameters of Maximum Correlated Kurtosis Deconvolution (MCKD), which is used to filter the signals under consideration. Finally, the transient information of interest contained in the filtered signal can be highlighted through demodulation with the Teager Energy Operator (TEO). Fault-related impulse components can therefore be extracted accurately. Simulations show the SPI can correctly indicate the fault impulses under the influence of strong background noises, other harmonic components and aperiodic impulse and experiment analyses verify the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method.
Performance and Challenges of Service-Oriented Architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Alshinina Remah , Elleithy Khaled
Published: March 2017

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have become essential components for a variety of environmental, surveillance, military, traffic control, and healthcare applications. These applications face critical challenges such as communication, security, power consumption, data aggregation, heterogeneities of sensor hardware, and Quality of Service (QoS) issues. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a software architecture that can be integrated with WSN applications to address those challenges. The SOA middleware bridges the gap between the high-level requirements of different applications and the hardware constraints of WSNs. This survey explores state-of-the-art approaches based on SOA and Service-Oriented Middleware (SOM) architecture that provide solutions for WSN challenges. The categories of this paper are based on approaches of SOA with and without middleware for WSNs. Additionally, features of SOA and middleware architectures for WSNs are compared to achieve more robust and efficient network performance. Design issues of SOA middleware for WSNs and its characteristics are also highlighted. The paper concludes with future research directions in SOM architecture to meet all requirements of emerging application of WSNs.
A Multi-Attribute Pheromone Ant Secure Routing Algorithm Based on Reputation Value for Sensor Networks
Authors: Zhang Lin , Yin Na , Fu Xiong , Lin Qiaomin , Wang Ruchuan
Published: March 2017

With the development of wireless sensor networks, certain network problems have become more prominent, such as limited node resources, low data transmission security, and short network life cycles. To solve these problems effectively, it is important to design an efficient and trusted secure routing algorithm for wireless sensor networks. Traditional ant-colony optimization algorithms exhibit only local convergence, without considering the residual energy of the nodes and many other problems. This paper introduces a multi-attribute pheromone ant secure routing algorithm based on reputation value (MPASR). This algorithm can reduce the energy consumption of a network and improve the reliability of the nodes’ reputations by filtering nodes with higher coincidence rates and improving the method used to update the nodes’ communication behaviors. At the same time, the node reputation value, the residual node energy and the transmission delay are combined to formulate a synthetic pheromone that is used in the formula for calculating the random proportion rule in traditional ant-colony optimization to select the optimal data transmission path. Simulation results show that the improved algorithm can increase both the security of data transmission and the quality of routing service.
Dinner and a Conversation: Transgender Integration at West Point and Beyond
Authors: Ender Morten , Ryan Diane , Nuszkowski Danielle , Spell Emma , Atkins Charles
Published: March 2017

In 2016, the United States military lifted the ban on transgender members serving and are expected to begin accessions of transgender service members in 2017. A paucity of research exists on transgender matters in the military, especially on attitudes towards cisgender service members. This study deploys a qualitative methodology, comprised of 21 focus groups of undergraduate cadets and advanced schooled Army officers (N = 110), at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, using a semi-structured interview protocol. Overall, a diversity of experiences and familiarity with transgender people surfaced among cadets and officers. We distinguish between experiences and familiarity on a spectrum by introducing notions of transgender tourism and cosmopolitanism. Major concerns associated with (un)comfortableness emerged from the focus groups including privacy, physical standards, well-being, and costs. Interventions are offered by the participants based on their major concerns. We recommend education, increased cosmopolitism, privacy considerations, narrowing the civil-military propinquity gap, and more studies of diversity and inclusion issues in the military.
Forest Fragmentation and Driving Forces in Yingkou, Northeastern China
Authors: Zhang Lei , Liu Yanfang , Wei Xiaojian
Published: March 2017

Forest fragmentation, the process of changing original large and intact forest patches into smaller and isolated areas, significantly influences the balance of surface physical environment, biodiversity, and species richness. Sufficient knowledge of forest fragmentation is necessary to maintain ecological balance and promote sustainable resource utilization. This study combines remote sensing, geographical information systems, and landscape metrics to assess forest fragmentation at landscape and pixel levels during different time periods (2000–2005, 2005–2010, and 2010–2015) in the Yingkou region. Spatial statistical analysis is also used to analyze the relationship between forest landscape fragmentation and its determinants (e.g., natural factors, socioeconomic factors, and proximity factors). Results show that forest patches became smaller, subdivided, and isolated during 2010–2015 at the total landscape level. Local changes occurred in the southwest of the study region or around the development area. Our data also indicate that shrinkage and subdivision were the main forest fragmentation processes during three times, and attrition became the main forest fragmentation process from 2010 to 2015. These changes were significantly influenced by natural factors (e.g., elevation and slope), proximity factors (e.g., distance to city and distance to province roads), and socioeconomic factors (e.g., gross domestic product). Results presented in this study provide valuable insights into the pattern and processes of forest fragmentation and present direct implications for the protection and reasonable utilization of forest resources.
Eliminating Overload Trucking via a Modal Shift to Achieve Intercity Freight Sustainability: A System Dynamics Approach
Authors: Liu Pei , Mu Dong , Gong Daqing
Published: March 2017

The Chinese government has long been preoccupied with solving the problem of overloaded trucking in intercity freight systems (IFSs). The enforcement of prohibiting overloaded trucking, which enhances environmental and social performance of sustainability, has not progressed well, as it raises transport costs and lowers economic performance, and cannot improve the overall performance of sustainability. It is, thus, necessary to find a way to eliminate overloaded trucking without undermining the overall performance of sustainability. A modal shift is a potential way to achieve freight sustainability, by encouraging greater use of more efficient transport modes. This paper develops a system dynamics model to perform a long-term evaluation of alternative modal shift policies with trucks meeting the statutory limit, and then identified effective policies, whereby the increasing sustainability of IFSs could be achieved. The proposed model was applied to a specific case in China. The results show that the effective modal shift policy is to construct a Class I railway to shift freight away from highways. A discussion is then proposed, based on an analysis of different parameter setting scenarios regarding more general situations.
An Evaluation of the Low-Carbon Effects of Urban Rail Based on Mode Shifts
Authors: Chen Feng , Shen Xiaopeng , Wang Zijia , Yang Yang
Published: March 2017

Urban rail is widely considered to be a form of low-carbon green transportation, but there is a lack of specific quantitative research to support this. By comparing the mode, distance, and corresponding energy consumption of residents before and after the opening of rail transit, this paper establishes a carbon reduction method for rail transit. A measurement model takes the passenger carbon emissions before the line is opened as the baseline and compares them with the standard after the opening, determining the carbon emissions reduction. The model requires a combination of a large amount of research data, transit smart card data, and GIS network measurement tools as measured data and parameters. The model is then applied to rail transit lines that have opened in Beijing in recent years. The emissions reductions of four different routes are estimated and the carbon emissions reduction effect of rail transit is evaluated.