bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Double Cache Approach with Wireless Technology for Preserving User Privacy
Authors: Sen Adnan A. Abi , Eassa Fathy B. , Yamin Mohammad , Jambi Kamal
Published: August 2018

Several methods use cache for decreasing the number of connections to protect privacy of user data and improve performance in Location Based Services (LBS). Many of these methods require users to trust other users or third parties, which could be servers. An intruder could be disguised as a user or a third party. In this article, we propose a new method, known as “Double Cache Approach”, which uses a pair of caches to reduce the vulnerability of trust between users or third party and offers a vast improvement in privacy and security of user data in healthcare and other applications that use LBS. This approach divides the area into many cells and manages the cooperation among users within two caches at the access point with wireless communication. To demonstrate the superiority, we also provide simulation results of user queries, comparing the proposed method with those using only one cache. We believe that our approach would solve the trust problem optimally, achieve a comprehensive protection for users’ data, and enhance the privacy and security levels.
Study on the Electrochemical Performance of Sacrificial Anode Interfered by DC Stray Current
Authors: Ding Qingmiao , Shen Tao , Cui Yanyu , Xue Juan
Published: August 2018

The influence of sacrificial anode electrochemical properties interfered by direct stray current (DC) of 0 V, 1 V, 3 V, and 5 V, with different chloride ion concentration and temperature, was studied by open circuit potential (OCP), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and polarization curves. The specific performance was as follows: as the DC interference voltage increased from 0 V to 5 V, the degree of positive migration of the sacrificial anode open circuit potential increased. The effect of temperature in DC interference voltage environment on sacrificial anode corrosion was not great, but the low temperature of 10°C could slow down the sacrificial anode corrosion and maintain good work efficiency. With the increase of the ambient temperature, the degree of corrosion of the sacrificial anode was deepened. As the chloride ion concentration in DC interference voltage environment increased from 0% to 0.3%, the degree of positive migration of the sacrificial anode open circuit potential increased. The higher the chloride ion concentration was, the greater the impact on the performance of the sacrificial anode was.
Validation of Simple Methods to Select a Suitable Nostril for Nasotracheal Intubation
Authors: Thongrong Cattleya , Thaisiam Pattramon , Kasemsiri Pornthep
Published: August 2018

Background. Nasotracheal intubation is a blind procedure that may lead to complications; therefore, several tests were introduced to assess a suitable nostril for nasotracheal intubation. However, the value of simple tests in clinical practice was insufficient to evaluate. Method. A diagnostic prospective study was conducted in 42 patients, ASA classes I–III, undergoing surgery requiring nasotracheal intubation for general anesthesia. Two simple methods for assessing the patency of nostrils were investigated. Firstly, the occlusion test was evaluated by asking for the patient’s own assessment of nasal airflow during occlusion of each contralateral nostril while in a sitting posture. Secondly, patients breathed onto a spatula held 1 cm below the nostrils while in a sitting posture. All patients were assessed using these two simple tests. Nasal endoscopic examination of each patient was used as a gold standard. Results. The diagnostic value of the occlusion test (sensitivity of 91.7%, specificity of 61.1%, PPV of 75.9%, NPV of 84.6%, LR+ of 2.36, and LR− of 0.14) seemed better than that of the spatula test (sensitivity of 95.8%, specificity of 25.0%, PPV of 63.0%, NPV of 81.8%, LR+ of 1.28, and LR− of 0.17). When both tests were combined in series, the diagnostic value increased (sensitivity of 87.9%, specificity of 70.8%, PPV of 80.1%, NPV of 81.4%, LR+ of 3.01, and LR− of 0.17). Conclusion and Recommendations. The simple occlusion test is more useful than the spatula test. However, combining the results from both tests in series helped to improve the diagnostic value for selecting a suitable nostril for nasotracheal intubation.
Analysis of Isolation Ground Vibration by Graded Wave Impeding Block under a Moving Load
Authors: Ma Qiang , Zhou Feng-xi
Published: August 2018

Combined with the coordinate transformation, the dynamic governing equations for elastic foundation under a moving load are established by using the reverberation ray matrix method, and the isolation effect of a graded wave impeding block is studied. The displacement and the stress are obtained in the time domain by using numerical inverse Fourier transformation. Via numerical examples, the effectiveness of vibration isolation of graded wave impeding block is compared to conventional single phase solid homogenous wave impeding block. The results show that compared with the single phase solid homogenous wave impeding block isolation system, the graded wave impeding block can effectively reduce the vibration amplitude and has more advantages and is effective under a moving load.
Investigation into Interactions between Accident Consequences and Traffic Signs: A Bayesian Bivariate Tobit Quantile Regression Approach
Authors: Xu Xuecai , Šarić Željko
Published: August 2018

This study intended to investigate the interactions between accident severity levels and traffic signs in state roads located in Croatia and explore the correlation between accident severity levels and heterogeneity attributed to unobserved factors. The data from 460 state roads between 2012 and 2016 were collected from Traffic Accident Database System maintained by the Republic of Croatia Ministry of the Interior. To address the correlation and heterogeneity, Bayesian bivariate Tobit quantile regression models were proposed, in which the bivariate framework addressed the correlation of residuals with Bayesian approach, while the Tobit quantile regression model accommodated the heterogeneity due to unobserved factors. By comparing the Bayesian bivariate Tobit quantile and mean regression models, the proposed quantile models showed priority to mean model. Results revealed that (1) low visibility and the number of invalid traffic signs per km increased the accident rate of material damage, death, or injury; (2) average speed limit exhibited a close relation with accident rate; and (3) the number of mandatory signs was more likely to reduce the accident rate of material damage, while the number of warning signs was significant for accident rate of death or injury.
Ising Model of User Behavior Decision in Network Rumor Propagation
Authors: Li Chengcheng , Liu Fengming , Li Pu
Published: August 2018

The continuous breeding and rapid spread of rumors in social networks poses a severe challenge to the effective utilization and scientific management of social media. Therefore, it is of great theoretical significance and application value to study the decision-making behavior of users in rumors spread in social networks and to reveal the rumor transmission rules. Based on the Ising model, this paper constructs a social network rumor propagation dynamics model and then reveals the rumor transmission rules. In the model, the Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the interaction between the user’s self-identity attribute (micropart), the user-user interaction (the middle part), and the social environment’s influence (the macroscopic part) to study user decision behavior of rumor spread in a social network system. The results show that, in the rumor propagation system, von Neumann entropy can quantify well the phase transition of the system and is consistent with the phase transition information obtained by measuring the spontaneous magnetization and magnetic susceptibility of the system. In addition, the introduction of the self-identity characteristics of individual users into the Ising model has greatly changed the users’ decision-making behavior of rumor spreading and changed the internal structure of the system, thus changing the type of phase transition. As the degree of self-identification increases, the need for lower temperatures can change the orderly state of the system, and user behavior changes more rapidly. For the rumor transmission system, the state of close order is conducive to the blocking of rumors, thus maintaining social stability.
VECM Model Analysis of Carbon Emissions, GDP, and International Crude Oil Prices
Authors: Zou Xiaohua
Published: August 2018

As a kind of scarce natural capital, energy makes more and more obvious constraint effects on economic growth. And energy consumption is the major source of greenhouse gas emissions. This brings about the problems of the relationships among energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic growth, which is worthy of long-term attention. This paper attempted to explore the interactive relations among American oil prices, carbon emissions, and GDP through the data analysis from 1983 to 2013. This paper adopted time series vector error correction model (VECM) approach to conduct stationarity test, cointegration test, stability test, and Granger causality test. The results indicated that, no matter in the short term or long term, oil price fluctuation is the reason why carbon emissions change, while the GDP fluctuation is not the reason for the growth of carbon emissions. The oil price impacts will have a great influence on GDP and carbon emissions in the short term, but, the in long term, the influence will tend to be gentle.
Decay Rate and Energy Gap for the Singularity Solution of the Inhomogeneous Landau-Lifshitz Equation on S2
Authors: Zhong Penghong
Published: August 2018

The singularity solution for the inhomogeneous Landau-Lifshitz (ILL) equation without damping term in n-dimensional space was investigated. The implicit singularity solution was obtained for the case where the target space is on S2. This solution can be classified into four types that cover the global and local solutions. An estimation of the energy density of one of these types indicates its exact decay rate, which allows a global solution with finite initial energy under n>3. Analysis of the four aperiodic solutions indicates that energy gaps that are first contributions to the literature of ILL will occur for particular coefficient settings, and these are shown graphically.
Evaluation of Serum-Paired miRNA Ratios for Early Diagnosis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Quantum Dot-Based Suspension Array
Authors: Fan Lihong , Chen Hao , Teng Junliang , Li Dan , Wang Changhui , Xia Qing , Su Bo , Qi Huiwei
Published: August 2018

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) lacks specific noninvasive markers at early stage. Previous studies have indicated that several miRNAs may be potential noninvasive markers in the diagnosis of NSCLC. In the present study, we examined the expression of 9 miRNAs in serum from 128 NSCLC patients at stage I and from 79 healthy controls using quantum dot-based suspension array. Our results have demonstrated that the expression of miR-15b-5p and miR-17-5p was significantly increased in the serum of NSCLC cases, while the expression of miR-20a-5p, miR-16-5p, and miR-19a-3p were downregulated in NSCLC patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the ratios of miR-15b-5p/miR-20a-5p and miR-15b-5p/miR-16-5p have the best performance for the diagnosis of early-stage NSCLC with a specificity of 83.2% and 79.2% and sensitivity of 74.3% and 86.8%, respectively. The AUCs were 0.842 and 0.831. In summary, miR-15b-5p/miR-20a-5p and miR-15b-5p/miR-16-5p ratios were both important indicators as well as CEA and CYFRA21-1 for the diagnosis of stage I NSCLC. The ratios of miR-15b-5p/miR-20a-5p and miR-15b-5p/miR-16-5p could be used as novel noninvasive biomarkers for NSCLC diagnosis at early stage, particularly combined with serum CEA and CYFRA21-1 results.
Effect of Molten Corium Behavior Uncertainty on the Severe Accident Progress
Authors: Choi Wonjun , Kim Taeseok , Jeon Joongoo , Kim Nam Kyung , Kim Sung Joong
Published: August 2018

Uncertainty of a severe accident code output needs to be handled reliably considering its use in safety regulation of nuclear industry. In particular, severe accident codes are utilized for probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), where the uncertainty of severe accident progress should be considered carefully due to its influence on human reliability analysis. Therefore, in this study, the uncertainty analysis of severe accident progress was performed using MELCOR code, and a total of 200 data sets of in-vessel uncertainty parameters were generated by Latin hypercube sampling method. The rank regression analysis was also performed to investigate the effect of uncertainty parameters on the severe accident progress. Sensitivity coefficients (SCs) in MELCOR such as molten clad drainage rate and zircaloy melt breakout temperature showed significant influence on relocation time and dryout time of lower plenum. However, the influence of uncertainty parameter diminished as the accident progressed.
Design and Performance Evaluation of Propeller for Solar-Powered High-Altitude Long-Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Authors: Park Donghun , Lee Yunggyo , Cho Taehwan , Kim Cheolwan
Published: August 2018

Design, wind tunnel test, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, and flight test data analysis are conducted for the propeller of EAV-3, which is a solar-powered high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute. The blade element momentum theory, in conjunction with minimum induced loss, is used as a basic design method. Airfoil data are obtained from CFD analysis, which takes into account the low Reynolds number effect. The response surface is evaluated for design variables by using design of experiment and kriging metamodel. The optimization is based on desirability function. A wind tunnel test is conducted on the designed propeller. Numerical analyses are performed by using a commercial CFD code, and results are compared with those obtained from the design code and wind tunnel test data. Flight test data are analyzed based on several approximations and assumptions. The propeller performance is in good agreement with the numerical and measurement data in terms of tendency and behavior. The comparison of data confirms that the design method, wind tunnel test, and CFD analysis used in this study are practically useful and valid for the development of a high-altitude propeller.
Leptin Modifies the Rat Heart Performance Associated with Mitochondrial Dysfunction Independently of Its Prohypertrophic Effects
Authors: Berzabá-Evoli Edna , Zazueta Cecilia , Cruz Hernández Jarumi Hishel , Gómez-Crisóstomo Nancy Patricia , Juárez-Rojop Isela Esther , De la Cruz-Hernández Erick Natividad , Martínez-Abundis Eduardo
Published: August 2018

Background. Functional receptors for leptin were described on the surface of cardiomyocytes, and there was a prohypertrophic effect with high concentrations of the cytokine. Therefore, leptin could be a link between obesity and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, a deleterious effect of leptin on mitochondrial performance was described, which was also associated with the evolution of cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure. The goal of our study was to analyze the effect of the exposure of rat hearts to a high concentration of leptin on cardiac and mitochondrial function. Methods. Rat hearts were perfused continuously with or without 3.1 nM leptin for 1, 2, 3, or 4 hours. Homogenates and mitochondria were prepared by centrifugation and analyzed for cardiac actin, STAT3, and pSTAT3 by Western blotting, as well as for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, membrane potential, swelling, calcium transport, and content of oxidized lipids. Results. In our results, leptin induced an increased rate-pressure product as a result of increased heart rate and contraction force, as well oxidative stress. In addition, mitochondrial dysfunction expressed as a loss of membrane potential, decreased ability for calcium transport and retention, faster swelling, and less respiratory control was observed. Conclusions. Our results support the role of leptin as a deleterious factor for cardiac function and indicates that mitochondrial dysfunction could be a trigger for cardiac hypertrophy and failure.
Combining Convolutional Neural Network and Markov Random Field for Semantic Image Retrieval
Authors: Xu Haijiao , Huang Changqin , Huang Xiaodi , Xu Chunyan , Huang Muxiong
Published: August 2018

With the rapidly growing number of images over the Internet, efficient scalable semantic image retrieval becomes increasingly important. This paper presents a novel approach for semantic image retrieval by combining Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Markov Random Field (MRF). As a key step, image concept detection, that is, automatically recognizing multiple semantic concepts in an unlabeled image, plays an important role in semantic image retrieval. Unlike previous work that uses single-concept classifiers one by one, we detect semantic multiconcept by using a multiconcept scene classifier. In other words, our approach takes multiple concepts as a holistic scene for multiconcept scene learning. Specifically, we first train a CNN as a concept classifier, which further includes two types of classifiers: a single-concept fully connected classifier that is best suited to single-concept detection and a multiconcept scene fully connected classifier that is good for holistic scene detection. Then we propose an MRF-based late fusion approach that is able to effectively learn the semantic correlation between the single-concept classifier and multiconcept scene classifier. Finally, the semantic correlation among the subconcepts of images is cought to further improve detection precision. In order to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of our proposed approach, we conduct comprehensive experiments on two publicly available image databases. The results show that our proposed approach outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches.
Congestion Control and Prediction Schemes Using Fuzzy Logic System with Adaptive Membership Function in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Aimtongkham Phet , Nguyen Tri Gia , So-In Chakchai
Published: August 2018

Network congestion is a key challenge in resource‐constrained networks, particularly those with limited bandwidth to accommodate high‐volume data transmission, which causes unfavorable quality of service, including effects such as packet loss and low throughput. This challenge is crucial in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with restrictions and constraints, including limited computing power, memory, and transmission due to self‐contained batteries, which limit sensor node lifetime. Determining a path to avoid congested routes can prolong the network. Thus, we present a path determination architecture for WSNs that takes congestion into account. The architecture is divided into 3 stages, excluding the final criteria for path determination: (1) initial path construction in a top‐down hierarchical structure, (2) path derivation with energy‐aware assisted routing, and (3) congestion prediction using exponential smoothing. With several factors, such as hop count, remaining energy, buffer occupancy, and forwarding rate, we apply fuzzy logic systems to determine proper weights among those factors in addition to optimizing the weight over the membership functions using a bat algorithm. The simulation results indicate the superior performance of the proposed method in terms of high throughput, low packet loss, balancing the overall energy consumption, and prolonging the network lifetime compared to state‐of‐the‐art protocols.
Autologous Fat Grafting in the Treatment of Facial Scleroderma
Authors: Gheisari Mehdi , Ahmadzadeh Arman , Nobari Nilofar , Iranmanesh Behzad , Mozafari Nikoo
Published: August 2018

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare systemic autoimmune disease, characterized by progressive cutaneous and internal organ fibrosis. Orofacial manifestations of systemic sclerosis are extremely disabling and treatment options are limited. In this study, we aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of autologous fat grafting in the face of patients with systemic sclerosis. We enrolled 16 SSc patients suffering from facial sclerosis and limited mouth opening capacity. Autologous fat injection ranging from 15 to 40 ml was administered per patient, based on their face morphology. The patients were evaluated at baseline and 3 months after fat injection. Evaluations included mouth opening capacity, mouth handicap in systemic sclerosis (MHISS), Rodnan skin sclerosis score, skin biophysical properties using a sensitive biometrologic device with the assessment of cutaneous resonance running time (CRRT), volumizing and aesthetic effects based on pre- and posttreatment photographs, possible side effects, and global patient satisfaction. Clinical assessment showed autologous fat transfer significantly improved mouth opening capacity and the MHISS and Rodnan score of patients with facial scleroderma (p value <.001). The aesthetic and/or functional results of fat injection were satisfying to about 80% of the patients. The changes in CRRT values were not significant. Our findings support the possible therapeutic role of autologous fat grafting in improving facial scleroderma both in aesthetic and in functional aspects. This trial is registered with IRCT20180209038677N1.
An Improved Fuzzy Neural Network Compound Control Scheme for Inertially Stabilized Platform for Aerial Remote Sensing Applications
Authors: Zhou Xiangyang , Li Yating , Jia Yuan , Zhao Libo
Published: August 2018

An improved fuzzy neural network (FNN)/proportion integration differentiation (PID) compound control scheme based on variable universe and back-propagation (BP) algorithms is proposed to improve the ability of disturbance rejection of a three-axis inertially stabilized platform (ISP) for aerial remote sensing applications. In the design of improved FNN/PID compound controller, the variable universe method is firstly used for the design of the fuzzy/PID compound controller; then, the BP algorithm is utilized to finely tune the controller parameters online. In this way, the desired performances with good ability of disturbance rejection and high stabilization accuracy are obtained for the aerial ISP. The simulations and experiments are, respectively, carried out to validate the improved FNN/PID compound control method. The results show that the improved FNN/PID compound control scheme has the excellent capability in disturbance rejection, by which the ISP’s stabilization accuracy under dynamic disturbance is improved significantly.
Periodontal Disease, Inflammatory Cytokines, and PGE2 in Pregnant Patients at Risk of Preterm Delivery: A Pilot Study
Authors: Latorre Uriza Catalina , Velosa-Porras Juliana , Roa Nelly S. , Quiñones Lara Stephani Margarita , Silva Jaime , Ruiz Alvaro J. , Escobar Arregoces Francina Maria
Published: August 2018

Periodontal disease is an infection that, in pregnant women, can act as a risk factor for preterm delivery by increasing local and systemic inflammatory responses. Objective. To analyze the presence of periodontal disease, proinflammatory cytokines, and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in pregnant patients at high risk for preterm delivery. Materials and Methods. Pilot study for a case-control study. We included 46 pregnant patients (23 patients at risk of preterm delivery as cases and 23 patients without risk of preterm delivery as controls). We excluded patients who received periodontal treatment, antibiotics, or antimicrobials over the last 3 months as well as those with infections or diseases such as diabetes or hypercholesterolemia. The patients underwent a periodontal assessment, and their levels of cytokines (interleukin- [IL-] 2, IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor- [TNF-] α) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) were quantified. Results. Patients with periodontal disease showed higher levels of cytokines (IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α) and PGE2. Patients at high risk for preterm birth showed higher IL levels compared with patients at low risk for preterm delivery. PGE2 increased with the severity of periodontal disease. PGE2 was higher in patients at low risk for preterm delivery, although this difference was not significant. Conclusion. Periodontal disease can increase the systemic inflammatory response as well as the levels of PGE2 and inflammatory cytokines in pregnant patients.
Signal Preemption Control of Emergency Vehicles Based on Timed Colored Petri Nets
Authors: Mu Haibo , Liu Linzhong , Li Xiaojing
Published: August 2018

This paper focuses on the use of timed colored Petri nets (TCPN) to study emergency vehicle (EV) preemption control problem. TCPN is adopted to establish an urban traffic network model composed of three submodels, namely, traffic flow model, traffic signal display and phase switch model, and traffic signal switch control model. An EV preemption optimization control system, consisting of monitoring subsystem, phase time determination subsystem, and phase switching control subsystem, is designed. The calculation method of the travelling speed of EV on road sections is presented, and the methods of determining the actual green time of current phase and the other phase are given. Some computational comparisons are performed to verify the signal preemption control strategies, and simulation results indicate that the proposed approach can provide efficient and safe running environments for emergency vehicles and minimize EV’s interference to social vehicles simultaneously.
Effect of High-Induction Magnetic Stimulation on Elasticity of the Patellar Tendon
Authors: Prucha Jaroslav , Socha Vladimir , Sochova Viera , Hanakova Lenka , Stojic Slobodan
Published: August 2018

Nowadays, a high-induction magnetic stimulation is starting to be increasingly applied as a biophysical stimulation in the conservative treatment of the degenerative locomotor system diseases. These are mainly in correlation with the changes in soft tissue elasticity, which should be positively influenced by the flow-induced electrical currents of high current density during high-induction magnetic stimulation. This assumption was verified within the interventional and prospective study using the ultrasound elastography. The group consisted of 6 volunteers, whose elasticity of the patellar tendons was measured using the 2D shear-wave ultrasound elastography. The volunteers were then exposed to a 20-minute high-induction magnetic stimulation session with a frequency of 20 Hz, in 2 s package intervals, with a 5 s pause, and a induced electric current density of 100 Am−2in the tendons area. A tendon tension was measured five times for all volunteers, where mean tension at the marked area of the tendon, as well as the highest point tension indicated by the Q-Box, was monitored. The measurement results show that high-induction magnetic stimulation has an influence on the patellar tendon tension change, which occurred in the case of all involved volunteers when the patellar tension was decreased.
A Computational Fractional Signal Derivative Method
Authors: Salinas Matías , Salas Rodrigo , Mellado Diego , Glaría Antonio , Saavedra Carolina
Published: August 2018

We propose an efficient computational method to obtain the fractional derivative of a digital signal. The proposal consists of a new interpretation of the Grünwald–Letnikov differintegral operator where we have introduced a finite Cauchy convolution with the Grünwald–Letnikov dynamic kernel. The method can be applied to any signal without knowing its analytical form. In the experiments, we have compared the proposed Grünwald–Letnikov computational fractional derivative method with the Riemman–Louville fractional derivative approach for two well-known functions. The simulations exhibit similar results for both methods; however, the Grünwald–Letnikov method outperforms the other approach in execution time. Finally, we show an application of how our proposal can be useful to find the fractional relationship between two well-known biomedical signals.
Managing Crowds with Wireless and Mobile Technologies
Authors: Yamin Mohammad , Basahel Abdullah M. , Abi Sen Adnan A.
Published: August 2018

Thousands of people have lost their lives in stampedes and other crowd related disasters in recent years. Most of these fatalities seem to have been caused by poor control and management of crowds, which is discussed in this article. An efficient and effective crowd management system must also have a plan to deal with the ongoing threat of terrorism and outbreak of various kinds of communicable diseases. In this article, we present a framework of a Crowd Control and Health Management System specially designed to prevent and manage stampedes and other disasters. The system has two subsystems; one for dealing with the management of stampedes and other disasters and the other with healthcare management. As part of the proposed system, an algorithm for an early detection of stampedes, with proof and simulation of implementation, is provided. As part of the healthcare management subsystem, we integrate several mobile applications and develop four of them dealing with relief issues, blood donations, complaints and alerts, and utilizing mobile phones as a sensor device. Our system makes use of various kinds of wireless, mobile, and other technologies and tools including Fog Computing, Smart Phones, Smart Digital Street, IP‐Cameras, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Voice Alarm, Light Alarm, and Global Positioning System (GPS). We compare merits and effectiveness of RFID and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), as well as those of Cloud and Fog with a view of using them as part of the proposed framework. We also discuss applications of our systems in real‐life cases of Hajj, an annual pilgrimage of millions of people to Mecca, and Kumbh Mela, a periodic gathering of tens of millions of people in India, both of which have accounted for the majority of fatalities in stampedes and other disasters.
An Efficient Numerical Method for a Class of Nonlinear Volterra Integro-Differential Equations
Authors: Daliri Birjandi M. H. , Saberi-Nadjafi J. , Ghorbani A.
Published: August 2018

We investigate an efficient numerical method for solving a class of nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations, which is a combination of the parametric iteration method and the spectral collocation method. The implementation of the modified method is demonstrated by solving several nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations. The results reveal that the developed method is easy to implement and avoids the additional computational work. Furthermore, the method is a promising approximate tool to solve this class of nonlinear equations and provides us with a convenient way to control and modify the convergence rate of the solution.
Synergistic Effect of Carbamide and Sulfate Reducing Bacteria on Corrosion Behavior of Carbon Steel in Soil
Authors: Li Ximing , Sun Cheng
Published: August 2018

Synergistic effect of carbamide and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) on corrosion behavior of carbon steel was studied in soils with moisture of 20% and 30%, by soil properties measurement, weight loss, polarization curve, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that carbamide decreased the soil redox potential and increased soil pH. In soil without SRB, carbamide made corrosion potential of Q235 steel much more positive and then inhibited corrosion. Meanwhile, in soil with SRB, 0.5 wt% carbamide restrained SRB growth and inhibited biocorrosion of Q235 steel. Corrosion rate of carbon steel decreased in soil with 30% moisture compared with that with 20% moisture.
Self‐Adaptive K‐Means Based on a Covering Algorithm
Authors: Zhang Yiwen , Zhou Yuanyuan , Guo Xing , Wu Jintao , He Qiang , Liu Xiao , Yang Yun
Published: August 2018

The K‐means algorithm is one of the ten classic algorithms in the area of data mining and has been studied by researchers in numerous fields for a long time. However, the value of the clustering number k in the K‐means algorithm is not always easy to be determined, and the selection of the initial centers is vulnerable to outliers. This paper proposes an improved K‐means clustering algorithm called the covering K‐means algorithm (C‐K‐means). The C‐K‐means algorithm can not only acquire efficient and accurate clustering results but also self‐adaptively provide a reasonable numbers of clusters based on the data features. It includes two phases: the initialization of the covering algorithm (CA) and the Lloyd iteration of the K‐means. The first phase executes the CA. CA self‐organizes and recognizes the number of clusters k based on the similarities in the data, and it requires neither the number of clusters to be prespecified nor the initial centers to be manually selected. Therefore, it has a “blind” feature, that is, k is not preselected. The second phase performs the Lloyd iteration based on the results of the first phase. The C‐K‐means algorithm combines the advantages of CA and K‐means. Experiments are carried out on the Spark platform, and the results verify the good scalability of the C‐K‐means algorithm. This algorithm can effectively solve the problem of large‐scale data clustering. Extensive experiments on real data sets show that the accuracy and efficiency of the C‐K‐means algorithm outperforms the existing algorithms under both sequential and parallel conditions.
Diagnostic and Prognostic Validity of Proadrenomedullin among Neonates with Sepsis in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Southern India
Authors: Kannan Raja , Rao Suchetha S. , Mithra Prasanna , Dhanashree B. , Baliga Shantharam , Bhat Kamalakshi G.
Published: August 2018

Introduction. To evaluate Proadrenomedullin (Pro-ADM) as the diagnostic and prognostic marker in neonatal sepsis. Materials and Methods. In this cross-sectional study, Pro-ADM levels were estimated in 54 neonates with clinical sepsis and positive sepsis screen (cases) and 54 controls without clinical sepsis. Repeat Pro-ADM levels were estimated after 72 hours in cases. Pro-ADM levels were compared with the clinical outcome. Results and Discussion. Median Pro-ADM levels in cases were 31.8 (IQR: 27.8-39.4) pmol/ml which was significantly higher than controls 5.1 (IQR; 3.1-7.7) pmol/ml. From the constructed ROC curve, a value of 14.5 pmol/ml was taken as the cut-off for sepsis. Pro-ADM had 100% sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive values (PPV) in detecting sepsis at 14.5 pmol/ml. Among cases, a decrease in Pro-ADM level by 10 pmol/ml was associated with 99% survival. Pro-ADM value of 35 pmol/ml had 100% specificity and PPV in predicting mortality. Conclusion. Pro-ADM can be used as a single biomarker for detecting neonatal sepsis, predicting clinical outcome and prognosis.
Robust Semisupervised Nonnegative Local Coordinate Factorization for Data Representation
Authors: Jiang Wei , Lv Qian , Yan Chenggang , Tang Kewei , Zhang Jie
Published: August 2018

Obtaining an optimum data representation is a challenging issue that arises in many intellectual data processing techniques such as data mining, pattern recognition, and gene clustering. Many existing methods formulate this problem as a nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) approximation problem. The standard NMF uses the least square loss function, which is not robust to outlier points and noises and fails to utilize prior label information to enhance the discriminability of representations. In this study, we develop a novel matrix factorization method called robust semisupervised nonnegative local coordinate factorization by integrating robust NMF, a robust local coordinate constraint, and local spline regression into a unified framework. We use the l2,1 norm for the loss function of the NMF and a local coordinate constraint term to make our method insensitive to outlier points and noises. In addition, we exploit the local and global consistencies of sample labels to guarantee that data representation is compact and discriminative. An efficient multiplicative updating algorithm is deduced to solve the novel loss function, followed by a strict proof of the convergence. Several experiments conducted in this study on face and gene datasets clearly indicate that the proposed method is more effective and robust compared to the state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Determination of Trace Antimony (III) in Water Samples with Single Drop Microextraction Using BPHA-[C4mim][PF6] System Followed by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry
Authors: Huang Xiaoshan , Guan Mingxin , Lu Zhuliangzi , Hang Yiping
Published: August 2018

A new sensitive method for antimony (III) determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) has been developed by using N-benzoyl-N-phenylhydroxylamine (BPHA) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C4mim][PF6]) single drop microextraction. The single drop microextraction (SDMM) system is more competitive compared with other traditional extraction methods. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio is 3) and the enrichment factor of antimony (III) are 0.01 μg·L−1 and 112, respectively. The relative standard deviation of the 0.5 μg·L−1 antimony (III) is 4.2% (n=6). The proposed method is rather sensitive to determinate trace antimony (III) in water.
Detecting Cross-Site Scripting in Web Applications Using Fuzzy Inference System
Authors: Ayeni Bakare K. , Sahalu Junaidu B. , Adeyanju Kolawole R.
Published: August 2018

With improvement in computing and technological advancements, web-based applications are now ubiquitous on the Internet. However, these web applications are becoming prone to vulnerabilities which have led to theft of confidential information, data loss, and denial of data access in the course of information transmission. Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a form of web security attack which involves the injection of malicious codes into web applications from untrusted sources. Interestingly, recent research studies on the web application security centre focus on attack prevention and mechanisms for secure coding; recent methods for those attacks do not only generate high false positives but also have little considerations for the users who oftentimes are the victims of malicious attacks. Motivated by this problem, this paper describes an “intelligent” tool for detecting cross-site scripting flaws in web applications. This paper describes the method implemented based on fuzzy logic to detect classic XSS weaknesses and to provide some results on experimentations. Our detection framework recorded 15% improvement in accuracy and 0.01% reduction in the false-positive rate which is considerably lower than that found in the existing work by Koli et al. Our approach also serves as a decision-making tool for the users.
Determination of Total Flavonoids Contents and Antioxidant Activity ofGinkgo bilobaLeaf by Near-Infrared Reflectance Method
Authors: Zhao Ling-jia , Liu Wei , Xiong Su-hui , Tang Jie , Lou Zhao-huan , Xie Ming-xia , Xia Bo-hou , Lin Li-mei , Liao Duan-fang
Published: August 2018

Background. Total flavonoids content (TFC) is one of the most important quality indexes ofGinkgo bilobaleaf, and it is concerned with total antioxidant activity. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) method has showed its advantages in fast, accurate, qualitative, and quantitative analysis of various components in many quality control researches. In this study, a calibration model was built by partial least squares regression (PLSR) coupling with NIR spectrum to quantitatively analyze the TFC and total antioxidant activity ofGinkgo bilobaleaf.Results. During the model establishing, some spectrum pretreatment and outlier diagnosis methods were optimized to establish the final model. The coefficients of determination (R2) for TFC and total antioxidant activity prediction were 0.8863 and 0.8486, respectively; and the root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) were 2.203 mg/g and 0.2211 mM/g, respectively.Conclusion. These results showed that NIR method combined with chemometrics is suitable for quantitative analysis of main components and their activities and might be applied to quality control of relevant products.
The Impact Toughness and Hardness of Treated and Untreated Sisal Fibre‐Epoxy Resin Composites
Authors: Webo Wilson , Masu Leonard , Maringa Maina
Published: August 2018

The effect of the combined chemical treatment of sisal fibres through the subsequent processes of mercerisation (alkali treatment), then silane treatment and eventually acid hydrolysis, on sisal fibre was investigated. The effect of the treated fibres on the impact toughness and hardness of their composites with epoxy resin was also studied. Scanning electron microscopy of the surfaces of the treated and untreated fibres showed that the chemical treatment processes enhanced the removal of surface impurities and therefore increased the roughness of the surfaces of the fibres. This avails an increased surface area for interlocking with matrix and is, therefore, expected to enhance adhesion of the two. The treated fibre reinforced composites were observed to have higher values of impact toughness and hardness than the untreated fibre reinforced composites. These higher values were attributed to better interfacial bonding due to better mechanical interlocking between the treated fibres and epoxy resin arising from the increased roughness of the treated fibres.
Trends of Moisture and Electrical Conductivity in Clay Liners
Authors: Dafalla Muawia , Al-Mahbashi Ahmed , Al-Shamrani Mosleh
Published: August 2018

This research is aimed at investigating the influence of ambient air temperature on the moisture content and electrical conductivity of clay sand mixtures. Volume changes as a result of shrinking or swelling are very much related to the moisture content and the electrical conductivity for liners consisting of sand and clays. The laboratory tests carried out for clay sand mixtures subjected to drying indicated a bilinear trend for 15, 20, 25, and 30% clay content. Moisture content measurements are influenced by the ambient temperature and exposure time. Watering a clay sand layer at a regular frequency in a field site revealed useful information on the trends of moisture gain and loss. Suction fluctuation associated with these changes is responsible for absorbing variable amounts of water. Moisture/Temp/EC sensors (5TE) were utilized to survey a sand clay liner section over 30 day’s period. A metrological station installed within the site was used to observe temperature, humidity, and rain fall. The drop of moisture and electrical conductivity was found to be nonlinear with temperature changes and reflecting the bimodal nature of the soil. The general trends of repeated wetting and drying were found similar in shape.
Student Evaluations of a (Rude) Spoken Dialogue System Insights from an Experimental Study
Authors: Jucks Regina , Linnemann Gesa A. , Brummernhenrich Benjamin
Published: August 2018

Communicating with spoken dialogue systems (SDS) such as Apple’s Siri® and Google’s Now is becoming more and more common. We report a study that manipulates an SDS’s word use with regard to politeness. In an experiment, 58 young adults evaluated the spoken messages of our self-developed SDS as it replied to typical questions posed by university freshmen. The answers were either formulated politely or rudely. Dependent measures were both holistic measures of how students perceived the SDS as well as detailed evaluations of each single answer. Results show that participants not only evaluated the content of rude answers as being less appropriate and less pleasant than the polite answers, but also evaluated the rude system as less accurate. Lack of politeness also impacted aspects of the perceived trustworthiness of the SDS. We conclude that users of SDS expect such systems to be polite, and we then discuss some practical implications for designing SDS.
Achievable Rates of Gaussian Interference Channel with Multi‐Layer Rate‐Splitting and Successive Simple Decoding
Authors: Yu Hanxiao , Fei Zesong
Published: August 2018

The capacity bound of the Gaussian interference channel (IC) has received extensive research interests in recent years. Since the IC model consists of multiple transmitters and multiple receivers, its exact capacity region is generally unknown. One well‐known capacity achieving method in IC is Han‐Kobayashi (H‐K) scheme, which applies two‐layer rate‐splitting (RS) and simultaneous decoding (SD) as the pivotal techniques and is proven to achieve the IC capacity region within 1 bit. However, the computational complexity of SD grows exponentially with the number of independent signal layers, which is not affordable in practice. To this end, we propose a scheme which employs multi‐layer RS at the transmitters and successive simple decoding (SSD) at the receivers in the two‐transmitter and two‐receiver IC model and then study the achievable sum capacity of this scheme. Compared with the complicated SD, SSD regards interference as noise and thus has linear complexity. We first analyze the asymptotic achievable sum capacity of IC with equal‐power multi‐layer RS and SSD, where the number of layers approaches to infinity. Specifically, we derive the closed‐form expression of the achievable sum capacity of the proposed scheme in symmetric IC, where the proposed scheme only suffers from a little capacity loss compared with SD. We then present the achievable sum capacity with finite‐layer RS and SSD. We also derive the sufficient conditions where employing finite‐layer RS may even achieve larger sum capacity than that with infinite‐layer RS. Finally, numerical simulations are proposed to validate that multi‐layer RS and SSD are not generally weaker than SD with respect to the achievable sum capacity, at least for some certain channel gain conditions of IC.
A Two-Layer Network Dynamic Congestion Pricing Based on Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram
Authors: Wei Bangyang , Sun Daniel(Jian)
Published: August 2018

Dynamic congestion pricing has attracted increasing attentions during the recent years. Nevertheless, limited research has been conducted to address the dynamic tolling scheme at the network level, such as to cooperatively manage two alternative networks with heterogeneous properties, e.g., the two-layer network consisting of both expressway and arterial network in the urban areas. Recently, the macroscopic fundamental diagram (MFD) developed by both field experiments and simulation tests illustrates a unimodal low-scatter relationship between the mean flow and density network widely, providing the network traffic state is roughly homogeneous. It reveals traffic flow properties at an aggregated level and sheds light on dynamic traffic management of a large network. This paper proposes a bilevel programming toll model, incorporating MFD to solve the unbalanced flow distribution problem within the two-layer transportation networks. The upper level model aims at minimizing the total travel time, while the lower level focuses on the MFD-based traffic assignment, which extends the link-based traffic assignment to network wide level. Genetic algorithm (GA) and the method of successive average were adopted for solving the proposed model, on which an online experimental platform was established using VISSIM, MATLAB, and Visual Studio software packages. The results of numerical studies demonstrate that the total travel time is decreased by imposing the dynamic toll, while the total travel time savings significantly outweigh the toll paid. Consequently, the proposed dynamic toll scheme is believed to be effective from both traffic and economic points of view.