bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Short vs. Long Bouts of All-Out Rope Skipping: Effects on Metabolic and Perceptual Responses
Authors: Chow Gary Chi-Ching , Sun Fenghua , Kam Kevin Wai-Keung , Kong Yu-Hin , Zhang Borui
Published: June 2023

Rope skipping has been well documented for eliciting positive effects on various health outcomes and contributing to overall physical activity levels. However, the specific health benefits may depend on the duration and intensity of the exercise bouts. This study aimed to compare the (1) metabolic and (2) perceptual responses between short (30 s) and long (3 min) bouts of all-out rope skipping, and to (3) evaluate the reliability and validity of a newly invented electronic rope (E-rope). A total of 23 young adults (13 males and 10 females; aged 23.23 ± 2.62 y) repeated short and long skipping bouts on two testing days. The oxygen consumption (V·O2), peak respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate (HR), rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and post-exercise muscle soreness were assessed during each trial. Longer skipping bouts (148.33 skips·min−1) resulted in significantly greater metabolic responses (p < 0.01, d = 1.00–3.27), higher rates of perceived exertion (p < 0.01, d = 2.28), and more post-exercise muscle soreness (p < 0.01, d = 0.66–1.49) compared to shorter bouts (165.83 skips·min−1). The E-rope demonstrated sufficient concurrent validity (r > 0.9) and between-day reliability (ICC3,1 = 0.89–0.95) but slightly overestimated the number of skips. Both long and short all-out skipping bouts were considered moderate-to-vigorous exercise, but longer bouts resulted in higher metabolic and perceptual demands. These findings may be useful for practitioners to strategically apply different skipping bouts to improve physical activity levels and facilitate training adaptation. The E-rope could serve as a self-monitoring and self-evaluating tool.
Design and Test of a Single-Row Harvesting and Cutting Integrated Handheld Garlic Harvester
Authors: Zhang Xieliang , Qiu Liqi , Sun Qun , Jing Yigang , Zhao Ying , Yao Penghui
Published: June 2023

The current situation in which garlic cultivation is non-homogeneous and modular cannot be adapted to combine harvester operations. In this paper, a single-row harvesting and cutting integrated handheld garlic harvester is designed, and the structure and working principle of the machine are described. By analyzing the mechanics of the machine mechanism, mechanics of the machine harvesting process, and design principle of the machine chassis, the key factors affecting the garlic harvesting machine wounding rate, leakage rate, and net harvesting rate were determined. According to the force and parametric analyses of the test results, it was determined that the machine had the best harvesting effect with a conveying speed of 0.6 m/s, prop speed of 125.6 r/min, digging angle of 15°~25°, forward speed of 0.8 m/s, clamping point height of 62.15 mm, and rollover threshold value of 0.89. Compared with the traditional garlic harvester, the garlic injury rate was 57.1% lower, the garlic leakage rate was 25% lower, and the net harvest rate was 4.0% higher, which meets the requirements of the garlic harvesting operation.
Solar Sail Orbit Raising with Electro-Optically Controlled Diffractive Film
Authors: Quarta Alessandro A. , Mengali Giovanni
Published: June 2023

The aim of this paper is to analyze the transfer performance of a spacecraft whose primary propulsion system is a diffractive solar sail with active, switchable panels. The spacecraft uses a propellantless thruster that converts the solar radiation pressure into propulsive acceleration by taking advantage of the diffractive property of an electro-optically controlled (binary) metamaterial. The proposed analysis considers a heliocentric mission scenario where the spacecraft is required to perform a two-dimensional transfer between two concentric and coplanar circular orbits. The sail attitude is assumed to be Sun-facing, that is, with its sail nominal plane perpendicular to the incoming sunlight. This is possible since, unlike a more conventional solar sail concept that uses metalized highly reflective thin films to reflect the photons, a diffractive sail is theoretically able to generate a component of the thrust vector along the sail nominal plane also in a Sun-facing configuration. The electro-optically controlled sail film is used to change the in-plane component of the thrust vector to accomplish the transfer by minimizing the total flight time without changing the sail attitude with respect to an orbital reference frame. This work extends the mathematical model recently proposed by the authors by including the potential offered by an active control of the diffractive sail film. The paper also thoroughly analyzes the diffractive sail-based spacecraft performance in a set of classical circle-to-circle heliocentric trajectories that model transfers from Earth to Mars, Venus and Jupiter.
Looking for the Original Materials and Evidence of Restoration at the Vault of the San Panfilo Church in Tornimparte (AQ)
Authors: Armetta Francesco , Giuffrida Dario , Ponterio Rosina C. , Martinez Maria Fernanda Falcon , Briani Francesca , Pecchioni Elena , Santo Alba Patrizia , Ciaramitaro Veronica C. , Saladino Maria Luisa
Published: June 2023

This paper reports the investigation of six microsamples collected from the vault of the San Panfilo Church in Tornimparte (AQ). The aim was to detect the composition of the pigments and protective/varnishes, and to investigate the executive technique, the conservation state, and the evidence of the restoration works carried out in the past. Six microsamples were analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The investigations were carried out within the framework of the Tornimparte project “Archeometric investigation of the pictorial cycle of Saturnino Gatti in Tornimparte (AQ, Italy)” sponsored in 2021 by the Italian Association of Archeometry (AIAr).
The Recycling of Carbon Components and the Reuse of Carbon Fibers for Concrete Reinforcements
Authors: Baumgaertel Enrico , Marx Steffen
Published: June 2023

Carbon fiber reinforced plastics are increasingly used in all areas of industry. With the increasing number of components and semi-finished products, more and more new carbon fibers will be produced. This also generates a greater number of end-of-life components. These end-of-life components can currently only be fed back, to a limited extent, for reuse, thus leading to a non-optimal, closed-material cycle of the carbon fiber. This article provides an overview of the recycling of carbon components, their further processing and their reuse in reinforcement elements made of carbon fibers. In addition, first results from recycled single fibers and yarn tensile tests from recycled carbon fibers (rCF) are presented. By demonstrating the reuse of carbon fibers in the construction sector, there is the potential to effectively close the carbon cycle. The utilization of carbon reinforcements also enables the reduction of concrete consumption, as the minimum concrete cover required to protect the reinforcement from corrosion is no longer needed.
Vulnerability and Seismic Exposure of Residential Building Stock in the Historic Center of Alcamo
Authors: Colajanni Piero , Cucchiara Calogero , D’Anna Jennifer , Pennisi Silvia , Pagnotta Salvatore
Published: June 2023

The influence of exposure evaluation methodology in the assessment of the seismic vulnerability of the residential building stock in the historic center of Alcamo, a town of 45,000 inhabitants in Western Sicily (Italy), hit by an earthquake in 1968, is evaluated in this study. A comparison of exposure estimates on the basis of the description of the residential building stock according to two different approaches is performed. The first, typical of seismic vulnerability assessment procedures at a territorial scale, refers to the description of residential building stock through an accurate typological description, conducted using the CARTIS survey form. The form allows for a detailed description and survey of the prevailing ordinary building types within areas characterized by the homogeneity of the building fabric in terms of age of construction, structural characteristics, construction techniques, and distribution of types. The detailed description of building types allows for the assessment of exposure at the municipal scale based on an estimate of the total number of units and the percentage of each type within each compartment, obtained by interviewing local technicians. The second is based on a similar survey at the building scale, namely, drawing up a form for each building. The comparison of exposure and damage scenarios obtained with the two methods proves that the approximations provided by the compartment-scale survey are compatible with the purposes of an assessment of vulnerability and damage scenarios at the territorial scale.
Understanding the Performance of Multilane Expressway Exit Design and a Traffic Organization Strategy Based on VISSIM Micro-Simulation and a Comprehensive Evaluation Method
Authors: Chen Qiaoliang , Pan Binghong , Liu Yutong
Published: June 2023

Frequent consecutive lane changes and the barrier effect produced by trucks can always contribute to rapid access to the capacity bottleneck at expressway exits, thereby reducing operational performance. This paper proposes to retrofit the conventional interchange design to reduce lane changes and compares them with conventional design and passenger vehicle and truck separation (PVTS) design from multiple fields via VISSIM numerical simulation, which is developed and calibrated with traffic data collected on the eight-lane expressway in China at four levels of service (LOS). Comprehensive evaluation (CE) results reveal that the PVTS strategy improves operational performance by 10–20% at multilane expressway exits, while lane separation around interchanges also yields a similar gain. However, ramps on both the left and right sides show less effective improvement and are even negative at LOS-A and LOS-B. All PVTS and improved designs produce a better comprehensive improvement ratio with a LOS decrease, and improved designs achieve optimal performance below LOS-B with construction cost taken into consideration.
Absence of Weak Localization Effects in Strontium Ferromolybdate
Authors: Suchaneck Gunnar , Artiukh Evgenii
Published: June 2023

Sr2FeMoO6-δ (SFMO) double perovskite is a promising candidate for room-temperature spintronic applications, since it possesses a half-metallic character (with theoretically 100% spin polarization), a high Curie temperature of about 415 K and a low-field magnetoresistance (LFMR). The magnetic, resistive and catalytic properties of the double perovskite SFMO are excellent for spintronic (non-volatile memory), sensing, fuel cell and microwave absorber applications. However, due to different synthesis conditions of ceramics and thin films, different mechanisms of electrical conductivity and magnetoresistance prevail. In this work, we consider the occurrence of a weak localization effect in SFMO commonly obtained in disordered metallic or semiconducting systems at very low temperatures due to quantum interference of backscattered electrons. We calculate the quantum corrections to conductivity and the contribution of electron scattering to the resistivity of SFMO. We attribute the temperature dependence of SFMO ceramic resistivity in the absence of a magnetic field to the fluctuation-induced tunneling model. We also attribute the decreasing resistivity in the temperature range from 409 K to 590 K to adiabatic small polaron hopping and not to localization effects. Neither fluctuation-induced tunneling nor adiabatic small polaron hopping favors quantum interference. Additionally, we demonstrate that the resistivity upturn behavior of SFMO cannot be explained by weak localization. Here, the fitted model parameters have no physically meaningful values, i.e., the fitted weak localization coefficient (B′) was three orders of magnitude lower than the theoretical coefficient, while the fitted exponent (n) of the electron–electron interaction term (CnTn) could not be assigned to a specific electron-scattering mechanism. Consequently, to the best of our knowledge, there is still no convincing evidence for the presence of weak localization in SFMO.
Biomechanical Investigation of Patient-Specific Porous Dental Implants: A Finite Element Study
Authors: Mehboob Hassan , Ouldyerou Abdelhak , Ijaz Muhammad Farzik
Published: June 2023

The design of the implant and osseointegration play an important role in the long-term stability of implants. This study aims to investigate the impact of porous implants on full and partial osseointegration in varying bone qualities. Finite element models of porous implants were modeled and assembled with normal and weak bones considering full and partial osseointegration. These assemblies were simulated under an occlusal load of 200 N when the outer surfaces of bones were fixed in all directions. The results showed that in the case of full osseointegration, the stresses in surrounding bones were increased with decreasing implant stiffness, while decreased in partial osseointegration. Moreover, the maximum octahedral shear strain in the weak bone exceeded 3000 µε in all the cases but decreased (from 7256 to 3632 µε) with decreasing implant stiffness. According to the mechanostat hypothesis, using porous implants in normal bone may enhance bone density in full osseointegration, while susceptivity of bone damage may reduce in weak bones using porous implants. Thus, careful selection of implant material and design based on the patient’s specific bone quality is crucial for successful outcomes.
Optimal Buccal Site for Mini-Implant Placement on Attached Gingiva of Posterior Maxilla: A CBCT Study
Authors: Vasoglou Georgios , Apostolopoulos Konstantinos , Vasoglou Michail
Published: June 2023

This research aims to investigate the optimal buccal site on the attached gingiva of the posterior maxilla for mini-implant placement for anchorage purposes in orthodontics. In 23 female patients, mini-implants were implemented between the roots of the first molar and second premolar, in the maxilla, for anchorage purposes. A CBCT was acquired for diagnostic purposes, and intraoral scanning was performed. Using the digital model that was the result of combining the DICOM and STL files, the cortical bone thickness and density, as well as the trabecular bone density, were measured on three axial bone slices corresponding to the three defined height levels (lower, middle, upper) on the attached gingiva, in the interradicular area. Pearson and eta correlation tests were performed in order to investigate possible correlations between height in the attached gingiva, and the corresponding cortical bone thickness and density, as well as the corresponding trabecular bone density. The correlations regarding the height level in the attached gingiva were medium for the cortical bone thickness, and weak for the cortical bone density, while a strong correlation was found between the cortical bone thickness and density. The upper level of the attached gingiva, between the second premolar and the first molar in the maxilla, is the optimal site for mini-implant placement, as the cortical bone thickness and density are probably greater than in the lower and middle level.
Slurry Discharge Pipeline Damage and Wear Due to Transporting Rock Particles during Slurry Shield Tunneling: A Case Study Based on In Situ Observed Results
Authors: Li Xinggao , Fang Yingran , Guo Yidong , Li Xingchun
Published: June 2023

Rock particles in excavated materials can damage and wear down slurry discharge pipelines when slurry shield tunneling occurs in a pebble layer and rock ground. This pipeline damage and wear, if not properly dealt with, can lead to a broken-down tunneling machine. Based on a slurry shield tunneling project in China, damage and wear were thoroughly examined. The observed pipeline wear and leaks, transported rock particles, mechanical properties, and flow rate of the carrier slurry were presented. The measured results showed that the wear rates of a straight pipe, a pipe along a curved tunnel, a 60° inclined pipe, and a 90° elbow pipe in pebble ground were approximately 0.71 mm/100 rings, 1 mm/100 rings, 2.14 mm/100 rings, and 4 mm/100 rings, respectively. When the machine drove into rock ground, the wear rates increased by one to two times, which could be attributed to the sharper particle shapes. Countermeasures to address these issues, such as adjusting the pipeline layout, welding reinforcement plates in advance, and preparing additional pipes, were highlighted. The wear rates of different types of pipes, the effectiveness of new pipeline fixing methods, and the probability of pipeline leaks in different strata were discussed in detail.
GRU Neural Network Based on CEEMDAN–Wavelet for Stock Price Prediction
Authors: Qi Chenyang , Ren Jiaying , Su Jin
Published: June 2023

Stock indices are considered to be an important indicator of financial market volatility in various countries. Therefore, the stock market forecast is one of the challenging issues to decrease the uncertainty of the future direction of financial markets. In recent years, many scholars attempted to use different conventional statistical and deep learning methods to predict stock indices. However, the non-linear financial noise data will usually cause stochastic deterioration and time lag in forecast results, resulting in existing neural networks that do not demonstrate good prediction results. For this reason, we propose a novel framework to combine the gated recurrent unit (GRU) neural network with the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition of adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) to predict the stock indices with better accuracy, in which the wavelet threshold method is especially used to denoise high-frequency noises in the sub-signals to exclude noise interference for future data predictions. Firstly, we choose representative datasets collected from the closing prices of S&P500 and CSI 300 stock indices to evaluate the proposed GRU-CEEMDAN–wavelet model. Additionally, we compare the improved model to the traditional ARIMA and several modified neural network models using different gate structures. The result shows that the mean values of MSE and MAE for GRU based on CEEMDAN–wavelet are the smallest by significance analysis. Overall, we found that our model could improve prediction accuracy and alleviates the time lag problem.
Learnable Nonlocal Contrastive Network for Single Image Super-Resolution
Authors: Xu Binbin , Zheng Yuhui
Published: June 2023

Single image super-resolution (SISR) aims to recover a high-resolution image from a single low-resolution image. In recent years, SISR methods based on deep convolutional neural networks have achieved remarkable success, and some methods further improve the performance of the SISR model by introducing nonlocal attention into the model. However, most SISR methods that introduce nonlocal attention focus on more complex attention mechanisms and only use fixed functions for measurement when exploring image similarity. In addition, the model penalizes the algorithm in terms of loss when the output predicted by the model does not match the target data, even if this output is a potentially valid solution. To this end, we propose learnable nonlocal contrastive attention (LNLCA), which flexibly aggregates image features while maintaining linear computational complexity. Then, we introduce the adaptive target generator (ATG) model to address the problem of the single model training mode. Based on LNLCA, we construct a learnable nonlocal contrastive network (LNLCN). The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm, which produces reconstructed images with more natural texture details.
Relationship of Nanomaterials’ Structure Based on Their Application in the Food Industry: Physicochemical and Techno-Functional Characteristics
Authors: Gómez-Gómez Ana Luisa , Martínez-Ayala Alma Leticia , Moguel-Concha Deayanira del Rosario , Borges-Martínez José Eduardo , Perea-Flores María de Jesús , Dávila-Ortiz Gloria
Published: June 2023

Food science is constantly undergoing innovation, which is why the trend toward developing nanomaterials and their use in food matrices is increasing, mainly due to the physicochemical properties nanomaterials exhibit at the nanometric scale. Therefore, it is convenient to contextualize how these nanomaterials are obtained, classified, and characterized, including interactions that occur at the biomolecule–nanostructure interface, attributed to their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. This review discusses how nanotechnology is linked naturally to food, including macro-, micro-, and nanostructures, and how the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials influence the food industry by substantially improving the antimicrobial effects, the bioavailability of compounds, and the development of packaging. Finally, the scope of nanotechnology is broad and includes the study of new materials and existing nanostructures in foods, as well as their effects on health. Thus, the physicochemical properties at the micro- and nano-level are essential for the development of and knowledge apportion in scientific nanofood research.
Applicability of Human Thermophysiological Model for Prediction of Thermal Strain in PPE
Authors: Lunerová Kamila , Řehák Kopečková Barbora , Pokorný Jan , Mašín Michal , Kaiser David , Fialová Vladimíra , Fišer Jan
Published: June 2023

The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is essential to protect the human body in hazardous environments or where there is a risk of CBRN agents. However, PPE also poses a barrier to evaporative heat dissipation, therefore increasing heat accumulation in the body. In our research, we investigated the applicability of thermophysiological models for the prediction of thermal strain and the permissible working time in a contaminated environment when the usage of protective ensembles is required. We investigated the relationship between the thermal insulation characteristics of four types of PPE against CBRN agents and the induced thermal strain in a set of real physiological strain tests with human probands wearing the PPE in a climatic chamber. Based on the results, we compared the predictions using two thermophysiological models—Predicted Heat Strain Index (PHS) and FIALA-based model of thermal comfort (FMTK)—with the experimental data. In order to provide a user-friendly platform for the estimation of thermal stress in PPE, a user-friendly computational tool, Predictor of Thermal Stress (PTS), was developed. The PTS tool is based on an extensive database of simulated calculations using an FMTK model based on PPE characteristics, environmental conditions, individual parameters, and expected workload. The PTS tool was validated by means of the results from real tests in a climatic chamber. The PTS was shown to be an easy-to-use computational tool, which can be run on a regular PC, based on real data applicable for the estimation of the permissible work time limit with regard to thermal strain in PPE under various conditions.
An Improved CrowdDet Algorithm for Traffic Congestion Detection in Expressway Scenarios
Authors: Wang Chishe , Chen Yuting , Wang Jie , Qian Jinjin
Published: June 2023

Traffic congestion detection based on vehicle detection and tracking algorithms is one of the key technologies for intelligent transportation systems. However, in expressway surveillance scenarios, small vehicle size and vehicle occlusion present severe challenges for this method, including low vehicle detection accuracy and low traffic congestion detection accuracy. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an improved version of the CrowdDet algorithm by introducing the Involution operator and bi-directional feature pyramid network (BiFPN) module, which is called IBCDet. The proposed IBCDet module can achieve higher vehicle detection accuracy in expressway surveillance scenarios by enabling long-distance information interaction and multi-scale feature fusion. Additionally, a vehicle-tracking algorithm based on IBCDet is designed to calculate the running speed of vehicles, and it uses the average running speed to achieve traffic congestion detection according to the Chinese expressway level of serviceability (LoS) criteria. Adequate experiments are conducted on both the self-built Nanjing Raoyue expressway monitoring video dataset (NJRY) and the public dataset UA-DETRAC. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed IBCDet outperforms the commonly used object detection algorithms in both vehicle detection accuracy and traffic congestion detection accuracy.
Listening to Self-Selected Music during Warm-Up Improves Anaerobic Performance through Enhancement of the Excitability of the Cerebral Cortex
Authors: Zhang Shiyan , Yang Juan , Tao Xifeng , Du Liwen , Li Xiang , Lv Yuanyuan , Hou Xiao , Yu Laikang
Published: June 2023

The study investigated the effects of listening to self-selected music during a warm-up on brain wave synchronization/desynchronization and Wingate test performance. Seventeen healthy young men were required to complete a 10 min warm-up session with or without music intervention, followed by an electroencephalogram (EEG) or Wingate test, respectively. The ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) were recorded immediately after the Wingate test. Compared with no music intervention, listening to self-selected music during a warm-up significantly increased peak power and mean power in the Wingate test (p < 0.05), upregulated the α energy percentage in the F3, C3, P3, O1, T3, F4, and Fp2 regions (p < 0.05) and β energy percentage in the F3, O1, and T5 regions (p < 0.05), while it downregulated the δ energy percentage in the F3, P3, O1, F4, and F8 regions (p < 0.05), θ/β in the F3 and O1 regions (p < 0.05), and (θ+α)/(α+β) in the F3 region (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in the minimum power and fatigue index in the Wingate test between the music intervention and no music intervention, or in RPE and HR after the Wingate test (p > 0.05). This study demonstrated that listening to self-selected music during a warm-up enhances cortical excitability by upregulating the α and β energy percentages and downregulating the δ energy percentage, which may represent a potential mechanism by which listening to self-selected music during a warm-up improves anaerobic performance in healthy young men.
Numerical Modelling of High-Speed Loading of Periodic Interpenetrating Heterogeneous Media with Adapted Mesostructure
Authors: Kraus Alexander , Buzyurkin Andrey , Shabalin Ivan , Kraus Evgeny
Published: June 2023

A series of calculations has been conducted to study the high-speed interaction of space debris (SD) particles with screens of finite thickness. For the first time, taking into account the fracture effects, a numerical solution has been obtained for the problem of high-velocity interaction between SD particles and a volumetrically reinforced penetrating composite screen. The calculations were performed using the REACTOR 3D software package in a three-dimensional setup. To calibrate the material properties of homogeneous screens made of aluminum alloy A356, stainless steel 316L, and multilayer screens, methodical load calculations were carried out. The properties of materials have been verified based on experimental data through systematic calculations of the load on homogeneous screens made of aluminum alloy A356, stainless steel 316L, and multilayer screens comprising a combination of aluminum and steel plates. Several options for the numerical design of heterogeneous screens based on A356 and 316L were considered, including interpenetrating reinforcement with steel inclusions and a gradient distribution of steel throughout the thickness of an aluminum matrix. The study has revealed that the screens constructed as a two-layer composite of A356/316L, volumetrically reinforced composite screens, and heterogeneous screens with a direct gradient distribution of steel in the aluminum matrix provide protection for devices from both a single SD particle and streams of SD particles moving at speeds of up to 6 km/s. SD particles were modeled as spherical particles with a diameter of 1.9 mm made of the aluminum alloy Al2017-T4 with a mass of 10 mg.
A Microscopic Traffic Flow Data Generation Method Based on an Improved DCGAN
Authors: Wang Pengyu , Chen Qiyao , Li Jianhua , Ma Lang , Feng Maoquan , Han Yuanliang , Zhang Zhiyang
Published: June 2023

Microscopic traffic flow data, an important input to virtual test scenarios for autonomous driving, are often difficult to obtain in large quantities to allow for batch testing. In this paper, a neural network for generating microscopic traffic flow scene fragments is proposed, which is improved by adding Gate Recurrent Units (GRU) to the discriminator of the Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (DCGAN) to enable it to better discriminate continuous data. Subsequently, this paper compares individual sample motion trajectories of the generated data using Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) and Dynamic Time Warping algorithm (DTW) at the microscopic scale, and evaluates the overall scenes generated using averaged statistics at the macroscopic scale. The results show that the method proposed in this paper can generate realistic microscopic traffic flow data very well and that the neural network proposed in this paper can generate better near-realistic microscopic traffic flow data than the original DCGAN under the evaluation metrics used in this paper.
Influence of Manufacturing Process Modularity on Lead Time Performances and Complexity
Authors: Modrak Vladimir , Soltysova Zuzana
Published: June 2023

In principle, modular or integral character of manufacturing lines depends on the topological designs of products and determined operation tasks. On the other hand, in specific situations there is an articulated need for modular design in smart manufacturing systems since modular layouts are a crucial step towards agile production via smart manufacturing. The aim of this paper is to explore how the modular layout relates to manufacturing lead time (MLT) and to operational complexity of smart manufacturing systems. For this purpose, topologically different models of alternative process layouts were simulated and tested, while MLT values were obtained using Tecnomatix Plant Simulation. The obtained positive findings of this research could be useful not only in selection of the most suitable process design from the alternative ones, but especially in deepening the knowledge and bettering understanding of the concept of optimal network modularity.
Investigating the Device Performance Variation of a Buried Locally Gated Al/Al2O3 Graphene Field-Effect Transistor Process
Authors: Huang Tzu-Jung , Ankolekar Adheesh , Pacheco-Sanchez Anibal , Puchades Ivan
Published: June 2023

In this study, a process is developed for the fabrication of buried top-gated graphene transistors with Al2O3 as a gate dielectric, yielding devices that can be suitable for not only flexible electronics but also laser-induced graphene (LIG)-based technology implementations. A new processing option is presented with the use of tetraethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS) as an etch stop for contact via etching of Al2O3. Buried locally gated Al/Al2O3 graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) are fabricated with Dirac points as low as 4 V, with a metal-to-graphene contact resistance as low as ∼1.7 kΩ·µm, and an average hole mobility of 457.97 cm2/V·s with a non-uniformity of 93%. Large device variation and non-uniformity in electrical performance are not uncommon for graphene-based devices, as process-induced defects play a major role in such variation. AFM, SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and model fitting indicated that the rough Al/Al2O3 surface was the main factor for the observed device variation. AFM analysis indicated a graphene surface roughness Ra of 16.19 nm on top of the buried Al/Al2O3 gate in contrast to a Ra of 4.06 nm over Al2O3/SiO2. The results presented indicate the need to reduce device variability and non-uniformity by improving transfer methods, as well as the use of smoother surfaces and compatible materials. The presented analyses provide a framework with which other researchers can analyze and correlate device variation and non-uniformities while methods to reduce variability are investigated.
Construction Cost Prediction Using Deep Learning with BIM Properties in the Schematic Design Phase
Authors: Park DoYoon , Yun SeokHeon
Published: June 2023

In the planning and design stage, it is difficult to accurately predict construction costs only by estimating approximate cost. It is also very difficult to predict the change in construction costs whenever the design changes. However, using the BIM model’s attribute information and machine learning techniques, accurate construction costs can be predicted faster than when using the existing approximate cost estimate. In this study, building information such as ‘total area’, ‘floor water’, ‘usage’, and BIM attribute information such as ‘wall area’, ‘wall water’, and ‘floor circumference’ were used together to predict construction costs in the schema design stage. As a result of applying the machine learning technique using both the building design information and the BIM model attribute information, it was found that the construction cost was improved compared to the result of individual predictions of the building information or BIM attribute information. While accurately predicting construction costs using BIM’s attribute information has its limits, it is expected to provide more accuracy compared to predicting costs solely based on construction cost influencing factors.
Designing Theoretical Shipborne ADCP Survey Trajectories for High-Frequency Radar Based on a Machine Learning Neural Network
Authors: Zhu Langfeng , Yang Fan , Yang Yufan , Xiong Zhaomin , Wei Jun
Published: June 2023

A machine learning neural network-based design for shipborne ADCP navigation is proposed to improve the quality of high-frequency radar measurements. In traditional inversion algorithms for HF radars, sea surface velocity is directly extracted from electromagnetic echoes without constraints from oceanographic processes. Hence, we incorporated oceanographic information from observational data into seabed radar inversion results via an LSTM neural network model to enhance data accuracy. Through a series of numerical simulation experiments, we showed improved data accuracy and feasibility by incorporating both fixed-point and navigation observational data. The results indicate a significant reduction in (related) errors. This study has implications for guiding future navigation observations.
Flow Table Saturation Attack against Dynamic Timeout Mechanisms in SDN
Authors: Shen Yi , Wu Chunming , Kong Dezhang , Cheng Qiumei
Published: June 2023

Software-defined networking (SDN) enables dynamic management and flexible network control by employing reactive rule installation. Due to high power consumption and cost, current OpenFlow switches only support a limited number of flow rules, which is a major limitation for deploying massive fine-grained policies. This bottleneck can be exploited by attackers to launch saturation attacks to overflow the flow table. Moreover, flow table overflow can occur in the absence of malicious attackers. To cope with this, researchers have developed many proposals to relieve the load under benign conditions. Among them, the dynamic timeout mechanism is one of the most effective solutions. We notice that when the SDN controller adopts dynamic timeouts, existing flow table saturation attacks can fail, or even expose the attackers, due to inaccurate inferring results. In this paper, we extract the common features of dynamic timeout strategies and propose an advanced flow table saturation attack. We explore the definition of flow rule lifetime and use a timing-based side-channel to infer the timeout of flow rules. Moreover, we leverage the dynamic timeout mechanisms to proactively interfere with the decision of timeout values and perform an attack. We conduct extensive experiments in various settings to demonstrate its effectiveness. We also notice that some replacement strategies work differently when the controller assigns dynamic timeouts. The experiment results show that the attack can incur significant network performance degradation and carry out the attack in a stealthy manner.
A Novel Inverse Simulation Method of Helicopter Maneuvering Flight
Authors: Li Guozhi , Cao Yihua
Published: June 2023

In this article, a degeneration method of inverse simulation is proposed for a helicopter system flying pull-up and slalom maneuvers. This inverse simulation method has been successfully applied, and here, the results are compared with the flight test data and the reference data, which indicate that this method has fidelity and is effective. It is different from conventional inverse simulation methods (i.e., the differentiation method and the integration method), and can improve numerical stability during inverse simulation, because the core principle is to solve the output vector in each simulation time step, by degenerating the system of first-order differential equations into nonlinear equations.
Modified Flower Pollination Optimization Based Design of Interval Type-2 Fuzzy PID Controller for Rotary Inverted Pendulum System
Authors: Hamza Mukhtar Fatihu
Published: June 2023

The Type 2 Fuzzy Logic System (T2FLS) is an enhanced form of the classical Fuzzy Logic System (FLS). The T2FLS based control technics demonstrated a lot of improvements for the past few decades. This is based on the advantage of its membership function (MF). Many experimental studies indicated the superiority of Type 2 Fuzzy Logic Controller (T2FLC) over the ordinary Type 1 Fuzzy Logic Controller (T1FLC), particularly in the event of non-linearities and complex uncertainties. However, the organized design method of T2FLCs is still an interesting problem in the control engineering community. This is due to the difficulties in computing the parameters associated it. A novel application of the Modified Flower Pollination (MFP) optimization algorithm in the design of T2FL is presented. The optimized Cascade Interval Type 2 Fuzzy PID Controller (IT2FPIDC) structure is proposed in this study. The best values of the parameters of the antecedent MFs and the PID gains of IT2FPIDC are found using the MFP algorithm. The MFP optimization technique was used because of its lower computational effort and high convergence speed, in view of the higher number of variables to be optimized in cascaded IT2FPIDC. The MFP-based Type-1 Fuzzy Proportional Integral Derivative Controller (T1FPIDC) is compared with the proposed MFP-based cascade-optimized IT2FPIDC. The rotary inverted pendulum (RIP) which is a non-minimum phase, non-linear, and unstable system is employed as a benchmark for testing the proposed controller. Balance and trajectory-tracking controls of the RIP are considered. Furthermore, the disturbance rejection ability of the proposed controller is analysed. The presented control methos is evaluated on the RIP manufactured by Quanser over many simulations and real-world experiments. The performance characteristics considered are steady state error (Ess), settling time (ts), maximum overshoot (Mp) and rise time (tr). The improvement of the effectiveness and robustness proposed controller in the presence of load disturbance, noise effects and parameter variation is shown.
Steam Gasification in a Fluidized Bed with Various Methods of In-Core Coal Treatment
Authors: Abaimov Nikolay , Ryzhkov Alexander , Tuponogov Vladimir , Simbiriatin Leonid , Dubinin Alexey , Ding Lu , Alekseenko Sergey
Published: June 2023

The aim of this work is to study coal steam gasification with various methods of coal in-core treatment in FB using a newly developed thermodynamic calculation method. A calculational study of subbituminous coal steam non-catalytic gasification was carried out using four different methods of coal in-core treatment in single-vessel multisectional fluidized-bed gasifiers. A semi-empirical model based on the entropy maximization thermodynamic method and “restricted equilibria” based on previously obtained experimental data has been developed. Based on thermodynamic calculations, the effect of the leading thermochemical processes and operating parameters of the fluidized bed (temperature, fluidization number, steam/coal ratio feed rate) was revealed. New information was obtained regarding the composition of char and syngas at the gasifier outlet, the syngas heating value, and the cold gas efficiency of the steam gasification of Borodinskiy subbituminous coal char. The results indicate the possibility of significantly accelerating and improving non-catalytic steam gasification in fluidized bed gasifiers through the appropriate organization of in-core coal treatment. Based on the results obtained, the following recommendation is made—when designing multi-section and multi-vessel steam-blown gasifiers, the ratio of residence times should be set in favor of increasing the coal residence time in the steam-blown carbonization zone. Structurally, this can be achieved by increasing the volume and/or area of the steam-blown carbonization section (vessel).
On the Applications of the Generalized Littlewood Theorem Concerning Integrals of the Logarithm of Analytical Functions to Elliptic Functions
Authors: Sekatskii Sergey
Published: June 2023

Recently, we have established and used the generalized Littlewood theorem concerning contour integrals of the logarithm of analytical function to obtain new criteria equivalent to the Riemann hypothesis. Later, the same theorem was applied to calculate certain infinite sums and study the properties of zeroes of a few analytical functions. In this study, we apply this approach to elliptic functions of Jacobi and Weierstrass. Numerous sums over inverse powers of zeroes and poles are calculated, including some results for the Jacobi elliptic functions sn(z, k) and others understood as functions of the index k. The consideration of the case of the derivative of the Weierstrass rho-function, ℘z(z,τ), leads to quite easy and transparent proof of numerous equalities between the sums over inverse powers of the lattice points m+nτ and “demi-lattice” points m+1/2+nτ, m+(n+1/2)τ, m+1/2+(n+1/2)τ. We also prove theorems showing that, in most cases, fundamental parallelograms contain exactly one simple zero for the first derivative θ1′(z|τ) of the elliptic theta-function and the Weierstrass ζ-function, and that far from the origin of coordinates such zeroes of the ζ-function tend to the positions of the simple poles of this function.
Umami in Wine: Impact of Glutamate Concentration and Contact with Lees on the Sensory Profile of Italian White Wines
Authors: Franceschi Deborah , Lomolino Giovanna , Sato Ryo , Vincenzi Simone , De Iseppi Alberto
Published: June 2023

Umami is a fundamental taste, associated with the molecules of monosodium glutamate and other amino acids and nucleotides present in many fermented foods and beverages, including wine. Umami also plays the role of flavor enhancer and prolongs the aftertaste. In this research, monosodium glutamate and aspartate, responsible for the umami taste, were quantified in Italian still and sparkling white wines aged through contact with yeasts. The wines were studied from a sensory point of view to quantify the perception of umami and relate it to other sensory parameters. The results show that monosodium glutamate and aspartate are present in the wines studied. However, sensory analysis shows that there is no clear relationship between the umami taste and the concentration of the two amino acids, but their presence plays a fundamental role in enhancing other gustatory and olfactory perceptions, making them even more persistent.
Aliens on the Road: Surveying Wildlife Roadkill to Assess the Risk of Biological Invasion
Authors: Viviano Andrea , D’Amico Marcello , Mori Emiliano
Published: June 2023

Monitoring the presence and distribution of alien species is pivotal to assessing the risk of biological invasion. In our study, we carried out a worldwide review of roadkill data to investigate geographical patterns of biological invasions. We hypothesise that roadkill data from published literature can turn out to be a valuable resource for researchers and wildlife managers, especially when more focused surveys cannot be performed. We retrieved a total of 2314 works published until January 2022. Among those, only 41 (including our original data) fitted our requirements (i.e., including a total list of roadkilled terrestrial vertebrates, with a number of affected individuals for each species) and were included in our analysis. All roadkilled species from retrieved studies were classified as native or introduced (domestic, paleo-introduced, or recently released). We found that a higher number of introduced species would be recorded among roadkill in Mediterranean and Temperate areas with respect to Tropical and Desert biomes. This is definitely in line with the current knowledge on alien species distribution at the global scale, thus confirming that roadkill datasets can be used beyond the study of road impacts, such as for an assessment of different levels of biological invasions among different countries.
Efficacy of an Immunotherapy Combining Immunogenic Chimeric Protein Plus Adjuvant and Amphotericin B against Murine Visceral Leishmaniasis
Authors: Vale Danniele L. , Freitas Camila S. , Martins Vívian T. , Moreira Gabriel J. L. , Machado Amanda S. , Ramos Fernanda F. , Pereira Isabela A. G. , Bandeira Raquel S. , de Jesus Marcelo M. , Tavares Grasiele S. V. , Ludolf Fernanda , Chávez-Fumagalli Miguel A. , Galdino Alexsandro S. , Fujiwara Ricardo T. , Bueno Lílian L. , Roatt Bruno M. , Christodoulides Myron , Coelho Eduardo A. F. , Lage Daniela P.
Published: June 2023

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Americas is a chronic systemic disease caused by infection with Leishmania infantum parasites. The toxicity of antileishmanial drugs, long treatment course and limited efficacy are significant concerns that hamper adequate treatment against the disease. Studies have shown the promise of an immunotherapeutics approach, combining antileishmanial drugs to reduce the parasitism and vaccine immunogens to activate the host immune system. In the current study, we developed an immunotherapy using a recombinant T cell epitope-based chimeric protein, ChimT, previously shown to be protective against Leishmania infantum, with the adjuvant monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) and amphotericin B (AmpB) as the antileishmanial drug. BALB/c mice were infected with L. infantum stationary promastigotes and later they received saline or were treated with AmpB, MPLA, ChimT/Amp, ChimT/MPLA or ChimT/MPLA/AmpB. The combination of ChimT/MPLA/AmpB significantly reduced the parasite load in mouse organs (p < 0.05) and induced a Th1-type immune response, which was characterized by higher ratios of anti-ChimT and anti-parasite IgG2a:IgG1 antibodies, increased IFN-γ mRNA and IFN-γ and IL-12 cytokines and accompanied by lower levels of IL-4 and IL-10 cytokines, when compared to other treatments and controls (all p < 0.05). Organ toxicity was also lower with the ChimT/MPLA/AmpB immunotherapy, suggesting that the inclusion of the vaccine and adjuvant ameliorated the toxicity of AmpB to some degree. In addition, the ChimT vaccine alone stimulated in vitro murine macrophages to significantly kill three different internalized species of Leishmania parasites and to produce Th1-type cytokines into the culture supernatants. To conclude, our data suggest that the combination of ChimT/MPLA/AmpB could be considered for further studies as an immunotherapy for L. infantum infection.