bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Laser Microdissection of Pisum sativum L. Nodules Followed by RNA-Seq Analysis Revealed Crucial Transcriptomic Changes during Infected Cell Differentiation
Authors: Kusakin Pyotr G. , Serova Tatiana A. , Gogoleva Natalia E. , Gogolev Yuri V. , Tsyganov Viktor E.
Published: December 2021

Garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a globally important legume crop. Like other legumes, it forms beneficial symbiotic interactions with the soil bacteria rhizobia, gaining the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. In pea nodules, the meristem is long-lasting and results in the formation of several histological zones that implicate a notable differentiation of infected host cells. However, the fine transcriptional changes that accompany differentiation are still unknown. In this study, using laser microdissection followed by RNA-seq analysis, we performed transcriptomic profiling in the early infection zone, late infection zone, and nitrogen fixation zone of 11-day-old nodules of pea wild-type line SGE. As a result, a list of functional groups of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in different nodule histological zones and a list of genes with the most prominent expression changes during nodule development were obtained. Their analyses demonstrated that the highest amount of DEGs was associated with the nitrogen fixation zone. Among well-known genes controlling nodule development, we revealed genes that can be novel players throughout nodule formation. The characterized genes in pea were compared with those previously described in other legumes and their possible functions in nodule development are discussed.
Association of Heterophil/Lymphocyte Ratio with Intestinal Barrier Function and Immune Response to Salmonella enteritidis Infection in Chicken
Authors: Thiam Mamadou , Barreto Sánchez Astrid Lissette , Zhang Jin , Zheng Maiqing , Wen Jie , Zhao Guiping , Wang Qiao
Published: December 2021

The heterophil/lymphocyte (H/L) ratio has been extensively studied to select poultry that are resistant to environmental stressors. Chickens with a low H/L ratio are superior to the chickens with a high H/L ratio in survival, immune response, and resistance to Salmonella infection. However, this disease resistance ability is likely to be associated with enhanced intestinal immunity. Therefore, to expand our understanding of these underlying resistance mechanisms, it is crucial to investigate the correlation between the H/L ratio as a blood immune indicator in live chickens and the intestinal barrier function and immunity. Jinxing yellow chickens H/L line one-day-old were divided into non-infected (NI) and Salmonella enteritidis infected (SI) at 7-days old. After dividing the birds into NI and SI, blood samples were taken for H/L ratios determination, and subsequently, birds from the SI group were infected with Salmonella enteritidis (SE). We assessed the effects of SE infection on the (i) goblet cells number from the ileum and caecum gut-segments, (ii) ileal mucosa morphology, and (iii) immune gene mRNA expressions from the ileum and caecum of NI and SI chickens at 7 and 21 days-post-infection (dpi). We found that the H/L ratio was negatively correlated with most intestinal immune indices, particularly with the goblet cells number and with IL-1β, IL-8, and IFN-γ ileal expressions. In conclusion, these results suggest that the H/L ratio is associated with the intestinal barrier and immune response for SE clearance and that the chickens with a low H/L ratio displayed enhanced intestinal immunity. This study expands the current knowledge that is related to using the H/L ratio to select and breed resistant broiler chickens.
Palm Kernel Cake in Diets for Lactating Goats: Qualitative Aspects of Milk and Cheese
Authors: Ferreira Fernanda G. , Leite Laudí C. , Alba Henry D. R. , Mesquita Bruna M. A. de C. , Santos Stefanie A. , Tosto Manuela S. L. , Costa Marion P. da , Pina Douglas dos S. , Gordiano Layse A. , Garcia Arielly O. , Mazza Pedro H. S. , Carvalho Gleidson G. P. de
Published: December 2021

We investigated the effect of including palm kernel cake (PKC) at the levels of 0, 80, 160 and 240 g kg−1 in the diet of lactating goats on the quality and sensory parameters of Minas Frescal cheese. Twelve goats were used in a triple 4 × 4 Latin square design. The dietary addition of PKC was associated with a reduction in moisture (p = 0.004), which compromised the cheese yield (p = 0.030). The ether extract content showed a quadratic response. There was a decrease in caproic (p = 0.014), caprylic (p = 0.011), capric (p = 0.003) and palmitic (p = 0.049) acids and an increase in lauric (p = 0.012) and myristic (p = 0.02) acids. Monounsaturated fatty acids increased (p = 0.008), whereas the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids (p = 0.022) and thrombogenicity index (p = 0.023) decreased. Principal component analysis indicated that control treatment and the treatment with 80 g kg−1 PKC were the most acceptable to the cheese tasters. The use of palm kernel cake is a good alternative for lactating goats when added to the diet at levels up to 80 g kg−1.
Correction: Lall, S.P.; Kaushik, S.J. Nutrition and Metabolism of Minerals in Fish. Animals 2021, 11, 2711
Authors: Lall Santosh P. , Kaushik Sadasivam J.
Published: December 2021

The authors found some omissions and errors in the original paper [...]
Productive Performance, Ovarian Follicular Development, Lipid Peroxidation, Antioxidative Status, and Egg Quality in Laying Hens Fed Diets Supplemented with Salvia officinalis and Origanum majorana Powder Levels
Authors: Saleh Ahmed A. , Hamed Shimaa , Hassan Aziza M. , Amber Khairy , Awad Wael , Alzawqari Mohammed H. , Shukry Mustafa
Published: December 2021

This study aimed to assess the effect of dietary supplementation with different levels of Salvia officinalis and/or Origanum majorana on productive performance, ovarian follicular development, lipid peroxidation, antioxidative status, and egg quality in laying hens. Two hundred and ninety-four 45-week-old Bovans brown hens were allocated into seven groups, with seven replicates of six hens each. The first group was fed with the basal considered as a control (A); the second (B) and third (C) groups were provided with the same control diet further supplemented with 0.5 and 1 kg/ton Salvia officinalis, respectively; the fourth (D) and fifth (E) groups received the control diet further supplemented with 0.5 and 1 kg/ton Origanum majorana, respectively; while the sixth (F) and the seventh (G) groups were offered a diet supplemented with 0.5 kg/ton Salvia officinalis and 0.5 kg/ton Origanum majorana and 1 kg/ton Salvia officinalis and 1 kg/ton Origanum majorana, respectively. No significant effects were observed in the final body weight (BW) and feed intake (FI) of the laying hens. In the diets supplemented with Salvia officinalis and Origanum majorana, the egg weights for groups C, F, and G had significantly higher values only compared to group D. The supplementation of the diets with Salvia officinalis and/or Origanum majorana significantly (p < 0.05) increased the Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and estradiol estrogenic hormone concentration, except for Origanum majorana at both levels with regard to estradiol. The dietary utilization of Salvia officinalis and Origanum majorana did not significantly alter the plasma glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), total protein, albumin, globulin, and High density lipoprotein (HDL) parameters. Cholesterol, glucose, triglyceride, and Low density lipoprotein (LDL) were decreased (p < 0.05) in the birds fed with Salvia officinalis and/or Origanum majorana supplemented diets. Moreover, at both doses, the dietary supplementation with Salvia officinalis and Origanum majorana decreased (p < 0.05) the yolk cholesterol and liver Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. In addition, the dietary enrichment with Salvia officinalis and/or Origanum majorana decreased (p < 0.05) the palmitoleic and stearic fatty acids’ egg yolk concentration. In contrast, the yolk linoleic fatty acid concentration was significantly increased by Salvia officinalis and/or Origanum majorana. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with Salvia officinalis and/or Origanum positively affected productive performance, ovarian follicular development, antioxidant activity, hormonal status, and steroidogenesis in Bovans brown laying hens.
New In Vitro Methodology for Kinetics Distribution Prediction in the Brain. An Additional Step towards an Animal-Free Approach
Authors: Sánchez-Dengra Bárbara , González-Álvarez Isabel , González-Álvarez Marta , Bermejo Marival
Published: December 2021

The development of new drugs or formulations for central nervous system (CNS) diseases is a complex pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic process; it is important to evaluate their access to the CNS through the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and their distribution once they have acceded to the brain. The gold standard tool for obtaining this information is the animal microdialysis technique; however, according to 3Rs principles, it would be better to have an “animal-free” alternative technique. Because of that, the purpose of this work was to develop a new formulation to substitute the brain homogenate in the in vitro tests used for the prediction of a drug’s distribution in the brain. Fresh eggs have been used to prepare an emulsion with the same proportion in proteins and lipids as a human brain; this emulsion has proved to be able to predict both the unbound fraction of drug in the brain (fu,brain) and the apparent volume of distribution in the brain (Vu,brain) when tested in in vitro permeability tests. The new formulation could be used as a screening tool; only the drugs with a proper in vitro distribution would pass to microdialysis studies, contributing to the refinement, reduction and replacement of animals in research.
Isolation, Identification and Characterization of a Novel Megalocytivirus from Cultured Tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) from Southern California, USA
Authors: Shahin Khalid , Subramaniam Kuttichantran , Camus Alvin C. , Yazdi Zeinab , Yun Susan , Koda Samantha A. , Waltzek Thomas B. , Pierezan Felipe , Hu Ruixue , Soto Esteban
Published: December 2021

In spring 2019, diseased four-month-old tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) from an aquaculture farm in Southern California, USA were received for diagnostic evaluation with signs of lethargy, anorexia, abnormal swimming, and low-level mortalities. At necropsy, non-specific external lesions were noted including fin erosion, cutaneous melanosis, gill pallor, and coelomic distension. Internal changes included ascites, hepatomegaly, renomegaly, splenomegaly, and multifocal yellow-white nodules in the spleen and kidney. Cultures of spleen and kidney produced bacterial colonies identified as Francisella orientalis. Homogenized samples of gill, brain, liver, spleen, and kidney inoculated onto Mozambique tilapia brain cells (OmB) developed cytopathic effects, characterized by rounding of cells and detaching from the monolayer 6–10 days post-inoculation at 25 °C. Transmission electron microscopy revealed 115.4 ± 5.8 nm icosahedral virions with dense central cores in the cytoplasm of OmB cells. A consensus PCR, targeting the DNA polymerase gene of large double-stranded DNA viruses, performed on cell culture supernatant yielded a sequence consistent with an iridovirus. Phylogenetic analyses based on the concatenated full length major capsid protein and DNA polymerase gene sequences supported the tilapia virus as a novel species within the genus Megalocytivirus, most closely related to scale drop disease virus and European chub iridovirus. An intracoelomic injection challenge in Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) fingerlings resulted in 39% mortality after 16 days. Histopathology revealed necrosis of head kidney and splenic hematopoietic tissues.
A Mathematical Model for Predicting the Sauter Mean Diameter of Liquid-Medium Ultrasonic Atomizing Nozzle Based on Orthogonal Design
Authors: Li Shilin , Wu Gaogao , Wang Pengfei , Cui Yan , Tian Chang , Han Han
Published: December 2021

As a new type of atomizing nozzle with superior atomizing performance, the liquid-medium ultrasonic atomization nozzle has been widely applied in the field of spray dust reduction. In this study, in order to establish a mathematical model for predicting the Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of such nozzles, the interaction between the SMD of the nozzle and the three influencing factors, i.e., air pressure, water pressure, and outlet diameter were investigated based on the custom-designed spraying experiment platform and orthogonal design methods. Through range analysis, it was obtained that the three parameters affecting the SMD of the nozzle are in the order of air pressure > water pressure > outlet diameter. On this basis, using the multivariate nonlinear regression method, the mathematical model for predicting the SMD of the nozzle was constructed. Comparison of the experimental results with the predicted values of the SMD of the nozzle by the multivariate nonlinear regression mathematical model, showed strong similarity with an average relative error of only about 5%. Therefore, the established mathematical model in this paper can be used to predict and calculate the droplet size for liquid-medium ultrasonic atomizing nozzles.
mPrivacy: A Privacy Policy Engine and Safeguard Mechanism in Mobile Devices
Authors: Zhang Zhong , Shin Minho
Published: December 2021

Within the scope of mobile privacy, there are many attack methods that can leak users’ private information. The communication between applications can be used to violate permissions and access private information without asking for the user’s authorization. Hence, many researchers made protection mechanisms against privilege escalation. However, attackers can further utilize inference algorithms to derive new information out of available data or improve the information quality without violating privilege limits. In this work. we describe the notion of Information Escalation Attack and propose a detection and protection mechanism using Inference Graph and Policy Engine for the user to control their policy on the App’s privilege in information escalation. Our implementation results show that the proposed privacy protection service is feasible and provides good useability.
Service Interface Translation. An Interoperability Approach
Authors: Paniagua Cristina
Published: December 2021

Interoperability plays an important role in Industry 4.0. Interoperability in the engineering process allows the automation of the engineering phase, reducing the human effort involved and the associated engineering costs. It improves the quality of the engineering process and its overall efficiency. Nevertheless, the diversity of available standards, devices, and systems leads to great levels of heterogeneity and makes it difficult to achieve the aforementioned interoperability. As the lack of interoperability increases, a generic solution to the problem is increasingly demanded by the industry. This paper approaches the interoperability problem from a service interface perspective. A novel approach is presented to address service interface heterogeneity. The proposed solution is based on service interface translation, which is achieved via the generation of service interfaces. A new system, the consumer interface generator system, has been designed and implemented to generate interface instances to solve the interoperability mismatches between service consumers and providers at runtime. In this paper, the autonomous consumer interface generation process, the system architecture, and the generated interface instance are described. The proposed approach has been validated through practical experimentation, including the implementation of a system prototype and a testbed.
Simplified 2D Finite Element Model for Calculation of the Bearing Capacity of Eccentrically Compressed Concrete-Filled Steel Tubular Columns
Authors: Chepurnenko Anton , Yazyev Batyr , Meskhi Besarion , Beskopylny Alexey , Khashkhozhev Kazbek , Chepurnenko Viacheslav
Published: December 2021

Concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) columns are widely used in construction due to effective resistance to compression and bending joint action. However, currently, there is no generally accepted effective calculation method considering both nonlinearities of the materials and lateral compression. The article proposes the finite element analysis method of concrete-filled steel tubular columns in a physically nonlinear formulation by reducing a three-dimensional problem to a two-dimensional one based on the hypothesis of plane sections. The equations of Geniev’s concrete theory of plasticity are used as relations establishing the relationship between stresses and strains. The technique was tested by comparing the solution with the calculation in a three-dimensional formulation in the LIRA-SAPR software package and with the experimental data of A.L. Krishan and A.I. Sagadatov. It has been established that the effective area of operation of circular-section columns are small eccentricities of the longitudinal force. The proposed approach can be applied to analyzing the stress–strain state and bearing capacity of pipe-concrete columns of arbitrary cross-sections. There are no restrictions on the composition of concrete, and the shell material can be steel and fiberglass.
A Novel Method for Predicting Local Site Amplification Factors Using 1-D Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Yang Xiaomei , Chen Yongshan , Teng Shuai , Chen Gongfa
Published: December 2021

The analysis of site seismic amplification characteristics is one of the important tasks of seismic safety evaluation. Owing to the high computational cost and complex implementation of numerical simulations, significant differences exist in the prediction of seismic ground motion amplification in engineering problems. In this paper, a novel prediction method for the amplification characteristics of local sites was proposed, using a state-of-the-art convolutional neural network (CNN) combined with real-time seismic signals. The amplification factors were computed by the standard spectral ratio method according to the observed records of seven stations in the Lower Hutt Valley, New Zealand. Based on the geological exploration data from the seven stations and the geological hazard information of the Lower Hutt Valley, eight parameters related to the seismic information were presumed to influence the amplification characteristics of the local site. The CNN method was used to establish the relationship between the amplification factors of local sites and the eight parameters, and the training samples and testing samples were generated through the observed and geological data other than the estimated values. To analyze the CNN prediction ability for amplification factors on unrecorded domains, two CNN models were established for comparison. One CNN model used about 80% of the data from 44 seismic events of the seven stations for training and the remaining data for testing. The other CNN model used the data of six stations to train and the remaining station’s data to test the CNN. The results showed that the CNN method based on the observation data can provide a powerful tool for predicting the amplification factors of local sites both for recorded positions and for unrecorded positions, while the traditional standard spectral ratio method only predicts the amplification factors for recorded positions. The comparison of the two CNN models showed that both can effectively predict the amplification factors of local ground motion without records, and the accuracy and stability of predictions can meet the requirements. With increasing seismic records, the CNN method becomes practical and effective for prediction purposes in earthquake engineering.
Design of a Partially Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Microgrid Using IoT Technology
Authors: Shaban Mahmoud , Ben Dhaou Imed , Alsharekh Mohammed F. , Abdel-Akher Mamdouh
Published: December 2021

This study describes the design and control algorithms of an IoT-connected photovoltaic microgrid operating in a partially grid-connected mode. The proposed architecture and control design aim to connect or disconnect non-critical loads between the microgrid and utility grid. Different components of the microgrid, such as photovoltaic arrays, energy storage elements, inverters, solid-state transfer switches, smart-meters, and communication networks were modeled and simulated. The communication between smart meters and the microgrid controller is designed using LoRa communication protocol for the control and monitoring of loads in residential buildings. An IoT-enabled smart meter has been designed using ZigBee communication protocol to evaluate data transmission requirements in the microgrid. The loads were managed by a proposed under-voltage load-shedding algorithm that selects suitable loads to be disconnected from the microgrid and transferred to the utility grid. The simulation results showed that the duty cycle of LoRa and its bit rate can handle the communication requirements in the proposed PV microgrid architecture.
The Effects of Rainfall, Soil Type and Slope on the Processes and Mechanisms of Rainfall-Induced Shallow Landslides
Authors: Liu Yan , Deng Zhiyuan , Wang Xiekang
Published: December 2021

Landslides are a serious geohazard worldwide, causing many casualties and considerable economic losses every year. Rainfall-induced shallow landslides commonly occur in mountainous regions. Many factors affect an area’s susceptibility, such as rainfall, the soil, and the slope. In this paper, the effects of rainfall intensity, rainfall pattern, slope gradient, and soil type on landslide susceptibility are studied. Variables including soil volumetric water content, matrix suction, pore water pressure, and the total stress throughout the rainfall were measured. The results show that, under the experimental conditions of this paper, no landslides occurred on a 5° slope. On a 15° slope, when the rainfall intensity was equal to or less than 80 mm/h with a 1 h duration, landslides also did not happen. With a rainfall intensity of 120 mm/h, the rainfall pattern in which the intensity gradually diminishes could not induce landslides. Compared with fine soils, coarser soils with gravels were found to be prone to landslides. As the volumetric water content rose, the matrix suction declined from the time that the level of infiltration reached the position of the matrix. The pore water pressure and the total stress both changed drastically either immediately before or after the landslide. In addition, the sediment yield depended on the above factors. Steeper slopes, stronger rainfall, and coarser soils were all found to increase the amount of sediment yield.
Mechanical Properties of Aluminum 5083 Alloy GMA Welds with Different Magnesium and Manganese Content of Filler Wires
Authors: Kim Gwang-Gook , Kim Dong-Yoon , Hwang Insung , Kim Dongcheol , Kim Young-Min , Park Junhong
Published: December 2021

Gas metal arc welding of aluminum 5083 alloys was performed using three new welding wires with different magnesium and manganese contents and compared with commercial aluminum 5183 alloy filler wire. To investigate the effect of magnesium and manganese contents on the mechanical properties of welds, mechanical properties were evaluated through tensile strength, bending, and microhardness tests. In addition, the microstructure and chemical composition were analyzed to compare the differences between each weld. The tensile strengths of welds using aluminum alloy filler wires with a magnesium content of 7.33 wt.% (W1) and 6.38 wt.% (W2), respectively, were similar. The tensile strength and hardness of welds using wires with a similar magnesium content, but a different manganese content of 0.004 wt.% (W2) and 0.46 wt.% (W3), respectively, were higher in the wire with a high manganese content. Through various mechanical and microstructural property analyses, when the magnesium content of the filler wire was 6 wt.% or more, the manganese content, rather than the magnesium content, had a dominant effect on the strengthening of the weld.
Study of Impulsive Stimulated Raman Scattering Effects Using the Femtosecond Pump–Probe Z-Scan Technique
Authors: Falconieri Mauro , Gagliardi Serena , Rondino Flaminia , Marrocco Michele , Kulatilaka Waruna D.
Published: December 2021

Impulsive stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) is a nonlinear pump–probe spectroscopy technique particularly suitable to study vibrational intermolecular and intramolecular modes in complex systems. For the latter, recent studies of ISRS microscopy with low-energy laser sources have attracted attention for investigation of photosensitive or biological samples. Following this stream of interest, in this paper, we report an investigation on the relationship between femtosecond ISRS data and pump–probe Z-scan measurements, showing that the latter technique is capable of capturing the Kerr nonlinearities induced by the molecular vibrational modes. To this aim, firstly, spectrally filtered and Raman-induced Kerr ISRS signals were simultaneously acquired to determine the sample nonlinear response and to establish the reference data for the Z-scan analysis. Then, by adopting a suitable experimental arrangement to avoid thermo-optical effects, we were able to unambiguously observe the Raman-induced effects in Z-scan measurements, thus obtaining a consistent picture between ISRS and Z-scan for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Practical applications of the proposed method include calibrated measurements of the contribution of the internal (Raman) and external molecular modes to the nonlinear refractive index.
The Impact of Fast-Rise-Time Electromagnetic Field and Pressure on the Aggregation of Peroxidase upon Its Adsorption onto Mica
Authors: Ziborov Vadim S. , Pleshakova Tatyana O. , Shumov Ivan D. , Kozlov Andrey F. , Valueva Anastasia A. , Ivanova Irina A. , Ershova Maria O. , Larionov Dmitry I. , Evdokimov Alexey N. , Tatur Vadim Yu. , Aleshko Alexander I. , Sakharov Konstantin Yu. , Dolgoborodov Alexander Yu. , Fortov Vladimir E. , Archakov Alexander I. , Ivanov Yuri D.
Published: December 2021

Our present study concerns the influence of the picosecond rise-time-pulsed electromagnetic field, and the impact of nanosecond pulsed pressure on the aggregation state of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a model enzyme. The influence of a 640 kV/m pulsed electromagnetic field with a pulse rise-time of ~200 ps on the activity and aggregation state of an enzyme is studied by the single-molecule atomic force microscopy (AFM) method. The influence of such a field is shown to lead to aggregation of the protein and to a decrease in its enzymatic activity. Moreover, the effect of a shock wave with a pressure front rise-time of 80 ns on the increase in the HRP aggregation is demonstrated. The results obtained herein can be of use in modeling the impact of electromagnetic and pressure pulses on enzymes and on whole living organisms. Our results are also important for taking into account the effect of pulsed fields on the body in the development of drugs, therapeutic procedures, and novel highly sensitive medical diagnosticums.
Integrated Fixed Time Sliding Mode Control for Motion and Vibration of Space Robot with Fully Flexible Base–Link–Joint
Authors: Fu Xiaodong , Ai Haiping , Chen Li
Published: December 2021

The dynamic modeling, motion control and flexible vibration active suppression of space robot under the influence of flexible base, flexible link and flexible joint are explored, and motion and vibration integrated fixed-time sliding mode control of fully flexible system is designed. The flexibility of the base and joints are equivalent to the vibration effect of linear springs and torsion springs. The flexible links are regarded as Euler–Bernoulli simply supported beams, which are analyzed by the hypothetical mode method, and the dynamic model of the fully flexible space robot is established by using the Lagrange equation. Then, the singular perturbation theory is used to decompose the model into slow subsystem including rigid motion and the link flexible vibrations, and fast subsystems including the base and the joint flexible vibrations. A fixed time sliding mode control based on hybrid trajectory is designed for the slow subsystem to ensure that the base and joints track the desired trajectory in a limited time while achieving vibration suppression on the flexible links. For the fast subsystem, linear quadratic optimal control is used to suppress the flexible vibration of the base and joints. The simulation results show that the controller proposed in the paper can make the system state converge within a fixed time, is robust to model uncertainty and external interference, and can effectively suppress the flexible vibration of the base, links, and joints.
Optimization Technique for High-Gain CMOS Power Amplifier for 5G Applications
Authors: Jeong Hayeon , Lee Huidong , Park Bonghyuk , Jang Seunghyun , Kong Sunwoo , Park Changkun
Published: December 2021

In this study, a differential power amplifier (PA) with a high gain of over 30 dB by configuring a three-stage common source unit amplifier was designed. To ensure the stability of the high-gain differential PA, the analysis to apply the capacitive neutralization method to the differential common source PA was conducted. From the analysis, the required neutralized capacitance was quantitatively calculated from the estimated parasitic components of a power cell used in the PA. To verify the feasibility of the proposed optimization technique, a Ka-band PA was designed with a 65 nm RFCMOS process. The measurement results showed a gain of 30.7 dB. The saturated output power was measured as 16.1 dBm, maximum power-added efficiency (PAE) was 29.7%, and P1dB was 13.1 dBm.
Microbial Life on the Surface of Microplastics in Natural Waters
Authors: Stabnikova Olena , Stabnikov Viktor , Marinin Andriy , Klavins Maris , Klavins Linards , Vaseashta Ashok
Published: December 2021

Major water-polluting microplastics (for example, polyethylene, polypropylene and others) have lower density than water. Therefore, they are concentrated in the neustonic layer near the water-air interface altogether with dissolved or colloidal natural organic matter, hydrophobic cells and spores of bacteria. This can cause environmental and public health problems because the floating micro- and nanoparticles of plastics could be coated with biofilm of hydrophobic and often putative pathogenic bacteria. Biofilm-coated microplastics are more attractive for consumption by aquatic animals than pure microplastics, and that increases the negative impacts of microplastics. So, impacts of even small quantities of microplastics in aquatic environments must be accounted for considering their accumulation in the micro-layer of water-air interphase and its interaction with bacterioneuston. Microorganisms attached to the surface of microplastic particles could interact with them, use them as substrates for growth, to change properties and biodegrade. The study of microbial life on the surface of microplastic particles is one of the key topics to understanding their role in the environment.
A Hyperledger Fabric-Based System Framework for Healthcare Data Management
Authors: Wang Qianyu , Qin Shaowen
Published: December 2021

This study examined the requirements for privacy-preserving and interoperability in healthcare data sharing and proposed a blockchain-based solution. The Hyperledger Fabric framework was adopted due to its enterprise-grade data processing capabilities and enhanced privacy protection functions. In addition to the Fabric’s built-in privacy-preserving functions, healthcare data-specific smart contracts with hierarchical access control were developed to strengthen privacy protection in data sharing. The proposed healthcare data-sharing framework is based on Australian medical practices with the aim to upgrade, rather than to replace, the existing data management models. The outcome of this study demonstrates the feasibility of applying blockchain technology to improve privacy-preservation while enhancing interoperability in healthcare data management.
A Study on the Errors of 2D Circular Trajectories Generated on a 3D Printer
Authors: Munteanu Adriana , Chitariu Dragos-Florin , Horodinca Mihaita , Dumitras Catalin-Gabriel , Negoescu Florin , Savin Anatolie , Chifan Florin
Published: December 2021

This paper presents a study on the movement precision and accuracy of an extruder system related to the print bed on a 3D printer evaluated using the features of 2D circular trajectories generated by simultaneous displacement on x and y-axes. A computer-assisted experimental setup allows the sampling of displacement evolutions, measured with two non-contact optical sensors. Some processing procedures of the displacement signals are proposed in order to evaluate and to describe the circular trajectories errors (e.g., open and closed curves fitting, the detection of recurrent periodical patterns in x and y-motions, low pass numerical filtering, etc.). The description of these errors is suitable to certify that the 3D printer works correctly (keeping the characteristics declared by the manufacturer) for maintenance purpose sand, especially, for computer-aided correction of accuracy (e.g., by error compensation).
Achieving Semantic Consistency for Multilingual Sentence Representation Using an Explainable Machine Natural Language Parser (MParser)
Authors: Qin Peng , Tan Weiming , Guo Jingzhi , Shen Bingqing , Tang Qian
Published: December 2021

In multilingual semantic representation, the interaction between humans and computers faces the challenge of understanding meaning or semantics, which causes ambiguity and inconsistency in heterogeneous information. This paper proposes a Machine Natural Language Parser (MParser) to address the semantic interoperability problem between users and computers. By leveraging a semantic input method for sharing common atomic concepts, MParser represents any simple English sentence as a bag of unique and universal concepts via case grammar of an explainable machine natural language. In addition, it provides a human and computer-readable and -understandable interaction concept to resolve the semantic shift problems and guarantees consistent information understanding among heterogeneous sentence-level contexts. To evaluate the annotator agreement of MParser outputs that generates a list of English sentences under a common multilingual word sense, three expert participants manually and semantically annotated 75 sentences (505 words in total) in English. In addition, 154 non-expert participants evaluated the sentences’ semantic expressiveness. The evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed MParser shows higher compatibility with human intuitions.
Robust Control for Non-Minimum Phase Systems with Actuator Faults: Application to Aircraft Longitudinal Flight Control
Authors: Sir Elkhatem Aisha , Engin Seref Naci , Pasha Amjad Ali , Rahman Mustafa Mutiur , Pillai Subramania Nadaraja
Published: December 2021

This study is concerned with developing a robust tracking control system that merges the optimal control theory with fractional-order-based control and the heuristic optimization algorithms into a single framework for the non-minimum phase pitch angle dynamics of Boeing 747 aircraft. The main control objective is to deal with the non-minimum phase nature of the aircraft pitching-up action, which is used to increase the altitude. The fractional-order integral controller (FIC) is implemented in the control loop as a pre-compensator to compensate for the non-minimum phase effect. Then, the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) is introduced as an optimal feedback controller to this augmented model ensuring the minimum phase to create an efficient, robust, and stable closed-loop control system. The control problem is formulated in a single objective optimization framework and solved for an optimal feedback gain together with pre-compensator parameters according to an error index and heuristic optimization constraints. The fractional-order integral pre-compensator is replaced by a fractional-order derivative pre-compensator in the proposed structure for comparison in terms of handling the non-minimum phase limitations, the magnitude of gain, phase-margin, and time-response specifications. To further verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the LQR-FIC controller is compared with the pole placement controller as a full-state feedback controller that has been successfully applied to control aircraft dynamics in terms of time and frequency domains. The performance, robustness, and internal stability characteristics of the proposed control strategy are validated by simulation studies carried out for flight conditions of fault-free, 50%, and 80% losses of actuator effectiveness.
ZnFe2O4, a Green and High-Capacity Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries: A Review
Authors: Bini Marcella , Ambrosetti Marco , Spada Daniele
Published: December 2021

Ferrites, a broad class of ceramic oxides, possess intriguing physico-chemical properties, mainly due to their unique structural features, that, during these last 50–60 years, made them the materials of choice for many different applications. They are, indeed, applied as inductors, high-frequency materials, for electric field suppression, as catalysts and sensors, in nanomedicine for magneto-fluid hyperthermia and magnetic resonance imaging, and, more recently, in electrochemistry. In particular, ZnFe2O4 and its solid solutions are drawing scientists’ attention for the application as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The main reasons are found in the low cost, abundance, and environmental friendliness of both Zn and Fe precursors, high surface-to-volume ratio, relatively short path for Li-ion diffusion, low working voltage of about 1.5 V for lithium extraction, and the high theoretical specific capacity (1072 mAh g−1). However, some drawbacks are represented by fast capacity fading and poor rate capability, resulting from a low electronic conductivity, severe agglomeration, and large volume change during lithiation/delithiation processes. In this review, the main synthesis methods of spinels will be briefly discussed before presenting the most recent and promising electrochemical results on ZnFe2O4 obtained with peculiar morphologies/architectures or as composites, which represent the focus of this review.
Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Oxidant Effects of Epilobium amurense subsp. cephalostigma via Activation of Nrf2/HO-1 and Inhibition of NF-κB/p38 MAPK Signaling in LPS-Stimulated Macrophages
Authors: Cheon Se-Yun , Kang Hyun-Ae , Jin Bo-Ram , Kim Hyo-Jung , Park Yea-Jin , An Ren-Bo , Kim Soo-Yong , An Hyo-Jin
Published: December 2021

The genus Epilobium consists of approximately 200 species that are distributed worldwide. Some of these herbs have been used for the treatment of diarrhea, infection, irritation, and other disorders associated with inflammation. Unlike that of other Epilobium species, there is little scientific understanding of the pharmacological effect of Epilobium amurense subsp. cephalostigma (Hausskn.) C. J. Chen, Hoch & P. H. Raven. In this study, we demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties of an E. amurense 95% ethanol extract (EACEE) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages, and observed the underlying mechanism of this effect. We measured the productions of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species, and examined the actions of EACEE on transcription factors in the macrophages. EACEE reduced NO production and inducible nitric oxide synthase protein levels via the inhibition of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway. Additionally, EACEE suppressed redundant reactive oxygen species production and regulated nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 (Nrf2/HO-1) signaling. Furthermore, EACEE significantly inhibited the phosphorylation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Overall, these results indicate that EACEE exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects via the activation of Nrf2/HO-1 and inhibition of NF-κB/p38 MAPK signaling.
Application of an Automatic Noise or Signal Removal Algorithm Based on Synchrosqueezed Continuous Wavelet Transform of Passive Surface Wave Imaging: A Case Study in Sichuan, China
Authors: Fang Jie , Liu Guofeng , Liu Yu
Published: December 2021

Passive surface wave imaging based on noise cross-correlation has been a research hotspot in recent years. However, because randomness of noise is difficult to achieve in reality, prominent noise sources will inevitably affect the dispersion measurement. Additionally, in order to recover high-fidelity surface waves, the time series input during cross-correlation calculation is usually very long, which greatly limits the efficiency of passive surface wave imaging. With an automatic noise or signal removal algorithm based on synchrosqueezed continuous wavelet transform (SS-CWT), these problems can be alleviated. We applied this method to 1-h passive datasets acquired in Sichuan province, China; separated the prominent noise events in the raw field data, and enhanced the cross-correlation reconstructed surface waves, effectively improving the accuracy of the dispersion measurement. Then, using the conventional surface wave inversion method, the shear wave velocity profile of the underground structure in this area was obtained.
Foreword to the Special Issue on Terahertz Nondestructive Testing
Authors: Smith Robert A.
Published: December 2021

It is my pleasure to introduce this Special Issue on “Terahertz Nondestructive Testing”, one of the most promising new technologies to be applied to non-destructive inspection problems [...]
A Real-Time Simulator for an Innovative Hybrid Thermal Management System Based on Experimental Verification
Authors: Lin Yu-hsuan , Liu Li-fan , Hung Yi-hsuan , Chang Chun-hsin
Published: December 2021

The performance and efficiency of green energy sources in electric vehicles (EVs) are significantly affected by operation temperatures. To maintain the optimal temperatures of a hybrid energy system (HES), an innovative hybrid thermal management system (IHTMS) was designed. The IHTMS contains a coolant pump, a heat exchanger, a proportional valve for hybrid flow rates, five coolant pipes, and three electromagnetic valves to form two mode-switch coolant loops. A Matlab/Simulink-based simulator of the IHTMS was constructed by formulating a set of first-ordered dynamics of temperatures of coolant pipes and energy bodies using the theories of Newton’s law of cooling and the lumped-parameter technique. Parameters were majorly derived by measured performance maps and data from the experimental platform of the IHTMS. To properly manage the optimal temperatures, four control modes were designed for inner-loop form and outer-loop form. For the experimental platform to verify the simulator, two power supplies generated the waste heat of dual energy sources calculated by the driving cycle and vehicle dynamics. Simulation results show that the temperatures were controlled at their optimal ranges by proper mode/loop switch. With the inner-loop mechanism, the rise time of optimal temperature decreased 27.4%. The average simulation-experiment temperature error of the battery was 0.898 °C; the average simulation-experiment temperature error of the PEMFC was 4.839 °C. The IHTMS will be integrated to a real HES in the future.
Gridshells in Recent Research—A Systematic Mapping Study
Authors: Dyvik Steinar Hillersøy , Manum Bendik , Rønnquist Anders
Published: December 2021

Gridshells are shells where the structural system is some kind of grid of linear members rather than a surface. With today’s focus on environmentally friendly solutions, gridshells have gained increased relevance as inherently material-efficient structures. This paper investigates the recent research on gridshells, who performs it and what their contributions are, and will thus provide an overview of the research field of gridshells. This study is performed as a systematic mapping. The articles were categorised by research type, motivation, contribution, gridshell type, material, and scientific field. The study shows that most articles are within structural engineering, whereas contributions from architecture were hard to find. The typical study was theoretical studies performing analyses on a specific load or structural behaviour. Some possible knowledge gaps were also identified, including review articles on loads and behaviour, research on bending active metal gridshells and development of gridshell nodes.
CNN-Based Fault Detection for Smart Manufacturing
Authors: Neupane Dhiraj , Kim Yunsu , Seok Jongwon , Hong Jungpyo
Published: December 2021

A smart factory is a highly digitized and networked production facility based on smart manufacturing. A smart manufacturing plant is the result of intelligent systems deployed in the factory. Smart factories have higher production volumes and are prone to machine failures when operating in almost all applications on a daily basis. With the growing concept of smart manufacturing required for Industry 4.0, intelligent methods for detecting and classifying bearing faults have become a subject of scientific research and interest. In this paper, a deep learning-based 1-D convolutional neural network is proposed using the time-sequence bearing data from the Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) bearing database. Four different sets of data are used. The proposed method achieves state-of-the-art accuracy even with a small amount of training data. For the sensitivity analysis of the proposed method, metrics such as precision, recall, and f-measure are determined. Next, we compare the proposed method with a 2-D CNN that uses two-dimensional image illustrations of raw data as input. This method shows the effectiveness of using 1-D CNNs over 2-D CNNs for time-sequence data. The proposed method is computationally inexpensive and outperforms the most complex and computationally intensive algorithms used for bearing fault detection and diagnosis.
Continuous Emotion Recognition with Spatiotemporal Convolutional Neural Networks
Authors: Teixeira Thomas , Granger Éric , Lameiras Koerich Alessandro
Published: December 2021

Facial expressions are one of the most powerful ways to depict specific patterns in human behavior and describe the human emotional state. However, despite the impressive advances of affective computing over the last decade, automatic video-based systems for facial expression recognition still cannot correctly handle variations in facial expression among individuals as well as cross-cultural and demographic aspects. Nevertheless, recognizing facial expressions is a difficult task, even for humans. This paper investigates the suitability of state-of-the-art deep learning architectures based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to deal with long video sequences captured in the wild for continuous emotion recognition. For such an aim, several 2D CNN models that were designed to model spatial information are extended to allow spatiotemporal representation learning from videos, considering a complex and multi-dimensional emotion space, where continuous values of valence and arousal must be predicted. We have developed and evaluated convolutional recurrent neural networks, combining 2D CNNs and long short term-memory units and inflated 3D CNN models, which are built by inflating the weights of a pre-trained 2D CNN model during fine-tuning, using application-specific videos. Experimental results on the challenging SEWA-DB dataset have shown that these architectures can effectively be fine-tuned to encode spatiotemporal information from successive raw pixel images and achieve state-of-the-art results on such a dataset.