bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Elastic Polymer-Based Smart Insole and a Simple Foot Plantar Pressure Visualization Method Using 16 Electrodes
Authors: Lee Wangjoo , Hong Seung-Hyeon , Oh Hyun-Woo
Published: December 2018

In this paper, we propose a smart insole for inexpensive plantar pressure sensing and a simple visualizing scheme. The insole is composed of two elastomeric layers and two electrode layers where the common top electrode is submerged in the insole. The upper elastomeric layer is non-conductive poly-dimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) and supports plantar pressure buffering and the lower layer is carbon nano-tube (CNT)-dispersed PDMS for pressure sensing through piezo-resistivity. Under the lower sensing layer are 16 bottom electrodes for pressure distribution sensing without cell-to-cell interference. Since no soldering or sewing is needed the smart insole manufacturing processes is simple and cost-effective. The pressure sensitivity and time response of the material was measured and based on the 16 sensing data of the smart insole, we virtually extended the frame size for continuous and smoothed pressure distribution image with the help of a simple pseudo interpolation scheme.
Bionic Electronic Nose Based on MOS Sensors Array and Machine Learning Algorithms Used for Wine Properties Detection
Authors: Liu Huixiang , Li Qing , Yan Bin , Zhang Lei , Gu Yu
Published: December 2018

In this study, a portable electronic nose (E-nose) prototype is developed using metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors to detect odors of different wines. Odor detection facilitates the distinction of wines with different properties, including areas of production, vintage years, fermentation processes, and varietals. Four popular machine learning algorithms—extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and backpropagation neural network (BPNN)—were used to build identification models for different classification tasks. Experimental results show that BPNN achieved the best performance, with accuracies of 94% and 92.5% in identifying production areas and varietals, respectively; and SVM achieved the best performance in identifying vintages and fermentation processes, with accuracies of 67.3% and 60.5%, respectively. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed E-nose, which could be used to distinguish different wines based on their properties following selection of an optimal algorithm.
Content-Aware Focal Plane Selection and Proposals for Object Tracking on Plenoptic Image Sequences
Authors: Bae Dae Hyun , Kim Jae Woo , Heo Jae-Pil
Published: December 2018

Object tracking is a fundamental problem in computer vision since it is required in many practical applications including video-based surveillance and autonomous vehicles. One of the most challenging scenarios in the problem is when the target object is partially or even fully occluded by other objects. In such cases, most of existing trackers can fail in their task while the object is invisible. Recently, a few techniques have been proposed to tackle the occlusion problem by performing the tracking on plenoptic image sequences. Although they have shown promising results based on the refocusing capability of plenoptic images, there is still room for improvement. In this paper, we propose a novel focus index selection algorithm to identify an optimal focal plane where the tracking should be performed. To determine an optimal focus index, we use a focus measure to find maximally focused plane and a visual similarity to capture the plane where the target object is visible, and its appearance is distinguishably clear. We further use the selected focus index to generate proposals. Since the optimal focus index allows us to estimate the distance between the camera and the target object, we can more accurately guess the scale changes of the object in the image plane. Our proposal algorithm also takes the trajectory of the target object into account. We extensively evaluate our proposed techniques on three plenoptic image sequences by comparing them against the prior tracking methods specialized to the plenoptic image sequences. In experiments, our method provides higher accuracy and robustness over the prior art, and those results confirm that the merits of our proposed algorithms.
Experimental Investigation of High Temperature-Resistant Inductive Sensor for Blade Tip Clearance Measurement
Authors: Zhao Ziyu , Liu Zhenxia , Lyu Yaguo , Gao Yajun
Published: December 2018

Turbine tip clearance of aero-engine is important to engine performance. Proper control of rotor tip clearance contributes to engine efficiency improvement and fuel consumption reduction. Therefore, accurate tip clearance measurement is essential. The inductive measurement method is one of the non-contact distance measurement methods, which has the characteristics of high sensitivity, fast response speed and strong anti-interference ability. Based on the principle of inductive sensor measuring tip clearance, the ambient temperature change will cause the material electromagnetic performance change for the conductivity and permeability varies with temperature. The calibration experiment was conducted to obtain the sensor resolution and sensing range. The effect of temperature on sensor parameters was extracted from high temperature experiment data. Results show the resolution of planar coil made of platinum wire can be 10 μm and the maximum sensing range can reach 5 mm. At temperature from 500 ℃ to 1100 ℃, coil inductance almost does not change with temperature while coil resistance varies exponentially with temperature, that means the coil inductance variation can reflect the tip clearance change and resistance can indicate the measuring temperature.
Imposed Water Deficit after Anthesis for the Improvement of Macronutrients, Quality, Phytochemicals, and Antioxidants in Rice Grain
Authors: Rayee Ramin , Tran Hoang-Dung , Xuan Tran Dang , Khanh Tran Dang
Published: December 2018

The control of protein and amylose content is the principal challenge in rice nutrient and quality improvement. In this study, water deficits in 2- and 3-day intervals were imposed on two Japonica cultivars K1 and K3, and an Indica K4 subtype after anthesis to harvest. It was observed that although rice yield was affected, the protein content was increased 6.53–6.63% to 9.93–10.16%. The amylose quantity was reduced significantly from 22.00–22.43% to 16.33–17.56%, while fatty acids in rice grain were not influenced. Total anthocyanins were greatly promoted by 53.1% as compared to the non-treated trials. The antioxidant capacity in rice grain increased up to 59.1% in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and 41.6% in reducing power assays. Findings of this research revealed that the 3-day interval of water deficit imposition was the most effective to improve rice macronutrients and quality, as well as beneficial phytochemicals and antioxidants in rice grain. The water control after anthesis to harvest in rice cultivation is beneficial and economical for farmers to improve rice nutrients and quality, thus contributes to the sustainable rice production in many developing countries.
Sustainability of Government Social Media: A Multi-Analytic Approach to Predict Citizens’ Mobile Government Microblog Continuance
Authors: Yang Shuiqing , Zeng Xianwu
Published: December 2018

Attracting citizens and facilitating their continued usage is critical for the sustainable development of mobile government microblog services. Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework and the literature related to perceived value, this study investigates the factors that affect citizens’ continuance intention vis-a-vis mobile government microblogs from a value-based perspective. A structural equation modeling (SEM)-neural network combined method was used to test the proposed model by using data collected from 301 mobile government microblog users in China. The SEM analysis shows that social influence, perceived interactivity, and perceived mobility positively affect citizens’ utilitarian value and hedonic value, which further affects their continuance intention. The significant factors obtained from the SEM are used as input for a neural network analysis to calculate their relative impacts. The results of the neural network analysis showed that perceived mobility is the most important factor influencing utilitarian value, while social influence is the most significant factor affecting hedonic value. The normalized importance of utilitarian value on continuance behaviors is larger than that of hedonic value.
Optimal Battery Recycling Strategy for Electric Vehicle under Government Subsidy in China
Authors: Shao Yuan , Deng Xudong , Qing Qiankai , Wang Yajuan
Published: December 2018

Motivated by the increasing environmental concerns about the used electric vehicle batteries in China, an electric vehicle manufacturer’s battery recycling strategy under government subsidy was studied. A consumer utility function was used to capture consumer environmental awareness associated with battery recycling and the game-theoretical approach was applied to analyze the interaction between the government and the manufacturer. It was found that, with an exogenous government subsidy, the manufacturer either recycles all the batteries, or it does not recycle any batteries if the impact of the recycling scale on costs is unremarkable; otherwise, the manufacturer recycles some used batteries when the benefit from recycling is moderate. Interestingly, an increased subsidy causes the manufacturer’s battery recycling rate to decrease if the subsidy is sufficiently large. When the government subsidy is endogenously, either full recycling, no recycling, or partial recycling can still arise. The optimal battery recycling rate and social welfare are lower in a non-cooperative game than in a cooperative game if the benefit from recycling is relatively low. The main findings were numerically justified with realistic subsidy data in China. The numerical results indicate: (1) the optimal battery recycling rate locates in a closed interval from 0 to 1 given an exogenous or an endogenous government subsidy, and it decreases with the subsidy when the subsidy is not less than 50% of the production cost of electric vehicle; (2) the social welfare first increases to a maximum value and then decreases as the subsidy increases; and (3) the optimal battery recycling rate increases significantly and the social welfare is improved when there is cooperation between the government and the manufacturer.
Broadcasting Winter Wheat Can Increase Grain Yield without Reducing the Kernels per Spike and the Kernel Weight
Authors: Zhai Yunlong , Wu Quanzhong , Chen Guodong , Zhang Hailin , Yin Xiaogang , Chen Fu
Published: December 2018

In North China, row spacing is the most common planting pattern used for winter wheat. Currently, there are three sowing and tillage methods for row spacing: rotary tillage sowing with straw return (RTS), subsoil tillage sowing with straw return (DTS), and no-tillage sowing with straw return (NTS). Recently, Hao proposed a new sowing pattern called uniform broadcast sowing with straw return (BSS) which could increase winter wheat yield. In this research, a field experiment was conducted during the growing seasons in 2011–2012 and 2012–2013. The winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety Jimai 22 was sowed with the four seeding and tillage methods—RTS, DTS, NTS, and BSS—at the China Agriculture University Wuqiao experimental station in the North China Plain. After tillage sowing and determining the sowing efficiency, the effective cover ratio of the seeds was measured, and the emergence ratio was calculated after emergence. In the two growing seasons, the growth and development stages were recorded. The dry matter accumulation (DMA), the yield, and the yield components (spikes per hectare, kernels per spike, and kernel weight) were also determined. We also measured the canopy structure leaf area index (LAI) and the stand uniformity. The results showed that BSS had the lowest emergence rate and lowest plant stands when compared with the other treatments. However, BSS had the highest grain yield at 7599.0 kg·ha−1 and 9763.3 kg·ha−1, which was 11.55, 16.17, 20.16% and 13.01, 15.68, 21.88% higher than DTS, RTS, and NTS in the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 growing seasons, respectively. The improved grain yield of BSS was due to the increased productive tillers per hectometer-squared, which was attributed to the higher stand uniformity. More importantly, the increased tillers per hectare and grain yield were not accompanied by a reduction in grain number per spike or grain weight. The stand uniformity could facilitate canopy construction and population architecture and result in more even sunlight distribution, increased leaf area index (LAI) and sunlight interception, and enhanced photosynthetic activity. The stand uniformity also could increase both the pre-anthesis and post-anthesis DMA and promote the harvest index (HI). This study indicates that BSS is the most suitable sowing method for winter wheat production in North China.
Which Corporate Governance Mechanisms Drive CSR Disclosure Practices in Emerging Countries?
Authors: Miras-Rodríguez María del Mar , Martínez-Martínez Domingo , Escobar-Pérez Bernabé
Published: December 2018

Although several studies have analyzed the role that specific corporate governance mechanisms have on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting practices, their findings have not been conclusive and the evidence from developing countries is scarce. The theoretical support for this relationship in the previous literature is found in Stakeholder, Agency, Legitimacy, and Good Management theories. Undoubtedly, as the institutional environment has an important impact on CSR reporting practices, it would be relevant for this field of research to analyze this relationship in companies from emerging countries. It is suggested for the sake of convenience to consider different levels of corporate governance mechanisms together due to the high interdependence among them. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to analyze whether different levels of corporate governance mechanisms (at the institutional, group, and firm level) are determinant factors of the CSR reporting practices in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). The final sample was composed of 281 companies. On the basis of our results, we conclude that institutional corporate governance mechanisms influence the company’s CSR reporting strategy and that both CSR disclosure practices analyzed are affected by group-level corporate governance mechanisms in companies from family-based societies. Our findings support the appropriateness of separately analyzing this issue in emerging countries.
Evaluation of the Effects of a Machine Failure on the Robustness of a Job Shop System—Proactive Approaches
Authors: Paprocka Iwona
Published: December 2018

Researchers are searching for opportunities to organize production systems that save energy and natural resources. Preventive maintenance (PM) is essential for the efficient use of machines and energy saving. Any rework due to a machine failure consumes additional energy, human resources, equipment, spare parts and raw materials. Two criteria—quality robustness (QR) and solution robustness (SR)—are used in order to compute the operational efficiency of the production system in the event of disruption. Any cost criterion can be added to the QR in order to measure losses due to a machine failure. The SR criterion measures a number of changes necessary to adopt the production schedule after the machine failure. Two proactive approaches are compared to compute the operational efficiency. In the predictive-reactive approach, the PM time is predicted and a stable schedule is built. In the proactive-reactive approach, a schedule is achieved for the best sequence of idle times between jobs. The influence of disturbance on both schedules using robustness measures is examined. This paper presents the results of computer simulations for the above approaches. The approaches are compared in order to select a better method of production organization that reduces costs and waste due to machine failure.
Using Eye Tracking to Explore the Impacts of Geography Courses on Map-based Spatial Ability
Authors: Dong Weihua , Ying Qi , Yang Yang , Tang Siliang , Zhan Zhicheng , Liu Bing , Meng Liqiu
Published: December 2018

As part of geography education, geography courses play an important role in the development of spatial ability. However, how geography courses affect map-based spatial ability has not been well documented. In this study, we use an eye-tracking method to explore the impact of geography courses on map-based spatial ability. We recruited 55 undergraduates from Beijing Normal University (BNU) to attend the map-based spatial ability test before and after six-month geography courses arranged by the Faculty of Geographical Science, BNU. The results show that the participants’ map-based spatial ability significantly improved after taking the geography courses; specifically, accuracy increased by 22.3% and response time decreased by 14.7% after training. We analysed two types of eye-movement behaviour; in terms of processing measures, the fixation duration of the topographic map decreased by 18.4% and the fixation distribution was more concentrated after training, and in terms of matching measures, participants have more switch times per second for both photographed scenes and topographic maps. Switch times between options decreased by 48.2%, which is a notable decrease. These empirical results are helpful for the design of geography courses that improve map-based spatial ability.
Application of a Sustainability Model for Assessing the Relocation of a Container Terminal: A Case Study of Kristiansand Port
Authors: Dushenko Mariia , Thærie Bjorbæk Clemet , Steger-Jensen Kenn
Published: December 2018

Sustainable development, a new interdisciplinary paradigm, is attracting increasing attention from the global research community. It is an enhancement of sustainability principles. This study documents the findings from applying a sustainability assessment model framework by Koo and Ariaratnam (2008) for decision support in connection with the projection of major infrastructure investment in a port. The objective of this study is to support the decision-making process in a port development project and to verify the applicability of sustainability assessment using a sustainability assessment model for a terminal development project in an urban area of Scandinavia. The sustainability assessment model is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A literature review of sustainability assessment models was conducted to find indicators for the AHP approach. Subsequently, a questionnaire was compiled and six decision-makers for projects in Scandinavian Ports in urban areas were selected for the case study. The hypothesis is that decision-makers of major infrastructure investment projects in publicly owned ports must adhere to sustainable development principles and support the United Nations sustainable development goals that are a call for action by all countries. When documenting a sustainable design of port projects, decision-makers use theoretical sustainability models to conceptualize features of a sustainable society. However, a major challenge for the decision-makers was that the sustainability assessment results did not show, as expected, the same results as those of three existing theoretical sustainability models. The results of the sustainability assessment model were scrutinised and benchmarked against existing theoretical sustainability models, namely: a sustainability stool, a 3-overlappingcircles model, and a 3-nesteddependencies model. The benchmark results indicate a disparity between the importance of what sustainability models describe and what is important in practice.
A New Method for Agricultural Market Share Assessment
Authors: Popa Alina , Hadad Shahrazad , Paiusan Robert , Nastase Marian
Published: December 2018

The Romanian market for plant protection products (PPP) is fragmented, dispersed, and very competitive. In recent years, there has been a constant decrease of farmers’ profitability, which has cascaded into the distribution of pesticides, fertilizers, and seeds. Since the structure of any market is dynamic over time, companies can determine the effectiveness of their different marketing strategies using analytical tools. As an alternative to econometric tools for predicting the market share in the farming industry, we propose the analytic network process (ANP) model, in which the market share is described as a network of nodes and clusters. Domain experts validate the ANP structure with respect to criteria and alternatives. The model allows the quantification of qualitative judgments provided by either experts or customers, through the highest eigenvalues. The eigenvalues are then further aggregated to deliver conclusive scores for the distribution of a particular market among competitors. The purpose of this research is twofold: (1) to develop an ANP-based tool for analyzing the competitive position (market share) of a company and (2) to help companies use the new tool in order to improve their business. The paper is of interest to PPP distributors, PPP manufacturers, customers, and policy-makers. The first two categories of stakeholders can use the analysis to better direct their marketing efforts, the customers can use it to select their providers, and the policy-makers can use it to evaluate and improve the control of PPP.
An Empirical Investigation of Destination Branding: The Case of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Authors: Acosta Pereira Lucimari , Flôres Limberger Pablo , Da Silva Flores Luiz Carlos , De Lima Pereira Melise
Published: December 2018

This paper conducts a study on brand image formation. In this sense, this research was developed to contribute to the tourism sector, and to do so, it had two major aims. The first one was to evaluate if destination branding factors influence the image assessment of a specific tourist destination: the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. The second aim was to estimate if the image of this tourist destination is directly related to loyalty. Therefore, this paper provides a theoretical and an empirical contribution to the theme by using a set of destination branding dimensions to evaluate the image of Rio de Janeiro and to test its influence on destination loyalty. This research follows a quantitative exploratory approach, and in order to reach the designated aims, two research techniques were used: exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The results confirmed four out of the five hypotheses established a priori in the proposed model. It can be concluded that the structural model is a reliable model.
Universal Quantum Computing and Three-Manifolds
Authors: Planat Michel , Aschheim Raymond , Amaral Marcelo M. , Irwin Klee
Published: December 2018

A single qubit may be represented on the Bloch sphere or similarly on the 3-sphere S 3 . Our goal is to dress this correspondence by converting the language of universal quantum computing (UQC) to that of 3-manifolds. A magic state and the Pauli group acting on it define a model of UQC as a positive operator-valued measure (POVM) that one recognizes to be a 3-manifold M 3 . More precisely, the d-dimensional POVMs defined from subgroups of finite index of the modular group P S L ( 2 , Z ) correspond to d-fold M 3 - coverings over the trefoil knot. In this paper, we also investigate quantum information on a few ‘universal’ knots and links such as the figure-of-eight knot, the Whitehead link and Borromean rings, making use of the catalog of platonic manifolds available on the software SnapPy. Further connections between POVMs based UQC and M 3 ’s obtained from Dehn fillings are explored.
A Complex Lie-Symmetry Approach to Calculate First Integrals and Their Numerical Preservation
Authors: Irshad Wajeeha , Habib Yousaf , Farooq Muhammad Umar
Published: December 2018

We calculated Noether-like operators and first integrals of a scalar second-order ordinary differential equation using the complex Lie-symmetry method. We numerically integrated the equations using a symplectic Runge–Kutta method. It was seen that these structure-preserving numerical methods provide qualitatively correct numerical results, and good preservation of first integrals is obtained.
Development of a Transmission Line Model for the Thickness Prediction of Thin Films via the Infrared Interference Method
Authors: Mpilitos Christos , Amanatiadis Stamatios , Apostolidis Georgios , Zygiridis Theodoros , Kantartzis Nikolaos , Karagiannis Georgios
Published: December 2018

An efficient transmission line model in the micrometric order is presented in this paper, to determine the thickness of thin dielectric films deposited on highly-doped substrates. In particular, the estimation of the thickness is based on multiple reflections of an incident infrared electromagnetic wave generating interference on the sensor. To this objective, the periodicity of the local maxima and minima, including the phase shift and wavelength dependence of the reflection at the layer-substrate interface, leads in the extraction of the required thickness. Moreover, a theoretical transmission line circuit is designed, in order to model the multiple interferences scenario, and an iterative method is developed to converge towards the correct coating thickness. The featured theoretical transmission line model is validated, via a direct comparison with Certified Reference Materials, to indicate its overall accuracy and reliability level. Finally, the proposed method is utilized to calculate the thickness of coated metallic samples.
Venom Proteome of Spine-Bellied Sea Snake (Hydrophis curtus) from Penang, Malaysia: Toxicity Correlation, Immunoprofiling and Cross-Neutralization by Sea Snake Antivenom
Authors: Tan Choo Hock , Tan Kae Yi , Ng Tzu Shan , Sim Si Mui , Tan Nget Hong
Published: December 2018

The venom proteome of Hydrophis curtus (synonym: Lapemis hardwickii) from Penang, Malaysia was investigated with nano-electrospray ionization-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-LCMS/MS) of the reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) venom fractions. Thirty distinct protein forms were identified as toxins from ten families. The three major protein families were phospholipase A2 (PLA2, 62.0% of total venom proteins), three-finger toxin (3FTX, 26.33%) and cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRiSP, 9.00%). PLA2 comprises diverse homologues (11 forms), predominantly the acidic subtypes (48.26%). 3FTX composed of one short alpha-neurotoxin (SNTX, 22.89%) and four long alpha-neurotoxins (LNTX, 3.44%). Both SNTX and LNTX were lethal in mice (intravenous LD50 = 0.10 and 0.24 μg/g, respectively) but the PLA2 were non-lethal (LD50 >1 μg/g). The more abundant and toxic SNTX appeared to be the main driver of venom lethality (holovenom LD50 = 0.20 μg/g). The heterologous Sea Snake Antivenom (SSAV, Australia) effectively cross-neutralized the venom (normalized potency = 9.35 mg venom neutralized per g antivenom) and the two neurotoxins in vivo, with the LNTX being neutralized more effectively (normalized potency = 3.5 mg toxin/g antivenom) than SNTX (normalized potency = 1.57 mg/g). SSAV immunorecognition was strong toward PLA2 but moderate-to-weak toward the alpha-neurotoxins, indicating that neutralization of the alpha-neurotoxins should be further improved.
SARS-Like Coronavirus WIV1-CoV Does Not Replicate in Egyptian Fruit Bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus)
Authors: Van Doremalen Neeltje , Schäfer Alexandra , Menachery Vineet D. , Letko Michael , Bushmaker Trenton , Fischer Robert J. , Figueroa Dania M. , Hanley Patrick W. , Saturday Greg , Baric Ralph S. , Munster Vincent J.
Published: December 2018

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like WIV1-coronavirus (CoV) was first isolated from Rhinolophus sinicus bats and can use the human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. In the current study, we investigate the ability of WIV1-CoV to infect Rousettus aegyptiacus bats. No clinical signs were observed throughout the experiment. Furthermore, only four oropharyngeal swabs and two respiratory tissues, isolated on day 3 post inoculation, were found positive for viral RNA. Two out of twelve bats showed a modest increase in coronavirus specific antibodies post challenge. In conclusion, WIV1-CoV was unable to cause a robust infection in Rousettus aegyptiacus bats.
Global Interactomics Connect Nuclear Mitotic Apparatus Protein NUMA1 to Influenza Virus Maturation
Authors: Rahim Md Niaz , Klewes Ludger , Zahedi-Amiri Ali , Mai Sabine , Coombs Kevin M.
Published: December 2018

Influenza A virus (IAV) infections remain a major human health threat. IAV has enormous genetic plasticity and can rapidly escape virus-targeted anti-viral strategies. Thus, there is increasing interest to identify host proteins and processes the virus requires for replication and maturation. The IAV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is a critical multifunctional protein that is expressed to high levels in infected cells. Host proteins that interact with NS1 may serve as ideal targets for attenuating IAV replication. We previously developed and characterized broadly cross-reactive anti-NS1 monoclonal antibodies. For the current study, we used these mAbs to co-immunoprecipitate native IAV NS1 and interacting host proteins; 183 proteins were consistently identified in this NS1 interactome study, 124 of which have not been previously reported. RNAi screens identified 11 NS1-interacting host factors as vital for IAV replication. Knocking down one of these, nuclear mitotic apparatus protein 1 (NUMA1), dramatically reduced IAV replication. IAV genomic transcription and translation were not inhibited but transport of viral structural proteins to the cell membrane was hindered during maturation steps in NUMA1 knockdown (KD) cells.
Flood Inundation Assessment Considering Hydrologic Conditions and Functionalities of Hydraulic Facilities
Authors: Wang Yuan-Heng , Hsu Yung-Chia , You Gene Jiing-Yun , Yen Ching-Lien , Wang Chi-Ming
Published: December 2018

This study proposed a two-phase risk analysis scheme for flood management considering flood inundation losses, including: (1) simplified qualitative-based risk analysis incorporating the principles of failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to identify all potential failure modes associated with candidate flood control measures, to formulate a remedial action plan aiming for mitigating the inundation risk within an engineering system; and (2) detailed quantitative-based risk analysis to employ numerical models to specify the consequences including flood extent and resulting losses. Conventional qualitative-based risk analysis methods have shown to be time-efficient but without quantitative information for decision making. However, quantitative-based risk analysis methods have shown to be time- and cost- consuming for a full spectrum investigation. The proposed scheme takes the advantages of both qualitative-based and quantitative-based approaches of time-efficient, cost-saving, objective and quantitative features for better flood management in term of expected loss. The proposed scheme was applied to evaluate the Chiang-Yuan Drainage system located on Lin-Bien River in southern Taiwan, as a case study. The remedial action plan given by the proposed scheme has shown to greatly reduce the inundation area in both highlands and lowlands. These measures was investigated to reduce the water volume in the inundation area by 0.2 million cubic meters, even in the scenario that the flood recurrence interval exceeded the normal (10-year) design standard. Our results showed that the high downstream water stage in the downstream boundary may increase the inundation area both in downstream and upstream and along the original drainage channel in the vicinity of the diversion. The selected measures given by the proposed scheme have shown to substantially reduce the flood risk and resulting loss, taking account of various scenarios: short duration precipitation, decreased channel conveyance, pump station failure and so forth.
Epitypification of Fusarium oxysporum – clearing the taxonomic chaos
Authors: Lombard L. , Sandoval-Denis M. , Lamprecht S. C. , Crous P.W.
Published: December 2018

Fusarium oxysporum is the most economically important and commonly encountered species of Fusarium. This soil-borne fungus is known to harbour both pathogenic (plant, animal and human) and non-pathogenic strains. However, in its current concept F. oxysporum is
a species complex consisting of numerous cryptic species. Identification and naming these cryptic species is complicated by multiple subspecific classification systems and the lack of living ex-type material to serve as basic reference point for phylogenetic inference. Therefore, to advance
and stabilise the taxonomic position of F. oxysporum as a species and allow naming of the multiple cryptic species recognised in this species complex, an epitype is designated for F. oxysporum. Using multi-locus phylogenetic inference and subtle morphological differences with
the newly established epitype of F. oxysporum as reference point, 15 cryptic taxa are resolved in this study and described as species.
THE IMPACT OF 9/11 ON US REIT RETURNS: FUNDAMENTAL OR FINANCIAL?
Authors: Gheno Andrea , Lee Stephen L.
Published: December 2018

Following the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 volatility of daily returns of the US stock market rose sharply. This increase in volatility may reflect fundamental changes in the economic determinants of prices such as expected earnings, interest rates, real growth and inflation. Alternatively, the increase in volatility may simply reflect the effects of increased uncertainty in the financial markets. This study therefore sets out to determine if the effects of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 had a fundamental or purely financial impact on US real estate returns. In order to do this we compare pre‐and post‐9/11 crisis returns for a number of US REIT indexes and in general we find that the effect of the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 had only a financial effect on REIT returns and therefore was transitory.
A STUDY OF TENANTS’ MAINTENANCE AWARENESS, RESPONSIBILITY AND SATISFACTION IN INSTITUTIONAL HOUSING IN NIGERIA
Authors: Oladapo Adebayo A.
Published: December 2018

The housing problem in Nigeria is both quantitative and qualitative. The qualitative aspect, which has to do with the maintenance of the existing stock, has assumed greater significance because of the need to preserve the existing stock and bring it to acceptable standards of living. Tenants in institutional housing are major stakeholders who directly bear the brunt of the disrepair of the houses. Hence they have a role to play to optimise the maintenance of their houses within the very limited resources available to the maintenance departments. The study was carried out to evaluate the maintenance awareness and responsibilities of tenants and quantitatively analyse their satisfaction with the state of maintenance of their houses. The results showed that the tenants had a high level of maintenance awareness and responsibility but their satisfaction with the maintenance of their houses was just average.
POLITICAL-ECONOMIC CYCLE MODELS OF ECONOMY OF GREECE
Authors: Tkáčová Andrea , Gavurová Beáta , Kováč Viliam
Published: December 2018

The political-economic cycle can be caused as the consequence of the wrong political decisions, made with the aim of re-election and maintaining the political power. These decisions influence the macroeconomic indicators of the country and their presence is problematic in the advanced economies. The main objective of this study is to verify the existence of the political-economic cycle model in the case of Greece and to identify the type of this cycle. The basement is given by the approach of Alesina and Roubini (1992), which observes the relationship between the political dummy variables and the selected macroeconomic variables such as gross domestic product, unemployment rate and inflation rate. The eight linear regression models are developed in the R software environment, while the three of them are opportunistic and the five are ideological. These models are identified as statistically significant and according to the methodology, tested for the presence of serial correlation, heteroscedasticity and residual normality. As the models do not confirm the presence of an opportunistic or ideological political-economic cycle, according to the data, the influence of the political parties on changes in the macroeconomic variables before the election is not proved for the case of Greece.
Microlensing Results Challenge the Core Accretion Runaway Growth Scenario for Gas Giants
Authors: Suzuki Daisuke , Bennett David P. , Ida Shigeru , Mordasini Christoph , Bhattacharya Aparna , Bond Ian A. , Donachie Martin , Fukui Akihiko , Hirao Yuki , Koshimoto Naoki , Miyazaki Shota , Nagakane Masayuki , Ranc Clément , Rattenbury Nicholas J. , Sumi Takahiro , Alibert Yann , Lin Douglas N. C.
Published: December 2018

We compare the planet-to-star mass-ratio distribution measured by gravitational microlensing to core accretion theory predictions from population synthesis models. The core accretion theory’s runaway gas accretion process predicts a dearth of intermediate-mass giant planets that is not seen in the microlensing results. In particular, the models predict ∼10 × fewer planets at mass ratios of

than inferred from microlensing observations. This tension implies that gas giant formation may involve processes that have hitherto been overlooked by existing core accretion models or that the planet-forming environment varies considerably as a function of host-star mass. Variation from the usual assumptions for the protoplanetary disk viscosity and thickness could reduce this discrepancy, but such changes might conflict with microlensing results at larger or smaller mass ratios, or with other observations. The resolution of this discrepancy may have important implications for planetary habitability because it has been suggested that the runaway gas accretion process may have triggered the delivery of water to our inner solar system. So, an understanding of giant planet formation may help us to determine the occurrence rate of habitable planets.
The Design and Development of a Mobile Phone Application for STEM based on a Novel Engineering Approach
Authors: Zhuang Yaoxian , Wang Liyan , Chiang Feng-kuang
Published: December 2018

STEM education provides students with interdisciplinary knowledge to improve problem-solving ability. The purpose of this study is to explore whether students could achieve the goal of STEM education by mobile learning. This study developed a mobile application which was named Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows to support mobile learning about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). According to the textbooks for Grades 5-7，the teaching content of the APP was designed to help students get a better grasp of teaching contents and to help teachers save time in preparing classes. The central narrative，like cartoon or the dialogue of cartoon is used for APP to bridge the teaching contents. Therefore，learners can construct a real-life situation by App. To inspire learners' interest in STEM courses, the APP used games to test how well students did in learning. A shipbuilding task with the narrative background was set to improve learners' skills and interest in engineering learning. The educator could make the assessment of learners based on all their performance in the process of learning, including the design sketches, final products, the messages from students and the grade of game. For the purpose of improving the APP, teachers and students were interviewed to investigate users’ feedback in this study.
Formal Specification and Verification of Communication in Network-On-Chip: An Overview
Authors: Boutekkouk Fateh
Published: December 2018

Network-On-Chip (NOC) is an emerging paradigm to surmount traditional bus based Systems-On-Chip (SOC) limits  especially scalability and communication performances. A NOC includes many applications that can execute concurrently. This situation may show some undesirable behaviors such as deadlock, livelock, starvation, etc. On the other hand, the application of formal methods to on-chip communication infrastructures has recieved more attention. Formal analysis of NOC communication will be very advantageous since it allows proving some theorems or interesting qualitative/quantitative properties on the communication behavior where simulation/emulation techniques can fail easily. In this paper we try to giva an overview of the most famous formal methods applied to the verification of communication inside NOCs.
Integration of User Profile in Search Process according to the Bayesian Approach
Authors: Achemoukh Farida , Ahmed-Ouamer Rachid
Published: December 2018

Most information retrieval system (IRS) rely on the so called system-centred approach,
 behaves as a black box, which produces the same answer to the same query, independently on the
 user’s specific information needs. Without considering the user, it is hard to know which sense
 refers to in a query. To satisfy user needs, personalization is an appropriate solution to improve the
 IRS usability. Modeling the user profile can be the first step towards personalization of information
 search. The user profile refers to his/her interests built across his/her interactions with the retrieval
 system. In this paper, we present a personalized information retrieval approach for building and
 exploiting the user profile in search process, based on Bayesian network. The theoretical
 framework provided by these networks allows better capturing the relationships between different
 information. Experiments carried out on TREC-1 ad hoc and TREC 2011 Track collections show
 that our approach achieves significant improvements over a personalized search approach described
 in the state of the art and also to a baseline search information process that do not consider the user
 profile
« La page sortie de mon encrier » : les révélations de Juliette Drouet sur la genèse de l’œuvre de Hugo
Authors: Naugrette Florence
Published: December 2018

Le journal épistolaire de Juliette Drouet, en cours d’édition sur le site en accès libre , présentera à terme les quelque 22 000 lettres envoyées par Juliette à Hugo pendant un demi-siècle. Cette masse de documents, inédits à 90 %, éclaire plusieurs aspects de la genèse de l’œuvre de Victor Hugo, à commencer par des aperçus directs sur ses habitudes de travail (rythme et méthode). Juliette Drouet aide Victor Hugo non seulement en l’inspirant mais en lui servant aussi épisodiquement de documentaliste. Elle veille en retour avec un soin jaloux sur ses manuscrits qu’elle lit, écoute et recopie pour lui, ce qui est pour elle une façon de se les approprier. Ses témoignages de premier plan permettent de corroborer, ou de rectifier, sur plus d’un point la chronologie de la rédaction, mais aussi de suivre la genèse éditoriale, et la réception des œuvres, notamment théâtrales.
La photographie à l’œuvre
Authors: Achille Alexandrine
Published: December 2018

Victor Hugo a compris et reconnu l’intérêt de la photographie plus vite que la plupart de ses contemporains. Il pratique cette nouvelle activité en famille à Jersey (1852-1855), comme modèle davantage que comme opérateur, laissant à son fils Charles le soin de le représenter. La technique photographique rejoignant par bien des points ses propres expériences graphiques et littéraires, il s’y intéresse de près et l’introduit dans des créations originales, comme en témoignent des œuvres hybrides, et des dessins, sinon des poèmes, voire des recueils. À défaut d’avoir pu publier avec ses fils et Vacquerie ce qui aurait été l’un des premiers livres illustrés de photographies, il participe aux réalisations d’albums originaux et d’éditions enrichies. La maison de Victor Hugo, place des Vosges, en conserve plusieurs parmi les plus beaux, ainsi que la plus importante collection de photographies issues de « l’atelier de Jersey » et de bien d’autres sources, jusqu’à nos jours.
INVESTIGATION OF QUALITY IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES WITHIN EGYPTIAN DENTAL CLINICS
Authors: Mabrouk Mai S. , Marzouk Samir Y. , Afify Heba M.
Published: December 2018

There is a demand to evaluate the quality of dental clinics for improving the healthcare of dentistry sector. The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) presented the quality factors in a dental career which are technical skills, ethics, expertise and cost in the light of the international criterions of dental instruments. There is the low possibility that is still untapped in the aspect of the quality program for dental clinics because of lack of awareness, unapplied of total quality management (TQM) principles and fabrication of a mismatch between the patient needs and the services provided. Therefore, this study described a framework of TQM application for Egyptian dental clinics in the view of clinical engineer that based on random questionnaires from doctors, patients and quality control supervisors at different medical entities under study. All blinding data that obtained from statistical measurements are analyzed by Statistical Package for the Social Science program (SPSS) to provide some recommendations that related to risk management, infection control and thus reduce the spread of diseases in the clinics. The findings of this study elucidated the methodology of clinical engineering in development the quality program among dental clinics through the design of clinic, equipment maintenance and dissemination of quality standard guidelines. This work is considered as the first survey of dental clinics quality in Egypt that will represent a preliminary step in the application of quality standards to promote the level of patient safety.
The Society of the Digital Swarm
Authors: López Daniel Toscano
Published: December 2018

This chapter seeks to show how the society of the digital swarm we live in has changed the way individuals behave to the point that we have become Homo digitalis. These changes occur with information privatization, meaning that not only are we passive consumers, but we are also producers and issuers of digital communication. The overarching argument of this reflection is the disappearance of the “reality principle” in the political, economic, and social spheres. This text highlights that the loss of the reality principle is the effect of microblogging as a digital practice, the uses of which can either impoverish the space of people's experience to undermine the public space or achieve the mobilization of citizens against of the censorship of the traditional means of communication by authoritarian political regimes, such as the case of the Arab Spring in 2011.
Assessing HRO Principles for Reliable Performance in Asset-Intensive Organizations
Authors: Moerman Jan-jaap , Braaksma Jan , van Dongen Leo A. M.
Published: December 2018

Asset-intensive organizations rely on physical assets that are expensive, complex, and have a significant impact on organizational performance. The management of such assets is essential when seeking for reliable performance in a world of increasing uncertainties. The observation that asset-intensive organizations deal with increasingly complex and tightly coupled systems and often operate in highly demanding environments may indicate that they should adopt practices from high reliability organizations (HRO) to ensure and maintain reliable performance in the fourth industrial revolution. This chapter operationalizes the HRO concept in the field of physical asset management, measures to what extent the underlying principles are recognized, and explores the relationship between the HRO principles and asset performance using a descriptive survey. Results indicated that the HRO principles are recognized and may, therefore, serve as an instrument for reliable performance when adopting new technologies. A positive relation between asset performance and the five HRO principles was identified.