bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Low Power IoT Sensor Node Architecture for Waste Management Within Smart Cities Context
Authors: Cerchecci Matteo , Luti Francesco , Mecocci Alessandro , Parrino Stefano , Peruzzi Giacomo , Pozzebon Alessandro
Published: April 2018

This paper focuses on the realization of an Internet of Things (IoT) architecture to optimize waste management in the context of Smart Cities. In particular, a novel typology of sensor node based on the use of low cost and low power components is described. This node is provided with a single-chip microcontroller, a sensor able to measure the filling level of trash bins using ultrasounds and a data transmission module based on the LoRa LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) technology. Together with the node, a minimal network architecture was designed, based on a LoRa gateway, with the purpose of testing the IoT node performances. Especially, the paper analyzes in detail the node architecture, focusing on the energy saving technologies and policies, with the purpose of extending the batteries lifetime by reducing power consumption, through hardware and software optimization. Tests on sensor and radio module effectiveness are also presented.
Geriatric Helper: An mHealth Application to Support Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment
Authors: Silva Samuel , Felgueiras Rafael , Oliveira Ilídio C.
Published: April 2018

The Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a multidisciplinary diagnosis approach that considers several dimensions of fragility in older adults to develop an individualized plan to improve their overall health. Despite the evidence of its positive impact, CGA is still applied by a reduced number of professionals in geriatric care in many countries, mostly using a paper-based approach. In this context, we collaborate with clinicians to bring CGA to the attention of more healthcare professionals and to enable its easier application in clinical settings by proposing a mobile application, Geriatric Helper, to act as a pocket guide that is easy to update remotely with up-to-date information, and that acts as a tool for conducting CGA. This approach reduces the time spent on retrieving the scales documentation, the overhead of calculating the results, and works as a source of information for non-specialists. Geriatric Helper is a tool for the health professionals developed considering an iterative, User-Centred Design approach, with extensive contributions from a broad set of users including domain experts, resulting in a highly usable and accepted system. Geriatric Helper is currently being tested in Portuguese healthcare units allowing for any clinician to apply the otherwise experts-limited geriatric assessment.
Color Feature-Based Object Tracking through Particle Swarm Optimization with Improved Inertia Weight
Authors: Guo Siqiu , Zhang Tao , Song Yulong , Qian Feng
Published: April 2018

This paper presents a particle swarm tracking algorithm with improved inertia weight based on color features. The weighted color histogram is used as the target feature to reduce the contribution of target edge pixels in the target feature, which makes the algorithm insensitive to the target non-rigid deformation, scale variation, and rotation. Meanwhile, the influence of partial obstruction on the description of target features is reduced. The particle swarm optimization algorithm can complete the multi-peak search, which can cope well with the object occlusion tracking problem. This means that the target is located precisely where the similarity function appears multi-peak. When the particle swarm optimization algorithm is applied to the object tracking, the inertia weight adjustment mechanism has some limitations. This paper presents an improved method. The concept of particle maturity is introduced to improve the inertia weight adjustment mechanism, which could adjust the inertia weight in time according to the different states of each particle in each generation. Experimental results show that our algorithm achieves state-of-the-art performance in a wide range of scenarios.
Water Detection in Urban Areas from GF-3
Authors: Liu Xiaoyan , Liu Long , Shao Yun , Zhao Quanhua , Zhang Qingjun , Lou Linjiang
Published: April 2018

The rapid and accurate detection of urban water is critical for urban management, river detection, and flood disaster assessment. This study is devoted to detecting water by GaoFen-3 (GF-3) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images with high spatial resolution. There have been no effective solutions that discriminate water and building shadows using a single SAR image in previous research. Inspired by the principle that every shadow has a corresponding building nearby, a new method is proposed in this study, whereby building shadows are removed depending on the correspondence of buildings and their shadows. The proposed method is demonstrated effective and efficient by experimental results on six GF-3 SAR images. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves of the water detection results indicate that the proposed method increases the Probability of Detection (PD) to 98.36% and decreases the Probability of False Alarm (PFA) to 1.91% compared with the thresholding method, where, at the same PFA level, the maximum PD of the thresholding method is 72.62% in all testing samples. The proposed method is capable of removing building shadows and detecting water with high precision in urban areas, which presents the great potential of high-spatial-resolution GF-3 images in terms of water resource management.
Wind Gust Measurement Techniques—From Traditional Anemometry to New Possibilities
Authors: Suomi Irene , Vihma Timo
Published: April 2018

Information on wind gusts is needed for assessment of wind-induced damage and risks to safety. The measurement of wind gust speed requires a high temporal resolution of the anemometer system, because the gust is defined as a short-duration (seconds) maximum of the fluctuating wind speed. Until the digitalization of wind measurements in the 1990s, the wind gust measurements suffered from limited recording and data processing resources. Therefore, the majority of continuous wind gust records date back at most only by 30 years. Although the response characteristics of anemometer systems are good enough today, the traditional measurement techniques at weather stations based on cup and sonic anemometers are limited to heights and regions where the supporting structures can reach. Therefore, existing measurements are mainly concentrated over densely-populated land areas, whereas from remote locations, such as the marine Arctic, wind gust information is available only from sparse coastal locations. Recent developments of wind gust measurement techniques based on turbulence measurements from research aircraft and from Doppler lidar can potentially provide new information from heights and locations unreachable by traditional measurement techniques. Moreover, fast-developing measurement methods based on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) may add to better coverage of wind gust measurements in the future. In this paper, we provide an overview of the history and the current status of anemometry from the perspective of wind gusts. Furthermore, a discussion on the potential future directions of wind gust measurement techniques is provided.
Betulin-3,28-diphosphate as a Component of Combination Cytostatic Drugs for the Treatment of Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma In Vitro and In Vivo Experiments
Authors: Vorobyova Olga , Deryabina Olga , Malygina Darina , Plotnikova Nadezhda , Solovyeva Anna , Belyaeva Kseniya , Melnikova Nina
Published: April 2018

The activity of betulin-3,28-diphosphate (BDP) in combination with the cytostatics such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and hydrazine sulfate (HS) was demonstrated by using the transplanted Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) in mice. The dose-dependent effect of combination drugs BDP + HS and BDP + 5-FU was revealed by in vitro experiments on rats. The synergetic effect of HS and BDP on oxidative stress and energy metabolism was established. The malonic dialdehyde (MDA) level both in plasma and erythrocytes decreased by 87 ± 2%, and the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased by 105 ± 7% in comparison with the control. The combination of BDP + HS promoted the increase of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the reverse reaction by 195 ± 21% compared to the control. The combination drug of 5-FU with BDP caused the synergetic decrease of the lipid peroxidation (LPO) intensity estimated by the MDA level decrease up to 14 ± 4% compared to pure compounds. Betulin-3,28-diphosphate in combination with cytostatics for EAC treatment improved the animal health status, as well as decreased the cytostatics dose that can be used in palliative therapy.
Social Determinants of Physical Self-Rated Health among Asian Americans; Comparison of Six Ethnic Groups
Authors: Assari Shervin , Kumar Anurima
Published: April 2018

Background: A growing literature has revealed ethnic group differences in determinants and meanings of their self-rated health (SRH). Aim: To explore ethnic variations in the effects of socioeconomic determinants on poor physical SRH of Asians in the United States. Methods: Data came from the National Asian American Survey (NAAS), 2008, with 4977 non-U.S. born Asian Americans, including Asian Indian (n = 1150), Chinese (n = 1350), Filipino (n = 603), Japanese (n = 541), Korean (n = 614), and Vietnamese (n = 719) Americans. Demographic factors (age and gender), socioeconomic status (SES; education, employment, income, and marital status), and physical SRH were measured. Ethnic-specific logistic regressions were applied for data analysis where physical SRH was the outcome and demographic and social determinants were predictors. Results: According to logistic regressions, no social determinant was consistently associated with physical SRH across all ethnic groups. Being married was associated with better physical SRH in Asian Indians and worse SRH in the Filipino group. Education was associated with better SRH in Asian Indian, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans. High income was associated with better SRH in Chinese, Filipino, and Vietnamese Americans. Employment was associated with better SRH in Filipino Americans. Conclusion: Social determinants of physical SRH vary across ethnic groups of Asian Americans. Different ethnic groups are differently vulnerable to various social determinants of health. Application of single item SRH measures may be a source of bias in studies of health with ethnically diverse populations. Policy makers should be aware that the same change in social determinants may not result in similar change in the health of ethnic groups.
Acceptance of Food Technologies, Perceived Values and Consumers’ Expectations towards Bread. A Survey among Polish Sample
Authors: Sajdakowska Marta , Królak Maria , Zychowicz Witold , Jeżewska-Zychowicz Marzena
Published: April 2018

The aims of the study were to identify the perceptions about the technologies that are used to increase the nutritional value of cereal products, and to evaluate relations between consumers’ perceptions of them, expected changes to bread, and the perceived values. Quantitative data was collected through computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) within a sample of 1000 Polish adults. Clustering method was used to identify homogeneous groups based on opinions on the technologies used in the production of cereals and cereal products. Neutral attitudes towards technologies were presented in the sample with relatively greater acceptance of traditional crossbreeding of varieties and enrichment processes. Nevertheless, three homogeneous clusters were identified: technological sceptics (33.6%), technological traditionalists (15.0%) and technological enthusiasts (51.4%). Technological traditionalists appreciated the naturalness of food, tradition, natural environment, quality of life and health more than the other clusters. Perceiving themselves as a person valuing tradition and quality of life was associated with belonging to the technological sceptics. Both sceptics and traditionalists declared greater fears resulting from the application of new technologies in food production, including threats to the environment, health, naturalness of food and quality of life. Technological enthusiasts were anticipating more changes in bread. The differences among the clusters, including perceived values, require communication that is adapted to the profile of the consumers. The results can be useful for bread manufacturers to predict the demand and deliver against it and for marketers who are responsible for the process of effective product labelling and communication in order to meet the consumer needs.
Measurements and Factors That Influence the Carbon Capability of Urban Residents in China
Authors: Li Qianwen , Long Ruyin , Chen Hong
Published: April 2018

Due to the rapid growth in residential energy consumption, there is an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions from the consumer side, which requires improvements in the carbon capability of urban residents. In this study, previous investigations of carbon capability were analyzed and classified into four dimensions: carbon knowledge capability, carbon motivation capability, carbon behavior capability, and carbon management capability. According to grounded theory, a quantitative research model was constructed of the carbon capability of urban residents in Jiangsu, which was used to conduct a questionnaire survey. SPSS 19.0 and LatentGOLD were employed to process the questionnaire data and the carbon capability of the residents was evaluated. The results showed that the residents of Jiangsu Province could be divided into six groups based on their different carbon capabilities, where these six major groups accounted for 28.19%, 21.21%, 18.33%, 15.84%, 9.88%, and 6.55% of the total sample. Gender, age, occupation, and educational level had significant effects on the carbon capabilities of residents, whereas the annual household income and household population had no significant effects. According to the characteristics of each cluster based on the four carbon capability dimensions, the six clusters were designated as “balanced steady cluster”, “self-restraint cluster”, “fully backward cluster”, “comprehensive leading cluster”, “slightly cognitive cluster”, and “restrain others cluster”. Quantitative analysis showed that 61.93% of the residents of Jiangsu reached the qualified rate for the carbon capability but the excellent rate was only 15.84%. Relevant policy implications are suggested based on these conclusions.
Walled Buildings, Sustainability, and Housing Prices: An Artificial Neural Network Approach
Authors: Li Rita , Cheng Ka , Shoaib Muhammad
Published: April 2018

Various researchers have explored the adverse effects of walled buildings on human health. However, few of them have examined the relationship between walled buildings and private housing estates in Hong Kong. This study endeavors to fill the research gap by exploring the connections among walled-building effects, housing features, macroeconomic factors, and housing prices in private housing estates. Specifically, it reveals the relationship between walled buildings and housing prices. Eight privately owned housing estates are selected with a total of 11,365 observations. Results are analyzed to study the factors that affect the housing price. Firstly, unit root tests are carried out to evaluate if the time series variables follow the unit root process. Secondly, the relationship between walled buildings and housing price is examined by conducting an artificial neural network. We assumed that the housing price reduces due to walled-building effects, given that previous literature showed that heat island effect, and blockage of natural light and views, are common in walled-building districts. Moreover, we assume that housing price can also be affected by macroeconomic factors and housing features, and these effects vary among private housing estates. We also study these impacts by using the two models. Recommendations and possible solutions are suggested at the end of the research paper.
Simplicity and Sustainability: Pointers from Ethics and Science
Authors: Massoudi Mehrdad , Vaidya Ashwin
Published: April 2018

In this paper, we explore the notion of simplicity. We use definitions of simplicity proposed by philosophers, scientists, and economists. In an age when the rapidly growing human population faces an equally rapidly declining energy/material resources, there is an urgent need to consider various notions of simplicity, collective and individual, which we believe to be a sensible path to restore our planet to a reasonable state of health. Following the logic of mathematicians and physicists, we suggest that simplicity can be related to sustainability. Our efforts must therefore not be spent so much in pursuit of growth but in achieving a sustainable life.
Towards TB Elimination in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Key Informant Insights on the Determinants of TB among African Migrants
Authors: Badu Emmanuel , Mpofu Charles , Farvid Panteá
Published: April 2018

Migrants living in low incidence countries, including New Zealand (NZ), are disproportionately affected by tuberculosis (TB). This foreign-born group poses important challenges to achieving the national TB elimination targets. Thus, the aim of this study was to contribute to the understandingof factors that influence the incidence of TB among African migrants living in NZ. We employed a semi-structured interview approach to explore the perceptions of NZ-based African community leaders, health professionals and a non-governmental TB support organisation about the wider determinants of TB. The findings, though not completely generalizable, suggest that many NZ-based Africans endure a difficult process of integration, perceive themselves as least susceptible to TB and have low awareness about available health services. Furthermore, the cost of general practitioner (GP) services, mistrust of health professionals, TB stigma and the NZ immigration policy were indicated as important barriers to TB services. Strategies to address TB among migrants must therefore be more holistic and not be centred on a fragmented approach that overemphasises the biomedical approaches, as the incidence of TB is more likely the outcome of a complex interplay of several underlying factors.
Mycoviruses as Triggers and Targets of RNA Silencing in White Mold Fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Authors: Mochama Pauline , Jadhav Prajakta , Neupane Achal , Lee Marzano Shin-Yi
Published: April 2018

This study aimed to demonstrate the existence of antiviral RNA silencing mechanisms in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum by infecting wild-type and RNA-silencing-deficient strains of the fungus with an RNA virus and a DNA virus. Key silencing-related genes were disrupted to dissect the RNA silencing pathway. Specifically, dicer genes (dcl-1, dcl-2, and both dcl-1/dcl-2) were displaced by selective marker(s). Disruption mutants were then compared for changes in phenotype, virulence, and susceptibility to virus infections. Wild-type and mutant strains were transfected with a single-stranded RNA virus, SsHV2-L, and copies of a single-stranded DNA mycovirus, SsHADV-1, as a synthetic virus constructed in this study. Disruption of dcl-1 or dcl-2 resulted in no changes in phenotype compared to wild-type S. sclerotiorum; however, the double dicer mutant strain exhibited significantly slower growth. Furthermore, the Δdcl-1/dcl-2 double mutant, which was slow growing without virus infection, exhibited much more severe debilitation following virus infections including phenotypic changes such as slower growth, reduced pigmentation, and delayed sclerotial formation. These phenotypic changes were absent in the single mutants, Δdcl-1 and Δdcl-2. Complementation of a single dicer in the double disruption mutant reversed viral susceptibility to the wild-type state. Virus-derived small RNAs were accumulated from virus-infected wild-type strains with strand bias towards the negative sense. The findings of these studies indicate that S. sclerotiorum has robust RNA silencing mechanisms that process both DNA and RNA mycoviruses and that, when both dicers are silenced, invasive nucleic acids can greatly debilitate the virulence of this fungus.
Cover Crops for Managing Stream Water Quantity and Improving Stream Water Quality of Non-Tile Drained Paired Watersheds
Authors: Singh Gurbir , Schoonover Jon E. , Williard Karl W. J.
Published: April 2018

In the Midwestern United States, cover crops are being promoted as a best management practice for managing nutrient and sediment losses from agricultural fields through surface and subsurface water movement. To date, the water quality benefits of cover crops have been inferred primarily from plot scale studies. This project is one of the first to analyze the impacts of cover crops on stream water quality at the watershed scale. The objective of this research was to evaluate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment loss in stream water from a no-till corn-soybean rotation planted with winter cover crops cereal rye (Secale cereale) and hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) in non-tile drained paired watersheds in Illinois, USA. The paired watersheds are under mixed land use (agriculture, forest, and pasture). The control watershed had 27 ha of row-crop agriculture, and the treatment watershed had 42 ha of row crop agriculture with cover crop treatment (CC-treatment). During a 4-year calibration period, 42 storm events were collected and Event Mean Concentrations (EMCs) for each storm event were calculated for total suspended solids (TSS), nitrate-N (NO3-N), ammonia-N (NH4-N), dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), and total discharge. Predictive regression equations developed from the calibration period were used for calculating TSS, NO3-N, NH4-N, and DRP losses of surface runoff for the CC-treatment watershed. The treatment period consisted of total 18 storm events, seven of which were collected during the cereal rye, eight in the hairy vetch cover crop season and three during cash crop season. Cover crops reduced TSS and discharge by 33% and 34%, respectively in the CC-treatment watershed during the treatment period. However, surprisingly, EMCs for NO3-N, NH4-N, and DRP did not decrease. Stream discharge from the paired-watersheds will continue to be monitored to determine if the current water quality results hold or new patterns emerge.
Some Aspects of Turbulent Mixing of Jets in the Marine Environment
Authors: Mossa Michele , Davies Peter A.
Published: April 2018

Prominent among environmental problems is the pollution of the coastal marine zone as a result of anthropogenic activities. On this point, while studies of jets in still water and in crossflows have been developed in many research centres, studies on jets interacting with waves are still rare. The present study analyses turbulent, non-buoyant water jets issued into a wave environment. A comparison of the time-averaged and phase-averaged velocity components has been carried out, in order to highlight the flow patterns in the two configurations. The experimental data have also been compared with others in the literature, such as the relationship between the dimensionless, longitudinal, time-averaged velocities of the jet mean axis and the distance from the source. Such comparisons reveal a good agreement. Furthermore, using the analogy between the equation of the turbulent transport of a solute concentration and the equation of the turbulent kinetic energy, the paper presents also estimates of the turbulence diffusion coefficients and advection terms of jets in a wave environment. The experimental results are compared with jets in still water. With the presence of waves, the turbulence length-scales in the streamwise direction vary, contributing to an increase in streamwise turbulent diffusion, relative to the condition of the same jet in still water. The analysis of the jet streamwise advection term reveals that it increases in the case of jets in a wave environment, as compared to no-wave conditions.
Comparison of Pressure-Driven Formulations for WDN Simulation
Authors: Ciaponi Carlo , Creaco Enrico
Published: April 2018

This paper presents the comparison of five pressure-driven formulations in the context of water distribution network (WDN) modelling. These formulations, which relate nodal outflow q to users to demands d and nodal pressure heads h, were implemented inside the global gradient algorithm for the snapshot solution of the equations concerning mass and energy conservation at WDN nodes and pipes, respectively. The modelling of leakage nodal outflows as a function of pressure was also considered. The applications concerned two case studies, in which nodal demands were suitably amplified to lower service pressure below the desired values. This was done to stress the effects of the pressure-driven dependence q(h) in the WDN. The results showed that the formulations tend to behave similarly in terms of nodal outflows. Compared to a widely used formulation, which features a q(h) relationship with derivative discontinuities, the other four formulations analyzed tend to guarantee faster algorithm convergence, above all for simple and poorly interconnected WDNs, due to their smooth q(h) relationship. The results in terms of nodal pressure heads can be very different, above all for low values of h.
A Novel Multislope MUSCL Scheme for Solving 2D Shallow Water Equations on Unstructured Grids
Authors: Xu Haiyong , Liu Xingnian , Li Fujian , Huang Sheng , Liu Chao
Published: April 2018

Within the framework of the two-dimensional cell-centered Godunov-type finite volume (CCFV) method, this paper presents a novel multislope scheme on the basis of the monotone upstream scheme for conservation law (MUSCL) for numerically solving nonlinear shallow water equations on two-dimensional triangular grids. The Riemann states of the considered edge are calculated by an edge-based reconstructing procedure, where a limited scalar slope is employed to prevent potential numerical oscillations. The novel aspect of the new scheme is that it takes advantage of the geometrical characteristics of triangular grids in the reconstructing and limiting procedures, which effectively reduces the cost of computation and provides higher resolution and accuracy compared with classical MUSCL schemes. Seven tests are adopted to verify the scheme, and the results indicate that this scheme is efficient, accurate, robust, and high-resolution, and can be an ideal alternative for solving shallow water problems over uneven and frictional topography.
Analysis of Anthropogenic, Climatological, and Morphological Influences on Dissolved Organic Matter in Rocky Mountain Streams
Authors: Rodríguez-Jeangros Nicolás , Hering Amanda S. , McCray John E.
Published: April 2018

In recent decades, the Rocky Mountains (RM) have undergone significant changes associated with anthropogenic activities and natural disturbances. These changes have the potential to alter primary productivity and biomass carbon storage. In particular, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in RM streams can affect heterotrophic processes, act as a source for the nutrient cycle, absorb sunlight radiation, alter metal transport, and can promote the production of carcinogenic byproducts during water treatment. Recent studies have focused on the relationship between bark beetle infestations and stream organic matter but have reached conflicting conclusions. Consequently, here we compile and process multiple datasets representing features of the RM for the period 1983–2012 with the purpose of assessing their relative influence on stream DOC concentrations using spatial statistical modeling. Features representing climate, land cover, forest disturbances, topography, soil types, and anthropogenic activities are included. We focus on DOC during base-flow conditions in RM streams because base-flow concentrations are more representative of the longer-term (annual to decadal) impacts and are less dependent on episodic, short-term storm and runoff/erosion events. To predict DOC throughout the network, we use a stream network model in a 56,550 km2 area to address the intrinsic connectivity and hydrologic directionality of the stream network. Natural forest disturbances are positively correlated with increased DOC concentrations; however, the effect of urbanization is far greater. Similarly, higher maximum temperatures, which can be exacerbated by climate change, are also associated with elevated DOC concentrations. Overall, DOC concentrations present an increasing trend over time in the RM region.
Artifacts in time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy
Authors: Sadewasser Sascha , Nicoara Nicoleta , Solares Santiago D
Published: April 2018

Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) has been used for the characterization of metals, insulators, and semiconducting materials on the nanometer scale. Especially in semiconductors, the charge dynamics are of high interest. Recently, several techniques for time-resolved measurements with time resolution down to picoseconds have been developed, many times using a modulated excitation signal, e.g., light modulation or bias modulation that induces changes in the charge carrier distribution. For fast modulation frequencies, the KPFM controller measures an average surface potential, which contains information about the involved charge carrier dynamics. Here, we show that such measurements are prone to artifacts due to frequency mixing, by performing numerical dynamics simulations of the cantilever oscillation in KPFM subjected to a bias-modulated signal. For square bias pulses, the resulting time-dependent electrostatic forces are very complex and result in intricate mixing of frequencies that may, in some cases, have a component at the detection frequency, leading to falsified KPFM measurements. Additionally, we performed fast Fourier transform (FFT) analyses that match the results of the numerical dynamics simulations. Small differences are observed that can be attributed to transients and higher-order Fourier components, as a consequence of the intricate nature of the cantilever driving forces. These results are corroborated by experimental measurements on a model system. In the experimental case, additional artifacts are observed due to constructive or destructive interference of the bias modulation with the cantilever oscillation. Also, in the case of light modulation, we demonstrate artifacts due to unwanted illumination of the photodetector of the beam deflection detection system. Finally, guidelines for avoiding such artifacts are given.
The Magellanic Bridge Cluster NGC 796: Deep Optical AO Imaging Reveals the Stellar Content and Initial Mass Function of a Massive Open Cluster
Authors: Kalari Venu M. , Carraro Giovanni , Evans Christopher J. , Rubio Monica
Published: April 2018

NGC 796 is a massive young cluster located 59 kpc from us in the diffuse intergalactic medium of the 1/5–1/10 Z
☉ Magellanic Bridge, allowing us to probe variations in star formation and stellar evolution processes as a function of metallicity in a resolved fashion, and providing a link between resolved studies of nearby solar-metallicity and unresolved distant metal-poor clusters located in high-redshift galaxies. In this paper, we present adaptive optics griHα imaging of NGC 796 (at 0.″5, which is ∼0.14 pc at the cluster distance) along with optical spectroscopy of two bright members to quantify the cluster properties. Our aim is to explore whether star formation and stellar evolution vary as a function of metallicity by comparing the properties of NGC 796 to higher-metallicity clusters. We find an age of

20

−
5

+
12

Myr from isochronal fitting of the cluster main sequence in the color–magnitude diagram. Based on the cluster luminosity function, we derive a top-heavy stellar initial mass function (IMF) with a slope α = 1.99 ± 0.2, hinting at a metallicity and/or environmental dependence of the IMF, which may lead to a top-heavy IMF in the early universe. Study of the Hα emission-line stars reveals that classical Be stars constitute a higher fraction of the total B-type stars when compared with similar clusters at greater metallicity, providing some support to the chemically homogeneous theory of stellar evolution. Overall, NGC 796 has a total estimated mass of 990 ± 200 M
⊙, and a core radius of 1.4 ± 0.3 pc, which classifies it as a massive young open cluster, unique in the diffuse interstellar medium of the Magellanic Bridge.
Quasars Probing Quasars. IX. The Kinematics of the Circumgalactic Medium Surrounding z ∼ 2 Quasars
Authors: Lau Marie Wingyee , Prochaska J. Xavier , Hennawi Joseph F.
Published: April 2018

We examine the kinematics of the gas in the environments of galaxies hosting quasars at z ∼ 2. We employ 148 projected quasar pairs to study the circumgalactic gas of the foreground quasars in absorption. The sample selects foreground quasars with precise redshift measurements, using emission lines with precision ≲300 km s−1 and average offsets from the systemic redshift

≲
∣
100

km

s

−
1

∣

. We stack the background quasar spectra at the foreground quasar’s systemic redshift to study the mean absorption in C ii, C iv, and Mg ii. We find that the mean absorptions exhibit large velocity widths σ

v
 ≈ 300 km s−1. Further, the mean absorptions appear to be asymmetric about the systemic redshifts. The mean absorption centroids exhibit small redshift relative to the systemic δv ≈ +200 km s−1, with large intrinsic scatter in the centroid velocities of the individual absorption systems. We find the observed widths are consistent with gas in gravitational motion and Hubble flow. However, while the observation of large widths alone does not require galactic-scale outflows, the observed offsets suggest that the gas is on average outflowing from the galaxy. The observed offsets also suggest that the ionizing radiation from the foreground quasars is anisotropic and/or intermittent.
Active Galactic Nucleus Feedback in an Elliptical Galaxy with the Most Updated AGN Physics. I. Low Angular Momentum Case
Authors: Yuan Feng , Yoon DooSoo , Li Ya-Ping , Gan Zhao-Ming , Ho Luis C. , Guo Fulai
Published: April 2018

We investigate the effects of AGN feedback on the cosmological evolution of an isolated elliptical galaxy by performing two-dimensional high-resolution hydrodynamical numerical simulations. The inner boundary of the simulation is chosen so that the Bondi radius is resolved. Compared to previous works, the two accretion modes—namely, hot and cold, which correspond to different accretion rates and have different radiation and wind outputs—are carefully discriminated, and the feedback effects by radiation and wind in each mode are taken into account. The most updated AGN physics, including the descriptions of radiation and wind from the hot accretion flows and wind from cold accretion disks, are adopted. Physical processes like star formation and SNe Ia and II are taken into account. We study the AGN light curve, typical AGN lifetime, growth of the black hole mass, AGN duty cycle, star formation, and X-ray surface brightness of the galaxy. We compare our simulation results with observations and find general consistency. Comparisons with previous simulation works find significant differences, indicating the importance of AGN physics. The respective roles of radiation and wind feedback are examined, and it is found that they are different for different problems of interest, such as AGN luminosity and star formation. We find that it is hard to neglect any of them, so we suggest using the names “cold feedback mode” and “hot feedback mode” to replace the currently used ones.
L’entrepreneuriat féminin au Cameroun : enjeux et perspectives
Authors: Assoumou Menye Oscar , Guetsop Sateu Fabrice Arnaud
Published: April 2018

En Afrique en général et au Cameroun en particulier, le développement de l’entrepreneuriat féminin est au centre de nombreux débats tant dans les milieux académiques que professionnels. L’objectif principal de cette étude est de dégager les principaux facteurs qui contribuent à l’évolution de l’entrepreneuriat féminin au Cameroun. À partir d’un échantillon de 60 Petites Entreprises (PE) créées par les femmes, il est économétriquement démontré, d’une part, l’existence d’une relation positive et significative entre le niveau d’instruction des femmes et la rentabilité des projets réalisés et, d’autre part, l’existence d’une relation positive et significative entre la stabilité du recours aux sources de financement et l’augmentation du chiffre d’affaires au sein de l’entreprise .
Évaluation statistique de l’efficacité d’une action de formation professionnelle. Évidence pour les centres de formation des professionnels de taxis en France
Authors: Samba Bruno , Nzololo Moyo
Published: April 2018

L’objectif de cet article est, s’inscrivant dans le cadre logique d’analyse que s’est offert de justifier Kirkpatrick (1959), d’enrichir la littérature sur l’étude de la satisfaction, ou l’insatisfaction, des bénéficiaires d’une action de formation professionnelle, en proposant l’utilisation de la logique floue. Pour de donner plus de portée à ce travail, nous avons vérifié notre approche avec une étude concrète de formation de professionnels de taxis, en Loire-Atlantique (France). Les indices obtenus, avec la démarche à la logique totalement floue et relative, ou TFR, permettent d’appréhender les risques d’insatisfaction individuelle et de groupe, des participants à une action de formation. Et, il est possible d’inférer que la performance du centre de formation considéré est optimale et provoque une faible insatisfaction globale auprès des bénéficiaires de la formation : indice général d’insatisfaction 0,19.
Au-delà de l’Œdipe ?
Authors: Causse Jean-Daniel
Published: April 2018

L’article traite des discussions actuelles qui en psychanalyse concernent la filiation et la parentalité. La question posée est en particulier celle du rôle central que Freud a attribué au père dans le complexe d’Œdipe et, par suite, dans l’organisation familiale. Sommes-nous conduits aujourd’hui « au-delà de l’Œdipe » – ce qui signifie « au-delà du père » – et, si tel était le cas, quelles en sont les conséquences pour penser la filiation ? Ce problème a notamment été abordé par Lacan qui, en réinterprétant l’Œdipe hors du cadre patriarcal, lui a substitué la « métaphore paternelle » et le Nom-du-Père, notion qu’il emprunte à la religion. Alors que notre époque cherche à redonner une consistance au père par un recours au biologique, parfois une nostalgie de sa puissance imaginaire, notre difficulté vient plutôt du fait que nous souffrons d’une inaptitude au lien symbolique de la parole. En ce sens, toute filiation est adoptive et si le père a une fonction de nomination, c’est pour indiquer que chaque naissance atteste ce qui, n’étant pas encore écrit, reste ouvert à l’avenir.
Quelle éthique théologique de la procréation et de la filiation pour les débats actuels ?
Authors: Saintôt Bruno
Published: April 2018

L’article a pour but de présenter quelques évolutions majeures de l’éthique théologique de la procréation depuis le pontificat de Pie XI jusqu’à celui de François, et de s’interroger sur la pertinence des reformulations personnalistes postérieures au concile Vatican II lorsqu’elles tentent d’assumer les références éthiques antérieures et leur mode de justification. Après le rappel de ces évolutions, la réflexion portera d’abord sur la « théologie du corps » de Jean-Paul II en interrogeant sa capacité à refonder l’éthique théologique de la procréation, puis sur l’évaluation éthique du recours aux techniques d’assistance médicale à la procréation. Une dernière partie proposera quelques pistes pour développer une éthique personnaliste tenant compte des questions et des mentalités actuelles.
Figure d’Argilla. Laboratorio di archeologia sperimentale
Authors: Pautasso Antonella
Published: April 2018

Si svolge un laboratorio di archeologia sperimentale, Figure d’Argilla, destinato a gruppi di studenti della scuola secondaria e dell’università in relazione alla mostra didattica Le terrecotte greche. Per chi? Perché?
Efficient Multi Focus Image Fusion Technique Optimized Using MOPSO for Surveillance Applications
Authors: Paramanandham Nirmala , Rajendiran Kishore
Published: April 2018

This article describes how image fusion has taken giant leaps and emerged as a promising field with diverse applications. A fused image provides more information than any of the source images and it is very helpful in surveillance applications. In this article, an efficient multi focus image fusion technique is proposed in cascaded wavelet transform domain using swarm intelligence and spatial frequency (SF). Spatial frequency is used for computing the activity level and consistency verification (CV) based decision map is employed for acquiring the final fused coefficients. Justification for employing SF and CV is also discussed. This technique performs well compared to existing techniques even when the source images are severely blurred. The proposed framework is evaluated using quantitative metrics, such as root mean square error, peak signal to noise ratio, mean absolute error, percentage fit error, structural similarity index, standard deviation, mean gradient, Petrovic metric, SF, feature mutual information and entropy. Experimental outcomes demonstrate that the proposed technique outperforms the state-of-the art techniques, in terms of visual impact as well as objective assessment.
An Agent Based Intelligent Dynamic Vulnerability Analysis Framework for Critical SQLIA Attacks
Authors: Dharmalingam Jeya Mala , Eswaran M
Published: April 2018

This article describes how software vulnerability analysis and testing for web applications should detect not only the common attacks but also dynamic vulnerability attacks. These are the attacks such as structured query language injection attacks (SQLIAs) which will extract the most crucial user information from the targeted database. In this proposed approach, an intelligent agent namely intelligent vulnerability analyzer agent (IVA) is proposed in which the external attacks due to dynamic user inputs are identified using a heuristic-guided intelligent graph searching and then a pre and post condition based analysis is performed to identify the dynamic vulnerabilities. Further, the proposed approach is compared with some of the existing works based on the number of false positives and false negatives of attacks detection and confirmed that the proposed work is a novel and effective one in finding out SQLIAs.
Investigation of an Extended Typology for Marketing Destinations with YouTube
Authors: Sambhanthan Arunasalam , Thelijjagoda Samantha , Good Alice , Scupola Ada
Published: April 2018

This article describes how YouTube has been evolving as an e-tool for marketing activities over the past decade. Utilizing YouTube for enhancing marketing endeavours is a strategy practiced by marketing professionals across a growing number of industries. The research documented in this article investigates virtual community-based destination marketing using an extended conceptualisation of a virtual community typology. A non-participant netnographic investigation of virtual communities through a content analysis has been applied in this article to investigate the research questions. The contribution includes the application of an extended typology of virtual communities to YouTube leading to a number of managerial implications for marketing practice on using YouTube as an effective marketing tool.
Migration from a Relational Database to NoSQL
Authors: Bouamama Samah
Published: April 2018

This article describes how due to the monstrous evolution of the technology and the enormous increase in data, it becomes difficult to work with traditional database management tools; relational databases quickly reach their limits and adding servers does not increase performance. As a result of this problem, new technologies have emerged, such as NoSQL databases, which radically change the architecture of the databases that the authors are used to seeing, thus increasing the performance and availability of services. As these technologies are relatively new, standard or formal migration processes do not yet exist, the authors thought it useful to propose a migration approach from a relational database to a database-oriented columns type HBase and Cassandra.
Class Distribution Curve Based Discretization With Application to Wearable Sensors and Medical Monitoring
Authors: Skapura Nicholas , Dong Guozhu
Published: April 2018

Understanding diseases and human activities, and constructing highly accurate classifiers are two important tasks in bio-medicine, healthcare, and wearable sensor technology. Being able to mine high-quality patterns is useful here, as such patterns can help improve understanding and build accurate classifiers. However, most pattern mining algorithms only operate on discrete data; applying them often requires a binning step to discretize continuous attributes. This article presents a new discretization technique, called Class Distribution Curve based Binning (CDC Binning); the main idea is to use a so-called class distribution curve, which measures the class purity in sliding windows over an attribute's range, to construct binning intervals. Experiments show that (1) CDC Binning outperforms existing binning methods in discovering high-quality patterns, especially when the class distribution curve is complicated (e.g. when the two classes are two fairly similar human activities), and (2) it can outperform other binning methods by 10% in classification accuracy when using discovered patterns as features. CDC Binning is particularly useful for applications where the classes/activities to be distinguished are similar to each other. This is especially important in wearable sensor technology where detection of behavioral or activity changes in a person (e.g. fall detection) could indicate a significant medical event.
Information Processing for Generating Recommendations Ahead of Time in an IoT-Based Environment
Authors: Bousdekis Alexandros , Papageorgiou Nikos , Magoutas Babis , Apostolou Dimitris , Mentzas Gregoris
Published: April 2018

The evolution of Internet of Things (IoT) has significantly contributed to the development of the sensing enterprise concept and to the use of appropriate information systems for real-time processing of sensor data that are able to provide meaningful insights about potential problems in a proactive way. In the current article, the authors outline a conceptual architecture and describe the system design requirements for deciding and acting ahead of time with the aim to address the Decide and the Act phases of the “Detect-Predict-Decide-Act” proactive principle, which are still underexplored areas. The associated developed information system is capable of being integrated with systems addressing the Detect and the Predict phases in an Event Driven Architecture (EDA).
Neural Network Model for Semantic Analysis of Sanskrit Text
Authors: Selot Smita , Tripathi Neeta , Zadgaonkar A. S.
Published: April 2018

Semantic analysis is the process of extracting meaning of the sentence, from a given language. From the perspective of computer processing, challenge lies in making computer understand the meaning of the given sentence. Understandability depends upon the grammar, syntactic and semantic representation of the language and methods employed for extracting these parameters. Semantics interpretation methods of natural language varies from language to language, as grammatical structure and morphological representation of one language may be different from another. One ancient Indian language, Sanskrit, has its own unique way of embedding syntactic information within words of relevance in a sentence. Sanskrit grammar is defined in 4000 rules by PaninI reveals the mechanism of adding suffixes to words according to its use in sentence. Through this article, a method of extracting meaningful information through suffixes and classifying the word into a defined semantic category is presented. The application of NN-based classification has improved the processing of text.