bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Amplitude modulation detection and temporal modulation cutoff frequency in normal hearing infants
Authors: Walker Brian A. , Gerhards Caitlin M. , Werner Lynne A. , Horn David L.
Published: June 2019

The goal of this study was to determine if temporal modulation cutoff frequency was mature in three-month-old infants. Normal-hearing infants and young adults were tested in a single-interval forced-choice observer-based psychoacoustic procedure. Two parameters of the temporal modulation transfer function (TMTF) were estimated to separate temporal resolution from amplitude modulation sensitivity. The modulation detection threshold (MDT) of a broadband noise amplitude modulated at 10 Hz estimated the y-intercept of the TMTF. The cutoff frequency of the TMTF, measured at a modulation depth 4 dB greater than the MDT, provided an estimate of temporal resolution. MDT was obtained in 27 of 33 infants while both MDT and cutoff frequency was obtained in 15 infants and in 16 of 16 adults. Mean MDT was approximately 10 dB poorer in infants compared to adults. In contrast, mean temporal modulation cutoff frequency did not differ significantly between age groups. These results suggest that temporal resolution is mature, on average, by three months of age in normal hearing children despite immature sensitivity to amplitude modulation. The temporal modulation cutoff frequency approach used here may be a feasible way to examine development of temporal resolution in young listeners with markedly immature sensitivity to amplitude modulation.
Cryptophlebia peltastica Nucleopolyhedrovirus Is Highly Infectious to Codling Moth Larvae and Cells
Authors: Wennmann Jörg T. , Eigenbrod Marina , Marsberg Tamryn , Moore Sean D. , Knox Caroline M. , Hill Martin P. , Jehle Johannes A.
Published: June 2019

The emergence of codling moth populations resistant to commercially applied isolates of CpGV is posing an imminent threat to organic pome fruit production. Very few CpGV isolates are left that are able to overcome the reported types of resistance, emphasizing the demand for new and highly virulent baculoviruses. Here we report the recently discovered CrpeNPV as highly infectious to all types of resistant codling moth populations with a high speed of killing, making it a promising candidate baculovirus in fighting the spread of resistant codling moth populations.
Expansion of the Spore Surface Polysaccharide Layer in Bacillus subtilis by Deletion of Genes Encoding Glycosyltransferases and Glucose Modification Enzymes
Authors: Shuster Bentley , Khemmani Mark , Nakaya Yusei , Holland Gudrun , Iwamoto Keito , Abe Kimihiro , Imamura Daisuke , Maryn Nina , Driks Adam , Sato Tsutomu , Eichenberger Patrick
Published: June 2019

Many bacteria are characterized by their ability to form highly resistant spores. The dormant spore state allows these species to survive even the harshest treatments with antimicrobial agents. Spore surface properties are particularly relevant because they influence spore dispersal in various habitats from natural to human-made environments. The spore surface in
Bacillus subtilis
(crust) is composed of a combination of proteins and polysaccharides. By inactivating the enzymes responsible for the synthesis of spore polysaccharides, we can assess how spore surface properties such as hydrophobicity are modulated by the addition of specific carbohydrates. Our findings indicate that several sporulation gene clusters are responsible for the assembly and allocation of surface polysaccharides. Similar mechanisms could be modulating the dispersal of infectious spore-forming bacteria.
HIV Silencing and Inducibility Are Heterogeneous and Are Affected by Factors Intrinsic to the Virus
Authors: Norton Nicholas J. , Mok Hoi Ping , Sharif Fatima , Hirst Jack C. , Lever Andrew M. L.
Published: June 2019

A reservoir of infected cells in which the HIV genome is transcriptionally silent is acknowledged to be the principal barrier to eradicating the virus from an infected person. A number of cellular processes are implicated in this silencing; however, the viral factors that may contribute remain underexplored. Here we examined mutations altering the correct splicing of HIV gene products as a model to study whether differences in viral sequence can affect either the proportion of viruses that are active or silent or their ability to reactivate. We found that some naturally occurring variations result in viruses that are silenced at a higher rate and require a proportionally increased stimulus for reactivation from latency. These data suggest that the silencing and reactivation behavior of HIV exists in a spectrum, influenced by factors intrinsic to the virus.
Unique, Diverged, and Conserved Mitochondrial Functions Influencing Candida albicans Respiration
Authors: Sun Nuo , Parrish Rebecca S. , Calderone Richard A. , Fonzi William A.
Published: June 2019

Candida albicansis an opportunistic fungal pathogen of major clinical concern. The virulence of this pathogen is intimately intertwined with its metabolic behavior, and mitochondria have a central role in that metabolism. Mitochondria have undergone many evolutionary changes, which include lineage-specific adaptations in association with their eukaryotic host. Seven lineage-specific genes required for electron transport chain function were identified in the CTG clade of fungi, of whichC. albicansis a member. Additionally, examination of several highly diverged orthologs encoding mitochondrial proteins demonstrated functional reassignment for one of these. Deficits imparted by deletion of these genes revealed the critical role of respiration in virulence attributes of the fungus and highlight important evolutionary adaptations inC. albicansmetabolism.
Identification of Extracellular DNA-Binding Proteins in the Biofilm Matrix
Authors: Kavanaugh Jeffrey S. , Flack Caralyn E. , Lister Jessica , Ricker Erica B. , Ibberson Carolyn B. , Jenul Christian , Moormeier Derek E. , Delmain Elizabeth A. , Bayles Kenneth W. , Horswill Alexander R.
Published: June 2019

Many bacteria are capable of forming biofilms encased in a matrix of self-produced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) that protects them from chemotherapies and the host defenses. As a result of these inherent resistance mechanisms, bacterial biofilms are extremely difficult to eradicate and are associated with chronic wounds, orthopedic and surgical wound infections, and invasive infections, such as infective endocarditis and osteomyelitis. It is therefore important to understand the nature of the interactions between the bacterial cell surface and EPS that stabilize biofilms. Extracellular DNA (eDNA) has been recognized as an EPS constituent for many bacterial species and has been shown to be important in promoting biofilm formation. Using
Staphylococcus aureus
biofilms, we show that membrane-attached lipoproteins can interact with the eDNA in the biofilm matrix and promote biofilm formation, which suggests that lipoproteins are potential targets for novel therapies aimed at disrupting bacterial biofilms.
The Human Cytomegalovirus Chemokine vCXCL-1 Modulates Normal Dissemination Kinetics of Murine Cytomegalovirus
In Vivo
Authors: Jackson Joseph W. , Hancock Trevor J. , LaPrade Ellen , Dogra Pranay , Gann Eric R. , Masi Thomas J. , Panchanathan Ravichandran , Miller William E. , Wilhelm Steven W. , Sparer Tim E.
Published: June 2019

An adequate
in vivo
analysis of HCMV’s viral chemokine vCXCL-1 has been lacking. Here we generate recombinant MCMVs expressing vCXCL-1 to study vCXCL-1 function
in vivo
using MCMV as a surrogate. We demonstrate that vCXCL-1 increases MCMV dissemination kinetics for both primary and secondary dissemination. Additionally, we provide evidence, that the murine neutrophil is largely a bystander in the mouse’s response to vCXCL-1. We confirm the hypothesis that vCXCL-1 is a HCMV virulence factor. Infection of severely immunocompromised mice with MCMVs expressing vCXCL-1 was lethal in more than 50% of infected animals, while all animals infected with parental virus survived during a 12-day period. This work provides needed insights into vCXCL-1 function
in vivo
.
Proteomic Response of Three Marine Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea to Hydrogen Peroxide and Their Metabolic Interactions with a Heterotrophic Alphaproteobacterium
Authors: Bayer Barbara , Pelikan Claus , Bittner Meriel J. , Reinthaler Thomas , Könneke Martin , Herndl Gerhard J. , Offre Pierre
Published: June 2019

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are the most abundant chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms in the oxygenated water column of the global ocean. Although H
2
O
2
appears to be a universal by-product of aerobic metabolism, genes encoding the hydrogen peroxide (H
2
O
2
)-detoxifying enzyme catalase are largely absent in genomes of marine AOA. Here, we provide evidence that closely related marine AOA have different degrees of sensitivity to H
2
O
2
, which may contribute to niche differentiation between these organisms. Furthermore, our results suggest that marine AOA rely on H
2
O
2
detoxification during periods of high metabolic activity and release organic compounds, thereby potentially attracting heterotrophic prokaryotes that provide this missing function. In summary, this report provides insights into the metabolic interactions between AOA and heterotrophic bacteria in marine environments and suggests that AOA play an important role in the biogeochemical carbon cycle by making organic carbon available for heterotrophic microorganisms.
Armed conflicts and national trends in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in sub-Saharan Africa: what can national health surveys tell us?
Authors: Boerma Ties , Tappis Hannah , Saad-Haddad Ghada , Das Jai , Melesse Dessalegn Y , DeJong Jocelyn , Spiegel Paul , Black Robert , Victora Cesar , Bhutta Zulfiqar A , Barros Aluisio J D
Published: June 2019

Armed conflicts are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and considered to be an important factor in slowing down national progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH). The measurement of the impact of conflicts on national levels and trends in RMNCH is difficult. National surveys conducted before and sometimes during and after conflicts are a major source of information on the national and local effects of conflicts on RMNCH. We examined data from national surveys in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with major conflicts during 1990–2016 to assess the levels and trends in RMNCH intervention coverage, nutritional status and mortality in children under 5 years in comparison with subregional trends. The surveys provide substantive evidence of a negative association between levels and trends in national indicators of RMNCH service coverage, child growth and under-5 mortality with armed conflict, with some notable exceptions. National surveys are an important source of data to assess the longer term national consequences of conflicts for RMNCH in most countries, despite limitations due to sampling and timing of the surveys.
Cytohistological diagnosis of pancreatic serous cystadenoma: a multimodal approach
Authors: Steel Michael , Rao Samarth , Ho Julie , Donnellan Fergal , Yang Hui-Min , Schaeffer David F
Published: June 2019

Aims

Serous cystadenomata (SCAs) are benign pancreatic cystic neoplasms that present a diagnostic challenge despite many investigational approaches. Notwithstanding the promise of molecular diagnostics, these tests have limited accessibility in day-to-day surgical pathology practices. We aim to corroborate and build on recent evidence which suggests that positive α-inhibin immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a helpful adjunct in the biopsy confirmation of pancreatic SCA.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed 22 fine-needle aspirates/biopsies from 14 patients (mean age 65 years, 47–83 years) with pancreatic multicystic lesions radiologically suspicious for SCA (location: 6 body, 2 head, 4 tail, 1 neck, 1 uncinate; cyst size: mean 3.7 cm, 2.0–7.6 cm), as well as an additional 10 pancreatic resection specimens with confirmed SCA; α-inhibin IHC was performed on all cell blocks, biopsy slides and representative resection specimen sections. Where available, associated cyst fluid was analysed for correlative vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) and carcinoembryonic antigen levels.

Results

An α-inhibin IHC sensitivity of 80% was observed in the cases with resection confirmed SCA. Of the fine-needle aspirate/biopsy specimens, 59% (13/22) contained epithelial cells strongly positive for α-inhibin. When selecting for specimens that exhibited distinct strips of epithelium, the α-inhibin strong positivity rate increased to 73% (8/11). VEGF-A values were supportive of false-negative α-inhibin IHC in three cases and true-negative α-inhibin IHC in one case.

Conclusion

This study postulates a diagnostic algorithm to confirm pancreatic SCA which may help to decrease unnecessary follow-up endoscopy/surgical resection and would decrease the associated morbidity, mortality and financial costs in patients with this otherwise benign condition.
A modeling study on tides in the Port of Vancouver
Authors: Wu Yongsheng , Hannah Charles , O’Flaherty-Sproul Mitchell , MacAulay Phillip , Shan Shiliang
Published: June 2019

In the present paper, tides in the port of Vancouver Harbour have been investigated with a high-resolution three-dimensional hydrodynamic model based on FVCOM (Finite Volume Community Ocean Model). The model was evaluated against field observations including tidal elevations and tidal currents, and the evaluation showed that the model was in good agreement with the observational data. Using the model, we first investigated the horizontal distributions of tides, tidal currents, and tidally induced residual circulation, and then investigated the tidal asymmetry and dynamic mechanisms of tidal flows in the harbour. The tidal residual circulation shows a strong spatial pattern, which is associated with the local coastlines and variation of topography. The tidal asymmetry in the harbour is caused by different mechanisms, not only including the traditional factors, such as residual flows, the interaction between M2 and its overtide M4, but also the interaction of principal astronomical tides of O1, K1, and M2. The momentum balance is dominated by terms of the advection and the pressure gradient in First Narrows and Second Narrows, whereas terms of the local acceleration and the Coriolis are also important in the central harbour. The spatial variations of the momentum terms are strongly associated with the local changes in coastline and topography.
Evolution of the northern Fujian coast under the impact of natural and anthropogenic forces, 1976–2017: an analysis of coastal monitoring and satellite images
Authors: Cong Shuai , Wu Xiao , Zhang Yong , Xue Biying , Wang Houjie
Published: June 2019

The province of Fujian on China’s southeast coast is severely impacted by typhoons. Based on coastal profile monitoring and 40 years of satellite data, this paper analyzed the response of coastal profiles to natural and anthropogenic forces along the northern part of Fujian’s coast. Results indicated that the pattern of coastal evolution differed largely on cross-shore profiles and longshore coastlines. Only a few sandy coasts were severely affected by extreme weather events in summer, such as typhoons and storm surges, which may result from the wind direction relative to the coast. The cross-shore profiles changed drastically while the mean high-water coastline remained stable. In contrast, anthropogenic forces had a dual effect due to artificial sand extraction and reclamation. Artificial sand extraction usually occurred on sandy coasts, resulting in a decrease in some local surface profiles of tens of centimeters to metres in two years. Reclamation had the main impact on muddy coasts, especially in bays, causing seaward progradation during the past 40 years. The impacts of human activities on muddy coasts were far greater than natural factors. Findings from our coastal monitoring study for both sandy and muddy coasts provide an important scientific basis for practical applications, such as Fujian coastal protection, coastal zone exploitation, and utilization planning.
Coastal morphological changes in the Red River Delta under increasing natural and anthropic stresses
Authors: Fan Daidu , Nguyen Dac Ve , Su Jianfeng , Bui Vuong Van , Tran Dinh Lan
Published: June 2019

River deltas are the best place to study intense human–earth interactions and the resultant morphological changes and sedimentary records. The coastal evolution history of the Red River Delta (RRD) is examined by time-series analysis of multiple coastline locations. We find that spatiotemporal variation in seawall locations and vegetation lines are obviously site-specific due to intense human interference, while changes in 0 m isobaths are highly dependent on external stresses. Coastal erosion and deposition patterns are determined firstly by sediment inputs from different distributaries, and secondly by sediment redistribution with tides, waves, and longshore currents. The causes of chronic erosion along the Hai Hau coast include swift distributary channels, negligible sediment supply by the regional longshore current, and continuous sediment export by local wave-generated longshore and offshore currents. The area of intertidal flats decreased significantly due to land reclamation and decelerating coastal accretion. The area of mangrove forests decreased first due to human deforestation, and then increased gradually due to artificial plantation. Poorly designed coastal infrastructures may increase risks of coastal erosion and flooding disasters. More coastal sectors in the RRD may turn into erosion due to continuous decrease in riverine sediment discharges, deserving more attention on proper coastal protection and management.
Hierarchical fuzzy control based on spatial posture for a support-tracked type in-pipe robot
Authors: Wu Zhipeng , Wu Yao , He Siyu , Xiao Xiaohui
Published: June 2019

Autonomous movement is important for the in-pipe robot. Because of the complex environment of the pipe, traditional control methods such as proportional–integral–derivative (PID) can not be used to implement autonomous movement for the support-tracked type in-pipe robot. A hierarchical fuzzy controller is proposed in this paper, which consists of fuzzy steering control and fuzzy posture control. The fuzzy steering control is utilized to control the robot’s turning movement in the elbow pipe, while the fuzzy posture control is used to adjust the posture of the robot in the straight pipe. The robot’s posture will periodically coincide after every 120°, when the robot rotates around its central axis. The symmetry is helpful to reduce the 12 × 7 × 7 three-dimensional fuzzy posture control rule table to five 7 × 7 two-dimensional fuzzy rule tables. A support-tracked in-pipe robot prototype is developed to verify the performance of the hierarchical fuzzy controller. Simulation and experimental results show that the robot with the controller could successfully pass the 45° and 90° elbows with a smaller change of posture compared to the case without the controller. As the robot with the controller could pass the elbow without obvious posture change, the proposed controller can be utilized to implement autonomous movement of an in-pipe robot. Video
A U-spin prediction for the CP-forbidden transition e+e−→ D0D̄0 → (K+K−)D(π+π−)D
Authors: Xing Zhi-Zhong
Published: June 2019

The LHCb Collaboration has recently reported the discovery of direct CP violation in combined [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] decay modes at the [Formula: see text] level. Assuming U-spin symmetry (i.e. [Formula: see text] interchange symmetry) for the strong-interaction parts of these two channels, we find that their corresponding direct CP-violating asymmetries are [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. The CP-forbidden transition [Formula: see text] on the [Formula: see text] resonance is therefore expected to have a branching fraction of [Formula: see text] or smaller under U-spin symmetry, and it can be observed at a high-luminosity super-[Formula: see text]-charm factory if at least [Formula: see text] pairs of coherent [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] events are accumulated.
A Novel Multi-Pattern Solder Joint Simultaneous Segmentation Algorithm for PCB Selective Packaging Systems
Authors: Huang Lei , Shen Shibin , Xie Fei , Zhao Jing , Han Jianing , Feng Kai
Published: June 2019

To prevent any negative electromagnetic influence of high-density integrated circuits, an insulation package needs to be specially designed to shield it. Aiming at the low efficiency and material waste in traditional packaging methods, a printed circuit board (PCB) selective packaging system based on a multi-pattern solder joint simultaneous segmentation algorithm and three-dimensional printing technology is introduced in this paper. Firstly, the structure of PCB selective packaging system is designed. Secondly, to solve the existing problems, such as multi-pattern solder joints which are located densely in small welding areas and are hard to be extracted in the small-area integrated circuit board, a multi-pattern solder joint simultaneous segmentation algorithm is developed based on (geometrical) neighborhood features to extract and locate the optimal PCB solder joint areas. Finally, tests using three actual PCB are carried out to compare the proposed method with traditional multi-threshold solder joint extraction methods. Test results indicate that the proposed algorithm is simple and effective. Diverse solder joints can be optimally located and simultaneously extracted from the collected PCB image, which greatly improves the filling rate of the solder joint areas and filters out false pixels. Thus, this method provides a reliable location-finding tool to help place solder points in PCB selective packaging systems.
Cell cycle and protein complex dynamics in discovering signaling pathways
Authors: Inostroza Daniel , Hernández Cecilia , Seco Diego , Navarro Gonzalo , Olivera-Nappa Alvaro
Published: June 2019

Signaling pathways are responsible for the regulation of cell processes, such as monitoring the external environment, transmitting information across membranes, and making cell fate decisions. Given the increasing amount of biological data available and the recent discoveries showing that many diseases are related to the disruption of cellular signal transduction cascades, in silico discovery of signaling pathways in cell biology has become an active research topic in past years. However, reconstruction of signaling pathways remains a challenge mainly because of the need for systematic approaches for predicting causal relationships, like edge direction and activation/inhibition among interacting proteins in the signal flow. We propose an approach for predicting signaling pathways that integrates protein interactions, gene expression, phenotypes, and protein complex information. Our method first finds candidate pathways using a directed-edge-based algorithm and then defines a graph model to include causal activation relationships among proteins, in candidate pathways using cell cycle gene expression and phenotypes to infer consistent pathways in yeast. Then, we incorporate protein complex coverage information for deciding on the final predicted signaling pathways. We show that our approach improves the predictive results of the state of the art using different ranking metrics.
Investigation by NMR spectroscopy of the structural characteristics of modified oligo-nucleotides with pendant porphyrins
Authors: Merkaš Sonja , Žinić Mladen , Rein Régis , Solladié Nathalie
Published: June 2019

During the past years, we focused on exerting control over the position and distance of porphyrins along our specifically designed oligonucleotidic scaffold. Indeed, in naturally occurring light-harvesting complexes, biopolymer scaffolds hold pigments at intermolecular distances that optimize photon capture, electronic coupling, and energy transfer. To this end, four uridine-porphyrin conjugates (a monomer, a dimer, a tetramer and an octamer) were subjected to a comprehensive conformational analysis by using NMR spectroscopy. The collected NOE NMR data highlighted characteristic and strong interactions indicating that the glycosidic angle between the ribose and uracil base is anti. In order to further investigate the conformation of this family of molecules, NMR experiments were carried out at variable temperatures. At low temperature, the signals of the porphyrinic protons decoalesce, showing two sets of [Formula: see text]-pyrrolic protons. Similar observations are made for signals corresponding to sugar moieties and especially the H1′ protons, indicating molecular motions within our porphyrin-uridin arrays. These results testify in favor of the existence of a dynamic process between C3′-endo and C2′-endo conformations.
Fluorine-Doped Graphene/Nanosized Carbide-Derived Carbon Composites for High-Performance Supercapacitor
Authors: Yan Pengtao , Yan Lei , Zhao Sumei , Zuo Zhen , Wang Xiaoxu , Wang Chenglin , Hou Meiling
Published: June 2019

A graphene-based composite with high electrochemical performance for supercapacitor applications is fabricated by introducing nanoscale carbide-derived carbon (NCDC) into the fluorine-doped graphene (FG). The incorporation of fluorine can increase the specific capacitance of graphene by providing more pseudocapacitance, whereas the introduction of NCDC into the FG/NCDC composite offers high specific surface area (SSA) (up to 1317[Formula: see text]m2[Formula: see text]g[Formula: see text]) and hierarchical pore structure, resulting in an enhanced electric double layer capacitance. Due to the synergistic effect of pseudocapacitance and electric double layer capacitance, the specific capacitance of FG/NCDC composite can reach 321 F g[Formula: see text] at a scan rate of 5[Formula: see text]mV[Formula: see text]s[Formula: see text] in aqueous electrolyte. Notably, the specific capacitance of the FG/NCDC composite is very stable during long-term cyclic tests, with no significant degradation after 10,000 cycles. Due to its excellent supercapacitive performance, the FG/NCDC composite can be considered as a promising electrode material for high-performance supercapacitors.
BoostMeUp
Authors: Costa Jean , Guimbretière François , Jung Malte F. , Choudhury Tanzeem
Published: June 2019

A person's emotional state can strongly influence their ability to achieve optimal task performance. Aiming to help individuals manage their feelings, different emotion regulation technologies have been proposed. However, despite the well-known influence that emotions have on task performance, no study to date has shown if an emotion regulation technology can also enhance user's cognitive performance in the moment. In this paper, we present BoostMeUp, a smartwatch intervention designed to improve user's cognitive performance by regulating their emotions unobtrusively. Based on studies that show that people tend to associate external signals that resemble heart rates as their own, the intervention provides personalized haptic feedback simulating a different heart rate. Users can focus on their tasks and the intervention acts upon them in parallel, without requiring any additional action. The intervention was evaluated in an experiment with 72 participants, in which they had to do math tests under high pressure. Participants who were exposed to slow haptic feedback during the tests decreased their anxiety, increased their heart rate variability and performed better in the math tests, while fast haptic feedback led to the opposite effects. These results indicate that the BoostMeUp intervention can lead to positive cognitive, physiological and behavioral changes.
Enhancing Indoor Inertial Odometry with WiFi
Authors: Venkatnarayan Raghav H. , Shahzad Muhammad
Published: June 2019

Accurately measuring the distance traversed by a subject, commonly referred to as odometry, in indoor environments is of fundamental importance in many applications such as augmented and virtual reality tracking, indoor navigation, and robot route guidance. While theoretically, odometry can be performed using a simple accelerometer, practically, it is well-known that the distances measured using accelerometers suffer from large drift errors. In this paper, we propose WIO, a WiFi-assisted Inertial Odometry technique that uses WiFi signals as an auxiliary source of information to correct these drift errors. The key intuition behind WIO is that among multiple reflections of a transmitted WiFi signal arriving at the WiFi receiver, WIO first isolates one reflection and then measures the change in the length of the path of that reflection as the subject moves. By identifying the extent through which the length of the path of that reflection changes, along with the direction of motion of the subject relative to that path, WIO can estimate the distance traversed by the subject using WiFi signals. WIO then uses this distance estimate to correct the drift errors. While researchers have previously proposed to use WiFi signals to correct drift errors, prior schemes suffer from one or more of the following six limitations: they 1) do not work indoors, 2) require manual exhaustive fingerprinting, 3) are not resilient against changes in environment including human movements, 4) do not work on commodity WiFi devices, 5) require multiple access points, and/or 6) can measure distance traversed by humans but not by non-human subjects. WIO addresses all of these limitations. We implemented WIO using commodity devices, and extensively evaluated it in a wide variety of complex indoor scenarios on both human and robotic subjects. Our results demonstrate that WIO achieved an average error of just 6.28% in estimating the distances traversed by the subjects.
VPS Tactile Display
Authors: Kim Lawrence H. , Castillo Pablo , Follmer Sean , Israr Ali
Published: June 2019

One of the challenges in the field of haptics is to provide meaningful and realistic sensations to users. While most real world tactile sensations are composed of multiple dimensions, most commercial product only include vibration as it is the most cost effective solution. To improve on this, we introduce VPS (Vibration, Pressure, Shear) display, a multi-dimensional tactile array that increases information transfer by combining Vibration, Pressure, and Shear similar to how RGB LED combines red, blue, and green to create new colors. We characterize the device performance and dynamics for each tactile dimension in terms of its force and displacement profiles, and evaluate information transfer of the VPS display through a stimulus identification task. Our results indicate that the information transfer through a single taxel increases from 0.56 bits to 2.15 bits when pressure and shear are added to vibrations with a slight decrease in identification accuracy. We also explored the pleasantness and continuity of VPS and the study results reveal that tactile strokes in shear mode alone are rated highest on perceived pleasantness and continuity.
Unsupervised Factory Activity Recognition with Wearable Sensors Using Process Instruction Information
Authors: Qingxin Xia , Wada Atsushi , Korpela Joseph , Maekawa Takuya , Namioka Yasuo
Published: June 2019

This paper presents an unsupervised method for recognizing assembly work done by factory workers by using wearable sensor data. Such assembly work is a common part of line production systems and typically involves the factory workers performing a repetitive work process made up of a sequence of manual operations, such as setting a board on a workbench and screwing parts onto the board. This study aims to recognize the starting and ending times for individual operations in such work processes through analysis of sensor data collected from the workers along with analysis of the process instructions that detail and describe the flow of operations for each work process. We propose a particle-filter-based factory activity recognition method that leverages (i) trend changes in the sensor data detected by a nonparametric Bayesian hidden Markov model, (ii) semantic similarities between operations discovered in the process instructions, (iii) sensor-data similarities between consecutive repetitions of individual operations, and (iv) frequent sensor-data patterns (motifs) discovered in the overall assembly work processes. We evaluated the proposed method using sensor data from six workers collected in actual factories, achieving a recognition accuracy of 80% (macro-averaged F-measure).
Multi-task Self-Supervised Learning for Human Activity Detection
Authors: Saeed Aaqib , Ozcelebi Tanir , Lukkien Johan
Published: June 2019

Deep learning methods are successfully used in applications pertaining to ubiquitous computing, pervasive intelligence, health, and well-being. Specifically, the area of human activity recognition (HAR) is primarily transformed by the convolutional and recurrent neural networks, thanks to their ability to learn semantic representations directly from raw input. However, in order to extract generalizable features massive amounts of well-curated data are required, which is a notoriously challenging task; hindered by privacy issues and annotation costs. Therefore, unsupervised representation learning (i.e., learning without manually labeling the instances) is of prime importance to leverage the vast amount of unlabeled data produced by smart devices. In this work, we propose a novel self-supervised technique for feature learning from sensory data that does not require access to any form of semantic labels, i.e., activity classes. We learn a multi-task temporal convolutional network to recognize transformations applied on an input signal. By exploiting these transformations, we demonstrate that simple auxiliary tasks of the binary classification result in a strong supervisory signal for extracting useful features for the down-stream task. We extensively evaluate the proposed approach on several publicly available datasets for smartphone-based HAR in unsupervised, semi-supervised and transfer learning settings. Our method achieves performance levels superior to or comparable with fully-supervised networks trained directly with activity labels, and it performs significantly better than unsupervised learning through autoencoders. Notably, for the semi-supervised case, the self-supervised features substantially boost the detection rate by attaining a kappa score between 0.7 - 0.8 with only 10 labeled examples per class. We get similar impressive performance even if the features are transferred from a different data source. Self-supervision drastically reduces the requirement of labeled activity data, effectively narrowing the gap between supervised and unsupervised techniques for learning meaningful representations. While this paper focuses on HAR as the application domain, the proposed approach is general and could be applied to a wide variety of problems in other areas.
Automated Detection of Infant Holding Using Wearable Sensing
Authors: Yao X. , Plötz T. , Johnson M. , Barbaro K. de
Published: June 2019

Physical contact is critical for children's physical and emotional growth and well-being. Previous studies of physical contact are limited to relatively short periods of direct observation and self-report methods. These methods limit researchers' understanding of the natural variation in physical contact across families, and its specific impacts on child development. In this study we develop a mobile sensing platform that can provide objective, unobtrusive, and continuous measurements of physical contact in naturalistic home interactions. Using commercially available motion detectors, our model reaches an accuracy of 0.870 (std: 0.059) for a second-by-second binary classification of holding. In addition, we detail five assessment scenarios applicable to the development of activity recognition models for social science research, where required accuracy may vary as a function of the intended use. Finally, we propose a grand vision for leveraging mobile sensors to access high-density markers of multiple determinants of early parent-child interactions, with implications for basic science and intervention.
Unsupervised Localization by Learning Transition Model
Authors: Ye Xuehan , Huang Shuo , Wang Yongcai , Chen Wenping , Li Deying
Published: June 2019

Nowadays, it becomes very convenient to collect synchronized WiFi received signal strength and inertial measurement (RSS+IMU) sequences by mobile devices, which enables the promising solution to conduct unsupervised indoor localization without the pain of radio-map calibration. To relax the needs of floor-map information or trajectory knowledge, this paper proposes to learn a transitional model (TM), which segments the massive unlabeled sequences to train a model that captures the expected relationship between {zt--1, zt } and ut--1, where zt--1, zt are two consecutive signal states at t and t -- 1, and ut--1 is the one step motion calculated from inertial data. We present both a transitional model in signal space (TMS) and a transitional model to predict motion from signal change (TMM) to represent the relationship in different ways. In particular, from the massive sequences, both the signal states and the one step motion are smoothed from the nearest neighbours, so that the transition model learns the expected relative signal state change triggered by the smoothed one step motion. Its distinctive features are that (1) no external floor-map or trajectory knowledge is needed; (2) it can be continuously on-line refined as unlabeled sequences are incrementally collected. KALMAN filter based on-line mobile user location tracking methods are given for both models. Experiments show that the transition model based localization method provides comparable accuracy with the manually fingerprint calibration methods.
Learning to Recognize Unmodified Lights with Invisible Features
Authors: Zhang Huanhuan , Zhou Anfu , Xu Dongzhu , Xu Shaoqing , Zhang Xinyu , Ma Huadong
Published: June 2019

To enable accurate indoor localization at low cost, recent research in visible light positioning (VLP) proposed to employ existing ceiling lights as location landmarks, and use smartphone cameras or light sensors to identify the different lights using statistical visual/optical features. Despite the potential, we find such solutions are unreliable: the features are easily corrupted with a slight rotation of the smartphone, and are not discriminative enough for many practical light models with different size/shape/intensity. In this work, we propose Auto-Litell to resolve these critical challenges and make VLP truly robust. Auto-Litell builds a customized deep-learning neural network model to automatically distill the "invisible" visual features from the lights, which are resilient to smartphone orientation and light models. Moreover, Auto-Litell introduces a Light-CycleGAN to generate "fake" light images to augment the training data, so as to relieve human labors in data collection and labeling. We have implemented Auto-Litell as a real-time localization and navigation system on Android. Our experiments demonstrate Auto-Litell's high accuracy in discriminating the lights in the same building, and high reliability across a variety of practical usage scenarios.
A High Precision Fiber Bragg Grating Inclination Sensor for Slope Monitoring
Authors: Xu Hongbin , Li Feng , Zhao Weigang , Wang Shupeng , Du Yanliang , Bian Ce
Published: June 2019

A high precision and small size Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) inclination sensor which is used for slope monitoring is proposed in this paper. The FBG inclination sensor has a pendulum structure for high precision and a circular body for easy installation in the common inclinometer pipe. The sensitivity of the FBG inclination sensor can reach 400 pm/deg by optimizing its parameters. The test results show the superior performance of this FBG inclination sensor in terms of static characteristics, and its sensitivity is 406.6 pm/deg. The comparison experiment shows the static characteristics of the FBG inclination sensor are better than the traditional electrical inclination sensor.
Vibration Bandgaps of Piezoelectric Metamaterial Plate with Local Resonators for Vibration Energy Harvesting
Authors: Chen Zhongsheng , He Jing , Wang Gang
Published: June 2019

Embedded wireless sensing networks (WSNs) provide effective solutions for structural health monitoring (SHM), where how to provide long‐term electric power is a bottle‐neck problem. Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting (PVEH) has been widely studied to realize self‐powered WSNs due to piezoelectric effect. Structural vibrations are usually variable and exist in the form of elastic waves, so cantilever‐like harvesters are not appropriate. In this paper, one kind of two‐dimensional (2D) piezoelectric metamaterial plates with local resonators (PMP‐LR) is investigated for structural vibration energy harvesting. In order to achieve low‐frequency and broadband PVEH in SHM, it is highly necessary to study dynamic characteristics of PMP‐LR, particularly bandgaps. Firstly, an analytical model is developed based on the Kirchhoff plate theory, and modal analysis is done by using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. Then, effects of geometric and material parameters on vibration bandgaps are analyzed by finite element‐based simulations. In the end, experiments are carried out to validate the simulated results. The results demonstrate that the location of bandgaps can be easily adjusted by the design of local resonators. Therefore, the proposed method will provide an effective tool for optimizing local resonators in PMP‐LR.
Microbiota and Neurodevelopmental Trajectories: Role of Maternal and Early-Life Nutrition
Authors: Codagnone Martin G. , Stanton Catherine , O’Mahony Siobhain M. , Dinan Timothy G. , Cryan John F.
Published: June 2019

Pregnancy and early life are characterized by marked changes in body microbial composition. Intriguingly, these changes take place simultaneously with neurodevelopmental plasticity, suggesting a complex dialogue between the microbes that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the natural trajectory of microbiota during pregnancy and early life, as well as review the literature available on its interaction with neurodevelopment. Several lines of evidence show that the gut microbiota interacts with diet, drugs and stress both prenatally and postnatally. Clinical and preclinical studies are illuminating how these disruptions result in different developmental outcomes. Understanding the role of the microbiota in neurodevelopment may lead to novel approaches to the study of the pathophysiology and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Initial Concentrations of miR-1 MicroRNA Precursor and High-Sensitivity Troponin in the Diagnosis of Non-ST Myocardial Infarction among Patients with and Those without Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Su Tong , Shao Xiaonan , Zhang Xiaopu , Han Zhijun , Yang Chengjian , Li Xun
Published: June 2019

Background: The early diagnosis of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains a challenge. Methods: The study consecutively enrolled patients who had suffered from chest pain within 3 h whose electrocardiogram had no elevation in the ST segment. CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73 m2, and the diagnostic criteria for NSTEMI were defined according to the recommended guideline. Circulating microRNA-1 was collected and determined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results: A total of 456 patients with suspected NSTEMI were included. There were 115 patients in the CKD group, including 67 with NSTEMI, 20 with stable angina, 7 with unstable angina, 18 with heart failure, and 3 with other disorders. Compared with the NSTEMI group, the non-NSTEMI group just had significant differences in microRNA-1 and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) (both p < 0.05). The relative expression of microRNA-1 was significantly increased in the NSTEMI group as compared with that in the other disease groups (all p < 0.05). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that microRNA-1 and hs-cTnI had advantages in the early diagnosis of NSTEMI with CKD (AUC [area under the ROC curve] 0.879 and 0.812, respectively, both p < 0.05). Compared with that in the non-CKD group, the accuracy of microRNA-1 was almost as good in the CKD group (84.3 vs. 89.4%, p > 0.05). However, the diagnostic accuracy of hs-cTnI was significantly decreased (79.1 vs. 91.5%, p < 0.05), as was its specificity (75.0 vs. 95.5%, p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the correlation between microRNA-1 and eGFR (p > 0.05), but a statistically significantly negative correlation between hs-cTnI and eGFR (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Circulating microRNA-1 is capable of early diagnosis of NSTEMI in patients with CKD suffering from chest pain.
Comparison of DNA Extraction Efficiency and Reproducibility of Different Aeration Diffuser Biofilms Using Bead-Beating Protocol
Authors: Asvapathanagul Pitiporn , Garrido-Baserba Manel , Olson Betty H. , Park Hee-Deung , Chen Deqiang , Rosso Diego
Published: June 2019

An existing bead-beating DNA extraction protocol was employed to compare the DNA extraction recovery and fragment quality of 6 different aeration diffuser biofilms. Escherichia coli, Gordonia amarae, and mixed liquor were used as controls. The fraction of total DNAbiofilm decreased monotonically with increasing number of beat beatings (BB) when the amount of DNA present was sufficient (>4 μgDNA/cm2), excluding the ceramic disk. While controls required only 2 BBs, 3 out of 5 BBs achieved ≥70% of total DNA (70.3 ± 1.7%) for 5 out of 6 biofilms. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses of 353 and 1,505 basepair (bp) amplicons from pure culture extracts showed target copy numbers were not degraded for the first 2 BBs, but the third BB decreased amplicon concentrations by 0.65 and 1.12 log for E. coli, and 0.39 and 0.40 log for G. amarae, respectively. The 353 bp fragment amplification from biofilm samples showed minimal degradation for the first 3 BBs. PCR and gel electrophoresis confirmed integrity of amplified 1,505 bp DNA fragments over the 5 BBs, except in the EDPM (75 mm diameter, tube) diffuser biofilm (4.98 ± 0.62 μgDNA/cm2). Taken together, this study showed type of diffuser membrane biofilms had no effects on extraction efficiency, but low DNA concentrations reduced extraction performance.
Essential Oils for the Treatment of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections
Authors: Schnitzler Paul
Published: June 2019

Infections with herpes simplex virus type (HSV)-1 and HSV-2 are distributed worldwide. Although standard therapies with acyclovir and other synthetic drugs are available, the safety and efficacy of these drugs are limited due to the development of drug resistance and adverse side effects. The literature on essential oils and isolated compounds was reviewed regarding their antiviral activities against HSV-1 and HSV-2. The present overview aims to review experimental data and clinical trials focusing on the antiviral activity of selected essential oils and isolated oil components. HSV was found to be susceptible to many essential oils and their constituents. Whereas some essential oils and compounds exhibit direct virucidal activity or inhibit intracellular replication, many essential oils and compounds interact with HSV particles thereby inhibiting cell adsorption. Ayclovir-resistant HSV strains are also susceptible to essential oils since their mode of action is different from the synthetic drug. There are numerous publications on the antiherpetic activity of essential oils and their isolated active compounds. This field of research is still growing, and more clinical trials are required to explore the full potential of different essential oils for the topical treatment of herpetic infections.