bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Lactobionic Acid on Pig Growth Performance and Chemical Composition of Pork
Authors: Zagorska Jelena , Degola Lilija , Strazdins Ilvars , Gramatina Ilze , Kince Tatjana , Galoburda Ruta
Published: April 2022

Lactobionic acid is an innovative product obtained in the fermentation process of cheese or curd whey, and it has several beneficial properties. Therefore, it may have potential application in animal feeding. Currently, lactobionic acid is not widely used yet in feeding farm animals. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of lactobionic acid (LBA) on pig growth performance and pork quality. Two groups of pigs (control and trial, 26 piglets each) were completed. The control group received compound feed, whereas the trial group’s feed was supplemented with LBA (0.17 kg per 100 kg of feed). Carcass weight and meat pH were determined. The subcutaneous fat layer S (mm) was measured. Lean meat content was determined using the SEUROP classification. Amino acids and fatty acids in pork were evaluated. The addition of LBA to pig feed significantly increased the live weight gain and slaughter yield of pigs, but the samples had a slightly thicker backfat layer. Results obtained showed higher concentration of amino acids in the trial group but slightly lower pork fat quality in the same group. Lactobionic acid has the potential for applications in pig feeding.
Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Listeria Species Isolated from Broiler Abattoirs in Lusaka, Zambia
Authors: Mpundu Prudence , Muma John Bwalya , Mukubesa Andrew Nalishuwa , Kainga Henson , Mudenda Steward , Bumbangi Flavien Nsoni , Muleya Walter , Katemangwe Patrick , Munyeme Musso
Published: April 2022

L. monocytogenes is a public health threat linked to fast foods such as broiler chickens. This study aimed to verify the occurrence of Listeria species in chickens from abattoirs and evaluate their antimicrobial resistance. In total, 150 broiler carcass swabs distributed as cloacal (n = 60), exterior surface (n = 60), and environmental (n = 30) were collected. Listeria species were characterized using biochemical tests and PCR. We conducted antibiotic resistance tests using the disc diffusion and Etest (Biomerieux, Durham, NC, USA) methods. Overall isolation of Listeria species was 15% (23/150) 95% CI (10.16–22.33), 2% (3/150) 95% CI (0.52–6.19) and 13% (20/150) 95% CI (8.53–20.08) came from environmental swabs and carcass swabs, respectively. Proportions of positive Listeria isolates were L. monocytogenes 74% (17/23), L. welshimeri 22% (5/23), and L. innocua 4% (1/23). Listeria species from the exterior carcass swabs was 61% (14/23), cloacal swabs 26% (6/23), and environmental swabs 3% (3/23). L. monocytogenes had the greatest resistance percentage to the following antibiotics: clindamycin (61%, 10/23), tetracycline 30% (7/23), and erythromycin 13%, (3/23). Isolation of L. monocytogenes in relatively high numbers, including the antimicrobial profiles, suggests a potential risk of the pathogen remaining viable in the food continuum and a public health risk to would-be consumers.
Effectiveness of Different Chemotherapeutic Agents for Decontamination of Infected Dental Implant Surface: A Systematic Review
Authors: Patil Chayya , Agrawal Amit , Abullais Shahabe Saquib , Arora Suraj , Khateeb Shafait Ullah , Fadul A. Elagib Mohamed
Published: April 2022

Aim: To evaluate the most effective chemotherapeutic agent for decontamination of infected dental implants. Material and methods: A systematic electronic literature search in MEDLINE (PubMed) and Google scholar between January 2010 to December 2021 was carried out by using the PRISMA guidelines. A total of five studies related to chemical decontamination of the dental implant were evaluated. The search strategy was based on the PICOS framework. Randomized controlled trials (RCT’s) and cohort studies evaluating the effectiveness of different chemotherapeutic agents for the decontamination of dental implants were included in the study. The outcome variable examined was the most effective chemotherapeutic agent(s) for dental implant surface decontamination after comparing the chemotherapeutic agents used in the qualifying studies. Result: Out of the basic database of 1564 records, 1380 articles were excluded due to irrelevance, unavailability, and repetition. Furthermore, 134 articles were excluded from 184 studies for various reasons. After further filtration, 13 studies were shortlisted. Two investigators (SSA and SA) appraised the quality of the selected studies using the risk of bias assessment tool. After excluding eight studies, five articles were finally included in the present systematic review. Conclusion: The data reported for the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents in cleaning contaminated titanium surfaces are scarce, thus it is not possible to draw a definite conclusion. However, chlorhexidine (CHX) (0.2%, 0.12%), citric acid (40%) and sodium hypochlorite (1%) are the most commonly used chemotherapeutic agents; amongst them, citric acid showed the highest potential for biofilm removal from the contaminated implant surface. All three agents [CHX (0.2%, 0.12%), citric acid (40%), and sodium hypochlorite (1%)] can be recommended as therapeutic agents along with their curbs.
Whole-Genome Sequencing of a Colistin-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Strain Isolated at a Tertiary Health Facility in Pretoria, South Africa
Authors: Nogbou Noel-David , Ramashia Mbudzeni , Nkawane Granny Marumo , Allam Mushal , Obi Chikwelu Lawrence , Musyoki Andrew Munyalo
Published: April 2022

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii’s (A. baumannii) growing resistance to all available antibiotics is of concern. The study describes a colistin-resistant A. baumannii isolated at a clinical facility from a tracheal aspirate sample. Furthermore, it determines the isolates’ niche establishment ability within the tertiary health facility. Methods: An antimicrobial susceptibility test, conventional PCR, quantitative real-time PCR, phenotypic evaluation of the efflux pump, and whole-genome sequencing and analysis were performed on the isolate. Results: The antimicrobial susceptibility pattern revealed a resistance to piperacillin/tazobactam, ceftazidime, cefepime, cefotaxime/ceftriaxone, imipenem, meropenem, gentamycin, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, tigecycline, and colistin. A broth microdilution test confirmed the colistin resistance. Conventional PCR and quantitative real-time PCR investigations revealed the presence of adeB, adeR, and adeS, while mcr-1 was not detected. A MIC of 0.38 µg/mL and 0.25 µg/mL was recorded before and after exposure to an AdeABC efflux pump inhibitor. The whole-genome sequence analysis of antimicrobial resistance-associated genes detected beta-lactam: blaOXA-66; blaOXA-23; blaADC-25; blaADC-73; blaA1; blaA2, and blaMBL; aminoglycoside: aph(6)-Id; aph(3″)-Ib; ant(3″)-IIa and armA) and a colistin resistance-associated gene lpsB. The whole-genome sequence virulence analysis revealed a biofilm formation system and cell–cell adhesion-associated genes: bap, bfmR, bfmS, csuA, csuA/B, csuB, csuC, csuD, csuE, pgaA, pgaB, pgaC, and pgaD; and quorum sensing-associated genes: abaI and abaR and iron acquisition system associated genes: barA, barB, basA, basB, basC, basD, basF, basG, basH, basI, basJ, bauA, bauB, bauC, bauD, bauE, bauF, and entE. A sequence type classification based on the Pasteur scheme revealed that the isolate belongs to sequence type ST2. Conclusions: The mosaic of the virulence factors coupled with the resistance-associated genes and the phenotypic resistance profile highlights the risk that this strain is at this South African tertiary health facility.
Diversity of Monofloral Honey Based on the Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Potential
Authors: Hulea Anca , Obiștioiu Diana , Cocan Ileana , Alexa Ersilia , Negrea Monica , Neacșu Alina-Georgeta , Hulea Călin , Pascu Corina , Costinar Luminita , Iancu Ionica , Tîrziu Emil , Herman Viorel
Published: April 2022

This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant profile and the antimicrobial activity of four different types of monofloral honey (manuka (MH), brassica rapeseed (BH), acacia (AH), and linden honey (LH)) against some bacterial/fungal ATCC strains and some multidrug-resistant strains isolated from chronic otitis in dogs. For the characterisation of the antioxidant profile of each honey, we extracted the honey samples by hydroalcoholic extraction and analysed them in terms of total polyphenols (TPC), total flavonoids (TFC), and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) using the spectrophotometric method. The antimicrobial activity was determined using the microdilution method at concentrations of 10%, 15%, and 20%, with the results expressed in OD (optical density) calculated as BIR% (bacterial inhibition rate)/MIR% (mycelial inhibition rate). The antioxidant characterisation of the analysed honey samples showed the highest antioxidant activity and concentrations of TPC and TFC in MH, followed by LH. MH was proven to be the most effective on most clinical isolates concerning the antimicrobial activity in comparison with BH, AH, and LH. Except for B. cepacia and P. vulgaris, all the clinical isolates were sensitive to the antibacterial activity of honey. Regarding the ATCC strains, MH 10% was the most effective in inhibiting all the strains tested except for P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, the efficacy classification in our study was MH > BH > AH > LH.
NLRP3 Inflammasome and Pyroptosis in Liver Pathophysiology: The Emerging Relevance of Nrf2 Inducers
Authors: Hurtado-Navarro Laura , Angosto-Bazarra Diego , Pelegrín Pablo , Baroja-Mazo Alberto , Cuevas Santiago
Published: April 2022

Inflammasomes, particularly the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat, and pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, apparently serve as crucial regulators of the inflammatory response through the activation of Caspase-1 and induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and pyroptotic cell death. Pyroptosis is a type of programmed cell death mediated by Caspase-1 cleavage of Gasdermin D and the insertion of its N-terminal fragment into the plasma membrane, where it forms pores, enabling the release of different pro-inflammatory mediators. Pyroptosis is considered not only a pro-inflammatory pathway involved in liver pathophysiology but also an important pro-fibrotic mediator. Diverse molecular mechanisms linking oxidative stress, inflammasome activation, pyroptosis, and the progression of liver pathologies have been documented. Numerous studies have indicated the protective effects of several antioxidants, with the ability to induce nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activity on liver inflammation and fibrosis. In this review, we have summarised recent studies addressing the role of the NLRP3 inflammasome and pyroptosis in the pathogenesis of various hepatic diseases, highlighting the potential application of Nrf2 inducers in the prevention of pyroptosis as liver protective compounds.
Acoustic Properties of Absorbing Materials
Authors: Piana Edoardo Alessio , Bonfiglio Paolo , Rychtarikova Monika
Published: April 2022

Thanks to the progress made in materials research and to the introduction of innovative manufacturing technologies, a wide range of sound-absorbing elements are currently available to adjust the acoustic features of an environment [...]
Definition and Determination of Fin Substitution Factors Accelerating Thermal Simulations
Authors: Roppel Matthias , Rieg Frank , Tremmel Stephan
Published: April 2022

The effort of numerical heat transfer calculations increases with the complexity and size of the domains and surfaces under consideration. When calculating heat transfers on finned arrays, one way to reduce this effort is to substitute the fins. Therefore, this work defines the fin substitution factor by considering that a smooth surface behaves thermally sufficiently similar to a specific finned array. A process for determining the case-specific most accurate analytical computation path for fin substitution factors is also defined. The performance of the process and the resulting solution is demonstrated using the example of vertical rectangular finned arrays under natural convective heat transfer with a constant fin base temperature and air as the surrounding fluid. The heat flows determined in solid-state simulations of flat plates considering fin substitution factors deviated by an average of 6.2% from the heat flows resulting from detailed CFD simulations of the corresponding finned arrays.
Meteorological Conditions That Promote Persistent Contrails
Authors: Wilhelm Lena , Gierens Klaus , Rohs Susanne
Published: April 2022

Climate-impacting contrails need ice (super-)saturation to persist longer than a few minutes. However, this simple criterion cannot be easily applied for the prediction of persistent contrails. The current weather forecast models, which lack humidity data for assimilation in the upper troposphere, have difficulties coping with the enormous variability and sharp gradients in the relative humidity field. Thus, ice supersaturation, which is an extremal state of relative humidity, is hard to forecast at a precise location and time to allow contrail-avoiding flight routing. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using dynamical proxy variables for improved contrail prediction. This idea is guided by the fact that the probability of ice supersaturation differs in different dynamical regimes. Therefore, we determine probability distributions of temperature, water vapour concentration, vertical velocity, divergence, relative and potential vorticity, geopotential height, and lapse rate conditioned on three situations: (a) contrail persistence not possible; (b) contrail persistence possible; and (c) strongly warming persistent contrails possible. While the atmospheric variables are taken from reanalysis data, the conditions (a–c) are based on airborne measurement data and radiation quantities from the reanalysis. It turns out that the vorticity variables, and in particular geopotential and lapse rate, show quite distinct conditional probabilities, suggesting a possibility to base an improved forecast of persistent contrails not only on the traditional quantities of temperature and relative humidity, but on these dynamical proxies as well. Furthermore, we show the existence of long flight tracks with the formation of strongly warming contrails, which are probably embedded in larger ice-supersaturated regions with conditions that foster such contrails. For forecasting purposes, this is a beneficial property since the humidity forecast is easier on large, rather than small, spatial scales.
Biosynthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles Using Capsicum chinense Fruit Extract and Their In Vitro Cytotoxicity and Antioxidant Assay
Authors: Mthana Makiwa S. , Mthiyane Doctor M. N. , Onwudiwe Damian C. , Singh Moganavelli
Published: April 2022

Green synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) has garnered wide research interest due to inherent properties such as eco-friendliness, compatibility with substrates, and cost-effectiveness. Here, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were successfully synthesized for the first time using Capsicum chinense fruit extract. The optical property of the green and conventionally synthesized ZnO-NPs was characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometer, which exhibited absorption peaks at 302 and 481 nm, respectively, and the morphology of the NPs was analyzed by transmission and scanning electron microscopies (TEM and SEM). The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies showed that the hexagonal wurtzite phase was obtained, with high crystalline nature, while the electron dispersion X-ray study (EDX) revealed the purity of ZnO-NPs. The cytotoxicity assay of the biosynthesized and conventionally synthesized ZnO-NPs was evaluated using human embryonic kidney (HEK 293) and cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cell lines treated with various concentrations of the ZnO-NPs and they exhibited reasonable activity. Antioxidant activity of the ZnO-NPs was measured using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and the green ZnO-NPs exhibited higher activity compared to conventional ZnO-NPs. These findings proved that aqueous extracts of C. chinense fruit are effective for the biosynthesis of ZnO-NPs with anticancer and antioxidant potential.
Interactive Exploration of Virtual Heritage by Means of Natural Gestures
Authors: Popovici Dorin-Mircea , Iordache Dorin , Comes Radu , Neamțu Călin Gheorghe Dan , Băutu Elena
Published: April 2022

This paper is situated at the intersection of using Virtual Reality as a tool for cultural heritage preservation and using gesture interaction-based technology in order to achieve touchless, distant interaction of users with reconstructed artifacts. Various studies emphasize the positive effect on the cultural experience brought on by the use of Virtual Reality in a museum context. We build our approach on this idea, by modeling and reconstructing museum exhibits, both small artifacts and large architectural edifices. We propose and design navigation and interaction scenarios, at the same time taking into account present day limitations regarding social interaction, imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. By considering the user in the center of the experience and focusing on enabling him/her to adjust the perspective on the visualized artifacts and to freely interact with them through natural gestures, we allow the user to immerse in the virtual environment and interact with the reconstructed artifacts by means of simple hand gestures, with no touch. Finally, we assess the usability and utility of the Virtual Reality system in a questionnaire-based study with 137 participants over a period of 6 months, whose results we discuss in the paper.
Using a Machine Learning Method to Predict the Penetration Depth of a Gravity Corer
Authors: Du Xing , Sun Yongfu , Song Yupeng , Zhou Qikun , Xiu Zongxiang
Published: April 2022

The study of penetration depth of gravity piston samplers has an essential impact on sampling efficiency and instrument safety. This study focuses on predicting penetration depth based on the characteristic parameters of the sampled seafloor sediments and the sampler parameters. Although numerous studies of gravity corer penetration depth have been carried out, most have been based on the energy conservation equation, which considers a varying number of influencing factors. Furthermore, most research has focused on the same research idea of finding analytical solutions. The present study proposes a new approach to predicting gravity corer penetration depth based on a machine learning method that uses real sampling data from the sea and experimental data from a gravity sampling physical model for training and testing. Experimental results indicate that the machine learning model can accurately predict gravity corer penetration depth. Moreover, predictions were made for the same penetration conditions using the machine learning model and three other analytical solution models. Results show that the prediction accuracy of machine learning outperforms that of the analytical prediction model under various statistical rubrics. This study demonstrates the capacity of the proposed machine learning model and provides civil engineers with an effective tool to predict the penetration depth of gravity corers.
Evaluating Explainable Artificial Intelligence for X-ray Image Analysis
Authors: Miró-Nicolau Miquel , Moyà-Alcover Gabriel , Jaume-i-Capó Antoni
Published: April 2022

The lack of justification of the results obtained by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms has limited their usage in the medical context. To increase the explainability of the existing AI methods, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is proposed. We performed a systematic literature review, based on the guidelines proposed by Kitchenham and Charters, of studies that applied XAI methods in X-ray-image-related tasks. We identified 141 studies relevant to the objective of this research from five different databases. For each of these studies, we assessed the quality and then analyzed them according to a specific set of research questions. We determined two primary purposes for X-ray images: the detection of bone diseases and lung diseases. We found that most of the AI methods used were based on a CNN. We identified the different techniques to increase the explainability of the models and grouped them depending on the kind of explainability obtained. We found that most of the articles did not evaluate the quality of the explainability obtained, causing problems of confidence in the explanation. Finally, we identified the current challenges and future directions of this subject and provide guidelines to practitioners and researchers to improve the limitations and the weaknesses that we detected.
Performance of a Prototype Boom Sprayer for Bed-Grown Carrots Based on Canopy Deposition Optimization, Ground Losses and Spray Drift Potential Mitigation in Semi-Field Conditions
Authors: Lamare Aude , Zwertvaegher Ingrid , Nuyttens David , Balsari Paolo , Marucco Paolo , Grella Marco , Caffini Amedeo , Mylonas Nikos , Fountas Spyros , Douzals Jean-Paul
Published: April 2022

The H2020-project OPTIMA concept of smart sprayer relies on several functionalities, including variable nozzle spacing for bed-grown carrots, based on an air-assisted boom sprayer. A prototype boom was designed and evaluated though canopy deposition, ground losses, and spray drift potential. Four bed spray configurations, including various nozzle types, angles, and sizes (XR8004, combination of AIUB8504/AI11004, AI8004, and XR8002) at the most appropriate nozzle spacing and height, were tested and compared to a broadcast application (XR11004). Deposition measurements were performed on carrots in bins at early and full-grown stages with respective target zone width of 1.4 m and 2.2 m. Spray drift potential measurements were performed following ISO 22401, 2015. The spray boom was equipped with an air sleeve providing different air speeds (0, 4, 8 m s−1). The relative depositions at both growth stages showed a significant effect of spray configuration and lowest values were found for the broadcast application. The configurations consisting of air inclusion nozzles generated the lowest drift potential compared to the broadcast application, although not significantly different. Bed spray configurations can thus improve canopy depositions and spray drift potential compared to a conventional broadcast application when the boom height and the nozzle spacing are adjusted to the growth stage.
Environment Representations of Railway Infrastructure for Reinforcement Learning-Based Traffic Control
Authors: Lövétei István , Kővári Bálint , Bécsi Tamás , Aradi Szilárd
Published: April 2022

The real-time railway rescheduling problem is a crucial challenge for human operators since many factors have to be considered during decision making, from the positions and velocities of the vehicles to the different regulations of the individual railway companies. Thanks to that, human operators cannot be expected to provide optimal decisions in a particular situation. Based on the recent successes of multi-agent deep reinforcement learning in challenging control problems, it seems like a suitable choice for such a domain. Consequently, this paper proposes a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning-based approach with different state representational choices to solve the real-time railway rescheduling problem. Furthermore, comparing different methods, the proposed learning-based approaches outperform their competitions, such as the Monte Carlo tree search algorithm, which is utilized as a model-based planner, and also other learning-based methods that utilize different abstractions. The results show that the proposed representation has more significant generalization potential and provides superior performance.
A 60 GHz CMOS I/Q Receiver for High-Speed Wireless Communication System
Authors: Bhatta Ayush , Baek Donghyun , Kim Jeong-Geun
Published: April 2022

This paper presents a 60 GHz CMOS I/Q receiver for the high-speed wireless communication system. It consists of a low noise amplifier, single-to-differential (S2D) amplifier, passive mixer, buffer amplifier with passive I/Q generator, and wideband baseband amplifier (BBA) stage. The measured conversion gain of 51 dB is achieved. The baseband bandwidth of 300 MHz is achieved from 57 GHz to 60 GHz. The 90° tandem coupler was implemented for I/Q signal generation, which has a phase error of <7° and an amplitude imbalance of <2 dB from 55 to 62 GHz. The Marchand balun is used to convert the I/Q signal to the differential, which has a phase error of <4°. A 60 GHz CMOS I/Q receiver is designed and fabricated, using a commercial 40 nm CMOS bulk process. The size of the receiver is 2.02 × 1.45 mm2, including the pads. The circuit is operated from a 0.9 V supply. The power consumption is 172 mW at maximum gain mode.
useeior: An Open-Source R Package for Building and Using US Environmentally-Extended Input–Output Models
Authors: Li Mo , Ingwersen Wesley W. , Young Ben , Vendries Jorge , Birney Catherine
Published: April 2022

useeior is an open-source R package that builds USEEIO models, a family of environmentally-extended input–output models of US goods and services used for life cycle assessment, environmental footprint estimation, and related applications. USEEIO models have gained a wide user base since their initial release in 2017, but users were often challenged to prepare required input data and undergo a complicated model building approach. To address these challenges, useeior was created. In useeior, economic and environmental data are conveniently retrievable for immediate use. Users can build models simply from given or user-specified model configuration and optional hybridization specifications. The assembly of economic and environmental data and matrix calculations are automatically performed. Users can export model results to desired formats. useeior is a core component of the USEEIO modeling framework. It improves transparency, efficiency, and flexibility in building USEEIO models, and was used to deliver the recent USEEIO model.
An Intelligent Solution for Automatic Garment Measurement Using Image Recognition Technologies
Authors: Paulauskaite-Taraseviciene Agne , Noreika Eimantas , Purtokas Ramunas , Lagzdinyte-Budnike Ingrida , Daniulaitis Vytautas , Salickaite-Zukauskiene Ruta
Published: April 2022

Global digitization trends and the application of high technology in the garment market are still too slow to integrate, despite the increasing demand for automated solutions. The main challenge is related to the extraction of garment information-general clothing descriptions and automatic dimensional extraction. In this paper, we propose the garment measurement solution based on image processing technologies, which is divided into two phases, garment segmentation and key points extraction. UNet as a backbone network has been used for mask retrieval. Separate algorithms have been developed to identify both general and specific garment key points from which the dimensions of the garment can be calculated by determining the distances between them. Using this approach, we have resulted in an average 1.27 cm measurement error for the prediction of the basic measurements of blazers, 0.747 cm for dresses and 1.012 cm for skirts.
Clinical Observation of Choroidal Osteoma Using Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Authors: Xuan Yi , Chang Qing , Zhang Yongjin , Ye Xiaofeng , Liu Wei , Li Lei , Wang Keyan , Zhou Jian , Wang Min
Published: April 2022

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to choroidal osteoma (CO) can cause profound visual loss, but detecting CNV and the tumor’s feeder vessels using traditional fluorescent angiography imaging is challenging. Newly developed TowardPi swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and OCT angiography (SS-OCTA) enable ultra-high resolution, enhanced penetration with longer wavelength (1060 nm), a rapid scan rate (400 KHz), reduced loss of signal strength with increasing depth, and 120° angular widefield of fundus view, enabling a nearly histological description of the retina and choroid. We therefore used this SS-OCT and SS-OCTA platform to observe the intrinsic features of osteoma in 23 eyes of 21 patients. It was found that the borders of CO were clearly demarcated from the adjacent choroidal Sattler’s and Haller’s layers, while on a corresponding B-scan the blood flow of the CO was detected mainly within the choriocapillaries and partly within Sattler’s layer. The CNV was identified as numerous branching or radiating vessels connecting with intrinsic feeder vessels displaying various patterns including ginseng, instant noodle, growth ring, tangle, spider web, medusa, seafan, and irregular shape. Moreover, tumor-like tissues were found to grow above the disrupted Bruch’s membrane. SS-OCTA can be used to detect the tumor vasculature in CO.
Energy Management of Hybrid Electric Urban Bus by Off-Line Dynamic Programming Optimization and One-Step Look-Ahead Rollout
Authors: Tormos Bernardo , Pla Benjamín , Bares Pau , Pinto Douglas
Published: April 2022

Due to the growing air quality concern in urban areas and rising fuel prices, urban bus fleets are progressively turning to hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) which show higher efficiency and lower emissions in comparison with conventional vehicles. HEVs can reduce fuel consumption and emissions by combining different energy sources (i.e., fuel and batteries). In this sense, the performance of HEVs is strongly dependent on the energy management strategy (EMS) which coordinates the energy sources available to exploit their potential. While most EMSs are calibrated for general driving conditions, this paper proposes to adapt the EMS to the specific driving conditions on a particular bus route. The proposed algorithm relies on the fact that partial information on the driving cycle can be assumed since, in the case of a urban bus, the considered route is periodically covered. According to this hypothesis, the strategy presented in this paper is based on estimating the driving cycle from a previous trip of the bus in the considered route. This initial driving cycle is used to compute the theoretical optimal solution by dynamic programming. The obtained control policy (particularly the cost-to-go matrix) is stored and used in the subsequent driving cycles by applying one-step look-ahead roll out, then, adapting the EMS to the actual driving conditions but exploiting the similarities with previous cycles in the same route. To justify the proposed strategy, the paper discusses the common patterns in different driving cycles of the same bus route, pointing out several metrics that show how a single cycle captures most of the key parameters for EMS optimization. Then, the proposed algorithm (off-line dynamic programming optimization and one-step look-ahead rollout) is described. Results obtained by simulation show that the proposed method is able to keep the battery charge within the required range and achieve near-optimal performance, with only a 1.9% increase in fuel consumption with regards to the theoretical optimum. As a reference for comparison, the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS), which is the most widespread algorithm for HEV energy management, produces an increase in fuel consumption with respect to the optimal solution of 11%.
The Influence of Tuff Particles on the Properties of the Sintered Copper Matrix Composite for Application in Resistance Welding Electrodes
Authors: Łach Michał , Korniejenko Kinga , Balamurugan Ponnambalam , Uthayakumar Marimuthu , Mikuła Janusz
Published: April 2022

This paper presents modern copper-matrix composite materials in which volcanic tuff particles are used as a reinforcing phase. The aim of the research was to determine the optimal shares of volcanic tuff additive based on such criteria as softening temperature, relative density, electrical conductivity, and hardness. The properties of the produced and tested composites allowed us to determine the usefulness of this type of material for resistance welding electrodes. To confirm the assumptions made, preliminary investigations of the durability and behavior of electrodes made of the tested material during the processes of welding non-alloy steel sheets were carried out. As a result of the research, it was discovered that the addition of 5% tuff produces the best results in this type of composite. It was found that for the sample with a 5% share of tuff, a high softening point above 600 °C was obtained, high hardness after densification at the level of 62 HRB, and high relative density of approximately 95% and very good conductivity at the level of approximately 45 MS/m. The conducted tests did not show any electrode wear different from the commonly used alloys for resistance welding.
Bottle Aging Affected Aromatic and Phenolic Wine Composition More than Yeast Starter Strains
Authors: Garde-Cerdán Teresa , Sáenz de Urturi Itziar , Murillo-Peña Rebeca , Iribarren Miquel , Marín-San Román Sandra , Rubio-Bretón Pilar , Pérez-Álvarez Eva P.
Published: April 2022

Volatile and phenolic compounds play a key role in the sensory properties of wine, especially aroma and color. During fermentation, yeasts produce enzymes that affect the skin’s phenolic compounds extraction and synthesize some of the most important wine volatile compounds. Generally, selected yeasts of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc) strains are inoculated, which are responsible for carrying out the wine fermentation, enhancing and highlighting its sensory characteristics and contributing to help achieve the wine typicity, according to the winemaker’s criteria. After fermentation, all wines require aging in a bottle to modulate their composition and stability over time. Thus, four different Sc strains (Sc1–Sc4) were inoculated into tanks with Tempranillo grapes to carry out, in duplicate, their fermentation and subsequent aging in bottles (9 months), comparing the aromatic and phenolic composition between them. Results showed differences in the fermentation process (kinetic, ethanol yield), CI, TPI and content of alcohols, esters, anthocyanins, flavonols and flavanols in wines from the different Sc strains studied. Moreover, in the content in wines of most groups of aromas and phenols, except for total acetate esters and flavonols, aging in a bottle had more influence than the yeast strain used for fermentation.
A Novel Approach for Semantic Extractive Text Summarization
Authors: Waseemullah Waseemullah , Fatima Zainab , Zardari Shehnila , Fahim Muhammad , Andleeb Siddiqui Maria , Ibrahim Ag. Asri Ag. , Nisar Kashif , Naz Laviza Falak
Published: April 2022

Text summarization is a technique for shortening down or exacting a long text or document. It becomes critical when someone needs a quick and accurate summary of very long content. Manual text summarization can be expensive and time-consuming. While summarizing, some important content, such as information, concepts, and features of the document, can be lost; therefore, the retention ratio, which contains informative sentences, is lost, and if more information is added, then lengthy texts can be produced, increasing the compression ratio. Therefore, there is a tradeoff between two ratios (compression and retention). The model preserves or collects all the informative sentences by taking only the long sentences and removing the short sentences with less of a compression ratio. It tries to balance the retention ratio by avoiding text redundancies and also filters irrelevant information from the text by removing outliers. It generates sentences in chronological order as the sentences are mentioned in the original document. It also uses a heuristic approach for selecting the best cluster or group, which contains more meaningful sentences that are present in the topmost sentences of the summary. Our proposed model extractive summarizer overcomes these deficiencies and tries to balance between compression and retention ratios.
Effect of Marble Waste Powder as a Binder Replacement on the Mechanical Resistance of Cement Mortars
Authors: Lezzerini Marco , Luti Letizia , Aquino Andrea , Gallello Gianni , Pagnotta Stefano
Published: April 2022

The quarrying of marble and its processing to produce building materials often generates a negative impact on the environment. In the Apuan Alps marble district, a renowned quarrying area in Italy since ancient times, the aquatic pollution of water bodies, caused by the presence of marble waste in the form of powder or sludge, represents a significant and current environmental problem. Depending on the different national and international regulations on waste management, the marble waste can be classified as a special non-hazardous industrial waste. If marble waste has been managed according to environmental international and national laws, it can be reused as a by-product. For this, the present work aims to evaluate the reuse of marble waste as a material in replacement for cement for producing mortars. Subsequently, the mechanical and physical tests were carried out to evaluate the specific properties of the obtained materials during and after the curing time. The results showed that replacement of cement into mortars by marble waste always causes a decrease of mechanical properties, with still acceptable values for many applications up to a substitution of less than 25%. From the collected data, the use of marble waste in the production of cement mortars represents an adequate and sustainable destination of this by-product.
Forecasting of Bicycle and Pedestrian Traffic Using Flexible and Efficient Hybrid Deep Learning Approach
Authors: Harrou Fouzi , Dairi Abdelkader , Zeroual Abdelhafid , Sun Ying
Published: April 2022

Recently, increasing interest in managing pedestrian and bicycle flows has been demonstrated by cities and transportation professionals aiming to reach community goals related to health, safety, and the environment. Precise forecasting of pedestrian and bicycle traffic flow is crucial for identifying the potential use of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and improving bicyclists’ safety and comfort. Advances in sensory technology enable collecting massive traffic flow data, including road traffic, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic flow. This paper introduces a novel deep hybrid learning model with a fully guided-attention mechanism to improve bicycles and pedestrians’ traffic flow forecasting. Notably, the proposed approach extends the modeling capability of the Variational Autoencoder (VAE) by merging a long short-term memory (LSTM) model with the VAE’s decoder and using a self-attention mechanism at multi-stage of the VAE model (i.e., decoder and before data resampling). Specifically, LSTM improves the VAE decoder’s capacity in learning temporal dependencies, and the guided-attention units enable selecting relevant features based on the self-attention mechanism. This proposed deep hybrid learning model with a multi-stage guided-attention mechanism is called GAHD-VAE. Proposed methods were validated with traffic measurements from six publicly available pedestrian and bicycle traffic flow datasets. The proposed method provides promising forecasting results but requires no assumptions that the data are drawn from a given distribution. Results revealed that the GAHD-VAE methodology can efficiently enhance the traffic forecasting accuracy and achieved better performance than the deep learning methods VAE, LSTM, gated recurrent units (GRUs), bidirectional LSTM, bidirectional GRU, convolutional neural network (CNN), and convolutional LSTM (ConvLSTM), and four shallow methods, linear regression, lasso regression, ridge regression, and support vector regression.
A High-Performance Piezoelectric Micropump with Multi-Chamber in Series
Authors: Liu Xiaopeng , Li Xingqi , Wang Meng , Cao Shuaiqi , Wang Xinfeng , Liu Guojun
Published: April 2022

Based on the multi-chamber series structure, a piezoelectric micropump with high output performance is proposed in this paper. The proposed micropump is composed of the circular unimorph piezoelectric vibrator, the cantilever check valve, and the pump body. First, the working process of the piezoelectric micropump was analyzed in detail. Then, the effect of the key dimension parameters on the output performance of the micropump was explored. The key dimension parameters mainly refer to the height of the pump chamber and valve opening (the deformation size of the valve). Finally, experimental prototypes with different parameters were fabricated for the evaluation of the output performance of the micropump. The experimental results show that when the pump chamber height is 0.1 mm and the valve opening is 0.4 mm, the piezoelectric micropump has a good comprehensive output performance. In particular, at 170 V and 120 Hz, the maximum flow rate of the dual-chamber series pump is 65.5 mL/min, and at 100 Hz, the maximum output pressure reaches 59.1 kPa. Moreover, at a certain voltage of 170 V, when the drive frequency is 450 Hz and 550 Hz, the output flow rate and pressure of the four-chamber series pump reach a maximum of 110 mL/min and exceed 140 kPa, respectively. In addition, the volumes of the proposed single-chamber, dual-chamber series, and four-chamber series micropumps are 22 mm × 22 mm × 5 mm, 32.6 mm × 22 mm × 5 mm, and 53.8 mm × 22 mm × 5 mm, respectively. The proposed piezoelectric micropump has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, miniaturization, and high output performance, thus gaining potential practicality for biomedical applications, cooling systems, fuel supply, chemical applications, etc.
Numerical Investigation on a Liquid–Gas Ejector for Carbon Dioxide Removal Using Amine Solution: Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer Evaluation
Authors: Parivazh Mohammad Mehdi , Rahmani Mohammad , Akrami Mohammad
Published: April 2022

The present study investigates the hydrodynamics and mass transfer of the liquid–gas ejector using three-dimensional (air–water) and two-dimensional (CO2/air-MEA (Monoethanolamine) solution) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. For 3D simulation, validation of the CFD results of this ejector with experimental data (error less than 5%) showed high simulation accuracy. The effects of motive liquid flow rate and outlet pressure parameters on the air entrainment rate and air hold-up are also investigated. It was found that by increasing the outlet pressure by about 70% (from 3587 to 6127 Pag), the rate of gas entrainment and gas hold up decreased by about 37% and 20%, respectively. On the contrary, these parameters showed increasing behavior of about 74% and 15%, respectively, when the mass flow rate of liquid increased by about 21%. In addition, three-dimensional phenomena such as mixing shock and the location of its occurrence are examined, which is the reason for recirculation and vortex in the ejector. Next, by simulating a two-dimensional simulation and changing the inlet fluids to CO2/air-methanol amine, the ejector was designed to simultaneously increase the gas pressure and absorb carbon dioxide. A user-defined function code was used to express the mass transfer from the gas to the liquid phase. The results, in this case, showed that with increasing the outlet pressure of the ejector (from 0 to 2000 Pag), and enhancing the concentration of MEA solution (from 10% to 30%), the CO2 removal boosted from 83% to 95%. A similar behavior was shown when the L/G ratio increased from 3.5 to 5.5. This study serves as a showcase on how to do an exact design and analysis for liquid–gas ejectors in flare gas recovery systems.
Enhancing Engine Order Sound Using Additive Feedforward Control for a Secondary Path with Uncertainty at Higher Frequencies
Authors: Ryu Seokhoon , Lim Jihea , Lee Young-Sup , Yoo Eunsuk , Lim Chasub
Published: April 2022

An active sound profiling (ASP) control algorithm based on the command FxLMS with an additive feedforward enhancement is suggested to overcome the limited performance to track a pre-defined target sound in a car cabin when an electronic sound generator (ESG) attached to a cowl panel of a car was adopted as a secondary actuator. As the uncertainty of the secondary path including the ESG-cowl pair was increased especially at higher frequencies, the tracking performance of a pure ASP algorithm was limited. The feedforward enhancement was added to the pure ASP algorithm to allow a robust tracking performance against a pre-defined target sound to enrich the insufficient engine sound at higher engine orders. After implementing this additive ASP approach in a test car, a real-time control experiment was carried out to demonstrate its tracking performance. A target sound was defined to cancel three engine order noises and to enhance the other three order sounds in the experiment. The experiment results showed that the proposed approach was able to provide an improved robust tracking performance at the engine orders for enhancing sound at higher frequencies compared to the pure ASP algorithm.
Tire Contact Force Equations for Vision-Based Vehicle Weight Identification
Authors: Kong Xuan , Wang Tengyi , Zhang Jie , Deng Lu , Zhong Jiwei , Cui Yuping , Xia Shudong
Published: April 2022

Overloaded vehicles have a variety of adverse effects; they not only damage pavements, bridges, and other infrastructure but also threaten the safety of human life. Therefore, it is necessary to address the problem of overloading, and this requires the accurate identification of the vehicle weight. Many methods have been used to identify vehicle weights. Most of them use contact methods that require sensors attached to or embedded in the road or bridge, which have disadvantages such as high cost, low accuracy, and poor durability. The authors have developed a vehicle weight identification method based on computer vision. The methodology identifies the tire–road contact force by establishing the relationship using the tire vertical deflection, which is extracted using computer vision techniques from the tire image. The focus of the present paper is to study the tire–road contact mechanism and develop tire contact force equations. Theoretical derivations and numerical simulations were conducted first to establish the tire force–deformation equations. The proposed vision-based vehicle weight identification method was then validated with field experiments using two passenger cars and two trucks. The effects of different tire specifications, loads, and inflation pressures were studied as well. The experiment showed that the results predicted by the proposed method agreed well with the measured results. Compared with the traditional method, the developed method based on tire mechanics and computer vision has the advantages of high accuracy and efficiency, easy operation, low cost, and there is no need to lay out sensors; thus, it provides a new approach to vehicle weighing.