bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Haptic Texture Rendering of 2D Image Based on Adaptive Fractional Differential Method
Authors: Hu Huiran , Song Aiguo
Published: December 2022

The fractional differential algorithm has a good effect on extracting image textures, but it is usually necessary to select an appropriate fractional differential order for textures of different scales, so we propose a novel approach for haptic texture rendering of two-dimensional (2D) images by using an adaptive fractional differential method. According to the fractional differential operator defined by the Grünvald–Letnikov derivative (G–L) and combined with the characteristics of human vision, we propose an adaptive fractional differential method based on the composite sub-band gradient vector of the sub-image obtained by wavelet decomposition of the image texture. We apply these extraction results to the haptic display system to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) texture force filed to render the texture surface of two-dimensional (2D) images. Based on this approach, we carry out the quantitative analysis of the haptic texture rendering of 2D images by using the multi-scale structural similarity (MS-SSIM) and image information entropy. Experimental results show that this method can extract the texture features well and achieve the best texture force file for 2D images.
Challenge Test for Assessing the Growth Potential of Listeria Monocytogenes in Greek Soft Cheese (Anthotyros)
Authors: Vasileiadi Ntina , Lappa Angeliki , Koukouvinos Christos , Tsironi Theofania , Mandilara Georgia
Published: December 2022

Foodborne listeriosis is one of the most serious and severe foodborne diseases, with a high mortality rate worldwide. Listeria monocytogenes’ (Lm) ability to survive under a diversity of conditions makes it a threat for food safety. Soft and semisoft cheeses are common RTE foods that support survival and growth of Lm due to their high moisture content and favorable pH. The aim of the present study was to assess, after artificial inoculation, the growth potential (Δ) of Lm in vacuum packed RTE soft Greek Anthotyros cheese. Growth potential of Lm was determined according to the new version of “EURL Lm Technical Guidance Document on challenge tests and durability studies for assessing shelf life of ready-to-eat foods related to Lm”. The results of our study revealed that the growth potential of Lm was (Δ) = 4.93 log10 CFU/g, indicating that the specific soft cheese “anthotyros” is a “Ready to eat food able to support growth of Lm and classified in food safety category 1.2 in the (EC) Regulation 2073/2005”. That means that the food business operator (FBO) must comply with the criteria that define that the bacterium must not be detected in 25 g (n = 5, c = 0) at the time of leaving the production plant. Through this study, we try to highlight the need for FBO to conduct relevant research to ensure that the ready-to-eat products which they produce, during their shelf life, do not support the growth of Lm.
Clinical Characterization of Inpatients with Acute Conjunctivitis: A Retrospective Analysis by Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning
Authors: Valdés Sanz Nuria , García-Layana Alfredo , Colas Teresa , Moriche Manuel , Montero Moreno Manuel , Ciprandi Giorgio
Published: December 2022

Background Acute bacterial conjunctivitis (ABC) is a relatively common medical condition caused by different pathogens. Although it rarely threatens vision, it is one of the most common conditions that cause red eyes and may be accompanied by discomfort and discharge. The study aimed to identify and characterize inpatients with ABC treated with topical antibiotics. Methods The EHRead® technology, based on natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, was used to extract and analyze the clinical information in the electronic health records (EHRs) of antibiotic-treated patients with conjunctivitis and admitted to five hospitals in Spain between January 2014 and December 2018. Categorical variables were described by frequency, whereas numerical variables included the mean, standard deviation, median, and quartiles. Results From a source population of 2,071,812 adult patients who attended the participating hospitals in the study period, 11,110 patients diagnosed with acute conjunctivitis were identified. Six thousand five hundred eighty-three patients were treated with antibiotics, comprising the final study population. Microbiology was tested only on 12.1% of patients. Antibiotics, mainly tobramycin, and corticosteroids, mainly dexamethasone, were usually prescribed. NSAIDs were also used in about 50% of patients, always combined with antibiotics. Conclusions The present study provided a realistic representation of the hospital practice concerning managing patients with acute antibiotic-treated conjunctivitis. The diagnosis is usually based on the clinical ground, microbiology is rarely tested, few bacteria species are involved, and local antibiotics are frequently associated with corticosteroids and/or NSAIDs. Moreover, this study provided clinically relevant outcomes, based on new technology, that could be applied in clinical practice.
Development of Polyamide 6 (PA6)/Polycaprolactone (PCL) Thermoplastic Self-Healing Polymer Blends for Multifunctional Structural Composites
Authors: Perin Davide , Odorizzi Giada , Dorigato Andrea , Pegoretti Alessandro
Published: December 2022

High-performance composites suffer from fatigue crack propagation during service. Traditional repair methods can be expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, research on composites with self-healing capabilities has considerably increased in the past decade. The aim of this work is to develop a polyamide 6 (PA6) matrix with self-healing properties. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was used as healing agent and melt compounded with PA6. PCL caused a decrease of the mechanical properties of PA6, due to its immiscibility and low mechanical properties. Nevertheless, acceptable fracture toughness values in quasi-static mode were obtained. Samples were thermally mended at 80 and 100 °C, and the healing efficiency was assessed by comparing the fracture toughness of virgin and repaired samples both in quasi-static and in impact mode. The blend with a PCL content of 30 wt% showed limited healing efficiency values (up to 6%) in quasi-static mode, while an interesting repair capability (53%) was detected under impact conditions. This discrepancy was explained through microstructural analysis and correlated to a different fracture morphology. In fact, under quasi-static mode, the PA6 matrix was severely plasticized, while under impact a brittle fracture surface was obtained. This morphology favored the flow of PCL during the thermal healing process.
Mutual Coupling Effect and Reduction Method with Modified Electromagnetic Band Gap in UWB MIMO Antenna
Authors: Fadehan Gabriel A. , Olasoji Yekeen O. , Adedeji Kazeem B.
Published: December 2022

In this paper, an effective technique for mutual coupling (MC) reduction between antenna elements of two multiple input multiple output (MIMO) microstrip patch antennas operating in the ultra-wide band (UWB) between 3.1 and 13.5 GHz is presented. The antenna array separation was kept at 44 mm for investigation, and the isolation was achieved through a modified electromagnetic band gap (MEBG) decoupling structure. The MEBG is embedded behind the radiating elements connected to the ground plane. HFSSv15 software was used to design and simulate the antenna. The effectiveness of the antenna and the MC reduction method was examined with and without the MEBG structure. The results revealed that the MC between the MIMO antenna elements was minimized when the MEBG structure was introduced. An MC of about −23 dB was obtained over the entire UWB frequency spectrum. This is more than a 10 dB improvement over the reference antenna (without the MEBG structure). Without limiting the effectiveness of the antenna when the MEBG structure was introduced, the results of the envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) gave the antenna a satisfactory diversity performance. The MEBG UWB MIMO antenna has an ECC less than 0.09 with a wide bandwidth. In addition, the total gain and the Voltage Standing Ware Ratio (VSWR) results were analyzed, which show that the performance of the antenna was not degraded while reducing the MC effect between the MIMO antenna elements.
Multi-Feature Fusion Event Argument Entity Recognition Method for Industrial Robot Fault Diagnosis
Authors: Chen Senye , Cheng Lianglun , Deng Jianfeng , Wang Tao
Published: December 2022

The advance of knowledge graphs can bring tangible benefits to the fault detection of industrial robots. However, the construction of the KG for industrial robot fault detection is still in its infancy. In this paper, we propose a top-down approach to constructing a knowledge graph from robot fault logs. We define the event argument classes for fault phenomena and fault cause events as well as their relationship. Then, we develop the event logic ontology model. In order to construct the event logic knowledge extraction dataset, the ontology is used to label the entity and relationship of the fault detection event argument in the corpus. Additionally, due to the small size of the corpus, many professional terms, and sparse entities, a model for recognizing entities for robot fault detection is proposed. The accuracy of the entity boundary determination of the model is improved by combining multiple text features and using the relationship information. Compared with other methods, this method can significantly improve the performance of entity recognition of the dataset.
Working Face Stability of Box Shield Tunneling under Non-Uniform Support Pressure
Authors: Yu Miao , Liu Wei , Wu Ben , Yan Jiajia , Gan Penglu
Published: December 2022

This paper proposes a theoretical model for the stability analysis of a box tunnel face in non-cohesive soils considering the uneven distribution of support pressure caused by multiple cutter heads and screw conveyors. The support pressure distribution on the tunnel face is concave. Accordingly, the failure mechanism is composed of a prism and a wedge, both including three blocks. The relatively smaller support pressure acting on the middle blocks lead to the tendency of slide. Assuming that the support pressure acting on the side blocks is obtained using the active earth pressure coefficient, the support pressure acting on block II can be achieved by limit equilibrium analysis considering the interactions between the blocks. The influences of strength parameters and geometric parameters on the tunnel face stability are discussed in the parametric analysis. For comparison, numerical analysis is conducted in the commercial software OptumG3. It is found that the results given by the proposed model agree well with those from the numerical model. Therefore, the rationality of the proposed model in predicting the collapse geometry is verified.
Special Issue on Thermodynamic and Exergy Analyses of Cooling, Power, and Energy Systems
Authors: Wang Xiaolin , Alam Firoz
Published: December 2022

Due to the energy crisis and environmental impact caused by fossil fuel energy, improving the efficiency of cooling, power, and energy systems has become one of the most important aspects of energy sectors [...]
Dispersion-Managed Tm-Ho Co-Doped Ultrashort Pulse Fiber Laser Using Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube and Spectral Filter
Authors: Fukazawa Keisuke , Zhou Ying , Kitajima Shotaro , Saito Takeshi , Sakakibara Youichi , Nishizawa Norihiko
Published: December 2022

In this paper, we have demonstrated a dispersion-managed, high-power, Tm-Ho co-doped ultrashort pulse fiber laser using a single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) dispersed in polyimide film. An in-line type spectral filter was developed to control the output pulse spectra. Two SWNT films with different modulation depths were examined as a mode-locker. Normal dispersion fiber was used in the fiber laser oscillator, and dependence on net cavity dispersion was investigated. Passive mode-locking was achieved in a wide dispersion range, from −0.319 to +0.101 ps2. Stable soliton mode-locking operation and dissipative soliton mode-locking operations were observed. The pumping efficiency was ~3 times higher than that in a Tm-doped fiber laser with a similar configuration. The developed fiber laser showed self-start and stable operations, and this laser is useful for practical applications.
A Review of Selected Solutions on the Evaluation of Coal-Rock Cutting Performances of Shearer Picks under Complex Geological Conditions
Authors: Wang Linlin , Zhang Dekun , Wang Dagang , Feng Cunao
Published: December 2022

During automatic and intelligent cutting at the coal mining face, complex geological conditions (fold structure, fault structure and magmatic intrusion) easily cause distinct occurrence conditions of coal rock seams (gangue, inclusion, or fault in the coal and rock), which induces different coal-rock cutting performances of shearer picks. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to review the selected solutions on the evaluation of coal-rock cutting performances of shearer picks under complex geological conditions. Occurrence conditions of coal rock seams were classified according to different criteria. Mechanical coal-rock breakage of coal rock by shearer picks were introduced. Shearer pick forces during coal-rock cutting (load spectrums of the pick and the mechanical model of the pick force) and coal-rock cutting mechanism (coal-rock cutting process by the pick and pick failure mechanisms) were discussed. The service safety evaluation of the pick based on wear and fatigue (pick wear, quantitative evaluation of service safety, and methods to improve the service safety) was presented. Finally, research prospects were outlined to propose the future research focus of shearer picks under complex geological conditions, such as the adaptive cutting of shearers, the fusion detection method of coal-rock interface by automatic shearers, the effects of geological conditions on coal-rock cutting mechanisms, the selection of systems suitable for different geological conditions, and shearer pick reliability evaluation. Results of this study are of great significance in understanding failure modes and the cutting mechanisms of shearer picks, quantitatively evaluating pick safety, promoting the automatic and intelligent cutting of coal rock seams, and thereby improving the production efficiency of shearers.
A Systematic Review of the Effects of Nutrient Intake in Handball Players on Exercise Performance
Authors: Mora-Fernandez Agustin , Lopez-Moro Alejandro , Chirosa-Rios Luis Javier , Mariscal-Arcas Miguel
Published: December 2022

Introduction: Modern handball was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1972 and is played by more than 19 million people worldwide. Beach handball was born as an adaptation of court handball in the 1990s. Both modalities are complex and multifactorial ball games characterised by a fast pace and variable game intensities, as well as the strong influence of tactical concepts, social factors and cognitive aspects. Objective: To analyse the nutritional status of both male and female players to assess whether it is in line with specific and general dietary intake demands. Methodology: A systematic search of databases was carried out using keywords with relevant Boolean operators. Results: A total of 468 studies was identified, of which 44 studies were included: 7 on hydration; 22 studies related to energy, macronutrient and fibre intake; 23 that assessed micronutrients; 4 studies on nutritional knowledge and information sources; and 2 articles on eating disorders. A further 85 articles were included in order to cross-check results. Discussion: The need for a state of euhydration and normal plasma electrolyte levels is clear. Adequate energy intake is the cornerstone of the handball athlete’s diet to support optimal body function. The ACSM sets daily recommendations of 6–10 g CHO/kg body weight for handball, and daily protein recommendations range from 1.2 to 2.0 g PRO/kg/day and 14 g dietary fibre per 1000 kcal. Conclusion: The nutritional habits of handball players do not seem to be adequate to the demands of the sport, although these demands are not clarified. The inclusion of nutrition professionals could be a key element in the performance of these athletes.
Estimation and Adjustment of Interface Stiffnesses for Machine-Tool
Authors: Lin Shen-Yung , Li Guan-Chen
Published: December 2022

This study adopts a practical approach to establish the estimation and adjustment methods of the interface stiffness for the machine-tool through the finite element analysis (FEA). First, numerical and experimental modal analysis (FMA and EMA) for each single subsystem of the machine-tool structure are performed. Then, the parameters obtained from EMA are used as the objective criterion function, and the FMA is conducted iteratively to solve the material Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio for each single subsystem structure, in which the geometrical model is simplified and FE mesh convergence is performed to ensure the quality and efficiency of the numerical analysis. Next, by considering that the machine-tool is assembled by subsystem stacking and that loading on each contact surface is deduced, the FE method is used to calculate the deformation of each contact interface after the single subsystem is stacked successively. The initial value of the interface stiffness estimated by the deformation formula in the mechanics of material is utilized as the initial condition for the iterative calculation in FMA. The changes of the modal parameters are observed in the analysis and the interface, which have a significant impact on the natural frequency variations of the whole machine-tool is selected as the main adjustment object. Then, the adjustment method proposed in this study is applied repeatedly to modify this interface stiffness. The results show that footing interface stiffnesses play the most important role that intensively affects the numerical analysis results of modal parameter. After the repeated adjustments of the interface stiffnesses of the footing, the error of the natural frequency of the whole machine-tool is less than 5%, which is calculated from the comparison between EMA and FMA results. It indicates that the proposed adjustment method in this study for footing interface stiffness determination has a valuable reference in practical use.
Numerical Calculation of Slosh Dissipation
Authors: Malan Leon Cillie , Pilloton Chiara , Colagrossi Andrea , Malan Arnaud George
Published: December 2022

As part of the Sloshing Wing Dynamics H2020 EU project, an experimental campaign was conducted to study slosh-induced damping in a vertically excited tank filled with liquid water or oil and air. In this work, we simulate these experiments using two numerical approaches. First, a single-phase, weakly compressible liquid model is used, and the gas flow (air) is not modeled. For this approach, a proven Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) model is used. In the second approach, both phases are simulated with an incompressible liquid and weakly compressible gas model via a Finite Volume Method (FVM) using Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) to track the liquid phase. In both approaches, the energy distribution of the flow is calculated over time in two- and three-dimensional simulations. It is found that there is reasonable agreement on the energy dissipation evolution between the methods. Both approaches show converging results in 2D simulations, although the SPH simulations seem to have a faster convergence rate. In general, the SPH results tend to overpredict the total dissipation compared to the experiment, while the finite volume 2D results underpredict it. Time histories of the center of mass positions are also compared. The SPH results show a much larger vertical center of mass motion compared to the FVM results, which is more pronounced for the high Reynolds number (water) case, probably linked to the absence of the air phase. On the other hand, the limited center of mass motion of the FVM could be linked to the need for higher spatial resolutions in order to resolve the complex gas–liquid interactions, particularly in 3D.
Assigning the Geographical Origin of Meat and Animal Rearing System Using Isotopic and Elemental Fingerprints
Authors: Dehelean Adriana , Cristea Gabriela , Puscas Romulus , Hategan Ariana Raluca , Magdas Dana Alina
Published: December 2022

In this study, the stable isotope, and elemental fingerprints of 120 meat samples were determined. The Partial Last Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) method was applied to build classification models for chicken and pork meat samples according to the geographical origin (different Romanian regions) and the animal growing system (animals coming from yard rearing systems versus animals coming from industrial farms). The accuracy of the geographical origin differentiation model was 93.8% for chicken and 71.8% for pork meat. The principal discrimination markers for this classification were: B, Na, K, V, As, Se, Rb, Nb, Cd, Sn, δ13C, δ2H, and δ18O (for chicken meat) and B, Na, Mg, K, Ca, V, Cr, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Nb, Mo, Sn, Sb, Ba, Pb, δ13C, δ2H, and δ18O (for pork meat). The PLS-DA models were able to differentiate the meat samples according to the animal rearing system with 100% accuracy (for pork meat) and 98% accuracy (for chicken meat), based on the main predictors: B, K, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Nb, Sn, δ13C, and δ2H (for chicken meat) and Se, Rb, Nb, Sb, Ba, Pb, and δ13C (for pork meat).
High-Performance Actionable Knowledge Miner for Boosting Business Revenue
Authors: Tarnowska Katarzyna A. , Bagavathi Arunkumar , Ras Zbigniew W.
Published: December 2022

This research proposes a novel strategy for constructing a knowledge-based recommender system (RS) based on both structured data and unstructured text data. We present its application to improve the services of heavy equipment repair companies to better adjust to their customers’ needs. The ultimate outcome of this work is a visualized web-based interactive recommendation dashboard that shows options that are predicted to improve the customer loyalty metric, known as Net Promoter Score (NPS). We also present a number of techniques aiming to improve the performance of action rule mining by allowing to have convenient periodic updates of the system’s knowledge base. We describe the preprocessing-based and distributed-processing-based method and present the results of testing them for performance within the RS framework. The proposed modifications for the actionable knowledge miner were implemented and compared with the original method in terms of the mining results/times and generated recommendations. Preprocessing-based methods decreased mining by 10–20×, while distributed mining implementation decreased mining timesby 300–400×, with negligible knowledge loss. The article concludes with the future directions for the scalability of the NPS recommender system and remaining challenges in its big data processing.
Enlarged Head Pressure-Dispersed Anchor Cable for Foundation Pit Engineering Purposes
Authors: Wu Chongfu , Kong Linghe , Guo Quanwei , Cao Haiying
Published: December 2022

The enlarged head pressure-dispersed anchor cable is a new type of anchor cable, and the enlarged head of the anchor solid is a multisegment body with variable cross section. Compared with the traditional tension type anchor cable structure, the stress mode of the anchor solid is changed from tensile stress to compressive stress, which is more reasonable. The development process of the plastic zone of the soil around the enlarged head anchor solid is verified by a simulation method. The spherical plastic zone space formed at the enlarged head anchorage end is conducive to the load transfer between the anchor solid and the surrounding soil and reduces the displacement of the anchor solid in the soil. In this pursuit, the present study examines the force mechanism of the enlarged head pressure-dispersed anchor cable. Subsequently, taking an actual project as an example, the anchoring capacity of the enlarged head pressure-dispersed anchor cable and enlarged head tension-type anchor cable was analyzed and compared using FLAC3D software. The results indicate that the support effect of the enlarged head pressure-dispersed anchor cable was better than that of the enlarged head tension anchor cable.
Modelling the Stages of Pre-Project Preparation and Design Development in the Life-Cycle of an Investment and Construction Project
Authors: Lapidus Azariy , Topchiy Dmitriy , Kuzmina Tatyana , Bolshakova Polina
Published: December 2022

The stages of pre-project preparation and design development are the fundamentals to the further implementation of an investment and construction project. The success of construction and commissioning of facilities depends on the smooth completion of these stages. The duration of stages depends on the competence and coordination of interaction between participants of an investment and construction project, rational decision making by the project manager and a number of other factors. Identifying these factors and finding rational planning options in terms of the stages of pre-project preparation and design development is a highly relevant task. With this in mind, the authors have developed an organizational and management model of a rational procedure to be implemented by the project manager at the stages of pre-project preparation and design development for a facility to be constructed. The model takes into account the influence of negative factors. The authors have also developed a method for selecting rational solutions at the stages in question. The analysis of the research literature and regulatory documents was performed for this purpose. The method of expert evaluations, elements of numerical analysis, mathematical processing of practical results and methods of mathematical modeling were applied. As a result, the authors have developed an organizational and management model for a rational combination of procedures at the stages of pre-project preparation and design development for a facility to be constructed and derived a formula determining the duration of implementation of each stage and a technique designated for selecting rational solutions at the stages in question. The findings of this study can simplify project planning and process management at the stages of pre-project preparation and design development in terms of information modeling.
Exploiting Domain Knowledge to Address Class Imbalance in Meteorological Data Mining
Authors: Tsagalidis Evangelos , Evangelidis Georgios
Published: December 2022

We deal with the problem of class imbalance in data mining and machine learning classification algorithms. This is the case where some of the class labels are represented by a small number of examples in the training dataset compared to the rest of the class labels. Usually, those minority class labels are the most important ones, implying that classifiers should primarily perform well on predicting those labels. This is a well-studied problem and various strategies that use sampling methods are used to balance the representation of the labels in the training dataset and improve classifier performance. We explore whether expert knowledge in the field of Meteorology can enhance the quality of the training dataset when treated by pre-processing sampling strategies. We propose four new sampling strategies based on our expertise on the data domain and we compare their effectiveness against the established sampling strategies used in the literature. It turns out that our sampling strategies, which take advantage of expert knowledge from the data domain, achieve class balancing that improves the performance of most classifiers.
Analysis of Load Transfer and the Law of Deformation within a Pile-Supported Reinforced Embankment
Authors: Zhang Da , Yang Guangqing , Wang Xin , Wang Zhijie , Wang He
Published: December 2022

In this paper, the load-transfer mechanism and settlement behaviors of the pile-supported reinforced embankment are reviewed by laboratory model tests, and a series of finite element method (FEM) modellings are conducted to analyze the soil-arching geometry and embankment deformation patterns of the pile-supported reinforced embankment. The results show that: the embankment load distribution is significantly impacted by the filling cohesion because of the effect of cohesion on the interaction between particles. The soil pressure difference between the center and corner of the pile caps decreases with the increase of filling cohesion. The pile-subsoil stress ratio decreases with the increase of filling cohesion. The embankment deformation behavior and soil-arching geometry are less affected by the change in filling cohesion compared with the influence of pile spacing. That may because of the fact that although the cohesion of the embankment filling has been increased, the granular material’s properties have not been fundamentally changed. Pile-subsoil different settlement decreases with the increase of embankment filling cohesion, and the different settlement at the mid-span between four piles decreases by 4.09% and 6.34%, respectively, as filling cohesion increases from 0 kPa to 11 kPa and 25 kPa. The height of the soil-arching crown decreases with the increase of filling cohesion, and the height of the soil-arching crown between horizontal adjacent piles decreases by 3.85%, 7.69%, and 9.62%, as filling cohesion increases from 5 kPa to 15 kPa, 25 kPa and 45 kPa. The rate of decrease in soil-arching height gradually decreases with increasing cohesion. The height of the soil-arching between the horizontal adjacent piles is about 1.0 (s−a). The height of soil arching between the diagonal adjacent piles is about 1.02 (s−a). The differential settlement at the same height inside the embankment decreases with the increase of filling cohesion, and the height of the equal settlement plane is basically the same as the height of soil arching.
Clipping-Based Post Training 8-Bit Quantization of Convolution Neural Networks for Object Detection
Authors: Chen Leisheng , Lou Peihuang
Published: December 2022

Fueled by the development of deep neural networks, breakthroughs have been achieved in plenty of computer vision problems, such as image classification, segmentation, and object detection. These models usually have handers and millions of parameters, which makes them both computational and memory expensive. Motivated by this, this paper proposes a post-training quantization method based on the clipping operation for neural network compression. By quantizing parameters of a model to 8-bit using our proposed methods, its memory consumption is reduced, its computational speed is increased, and its performance is maintained. This method exploits the clipping operation during training so that it saves a large computational cost during quantization. After training, this method quantizes the parameters to 8-bit based on the clipping value. In addition, a fully connected layer compression is conducted using singular value decomposition (SVD), and a novel loss function term is leveraged to further diminish the performance drop caused by quantization. The proposed method is validated on two widely used models, Yolo V3 and Faster R-CNN, for object detection on the PASCAL VOC, COCO, and ImageNet datasets. Performances show it effectively reduces the storage consumption at 18.84% and accelerates the model at 381%, meanwhile avoiding the performance drop (drop < 0.02% in VOC).
Detection and Prevention of DDoS Attacks on the IoT
Authors: Lee Shu-Hung , Shiue Yeong-Long , Cheng Chia-Hsin , Li Yi-Hong , Huang Yung-Fa
Published: December 2022

The Internet of Things (IoT) system has been a hot topic in recent years. Its operation is a system that stores data in data storage and is completed by the exchange of network information about things. Therefore, the security of information between network transmissions is very important. In recent years, the most likely cause of information security problems has been a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. In this paper, we proposed an autonomous defense system that combines edge computing with a two-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) to recognize whether the data server in IoT suffers from DDoS attacks and identify the attack mode. The accuracy of trained two-dimensional CNN is up to 99.5% and 99.8% for packet traffic and packet features training, respectively. A field experiment’s results show that the data server in the proposed system can effectively distinguish the difference between the DDoS attacks and the normal transmission to reduce the impact of DDoS attacks on the IoT data storage while it is under attack.
The Importance of Differences in Results Obtained from Measurements with Various Measuring Systems and Measuring Modes in Industrial Practice
Authors: Zaborowski Wiesław , Harmatys Wiktor , Gąska Adam
Published: December 2022

This paper presents the results of preliminary tests carried out in an organization producing products for the automotive industry. From the many available systems used in this research, different values of results were obtained; these differences cause doubts among people deciding about the process approval and start of production. The main aim of the research presented in the article is to determine the influence of various factors on the measurement results, especially to compare the results of measurements obtained with the optical sensor, which is used during measurements with the use of a multisensor measuring machine. The results obtained with the use of the height gauge, which is used alternatively in the organization, raise further doubts. Experience has shown that the methodology and definition of the alignment during the measurement, which is different for each of the systems, have a great influence.
Virtual Gymnasium: Personalized Weight Perception Interface in Lifting Virtual Objects
Authors: Lee Jun , Lee Younggwang , Park Sungjun
Published: December 2022

This paper proposes a pseudo-haptic interface that depicts the virtual weights of dumbbells in a virtual gymnasium. When a user performs a dumbbell biceps curl, he/she fixes the elbow joint as a standard joint and lifts the dumbbell, with its movement trajectory represented as a circular arc. The trajectories and velocity of dumbbell bicep curls differ depending on human physiological characteristics. Therefore, the proposed system provides an adaptable exercise area and force visualization of virtual dumbbells using a velocity-based pseudo-haptic interface and computer vision-based tracking method. The system recognizes the position and rotation of joints related to a dumbbell biceps curl with the implementation of density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (a clustering algorithm) and resizes the radius and angle of an integrated force circular gauge. Furthermore, when a user lifts a dumbbell, the system recognizes, using linear regression, the current position and lifting force of the virtual dumbbell and visualizes the current lifting force with a guided movement trajectory to match the lifting force. Experimental results show that the proposed pseudo-haptic interface increased weight perception and usability by up to 30% compared to conventional methods (p < 0.05).
Mechanical Properties and Energy Evolution Law of Fractured Coal under Low Confining Pressure
Authors: Wang Zhiqi , Gong Xufei , Gu Xuebin
Published: December 2022

To study the mechanical properties and energy evolution characteristics of the shallow fractured coal in the Western China mining area, a series of triaxial compression tests was carried out on fractured coal specimens. The stress–strain curve, mechanical properties and failure characteristics were analyzed. Then, the fractal characteristics and energy evolution law were investigated. Results show that with the increase of prefabricated crack number, the post-peak stage of the stress–strain curve changed from a linear drop to a stepped drop, indicating that the damage degree tends to moderate. Both the elastic modulus and peak strength decreased as the prefabricated crack number increased, whereas the peak strain did not exhibit a clear trend. The failure mode changed from overall tensile failure to tensile-shear mixed failure as the prefabricated crack number increased. With the increase of prefabricated crack number, the failure shape dimension increased linearly. The total energy and elastic energy decreased gradually with the increase of prefabricated crack number, whereas the dissipation energy increased gradually. The results can provide a better understanding of the failure mechanism of fractured coal and its application for control design.
Ecological and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Farmland in the South of Zhangbei County, Hebei Province, China
Authors: Li Yanhua , Zhu Qing , Tang Xuejiao , Wang Cuiping , Zhai Sheng
Published: December 2022

The distribution of heavy metals in the agricultural areas from a cattle-producing area near the Zhangbei Dam grassland, Hebei province, China, was investigated for providing the basis for the control of pollution in a rural farmland. Fifty-three surface soil samples including 28 soils of potato and 25 soils of oats were collected and analyzed for the distribution of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, As, Hg, and Ni. Furthermore, the ecological risk of soils contaminated with heavy metals was evaluated by employing the single factor index, the Nemerow comprehensive pollution index and geo-accumulation index, and potential ecological hazard index. The results showed that the contents of the eight heavy metals in soil planted with potato were below the risk screening values. The single factor index in soils planted with hulless oats showed that the concentrations of Cd, Hg, and Ni surpassed the Chinese screening limits by 8%, 4%, and 8%, respectively. According to the geo-accumulation index, 4% of samples reached the level of medium ecological risk for Cd. According to the results of ecological risk assessment, the studied soils generally showed a mild pollution degree. According to the health risks assessment results, the carcinogenic risks should be considered non-negligible. Arsenic is the dominant carcinogenic pollutant for human beings in the county. The main sources of pollution are mining and application of fertilizers.
Voltage Optimization in PV-Rich Distribution Networks—A Review
Authors: Dubravac Marina , Fekete Krešimir , Topić Danijel , Barukčić Marinko
Published: December 2022

There is a rising trend to integrate different types of distributed generation (DG), especially photovoltaic (PV) systems, on the roofs of existing consumers, who then become prosumers. One of the prosumer impacts is voltage violations, which conventional strategies find hard to solve. However, some prosumers, such as those with PV with inverters in their configurations, can actively participate in voltage optimization. To help find the optimal PV inverter setting with the objective of voltage optimization, an optimal power flow (OPF) can be a promising and reliable tool. This paper tries to shed light on the complex problem of voltage optimization in distribution networks (DNs) with PV prosumers. Relevant scientific papers are analyzed and optimization characteristics such as objective functions, variables, and constraints are summarized. Special attention is given to the systematization and classification of papers according to the mathematical formulation of the optimization problem (linear, nonlinear, integer, etc.) and the applied solving methods. Both analytical and computational intelligence optimization methods as well as their advantages and limitations are considered. Papers are also categorized according to the distribution network model used for testing the developed solutions.
Immediate Loading of Fixed Prostheses in Fully Edentulous Jaws: A 7-Year Follow-Up from a Single-Cohort Retrospective Study
Authors: Pantaleo Giuseppe , Acerra Alfonso , Giordano Francesco , D’Ambrosio Francesco , Langone Michele , Caggiano Mario
Published: December 2022

The aim of this retrospective single-cohort study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of four-to-five implants immediately restored with metal-resin screw-retained cross-arch fixed prostheses in edentulous jaws 10 years after loading. One-hundred-and-four consecutive patients received four to five implants placed with a torque superior 35 Ncm. One-hundred-and-twenty-seven metal-resin screw-retained fixed prostheses (59 mandibular and 68 maxillary) were to be delivered within 3 days. Outcome measures, evaluated by the treating clinician, were: prosthesis and implant failures, prosthetic modifications, peri-implant mucositis, and biological and prosthetic complications. A total of 549 implants were placed. Twenty-one implants failed in 14 patients and 102 prostheses were remade, at least once, in 81 patients: 2 due to implant failures and 33 because of fractures of the prostheses. In particular, 25 original metal-resin prostheses had to be remade because of fractures versus only eight of the replacement monolithic metal-resin prostheses. All patients were wearing fixed prostheses at the end of the follow-up. Thirty-six biological complications occurred in 22 patients. Eighty-six prosthetic complications occurred in 42 patients. In conclusion, immediately loaded cross-arch prostheses supported by four-to-five immediately placed implants are a viable therapeutic option if robust prostheses are made.
Effects of Tunnel and Its Ventilation Modes on the Aerodynamic Drag of a Subway Train
Authors: Wang Hanfeng , Tian Honglei , Du Jian , Zhou Yu , Alam Md. Mahbub , Huang Jiefeng , Li Guibo
Published: December 2022

This paper reports an in situ measurement on the effects of a tunnel and its ventilation modes on the aerodynamic drag of a subway train with eight carriages during its routine operation. The train speed (V) varied continually from 0 to 22 m/s. Two modes of tunnel ventilation were examined, i.e., recirculation and free-cooling modes. The former mode is associated with pumping cooled air into the tunnel to provide extra cooling, while the latter is not. The friction coefficient Cf of the train surface was estimated using two hotwire probes mounted on the roof of the first and last carriages, respectively. The front- and rear-stagnation pressures (Pf and Pl) were measured using two pressure taps located at the center of the forward surface of the first carriage and the backward surface of the last carriage, respectively. It has been found that the presence of a tunnel significantly increases both Cf and Pf. For example, at V = 20.5 m/s, Cf and Pf were 30.2% and 24.5% higher, respectively, in the tunnel than their counterparts in open air. The tunnel ventilation mode also has remarkable effects on Cf. The recirculation mode resulted in 23.5% higher Cf than the free-cooling mode. On the other hand, the tunnel ventilation mode does not seem to have an appreciable effect on Pf. The physics behind these observations is also discussed.
Investigation of the Possibility of Listeria monocytogenes Growth in Alternatively Cured Cooked Sausages—A Case Study
Authors: Modzelewska-Kapituła Monika , Lemański Andrzej , Zduńczyk Weronika , Zadernowska Anna
Published: December 2022

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of Listeria monocytogenes growth in cooked sausages produced in the same meat processing plant without or with a direct nitrite addition (alternatively cured, AC, and nitrite cured, control). The AC and control sausages were inoculated with a mix of three L. monocytogenes strains. Products (n = 24 sausages for each product type) were vacuum-packed and stored for 10 days at 6 °C. Residual nitrite and salt contents, water activity and the number of L. monocytogenes were determined in products. A higher nitrite content was found in the control (44.9 mg/kg) compared with AC (12.1 mg/kg). Significantly higher L. monocytogenes counts at the 6th and the 8th day were noted in AC sausages, however at the 10th day they did not differ significantly between the treatments (2.96 and 3.27 log10 CFU/g in the control and AC, respectively). AC sausages showed a growth potential value of 0.64, which indicates the possibility of L. monocytogenes growth on the surface of alternatively cured products. In contrast, a growth potential value of 0.21 was found in control sausages, which indicates that nitrite cured sausages did not support the pathogen growth at 6 °C.
A Method for Dynamic Insertion Order Scheduling in Flexible Job Shops Based on Digital Twins
Authors: Wang Yajun , Leng Junyu , Liu Xiaoqi , Wang Jiajia , Meng Qiunan
Published: December 2022

Various production disturbances occurring in the flexible job shop production process may affect the production of the workshop, some of which may lead to the prolongation of production completion time. Therefore, a flexible job shop dynamic scheduling method based on digital twins is proposed and a dynamic scheduling framework is constructed. Compared with the traditional workshop, the digital twin-based flexible job shop can upload the relevant production data of the physical workshop to the data management center in real time, and after fusion processing the data can work cooperatively with the upper application system. Taking the dynamic disturbance of rush order insertion as an example, the dynamic scheduling of insertion order is realized based on the dynamic scheduling framework, and then the production efficiency is improved. To achieve the shortest completion time, a mathematical model for dynamic scheduling optimization is established and a genetic algorithm (GA) is applied to solve the model. Finally, a practical case is applied to show that the completion time of this algorithm is reduced by 35%, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed dynamic scheduling method.
Laser Therapy in Perianal Fistulas
Authors: Sandor Mircea , Horgos Maur Sebastian , Borza Ioan Lucian , Negrean Rodica , Botea Mihai , Bimbo Szuhai Erika , Huniadi Anca , Sachelarie Liliana , Hurjui Loredana Liliana , Jemnoschi Hreniuc Irina Mihaela
Published: December 2022

(1) Background: Perianal fistula represents a chronic local suppuration, and recurrent or incorrectly treated, this pathology has a negative effect on the life of patients. (2) Methods: A 12-month prospective study was conducted with a study group (patients at the second presentation) and a control group (patients at the first presentation). The BTL-6000 brand laser has 50 times the maximum power of conventional laser devices with an unmatched wavelength of 1064 nm and a tissue penetration power of up to 10 cm. It is highly effective in speeding up healing and pain management (3) Results: Transcutaneous high-intensity laser therapy of perianal fistulas proved effective with a promising positive impact on both symptomatology and local signs in the study group. As for the patients in the control group, 37 of them required a second hospitalization due to the recurrence of symptoms and to whom the same laser therapy was applied. (4) Conclusions: A beneficial and positive effect was observed in our study, mainly on the symptoms determined by the appearance of the perianal fistula, both in the short- and long-term. High-frequency laser therapy is of major importance, considering the lower costs compared to surgery as well as the discomfort created during local treatments.