bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of 3D-Printing Technologies on the Transformation of Industrial Production in the Arctic Zone
Authors: Konnikov Evgenii A. , Konnikova Olga A. , Rodionov Dmitriy G.
Published: January 2019

Today the process of transition to a new technological order has become evident to everyone, especially in developed countries. One of the most urgent areas for ensuring the long-term competitiveness of industrial enterprises is the development of the Arctic zone. This region has many economic and logistical difficulties, the solution of which may lie in the use of advanced technologies of the new technological order, for example, 3D-printing technologies. The aim of the article is to study the transformation of the cost structure of industrial products as a result of integration of 3D-printing technologies into the production process of industrial enterprise operating in the Arctic zone. It was found that the structure of the main cost elements varies greatly, due to the ambiguity of replacing computer numerical control (CNC) (or other classical shaping technologies) with 3D-printing technologies, as well as the specifics of supply chains, which is quite urgent for the Arctic region. The results of empirical study necessitate the development of tools for predicting the economic viability of integrating 3D-printing technologies into the technological processes of industrial enterprises operating in the Arctic zone. Within the article, the authors substantiated and developed a fuzzy-multiple model for assessing the level of investment attractiveness of integration of 3D-printing technologies into the production process of an industrial enterprise operating the Arctic zone. One of the aims of this model is to answer the question of whether an enterprise should invest in a technological transition to 3D-printing technologies.
Surface Plasmon Enhanced Light Scattering Biosensing: Size Dependence on the Gold Nanoparticle Tag
Authors: Yang Chih-Tsung , Xu Yi , Pourhassan-Moghaddam Mohammad , Tran Duy Phu , Wu Lin , Zhou Xin , Thierry Benjamin
Published: January 2019

Surface plasmon enhanced light scattering (SP-LS) is a powerful new sensing SPR modality that yields excellent sensitivity in sandwich immunoassay using spherical gold nanoparticle (AuNP) tags. Towards further improving the performance of SP-LS, we systematically investigated the AuNP size effect. Simulation results indicated an AuNP size-dependent scattered power, and predicted the optimized AuNPs sizes (i.e., 100 and 130 nm) that afford extremely high signal enhancement in SP-LS. The maximum scattered power from a 130 nm AuNP is about 1700-fold higher than that obtained from a 17 nm AuNP. Experimentally, a bio-conjugation protocol was developed by coating the AuNPs with mixture of low and high molecular weight PEG molecules. Optimal IgG antibody bioconjugation conditions were identified using physicochemical characterization and a model dot-blot assay. Aggregation prevented the use of the larger AuNPs in SP-LS experiments. As predicted by simulation, AuNPs with diameters of 50 and 64 nm yielded significantly higher SP-LS signal enhancement in comparison to the smaller particles. Finally, we demonstrated the feasibility of a two-step SP-LS protocol based on a gold enhancement step, aimed at enlarging 36 nm AuNPs tags. This study provides a blue-print for the further development of SP-LS biosensing and its translation in the bioanalytical field.
Analysis and Design of SCMA-Based Hybrid Unicast-Multicast Relay-Assisted Networks
Authors: Zhang Yibo , Wang Xiaoxiang , Wang Dongyu , Zhang Yufang , Lan Yanwen
Published: January 2019

This paper studies a multi-user network model based on sparse code multiple access (SCMA), where both unicast and multicast services are considered. In the direct transmission scheme, the communication between the base station (BS) and the users is completed with one stage, in which the relay is inexistent. In the two-stage cooperative transmission scheme, any number of relays are placed to improve the reliability of wireless communication system. The BS broadcasts the requested message to users and relays in the first stage, and the successful relays forward the message to unsuccessful users in the second stage. To characterize the performance of these two schemes, we derive the exact and approximate expressions of average outage probability. Furthermore, to take full advantage of the cooperative diversity, an optimal power allocation and relay location strategy in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime is studied. The outage probability reaches the minimum value when the first stage occupies half of the total energy consumed. Simulation and analysis results are presented to demonstrate the performance of these two schemes. The results show that the two-stage cooperative scheme effectively reduce the average outage probability in SCMA network, especially in the high SNR region.
Attitude Estimation of Underwater Vehicles Using Field Measurements and Bias Compensation
Authors: Ko Nak Yong , Jeong Seokki , Hwang Suk-seung , Pyun Jae-Young
Published: January 2019

This paper proposes a method of estimating the attitude of an underwater vehicle. The proposed method uses two field measurements, namely, a gravitational field and a magnetic field represented in terms of vectors in three-dimensional space. In many existing methods that convert the measured field vectors into Euler angles, the yaw accuracy is affected by the uncertainty of the gravitational measurement and by the uncertainty of the magnetic field measurement. Additionally, previous methods have used the magnetic field measurement under the assumption that the magnetic field has only a horizontal component. The proposed method utilizes all field measurement components as they are, without converting them into Euler angles. The bias in the measured magnetic field vector is estimated and compensated to take full advantage of all measured field vector components. Because the proposed method deals with the measured field independently, uncertainties in the measured vectors affect the attitude estimation separately without adding up. The proposed method was tested by conducting navigation experiments with an unmanned underwater vehicle inside test tanks. The results were compared with those obtained by other methods, wherein the Euler angles converted from the measured field vectors were used as measurements.
Automatic Building Extraction from Google Earth Images under Complex Backgrounds Based on Deep Instance Segmentation Network
Authors: Wen Qi , Jiang Kaiyu , Wang Wei , Liu Qingjie , Guo Qing , Li Lingling , Wang Ping
Published: January 2019

Building damage accounts for a high percentage of post-natural disaster assessment. Extracting buildings from optical remote sensing images is of great significance for natural disaster reduction and assessment. Traditional methods mainly are semi-automatic methods which require human-computer interaction or rely on purely human interpretation. In this paper, inspired by the recently developed deep learning techniques, we propose an improved Mask Region Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN) method that can detect the rotated bounding boxes of buildings and segment them from very complex backgrounds, simultaneously. The proposed method has two major improvements, making it very suitable to perform building extraction task. Firstly, instead of predicting horizontal rectangle bounding boxes of objects like many other detectors do, we intend to obtain the minimum enclosing rectangles of buildings by adding a new term: the principal directions of the rectangles θ. Secondly, a new layer by integrating advantages of both atrous convolution and inception block is designed and inserted into the segmentation branch of the Mask R-CNN to make the branch to learn more representative features. We test the proposed method on a newly collected large Google Earth remote sensing dataset with diverse buildings and very complex backgrounds. Experiments demonstrate that it can obtain promising results.
A Survey of Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Testing
Authors: Wang Jian , Shao Yameng , Ge Yuming , Yu Rundong
Published: January 2019

Vehicle to everything (V2X) is a new generation of information and communication technologies that connect vehicles to everything. It not only creates a more comfortable and safer transportation environment, but also has much significance for improving traffic efficiency, and reducing pollution and accident rates. At present, the technology is still in the exploratory stage, and the problems of traffic safety and information security brought about by V2X applications have not yet been fully evaluated. Prior to marketization, we must ensure the reliability and maturity of the technology, which must be rigorously tested and verified. Therefore, testing is an important part of V2X technology. This article focuses on the V2X application requirements and its challenges, the need of testing. Then we also investigate and summarize the testing methods for V2X in the communication process and describe them in detail from the architectural perspective. In addition, we have proposed an end-to-end testing system combining virtual and real environments which can undertake the test task of the full protocol stack.
Determination of the Location and Magnetic Moment of Ferromagnetic Objects Based on the Analysis of Magnetovision Measurements
Authors: Nowicki Michał , Szewczyk Roman
Published: January 2019

This article is concerned with the localization of ferromagnetic objects on the basis of magnetovision measurement analysis. In the presented case, the concept of localization is understood as the indication of the x, y, and z coordinates of the magnetic moment of the sought object. Magnetovision measurement provides a much simpler, two-dimensional localization of magnetic anomalies compared to existing active and passive mobile devices, largely based on operator knowledge and experience. In addition, the analysis of the obtained magnetovision measurement, by fusing data with a mathematical model, enables a quantitative assessment of the position of an object in space and the determination of the value and spatial orientation of its magnetic moment vector. The detection and localization method was verified using the certified magnetic moment standard. An additional novelty is the inclusion of the influence of the constant gradient of the external field in the model, which corresponds to disturbing the measurement by the influence of large, but distant, objects. The proposed three-dimensional magnetovision measurement method and its analysis enable the determination of the x, y, and z coordinates; the angular position; and the magnetic moment values of unknown magnetic dipoles in real conditions (effects of disturbances generated by other distant objects and background noise), thus precisely detecting and locating the ferromagnetic object.
Evaluation of the Speed Control Cameras in the City of Lisbon
Authors: Santos José Nuno Dias Crespo Martins dos , Carvalheira Carmen de Jesus Geraldo , Picado Santos Luís Guilherme de , Magušić Radmila
Published: January 2019

In Portugal, urban areas still have a high number of fatalities as a result of road crashes. In 2016, 78% of road crashes with victims, 62% with serious injuries and 54% with fatalities occurred in urban areas. Knowing where crashes occur and what circumstances contributed to these occurrences is the key to finding solutions that minimize injuries and deaths. At the end of 2016, as a safety measure, speed control cameras from SINCRO (Sistema Nacional de Controlo de Velocidade, the national speed control system), began to be installed in different parts of the country. The first application was in 2006 at several spots in the urban area of Lisbon. Cameras were installed in 20 of these locations. This study, using the location of the speed control cameras (which were only effective in 19 spots) and the 2004–2011 crash databases, sought to assess the effectiveness of the measure. The results showed that there was a positive effect on crash rates soon after implementation, but it was also perceived that this effect was attenuated in subsequent years. It is assumed that the reasons for this are due to the familiarization with the system, together with inefficient sanctioning of the violators, and additionally due to malfunctioning equipment not being repaired in a timely manner, which was evident to the users.
The Role of Family in Bullying and Cyberbullying Involvement: Examining a New Typology of Parental Education Management Based on Adolescents’ View of Their Parents
Authors: Gómez-Ortiz Olga , Apolinario Carmen , Romera Eva M. , Ortega-Ruiz Rosario
Published: January 2019

The influence of the family in children’s involvement in bullying and cyberbullying has been well documented. However, previous research into this relationship seems to have overlooked recent social changes, which have affected the family context. The aim of this study is to put forward a categorization of the current educational management of Spanish parents and examine how this is linked to their children’s involvement in bullying and cyberbullying. To achieve this, 2060 schoolchildren from the South of Spain (47.9% girls with mean age = 14.34) answered four questionnaires including the Scale for the Assessment of the Parenting Styles of Adolescents’ Mothers and Fathers, the Discipline Dimensions Inventory, the European Bullying Intervention Project Questionnaire, and the European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire. The Cluster Analysis results revealed a typology containing six styles: permissive, authoritarian, strict, normative democratic, indulgent democratic, and punitive democratic. Lower levels of victimization and aggression in bullying and cyberbullying were found to be linked to the indulgent democratic or normative democratic styles and higher levels to the authoritarian and strict styles. The value of parents’ educational practices and how they are combined in general styles, since these are elements that can predispose or prevent adolescent’s involvement in bullying and cyberbullying, is discussed.
Effects of Perceived Traffic Risks, Noise, and Exhaust Smells on Bicyclist Behaviour: An Economic Evaluation
Authors: Gössling Stefan , Humpe Andreas , Litman Todd , Metzler Daniel
Published: January 2019

Active mode (walking, bicycling, and their variants) users are exposed to various negative externalities from motor vehicle traffic, including injury risks, noise, and air pollutants. This directly harms the users of these modes and discourages their use, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of less active travel, more motorized travel, and more harmful effects. These impacts are widely recognized but seldom quantified. This study evaluates these impacts and their consequences by measuring the additional distances that bicyclists travel in order to avoid roads with heavy motor vehicle traffic, based on a sample of German-Austrian bicycle organization members (n = 491), and monetizes the incremental costs. The results indicate that survey respondents cycle an average 6.4% longer distances to avoid traffic impacts, including injury risks, air, and noise pollution. Using standard monetization methods, these detours are estimated to impose private costs of at least €0.24/cycle-km, plus increased external costs when travellers shift from non-motorized to motorized modes. Conventional transport planning tends to overlook these impacts, resulting in overinvestment in roadway expansions and underinvestments in other types of transport improvements, including sidewalks, crosswalks, bikelanes, paths, traffic calming, and speed reductions. These insights should have importance for transport planning and economics.
Rural Tourism in Georgia in Transition: Challenges for Regional Sustainability
Authors: Khartishvili Lela , Muhar Andreas , Dax Thomas , Khelashvili Ioseb
Published: January 2019

Tourism in rural regions of Georgia has a long tradition; however, many structures had been developed during Soviet times under the framework of a centrally planned economy and forced collectivism. Today, Rural Tourism is widely discussed by the national government and international cooperation partners as a means for regional development and as an alternative source of employment in agricultural areas and mountain regions. The purpose of this study is to develop suggestions for the institutionalization of Rural Tourism in the country and to propose relevant actions. Research methods comprised a document analysis, qualitative interviews with various stakeholders, and focus group discussions. We analyzed recent tendencies and challenges of rural tourism development in Georgia with a focus on the concept of community-based tourism and integrated rural development. We also review the challenges of the current structure of tourism marketing on the national level with regard to Rural Tourism products. The key findings of the research include recommendations to create a central leading structure for rural tourism at the national level, which will work on strategic issues and general norms of Rural Tourism. At the same time, we propose the development of destination management organizations, which will integrate general provisions in regional legislation and marketing in close cooperation with local stakeholders.
The Uses of Reconstructing Heritage in China: Tourism, Heritage Authorization, and Spatial Transformation of the Shaolin Temple
Authors: Su Xiaoyan , Song Changqing , Sigley Gary
Published: January 2019

Recently, debates on authenticity in the West and China have attracted attention of critical heritage studies. This paper aims to better understand how Western Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) influences local heritage practice in China. This paper employs observation, semi-structured interviews and textual analysis to examine how authenticity criteria in Western AHD has shaped perceptions on the spatial consequences of what is “authentic” by different agents in regards to the cultural heritage of the Shaolin Temple. It is argued that the implementation of authenticity criteria found in Western AHD influences Shaolin heritage practice both in hegemonic and negotiated ways, in which a Chinese AHD is formed through the creation of a Western AHD with Chinese characteristics. The understandings on authenticity criteria derived from Western AHD by Chinese heritage experts dominates Shaolin heritage practice, whilst the perceptions on “authentic” Shaolin Temple cultural heritage attached closely to their emotions and experiences by local residents are neglected and excluded. The religiously based authenticity claims of the Shaolin monks which competes with those of the heritage experts and local residents are also considered. Furthermore, the managerial structure was changed in 2010 from a government-directed institution to a joint-venture partnership. The impacts of these managerial changes are also considered. The final outcome of these competing heritage claims was that local residents were relocated far from their original community. Without the residential community in situ, and in conjunction with the further commercialization of local culture, the Shaolin Temple heritage site takes on the features of a pseudo-classic theme park.
Collaborating for Sustainable Water and Energy Management: Assessment and Categorisation of Indigenous Involvement in Remote Australian Communities
Authors: Jackson Melissa , Stewart Rodney A. , Fielding Kelly S. , Cochrane Jessie , Beal Cara D.
Published: January 2019

Indigenous peoples living in remote areas are often reliant on Governments for essential services and local economic development opportunities. Collaboration and partnership in resource planning and management is espoused as an approach that can provide multiple benefits for all stakeholders including more robust and long-lasting decisions, relationship-building and trust between government and community members as well as capacity building and empowerment of citizens. In Australia however, little evidence from the remote Indigenous community context is available to inform successful collaborations. This paper presents novel research using thematic analysis of practitioner interviews and document review to analyse the current situation of service-provider- remote community engagement and collaboration for sustainable water and energy management. An adapted typology of Indigenous engagement is applied as an analytical framework, categorising water and energy management initiatives according to four key types, each with varying levels of collaboration and implications for sustainable water and energy. Application of the typology shows that technocratic approaches to community engagement continue to dominate this space as collaborative processes are constrained by a range of institutional, governance, technical and cultural factors. The findings have implications for research, policy and practice, and point to a need for a systemic approach to address barriers and facilitate genuine collaboration.
Cognitive and Affective Antecedents of Consumers’ Satisfaction: A Systematic Review of Two Research Approaches
Authors: Palací Francisco , Salcedo Alejandro , Topa Gabriela
Published: January 2019

The study of consumers’ satisfaction has generated empirical research in the last few decades, with new challenges, such as a specific lens on online consumers’ satisfaction. During the last decades, two well-differentiated research traditions can be observed: cognitive and affective. A wide range of antecedents of consumers’ satisfaction has been proposed. The present contribution empirical research conducted under these two perspectives to determine which variables are related to satisfaction, the direction of these relationships, and the differences between the two dominant approaches. We conducted a systematic review of 104 empirical studies on consumers’ satisfaction published between 1975 and 2017. The findings showed that both the cognitive and the affective tradition yield statistically significant precursors of satisfaction. A comparison between empirical studies exploring consumers’ satisfaction in traditional versus by Internet purchasing behavior showed an increasing relevance of cognitive facets in traditional consumer behavior. Empirical evidence exploring differences between consumers’ satisfaction with purchasing goods versus hiring services showed that both cognitive and affective predictors strongly impact when services are hired versus consuming goods. This article concludes with a discussion of these results and their implications.
Insights from Testing a Modified Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways Approach for Spatial Planning at the Municipal Level
Authors: Carstens Christoffer , Sonnek Karin Mossberg , Räty Riitta , Wikman-Svahn Per , Carlsson-Kanyama Annika , Metzger Jonathan
Published: January 2019

The Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) approach has successfully been used to manage uncertainties in large infrastructure projects. However, the viability of the DAPP approach for spatial planning in smaller municipal settings is not clear. This paper examines opportunities and constraints of using adaptive pathways approaches to help small municipalities plan for future sea-level rise. The methodology was based on developing a simplified DAPP-approach, which was tested in a multiple experimental case study of spatial planning projects in three municipalities in Sweden. The results show that the approach promoted vulnerability-based thinking among the end-users and generated new ideas on how to manage the uncertain long-term impacts of future sea-level rise. However, the increased understanding of uncertainties was used to justify static, rather than adaptive, solutions. This somewhat surprising outcome can be explained by perceived legal constraints, lack of experience of adaptive pathways, and unwillingness to prescribe actions that could prove difficult to enforce in the future. More research is needed to further understand at what planning phases dynamic policy pathway approaches work best and how current barriers in legislation, practices, mind-set, organization, and resources can be overcome.
Does the Olympic Agenda 2020 Have the Power to Create a New Olympic Heritage? An Analysis for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games Bid
Authors: Schnitzer Martin , Haizinger Lukas
Published: January 2019

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) lacks candidates willing to host the Olympic Games (OG) and has reacted to this situation by introducing the Olympic Agenda 2020 (OA)—a reform process making the OG more attractive for potential hosts. This study analyzes whether the OA plays a crucial role for the future of the OG. We, therefore, examined the official IOC documents and feasibility studies of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games (WOG) bidders and conducted qualitative interviews with experts in the field (n = 15). The results reveal that the 2026 WOG hosts plan to reduce the budgets for the organization and the infrastructure costs in the host regions. As a consequence, the number and nature of the sites and venues as well as the distances between them will increase. This means that the future Olympic heritage (OH) may lay less in iconic buildings but rather focus on the attempt to fulfil the city’s long-term strategies. Our analyses extend the literature by: (1) analysing the OA in view of future OG, (2) comparing experiences from past OG with those of current bidders, (3) integrating expert knowledge thanks to qualitative interviews and, finally, (4) considering new heritage concepts.
Tsallis Holographic Dark Energy in f(G,T) Gravity
Authors: Sharif Muhammad , Saba Saadia
Published: January 2019

In this paper, we study the reconstruction paradigm for Tsallis holographic dark energy model using generalized Tsallis entropy conjecture with Hubble horizon in the framework of f ( G , T ) gravity (G and T represent the Gauss-Bonnet invariant and trace of the energy-momentum tensor). We take the flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe model with dust fluid configuration. The cosmological evolution of reconstructed models is examined through cosmic diagnostic parameters and phase planes. The equation of the state parameter indicates phantom phase while the deceleration parameter demonstrates accelerated cosmic epoch for both conserved as well as non-conserved energy-momentum tensor. The squared speed of the sound parameter shows instability of the conserved model while stable non-conserved model for the entire cosmic evolutionary paradigm. The trajectories of the ω G T − ω G T ′ plane correspond to freezing as well as thawing regimes for the conserved and non-conserved scenario, respectively. The r − s plane gives phantom and quintessence dark energy epochs for conserved while Chaplygin gas model regime for the non-conserved case. We conclude that, upon the appropriate choice of the free parameters involved, the derived models demonstrate a self-consistent phantom universe behavior.
Best Proximity Point Results for Generalized Θ-Contractions and Application to Matrix Equations
Authors: Ma Zhenhua , Hussain Azhar , Adeel Muhammad , Hussain Nawab , Savas Ekrem
Published: January 2019

In this paper, we introduce the notion of C ´ iri c ´ type α - ψ - Θ -contraction and prove best proximity point results in the context of complete metric spaces. Moreover, we prove some best proximity point results in partially ordered complete metric spaces through our main results. As a consequence, we obtain some fixed point results for such contraction in complete metric and partially ordered complete metric spaces. Examples are given to illustrate the results obtained. Moreover, we present the existence of a positive definite solution of nonlinear matrix equation X = Q + ∑ i = 1 m A i ∗ γ ( X ) A i and give a numerical example.
Improving Accuracy of the Kalman Filter Algorithm in Dynamic Conditions Using ANN-Based Learning Module
Authors: Ullah Israr , Fayaz Muhammad , Kim DoHyeun
Published: January 2019

Prediction algorithms enable computers to learn from historical data in order to make accurate decisions about an uncertain future to maximize expected benefit or avoid potential loss. Conventional prediction algorithms are usually based on a trained model, which is learned from historical data. However, the problem with such prediction algorithms is their inability to adapt to dynamic scenarios and changing conditions. This paper presents a novel learning to prediction model to improve the performance of prediction algorithms under dynamic conditions. In the proposed model, a learning module is attached to the prediction algorithm, which acts as a supervisor to monitor and improve the performance of the prediction algorithm continuously by analyzing its output and considering external factors that may have an influence on its performance. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed learning to prediction model, we have developed the artificial neural network (ANN)-based learning module to improve the prediction accuracy of the Kalman filter algorithm as a case study. For experimental analysis, we consider a scenario where the Kalman filter algorithm is used to predict actual temperature from noisy sensor readings. the Kalman filter algorithm uses fixed process error covariance R, which is not suitable for dynamic situations where the error in sensor readings varies due to some external factors. In this study, we assume variable error in temperature sensor readings due to the changing humidity level. We have developed a learning module based on ANN to estimate the amount of error in current readings and to update R in the Kalman filter accordingly. Through experiments, we observed that the Kalman filter with the learning module performed better (4.41%–11.19%) than the conventional Kalman filter algorithm in terms of the root mean squared error metric.
Bioactivity and Structural Properties of Novel Synthetic Analogues of the Protozoan Toxin Climacostol
Authors: Buonanno Federico , Catalani Elisabetta , Cervia Davide , Proietti Serafini Francesca , Picchietti Simona , Fausto Anna Maria , Giorgi Simone , Lupidi Gabriele , Rossi Federico Vittorio , Marcantoni Enrico , Petrelli Dezemona , Ortenzi Claudio
Published: January 2019

Climacostol (5-[(2Z)-non-2-en-1-yl]benzene-1,3-diol) is a resorcinol produced by the protozoan Climacostomum virens for defence against predators. It exerts a potent antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens, inhibits the growth of several human and rodent tumour cells, and is now available by chemical synthesis. In this study, we chemically synthesized two novel analogues of climacostol, namely, 2-methyl-5 [(2Z)-non-2-en-1-yl]benzene-1,3-diol (AN1) and 5-[(2Z)-non-2-en-1-yl]benzene-1,2,3-triol (AN2), with the aim to increase the activity of the native toxin, evaluating their effects on prokaryotic and free-living protists and on mammalian tumour cells. The results demonstrated that the analogue bearing a methyl group (AN1) in the aromatic ring exhibited appreciably higher toxicity against pathogen microbes and protists than climacostol. On the other hand, the analogue bearing an additional hydroxyl group (AN2) in the aromatic ring revealed its ability to induce programmed cell death in protistan cells. Overall, the data collected demonstrate that the introduction of a methyl or a hydroxyl moiety to the aromatic ring of climacostol can effectively modulate its potency and its mechanism of action.
The Individual and Combined Effects of the Cyanotoxins, Anatoxin-a and Microcystin-LR, on the Growth, Toxin Production, and Nitrogen Fixation of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Algae
Authors: Chia Mathias Ahii , Kramer Benjamin J. , Jankowiak Jennifer G. , Bittencourt-Oliveira Maria do Carmo , Gobler Christopher J.
Published: January 2019

Globally, eutrophication and warming of aquatic ecosystems has increased the frequency and intensity of cyanobacterial blooms and their associated toxins, with the simultaneous detection of multiple cyanotoxins often occurring. Despite the co-occurrence of cyanotoxins such as microcystins and anatoxin-a (ATX) in water bodies, their effects on phytoplankton communities are poorly understood. The individual and combined effects of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and ATX on the cyanobacteria Microcystis spp., and Anabaena variabilis (a.k.a. Trichormus variabilis), and the chlorophyte, Selenastrum capricornutum were investigated in the present study. Cell density, chlorophyll-a content, and the maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) of Microcystis cells were generally lowered after exposure to ATX or MC-LR, while the combined treatment with MC-LR and ATX synergistically reduced the chlorophyll-a concentration of Microcystis strain LE-3. Intracellular levels of microcystin in Microcystis LE-3 significantly increased following exposure to MC-LR + ATX. The maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II of Anabaena strain UTEX B377 declined during exposure to the cyanotoxins. Nitrogen fixation by Anabaena UTEX B377 was significantly inhibited by exposure to ATX, but was unaffected by MC-LR. In contrast, the combination of both cyanotoxins (MC-LR + ATX) caused a synergistic increase in the growth of S. capricornutum. While the toxins caused an increase in the activity of enzymes that scavenge reactive oxygen species in cyanobacteria, enzyme activity was unchanged or decreased in S. capricornutum. Collectively this study demonstrates that MC-LR and ATX can selectively promote and inhibit the growth and performance of green algae and cyanobacteria, respectively, and that the combined effect of these cyanotoxins was often more intense than their individual effects on some strains. This suggests that the release of multiple cyanotoxins in aquatic ecosystems, following the collapse of blooms, may influence the succession of plankton communities.
Exploring the Papillomaviral Proteome to Identify Potential Candidates for a Chimeric Vaccine against Cervix Papilloma Using Immunomics and Computational Structural Vaccinology
Authors: Kaliamurthi Satyavani , Selvaraj Gurudeeban , Chinnasamy Sathishkumar , Wang Qiankun , Nangraj Asma Sindhoo , Cho William CS , Gu Keren , Wei Dong-Qing
Published: January 2019

The human papillomavirus (HPV) 58 is considered to be the second most predominant genotype in cervical cancer incidents in China. HPV type-restriction, non-targeted delivery, and the highcost of existing vaccines necessitate continuing research on the HPV vaccine. We aimed to explore the papillomaviral proteome in order to identify potential candidates for a chimeric vaccine against cervix papilloma using computational immunology and structural vaccinology approaches. Two overlapped epitope segments (23–36) and (29–42) from the N-terminal region of the HPV58 minor capsid protein L2 are selected as capable of inducing both cellular and humoral immunity. In total, 318 amino acid lengths of the vaccine construct SGD58 contain adjuvants (Flagellin and RS09), two Th epitopes, and linkers. SGD58 is a stable protein that is soluble, antigenic, and non-allergenic. Homology modeling and the structural refinement of the best models of SGD58 and TLR5 found 96.8% and 93.9% favored regions in Rampage, respectively. The docking results demonstrated a HADDOCK score of −62.5 ± 7.6, the binding energy (−30 kcal/mol) and 44 interacting amino acid residues between SGD58-TLR5 complex. The docked complex are stable in 100 ns of simulation. The coding sequences of SGD58 also show elevated gene expression in Escherichia coli with 1.0 codon adaptation index and 59.92% glycine-cysteine content. We conclude that SGD58 may prompt the creation a vaccine against cervix papilloma.
Computational characterization of enzyme-bound thiamin diphosphate reveals a surprisingly stable tricyclic state: implications for catalysis
Authors: Planas Ferran , McLeish Michael J , Himo Fahmi
Published: January 2019

Thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)-dependent enzymes constitute a large class of enzymes that catalyze a diverse range of reactions. Many are involved in stereospecific carbon–carbon bond formation and, consequently, have found increasing interest and utility as chiral catalysts in various biocatalytic applications. All ThDP-catalyzed reactions require the reaction of the ThDP ylide (the activated state of the cofactor) with the substrate. Given that the cofactor can adopt up to seven states on an enzyme, identifying the factors affecting the stability of the pre-reactant states is important for the overall understanding of the kinetics and mechanism of the individual reactions.

In this paper we use density functional theory calculations to systematically study the different cofactor states in terms of energies and geometries. Benzoylformate decarboxylase (BFDC), which is a well characterized chiral catalyst, serves as the prototypical ThDP-dependent enzyme. A model of the active site was constructed on the basis of available crystal structures, and the cofactor states were characterized in the presence of three different ligands (crystallographic water, benzoylformate as substrate, and (R)-mandelate as inhibitor). Overall, the calculations reveal that the relative stabilities of the cofactor states are greatly affected by the presence and identity of the bound ligands. A surprising finding is that benzoylformate binding, while favoring ylide formation, provided even greater stabilization to a catalytically inactive tricyclic state. Conversely, the inhibitor binding greatly destabilized the ylide formation. Together, these observations have significant implications for the reaction kinetics of the ThDP-dependent enzymes, and, potentially, for the use of unnatural substrates in such reactions.
EVALUATION OF THE INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS EFFECTIVENESS
Authors: Bertašius Donatas
Published: January 2019

Today, when the concepts of general quality management science are applied internationally, the certification of quality management systems has become not only the advantage but also the necessity in contemporary competition environment. The conclusions of researches carried out abroad implies the hypothesis that a part of the companies lacks a quality development experience and, as a consequence, are not able to employ all possibilities offered by ISO standards; such standards often become at least partially the attribute of formal administration. The comparison of 2001–2005 year indicators, describing the effectiveness of international standards in organisation of Lithuania with other countries provides the conclusions on the possibilities for a faster and more effective employment of international experience, while working according to the standards of ISO series.
COMMERCIALISATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS IN HIGHER SCHOOLS
Authors: Ginevičius Romualdas , Rimkus Liudvikas
Published: January 2019

The commercialisation of research results is very important in the world now. The situation of this problem in Europe is analysed in the paper. The possibility to use 4–6 Framework programme projects for commercialisation of research results is discussed at large. The situation of the results commercialisation using international projects in Lithuania as an example of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) is surveyed. The analysis of international projects results for ten last years in the VGTU using research reports and archive data of the VGTU is performed. Proposals for developing the international projects and the way to intensify the research results of commercialisation in Lithuania are presented in conclusions.
MULTI-OBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF MICROCLIMATE IN DWELLING
Authors: Kalibatas Darius , Krutinis Mindaugas , Viteikienė Milda
Published: January 2019

When the customers’ demands grow, it becomes topical to evaluate peculiarities of inside climate of a building. This article describes building's indoor microclimate research. The results are commented and compared to valid hygienic standards. Deflections from standards are explained and there is an information on how to avoid them. Multi‐objective analysis is done to get rational variant using gained results of research. These researches are necessary to get to know about the condition of inside climate of a building.
RESILIENT BEHAVIOUR OF HOT MIXED AND CRACK SEALED ASPHALT CONCRETE UNDER REPEATED LOADING
Authors: Ziari Hassan , Ameri Mahmud , Khabiri Mohammad Mahdi
Published: January 2019

Bituminous mixes are becoming increasingly important in the road industry. The road engineers identify rutting as a major source of distress in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavements. The Asphalt Mix Design Marshal method adequately addresses the aggregate and asphalt binder properties that contribute to permanent deformation. However, there is no laboratory test currently at hand to quickly predict permanent deformation susceptibility of HMA. The main purpose of this paper is to provide practical information of laboratory samples for practitioners and mix designers. Thus, relevant test procedures and results of tests conducted are reported in this paper. Two resilient behaviours of cracked sealed asphalt concrete were studied by varying temperature and time of loading to understand the crack sealed pavement behaviour under Iran conditions.
CLEAR. I. Ages and Metallicities of Quiescent Galaxies at 1.0 < z < 1.8 Derived from Deep Hubble Space Telescope Grism Data
Authors: Estrada-Carpenter Vicente , Papovich Casey , Momcheva Ivelina , Brammer Gabriel , Long James , Quadri Ryan F. , Bridge Joanna , Dickinson Mark , Ferguson Henry , Finkelstein Steven , Giavalisco Mauro , Gosmeyer Catherine M. , Lotz Jennifer , Salmon Brett , Skelton Rosalind E. , Trump Jonathan R. , Weiner Benjamin
Published: January 2019

We use deep Hubble Space Telescope spectroscopy to constrain the metallicities and (light-weighted) ages of massive (

) galaxies selected to have quiescent stellar populations at 1.0 < z < 1.8. The data include twelve-orbit depth coverage with the WFC3/G102 grism covering ∼8000 < λ < 11,500 Å at a spectral resolution of R ∼ 210 taken as part of the CANDELS Lyα Emission at Reionization (CLEAR) survey. At 1.0 < z < 1.8, the spectra cover important stellar population features in the rest-frame optical. We simulate a suite of stellar population models at the grism resolution, fit these to the data for each galaxy, and derive posterior likelihood distributions for metallicity and age. We stack the posteriors for subgroups of galaxies in different redshift ranges that include different combinations of stellar absorption features. Our results give light-weighted ages of t

z∼1.1 = 3.2 ± 0.7 Gyr, t

z∼1.2 = 2.2 ± 0.6 Gyr, t

z∼1.3 = 3.1 ± 0.6 Gyr, and t

z∼1.6 = 2.0 ± 0.6 Gyr for galaxies at z ∼ 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.6, respectively. This implies that most of the massive quiescent galaxies at 1 < z < 1.8 had formed >68% of their stellar mass by z > 2. The posteriors give metallicities of Z

z∼1.1 = 1.16 ± 0.29 Z
⊙, Z

z∼1.2 = 1.05 ± 0.34 Z
⊙, Z

z∼1.3 = 1.00 ± 0.31 Z
⊙, and Z

z∼1.6 = 0.95 ± 0.39 Z
⊙. This is evidence that massive galaxies had enriched rapidly to approximately solar metallicities as early as z ∼ 3.
Indication of Another Intermediate-mass Black Hole in the Galactic Center
Authors: Takekawa Shunya , Oka Tomoharu , Iwata Yuhei , Tsujimoto Shiho , Nomura Mariko
Published: January 2019

We report the discovery of molecular gas streams orbiting around an invisible massive object in the central region of our Galaxy, based on the high-resolution molecular line observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The morphology and kinematics of these streams can be reproduced well through two Keplerian orbits around a single point mass of (3.2 ± 0.6) × 104
M
⊙. We also found ionized gas toward the inner part of the orbiting gas, indicating dissociative shock and/or photoionization. Our results provide new circumstantial evidences for a wandering intermediate-mass black hole in the Galactic center, suggesting also that high-velocity compact clouds can be probes of quiescent black holes that abound in our Galaxy.
Assessment of the land surface temperature dynamics in the city of Sofia using Landsat satellite data
Authors: Dimitrov Petar , Olofsson Pontus , Jelev Georgi , Kamenova Ilina
Published: January 2019

The paper presents the results of forest cover change mapping in two study areas in Bulgaria (in mountainous and plain-hilly terrain) for period of about 20 years. A comparison was made of two approaches for classification of multitemporal SPOT HRV/HRVIR data with 20 m spatial resolution. The first approach was the post-classification comparison, i.e. pixel-by-pixel comparison of forest/non forest maps produced by separate classifications of the images from the two ends of the time period. The second approach was a direct multitemporal classification of an image stack comprised of the two-date image data. Following international guidance, instead of counting pixels in the map to obtain the area of forest loss and gain, the areas were estimated by applying an unbiased estimator to sample data collected by stratified random sampling. The map was used to stratify the study areas. Producer’s, user’s and overall accuracy were also estimated using the sample data. A comparison of accuracy and area estimates, and confidence intervals of estimates, showed that the map produced by direct multitemporal classification was more accurate. It yielded consistently higher class-specific accuracies than the map made by post-classification comparison. As expected, the accuracies of the change classes – forest disturbance and reforestation – were significantly lower than that of the stable classes regardless of the change detection approach. Finally, practical issues and guidelines for future forest change detection studies were discussed.
Services Provided for Preschool-Aged Children With Suspected Amblyopia
Authors: Kemper Alex R , Clark Sarah J , Freed Gary L
Published: January 2019

ABSTRACT

Background: Little is known about the pattern and variation of care offered to preschool-aged children who have had an abnormal vision screening test.

Purpose: To evaluate the variations in pediatric eye care services and availability of optometrists and ophthalmologists for preschool-aged patients, referral patterns, and barriers to providing care as perceived by eye care specialists.

Methods: A survey was mailed to 542 ophthalmologists and a random sample of 501 optometrists actively practicing in Michigan.

Results: The response rate was 65% (optometrists, 75%; ophthalmologists, 57%). More optometrists than ophthalmologists evaluated preschool-aged children (97% vs 79%; P < .001). Of these, most managed amblyopia (80% vs 77%; P = .372) and strabismus (89% vs 80%; P = .002) themselves. Fewer optometrists than ophthalmologists dilated eyes routinely during the first evaluation of a preschool-aged child (39% vs 93%; P < .001). The leading barrier to care for preschool-aged children reported by both optometrists and ophthalmologists was difficulty of the examination (25% vs 23%; P = .501). Optometrists reported that most of their patients were referred from communitybased screening programs or by parent self-referral. Ophthalmologists reported that most of their preschool-aged patients were referred from primary care providers.

Conclusions: There are different sources of referrals for optometrists and ophthalmologists. Although most eye care specialists treat amblyopia, the types of care offered by optometrists and ophthalmologists differ. Future studies should address the impact that these patterns have on outcomes and cost. The results of these studies should be shared with those responsible for screening.

J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus 2003;40:279-282.