bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Establishment of Human Leukocyte Antigen-Mismatched Immune Responses after Transplantation of Human Liver Bud in Humanized Mouse Models
Authors: Mori Akihiro , Murata Soichiro , Tashiro Nao , Tadokoro Tomomi , Okamoto Satoshi , Otsuka Ryo , Wada Haruka , Murata Tomoki , Takahashi Takeshi , Seino Ken-ichiro , Taniguchi Hideki
Published: February 2021

Humanized mouse models have contributed significantly to human immunology research. In transplant immunity, human immune cell responses to donor grafts have not been reproduced in a humanized animal model. To elicit human T-cell immune responses, we generated immune-compromised nonobese diabetic/Shi-scid, IL-2RγKO Jic (NOG) with a homozygous expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I heavy chain (NOG-HLA-A2Tg) mice. After the transplantation of HLA-A2 human hematopoietic stem cells into NOG-HLA-A2Tg, we succeeded in achieving alloimmune responses after the HLA-mismatched human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived liver-like tissue transplantation. This immune response was inhibited by administering tacrolimus. In this model, we reproduced allograft rejection after the human iPSC-derived liver-like tissue transplantation. Human tissue transplantation on the humanized mouse liver surface is a good model that can predict T-cell-mediated cellular rejection that may occur when organ transplantation is performed.
Abdominal Wall Defects—Current Treatments
Authors: Bielicki Isabella N. , Somme Stig , Frongia Giovanni , Holland-Cunz Stefan G. , Vuille-dit-Bille Raphael N.
Published: February 2021

Gastroschisis and omphalocele reflect the two most common abdominal wall defects in newborns. First postnatal care consists of defect coverage, avoidance of fluid and heat loss, fluid administration and gastric decompression. Definitive treatment is achieved by defect reduction and abdominal wall closure. Different techniques and timings are used depending on type and size of defect, the abdominal domain and comorbidities of the child. The present review aims to provide an overview of current treatments.
Optical Evidence for the Assembly of Sensors Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide and Polydiphenylamine for the Detection of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor
Authors: Baibarac Mihaela , Daescu Monica , Fejer Szilard N.
Published: February 2021

Using Raman scattering and FTIR spectroscopy, new optical evidence for the assembly of sensors based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and polydiphenylamine (PDPA) for the electrochemical detection of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are reported. The assembly process of the RGO sheets electrochemical functionalized with PDPA involves the chemical adsorption of 1,4-phenylene diisothiocyanate (PDITC), followed by an incubation with protein G in phosphate buffer (PB) solution and after that the interaction with EGFR antibodies solution. Taking into account the changes reported by Raman scattering and FTIR spectroscopy, a chemical mechanism of the assembling process for this sensor is proposed. The preliminary testing of the electrochemical activity of the sensors based on RGO and PDPA was reported by cyclic voltammetry.
Functional Traits of a Rainforest Vascular Epiphyte Community: Trait Covariation and Indications for Host Specificity
Authors: Wagner Katrin , Wanek Wolfgang , Zotz Gerhard
Published: February 2021

Trait matching between interacting species may foster diversity. Thus, high epiphyte diversity in tropical forests may be partly due to the high diversity of trees and some degree of host specificity. However, possible trait matching between epiphyte and host is basically unexplored. Since the epiphytic habitat poses particular challenges to plants, their trait correlations should differ from terrestrial plants, but to what extent is unclear as epiphytes are underrepresented or missing in the large trait databases. We quantified 28 traits of 99 species of vascular epiphytes in a lowland forest in Panama that were related to plant size, leaf, stem, and root morphology; photosynthetic mode; and nutrient concentrations. We analyzed trait covariation, community weighted means, and functional diversity for assemblages on stems and in crowns of four tree species. We found intriguing differences between epiphytes and terrestrial plants regarding trait covariation in trait relations between plant maximal height, stem specific density, specific root length, and root tissue den-sity, i.e., stem and root economic spectra. Regarding host specificity, we found strong evidence for environmental filtering of epiphyte traits, but only in tree crowns. On stems, community weighted means differed in only one case, whereas > 2/3 of all traits differed in tree crowns. Although we were only partly able to interpret these differences in the light of tree trait differences, these findings mark an important step towards a functional understanding of epiphyte host specificity.
Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) Foraging Habitat and Prey Availability in New England: Implications for Conservation of a Declining Boreal Bird Species
Authors: Pachomski Amanda , McNulty Stacy , Foss Carol , Cohen Jonathan , Farrell Shannon
Published: February 2021

The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is an imperiled migratory songbird that breeds in and near the boreal wetlands of North America. Our objective was to investigate factors associated with Rusty Blackbird wetland use, including aquatic invertebrate prey and landscape features, to better understand the birds’ habitat use. Using single-season occupancy modeling, we assessed breeding Rusty Blackbird use of both active and inactive beaver-influenced wetlands in New Hampshire and Maine, USA. We conducted timed, unlimited-radius point counts of Rusty Blackbirds at 60 sites from May to July 2014. Following each point count, we sampled aquatic invertebrates and surveyed habitat characteristics including percent mud cover, puddle presence/absence, and current beaver activity. We calculated wetland size using aerial imagery and calculated percent conifer cover within a 500 m buffer of each site using the National Land Cover Database 2011. Percent mud cover and invertebrate abundance best predicted Rusty Blackbird use of wetlands. Rusty Blackbirds were more likely to be found in sites with lower percent mud cover and higher aquatic invertebrate abundance. Sites with Rusty Blackbird detections had significantly higher abundances of known or likely prey items in the orders Amphipoda, Coleoptera, Diptera, Odonata, and Trichoptera. The probability of Rusty Blackbird detection was 0.589 ± 0.06 SE. This study provides new information that will inform habitat conservation for this imperiled species in a beaver-influenced landscape.
Statistical Assessment of Discrimination Capabilities of a Fractional Calculus Based Image Watermarking System for Gaussian Watermarks
Authors: Gonzalez-Lee Mario , Vazquez-Leal Hector , Morales-Mendoza Luis J. , Nakano-Miyatake Mariko , Perez-Meana Hector , Laguna-Camacho Juan R.
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we explore the advantages of a fractional calculus based watermarking system for detecting Gaussian watermarks. To reach this goal, we selected a typical watermarking scheme and replaced the detection equation set by another set of equations derived from fractional calculus principles; then, we carried out a statistical assessment of the performance of both schemes by analyzing the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and the False Positive Percentage (FPP) when they are used to detect Gaussian watermarks. The results show that the ROC of a fractional equation based scheme has 48.3% more Area Under the Curve (AUC) and a False Positives Percentage median of 0.2% whilst the selected typical watermarking scheme has 3%. In addition, the experimental results suggest that the target applications of fractional schemes for detecting Gaussian watermarks are as a semi-fragile image watermarking systems robust to Gaussian noise.
Security Analysis of a Color Image Encryption Algorithm Using a Fractional-Order Chaos
Authors: Wen Heping , Zhang Chongfu , Huang Lan , Ke Juxin , Xiong Dongqing
Published: February 2021

Fractional-order chaos has complex dynamic behavior characteristics, so its application in secure communication has attracted much attention. Compared with the design of fractional-order chaos-based cipher, there are fewer researches on security analysis. This paper conducts a comprehensive security analysis of a color image encryption algorithm using a fractional-order hyperchaotic system (CIEA-FOHS). Experimental simulation based on excellent numerical statistical results supported that CIEA-FOHS is cryptographically secure. Yet, from the perspective of cryptanalysis, this paper found that CIEA-FOHS can be broken by a chosen-plaintext attack method owing to its some inherent security defects. Firstly, the diffusion part can be eliminated by choosing some special images with all the same pixel values. Secondly, the permutation-only part can be deciphered by some chosen plain images and the corresponding cipher images. Finally, using the equivalent diffusion and permutation keys obtained in the previous two steps, the original plain image can be recovered from a target cipher image. Theoretical analysis and experimental simulations show that the attack method is both effective and efficient. To enhance the security, some suggestions for improvement are given. The reported results would help the designers of chaotic cryptography pay more attention to the gap of complex chaotic system and secure cryptosystem.
Long-Term Assessment of Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy Potentials of Qatar
Authors: Aboobacker Valliyil Mohammed , Shanas Puthuveetil Razak , Veerasingam Subramanian , Al-Ansari Ebrahim M. A. S. , Sadooni Fadhil N. , Vethamony Ponnumony
Published: February 2021

Exploitation of conventional energy resources has caused a deliberate increase in the emitted carbon in the atmosphere, which catalyzes global warming trends. This is a matter of concern, especially in Qatar, where fossil fuels (oil and gas) are largely relied upon for power production. The dependency on such resources could be gradually reduced by utilizing clean and renewable energy. Resource characterization is an important step to evaluate the potentiality of available renewable energy sources. Wind energy is one among them, which has not been assessed reliably so far in Qatar. We analyzed the wind energy potential along the onshore and offshore areas of Qatar using 40 years (1979–2018) of hourly wind data extracted from the ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) database. Monthly, seasonal, annual, and decadal mean wind power densities have been derived. Reliability tests have been carried out at select onshore and offshore locations. Trends and inter-annual variability have been assessed. The study reveals that the available wind resources are generally moderate but consistent with no intense trends during the 40 year period. An inter-annual variability in wind power has been identified, which has secured links with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Modeling and Management of Power Supply Enterprises’ Cash Flows
Authors: Pyatkina Darya , Shcherbina Tamara , Samusenkov Vadim , Razinkina Irina , Sroka Mariusz
Published: February 2021

The purpose of the study is to assess the efficiency of cash flow management at power supply companies of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. A methodological approach to cash flow forecasting with the use of linear and polynomial regression has been developed. The study is based on the data provided by 12 power supply companies operating in CIS member countries. Forecasting based on the generated polynomial models of multiple regression of cash flow for the power supply companies under study confirms the strong possibility of extrapolating the studied trends to future periods. Compared to the linear model, the polynomial one confirms higher values of the determination coefficients for the majority of power supply companies. The projected volumes of cash inflow, cash outflow, and net cash flows of power supply companies with the application of the described polynomial multiple regression models have a fairly high degree of approximation. The correlations between operating cash flows and outflows, between total cash inflow and outflow of the majority of power supply companies are high. The low level of synchronization between cash inflows and outflows of the companies under study is associated with the specifics of their financial and investment activities and the cash flow management policy. It has been proven that energy enterprises’ financial stability significantly depends on the synchronization and uniformity of cash flows. The proposed methodological approach allows identifying enterprises by the criterion of riskiness from the standpoint of the synchronization and homogeneity of their cash flows.
Design and Assessment of District Heating Systems with Solar Thermal Prosumers and Thermal Storage
Authors: Wang Danhong , Carmeliet Jan , Orehounig Kristina
Published: February 2021

In this study, a holistic energy, economic and environmental assessment was performed on a prosumer-based district heating system, including scenarios with varying district size, retrofitting stages and system configurations. A modeling framework was built which comprises a thermal network design and simulation model; a building energy demand model for districts; and supply and storage technology models that allow assessing system solar fraction, equivalent annual cost and greenhouse gas emissions of district heating systems (DHS). Furthermore, the approach allows comparing the performance of a DHS with individual heating systems (IHS) for the district with the same set of technology options (rooftop-mounted solar thermal collectors, gas boilers and thermal storage tanks). The framework was applied to a Swiss case study. The results of the case study show that DHS often outperform IHS; however, parameters such as the district size, the retrofitting stage of buildings and the system configuration have impacts on the performance of the DHS. The most important parameter lies in the adequate selection of the storage volume over solar collector area ratio, which indicates that DHS solutions are only advantageous if they are properly sized. Smaller districts and districts with retrofitted buildings especially benefit from DHS solutions in terms of energy, economic and environmental performance. Maximum solar fractions of 50% (non-retrofitted case) and 63% (retrofitted case) were reached with the DHS solutions.
Microseismic Temporal-Spatial Precursory Characteristics and Early Warning Method of Rockburst in Steeply Inclined and Extremely Thick Coal Seam
Authors: Li Zhenlei , He Shengquan , Song Dazhao , He Xueqiu , Dou Linming , Chen Jianqiang , Liu Xudong , Feng Panfei
Published: February 2021

Early warning of a potential rockburst risk and its area of occurrence helps to take effective and targeted measures to mitigate rockburst hazards. This study investigates the microseismic (MS) spatial-temporal precursory characteristic parameters in a typical steeply inclined and extremely thick coal seam (SIETCS) with high rockburst risk and proposes three spatial/temporal quantification parameters and a spatial-temporal early warning method. Analysis results of temporal parameters show that the sharp-rise-sharp-drop variation in total daily energy and event count can be regarded as a precursor for high energy tremor. The appearance of peak values of both energy deviation (≥20) and event count deviation (≥1) can be regarded as precursors that indicate imminent rockburst danger. A laboratory acoustic emission (AE) experiment reveals that precursor characteristics obtained from the study can be feasibly used to warn the rockburst risk. The spatial evolution laws of spatial parameters show that the high energy density index of MS (EDIM), velocity, velocity anomaly regions correlate well with stress concentration and rockburst risk areas. The field application verifies that the temporal-spatial early warning method can identify the potential rockburst risk in a temporal sequence and rockburst risk areas during the temporal early warning period.
Solar Prosumers in the German Energy Transition: A Multi-Level Perspective Analysis of the German ‘Mieterstrom’ Model
Authors: Moser Raphael , Xia-Bauer Chun , Thema Johannes , Vondung Florin
Published: February 2021

The expansion of photovoltaics in German cities has so far fallen short of expectations. The concept of ‘tenant electricity’ (‘Mieterstrom’ in German), in which tenants of a building are supplied with solar power produced on site, offers great potential here. A study on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy estimated the number of tenant households with good conditions for solar tenant electricity at 3.8 million. At the same time, the federal tenant electricity promotion scheme has been in place since 2017, but only about 1% of the annual budget has been claimed. The aim of this study is to identify the barriers for and drivers of diffusion of the tenant electricity model. To this end, a qualitative document analysis and a range of semi-structured expert interviews have been conducted. The theoretical framework used to guide the analysis is the multi-level perspective. The main barrier found for tenant electricity diffusion is the legal framework on the regime level, which also leads to high transaction costs of implementing tenant electricity. A social barrier is the inertia of some residents to actively concern themselves with their electricity supply and switch to a tenant electricity contract. Among its drivers are long-term trends such as the increasing electricity demand in urban areas, technical developments like blockchain technology and the increasing deployment of smart meters, and the EU Renewable Energy Directive. As long as the restrictive legal framework prevails, the further diffusion of tenant electricity will remain limited.
DEAP Actuator Composed of a Soft Pneumatic Spring Bias with Pressure Signal Sensing
Authors: Bernat Jakub , Kołota Jakub
Published: February 2021

Dielectric electroactive actuators are novel and significant smart actuators. The crucial aspect of construction of these devices is the bias mechanism. The current literature presents three main types of biases used in the construction of the DEAP actuators. In these solutions, the bias is caused by the action of a spring, a force of a permanent magnet or an applied mass. The purpose of this article is to present a novel type of DEAP bias mechanism using soft pneumatic spring. In contrast to the solutions presented so far, the soft pneumatic spring has been equipped with a sensor that measures the variable pressure of its inner chamber. We performed the modeling process of a soft pneumatic spring with the finite element method to predict its mechanical behavior. Furthermore, a prototype of the soft spring was molded and used to construct a dielectric electroactive polymer actuator. The principle of operation has been confirmed by the experiments with measurement of static and dynamics characteristics. The presented device can be used to control systems with an additional pressure-sensing feedback.
Assessment of Cow Dung Pellets as a Renewable Solid Fuel in Direct Combustion Technologies
Authors: Szymajda Aneta , Łaska Grażyna , Joka Magdalena
Published: February 2021

Recently, biomass application as a renewable energy source is increasing worldwide. However, its availability differs in dependence on the location and climate, therefore, agricultural residues as cow dung (CD) are being considered to supply heat and/or power installation. This paper aims at a wide evaluation of CD fuel properties and its prospect to apply in the form of pellets to direct combustion installations. Therefore, the proximate, ultimate composition and calorific value were analyzed, then pelletization and combustion tests were performed, and the ash characteristics were tested. It was found that CD is a promising source of bioenergy in terms of LHV (16.34 MJ·kg−1), carbon (44.24%), and fixed carbon (18.33%) content. During pelletization, CD showed high compaction properties and at a moisture content of 18%,and the received pellets’ bulk density reached ca. 470 kg·m−3 with kinetic durability of 98.7%. While combustion, in a fixed grate 25 kW boiler, high emissions of CO, SO2, NO, and HCl were observed. The future energy sector might be based on biomass and this work shows a novel approach of CD pellets as a potential source of renewable energy available wherever cattle production is located.
The Innovative FlexPlan Grid-Planning Methodology: How Storage and Flexible Resources Could Help in De-Bottlenecking the European System
Authors: Migliavacca Gianluigi , Rossi Marco , Siface Dario , Marzoli Matteo , Ergun Hakan , Rodríguez-Sánchez Raúl , Hanot Maxime , Leclerq Guillaume , Amaro Nuno , Egorov Aleksandr , Gabrielski Jawana , Matthes Björn , Morch Andrei
Published: February 2021

The FlexPlan Horizon2020 project aims at establishing a new grid-planning methodology which considers the opportunity to introduce new storage and flexibility resources in electricity transmission and distribution grids as an alternative to building new grid elements, in accordance with the intentions of the Clean Energy for all Europeans regulatory package of the European Commission. FlexPlan creates a new innovative grid-planning tool whose ambition is to go beyond the state of the art of planning methodologies by including the following innovative features: assessment of the best planning strategy by analysing in one shot a high number of candidate expansion options provided by a pre-processor tool, simultaneous mid- and long-term planning assessment over three grid years (2030, 2040, 2050), incorporation of a full range of cost–benefit analysis criteria into the target function, integrated transmission distribution planning, embedded environmental analysis (air quality, carbon footprint, landscape constraints), probabilistic contingency methodologies in replacement of the traditional N-1 criterion, application of numerical decomposition techniques to reduce calculation efforts and analysis of variability of yearly renewable energy sources (RES) and load time series through a Monte Carlo process. Six regional cases covering nearly the whole European continent are developed in order to cast a view on grid planning in Europe till 2050. FlexPlan will end up formulating guidelines for regulators and planning offices of system operators by indicating to what extent system flexibility can contribute to reducing overall system costs (operational + investment) yet maintaining current system security levels and which regulatory provisions could foster such process. This paper provides a complete description of the modelling features of the planning tool and pre-processor and provides the first results of their application in small-scale scenarios.
Model Predictive Control Strategies to Activate the Energy Flexibility for Zones with Hydronic Radiant Systems
Authors: Saberi Derakhtenjani Ali , Athienitis Andreas K.
Published: February 2021

This paper presents control strategies to activate energy flexibility for zones with radiant heating systems in response to changes in electricity prices. The focus is on zones with radiant floor heating systems for which the hydronic pipes are located deep in the concrete and, therefore, there is a significant thermal lag. A perimeter zone test-room equipped with a hydronic radiant floor system in an environmental chamber is used as a case study. A low order thermal network model for the perimeter zone, validated with experimental measurements, is utilized to study various control strategies in response to changes in the electrical grid price signal, including short term (nearly reactive) changes of the order of 10–15 min notice. An index is utilized to quantify the building energy flexibility with the focus on peak demand reduction for specific periods of time when the electricity prices are higher than usual. It is shown that the developed control strategies can aid greatly in enhancing the zone energy flexibility and minimizing the cost of electricity and up to 100% reduction in peak power demand and energy consumption is attained during the high-price and peak-demand periods, while maintaining acceptable comfort conditions.
An Innovative Metaheuristic Strategy for Solar Energy Management through a Neural Networks Framework
Authors: Moayedi Hossein , Mosavi Amir
Published: February 2021

Proper management of solar energy as an effective renewable source is of high importance toward sustainable energy harvesting. This paper offers a novel sophisticated method for predicting solar irradiance (SIr) from environmental conditions. To this end, an efficient metaheuristic technique, namely electromagnetic field optimization (EFO), is employed for optimizing a neural network. This algorithm quickly mines a publicly available dataset for nonlinearly tuning the network parameters. To suggest an optimal configuration, five influential parameters of the EFO are optimized by an extensive trial and error practice. Analyzing the results showed that the proposed model can learn the SIr pattern and predict it for unseen conditions with high accuracy. Furthermore, it provided about 10% and 16% higher accuracy compared to two benchmark optimizers, namely shuffled complex evolution and shuffled frog leaping algorithm. Hence, the EFO-supervised neural network can be a promising tool for the early prediction of SIr in practice. The findings of this research may shed light on the use of advanced intelligent models for efficient energy development.
A Survey on Applications of Hybrid PV/T Panels
Authors: Ul Abdin Zain , Rachid Ahmed
Published: February 2021

Photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) collectors have gained a lot of attention in recent years due to their substantial advantages as compared to ST or PV systems alone and even to other non-solar technologies. However, PV/Ts are still not as popular in industry or construction and they are not even known to major players implementing solar energy installations. In this article, a general presentation of PV/Ts and a review of their applications are given. First, different heat extraction media (e.g., air, water, bi-fluid, etc.) and hybrid design configurations of hybrid PV/T collectors are addressed. Next, the main applications of PV/T collectors are discussed in order to highlight their feasibility and usefulness and to raise awareness for adoption in the industry and buildings sector. Applications include desalination, air-conditioning, drying, trigeneration, etc. This paper should be considered as a reference form of PV/Ts to extract key points for future research and development as well as for other applications.
Influence of Electrification Pathways in the Electricity Sector of Ethiopia—Policy Implications Linking Spatial Electrification Analysis and Medium to Long-Term Energy Planning
Authors: Pappis Ioannis , Sahlberg Andreas , Walle Tewodros , Broad Oliver , Eludoyin Elusiyan , Howells Mark , Usher Will
Published: February 2021

Ethiopia is a low-income country, with low electricity access (45%) and an inefficient power transmission network. The government aims to achieve universal access and become an electricity exporter in the region by 2025. This study provides an invaluable perspective on different aspects of Ethiopia’s energy transition, focusing on achieving universal access and covering the country’s electricity needs during 2015–2065. We co-developed and investigated three scenarios to examine the policy and technology levels available to the government to meet their national priorities. To conduct this analysis, we soft-linked OnSSET, a modelling tool used for geospatial analysis, with OSeMOSYS, a cost-optimization modelling tool used for medium to long-run energy planning. Our results show that the country needs to diversify its power generation system to achieve universal access and cover its future electricity needs by increasing its overall carbon dioxide emissions and fully exploit hydropower. With the aim of achieving universal access by 2025, the newly electrified population is supplied primarily by the grid (65%), followed by stand-alone (32%) technologies. Similarly, until 2065, most of the electrified people by 2025 will continue to be grid-connected (99%). The country’s exports will increase to 17 TWh by 2065, up from 832 GWh in 2015, leading to a cumulative rise in electricity export revenues of 184 billion USD.
An Analysis of Repeating Thermal Bridges from Timber Frame Fraction in Closed Panel Timber Frame Walls: A Case Study from Wales, UK
Authors: Zaccaro Francesco , Littlewood John Richard , Hayles Carolyn
Published: February 2021

Calculating Repeating Thermal Bridges (RTBs) for Timber Frame (TF) closed panels that could occur in Offsite Manufactured (OSM) Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), such as exterior walls for nearly-to-zero operational energy dwellings to be constructed in Wales, United Kingdom (UK) is discussed in this paper. Detailed calculations for linear RTBs due to the TF components are often neglected when evaluating thermal transmittance (known as U-values hereafter). The use of standard TF fractions does not allow the designer to perceive their detrimental impact on RTBs and consequent U-values for exterior walls. With the increase of the thermal performance of exterior walls and as such lower U-values due to ever-tightening Building Regulations, specifically related to the energy use and carbon emissions from the space heating of dwellings, then the impacts of RTBs requires more investigation. By not calculating the potential of linear RTB at the design stage could lead to a performance gap where assumed U-values for exterior walls differ from manufacture to onsite. A TF detail from the Welsh manufacture has been chosen as a case study, to develop and apply a methodology using manufacturing drawings to evaluate TF fraction and their effect on the thermal performance.
Video Captioning Based on Channel Soft Attention and Semantic Reconstructor
Authors: Lei Zhou , Huang Yiyong
Published: February 2021

Video captioning is a popular task which automatically generates a natural-language sentence to describe video content. Previous video captioning works mainly use the encoder–decoder framework and exploit special techniques such as attention mechanisms to improve the quality of generated sentences. In addition, most attention mechanisms focus on global features and spatial features. However, global features are usually fully connected features. Recurrent convolution networks (RCNs) receive 3-dimensional features as input at each time step, but the temporal structure of each channel at each time step has been ignored, which provide temporal relation information of each channel. In this paper, a video captioning model based on channel soft attention and semantic reconstructor is proposed, which considers the global information for each channel. In a video feature map sequence, the same channel of every time step is generated by the same convolutional kernel. We selectively collect the features generated by each convolutional kernel and then input the weighted sum of each channel to RCN at each time step to encode video representation. Furthermore, a semantic reconstructor is proposed to rebuild semantic vectors to ensure the integrity of semantic information in the training process, which takes advantage of both forward (semantic to sentence) and backward (sentence to semantic) flows. Experimental results on popular datasets MSVD and MSR-VTT demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our model.
Assessment of Thoracic Pain Using Machine Learning: A Case Study from Baja California, Mexico
Authors: Rojas-Mendizabal Veronica , Castillo-Olea Cristián , Gómez-Siono Alexandra , Zuñiga Clemente
Published: February 2021

Thoracic pain is a shared symptom among gastrointestinal diseases, muscle pain, emotional disorders, and the most deadly: Cardiovascular diseases. Due to the limited space in the emergency department, it is important to identify when thoracic pain is of cardiac origin, since being a symptom of CVD (Cardiovascular Disease), the attention to the patient must be immediate to prevent irreversible injuries or even death. Artificial intelligence contributes to the early detection of pathologies, such as chest pain. In this study, the machine learning techniques were used, performing an analysis of 27 variables provided by a database with information from 258 geriatric patients with 60 years old average age from Medical Norte Hospital in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The objective of this analysis is to determine which variables are correlated with thoracic pain of cardiac origin and use the results as secondary parameters to evaluate the thoracic pain in the emergency rooms, and determine if its origin comes from a CVD or not. For this, two machine learning techniques were used: Tree classification and cross-validation. As a result, the Logistic Regression model, using the characteristics proposed as second factors to consider as variables, obtained an average accuracy (μ) of 96.4% with a standard deviation (σ) of 2.4924, while for F1 a mean (μ) of 91.2% and a standard deviation (σ) of 6.5640. This analysis suggests that among the main factors related to cardiac thoracic pain are: Dyslipidemia, diabetes, chronic kidney failure, hypertension, smoking habits, and troponin levels at the time of admission, which is when the pain occurs. Considering dyslipidemia and diabetes as the main variables due to similar results with machine learning techniques and statistical methods, where 61.95% of the patients who suffer an Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) have diabetes, and the 71.73% have dyslipidemia.
Effects of Resilience and Acculturation Stress on Integration and Social Competence of Migrant Children and Adolescents in Northern Chile
Authors: Caqueo-Urízar Alejandra , Urzúa Alfonso , Escobar-Soler Carolang , Flores Jerome , Mena-Chamorro Patricio , Villalonga-Olives Ester
Published: February 2021

Migration in Chile has increased exponentially in recent years, with education being one of the main focuses of attention in this cultural transformation. Integration and social competence in the migrant population are determined by several factors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential effects of resilience and acculturation stress on the levels of integration and social competence in migrant students in Northern Chile. In total, 292 school children of both genders aged 8 to 18, from the fourth grade to senior year of high school, participated in the investigation. A subscale of the Child and Adolescent Assessment System (Sistema de evaluación de niños y adolescentes SENA) was used to assess integration and social competence. Additionally, the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM-12) and the Acculturation Stress Source Scale (FEAC) were used. The results show that integration and social competence have statistically significant and direct associations with resilience (p < 0.001) and indirect associations with acculturation stress (p = 0.009). Both constructs could be defined as protection and risk factors, respectively, and should be considered in educational contexts to favor adaptation in the integration of migrant children and adolescents.
Analysis of the Characteristics of Fatal Accidents in the Construction Industry in China Based on Statistical Data
Authors: Xu Qingwei , Xu Kaili
Published: February 2021

Background: Construction activities not only provide the necessary conditions for citizens to live, but also cause fatal accidents. Methods: This study aimed to reveal the characteristics of fatal accidents in the construction industry in China based on statistical data. From 2010 to 2019, there were 6005 fatal accidents in China’s construction industry causing 7275 deaths. The important features of these fatal accidents, such as the type, time of occurrence, site location, severity, and geographical region of the accident, were carefully analyzed. Results: There were 258 major and severe construction accidents causing 1037 deaths, accounting for 4.3% and 14.25% of the total number of construction accidents and deaths in this period, respectively. As an important finding, more deaths occurred in August and on Mondays. The greatest number of construction accidents took place along openings and edges, accounting for 22.9% of all fatal accidents. Taking into account their economic development level and number of employees, Qinghai and Hainan experienced a higher mortality rate than Jiangsu. Falls from a high place were the dominant type of construction accident, accounting for 51.66% of all accidents. However, collapses were the primary type of major and severe construction accident, accounting for 60.09% of such accidents. The predicted number of construction deaths in 2020 is 887 according to the GM(1,1) model. Corresponding safety measures should be adopted to improve the working environment of the construction industry. Implications: The implications of these results with respect to the characteristics of construction accidents can be regarded as the foundation for accident prevention in practice.
Corporate Social Responsibility at the Micro-Level as a “New Organizational Value” for Sustainability: Are Females More Aligned towards It?
Authors: Ahmad Naveed , Ullah Zia , Mahmood Asif , Ariza-Montes Antonio , Vega-Muñoz Alejandro , Han Heesup , Scholz Miklas
Published: February 2021

While prior studies have largely addressed corporate social responsibility (CSR) at a macro or institutional level, its importance at the micro or individual level is to date underexplored, especially in the context of developing economies. Further, it is not clear from the studies in the extant literature how the role of females is more important in the context of environmental management as compared to males. Similarly, micro-level CSR (MCSR) is emerging as a “new organizational value”, and the organizations that acknowledge this “new organizational value” and incorporate it into their business operations are likely to achieve sustainability objectives far better as compared to their counterparts. The present study investigates the impact of MCSR on employees’ pro-environmental behavior with the moderating effect of gender in the healthcare sector of Pakistan. The data were collected from five large hospitals in the city of Lahore through a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS software. A total of 533 out of 800 responses were received, which were used for data analysis of the present study. The results revealed that MCSR positively influences employee’s pro-environmental behavior, and gender moderates this relationship but the moderating effect of females is stronger as compared to males. The findings of the present study would help policymakers understand the importance of MCSR as a “new organizational value” to influence employees’ pro-environmental behavior with a special focus to promote the proactive role of females at workplaces.
Diversity of Oxacillinases and Sequence Types in Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii from Austria
Authors: Grisold Andrea , Luxner Josefa , Bedenić Branka , Diab-Elschahawi Magda , Berktold Michael , Wechsler-Fördös Agnes , Zarfel Gernot
Published: February 2021

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is a significant health problem worldwide. A multicenter study on A. baumannii was performed to investigate the molecular epidemiology and genetic background of carbapenem resistance of A. baumannii isolates collected from 2014–2017 in Austria. In total, 117 non-repetitive Acinetobacter spp. assigned to A. baumannii (n = 114) and A. pittii (n = 3) were collected from four centers in Austria. The isolates were uniformly resistant to piperacillin/tazobactam, ceftazidime, and carbapenems, and resistance to imipenem and meropenem was 97.4% and 98.2%, respectively. The most prominent OXA-types were OXA-58-like (46.5%) and OXA-23-like (41.2%), followed by OXA-24-like (10.5%), with notable regional differences. Carbapenem-hydrolyzing class D carbapenemases (CHDLs) were the only carbapenemases found in A.baumannii isolates in Austria since no metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs) nor KPC or GES carbapenemases were detected in any of the isolates. One-third of the isolates harbored multiple CHDLs. The population structure of A. baumannii isolates from Austria was found to be very diverse, while a total of twenty-three different sequence types (STs) were identified. The most frequent was ST195 found in 15.8%, followed by ST218 and ST231 equally found in 11.4% of isolates. Two new ST types, ST2025 and ST2026, were detected. In one A. pittii isolate, blaOXA-143-like was detected for the first time in Austria.
Investigation of Nasal/Oropharyngeal Microbial Community of COVID-19 Patients by 16S rDNA Sequencing
Authors: Rueca Martina , Fontana Andrea , Bartolini Barbara , Piselli Pierluca , Mazzarelli Antonio , Copetti Massimiliano , Binda Elena , Perri Francesco , Gruber Cesare Ernesto Maria , Nicastri Emanuele , Marchioni Luisa , Ippolito Giuseppe , Capobianchi Maria Rosaria , Di Caro Antonino , Pazienza Valerio
Published: February 2021

Since December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 infection has been still rapidly spreading, resulting in a pandemic, followed by an increasing number of cases in countries throughout the world. The severity of the disease depends on the patient’s overall medical condition but no appropriate markers are available to establish the prognosis of the patients. We performed a 16S rRNA gene sequencing, revealing an altered composition of the nasal/oropharyngeal (NOP) microbiota in 21 patients affected by COVID-19, paucisymptomatic or in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), as compared to 10 controls negative for COVID-19 or eight affected by a different Human Coronavirus (HKU, NL63 and OC43). A significant decrease in Chao1 index was observed when patients affected by COVID-19 (in ICU) were compared to paucisymptomatic. Furthermore, patients who were in ICU, paucisymptomatic or affected by other Coronaviruses all displayed a decrease in the Chao1 index when compared to controls, while Shannon index significantly decreased only in patients under ICU as compared to controls and paucisymptomatic patients. At the phylum level, Deinococcus-Thermus was present only in controls as compared to SARS-CoV-2 patients admitted to ICU, paucisymptomatic or affected by other coronaviruses. Candidatus Saccharibacteria (formerly known as TM7) was strongly increased in negative controls and SARS-CoV-2 paucisymptomatic patients as compared to SARS-CoV-2 ICU patients. Other modifications were observed at a lower taxonomy level. Complete depletion of Bifidobacterium and Clostridium was exclusively observed in ICU SARS-CoV-2 patients, which was the only group characterized by the presence of Salmonella, Scardovia, Serratia and Pectobacteriaceae. In conclusion, our preliminary results showed that nasal/oropharyngeal microbiota profiles of patients affected with SARS-CoV-2 may provide valuable information in order to facilitate the stratification of patients and may open the way to new interventional strategies in order to ameliorate the outcome of the patients.
Exposure to Atmospheric Particulate Matter-Bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Their Health Effects: A Review
Authors: Yang Lu , Zhang Hao , Zhang Xuan , Xing Wanli , Wang Yan , Bai Pengchu , Zhang Lulu , Hayakawa Kazuichi , Toriba Akira , Tang Ning
Published: February 2021

Particulate matter (PM) is a major factor contributing to air quality deterioration that enters the atmosphere as a consequence of various natural and anthropogenic activities. In PM, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a class of organic chemicals with at least two aromatic rings that are mainly directly emitted via the incomplete combustion of various organic materials. Numerous toxicological and epidemiological studies have proven adverse links between exposure to particulate matter-bound (PM-bound) PAHs and human health due to their carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Among human exposure routes, inhalation is the main pathway regarding PM-bound PAHs in the atmosphere. Moreover, the concentrations of PM-bound PAHs differ among people, microenvironments and areas. Hence, understanding the behaviour of PM-bound PAHs in the atmosphere is crucial. However, because current techniques hardly monitor PAHs in real-time, timely feedback on PAHs including the characteristics of their concentration and composition, is not obtained via real-time analysis methods. Therefore, in this review, we summarize personal exposure, and indoor and outdoor PM-bound PAH concentrations for different participants, spaces, and cities worldwide in recent years. The main aims are to clarify the characteristics of PM-bound PAHs under different exposure conditions, in addition to the health effects and assessment methods of PAHs.
Effects of Pregnancy Loss on Subsequent Postpartum Mental Health: A Prospective Longitudinal Cohort Study
Authors: Reardon David C. , Craver Christopher
Published: February 2021

Pregnancy loss, natural or induced, is linked to higher rates of mental health problems, but little is known about its effects during the postpartum period. This study identifies the percentages of women receiving at least one postpartum psychiatric treatment (PPT), defined as any psychiatric treatment (ICD-9 290-316) within six months of their first live birth, relative to their history of pregnancy loss, history of prior mental health treatments, age, and race. The population consists of young women eligible for Medicaid in states that covered all reproductive services between 1999–2012. Of 1,939,078 Medicaid beneficiaries with a first live birth, 207,654 (10.7%) experienced at least one PPT, and 216,828 (11.2%) had at least one prior pregnancy loss. A history of prior mental health treatments (MHTs) was the strongest predictor of PPT, but a history of pregnancy loss is also another important risk factor. Overall, women with a prior pregnancy loss were 35% more likely to require a PPT. When the interactions of prior mental health and prior pregnancy loss are examined in greater detail, important effects of these combinations were revealed. About 58% of those whose first MHT was after a pregnancy loss required PPT. In addition, over 99% of women with a history of MHT one year prior to their first pregnancy loss required PPT after their first live births. These findings reveal that pregnancy loss (natural or induced) is a risk factor for PPT, and that the timing of events and the time span for considering prior mental health in research on pregnancy loss can significantly change observed effects. Clinicians should screen for a convergence of a history of MHT and prior pregnancy loss when evaluating pregnant women, in order to make appropriate referrals for counseling.