bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intelligent Rapid Adaptive Offloading Algorithm for Computational Services in Dynamic Internet of Things System
Authors: Li Xuejing , Qin Yajuan , Zhou Huachun , Cheng Yongtao , Zhang Zhewei , Ai Zhengyang
Published: August 2019

As restricted resources have seriously limited the computational performance of massive Internet of things (IoT) devices, better processing capability is urgently required. As an innovative technology, multi-access edge computing can provide cloudlet capabilities by offloading computation-intensive services from devices to a nearby edge server. This paper proposes an intelligent rapid adaptive offloading (IRAO) algorithm for a dynamic IoT system to increase overall computational performance and simultaneously keep the fairness of multiple participants, which can achieve agile centralized control and solve the joint optimization problems related to offloading policy and resource allocation. For reducing algorithm execution time, we apply machine learning methods and construct an adaptive learning-based framework consisting of offloading decision-making, radio resource slicing and algorithm parameters updating. In particular, the offloading policy can be rapidly derived from an estimation algorithm based on a deep neural network, which uses an experience replay training method to improve model accuracy and adopts an asynchronous sampling trick to enhance training convergence performance. Extensive simulations with different parameters are conducted to maintain the trade-off between accuracy and efficiency of the IRAO algorithm. Compared with other candidates, the results illustrate that the IRAO algorithm can achieve superior performance in terms of scalability, effectiveness and efficiency.
Recent Advances in Electric-Double-Layer Transistors for Bio-Chemical Sensing Applications
Authors: Liu Ning , Chen Ru , Wan Qing
Published: August 2019

As promising biochemical sensors, ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) are used widely in the growing field of biochemical sensing applications. Recently, a new type of field-effect transistor gated by ionic electrolytes has attracted intense attention due to the extremely strong electric-double-layer (EDL) gating effect. In such devices, the carrier density of the semiconductor channel can be effectively modulated by an ion-induced EDL capacitance at the semiconductor/electrolyte interface. With advantages of large specific capacitance, low operating voltage and sensitive interfacial properties, various EDL-based transistor (EDLT) devices have been developed for ultrasensitive portable sensing applications. In this article, we will review the recent progress of EDLT-based biochemical sensors. Starting with a brief introduction of the concepts of EDL capacitance and EDLT, we describe the material compositions and the working principle of EDLT devices. Moreover, the biochemical sensing performances of several important EDLTs are discussed in detail, including organic-based EDLTs, oxide-based EDLTs, nanomaterial-based EDLTs and neuromorphic EDLTs. Finally, the main challenges and development prospects of EDLT-based biochemical sensors are listed.
Low-Cost and Highly Sensitive Wearable Sensor Based on Napkin for Health Monitoring
Authors: Xie Liping , Chen Peng , Chen Shuo , Yu Kun , Sun Hongbin
Published: August 2019

The development of sensors with high sensitivity, good flexibility, low cost, and capability of detecting multiple inputs is of great significance for wearable electronics. Herein, we report a napkin-based wearable capacitive sensor fabricated by a novel, low-cost, and facile strategy. The capacitive sensor is composed of two pieces of electrode plates manufactured by spontaneous assembly of silver nanowires (NWs) on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-patterned napkin. The sensor possesses high sensitivity (>7.492 kPa−1), low cost, and capability for simultaneous detection of multiple signals. We demonstrate that the capacitive sensor can be applied to identify a variety of human physiological signals, including finger motions, eye blinking, and minute wrist pulse. More interestingly, the capacitive sensor comfortably attached to the temple can simultaneously monitor eye blinking and blood pulse. The demonstrated sensor shows great prospects in the applications of human–machine interface, prosthetics, home-based healthcare, and flexible touch panels.
Real-Time Robust and Optimized Control of a 3D Overhead Crane System
Authors: Khatamianfar Arash , Savkin Andrey V.
Published: August 2019

A new and advanced control system for three-dimensional (3D) overhead cranes is proposed in this study using state feedback control in discrete time to deliver high performance trajectory tracking with minimum load swings in high-speed motions. By adopting the independent joint control strategy, a new and simplified model is developed where the overhead crane actuators are used to design the controller, with all the nonlinear equations of motions being viewed as disturbances affecting each actuator. A feedforward control is then designed to tackle these disturbances via computed torque control technique. A new load swing control is designed along with a new motion planning scheme to robustly minimize load swings as well as allowing fast load transportation without violating system’s constraints through updating reference trolley accelerations. The stability and performance analysis of the proposed discrete-time control system are demonstrated and validated analytically and practically.
Effects of Pre-Exercise High and Low Glycaemic Meal on Intermittent Sprint and Endurance Exercise Performance
Authors: Chua Man Tong , Balasekaran Govindasamy , Ihsan Mohammed , Aziz Abdul Rashid
Published: August 2019

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of ingesting either a high glycaemic index (HGI) or low glycaemic index (LGI) carbohydrate meal (preceding a 12 h overnight fast and where the meal was ingested 45-min prior to activity) on intermittent sprint and endurance exercise performance. Ten male varsity athletes from intermittent sports (age 23.6 ± 1.7 years, VO2max 51.9 ± 4.7 mL·kg−1·min−1) underwent a peak velocity (Vpeak) test and familiarisation session, followed by two experimental sessions in random order. Experimental sessions involved the ingestion of either an HGI or LGI meal, followed by the completion of the modified Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (mLIST). There was no significant difference between HGI or LGI meals on sprint times (p = 0.62) and distance to exhaustion (p = 0.54) in the mLIST. Exercise heart rate, blood lactate and ratings of perceived exertion were also similar between the two meal trials throughout the mLIST (all p > 0.05). Subjective ratings of hunger, fullness, satiety and satisfaction were also not significantly different between the two meals. In conclusion, consuming either an HGI or LGI meal after a prolonged 12 h fast and ingesting the meal 45 min prior to exercise did not differ in either physiological, subjective and intermittent sprint and endurance performance outcomes.
Green BPM as a Business-Oriented Discipline: A Systematic Mapping Study and Research Agenda
Authors: Couckuyt Dries , Van Looy Amy
Published: August 2019

Green Business Process Management (BPM) focuses on the ecological impact of business processes. This article provides a systematic mapping study of Green BPM literature to evaluate five attributes of the Green BPM research area: (1) scope, (2) disciplines, (3) accountability, (4) researchers and (5) quality control. The results allow developing a research agenda to enhance Green BPM as an approach for environmentally sustainable organizations. We rely on a dichotomy of knowledge production to present research directives relevant for both academics and practitioners in order to help close a rigor-relevance gap. The involvement of both communities is crucial for Green BPM to advance as an applied, business-oriented discipline.
Identification of Quality Failures in Building Energy Renovation Projects in Northern China
Authors: Qi Yuting , Qian Queena K. , Meijer Frits M. , Visscher Henk J.
Published: August 2019

Building energy renovations contribute significantly to energy sustainability and environmental protection. These advantages have increased the importance of renovating existing residential buildings in many countries. In China, the government has supported the energy-saving renovation of existing urban residential buildings since 2007. However, quality failures, which do not meet the technical requirements, occur during construction processes in building energy renovation projects. Although quality failures are regarded as a crucial problem in building energy renovation projects, the identification of quality failures and their sources, likelihood, impacts, and causes remain mostly unknown. This paper investigates the nature of quality failures in building energy renovation projects. A total of 25 quality failures were first identified through five cases, and interviews with six experienced construction professionals in China. A questionnaire survey was further conducted to evaluate the frequency of quality failures. The results show the nature of quality failures that arise during construction and their sources, occurrence frequency, causes, and impacts. The research reveals that quality failures are caused by defaults by workers; inadequate checking procedures; incomplete construction site surveys; inaccurate design work; fraud of construction companies; and inefficient cooperation between different departments. Above all, the behaviors of the main actors are responsible for poor construction quality. Additionally, emphasis on quality control during the renovation preparation stage is critical to ensure that quality failures are reduced in numbers and severity.
Nutrient Leaching Loss of Pre-Treated Struvite and Its Application in Sudan Grass Cultivation as an Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Fertilizer Source
Authors: Reza Arif , Shim Soomin , Kim Seungsoo , Ahmed Naveed , Won Seunggun , Ra Changsix
Published: August 2019

Struvite recovered from waste streams is considered as a sustainable alternative to commercial phosphate (P) fertilizers manufactured from P rock. In this study, struvite was recovered from swine wastewater and pre-treated as air-dried material (AM), microwave irradiated material (MM), oven-dried material (OM), and incinerated material (IM) to reduce the moisture content. Based on their solubility and crystalline nature, AM and IM were selected for further experiments. The nutrient leaching loss and fertilizing value of AM and IM were evaluated in comparison to commercial fused superphosphate (FSP) fertilizer. Soil columns were used to quantify ortho-phosphate (O-P) and ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) leaching in soil from the test materials. Among the test materials, the average leaching rate of O-P for FSP and AM was significantly different from the control and IM (p < 0.05). The average leaching rate of NH4-N among the test materials did not show any significant difference (p > 0.05). Sudan grass growth was examined with standard (urea supplemented) and high (20x, without urea) application of test materials in pot and soil box trials, respectively, to study the fertilizing value AM and IM. There were no significant differences among the test materials, except for the control, in terms of growth rate and fresh and dry matter yield in the pot trials (p > 0.05). When AM, IM, and FSP were applied in increasing amounts (20x) without urea supplement, Sudan grass growth was 50% lower in IM and was found to be significantly different from AM and FSP (p < 0.05). The results suggest that struvite pre-treated as AM could be an effective sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to commercial P fertilizers and thus helps to ensure agricultural sustainability.
Factors and Steps for Successful Transition from a State of Making to One of Innovating
Authors: Forrest Jeffrey Yi-Lin , Gong Zaiwu
Published: August 2019

Other than serving as the introduction to this special issue, this paper looks at the question of how an underdeveloped or a developing economic entity can manage to acquire the knowledge and ability to overcome various barriers, be they social, cultural, or institutional, to establish its desired momentum of self-sustained growth. It addresses the question by surveying relevant literatures, first, about what factors, both internal and external, positively determine the innovativeness of an economic entity; and second, regarding what steps are necessary for an underdeveloped or a developing entity to engineer its momentum of self-sustained growth and for an established entity to maintain its existing momentum. By doing so, we demonstrate the theoretical significance and practical importance of this issue and the works contained in this issue.
Green Supplier Selection Criteria: From a Literature Review to a Comprehensive Knowledge Base
Authors: Konys Agnieszka
Published: August 2019

The supplier selection problem is one of the most important competitive challenges used by modern enterprises. Due to the fact that companies have to improve their practices in the management of a green supply chain that aims to respect green practices and technologies to increase sustainability, selecting the optimal green supplier is a challenging multi-dimensional problem. While most of the research has focused on the development and improvement of new methods, relatively limited attention has been paid to the identifying sets of criteria and capturing the domain knowledge. This issue is significant because a correctly identified set of criteria plays a vital role in supporting the decision-making process. The approach presented creates a gap between classical assumption of decision making and knowledge-based problem structuring. The current paper presents a methodological and practical background for capturing and handling knowledge about green supplier selection criteria, supported by a formal guideline for their appropriate acquisition. In addressing this research challenge, the aims of this paper are twofold: providing meta-analysis to reveal a collection of key data supported by a formal and trustworthy bibliometric analysis, and capturing knowledge in one place in the form of ontology for enabling selection and evaluation criteria of green suppliers is proposed. The proposed ontology is available for public use.
Young Children’s Contributions to Sustainability: The Influence of Nature Play on Curiosity, Executive Function Skills, Creative Thinking, and Resilience
Authors: Ernst Julie , Burcak Firdevs
Published: August 2019

Environmental education for young children has great potential for fostering the skills, values, and dispositions that support sustainability. While North American guidelines emphasize the importance of using the natural world for open-ended exploration, discovery, and play, this approach has been criticized for lacking the transformative power necessary for meaningfully contributing to sustainability issues. Four pilot studies were conducted exploring the influence of nature play in the context of nature preschools on children’s curiosity, executive function skills, creative thinking, and resilience. These studies used established quantitative instruments to measure growth in these constructs among nature preschool participants, comparing this growth with participants in high quality, play-based, non-nature preschools. The results suggest a positive contribution of nature play, with greater levels of curiosity, creative thinking, and resilience than what was observed in the non-nature preschool participants, and executive function skills similar to the non-nature preschool participants and exceeding national norms. Collectively, these pilot studies suggest the potential contribution of nature play in the context of education for sustainability.
Stochastic Analysis of Embodied Carbon Dioxide Emissions Considering Variability of Construction Sites
Authors: Lee Dongyoun , Kang Goune , Nam Chulu , Cho Hunhee , Kang Kyung-In
Published: August 2019

The current method of estimating CO2 emissions during the construction phase does not consider the variability that can occur in actual work. Therefore, this study aims at probabilistic CO2 estimation dealing with the statistical characteristics in activity data of building construction work, focused on concrete pouring work and based on field data. The probabilistically estimated CO2 emissions have some differences from CO2 emissions measured by current deterministic methods. The results revealed that the minimum difference was 11.4%, and the maximum difference was 132.7%. This study also used Monte Carlo simulations to derive information on a probability model of CO2 emissions. Results of the analysis revealed that there is a risk of underestimating emissions because the amount of emissions was estimated at a level that exceeds the 95% confidence interval of the simulation results. In addition, the probability that CO2 emissions using the measured activities data were less than the estimated CO2 emissions using the bill of quantity was 73.2% in the probability distribution model.
Optimizing Strategies for the Urban Work Zone with Time Window Constraints
Authors: Yu Yao , Weng Jinxian , Zhu Wanying
Published: August 2019

Work zones that move with road maintenance tasks are enclosing and have caused severe traffic jams and the significant decline of road capacity. This paper proposes an intelligent-based multi-objects road maintenance optimization strategy based on a practical origin–destination (OD) matrix and complicated work schedules over a real urban road network. It focuses on the optimization of multi short-term maintenance tasks and the minimization of average travel delay for vehicles passing through. By taking the driving characteristic into account, static and dynamic variable speed limit strategies provide access to ensure safety on the working road network. Through this view, the problem was formulated as a mixed multi-object nonlinear program (MNLP) model with respect to the time window of the related sub-maintenance task. By using actual OD distribution matrix data, a series of microscopic simulated cases were conducted to test the model’s validity. Moreover, sensitive analyses of types of parameters (e.g., traffic safety threshold, traffic flow and working efficiency) with an optimal solution were discussed considering five different scenarios.
Enhancing Skills for Employment in the Workplace of the Future 2020 Using the Theory of Connectivity: Shared and Adaptive Personal Learning Environments in a Spanish Context
Authors: Expósito López Jorge , Romero-Díaz de la Guardia José Javier , Olmos-Gómez María del Carmen , Chacón-Cuberos Ramón , Olmedo-Moreno Eva María
Published: August 2019

European living environments are well placed as an essential means through which cities become functional, modern, and liveable places, and are the ideal setting for the innovation and implementation of businesses and ideas. In addition, they are a place in which existing gaps in labour market inclusion are easily widened amongst those who, for various reasons, have not received adequate training, such as immigrants (including unaccompanied foreign minors) and young people without qualifications that have several difficulties in the access to higher education. Further, as is noted in the Phoenix report entitled Future Work Skills 2020, our educational system suffers from a lack of training with regards to the employment skills that need to be integrated into current society, as these have a crucial role for achieving success in the workplace. The aim of this study is to analyse the key skills for the inclusion of Unaccompanied Foreign Minors (UFM) in the workplace, developing a scale for the assessment of ten basic skills for the work of the future. These individuals are mostly young people without qualifications trying to make it in the new environments of current Smart Cities. This study employs an empirical and experimental methodology with two comparison groups of UFM adolescents. The UFM population is contextualised by the migratory flow from North Africa to Europe. Multistage sampling was used to select 345 participants. An approximation scale of the level of Future Work Skills was created as a data collection instrument through simulations of Horizon 2020 (EA-HFL-SH2020). Multivariate analysis was performed which revealed significant differences between school variables, work experience and educational level. The results are aligned with the evaluation of skill acquisition level for the working future of UFM and with the proposed training model of work skills that facilitate their inclusion in the world of the European workforce, as a function of the significant differences found. In addition, the emphasis is placed on the interest of identifying this type of skills in this group in order to develop appropriate training programs in higher education for employment success.
The Deterrence Effect of a Penalty for Environmental Violation
Authors: Wang Yun , Li Yanxi , Ma Zhuang , Song Jinbo
Published: August 2019

The response to the penalty for an environmental violation on the firm level is a matter of reactive corporate environmental practices, about which the existence of a penalty is critical for environmental public policy. We propose that a penalty acts as a deterrence signal to enhance the perceived threat of legal punishment and the peer effect serves as the path through which peer firms learn from target firms. Based on the peer effect among firms and the deterrence effect in criminal economics, we investigated whether and how the peer firm responds to the penalty for environmental violation of target firms in the same industrial sector. Using samples of Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2015, this paper finds that the penalty for the target firms can increase the peer firms’ environmental investment, and compared to the sample with low-level environmental regulation, the increase in the sample with high-level environmental regulation is more significant. These findings suggest that a penalty for target firms has a deterrence effect on peer firms and the environmental regulation strengthens the above deterrence effect. This is expected to help both theorists and practitioners achieve a better understanding of the implementation of a penalty for an environmental violation.
Expansive Social Learning, Morphogenesis and Reflexive Action in an Organization Responding to Wetland Degradation
Authors: Lindley David , Lotz-Sisitka Heila
Published: August 2019

This study (conducted as PhD research at Rhodes University, South Africa) describes a formative interventionist research project conducted to explore factors inhibiting improved wetland management within a corporate plantation forestry context and determine if, and how, expansive social learning processes could strengthen organizational learning and development to overcome these factors. A series of formative interventionist workshops and feedback meetings took place over three years; developing new knowledge amongst staff of Company X, and improved wetland management practices. Through the expansive learning process, the tensions and contradictions that emerged became generative, supporting expansive learning that was reflectively engaged with throughout the research period. The study was== supported by an epistemological framework of cultural historical activity theory and expansive learning. Realist social theory, emerging from critical realism, with its methodological compliment the morphogenetic framework gave the research the depth of detail required to explain how the expansive learning, organizational social change, and boundary crossings that are necessary for assembling the collective were taking place. This provided ontological depth to the research. The research found that expansive learning processes, which are also social learning processes (hence we use the term ‘expansive social learning’, supported organizational learning and development for improved wetland management. Five types of changes emerged from the research: (1) Changes in structure, (2) changes in practice, (3) changes in approach, (4) changes in discourse, and (5) changes in knowledge, values, and thinking. The study was able to explain how these changes occurred via the interaction of structural emergent properties and powers; cultural emergent properties and powers; and personal emergent properties and powers of agents. It was concluded that expansive learning could provide an environmental education platform to proactively work with the sociological potential of morphogenesis to bring about future change via an open-ended participatory and reflexive expansive learning process.
Does Climate Change Influence Guest Loyalty at Alpine Winter Destinations?
Authors: Bausch Thomas , Humpe Andreas , Gössling Stefan
Published: August 2019

Research has dealt extensively with different aspects of climate change and winter tourism such as the impact on ski resorts and ski lift operators, adaptation strategies, governance at destinations and reactions of winter sports guests to changing snow conditions. This paper goes deeper into the question of destination choice and examines the role of climate change among the many factors affecting guest loyalty at Alpine winter destinations. The study uses an established destination choice model with choice sets, destination image and dynamic feedback loop. A qualitative online forum identifies factors influencing winter destination choice, followed by a quantitative survey which compares Alpine winter holidaymakers categorised as “loyal”, “disloyal” and “undecided”. The results demonstrate that climate change clearly influences destination choice, but snow sports are not the only affected attractors. Enjoyment of the natural environment and value for money are just as high on the list of guest motivators. This indicates that climate change adaptation measures such as snowmaking can be counterproductive to guest loyalty because they spoil the natural scenery and raise prices. The paper concludes with a recommendation for winter destinations to prioritize conservation of the natural environment and integrate more environmental protection measures into their management strategies.
U-Dualities in Type II and M-Theory: A Covariant Approach
Authors: Musaev Edvard T.
Published: August 2019

In this review, a short description of exceptional field theory and its application is presented. Exceptional field theories provide a U-duality covariant description of supergravity theories, allowing addressing relevant phenomena, such as non-geometricity. Some applications of the formalism are briefly described.
The Standard Model of Particle Physics with Diracian Neutrino Sector
Authors: Nieuwenhuizen Theodorus Maria
Published: August 2019

The minimally extended standard model of particle physics contains three right handed or sterile neutrinos, coupled to the active ones by a Dirac mass matrix and mutually by a Majorana mass matrix. In the pseudo-Dirac case, the Majorana terms are small and maximal mixing of active and sterile states occurs, which is generally excluded for solar neutrinos. In a “Diracian” limit, the physical masses become pairwise degenerate and the neutrinos attain a Dirac signature. Members of a pair do not oscillate mutually so that their mixing can be undone, and the standard neutrino model follows as a limit. While two Majorana phases become physical Dirac phases and three extra mass parameters occur, a better description of data is offered. Oscillation problems are worked out in vacuum and in matter. With lepton number –1 assigned to the sterile neutrinos, the model still violates lepton number conservation and allows very feeble neutrinoless double beta decay. It supports a sterile neutrino interpretation of Earth-traversing ultra high energy events detected by ANITA.
Quadratic Spline Wavelets for Sparse Discretization of Jump–Diffusion Models
Authors: Černá Dana
Published: August 2019

This paper is concerned with a construction of new quadratic spline wavelets on a bounded interval satisfying homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. The inner wavelets are translations and dilations of four generators. Two of them are symmetrical and two anti-symmetrical. The wavelets have three vanishing moments and the basis is well-conditioned. Furthermore, wavelets at levels i and j where i − j > 2 are orthogonal. Thus, matrices arising from discretization by the Galerkin method with this basis have O 1 nonzero entries in each column for various types of differential equations, which is not the case for most other wavelet bases. To illustrate applicability, the constructed bases are used for option pricing under jump–diffusion models, which are represented by partial integro-differential equations. Due to the orthogonality property and decay of entries of matrices corresponding to the integral term, the Crank–Nicolson method with Richardson extrapolation combined with the wavelet–Galerkin method also leads to matrices that can be approximated by matrices with O 1 nonzero entries in each column. Numerical experiments are provided for European options under the Merton model.
Measuring Performances of a White-Box Approach in the IoT Context
Authors: Albricci Daniele Giacomo Vittorio , Ceria Michela , Cioschi Federico , Fornari Nicolò , Shakiba Arvin , Visconti Andrea
Published: August 2019

The internet of things (IoT) refers to all the smart objects that are connected to other objects, devices or servers and that are able to collect and share data, in order to “learn” and improve their functionalities. Smart objects suffer from lack of memory and computational power, since they are usually lightweight. Moreover, their security is weakened by the fact that smart objects can be placed in unprotected environments, where adversaries are able to play with the symmetric-key algorithm used and the device on which the cryptographic operations are executed. In this paper, we focus on a family of white-box symmetric ciphers substitution–permutation network (SPN)box, extending and improving our previous paper on the topic presented at WIDECOM2019. We highlight the importance of white-box cryptography in the IoT context, but also the need to have a fast black-box implementation (server-side) of the cipher. We show that, modifying an internal layer of SPNbox, we are able to increase the key length and to improve the performance of the implementation. We measure these improvements (a) on 32/64-bit architectures and (b) in the IoT context by encrypting/decrypting 10,000 payloads of lightweight messaging protocol Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT).
Chassis Assembly Detection and Identification Based on Deep Learning Component Instance Segmentation
Authors: Liu Guixiong , He Binyuan , Liu Siyuang , Huang Jian
Published: August 2019

Chassis assembly quality is a necessary step to improve product quality and yield. In recent years, with the continuous expansion of deep learning method, its application in product quality detection is increasingly extensive. The current limitations and shortcomings of existing quality detection methods and the feasibility of improving the deep learning method in quality detection are presented and discussed in this paper. According to the characteristics of numerous parts and complex types of chassis assembly components, a method for chassis assembly detection and identification based on deep learning component segmentation is proposed. In the proposed method, assembly quality detection is first performed using the Mask regional convolutional neural network component instance segmentation method, which reduces the influence of complex illumination conditions and background detection. Next, a standard dictionary of chassis assembly is built, which is connected with Mask R-CNN in a cascading way. The component mask is obtained through the detection result, and the component category and assembly quality information is extracted to realize chassis assembly detection and identification. To evaluate the proposed method, an industrial assembly chassis was used to create datasets, and the method is effective in limited data sets of industrial assembly chassis. The experimental results indicate that the accuracy of the proposed method can reach 93.7%. Overall, the deep learning method realizes complete automation of chassis assembly detection.
Cosmological Consequences of a Parametrized Equation of State
Authors: Jawad Abdul , Rani Shamaila , Saleem Sidra , Bamba Kazuharu , Jabeen Riffat
Published: August 2019

We explore the cosmic evolution of the accelerating universe in the framework of dynamical Chern–Simons modified gravity in an interacting scenario by taking the flat homogeneous and isotropic model. For this purpose, we take some parametrizations of the equation of state parameter. This parametrization may be a Taylor series extension in the redshift, a Taylor series extension in the scale factor or any other general parametrization of ω . We analyze the interaction term which calculates the action of interaction between dark matter and dark energy. We explore various cosmological parameters such as deceleration parameter, squared speed of sound, Om-diagnostic and statefinder via graphical behavior.
Staphylococcus aureus Toxins: Armaments for a Significant Pathogen
Authors: Schwan William R.
Published: August 2019

Staphylococcus species are common inhabitants of humans and other animals [...]
Quercetin-3-Rutinoside Blocks the Disassembly of Cholera Toxin by Protein Disulfide Isomerase
Authors: Guyette Jessica , Cherubin Patrick , Serrano Albert , Taylor Michael , Abedin Faisal , O’Donnell Morgan , Burress Helen , Tatulian Suren A. , Teter Ken
Published: August 2019

Protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) is mainly located in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but is also secreted into the bloodstream where its oxidoreductase activity is involved with thrombus formation. Quercetin-3-rutinoside (Q3R) blocks this activity, but its inhibitory mechanism against PDI is not fully understood. Here, we examined the potential inhibitory effect of Q3R on another process that requires PDI: disassembly of the multimeric cholera toxin (CT). In the ER, PDI physically displaces the reduced CTA1 subunit from its non-covalent assembly in the CT holotoxin. This is followed by CTA1 dislocation from the ER to the cytosol where the toxin interacts with its G protein target for a cytopathic effect. Q3R blocked the conformational change in PDI that accompanies its binding to CTA1, which, in turn, prevented PDI from displacing CTA1 from its holotoxin and generated a toxin-resistant phenotype. Other steps of the CT intoxication process were not affected by Q3R, including PDI binding to CTA1 and CT reduction by PDI. Additional experiments with the B chain of ricin toxin found that Q3R could also disrupt PDI function through the loss of substrate binding. Q3R can thus inhibit PDI function through distinct mechanisms in a substrate-dependent manner.
On the Structure of the Vacuum in Quantum Gravity: A View from the Asymptotic Safety Scenario
Authors: Bonanno Alfio
Published: August 2019

Although the Asymptotic Safety scenario is one of the most promising approaches to quantum gravity, little attention has been devoted to the issue of the vacuum state. Higher derivative operators often appear on the ultraviolet critical surface around the non-Gaussian fixed point generating additional degrees of freedom which can render the standard vacuum unstable. When this happens, translation and rotational symmetries can be spontaneously broken and a new set of symmetries can show up at the level of the effective action. In this work, it will be argued that a “kinetic condensate” characterizes the vacuum state of asymptotically safe quadratic gravity theories. If this scenario is realized in the full theory, the vacuum state of gravity is the gravitational analogous to the Savvidy vacuum in Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD).
Identification of a Novel Equine Papillomavirus in Semen from a Thoroughbred Stallion with a Penile Lesion
Authors: Li Ci-Xiu , Chang Wei-Shan , Mitsakos Katerina , Rodger James , Holmes Edward C. , Hudson Bernard J.
Published: August 2019

Papillomaviruses (PVs) have been identified in a wide range of animal species and are associated with a variety of disease syndromes including classical papillomatosis, aural plaques, and genital papillomas. In horses, 13 PVs have been described to date, falling into six genera. Using total RNA sequencing (meta-transcriptomics) we identified a novel equine papillomavirus in semen taken from a thoroughbred stallion suffering a genital lesion, which was confirmed by nested RT-PCR. We designate this novel virus Equus caballus papillomavirus 9 (EcPV9). The complete 7656 bp genome of EcPV9 exhibited similar characteristics to those of other horse papillomaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated E1-E2-L2-L1 amino acid sequences revealed that EcPV9 clustered with EcPV2, EcPV4, and EcPV5, although was distinct enough to represent a new viral species within the genus Dyoiotapapillomavirus (69.35%, 59.25%, and 58.00% nucleotide similarity to EcPV2, EcPV4, and EcPV5, respectively). In sum, we demonstrate the presence of a novel equine papillomavirus for which more detailed studies of disease association are merited.
PENGARUH PERSEDIAAN OBAT-OBATAN DAN PELAYANAN TERHADAP KEPUASAN PASIEN PADA INSTALASI FARMASI RSUD INDRASARI RENGAT
Authors: Yaspita Hasanah
Published: August 2019

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh persediaan obat-obatan dan pelayanan secara simultan terhadap Kepuasan Pasien pada Instalasi Farmasi RSUD Indrasari Rengat. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kuantitatif dengan menggunakan analisa data kuantitatif dari sumber data jawaban responden melalui kuisioner yang penulis sebarkan dengan teknik pengambilan sampel secara aksidental terhadap 92 pasien yang menggunakan jasa pelayanan instalasi farmasi di RSUD Indrasari Rengat yang dijadikan sampel. Dari penelitian didapatkan hasil uji korelasi juga didapatkan hasil bahwa nilai R Square besarnya 0,756. Artinya persamaan garis regresi yang diperoleh dapat menerangkan 75,6% variasi kepuasan pasien di Instalasi Farmasi RSUD Indrasari Rengat atau persamaan garis yang diperoleh baik untuk menjelaskan variabel kepuasan pasien Instalasi Farmasi, yang berarti bahwa kepuasan pasien dapat diprediksi dipengaruhi sebesar 75,6% oleh variabel pelayanan dan persediaan obat-obatan, sisanya sebesar 24,4% merupakan kontribusi faktor lain yang tidak diteliti. Kemudian dari uji regresi dan uji anova (uji F) didapatkan hasil bahwa terdapat pengaruh yang positif dan signifikan antara pelayanan dan persediaan obat-obatan terhadap kepuasan pasien di Instalasi Farmasi RSUD Indrasari Rengat.
PENGARUH KUALITAS PELAYANAN DAN PROMOSI TERHADAP VOLUME PENJUALAN PADA PT. PRIORITAS RENGAT
Authors: Apriansyah Roky
Published: August 2019

Penelitian ini dilakukan pada PT. Prioritas Cabang Rengat Jl.Sultan Kecamatan Rengat. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh kualitas pelayanan dan promosi terhadap volume penjualan pada PT. Prioritas Rengat. Perumusan masalah yang akan diteliti adalah apakah ada pengaruh secara simultan ataupun parsial antara kualitas pelayanan dan promosi terhadap volume penjualan pada PT. Prioritas Rengat.

 

Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode kuantitatif, yaitu penelitian yang menggambarkan tentang kualitas pelayanan dan promosi terhadap volume penjualan pada PT.Prioritas Rengat. Dengan menghitung Persamaan regresi berganda, koefisien korelasi, uji hipotesis baik secara simultan, maupun parsial, dengan bantuan Program SPSS 21.

 

Dari hasil penelitian dimana konstanta (a) adalah 1,89. dan koefisien X1 (b1) adalah 0,395 dan koefisien X2 (b2) adalah 0,176. Persamaan regresi berganda adalah Y = 1,89 +0,395 X1 +0,176 X2. Artinya: a= jika kualitas pelayanan dan promosi sama dengan Nol (0) maka besarnya nilai volume penjualan sama dengan 1,89. b1= jika terjadi peningkatan 1 satuan pada kualitas pelayanan maka akan terjadi peningkatan pada volume penjualan sebesar 0,395. dan b2 = jika terjadi peningkatan 1 satuan pada promosi maka akan terjadi peningkatan pada volume penjualan sebesar 0,176. Koefisien Korelasi diketahui bahwa (X1) kualitas pelayanan dan (X2) promosi mempunyai hubungan positif dengan (Y) volume penjualan. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari nilai keofisien korelasi berganda R adalah 0,420. dan selanjutnya diuji dengan Keofisien determinasi berganda (R2) adalah 0,176. hal ini menunjukkan bahwa (X1) kualitas pelayanan dan (X2) promosi sudah bersama – sama adanya hubungan variasi terhadap (Y) volume penjualan sebesar 17,6 %. Dan sisanya 82,4 % di pengaruhi oleh variabel selain (X1) dan (X2).Uji hipotesis pada taraf signifikan a = 5 % dimana F hitung (5,233) > F tabel (3,18) maka Ho ditolak dan Ha diterima. Berdasarkan nilai signifikan terlihat pada kolom sig yaitu 0,009 berarti probabilitas 0,009 lebih kecil dari pada 0,05.artinya memiliki pengaruh yang signifikan antara kualitas pelayanan dan promosi terhadap volume penjualan.
Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness between Normal Eyes & Glaucoma
Authors: Al-Otaibi Basimah S
Published: August 2019

Background: Screening of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is valuable in the early stages of glaucoma, because RNFL changes may precede functional loss. Aim to study: The purpose of this study was to assess the RNFL thickness in normal and glaucomatous eyes. Difference in the RNFL thickness was also determined between the groups.Methods: Sixty healthy subjects and 30 subjects with glaucoma participated in this cross-sectional study. Healthy volunteers free of glaucoma were divided into 2 groups, younger (age ≤ 35 years) and older (age > 35 years) participants. All subjects underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation, including visual acuity, refraction, slit-lamp, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, and RNFL thickness measurement by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Unpaired t-test was performed to compare RNFL thickness between the eyes of younger and older participants. One way analysis (ANOVA) test was employed to compare RNFL thickness among the 3 groups (normal young, normal old & glaucomatous eyes).Results: Mean values of RNFL thickness in the younger, older and glaucoma populations were 109.3±15 µm (95% CI 103.7-114.06 µm), 106.8 ± 14 µm (95% CI 101.49-112.02) and 92.8± 29 µm (95% CI 82.11-103.47), respectively. There was a significant difference among the 3 groups (p=0.0045). The RNFL was thinner in older participants than younger participants (p=0.0067). Conclusions: Screening of the RNFL is valuable in the early stages of glaucoma.
Research on achieving a meteorological monitoring system to increase
efficiency in the execution and operation of solar installations and to reduce environmental pollution
Authors: NICOLAE DIACONU , MARIN SILVIU NAN , OLIMPIU STOICUTA , ROXANA UNGUR , MARIUS RAZVAN POPESCU , DANUT GRECEA
Published: August 2019

Environmental protection alongside the economic and social cohesion are key pillars in the sustainable development of
a country. In this context, the strategy of development of industries in Romania should promote modern technologies
with as reduced environmental impact as possible. Therefore, determining how dispersion of the pollutants and identify
weather events that cause the stagnation of pollutants in the atmosphere are a necessity in the industrial areas. On the
other hand, the increased photovoltaic conversion efficiency by increasing the use of solar radiation, both in terms of
execution as well as the operation of photovoltaic installations can be achieved as a result of detailed analysis of
parameters and meteorological phenomena that define the area where the photovoltaic park will be located. Thus, this
article presents a weather system consisting of six weather stations and a computer for keeping the data acquired. Each
weather station acquires from where is assembled, information on the following variables: ambient temperature, solar
radiation intensity, humidity, barometric pressure, altitude, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall.
Comparative study between two types of electrolyte used in the reactive
dyeing of cotton
Authors: AYDA BAFFOUN
Published: August 2019

The aim of this paper was to compare the efficiency of two type of electrolyte in the dyeing of cotton fabrics with reactive
dyes. Factors affecting dye ability such as salt concentration, and fastness performances such as alkaliconcentrationwere
studied. The colouryield K/S and colour fastness of the dyed fabric using sodium sulfate were comparable to those
obtained with sodium chloride. However, the exhaustion and the fixation timewere shorter and the diffusion coefficient was
lower in the case of sodium sulfate.
Recycling of cellulose from vegetable fiber waste for sustainable industrial
applications
Authors: UMIT HALIS ERDOGAN , HICRAN DURAN , FIGEN SELLI
Published: August 2019

Recently two significant topics that became important for textile industry namely ‘providing sustainability by reusing of
textile wastes’ and ‘developing high-valued new textile raw materials. Cellulose, which is a fascinating polymer, has been
used for years as a raw material to obtain various products such as papers, fibers and films. In this study, it is aimed to
provide sustainability with recycling of cellulose from waste jute fibers, considering the amount of waste jute weft yarns
released in the production process of machine carpets. For this purpose, pre-cleaning of waste fibers was carried out at
first, and then extraction of cellulose was accomplished, and finally characterization of recycled cellulose was performed.
Organic acid extraction method was effective for isolation of cellulose from waste fibers with 43.65% yield performance.
Microscopic and experimental analyses confirmed that non-cellulosic part of waste fibers were removed successfully
and recycled cellulose has similar structure with control cellulose. Our results suggest that, waste vegetable fibers can
be used as a potential source for cellulose. Recycled cellulose can be used in the production of paper, composites,
regenerated cellulose fibers and other industrial applications.
Señales hipertróficas disparadas por la Angiotensina II en el miocardio: rol del receptor del factor de crecimiento epidérmico y de las especies reactivas del oxígeno
Authors:   , Brea María Soledad
Published: August 2019

El objetivo del trabajo fue diseñar una herramienta para bloquear de manera específica al receptor del factor de crecimiento epidérmico (EGFR) y utilizarla para evaluar la participación del receptor en dos procesos fisiopatológicos: la segunda fase de fuerza al estiramiento y la hipertrofia cardíaca patológica. Diseñamos un RNA de interferencia contra el EGFR y lo clonamos en un vector lentiviral. Se inyectaron los corazones de ratas macho de 3 meses de edad (wistar para el estudio de segunda fase de fuerza y SHR para el estudio de hipertrofia) con el virus silenciador y el virus control, y al mes de la inyección se sacrificaron los animales y se realizaron distintos experimentos. La conclusión general del trabajo de tesis es que el EGFR es necesario para el desarrollo de segunda fase de fuerza al estiramiento y para la progresión de las SHR a la disfunción cardíaca.