bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Importance of Fatty Acids as Nutrients during Post-Exercise Recovery
Authors: Lundsgaard Anne-Marie , Fritzen Andreas M. , Kiens Bente
Published: January 2020

It is well recognized that whole-body fatty acid (FA) oxidation remains increased for several hours following aerobic endurance exercise, even despite carbohydrate intake. However, the mechanisms involved herein have hitherto not been subject to a thorough evaluation. In immediate and early recovery (0–4 h), plasma FA availability is high, which seems mainly to be a result of hormonal factors and increased adipose tissue blood flow. The increased circulating availability of adipose-derived FA, coupled with FA from lipoprotein lipase (LPL)-derived very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL)-triacylglycerol (TG) hydrolysis in skeletal muscle capillaries and hydrolysis of TG within the muscle together act as substrates for the increased mitochondrial FA oxidation post-exercise. Within the skeletal muscle cells, increased reliance on FA oxidation likely results from enhanced FA uptake into the mitochondria through the carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT) 1 reaction, and concomitant AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-mediated pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) inhibition of glucose oxidation. Together this allows glucose taken up by the skeletal muscles to be directed towards the resynthesis of glycogen. Besides being oxidized, FAs also seem to be crucial signaling molecules for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling post-exercise, and thus for induction of the exercise-induced FA oxidative gene adaptation program in skeletal muscle following exercise. Collectively, a high FA turnover in recovery seems essential to regain whole-body substrate homeostasis.
Fat and Fat-Free Mass of Preterm and Term Infants from Birth to Six Months: A Review of Current Evidence
Authors: Hamatschek Constanze , Yousuf Efrah I. , Möllers Lea Sophie , So Hon Yiu , Morrison Katherine M. , Fusch Christoph , Rochow Niels
Published: January 2020

To optimize infant nutrition, the nature of weight gain must be analyzed. This study aims to review publications and develop growth charts for fat and fat-free mass for preterm and term infants. Body composition data measured by air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in preterm and term infants until six months corrected age were abstracted from publications (31 December 1990 to 30 April 2019). Age-specific percentiles were calculated. ADP measurements were used in 110 studies (2855 preterm and 22,410 term infants), and DXA was used in 28 studies (1147 preterm and 3542 term infants). At term age, preterm infants had higher percent-fat than term-born infants (16% vs. 11%, p < 0.001). At 52 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA), both reached similar percent-fat (24% vs. 25%). In contrast, at term age, preterm infants had less fat-free mass (2500 g vs. 2900 g) by 400 g. This difference decreased to 250 g by 52 weeks, and to 100 g at 60 weeks PMA (5000 g vs. 5100 g). DXA fat-free mass data were comparable with ADP. However, median percent-fat was up to 5% higher with DXA measurements compared with ADP with PMA > 50 weeks. There are methodological differences between ADP and DXA measures for infants with higher fat mass. The cause of higher fat mass in preterm infants at term age needs further investigation.
New Approaches for Escherichia coli Genotyping
Authors: Kotłowski Roman , Grecka Katarzyna , Kot Barbara , Szweda Piotr
Published: January 2020

Easy-to-perform, fast, and inexpensive methods of differentiation of Escherichia coli strains beyond the species level are highly required. Herein two new, original tools for genotyping of E. coli isolates are proposed. The first of the developed method, a PCR-RFLP (polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism) test uses a highly variable fliC gene, encoding the H antigen as a molecular target. The designing of universal pair of primers and selection of the optimal restriction enzyme RsaI was preceded by in silico comparative analysis of the sequences of the genes coding for 53 different serotypes of H-antigen (E. coli flagellin). The target fragments of E. coli genomes for MLST method were selected on the basis of bioinformatics analysis of complete sequences of 16 genomes of E. coli. Initially, seven molecular targets were proposed (seven pairs of primers) and five of them were found useful for effective genotyping of E. coli strains. Both developed methods revealed high differentiation power, and a high genetic diversity of the strains tested was observed. Within the group of 71 strains tested, 29 and 47 clusters were revealed with fliC RFLP-PCR and MLST methods, respectively. Differentiation of the strains with the reference BOX-PCR method revealed 31 different genotypes. The in silico analysis revealed that the discriminatory power of the new MLST method is comparable to the Pasteur and Achtman schemes and is higher than the discriminatory power of the method developed by Clermont. From the epidemiology point of view, the outcomes of our investigation revealed that in most cases, the patients were infected with unique strains, probably from environmental sources. However, some strains isolated from different patients of the wards of pediatrics, internal medicine, and neurology were classified to the same genotype when the results of all three methods were taken into account. It could suggest that they were transferred between the patients.
Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Complex Bone Diseases: Bone Cancer, Bone Infection and Osteoporosis
Authors: Gisbert-Garzarán Miguel , Manzano Miguel , Vallet-Regí María
Published: January 2020

Bone diseases, such as bone cancer, bone infection and osteoporosis, constitute a major issue for modern societies as a consequence of their progressive ageing. Even though these pathologies can be currently treated in the clinic, some of those treatments present drawbacks that may lead to severe complications. For instance, chemotherapy lacks great tumor tissue selectivity, affecting healthy and diseased tissues. In addition, the inappropriate use of antimicrobials is leading to the appearance of drug-resistant bacteria and persistent biofilms, rendering current antibiotics useless. Furthermore, current antiosteoporotic treatments present many side effects as a consequence of their poor bioavailability and the need to use higher doses. In view of the existing evidence, the encapsulation and selective delivery to the diseased tissues of the different therapeutic compounds seem highly convenient. In this sense, silica-based mesoporous nanoparticles offer great loading capacity within their pores, the possibility of modifying the surface to target the particles to the malignant areas and great biocompatibility. This manuscript is intended to be a comprehensive review of the available literature on complex bone diseases treated with silica-based mesoporous nanoparticles—the further development of which and eventual translation into the clinic could bring significant benefits for our future society.
Biostimulant Effect and Biochemical Response in Lettuce Seedlings Treated with A Scenedesmus quadricauda Extract
Authors: Puglisi Ivana , La Bella Emanuele , Rovetto Ermes Ivan , Lo Piero Angela Roberta , Baglieri Andrea
Published: January 2020

The use of natural biostimulants is becoming an attractive option in order to reduce the use of fertilizer and increase the yield of crops. In particular, algal extracts are suitable candidates as they positively affect plant physiology. Among crops, lettuce often requires the use of biostimulants to improve both the quality and quantity of production. The aim of this work is to investigate the potential use of a Scenedesmus quadricauda extract as a biostimulant in order to obtain sustainable cultivation and a reduction in the cost of chemical fertilizers in lettuce cultivation. Therefore, the effect of S. quadricauda extract on lettuce seedlings was explored by evaluating the physiological parameters, chlorophyll, carotenoid, and total protein contents as well as several plant enzymatic activities involved in primary and secondary metabolisms. The experiment was performed by growing plants on inert substrate (pumice) with a 16-h photoperiod, by carrying out two consecutive radical treatments, one week apart, using a concentration of the extract corresponding to 1 mg Corg L−1. Lettuce plants were sampled at 1, 4, and 7 days from the first treatment and 7 days from the second treatment. The results showed that the S. quadricauda extract positively affected the growth of lettuce seedlings, mainly acting at the shoot level, determining an increase in dry matter, chlorophylls, carotenoids, proteins, and influencing the activities of several enzymes involved in the primary metabolism.
Geopolymer/CeO2 as Solid Electrolyte for IT-SOFC
Authors: Gulicovski Jelena , Nenadović Snežana , Kljajević Ljiljana , Mirković Miljana , Nišavić Marija , Kragović Milan , Stojmenović Marija
Published: January 2020

As a material for application in the life sciences, a new composite material, geopolymer/CeO2 (GP_CeO2), was synthesized as a potential low-cost solid electrolyte for application in solid oxide fuel cells operating in intermediate temperature (IT-SOFC). The new materials were obtained from alkali-activated metakaolin (calcined clay) in the presence of CeO2 powders (x = 10%). Besides the commercial CeO2 powder, as a source of ceria, two differently synthesized CeO2 powders also were used: CeO2 synthesized by modified glycine nitrate procedure (MGNP) and self-propagating reaction at room temperature (SPRT). The structural, morphological, and electrical properties of pure and GP_CeO2-type samples were investigated by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), BET, differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (DTA/TGA), scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and method complex impedance (EIS). XRPD and matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis confirmed the formation of solid phase CeO2. The BET, DTA/TGA, FE-SEM, and EDS results indicated that particles of CeO2 were stabile interconnected and form a continuous conductive path, which was confirmed by the EIS method. The highest conductivity of 1.86 × 10−2 Ω−1 cm−1 was obtained for the sample GP_CeO2_MGNP at 700 °C. The corresponding value of activation energy for conductivity was 0.26 eV in the temperature range 500–700 °C.
Characteristics of Low-Temperature Polyvinyl Chloride Carbonization by Catalytic CuAl Layered Double Hydroxide
Authors: Pang Erwei , Liu Weijun , Zhang Shuhua , Fu Nengshuo , Tian Zhongxun
Published: January 2020

A good way to make carbon materials was presented in low-temperature polyvinyl chloride (PVC) carbonization by catalysis. The process of low-temperature PVC carbonization by CuAl-layered double hydroxide (CuAl-LDH) was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tubular furnace. The results show that CuAl-LDH accounting for 5% of PVC mass enabled acceleration of the dehydrochlorination in PVC as soon as possible and maximized the yield of the PVC carbonized product. The vacuum with 0.08 MPa, 20 °C/min heating rate and 90 min carbonized maintenance time were optimal for PVC carbonization. Moreover, the best morphology and yield of the carbonized product was provided at a carbonization temperature of 300 °C.
Modeling and Exploiting Microbial Temperature Response
Authors: Noll Philipp , Lilge Lars , Hausmann Rudolf , Henkel Marius
Published: January 2020

Temperature is an important parameter in bioprocesses, influencing the structure and functionality of almost every biomolecule, as well as affecting metabolic reaction rates. In industrial biotechnology, the temperature is usually tightly controlled at an optimum value. Smart variation of the temperature to optimize the performance of a bioprocess brings about multiple complex and interconnected metabolic changes and is so far only rarely applied. Mathematical descriptions and models facilitate a reduction in complexity, as well as an understanding, of these interconnections. Starting in the 19th century with the “primal” temperature model of Svante Arrhenius, a variety of models have evolved over time to describe growth and enzymatic reaction rates as functions of temperature. Data-driven empirical approaches, as well as complex mechanistic models based on thermodynamic knowledge of biomolecular behavior at different temperatures, have been developed. Even though underlying biological mechanisms and mathematical models have been well-described, temperature as a control variable is only scarcely applied in bioprocess engineering, and as a conclusion, an exploitation strategy merging both in context has not yet been established. In this review, the most important models for physiological, biochemical, and physical properties governed by temperature are presented and discussed, along with application perspectives. As such, this review provides a toolset for future exploitation perspectives of temperature in bioprocess engineering.
Multimode Operating Performance Visualization and Nonoptimal Cause Identification
Authors: Ying Yuhui , Li Zhi , Yang Minglei , Du Wenli
Published: January 2020

In the traditional performance assessment method, different modes of data are classified mainly by expert knowledge. Thus, human interference is highly probable. The traditional method is also incapable of distinguishing transition data from steady-state data, which reduces the accuracy of the monitor model. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a method of multimode operating performance visualization and nonoptimal cause identification. First, multimode data identification is realized by subtractive clustering algorithm (SCA), which can reduce human influence and eliminate transition data. Then, the multi-space principal component analysis (MsPCA) is used to characterize the independent characteristics of different datasets, which enhances the robustness of the model with respect to the performance of independent variables. Furthermore, a self-organizing map (SOM) is used to train these characteristics and map them into a two-dimensional plane, by which the visualization of the process monitor is realized. For the online assessment, the operating performance of the current process is evaluated according to the projection position of the data on the visual model. Then, the cause of the nonoptimal performance is identified. Finally, the Tennessee Eastman (TE) process is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Publications in 2019
Authors: Editorial Office Publications
Published: January 2020

The editorial team greatly appreciates the reviewers who have dedicated their considerable time and expertise to the journal’s rigorous editorial process over the past 12 months, regardless of whether the papers are finally published or not[...]
Sedimentary Landscape of Mun Valley Prehistoric Site: Construction History of Moated Site of Ban Non Wat, Northeast Thailand
Authors: Kanthilatha Nelum , Boyd William , Chang Nigel
Published: January 2020

This research examines the sedimentological evidence of human occupation on different cultural layers at the prehistoric archaeological sites in northeast Thailand. This study focuses on the sedimentological characters of stratigraphic layers identified at the prehistoric occupation sites of Ban Non Wat and Nong Hua Raet, to demonstrate the capacity of such analyses to elucidate the modification of sediments by past anthropogenic activity, and eventually to contribute to an enhanced understanding of the behaviour of ancient people. The primary intention of this paper is, therefore, to point out potential uses of particle analysis in identifying human–landscape interventions, testing whether meaningful differentiation is possible, and if not, whether this may nevertheless be used to understand the sedimentological relationships between different features. The study finds that although there is relatively little differentiation between sediments across the archaeological site, some insight is possible in identifying relationships between the natural sediments of the floodplain, the channels associated with the archaeological sites, and the archaeological sediments themselves. It is, for example, now possible to raise new questions regarding the construction history of the sites, the history of human behaviour at these sites, socio-spatial relationships between paleo-social activity and natural resources, and fine-scale landscape associations between sites.
A Compact Ultrafast Electron Diffractometer with Relativistic Femtosecond Electron Pulses
Authors: Yang Jinfeng , Gen Kazuki , Naruse Nobuyasu , Sakakihara Shouichi , Yoshida Yoichi
Published: January 2020

We have developed a compact relativistic femtosecond electron diffractometer with a radio-frequency photocathode electron gun and an electron lens system. The electron gun generated 2.5-MeV-energy electron pulses with a duration of 55 ± 5 fs containing 6.3 × 104 electrons per pulse. Using these pulses, we successfully detected high-contrast electron diffraction images of single crystalline, polycrystalline, and amorphous materials. An excellent spatial resolution of diffraction images was obtained as 0.027 ± 0.001 Å−1. In the time-resolved electron diffraction measurement, a laser-excited ultrafast electronically driven phase transition in single-crystalline silicon was observed with a temporal resolution of 100 fs. The results demonstrate the advantages of the compact relativistic femtosecond electron diffractometer, including access to high-order Bragg reflections, single shot imaging with the relativistic femtosecond electron pulse, and the feasibility of time-resolved electron diffraction to study ultrafast structural dynamics.
Preliminary Investigation into Measurement While Drilling as a Means to Characterize the Coalmine Roof
Authors: Khanal Manoj , Qin Johnny , Shen Baotang , Dlamini Bongani
Published: January 2020

The variable nature of the coalmine roof poses a challenge to roadway stability during underground coal mining. There have been fatalities and financial losses in the coal mining industry due to roadway failures and roof falls. Generally, the geotechnical and geological data gathered from exploration boreholes, which are drilled at considerable distances from each other, are used to characterize the thickness and quality (including strength) of the coalmine roof. This process provides a limited number of samples that cannot represent the discontinuous nature of the strata in the coalmine roof nor can they form reliable inputs to a digital model of the rock mass component of the digital mine. Gaining confidence in the strata properties of the coalmine roof is necessary for the modelling, design, and maintenance of roadways. The paper describes the progress of the ongoing work to investigate the monitoring while drilling (MWD) concept for characterizing coalmine roofs. Large-scale drilling experiments in synthesized sandwiched rock samples without interfaces were carried out. The drilling response data were analyzed to identify whether the drill data differentiates the various strengths associated with the rock samples. The initial results show that the drilling data can differentiate the synthesized rock samples.
Backward Adaptive Brightness Temperature Threshold Technique (BAB3T): A Methodology to Determine Extreme Convective Initiation Regions Using Satellite Infrared Imagery
Authors: Cancelada Maite , Salio Paola , Vila Daniel , Nesbitt Stephen W. , Vidal Luciano
Published: January 2020

Thunderstorms in southeastern South America (SESA) stand out in satellite observations as being among the strongest on Earth in terms of satellite-based convective proxies, such as lightning flash rate per storm, the prevalence for extremely tall, wide convective cores and broad stratiform regions. Accurately quantifying when and where strong convection is initiated presents great interest in operational forecasting and convective system process studies due to the relationship between convective storms and severe weather phenomena. This paper generates a novel methodology to determine convective initiation (CI) signatures associated with extreme convective systems, including extreme events. Based on the well-established area-overlapping technique, an adaptive brightness temperature threshold for identification and backward tracking with infrared data is introduced in order to better identify areas of deep convection associated with and embedded within larger cloud clusters. This is particularly important over SESA because ground-based weather radar observations are currently limited to particular areas. Extreme rain precipitation features (ERPFs) from Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission are examined to quantify the full satellite-observed life cycle of extreme convective events, although this technique allows examination of other intense convection proxies such as the identification of overshooting tops. CI annual and diurnal cycles are analyzed and distinctive behaviors are observed for different regions over SESA. It is found that near principal mountain barriers, a bimodal diurnal CI distribution is observed denoting the existence of multiple CI triggers, while convective initiation over flat terrain has a maximum frequency in the afternoon.
Detection of Maize Tassels from UAV RGB Imagery with Faster R-CNN
Authors: Liu Yunling , Cen Chaojun , Che Yingpu , Ke Rui , Ma Yan , Ma Yuntao
Published: January 2020

Maize tassels play a critical role in plant growth and yield. Extensive RGB images obtained using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the prevalence of deep learning provide a chance to improve the accuracy of detecting maize tassels. We used images from UAV, a mobile phone, and the Maize Tassel Counting dataset (MTC) to test the performance of faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster R-CNN) with residual neural network (ResNet) and a visual geometry group neural network (VGGNet). The results showed that the ResNet, as the feature extraction network, was better than the VGGNet for detecting maize tassels from UAV images with 600 × 600 resolution. The prediction accuracy ranged from 87.94% to 94.99%. However, the prediction accuracy was less than 87.27% from the UAV images with 5280 × 2970 resolution. We modified the anchor size to [852, 1282, 2562] in the region proposal network according to the width and height of pixel distribution to improve detection accuracy up to 89.96%. The accuracy reached up to 95.95% for mobile phone images. Then, we compared our trained model with TasselNet without training their datasets. The average difference of tassel number was 1.4 between the calculations with 40 images for the two methods. In the future, we could further improve the performance of the models by enlarging datasets and calculating other tassel traits such as the length, width, diameter, perimeter, and the branch number of the maize tassels.
Evaluation and Application of Satellite Precipitation Products in Studying the Summer Precipitation Variations over Taiwan
Authors: Huang Wan-Ru , Liu Pin-Yi , Chang Ya-Hui , Liu Chian-Yi
Published: January 2020

In March 2019, Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG)-Final v6 (hereafter IMERG6) was released, with data concerning precipitation dating back to June 2000. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has suggested that researchers use IMERG6 to replace the frequently used Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)-3B42 v7 (hereafter TRMM7), which is expected to cease operation in December 2019. This study aims to evaluate the performance of IMERG6 and TRMM7 in depicting the variations of summer (June, July, and August) precipitation over Taiwan during the period 2000–2017. Data used for the comparison also includes IMERG-Final v5 (hereafter IMERG5) and Global Satellite Mapping of Precipitation for Global Precipitation Measurement (GSMaP)-Gauge v7 (hereafter GSMaP7) during the summers of 2014–2017. Capabilities to apply the four satellite precipitation products (SPPs) in studying summer connective afternoon rainfall (CAR) events, which are the most frequently observed weather patterns in Taiwan, are also examined. Our analyses show that when using more than 400 local rain-gauge observations as a reference base for comparison, IMERG6 outperforms TRMM7 quantitatively and qualitatively, more accurately depicting the variations of the summer precipitation over Taiwan at multiple timescales (including mean status, daily, interannual, and diurnal). IMERG6 also performs better than TRMM7 in capturing the characteristics of CAR activities in Taiwan. These findings highlight that using IMERG6 to replace TRMM7 adds value in studying the spatial-temporal variations of summer precipitation over Taiwan. Furthermore, the analyses also indicated that IMERG6 outperforms IMERG5 and GSMaP7 in the examination of most of the features of summer precipitation over Taiwan during 2014–2017.
Improved 3D Stem Mapping Method and Elliptic Hypothesis-Based DBH Estimation from Terrestrial Laser Scanning Data
Authors: Ye WenFang , Qian Chuang , Tang Jian , Liu Hui , Fan XiaoYun , Liang Xinlian , Zhang HongJuan
Published: January 2020

The detailed structure information under the forest canopy is important for forestry surveying. As a high-precision environmental sensing and measurement method, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is widely used in high-precision forestry surveying. In TLS-based forestry surveys, stem-mapping, which is focused on detecting and extracting trunks, is one of the core data processing tasks and the basis for the subsequent calculation of tree attributes; one of the most basic attributes is the diameter at breast height (DBH). This article explores and improves the methods for stem mapping and DBH estimation from TLS data. Firstly, an improved 3D stem mapping algorithm considering the growth direction in random sample consistency (RANSAC) cylinder fitting is proposed to extract and fit the individual tree point cloud section. It constructs the hierarchical optimum cylinder of the trunk and introduces the growth direction into the establishment of the backbone buffer in the next layer. Experimental results show that it can effectively remove most of the branches and reduce the interference of the branches to the discrimination of trunks and improve the integrity of stem extraction by about 36%. Secondly, a robust least squares ellipse fitting method based on the elliptic hypothesis is proposed for DBH estimation. Experimental results show that the DBH estimation accuracy of the proposed estimation method is improved compared with other methods. The mean root mean squared error (RMSE) of the proposed estimation method is 1.14 cm, compared with other methods with a mean RMSE of 1.70, 2.03, and 2.14 cm. The mean relative accuracy of the proposed estimation method is 95.2%, compared with other methods with a mean relative accuracy of 92.9%, 91.9%, and 90.9%.
Discrepancy Analysis for Detecting Candidate Parcels Requiring Update of Land Category in Cadastral Map Using Hyperspectral UAV Images: A Case Study in Jeonju, South Korea
Authors: Park Seula , Song Ahram
Published: January 2020

The non-spatial information of cadastral maps must be repeatedly updated to monitor recent changes in land property and to detect illegal land registrations by tax evaders. Since non-spatial information, such as land category, is usually updated by field-based surveys, it is time-consuming and only a limited area can be updated at a time. Although land categories can be updated by remote sensing techniques, the update is typically performed through manual analysis, namely through a visually interpreted comparison between the newly generated land information and the existing cadastral maps. A cost-effective, fast alternative to the current surveying methods would improve the efficiency of land management. For this purpose, the present study analyzes the discrepancy between the existing cadastral map and the actual land use. Our proposed method operates in two steps. First, an up-to-date land cover map is generated from hyperspectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. These images are effectively classified by a hybrid two- and three-dimensional convolutional neural network. Second, a discrepancy map, which contains the ratio of the area that is being used differently from the registered land use in each parcel, is constructed through a three-stage inconsistency comparison. As a case study, the proposed method was evaluated using hyperspectral UAV images acquired at two sites of Jeonju in South Korea. The overall classification accuracies of six land classes at Sites 1 and 2 were 99.93% and 99.75% and those at Sites 1 and 2 are 39.4% and 34.4%, respectively, which had discrepancy ratios of 50% or higher. Finally, discrepancy maps between the land cover maps and existing cadastral maps were generated and visualized. The method automatically reveals the inconsistent parcels requiring updates of their land category. Although the performance of the proposed method depends on the classification results obtained from UAV imagery, the method allows a flexible modification of the matching criteria between the land categories and land coverage. Therefore, it is generalizable to various cadastral systems and the discrepancy ratios will provide practical information and significantly reduce the time and effort for land monitoring and field surveying.
Research on the Integrated Navigation Technology of SINS with Couple Odometers for Land Vehicles
Authors: Gao Jiaxin , Li Kui , Chen Jiyang
Published: January 2020

Autonomous and accurate acquisition of the position and azimuth of the vehicle is critical to the combat effectiveness of land-fighting vehicles. The integrated navigation system, consisting of a strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS) and odometer (OD), is commonly applied in vehicles. In the SINS/OD integrated system, the odometer is installed around the vehicle’s wheel, while SINS is usually installed on the base of the vehicle. The distance along SINS and OD would cause a velocity difference when the vehicle maneuvers, which may lead to a significant influence on the integration positioning accuracy. Furthermore, SINS navigation errors, especially azimuth error, would diverge over time due to gyro drifts and accelerometer biases. The azimuth error would cause the divergence of dead-reckoning positioning errors with the distance that the vehicle drives. To solve these problems, an integrated positioning and orientation method based on the configuration of SINS and couple odometers was proposed in this paper. The proposed method designed a high precision integrated navigation algorithm, which compensated the lever arm effect to eliminate the velocity difference between SINS and odometers. At the same time, by using the measured information of couple odometers, azimuth reference was calculated and used as an external measurement to suppress SINS azimuth error’s divergence over time, thus could further improve the navigation precision of the integrated system, especially the orientation accuracy. The performance of the proposed method was verified by simulations. The results demonstrated that SINS/2ODs integrated system could achieve a positioning accuracy of 0.01% D (total mileage) and orientation accuracy of ±30″ by using SINS with 0.01°/h Fiber-Optic Gyroscope (FOGs) and 50 µg accelerometers.
RDSP: Rapidly Deployable Wireless Ad Hoc System for Post-Disaster Management
Authors: Khan Ajmal , Munir Adnan , Kaleem Zeeshan , Ullah Farman , Bilal Muhammad , Nkenyereye Lewis , Shah Shahen , Nguyen Long D. , Islam S. M. Riazul , Kwak Kyung-Sup
Published: January 2020

In post-disaster scenarios, such as after floods, earthquakes, and in war zones, the cellular communication infrastructure may be destroyed or seriously disrupted. In such emergency scenarios, it becomes very important for first aid responders to communicate with other rescue teams in order to provide feedback to both the central office and the disaster survivors. To address this issue, rapidly deployable systems are required to re-establish connectivity and assist users and first responders in the region of incident. In this work, we describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a rapidly deployable system for first response applications in post-disaster situations, named RDSP. The proposed system helps early rescue responders and victims by sharing their location information to remotely located servers by utilizing a novel routing scheme. This novel routing scheme consists of the Dynamic ID Assignment (DIA) algorithm and the Minimum Maximum Neighbor (MMN) algorithm. The DIA algorithm is used by relay devices to dynamically select their IDs on the basis of all the available IDs of networks. Whereas, the MMN algorithm is used by the client and relay devices to dynamically select their next neighbor relays for the transmission of messages. The RDSP contains three devices; the client device sends the victim’s location information to the server, the relay device relays information between client and server device, the server device receives messages from the client device to alert the rescue team. We deployed and evaluated our system in the outdoor environment of the university campus. The experimental results show that the RDSP system reduces the message delivery delay and improves the message delivery ratio with lower communication overhead.
Nonuniformly-Rotating Ship Refocusing in SAR Imagery Based on the Bilinear Extended Fractional Fourier Transform
Authors: Pan Zhenru , Fan Huaitao , Zhang Zhimin
Published: January 2020

Nonuniformly-rotating ship refocusing is very significant in the marine surveillance of satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The majority of ship imaging algorithms is based on the inverse SAR (ISAR) technique. On the basis of the ISAR technique, several parameter estimation algorithms were proposed for nonuniformly rotating ships. But these algorithms still have problems on cross-terms and noise suppression. In this paper, a refocusing algorithm for nonuniformly rotating ships based on the bilinear extended fractional Fourier transform (BEFRFT) is proposed. The ship signal in a range bin can be modeled as a multicomponent cubic phase signal (CPS) after motion compensation. BEFRFT is a bilinear extension of fractional Fourier transform (FRFT), which can estimate the chirp rates and quadratic chirp rates of CPSs. Furthermore, BEFRFT has excellent performances on cross-terms and noise suppression. The results of simulated data and Gaofen-3 data verify the effectiveness of BEFRFT.
Retrieval and Timing Performance of Chewing-Based Eating Event Detection in Wearable Sensors
Authors: Zhang Rui , Amft Oliver
Published: January 2020

We present an eating detection algorithm for wearable sensors based on first detecting chewing cycles and subsequently estimating eating phases. We term the corresponding algorithm class as a bottom-up approach. We evaluated the algorithm using electromyographic (EMG) recordings from diet-monitoring eyeglasses in free-living and compared the bottom-up approach against two top-down algorithms. We show that the F1 score was no longer the primary relevant evaluation metric when retrieval rates exceeded approx. 90%. Instead, detection timing errors provided more important insight into detection performance. In 122 hours of free-living EMG data from 10 participants, a total of 44 eating occasions were detected, with a maximum F1 score of 99.2%. Average detection timing errors of the bottom-up algorithm were 2.4 ± 0.4 s and 4.3 ± 0.4 s for the start and end of eating occasions, respectively. Our bottom-up algorithm has the potential to work with different wearable sensors that provide chewing cycle data. We suggest that the research community report timing errors (e.g., using the metrics described in this work).
Sensing of Oxygen Partial Pressure in Air with ZnO Nanoparticles
Authors: Chang Xin , Li Shunpu , Chu Daping
Published: January 2020

The demand for sensors in response to oxygen partial pressure in air is increasingly high in recent years and small-size sensors on a micrometer scale and even a nanometer scale are particularly desirable. In this paper, the sensing of oxygen partial pressure in air was realized by a solution-processed ZnO nanoparticle (NP). Thin-film ZnO NP was prepared by spin-coating and a highly sensitive sensor was then fabricated. The oxygen sensing performance was characterized in air and compared with that in nitrogen, which showed an increase in electrical conductance by more than 100 times as a result of decreasing oxygen partial pressure from 103 mBar to 10−5 mBar. Moreover, higher sensitivity was achieved by increasing the annealing temperature and the effect of thermal annealing was also investigated. Furthermore, ZnO NP lines with 7 μm in width were successfully patterned with low cost by a mould-guided drying technique from ZnO NP dispersion, which makes ZnO NP extremely promising for miniaturized and integrated sensing applications.
Global Motion-Aware Robust Visual Object Tracking for Electro Optical Targeting Systems
Authors: Kim Byeong Hak , Lukezic Alan , Lee Jong Hyuk , Jung Ho Min , Kim Min Young
Published: January 2020

Although recently developed trackers have shown excellent performance even when tracking fast moving and shape changing objects with variable scale and orientation, the trackers for the electro-optical targeting systems (EOTS) still suffer from abrupt scene changes due to frequent and fast camera motions by pan-tilt motor control or dynamic distortions in field environments. Conventional context aware (CA) and deep learning based trackers have been studied to tackle these problems, but they have the drawbacks of not fully overcoming the problems and dealing with their computational burden. In this paper, a global motion aware method is proposed to address the fast camera motion issue. The proposed method consists of two modules: (i) a motion detection module, which is based on the change in image entropy value, and (ii) a background tracking module, used to track a set of features in consecutive images to find correspondences between them and estimate global camera movement. A series of experiments is conducted on thermal infrared images, and the results show that the proposed method can significantly improve the robustness of all trackers with a minimal computational overhead. We show that the proposed method can be easily integrated into any visual tracking framework and can be applied to improve the performance of EOTS applications.
Polypyrrole-Wrapped Carbon Nanotube Composite Films Coated on Diazonium-Modified Flexible ITO Sheets for the Electroanalysis of Heavy Metal Ions
Authors: Lo Momath , Seydou Mahamadou , Bensghaïer Asma , Pires Rémy , Gningue-Sall Diariatou , Aaron Jean-Jacques , Mekhalif Zineb , Delhalle Joseph , Chehimi Mohamed M.
Published: January 2020

Highly sensitive multicomponent materials designed for the recognition of hazardous compounds request control over interfacial chemistry. The latter is a key parameter in the construction of the sensing (macro) molecular architectures. In this work, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were deposited on diazonium-modified, flexible indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes prior to the electropolymerization of pyrrole. This three-step process, including diazonium electroreduction, the deposition of CNTs and electropolymerization, provided adhesively-bonded, polypyrrole-wrapped CNT composite coatings on aminophenyl-modified flexible ITO sheets. The aminophenyl (AP) groups were attached to ITO by electroreduction of the in-situ generated aminobenzenediazonium compound in aqueous, acidic medium. For the first time, polypyrrole (PPy) was electrodeposited in the presence of both benzenesulfonic acid (dopant) and ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), which acts as a chelator. The flexible electrodes were characterized by XPS, Raman and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which provided strong supporting evidence for the wrapping of CNTs by the electrodeposited PPy. Indeed, the CNT average diameter increased from 18 ± 2.6 nm to 27 ± 4.8, 35.6 ± 5.9 and 175 ± 20.1 after 1, 5 and 10 of electropolymerization of pyrrole, respectively. The PPy/CNT/NH2-ITO films generated by this strategy exhibit significantly improved stability and higher conductivity compared to a similar PPy coating without any embedded CNTs, as assessed by from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The potentiometric response was linear in the 10−8–3 × 10−7 mol L−1 Pb(II) concentration range, and the detection limit was 2.9 × 10−9 mol L−1 at S/N = 3. The EGTA was found to drastically improve selectivity for Pb(II) over Cu(II). To account for this improvement, the density functional theory (DFT) was employed to calculate the EGTA–metal ion interaction energy, which was found to be −374.6 and −116.4 kJ/mol for Pb(II) and Cu(II), respectively, considering solvation effects. This work demonstrates the power of a subtle combination of diazonium coupling agent, CNTs, chelators and conductive polymers to design high-performance electrochemical sensors for environmental applications.
Piezoelectric Transducers for Structural Health Monitoring of Joint Structures in Cylinders: A Wave-Based Design Approach
Authors: Wang Wenjun , Li Lin , Fan Yu , Jiang Zhou
Published: January 2020

Joint structures, such as riveting, hinges, and flanges, are widely used in complex mechanical systems. A small unexpected change of a joint can lead to complicated wave-scattering in its connected waveguides. The conversion between wave modes can be used to quantify the variation of the connection status of joints. This gives rise to the challenge of exciting and sensing only one specific wave mode in practice. In this paper, transmitted wave amplitudes of a flange joint are first calculated by the wave finite element method (WFEM) to study the quantitative relationship between the local stiffness changes of the damaged site and the wave-mode conversion. Wave-mode piezoelectric transducers are subsequently designed for torsional, longitudinal, and flexural waves in cylindrical waveguides. The idea is to use the distribution and interconnection of the piezoelectric materials to cancel the charge contributed from the non-targeting waves. We conducted numerical simulations to demonstrate the selective coupling features of the designed wave transducers and found difference of several orders of magnitude in voltages between targeting wave mode and other wave modes. Four selected wave transducers were then extended to monitor the connection status of the flange. The wave-scattering features in the simulation and WFEM were verified to be in good agreement.
The Prediction of Geocentric Corrections during Communication Link Outages in PPP
Authors: Janicka Joanna , Tomaszewski Dariusz , Rapinski Jacek , Jagoda Marcin , Rutkowska Miloslawa
Published: January 2020

The International GNSS Service (IGS) real-time service (RTS) provides access to real-time precise products. State-Space Representation (SSR) products are disseminated through the Internet using the Networked Transport of the RTCM (Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services) via the Internet Protocol (NTRIP). However, communication outages caused by a loss of the communication link during ephemeris changes can occur. Unfortunately, any break in providing orbit and clock corrections affects the possibility to perform precise point positioning. To eliminate this problem, various methods have been developed and presented in the literature. The solution proposed by the authors is to directly predict geocentric corrections. This manuscript presents the results and analysis of geocentric correction predictions under two scenarios: the first between the IODE (issue of data ephemeris) value change and the second where prediction must be done for epochs containing a change in IODE ephemeris. In this case, the prediction uses data from a previous message. The Root Mean Square (RMS) values calculated based on the differences between the true correction values and the predicted geocentric corrections using a linear function, a second-degree polynomial and a constant value do not differ significantly. The numerical results show that, in most cases, maintaining the constant value of the last registered SSR correction is the best option.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Safety in 2019
Authors: Safety Editorial Office
Published: January 2020

The editorial team greatly appreciates the reviewers who have dedicated their considerable time and expertise to the journal’s rigorous editorial process over the past 12 months, regardless of whether the papers are finally published or not. [...]
Antioxidants in Cancer Therapy: Recent Trends in Application of Nanotechnology for Enhanced Delivery
Authors: Ammar Hussein O. , Shamma Rehab N. , Elbatanony Rasha S. E. , Khater Basma
Published: January 2020

Recently, the occurrence of cancer has significantly increased; it represents the second-most frequent cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. Many dietary antioxidants have shown large impact as effective agents for cancer prevention by reducing oxidative stress, which has been a part in the development of many diseases, including cancer. One of the obstacles in the delivery of antioxidant therapies into the required domain lies in the inadequate delivery of these agents to their intended site of action. Using nanotechnology in delivery of antioxidants leads to increased therapeutic index and higher drug concentration in tumor tissues, thus enhancing anticancer treatment. In this review, we discuss the role of different antioxidants in cancer therapy and their improved therapeutic effect through their formulation using nanotechnology.
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Soil Systems in 2019
Authors: Soil Systems Editorial Office
Published: January 2020

The editorial team greatly appreciates the reviewers who have dedicated their considerable time and expertise to the journal’s rigorous editorial process over the past 12 months, regardless of whether the papers are finally published or not. [...]
The Effectiveness of a Primary School Based Badminton Intervention on Children’s Fundamental Movement Skills
Authors: Duncan Michael J. , Noon Mark , Lawson Chelsey , Hurst Josh , Eyre Emma L. J.
Published: January 2020

This study examined the effects of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Shuttle Time program on fundamental movement skills (FMS) in English children. A total of 124 children; 66 in key stage 1 (ages 6–7 years) and 58 in key stage 2 (10–11 years) undertook the Shuttle Time program, once weekly for six weeks (n = 63) or acted as controls (n = 61). Pre, post and ten-weeks post, both process and product FMS were determined. Children in the intervention group, aged 6–7 years, had higher total process FMS (via test of gross motor development-2) compared to the control group at post and ten-weeks post intervention (both p = 0.0001, d = 0.6 and 0.7, respectively). There were no significant differences in process FMS scores for children aged 10–11 years. Ten-meter sprint speed decreased pre to post and was maintained at ten-weeks post for the intervention groups aged 6–7 years (p = 0.0001, d = 0.6) and 10–11 years (p = 0.001, d = 0.2) compared to control. Standing long jump distance increased pre to post (p = 0.0001, d = 0.8) and was maintained at ten-weeks post (p = 0.0001, d = 0.5) for the intervention group. Medicine ball throw performance increased pre to post (p = 0.0001, d = 0.3) for the intervention group. The BWF Shuttle Time program is beneficial in developing FMS for key stage 1 children (ages 6–7).