bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Totally Heat-Driven Refrigeration System Using Low-Temperature Heat Sources for Low-Temperature Applications
Authors: Seyfouri Zeynab , Ameri Mehran , Mehrabian Mozaffar Ali
Published: January 2019

In the present study, a totally heat-driven refrigeration system is proposed and thermodynamically analyzed. This system uses a low-temperature heat source such as geothermal energy or solar energy to produce cooling at freezing temperatures. The proposed system comprises a Rankine cycle (RC) and a hybrid GAX (HGAX) refrigeration cycle, in which the RC provides the power requirement of the HGAX cycle. An ammonia–water mixture is used in both RC and HGAX cycles as the working fluid. A comparative study is conducted in which the proposed system is compared with two other systems using GAX cycle and/or a single stage cycle, as the refrigeration cycle. The study shows that the proposed system is preferred to produce cooling at temperatures from 2∘C to [Formula: see text]C. A detailed parametric analysis of the proposed system is carried out. The results of the analysis show that the system can produce cooling at [Formula: see text]C using a low-temperature heat source at 133.5∘C with the exergy efficiency of about 20% without any input power. By increasing the heat source temperature to 160∘C, an exergy efficiency of 25% can be achieved.
Velocity Obstacle Approaches for Multi-Agent Collision Avoidance
Authors: Douthwaite James A. , Zhao Shiyu , Mihaylova Lyudmila S.
Published: January 2019

This paper presents a critical analysis of some of the most promising approaches to geometric collision avoidance in multi-agent systems, namely, the velocity obstacle (VO), reciprocal velocity obstacle (RVO), hybrid-reciprocal velocity obstacle (HRVO) and optimal reciprocal collision avoidance (ORCA) approaches. Each approach is evaluated with respect to increasing agent populations and variable sensing assumptions. In implementing the localized avoidance problem, the author notes a problem of symmetry not considered in the literature. An intensive 1000-cycle Monte Carlo analysis is used to assess the performance of the selected algorithms in the presented conditions. The ORCA method is shown to yield the most scalable computation times and collision likelihood in the presented cases. The HRVO method is shown to be superior than the other methods in dealing with obstacle trajectory uncertainty for the purposes of collision avoidance. The respective features and limitations of each algorithm are discussed and presented through examples.
IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE IN THE CHALIYAR RIVER BASIN IN KERALA, INDIA
Authors: SOMAN ARYA , CHITHRA N. R.
Published: January 2019

Impact assessment of regional climate change is very important as change in climate has emerged as one of the major threats to water resource systems and would significantly affect streamflow, soil moisture and water availability. The study used output of the Regional Climate Model (RCM) Remo2009 (Max-Planck-Institute (MPI)) to analyze the potential impacts of climate change on irrigated agriculture in the Chaliyar river basin, India. Streamflow and evapotranspiration were simulated using validated Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Hydrologic Modeling System (HEC-HMS) model. The estimation of irrigation water requirement (IWR) was performed using Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) method for the period 2021–2030 and 2051–2060. Results show that projected streamflow increases during June to September and decreases during October to December and January to May in future. Crop water requirement and IWR showed an increase during dry season and decrease during wet season. The increase/decrease in streamflow and IWR during wet/dry season is more in the far future than near future and for RCP 8.5 scenario than RCP 4.5 scenario.
Real-time monitoring of nitrate at farm wells in the Cotswold Oolite
Authors: Hampton Craig , Loewenthal Matthew , Smith Rikk
Published: January 2019

Reducing elevated nitrate in groundwater is a major challenge to regulators and abstractors given Water Framework Directive timescales. Real-time monitoring of nitrate at farm wells in the Cotswolds close to the groundwater divide has provided valuable insights into the potential sources and pathways at a location where groundwater exceeds drinking water standards. Continuous monitoring has revealed distinctive rising and falling patterns both diurnally (<mg l
−1
) and following rainfall events (>mg l
−1
). This has led to improved apportionment of the nitrate loading within the local hydrogeological system, which in turn may help to target where reductions to nitrate concentrations could be made.

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Measurement and monitoring collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/measurement-and-monitoring
Adenosine A1receptors and mitochondria: targets of remote ischemic preconditioning
Authors: Paez Diamela T. , Garces Mariana , Calabró Valeria , Bin Eliana P. , D’Annunzio Verónica , del Mauro Julieta , Marchini Timoteo , Höcht Christian , Evelson Pablo , Gelpi Ricardo J. , Donato Martín
Published: January 2019

Adenosine is involved in classic preconditioning in most species and acts especially through adenosine A1and A3receptors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether remote ischemic preconditioning (rIPC) activates adenosine A1receptors and improves mitochondrial function, thereby reducing myocardial infarct size. Isolated rat hearts were subjected to 30 min of global ischemia and 60 min of reperfusion [ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)]. In a second group, before isolation of the heart, a rIPC protocol (3 cycles of hindlimb I/R) was performed. Infarct size was measured with tetrazolium staining, and Akt/endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) expression/phosphorylation and mitochondrial function were evaluated after ischemia at 10 and 60 min of reperfusion. As expected, rIPC significantly decreased infarct size. This beneficial effect was abolished only when 8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine (adenosine A1receptor blocker) and NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (NO synthesis inhibitor) were administered during the reperfusion phase. At the early reperfusion phase, rIPC induced significant Akt and eNOS phosphorylation, which was abolished by the perfusion with an adenosine A1receptor blocker. I/R led to impaired mitochondrial function, which was attenuated by rIPC and mediated by adenosine A1receptors. In conclusion, we demonstrated that rIPC limits myocardial infarct by activation of adenosine A1receptors at early reperfusion in the isolated rat heart. Interestingly, rIPC appears to reduce myocardial infarct size by the Akt/eNOS pathway and improves mitochondrial function during myocardial reperfusion.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Adenosine is involved in classic preconditioning and acts especially through adenosine A1and A3receptors. However, its role in the mechanism of remote ischemic preconditioning is controversial. In this study, we demonstrated that remote ischemic preconditioning activates adenosine A1receptors during early reperfusion, inducing Akt/endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation and improving mitochondrial function, thereby reducing myocardial infarct size.
Interplay between TRAP1 and Sirtuin-3 Modulates Mitochondrial Respiration and Oxidative Stress to Maintain Stemness of Glioma Stem Cells
Authors: Park Hye-Kyung , Hong Jun-Hee , Oh Young Taek , Kim Sung Soo , Yin Jinlong , Lee An-Jung , Chae Young Chan , Kim Jong Heon , Park Sung-Hye , Park Chul-Kee , Park Myung-Jin , Park Jong Bae , Kang Byoung Heon
Published: January 2019

Glioblastoma (GBM) cancer stem cells (CSC) are primarily responsible for metastatic dissemination, resistance to therapy, and relapse of GBM, the most common and aggressive brain tumor. Development and maintenance of CSCs require orchestrated metabolic rewiring and metabolic adaptation to a changing microenvironment. Here, we show that cooperative interplay between the mitochondrial chaperone TRAP1 and the major mitochondria deacetylase sirtuin-3 (SIRT3) in glioma stem cells (GSC) increases mitochondrial respiratory capacity and reduces production of reactive oxygen species. This metabolic regulation endowed GSCs with metabolic plasticity, facilitated adaptation to stress (particularly reduced nutrient supply), and maintained “stemness.” Inactivation of TRAP1 or SIRT3 compromised their interdependent regulatory mechanisms, leading to metabolic alterations, loss of stemness, and suppression of tumor formation by GSC in vivo. Thus, targeting the metabolic mechanisms regulating interplay between TRAP1 and SIRT3 may provide a novel therapeutic option for intractable patients with GBM.

Significance:

Discovery and functional analysis of a TRAP1–SIRT3 complex in glioma stem cells identify potential target proteins for glioblastoma treatment.
Sulforaphane Suppresses the Growth of Triple-negative Breast Cancer Stem-like Cells In vitro and In vivo
Authors: Castro Nadia P. , Rangel Maria C. , Merchant Anand S. , MacKinnon Gabriel , Cuttitta Frank , Salomon David S. , Kim Young S.
Published: January 2019

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) represents the poorest prognosis among all of breast cancer subtypes with no currently available effective therapy. In this study, we hypothesized that sulforaphane, a dietary component abundant in broccoli and its sprouts, can inhibit malignant cell proliferation and tumor sphere formation of cancer stem-like cells (CSC) in TNBC. CSC population was isolated using FACS analysis with the combined stem cell surface markers, CD44+/CD24−/CD49f+. The effect of sulforaphane on a stem-related embryonic oncogene CRIPTO-1/TDGF1 (CR1) was evaluated via ELISA. In vivo, BalbC/nude mice were supplemented with sulforaphane before and after TNBC cell inoculation (daily intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg sulforaphane/kg for 5 and 3 weeks, respectively), and the effects of sulforaphane during mammary tumor initiation and growth were accessed with NanoString gene analysis. We found that sulforaphane can inhibit cell proliferation and mammosphere formation of CSCs in TNBC. Further analysis of gene expression in these TNBC tumor cells revealed that sulforaphane significantly decreases the expression of cancer-specific CR1, CRIPTO-3/TDGF1P3 (CR3, a homologue of CR1), and various stem cell markers including Nanog, aldehyde dehydrogenase 1A1 (ALDH1A1), Wnt3, and Notch4. Our results suggest that sulforaphane may control the malignant proliferation of CSCs in TNBC via Cripto-mediated pathway by either suppressing its expression and/or by inhibiting Cripto/Alk4 protein complex formation. Thus, the use of sulforaphane for chemoprevention of TNBC is plausible and warrants further clinical evaluation.
Early Palliative Care: Pro, but Please Be Precise!
Authors: Gärtner Jan , Daun Marion , Wolf Juergen , von Bergwelt-Baildon Michael , Hallek Michael
Published: January 2019

Background: By definition, palliative care (PC) is applicable already in early stages of incurable and life-threatening diseases, in conjunction with therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as for example chemo- or radiotherapy. Many patients suffer from distressing symptoms or problems in early phases of such illness. Therefore, it is not a question of “if” PC should be integrated early into oncology, but “how.” General PC is defined as an approach that should be delivered by healthcare professionals regardless of their discipline. This is often referred to as “general” or “primary” PC. For this, routine symptom assessment, expertise concerning basic symptom management, and communication skills are basic requirements. Communication skills include the willingness to engage in discussions concerning patients' fears, worries and end-of-life issues without the fear of destroying hope. Specialist PC is provided by specialist teams regardless of the patients' disease, be it cancer or non-cancer. Such teams should be integrated in the care of PC patients depending on the availability of these services and the patients' needs. Key messages: “Early PC” must not be used synonymously with “early specialist PC” because much of the PC is delivered as basic oncology PC. For the integration of specialist PC, the identification of triggers is warranted in different institutions to facilitate a meaningful and effective cooperation. Such cooperations should be based on patients' needs, but must also account for questions of availability and resources.
Surgical Management of Undescended Testis - Timetable and Outcome: A Debate
Authors: Thorup Jorgen , Cortes Dina
Published: January 2019

Around 1.4-3.8% of boys in the Western world are operated because of cryptorchidism. This means that orchidopexy remains one of the most common surgical procedures performed in boys. As a consequence, several consensus reports, guidelines, and reviews dealing with the management of cryptorchidism have been published recently. Based on our research and 30 years' experience with the management of cryptorchidism, the intention of the present publication is to advise on the surgical management and comment on the expected outcome, especially with focus on the controversies related to guidelines and reviews. Except for late referral and waiting lists, which may be practical problems, there is no reason to postpone orchidopexy for nonsyndromic congenital cryptorchid testes beyond 6 months. There is good evidence that such strategy improves the fertility potential and decreases the risk of testicular cancer. In cases with genuine gonadotropin insufficiency, early surgical correction is not enough and adjuvant LH-RH treatment should be implemented to improve the fertility potential. Cryopreservation may be an option in case of treatment failure of adjuvant LH-RH. A prerequisite for such management includes serum hormone assessment and evaluation of testicular biopsies at orchidopexy. Ascended testes contribute to 20-60% of operative cases and should be treated when diagnosed.
Is Hormonal Treatment of Congenital Undescended Testes Justified A Debate
Authors: Hadziselimovic Faruk
Published: January 2019

Abnormal germ cell development in cryptorchidism is not a result of a congenital dysgenesis but is preceded by a hormone imbalance and perturbation in germ cell-specific gene expression during abrogated mini-puberty. Adequate treatment with low doses of GnRHa enables 86% of men to achieve a normal sperm count and, most importantly, prevent development of azoospermia. GnRHa treatment induces a significant transcriptional response, including protein coding genes involved in pituitary development, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, and testosterone synthesis. Furthermore, hormonal treatment to achieve epididymo-testicular descent as a first choice of treatment of cryptorchidism has a long tradition in Europe. It eliminates the necessity of subsequent surgery. Moreover, in the cases of non-responders it facilitates orchidopexy and contributes considerably to a reduced incidence of unilateral and the more serious bilateral complete post-surgical testicular atrophy.
Optimization of Modified Sliding Mode Controller for an Electro-hydraulic Actuator System with Mismatched Disturbance
Authors: Othman Siti Marhainis , Rahmat M. F. , Rozali S. M. , Has Zulfatman , Abidin A. F. Z.
Published: January 2019

This paper presents the design of the modified sliding mode controller (MSMC) for the purpose of tracking the nonlinear system with mismatched disturbance. Provided that the performance of the designed controller depends on the value of control parameters, gravitational search algorithm (GSA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO) techniques are used to optimize these parameters in order to achieve a predefined system’s performance. In respect of system’s performance, it is evaluated based on the tracking error present between reference inputs transferred to the system and the system output. This is followed by verification of the efficiency of the designed controller in simulation environment under various values, with and without the inclusion of external disturbance. It can be seen from the simulation results that the MSMC with PSO exhibits a better performance in comparison to the performance of the similar controller with GSA in terms of output response and tracking error.
Instruction Set Extension of a Low-End Reconfigurable Microcontroller in Bit-Sorting Implementation
Authors: Md Salim Sani Irwan , Soo Yewguan , Izah Samsudin Sharatul
Published: January 2019

The microcontroller-based system is currently having a tremendous boost with the revelation of platforms such as the Internet of Things. Low-end families of microcontroller architecture are still in demand albeit less technologically advanced due to its better I/O better application and control. However, there is clearly a lack of computational capability of the low-end architecture that will affect the pre-processing stage of the received data. The purpose of this research is to combine the best feature of an 8-bit microcontroller architecture together with the computationally complex operations without incurring extra resources. The modules’ integration is implemented using instruction set architecture (ISA) extension technique and is developed on the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Extensive simulations were performed with the and a comprehensive methodology is proposed. It was found that the ISA extension from 12-bit to 16-bit has produced a faster execution time with fewer resource utilization when implementing the bit-sorting algorithm. The overall development process used in this research is flexible enough for further investigation either by extending its module to more complex algorithms or evaluating other designs of its components.
Contemporary Control of DG Integrated DVR for Sag, Swell and Harmonic Mitigation
Authors: Suraya Syed , Sujatha P. , Kumar P. Bharat
Published: January 2019

This paper presents a novel control strategy to control DG integrated DVR (dynamic voltage restorer) for mitigation voltage quality problems. Power quality is the most concerning areas in power engineering and voltage quality is of prime focus. Voltage sag, voltage swell and harmonics in voltage causes deterioration in quality of voltage delivered to load. A minor disturbance in voltage profile can degrade the performance of load. Dynamic voltage restorer is a quick responsive custom power device for voltage quality improvement. Photovoltaic (PV) system is considered as DG and output voltage of PV system is boosted with a boost converter to support voltage source converter of DVR. DG integrated DVR with novel control strategy for mitigation of voltage sag, swell and voltage harmonic is presented in this paper. The power system model with DG integrated DVR is developed and results are obtained using MATLAB/SIMULINK. Results are discussed during pre and post sag/swell condition with compensation and THD in voltage is maintained within nominal values.
Enhanced Transmission and Receiver Diversity in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex Systems using Blind Channel Estimation
Authors: Gupta Vivek Kumar , Vijay Sandip
Published: January 2019

This paper deals with the blind channel estimation technique in OFDM system with receiver diversity to analyze the bit error rate with respect to the number of symbols. The paper clearly brings out the advantage that is being offered by the use of Blind channel estimation technique in terms of SNR requirements. Also a comparative study has been made for the analysis of BER variation with the amount i.e. number of symbols being transmitted. The work also explores the possibility of obtaining an optimum value of number of receivers that may lead to desired BER for threshold value of SNR in an OFDM system.
A Summative Comparison of Blind Channel Estimation Techniques for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Systems
Authors: Gupta Vivek Kumar , Vijay Sadip
Published: January 2019

The OFDM techniquei.e. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing has become prominent in wireless communication since its instruction in 1950’s due to its feature of combating the multipath fading and other losses. In an OFDM system, a large number of orthogonal, overlapping, narrow band subchannels or subcarriers, transmitted in parallel, divide the available transmission bandwidth. The separation of the subcarriers is theoretically optimal such that there is a very compact spectral utilization. This paper reviewed the possible approaches for blind channel estimation in the light of the improved performance in terms of speed of convergence and complexity. There were various researches which adopted the ways for channel estimation for Blind, Semi Blind and trained channel estimators and detectors. Various ways of channel estimation such as Subspace, iteration based, LMSE or MSE based (using statistical methods), SDR, Maximum likelihood approach, cyclostationarity, Redundancy and Cyclic prefix based. The paper reviewed all the above approaches in order to summarize the outcomes of approaches aimed at optimum performance for channel estimation in OFDM systems
Tolerance for Emotional Internet Infidelity and Its Correlate with Relationship Flourishing
Authors: Octaviana Bernadette Nathania , Abraham Juneman
Published: January 2019

Until today, there is still controversy whether emotional Internet infidelity or cheating is something that can be tolerated. Existing views are diverse, influenced by geographical factors, cultural and ideological backgrounds, as well as biological theory. This present study initially suggested that the higher the relationship flourishing, the higher the tolerance for the infidelity. In an era where monogamous relationships are dynamized by the multiplication of relationship modes through online social networks, this study becomes increasingly urgent, i.e. to recommend a variable capable of providing a buffering effect to the deleterious effect of the infidelity. The study used correlational design. As much as 210 participants (55 males, 155 females, Mage=37.89 years old, SDage=10.870 years) were recruited in the Greater Area of Jakarta, Indonesia to fill out the Relationship Flourishing Scale and Internet Infidelity Tolerance-Emotional Infidelity Subscale. This study found that relationship flourishing and emotional Internet infidelity are negatively correlated (Spearman’s Rho=-0.172, p<0.05) and there is a moderating role of sex (coeff.=0.3481, p<0.05). That is, those with higher relationship flourishing would have a higher intolerance, especially among men. Such intolerance could lead to marital dissatisfaction and, at worst, divorce. The results of this study have implications for (1) an evaluation of psychometric dimensions of the Relationship Flourishing Scale, (2) the need of proposing moderating variables to be integrated into the correlational model between relationship flourishing and the infidelity, as well as (3) online applications development in detecting and managing the Internet infidelity.
Improving E-Learning by Integrating a Metacognitive Agent
Authors: Elbasri Hanane , Haddi Adil , Allali Hakim
Published: January 2019

The major disadvantage of the current Learning Management Systems is the lack of learner assistance in their learning processes and, therefore, they can not replace the presence of the teacher who ensures the progress of learning. In fact, we proposed to integrate, for each learner, a metacognitive agent that supported the metacognitive assistance and extracts the defectsin the learning process and strategies. The goal is to invite the learner to correct himself and improve his learning method. Metacognitive questionnaires were distributed to a group of 100 students before, during and after a computer course. The goal is to evaluatethe metacognitive attributes and to determine their influence on the success of learning. Decision trees were used as data analysis tools to extract a set of rules and to discover the influence of these metacognitive attributes on the result obtained by the learners. The results indicate that there are relationships between the different metacognitive attributes and the learners’ success. We note there is the influence of metacognitive incitement on learner outcomes, which reflects the degree of understanding of a learning pedagogical unit by the learner.
Smooth Support Vector Machine for Suicide-Related Behaviours Prediction
Authors: Indrawan G. , Sudiarsa I K P , Agustini K. , Sariyasa Sariyasa
Published: January 2019

Suicide-related behaviours need to be prevented on psychiatric patients. Prediction of those behaviours based on patient medical records would be very useful for the prevention by the psychiatric hospital. This research focused on developing this prediction at the only one psychiatric hospital of Bali Province by using Smooth Support Vector Machine method, as the further development of Support Vector Machine. The method used 30.660 patient medical records from the last five years. Data cleaning gave 2665 relevant data for this research, includes 111 patients that have suicide-related behaviours and under active treatment. Those cleaned data then were transformed into ten predictor variables and a response variable. Splitting training and testing data on those transformed data were done for building and accuracy evaluation of the method model. Based on the experiment, the best average accuracy at 63% can be obtained by using 30% of relevant data as data testing and by using training data which has one-to-one ratio in number between patients that have suicide-related behaviours and patients that have no such behaviours. In the future work, accuracy improvement need to be confirmed by using Reduced Support Vector Machine method, as the further development of Smooth Support Vector Machine.
Multi-Objective based Optimal Energy and Reactive Power Dispatch in Deregulated Electricity Markets
Authors: Salkuti Surender Reddy
Published: January 2019

This paper presents a day-ahead (DA) multi-objective based joint energy and reactive power dispatch in the deregulated electricity markets. The traditional social welfare in the centralized electricity markets comprises of customers benefit function and the cost function of active power generation. In this paper, the traditional social welfare is modified to incorporate the cost of both active and reactive power generation. Here, the voltage dependent load modeling is used. This paper brings out the unsuitability of traditional single objective functions, e.g., social welfare maximization (SWM), loss minimization (LM) due to the reduction of amount of load served. Therefore, a multi-objective based optimization is required. This paper proposes four objectives, i.e., SWM, load served maximization (LSM), LM and voltage stability enhancement index (VSEI); and these objectives can be combined as per the operating condition. The simulation studies are performed on IEEE 30 bus test system by considering the both traditional constant load modeling and the proposed voltage dependent load modeling.
Modeling of a Microwave Amplifier Operating around 11 GHz for Radar Applications
Authors: Lahsaini Mohammed , Zenkouar Lahbib , Bri Seddik
Published: January 2019

The low noise amplifier is one of the basic functional blocks in communication systems. The main interest of the LNA at the input of the analog processing chain is to amplify the signal without adding significant noise. In this work, we have modeled a LNA for radar reception systems operating around 11 GHz, using the technique of impedance transformations with Smith chart utility. The type of transistor used is: the transistor HEMT AFP02N2-00 of Alpha Industries®. The results show that the modeled amplifier has a gain greater than 20 dB, a noise figure less than 2 dB, input and output reflection coefficients lower than -20 dB and unconditional stability.
Design of Digital Parity Generator Layout Using 0.7 micron Technology
Authors: Musa Wahab , Dali Sri Wahyuni , Tolago Ade Irawaty
Published: January 2019

The proposed digital parity generator circuit is an integrated circuit functions to detect data errors at the transmitter end, and check it at the receiving end. In digital communications, the digital messages are transmitted in the form of 1’s and 0’s between two points. It is an error free if both are the same. The purpose of this research is to implement a design method of digital parity generator layout with 0.7 micron process technology ECPD07 from Tanner Tools. Layout design starts from making schematic circuit, test function and make a layout. Next, check the layout results in terms of design rules and verify the desired functionality gradually. The results show that the circuit has functioned well as an odd parity generator. The simulation results obtained with loads CL = 25 fF, tpLH = 2nS and tpHL = 1.46 nS indicate that tp = 1.73nS or operating frequency of 578 MHz. The integrated digital parity generator circuit using transmission gate has a size of 14758 um2 (78.5 um x188 um), consisting of 74 gates.
Enlarge Medical Image using Line-Column Interpolation (LCI) Method
Authors: Na'am Jufriadif , Santony Julius , Yuhandri Yuhandri , Sumijan Sumijan , Nurcahyo Gunadi Widi
Published: January 2019

Quality of medical image has an important role in constructing right medical diagnosis. This paper recommends a method to improve the quality of medical images by increasing the size of the image pixels. By increasing the size of pixels, the size of the objects contained therein is also greater, making it easier to observe. In this study medical images of Brain CT-Scan, Chest X-Ray and Panoramic X-Ray were processed using Line-Column Interpolation (LCI) Method. The results of the treatment are then compared to Nearest Neighbor Interpolation (NNI), Bilinear Interpolation (BLI) and Bicubic Interpolation (BCI) processing results. The experiment shows that Line-Column Interpolation Method produces a larger image with details of the objects in it are not blurred and has equal visual effects. Thus, this method is expected to be a reference material in enlarging the size of the medical image for ease in clinical analysis.
Galvanic Skin Response Data Classification for Emotion Detection
Authors: Setyohadi Djoko Budiyanto , Kusrohmaniah Sri , Gunawan Sebastian Bagya , Pranowo Pranowo , Prabuwono Anton Satria
Published: January 2019

Emotion detection is a very exhausting job and needs a complicated process; moreover, these processes also require the proper data training and appropriate algorithm. The process involves the experimental research in psychological experiment and classification methods. This paper describes a method on detection emotion using Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) data. We used the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) method to get a good data training. Furthermore, Support Vector Machine and a correct preprocessing are performed to classify the GSR data. To validate the proposed approach, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, and accuracy measurement are used. Our method shows that the accuracy is about 75.65% while ROC is about 0.8019. It means that the emotion detection can be done satisfactorily and well performed.
Voice Assessments for Detecting Patients with Parkinson’s Diseases in Different Stages
Authors: Benmalek Elmehdi , Elmhamdi Jamal , Jilbab Abdelilah
Published: January 2019

Recently, a wide range of speech signal processing algorithms (dysphonia measures) aiming to detect patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). So we have computed 19 dysphonia measures from sustained vowels collected from 375 voice samples from healthy and people suffer from PD. All the features are analysed and the more relevant ones are selected by the Principal component analysis (PCA) to classify the subjects in 4 classes according to the UPDRS (unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale) score. We used k-folds cross validation method with (k=4) validation scheme; 75% for training and 25% for testing, along with the Support Vector Machines (SVM) with its different types of kernels. The best result obtained was 92.5% using the PCA and the linear SVM.
Wireless Technology for Monitoring Site-specific Landslide in Vietnam
Authors: Quoc-Anh Gian , Dinh-Chinh Nguyen , Duc-Nghia Tran , Duc-Tan Tran , Nguyen Thi Kieu , Sandrasegaran Kumbesan
Published: January 2019

Climate change has caused an increasing number of landslides, especially in the mountainous provinces of Vietnam, resulting in the destruction of vital transport and other infrastructure. Current monitoring and forecasting systems of the meteorology department cannot deliver accurate and reliable forecasts for weather events and issue timely warnings. This paper describes the development of a simple, low cost, and efficient system for monitoring and warning landslide in real-time. The authors focus on the use of wireless and related technologies in the implementation of a technical solution and some of the problems of the wireless sensor network (WSN) related to power consumption. Promising compressed sensing (CS) based solution for landslide monitoring is discussed and evaluated in the paper.
Solving N-queen Problem Using Genetic Algorithm by Advance Mutation Operator
Authors: Jain Vinod , Prasad Jay Shankar
Published: January 2019

N-queen problem represents a class of constraint problems. It belongs to set of NP-Hard problems. It is applicable in many areas of science and engineering. In this paper N-queen problem is solved using genetic algorithm. A new genetic algoerithm is proposed which uses greedy mutation operator. This new mutation operator solves the N-queen problem very quickly. The proposed algorithm is applied on some instances of N-queen problem and results outperforms the previous findings.
MetOp Satellites Data Processing for Air Pollution Monitoring in Morocco
Authors: Zaytar Mohamed Akram , Amrani Chaker El
Published: January 2019

This paper presents a data processing system based on an architecture comprised of multiple stacked layers of computational processes that transforms Raw Binary Pollution Data coming directly from Two EUMETSAT MetOp satellites to our servers, into ready to interpret and visualise continuous data stream in near real time using techniques varying from task automation, data preprocessing and data analysis to machine learning using feedforward artificial neural networks. The proposed system handles the acquisition, cleaning, processing, normalizing, and predicting of Pollution Data in our area of interest of Morocco.
Process Mining in Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Jokonowo Bambang , Claes Jan , Sarno Riyanarto , Rochimah Siti
Published: January 2019

Performance analysis and continuous process improvement efforts are often supported by the construction of process models representing the interactions of the partners in the supply chain. This study was conducted to determine the state of the art in the process mining field, specifically in the context of cross-organizational process. The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method is used to review a collection of twenty-one papers that are classified according to the Artifact framework of Hevner, et al. and within the Process Mining framework of Van der Aalst. In the reviewed papers, the authors conducted a variety of techniques to establish the event log, which is then used to perform the process mining analysis. Eight of the reviewed papers focus on the definition of concepts or measures. Five of the papers describe models and other abstractions that are used as a theoretical basis for process mining in the context of supply chains. The majority twenty of papers describe some kind of informal method or formal algorithm to perform process mining analysis. Nine of the papers that propose a formal algorithm also present an accompanying software implementation. Eight papers discuss the data preparation challenges and twelve papers discuss process discovery techniques.
A Two Channel Analog Front end Design AFE Design with Continuous Time Σ-Δ Modulator for ECG Signal
Authors: Raheem Mohammed Abdul , Manjunathachari K
Published: January 2019

In this context, the AFE with 2-channels is described, which has high impedance for low power application of bio-medical electrical activity. The challenge in obtaining accurate recordings of biomedical signals such as EEG/ECG to study the human body in research work. This paper is to propose Multi-Vt in AFE circuit design cascaded with CT modulator. The new architecture is anticipated with two dissimilar input signals filtered from 2-channel to one modulator. In this methodology, the amplifier is low powered multi-VT Analog Front-End which consumes less power by applying dual threshold voltage. Type -I category 2 channel signals of the first mode: 50 and 150 Hz amplified from AFE are given to 2nd CT sigma-delta ADC. Depict the SNR and SNDR as 63dB and 60dB respectively, consuming the power of 11mW. The design was simulated in a 0.18 um standard UMC CMOS process at 1.8V supply. The AFE measured frequency response from 50 Hz to 360 Hz, depict the SNR and SNDR as 63dB and 60dB respectively, consuming the power of 11mW. The design was simulated in 0.18 m standard UMC CMOS process at 1.8V supply. The AFE measured frequency response from 50 Hz to 360 Hz, programmable gains from 52.6 dB to 72 dB, input referred noise of 3.5 μV in the amplifier bandwidth, NEF of 3.
Optimization Based Liver Contour Extraction of Abdominal CT Images
Authors: Muthuswamy Jayanthi , Kanmani B
Published: January 2019

This paper introduces computer aided analysis system for diagnosis of liver abnormality in abdominal CT images. Segmenting the liver and visualizing the region of interest is a most challenging task in the field of cancer imaging, due to small observable changes between healthy and unhealthy liver. In this paper, hybrid approach for automatic extraction of liver contour is proposed. To obtain optimal threshold, the proposed work integrates segmentation method with optimization technique in order to provide better accuracy. This method uses bilateral filter for preprocessing and Fuzzy C means clustering (FCM) for segmentation. Mean Grey Wolf Optimization technique (mGWO) has been used to get the optimal threshold. This threshold is used for segmenting the region of interest. From the segmented output, largest connected region are identified using Label Connected Component (LCC) algorithm. The effectiveness of proposed method is quantitatively evaluated by comparing with ground truth obtained from radiologists. The performance criteria like dice coefficient, true positive error and misclassification rate are taken for evaluation.
Spectrum Sensing with VSS-NLMS Process in Femto/Macro-cell Environments
Authors: Irid Sidi Mohammed Hadj , Hachemi Mohammed Hicham , Adardour Haroun Errachid , Hadjila Mourad
Published: January 2019

Handover is a process that allows a mobile node to change its attachment point. A mobile node connected to a network can, in order to improve the quality of service, have the need to leave it to connect to a cell either of the same network or of a new network. The present paper introduce three techniques using adaptive Variable Step-Size Least Mean Square (VSSLMS) filter combined with spectrum sensing probability method to detect the triggering of handover in heterogeneous LTE networks. These techniques are Normalized LMS (NLMS), Kwong-NLMS and Li-NLMS. The simulation environment is composed of two femtocells belonging to a macrocell. Five User Equipements (UEs) are positioned in one femtocell and are assumed closest to its circumference. Simulation results show that sensing probability with Li-NLMS algorithm has a better performance compared with classical NLMS and Kwong-NLMS.
Producer Mobility Support Schemes for Named Data Networking: A Survey
Authors: Hussaini Muktar , Nor Shahrudin Awang , Ahmad Amran
Published: January 2019

Mobile devices connectivity and data traffic growth requires scalable and efficient means of data distribution over the Internet. Thus, influenced the needs for upgrading or replacing the current Internet architecture to cater the situation as Named Data Networking (NDN) was proposed. NDN is clean-slate Internet architecture, proposed to replace IP with hierarchical named content that utilizes route aggregation to improve scalability and support mobility. Although, NDN provides supports for content consumer mobility with the help of catching capabilities, however, content producer faces many problems similar to mobility in IP architecture, such as, long handoff delay, unnecessary Interest packet losses and high bandwidth utilization. Hence, many concepts and schemes were proposed to address these problems. This paper reviewed and conceptually analyzed the schemes based on their fundamental design that broadly categorized into indirection-based approach, mapping-based approach, locator-based approach and control/data plane-based approach. In the review analysis, mapping-based approach schemes provide optimal path for packets delivery, high handoff delay Indirection-based and locator-based approach schemes provide normal handoff delay, but introduces tiangular routing path. The control/data plane-based approach schemes provide sub-optimal routing path and high handoff delay. The paper provided both strength and weakness of each scheme for further research.
Digital Control of Three-Phase Cascaded Multilevel Inverter Using FPGA Wavect Tool
Authors: Srikanth Chinmayi , B G Shivaleelavathi
Published: January 2019

The multi carrier modulation technique is the most employed   PWM technique for cascaded multilevel inverter (CMLI) since this control strategy can be easily extended to higher number of levels of output compared to space vector PWM technique. This paper proposes a modified multi carrier PWM technique for three-phase CMLI. The proposed PWM technique has been implemented using MATLAB Xilinx System Generator, which automatically generate code from system model. The hardware implementation of the three-phase CMLI has been carried out to substantiate the working of proposed PWM technique. Novel FPGA Wavect digital controller is used to generate the PWM pulses, which is a real time simulator and controller. This digital controller improves the accuracy of the hardware implementation. Hardware implementation of proposed control strategy for three-phase CMLI with RL load proves that the proposed PWM technique results in improved power output quality with reduced harmonic components.
Real Time Validation of EKF Estimator for Low Speed Estimation in DTC IMD
Authors: R Mini , P.V. Binoj , Satheesh B. Hariram , M.N. Dinesh
Published: January 2019

Low speed estimation in DTC IMD is not accurate due to the presence of transient offset, drift and domination of ohmic voltage drop in the measured stator voltages and currents used for estimating the stator flux required for accurate estimation of speed. EKF is a nonlinear, recursive adaptive algorithm capable of estimating speed ranging from very low speed to rated speed using equation of motion from noisy measured currents and voltages based on state space technique. In the previous work a new state space model of IM was developed for estimation in EKF by feeding load torque profile as an input variable instead of estimating it by considering load torque as constant, validated using MATLAB-Simulink software. In this paper real time validation of the EKF controller with load profile fed as input for speed estimation in DTC IMD is carried out using OPAL-RT simulator and real time results validates the simulation results and proves the effectives of the new EKF for low speed estimation in DTC IMD
Association of Primary Care Providers’ Beliefs of Statins for Primary Prevention and Statin Prescription
Authors: Clough Jeffrey D. , Martin Seth S. , Navar Ann Marie , Lin Li , Hardy N. Chantelle , Rogers Ursula , Curtis Lesley H.
Published: January 2019

Background

The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Cholesterol Treatment Guideline increased the number of primary prevention patients eligible for statin therapy, yet uptake of these guidelines has been modest. Little is known of how primary care provider (
PCP
) beliefs influence statin prescription.

Methods and Results

We surveyed 164
PCP
s from a community‐based North Carolina network in 2017 about statin therapy. We evaluated statin initiation among the
PCP
s’ statin‐eligible patients between 2014 and 2015 without a previous prescription. Seventy‐two
PCP
s (43.9%) completed the survey. The median estimate of the relative risk reduction for high‐intensity statins was 45% (interquartile range, 25%–50%). A minority of providers (27.8%) believed statins caused diabetes mellitus, and only 16.7% reported always/very often discussing this with patients. Most PCPs (97.2%) believed that statins cause myopathy, and 72.3% reported always/very often discussing this with patients. Most (77.7%) reported always/very often using the 10‐year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk calculator, although many reported that in most cases other risk factors or patient preferences influenced prescribing (59.8% and 43.1%, respectively). Of 6172 statin‐eligible patients, 22.3% received a prescription for a moderate‐ or high‐intensity statin at follow‐up. Providers reporting greater reliance on risk factors beyond atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk were less likely to prescribe statins.

Conclusions

Although beliefs and approaches to statin discussions vary among community
PCP
s, new prescription rates are low and minimally associated with those beliefs. These results highlight the complexity of increasing statin prescriptions for primary prevention and suggest that strategies to facilitate standardized discussions and to address external influences on patient beliefs warrant future study.
Carotid Artery Echolucency, Texture Features, and Incident Cardiovascular Disease Events: The MESA Study
Authors: Mitchell Carol C. , Korcarz Claudia E. , Gepner Adam D. , Nye Rebecca , Young Rebekah L. , Matsuzaki Mika , Post Wendy S. , Kaufman Joel D. , McClelland Robyn L. , Stein James H.
Published: January 2019

Background

We hypothesized that measures of common carotid artery echolucency and grayscale texture features were associated with cardiovascular disease (
CVD
) risk factors and could predict
CVD
events.

Methods and Results

Using a case‐cohort design, we measured common carotid artery ultrasound images from 1788 participants in Exam 1 of the MESA study (Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) to derive 4 grayscale features: grayscale median, entropy, gray level difference statistic‐contrast, and spatial gray level dependence matrices‐angular second moment.
CVD
risk factor associations were determined by linear regression. Cox proportional hazard models with inverse selection probability weighting and adjustments for age, sex, race/ethnicity,
CVD
risk factors, and C‐reactive protein were used to determine if standardized values for grayscale median, entropy, gray level difference statistic‐contrast, and spatial gray level dependence matrices‐angular second moment could predict incident coronary heart disease, stroke, and total
CVD
events over a median 13 years follow‐up. Participants were mean (
SD
) 63.1 (10.3) years of age, 52.6% female, 32.1% white, 27.8% black, 23.3% Hispanic, and 16.8% Chinese. There were 283 coronary heart disease, 120 stroke, and 416
CVD
events. Several associations of grayscale features with
CVD
risk factors were identified. In fully adjusted models, higher gray level difference statistic‐contrast was associated with a lower risk of incident coronary heart disease (hazard ratio 0.82, 95%
CI
0.71–0.94, p
adj
=0.005) and
CVD
events (hazard ratio 0.87, 95%
CI
0.77–0.98, p
adj
=0.018); higher spatial gray level dependence matrices‐angular second moment was associated with a higher risk of
CVD
events (hazard ratio 1.09, 95%
CI
1.00–1.19, p
adj
=0.044).

Conclusions

Gray level difference statistic‐contrast and spatial gray level dependence matrices‐angular second moment predicted
CVD
events independent of risk factors, indicating their potential use as biomarkers to assess future
CVD
risk.