bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dietary Intake of High-Protein Foods and Other Major Foods in Meat-Eaters, Poultry-Eaters, Fish-Eaters, Vegetarians, and Vegans in UK Biobank
Authors: Bradbury Kathryn , Tong Tammy , Key Timothy
Published: December 2017

Vegetarian diets are defined by the absence of meat and fish, but differences in the intake of other foods between meat-eaters and low or non-meat eaters are also important to document. We examined intakes of high-protein foods (meat, poultry, fish, legumes, nuts, vegetarian protein alternatives, dairy products, and eggs) and other major food groups (fruit, vegetables, bread, pasta, rice, snack foods, and beverages) in regular meat-eaters, low meat-eaters, poultry-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans of white ethnicity participating in UK Biobank who had completed at least one web-based 24-h dietary assessment (n = 199,944). In regular meat-eaters, around 25% of total energy came from meat, fish, dairy and plant milk, cheese, yogurt, and eggs. In vegetarians, around 20% of energy came from dairy and plant milk, cheese, yoghurt, eggs, legumes, nuts, and vegetarian protein alternatives, and in vegans around 15% came from plant milk, legumes, vegetarian alternatives, and nuts. Low and non-meat eaters had higher intakes of fruit and vegetables and lower intakes of roast or fried potatoes compared to regular meat-eaters. The differences in the intakes of meat, plant-based high-protein foods, and other foods between meat-eaters and low and non-meat eaters in UK Biobank may contribute to differences in health outcomes.
Growth and Bone Mineralization of Very Preterm Infants at Term Corrected Age in Relation to Different Nutritional Intakes in the Early Postnatal Period
Authors: Körnmann Michelle , Christmann Viola , Gradussen Charlotte , Rodwell Laura , Gotthardt Martin , Van Goudoever Johannes , Van Heijst Arno
Published: December 2017

Preterm infants often have a reduced bone mineral content (BMC) with increased risk of metabolic bone disease. After birth it is difficult to supply calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) comparable to the high fetal accretion rate. It is not known whether high supplementation of minerals in the early postnatal period improves growth and bone mineralization. The aim of this study was to evaluate growth and bone mineralization at term corrected age (TCA) in very and extremely preterm infants who received different enteral Ca and P intakes during the first 10 days of life. Infants (n = 109) with birth weights below 1500 g were randomly assigned to one of three groups that differed in the nutritional protocols delivered until day 10: Group A, mother’s own milk (MOM) and donor milk (unfortified); Group B, MOM (unfortified) and preterm formula; Group C, MOM (start fortification >50 mL/day) and preterm formula. Due to the earlier commencement of fortification, Group C received higher intakes of calcium and phosphorus and protein (p < 0.001) until day 10. At TCA weight, length, BMC and bone mineral density (BMD), measured by dual-X-ray absorptiometry, were not different between the groups. Nutritional intake of P was positively associated with length (β; (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.20 (0.001; 0.393); p-value = 0.048), whereas Ca intake was negatively associated with BMC (−1.94 (−2.78; −1.09); p-value < 0.001). A small interaction between Ca and P intake was only found for BMD (0.003 (0.00002; 0.00006); p-value = 0.036). The volume of human milk per kg provided during the first 10 days was positively associated with BMC (β; (95% CI): 0.013 (0.002; 0.023); p < 0.017). Higher intakes of Ca and P during the first 10 days, as provided in this study, did not improve bone mineralization at term corrected age.
Tooth Wear Is Frequent in Adult Patients with Celiac Disease
Authors: Amato Massimo , Zingone Fabiana , Caggiano Mario , Iovino Paola , Bucci Cristina , Ciacci Carolina
Published: December 2017

(1) Background: Celiac disease (CD) patients can be affected by mouth and tooth disorders, which are influenced by their gluten-free diet. The aim of our research was to evaluate the pathological conditions of the stomatognathic system observed in celiac patients on a gluten-free diet. (2) Methods: we consecutively recruited celiac patients on a gluten-free diet at our celiac center, as well as healthy volunteers. Two dentists examined all patients/controls and checked them for any mouth disorder. (3) Results: Forty-nine patients affected by celiac disease (age at test 31.8 ± 11.58, time on GFD 8.73 ± 7.7) and 51 healthy volunteers (age at test 30.5 ± 8.7) were included. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis was reported in 26 patients (53.0%) and in 13 (25.5%) controls (p = 0.005). Dental enamel disorders were reported in 7 patients (14.3%) and in 0 controls (p = 0.002), with none having geographic tongue. We found non-specific tooth wear, characterized by loss of the mineralized tissue of the teeth, in 9 patients (18.3%) and in 3 (5.9%) controls (p = 0.05). (4) Conclusion: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis and enamel hypoplasia are “risk indicators” that may suggest that an individual has CD. We detected a high prevalence of non-specific tooth wear that can be caused by several factors such as malocclusion, sleep bruxism, parafunctional activity, and age.
Longitudinal Surveillance of Porcine Rotavirus B Strains from the United States and Canada and In Silico Identification of Antigenically Important Sites
Authors: Shepherd Frances K. , Murtaugh Michael P. , Chen Fangzhou , Culhane Marie R. , Marthaler Douglas G.
Published: December 2017

Rotavirus B (RVB) is an important swine pathogen, but control and prevention strategies are limited without an available vaccine. To develop a subunit RVB vaccine with maximal effect, we characterized the amino acid sequence variability and predicted antigenicity of RVB viral protein 7 (VP7), a major neutralizing antibody target, from clinically infected pigs in the United States and Canada. We identified genotype-specific antigenic sites that may be antibody neutralization targets. While some antigenic sites had high amino acid functional group diversity, nine antigenic sites were completely conserved. Analysis of nucleotide substitution rates at amino acid sites (dN/dS) suggested that negative selection appeared to be playing a larger role in the evolution of the identified antigenic sites when compared to positive selection, and was identified in six of the nine conserved antigenic sites. These results identified important characteristics of RVB VP7 variability and evolution and suggest antigenic residues on RVB VP7 that are negatively selected and highly conserved may be good candidate regions to include in a subunit vaccine design due to their tendency to remain stable.
Grafting of Hindered Phenol Groups onto Ethylene/α-Olefin Copolymer by Nitroxide Radical Coupling
Authors: Coiai Serena , Cicogna Francesca , Yang Chengcheng , Tempesti Veronika , Carroccio Sabrina , Gorrasi Giuliana , Mendichi Raniero , Dintcheva Nadka , Passaglia Elisa
Published: December 2017

The covalent immobilization of hindered phenol groups, with potential antioxidant activity, onto an ethylene/α-olefin (EOC) copolymer was carried out by the nitroxide radical coupling (NRC) reaction performed in the melt with a peroxide and the 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical (BHB-T). Functionalized EOC (EOC-g-(BHB-T)) was exposed to photo- and thermo-oxidation. By comparison with some model compounds bearing the (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) moiety or the hindered phenol unit, it was observed that the grafted BHB-T could effectively help the stabilization of the polymer matrix both under photo- and thermo-oxidation. In addition, the immobilization of BHB-T can effectively increase the service life of the functionalized polymers when polymer films were put in contact with ethanol solution thus simulating a possible application of the modified polymer.
Effect of Superabsorbent Polymer on the Properties of Concrete
Authors: Dang Juntao , Zhao Jun , Du Zhaohua
Published: December 2017

Incorporating superabsorbent polymer (SAP), which has the abilities of absorption and desorption in concrete can achieve the effect of internal curing. The influences of the volume, particle size and ways of entrained water of SAP on the workability, compressive strength, shrinkage, carbonation resistance and chloride penetration resistance of concrete were analyzed through the macroscopic and microscopic test. The results show that pre-absorbed SAP can increase the slump of the mixture, but SAP without water absorption and pre-absorbed SAP with the deduction of internal curing water from mixing water can reduce the slump. The improvement effects of SAP on compressive strength of concrete increase gradually with the increase of age. Especially from 28 days, the compressive strength of concrete increases obviously. At later age, the compressive strengths of SAP concrete under natural curing environment exceed the strength of reference concrete under natural curing environment and nearly reach the strengths of reference concrete under standard curing environment. SAP effectively reduces the shrinkage of concrete, improves the concrete’s abilities of carbonation resistance and chloride penetration resistance. The microscopic test results show that SAP can effectively improve the micro structure and make the pore structure refined. When SAP is added into concrete, the gel pores and small capillary pores are increased, the size of big capillary pores and air pores are reduced.
Reorganizing Polymer Chains with Cyclodextrins
Authors: Gurarslan Alper , Joijode Abhay , Shen Jialong , Narayanan Ganesh , Antony Gerry J. , Li Shanshan , Caydamli Yavuz , Tonelli Alan E.
Published: December 2017

During the past several years, we have been utilizing cyclodextrins (CDs) to nanostructure polymers into bulk samples whose chain organizations, properties, and behaviors are quite distinct from neat bulk samples obtained from their solutions and melts. We first form non-covalently bonded inclusion complexes (ICs) between CD hosts and guest polymers, where the guest chains are highly extended and separately occupy the narrow channels (~0.5–1.0 nm in diameter) formed by the columnar arrangement of CDs in the IC crystals. Careful removal of the host crystalline CD lattice from the polymer-CD-IC crystals leads to coalescence of the guest polymer chains into bulk samples, which we have repeatedly observed to behave distinctly from those produced from their solutions or melts. While amorphous polymers coalesced from their CD-ICs evidence significantly higher glass-transition temperatures, Tgs, polymers that crystallize generally show higher melting and crystallization temperatures (Tms, Tcs), and some-times different crystalline polymorphs, when they are coalesced from their CD-ICs. Formation of CD-ICs containing two or more guest homopolymers or with block copolymers can result in coalesced samples which exhibit intimate mixing between their common homopolymer chains or between the blocks of the copolymer. On a more practically relevant level, the distinct organizations and behaviors observed for polymer samples coalesced from their CD-ICs are found to be stable to extended annealing at temperatures above their Tgs and Tms. We believe this is a consequence of the structural organization of the crystalline polymer-CD-ICs, where the guest polymer chains included in host-IC crystals are separated and confined to occupy the narrow channels formed by the host CDs during IC crystallization. Substantial degrees of the extended and un-entangled natures of the IC-included chains are apparently retained upon coalescence, and are resistant to high temperature annealing. Following the careful removal of the host CD lattice from each randomly oriented IC crystal, the guest polymer chains now occupying a much-reduced volume may be somewhat “nematically” oriented, resulting in a collection of randomly oriented “nematic” regions of largely extended and un-entangled coalesced guest chains. The suggested randomly oriented nematic domain organization of guest polymers might explain why even at high temperatures their transformation to randomly-coiling, interpenetrated, and entangled melts might be difficult. In addition, the behaviors and uses of polymers coalesced from their CD-ICs are briefly described and summarized here, and we attempted to draw conclusions from and relationships between their behaviors and the unique chain organizations and conformations achieved upon coalescence.
An Analysis of Ku-Band Profiling Radar Observations of Boreal Forest
Authors: Piermattei Livia , Hollaus Markus , Milenković Milutin , Pfeifer Norbert , Quast Raphael , Chen Yuwei , Hakala Teemu , Karjalainen Mika , Hyyppä Juha , Wagner Wolfgang
Published: December 2017

Radar sensors have the potential to retrieve vertical forest structure measurements thanks to their capability to penetrate into the foliage. However, studies are needed in order to understand better the interaction of radar beams with the canopy. The most commonly used radar technique for estimating forest parameters operates from spacecraft at different wavelength (X-, C-, and L-band). In order to assist in the interpretation of satellite data for forest applications, and as a possible complementary technique to Lidar (Light detection and ranging), the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute has developed the first helicopter-borne profiling radar system operating in Ku-band, called Tomoradar, which is able to provide a vertical canopy profile. The study focuses on the analyses of Ku-band profiling radar waveforms and the backscatter signal of boreal forest, supported by simultaneously acquired Lidar measurements, in order to detect ground and canopy profiles and quantify the ground echo ratio under different canopy coverage and the backscatter signal variation through the vegetation. The Tomoradar data was acquired simultaneously with a lightweight Velodyne VLP-16 Lidar system in October 2016 over a boreal forest located in Evo in southern Finland. Additionally, highly accurate Riegl VQ-480 Lidar data, acquired in 2014, was used as a ground reference for both lightweight systems. We analysed the co- and cross-polarized (HH and HV) Tomoradar backscatter signals of a 600 m long profile. It is found that the Ku-band Tomoradar penetrates the canopy to a similar extent as the Velodyne Lidar, i.e., the distribution of backscatter signals through the vegetation follows the vegetation density. Moreover, the ground backscatter signal strength and ground echo ratio depend strongly on the presence of gaps in the canopy. By comparing the elevation of the corresponding canopy and ground Tomoradar signal peaks with the Velodyne Lidar data, the Tomoradar ground elevation accuracy is on average −0.03 m and −0.20 m for the cross- and co-polarization, respectively, whereas the bias of the canopy elevation is, on average, −0.58 m and 1.35 m for the cross- and co-polarization, respectively. With respect to the ground height data derived from the Lidar measurements of 2014, the Tomoradar ground profile reveals, on average, higher accuracy (i.e., 0.00 m (σ = 0.41 m) and 0.04 m (σ = 0.37 m) for the co-and cross-polarizations, respectively) than the Velodyne system (−0.37 m with σ = 0.25 m).
Annual Seasonality Extraction Using the Cubic Spline Function and Decadal Trend in Temporal Daytime MODIS LST Data
Authors: Wongsai Noppachai , Wongsai Sangdao , Huete Alfredo
Published: December 2017

Examining climate-related satellite data that strongly relate to seasonal phenomena requires appropriate methods for detecting the seasonality to accommodate different temporal resolutions, high signal variability and consecutive missing values in the data series. Detection of satellite-based Land Surface Temperature (LST) seasonality is essential and challenging due to missing data and noise in time series data, particularly in tropical regions with heavy cloud cover and rainy seasons. We used a semi-parametric approach, involving the cubic spline function with the annual periodic boundary condition and weighted least square (WLS) regression, to extract annual LST seasonal pattern without attempting to estimate the missing values. The time series from daytime Aqua eight-day MODIS LST located on Phuket Island, southern Thailand, was selected for seasonal extraction modelling across three different land cover types. The spline-based technique with appropriate number and placement of knots produces an acceptable seasonal pattern of surface temperature time series that reflects the actual local season and weather. Finally, the approach was applied to the morning and afternoon MODIS LST datasets (MOD11A2 and MYD11A2) to demonstrate its application on seasonally-adjusted long-term LST time series. The surface temperature trend in both space and time was examined to reveal the overall 10-year period trend of LST in the study area. The result of decadal trend analysis shows that various Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) types have increasing, but variable surface temperature trends.
Extreme Sparse Multinomial Logistic Regression: A Fast and Robust Framework for Hyperspectral Image Classification
Authors: Cao Faxian , Yang Zhijing , Ren Jinchang , Ling Wing-Kuen , Zhao Huimin , Marshall Stephen
Published: December 2017

Although sparse multinomial logistic regression (SMLR) has provided a useful tool for sparse classification, it suffers from inefficacy in dealing with high dimensional features and manually set initial regressor values. This has significantly constrained its applications for hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. In order to tackle these two drawbacks, an extreme sparse multinomial logistic regression (ESMLR) is proposed for effective classification of HSI. First, the HSI dataset is projected to a new feature space with randomly generated weight and bias. Second, an optimization model is established by the Lagrange multiplier method and the dual principle to automatically determine a good initial regressor for SMLR via minimizing the training error and the regressor value. Furthermore, the extended multi-attribute profiles (EMAPs) are utilized for extracting both the spectral and spatial features. A combinational linear multiple features learning (MFL) method is proposed to further enhance the features extracted by ESMLR and EMAPs. Finally, the logistic regression via the variable splitting and the augmented Lagrangian (LORSAL) is adopted in the proposed framework for reducing the computational time. Experiments are conducted on two well-known HSI datasets, namely the Indian Pines dataset and the Pavia University dataset, which have shown the fast and robust performance of the proposed ESMLR framework.
Grassland Phenology Response to Drought in the Canadian Prairies
Authors: Cui Tengfei , Martz Lawrence , Guo Xulin
Published: December 2017

Drought is a significant climatic disturbance in grasslands, yet the impact drought caused by global warming has on grassland phenology is still unclear. Our research investigates the long-term variability of grassland phenology in relation to drought in the Canadian prairies from 1982 to 2014. Based on the start of growing season (SOG) and the end of growing season (EOG) derived from Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) NDVI3g datasets, we found that grasslands demonstrated complex phenology trends over our study period. We retrieved the drought conditions of the prairie ecozone at multiple time scales from the 1- to 12-month Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). We evaluated the correlations between the detrended time series of phenological metrics and SPEIs through Pearson correlation analysis and identified the dominant drought where the maximum correlations were found for each ecozone and each phenological metric. The dominant drought over preceding months account for 14–33% and 26–44% of the year-to-year variability of SOG and EOG, respectively, and fewer water deficits would favor an earlier SOG and delayed EOG. The drought-induced shifts in SOG and EOG were determined based on the correlation between the dominant drought and the year-to-year variability using ordinary least square (OLS) method. Our research also quantifies the correlation between precipitation and the evolution of the dominant droughts and the drought-induced shifts in grassland phenology. Every millimeter (mm) increase in precipitation accumulated over the dominant periods would cause SOG to occur 0.06–0.21 days earlier, and EOG to occur 0.23–0.45 days later. Our research reveals a complex phenology response in relation to drought in the Canadian prairie grasslands and demonstrates that drought is a significant factor in the timing of both SOG and EOG. Thus, it is necessary to include drought-related climatic variables when predicting grassland phenology response to climate change and variability.
Co-Orbital Sentinel 1 and 2 for LULC Mapping with Emphasis on Wetlands in a Mediterranean Setting Based on Machine Learning
Authors: Chatziantoniou Andromachi , Psomiadis Emmanouil , Petropoulos George
Published: December 2017

This study aimed at evaluating the synergistic use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data combined with the Support Vector Machines (SVMs) machine learning classifier for mapping land use and land cover (LULC) with emphasis on wetlands. In this context, the added value of spectral information derived from the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) and Grey Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) to the classification accuracy was also evaluated. As a case study, the National Park of Koronia and Volvi Lakes (NPKV) located in Greece was selected. LULC accuracy assessment was based on the computation of the classification error statistics and kappa coefficient. Findings of our study exemplified the appropriateness of the spatial and spectral resolution of Sentinel data in obtaining a rapid and cost-effective LULC cartography, and for wetlands in particular. The most accurate classification results were obtained when the additional spectral information was included to assist the classification implementation, increasing overall accuracy from 90.83% to 93.85% and kappa from 0.894 to 0.928. A post-classification correction (PCC) using knowledge-based logic rules further improved the overall accuracy to 94.82% and kappa to 0.936. This study provides further supporting evidence on the suitability of the Sentinels 1 and 2 data for improving our ability to map a complex area containing wetland and non-wetland LULC classes.
Vertical Optical Scanning with Panoramic Vision for Tree Trunk Reconstruction
Authors: Berveglieri Adilson , Tommaselli Antonio , Liang Xinlian , Honkavaara Eija
Published: December 2017

This paper presents a practical application of a technique that uses a vertical optical flow with a fisheye camera to generate dense point clouds from a single planimetric station. Accurate data can be extracted to enable the measurement of tree trunks or branches. The images that are collected with this technique can be oriented in photogrammetric software (using fisheye models) and used to generate dense point clouds, provided that some constraints on the camera positions are adopted. A set of images was captured in a forest plot in the experiments. Weighted geometric constraints were imposed in the photogrammetric software to calculate the image orientation, perform dense image matching, and accurately generate a 3D point cloud. The tree trunks in the scenes were reconstructed and mapped in a local reference system. The accuracy assessment was based on differences between measured and estimated trunk diameters at different heights. Trunk sections from an image-based point cloud were also compared to the corresponding sections that were extracted from a dense terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) point cloud. Cylindrical fitting of the trunk sections allowed the assessment of the accuracies of the trunk geometric shapes in both clouds. The average difference between the cylinders that were fitted to the photogrammetric cloud and those to the TLS cloud was less than 1 cm, which indicates the potential of the proposed technique. The point densities that were obtained with vertical optical scanning were 1/3 less than those that were obtained with TLS. However, the point density can be improved by using higher resolution cameras.
A Robust Indoor/Outdoor Navigation Filter Fusing Data from Vision and Magneto-Inertial Measurement Unit
Authors: Caruso David , Eudes Alexandre , Sanfourche Martial , Vissière David , Le Besnerais Guy
Published: December 2017

Visual-inertial Navigation Systems (VINS) are nowadays used for robotic or augmented reality applications. They aim to compute the motion of the robot or the pedestrian in an environment that is unknown and does not have specific localization infrastructure. Because of the low quality of inertial sensors that can be used reasonably for these two applications, state of the art VINS rely heavily on the visual information to correct at high frequency the drift of inertial sensors integration. These methods struggle when environment does not provide usable visual features, such than in low-light of texture-less areas. In the last few years, some work have been focused on using an array of magnetometers to exploit opportunistic stationary magnetic disturbances available indoor in order to deduce a velocity. This led to Magneto-inertial Dead-reckoning (MI-DR) systems that show interesting performance in their nominal conditions, even if they can be defeated when the local magnetic gradient is too low, for example outdoor. We propose in this work to fuse the information from a monocular camera with the MI-DR technique to increase the robustness of both traditional VINS and MI-DR itself. We use an inverse square root filter inspired by the MSCKF algorithm and describe its structure thoroughly in this paper. We show navigation results on a real dataset captured by a sensor fusing a commercial-grade camera with our custom MIMU (Magneto-inertial Measurment Unit) sensor. The fused estimate demonstrates higher robustness compared to pure VINS estimate, specially in areas where vision is non informative. These results could ultimately increase the working domain of mobile augmented reality systems.
Characterization of Ultrasound Energy Diffusion Due to Small-Size Damage on an Aluminum Plate Using Piezoceramic Transducers
Authors: Lu Guangtao , Feng Qian , Li Yourong , Wang Hao , Song Gangbing
Published: December 2017

During the propagation of ultrasonic waves in structures, there is usually energy loss due to ultrasound energy diffusion and dissipation. The aim of this research is to characterize the ultrasound energy diffusion that occurs due to small-size damage on an aluminum plate using piezoceramic transducers, for the future purpose of developing a damage detection algorithm. The ultrasonic energy diffusion coefficient is related to the damage distributed in the medium. Meanwhile, the ultrasonic energy dissipation coefficient is related to the inhomogeneity of the medium. Both are usually employed to describe the characteristics of ultrasound energy diffusion. The existence of multimodes of Lamb waves in metallic plate structures results in the asynchronous energy transport of different modes. The mode of Lamb waves has a great influence on ultrasound energy diffusion as a result, and thus has to be chosen appropriately. In order to study the characteristics of ultrasound energy diffusion in metallic plate structures, an experimental setup of an aluminum plate with a through-hole, whose diameter varies from 0.6 mm to 1.2 mm, is used as the test specimen with the help of piezoceramic transducers. The experimental results of two categories of damages at different locations reveal that the existence of damage changes the energy transport between the actuator and the sensor. Also, when there is only one dominate mode of Lamb wave excited in the structure, the ultrasound energy diffusion coefficient decreases approximately linearly with the diameter of the simulated damage. Meanwhile, the ultrasonic energy dissipation coefficient increases approximately linearly with the diameter of the simulated damage. However, when two or more modes of Lamb waves are excited, due to the existence of different group velocities between the different modes, the energy transport of the different modes is asynchronous, and the ultrasonic energy diffusion is not strictly linear with the size of the damage. Therefore, it is recommended that only one dominant mode of Lamb wave should be excited during the characterization process, in order to ensure that the linear relationship between the damage size and the characteristic parameters is maintained. In addition, the findings from this paper demonstrate the potential of developing future damage detection algorithms using the linear relationships between damage size and the ultrasound energy diffusion coefficient or ultrasonic energy dissipation coefficient when a single dominant mode is excited.
A Low-Cost and Portable Dual-Channel Fiber Optic Surface Plasmon Resonance System
Authors: Liu Qiang , Liu Yun , Chen Shimeng , Wang Fang , Peng Wei
Published: December 2017

A miniaturization and integration dual-channel fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system was proposed and demonstrated in this paper. We used a yellow light-emitting diode (LED, peak wavelength 595 nm) and built-in web camera as a light source and detector, respectively. Except for the detection channel, one of the sensors was used as a reference channel to compensate nonspecific binding and physical absorption. We packaged the LED and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors together, which are flexible enough to be applied to mobile devices as a compact and portable system. Experimental results show that the normalized intensity shift and refractive index (RI) of the sample have a good linear relationship in the RI range from 1.328 to 1.348. We used this sensor to monitor the reversible, specific interaction between lectin concanavalin A (Con A) and glycoprotein ribonuclease B (RNase B), which demonstrate its capabilities of specific identification and biochemical samples concentration detection. This sensor system has potential applications in various fields, such as medical diagnosis, public health, food safety, and environment monitoring.
Obstacle Detection as a Safety Alert in Augmented Reality Models by the Use of Deep Learning Techniques
Authors: Połap Dawid , Kęsik Karolina , Książek Kamil , Woźniak Marcin
Published: December 2017

Augmented reality (AR) is becoming increasingly popular due to its numerous applications. This is especially evident in games, medicine, education, and other areas that support our everyday activities. Moreover, this kind of computer system not only improves our vision and our perception of the world that surrounds us, but also adds additional elements, modifies existing ones, and gives additional guidance. In this article, we focus on interpreting a reality-based real-time environment evaluation for informing the user about impending obstacles. The proposed solution is based on a hybrid architecture that is capable of estimating as much incoming information as possible. The proposed solution has been tested and discussed with respect to the advantages and disadvantages of different possibilities using this type of vision.
A Spatial Disaster Assessment Model of Social Resilience Based on Geographically Weighted Regression
Authors: Chun Hwikyung , Chi Seokho , Hwang Bon
Published: December 2017

Since avoiding the occurrence of natural disasters is difficult, building ‘resilient cities’ is gaining more attention as a common objective within urban communities. By enhancing community resilience, it is possible to minimize the direct and indirect losses from disasters. However, current studies have focused more on physical aspects, despite the fact that social aspects may have a closer relation to the inhabitants. The objective of this paper is to develop an assessment model for social resilience by measuring the heterogeneity of local indicators that are related to disaster risk. Firstly, variables were selected by investigating previous assessment models with statistical verification. Secondly, spatial heterogeneity was analyzed using the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) method. A case study was then undertaken on a flood-prone area in the metropolitan city, Seoul, South Korea. Based on the findings, the paper proposes a new spatial disaster assessment model that can be used for disaster management at the local levels.
A Review of Urban Planning Research for Climate Change
Authors: Jiang Yunfang , Hou Luyao , Shi Tiemao , Gui Qinchang
Published: December 2017

This paper identified the research focus and development tendency of urban planning and climate change research from 1990 to 2016 using CiteSpace, which is based on the Web of Science database. Through cluster analysis and a document sorting method, the research direction of city planning and climate change were mainly divided into four academic groupings, 15 clusters with homogenous themes representing the current research focus direction at the sub-level. The detailed study on the framework presented three mainstream developing directions: (1) The index assessment and spatial simulation on the impact of urban spatial systems for climate change have become important methods to identify and improve the adaptability of urban space. (2) Adaptive governance as a bottom-up strategy giving priority to institutional adaptation policy and collaborative polices for responding to climate change has become the hot direction in recent years. (3) The policies of urban public health-related urban equity, vulnerability, and environmental sustainability were addressed especially during the period from 2007 to 2009. Dynamic evolution trends of the research field were discussed: (1) The total numbers of papers in this field increased distinctly between 2005 and 2008, research focus shifted from single-dimension to multi-dimension comprehensive studies, and the humanism tendency was obvious. (2) After 2010, research on multi-level governance and spatial adaptation strategies became the key issues, and a bottom-up level adaptation policies were addressed. Finally, the critical influence of the important literature and the forefront issues of the research field were put forward.
Proposal to Foster Sustainability through Circular Economy-Based Engineering: A Profitable Chain from Waste Management to Tunnel Lighting
Authors: Molina-Moreno Valentín , Leyva-Díaz Juan , Sánchez-Molina Jorge , Peña-García Antonio
Published: December 2017

The increasing demands of infrastructures in terms of energy consumption, raw material demand, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, treatment of components after their lifetime period, and financial costs are nowadays a serious threat for sustainability. Given that the resources are limited, it is difficult to ensure an accurate level of well-being for future generations. For this reason, new perspectives in design, production and consumption are necessary. In this work, the principles of circular economy are applied to concrete branches of engineering. Departing from a design orientated to new uses after life period of infrastructures, a circular economy-aimed engineering makes possible the connection and mutual profit of such different branches like waste management and tunnel lighting. The benefits in environmental and financial terms are a strong argument in favor of a stronger link between engineering and circular economy.
The Catalan Economy towards the New European Energy Policy: Through Accounting of Greenhouse Emission Multipliers
Authors: Pié Laia
Published: December 2017

The aim of this paper is to study the effect that implementing the agreement signed by the European Union at the end of 2008 will have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Catalonia. Emission multipliers and the impact of reducing emissions by 10%, in sectors not covered by the EU ETS (EU Emissions Trading System) and reducing those that are covered by 21%, are analysed. More specifically, the effects on the endogenous income of the multiplier model (production, factorial and private income) is studied, while reducing and increasing endogenous income and the decomposition of emission multipliers into open, own and circular effects is analysed to include the different channels of the process of generating CO2 equivalent emissions. The empirical application is for the Catalan economy and uses economic and environmental data for the year 2001. The results show that increases in greenhouse gas emissions will essentially depend on the account that receives the exogenous inflow in demand. Greenhouse gas emissions in Catalonia are affected very differently at the sectoral level and the effects of production activities, factors of production and consumption on air pollution are very heterogeneous. The analytical approach used in this paper provides interesting results that can help to design and implement policies to reduce emissions.
Analyzing the Learning Path of US Shale Players by Using the Learning Curve Method
Authors: Kim Jong-Hyun , Lee Yong-Gil
Published: December 2017

The US shale exploration and production (E&P) industry has grown since 2007 due to the development of new techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. As a result, the share of shale gas in the US natural gas production is almost 50%, and the share of tight oil in the US crude oil production is almost 52%. Even though oil and gas prices decreased sharply in 2014, the production amounts of shale gas and tight oil increased between 2014 and 2015. We show that many players in the US shale E&P industry succeeded in decreasing their production costs to maintain their business activity and production. However, most of the companies in the US petroleum E&P industry incurred losses in 2015 and 2016. Furthermore, crude oil and natural gas prices could not rebound to their 2015 price levels. Therefore, many companies in the US petroleum E&P industry need to increase their productivity to overcome the low commodity prices situation. Hence, to test the change in their productivity and analyze their ability to survive in the petroleum industry, this study calculates the learning rate using the US shale E&P players’ annual report data from 2008 to 2016. The result of the calculation is that the long-term learning rate is 1.87% and the short-term learning rate is 3.16%. This indicates a change in the technological development trend.
A New Approach to Identify Social Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Yangtze River Delta
Authors: Ge Yi , Dou Wen , Dai Jianping
Published: December 2017

This paper explored a new approach regarding social vulnerability to climate change, and measured social vulnerability in three parts: (1) choosing relevant indicators of social vulnerability to climate change; (2) based on the Hazard Vulnerability Similarity Index (HVSI), our method provided a procedure to choose the referenced community objectively; and (3) ranked social vulnerability, exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability according to profiles of similarity matrix and specific attributes of referenced communities. This new approach was applied to a case study of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region and our findings included: (1) counties with a minimum and maximum social vulnerability index (SVI) were identified, which provided valuable examples to be followed or avoided in the mitigation planning and preparedness of other counties; (2) most counties in the study area were identified in high exposure, medium sensitivity, low adaptability, and medium SVI; (3) four cities, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou were much less vulnerable than others due to their high adaptability; (4) to some extent, there were geographical similarities of SVI, exposure index, sensitivity index, and adaptability index; and (5) the indicator of “Employees in primary industry” related to SVI the most, the indicator of “Renter” related to exposure index (EI) most, the indicator of “Elderly” related to sensitivity index (SI) the most, and the indicator of “Urban residents” relates to adaptability index (AI) most. These results can help decision makers find the focus of their mitigation works, where the efficient of practices will then be improved.
The STIRPAT Analysis on Carbon Emission in Chinese Cities: An Asymmetric Laplace Distribution Mixture Model
Authors: Wang Shanshan , Zhao Tianhao , Zheng Haitao , Hu Jie
Published: December 2017

In cities’ policy-making, it is a hot issue to grasp the determinants of carbon dioxide emission in Chinese cities. And the common method is to use the STIRPAT model, where its coefficients represent the influence intensity of each determinants of carbon emission. However, less work discusses estimation accuracy, especially in the framework of non-normal distribution and heterogeneity among cities’ emission. To improve the estimation accuracy, this paper employs a new method to estimate the STIRPAT model. The method uses a mixture of Asymmetric Laplace distributions (ALDs) to approximate the true distribution of the error term. Meantime, a designed two-layer EM algorithm is used to obtain estimators. We test the robustness via the comparison results of five different models. We find that the ALDs Mixture Model is more reliable the others. Further, a significant Kuznets curve relationship is identified in China.
Spatial Analysis of the Distribution of Small Businesses in the Eastern Villages of Gilan Province with Emphasis on the Tourism Sector in Mountainous Regions
Authors: Hajilo Mehdi , Ghadiri Masoom Mojtaba , Motiee Langroudi Seyed , Faraji Sabokbar Hassanali , Pennington-Gray Lori
Published: December 2017

The development of small businesses in rural areas as a key strategy for sustaining the population and improving the quality of life of villagers has always been a concern for many developed and developing countries. Some rural areas provide their villagers with favorable conditions for the development of businesses in order to enjoy the potential in the field of tourism. Sustainable development in these areas can be achieved with systematic attention and planning. In the present work, the spatial analysis of the distribution of small businesses in the eastern parts of Gilan Province was studied with an emphasis on tourism in mountainous regions. The study population consisted of all villages in the east part of Gilan Province, and the sample included all businesses officially supported by the Omid Entrepreneurship Fund. The research method was a descriptive analytic in which GIS software and the G statistic were used for the analysis of spatial correlation, clustering, hot and cold spots analysis and buffer zones. Finally, the results of the study showed that the spatial distribution of businesses in different economic sectors (agriculture, industry, services and tourism) were different between 2011 and 2016 in the way the cluster pattern was formed in agricultural and service activities. A cluster pattern cannot be considered in the tourism and industrial activities, but there is a random (point) pattern; in this regard, the results indicate the importance of the factor of distance between the village and the city center in the distribution of tourism businesses. In addition, the highest levels of support for businesses were in the agricultural and services sectors, while the lowest support was in industry and tourism. Finally, the results showed that the distribution of businesses in all activities was much higher in the plains and valleys as compared to the mountainous and hill areas.
From Having Fun to Applause: The Study of Relationships among Festival Benefits, Festival Identity and Festival Support by Viewpoints of the Hosts and Guests
Authors: Chang Kai-Chih , Hsieh Tsuifang
Published: December 2017

The sustainable development of the festival depends on the support and participation of residents and tourists. There are a number of practical and theoretical gaps regarding the hosts and guests in festival literature. This study attempts to fill the host–guest gap based on the theory of reasoned action to construct and exam a relationship model. Taking the 2016 Summer Festival during busy season as an example in Hualien, 1165 questionnaires were valid, and data were analyzed by SEM (structural equation modeling). Results showed that the hosts had higher perception than the guests in terms of the festival benefits, identity, and support. This study has two concept models: the guest model and the host model. In the host model, the local-development benefits have more positive relationships to affect the festival support and festival identity than the recreation-experience benefits. On the other hand, the recreation-experience benefits could affect the festival support, but the festival identity could not in the guest model. The results of this study indicate that the festival organizers or the public sectors must be pay attention to the viewpoints of the guests and hosts in order to achieve the sustainable development objectives.
Incorporating Workplace Injury to Measure the Safety Performance of Industrial Sectors in Taiwan
Authors: Yeh Li-Ting
Published: December 2017

The severity of workplace injuries varies by industry. Information on workplace injuries can enable firms and governments to effectively improve their safety performance based on the specific contexts of each industry. Incorporating the three workplace injury rates (being wounded or ill, disability, and death), a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model is developed to evaluate the safety performance of 17 industrial sectors in Taiwan. The results suggest that the Taiwanese government should pay particular attention to the mining and quarrying industry, which has the lowest safety performance. Additionally, the results provide abundant information for the Taiwanese government to design industry safety regulations in a way that may prompt firms to develop a sustainable economy by improving their health and safety practices and enhancing their overall safety performance.
Subcellular Trafficking of the Papillomavirus Genome during Initial Infection: The Remarkable Abilities of Minor Capsid Protein L2
Authors: Campos Samuel
Published: December 2017

Since 2012, our understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) subcellular trafficking has undergone a drastic paradigm shift. Work from multiple laboratories has revealed that HPV has evolved a unique means to deliver its viral genome (vDNA) to the cell nucleus, relying on myriad host cell proteins and processes. The major breakthrough finding from these recent endeavors has been the realization of L2-dependent utilization of cellular sorting factors for the retrograde transport of vDNA away from degradative endo/lysosomal compartments to the Golgi, prior to mitosis-dependent nuclear accumulation of L2/vDNA. An overview of current models of HPV entry, subcellular trafficking, and the role of L2 during initial infection is provided below, highlighting unresolved questions and gaps in knowledge.