bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Classification of Body Mass Index Based Facial Images using Empirical Mode Decomposition
Authors: Ali H , Yee O S , Wan Ahmad W K
Published: June 2021

Human faces contain rich information. Recent studies found that facial features have relation with human weight or body mass index (BMI). Decoding “facial information” from the face in predicting the BMI could be linked to the various health marker. This paper proposed the classification of body mass index (BMI) based on appearance based features of facial images using empirical mode decomposition (EMD) as feature extraction technique. The facial images that describe the body mass index was extracted using EMD to obtain a set of significant features. In this framework, the facial image was decomposed using EMD to produce a small set of intrinsic mode functions (IMF) via sifting process. The IMF features which exhibit the unique pattern were used to classify the BMI. The obtained features were then fed into machine learning classifier such as k-nearest neighbour and support vector machines (SVM) to classify the three BMI classes namely normal, overweight and obese. The obtained results show that the IMF2 feature using SVM classifier achieved recognition rate of 99.12% which show promising result.
Analysis of Energy Management Using PI Logic Controller Technique for Supercapacitor Applications
Authors: Bahri M F , Aazmi M A , Fahmi M I , Abd Jalil M A , Fang L H , Chong L W , Ahamad N B , Ananda-Rao K
Published: June 2021

Batteries are the primary energy storage for electric vehicles. Often the power of the battery cannot be adequate to satisfy the demands of heavy loads. Simultaneously with the battery source, secondary capacity, such as a super-capacitor, can be used to fulfil the power demand where ultra-capacitors meet the high-frequency specifications. Ultracapacitor can be used to inhibit the recycling of the high-current transient battery. In the course of the battery recycling impacts battery life, charging device with high current. This paper is focused on a PI control system for electric vehicle management and the selected MATLAB / Simulink simulation framework. The result from the energy management system that is using shows that with PI controller, the voltage and current more stable compared to the design without using PI controller.
Comparative Study of Three Methods for Determining Weibull Parameters in Pauh Putra, Perlis
Authors: Thiraphorn B L , Leow W Z , Irwan Y M , Safwati I , Irwanto M , Ananda-Rao K , Amelia A R
Published: June 2021

This paper studied about analysis characteristics of wind speed at Pauh Putra, Perlis, where nearest to Chuping station, Perlis, Malaysia. The wind speed characteristics consist of monthly and annual wind speed in Perlis, Malaysia. By using Weibull distribution, three different methods to calculate the potential of wind power generation and analysis the characteristics of wind speed at Pauh Putra, Perlis. The results present the means wind speed is 1.0790 m/s and 1.1321 m/s for 2018 and 2019, respectively. The highest monthly mean wind speed occurred in February for both years, 2018 and 2019. Besides, the lowest monthly wind speed for 2018 in May and for 2019 in October. The Weibull distribution summarized the highest probability density is 120% in the wind speed, 1.1 m/s using the Maximum Likelihood Method (MLM) method for these two years. Furthermore, this research found that the Energy Pattern Factor (EPF) Method is stretched to the right, and its height decreased from other methods for both years based on the graph of the wind speed of probability density function. The Maximum Likelihood Method (MLM) for these two years is higher because its shape parameters are relatively higher based on the graph of the wind speed of probability density function.
Partial Discharge Characteristics for On-Site Measurement based on Rise Time Waveform
Authors: Abdullah A Z , Isa M , Amlus M H , Azizan N , Bakar M F , Meor A.Z
Published: June 2021

This paper describes partial discharge (PD) characteristics for on-site measurement based on rise time waveform. The implications of this kind of PD characteristics is becoming increasingly important as with rapid development of detection PD signal in medium voltage. The rise times characteristics used in insulation condition monitoring to keep getting earlier information about insulation condition of the high voltage or medium voltage equipment. Currently, there is minimal research working on the characteristic especially rise time and due to this, it need to further develop comprehensive characteristics PD detection at such extreme conditions. An on-site PD measurement using Rogowski coil (RC) and MATLAB analysis focusing on rise times is presented here. Measurement was setup based on IEC60270 standard and the circuit in the standard is followed. Insulation used in this work is XLPE type under 11 kV voltage stress and there were eight location was perform in order to get clear picture of the pattern. Overall result indicates that, the rise times ranges is between 1.5 and 5 ns. The impact of rise time characteristics on the PD signal based on real measurement is huge since maintenance unit can performed measurement in short time compare to previous method. Specifically, the total number of PDs measurement and severity range are shown with cable length. The rise time pattern are always provide different value depend on level severity and frequency. However, when combining result rise time from 8 substation measured, it provide a significant result.
Realization of Strong CMOS Conforming Full Adder Circuit Using Symmetric Function Lattice Structure
Authors: Mustapha Muhazam , Rosdi Bakhtiar Affendi , Mohamad Tengku Norliza Tengku , Mokhtar Anis Shahida Niza
Published: June 2021

Due to the physical limit that the IC industry may face in the future that transistors size may not be able to shrink anymore,a lot of work had been done to minimize the number of transistors used, instead of shrinking them. One of the highly researched standard circuit to reduce transistor count is the full adder as it appears in almost all computing circuits. In this paper, an alternative to CMOS technology using symmetric Boolean function lattice structure is presented to produce full adder. Symmetric functions are the functions that are invariant under input permutation. Theyhaveaspecialwayofrealizationthat offerssomepossibility to reducethe number oftransistors used. Full adder falls into this classof functions. It has been found that the right full adder lattice structure based circuit only requires 22 transistors to produce the correct function for the sum and c out
output. This is a saving of 6 transistors as compared to the standard 28-transistor CMOS full adder. The output delay is around 3.0 ns for the c out
output, and around 4.5 ns for the sum output.
Finger Vein Biometric Identification Using Discretization Method
Authors: Yahaya Y H , Leng W Y , Shamsuddin S M
Published: June 2021

Over the past years, finger vein identification has gaining increasing attention in biometrics. It has many advantages as compared to other biometrics such as living-body identification, difficult to counterfeit because it resides underneath the finger skin and noninvasiveness. Finger vein feature extraction plays an important role in finger vein identification. The performance of finger vein identification is highly depending on the meaningful extracted features from feature extraction process. However, most of the works focus on how to extract the individual features and not presenting the individual characteristic of finger vein patterns with systematic representation. This paper proposed an improved scheme of finger vein feature extraction method by adopting discretization method. The extracted features will be represented systematically way in order to make classification task easier and increase the identification accuracy rate. The experimental result shows that the accuracy rate of identification of the proposed framework using Discretization is above 98.0%.
Design and Performance Analysis of Grid Connected Photovoltaic (GCPV) based DSTATCOM for Power Quality Improvements
Authors: Baharudin N H , Ridzwan M A H , Mansur T M N T , Ali R , Ananda-Rao K , Che Mid E , Suboh S M , Abdullah A M
Published: June 2021

Solar energy has become the most prominent renewable energy for electrical power generation of the sustainable development agenda. This project focuses on power quality improvement in the low voltage distribution network by using a three-phase three-wire Distributed Static compensator (DSTATCOM) supplied by a single-stage grid-connected solar photovoltaic (GCPV) system. The instantaneous reactive power theory (IRPT) or P-Q theory will be used as the control algorithm of the PV based DSTATCOM to eliminate the harmonic current caused by the non-linear loads in the distribution system. This control method has great impact on the accuracy of the harmonic current and reactive power compensation for harmonic current elimination according to the requirement of THD limit set by IEEE 519-2014. Sizing of the grid-connected solar PV system based DSTATCOM will be presented and capable to deliver the active power demand to the utility grid under variation of solar irradiances. This system is modelled and simulated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment.
Electronic Hydroponics: Insights and the Case Study of Oman
Authors: Aljabri Mazoon , Alobaidi Maryam , El-Saleh Ayman A.
Published: June 2021

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in Oman is taking care of a major role in the field of agriculture by rationalizing the use of water for irrigation, and it has also adopted new initiatives dedicated to the field of agriculture which will enhance crops productivity. Greenhouse systems are considered to be among the technologies that are currently considered, where the vegetables grown such systems have excellent characteristics, thus enhanced productivity becomes vital. In principle, it is possible to grow plants in any season by controlling the plantation environment. In this paper, the concepts of soilless farming equipped with an electronically assisted platforms are investigated with a specific focus in Oman’s context. The soilless farming is also referred to as water farming or hydroponics. This technique is crucially important to the Sultanate of Oman as it optimizes the consumption of water that might be wasted due to evaporation or leakage into the soil. The water used by the electronic hydroponic systems can be recirculated in a closed-loop scenario. This paper also touches on relevant research directions of advanced technologies on the area of electronic hydroponic systems.
Post COVID-19 implementation of a bidirectional counter with reduced complexity for people counting application
Authors: Rahman A S F , Yaakob S B , Razak A R A , Ramlee R A
Published: June 2021

This paper presents a system for counting people through infrared detection. The system tallies the count and update based on people moving in/out through the supervised area/premise. The counter requires two steps: detection coming in and leaving the area. Obstacle detection from infrared sensor updates the counters and the current value will be displayed in a thin-film-transistor module. With minimal hardware configuration, the developed system is robust and easier to install.
Light Intensity Measurement of Kerr Effect Using Photodiode and High Speed Camera in Propylene Carbonate Under Applied DC Electric Fields
Authors: Zakaria Z N , Lewin P L , Andritsch T
Published: June 2021

Light intensity is a resultant of Kerr effect measurement which later can be translated to electric field as well as charge density distributions in dielectric liquid. The light intensity can be measured either with photodiode or camera but measurement with both detectors has not been done yet. This study focuses on the comparison of light intensity measurement using Kerr effect with simultaneous detectors of photodiode and high speed camera. Hence, a pair of parallel electrodes is used in the experiment under high DC electric field. Propylene carbonate is used as the test liquid with Kerr constant, B of 1.41x10−12 mV−2. From the measurement results obtained, the light intensities from both detectors were compared and showed significant results as compared to the predicted light intensity ratio.
Optimal Design of Solar Photovoltaic Power System with Battery Storage for Sustainable Campus Buildings
Authors: Al-Qahdan A S S , Mansur T M N T , Baharudin N H , Ali R , Abdullah A M
Published: June 2021

The increasing energy demand and the development of renewable energy technology has been the catalyst for utilization of energy from renewable resources. Harvesting solar energy especially through photovoltaic technology is the most attractive and favoured in Malaysia. The aim of this study is to optimally design a solar PV system with battery storage for university building and evaluate the technical performance of the proposed system by using PVsyst simulation. Three buildings from Faculty of Electronic Engineering Technology, University Malaysia Perlis have been chosen as case study. The methodologies include data gathering for load profile and meteorological data such as solar irradiation and temperature, sizing of system’s components and lastly using PVsyst simulation to evaluate technical performance of the proposed system. The result shows the system could produce 168,989 kWh of energy to the load which is technically suitable for the site due to the high specific yield production and the performance ratio in addition to high solar fraction. In addition, the system could save RM 61,801 annually from electricity bill while from sustainability aspect, 117 tons of CO2 could be avoided by using renewable energy annually.
Approximation of Dielectric Properties using Linear Regression Model in Microwave Tomography
Authors: Mohamed L. , Kuwahara Y.
Published: June 2021

The Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) is the most commonly used method of numerical simulation to model the electromagnetic waves propagation in biological tissue. An MRI-derived FDTD breast model has been developed and characterized to its corresponding dielectric properties. The relative permittivity and conductivity are correlated using least-square fitting criteria to obtain a linear regression model, which provides the approximation of dielectric properties. This technique reduces the number of unknowns to be reconstructed to one parameter in the analysis region, hence decrease the complexity and computational cost of the microwave imaging problem, without sacrificing the imaging resolution.
Review of Partial Discharge Signal Processing and Monitoring System using Virtual Instrument Software
Authors: Nazifah Abdullah A. , Isa M. , Ismail B. , Abdullah A. Z. , Rohani M. N. K. H.
Published: June 2021

Most of Partial Discharge (PD) processing systems have been developed using virtual instrument to analyse raw measured PD signal. However, some of researchers had neglected the denoising or recognition technique and only focussed on PD location estimation and vice versa This paper reviews an overview of denoising recognition techniques, denoising analysis, PD sensors, location methods and type of virtual instruments in published PD signal processing signal system. A perfect PD analysis system is more beneficial if both PD denoising and locating are applied in the system. Based on this review, the new design of PD signal processing system based on DWT denoising technique and RC sensor using LabVIEW Software for underground power cable using SCTM as PD location algorithm is proposed.
Compact Koch Fractal Dipole RFID Antenna
Authors: Hussin Eryana , Kee Joel , Sahar Norsuzlin Mohd
Published: June 2021

In this paper, the design of Koch Fractal dipole antenna for first, second and third iteration have been presented. The third iteration of Koch Fractal Dipole Antenna shows a total size reduction of 21.25% compared to the basic dipole antenna optimized at the same frequency of 0.92 GHz. The new antenna is proposed based on the structure of the third iterated Koch fractal is designed using Rogers RO3010 substrate with thickness on 1.27 mm. The proposed antenna shows improvement of return loss to -34.57 dB, gain of 1.92 dB, 99% efficiency. The proposed antenna had reduced 17% of length compared to the basic dipole antenna.
Ensemble Learner for Covid-19 from Lung X-Ray Images
Authors: Yacob Yasmin binti Mohd , Raof Rafikha Aliana A , Kan Phak Len Eh , Ahmad Norsuhaida , Ismail Sabarina
Published: June 2021

Despite Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is the gold standard of Covid-19 detection, some underdeveloped countries are lacking financially and suffer underdeveloped health system to perform fast Covid-19 detection. Both RT-PCR and Computed Tomography (CT) scan are costly diagnosis tool, thus computed diagnostic chest x-ray (CXR) is seen as fast and affordable option to perform Covid-19 diagnosis for underdeveloped countries. Despite of other works suggest to perform Local binary Pattern (LBP) and recent feature extraction methods such as Local Phase Quantization (LPQ), this works employed Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) because it is a powerful method to extract textured features from gray-level images of chest x-ray. The learner to classify Covid-19 detection is tested via non tree-based learner such as k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN). This work also compared the performance especially in the tree-based and voting approach classifier. The experimentation shows that tree-based which uses voting and ensemble approach to detect Covid-19 from CXR images is a possible candidate learner to be improved for the underdeveloped countries.
Method to Improve the Roll-Off and Stopband Response in Low Pass Filter Using Patch Resonators for Modern Wireless Communication
Authors: Hashim Nur Baya Mohd , Razalli Mohammad Shahrazel , Firuz Wan Nur Suryani , Zakaria Hasneezaliza , Zain Aini Syuhada Md
Published: June 2021

In this paper, several types of patch resonators design procedure are proposed and analysed to improve the roll-off and stopband response in low pass filter. The proposed patch resonators consist of T-shaped patch resonator (TS-PR) that provides instant sharp roll-off and also dual folded T-shaped resonator (DFTS-PR) that improves the roll-off of the previous TS-PR. The transmission zeros of the resonators can be adjusted by varying length and width of high and low impedance microstrip lines. It has been shown that the final design of the patch resonators provides sharp roll-off and acceptable stopband bandwidth by adopting both TS-PR and DFTS-PR. The proposed low pass filter with 3-dB cut-off frequency (fc
) of 5.26 GHz exhibits excellent roll-off rate of 82.2 dB/GHz from 5.5 GHz to 11.7 GHz. Moreover, the transition of the proposed filter is 0.45 GHz which contributes to a sharper transition band from passband to stopband.
Monitoring System for Physical Water Quality Parameters and Automatic Control for Chlorine Dosing in a Aerator Treatment Plant
Authors: Balarezo Juan Carlos , Buele Jorge , Naranjo-Ávalos Hernán , Castillo Franklin , Vargas William G. , Salazar Franklin W.
Published: June 2021

This work proposes the development and creation of an automatic monitoring and control system for the dosage of chlorine in the water treatment plant, purifying the vital liquid and avoiding the distribution and consumption of water contaminated by microorganisms. This is achieved by monitoring the physical parameters through the data sent by wireless sensors, acquiring them in a database, sending the data in real time to a web server, where they can be visible to the public, and generating automatic control in Based on the data obtained, this occurs in a water treatment pools. For this, a Raspberry Pi board is used, it acts as a data store, two Arduino Mega, acting as control nodes, a LAN server, and a PID control for the automatic control of chlorine dosage, thus achieving precautionary that the water is disinfected from any microorganism present.
Smart Gateless System using RFID Technology in Universiti Malaysia Perlis
Authors: Fazilah A F M , Jusoh M , Zakaria A , Sabapathy T , Ibrahim M F , Rahim H A , Azizan M M , Zakaria M Z , Nasir N F M , Albreem M A M , Ahmad R B
Published: June 2021

This paper describes a smart monitoring gate-less system by using RFID technologies that had been implemented in Universiti Malaysia Perlis. The objective of this system is to ease the security to monitoring the cars-in and cars-out from the main gate manually. The security can check and manage the staff by system management in PC. This smart monitoring gate-less system consists of RFID tag antenna that be attached at sticker’s staff, RFID reader and software management application. For the software management application, this project used LabView as a simulation tool for the data acquisition. The data which contains of name, staff number, number plate, car model and color will be stored in cloud-based storage. All the information data can be accessed from any location because the security management can access it through mobile. This project will present how efficient the vehicle control application on campus which enable the security guard to check a car sticker either legal or illegal in a shortest way.
Identification of phosphate solubilizing fungi under Scaphium macropadum stands in Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra
Authors: Elfiati D , Susilowati A , Hasibuan S R S
Published: June 2021

Scaphium macropadum is a wild tree species producing important timber and medicinal fruits. As a result of overexploitation, this species has decreased its population in the wild although categorized as least concern based on the IUCN red list of threatened species. Phosphate solubilizing fungi (PSF) are a group of soil microorganisms that can increase the availability and uptake of phosphorus (P) by plants. This study aims to isolate the phosphate solubilizing fungi from the soil under Scaphium macropadum stands following its morphological identification of species. Soil sampling was carried out randomly, with a depth of 0–20 cm under 12 stands of Scaphium macropadum in Gunung Leuser National Park, North Sumatra. Isolation of PSF was carried out using Pikovskaya medium with tricalcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2) as a source of inorganic P then the solubilization activity was expressed in the solubilization index (SI). The isolates obtained were identified morphologically to the genus level. The results obtained 15 isolates of PSF with SI ranging from 0.96 to 1.16. Based on the morphological identification, all isolates were identified as members of Aspergillus.
Growth and yield characteristics of soybean on the usage of several varieties and fertilizers N, P, K in tidal lowland
Authors: Zulkifli T B H , Hasanah Y
Published: June 2021

The increasing soybean production by expanding areas to marginal land, such as tidal lowland, has became the target of Indonesian government. The objective of the research was to select several varieties of soybeans and the appropriate dosage of N, P, K fertilizers to increase the soybean growth and yields characteristics. This research was conducted at tidal lowland in Sei Ular Village, Secanggang sub-District, Langkat District from July to December 2019, use a factorial randomized block design with two factors and three replications. The first factor is soybean varieties (Anjosmoro; Deja-1; Dena-1 and Dering-1). The second factor is application of N, P and K fertilizers at dosage namely un-fertilizer; 50kgha−1 N, 40kgha−1 P2O5, 50kgha−1 K2O; 100kgha−1 N, 80kgha−1 P2O5, 100kgha−1 K2O and 150kgha−1 N, 120kgha−1 P2O5, 150kgha−1 K2O. The result of the research showed that the soybean varieties significantly differ affected on the plant height of soybeans at 30 DAP, volume and length of root in tidal lowland. The dosage of N, P, K fertilizers were significantly different on the plant height and root length, and their interactions significantly different on the shoot root ratio.
Agronomic traits performance of some promising lines of local upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) from SE Sulawesi grown under shading conditions
Authors: Sadimantara G R , Adawiah R , Leomo S , Febrianti E , Muhidin
Published: June 2021

Rice is primarily eaten by countries like Indonesia in Asia. The demanding rice rise every year and the Indonesian government is trying to satisfy the need for rice. The development rice tolerant to shade is one of the promising choices. The aim is to characterize the performance of upland a new rice cultivar. The study was conducted at the Experiment Farm, Department of Agronomy, University of Halu Oleo. Arrange in a split-plot design and repeated four times. The different shade levels as main plot and rice lines different as subplot. The shade level consists of four levels (N0=0%, N1=25-50%, N2=50-75% and N3> 75%). The upland rice lines were G1=GS11-1, G2=GS11-2, G3=GS12-1, G4=GS12-2 and G5=Lipigo as a control variety. The results indicated that shade significantly increased the plant height, leaf area and unfilled grains number. However, the shade level affected productive tiller and grain weight to decrease.
Germ cells of the mammalian female: A limited or renewable resource?
Authors: Hainaut Mathilde , Clarke Hugh J
Published: June 2021

In many non-mammalian organisms, a population of germ-line stem cells supports continuing production of gametes during post-natal life, and germ-line stem cells are also present and functional in male mammals. Traditionally, however, they have been thought not to exist in female mammals, who instead generate all their germ cells during fetal life. Over the last several years, this dogma has been challenged by several reports, while being supported by others. We describe and compare these conflicting studies with the aim of understanding how they came to opposing conclusions. We first consider studies that, by examining marker-gene expression, the fate of genetically marked cells, and consequences of depleting the oocyte population, addressed whether ovaries of post-natal females contain oogonial stem cells that give rise to new oocytes. We next discuss whether ovaries contain cells that, even if inactive under physiological conditions, nonetheless possess oogonial stem cell properties that can be revealed through cell culture. We then examine studies of whether cells harvested after long-term culture of cells obtained from ovaries can, following transplantation into ovaries of recipient females, give rise to oocytes and offspring. Finally, we note studies where somatic cells have been re-programmed to acquire a female germ-cell fate. We conclude that the weight of evidence strongly supports the traditional interpretation that germ-line stem cells do not exist post-natally in female mammals. However, the ability to generate germ cells from somatic cells in vitro establishes a method to generate new gametes from cells of post-natal mammalian females.
Phylogenetics and infrafamilial classification of Commelinaceae (Commelinales)
Authors: Lee Chung-Kun , Fuse Shizuka , Poopath Manop , Pooma Rachun , Tamura Minoru N
Published: June 2021

The morphologically diverse Commelinaceae consist of 41 genera with c. 650 species. Previous phylogenetic studies have revealed paraphyly of some taxa, but some of the infrafamilial taxa and most of the genera remain to be tested. To investigate phylogenetic relationships of the infrafamilial taxa and to test their monophyly, likelihood and Bayesian analyses with partial rbcL, matK and accD sequences were performed using 75 species from 33 genera of primarily eastern and south-eastern Asian Commelinaceae, with members of Haemodoraceae and Hanguanaceae as outgroups. The analyses resolved the early-diverging lineages of Commelineae and supported the monophyly of Dichorisandrinae and non-monophyly of Amischotolype, Belosynapsis, Murdannia, Pollia and Aneilema. Based on phylogenetics and morphology, we suggest that Palisotinae and Streptoliriinae should be raised to tribal rank, establishing subtribes Cochliostematinae, Commelininae and Murdanniinae, whereas Porandra, Belosynapsis, Anthericopsis are synonymized under Amischotolype, Cyanotis and Murdannia, respectively. Rhopalephora and two Australian Pollia spp. are moved to Aneilema. With all aforementioned taxonomic additions and changes, we propose a new classification for Commelinaceae, consisting of two subfamilies, six tribes, seven subtribes and 37 genera.
Robust Object Detection and Localization Using Semantic Segmentation Network
Authors: Francis Alexander Raghu A , Ananth J P
Published: June 2021

The advancements in the area of object localization are in great progress for analyzing the spatial relations of different objects from the set of images. Several object localization techniques rely on classification, which decides, if the object exist or not, but does not provide the object information using pixel-wise segmentation. This work introduces an object detection and localization technique using semantic segmentation network (SSN) and deep convolutional neural network (Deep CNN). Here, the proposed technique consists of the following steps: Initially, the image is denoised using the filtering to eliminate the noise present in the image. Then, pre-processed image undergoes sparking process for making the image suitable for the segmentation using SSN for object segmentation. The obtained segments are subjected as the input to the proposed Stochastic-Cat Crow optimization (Stochastic-CCO)-based Deep CNN for the object classification. Here, the proposed Stochastic-CCO, obtained by integrating stochastic gradient descent and the CCO, is used for training the Deep CNN. The CCO is designed by the integration of cat swarm optimization (CSO) and crow search algorithm and takes advantages of both optimization algorithms. The experimentation proves that the proposed Stochastic-CCO-based Deep CNN-based technique acquired maximal accuracy of 98.7.
Adiponectin and cardiometabolic trait and mortality: where do we go?
Authors: Jang Albert Youngwoo , Scherer Philipp E , Kim Jang Young , Lim Soo , Koh Kwang Kon
Published: June 2021

Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived cytokine known for its cardioprotective effects in preclinical studies. Early epidemiologic studies replicated these findings and drew great interest. Subsequent large-scale prospective cohorts, however, showed that adiponectin levels seemed not to relate to incident coronary artery disease (CAD). Even more surprisingly, a paradoxical increase of all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality with increased adiponectin levels was reported. The adiponectin-mortality paradox has been explained by some groups asserting that adiponectin secretion is promoted by elevated natriuretic peptides (NP). Other groups have proposed that adiponectin is elevated due to adiponectin resistance in subjects with metabolic syndrome or heart failure (HF). However, there is no unifying theory that can clearly explain this paradox. In patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), stretched cardiomyocytes secrete NPs, which further promote release of adiponectin from adipose tissue, leading to adiponectin resistance. On the other hand, adiponectin biology may differ in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), which constitutes 50% of all of HF. Most HFpEF patients are obese, which exerts inflammation and myocardial stiffness, i.e. likely to prevent myocardial stretch and subsequent NP release. This segment of the patient population may display different adiponectin biology from its HFrEF counterpart. Dissecting the adiponectin-mortality relationship in terms of different HF subtypes may help to comprehensively understand this paradox. Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses claimed that adiponectin levels are not causally related to CAD or metabolic syndrome. Results from MR studies, however, should be interpreted with great caution because the underlying history of CAD or CHF was not taken into account in these analyses, an issue that may substantially confound the results. Here, we discuss many aspects of adiponectin; cardiometabolic traits, therapeutic interventions, and the ongoing debate about the adiponectin paradox, which were recently described in basic, epidemiologic, and clinical studies.
Violin technique and the contrapuntal imagination in 17th-century German lands
Authors: Bandy Dorian
Published: June 2021

This article examines the interplay of performing technique and compositional structure in the works of four violinist-composers from late 17th-century German-speaking lands: Johann Jakob Walther, Johann Paul von Westhoff, Heinrich Biber and Johann Georg Pisendel. Focusing on these musicians’ complex polyphonic writing, the article argues that the physical techniques necessary to perform their works—specifically, those developed as a corrective to the challenges of pre-chinrest shifting—are associated with a particular way of conceptualizing and imagining counterpoint on the violin. The article goes on to trace the legacy of violinistic counterpoint in the music of later composers, including in Johann Sebastian Bach’s unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Trio, op.9 no.1. Along the way, the article speculates as to whether the musical imaginations of past composers, performers and listeners are accessible to modern-day enquiry. It concludes by arguing that a lack of explicit documentary evidence need not be an impediment in the investigation of historical practices, providing an alternative to the ‘positivistic’ approach often criticized in recent discussions of historically informed performance.
Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
Authors: Kpaka Henry Musa , Wossen Tesfamicheal , Stein Daniel , Mtunda Kiddo , Laizer Lembris , Feleke Shiferaw , Manyong Victor
Published: June 2021

Increasing agricultural productivity by promoting high-yielding and micronutrient-rich crop varieties has the potential to reduce poverty and malnutrition. However, getting these technologies into the hands of smallholders remains a challenge. This paper presents results from a randomised field experiment that uses rural primary schools as dissemination hubs for improved orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) vines and nutrition information in rural Tanzania and Uganda. Two years after the initial vine distribution, we find that households in treatment villages are 21 percentage points more likely to report growing OFSP and 27 percentage points more likely to correctly state the nutritional benefits of OFSP compared to those in control villages. We also find up to 16 percentage point increase in the likelihood of OFSP consumption by children under 5 years of age in treatment villages compared to that in control villages. Furthermore, we find suggestive evidence that increased knowledge on the nutritional benefits of OFSP mediated up to a third of the total treatment effect on OFSP adoption and consumption. Our findings suggest that rural primary schools can be effective channels for promoting and accelerating the diffusion of micronutrient-rich crop varieties in rural areas.
In situmicrocosms deployed at the coast of British Columbia (Canada) to study dilbit weathering and associated microbial communities under marine conditions
Authors: Schreiber Lars , Fortin Nathalie , Tremblay Julien , Wasserscheid Jessica , Sanschagrin Sylvie , Mason Jennifer , Wright Cynthia A , Spear David , Johannessen Sophia C , Robinson Brian , King Thomas , Lee Kenneth , Greer Charles W
Published: June 2021

Douglas Channel and the adjacent Hecate Strait (British Columbia, Canada) are part of a proposed route to ship diluted bitumen (dilbit). This study presents how two types of dilbit naturally degrade in this environment by using an in situ microcosm design based on dilbit-coated beads. We show that dilbit-associated n-alkanes were microbially biodegraded with estimated half-lives of 57–69 days. n-Alkanes appeared to be primarily degraded using the aerobic alkB, ladA and CYP153 pathways. The loss of dilbit polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was slower than of n-alkanes, with half-lives of 89–439 days. A biodegradation of PAHs could not be conclusively determined, although a significant enrichment of the phnAc gene (a marker for aerobic PAH biodegradation) was observed. PAH degradation appeared to be slower in Hecate Strait than in Douglas Channel. Microcosm-associated microbial communities were shaped by the presence of dilbit, deployment location and incubation time but not by dilbit type. Metagenome-assembled genomes of putative dilbit-degraders were obtained and could be divided into populations of early, late and continuous degraders. The majority of the identified MAGs could be assigned to the orders Flavobacteriales, Methylococcales, Pseudomonadales and Rhodobacterales. A high proportion of the MAGs represent currently unknown lineages or lineages with currently no cultured representative.
The extracellular DNA can baffle the assessment of soil bacterial community, but the effect varies with microscale spatial distribution
Authors: Pathan Shamina Imran , Arfaioli Paola , Taskin Eren , Ceccherini Maria Teresa , Puglisi Edoardo , Pietramellara Giacomo
Published: June 2021

Environmental DNA is made-up of intracellular (iDNA) and extracellular (eDNA) pools. In soils, eDNA can be present up to 40% and could distort the assessment of living microorganisms. Distribution of microbial community is inconsistent among different size-aggregates, and the persistence and turnover of eDNA are thus uneven. Uneven persistence and distribution of eDNA could lead to heterogeneity in community analysis biases that arise due to eDNA sequences at micro-scale distribution. Here, we investigated the diversity and structure of eDNA and iDNA bacterial communities in bulk soil and different size-aggregates. Significant differences were observed between eDNA and iDNA bacterial diversity and composition. Changes in community composition are more important than the amount of eDNA to assess the biases caused by eDNA in community analysis. Furthermore, variations were also observed in aggregates-levels for eDNA and iDNA community which indicates that colonization pattern of iDNA community and protection of eDNA through absorbance on particle surface within soil-matrix is heterogeneous. Our work provides empirical evidence that eDNA presence could mask the detection of aggregates-level spatial dynamics in soil microbial community and have potential to qualitatively baffle observed live effects of given treatment by adequately muting the actual response dynamics of the soil microbiome.
Establishment of a localized acute implant-associated Staphylococcus aureus bone infection model in sheep
Authors: Klein Karina , Schweizer Tiziano A , Siwy Katharina , Lechmann Beat , Karol Agnieszka , von Rechenberg Brigitte , Achermann Yvonne , Darwiche Salim E
Published: June 2021

Orthopedic implant-associated bacterial infections with Staphylococcus aureus constitute a major clinical problem, and large pre-clinical animal models remain scarce. The aim of this study was to establish a standardized method of a localized, acute S. aureus bone infection in the presence of complex implanted devices in a sheep model. Four sheep underwent surgery receiving a complex implanted metallic device with a component stabilizing a bone defect created in the left tibial metaphysis, and an attached component placed in adjacent soft tissue. The bone defect was inoculated with S. aureus strain ATCC25293 (1 × 104 CFU). Twenty one days later, the surgery site was macroscopically evaluated, tissue samples and implants harvested for bacterial cell count quantification and tissue samples histologically analyzed. The animals exhibited clinical signs of localized infection (e.g. swelling, lameness, pain) but did not develop symptoms of sepsis. After euthanasia, macroscopic assessment revealed a localized bone and soft tissue infection at the surgery site. Histologically, an acute inflammation with neutrophils but also signs of bone destruction with necrosis was noted. An ovine model of a localized, acute S. aureus bone infection with complex implants was successfully established and could be used to test novel treatments against orthopedic implant-associated infections.
Interventions since the Cold War: from statebuilding to stabilization
Authors: Clausen Maria-Louise , Albrecht Peter
Published: June 2021

Through the lens of security sector reform, this article explores shifts in international interventions since the Cold War. Identifying three phases, it traces the global North's failure to transform fragile states into liberal democratic polities and changes to intervention practices in response to that failure. Immediately after the Cold War, an unfettered belief in the liberal peace thesis, and its global applicability, drove interventions that sought to establish an integrated liberal internationalist system of states shaped by mutuality. This changed with 9/11, shifting the focus towards extensive statebuilding exercises to replace, by force if necessary, security sectors and reconstruct failed states as liberal democracies. The current phase reflects lost faith in the global North's transformative potential following experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. New forms of intervention from a distance have emerged, relying on delegation to technology and militaries of the global South. This type of intervention allows the global North to maintain a sense of influence while shifting the burden of intervention onto the global South's populations and militaries—and foreclosing comprehensive statebuilding. The global North can no longer claim to act on behalf of universally applicable norms, but alternatives have yet to materialize, leaving interventions in an ideological limbo.
An Introduction to an Evolutionary Tail: EvoDevo, Structure, and Function of Post-Anal Appendages
Authors: Schwaner M J , Hsieh S T , Swalla B J , McGowan C P
Published: June 2021

Synopsis

Although tails are common and versatile appendages that contribute to evolutionary success of animals in a broad range of ways, a scientific synthesis on the topic is yet to be initiated. For our Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) symposium, we brought together researchers from different areas of expertise (e.g., roboticists, biomechanists, functional morphologists, and evolutionary and developmental biologists), to highlight their research but also to emphasise the interdisciplinary nature of this topic. The four main themes that emerged based on the research presented in this symposium are: (1) How do we define a tail?, (2) Development and regeneration inform evolutionary origins of tails, (3) Identifying key characteristics highlights functional morphology of tails, and (4) Tail multi-functionality leads to the development of bioinspired technology. We discuss the research provided within this symposium, in light of these four themes. We showcase the broad diversity of current tail research and lay an important foundational framework for future interdisciplinary research on tails with this timely symposium.
Shift and night work during pregnancy and preterm birth—a cohort study of Swedish health care employees
Authors: Kader Manzur , Bigert Carolina , Andersson Tomas , Selander Jenny , Bodin Theo , Skröder Helena , Härmä Mikko , Albin Maria , Gustavsson Per
Published: June 2021

Background

Previous studies of preterm birth (PTB) concerning night work have been inconclusive and partly limited by imprecise data on working schedules. This study investigated the risk of PTB in relation to detailed, registry-based data on working hours.

Methods

In a register-based prospective cohort study, we identified 4970 singleton births with information on PTB from the Swedish Medical Birth Register of health care employees in Stockholm. Day-by-day information on working hours 2008–16 was obtained from a computerized employee register. Odds ratios (ORs) of PTB according to work hour characteristics were analysed by logistic regression adjusted for mother’s age, stature, body mass index (BMI), parity, smoking habits, education, profession and country of birth.

Results

There was an increased risk of PTB among those who frequently worked night shifts (>25 times) [OR, 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03–2.53] and who ever worked ≥3 consecutive night shifts (OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.03–1.99) during the first trimester. Frequently (> 8 times) working 3 or more consecutive nights, and frequently (>18 times) having quick returns from night shifts (<28 h) during the first trimester showed 3–4 fold increased risk of PTB. Moreover, working frequent (>20 times) long shifts (≥10 h) (OR 1.63; 95% CI, 1.07–2.49) during the first trimester and working any Week >40 h (OR 2.05; 95% CI, 1.31–3.22) during the third trimester were associated with PTB.

Conclusions

In this cohort of Swedish health care employees with registry-based data on working hours, night work, especially working frequent consecutive nights, and quick returns from night shifts during the first trimester were associated with increased risk of PTB among pregnant women.
Optimal convergence of a second-order low-regularity integrator for the KdV equation
Authors: Wu Yifei , Zhao Xiaofei
Published: June 2021

In this paper, we establish the optimal convergence for a second-order exponential-type integrator from Hofmanová & Schratz (2017, An exponential-type integrator for the KdV equation. Numer. Math., 136, 1117–1137) for solving the Korteweg–de Vries equation with rough initial data. The scheme is explicit and efficient to implement. By rigorous error analysis, we show that the scheme provides second-order accuracy in $H^\gamma $ for initial data in $H^{\gamma +4}$ for any $\gamma \geq 0$, where the regularity requirement is lower than for classical methods. The result is confirmed by numerical experiments, and comparisons are made with the Strang splitting scheme.
Rigidity of Elliptic Genera: From Number Theory to Geometry and Back
Authors: Bringmann Kathrin , Caviedes Castro Alexander , Sabatini Silvia , Schwagenscheidt Markus
Published: June 2021

In this paper, we derive topological and number theoretical consequences of the rigidity of elliptic genera, which are special modular forms associated to compact almost complex manifolds. On the geometry side, we prove that rigidity implies relations between the Betti numbers and the index of a compact symplectic manifold admitting a Hamiltonian action of a circle with isolated fixed points. We investigate the case of maximal index and toric actions. On the number theoretical side, we prove that from each compact almost complex manifold of index greater than one, that can be endowed with the action of a circle with isolated fixed points, one can derive non-trivial relations among Eisenstein series. We give explicit formulas coming from the standard action on ${{\mathbb{C}}} P^n$.