bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Writing at the Centre: A Sketch of the Canadian History
Authors: Giltrow Janet
Published: August 2018

This contribution to our national discussion on writing studies and writing centres takes the long view, seeing recent events—reorganisations, reclassifications—as a chapter in the history of writing centres in Canada. It is a long view, but neither as long nor as broad as it could be, for it is tethered to my own career in writing studies: this is what I have seen, from institutional positions I have occupied, and from scholarly positions I have taken. I hope others will extend this slender timeline with further episodes and comment, and with corrections, challenge, and inquiry. I offer some preliminary analyses of the forces and trends at work in the history—and future—of writing centres in Canada, hoping others with bring further and deeper analyses to the story.
Editorial: The Rectification of Names
Authors: Heng Hartse Joel , Chen Sibo , Goulet Marie-Josée
Published: August 2018

Welcome to the new issue of the Canadian Journal of Studies in Discourse and Writing/ Rédactologie. This issue marks several beginnings for the journal: there is a new editorial team; the journal’s archives will soon be fully available online; and the journal has moved to an “issue-in-progress” model fitting the open access, online trend of academic publishing.

Due to these shifts, we thought it appropriate to introduce this new issue of the journal, which includes a special section on the future of writing centers in Canada guest-edited by Roger Graves, with a version of Confucius’ “rectification of names”. What do we mean by each of the words or phrases in the journal’s title? How do they express the character of this publication and what we hope it will do in the future?
Interrogating Conflicting Narratives of Writing in the Academy: A Call for Research
Authors: Byrant Katie
Published: August 2018

A safe haven in an often unsafe place: I would use this metaphor to describe the space writing studies and a university writing centre have offered me, as I’ve attempted to find my own place as a feminist in the academy. I feel these two things are my rocks. They are firm, solid places for me to reside amongst the challenges I’ve experienced as a writer. The reasons for my struggles with writing for academic purposes are difficult to pinpoint. Some would say they stem from my lack of literacy, hinting that laziness could be a culprit. Others might suggest they are connected to my subjective identity as a first-generation, female university student. Or others might take the discussion of subjective identity a bit further, arguing that my identity as a feminist, and my determination to bring my feminist politics into my academic work explain these challenges.
Locating Canadian Writing Centres: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Bromley Pamela
Published: August 2018

As writing centres in Canada face challenges to their existence, funding, and stature, it may be helpful to situate the Canadian experience empirically. This project investigates the number of, geographical, institutional, and physical locations of, and longevity of Canadian writing centres using information from an original database and survey examining writing centres located outside the United States. In the study, findings from Canada are compared to those from the United States, where the only other comprehensive investigations of writing centres have taken place. Results demonstrate that 123 writing centres in Canada are located in all 10 Canadian provinces as well as the Yukon territory, almost half of centres operate under the academic affairs umbrella of their university and are physically located in the library, and that while writing centres in Canada are newer, on average, than their U.S. peers, they may be located in proportionally more universities. Unfortunately, the changes Canadian writing centres are experiencing are not new, as writing centres have previously faced challenges to their existence and place in the university. However, information about the number, institutional and physical location, and longevity of Canadian writing centres may be useful to administrators as they advocate for and further develop their writing centres.
ELLE of an Opportunity: Student Writers, Civic Audience, and Auction Genre
Authors: Sutherland Robin , Chalmers William , Currie Mark
Published: August 2018

Every February, the Charlottetown chapter of the Canadian Heart & Stroke (H&S) Foundation hosts the “Razzle Dazzle Red” gala, a fundraising event that includes a sit-down dinner and silent and live auctions. “ELLE of an Opportunity” is the name of the very first live auction item, a coordinated jewelry set, listed in the gala program for 2014. Text developed for the jewelry enticed bidders to go big and to go fashionably home: student writer Dani MacDonald invited auction attendees to “hop right onto the trend of big, bold jewelry with this triad from ELLE Canada! The oversized ruby ring adds a note of edginess without compromising sophistication. Pair the ring with matching ELLE ruby earrings and necklace to complete your brave and bold new look!” Who could resist such a high-powered sales pitch?
Reiff, M. & Bawarshi, A. (Eds.). (2016). Genre and the Performance of Publics. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
Authors: Falconer Matthew
Published: August 2018

Mary Jo Reiff and Anis Bawarshi’s edited volume, Genre and the Performance of Publics, was released during a time when I felt that Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) had started to stabilize in terms of advances within the field. Decades of quality research into the different genres found in various socio-institutional settings (e.g., academic, professional and community contexts) had developed many useful and insightful concepts; RGS scholars had found their “normal science”, to borrow Thomas Kuhn’s phrase. One such “normalized” concept is Anne Freadman’s notion of “uptake”. As Reiff and Bawarshi explain, uptake has been used to examine the ways that genres shape rhetorical responses and how broader discursively-constructed ideas filter into our daily lives and re-appear in unique ways, such as by shaping our behaviour.
Intersections between Tutorial Engagement, Directive Feedback, and Critical Reflection
Authors: Nash Gail , Dawson Morgan , Gulozer Kaine
Published: August 2018

A handful of research studies have investigated the effect of writing centre tutorials on subsequent revisions. This classroom-based study adds to that research by reporting results from a collaborative study between a composition professor and a writing centre tutor. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of writing centre tutorials on immediate student revisions as well as final drafts. The analysis was extensively framed by the Vygotskyan sociocultural model of language and cognitive development with an emphasis on tutor-student engagement as reciprocal interaction which include directive feedback and consequential revision. This study employed a qualitative design with students in a sophomore-level core composition course. Participants attended a writing centre session concerning their major writing assignment. Data triangulation included analysis of assignment drafts, observation notes, and tutorial transcripts. Findings revealed that students attended to feedback that was directive and straightforward. Additionally, students did not attend to citation feedback unless it was direct and explicit. Furthermore, students sometimes overgeneralized and misapplied the feedback. The findings highlight the impact of individual learner factors as well as the results of directive feedback on revisions.
Development of Web-based Matrix Operations Calculation as a Learning Media
Authors: Dirgantara Harya Bima , Marselino Tedi Lesmana
Published: August 2018

This study aims to build a web-based matrix operations calculation that can be used for students as learning media. There are some students having difficulties to learning matrix. Some of the difficulties are limited alternative learning media, they only study from books or presentation slide. These media are not interactive. This learning media is built using prototyping model process. The stages of prototyping model process are communication, quick plan, modelling quick design, construction, and deployment. The result of this study is a web-based matrix operations calculation that has feature to calculate addition, subtraction, multiplication, determinant, and transpose matrix.
Application Software For Learning CPU Process of Interrupt and I/O Operation
Authors: Halim Fransiscus Ati
Published: August 2018

The purpose of this research is to have simulation software capable of processing interrupt instruction and I/O operation that in the future it can contribute in developing a kernel. Interrupt and I/O operation are necessary in the development of the kernel system. Kernel is a medium for hardware and software to communicate. However, Not many application software which helps the learner to understand interrupt process. In managing the hardware, there are times when some kind of condition exist in the system that needs attention of processor or in this case kernel which managing the hardware. In response to that condition, the system will issue an interrupt request to sort that condition. As the I/O operation is needed since a computer system not just consists of CPU and memory only but also other device such as I/O device. This paper elaborates the application software for learning Interrupt application. With interrupt instruction and I/O operation in the simulation program, the program will be more represent the process happened in the real life computer. In this case, the program is able to run the interrupt instruction, I/O operation and other changes are running as expected. Refers to its main purpose, perhaps this simulation can lead to developing the kernel in operating system. From the results of instruction’s testing above, has a result that shows that 90% of instructions are run properly. In executing instructions, simulation program still has a bug following after the execution of Jump and conditional Jump.

Index Terms—Interrupt; I/O; Kernel; Operating System

REFERENCES

[1] C. Hamacher, Z. Vranesic, S. Zaky. Naraig Manjikian , Computer Organization and Embedded Systems 6th Edition; McGraw-Hill, 2012

[2] B. Brey. The Intel Microprocessors , Architecture, Programming, and Interfacing , 8th Edition. Pearson, 2008

[3] W.Stallings. Computer Organization and Architecture, 9th Edition Pearson , 2012

[4] F.A.Halim , Sutrisno, “Fundamental Characteristic of Central Processing Unit Simulation as a Basic Stage of Making Kernel”, Publish in Konferensi Nasional Sistem & Informatika (KNS&I 2010), 12-13 Nov 2010, Bali

[5] Intel, IA-32 Intel® Architecture Software Developer’s Manual Volume 3: System Programming Guide, Denver: Intel Corporation, 2004 [6] Intel,IA-32 Intel 80386 Reference Programmer's,: I/O Instruction , https://pdos.csail.mit. edu/6.828/2014/readings/i386/s08_02.htm, available 17 June 2017
PERBANDINGAN PENGUKURAN STATUS SEDASI RICHMOND AGITATION SEDATION SCALE (RASS) DAN RAMSAY SEDATION SCALE (RSS) PADA PASIEN GAGAL NAFAS TERHADAP LAMA WEANING VENTILATOR DI GICU RSUP Dr.HASAN SADIKIN BANDUNG
Authors: Deli Hellena , Arifin Muhammad Zafrullah , Fatimah Sari
Published: August 2018

SedationÂ isÂ anÂ importantÂ factorÂ toÂ improveÂ patientÂ comfort.Â OverÂ sedationÂ mayÂ leadÂ toÂ aÂ longerÂ ventilatorÂ time.Â ToÂ preventÂ overÂ sedationÂ needÂ anÂ instrumentÂ canÂ measureÂ accuratelyÂ theÂ statusÂ ofÂ sedation.Â ThisÂ studyÂ aimedÂ toÂ analyzeÂ theÂ differencesÂ betweenÂ RichmondÂ AgitationÂ SedationÂ ScaleÂ (RASS)Â andÂ theÂ RamsayÂ SedationÂ ScaleÂ (RSS)Â inÂ measuringÂ theÂ statusÂ ofÂ sedationÂ forÂ respiratoryÂ failureÂ patientÂ againstÂ timeÂ weaningÂ ventilator.Â ThisÂ studyÂ isÂ observationalÂ analyticÂ withÂ prospectiveÂ cohortÂ study.Â ThisÂ studyÂ wasÂ conductedÂ inÂ 13Â respiratoryÂ failureÂ patientÂ andÂ useÂ mechanicalÂ ventilator.Â SamplingÂ isÂ doneÂ byÂ nonÂ probabilityÂ samplingÂ methodÂ withÂ consecutiveÂ samplingÂ thatÂ receivedÂ sedationÂ therapyÂ inÂ GICUÂ RSUPÂ DrÂ HasanÂ Sadikin,Â Bandung.Â SamplesÂ willÂ beÂ measuredÂ withÂ twoÂ sedationÂ instrumentÂ theyÂ areÂ RASSÂ andÂ RSS.Â PatientÂ willÂ beÂ observedÂ untilÂ theÂ patientÂ isÂ successfullyÂ weaningÂ ventilatorÂ modeÂ CPAPÂ orÂ CPAPÂ PSÂ withÂ PSÂ 5-8Â cmH2OÂ andÂ PEEPÂ 5Â cmH2O.TheseÂ resultsÂ indicateÂ theÂ measurementÂ statusÂ withÂ RASSÂ sedationÂ andÂ RSSÂ haveÂ aÂ significantÂ impactÂ onÂ weaningÂ ventilatorÂ timeÂ withÂ aÂ valueÂ ofÂ p less than 0.05.Â BasedÂ onÂ analysisÂ resultsÂ thereÂ isÂ aÂ significantÂ differenceÂ betweenÂ theÂ measurementÂ ofÂ sedationÂ statusÂ byÂ RASSÂ andÂ RSSÂ forÂ respiratoryÂ failureÂ patientÂ andÂ weaningÂ ventilatorÂ timeÂ withÂ p less than 0.05,Â andÂ theÂ postÂ hocÂ analysisÂ showsÂ thatÂ thereÂ areÂ differencesÂ inÂ eachÂ measurementÂ sedationÂ withÂ p less than 0,05.MeasurementÂ statusÂ withÂ RASSÂ sedationÂ betterÂ inÂ reducingÂ theÂ lengthÂ ofÂ ventilatorÂ weaningÂ comparedÂ toÂ RSS.Â ThisÂ studyÂ canÂ beÂ usedÂ asÂ theÂ basisÂ forÂ furtherÂ researchÂ regardingÂ theÂ relationshipÂ statusÂ measurementÂ sedationÂ toÂ morbidity,Â mortalityÂ andÂ lengthÂ ofÂ stayÂ inÂ patientsÂ receivingÂ sedationÂ therapy.
PENGEMBANGAN ALAT DETEKSI RESIKO KEHAMILAN BERBASIS WEB SEBAGAI SISTEM PENCATATAN PELAPORAN BAGI BIDAN
Authors: Yusuf Nuuva , Anugerah Diah Evawanna , Adiani Friska
Published: August 2018

Saat ini terdapat upaya sebagai deteksi dini terhadap faktor resiko kehamilan yaitu salah satunyamenggunakan metode Kartu Skor Poedji Rochjati (KSPR) sebagai alat deteksi resiko kehamilanmaupun sebagai sistem pencatatan pelaporan bagi bidan. Di era modern ini, teknologi informasiberkembang pesat, dukungan sistem dengan komputerisasi sangat membantu dalam prosespencatatan dan pelaporan tenaga kesehatan yang dirasa efektif dan interaktif. Tujuan penelitianuntuk menjelaskan pengaruh penggunaan alat deteksi resiko kehamilan berbasis web dalamkualitas pemantauan, pencatatan, dan pelaporan kehamilan di tempat pelayanan kesehatan diPuskesmas Wilayah Kota Semarang. Penelitian ini menggunakan studi Quasi Experimental Designdengan rancangan penelitian post-test only control group design. Hasil penelitian uji analisisindependent sample t-test didapatkan nilai significancy p sebesar 0,017. Alat deteksi resiko kehamilandapat digunakan dan layak sebagai sistem pencatatan dan pelaporan bagi bida
Transfer Learning Based Traffic Sign Recognition Using Inception-v3 Model
Authors: Lin Chunmian , Li Lin , Luo Wenting , Wang Kelvin C. P. , Guo Jiangang
Published: August 2018

Traffic sign recognition is critical for advanced driver assistant system and road infrastructure survey. Traditional traffic sign recognition algorithms can't efficiently recognize traffic signs due to its limitation, yet deep learning-based technique requires huge amount of training data before its use, which is time consuming and labor intensive. In this study, transfer learning-based method is introduced for traffic sign recognition and classification, which significantly reduces the amount of training data and alleviates computation expense using Inception-v3 model. In our experiment, Belgium Traffic Sign Database is chosen and augmented by data pre-processing technique. Subsequently the layer-wise features extracted using different convolution and pooling operations are compared and analyzed. Finally transfer learning-based model is repetitively retrained several times with fine-tuning parameters at different learning rate, and excellent reliability and repeatability are observed based on statistical analysis. The results show that transfer learning model can achieve a high-level recognition performance in traffic sign recognition, which is up to 99.18 % of recognition accuracy at 0.05 learning rate (average accuracy of 99.09 %). This study would be beneficial in other traffic infrastructure recognition such as road lane marking and roadside protection facilities, and so on.
Effect of age of seedlings at staggered transplanting and nutrient management on yield performance of aromatic fine rice (cv. BRRI dhan38)
Authors: Roy A , Sarkar MAR , Paul SK
Published: August 2018

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during July to December 2014 with a view to finding out the effect of age of seedlings at staggered transplanting and nutrient management on growth and yield of aromatic fine grained rice (cv. BRRI dhan38). The experiment consisted of three ages of seedlings (30, 45 and 60 day-old) at staggered transplanting and six nutrient managements viz. control (no nutrients), recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers, 50% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + cowdung @ 5 t ha-1, 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + cowdung @ 5 t ha-1, 50% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + poultry manure @ 2.5 t ha-1 and 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + poultry manure @ 2.5 t ha-1. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The effect of age of seedlings at staggered transplanting, nutrient management and their interactions were significant on crop characters, yield components and yield of aromatic fine rice. The tallest plant was recorded due to transplanting 30- day old seedlings fertilized with 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + poultry manure @ 2.5 t ha-1. The highest leaf area index (6.55), number of total tillers hill-1 (12.56), number of effective tillers hill-1 (8.54), panicle length (24.07cm) and number of grains panicle-1 (141.3) were recorded in 30-day old seedlings fertilized with 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + poultry manure @ 2.5 t ha-1 while the lowest values were recorded in 60-day old seedling with control. In case of sterile spikelets panicle-1, 60-day old seedlings with control treatment showed the highest value (30.94). The highest grain (3.85 t ha-1) and straw (5.29 t ha-1) yields were obtained in 30-day old seedlings fertilized with 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + poultry manure @ 2.5 t ha-1. Therefore, 30-day old seedlings fertilized with 75% of recommended dose of inorganic fertilizers + poultry manure @ 2.5 t ha-1 appeared as the promising technique for appreciable growth and grain yield of aromatic fine grained rice (cv. BRRI dhan38).SAARC J. Agri., 16(1): 49-59 (2018)
Pathological investigation of Marek’s disease in a pullet farm of Bangladesh and detection of Marek’s disease virus by pcr
Authors: Biswas D , Ruba T , Yasmin A , Nazneen MR , Hossain MM , Khan MAHNA
Published: August 2018

Marek’s disease (MD) is a lymph proliferative disease of chickens, characterized by progressive emaciation, morbidity and mortality. The causative agent is a cell associated oncogenic alpha-herpes virus. This study investigated an outbreak of MD in a pullet farm (N=2200) of Ramu Upazilla, Cox’s bazaar during May 2016 vaccinated against MD. The infectivity was reported on day 45 of age. Birds (N=10) submitted to diagnose disease at necropsy in the Department of Pathology, Bangladesh Agricultural University showed prominent keel bone, asymmetric progressive paralysis of one or both of the legs and wings. At necropsy, the skeletal muscle appeared thinner and there was enlargement of liver, spleen, kidney and sciatic nerve. Impression smears prepared from the liver showed huge infiltration of lymphocytes. Sections of heart, lungs, liver, kidney, nerve, skin and spleen were stained with hematoxylin and eosin showed wide spread infiltrations and accumulation of lymphocytes. Lymphocytic infiltration was seen in the skin, nerves and all visceral organs and showed combined infectivity due to visceral and classical forms. The etiology of MD was confirmed by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting fragment of Meq gene of very virulent plus or very virulent MDV1. Results of PCR showed amplification of 317bp fragment of Meq gene suggestive for infectivity due to MDV1GA (Md/5) strain. It requires isolating viruses in culture to test further for its virulence and pathotype in vivo. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of Meq gene may unveil the pathotype of the virus involved.SAARC J. Agri., 16(1): 181-192 (2018)
Genetic variability and character association of quantitative traits in jhum rice genotypes
Authors: Akter N , Khalequzzaman M , Islam MZ , Mamun MAA , Chowdhury MAZ
Published: August 2018

Thirty jhum rice genotypes of hilly origin were studied for genetic variability, correlation and path analysis under medium high land of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications for the period of March to July (Aus season), 2016. Analysis of variance revealed significant difference among the genotypes for all the characters studied. The PCV values were greater than GCV, revealing little influence of environment in character expression. High values of heritability along with high genetic advance were observed for filled grain and plant height. Such outcomes suggested predominance of additive gene action in gene expression for these characters. Grain yield showed positive association with number of effective tiller and thousand grain weight at genotypic in conjunction with phenotypic level. Most of the traits had significant genetic variability besides, plant height and panicle length exhibited positive direct effect together with positive correlation with yield. Thousand grain weight possessed negative direct effect but highest positive significant correlation with yield.SAARC J. Agri., 16(1): 193-203 (2018)
Formulation of value added chicken meatball with different level of wheat flour
Authors: Islam MA , Haque MA , Ferdwsi MJ , Ali MY , Hashem MA
Published: August 2018

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different levels of wheat flour on the quality characteristics of chicken meatball. Wheat flour which acts as a binding agent of meatball except for control group T1. The meatballs were formulated having 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% wheat flour. The sensory (colour, flavour, texture, juiciness, tenderness, overall acceptability), physicochemical (proximate analysis, pH, cooking loss), biochemical (TBARs, POV, FFA) were analyzed. Treatments were analyzed in a 4×3 factorial experiment in CRD replicated three times per cell. Wheat flour inclusion in meatballs increased cooking yield by reducing weight loss from 27.06 to 26.49%. Among four treatments most preferable colour, odour, tenderness, juiciness was observed significantly (p<0.05) at 15% wheat flour group and the less preferable colour was observed from the control group. The preferablecolourwas observed at 0 days and less preferable colour at 30 day. Meatballs made with the addition of 15% wheat flour had the highest tenderness, overall acceptability, raw pH, cooked pH and lower DM, ash, PV and TBA & showed significant value (p<0.05) The cooked pH was decreased with the increased storage period. Meatballs with wheat flour inclusions at 15% were most acceptable. It is recommended that further studies of the wheat flour inclusion in meatballs production be carried out to ensure the availability of cheaper, nutritious and acceptable convenience food in the Bangladeshi market.SAARC J. Agri., 16(1): 205-213 (2018)
An Overview of Novel Actuators for Soft Robotics
Authors: Boyraz Pinar , Runge Gundula , Raatz Annika
Published: August 2018

In this systematic survey, an overview of non-conventional actuators particularly used in soft-robotics is presented. The review is performed by using well-defined performance criteria with a direction to identify the exemplary and potential applications. In addition to this, initial guidelines to compare the performance and applicability of these novel actuators are provided. The meta-analysis is restricted to five main types of actuators: shape memory alloys (SMAs), fluidic elastomer actuators (FEAs), shape morphing polymers (SMPs), dielectric electro-activated polymers (DEAPs), and magnetic/electro-magnetic actuators (E/MAs). In exploring and comparing the capabilities of these actuators, the focus was on eight different aspects: compliance, topology-geometry, scalability-complexity, energy efficiency, operation range, modality, controllability, and technological readiness level (TRL). The overview presented here provides a state-of-the-art summary of the advancements and can help researchers to select the most convenient soft actuators using the comprehensive comparison of the suggested quantitative and qualitative criteria.
A Fundamental Consideration of Active Noise Control System by Small Actuator for Ultra-Compact EV
Authors: Kato Taro , Suzuki Ryosuke , Miyao Rina , Kato Hideaki , Narita Takayoshi
Published: August 2018

The ultra-compact electric vehicle has recently experienced increasing popularity for short-distance travel. However, one of the issues with ultra-compact electric vehicles is that although the engine is silent, exterior road and wind noise have a significant impact on the occupant’s comfort in the interior space. We propose an ANC system whereby a kind of small actuator is installed on the roof of an ultra-compact electric vehicle. In this paper, we consider the noise control effects of using a giant magnetostrictive actuator and conduct an experimental study on feed-forward and feedback control systems.
Use of Living, Mowed, and Soil-Incorporated Cover Crops for Weed Control in Apricot Orchards
Authors: Tursun Nihat , Işık Doğan , Demir Zeynep , Jabran Khawar
Published: August 2018

Apricot fruits provide important health, economic, and nutritional benefits. Weeds damage apricot production directly and host the pests that cause damages to apricot trees. However, very few studies are available on weed control in apricot orchards. This research work was aimed at evaluating five cover crops for weed suppression in apricot orchard. The effect of living, mowed, and soil-incorporated cover corps on weeds was recorded and compared with glyphosate application and mechanical weed control. The cover crops were Vicia villosa Roth., Vicia pannonica Crantz, Triticale + V. pannonica, Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth., and Fagopyrum esculentum Moench. Five major weed species in the experimental area were Amaranthus retroflexus L., Convolvulus arvensis L., Tribulus terrestris L., Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop., and Sorghum halepense (L.) Per. The highest biomass production was noted for Triticale + V. pannonica in 2015 and for P. tanacetifolia in 2016. Living cover crops were effective in decreasing the weed biomass compared with the control. Both mowing and soil incorporation of cover crops were effective in decreasing weed richness and density over control. Mowed or soil-incorporated cover crops were more effective than herbicide or mechanical weed control, while F. esculentum was the least effective cover crop for suppressing weeds in apricot orchard. The results of our studies implied that cover crops could be used for weed control in apricot, and their mowing or soil incorporation could enhance their efficacy.
A Review of Ghost Imaging via Sparsity Constraints
Authors: Han Shensheng , Yu Hong , Shen Xia , Liu Honglin , Gong Wenlin , Liu Zhentao
Published: August 2018

Different from conventional imaging methods, which are based on the first-order field correlation, ghost imaging (GI) obtains the image information through high-order mutual-correlation of light fields from two paths with an object appearing in only one path. As a new optical imaging technology, GI not only provides us new capabilities beyond the conventional imaging methods, but also gives out a new viewpoint of imaging physical mechanism. It may be applied to many potential applications, such as remote sensing, snap-shot spectral imaging, thermal X-ray diffraction imaging and imaging through scattering media. In this paper, we reviewed mainly our research work of ghost imaging via sparsity constraints (GISC) and discussed the application and theory prospect of GISC concisely.
Gait Energy Response Functions for Gait Recognition against Various Clothing and Carrying Status
Authors: Li Xiang , Makihara Yasushi , Xu Chi , Muramatsu Daigo , Yagi Yasushi , Ren Mingwu
Published: August 2018

Silhouette-based gait representations are widely used in the current gait recognition community due to their effectiveness and efficiency, but they are subject to changes in covariate conditions such as clothing and carrying status. Therefore, we propose a gait energy response function (GERF) that transforms a gait energy (i.e., an intensity value) of a silhouette-based gait feature into a value more suitable for handling these covariate conditions. Additionally, since the discrimination capability of gait energies, as well as the degree to which they are affected by the covariate conditions, differs among body parts, we extend the GERF framework to spatially dependent GERF (SD-GERF) which accounts for spatial dependence. Moreover, the proposed GERFs are represented as a vector in the transformation lookup table and are optimized through an efficient generalized eigenvalue problem in a closed form. Finally, two post-processing techniques, Gabor filtering and spatial metric learning, are employed for the transformed gait features to boost the accuracy. Experimental results with three publicly available datasets including clothing and carrying status variations show the state-of-the-art performance of the proposed method compared with other state-of-the-art methods.
Influence of a New Form of Bolted Connection on the Mechanical Behaviors of a PC Shear Wall
Authors: Jiang Shaofei , Lian Shenghang , Zhao Jian , Li Xiang , Ma Shenglan
Published: August 2018

A variety of forms of connection in precast reinforced concrete (PC) have been proposed, but the impact of the connection forms on the shear wall remains to be studied. In this paper, through quasi-static experiments and numerical simulations, the influences of a new form of bolted connection on the mechanical behaviors of the PC shear wall are investigated. The results show that the strain of the connector is less than the yield strain and the failure does not occur in the connector; the mechanical behaviors of this connection form of the PC shear wall are equivalent to those of the cast-in-place reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall. Meanwhile, reasonable suggestions are put forward for the design of the connector from the pretightening force, bolt number, and axial compression ratio. This implies that this form of bolted connection has little influence on the mechanical behaviors of the PC shear wall and design suggestions can be used in practical projects.
Effectiveness of Distributed vs. Concentrated Volt/Var Local Control Strategies in Low-Voltage Grids
Authors: Ilo Albana , Schultis Daniel-Leon , Schirmer Christian
Published: August 2018

This paper introduces a novel local Volt/var control strategy in a low-voltage smart grid. Nowadays, various Volt/var local control strategies built on customer photovoltaic inverters, e.g., cosφ(P) and Q(U), are introduced to mitigate the upper voltage limit violations in feeders with high prosumer share. Nevertheless, although these strategies are further refined by including more local variables, their use is still very limited. In this study, the effects of a new concentrated Volt/var local control strategy in low-voltage grids are investigated. Concentrated var-sinks, e.g., coils-L(U), are set at the end of each violated feeder. The concentrated local control strategy L(U) is compared with the distributed cosφ(P) and Q(U) strategies. Initially, both control strategies are theoretically investigated, followed by simulations in a test feeder. Finally, the expected practical significance of the findings is verified through simulations in a real typical urban and rural grid. Additionally, the impact of the different local control strategies used in low-voltage grids on the behavior of the medium-voltage grid is analyzed. The results show that the concentrated Volt/var control strategy eliminates the violation of upper voltage limit even in longer feeders, where both distributed local strategies fail. In addition, the concentrated L(U) local control causes less reactive power exchange on the distribution transformer level than the distributed cosφ(P) and Q(U) strategies. Therefore, the reactive power exchange with the medium-voltage grid and thus the distribution transformer loading are smaller in the case of concentrated local control strategy.
A Robust Cover Song Identification System with Two-Level Similarity Fusion and Post-Processing
Authors: Li Mingyu , Chen Ning
Published: August 2018

Similarity measurement plays an important role in various information retrieval tasks. In this paper, a music information retrieval scheme based on two-level similarity fusion and post-processing is proposed. At the similarity fusion level, to take full advantage of the common and complementary properties among different descriptors and different similarity functions, first, the track-by-track similarity graphs generated from the same descriptor but different similarity functions are fused with the similarity network fusion (SNF) technique. Then, the obtained first-level fused similarities based on different descriptors are further fused with the mixture Markov model (MMM) technique. At the post-processing level, diffusion is first performed on the two-level fused similarity graph to utilize the underlying track manifold contained within it. Then, a mutual proximity (MP) algorithm is adopted to refine the diffused similarity scores, which helps to reduce the bad influence caused by the “hubness” phenomenon contained in the scores. The performance of the proposed scheme is tested in the cover song identification (CSI) task on three cover song datasets (Covers80, Covers40, and Second Hand Songs (SHS)). The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme outperforms state-of-the-art CSI schemes based on single similarity or similarity fusion.
Electricity Generation in LCA of Electric Vehicles: A Review
Authors: Marmiroli Benedetta , Messagie Maarten , Dotelli Giovanni , Van Mierlo Joeri
Published: August 2018

Life Cycle assessments (LCAs) on electric mobility are providing a plethora of diverging results. 44 articles, published from 2008 to 2018 have been investigated in this review, in order to find the extent and the reason behind this deviation. The first hurdle can be found in the goal definition, followed by the modelling choice, as both are generally incomplete and inconsistent. These gaps influence the choices made in the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) stage, particularly in regards to the selection of the electricity mix. A statistical regression is made with results available in the literature. It emerges that, despite the wide-ranging scopes and the numerous variables present in the assessments, the electricity mix’s carbon intensity can explain 70% of the variability of the results. This encourages a shared framework to drive practitioners in the execution of the assessment and policy makers in the interpretation of the results.
Action-Centered Exposure Therapy (ACET): A New Approach to the Use of Virtual Reality to the Care of People with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Kamkuimo Kengne Sorelle Audrey , Fossaert Mathilde , Girard Benoît , Menelas Bob-Antoine J.
Published: August 2018

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be seen as the result of dysfunctional beliefs that associate stimuli with a danger or a threat leading to anxious reactions. Exposure therapy is so far considered to be the most effective treatment, and research suggests that it is mainly based on a habituation process. Based on learning theories, it appears that a passive systemic exposure to traumatic stimuli should not be the best option for the treatment of PTSD. We hypothesis that an active learning of safer and healthier coping strategies combined with systematic exposure should be more effective in reducing the psychological distress associated with PTSD. In this paper, we describe the theoretical foundations of this approach that focuses on the action and activity of the patient in his or her exposure environment. In this approach, we take advantage of Virtual Reality technologies and learning mechanics of serious games to allow the patient to learn new safe associations while promoting the empowerment. We named this action-centered exposure therapy (ACET). This approach exploits behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism learning theories. With the different benefits of virtual reality technologies, this approach would easily integrate with in-virtuo exposure therapy and would allow us to exploit as much as possible the enormous potential of these technologies. As a first step toward validation, we present a case study that supports the ACET approach.
miR-1246 Targets CCNG2 to Enhance Cancer Stemness and Chemoresistance in Oral Carcinomas
Authors: Lin Shih-Shen , Peng Chih-Yu , Liao Yi-Wen , Chou Ming-Yung , Hsieh Pei-Ling , Yu Cheng-Chia
Published: August 2018

MiRNAs have been recognized as crucial components in carcinogenesis, but whether miR-1246 affects the cancer stemness and drug resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been fully understood and its downstream targets still need to be unraveled. In the present work, we employed miRNAs RT-PCR analysis to evaluate the expression of miR-1246 in tumor tissues and oral cancer stem cells (OCSC). Stemness phenotypes, including self-renewal, migration, invasion, colony formation capacities, and in vivo oncogenicity of oral cancer cells following transfected with miR-1246 inhibitors or mimics were examined. Our results suggested that the expression level of miR-1246 was significantly upregulated in the tumor tissues and OCSC. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of OSCC patients with high levels of miR-1246 had the worst survival rate compared to their low-expression counterparts. Inhibition of miR-1246 in OCSC significantly reduced the stemness hallmarks, while overexpression of miR-1246 enhanced these characteristics. Moreover, we showed that downregulation of miR-1246 decreased chemoresistance. In addition, we verified that miR-1246-inhibited CCNG2 contributed to the cancer stemness of OSCC. These results demonstrated the significance of miR-1246 in the regulation of OSCC stemness. Targeting miR-1246-CCNG2 axis may be beneficial to suppress cancer relapse and metastasis in OSCC patients.
Functional Linkage of RKIP to the Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition and Autophagy during the Development of Prostate Cancer
Authors: Ahmed Mahmoud , Lai Trang Huyen , Zada Sahib , Hwang Jin Seok , Pham Trang Minh , Yun Miyong , Kim Deok Ryong
Published: August 2018

Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) plays a critical role in many signaling pathways as a multi-functional adapter protein. In particular, the loss of RKIP’s function in certain types of cancer cells results in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the promotion of cancer metastasis. In addition, RKIP inhibits autophagy by modulating LC3-lipidation and mTORC1. How the RKIP-dependent inhibition of autophagy is linked to EMT and cancer progression is still under investigation. In this study, we investigated the ways by which RKIP interacts with key gene products in EMT and autophagy during the progression of prostate cancer. We first identified the gene products of interest using the corresponding gene ontology terms. The weighted-gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was applied on a gene expression dataset from three groups of prostate tissues; benign prostate hyperplasia, primary and metastatic cancer. We found two modules of highly co-expressed genes, which were preserved in other independent datasets of prostate cancer tissues. RKIP showed potentially novel interactions with one EMT and seven autophagy gene products (TGFBR1; PIK3C3, PIK3CB, TBC1D25, TBC1D5, TOLLIP, WDR45 and WIPI1). In addition, we identified several upstream transcription modulators that could regulate the expression of these gene products. Finally, we verified some RKIP novel interactions by co-localization using the confocal microscopy analysis in a prostate cancer cell line. To summarize, RKIP interacts with EMT and autophagy as part of the same functional unit in developing prostate cancer.
The Tribocorrosion and Corrosion Properties of Thermally Oxidized Ti6Al4V Alloy in 0.9 wt.% NaCl Physiological Saline
Authors: Cao Lei , Wan Yong , Yang Shuyan , Pu Jibin
Published: August 2018

Thermal oxidation of Ti6Al4V was carried out at 700 °C for 5 h in air atmosphere. The characteristics of morphology and structure, micro-hardness, and tribocorrosion behavior in 0.9 wt.% NaCl solution of thermally oxidized Ti6Al4V alloys were investigated and compared with those of the untreated one. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) and glow discharge spectrometer (GDS) results reveal that the oxide layer is completely coated on the substrate, which is a bilayer structure consisted of oxide film and oxygen diffusion zone (ODZ). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman measurements reveal the rutile phase as the dominant phase. The micro-hardness and surface roughness (Ra) increase about 1.63 and 4 times than those of the untreated one. Thermally oxidized sample obtains corrosion and tribocorrosion resistance property in 0.9 wt.% NaCl solution. The corrosion potential has a more than 500 mV anodic shift, the corrosion current density decreases about 80%. The total material loss volume is reduced by almost an order of magnitude under tribocorrosion behavior, which is due to the improvement of the micro-hardness of the oxide layer and ODZ that reduce the corrosion and the synergistic effect of corrosion and wear.
Quantum Quantifiers for an Atom System Interacting with a Quantum Field Based on Pseudoharmonic Oscillator States
Authors: Raffah Bahaaudin Mohammadnoor , Berrada Kamal
Published: August 2018

We develop a useful model considering an atom-field system interaction in the framework of pseudoharmonic oscillators. We examine qualitatively the different physical quantities for a two-level atom (TLA) system interacting with a quantized coherent field in the context of photon-added coherent states of pseudoharmonic oscillators. Using these coherent states, we solve the model that exhibits the interaction between the TLA and field associated with these kinds of potentials. We analyze the temporal evolution of the entanglement, statistical properties, geometric phase and squeezing entropies. Finally, we show the relationship between the physical quantities and their dynamics in terms of the physical parameters.
New Estimations for Shannon and Zipf–Mandelbrot Entropies
Authors: Adil Khan Muhammad , Al-sahwi Zaid Mohammad , Chu Yu-Ming
Published: August 2018

The main purpose of this paper is to find new estimations for the Shannon and Zipf–Mandelbrot entropies. We apply some refinements of the Jensen inequality to obtain different bounds for these entropies. Initially, we use a precise convex function in the refinement of the Jensen inequality and then tamper the weight and domain of the function to obtain general bounds for the Shannon entropy (SE). As particular cases of these general bounds, we derive some bounds for the Shannon entropy (SE) which are, in fact, the applications of some other well-known refinements of the Jensen inequality. Finally, we derive different estimations for the Zipf–Mandelbrot entropy (ZME) by using the new bounds of the Shannon entropy for the Zipf–Mandelbrot law (ZML). We also discuss particular cases and the bounds related to two different parametrics of the Zipf–Mandelbrot entropy. At the end of the paper we give some applications in linguistics.
Information Geometry of Randomized Quantum State Tomography
Authors: Fujiwara Akio , Yamagata Koichi
Published: August 2018

Suppose that a d-dimensional Hilbert space H ≃ C d admits a full set of mutually unbiased bases | 1 ( a ) 〉 , ⋯ , | d ( a ) 〉 , where a = 1 , ⋯ , d + 1 . A randomized quantum state tomography is a scheme for estimating an unknown quantum state on H through iterative applications of measurements M ( a ) = | 1 ( a ) 〉 〈 1 ( a ) | , ⋯ , | d ( a ) 〉 〈 d ( a ) | for a = 1 , ⋯ , d + 1 , where the numbers of applications of these measurements are random variables. We show that the space of the resulting probability distributions enjoys a mutually orthogonal dualistic foliation structure, which provides us with a simple geometrical insight into the maximum likelihood method for the quantum state tomography.
Multi-Objective Optimization Design and Multi-Physics Analysis a Double-Stator Permanent-Magnet Doubly Salient Machine
Authors: Chen Yunyun , Ding Yu , Zhuang Jiahong , Zhu Xiaoyong
Published: August 2018

The double-stator permanent-magnet doubly salient (DS-PMDS) machine is an interesting candidate motor for electric vehicle (EV) applications because of its high torque output and flexible working modes. Due to the complexity of the motor structure, optimization of the DS-PMDS for EVs requires more research efforts to meet multiple specifications. Effective multi-objective optimization to increase torque output, reduce torque ripple, and improve PM material utilization and motor efficiency is implemented in this paper. In the design process, a multi-objective comprehensive function is established. By using parametric sensitivity analysis (PSA) and the sequential quadratic programming (NLPQL) method, the influence extent of each size parameter for different performance is effectively evaluated and optimal results are determined. By adopting the finite element method (FEM), the electromagnetic performances of the optimal DS-PMDS motor is investigated. Moreover, a multi-physical field analysis is included to describe stress, deformation of the rotor, and temperature distribution of the proposed motor. The theoretical analysis verified the rationality of the motor investigated and the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method.
Concurrent Real-Time Estimation of State of Health and Maximum Available Power in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
Authors: Knap Vaclav , Auger Daniel , Propp Karsten , Fotouhi Abbas , Stroe Daniel-Ioan
Published: August 2018

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are an emerging energy storage technology with higher performance than lithium-ion batteries in terms of specific capacity and energy density. However, several scientific and technological gaps need to be filled before Li-S batteries will penetrate the market at a large scale. One such gap, which is tackled in this paper, is represented by the estimation of state-of-health (SOH). Li-S batteries exhibit a complex behaviour due to their inherent mechanisms, which requires a special tailoring of the already literature-available state-of-charge (SOC) and SOH estimation algorithms. In this work, a model of SOH based on capacity fade and power fade has been proposed and incorporated in a state estimator using dual extended Kalman filters has been used to simultaneously estimate Li-S SOC and SOH. The dual extended Kalman filter’s internal estimates of equivalent circuit network parameters have also been used to the estimate maximum available power of the battery at any specified instant. The proposed estimators have been successfully applied to both fresh and aged Li-S pouch cells, showing that they can accurately track accurately the battery SOC, SOH, and power, providing that initial conditions are suitable. However, the estimation of the Li-S battery cells’ capacity fade is shown to be more complex, because the practical available capacity varies highly with the applied current rates and the dynamics of the mission profile.