bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using the Machine Vision Method to Develop an On-machine Insert Condition Monitoring System for Computer Numerical Control Turning Machine Tools
Authors: Sun Wei-Heng , Yeh Syh-Shiuh
Published: October 2018

This study uses the machine vision method to develop an on-machine turning tool insert condition monitoring system for tool condition monitoring in the cutting processes of computer numerical control (CNC) machines. The system can identify four external turning tool insert conditions, namely fracture, built-up edge (BUE), chipping, and flank wear. This study also designs a visual inspection system for the tip of an insert using the surrounding light source and fill-light, which can be mounted on the turning machine tool, to overcome the environmental effect on the captured insert image for subsequent image processing. During image capture, the intensity of the light source changes to ensure that the test insert has appropriate surface and tip features. This study implements outer profile construction, insert status region capture, insert wear region judgment, and calculation to monitor and classify insert conditions. The insert image is then trimmed according to the vertical flank, horizontal blade, and vertical blade lines. The image of the insert-wear region is captured to monitor flank or chipping wear using grayscale value histogram. The amount of wear is calculated using the wear region image as the evaluation index to judge normal wear or over-wear conditions. On-machine insert condition monitoring is tested to confirm that the proposed system can judge insert fracture, BUE, chipping, and wear. The results demonstrate that the standard deviation of the chipping and amount of wear accounts for 0.67% and 0.62%, of the average value, respectively, thus confirming the stability of system operation.
Grain Refinement of a Powder Nickel-Base Superalloy Using Hot Deformation and Slow-Cooling
Authors: Fan Xianqiang , Guo Zhipeng , Wang Xiaofeng , Yang Jie , Zou Jinwen
Published: October 2018

A pre-hot-deformation process was applied for a polycrystalline nickel-base superalloy to active deformation twins and dislocations, and subsequent slow cooling treatment was used to achieve grain refinement and microstructure homogenization. The microstructural evolution of the alloy was investigated, and the corresponding underlying mechanism was discussed. It was found that twinning mainly occurred in large grains during pre-hot-deformation owing to the stress concentration surrounding the large grains. High density dislocations were found in large grains, and the dislocation density increased approaching the grain boundary. The average grain size was refined from 30 μm to 13 μm after slow cooling with a standard deviation of grain size decreasing from 10.8 to 2.8, indicating a homogeneous microstructure. The grain refinement and microstructure homogenization during cooling process could be achieved via (i) static recrystallization (SRX), (ii) interaction of twin tips and γ’ precipitates, and (iii) grain coarsening hindered by γ’ precipitates in grain boundaries.
In-Silico Prediction and Modeling of the Quorum Sensing LuxS Protein and Inhibition of AI-2 Biosynthesis in Aeromonas hydrophila
Authors: Ali Farman , Yao Zujie , Li Wanxin , Sun Lina , Lin Wenxiong , Lin Xiangmin
Published: October 2018

luxS is conserved in several bacterial species, including A. hydrophila, which causes infections in prawn, fish, and shrimp, and is consequently a great risk to the aquaculture industry and public health. luxS plays a critical role in the biosynthesis of the autoinducer-2 (AI-2), which performs wide-ranging functions in bacterial communication, and especially in quorum sensing (QS). The prediction of a 3D structure of the QS-associated LuxS protein is thus essential to better understand and control A. hydrophila pathogenecity. Here, we predicted the structure of A. hydrophila LuxS and characterized it structurally and functionally with in silico methods. The predicted structure of LuxS provides a framework to develop more complete structural and functional insights and will aid the mitigation of A. hydrophila infection, and the development of novel drugs to control infections. In addition to modeling, the suitable inhibitor was identified by high through put screening (HTS) against drug like subset of ZINC database and inhibitor ((−)-Dimethyl 2,3-O-isopropylidene-l-tartrate) molecule was selected based on the best drug score. Molecular docking studies were performed to find out the best binding affinity between LuxS homologous or predicted model of LuxS protein for the ligand selection. Remarkably, this inhibitor molecule establishes agreeable interfaces with amino acid residues LYS 23, VAL 35, ILE76, and SER 90, which are found to play an essential role in inhibition mechanism. These predictions were suggesting that the proposed inhibitor molecule may be considered as drug candidates against AI-2 biosynthesis of A. hydrophila. Therefore, (−)-Dimethyl 2,3-O-isopropylidene-l-tartrate inhibitor molecule was studied to confirm its potency of AI-2 biosynthesis inhibition. The results shows that the inhibitor molecule had a better efficacy in AI-2 inhibition at 40 μM concentration, which was further validated using Western blotting at a protein expression level. The AI-2 bioluminescence assay showed that the decreased amount of AI-2 biosynthesis and downregulation of LuxS protein play an important role in the AI-2 inhibition. Lastly, these experiments were conducted with the supplementation of antibiotics via cocktail therapy of AI-2 inhibitor plus OXY antibiotics, in order to determine the possibility of novel cocktail drug treatments of A. hydrophila infection.
Unsymmetrical Spiroalkanedithiols Having Mixed Fluorinated and Alkyl Tailgroups of Varying Length: Film Structure and Interfacial Properties
Authors: Chinwangso Pawilai , St. Hill Lydia R. , Marquez Maria D. , Lee T. Randall
Published: October 2018

A custom-designed series of unsymmetrical spiroalkanedithiols having tailgroups comprised of a terminally fluorinated chain and a hydrocarbon chain of varying lengths were synthesized and used to prepare self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold substrates. The specific structure of the adsorbates was of the form [CH3(CH2)n][CF3(CF2)7(CH2)8]C[CH2SH]2, where n = 7, 9, and 15 (designated as F8H10-C10, F8H10-C12, and F8H10-C18, respectively). The influence of the length of the hydrocarbon chain in the bidentate dithiol on the structure and interfacial properties of the monolayer was explored. A structurally analogous partially fluorinated monodentate alkanethiol and the corresponding normal alkanethiols were used to generate appropriate SAMs as reference systems. Measurements of ellipsometric thickness showed an unexpectedly low film thickness for the SAMs derived from the bidentate adsorbates, possibly due to disruptions in interchain packing caused by the fluorocarbon chains (i.e., phase-incompatible fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon interactions), ultimately giving rise to loosely packed and disordered films. Analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were also consistent with a model in which the films were loosely packed; additionally, the XPS spectra confirmed the attachment of the sulfur headgroups of the bidentate adsorbates onto the gold substrates. Studies of the SAMs by polarization modulation-infrared reflection-adsorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) suggested that as the length of the hydrocarbon chain in the adsorbates was extended, a more ordered surface was achieved by reducing the tilt of the fluorocarbon segment. The wettability data indicated that the adsorbates with longer alkyl chains were less wettable than those with shorter alkyl chains, likely due to an increase in interchain van der Waals forces in the former.
A Central Edge Selection Based Overlapping Community Detection Algorithm for the Detection of Overlapping Structures in Protein–Protein Interaction Networks
Authors: Zhang Fang , Ma Anjun , Wang Zhao , Ma Qin , Liu Bingqiang , Huang Lan , Wang Yan
Published: October 2018

Overlapping structures of protein–protein interaction networks are very prevalent in different biological processes, which reflect the sharing mechanism to common functional components. The overlapping community detection (OCD) algorithm based on central node selection (CNS) is a traditional and acceptable algorithm for OCD in networks. The main content of CNS is the central node selection and the clustering procedure. However, the original CNS does not consider the influence among the nodes and the importance of the division of the edges in networks. In this paper, an OCD algorithm based on a central edge selection (CES) algorithm for detection of overlapping communities of protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks is proposed. Different from the traditional CNS algorithms for OCD, the proposed algorithm uses community magnetic interference (CMI) to obtain more reasonable central edges in the process of CES, and employs a new distance between the non-central edge and the set of the central edges to divide the non-central edge into the correct cluster during the clustering procedure. In addition, the proposed CES improves the strategy of overlapping nodes pruning (ONP) to make the division more precisely. The experimental results on three benchmark networks and three biological PPI networks of Mus. musculus, Escherichia coli, and Cerevisiae show that the CES algorithm performs well.
Near Infrared Fluorophore-Tagged Chloroquine in Plasmodium falciparum Diagnostic Imaging
Authors: Chan Li Yan , Teo Joshua Ding Wei , Tan Kevin Shyong-Wei , Sou Keitaro , Kwan Wei Lek , Lee Chi-Lik Ken
Published: October 2018

Chloroquine was among the first of several effective drug treatments against malaria until the onset of chloroquine resistance. In light of diminished clinical efficacy of chloroquine as an antimalarial therapeutic, there is potential in efforts to adapt chloroquine for other clinical applications, such as in combination therapies and in diagnostics. In this context, we designed and synthesized a novel asymmetrical squaraine dye coupled with chloroquine (SQR1-CQ). In this study, SQR1-CQ was used to label live Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) parasite cultures of varying sensitivities towards chloroquine. SQR1-CQ positively stained ring, mature trophozoite and schizont stages of both chloroquine–sensitive and chloroquine–resistant P. falciparum strains. In addition, SQR1-CQ exhibited significantly higher fluorescence, when compared to the commercial chloroquine-BODIPY (borondipyrromethene) conjugate CQ-BODIPY. We also achieved successful SQR1-CQ labelling of P. falciparum directly on thin blood smear preparations. Drug efficacy experiments measuring half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) showed lower concentration of effective inhibition against resistant strain K1 by SQR1-CQ compared to conventional chloroquine. Taken together, the versatile and highly fluorescent labelling capability of SQR1-CQ and promising preliminary IC50 findings makes it a great candidate for further development as diagnostic tool with drug efficacy against chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum.
Pseudotrypsin: A Little-Known Trypsin Proteoform
Authors: Perutka Zdeněk , Šebela Marek
Published: October 2018

Trypsin is the protease of choice for protein sample digestion in proteomics. The most typical active forms are the single-chain β-trypsin and the two-chain α-trypsin, which is produced by a limited autolysis of β-trypsin. An additional intra-chain split leads to pseudotrypsin (ψ-trypsin) with three chains interconnected by disulfide bonds, which can be isolated from the autolyzate by ion-exchange chromatography. Based on experimental data with artificial substrates, peptides, and protein standards, ψ-trypsin shows altered kinetic properties, thermodynamic stability and cleavage site preference (and partly also cleavage specificity) compared to the above-mentioned proteoforms. In our laboratory, we have analyzed the performance of bovine ψ-trypsin in the digestion of protein samples with a different complexity. It cleaves predominantly at the characteristic trypsin cleavage sites. However, in a comparison with common tryptic digestion, non-specific cleavages occur more frequently (mostly after the aromatic residues of Tyr and Phe) and more missed cleavages are generated. Because of the preferential cleavages after the basic residues and more developed side specificity, which is not expected to occur for the major trypsin forms (but may appear anyway because of their autolysis), ψ-trypsin produces valuable information, which is complementary in part to data based on a strictly specific trypsin digestion and thus can be unnoticed following common proteomics protocols.
Anti-Proliferative Effects of HBX-5 on Progression of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Authors: Jin Bo-Ram , Kim Hyo-Jung , Park Sang-Kyun , Kim Myoung-Seok , Lee Kwang-Ho , Yoon Il-Joo , An Hyo-Jin
Published: October 2018

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), an age-dependent disorder with a prevalence percentage of 60% in the 60s, has been found to involve an androgenic hormone imbalance that causes confusion between cell apoptosis and proliferation. Because general medications for BPH treatment have undesirable side effects, the development of effective alternative medicines has been considered. HBX-5 is a newly developed formula with the aim of improving BPH, and is composed of nine medicinal herbs. BPH was induced in the rats by intramuscular injection of testosterone propionate after castration. Rats were divided into six groups, and the efficacy of HBX-5 on testosterone-induced BPH in rats was estimated. In addition, RWPE-1 and WPMY-1 cells were used to demonstrate the effect of HBX-5 on BPH in vitro model. Compared with the control group, HBX-5 administration group suppressed BPH manifestations, such as excessive development of prostate, and increase of serum dihydrotestosterone and 5α-reductase concentrations. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that HBX-5 significantly decreased the expression of androgen receptor (AR) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). In addition, results of RWPE-1 and WPMY-1 cells showed that HBX-5 inhibited the over-expression of AR and PSA in DHT-induced prostate hyperplastic microenvironments.
Development of Novel Intramolecular FRET-Based ABC Transporter Biosensors to Identify New Substrates and Modulators
Authors: Osa-Andrews Bremansu , Tan Kee W. , Sampson Angelina , Iram Surtaj H.
Published: October 2018

Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1) can efflux a wide variety of molecules including toxic chemicals, drugs, and their derivatives out of cells. Substrates of MRP1 include anti-cancer agents, antibiotics, anti-virals, anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and many other drugs. To identify novel substrates and modulators of MRP1 by exploiting intramolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), we genetically engineered six different two-color MRP1 proteins by changing green fluorescent protein (GFP) insertion sites, while keeping the red fluorescent protein (RFP) at the C-terminal of MRP1. Four of six recombinant proteins showed normal expression, localization, and transport activity. We quantified intramolecular FRET using ensemble fluorescence spectroscopy in response to binding of known substrate or ATP alone, substrate/ATP, and trapping of the transporter in closed conformation by vanadate. Recombinant MRP1 proteins GR-881, GR-888, and GR-905 exhibited reproducible and higher FRET changes under all tested conditions and are very promising for use as MRP1 biosensors. Furthermore, we used GR-881 to screen 40 novel anti-cancer drugs and identified 10 hits that potentially directly interact with MRP1 and could be substrates or modulators. Profiling of drug libraries for interaction with MRP1 can provide very useful information to improve the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of various therapies.
Measurement Characteristics of Near-Surface Currents from Ultra-Thin Drifters, Drogued Drifters, and HF Radar
Authors: Morey Steven L. , Wienders Nicolas , Dukhovskoy Dmitry S. , Bourassa Mark A.
Published: October 2018

Concurrent measurements by satellite tracked drifters of different hull and drogue configurations and coastal high-frequency radar reveal substantial differences in estimates of the near-surface velocity. These measurements are important for understanding and predicting material transport on the ocean surface as well as the vertical structure of the near-surface currents. These near-surface current observations were obtained during a field experiment in the northern Gulf of Mexico intended to test a new ultra-thin drifter design. During the experiment, thirty small cylindrical drifters with 5 cm height, twenty-eight similar drifters with 10 cm hull height, and fourteen drifters with 91 cm tall drogues centered at 100 cm depth were deployed within the footprint of coastal High-Frequency (HF) radar. Comparison of collocated velocity measurements reveals systematic differences in surface velocity estimates obtained from the different measurement techniques, as well as provides information on properties of the drifter behavior and near-surface shear. Results show that the HF radar velocity estimates had magnitudes significantly lower than the 5 cm and 10 cm drifter velocity of approximately 45% and 35%, respectively. The HF radar velocity magnitudes were similar to the drogued drifter velocity. Analysis of wave directional spectra measurements reveals that surface Stokes drift accounts for much of the velocity difference between the drogued drifters and the thin surface drifters except during times of wave breaking.
Long-Term Surface Water Dynamics Analysis Based on Landsat Imagery and the Google Earth Engine Platform: A Case Study in the Middle Yangtze River Basin
Authors: Wang Chao , Jia Mingming , Chen Nengcheng , Wang Wei
Published: October 2018

Dynamics of surface water is of great significance to understand the impacts of global changes and human activities on water resources. Remote sensing provides many advantages in monitoring surface water; however, in large scale, the efficiency of traditional remote sensing methods is extremely low because these methods consume a high amount of manpower, storage, and computing resources. In this paper, we propose a new method for quickly determining what the annual maximal and minimal surface water extent is. The maximal and minimal water extent in the year of 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2017 in the Middle Yangtze River Basin in China were calculated on the Google Earth Engine platform. This approach takes full advantage of the data and computing advantages of the Google Earth Engine’s cloud platform, processed 2343 scenes of Landsat images. Firstly, based on the estimated value of cloud cover for each pixel, the high cloud covered pixels were removed to eliminate the cloud interference and improve the calculation efficiency. Secondly, the annual greenest and wettest images were mosaiced based on vegetation index and surface water index, then the minimum and maximum surface water extents were obtained by the Random Forest Classification. Results showed that (1) the yearly minimal surface water extents were 14,751.23 km2, 14,403.48 km2, 13,601.48 km2, and 15,697.42 km2, in the year of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017, respectively. (2) The yearly maximal surface water extents were 18,174.76 km2, 20,671.83 km2, 19,097.73 km2, and 18,235.95 km2, in the year of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2017, respectively. (3) The accuracies of surface water classification ranged from 86% to 93%. Additionally, the causes of these changes were analyzed. The accuracy evaluation and comparison with other research results show that this method is reliable, novel, and fast in terms of calculating the maximal and minimal surface water extent. In addition, the proposed method can easily be implemented in other regions worldwide.
A Novel Method and an Equipment for Generating the Standard Moisture in Gas Flowing through a Pipe
Authors: Tsukahara Yusuke , Hirayama Osamu , Takeda Nobuo , Oizumi Toru , Fukushi Hideyuki , Sato Nagisa , Tsuji Toshihiro , Yamanaka Kazushi , Akao Shingo
Published: October 2018

When inert gas containing water molecules flows into a metal pipe, the water molecules cannot exit instantaneously from the outlet of the pipe but are captured at adsorption sites on the inner surface of the pipe until most of the sites are occupied. A theoretical model and a subsequent experiment in this article show that the delay time depends on the amount of moisture level; the higher the moisture-level, the shorter the delay time. Based on the result, we propose a new method and its implementation to the validation of a standard moisture generation to be used in the field measurement such as in factories and pipe lines.
An Accurate and Efficient Time Delay Estimation Method of Ultra-High Frequency Signals for Partial Discharge Localization in Substations
Authors: Li Pengfei , Dai Kejie , Zhang Tong , Jin Yantao , Liu Yushun , Liao Yuan
Published: October 2018

Partial discharge (PD) localization in substations based on the ultra-high frequency (UHF) method can be used to efficiently assess insulation conditions. Localization accuracy is affected by the accuracy of the time delay (TD) estimation, which is critical for PD localization in substations. A review of existing TD estimation methods indicates that there is a need to develop methods that are both accurate and computationally efficient. In this paper, a novel TD estimation method is proposed to improve both accuracy and efficiency. The TD is calculated using an improved cross-correlation algorithm based on full-wavefronts of array UHF signals, which are extracted using the minimum cumulative energy method and zero-crossing points searching methods. The cross-correlation algorithm effectively suppresses the TD error caused by differences between full-wavefronts. To verify the method, a simulated PD source test in a laboratory and a field test in a 220 kV substation were carried out. The results show that the proposed method is accurate even in case of low signal-to-noise ratio, but with greatly improved computational efficiency.
Power Reduction with Sleep/Wake on Redundant Data (SWORD) in a Wireless Sensor Network for Energy-Efficient Precision Agriculture
Authors: Jawad Haider Mahmood , Nordin Rosdiadee , Gharghan Sadik Kamel , Jawad Aqeel Mahmood , Ismail Mahamod , Abu-AlShaeer Mahmood Jawad
Published: October 2018

The use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in modern precision agriculture to monitor climate conditions and to provide agriculturalists with a considerable amount of useful information is currently being widely considered. However, WSNs exhibit several limitations when deployed in real-world applications. One of the challenges faced by WSNs is prolonging the life of sensor nodes. This challenge is the primary motivation for this work, in which we aim to further minimize the energy consumption of a wireless agriculture system (WAS), which includes air temperature, air humidity, and soil moisture. Two power reduction schemes are proposed to decrease the power consumption of the sensor and router nodes. First, a sleep/wake scheme based on duty cycling is presented. Second, the sleep/wake scheme is merged with redundant data about soil moisture, thereby resulting in a new algorithm called sleep/wake on redundant data (SWORD). SWORD can minimize the power consumption and data communication of the sensor node. A 12 V/5 W solar cell is embedded into the WAS to sustain its operation. Results show that the power consumption of the sensor and router nodes is minimized and power savings are improved by the sleep/wake scheme. The power consumption of the sensor and router nodes is improved by 99.48% relative to that in traditional operation when the SWORD algorithm is applied. In addition, data communication in the SWORD algorithm is minimized by 86.45% relative to that in the sleep/wake scheme. The comparison results indicate that the proposed algorithms outperform power reduction techniques proposed in other studies. The average current consumptions of the sensor nodes in the sleep/wake scheme and the SWORD algorithm are 0.731 mA and 0.1 mA, respectively.
An Operational Tool for the Automatic Detection and Removal of Border Noise in Sentinel-1 GRD Products
Authors: Stasolla Mattia , Neyt Xavier
Published: October 2018

The presence of border noise in Sentinel-1 Ground Range Detected (GRD) products is an undesired processing artifact that limits their full exploitation in a number of applications. All of the Sentinel-1 GRD products generated before March 2018—more than 800,000—are affected by this particular type of noise. In March 2018, an official fix was deployed that solved the problem for a large portion of the newly generated products, but it did not cover the entire range of products, hence the need for an operational tool that is able to effectively and consistently remove border noise in an automated way. Currently, a few solutions have been proposed that try to address the problem, but all of them have limitations. The scope of this paper is therefore to present a new method based on mathematical morphology for the automatic detection and masking of border noise in Sentinel-1 GRD products that is able to overcome the existing limitations. To evaluate the performance of the method, a detailed numerical assessment was carried out, using, as a benchmark, the ‘Remove GRD Border Noise’ module integrated in ESA’s Sentinel Application Platform. The results showed that the proposed method is capable of very accurately removing the undesired noisy pixels from GRD images, regardless of their acquisition mode, polarization, or resolution and can cope with challenging features within the image scenes that typically affect other approaches.
Generalized Preinvex Functions and Their Applications
Authors: Kiliçman Adem , Saleh Wedad
Published: October 2018

A class of function called sub-b-s-preinvex function is defined as a generalization of s-convex and b-preinvex functions, and some of its basic properties are presented here. The sufficient conditions of optimality for unconstrainded and inquality constrained programming are discussed under the sub-b-s-preinvexity. Moreover, some new inequalities of the Hermite—Hadamard type for differentiable sub-b-s-preinvex functions are presented. Examples of applications of these inequalities are shown.
Role of Host Cell Secretory Machinery in Zika Virus Life Cycle
Authors: Sager Garrett , Gabaglio Samuel , Sztul Elizabeth , Belov George
Published: October 2018

The high human cost of Zika virus infections and the rapid establishment of virus circulation in novel areas, including the United States, present an urgent need for countermeasures against this emerging threat. The development of an effective vaccine against Zika virus may be problematic because of the cross reactivity of the antibodies with other flaviviruses leading to antibody-dependent enhancement of infection. Moreover, rapidly replicating positive strand RNA viruses, including Zika virus, generate large spectrum of mutant genomes (quasi species) every replication round, allowing rapid selection of variants resistant to drugs targeting virus-specific proteins. On the other hand, viruses are ultimate cellular parasites and rely on the host metabolism for every step of their life cycle, thus presenting an opportunity to manipulate host processes as an alternative approach to suppress virus replication and spread. Zika and other flaviviruses critically depend on the cellular secretory pathway, which transfers proteins and membranes from the ER through the Golgi to the plasma membrane, for virion assembly, maturation and release. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of interactions of Zika and similar arthropod-borne flaviviruses with the cellular secretory machinery with a special emphasis on virus-specific changes of the secretory pathway. Identification of the regulatory networks and effector proteins required to accommodate the trafficking of virions, which represent a highly unusual cargo for the secretory pathway, may open an attractive and virtually untapped reservoir of alternative targets for the development of superior anti-viral drugs.
EXISTENCE OF SOLUTIONS FOR CRITICAL SYSTEMS WITH VARIABLE EXPONENTS
Authors: Lalilia Hadjira , Tas Saadia , Djellit Ali
Published: October 2018

In this work, we deal with elliptic systems under critical growth conditions on the nonlinearities. Using a variant of concentration-compactness principle, we prove an existence result.
DETERMINANTS OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES AFTER THE EU ENLARGEMENT
Authors: Su Weihua , Zhang Dongcai , Zhang Chonghui , Abrhám Josef , Simionescu Mihaela , Yaroshevich Natalya , Guseva Valentina
Published: October 2018

Considering the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the sustainable development of a country, the main aim of this paper is to identify some macroeconomic factors that positively or negatively influence FDI in Visegrad group countries after the European Union (EU) enlargement in 2004. We employed two types of approaches in our analysis: i) time series and ii) panel data approach. According to the generalized ridge regressions estimated in Bayesian framework, the perceived corruption was a factor that influenced FDI in all the countries. In Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia corruption came through as a serious obstacle for FDIs since 2005, but this was not the case for Hungary. Even if Hungary is perceived as a country with high influence, foreign investors seem no to care about this fact and are more interested in the quality of human resources and the possibility to increase exports. Our panel approach based on a panel ARDL model identified a significant relationship between FDI, corruption index and labour force with advanced education however this causality was only detected in the long run. According to the Granger causality in panel, the attraction of FDI inflows succeeded in generating changes in total tax rate, but the issues related to corruption were not reduced at an acceptable level for foreign investors in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
A Multiwavelength View of the Neutron Star Binary 1FGL J1417.7–4402: A Progenitor to Canonical Millisecond Pulsars
Authors: Swihart Samuel J. , Strader Jay , Shishkovsky Laura , Chomiuk Laura , Bahramian Arash , Heinke Craig O. , Miller-Jones James C. A. , Edwards Philip G. , Cheung C. C.
Published: October 2018

The Fermi γ-ray source 1FGL J1417.7–4407 (J1417) is a compact X-ray binary with a neutron star primary and a red giant companion in a ∼5.4 days orbit. This initial conclusion, based on optical and X-ray data, was confirmed when a 2.66 ms radio pulsar was found at the same location (and with the same orbital properties) as the optical/X-ray source. However, these initial studies found conflicting evidence about the accretion state and other properties of the binary. We present new optical, radio, and X-ray observations of J1417 that allow us to better understand this unusual system. We show that one of the main pieces of evidence previously put forward for an accretion disk—the complex morphology of the persistent Hα emission line—can be better explained by the presence of a strong, magnetically driven stellar wind from the secondary and its interaction with the pulsar wind. The radio spectral index derived from VLA/ATCA observations is broadly consistent with that expected from a millisecond pulsar, further disfavoring an accretion disk scenario. X-ray observations show evidence for a double-peaked orbital light curve, similar to that observed in some redback millisecond pulsar binaries and likely due to an intrabinary shock. Refined optical light-curve fitting gives a distance of 3.1 ± 0.6 kpc, confirmed by a Gaia DR2 parallax measurement. At this distance the X-ray luminosity of J1417 is (

) ×1033 erg s−1, which is more luminous than all known redback systems in the rotational-powered pulsar state, perhaps due to the wind from the giant companion. The unusual phenomenology of this system and its differing evolutionary path from redback millisecond pulsar binaries points to a new eclipsing pulsar “spider” subclass that is a possible progenitor of normal field millisecond pulsar binaries.
Deconvolving the HD 81809 Binary: Rotational and Activity Evidence for a Subgiant with a Sun-like Cycle
Authors: Egeland Ricky
Published: October 2018

HD 81809 has one of the highest quality activity cycles from the sample of stars synoptically observed in the Mount Wilson Observatory HK Project. However, this object is in fact a binary system, raising the question as to which of the components is responsible for the observed cyclic activity and what are the properties of that active component. The Hipparcos spacecraft obtained resolved two-color photometry for this system that indicates that both components are near the solar temperature. Combined with the precise Gaia parallax and empirical bolometric corrections we derive component the luminosities of

and

, and radii

and

, confirming that the primary component is a subgiant. We perform an independent estimate of the rotation period of the A component based on

and find that it agrees with the 40.2 days period previously measured from the Ca HK time series. We explore plausible scenarios for the deconvolved S-index and find that a cycling A component would have an activity level within the bounds of ensemble activity-rotation trends, while a cycling B component likely does not. Based on the available rotation and activity evidence, we find the most likely characterization of the system is a subgiant primary component responsible for the smooth cyclic behavior in Ca HK with

, while the secondary component has relatively flat activity at

.
LAMOST Observations in the Kepler Field. II. Database of the Low-resolution Spectra from the Five-year Regular Survey*
Authors: Zong Weikai , Fu Jian-Ning , Cat Peter De , Shi Jianrong , Luo Ali , Zhang Haotong , Frasca A. , Corbally C. J. , Żakowicz J. Molenda- , Catanzaro G. , Gray R. O. , Wang Jiangtao , Pan Yang , Ren Anbing , Zhang Ruyuan , Jin Mengqi , Wu Yue , Dong Subo , Xie Ji-Wei , Zhang Wei , Hou Yonghui ,   LAMOST-Kepler collaboration
Published: October 2018

The LAMOST-Kepler (LK-) project was initiated to use the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) to make spectroscopic follow-up observations for the targets in the field of the Kepler mission. The Kepler field is divided into 14 subfields that are adapted to the LAMOST circular field with a diameter of 5°. During the regular survey phase of LAMOST, the LK-project took data from 2012 June to 2017 June and covered all 14 subfields at least twice. In particular, we describe in this paper the second Data Release of the LK-project, including all spectra acquired through 2015 May–2017 June together with the first round observations of the LK-project from 2012 June to 2014 September. The LK-project now counts 227,870 spectra of 156,390 stars, among which we have derived atmospheric parameters (

, T
eff, and [Fe/H]) and heliocentric radial velocity for 173,971 spectra of 126,172 stars. These parameters were obtained with the most recent version of the LAMOST Stellar Parameter Pipeline v 2.9.7. Nearly one half, namely 76,283 targets, are observed both by the LAMOST and Kepler telescopes. These spectra, establishing a large spectroscopy library, will be useful for the entire astronomical community, particularly for planetary science and stellar variability on Kepler targets.
Revision of the lacewing genus Laccosmylus with two new species from the Middle Jurassic of China (Insecta, Neuroptera, Saucrosmylidae)
Authors: Fang Hui , Ren Dong , Liu Jiaxi , Wang Yongjie
Published: October 2018

The genus Laccosmylus Ren & Yin, 2003 belonging to Saucrosmylidae was erected by using a single hind wing only. Based on new fossil material and re-examination of the type specimen, the diagnosis of the genus is emended with supplementary forewing characters, reported for the first time. In addition, two new species Laccosmyluscicatricatussp. n. and Laccosmyluslatizonussp. n. are described.
Minimal Clinically Important Improvement of Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Ward Michael M. , Castrejon Isabel , Bergman Martin J. , Alba Maria I. , Guthrie Lori C. , Pincus Theodore
Published: October 2018

Objective.

To estimate minimal clinically important improvement (MCII) of RAPID-3 (Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods.

RAPID-3 was computed before and after treatment escalation in a prospective study of adults with active RA. Patient judgment of improvement was used as the standard for a receiver-operating characteristic curve, from which MCII was estimated.

Results.

Mean RAPID-3 improved from 16.3 to 11.1 between visits. MCII was −3.8 based on simultaneously optimized sensitivity and specificity, −3.5 using the 0.80 specificity criterion, and −4.1 using the Youden index.

Conclusion.

RAPID-3 improvement of 3.8/30 units appears clinically meaningful.
Sonication Improves the Diagnosis of Megaprosthetic Infections
Authors: Sambri Andrea , Maso Alessandra , Storni Elisa , Megaloikonomos Panayiotis D. , Igoumenou Vasilios G. , Errani Costantino , Mavrogenis Andreas F. , Bianchi Giuseppe
Published: October 2018

Limited data are available for the diagnosis of patients with tumors with infected endoprosthetic reconstructions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether sonication is effective for the diagnosis of infection and to compare it with tissue cultures. The files of 58 patients who underwent revision surgery for suspected infected endoprosthetic reconstructions were reviewed. Cultures were performed on 5 tissue samples obtained from each patient and on fluid obtained by sonication of the megaprosthesis. The sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values of tissue and sonication fluid cultures were evaluated. Overall, tissue and sonication fluid cultures confirmed an infection in 42 of the 58 patients. In 36 of the 42 infected endoprosthetic reconstructions, tissue and sonication fluid cultures identified the same bacterial isolate. In 5 cases, a bacterial isolate was identified only in sonication fluid cultures, and in 1 case, a bacterial isolate was identified only in tissue cultures. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of sonication fluid cultures were statistically significantly better than those of tissue cultures, while the specificity and positive predictive value were not different between the 2 culture types. Compared with tissue cultures for the diagnosis of infected megaprostheses in patients with tumors, sonication fluid cultures are associated with a better sensitivity and negative predictive value and a similar specificity and positive predictive value. Therefore, sonication should be considered a useful adjunct for the optimal diagnosis and management of these patients. [
Orthopedics
. 2019; 42(1):28–32.]
The Evidence Behind Peroxide in Orthopedic Surgery
Authors: Navarro Sergio M. , Haeberle Heather S. , Sokunbi Olumide F. , Frankel William C. , Wera Glenn D. , Mont Michael A. , Ramkumar Prem N.
Published: October 2018

Peroxide is a strong oxidizing agent and disinfectant frequently used in orthopedic surgery. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of peroxide in orthopedic surgery, evaluating use, complications, efficacy, and appropriate concentrations. One hundred seventy-five reports were identified, with 24 being eligible for analysis. Orthopedic surgeons used peroxide for irrigation and bacterial reduction in various procedures. Complications included cytotoxicity, allergic reactions, suture damage, and inflammation. Use of the standard concentration of 3% peroxide and standard time in situ are without evidence. Laboratory studies suggest that diluted concentrations retain the benefit of bacterial decolonization without increasing the risk for complications. [
Orthopedics
. 2018; 41(6):e756–e764.]
Biomechanical Properties of Orthopedic and Dental Implants
Authors: Kumar Manjeet , Kumar Rajesh , Kumar Sandeep , Prakash Chander
Published: October 2018

The demand for the orthopedic and dental implants has increased sharply in last decade due to physical traumas and age-related deficiencies. The material used for orthopedic and dental implants should be biocompatible to ensure the adaptability of the implant in the human body. The mechanical stability of implants is dependent on mechanical properties and surface characteristics essential to ensure corrosion and wear resistance. The requirement of mechanical properties also differs substantially from load-bearing to non-load-bearing implants. There are many problems arising due to lack of sufficient biocompatibility, like infection, poor osseointegration, and excessive foreign body response. Fatigue failure, stress shielding, and bone resorption are some major problems associated with lack of mechanical stability. Numerous conventional materials, coatings, and nanomaterials have been used to enhance the implant stability.
Miniaturization of Test Specimen for Composites
Authors: Ali Saood , Murari V.
Published: October 2018

The objective behind the development of miniaturization or small specimen test technology is to reduce the cost and quantity of material involved during the characterization of the material. The idea of the development of miniaturization took attention when the nuclear industry starts developing as these materials are very costly and it is not economically feasible to waste large amount of these materials for the sole purpose of testing. The second factor which promotes the miniaturization is that the working of machine is not affected while at the same time its material is being tested. At present, the idea of miniaturization is being applied to other materials also. The miniaturization of standards for metals has been done successfully in the past. For composites, not much work has been done. In the chapter, the specimen size effects on tensile properties of glass fiber composite have been identified by varying the length and width simultaneously and have established a relationship between the ASTM standard specimen and the small size specimen.
PageRank Algorithm-Based Recommender System Using Uniformly Average Rating Matrix
Authors: Bathrinath S.  , Saranyadevi S.  , Thirumalai Kumaran S.  , Saravanasankar S.
Published: October 2018

Applications of web data mining is the prediction of user behavior with respect to items. Recommender systems are being applied in knowledge discovery techniques to the problem of making decisions on personalized recommendation of information. Traditional CF approaches involve the amount of effort increases with number of users. Hence, new recommender systems need to be developed to process high quality recommendations for large-scale networks. In this chapter, a model for UAR matrix construction method for item rank calculations, a Page Rank-based item ranking approach are proposed. The analysis of various techniques for computing item-item similarities to identify relationship between the selected items and to produce a qualified recommendation for users to acquire the items as their wish. As a result, the new item rank-based approaches improve the quality of recommendation outcome. Results show that the proposed UAR method outperforms than the existing method. The same method is applied for the large real-time rating dataset like Movie Lens.
Performance of PM Linear Generator Under Various Ferromagnetic Materials for Wave Energy Conversion
Authors: Yagoube Izzeldin Idris Abdalla , Ibrahim Taib , Nor Nursyarizal Mohd , Nallagownden Perumal
Published: October 2018

This chapter examines the influence of the various ferromagnetic materials on the performance of a single-phase tubular permanent-magnet linear generator (TPMLG) for wave energy conversion. Four ferromagnetic materials were considered in this study. They are non-oriented electrical steel, Permalloy (Ni-Fe-Mn), Accucore, and Somaloy 700. The generator equipped with a tubular stator carries a single coil and employs a quasi-Halbach magnetized moving-magnet translator. Therefore, in order to obtain an accurate performance analysis, the nonlinear time-stepping finite-element analysis (FEA) technique has been used. The electromagnetic characteristics, including the magnetic field distributions, flux-linkage, winding inductance, electromagnetic force, and electromotive force (EMF) have been investigated. It is shown that a generator whose stator is fabricated from soft magnetic composite (SMC) materials has potential advantages in terms of ease of manufacture, highest force capability, lower cost, and minimum eddy-current loss.
From the Ethics of the Research Project to the Ethical Communication of Science
Authors: Sandu Antonio
Published: October 2018

A postmodern interference between bioethics, epistemology, and philosophy of science arises from the field of ethics of research on human subjects. Being a research with a high level of subjectivity, it will also load the researcher with the responsibility towards the social meaning of the results, the correctness of using the methodology, honesty, presenting the limits of research, including the epistemic and methodological ones, as well as the needs of the subjects participating in the investigation. The ethics of research is based on a series of principles, of which the most significant are the honesty of obtaining and presenting results, the non-harm of human subjects, the respect for the autonomy of the subjects, and the principle of beneficence.
Research Integrity Dissemination System
Authors: Artyukhov Artem , Vasilyeva Tetyana
Published: October 2018

The chapter deals with the description of the author's university research integrity dissemination system. The scientific infrastructure of the classical university is shown (by the example of Sumy State University); SWOT-analysis of scientific activity in terms of observing the principles of research integrity is carried out. Some cases of violation of the principles of research integrity (Ukraine as a case study) are presented. The blocks of the research integrity dissemination system in various sectors of research activity are described. The activity of the university center for technology transfer and coordination of research integrity in the scientific activity of the university is presented.
Comparative Analysis of the Codes of Ethics in Top Universities in Romania
Authors: Ciulei Tomita
Published: October 2018

The chapter aims to decipher some aspects (of form and content) of the codes of ethics that are present and in force within the representative academic communities in Romania. The main thesis is that in the Romanian university system there is still no unitary practice in respecting the norms of academic conduct, on the background of implicit university autonomy, which can explain some negative consequences recorded throughout the social life, from the pre-university education system to the decision-making structures.
Vulnerability in Research
Authors: Loue Sana , Loff Bebe
Published: October 2018

The concept of vulnerability and the attendant responsibility of researchers to provide special protections for research participants deemed to be vulnerable are considered to be foundational concepts in bioethics. However, not only do international and national guidelines differ in their definition of vulnerability, but they also vary with respect to who is to be considered vulnerable in research. This chapter describes the ways in which vulnerability has been defined by international and national guidelines, discusses the considerations deemed relevant by international and national guidance and writers on the topic, and concludes with thoughts on how the meaning of vulnerability might be communicated in teaching.