bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Robust Spin-Gapless Behavior in the Newly Discovered Half Heusler Compound MnPK
Authors: You Jiaxue , Cao Jieting , Khenata Rabah , Wang Xiaotian , Shen Xunan , Yang Tie
Published: September 2019

Spin gapless semiconductors have aroused high research interest since their discovery and a lot of effort has been exerted on their exploration, in terms of both theoretical calculation and experimental verification. Among different spin gapless materials, Heusler compounds stand out thanks to their high Curie temperature and highly diverse compositions. Especially, both theoretical and experimental studies have reported the presence of spin gapless properties in this kind of material. Recently, a new class of d0 − d Dirac half Heusler compound was introduced by Davatolhagh et al. and Dirac, and spin gapless semiconductivity has been successfully predicted in MnPK. To further expand the research in this direction, we conducted a systematical investigation on the spin gapless behavior of MnPK with both generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA + Hubbard U methods under both uniform and tetragonal strain conditions by first principles calculation. Results show the spin gapless behavior in this material as revealed previously. Different Hubbard U values have been considered and they mainly affect the band structure in the spin-down channel while the spin gapless feature in the spin-up direction is maintained. The obtained lattice constant is very well consistent with a previous study. More importantly, it is found that the spin gapless property of MnPK shows good resistance for both uniform and tetragonal strains, and this robustness is very rare in the reported studies and can be extremely interesting and practical for the final end application. This study elaborates the electronic and magnetic properties of the half Heusler compound MnPK under uniform and tetragonal strain conditions, and the obtained results can give a very valuable reference for related research works, or even further motivate the experimental synthesis of the relative material.
Sensitivity Analysis of Johnson-Cook Material Constants and Friction Coefficient Influence on Finite Element Simulation of Turning Inconel 718
Authors: Qiu Xiaoli , Cheng Xianqiang , Dong Penghao , Peng Huachen , Xing Yan , Zhou Xin
Published: September 2019

The Johnson-Cook (J-C) constitutive model, including five material constants (A, B, n, C, m), and the Coulomb friction coefficient (μ) are critical preprocessed data in machining simulations. Before they become reliable preprocessed data, investigating these parameters’ effect on simulation results benefits parameter-selecting. This paper aims to investigate the different influence of five settings of the J-C constitutive equation and Coulomb friction coefficient on the turning simulation results of Inconel 718 under low-high cutting conditions, including residual stress, chip morphology, cutting force and temperature. A three-dimensional (3-D) finite element model was built, meanwhile, the reliability of the model was verified by comparing the experiment with the simulation. Sensitivity analysis of J-C parameters and friction coefficient on simulation results at low-high cutting conditions was carried out by the hybrid orthogonal test. The results demonstrate that the simulation accuracy of Inconel 718 is more susceptible to strain hardening and thermal softening in the J-C constitutive model. The friction coefficient only has significant effects on axial and radial forces in the high cutting condition. The influences of the coefficient A, n, and m on the residual stress, chip thickness, cutting force and temperature are especially significant. As the cutting parameters increase, the effect of the three coefficients will change visibly. This paper provides direction for controlling simulation results through the adjustment of the J-C constitutive model of Inconel 718 and the friction coefficient.
Stress-Rupture of Fiber-Reinforced Ceramic-Matrix Composites with Stochastic Loading at Intermediate Temperatures. Part I: Theoretical Analysis
Authors: Li Longbiao
Published: September 2019

Under stress-rupture loading, stochastic loading affects the internal damage evolution and lifetime of fiber-reinforced ceramic-matrix composites (CMCs) at intermediate temperatures. The damage mechanisms of the matrix cracking, fiber/matrix interface debonding and oxidation, and fiber fracture are considered in the analysis of stochastic loading. The strain, fiber/matrix interface debonding and oxidation length, and the broken fibers fraction versus the time curves of SiC/SiC composite under constant and three different stochastic loading conditions are analyzed. The effects of the stochastic loading stress level, stochastic loading time, and time spacing on the damage evolution and lifetime of SiC/SiC composite are discussed. When the stochastic loading stress level increases, the stress-rupture lifetime decreases, and the time for the interface complete debonding and oxidation decreases. When the stochastic loading time and time spacing increase, the stress-rupture lifetime decreases, and the time for the interface complete debonding and oxidation remains the same.
Controlling Grain Sizes of 42CrMo Steel by Pre-Stress Hardening Grinding
Authors: Wang Yushi , Xiu Shichao , Zhang Shengnan
Published: September 2019

The dynamic recrystallization behavior of 42CrMo steel during the pre-stress hardening grinding (PSHG) process was investigated at temperatures ranging from 850–1150 °C and pre-stress from 0 MPa to 167 MPa. A coupled grain size model considering different grinding conditions was constructed to research the grinding process. Microstructure analyses showed that the hardening layer exhibits the typical features of dynamic recrystallization (DRX), and the evolution process of microstructure and grain size can be predicted properly by the model. The volume fraction of DRX grains increases with increasing pre-stress and grinding temperature. The critical condition for DRX grains occurring is that with a grinding depth of 150 µm, pre-stress is larger than 67 MPa, while most of the DRX grains occurred when pre-stress is larger than 100 MPa. Furthermore, the relationship between pre-stress and flow stress has been derived. The result shows that flow stress shows a linearly increasing trend, with the increase of pre-stress at the stage of lower strain.
Pathological Mineralization: The Potential of Mineralomics
Authors: Tsolaki Elena , Bertazzo Sergio
Published: September 2019

Pathological mineralization has been reported countless times in the literature and is a well-known phenomenon in the medical field for its connections to a wide range of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases. The minerals involved in calcification, however, have not been directly studied as extensively as the organic components of each of the pathologies. These have been studied in isolation and, for most of them, physicochemical properties are hitherto not fully known. In a parallel development, materials science methods such as electron microscopy, spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and others have been used in biology mainly for the study of hard tissues and biomaterials and have only recently been incorporated in the study of other biological systems. This review connects a range of soft tissue diseases, including breast cancer, age-related macular degeneration, aortic valve stenosis, kidney stone diseases, and Fahr’s syndrome, all of which have been associated with mineralization processes. Furthermore, it describes how physicochemical material characterization methods have been used to provide new information on such pathologies. Here, we focus on diseases that are associated with calcium-composed minerals to discuss how understanding the properties of these minerals can provide new insights on their origins, considering that different conditions and biological features are required for each type of mineral to be formed. We show that mineralomics, or the study of the properties and roles of minerals, can provide information which will help to improve prevention methods against pathological mineral build-up, which in the cases of most of the diseases mentioned in this review, will ultimately lead to new prevention or treatment methods for the diseases. Importantly, this review aims to highlight that chemical composition alone cannot fully support conclusions drawn on the nature of these minerals.
Lattice Boltzmann-Discrete Element Modeling Simulation of SCC Flowing Process for Rock-Filled Concrete
Authors: Chen Song-Gui , Zhang Chuan-Hu , Jin Feng , Cao Peng , Sun Qi-Cheng , Zhou Chang-Jun
Published: September 2019

Since invented in 2003, rock-filled concrete (RFC) has gained much attention and has been successfully applied in more and more civil and hydraulic projects in China. This study developed a numerical framework to simulate self-compacting concrete (SCC) flows in the voids among rocks of RFC, which couples the lattice Boltzmann method and discrete element method (DEM). The multiple-relaxation-time scheme is used to simulate self-compacting mortar (SCM) for better stability while the motion of coarse aggregates in SCC is simulated with DEM. The immersed moving boundary method is incorporated to deal with the interactions between coarse aggregates and SCM. After validation, the coupled framework is applied to study SCC flows in a single channel and in porous media with multi-channels. A passing factor PF was proposed and calculated to describe quantitatively the passing ability of SCC through a single channel. The study found that jamming of SCC occurs when the ratio Ar of the gap width to particle diameter is smaller than 2.0 and the jamming risk increases with solid particles fraction while the passing ability has a weak relation with the pressure gradient. Further, SCC flow is self-tuning in porous media with multi-channels and it is prone to go through larger or wider gaps. Exceeded existence of narrow gaps will significantly increase the jamming risk.
Research on the Oxidation Mechanism of Vermicular Graphite Cast Iron
Authors: Guo Qiaoqin , Yang Zhong , Guo Ding , Tao Dong , Guo Yongchun , Li Jianping , Bai Yaping
Published: September 2019

The oxidation mechanism of vermicular graphite cast iron was studied. The oxidation reaction starts from graphites and diffused slowly. Graphites in vermicular graphite are interconnected, coral-like clusters, providing the main oxidation core and channel. The worm-like graphites on the surface are mostly oxidized and form oxide affected zones. The oxide films are composed of a loose oxide layer with the phases of Fe3O4, Fe2O3, and FeO, and a dense passivation layer with FeO and Fe2SiO4. After oxidation, pearlites in the vermicular graphite cast iron are decomposed into ferrite and cementite at high temperatures.
Lefamulin. Comment on: “Novel Antibiotics for Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Positive Microorganisms. Microorganisms, 2019, 7, 270”
Authors: Koulenti Despoina , Xu Elena , Yin Sum Mok Isaac , Song Andrew , Karageorgopoulos Drosos E. , Armaganidis Apostolos , Lipman Jeffrey , Tsiodras Sotirios
Published: September 2019

On 18 August 2019, an article was published in Microorganisms presenting novel, approved anti-Gram-positive antibiotics. On 19 August 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of lefamulin, a representative of a new class of antibiotics, the pleuromutilins, for the treatment of adult community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. We present a brief description of lefamulin.
Spray Congealing: An Emerging Technology to Prepare Solid Dispersions with Enhanced Oral Bioavailability of Poorly Water Soluble Drugs
Authors: Bertoni Serena , Albertini Beatrice , Passerini Nadia
Published: September 2019

The low and variable oral bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs remains a major concern for the pharmaceutical industry. Spray congealing is an emerging technology for the production of solid dispersion to enhance the bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs by using low-melting hydrophilic excipients. The main advantages are the absence of solvents and the possibility to obtain spherical free-flowing microparticles (MPs) by a relatively inexpensive, simple, and one-step process. This review aims to fully describe the composition, structure, physico-chemical properties, and characterization techniques of spray congealed-formulations. Moreover, the influence of these properties on the MPs performance in terms of solubility and dissolution enhancement are examined. Following, an overview of the different spray congealed systems developed to increase the oral drug bioavailability is provided, with a focus on the mechanisms underpinning the bioavailability enhancement. Finally, this work gives specific insights on the main factors to be considered for the rational formulation, manufacturing, and characterization of spray congealed solid dispersions.
Cinnamomum cassia Presl: A Review of Its Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Authors: Zhang Chunling , Fan Linhong , Fan Shunming , Wang Jiaqi , Luo Ting , Tang Yu , Chen Zhimin , Yu Lingying
Published: September 2019

Cinnamomum cassia Presl is a tropical aromatic evergreen tree of the Lauraceae family, commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also a traditional spice, widely used around the world. This paper summarizes the achievements of modern research on C. cassia, including the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology. In addition, this review also discusses some significant issues and the potential direction of future C. cassia research. More than 160 chemicals have been separated and identified from C. cassia. The main constituents of C. cassia are terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, glycosides, etc. Modern studies have confirmed that C. cassia has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including antitumour, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, anti-diabetic and anti-obesity, antibacterial and antiviral, cardiovascular protective, cytoprotective, neuroprotective, immunoregulatory effects, anti-tyrosinase activity and other effects. However, the modern studies of C. cassia are still not complete and more in-depth investigations need to be conducted in alimentotherapy, health product, toxicity and side effects, and more bioactive components and potential pharmacological effects need to be explored in the future.
Structure and Magnetism of Co2Ge Nanoparticles
Authors: Tosun Onur , Abel Frank M. , Balasubramanian Balamurugan , Skomski Ralph , Sellmyer David J. , Hadjipanayis George C.
Published: September 2019

The structural and magnetic properties of Co2Ge nanoparticles (NPs) prepared by the cluster-beam deposition (CBD) technique have been investigated. As-made particles with an average size of 5.5 nm exhibit a mixture of hexagonal and orthorhombic crystal structures. Thermomagnetic measurements showed that the as-made particles are superparamagnetic at room temperature with a blocking temperature (TB) of 20 K. When the particles are annealed at 823 K for 12 h, their size is increased to 13 nm and they develop a new orthorhombic crystal structure, with a Curie temperature (TC) of 815 K. This is drastically different from bulk, which are ferromagnetic at cryogenic temperatures only. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements suggest the formation of a new Co-rich orthorhombic phase (OP) with slightly increased c/a ratio in the annealed particles and this is believed to be the reason for the drastic change in their magnetic properties.
Dysprosium Removal from Water Using Active Carbons Obtained from Spent Coffee Ground
Authors: Alcaraz Lorena , Escudero María Esther , Alguacil Francisco José , Llorente Irene , Urbieta Ana , Fernández Paloma , López Félix Antonio
Published: September 2019

This paper describes the physicochemical study of the adsorption of dysprosium (Dy3+) in aqueous solution onto two types of activated carbons synthesized from spent coffee ground. Potassium hydroxide (KOH)-activated carbon is a microporous material with a specific Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 2330 m2·g−1 and pores with a diameter of 3.2 nm. Carbon activated with water vapor and N2 is a solid mesoporous, with pores of 5.7 nm in diameter and a specific surface of 982 m2·g−1. A significant dependence of the adsorption capacity on the solution pH was found, but it does not significantly depend on the dysprosium concentration nor on the temperature. A maximum adsorption capacity of 31.26 mg·g−1 and 33.52 mg·g−1 for the chemically and physically activated carbons, respectively, were found. In both cases, the results obtained from adsorption isotherms and kinetic study were better a fit to the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetics. In addition, thermodynamic results indicate that dysprosium adsorption onto both activated carbons is an exothermic, spontaneous, and favorable process.
Impact of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation on Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome—A Systematic Review
Authors: Zhang Zhengxiao , Mocanu Valentin , Cai Chenxi , Dang Jerry , Slater Linda , Deehan Edward C. , Walter Jens , Madsen Karen L.
Published: September 2019

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a gut microbial-modulation strategy that has been investigated for the treatment of a variety of human diseases, including obesity-associated metabolic disorders. This study appraises current literature and provides an overview of the effectiveness and limitations of FMT as a potential therapeutic strategy for obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS). Five electronic databases and two gray literature sources were searched up to 10 December 2018. All interventional and observational studies that contained information on the relevant population (adult patients with obesity and MS), intervention (receiving allogeneic FMT) and outcomes (metabolic parameters) were eligible. From 1096 unique citations, three randomized placebo-controlled studies (76 patients with obesity and MS, body mass index = 34.8 ± 4.1 kg/m2, fasting plasma glucose = 5.8 ± 0.7 mmol/L) were included for review. Studies reported mixed results with regards to improvement in metabolic parameters. Two studies reported improved peripheral insulin sensitivity (rate of glucose disappearance, RD) at 6 weeks in patients receiving donor FMT versus patients receiving the placebo control. In addition, one study observed lower HbA1c levels in FMT patients at 6 weeks. No differences in fasting plasma glucose, hepatic insulin sensitivity, body mass index (BMI), or cholesterol markers were observed between two groups across all included studies. While promising, the influence of FMT on long-term clinical endpoints needs to be further explored. Future studies are also required to better understand the mechanisms through which changes in gut microbial ecology and engraftment of microbiota affect metabolic outcomes for patients with obesity and MS. In addition, further research is needed to better define the optimal fecal microbial preparation, dosing, and method of delivery.
Assembly of Soft Electrodes and Ion Exchange Membranes for Capacitive Deionization
Authors: Ahualli Silvia , Orozco-Barrera Sergio , Fernández María del Mar , Delgado Ángel V. , Iglesias Guillermo R.
Published: September 2019

The responsible use of water, as well as its reuse and purification, has been a major problem for decades now. In this work, we study a method for adsorbing ions from aqueous solutions on charged interfaces using highly porous electrodes. This water purification process is based on the electric double layer concept, using the method known as capacitive deionization (CDI): If we pump salty solutions through the volume comprised between two porous electrodes while applying a potential difference to them, ions present in the solution are partially removed and trapped on the electrode surfaces. It has been well established that the use of carbon electrodes in combination with ion exchange membranes (membrane-CDI) improves the efficiency of the method above that achieved with bare activated carbon. Another approach that has been tested is based on coating the carbon with polyelectrolyte layers, converting them into “soft electrodes” (SEs). Here we investigate the improvement found when combining SEs with membranes, and it is shown that the amount of ions adsorbed and the ratio between ions removed and electrons transported reach superior values, also associated with a faster kinetics of the process. The method is applied to the partial desalination of up to 100 mM NaCl solutions, something hardly achievable with bare or membrane-covered electrodes. A theoretical model is presented for the ion transport in the presence of both the membrane and the polyelectrolyte coating.
Combined Treatments Consisting of Calcium Hydroxide and Activate Carbon for Purification of Xylo-Oligosaccharides of Pre-Hydrolysis Liquor
Authors: Xu Feng , Chen Jiachuan , Yang Guihua , Ji Xingxiang , Wang Qiang , Liu Shanshan , Ni Yonghao
Published: September 2019

In this study, the effect of a combined treatment consisting of calcium hydroxide (CH) followed by activated carbon (AC) on the purification of hemicellulose in the pre-hydrolysis liquor (PHL) from pulping process has been evaluated. The results show that lignin and furfural of PHL are efficiently removed, and the lignin removal is achieved by forming complexes onto CH particles in the CH treatment process, while acetic acid (acetate) is formed from the hydrolysis of acetyl groups present in the dissolved hemicelluloses in the PHL. The loss of xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) is moderate, even at a high CH dosage of 0.8% while the xylose concentration is essentially unchanged. For the AC treatment, the optimal treating pH can enhance the interactions between AC and residual lignin and change the zeta potential of AC resulting in improved lignin adsorption onto AC. An increase of AC dosage has the tendency to adsorb more XOSDP>6 than XOSDP2~6. Overall, 66.9% of lignin and 70.1% of furfural removals are achieved under the optimal conditions of CH and AC treatment process, with a 5.9% total xylosugars loss. The present combination of CH and AC treatment process was more effective and selective for purification of xylosugars of PHL.
Effects of Conventional Flotation Frothers on the Population of Mesophilic Microorganisms in Different Cultures
Authors: Jafari Mohammad , Golzadeh Mehdi , Shafaei Sied , Abdollahi Hadi , Gharabaghi Mahdi , Chehreh Chelgani Saeed
Published: September 2019

Bioleaching is an environment-friendly and low-investment process for the extraction of metals from flotation concentrate. Surfactants such as collectors and frothers are widely used in the flotation process. These chemical reagents may have inhibitory effects on the activity of microorganisms through a bioleaching process; however, there is no report indicating influences of reagents on the activity of microorganisms in the mixed culture which is mostly used in the industry. In this investigation, influences of typical flotation frothers (methyl isobutyl carbinol and pine oil) in different concentrations (0.01, 0.10, and 1.00 g/L) were examined on activates of bacteria in the mesophilic mixed culture (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Leptospirillum ferrooxidans, and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans). For comparison purposes, experiments were repeated by pure cultures of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Leptospirillum ferrooxidans in the same conditions. Results indicated that increasing the dosage of frothers has a negative correlation with bacteria activities while the mixed culture showed a lower sensitivity to the toxicity of these frothers in comparison with examined pure cultures. Outcomes showed the toxicity of Pine oil is lower than methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC). These results can be used for designing flotation separation procedures and to produce cleaner products for bio extraction of metals.
Positive Youth Religious and Spiritual Development: What We Have Learned from Religious Families
Authors: Dollahite David C. , Marks Loren D.
Published: September 2019

In this article, we highlight the contributions of the findings from a branch of the American Families of Faith national research project that pertain to positive religious and spiritual development in youth. We present detailed findings from six previous studies on religious youth and their parents from diverse faith communities (various denominations in Christianity, three major branches of Judaism, and two major groups in Islam). We discuss what our findings suggest for positive religious/spiritual development, particularly in a family context. Finally, we suggest several ways to strengthen the literature on development in youth by exploring positive religious/spiritual development in relation to (a) social and political activism, (b) popular media and music, (c) participation in secular activities (e.g., sports, arts, gaming), (d) wrestling with BIG questions (i.e., questions involving Being, Intimacy, and God), (e) conversion and disaffiliation, (f) interfaith knowledge and experience, (g) impactful personal experiences, (h) volunteerism and service, (i) religious rituals, ceremonies, and traditions, (j) mental illness, (k) mindfulness and meditation, (l) temperament and personality, (m) agency and personal choices, (n) sexual orientation and experiences, and (o) generative devotion.
Sentinel-1 Data for Winter Wheat Phenology Monitoring and Mapping
Authors: Nasrallah Ali , Baghdadi Nicolas , El Hajj Mohammad , Darwish Talal , Belhouchette Hatem , Faour Ghaleb , Darwich Salem , Mhawej Mario
Published: September 2019

The ability of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sentinel-1 data to detect the main wheat phenological phases was investigated in the Bekaa plain of Lebanon. Accordingly, the temporal variation of Sentinel-1 (S1) signal was analyzed as a function of the phenological phases’ dates observed in situ (germination; heading and soft dough), and harvesting. Results showed that S1 data, unlike the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, were able to estimate the dates of theses phenological phases due to significant variations in S1 temporal series at the dates of germination, heading, soft dough, and harvesting. Particularly, the ratio VV/VH at low incidence angle (32–34°) was able to detect the germination and harvesting dates. VV polarization at low incidence angle (32–34°) was able to detect the heading phase, while VH polarization at high incidence angle (43–45°) was better than that at low incidence angle (32–34°), in detecting the soft dough phase. An automated approach for main wheat phenological phases’ determination was then developed on the western part of the Bekaa plain. This approach modelled the S1 SAR temporal series by smoothing and fitting the temporal series with Gaussian functions (up to three Gaussians) allowing thus to automatically detect the main wheat phenological phases from the sum of these Gaussians. To test its robustness, the automated method was applied on the northern part of the Bekaa plain, in which winter wheat is harvested usually earlier because of the different weather conditions. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of the estimation of the phenological phases’ dates was 2.9 days for germination, 5.5 days for heading, 5.1 days soft dough, 3.0 days for West Bekaa’s harvesting, and 4.5 days for North Bekaa’s harvesting. In addition, a slight underestimation was observed for germination and heading of West Bekaa (−0.2 and −1.1 days, respectively) while an overestimation was observed for soft dough of West Bekaa and harvesting for both West and North Bekaa (3.1, 0.6, and 3.6 days, respectively). These results are encouraging, and thus prove that S1 data are powerful as a tool for crop monitoring, to serve enhanced crop management and production handling.
Time-Series Analysis Reveals Intensified Urban Heat Island Effects but without Significant Urban Warming
Authors: Wang Jia , Zhou Weiqi , Wang Jing
Published: September 2019

Numerous studies have shown an increased surface urban heat island intensity (SUHII) in many cities with urban expansion. Few studies, however, have investigated whether such intensification is mainly caused by urban warming, the cooling of surrounding nonurban regions, or the different rates of warming/cooling between urban and nonurban areas. This study aims to fill that gap using Beijing, China, as a case study. We first examined the temporal trends of SUHII in Beijing and then compared the magnitude of the land surface temperature (LST) trend in urban and nonurban areas. We further detected the temporal trend of LST (TrendLST) at the pixel level and explored its linkage to the temporal trends of EVI (TrendEVI) and NDBI (TrendNDBI). We used MODIS data from 2000 to 2015. We found that (1) SUHII significantly increased from 4.35 °C to 6.02 °C, showing an intensified surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect, with an annual increase rate of 0.13 °C in summer during the daytime and 0.04 °C in summer at night. In addition, the intensification of SUHII was more prominent in new urban areas (NUA). (2) The intensified SUHII, however, was largely caused by substantial cooling effects in nonurban areas (NoUA), not substantial warming in urban areas. (3) Spatially, there were large spatial variations in significant warming and cooling spots over the entire study area, which were related to TrendNDBI and TrendEVI. TrendNDBI significantly affected TrendLST in a positive way, while the TrendEVI had a significant positive effect (p = 0.023) on TrendLST only when EVI had an increasing trend. Our study underscores the importance of quantifying and comparing the changes in LST in both urban and nonurban areas when investigating changes in SUHII using time-series trend analysis. Such analysis can provide insights into promoting city-based urban heat mitigation strategies which focused on both urban and nonurban areas.
Improved Piecewise Linear Transformation for Precise Warping of Very-High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Han Youkyung , Kim Taeheon , Yeom Junho
Published: September 2019

A large number of evenly distributed conjugate points (CPs) in entirely overlapping regions of the images are required to achieve successful co-registration between very-high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing images. The CPs are then used to construct a non-linear transformation model that locally warps a sensed image to a reference image’s coordinates. Piecewise linear (PL) transformation is largely exploited for warping VHR images because of its superior performance as compared to the other methods. The PL transformation constructs triangular regions on a sensed image from the CPs by applying the Delaunay algorithm, after which the corresponding triangular regions in a reference image are constructed using the same CPs on the image. Each corresponding region in the sensed image is then locally warped to the regions of the reference image through an affine transformation estimated from the CPs on the triangle vertices. The warping performance of the PL transformation shows reliable results, particularly in regions inside the triangles, i.e., within the convex hulls. However, the regions outside the triangles, which are warped when the extrapolated boundary planes are extended using CPs located close to the regions, incur severe geometric distortion. In this study, we propose an effective approach that focuses on the improvement of the warping performance of the PL transformation over the external area of the triangles. Accordingly, the proposed improved piecewise linear (IPL) transformation uses additional pseudo-CPs intentionally extracted from positions on the boundary of the sensed image. The corresponding pseudo-CPs on the reference image are determined by estimating the affine transformation from CPs located close to the pseudo-CPs. The latter are simultaneously used with the former to construct the triangular regions, which are enlarged accordingly. Experiments on both simulated and real datasets, constructed from Worldview-3 and Kompsat-3A satellite images, were conducted to validate the effectiveness of the proposed IPL transformation. That transformation was shown to outperform the existing linear/non-linear transformation models such as an affine, third and fourth polynomials, local weighted mean, and PL. Moreover, we demonstrated that the IPL transformation improved the warping performance over the PL transformation outside the triangular regions by increasing the correlation coefficient values from 0.259 to 0.304, 0.603 to 0.657, and 0.180 to 0.338 in the first, second, and third real datasets, respectively.
Multi-Attribute Fusion Algorithm Based on Improved Evidence Theory and Clustering
Authors: Wang Wenqing , Yan Yuan , Zhang Rundong , Wang Zhen , Fan Yongqing , Yang Chunjie
Published: September 2019

In most of the application scenarios of industrial control systems, the switching threshold of a device, such as a street light system, is typically set to a fixed value. To meet the requirements for a smart city, it is necessary to set a threshold that is adaptive to different conditions by fusing the multi-attribute observations of the sensors. This paper proposes a multi-attribute fusion algorithm based on fuzzy clustering and improved evidence theory. All of the observations are clustered by fuzzy clustering, where a proper clustering method is chosen, and the improved evidence theory is used to fuse the observations. In the experiments, two-dimensional observations for the street light illumination and for the ambient illumination are used in a campus-intelligent lighting system based on a narrowband Internet of things, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fusion algorithm. The proposed algorithm can be applied to a variety of multi-attribute fusion scenarios.
Detection of Magnetomechanical Effect in Structural Steel Using GMR 2nd Order Gradiometer Based Sensors
Authors: Bonavolontà Carmela , Valentino Massimo , Penta Francesco , Granata Carmine , Ruggiero Berardo , Silvestrini Paolo , Vettoliere Antonio
Published: September 2019

The magneto-mechanical behaviour of structural steel specimens stressed up to the plastic deformation stage was investigated using a 2nd order gradiometer based on Giant Magneto Resistive (GMR) sensors. The correlation between the gradient of the magnetization and the dislocation density before the crack initiation inside the test material was reported. The capability of the GMR scanning sensor to detect the residual magnetization due to the tensile stress with a non-invasive technique was demonstrated.
A High-Precision Method for Dynamically Measuring Train Wheel Diameter Using Three Laser Displacement Transducers
Authors: Zheng Fajia , Zhang Bin , Gao Run , Feng Qibo
Published: September 2019

Wheel diameter is a significant geometric parameter related to the safe operation of trains, and needs to be measured dynamically. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, most existing dynamic measurement methods and systems do not meet the requirement that the wheel diameter measurement error for the high-speed vehicle is less than 0.3 mm. In this paper, a simple method for dynamically and precisely measuring train wheel diameter using three one-dimensional laser displacement transducers (1D-LDTs) is proposed for the first time, and a corresponding measurement system which was developed is described. The factors that affect the measurement accuracy were analyzed. As a main factor, rail deformation caused by the wheel-rail interaction force at low (20 km/h) and high (300 km/h) speeds was determined based on the combination of multi-body dynamics and finite element methods, and the effect of rail deformation on measurement accuracy is greatly reduced by a comparative measurement. Field experiments were performed to verify the performance of the developed measurement system, and the results of the repeatability error and measurement error of the system were both less than 0.3 mm, which meets the requirement of wheel diameter measurements for high-speed vehicles.
Ultrasonic Transducer for Non-Destructive Testing of Structures Immersed in Liquid Sodium at 200 °C
Authors: Saillant Jean-François , Marlier Régis , Navacchia Frédéric , Baqué François
Published: September 2019

TUCSS transducer (French acronym standing for Transducteur Ultrasonore pour CND Sous Sodium) is designed for performing NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) under liquid sodium. Under sodium, the tests results obtained show that these transducers have sufficiently good acoustic properties to perform basic NDT of a structure immersed under liquid sodium at about 200 °C using conventional immersion ultrasonic technics. Artificial defects were made next to an X-shaped weld and could clearly be detected.
Indoor Air-Quality Data-Monitoring System: Long-Term Monitoring Benefits
Authors: Sun Shengjing , Zheng Xiaochen , Villalba-Díez Javier , Ordieres-Meré Joaquín
Published: September 2019

Indoor air pollution has been ranked among the top five environmental risks to public health. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is proven to have significant impacts on people’s comfort, health, and performance. Through a systematic literature review in the area of IAQ, two gaps have been identified by this study: short-term monitoring bias and IAQ data-monitoring solution challenges. The study addresses those gaps by proposing an Internet of Things (IoT) and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT)-based IAQ data-monitoring system. The developed data-monitoring solution allows for the possibility of low-cost, long-term, real-time, and summarized IAQ information benefiting all stakeholders contributing to define a rich context for Industry 4.0. The solution helps the penetration of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based monitoring strategies in the specific case of Occupational Safety Health (OSH). The study discussed the corresponding benefits OSH regulation, IAQ managerial, and transparency perspectives based on two case studies conducted in Spain.
Space State Representation Corrections as an Aid in Pseudolite Positioning
Authors: Rapiński Jacek , Tomaszewski Dariusz
Published: September 2019

In the presented study, the authors deal with the problem of transmission of pseudolite coordinates to the receiver. Nowadays, there is no uniquely specified method that would provide data about the position of the pseudolite to the GNSS receiver. There is also no technical standard that defines the explicit way of performing such transmission. Solutions presented in the literature are usually tailored to the described system, which is then suited to the specific situation. The article shows that the universal methods, involving the modification of transmitted broadcast ephemeris data, cannot be universally used. The modifications could not have been introduced due to the low resolution of the quantities that are transmitted in the ephemeris data, in relation to the values that would have to be sent by the pseudolite. To overcome the implementation problems, the authors propose two solutions. The first solution presented is the modification of the RTCM SSR frame. This approach allows replacing one of the existing satellites in space with the pseudolite, while the second method involves the use of new RTCM frame for sending the pseudolite position. Finally, a numerical example of the proposed solutions is presented. At the end of the manuscript, their advantages and implementation possibilities are discussed.
Classification of Plant Leaf Diseases Based on Improved Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Hang Jie , Zhang Dexiang , Chen Peng , Zhang Jun , Wang Bing
Published: September 2019

Plant leaf diseases are closely related to people’s daily life. Due to the wide variety of diseases, it is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive to identify and classify diseases by artificial eyes, but also easy to be misidentified with having a high error rate. Therefore, we proposed a deep learning-based method to identify and classify plant leaf diseases. The proposed method can take the advantages of the neural network to extract the characteristics of diseased parts, and thus to classify target disease areas. To address the issues of long training convergence time and too-large model parameters, the traditional convolutional neural network was improved by combining a structure of inception module, a squeeze-and-excitation (SE) module and a global pooling layer to identify diseases. Through the Inception structure, the feature data of the convolutional layer were fused in multi-scales to improve the accuracy on the leaf disease dataset. Finally, the global average pooling layer was used instead of the fully connected layer to reduce the number of model parameters. Compared with some traditional convolutional neural networks, our model yielded better performance and achieved an accuracy of 91.7% on the test data set. At the same time, the number of model parameters and training time have also been greatly reduced. The experimental classification on plant leaf diseases indicated that our method is feasible and effective.
High Precision Timing with Parabolic Equation Fitting in Narrowband Systems
Authors: Zou Jun , Xu Chen
Published: September 2019

Timing forms the basis of wireless communication systems. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology has strict requirements for synchronization performance, and timing errors lead to interference between subcarriers and symbols. Although cyclic prefix (CP) can relax the timing requirement, high precision timing is still necessary and can release the pressure on CP. Due to the uncertainty of signal arrival, there is a sampling offset between the sampling sample’s timing and the real timing, which can be large in the narrowband system with a low sampling rate. In this paper, we propose a parabolic equation fitting method to improve the timing precision in narrowband systems that have two times the rate of the Nyquist sampling rate. The proposed timing method is easy to implement, with low additional complexity compared to traditional timing detection and is based on traditional direct correlator output.
Convex Decomposition for a Coverage Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicles: Interior Extension of Edges
Authors: Nielsen Lasse Damtoft , Sung Inkyung , Nielsen Peter
Published: September 2019

To cover an area of interest by an autonomous vehicle, such as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), planning a coverage path which guides the unit to cover the area is an essential process. However, coverage path planning is often problematic, especially when the boundary of the area is complicated and the area contains several obstacles. A common solution for this situation is to decompose the area into disjoint convex sub-polygons and to obtain coverage paths for each sub-polygon using a simple back-and-forth pattern. Aligned with the solution approach, we propose a new convex decomposition method which is simple and applicable to any shape of target area. The proposed method is designed based on the idea that, given an area of interest represented as a polygon, a convex decomposition of the polygon mainly occurs at the points where an interior angle between two edges of the polygon is greater than 180 degrees. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparison with existing convex decomposition methods using illustrative examples.
A Lamb Wave Wavenumber-Searching Method for a Linear PZT Sensor Array
Authors: Liu Bin , Liu Tingzhang , Zhao Jianfei
Published: September 2019

In this paper, a wavenumber–searching method based on time-domain compensation is proposed to obtain the wavenumber of the Lamb wave array received signal. In the proposed method, the time-domain sampling signal of the linear piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor array is converted into a spatial sampling signal using the searching wavenumber. The two–dimensional time-spatial-domain Lamb wave received signal of the linear PZT sensor array is then converted into a one-dimensional synthesized spatial sampling signal. Further, the sum of squared errors between the synthesized spatial sampling signal and its Morlet wavelet fitting signal is calculated at each searching wavenumber. Finally, the wavenumber of the Lamb wave array received signal is obtained as the searching wavenumber corresponding to the minimum error. This method was validated on a 2024-T3 aluminum alloy. The validation results showed that the proposed method can successfully obtain the wavenumber of the Lamb wave array received signal, whose spatial sampling rate does not satisfy the Nyquist sampling theorem; the wavenumber error does not exceed 2.2 rad/m. Damage localization based on the proposed method was also validated on a carbon fiber composite laminate plate, and the maximum damage localization error was no more than 2.11 cm.
Estimating the Number of Agricultural Fatal Injuries Prevented by Agricultural Engineering Developments in the United States
Authors: Issa Salah F. , Patrick Kiana , Thomson Steven , Rein Bradley
Published: September 2019

Agriculture has been consistently marked as one of the deadliest industries by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). While this statistic is widely used in promoting agricultural safety and health, it does not paint a complete picture on the current status of agricultural safety and the advances that have been made in the last century. For example, even with a stagnant rate of injury, the BLS has reported that fatal incidents decreased from a high of 855 incidents in 1993 to a low of 500 incidents in 2013. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact that agricultural engineering developments had on reducing fatal injuries. Agricultural engineering developments are defined as any agricultural improvement that results in a direct reduction in the amount of labor needed. This study uses existing federal agricultural statistical, injury and demographic data to calculate the impact that engineering, in contrast to yield improvements and safety enhancements, contributed to a reduction in the number of fatal incidents. The study found that engineering developments could have contributed to the reduction in the number of fatal injuries by about 170 incidents from 1992 to 2015. This represents 63% of the total reduction in the number of fatal injuries. In conclusion, agricultural engineering developments play a substantial role in reducing the number of fatal incidents by removing and reducing labor exposure to hazardous environments.
Long-Term Water Balance of Selected Field Crops in Different Agricultural Regions of the Czech Republic Using Fao-56 and Soil Hydrological Approaches
Authors: Duffková Renata , Holub Jiří , Fučík Petr , Rožnovský Jaroslav , Novotný Ivan
Published: September 2019

Long-term water balance (WB) of four selected crops (winter wheat, oilseed rape, silage maize, semi-early potatoes) was determined at the field block scale in the Czech Republic for all agricultural growing areas (AGAs): maize-, beet-, potato- and mountain-AGAs for the 1981–2010 period. A novel approach for the calculation of WB was employed, which combined the FAO-56 method for crop water requirements (CWRs) with sources of available water from precipitation, soil, and groundwater. The computed WB was divided into four categories of soil water availability based on soil hydrolimits and crop features: Categories 1 and 2 with zero or mild occurrence of crop water stress; categories 3 and 4 with intermediate and severe occurrence of crop water stress. The winter crops were affected by water stress to a lesser extent (the area of categories 3 and 4: wheat 20.1%, oilseed rape 14.5%) as compared with spring crops (the area of categories 3 and 4: maize 39.6%, potatoes 41%). The highest water deficit was recorded for all crops in the maize-AGA due to low precipitation and high CWRs. Most available water was revealed to occur in the mountain-AGA. A strong need for the adoption of measures towards the optimization of water regimes on agricultural land was indicated. The present study shows a promising approach for evaluating and proposing changes of area of cultivated crops with the appropriate tillage and agricultural water management in terms of satisfactory crop water requirements.