bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Person-centred care and HIV: challenges and solutions
Authors: Barber Tristan J , Saunders John Michael , Barnett Nina
Published: July 2018

Person-centred consultations (PCCs) are fundamental to effective healthcare communication, and its use is embedded within key clinical guidance. There are three aspects to PCC: use of the best available research evidence, clinical expertise of the clinician and the patient’s circumstances, goals, values and wishes. Balancing theses three aspects in the context of HIV prevention and management can be challenging, and we use three case examples to highlight these.
Effects of pig genotype, immunological castration, and use of ractopamine on growth performance, carcass traits, and pork quality for entire male pigs
Authors: Park J. , Campbell C.P. , Squires E.J. , de Lange C.F.M. , Mandell I.B.
Published: July 2018

Entire male (EM) pigs (152; ∼30 kg body weight) were used to examine immunocastration using Improvest and feeding ractopamine on growth performance, carcass and meat quality, and fatty acid composition. Timing for administering second dose of Improvest compared dosing at 4 and 8 wk pre-slaughter. A factorial arrangement evaluated two genotypes [Large Whites and Duroc crossbreds (Durocs)] by five management regimens (EM fed control diet, EM fed ractopamine, second dose Improvest 4 wk pre-slaughter, second dose Improvest 8 wk pre-slaughter, second dose Improvest 4 wk pre-slaughter plus ractopamine). Average daily gain and gain to feed (G:F) were generally greater (P ≤ 0.01) in Durocs. Immunocastration increased (P < 0.01) dry matter intake (DMI); feeding ractopamine decreased (P < 0.02) DMI and increased (P < 0.03) G:F. Immunocastration decreased (P < 0.04) carcass and lean yields; feeding ractopamine increased (P < 0.04) carcass weights, lean yield, muscling, and longissimus shear force while decreasing (P < 0.01) backfats. Immunocastration did not affect loin pH, color, drip loss, and shear force. Timing for second Improvest dose did not affect most growth performance, carcass, and meat quality traits except for greater (P < 0.02) backfats when administering dose 8 wk pre-slaughter. Effects of immunocastration and (or) feeding ractopamine were relatively consistent in both genotypes evaluated.
Modeling net CO2 assimilation (AN) within the crown of young planted Larix olgensis trees
Authors: Liu Q. , Dong L.H. , Li F.R.
Published: July 2018

Net CO2 assimilation (AN) is an important physiological indicator that reflects the photosynthetic capacity. The seasonal and spatial variations of AN play an important role in carbon uptake simulations, especially for trees. To gain a clearer understanding of the state of the branch carbon balance, it is necessary to more carefully evaluate the dynamic variation of AN over different gradients in the crown during the growing season. Gas exchange, leaf temperature (Tleaf), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), leaf mass per area (LMA), and relative depth into crown (RDINC) were measured throughout the growing season of planted Larix olgensis A. Henry trees. A semi-empirical model for predicting multilayered crown AN was established by incorporating Tleaf, VPD, LMA, RDINC, and their combinations into a photosynthetic light response (PLR) curve model using re-parameterization. The model was assessed based on goodness of fit (adjusted coefficient of determination ([Formula: see text]), root mean square error (RMSE), and Akaike’s information criterion (AIC)) and on the validation results (mean error (ME), mean absolute error (MAE), precision estimation (P)) and performed well. The multilayered predicted model of crown AN lays the foundation for calculating the multilayered photosynthetic production within the crown and determining the range of the functional crown for individual trees.
Character varieties of odd classical pretzel knots
Authors: Chen Haimiao
Published: July 2018

We determine the [Formula: see text]-character variety for each odd classical pretzel knot [Formula: see text], and present a method for computing its A-polynomial.
Improving heuristics-based model to reproduce lane formation
Authors: Guo Ning , Liu Hao-Xiang , Jiang Rui , Jia Bin , Hu Mao-Bin
Published: July 2018

Lane formation is an important self-organized phenomenon in bidirectional pedestrian flow. Our experiment shows that in a wide range of pedestrian density, quick lane formation can be observed in a ring corridor. It is shown that the original heuristics-based model fails to reproduce lane formation with the increase of pedestrian density. This is because a pedestrian cannot correctly evaluate the target direction, when he/she is too close to others. We propose an improved heuristics-based model, in which the objective function of the target direction has been modified. Simulation results are in agreement with experimental ones.
Load-induced cascading failures in interconnected network systems
Authors: Ding Chao , Yao Hong , Du Jun , Peng Xing Zhao
Published: July 2018

Revealing how the interdependency between different networks affects the load-induced cascading failures is a new interesting topic recently. A new cascading failure model for interconnected network system is introduced in this paper, in which the loads of the failed nodes can be transmitted between different layer networks or among each layer network, the ratio is adjusted with a defined parameter [Formula: see text] which can be viewed as a measure of coupling strength. Based on the proposed model, we find that under different attacking strategies and different value of [Formula: see text], different coupling types have different effects on the robustness of interconnected network systems. We mainly focus on the robustness of interconnected network with random coupling under intentional attack, we find there being a threshold [Formula: see text], when [Formula: see text], the interconnected network systems will be more vulnerable with larger value of [Formula: see text]; however, when [Formula: see text], if the capacity redundancy of interconnected network is low, increasing [Formula: see text] tends to enhance the robustness of interconnected network system. In addition, we also get the conclusion that increasing the total amount of loads in one layer network or the unbalance of load distribution between different layer networks will decline the robustness of the interconnected network system. We hope our work will shed some light on designing high-robust interconnected network systems or improving the robustness of interconnected network systems.
Average number of fixed points and attractors in Hopfield neural networks
Authors: Liu Jiandu , Chen Bokui , Yan Dengcheng , Wang Lei
Published: July 2018

Calculating the exact number of fixed points and attractors of an arbitrary Hopfield neural network is a non-deterministic polynomial (NP)-hard problem. In this paper, we first calculate the average number of fixed points in such networks versus their size and threshold of neurons, in terms of a statistical method, which has been applied to the calculation of the average number of metastable states in spin glass systems. Then the same method is expanded to study the average number of attractors in such networks. The results of the calculation qualitatively agree well with the numerical calculation. The discrepancies between them are also well explained.
Searching for left sneutrino LSP at the LHC
Authors: Ghosh Pradipta , Lara Iñaki , López-Fogliani Daniel E. , Muñoz Carlos , Ruiz de Austri Roberto
Published: July 2018

We analyze relevant signals expected at the LHC for a left sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The discussion is carried out in the “[Formula: see text] from [Formula: see text]” supersymmetric standard model [Formula: see text], where the presence of [Formula: see text]-parity breaking couplings involving right-handed neutrinos solves the [Formula: see text] problem and reproduces neutrino data. The sneutrinos are pair produced via a virtual [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] in the [Formula: see text] channel. From the prompt decay of a pair of left sneutrinos LSPs of any family, a significant diphoton signal plus missing transverse energy (MET) from neutrinos can be present in the mass range 118–132 GeV, with 13 TeV center-of-mass energy and an integrated luminosity of 100 fb[Formula: see text]. In addition, in the case of a pair of tau left sneutrinos LSPs, given the large value of the tau Yukawa coupling diphoton plus leptons and/or multileptons can appear. We find that the number of expected events for the multilepton signal, together with properly adopted search strategies, is sufficient to give a significant evidence for a sneutrino of mass in the range 130–310 GeV, even with the integrated luminosity of 20 fb[Formula: see text]. In the case of the signal producing diphoton plus leptons, an integrated luminosity of 100 fb[Formula: see text] is needed to give a significant evidence in the mass range 95–145 GeV. Finally, we discuss briefly the presence of displaced vertices and the associated range of masses.
Syntheses and properties of copper hydroxide nanosheets and controlled deposition
Authors: Kurashina Masashi , Ikeuchi Daiki , Ohara Masaki , Takayanagi Toshio , Yasuzawa Mikito
Published: July 2018

In this study, we synthesized copper hydroxide nanosheet and investigated its electrochemical property and how to deposit it with a uniform amount. The precursor of the nanosheet was a layered copper hydroxide synthesized by the ion exchange of dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBS) with acetate in Cu2(OH)3(CH3COO)⋅H2O. The nanosheet was prepared by delamination of the layered copper hydroxide by dispersion in 1-butanol. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the nanosheets showed lateral dimensions of ca. 2 [Formula: see text]m with the height of ca. 4.5 nm. Cyclic voltammogram of the nanosheet in basic solution showed two cathodic peaks and two anodic peaks similar to the copper oxide electrode. To deposit the nanosheet, a quartz glass slide was dipped in the dispersion of the nanosheet in 1-butanol and dried after washing. This procedure was repeated and the ultraviolet (UV) and visible (Vis) light absorption spectrum of the slide was measured. The absorbance of the slide increased in direct proportion to the number of times of the dip-and-dry procedure. Thus, we confirmed that a controlled amount of nanosheet was deposited on the quartz glass.
Effect of diffusion coatings on the high temperature properties of nickel-chromium-superalloys
Authors: Lee Byeong Woo
Published: July 2018

The halide-activated pack cementation method was utilized to deposit aluminide or silicide coatings on Inconel 617 and Hastelloy X superalloys. Aluminide and silicide diffusion coatings were formed at 850[Formula: see text]C for 2 h in nitrogen atmosphere, using a pack mixture containing pure aluminum (Al) or silicon (Si) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) powders with activators of NH4Cl and AlF3. Aluminide-coated alloys showed homogeneous and uniform microstructures. Al diffused into the alloy inwards and aluminide diffusion coatings of [Formula: see text]17 [Formula: see text]m thick were formed inside the alloy. It was shown that the Al coatings played a key role in blocking off the excessive corrosion products at a high temperature for the alloys. The enhanced thermal stability and improved wear resistance were achieved in the aluminide coatings. In contrast to the aluminide coating, the silicide coating played a negative role, unable to provide the protective layer. The microstructural evolution and thermal stability of the aluminide- and silicide-coated alloys have been elucidated.
Room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling, dielectric and impedance studies of 0.5Zn0.3Ni0.7Fe2O4–0.5HoMnO3 nanocomposite
Authors: Debnath Rajesh , Mandal S. K. , Nath A. , Dey P.
Published: July 2018

We have investigated strain mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling and impedance properties in 0.5Zn[Formula: see text]Ni[Formula: see text]Fe2O4–0.5HoMnO3 nanocomposites at room-temperature. The ME voltage is measured in both longitudinal and transverse direction at a frequency of 173 Hz. The impedance, real and imaginary parts of impedance and dielectric constant have been carried out in presence of DC magnetic field. With the application of magnetic field, slight decrease in dielectric constant has been observed. The impedance, real and imaginary parts of impedance are found to increase with the increase in the applied magnetic field. Nyquist plots have been fitted using three parallel combinations of resistances–capacitance circuits. Fitted parameters show the dominant role of grain boundaries, grains and interface of two types of grains of the sample.
Environmental resistance and mechanical properties of glass, basalt and slag fibers
Authors: Kim Y. H. , Yu J. O. , Jung K. S. , Moon K. M. , Park C. W. , Bae C. W.
Published: July 2018

This study was evaluated by changing the mass loss ratio and the strength maintenance ratios of the fibers after treatment. The fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid solutions for different amount of times. The environmental resistance was analyzed by changing the time of treatment in NaOH and HCl solutions. The fibers’ surface corrosion morphologies were analyzed using the optical microscope. The acid resistance was much better than the alkali resistance for the basalt and slag fibers. Nevertheless, the situation for the glass fibers was different: the acid resistance was almost the same as the alkali resistance. Between the two types of aqueous environments evaluated, the alkali solution is the most aggressive to the fibers’ surface.
Effect of leaching conditions on the elution of metals from denitration catalyst wastes
Authors: Yabutani Tomoki , Nakamura Takamasa , Takayanagi Toshio , Yamada Yohei
Published: July 2018

Leaching of metallic species from denitration catalyst waste was performed at different leaching conditions using different solvents. The leaching efficiency of sodium percarbonate solution was higher than that of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or sodium carbonate solution. Under the optimal leaching conditions (1.0 mol kg[Formula: see text] sodium percarbonate, leaching temperature of 80[Formula: see text]C and leaching time of 5 h), the leaching rate was 90.7 ± 2.9% for W, 78.4 ± 4.1% for V and 8.6 ± 0.4% for Ti. The enhanced leaching ability of sodium percarbonate was due to the high affinity of the peroxo moiety (–O–O–) of H2O2, within the percarbonate, towards metallic ions and dissolution of titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the alkaline medium of carbonate.
Fabrication of hybrid gel nanofibrous polymer electrolyte for lithium ion battery
Authors: Bhute Monali V. , Kondawar Subhash B. , Koinkar Pankaj
Published: July 2018

Fibrous membranes are promising separators for high-performance lithium ion battery because of their high porosity and superior electrolyte uptake. In this paper, the fabrication of hybrid gel polymer electrolyte (HGPE) by introducing SnO2 nanoparticles in poly(vinylidine fluoride) by electrospinning technique and soaking the electrospun nanofibrous membranes in 1 M LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate (EC)/diethyl carbonate (DEC) (1:1, v/v). The as-prepared electrospun HGPE with SnO2 nanofiller was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The influence of SnO2 on the structure of polymer membrane, physical, and electrochemical properties is systematically investigated. HGPE shows significant high ionic conductivity 4.6 × 10[Formula: see text] S/cm at room-temperature and better cell performance such as discharge C-rate capability and cycle performance. The hybrid gel polymer nanofibrous membrane favors high uptake of lithium electrolyte so that electrolyte leakage is reduced. The gel polymer electrolyte with SnO2 filler was used for the fabrication of Li/PVdF-SnO2/LiFePO4 coin cell. The fabricated cell was evaluated at a current density of 0.2 C-rate and delivered stable and excellent cycle performance. This study revealed that the prepared HGPE can be employed as potential electrolyte for lithium ion batteries.
Firefly Algorithm for Intelligent Context-Aware Sensor Deployment Problem in Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Vishal Puri , Ramesh Babu A.
Published: July 2018

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide acceptable low cost and efficient deployable solutions to execute the target tracking, checking and identification of substantial measures. The primary step necessary for WSN is to organize all the sensor nodes in their positions to build up an effective network. In the sensor deployment model, Target COVerage (TCOV) and Network CONnectivity (NCON) are the basic issues in WSNs that have obtained significant consideration in sensor deployment. This paper intends to develop an intelligent context awareness algorithm for sensor deployment process in WSN. Accordingly, the process is divided into two phases. In the first phase, the TCOV process is performed, whereas the second phase of the algorithm establishes NCON among the sensors. An objective model to meet both TCOV and NCON is formulated as a minimization problem. The problem is solved using FireFly (FF) optimization to determine the optimal locations for sensors. It leads to an intelligent sensor deployment model that can determine the optimal locations for the sensors in the WSN. Further, the proposed FF-TCOV and FF-NCON models are compared against the conventional algorithms, namely, genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, artificial bee colony, differential evolution and evolutionary algorithm-based TCOV and NCON models. The results achieved from the simulation show the improved performance of the proposed technique.
Phase space analysis of a FRW cosmology in the Maxwell–Cattaneo approach
Authors: Leyva Yoelsy
Published: July 2018

In this work, we present a phase space analysis of a spatially flat Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) model in which the dark matter fluid is modeled as an imperfect fluid having bulk viscosity. The bulk viscosity is governed by the Maxwell–Cattaneo approach. The rest of the components of the model — radiation and dark energy — are treated as perfect fluids. Imposing a complete cosmological dynamics and taking into account a recent constraint on the dark matter equation-of-state (EOS), we obtain bound on the bulk viscosity. We show that is possible to describe transitions from radiation-dominated to matter-dominated period, which then evolves to a stable accelerated solution of late time. At early time, before the radiation-dominated epoch, the model suggests the presence of an unstable stiff matter solution which is not possible to associate with a viable configuration in the early universe.
PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY UNDER VISIBLE LIGHT REGION OF Ca-MODIFIED TiO2NP FILMS PREPARED BY SPARKING OFF Ca-ELECTROPLATED Ti TIPS
Authors: JUMRUS NIDCHAMON , PANTHAWAN ARISARA , KUMPIKA TEWASIN , SROILA WATTIKON , KANTARAK EKKAPONG , SANMUANGMOON PANUPONG , SINGJAI PISITH , THONGSUWAN WIRADEJ
Published: July 2018

In this work, calcium (Ca)-modified titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticulate (NP) films were successfully prepared using sparking off Ca-electroplated Ti tips. Aqueous solution of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was used as electrolyte in the electroplating process. The experiment was carried out using electric current of 0.02[Formula: see text]mA applied to titanium electrodes for 10[Formula: see text]min. The NP films with small and uniform size were deposited on quartz substrate using the sparking process with a high DC voltage of 4[Formula: see text]kV in ambient air. The as-deposited NP films were then annealed at 800∘C, 900∘C and 1000∘C for 3[Formula: see text]h under atmospheric pressure to improve their crystallinity. Morphology, structural and optical properties of the NP films were characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman, XPS and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The effects of annealing temperature on the properties of the as-deposited and annealed NP films were reported. Furthermore, photocatalytic activity against 10 [Formula: see text]M of methylene blue (MB) under visible light region will be discussed.
Low-complexity image denoising based on mixture model and simple form of MMSE estimation
Authors: Kittisuwan Pichid
Published: July 2018

In order to enhance efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as classification or pattern recognition, it is important to have noise-free data to be processed with AI tools. Therefore, the study of algorithms used for reducing noise is also very significant. In thermal condition, Gaussian noise is important problem in analog circuit and image processing. Therefore, this paper focuses on the study of an algorithm for Gaussian noise reduction. In recent year, Bayesian with wavelet-based methods provides good efficiency in noise reduction and spends short time in processing. In Bayesian method, mixture density is more flexible than non-mixture density. Therefore, we proposed novel form of minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimation for mixture model, Pearson type VII and logistic densities, in Gaussian noise. The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is most deeply used for computing statistical parameters of mixture model. However, the EM estimator for the proposed method does not have the closed-form. Numerical methods are required to implement an EM algorithm. Therefore, we employ maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation to compute local noisy variances with half-normal distribution prior for local noisy variances and Gaussian density for noisy wavelet coefficients. Here, the proposed method is expressed in closed-form. The denoising results present that our proposed algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art method qualitatively and quantitatively.
EFFECTUATION AND OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR IN SOUTH AFRICA: A FOCUS ON ENVIRONMENTAL DYNAMISM AND HOSTILITY
Authors: URBAN BORIS
Published: July 2018

Effectuation is well suited to broaden our understanding of opportunity recognition because effectual processes are related to recognizing and exploiting opportunities in new markets under conditions of uncertainty. This article investigates the relationship between effectuation and opportunity recognition, while at the same time, accounting for the influence of environmental dynamism and hostility in an African emerging market context — South Africa. In so doing, the paper responds directly to calls for research to emphasize the importance of environmental conditions while placing more attention on quantifying its influences on the opportunity recognition process. Following a survey of 302 enterprises in the renewable energy sector in South Africa, results indicate that entrepreneurs apply effectual principles to recognize and exploit more opportunities while operating in dynamic and hostile surroundings. By explaining the relationships and interactions between effectuation, the environment and opportunity recognition in an African market context, the study provides a more theoretically comprehensive configuration than any of these factors would show in isolation.
Enhanced Targeted Energy Transfer by Vibro Impact Cubic Nonlinear Energy Sink
Authors: Wei Y. M. , Dong X. J. , Guo P. F. , Peng Z. K. , Zhang W. M.
Published: July 2018

Passive targeted energy transfer (TET) that describes a highly efficient manner of energy absorption is considerably enhanced by a new form of absorber proposed in this paper. The absorber is attached to the primary linear oscillator (LO) through cubic stiffness and bilateral barriers that set to induce vibro-impact (VI). Both essential nonlinearity and non-smooth nonlinearity are considered. Energy pumping phenomenon is found, and complexification averaging method is used to give an analytical treatment for the essential stiffness nonlinearity. At a low level of impulse excitation where energy pumping of nonlinear energy sink (NES) does not occur, by introducing VI energy pumping is brought up. At the optimal TET state, the vibro-impact cubic (VIC) absorber improves the efficiency of cubic NES on energy reduction to a certain degree. For a two-degree-of-freedom LO, the new absorber can absorb most energy of the broadband excitation which is a novel improvement compared with normal NES. Broadband excitations like input with sufficient bandwidth and random signals are found to be absorbed extensively by the VIC NES, meaning that the VIC NES as a nonlinear passive vibration absorber can be very efficient on broadband vibration energy absorption.
Peeling of an Extensible Soft Microbeam to Solid: Large Deformation Analysis
Authors: Gong Yulong , Li Shanpeng , Liu Jianlin
Published: July 2018

Adhesion and peeling of slender structures at micro and nanoscale have attracted great attention of scientists and engineers, which hold great implications in a number of domains. In this study, we present the model formulation on the peeling of a soft beam under a concentrated force, by considering its large deformation and axis extensibility. The governing equation group and the transversality condition are then derived, according to the variation on the energy functional with movable boundary conditions. We find that the key parameters in peeling, such as the adhered segment length, applied force and length increment of the beam, are correlated with two dimensionless variables, i.e., the non-dimensional maximum displacement of the beam and non-dimensional work of adhesion. The calculated results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data, which are also compared with the infinitesimal deformation model and large deformation model with inextensible axis. These findings shed light on the design of elementary structures in micro and nanodevices, fabrication of nanofiber materials, and better application of micro/nanoprinting technique, etc.
Size and Foundation Effects on the Vibration of Buckled Functionally Graded Microplates Within the Modified Couple Stress Theory Framework
Authors: Lou Jia , He Liwen , Yang Jie , Kitipornchai Sritawat , Wu Huaping
Published: July 2018

In the present paper, the vibration behavior of a buckled functionally graded (FG) microplate lying on a nonlinear elastic foundation is studied. The modified couple stress theory is utilized to capture the size effect of the FG microplate, and the Mindlin plate theory with the von Karman’s geometric nonlinearity is adopted to describe its deflection behavior. Based on these assumptions and Hamilton’s principle, the governing equations and associated boundary conditions are derived for the FG microplate. By linearizing the governing equations around a pre-buckling/post-buckling state, linear perturbation equations are obtained. After substituting the pre-buckling/post-buckling deformation and assumed vibration mode into the linear perturbation equations and applying the Galerkin method, an eigenvalue problem is obtained, from which the free vibration frequency of the FG microplate around its pre-buckling/post-buckling state can be determined analytically. Based on the obtained closed-form solutions, numerical examples are also presented to investigate the effects of the material length scale parameter to thickness ratio, the power law index, and the stiffness of the elastic foundation on the vibration behavior of the buckled FG microplate.
The large sieve with power moduli for ℤ[i]
Authors: Baier Stephan , Bansal Arpit
Published: July 2018

We establish a large sieve inequality for power moduli in [Formula: see text], extending earlier work by Zhao and the first-named author on the large sieve for power moduli for the classical case of moduli in [Formula: see text]. Our method starts with a version of the large sieve for [Formula: see text]. We convert the resulting counting problem back into one for [Formula: see text] which we then attack using Weyl differencing and Poisson summation.
Nonenzymatic Glucose Biosensor Based on NiNPs/Nafion/Graphene Film for Direct Glucose Determination in Human Serum
Authors: Sukhrobov Parviz , Numonov Sodik , Gao Sanshuang , Mamat Xamxikamar , Wagberg Thomas , Guo Yufen , Liu Liwei , Hu Guangzhi
Published: July 2018

This study describes a type of novel nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) decorated on Nafion-graphene composite film by using the electrochemical deposition method. It was used to fabricate electrochemical biosensors for sensitive nonenzymatic glucose detection. Compared with the Nafion–graphene film and NiNPs-modified glassy carbon electrode (NiNPs-GCE), the NiNPs/Nafion/graphene/GCE showed the best electrocatalytic activity towards glucose oxidation in alkaline medium. The NiNPs/Nafion/graphene/GCE at an applied potential of [Formula: see text]0.55[Formula: see text]V in a linear range of 1–200[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M presented a high sensitivity of 3437.25[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]A[Formula: see text]mM[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] with coefficient of correlation [Formula: see text]; and in a linear range of 200–10[Formula: see text]800[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M it performed the best sensitivity of 2848.6[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]A[Formula: see text]mM[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text] with coefficient of correlation [Formula: see text] towards glucose oxidation. For a concentration up to 200[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M, a linear range was obtained with a limit of detection of 0.6[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M (signal to noise [Formula: see text] 3) and as much as 10[Formula: see text]800[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M with a limit of detection of 0.82[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]M (signal to noise [Formula: see text] 3). The time of responses was about 1–1.5[Formula: see text]s with the addition of 0.1–1[Formula: see text]mM glucose. In addition, NiNPs/Nafion/graphene/GCE also has a high anti-interference ability toward common oxidative interfering species, such as uric acid, ascorbic acid and dopamine. More importantly, NiNPs/Nafion/graphene/GCE was successfully used for the determination of glucose concentration in human serum samples in comparison with a local hospital. The NiNPs/Nafion/graphene/GCE exhibited high sensitivity, low working potential, good stability, excellent electrical properties, enhanced selectivity and fast amperometric responses to glucose oxidation. Thus, as a nonenzymatic sensor, it is promising for future glucose determination development.
EDITORIAL NOTE: REVIEW PAPERS FOR ANNALS OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
Authors: McALEER MICHAEL
Published: July 2018

The Annals of Financial Economics (AFE) was inaugurated in 2006, and has continued publishing successfully with Volume 13 in 2018. Since the first issue, the journal has published a number of topical and interesting theoretical and empirical papers in financial economics, namely, financial econometrics, banking, finance, mathematical finance, statistical finance, accounting, decision sciences, information management, tourism economics and finance, international rankings of journals in financial economics, and bibliometric rankings of journals in cognate disciplines. Papers published in the journal range from novel technical and theoretical papers to innovative empirical contributions. The journal wishes to encourage critical review papers on topical subjects in any of the topics mentioned above in financial economics and in cognate disciplines.
The Impact of Drought and Vascular-Inhabiting Pathogen Invasion inPinus taedaHealth
Authors: Devkota Pratima , Enebak Scott A. , Eckhardt Lori G.
Published: July 2018

The complex interaction of various biotic and abiotic factors may put the overall stand health ofPinusspp. at risk. A study was designed to determine the combined impact of drought and vascular-inhabiting fungi (Leptographium terebrantisandGrosmannia huntii) inPinus taeda. Seedlings from twoP. taedafamilies were planted and watering treatments, (i) normal watering, (ii) moderate drought, and (iii) severe drought, were applied. One month following the initiation of watering treatments, seedling stems were artificially inoculated withL. terebrantisandG. huntii. Drought and fungal interaction significantly affected lesion length/seedling height, occlusion length/seedling height, and seedling fine root biomass.Leptographium terebrantiswas more pathogenic under moderate and severe drought than normal watering condition, whereas the pathogenicity ofG. huntiiremains unaltered. The susceptibility of the families to vascular-inhabiting fungi remained the same under different watering treatments. Drought and specific vascular-inhabiting fungi may negatively impactP. taedastand health.
Long-Baseline Oscillation Experiments as a Tool to Probe High Energy Flavor Symmetry Models
Authors: Pasquini Pedro
Published: July 2018

We review the current status of neutrino oscillation experiments, mainly focusing on T2(H)K, NOνA, and DUNE. Their capability to probe high energy physics is found in the precision measurement of the CP phase and θ23. In general, neutrino mass models predict correlations among the mixing angles that can be used to scan and shrink their parameter space. We updated previous analysis and presented a list of models that contain such structure.
Fracture Initiation Model of Shale Fracturing Based on Effective Stress Theory of Porous Media
Authors: Li Yuwei , Jia Dan
Published: July 2018

Unconventional oil and gas are important resources of future energy supply, and shale gas is the focus of the development of unconventional resources. Shale is a special kind rock of porous medium, and an orderly structure of beddings aligned in the horizontal direction where causing the strong elastic anisotropy of shale is easy. A new model has been established to calculate the fracture initiation pressure with the consideration of mechanical characteristics of shale and the anisotropic tensile strength when judging rock failure. The fracture initiation model established in this paper accurately reflects the stress anisotropy and matches well with the actual situation in porous media. Through the sensitivity analysis, the results show that σv/σH, Ev/EH, υv/υH, m/s, and A/B have a certain impact on the tangential stress when the circumferential angle changes, and there is a positive relationship between the initiation pressure and the above sensitive factors except for A/B. The results can provide a valuable and effective guidance for the prediction of fracture initiation pressure and fracture propagation mechanism under special stratum conditions of shale.
Corrosion Behavior of Welded Joint of Q690 with CMT Twin
Authors: Liu Peng , Han Shanguo , Yi Yaoyong , Yan Cuixia
Published: July 2018

Low alloy steel of Q690 was welded with the method of CMT Twin. The corrosion behavior of welded joint had been investigated using scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET) in 3.5% NaCl solution. The research results showed that the appearance of the troostite increased the hardness of the heat affected zone. Furthermore, the corrosion products of different microstructure were identical, and the white products (Fe(OH)2) of welded joint turned into products of rufous (Fe(OH)3). The quantitative information provided by SVET was discussed, and the corrosion degree was measured by some parameters. In comparison with other areas, the corrosion rates of the overheated zone and the base metal were higher. Then, the corrosion resistance of the weld zone with CMT Twin was greatly improved, when compared with that of the base metal. Therefore, Ni has significant influence on corrosion resistance of weld zone. In summary, it can be discovered that the corrosion rates of various zones were related to the welding heat input.
Predictive Contributions of Snowmelt and Rainfall to Streamflow Variations in the Western United States
Authors: Zheng Xiaohui , Wang Qiguang , Zhou Lihua , Sun Qing , Li Qi
Published: July 2018

This study used long-term in situ rainfall, snow, and streamflow data to explore the predictive contributions of snowmelt and rainfall to streamflow in six watersheds over the Western United States. Analysis showed that peak snow accumulation, snow-free day, and snowmelt slope all had strong correlation with peak streamflow, particularly in inland basins. Further analysis revealed that the variation of snow accumulation anomaly had strong lead correlation with the variation of streamflow anomaly. Over the entire Western United States, inner mountain areas had lead times of 4–10 pentads. However, in coastal areas, nearly all sites had lead times of less than one pentad. The relative contributions of rainfall and snowmelt to streamflow in different watersheds were calculated based on the snow lead time. The geographic distribution of annual relative contributions revealed that interior areas were dominated by snowmelt contribution, whereas the rainfall contribution dominated coastal areas. In the wet season, the snowmelt contribution increased in the western Pacific Northwest, whereas the rainfall contribution increased in the southeastern Pacific Northwest, southern Upper Colorado, and northern Rio Grande regions. The derived results demonstrated the predictive contributions of snowmelt and rainfall to streamflow. These findings could be considered a reference both for seasonal predictions of streamflow and for prevention of hydrological disasters. Furthermore, they will be helpful in the evaluation and improvement of hydrological and climate models.
Automatic Extraction of the Centerline of Corpus Callosum from Segmented Mid-Sagittal MR Images
Authors: Gao Wenpeng , Chen Xiaoguang , Fu Yili , Zhu Minwei
Published: July 2018

The centerline, as a simple and compact representation of object shape, has been used to analyze variations of the human callosal shape. However, automatic extraction of the callosal centerline remains a sophisticated problem. In this paper, we propose a method of automatic extraction of the callosal centerline from segmented mid-sagittal magnetic resonance (MR) images. A model-based point matching method is introduced to localize the anterior and posterior endpoints of the centerline. The model of the endpoint is constructed with a statistical descriptor of the shape context. Active contour modeling is adopted to drive the curve with the fixed endpoints to approximate the centerline using the gradient of the distance map of the segmented corpus callosum. Experiments with 80 segmented mid-sagittal MR images were performed. The proposed method is compared with a skeletonization method and an interactive method in terms of recovery error and reproducibility. Results indicate that the proposed method outperforms skeletonization and is comparable with and sometimes better than the interactive method.
Research on the Expansion Characteristics and Compressive Strength of Mortars Containing Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion Desulfurization Slag
Authors: Cheng Zhi , Cheng Zhijun , Hou Hua , Han Tao , Liu Lan
Published: July 2018

Circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) desulfurization slag is a waste residue discharged from coal power plants. In this article, expansion characteristics and compressive strength of mortars containing CFBC desulfurization slag were evaluated, subjected to mechanical grinding time, the amount of additive, and chemical activation. Correlations between the linear expansion rate and compressive strength were investigated. The hydration products of cement‐slag cementitious system were analyzed by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that mechanical grinding can increase both the expansion and compressive strength of mortars containing CFBC desulfurization slag, and the compressive strength and linear expansion can develop in coordination. While increasing the amount of the fine desulfurization slag, the linear expansion rate increases, and the compressive strength reaches to the maximum when the amount is 30%. Moderate sodium sulfate as an activator can both promote the compressive strength and increase the expansion of mortars.
In Vitro Antidiabetic Activity and Mechanism of Action of Brachylaena elliptica (Thunb.) DC
Authors: Sagbo Idowu Jonas , van de Venter Maryna , Koekemoer Trevor , Bradley Graeme
Published: July 2018

In South Africa, the number of people suffering from diabetes is believed to be rising steadily and the current antidiabetic therapies are frequently reported to have adverse side effects. Ethnomedicinal plant use has shown promise for the development of cheaper, cost‐effective antidiabetic agents with fewer side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiabetic activity and mechanism of action of aqueous leaf extract prepared from Brachylaena elliptica. The potential of the extract for cytotoxicity was evaluated using MTT assay in HepG2 cells. The effects of the plant extract on glucose utilization in HepG2 cells and L6 myotubes, triglyceride accumulation in 3T3‐L1, INS‐1 proliferation, glucose metabolism in INS‐1 cells, and NO production in RAW macrophages were also investigated using cell culture procedures. The inhibitory effects of the extract on the activities of different enzymes including alpha‐amylase, alpha‐glucosidase, pancreatic lipase, dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP‐IV), collagenase, and CYP3A4 enzymes were evaluated. The extract also tested against protein glycation using standard published procedure. The plant extract displayed low level of toxicity, where both concentrations tested did not induce 50% cell death. The extract caused a significant increase in glucose uptake in HepG2 liver cells, with efficacy significantly higher than the positive control, berberine. The crude extract also displayed no significant effect on muscle glucose uptake, triglyceride accumulation in 3T3‐L1, glucose metabolism in INS‐1 cells, alpha‐amylase, alpha‐glucosidase, DPP‐IV, lipase, protein glycation, and collagenase compared to the respective positive controls. The extract displayed a proliferative effect on INS‐1 cells at 25 μg/ml when compared to the negative control. The plant also produced a concentration‐dependent reduction in NO production in RAW macrophages and also demonstrated weak significant inhibition on CYP3A4 activity. The findings provide evidence that B. elliptica possess antidiabetic activity and appear to exact its hypoglycemic effect independent of insulin.
A Modified Sine-Cosine Algorithm Based on Neighborhood Search and Greedy Levy Mutation
Authors: Qu Chiwen , Zeng Zhiliu , Dai Jun , Yi Zhongjun , He Wei
Published: July 2018

For the deficiency of the basic sine-cosine algorithm in dealing with global optimization problems such as the low solution precision and the slow convergence speed, a new improved sine-cosine algorithm is proposed in this paper. The improvement involves three optimization strategies. Firstly, the method of exponential decreasing conversion parameter and linear decreasing inertia weight is adopted to balance the global exploration and local development ability of the algorithm. Secondly, it uses the random individuals near the optimal individuals to replace the optimal individuals in the primary algorithm, which allows the algorithm to easily jump out of the local optimum and increases the search range effectively. Finally, the greedy Levy mutation strategy is used for the optimal individuals to enhance the local development ability of the algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can effectively avoid falling into the local optimum, and it has faster convergence speed and higher optimization accuracy.
Nemytzki-Edelstein-Meir-Keeler Type Results in b-Metric Spaces
Authors: Aydi Hassen , Banković Radoje , Mitrović Ivan , Nazam Muhammad
Published: July 2018

We consider some Nemytzki-Edelstein-Meir-Keeler type results in the context of b-metric spaces. In some cases, we assume that the b-metric is continuous. Our results generalize several known ones in existing literature. We also present some examples to illustrate the usability of our results.
A Novel Fractional Tikhonov Regularization Coupled with an Improved Super-Memory Gradient Method and Application to Dynamic Force Identification Problems
Authors: Wang Nengjian , Ren Chunping , Liu Chunsheng
Published: July 2018

This paper presents a novel inverse technique to provide a stable optimal solution for the ill-posed dynamic force identification problems. Due to ill-posedness of the inverse problems, conventional numerical approach for solutions results in arbitrarily large errors in solution. However, in the field of engineering mathematics, there are famous mathematical algorithms to tackle the ill-posed problem, which are known as regularization techniques. In the current study, a novel fractional Tikhonov regularization (NFTR) method is proposed to perform an effective inverse identification, then the smoothing functional of the ill-posed problem processed by the proposed method is regarded as an optimization problem, and finally a stable optimal solution is obtained by using an improved super-memory gradient (ISMG) method. The result of the present method is compared with that of the standard TR method and FTR method; new findings can be obtained; that is, the present method can improve accuracy and stability of the inverse identification problem, robustness is stronger, and the rate of convergence is faster. The applicability and efficiency of the present method in this paper are demonstrated through a mathematical example and an engineering example.
Effect of EOG Signal Filtering on the Removal of Ocular Artifacts and EEG‐Based Brain‐Computer Interface: A Comprehensive Study
Authors: Mannan Malik M. Naeem , Kamran M. Ahmad , Kang Shinil , Jeong Myung Yung
Published: July 2018

It is a fact that contamination of EEG by ocular artifacts reduces the classification accuracy of a brain‐computer interface (BCI) and diagnosis of brain diseases in clinical research. Therefore, for BCI and clinical applications, it is very important to remove/reduce these artifacts before EEG signal analysis. Although, EOG‐based methods are simple and fast for removing artifacts but their performance, meanwhile, is highly affected by the bidirectional contamination process. Some studies emphasized that the solution to this problem is low‐pass filtering EOG signals before using them in artifact removal algorithm but there is still no evidence on the optimal low‐pass frequency limits of EOG signals. In this study, we investigated the optimal EOG signal filtering limits using state‐of‐the‐art artifact removal techniques with fifteen artificially contaminated EEG and EOG datasets. In this comprehensive analysis, unfiltered and twelve different low‐pass filtering of EOG signals were used with five different algorithms, namely, simple regression, least mean squares, recursive least squares, REGICA, and AIR. Results from statistical testing of time and frequency domain metrics suggested that a low‐pass frequency between 6 and 8 Hz could be used as the most optimal filtering frequency of EOG signals, both to maximally overcome/minimize the effect of bidirectional contamination and to achieve good results from artifact removal algorithms. Furthermore, we also used BCI competition IV datasets to show the efficacy of the proposed framework on real EEG signals. The motor‐imagery‐based BCI achieved statistically significant high‐classification accuracies when artifacts from EEG were removed by using 7 Hz low‐pass filtering as compared to all other filterings of EOG signals. These results also validated our hypothesis that low‐pass filtering should be applied to EOG signals for enhancing the performance of each algorithm before using them for artifact removal process. Moreover, the comparison results indicated that the hybrid algorithms outperformed the performance of single algorithms for both simulated and experimental EEG datasets.