bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of Lignin Content on Cellulolytic Saccharification of Liquid Hot Water Pretreated Sugarcane Bagasse
Authors: Ladeira Ázar Rafaela I. S. , Bordignon-Junior Sidnei Emilio , Laufer Craig , Specht Jordan , Ferrier Drew , Kim Daehwan
Published: January 2020

Lignin contributes to the rigid structure of the plant cell wall and is partially responsible for the recalcitrance of lignocellulosic materials to enzymatic digestion. Overcoming this recalcitrance is one the most critical issues in a sugar-flat form process. This study addresses the effect of low lignin sugarcane bagasse on enzymatic hydrolysis after liquid hot water pretreatment at 190 °C and 20 min (severity factor: 3.95). The hydrolysis of bagasse from a sugarcane line selected for a relatively low lignin content, gave an 89.7% yield of cellulose conversion to glucose at 40 FPU/g glucan versus a 68.3% yield from a comparably treated bagasse from the high lignin bred line. A lower enzyme loading of 5 FPU/g glucan (equivalent to 3.2 FPU/g total solids) resulted in 31.4% and 21.9% conversion yields, respectively, for low and high lignin samples, suggesting the significance of lignin content in the saccharification process. Further increases in the enzymatic conversion of cellulose to glucose were achieved when the bagasse sample was pre-incubated with a lignin blocking agent, e.g., bovine serum albumin (50 mg BSA/g glucan) at 50 °C for 1 h prior to an actual saccharification. In this work, we have demonstrated that even relatively small differences in lignin content can result in considerably increased sugar production, which supports the dissimilarity of bagasse lignin content and its effects on cellulose digestibility. The increased glucose yields with the addition of BSA helped to decrease the inhibition of non-productive absorption of cellulose enzymes onto lignin and solid residual lignin fractions.
Characterization and Dimethyl Phthalate Flocculation Performance of the Cationic Polyacrylamide Flocculant P(AM-DMDAAC) Produced by Microwave-Assisted Synthesis
Authors: Zhang Peng , Zhao Dong Qin
Published: January 2020

A composite flocculant P(AM–DMDAAC) was synthesized by the copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride (DMDAAC). By using microwave (MV) assistance with ammonium persulfate as initiator, the synthesis had a short reaction time and yielded a product with good solubility. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and differential thermal analysis–thermogravimetric analysis were employed to determine the structure and morphology of P(AM–DMDAAC). The parameters affecting the intrinsic viscosity of P(AM–DMDAAC), such as MV time, mass ratio of DMDAAC to AM, bath time, reaction temperature, pH value, and the dosages of ammonium persulfate initiator, EDTA, sodium benzoate, and urea were examined. Results showed that the optimum synthesis conditions were MV time of 1.5 min, m(DMDAAC):m(AM) of 4:16, 0.5 wt‰ initiator, 0.4 wt‰ EDTA, 0.3 wt‰ sodium benzoate, 2 wt‰ urea, 4 h bath time, reaction temperature of 40 °C, and pH of 2. The optimal dimethyl phthalate (DMP) removal rate can reach 96.9% by using P(AM–DMDAAC), and the P(AM–DMDAAC) had better flocculation than PAM, PAC, and PFS.
High-Rate Anaerobic Digestion of Waste Activated Sludge by Integration of Electro-Fenton Process
Authors: Feki Emna , Battimelli Audrey , Sayadi Sami , Dhouib Abdelhafidh , Khoufi Sonia
Published: January 2020

Anaerobic digestion (AD), being the most effective treatment method of waste activated sludge (WAS), allows for safe disposal. The present study deals with the electro-Fenton (EF) pretreatment for enhancing the WAS biogas potential with low-cost iron electrodes. The effect of pretreatment on the physicochemical characteristics of sludge was assessed. Following EF pretreatment, the pH, conductivity, soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), and volatile fatty acids (VFA) increased to 7.5, 13.72 mS/cm, 4.1 g/L, and 925 mg/L, respectively. Capillary suction time (CST) analysis highlighted the dewaterability effect of EF on WAS, as demonstrated by the decrease in CST from 429 to 180 s following 30 min of pretreatment. Batch digestion assays presented an increase in the biogas yield to 0.135 L/g volatile solids (VS) after 60 min of EF pretreatment in comparison to raw sludge (0.08 L/g VS). Production of biogas was also found to improve during semi-continuous fermentation of EF-pretreated sludge conducted in a lab-scale reactor. In comparison to raw sludge, EF-pretreated sludge produced the highest biogas yield (0.81 L biogas/g VS) with a high COD removal rate, reaching 96.6% at an organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.5 g VS/L. d. Results revealed that the EF process could be an effective WAS disintegration method with maximum recovery of bioenergy during AD.
Paper Strip and Ceramic Potentiometric Platforms Modified with Nano-Sized Polyaniline (PANi) for Static and Hydrodynamic Monitoring of Chromium in Industrial Samples
Authors: Hassan Saad S. M. , Kamel Ayman H. , Amr Abd El-Galil E. , Abdelwahab Fathy M. , Al-Omar Mohamed A.
Published: January 2020

Screen-printed membrane sensors based on the use of paper and ceramic substrates are fabricated, characterized, and used for rapid batch and continuous monitoring of CrIII in the form of CrO42− in some industrial products and wastewater samples. Strips of paper and ceramic platforms (15 × 5 mm) were covered with conductive carbon paint and then modified with polyaniline (PANI) film, to act as an ion-to-electron transducer, followed by a drop casting of plasticized poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) Rhodamine-B chromate membrane as a recognition sensing material. In a 5.0 mmol L−1 Trizma buffer solution of pH ~8, the fabricated paper and ceramic based membrane sensors exhibited a near Nernstian response for CrVI ion with slopes of −29.7 ± 0.5 and −28.6 ± 0.3 mV decade−1, limit of detection 2.5 × 10−5 and 2.4 × 10−6 mol L−1 (1.3–0.12 µg mL−1), and linear concentration range 7.5 × 10−3–5.0 × 10−5 and 7.5 × 10−3–1.0 × 10−5 mol L−1 (390-0.5 µg mL−1), respectively. Both sensors exhibited fast and stable potentiometric response, excellent reproducibility, and good selectivity with respect to a number of common foreign inorganic species. Impedance spectroscopy and chronopotentiometry data revealed a small resistance and a larger double layer capacitance due to the presence of the intermediate polyaniline (PAN) conductive layer. Furthermore, the formation of a water layer between the ion selective membrane (ISM) and the underlying conductor polymer and between the conducting polymer and the carbon conducting surface was greatly reduced. The developed disposable solid-contact potentiometric sensors offer the advantages of simple design, long term potential stability, flexibility, miniaturization ability, short conditioning time, and cost effectiveness that enable mass production. The sensors were successfully used for static and hydrodynamic measurements of total chromium in some leather tanning wastewater and nickel-chrome alloy samples. The results compare favorably with data obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry.
Analysis of Phenolic Compounds in Commercial Cannabis sativa L. Inflorescences Using UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS
Authors: Izzo Luana , Castaldo Luigi , Narváez Alfonso , Graziani Giulia , Gaspari Anna , Rodríguez-Carrasco Yelko , Ritieni Alberto
Published: January 2020

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L. Family Cannabaceae) contains a vast number of bioactive relevant compounds, namely polyphenols including flavonoids, phenolic acids, phenol amides, and lignanamides, well known for their therapeutic properties. Nowadays, many polyphenols-containing products made of herbal extracts are marketed, claiming to exert health-promoting effects. In this context, industrial hemp inflorescence may represent an innovative source of bioactive compounds to be used in nutraceutical formulations. The aim of this work was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the polyphenolic fraction contained in polar extracts of four different commercial cultivars (Kompoti, Tiborszallasi, Antal, and Carmagnola Cs) of hemp inflorescences through spectrophotometric (TPC, DPPH tests) and spectrometry measurement (UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS). Results highlighted a high content of cannflavin A and B in inflorescence analyzed samples, which appear to be cannabis-specific, with a mean value of 61.8 and 84.5 mg/kg, meaning a ten-to-hundred times increase compared to other parts of the plant. Among flavonols, quercetin-3-glucoside reached up to 285.9 mg/kg in the Carmagnola CS cultivar. Catechin and epicatechin were the most representative flavanols, with a mean concentration of 53.3 and 66.2 mg/kg, respectively, for all cultivars. Total polyphenolic content in inflorescence samples was quantified in the range of 10.51 to 52.58 mg GAE/g and free radical-scavenging included in the range from 27.5 to 77.6 mmol trolox/kg. Therefore, C. sativa inflorescence could be considered as a potential novel source of polyphenols intended for nutraceutical formulations.
Food Intervention with Folate Reduces TNF-α and Interleukin Levels in Overweight and Obese Women with the MTHFR C677T Polymorphism: A Randomized Trial
Authors: Lisboa Jéssica Vanessa de Carvalho , Ribeiro Marina Ramalho , Luna Rafaella Cristhine Pordeus , Lima Raquel Patrícia Ataíde , do Nascimento Rayner Anderson Ferreira , Monteiro Mussara Gomes Cavalcante Alves , Lima Keylha Querino de Farias , Fechine Carla Patrícia Novaes dos Santos , de Oliveira Naila Francis Paulo , Persuhn Darlene Camati , Veras Robson Cavalcante , Gonçalves Maria da Conceição Rodrigues , Ferreira Flávia Emília Leite de Lima , Lima Roberto Teixeira , da Silva Alexandre Sérgio , Diniz Alcides da Silva , de Almeida Aléssio Tony Cavalcanti , de Moraes Ronei Marcos , Verly Junior Eliseu , Costa Maria José de Carvalho
Published: January 2020

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism associated with body fat accumulation could possibly trigger an inflammatory process by elevating homocysteine levels and increasing cytokine production, causing several diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of food intervention, and not folate supplements, on the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in overweight and obese women with the MTHFR C677T polymorphism. A randomized, double-blind eight-week clinical trial of 48 overweight and obese women was conducted. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. They received 300 g of vegetables daily for eight weeks containing different doses of folate: 95 µg/day for Group 1 and 191 µg/day for Group 2. MTHFR C677T polymorphism genotyping was assessed by digestion with HinfI enzyme and on 12% polyacrylamide gels. Anthropometric measurements, 24-h dietary recall, and biochemical analysis (blood folic acid, vitamin B12, homocysteine (Hcy), TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) were determined at the beginning and end of the study. Group 2 had a significant increase in folate intake (p < 0.001) and plasma folic acid (p < 0.05) for individuals with the cytosine–cytosine (CC), cytosine–thymine (CT), and thymine–thymine (TT) genotypes. However, only individuals with the TT genotype presented reduced levels of Hcy, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β (p < 0.001). Group 1 showed significant differences in folate consumption (p < 0.001) and folic acid levels (p < 0.05) for individuals with the CT and TT genotypes. Food intervention with folate from vegetables increased folic acid levels and reduced interleukins, TNF-α, and Hcy levels, mainly for individuals with the TT genotype.
The Effects of Different Quantities and Qualities of Protein Intake in People with Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Pfeiffer Andreas F.H. , Pedersen Eva , Schwab Ursula , Risérus Ulf , Aas Anne-Marie , Uusitupa Matti , Thanopoulou Anastasia , Kendall Cyril , Sievenpiper John L. , Kahleová Hana , Rahélic Dario , Salas-Salvadó Jordi , Gebauer Stephanie , Hermansen Kjeld
Published: January 2020

The recommended amount and quality of protein in diets of diabetic patients are highly controversial. In order to provide evidence-based information, the Diabetes Nutrition Study Group (DNSG) used a grading procedure used for quality of evidence and strength of recommendations (GRADE). A protein intake of 10% to 20% of energy intake (E%) or about 0.8 to 1.3 g/kg body weight in people below 65 years of age, and 15% to 20% of E% in people above 65 years of age appeared safe in weight-stable conditions. There were no intervention studies addressing metabolic effects, mortality, or cardiovascular events over prolonged periods. Body weight is closely linked to metabolic control and high protein diets are often recommended. Weight-loss diets that include 23% to 32% of E% as protein for up to one year reduced blood pressure and body weight slightly but significantly more than lower protein diets, whereas blood lipids, fasting blood glucose, and HbA1c improved similarly with higher or lower protein intakes in participants with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) >60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Patients with a GFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 did not show a faster decline of GFR or kidney function with protein intakes around 0.8 g/kg body weight as compared with lower intakes, thereby arguing against a restriction. The effects of protein intake on diabetic eye or nerve disease have not been reported. There are a number of studies that have compared different types of animal proteins (milk, chicken, beef, pork, and fish) or compared animal with plant protein in diabetic patients and have reported a greater reduction of serum cholesterol with plant protein. In summary, the suggested range of protein intake appears to be safe and can be adapted according to personal dietary preferences.
General Conditions of Weak Convergence of Discrete-Time Multiplicative Scheme to Asset Price with Memory
Authors: Mishura Yuliya , Ralchenko Kostiantyn , Shklyar Sergiy
Published: January 2020

We present general conditions for the weak convergence of a discrete-time additive scheme to a stochastic process with memory in the space D [ 0 , T ] . Then we investigate the convergence of the related multiplicative scheme to a process that can be interpreted as an asset price with memory. As an example, we study an additive scheme that converges to fractional Brownian motion, which is based on the Cholesky decomposition of its covariance matrix. The second example is a scheme converging to the Riemann–Liouville fractional Brownian motion. The multiplicative counterparts for these two schemes are also considered. As an auxiliary result of independent interest, we obtain sufficient conditions for monotonicity along diagonals in the Cholesky decomposition of the covariance matrix of a stationary Gaussian process.
Modelling Global Ionosphere Based on Multi-Frequency, Multi-Constellation GNSS Observations and IRI Model
Authors: An Xiangdong , Meng Xiaolin , Chen Hua , Jiang Weiping , Xi Ruijie , Chen Qusen
Published: January 2020

With the emergence of BeiDou and Galileo as well as the modernization of GPS and GLONASS, more available satellites and signals enhance the capability of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) to monitor the ionosphere. However, currently the International GNSS Service (IGS) Ionosphere Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs) just use GPS and GLONASS dual-frequency observations in ionosphere estimation. To better determine the global ionosphere, we used multi-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS observations and a priori International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) to model the ionosphere. The newly estimated ionosphere was represented by a spherical harmonic expansion function with degree and order of 15 in a solar-geomagnetic frame. By collecting more than 300 stations with a global distribution, we processed and analysed two years of data. The estimated ionospheric results were compared with those of IAACs, and the averaged Root Mean Squares (RMS) of Total Electron Content (TEC) differences for different solutions did not exceed 3 TEC Unit (TECU). Through validation by satellite altimetry, it was suggested that the newly established ionosphere had a higher precision than the IGS products. Moreover, compared with IGS ionospheric products, the newly established ionosphere showed a more accurate response to the ionosphere disturbances during the geomagnetic storms.
Time-Frequency Analysis of Barkhausen Noise for the Needs of Anisotropy Evaluation of Grain-Oriented Steels
Authors: Maciusowicz Michal , Psuj Grzegorz
Published: January 2020

The paper presents a new approach to obtain information on magnetic anisotropy in Si–Fe grain oriented ferromagnetic steel based on the observation of the magnetic Barkhausen noise (MBN). Until now, in the literature one can only notice the MBN study of magnetic anisotropy in steels carried out in a single time or frequency domain. However, due to the observed high variability of the dynamics of the MBN phenomenon over its occurrence period, depending on the steel properties, the idea of utilization of combined time and frequency representations to obtain new or supplementary information arises. For this purpose, the MBN phenomenon was observed in various directions for steels with oriented magnetic properties. Then, using the short-time Fourier transform, time-frequency (TF) distributions were determined and features vectors enabling the quantification of crucial information were determined. Before performing the final experiments, a series of tests were carried out for different measuring conditions. As a result, it was possible to adjust the conditions enabling us to obtain the highest possible sensitivity for MBN and discrimination level between directional properties in the material. Then, an algorithm of detailed analysis and division of the TF representation into subranges was proposed, enabling the extraction of more detailed information about the phenomena occurring during the magnetization process. This allowed us to clearly indicate and then separate three areas of MBN main activity. Finally, the obtained angular distributions of selected features were presented and discussed, and further conclusions were given.
Constrained Transmit Beampattern Design Using a Correlated LFM-PC Waveform Set in MIMO Radar
Authors: Hong Sheng , Dong Yantao , Xie Rui , Ai Yu , Wang Yuhao
Published: January 2020

This paper considers the design of a desired transmit beampattern under the good ambiguity function constraint using a correlated linear frequency modulation-phase coded (LFM-PC) waveform set in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar. Different from most existing beampattern design approaches, we propose using the LFM-PC waveform set to conquer the challenging problem of synthesizing waveforms with constant-envelope and easy-generation properties, and, meanwhile, solve the hard constraint of a good ambiguity behaviour. First, the ambiguity function of the LFM-PC waveform set is derived, and the superiority of LFM-PC waveforms over LFM and PC waveforms is verified. The temporal and spatial characteristic analysis of the LFM-PC waveform set demonstrates that both the transmit beampattern and sidelobe level are mainly affected by the frequency intervals, bandwidths, and phase-coded sequences of the LFM-PC waveform set. Finally, the constrained beampattern design problem is formulated by optimizing these parameters for desired beampatterns and low sidelobes at different doppler frequencies, which is a bi-objective optimization problem. To solve this, we propose a joint optimization strategy followed by a mandatory optimization, where the sequence quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm and adaptive clonal selection (ACS) algorithm are exploited iteratively. The simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed method.
Instantaneous Phase Coherence Imaging for Near-Field Defects by Ultrasonic Phased Array Inspection
Authors: Zhang Haiyan , Zeng Lingtian , Fan Guopeng , Zhang Hui , Zhu Qi , Zhu Wenfa
Published: January 2020

This paper describes an imaging method for near-field defect detection in aluminum plates based on Green’s function recovery and application of instantaneous phase coherence weighting factors. The directly acquired acoustic information of near-field defects is usually obscured by the nonlinear effects due to the physical limitation of the acquisition system. Using the diffuse field to recover the Green’s function can effectively retrieve the early time information. However, averaging operations of finite number in this process produces an imperfect imaging result. In order to improve the image quality, two kinds of instantaneous phased coherence weighting factors are used to weight the Green’s function to reduce the background noise and improve the signal-to-noise ratio: the instantaneous phase coherence factor (IPCF), and the instantaneous phase weighting factor (IPWF). Experiments are conducted on two aluminum plates with two and four near-field defects, respectively. As a result, the background noise of amplitude images weighted by IPCF and IPWF is less than that of the conventional total focusing method (TFM). In addition, the IPCF image achieves a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than that of IPWF, and the phase discontinuity in an IPWF image is suppressed through the IPCF.
IART: Inertial Assistant Referee and Trainer for Race Walking
Authors: Caporaso Teodorico , Grazioso Stanislao
Published: January 2020

This paper presents IART, a novel inertial wearable system for automatic detection of infringements and analysis of sports performance in race walking. IART algorithms are developed from raw inertial measurements collected by a single sensor located at the bottom of the vertebral column (L5–S1). Two novel parameters are developed to estimate infringements: loss of ground contact time and loss of ground contact step classification; three classic parameters are indeed used to estimate performance: step length ratio, step cadence, and smoothness. From these parameters, five biomechanical indices customized for elite athletes are derived. The experimental protocol consists of four repetitions of a straight path of 300 m on a long-paved road, performed by nine elite athletes. Over a total of 1620 steps (54 sequences of 30 steps each), the average accuracy of correct detection of loss of ground contact events is equal to 99%, whereas the correct classification of the infringement is equal to 87% for each step sequence, with a 92% of acceptable classifications. A great emphasis is dedicated on the user-centered development of IART: an intuitive radar chart representation is indeed developed to provide practical usability and interpretation of IART indices from the athletes, coaches, and referees perspectives. The results of IART, in terms of accuracy of its indices and usability from end-users, are encouraging for its usage as tool to support athletes and coaches in training and referees in real competitions.
Face Recognition at a Distance for a Stand-Alone Access Control System
Authors: Lee Hansung , Park So-Hee , Yoo Jang-Hee , Jung Se-Hoon , Huh Jun-Ho
Published: January 2020

Although access control based on human face recognition has become popular in consumer applications, it still has several implementation issues before it can realize a stand-alone access control system. Owing to a lack of computational resources, lightweight and computationally efficient face recognition algorithms are required. The conventional access control systems require significant active cooperation from the users despite its non-aggressive nature. The lighting/illumination change is one of the most difficult and challenging problems for human-face-recognition-based access control applications. This paper presents the design and implementation of a user-friendly, stand-alone access control system based on human face recognition at a distance. The local binary pattern (LBP)-AdaBoost framework was employed for face and eyes detection, which is fast and invariant to illumination changes. It can detect faces and eyes of varied sizes at a distance. For fast face recognition with a high accuracy, the Gabor-LBP histogram framework was modified by substituting the Gabor wavelet with Gaussian derivative filters, which reduced the facial feature size by 40% of the Gabor-LBP-based facial features, and was robust to significant illumination changes and complicated backgrounds. The experiments on benchmark datasets produced face recognition accuracies of 97.27% on an E-face dataset and 99.06% on an XM2VTS dataset, respectively. The system achieved a 91.5% true acceptance rate with a 0.28% false acceptance rate and averaged a 5.26 frames/sec processing speed on a newly collected face image and video dataset in an indoor office environment.
SoilCam: A Fully Automated Minirhizotron using Multispectral Imaging for Root Activity Monitoring
Authors: Rahman Gazi , Sohag Hanif , Chowdhury Rakibul , Wahid Khan A. , Dinh Anh , Arcand Melissa , Vail Sally
Published: January 2020

A minirhizotron is an in situ root imaging system that captures components of root system architecture dynamics over time. Commercial minirhizotrons are expensive, limited to white-light imaging, and often need human intervention. The implementation of a minirhizotron needs to be low cost, automated, and customizable to be effective and widely adopted. We present a newly designed root imaging system called SoilCam that addresses the above mentioned limitations. The imaging system is multi-modal, i.e., it supports both conventional white-light and multispectral imaging, with fully automated operations for long-term in-situ monitoring using wireless control and access. The system is capable of taking 360° images covering the entire area surrounding the tube. The image sensor can be customized depending on the spectral imaging requirements. The maximum achievable image quality of the system is 8 MP (Mega Pixel)/picture, which is equivalent to a 2500 DPI (dots per inch) image resolution. The length of time in the field can be extended with a rechargeable battery and solar panel connectivity. Offline image-processing software, with several image enhancement algorithms to eliminate motion blur and geometric distortion and to reconstruct the 360° panoramic view, is also presented. The system is tested in the field by imaging canola roots to show the performance advantages over commercial systems.
ALICE: Conceptual Development of a Lower Limb Exoskeleton Robot Driven by an On-Board Musculoskeletal Simulator
Authors: Cardona Manuel , García Cena Cecilia E. , Serrano Fernando , Saltaren Roque
Published: January 2020

Objective: In this article, we present the conceptual development of a robotics platform, called ALICE (Assistive Lower Limb Controlled Exoskeleton), for kinetic and kinematic gait characterization. The ALICE platform includes a robotics wearable exoskeleton and an on-board muscle driven simulator to estimate the user’s kinetic parameters. Background: Even when the kinematics patterns of the human gait are well studied and reported in the literature, there exists a considerable intra-subject variability in the kinetics of the movements. ALICE aims to be an advanced mechanical sensor that allows us to compute real-time information of both kinetic and kinematic data, opening up a new personalized rehabilitation concept. Methodology: We developed a full muscle driven simulator in an open source environment and validated it with real gait data obtained from patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After that, we designed, modeled, and controlled a 6 DoF lower limb exoskeleton with inertial measurement units and a position/velocity sensor in each actuator. Significance: This novel concept aims to become a tool for improving the diagnosis of pathological gait and to design personalized robotics rehabilitation therapies. Conclusion: ALICE is the first robotics platform automatically adapted to the kinetic and kinematic gait parameters of each patient.
Identification of Data Injection Attacks in Networked Control Systems Using Noise Impulse Integration
Authors: Oliveira de Sá Alan , Casimiro António , Machado Raphael C. S. , da C. Carmo Luiz F. R.
Published: January 2020

The benefits of using Networked Control Systems (NCS) in the growing Industry 4.0 arenumerous, including better management and operational capabilities, as well as costs reduction.However, despite these benefits, the use of NCSs can also expose physical plants to new threatsoriginated in the cyber domain—such as data injection attacks in NCS links through which sensorsand controllers transmit signals. In this sense, this work proposes a link monitoring strategy toidentify linear time-invariant (LTI) functions executed during controlled data injection attacksby a Man-in-the-Middle hosted in an NCS link. The countermeasure is based on a bioinspiredmetaheuristic, called Backtracking Search Optimization Algorithm (BSA), and uses white Gaussiannoise to excite the attack function. To increase the accuracy of this countermeasure, it is proposedthe Noise Impulse Integration (NII) technique, which is developed using the radar pulse integrationtechnique as inspiration. The results demonstrate that the proposed countermeasure is able toaccurately identify LTI attack functions, here executed to impair measurements transmitted bythe plant sensor, without interfering with the NCS behavior when the system is in its normaloperation. Moreover, the results indicate that the NII technique can increase the accuracy of the attackidentification.
Compact Ultra-Wideband Monopole Antenna Loaded with Metamaterial
Authors: Al-Bawri Samir Salem , Hwang Goh Hui , Islam Md Shabiul , Wong Hin Yong , Jamlos Mohd Faizal , Narbudowicz Adam , Jusoh Muzammil , Sabapathy Thennarasan , Khan Rizwan , Islam Mohammad Tariqul
Published: January 2020

A printed compact monopole antenna based on a single negative (SNG) metamaterial is proposed for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications. A low-profile, key-shaped structure forms the radiating monopole and is loaded with metamaterial unit cells with negative permittivity and more than 1.5 GHz bandwidth of near-zero refractive index (NZRI) property. The antenna offers a wide bandwidth from 3.08 to 14.1 GHz and an average gain of 4.54 dBi, with a peak gain of 6.12 dBi; this is in contrast to the poor performance when metamaterial is not used. Moreover, the maximum obtained radiation efficiency is 97%. A reasonable agreement between simulation and experiments is realized, demonstrating that the proposed antenna can operate over a wide bandwidth with symmetric split-ring resonator (SSRR) metamaterial structures and compact size of 14.5 × 22 mm2 (0.148 λ0 × 0.226 λ0) with respect to the lowest operating frequency.
Distribution System with Flow Consolidation at the Boundary of Urban Congested Areas
Authors: Raicu Serban , Costescu Dorinela , Burciu Stefan
Published: January 2020

This paper presents effective and efficient solutions for components of urban logistics. The specificity of such logistics and the multiple limitations led to particular solutions. However, they all share one common feature—the flow consolidation in different variants. This study considers the flow consolidation at the boundary of urban congested areas, through horizontal collaboration between logistic platforms. This way, the urban distribution centers (UDCs) receive all the goods according to the orders addressed to each producer (or group in case of “on-going consolidations”). Deliveries are addressed to a single logistic platform. Thus, the flow consolidation is achieved. Each logistic platform receives part of the consumer goods intended for commercialization, but through collaboration between them (freight exchanges), all the warehouses of the producers have all the ordered goods. Dedicated management of logistics platforms and warehouses within each UDC ensures the confidentiality of distributor data. Three scenarios are presented concerning the same pattern of flow addressed to each UDC. These scenarios differ by the accessibility of the logistics platforms and by the connection between them (due to infrastructure development). The methodology of choosing the variants for composing the flow sent from each logistics platform considered the minimization of transfer times to UDC warehouses. Synthetic indicators allow for comparison between the analyzed scenarios.
Competition and Game of the Pre-Installed Market and Post-Installed Market of the Internet of Vehicles from the Perspective of Cooperation
Authors: Zhang Chaohui , Li Yijing , Zhang Yishan
Published: January 2020

The Internet of Vehicles market is broadly divided into two parts—the pre-installed market and the post-installed market. Although they possibly have cooperative relationships, there is a competition game between them in terms of interests, and a healthy game relationship can promote the optimization of products and the overall improvement of the service level in the Internet of Vehicles market. Through the evolutionary game model, this article analyzes the dynamic game process between the pre-installed market and the post-installed market of the Internet of Vehicles, explores the various evolution trends of the Internet of Vehicles market from the perspective of cooperation, and combines the numerical simulation analysis to study the three possible evolutionary trends and corresponding steady states. The results show that, when the cooperation ratio is relatively high, both sides of the game are in the cyclical competition and game, which is the optimal competition state of the Internet of Vehicles market. On the contrary, any kind of “steady state” is unfavorable to the overall market. Therefore, all parties should be encouraged to establish a deeper level of cooperation and jointly promote the further prosperity of the Internet of Vehicles market in the process of cooperation and competition.
Showcasing Relationships between Neighborhood Design and Wellbeing Toronto Indicators
Authors: Shaker Richard , Aversa Joseph , Papp Victoria , Serre Bryant , Mackay Brian
Published: January 2020

Cities are the keystone landscape features for achieving sustainability locally, regionally, and globally. With the increasing impacts of urban expansion eminent, policymakers have encouraged researchers to advance or invent methods for managing coupled human–environmental systems associated with local and regional sustainable development planning. Although progress has been made, there remains no universal instrument for attaining sustainability on neither regional nor local planning scales. Previous sustainable urbanization studies have revealed that landscape configuration metrics can supplement other measures of urban well-being, yet few have been included in public data dashboards or contrasted against local well-being indicators. To advance this sector of sustainable development planning, this study had three main intentions: (1) to produce a foundational suite of landscape ecology metrics from the 2007 land cover dataset for the City of Toronto; (2) to visualize and interpret spatial patterns of neighborhood streetscape patch cohesion index (COHESION), Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI), and four Wellbeing Toronto indicators across the 140 Toronto neighborhoods; (3) to quantitatively assess the global collinearity and local explanatory power of the well-being and landscape measures showcased in this study. One-hundred-and-thirty landscape ecology metrics were computed: 18 class configuration metrics across seven land cover categories and four landscape diversity metrics. Anselin Moran’s I-test was used to illustrate significant spatial patterns of well-being and landscape indicators; Pearson’s correlation and conditional autoregressive (CAR) statistics were used to evaluate relationships between them. Spatial “hot-spots” and/or “cold-spots” were found in all streetscape variables. Among other interesting results, Walk Score® was negatively related to both tree canopy and grass/shrub connectedness, signifying its lack of consideration for the quality of ecosystem services and environmental public health—and subsequently happiness—during its proximity assessment of socioeconomic amenities. In sum, landscape ecology metrics can provide cost-effective ecological integrity addendum to existing and future urban resilience, sustainable development, and well-being monitoring programs.
Exploring Farmers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study from Tanzania
Authors: Jha Srijna , Kaechele Harald , Lana Marcos , Amjath-Babu T.S , Sieber Stefan
Published: January 2020

The low agricultural productivity of key crops and food insecurity continue to be key issues in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania. The growing population, depleting resources, and changing climate further amplify these issues. Globally, many agricultural technologies (AgTs) are available as pathways for improved agricultural productivity and food security, however, they have had relatively little success in SSA and Tanzania. This is because the uptake of AgTs is a complex process, which is highly localized, involving multiple actors, stages, and spatial and time dimensions. Smallholder farmers often experience issues of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up throughout the uptake process of AgTs, all of which vary by region. This indicates a need for a systematic and simultaneous understanding of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of AgTs to better guide agricultural strategy and policy interventions in SSA and Tanzania. Moreover, in order to understand the local settings better, a consideration of the perceptions of the farmers themselves, who are the primary actors in the uptake process of AgTs, is key. Acknowledging this, the study takes on a case study approach, using the scaling-up assessment (ScalA) method and three focus group discussions with a total of 44 smallholder farmers to systematically and simultaneously assess the sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of three AgTs (use of fertilizers, improved seeds, and small-scale irrigation) in Tanzania. The study finds that the farmers perceive all three AgTs to be sustainable for the study region. Adoption rates are perceived to be medium for use of fertilizers, high for improved seeds, and low for small-scale irrigation. The most significant constraints for adoption experienced by the farmers are lack of technical physical inputs, marketing facilities, and know-how. Scaling-up is perceived to be well fulfilled for use of fertilizers and improved seeds, but only partially fulfilled for small-scale irrigation, which is the most limited of the three AgTs. The most significant constraints for scaling-up experienced by farmers are a lack of confidence in the added value of the AgTs beyond project activities, marketing facilities, and technical physical inputs. The overall success potential is high for the use of fertilizers and improved seeds, and the average for small-scale irrigation. The farmers’ perceptions partially indicate why the bundle of AgTs is lacking in the study region and provide a basis for discussing targeted agricultural and policy interventions in Tanzania.
From Subjective and Objective Perspective to Reconstruct the High-Quality Tourism Spatial Structure―Taking Gannan Prefecture in China as an Example
Authors: Ma Libang , Li Xiaoyang , Bo Jie , Fang Fang
Published: January 2020

Spatial relationship is the basic perspective of understanding regions. Tourism spatial structure is the spatial projection of tourism activities, reflecting the spatial attributes and interrelationships of tourism activities. In this paper, taking Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture as an example, we identified the objective and subjective tourism spatial structure of Gannan Prefecture based on the GIS spatial analysis function and using objective and subjective tourist attractions as the spatial object element. Then, the tourism spatial network was reconstructed. Results are as follows. (1) Both objective and subjective tourist attractions in Gannan Prefecture exhibit aggregated distribution. Among them, the spatial distribution of objective tourist attractions has a significant trend of contiguous aggregation, showing a relatively higher density in the northeastern and southeastern regions, and a lower density in the central and southwestern regions. This is opposite to that of the subjective tourist attractions. (2) The connectivity and accessibility between objective and subjective tourist attractions in Gannan Prefecture are poor, and only a few tourist attractions form a traffic connection with neighboring ones. (3) The objective tourism spatial network of Gannan Prefecture is layered with aggregation, and presents a significant cohesive development trend. This is opposite to the subjective one. (4) Based on the identification results of objective and subjective tourism spatial structures, the objective and subjective core tourism resources as well as tourist attractions should be integrated, and the road transportation system should be constructed and improved. Then, a high-quality tourism spatial network with ‘three poles, three axes and four groups’ was constructed. This study provides a scientific basis for the tourism spatial development, tourist route organization, the layout of tourism service facilities and product, and tourism spatial optimization in specific regions.
Smart and Sustainable Cities: The Main Guidelines of City Statute for Increasing the Intelligence of Brazilian Cities
Authors: Lima Evandro Gonzalez , Chinelli Christine Kowal , Guedes Andre Luis Azevedo , Vazquez Elaine Garrido , Hammad Ahmed W. A. , Haddad Assed Naked , Soares Carlos Alberto Pereira
Published: January 2020

The regulation of urban property use is a fundamental instrument for the development of cities. However, most of the norms that set general guidelines for urban policy predate the transformations that the smart city concept has brought about in the way cities are appropriated and perceived by society, and even today, studies on how these regulations collaborate to make cities smarter and more sustainable. This work contributes to filling this gap by investigating the main guidelines of the Brazilian City Statute that have the greatest potential to contribute to having smarter and more sustainable Brazilian cities. To prioritize the sixteen guidelines of the City Statute, the methodology used consisted of a survey carried out with professionals working in the concerned field. The results show that the sixteen guidelines were evaluated as important for increasing the intelligence of cities, of which five were evaluated as having the most priority, these five were related to the governance of cities. Considering the scarcity of resources in Brazilian cities, these five guidelines contribute so that municipal governments can direct their efforts towards what has the most priority.
The Molecular Epidemiology and Phylogeny of Torque Teno Virus (TTV) in Jordan
Authors: Sarairah Haneen , Bdour Salwa , Gharaibeh Waleed
Published: January 2020

Torque teno virus (TTV) is the most common component of the human blood virobiota. Little is known, however, about the prevalence of TTV in humans and the most common farm domesticates in Jordan, or the history and modality of TTV transmission across species lines. We therefore tested sera from 396 Jordanians and 171 farm animals for the presence of TTV DNA using nested 5′-UTR-PCR. We then performed phylogenetic, ordination and evolutionary diversity analyses on detected DNA sequences. We detected a very high prevalence of TTV in Jordanians (~96%); much higher than in farm animal domesticates (~29% pooled over species). TTV prevalence in the human participants is not associated with geography, demography or physical attributes. Phylogenetic, ordination and evolutionary diversity analyses indicated that TTV is transmitted readily between humans across the geography of the country and between various species of animal domesticates. However, the majority of animal TTV isolates seem to derive from a single human-to-animal transmission event in the past, and current human-animal transmission in either direction is relatively rare. In conclusion, animal TTV in Jordan is historically derived from human variants; however, ongoing human-animal TTV exchange is minimal and zoonotic infection seems to be of limited importance.
Factors Predicting the Need for Early Surgical Intervention for Small Bowel Obstruction
Authors: Cho Young Jae , Park In Seok , Kim Jungbin , Cho Hyun Jin , Gwak Geum Hee , Yang Keun Ho , Bae Byung Noe , Kim Ki Hwan
Published: January 2020

Purpose: Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common disease that requires hospitalization. The most common cause of SBO is postoperative adhesion. Delayed timing of operations in patients who need surgical intervention results in mortality or morbidity. A number of studies on SBO have established criteria for emergency surgery. However, few objective clinical parameters are available for screening patients who need a delayed operation. Therefore, we analyzed factors that affect the clinical course of SBO to select appropriate therapeutic plans for reducing the risk of complications in these patients.Methods: We investigated the clinical characteristics of patients admitted to the surgery department of our hospital between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2016, who were diagnosed with SBO. Patients were divided into an operative treatment group (n = 12) and a conservative treatment group (n = 96). We compared clinical characteristics between the 2 groups.Results: The operative treatment group underwent more operations before SBO than the conservative treatment group (P = 0.007). Initial leukocyte counts (P = 0.004) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (P = 0.028) were elevated in the operative group. Body mass index (BMI) was lower in the operative group (P = 0.013).Conclusion: The number of operations before SBO, leukocyte counts, CRP levels, and BMI were useful parameters for selecting patients who needed an urgent operation for SBO.
Increased Risk of Neoplasms in Adult Patients Undergoing Interval Appendectomy
Authors: Son Jungtak , Park Yong Jun , Lee Sung Ryol , Kim Hyung Ook , Jung Kyung Uk
Published: January 2020

Purpose: The low rate of recurrent appendicitis after initial nonsurgical management of complicated appendicitis supports the recently implemented strategy of omitting routine interval appendectomy. However, several reports have suggested an increased incidence rate of neoplasms in these patients. We aimed to identify the risk of neoplasms in the population undergoing interval appendectomy.Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed consecutive cases of appendicitis that were treated surgically between January 2014 and December 2018 at a single tertiary referral center. Patients were divided into 2 groups depending on whether they underwent immediate or interval appendectomy. Demographics and perioperative clinical and pathologic parameters were analyzed.Results: All 2,013 adults included in the study underwent surgical treatment because of an initial diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Of these, 5.5% (111 of 2,013) underwent interval appendectomy. Appendiceal neoplasm was identified on pathologic analysis in 36 cases (1.8%). The incidence of neoplasm in the interval group was 12.6% (14 of 111), which was significantly higher than that of the immediate group (1.2% [22 of 1,902], P < 0.001). Conclusion: The incidence rate of neoplasms was significantly higher in patients undergoing interval appendectomy.These findings should be considered when choosing treatment options after successful nonsurgical management of complicated appendicitis.