bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Age, Sex, Disease, and Exercise Training on Lip Muscle Strength
Authors: Wong Vickie , Abe Takashi , Spitz Robert W. , Bell Zachary W. , Yamada Yujiro , Chatakondi Raksha N. , Loenneke Jeremy P.
Published: March 2020

Lip muscle strength has been shown to influence daily functional activities such as facial expression, speech production, and eating. In this review, recent literature regarding lip strength and exercise training responses are summarized, highlighting the influence of sex, age, and disease (e.g., stroke). A search using five electronic databases was conducted. Twelve studies were identified from the search, which included five studies using healthy adults and seven studies using patients with diseases or chronic ailments. Regardless of the population, lip strength training multiple times a day for a relatively short term (<24 weeks) has resulted in improvements of lip muscle strength. This change in lip strength has been observed in both young and old participants. Although changes in strength have been observed in both men and women, we are unaware of any studies that have tested whether there are sex differences in this response. The same directional change can be expected for patients with stroke and patients with lip incompetence, but the magnitude of the training effect seems to be higher in healthy people.
Environmentally Friendly and Cost-Effective Synthesis of Carbonaceous Particles for Preparing Hollow SnO2 Nanospheres and their Bifunctional Li-Storage and Gas-Sensing Properties
Authors: Ding Yingyi , Zhou Ping , Han Tianli , Liu Jinyun
Published: March 2020

The templated preparation of hollow nanomaterials has received broad attention. However, many templates are expansive, environmentally-harmful, along with involving a complicated preparation process. Herein, we present a cost-effective, environmentally friendly and simple approach for making carbonaceous particles which have been demonstrated as efficient templates for preparing hollow nanospheres. Natural biomass, such as wheat or corn, is used as the source only, and thus other chemicals are not needed. The carbonaceous particles possess abundant hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, enabling them to efficiently adsorb metal ions in solution. The prepared SnO2 hollow spheres were used in a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery anode, and as the sensing layer of a gas sensor, respectively. After charge–discharge for 200 times at a rate of 1 C, the anodes exhibit a stable capacity of 500 mAh g−1, and a Coulombic efficiency as high as 99%. In addition, the gas sensor based on the SnO2 hollow spheres shows a high sensing performance towards ethanol gas. It is expected that the presented natural biomass-derived particles and their green preparation method will find more applications for broad research fields, including energy-storage and sensors.
Middle Eocene Rhodoliths from Tropical and Mid-Latitude Regions
Authors: Aguirre Julio , Braga Juan C. , Pujalte Victoriano , Orue-Etxebarria Xabier , Salazar-Ortiz Edward , Rincón-Martínez Daniel , Abad Manuel , Pérez-Valera Fernando
Published: March 2020

During the greenhouse conditions prevailing in the early–middle Eocene, larger benthic foraminifers (LBF) spread out on carbonate platforms worldwide while rhodolith beds were scarcely represented. This reduction in rhodolith beds coincided with a relative decrease in coralline algal diversity and with a drastic decline of coral reef abundance. Middle Eocene rhodoliths from two tropical (San Jacinto Fold Belt in northern Colombia and Bahoruco Peninsula in the Dominican Republic) and two mid-latitude (Salinas Menores Ravine and Sierra del Zacatín in Southern Spain) localities were studied. Rhodolith rudstones in the tropical areas accumulated on relatively deep (several tens of meters) platform environments and were also redeposited in deeper settings downslope. In Salinas Menores, rhodoliths are dispersed in planktic foraminifer-rich marls. Miliolids are common in the infilling of constructional voids in these rhodoliths, indicating that they originally grew in shallow-water inner-shelf settings and afterwards they were transported to deeper environments. In Sierra del Zacatín, rhodoliths are scarce and coralline algae mainly occur as crusts attached to and intergrowing with corals. Here, LBF dominated shallow-water carbonate platforms. In terms of taxonomic composition, coralline algae of the order Hapalidiales are the most abundant in the study areas, followed by Sporolithales. The order Corallinales is poorly represented except in Salinas Menores, where it is relatively abundant and diverse. The impact of high temperatures due to high levels of atmospheric CO2 during the Eocene and widespread oligotrophic conditions, which favored formation of LBF-rich lithofacies, might account for the low abundance of rhodolith beds at mid and high latitudes. In contrast, the more productive equatorial regions would have favored the formation of rhodolith beds.
Dairy Cow Health and Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity
Authors: von Soosten Dirk , Meyer Ulrich , Flachowsky Gerhard , Dänicke Sven
Published: March 2020

The purpose of this review is to identify the main influencing factors related to dairy cow health as it impacts the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions considering known data presented in the literature. For this study, we define the emission intensity as CO2 equivalents per kilogram of milk. In dairy cows, a high dry matter (DM) intake (25 kg/d) leads to an higher absolute methane emission compared to a lower DM intake (10 kg/d). However, the emission intensity is decreased at a high performance level. The emissions caused by DM intake to cover the energy requirement for maintenance are distributed over a higher milk yield. Therefore, the emission intensity per kilogram of product is decreased for high-yielding animals with a high DM intake. Apart from that, animal diseases as well as poor environmental or nutritional conditions are responsible for a decreased DM intake and a compromised performance. As a result, animal diseases not only mean reduced productivity, but also increased emission intensity. The productive life-span of a dairy cow is closely related to animal health, and the impact on emission intensity is enormous. A model calculation shows that cows with five to eight lactations could have a reduced emission intensity of up to 40% compared to animals that have left the herd after their first lactation. This supports the general efforts to increase longevity of dairy cows by an improved health management including all measures to prevent diseases.
Triple Metachronous Malignancies with Thyroid Involvement: A Brief Overview of Five Case Reports over 20 Years of Institutional Experience
Authors: Bădan Marius-Ioan , Piciu Doina
Published: March 2020

Multiple primary malignant tumors are defined by the development of more than one malignancy in a single patient. These can be subdivided into synchronous or metachronous malignant tumors, depending on their time of appearance, relative to the first malignancy. Triple primary malignancies are a relatively rare occurrence in day-to-day practice and triple synchronous or metachronous carcinomas involving a thyroid localization are even less common. In this case series, we report our 20-year experience in diagnosing and managing five patients with triple malignant tumors with thyroid involvement.
Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Dance Functional Outcome Survey (DFOS) for Spanish Dancers
Authors: de-la-Cruz-Torres Blanca , Barrera-García-Martín Irene , Romero-Morales Carlos , Bronner Shaw
Published: March 2020

A growing number of research papers regarding Spanish-speaking dancers justifies the need for an adapted Spanish version of the Dance Functional Outcome Survey (DFOS). The objective of this study was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the DFOS for Spanish-speaking dancers. A sample of 127 healthy and injured professional and pre-professional dancers were recruited. Test-retest reliability of DFOS-Sp was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients. Construct validity compared DFOS-Sp to the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) using Pearson correlations. Principal component analysis identified factors and internal-item consistency. Sensitivity was evaluated by generating receiver operating characteristic and area under the curve analyses. A subgroup of 51 injured dancers were followed across three time-points to examine responsiveness using repeated measures analysis of variance. Injured scores were analyzed for floor and ceiling effects. The DFOS-Sp showed high test-retest reliability (ICC2,1 ≥ 0.92). DFOS-Sp scores had moderate construct validity compared with SF-36 physical component summary scores (r ≥ 0.56). Principal component analysis (PCA) supported uni-dimensionality explaining 58% of the variance with high internal consistency (α = 0.91).Area under the curve (AUC) sensitivity values were excellent (AUC ≥ 0.82). There were significant differences across time (p < 0.001), demonstrating responsiveness to change, with no floor or ceiling effects. The DFOS-Sp demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability and validity in Spanish-speaking dancers, with comparable psychometric performance to the English-language version.
Evaluation of Profile Changes in Class II Individuals Treated by Means of Herbst Miniscope Appliance
Authors: Martina Stefano , Di Stefano Maria Luisa , Paduano Francesco Paolo , Aiello Domenico , Valletta Rosa , Paduano Sergio
Published: March 2020

Background: To evaluate the profile changes following orthopedic/orthodontic treatment with the Herbst Miniscope® appliance in subjects affected with Class II malocclusion with mandibular retrusion. Methods: A total of 44 patients presenting a skeletal Angle Class II malocclusion (ANB > 4°) due to mandibular retrusion and a cervical maturation stage between CS2 and CS3 were included in the study. Of these 44 patients, 22 (mean age 11.9 ± 1.3, HBT group) were treated using the Herbst appliance, while 22 (mean age 10.6 ± 1.3, CTR group) were followed for a 12-month observational period. A cephalometric tracing was performed at the beginning of treatment (T0) and after 12 months (T1). Results: In both groups there was a significant advancement of soft tissue pogonion (HBT = 3.5 ± 3.0 mm, p < 0.001; CTR = 2.2 ± 2.9 mm, p < 0.001), but the difference between the two groups was not significant (p = 0.172). On the contrary, both groups had a significant advancement of the mandibular sulcus (HBT = 3.7 ± 2.8 mm, p < 0.001; CTR = 1.2 ± 2.2 mm, p < 0.001) and a lower lip protrusion (HBT = 3.45 ± 2.51 mm, p < 0.001; CTR = 1.7 ± 2.7 mm, p = 0.008), but in both cases the HBT group showed a statistically significant greater increase in sulcus protrusion (p = 0.002) and lower lip protrusion (p = 0.029) than controls. There were no statistically significant effects on the upper jaw. Conclusions: The Herbst appliance advanced the lower jaw soft tissues.
In Practice: The Importance of Practitioner Research in Vocational Education
Authors: Gregson Maggie
Published: March 2020

This article presents the background to and rationale for a practice-focused model of educational change and improvement. In contrast to autocratic top-down models, this democratic and pragmatic approach begins with the educational concerns of teachers. In this model, responsibility and accountability for educational improvement is shared between policy professionals, the university team and sector practitioners. Contributions from the literature explore the question of the nature and purpose of educational practice; how concepts of educational practice influence curriculum design and content in programmes for the initial and continuing professional development for teachers of vocational education; and how these can enhance or inhibit the improvement of educational practice. Drawing upon case study examples from a national programme of university-supported practitioner research in England, results illustrate how this model offers insights into ways of increasing research capacity and achieving sustainable improvements in educational practice. It concludes that programmes of university-supported practitioner research, which encourage and enable teachers to engage in the systematic investigation of educational practice, can realize educational improvements which other approaches to educational evaluation and improvement (including external inspection regimes) struggle to do. It invites politicians and policy professionals to consider potential applications of this approach in other national systems of vocational education.
Gender and Digital Teaching Competence in Dual Vocational Education and Training
Authors: Sánchez Prieto Jesús , Trujillo Torres Juan Manuel , Gómez García Melchor , Gómez García Gerardo
Published: March 2020

In recent decades, technological advances have been revolutionizing all areas of society, including the teaching resources and methodologies used in the world of education. Teachers are in the process of adapting to develop the digital skills they need for the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), a process that must be permanent and in which there are still knowledge gaps undermining its application. This study aims to determine whether this lack of digital skills is influenced by the gender of teachers, for example, whether there is a gender gap in ICT application in teaching, specifically Dual Vocational Education and Training, which is a teaching area that has been growing exponentially in recent years. A descriptive quantitative method has been used for this study with a sample of 1568 teachers of Dual Vocational Education and Training from the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, with data collected through a questionnaire. The results show that while the level of knowledge of ICT resources is medium among this group and is therefore improvable, there are no significant gender differences between teachers with respect to the application of e-skills by teaching professionals, despite the existence in other contexts of a large digital gender gap in new technology professionals.
Scalable Algorithms for Maximizing Spatiotemporal Range Sum and Range Sum Change in Spatiotemporal Datasets
Authors: Choi Woosung , Jung Soon-Young , Chung Jaehwa , Hyun Kyeong-Seok , Park Kinam
Published: March 2020

In this paper, we introduce the three-dimensional Maximum Range-Sum (3D MaxRS) problem and the Maximum Spatiotemporal Range-Sum Change (MaxStRSC) problem. The 3D MaxRS problem tries to find the 3D range where the sum of weights across all objects inside is maximized, and the MaxStRSC problem tries to find the spatiotemporal range where the sum of weights across all objects inside is maximally increased. The goal of this paper is to provide efficient methods for data analysts to find interesting spatiotemporal regions in a large historical spatiotemporal dataset by addressing two problems. We provide a mathematical explanation for each problem and propose several algorithms for them. Existing methods tried to find the optimal region over two-dimensional datasets or to monitor a burst region over two-dimensional data streams. The majority of them cannot directly solve our problems. Although some existing methods can be used or modified to solve the 3D MaxRS problems, they have limited scalability. In addition, none of them can be used to solve the MaxStRS-RC problem (a type of MaxStRSC problem). Finally, we study the performance of the proposed algorithms experimentally. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithms are scalable and much more efficient than existing methods.
High Voltage, Low Current High-Power Multichannel LEDs LLC Driver by Stacking Single-Ended Rectifiers with Balancing Capacitors
Authors: Yi Kang Hyun
Published: March 2020

In this paper, a new LLC converter for series-connected, high-voltage LEDs is proposed. The proposed LLC converter consists of two stacked, single-ended rectifiers and one balancing capacitor, to compensate for the current deviation of two individual LED strings. The proposed LLC LED driver can use a diode with low voltage stress, even if the secondary LED is connected in series to have a high driving voltage. In addition, even if several series-connected LEDs are changed into two-stacked structures, the balancing capacitor can compensate for the current deviation of the two separated LEDs, as well as the difference in leakage inductance of the two stacked single-ended rectifiers. The balancing capacitor can be made equal to the voltage tolerance of the stacked, single-ended rectifier diodes. The proposed circuit can be easily extended to a series channel LED driver circuit, without increasing the voltage stress. To verify the characteristics and operation of the proposed LLC LED driver, a 260W high-power LED driver is implemented.
Analytical Performance Evaluation of Massive MIMO Techniques for SC-FDE Modulations
Authors: Fernandes Daniel , Cercas Francisco , Dinis Rui
Published: March 2020

In the Fifth Generation of telecommunications networks (5G), it is possible to use massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems, which require efficient receivers capable of reaching good performance values. MIMO systems can also be extended to massive MIMO (mMIMO) systems, while maintaining their, sometimes exceptional, performance. However, we must be aware that this implies an increase in the receiver complexity. Therefore, the use of mMIMO in 5G and future generations of mobile receivers will only be feasible if they use very efficient algorithms, so as to maintain their excellent performance, while coping with increasing and critical user demands. Having this in mind, this paper presents and compares three types of receivers used in MIMO systems, for further use with mMIMO systems, which use Single-Carrier with Frequency-Domain Equalization (SC-FDE), Iterative Block Decision Feedback Equalization (IB-DFE) and Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) techniques. This paper presents and compares the theoretical and simulated performance values for these receivers in terms of their Bit Error Rate (BER) and correlation factor. While one of the receivers studied in this paper achieves a BER performance nearly matching the Matched Filter Bound (MFB), the other receivers (IB-DFE and MRC) are more than 1 dB away from MFB. The results obtained in this paper can help the development of ongoing research involving hybrid analog/digital receivers for 5G and future generations of mobile communications.
A Modular IoT Hardware Platform for Distributed and Secured Extreme Edge Computing
Authors: Merino Pablo , Mujica Gabriel , Señor Jaime , Portilla Jorge
Published: March 2020

The hardware of networked embedded sensor nodes is in continuous evolution, from those 8-bit MCUs-based platforms such as Mica, up to powerful Edge nodes that even include custom hardware devices, such as FPGAs in the Cookies platform. This evolution process comes up with issues related to the deployment of the Internet of Things, particularly in terms of performance and communication bottlenecks. Moreover, the associated integration process from the Edge up to the Cloud layer opens new security concerns that are key to assure the end-to-end trustability and interoperability. This work tackles these questions by proposing a novel embedded Edge platform based on an EFR32 SoC from Silicon Labs with Contiki-NG OS that includes an ARM Cortex M4 MCU and an IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver, used for resource-constrained low-power communication capabilities. This IoT Edge node integrates security by hardware, adding support for confidentiality, integrity and availability, making this Edge node ultra-secure for most of the common attacks in wireless sensor networks. Part of this security relies on an energy-efficient hardware accelerator that handles identity authentication, session key creation and management. Furthermore, the modular hardware platform aims at providing reliability and robustness in low-power distributed sensing application contexts on what is called the Extreme Edge, and for that purpose a lightweight multi-hop routing strategy for supporting dynamic discovery and interaction among participant devices is fully presented. This embedded algorithm has served as the baseline end-to-end communication capability to validate the IoT hardware platform through intensive experimental tests in a real deployment scenario.
Cyber-Physical Co-Simulation of Shipboard Integrated Power System Based on Optimized Event-Driven Synchronization
Authors: Wu You , Fu Lijun , Ma Fan , Hao Xiaoliang
Published: March 2020

As the energy management system (EMS) participates in the closed-loop control of shipboard integrated power system (IPS), the information network of EMS is closely coupled with the power system and its characteristics affect power system performance significantly. To study the close-coupling relationship between the two systems, a cyber–physical co-simulation platform based on the high level architecture (HLA) framework is constructed in this paper. The proposed platform uses PSCAD and OPNET to simulate shipboard power system and information network respectively, and utilizes OPNET HLA nodes and PSCAD user-defined modules to implement co-simulation interfaces. In order to achieve a higher co-simulation precision without impairing efficiency, an optimized event-driven co-simulation synchronization method is also proposed. By pre-defining power system synchronization points and detecting information network synchronization points in the co-simulation process, both systems can be synchronized in time and the synchronization error is eliminated. Furthermore, the co-simulation efficiency is also improved by optimizing the data transmission in the synchronization process. A co-simulation model of shipboard power distribution network protection based on CAN bus communication is built and analyzed. Simulation results show that the proposed co-simulation platform and synchronization method are feasible and effective.
Comprehensive Analysis of a High-Power Density Phase-Shift Full Bridge Converter Highlighting the Effects of the Parasitic Capacitances
Authors: Petreus Dorin , Etz Radu , Patarau Toma , Ciocan Ionut
Published: March 2020

A phase-shift full bridge converter is analyzed in detail in continuous conduction mode for one switching cycle for both the leading and lagging legs of the primary bridge. The objective of the study is to determine how the stray capacitance of the transformer, and the capacitances of the diodes in the bridge rectifier affect the converter functionality. Starting from some experimental results, Laplace equivalent circuit models and describing equations are derived for each significant time interval during the switching cycle and are validated through simulations and experimental measurements. The resulting equations are of great interest in the high-power density domain because they can be used to design a clamping circuit for the output rectifier bridge accurately.
Analysis and Application of the Direct Flux Control Sensorless Technique to Low-Power PMSMs
Authors: Grasso Emanuele , Palmieri Marco , Mandriota Riccardo , Cupertino Francesco , Nienhaus Matthias , Kleen Stephan
Published: March 2020

In the field of sensorless control of permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs), different techniques based on machine anisotropies have been studied and implemented successfully. Nevertheless, most proposed approaches extract the rotor position information from the measured machine currents, that, when applied to low-power machines, might require high-bandwidth current sensors. An interesting alternative is given by sensorless techniques that exploit the star-point voltage of PMSMs, such as the direct flux control technique. This work aims at analyzing the conditions of applicability of such technique by considering a more thorough description of the machine inductance matrix. After a comprehensive mathematical description of the technique and characterization of the machine anisotropy information that is extracted from the star-point voltage, simulation as well as experimental results conducted on a test machine are presented and discussed in order to validate the proposed theory.
Simultaneous Synthesis of Heat Exchanger Networks Considering Steam Supply and Various Steam Heater Locations
Authors: Sheng Yao , Liu Linlin , Zhuang Yu , Zhang Lei , Du Jian
Published: March 2020

In process industries, the heating gap in heat exchanger networks (HENs) is normally compensated by the steam generated from a utility system, thus these two mutually influencing systems should be designed as a whole through establishing structural interrelationships. In this work, an improved stage-wise superstructure of HENs is proposed to integrate with a Rankine cycle-based utility system. Inner- and inter-stage heaters are considered in the new structure. Furthermore, the selection of steam in different levels is also investigated, extending the possibilities of steam utilization in HENs and generation in utility systems. The presented methodology is able to realize the optimal design of HENs by considering the supply and utilization of steam. Heaters’ allocations, matches of streams, steam distribution and utilization are optimized accompanying with the trade-off amongst equipment investment, fuel consumption and power generation in objective, which is highly related to the final structure of the system. The optimization problem is formulated into a mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) model and solved towards the lowest total annual cost (TAC) of the entire system. Finally, a case study with two scenarios is studied. The detailed results are given and analyzed to demonstrate the benefit from structural improvement.
Contributions and Risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Building Smarter Cities: Insights from a Systematic Review of the Literature
Authors: Yigitcanlar Tan , Desouza Kevin , Butler Luke , Roozkhosh Farnoosh
Published: March 2020

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most disruptive technologies of our time. Interest in the use of AI for urban innovation continues to grow. Particularly, the rise of smart cities—urban locations that are enabled by community, technology, and policy to deliver productivity, innovation, livability, wellbeing, sustainability, accessibility, good governance, and good planning—has increased the demand for AI-enabled innovations. There is, nevertheless, no scholarly work that provides a comprehensive review on the topic. This paper generates insights into how AI can contribute to the development of smarter cities. A systematic review of the literature is selected as the methodologic approach. Results are categorized under the main smart city development dimensions, i.e., economy, society, environment, and governance. The findings of the systematic review containing 93 articles disclose that: (a) AI in the context of smart cities is an emerging field of research and practice. (b) The central focus of the literature is on AI technologies, algorithms, and their current and prospective applications. (c) AI applications in the context of smart cities mainly concentrate on business efficiency, data analytics, education, energy, environmental sustainability, health, land use, security, transport, and urban management areas. (d) There is limited scholarly research investigating the risks of wider AI utilization. (e) Upcoming disruptions of AI in cities and societies have not been adequately examined. Current and potential contributions of AI to the development of smarter cities are outlined in this paper to inform scholars of prospective areas for further research.
On the Applicability of the Space Syntax Methodology for the Determination of Street Lighting Classes
Authors: Leccese Francesco , Lista Davide , Salvadori Giacomo , Beccali Marco , Bonomolo Marina
Published: March 2020

Street lighting plays a crucial role in a city’s night landscape and in urban traffic management, influencing users’ comfort and safety. To contain costs of public street lighting systems and to avoid energy waste, illuminance levels on road surfaces must be adequate to fit actual traffic volumes, as prescribed by regulations. This is true not only for motorized roads but also for sidewalks, paths, and pedestrian areas. Regulations in force establish a relationship between road traffic volumes and minimum illuminance levels through the lighting classes selection procedure. Lighting classes selection is based on various para meters among which traffic volume is the most difficult to evaluate because traffic volumes are generally estimated or measured by a traffic observation campaign. In this paper, an alternative method for classes association which is based on a space syntax approach, is described. The method was applied to the case study town of Pontedera (Italy) for the analysis of the pedestrian and motorized traffic and it shows a good correlation between measured and estimated traffic volumes, demonstrating how the methodology, with a precise and quick estimation of traffic volumes, can help lead to a suitable design of the lighting infrastructure, aiming to reduce energy waste and to avoid oversized lighting systems.
Effect of Valve Opening Manner and Sealing Method on the Steady Injection Characteristic of Gas Fuel Injector
Authors: Wang Tianbo , Zhang Lanchun , Chen Qian
Published: March 2020

The steady-state injection characteristic of gas fuel injector is one of the key factors that affects the performance of gas fuel engine. The influences of different injection strategies, such as different injection angles and different injection positions, on the mixing performance in gas-fueled engine have been emphasized in previous literatures. However, the research on the injection characteristics of the gas fuel injector itself are insufficient. The three-dimensional steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of two kinds of injectors, in different opening manners, and the other two kinds of injectors, in different sealing methods, were established in this paper. The core region speed, stagnation pressure loss and mass flow rate were compared. Additionally, the effective injection pressure (EIP) concept was also used to evaluate the injection efficiency of gas fuel injector. The simulation results show that the jet speed of the pull-open injector is higher than the push-open injector under the same operating conditions. The injection efficiency of the pull-open valve is about 56.0%, while the push-open valve is 50.3%. In general, the steady-flow characteristic of the pull-open injector is better than that of the push-open one. The injection efficiency of the flat sealing injector is 55.2%, slightly lower than the conical sealing method.
The Performance Gap in Energy-Efficient Office Buildings: How the Occupants Can Help?
Authors: Ali Qadeer , Thaheem Muhammad Jamaluddin , Ullah Fahim , Sepasgozar Samad M. E.
Published: March 2020

Rising demand and limited production of electricity are instrumental in spreading the awareness of cautious energy use, leading to the global demand for energy-efficient buildings. This compels the construction industry to smartly design and effectively construct these buildings to ensure energy performance as per design expectations. However, the research tells a different tale: energy-efficient buildings have performance issues. Among several reasons behind the energy performance gap, occupant behavior is critical. The occupant behavior is dynamic and changes over time under formal and informal influences, but the traditional energy simulation programs assume it as static throughout the occupancy. Effective behavioral interventions can lead to optimized energy use. To find out the energy-saving potential based on simulated modified behavior, this study gathers primary building and occupant data from three energy-efficient office buildings in major cities of Pakistan and categorizes the occupants into high, medium, and low energy consumers. Additionally, agent-based modeling simulates the change in occupant behavior under the direct and indirect interventions over a three-year period. Finally, energy savings are quantified to highlight a 25.4% potential over the simulation period. This is a unique attempt at quantifying the potential impact on energy usage due to behavior modification which will help facility managers to plan and execute necessary interventions and software experts to develop effective tools to model the dynamic usage behavior. This will also help policymakers in devising subtle but effective behavior training strategies to reduce energy usage. Such behavioral retrofitting comes at a much lower cost than the physical or technological retrofit options to achieve the same purpose and this study establishes the foundation for it.
The Effects of Crop Tree Management on the Fine Root Traits of Pinus massoniana in Sichuan Province, China
Authors: Li Xiangjun , Su Yu , Yin Haifeng , Liu Size , Chen Gang , Fan Chuan , Feng Maosong , Li Xianwei
Published: March 2020

Pinus massoniana is an important tree species for wind protection and timber forests in Southern China. In recent years, P. massoniana plantations have been developed on more than 11,300,000 hm2 in southern China, but numerous problems have been observed, such as soil degradation, biodiversity reduction, and ecological functional decline. Crop tree management impacts on fine root development, which can be explained by the variations in the root orders. In this study, a 36-year-old P. massoniana plantation located in Huaying, Sichuan Province, was selected as the research field. In 2015, crop tree management was initiated, with a crop tree intensity of 150 trees per hectare. After 3 years of growth, fine roots of crop and noncrop trees were collected by the sector method with an angle of 15 degrees and a radius of 2 meters. We analyzed the morphological characteristics and biomass in different root orders, and explored their carbon and nitrogen contents. The results were as follows: (1) The specific root length (SRL), root length density (RLD), and surface root area (SRA) of the crop trees were larger than those of the noncrop trees; the SRL increased significantly from 0–0.5 m to 1–1.5 m from the stem. (2) The fine root biomass of the crop trees was significantly larger than that of the noncrop trees. The fine root biomass of the crop and the noncrop trees increased with the horizontal distance from the stem from 0–0.5 m to 1–1.5 m. The morphological indexes of the noncrop trees at the distances of 1–1.5 m and 1.5–2 m were significantly different, while those of the crop trees at those distances were not. (3) The fine root C content of the crop trees was significantly higher than that of the noncrop trees and varied significantly along a vertical distribution. The fine root N content of the crop trees was significantly higher than that of the noncrop trees, and the N content of topsoil was higher than that of deeper soil. In conclusion, our results indicated that crop tree management increased the production of a large-diameter wood of P. massoniana, which might be attributed to the improvement of soil permeability and nutrient stock, and thus, the enhancement of fine root quantity and water/nutrient absorption ability.
A Comparison between Hi-C and 10X Genomics Linked Read Sequencing for Whole Genome Phasing in Hanwoo Cattle
Authors: Srikanth Krishnamoorthy , Park Jong-Eun , Lim Dajeong , Cha Jihye , Cho Sang-Rae , Cho In-Cheol , Park Woncheoul
Published: March 2020

Until recently, genome-scale phasing was limited due to the short read sizes of sequence data. Though the use of long-read sequencing can overcome this limitation, they require extensive error correction. The emergence of technologies such as 10X genomics linked read sequencing and Hi-C which uses short-read sequencers along with library preparation protocols that facilitates long-read assemblies have greatly reduced the complexities of genome scale phasing. Moreover, it is possible to accurately assemble phased genome of individual samples using these methods. Therefore, in this study, we compared three phasing strategies which included two sample preparation methods along with the Long Ranger pipeline of 10X genomics and HapCut2 software, namely 10X-LG, 10X-HapCut2, and HiC-HapCut2 and assessed their performance and accuracy. We found that the 10X-LG had the best phasing performance amongst the method analyzed. They had the highest phasing rate (89.6%), longest adjusted N50 (1.24 Mb), and lowest switch error rate (0.07%). Moreover, the phasing accuracy and yield of the 10X-LG stayed over 90% for distances up to 4 Mb and 550 Kb respectively, which were considerably higher than 10X-HapCut2 and Hi-C Hapcut2. The results of this study will serve as a good reference for future benchmarking studies and also for reference-based imputation in Hanwoo.
Effect of Transgenesis on mRNA and miRNA Profiles in Cucumber Fruits Expressing Thaumatin II
Authors: Pawełkowicz Magdalena Ewa , Skarzyńska Agnieszka , Sroka Małgorzata , Szwacka Maria , Pniewski Tomasz , Pląder Wojciech
Published: March 2020

Transgenic plants are commonly used in breeding programs because of the various features that can be introduced. However, unintended effects caused by genetic transformation are still a topic of concern. This makes research on the nutritional safety of transgenic crop plants extremely interesting. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a crop that is grown worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize differentially expressed genes and regulatory miRNAs in transgenic cucumber fruits that contain the thaumatin II gene, which encodes the sweet-tasting protein thaumatin II, by NGS sequencing. We compared the fruit transcriptomes and miRNomes of three transgenic cucumber lines with wild-type cucumber. In total, we found 47 differentially expressed genes between control and all three transgenic lines. We performed the bioinformatic functional analysis and gene ontology classification. We also identified 12 differentially regulated miRNAs, from which three can influence the two targets (assigned as DEGs) in one of the studied transgenic lines (line 224). We found that the transformation of cucumber with thaumatin II and expression of the transgene had minimal impact on gene expression and epigenetic regulation by miRNA, in the cucumber fruits.
A New Landslide Inventory for the Armenian Lesser Caucasus: Slope Failure Morphologies and Seismotectonic Influences on Large Landslides
Authors: Matossian Alice , Baghdasaryan Hayk , Avagyan Ara , Igityan Hayk , Gevorgyan Mikayel , Havenith Hans-Balder
Published: March 2020

Landslide hazard analyses in Armenia require consideration of the seismotectonic context of the Lesser Caucasus. As it is located near the center of the Arab-Eurasian collision, the Lesser Caucasus is characterized by its complex geology, dense fault network and mountainous relief; it is marked by recent volcanic and seismic activity largely influencing slope stability at different scales. We therefore sought to identify all major landslides in the Armenian Lesser Caucasus and to understand the environmental factors contributing to regional landslide susceptibility. We performed spatial and size-frequency analyses using two landslide catalogues as inputs: “Georisk”, provided by the Georisk Scientific Research Company, and “Matossian”, herein. Our spatial analyses show that landslide susceptibility depends on many factors according to the area considered: near faults, a tectonic influence on slope stability is clearly observable, whereas high concentrations of landslides in northern mountain regions, marked by a wetter climate and far from known active faults, show that climatic factors also strongly contribute to slope-failure potential. The influence of volcanoes and volcanic deposits on the development of mass movements is unclear and requires further analysis. The aforementioned inventories do not include any records of volcanic flank collapses, although we expect at least one case in the eastern Lesser Caucasus.
Screening for Frailty in Older Emergency Patients and Association with Outcome
Authors: Lewis Siobhan , Evans Louis , Rainer Timothy , Hewitt Jonathan
Published: March 2020

Older people have a high incidence of adverse outcomes after urgent care presentation. Identifying high-risk older patients early is key to targeting interventions at those patients most likely to benefit. This study used the Frailsafe three-point screening questions amongst older Emergency Department (ED) attendees. Consecutive unplanned ED attendances in patients aged ≥75 were assessed for Frailsafe status. The primary outcome was mortality at 180 days. A Frailsafe screen was completed in 356 patients, of whom 194/356 (54.5%) were Frailsafe positive. The mean age was 85.8 for Frailsafe screen positive and 82.2 for Frailsafe screen negative patients (p < 0.001). A positive Frailsafe screen was a predictor of death within 180 days of presentation to the ED and remained so after adjustment (AOR = 3.23, 95% CI 1.45–7.19, p = 0.004). A positive Frailsafe screen was an independent predictor of a new care home admission at 180 days (AOR = 8.95, 95% CI 2.01–39.83, p = 0.004). A positive Frailsafe screen was also predictive of a number of secondary outcomes, such as length of stay of >28 days (AOR 3.42, 95% CI 1.41–8.31, p = 0.007) and re-attendance within 30 days of discharge after admission (OR = 2.73, 95% CI 1.27–5.88, p = 0.01). Frailsafe screen results independently predict a range of outcomes amongst older ED attendees.
Modeling and Risk Analysis of Chemical Terrorist Attacks: A Bayesian Network Method
Authors: Zhu Rongchen , Hu Xiaofeng , Li Xin , Ye Han , Jia Nan
Published: March 2020

The chemical terrorist attack is an unconventional form of terrorism with vast scope of influence, strong concealment, high technical means and severe consequences. Chemical terrorism risk refers to the uncertainty of the effects of terrorist organisations using toxic industrial chemicals/drugs and classic chemical weapons to attack the population. There are multiple risk factors infecting chemical terrorism risk, such as the threat degree of terrorist organisations, attraction of targets, city emergency response capabilities, and police defense capabilities. We have constructed a Bayesian network of chemical terrorist attacks to conduct risk analysis. The scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis are applied to validate the model and analyse the impact of the vital factor on the risk of chemical terrorist attacks. The results show that the model can be used for simulation and risk analysis of chemical terrorist attacks. In terms of controlling the risk of chemical terrorist attack, patrol and surveillance are less critical than security checks and police investigations. Security check is the most effective approach to decrease the probability of successful attacks. Different terrorist organisations have different degrees of threat, but the impacts of which are limited to the success of the attack. Weapon types and doses are sensitive to casualties, but it is the level of emergency response capabilities that dominates the changes in casualties. Due to the limited number of defensive resources, to get the best consequence, the priority of the deployment of defensive sources should be firstly given to governmental buildings, followed by commercial areas. These findings may provide the theoretical basis and method support for the combat of the public security department and the safety prevention decision of the risk management department.
A Logic Model for Evaluation and Planning in an Adult Day Care for Disabled Japanese Old People
Authors: Naruse Takashi , Kitano Ayaka , Matsumoto Hiroshige , Nagata Satoko
Published: March 2020

Adult day care (ADC) provides various services for meeting clients’ needs. Based on the mini-Delphi method with 46 ADC staff and the discussions with eight ADC administrators, this study developed and finalized a comprehensive logic model to represent the elements of ADC. For the three basic structures of a logic model—inputs/activities, outputs, and outcomes—the model contained seven core categories and 23 sub-categories. The ADC inputs/activities consisted of two core categories: “Place to stay” and “Intervention from staff”. These inputs/activities caused two kinds of outputs: “Clients’ experiences” and “Families’ experiences”. “Accumulating experiences” with repeated ADC visits was established as the link between the ADC outputs and outcomes, which were “Clients’ change” and “Families’ change”. ADC centers provide various experiences for their clients and their caregivers, ranging from the fulfillment of needs for fundamental care to psychiatric care and self-actualization. Improving various model-related inputs/interventions can produce better experiences and outcomes. The model can guide ADC administrators, policymakers, and researchers in the evaluation of a heterogeneous ADC service program that is community-based, thereby ensuring optimal care for clients with an efficient use of resources.
The Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Resilience, Test Anxiety, Academic Stress and the Mediterranean Diet. A Study with University Students
Authors: Trigueros Rubén , Padilla Ana M. , Aguilar-Parra José M. , Rocamora Patricia , Morales-Gázquez María J. , López-Liria Remedios
Published: March 2020

The academic transition to university is a turning point in young people’s lifestyles. However, studies to date have focused on student behaviour within the classroom context, rather than on the consequences it may have on their lifestyle. This study aims to analyze the influence of emotional intelligence of university students on their resilience, academic stress, exam anxiety, and eating habits related to the Mediterranean diet at the university stage. This study was carried out with the participation of 733 male and 614 female students from the University of Almeria, aged between 19 and 27. A structural equation model was made to explain the causal relationships between the variables. The results showed emotional intelligence positively predicted resilience. In turn, test anxiety and academic stress were negatively predicted by resilience. Finally, test anxiety and academic stress were negatively predicted by the Mediterranean diet. In short, the results of the present study have shown that academic transfer to university and grading pressure can generate maladaptive consequences for food consumption.
An Observational Study of Park Attributes and Physical Activity in Neighborhood Parks of Shanghai, China
Authors: Wang Xinxin , Wu Chengzhao
Published: March 2020

Evidence shows that neighborhood parks provide opportunities for urban residents to participate in physical activity, but little is known about the space–behavior relationship of physical settings. This study explored the patterns of use in neighborhood parks, and focused particularly on visitors’ levels of activity supported by the specific landscape features and attributes. Behavior mapping data, including the users’ characteristics, their behaviors and activity levels, and the landscape characteristics, were obtained in three neighborhood parks of Shanghai, China. A total of 6126 park users were documented during the observations, and most of them were involved in sedentary activity. This study found that different environmental settings such as water, plaza, lawn, and architecture supported different types and levels of activity. Although more men than women visited the neighborhood parks, women were more active than men in park-based physical activity. In this Chinese sample, the findings demonstrate behavior mapping is a promising tool to measure park-based physical activity. As this study associated the levels of use with the landscape features, the results are expected to be useful in design practice for promoting regular physical activity.