bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preparation of Laser-Ablated Ag Nanoparticle–MMT Clay-Based Beeswax Antibiofilm Coating
Authors: Hossain Syed Imdadul , Bajrami Diellza , Sportelli Maria Chiara , Picca Rosaria Anna , Volpe Annalisa , Gaudiuso Caterina , Ancona Antonio , Gentile Luigi , Palazzo Gerardo , Ditaranto Nicoletta , Mizaikoff Boris , Cioffi Nicola
Published: January 2023

Unlike other antimicrobial agents, Ag-based composites are stable and currently widely used as broad spectral additives, fighting microbial biofilms and other biological threats. The goal of the present study is to develop a green, multifunctional, and robust antibiofilm water-insoluble coating, inhibiting histamine-producing Lentilactobacillus parabuchneri biofilms. Herein, laser-ablated Ag NPs (L-Ag NPs) were incorporated into and onto a montmorillonite (MMT) surface layer with a simple wet chemical method, provided that the electrostatic interaction between L-Ag NPs and MMT clay led to the formation of L-Ag/MMT nanoantimicrobials (NAMs). The use of MMT support can facilitate handling Ag NPs in industrial applications. The Ag/MMT composite was characterized with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which confirmed the entrapment of L-Ag NPs into MMT clay. The surface chemical composition was assessed with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, proving that Ag NPs were in contact with and deposited onto the surface of MMT. The characteristic L-Ag/MMT band was investigated with UV–vis spectroscopy. Following that, the L-Ag/MMT composite was embedded into a biosafe water-insoluble beeswax agent with a spin coating technique. The antimicrobial ion release kinetic profile of the L-Ag/MMT/beeswax coating through an electrothermal atomic absorption spectroscopy (ETAAS) study supported the controlled release of Ag ions, reaching a plateau at 420 ± 80 nM, which is safe from the point of view of Ag toxicity. Microbial biofilm growth inhibition was assessed with real-time in situ Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) in a flow cell assembly over 32 h. The study was further supported by optical density (OD) measurements and SEM on bacteria incubated in the presence of the L-Ag/MMT/beeswax coating.
Trend of Changes in Chloramphenicol Resistance during the Years 2017–2020: A Retrospective Report from Israel
Authors: Rohana Hannan , Hager-Cohen Anat , Azrad Maya , Peretz Avi
Published: January 2023

Resistant bacteria limit treatment options. This challenge has awakened interest in antibiotics that are no longer in use due to side effects, such as chloramphenicol. This work investigated trends in chloramphenicol resistance rates during 2017–2020 in bacteria isolated from diverse clinical samples at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, Poriya, Israel. Bacteria were isolated from 3873 samples and identified using routine methods, including matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) technology. Chloramphenicol susceptibility was tested using a VITEK II instrument or by the Kirby–Bauer disk-diffusion test. The average chloramphenicol resistance rate was 24%, with no significant differences between study years. Chloramphenicol resistance was associated with sample origin (p < 0.001); isolates originating from sputum samples showed 49.8% resistance rate, compared to 2.3% of the body fluid isolates, 10.4% of the ear/eye isolates and 22.5% of the blood isolates. Furthermore, there was a significant decrease in chloramphenicol resistance among blood and ear/eye isolates during the study period (p = 0.01, p < 0.001, respectively). The highest resistance rate was among Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates (50.5%). In conclusion, since chloramphenicol susceptibility seems to be retained, its comeback to the clinical world should be considered.
Green Synthesis and Antimicrobial Study on Functionalized Chestnut-Shell-Extract Ag Nanoparticles
Authors: Shao Kai , Sun Jixiang , Lin Yamei , Zhi Hongxin , Wang Xitong , Fu Yujie , Xu Jiating , Liu Zhiguo
Published: January 2023

The chestnut shell is usually discarded as agricultural waste and the random deposition of it can cause environmental problems. In this study, monodisperse crystalline Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by a hydrothermal approach, in which the chestnut shell extract served as both reducing agent and stabilizer. The synthesized Ag nanoparticles were characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV) spectrophotometry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The TEM, XRD and XPS results revealed that the synthesized product was spherical Ag nanoparticles with a face-centered cubic crystal structure. The antimicrobial activity test indicated that the Ag nanoparticles modified by the chestnut shell extract had an obvious inhibitory effect on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. The measured MIC and MBC of functionalized chestnut-shell-extract AgNPs against E. coli, S. aureus and C. albicans is relatively low, which indicated that the present functionalized chestnut-shell-extract AgNPs are an efficient antimicrobial agent.
Optimization of Ursolic Acid Extraction in Oil from Annurca Apple to Obtain Oleolytes with Potential Cosmeceutical Application
Authors: Maisto Maria , Piccolo Vincenzo , Novellino Ettore , Schiano Elisabetta , Iannuzzo Fortuna , Ciampaglia Roberto , Summa Vincenzo , Tenore Gian Carlo
Published: January 2023

Ursolic acid (UA) is a plant-derived molecule with relevant anti-aging activity, which makes this molecule a potential functional active ingredient in cosmetic formulations. The main objectives of this study were to optimize the UA extraction process from Annurca apple (AA) with sunflower oil as a lyophilic food-grade solvent using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to determine the potential cosmetic application of the obtained extract. The results of RSM analysis showed a maximum UA yield of 784.40 ± 7.579 (μg/mL) obtained under the following optimized conditions: sunflower oil as extraction solvent, 68.85 °C as extraction temperature, and 63 h as extraction time. The HPLC-DAD-HESI-MS/MS analysis performed on the extract obtained under these conditions, named Optimized Annurca Apple Oleolyte (OAAO), led to the identification of twenty-three phenolic and terpenoid molecules and the quantification of eight of them. To explore the biological properties of OAAO, the in vitro antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays, resulting in 16.63 ± 0.22, 5.90 ± 0.49, and 21.72 ± 0.68 μmol Trolox equivalent/g extract, respectively. Moreover, the permeation study has shown that OAAO may be considered a safe and functional ingredient in potential cosmetic formulations.
Dual-Path Adversarial Generation Network for Super-Resolution Reconstruction of Remote Sensing Images
Authors: Ren Zhipeng , Zhao Jianping , Chen Chunyi , Lou Yan , Ma Xiaocong
Published: January 2023

Satellite remote sensing images contain adequate ground object information, making them distinguishable from natural images. Due to the constraint hardware capability of the satellite remote sensing imaging system, coupled with the surrounding complex electromagnetic noise, harsh natural environment, and other factors, the quality of the acquired image may not be ideal for follow-up research to make suitable judgment. In order to obtain clearer images, we propose a dual-path adversarial generation network model algorithm that particularly improves the accuracy of the satellite remote sensing image super-resolution. This network involves a dual-path convolution operation in a generator structure, a feature mapping attention mechanism that first extracts important feature information from a low-resolution image, and an enhanced deep convolutional network to extract the deep feature information of the image. The deep feature information and the important feature information are then fused in the reconstruction layer. Furthermore, we also improve the algorithm structure of the loss function and discriminator to achieve a relatively optimal balance between the output image and the discriminator, so as to restore the super-resolution image closer to human perception. Our algorithm was validated on the public UCAS-AOD datasets, and the obtained results showed significantly improved performance compared to other methods, thus exhibiting a real advantage in supporting various image-related field applications such as navigation monitoring.
A Comparative Study of Microwave and Sous-Vide Cooking Effects on Pikeperch Fillets’ Fatty Acid Composition and Quality Attributes
Authors: Modzelewska-Kapituła Monika , Pietrzak-Fiećko Renata , Zakrzewski Arkadiusz , Zakęś Zdzisław
Published: January 2023

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of microwave and sous-vide cooking on chemical composition, including fatty acid composition, colour, and microbial and eating quality of fillets produced from wild-living pikeperch. Skinned fillets were sous-vide (SV)-cooked at 65 °C for 40 min. or cooked in a microwave oven (M) at 539 W for 3 min. Generally, cooking decreased moisture and increased protein contents in SV and M, and increased fat content in SV. Cooking increased lightness and yellowness while decreasing redness of fillets, but there were no differences between SV and M. SV fillets showed a significantly higher cooking loss than M samples. SV and M samples showed a similarly high sensory and microbial quality, although microwave cooking was more effective in total viable bacteria counts reduction. Similar fatty acid proportions and concentrations were noted in M and SV fillets, suggesting that both methods preserved well fatty acids in pikeperch meat tissue.
Development, Validation, and Application of a Simple and Rugged HPLC Method for Boswellic Acids for a Comparative Study of Their Abundance in Different Species of Boswellia Gum Resins
Authors: Asteggiano Alberto , Curatolo Loris , Schiavo Valentina , Occhipinti Andrea , Medana Claudio
Published: January 2023

The resin of Boswellia plant species has been used since ancient times for its several bio-active curative effects. In modern times, extracts of this resin are still widely commercialized on the food supplements and nutraceuticals market. Nowadays the legislation on botanical extracts and the increasing demand for their safety and traceability are setting new standards for their chemical characterization. In this work we present an easy, feasible and rugged HPLC-UV-based approach for the quantitation of boswellic acids in food-supplement-grade resin extracts of Boswellia plant species. This method can be used for quality control purposes as well as for studying their differences in regional origin, years of harvesting and species-related differences. The method employs a C18 (3 × 150 mm, 3 µm) analytical HPLC column, and the separation is carried out through a gradient of acetonitrile/water with 0.1% formic acid. The method was validated following the ICH guidelines and used to quantitate different samples of commercial resin of Boswellia carteri and serrata together with other samples from unknown species. The six known boswellic acids were identified and quantified in all the analyzed samples. The results were used to build a multivariate model to graphically appreciate their difference through their clustering. The model was then augmented by adding further quantitation data for boswellic acids belonging to different species of Boswellia obtained by another scientific publications to increase the number of studied samples.
Magnetic Field Analysis and Optimization of the Gauge of Hybrid Maglev Needles
Authors: Xiong Tao , Peng Yi , Zuo Xiaoyan , Zhang Chengjun , Zhang Chi , Zhang Libin , Li Hongjun
Published: January 2023

Compared with the traditional needle driving method, hybrid maglev needle driving is a new weft knitting machine technology, which alleviates the problems of noise, heat, and needle breakage. However, in the structure of needle arrays, magnetic disturbance between permanent magnet knitting needles leads to unstable needle control. Therefore, this paper attempts to solve this problem through a performance analysis of hybrid maglev needle driving. Based on the structure, the magnetic force distribution model of permanent magnet knitting needles is established. Aiming at the magnetic interference between magnetic arrays, a magnetic shielding material, silicon steel with a high permeability, is proposed to optimize the driving structure of a magnetic levitation needle array. Through simulation and experimental analysis, the influence of different silicon steel thicknesses on magnetic field shielding is analyzed. It is concluded that the optimal value of a silicon steel sheet is 1 mm and that the optimal gauge of hybrid maglev knitting needles is 8 mm. Finally, compared with the theoretical and simulation analysis, the experimental results have indicated that the proposed optimized structure of the gauge of hybrid maglev knitting needles is correct and effective.
Development of a High-Function Fiber Stylus for Microstructure Measurement with Water-Repellent and Antistatic Coatings
Authors: Murakami Hiroshi , Uchiyama Kosuke , Katsuki Akio , Sajima Takao , Fujiyoshi Kunitaka
Published: January 2023

The precise measurement of microstructures and other micron-sized materials has garnered considerable interest in recent years. We have developed a measurement system that uses an etched small diameter optical fiber as a stylus to measure microstructures with low contact force. However, when the diameter of the stylus tip is less than a few tens of micrometers, the surface forces between the measured surface and the stylus tip become larger than the gravity of the stylus tip, causing the stylus tip to stick to the measured surface. This adhesion leads to an increase in measurement time and a decrease in measurement accuracy. In this study, we fabricated a high-function stylus with water-repellent and antistatic coatings applied to the stylus tip to reduce the adhesion between the stylus tip and measured surface due to surface forces, and conducted performance evaluation tests. As a result, the average separation distance was 13.8 µm when a fluorinated resin coating with a contact angle of 105° was used, confirming that the influence of liquid bridge forces could be reduced by approximately 78%. Additionally, when static elimination experiments were conducted by scanning the charged surface at a pitch of 0.5 µm using an antistatic coating stylus with a gold on the stylus surface, the average adsorption distance was 3.6 µm, confirming that the effect of electrostatic force could be reduced by 71%.
Nonlinear Aeroelastic Characteristics of a Supersonic All-Movable Fin with Single or Multiple Freeplay Nonlinearities
Authors: Bai Liuyue , Wu Zhigang , Yang Chao
Published: January 2023

Establishing the aeroelastic characteristic of all-movable fins with freeplay nonlinearities is one of the most common problems in the design of supersonic flight vehicles. In this context, this study provided novel points of view on the nonlinear aeroelastic characteristics of an all-movable fin with freeplay nonlinearities in its root. The unsteady aerodynamic model that was employed uses the second-order piston theory considering thickness effects. For a system with multiple freeplay nonlinearities, a discrete scanning method based on the describing function method was established to solve the limit-cycle oscillations (LCOs) and avoid the loss of solutions. Combining this with the time-domain integration method, the influences of the support stiffness at the root of the fin and the freeplay size ratio of the bending and torsional degrees of freedom on the dynamical response of the system were analyzed. The results demonstrate that systems with a single freeplay nonlinearity exhibit two completely different types of LCO, while systems with multiple freeplay nonlinearities exhibit complex dynamical behaviors such as LCO and quasi-periodic and chaotic motions. The path of a quasi-periodic torus breaking into chaos was observed. Furthermore, a harmonic initial condition for the time-domain integration is proposed; this can be used for a quick check of the frequency-domain calculation results.
Applications of BWM and GRA for Evaluating the Risk of Picking and Material-Handling Accidents in Warehouse Facilities
Authors: Hsu Hsin-Yao , Hwang Ming-Hon , Tsou Po-Heng
Published: January 2023

Warehouse accidents have become of wide concern to the public because they often cause heavy economic losses and heavy casualties. Therefore, it is critical to foster the safety and reliability of warehouse facilities to reduce accidents. However, in the relevant literature, the increased safety of warehouse facilities has seldom been researched. This is a main research gap that the authors would like to supplement with the aim of enhancing warehouse facility reliability to improve risk management in a comprehensive and reliable way. The objectives of this research article are to collect the critical risks from the relevant literature and interviewees, to calculate the weights of four critical indicators (O, S, D, and E) by the BWM approach, and to rank the critical risks of picking and material-handling accidents in a warehouse facility through GRA, the HFACS model, and the FMEA approach. The ranking results show that cost is the most essential element and the expected cost > detection > severity > occurrence, according to the average value of experts’ comprehensive consideration of importance. Next, GRA is used to prioritize the critical risks of picking and material-handling accidents. The main contribution is that we identify 18 major critical risk accidents of the HFACS risk categories and make up for the insufficiency of past research that lacks an empirical analysis of the risks of picking and material-handling accidents in warehouse facilities.
Finding the Least Motion-Blurred Image by Reusing Early Features of Object Detection Network
Authors: Tamulionis Mantas , Sledevič Tomyslav , Abromavičius Vytautas , Kurpytė-Lipnickė Dovilė , Navakauskas Dalius , Serackis Artūras , Matuzevičius Dalius
Published: January 2023

Taking smartphone-made videos for photogrammetry is a convenient approach because of the easy image collection process for the object being reconstructed. However, the video may contain a lot of relatively similar frames. Additionally, frames may be of different quality. The primary source of quality variation in the same video is varying motion blur. Splitting the sequence of the frames into chunks and choosing the least motion-blurred frame in every chunk would reduce data redundancy and improve image data quality. Such reduction will lead to faster and more accurate reconstruction of the 3D objects. In this research, we investigated image quality evaluation in the case of human 3D head modeling. Suppose a head modeling workflow already uses a convolutional neural network for the head detection task in order to remove non-static background. In that case, features from the neural network may be reused for the quality evaluation of the same image. We proposed a motion blur evaluation method based on the LightGBM ranker model. The method was evaluated and compared with other blind image quality evaluation methods using videos of a mannequin head and real faces. Evaluation results show that the developed method in both cases outperformed sharpness-based, BRISQUE, NIQUE, and PIQUE methods in finding the least motion-blurred image.
Deep Learning-Based Acoustic Echo Cancellation for Surround Sound Systems
Authors: Li Guoteng , Zheng Chengshi , Ke Yuxuan , Li Xiaodong
Published: January 2023

Surround sound systems that play back multi-channel audio signals through multiple loudspeakers can improve augmented reality, which has been widely used in many multimedia communication systems. It is common that a hand-free speech communication system suffers from the acoustic echo problem, and the echo needs to be canceled or suppressed completely. This paper proposes a deep learning-based acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) method to recover the desired near-end speech from the microphone signals in surround sound systems. The ambisonics technique was adopted to record the surround sound for reproduction. To achieve a better generalization capability against different loudspeaker layouts, the compressed complex spectra of the first-order ambisonic signals (B-format) were sent to the neural network as the input features directly instead of using the ambisonic decoded signals (D-format). Experimental results on both simulated and real acoustic environments showed the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in surround AEC, and outperformed other competing methods in terms of the speech quality and the amount of echo reduction.
Impedance Measurement for the Monitoring of In Vitro Cells Cultured in the Presence of Electromagnetic Waves
Authors: Kociubiński Andrzej , Wilczyńska Aleksandra , Mazurek Paweł A. , Pigoń-Zając Dominika , Małecka-Massalska Teresa , Prendecka-Wróbel Monika
Published: January 2023

This paper explores the possibility of using the impedance measurement method used to monitor morphological changes in culture cells for use in cultures in the presence of an electromagnetic field generated by a mobile phone. For this purpose, we used Electric Cell–Substrate Impedance Sensing (ECIS), which is a real-time, label-free, impedance-based method to study cell behaviors in tissue culture. As part of the work, a device enabling the connection in a climatic chamber was prepared without the need to interfere with environmental conditions, and a test culture of mouse fibroblasts was performed. The device based on the Arduino UNO programmable platform worked like a mobile phone. During cell proliferation, it was connected to the device three times and a change in electrical parameters in the measuring system was observed. During the phone call, there was a clear change in the values of the measured parameters. However, analysis of the obtained results indicated that there was little or no effect of the presence of the electromagnetic field on the cell culture, while the observed changes in the values of impedance, resistance, and capacitance are most likely due to the separation of positive and negative medium ions in the electromagnetic field. The application of the presented method seems possible; however, in order to eliminate the separation of ions, a different type of antenna should be designed to emit a homogeneous field to the entire well.
Wearable Inertial Devices in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Scoping Review
Authors: Panero Elisa , D’Alessandro Rossella , Cavallina Ilaria , Davico Chiara , Mongini Tiziana , Gastaldi Laura , Ricci Federica
Published: January 2023

In clinical practice and research, innovative digital technologies have been proposed for the characterization of neuromuscular and movement disorders through objective measures. Among these, wearable devices prove to be a suitable solution for tele-monitoring, tele-rehabilitation, and daily activities monitoring. Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) are low-cost, compact, and easy-to-use wearable devices that evaluate kinematics during different movements. Kinematic variables could support the clinical evaluation of the progression of some neuromuscular diseases and could be used as outcome measures. The current review describes the use of IMUs for the biomechanical assessment of meaningful outcome measures in individuals affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The PRISMA methodology was used and the search was conducted in different databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed). A total of 23 articles were examined and classified according to year of publication, ambulatory/non-ambulatory subjects, and IMU positioning on human body. The analysis points out the recent regulatory identification of Stride Velocity 95th Centile as a new endpoint in therapeutic DMD trials when measured continuously from a wearable device, while only a few studies proposed the use of IMUs in non-ambulatory patients. Clinical recognition of reliable and accurate outcome measures for the upper body is still a challenge.
Experimental and Numerical Simulations of Climatic Loads in Insulating Glass Units by Controlled Change of Pressure in the Gap
Authors: Kozłowski Marcin , Respondek Zbigniew , Wiśniowski Maciej , Cornik Dawid , Zemła Kinga
Published: January 2023

Insulating glass units (IGUs) are building components that show a particular structural behavior. Although such structures have many advantages from the point of view of thermal protection of buildings, they show particular structural behavior under climatic loads. The inability to equalize the pressure with the surrounding atmospheric air causes over- or under-pressure inside the gap. The phenomenon may result in the deformation of the panes under the influence of temporary or cyclical changes in weather conditions. This article presents the results of an experimental campaign with a representative IGU sample. The sample had dimensions of 500 mm × 500 mm and was composed of two 6 mm glass panes and a 16 mm wide spacer. The experiments were carried out using a rarely used methodology by inducing a controlled pressure change in the gap. Subsequently, analytical and numerical models were developed, and the results were compared with the experimental findings. The study found that the rapid injection/withdrawal of gas into/from the gap causes a sudden change in the pressure inside the gap, which decreases in absolute value and stabilizes after a few seconds. The decrease, on average, of 7% is due to adiabatic effects resulting from the high rate of gas exchange. The results from the numerical and analytical studies underestimate the pressure difference values obtained in the tests by an average of 8%. In terms of deflections and stresses, the results overestimate the experiments by 16% and 32%, respectively. This finding indicates the presence of a partial rotational restrain of the panes’ edges, which some researchers have also reported. This effect is usually ignored in engineering practice.
A Unified Approach for Risk Assessment of Road Crash Barriers Using Bayesian Statistics
Authors: Vrtal Pavel , Kocián Karel , Nováček Jakub , Svatý Zděněk , Kohout Tomáš
Published: January 2023

The aim of this article is to improve road safety. Specifically, it deals with the development of a mathematical model that will more accurately define the severity of a defect in a road restraint system. Currently, that evaluation is based only on the subjective perception of individual safety auditors. The mathematical model was developed based on the principle of Bayesian statistics. The determination of the specific risk was made by comparing the results of the model for two datasets. In the first case, the model was based on accident data correlated with recorded defects in road restraint systems. In the second case, the dataset represented accident events with crash barriers where no defect was identified. Based on the comparison, a total of 64 risk combinations were identified. The mathematical model confirmed 26 combinations (41% of all selected combinations of the defect levels of the crash barriers). Although not even half of the identified combinations were confirmed, more than 90% of all correlated records are found in these exposures of confirmed combinations. The verification was able to clearly define the risk of safety defects and thus brings potential accuracy to subsequent decision-making related to the repair of road restraint systems.
An Accurate Quantitative X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy Study of Pure and Homogeneous ZrN Thin Films Deposited Using BPDMS
Authors: Mirenghi Luciana , Rizzo Antonella
Published: January 2023

A quantitative X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) study has been undertaken on different experimental data sets of ZrN thin films deposited using reactive Bipolar Pulsed Dual-Magnetron Sputtering (BPDMS) on silicon/stainless steel substates, to obtain dense, pure and homogeneous coatings, free from morphological defects. Zirconium nitride (ZrN) occupies a central role within the class of transition metal nitrides (TMN) for its excellent properties, such as high hardness, low resistivity and chemical/thermal stability when its stoichiometric ratio is 1:1. Many deposition techniques, reported in the literature, tried to obtain oxygen-free and defect-free structures, but they proved a hard task. In this paper it has been demonstrated, using quantitative XPS, that stoichiometric, pure and homogeneous ZrN films have been grown at certain deposition conditions, optimized also via optional accessories mounted on the deposition apparatus. Almost all the films considered for microanalytical characterization resulted as completely oxygen-free, pure (with a lowest-detection limit of 1%) and homogeneous. Apart from these features, a stoichiometric ratio (N/Zr) close to one was calculated for six samples of the ten investigated, with a precision of ± 0.01. In this frame XPS, widely known for being a highly surface-sensitive technique (average depth resolution of 20–30 Å), and powerful for characterizing the chemical composition of materials, has been extensively employed to extract information both in the surface regions and in depth. A cluster ion beam Ar+ 2500 facility on our main XPS chamber has not proved adequate for depth-profiling acquisitions. Therefore, Ar+ ion sputtering was performed instead. To the best of our best knowledge, the results achieved in the present paper possess a level of accuracy never reached before. Rigorous calibration procedures before and during experimental spectrum acquisitions and a careful and scrupulous data processing using software CasaXps v.2.3.24PR1 were carried out to ensure a low percentage error. Progress has also been made for shake-up satellite extraction and interpretation from Zr 3d high-resolution spectra with the help of the literature milestones reported in the text. The total absence of oxygen inside most of the films prevented the formation of zirconium oxide compounds during deposition, which are generally resonant with the binding energy of the shake-up satellite peaks and hide them. A little summary about the experimental shake-up satellite peaks revealed and extracted from the Zr 3d region, after Shirley background subtraction and data processing, will be presented in the last subparagraph of the “Results” section for the ZrN samples analyzed. Figures of Zr 3d deconvoluted spectra for in-depth area analysis have been reported. The quantitative satellite contribution to the Zr 3d total area would not be included in stoichiometric calculations.
A New Method to Detect Splicing Image Forgery Using Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Hosny Khalid M. , Mortda Akram M. , Lashin Nabil A. , Fouda Mostafa M.
Published: January 2023

Recently, digital images have been considered the primary key for many applications, such as forensics, medical diagnosis, and social networks. Image forgery detection is considered one of the most complex digital image applications. More profoundly, image splicing was investigated as one of the common types of image forgery. As a result, we proposed a convolutional neural network (CNN) model for detecting splicing forged images in real-time and with high accuracy, with a small number of parameters as compared with the recently published approaches. The presented model is a lightweight model with only four convolutional layers and four max-pooling layers, which is suitable for most environments that have limitations in their resources. A detailed comparison was conducted between the proposed model and the other investigated models. The sensitivity and specificity of the proposed model over CASIA 1.0, CASIA 2.0, and CUISDE datasets are determined. The proposed model achieved an accuracy of 99.1% in detecting forgery on the CASIA 1.0 dataset, 99.3% in detecting forgery on the CASIA 2.0 dataset, and 100% in detecting forgery on the CUISDE dataset. The proposed model achieved high accuracy, with a small number of parameters. Therefore, specialists can use the proposed approach as an automated tool for real-time forged image detection.
Diagnosis and Treatment in Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Espada-Sánchez Marta , Sáenz de Santa María Rocío , Martín-Astorga María del Carmen , Lebrón-Martín Clara , Delgado María Jesús , Eguiluz-Gracia Ibón , Rondón Carmen , Mayorga Cristobalina , Torres María José , Aranda Carlos José , Cañas José Antonio
Published: January 2023

Respiratory diseases are pathological conditions that affect airways, hampering breathing and causing high mortality. In particular, asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR) are two of the most common airway diseases that affect millions of people and have a high prevalence in childhood and adulthood. Asthma is a heterogeneous chronic inflammatory disease characterized by wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and cough. AR occurs with rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, and sneezing. Indeed, these pathologies share common physiopathological mechanisms such as airway hyperresponsiveness and similar immunopathology such as tissue eosinophilia and T-helper type 2 inflammation. Moreover, AR can be an important risk factor for suffering asthma. Thus, early diagnosis and effective treatment are crucial to improving the health and quality of life of these patients. Classical drugs such as corticosteroids have been used; however, in the last decades, efforts to improve treatments have increased, focusing on biological agents and specific allergen immunotherapy development. Moreover, more precise diagnostic tools have been elaborated, besides classical methods (medical history, physical examination, and pulmonary function tests), such as basophil activation test, and specific cellular and molecular biomarkers (microRNAs, sputum/blood eosinophils, IgE serum, and periostin levels). Therefore, in this review, we compile all these important issues for managing asthma and AR.
Evaluating the Quality of Raw Chocolate as an Alternative to Commercial Products
Authors: Kowalski Radosław , Rosochacki Marek , Wyrostek Jakub , Islam Muhammad Torequl
Published: January 2023

The aim of this presented study was the sensory evaluation, the analysis of the nutritional composition, and the analysis of the content of health-promoting ingredients, i.e., the total phenolic compounds and the total flavonoids, in raw chocolate (made exclusively from unroasted cocoa beans, cane sugar, and cocoa butter) in comparison to classic commercial chocolates available in the consumer market. The research showed that raw chocolate, compared to commercial chocolates, contained less carbohydrates (39.6% in raw chocolate and 42.7% and 53.7% in commercial chocolate, respectively), was characterized by a higher content of total phenolic compounds (22.08 mg GAE/g in raw chocolate and 9.25 and 7.87 mg GAE/g in commercial chocolates, respectively), had a a higher content of total flavonoids (8.75 mg ECE/g in raw chocolate and 4.43 mg/g and 3.83 mg ECE/g in commercial chocolates, respectively), and also had a higher total antioxidant activity (172.16 μM TE/g in raw chocolate and 132.60 and 63.76 μM TE/g in commercial chocolates, respectively). In the sensory assessment, raw chocolate received lower ranks than commercial chocolates, especially in the case of the most important discriminant in the entire evaluation, i.e., taste, which was unquestionably related to the lower content of carbohydrates. However, currently, it is necessary to reduce the consumption of sugar, which, when excessively present in the diet, is the cause of many diseases. However, in the sensory evaluation for the criteria “external appearance—shape” and “external appearance—surface condition,” the raw chocolate received the highest marks.
A Perspective on Ethernet in Automotive Communications—Current Status and Future Trends
Authors: Lo Bello Lucia , Patti Gaetano , Leonardi Luca
Published: January 2023

Automated driving requires correct perception of the surrounding environment in any driving condition. To achieve this result, not only are many more sensors than in current Advanced Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS) needed, but such sensors are also of different types, such as radars, ultrasonic sensors, LiDARs, and video cameras. Given the high number of sensors and the bandwidth requirements of some of them, high-bandwidth automotive-grade networks are required. Ethernet technology is a suitable candidate, as it offers a broad selection of automotive-grade Ethernet physical layers, with transmission speeds ranging from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps. In addition, the Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) family of standards offers several features for Ethernet-based networks that are suitable for automotive communications, such as high reliability, bounded delays, support for scheduled traffic, etc. In this context, this paper provides an overview of Ethernet-based in-car networking and discusses novel trends and future developments in automotive communications.
A New Smoke Segmentation Method Based on Improved Adaptive Density Peak Clustering
Authors: Ma Zongfang , Cao Yonggen , Song Lin , Hao Fan , Zhao Jiaxing
Published: January 2023

Smoke image segmentation plays a vital role in the accuracy of target extraction. In order to improve the performance of the traditional fire image segmentation algorithm, a new smoke segmentation method based on improved double truncation distance self-adaptive density peak clustering(TSDPC) is proposed. Firstly, the smoke image is over-segmented into multiple superpixels to reduce the time cost, and the local density of sample points corresponding to each superpixel is redefined by location information and color space information. Secondly, TSDPC combines the information entropy theory to find the optimal double truncation distance. Finally, TSDPC uses trigonometric functions to determine clustering centers in the decision diagram, which can solve the problem of over-segmentation. Then, it assigns labels to the remain sample points for obtaining the clustering result. Compared with other algorithms, the accuracy of TSDPC is increased by 5.68% on average, and the F1 value is increased by 6.69% on average, which shows its high accuracy and effectiveness. In public dataset, TSDPC has also demonstrated its effectiveness.
This Country Ain’t Low—The Country Music of Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash as a Form of Redistributive Politics
Authors: Ben Mna Ilias
Published: January 2023

This article examines how the country music styles of Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash serve as a form of redistributive politics in which ideological struggles are engaged in ways that dissolve low/high culture distinctions and instead offer a mass-accessible avenue through which cultural recognition is conferred to marginalized identities. This ranges from class-based social critique in Dolly Parton’s song “9 to 5” to the condemnations of the carceral state in Johnny Cash’s work. Engaging country music as an arsenal for social progressivism is not only an underexplored topic in pop cultural studies, but it also provides fertile ground for illuminating how perceptions of the genre are impacted by stereotypical images drawn from the “culture wars” and how these images interrelate with implicit low/high distinctions. For instance, what does the commercial success of Parton’s and Cash’s works say about the low/high distinction? In what ways do their songs, lyrics, aesthetics, and public personae offer a distinctive space for a type of discourse that affords recognition to oppressed communities? Through addressing these questions, I seek to illustrate how prominent segments of country music are resistant to the mere reproduction of cultural hegemony. In doing so, they actively disrupt widespread conceptions of low culture as reactionary.
A Novel Hybrid Simulated Annealing for No-Wait Open-Shop Surgical Case Scheduling Problems
Authors: Rahimi Amin , Hejazi Seyed Mojtaba , Zandieh Mostafa , Mirmozaffari Mirpouya
Published: January 2023

In this paper, the problem of finding an assignment of “n” surgeries to be presented in one of “m” identical operating rooms (ORs) or machines as the surgical case scheduling problem (SCSP) is proposed. Since ORs are among NP-hard optimization problems, mathematical and metaheuristic methods to address OR optimization problems are used. The job or surgical operation ordering in any OR is a permanent part of all sequencing and scheduling problems. The transportation times between ORs are defined based on the type of surgical operations and do not depend on distance, so there is no surgical operation waiting time for transferring. These problems are called no-wait open-shop scheduling problems (NWOSP) with transportation times. The transportation system for the problems is considered a multi-transportation system with no limitation on the number of transportation devices. Accordingly, this study modeled a novel combined no-wait open-shop surgical case scheduling problem (NWOSP-SCSP) with multi-transportation times for the first time to minimize the maximum percentile of makespan for OR as a single objective model. A mixed-integer linear program (MILP) with small-sized instances is solved. In addition to the small-sized model, a novel metaheuristic based on a hybrid simulated annealing (SA) algorithm to solve large-sized problems in an acceptable computational time is suggested, considering the comparison of the SA algorithm and a new recommended heuristic algorithm. Then, the proposed hybrid SA and SA algorithms are compared based on their performance measurement. After reaching the results with a numerical analysis in Nova Scotia health authority hospitals and health centers, the hybrid SA algorithm has generated significantly higher performance than the SA algorithm.
Investigating Tropical Cyclone Rapid Intensification with an Advanced Artificial Intelligence System and Gridded Reanalysis Data
Authors: Wei Yijun , Yang Ruixin , Sun Donglian
Published: January 2023

Rapid Intensification (RI) in Tropical Cyclone (TC) development is one of the most difficult and still challenging tasks in weather forecasting. In addition to the dynamical numerical simulations, commonly used techniques for RI (as well as TC intensity changes) analysis and prediction are the composite analysis and statistical models based on features derived from the composite analysis. Quite a large number of such selected and pre-determined features related to TC intensity change and RI have been accumulated by the domain scientists, such as those in the widely used SHIPS (Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme) database. Moreover, new features are still being added with new algorithms and/or newly available datasets. However, there are very few unified frameworks for systematically distilling features from a comprehensive data source. One such unified Artificial Intelligence (AI) system was developed for deriving features from TC centers, and here, we expand that system to large-scale environmental condition. In this study, we implemented a deep learning algorithm, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim reanalysis data and identified and refined potentially new features relevant to RI such as specific humidity in east or northeast, vorticity and horizontal wind in north and south relative to the TC centers, as well as ozone at high altitudes that could help the prediction and understanding of the occurrence of RI based on the deep learning network (named TCNET in this study). By combining the newly derived features and the features from the SHIPS database, the RI prediction performance can be improved by 43%, 23%, and 30% in terms of Kappa, probability of detection (POD), and false alarm rate (FAR) against the same modern classification model but with the SHIPS inputs only.
Diagnostic Study of a Severe Dust Storm over North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
Authors: Al-Mutairi Motirh , Labban Abdulhaleem , Abdeldym Abdallah , Alkhouly Ahmed , Abdel Basset Heshmat , Morsy Mostafa
Published: January 2023

This work aimed to study the synoptic evolution and dynamics of the dust activity associated with the desert cyclone occurring over North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula on 4–8 April 2007 based on ECMWF analysis (ERA5) data. This desert cyclone formed over North Africa (Algeria) in the lee of the Atlas Mountains in response to a powerful upper-level trough transporting cold air into northern Africa coming from high latitudes. The development of the cyclone was initiated when the contrast in temperature between the Mediterranean Sea and northern Africa (the desert) was strong, which increased the meridional temperature gradient. The isobaric vorticity analysis illustrated that the strong advection of positive vorticity and warm air ahead of the cyclone triggered cyclogenesis and low-level jet (LLJ) formation. The strong LLJ maintained the development of the cyclone inside the area of baroclinicity at a low-level. The horizontal divergence of 700 hPa level covered the region downstream of the cyclone trough and is coupled with the lower-level convergence. The study of frontogentical function concluded that the first stage of cyclogenesis is associated with frontogenesis working at the initial front of the cyclone. The vertical motions are then dominated by the direct transverse circulation with the ascent of the warmer and descent of the colder air. The mass transport within the circulation causes pressure falls along the surface front connected with convergence leading to the production of vorticity. The dust emissions linked to the cyclone during its duration and along its path were also investigated.
Hydro-Climatic Trends, Variability, and Regime Shifts
Authors: Chen Chia-Jeng , Bao Shaowu
Published: January 2023

Unraveling trends and variability in hydro-climatic parameters (for example, precipitation and temperature) is a fundamental research problem that is of great importance to environmental resource management, especially under the urgent circumstances of climate change [...]
Astronomical Seeing and Meteorological Parameters at Maidanak Observatory
Authors: Tillayev Yusufjon , Azimov Azimjon , Ehgamberdiev Shuhrat , Ilyasov Sabit
Published: January 2023

In this article, we present the results of astronomical seeing measurements conducted at the Maidanak observatory and the influence of meteorological parameters on astronomical seeing. A differential image motion monitor (DIMM) was used to measure astronomical seeing. Astronomical seeing observations were made between 2018–2022, mainly in the summer and autumn months. A total of 266 night observations were conducted between 2018 and 2022. For the whole time frame, the median seeing value was 0.69 arc seconds. With a median value of 0.65″, 2019 is the year with the best seeing, and 2021 has the worst seeing (0.71″). Analysis of long-term variations of the amount of clear time revealed a small trend of decrease in the amount. The correlation between the meteorological parameters and seeing was analyzed. It was determined that the meteorological parameters with the greatest impact on the seeing are wind speed and nighttime temperature variation. The correlation coefficient was equal to 13% and 21% for both quantities. It was found that wind direction and temperature have a relatively weak correlation with astronomical seeing.