bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oils from Ferula L. Species against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Utegenova Gulzhakhan A. , Pallister Kyler B. , Kushnarenko Svetlana V. , Özek Gulmira , Özek Temel , Abidkulova Karime T. , Kirpotina Liliya N. , Schepetkin Igor A. , Quinn Mark T. , Voyich Jovanka M.
Published: July 2018

Essential oils (EOs) were obtained by hydrodistillation of various parts of Ferula ovina (Boiss.) Boiss., Ferula iliensis Krasn. ex. Korovin, and Ferula akitschkensis B. Fedtsch. ex Koso-Pol., collected in the flowering/budding and fruiting stages. Eight samples of EOs isolated from F. ovina and four samples from F. akitsckensis were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major constituents of F. ovina EOs were α-pinene (6.9–47.8%), β-pinene (1.5–7.1%), sabinene (0.1–20.5%), β-phellandrene (0–6.5%), trans-verbenol (0.9–7.4%), eremophilene (3.1–12%), and 6Z-2,5,5,10-tetramethyl-undeca-2,6,9-trien-8-one (0–13.7%). The major constituents of F. akitsckensis EOs were α-pinene (0–46.2%), β-pinene (0–47.9%), sabinene (0–28.3%), eremophilene (0–10.6), β-caryophyllene (0–7.5%), himachalen-7-ol (0–28.2%), and an himachalol derivative (0–8.3%). Samples of EOs from F. ovina, F. iliensis, and F. akitsckensis were evaluated for antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pulse-field gel electrophoresis type USA300 (LAC). EOs from F. ovina exhibited the highest antibacterial activity compared to samples from other Ferula spp., with the most potent EOs being isolated from roots at the flowering and fruiting stages and stems at the fruiting stage (IC50 values of 19.1, 20.9, and 22.9 µg/mL, respectively). Although EOs demonstrated concentration-dependent inhibition of MRSA growth, analysis of the major constituents (α-pinene, β-pinene, and sabinene) showed that they had low activity, suggesting that other components were likely responsible for the observed bioactivity of the unfractionated EOs. Indeed, correlation of the GC-MS data with antibacterial activity suggested that the putative components responsible for antibacterial activity were, either individually or in combination, eremophilene and trans-verbenol. Overall, these results suggest that the EOs from F. ovina could have potential for use as alternative remedies for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by MRSA.
A Pilot Randomized Trial of Oral Magnesium Supplementation on Supraventricular Arrhythmias
Authors: Lutsey Pamela L. , Chen Lin Y. , Eaton Anne , Jaeb Melanie , Rudser Kyle D. , Neaton James D. , Alonso Alvaro
Published: July 2018

Low magnesium may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. We conducted a double-blind pilot randomized trial to assess adherence to oral magnesium supplementation (400 mg of magnesium oxide daily) and a matching placebo, estimate the effect on circulating magnesium concentrations, and evaluate the feasibility of using an ambulatory heart rhythm monitoring device (ZioPatch) for assessing premature atrial contractions. A total of 59 participants were randomized; 73% were women, and the mean age was 62 years. A total of 98% of the participants completed the follow-up. In the magnesium supplement group, 75% of pills were taken, and in the placebo group, 83% were taken. The change in magnesium concentrations was significantly greater for those given the magnesium supplements than for those given the placebo (0.07; 95% confidence interval: 0.03, 0.12 mEq/L; p = 0.002). The ZioPatch wear time was approximately 13 of the requested 14 days at baseline and follow-up. There was no difference by intervention assignment in the change in log premature atrial contractions burden, glucose, or blood pressure. Gastrointestinal changes were more common among the participants assigned magnesium (50%) than among those assigned the placebo (7%), but only one person discontinued participation. In sum, compliance with the oral magnesium supplementation was very good, and acceptance of the ZioPatch monitoring was excellent. These findings support the feasibility of a larger trial for atrial fibrillation (AF) prevention with oral magnesium supplementation.
Lower Protein Intake Supports Normal Growth of Full-Term Infants Fed Formula: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Oropeza-Ceja Lorena G. , Rosado Jorge L. , Ronquillo Dolores , García Olga P. , Caamaño María del C. , García-Ugalde Carlos , Viveros-Contreras Rubí , Duarte-Vázquez Miguel Ángel
Published: July 2018

Infant formulas have been conventionally prepared with an excess of total protein in order to provide sufficient amounts of essential amino acids to the rapidly growing infant. However, this practice leads to higher than necessary protein intake during early infant development, inducing accelerated growth patterns correlated with the development of chronic diseases later in life. This study was aimed at assessing the safety of an infant formula enriched with bovine alpha-lactalbumin containing a total protein concentration very close to that of human milk, and determining its efficacy in the support of healthy infant growth from the first month to the fourth month of age. Healthy full-term infants ≤40 days of age were randomized in this controlled single blind trial to one of the following infant formulas: IF 1 (containing 1.0 g protein/dL; n = 30), IF 2 (containing 1.3 g protein/dL; n = 24), and IF 3 (containing 1.5 g protein/dL; n = 42). A control group consisting of exclusively breastfed infants (HM; n = 212) was included in the study. Anthropometric measurements and Z-scores were evaluated at baseline, at 1 month of age, and at 4 months of age. Weight gain (g/day) was similar in the IF 1 and the HM groups (p = 0.644), and it was significantly greater in the IF 2 and IF 3 groups than in the HM group. Growth patterns in both breastfed or IF-fed infants were in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards. At four months of age, the mean weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ) adjusted for initial value in the IF 1 group was similar to that of the HM group and significantly lower than that of the IF 2 and IF 3 groups (p = 0.031 and p = 0.014 for IF 2 and IF 3, respectively). Length-for-age (LAZ) adjusted for initial value was similar among all groups at four months of age. From 1 to 4 months of life, IF 1 containing 1.0 g protein/dL promotes growth and weight gain similar to those observed in exclusively breastfed infants. As this is a first approach to studying an IF containing total protein in a level below that recommended by international committees on nutrition, further investigations are needed to support these findings evaluating infant’s metabolic profile and growth in the long term.
Polyaniline/Carbon Nanotubes Composite Modified Anode via Graft Polymerization and Self-Assembling for Microbial Fuel Cells
Authors: Wu Wenguo , Niu Hao , Yang Dayun , Wang Shibin , Jiang Nina , Wang Jiefu , Lin Jia , Hu Chaoyi
Published: July 2018

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising devices for sustainable energy production, wastewater treatment and biosensors. Anode materials directly interact with electricigens and accept electrons between cells, playing an important role in determining the performance of MFCs. In this study, a novel carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposite film modified Indium-tin oxide (ITO) anode was fabricated through graft polymerization of PANI after the modification of γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) on ITO substrate, which was followed by layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembling of CNTs and PANI alternatively on its surface. (CNTs/PANI)n/APTES/ITO electrode with low charge transfer resistance showed better electrochemical behavior compared to the bare ITO electrode. Twelve layers of CNTs/PANI decorated ITO electrode with an optimal nanoporous network exhibited superior biocatalytic properties with a maximal current density of 6.98 µA/cm2, which is 26-fold higher than that of conventional ITO electrode in Shewanella loihica PV-4 bioelectrochemical system. MFCs with (CNTs/PANI)12/APTES/ITO as the anode harvested a maximum output power density of 34.51 mW/m2, which is 7.5-fold higher than that of the unmodified ITO electrode. These results demonstrate that (CNTs/PANI)12/APTES/ITO electrode has superior electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties compared to the bare ITO electrode, while the cellular toxicity of CNTs has an effect on the performance of MFC with (CNTs/PANI)n/APTES/ITO electrode.
Band Priority Index: A Feature Selection Framework for Hyperspectral Imagery
Authors: Zhang Wenqiang , Li Xiaorun , Zhao Liaoying
Published: July 2018

Hyperspectral Band Selection (BS) aims to select a few informative and distinctive bands to represent the whole image cube. In this paper, an unsupervised BS framework named the band priority index (BPI) is proposed. The basic idea of BPI is to find the bands with large amounts of information and low correlation. Sequential forward search (SFS) is used to avoid an exhaustive search, and the objective function of BPI consist of two parts: the information metric and the correlation metric. We proposed a new band correlation metric, namely, the joint correlation coefficient (JCC), to estimate the joint correlation between a single band and multiple bands. JCC uses the angle between a band and the hyperplane determined by a band set to evaluate the correlation between them. To estimate the amount of information, the variance and entropy are used as the information metric for BPI, respectively. Since BPI is a framework for BS, other information metrics and different mathematic functions of the angle can also be used in the model, which means there are various implementations of BPI. The BPI-based methods have the advantages as follows: (1) The selected bands are informative and distinctive. (2) The BPI-based methods usually have good computational efficiencies. (3) These methods have the potential to determine the number of bands to be selected. The experimental results on different real hyperspectral datasets demonstrate that the BPI-based methods are highly efficient and accurate BS methods.
Assessing the Impacts of Urbanization on Albedo in Jing-Jin-Ji Region of China
Authors: Tang Rongyun , Zhao Xiang , Zhou Tao , Jiang Bo , Wu Donghai , Tang Bijian
Published: July 2018

As an indicative parameter that represents the ability of the Earth’s surface to reflect solar radiation, albedo determines the allocation of solar energy between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, which plays an important role in both global and local climate change. Urbanization is a complicated progress that greatly affects urban albedo via land cover change, human heat, aerosol, and other human activities. Although many studies have been conducted to identify the effects of these various factors on albedo separately, there are few studies that have quantitatively determined the combined effects of urbanization on albedo. In this study, based on a partial derivative method, vegetation index data and nighttime light data were used to quantitatively calculate the natural climate change and human activities’ contributions to albedo variations in the Jing-Jin-Ji region, during its highest population growth period from 2001 to 2011. The results show that (1) 2005 is the year when urbanization starts accelerating in the Jing-Jin-Ji region; (2) albedo trends are equal to 0.0065 year−1 before urbanization and 0.0012 year−1 after urbanization, which is a reduction of 4/5; and (3) the contribution rate of urbanization increases from 15% to 48.4%, which leads to a decrease in albedo of approximately 0.05. Understanding the contribution of urbanization to variations in urban albedo is significant for future studies on urban climate change via energy balance and can provide scientific data for energy conservation policymaking.
Assessment of Retrieved N2O, NO2, and HF Profiles from the Atmospheric Infrared Ultraspectral Sounder Based on Simulated Spectra
Authors: Wang Hongmei , Li Xiaoying , Xu Jian , Zhang Xingying , Ge Shule , Chen Liangfu , Wang Yapeng , Zhu Songyan , Miao Jing , Si Yidan
Published: July 2018

The Atmospheric Infrared Ultraspectral Sounder (AIUS), the first high-resolution (0.02 cm−1) solar occultation sounder, aboard GF5, was launched in May 2018 from China. However, relevant studies about vertical profiles of atmospheric constituents based on its operational data were not conducted until half a year later. Due to an urgent need for Hin-orbit tests, the real spectra (called reference spectra hereafter) were substituted with simulated spectra calculated from the reference forward model (RFM) plus different random noises at different altitudes. In the generation process of the reference spectra for N2O, NO2, and HF species, ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment–Fourier Transform Spectrometer instrument on the SCISAT satellite) level 2 products replace corresponding profiles included in the atmospheric background profiles. The optimal estimation method is employed to extract N2O, NO2, and HF profiles in this study. Comparing the retrieved results with ACE-FTS level 2 products, the relative deviations for these three species are calculated. For N2O, the average relative deviation is less than 6% at altitudes below 25 km, while larger deviations are observed in the range of 25–45 km, with the maximum being at ~25%. Additionally, the difference for NO2 is less than 5% in the 20–45 km range, with a larger discrepancy found below 20 km and above 45 km; the maximum deviation reaches ±40%. For HF, the relative deviation is less than 6% for all tangent heights, implying satisfactory retrieval. The vertical resolution, averaging kernel, and number of degrees of freedom are used to assess the retrieval algorithm, which indicate that the retrieved information content is much more attributable to the reference spectra contribution than to the a priori profile. Finally, a large number of retrieval tests are performed for N2O, NO2, and HF in selected areas covering the Arctic region, northern middle latitude, tropics, southern middle latitude, and Antarctic region, and reliable results are obtained. Thus, to a great extent, the algorithm adopted in the AIUS system can process retrievals reliably and precisely.
Continuous and Real-Time Detection of Drinking-Water Pathogens with a Low-Cost Fluorescent Optofluidic Sensor
Authors: Simões João , Dong Tao
Published: July 2018

Growing access to tap water and consequent expansion of water distribution systems has created numerous challenges to maintaining water quality between the treatment node and final consumer. Despite all efforts to develop sustainable monitoring systems, there is still a lack of low cost, continuous and real time devices that demonstrate potential for large-scale implementation in wide water distribution networks. The following work presents a study of a low-cost, optofluidic sensor, based on Trypthopan Intrinsic Fluorescence. The fluorospectrometry analysis performed (before sensor development) supports the existence of a measurable fluorescence output signal originating from the tryptophan contained within pathogenic bacteria. The sensor was mounted using a rapid prototyping technique (3D printing), and the integrated optical system was achieved with low-cost optical components. The sensor performance was evaluated with spiked laboratory samples containing E. coli and Legionella, in both continuous and non-continuous flow situations. Results have shown a linear relationship between the signal measured and pathogen concentration, with limits of detection at 1.4 × 103 CFU/mL. The time delay between contamination and detection of the bacteria was practically null. Therefore, this study supports the potential application of tryptophan for monitoring drinking water against water pathogens.
A Deep CNN-LSTM Model for Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Forecasting in Smart Cities
Authors: Huang Chiou-Jye , Kuo Ping-Huan
Published: July 2018

In modern society, air pollution is an important topic as this pollution exerts a critically bad influence on human health and the environment. Among air pollutants, Particulate Matter (PM2.5) consists of suspended particles with a diameter equal to or less than 2.5 μm. Sources of PM2.5 can be coal-fired power generation, smoke, or dusts. These suspended particles in the air can damage the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of the human body, which may further lead to other diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, or cardiovascular diseases. To monitor and estimate the PM2.5 concentration, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) are combined and applied to the PM2.5 forecasting system. To compare the overall performance of each algorithm, four measurement indexes, Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) Pearson correlation coefficient and Index of Agreement (IA) are applied to the experiments in this paper. Compared with other machine learning methods, the experimental results showed that the forecasting accuracy of the proposed CNN-LSTM model (APNet) is verified to be the highest in this paper. For the CNN-LSTM model, its feasibility and practicability to forecast the PM2.5 concentration are also verified in this paper. The main contribution of this paper is to develop a deep neural network model that integrates the CNN and LSTM architectures, and through historical data such as cumulated hours of rain, cumulated wind speed and PM2.5 concentration. In the future, this study can also be applied to the prevention and control of PM2.5.
Wideband Spectrum Sensing Based on Single-Channel Sub-Nyquist Sampling for Cognitive Radio
Authors: Liu Changjian , Wang Houjun , Zhang Jie , He Zongmiao
Published: July 2018

Spectrum sensing is an important task in cognitive radio. However, currently available Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) can hardly satisfy the sampling rate requirement for wideband signals. Even with such an ADC, the cost is extremely high in terms of price and power consumption. In this paper, we propose a spectrum-sensing method based on single-channel sub-Nyquist sampling. Firstly, a serial Multi-Coset Sampling (MCS) structure is designed to avoid mismatches among sub-ADCs in the traditional parallel MCS. Clocks of the sample/hold and ADC are provided by two non-uniform sampling clocks. The cooperation between these two non-uniform sampling clocks shifts the high sampling rate burden from the ADC to the sample/hold. Secondly, a power spectrum estimation method using sub-Nyquist samples is introduced, and an efficient spectrum-sensing algorithm is proposed. By exploiting the frequency-smoothing property, the proposed efficient spectrum-sensing algorithm only needs to estimate power spectrum at partial frequency bins to conduct spectrum sensing, which will save a large amount of computational cost. Finally, the sampling pattern design of the proposed serial MCS is given, and it is proved to be a minimal circular sparse ruler with an additional constraint. Simulations show that mismatches in traditional parallel MCS have a serious impact on spectrum-sensing performance, while the proposed serial MCS combined with the efficient spectrum-sensing algorithm exhibits outstanding spectrum-sensing performance at much lower computational cost.
Recharging Schedule for Mitigating Data Loss in Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Network
Authors: Liu Haolin , Deng Qingyong , Tian Shujuan , Peng Xin , Pei Tingrui
Published: July 2018

Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) technology is considered as a promising approach to make Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Network (WRSN) work perpetually. In WRSN, a vehicle exists, termed a mobile charger, which can move close to sensor nodes and charge them wirelessly. Due to the mobile charger’s limited traveling distance and speed, not every node that needs to be charged may be serviced in time. Thus, in such scenario, how to make a route plan for the mobile charger to determine which nodes should be charged first is a critical issue related to the network’s Quality of Service (QoS). In this paper, we propose a mobile charger’s scheduling algorithm to mitigate the data loss of network by considering the node’s criticality in connectivity and energy. First, we introduce a novel metric named criticality index to measure node’s connectivity contribution, which is computed as a summation of node’s neighbor dissimilarity. Furthermore, to reflect the node’s charging demand, an indicator called energy criticality is adopted to weight the criticality index, which is a normalized ratio of the node’s consumed energy to its total energy. Then, we formulate an optimization problem with the objective of maximizing total weighted criticality indexes of nodes to construct a charging tour, subject to the mobile charger’s traveling distance constraint. Due to the NP-hardness of the problem, a heuristic algorithm is proposed to solve it. The heuristic algorithm includes three steps, which is spanning tree growing, tour construction and tour improvement. Finally, we compare the proposed algorithm to the state-of-art scheduling algorithms. The obtained results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is a promising one.
Retirement Expectations in Germany—Towards Rising Social Inequality?
Authors: Hess Moritz
Published: July 2018

In the last 20 years, German policy makers have reformed the pension system and the labor market with the aim of prolonging working life. As a consequence, older workers’ employment rate and average retirement age rose. In addition to the actual behavior of today’s retiree cohorts, the reforms also influence the expected retirement age of future pensioners, the development of which will be investigated in this paper, arguing that they have adapted to the reforms and increased their expected retirement age. The analyses are based on data from the SOEP and DEAS survey and results show an increase of the expected retirement age. However, while high-skilled workers both want and expect to retire late, low-skilled workers prefer to retire early but expect that they have to work longer in order to ensure a reasonable pension. This finding hints at rising social inequality in the transition from work to retirement.
Achieving an Integrated Approach to Food Safety and Hygiene—Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Morse Tracy D. , Masuku Humphreys , Rippon Sarah , Kubwalo Hudson
Published: July 2018

Improving food safety and hygiene is integral to the successful attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Foodborne diseases continue to impose a high burden on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly children under five years, and meeting stipulated conditions for both domestic and export markets can be challenging. This paper reports a situation analysis exploring the challenges faced in the food safety sector in LMICs, using Malawi as an example. The analysis used a desk and policy review, literature search, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to provide national data, which was then subject to thematic analysis. The analysis established there is a significant threat to public health and market access due to uncoordinated, outdated or incomplete regulatory framework, poorly defined mandates, limited infrastructure, lack of equipment and skilled personnel, inadequate resources, and limited awareness and ability to comply with standards. Food safety and hygiene improvements must strike a balance between market access gains and protection of public health. To achieve this, the sector requires effective integration at national level in food security, nutrition, health, economic development, agriculture, and poverty reduction. Solutions for each country must be context-specific and take into consideration national realities if they are to be successful.
Consumer Preferences of Locally Grown Specialty Crop: The Case of Taiwan Coffee
Authors: Wann Jong-Wen , Kao Chia-Yung , Yang Yu-Chen
Published: July 2018

The role of retailers in the local coffee niche market is to add value with unique characteristics such as creativity, cultural identity, and innovation in order to differentiate their products. Producers/retailers can provide customized services for special products according to different consumer preferences and needs. They can gain the trust and loyalty of consumers in this way. This study aims to understand consumer assessments of the different attributes of local specialty coffee provided by coffee retailers in order to help them develop strategies for increased sales in the niche market. Regarding internal quality, atypically, as the empirical results of conjoint analysis has shown, Taiwanese consumers do not prefer the attributes of coffee such as extra aroma and strong acidic taste. Therefore, they are not willing to pay the premium for these attributes. With regards to external quality, consumers prefer the attributes of specialty café style and product featured packaging.
Institutional Voids and the Philanthropization of CSR Practices: Insights from Developing Economies
Authors: Ahen Frederick , Amankwah-Amoah Joseph
Published: July 2018

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and conceptions vary across sectors and nations. However, there is a general tendency among academics and practitioners to present CSR in Africa as activities characterized by philanthropy due to the existence of institutional voids. This review of the current literature demonstrates that weak institutions lead to weaker bargaining powers designed through the historical and geopolitical institutional frameworks of international business and global governance systems. Accordingly, multinational corporations (MNCs) take advantage of such weaknesses to define CSR on their own terms by replacing the ideal responsible and sustainable innovations with ad hoc philanthropy that diverts the attention from the negative consequences of neoliberal ‘structures of accumulation’. This is akin to aid that hardly contributes to structural changes, but rather leads to complacency, corruption, dependency, boutique projects, disguised exploitation, and the misuse of corporate political power to achieve corporate bottom lines. The implications of the results are vast, and they are generalizable to all weaker institutional settings. Thus, weaker institutions create the necessary regulatory, political, economic, and governance climate that perpetuates a pattern of abuses and ethical violations that are then masked with philanthropy. It is argued that the fundamental institutional and geopolitical contexts within which MNCs interact with nation states cannot be ignored in any comprehensive analysis that seeks to meaningfully shed light on the comparative differences of CSR practices. The neglect of the web of contextual, historical, and geopolitical issues in which CSR is entrenched and framed diverts attention from the origins of the socio-economic and environmental questions to philanthropy as a final solution, which has hitherto been perpetuated with undesirable outcomes.
Unintended Effects of Autonomous Driving: A Study on Mobility Preferences in the Future
Authors: Pakusch Christina , Stevens Gunnar , Boden Alexander , Bossauer Paul
Published: July 2018

Innovations in the mobility industry such as automated and connected cars could significantly reduce congestion and emissions by allowing the traffic to flow more freely and reducing the number of vehicles according to some researchers. However, the effectiveness of these sustainable product and service innovations is often limited by unexpected changes in consumption: some researchers thus hypothesize that the higher comfort and improved quality of time in driverless cars could lead to an increase in demand for driving with autonomous vehicles. So far, there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting either one or other of these hypotheses. To analyze the influence of autonomous driving on mobility behavior and to uncover user preferences, which serve as indicators for future travel mode choices, we conducted an online survey with a paired comparison of current and future travel modes with 302 participants in Germany. The results do not confirm the hypothesis that ownership will become an outdated model in the future. Instead they suggest that private cars, whether conventional or fully automated, will remain the preferred travel mode. At the same time, carsharing will benefit from full automation more than private cars. However, the findings indicate that the growth of carsharing will mainly be at the expense of public transport, showing that more emphasis should be placed in making public transport more attractive if sustainable mobility is to be developed.
Recycling Intention and Behavior among Low-Income Households
Authors: Al Mamun Abdullah , Mohiuddin Muhammad , Ahmad Ghazali Bin , Thurasamy Ramayah , Fazal Syed Ali
Published: July 2018

To improve our knowledge of how to protect the environment, this study examined the factors that influence recycling intention and behavior among low-income households. The study adopted a cross-sectional design that relied on 380 low-income households who live in coastal Peninsular Malaysia. The findings revealed a positive effect of eco-literacy, environmental concern, and self-efficacy on the attitude towards environmentally friendly products. Subsequently, the findings also illustrated a positive effect of normative beliefs on subjective norms. Moreover, the results revealed a positive effect of attitude towards environmentally friendly products and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on recycling intention. Finally, there was a positive effect of both PBC and recycling intention on recycling behavior. Although this study’s focus on a specific income group from a single country could limit generalizability; the findings nevertheless provide scholars and policymakers with significant insights into promoting recycling activities, which are expected to contribute to the environment and reduce the environmental and economic vulnerability among low-income households. Therefore, environmental and socio-economic development organizations should assess the feasibility of recycling materials and develop a supportive system that facilitates and encourages recycling activities.
A Dynamic Failure Rate Forecasting Model for Service Parts Inventory
Authors: Chen Ta-Yu , Lin Woo-Tsong , Sheu Chwen
Published: July 2018

This study investigates one of the reverse logistics issues, after-sale repair service for in-warranty products. After-sale repair service is critical to customer service and customer satisfaction. Nonetheless, the uncertainty in the number of defective products returned makes forecasting and inventory planning of service parts difficult, which leads to a backlog of returned defectives or an increase in inventory costs. Based on Bathtub Curve (BTC) theory and Markov Decision Process (MDP), this study develops a dynamic product failure rate forecasting (PFRF) model to enable third-party repair service providers to effectively predict the demand for service parts and, thus, mitigate risk impacts of over- or under-stocking of service parts. A simulation experiment, based on the data collected from a 3C (computer, communication, and consumer electronics) firm, and a sensitivity analysis are conducted to validate the proposed model. The proposed model outperforms other approaches from previous studies. Considering the number of new products launched every year, the model could yield significant inventory cost savings. Managerial and research implications of our findings are presented, with suggestions for future research.
An Effective Dual-Image Reversible Hiding for UAV’s Image Communication
Authors: Lin Yung-I , Huang Ying-Hsuan , Chen Chih-Cheng
Published: July 2018

Compared with traditional hiding methods, dual-image reversible data hiding methods have a higher embedding rate and a better quality stego image. Also, this is a special case of secret sharing, because secret data cannot be extracted from any stego image. In the literature, the frequencies of occurrence of secret data were used as reference information for data encoding, in which most digits were transformed into smaller ones. The encoding strategy can effectively decrease the modification level of the pixel. However, only limited literature has analyzed the relationship between the adjacent secret data. In this paper, we proposed an exclusive-or (XOR)-based encoding method to convert the neighboring values, thereby reducing the distortion. Since there are significant similarities between the two stego images and the original image, the first stego image is stored on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to avoid a hacker’s interception attack. The second stego image on the UAV is sent to the command station. After completion of the UAV mission, the proposed method extracts the secret data from the two stego images to identify whether the second stego image has been tampered with.
Safer Prescribing and Care for the Elderly (SPACE): a pilot study in general practice
Authors: Wallis Katharine A , Elley C Raina , Moyes Simon , Kerse Ngaire
Published: July 2018

Background

High-risk prescribing places patients at increased risk of adverse drug events (ADEs). High-risk prescribing and ADE hospitalisations are increasingly common as people are living longer and taking more medicines for multiple chronic conditions. The Safer Prescribing and Care for the Elderly (SPACE) intervention is designed to foster patient engagement in medicines management and prompt medicines review.

Aim

To pilot the SPACE intervention in preparation for a larger cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT).

Design & setting

A pilot study in two general practices. Study participants were all patients at increased risk of an adverse drug reaction (ADE) from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and/or antiplatelet medicines. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants receiving high-risk prescribing at 6 months and 12 months compared with baseline.

Method

The SPACE intervention comprised automated practice audit to identify and generate for each GP a list of patients with high-risk prescribing for these medicines; an outreach visit by clinical advisory pharmacist to deliver education and to go through with each GP their list of at-risk patients and indicate in a tick-box the intended action for each patient; and a mail-out from GPs to selected patients containing a medicines information brochure and a letter encouraging patients to discuss their medicines when they next see their GP.

Results

SPACE can be delivered within existing primary care infrastructure. The rate of high-risk prescribing was reduced at 6 months following the delivery of the intervention, but these improvements were not evident at 12 months.

Conclusion

SPACE prompts medicines review and shows promising signs of supporting safer prescribing in general practice in the short term. A randomised trial of SPACE started in 2018.
Point-of-care C-reactive protein to assist in primary care management of children with suspected non-serious lower respiratory tract infection: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Schot Marjolein JC , Van den Bruel Ann , Broekhuizen Berna DL , Cals Jochen WL , Noteboom Eveline A , Balemans Walter , Hopstaken Rogier M , van Delft Sanne , de Wit Niek J , Verheij Theo JM
Published: July 2018

Background

Overprescription of antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in children is common, partly due to diagnostic uncertainty, in which case the addition of point-of-care (POC) C-reactive protein (CRP) testing can be of aid.

Aim

To assess whether use of POC CRP by the GP reduces antibiotic prescriptions in children with suspected non-serious LRTI.

Design & setting

An open, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial in daytime general practice and out-of-hours services.

Method

Children between 3 months and 12 years of age with acute cough and fever were included and randomised to either use of POC CRP or usual care. Antibiotic prescription rates were measured and compared between groups using generalising estimating equations.

Results

There was no statistically significant reduction in antibiotic prescriptions in the GP use of CRP group (30.9% versus 39.4%; odds ratio [OR] 0.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.29 to 1.23). Only the estimated severity of illness was related to antibiotic prescription. Forty-six per cent of children had POC CRP levels <10mg/L.

Conclusion

It is still uncertain whether POC CRP measurement in children with non-serious respiratory tract infection presenting to general practice can reduce the prescription of antibiotics. Until new research provides further evidence, POC CRP measurement in these children is not recommended.
Peritoneal Dialysis: Turning Choice into Reality
Authors: Pyart Rhodri , Donovan Kieron , Carrington Christopher , Roberts Gareth
Published: July 2018

Background

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) utilization rates vary widely between UK renal centers. Currently there are only limited data available on how many patients choose PD but subsequently fail to start their chosen modality. In the current analysis we sought to explore the outcomes of patients who chose PD in our center where all PD catheters are inserted via a mini-laparotomy with no acute-start PD service.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of 658 patients over a 12-year period who, following predialysis education had chosen PD as their preferred renal replacement therapy (RRT) modality. Data were collected on patient demographics, start modality, transplantation, patient survival, and the reasons patients failed to start PD.

Results

Predialysis education was given to 2,749 patients, and 658 (24%) chose PD. Of the 566 (86%) who either started RRT or died, less than half started PD ( n = 273, 48%). The commonest reason to start hemodialysis (HD) was an acute decline in kidney function leading to an effective ‘unplanned’ start on RRT. As a result, despite adjusting for older age and higher comorbidity, the transplant-censored survival at 3 years from the time of start of RRT was predictably worse in patients starting HD. Less than half the patients who started HD went on to commence PD later.

Conclusion

Unanticipated decline in kidney function leading to unplanned start on HD contributes to the worse outcomes associated with failing to start PD. How and when we insert PD catheters appears to be key, and we have identified ways to improve our service.
AKTYVIAI IR PASYVIAI VALDOMŲ BIRŽOJE PREKIAUJAMŲ AKCIJŲ FONDŲ PALYGINIMAS / A COMPARISON BETWEEN ACTIVELY AND PASSIVELY MANAGED EQUITY EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS
Authors: Vilkancienė Izabelė , Tamošiūnienė Rima
Published: July 2018

ETF are an important innovation in financial markets, enabling to effectively invest in a broadly diversified portfolio of securities. Passively managed ETFs, offer average market returns, actively managed ETFs aiming for higher than average returns. Many studies show that actively managed funds are rarely able to exceed the average annual return of a given index over a period of more than one year, market inefficiencies allows to get a higher than average market returns. The major theoretical and practical problem is whether active funds can systematically exploit market inefficiencies.

Santrauka

Biržoje prekiaujami fondai (ETF) – svarbi finansų rinkų inovacija, suteikianti galimybę investuoti į plačiai diversifikuotą vertybinių popierių portfelį. Pasyviai valdomi ETF siūlo vidutinę rinkos grąžą, aktyviai valdomi ETF siūlo didesnę nei vidutinę rinkos grąžą. Nors daugelis tyrimų rodo, kad aktyviai valdomi fondai retai sugeba viršyti vidutinę metinę atitinkamo indekso grąžą per ilgesnį nei vienerių metų laikotarpį, neefektyvios rinkos leidžia gauti didesnę nei vidutinę rinkos grąžą. Pagrindinė teorinė ir praktinė problema – ar aktyvūs fondai gali sistemingai išnaudoti neefektyvias rinkas.
GAMYBOS LOGISTIKOS TOBULINIMAS BIOEKONOMIKOS IŠŠŪKIŲ KONTEKSTE / IMPROVEMENT OF PRODUCTION LOGISTICS IN THE CONTEXT OF BIOECONOMIC CHALLENGES
Authors: Šostko Alfred , Jakubavičius Artūras
Published: July 2018

In the context of globalization, with a rapid drop in natural resources and an increase in the amount of waste an effective tool for boosting business competitiveness is the bioeconomy. The purpose of the article is to review the standpoint of scientists and different institutions towards the concept of bioeconomy and evaluate the use of circular economy in industry. The study proposed a production logistics model that is based on the use of the circular economy and the 3Rs principle. Based on the results of the research, the potential benefits of using the circular economy have been identified, which will encourage resource conservation and waste reduction.

Santrauka

Globalizacijos kontekste sparčiai senkant gamtiniams ištekliams ir didėjant atliekų kiekiui, efektyvi priemonė verslo konkurencingumui didinti yra bioekonomika. Straipsnio tikslas – apžvelgti mokslininkų ir skirtingų institucijų požiūrį į bioekonomikos sampratą ir įvertinti žiedinės ekonomikos naudojimą pramonėje. Tyrimo metu buvo pasiūlytas gamybos logistikos modelis, grindžiamas žiedinės ekonomikos ir 3Rs principo taikymu. Remiantis tyrimų rezultatais buvo nustatyti žiedinės ekonomikos naudojimo pranašumai, kurie skatins tausoti išteklius ir mažinti atliekas.
SHINING, A Survey of Far-infrared Lines in Nearby Galaxies. I. Survey Description, Observational Trends, and Line Diagnostics
Authors: Herrera-Camus R. , Sturm E. , Graciá-Carpio J. , Lutz D. , Contursi A. , Veilleux S. , Fischer J. , González-Alfonso E. , Poglitsch A. , Tacconi L. , Genzel R. , Maiolino R. , Sternberg A. , Davies R. , Verma A.
Published: July 2018

We use the Herschel/PACS spectrometer to study the global and spatially resolved far-infrared (FIR) fine-structure line emission in a sample of 52 galaxies that constitute the SHINING survey. These galaxies include star-forming, active-galactic nuclei (AGNs), and luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). We find an increasing number of galaxies (and kiloparsec-size regions within galaxies) with low line-to-FIR continuum ratios as a function of increasing FIR luminosity (L
FIR), dust infrared color, L
FIR to molecular gas mass ratio (L
FIR/M
mol), and FIR surface brightness (ΣFIR). The correlations between the [C ii]/FIR or [O i]/FIR ratios with ΣFIR are remarkably tight (∼0.3 dex scatter over almost four orders of magnitude in ΣFIR). We observe that galaxies with

and ΣFIR ≳ 1011
L
⊙ kpc−2 tend to have weak fine-structure line-to-FIR continuum ratios, and that LIRGs with infrared sizes ≳1 kpc have line-to-FIR ratios comparable to those observed in typical star-forming galaxies. We analyze the physical mechanisms driving these trends in Paper II. The combined analysis of the [C ii], [N ii] 122 μm, and [O iii] 88 μm lines reveals that the fraction of the [C ii] line emission that arises from neutral gas increases from 60% to 90% in the most active star-forming regions and that the emission originating in the ionized gas is associated with low-ionization, diffuse gas rather than with dense gas in H ii regions. Finally, we report the global and spatially resolved line fluxes of the SHINING galaxies to enable the comparison and planning of future local and high-z studies.
An ALMA Survey of the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey UKIDSS/UDS Field: Identifying Candidate z ∼ 4.5 [C II] Emitters
Authors: Cooke E. A. , Smail Ian , Swinbank A. M. , Stach S. M. , An Fang Xia , Gullberg B. , Almaini O. , Simpson C. J. , Wardlow J. L. , Blain A. W. , Chapman S. C. , Chen Chian-Chou , Conselice C. J. , Coppin K. E. K. , Farrah D. , Maltby D. T. , Michałowski M. J. , Scott D. , Simpson J. M. , Thomson A. P. , Werf P. van der
Published: July 2018

We report the results of a search for serendipitous [C ii] 157.74 μm emitters at z ≃ 4.4–4.7 using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The search exploits the AS2UDS continuum survey, which covers ∼50 arcmin2 of the sky toward 695 luminous (S
870 ≳ 1 mJy) submillimeter galaxies (SMGs), selected from the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey 0.96 deg2 Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) field. We detect 10 candidate line emitters, with an expected false detection rate of 10%. All of these line emitters correspond to 870 μm continuum-detected sources in AS2UDS. The emission lines in two emitters appear to be high-J CO, but the remainder have multi-wavelength properties consistent with [C ii] from z ≃ 4.5 galaxies. Using our sample, we place a lower limit of 

on the space density of luminous (L
IR ≃ 1013

) SMGs at z = 4.40–4.66, suggesting

% of SMGs with

mJy lie at 4 < z < 5. From stacking the high-resolution (∼0.″15 full-width half maximum) ALMA 870 μm imaging, we show that the [C ii] line emission is more extended than the continuum dust emission, with an average effective radius for the [C ii] of

kpc, compared to r
e = 1.0 ± 0.1 kpc for the continuum (rest-frame 160 μm). By fitting the far-infrared photometry for these galaxies from 100 to 870 μm, we show that SMGs at z ∼ 4.5 have a median dust temperature of T
d = 55 ± 4 K. This is systematically warmer than 870 μm selected SMGs at z ≃ 2, which typically have temperatures around 35 K. These z ≃ 4.5 SMGs display a steeper trend in the luminosity-temperature plane than z ≤ 2 SMGs. We discuss the implications of this result in terms of the selection biases of high-redshift starbursts in far-infrared/submillimeter surveys.
Constraints on the Composition, Magnetization, and Radiative Efficiency in the Jets of Blazars
Authors: Fan Xu-Liang , Wu Qingwen , Liao Neng-Hui
Published: July 2018

The composition and energy dissipation in jets are two of the fundamental questions of jet physics that are not fully understood. In this paper, we attempt to constrain the composition, magnetization, and radiative efficiency for blazars with the recently released low-frequency radio catalog of the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey at 150 MHz. The jet power estimated from the low-frequency radio emission is much lower than that derived from spectral energy distribution fitting assuming one proton per electron. Assuming the jet power estimated from low-frequency radio emission is physical, the fraction of electron/positron pairs can be constrained with n
pairs/n
p ∼ 10. By comparing the power carried by the magnetic field and radiation with the jet power estimated from the low-frequency radio emission, we find both the relatively high magnetization parameter of σ ∼ 0.5 and the radiative efficiency of η ∼ 0.4 in the dissipation region of blazars. These results suggest that magnetic reconnection processes may play an important role in the energy dissipation of blazars. We also explore the connection between these three parameters (n
pairs/n
p, σ, and η) and the black hole mass, disk luminosity, and Eddington ratio. No significant correlation is found, except that σ shows a possible correlation with disk luminosity.
Asteroseismology of the Double-mode High-amplitude δ Scuti Star VX Hydrae
Authors: Xue Hui-Fang , Fu Jian-Ning , Fox-Machado L. , Shi Jian-Rong , Zhou Yu-Tao , Zhang Jun-Bo , Michel R. , Yan Hong-Liang , Niu Jia-Shu , Zong Wei-Kai , Su Jie , Castro A. , Ayala-Loera C. , L. Altamirano-Dévora
Published: July 2018

Bi-site time-series photometric and high-resolution spectroscopic observations were made for the double-mode high-amplitude δ Scuti star VX Hya. The fundamental frequency f
0 = 4.4763 c days−1, the first overtone f
1 = 5.7897 c days−1, and 23 harmonics and linear combinations of f
0 and f
1 are detected by pulsation analysis. From the spectroscopic data, we get [Fe/H] = −0.2 ± 0.1 dex. The period change rate of the fundamental mode is obtained by using the Fourier-phase diagram method, which gives the value of

. With these results from the observations, we perform theoretical explorations with the stellar evolution code MESA, and constrain the models by fitting f
0, f
1, and (1/P
0)(dP
0/dt) within 3σ deviations. The results show that the period change of VX Hya could be ascribed to the evolutionary effect. The stellar parameters of VX Hya could be derived as: the mass 2.385 ± 0.025 M
⊙, the luminosity log(L/L
⊙) = 1.93 ± 0.02, and the age (4.43 ± 0.13) × 108 years. VX Hya is found to locate at the post-main-sequence stage with a helium core and a hydrogen-burning shell on the H–R diagram.