bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Performance of Pre- and Post-emergence herbicides in strip tillage Non-puddled transplanted Aman rice
Authors: Zahan T , Rahman MM , Hashem A , Bell RW , Begum M
Published: February 2018

A study was conducted on transplanted aman rice (cv. BINA dhan-7) in strip-tilled non-puddled field with some commonly used rice herbicides (pre-emergence: pyrazosulfuron-ethyl and butachlor, early post-emergence: orthosulfamuron and late post-emergence: acetochlor + bensulfuron methyl, butachlor + propanil and 2,4-D amine) applied singly or in sequences during 2013 and 2014 at field laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh to evaluate the effect of those herbicides on weeds as well as growth and yield of aman rice in strip-tilled non-puddled condition. The study showed that herbicides significantly reduced weed density by 75-94% in 2013 and 46-98% in 2014 compared to the weedy check. Sole application of pre- or early post-emergence herbicide provided less weed control than sequential application of pre-, early post- and late post-emergence herbicides or application of pre- and late post-emergence herbicides. A wide range of sequential application of herbicide treatments has identified in the study that provided control on weed density and biomass by 49-98% and 56-95%, respectively. Application of pyrazosulfuron-ethyl followed by orthosulfamuron and butachlor + propanil was the most effective combination in this new rice establishment condition that controlled all types of weeds successfully and provided maximum grain yield (5.42 t ha-1 in 2013 and 6.18 t ha-1 in 2014) with highest economic return (Tk. 55930 ha-1 in 2013 and Tk. 69057 ha-1 in 2014). The study suggests economically beneficial some combinations of currently used herbicides for strip-tlled non-puddled transplanted aman rice that may help farmers to choose and rotate in the same land yearwise for obtaining optimum yield.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 42(4): 631-646, December 2017
Genetic divergence of exotic inbred lines of maize (Zea mays. L)
Authors: Akhi AH , Ahmed S , Karim ANMS , Begum F , Rohman MM
Published: February 2018

Sixty exotic inbred lines of maize from CIMMYT were characterized for a few morphological attributes and grain yield at the experimental field of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) during 2013-14. The inbred lines of the existing investigation were grouped into five distinct non-overlapping clusters based on D2 analysis. Cluster II was comprised of the highest number of inbreds whilst cluster III and IV included the lowest number of inbreds. The inter cluster distance was higher than intra cluster distance suggesting wider genetic diversity among the genotypes of different groups. The highest inter-cluster distance was exhibited between clusters II and V (D2 = 15.40) and the lowest inter-cluster distance was observed between clusters I and II (D2 = 2.82). Cluster II exhibited the highest mean values for cob length and cob diameter, cluster V for number of grain /cob and total grain weight. The lowest mean value for plant height & ear height were found in cluster II and cluster IV for days to pollen shedding and days to silking. Days to silking, plant height, cob length (cm), number of rows /cob, number of grains /cob showed maximum contribution towards total divergence among different characters. The inbred lines were characterized for their morphological traits and kernel yield to achieve more heterotic partners to get higher heterosis.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 42(4): 665-671, December 2017
RETRACTED: Neuroprotective Effect of Protein Phosphatase 2A/Tristetraprolin Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rats
Authors: Yin Jian , Li Ran , Liu Wenchao , Chen Yunchang , Zhang Xin , Li Xifeng , He Xuying , Duan Chuanzhi
Published: February 2018

Early brain injury (EBI) following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) can lead to inflammation and neuronal dysfunction. There is a need for effective strategies to mitigate these effects and improve the outcome of patients who experience SAH. The mRNA-destabilizing protein tristetraprolin (TTP) is an anti-inflammatory factor that induces the decay of cytokine transcripts and has been implicated in diseases such as glioma. However, the mechanism of action of TTP in EBI after SAH is unclear. The present study investigated the effects of TTP regulation via phosphorylation in a rat model of SAH by protein phosphatase (PP)2A, which is a pleiotropic enzyme complex with multiple substrate phospho-proteins. We hypothesized that inhibitory phosphorylation of TTP by PP2A would reduce neuroinflammation and apoptosis. To evaluate the function of each factor, the PP2A agonist FTY720, short interfering (si)RNAs targeting TTP and PP2A were administered to rats by intracerebroventricular injection 24 h before SAH. Rats were evaluated with SAH grade, neurological score, brain water content and by western blotting, and terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase dUTP nick-end labeling. We found that endogenous PP2A and TTP levels were increased after SAH. FTY720 induced PP2A activation would lead to dephosphorylation and activation of TTP and decreased production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8. SiRNA-mediated TTP knockdown abolished anti-inflammatory effects of FTY720 treatment, indicating that PP2A was associated with TTP activation in vivo. Decreased TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 levels were associated with improvement of neurological function, reduction of brain edema, suppression of caspase-3, and up-regulation of B cell lymphoma-2. These results demonstrated that PP2A activation could enhance the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of TTP, by which it might shed light on the development of an effective therapeutic strategy against EBI following SAH.
Protein, Calcium, Zinc, and Iron Contents of Finger Millet Grain Response to Varietal Differences and Phosphorus Application in Kenya
Authors: Wafula Wekha , Korir Nicholas , Ojulong Henry , Siambi Moses , Gweyi-Onyango Joseph
Published: February 2018

This study was carried out to investigate the influence of phosphorus fertilizers on the concentrations of nutrients, particularly calcium, protein, zinc, and iron in finger millet grains grown in different agro-ecologies in Kenya. The on-station experiments were carried out at Kiboko (Eastern Kenya), Kakamega, and Alupe (Western Kenya) in 2015 during the short and long rainy seasons. The trials were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement with three replicates. The treatments comprised of four levels of phosphorus (0, 12.5, 25.0 and 37.5 kg ha−1 P2O5) and three finger millet varieties (U-15, P-224 and a local variety). Application of phosphorus significantly (p ≤ 0.05) increased the protein content of finger millet grain in varieties in all the three sites. Variety U-15 had the highest protein content (11.0%) at 25 kg ha−1 P2O5 with the control (zero P) on variety P-224 eliciting the lowest (4.4%) at Kiboko. At Kakamega, the 25 kg ha−1 P2O5 treatment with U-15 variety had the highest protein content (15.3%) while the same variety at 12.5 kg ha−1 P2O5 rate elicited the highest protein content (15.0%) at Alupe. Phosphorus application significantly enhanced the nutritional quality of finger millet grains specifically protein, calcium, iron, and zinc. Variety P-224 had the highest calcium content in all sites and highest iron content at Kakamega while the local varieties had the highest zinc content in all sites. The varieties responded differently to each quality component but generally, based on the protein content, the 25 kg ha−1 P2O5 is recommended.
A Machine Learning Approach for Air Quality Prediction: Model Regularization and Optimization
Authors: Zhu Dixian , Cai Changjie , Yang Tianbao , Zhou Xun
Published: February 2018

In this paper, we tackle air quality forecasting by using machine learning approaches to predict the hourly concentration of air pollutants (e.g., ozone, particle matter ( PM 2.5 ) and sulfur dioxide). Machine learning, as one of the most popular techniques, is able to efficiently train a model on big data by using large-scale optimization algorithms. Although there exist some works applying machine learning to air quality prediction, most of the prior studies are restricted to several-year data and simply train standard regression models (linear or nonlinear) to predict the hourly air pollution concentration. In this work, we propose refined models to predict the hourly air pollution concentration on the basis of meteorological data of previous days by formulating the prediction over 24 h as a multi-task learning (MTL) problem. This enables us to select a good model with different regularization techniques. We propose a useful regularization by enforcing the prediction models of consecutive hours to be close to each other and compare it with several typical regularizations for MTL, including standard Frobenius norm regularization, nuclear norm regularization, and ℓ 2 , 1 -norm regularization. Our experiments have showed that the proposed parameter-reducing formulations and consecutive-hour-related regularizations achieve better performance than existing standard regression models and existing regularizations.
The Peripheral and Intratumoral Immune Cell Landscape in Cancer Patients: A Proxy for Tumor Biology and a Tool for Outcome Prediction
Authors: Schnell Annette , Schmidl Christian , Herr Wolfgang , Siska Peter J.
Published: February 2018

Functional systemic and local immunity is required for effective anti-tumor responses. In addition to an active engagement with cancer cells and tumor stroma, immune cells can be affected and are often found to be dysregulated in cancer patients. The impact of tumors on local and systemic immunity can be assessed using a variety of approaches ranging from low-dimensional analyses that are performed on large patient cohorts to multi-dimensional assays that are technically and logistically challenging and are therefore confined to a limited sample size. Many of these strategies have been established in recent years leading to exciting findings. Not only were analyses of immune cells in tumor patients able to predict the clinical course of the disease and patients’ survival, numerous studies also detected changes in the immune landscape that correlated with responses to novel immunotherapies. This review will provide an overview of established and novel tools for assessing immune cells in tumor patients and will discuss exemplary studies that utilized these techniques to predict patient outcomes.
Optimized Dynamic Mode Decomposition via Non-Convex Regularization and Multiscale Permutation Entropy
Authors: Dang Zhang , Lv Yong , Li Yourong , Yi Cancan
Published: February 2018

Dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) is essentially a hybrid algorithm based on mode decomposition and singular value decomposition, and it inevitably inherits the drawbacks of these two algorithms, including the selection strategy of truncated rank order and wanted mode components. A novel denoising and feature extraction algorithm for multi-component coupled noisy mechanical signals is proposed based on the standard DMD algorithm, which provides a new method solving the two intractable problems above. Firstly, a sparse optimization method of non-convex penalty function is adopted to determine the optimal dimensionality reduction space in the process of DMD, obtaining a series of optimal DMD modes. Then, multiscale permutation entropy calculation is performed to calculate the complexity of each DMD mode. Modes corresponding to the noise components are discarded by threshold technology, and we reconstruct the modes whose entropies are smaller than a threshold to recover the signal. By applying the algorithm to rolling bearing simulation signals and comparing with the result of wavelet transform, the effectiveness of the proposed method can be verified. Finally, the proposed method is applied to the experimental rolling bearing signals. Results demonstrated that the proposed approach has a good application prospect in noise reduction and fault feature extraction.
Effect of Electrolyte Thickness on Electrochemical Reactions and Thermo-Fluidic Characteristics inside a SOFC Unit Cell
Authors: Park Jee , Kim Dae , Baek Jong , Yoon Yong-Jin , Su Pei-Chen , Lee Seong
Published: February 2018

We investigated the effect of electrolyte thickness and operating temperature on the heat and mass transfer characteristics of solid oxide fuel cells. We conducted extensive numerical simulations to analyze single cell performance of a planar solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with electrolyte thicknesses from 80 to 100 μm and operating temperatures between 700 °C and 800 °C. The commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code was utilized to simulate the transport behavior and electrochemical reactions. As expected, the maximum power density increased with decreasing electrolyte thickness, and the difference became significant when the current density increased among different electrolyte thicknesses at a fixed temperature. Thinner electrolytes are beneficial for volumetric power density due to lower ohmic loss. Moreover, the SOFC performance enhanced with increasing operating temperature, which substantially changed the reaction rate along the channel direction. This study can be used to help design SOFC stacks to achieve enhanced heat and mass transfer during operation.
A Comparative Study on Controllers for Improving Transient Stability of DFIG Wind Turbines During Large Disturbances
Authors: Duong Minh , Leva Sonia , Mussetta Marco , Le Kim
Published: February 2018

Under power system short-circuits, the Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG) Wind Turbines (WT) are required to be equipped with crowbar protections to preserve the lifetime of power electronics devices. When the crowbar is switched on, the rotor windings are short-circuited. In this case, the DFIG behaves like a squirrel-cage induction generator (SCIG) and can adsorb reactive power, which can affect the power system. A DFIG based-fault-ride through (FRT) scheme with crowbar, rotor-side and grid-side converters has recently been proposed for improving the transient stability: in particular, a hybrid cascade Fuzzy-PI-based controlling technique has been demonstrated to be able to control the Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) based frequency converter in order to enhance the transient stability. The performance of this hybrid control scheme is analyzed here and compared to other techniques, under a three-phase fault condition on a single machine connected to the grid. In particular, the transient operation of the system is investigated by comparing the performance of the hybrid system with conventional proportional-integral and fuzzy logic controller, respectively. The system validation is carried out in Simulink, confirming the effectiveness of the coordinated advanced fuzzy logic control.
A Tale of Two Chinese Transit Metropolises and the Implementation of Their Policies: Shenyang and Dalian (Liaoning Province, China)
Authors: Mu Rui , De Jong Martin
Published: February 2018

To promote sustainable urbanization and combat the economic, environmental, energy and safety issues that go with rapid motorization, the Ministry of Transport in China has introduced the “Transit Metropolis” program with a substantive amount of funds devoted to the implementation of the program in local governments. This represents the largest ever central government-led effort addressing transit metropolis development in the world. How has the program been implemented locally? Have the selected demonstration cities followed the same principle or taken comparable measures to implement their version of the transit metropolis? What is their performance? These questions remain unknown in the current literature. This article answers the above questions through a literature review, interviews and comparative case studies in Shenyang and Dalian, two large cities in Liaoning Province. It shows that both cities have successfully achieved the target levels for building a transit metropolis. Similarities between the two cities can be found their absence of any policies on automobile restriction and the presence of enormous efforts in transit network expansion and optimization. Differences lie in the fact that Shenyang has been more conventional in developing the transit metropolis, while Dalian has been more innovative and flexible in policy implementation. When comparing our empirical findings with the experience of creating transit metropolis elsewhere in China and in foreign countries, we find that policies and regulations restricting car use and calming traffic are not necessary conditions for successful transit metropolises; however, the attractiveness of transit infrastructure, combined with aesthetic and well-decorated street network is essential for a modal shift for transit. We also find that the perception on the transit metropolis in China more emphasizes transit service improvement, while the concept in Western countries more focuses on the shift of land use patterns that lean more towards influencing transit behavior.
Solid-State Anaerobic Digestion of Dairy Manure from a Sawdust-Bedded Pack Barn: Moisture Responses
Authors: Kim Eunjong , Lee Seunghun , Jo Hyeonsoo , Jeong Jihyeon , Mulbry Walter , Rhaman Shafiqur , Ahn Heekwon
Published: February 2018

Bedded pack manure has long been considered an unsuitable feedstock for conventional anaerobic digestion systems due to its high solids content. However, solid-state anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) provides an opportunity to generate methane from such high-solids feedstocks. This study was conducted to determine the influence of moisture content on the digestion of bedded pack dairy manure using SS-AD. Mixtures of sawdust bedding and dairy manure were prepared with moisture contents (MCs) of 70, 76, and 83% and digested at 37 °C for 85 days. The performance of digesters containing manure at 83% MC was 1.3 to 1.4-fold higher than that of digesters containing 70% MC manure in terms of volatile solids (VS) reduction and biogas production. VS reduction rates were 55 to 75% and cumulative methane yield ranged from 64 to 90 NmL (gVS)−1. These values are lower than those from SS-AD of fresh manure and this is likely due to the partial decomposition of biodegradable materials during the two to three-month period before the manure was removed from the barn. However, in terms of efficient management of farm odors and providing a renewable energy source for heating, SS-AD of bedded pack manure offers a potential alternative to the conventional composting systems currently in use.
Study of Ground Heat Exchangers in the Form of Parallel Horizontal Pipes Embedded in the Ground
Authors: Neupauer Krzysztof , Pater Sebastian , Kupiec Krzysztof
Published: February 2018

In order to predict long-term changes in the temperature of the ground in which a horizontal ground heat exchanger has been installed, it is beneficial to implement simplified mathematical models of heat transfer. The possibility of using a one-dimensional equation of heat conduction while modelling heat transfer in a ground heat exchanger with horizontal pipes has been demonstrated in the work. A theoretical analysis based on the linear heat source model as well as experimental research works have been carried out. It has been concluded that the temperature profiles of the ground in which parallel pipes of the heat exchanger are placed do not significantly differ from the profiles for the heat exchanger in the form of a plate; in particular, this refers to large distances from the level in which the pipes are positioned, small distances between pipes axes and the long duration of the process. Discrepancies between the calculated temperature increases for pipe and plate exchangers varied significantly in the individual time intervals, and were approx. 20–30%. The conducted experiments have demonstrated that the temperature field around parallel pipes of the heat exchanger may be described by the linear heat source model. The compatibility of temperature maps that were determined theoretically and experimentally was satisfactory with a good degree of accuracy.
A Soft Curtailment of Wide-Area Central Air Conditioning Load
Authors: Yao Leehter , Yao Lei , Lim Wei
Published: February 2018

An innovative solution to provide a demand response for power system is proposed in this paper by considering the feasibility of two-way direct load control (TWDLC) of central air conditioning chiller system for wide-area in real-time manner. Particularly, the proposed TWDLC scheme is designed to tackle the load shedding ratio optimization problem for all under-controlled customers, aiming to satisfy the target load curtailment defined in each scheduling step. Another notable contribution of this work is the utilization of constraint loosening concept on actual load, curtailed to overcome the uncertainties of load reduction during TWDLC. Given the presence of fuzzy constraints, the proposed load shedding ratio optimization problem can be tackled using fuzzy linear programming. A delicate strategy is then formulated to transform the proposed fuzzy linear programming problem into a regular linear programming problem. A selection scheme used to obtain the feasible candidates set for load shedding at every sampling interval of TWDLC is also designed along with the fuzzy linear programming.
Reduction of Electricity Prices Using the Train to Grid (T2G) System in Urban Railway
Authors: Go Hyo-Sang , Cho In-Ho , Kim Gil-Dong , Kim Chul-Hwan
Published: February 2018

Smart transportation technologies are being rapidly developed for enhancing the smart grid establishment. Such technologies are mostly focused on electric vehicles. However, the electric railroad has advantages in various aspects such as facility construction and utilization over an electric vehicle. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce the train-to-grid system using the electric railroads for the smart grid, and propose a reduction method for the electricity prices. The proposed method obtains actual data from the currently operating railroad systems. Furthermore, the number of trains for charging and discharging batteries is decided by using the time-of-use price and the number of railroad operations. The electricity prices are then determined by the energy consumption calculated using the number of trains used for charging and discharging and the capacity of the energy storage system in the trains. The proposed method is simulated using real data, and its superiority is verified by comparing its electric prices with the conventional electricity prices.
Individual and School Correlates of Adolescent Leisure Time Physical Activity in Quebec, Canada
Authors: Massougbodji José , Lebel Alexandre , De Wals Philippe
Published: February 2018

Background: Leisure time physical activity (LTPA) correlates have been mostly studied in relation to adolescents’ home neighbourhoods, but not so much in relation to the environment of their schools’ neighbourhoods. We sought to investigate how objective environmental measures of the schools’ vicinity are related to adolescents’ self-reported LTPA. Methods: Individual data from the Quebec High School Students Health Survey (QHSSHS) were matched with schools’ socioeconomic indicators, as well as geographic information system-based indicators of their built environments. Self-reported levels of LTPA during the school year were assessed according to intensity, frequency and index of energy expenditure. Associations per gender between covariates and LTPA were estimated using ordinal multilevel regression with multiple imputations. Results: Boys (21% of which were highly active) were more active than girls (16% of which were highly active) (p ≤ 0.01). The incremental variance between schools explained by the contextual variables in the final models was higher among girls (7.8%) than boys (2.8%). The number of parks or green spaces within 750 m around their schools was positively associated with student LTPA in both genders. Conclusions: The promotion of parks around schools seems to be an avenue to be strengthened.
Tau Spreading Mechanisms; Implications for Dysfunctional Tauopathies
Authors: Fuster-Matanzo Almudena , Hernández Félix , Ávila Jesús
Published: February 2018

Tauopathies comprise a group of progressive age-associated neurodegenerative diseases where tau protein deposits are found as the predominant pathological signature (primary tauopathies) or in combination with the presence of other toxic aggregates (secondary tauopathies). In recent years, emerging evidence suggests that abnormal tau accumulation is mediated through spreading of seeds of the protein from cell to cell, favouring the hypothesis of a prion-like transmission of tau to explain the propagation of the pathology. This would also support the concept that the pathology initiates in a very small part of the brain before becoming symptomatic and spreads across the brain over time. To date, many key questions still remain unclear, such as the nature of the tau species involved in the spreading, the precise seeding/template and uptaking mechanisms or the selectivity explaining why certain neurons are affected and some others are not. A better understanding of the tau spreading machinery will contribute to the development of new therapeutic approaches focused on halting the abnormal propagation, offering also new perspectives for early diagnosis and preventive therapies. In this review, we will cover the most recent advances in tau spreading mechanisms as well as the implications of these findings for dysfunctional tauopathies.
Expression Profiling of Regulatory and Biosynthetic Genes in Contrastingly Anthocyanin Rich Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) Cultivars Reveals Key Genetic Determinants of Fruit Color
Authors: Hossain Mohammad , Kim Hoy-Taek , Shanmugam Ashokraj , Nath Ujjal , Goswami Gayatri , Song Jae-Young , Park Jong-In , Nou Ill-Sup
Published: February 2018

Anthocyanins are the resultant end-point metabolites of phenylapropanoid/flavonoid (F/P) pathway which is regulated at transcriptional level via a series of structural genes. Identifying the key genes and their potential interactions can provide us with the clue for novel points of intervention for improvement of the trait in strawberry. We profiled the expressions of putative regulatory and biosynthetic genes of cultivated strawberry in three developmental and characteristically colored stages of fruits of contrastingly anthocyanin rich cultivars: Tokun, Maehyang and Soelhyang. Besides FaMYB10, a well-characterized positive regulator, FaMYB5, FabHLH3 and FabHLH3-delta might also act as potential positive regulators, while FaMYB11, FaMYB9, FabHLH33 and FaWD44-1 as potential negative regulators of anthocyanin biosynthesis in these high-anthocyanin cultivars. Among the early BGs, Fa4CL7, FaF3H, FaCHI1, FaCHI3, and FaCHS, and among the late BGs, FaDFR4-3, FaLDOX, and FaUFGT2 showed significantly higher expression in ripe fruits of high anthocyanin cultivars Maehyang and Soelhyang. Multivariate analysis revealed the association of these genes with total anthocyanins. Increasingly higher expressions of the key genes along the pathway indicates the progressive intensification of pathway flux leading to final higher accumulation of anthocyanins. Identification of these key genetic determinants of anthocyanin regulation and biosynthesis in Korean cultivars will be helpful in designing crop improvement programs.
Improved Formability of Mg-AZ80 Alloy under a High Strain Rate in Expanding-Ring Experiments
Authors: Samuha Shmuel , Kahana Eyal , Sadot Oren , Shneck Roni
Published: February 2018

Magnesium alloys offer a favored alternative to steels and aluminum alloys due to their low density and relatively high specific strength. Their application potentials are, however, impeded by poor formability at room temperature. In the current work, improved formability for the commercial magnesium AZ80 alloy was attained through the application of the high-rate electro-magnetic forming (EMF) technique. With the EMF system, elongation of 0.2 was achieved while only 0.11 is obtained through quasistatic loading. Systematic microstructural and textural investigations prior, during and post deformation under high strain-rate experiments were carried out using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) and other microscopic techniques. The analysis indicates that enhanced elongation is achieved as a result of the combination of deformation, comprising basal and non-basal slip systems, twinning and dynamic recrystallization. An adopted EMF-forming technique is tested which results in enhanced elongation without failure and a higher degree of dynamically annealed microstructure.
Directional ℓ0 Sparse Modeling for Image Stripe Noise Removal
Authors: Dou Hong-Xia , Huang Ting-Zhu , Deng Liang-Jian , Zhao Xi-Le , Huang Jie
Published: February 2018

Remote sensing images are often polluted by stripe noise, which leads to negative impact on visual performance. Thus, it is necessary to remove stripe noise for the subsequent applications, e.g., classification and target recognition. This paper commits to remove the stripe noise to enhance the visual quality of images, while preserving image details of stripe-free regions. Instead of solving the underlying image by variety of algorithms, we first estimate the stripe noise from the degraded images, then compute the final destriping image by the difference of the known stripe image and the estimated stripe noise. In this paper, we propose a non-convex ℓ 0 sparse model for remote sensing image destriping by taking full consideration of the intrinsically directional and structural priors of stripe noise, and the locally continuous property of the underlying image as well. Moreover, the proposed non-convex model is solved by a proximal alternating direction method of multipliers (PADMM) based algorithm. In addition, we also give the corresponding theoretical analysis of the proposed algorithm. Extensive experimental results on simulated and real data demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms recent competitive destriping methods, both visually and quantitatively.
High-Speed Interrogation for Large-Scale Fiber Bragg Grating Sensing
Authors: Hu Chenyuan , Bai Wei
Published: February 2018

A high-speed interrogation scheme for large-scale fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing arrays is presented. This technique employs parallel computing and pipeline control to modulate incident light and demodulate the reflected sensing signal. One Electro-optic modulator (EOM) and one semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) were used to generate a phase delay to filter reflected spectrum form multiple candidate FBGs with the same optical path difference (OPD). Experimental results showed that the fastest interrogation delay time for the proposed method was only about 27.2 us for a single FBG interrogation, and the system scanning period was only limited by the optical transmission delay in the sensing fiber owing to the multiple simultaneous central wavelength calculations. Furthermore, the proposed FPGA-based technique had a verified FBG wavelength demodulation stability of ±1 pm without average processing.
SmartVeh: Secure and Efficient Message Access Control and Authentication for Vehicular Cloud Computing
Authors: Huang Qinlong , Yang Yixian , Shi Yuxiang
Published: February 2018

With the growing number of vehicles and popularity of various services in vehicular cloud computing (VCC), message exchanging among vehicles under traffic conditions and in emergency situations is one of the most pressing demands, and has attracted significant attention. However, it is an important challenge to authenticate the legitimate sources of broadcast messages and achieve fine-grained message access control. In this work, we propose SmartVeh, a secure and efficient message access control and authentication scheme in VCC. A hierarchical, attribute-based encryption technique is utilized to achieve fine-grained and flexible message sharing, which ensures that vehicles whose persistent or dynamic attributes satisfy the access policies can access the broadcast message with equipped on-board units (OBUs). Message authentication is enforced by integrating an attribute-based signature, which achieves message authentication and maintains the anonymity of the vehicles. In order to reduce the computations of the OBUs in the vehicles, we outsource the heavy computations of encryption, decryption and signing to a cloud server and road-side units. The theoretical analysis and simulation results reveal that our secure and efficient scheme is suitable for VCC.
Error Analysis of the K-Rb-21Ne Comagnetometer Space-Stable Inertial Navigation System
Authors: Cai Qingzhong , Yang Gongliu , Quan Wei , Song Ningfang , Tu Yongqiang , Liu Yiliang
Published: February 2018

According to the application characteristics of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer, a space-stable navigation mechanization is designed and the requirements of the comagnetometer prototype are presented. By analysing the error propagation rule of the space-stable Inertial Navigation System (INS), the three biases, the scale factor of the z-axis, and the misalignment of the x- and y-axis non-orthogonal with the z-axis, are confirmed to be the main error source. A numerical simulation of the mathematical model for each single error verified the theoretical analysis result of the system’s error propagation rule. Thus, numerical simulation based on the semi-physical data result proves the feasibility of the navigation scheme proposed in this paper.
A Feasibility Study on the Use of a Structured Light Depth-Camera for Three-Dimensional Body Measurements of Dairy Cows in Free-Stall Barns
Authors: Pezzuolo Andrea , Guarino Marcella , Sartori Luigi , Marinello Francesco
Published: February 2018

Frequent checks on livestock’s body growth can help reducing problems related to cow infertility or other welfare implications, and recognizing health’s anomalies. In the last ten years, optical methods have been proposed to extract information on various parameters while avoiding direct contact with animals’ body, generally causes stress. This research aims to evaluate a new monitoring system, which is suitable to frequently check calves and cow’s growth through a three-dimensional analysis of their bodies’ portions. The innovative system is based on multiple acquisitions from a low cost Structured Light Depth-Camera (Microsoft Kinect™ v1). The metrological performance of the instrument is proved through an uncertainty analysis and a proper calibration procedure. The paper reports application of the depth camera for extraction of different body parameters. Expanded uncertainty ranging between 3 and 15 mm is reported in the case of ten repeated measurements. Coefficients of determination R² > 0.84 and deviations lower than 6% from manual measurements where in general detected in the case of head size, hips distance, withers to tail length, chest girth, hips, and withers height. Conversely, lower performances where recognized in the case of animal depth (R² = 0.74) and back slope (R² = 0.12).
Nanosphere Lithography on Fiber: Towards Engineered Lab-On-Fiber SERS Optrodes
Authors: Quero Giuseppe , Zito Gianluigi , Managò Stefano , Galeotti Francesco , Pisco Marco , De Luca Anna , Cusano Andrea
Published: February 2018

In this paper we report on the engineering of repeatable surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) optical fiber sensor devices (optrodes), as realized through nanosphere lithography. The Lab-on-Fiber SERS optrode consists of polystyrene nanospheres in a close-packed arrays configuration covered by a thin film of gold on the optical fiber tip. The SERS surfaces were fabricated by using a nanosphere lithography approach that is already demonstrated as able to produce highly repeatable patterns on the fiber tip. In order to engineer and optimize the SERS probes, we first evaluated and compared the SERS performances in terms of Enhancement Factor (EF) pertaining to different patterns with different nanosphere diameters and gold thicknesses. To this aim, the EF of SERS surfaces with a pitch of 500, 750 and 1000 nm, and gold films of 20, 30 and 40 nm have been retrieved, adopting the SERS signal of a monolayer of biphenyl-4-thiol (BPT) as a reliable benchmark. The analysis allowed us to identify of the most promising SERS platform: for the samples with nanospheres diameter of 500 nm and gold thickness of 30 nm, we measured values of EF of 4 × 105, which is comparable with state-of-the-art SERS EF achievable with highly performing colloidal gold nanoparticles. The reproducibility of the SERS enhancement was thoroughly evaluated. In particular, the SERS intensity revealed intra-sample (i.e., between different spatial regions of a selected substrate) and inter-sample (i.e., between regions of different substrates) repeatability, with a relative standard deviation lower than 9 and 15%, respectively. Finally, in order to determine the most suitable optical fiber probe, in terms of excitation/collection efficiency and Raman background, we selected several commercially available optical fibers and tested them with a BPT solution used as benchmark. A fiber probe with a pure silica core of 200 µm diameter and high numerical aperture (i.e., 0.5) was found to be the most promising fiber platform, providing the best trade-off between high excitation/collection efficiency and low background. This work, thus, poses the basis for realizing reproducible and engineered Lab-on-Fiber SERS optrodes for in-situ trace detection directed toward highly advanced in vivo sensing.
The Trace Detection of Nitrite Ions Using Neutral Red Functionalized SH-β-Cyclodextrin @Au Nanoparticles
Authors: Du Xiaoyang , Zhang Xiaoxia , Jiang Chunlai , Zhang Weilu , Yang Lizhu
Published: February 2018

A novel fluorescence sensor of NR-β-CD@AuNPs was prepared for the trace detection of nitrite in quantities as low as 4.25 × 10−3 μg∙mL−1 in an aqueous medium. The fluorescence was due to the host-guest inclusion complexes between neutral red (NR) molecules and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which were modified by per-6-mercapto-beta-cyclodextrins (SH-β-CDs) as both a reducing agent and a stabilizer under microwave radiation. The color of the NR-β-CD@AuNPs changed in the presence of nitrite ions. A sensor was applied to the determination of trace nitrites in environmental water samples with satisfactory results.
Floating Gate, Organic Field-Effect Transistor-Based Sensors towards Biomedical Applications Fabricated with Large-Area Processes over Flexible Substrates
Authors: Lai Stefano , Viola Fabrizio , Cosseddu Piero , Bonfiglio Annalisa
Published: February 2018

Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs) are attracting a rising interest for the development of novel kinds of sensing platforms. In this paper, we report about a peculiar sensor device structure, namely Organic Charge-Modulated Field-Effect Transistor (OCMFET), capable of operating at low voltages and entirely fabricated with large-area techniques, i.e., inkjet printing and chemical vapor deposition, that can be easily upscaled to an industrial size. Device fabrication is described, and statistical characterization of the basic electronic parameters is reported. As an effective benchmark for the application of large-area fabricated OCMFET to the biomedical field, its combination with pyroelectric materials and compressible capacitors is discussed, in order to employ the proposed device as a temperature pressure sensor. The obtained sensors are capable to operate in conditions which are relevant in the biomedical field (temperature in the range of 18.5–50 °C, pressure in the range of 102–103 Pa) with reproducible and valuable performances, opening the way for the fabrication of low-cost, flexible sensing platforms.
Label-Free Quantification of Anti-TNF-α in Patients Treated with Adalimumab Using an Optical Biosensor
Authors: Bustos Rosa , Zapata Carlos , Esteban Efraín , García Julio-César , Jáuregui Edwin , Jaimes Diego
Published: February 2018

This study describes the development of an immunosensory label-free quantification methodology based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and its applicability in measuring/evaluating therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibody (adalimumab) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The experimental parameters evaluated in this study were immobilising ligands by pre-concentration assays, sensor surface regeneration, ascertaining the method’s sensitivity and correlating the results from quantifying plasma samples by ELISA immunoassay. The results showed that TNF-α quantification values (in RU) were significantly different when comparing patients (~50–250 RU) to controls (~10–20 RU). Likewise, there was 0.97 correlation for patients and 0.91 for healthy volunteers using SPR and ELISA comparison methodologies. SPR immunosensory detection provided a precise, sensitive strategy, along with real-time determination, for quantifying adalimumab, having great potential for clinical routine regarding TDM.
Enhancing Perception with Tactile Object Recognition in Adaptive Grippers for Human–Robot Interaction
Authors: Gandarias Juan , Gómez-de-Gabriel Jesús , García-Cerezo Alfonso
Published: February 2018

The use of tactile perception can help first response robotic teams in disaster scenarios, where visibility conditions are often reduced due to the presence of dust, mud, or smoke, distinguishing human limbs from other objects with similar shapes. Here, the integration of the tactile sensor in adaptive grippers is evaluated, measuring the performance of an object recognition task based on deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) using a flexible sensor mounted in adaptive grippers. A total of 15 classes with 50 tactile images each were trained, including human body parts and common environment objects, in semi-rigid and flexible adaptive grippers based on the fin ray effect. The classifier was compared against the rigid configuration and a support vector machine classifier (SVM). Finally, a two-level output network has been proposed to provide both object-type recognition and human/non-human classification. Sensors in adaptive grippers have a higher number of non-null tactels (up to 37% more), with a lower mean of pressure values (up to 72% less) than when using a rigid sensor, with a softer grip, which is needed in physical human–robot interaction (pHRI). A semi-rigid implementation with 95.13% object recognition rate was chosen, even though the human/non-human classification had better results (98.78%) with a rigid sensor.
Synthesis of ZnMn2O4 Nanoparticles by a Microwave-Assisted Colloidal Method and their Evaluation as a Gas Sensor of Propane and Carbon Monoxide
Authors: Morán-Lázaro Juan , Guillen-López Erwin , López-Urias Florentino , Muñoz-Sandoval Emilio , Blanco-Alonso Oscar , Guillén-Bonilla Héctor , Guillén-Bonilla Alex , Rodríguez-Betancourtt Verónica , Sanchez-Tizapa Marciano , Olvera-Amador María
Published: February 2018

Spinel-type ZnMn2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via a simple and inexpensive microwave-assisted colloidal route. Structural studies by X-ray diffraction showed that a spinel crystal phase of ZnMn2O4 was obtained at a calcination temperature of 500 °C, which was confirmed by Raman and UV-vis characterizations. Spinel-type ZnMn2O4 nanoparticles with a size of 41 nm were identified by transmission electron microscopy. Pellet-type sensors were fabricated using ZnMn2O4 nanoparticles as sensing material. Sensing measurements were performed by exposing the sensor to different concentrations of propane or carbon monoxide at temperatures in the range from 100 to 300 °C. Measurements performed at an operating temperature of 300 °C revealed a good response to 500 ppm of propane and 300 ppm of carbon monoxide. Hence, ZnMn2O4 nanoparticles possess a promising potential in the gas sensors field.
Cavity-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Food Chain Management
Authors: Sandfort Vincenz , Goldschmidt Jens , Wöllenstein Jürgen , Palzer Stefan
Published: February 2018

Comprehensive food chain management requires the monitoring of many parameters including temperature, humidity, and multiple gases. The latter is highly challenging because no low-cost technology for the simultaneous chemical analysis of multiple gaseous components currently exists. This contribution proposes the use of cavity enhanced Raman spectroscopy to enable online monitoring of all relevant components using a single laser source. A laboratory scale setup is presented and characterized in detail. Power enhancement of the pump light is achieved in an optical resonator with a Finesse exceeding 2500. A simulation for the light scattering behavior shows the influence of polarization on the spatial distribution of the Raman scattered light. The setup is also used to measure three relevant showcase gases to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, including carbon dioxide, oxygen and ethene.
An Adaptive Method for Switching between Pedestrian/Car Indoor Positioning Algorithms based on Multilayer Time Sequences
Authors: Gu Zhining , Guo Wei , Li Chaoyang , Zhu Xinyan , Guo Tao
Published: February 2018

Pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR) positioning algorithms can be used to obtain a target’s location only for movement with step features and not for driving, for which the trilateral Bluetooth indoor positioning method can be used. In this study, to obtain the precise locations of different states (pedestrian/car) using the corresponding positioning algorithms, we propose an adaptive method for switching between the PDR and car indoor positioning algorithms based on multilayer time sequences (MTSs). MTSs, which consider the behavior context, comprise two main aspects: filtering of noisy data in small-scale time sequences and using a state chain to reduce the time delay of algorithm switching in large-scale time sequences. The proposed method can be expected to realize the recognition of stationary, walking, driving, or other states; switch to the correct indoor positioning algorithm; and improve the accuracy of localization compared to using a single positioning algorithm. Our experiments show that the recognition of static, walking, driving, and other states improves by 5.5%, 45.47%, 26.23%, and 21% on average, respectively, compared with convolutional neural network (CNN) method. The time delay decreases by approximately 0.5–8.5 s for the transition between states and by approximately 24 s for the entire process.
A Reply to “Comments on “A New Elliptical Model for Device-Free Localization””
Authors: Lei Qian , Zhang Haijian , Sun Hong , Tang Linling
Published: February 2018

Recently, a comment paper on “A New Elliptical Model for Device-Free Localization” (Sensors 2016, 16, 577) has been presented, and the authors have provided a modified model. However, there are still some misunderstandings. In this reply, we further explain the proposed elliptical model in (Sensors 2016, 16, 577) to make it more understandable.
Influence of the Backwash Cleaning Water Temperature on the Membrane Performance in a Pilot SMBR Unit
Authors: Lintzos Loukas , Chatzikonstantinou Kostas , Tzamtzis Nikolaos , Malamis Simos
Published: February 2018

In this work, different backwash (BW) schemes were applied on identical hollow fiber (HF) membranes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating municipal wastewater. The effect of BW duration (1 min, 3 min and 8 min) and water temperature (8 °C, 18 °C, 28 °C and 38 °C) on membrane fouling were investigated. Specifically, the transmembrane pressure (TMP) drop and the membrane permeability increase caused by the BW was investigated. Furthermore, the time required for the membrane to return to the state just before each BW experiment, was also examined. It was found that membranes presented better operating performance, as the BW temperature and the backwash duration were increased. Specifically, for 1 min backwash duration at the BW temperatures of 8 °C, 18 °C, 28 °C and 38 °C, TMP decreased by 7.1%, 8.7%, 11.2% and 14.2% respectively. For 8 min BW duration at 8 °C, 18 °C, 28 °C and 38 °C, TMP values decreased by 12%, 17.5%, 23.7% and 30.2% respectively. Increased BW water temperature and duration also improved the membrane permeability. Using higher BW water temperatures, more hours were required to return the membranes to the condition just before cleaning. The selected BW water temperatures did not adversely affect the permeate quality.