bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MAMDANI AND 1 ST -ORDER TAKAGI SUGENO KANG TYPE FUZZY LOGIC CONTROLLERS FOR CONTROLLING THE RIGID GANTRY CRANE SYSTEM
Authors: Yazid Edwar , Rahmayanti Rifa
Published: May 2018

Controlling the rigid gantry crane system is challenging due to it being an under-actuated system. This paper addresses the challenge by presenting the fuzzy logic controller (FLC) with Mamdani and the 1 st -order Takagi Sugeno Kang (TSK) types presenting it in this comparative study. Both controllers are proposed to control the position of the crane while suppressing the swing of the payload. Simulation results show that the Mamdani type outperforms the 1 st -order Takagi Sugeno Kang (TSK) type in terms of no overshoot, though the earlier controller (Mamdani) has a slower rise time, settling time and peak time than the latter controller (TSK).
Ethnobotany and Agrobiodiversity: Valuation of Plants in the Homegardens of Southwestern Uganda
Authors: Whitney Cory W. , Bahati Joseph , Gebauer Jens
Published: May 2018

Homegardens are species-rich agroforestry systems with a high diversity of associated traditional knowledge. These systems are an important part of food security for rural marginalized poor around the world, particularly in the humid tropics. Despite the high diversity and cultural importance, little is known about the livelihood-relevant plant diversity contained in the homegardens of southwestern Uganda. Here we employ the quantitative ethnobotany indices use reports (UR) and the cultural importance index (CI) to describe the importance of plants and plant types in the region’s homegardens. Data is based on inventories of 102 homegardens in the Greater Bushenyi from 2014 and reveals 225 useful plant species in 14 different use categories with 3,961 UR, 54% for food, 15% for economic uses, and 11% for medicine. The findings highlight the importance of homegarden plants for subsistence farming households and indicate that they are important places for conservation of botanical agrobiodiversity that should be considered part of the conservation movement in Uganda. Efforts to conserve both botanical and food system diversity in the extremely rich but rapidly deteriorating regional socio-cultural and ecological systems should consider homegardens for their role in conservation of plants and preservation of traditional knowledge.
Potencialidades hídricas no Aquífero Carstico Salitre na região de Irecê, Bahia
Authors: Gonçalves Thiago Dos Santos , Leal Luiz Rogério Bastos
Published: May 2018

Os aquíferos cársticos apresentam propriedade hidráulicas peculiares, dificultando a aquisição de parâmetros hidráulicos, como a transmissividade – T, pelos métodos analíticos concebidos atualmente. Assim, este trabalho propõe estimar T no Aquífero Cárstico Salitre – ACS na região de Irecê através de dados de Capacidade Específica – Sc. Para isto foram processados dados de 213 testes de bombeamento, sendo estes, utilizados os métodos de recuperação de Theis e da avaliação do rebaixamento para estimar T e Sc, respectivamente. Sendo possível a comparação entre esses dois parâmetros, pelo Modelo de Regressão Linear – MRL, e assim, determinar a função empírica, , característica para o ACS. Após estabelecido o modelo empírico, foram utilizados valores de Sc extraídos de 1.334 ensaios de bombeamento, e, assim, calculado os valores de em função de . Os valores de  foram espacializados resultando em cinco diferentes domínios de produtividade, demonstrando que o ACS se apresenta dominantemente com potencialidades moderadamente baixas. Este trabalho apresentou uma importante ferramenta na concepção de T no ACS e sua disposição espacial. Portanto, uma importante ferramenta para entidades gestoras e perfuradores de poços da região.
Television is Not Radio: Theologies of Mediation in the Egyptian Islamic Revival
Authors: Moll Yasmin
Published: May 2018

What makes media “Islamic”? Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with Islamic television producers in Cairo, this article looks at the passionate contention within Egypt’s piety movement over the development of new forms of religious media. I suggest that at stake in these mass-mediated debates over da‘wa (Islamic outreach) are conflicting theologies of mediation that configure the boundaries of the religious and the secular differently. This God-talk matters greatly to Islamic revivalists, who spend more time debunking each other than they do secularists. Attention to these internal critiques foregrounds the competing moral conceptions of human flourishing and divine obligation that animate Egypt’s Islamic Revival. Indeed, focusing on the piety movement’s internal fractures as God-talk allows for an ethnographic engagement with how Muslim adepts critique religious difference—and the difference that religious critique makes—beyond the imperatives of secular power. This focus, in turn, complicates the stakes of anthropological judgment.
Assessment of Serum and Salivary Vitamin E Levels in Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cancer
Authors:   Department of Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Radiology,A.B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Nitte Deemed to be University, India, Bhat Supriya , Babu Subhas ,   Department of Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Radiology,A.B Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Nitte Deemed to be University, India, Kumari Suchetha ,   Department of Biochemistry, K. S Hegde Medical Academy, Nitte Deemed to be University, India, Ram Shetty Shishir ,   Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Gulf Medical University, Ajman, Kamath Vinayak ,   Public Health Dentistry, Government Dental College, Goa, India
Published: May 2018

An increase in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in antioxidant activity have been reported in patients with cancer in comparison with normal subjects. Objective: To estimate the status of serum and saliva by assessing the serum and salivary vitamin E levels in patients with oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer. Methods: A total of 90 participants were enrolled in this study. 30 subjects with oral potentially malignant disorders, 30 sub¬jects with oral cancer, and 30 healthy subjects (controls). Serum and saliva samples were collected and vitamin E levels were assessed. The data were analyzed using ANOVA for between-group comparison. Post hoc Tukey analysis was used for comparing the two study groups with the control group. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine concordance between the groups. Results: Mean vitamin E levels in serum and saliva were sig¬nificantly decreased in oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer compared with controls. Conclusion: As significant reduction in vitamin E levels was observed in saliva, it was evident that salivary vitamin E levels potentially be used as a reliable, non invasive biomarker for diagnosing and managing oral potentially malignant disorders and oral cancer.
Spectroscopic and Photometric Analysis of the HW Vir Star PTF1 J011339.09+225739.1
Authors: Wolz Maximilian , Kupfer Thomas , Drechsel Horst , Heber Ulrich , Irrgang Andreas , Hermes J.J. , Bloemen Steven , Levitan David , Dhillon Vik , Marsh TomR.
Published: May 2018

HW Vir systems are rare eclipsing binary systems including a subdwarf B star (sdB) with a faint companion, mostly M-dwarfs. Up to now, 19 HW Vir systems have been published, three of them with substellar companions. We report the spectroscopic as well as photometric observation of the eclipsing sdB binary PTF1 J011339.09+225739.1 (PTF1 J0113) in a close (a=0.722 ± 0.023 R⊙), short period (P = 0.0933731(3)d) orbit. A quantitative spectral analysis of the sdB yields Te.=29280 ± 720 K, log(g)=5.77 ± 0.09 dex, and log(y)=−2.32 ± 0.12. The circular orbital velocity of the sdB of K1=74.2 ± 1.7 km s−1 is derived from the radial velocity curve. Except for the strong reflection effect, no other light contribution of the companion could be detected. The light curves - recorded with ULTRACAM - were analyzed using the Wilson-Devinney code. We find an inclination angle of i=79.88 ± 0.18∘. Because our first attempts to determine q failed, we calculated large grids of synthetic lightcurves for several mass ratios. Because of degeneracy, good solutions for different mass ratios were found - the one at q = 0.24 is consistent with the sdB’s canonical mass (MsdB = 0.47 M⊙). Accordingly, the mass of the companion is M2=0.112 ± 0.003 M⊙. The radii of the two components were also derived: RsdB=0.178 ± 0.006 R⊙ and R2 = 0.158 ± 0.009 R⊙. Thus, the results for the secondary are consistent with an M-dwarf as secondary
The strange hot horizontal-branch binary star in NGC 6752
Authors: Bidin Christian Moni
Published: May 2018

M5865 is the only so-far confirmed close binary found in the extreme horizontal branch (EHB) of a globular cluster. A detailed study has recently proposed that this object could be a close system (period P=1.61 days) comprising a EHB and a main-sequence star of mass M≈0.6 Mʘ. Such a system has never been found among hundreds of known EHB binaries in the field, and it results in a very interesting, unique object. In this contribution, we resume the previous literature results on M5865, we discuss the reasons of interest on it, and we present some very preliminary results obtained from new observations.
Species richness effects on the vegetative expansion of transplanted seagrass in Indonesia
Authors: Asriani Nenni , Ambo-Rappe Rohani , Lanuru Mahatma , Williams Susan L.
Published: May 2018

Seagrass restoration is necessary to provide the critical ecosystem functions that are being lost with seagrass decline. Seagrass restoration of mixed species seagrass beds, especially in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, is poorly understood. Here, we transplanted random combinations of 1, 2, 4 and 5 seagrass species common in Indonesia to determine the effect of multispecies plantings on expansion of rhizomes. We measured seagrass vegetative expansion outside of the transplantation plots after 1 year post-transplantation for 5 months. The expansion rate increased with species richness. This result indicates that a multispecies approach to seagrass restoration in Indonesia would benefit restoration efforts. Further, for multispecies restoration we suggest using five-species combinations because they expanded the fastest of all species richness levels by the end of the experiment (on average 15.4 cm2 day−1).
Parathormone stability in hemodialyzed patients and healthy subjects: comparison on non-centrifuged EDTA and serum samples with second- and third-generation assays
Authors: Schleck Marie-Louise , Souberbielle Jean-Claude , Delanaye Pierre , Plebani Mario , Cavalier Etienne
Published: May 2018

Background:

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) stability is important. Many studies have shown divergent results between EDTA and serum, which are mainly linked to differences in protocols or cut-offs used to determine whether or not PTH remained stable. No studies have yet compared PTH stability as measured by second- and third-generation assays on the same samples in hemodialyzed patients and healthy subjects.

Methods:

Five pairs of samples (EDTA and gel tubes) were obtained in 10 hemodialyzed patients before a dialysis session and in 10 healthy subjects. One pair was centrifuged and run directly to define the “T0”. Two pairs were kept at +4°C and two pairs were kept at +25°C. They were centrifuged after 4 and 18 h. Supernatant was kept at –80°C for 1 week. All samples were measured in a single batch, on Roche Cobas and DiaSorin XL second- and third-generation PTH assays. We used three different approaches to evaluate PTH stability: Wilcoxon test, an Acceptable Change Limit (ACL) according to ISO Guide 5725-6 and a Total Change Limit (TCL) derived from the sum of biological and technical variability according to WHO.

Results:

PTH decreased in all samples. Stability of PTH was mainly dependent on the way it was evaluated. Percentages of decrease were systematically lower in EDTA vs. serum. Wilcoxon and ACL showed that PTH was no more stable after 4 h at +4°C in EDTA or serum gel tubes. None of the subjects presented a PTH decrease higher than the TCL with EDTA plasma. In serum gel tubes, PTH was unstable only when kept at 25°C for 18 h.

Conclusions:

PTH seems more stable in EDTA than in serum gel tubes but only when samples have to stay unprocessed for a long period (18 h) at room temperature (25°C), which can happen when samples are delivered from external care centers. For all the other conditions, using serum gel tubes is recommended since calcium measurement, which is necessary for a good PTH results interpretation, can be achieved on the same tube.
Comparison of four methods of establishing control limits for monitoring quality controls in infectious disease serology testing
Authors: Dimech Wayne , Karakaltsas Marina , Vincini Giuseppe A.
Published: May 2018

Background:

A general trend towards conducting infectious disease serology testing in centralized laboratories means that quality control (QC) principles used for clinical chemistry testing are applied to infectious disease testing. However, no systematic assessment of methods used to establish QC limits has been applied to infectious disease serology testing.

Methods:

A total of 103 QC data sets, obtained from six different infectious disease serology analytes, were parsed through standard methods for establishing statistical control limits, including guidelines from Public Health England, USA Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), German Richtlinien der Bundesärztekammer (RiliBÄK) and Australian QConnect. The percentage of QC results failing each method was compared.

Results:

The percentage of data sets having more than 20% of QC results failing Westgard rules when the first 20 results were used to calculate the mean±2 standard deviation (SD) ranged from 3 (2.9%) for R4S to 66 (64.1%) for 10X rule, whereas the percentage ranged from 0 (0%) for R4S to 32 (40.5%) for 10X when the first 100 results were used to calculate the mean±2 SD. By contrast, the percentage of data sets with >20% failing the RiliBÄK control limits was 25 (24.3%). Only two data sets (1.9%) had more than 20% of results outside the QConnect Limits.

Conclusions:

The rate of failure of QCs using QConnect Limits was more applicable for monitoring infectious disease serology testing compared with UK Public Health, CLSI and RiliBÄK, as the alternatives to QConnect Limits reported an unacceptably high percentage of failures across the 103 data sets.
Released from ZrO2/SiO2 coating resveratrol inhibits senescence and oxidative stress of human adipose-derived stem cells (ASC)
Authors: Kornicka K. , Walczak R. , Mucha A. , Marycz K.
Published: May 2018

The rapid aging of the population results in increased number of metabolic and degenerative disorders, especially in the elderly.Thus, a novel approach in the fields of orthopedic and reconstructive surgery for bone regeneration is strongly desirable. A new perspective in the therapy of bone fractures is tissue engineering which combines living cells with biomaterials to develop modern substitutes that can restore tissue functions. Metallic biomaterials, including stainless steel and pure titanium, have been extensively used for the fabrication of surgical implants over decades. Chemical modification of material surface for example incorporation of chemotactic factors may significantly improve the therapeutic effect. In this paper we describe titanium substrate modifications with ZrO2/SiO2coating functionalized with resveratrol using a sol – gel, dip-coating technique. Moreover, we established the effects of fabricated scaffolds on adipose stem cells isolated from elderly patients. Using fluorescence imaging, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)and cytotoxicity tests, we established that 0.5 Res_ZrO2/SiO2significantly reduced apoptosis and accumulation of oxidative stress factors in adipose derived stem cells (ASC). Thus exploitation of fabricated biomaterials in regenerative medicine as a strategy for rejuvenate ASC from elderly patientsin vivo, seems fully justified.
Fast removal of pollutants from vehicle emissions during cold-start stage
Authors: Wang Ran , Li Jia Hui , Qian Feng
Published: May 2018

Recently, enormous research passion has been devoted to reduce air pollution caused by vehicle emissions. Effective vehicle emission control method is to convert exhaust pollutants by placing catalyst in the exhaust pipe. However, the major stumbling block is that a large portion of emission occurs in the initial 20–30 s during the engine cold-start stage, before catalyst can reach its operating temperature. To address the challenge, herein we developed a catalyst utilizing Pd and Rh as active components, Ce-Zr solid solution as assistant, γ-Al2O3 as coating and Fe-Cr-Al as supporter. The catalyst component was optimized (atom ratio of Ce:Zr is 6:4, mass ratio of Pd:Rh is 8:2, total weight of Pd and Rh is 1.2 g/L, pore density is 700 pores/inch2) and high-frequency electrical heating technique was employed to decrease operating temperature from 400°C to 350°C and improve exhaust conversion efficiency by 78%.
Pine Cone and Boron Compounds Effect as Reinforcement on Mechanical and Flammability Properties of Polyester Composites
Authors: Borazan Alev Akpinar , Gokdai Duygu
Published: May 2018

Natural fibers are known to be environmentally friendly, and they can be used as an alternative to glass and carbon fibers because of their low cost. Pine cone fibers are a good choice for use in composite manufacturing because they mainly consist of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin macromolecules which provide a hydrophilic character.The potential pine cone forest reserve of Turkey is 54,000 ha. Boron compounds such as borax, boric acid. and zinc borate are generally used for their flame-retardant effect. In this study, three kinds of boron compounds, boron oxide, borax pentahydrate and borax decahydrate, were used to provide better mechanical properties and better incombustibility. The synergistic effects of both waste pine cone and boron compounds were sampled for the manufacture of polyester composites by using a casting process. The composites produced with different fiber contents were characterized by some mechanical properties (bending strength, flexural modulus, izod impact); physical analyses (water absorption, swelling thickness, open porosity, bulk density); flame retardancy (LOI); and TGA, SEM-EDS, and FT-IR analyses. According to mechanical test results, boron oxide showed better bending strength and flexural modulus compared to the other boron compounds. The LOI of composites with a boron compound was higher than the composites with only pine cone reinforcement.
Fractional PID Controller Applied to a Chemical Plant with Level and pH Control
Authors: Aguiar Renato Aparecido , Franco Ivan Carlos , Leonardi Fabrizio , Lima Fábio
Published: May 2018

One of the most important processes in the chemical, biological and petrochemical industries is the control of the potential of hydrogen (pH). As it is a multivariable process and non-linear, pH control gives rise to many challenges for designers in both dynamic responses and robustness issues. Despite all this complexity, in many circumstances pH control is performed by using a conventional proportional integral derivative (PID) control, which is very common in industry. This paper proposes using a fractional-order PID to improve the pH control performance of a lab-scale process, as it is more flexible, i. e., there is a higher number of variables to be adjusted. Results from a simulation have been compared to those from both conventional and fractional-order PID controls, which has shown the better performance of the latter related to important metrics such as the control effort and dynamic response of the controlled variables.
“Qabbani versus Qur’an”: Arabism and the Umma in Robin Yassin-Kassab’s The Road from Damascus
Authors: Qutait Tasnim
Published: May 2018

In The Road from Damascus (2008), Syrian-British writer Robin Yassin-Kassab’s debut novel, the protagonist describes “the opposing camps of [his] childhood,” as narratives of “Qabbani versus Qur’an” (56). While Sami’s father idolises the pan-Arabist poet Nizar Qabbani and supports the Syrian regime despite its repressive policies, Sami’s mother, disillusioned with nationalist ideology, turns instead to faith, offering her son a “different mythology” based on “the adventures of God’s messengers” (53). Tracing Sami’s negotiations of these seemingly opposed inherited narratives, Yassin-Kassab’s novel examines the lingering impact of pan-Arabism and the alternatives offered by Islamic frameworks. While critics have previously approached this novel as part of a growing corpus of British Muslim fiction, in this essay, I focus more closely on the novel’s interrogation of Arab nationalism. As I will show, Yassin-Kassab’s novel unfolds as a series of ideological disillusionments that chart the protagonist’s confrontation with the failure of nationalist politics. Inviting the reader to follow the protagonist’s successive conversions and de-conversion from various forms of nationalism, Yassin-Kassab’s representation of the polarisation between “Qabbani versus Qur’an” poses the question of how one might find alternatives beyond such restrictive dichotomies, dramatizing the inadequacies of political vision in the Arab world today.
Orthogonal stability of mixed type additive-cubic functional equations in multi-Banach spaces
Authors: Murali Ramdoss , Pinelas Sandra , Raj Aruldass Antony
Published: May 2018

In this paper, we establish the Hyers-Ulam orthogonal stability of the mixed type additive-cubic functional equation in multi-Banach spaces.
Exploring the role of defective fibronectin matrix assembly in the VHL-associated CNS hemangioblastoma
Authors: Vikkath Narendranath , Ariyannur Prasanth , Menon Krishnakumar N. , MR Bindhu , Pillai Ashok
Published: May 2018

Background:

Central nervous system (CNS) hemangioblastoma (HB) is the most common tumor in the von Hippel Lindau (VHL) disorder, the hereditary tumor syndrome caused by the biallelic mutations of the VHL gene. The disrupted VHL and Elongin protein interaction on hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) induces a set of hypoxia-inducible genes, resulting in an unchecked endothelial cell proliferation that then leads to hemangioblastoma formation. However, recent studies have shown that disruptive germline mutations of VHL need not result in hemangioblastoma, though it can cause other manifestations of the VHL syndrome. Similarly, sporadic hemangioblastoma can occur rarely without a somatic biallelic VHL mutation. The VHL protein was earlier found to be associated with the deposition of matrix fibronectin (FN) protein in the renal extracellular matrix.

Methods:

The present study was designed to investigate the deposition of the matrix FN protein in VHL-associated hemangioblastoma.

Results:

Seven HB tumor samples from the VHL syndrome had lower expressions of tissue FN compared to the control cerebellum samples or the control blood vessel sample. On comparing the VHL and FN protein expressions in a timed endothelial tube assay, the VHL protein expression was absent during the initial phase of tube formation but started expressing after 6 h. The levels of matrix form of FN gradually increased along with the VHL expression during the maturation of tube formation. Tube formation was found to be enhanced with extraneously added soluble FN and inhibited by matrix FN. Similarly, tube formation was inhibited by a modified tripeptide (RGD) inhibitor of integrin (-αVβ3), namely, Cyclo-Ala-Arg-Gly-Asp-3-aminomethylbenzoyl.

Conclusions:

Our study implicates that the extracellular deposition and matrix formation of FN is important for vascular endothelial proliferation, and that its absence has roles in the development of hemangioblastoma in the VHL syndrome.
Carbon supported g-C3N4 for electrochemical sensing of hydrazine
Authors: Ramanujam Kothandaraman , Thirupathi Thippani
Published: May 2018

This study reports a synthesis of carbon supported graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4-KBC) obtained by pyrolysis of melamine with Ketjenblack 600JD carbon (KBC) at 550°C for 4 h in a N2atmosphere. g-C3N4-KBC oxidizes hydrazine at an onset potential 0.145 V vs. SCE close to the thermodynamic standard potential of hydrazine (0.23 V vs. SHE). In comparison to the controls, KBC and g-C3N4, g-C3N4-KBC oxidizes hydrazine at lower overpotential.Most research has tended to focus on transition metal-based catalysts and few are of carbon material such as graphene nanoflakes, graphene oxide, and carbon nanotubes. A comparison in terms of sensitivity, detection range and stability reveals g-C3N4-KBC electrode’s superiority over other carbon material-based catalysts. To the best of our knowledge, the g-C3N4-KBC catalyst is not reported for sensing hydrazine in the literature.
Tidal current energy potential of Nalón river estuary assessment using a high precision flow model
Authors: Badano Nicolás , Valdés Rodolfo Espina , Álvarez Eduardo Álvarez
Published: May 2018

Obtaining energy from tide currents in onshore locations is of great interest due to the proximity to the points of consumption. This opens the door to the feasibility of new installations based on hydrokinetic microturbines even in zones of moderate speed. In this context, the accuracy of energy predictions based on hydrodynamic models is of paramount importance. This research presents a high precision methodology based on a multidimensional hydrodynamic model that is used to study the energetic potential in estuaries. Moreover, it is able to estimate the flow variations caused by microturbine installations. The paper also shows the results obtained from the application of the methodology in a study of the Nalón river mouth (Asturias, Spain).
Some Characterizations of the Log-Logistic Distribution
Authors: Ahsanullah Mohammad , Alzaatreh Ayman
Published: May 2018

The log-logistic distribution is a right skewed distribution of a random variable whose logarithm has the logistic distribution. In this paper, characterizations based on truncated moments, functions of order statistics and record values are obtained. Also, limiting distributions for the extreme order statistics are studied.
Modeling kraft cooking kinetics of fiber mixes from TMP and unbleached kraft pulps for assessment of old corrugated cardboard delignification
Authors: Dollié Lucas , Mortha Gérard , Marlin Nathalie
Published: May 2018

Kraft cooking kinetics of three different lignocellulosic substrates have been investigated, namely fibers from unbleached kraft pulp (UBKP from Pinus radiata), fibers from softwood unbleached thermomechanical pulp (TMP), and wood chips for TMP production. UBKP and TMP were considered to be representative of a fiber mixture obtained after the pulping and cleaning of old corrugated cardboards (OCC). The characteristic parameters for fitting a mathematical model for kraft pulping were estimated. Based on the results, a “fiber mixture cooking model” was developed to predict the cooking kinetics of TMP/UBKP mixes, accounting for the proportion of each component. The aim was to tailor OCC upcycling in terms of high quality products, which can be used for various purposes including paper and non-paper applications.
Low Acyl Gellan Gum as a Gelling Agent in Medium of Saccharomyces Yeasts
Authors: Zhang Liguo , Du Jinhua , Jiang Yang
Published: May 2018

Commercial agar used in microbiological culture has a disadvantage of impurity and opacity. This work aimed to provide an alternative gelling agent to agar and the function of low acyl gellan gum in microbiological culture media was studied. The results showed the texture and water activity of GYGs (glucose-YNB medium containing low acyl gellan gum at different concentrations of 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, 1.2%, 1.5%) were suitable for cultivation of Saccharomyces yeasts. The gelling temperature of GYGs was enhanced with the increased concentration of low acyl gellan gum, while clarity of medium and colony diameter decreased. Scanning electron microscope showed that GYG09 (glucose-YNB medium containing 0.9% low acyl gellan gum) possessed homogeneous porous structures, which was superior to GYA20 with respect to higher clarity and lower dosage of gelling agent when surface plating method was used; however, GYG09 was not suitable for pour plating method.
Influence of Moisture Content on Physicomechanical Properties, Starch-Protein Microstructure and Fractal Parameter of Oat Groats
Authors: Zhao Nan , Li Bo-wen , Fu Nan , Li Dong , Wang Li-jun , Chen Xiao-dong
Published: May 2018

This study was performed to investigate the influence of moisture content on physicomechanical properties, starch-protein microstructure and fractal parameter of oat groats. Selected physical properties were determined as a function of moisture content. The results showed that moisture content had a significant effect on these characteristics. Majority of physical properties increased linearly with moisture content ranged from 11.8 % to 27.0 %, while mechanical properties decreased nonlinearly as third power function in the above range. Moreover, the increasing granule size, less gaps and more contact points can be observed in the microstructure of starch-protein network with high moisture. Meanwhile, high moisture content also resulted in that fractal parameter of oat section increased from 2.6891 to 2.8001 significantly. These moisture-dependent characteristics are useful in further study of oat groats and the heuristic methods used in this study may be extrapolated to other varieties of cereal.
The Effect of Solution Properties on the Photochemical Ability of Pulsed Light to Inactivate Soybean Lipoxygenase
Authors: Alhendi Abeer , Yang Wade , Sarnoski Paul J.
Published: May 2018

Inactivation of pure soybean lipoxygenase (LOX) by pulsed light (PL) technique was found to occur due to a photochemical effect, while inactivation of soybean LOX in a real food (soymilk) was due to the photothermal effect of PL. The effect of solution properties on the photochemical ability of PL to inactivate and degrade LOX was investigated. LOX was placed in different conditions and treated with PL at a 7 cm distance with different times. The result showed that LOX was less stable during PL operation at pH 9 compared with pH 6.8. Increasing LOX concentration, adding starch, and making a colored solution did reduce the photochemical ability of PL to inactivate LOX. PL and thermal treatment of partially purified LOX degraded the LOX band (measured by using SDS-PAGE) when no protease inhibitors were added. Controlling protease activity led to degradation of LOX by PL but not by thermal treatment.
Approaches to the Numerical Estimates of Grid Convergence of NSE in the Presence of Singularities
Authors: Zhang Chenguang , Nandakumar Krishnaswamy
Published: May 2018

Evaluating the order of accuracy (order) is an integral part of the development and application of numerical algorithms. Apart from theoretical functional analysis to place bounds on error estimates, numerical experiments are often essential for nonlinear problems to validate the estimates in a reliable answer. The common workflow is to apply the algorithm using successively finer temporal/spatial grid resolutions

δ
i

${\delta _i}$

, measure the error

\isin
i

${\isin _i}$

in each solution against the exact solution, the order is then obtained as the slope of the line that fits

(
log

\isin
i

,
log

δ
i

)

$(\log {\isin _i}, \log {\delta _i})$

. We show that if the problem has singularities like divergence to infinity or discontinuous jump, this common workflow underestimates the order if solution at regions around the singularity is used. Several numerical examples with different levels of complexity are explored. A simple one-dimensional theoretical model shows it is impossible to numerically evaluate the order close to singularity on uniform grids.
A case study of the application of GPS to lunar laser ranging timing systems
Authors: Munghemezulu C. , Combrinck L. , Botai O. J.
Published: May 2018

The Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory is currently building a Lunar Laser Ranging station. This geodetic technique requires a good timing system to measure a round trip of laser photons from the telescope to the Moon and back to the telescope. We test the newly acquired timing system using examples of the Global Positioning System applications. Data in Receiver Independent Exchange Format was processed using GAMIT/GLOBK software. The results were compared against those derived from the Global Positioning System receivers that were integrated with a frequency standard from a hydrogen maser and a standard internal quartz. The results indicate that (i) the rubidium clock operates optimally and the clock drifted to within error margins of sub-centimetre level during the period of 2.5 seconds, (ii) the selected site for the permanent installation of the timing antenna has minimal multipath effect and (iii) we observed no improvement in Global Positioning System products derived from receivers that were integrated with different frequency standards.
Phytochemistry, bioactivity: suggestion of Ceratonia siliqua L. as neurodegenerative disease therapy
Authors: Lakkab Imane , Hajaji Hanane El , Lachkar Nadya , Bali Brahim El , Lachkar Mohammed , Ciobica Alin
Published: May 2018

Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is one of the most widespread medicinal plants in the Mediterranean area. Traditionally, it was cultivated for its ethnopharmacological benefits and, more especially, for the seeds, which served as unit of measurement of jewelers “carat.” Hence, in the last half-century, numerous studies reported a wide range of phytoconstituents contained in all parts of Ceratonia siliqua such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins, anthocyanins, alkaloids, glycosides, proteins and minerals. This review article unveils the phytochemical constituents, bioactivity and pharmacological studies of Ceratonia siliqua. Recent studies have shown that the extracts of this plant exhibit an antioxidant, antidiarrheal, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic activities and also hepatoprotective and antiproliferative effects. In this review, we provide a summary of the most interesting data related to bioactivity and therapeutic potential of Ceratonia siliqua in a way to suggest possible future studies that may use Ceratonia siliqua as an undeniable natural alternative for neurodegenerative diseases treatment.
MTIL2017: Machine Translation Using Recurrent Neural Network on Statistical Machine Translation
Authors: Mahata Sainik Kumar , Das Dipankar , Bandyopadhyay Sivaji
Published: May 2018

Machine translation (MT) is the automatic translation of the source language to its target language by a computer system. In the current paper, we propose an approach of using recurrent neural networks (RNNs) over traditional statistical MT (SMT). We compare the performance of the phrase table of SMT to the performance of the proposed RNN and in turn improve the quality of the MT output. This work has been done as a part of the shared task problem provided by the MTIL2017. We have constructed the traditional MT model using Moses toolkit and have additionally enriched the language model using external data sets. Thereafter, we have ranked the phrase tables using an RNN encoder-decoder module created originally as a part of the GroundHog project of LISA lab.
Investigation of 2D-PC Ring Resonator-Based Demultiplexer for ITU-T G.694.1 WDM Systems
Authors: Kannaiyan Venkatachalam , Dhamodharan Sriram Kumar , Savarimuthu Robinson
Published: May 2018

In this proposed work, we have designed two-dimensional photonic crystal ring resonator (2DPC-RR)-based eight-channel demultiplexer for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. The performance parameters of the proposed demultiplexer such as resonant wavelength, spectral width, quality factor, channel spacing and crosstalk are investigated. The demultiplexer consists of bus waveguide, quasi-square RR and L bend waveguides. Each quasi-square RR has eight-shaped microcavity with different refractive index, which plays an active role for channel selection. The plane wave expansion method is used to generate the modes and photonic band gap of the demultiplexer. The finite difference time domain method is employed to analysis the field distribution and normalized transmission of the proposed demultiplexer. The transmission efficiency, Q factor, spectral width and channel spacing of the demultiplexer are about 98 %, 2,022, 0.8 nm and 1.1 nm, respectively. The aforementioned results are meeting the requirements of the ITU-T G. 694.1 DWDM systems.
All Optical BPSK Demodulator Using Photonic Crystal Based Coupled Waveguides
Authors: Karimzadeh Mahsa , Andalib Alireza
Published: May 2018

In this paper we will propose and design an all optical phase shift keying (PSK) demodulator using photonic crystal based coupled waveguides. The proposed structure should be designed such that it can generate digital 0 and 1 based on the phase of the input signal. The working mechanism is based on constructive and destructive of optical beams. The proposed structure was simulated using plane wave expansion and finite difference time domain methods. The simulation results show that the rise and fall times for the proposed structure are about 1.2 ps and 0.2 ps, respectively.
Midwife-assisted planned home birth: an essential component of improving the safety of childbirth in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Dayyabu Aliyu Labaran , Murtala Yusuf , Grünebaum Amos , McCullough Laurence B. , Arabin Birgit , Levene Malcolm I. , Brent Robert L. , Monni Giovanni , Sen Cihat , Makatsariya Alexander , Chervenak Frank A.
Published: May 2018

Hospital births, when compared to out-of-hospital births, have generally led to not only a significantly reduced maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity but also an increase in certain interventions. A trend seems to be emerging, especially in the US where some women are requesting home births, which creates ethical challenges for obstetricians and the health care organizations and policy makers. In the developing world, a completely different reality exists. Home births constitute the majority of deliveries in the developing world. There are severe limitations in terms of facilities, health personnel and deeply entrenched cultural and socio-economic conditions militating against hospital births. As a consequence, maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity remain the highest, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Midwife-assisted planned home birth therefore has a major role to play in increasing the safety of childbirth in SSA. The objective of this paper is to propose a model that can be used to improve the safety of childbirth in low resource countries and to outline why midwife assisted planned home birth with coordination of hospitals is the preferred alternative to unassisted or inadequately assisted planned home birth in SSA.
Estimating the effect of plate discipline using a causal inference framework: an application of the G-computation algorithm
Authors: Vock David Michael , Vock Laura Frances Boehm
Published: May 2018

Offensive performance in baseball depends on a number of correlated factors: the pitches the batter faces, the batter’s choice to swing, and the batter’s hitting ability. Recently a renewed focus on the effect of plate discipline on batter performance has emerged. Plate discipline has traditionally been summarized as the proportion of pitches inside and outside of the strike zone a player swings at; however, there have been few metrics proposed to assess the effect of plate discipline directly on batters’ outcomes. In this paper, we focus on estimating a batter’s performance if he were able to adopt a different plate discipline. Because we wish to assess the effect of a counterfactual plate discipline, we use a potential outcome framework and show how the G-computation algorithm can be used to isolate the effect of plate discipline separately from a batter’s hitting ability or the types of pitches the batter faces. As an example, we implement our approach using data collected with the PITCHf/x system over the 2012–2014 seasons to identify the improvement Starlin Castro would expect to see in offensive performance were he able to adopt Andrew McCutchen’s plate discipline. We estimate that had Castro adopted McCutchen’s discipline his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage would have increased 0.017 (se = 0.004), 0.040 (se = 0.006), and 0.028 (se = 0.008), respectively.
On the dependency of soccer scores – a sparse bivariate Poisson model for the UEFA European football championship 2016
Authors: Groll Andreas , Kneib Thomas , Mayr Andreas , Schauberger Gunther
Published: May 2018

When analyzing and modeling the results of soccer matches, one important aspect is to account for the correct dependence of the scores of two competing teams. Several studies have found that, marginally, these scores are moderately negatively correlated. Even though many approaches that analyze the results of soccer matches are based on two (conditionally) independent pairwise Poisson distributions, a certain amount of (mostly negative) dependence between the scores of the competing teams can simply be induced by the inclusion of covariate information of both teams in a suitably structured linear predictor. One objective of this article is to analyze if this type of modeling is appropriate or if additional explicit modeling of the dependence structure for the joint score of a soccer match needs to be taken into account. Therefore, a specific bivariate Poisson model for the two numbers of goals scored by national teams competing in UEFA European football championship matches is fitted to all matches from the three previous European championships, including covariate information of both competing teams. A boosting approach is then used to select the relevant covariates. Based on the estimates, the tournament is simulated 1,000,000 times to obtain winning probabilities for all participating national teams.
The use of hair traps as a complementary method in mammal ecology studies
Authors: Magioli Marcelo , Bovo Alex Augusto Abreu , Alberici Vinicius , de Barros Ferraz Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi
Published: May 2018

This study describes the use of hair traps as a complementary method to obtain samples for stable isotope analysis from medium- and large-sized mammals. We sampled three protected areas within the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Traps formed an enclosure of ~16 m2 composed of two barbed-wire strands at different heights, baited with corn, salt, fruits and cinnamon powder. Samples were identified using hair microstructure. We identified 11 species – four globally and six nationally threatened – of which 63.6% were frugivorous. We found high species richness with a small sampling effort, indicating that hair traps can prove useful for isotopic ecology and other applied ecological studies.
First record of the Santa Marta mouse, Nephelomys maculiventer (Mammalia, Rodentia, Cricetidae), for Venezuela
Authors: García Franger J. , Sánchez-González Elvira , Machado Marjorie , Flórez Guillermo , Araujo-Reyes Dayana , Vásquez-Parra Oriana , Prieto-Torres David
Published: May 2018

We report the first record of the Santa Marta mouse Nephelomys maculiventer in Venezuela based on a specimen from the Northern Andes in the Sierra de Perijá. This record increases the number of mammalian species documented in Venezuela to 404 and extends the geographic distribution range of N. maculiventer approximately 80 km northwest from the closest locality in Colombia. With this discovery, we update the ecological and conservation information for the species as well as the taxonomy of the genus Nephelomys.
Priests, Conflicts and Property Rights: the Impacts on Tenancy and Land Use in Brazil
Authors: Alston Lee J. , Mueller Bernardo
Published: May 2018

Compared to the rest of the world, farmers in Brazil rely relatively little on tenant contracts. In agriculture, career mobility is associated with moving up the agricultural ladder from working for wages to renting to owning (Alston, L.J., and J.P. Ferrie. 2005. “Time on the Ladder: Career Mobility in Agriculture,” 1890-1938The Journal of Economic History65(04): 1058–1081. Cambridge University Press). Alone, this fact may not present a puzzle, but coupled with the large number of landless peasants and large amounts of unused land, the question is, Why don't landowners with unused or underutilized land negotiate land rental contracts with the landless.? In Brazil, this avenue for advancement has been hurt by a reluctance of owners to rent in areas experiencing land conflict. The lack of rentals is an important issue because Brazil is geographically a large country, roughly the size of the continental United States and has an expanding agricultural frontier, some of which is cutting into the Amazon. If the lack of land rentals is pervasive across Brazil and also signals inefficiency in production, the total magnitude is likely to be large when summed across the country.
Design, concepts, and applications of electromagnetic metasurfaces
Authors: Achouri Karim , Caloz Christophe
Published: May 2018

The paper overviews our recent work on the synthesis of metasurfaces and related concepts and applications. The synthesis is based on generalized sheet transition conditions (GSTCs) with a bianisotropic surface susceptibility tensor model of the metasurface structure. We first place metasurfaces in a proper historical context and describe the GSTC technique with some fundamental susceptibility tensor considerations. On this basis, we next provide an in-depth development of our susceptibility-GSTC synthesis technique. Finally, we present five recent metasurface concepts and applications, which cover the topics of birefringent transformations, bianisotropic refraction, light emission enhancement, remote spatial processing, and nonlinear second-harmonic generation.
The crystal structure of catena-poly[chlorido-(μ2-5-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiolato-κ2
S:N)mercury(II)], C3H3ClHgN2S2
Authors: Liu Lian-Wei , Zhao Bang-Tun
Published: May 2018

C3H3ClHgN2S2, orthorhombic, Pna21 (no. 33), a = 18.794(8) Å, b = 4.0798(17) Å, c = 10.093(4) Å, V = 773.8(6) Å3, Z = 4, R
gt(F) = 0.0437, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.1024, T = 291(2) K.
LIFE MONZA: project description and actions’ updating
Authors: Bartalucci Chiara , Borchi Francesco , Carfagni Monica , Furferi Rocco , Governi Lapo , Lapini Alessandro , Volpe Yary , Curcuruto Salvatore , Mazzocchi Enrico , Marsico Giuseppe , Luzzi Sergio , Nizzola Carlo Maria , Maggi Manlio , Fasanella Antonio
Published: May 2018

The introduction of Low Emission Zones, urban areas subject to road traffic restrictions in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values set by the European Directive on ambient air quality (2008/50/EC), is a common and well-established action in the administrative government of cities. The impacts on air quality improvement are widely analysed, whereas the effects and benefits concerning the noise have not been addressed in a comprehensive manner. As a consequence, the definition, the criteria for the analysis and the management methods of a Noise Low Emission Zone are not clearly expressed and shared yet. The LIFE MONZA project (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management - LIFE15 ENV/IT/000586) addresses these issues. The first objective of the project, co-funded by the European Commission, is to introduce an easy-replicable method for the identification and the management of the Noise Low Emission Zone, an urban area subject to traffic restrictions, whose impacts and benefits regarding noise issues will be analyzed and tested in the pilot area of the city of Monza, located in Northern Italy. Background conditions, structure, objectives of the project and actions’ progress will be discussed in this article.