bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Soil Water Measurement Using Actively Heated Fiber Optics at Field Scale
Authors: Vidana Gamage Duminda , Biswas Asim , Strachan Ian , Adamchuk Viacheslav
Published: April 2018

Several studies have demonstrated the potential of actively heated fiber optics (AHFO) to measure soil water content (SWC) at high spatial and temporal resolutions. This study tested the feasibility of the AHFO technique to measure soil water in the surface soil of a crop grown field over a growing season using an in-situ calibration approach. Heat pulses of five minutes duration were applied at a rate of 7.28 W m−1 along eighteen fiber optic cable transects installed at three depths (0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m) at six-hour intervals. Cumulative temperature increase (Tcum) during heat pulses was calculated at locations along the cable. While predicting commercial sensor measurements, the AHFO showed root mean square errors (RMSE) of 2.8, 3.7 and 3.7% for 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m depths, respectively. Further, the coefficients of determination (R2) for depth specific relationships were 0.87 (0.05 m depth), 0.46 (0.10 m depth), 0.86 (0.20 m depth) and 0.66 (all depths combined). This study showed a great potential of the AHFO technique to measure soil water at high spatial resolutions (<1 m) and to monitor soil water dynamics of surface soil in a crop grown field over a cropping season with a reasonable compromise between accuracy and practicality.
Collision Detection for Underwater ROV Manipulator Systems
Authors: Sivčev Satja , Rossi Matija , Coleman Joseph , Omerdić Edin , Dooly Gerard , Toal Daniel
Published: April 2018

Work-class ROVs equipped with robotic manipulators are extensively used for subsea intervention operations. Manipulators are teleoperated by human pilots relying on visual feedback from the worksite. Operating in a remote environment, with limited pilot perception and poor visibility, manipulator collisions which may cause significant damage are likely to happen. This paper presents a real-time collision detection algorithm for marine robotic manipulation. The proposed collision detection mechanism is developed, integrated into a commercial ROV manipulator control system, and successfully evaluated in simulations and experimental setup using a real industry standard underwater manipulator. The presented collision sensing solution has a potential to be a useful pilot assisting tool that can reduce the task load, operational time, and costs of subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance operations.
Latent Factors Limiting the Performance of sEMG-Interfaces
Authors: Lobov Sergey , Krilova Nadia , Kastalskiy Innokentiy , Kazantsev Victor , Makarov Valeri
Published: April 2018

Recent advances in recording and real-time analysis of surface electromyographic signals (sEMG) have fostered the use of sEMG human–machine interfaces for controlling personal computers, prostheses of upper limbs, and exoskeletons among others. Despite a relatively high mean performance, sEMG-interfaces still exhibit strong variance in the fidelity of gesture recognition among different users. Here, we systematically study the latent factors determining the performance of sEMG-interfaces in synthetic tests and in an arcade game. We show that the degree of muscle cooperation and the amount of the body fatty tissue are the decisive factors in synthetic tests. Our data suggest that these factors can only be adjusted by long-term training, which promotes fine-tuning of low-level neural circuits driving the muscles. Short-term training has no effect on synthetic tests, but significantly increases the game scoring. This implies that it works at a higher decision-making level, not relevant for synthetic gestures. We propose a procedure that enables quantification of the gestures’ fidelity in a dynamic gaming environment. For each individual subject, the approach allows identifying “problematic” gestures that decrease gaming performance. This information can be used for optimizing the training strategy and for adapting the signal processing algorithms to individual users, which could be a way for a qualitative leap in the development of future sEMG-interfaces.
On-Chip Cell Staining and Counting Platform for the Rapid Detection of Blood Cells in Cerebrospinal Fluid
Authors: Lee Yujin , Kim Byeongyeon , Choi Sungyoung
Published: April 2018

Counting blood cells in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is indispensable for diagnosing several pathological conditions in the central nervous system, such as meningitis, even though collecting CSF samples is invasive. Cell counting methods, such as hemocytometer chambers and flow cytometers, have been used for CSF cell counting, but they often lack the sensitivity to detect low blood cell numbers. They also depend on off-chip, manual sample preparation or require bulky, costly equipment, thereby limiting their clinical utility. Here, we present a portable cell counting platform for simple, rapid CSF cell counting that integrates a microfluidic cell counting chamber with a miniaturized microscope. The microfluidic chamber is designed not only to be a reagent container for on-chip cell staining but also to have a large control volume for accurate cell counting. The proposed microscope miniaturizes both bright-field and fluorescence microscopy with a simple optical setup and a custom cell-counting program, thereby allowing rapid and automated cell counting of nucleated white blood cells and non-nucleated red blood cells in fluorescence and bright-field images. Using these unique features, we successfully demonstrate the ability of our counting platform to measure low CSF cell counts without sample preparation.
Mobile User Connectivity in Relay-Assisted Visible Light Communications
Authors: Pešek Petr , Zvanovec Stanislav , Chvojka Petr , Bhatnagar Manav , Ghassemlooy Zabih , Saxena Prakriti
Published: April 2018

In this paper, we investigate relay-assisted visible light communications (VLC) where a mobile user acts as a relay and forwards data from a transmitter to the end mobile user. We analyse the utilization of the amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) relaying schemes. The focus of the paper is on analysis of the behavior of the mobile user acting as a relay while considering a realistic locations of the receivers and transmitters on a standard mobile phone, more specifically with two photodetectors on both sides of a mobile phone and a transmitting LED array located upright. We also investigate dependency of the bit error rate (BER) performance on the azimuth and elevation angles of the mobile relay device within a typical office environment. We provide a new analytical description of BER for AF and DF-based relays in VLC. In addition we compare AF and DF-based systems and show that DF offers a marginal improvement in the coverage area with a BER < 10–3 and a data rate of 100 Mb/s. Numerical results also illustrate that relay-based systems offer a significant improvement in terms of the coverage compared to direct non-line of sight VLC links.
Real-Time Seismic Data from the Bottom Sea
Authors: Roset Xavier , Trullols Enric , Artero-Delgado Carola , Prat Joana , Del Río Joaquin , Massana Immaculada , Carbonell Montserrat , Barco de la Torre Jaime , Toma Daniel
Published: April 2018

An anchored marine seismometer, acquiring real-time seismic data, has been built and tested. The system consists of an underwater seismometer, a surface buoy, and a mooring line that connects them. Inductive communication through the mooring line provides an inexpensive, reliable, and flexible solution. Prior to the deployment the dynamics of the system have been simulated numerically in order to find optimal materials, cables, buoys, and connections under critical marine conditions. The seismometer used is a high sensitivity triaxial broadband geophone able to measure low vibrational signals produced by the underwater seismic events. The power to operate the surface buoy is provided by solar panels. Additional batteries are needed for the underwater unit. In this paper we also present the first results and an earthquake detection of a prototype system that demonstrates the feasibility of this concept. The seismometer transmits continuous data at a rate of 1000 bps to a controller equipped with a radio link in the surface buoy. A GPS receiver on the surface buoy has been configured to perform accurate timestamps on the seismic data, which makes it possible to integrate the seismic data from these marine seismometers into the existing seismic network.
Defocus Blur Detection and Estimation from Imaging Sensors
Authors: Li Jinyang , Liu Zhijing , Yao Yong
Published: April 2018

Sparse representation has been proven to be a very effective technique for various image restoration applications. In this paper, an improved sparse representation based method is proposed to detect and estimate defocus blur of imaging sensors. Considering the fact that the patterns usually vary remarkably across different images or different patches in a single image, it is unstable and time-consuming for sparse representation over an over-complete dictionary. We propose an adaptive domain selection scheme to prelearn a set of compact dictionaries and adaptively select the optimal dictionary to each image patch. Then, with nonlocal structure similarity, the proposed method learns nonzero-mean coefficients’ distributions that are much more closer to the real ones. More accurate sparse coefficients can be obtained and further improve the performance of results. Experimental results validate that the proposed method outperforms existing defocus blur estimation approaches, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Effects of tDCS on Real-Time BCI Detection of Pedaling Motor Imagery
Authors: Rodriguez-Ugarte Maria , Iáñez Eduardo , Ortiz-Garcia Mario , Azorín José
Published: April 2018

The purpose of this work is to strengthen the cortical excitability over the primary motor cortex (M1) and the cerebro-cerebellar pathway by means of a new transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) configuration to detect lower limb motor imagery (MI) in real time using two different cognitive neural states: relax and pedaling MI. The anode is located over the primary motor cortex in Cz, and the cathode over the right cerebro-cerebellum. The real-time brain–computer interface (BCI) designed is based on finding, for each electrode selected, the power at the particular frequency where the most difference between the two mental tasks is observed. Electroencephalographic (EEG) electrodes are placed over the brain’s premotor area (PM), M1, supplementary motor area (SMA) and primary somatosensory cortex (S1). A single-blind study is carried out, where fourteen healthy subjects are separated into two groups: sham and active tDCS. Each subject is experimented on for five consecutive days. On all days, the results achieved by the active tDCS group were over 60% in real-time detection accuracy, with a five-day average of 62.6%. The sham group eventually reached those levels of accuracy, but it needed three days of training to do so.
FPGA Based Adaptive Rate and Manifold Pattern Projection for Structured Light 3D Camera System
Authors: Atif Muhammad , Lee Sukhan
Published: April 2018

The quality of the captured point cloud and the scanning speed of a structured light 3D camera system depend upon their capability of handling the object surface of a large reflectance variation in the trade-off of the required number of patterns to be projected. In this paper, we propose and implement a flexible embedded framework that is capable of triggering the camera single or multiple times for capturing single or multiple projections within a single camera exposure setting. This allows the 3D camera system to synchronize the camera and projector even for miss-matched frame rates such that the system is capable of projecting different types of patterns for different scan speed applications. This makes the system capturing a high quality of 3D point cloud even for the surface of a large reflectance variation while achieving a high scan speed. The proposed framework is implemented on the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), where the camera trigger is adaptively generated in such a way that the position and the number of triggers are automatically determined according to camera exposure settings. In other words, the projection frequency is adaptive to different scanning applications without altering the architecture. In addition, the proposed framework is unique as it does not require any external memory for storage because pattern pixels are generated in real-time, which minimizes the complexity and size of the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design and implementation.
Three-Dimensional Registration for Handheld Profiling Systems Based on Multiple Shot Structured Light
Authors: Ayaz Shirazi Muhammad , Khan Danish , Kim Min Young
Published: April 2018

In this article, a multi-view registration approach for the 3D handheld profiling system based on the multiple shot structured light technique is proposed. The multi-view registration approach is categorized into coarse registration and point cloud refinement using the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. Coarse registration of multiple point clouds was performed using relative orientation and translation parameters estimated via homography-based visual navigation. The proposed system was evaluated using an artificial human skull and a paper box object. For the quantitative evaluation of the accuracy of a single 3D scan, a paper box was reconstructed, and the mean errors in its height and breadth were found to be 9.4 μm and 23 μm, respectively. A comprehensive quantitative evaluation and comparison of proposed algorithm was performed with other variants of ICP. The root mean square error for the ICP algorithm to register a pair of point clouds of the skull object was also found to be less than 1 mm.
δ-Generalized Labeled Multi-Bernoulli Filter Using Amplitude Information of Neighboring Cells
Authors: Liu Chao , Sun Jinping , Lei Peng , Qi Yaolong
Published: April 2018

The amplitude information (AI) of echoed signals plays an important role in radar target detection and tracking. A lot of research shows that the introduction of AI enables the tracking algorithm to distinguish targets from clutter better and then improves the performance of data association. The current AI-aided tracking algorithms only consider the signal amplitude in the range-azimuth cell where measurement exists. However, since radar echoes always contain backscattered signals from multiple cells, the useful information of neighboring cells would be lost if directly applying those existing methods. In order to solve this issue, a new δ-generalized labeled multi-Bernoulli (δ-GLMB) filter is proposed. It exploits the AI of radar echoes from neighboring cells to construct a united amplitude likelihood ratio, and then plugs it into the update process and the measurement-track assignment cost matrix of the δ-GLMB filter. Simulation results show that the proposed approach has better performance in target’s state and number estimation than that of the δ-GLMB only using single-cell AI in low signal-to-clutter-ratio (SCR) environment.
Analysis of a Smartphone-Based Architecture with Multiple Mobility Sensors for Fall Detection with Supervised Learning
Authors: Santoyo-Ramón José , Casilari Eduardo , Cano-García José
Published: April 2018

This paper describes a wearable Fall Detection System (FDS) based on a body-area network consisting of four nodes provided with inertial sensors and Bluetooth wireless interfaces. The signals captured by the nodes are sent to a smartphone which simultaneously acts as another sensing point. In contrast to many FDSs proposed by the literature (which only consider a single sensor), the multisensory nature of the prototype is utilized to investigate the impact of the number and the positions of the sensors on the effectiveness of the production of the fall detection decision. In particular, the study assesses the capability of four popular machine learning algorithms to discriminate the dynamics of the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) and falls generated by a set of experimental subjects, when the combined use of the sensors located on different parts of the body is considered. Prior to this, the election of the statistics that optimize the characterization of the acceleration signals and the efficacy of the FDS is also investigated. As another important methodological novelty in this field, the statistical significance of all the results (an aspect which is usually neglected by other works) is validated by an analysis of variance (ANOVA).
N-Aryl-7-hydroxy-5-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H,5H-pyrido-[3,2,1-ij]quinoline-6-carboxamides. The Synthesis and Effects on Urinary Output
Authors: Ukrainets Igor V. , Sidorenko Lyudmila V. , Golik Mykola Y. , Chernenok Igor M. , Grinevich Lina A. , Davidenko Alexandra A.
Published: April 2018

Continuing a targeted search for new leading structures with diuretic action among tricyclic derivatives of hydroxyquinolines, which are of interest as potential inhibitors of aldosterone synthase, the synthesis of a series of the corresponding pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinoline-6-carboxanilides was carried out by amidation of ethyl-7-hydroxy-5-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H,5H-pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinoline-6-carboxylate with aniline, aminophenols and O-alkylsubstituted analogs with high yields and purity. The optimal conditions of this reaction are proposed; they make it possible to prevent partial destruction of the original heterocyclic ester and thereby avoid formation of specific impurities of 7-hydroxy-2,3-dihydro-1H,5H-pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-5-one. To confirm the structure of all substances obtained, elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry were used. Moreover, the peculiarities of their 1H and 13C-NMR spectra, as well as their mass spectrometric behavior under conditions of electron impact ionization, were discussed. The effect of pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinoline-6-carboxanilides on the urinary function of the kidneys was studied in white rats of both genders by the standard method of oral administration at a dose of 10 mg/kg. Testing was conducted in comparison with hydrochlorothiazide, as well as with structurally close pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij] quinoline-5-carboxanilides studied earlier with the same substituents in the anilide fragments. It was found that addition of one methylene unit to the heterocycle partially hydrogenated and annelated with the quinolone core has a positive impact on biological properties—most of the substances studied exhibit a statistically significant diuretic effect exceeding the activity of not only hydrochlorothiazide, in some cases, but also the action of the structural analogs. The important structural and biological regularities, which are common with pyrroloquinolines and introduced by a chemical modification, were revealed. The importance of the presence in the structure of terminal amide fragments of tricyclic quinoline-3-carboxamides of a 4-methoxy-substituted aromatic ring was particularly marked. The expediency of further study of pyridoquinolines as promising diuretic agents has been shown.
Big Data in Ottoman Urban Studies: A Relational Approach to the Archival Data and to Socio-Spatial Analyses of an Early Modern Ottoman City
Authors: Ugur Yunus
Published: April 2018

This paper focuses on two basic archival sources of Ottoman urban history: avârız tax surveys and surety surveys of Edirne in the second half of the seventeenth century. These tax and surety surveys, which are abundant in the Ottoman archives, contain rich information on the residents of Ottoman cities, including names, titles, occupation, gender, religion, property status and numbers of tax units (avârızhane). All this information is given on the basis of the mahalle (neighborhood), which provides a practical point of departure for “reading” the Ottoman city. Each register contains approximately 10,000 household heads, with about 10 different attributes listed for each of them. In addition, the data contain some numerical information (e.g., numbers of tax units), although a majority of it is nominal. While some types of nominal data, like religion and gender, comprise only a few possible variants and can thus be analyzed without further classification, others, such as occupation data, contain hundreds, and thus cannot be analyzed without clustering them. In analyzing the data, the distribution of each attribute in the city and its density in an urban space (scaling) can be presented in the form of ratios. One may perform these analyses in the first stage with conventional statistical methods. However, this study attempts for the first time to achieve two further goals: connecting the data types to each other; and highlighting the distinguishing differences among the mahalles using the methods of hierarchical clustering, correspondence analysis, and creating maps by geographic information systems (GIS) applications—none of which is possible with conventional methods. Such an exploration suits both the relational approach I am trying to advocate here—namely, that all elements in the city must be understood in relation to one another—and my effort to lay out the general features of the Ottoman city. This approach will allow us to see how these attributes are spatially distributed based solely on the guidance provided by the big data available in the sources. In this context, I explore the topographical similarities of the mahalles on the one hand, and the socio-economic features and structures of attribute profiles via the scale of their “corresponding distances” on the other. These topographical vicinities and socio-spatial neighbors resemble and do not resemble each other in the city. This paper discusses the processes, challenges and possible contributions of the application of big data to urban historical studies.
The Role of Visual Feedback on Power Output During Intermittent Wingate Testing in Ice Hockey Players
Authors: Stastny Petr , Tufano James , Kregl Jan , Petr Miroslav , Blazek Dusan , Steffl Michal , Roczniok Robert , Fiala Milos , Golas Artur , Zmijewski Piotr
Published: April 2018

Background: Visual feedback may help elicit peak performance during different types of strength and power testing, but its effect during the anaerobic Wingate test is unexplored. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of visual feedback on power output during a hockey-specific intermittent Wingate test (AnWT6x6) consisting of 6 stages of 6 s intervals with a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. Methods: Thirty elite college-aged hockey players performed the AnWT6x6 with either constant (n = 15) visual feedback during all 6 stages (CVF) or restricted (n = 15) visual feedback (RVF) where feedback was shown only during the 2nd through 5th stages. Results: In the first stage, there were moderate-to-large effect sizes for absolute peak power (PP) output and PP relative to body mass and PP relative to fat-free mass. However, the remaining stages (2–6) displayed small or negligible effects. Conclusions: These data indicate that visual feedback may play a role in optimizing power output in a non-fatigued state (1st stage), but likely does not play a role in the presence of extreme neuromuscular fatigue (6th stage) during Wingate testing. To achieve the highest peak power, coaches and researchers could provide visual feedback during Wingate testing, as it may positively influence performance in the early stages of testing, but does not result in residual fatigue or negatively affect performance during subsequent stages.
An Analysis of Housing Structures’ Earthquake Vulnerability in Two Parts of Dhaka City
Authors: Ahmed Md , Morita Hiroshi
Published: April 2018

The damage done in earthquake disasters is correlated to the types of housing structures that are present. In the last two decades of urbanization in Dhaka, rapid growth without proper planning has been a major concern. This study evaluates the performance of the decision tree and random forest techniques to predict structures’ vulnerability factors for buildings as a step towards improving earthquake disaster preparedness. Applying the decision tree algorithm to locations (wards) in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), we observed some important predictors of earthquake damage. Decision tree analysis reveals that the most important predictor for structures that fare well in earthquakes is the use of reinforced concrete, and a common factor among the most vulnerable structures is the soft story building style in the DNCC and DSCC areas. The random forest technique also showed reinforced concrete as being the most important factor for lowering the risk for housing structures, with the model having a 24.19% out-of-bag (OOB) error. As for vulnerability, soft story construction was a significant factor in estimating earthquake susceptibility (40.32% OOB error). The findings reveal that building materials in the DNCC are stronger than those in the DSCC but soft story buildings are more common in the DNCC, which make it one of the weakest parts of the area and point to the need to make plans to seismically retrofit soft story buildings.
Perspectives of Geological CO2 Storage in South Korea to Cope with Climate Change
Authors: Kim Heejung
Published: April 2018

Rapid industrialization and urbanization in the 20th century have led to increasing volumes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere[...]
Casting for the King: The Royal Palace bronze workshop of Angkor Thom
Authors: Polkinghorne Martin , Vincent Brice , Thomas Nicolas , Bourgarit David
Published: April 2018

Les sites de production artistique du royaume khmer et les méthodes de fabrication associées sont longtemps restés inconnus. Pour la première fois en Asie du Sud-Est, un projet multidisciplinaire a identifié un atelier de bronziers d'époque historique où étaient fabriqués tant des statues que des objets, comme l'attestent divers déchets de production mis au jour. Les résultats préliminaires de prospections et de fouilles conduites au nord du palais royal d'Angkor Thom, complétées par une série d'analyses de matériaux, ont posé des nouveaux jalons pour une caractérisation de la métallurgie du cuivre et de ses alliages à Angkor. La proximité du complexe du palais royal suggère que l'atelier était d'une importance considérable pour l'élite politique qui commandait les produits des bronziers, ceci non seulement afin de fournir palais et temples en objets, mais aussi de légitimer son pouvoir au moyen d'images de dieux. L'étude technique du mobilier archéométallurgique, qui inclut céramiques techniques (creusets, moules, parois de fours), objets en cuivre et chutes de fonderie, objets en fer, scories, outils en pierre et en céramique, révèle de son côté les pratiques de fonte privilégiées par des artisans spécialisés.
Carving at the Capital: A stone workshop at Hariharālaya, Angkor
Authors: Polkinghorne Martin , Douglas Janet G. , Carò Federico
Published: April 2018

Entre le IXe et le XVe siècle, les constructeurs et les artisans d’Angkor et de ses territoires ont peuplé leurs paysages de milliers de temples et des dizaines de milliers de sculptures sacrées. On ne sait pourtant que peu de choses des modes opératoires de ces spécialistes. Cet article présente les résultats de fouilles archéologiques et d’analyses de matériaux dans un site d’extraction de grès pour la ville de Hariharālaya, pendant la période angkorienne classique. Il étudie l’obtention de matériaux bruts, les méthodes de manufacture, et les sites de production des créateurs de temples et de sculptures. Un site de production associé au temple de Bakong a été identifié grâce à des restes de débitage de grès et des statues inachevées. Les fouilles ont révélé un bâtiment du IXe siècle associé à des dépôts importants de déchets de grès et une deuxième phase de production de statues, datée des XIIe et XIIIe siècles. L’étude des caractéristiques des grès a été effectuée sur les déchets de production in situ, sur les statues inachevées, et sur les œuvres achevées. La comparaison des échantillons provenant de l’atelier et des temples qui lui sont associés, avec les matériaux des statues des collections cambodgiennes et internationales suggère que l’atelier a d’abord été utilisé comme décharge de matériaux de construction des temples voisins, et dans un deuxième temps pour la production des images qui y sont vénérées. Cet atelier faisait en outre partie d’un réseau d’artisans spécialisés qui ont distribué des milliers de tonnes de grès sur l’ensemble du paysage angkorien.
To Educate or not to Educate: How the Lack of Education Programs on Whale-Watching Vessels Can Impact Whale Conservation and Tourism in the Dominican Republic
Authors: Gleason Christine M. , Parsons E. C. M.
Published: April 2018

Whales are watched in over 119 countries and territories earning $2.1 billion in revenue, with large growth seen in the Caribbean. The Dominican Republic has the largest whale-watching industry in the Caribbean. Although the industry thrives in the Dominican Republic, on-board
education programs are lacking. Currently in Samaná Bay, only one of approximately 45 vessels offers a formal education program. In an effort to increase education and better tailor current education programs, a survey-based study was conducted to assess the conservation knowledge of
whale-watching tourists. Only 5% of tourists considered themselves to be "very knowledgeable" about whales. Those who had been whale watching before were more likely to consider themselves as knowledgeable, whereas those who had not been whale watching were more likely to consider themselves
less knowledgeable. Public education on whale conservation was ranked very or moderately important by over 80% of respondents. However, 29% of tourists did not know Samaná Bay was a protected area. To improve tourist's knowledge and conservation awareness, it is recommended a multilingual
education program be created on all whale-watching vessels and that these programs have more conservationbased knowledge within them.
Transmission Mechanism of Lewy Body-Like α-Synucleinopathies in Dopaminergic Neurons Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Authors: Lin Cheng
Published: April 2018

Grafting of cells in Parkinson's disease (PD) results in a prion-like infection, exhibiting a Lewy body-like pathology, caused by the recipient cells. The transmission mechanism of Lewy bodies is not completely understood. Therefore, a research idea with a novel experimental strategy is proposed to investigate the transmission mechanism of α-synuclein pathology using PD patient-derived human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) in an in vitro human cellular and molecular PD model and in vivo mouse PD model for dopaminergic neuron transplantation.
Ptomaphaginus troglodytes sp. n., the first anophthalmic species of Ptomaphaginina from China (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini)
Authors: Perreau Michel , Růžička Jan
Published: April 2018

Ptomaphaginustroglodytessp. n., the first anophthalmic species ofPtomaphaginusPortevin, 1914 is described from two close caves in Libo Karst, south Guizhou Province, China.
Arguments en faveur d’une pratique fondée sur des données cliniques en travail social (Clinical Based Practice in Social Work)
Authors: Ponnou Sébastien
Published: April 2018

Nos récents travaux portant sur les pratiques et la formation des travailleurs sociaux nous ont permis de soutenir l’existence d’une sphère clinique de l’intervention sociale, dont nous avons interrogé la consistance et les enjeux en procédant à une recension de cette thématique dans de vastes bases de données en sciences humaines. Cette démarche nous a permis de constater des références récurrentes aux conceptions psychanalytiques de la clinique, dont nous avons interrogé la spécificité afin d’en inférer les effets en termes de pratiques sociales. La lumière portée sur les dimensions du transfert, du symptôme, du réel et de l’éthique nous permet de discuter les soutènements d’une pratique fondée sur des données cliniques en travail social ( Clinical Based Practice in Social Work ) susceptible de répondre aux enjeux de la relation d’aide, ainsi qu’aux exigences et aux défis scientifiques de l’intervention sociale.
La moralité publique comme exception : l’apport potentiel des enseignements de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme pour une interprétation renouvelée au sein de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce
Authors: Plouffe-Malette Kristine
Published: April 2018

Depuis 1995, des membres se sont régulièrement joints à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce, formant ainsi une mosaïque complexe d’États hétérogènes qui comprend une variété de cultures, de religions, de pratiques et de coutumes. Cette diversité croissante pose plusieurs défis importants, particulièrement quant à la possibilité de limiter le commerce en raison des préoccupations citoyennes qui émanent de tous les membres. Comment un État peut-il répondre aux demandes formulées par sa population tout en respectant ses engagements en faveur des autres membres ? L’exception de moralité publique a consisté en une réponse, laquelle a été étudiée à quatre reprises par les organes quasi juridictionnels de l’OMC. Si les quatre mesures défendues ont été reconnues comme relevant de l’ordre de la moralité publique, aucune n’a pu franchir la totalité des tests commerciaux et être entièrement justifiée. Les lacunes et les interrogations relatives à l’interprétation de cette exception, tout comme le nouvel engouement qu’elle suscite, méritent que l’on s’y attarde. Pour ce faire, cet article propose de revisiter l’exception de moralité publique à la hauteur de la jurisprudence de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme qui, elle aussi, interprète l’expression de la moralité publique, et ce depuis plus de quarante ans. Elle a su, au travers de sa jurisprudence, développer une approche unilatérale de la norme morale et inscrire la nécessité d’une telle ingérence dans l’exercice et la jouissance des droits et libertés dans une perspective consensuelle. Il est posé comme postulat que les organes quasi juridictionnels de l’OMC pourraient faire de même, et ce dans le but de respecter la nature de la norme.
Potentiation of the humoral immune response elicited by a commercial vaccine against bovine respiratory disease by Enterococcus faecalis CECT7121
Authors: Díaz A.M. , Almozni B. , Molina M.A. , Sparo M.D. , Manghi M.A. , Canellada A.M. , Castro M.S.
Published: April 2018

Vaccination against pathogens involved in bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a useful tool to reduce the risk of this disease however, it has been observed that the commercially available vaccines only partially prevent the infections caused by Pasteurella multocida and Mannheimia haemolytica. Therefore, it is recommended to search for new adjuvant strategies to minimise the economic impact of this respiratory syndrome. A possibility to improve the conventional vaccine response is to modulate the immune system with probiotics, since there is accumulating evidence that certain immunomodulatory strains administered around the time of vaccination can potentiate the immune response. Considering veterinary vaccines are frequently tested in murine models, we have developed an immunisation schedule in BALB/c mice that allows us to study the immune response elicited by BRD vaccine. In order to evaluate a potential strategy to enhance vaccine efficacy, the adjuvant effect of Enterococcus faecalis CECT7121 on the murine specific humoral immune response elicited by a commercial vaccine against BRD was studied. Results indicate that the intragastric administration of E. faecalis CECT7121 was able to induce an increase in the specific antibody titres against the bacterial components of the BRD vaccines (P. multocida and M. haemolytica). The quality of the humoral immune response, in terms of antibody avidity, was also improved. Regarding the cellular immune response, although the BRD vaccination induced a low specific secretion of cytokines in the spleen cell culture supernatants, E. faecalis CECT7121-treated mice showed higher interferon-γ production than immunised control mice. Our results allowed us to conclude that the administration of E. faecalis CECT7121 could be employed as an adjuvant strategy to potentiate humoral immune responses.
Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis on gingival health, dental plaque, and periodontopathogens in adolescents: a randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial
Authors: Alanzi A. , Honkala S. , Honkala E. , Varghese A. , Tolvanen M. , Söderling E.
Published: April 2018

To determine the effect of a probiotic combination of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12 on the gingival health, dental plaque accumulation, and the oral carriage of four putative periodontal pathogens in healthy adolescents. 108 schoolboys, aged 13-15 years, participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: probiotics (n=54) and placebo (n=54). Both groups received two probiotic-laced or placebo lozenges twice a day during a four-week period. Plaque Index (PI) and Gingival Index (GI) were recorded at baseline and after four weeks. Salivary and plaque carriage of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum were also monitored likewise. 101 subjects completed the study. A statistically significant reduction in GI was seen in the probiotic group as compared to the placebo group (P=0.012). A reduction in PI was found for both groups, with no difference observed between the groups after intervention (P=0.819). Probiotic lozenges significantly reduced levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans and F. nucleatum in saliva and plaque (P<0.05) and levels of P. gingivalis in plaque (P<0.05), while no significant changes were found in the control group. A significant reduction (P<0.001) was also noted in the total salivary bacterial counts of the test group. The short-term daily consumption of LGG and BB-12 probiotic lozenges improved the gingival health in adolescents and decreased the microbial counts of A. actinomycetemcomitans, and P. gingivalis. Hence probiotic supplements may serve as a simple adjunct to standard oral care for promoting the oral health in adolescents.
Overview of the activities of the European Food Safety Authority on mycotoxins in food and feed
Authors: Eskola M. , Altieri A. , Galobart J.
Published: April 2018

Mycotoxins are widely occurring in foods and feeds and dietary exposure to them can induce various types of adverse health effects in humans and animals. Since its establishment in 2002, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has assessed risks of dietary exposure to mycotoxins for public health and for the health of farm and companion animals on the request of the European Commission and has assessed safety and efficacy of feed additives for the reduction of contamination of feed by mycotoxins within the European Union authorisation process for feed additives. Over 40 scientific opinions on risks of mycotoxins for human and animal health and other reports on mycotoxins have been issued by the authority for the use of the European risk managers. Mycotoxins belong to one of the important areas of the EFSA work. Occurrence data on mycotoxins submitted to EFSA by the European national food safety bodies and research institutions have been collected in the EFSA databases and have informed its scientific opinions and reports on mycotoxins. Similarly, many EFSA-funded projects conducted by the European research organisations, not only to generate data on occurrence, but also data on toxicity of mycotoxins, have provided valuable information for the risk assessments of EFSA. Aflatoxin and deoxynivalenol are the mycotoxins, for which EFSA has delivered most of its scientific mycotoxin opinions. Very recently also modified forms of mycotoxins have been included in the EFSA risk assessments. In this review paper an overview of many different EFSA activities on mycotoxins is given. It also includes a brief description how EFSA develops its scientific opinions and works.
Le (néo)normativisme, constructivisme inachevé
Authors: Doray Marc
Published: April 2018

Les thèses (néo)normativistes de Kelsen et ses épigones sont ancrées dans la mouvance positiviste de la théorie juridique, mouvance héritière du positivisme philosophique selon lequel la science serait distincte de son objet. Le droit constituerait ainsi un « donné ». Toutefois, les éléments fondamentaux de l’édifice (néo)normativiste (catégorie de l’imputation, hiérarchie des normes, validité formelle) donnent à voir un droit non pas « donné », mais « construit » par la science juridique ; ils ne permettent pas en outre de démontrer l’existence même du droit. De fait, l’idée kelsénienne d’une inférence entre les normes, pourtant mise en échec par les présupposés normativistes adoptés (loi de Hume), reste au cœur des construits théoriques néo-normativistes. Aux fondements de cette fragilité, un projet commun : faire du droit un objet scientifique spécifique caractérisé par son unité. Cette dernière opération recèle une interaction profonde entre l’observateur scientifique et son objet, caractéristique d’un constructivisme, certes scientifique. Mais d’un constructivisme qui, trop radical au regard d’un objet complexe, paraît bien inachevé.
Bande frontalière du Brésil : transformations territoriales et densification du maillage municipal de 1872 à 2010
Authors: Antunes Eloisa Maieski , Pumain Denise
Published: April 2018

A Faixa de Fronteira no Brasil foi definida, pela primeira vez, como uma área geográfica delimitada durante o período imperial, através da Lei 601, de 18 de setembro de 1890. Desde então, a região passou por diversas transformações territoriais. Este artigo tem por finalidade analisar as transformações territoriais e a densificação da malha municipal na faixa de fronteira brasileira desde 1872 a 2010. Para a análise do ano de 1872 foi usada a base populacional da Cedeplar e para 1900 a 2010 a divisão territorial utilizada IBGE. Os resultados indicam que a faixa de fronteira ganhou novos territórios derivados de processos de litígios fronteiriços com países vizinhos, houve alteração da largura da faixa de fronteira que inicialmente eram 66 km, depois tornou-se 100 km e posteriormente 150 km e a formação dos municípios fronteiriços foi derivados de poucos “territórios-mães”. O processo de densificação da malha municipal na faixa de fronteira foi exponencial e rápido. Os períodos de maior criação municipal foram entre 1960 a 1970 e entre 1991 a 2000 com o surgimento de 281 novos municípios que representam 47% do total atual.
Regiões pluviométricas e saúde no Rio Grande do Norte
Authors: Silva Pollyanne Evangelista Da , Andrade Lara De Melo Barbosa , Reis Jean Souza Dos
Published: April 2018

O excesso ou déficit de chuvas observados através das chuvas torrenciais e secas potencializam a situação de pobreza vivenciada pelas populações que habitam na região Nordeste do Brasil onde localiza-se o Rio Grande do Norte. Uma consequência da ocorrência desses eventos é o possível impacto adverso na saúde dos seres humanos, com o aumento da incidência das doenças endêmicas. Objetiva-se nesse trabalho identificar áreas susceptíveis às doenças consideradas clima-dependente, levando em consideração regiões pluviometricamente homogênea no estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Os dados de saúde utilizados no trabalho foram provenientes do Ministério da Saúde disponibilizados na página de internet do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do SUS (SIH/SUS) do DATASUS. E os dados de precipitação foram obtidos por meio de estimativas processadas por um método de MERGE no período de 2000 a 2016. Como o Rio Grande do Norte apresenta uma alta variabilidade climática, optou-se por dividir o estado em regiões pluviometricamente homogêneas. Para a determinação dessas regiões, utilizou-se da técnica de Análise de Agrupamentos com a distância euclidiana, e o método de Ward, tendo-se como variável a precipitação acumulada de cada município. Utilizou-se também o teste de Análise de Variância para verificar se há influência da precipitação nas taxas de internação por grupos de causa consideradas clima-dependentes, segundo as regiões pluviometricamente homogênea. Os resultados obtidos mostraram a formação de 4 distintos grupos (região 1, região 2, região 3 e região 4). Observou-se que a principal causa de internação trata-se das doenças do aparelho respiratório seguido das doenças infecciosas e parasitárias. Em relação as regiões homogêneas, as regiões 1 e 2 revelaram as maiores taxas de internação para doenças infecciosas e parasitárias e doenças respiratórias, porém, região 1 apresenta menores volumes de chuva, enquanto, a região 2 elevadas precipitações. Evidencia-se nos resultados a influência do clima nos grupos de causas que se relacionam como doenças infecciosas e parasitárias, doenças respiratórias, circulatória e digestiva.
Cartografia do saneamento básico do Rio Grande do Norte
Authors: Rodrigues Lucas Costa , Junior Joselito da Silveira , Silva Izabela Cristiane de Lima , Dantas Aldo
Published: April 2018

O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar uma síntese da situação do saneamento básico no território do Rio Grande do Norte, a partir da espacialização em mapas temáticos de determinadas variáveis que caracterizam o estado do ponto de vista institucional, das normas e das materialidades e infraestruturas que dão condição aos serviços de saneamento, apresentando a atual conjuntura do abastecimento de água, esgotamento sanitário, gestão e manejo dos resíduos sólidos e da drenagem urbana e manejo das águas pluviais no estado. O artigo também discute a importância da elaboração e implantação dos Planos Municipais de Saneamento Básico, instrumento fundamental de gestão municipal e que tem na lei federal 11.445/2007 sua base legal. Esse estudo é parte da “Pesquisa de perfil e diagnóstico socioeconômico municipal” visando o aperfeiçoamento e especialização técnica de recursos humanos em planos municipais de saneamento básico que tem origem em um Termo de Execução Descentralizada (TED) celebrado entre a FUNASA e a UFRN. Posto isso, tem-se como resultado uma cartografia das principais variáveis analisadas e uma modelização gráfica que busca simbolizar aspectos importantes para uma representação e discussão do saneamento básico no estado, elegendo as estruturas fundamentais.
A dimensão geográfica de políticas públicas: o Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA) e a Política Nacional de Economia Solidária (ECOSOL) no Rio Grande do Norte
Authors: Lima Leandro de Castro , Brasil Lorene K. Barbosa , Locatel Celso Donizete
Published: April 2018

De maneira geral nas ciências humanas, e mais especificamente na ciência geográfica, a análise de política pública tem acontecido de forma superficial, deixando de lado aspectos normativos, econômicos, políticos, sociais, estruturais, operacionais e até ideológicos. Todos esses fatores perpassam as políticas, desde a sua concepção até a execução, daí a importância de considerá-los. Para tanto, este artigo tem por objetivo propor elementos para a análise de políticas públicas como instrumento intrínseco ao território e que faz parte da dinâmica dos lugares, considerando para este artigo as políticas públicas voltadas para o campo, a partindo Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA) e a Política Nacional de Economia Solidária, e a operacionalização das mesmas no Rio Grande do Norte. Neste sentido, acreditamos na importância da Geografia no contexto dessas análises, pois a política pública, apesar de um arcabouço teórico-normativo, tem rebatimentos das mais diversas ordens e se materializa de diferentes formas nos lugares.