bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Body size of the gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) in the Coco’s Island National Park, Costa Rica
Authors: Villegas-Retana Sergio A , Durán-Apuy Alejandro , Picado-Rossi Adriana
Published: March 2017

The gecko Hemidactylus frenatus reached Coco’s Island on boats. We captured 21 individuals and found that their snout-cloaca length ranged from 22,30mm to 47,85mm (0,1 g to 3,6 g).
Comunicación Percepción pública de la existencia y utilidad del Bosque Demostrativo en San Ramón, Costa Rica
Authors: Araya Flor Elizabeth , Araúz Almengor Marta
Published: March 2017

La Universidad de Costa Rica estableció un pequeño parche de bosque remanente en la región de San Ramón para preservar el bosque húmedo premontano. Indagamos el conocimiento y apreciación que los habitantes de la región tienen sobre el bosque. Aplicamos encuestas a 237 individuos entre los 8 y 70 años. La mayoría conocen la ubicación del bosques pero pocos lo usan o lo consideran beneficioso. Recomendamos mejorar este aspecto en la gestión del bosque.
Nota Reptiles de la cuenca del río Unión, Valle de El General, Costa Rica
Authors: Arias Campos Luis Diego
Published: March 2017

Los reptiles son poco apreciados, principalmente por su aspecto. Sin embargo poseen funciones importantes en los ecosistemas, como control de poblaciones y como alimento para otras especies. Realicé recorridos mensuales de junio de 2014 a junio de 2015 en 20 sectores de 15X200 m en ambas orillas del río Unión, sur de Costa Rica, a lo largo de 12 km. Encontré 24 especies de reptiles: una introducida, una endémica y tres con distribución entre Nicaragua y Panamá; por grupo, nueve de serpientes, una de tortuga, 12 de lagartija y una de iguana. Algunas, especialmente las serpientes, son sacrificadas por los pobladores, a pesar de que la mayoría no son venenosas. Su conocimiento será de importancia en el manejo y la conservación de las cuencas hidrográficas del sur de Costa Rica.
El taller de educación ambiental como estrategia didáctica para la sostenibilidad de los recursos naturales en escuelas primarias rurales costarricenses
Authors: Chinchilla Picado Marcos , Barrientos Zaidett , Calderón Katya
Published: March 2017

La Educación Ambiental es un método didáctico importante para lograr el desarrollo sostenible. La finalidad principal de la Educación Ambiental es mejorar los valores de los individuos ya que estos son los precursores de acciones a favor del ambiente. Tuvimos como objetivo determinar el impacto del Taller de Educación Ambiental sobre la actitud declarada y sobre el comportamiento a favor del ambiente en estudiantes de escuelas primarias rurales de Costa Rica y evaluar si hay concordancia entre sus actitudes y comportamientos. Llevamos a cabo un taller de educación ambiental durante 3 meses con un grupo experimental de 45 estudiantes y un control de 25 estudiantes que no recibieron el taller. En ambos casos hicimos evaluaciones antes y después del taller. Los estudiantes de ambos grupos eran niños de escuelas rurales de Costa Rica, entre los 8 y los 13 años de edad. La actitud la evaluamos con un cuestionario tipo Likert de 30 ítems relativos a actividades cotidianas de los niños. Para evaluar el comportamiento utilizamos un conteo de desechos clasificados correctamente. Después del taller la actitud reportada a favor del ambiente en el grupo experimental disminuyó, pero el comportamiento mejoró. Este resultado se debe probablemente a que el taller logró que los estudiantes analizaran más y fueran más críticos a la hora de dar sus respuestas. La actitud positiva y el comportamiento pro-ambiental no siempre coinciden, principalmente porque la actitud es solo uno de los elementos que pueden predecir las acciones; también influyen elementos sociales y de conocimiento. Los procesos educativos basados en problemas reales y en “aprender haciendo” son efectivos para cambiar patrones de actitud y de comportamiento, sin embargo, la forma en que cambian es distinta.
Turismo sexual masculino en Costa Rica: espíritu de equipo, diálogo entre pares y papeles de género en una muestra grande de mensajes en un foro de Internet
Authors: Monge-Nájera Julián
Published: March 2017

Hay pocos estudios científicos sobre el turismo sexual en Costa Rica. El estudio más importante sobre los turistas masculinos lo hizo Megan Rivers-Moore, quien implícitamente propuso varias hipótesis. Aquí analizo la totalidad de los mensajes del foro InternationalSexGuide.info entre el 2002 y el 2015, comparándolos con las hipótesis de Rivers-Moore, las categorías del “Prisma de Intimidad” de Milrod y Weitzer y datos de la literatura sobre mujeres que visitan Costa Rica para hacer turismo sexual. El análisis de los 4 409 mensajes muestra que los hombres dialogan, aconsejándose acerca de cómo obtener una visita satisfactoria a Costa Rica, visita que incluye sexo pagado pero no se limita a este objetivo únicamente. Las trabajadoras sexuales tienen poca interacción entre sí, pero los hombres se sienten parte de un grupo que intercambia información útil. El deseo de “Ser Tratado como Novio”, aunque no es predominante, es frecuente y se ajusta a la adaptación biológica propia del Homo sapiens en lo que respecta a interacciones de pareja. La mayoría de turistas masculinos hacen visitas cortas en las que tratan de interactuar inicialmente con varias mujeres para luego centrarse en aquellas con las que se sintieron mejor. Unos pocos casos evolucionan hacia una relación compleja que incluye el compromiso emocional. A pesar de la diferencia de poder financiero entre clientes y proveedores de servicios sexuales, los papeles tradicionales de género subyacen las relaciones, sean los turistas hombres o mujeres, lo que probablemente refleja una compleja combinación de factores biológicos y culturales.
Efecto de Geophila macropoda (Rubiaceae) como arvense de cobertura en la erosión hídrica en bananales de Guápiles, Limón, Costa Rica
Authors: Murillo Jimmy , Méndez-Estrada + Víctor Hugo , Brenes Prendas Steven
Published: March 2017

: El establecimiento de compañías bananeras en Costa Rica trajo fuentes de empleo y mejoras infraestructura, pero también problemas sociales, destrucción de bosques, erosión del suelo y contaminación de ríos y quebradas. La erosión en bananales puede verse disminuida con prácticas de cobertura vegetal. Aquí analizamos el efecto de la planta arvense Geophila macropoda (oreja de ratón) en la erosión en Guápiles, Costa Rica. Elegimos tres clases de suelos I, II y III cubiertos con oreja de ratón y sin ella. Entre junio y agosto de 2012 se realizaron mediciones periódicas una vez por semana, abarcando periodos de baja, media y alta precipitación. Encontramos que la erosión aumenta con la precipitación y que en todos los suelos la cobertura de G. macropoda redujo la erosión.
Conservación de orquídeas en una reserva privada de Palmares, Costa Rica
Authors: Rojas Álvarez Maricela , Morales Carlos O. , Blanco Mario A.
Published: March 2017

La Reserva Madre Verde (RMV), ubicada en Palmares, Alajuela, Costa Rica, protege un reducto boscoso rodeado de pastizales, matorrales y terrenos de cultivo abandonados. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la diversidad de especies de orquídeas en la RMV mediante un inventario; además, analizamos la distribución y los factores que afectan la conservación de las especies identificadas, se prepararon especímenes (secos o en líquido) de las especies florecidas para herbario y se tomaron fotos de todas las especies; en total 109 en 46 géneros. Los géneros con mayor número de especies sonEpidendrum y Maxillaria s.l. (ambos con 12 spp.). El La mayoría de especies son epífitas y ocho son endémicas en Costa Rica. Los meses con mayor floración fueron febrero, abril, mayo, agosto y noviembre. Se compararon datos de distribución geográfica y altitudinal de dos bases de datos (CRBio e IABIN) y del Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica con datos de este estudio; esto permitió ampliar el conocimiento sobre algunas especies: 14 especies se encontraron a mayores elevaciones; otras cinco especies se hallaron a menores elevaciones que las registradas en herbarios y bases de datos. Nueve especies no se habían recolectado anteriormente en toda la provincia de Alajuela. El aporte más significativo del estudio es el hallazgo de Lepanthes guardiana y L. minutissima, que fueron ilustradas y recolectadas ca. 1867, no existían hasta ahora datos ecológicos ni localidades precisas de recolecta, la única ilustración de la primera y los únicos especímenes conocidos de la segunda se hallaban en el Herbario W (Viena, Austria). Se recomienda continuar la investigación en áreas de la reserva no cubiertas por este estudio y seguir observando las especies que, según la literatura, no se esperaban en esta zona. Construir un vivero, cultivar especies de orquídeas amenazadas de extinción para la venta a visitantes y pobladores cercanos, informar a las comunidades aledañas sobre diversidad de orquídeas e importancia de la protección de flora y fauna locales, son actividades recomendadas para mantener los paisajes y las especies en la zona de estudio.
Comparación de la morfología geométrica de la mandíbula de dos roedores africanos, Thryonomys swinderianus y Cricetomys gambianus (Rodentia: Thryonomyidae y Nesomyidae)
Authors: Samuel O.M. , Parés-Casanova P.M , Olopade J.O
Published: March 2017

La rata gigante africana (Cricetomys gambianus) y la rata de caña africana (Thryonomys swinderianus) tienen conformación corporal similar y biomas similares. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo comparar los parámetros mandibulares en adultos de ambas especies. Para ello usamos 9 puntos de referencia mandibulares laterales en machos de T. swinderianus (n = 11) y C. gambianus (n = 12) analizándolos mediante morfometría geométrica. T. swinderianus presentó un coronoides equivalente al cóndilo y un proceso angular desplazado más caudal, mientras que los dientes de mejilla son menos prominentes y más cortos en C. gambianus. Este estudio puede ser útil para resolver ambigüedades filogenéticas, vigilancia de fauna y control con la edad de la población, formulación de raciones de especies en cautiverio, y eco- migración. Creemos que esta es la primera vez en que la comparación mandibular de estos roedores permite inferir preferencias ecológicas en la dieta con base en la forma de la mandíbula
Stress assessment in patients with clinically diagnosed sleep bruxism
Authors: Miletic Ana , Lazic Zoran , Todorovic Ana , Djordjevic Igor , Popovic Danica , Lazic Vojkan
Published: March 2017

Background/Aim. Many studies investigated association between stress, anxiety or personality traits and sleep bruxism (SB), but results are still contradictory. We aimed to investigate whether there is a relation between clinically diagnosed sleep bruxism and salivary cortisol levels as one of the major stress biomarkers and to examine psychological factors and personality traits specific to sleep bruxism. Methods. A total of 23 sleep bruxism patients and 42 healthy non-sleep bruxism adults participated in this study. Diagnose of sleep-bruxism was assessed by selfreport and clinical examination and also confirmed by bedpartner. Morning saliva was collected from all participants for analyses of the cortisol level. Sleep bruxism patients underwent a psychodiagnostic personality interpretation using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ? MMPI-202 test. Results. Statistically significant difference between levels of morning salivary cortisol in the group of SB patients and the control group was recorded (t = 2.943, p < 0.01). Analysis of the personality profiles indicated that the sleep bruxism patients avoid contact with unpleasant feelings, especially depression, suppress the aggression and censor the expression of anger and rage. Conclusion. This study showed that patients with sleep bruxism have higher levels of salivary cortisol. Personality traits such as depression, hypomania and suppressed aggression were found to be common characteristics in patients with sleep bruxism. Present findings might support the hypothesis that sleep bruxism and psychological states such as stress may be related, but the cross-sectional nature of this study does not allow us to draw conclusions about the causal relationship between stress, personality traits and sleep bruxism.
Unrecognised urinoma caused by infiltrative bladder cancer
Authors: Grbic Dragan , Jeremic Dimitrije , Vojinov Sasa , Levakov Ivan , Cantrell Alexander , Marusic Goran
Published: March 2017

Introduction. Urinoma develops after disruption of collecting system of urinary tract and urine leak in surrounding tissue. Most common causes of urinoma are blunt or penetrating trauma. Less common causes are iatrogenic injuries or urinary tract obstruction. In this article we presented a rare case of the urinoma caused by infiltrative bladder cancer. Case report. Acutely ill, a septic patient with ileus and profound azothaemia was admitted to medical intensive care unit. Native computed tomography revealed moderate ileus, right kidney hydronephrosis, extensive retroperitoneal urinoma and vesical thickening with excluded infiltration of ureteral orifices. Computed tomography guided percutaneous drainage was done. Upon stabilization, patient underwent transurethral bladder tumor electroresection (histopathology report was: infiltrative transitional cell tumor of urinary bladder). Radical cystectomy was done. The patient?s recovery was uneventful. Conclusion. Urinoma formed due to spontaneous rupture of collecting system based on ureteral obstruction caused by urinary bladder tumor is very rare clinical case scenario. In case of urinoma of unclear etiology invasive bladder cancer should be excluded.
STAKE EVALUATION MODEL (COUNTENANCE MODEL) IN LEARNING PROCESS BAHASA INDONESIA AT GANESHA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATIONAL
Authors: Dewantara I Putu Mas
Published: March 2017

The evaluation study aimed to describe the implementation of Bahasa Indonesia as character development subject  (Matakuliah Pengembangan Kepribadian/MPK) seen from (1) the learning plan, (2) the implementation of learning, and (3) evaluation of learning. Evaluation model used was a stake evaluation model (Countenance Model). Data were analyzed by descriptive-quantitative. The data were collected by using questionnaire, interview, and documentation. Categorization percentage is divided into five criteria, namely excellent (> 80%), good (60%-80%), fairly good (40%-60%), poor (20%-40%), and very poorly (<20%). The research was conducted in the first semester of the academic year 2015/2016 with the sample of 315 students. The results showed that in general the Bahasa Indonesia as character development subject was categorised as good with the percentage of 71.02%, in detail, the result can be described as follows: (1) the learning plan is categorized as good with the percentage of 72.62%, (2) the implementation of learning is categorized as good with the persentage of 69.85%, and (3) evaluation of learning activities is categorized as good with the persentage of 70.59%. The implications of this research for lecturers is a need for efforts to sustain the implementation of learning that has been good even working on improving and working to improve elements of learning activities that have not been considered good. The results of the study suggest that regular evaluation needs to be done to get a better picture of evaluation with a larger number of sample. Another suggestion that can be proposed is the evaluation of learning by using a variety of evaluation model to get a better result of the learning Bahasa Indonesia.
THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF SASAK DIALECT SPOKEN IN MATARAM; A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY
Authors: Yuwanda Yati
Published: March 2017

The research aimed to describe vowels and consonants in Sasak dialect. This research is descriptive qualitative research. The object of this research is the phological system of Sasak dialect about vowel and consonant while the object of this research is people in Mataram city especially in rembige village, Nusa Tenggara Barat. The subject took from the observation technique. They are selected from the characteristics of fluent Sasak dialect. The data collected from three different domains. The domain are family domain, friendship domain and neighborhood domain. The theory to analyze the data was from Miler and Huberman (1984). Instrument collected from observation and recording technique, the result of this research shows that the type of vowels in Sasak dialect are /ʌ/, /ɪ/, /u/, /e/, /o/ and /ə/. The vowel / i /   had two allophones namely [ ɪ ] and [ i ]. the vowel / e /   had two allophones namely [e] and [ə],  the vowel /o/ had one allophone namely [o] and the vowel / u / also had one allophones [ u ]. There were 18 consonants found in Sasak Dialect, those were: /b/, /c/, /d/, /g/, /h/, /j/, /k/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /p/, /q/, /r/, /s/, /t/, /w/, /y/, /ŋ/, and /ñ/.
La brevedad en el taller literario de Salvador Elizondo
Authors: Velasco Norma Angélica Cuevas
Published: March 2017

Este ensayo tiene como punto de partida una reflexión sobre el modo de existencia de la brevedad en la escritura de Salvador Elizondo, que no está asociado únicamente al asunto de los subgéneros narrativos. Si bien su prosa tiende al relato, adopta formas, estilos y géneros tan diversos que lo más evidente será la búsqueda incesante del ser de la escritura. El apunte, la entrada de un diario o la frase repetida una y otra vez con igual número de variaciones exponen un conjunto de ideas que, sumadas a alguna de las poéticas que es posible espigar en su obra, revelan su pensamiento literario, el cual tiene como vehículo diferentes formas discursivas, tales como los aforismos, el fragmento o las minificciones. La brevedad es el fundamento que sostiene el taller literario de Salvador Elizondo: en ella se origina la experiencia de la escritura y su reflexión.
Una belleza incómoda: anormalidad y monstruosidad en Salón de belleza, de Mario Bellatin
Authors: Baeza Felipe Adrián Ríos
Published: March 2017

El presente artículo busca estudiar las nociones de anomalía y monstruosidad, presentes en el enfoque crítico del filósofo Michel Foucault, en la novela corta Salón de belleza (1994) del escritor mexicano Mario Bellatin. Desde esta perspectiva, podrá evidenciarse cómo ciertos agentes anormales en la narración posibilitan que un personaje o un espacio mute hacia algo inhumano. La manera en la cual se analizará esta novela —cuya reedición conmemorativa en 2014 la ha ubicado al centro de la polémica por asuntos legales, pero también literarios— puede servir para interpretar la totalidad del corpus narrativo del mexicano. Y es que la literatura de Bellatin tiene algo que es propio de todo escritor magnánimo: tiende a la belleza, sí. Pero incomoda
Los secretos de la tradición: una lectura de Trabajos del reino de Yuri Herrera
Authors: Velasco Raquel
Published: March 2017

Con base en un paralelismo entre la estructura social y contextual que prevalecía en la Europa de la Edad Media con la tragedia que ha provocado la extensión del narcotráfico en México, este artículo aborda las resonancias de la prosa de Juan Rulfo en Trabajos del reino de Yuri Herrera. Esta novela corta se sostiene en el efecto de un secreto, propagado a través de distintas voces, capaces de delatar las contradicciones de la condición humana, con una profundidad que se sustenta en los ecos de la tradición literaria.
La narrativa reciente en México y el arte conceptual. Óptica sanguínea de Daniela Bojórquez
Authors: Brondo Elsa R.
Published: March 2017

Este artículo explora las diversas vertientes de lectura de formas narrativas que asimilan lo visual y lo verbal, en breves piezas literarias escritas en México. En el terreno teórico, las nociones de conceptualismo, intermedialidad y lo performático se vuelven herramientas descriptivas de estos libros singulares; pero, sobre todo, en un terreno más complejo de análisis, la noción de técnica de Walter Benjamin es sustantiva para explorar estas formas estéticas. Nuestro estudio toma como ejemplo el libro Óptica sanguínea de Daniela Bojórquez (Ciudad de México, 1980).
Evaluating compression or expansion of morbidity in Canada: trends in life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy from 1994 to 2010
Authors: Steensma Colin , Loukine Lidia , Choi Bernard
Published: March 2017

Introduction

The objective of this study was to investigate whether morbidity in Canada, at the national and provincial levels, is compressing or expanding by tracking trends in life expectancy (LE) and health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) from 1994 to 2010. “Compression” refers to a decrease in the proportion of life spent in an unhealthy state over time. It happens when HALE increases faster than LE. “Expansion” refers to an increase in the proportion of life spent in an unhealthy state that happens when HALE is stable or increases more slowly than LE.

Methods

We estimated LE using mortality and population data from Statistics Canada. We took health-related quality of life (i.e. morbidity) data used to calculate HALE from the National Population Health Survey (1994–1999) and the Canadian Community Health Survey (2000–2010). We built abridged life tables for seven time intervals, covering the period 1994 to 2010 and corresponding to the year of each available survey cycle, for females and males, and for each of the 10 Canadian provinces. National and provincial trends were assessed at birth, and at ages 20 years and 65 years.

Results

We observed an overall average annual increase in HALE that was statistically significant in both Canadian females and males at each of the three ages assessed, with the exception of females at birth. At birth, HALE increased an average of 0.2% (p = .08) and 0.3% (p $lt; .001) annually for females and males respectively over the 1994 to 2010 period. At the national level for all three age groups, we observed a statistically nonsignificant average annual increase in the proportion of life spent in an unhealthy state, with the exception of men at age 65, who experienced a non-significant decrease. At the provincial level at birth, we observed a significant increase in proportion of life spent in an unhealthy state for Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) and Prince Edward Island (PEI).

Conclusion

Our study did not detect a clear overall trend in compression or expansion of morbidity from 1994 to 2010 at the national level in Canada. However, our results suggested an expansion of morbidity in NL and PEI. Our study indicates the importance of continued tracking of the secular trends of life expectancy and HALE in Canada in order to verify the presence of compression or expansion of morbidity. Further study should be undertaken to understand what is driving the observed expansion of morbidity in NL and in PEI.
Increase in outbreaks of gastroenteritis linked to bathing water in Finland in summer 2014
Authors: Kauppinen Ari , Al-Hello Haider , Zacheus Outi , Kilponen Jaana , Maunula Leena , Huusko Sari , Lappalainen Maija , Miettinen Ilkka , Blomqvist Soile , Rimhanen-Finne Ruska
Published: March 2017

An increased number of suspected outbreaks of gastroenteritis linked to bathing water were reported to the Finnish food- and waterborne outbreak (FWO) registry in July and August 2014. The investigation reports were assessed by a national outbreak investigation panel. Eight confirmed outbreaks were identified among the 15 suspected outbreaks linked to bathing water that had been reported to the FWO registry. According to the outbreak investigation reports, 1,453 persons fell ill during these outbreaks. Epidemiological and microbiological data revealed noroviruses as the main causative agents. During the outbreaks, exceptionally warm weather had boosted the use of beaches. Six of eight outbreaks occurred at small lakes; for those, the investigation strongly suggested that the beach users were the source of contamination. In one of those eight outbreaks, an external source of contamination was identified and elevated levels of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) were noted in water. In the remaining outbreaks, FIB analyses were insufficient to describe the hygienic quality of the water. Restrictions against bathing proved effective in controlling the outbreaks. In spring 2015, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) published guidelines for outbreak control to prevent bathing water outbreaks.
Comparative Evaluation of Particle Movement in a Ballast Track Structure Stabilized with Biaxial and Multiaxial Geogrids
Authors: Liu Shushu , Huang Hai , Qiu Tong , Kwon Jayhyun
Published: March 2017

Geogrids usually are used in railroad track substructure for ballast reinforcement and stabilization over a weak subgrade. Different aperture shapes affect the confining effect on ballast particles due to the unique interlocking mechanism. To understand the effect of aperture shape on ballast particle movement and the associated interlocking mechanism, three types of ballast box tests were conducted: one without geogrid as a control, one with a layer of biaxial geogrid, and one with a layer of multiaxial geogrid. If a geogrid was included, the geogrid was placed 30 cm below the top of the ballast. A half-section of a railroad track structure consisting of two crossties, a rail, ballast, subballast, and subgrade was constructed in a ballast box. Four wireless devices known as SmartRocks were embedded under the rail seat and under the shoulder at the ballast–subballast and subballast–subgrade interfaces. Results indicate that the multiaxial geogrid significantly decreased accumulated vertical displacement in the ballast surface under cyclic loading and has the best potential for confining particle movement. The advantages of having a layer of multiaxial geogrid, including reducing particle movement, as well as decreasing vertical displacement of the ballast surface, are discussed.
Probability of Secondary Crash Occurrence on Freeways with the Use of Private-Sector Speed Data
Authors: Goodall Noah J.
Published: March 2017

A percentage of crashes on freeways are suspected to be caused in part by congestion or distraction from earlier incidents. Identification and prevention of these secondary crashes are major goals of transportation agencies, yet the characteristics of secondary crashes—in particular the probability of their occurrence—are poorly understood. Many secondary crashes occur when a vehicle encounters nonrecurring congestion, yet previous efforts to identify incident queues and their secondary crashes have relied either on deterministic queuing theory or on data from uniformly spaced dense loop detectors. This study is the first analysis of secondary crash occurrence to integrate incident timelines and traffic volumes with widely available and legally obtained private-sector speed data. Analysis found that 9.2% of all vehicle crashes were secondary to another incident and that 6.2% of these crashes were tertiary to another primary incident. Secondary crashes occurred on average once every 10 crashes and 54 disabled vehicles. The findings support a fast incident response, because the probability of a secondary crash occurrence increases approximately 1 percentage point for every additional 2 to 3 min spent on the scene in high-volume scenarios.
Sense and Avoid Airborne Radar Implementations on a Low-Cost Weather Radar Platform
Authors: Nepal Ramesh , Zhang Yan , Blake William
Published: March 2017

Traditionally, multi-mission applications in airborne radar are implemented through very expensive phased array architectures. The emerging applications from civilian surveillance, on the other hand, prefer low-cost and low-SWaP (space, weight and power) systems. This study introduces asoftware-basedsolutionthatintendstouselow-costhardwareandadvancedalgorithms/processing backend to meet the remote sensing goals for multi-mission applications. The low-cost airborne radar platform from Garmin International is used as a representative example of the system platform. The focus of this study is the optimal operating mode, data quality and algorithm development in cases of all-weather sense and avoid (SAA) applications. The main challenges for the solution are the resolution limitation due to the small aperture size, limitations from the ﬁeld-of-view (FOV) and the scan speed from mechanical scanning. We show that the basic operational needs can be satisﬁed with software processing through various algorithms. The concept and progress of polarimetric airborne radar for dual-function operations at X-band Generation 1 (PARADOX1) based on the platform are also discussed.
Impact of Feed Delivery Pattern on Aerial Particulate Matter and Behavior of Feedlot Cattle †
Authors: Mitloehner Frank , Dailey Jeff , Morrow Julie , McGlone John
Published: March 2017

Fine particulate matter with less than 2.5 microns diameter (PM2.5) generated by cattle in feedlots is an environmental pollutant and a potential human and animal health issue. The objective of this study was to determine if a feeding schedule affects cattle behaviors that promote PM2.5 in a commercial feedlot. The study used 2813 crossbred steers housed in 14 adjacent pens at a large-scale commercial West Texas feedlot. Treatments were conventional feeding at 0700, 1000, and 1200 (CON) or feeding at 0700, 1000, and 1830 (ALT), the latter feeding time coincided with dusk. A mobile behavior lab was used to quantify behaviors of steers that were associated with generation of PM2.5 (e.g., fighting, mounting of peers, and increased locomotion). PM2.5 samplers measured respirable particles with a mass median diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) every 15 min over a period of 7 d in April and May. Simultaneously, the ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation, air pressure, and solar radiation were measured with a weather station. Elevated downwind PM2.5 concentrations were measured at dusk, when cattle that were fed according to the ALT vs. the CON feeding schedule, demonstrated less PM2.5-generating behaviors (p < 0.05). At dusk, steers on ALT vs. CON feeding schedules ate or were waiting to eat (standing in second row behind feeding cattle) at much greater rates (p < 0.05). Upwind PM2.5 concentrations were similar between the treatments. Downwind PM2.5 concentrations averaged over 24 h were lower from ALT compared with CON pens (0.072 vs. 0.115 mg/m3, p < 0.01). However, dry matter intake (DMI) was less (p < 0.05), and average daily gain (ADG) tended to be less (p < 0.1) in cattle that were fed according to the ALT vs. the CON feeding schedules, whereas feed efficiency (aka gain to feed, G:F) was not affected. Although ALT feeding may pose a challenge in feed delivery and labor scheduling, cattle exhibited fewer PM2.5-generating behaviors and reduced generation of PM2.5 when feed delivery times matched the natural desires of cattle to eat in a crepuscular pattern.
A Timed Colored Petri Net Simulation-Based Self-Adaptive Collaboration Method for Production-Logistics Systems
Authors: Guo Zhengang , Zhang Yingfeng , Zhao Xibin , Song Xiaoyu
Published: March 2017

Complex and customized manufacturing requires a high level of collaboration between production and logistics in a flexible production system. With the widespread use of Internet of Things technology in manufacturing, a great amount of real-time and multi-source manufacturing data and logistics data is created, that can be used to perform production-logistics collaboration. To solve the aforementioned problems, this paper proposes a timed colored Petri net simulation-based self-adaptive collaboration method for Internet of Things-enabled production-logistics systems. The method combines the schedule of token sequences in the timed colored Petri net with real-time status of key production and logistics equipment. The key equipment is made ‘smart’ to actively publish or request logistics tasks. An integrated framework based on a cloud service platform is introduced to provide the basis for self-adaptive collaboration of production-logistics systems. A simulation experiment is conducted by using colored Petri nets (CPN) Tools to validate the performance and applicability of the proposed method. Computational experiments demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the event-driven method in terms of reductions of waiting time, makespan, and electricity consumption. This proposed method is also applicable to other manufacturing systems to implement production-logistics collaboration.
Temporal Variability of Summer Temperature Extremes in Poland
Authors: Wypych Agnieszka , Sulikowska Agnieszka , Ustrnul Zbigniew , Czekierda Danuta
Published: March 2017

The aim of the study is to estimate the trend in summer maximum air temperature extremes in Poland during the period 1951–2015 by demonstrating the changes in the magnitude of temperature anomalies, temperature “surplus”, as well as the area influenced by extreme temperature occurrence. To express the latter two variables, daily maps of maximum air temperature were created to calculate the total area affected by temperature extremes. To combine the effect of spatial extent and temperature anomaly, an Extremity Index was introduced. The results confirmed an increase in summer maximum air temperature of about 0.4 °C per 10 years, evidenced also in the increase of summer extremeness. Positive anomalies have dominated since the 1990s, with the largest anomalies occurring during the summers of 1992, 1994, 2010 and finally 2015, the most exceptional summer during the analyzed period.
Functional Regulation of the Plasma Protein Histidine-Rich Glycoprotein by Zn2+ in Settings of Tissue Injury
Authors: Priebatsch Kristin , Kvansakul Marc , Poon Ivan , Hulett Mark
Published: March 2017

Divalent metal ions are essential nutrients for all living organisms and are commonly protein-bound where they perform important roles in protein structure and function. This regulatory control from metals is observed in the relatively abundant plasma protein histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG), which displays preferential binding to the second most abundant transition element in human systems, Zinc (Zn2+). HRG has been proposed to interact with a large number of protein ligands and has been implicated in the regulation of various physiological and pathological processes including the formation of immune complexes, apoptotic/necrotic and pathogen clearance, cell adhesion, antimicrobial activity, angiogenesis, coagulation and fibrinolysis. Interestingly, these processes are often associated with sites of tissue injury or tumour growth, where the concentration and distribution of Zn2+ is known to vary. Changes in Zn2+ levels have been shown to modify HRG function by altering its affinity for certain ligands and/or providing protection against proteolytic disassembly by serine proteases. This review focuses on the molecular interplay between HRG and Zn2+, and how Zn2+ binding modifies HRG-ligand interactions to regulate function in different settings of tissue injury.
A Field Performance Evaluation Scheme for Microwave-Absorbing Material Coatings
Authors: Guan Shaopeng , Wang Yongyu , Jia Daiping
Published: March 2017

Performance evaluation is an important aspect in the study of microwave-absorbing material coatings. The reflectivity of the incident wave is usually taken as the performance indicator. There have been various methods to directly or indirectly measure the reflectivity, but existing methods are mostly cumbersome and require a strict testing environment. What is more, they cannot be applied to field measurement. In this paper, we propose a scheme to achieve field performance evaluation of microwave-absorbing materials, which adopts a small H-plane sectoral horn antenna as the testing probe and a small microwave reflectometer as the indicator. When the size of the H-plane sectoral horn antenna is specially designed, the field distribution at the antenna aperture can be approximated as a plane wave similar to the far field of the microwave emitted by a radar unit. Therefore, the reflectivity can be obtained by a near-field measurement. We conducted experiments on a kind of ferrite-based microwave-absorbing material at X band (8.2–12.4 GHz) to validate the scheme. The experimental results show that the reflectivity is in agreement with the reference data measured by the conventional method as a whole.
Male Infertility: The Effect of Natural Antioxidants and Phytocompounds on Seminal Oxidative Stress
Authors: Adewoyin Malik , Ibrahim Muhammad , Roszaman Ramli , Isa Muhammad , Alewi Nur , Rafa Ainin , Anuar Mohd
Published: March 2017

Defective sperm function has been identified as the most common cause of infertility. The objective of this study was to review recent findings on the effects of various antioxidants on male fertility. High amounts of poly unsaturated fatty acid are found in the mammalian spermatozoa membranes, thereby making them susceptible to lipid peroxidation. Although, free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) play major roles in reproduction, they are strongly associated with oxidative stress. Furthermore, factors such as obesity, inflammation, pollutants and cigarette smoking are negatively correlated with spermatogenesis. Endogenous antioxidants system exists to mediate these damages. In a normal physiological state, the seminal plasma contains antioxidant enzyme mechanism that is capable of quenching these ROS as well as protecting the spermatozoa against any likely damage. However, high level of ROS triggered by inflammatory cells and oxidation of fatty acid in obese subjects may down play antioxidant mechanism resulting in oxidative stress. Evaluation of such oxidative stress is the first step in the treatment of male infertility through administration of suitable antioxidant. Notably, antioxidant such as vitamin E and C, carotenoids and carnitine have been found beneficial in restoring a balance between ROS generation and scavenging activities. There are emerging evidences that herbal products can also boost male reproductive functions. Nonetheless, a good lifestyle, regular exercise, avoidance of stress and observing safety rules at work are habits that can reverse male infertility.
The Role of E-Vocabularies in the Description and Retrieval of Digital Educational Resources
Authors: Fernández-Pampillón Ana
Published: March 2017

Vocabularies are linguistic resources that make it possible to access knowledge through words. They can constitute a mechanism to identify, describe, explore, and access all the digital resources with informational content pertaining to a specific knowledge domain. In this regard, they play a key role as systems for the representation and organization of knowledge in environments in which content is created and used in a collaborative and free manner, as is the case of social wikis and blogs on the Internet or educational content in e-learning environments. In e-learning environments, electronic vocabularies (e-vocabularies) constitute a mechanism for conceptual representation of digital educational resources. They enable human and software agents either to locate and interpret resource content in large digital repositories, including the web, or to use them (vocabularies) as an educational resource by itself to learn a discipline terminology. This review article describes what e-vocabularies are, what they are like, how they are used, how they work, and what they contribute to the retrieval of digital educational resources. The goal is to contribute to a clearer view of the concepts which we regard as crucial to understand e-vocabularies and their use in the field of e-learning to describe and retrieve digital educational resources.
Learning and Living Overseas: Exploring Factors that Influence Meaningful Learning and Assimilation: How International Students Adjust to Studying in the UK from a Socio-Cultural Perspective
Authors: Taylor Georgia , Ali Nadia
Published: March 2017

There is a considerable amount of research investigating students’ transition from college to university but it is important this focus is directed specifically towards the transition of international students, as the difficulties they face are profound. The literature surrounding international students seems to lack an in-depth understanding of how multiple contextual factors influence how students adjust to Higher Education. Therefore, the present study utilizes Bronfenbrenner’s (2009) ecological theory of human development in order to understand both immediate and distal environmental influences and how they interact to impact on the individual’s development from a holistic perspective. Five international students participated in a time line interview. Findings suggest that international students face a number of challenges when transitioning from their home country to study in higher education in the UK, particularly in the areas of language competence; cultural assimilation and social relationships. This in turn prevented meaningful learning occurring. Applying Bronfenbrenner’s theory, the participants’ broader environment was analysed, which encouraged an examination of the challenges they faced which regards to cultural influences, government influences and university policies, as well as influences from within their immediate environment.
Development of a Real-Time Virtual Nitric Oxide Sensor for Light-Duty Diesel Engines
Authors: Lee Seungha , Lee Youngbok , Kim Gyujin , Min Kyoungdoug
Published: March 2017

This study describes the development of a semi-physical, real-time nitric oxide (NO) prediction model that is capable of cycle-by-cycle prediction in a light-duty diesel engine. The model utilizes the measured in-cylinder pressure and information obtained from the engine control unit (ECU). From the inputs, the model takes into account the pilot injection burning and mixing, which affects the in-cylinder mixture formation. The representative in-cylinder temperature for NO formation was determined from the mixture composition calculation. The selected temperature and mixture composition was substituted using a simplified form of the NO formation rate equation for the cycle-by-cycle estimation. The reactive area and the duration of NO formation were assumed to be limited by the fuel quantity. The model predictability was verified not only using various steady-state conditions, including the variation of the EGR rate, the boost pressure, the rail pressure, and the injection timing, but also using transient conditions, which represent the worldwide harmonized light vehicles test procedure (WLTC). The WLTC NO prediction results produced less than 3% error with the measured value. In addition, the proposed model maintained its reliability in terms of hardware aging, the changing and artificial perturbations during steady-state and transient engine operations. The model has been shown to require low computational effort because of the cycle-by-cycle, engine-out NO emission prediction and control were performed simultaneously in an embedded system for the automotive application. We expect that the developed NO prediction model can be helpful in emission calibration during the engine design stage or in the real-time controlling of the exhaust NO emission for improving fuel consumption while satisfying NO emission legislation.
Decentralized Framework for Optimal Price-Based Power System Operation Using Feedback Control Mechanism
Authors: Jin Young , Kim Seung , Lee Si , Yoon Yong
Published: March 2017

Future power systems are expected to have distributed energy resources (DERs). A price-based operation (PBO), where dynamic prices are used as the control signal, can be an alternative scheme to address challenging operational issues in the future power systems. In this paper, a decentralized framework for optimal PBO using a feedback control mechanism is proposed to determine the nodal prices for power balance and congestion management. The substructures and feedback controllers of the proposed framework are derived based on the optimal power flow (OPF) method. Thus, the framework guarantees optimality for all situations in real-time and enables the use of various types of controllers. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is verified with the IEEE 39 bus network under some scenarios, such as the failure of a generator and a transmission line. The results clearly demonstrate that the proposed framework successfully resolves the balance and congestion problems by generating appropriate nodal prices in the PBO and provides a solution similar to the optimal solution determined by the conventional OPF method.
Mechanical Behavior and Permeability Evolution of Reconstituted Coal Samples under Various Unloading Confining Pressures—Implications for Wellbore Stability Analysis
Authors: Zhang Qiangui , Fan Xiangyu , Liang Yongchang , Li Minghui , Li Guangzhi , Ma Tianshou , Nie Wen
Published: March 2017

Low pressure, low permeability, and low saturation of Chinese coal-bed methane (CBM) reservoirs make underbalanced drilling (UBD) widely used for mining CBM in China. In this study, mechanical behavior and permeability of coal rock were investigated under different degrees of unloading confining pressure (UCP)-reloading axial stress (RAS) by a triaxial experimental apparatus. These tests revealed that: (1) peak deviatoric stress of coal rock in UCP-RAS is lower than that in a conventional triaxial compression (CTC) test, and the peak deviatoric stress linearly relates the degree of unloading confining pressure. The deformation modulus of coal in UCP-RAS is lower than that in CTC, while the lateral expansion ratio is larger than that in CTC; (2) higher UCP leads to a faster increase of permeability during RAS until the failure of coal; (3) the cohesion and internal friction angle tested by UCP-RAS are lower by 4.57% and 15.18% than those tested by CTC. In addition, a field case (Zhaozhuang well, Qinshui Basin, China) of a well collapse problem validates the higher probability of wellbore collapse due to the increase of equivalent collapse fluid density, which is calculated by using coal rock parameters tested by UCP-RAS rather than by CTC.
Optimal Cooperative Management of Energy Storage Systems to Deal with Over- and Under-Voltages
Authors: Mokhtari Ghassem , Nourbakhsh Ghavameddin , Anvari-Moghadam Amjad , Ghasemi Negareh , Saberian Aminmohammad
Published: March 2017

This paper presents an optimal cooperative voltage control approach, which coordinates storage units in a distribution network. This technique is developed for storage systems’ active power management with a local strategy to provide robust voltage control and a distributed strategy to deliver optimal storage utilization. Accordingly, three control criteria based on predefined node voltage limits are used for network operation including normal, over-voltage, and under-voltage control modes. The contribution of storage units for voltage support is determined using the control modes and the coordination strategies proposed in this paper. This technique is evaluated in two case studies to assess its capability.