bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Central Asian ‘Characteristics’ on China’s New Silk Road: The Role of Landscape and the Politics of Infrastructure
Authors: Sternberg Troy , Ahearn Ariell , McConnell Fiona
Published: August 2017

China’s $1 trillion One Belt, One Road (OBOR) infrastructure project has significant landscape, socio-economic, and political implications in recipient countries. To date, investigation has focused on Chinese motivation and plans rather than OBOR impact in host nations. This paper examines the programme from the perspective of two Central Asian states—Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—that are at the heart of OBOR. We identify geographical factors that constrain infrastructure, recognise geopolitical contestation between Russia and China, address historical and cultural factors, and consider issues of institutional capacity and marginality that may be impediments to China’s initiative. The discussion then focuses on how OBOR may play out in Central Asian landscapes and suggests how to conceive and address the unprecedented transformation in the region’s built environment. Critical issues are that OBOR has not been grounded in the physical geography, practical understanding of OBOR’s impacts is missing, and the state-citizen-China nexus remains unexplored. As pivot nations, OBOR implementation in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will showcase the Chinese programme’s strengths and highlight its weaknesses.
Integrating Modelling Approaches for Understanding Telecoupling: Global Food Trade and Local Land Use
Authors: Millington James , Xiong Hang , Peterson Steve , Woods Jeremy
Published: August 2017

The telecoupling framework is an integrated concept that emphasises socioeconomic and environmental interactions between distant places. Viewed through the lens of the telecoupling framework, land use and food consumption are linked across local to global scales by decision-making agents and trade flows. Quantitatively modelling the dynamics of telecoupled systems like this could be achieved using numerous different modelling approaches. For example, previous approaches to modelling global food trade have often used partial equilibrium economic models, whereas recent approaches to representing local land use decision-making have widely used agent-based modelling. System dynamics models are well established for representing aggregated flows and stores of products and values between distant locations. We argue that hybrid computational models will be useful for capitalising on the strengths these different modelling approaches each have for representing the various concepts in the telecoupling framework. However, integrating multiple modelling approaches into hybrid models faces challenges, including data requirements and uncertainty assessment. To help guide the development of hybrid models for investigating sustainability through the telecoupling framework here we examine important representational and modelling considerations in the context of global food trade and local land use. We report on the development of our own model that incorporates multiple modelling approaches in a modular approach to negotiate the trade-offs between ideal representation and modelling resource constraints. In this initial modelling our focus is on land use and food trade in and between USA, China and Brazil, but also accounting for the rest of the world. We discuss the challenges of integrating multiple modelling approaches to enable analysis of agents, flows, and feedbacks in the telecoupled system. Our analysis indicates differences in representation of agency are possible and should be expected in integrated models. Questions about telecoupling dynamics should be the primary driver in selecting modelling approaches, tempered by resource availability. There is also a need to identify appropriate modelling assessment and analysis tools and learn from their application in other domains.
Time-Dependent Density Functional Computations of the Spectrochemical Properties of Dithiolodithiole and Thiophene Electrochromic Systems
Authors: De Simone Bruna , Mazzone Gloria , Marino Tiziana , Russo Nino , Toscano Marirosa
Published: August 2017

The importance of organic electrochromic materials has grown considerably in recent decades due to their application in smart window, automotive, and aircraft technologies. Theoretical prediction of the optical properties should contribute to their better characterization and help the explanation of the experimental data. By using various exchange–correlation functionals, we show how density functional theory (DFT) and the related time-dependent formulation (TDDFT) are able to correctly reproduce the spectrochemical properties of dithiolodithiole and thiophene organic electrochromic systems.
The Marine Natural Product Pseudopterosin Blocks Cytokine Release of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer and Monocytic Leukemia Cells by Inhibiting NF-κB Signaling
Authors: Sperlich Julia , Kerr Russell , Teusch Nicole
Published: August 2017

Pseudopterosins are a group of marine diterpene glycosides which possess an array of biological activities including anti-inflammatory effects. However, despite the striking in vivo anti-inflammatory potential, the underlying in vitro molecular mode of action remains elusive. To date, few studies have examined pseudopterosin effects on cancer cells. However, to our knowledge, no studies have explored their ability to block cytokine release in breast cancer cells and the respective bidirectional communication with associated immune cells. The present work demonstrates that pseudopterosins have the ability to block the key inflammatory signaling pathway nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) by inhibiting the phosphorylation of p65 and IκB (nuclear factor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells inhibitor) in leukemia and in breast cancer cells, respectively. Blockade of NF-κB leads to subsequent reduction of the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1). Furthermore, pseudopterosin treatment reduces cytokine expression induced by conditioned media in both cell lines investigated. Interestingly, the presence of pseudopterosins induces a nuclear translocation of the glucocorticoid receptor. When knocking down the glucocorticoid receptor, the natural product loses the ability to block cytokine expression. Thus, we hypothesize that pseudopterosins inhibit NF-κB through activation of the glucocorticoid receptor in triple negative breast cancer.
A Critical Review of Mg-Based Hydrogen Storage Materials Processed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing
Authors: Wang Lisha , Jiang Jinghua , Ma Aibin , Li Yuhua , Song Dan
Published: August 2017

As a kind of cost-efficient hydrogen storage materials with high hydrogen capacity and light weight, Mg-based alloys have attracted much attention. This review introduces an effective technique in producing bulk ultrafine-grained (UFG) Mg alloys and promoting its hydrogen storage property, namely, equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP). This paper briefly describes the technical principle of ECAP and reviews the research progress on hydrogen storage properties of ECAP-processed Mg alloys. Special attention is given to their hydrogen storage behaviors including hydrogen storage dynamics, capacity, and cycling stability. Finally, it analyzes the factors that affect the hydrogen storage properties of ECAP-processed Mg alloys, such as the grain sizes, lattice defects, catalysts, and textures introduced by ECAP process.
Peculiar Spatiotemporal Behavior of Unstable Plastic Flow in an AlMgMnScZr Alloy with Coarse and Ultrafine Grains
Authors: Zhemchuzhnikova Daria , Lebyodkin Mikhail , Lebedkina Tatiana , Mogucheva Anna , Yuzbekova Diana , Kaibyshev Rustam
Published: August 2017

The work addresses the effects of nanosize particles and grain refinement on the patterns of stress serrations and kinematics of deformation bands associated with the Portevin–Le Chatelier instability of plastic flow. Ultra-fine-grained microstructure was obtained using equal-channel angular pressing of the initial coarse-grained alloy. Tensile tests were carried out on flat specimens at strain rates in the range from 3 × 10−5 to 1.4 × 10−2 s−1. Using local extensometry techniques, it was found that the presence of nanoscale precipitates promotes quasi-continuous propagation of deformation bands in the entire strain-rate range. The grain refinement leads to a transition to relay-race propagation at high strain rates and static strain localization at low rates. The results are discussed from the viewpoint of competition between various dynamical modes of plastic deformation associated with collective dynamics of dislocations.
Chemical and Antimicrobial Analyses of Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood, an Endemic of the Western Balkan
Authors: Tadić Vanja , Oliva Alessandra , Božović Mijat , Cipolla Alessia , De Angelis Massimiliano , Vullo Vincenzo , Garzoli Stefania , Ragno Rino
Published: August 2017

A comprehensive study on essential oil and different solvent extracts of Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood (Lamiaceae) from Montenegro is reported. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the essential oil revealed a total of 43 components with bicyclogermacrene (23.8%), germacrene D (8%), (E)-caryophyllene (7.9%) and spathulenol (5.5%) as the major ones. Sesquiterpenoid group was found to be the most dominant one (64.8%), with 19.9% of the oxygenated forms. In the crude methanol extract of the investigated plant, obtained by Sohhlet exraction, the total phenol content was 14.7 ± 0.4 mg of GA/g, the total flavonoids were 0.29 ± 0.03% expressed as hyperoside percentage, whereas the total tannins content was 0.22 ± 0.04% expressed as pyrogallol percentage. For the antimicrobial activity determination, the following microorganisms have been used: methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA (American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 29213)) and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA (clinical strain)), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), carbapenem-susceptible Klebsiella pneumoniae (clinical strain), carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (clinical strain) and Candida albicans (ATCC 14053). The essential oil showed high potency against MSSA and MRSA, both at high (~5 × 105 CFU/mL) and low (~5 × 103 CFU/mL) inoculum. With respect to MSSA, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value was 0.307 mg/mL, with bactericidal activity obtained at 0.615 mg/mL, while, in the case of MRSA, the MIC and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were 0.076 and 0.153 mg/mL, respectively. Regarding anti-Candida albicans activity, the MIC value was 2.46 mg/mL without reaching fungicidal activity. In addition to the observed essential oil efficacy, different solvent extracts were analyzed for their antimicrobial activity. Similarly to the essential oil, thehighest efficacy was observed against both MSSA and MRSA strains, at high and low inoculums, in the case of the 1,2-dichloroethane and methanol extracts. A potent fungicidal activity has been also found for the n-hexane and 1,2-dichloroethane extracts. It can be concluded that Sideritis romana L. subsp. purpurea (Tal. ex Benth.) Heywood provides a wide range of application in different fields such as phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology or pharmacognosy.
Covalent Porphyrin Hybrids Linked with Dipyrrin, Bidipyrrin or Thiacorrole
Authors: He Renbao , Yue Huan , Kong Jiahui
Published: August 2017

Novel meso-meso directly linked porphyrin hybrids were successfully targeted and synthesized, with porphyrin units linked with dipyrrin, bidipyrrin or thiacorrole, expanding the ranges of dipyrrin derivatives and showing diverse metal coordinations and further influencing the chemical shift of pyrrole units. The porphyrinyl dipyrrin nickel complex 3 was successfully obtained in a high yield by the oxidation of porphyrinyl dipyrromethane 2 and subsequent coordination. Further oxidative coupling reactions of 3 afforded por-bidipyrrin-por hybrid 4. Interestingly, an unexpected methoxy por-bidipyrrin-por hybrid 6 was generated by treating 4 with FeCl3 in CH2Cl2/MeOH and subsequent coordination. In addition to open chain hybrids, an aromatic scaffold hybrid por-thiacorrole-por 8 was synthesized by treating porphyrinyl dibromo-dipyrrin nickel complex 7 with Na2S·9H2O. A series of porphyrin hybrids offers a new approach for π-conjugated molecules.
Bi-Component Nanostructured Arrays of Co Dots Embedded in Ni80Fe20 Antidot Matrix: Synthesis by Self-Assembling of Polystyrene Nanospheres and Magnetic Properties
Authors: Coïsson Marco , Celegato Federica , Barrera Gabriele , Conta Gianluca , Magni Alessandro , Tiberto Paola
Published: August 2017

A bi-component nanostructured system composed by a Co dot array embedded in a Ni80Fe20 antidot matrix has been prepared by means of the self-assembling polystyrene nanospheres lithography technique. Reference samples constituted by the sole Co dots or Ni80Fe20 antidots have also been prepared, in order to compare their properties with those of the bi-component material. The coupling between the two ferromagnetic elements has been studied by means of magnetic and magneto-transport measurements. The Ni80Fe20 matrix turned out to affect the vortex nucleation field of the Co dots, which in turn modifies the magneto-resistance behaviour of the system and its spinwave properties.
Reply: Diabetogenic Potential of Ancestral and Modern Wheat Landraces, Nutrients 2017, 9, 816
Authors: Gorelick Jonathan , Yarmolinsky Ludmila , Budovsky Arie , Khalfin Boris , Klein Joshua , Pinchasov Yosi , Bushuev Maxim , Rudchenko Tatiana , Ben-Shabat Shimon
Published: August 2017

Our “diabetogenic diet” composition [1] was indeed based on the one described by Funda et al. [2] with regards to dietary requirements.[...]
Consumption of a High Quantity and a Wide Variety of Vegetables Are Predicted by Different Food Choice Motives in Older Adults from France, Italy and the UK
Authors: Appleton Katherine , Dinnella Caterina , Spinelli Sara , Morizet David , Saulais Laure , Hemingway Ann , Monteleone Erminio , Depezay Laurence , Perez-Cueto Federico , Hartwell Heather
Published: August 2017

Background: Consumption of a high quantity and wide variety of vegetables is currently recommended for health. Dietary variety can be low, however, particularly for older adults. This study investigated the affective factors associated with the quantity and variety of vegetables consumed by older adults in France, Italy and the UK. Methods: Adults aged 65 years plus completed questionnaires on self-reported vegetable intake (quantity and variety), liking for vegetables, attitudes towards intake, and demographic variables. Results: In 497 older adults (France, n = 187, Italy, n = 152, UK, n = 158), higher quantities of vegetables consumed were associated with a higher age, affluence score and liking for vegetables, and a lower importance in consumption of familiarity (smallest β = 0.11, p = 0.03). Greater variety was associated with a higher liking and importance of health benefits, and a lower importance of familiarity (smallest β = −0.11, p < 0.01). Higher quantity and variety combined (quantity × variety) was associated with a higher age, liking and importance of health benefits, and a lower importance of familiarity (smallest β = 0.14, p = 0.02). Country-specific effects were also found (smallest β = 0.20, p < 0.01). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate a role for liking and a lower concern for eating familiar foods in vegetable consumption, and a particular role for concern for health benefits in the consumption of a greater variety of vegetables.
Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Differentiation Regulated by Hydroxyapatite Content within Chitosan-Based Scaffolds under Perfusion Conditions
Authors: Rogina Anamarija , Antunović Maja , Pribolšan Lidija , Caput Mihalić Katarina , Vukasović Andreja , Ivković Alan , Marijanović Inga , Gallego Ferrer Gloria , Ivanković Marica , Ivanković Hrvoje
Published: August 2017

The extensive need for hard tissue substituent greatly motivates development of suitable allogeneic grafts for therapeutic recreation. Different calcium phosphate phases have been accepted as scaffold’s components with positive influence on osteoinduction and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells, in terms of their higher fraction within the graft. Nevertheless, the creation of unlimited nutrients diffusion through newly formed grafts is of great importance. The media flow accomplished by perfusion forces can provide physicochemical, and also, biomechanical stimuli for three-dimensional bone-construct growth. In the present study, the influence of a different scaffold’s composition on the human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) differentiation performed in a U-CUP bioreactor under perfusion conditioning was investigated. The histological and immunohistochemical analysis of cultured bony tissues, and the evaluation of osteogenic genes’ expression indicate that the lower fraction of in situ formed hydroxyapatite in the range of 10–30% within chitosan scaffold could be preferable for bone-construct development.
Multiscale Union Regions Adaptive Sparse Representation for Hyperspectral Image Classification
Authors: Tong Fei , Tong Hengjian , Jiang Junjun , Zhang Yun
Published: August 2017

Sparse Representation has been widely applied to classification of hyperspectral images (HSIs). Besides spectral information, the spatial context in HSIs also plays an important role in the classification. The recently published Multiscale Adaptive Sparse Representation (MASR) classifier has shown good performance in exploiting spatial information for HSI classification. But the spatial information is exploited by multiscale patches with fixed sizes of square windows. The patch can include all nearest neighbor pixels but these neighbor pixels may contain some noise pixels. Then another research proposed a Multiscale Superpixel-Based Sparse Representation (MSSR) classifier. Shape-adaptive superpixels can provide more accurate representation than patches. But it is difficult to select scales for superpixels. Therefore, inspired by the merits and demerits of multiscale patches and superpixels, we propose a novel algorithm called Multiscale Union Regions Adaptive Sparse Representation (MURASR). The union region, which is the overlap of patch and superpixel, can make full use of the advantages of both and overcome the weaknesses of each one. Experiments on several HSI datasets demonstrate that the proposed MURASR is superior to MASR and union region is better than the patch in the sparse representation.
Statistical Comparison between Low-Cost Methods for 3D Characterization of Cut-Marks on Bones
Authors: Maté-González Miguel , Aramendi Julia , González-Aguilera Diego , Yravedra José
Published: August 2017

In recent years, new techniques for the morphological study of cut marks have become essential for the interpretation of prehistoric butchering practices. Different criteria have been suggested for the description and classification of cut marks. The methods commonly used for the study of cut marks rely on high-cost microscopy techniques with low portability (i.e., inability to work in situ), such as the 3D digital microscope (3D DM) or laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). Recently, new algorithmic developments in the field of computer vision and photogrammetry, have achieved very high precision and resolution, offering a portable and low-cost alternative to microscopic techniques. However, the photogrammetric techniques present some disadvantages, such as longer data collection and processing time, and the requirement of some photogrammetric expertise for the calibration of the cameras and the acquisition of precise image orientation. In this paper, we compare two low-cost techniques and their application to cut mark studies: the micro-photogrammetry (M-PG) technique presented, developed, and validated previously, and a methodology based on the use of a structured light scanner (SLS). A total of 47 experimental cut marks, produced using a stainless steel knife, were analyzed. The data registered through virtual reconstruction was analyzed by means of three-dimensional geometric morphometrics (GMM).
Automatic Counting of Large Mammals from Very High Resolution Panchromatic Satellite Imagery
Authors: Xue Yifei , Wang Tiejun , Skidmore Andrew K.
Published: August 2017

Estimating animal populations by direct counting is an essential component of wildlife conservation and management. However, conventional approaches (i.e., ground survey and aerial survey) have intrinsic constraints. Advances in image data capture and processing provide new opportunities for using applied remote sensing to count animals. Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using very high resolution multispectral satellite images for animal detection, but to date, the practicality of detecting animals from space using panchromatic imagery has not been proven. This study demonstrates that it is possible to detect and count large mammals (e.g., wildebeests and zebras) from a single, very high resolution GeoEye-1 panchromatic image in open savanna. A novel semi-supervised object-based method that combines a wavelet algorithm and a fuzzy neural network was developed. To discern large mammals from their surroundings and discriminate between animals and non-targets, we used the wavelet technique to highlight potential objects. To make full use of geometric attributes, we carefully trained the classifier, using the adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system. Our proposed method (with an accuracy index of 0.79) significantly outperformed the traditional threshold-based method (with an accuracy index of 0.58) detecting large mammals in open savanna.
Split-Band Interferometry-Assisted Phase Unwrapping for the Phase Ambiguities Correction
Authors: Libert Ludivine , Derauw Dominique , D’Oreye Nicolas , Barbier Christian , Orban Anne
Published: August 2017

Split-Band Interferometry (SBInSAR) exploits the large range bandwidth of the new generation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors to process images at subrange bandwidth. Its application to an interferometric pair leads to several lower resolution interferograms of the same scene with slightly shifted central frequencies. When SBInSAR is applied to frequency-persistent scatterers, the linear trend of the phase through the stack of interferograms can be used to perform absolute and spatially independent phase unwrapping. While the height computation has been the main concern of studies on SBInSAR so far, we propose instead to use it to assist conventional phase unwrapping. During phase unwrapping, phase ambiguities are introduced when parts of the interferogram are separately unwrapped. The proposed method reduces the phase ambiguities so that the phase can be connected between separately unwrapped regions. The approach is tested on a pair of TerraSAR-X spotlight images of Copahue volcano, Argentina. In this framework, we propose two new criteria for the frequency-persistent scatterers detection, based respectively on the standard deviation of the slope of the linear regression and on the phase variance stability, and we compare them to the multifrequency phase error. Both new criteria appear to be more suited to our approach than the multifrequency phase error. We validate the SBInSAR-assisted phase unwrapping method by artificially splitting a continuous phase region into disconnected subzones. Despite the decorrelation and the steep topography affecting the volcanic test region, the expected phase ambiguities are successfully recovered whatever the chosen criterion to detect the frequency-persistent scatterers. Comparing the aspect ratio of the distributions of the computed phase ambiguities, the analysis shows that the phase variance stability is the most efficient criterion to select stable targets and the slope standard deviation gives satisfactory results.
A Fair Contention Access Scheme for Low-Priority Traffic in Wireless Body Area Networks
Authors: Henna Shagufta , Sajeel Muhammad , Bashir Faisal , Asfand-e-yar Muhammad , Tauqir Muhammad
Published: August 2017

Recently, wireless body area networks (WBANs) have attracted significant consideration in ubiquitous healthcare. A number of medium access control (MAC) protocols, primarily derived from the superframe structure of the IEEE 802.15.4, have been proposed in literature. These MAC protocols aim to provide quality of service (QoS) by prioritizing different traffic types in WBANs. A contention access period (CAP)with high contention in priority-based MAC protocols can result in higher number of collisions and retransmissions. During CAP, traffic classes with higher priority are dominant over low-priority traffic; this has led to starvation of low-priority traffic, thus adversely affecting WBAN throughput, delay, and energy consumption. Hence, this paper proposes a traffic-adaptive priority-based superframe structure that is able to reduce contention in the CAP period, and provides a fair chance for low-priority traffic. Simulation results in ns-3 demonstrate that the proposed MAC protocol, called traffic- adaptive priority-based MAC (TAP-MAC), achieves low energy consumption, high throughput, and low latency compared to the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, and the most recent priority-based MAC protocol, called priority-based MAC protocol (PA-MAC).
Real-Time Motion Tracking for Indoor Moving Sphere Objects with a LiDAR Sensor
Authors: Huang Lvwen , Chen Siyuan , Zhang Jianfeng , Cheng Bang , Liu Mingqing
Published: August 2017

Object tracking is a crucial research subfield in computer vision and it has wide applications in navigation, robotics and military applications and so on. In this paper, the real-time visualization of 3D point clouds data based on the VLP-16 3D Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor is achieved, and on the basis of preprocessing, fast ground segmentation, Euclidean clustering segmentation for outliers, View Feature Histogram (VFH) feature extraction, establishing object models and searching matching a moving spherical target, the Kalman filter and adaptive particle filter are used to estimate in real-time the position of a moving spherical target. The experimental results show that the Kalman filter has the advantages of high efficiency while adaptive particle filter has the advantages of high robustness and high precision when tested and validated on three kinds of scenes under the condition of target partial occlusion and interference, different moving speed and different trajectories. The research can be applied in the natural environment of fruit identification and tracking, robot navigation and control and other fields.
Line-Constrained Camera Location Estimation in Multi-Image Stereomatching
Authors: Donné Simon , Goossens Bart , Philips Wilfried
Published: August 2017

Stereomatching is an effective way of acquiring dense depth information from a scene when active measurements are not possible. So-called lightfield methods take a snapshot from many camera locations along a defined trajectory (usually uniformly linear or on a regular grid—we will assume a linear trajectory) and use this information to compute accurate depth estimates. However, they require the locations for each of the snapshots to be known: the disparity of an object between images is related to both the distance of the camera to the object and the distance between the camera positions for both images. Existing solutions use sparse feature matching for camera location estimation. In this paper, we propose a novel method that uses dense correspondences to do the same, leveraging an existing depth estimation framework to also yield the camera locations along the line. We illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique for camera location estimation both visually for the rectification of epipolar plane images and quantitatively with its effect on the resulting depth estimation. Our proposed approach yields a valid alternative for sparse techniques, while still being executed in a reasonable time on a graphics card due to its highly parallelizable nature.
Benchmarking Foot Trajectory Estimation Methods for Mobile Gait Analysis
Authors: Hannink Julius , Ollenschläger Malte , Kluge Felix , Roth Nils , Klucken Jochen , Eskofier Bjoern M.
Published: August 2017

Mobile gait analysis systems based on inertial sensing on the shoe are applied in a wide range of applications. Especially for medical applications, they can give new insights into motor impairment in, e.g., neurodegenerative disease and help objectify patient assessment. One key component in these systems is the reconstruction of the foot trajectories from inertial data. In literature, various methods for this task have been proposed. However, performance is evaluated on a variety of datasets due to the lack of large, generally accepted benchmark datasets. This hinders a fair comparison of methods. In this work, we implement three orientation estimation and three double integration schemes for use in a foot trajectory estimation pipeline. All methods are drawn from literature and evaluated against a marker-based motion capture reference. We provide a fair comparison on the same dataset consisting of 735 strides from 16 healthy subjects. As a result, the implemented methods are ranked and we identify the most suitable processing pipeline for foot trajectory estimation in the context of mobile gait analysis.
A FPGA-Based, Granularity-Variable Neuromorphic Processor and Its Application in a MIMO Real-Time Control System
Authors: Zhang Zhen , Ma Cheng , Zhu Rong
Published: August 2017

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), including Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), have become the state-of-the-art methods in machine learning and achieved amazing success in speech recognition, visual object recognition, and many other domains. There are several hardware platforms for developing accelerated implementation of ANN models. Since Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) architectures are flexible and can provide high performance per watt of power consumption, they have drawn a number of applications from scientists. In this paper, we propose a FPGA-based, granularity-variable neuromorphic processor (FBGVNP). The traits of FBGVNP can be summarized as granularity variability, scalability, integrated computing, and addressing ability: first, the number of neurons is variable rather than constant in one core; second, the multi-core network scale can be extended in various forms; third, the neuron addressing and computing processes are executed simultaneously. These make the processor more flexible and better suited for different applications. Moreover, a neural network-based controller is mapped to FBGVNP and applied in a multi-input, multi-output, (MIMO) real-time, temperature-sensing and control system. Experiments validate the effectiveness of the neuromorphic processor. The FBGVNP provides a new scheme for building ANNs, which is flexible, highly energy-efficient, and can be applied in many areas.
Research and Development of Electrostatic Accelerometers for Space Science Missions at HUST
Authors: Bai Yanzheng , Li Zhuxi , Hu Ming , Liu Li , Qu Shaobo , Tan Dingyin , Tu Haibo , Wu Shuchao , Yin Hang , Li Hongyin , Zhou Zebing
Published: August 2017

High-precision electrostatic accelerometers have achieved remarkable success in satellite Earth gravity field recovery missions. Ultralow-noise inertial sensors play important roles in space gravitational wave detection missions such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, and key technologies have been verified in the LISA Pathfinder mission. Meanwhile, at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST, China), a space accelerometer and inertial sensor based on capacitive sensors and the electrostatic control technique have also been studied and developed independently for more than 16 years. In this paper, we review the operational principle, application, and requirements of the electrostatic accelerometer and inertial sensor in different space missions. The development and progress of a space electrostatic accelerometer at HUST, including ground investigation and space verification are presented.
Social Network Decay as Potential Recovery from Homelessness: A Mixed Methods Study in Housing First Programming
Authors: Golembiewski Elizabeth , Watson Dennis , Robison Lisa , Coberg II John
Published: August 2017

The positive relationship between social support and mental health has been well documented, but individuals experiencing chronic homelessness face serious disruptions to their social networks. Housing First (HF) programming has been shown to improve health and stability of formerly chronically homeless individuals. However, researchers are only just starting to understand the impact HF has on residents’ individual social integration. The purpose of the current study was to describe and understand changes in social networks of residents living in a HF program. Researchers employed a longitudinal, convergent parallel mixed method design, collecting quantitative social network data through structured interviews (n = 13) and qualitative data through semi-structured interviews (n = 20). Quantitative results demonstrated a reduction in network size over the course of one year. However, increases in both network density and frequency of contact with network members increased. Qualitative interviews demonstrated a strengthening in the quality of relationships with family and housing providers and a shedding of burdensome and abusive relationships. These results suggest network decay is a possible indicator of participants’ recovery process as they discontinued negative relationships and strengthened positive ones.
The Response of Heterotrophic Prokaryote and Viral Communities to Labile Organic Carbon Inputs Is Controlled by the Predator Food Chain Structure
Authors: Sandaa Ruth-Anne , Pree Bernadette , Larsen Aud , Våge Selina , Töpper Birte , Töpper Joachim , Thyrhaug Runar , Thingstad Tron
Published: August 2017

Factors controlling the community composition of marine heterotrophic prokaryotes include organic-C, mineral nutrients, predation, and viral lysis. Two mesocosm experiments, performed at an Arctic location and bottom-up manipulated with organic-C, had very different results in community composition for both prokaryotes and viruses. Previously, we showed how a simple mathematical model could reproduce food web level dynamics observed in these mesocosms, demonstrating strong top-down control through the predator chain from copepods via ciliates and heterotrophic nanoflagellates. Here, we use a steady-state analysis to connect ciliate biomass to bacterial carbon demand. This gives a coupling of top-down and bottom-up factors whereby low initial densities of ciliates are associated with mineral nutrient-limited heterotrophic prokaryotes that do not respond to external supply of labile organic-C. In contrast, high initial densities of ciliates give carbon-limited growth and high responsiveness to organic-C. The differences observed in ciliate abundance, and in prokaryote abundance and community composition in the two experiments were in accordance with these predictions. Responsiveness in the viral community followed a pattern similar to that of prokaryotes. Our study provides a unique link between the structure of the predator chain in the microbial food web and viral abundance and diversity.
The Enigmatic Origin of Papillomavirus Protein Domains
Authors: Puustusmaa Mikk , Kirsip Heleri , Gaston Kevin , Abroi Aare
Published: August 2017

Almost a century has passed since the discovery of papillomaviruses. A few decades of research have given a wealth of information on the molecular biology of papillomaviruses. Several excellent studies have been performed looking at the long- and short-term evolution of these viruses. However, when and how papillomaviruses originate is still a mystery. In this study, we systematically searched the (sequenced) biosphere to find distant homologs of papillomaviral protein domains. Our data show that, even including structural information, which allows us to find deeper evolutionary relationships compared to sequence-only based methods, only half of the protein domains in papillomaviruses have relatives in the rest of the biosphere. We show that the major capsid protein L1 and the replication protein E1 have relatives in several viral families, sharing three protein domains with Polyomaviridae and Parvoviridae. However, only the E1 replication protein has connections with cellular organisms. Most likely, the papillomavirus ancestor is of marine origin, a biotope that is not very well sequenced at the present time. Nevertheless, there is no evidence as to how papillomaviruses originated and how they became vertebrate and epithelium specific.
18-Hydroxydolabella-3,7-diene synthase – a diterpene synthase from Chitinophaga pinensis
Authors: Dickschat Jeroen S , Rinkel Jan , Rabe Patrick , Beyraghdar Kashkooli Arman , Bouwmeester Harro J
Published: August 2017

The product obtained in vitro from a diterpene synthase encoded in the genome of the bacterium Chitinophaga pinensis, an enzyme previously reported to have germacrene A synthase activity during heterologous expression in Escherichia coli, was identified by extensive NMR-spectroscopic methods as 18-hydroxydolabella-3,7-diene. The absolute configuration of this diterpene alcohol and the stereochemical course of the terpene synthase reaction were addressed by isotopic labelling experiments. Heterologous expression of the diterpene synthase in Nicotiana benthamiana resulted in the production of 18-hydroxydolabella-3,7-diene also in planta, while the results from the heterologous expression in E. coli were shown to be reproducible, revealing that the expression of one and the same terpene synthase in different heterologous hosts may yield different terpene products.
A Nonsense Consonant-Vowel-Consonant Word Test to Assess Auditory Processing
Authors: Cheyney Mariah Nicole , Moncrieff Deborah W.
Published: August 2017

Background:Dichotic listening (DL), or how the two ears work together as a team, is often used in the assessment of auditory processing disorders in both children and adults. Currently, the battery of dichotic tests includes stimuli containing words, digits, and nonsense consonant‐vowel
syllables. Single-syllable nonsense words are of particular use in assessing processing abilities because they can evaluate auditory processing without a listener’s dependence on linguistic knowledge. Therefore, nonsense words may assess auditory processes independently of previous vocabulary
knowledge.Purpose:This study is designed to assess the clinical applicability and face validity of a nonsense word DL test in a young adult population.Research Design:This study included an experimental design to investigate the performance of young adult listeners on a Dichotic
Nonsense Word (DNW) test spoken by a male and female speaker. The results were compared with one study that investigated young adult listener’s performance on dichotic tests of English words.Study Sample:A total of 100 young adult participants were recruited from the School of
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh to participate in the study. The participants ranged in age from 20 to 30, with an average age of 23, and all participants had normal hearing.Data Collection and Analysis:DL performance was measured in all participants
using the Dichotic Words Test (DWT) and the newly developed DNW test. Kolmogorov‐Smirnoff tests of normality were used to assess distribution of right- and left-ear scores. Criterion cutoff scores were determined for the percent correct scores in the nondominant ear and dominant ear
and for ear advantage.Results:Scores were significantly different between the two tests in the right ear, Z = −8.258, p < 0.001, and in the left ear, Z = −8.471, p < 0.001. Scores within each test were higher for the right ear than for the
left ear, and scores for both ears were significantly lower on the DNW test than for the DWT. Ear advantage scores from the DNW test were significantly larger than those obtained from the DWT. The low and high 95% criterion cutoff ranges for the DNW test were considerably wider than the 95%
criterion cutoff ranges for the DWT.Conclusions:Results indicate that the new DNW test may be a useful clinical tool within a test battery for evaluating auditory processing skills independent of vocabulary knowledge.
0.7–2.5 μm Spectra of Hilda Asteroids
Authors: Wong Ian , Brown Michael E. , Emery Joshua P.
Published: August 2017

The Hilda asteroids are primitive bodies in resonance with Jupiter whose origin and physical properties are not well understood. Current models posit that these asteroids formed in the outer solar system and were scattered along with the Jupiter Trojans into their present-day positions during a chaotic episode of dynamical restructuring. In order to explore the surface composition of these enigmatic objects in comparison with an analogous study of Trojans, we present new near-infrared spectra (0.7–2.5 μm) of 25 Hilda asteroids. No discernible absorption features are apparent in the data. Synthesizing the bimodalities in optical color and infrared reflectivity reported in previous studies, we classify 26 of the 28 Hildas in our spectral sample into the so-called less-red and red sub-populations and find that the two sub-populations have distinct average spectral shapes. Combining our results with visible spectra, we find that Trojans and Hildas possess similar overall spectral shapes, suggesting that the two minor body populations share a common progenitor population. A more detailed examination reveals that while the red Trojans and Hildas have nearly identical spectra, less-red Hildas are systematically bluer in the visible and redder in the near-infrared than less-red Trojans, indicating a putative broad, shallow absorption feature between 0.5 and 1.0 μm. We argue that the less-red and red objects found in both Hildas and Trojans represent two distinct surface chemistries and attribute the small discrepancy between less-red Hildas and Trojans to the difference in surface temperatures between the two regions.
A Search for Rapidly Pulsating Hot Subdwarf Stars in the GALEX Survey
Authors: Boudreaux Thomas M. , Barlow Brad N. , Fleming Scott W. , Soto Alan Vasquez , Million Chase , Reichart Dan E. , Haislip Josh B. , Linder Tyler R. , Moore Justin P.
Published: August 2017

NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) provided near- and far-UV observations for approximately 77% of the sky over a 10-year period; however, the data reduction pipeline initially only released single NUV and FUV images to the community. The recently released Python module gPhoton changes this, allowing calibrated time-series aperture photometry to be extracted easily from the raw GALEX data set. Here we use gPhoton to generate light curves for all hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars that were observed by GALEX, with the intention of identifying short-period, p-mode pulsations. We find that the spacecraft’s short visit durations, uneven gaps between visits, and dither pattern make the detection of hot subdwarf pulsations difficult. Nonetheless, we detect UV variations in four previously known pulsating targets and report their UV pulsation amplitudes and frequencies. Additionally, we find that several other sdB targets not previously known to vary show promising signals in their periodograms. Using optical follow-up photometry with the Skynet Robotic Telescope Network, we confirm p-mode pulsations in one of these targets, LAMOST J082517.99+113106.3, and report it as the most recent addition to the sdBV
r
class of variable stars.
ALMA Observations of Circumnuclear Disks in Early-type Galaxies: 12CO(2−1) and Continuum Properties
Authors: Boizelle Benjamin D. , Barth Aaron J. , Darling Jeremy , Baker Andrew J. , Buote David A. , Ho Luis C. , Walsh Jonelle L.
Published: August 2017

We present results from an Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Cycle 2 program to map CO(2−1) emission in nearby early-type galaxies (ETGs) that host circumnuclear gas disks. We obtained ∼0.″3 resolution Band 6 observations of seven ETGs selected on the basis of dust disks in Hubble Space Telescope images. We detect CO emission in five at high signal-to-noise ratio with the remaining two only faintly detected. All CO emission is coincident with the dust and is in dynamically cold rotation. Four ETGs show evidence of rapid central rotation; these are prime candidates for higher-resolution ALMA observations to measure the black hole masses. In this paper, we focus on the molecular gas and continuum properties. Total gas masses and H2 column densities for our five CO-bright galaxies are on average ∼108
M
☉ and

cm−2 over the ∼kpc-scale disks, and analysis suggests that these disks are stabilized against gravitational fragmentation. The continuum emission of all seven galaxies is dominated by a central unresolved source, and in five we also detect a spatially extended component. The ∼230 GHz nuclear continua are modeled as power laws ranging from

to

within the observed frequency band. The extended continuum profiles of the two radio-bright (and CO-faint) galaxies are roughly aligned with their radio jet and suggest resolved synchrotron jets. The extended continua of the CO-bright disks are coincident with optically thick dust absorption and have spectral slopes that are consistent with thermal dust emission.
Spatial Inhomogeneity of Kinetic and Magnetic Dissipations in Thermal Convection
Authors: Hotta H.
Published: August 2017

We investigate the inhomogeneity of kinetic and magnetic dissipations in thermal convection using high-resolution calculations. In statistically steady turbulence, the injected and dissipated energies are balanced. This means that a large amount of energy is continuously converted into internal energy via dissipation. As in thermal convection, downflows are colder than upflows and the inhomogeneity of the dissipation potentially changes the convection structure. Our investigation of the inhomogeneity of the dissipation shows the following. (1) More dissipation is seen around the bottom of the calculation domain, and this tendency is promoted with the magnetic field. (2) The dissipation in the downflow is much larger than that in the upflow. The dissipation in the downflow is more than 80% of the total at maximum. This tendency is also promoted with the magnetic field. (3) Although 2D probability density functions of the kinetic and magnetic dissipations versus the vertical velocity are similar, the kinetic and magnetic dissipations are not well correlated. Our result suggests that the spatial inhomogeneity of the dissipation is significant and should be considered when modeling a small-scale strong magnetic field generated with an efficient small-scale dynamo for low-resolution calculations.
NGC 1866: First Spectroscopic Detection of Fast-rotating Stars in a Young LMC Cluster
Authors: Dupree A. K. , Dotter A. , Johnson C. I. , Marino A. F. , Milone A. P. , Bailey J. I. , Crane J. D. , Mateo M. , Olszewski E. W.
Published: August 2017

High-resolution spectroscopic observations were taken of 29 extended main-sequence turnoff (eMSTO) stars in the young (∼200 Myr) Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) cluster, NGC 1866, using the Michigan/Magellan Fiber System and MSpec spectrograph on the Magellan-Clay 6.5 m telescope. These spectra reveal the first direct detection of rapidly rotating stars whose presence has only been inferred from photometric studies. The eMSTO stars exhibit Hα emission (indicative of Be-star decretion disks), others have shallow broad Hα absorption (consistent with rotation ≳150 km s−1), or deep Hα core absorption signaling lower rotation velocities (≲150 km s−1). The spectra appear consistent with two populations of stars—one rapidly rotating, and the other, younger and slowly rotating.