bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Self-Reported Omega-3 Supplement Use Moderates the Association between Age and Exercising Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity in Older Adults
Authors: Kaufman Carolyn S. , Vidoni Eric D. , Burns Jeffrey M. , Alwatban Mohammed R. , Billinger Sandra A.
Published: March 2020

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) decreases across the lifespan, and chronic conditions such as dementia and stroke accelerate this decline. Impaired CBF results in reduced delivery of oxygen and nutrients, which can damage the brain over time. Thus, there is a need to identify lifestyle interventions, including diet and exercise, to maintain CBF with aging and in the presence of chronic disease. In the present study, we used transcranial Doppler ultrasound to record middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv), a surrogate measure of CBF, during moderate-intensity exercise in sedentary, cognitively normal older adults (n = 90). A multiple linear regression model (F(4, 85) = 3.21, p = 0.02) showed that self-reported omega-3 supplement use significantly moderated the association between age and mean exercising MCAv in these individuals (p = 0.01). Older age was associated with lower exercising MCAv in the group not taking omega-3 supplements, while exercising MCAv showed no decline with increasing age in the group who reported omega-3 supplement use. These findings suggest omega-3 supplementation may have an important role in the preservation of CBF with aging.
Water Intake, Body Water Regulation and Health
Authors: Johnson Evan C. , Adams William M.
Published: March 2020

The biological feedback provided by human water intake upon our physiology is grossly under-investigated [...]
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Sarcopenia among Older Adults in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Authors: Koyanagi Ai , Veronese Nicola , Solmi Marco , Oh Hans , Shin Jae Il , Jacob Louis , Yang Lin , Haro Josep Maria , Smith Lee
Published: March 2020

Fruit and vegetable consumption may protect against sarcopenia but there are no studies on this topic from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, we assessed this association among older adults from six LMICs. Community-based cross-sectional data of the Study on Global Aging and Adult Health were analyzed. Sarcopenia was defined as the presence of low skeletal muscle mass based on indirect population formula, and either slow gait or low handgrip strength. Quintiles of vegetable and fruit consumption were created based on the number of servings consumed on a typical day. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted. The sample consisted of 14,585 individuals aged ≥65 years (mean (SD) age 72.6 (11.4) years; 55% females). Adjusted analyses showed that overall, compared to the lowest quintile (Q1), the highest quintile (Q5) of fruit consumption was associated with a 40% lower odds for sarcopenia (OR = 0.60; 95% CI = 0.42−0.84) but this association was largely driven by the strong association among females (e.g., Q5 vs. Q1 OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.24−0.73), with no significant associations found among males. Vegetable consumption was not significantly associated with sarcopenia. Future studies of longitudinal design may shed light on whether increasing fruit consumption among older females in LMICs may reduce risk for sarcopenia.
Nutrition Profile of Products with Cartoon Animations on the Packaging: A UK Cross-Sectional Survey of Foods and Drinks
Authors: Pombo-Rodrigues Sonia , Hashem Kawther M. , Tan Monique , Davies Zoe , He Feng J. , MacGregor Graham A.
Published: March 2020

Background: Marketing, including the use of cartoon animations on packaging, has been shown to influence the food children choose to eat. This paper aims to determine the nutritional quality of UK food and drink products featuring child-friendly characters on pack. Methods: A comprehensive cross-sectional survey of food and drink with packaging appealing to children available in the UK. Products were classified high in fat, salt and/or sugar (HFSS) according to the UK nutrient profiling model and guidance for front of pack nutrition labelling. Logistic regression was used to determine whether there was a significant relationship between nutritional quality of products, and animation type. Results: Over half (51%) of 532 products with animations on packaging were classified as HFSS. Food products featuring unlicensed characters were significantly more likely to be deemed HFSS than those with licensed characters, according to both the nutrient profiling model (odds ratio (OR) 2.1, 95% CI: 1.3 to 3.4) and front of pack nutrition labelling system (OR 2.3, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.4 to 3.7). Conclusions: The use of cartoon characters on HFSS products is widespread. Policies to restrict the use of such marketing tactics should be considered to prevent children being targeted with unhealthy foods and drinks.
Transformation of Helicobacter pylori into Coccoid Forms as a Challenge for Research Determining Activity of Antimicrobial Substances
Authors: Krzyżek Paweł , Grande Rossella
Published: March 2020

Morphological variability is one of the phenotypic features related to adaptation of microorganisms to stressful environmental conditions and increased tolerance to antimicrobial substances. Helicobacter pylori, a gastric mucosal pathogen, is characterized by a high heterogeneity and an ability to transform from a spiral to a coccoid form. The presence of the coccoid form is associated with the capacity to avoid immune system detection and to promote therapeutic failures. For this reason, it seems that the investigation for new, alternative methods combating H. pylori should include research of coccoid forms of this pathogen. The current review aimed at collecting information about the activity of antibacterial substances against H. pylori in the context of the morphological variability of this bacterium. The collected data was discussed in terms of the type of substances used, applied research techniques, and interpretation of results. The review was extended by a polemic on the limitations in determining the viability of coccoid H. pylori forms. Finally, recommendations which can help in future research aiming to find new compounds with a potential to eradicate H. pylori have been formulated.
Insights into the Recent 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in Light of Past Human Coronavirus Outbreaks
Authors: Ashour Hossam M. , Elkhatib Walid F. , Rahman Md. Masudur , Elshabrawy Hatem A.
Published: March 2020

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are RNA viruses that have become a major public health concern since the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (SARS-CoV) outbreak in 2002. The continuous evolution of coronaviruses was further highlighted with the emergence of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2012. Currently, the world is concerned about the 2019 novel CoV (SARS-CoV-2) that was initially identified in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019. Patients presented with severe viral pneumonia and respiratory illness. The number of cases has been mounting since then. As of late February 2020, tens of thousands of cases and several thousand deaths have been reported in China alone, in addition to thousands of cases in other countries. Although the fatality rate of SARS-CoV-2 is currently lower than SARS-CoV, the virus seems to be highly contagious based on the number of infected cases to date. In this review, we discuss structure, genome organization, entry of CoVs into target cells, and provide insights into past and present outbreaks. The future of human CoV outbreaks will not only depend on how the viruses will evolve, but will also depend on how we develop efficient prevention and treatment strategies to deal with this continuous threat.
Preparations of Rectal Suppositories Containing Artesunate
Authors: Persaud Suzanne , Eid Sandra , Swiderski Natalia , Serris Ioannis , Cho Hyunah
Published: March 2020

Rectal artesunate suppositories are a useful option for pre-referral treatment of severe malaria, specifically in children under 6 years of age in remote malaria-endemic areas. The main challenges are to improve the solubility of drugs in the rectal fluids and prevent the product from turning rancid or melting in a tropical climate. In this short proof-of-concept study, three types of rectal suppositories of artesunate were prepared: (i) polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based suppositories carrying free artesunate (non-modified artesunate), (ii) PEG-based suppositories carrying artesunate-loaded micelles and (iii) 3D-printed suppositories carrying a PEG/artesunate mixture. Physical parameters of suppositories, release profiles of artesunate (the fastest to the slowest: ii≥i>iii) and thermostability (the most stable to the least stable: iii>ii>i) of suppositories at increased temperature were assessed to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each formulation.
Improved Stability of Rifampicin in the Presence of Gastric-Resistant Isoniazid Microspheres in Acidic Media
Authors: Mwila Chiluba , Walker Roderick B.
Published: March 2020

The degradation of rifampicin (RIF) in an acidic medium to form 3-formyl rifamycin SV, a poorly absorbed compound, is accelerated in the presence of isoniazid, contributing to the poor bioavailability of rifampicin. This manuscript presents a novel approach in which isoniazid is formulated into gastric-resistant sustained-release microspheres and RIF into microporous floating sustained-release microspheres to reduce the potential for interaction between RIF and isoniazid (INH) in an acidic environment. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose acetate succinate and Eudragit® L100 polymers were used for the manufacture of isoniazid-loaded gastric-resistant sustained-release microspheres using an o/o solvent emulsification evaporation approach. Microporous floating sustained-release microspheres for the delivery of rifampicin in the stomach were manufactured using emulsification and a diffusion/evaporation process. The design of experiments was used to evaluate the impact of input variables on predefined responses or quality attributes of the microspheres. The percent degradation of rifampicin following 12 h dissolution testing in 0.1 M HCl pH 1.2 in the presence of isoniazid gastric-resistant sustained-release microspheres was only 4.44%. These results indicate that the degradation of rifampicin in the presence of isoniazid in acidic media can be reduced by encapsulation of both active pharmaceutical ingredients to ensure release in different segments of the gastrointestinal tract, potentially improving the bioavailability of rifampicin.
Design Space Identification and Visualization for Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
Authors: Diab Samir , Gerogiorgis Dimitrios I.
Published: March 2020

Progress in continuous flow chemistry over the past two decades has facilitated significant developments in the flow synthesis of a wide variety of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), the foundation of Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (CPM), which has gained interest for its potential to reduce material usage, energy and costs and the ability to access novel processing windows that would be otherwise hazardous if operated via traditional batch techniques. Design space investigation of manufacturing processes is a useful task in elucidating attainable regions of process performance and product quality attributes that can allow insight into process design and optimization prior to costly experimental campaigns and pilot plant studies. This study discusses recent demonstrations from the literature on design space investigation and visualization for continuous API production and highlights attainable regions of recoveries, material efficiencies, flowsheet complexity and cost components for upstream (reaction + separation) via modeling, simulation and nonlinear optimization, providing insight into optimal CPM operation.
Microscopic Structure of Swollen Hydrogels by Scanning Electron and Light Microscopies: Artifacts and Reality
Authors: Kaberova Zhansaya , Karpushkin Evgeny , Nevoralová Martina , Vetrík Miroslav , Šlouf Miroslav , Dušková-Smrčková Miroslava
Published: March 2020

The exact knowledge of hydrogel microstructure, mainly its pore topology, is a key issue in hydrogel engineering. For visualization of the swollen hydrogels, the cryogenic or high vacuum scanning electron microscopies (cryo-SEM or HVSEM) are frequently used while the possibility of artifact-biased images is frequently underestimated. The major cause of artifacts is the formation of ice crystals upon freezing of the hydrated gel. Some porous hydrogels can be visualized with SEM without the danger of artifacts because the growing crystals are accommodated within already existing primary pores of the gel. In some non-porous hydrogels the secondary pores will also not be formed due to rigid network structure of gels that counteracts the crystal nucleation and growth. We have tested the limits of true reproduction of the hydrogel morphology imposed by the swelling degree and mechanical strength of gels by investigating a series of methacrylate hydrogels made by crosslinking polymerization of glycerol monomethacrylate and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate including their interpenetrating networks. The hydrogel morphology was studied using cryo-SEM, HVSEM, environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) and classical wide-field light microscopy (LM). The cryo-SEM and HVSEM yielded artifact-free micrographs for limited range of non-porous hydrogels and for macroporous gels. A true non-porous structure was observed free of artifacts only for hydrogels exhibiting relatively low swelling and high elastic modulus above 0.5 MPa, whereas for highly swollen and/or mechanically weak hydrogels the cryo-SEM/HVSEM experiments resulted in secondary porosity. In this contribution we present several cases of severe artifact formation in PHEMA and PGMA hydrogels during their visualization by cryo-SEM and HVSEM. We also put forward empirical correlation between hydrogel morphological and mechanical parameters and the occurrence and intensity of artifacts.
Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Based Thermoresponsive Composite Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications
Authors: Xu Xiaomin , Liu Yang , Fu Wenbo , Yao Mingyu , Ding Zhen , Xuan Jiaming , Li Dongxiang , Wang Shengjie , Xia Yongqing , Cao Meiwen
Published: March 2020

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based thermosensitive hydrogels demonstrate great potential in biomedical applications. However, they have inherent drawbacks such as low mechanical strength, limited drug loading capacity and low biodegradability. Formulating PNIPAM with other functional components to form composited hydrogels is an effective strategy to make up for these deficiencies, which can greatly benefit their practical applications. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive observation about the PNIPAM-based composite hydrogels for biomedical applications so as to guide related research. It covers the general principles from the materials choice to the hybridization strategies as well as the performance improvement by focusing on several application areas including drug delivery, tissue engineering and wound dressing. The most effective strategies include incorporation of functional inorganic nanoparticles or self-assembled structures to give composite hydrogels and linking PNIPAM with other polymer blocks of unique properties to produce copolymeric hydrogels, which can improve the properties of the hydrogels by enhancing the mechanical strength, giving higher biocompatibility and biodegradability, introducing multi-stimuli responsibility, enabling higher drug loading capacity as well as controlled release. These aspects will be of great help for promoting the development of PNIPAM-based composite materials for biomedical applications.
An Active and Soft Hydrogel Actuator to Stimulate Live Cell Clusters by Self-folding
Authors: Lim Jun Woo , Kim Hee-jin , Kim Yechan , Shin Sung Gyu , Cho Sungwoo , Jung Woong Gyu , Jeong Jae Hyun
Published: March 2020

The hydrogels are widely used in various applications, and their successful uses depend on controlling the mechanical properties. In this study, we present an advanced strategy to develop hydrogel actuator designed to stimulate live cell clusters by self-folding. The hydrogel actuator consisting of two layers with different expansion ratios were fabricated to have various curvatures in self-folding. The expansion ratio of the hydrogel tuned with the molecular weight and concentration of gel-forming polymers, and temperature-sensitive molecules in a controlled manner. As a result, the hydrogel actuator could stimulate live cell clusters by compression and tension repeatedly, in response to temperature. The cell clusters were compressed in the 0.7-fold decreases of the radius of curvature with 1.0 mm in room temperature, as compared to that of 1.4 mm in 37 °C. Interestingly, the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) in MCF-7 tumor cells exposed by mechanical stimulation was expressed more than in those without stimulation. Overall, this new strategy to prepare the active and soft hydrogel actuator would be actively used in tissue engineering, drug delivery, and micro-scale actuators.
Improved Properties of Metallocene Polyethylene/Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Blends Processed by an Innovative Eccentric Rotor Extruder
Authors: He He-Zhi , Xue Feng , Xue Bin , Liu Shi-Ming , Huang Zhao-Xia , Zhang He
Published: March 2020

In this investigation, metallocene polyethylene (m-PE) was melt blended with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with an effort to achieve improved mechanical properties using a novel eccentric rotor extruder (ERE) without the addition of any compatibilizers. The phase morphology, rheological properties, crystallization behavior, and mechanical properties of the fabricated blends were carefully studied to explore the effect of the elongational flow field on the dispersion and mixing of PET in the m-PE matrix and the interface of the two immiscible polymers. For comparison, a conventional twin-screw extruder (TSE) was used to prepare the same blends as references using the same processing condition. It shows that the elongational flow field in ERE is much more effective to disperse the immiscible PET in the m-PE matrix with a smaller particle size and a narrower particle size distribution, compared to the shear flow field in TSE. A compatibilizer, ethylene-co-methyl acrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate (E-MA-GMA), was added to the m-PE/PET blends during the processing using TSE and ERE. It was observed that the improvement of the tensile property by adding the compatibilizer is marginal for the m-PE/PET blends processed using ERE, which indirectly proves the high effectiveness of the elongational flow field on the enhancement of the dispersion and mixing of PET in the m-PE matrix and the interface interaction.
Sustainable Aromatic Aliphatic Polyesters and Polyurethanes Prepared from Vanillin-Derived Diols via Green Catalysis
Authors: Zhao Changbo , Huang Caijuan , Chen Qin , Ingram Ian D. V. , Zeng Xiankui , Ren Tianhua , Xie Haibo
Published: March 2020

The design and preparation of polymers by using biobased chemicals is regarded as an important strategy towards a sustainable polymer chemistry. Herein, two aromatic diols, 4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenol and 2-(4-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methoxyphenoxy)ethanol, have been prepared in good yields through the direct reduction of vanillin and hydroxyethylated vanillin (4-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-3-methoxybenzaldehyde) using NaBH4, respectively. The diols were submitted to traditional polycondensation and polyaddition with acyl chlorides and diisocyanatos, and serials of new polyesters and polyurethanes were prepared in high yields with moderate molecular weight ranging from 17,000 to 40,000 g mol−1. Their structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FTIR, and their thermal properties were studied by TGA and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), indicating that the as-prepared polyesters and polyurethanes have Tg in the range of 16.2 to 81.2 °C and 11.6 to 80.4 °C, respectively.
Thermal and Calorimetric Evaluations of Some Chemically Modified Carbohydrate-Based Substrates with Phosphorus-Containing Groups
Authors: Thomas Ananya , Joseph Paul , Moinuddin Khalid , Zhu Haijin , Tretsiakova-McNally Svetlana
Published: March 2020

In the present article, we report on the chemical modifications of some carbohydrate-based substrates, such as potato starch, dextran, β-cyclodextrin, agar agar and tamarind, by reacting with diethylchlorophosphate (DECP), in dispersions in dichloromethane (DCM), in the presence of triethylamine (TEA) as the base. The modified substrates, after recovery and purification, were analyzed for their chemical constitutions, thermal stabilities and calorimetric properties using a variety of analytical techniques. These included: solid-state 31P NMR, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry (PCFC). The unmodified counterparts were also subjected to the same set of analyses with a view to serving as controls. Phosphorus analyses, primarily through ICP-OES on the recovered samples, showed different degrees of incorporation. Such observations were optionally verified through solid-state 31P NMR spectroscopy. The thermograms of the modified substrates were noticeably different from the unmodified counterparts, both in terms of the general profiles and the amounts of char residues produced. Such observations correlated well with the relevant parameters obtained through PCFC runs. Overall, the modified systems containing phosphorus were found to be less combustible than the parent substrates, and thus can be considered as promising matrices for environmentally benign fire-resistant coatings.
Bovine Decellularized Amniotic Membrane: Extracellular Matrix as Scaffold for Mammalian Skin
Authors: Villamil Ballesteros Andrea Catalina , Segura Puello Hugo Ramiro , Lopez-Garcia Jorge Andres , Bernal-Ballen Andres , Nieto Mosquera Diana Lorena , Muñoz Forero Diana Milena , Segura Charry Juan Sebastián , Neira Bejarano Yuli Alexandra
Published: March 2020

Decellularized membranes (DM) were obtained from bovine amniotic membranes (BAM) using four different decellularization protocols, based on physical, chemical, and mechanical treatment. The new material was used as a biological scaffold for in vitro skin cell culture. The DM were characterized using hematoxylin-eosin assay, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The in vitro cytotoxicity of DM was evaluated using MTT. The efficacy of decellularization process was assessed through DNA quantification and electrophoresis. All the used protocols showed a high effectiveness in terms of elimination of native cells, confirmed by DNA extraction and quantification, electrophoresis, and SEM, although protocol IV removes the cellular contents and preserve the native extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture which it can be considered as the most effective in terms of decellularization. FTIR-ATR and DSC on the other hand, revealed the effects of decellularization on the biochemical composition of the matrices. There was no cytotoxicity and the biological matrices obtained were a source of collagen for recellularization. The matrices of protocols I, II, and III were degraded at day 21 of cell culture, forming a gel. The biocompatibility in vitro was demonstrated; hence these matrices may be deemed as potential scaffold for epithelial tissue regeneration.
Effect of Type and Concentration of Nanoclay on the Mechanical and Physicochemical Properties of Bis-GMA/TTEGDMA Dental Resins
Authors: Encalada-Alayola J. J. , Veranes-Pantoja Y. , Uribe-Calderón J. A. , Cauich-Rodríguez J. V. , Cervantes-Uc J. M.
Published: March 2020

Bis-GMA/TTEGDMA-based resin composites were prepared with two different types of nanoclays: an organically modified laminar clay (Cloisite® 30B, montmorillonite, MMT) and a microfibrous clay (palygorskite, PLG). Their physicochemical and mechanical properties were then determined. Both MMT and PLG nanoclays were added into monomer mixture (1:1 ratio) at different loading levels (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 wt.%), and the resulting composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and mechanical testing (bending and compressive properties). Thermal properties, depth of cure and water absorption were not greatly affected by the type of nanoclay, while the mechanical properties of dental resin composites depended on both the variety and concentration of nanoclay. In this regard, composites containing MMT displayed higher mechanical strength (both flexural and compression) than those resins prepared with PLG due to a poor nanoclay dispersion as revealed by SEM. Solubility of the composites was dependent not only on nanoclay-type but also the mineral concentration. Dental composites fulfilled the minimum depth cure and solubility criteria set by the ISO 4049 standard. In contrast, the minimum bending strength (50 MPa) established by the international standard was only satisfied by the dental resins containing MMT. Based on these results, composites containing either MMT or PLG (at low filler contents) are potentially suitable for use in dental restorative resins, although those prepared with MMT displayed better results.
Challenges and Opportunities for Terrapene carolina carolina Under Different Climate Scenarios
Authors: Martin Amanda K. , Root Karen V.
Published: March 2020

An unprecedented rate of global climate change as a result of human impacts has affected both endotherms and ectotherms. This is of special concern for ectotherms, such as reptiles, as these species are suffering from large population declines and lack the dispersal ability of other taxa. There are many protected areas across the United States; however, these areas are fragmented, which hinders dispersal. We examined species distribution and dispersal capabilities for Terrapene carolina carolina, a relatively narrow range, low dispersal, and vulnerable species. We created climatic suitability models to predict changes in suitable habitat and identified important predictor variables. We modeled three time periods using MaxEnt and hypothesized that there would be an increase in northern habitat. We found that most of the suitable habitat changed at the northern end of the range and that mean temperature of driest quarter had the most influence on future predictions. Overall there were relatively moderate changes in suitable habitat, but where these changes occur affects accessibility. As an example, we examined these local scale movements within Oak Openings Region and found that individuals are capable of dispersing to new suitable habitats; however, other physical barriers will hinder movements. In conclusion, there is a critical need to protect this vulnerable reptilian species and our results suggest that T. c. carolina will expand their distribution northward. We suggest that land managers increase connectivity among protected areas to facilitate dispersal, but future studies should incorporate other dynamic ecological factors at finer spatial scale.
Procedural Reconstruction of 3D Indoor Models from Lidar Data Using Reversible Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo
Authors: Tran Ha , Khoshelham Kourosh
Published: March 2020

Automated reconstruction of Building Information Models (BIMs) from point clouds has been an intensive and challenging research topic for decades. Traditionally, 3D models of indoor environments are reconstructed purely by data-driven methods, which are susceptible to erroneous and incomplete data. Procedural-based methods such as the shape grammar are more robust to uncertainty and incompleteness of the data as they exploit the regularity and repetition of structural elements and architectural design principles in the reconstruction. Nevertheless, these methods are often limited to simple architectural styles: the so-called Manhattan design. In this paper, we propose a new method based on a combination of a shape grammar and a data-driven process for procedural modelling of indoor environments from a point cloud. The core idea behind the integration is to apply a stochastic process based on reversible jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (rjMCMC) to guide the automated application of grammar rules in the derivation of a 3D indoor model. Experiments on synthetic and real data sets show the applicability of the method to efficiently generate 3D indoor models of both Manhattan and non-Manhattan environments with high accuracy, completeness, and correctness.
The November 2019 Seismic Sequence in Albania: Geodetic Constraints and Fault Interaction
Authors: Caporali Alessandro , Floris Mario , Chen Xue , Nurce Bilbil , Bertocco Mauro , Zurutuza Joaquin
Published: March 2020

The seismic sequence of November 2019 in Albania culminating with the Mw = 6.4 event of 26 November 2019 was examined from the geodetic (InSAR and GNSS), structural, and historical viewpoints, with some ideas on possible areas of greater hazard. We present accurate estimates of the coseismic displacements using permanent GNSS stations active before and after the sequence, as well as SAR interferograms with Sentinel-1 in ascending and descending mode. When compared with the displacements predicted by a dislocation model on an elastic half space using the moment tensor information of a reverse fault mechanism, the InSAR and GNSS data fit at the mm level provided the hypocentral depth is set to 8 ± 2 km. Next, we examined the elastic stress generated by the Mw = 7.2 Montenegro earthquake of 1979, with the Albania 2019 event as receiver fault, to conclude that the Coulomb stress transfer, at least for the elastic component, was too small to have influenced the 2019 Albania event. A somewhat different picture emerges from the combined elastic deformation resulting after the two (1979 and 2019) events: we investigated the fault geometries where the Coulomb stress is maximized and concluded that the geometry with highest induced Coulomb stress, of the order of ca. 2–3 bar (0.2–0.3 MPa), is that of a vertical, dextral strike slip fault, striking SW to NE. This optimal receiver fault is located between the faults activated in 1979 and 2019, and very closely resembles the Lezhe fault, which marks the transition between the Dinarides and the Albanides.
Semantically Guided Large Deformation Estimation with Deep Networks
Authors: Ha In Young , Wilms Matthias , Heinrich Mattias
Published: March 2020

Deformable image registration is still a challenge when the considered images have strong variations in appearance and large initial misalignment. A huge performance gap currently remains for fast-moving regions in videos or strong deformations of natural objects. We present a new semantically guided and two-step deep deformation network that is particularly well suited for the estimation of large deformations. We combine a U-Net architecture that is weakly supervised with segmentation information to extract semantically meaningful features with multiple stages of nonrigid spatial transformer networks parameterized with low-dimensional B-spline deformations. Combining alignment loss and semantic loss functions together with a regularization penalty to obtain smooth and plausible deformations, we achieve superior results in terms of alignment quality compared to previous approaches that have only considered a label-driven alignment loss. Our network model advances the state of the art for inter-subject face part alignment and motion tracking in medical cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences in comparison to the FlowNet and Label-Reg, two recent deep-learning registration frameworks. The models are compact, very fast in inference, and demonstrate clear potential for a variety of challenging tracking and/or alignment tasks in computer vision and medical image analysis.
Feasibility of Social-Network-Based eHealth Intervention on the Improvement of Healthy Habits among Children
Authors: Benítez-Andrades José Alberto , Arias Natalia , García-Ordás María Teresa , Martínez-Martínez Marta , García-Rodríguez Isaías
Published: March 2020

This study shows the feasibility of an eHealth solution for tackling eating habits and physical activity in the adolescent population. The participants were children from 11 to 15 years old. An intervention was carried out on 139 students in the intervention group and 91 students in the control group, in two schools during 14 weeks. The intervention group had access to the web through a user account and a password. They were able to create friendship relationships, post comments, give likes and interact with other users, as well as receive notifications and information about nutrition and physical activity on a daily basis and get (virtual) rewards for improving their habits. The control group did not have access to any of these features. The homogeneity of the samples in terms of gender, age, body mass index and initial health-related habits was demonstrated. Pre- and post-measurements were collected through self-reports on the application website. After applying multivariate analysis of variance, a significant alteration in the age-adjusted body mass index percentile was observed in the intervention group versus the control group, as well as in the PAQ-A score and the KIDMED score. It can be concluded that eHealth interventions can help to obtain healthy habits. More research is needed to examine the effectiveness in achieving adherence to these new habits.
Stator Core Shape Design for Low Core Loss and High Power Density of a Small Surface-Mounted Permanent Motor
Authors: Soda Naoya , Enokizono Masato
Published: March 2020

In this paper, a stator core shape design method is proposed for an improvement in the power density of a small surface-mounted permanent magnet (SPM) motor. In order to improve the power density of a motor, it is necessary to increase its torque or reduce its weight. However, when a stator core shape is miniaturized to reduce the weight of the motor, the winding regions in a motor frequently decrease. Our stator core shape design method improves the power density of a motor by reducing its weight without decreasing the torque and keeping the winding regions constant. Moreover, the core loss of a motor also decreases when using our method. A Bezier curve is used for the determination of a stator core shape. The finite element method in consideration of the vector magnetic properties is used to evaluate the core loss of the motor shaped by our method. As a result, the power density of an SPM motor is improved, and the core loss of the motor decreases.
Optimizing the Calibration Error of Refraction Angles in Ultrasonic Angle Beam Testing
Authors: Cai Zhihui , Jin Zhangmin , Zhu Linyi , Li Yuebing , Lei Yuebao , Gao Zengliang
Published: March 2020

Ultrasonic testing is a useful approach for quantifying the flaws in mechanical components. The height of the flaws in ultrasonic angle beam testing is closely related to the calibration value of the probe refraction angle. In order to reduce the calibration error, some ignored data during the traditional calibration process are reanalyzed and fused to determine the refraction angle. Both arithmetical measurement fusion method and weighted measurement fusion method are applied and compared. Monte Carlo simulation is used to estimate the probability distribution of the refraction angle and obtain the optimal refraction angle weights. Experiments were carried out to verify the results of Monte Carlo simulation. The applicability of data fusion on refraction angles is investigated. It was found in the study that the data fused with the refraction angle is helpful for measuring the height of flaws.
Instrumentation of Stratospheric Balloon Straps with Optical Fibre for Temperature and Strain Monitoring
Authors: Lecieux Yann , Lupi Cyril , Leduc Dominique , Macé Quentin , Jeanneau Valentin , Guigue Pascale
Published: March 2020

This article is devoted to the instrumentation, with optical fibres, of the straps holding the envelope of stratospheric balloons. This instrumentation is motivated in the first instance by the need to validate the numerical models used in the design of balloons. It must also be used to measure the temperature along the envelope in order to deduce the pressure field. It is shown at first that the optical fibres can be inserted inside a strap during its fabrication. Different kinds of insertion are considered, none of them perturb the industrial process. The instrumented straps were then submitted to thermal and mechanical tests and the distributed Brillouin frequency shifts were measured. We thus determined the type of insertion to be used according to the parameter (temperature or strain) to be measured and assessed the performance of the measurement chain.
A Deep Neural Network Sensor for Visual Servoing in 3D Spaces
Authors: Durdevic Petar , Ortiz-Arroyo Daniel
Published: March 2020

This paper describes a novel stereo vision sensor based on deep neural networks, that can be used to produce a feedback signal for visual servoing in unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones. Two deep convolutional neural networks attached to the stereo camera in the drone are trained to detect wind turbines in images and stereo triangulation is used to calculate the distance from a wind turbine to the drone. Our experimental results show that the sensor produces data accurate enough to be used for servoing, even in the presence of noise generated when the drone is not being completely stable. Our results also show that appropriate filtering of the signals is needed and that to produce correct results, it is very important to keep the wind turbine within the field of vision of both cameras, so that both deep neural networks could detect it.
Modulation Classification Using Compressed Sensing and Decision Tree–Support Vector Machine in Cognitive Radio System
Authors: Sun Xiaoyong , Su Shaojing , Zuo Zhen , Guo Xiaojun , Tan Xiaopeng
Published: March 2020

In this paper, a blind modulation classification method based on compressed sensing using a high-order cumulant and cyclic spectrum combined with the decision tree–support vector machine classifier is proposed to solve the problem of low identification accuracy under single-feature parameters and reduce the performance requirements of the sampling system. Through calculating the fourth-order, eighth-order cumulant and cyclic spectrum feature parameters by breaking through the traditional Nyquist sampling law in the compressed sensing framework, six different cognitive radio signals are effectively classified. Moreover, the influences of symbol length and compression ratio on the classification accuracy are simulated and the classification performance is improved, which achieves the purpose of identifying more signals when fewer feature parameters are used. The results indicate that accurate and effective modulation classification can be achieved, which provides the theoretical basis and technical accumulation for the field of optical-fiber signal detection.
Toward Flexible and Efficient Home Context Sensing: Capability Evaluation and Verification of Image-Based Cognitive APIs
Authors: Chen Sinan , Saiki Sachio , Nakamura Masahide
Published: March 2020

Cognitive Application Program Interface (API) is an API of emerging artificial intelligence (AI)-based cloud services, which extracts various contextual information from non-numerical multimedia data including image and audio. Our interest is to apply image-based cognitive APIs to implement flexible and efficient context sensing services in a smart home. In the existing approach with machine learning by us, with the complexity of recognition object and the number of the defined contexts increases by users, it still requires directly manually labeling a moderate scale of data for training and continually try to calling multiple cognitive APIs for feature extraction. In this paper, we propose a novel method that uses a small scale of labeled data to evaluate the capability of cognitive APIs in advance, before training features of the APIs with machine learning, for the flexible and efficient home context sensing. In the proposed method, we exploit document similarity measures and the concepts (i.e., internal cohesion and external isolation) integrate into clustering results, to see how the capability of different cognitive APIs for recognizing each context. By selecting the cognitive APIs that relatively adapt to the defined contexts and data based on the evaluation results, we have achieved the flexible integration and efficient process of cognitive APIs for home context sensing.
Malicious Network Traffic Detection Based on Deep Neural Networks and Association Analysis
Authors: Gao Minghui , Ma Li , Liu Heng , Zhang Zhijun , Ning Zhiyan , Xu Jian
Published: March 2020

Anomaly detection systems can accurately identify malicious network traffic, providing network security. With the development of internet technology, network attacks are becoming more and more sourced and complicated, making it difficult for traditional anomaly detection systems to effectively analyze and identify abnormal traffic. At present, deep neural network (DNN) technology achieved great results in terms of anomaly detection, and it can achieve automatic detection. However, there still exists misclassified traffic in the prediction results of deep neural networks, resulting in redundant alarm information. This paper designs a two-level anomaly detection system based on deep neural network and association analysis. We made a comprehensive evaluation of experiments using DNNs and other neural networks based on publicly available datasets. Through the experiments, we chose DNN-4 as an important part of our system, which has high precision and accuracy in identifying malicious traffic. The Apriori algorithm can mine rules between various discretized features and normal labels, which can be used to filter the classified traffic and reduce the false positive rate. Finally, we designed an intrusion detection system based on DNN-4 and association rules. We conducted experiments on the public training set NSL-KDD, which is considered as a modified dataset for the KDDCup 1999. The results show that our detection system has great precision in malicious traffic detection, and it achieves the effect of reducing the number of false alarms.
Calibration, Compensation and Accuracy Analysis of Circular Grating Used in Single Gimbal Control Moment Gyroscope
Authors: Yu Yue , Dai Lu , Chen Mao-Sheng , Kong Ling-Bo , Wang Chao-Qun , Xue Zhi-Peng
Published: March 2020

The accuracy of the circular grating is the key point for control precision of the single gimbal control moment gyroscope servo system used in civilian micro-agile satellites. Instead of using the multi reading heads to eliminate eccentricity errors, an algorithm compensation method based on a calibration experiment using a single reading head was proposed to realize a low-cost and high accuracy angular position measurement. Moreover, the traditional hardware compensation method using double reading heads was also developed for comparison. Firstly, the single gimbal control moment gyroscope system of satellites was introduced. Then, the errors caused by the installation of the reading head were studied and the mathematic models of these errors were developed. In order to construct the compensation function, a calibration experiment using the autocollimator and 24-sided prism was performed. Comparison of angle error compensation using the algorithm and hardware method was presented, and results showed that the algorithm compensation method proposed by this paper achieved the same accuracy level as the hardware method. Finally, the proposed method was further verified through a control system simulation.
Exploring Employability Constructions of Migrants in Sweden and Potential Consequences for Labour Market Entrance Recommendations
Authors: Kusterer Hanna Li , Bernhard-Oettel Claudia
Published: March 2020

In the flexible Swedish labour market, the concept of employability has grown important. Within a neoliberal framework, accountability for one’s possibility to successfully obtain or keep employment rests with the individual. In contrast, within a social welfare discourse the individual is offered care and support in order to gain employment. The present study combined intersectional and discourse analytical approaches with the understanding that individual employability is subjectively constructed in the exploration of labour market induction, employability constructions and categorizations in the discourse used by government agencies directly involved in the labour market integration of newly arrived migrants. Public documents comprising information on labour market entrance, employability and associated concepts such as competence building and career development were analysed. The employability constructions were often contradictory—placed at the crossroads of neoliberal and social welfare discourses—and built on tacit assumptions and influenced by stereotypes. Conveying such employability constructions further could lead to exclusion from long-term employment and have detrimental psychological and health repercussions. Instead, it is of importance to work towards reconstructing migrants’ employability in this new context without damaging influence from inflexible categorizations and stereotypes.
Lifelong Learning from Sustainable Education: An Analysis with Eye Tracking and Data Mining Techniques
Authors: Sáiz Manzanares María Consuelo , Rodríguez Diez Juan José , Marticorena Sánchez Raúl , Zaparaín Yáñez María José , Cerezo Menéndez Rebeca
Published: March 2020

The use of learning environments that apply Advanced Learning Technologies (ALTs) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) is increasingly frequent. In this study, eye-tracking technology was used to analyze scan-path differences in a History of Art learning task. The study involved 36 participants (students versus university teachers with and without previous knowledge). The scan-paths were registered during the viewing of video based on SRL. Subsequently, the participants were asked to solve a crossword puzzle, and relevant vs. non-relevant Areas of Interest (AOI) were defined. Conventional statistical techniques (ANCOVA) and data mining techniques (string-edit methods and k-means clustering) were applied. The former only detected differences for the crossword puzzle. However, the latter, with the Uniform Distance model, detected the participants with the most effective scan-path. The use of this technique successfully predicted 64.9% of the variance in learning results. The contribution of this study is to analyze the teaching–learning process with resources that allow a personalized response to each learner, understanding education as a right throughout life from a sustainable perspective.