bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Educational Program on Pain Management, Self-Efficacy Behavior, and Quality of Life among Adult Diabetic Patients with Peripheral Neuropathy Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Abu-Shennar Jawad Ahmad , Bayraktar Nurhan
Published: August 2021

Objective Jordan has a high prevalence of painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PDPN), leg complications, and amputations due to diabetes. This study evaluated the effect of educational programs on pain management, self-efficacy behaviors, and quality of life (QoL) among adult patients with PDPN.

Methods The randomized controlled trial study was conducted at the Jordanian Ministry of Health hospitals between October 2019 – March 2020. Seventy-two adult patients with PDPN were randomized to an experimental group of 36 patients who attended an educational program and a control group who followed routine diabetic care in the study setting. The data were collected using a socio-demographic and diabetes clinical/laboratory data form, the numeric rating scale (NRS), diabetes self-efficacy scale (DSES), and the quality-of-life questionnaire (EQ-5D). The intervention program consisted of four educational sessions at weekly intervals. Pre-test and post-test evaluations were conducted.

Results After the educational intervention, the mean scores of the NRS (p=0.020), DSES (p<0.001), and EQ-5D (p<0.001) in the experimental group improved significantly improved compared to those in the control group. Additionally, while there were no significant correlations between the three study outcomes in the pre-test stage, correlations were observed to be significant after the educational intervention.

Conclusion This study shows that the design and implementation of educational intervention combined with routine diabetic care facilitate effective pain management, self-efficacy behaviors, and QoL of patients with PDPN. The health care providers are recommended to use the educational programs for such patients at various levels of services in both health centers and diabetes clinics.
Avaliação de lesões por serra circular em um centro de referência em microcirurgia e reimplantes
Authors: Faccioni Ana Lúcia Campos , Kurebayashi Leonardo , Anjos Kátia Campos dos , Rezende Marcelo Rosa de
Published: August 2021

Objetivo Avaliar o perfil epidemiológico, o tempo até o atendimento, e o tipo de conduta tomada em pacientes vítimas de acidentes com serra circular e lesões decorrentes, e fazer uma comparação com a literatura.

Métodos Estudo descritivo transversal, com revisão do prontuário de pacientes atendidos de abril a dezembro de 2018, analisando idade, sexo, lado lesado, dedos acometidos, mês e horário do acidente, tipo de lesões, procedimentos realizados na urgência, tempo decorrido entre o trauma e entrada em sala cirúrgica, e reabordagem durante a internação.

Resultados Foram atendidos 54 pacientes do sexo masculino com idade entre 15 e 72 anos. O lado esquerdo foi o mais acometido, e o tipo de lesão mais frequente, a amputação, envolvendo principalmente o polegar. No total, 23 pacientes foram submetidos a reimplante, e, entre eles, 3 macrorreimplantes. Quanto ao horário do trauma, 26 ocorreram entre 12h e 16h, e o tempo decorrido entre o acidente e a entrada em sala cirúrgica foi ≥ 6 horas em 84% dos pacientes.

Conclusão As lesões por serra circular são predominantemente graves, com potencial de deixar sequelas permanentes, e acometem principalmente o polegar. A caracterização do tipo de lesão e as condições de atendimento inicial obtidas neste trabalho poderão ajudar na política de prevenção e atendimento a pacientes vítimas de ferimentos por serra circular. Nível de Evidência IV; Série de Casos.
The Masquerading Tachycardia
Authors: Lakshmi V.S. Bharathi
Published: August 2021

Fascicular ventricular tachycardia (FVT) often masquerades as supraventricular tachycardia. This article discusses an ECG of FVT and its features, which distinguish it from other mimicking tachycardias.
Ultrasound-Guided Cannulation of the Great Saphenous Vein in Neonates: A Randomized Study
Authors: Tu Zhenzhen , Tan Yanzhe , Liu Lifei , Xie Jia , Xu Ying , Liu Wei
Published: August 2021

Objective This prospective randomized controlled study aimed to compare the ultrasound-guided (USG) technique with the standard single-wall puncture technique for epicutaneo-caval catheter (ECC) placement in neonates.

Study Design A total of 100 neonates were included in this study. All enrolled neonates were randomly divided into two groups (n = 50): the USG group and the control group. The control group underwent standard single-wall puncture for ECC placement procedures, and the USG group underwent USG ECC placement procedures.

Results The first attempt success rates (62 vs. 38%; p = 0.016) and the total success rates (92 vs. 74%; p = 0.017) were higher in the USG group than in the control group. The procedure time was shorter in the USG group than in the control group: 351.43 (112.95) versus 739.78 seconds (369.13), p < 0.001. The incidence of adverse events was not significantly different between the two groups.

Conclusion Compared with the standard single-wall puncture method, USG cannulation is superior for neonatal ECC placement, with a higher success rate, and decreases the total procedural time.

Key Points
A Modular Approach to Combine Postmarket Clinical Follow-Up Studies and Postmarket Surveillance Studies
Authors: Ziegler Andreas , Forßmann Kristin , Konopka Sabine , Krockenberger Katja
Published: August 2021

Background The European Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 (MDR) has its date of application in May 2021. This new legislation has refined and expanded the need of manufacturers to have a postmarket surveillance (PMS) system. According to this legislation, a postmarket clinical follow-up (PMCF) plan is also required. Manufacturers of high-risk medical devices are obliged to conduct both PMCF and PMS studies. There is thus the need to generate evidence from clinical data.

Objectives The conduct of several studies for PMS and PMCF can be cumbersome. We therefore aim to present a modular approach to combine PMS and PMCF studies into a single study.

Materials and Methods We extracted the topics listed in the MDR, especially Annex XV, Section 3, the Good Clinical Practice for medical devices (EN 14155:2020, Annex A). In addition, we added topics according to the SPIRIT and the SPIRIT-PRO statement and created a draft clinical investigation plan (CIP).

Results The CIP template is provided as part of the manuscript. The modular concept has passed the required regulatory and legal requirements for one specific study.

Conclusion A modular approach for combining PMCF and PMS studies in a single CIP has been developed and implemented, and it is ready for use. The provided CIP template should enable other researchers and groups to adopt this concept according to their needs.
Dual-frequency multiple compact vortex beams generation based on single-layer Bi-spectral metasurface
Authors: Lin Jianhua , Chen Chang , Ding Jun , Wang Shuo , Chen Weidong
Published: August 2021

Vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) have attracted considerable attention owing to the potential to expand channel capacity of microwave and optical communication. However, the OAM generations usually suffer from divergence along propagation. In this work, we proposed a strategy to generate multiple vortex beams with compact energy distributions based on a single-layer reflective metasurface. First, the mechanism is developed for the generation of multiple compact vortex beams. Then, an advanced single-cell bi-spectral meta-atom, which is composed of a double C-shaped slot resonator and a modified double C-shaped resonator, is proposed to actualize independent geometric phase controls at two frequencies. As an illustrative example, a dual-frequency metasurface that can achieve four compact vortex beams (two beams at each frequency) with different OAM modes at 9 and 13 GHz is designed, and each OAM beam features a much more compact energy distribution compared to the conventional OAM beam. The measured results agree very well with the simulated results, which validate the proposed design methodology.
C-band single photons from a trapped ion via two-stage frequency conversion
Authors: Hannegan J. , Saha U. , Siverns J. D. , Cassell J. , Waks E. , Quraishi Q.
Published: August 2021

Fiber-based quantum networks require photons at telecommunications wavelengths to interconnect qubits separated by long distances. Trapped ions are leading candidates for quantum networking with high-fidelity two-qubit gates, long coherence times, and the ability to readily emit photons entangled with the ion's internal qubit states. However, trapped ions typically emit photons at wavelengths incompatible with telecommunications fiber. Here, we demonstrate frequency conversion of visible photons, emitted from the S–P dipole transition of a trapped Ba+ ion into the telecommunications C-band. These results are an important step toward enabling a long-distance trapped ion quantum internet.
Boundary transformation representation of attractor shape deformation
Authors: Sloboda A. R.
Published: August 2021

Detecting parameter changes in chaotic systems depends on characterizing the deformation of the strange attractor. Here, we present a new method for comparing the geometry of two attractors by examining their boundaries in 2D via shape context analysis. Poincaré sections for each attractor are sampled along their outer limits, and a boundary transformation is computed that warps one set of points into the other. This boundary transformation is a rich descriptor of the attractor deformation and approximately proportional to a system parameter change in specific regions. Both simulated and experimental data with various levels of noise are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method.
Finding nonlinear system equations and complex network structures from data: A sparse optimization approach
Authors: Lai Ying-Cheng
Published: August 2021

In applications of nonlinear and complex dynamical systems, a common situation is that the system can be measured, but its structure and the detailed rules of dynamical evolution are unknown. The inverse problem is to determine the system equations and structure from time series. The principle of exploiting sparse optimization to find the equations of dynamical systems from data was first articulated in 2011 by the ASU group. The basic idea is to expand the system equations into a power series or a Fourier series of a finite number of terms and then to determine the vector of the expansion coefficients based solely on data through sparse optimization. This Tutorial presents a brief review of the recent progress in this area. Issues discussed include discovering the equations of stationary or nonstationary chaotic systems to enable the prediction of critical transition and system collapse, inferring the full topology of complex oscillator networks and social networks hosting evolutionary game dynamics, and identifying partial differential equations for spatiotemporal dynamical systems. Situations where sparse optimization works or fails are pointed out. The relation with the traditional delay-coordinate embedding method is discussed, and the recent development of a model-free, data-driven prediction framework based on machine learning is mentioned.
Catalytic oligomerization and polymerization of ethylene with complexes of iron triad metals: influence of metal nature and new prospects
Authors: Zubkevich S. V. , Tuskaev V. A. , Gagieva S. Ch. , Bulychev B. M.
Published: August 2021

In the last five years the field of catalytic oligomerization and polymerization of olefins using complexes of late transition metals has been the most intensively developing area of post-metallocene catalysis. This review is devoted to detailed analysis of the influence of metal nature on the catalytic properties of systems based on complexes of iron triad metals. Some novel and developing areas of application of such complexes in olefin oligomerization and polymerization (ethylene trimerization, production of olefins with an odd number of carbon atoms and polyethylene waxes, targeted synthesis of heavy fractions of ethylene oligomers) are surveyed. Different approaches to the heterogenization of catalysts on various solid supports are considered.
 The bibliography includes 225 references.
Sexual satisfaction with daily oral HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among gay and bisexual men at two urban PrEP clinics in the United States: an observational study
Authors: Montgomery Madeline C. , Ellison Jacqueline , Chan Philip A. , Harrison Laura , van den Berg Jacob J.
Published: August 2021

Background Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in preventing HIV infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). However, limited data are available on the effect of PrEP use and sexual satisfaction among MSM taking PrEP. Methods: We conducted a one-time, cross-sectional survey of MSM receiving PrEP care at two hospital-based PrEP clinics in Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, USA (April–September 2017). We oversampled Black and Hispanic/Latino individuals. Participants completed the 20-item New Sexual Satisfaction Scale (NSSS) twice, once for before and once for after starting PrEP. Participants reported sexual behaviours, PrEP adherence, PrEP attitudes, and quality of life with PrEP. Results: A total of 108 gay and bisexual men (GBM) participated. Overall, 15.7% were Black (non-Hispanic/Latino) and 23.1% were Hispanic/Latino, with an average age of 36.6 years. Most participants reported private health insurance coverage (71.3%), and 88.9% identified as homosexual, gay, or same gender-loving. The mean NSSS score before PrEP initiation across all 20 items was 3.94 (maximum = 5; 95% CI: 4.22, 4.43), and increased significantly after PrEP initiation (4.33, 95% CI: 4.22, 4.43; P < 0.001). Most participants (73.2%) reported that PrEP increased quality of life. This was associated with significant change in pre- to post-PrEP NSSS scores (linear regression coefficient = 1.21; 95% CI: 0.585, 1.84). Conclusions: Initiating PrEP and reporting improved quality of life were significantly associated with an increase in sexual satisfaction. PrEP implementation efforts should consider sexual satisfaction to promote PrEP engagement and retention, and researchers and providers should adopt a sex-positive approach with PrEP patients, especially among MSM.
NMDA receptor–BK channel coupling regulates synaptic plasticity in the barrel cortex
Authors: Gómez Ricardo , Maglio Laura E. , Gonzalez-Hernandez Alberto J. , Rivero-Pérez Belinda , Bartolomé-Martín David , Giraldez Teresa
Published: August 2021

Significance

N
-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are critical triggers for neuronal plasticity. We show that large-conductance Ca
2+
- and voltage-gated K
+
(BK) channels serve as feedback regulators of NMDA receptor–mediated calcium influx to shape NMDA receptor–mediated synaptic potentials and consequently elevate the threshold for triggering plasticity at a subset of synapses.
Turbulent periods and the development of the scientific research article, 1735–1835
Authors: Banks David
Published: August 2021

The results of a previous study (Banks 2018) suggest that the
development of scientific writing is more conservative in times of great turbulence. In an attempt to verify this, samples were
taken from the Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences and the Philosophical Transactions for the
years 1735, 1785 and 1835. The development over the years 1735 to 1785 was compared to that between 1785 and 1835. Analysis of the
grammatical functions and semantic categories of themes and of process types indicates that there is some evidence in favour of
the conjecture that scientific writers are more conservative in times of turbulence. Whilst this is not conclusive, it suggests
that further research would be fruitful.
The agency of CLIL primary school teachers in Austria
Authors: Gruber Marie-Theres , Mercer Sarah
Published: August 2021

Although recent years have seen a growth in studies examining teacher agency, educators working in the primary sector remain a relatively under-researched population. One specific group of teachers in primary education are those who teach Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). In this study, we wanted to understand how CLIL primary teachers’ sense of agency helped them to navigate this professional role, considering factors in their ecologies which supported or inhibited their agency. Based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with six primary school CLIL teachers, this study shows that even though these teachers were initially passionate about CLIL, they all ultimately exercised their agency as teachers in giving up on CLIL due to a limited sense of agency in the particular role as a CLIL educator.
Contact-induced grammatical change?
Authors: Kosmata Eva , Schlücker Barbara
Published: August 2021

The paper discusses how language contact and borrowing can be established as a critical factor of quantitative and/or qualitative changes of abstract grammatical patterns, in particular if languages are genetically and areally closely related and thus structurally similar. More specifically, it deals with the question of whether the word-formation pattern of proper name compounding in German and Dutch is an instance of grammatical borrowing from English, as is often claimed in the literature. To this end, we conduct a structural analysis of the pattern in the three languages based on original and translation corpus data. We show that the pattern which, at first glance, seems to be identical in all three languages has in fact different properties in each language. Although this does not necessarily preclude transfer from English, we conclude that there is no evidence in favour of such an influence.
La Figurante de François de Curel. Comédie des apparences ou jeu de rôles
Authors: Kaczmarek Tomasz
Published: August 2021

François de Curel, mistakenly regarded as an author of the “problem play”, enjoyed a reputation of an innovator in
dramaturgy during his lifetime. By rejecting the canonical form of the drama, he proposes works in which psychological analysis prevails
over the dramatic progression of the action. In fact, in La Figurante, the French writer paints a portrait of the
characters who resemble “marionettes” operated by unknown forces. In order to survive in bourgeois society, they assume the “masks” that
social conventions demand of them and conscientiously play the comedy. However, under the facade and the artifices, the protagonists keep
their existential anxieties which express their inner sincerity. In this context, the analysis of this play will lead us to seek affinities
with the grotesque dimension of the Pirandello theater.
Identification and characterization of nested-abbreviated terms in scientific discourse
Authors: Rivas Natalia , Quiroz Gabriel , Giraldo John Jairo
Published: August 2021

This paper analyzes nested-abbreviated terms from a linguistic perspective by describing their morphological,
syntactic, and semantic features for terminology purposes. Nested-abbreviated terms can be considered as abbreviated
forms, either initialisms or acronyms, which have within their meaning another abbreviated term. To carry out the
analysis, 433 nested-abbreviated terms were extracted from two specialized dictionaries in English. Data analysis showed that,
from the morphological and semantic perspective, nested-abbreviated terms behave like typical abbreviations. Important differences
were found from a syntactic standpoint where nested abbreviated terms behave as premodifiers in the noun phrase (NP) in 98.93% of
the cases. As this is the first time nested-abbreviated terms are studied, they were not only described but also analyzed and
defined. Although the percentage of nested-abbreviated terms obtained from the dictionaries is relatively low, less than 1% of
total abbreviations, it was found that it is highly relevant to study this growing phenomenon in specialized languages for
terminology extraction, as well as for other purposes.
Acute affective responses to high‐intensity interval exercise: Implications on the use of different stimulus‐recovery amplitudes
Authors: Oliveira Bruno Ribeiro Ramalho , Santos Tony Meireles , de Carvalho Guerreiro Renato , D'Amorim Igor , Lattari Eduardo , Deslandes Andréa Camaz
Published: August 2021

The effect of high‐intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on affective responses is unclear due to the several variables of HIIE, which may be minimized by using derived variables (e.g. amplitude). The amplitude reflects the difference between stimulus and recovery intensities, being more representative of the physiological changes than central tendency variables such as average intensity. This study aimed to compare the affective responses in HIIE sessions in different amplitudes with a vigorous‐intensity continuous exercise (VICE) session. Eleven participants completed five sessions. The peak oxygen consumption (VO2Peak) and peak power (Wpeak) were measured. Participants performed one VICE and three HIIE sessions (10x[1min‐90%WPeak/1min‐50%WPeak]; 10x[1min‐100%WPeak/1min‐40%WPeak]; and 10x[1min‐110%WPeak/1min‐40%WPeak]). The exercise sessions were performed at the same average intensity (70%WPeak) and duration (20 min). The Feeling Scale (FS) was applied in each minute throughout the exercise sessions. Regarding the FS responses, a two‐way repeated‐measures ANOVA showed no significant interaction for FS (P=0.093) or main effect for condition (P=0.206) and time (P=0.078), indicating that irrespective of the amplitude of the HIIE, FS results were similar between conditions. The effect size (ES) analysis showed a small effect in favour of HIIE‐90/50 (ES=0.30) and HIIE‐100/40 (ES=0.26) and a null effect on HIIE‐110/30 (ES=0.08) when compared to VICE. Chi‐squared analysis showed no significant differences between conditions in the number of participants that reduced, maintained, or increased the FS from pre‐exercise to last stimulus and recovery indicating a high variability of the affective responses. HIIE sessions provide similar affective responses when performed at the same average intensity, even with different amplitudes.

Highlights

HIIE amplitude reflects the difference between stimulus and recovery intensities and seems not to modulate the affective responses to HIIE sessions configured with different amplitudes.

HIIE sessions performed at the same average intensity and different amplitudes result in similar affective responses.

High inter‐individual variability of affective responses occurs in HIIE sessions configured based on the amplitude.
Microsphere structure application for supercapacitor in situ temperature monitoring
Authors: Listewnik Paulina , Bechelany Mikhael , Szczerska Małgorzata
Published: August 2021

Constant, real-time temperature monitoring of the supercapacitors for efficient energy usage is in high demand and seems to be crucial for further development of those elements. A fiber-optic sensor can be an effective optoelectronic device dedicated for in-situ temperature monitoring of supercapacitors. In this work, the application of the fiber-optic microstrucutre with thin zinc oxide (ZnO) coating fabricated in the atomic layer deposition process applied as a temperature sensor is reported. Such a structure was integrated with supercapacitors and used for the temperature measurements. Described sensors are built with the utility of the standard optical telecommunication fibers. The inner temperature of the supercapacitor was investigated in the range extending from 30 °C to 90 °C with a resolution equal to 5 °C. The sensitivity of temperature measurement is about 109.6 nW °C−1. The fitting of the sensor was achieved with a correlation coefficient R
2 = 0.97.
Observation of source/drain bias-controlled quantum transport spectrum in junctionless silicon nanowire transistor
Authors: Guo Yang-Yan , Han Wei-Hua , Zhang Xiao-Di , Chen Jun-Dong , Yang Fu-Hua
Published: August 2021

We investigate the influence of source and drain bias voltages (V
DS) on the quantum sub-band transport spectrum in the 10-nm width N-typed junctionless nanowire transistor at the low temperature of 6 K. We demonstrate that the transverse electric field introduced from V
DS has a minor influence on the threshold voltage of the device. The transverse electric field plays the role of amplifying the gate restriction effect of the channel. The one-dimensional (1D)-band dominated transport is demonstrated to be modulated by V
DS in the saturation region and the linear region, with the sub-band energy levels in the channel (E
channel) intersecting with Fermi levels of the source (E
fS) and the drain (E
fD) in turn as V
g increases. The turning points from the linear region to the saturation region shift to higher gate voltages with V
DS increase because the higher Fermi energy levels of the channel required to meet the situation of E
fD = E
channel. We also find that the bias electric field has the effect to accelerate the thermally activated electrons in the channel, equivalent to the effect of thermal temperature on the increase of electron energy. Our work provides a detailed description of the bias-modulated quantum electronic properties, which will give a more comprehensive understanding of transport behavior in nanoscale devices.
Nonlinear signal transduction network with multistate*
Authors: Jiang Han-Yu , He Jun
Published: August 2021

Signal transduction is an important and basic mechanism to cell life activities. The stochastic state transition of receptor induces the release of signaling molecular, which triggers the state transition of other receptors. It constructs a nonlinear sigaling network, and leads to robust switchlike properties which are critical to biological function. Network architectures and state transitions of receptor affect the performance of this biological network. In this work, we perform a study of nonlinear signaling on biological polymorphic network by analyzing network dynamics of the Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) mechanism, where fast and slow processes are involved and the receptor has four conformational states. Three types of networks, Erdös–Rényi (ER) network, Watts–Strogatz (WS) network, and BaraBási–Albert (BA) network, are considered with different parameters. The dynamics of the biological networks exhibit different patterns at different time scales. At short time scale, the second open state is essential to reproduce the quasi-bistable regime, which emerges at a critical strength of connection for all three states involved in the fast processes and disappears at another critical point. The pattern at short time scale is not sensitive to the network architecture. At long time scale, only monostable regime is observed, and difference of network architectures affects the results more seriously. Our finding identifies features of nonlinear signaling networks with multistate that may underlie their biological function.
Theoretical study of (e, 2e) triple differential cross sections of pyrimidine and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol molecules using multi-center distorted-wave method
Authors: Wang Yiao , Wang Zhenpeng , Gong Maomao , Xu Chunkai , Chen Xiangjun
Published: August 2021

We report theoretical studies of electron impact triple differential cross sections of two bio-molecules, pyrimidine and tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol, in the coplanar asymmetric kinematic conditions with the impact energy of 250 eV and ejected electron energy of 20 eV at three scattering angles of −5°, −10°, and −15°. Present multi-center distorted-wave method well describes the experimental data, which was obtained by performing (e, 2e) experiment. The calculations show that the secondary electron produced by the primary impact electron is strongly influenced by the molecular ionic multi-center potential, which must be considered when the low energy electron interacts with DNA analogues.
Experimental study of three in-line bubbles rising in still water by means of a three-dimensional (3D) shadowgraphy technique
Authors: F Di Nunno , Granata F , Miozzi M , Gargano R , Marinis G de , Pereira F Alves , Felice F Di
Published: August 2021

The dynamics of rising bubbles in still water can be influenced by the wake characteristics of the neighbouring bubbles. An experimental study was conducted on individual rising bubbles rising in still water by means of volumetric shadowgraphy technique. Results highlighted a phase opposition relationship between the volumes and rising velocities and between the minor semi-axis and the two semi-axes median and major of the three air bubbles. The cross-correlation function applied on the eccentricities of the three bubbles highlighted similar positive peaks but also a negative peak between eccentricities of the second and third bubbles. Frequency spectra of the three bubbles eccentricities exhibited some common features, with peaks around 10 Hz for the first and third bubbles and around 5 Hz for the second and third bubbles. In addition, cross-correlation applied on the rising velocities showed negative correlations between the three bubbles, with each bubble that reduces its rising velocity while another accelerates. The application of the volumetric shadowgraphy allowed a simultaneous measurement of the geometry and rising velocities of the in-line bubbles, leading to identify common and different features among them.
Experimental Fluid Dynamic Characterization of Serrated Rotors for Drone Propulsion
Authors: Candeloro Paolo , Nargi Ranieri Emanuele , Grande Edoardo , Ragni Daniele , Pagliaroli Tiziano
Published: August 2021

The present study reports an experimental investigation regarding one of the most effective and most studied passive control technique in literature to mitigate the noise pollution radiating by a small drone: the Serrated Trailing Edge (STE). 23 quiet propellers have been designed and manufactured in order to identify the most silent configuration. An aeroacoustic pre-qualification of the designed propellers has been performed by means of microphone measurements within the anechoic chamber of Niccolò Cusano University. Then, an aeroacoustic and fluid dynamic characterization of the most performing configuration has been carried out by means of load cell, microphone and PIV measurements in the anechoic wind tunnel facility of TUDelft University of Technology in order to investigate the mechanism that stands behind the noise mitigation. With this purpose, the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance and even the velocity and vorticity field along the blade of STE propellers have been characterized. Particular attention is devoted to the fluid-dynamic aspects related to the low Reynolds number flow regime. Results show that serrations seems to modify the wake velocity and the tip voretx intensity resulting in a lower acoustic emission.
Defocusing PIV and ridge-detection algorithm for the analysis of flows laden with non-spherical particles
Authors: Capone Alessandro , Romano Giovanni Paolo , Felice Fabio Di , Pereira Francisco Alves
Published: August 2021

In this preliminary work, the feasibility of the combination of a volumetric velocimetry technique such as Defocusing Particle Image Velocimetry and a particle phase-discrimination methodology based on ridge detection algorithm for the analysis of turbulent multiphase flows with non-spherical fiber-like particles is discussed. Experimental results of a dilute suspension of fibers in an open-channel apparatus are provided.
Automatic Detection of Learning Styles: A Decade Review on Data-driven Approaches
Authors: Ngatirin Nor Rahayu , Zainol Zurinahni
Published: August 2021

Different approaches or ways of learning are referred to as learning styles. Learning styles are identified to help educators understand how students learn and to help students become more self-aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses. Students, on the other hand, are unaware of their learning patterns and preferences. The traditional method of determining learning styles has been characterized as a questionnaire-based approach. However, it has various flaws that prohibit learning style identification, such as students' lack of motivation to complete a questionnaire, their reluctance to offer information, and the questionnaire's measurement of learning styles is limited to a single point in time. As a result, an automated approach for automatically detecting students' learning styles has been proposed to overcome these restrictions. The goal of this research is to give a review of existing research in the field of learning styles detection. A total of 36 papers were considered in the study, which was published between 2010 and 2020. Thus, this research highlights the review's findings, which are likely to assist researchers and practitioners in better understanding the theoretical and technical challenges surrounding automatic detection of learning styles.
RapidMiner and Machine Learning Techniques for Classifying Aircraft Data
Authors: Marzukhi Syahaneim , Awang Norfatimah , Alsagoff Syed Nasir , Mohamed Hassan
Published: August 2021

Machine learning is an important technique that helps companies, organizations and individuals to improve the quality of decision making. In today scenario, especially with the emerged of data science, it can see how machine learning techniques are used for data analytics. There are various machine learning techniques for data science tasks that can be categorized as follows: classification, prediction, regression, association analysis, clustering, time series forecasting, and many others. As there are many different free tools available for machine learning, the selection of the appropriate analysis technique is crucial to solve problem in hand. This study compares the performance of machine learning algorithms especially Naïve Bayes, Decision Tree, Random Forest and ID3 for classification task (i.e. classifying aircraft to certain category and into country of origin) using RapidMiner tool. Those algorithms are compared based on their accuracy rate, error rates, precision and recall for classifying aircraft. The results reveal that that Random Forest and ID3 algorithms given good classification accuracy due to the nature of the algorithms that is progressively improved apart from Decision Tree.
Performance Analysis of GreedLea Routing Protocol in Internet of Vehicle (IoV) Network
Authors: Omar N , Yaakob N , Saidahmed M E E , Husin Z
Published: August 2021

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) network transforms smart life on the wheels through several connections between vehicles, highways, people and networks, providing a safer, more effective and more energy-efficient driving experience. In a specific field, the reliable arrival of independent vehicles and the typical enhancement of traffic safety change through a fast and consistent distribution of messages. It is important to disseminate messages between vehicles that make up the IoV network and to be exploit of the quick and effective transmission of multi-hop communication for the information broadcasting. This study introduces the standardization method and summarizes the primary technologies of IoV network. This study provides a set of traditional research developments, analyses key innovations to date and, eventually, proposes solutions to common use cases that could provide valuable references for the development and implementation of potential IoVs network. The simulation has been done using OMNET++ platform to evaluate the GreedLea routing protocol with the standard Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing (GPSR) and Ad-hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol in IoV network scenario. In the performance analysis varied parameters for example direction, node and speed has been take into account. This study also proposed to evaluate GreedLea in a crowded city situation and in a highway situation to provide further realistic simulations. From the simulation results, it shown that the GreedLea presented better performance compared to the traditional GPSR and AODV in term of end-to-end latency, packet loss rate and path loss.
Harmonic analysis in modified cascaded multilevel inverter with nature-inspired switching-angle optimization algorithm
Authors: Sea Y W , Chew W T , Ong J S , Leong J H
Published: August 2021

Selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation (SHEPWM) is a fundamental frequency switching angles calculation technique that eliminates the undesired low order harmonics while maintaining the desired fundamental component. A natured-inspired optimization algorithm, grasshopper optimization algorithm (GOA), is applied in SHEPWM to obtain the optimized switching angles. Compared to Newton Raphson (NR), GOA is able to provide wider range of solutions. Optimize switching angles obtained from MATLAB analysis are applied to a 5-phase 7-level modified cascaded multilevel inverter (MCMLI). This paper presents the performance of GOA applied to the MCMLI. The 3rd and 7th harmonics are chosen to be eliminated while the desired fundamental component is maintained.
Performance of Supervised Learning Algorithms on Imbalanced Class Datasets
Authors: Ramli Nur Anisah Binti , Jamil Maria Jasmin Binti Mohamed , Zhamri Nur Nazifa Binti , Abuzaraida Mustafa Ali
Published: August 2021

In this paper, we measure the performance of supervised learning algorithms on imbalanced class datasets. Supervised learning is considered to be the most advanced and mature from other types of learning in machine learning. On the other hand, imbalanced class data sets refer to an unequal amount of data for each class in the data sets. Many real-world datasets exhibit an imbalanced class distribution. Hence, this paper aims to compare the supervised learning algorithms in classifying the output for imbalanced dataset. This paper also focused on finding the significance of balancing the dataset to the results. This study is conducted by using three different datasets and made a comparison with three supervised learning algorithms chosen which are Logistic Regression, Random Forest and k-Nearest Neighbours. In the experiments, all three datasets used are labelled data with imbalanced class. Due to the imbalanced class for all datasets chosen, a sampling technique with combination of under-sampling and oversampling is implemented to all datasets in data preparation steps. The performance of the algorithms is measured through Classification Accuracy (CA) value. From the experiments, it is proven that Random Forest shown the best results, for both imbalanced and balanced datasets.
Towards Building eco-friendly and emission less Electric Scooter
Authors: Lokitha T , Venkatesh B , Kumar S Arun , Sasikala S
Published: August 2021

Electric vehicles are becoming more important, as not only to reduce carbon emission but also to reduce the dependency on normal combustion engine vehicles. Most of the universities have really big campuses. To make the mobility in campus easier, the harmless and power-controlled vehicle with safety technologies is introduced. Besides, it also reduces time consumption. Further, it aids differently abled persons and aged professors. This paper presents the design and development of a compact, portable and weightless electric skating scooter. The vehicle body design is inspired from the sea cartilaginous fish ‘String Ray’. It also includes mechanical features like front shock absorber, handlebar break control, portable and handle bar height adjustment. The electrical and electronic features such as obstacle detector, fingerprint and RFID (Radio-frequency identification) access, battery management system (BMS) etc., help towards building a smart vehicle. Besides, it also provides a vehicle management system for tracking the user details, location and condition of the vehicle through a server. The proposed system with addition of mechanical, electrical and electronic features will help towards enhancing the performance of an electric scooter for easy mobility. The results obtained from the on-road test, CADD software and the implementation of vehicle management system has been discussed.
Semantic Segmentation of Surgical Instruments based on Enhanced Multi-scale Receptive Field
Authors: Dong Yu , Wang Hongbo , Luo Jingjing , Lai Zhiping , Wang Fuhao , Wang Jiawei
Published: August 2021

With the rapid development of robot assisted surgery, the segmentation of surgical instruments becomes more and more important. However, compared with the natural scene segmentation, surgical instrument segmentation is more difficult. To solve this problem, we improve a high and low resolution fusion module, which aims to extract detail information and context information from the fusion feature map of high and low resolution. Then, in the last layer of the encoder, we propose the Enhanced Multi-scale Receptive Field module to generate more available receptive fields. Our method is validated on 2017 MICCAI EndoVis Robotic Instrument Segmentation Challenge dataset, and the result is better than the other methods. The extended experiment is carried out on the dataset of our surgical soft robot which has a content implementation.
Emerging and Disruptive Technologies for Urban Farming: A Review and Assessment
Authors: Ng Andrew Keong , Mahkeswaran R
Published: August 2021

Increasing food demand in urban areas compounded with unsustainable conventional farming practices and reducing arable land has led to the development of urban farming. Urban farming techniques include vertical farming, indoor farming, hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaculture, and aquaponics. However, these methods alone cannot revolutionise farming; hence, they need to be coupled with technological innovations to reap their full potential and benefits. This paper reviews a variety of emerging and disruptive technologies introduced to urban farming, namely internet of things, automation, artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, digital twins, renewable energy, genetic modification, additive manufacturing, and nanotechnology. Each technology is discussed with regard to its applications, advantages, and disadvantages. Recommendations are also provided for future research and development.
Identification of Genetically Related HCV Infections Among Self-Described Injecting Partnerships
Authors: Tully Damien C , Hahn Judith A , Bean David J , Evans Jennifer L , Morris Meghan D , Page Kimberly , Allen Todd M
Published: August 2021

Background

The current opioid epidemic across the United States has fueled a surge in the rate of new hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among young persons who inject drugs (PWIDs). Paramount to interrupting transmission is targeting these high-risk populations and understanding the underlying network structures facilitating transmission within these communities.

Methods

Deep sequencing data were obtained for 52 participants from 32 injecting partnerships enrolled in the U-Find-Out (UFO) Partner Study, which is a prospective study of self-described injecting dyad partnerships from a large community-based study of HCV infection in young adult PWIDs from San Francisco. Phylogenetically linked transmission events were identified using traditional genetic-distance measures and viral deep sequence phylogenies reconstructed to determine the statistical support of inferences and the direction of transmission within partnerships.

Results

Using deep sequencing data, we found that 12 of 32 partnerships were genetically similar and clustered. Three additional phylogenetic clusters were found describing novel putative transmission links outside of the injecting relationship. Transmission direction was inferred correctly for 5 partnerships with the incorrect transmission direction inferred in more than 50% of cases. Notably, we observed that phylogenetic linkage was most often associated with a lower number of network partners and involvement in a sexual relationship.

Conclusions

Deep sequencing of HCV among self-described injecting partnerships demonstrates that the majority of transmission events originate from outside of the injecting partnership. Furthermore, these findings caution that phylogenetic methods may be unable to routinely infer the direction of transmission among PWIDs especially when transmission events occur in rapid succession within high-risk networks.
Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Albendazole and Other Benzimidazole Anthelmintics for Rat Lungworm Disease (Neuroangiostrongyliasis): A Systematic Analysis of Clinical Reports and Animal Studies
Authors: Jacob John , Steel Argon , Lin Zhain , Berger Fiona , Zöeller Katrin , Jarvi Susan
Published: August 2021

The safety and efficacy of benzimidazole anthelmintics for the treatment of rat lungworm disease (neuroangiostrongyliasis) have been questioned regardless of numerous experimental animal studies and clinical reports. In this review, 40 of these experimental animal studies and 104 clinical reports are compiled with a focus on albendazole. Among the 144 articles involving an estimated 1034 patients and 2561 animals, 4.1% were inconclusive or vague regarding the use of benzimidazoles. Of the remaining 138 articles, 90.5% found benzimidazoles to be safe and effective (885 patients, 2530 animals), 4.3% as safe but ineffective (73 patients, 3 animals), and 5.0% caused adverse reactions (7 patients, 28 animals). Among those clinical reports that described a confirmed diagnosis of neuroangiostrongyliasis in which albendazole monotherapy was used, 100% reported high efficacy (743 patients, 479 animals). In those where albendazole-corticosteroid co-therapy was used, 97.87% reported it to be effective (323 patients, 130 animals).
On the Construction of Indigenous Chinese Communication Theories: An Analysis of the Cultural Roots
Authors: Tian Dexin , Yu Hongliang
Published: August 2021

This study aims to look into the cultural roots in the active construction of indigenous Chinese communication theories. Theoretically guided by the paradigmatic cultural assumptions between China and the West and the Chinese cultural discourse system and research, and via qualitative content analysis, this study has found: First, there are three general categories of indigenous Chinese communication theories: (a) tapping the essence of the traditional Chinese culture embedded in terms, concepts and events, (b) visualizing and modeling the Chinese cultural factors like wind, grass, and water, and (c) integrating the advantages of Chinese and Western cultures, with each category illustrated by three representative samples. Second, the three categories are the three adopted approaches to fulfilling the three goals of the Chinese cultural discourse system and three missions of the Chinese cultural discourse research. The findings can bring about complimentary and mutual benefits to the communication studies within China and beyond.