bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development of Targeted Mass Spectrometry-Based Approaches for Quantitation of Proteins Enriched in the Postsynaptic Density (PSD)
Authors: Wilson Rashaun S. , Rauniyar Navin , Sakaue Fumika , Lam TuKiet T. , Williams Kenneth R. , Nairn Angus C.
Published: April 2019

The postsynaptic density (PSD) is a structural, electron-dense region of excitatory glutamatergic synapses, which is involved in a variety of cellular and signaling processes in neurons. The PSD is comprised of a large network of proteins, many of which have been implicated in a wide variety of neuropsychiatric disorders. Biochemical fractionation combined with mass spectrometry analyses have enabled an in-depth understanding of the protein composition of the PSD. However, the PSD composition may change rapidly in response to stimuli, and robust and reproducible methods to thoroughly quantify changes in protein abundance are warranted. Here, we report on the development of two types of targeted mass spectrometry-based assays for quantitation of PSD-enriched proteins. In total, we quantified 50 PSD proteins in a targeted, parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) assay using heavy-labeled, synthetic internal peptide standards and identified and quantified over 2100 proteins through a pre-determined spectral library using a data-independent acquisition (DIA) approach in PSD fractions isolated from mouse cortical brain tissue.
Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Land Use/Land Cover Change in the Heterogeneous Coastal Region of Bangladesh between 1990 and 2017
Authors: Abdullah Abu Yousuf Md , Masrur Arif , Adnan Mohammed Sarfaraz Gani , Baky Md. Abdullah Al , Hassan Quazi K. , Dewan Ashraf
Published: April 2019

Although a detailed analysis of land use and land cover (LULC) change is essential in providing a greater understanding of increased human-environment interactions across the coastal region of Bangladesh, substantial challenges still exist for accurately classifying coastal LULC. This is due to the existence of high-level landscape heterogeneity and unavailability of good quality remotely sensed data. This study, the first of a kind, implemented a unique methodological approach to this challenge. Using freely available Landsat imagery, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost)-based informative feature selection and Random Forest classification is used to elucidate spatio-temporal patterns of LULC across coastal areas over a 28-year period (1990–2017). We show that the XGBoost feature selection approach effectively addresses the issue of high landscape heterogeneity and spectral complexities in the image data, successfully augmenting the RF model performance (providing a mean user’s accuracy > 0.82). Multi-temporal LULC maps reveal that Bangladesh’s coastal areas experienced a net increase in agricultural land (5.44%), built-up (4.91%) and river (4.52%) areas over the past 28 years. While vegetation cover experienced a net decrease (8.26%), an increasing vegetation trend was observed in the years since 2000, primarily due to the Bangladesh government’s afforestation initiatives across the southern coastal belts. These findings provide a comprehensive picture of coastal LULC patterns, which will be useful for policy makers and resource managers to incorporate into coastal land use and environmental management practices. This work also provides useful methodological insights for future research to effectively address the spatial and spectral complexities of remotely sensed data used in classifying the LULC of a heterogeneous landscape.
Dynamic pH Sensor with Embedded Calibration Scheme by Advanced CMOS FinFET Technology
Authors: Wang Chien-Ping , Shen Ying-Chun , Liou Peng-Chun , Chueh Yu-Lun , Chih Yue-Der , Chang Jonathan , Lin Chrong-Jung , King Ya-Chin
Published: April 2019

In this work, we present a novel pH sensor using efficient laterally coupled structure enabled by Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Fin Field-Effect Transistor (FinFET) processes. This new sensor features adjustable sensitivity, wide sensing range, multi-pad sensing capability and compatibility to advanced CMOS technologies. With a self-balanced readout scheme and proposed corresponding circuit, the proposed sensor is found to be easily embedded into integrated circuits (ICs) and expanded into sensors array. To ensure the robustness of this new device, the transient response and noise analysis are performed. In addition, an embedded calibration operation scheme is implemented to prevent the proposed sensing device from the background offset from process variation, providing reliable and stable sensing results.
A New Maritime Moving Target Detection and Tracking Method for Airborne Forward-looking Scanning Radar
Authors: Huo Weibo , Pei Jifang , Huang Yulin , Zhang Qian , Yang Jianyu
Published: April 2019

Maritime moving target detection and tracking through particle filter based track-before-detect (PF-TBD) has significant practical value for airborne forward-looking scanning radar. However, villainous weather and surging of ocean waves make it extremely difficult to accurately obtain a statistical model for sea clutter. As the likelihood ratio calculation in PF-TBD is dependent on the distribution of the clutter, the performance of traditional distribution-based PF-TBD seriously declines. To resolve these difficulties, this paper proposes a new target detection and tracking method, named spectral-residual-binary-entropy-based PF-TBD (SRBE-PF-TBD), which is independent from the prior knowledge of sea clutter. In the proposed method, the likelihood ratio calculation is implemented by first extracting the spectral residual of the input image to obtain the saliency map, and then constructing likelihood ratio through a binarization processing and information entropy calculation. Simulation results show that the proposed method had superior performance of maritime moving target detection and tracking.
Wearable System for Biosignal Acquisition and Monitoring Based on Reconfigurable Technologies
Authors: Toral Víctor , García Antonio , Romero Francisco J. , Morales Diego P. , Castillo Encarnación , Parrilla Luis , Gómez-Campos Francisco M. , Morillas Antonio , Sánchez Alejandro
Published: April 2019

Wearable monitoring devices are now a usual commodity in the market, especially for the monitoring of sports and physical activity. However, specialized wearable devices remain an open field for high-risk professionals, such as military personnel, fire and rescue, law enforcement, etc. In this work, a prototype wearable instrument, based on reconfigurable technologies and capable of monitoring electrocardiogram, oxygen saturation, and motion, is presented. This reconfigurable device allows a wide range of applications in conjunction with mobile devices. As a proof-of-concept, the reconfigurable instrument was been integrated into ad hoc glasses, in order to illustrate the non-invasive monitoring of the user. The performance of the presented prototype was validated against a commercial pulse oximeter, while several alternatives for QRS-complex detection were tested. For this type of scenario, clustering-based classification was found to be a very robust option.
New Approaches to Implementing the SmartJacket into Industry 4.0 ‡
Authors: Marcon Petr , Arm Jakub , Benesl Tomas , Zezulka Frantisek , Diedrich Christian , Schröder Tizian , Belyaev Alexander , Dohnal Premysl , Kriz Tomas , Bradac Zdenek
Published: April 2019

The paper discusses the possibilities of incorporating sensors and indicators into the environment of an Industry 4.0 digital factory. The concept of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is characterized via a brief description of the RAMI 4.0 and I4.0 component model. In this context, the article outlines the structure of an I4.0 production component, interpreting such an item as a body integrating the asset and its electronic form, namely, the Asset Administration Shell (AAS). The formation of the AAS sub-models from the perspectives of identification, communication, configuration, safety, and condition monitoring is also described to complete the main analysis. Importantly, the authors utilize concrete use cases to demonstrate the roles of the given I4.0 component model and relevant SW technologies in creating the AAS. In this context, the use cases embody applications where an operator wearing a SmartJacket equipped with sensors and indicators ensures systematic data collection by passing through the manufacturing process. The set of collected information then enables the operator and the system server to monitor and intervene in the production cycle. The advantages and disadvantages of the individual scenarios are summarized to support relevant analysis of the entire problem.
Robot Intelligent Grasp of Unknown Objects Based on Multi-Sensor Information
Authors: Ji Shan-Qian , Huang Ming-Bao , Huang Han-Pang
Published: April 2019

Robots frequently need to work in human environments and handle many different types of objects. There are two problems that make this challenging for robots: human environments are typically cluttered, and the multi-finger robot hand needs to grasp and to lift objects without knowing their mass and damping properties. Therefore, this study combined vision and robot hand real-time grasp control action to achieve reliable and accurate object grasping in a cluttered scene. An efficient online algorithm for collision-free grasping pose generation according to a bounding box is proposed, and the grasp pose will be further checked for grasp quality. Finally, by fusing all available sensor data appropriately, an intelligent real-time grasp system was achieved that is reliable enough to handle various objects with unknown weights, friction, and stiffness. The robots used in this paper are the NTU 21-DOF five-finger robot hand and the NTU 6-DOF robot arm, which are both constructed by our Lab.
Feature Fusion of Deep Spatial Features and Handcrafted Spatiotemporal Features for Human Action Recognition
Authors: Uddin Md Azher , Lee Young-Koo
Published: April 2019

Human action recognition plays a significant part in the research community due to its emerging applications. A variety of approaches have been proposed to resolve this problem, however, several issues still need to be addressed. In action recognition, effectively extracting and aggregating the spatial-temporal information plays a vital role to describe a video. In this research, we propose a novel approach to recognize human actions by considering both deep spatial features and handcrafted spatiotemporal features. Firstly, we extract the deep spatial features by employing a state-of-the-art deep convolutional network, namely Inception-Resnet-v2. Secondly, we introduce a novel handcrafted feature descriptor, namely Weber’s law based Volume Local Gradient Ternary Pattern (WVLGTP), which brings out the spatiotemporal features. It also considers the shape information by using gradient operation. Furthermore, Weber’s law based threshold value and the ternary pattern based on an adaptive local threshold is presented to effectively handle the noisy center pixel value. Besides, a multi-resolution approach for WVLGTP based on an averaging scheme is also presented. Afterward, both these extracted features are concatenated and feed to the Support Vector Machine to perform the classification. Lastly, the extensive experimental analysis shows that our proposed method outperforms state-of-the-art approaches in terms of accuracy.
Alpha Radiation-Induced Luminescence by Am-241 in Aqueous Nitric Acid Solution
Authors: Kerst Thomas , Malmbeck Rikard , lal Banik Nidhu , Toivonen Juha
Published: April 2019

When exposed to air, alpha particles cause the production of light by exciting the molecules surrounding them. This light, the radioluminescence, is indicative of the presence of alpha radiation, thus allowing for the optical sensing of alpha radiation from distances larger than the few centimeters an alpha particle can travel in air. While the mechanics of radioluminescence in air and other gas compositions is relatively well understood, the same cannot be said about the radioluminescence properties of liquids. Better understanding of the radioluminescence properties of liquids is essential to design methods for the detection of radioactively contaminated liquids by optical means. In this article, we provide radioluminescence images of Am-241 dissolved in aqueous nitric acid ( HNO 3 ) solution and present the recorded radioluminescence spectrum with a maximum between 350 nm and 400 nm , and a steep decrease at the short wavelength side of the maximum. The shape of the spectrum resembles a luminescence process rather than Cerenkov light, bremsstrahlung, or other mechanisms with broadband emission. We show that the amount of light produced is about 150 times smaller compared to that of the same amount of Am-241 in air. The light production in the liquid is evenly distributed throughout the sample volume with a slight increase on the surface of the liquid. The radioluminescence intensity is shown to scale linearly with the Am-241 concentration and not be affected by the HNO 3 concentration.
Lipid-Extracted Algae as a Soil Amendment Can Increase Soil Salinization and Reduce Forage Growth
Authors: Lewis Katie L. , Foster Jamie L. , Hons Frank M.
Published: April 2019

Algae as a biodiesel feedstock are more productive per unit area than traditional feedstock options, but currently algae production is not economical without high-value co-products. Lipid-extracted algae (LEA) may be useful as a soil amendment; however, research is needed to determine the feasibility and management strategies required. The objective was to determine salinity-associated effects of LEA as a soil amendment on a range of salt tolerant forages [foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.), and a sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)]. Forage seed were planted in columns containing sandy clay loam soil amended with the following: (1) control [nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer added], (2) 1.5% LEA by weight, (3) 3.0% LEA, (4) 1.5% LEA + 1.5% wheat straw (WS), and (5) 1.5% WS (+N, +P). Seedling emergence and total herbage mass (HM) from sequential harvests was determined, along with forage mineral uptake. Soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were analyzed after the final harvest. Seedling emergence of pearl millet was negatively affected by LEA application, but not foxtail millet or sorghum-sudangrass. Pearl millet emergence was most reduced in 3.0% LEA treated soil, however, this treatment produced greater HM by the third harvest. Soil pH and EC were greater in 3.0% LEA-treated soil than the control and 1.5% WS treatment. Production of salt tolerant forages such as sorghum-sudangrass is possible in LEA-amended soil; however, with repeated applications soil salinity may reduce productivity and sustainability.
Disclosure Style and Its Determinants in Integrated Reports
Authors: Roman Aureliana-Geta , Mocanu Mihaela , Hoinaru Răzvan
Published: April 2019

Integrated Reporting promotes a more cohesive and efficient approach to corporate reporting and aims to improve the quality of information available to providers of financial capital. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the determinants of readability and optimism which build the disclosure style of integrated reports. Our research draws on impression management theory and legitimacy theory, while also taking into consideration the cultural system of Hofstede with its further developments by Gray. Our sample consisted of 30 annual reports, extracted randomly from the Integrated Reporting examples database set up by the International Integrated Reporting Council. For the purposes of our investigation, we have carried out a multivariate regression analysis. Firstly, our results show that the higher the revenues of the reporting company, the more balanced their integrated reports, while younger companies use a more optimistic tone when reporting. Additionally, optimism seems to be inversely correlated with the length of the reports. Secondly, entities based in countries with a stronger tendency towards transparency surprisingly provide less readable integrated reports. It was also revealed that companies operating in non-environmentally sensitive industries, as well as International Financial Reporting Standards adopters deliver foggier and thus less readable integrated reports.
A Novel ICT Framework for Sustainable Development Goals
Authors: Kostoska Olivera , Kocarev Ljupco
Published: April 2019

Sustainable development is critical to ensure the future of humanity. Therefore, the assessment and governance of sustainability becomes a central challenge our society is facing. This paper provides a novel ICT framework for addressing sustainable development goals. It is characterized by both local and global considerations, in the context of economic, ecological, and social aspects of sustainable development. The framework consists of three modules: data module, sustainability module, and governance module. Data module integrates data from several sources, processes data, infers knowledge, and transforms data into understandable information and knowledge. The second module implements SDGs at the level of municipality/city, ensures ranking of locally transformed SDGs to arrange them in line with the values and needs of the local communities, and proposes an integrated approach in modeling the social-ecological systems. By implementing governance theories, the governance module permits an effective citizen engagement in governance of SDGs. The ICT framework addresses short-term and long-term SDGs and allows for the vertical and horizontal linkages among diverse stakeholders, as well as for their contributions to the nested rule structures employed at operational, collective, and constitutional levels. Thus, the framework we provide here ensures a paradigm shift in approaching SDGs for the advancement of our society.
Environmentally Friendly Production of Methane from Natural Gas Hydrate Using Carbon Dioxide
Authors: Kvamme Bjørn
Published: April 2019

Huge amounts of natural gas hydrate are trapped in an ice-like structure (hydrate). Most of these hydrates have been formed from biogenic degradation of organic waste in the upper crust and are almost pure methane hydrates. With up to 14 mol% methane, concentrated inside a water phase, this is an attractive energy source. Unlike conventional hydrocarbons, these hydrates are widely distributed around the world, and might in total amount to more than twice the energy in all known sources of conventional fossil fuels. A variety of methods for producing methane from hydrate-filled sediments have been proposed and developed through laboratory scale experiments, pilot scale experiments, and theoretical considerations. Thermal stimulation (steam, hot water) and pressure reduction has by far been the dominating technology platforms during the latest three decades. Thermal stimulation as the primary method is too expensive. There are many challenges related to pressure reduction as a method. Conditions of pressure can be changed to outside the hydrate stability zone, but dissociation energy still needs to be supplied. Pressure release will set up a temperature gradient and heat can be transferred from the surrounding formation, but it has never been proven that the capacity and transport ability will ever be enough to sustain a commercial production rate. On the contrary, some recent pilot tests have been terminated due to freezing down. Other problems include sand production and water production. A more novel approach of injecting CO2 into natural gas hydrate-filled sediments have also been investigated in various laboratories around the world with varying success. In this work, we focus on some frequent misunderstandings related to this concept. The only feasible mechanism for the use of CO2 goes though the formation of a new CO2 hydrate from free water in the pores and the incoming CO2. As demonstrated in this work, the nucleation of a CO2 hydrate film rapidly forms a mass transport barrier that slows down any further growth of the CO2 hydrate. Addition of small amounts of surfactants can break these hydrate films. We also demonstrate that the free energy of the CO2 hydrate is roughly 2 kJ/mol lower than the free energy of the CH4 hydrate. In addition to heat release from the formation of the new CO2 hydrate, the increase in ion content of the remaining water will dissociate CH4 hydrate before the CO2 hydrate due to the difference in free energy.
Symmetry in Recognition of Supramolecular Synthons–Competition between Hydrogen Bonding and Coordination Bond in Multinuclear CuII–4f Complexes with Bicompartmental Schiff Base Ligand
Authors: Miroslaw Barbara , Osypiuk Dariusz , Cristóvão Beata , Głuchowska Halina
Published: April 2019

Classic Cu–O coordination bonds in 1 or elongated semi-coordination ones in 2 and 3 were applied to construct CuII–4f complexes composed of trinuclear subunits linked through μ-NO3− ions with formulae given as [Cu2Tm(H2tehy)2]2(NO3)6·H2O, (1), {[Cu2Ho(H2tehy)2(NO3)2][Cu2Ho(H2tehy)2(H2O)2]}(NO3)4·2H2O, (2), and {[Cu2Er(H2tehy)2(H2O)]2([Cu2Er(H2tehy)2(NO3)]2}(NO3)10·2H2O·4CH3OH, (3), where H2tehy = C19H20N2O4 is a tetrahydroxy Schiff base ligand. Topological analysis showed that the same characteristic motif of coordination accompanied by hydrogen bonds involving the uncoordinated nitrate oxygen atom and ligand’s phenoxy O atoms is responsible for linking trinuclear subunits into a hexanuclear one as well as for bridging the hexanuclear coordination units in 3 into a 1D supramolecular polymer, with the Cu–O distance being 3.19(1) Å, much longer than the limit of a semi-coordination bond (3.07 Å). The Cambridge Structural Database was used to discuss issues of crystallographic criteria (distance and angular preferences) for the assessment of the stabilizing or destabilizing effect of hydrogen bonding on coordination. The presented results show that the symmetrically repeated arrangement of molecules may provide a useful tool for identifying higher order non-covalently bonded supramolecular aggregates. The complexes 1–3 have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, FTIR, and thermal analysis. The magnetic studies indicated the ferromagnetic interaction between CuII and HoIII ions.
A Certain Family of Integral Operators Associated with the Struve Functions
Authors: Mahmood Shahid , Srivastava H.M. , Malik Sarfraz Nawaz , Raza Mohsan , Shahzadi Neelam , Zainab Saira
Published: April 2019

This article presents the study of Struve functions and certain integral operators associated with the Struve functions. It contains the investigation of certain geometric properties like the strong starlikeness and strong convexity of the Struve functions. It also includes the criteria of univalence for a family of certain integral operators associated with the generalized Struve functions. The starlikeness and uniform convexity of the said integral operators are also part of this research.
Single Image Super Resolution Technique: An Extension to True Color Images
Authors: Irfan Muhammad Abeer , Khan Sahib , Arif Arslan , Khan Khalil , Khaliq Aleem , Memon Zain Anwer , Ismail Muhammad
Published: April 2019

The super-resolution (SR) technique reconstructs a high-resolution image from single or multiple low-resolution images. SR has gained much attention over the past decade, as it has significant applications in our daily life. This paper provides a new technique of a single image super-resolution on true colored images. The key idea is to obtain the super-resolved image from observed low-resolution images. A proposed technique is based on both the wavelet and spatial domain-based algorithms by exploiting the advantages of both of the algorithms. A back projection with an iterative method is implemented to minimize the reconstruction error and for noise removal wavelet-based de-noising method is used. Previously, this technique has been followed for the grayscale images. In this proposed algorithm, the colored images are taken into account for super-resolution. The results of the proposed method have been examined both subjectively by observation of the results visually and objectively by considering the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and mean squared error (MSE), which gives significant results and visually better in quality from the bi-cubic interpolation technique.
An Extended Picture Fuzzy VIKOR Approach for Sustainable Supplier Management and Its Application in the Beef Industry
Authors: Meksavang Phommaly , Shi Hua , Lin Shu-Min , Liu Hu-Chen
Published: April 2019

Nowadays, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has received considerable attention because of strict government requirements and increased pressure from the public. In the SSCM, selecting suitable suppliers plays a significant role in improving the overall sustainability performance of a company. Therefore, this article aims to develop a modified VIKOR (in Serbian: VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) technique for sustainable supplier evaluation and selection, that uses ordered weighted distance operators in the aggregation of picture fuzzy information. Concretely, we first propose the picture fuzzy-ordered weighted standardized distance (PFOWSD) operator and the picture fuzzy Euclidean-ordered weighted standardized distance (PFEOWSD) operator, and extended them by using the hybrid average operator. Then, we develop a sustainable supplier selection approach by combining the picture fuzzy distance operators and the VIKOR method. The new approach can manipulate attitudinal character of the classical VIKOR method, so that a decision maker can take decisions according to his or her preference. Further, by using the PFOWSD operator, one can parametrize the VIKOR method from the maximum to the minimum result. Thus, the information obtained using the new sustainable supplier selection approach is much more complete. Finally, a practical case example in the beef supply chain is given to explain the proposed picture fuzzy-ordered weighted distance (PFOWD)-VIKOR model, and the results are compared with current relevant representative approaches to verify its feasibility and superiority.
Numerical Solution of Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation with Neumann Boundary Conditions Using Quintic B-Spline Galerkin Method
Authors: Iqbal Azhar , Abd Hamid Nur Nadiah , Md. Ismail Ahmad Izani
Published: April 2019

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation with Neumann boundary conditions by quintic B-spline Galerkin finite element method as the shape and weight functions over the finite domain. The Galerkin B-spline method is more efficient and simpler than the general Galerkin finite element method. For the Galerkin B-spline method, the Crank Nicolson and finite difference schemes are applied for nodal parameters and for time integration. Two numerical problems are discussed to demonstrate the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed method. The error norms L 2 , L ∞ and conservation laws I 1 ,   I 2 are calculated to check the accuracy and feasibility of the method. The results of the scheme are compared with previously obtained approximate solutions and are found to be in good agreement.
Novel m—Polar Fuzzy Linguistic ELECTRE-I Method for Group Decision-Making
Authors: Adeel Arooj , Akram Muhammad , Ahmed Imran , Nazar Kashif
Published: April 2019

Linguistic variables play a vital role in several qualitative decision environments, in which decision-makers assume several feasible linguistic values or criteria instead of a single term for an alternative or variable. The motivation for the use of words or sentences instead of numbers is that linguistic classification and characterizations are generally less precise than numerical ones. In this research article, we encourage the fuzzy linguistic approach and introduce the novel concept known as m-polar fuzzy linguistic variable (mFLV) to increase the affluence of linguistic variables based on m-polar fuzzy (mF) approach. An mF set is an effective concept for interpreting uncertainty and fuzziness. The concept of mFLV is more versatile and sensible for dealing with real-life problems, when data comes from qualitative and multipolar information. We also introduce an mF linguistic ELECTRE-I approach to solve multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and multiple-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problems, where the evaluation of the alternatives under suitable linguistic values are determined by the decision-makers. Furthermore, we validate the efficiency of our proposed technique by applying it to real-life examples, such as the salary analysis of companies and by selecting a corrupt country. Finally, we develop an algorithm of our proposed approach, present its flow chart, and generate computer programming code.
A Framework for Prediction of Household Energy Consumption Using Feed Forward Back Propagation Neural Network
Authors: Fayaz Muhammad , Shah Habib , Aseere Ali Mohammad , Mashwani Wali Khan , Shah Abdul Salam
Published: April 2019

Energy is considered the most costly and scarce resource, and demand for it is increasing daily. Globally, a significant amount of energy is consumed in residential buildings, i.e., 30–40% of total energy consumption. An active energy prediction system is highly desirable for efficient energy production and utilization. In this paper, we have proposed a methodology to predict short-term energy consumption in a residential building. The proposed methodology consisted of four different layers, namely data acquisition, preprocessing, prediction, and performance evaluation. For experimental analysis, real data collected from 4 multi-storied buildings situated in Seoul, South Korea, has been used. The collected data is provided as input to the data acquisition layer. In the pre-processing layer afterwards, several data cleaning and preprocessing schemes are applied to the input data for the removal of abnormalities. Preprocessing further consisted of two processes, namely the computation of statistical moments (mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) and data normalization. In the prediction layer, the feed forward back propagation neural network has been used on normalized data and data with statistical moments. In the performance evaluation layer, the mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean squared error (RMSE) have been used to measure the performance of the proposed approach. The average values for data with statistical moments of MAE, MAPE, and RMSE are 4.3266, 11.9617, and 5.4625 respectively. These values of the statistical measures for data with statistical moments are less as compared to simple data and normalized data which indicates that the performance of the feed forward back propagation neural network (FFBPNN) on data with statistical moments is better when compared to simple data and normalized data.
20th International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Pacific Rim Organized by the United States-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program (USJCMSP)
Authors:   USJCMSP AIDS, ARI, Cancer, Hepatitis, Immunology and Viral Diseases Panels, Bernabe K. Gayle , Lu Kristina T. , Handley F. Gray , Griffin Diane E. , Kurane Ichiro , Iwamoto Aikichi , Gao George F. , Krammer Florian
Published: April 2019

The 20th International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Pacific Rim to3ok place in Shenzhen, China on January 8–9, 2018 followed by meetings of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)/immunology, acute respiratory infections, cancer, hepatitis, and viral diseases panels on January 10–11. The conference was organized as part of the United States-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program (USJCMSP) by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and was locally hosted by the Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Institute of Microbiology. The conference provides the basis for networking and fostering of collaboration opportunities between researchers in Southeast Asia and the United States based on the scientific and interactive platform of the USJCMSP and takes place in the region on an annual basis. This report summarizes the discussions and conclusions from the conference.
Cytokine Expression in Canine Lymphoma, Osteosarcoma, Mammary Gland Tumour and Melanoma: Comparative Aspects
Authors: Irac Sergio Erdal , Oksa Annika , Jackson Karen , Herndon Aaron , Allavena Rachel , Palmieri Chiara
Published: April 2019

Cytokines released in the tumour microenvironment play a major role in cancer pathogenesis. In human cancers and corresponding animal models, cytokine expression contributes to tumour growth and progression, as well as regulation of the host anti-tumour response. The elucidation of the function and importance of cytokines in canine cancers is still in an early stage, although relevant data have been obtained in classical examples of comparative models of human cancers, such as osteosarcoma, melanoma, mammary tumour and lymphoma. A deeper understanding of the cytokine signature may advance diagnosis, prevention and treatment of canine cancers.
A Review of the 21st Century Challenges in the Food-Energy-Water Security in the Middle East
Authors: Hameed Maysoun , Moradkhani Hamid , Ahmadalipour Ali , Moftakhari Hamed , Abbaszadeh Peyman , Alipour Atieh
Published: April 2019

Developing countries have experienced significant challenges in meeting their needs for food, energy, and water security. This paper presents a country-level review of the current issues associated with Food-Energy-Water (FEW) security in the Middle East. In this study, sixteen countries in the Middle East are studied, namely Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Turkey, and the Arabian Peninsula (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA), United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen). Here, we conduct a comprehensive assessment to study and evaluate the emerging drivers of FEW systems in the region. The investigated drivers include water security, extreme events, economic growth, urbanization, population growth, poverty, and political stability. The results suggest that most of the studied countries are facing FEW resource insecurity or weak planning/management strategies. Our evaluation further revealed the current status of each country with respect to each factor, and suggested that climatic and socioeconomic factors have contributed to the subsequent stress on FEW resources, specifically on the water sector. In general, and with respect to the water-energy security, it was found that energy production in the Middle East is highly constrained by water deficiency, drought, and/or economic growth. The water-food security in the region is mainly affected by drought, water scarcity, population growth, urbanization, and/or political unrest.
Deep Flow Variability Offshore South-West Svalbard (Fram Strait)
Authors: Bensi Manuel , Kovačević Vedrana , Langone Leonardo , Aliani Stefano , Ursella Laura , Goszczko Ilona , Soltwedel Thomas , Skogseth Ragnheid , Nilsen Frank , Deponte Davide , Mansutti Paolo , Laterza Roberto , Rebesco Michele , Rui Leonardo , Lucchi Renata Giulia , Wåhlin Anna , Viola Angelo , Beszczynska-Möller Agnieszka , Rubino Angelo
Published: April 2019

Water mass generation and mixing in the eastern Fram Strait are strongly influenced by the interaction between Atlantic and Arctic waters and by the local atmospheric forcing, which produce dense water that substantially contributes to maintaining the global thermohaline circulation. The West Spitsbergen margin is an ideal area to study such processes. Hence, in order to investigate the deep flow variability on short-term, seasonal, and multiannual timescales, two moorings were deployed at ~1040 m depth on the southwest Spitsbergen continental slope. We present and discuss time series data collected between June 2014 and June 2016. They reveal thermohaline and current fluctuations that were largest from October to April, when the deep layer, typically occupied by Norwegian Sea Deep Water, was perturbed by sporadic intrusions of warmer, saltier, and less dense water. Surprisingly, the observed anomalies occurred quasi-simultaneously at both sites, despite their distance (~170 km). We argue that these anomalies may arise mainly by the effect of topographically trapped waves excited and modulated by atmospheric forcing. Propagation of internal waves causes a change in the vertical distribution of the Atlantic water, which can reach deep layers. During such events, strong currents typically precede thermohaline variations without significant changes in turbidity. However, turbidity increases during April–June in concomitance with enhanced downslope currents. Since prolonged injections of warm water within the deep layer could lead to a progressive reduction of the density of the abyssal water moving toward the Arctic Ocean, understanding the interplay between shelf, slope, and deep waters along the west Spitsbergen margin could be crucial for making projections on future changes in the global thermohaline circulation.
LA FUNCIÓN ORIENTADORA. IMPACTO EN LA FORMACIÓN INICIAL DEL PROFESIONAL DE LA EDUCACIÓN EN LAS UNIVERSIDADES CUBANAS
Authors: Peña Ramírez Yannet , Castro Miranda Greccy , Gamboa Graus Michel Enrique , Castro[ Naiset Toranzo
Published: April 2019

RESUMEN

En el proceso de formación inicial del profesional de la educación, un adecuado desarrollo de sus funciones básicas es imprescindible para alcanzar la calidad requerida en los egresados. De ahí que se realiza un estudio histórico y teórico de la función orientadora y su tratamiento en la formación inicial del profesional de la educación. Se enfatiza en la especialidad Pedagogía Psicología en la que esta función tiene una connotación especial. Se profundiza en aquellos indicadores necesarios para un diagnóstico que revele las potencialidades e insuficiencias de los profesionales de la educación para desarrollar la función orientadora, expresados al elaborar y dirigir estrategias de orientación educativa, en correspondencia con las necesidades y posibilidades del contexto de actuación. Se aporta la sistematización de los contenidos, vías y formas inherentes a la función orientadora. La significación práctica se concreta en perfeccionar la formación inicial del profesional de la educación a partir del establecimiento de indicadores pertinentes de una eficaz función orientadora, que contribuya a elevar la calidad del diagnóstico de su preparación para el desarrollo de los procesos educativos que asesora o dirige este profesional, en los diferentes contextos.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Educación; diagnóstico; función orientadora.

THE GUIDING FUNCTION. ITS IMPACT ON THE INITIAL TRAINING OF THE PROFESSIONAL OF EDUCATION IN CUBAN UNIVERSITIES

ABSTRACT

In the process of initial training of the professional of Education, an adequate development of their basic functions is essential to achieve the quality required in the graduates. Hence, a historical and theoretical study of the guiding function and its treatment in the initial training of the professional of Education is carried out. It is emphasized in the specialty Psychology Pedagogy in which this function has a special connotation. It delves into those indicators necessary for a diagnosis that reveals the potentialities and inadequacies of educational professionals to develop the guiding role, expressed in the development and management of educational guidance strategies, in accordance with the needs and possibilities of the context of action. It contributes the systematization of the contents, ways and forms inherent to the guiding function. The practical significance is to improve the initial training of the professional of Education by establishing relevant indicators of an effective guiding function that contributes to raising the quality of the pedagogical diagnostic of their preparation for the development of educational processes that advises or directs this professional, in the different contexts.

KEYWORDS: Education; pedagogical diagnostic; guiding function.
FACTORES QUE APORTAN LAS ACTIVIDADES LUDICAS EN LOS CONTEXTOS EDUCATIVOS
Authors: Piedra Vera Shubert Enrique
Published: April 2019

El presente artículo es un avance de una investigación cualitativa en curso que el autor lleva cabo. Esta primera fase tuvo un alcance exploratorio, su objetivo fue identificar los Factores que Aportan las Actividades Lúdicas en los Contextos Educativos. Para la recopilación de la información se empleó el  arqueo heurístico de fuentes documentales bibliográficas (textos, artículos, tesis relacionadas) y sistematizadas en la tabla 1 y 2 respectivamente. Los hallazgos evidencian la importancia de llevar a cabo actividades lúdicas en los contextos educativos, ya que permiten el desarrollo de competencias técnicas y competencias ciudadanas.  Se identificaron aproximadamente más de 30 factores que aportan las actividades lúdicas, de las cuales la que mayormente se repite en los discursos es la creatividad y el aprendizaje significativo (competencias técnicas), así como también la participación y la sociabilización (competencias ciudadanas).

PALABRAS CLAVE: Actividades Lúdicas; Factores; Educación; Competencias. 

FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE THE LUDICAS ACTIVITIES IN THE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS 

ABSTRACT 

This article is an advance of an ongoing qualitative research carried out by the author in the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Ecuador (FLACSO). This first phase had an exploratory scope; its objective was to identify the Factors that contribute the LudicasActivities in the Educational Contexts. For the collection of information, the heuristic archival of bibliographic documentary sources (texts, articles, related theses) was used and systematized in table 1 and 2 respectively. The findings show the importance of carrying out ludicas activities in educational contexts, since they allow the development of technical skills and citizen competencies. Approximately more than repeated in the speeches is creativity and meaningful learning (technical skills), as well as participation and socialization (citizen skills).

KEYWORDS: Ludicas Activities; Factors; Education; Competencies.
TRATAMIENTO A LOS CONTENIDOS RELACIONADOS CON LAS MÁQUINAS Y LOS ACCIONAMIENTOS ELÉCTRICOS EN LA FORMACIÓN DEL TÉCNICO MEDIO EN ELECTRICIDAD EN CUBA: HISTORIA Y REFERENTES TEÓRICOS
Authors: Torres Ferrales Alberto Luis
Published: April 2019

En el artículo se presentan las tendencias históricas del proceso pedagógico profesional de los contenidos relacionados con las Máquinas y los Accionamientos Eléctricos, teniendo en cuenta que la especialidad Electricidad surge del año escolar 1994 - 1995, anteriormente, las especialidades donde se impartieron los contenidos de referencia (sistemas de energía eléctrica, mantenimiento eléctrico y sistemas eléctricos industriales) se agruparon en la rama de Energía. Además, se exponen las referencias del proceso pedagógico profesional de los contenidos referidos, se basa desde el punto de vista psicológico y pedagógico a partir del análisis del criterio de varios autores. Las posiciones se asumen en correspondencia con las tendencias del desarrollo de la Pedagogía en Cuba y se hacen precisiones sobre los objetivos y contenidos.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Contenidos; proceso; profesional; tendencias.

TREATMENT OF THE CONTENTS RELATED TO MACHINES AND ELECTRIC DRIVES IN THE TRAINING OF THE MEDIUM TECHNICIAN IN ELECTRICITY IN CUBA: HISTORY AND THEORETICAL REFERENTS

ABSTRACT

In the article the historical tendencies of the professional pedagogical process of the contents related to the Machines and the Electric Drives are presented, taking into account that the specialty Electricity arises from the school year 1994 - 1995, previously, the specialties where the contents were taught of reference (electrical power systems, electrical maintenance and industrial electrical systems) were grouped in the Energy branch. In addition, the references of the professional pedagogical process of the referred contents are exposed, it is based from the psychological and pedagogical point of view from the analysis of the criterion of several authors. Positions are assumed in correspondence with the tendencies of the development of Pedagogy in Cuba and precisions are made about the objectives and contents.

KEYWORDS: Contents; process; professional; trends.
Procedimiento para el uso de la radiografía computarizada en el control dosimétrico de calidad de las unidades de cobaltoterapia
Authors: Faedo Nieto Karel L.
Published: April 2019

El objetivo de este trabajo es describir un procedimiento para el uso de la radiografía computarizada (CR, siglas en inglés) en la caracterización dosimétrica del haz de radiación de los equipos de Cobaltoterapia. Con el propósito de su diseño se estudiaron la uniformidad de la respuesta y el nivel de exposición útil en la CR. Se seleccionó además el filtro de la imagen adecuado, realizando posteriormente el cálculo del modelo matemático por el método de polinomios para la conversión de los valores de píxeles en valores de dosis relativa. Los métodos matemáticos necesarios se implementaron en Matlab en forma de una aplicación que sirve como asistente para el procesamiento de las imágenes de CR en tales fines. Se ejecutó un estudio de precisión de la CR en el cálculo de los parámetros de control de la calidad del haz de radiación por la norma ISO 5725 y se determinaron las diferencias entre los perfiles obtenidos por un arreglo de detectores y aquellos obtenidos de la aplicación del procedimiento propuesto en la utilización de las imágenes de CR en un control dosimétrico. Como resultado se obtuvo una discrepancia menor al 1 %, localizada puntualmente en los valores centrales del perfil, con un máximo de 2 % para los valores menores al 20 % del valor máximo de dosis. La aplicación del procedimiento diseñado permite la utilización de la radiografía computarizada en los controles de la calidad de los equipos de teleterapia de Cobalto 60.
Necâşî Rivâyetleri Bağlamında Gıyâbî Cenaze Namazı ile İlgili Tartışmalar
Authors: Ayhan Mehmet
Published: April 2019

İslam âlimleri gıyâbî cenaze namazının kılınması
hususunda ihtilaf etmişlerdir. Bu ihtilaf kendilerine ulaşan hadis rivâyetlerinden
ve bunların farklı yorumlanmasından kaynaklanmıştır. Bazı fakihler konuyla ilgili
rivâyetlerden hareketle bu uygulamanın Hz. Peygamber'e özel (hasâisü'n-nebî)
olduğunu iddia ederken diğer ulemâ bunun umûmî olduğunu, dolayısıyla herkes
için gıyâbî cenaze namazı kılınabileceğini savunmuştur. Bu makalede farklı
görüşlere dayanak kabul edilen Necâşî'nin gıyâbî cenaze namazı ile ilgili rivâyetler
tahlil edilecektir
Hasan Kafi Akhisari el-Bosnevi ve Ravzatu'l-Cennat fî Usuli'l-İtikadat Adlı Eseri
Authors: Alamaireh Samer
Published: April 2019

İslamî ilimlerin her bir
dalında temayüz etmiş birçok âlim ve onların günümüze kadar ulaşan değerli
eserleri mevcuttur. Bunların hepsinden haberdar olmamız çeşitli nedenlerle tam
olarak mümkün olamamış, haberdar olabildiklerimiz ise sınırlı sayıda kalmıştır.
Tarihe mâl olmuş şahsiyetlerin görüşlerinin, hayatlarının ve kitaplarının
bilinmesi günümüz bilimsel çalışmalarına ışık tutması bakımından önem arz
etmektedir.

Söz konusu bu duruma örnek
olarak ve bu maksadı sağlamak amacıyla kelâm alanında tanınmış olan Hasan Kâfî
Akhisarî ve onun Kelâmcı kişiliği bu makalenin konusunu teşkil edecektir.

Bir süre İstanbul’da kalarak eğitim gören Hasan
Kafi, bir Osmanlı alimidir. Kelâm ilminde bilinen bir isim olarak Kafi,
Hanefi-Matüridiliğin Bosna’da yayılmasına katkıda bulunması ile ayrı bir payeye
sahip olmuştur. Kadılık görevinin yanı sıra pek çok esere imza atan Hasan
Kâfî’nin bu eserleri arasında “Ravzâtu’l-Cennat fî Usûli’l-İtikâdât” adlı eseri
kelâmi görüşlerini yansıtması bakımından dikkatimizi çekmiştir. Bu makalede
onun Kelâmcılığı ve bu alandaki görüşleri özellikle bu eseri bağlamında
değerlendirilecektir