bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oral Ingestion of Deep Ocean Minerals Increases High-Intensity Intermittent Running Capacity in Soccer Players after Short-Term Post-Exercise Recovery: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Crossover Trial
Authors: Higgins Matthew F. , Rudkin Benjamin , Kuo Chia-Hua
Published: May 2019

This study examined whether deep ocean mineral (DOM) supplementation improved high-intensity intermittent running capacity after short-term recovery from an initial bout of prolonged high-intensity running in thermoneutral environmental conditions. Nine healthy recreational male soccer players (age: 22 ± 1 y; stature: 181 ± 5 cm; and body mass 80 ± 11 kg) completed a graded incremental test to ascertain peak oxygen uptake (V·O2PEAK), two familiarisation trials, and two experimental trials following a double-blind, repeated measures, crossover and counterbalanced design. All trials were separated by seven days and at ambient room temperature (i.e., 20 °C). During the 2 h recovery period after the initial ~60 min running at 75% V·O2PEAK, participants were provided with 1.38 ± 0.51 L of either deep ocean mineral water (DOM) or a taste-matched placebo (PLA), both mixed with 6% sucrose. DOM increased high-intensity running capacity by ~25% compared to PLA. There were no differences between DOM and PLA for blood lactate concentration, blood glucose concentration, or urine osmolality. The minerals and trace elements within DOM, either individually or synergistically, appear to have augmented high-intensity running capacity in healthy, recreationally active male soccer players after short-term recovery from an initial bout of prolonged, high-intensity running in thermoneutral environmental conditions.
The Role of Demoralization and Hopelessness in Suicide Risk in Schizophrenia: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Berardelli Isabella , Sarubbi Salvatore , Rogante Elena , Hawkins Michael , Cocco Gabriele , Erbuto Denise , Lester David , Pompili Maurizio
Published: May 2019

Background and Objectives: Demoralization has been defined by hopelessness and helplessness attributable to a loss of purpose and meaning in life. Demoralization is a meaningful mental health concern, frequently associated with suicide risk in medical and psychiatric patients. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize the recent empirical evidence on demoralization in patients with schizophrenia and to better understand the relationship between demoralization and suicide risk in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: A comprehensive literature search using key words and subject headings was performed following PRISMA guidelines with several bibliographic databases, resulting in the identification of 27 studies. Results: The findings suggested that demoralization is prevalent in patients with schizophrenia and supported the hypothesis that the association between depression and suicide is moderated by hopelessness. In clinical practice, it is important to recognize symptoms of demoralization using appropriate psychological tools to better understand the suffering of patients with schizophrenia and to implement suicide prevention programs.
Ceramic Membranes Photocatalytically Functionalized on the Permeate Side and Their Application to Water Treatment
Authors: Ayral André
Published: May 2019

This work deals with direct coupling of membrane separation and photocatalytic degradation by using photocatalytic ceramic membranes. An unusual configuration is considered here, with the irradiation applied on the permeate side of the membrane in order to mineralize small organic molecules not retained by the membrane. Different types of such membranes are presented. Their functional performance is quantified thanks to a simple experimental method enabling the estimation of the specific degradation rate δ, i.e., the quantity of destroyed organic molecules per unit of time and of membrane surface area. The relevance of δ for the design and scale-up of purification units is then illustrated. Finally, current technological challenges and potential solutions concerning the industrial implementation of such photocatalytic membranes are discussed.
Development of High-Fidelity Imaging Procedures to Establish the Local Material Behavior in Friction Stir Welded Stainless Steel Joints
Authors: Ramachandran S. , Lakshminarayanan A. , Reed P. , Dulieu-Barton J.
Published: May 2019

Friction stir welded (FSW) 304 austenitic stainless steel (SS) joints are studied using a range of microstructural characterization techniques to identify various sub-regions across the weld. A high-resolution (HR) 2D-digital image correlation (DIC) methodology is developed to assess the local strain response across the weld surface and cross-section in the elastic regime. The HR-DIC methodology includes the stitching of multiple images, as it is only possible to partially cover the FSW region using a single camera with the high-resolution optical set-up. An image processing procedure is described to stitch the strain maps as well as strain data sets that allow full-field strain to be visualized and interrogated over the entire FSW region. It is demonstrated that the strains derived from the DIC can be associated with the local weld geometry and the material microstructure in the region of the FSW. The procedure is validated in the material elastic range and provides an important first step in enabling detailed mechanical assessments of the local effects in the FSW process.
Roasting Pretreatment Combined with Ultrasonic Enhanced Leaching Lead from Electrolytic Manganese Anode Mud
Authors: Xie Huimin , Li Shiwei , Zhang Libo , Wang Yongmi , Long Hailin
Published: May 2019

A method of conventional roasting pretreatment combined with ultrasonic enhanced leaching with ammonium acetate was proposed to solve the difficult problem of lead in electrolytic manganese anode mud. The effects of concentration, liquid–solid ratio, temperature, leaching time and rotating speed on the leaching process under conventional and ultrasonic conditions were studied, and the lead leaching rate can be as high as 93.09% under optimized process parameters. A leaching kinetic model under conventional and ultrasonic conditions was established to explore the restrictive links of the leaching process. The results show that the leaching process under both conventional and ultrasonic conditions is controlled by diffusion, and the activation energies are 29.40 kJ/mol and 26.95 kJ/mol for the conventional and ultrasound enhance leaching processes, respectively.
Finite Fracture Mechanics Assessment in Moderate and Large Scale Yielding Regimes
Authors: Torabi Ali Reza , Berto Filippo , Sapora Alberto
Published: May 2019

The coupled Finite Fracture Mechanics (FFM) criteria are applied to investigate the ductile failure initiation at blunt U-notched and V-notched plates under mode I loading conditions. The FFM approaches are based on the simultaneous fulfillment of the energy balance and a stress requirement, and they involve two material properties, namely the fracture toughness and the tensile strength. Whereas the former property is obtained directly from experiments, the latter is estimated through the Equivalent Material Concept (EMC). FFM results are presented in terms of the apparent generalized fracture toughness and compared with experimental data already published in the literature related to two different aluminium alloys, Al 7075-T6 and Al 6061-T6, respectively. It is shown that FFM predictions can be accurate even under moderate or large scale yielding regimes.
Fan-Out Wafer and Panel Level Packaging as Packaging Platform for Heterogeneous Integration
Authors: Braun Tanja , Becker Karl-Friedrich , Hoelck Ole , Voges Steve , Kahle Ruben , Dreissigacker Marc , Schneider-Ramelow Martin
Published: May 2019

Fan-out wafer level packaging (FOWLP) is one of the latest packaging trends in microelectronics. Besides technology developments towards heterogeneous integration, including multiple die packaging, passive component integration in packages and redistribution layers or package-on-package approaches, larger substrate formats are also targeted. Manufacturing is currently done on a wafer level of up to 12”/300 mm and 330 mm respectively. For a higher productivity and, consequently, lower costs, larger form factors are introduced. Instead of following the wafer level roadmaps to 450 mm, panel level packaging (PLP) might be the next big step. Both technology approaches offer a lot of opportunities as high miniaturization and are well suited for heterogeneous integration. Hence, FOWLP and PLP are well suited for the packaging of a highly miniaturized energy harvester system consisting of a piezo-based harvester, a power management unit and a supercapacitor for energy storage. In this study, the FOWLP and PLP approaches have been chosen for an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) package development with integrated SMD (surface mount device) capacitors. The process developments and the successful overall proof of concept for the packaging approach have been done on a 200 mm wafer size. In a second step, the technology was scaled up to a 457 × 305 mm2 panel size using the same materials, equipment and process flow, demonstrating the low cost and large area capabilities of the approach.
Chlamydiaceae: Diseases in Primary Hosts and Zoonosis
Authors: Cheong Heng Choon , Lee Chalystha Yie Qin , Cheok Yi Ying , Tan Grace Min Yi , Looi Chung Yeng , Wong Won Fen
Published: May 2019

Bacteria of the Chlamydiaceae family are a type of Gram-negative microorganism typified by their obligate intracellular lifestyle. The majority of the members in the Chlamydiaceae family are known pathogenic organisms that primarily infect the host mucosal surfaces in both humans and animals. For instance, Chlamydia trachomatis is a well-known etiological agent for ocular and genital sexually transmitted diseases, while C. pneumoniae has been implicated in community-acquired pneumonia in humans. Other chlamydial species such as C. abortus, C. caviae, C. felis, C. muridarum, C. pecorum, and C. psittaci are important pathogens that are associated with high morbidities in animals. Importantly, some of these animal pathogens have been recognized as zoonotic agents that pose a significant infectious threat to human health through cross-over transmission. The current review provides a succinct recapitulation of the characteristics as well as transmission for the previously established members of the Chlamydiaceae family and a number of other recently described chlamydial organisms.
Comprehensive Analysis of the Real Lifestyles of T1D Patients for the Purpose of Designing a Personalized Counselor for Prandial Insulin Dosing
Authors: Stechova Katerina , Hlubik Jan , Pithova Pavlina , Cikl Petr , Lhotska Lenka
Published: May 2019

Post-prandial hyperglycemia is still a challenging issue in intensified insulin therapy. Data of 35 T1D patients during a four-week period were analyzed: RT-CGM (real time continuous glucose monitoring) record, insulin doses, diet (including meal photos), energy expenditure, and other relevant conditions. Patients made significant errors in carbohydrate counting (in 56% of cooked and 44% of noncooked meals), which resulted in inadequate insulin doses. Subsequently, a mobile application was programmed to provide individualized advice on prandial insulin dose. When using the application, a patient chooses only the type of categorized situation (e.g., meals with other relevant data) without carbohydrates counting. The application significantly improved postprandial glycemia as normoglycemia was reached in 95/105 testing sessions. Other important findings of the study include: A high intake of saturated fat (median: 162% of recommended intake); a low intake of fiber and vitamin C (median: 42% and 37%, respectively, of recommended intake); an increase in overweight/obesity status (according to body fat measurement), especially in women (median of body fat: 30%); and low physical activity (in 16/35 patients). The proposed individualized approach without carbohydrate counting may help reach postprandial normoglycemia but it is necessary to pay attention to the lifestyle habits of T1D patients too.
Activity-Guided Fractionation of Red Fruit Extracts for the Identification of Compounds Influencing Glucose Metabolism
Authors: Ostberg-Potthoff Johanna Josefine , Berger Kirsten , Richling Elke , Winterhalter Peter
Published: May 2019

An activity-guided search for compounds influencing glucose metabolism in extracts from aronia (Aronia melanocarpa, A.), pomegranate (Punica granatum L., P.), and red grape (Vitis vinifera, RG) was carried out. The three extracts were fractionated by means of membrane chromatography to separate the anthocyanins from other noncolored phenolic compounds (copigments). In addition, precipitation with hexane was performed to isolate the polymers (PF). The anthocyanin and copigment fractions (AF, CF) of aronia, pomegranate, and red grape were furthermore fractionated with high-performance countercurrent chromatography (HPCCC) and the subfractions were characterized by HPLC-PDA-MS/MS analyses. Each of the (sub-)fractions was examined by in vitro-tests, i.e., the inhibition of the activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase. On the basis of this screening, several potent inhibitors of the two enzymes could be identified, which included flavonols (e.g., quercetin), ellagitannins (e.g., pedunculagin), and anthocyanins (e.g., delphinidin-3-glucoside and petunidin-3-glucoside). In the α-glucosidase assay all of the examined fractions and subfractions of the fruit extracts were more active than the positive control acarbose.
Synthetic Inhibitors of Snake Venom Enzymes: Thioesters Derived from 2-Sulfenyl Ethylacetate
Authors: Henao Castañeda Isabel C. , Pereañez Jaime A. , Preciado Lina M.
Published: May 2019

Snakebite envenomings are a global public health issue. The therapy based on the administration of animal-derived antivenoms has limited efficacy against the venom-induced local tissue damage, which often leads to permanent disability. Therefore, there is a need to find inhibitors against toxins responsible for local damage. This work aimed to synthesize thioesters derived from 2-sulfenyl ethylacetate and to evaluate the inhibitory effects on two snake venom toxins. Ethyl 2-((4-chlorobenzoyl)thio)acetate (I), Ethyl 2-((3-nitrobenzoyl)thio)acetate (II) and Ethyl 2-((4-nitrobenzoyl)thio)acetate (III) were synthesized and spectroscopically characterized. Computational calculations were performed to support the study. The inhibitory capacity of compounds (I–III) was evaluated on a phospholipase A2 (Cdcum6) isolated from the venom of the Colombian rattlesnake Crotalus durissus cumanensis and the P-I type metalloproteinase Batx-I isolated from Bothrops atrox. I–III inhibited PLA2 with IC50 values of 193.2, 305.4 and 132.7 µM, respectively. Otherwise, compounds II and III inhibited the proteolytic activity of Batx-I with IC50 of 2774 and 1879 µM. Molecular docking studies show that inhibition of PLA2 may be due to interactions of the studied compounds with amino acids in the catalytic site and the cofactor Ca2+. Probably, a blockage of the hydrophobic channel and some amino acids of the interfacial binding surface of PLA2 may occur.
Interaction Histories and Short-Term Memory: Enactive Development of Turn-Taking Behaviours in a Childlike Humanoid Robot
Authors: Broz Frank , Nehaniv Chrystopher L. , Kose Hatice , Dautenhahn Kerstin
Published: May 2019

In this article, an enactive architecture is described that allows a humanoid robot to learn to compose simple actions into turn-taking behaviours while playing interaction games with a human partner. The robot’s action choices are reinforced by social feedback from the human in the form of visual attention and measures of behavioural synchronisation. We demonstrate that the system can acquire and switch between behaviours learned through interaction based on social feedback from the human partner. The role of reinforcement based on a short-term memory of the interaction was experimentally investigated. Results indicate that feedback based only on the immediate experience was insufficient to learn longer, more complex turn-taking behaviours. Therefore, some history of the interaction must be considered in the acquisition of turn-taking, which can be efficiently handled through the use of short-term memory.
Silicon Promotes Agronomic Performance in Brassica napus Cultivated under Field Conditions with Two Nitrogen Fertilizer Inputs
Authors: Laîné Philippe , Haddad Cylia , Arkoun Mustapha , Yvin Jean-Claude , Etienne Philippe
Published: May 2019

To limit the environmental pollution associated with intensive nitrogen (N) fertilizer usage, alternative cultural practices must be considered for crops requiring high N inputs such as rapeseed. In this context, the effects of silicon (Si) supply on the agronomic performance of rapeseed cultivated under field conditions with two N fertilizer levels (60 and 160 kg ha−1) were studied. Results showed that Si supplied in the form of silicic acid (12 kg ha−1) has no effect on the agronomic performance of plants cultivated with the lower N input. In contrast, in plants fertilized with 160 kg N ha−1, Si supply promotes the preservation of green leaves (until the flowering stage) and at harvest stage, increases biomass, yield, and seed micronutrient concentrations (especially cobalt and iron). The agronomic indexes show that the increase in seed yield is related to a better uptake of N from the soil by Si-treated plants, but is not an improvement in N mobilization towards the seeds. This study showed that Si supply combined with high N inputs (160 kg ha−1) improves usage of N fertilizer and yield. The possibility that a Si supply could allow for a reduction in N input without altering the yield of rapeseed is discussed.
Cellulose Nanofibrils and Tubular Halloysite as Enhanced Strength Gelation Agents
Authors: Vinokurov Vladimir , Novikov Andrei , Rodnova Valentina , Anikushin Boris , Kotelev Mikhail , Ivanov Evgenii , Lvov Yuri
Published: May 2019

Silica gels are widely employed in water shutoff services, making them an essential tool in oil well management. Silica nanoparticles may serve as a strengthening additive for polymer hydrogels. In this study, we look at this statement from a different angle: What additives could be used to increase the strength of silica gels? Colloidal silica gels were prepared with various additives, and gel strength was measured by a Veiler–Rebinder apparatus. We found that cellulose nanofibrils considerably increase the gel strength (from 20–25 to 35–40 kPa), which is comparable with the industrial anionic polymer Praestol 2540. Cellulose nanofibrils can be produced from cheap industrial-grade cellulose with low-cost industrial chemicals and could be partially replaced by the even less expensive halloysite nanoclay. Cellulose nanofibrils produced from renewable sources and naturally occurring halloysite nanoclay could be used as complementary reinforcing agents.
Converting Consumerism: A Liturgical-Ethical Application of Critical Realism
Authors: Durheim Benjamin
Published: May 2019

Critical realism as a lens of thought is not new to theological inquiry, but recently a growing number of theologians have been using its conceptual frameworks to guide their thought on how social structures function theologically, and how ethics might function in light of its insights. This article pulls these developments into the nexus of liturgy and ethics, applying critical realist categories to contemporary understandings of how liturgical celebration (and the structures thereof) form, inform, and/or malform Christian ethical imaginations and practices. The article begins with a brief survey of the main tenets of critical realism and their histories in theological inquiry, and argues that a main gift critical realism can offer liturgical and sacramental theology is a structural understanding of liturgical narrative- and value-building. Having described this gift, the article moves to a concrete application of this method in liturgical theology and its implications for ethics: addressing consumerism as a culture that can be both validated and challenged by liturgical and sacramental structures. The article ends with some brief suggestions for using and shifting liturgical structures to better facilitate the Christian conversion of consumerism.
Hyperspectral Dimensionality Reduction Based on Multiscale Superpixelwise Kernel Principal Component Analysis
Authors: Zhang Lan , Su Hongjun , Shen Jingwei
Published: May 2019

Dimensionality reduction (DR) is an important preprocessing step in hyperspectral image applications. In this paper, a superpixelwise kernel principal component analysis (SuperKPCA) method for DR that performs kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) on each homogeneous region is proposed to fully utilize the KPCA’s ability to acquire nonlinear features. Moreover, for the proposed method, the differences in the DR results obtained based on different fundamental images (the first principal components obtained by principal component analysis (PCA), KPCA, and minimum noise fraction (MNF)) are compared. Extensive experiments show that when 5, 10, 20, and 30 samples from each class are selected, for the Indian Pines, Pavia University, and Salinas datasets: (1) when the most suitable fundamental image is selected, the classification accuracy obtained by SuperKPCA can be increased by 0.06%–0.74%, 3.88%–4.37%, and 0.39%–4.85%, respectively, when compared with SuperPCA, which performs PCA on each homogeneous region; (2) the DR results obtained based on different first principal components are different and complementary. By fusing the multiscale classification results obtained based on different first principal components, the classification accuracy can be increased by 0.54%–2.68%, 0.12%–1.10%, and 0.01%–0.08%, respectively, when compared with the method based only on the most suitable fundamental image.
A Novel Vital-Sign Sensing Algorithm for Multiple Subjects Based on 24-GHz FMCW Doppler Radar
Authors: Lee Hyunjae , Kim Byung-Hyun , Park Jin-Kwan , Yook Jong-Gwan
Published: May 2019

A novel non-contact vital-sign sensing algorithm for use in cases of multiple subjects is proposed. The approach uses a 24 GHz frequency-modulated continuous-wave Doppler radar with the parametric spectral estimation method. Doppler processing and spectral estimation are concurrently implemented to detect vital signs from more than one subject, revealing excellent results. The parametric spectral estimation method is utilized to clearly identify multiple targets, making it possible to distinguish multiple targets located less than 40 cm apart, which is beyond the limit of the theoretical range resolution. Fourier transformation is used to extract phase information, and the result is combined with the spectral estimation result. To eliminate mutual interference, the range integration is performed when combining the range and phase information. By considering breathing and heartbeat periodicity, the proposed algorithm can accurately extract vital signs in real time by applying an auto-regressive algorithm. The capability of a contactless and unobtrusive vital sign measurement with a millimeter wave radar system has innumerable applications, such as remote patient monitoring, emergency surveillance, and personal health care.
Parallel Correlation Filters for Real-Time Visual Tracking
Authors: Yang Yijin , Zhang Yihong , Li Demin , Wang Zhijie
Published: May 2019

Correlation filter-based methods have recently performed remarkably well in terms of accuracy and speed in the visual object tracking research field. However, most existing correlation filter-based methods are not robust to significant appearance changes in the target, especially when the target undergoes deformation, illumination variation, and rotation. In this paper, a novel parallel correlation filters (PCF) framework is proposed for real-time visual object tracking. Firstly, the proposed method constructs two parallel correlation filters, one for tracking the appearance changes in the target, and the other for tracking the translation of the target. Secondly, through weighted merging the response maps of these two parallel correlation filters, the proposed method accurately locates the center position of the target. Finally, in the training stage, a new reasonable distribution of the correlation output is proposed to replace the original Gaussian distribution to train more accurate correlation filters, which can prevent the model from drifting to achieve excellent tracking performance. The extensive qualitative and quantitative experiments on the common object tracking benchmarks OTB-2013 and OTB-2015 have demonstrated that the proposed PCF tracker outperforms most of the state-of-the-art trackers and achieves a high real-time tracking performance.
Structure from Motion Multisource Application for Landslide Characterization and Monitoring: The Champlas du Col Case Study, Sestriere, North-Western Italy
Authors: Cignetti Martina , Godone Danilo , Wrzesniak Aleksandra , Giordan Daniele
Published: May 2019

Structure from Motion (SfM) is a powerful tool to provide 3D point clouds from a sequence of images taken from different remote sensing technologies. The use of this approach for processing images captured from both Remotely Piloted Aerial Vehicles (RPAS), historical aerial photograms, and smartphones, constitutes a valuable solution for the identification and characterization of active landslides. We applied SfM to process all the acquired and available images for the study of the Champlas du Col landslide, a complex slope instability reactivated in spring 2018 in the Piemonte Region (north-western Italy). This last reactivation of the slide, principally due to snow melting at the end of the winter season, interrupted the main road used to reach Sestriere, one of the most famous ski resorts in north-western Italy. We tested how SfM can be applied to process high-resolution multisource datasets by processing: (i) historical aerial photograms collected from five diverse regional flights, (ii) RGB and multi-spectral images acquired by two RPAS, taken in different moments, and (iii) terrestrial sequences of the most representative kinematic elements due to the evolution of the landslide. In addition, we obtained an overall framework of the historical development of the area of interest, and distinguished several generations of landslides. Moreover, an in-depth geomorphological characterization of the Champlas du Col landslide reactivation was done, by testing a cost-effective and rapid methodology based on SfM principles, which is easily repeatable to characterize and investigate active landslides.
A Possible Way for the Detection and Identification of Dangerous Substances in Ternary Mixtures Using THz Pulsed Spectroscopy
Authors: Trofimov Vyacheslav A. , Varentsova Svetlana A.
Published: May 2019

We discuss an effective tool for the detection and identification of substances in ternary mixtures with similar spectral properties using a broadband reflected THz signal. Nowadays, this is an urgent problem; its effective solution is still far off. Two ternary mixtures of the explosives (RDX+TNT+HMX and RDX+TNT+PETN) were used as the examples for demonstration of the efficiency of the method proposed. The identification is based on the pulsed THz spectroscopy. We follow the spectral intensities together with the use of integral correlation criteria. They use the spectral line dynamics of the THz pulse reflected from the substance under investigation and that of the standard THz signal from database. In order to increase the accuracy and reliability of the identification, we analyze the partial non-overlapping time intervals, containing the main pulse of the reflected THz signal and the sequential sub-pulses. The main pulse is shown to contain information about high absorption frequencies (ν > 2.6 THz) of the mixture components. In the sub-pulses, the absorption frequencies of the components are detected in the range of low (ν < 2.6 THz) and high (ν > 2.6 THz) frequencies. The opportunity of distinguishing the mixtures with similar spectral properties is also shown.
Geometric Self-Calibration of YaoGan-13 Images Using Multiple Overlapping Images
Authors: Zhang Guo , Deng Mingjun , Cai Chenglin , Zhao Ruishan
Published: May 2019

Geometric calibration is an important means of improving the absolute positioning accuracy of space-borne synthetic aperture radar imagery. The conventional calibration method is based on a calibration field, which is simple and convenient, but requires a great deal of manpower and material resources to obtain ground control points. Although newer cross-calibration methods do not require ground control points, calibration accuracy still depends on a periodically updated reference image. Accordingly, this study proposes a geometric self-calibration method based on the positioning consistency constraint of conjugate image points to provide rapid and accurate calibration of the YaoGan-13 satellite. The proposed method can accurately calibrate geometric parameters without requiring ground control points or high-precision reference images. To verify the absolute positioning accuracy obtained using the proposed self-calibration method, YaoGan-13 Stripmap images of multiple regions were collected and evaluated. The results indicate that high-accuracy absolute positioning can be achieved with a plane accuracy of 3.83 m or better for Stripmap data, without regarding elevation error. Compared to the conventional calibration method using high-accuracy control data, the difference between the two methods is only about 2.53 m, less than the 3-m resolution of the image, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed self-calibration method.
Coverage-Balancing User Selection in Mobile Crowd Sensing with Budget Constraint
Authors: Wang Yanan , Sun Guodong , Ding Xingjian
Published: May 2019

Mobile crowd sensing (MCS) is a new computing paradigm for the internet of things, and it is widely accepted as a powerful means to achieve urban-scale sensing and data collection. In the MCS campaign, the smart mobilephone users can detect their surrounding environments with their on-phone sensors and return the sensing data to the MCS organizer. In this paper, we focus on the coverage-balancing user selection (CBUS) problem with a budget constraint. Solving the CBUS problem aims to select a proper subset of users such that their sensing coverage is as large and balancing as possible, yet without violating the budget specified by the MCS campaign. We first propose a novel coverage balance-based sensing utility model, which effectively captures the joint requirement of the MCS requester for coverage area and coverage balance. We then formally define the CBUS problem under the proposed sensing utility model. Because of the NP-hardness of the CBUS problem, we design a heuristic-based algorithm, called MIA, which tactfully employs the maximum independent set model to determine a preliminary subset of users from all the available users and then adjusts this user subset to improve the budget implementation. MIA also includes a fast approach to calculating the area of the union coverage with any complicated boundaries, which is also applicable to any MCS scenarios that are set up with the coverage area-based sensing utility. The extensive numeric experiments show the efficacy of our designs both in coverage balance and in the total coverage area.
Magnetostrictive Sensor for Blockage Detection in Pipes Subjected to High Temperatures
Authors: Pernía Alberto M. , Mayor Héctor Andrés , Prieto Miguel J. , Villegas Pedro J. , Nuño Fernando , Martín-Ramos Juan A.
Published: May 2019

The use of solar thermal power plants is considered a cost-effective alternative to produce renewable energy. Unlike other energy installations, in this type of plants the transfer and storage of energy has been solved by using molten salts. These salts run between two tanks through the steam generation system that feeds the turbine. Although the use of salts as a heat transfer fluid is considered an adequate solution, they are not without problems. One of them is the formation of blockages in the pipes due to a partial solidification of the salt, which leads to the shutdown of the installation, with the consequent economic losses. Fast location of these blockages in a minimally intrusive way is the objective pursued in this work. The method to achieve this is based on the use of a new magnetostrictive sensor that simplifies previous designs.
Raman Sensing and Its Multimodal Combination with Optoacoustics and OCT for Applications in the Life Sciences
Authors: Wollweber Merve , Roth Bernhard
Published: May 2019

Currently, many optical modalities are being investigated, applied, and further developed for non-invasive analysis and sensing in the life sciences. To befit the complexity of the study objects and questions in this field, the combination of two or more modalities is attempted. We review our work on multimodal sensing concepts for applications ranging from non-invasive quantification of biomolecules in the living organism to supporting medical diagnosis showing the combined capabilities of Raman spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, and optoacoustics.
Chattel or Child: The Liminal Status of Companion Animals in Society and Law
Authors: Pallotta Nicole R.
Published: May 2019

Companion animals in the U.S. are increasingly regarded as members of the family with whom one may share a strong emotional bond. However, despite an evolving social construction that has elevated their status in the dominant culture, companion animals lack meaningful legal rights, and “family member” is a provisional status that can be dissolved at will based on the discretion of the sole rights-holder in the relationship: the human owner. Because they are still defined within the U.S. legal system as property, it is a common lament within the animal protection movement that the law has not kept pace with the emergent cultural perception of companion animals as family or best friends who may occupy a significant place in one’s constellation of interpersonal relationships. But how divergent are the laws that govern our treatment of companion animals from prevailing social norms? This article examines current trends in animal law and society to shed light on this question. I find that while a new family member cultural status is emerging for companion animals in the U.S., their legal status as property is a countervailing force, enabling contradictory practices and beliefs that construct animals as expendable. The fact that their cultural status is in flux in turn reinforces their status under the law. I conclude with proposed policy reforms that will facilitate the integration of companion animals into society as true rather than rhetorical family members.
Crop Diseases and Mycotoxin Accumulation in Temperate Agroforestry Systems
Authors: Beule Lukas , Lehtsaar Ena , Rathgeb Anna , Karlovsky Petr
Published: May 2019

Background: Temperate agroforestry is regarded as a sustainable alternative to monoculture agriculture due to enhanced provisioning of ecosystem services. Plant health and food safety are crucial requirements for sustainable agriculture; however, studies of fungal diseases and mycotoxin contamination of crops grown under temperate agroforestry are lacking. This study therefore aimed to compare fungal colonization and mycotoxin contamination of crops grown in temperate agroforestry against conventional monoculture. Methods: The biomass of plant pathogenic fungi in oilseed rape plants and barley and wheat grain harvested in 2016 to 2018 at four paired agroforestry and monoculture sites was quantified using species-specific real-time PCR. Mycotoxin content of barley and wheat grain was determined by HPLC-MS/MS. Results: The colonization of oilseed rape plants with the vascular pathogen Verticillium longisporum and wheat grain with the head blight pathogen Fusarium tricinctum was lower in agroforestry than in conventional monoculture. Mycotoxin content of barley and wheat grain did not differ between agroforestry and monoculture systems and did not exceed the legal limits of the EU. Remarkably, fumonisin B1 was detected in wheat grains at two sites in two years, yet the low levels found do not raise food safety concerns. No differences were found between the two production systems with regard to infection of wheat and barley grain with five Fusarium species (F. avenaceum, F. culmorum, F. graminearum, F. poae, and F. proliferatum) and oilseed rape with fungal pathogens Leptosphaeria biglobosa, Leptosphaeria maculans, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Conclusions: Temperate agroforestry does not negatively affect the infection of wheat, barley and oilseed rape with major fungal pathogens though it may suppress the infection of oilseed rape with V. longisporum and wheat grain with F. tricinctum. Furthermore, temperate agroforestry does not increase mycotoxin contamination of barley and wheat. Therefore, temperate agroforestry does not negatively affect food safety.
Passengers’ Perceptions of Security Check in Metro Stations
Authors: Shi Xiaomeng , Ye Zhirui , Shiwakoti Nirajan , Li Huaxin
Published: May 2019

A safer and securer public transport provides a wide range of sustainability benefits to a community. This paper explores passengers’ perception of security checks (SCs) in metro stations, with a focus on the safety and mobility of passenger flows. We used 27 scaling items categorized into five variables: efficiency, comfort, safety, privacy and willingness-to-pay. A questionnaire survey of 880 metro passengers in China showed that respondents are generally homogenous in their perceptions of metro SCs in terms of their agreement on mandatory SC policy and the priority of safety. Most passengers are willing to trade-off their trip efficiency and privacy in exchange for safety improvement, while a small proportion of people are inclined to trade-off their trip efficiency for a more comfortable waiting and riding experiences. Demographic differences such as gender and age group effects are observed. For example, females tend to be more concerned with trip comfort while older passengers are more likely to compromise their privacy with enhancement in safety features. Findings from this study can be a valuable resource to railway authorities in designing and developing a SC system at major railway hubs.
Interactive Effects of Chemical Composition of Food Waste during Anaerobic Co-Digestion under Thermophilic Temperature
Authors: Xue Shengrong , Zhao Nan , Song Jinghui , Wang Xiaojiao
Published: May 2019

The effects of chemical composition (carbohydrates, lipids, and protein) on the anaerobic co-digestion performance of food wastes (FW) were investigated from the viewpoints of methane production, dynamic parameters, and microbial community structure. The results of this study showed that a notable gasification rate was positively correlated with the proportion of the composition. A T2 reactor, which consisted of 60% carbohydrates, 20% lipids, and 20% protein, held a higher gasification rate of 65.09% compared to other groups, while its process parameters showed some deficiency regarding the stability of digestion, especially for low biochemical methane potential (BMP), which was not beneficial for the actual practice. A T4 reactor, with a highest gasification rate of 70.68%, held the maximum BMP (497.44 mL/g VS). The stable chemical parameters achieved the optimal proportion, consisting of 40% carbohydrates, 40% lipids, and 20% protein. Furthermore, its microbial populations were rich and achieved a balance of the two main dominant communities of acetoclastic methanogens and hydrogenotrophic methanogens, whose relative abundance was close. It was obvious that interactive effects were caused by different proportional composition, which led to constantly changing chemical parameters and microbial community.
More than Just Food: Food Insecurity and Resilient Place Making through Community Self-Organising
Authors: Blake Megan K.
Published: May 2019

This research considers the relationship between neoliberalism, poverty and food insecurity and how this impacts on the ability of a community to self-organise and become resilient. Specifically, it examines shocks imposed by the implementation of austerity policy and neoliberal welfare reform and the longer term individualisation that gives rise to greater vulnerability to such shocks and how community organisations encourage different levels of resilience in the face of this. Original findings from case study and qualitative analysis are twofold. Firstly, food insecurity effects are not only hunger and poor health experienced at the individual scale, but they also extend into places through the loss of social networks, erosion of community spaces, denigration of local foodscapes and collective de-skilling that limits the community resources needed for self-organising. Secondly, the ways in which food support is provided in communities has implications for how communities can regain the resources they need to be able to enact resilience in the face of trouble and difficulty. As such, the research demonstrates that self-organising is more than free-time activity; in these conditions, the capacity to self-organise is a vital community asset that is necessary for building resilience and social sustainability. As such, policy responses to poverty should take a multi-scale approach.
AirInsight: Visual Exploration and Interpretation of Latent Patterns and Anomalies in Air Quality Data
Authors: Zhang Huijie , Ren Ke , Lin Yiming , Qu Dezhan , Li Zhenxin
Published: May 2019

Nowadays, huge volume of air quality data provides unprecedented opportunities for analyzing pollution. However, due to the high complexity, most traditional analytical methods focus on abstracting data, so these techniques discard the original structure and limit the understanding of the results. Visual analysis is a powerful technique for exploring unknown patterns since it retains the details of the original data and gives visual feedback to users. In this paper, we focus on air quality data and propose the AirInsight design, an interactive visual analytic system for recognizing, exploring, and summarizing regular patterns, as well as detecting, classifying, and interpreting abnormal cases. Based on the time-varying and multivariate features of air quality data, a dimension reduction method Composite Least Square Projection (CLSP) is proposed, which allows appreciating and interpreting the data patterns in the context of attributes. On the basis of the observed regular patterns, multiple abnormal cases are further detected, including the multivariate anomalies by the proposed Noise Hierarchical Clustering (NHC) method, abruptly changing timestamps by Time diversity (TD) indicator, and cities with unique patterns by the Geographical Surprise (GS) measure. Moreover, we combine TD and GS to group anomalies based on their underlying spatiotemporal correlations. AirInsight includes multiple coordinated views and rich interactive functions to provide contextual information from different aspects and facilitate a comprehensive understanding. In particular, a pair of glyphs are designed that provide a visual representation of the temporal variation in air quality conditions for a user-selected city. Experiments show that CLSP improves the accuracy of Least Square Projection (LSP) and that NHC has the ability to separate noises. Meanwhile, several case studies and task-based user evaluation demonstrate that our system is effective and practical for exploring and interpreting multivariate spatiotemporal patterns and anomalies in air quality data.
Assessment of Small-Scale Ecosystem Conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: A Study from Rio Canoas State Park, Southern Brazil
Authors: Sacchis Lopes Manoela , Kozhikkodan Veettil Bijeesh , Saldanha Dejanira Luderitz
Published: May 2019

The efficiency of the environmental management of a territory largely depends on previous surveys and systematic studies on the main elements and conditions of the physical environment. We applied remote sensing and digital image processing techniques (Principal Component Analysis and supervised classification) to Landsat imagery for analyzing the spatiotemporal land cover changes occurred in the Rio Canoas State Park in Brazil and its surrounding area from 1990 to 2016. Reforested areas around the park with exotic species is a part of the region’s economy and a number of industries depend on it for raw materials. However, it is a matter of concern to avoid contamination with such invasive species, due to the proximity of the Park. From 1990 to 2004, more than 95% of the study area was unchanged and showed minimal distinction in land cover over the 14 years. This was mainly due to the continuous presence of agricultural monocultures around the Park without significant increases (only 3.1% of land cover change during this period). Regarding the interior of the Rio Canoas State Park, from 1990 to 2004, there was no increase in the area of exposed soil. The analysis of the surrounding areas of the park from 2004 to 2016 showed that 5663.78 ha (12.2% of the area) of the land cover has been changed, in most areas, due to reforestation by Pinus sp. Notable changes occurred within the park (established in 2004) between 2004 and 2016—there was a partial regeneration of natural species diversity, a small number of invasive species (Pinus sp.) and removal of agricultural activities within the park, which contributed a 6.6% (75.45 ha) change in its land cover. We verified that 92.51% (1048.40 ha) of the areas inside the park were unchanged. The results demonstrated that actions were conducted to preserve the natural vegetation cover within the park and to reduce the impacts of anthropogenic activities, including the invasion of exotic species from the surrounding reforested areas into the natural habitat of the park. Given this, our study can aid the environmental management of the Park and its surrounding areas, enabling the monitoring of environmental legislation, the creation of a management plan, and can guide new action plans for the present study area and can be applied to other similar regions.
Groundwater Recharge Potential for Sustainable Water Use in Urban Areas of the Jequitiba River Basin, Brazil
Authors: da Costa Adriana , de Salis Hugo , Viana João , Leal Pacheco Fernando
Published: May 2019

The zoning of groundwater recharge potential would be attractive for water managers, but is lacking in many regions around the planet, including in the Jequitiba River basin, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this study, a physically based spatially distributed method to evaluate groundwater recharge potential at catchment scale was developed and tested in the aforementioned Jequitiba River basin. The data for the test was compiled from institutional sources and implemented in a Geographic Information System. It comprised meteorological, hydrometric, relief, land use, and soil data. The average results resembled the annual recharge calculated by a hydrograph method, which worked as validation method. The spatial variation of recharge highlighted the predominant contribution of flat areas, porous aquifers, and forested regions to groundwater recharge. They also exposed the negative effect of urbanization. In combination, these factors elected the following sectors of the Jequitiba River basin as regions of high recharge potential: the south-southeast part of the headwaters in Prudente de Morais; Sete Lagoas towards the central part of the basin; and the region between Funilândia and Jequitiba, near the Jequitiba river mouth. Some management practices were suggested to improve groundwater recharge. The map of groundwater recharge potential produced in this study is valuable and is therefore proposed as tool for planners in the sustainable use of groundwater and protection of recharge areas.