bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of Reactive Oxygen Species onDe NovoAcquisition of Resistance to Bactericidal Antibiotics
Authors: Hoeksema Marloes , Brul Stanley , ter Kuile Benno H.
Published: March 2018

The radical-based theory proposes that three major classes of bactericidal antibiotics, i.e., β-lactams, quinolones, and aminoglycosides, have in common the downstream formation of lethal levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as part of the killing mechanism. If bactericidal antibiotics exhibit a common mechanism, then it is to be expected that the acquisition of resistance against these drugs would have some shared traits as well. Indeed, cells made resistant to one bactericidal antibiotic more rapidly became resistant to another. This effect was absent after induced resistance to a bacteriostatic drug.De novoacquisition of resistance to one bactericidal antibiotic provided partial protection to killing by bactericidal antibiotics from a different class. This protective effect was observed in short-term experiments. No protective effect was detected during 24-h exposures, suggesting that cross-resistance did not occur. In the wild-type strain, exposure to bactericidal antibiotics increased intracellular ROS levels. This increase in ROS levels was not observed when strains resistant to these drugs were exposed to the same concentrations. These results indicate thatde novoacquisition of resistance to the bactericidal drugs tested involves a common cellular response that provides protection against ROS accumulation upon exposure to this type of antibiotics. A central mechanism or at least a few common elements within the separate mechanisms possibly play a role during the acquisition of antibiotic resistance.
CrpP Is a Novel Ciprofloxacin-Modifying Enzyme Encoded by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa pUM505 Plasmid
Authors: Chávez-Jacobo Víctor M. , Hernández-Ramírez Karen C. , Romo-Rodríguez Pamela , Pérez-Gallardo Rocío Viridiana , Campos-García Jesús , Gutiérrez-Corona J. Félix , García-Merinos Juan Pablo , Meza-Carmen Víctor , Silva-Sánchez Jesús , Ramírez-Díaz Martha I.
Published: March 2018

The pUM505 plasmid, isolated from a clinical
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
isolate, confers resistance to ciprofloxacin (CIP) when transferred into the standard
P. aeruginosa
strain PAO1. CIP is an antibiotic of the quinolone family that is used to treat
P. aeruginosa
infections.
In silico
analysis, performed to identify CIP resistance genes, revealed that the 65-amino-acid product encoded by the
orf131
gene in pUM505 displays 40% amino acid identity to the
Mycobacterium smegmatis
aminoglycoside phosphotransferase (an enzyme that phosphorylates and inactivates aminoglycoside antibiotics). We cloned
orf131
(renamed
crpP
, for
c
iprofloxacin
r
esistance
p
rotein,
p
lasmid encoded) into the pUCP20 shuttle vector. The resulting recombinant plasmid, pUC-
crpP
, conferred resistance to CIP on
Escherichia coli
strain J53-3, suggesting that this gene encodes a protein involved in CIP resistance. Using coupled enzymatic analysis, we determined that the activity of CrpP on CIP is ATP dependent, while little activity against norfloxacin was detected, suggesting that CIP may undergo phosphorylation. Using a recombinant His-tagged CrpP protein and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, we also showed that CIP was phosphorylated prior to its degradation. Thus, our findings demonstrate that CrpP, encoded on the pUM505 plasmid, represents a new mechanism of CIP resistance in
P. aeruginosa
, which involves phosphorylation of the antibiotic.
Cysteamine, an Endogenous Aminothiol, and Cystamine, the Disulfide Product of Oxidation, Increase Pseudomonas aeruginosa Sensitivity to Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species and Potentiate Therapeutic Antibiotics against Bacterial Infection
Authors: Fraser-Pitt Douglas J. , Mercer Derry K. , Smith Daniel , Kowalczuk Aleksandra , Robertson Jennifer , Lovie Emma , Perenyi Peter , Cole Michelle , Doumith Michel , Hill Robert L. R. , Hopkins Katie L. , Woodford Neil , O'Neil Deborah A.
Published: March 2018

Cysteamine is an endogenous aminothiol produced in mammalian cells as a consequence of coenzyme A metabolism through the activity of the vanin family of pantetheinase ectoenzymes. It is known to have a biological role in oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell migration. There have been several reports demonstrating anti-infective properties targeting viruses, bacteria, and even the malarial parasite. We and others have previously described broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of cysteamine. Here, we go further to demonstrate redox-dependent mechanisms of action for the compound and how its antimicrobial effects are, at least in part, due to undermining bacterial defenses against oxidative and nitrosative challenges. We demonstrate the therapeutic potentiation of antibiotic therapy againstPseudomonas aeruginosain mouse models of infection. We also demonstrate potentiation of many different classes of antibiotics against a selection of priority antibiotic-resistant pathogens, including colistin (often considered an antibiotic of last resort), and we discuss how this endogenous antimicrobial component of innate immunity has a role in infectious disease that is beginning to be explored and is not yet fully understood.
Shifts in the Gut Metabolome and Clostridium difficile Transcriptome throughout Colonization and Infection in a Mouse Model
Authors: Fletcher Joshua R. , Erwin Samantha , Lanzas Cristina , Theriot Casey M.
Published: March 2018

Clostridium difficile
is a bacterial pathogen of global significance that is a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Antibiotics deplete the indigenous gut microbiota and change the metabolic environment in the gut to one favoring
C. difficile
growth. Here we used metabolomics and transcriptomics to define the gut environment after antibiotics and during the initial stages of
C. difficile
colonization and infection. We show that amino acids, in particular, proline and branched-chain amino acids, and carbohydrates decrease in abundance over time and that
C. difficile
gene expression is consistent with their utilization by the bacterium
in vivo
. We employed an integrated approach to analyze the metabolome and transcriptome to identify associations between metabolites and transcripts. This highlighted the importance of key nutrients in the early stages of colonization, and the data provide a rationale for the development of therapies based on the use of bacteria that specifically compete for nutrients that are essential for
C. difficile
colonization and disease.
Intracellular Trafficking and Persistence of Acinetobacter baumannii Requires Transcription Factor EB
Authors: Parra-Millán Raquel , Guerrero-Gómez David , Ayerbe-Algaba Rafael , Pachón-Ibáñez Maria Eugenia , Miranda-Vizuete Antonio , Pachón Jerónimo , Smani Younes
Published: March 2018

Adhesion is an initial and important step in
Acinetobacter baumannii
infections. However, the mechanism of entrance and persistence inside host cells is unclear and remains to be understood. In this study, we report that, in addition to its known role in host defense against Gram-positive bacterial infection, TFEB also plays an important role in the intracellular trafficking of
A. baumannii
in host cells. TFEB was activated shortly after
A. baumannii
infection and is required for its persistence within host cells. Additionally, using the
C. elegans
infection model by
A. baumannii
, the TFEB orthologue HLH-30 was required for survival of the nematode to infection, although nuclear translocation of HLH-30 was not required.
Predictors of Prolonged Length of Hospital Stay for Infants with Bronchiolitis
Authors: Rodríguez-Martínez Carlos E , Sossa-Briceño Monica P , Nino Gustavo
Published: March 2018

Among inpatients suffering from bronchiolitis, approximately a quarter may undergo a prolonged length of stay (LOS) for the treatment of their respiratory condition. However, there have been few research studies that have evaluated variables that may be associated with a prolonged LOS in these patients, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, where the clinical and economic burden of the disease is the greatest. In an analytical single-center cross-sectional study, we included a population of patients with acute bronchiolitis hospitalized between March and June 2016. We collected demographic and clinical information and the LOS of each patient. Prolonged LOS for bronchiolitis was defined as at least one hospital stay of 5 or more days. A total of 303 patients were included, with 176 (58.1%) male and a median (IQR) age of 3.0 (1.0–7.0) months. After controlling for gender, history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, number of days with respiratory symptoms, the presence of apnea as an initial manifestation of bronchiolitis, and other underlying disease conditions, we found that the independent predictors of prolonged LOS for bronchiolitis in our study population included age (OR 0.92; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.99; p=0.049), history of prematurity (OR 6.34; 95% CI 1.10 to 36.46; p=0.038), respiratory syncytial virus isolation (OR 1.92; 95% CI 1.02 to 3.73; p=0.048), and initial oxygen saturation (OR 0.94; 95% CI 0.88 to 0.98; p=0.048). The factors identified should be taken into account when planning policies to reduce the duration of hospital stay in infants with bronchiolitis.
Neutrophil activation in response to monomeric myeloperoxidase
Authors: Gorudko Irina V. , Grigorieva Daria V. , Sokolov Alexey V. , Shamova Ekaterina V. , Kostevich Valeria A. , Kudryavtsev Igor V. , Syromiatnikova Elena D. , Vasilyev Vadim B. , Cherenkevich Sergey N. , Panasenko Oleg M.
Published: March 2018

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is an oxidant-producing enzyme that can also regulate cellular functions via its nonenzymatic effects. Mature active MPO isolated from normal human neutrophils is a 145 kDa homodimer, which consists of 2 identical protomers, connected by a single disulfide bond. By binding to CD11b/CD18 integrin, dimeric MPO induces neutrophil activation and adhesion augmenting leukocyte accumulation at sites of inflammation. This study was performed to compare the potency of dimeric and monomeric MPO to elicit selected neutrophil responses. Monomeric MPO (hemi-MPO) was obtained by treating the dimeric MPO by reductive alkylation. Analysis of the crucial signal transducer, intracellular Ca2+, showed that dimeric MPO induces Ca2+mobilization from the intracellular calcium stores of neutrophils and influx of extracellular Ca2+whereas the effect of monomeric MPO on Ca2+increase in neutrophils was less. It was also shown that monomeric MPO was less efficient than dimeric MPO at inducing actin cytoskeleton reorganization, cell survival, and neutrophil degranulation. Furthermore, we have detected monomeric MPO in the blood plasma of patients with acute inflammation. Our data suggest that the decomposition of dimeric MPO into monomers can serve as a regulatory mechanism that controls MPO-dependent activation of neutrophils and reduces the proinflammatory effects of MPO.
Efficacy of Cry1Ac protein against gypsy moth and fall webworm in transgenic poplar (Populus davidiana × Populus bolleana) by bioassay
Authors: Ding Liping , Chen Yajuan , Wang Hongzhi , Wei Jianhua
Published: March 2018

A modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cry1Ac gene was introduced into poplar ‘Shanxin’ (Populus davidiana × Populus bolleana) by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Seventeen cry1Ac transgenic lines were regenerated. The integration and expression of the cry1Ac gene in these transgenic lines were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and reverse-transcription quantitative PCR, respectively. Variable amounts of cry1Ac mRNA accumulated in different transgenic plants. The expression of Cry1Ac toxin protein in transgenic plants was analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the concentration ranged from 0.12 to 21.00 μg g−1. The concentration of Cry1Ac protein was highly consistent with mRNA amount in each transgenic line. Leaf section bioassays were conducted using the larvae of both gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) and fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea). Those plants, except lines 10 and 11, caused rapid mortality of all gypsy moth and fall webworm larvae with almost no defoliation, while lines 10 and 11, with Cry1Ac protein concentrations of 0.12 and 0.76 μg g−1, respectively, provided relatively weak insect protection. Results of insect bioassays indicate that Cry1Ac protein expression over 1.3 μg g−1 consistently produced high insect mortality for both species of moths. The correlation between concentration of Cry1Ac protein and insect mortality is important to understand for managing insect pests with transgenic plants. Transgenic poplars with high insect resistance will be useful tools for managing Lepidoptera pests of these trees.
Incubation temperature influences sex ratio and offspring’s body composition in Zebra Finches (Taeniopygiaguttata)
Authors: Wada Haruka , Kriengwatana Buddhamas P. , Steury Todd D. , MacDougall-Shackleton Scott A.
Published: March 2018

Incubation temperature has the potential to influence offspring sex, phenotype, and survival, particularly in species with temperature-dependent sex determination. However, relatively little is known about how incubation temperature affects sex ratio and offspring condition in other animals. Incubating birds allocate varying time for egg incubation depending on the parents’ condition and ambient temperature, likely altering nest microclimate. To understand how incubation temperature impacts offspring phenotype in birds, we artificially incubated Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot, 1817)) eggs at 36.2, 37.4, or 38.4 °C during the entire incubation period and examined sex ratio and offspring quality. We found that incubation temperature of 36.2 °C resulted in a greater likelihood of a young being male compared with 37.4 °C, indicating that it is more likely for males to survive until the juvenile stage compared with females in the 36.2 °C group. We also found sex-specific effects of incubation temperature on body composition. Although incubation temperature did not affect fat or lean mass of female young, male offspring from the 38.4 °C group had significantly less lean mass throughout their lives compared with males from 37.4 or 36.2 °C. This study shows that there are sex differences in the effects of incubation temperature, and variable incubation temperature has a capacity to influence offspring secondary sex ratio and body condition in songbirds.
Individual vigilance profiles in flocks of House Sparrows (Passerdomesticus)
Authors: Boujja-Miljour Hakima , Leighton Patrick A. , Beauchamp Guy
Published: March 2018

Individual vigilance against threats typically decreases with group size. However, group size often explains a small amount of variation in vigilance, suggesting that other factors such as individual differences might contribute. For instance, individuals could maintain different vigilance levels overall and also respond differently to variation in group size. We investigated individual variation in vigilance and its patterns of plasticity in flocks of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758)). We carried out observations at one provisioned site and used multiple observations of the same individuals (n = 14) in flocks of different sizes over two consecutive months. The typical decline in vigilance with flock size occurred at the population level. Controlling for food density, flock size, time of year, and sex, we documented consistent individual differences in various measurements of vigilance. Plasticity of vigilance adjustments to variation in flock size occurred for the frequency of high vigilance postures. Male House Sparrows with larger bibs, which signal higher dominance status, tended to spend less time vigilant and obtained food at a higher rate, supporting a state-dependent explanation for the origin of individual vigilance profiles. Individual differences can contribute to explaining the large scatter in the relationship between vigilance and group size in many species.
A Modified PSO Algorithm for Parameters Identification of the Double-Dispersion Cole Model
Authors: Liu Lu , Shan Liang , Jiang Chao , Dai Yue-Wei , Liu Cheng-Lin , Qi Zhi-Dong
Published: March 2018

Many practical systems, such as thermal system, economic system and electric power system, can be more accurately described by the fractional-order system rather than integer-order system. Therefore, it is an important topic to study the fractional-order system and estimate its parameters. The problem of parameter estimation is essentially a multi-dimensional parameter optimization problem. In this paper, according to the average value of position information, an improved Tent mapping and a piecewise mutation probability, a modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO) algorithm is presented to solve the parameter estimation problem. The performance of MPSO is tested with eight benchmark functions, which proves the effectiveness of the algorithm. Based on the double-dispersion Cole model, the proposed MPSO algorithm is used to estimate the parameters for the generated simulated datasets. Experimental results show that the MPSO algorithm for parameters identification of the Cole model is an effective and promising method with high accuracy and good robustness.
Quantitative Measurement of Scientific Software Quality: Definition of a Novel Quality Model
Authors: Koteska Bojana , Mishev Anastas , Pejov Ljupco
Published: March 2018

This paper presents a novel quality model, which provides a quantitative assessment of the attributes evaluated at each stage of development of scientific applications. This model is defined by selecting a set of attributes and metrics that affect the quality of applications. It is based on the established quality standards. The practical application and verification of the quality model is confirmed by two case studies. The first is an application for solving one-dimensional and two-dimensional Schrödinger equations, using the discrete variables representation method. The second is an application for calculating an ECG-derived heart rate and respiratory rate. The first application follows a development model for scientific applications, which includes some software engineering practices. The second application does not use a specific development model, rather, it is developed ad hoc. The quality of the applications is evaluated through comparative analyses using the proposed model. Based on software quality metrics, the results of this study indicate that the application for solving one-dimensional and two-dimensional Schrödinger equations produces more desirable results.
EClerize: A customized force-directed graph drawing algorithm for biological graphs with EC attributes
Authors: Danaci Hasan Fehmi , Cetin-Atalay Rengul , Atalay Volkan
Published: March 2018

Visualizing large-scale data produced by the high throughput experiments as a biological graph leads to better understanding and analysis. This study describes a customized force-directed layout algorithm, EClerize, for biological graphs that represent pathways in which the nodes are associated with Enzyme Commission (EC) attributes. The nodes with the same EC class numbers are treated as members of the same cluster. Positions of nodes are then determined based on both the biological similarity and the connection structure. EClerize minimizes the intra-cluster distance, that is the distance between the nodes of the same EC cluster and maximizes the inter-cluster distance, that is the distance between two distinct EC clusters. EClerize is tested on a number of biological pathways and the improvement brought in is presented with respect to the original algorithm. EClerize is available as a plug-in to Cytoscape ( http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/eclerize ).
Time-Domain Stability of Artificial Boundary Condition Coupled with Finite Element for Dynamic and Wave Problems in Unbounded Media
Authors: Zhao Mi , Li Huifang , Du Xiuli , Wang Piguang
Published: March 2018

The finite element modeling of the dynamic and wave problems in unbounded media requires an artificial boundary condition to simulate the truncated infinite domain. The Dirichlet-to-Neumann boundary condition has been transformed from frequency to time domain by using the rational function approximation and auxiliary variable technique. It is extended to three-dimensional layer problem here. The resulting artificial boundary condition is stable itself in time domain, whereas the time-domain instability of the artificial boundary condition coupled with the finite element method is found for the foundation vibration recently and for the wave propagation here. A simple and effective method that introduces the damping proportional to the stiffness matrix in the finite element method is given to cure such coupling instability completely. The stabilized damping is so small that it does not affect the solution accuracy nearly. The numerical examples show the instability phenomenon and indicate the effectiveness of the damping method. The time-domain stability studies here can be a reference for the other artificial boundary conditions.
THE ROLE OF BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION FOR PRODUCT INNOVATION PERFORMANCE
Authors: TAVASSOLI SAM , BENGTSSON LARS
Published: March 2018

We analyse the effect of business model innovation (BMI) on the product innovation performance of firms, based on a dynamic capabilities theoretical framework. Our empirical study is based on a large-scale representative sample of cross-industry Swedish firms participating in three waves of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) from 2008 to 2012. We hypothesise that BMI in the form of product innovations combined with different complementary and simultaneous innovations in processes, marketing and organisation will act as isolating mechanisms towards replication by competitors, resulting in superior firm performance. Our findings provide support for such hypothesis. BMI is significantly and positively associated with superior product innovation performance. Managers should frame and align product innovations in BMI context, i.e., dynamically adapting product innovations with process, marketing and organisation innovations.
Primes in higher-order progressions on average
Authors: Zhou Nian Hong
Published: March 2018

In this paper, we establish some theorems on the distribution of primes in higher-order progressions on average.
Galois realizations with inertia groups of order two
Authors: König Joachim , Rabayev Daniel , Sonn Jack
Published: March 2018

There are several variants of the inverse Galois problem which involve restrictions on ramification. In this paper, we give sufficient conditions that a given finite group [Formula: see text] occurs infinitely often as a Galois group over the rationals [Formula: see text] with all nontrivial inertia groups of order [Formula: see text]. Notably any such realization of [Formula: see text] can be translated up to a quadratic field over which the corresponding realization of [Formula: see text] is unramified. The sufficient conditions are imposed on a parametric polynomial with Galois group [Formula: see text] — if such a polynomial is available — and the infinitely many realizations come from infinitely many specializations of the parameter in the polynomial. This will be applied to the three finite simple groups [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Finally, the applications to [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are used to prove the existence of infinitely many optimally intersective realizations of these groups over the rational numbers (proved for [Formula: see text] by the first author in [J. König, On intersective polynomials with nonsolvable Galois group, Comm. Alg. 46(6) (2018) 2405–2416.
China’s Economy 2018: Stabilising Slowdown to Gear up for a New Mode of Growth
Authors: WONG John
Published: March 2018

China’s economy ended 2017 with 6.9% strong growth, having successfully stabilised its gradual growth deceleration from 2012. The rebound was partly the successful outcome of macroeconomic rebalancing towards domestic demand-driven growth based on rising consumption. The general policy tone for 2018 is not so pro-growth as higher quality economic growth is preferred. To fulfil his “China Dream”, Xi Jinping has a three-stage economic roadmap for the long-term development of China’s economy. For this, China needs to cultivate new sources of economic growth and make innovation and technological progress along with furthering structural reforms.
Japan in 2017: Successes and Scandals
Authors: LAM Peng Er
Published: March 2018

Notwithstanding two personal scandals, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo won the October Lower House Election thanks to the North Korean nuclear “threat” and a fragmented political opposition. Both China and Japan now have strong and powerful top leaders in President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Presumably, both have a freer hand to rein in the nationalist elements within their countries and broker deals and compromises. Sino-Japanese relations might well be on the mend.
Computational investigation of noise interaction for a nano counter-rotating rotor in a static condition
Authors: Liu Zhen , Bu Chen , Kong Xiangxu , Yang Dong , Li Bingfei
Published: March 2018

The interaction between the upper and lower rotors greatly influences the aeroacoustic characteristics of a counter-rotating nano-coaxial rotor. To study this influence, a numerical investigation was carried out. The unsteady flow field of a single upper rotor was first studied with a large-eddy simulation computational fluid dynamics method coupled with a sliding-mesh technique. The Ffowcs Williams–Hawking equation method was used to investigate the aeroacoustic characteristics of the upper rotor based on the flow field. An experimental setup was established to validate the computational approach. The experimental results matched well with the computational results. Additionally, results show that the peak value of the total sound pressure level appeared near the blade tip, which verified that the tip vortex was one of the most important sources of rotor noise. Then the aeroacoustic noise of the nano-coaxial rotor was studied numerically. It was found that the total sound pressure level of the nano-coaxial rotor was greater than that of the upper rotor. Flow field analysis showed that the shedding vortices of the upper rotor interacted with the lower rotor, resulting in a blade–vortex interaction. It was evident that the aeroacoustic noise was enhanced by the interference between the upper and lower rotors.
Early Recognition of 3D Human Actions
Authors: Li Sheng , Li Kang , Fu Yun
Published: March 2018

Action recognition is an important research problem of human motion analysis (HMA). In recent years, 3D observation-based action recognition has been receiving increasing interest in the multimedia and computer vision communities, due to the recent advent of cost-effective sensors, such as depth camera Kinect. This work takes this one step further, focusing on early recognition of ongoing 3D human actions, which is beneficial for a large variety of time-critical applications, e.g., gesture-based human machine interaction, somatosensory games, and so forth. Our goal is to infer the class label information of 3D human actions with partial observation of temporally incomplete action executions. By considering 3D action data as multivariate time series (m.t.s.) synchronized to a shared common clock (frames), we propose a stochastic process called dynamic marked point process (DMP) to model the 3D action as temporal dynamic patterns, where both timing and strength information are captured. To achieve even more early and better accuracy of recognition, we also explore the temporal dependency patterns between feature dimensions. A probabilistic suffix tree is constructed to represent sequential patterns among features in terms of the variable-order Markov model (VMM). Our approach and several baselines are evaluated on five 3D human action datasets. Extensive results show that our approach achieves superior performance for early recognition of 3D human actions.
Smartphones, contents of the mind, and the fifth amendment
Authors: Wicker Stephen B.
Published: March 2018

Exploring the connection qualities between smartphones and their users.
Sequential Articulated Motion Reconstruction from a Monocular Image Sequence
Authors: Su Yong , Feng Zhiyong , Zhang Jianhai , Peng Weilong , Xing Meng
Published: March 2018

In this article, we present a sequential approach for articulated motion estimation from a 2D skeleton sequence. This is a challenging task due to the complexity of human movements and the inherent depth ambiguities. The proposed approach models the human movement on a kinematic manifold with the tangent bundle, which is a natural geometrical representation of articulated motion. Combined with a second-order stochastic dynamic model based on the Markov hypothesis, we generalize the Extended Rauch Tung Striebel smoother to a Riemannian manifold to simulate the process of human movement. The human motor system might violate the Markov hypothesis when the human body is subject to external forces, and therefore a refinement stage is introduced to correct the estimation error. Specifically, the current estimation is refined in a feasible solution region consisting of a set of local estimations. This region is called a simplex, in which each element can be represented by a convex hull of all ingredients. We have proved that the refinement problem can be converted into a convex optimization problem with the simplicial constraint. Since the proposed formulation conforms to the principles of kinematic and spatio-temporal continuity of articulated motion, the reconstruction ambiguity can be alleviated essentially. The performance of the proposed algorithm is conducted on multiple synthetic sequences from the CMU and the HDM05 MoCap databases. The results show that, without requiring any training data, the proposed approach achieves greater accuracy over state-of-the-art baselines. Furthermore, the proposed approach outperforms two baselines on real sequences from the Human3.6m MoCap database.
EngageMon
Authors: Huynh Sinh , Kim Seungmin , Ko JeongGil , Balan Rajesh Krishna , Lee Youngki
Published: March 2018

Understanding the engagement levels players have with a game is a useful proxy for evaluating the game design and user experience. This is particularly important for mobile games as an alternative game is always just an easy download away. However, engagement is a subjective concept and usually requires fine-grained highly disruptive interviews or surveys to determine accurately. In this paper, we present EngageMon, a first-of-its-kind system that uses a combination of sensors from the smartphone (touch events), a wristband (photoplethysmography and electrodermal activity sensor readings), and an external depth camera (skeletal motion information) to accurately determine the engagement level of a mobile game player. Our design was guided by feedback obtained from interviewing 22 mobile game developers, testers, and designers. We evaluated EngageMon using data collected from 64 participants (54 in a lab-setting study and another 10 in a more natural setting study) playing six games from three different categories including endless runner, 3D motorcycle racing, and casual puzzle. Using all three sets of sensors, EngageMon was able to achieve an average accuracy of 85% and 77% under cross-sample and cross-subject evaluations respectively. Overall, EngageMon can accurately determine the engagement level of mobiles users while they are actively playing a game.
ProCMotive
Authors: Mosenia Arsalan , Bechara Jad F. , Zhang Tao , Mittal Prateek , Chiang Mung
Published: March 2018

In recent years, numerous vehicular technologies, e.g., cruise control and steering assistant, have been proposed and deployed to improve the driving experience, passenger safety, and vehicle performance. Despite the existence of several novel vehicular applications in the literature, there still exists a significant gap between resources needed for a variety of vehicular (in particular, data-dominant, latency-sensitive, and computationally-heavy) applications and the capabilities of already-in-market vehicles. To address this gap, different smartphone-/Cloud-based approaches have been proposed that utilize the external computational/storage resources to enable new applications. However, their acceptance and application domain are still very limited due to programmability, wireless connectivity, and performance limitations, along with several security/privacy concerns.

In this paper, we present a novel reference architecture that can potentially enable rapid development of various vehicular applications while addressing shortcomings of smartphone-/Cloud-based approaches. The architecture is formed around a core component, called SmartCore, a privacy/security-friendly programmable dongle that brings general-purpose computational and storage resources to the vehicle and hosts in-vehicle applications. Based on the proposed architecture, we develop an application development framework for vehicles, that we call ProCMotive. ProCMotive enables developers to build customized vehicular applications along the Cloud-to-edge continuum, i.e., different functions of an application can be distributed across SmartCore, the user's personal devices, and the Cloud.

In order to highlight potential benefits that the framework provides, we design and develop two different vehicular applications based on ProCMotive, namely, Amber Response and Insurance Monitor. We evaluate these applications using real-world data and compare them with state-of-the-art technologies.
Finding the Sweet Spot(s)
Authors: Paruthi Gaurav , Raj Shriti , Colabianchi Natalie , Klasnja Predrag , Newman Mark W.
Published: March 2018

Creating actionable plans has been shown to be helpful in promoting physical activity. However, little rèsearch has been done on how best to support the creation and execution of plans. In this paper, we interviewed 16 participants to study the role that context plays in the formulation and execution of plans for physical activity. Our findings highlight nuanced ways that contextual factors interact with each other and with individual differences to impact planning. We propose the notion of sweet spots to encapsulate how particular contextual factors converge to create optimal states for performing physical activities. The concept of sweet spots helped us to better understand the creation and execution of plans made by our participants. We present design guidelines to show how sweet spots can help support physical activity planning and guide the design of context-based tools for planning support.
Employing Consumer Wearables to Detect Office Workers' Cognitive Load for Interruption Management
Authors: Schaule Florian , Johanssen Jan Ole , Bruegge Bernd , Loftness Vivian
Published: March 2018

Office workers' productivity and well-being are reduced by interruptions, especially if they occur during an inconvenient moment. Interruptions in phases of high cognitive load are more disruptive than in phases of low cognitive load. Based on an explorative study, we suppose the presence of social codes that signal office workers' interruptibility. We propose a system that utilizes the cognitive load of an office worker to indicate situations suitable for interruptions. The cognitive load is inferred from office workers' physiological state measured by a consumer smartwatch. The system adapts an externally mounted smart device to indicate if the office worker is interruptible. To predict the cognitive load, we trained a classifier with ten office workers and achieved an accuracy between 66% and 86%. In order to validate the classifier's accurateness in an office setting, we performed a verification study with five office workers: We systematically triggered interruptions for each subject over an interval of half a day of office work. The classifier was able to infer the level of cognitive load for three office workers. This result supports our hypotheses that inferring cognitive load using a consumer smartwatch is a viable concept.
Employing Opportunistic Charging for Electric Taxicabs to Reduce Idle Time
Authors: Yan Li , Shen Haiying , Li Zhuozhao , Sarker Ankur , Stankovic John A. , Qiu Chenxi , Zhao Juanjuan , Xu Chengzhong
Published: March 2018

For electric taxicabs, the idle time spent on cruising for passengers, seeking chargers, and charging is wasteful. Previous works can only save cruising time through better routing, or charger seeking and charging time through proper charger deployment, but not for both. With the advancement of wireless charging techniques, efficient opportunistic charging of electric vehicles at their parked positions becomes possible. This enables a taxicab to get charged while waiting for the next passenger. In this paper, we present an opportunistic wireless charger deployment scheme in a city, which both maximizes the taxicabs' opportunity of picking up passengers at the chargers and supports the taxicabs' continuous operability on roads, while minimizing the total deployment cost. We studied a metropolitan-scale taxicab dataset on several factors important for deploying wireless chargers and determining the numbers of the chargers in the regions: the number of passengers, the functionalities of buildings, and the frequency of passenger appearance in a region, and taxicab traffic flows in a city. Then, we formulate a multi-objective optimization problem and find the solution. Our trace-driven experiments demonstrate the superior performance of our scheme over other representative methods in terms of reducing idle time and supporting the operability of the taxicabs.
QGesture
Authors: Yu Nan , Wang Wei , Liu Alex X. , Kong Lingtao
Published: March 2018

Many HCI applications, such as volume adjustment in a gaming system, require quantitative gesture measurement for metrics such as movement distance and direction. In this paper, we propose QGesture, a gesture recognition system that uses CSI values provided by COTS WiFi devices to measure the movement distance and direction of human hands. To achieve high accuracy in measurements, we first use phase correction algorithm to remove the phase noise in CSI measurements. We then propose a robust estimation algorithm, called LEVD, to estimate and remove the impact of environmental dynamics. To separate gesture movements from daily activities, we design simple gestures with unique characteristics as preambles to determine the start of the gesture. Our experimental results show that QGesture achieves an average accuracy of 3 cm in the measurement of movement distance and more than 95% accuracy in the movement direction detection in the one-dimensional case. Furthermore, it achieves an average absolute direction error of 15 degrees and an average accuracy of 3.7 cm in the measurement of movement distance in the two-dimensional case.
Uptake of Engineered Nanoparticles by Food Crops: Characterization, Mechanisms, and Implications
Authors: Ma Chuanxin , White Jason C. , Zhao Jian , Zhao Qing , Xing Baoshan
Published: March 2018

With the rapidly increasing demand for and use of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) in agriculture and related sectors, concerns over the risks to agricultural systems and to crop safety have been the focus of a number of investigations. Significant evidence exists for NP accumulation in soils, including potential particle transformation in the rhizosphere and within terrestrial plants, resulting in subsequent uptake by plants that can yield physiological deficits and molecular alterations that directly undermine crop quality and food safety. In this review, we document in vitro and in vivo characterization of NPs in both growth media and biological matrices; discuss NP uptake patterns, biotransformation, and the underlying mechanisms of nanotoxicity; and summarize the environmental implications of the presence of NPs in agricultural ecosystems. A clear understanding of nano-impacts, including the advantages and disadvantages, on crop plants will help to optimize the safe and sustainable application of nanotechnology in agriculture for the purposes of enhanced yield production, disease suppression, and food quality.
Protectin DX attenuates LPS-induced inflammation and insulin resistance in adipocytes via AMPK-mediated suppression of the NF-κB pathway
Authors: Jung Tae Woo , Chung Yoon Hee , Kim Hyoung-Chun , Abd El-Aty A. M. , Jeong Ji Hoon
Published: March 2018

Several studies have demonstrated that protectins, ω-3 fatty acid-derived proresolution mediators, may ameliorate inflammation. Recently, protectin DX (PDX) was also reported to attenuate inflammation and insulin resistance in several cell types. However, the effects of PDX on inflammation in adipocytes remain ambiguous. In this study, we found that PDX treatment suppressed adipogenesis and lipid accumulation during 3T3-L1 differentiation. Treatment of differentiated 3T3-L1 cells with PDX stimulated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner. PDX-induced AMPK phosphorylation blocked lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. Treatment of 3T3-L1 cells with PDX alleviated LPS-induced NF-κB and inhibitory factor κB phosphorylation. Furthermore, PDX treatment diminished LPS-induced impairment of insulin signaling and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, as well as fatty acid oxidation. These effects were decreased by silencing AMPK expression with small-interfering RNA. In conclusion, the current findings suggest that PDX attenuates inflammation and insulin resistance in adipocytes via an AMPK-dependent pathway, which in turn provides evidence that PDX has anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic effects in adipocytes.
Development of Design Methodology for a Small Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Authors: Rajendran Parvathy , Smith Howard
Published: March 2018

Existing mathematical design models for small solar-powered electric unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) only focus on mass, performance, and aerodynamic analyses. Presently, UAV designs have low endurance. The current study aims to improve the shortcomings of existing UAV design models. Three new design aspects (i.e., electric propulsion, sensitivity, and trend analysis), three improved design properties (i.e., mass, aerodynamics, and mission profile), and a design feature (i.e., solar irradiance) are incorporated to enhance the existing small solar UAV design model. A design validation experiment established that the use of the proposed mathematical design model may at least improve power consumption-to-take-off mass ratio by 25% than that of previously designed UAVs. UAVs powered by solar (solar and battery) and nonsolar (battery-only) energy were also compared, showing that nonsolar UAVs can generally carry more payloads at a particular time and place than solar UAVs with sufficient endurance requirement. The investigation also identified that the payload results in the highest effect on the maximum take-off weight, followed by the battery, structure, and propulsion weight with the three new design aspects (i.e., electric propulsion, sensitivity, and trend analysis) for sizing consideration to optimize UAV designs.
Study on Breakdown Probability of Multimaterial Electrodes in EDM
Authors: Liu Y. , Wang W. , Zhang W. , Ma F. , Wang Y. , Rolfe B. , Zhang S.
Published: March 2018

With the development of EDM technology, some multimaterial electrodes which have some special functions are regularly taking the place of traditional single material electrodes on some machining occasions and becoming widely used. In this paper, the influence of material on discharge breakdown in EDM with multimaterial electrodes is studied. A comparison model about material influence on discharge breakdown under both single discharge condition and continuous discharge condition is established, and the material property factors affecting the probability of discharge breakdown are also analyzed. Finally, a series of experiments are carried out to study the effects of different electrode materials on the discharge breakdown of EDM, a fitting formula of breakdown probability is presented, and the effectiveness of the comparison model is also verified by comparing with experimental results.
Effects of Packaging on Shelf Life and Postharvest Qualities of Radish Roots during Storage at Low Temperature for an Extended Period
Authors: Chandra Dulal , Lee Jung-Soo , Choi Hyun Jin , Kim Ji Gang
Published: March 2018

To investigate the effects of packaging on the quality aspects of radish, Korean radish roots (Raphanus sativusL. var. Kwandong) were stored at 0°C after different packaging treatments such as keeping in paper cartoon box (control), keeping in plastic crates (PC), packaging with micro perforated HDPE film in PC (HDPE + PC), curing followed by keeping in PC (Curing + PC), and curing followed by packaging with micro perforated HDPE film in PC (Curing + HDPE + PC). Weight losses of radish roots were remarkably lower (<3%) in both HDPE film packaged samples compared to that of control (10%) or without film (≈18%).L⁎values, whiteness index, total soluble solids, and flesh and skin firmness were better maintained in Curing + HDPE + PC treatment compared to other treatments. Lower color difference values were also found in this treatment. Both film packaged samples had lower scores of black spot, surface shrinkage, and fungal infection incidence which revealed significantly longer marketable periods. HDPE film packaged samples exhibited longer shelf life more than one and two months compared to control and unpacked samples, respectively. Results suggest that HDPE film packaging can extend postharvest life of radish while curing might have little but beneficial effects in maintaining the quality characteristics. To our knowledge, this is the first report on quality evaluation of Korean radish during an extended storage period simulating the Korean industrial practices.
Applicability of Ammonia Sensors for Controlling Environmental Parameters in Accommodations for Lamb Fattening
Authors: García-Ramos F. Javier , Aguirre A. Javier , Barreiro Pilar , Horcas Esperanza , Boné Antonio , Vidal Mariano
Published: March 2018

Electrochemical ammonia sensors were used to analyse the existing relationship between the ammonia concentration and ambient levels of both temperature and relative humidity in commercial lamb fattening housing equipped with mechanical ventilation and straw-bedded pens. In the first stage of the experiment, sensors were placed over straw beds covered in lamb urine and analysed under laboratory conditions in order to determine ammonia emission evolution over time; three control temperatures (25, 35, and 50°C) were used. A HOBO H8 temperature and relative humidity logger and a Dräger NH3LC-6809680 electrochemical ammonia sensor placed in a Dräger Polytron 7000 gas detector were utilized as sensors. A positive correlation was established between both ammonia emission time and emitted amount with temperature. Additionally, tests were performed in a commercial lamb housing to determine ammonia concentration variation with respect to height from the ground; three ammonia sensors placed at 50, 90, and 135 cm above the ground were used simultaneously. The ammonia concentration significantly decreased as height increased. A 90 cm height was selected, and three ammonia probes were placed in three different pens inside the livestock housing, along with temperature and relative humidity sensors; four different housing ventilation rates were then tested under real conditions over a time period of 4 months. An adjustment polynomial equation between the housing ambient temperature and the ammonia concentration was obtained with R2 = 0.632. In conclusion, a relationship can be established between temperature and ammonia concentration in commercial lamb housing under certain handling conditions, which in turn allows for estimating the ammonia concentration adequately based on the ambient internal temperature.