bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Semen quality indicators associated with reduced body weight in young infertile men with pathozoospermia, postpubertal visceral obesity and normal andrological history
Authors: Bobkov D. N. , Rozhivanov R. V. , Savelyeva L. V.
Published: March 2021

Background: Considering the negative impact of visceral obesity on fertility, it is important to study semen quality indicators associated with reduced body weight.

Aims: Evaluation of semen quality indicators associated with reduced body weight in patients with infertility, postpubertal visceral obesity and normal andrological history.

Materials and methods: 33 infertile men under 30 years with post-pubertal and alimentary visceral obesity were included into retrospective case-control study. All patients have been followed through a six month weight loss program (hypocaloric diet, daily aerobic physical activity). The waist circumference, blood lipid levels, seminal antioxidant capacity and scanning electron microscopy analysis were determined before and after weight loss program. At the end of the study, patients were divided into two groups according to weight loss. The first group reduced their body weight by 5% or more (n=16), second group didn’t achieve the goal (n=17).

Results: Statistically significant differences were identified in the ejaculate parameters between patients of two groups. Though at the time of initiation of medical intervention two groups were comparable except for body mass, after six months in the first group the number of sperm in 1 ml ejaculate, morphologically normal forms and the total antioxidant capacity of ejaculate increased while the number of sperm DNA integrity decreased.

Conclusion: In young men with postpubertal visceral obesity and normal andrological history clinically significant body weight reduction is associated with improved semen quality indicators.
Degradation evaluation of high voltage insulating oils by terahertz spectroscopy
Authors: Chul Kim Ki
Published: March 2021

Background/Objectives: The stable electrical power supply is the most important issue for modern industrial society employing various electrical appliance. The power transformer is one of the most important component in the electrical power supply system.Methods/Statistical analysis: The common diagnosis method of insulating oil of transformer is gas-chromatograph. The gas-chromatograph is performed to detect dissolved gas ininsulating oil of transformerduring the stop-period of transformer unit. In this research, the optical properties of insulating oils of transformer (unused new oil, used oil of normal operation, and waste oil of malfunction) are analyzed using a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the range of 0.1 ~ 3.0 THz.Findings: The new insulating oil is colorless and transparent. The used insulating oil and waste insulating oil exhibit dark yellow and brown color. The THz sample pulses are delayed of phase and reduced of amplitude compare to passing through the free space. The reduce of amplitude is attributed to increasing of absorption due to aging effect of oils. The refractive index and absorption coefficient of insulating oils are calculated from measured THz pulses. The refractive index of ‘new or used oil’ exhibits a constant value of 1.455 and 1.463 in the full frequency range. But refractive index of ‘waste oil’ exhibits various values of 1.466 ~ 1.485 with the frequency, which is relatively high. The normalized amplitude of waste insulating oil is reduced. The absorption coefficient of waste insulating oil is increased linearly with the increase of frequency. The reducing of THz amplitude is attributed to increase of absorption due to aging effect of oils.Improvements/Applications: The aging effect of insulating oils of transformer is characterized by the portable THz-TDS system. It can be applied to in situ monitoring of insulating oil conditions.
Development of e-sport platform based on virtual reality with functionality
Authors: Ho Kim Yong , Won Bang Gul
Published: March 2021

Background/Objectives: National health promotion through physical activities and expanding social participation as well as improvement of public welfare are emerging as important factors in meeting the needs of the times.Government policy and support measures for invigoratingphysical activities of the disabled and the aged are required in public interest. Therefore the development of e-sport machines combined with interest and its contentsis required as not only an infrastructure of physical activity which is able to be national sports as one man one sport but a new sport core technology.Methods/Statistical analysis: Eco-friendly device is adapted for realizing the sense of power of exercise in consideration of sense of using device like a real play and the effect of exercise. Background and character which reflect sport stadium and participating player to enhance a reality and color is realized. Color design for affective appraisals of the elderly is used.Findings: This study makes it possible not only to measure cognitive dysfunction such as dementia of the aged and memory deterioration but to develop the game which can be improved cognitive function through the measurement but to contribute national health improvement. It will be also considered to be able to secure baseline data in development environment forvirtual reality game product, including kinesthetic sense against the national game industry concentrated in online game. The development of tangible content and interface technology based on physical and psychologicalcondition ofthe aged also makes it possible to use indicator for requiring content in silver industryas well as development of sporting goods.It will be utilized data for the development of the applied technique of realistic content with functionality.Improvements/Applications: The game of sports is further developed after considering physical condition of the each elderly andit is expected to develop popular indoor sports and rehabilitation program.
Performance measurement using dpdk in software-defined local and wide area networks
Authors: Hyeon Kim Ki , Kim Dongkyun , Hwan Kim Yong , Kim Joobum
Published: March 2021

Background/Objectives: For data center-based enterprises, the use of data traffic continues to increase. As a result, the increasingly efficient processing of increasing data traffic is becoming a major issue. Effective processing of traffic can be performed through the addition of physical network equipment, but this requires considerable costs.Methods/Statistical analysis: To solve this problem, researches on server virtualization and network virtualization technology are being actively conducted. However, while network virtualization is a cost-effective solution, open-source virtual switches used in network virtualization technologies have the performance penalty because they handle packets at the kernel of server's operating system. As a result, the Intel has developed the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) technology to address the performance degradation of the operating system.Findings: In this paper, we propose the DPDK performance test environment based on Open Virtual Switch (OVS) to verify the stability and performance of the DPDK-oriented virtualization technology, in association with a new KREONET-S project which aims tothe softwarization of the Korea Research Environment Open Network (KREONET) infrastructure.Improvements/Applications: We perform conducted experiments on Software-Defined Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) environment using KREONET-S show the result.
Development of security camera combined beacon signal for transmission of disaster and crime situation as well as tracking location
Authors: Ho Kim Yong , Won Bang Gul
Published: March 2021

Background/Objectives: There is the needs for the service to send text message of location to guardian and acquaintance, and police station by waving smartphone quicklyin emergency circumstances that are on the cards at the moment.Methods/Statistical analysis: Android marshmallow version 6.0.1 in Samsung galaxy S6 smartphone is used to test beacon convergent security camera. Used application is Beacon Finder and test result of address and UUID in beacon is normally generated and found that the values have normal output.Findings: Development of security camera combined beacon signal for transmission of disaster and crime situation as well as tracking location is development in this study. Design of firmware for beacon signal transmitting device is implemented to achieve the goal. CCTV security camera with beacon signal through circuit design of CCTV and beacon interface is manufactured. Circuit design of beacon signal transmitting device based on Bluetooth 4.0 is implemented to develop an independent device.Improvements/Applications: Development of security camera combined beacon signal for transmission of disaster and crime situation as well as tracking location is development in this study. Design of firmware for beacon signal transmitting device is implemented to achieve the goal.Foundation technique in the field of home network, USN, and LED lighting control is possible to secure as various technique element for ubiquitous related convergence technology in the field of home electronic appliance with digital information is included
Mat lab/simulink based fault analysis of pv grid with intelligent fuzzy logic control mppt
Authors: Priyadarshi Neeraj , Kr. Sharma Amarjeet , Kr. Bhoi Akash , N. Ahmad S , Azam Farooque , Priyam S
Published: March 2021

This paper mainly presents the fault analysis of Photovoltaic (PV) grid power system. The fuzzy logic controller (FLC) based intelligent maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm has been employed in this work. Moreover, the hysteresis controller has been implemented for inverter control. Simulation results based on MATLAB/SIMULINK justify the effectiveness of the proposed PV power system under different fault operating conditions.
Power quality problems mitigation using dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) with pi controller and fuzzy logic controller
Authors: Jaswini Sarwade Te , S. Jape V , G. Bharadwaj D
Published: March 2021

The existence of non-standard currents, frequencies and voltages enhances the Power Quality (PQ) problems. Power consumed by the consumers and losses occurred in power system are deciding factors for the utility to determine the performance of the power system in terms of Power Quality. These Power Quality problems lead to failure of end user equipments as well as creates disturbances in power distribution network, thereby deteriorates residual life assessment of major equipments used in substation. The PQ problems can be characterized as voltage surges, sags, swells, harmonic distortions, etc. There are many reasons for the determination of Power Quality. The loads used by the consumers of electricity abnormally leads to deprove the Power Quality. Low power factor loads are taken care of by the utilities in the form of financial penalty. However, occurrence of harmonics, voltage swells and sags in the system is the most powerful reason behind degradation of Power Quality. To mitigate these issues, use of Custom Power Devices (CPD) in the distribution network is the most significant solution. Paper presents the design of the CPD like Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) using two control strategies i.e. PI Controller and Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). MATLAB/SIMULINK is used to analyze the effectiveness of these control strategies.
Implementation of data path components of ARM7 microprocessor using sub threshold current mode logic with sleep transistor technique
Authors: A. Jyotsna K , Satish Kumar P , K. Madhavi B , Bano Sana
Published: March 2021

The latest Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) technology trends have been moving towards making devices cheaper and more powerful for everyone to afford them. So the ultimate focus being reducing power consumption by the gadgets. With the added feature of transistors to be structured in 3D, the Moore’s law is to be continued. Hence, Leakage currents are a major concern with the increasing number of transistors per chip when the technology is scaled, static power dissipation needs to be monitored. Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) Processors have been giving a new definition to smart phones, tablets and other embedded applications. This paper presents a novel technique focusing on low power technology, developing an ARM7 microprocessor using Sleep transistor with Sub threshold Current Mode Logic (STCML) technique in 45nm technology using Cadence Virtuoso Tool. The simulation results have been observed on Spectre simulator and power has been calculated in Analog Design Environment (ADE L).
Implementation of ISLIP scheduler for NOC router on FPGA
Authors: M. Shahane Priti , Pisharoty Narayan
Published: March 2021

Network on chip (NoC) effectively replaces a traditional bus based architecture in System on chip (SoC). The NoC provides a solution to the communication bottleneck of the bus based interconnection in SoC, where large numbers of Intellectual modules are integrated on a single chip for better performance. In NoC architecture, the router is a dominant component, which should provide contention free architecture with low latency. The router consists of input block, scheduler and crossbar switch. The design of scheduler leads the performance of the NoC router in terms of latency. Hence the starvation free scheduler is paramount importantin the NoC router design. iSLIP (Iterative serial line internet protocol) scheduler has programmable priority encoder which makes it fast and efficient scheduler over round robin arbiter. In this paper 2x4 NoC router using iSLIPscheduler is proposed. The proposed design is implemented using the Verilog programming on Xilinx Spartan 3 device.
Design and modeling uninterrupted power system with IEC 61850-7-420
Authors: Sung Lim Hyun , Ho Ryu In , Ho Bang Jun
Published: March 2021

Background/Objectives: Micro-grid is new electrical networks with Distributed Energy Resources(DERs) like photovoltaic, energy storage, small generator. IEC 61850 is international standard of integrated power system with various DERs.Methods/Statistical analysis: Many researches are being conducted about modeling Distributed Energy Resource and designing system operation and protection method. So, we need integrated system modeling with IEC 61850-7-420 and design uninterrupted system with Photovoltaic, Energy Storage System, Generator.Findings: To operate DERs with uninterrupted system, it required electrical facility like Closed Transition Transfer Switch (CTTS). CTTS performs an uninterrupted switching operation between two power sources. International Electrical Code 61850-7-420 described some DERs model and LNs (logical nodes) and data classes. This logical nodes and data classes are effective in modeling DERs. So, this paper describes uninterrupted system for mapped IEC 61850 and considers LNs in existence and new logical nodes.Improvements/Applications: The proposed uninterrupted systems combined the DERs with IEC 61850 and the systems are applicable to Micro-grid system
Microwave Irradiation Assisted Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Bio-Oils from Chlorella Vulgaris Microalgae
Authors: N. Ibrahim S. , A. Radzun K. , Ismail K.
Published: March 2021

Chlorella vulgaris is one of the promising microalgae strains that can produce high yield of bio-oils. The C. vulgaris was pretreated with microwave irradiation prior to extraction using supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed microwave irradiation pretreatment does not affect the material composition of C. vulgaris. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the microwave irradiation pretreated microalgae showed an agglomeration of the cells with the cells shape became distorted due to rupturing of the cell walls. Optimization of the SCCO2 process parameters (pressure, temperature and CO2 flow rate) was performed by using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD). Two factors significantly affecting the extraction yield were temperature and pressure. The model equation also predicted the optimum condition for the SCCO2 (without microwave pretreatment) at 70 , 5676 psi and 7 sL/ min while optimum condition for SCCO2 (microwave irradiation pretreatment) at 63 , 5948 psi and 10 sL/ min. High amount of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), -linolenic acid and palmitoleic acid were found in the extracted oil with microwave irradiation pre-treatment sample.  In addition, the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content in the microwave irradiation pretreated oil was considerably low and is desirable for biodiesel production.
Physicochemical Properties and Sensory Evaluation of Banana Peel Flour Biscuits
Authors: Khadijah Syed Abu Bakar Syarifah , Ahmad Noorlaila , Jailani Fadhilah
Published: March 2021

Banana peels consist of valuable bioactive compounds and yet remain underutilised. This study investigated the effect of banana peel flour incorporation into biscuit formulation. The physicochemical properties and sensorial acceptability of biscuits produced at the different level of substitution (0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%) of Banana Peel Flour (BPF) were determined. The ash content (1.66% to 2.11%), moisture content (2.13% to 2.66%), fat content (24.2% to 30.7%) and total dietary fiber content (1.83 g/100g to 4.70 g/100g) in biscuits increased when the level of BPF substitution increased. The texture analysis demonstrated that BPF-containing biscuits had significantly higher value in hardness (1071.15 to 1300.61g) than control biscuit (992.69 g). İn contrast, the study showed a significant decrease in fracturability, lightness, width and height as the concentration of BPF increased. Sensory evaluation indicated that biscuit incorporated with BPF up to 20% level did not affect the appearance, taste, texture and overall acceptability ratings by the panelists. İn conclusion, BPF can be used as a functional ingredient and partially substituted wheat flour in biscuit production.
Investigating Students’ Difficulties in Understanding Confidence Intervals in Linear Regression Models
Authors: Rashidah Paujah @ Ismail Nor , Abdol Razak Fadzilah , Baharun Norhayati
Published: March 2021

How do tertiary students perform when finding confidence intervals of linear regression models? Do they have strong understanding on how to compute the interval and provide good explanation on the interval obtained? To answer these questions, 197 answer scripts were examined to investigate students’ ability to calculate the confidence interval of the regression slope and their ability to make comprehensive interpretation afterwards. It was found that only 48% of the students managed to compute the confidence interval correctly. The errors made by most of the students were caused by the failure to identify the correct degrees of freedom and the failure to evaluate the correct value of the standard error of the slope. Of those who were able to compute the correct values, the percentage that were able to give complete and correct interpretation dropped to only 7.1%. 68.5% of them provided incorrect interpretations which showed their inability to understand the concept of regression slope. It is hoped that this study will give some ideas to educators in providing better understanding on computing and interpreting the confidence interval among students.
Low Income Community as Crowd Worker for Crowdsourcing: Issues, Challenges and Future Direction
Authors: Zakariah Zazaleena , Janom Norjansalika , Habibah Arshad Noor
Published: March 2021

World are now facing flood of low income community responding to current global issue regarding employment. Considering the advantages of crowdsourcing, it has been identified as one potential solution to the issue. Responding to that, the concept has been implemented in many developing countries that have high rate of low income community such as India, Nepal and Philippines. Through crowdsourcing, business and individual can achieve greater and higher productivity in faster and shorter period. Crowdsourcing offer flexibility in terms of time, locations and durations of doing tasks and the most important is crowdsourcing will give additional income to complement existing income that will help to uplift one’s lifestyle hence reduce the rate of low income community. However, focusing on low income community as crowd worker for crowdsourcing require depth understanding on varies factors such as crowd education levels, skills, attitudes, language and etcetera. Visibly, there are numerous issues and challenges in the implementation process. Thus, this study aims to discuss the issues and challenges when dealing with low income community as crowd worker. This study presents seven vital factors that need to be taken into deliberation when dealing with low income community. The results and discussion from this study can be used as a road map to prepare an action plan for a successful crowdsourcing implementation for low income community.
Multivariate Matrix for Fuzzy Linear Regression Model to Analyse The Taxation in Malaysia
Authors: Hidayah Mohamed Isa Noor , Othman Mahmod , Ariffin Abdul Karim Samsul
Published: March 2021

A multivariate matrix is proposed to find the best factor for fuzzy linear regression (FLR) with symmetric triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs). The goal of this paper is to select the best factor influence tax revenue among four variables. Eighteen years’ data of the variables from IndexMundi and World Bank Data. It is found that the model is successfully explained between independent variables and response variable. It is notices that  sixty-six percent of the variance of tax revenue is explained by Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, Unemployment and Merchandise Trade. The introduction of multivariate matrix for fuzzy linear regression in taxation is a first attempt to analyses the relationship the tax revenue with the independent variables.
Blended binder system with Incinerated Paper Ash (IPA) for Solidification/Stabilization (S/S)
Authors: Mat Zin Mazni , Zafyrah Mohd Zahid Azyan , Khalid Noorashiekin , Zalikha Saifullizam Nadia , Syarizawani Wan Chik Wan , Farahin Kamaruddin Siti , Shahidah Sharipudin Siti , Mayuze Nor , Johan Ibrahim Mohd , Jumali Saiful , Ain Umaiban Yusof Nurul
Published: March 2021

This research explored the potential to use IPA as a binder for the treatment of industrial waste sludge. Within the study, Incinerated Paper Ash (IPA) was used together Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), a main material employed in solidification/stabilization (S/S) methodology to treated industrial ceramic sludge. The issues created by OPC in sustain the surroundings and cost force the new material must replace OPC as binder within the treatment methodology. The impact of the various IPA compositions within the system has been examined. The Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) and Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) were used to assess the viability of IPA in sludge treatment once 28 days. The great result of compressive strength and decrease in heavy metals shows the potential of IPA in OPC replacement.
Ontology Development for Medical and Health Science Domain in the Quran
Authors: Afifi Mohamad Safee Muhammad , Mohd Saudi Madihah , Saadan Kamarudin
Published: March 2021

Ontology is known as a knowledge representation and acts as a sharing platform for common ideas within a similar domain. It has a tree structure to ease the information presentation to users. Nowadays, it is very important to have a consistent and systematic way of presenting and retrieving different sources of knowledge such as the Quran and Hadith. Since there is so much useful information that can be retrieved from the Quran, especially for the Medical and Health Science domain, this paper presents the development of ontology for the Medical and Health Science domain in the Quran by adopting the Ontology 101 approach. These include the scope and domain determination, competency question formulation, ontology construction, and ontology evaluation. The proposed ontology in this paper has successfully retrieved the correct answers for Medical and Health Science using related queries via SPARQL-query and has been evaluated by the domain experts. Furthermore, the ontology structure accuracy has also been verified using reasoner, where it detected inconstancy during ontology development. For future work, this research paper can be used as a reference and basis to answer user queries, data integration with other applications or this ontology can be further expanded.
Slope Stability of an Earth Dam during Drawdown Conditions (KHASA-CHAI Dam) as a Case Study
Authors: Jayed Zedan Adnan , Ridha Faris Mariwan , Amer Abdulsattar Ahmed
Published: March 2021

Aiming in this research was to have a clear view about the behavior of Khasa-Chai Dam during the draw down action taking into consideration the newly built of this dam which was filling during the time of this article, the upstream slope was investigated by taking drawdown of the water from the reservoir. This dam is consists of the zoned embankment with a total length of (2.36 km) with an upstream slope (1v:3h) and downstream slope (1v:2h). Slope stability was investigated during the drawdown of the water from the reservoir by considering the water in the reservoir to be at maximum water level and by taking two cases during the rapid and slow drawdown. SLOPE/W which is a sub program from Geo-Slope software was used in association with SEEP/W software to find the factor of safety of the upstream slip surface during the drawdown conditions. It was noticed from the drawdown conditions that the phreatic line falls almost at the same position for both cases. Also for both cases the factor of safety of the upstream slip surface falls above the value of (1.0) and that is mean the upstream slope is in a safe condition when the water drawdown. The exit gradient and the rate of flow at the downstream face decrease with time as the water in the reservoir drawdown which means the factor of safety against boiling increases with time.Â Â
Elevated Temperature Effects on the Behavior of One-Way Fi-brous Reinforced Concrete Slabs
Authors: Mazin B. Abdul-Rahman Dr. , Alya'a A. Al-attar Dr. , M. Younus Amenah
Published: March 2021

In this research, the effect of elevated temperature on the flexural behavior of one-way reinforced concrete slabs under service static loads contain different volume fraction (0.25% , 0.75% and 1.25%) of steel fibers and different addition ratios (15%, 20% and 25%) of fly ash in addition to the reference slabs with not any additives  was studied. For this purpose, thirty cylinders (150 *300)mm , thirty prisms (100 * 100 * 500)mm and forty one-way slabs (900 * 350 * 70) mm were cast and tested. The one-way tested slabs were divided into two groups. The first group (of twenty slabs) were tested to determine the ultimate flexural strength under static loads at normal temperature. While the second group (of twenty slabs) were tested to determine the flexural behavior of slabs under static service loads at elevated temperature (using burning furnace). In this test, the samples are exposed to rising temperature reached 850℃. From these tests, the relationships between the load and  mid-span deflection as well as the relations between the  fire-time and mid-span deflection are measured. The results showed that the addition of steel fibers and fly ash particles will enhance the flexural behavior of concrete slabs. The highest increase in ultimate load compared to the reference slab was (28.31%) at the volume ratio 1.25% of the steel fibers and 25% of the fly ash at normal temperatures , And the rate of increase of the deflection with fire time was the lowest increase rate is 14.1% at the volume of 1.25% of steel fibers and the proportion of weight 20% of fly ash at high temperature.
Effect of Welding Current on Weldments Properties in MIG and TIG Welding
Authors: Sh. Hasan Aysha , M. Ali Obed , M. Alsaffawi Adnan
Published: March 2021

Welding is an important process commonly used to join the different materials together. There are many methods for welding process;therefore, the specifications of weldments will depend on the type of welding process. In this study, investigation of the effect of electrical current on the weldment mechanical propertieswas conducted. Medium carbon steel & stainless steel were welded using two types of joints (single Lap joint and single v-groove Butt joint). The results showedthat the temperature increased with increasing the electrical current. A significant effect of electrical current on the ultimate tensile strength of the weldments is obtaineddepending on the joint type rather than welding type.Furthermore, there was a noticeable effect for the joining method on the heat generated.The heat generated increases with increasing the electrical current for all weldments (lap & butt) joint in both TIG & MIG welding process. However,the amount of heat generated was for TIG welding process specimens higher than from MIG welding process specimens for Butt and Lap type joints.
Fusion of Airborne Hyperspectral and WorldView2 Multispectral Images for Detailed Urban Land Cover Classification A case Study of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Authors: Mohammed Noori Abbas , Falih Hasan Sumaya , Mahmood Ajaj Qayssar , Ridha Mezaal Mustafa , Z. M. Shafri Helmi , Aidi Shareef Muntadher
Published: March 2021

Detecting the features of urban areas in detail requires very high spatial and spectral resolution in images. Hyperspectral sensors usually offer high spectral resolution images with a low spatial resolution. By contrast, multispectral sensors produce high spatial resolution images with a poor spectral resolution. Therefore, numerous fusion algorithms and techniques have been proposed in recent years to obtain high-quality images with improved spatial and spectral resolutions by sensibly combining the data acquired for the same scene. This work aims to exploit the extracted information from images in an effective way. To achieve this objective, a new algorithm based on transformation was developed. This algorithm primarily depends on the Gram–Schmidt process for fusing images, removing distortions, and improving the appearance of images. Images are first fused by using the Gram–Schmidt pansharpening method. The obtained fused image is utilized in the classification process in different areas by using support vector machine (SVM). The classification result is evaluated using a matrix of errors. The overall accuracy produced from the hyperspectral, multispectral and fused images was 72.33%, 82.83%, and 89.34%, respectively. Results showed that the developed algorithm improved the image enhancement and image fusion. Moreover, the developed algorithm has the ability to produce an imaging product with high spatial resolution and high-quality spectral data.
Comparison of different algorithms in laboratory diagnosis of alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency
Authors: Balderacchi Alice M. , Barzon Valentina , Ottaviani Stefania , Corino Alessandra , Zorzetto Michele , Wencker Marion , Corsico Angelo G. , Ferrarotti Ilaria
Published: March 2021

Objectives

Alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is an inherited condition that predisposes individuals to an increased risk of developing lung and liver disease. Even though AATD is one of the most widespread inherited diseases in Caucasian populations, only a minority of affected individuals has been detected. Whereas methods have been validated for AATD testing, there is no universally-established algorithm for the detection and diagnosis of the disorder. In order to compare different methods for diagnosing AATD, we carried out a systematic review of the literature on AATD diagnostic algorithms.

Methods

Complete biochemical and molecular analyses of 5,352 samples processed in our laboratory were retrospectively studied using each of the selected algorithms.

Results

When applying the diagnostic algorithms to the same samples, the frequency of False Negatives varied from 1.94 to 12.9%, the frequency of True Negatives was 62.91% for each algorithm and the frequency of True Positives ranged from 24.19 to 35.15%. We, therefore, highlighted some differences among Negative Predictive Values, ranging from 0.83 to 0.97. Accordingly, the sensitivity of each algorithm ranged between 0.61 and 0.95. We also postulated 1.108 g/L as optimal AAT cut-off value, in absence of inflammatory status, which points to the possible presence of genetic AATD.

Conclusions

The choice of the diagnostic algorithm has a significant impact on the correct diagnosis of AATD, which is essential for appropriate treatment and medical care. The fairly large number of possible false negative diagnoses revealed by the present paper should also warn clinicians of negative results in patients with clinically-suspected AATD.
Analysis of dangers in the operation of city buses at the intersections
Authors: Olejnik Krzysztof
Published: March 2021

Operation of motor vehicles should take into account the elimination of the possibility of accidents. The article considers selected problems occurring in the operation of public transport buses at intersections. Compliance with the requirements of the safety system during signal change on the signaling device controlling traffic at the intersection was analyzed. The human factor in ergonomics is important. Ending the green signal display (in special situations) causes a dilemma of decisions. The driver brakes abruptly (resulting in potentially harming passengers on the bus) or passes through a signal light displaying a red signal. The need to introduce changes in the regulations that would allow the introduction of adequate solutions was pointed out. These are activities in the area of the active safety system in the operation of vehicles in road traffic. The need to provide advance information and change the provisions in applicable law has been demonstrated.
Consumption of gasoline in vehicles equipped with an LPG retrofit system in real driving conditions
Authors: Grzelak Paulina , Taubert Sławomir
Published: March 2021

Vehicles equipped with an LPG retrofit system are always started on gasoline. Therefore, part of the vehicle's annual mileage will be run on gasoline. This article describes the results of tests conducted on a vehicle equipped with a propane-butane gas retrofit system (LPG system) regarding gasoline consumption in the LPG mode depending on the temperature at which the engine is started. The research was carried out on a passenger car from the C segment with an engine with indirect gasoline injection system. Based on these studies, the analysis of various vehicle use scenarios and the related gasoline consumption in relation to LPG consumption was made.
Radiative transfer in a Solar CPC Photoreactor using the First-Order Scattering Method
Authors: Valades-Pelayo Patricio J. , Ramirez-Cabrera Manuel A.
Published: March 2021

This manuscript analyzes the suitability of a recently proposed numerical method, the First-Order Scattering Method (FOS), to describe radiation transfer in a Solar Compound Parabolic Collector Photoreactor (CPCP). The study considers five different irradiance conditions ranging from fully diffuse to fully direct solar radiation, with 90 and 45° angled rays. Three photocatalysts at different loadings were considered: Evonik P25, Graphene Oxide, and Goethite, selected due to (1) their relevance in photocatalytic applications and (2) the availability of optical transport properties in the open literature. The study shows that the method is efficient and free of statistical noise, while its accuracy is not affected by the boundary condition’s complexity. The method’s accuracy is very high for photocatalysts with low to moderate albedos, such as Goethite and Graphene Oxide, displaying Normalized Absoluted Mean Error below 3%, i.e., comparable to the Monte Carlo (MC) Method’s statistical fluctuations.
Das parlamentarische Ordnungsrecht
Authors: Gerberding Johannes
Published: March 2021

Der Ton im Deutschen Bundestag ist rauer geworden. In der laufenden Legislaturperiode sind bereits mehr Ordnungsrufe ergangen als in den vier vorherigen Legislaturperioden zusammen. Grundlage dieser Ordnungsrufe ist das parlamentarische Ordnungsrecht; mit der Zunahme an Ausfälligkeiten im Plenarsaal gewinnt es an Relevanz. Der Beitrag stellt die Vorschriften dieses Rechtsgebiets vor und erläutert ihre Anwendung in der Falllösung.
Variability as normal as apple pie
Authors: Verspoor Marjolijn , Lowie Wander , de Bot Kees
Published: March 2021

In recent studies in second language (L2) development, notably within the focus of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), non-systematic variation has been extensively studied as intra-individual variation, which we will refer to asvariability. This paper argues that variability is functional and is needed for development. With examples of four longitudinal case studies we hope to show that variability over time provides valuable information about the process of development. Phases of increased variability in linguistic constructions are often a sign that the learner is trying out different constructions, and as such variability can be evidence for change, and change can be learning. Also, a limited degree of variability is inherent in automatic or controlled processes. Conversely, the absence of variability is likely to show that no learning is going on or the system is frozen.
Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie auf den Justizvollzug
Authors: Schaerff Marcus
Published: March 2021

Auch im Justizvollzug hat die derzeitige COVID-19-Pandemie mit der Suspendierung (nahezu) aller extra- und auch intramuraler Kontakte der Gefangenen (u. a. Verbot von Gefangenenbesuchen) zu einschneidenden Maßnahmen geführt. Darüber hinaus haben die Bundesländer auch Schritte zur zeitweisen Reduktion der Gefangenenpopulation, insbesondere durch die Aussetzung der Vollstreckung von Ersatzfreiheitsstrafen, unternommen. Bietet dieser noch nie dagewesene – zumindest temporäre – Vollstreckungsverzicht nicht endlich den bislang fehlenden Impuls, den Weg zu einer anderen, weniger nachteilbehafteten Reaktion auf die Nichtzahlung einer Geldstrafe zu beschreiten? Könnte dies nicht der Ausbau der gemeinnützigen Arbeit als primäre Ersatzstrafe sein?
The mutual singularity of the relative multifractal measures
Authors: Douzi Zied , Selmi Bilel
Published: March 2021

M. Das proved that the relative multifractal measures are mutually singular for the self-similar measures satisfying the significantly weaker open set condition. The aim of this paper is to show that these measures are mutually singular in a more general framework. As examples, we apply our main results to quasi-Bernoulli measures.
Crystal structure of 3-(methoxycarbonyl)-7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-2-carboxylic acid, C9H12O5
Authors: Hou Xuehui , Wang Qinglong , Wang Jianling , Li Aiqin , Ding Degang , Lv Quanjian
Published: March 2021

C9H12O5, triclinic,

P

1
‾

$P‾{1}$

(no. 2), a = 5.6537(6) Å, b = 7.7954(8) Å, c = 10.6841(9) Å, α = 102.238(8)°, β = 95.381(8)°, γ = 90.940(9)°, V = 457.83(8) Å3, Z = 2, R

gt
(F) = 0.0673, wR

ref
(F
2) = 0.2279, T = 293(2) K.
Crystal structure of poly[(μ2-aqua-tetraaqua-(μ3-glutarato-κ4
O,O′:O′:O′′)-(μ5-glutarato-κ6
O:O,O′:O′:O′′:O′′′)distrontium(II)], C10H22O13Sr2
Authors: Bouhali Amira , Dridi Rawiya , Boudaren Chaouki , Boudraa Mhamed , Merazig Hocine
Published: March 2021

C10H22O13Sr2, monoclinic,

P

2
1

/
c

$P{2}_{1}/c$

(no. 14), a = 13.9371(13) Å, b = 14.3873(14) Å, c = 9.1536(8) Å, β = 104.958(4)°, V = 1773.3(3) Å3, Z = 4, R
gt(F) = 0.0294, wR
ref(F
2) = 0.0785, T = 273(2) K.
Final Lines of Defense: Explaining Policy Advocacy by Immigrant-Serving Organizations
Authors: Calderon Maria Apolonia , Chand Daniel E. , Hawes Daniel P.
Published: March 2021

Nonprofit scholars have developed a rich literature on nonprofit advocacy. While the literature is rich, however, gaps remain in our collective knowledge, especially regarding specific sectors of nonprofit human service organizations. Here, we apply existing theory on advocacy by human service organizations to an important subset of the nonprofit community, that being immigrant-serving organizations (ISOs). Most prior research on nonprofit advocacy has not focused on politically polarized issues, such as contemporary immigration policy. Using a nationwide survey of ISOs, we find that unlike other types of human service organizations, the majority of ISOsdoengage in at least some forms of policy advocacy. However, those that report using the H-election status on their Form 990s are significantly more likely to engage in advocacy and do so to a wide variety of policymakers, including legislators, chief executives, and even local law enforcement agencies. H-election groups are also more likely to perceive their advocacy activities as effective. These findings add to the evolving knowledge on when and how human service groups seek policy change for marginalized groups.
Groundwork for a pragmatics for formalized languages
Authors: Kashtan David
Published: March 2021

The use-mention distinction is elaborated into a four-way distinction between use, formal mention, material mention and pragmatic mention. The notion of pragmatic mention is motivated through the problem of monsters in Kaplanian indexical semantics. It is then formalized and applied in an account of schemata in formalized languages.
Implementación de un modelo de planeación estratégica para una empresa de servicios de la construcción
Authors: Sandoval Acevedo María Camila , Escobar Salas Mauricio Eduardo
Published: March 2021

Mediante un estudio de caso se tiene como objetivo proponer un modelo de planeación estratégica para determinar las políticas y la metodología para que Unión Constructora Álamos S.A.S., una empresa familiar con 14 años de trayectoria ubicada en Pereira, que trabaja en brindar soluciones de mantenimiento y construcción para infraestructura industrial, institucional y residencial, tenga una hoja de ruta en su actuar, basada en su experiencia y en el modelo de gestión que ha llevado a cabo.

Responde a la necesidad de esta empresa en tener un modelo de planeación estratégica, que le permita explorar nuevas metas. Se ha identificado la importancia de pensar a largo plazo potenciando sus fortalezas y aprovechando las oportunidades que ofrece el entorno. Se contemplará también reconocer y actuar ante las amenazas en el sector y minimizar las debilidades que se presentan al interior de la organización.
ELABORATION OF A MECHANISM FOR REGULATING DISPARITIES OF REGIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY FUZZY LOGIC METHODS
Authors: Шевченко Ольга
Published: March 2021

Introduction. Regions of Ukraine are characterized by a considerable level of disparities in socio-economic development. Interpretation of disparities is important in order to develop the measures preventing their aggravation.
Problem Statement. The indices of regional disparities are variable and heterogeneous, with different dynamics. Thus, it is difficult to estimate them with the help of conventional methods that do not allow application of intermediate indices.
Purpose. To formulate a mechanism for regulating regional disparities necessary for further solution of management and prognostic tasks based on innovative approaches given environmental variability, rapid, and non-linear dynamics of disparities.
Materials and Methods. For estimation and interpretation of indices for regional disparities, it is advisable to use methods of fuzzy logic theory. These methods apply to quantitative estimation of qualitative information (in the case when it is indefinite), modeling of increasingly complicated economic processes given a high reliability of calculations based on fuzzy logic models.
Results. The mechanism for forecasting the dynamics of regional disparities by fuzzy logic methods has been presented as integration of interdependent factors ensuring development of the region under unstable conditions of external and internal environment. With the help of fuzzy logic methods, the membership function between the levels of disparities and the catalysts of disparities (retarders) has been built. The characteristics of regional disparity levels have been classified as permissible, regulated, and catastrophic. The study of dynamics of the disparity underlies elaborating public policy recommendations on the regulation of disparities.
Conclusions. The characteristics of disparities for each region estimated on the basis of membership function pave the way for further forecasting the dynamics of disparities and developing a strategy for the regulation of disparities in each region.
DIGITAL HUMANITARIAN PROJECT AS A COMPONENT OF DIGITAL HUMANITIES
Authors: Дубровіна Любов , Лобузіна Катерина , Онищенко Олексій , Боряк Геннадій
Published: March 2021

Introduction. Digitalization and innovative sphere of scholarly research, "digital humanities", integrates the methodological apparatus and develops the potential of the humanities and engineering sciences under the condition of their effective interaction. One of the elements of the infrastructure of the digital humanities is research projects to create resources and databases of humanities knowledge.
Problem Statement. Defining the concept of digital humanitarian project and its features is important for the development of interdisciplinary methodology of humanities and information technology.
Purpose. The purpose is to substantiate the properties of Digital Humanitarian Project (DHP) as innovative research product, which is important in modern scientific communication and should be an officially recognized type of scholarly research electronic publication.
Materials and Methods. Methods for historiographical and structural analysis and synthesis of DHP research concepts and completion of humanitarian digital projects at the NAS of Ukraine, and several other methods have been used.
Results. For the first time the research has summarized the concept of DHP as interdisciplinary research product based on the analysis of modern concepts of digital humanities.
Conclusions. The digital humanitarian project as a component of the digital humanities is an innovative research result and a type of scholarly research publication. The specific criteria are as follows: intellectual and innovative contribution of the interdisciplinary team to the development of scientific knowledge; importance for the development of educational and research infrastructure; influence on other DHP. The new model of scientific communication provides for the introduction and improvement of digital technologies in the processes of research and procedures for obtaining, processing, publishing, managing, and using scientific data, forming relevant humanities knowledge bases using achievements of socio-humanities, library and information activities etc. The criterion of new knowledge is not only a new content, but also new means of organization, classification, and interaction with this content.