bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Concomitant Use of Dietary Supplements and Medicines Among Preschool and School-Aged Children in Japan
Authors: Kobayashi Etsuko , Sato Yoko , Nishijima Chiharu , Chiba Tsuyoshi
Published: December 2019

Dietary supplement use is widespread amongst the general population including in children and adolescents. The ingredients in dietary supplements can interact with medicines when patients take them concomitantly. However, the prevalence of the concomitant use of dietary supplements and medicines in Japan among children remains unclear. To clarify this issue, a nationwide internet survey was administered to 55,038 mothers (25 to 60 years old) of preschool- or school-aged children in Japan. Among them, 7.6% currently provide dietary supplements and 3.2% concomitantly provide dietary supplements and prescription or over-the-counter medicines to their children. The prevalence of concomitant use increased with the children’s grade. Among 1057 mothers with 1154 children who were concomitantly using dietary supplements and medicines, 69.1% provided dietary supplements without physician consultation because they considered dietary supplements as only foods and therefore safe. Although the purpose of the use and types of dietary supplement differed between boys and girls, the most popular product was probiotics in both boys and girls. Among concomitant users, 8.3% of mothers gave dietary supplements for treatment of diseases and 4.9% mothers recognized the adverse events of dietary supplements in their child. The findings of this study suggest that mothers’ knowledge about the risk of using dietary supplement with medicines is insufficient. Parental education about the safety of dietary supplements and potential risk of drug–supplement interaction is needed.
Exploratory Analysis of Nutritional Quality and Metrics of Snack Consumption among Nepali Children during the Complementary Feeding Period
Authors: Pries Alissa M. , Ferguson Elaine L. , Sharma Nisha , Upadhyay Atul , Filteau Suzanne
Published: December 2019

The World Health Organization recommends feeding snacks between meals to young children. This study explored nutritional quality of snacks consumed between meals and consumption metrics (% total energy intakes (%TEI) and amount of kcal from snacks) to understand correlations with dietary outcomes (total energy intakes and dietary adequacy) and body-mass-index-for-age z-scores (BMIZ). Data used were 24-h dietary recalls and anthropometric measurements among a representative sample (n = 679) of one-year-olds in Nepal. Nepali meal patterns for young children were identified through formative research and all foods/beverages consumed outside of meals were categorized as snacks. A nutrient profiling model was used to categorize snacks as healthy or unhealthy, based on positive and negative nutrient content. Snacks consumed between meals provided half of all energy consumed, and were associated with increased energy and nutrient intakes. The positive effect of snacks between meals on dietary adequacy was greater when these snacks were healthy, while increasing %TEI from unhealthy snacks consumed between meals was negatively associated with dietary adequacy. Consumption of snacks between meals was not associated with mean BMIZ among the children. These findings indicate that the provision of and nutritional quality of snacks are important considerations to communicate to caregivers. Discouragement of unhealthy, nutrient-poor snacks is critical for complementary feeding dietary guidelines in contexts experiencing nutrition transition.
Fermented Korean Red Ginseng Extract Enriched in Rd and Rg3 Protects against Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease through Regulation of mTORC1
Authors: Choi Su-Yeon , Park Jeong-Su , Shon Chang-Ho , Lee Chae-Young , Ryu Jae-Myun , Son Dong-Ju , Hwang Bang-Yeon , Yoo Hwan-Soo , Cho Young-Chang , Lee Jin , Kim Jong-Won , Roh Yoon-Seok
Published: December 2019

The fermentation of Korean red ginseng (RG) increases the bioavailability and efficacy of RG, which has a protective role in various diseases. However, the ginsenoside-specific molecular mechanism of the fermented RG with Cordyceps militaris (CRG) has not been elucidated in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A mouse model of NAFLD was induced by a fast-food diet (FFD) and treated with CRG (100 or 300 mg/kg) for the last 8 weeks. CRG-mediated signaling was assessed in the liver cells isolated from mice. CRG administration significantly reduced the FFD-induced steatosis, liver injury, and inflammation, indicating that CRG confers protective effects against NAFLD. Of note, an extract of CRG contains a significantly increased amount of ginsenosides (Rd and Rg3) after bioconversion compared with that of conventional RG. Moreover, in vitro treatment with Rd or Rg3 produced anti-steatotic effects in primary hepatocytes. Mechanistically, CRG protected palmitate-induced activation of mTORC1 and subsequent inhibition of mitophagy and PPARα signaling. Similar to that noted in hepatocytes, CRG exerted anti-inflammatory activity through mTORC1 inhibition-mediated M2 polarization. In conclusion, CRG inhibits lipid-mediated pathologic activation of mTORC1 in hepatocytes and macrophages, which in turn prevents NAFLD development. Thus, the administration of CRG may be an alternative for the prevention of NAFLD.
Epigenetics: Linking Early Postnatal Nutrition to Obesity Programming?
Authors: Marousez Lucie , Lesage Jean , Eberlé Delphine
Published: December 2019

Despite constant research and public policy efforts, the obesity epidemic continues to be a major public health threat, and new approaches are urgently needed. It has been shown that nutrient imbalance in early life, from conception to infancy, influences later obesity risk, suggesting that obesity could result from “developmental programming”. In this review, we evaluate the possibility that early postnatal nutrition programs obesity risk via epigenetic mechanisms, especially DNA methylation, focusing on four main topics: (1) the dynamics of epigenetic processes in key metabolic organs during the early postnatal period; (2) the epigenetic effects of alterations in early postnatal nutrition in animal models or breastfeeding in humans; (3) current limitations and remaining outstanding questions in the field of epigenetic programming; (4) candidate pathways by which early postnatal nutrition could epigenetically program adult body weight set point. A particular focus will be given to the potential roles of breast milk fatty acids, neonatal metabolic and hormonal milieu, and gut microbiota. Understanding the mechanisms by which early postnatal nutrition can promote lifelong metabolic modifications is essential to design adequate recommendations and interventions to “de-program” the obesity epidemic.
Health-Related Quality of Life and Home Enteral Nutrition in Children with Neurological Impairment: Report from a Multicenter Survey
Authors: Dipasquale Valeria , Ventimiglia Marco , Gramaglia Simone Maria Calogero , Parma Barbara , Funari Caterina , Selicorni Angelo , Armano Chiara , Salvatore Silvia , Romano Claudio
Published: December 2019

We aimed to measure the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with neurological impairment (NI) on home enteral nutrition (HEN). An original survey among the caregivers of NI children on HEN for ≥ 12 months followed in three Italian centers (Messina, Como and Varese) was carried out between January 2013 and September 2018. The questionnaire was made up of 12 issues focused on the frequency with which certain situations associated with HEN are perceived, and grouped into physical and psychological/social dimensions. The results were analyzed statistically according to the age of the children, underlying disease, and the HEN programs’ duration. In total, 80 caregivers were approached, and 75 surveys were completed (an overall response rate of 93.7%). Nearly all the caregivers reported a satisfying HRQoL, ranging from acceptable (n = 6, 8%), to good (n = 22, 29.3%), to excellent (n = 47, 62.7%). A significant correlation was found between HRQoL and underlying NI-associated disease (p = 0.001). Our data showed that HEN positively affects the QoL of NI children and their caregivers. This should encourage healthcare providers to consider this nutritional intervention early in the approach to this group of patients, in order to prevent or reduce QoL impairment.
Mediterranean Diet and NAFLD: What We Know and Questions That Still Need to Be Answered
Authors: Plaz Torres Maria Corina , Aghemo Alessio , Lleo Ana , Bodini Giorgia , Furnari Manuele , Marabotto Elisa , Miele Luca , Giannini Edoardo G.
Published: December 2019

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and is expected to become the leading cause of end-stage liver disease worldwide over the next few decades. In fact, NAFLD encompasses different clinical scenarios, from the simple accumulation of fat (steatosis) to steatohepatitis (NASH), NASH-cirrhosis, and cirrhosis complications. In this context, it is fundamental to pursue strategies aimed at both preventing the disease and reducing the progression of liver fibrosis once liver damage is already initiated. As of today, no pharmacological treatment has been approved for NAFLD/NASH, and the only recommended treatment of proven efficacy are life-style modifications, including diet and physical exercise pointing at weight loss of 5%–7%. Different dietetic approaches have been proposed in this setting, and in this review, we will discuss the evidence regarding the efficacy of the Mediterranean Diet as a treatment for NAFLD. In particular, we will report the effects on liver-related outcomes.
The Role of Diet and Weight Loss in Improving Secondary Hypogonadism in Men with Obesity with or without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Giagulli Vito Angelo , Castellana Marco , Murro Isanna , Pelusi Carla , Guastamacchia Edoardo , Triggiani Vincenzo , De Pergola Giovanni
Published: December 2019

Despite growing recognition of the issue, obesity represents one of the most common public health problems, and its rates are still increasing globally. Among the number of comorbidities and complications associated with obesity, hypogonadism is listed, and this disorder, although frequently neglected, is characterized by a relevant impact on both quality of life and life expectancy. It is generally accepted that hypogonadism secondary to obesity is functional since it is reversible following weight loss. This review summarizes all current research examining the bidirectional relationship between excess body weight and low testosterone levels. Specifically, it evaluates the role that diet, with or without physical activity, plays in improving body weight and hypogonadism in adult and elderly men with obesity, with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Subphenotypes in Patients with Septic Shock Receiving Vitamin C, Hydrocortisone, and Thiamine: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis
Authors: Kim Won-Young , Jung Jae-Woo , Choi Jae Chol , Shin Jong Wook , Kim Jae Yeol
Published: December 2019

This study aimed to identify septic phenotypes in patients receiving vitamin C, hydrocortisone, and thiamine using temperature and white blood cell count. Data were obtained from septic shock patients who were also treated using a vitamin C protocol in a medical intensive care unit. Patients were divided into groups according to the temperature measurements as well as white blood cell counts within 24 h before starting the vitamin C protocol. In the study, 127 patients included who met the inclusion criteria. In the cohort, four groups were identified: “Temperature ≥37.1 °C, white blood cell count ≥15.0 1000/mm3” (group A; n = 27), “≥37.1 °C, <15.0 1000/mm3” (group B; n = 30), “<37.1 °C, ≥15.0 1000/mm3” (group C; n = 35) and “<37.1 °C, <15.0 1000/mm3” (group D; n = 35). The intensive care unit mortality rates were 15% for group A, 33% for group B, 34% for group C, and 49% for group D (p = 0.051). The temporal improvement in organ dysfunction and vasopressor dose seemed more apparent in group A patients. Our results suggest that different subphenotypes exist among sepsis patients treated using a vitamin C protocol, and clinical outcomes might be better for patients with the hyperinflammatory subphenotype.
Dietary Intakes Are Associated with HDL-Cholesterol in Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
Authors: Morel Sophia , Amre Devendra , Teasdale Emma , Caru Maxime , Laverdière Caroline , Krajinovic Maja , Sinnett Daniel , Curnier Daniel , Levy Emile , Marcil Valérie
Published: December 2019

Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) are at high risk of developing dyslipidemia, including low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C). This study aimed to examine the associations between food/nutrient intake and the levels of HDL-C in a cohort of children and young adult survivors of cALL. Eligible participants (n = 241) were survivors of cALL (49.4% boys; median age: 21.7 years old) recruited as part of the PETALE study. Nutritional data were collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Fasting blood was used to determine participants’ lipid profile. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate the associations between intakes of macro- and micronutrients and food groups and plasma lipids. We found that 41.3% of cALL survivors had at least one abnormal lipid value. Specifically, 12.2% had high triglycerides, 17.4% high LDL-cholesterol, and 23.1% low HDL-C. Low HDL-C was inversely associated with high intake (third vs. first tertile) of several nutrients: proteins (OR: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08–0.92), zinc (OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08–0.84), copper (OR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.12–0.99), selenium (OR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.05–0.59), niacin (OR: 0.25, 95% CI: 0.08–0.84), riboflavin (OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.12–0.76) and vitamin B12 (OR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.13–0.90). High meat consumption was also inversely associated (OR: 0.28, 95% CI: 0.09–0.83) with low HDL-C while fast food was positively associated (OR: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.03–5.63) with low HDL-C. The role of nutrition in the development of dyslipidemia after cancer treatment needs further investigation.
Enhanced Intracellular Delivery of BCG Cell Wall Skeleton into Bladder Cancer Cells Using Liposomes Functionalized with Folic Acid and Pep-1 Peptide
Authors: Yoon Ho Yub , Yang Hee Mang , Kim Chang Hyun , Goo Yoon Tae , Hwang Gwang Yong , Chang In Ho , Whang Young Mi , Choi Young Wook
Published: December 2019

Although bacillus Calmette–Guérin cell wall skeleton (BCG-CWS) might function as a potential substitute for live BCG, its use in the treatment of bladder cancer remains limited owing to issues such as insolubility and micrometer-size following exposure to an aqueous environment. Thus, to develop a novel nanoparticulate system for efficient BCG-CWS delivery, liposomal encapsulation was carried out using a modified emulsification-solvent evaporation method (targets: Size, <200 nm; encapsulation efficiency, ~60%). Further, the liposomal surface was functionalized with specific ligands, folic acid (FA), and Pep-1 peptide (Pep1), as targeting and cell-penetrating moieties, respectively. Functionalized liposomes greatly increased the intracellular uptake of BCG-CWS in the bladder cancer cell lines, 5637 and MBT2. The immunoactivity was verified through elevated cytokine production and a THP-1 migration assay. In vivo antitumor efficacy revealed that the BCG-CWS-loaded liposomes effectively inhibited tumor growth in mice bearing MBT2 tumors. Dual ligand-functionalized liposome was also superior to single ligand-functionalized liposomes. Immunohistochemistry supported the enhanced antitumor effect of BCG-CWS, with IL-6 production and CD4 infiltration. Thus, we conclude that FA- and Pep1-modified liposomes encapsulating BCG-CWS might be a good candidate for bladder cancer treatment with high target selectivity.
The Impact of Solvent Selection: Strategies to Guide the Manufacturing of Liposomes Using Microfluidics
Authors: Webb Cameron , Khadke Swapnil , Tandrup Schmidt Signe , Roces Carla B. , Forbes Neil , Berrie Gillian , Perrie Yvonne
Published: December 2019

The aim of this work was to assess the impact of solvent selection on the microfluidic production of liposomes. To achieve this, liposomes were manufactured using small-scale and bench-scale microfluidics systems using three aqueous miscible solvents (methanol, ethanol or isopropanol, alone or in combination). Liposomes composed of different lipid compositions were manufactured using these different solvents and characterised to investigate the influence of solvents on liposome attributes. Our studies demonstrate that solvent selection is a key consideration during the microfluidics manufacturing process, not only when considering lipid solubility but also with regard to the resultant liposome critical quality attributes. In general, reducing the polarity of the solvent (from methanol to isopropanol) increased the liposome particle size without impacting liposome short-term stability or release characteristics. Furthermore, solvent combinations such as methanol/isopropanol mixtures can be used to modify solvent polarity and the resultant liposome particle size. However, the impact of solvent choice on the liposome product is also influenced by the liposome formulation; liposomes containing charged lipids tended to show more sensitivity to solvent selection and formulations containing increased concentrations of cholesterol or pegylated-lipids were less influenced by the choice of solvent. Indeed, incorporation of 14 wt% or more of pegylated-lipid was shown to negate the impact of solvent selection.
Star-Shaped Poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and Poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline) with Central Thiacalix[4]Arene Fragments: Reduction and Stabilization of Silver Nanoparticles
Authors: Lezov Alexey , Gubarev Alexander , Mikhailova Maria , Lezova Alexandra , Mikusheva Nina , Kalganov Vladimir , Dudkina Marina , Ten’kovtsev Andrey , Nekrasova Tatyana , Andreeva Larisa , Saprykina Natalia , Smyslov Ruslan , Gorshkova Yulia , Romanov Dmitriy , Höppener Stephanie , Perevyazko Igor , Tsvetkov Nikolay
Published: December 2019

The interaction of silver nitrate with star-shaped poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and poly(2-isopropyl-2-oxazoline) containing central thiacalix[4]arene cores, which proceeds under visible light in aqueous solutions at ambient temperature, was studied. It was found that this process led to the formation of stable colloidal solutions of silver nanoparticles. The kinetics of the formation of the nanoparticles was investigated by the observation of a time-dependent increase in the intensity of the plasmon resonance peak that is related to the nanoparticles and appears in the range of 400 to 700 nm. According to the data of electron and X-ray spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and dynamic light scattering, the radius of the obtained silver nanoparticles is equal to 30 nm. In addition, the flow birefringence experiments showed that solutions of nanoparticles have high optical shear coefficients.
Pressure Field Assisted Polycondensation Nonaqueous Precipitation Synthesis of Mullite Whiskers and Their Application as Epoxy Resin Reinforcement
Authors: Feng Guo , Jiang Feng , Hu Zi , Jiang Weihui , Liu Jianmin , Zhang Quan , Hu Qing , Miao Lifeng , Wu Qian , Liang Jian
Published: December 2019

Mullite whiskers were novelty prepared via pressure field assisted polycondensation nonaqueous precipitation method. The precipitate phase transition in heating process, phase compositions and microstructure of samples calcined at different temperatures, effect of pressure field on precursors polycondensation and AlF3 amount on sample morphology, the structure and the growth mechanism of whiskers were investigated. The results indicate that pressure field caused by kettle treatment promotes the polycondensation reaction between AlF3 and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), the excess aluminum fluoride coordinates with the precipitate skeleton of the =Al–O–Si≡, which brings about the low mullitization temperature (900 °C). The sample prepared with the optimal amount of aluminum fluoride (1.3 of the theoretical amount) calcined at 1100 °C presents high yield and aspect ratio (>15, 100 nm in diameter) of mullite whiskers. Growth of whiskers prepared via pressure field assisted polycondensation nonaqueous precipitation method is attributed to a vapor-solid (VS) mechanism with the inducement of screw. These mullite whiskers with the structure of multi-needle whiskers connected in the same center can be distributed evenly in epoxy resin, which greatly improves the mechanical properties of epoxy resin.
Core–Shell Fibers: Design, Roles, and Controllable Release Strategies in Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery
Authors: Abdullah Muhammad Faiq , Nuge Tamrin , Andriyana Andri , Ang Bee Chin , Muhamad Farina
Published: December 2019

The key attributes of core–shell fibers are their ability to preserve bioactivity of incorporated-sensitive biomolecules (such as drug, protein, and growth factor) and subsequently control biomolecule release to the targeted microenvironments to achieve therapeutic effects. Such qualities are highly favorable for tissue engineering and drug delivery, and these features are not able to be offered by monolithic fibers. In this review, we begin with an overview on design requirement of core–shell fibers, followed by the summary of recent preparation methods of core–shell fibers, with focus on electrospinning-based techniques and other newly discovered fabrication approaches. We then highlight the importance and roles of core–shell fibers in tissue engineering and drug delivery, accompanied by thorough discussion on controllable release strategies of the incorporated bioactive molecules from the fibers. Ultimately, we touch on core–shell fibers-related challenges and offer perspectives on their future direction towards clinical applications.
Large and Giant Unilamellar Vesicle(s) Obtained by Self-Assembly of Poly(dimethylsiloxane)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) Diblock Copolymers, Membrane Properties and Preliminary Investigation of Their Ability to Form Hybrid Polymer/Lipid Vesicles
Authors: Fauquignon Martin , Ibarboure Emmanuel , Carlotti Stéphane , Brûlet Annie , Schmutz Marc , Le Meins Jean-François
Published: December 2019

In the emerging field of hybrid polymer/lipid vesicles, relatively few copolymers have been evaluated regarding their ability to form these structures and the resulting membrane properties have been scarcely studied. Here, we present the synthesis and self-assembly in solution of poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymers (PDMS-b-PEO). A library of different PDMS-b-PEO diblock copolymers was synthesized using ring-opening polymerization of hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3) and further coupling with PEO chains via click chemistry. Self-assembly of the copolymers in water was studied using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Static Light Scattering (SLS), Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), and Cryo-Transmission Electron Microscopy (Cryo-TEM). Giant polymersomes obtained by electroformation present high toughness compared to those obtained from triblock copolymer in previous studies, for similar membrane thickness. Interestingly, these copolymers can be associated to phospholipids to form Giant Hybrid Unilamellar Vesicles (GHUV); preliminary investigations of their mechanical properties show that tough hybrid vesicles can be obtained.
Advances on Non-Genetic Cell Membrane Engineering for Biomedical Applications
Authors: Liu Lisha , He Hongliang , Liu Jianping
Published: December 2019

Cell-based therapeutics are very promising modalities to address many unmet medical needs, including genetic engineering, drug delivery, and regenerative medicine as well as bioimaging. To enhance the function and improve the efficacy of cell-based therapeutics, a variety of cell surface engineering strategies (genetic engineering and non-genetic engineering) are developed to modify the surface of cells or cell-based therapeutics with some therapeutic molecules, artificial receptors, and multifunctional nanomaterials. In comparison to complicated procedures and potential toxicities associated with genetic engineering, non-genetic engineering strategies have emerged as a powerful and compatible complement to traditional genetic engineering strategies for enhancing the function of cells or cell-based therapeutics. In this review, we will first briefly summarize key non-genetic methodologies including covalent chemical conjugation (surface reactive groups–direct conjugation, and enzymatically mediated and metabolically mediated indirect conjugation) and noncovalent physical bioconjugation (biotinylation, electrostatic interaction, and lipid membrane fusion as well as hydrophobic insertion), which have been developed to engineer the surface of cell-based therapeutics with various materials. Next, we will comprehensively highlight the latest advances in non-genetic cell membrane engineering surrounding different cells or cell-based therapeutics, including whole-cell-based therapeutics, cell membrane-derived therapeutics, and extracellular vesicles. Advances will be focused specifically on cells that are the most popular types in this field, including erythrocytes, platelets, cancer cells, leukocytes, stem cells, and bacteria. Finally, we will end with the challenges, future trends, and our perspectives of this relatively new and fast-developing research field.
Long-Lasting Examinations of Surface and Structural Properties of Medical Polypropylene Modified with Silver Nanoparticles
Authors: Ziąbka Magdalena , Dziadek Michał
Published: December 2019

Composite materials based on polypropylene modified with silver nanoparticles (PP/AgNPs) were manufactured using injection molding and extrusion. Two different matrices were used to prepare the samples consisting of 0.5 and 1.0 wt. % of silver nanoparticles, respectively. The aim of this study was to assess whether silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) could influence the stability of a polymer matrix during the 24-month period of the in vitro testing. The results indicated that composites with silver nanoparticles displayed the significantly higher Young modulus and tensile strength after the first and second year of investigation. Moreover, the incorporation of nanoparticles into the matrix slightly increased the roughness and contact angle values and the parameters remained stable after the in vitro incubation. The two-year immersion of materials in the deionized water proved that the microstructure of composites did not change. The DSC analysis revealed that the material incubation resulted in a slight reduction in the melting temperature and degree of crystallinity of PP. The addition of nanoparticles to polymer matrices led to the increase in content of β crystals in the crystalline phase of PP, which was revealed in the long-term in vitro tests. The XRD measurement also showed the heightened surface crystallinity. The conducted studies have proved that all composites are stable over a period of 24 months. Such behavior suggests that the tested materials can be used as biomaterials.
Leaf Canopy Layers Affect Spectral Reflectance in Silver Birch
Authors: Deepak Maya , Keski-Saari Sarita , Fauch Laure , Granlund Lars , Oksanen Elina , Keinänen Markku
Published: December 2019

The availability of light within the tree canopy affects various leaf traits and leaf reflectance. We determined the leaf reflectance variation from 400 nm to 2500 nm among three canopy layers and cardinal directions of three genetically identical cloned silver birches growing at the same common garden site. The variation in the canopy layer was evident in the principal component analysis (PCA), and the influential wavelengths responsible for variation were identified using the variable importance in projection (VIP) based on partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). Leaf traits, such as chlorophyll, nitrogen, dry weight, and specific leaf area (SLA), also showed significant variation among the canopy layers. We found a shift in the red edge inflection point (REIP) for the canopy layers. The canopy layers contribute to the variability in the reflectance indices. We conclude that the largest variation was among the canopy layers, whereas the differences among individual trees to the leaf reflectance were relatively small. This implies that within-tree variation due to the canopy layer should be taken into account in the estimation of intraspecific variation in the canopy reflectance.
Differential Ground-Based Radar Interferometry for Slope and Civil Structures Monitoring: Two Case Studies of Landslide and Bridge
Authors: Hu Jiyuan , Guo Jiming , Xu Yi , Zhou Lv , Zhang Shuai , Fan Kunfei
Published: December 2019

Ground-based radar interferometry, which can be specifically classified as ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GB-SAR) and ground-based real aperture radar (GB-RAR), was applied to monitor the Liusha Peninsula landslide and Baishazhou Yangtze River Bridge. The GB-SAR technique enabled us to obtain the daily displacement evolution of the landslide, with a maximum cumulative displacement of 20 mm in the 13-day observation period. The virtual reality-based panoramic technology (VRP) was introduced to illustrate the displacement evolutions intuitively and facilitate the following web-based panoramic image browsing. We applied GB-RAR to extract the operational modes of the large bridge and compared them with the global positioning system (GPS) measurement. Through full-scale test and time-frequency result analysis from two totally different monitoring methods, this paper emphasized the 3-D display potentiality by combining the GB-SAR results with VRP, and focused on the detection of multi-order resonance frequencies, as well as the configure improvement of ground-based radars in bridge health monitoring.
Sparse Unmixing for Hyperspectral Image with Nonlocal Low-Rank Prior
Authors: Zheng Yuhui , Wu Feiyang , Shim Hiuk Jae , Sun Le
Published: December 2019

Hyperspectral unmixing is a key preprocessing technique for hyperspectral image analysis. To further improve the unmixing performance, in this paper, a nonlocal low-rank prior associated with spatial smoothness and spectral collaborative sparsity are integrated together for unmixing the hyperspectral data. The proposed method is based on a fact that hyperspectral images have self-similarity in nonlocal sense and smoothness in local sense. To explore the spatial self-similarity, nonlocal cubic patches are grouped together to compose a low-rank matrix. Then, based on the linear mixed model framework, the nuclear norm is constrained to the abundance matrix of these similar patches to enforce low-rank property. In addition, the local spatial information and spectral characteristic are also taken into account by introducing TV regularization and collaborative sparse terms, respectively. Finally, the results of the experiments on two simulated data sets and two real data sets show that the proposed algorithm produces better performance than other state-of-the-art algorithms.
Estimating Penetration-Related X-Band InSAR Elevation Bias: A Study over the Greenland Ice Sheet
Authors: Abdullahi Sahra , Wessel Birgit , Huber Martin , Wendleder Anna , Roth Achim , Kuenzer Claudia
Published: December 2019

Accelerating melt on the Greenland ice sheet leads to dramatic changes at a global scale. Especially in the last decades, not only the monitoring, but also the quantification of these changes has gained considerably in importance. In this context, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) systems complement existing data sources by their capability to acquire 3D information at high spatial resolution over large areas independent of weather conditions and illumination. However, penetration of the SAR signals into the snow and ice surface leads to a bias in measured height, which has to be corrected to obtain accurate elevation data. Therefore, this study purposes an easy transferable pixel-based approach for X-band penetration-related elevation bias estimation based on single-pass interferometric coherence and backscatter intensity which was performed at two test sites on the Northern Greenland ice sheet. In particular, the penetration bias was estimated using a multiple linear regression model based on TanDEM-X InSAR data and IceBridge laser-altimeter measurements to correct TanDEM-X Digital Elevation Model (DEM) scenes. Validation efforts yielded good agreement between observations and estimations with a coefficient of determination of R2 = 68% and an RMSE of 0.68 m. Furthermore, the study demonstrates the benefits of X-band penetration bias estimation within the application context of ice sheet elevation change detection.
Quantifying DOC and Its Controlling Factors in Major Arctic Rivers during Ice-Free Conditions using Sentinel-2 Data
Authors: Huang Jue , Wu Ming , Cui Tingwei , Yang Fanlin
Published: December 2019

The six largest Arctic rivers (Yenisey, Lena, Ob’, Kolyma, Yukon, and Mackenzie) drain the organic-rich Arctic watersheds and serve as important pools in the global carbon cycle. Satellite remote sensing data are considered to be a necessary supplement to the ground-based monitoring of riverine organic matter circulation, especially for the ice-free periods in high-latitudes. In this study, we propose a remote sensing retrieval algorithm to obtain the chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) levels of the six largest Arctic rivers using Sentinel-2 images from 2016 to 2018. These CDOM results are converted to dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations using the strong relationship (R2 = 0.89) between the field measurements of these two water constituents. The temporal-spatial distributions of the DOC in the six largest Arctic rivers during ice-free conditions are depicted. The performance of the retrieval algorithm verifies the capacity of using Sentinel-2 data to monitor riverine DOC variations due to its improved spatial resolution, better band placement, and increased observation frequency. River discharge, watershed slopes, human activities, and land use/land cover change drove much of the variation in the satellite-derived DOC. The seasonality, geography, and scale would affect the correlation between DOC concentration and these influence factors. Our results could improve the ability to monitor DOC fluxes in Arctic rivers and advance our understanding of the Earth’s carbon cycle.
The Impact of Artificial Wetland Expansion on Local Temperature in the Growing Season—the Case Study of the Sanjiang Plain, China
Authors: Yu Lingxue , Liu Tingxiang
Published: December 2019

Land use and land cover change (LUCC) has been increasingly recognized as having important effects on climate systems. Paddy fields, one kind of artificial wetland, have seen a significant increase in the Sanjiang Plain, China since 2000 and have become the most typical LUCC at the regional scale. Against this background, in this paper, we discuss the effects of this artificial wetland increase on surface temperature, in addition to its driving mechanisms. Firstly, the spatiotemporal variations of land surface temperature (LST) and its two driving variables (albedo and latent heat flux (LE)) in the Sanjiang Plain are analyzed and assessed based on remote sensing observation information from 2001 to 2015. Our results from both spatial distribution difference and time series analysis show that paddy field expansion led to day-time cooling and night-time warming over the study area. However, the LST changes show different characteristics and magnitudes in the spring (May to June) compared to the other months of the growing season (July to September). The daytime cooling trend is found to be −0.3842 K/year and the warming trend at night 0.1988 K/year during the period 2001 to 2015, resulting in an overall cooling effect in May and June. In July–September, the LST changes have the same sign but a smaller magnitude, with a −0.0686 K/year temperature trend seen for the day-time and a 0.0569 K/year increase for the night-time. As a consequence, a pronounced decrease in the diurnal temperature range is detected in the growing season, especially in spring. Furthermore, albedo and LE are demonstrated to be very sensitive to land use changes, especially in the earlier periods of the growing season. Correlation analysis between LST and albedo and LE also indicates the dominant role played by evapotranspiration in paddy fields in regulating local temperature.
A New Restoration Method for Radio Frequency Interference Effects on AMSR-2 over North America
Authors: Shen Wangbin , Qin Zhengkun , Lin Zhaohui
Published: December 2019

Observations from spaceborne microwave imagers are important sources of land surface information. However, the low-frequency channels of microwave imagers are easily interfered with by active radio signals with similar frequencies. Radio frequency interference (RFI) signals are widely distributed because of the lack of frequency protection, which seriously hinders the application of microwave imager data in data assimilation and retrieval research. In this paper, a new data restoration method is proposed based on principal component analysis (PCA). Both the ideal and real reconstruction experiments show that the new method can effectively repair abnormal observations interfered by RFI compared with the commonly used Cressman interpolation method because observation information over the whole selected domain is used for restoration in the new method, whereas Cressman interpolation uses only a selection of data around the target observation. The observation errors in the data with RFI can be reduced by one order of magnitude by means of the new method and little artificial information is introduced. One-week restoration validation also proves that the new method has a stable accuracy and broad application prospects.
In Situ Diagnosis of Industrial Motors by Using Vision-Based Smart Sensing Technology
Authors: Chang Ching-Yuan , Chang En-Chieh , Huang Chi-Wen
Published: December 2019

This study uses machine vision, feature extraction, and support vector machine (SVM) to compose a vibration monitoring system (VMS) for an in situ evaluation of the performance of industrial motors. The vision-based system respectively offers a spatial and temporal resolution of 1.4 µm and 16.6 ms after the image calibration and the benchmark of a laser displacement sensor (LDS). The embedded program of machine vision has used zero-mean normalized correlation (ZNCC) and peak finding (PF) for tracking the registered characteristics on the object surface. The calibrated VMS provides time–displacement curves related to both horizontal and vertical directions, promising remote inspections of selected points without attaching additional markers or sensors. The experimental setup of the VMS is cost-effective and uncomplicated, supporting universal combinations between the imaging system and computational devices. The procedures of the proposed scheme are (1) setting up a digital camera, (2) calibrating the imaging system, (3) retrieving the data of image streaming, (4) executing the ZNCC criteria, and providing the time–displacement results of selected points. The experiment setup of the proposed VMS is straightforward and can cooperate with surveillances in industrial environments. The embedded program upgrades the functionality of the camera system from the events monitoring to remote measurement without the additional cost of attaching sensors on motors or targets. Edge nodes equipped with the image-tracking program serve as the physical layer and upload the extracted features to a cloud server via the wireless sensor network (WSN). The VMS can provide customized services under the architecture of the cyber–physical system (CPS), and this research offers an early warning alarm of the mechanical system before unexpected downtime. Based on the smart sensing technology, the in situ diagnosis of industrial motors given from the VMS enables preventative maintenance and contributes to the precision measurement of intelligent automation.
Optimization and Validation of an Adjustable Activity Classification Algorithm for Assessment of Physical Behavior in Elderly
Authors: Bijnens Wouter , Aarts Jos , Stevens An , Ummels Darcy , Meijer Kenneth
Published: December 2019

Due to a lack of transparency in both algorithm and validation methodology, it is difficult for researchers and clinicians to select the appropriate tracker for their application. The aim of this work is to transparently present an adjustable physical activity classification algorithm that discriminates between dynamic, standing, and sedentary behavior. By means of easily adjustable parameters, the algorithm performance can be optimized for applications using different target populations and locations for tracker wear. Concerning an elderly target population with a tracker worn on the upper leg, the algorithm is optimized and validated under simulated free-living conditions. The fixed activity protocol (FAP) is performed by 20 participants; the simulated free-living protocol (SFP) involves another 20. Data segmentation window size and amount of physical activity threshold are optimized. The sensor orientation threshold does not vary. The validation of the algorithm is performed on 10 participants who perform the FAP and on 10 participants who perform the SFP. Percentage error (PE) and absolute percentage error (APE) are used to assess the algorithm performance. Standing and sedentary behavior are classified within acceptable limits (±10% error) both under fixed and simulated free-living conditions. Dynamic behavior is within acceptable limits under fixed conditions but has some limitations under simulated free-living conditions. We propose that this approach should be adopted by developers of activity trackers to facilitate the activity tracker selection process for researchers and clinicians. Furthermore, we are convinced that the adjustable algorithm potentially could contribute to the fast realization of new applications.
Electronic Tongue Coupled to an Electrochemical Flow Reactor for Emerging Organic Contaminants Real Time Monitoring
Authors: Magro Cátia , Mateus Eduardo P. , Paz-Garcia Juan M. , Sério Susana , Raposo Maria , Ribeiro Alexandra B.
Published: December 2019

Triclosan, which is a bacteriostatic used in household items, has raised health concerns, because it might lead to antimicrobial resistance and endocrine disorders in organisms. The detection, identification, and monitoring of triclosan and its by-products (methyl triclosan, 2,4-Dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol) are a growing need in order to update current water treatments and enable the continuous supervision of the contamination plume. This work presents a customized electronic tongue prototype coupled to an electrochemical flow reactor, which aims to access the monitoring of triclosan and its derivative by-products in a real secondary effluent. An electronic tongue device, based on impedance measurements and polyethylenimine/poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) layer-by-layer and TiO2, ZnO and TiO2/ZnO sputtering thin films, was developed and tested to track analyte degradation and allow for analyte detection and semi-quantification. A degradation pathway trend was observable by means of principal component analysis, being the sample separation, according to sampling time, explained by 77% the total variance in the first two components. A semi-quantitative electronic tongue was attained for triclosan and methyl-triclosan. For 2,4-Dichlorophenol and 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol, the best results were achieved with only a single sensor. Finally, working as multi-analyte quantification devices, the electronic tongues could provide information regarding the degradation kinetic and concentrations ranges in a dynamic removal treatment.
Dilated Skip Convolution for Facial Landmark Detection
Authors: Chim Seyha , Lee Jin-Gu , Park Ho-Hyun
Published: December 2019

Facial landmark detection has gained enormous interest for face-related applications due to its success in facial analysis tasks such as facial recognition, cartoon generation, face tracking and facial expression analysis. Many studies have been proposed and implemented to deal with the challenging problems of localizing facial landmarks from given images, including large appearance variations and partial occlusion. Studies have differed in the way they use the facial appearances and shape information of input images. In our work, we consider facial information within both global and local contexts. We aim to obtain local pixel-level accuracy for local-context information in the first stage and integrate this with knowledge of spatial relationships between each key point in a whole image for global-context information in the second stage. Thus, the pipeline of our architecture consists of two main components: (1) a deep network for local-context subnet that generates detection heatmaps via fully convolutional DenseNets with additional kernel convolution filters and (2) a dilated skip convolution subnet—a combination of dilated convolutions and skip-connections networks—that are in charge of robustly refining the local appearance heatmaps. Through this proposed architecture, we demonstrate that our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance on challenging datasets—including LFPW, HELEN, 300W and AFLW2000-3D—by leveraging fully convolutional DenseNets, skip-connections and dilated convolution architecture without further post-processing.
Waterfall Atrous Spatial Pooling Architecture for Efficient Semantic Segmentation
Authors: Artacho Bruno , Savakis Andreas
Published: December 2019

We propose a new efficient architecture for semantic segmentation, based on a “Waterfall” Atrous Spatial Pooling architecture, that achieves a considerable accuracy increase while decreasing the number of network parameters and memory footprint. The proposed Waterfall architecture leverages the efficiency of progressive filtering in the cascade architecture while maintaining multiscale fields-of-view comparable to spatial pyramid configurations. Additionally, our method does not rely on a postprocessing stage with Conditional Random Fields, which further reduces complexity and required training time. We demonstrate that the Waterfall approach with a ResNet backbone is a robust and efficient architecture for semantic segmentation obtaining state-of-the-art results with significant reduction in the number of parameters for the Pascal VOC dataset and the Cityscapes dataset.
A Fine-Grained Video Encryption Service Based on the Cloud-Fog-Local Architecture for Public and Private Videos
Authors: Li Hao , Gu Zhaoquan , Deng Lianbing , Han Yi , Yang Cheng , Tian Zhihong
Published: December 2019

With the advancement of cloud computing and fog computing, more and more services and data are being moved from local servers to the fog and cloud for processing and storage. Videos are an important part of this movement. However, security issues involved in video moving have drawn wide attention. Although many video-encryption algorithms have been developed to protect local videos, these algorithms fail to solve the new problems faced on the media cloud, such as how to provide a video encryption service to devices with low computing power, how to meet the different encryption requirements for different type of videos, and how to ensure massive video encryption efficiency. To solve these three problems, we propose a cloud-fog-local video encryption framework which consists of a three-layer service model and corresponding key management strategies, a fine-grain video encryption algorithm based on the network abstract layer unit (NALU), and a massive video encryption framework based on Spark. The experiment proves that our proposed solution can meet the different encryption requirements for public videos and private videos. Moreover, in the experiment environment, our encryption algorithm for public videos reaches a speed of 1708 Mbps, and can provide a real-time encryption service for at least 42 channels of 4K-resolution videos.