bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
What do we know about portable dental services? A scoping review
Authors: Fathi Homa , Rousseau Jacqueline , Makansi Nora , Blaizot Alessandra , Morris Martin , Vergnes Jean‐Noel , Bedos Christophe
Published: January 2021

Background

Delivering dental care to patients in their home or residential institutions is known as “portable dentistry”. The demand for portable dental services is on the rise, but dentists remain reluctant to adopt portable practices.

Objectives

To explore the literature on portable dental services and understand (a) the process of planning and delivering portable dental services and (b) the benefits and challenges of portable dentistry for service providers and patients.

Methods

A systematic scoping search was conducted. We retrieved 3994 documents, 28 of which were included in the final synthesis. Three authors read the papers and conducted thematic content analyses independently.

Results

We present a synthesis of the literature and proposed a model of portable dentistry containing three levels with the patient is at the centre surrounded by concentric rings representing the dentist (dental team) and society. At each of these levels, our model is further subdivided into three components: 1) organisation of the service; 2) arrival and set‐up of the service; and 3) delivery of the service. In addition, each level includes 1) human factors, which are related either to the dental professional or the patient; 2) non‐human factors, which refer to either the equipment or the physical environment; and 3) financial factors, which are related to cost and remuneration.

Conclusions

We propose a model for portable dentistry that dentists and dental educators interested in this practice should find useful.
Fossils explained 79
Authors: May Andreas
Published: January 2021

Rugose corals are an extinct group of marine animals that are frequently found in Palaeozoic shallow marine sediments. Just like their counterparts the stony corals (the Scleractinia) do today, during the Palaeozoic the rugose corals were important constructors of reefs. Although at first glance rugose corals look very similar to the Scleractinia, they differ in important details. The rugose corals are a very special group whose relationships have been disputed for a long time. They were restricted to the Palaeozoic Era and experienced an exciting evolutionary history of victories and defeats; there were times when they built up huge reefs (and were valuable in stratigraphy), and other times when they suffered through extinction events.
The impact of crucial protein degradation in intramuscular connective tissue on softening of ice‐stored grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fillets
Authors: Liu Jixuan , Yang Fang , Gao Pei , Yu Dawei , Yu Peipei , Jiang Qixing , Xu Yanshun , Xia Wenshui
Published: January 2021

This study aimed to determine the role of intramuscular connective tissue (IMCT) in softening of ice‐stored grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fillet. The change in important proteins in IMCT and impact of IMCT destruction in fish softening were both investigated. The exogenous collagenase was used to differentiate the role of IMCT. Results showed that decorin, elastin and collagen in IMCT decreased by 71%, 48% and 54%, respectively. Decorin and elastin were mainly degraded in the primary stage, while collagen decreased mainly in the later stage. Then, IMCT destruction experiment showed that collagenase was quite effective for destruction of IMCT, while myofibre tissue was not affected. Subsequently, specific role of IMCT could be distinguished. Decrease in shear force became twofold faster in the collagenase group at the beginning than that in the control group, indicating a quite important role of IMCT in maintaining fish texture, especially in the primary stage of storage.
Chia protein hydrolysates: characterisation and emulsifying properties
Authors: Salazar‐Vega Ine M. , Julio Luciana M. , Segura‐Campos Maira R. , Tomás Mabel C.
Published: January 2021

The evaluation of functional properties of different chia protein hydrolysates (CPH) and their application in O/W emulsions were studied. Enzymatic treatments with pepsin, pancreatin or the sequential action of pepsin–pancreatin were applied to hydrolyse a chia protein concentrate (CPC). Oil‐in‐water emulsions stabilised with CPC or these CPHs, with or without chia mucilage, were prepared at pH 7 or 10. Particle size, global stability, ζ‐potential and rheological measurement of emulsions were determined. CPH presented higher (P ≤ 0.05) solubility and surface hydrophobicity levels, exhibiting better emulsifying properties than CPC. Emulsions with CPH presented smaller (P ≤ 0.05) droplet sizes than those with CPC. Regarding to physicochemical stability, emulsions at pH 7 were less stable than those at pH 10, showing destabilisation by creaming and coalescence. The addition of chia mucilage increased the apparent viscosity of emulsions and led to modifications in their fluid behaviour, exhibiting an interesting role as a thickening agent.
Silencing circ‐USP1 protects the renal tubular from kidney injury induced by hypoxia via modulating miR‐194‐5p/DNMT3A axis in acute renal allografts
Authors: Yao Tao , Zha Dongqing , Gao Ping , Wu Xiaoyan
Published: January 2021

Recent studies indicate that circular RNAs are involved in dysregulation of kidney injury. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the role of circ‐USP1 in the pathogenesis of early renal allografts. Thirty‐two male C57BL/6J mice aged between 6 and 8 weeks were divided into the sham and allograft groups. Thereafter, the association between miR‐194‐5p, circ‐USP1 and DNMT3A was confirmed using a combination of bioinformatics and the luciferase reporter gene assay. Additionally, the expression of circ‐USP1, miR‐194‐5p and DNMT3A mRNA was detected through qPCR. Afterwards, the Western blot assay was performed to examine the expression of DNMT3A protein. Finally, the TUNEL assay was conducted to determine the rate of apoptosis in DNMT3A cells. The expression of circ‐USP1 increased, while that of miR‐194‐5p decreased in renal allografts. Additionally, silencing circ‐USP1 reduced kidney injuries caused by renal allografts in mice. Moreover, miR‐194‐5p was a target for circ‐USP1, and DNMT3A was a target of miR‐194‐5p. Finally, it was shown that silencing circ‐USP1 reduced DNMT3A expression in the kidney of mice that received renal allografts. Circ‐USP1 functions as a competing endogenous RNA for miR‐194‐5p. This occurs in order to regulate DNMT3A expression in kidney injury induced by hypoxia in acute renal allografts.
Role of CYR61 in psoriatic lesional and perilesional skin: A clinical and immunohistochemical study
Authors: Shehata Wafaa Ahmed , Maraee Alaa Hassan , Abdo Eman Essam , Hemida Aiat Shaban
Published: January 2021

Background

Psoriasis is considered as an immune‐mediated disorder with significant epidermal hyperplasia and inflammation. Cysteine‐rich angiogenic inducer 61 (CYR61), known as CCN family member 1 (CCN1), plays an important role in cell proliferation and neovascularization which may trigger psoriasis development.

Aims

This study aimed to assess the immunostaining of CYR61 in psoriatic skin (lesional and perilesional) compared to control skin.

Patients/Methods

This is a case‐control study. The Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) was used to evaluate disease severity. A punch biopsy was taken from psoriatic skin lesions (30), perilesional (30) skin, and matched site of controls (20). The pathological and immunostaining assessments of CYR61 were conducted.

Results

There was a significant gradual progressive overexpression of CYR61 in keratinocytes from control skin to perilesional and lesional psoriatic skin (P = .00). Moreover, lesional psoriatic skin showed overexpression of CYR61 in inflammatory cells in the dermis than controls. CYR61 expression (lesional epidermis) revealed a significant positive correlation with the PASI score (r = .63; P = .00). There was a significant relationship between intensity and H‐core of CYR61 in the lesional psoriatic epidermis with joint affection.

Conclusion

CYR61 may trigger epidermal hyperplasia and potentiate inflammatory infiltration in psoriasis vulgaris patients, and therapies targeting CYR61 may be effective in the management of psoriasis vulgaris.
Does economic freedom boost growth for everyone?
Authors: Bergh Andreas , Bjørnskov Christian
Published: January 2021

While the association between economic freedom and long‐term economic growth has been well documented, the parallel research literature on the distributional consequences of economic freedom is full of conflicting findings. In this paper, we take a step toward reconciling these two bodies of literature by exploring the within‐quintile growth consequences of changes in three separate elements of economic freedom: the size of government, institutional quality and and policy quality. Although the distributional consequences of increases in economic freedom are theoretically ambiguous, we find evidence that economic freedom affects all parts of the income distribution equally, in addition to indications that the growth effects are largest for the poorest and richest quintiles.
An anesthesiologist‐led inpatient buprenorphine initiative
Authors: Patel Nisarg , Schwenk Eric S. , Ferd Polina , Torjman Marc C. , Baratta Jaime L. , Viscusi Eugene R.
Published: January 2021

Hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder who present with acute pain are challenging to manage. Without any treatment, their mortality in the first 28 days after discharge is substantially increased. Unlike extended‐release naltrexone, which requires a period of withdrawal, or methadone, which can cause prolonged corrected QT (QTc) and carries a higher risk of respiratory depression, buprenorphine provides potent analgesia with low respiratory risk. Hospitalization provides a unique opportunity for clinicians to perform buprenorphine induction, which could potentially reduce mortality without affecting analgesia. Our acute pain management service uses multimodal analgesia to maintain adequate analgesia and minimize withdrawal during buprenorphine induction in the hospital. With the assistance of narcotics addiction rehabilitation program specialists, we help link patients to outpatient buprenorphine providers and maximize the chance of successful recovery. The primary outcome of this study was to determine the percentage of patients who filled an outpatient buprenorphine prescription after undergoing inpatient induction.
Improvement of host‐induced gene silencing efficiency via polycistronic‐tRNA‐amiR expression for multiple target genes and characterization of RNAi mechanism in Mythimna separata
Authors: Bao Wenhua , Li Aoga , Zhang Yanan , Diao Pengfei , Zhao Qiqi , Yan Ting , Zhou Zikai , Duan Huimin , Li Xugang , Wuriyanghan Hada
Published: January 2021

Host‐induced gene silencing (HIGS) emerged as a new strategy for pest control. However, RNAi efficiency is reported to be low in Lepidoptera, which are composed of many important crop pests. To address this, we generated transgenic plants to develop HIGS effects in a maize pest, Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), by targeting chitinase encoding genes. More importantly, we developed an artificial microRNA (amiR) based PTA (polycistronic‐tRNA‐amiR) system for silencing multiple target genes. Compared with hpRNA (hairpin RNA), transgenic expression of a PTA cassette including an amiR for the gut‐specific dsRNA nuclease gene MsREase, resulted in improved knockdown efficiency and caused more pronounced developmental abnormalities in recipient insects. When target gene siRNAs were analysed after HIGS and direct dsRNA/siRNA feeding, common features such as sense polarity and siRNA hotspot regions were observed, however, they differed in siRNA transitivity and major 20‐24nt siRNA species. Core RNAi genes were identified in M. separata, and biochemical activities of MsAGO2, MsSID1 and MsDcr2 were confirmed by EMSA (electrophoretic mobility shift assay) and dsRNA cleavage assays, respectively. Taken together, we provide compelling evidence for the existence of the RNAi mechanism in M. separata by analysis of both siRNA signatures and RNAi machinery components, and the PTA system could potentially be useful for future RNAi control of lepidopteran pests.
Multidisciplinary management of a previously unreported presentation of severe aplasia cutis congenita
Authors: Davis Matthew J. , Voller Lindsey M. , Gonzalez Santiago R. , Abu‐Ghname Amjed , Davies Lesley W. , Bedwell Joshua R. , Lee Grace L. , Hunt Raegan D. , Phung Thuy L. , Buchanan Edward P.
Published: January 2021

Aplasia cutis congenita (ACC) is characterized by the complete or partial absence of skin at birth, with 85% of cases of ACC involving the scalp vertex. The etiology of ACC is unclear and appears to be multifactorial. We present the case of a 3‐month‐old boy who presented with a diagnosis of non‐scalp ACC affecting approximately 80% of his total body surface area at birth. This case adds to the literature due to the patient's survival beyond the first day of life and his unique and severe distribution of defects, which led to respiratory compromise and required multidisciplinary management.
Immunoproteomics characterization of Leishmania panamensis proteins for potential clinical diagnosis of mucosal Leishmaniasis
Authors: Caraballo‐Guzmán Arley José , Ospina‐Villa Juan David , Cuesta‐Caicedo Angela Patricia , Sánchez‐Jiménez Miryan Margot
Published: January 2021

Diagnosis of leishmaniasis based on antibodies detection represents a challenge due to cross‐reaction of sera with other infectious agents, which co‐exist in endemic areas of Leishmania sp, especially patients with Trypanosoma cruzi. This work is aimed at searching for immunogenic proteins in sera from patients with cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis that may be potential candidates for the development of diagnostic tests and/or vaccines that help control the infection. Total protein extracts of L. panamensis promastigotes were put in contact with sera from patients with cutaneous and mucosal leishmaniasis (immunoblots). Immunoreactive proteins were identified by mass spectrometry and bioinformatics tools. 81 proteins were identified. One of these was uniquely recognized by the sera from patients with ML but not from sera from either CL or Chagas disease patients. MS analysis of this band pointed to the putative leishmanial 3‐oxoacyl‐(Acylcarrierprotein) reductase.
Case‐by‐case: Emotional stimulus significance and the modulation of the EPN and LPP
Authors: Schupp Harald T. , Kirmse Ursula M.
Published: January 2021

Stimuli encountered in the environment are continuously evaluated according to their affective stimulus significance. Numerous event‐related potential studies have shown that the early posterior negativity (EPN) and the late positive potential (LPP) are larger for pictures high in emotional arousal compared to low arousing images. Here, we used a case‐by‐case approach to determine the emotional modulation of the EPN and LPP at the level of the individual case. We probed the effect in three studies regarding behavior systems of predator fear, disease avoidance, and sexual reproduction. In each study, high and low arousing pictures from the respective behavior system were presented and event‐related brain potentials measured. At the group level, previous findings regarding an enhanced EPN and LPP for high compared to low arousing stimuli were replicated. Novel findings were observed when analyzing each case individually. The majority of participants showed significantly larger EPN and LPP amplitudes to pictures showing threatening compared to harmless animals (15 and 16 out of 16 tests, respectively), images of disease and mutilation compared to neutral people (15 and 17 out of 18 tests, respectively), and high‐arousing erotic compared to romantic pictures (17 and 17 out of 17 tests, respectively). Further analyses exploring the tradeoff between specificity and sensitivity suggest reliance on picture categories of sexual reproduction and disease avoidance. Overall, the present findings demonstrate that the case‐by‐case approach can be useful for revealing a general principle of emotional stimulus processing common‐to‐all. Implications for the reproducibility of the findings and biomarker development are discussed.
An Italian Jewish Patriot in the Risorgimento
Authors: Boulouque Clémence
Published: January 2021

Chapter 2 delves into Benamozegh’s coming of age under the Risorgimento and the way it exposed him to the thinking of its Christian thinkers and ideologues, such as Gioberti and Mazzini. It uncovers how some of his tropes regarding Israel as a nation, articulating patriotism with a universalist and divine mission, were drawn from these towering Italian figures. His redefinition of the interaction between Jews and the nation, and his opposition to the religious rejection of modernity, exemplified by the Pope, are all best understood against the backdrop of the Risorgimento, of which he was a witness and participant.
Cosmopolitanism and Universalism
Authors: Boulouque Clémence
Published: January 2021

Chapter 8 examines the logic of Benamozegh’s universalism through his treatment of the role of nations. As a witness and vocal supporter of the Italian Risorgimento and the advent of nation-states, Benamozegh had emphasized the political acumen of Judaism and its relevance to modern, nation-based societies. In his view, universalism could only be achieved through the particularism of nations--not in the abstract manner he believed had been promoted by Pauline Christianity, focused on individuals, which could not elicit any true religious belonging.
Beyond Dualism
Authors: Boulouque Clémence
Published: January 2021

Chapter 11 is devoted to Benamozegh’s presentation of Kabbalah as a vehicle for understanding and achieving religious unity and progress. His use of kabbalistic hermeneutics, predicated on the key concepts of coincidence of opposites, of berur (clarification) and of illuy (elevation), aimed (a) to suspend commonly held binaries such as science and faith, East and West, worldliness and transcendence, and (b) to prove Kabbalah’s affinity with nineteenth-century conceptions of assimilation and of progress.
“The Iron Crucible” and Loci of Religious Contact
Authors: Boulouque Clémence
Published: January 2021

Chapter 14 focuses on the meaning and loci of religious encounters in the Bible and in the Jewish tradition, and analyzes the concept of “iron crucible,” the metaphor Benamozegh used for the complexity of religious assimilation. This metaphor, which refers to the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt, designates a place where identities intermingled and where the Jewish religion was refined through its contact with paganism—but also where, paradoxically, this blending did not preclude a sense of hierarchy in this assimilation process. This concept is a crucial aspect of Benamozegh’s system, whereby the greater the proximity, the greater the tension across religious traditions.
Modes of Interreligious Engagement
Authors: Boulouque Clémence
Published: January 2021

Chapter 16 examines the theory and practices of interreligious rapprochement, encounters, and dialogue in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Retracing the stages of such endeavors prior to the Second World War helps refine the categories used to describe these modes of interaction and to consider how they have applied to intellectual efforts and social practices, including the Second Vatican Council in 1965, against the conceptual legacy of Benamozegh. Because Benamozegh’s work aimed to bring about religious unity, and because he found a disciple in Aimé Pallière and a posthumous audience for his calls to promote coexistence, assessing the implementation of this prescriptive and convoluted thought is a necessary conclusion of this study.
Carl Schmitt and the Concrete Order
Authors: Croce Mariano , Goldoni Marco
Published: January 2021

Chapter abstract: This chapter centers on Carl Schmitt’s influential theorizing by exploring his thoroughgoing revision of his previous decisionist paradigm. It investigates the major theoretical move whereby, based on Maurice Hauriou’s and Santi Romano’s teachings, Schmitt dispensed with his famed theory of the exception and put forward his “concrete order and formation thinking.” While his persisting obsession was with the homogeneity of the political community, he importantly changed his mind as to how it can be attained and how it should be preserved. These pages also shine a light on the difference with Santi Romano’s idea of order, especially as to how their disagreeing conceptions of it led to disagreeing conceptions of pluralism. Schmitt’s revision of his own theory, juxtaposed to Romano’s firm conceptualization of the juristic point of view, teases out what is at stake in the late-modern relation between the juridical and the political.
Costantino Mortati and the Material Constitution
Authors: Croce Mariano , Goldoni Marco
Published: January 2021

Chapter abstract: The aim of this chapter is twofold. It initially illustrates Mortati’s version of legal institutionalism and then explains how his idea of the material constitution addresses the challenge of pluralism. There are three main parts of the chapter. In the first, the historical context of Mortati’s reflections is briefly introduced. The second part is centered on the main tenets of his legal theory. First, his imperative conception of law and the institutionalist version of the legal order are compared not only with Romano and Schmitt, but also with Smend and Heller. Then, the key notion of the material constitution is reconstructed through an analysis of its function, subjects, and fundamental political aims. The last part of the chapter argues that the concept of the material constitution was conceived as a response to social pluralism and elucidates its undergirding integrative logic.
Brain blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics during rhythmic handgrip exercise in young healthy men and women
Authors: Tarumi Takashi , Yamabe Takayuki , Fukuie Marina , Zhu David C. , Zhang Rong , Ogoh Shigehiko , Sugawara Jun
Published: January 2021

Key points

The cerebral fluid response to exercise, including the arterial and venous cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), currently remains unknown.

We used time‐resolved phase‐contrast magnetic resonance imaging to assess changes in CBF and CSF flow dynamics during moderate‐intensity rhythmic handgrip (RHG) exercise in young healthy men and women.

Our data demonstrated that RHG increases the cerebral arterial inflow and venous outflow while decreasing the pulsatile CSF flow during RHG.

Furthermore, changes in blood stroke volume at the measured arteries, veins, and sinuses and CSF stroke volume at the cerebral aqueduct were positively correlated with each other during RHG.

Male and female participants exhibited distinct blood pressure responses to RHG, but their cerebral fluid responses were similar.

These results collectively suggest that RHG influences both CBF and CSF flow dynamics in a way that is consistent with the Monro–Kellie hypothesis to maintain intracranial volume‐pressure homeostasis in young healthy adults.

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) increases during exercise, but its impact on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow remains unknown. This study investigated CBF and CSF flow dynamics during moderate‐intensity rhythmic handgrip (RHG) exercise in young healthy men and women. Twenty‐six participants (12 women) underwent the RHG and resting control conditions in random order. Participants performed 3 sets of RHG, during which cine phase‐contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC‐MRI) was performed to measure blood stroke volume (SV) and flow rate in the internal carotid (ICA) and vertebral (VA) arteries, the internal jugular vein (IJV), the superior sagittal (SSS) and straight sinuses (SRS), and CSF SV and flow rate in the cerebral aqueduct of Sylvius. Blood pressure, end‐tidal CO2 (EtCO2), heart rate (HR), and respiratory rate were simultaneously measured during cine PC‐MRI scans. Compared with control conditions, RHG showed significant elevations of HR, mean arterial pressure, and respiratory rate with a mild reduction of EtCO2 (all P < 0.05). RHG decreased blood SV in the measured arteries, veins, and sinuses and CSF SV in the aqueduct (all P < 0.05). Conversely, RHG increased blood flow in the ICA, VA, and IJV (all P < 0.05). At the aqueduct, RHG decreased the absolute CSF flow rate (P = 0.0307), which was calculated as a sum of the caudal and cranial CSF flow rates. Change in the ICA SV was positively correlated with changes in the IJV, SSS, SRS, and aqueductal SV during RHG (all P < 0.05). These findings demonstrate a close coupling between the CBF and CSF flow dynamics during RHG in young healthy adults.
Natural Convection Heat Transfer From a Vertical Hollow Cylinder With Surface Holes
Authors: Acharya Swastik , Dash Sukanta K.
Published: January 2021

Three-dimensional continuity, momentum, and energy equations have been solved around a perforated vertical hollow cylinder to predict the buoyancy-induced flow field and the temperature distribution around it. Finite volume method (FVM) has been implemented for the discretization of the underlying governing equations. Second-order upwind scheme has been adopted to discretize the convective terms in the momentum and energy equation. Results have been obtained by varying the input parameters like hole diameter to cylinder length ratio (d/L), pitch to length ratio (P/L), angular pitch (θ), cylinder length to diameter ratio (L/D), and Rayleigh number (Ra) spanning from 0.005 to 0.08, 0.1 to 0.3333, 30 deg to 180 deg, 2 to 20, and 104 to 108, respectively. It has been found that the average surface Nusselt number (Nu) for the outer surface increases with the diameter of the hole for Ra of 106, however for Ra of 108, it marginally decreases up to d/L of 0.01 and then increases. Nu for the inner surface increases when d/L is more than 0.04 for all Ra. The cylinder with the staggered holes shows a slightly higher Nu compared to the inline holes. Nu for the inner and outer surface at a lower pitch is less than that of the higher pitch when d/L is less than 0.02 for all Ra. The heat transfer rate of the perforated cylinder is more than the nonperforated cylinder for all the cases when L/D is less than 10 and Ra less than 106. However, for Ra more than 106, the perforated cylinder always loses more heat compared to the nonperforated one for all L/D. Finally, the correlation for Nu has been proposed as a function of the pertinent input parameters for future reference in the academic as well as industrial practices.
Visualization of Flow Boiling Experiments on Micro/Nanoscale Structured Surfaces in Microchannel
Authors: Li Wei , Li Junye , Zhou Kan , Zhu Hua , Zhang Zhengjiang , Du Jincai
Published: January 2021

In this short paper, the method of analyzing microchannel flow boiling phenomena by the image processing tool was briefly introduced. The experiments of subcooled and saturated flow boiling on various micro-/nanostructured modified surfaces were carried out. The high-speed images obtained from the experiments were taken as examples. Nucleated bubbles, partial dryout patches, and liquid–vapor interfaces could be recognized and quantified by the image processing tool. The transient statistical parameters of the region of interest (ROI) could be further obtained, such as the sequential equivalent diameter of bubbles and sequential area size as well as its spreading rate of dryout patches. The image processing tool was a valuable option to investigate microchannel flow boiling phenomena.
Impact of Aromatic Structures and Content in Formulated Fuel for Jet Engine Applications on Particulate Matter Emissions
Authors: Zheng Lukai , Singh Paramvir , Cronly James , Ubogu Emamode A. , Ahmed Ihab , Ling Chenxing , Zhang Yang , Khandelwal Bhupendra
Published: January 2021

Fuel formulation with the particular selection of fuel components is a promising approach that offers the reduction of harmful emissions without altering the combustion system performance. Each fuel component has its own combustion characteristics and hence contribution to emissions. Aromatic is one of the main components of fossil-based fuels and has a strong correlation with the formation of particulate matter (PM) emissions. Besides, aromatics presence in fuel is essential for the compatibility of fuel with the combustion system and maintaining the energy density of the fuel. In this regard, a Rolls-Royce combustor rig was used to test 16 aromatics blended with jet fuels in three different proportions. Moreover, a novel approach of flame luminosity imaging is employed to measure the PM emissions through the soot propensity profile. The results show that PM emissions increase with the proportional increase of aromatics. The di- and cyclo-aromatics produced significantly higher PM emissions compared to alkyl-benzenes. 3-Isopropylcumene tends to lowest PM formation and thus is a consideration as a selection of aromatic type in future fuels for lower PM emissions. Furthermore, it was also observed that PM number concentration measured by the extractive method with DMS 500 instrument correlates well with imaging methods for all the tested fuels. The present study provides information on particular selection of aromatic for future fuel development.
Observer Design for the Series Interconnection of Li-Ion Battery Cells Subject to Reduced Voltage Information
Authors: Couto Luis D. , Schons Silvane , Coutinho Daniel , Kinnaert Michel
Published: January 2021

This work studies the estimation of internal states and voltages in a battery pack composed by lithium-ion cells subject to limited voltage and temperature measurements. A reduced-order electrochemical model for each cell is used. The considered cells are heterogeneous. They are electrically interconnected in series and thermally coupled. The resulting model is linearized and reformulated as a descriptor system. Such a model provides a unified modeling framework accounting for both battery cell dynamics and algebraic states arising from standard Kirchhoff’s laws. An observability study is exploited to design an observable descriptor system that requires the measurement of the surface temperature of one cell together with the total voltage. We resort to Lyapunov theory and the algebraic relationship between the descriptor system states and the measurements to derive a state observer that meets the following conditions. The error system is input-to-state stable and the effect of cell-to-cell variations on a specified performance variable is minimized. The state observer is obtained by solving a set of LMIs. The proposed scheme is able to estimate the state of each individual cell, including state of charge and inner temperature, as well as the unmeasured voltages. The effectiveness of the approach is tested in simulation.
High-Fidelity Teleoperated Scaled Vehicles for Research and Development of Intelligent Transportation Technologies
Authors: Wang Cong , Wang Bohan , Zhao Leidi , Maranon Carlos , Goswamy Nishaant , Lee Jo Young , Wang Guiling
Published: January 2021

This paper presents a systematic design of high-fidelity tele-operated scaled vehicles to be used as a research and development platform for intelligent transportation technologies. Compared to computer simulation and full-scale physical tests, the use of high-fidelity scaled setups provides advantages on testing time and financial effectiveness. The physical design of the vehicles features a 1:14 scale with realistic appearance licensed by car manufacturers. Customized steering system and propulsion control provide high-fidelity maneuver characteristics. Remote control is deployed using a target-host structure over WiFi and can provide seamless switching between human driving and autonomous/assisted driving on the host side. Several possible solutions for real-time panoramic vision feedback are explored, with a tri-camera design based on parallel acquisition interfaces adopted. An adaptive color compression technique is developed to shorten the video streaming latency. A customized miniature LIDAR system is introduced to provide an ultra-small package for on-board installation. As a solution balancing between test fidelity and costs, the proposed scaled vehicles are especially suitable for validation tests during the early stage of research and development. With a long-term goal of developing a multi-vehicle traffic network test platform, ongoing and future work on the construction of scaled buildings and road systems is also discussed.
Multi-Level Hierarchical Estimation for Thermal Management Systems of Electrified Vehicles
Authors: Tannous Pamela J. , Alleyne Andrew G.
Published: January 2021

This paper presents a multi-level model-based hierarchical estimation framework for complex thermal management systems of electrified vehicles. System dynamics are represented by physics-based lumped parameter models derived from a graph-based modeling approach. The complexity of hierarchical models is reduced by applying an aggregation-based model order reduction technique that preserves the physical correspondence between a physical system and its reduced-order model. The paper presents a case study in which a hierarchical observer is designed to estimate the dynamics of a candidate system. The hierarchical observer is connected to a hierarchical controller for closed-loop control. A comparison between the proposed hierarchical observer and a centralized observer shows that a hierarchical observer enables a reduction in the required computational power.
Marker Based Row Alignment Control for an Agricultural Scouting Robot
Authors: Li Qiang , Kong Xiangling , Xu Yunjun
Published: January 2021

In recent years, autonomous robots have been gradually introduced into various agricultural operations to address the ever-increasing labor shortage problem. Accurate navigation from one row to another is one of the many challenging tasks for an autonomous robot scouting in semi-structured agricultural fields. In this study, a marker-based row alignment control is proposed for the cross-bed motion of a scouting robot in strawberry fields. Specifically, a feature-based computer vision algorithm is used to detect primitive markers placed at the end of each planting bed. Then the image coordinates of detected markers are used to guide the robot to move away from one row and then align with the next one. The proposed method is low cost and robust with respect to varying lighting conditions, and has been validated in a local strawberry farm.
Parametric Modeling and Optimal Control of a Combined Heating and Power System With Energy Storage
Authors: De Pascalis Claudia Lucia , Stockar Stephanie
Published: January 2021

Cogeneration is a well-known and cost effective solution for generating power and heat within the same plant, leading to improved overall efficiency and reduced generation cost. Combined heating and power systems can facilitate the penetration of renewable energy sources in medium size applications through the integration of electric and thermal energy storage units. Due to the complexity of the plant as well as significantly variability in power demand and generation, the design and operation of such systems requires a systematic co-optimization of plant and controller for guaranteeing near optimal performance. In this scenario, this paper presents a physics-based parametric modeling approach for the characterization of the main components of a 1MW combined heating and power system that includes renewable sources, electric and thermal storage devices. To demonstrate the model flexibility and potential benefits achieved by an optimal sizing, the system energy management is optimized using Dynamic Programming. The operational costs for different configurations are compared showing that an optimization of the energy management strategy in conjunction with an improved system sizing lead to more than 6% of reduction in the operational cost.
Error Dynamics Design via a Repetitive Loop for UDE-Based Robust Control to Reject Periodic Disturbances
Authors: Wang Yeqin , Dong Yiting , Dai Jiguo , Ren Beibei , Zhong Qing-Chang
Published: January 2021

The uncertainty and disturbance estimator (UDE)-based robust control has a two-degree-of-freedom nature through the design of the error dynamics and the design of the UDE filters. In the conventional design to handle periodic disturbances or mixed sinusoidal disturbances, high-order UDE filters incorporated with the internal model principle (IMP) or time-delay filters (TDF) are adopted to achieve the asymptotic reference tracking and the asymptotic disturbance rejection. In this paper, a new error dynamics design combined with a repetitive loop is proposed for the UDE-based robust control to achieve the asymptotic rejection of both step disturbances and periodic disturbances. The disturbance rejection performance is investigated through the two-degree-of-freedom nature, and the practical implementation of the proposed design is illustrated to eliminate the infinite bandwidth of the repetitive loop. The proposed design is validated through the simulation studies of a battery charging system with comparison to different reported designs of the conventional UDE-based robust control.
Development and Implementation of a New Optimal Supplemental Lighting Control Strategy in Greenhouses
Authors: Mosharafian Sahand , Afzali Shirin , Mohammadpour Velni Javad , van Iersel Marc W.
Published: January 2021

The use of supplemental lighting is an effective way for increasing greenhouse productivity. Recently, using light-emitting diodes (LEDs), capable of precise and quick dimmability, has increased in greenhouses. However, electricity cost of lighting can be significant, and hence, it is necessary to find optimal lighting strategies to minimize supplemental lighting costs. In this paper, we model supplemental lighting in the greenhouse equipped with LEDs as a constrained optimization problem, and we aim at minimizing electricity costs of supplemental lighting. We consider not only plant daily light integral (DLI) need during its photoperiod but also sunlight prediction and variable electricity pricing in our model. We use Markov chain to predict sunlight irradiance throughout the day. By taking sunlight prediction information into account, we avoid supplying more light than plants require. Therefore, our lighting strategy provides sufficient light for plant growth while minimizing electricity costs during the day. We propose an algorithm to find optimal supplemental lighting strategy and evaluate its performance through exhaustive simulation studies using a whole year data and compare it to a heuristic method, which aims to supply a fixed photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) to plants at each time-step during the day. We also implement our proposed lighting strategy on Raspberry Pi using Python programming language. Our prediction-based lighting approach shows (on average) about 23% electricity cost reduction compared to a heuristic method throughout the year for a site located at West Virginia.
Distributed Particle Filter With Online Model Learning for Localization Using Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDOA) Measurements
Authors: Panetta Chandler J. , Ennasr Osama N. , Tan Xiaobo
Published: January 2021

The problem of localizing a moving target arises in various forms in wireless sensor networks. Deploying multiple sensing receivers and using the time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) of the target’s emitted signal is widely considered an effective localization technique. Traditionally, TDOA-based algorithms adopt a centralized approach where all measurements are sent to a predefined reference node for position estimation. More recently, distributed TDOA-based localization algorithms have been shown to improve the robustness of these estimates. For target models governed by highly stochastic processes, the method of nonlinear filtering and state estimation must be carefully considered. In this work, a distributed TDOA-based particle filter algorithm is proposed for localizing a moving target modeled by a discrete-time correlated random walk (DCRW). We present a method for using data collected by the particle filter to estimate the unknown probability distributions of the target’s movement model, and then apply the distribution estimates to recursively update the particle filter’s propagation model. The performance of the distributed approach is evaluated through numerical simulation, and we show the benefit of using a particle filter with online model learning by comparing it with the non-adaptive approach.
Receding Horizon Control for a 2D Point-Mass Hopping Model Navigating on Terrain With Stepping Stones and Stairs
Authors: Zamani Ali , Bhounsule Pranav A.
Published: January 2021

We consider the problem of a 2D point mass model navigating a complex terrain comprising of stepping stones and stairs while optimizing an energy metric. We solve the problem using receding horizon control as follows. We preview a fixed distance ahead at mid-flight. Then we optimize the number of steps, the controls, and foot placement location, choosing the solution with least energy cost. However, we implement only the solution for the first step which takes the model to the next mid-flight. This process continues until the model reaches the end of the terrain. We improve on past approaches by (1) considering a fixed distance preview as done by humans instead of fixed time or fixed steps, and (2) adding obstacles as a cost and elevation change as a condition within the model dynamics, thus avoiding mixed-integer formulations which are computationally expensive. The resulting problem is solved using constrained nonlinear programming. We demonstrate that the approach works for randomly chosen terrain consisting of stepping stones and stairs.
A Novel Approach to Time Series Forecasting Using Model-Free Adaptive Control Framework
Authors: Narayan Meenakshi , Fey Ann Majewicz
Published: January 2021

Sensor data predictions could significantly improve the accuracy and effectiveness of modern control systems; however, existing machine learning and advanced statistical techniques to forecast time series data require significant computational resources which is not ideal for real-time applications. In this paper, we propose a novel forecasting technique called Compact Form Dynamic Linearization Model-Free Prediction (CFDL-MFP) which is derived from the existing model-free adaptive control framework. This approach enables near real-time forecasts of seconds-worth of time-series data due to its basis as an optimal control problem. The performance of the CFDL-MFP algorithm was evaluated using four real datasets including: force sensor readings from surgical needle, ECG measurements for heart rate, and atmospheric temperature and Nile water level recordings. On average, the forecast accuracy of CFDL-MFP was 28% better than the benchmark Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) algorithm. The maximum computation time of CFDL-MFP was 49.1ms which was 170 times faster than ARIMA. Forecasts were best for deterministic data patterns, such as the ECG data, with a minimum average root mean squared error of (0.2±0.2).
Output-Feedback Linear Parameter Varying Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors
Authors: Lee Jaecheol , Tasoujian Shahin , Grigoriadis Karolos , Franchek Matthew
Published: January 2021

This paper investigates the design of an output feedback linear parameter-varying (LPV) gain-scheduled controller for the speed regulation of a surface permanent magnet synchronous motor (SPMSM). Motor dynamics is defined in the stationary reference (α – β) frame and a parameter-varying model formulation is provided to describe the SPMSM nonlinear dynamics. In this context, a robust gain-scheduled LPV output-feedback dynamic controller is designed to satisfy the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system and meet desired performance requirements, and guarantee robustness against norm-bounded uncertainties and disturbances. The real-time impact of temperature variation on the winding resistance and magnet flux during motor operations are considered in the LPV modelling and the subsequent control design to address demagnetization effects in the motor response. The controller synthesis conditions are formulated in a convex linear matrix inequality (LMI) constraint framework. Finally, the validity of the proposed control strategy is assessed in simulation studies, and the results are compared to the results of the conventional field-oriented control (FOC) method. The results of the simulation demonstrate that the proposed controller provides improved transient response with respect to settling time, overshoot, and disturbance rejection in tracking the velocity profile under the influence of parameter and temperature variations and disturbances.
A porous medium model for mud
Authors: Chotiros Nicholas P.
Published: January 2021

The extended Biot model for sands and silts is repurposed to include mud, but modifications are needed. The boundary between pore water and skeletal frame needs to be redefined because a significant fraction of the pore fluid is adsorbed onto the solid frame by electrostatic forces, and a proportion of the solid particles may be suspended in the pore fluid. Revil's relationships are used to simplify the input parameters. The frame elasticity equations are corrected to accommodate the sparse skeletal frame, which is supported by electrostatic forces, and behaves differently to a mechanical packing of grains. The corrected, Revil, extended Biot model has just four fitting parameters and is compared with published measurements of wave speeds and attenuations in the literature of clay, silty clay, and clayey silt sediments including recently published measurements from the Seabed Characterization Experiment. The results indicate that the skeletal frame in clay has a high water-content and the pore water contains suspended particles. To fit all the currently available data, it was necessary to modify corrected, Revil, extended Biot by flattening the creep related relaxation loss spectrum. There is a similarity with the Viscous Grain Shearing models in the use of a fractional exponent.