bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Variability in Larch (Larix Decidua Mill.) Tree-Ring Growth Response to Climate in the Polish Carpathian Mountains
Authors: Danek Małgorzata , Chuchro Monika , Walanus Adam
Published: September 2017

The climate–growth relationship of larch (Larix decidua Mill.) in the Polish Carpathian Mountains was studied. We explored the spatial variability of the common signal observed in larch tree-ring growth, distinguished regions with uniform tree-ring growth patterns (dendrochronological signal), and determined the climatic factors that are particularly important for the growth of larch in this area. Uniformity in the growth reaction across the analyzed area was found in the positive response to May temperatures (significant correlation values range from 0.21 to 0.48); this indicates that the warm beginning of the growing season is important for larch growth across the study area. The signal variability from west to east found in the principal components analysis (PCA) results and differences in climate response between analyzed sites suggest their relation to increasing influence of the continental climate to the east. However, the observed relationship is not stable and does not occur systematically. Although the climate–growth response of larch at lower elevations is highly variable, a positive influence of July precipitation and a negative influence of April precipitation, and previous May and July temperature can be observed. The growth of larch from the highest study sites (Tatra Mountains, above 950 m a.s.l.) is related to temperature. This is manifested by a strong positive correlation with temperature during late spring, early summer, and the end of the previous growing season, and a negative or no response to late spring/summer precipitation. No relation between the observed correlations and slope aspect was found.
Obesity, Physical Fitness and Inflammation in the Elderly
Authors: Silva Bruno , Camões Miguel , Simões Mário , Bezerra Pedro
Published: September 2017

Among the elderly, obesity is paradoxically associated with a lower mortality risk. Thus, this study describes fitness levels by Body Mass Index (BMI) category and the associations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and Vitamin D levels with muscle strength, in community-dwelling older adults. A cross-sectional study, with 1338 subjects having mean age of 78.3 years, were assessed in anthropometrics, muscle strength, and cardiorespiratory fitness. In a sub-sample, blood samples were collected and objective markers of inflammation were provided: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and Vitamin D (25(OH) D). Obese women (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) showed significantly better results for grip strength than normal weight group (BMI between 18.5–24.9 kg/m2): 22.3 (7.0) vs. 20.0 (6.8); p = 0.002. After adjustment, higher levels of hs-CRP were an independent predictor of lower levels of grip strength (β = −0.213, 95% CI: −0.424; −0.002) and Vitamin D levels were positively associated with higher levels of muscle strength (β = 0.098, 95% CI: 0.008–0.189). The multivariate analysis found a significant and positive association between 25(OH) D and grip strength: (β = 0.098, 95% CI: 0.008–0.189). A positive pattern of higher levels of absolute strength among obese older subjects could have an important impact on morbidity and mortality risk, through the inverse association with acute inflammation and an increase in Vitamin D profile.
Removal of Phenolic Compounds from Water Using Sewage Sludge-Based Activated Carbon Adsorption: A Review
Authors: Mu’azu Nuhu , Jarrah Nabeel , Zubair Mukarram , Alagha Omar
Published: September 2017

Due to their industrial relevance, phenolic compounds (PC) are amongst the most common organic pollutants found in many industrial wastewater effluents. The potential detrimental health and environmental impacts of PC necessitate their removal from wastewater to meet regulatory discharge standards to ensure meeting sustainable development goals. In recent decades, one of the promising, cost-effective and environmentally benign techniques for removal of PC from water streams has been adsorption onto sewage sludge (SS)-based activated carbon (SBAC). This is attributed to the excellent adsorptive characteristics of SBAC and also because the approach serves as a strategy for sustainable management of huge quantities of different types of SS that are in continual production globally. This paper reviews conversion of SS into activated carbons and their utilization for the removal of PC from water streams. Wide ranges of topics which include SBAC production processes, physicochemical characteristics of SBAC, factors affecting PC adsorption onto SBAC and their uptake mechanisms as well as the regeneration potential of spent SBAC are covered. Although chemical activation techniques produce better SBAC, yet more research work is needed to harness advances in material science to improve the functional groups and textural properties of SBAC as well as the low performance of physical activation methods. Studies focusing on PC adsorptive performance on SBAC using continuous mode (that are more relevant for industrial applications) in both single and multi-pollutant aqueous systems to cover wide range of PC are needed. Also, the potentials of different techniques for regeneration of spent SBAC used for adsorption of PC need to be assessed in relation to overall economic evaluation within realm of environmental sustainability using life cycle assessment.
A Comprehensive Survey of the Roles of Highly Disordered Proteins in Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Du Zhihua , Uversky Vladimir
Published: September 2017

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic and progressive disease that is strongly associated with hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) related to either insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production. Among the various molecular events and players implicated in the manifestation and development of diabetes mellitus, proteins play several important roles. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database has information on 34 human proteins experimentally shown to be related to the T2DM pathogenesis. It is known that many proteins associated with different human maladies are intrinsically disordered as a whole, or contain intrinsically disordered regions. The presented study shows that T2DM is not an exception to this rule, and many proteins known to be associated with pathogenesis of this malady are intrinsically disordered. The multiparametric bioinformatics analysis utilizing several computational tools for the intrinsic disorder characterization revealed that IRS1, IRS2, IRS4, MAFA, PDX1, ADIPO, PIK3R2, PIK3R5, SoCS1, and SoCS3 are expected to be highly disordered, whereas VDCC, SoCS2, SoCS4, JNK9, PRKCZ, PRKCE, insulin, GCK, JNK8, JNK10, PYK, INSR, TNF-α, MAPK3, and Kir6.2 are classified as moderately disordered proteins, and GLUT2, GLUT4, mTOR, SUR1, MAPK1, IKKA, PRKCD, PIK3CB, and PIK3CA are predicted as mostly ordered. More focused computational analyses and intensive literature mining were conducted for a set of highly disordered proteins related to T2DM. The resulting work represents a comprehensive survey describing the major biological functions of these proteins and functional roles of their intrinsically disordered regions, which are frequently engaged in protein–protein interactions, and contain sites of various posttranslational modifications (PTMs). It is also shown that intrinsic disorder-associated PTMs may play important roles in controlling the functions of these proteins. Consideration of the T2DM proteins from the perspective of intrinsic disorder provides useful information that can potentially lead to future experimental studies that may uncover latent and novel pathways associated with the disease.
Isoliquiritigenin Induces Autophagy and Inhibits Ovarian Cancer Cell Growth
Authors: Chen Hsin-Yuan , Huang Tsui-Chin , Shieh Tzong-Ming , Wu Chi-Hao , Lin Li-Chun , Hsia Shih-Min
Published: September 2017

Ovarian cancer is one of the commonest gynecologic malignancies, which has a poor prognosis for patients at the advanced stage. Isoliquiritigenin (ISL), an active flavonoid component of the licorice plant, previously demonstrated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and tumor suppressive effects. In this study, we investigated the antitumor effect of ISL on human ovarian cancer in vitro using the human ovarian cancer cell lines, OVCAR5 and ES-2, as model systems. Our results show that ISL significantly inhibited the viability of cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that ISL induced G2/M phase arrest. Furthermore, the expression of cleaved PARP, cleaved caspase-3, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, LC3B-II, and Beclin-1 levels were increased in western blot analysis. To clarify the role of autophagy and apoptosis in the effect of ISL, we used the autophagy inhibitor—3-methyladenine (3-MA) to attenuate the punctate fluorescence staining pattern of the p62/sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1, red fluorescence) and LC3 (green fluorescence) proteins after ISL treatment, and 3-MA inhibited the cytotoxicity of ISL. These findings provide new information about the link between ISL-induced autophagy and apoptosis and suggest that ISL is a candidate agent for the treatment of human ovarian cancer.
The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES): A Professional Color-Management Framework for Production, Post-Production and Archival of Still and Motion Pictures
Authors: Arrighetti Walter
Published: September 2017

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been pivotal in the inception, design and later adoption of a vendor-agnostic and open framework for color management, the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), targeting theatrical, TV and animation features, but also still-photography and image preservation at large. For this reason, the Academy gathered an interdisciplinary group of scientists, technologists, and creatives, to contribute to it so that it is scientifically sound and technically advantageous in solving practical and interoperability problems in the current film production, postproduction and visual-effects (VFX) ecosystem—all while preserving and future-proofing the cinematographers’ and artists’ creative intent as its main objective. In this paper, a review of ACES’ technical specifications is provided, as well as the current status of the project and a recent use case is given, namely that of the first Italian production embracing an end-to-end ACES pipeline. In addition, new ACES components will be introduced and a discussion started about possible uses for long-time preservation of color imaging in video-content heritage.
A View of the CP/DP-(non)parallelism from the Cartographic Perspective
Authors: Laenzlinger Christopher
Published: September 2017

The aim of this paper is to reconsider some aspects of the so-called clause/noun-phrase (non-)parallelism (Abney 1987 and much subsequent work). The question that arises is to find out what is common and what is different between the clause as a Complementizer Phrase (CP)-structure and the noun as a Determiner Phrase (DP)-structure in terms of structure and derivation. An example of structural parallelism lies in the division of the clause and the noun phrase into three domains: (i) the Nachfeld (right periphery), which is the thematic domain; (ii) the Mittelfeld (midfield), which is the inflection, agreement, Case and modification domain and (iii) the Vorfeld (left periphery), which is the discourse- and operator-related domain. However, we will show following Giusti (2002, 2006), Payne (1993), Bruening (2009), Cinque (2011), Laenzlinger (2011, 2015) among others that the inner structure of the Vorfeld and of the Mittelfeld of the clause is not strictly parallel to that of the noun phrase. Although derivational parallelism also lies in the possible types of movement occurring in the CP and DP domains (short head/X-movement, simple XP-movement, remnant XP-movement and pied-piping XP-movement), we will see that there is non-parallelism in the application of these sorts of movement within the clause and the noun phrase. In addition, we will test the respective orders among adverbs/adjectives, DP/Prepositional Phrase (PP)-arguments and DP/PP-adjuncts in the Mittelfeld of the clause/noun phrase and show that Cinque’s (2013) left–right asymmetry holds crosslinguistically for the possible neutral order (without focus effects) in post-verbal/nominal positions with respect to the prenominal/preverbal base order and its impossible reverse order.
Spectroscopic, Electrochemical and DFT Studies of Phosphorescent Homoleptic Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Complexes Based on Substituted 4-Fluorophenylvinyl- and 4-Methoxyphenylvinylquinolines
Authors: Adeloye Adewale , Mphahlele Malose , Adekunle Abolanle , Rhyman Lydia , Ramasami Ponnadurai
Published: September 2017

This study reports the synthesis and comparative investigation of the substituent effects of a new series of highly luminescent homoleptic tris-cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes of the type [Ir(N˄C)3]. These are based on two ligand type derivatives comprising of 4-fluorophenylvinylquinolines and 4-methoxyphenylvinylquinolines with electron-donating and/or electron-withdrawing groups as aryl substituents at 2-position. The structures of the ligands and their complexes were characterized by means of FT-IR, UV-Vis and NMR spectrometry complemented with photoluminescence and cyclic voltammetry. The photophysical properties of 2-aryl-4-(4-fluorophenylvinyl)quinoline and its corresponding complex were also studied using the density functional theory method. The photoluminescent properties of the ligands and the corresponding complexes showed high fluorescent intensities and quantum yields in solvents of different polarities. The photoluminescence spectra of the complexes in solid film, showed common transmission curves at longer wavelengths maximum (λem = 697 nm) possibly originating from the interference of scattered light of higher-order transmission of monochromators.
Durable Corrosion Resistance of Copper Due to Multi-Layer Graphene
Authors: Tiwari Abhishek , Singh Raman R.
Published: September 2017

Ultra-thin graphene coating has been reported to provide considerable resistance against corrosion during short-term exposures, however, there is great variability in the corrosion resistance due to graphene coating in different studies. It may be possible to overcome the problem of hampered corrosion protection ability of graphene that is caused due to defective single layer graphene by applying multilayer graphene. Systematic electrochemical characterization showed that the multilayer graphene coating developed in the study provided significant corrosion resistance in a chloride solution and the corrosion resistance was sustained for long durations (~400 h), which is attributed to the multilayer graphene.
Experimental Comparison of Different Carbon Fiber Composites in Reinforcement Layouts for Wooden Beams of Historical Buildings
Authors: Rescalvo Francisco , Valverde-Palacios Ignacio , Suarez Elisabet , Gallego Antolino
Published: September 2017

This paper offers a detailed, quantitative and exhaustive experimental comparison in terms of mechanical properties of three different layouts of carbon composite materials (CFRP) used to strengthen existing old timber beams highly affected by diverse natural defects and biological attacks, testing the use of pultruded laminate attached on the tension side of the element (LR), CFRP fabrics totally U-shape wrapping the timber element (UR), and the combined use of both reinforcement solutions (UR-P). Moreover, unidirectional and bidirectional fabrics were considered and compared. Timber elements used for the experimental program were extracted from a recent rehabilitation of the roof of the current Faculty of Law building, University of Granada (Spain), catalogued as a historical edifice. Experimental results from bending tests show that in all cases reinforcement provides a clear improvement in terms of bending capacity and stiffness as compared with the control specimens (without reinforcement). However, improvements in terms of ductility differ considerably depending on the kind of layout.
Analytical Investigation of the Cyclic Behavior of Smart Recentering T-Stub Components with Superelastic SMA Bolts
Authors: Seo Junwon , Hu Jong , Kim Kyoung-Hwan
Published: September 2017

Partially restrained (PR) bolted T-stub connections have been widely used in replacement of established fully restrained (FR) welded connections, which are susceptible to sudden brittle failure. These bolted T-stub connections can permit deformation, easily exceeding the allowable limit without any fracture because they are constructed with a design philosophy whereby the plastic deformation concentrates on bolt fasteners made of ductile steel materials. Thus, the PR bolted connections take advantage of excellent energy dissipation capacity in their moment and rotation behavior. However, a considerable amount of residual deformation may occur at the bolted connection subjected to excessive plastic deformation, thereby requiring additional costs to recover the original configuration. In this study, superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) bolts, which have a recentering capability upon unloading, are fabricated so as to solve these drawbacks, and utilized by replacing conventional steel bolts in the PR bolted T-stub connection. Instead of the full-scale T-stub connection, simplified T-stub components subjected to axial force are designed on the basis of a basic equilibrium theory that transfers the bending moment from the beam to the column and can be converted into equivalent couple forces acting on the beam flange. The feasible failure modes followed by corresponding response mechanisms are taken into consideration for component design with superelastic SMA bolts. The inelastic behaviors of such T-stub components under cyclic loading are simulated by advanced three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) analysis. Finally, this study suggests an optimal design for smart recentering T-stub components with respect to recentering and energy dissipation after observing the FE analysis results.
Research on Design and Simulation of Biaxial Tensile-Bending Complex Mechanical Performance Test Apparatus
Authors: Li Hailian , Zhao Hongwei , Luo Chunyang , Li Lijia , Zhang He
Published: September 2017

In order to realize a micro-mechanic performance test of biaxial tensile-bending-combined loading and solve the problem of incompatibility of test apparatus and observation apparatus, novel biaxial-combined tensile-bending micro-mechanical performance test apparatus was designed. The working principle and major functions of key constituent parts of test apparatus, including the servo drive unit, clamping unit and test system, were introduced. Based on the finite element method, biaxial tensile and tension-bending-combined mechanical performances of the test-piece were studied as guidance to learn the distribution of elastic deformation and plastic deformation of all sites of the test-piece and to better plan test regions. Finally, this test apparatus was used to conduct a biaxial tensile test under different pre-bending loading and a tensile test at different rates; the image of the fracture of the test-piece was acquired by a scanning electron microscope and analyzed. It was indicated that as the pre-bending force rises, the elastic deformation phase would gradually shorten and the slope of the elastic deformation phase curve would slightly rise so that a yield limit would appear ahead of time. Bending speed could exert a positive and beneficial influence on tensile strength but weaken fracture elongation. If bending speed is appropriately raised, more ideal anti-tensile strength could be obtained, but fracture elongation would decline.
Is Branched-Chain Amino Acids Supplementation an Efficient Nutritional Strategy to Alleviate Skeletal Muscle Damage? A Systematic Review
Authors: Fouré Alexandre , Bendahan David
Published: September 2017

Amino acids and more precisely, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), are usually consumed as nutritional supplements by many athletes and people involved in regular and moderate physical activities regardless of their practice level. BCAAs have been initially shown to increase muscle mass and have also been implicated in the limitation of structural and metabolic alterations associated with exercise damage. This systematic review provides a comprehensive analysis of the literature regarding the beneficial effects of BCAAs supplementation within the context of exercise-induced muscle damage or muscle injury. The potential benefit of a BCAAs supplementation was also analyzed according to the supplementation strategy—amount of BCAAs, frequency and duration of the supplementation—and the extent of muscle damage. The review protocol was registered prospectively with Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (registration number CRD42017073006) and followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Literature search was performed from the date of commencement until August 2017 using four online databases (Medline, Cochrane library, Web of science and ScienceDirect). Original research articles: (i) written in English; (ii) describing experiments performed in Humans who received at least one oral BCAAs supplementation composed of leucine, isoleucine and valine mixture only as a nutritional strategy and (iii) reporting a follow-up of at least one day after exercise-induced muscle damage, were included in the systematic review analysis. Quality assessment was undertaken independently using the Quality Criteria Checklist for Primary Research. Changes in indirect markers of muscle damage were considered as primary outcome measures. Secondary outcome measures were the extent of change in indirect markers of muscle damage. In total, 11 studies were included in the analysis. A high heterogeneity was found regarding the different outcomes of these studies. The risk of bias was moderate considering the quality ratings were positive for six and neutral for three. Although a small number of studies were included, BCAAs supplementation can be efficacious on outcomes of exercise-induced muscle damage, as long as the extent of muscle damage was low-to-moderate, the supplementation strategy combined a high daily BCAAs intake (>200 mg kg−1 day−1) for a long period of time (>10 days); it was especially effective if taken prior to the damaging exercise.
Shape Memory Polyurethanes Based on Zwitterionic Hard Segments
Authors: Fu Shuqin , Ren Huanhuan , Ge Zaochuan , Zhuo Haitao , Chen Shaojun
Published: September 2017

This work aimed at elucidating the influence of zwitterionic hard segments on the structures and properties of shape memory polyurethanes (SMPUs). A series of zwitterionic SMPUs was successfully prepared with N-methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), 1,3-propanesultone (1,3-PS), 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and polyethylene glycol (PEG6000). The influence of MDEA-PS-based zwitterionic hard segment on structure, morphology, thermal property, shape memory property and cytocompatibility were systematically investigated. The results demonstrated that the PEG-based zwitterionic SMPUs (PEG-ZSMPUs) formed phase separation structure consisting of crystalline soft phase and amorphous hard phase. The MDEA-PS zwitterionic segments showed a tendency to form ionic clusters in hard segments, which served as reinforced net points. Shape memory analysis showed that zwitterionic PEG-ZSMPUs containing a high content of zwitterionic segments had thermal-induced shape memory effects. Finally, cytotoxic assays demonstrated that MDEA-PS zwitterionic segment improved the biocompatibility of PEG-ZSMPUs. The zwitterionic PEG-ZSMPUs could thus have a promising application in smart biomedical fields.
Surface Properties and Structural Transformation Behaviors of mPEG-Maleic Rosin Copolymer in Water
Authors: Zhou Juying , Zhang Xia , Zhao Yanzhi , Xu Haitang , Li Pengfei , Li Hao , Zhang Jinyan , Huang Qin , Lei Fuhou
Published: September 2017

mPEG (monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol))-maleic rosin copolymer was successfully prepared. The surface properties of the copolymer were investigated by surface tension and resonance scattering techniques. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was obtained. The adsorption behaviors and the conformational changes of the surfactant molecules at the air-water interface were described. The adsorption amount of state 1 presented a sinusoid shape and that of state 2 presented a sigmoid with the growth of П. The free energy of adsorption is more negative than that of micellization, thus, the surfactant molecules adsorb on the surface firstly, and then form micelles after saturation adsorption. Accordingly, structural transformation and aggregation behaviors of various concentration mPEG-maleic rosin copolymers with changing temperature were explored in water. The mPEG-maleic rosin chains experienced transformation from unimers to aggregates, to contracted aggregates, to cohesive aggregates with increasing temperature when the concentration is lower than CMC. This process is almost reversible with decreasing temperature. Transformation from micelle to aggregate with increasing temperature happened when the concentration is higher than CMC. The phenomena were assessed by DLS (dynamic light scattering) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy) techniques.
Measuring Time-Dynamics and Time-Stability of Journal Rankings in Mathematics and Physics by Means of Fractional p-Variations
Authors: Ferrer-Sapena Antonia , Díaz-Novillo Susana , Sánchez-Pérez Enrique
Published: September 2017

Journal rankings of specific research fields are often used for evaluation purposes, both of authors and institutions. These rankings can be defined by means of several methods, as expert assessment, scholarly-based agreements, or by the ordering induced by a numeric index associated to the prestige of the journals. In order to be efficient and accepted by the research community, it must preserve the ordering over time, at least up to a point. Otherwise, the procedure for defining the ranking must be revised to assure that it reflects the presumably stable characteristic “prestige” that it claims to be quantifying. A mathematical model based on fractional p-variations of the values of the order number of each journal in a time series of journal rankings is explained, and its main properties are shown. As an example, we study the evolution of two given ordered lists of journals through an eleven-year series. These journal ranks are defined by using the 2-year Impact Factor of Thomson-Reuters (nowadays Clarivate Analytics) lists for MATHEMATICS and PHYSICS, APPLIED from 2002 to 2013. As an application of our model, we define an index that precludes the use of journal ranks for evaluation purposes when some minimal requirements on the associated fractional p-variations are not satisfied. The final conclusion is that the list of mathematics does not satisfy the requirements on the p-variations, while the list of applied physics does.
Haze Removal Based on a Fully Automated and Improved Haze Optimized Transformation for Landsat Imagery over Land
Authors: Sun Lixin , Latifovic Rasim , Pouliot Darren
Published: September 2017

Optical satellite imagery is often contaminated by the persistent presence of clouds and atmospheric haze. Without an effective method for removing this contamination, most optical remote sensing applications are less reliable. In this research, a methodology has been developed to fully automate and improve the Haze Optimized Transformation (HOT)-based haze removal. The method is referred to as AutoHOT and characterized with three notable features: a fully automated HOT process, a novel HOT image post-processing tool and a class-based HOT radiometric adjustment method. The performances of AutoHOT in haze detection and compensation were evaluated through three experiments with one Landsat-5 TM, one Landsat-7 ETM+ and eight Landsat-8 OLI scenes that encompass diverse landscapes and atmospheric haze conditions. The first experiment confirms that AutoHOT is robust and effective for haze detection. The average overall, user’s and producer’s accuracies of AutoHOT in haze detection can reach 96.4%, 97.6% and 97.5%, respectively. The second and third experiments demonstrate that AutoHOT can not only accurately characterize the haze intensities but also improve dehazed results, especially for brighter targets, compared to traditional HOT radiometric adjustment.
Assessment of the NOAA S-NPP VIIRS Geolocation Reprocessing Improvements
Authors: Wang Wenhui , Cao Changyong , Bai Yan , Blonski Slawomir , Schull Mitchell
Published: September 2017

Long-term time series analysis requires consistent data records from satellites. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) onboard the Suomi National Polar orbiting Partner (S-NPP) satellite launched in 2011 requires a major effort to produce consistently calibrated sensor data records (SDR). Accurate VIIRS geolocation products are critical to other VIIRS products and products from other instruments on the S-NPP satellite. This paper presents methods for assessing major improvements to the VIIRS geolocation products in the ongoing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) reprocessing that incorporates all corrections in calibration parameters and SDR algorithms since launch to present. In this study, we analyzed the history of VIIRS geometric calibration parameter updates to identify optimal parameters to account for geolocation errors in the early days of the mission. A sample area located in North Western Africa was selected for validation purposes after analyzing global VIIRS and Landsat control point matching results. Geolocation products over the study region were reprocessed and I-bands/M-bands geolocation improvements were characterized by comparing geolocation errors before and after the reprocessing. Our results indicate that all short-term geolocation anomalies before the latest operational geometric calibration parameter update on 22 August 2013 were effectively minimized after reprocessing, with geolocation errors reduced from −47.1 ± 83.8 m to −23.3 ± 51.1 m (along scan) and from −15.6 ± 43.6 m to −5.9 ± 37.7 m (along track). Terrain correction for the VIIRS Day-Night-Band (DNB) was not implemented in the NOAA operational processing until 22 May 2015. In the reprocessing, it will be implemented to the entire DNB geolocation data record. DNB reprocessing improvement due to this implementation was evaluated using nighttime observations over point sources at sea level and over high altitude. Our results show that the implementation of terrain correction will reduce DNB geolocation errors at off-nadir high elevation locations from up to 9 km to ~0.5 pixel (0.375 km), comparable to those at sea level site. The reprocessed geolocation dataset will be distributed online for end-users to access.
Measurements of Surface-Layer Turbulence in a Wide Norwegian Fjord Using Synchronized Long-Range Doppler Wind Lidars
Authors: Cheynet Etienne , Jakobsen Jasna , Snæbjörnsson Jónas , Mann Jakob , Courtney Michael , Lea Guillaume , Svardal Benny
Published: September 2017

Three synchronized pulsed Doppler wind lidars were deployed from May 2016 to June 2016 on the shores of a wide Norwegian fjord called Bjørnafjord to study the wind characteristics at the proposed location of a planned bridge. The purpose was to investigate the potential of using lidars to gather information on turbulence characteristics in the middle of a wide fjord. The study includes the analysis of the single-point and two-point statistics of wind turbulence, which are of major interest to estimate dynamic wind loads on structures. The horizontal wind components were measured by the intersecting scanning beams, along a line located 25 m above the sea surface, at scanning distances up to 4.6 k m . For a mean wind velocity above 8 m · s - 1 , the recorded turbulence intensity was below 0.06 on average. Even though the along-beam spatial averaging leads to an underestimated turbulence intensity, such a value indicates a roughness length much lower than provided in the European standard EN 1991-1-4:2005. The normalized spectrum of the along-wind component was compared to the one provided by the Norwegian Petroleum Industry Standard and the Norwegian Handbook for bridge design N400. A good overall agreement was observed for wave-numbers below 0 . 02 / m . The along-beam spatial averaging in the adopted set-up prevented a more detailed comparison at larger wave-numbers, which challenges the study of wind turbulence at scanning distances of several kilometres. The results presented illustrate the need to complement lidar data with point-measurement to reduce the uncertainties linked to the atmospheric stability and the spatial averaging of the lidar probe volume. The measured lateral coherence was associated with a decay coefficient larger than expected for the along-wind component, with a value around 21 for a mean wind velocity bounded between 10 m · s - 1 and 14 m · s - 1 , which may be related to a stable atmospheric stratification.
Spatial Copula Model for Imputing Traffic Flow Data from Remote Microwave Sensors
Authors: Ma Xiaolei , Luan Sen , Du Bowen , Yu Bin
Published: September 2017

Issues of missing data have become increasingly serious with the rapid increase in usage of traffic sensors. Analyses of the Beijing ring expressway have showed that up to 50% of microwave sensors pose missing values. The imputation of missing traffic data must be urgently solved although a precise solution that cannot be easily achieved due to the significant number of missing portions. In this study, copula-based models are proposed for the spatial interpolation of traffic flow from remote traffic microwave sensors. Most existing interpolation methods only rely on covariance functions to depict spatial correlation and are unsuitable for coping with anomalies due to Gaussian consumption. Copula theory overcomes this issue and provides a connection between the correlation function and the marginal distribution function of traffic flow. To validate copula-based models, a comparison with three kriging methods is conducted. Results indicate that copula-based models outperform kriging methods, especially on roads with irregular traffic patterns. Copula-based models demonstrate significant potential to impute missing data in large-scale transportation networks.
An Architecture for On-Line Measurement of the Tip Clearance and Time of Arrival of a Bladed Disk of an Aircraft Engine
Authors: Gil-García José , Solís Alejandro , Aranguren Gerardo , Zubia Joseba
Published: September 2017

Safety and performance of the turbo-engine in an aircraft is directly affected by the health of its blades. In recent years, several improvements to the sensors have taken place to monitor the blades in a non-intrusive way. The parameters that are usually measured are the distance between the blade tip and the casing, and the passing time at a given point. Simultaneously, several techniques have been developed that allow for the inference—from those parameters and under certain conditions—of the amplitude and frequency of the blade vibration. These measurements are carried out on engines set on a rig, before being installed in an airplane. In order to incorporate these methods during the regular operation of the engine, signal processing that allows for the monitoring of those parameters at all times should be developed. This article introduces an architecture, based on a trifurcated optic sensor and a hardware processor, that fulfills this need. The proposed architecture is scalable and allows several sensors to be simultaneously monitored at different points around a bladed disk. Furthermore, the results obtained by the electronic system will be compared with the results obtained by the validation of the optic sensor.
Microwave Deposition of Palladium Catalysts on Graphite Spheres and Reduced Graphene Oxide Sheets for Electrochemical Glucose Sensing
Authors: Xie Jian-De , Gu Siyong , Zhang Houan
Published: September 2017

This work outlines a synthetic strategy inducing the microwave-assisted synthesis of palladium (Pd) nanocrystals on a graphite sphere (GS) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supports, forming the Pd catalysts for non-enzymatic glucose oxidation reaction (GOR). The pulse microwave approach takes a short period (i.e., 10 min) to fast synthesize Pd nanocrystals onto a carbon support at 150 °C. The selection of carbon support plays a crucial role in affecting Pd particle size and dispersion uniformity. The robust design of Pd-rGO catalyst electrode displays an enhanced electrocatalytic activity and sensitivity toward GOR. The enhanced performance is mainly attributed to the synergetic effect that combines small crystalline size and two-dimensional conductive support, imparting high accessibility to non-enzymatic GOR. The rGO sheets serve as a conductive scaffold, capable of fast conducting electron. The linear plot of current response versus glucose concentration exhibits good correlations within the range of 1–12 mM. The sensitivity of the Pd-rGO catalyst is significantly enhanced by 3.7 times, as compared to the Pd-GS catalyst. Accordingly, the Pd-rGO catalyst electrode can be considered as a potential candidate for non-enzymatic glucose biosensor.
Mobile-Based Analysis of Malaria-Infected Thin Blood Smears: Automated Species and Life Cycle Stage Determination
Authors: Rosado Luís , Da Costa José , Elias Dirk , Cardoso Jaime
Published: September 2017

Microscopy examination has been the pillar of malaria diagnosis, being the recommended procedure when its quality can be maintained. However, the need for trained personnel and adequate equipment limits its availability and accessibility in malaria-endemic areas. Rapid, accurate, accessible diagnostic tools are increasingly required, as malaria control programs extend parasite-based diagnosis and the prevalence decreases. This paper presents an image processing and analysis methodology using supervised classification to assess the presence of malaria parasites and determine the species and life cycle stage in Giemsa-stained thin blood smears. The main differentiation factor is the usage of microscopic images exclusively acquired with low cost and accessible tools such as smartphones, a dataset of 566 images manually annotated by an experienced parasilogist being used. Eight different species-stage combinations were considered in this work, with an automatic detection performance ranging from 73.9% to 96.2% in terms of sensitivity and from 92.6% to 99.3% in terms of specificity. These promising results attest to the potential of using this approach as a valid alternative to conventional microscopy examination, with comparable detection performances and acceptable computational times.
Exploiting the Capture Effect to Enhance RACH Performance in Cellular-Based M2M Communications
Authors: Kim Jonghun , Lee Jaiyong
Published: September 2017

Cellular-based machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is expected to facilitate services for the Internet of Things (IoT). However, because cellular networks are designed for human users, they have some limitations. Random access channel (RACH) congestion caused by massive access from M2M devices is one of the biggest factors hindering cellular-based M2M services because the RACH congestion causes random access (RA) throughput degradation and connection failures to the devices. In this paper, we show the possibility exploiting the capture effects, which have been known to have a positive impact on the wireless network system, on RA procedure for improving the RA performance of M2M devices. For this purpose, we analyze an RA procedure using a capture model. Through this analysis, we examine the effects of capture on RA performance and propose an Msg3 power-ramping (Msg3 PR) scheme to increase the capture probability (thereby increasing the RA success probability) even when severe RACH congestion problem occurs. The proposed analysis models are validated using simulations. The results show that the proposed scheme, with proper parameters, further improves the RA throughput and reduces the connection failure probability, by slightly increasing the energy consumption. Finally, we demonstrate the effects of coexistence with other RA-related schemes through simulation results.
Complete Systematic Error Model of SSR for Sensor Registration in ATC Surveillance Networks
Authors: Jarama Ángel J. , López-Araquistain Jaime , Miguel Gonzalo de , Besada Juan A.
Published: September 2017

In this paper, a complete and rigorous mathematical model for secondary surveillance radar systematic errors (biases) is developed. The model takes into account the physical effects systematically affecting the measurement processes. The azimuth biases are calculated from the physical error of the antenna calibration and the errors of the angle determination dispositive. Distance bias is calculated from the delay of the signal produced by the refractivity index of the atmosphere, and from clock errors, while the altitude bias is calculated taking into account the atmosphere conditions (pressure and temperature). It will be shown, using simulated and real data, that adapting a classical bias estimation process to use the complete parametrized model results in improved accuracy in the bias estimation.
Internationalisation in Road Transport of Goods in Norway: Safety Outcomes, Risk Factors and Policy Implications
Authors: Nævestad Tor-Olav , Phillips Ross , Meyer Levlin Gunhild , Hovi Inger
Published: September 2017

The European Union (EU) promotes a gradual lifting of restrictions on foreign hauliers involved in domestic road transport of goods (cabotage), and liberalization of the current road cabotage rules may further increase the proportion of foreign heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on Norwegian roads. The aims of the present study are to: (1) Examine the safety outcomes of increasing internationalisation in (Norwegian) road transport of goods; and (2) Discuss the importance of potential risk factors related to increasing proportions of foreign HGVs on Norwegian roads. We use four data sources to shed light on the aims. Results show that foreign HGVs account for 6% of the average domestic transport in Norway, and 11% of the HGVs involved in personal injury accidents. Additionally, foreign HGVs have a three times higher risk of single vehicle accidents, and twice the risk of head-on collisions. Foreign HGV drivers also seem more likely to trigger fatal accidents. We conclude that two risk factors seem to be important: (1) experience with/competence on Norwegian roads and (2) winter driving. Thus, the safety challenge is not that the drivers are foreign, but that they to some extent lack experience with, and competence on, the Norwegian road networks and the challenges that these roads may pose (e.g., narrow roads with high gradients, many curves, snow and ice). Previous research from other countries has also found that lacking experience with national road networks is an important risk factor. Given our results on risk factors, we may hypothesize that if foreign HGV drivers get more experience and education on Norwegian driving conditions, then increased internationalization could perhaps be of less concern in road safety. When discussing the higher accident risk and lower experience of foreign HGV drivers in Norway, it is important to note that the reason for foreign HGV drivers, working for foreign hauliers, to drive in Norway is that there are customers of the goods in Norway. Interviewees stressed that the foreign driver is often the last link in a long and complex chain of actors involved in the transport. Although these actors have a legal responsibility to “contribute to safety,” interviewees stated that this responsibility is vague and not clearly enforced. We therefore suggest the clarification of, and an increase in, the responsibilities of the different parties involved in goods transport, especially the transport buyers. This means to both ensure the experience and training of the drivers (e.g., preparing them properly to drive on winter roads), and to positively influence their transport safety in other ways (e.g., reducing stress and time-pressure).
Data Quality Assessment of the Uncertainty Analysis Applied to the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of a Dairy Cow System
Authors: Baek Chun-Youl , Park Kyu-Hyun , Tahara Kiyotaka , Chun Yoon-Young
Published: September 2017

The results of an uncertainty analysis are achieved by the statistical information (standard error, type of probability distributions, and range of minimum and maximum) of the selected input parameters. However, there are limitations in identifying sufficient data samples for the selected input parameters for statistical information in the field of life cycle assessment (LCA). Therefore, there is a strong need for a consistent screening procedure to identify the input parameters for use in uncertainty analysis in the area of LCA. The conventional procedure for identifying input parameters for the uncertainty analysis method includes assessing the data quality using the pedigree method and the contribution analysis of the LCA results. This paper proposes a simplified procedure for ameliorating the existing data quality assessment method, which can lead to an efficient uncertainly analysis of LCA results. The proposed method has two salient features: (i) a simplified procedure based on contribution analysis followed by a data quality assessment for selecting the input parameters for the uncertainty analysis; and (ii) a quantitative data quality assessment method is proposed, based on the pedigree method, that adopts the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method and quality function deployment (QFD). The effects of the uncertainty of the selected input parameters on the LCA results were assessed using the Monte Carlo simulation method. A case study of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a dairy cow system was used to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed procedure.
The European Native Seed Industry: Characterization and Perspectives in Grassland Restoration
Authors: De Vitis Marcello , Abbandonato Holly , Dixon Kingsley , Laverack Giles , Bonomi Costantino , Pedrini Simone
Published: September 2017

The European Union committed to restore 15% of degraded ecosystems by 2020, and to comply with this goal, native plant material, such as seeds, is needed in large quantities. The native seed production of herbaceous species plays a critical role in supplying seed for restoration of a key ecosystem: grasslands. The objective of this work is to provide for the first time a characterization of the sector at a multi-country European level together with key information about the community of native seed users via intensive web-based research and a direct survey of industry participants. Based on more than 1300 contacts and direct surveying of more than 200 stakeholders across Europe, responses indicated that: the European native seed industry consists primarily of small to medium enterprises; responding native seed users purchase annually an average of 3600 kg of seeds with an average expenditure of €17,600; the industry (suppliers and consumers) favours development of seed zones and would participate in a European network for knowledge sharing. This study provides framework principles that can guide decisions in this sector, critical for fulfilling the growing demand for native seed as a primary tool for large-scale restoration on the continent.