bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Physical Education and Its Importance to Physical Activity, Vegetable Consumption and Thriving in High School Students in Norway
Authors: Wiium Nora
Published: December 2021

Earlier research indicates that physical education (PE) in school is associated with positive outcomes (e.g., healthy lifestyle, psychological well-being, and academic performance). Research assessing associations with resilience and thriving indicators, such as the 5Cs of Positive Youth Development (PYD; competence, confidence, character, caring, and connection) is limited and more so in the Norwegian context. The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between PE grade (reflecting students’ effort in theoretical and practical aspects of the subject) and the 5Cs as well as healthy behaviors (physical activity (PA), fruit and vegetable consumption), using cross-sectional data collected from 220 high school students in Norway (Mage = 17.30 years old, SD = 1.12; 52% males). Results from structural equation modelling indicated positive associations between PE grade and four of the 5Cs (competence, confidence, caring, and connection; standardized coefficient: 0.22–0.60, p < 0.05) while in logistic regressions, a unit increase in PE grade was associated with higher likelihood of engaging in PA and vegetable consumption (OR = 1.94; 95% CI = 1.18–3.18 and OR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.08–2.63, respectively). These significant findings suggest the need for policies and programs that can support effective planning and implementation of PE curriculum. However, further research is needed to probe into the role of PE on youth health and development with representative samples and longitudinal designs.
Assessment of Food Sources and the Intake of the Colourless Carotenoids Phytoene and Phytofluene in Spain
Authors: Olmedilla-Alonso Begoña , Benítez-González Ana M. , Estévez-Santiago Rocío , Mapelli-Brahm Paula , Stinco Carla M. , Meléndez-Martínez Antonio J.
Published: December 2021

Phytoene (PT) and phytofluene (PTF), colorless carotenoids, have largely been ignored in food science studies, food technology, and nutrition. However, they are present in commonly consumed foods and may have health-promotion effects and possible uses as cosmetics. The goal of this study is to assess the most important food sources of PT and PTF and their dietary intakes in a representative sample of the adult Spanish population. A total of 62 food samples were analyzed (58 fruit and vegetables; seven items with different varieties/color) and carotenoid data of four foods (three fruits and one processed food) were compiled. PT concentration was higher than that of PTF in all the foods analyzed. The highest PT content was found in carrot, apricot, commercial tomato juice, and orange (7.3, 2.8, 2.0, and 1.1 mg/100 g, respectively). The highest PTF level was detected in carrots, commercial tomato sauce and canned tomato, apricot, and orange juice (1.7, 1.2, 1.0, 0.6, and 0.04 mg/100 g, respectively). The daily intakes of PT and PTF were 1.89 and 0.47 mg/person/day, respectively. The major contributors to the dietary intake of PT (98%) and PTF (73%) were: carrot, tomato, orange/orange juice, apricot, and watermelon. PT and PTF are mainly supplied by vegetables (81% and 69%, respectively). Considering the color of the edible part of the foods analyzed (fruit, vegetables, sauces, and beverages), the major contributor to the daily intake of PT and PTF (about 98%) were of red/orange color.
Mindful Eating Proficiency and Healthy Eating Literacy among Japanese Mothers: Associations with Their Own and Their Children’s Eating Behavior
Authors: Nakamura Taro , Akamatsu Rie , Yoshiike Nobuo
Published: December 2021

Mindfulness is a process of focusing one’s attention on the present moment. Applying this concept to eating (i.e., mindful eating (ME)) is associated with regulated eating behaviors, particularly in people with obesity and who are overweight. Sustaining healthy eating habits requires both healthy eating literacy (HEL) and proficiency in ME. However, ME proficiency in Japanese people has not been sufficiently investigated. In this paper, we conduct a survey of mothers with 4- to 5-year-old children in Aomori City, Japan, to investigate their ME proficiency and HEL level and eating behavior and self-reported body mass index in both mothers and their children from August to September 2019. This study is the first to describe ME proficiency in Japanese mothers. The study sample includes 128 participants from 18 nursery schools. ME proficiency in mothers was positively correlated with both their own and their children’s eating behaviors, thereby suggesting a potential relationship, while strong relationships were not observed between the HEL level and eating behaviors of mothers and children. Improving ME skills, rather than HEL, may be an effective way to sustain healthier eating behaviors in mothers and their children. The level of evidence was Level V: Opinions of respected authorities based on descriptive studies, narrative reviews, clinical experience, or reports of expert committees.
Evaluation of Amebicidal and Cysticidal Activities of Antifungal Drug Isavuconazonium Sulfate against Acanthamoeba T4 Strains
Authors: Shing Brian , Balen Mina , Debnath Anjan
Published: December 2021

Acanthamoeba species of amebae are often associated with Acanthamoeba keratitis, a severe corneal infection. Isavuconazonium sulfate is an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis. This prodrug is metabolized into the active isavuconazole moiety. Isavuconazole was previously identified to have amebicidal and cysticidal activity against Acanthamoeba T4 strains, but the activity of its prodrug, isavuconazonium sulfate, against trophozoites and cysts remains unknown. Since it is not known if isavuconazonium can be metabolized into isavuconazole in the human eye, we evaluated the activities of isavuconazonium sulfate against trophozoites and cysts of three T4 genotype strains of Acanthamoeba. Isavuconazonium displayed amebicidal activity at nanomolar concentrations as low as 1.4 nM and prevented excystation of cysts at concentrations as low as 136 μM. We also investigated the cysticidal activity of isavuconazonium sulfate in combination with a currently used amebicidal drug polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB). Although combination of isavuconazonium with PHMB did not elicit an obvious synergistic cysticidal activity, the combination did not cause an antagonistic effect on the cysts of Acanthamoeba T4 strains. Collectively, these findings suggest isavuconazonium retains potency against Acanthamoeba T4 strains and could be adapted for Acanthamoeba keratitis treatment.
GlicoPro, Novel Standardized and Sterile Snail Mucus Extract for Multi-Modulative Ocular Formulations: New Perspective in Dry Eye Disease Management
Authors: Mencucci Rita , Strazzabosco Giovanni , Cristofori Virginia , Alogna Andrea , Bortolotti Daria , Gafà Roberta , Cennamo Michela , Favuzza Eleonora , Trapella Claudio , Gentili Valentina , Rizzo Roberta
Published: December 2021

This study aimed to evaluate the mucoadhesive and regenerative properties of a novel lubricating multimolecular ophthalmic solution (GlicoPro®) extracted from snail mucus and its potential anti-inflammatory and analgesic role in the management of dry eye disease (DED). GlicoPro bio-adhesive efficacy was assessed using a lectin-based assay, and its regenerative properties were studied in a human corneal epithelial cell line. In vitro DED was induced in human corneal tissues; the histology and mRNA expression of selected genes of inflammatory and corneal damage biomarkers were analyzed in DED tissues treated with GlicoPro. A higher percentage of bio-adhesivity was observed in corneal cells treated with GlicoPro than with sodium hyaluronate-based compounds. In the scratch test GlicoPro improved in vitro corneal wound healing. Histo-morphological analysis revealed restoration of cellular organization of the corneal epithelium, microvilli, and mucin network in DED corneal tissues treated with GlicoPro. A significant reduction in inflammatory and ocular damage biomarkers was observed. High-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis identified an endogenous opioid, opiorphin, in the peptide fraction of GlicoPro. In conclusion, GlicoPro induced regeneration and bio-adhesivity in corneal cells; moreover, considering its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, this novel ophthalmic lubricating solution may be an innovative approach for the management of DED.
The Secondary Use of Data to Support Medication Safety in the Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis
Authors: Chaudhry Navila Talib , Franklin Bryony Dean , Mohammed Salmaan , Benn Jonathan
Published: December 2021

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and narrative synthesis of interventions based on secondary use of data (SUD) from electronic prescribing (EP) and electronic hospital pharmacy (EHP) systems and their effectiveness in secondary care, and to identify factors influencing SUD. Method: The search strategy had four facets: 1. Electronic databases, 2. Medication safety, 3. Hospitals and quality/safety, and 4. SUD. Searches were conducted within EMBASE, Medline, CINAHL, and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts. Empirical SUD intervention studies that aimed to improve medication safety and/or quality, and any studies providing insight into factors affecting SUD were included. Results: We identified nine quantitative studies of SUD interventions and five qualitative studies. SUD interventions were complex and fell into four categories, with ‘provision of feedback’ the most common. While heterogeneous, the majority of quantitative studies reported positive findings in improving medication safety but little detail was provided on the interventions implemented. The five qualitative studies collectively provide an overview of the SUD process, which typically comprised nine steps from data identification to analysis. Factors influencing the SUD process were electronic systems implementation and level of functionality, knowledge and skills of SUD users, organisational context, and policies around data reuse and security. Discussion and Conclusion: The majority of the SUD interventions were successful in improving medication safety, however, what contributes to this success needs further exploration. From synthesis of research evidence in this review, an integrative framework was developed to describe the processes, mechanisms, and barriers for effective SUD.
Maintaining Constant Pulse-Duration in Highly Dispersive Media Using Nonlinear Potentials
Authors: Zia Haider
Published: December 2021

A method is shown for preventing temporal broadening of ultrafast optical pulses in highly dispersive and fluctuating media for arbitrary signal-pulse profiles. Pulse pairs, consisting of a strong-field control-pulse and a weak-field signal-pulse, co-propagate, whereby the specific profile of the strong-field pulse precisely compensates for the dispersive phase in the weak pulse. A numerical example is presented in an optical system consisting of both resonant and gain dispersive effects. Here, we show signal-pulses that do not temporally broaden across a vast propagation distance, even in the presence of dispersion that fluctuates several orders of magnitude and in sign (for example, within a material resonance) across the pulse’s bandwidth. Another numerical example is presented in normal dispersion telecom fiber, where the length at which an ultrafast pulse does not have significant temporal broadening is extended by at least a factor of 10. Our approach can be used in the design of dispersion-less fiber links and navigating pulses in turbulent dispersive media. Furthermore, we illustrate the potential of using cross-phase modulation to compensate for dispersive effects on a signal-pulse and fill the gap in the current understanding of this nonlinear phenomenon.
Reduction in DC-Drift in LiNbO3-Based Electro-Optical Modulator
Authors: Sosunov Aleksei , Ponomarev Roman , Zhuravlev Anton , Mushinsky Sergey , Kuneva Mariana
Published: December 2021

This study involves the results of research on short-term and long-term DC-drifts in electro-optical modulators based on annealed proton exchange waveguides in LiNbO3 crystals after wafer pre-annealing. The relaxation time of the DC-drift of the operating point for a short-term drift is measured in minutes, and for a long-term drift it is measured in hours and days. DC-drift was measured by applying bias voltage and changing crystal temperature. The obtained results show significant impact on the stability of operating point in EO-modulators after treatment of defective structure of the near-surface layer of a LiNbO3 crystal. Treatment of the disturbed near-surface layer of a LiNbO3 crystal results in the simultaneous reduction in short-term DC-drift and increase in operation stability of electro-optical modulators during long-term measurement of temperature by activation energy calculation.
Variations in Morphological Characters and Antioxidant Potential of Different Plant Parts of Four Ziziphus Mill. Species from the Cholistan
Authors: Riaz Muhammad Umair , Raza Muhammad Ali , Saeed Amjad , Ahmed Mukhtar , Hussain Tanveer
Published: December 2021

Genus Ziziphus (Z.) contains various important species in tropical and subtropical regions that are globally famous for their food and medicinal uses. However, no comprehensive study was available on the morphology and phytochemistry of Ziziphus species, mainly under different growth conditions, i.e., irrigated and desert (Cholistan). Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the morphological and phytochemical characteristics of Ziziphus species, i.e., Z. jujuba, Z. mauritiana, Z. spina-christi, and Z. nummularia, found in the irrigated and desert conditions. Our results revealed significant variations for most of the measured parameters, showing a large-scale diversity among Ziziphus species under irrigated and desert conditions. Specifically, Ziziphus species showed better morphology of all measured parameters of leaves and fruits under irrigated conditions compared to desert conditions, indicating that the optimum water availability in irrigated conditions improved the morphological parameters of Z. species. Meanwhile, among all Ziziphus species, the maximum leaf length (7.4 cm), leaf width (4.1 cm), leaf area (30.6 cm2), and leaf petiole length (1.3 cm) were observed for Z. jujuba, and the highest leaf dry weight (55.4%) was recorded for Z. mauritiana. Similarly, the highest fruit length (3.9 cm), fruit stalk length (1.5 cm), fruit diameter (3.6 cm), fruit width (3.8 cm), fruit area (66.1 cm2), seed length (2 cm), and seed diameter (1.1 cm) were measured for species Z. jujuba, while the maximum fruit dry weight (49.9%) and seed width (1.4 cm) were recorded for species Z. nummularia. Interestingly, compared to irrigated conditions, higher values of bioactive contents, i.e., phenol, flavonoid, and antioxidant activity, in fruits and leaves of Ziziphus species under desert conditions indicated the positive impact of desert climate on the phytochemistry of the Z. plants. Among Ziziphus species, Z. nummularia accumulated the maximum fruit phenols (304.4 mg GAE/100 g), leaf phenols (314.2 mg GAE/100 g), fruit flavonoids (123.7 mg QE/100 g), and leaf flavonoids (113.4 mg QE/100 g). Overall, this study demonstrated the significant morphological and phytochemical variations of the Ziziphus species under irrigated and desert conditions, which could be utilized for future studies to improve the production and medicinal potential of the Ziziphus, especially in desert areas.
Effects of the Temperature–Time Regime of Curing of Composite Patch on Repair Process Efficiency
Authors: Kondratiev Andrii , Píštěk Václav , Smovziuk Lina , Shevtsova Maryna , Fomina Anna , Kučera Pavel , Prokop Aleš
Published: December 2021

Repair procedures with the use of composite patches are considered to be the most effective among the current technologies of repair of the structures of various applications. In the process of moulding-on of a patch made of polymeric composite material by means of curing, technological stresses arise in the patch. Determination of residual technological stresses is a priority task for the modelling of the repair process. Reduction of residual stresses can be achieved by optimization of the mode of repair patch curing. For meeting this objective, the method for determination of technological stresses, which arise in the structure under repair in the process of curing of a composite patch, has been developed. The method takes into account the shrinkage, change in physico-mechanical characteristics, rheological processes occurring in the binder during moulding process, and determination of stresses in the structure under repair at any time. Therefore, premature failure of the repair joint at the stage of repair can be avoided. It is shown that the method adequately describes the level of deformations and stresses in the structure being repaired at the stage of heating and holding of the composite patch. Increase in the moulding temperature leads to a reduction in residual stresses in the structure under repair. However, current stresses at the stages of heating and temperature holding are increased significantly. Reliability of assumptions and developed method is confirmed by the comparison with the experimental data. The obtained experimental graph of total deformation of the composite patch allowed us to clearly determine the moment of residual stress occurrence in the structure under repair. This moment matches quite exactly (with the discrepancy not exceeding 5 min) the gel point determined analytically based on dependence of the degree of curing on the moulding mode. Consequently, the research together with the results previously obtained allows making an integrated choice of geometric parameters of the repair composite patch and temperature–time regime of its curing in order to ensure the specified level of strength and stiffness of the structure under repair.
Elaboration of Design and Optimization Methods for a Newly Developed CFRP Sandwich-like Structure Validated by Experimental Measurements and Finite Element Analysis
Authors: Kovács György
Published: December 2021

Nowadays, the application of composite materials and light-weight structures is required in those industrial applications where the primary design aims are weight saving, high stiffness, corrosion resistance and vibration damping. The first goal of the study was to construct a new light-weight structure that utilizes the advantageous characteristics of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) and Aluminum (Al) materials; furthermore, the properties of sandwich structures and cellular plates. Thus, the newly constructed structure has CFRP face sheets and Al stiffeners, which was manufactured in order to take experimental measurements. The second aim of the research was the elaboration of calculation methods for the middle deflection of the investigated sandwich-like structure and the stresses that occurred in the structural elements. The calculation methods were elaborated; furthermore, validated by experimental measurements and Finite Element analysis. The third main goal was the elaboration of a mass and cost optimization method for the investigated structure applying the Flexible Tolerance optimization method. During the optimization, seven design constraints were considered: total deflection; buckling of face sheets; web buckling in stiffeners; stress in face sheets; stress in stiffeners; eigenfrequency of the structure and constraints for the design variables. The main added values of the research are the elaboration of the calculation methods relating to the middle deflection and the occurred stresses; furthermore, elaboration of the optimization method. The primary aim of the optimization was the construction of the most light-weighted structure because the new light-weight sandwich-like structure can be utilized in many industrial applications, e.g., elements of vehicles (ship floors, airplane base-plate); transport containers; building constructions (building floors, bridge decks).
A Comparative Study of Islam and Buddhism: A Multicultural Society Perspective
Authors: Yew Wong Chin , Awang Abd Hair , Selvadurai Sivapalan , Mohd Noor Mansor , Chang Peng Kee
Published: December 2021

In this article, two great world religions, Islam and Buddhism, are compared. The purpose is to highlight similarities and differences between the two religions. Additionally, this article aims to project elements and teachings that are deemed important by their followers. A neutral stance on their beliefs is especially important in a multicultural society. The study was conducted to promote the harmony and betterment of Malaysian society, and the nation at large; a value process of understanding of each religion is recommended, which can then lead to acceptance, respect and tolerance among the population, and form the basis for developing a paradigmatic Malaysian society that has unity in diversity. This study adopted document analysis as the research method for data collection and data analysis. The conclusions drawn are that, although the two religions appear rather different in terms of principles and practices, the core values of avoiding evil and doing good are similar. In addition, the study proposes that without prejudice and pride, the basics of all commonly practiced religions in Malaysia should be introduced to all Malaysians, with the objective of all understanding, but not necessarily embracing, each other’s religion.
Experimental Research on Evaluation of Soil Water Content Using Ground Penetrating Radar and Wavelet Packet-Based Energy Analysis
Authors: Zhang Sheng , Zhang Liang , Ling Tonghua , Fu Guihai , Guo Youlin
Published: December 2021

Soil water content is one of the most important factors affecting the safety and stability of buildings or structures, especially in roadbeds, slopes, earth dams and foundations. Accurate assessments of soil water content can ensure the quality of construction, reduce construction costs and prevent accidents, among other benefits. In this study, ground penetrating radar (GPR) was used to detect and evaluate changes in soil water content. The GPR signal is usually nonstationary and nonlinear; however, traditional Fourier theory is typically suitable for periodic stationary signals, and cannot reflect the law of the frequency and energy of the GPR signal changing with time. Wavelet transform has good time-frequency localization characteristics, and therefore represents a new method for analyzing and processing GPR signals. According to the time-frequency characteristics of GPR signals, in this paper, a new biorthogonal wavelet basis which was highly matched with the GPR waveform was constructed using the lifting framework of wavelet theory. Subsequently, an evaluation method, namely, the wavelet packet-based energy analysis (WPEA) method, was proposed. The method was utilized to calculate the wavelet packet-based energy indexes (WPEI) of the GPR single-channel signals for clay samples with water contents ranging from 10% to 24%. The research results showed that there was a highly correlated linear relationship between the WPEI and the soil water contents, and the relationship between the two was fitted with a linear fitting function. The feasibility of the method was verified by comparing our results with those obtained using classical wavelet bases to perform the wavelet packet transform. The large-area, continuous scanning measurement method of GPR was shown to be suitable for evaluations of soil water contents in roadbeds, slopes, earth dams, and foundations.
The Influence of Age and Winter Environment on Protein Block Intake Behavior of Beef Cattle Winter Grazing Mixed-Grass Rangelands
Authors: Wyffels Samuel A. , Parsons Cory T. , Dafoe Julia M. , Boss Darrin L. , Carter Boone H. , DelCurto Timothy
Published: December 2021

This study evaluated the influence of cow age and temperature adjusted for windchill (Twindchill) on supplement intake behavior of cattle winter grazing rangelands. A mixed-age herd of Angus-based cows (291 and 316 in year 1 and 2, respectively) were classified by age (1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5–7-, and ≥8-year-old) and grazed rangeland pasture (329-ha) for two consecutive winters. Cows were provided free-choice access to supplement protein blocks in a SmartFeedPro self-feeder system. An Onset HOBO Weather Station collected data throughout the grazing period. Supplement intake (expressed as kg∙d−1 and g∙kg body weight−1), the coefficient of variation in supplement intake and intake rate (g∙min−1) displayed Twindchill × cow age × year interactions (p ≤ 0.02). In general, cow age displayed a quadratic effect on all supplement intake variables (p ≤ 0.04), where 3- to 4-year-old cattle had the greatest supplement intake with the least variation, while yearling cattle had the least amount of supplement intake and the greatest variation. In conclusion, winter environmental conditions interacted with cow age to affect cattle supplement intake behavior and, consequently, the efficacy of nutrient delivery systems for beef cattle winter grazing on rangelands.
Position Estimation of Vehicle Based on Magnetic Marker: Time-Division Position Correction
Authors: Byun Yeun Sub , Jeong Rag Gyo
Published: December 2021

During the automatic driving of a vehicle, the vehicle’s positional information is important for vehicle driving control. If fixed-point land markers such as magnetic markers are used, the vehicle’s current position error can be calculated only when a marker is detected while driving, and this error can be used to correct the estimation position. Therefore, correction information is used irregularly and intermittently according to the installation intervals of the magnetic markers and the driving speed. If the detected errors are corrected all at once using the position correction method, discontinuity of the position information can occur. This problem causes instability in the vehicle’s route guidance control because the position error fluctuates as the vehicle’s speed increases. We devised a time-division position correction method that calculates the error using the absolute position of the magnetic marker, which is estimated when the magnetic marker is detected, along with the absolute position information from the magnetic marker database. Instead of correcting the error at once when the position and heading errors are corrected, the correction is performed by dividing the errors multiple times until the next magnetic marker is detected. This prevents sudden discontinuity of the vehicle position information, and the calculated correction amount is used without loss to obtain stable and continuous position information. We conducted driving tests to compare the performances of the proposed algorithm and conventional methods. We compared the continuity of the position information and the mean error and confirmed the superiority of the proposed method in terms of these aspects.
An Experimental and Numerical Study of Polyelectrolyte Hydrogel Ionic Diodes: Towards Electrical Detection of Charged Biomolecules
Authors: Xiong Chenwei , Zhang Boyin , Zhang Rong , Liu Yifan
Published: December 2021

Polyelectrolyte hydrogel ionic diodes (PHIDs) have recently emerged as a unique set of iontronic devices. Such diodes are built on microfluidic chips that feature polyelectrolyte hydrogel junctions and rectify ionic currents owing to the heterogeneous distribution and transport of ions across the junctions. In this paper, we provide the first account of a study on the ion transport behavior of PHIDs through an experimental investigation and numerical simulation. The effects of bulk ionic strength and hydrogel pore confinement are experimentally investigated. The ionic current rectification (ICR) exhibits saturation in a micromolar regime and responds to hydrogel pore size, which is subsequently verified in a simulation. Furthermore, we experimentally show that the rectification is sensitive to the dose of immobilized DNA with an exhibited sensitivity of 1 ng/μL. We anticipate our findings would be beneficial to the design of PHID-based biosensors for electrical detection of charged biomolecules.
An Automatic Gait Analysis Pipeline for Wearable Sensors: A Pilot Study in Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Peraza Luis R. , Kinnunen Kirsi M. , McNaney Roisin , Craddock Ian J. , Whone Alan L. , Morgan Catherine , Joules Richard , Wolz Robin
Published: December 2021

The use of wearable sensors allows continuous recordings of physical activity from participants in free-living or at-home clinical studies. The large amount of data collected demands automatic analysis pipelines to extract gait parameters that can be used as clinical endpoints. We introduce a deep learning-based automatic pipeline for wearables that processes tri-axial accelerometry data and extracts gait events—bout segmentation, initial contact (IC), and final contact (FC)—from a single sensor located at either the lower back (near L5), shin or wrist. The gait events detected are posteriorly used for gait parameter estimation, such as step time, length, and symmetry. We report results from a leave-one-subject-out (LOSO) validation on a pilot study dataset of five participants clinically diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and six healthy controls (HC). Participants wore sensors at three body locations and walked on a pressure-sensing walkway to obtain reference gait data. Mean absolute errors (MAE) for the IC events ranged from 22.82 to 33.09 milliseconds (msecs) for the lower back sensor while for the shin and wrist sensors, MAE ranges were 28.56–64.66 and 40.19–72.50 msecs, respectively. For the FC-event detection, MAE ranges were 29.06–48.42, 40.19–72.70 and 36.06–60.18 msecs for the lumbar, wrist and shin sensors, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients, ICC(2,k), between the estimated parameters and the reference data resulted in good-to-excellent agreement (ICC ≥ 0.84) for the lumbar and shin sensors, excluding the double support time (ICC = 0.37 lumbar and 0.38 shin) and swing time (ICC = 0.55 lumbar and 0.59 shin). The wrist sensor also showed good agreements, but the ICCs were lower overall than for the other two sensors. Our proposed analysis pipeline has the potential to extract up to 100 gait-related parameters, and we expect our contribution will further support developments in the fields of wearable sensors, digital health, and remote monitoring in clinical trials.
The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Analysis of the Pressure Sensor Used in Pulse-Operated Low-Pressure Gas-Phase Solenoid Valve Measurements
Authors: Szpica Dariusz , Mieczkowski Grzegorz , Borawski Andrzej , Leisis Vitalis , Diliunas Saulius , Pilkaite Tilmute
Published: December 2021

This paper presents a flow analysis of the original pressure sensor used to determine times until full opening and closing of the pulse-operated low-pressure gas-phase solenoid valve. The sensor in question, due to the fast variation of the process lasting several milliseconds, has high requirements in terms of response time and ability to identify characteristic parameters. A CFD code has been employed to successfully model the flow behavior of the original pressure sensor used to determine times until full opening and closing of the pulse-operated low-pressure gas-phase solenoid valve at different inlet flow conditions, using the Eulerian multiphase model, established on the Euler–Euler approach, implemented in the commercial CFD package ANSYS Fluent. The results of the modelling were validated against the experimental data and also give more comprehensive information on the flow, such as the plunger displacement waveform. The flow calculations were dynamic in nature; therefore, the experimental plunger displacement waveforms were entered as input in the software for dynamic mash implementation. In identifying the times until full opening and closing, the characteristic points of the pressure waveform on the pressure sensor plate were adopted. CFD flow calculations confirmed the accuracy of identifying the times until full opening and closing by relating them to the results from the plunger displacement sensor. The validation of the results of calculations with the analyzed sensor and the original stand also confirmed the correctness of the use of this type of method for the assessment of gas injector operating times. In the case of time until full opening, the CFD calculations were shown to be consistent with experimental tests, with only a few cases where the relative difference with respect to the displacement sensor reached 3%. The situation was slightly worse in the case of time until full closing, where the results of CFD calculations were in agreement with the displacement sensor, while the experimental test stands had a relative difference of up to 21%. It should be remembered that the sensor evaluates times below 5 × 10−3 s, and its construction and response time determine the use depending on the adopted level of accuracy.
Intelligent Electromagnetic Sensors for Non-Invasive Trojan Detection
Authors: Chen Ethan , Kan John , Yang Bo-Yuan , Zhu Jimmy , Chen Vanessa
Published: December 2021

Rapid growth of sensors and the Internet of Things is transforming society, the economy and the quality of life. Many devices at the extreme edge collect and transmit sensitive information wirelessly for remote computing. The device behavior can be monitored through side-channel emissions, including power consumption and electromagnetic (EM) emissions. This study presents a holistic self-testing approach incorporating nanoscale EM sensing devices and an energy-efficient learning module to detect security threats and malicious attacks directly at the front-end sensors. The built-in threat detection approach using the intelligent EM sensors distributed on the power lines is developed to detect abnormal data activities without degrading the performance while achieving good energy efficiency. The minimal usage of energy and space can allow the energy-constrained wireless devices to have an on-chip detection system to predict malicious attacks rapidly in the front line.
A Hybrid Lightweight System for Early Attack Detection in the IoMT Fog
Authors: Hameed Shilan S. , Selamat Ali , Abdul Latiff Liza , Razak Shukor A. , Krejcar Ondrej , Fujita Hamido , Ahmad Sharif Mohammad Nazir , Omatu Sigeru
Published: December 2021

Cyber-attack detection via on-gadget embedded models and cloud systems are widely used for the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). The former has a limited computation ability, whereas the latter has a long detection time. Fog-based attack detection is alternatively used to overcome these problems. However, the current fog-based systems cannot handle the ever-increasing IoMT’s big data. Moreover, they are not lightweight and are designed for network attack detection only. In this work, a hybrid (for host and network) lightweight system is proposed for early attack detection in the IoMT fog. In an adaptive online setting, six different incremental classifiers were implemented, namely a novel Weighted Hoeffding Tree Ensemble (WHTE), Incremental K-Nearest Neighbors (IKNN), Incremental Naïve Bayes (INB), Hoeffding Tree Majority Class (HTMC), Hoeffding Tree Naïve Bayes (HTNB), and Hoeffding Tree Naïve Bayes Adaptive (HTNBA). The system was benchmarked with seven heterogeneous sensors and a NetFlow data infected with nine types of recent attack. The results showed that the proposed system worked well on the lightweight fog devices with ~100% accuracy, a low detection time, and a low memory usage of less than 6 MiB. The single-criteria comparative analysis showed that the WHTE ensemble was more accurate and was less sensitive to the concept drift.
Change Detection in Synthetic Aperture Radar Images Based on a Generalized Gamma Deep Belief Networks
Authors: Jia Meng , Zhao Zhiqiang
Published: December 2021

Change detection from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is of great significance for natural environmental protection and human societal activity, which can be regarded as the process of assigning a class label (changed or unchanged) to each of the image pixels. This paper presents a novel classification technique to address the SAR change-detection task that employs a generalized Gamma deep belief network (gΓ-DBN) to learn features from difference images. We aim to develop a robust change detection method that can adapt to different types of scenarios for bitemporal co-registered Yellow River SAR image data set. This data set characterized by different looks, which means that the two images are affected by different levels of speckle. Widely used probability distributions offer limited accuracy for describing the opposite class pixels of difference images, making change detection entail greater difficulties. To address the issue, first, a gΓ-DBN can be constructed to extract the hierarchical features from raw data and fit the distribution of the difference images by means of a generalized Gamma distribution. Next, we propose learning the stacked spatial and temporal information extracted from various difference images by the gΓ-DBN. Consequently, a joint high-level representation can be effectively learned for the final change map. The visual and quantitative analysis results obtained on the Yellow River SAR image data set demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.
Terahertz Spectral Properties of 5-Substituted Uracils
Authors: Li Kaixuan , Li Ding , Zhang Yan
Published: December 2021

Applications of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the fields of chemistry and biomedicine have recently received increased attention. Specifically, THz-TDS is particularly effective for the identification of alkaloid molecules, because it can distinguish the vibration types of base molecules in the THz band and provide a direct characteristic spectrum for the configuration and conformation of biomolecules. However, when THz-TDS technology is used to identify alkaloid molecules, most of them are concentrated in the 0.1–3.0 THz band, limiting the amount of information that can be obtained. In this work, a wide-spectrum THz-TDS system was independently built to explore the absorption spectra of uracil and its 5-substituents in the range of 1.3–6.0 THz. We found that, in the THz band, uracil and its 5-substituents have similar absorption peaks near 4.9 and 3.3 THz, while the 5-substituents have an additional absorption peak in the range of 1.5–2.5 THz. This absorption peak is red-shifted as the relative atomic mass of the 5-substituted atoms increases. Gaussian software was adopted to calculate the absorption spectra of the samples. The simulation conclusions were in good agreement with the experimental results, revealing that the vibration of the base molecule at low frequencies can be attributed to the inter-molecular vibration. This work demonstrates that THz-TDS technology can be used to accurately identify biomolecules with similar molecular structures, reflecting the importance of molecular structure in biological activity.
Towards a Resilience to Stress Index Based on Physiological Response: A Machine Learning Approach
Authors: Diaz-Ramos Ramon E. , Gomez-Cravioto Daniela A. , Trejo Luis A. , López Carlos Figueroa , Medina-Pérez Miguel Angel
Published: December 2021

This study proposes a new index to measure the resilience of an individual to stress, based on the changes of specific physiological variables. These variables include electromyography, which is the muscle response, blood volume pulse, breathing rate, peripheral temperature, and skin conductance. We measured the data with a biofeedback device from 71 individuals subjected to a 10-min psychophysiological stress test. The data exploration revealed that features’ variability among test phases could be observed in a two-dimensional space with Principal Components Analysis (PCA). In this work, we demonstrate that the values of each feature within a phase are well organized in clusters. The new index we propose, Resilience to Stress Index (RSI), is based on this observation. To compute the index, we used non-supervised machine learning methods to calculate the inter-cluster distances, specifically using the following four methods: Euclidean Distance of PCA, Mahalanobis Distance, Cluster Validity Index Distance, and Euclidean Distance of Kernel PCA. While there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.01) among the methods, we recommend using Mahalanobis, since this method provides higher monotonic association with the Resilience in Mexicans (RESI-M) scale. Results are encouraging since we demonstrated that the computation of a reliable RSI is possible. To validate the new index, we undertook two tasks: a comparison of the RSI against the RESI-M, and a Spearman correlation between phases one and five to determine if the behavior is resilient or not. The computation of the RSI of an individual has a broader scope in mind, and it is to understand and to support mental health. The benefits of having a metric that measures resilience to stress are multiple; for instance, to the extent that individuals can track their resilience to stress, they can improve their everyday life.
Soft Array Surface-Changing Compound Eye
Authors: Wu Yu , Hu Chuanshuai , Dai Yingming , Huang Wenkai , Li Hongquan , Lan Yuming
Published: December 2021

The field-of-view (FOV) of compound eyes is an important index for performance evaluation. Most artificial compound eyes are optical, fabricated by imitating insect compound eyes with a fixed FOV that is difficult to adjust over a wide range. The compound eye is of great significance in the field of tracking high-speed moving objects. However, the tracking ability of a compound eye is often limited by its own FOV size and the reaction speed of the rudder unit matched with the compound eye, so that the compound eye cannot better adapt to tracking high-speed moving objects. Inspired by the eyes of many organisms, we propose a soft-array, surface-changing compound eye (SASCE). Taking soft aerodynamic models (SAM) as the carrier and an infrared sensor as the load, the basic model of the variable structure infrared compound eye (VSICE) is established using an array of infrared sensors on the carrier. The VSICE model is driven by air pressure to change the array surface of the infrared sensor. Then, the spatial position of each sensor and its viewing area are changed and, finally, the FOV of the compound eye is changed. Simultaneously, to validate the theory, we measured the air pressure, spatial sensor position, and the FOV of the compound eye. When compared with the current compound eye, the proposed one has a wider adjustable FOV.
Meteo-Hydrological Sensors within the Lake Maggiore Catchment: System Establishment, Functioning and Data Validation
Authors: Ciampittiello Marzia , Manca Dario , Dresti Claudia , Grisoni Stefano , Lami Andrea , Saidi Helmi
Published: December 2021

Climate change and human activities have a strong impact on lakes and their catchments, so to understand ongoing processes it is fundamental to monitor environmental variables with a spatially well-distributed and high frequency network and efficiently share data. An effective sharing and interoperability of environmental information between technician and end-user fosters an in-depth knowledge of the territory and its critical environmental issues. In this paper, we present the approaches and the results obtained during the PITAGORA project (Interoperable Technological Platform for Acquisition, Management and Organization of Environmental data, related to the lake basin). PITAGORA was aimed at developing both instruments and data management, including pre-processing and quality control of raw data to ensure that data are findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR principles). The main results show that the developed instrumentation is low-cost, easily implementable and reliable, and can be applied to the measurement of diverse environmental parameters such as meteorological, hydrological, physico-chemical, and geological. The flexibility of the solutions proposed make our system adaptable to different monitoring purposes, research, management, and civil protection. The real time access to environmental information can improve management of a territory and ecosystems, safety of the population, and sustainable socio-economic development.
Highly Sensitive Amperometric Detection of Hydrogen Peroxide in Saliva Based on N-Doped Graphene Nanoribbons and MnO2 Modified Carbon Paste Electrodes
Authors: Gričar Ema , Kalcher Kurt , Genorio Boštjan , Kolar Mitja
Published: December 2021

Four different graphene-based nanomaterials (htGO, N-htGO, htGONR, and N-htGONR) were synthesized, characterized, and used as a modifier of carbon paste electrode (CPE) in order to produce a reliable, precise, and highly sensitive non-enzymatic amperometric hydrogen peroxide sensor for complex matrices. CPE, with their robustness, reliability, and ease of modification, present a convenient starting point for the development of new sensors. Modification of CPE was optimized by systematically changing the type and concentration of materials in the modifier and studying the prepared electrode surface by cyclic voltammetry. N-htGONR in combination with manganese dioxide (1:1 ratio) proved to be the most appropriate material for detection of hydrogen peroxide in pharmaceutical and saliva matrices. The developed sensor exhibited a wide linear range (1.0–300 µM) and an excellent limit of detection (0.08 µM) and reproducibility, as well as high sensitivity and stability. The sensor was successfully applied to real sample analysis, where the recovery values for a commercially obtained pharmaceutical product were between 94.3% and 98.0%. Saliva samples of a user of the pharmaceutical product were also successfully analyzed.
An Efficient Human Instance-Guided Framework for Video Action Recognition
Authors: Lee Inwoong , Kim Doyoung , Wee Dongyoon , Lee Sanghoon
Published: December 2021

In recent years, human action recognition has been studied by many computer vision researchers. Recent studies have attempted to use two-stream networks using appearance and motion features, but most of these approaches focused on clip-level video action recognition. In contrast to traditional methods which generally used entire images, we propose a new human instance-level video action recognition framework. In this framework, we represent the instance-level features using human boxes and keypoints, and our action region features are used as the inputs of the temporal action head network, which makes our framework more discriminative. We also propose novel temporal action head networks consisting of various modules, which reflect various temporal dynamics well. In the experiment, the proposed models achieve comparable performance with the state-of-the-art approaches on two challenging datasets. Furthermore, we evaluate the proposed features and networks to verify the effectiveness of them. Finally, we analyze the confusion matrix and visualize the recognized actions at human instance level when there are several people.