bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Circulating Saturated Fatty Acids and Incident Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Huang Lihua , Lin Jie-sheng , Aris Izzuddin M , Yang Guiyou , Chen Wei-Qing , Li Ling-Jun
Published: May 2019

The effect of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) on incident type 2 diabetes (T2D) is controversial and few have systematically appraised the evidence. We conducted a comprehensive search of prospective studies examining these relationships that were published in PubMed, Web of Science, or EMBASE from 21 February 1989 to 21 February 2019. A total of 19 studies were included for systematic review and 10 for meta-analysis. We estimated the summarized relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using a random (if I2 > 50%) or a fixed effects model (if I2 ≤ 50%). Although the included studies reported inconclusive results, the majority supported a protective effect of odd-chain and an adverse impact of even-chain SFAs. Meta-analysis showed that the per standard deviation (SD) increase in odd-chain SFAs was associated with a reduced risk of incident T2D (C15:0: 0.86, 0.76–0.98; C17:0: 0.76, 0.59–0.97), while a per SD increase in one even-chain SFA was associated with an increased risk of incident T2D (C14:0: 1.13, 1.09–1.18). No associations were found between other SFAs and incident T2D. In conclusion, our findings suggest an overall protective effect of odd-chain SFAs and the inconclusive impact of even- and very-long-chain SFAs on incident T2D.
Resveratrol Regulates BDNF, trkB, PSA-NCAM, and Arc Expression in the Rat Cerebral Cortex after Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion and Reperfusion
Authors: Serra Maria Pina , Boi Marianna , Poddighe Laura , Melis Tiziana , Lai Ylenia , Carta Gianfranca , Quartu Marina
Published: May 2019

The polyphenol resveratrol (RVT) may drive protective mechanisms of cerebral homeostasis during the hypoperfusion/reperfusion triggered by the transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion followed by reperfusion (BCCAO/R). This immunochemical study investigates if a single dose of RVT modulates the plasticity-related markers brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the tyrosine kinase trkB receptor, Polysialylated-Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule (PSA-NCAM), and Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated (Arc) protein in the brain cortex after BCCAO/R. Frontal and temporal-occipital cortical regions were examined in male Wistar rats randomly subdivided in two groups, sham-operated and submitted to BCCAO/R. Six hours prior to surgery, half the rats were gavage fed a dose of RVT (180 mg·kg−1 in 300 µL of sunflower oil as the vehicle), while the second half was given the vehicle alone. In the frontal cortex of BCCAO/R vehicle-treated rats, BDNF and PSA-NCAM decreased, while trkB increased. RVT pre-treatment elicited an increment of all examined markers in both sham- and BCCAO/R rats. No variations occurred in the temporal-occipital cortex. The results highlight a role for RVT in modulating neuronal plasticity through the BDNF-trkB system and upregulation of PSA-NCAM and Arc, which may provide both trophic and structural local support in the dynamic changes occurring during the BCCAO/R, and further suggest that dietary supplements such as RVT are effective in preserving the tissue potential to engage plasticity-related events and control the functional response to the hypoperfusion/reperfusion challenge.
Pre-Pregnancy Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-Control Study
Authors: Olmedo-Requena Rocío , Gómez-Fernández Julia , Amezcua-Prieto Carmen , Mozas-Moreno Juan , Khan Khalid S. , Jiménez-Moleón José J.
Published: May 2019

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), an important public health problem that affects mothers and offspring, is a common metabolic disorder. We evaluated the effect of the pre-pregnancy Mediterranean diet (MD) level of exposure on the odds of GDM development. A case-control study (291 GDM cases and 1175 controls without GDM) was conducted in pregnant women. Pre-pregnancy dietary intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire to calculate an MD adherence index (range score 0–9: low ≤ 2; middle 3–4; high 5–6; very high ≥ 7). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using multivariable logistic regression models including age, BMI, family history of diabetes mellitus, previous GDM, miscarriages, and gravidity. Overall, middle-high MD adherence was 216/291 (74.2%) and very high adherence was 17/291 (5.8%) in cases. In controls the corresponding figures were 900/1175 (76.6%) and 73/1175 (6.2%), respectively. Compared to low adherence, high MD adherence was associated with GDM reduction (aOR 0.61, 95% CI 0.39,0.94; p = 0.028), and very high MD adherence was even more strongly associated (aOR 0.33, 95% CI 0.15, 0.72; p = 0.005). The protective effect of adherence to the MD prior to pregnancy should be considered as a preventive tool against the development of GDM.
Curcumin in Autoimmune and Rheumatic Diseases
Authors: Yang Melissa , Akbar Umair , Mohan Chandra
Published: May 2019

Over recent decades, many clinical trials on curcumin supplementation have been conducted on various autoimmune diseases including osteoarthritis, type 2 diabetes, and ulcerative colitis patients. This review attempts to summarize the highlights from these clinical trials. The efficacy of curcumin either alone or in conjunction with existing treatment was evaluated. Sixteen clinical trials have been conducted in osteoarthritis, 14 of which yielded significant improvements in multiple disease parameters. Eight trials have been conducted in type 2 diabetes, all yielding significant improvement in clinical or laboratory outcomes. Three trials were in ulcerative colitis, two of which yielded significant improvement in at least one clinical outcome. Additionally, two clinical trials on rheumatoid arthritis, one clinical trial on lupus nephritis, and two clinical trials on multiple sclerosis resulted in inconclusive results. Longer duration, larger cohort size, and multiple dosage arm trials are warranted to establish the long term benefits of curcumin supplementation. Multiple mechanisms of action of curcumin on these diseases have been researched, including the modulation of the eicosanoid pathway towards a more anti-inflammatory pathway, and the modulation of serum lipid levels towards a favorable profile. Overall, curcumin supplementation emerges as an effective therapeutic agent with minimal-to-no side effects, which can be added in conjunction to current standard of care.
Excipient Interactions in Glucagon Dry Powder Inhaler Formulation for Pulmonary Delivery
Authors: Rashid Md Abdur , Elgied Amged Awad , Alhamhoom Yahya , Chan Enoch , Rintoul Llew , Allahham Ayman , Islam Nazrul
Published: May 2019

Purpose: This study describes the development and characterization of glucagon dry powder inhaler (DPI) formulation for pulmonary delivery. Lactose monohydrate, as a carrier, and L-leucine and magnesium stearate (MgSt) were used as dispersibility enhancers for this formulation. Methods: Using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Raman confocal microscopy, the interactions between glucagon and all excipients were characterized. The fine particle fractions (FPFs) of glucagon in different formulations were determined by a twin stage impinger (TSI) using a 2.5% glucagon mixture, and the glucagon concentration was measured by a validated LC-MS/MS method. Results: The FPF of the glucagon was 6.4%, which increased six-fold from the formulations with excipients. The highest FPF (36%) was observed for the formulation containing MgSt and large carrier lactose. The FTIR, Raman, and DSC data showed remarkable physical interactions of glucagon with leucine and a minor interaction with lactose; however, there were no interactions with MgSt alone or mixed with lactose. Conclusion: Due to the interaction between L-leucine and glucagon, leucine was not a suitable excipient for glucagon formulation. In contrast, the use of lactose and MgSt could be considered to prepare an efficient DPI formulation for the pulmonary delivery of glucagon.
Effect of Temperature on the Tear Fracture and Fatigue Life of Carbon-Black-Filled Rubber
Authors: Luo Wenbo , Li Ming , Huang Youjian , Yin Boyuan , Hu Xiaoling
Published: May 2019

The mechanical behaviour of carbon-black (CB)-filled rubber is temperature-dependent. It is assumed that temperature affects the fatigue life of rubber products by changing the tear energy of the material. The static tearing behaviour and fatigue crack propagation behavior of CB-filled rubber at different temperatures were investigated in this study. The critical tear energy of the material was measured through static tear fracture tests at different temperatures; it is shown that the critical tear energy decreases exponentially with increasing temperature. A fatigue crack growth test of a constrained precracked planar tension specimen was conducted at room temperature; the measurements verify that the fatigue crack growth follows a Paris–Erdogan power law. Considering the temperature dependence of the critical tear energy, the temperature dependent fatigue crack growth kinetics of CB-filled rubber was established, and the fatigue life of the material at high temperatures was predicted based on the kinetics. The predictions are in good agreement with experimental measurements.
Super-Toughened Poly(lactic Acid) with Poly(ε-caprolactone) and Ethylene-Methyl Acrylate-Glycidyl Methacrylate by Reactive Melt Blending
Authors: Hou Ao-Lin , Qu Jin-Ping
Published: May 2019

In recent years, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has attracted more and more attention as one of the most promising biobased and biodegradable polymers. However, the inherent brittleness significantly limits its wide application. Here, ternary blends of PLA, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) with various amounts of ethylene-methyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate (EMA-GMA) terpolymer were fabricated through reactive melt blending in order to improve the toughness of PLA. The effect of different addition amounts of EMA-GMA on the mechanical properties, interfacial compatibility and phase morphology of PLA/PCL blends were studied. The reactions between the epoxy groups of EMA-GMA and carboxyl and hydroxyl end groups of PLA and PCL were investigated thorough a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). The miscibility and thermal behavior of the blends were studied through a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The phase morphology and impact fracture surface of the blends were also investigated through a scanning electron microscope (SEM). With the addition of 8 phr EMA-GMA, a PLA/PCL (90 wt %:10 wt %)/EMA-GMA ternary blend presenting a suitable multiple stacked phase structure with an optimum interfacial adhesion exhibited an elongation at break of 500.94% and a notched impact strength of 64.31 kJ/m2 with a partial break impact behavior. Finally, the toughening mechanism of the supertough PLA based polymers have been established based on the above analysis.
3D Printing of an Oil/Water Mixture Separator with In Situ Demulsification and Separation
Authors: Yan Changyou , Ma Shuanhong , Ji Zhongying , Guo Yuxiong , Liu Zhilu , Zhang Xiaoqin , Wang Xiaolong
Published: May 2019

Currently, many meshes, membranes, and fabrics with extreme wettability of superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity, or superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity are promising candidates for oil/water mixture separation. Nevertheless, a facile yet effective way to design and fabricate porous mesh still remains challenging. In this work, fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing of Fe/polylactic acid (PLA) composites was employed to fabricate superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic mesh (S-USM) with hydrogel coatings via the surface polymerization of Fe(II)-mediated redox reaction. In addition, salt of aluminum chloride was incorporated within the hydrogel coating, which was attributed to strengthening the demulsification of oil-in-water emulsions, resulting in efficient separation of oil-in-water mixtures. The S-USM was efficient for a wide range of oil-in-water mixtures, such as dodecane, diesel, vegetable oil, and even crude oil, with a separation efficiency of up to 85%. In this study, the flexible design and fabrication of 3D printing were used for the facile creation of spherical oil skimmers with hydrogel coatings that were capable of removing the floating oil. Most importantly, this work is expected to promote post-treatment processes using 3D printing as a new manufacturing technology and, in this way, a series of devices of specific shape and function will be expanded to satisfy desired requirements and bring great convenience to personal life.
PP/TiO2 Melt-Blown Membranes for Oil/Water Separation and Photocatalysis: Manufacturing Techniques and Property Evaluations
Authors: Sun Fei , Li Ting-Ting , Ren Haitao , Jiang Qian , Peng Hao-Kai , Lin Qi , Lou Ching-Wen , Lin Jia-Horng
Published: May 2019

This study aims to produce polypropylene (PP)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) melt-blown membranes for oil/water separation and photocatalysis. PP and different contents of TiO2 are melt-blended to prepare master batches using a single screw extruder. The master batches are then fabricated into PP/TiO2 melt-blown membranes. The thermal properties of the master batches are analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis, and their particle dispersion and melt-blown membrane morphology are evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. TiO2 loaded on melt-blown membranes is confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The oil/water separation ability of the melt-blown membranes is evaluated to examine the influence of TiO2 content. Results show that the thermal stability and photocatalytic effect of the membranes increase with TiO2 content. TiO2 shows a good dispersion in the PP membranes. After 3 wt.% TiO2 addition, crystallinity increases by 6.4%, thermal decomposition temperature increases by 25 °C compared with pure PP membranes. The resultant PP/TiO2 melt-blown membrane has a good morphology, and better hydrophobicity even in acetone solution or 6 h ultraviolet irradiation, and a high oil flux of about 15,000 L·m−2·h−1. Moreover, the membranes have stabilized oil/water separation efficiency after being repeatedly used. The proposed melt-blown membranes are suitable for mass production for separating oil from water in massively industrial dyeing wastewater.
Effect of H2O2 Bleaching Treatment on the Properties of Finished Transparent Wood
Authors: Wu Yan , Wu Jiamin , Yang Feng , Tang Caiyun , Huang Qiongtao
Published: May 2019

Transparent wood samples were fabricated from an environmentally-friendly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) bleached basswood (Tilia) template using polymer impregnation. The wood samples were bleached separately for 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 min to evaluate the effects on the changes of the chemical composition and properties of finished transparent wood. Experimental results showed decreases in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin content with an increasing bleaching time and while decreasing each component to a unique extent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis indicated that the wood cell micro-structures were maintained during H2O2 bleaching treatment. This allowed for successful impregnation of polymer into the bleached wood template and strong transparent wood products. The transparent wood possessed a maximum optical transmittance up to 44% at 800 nm with 150 min bleaching time. Moreover, the transparent wood displayed a maximum tensile strength up to 165.1 ± 1.5 MPa with 90 min bleaching time. The elastic modulus (Er) and hardness (H) of the transparent wood samples were lowered along with the increase of H2O2 bleaching treatment time. In addition, the transparent wood with 30 min bleaching time exhibited the highest Er and H values of 20.4 GPa and 0.45 GPa, respectively. This findings may provide one way to choose optimum degrees of H2O2 bleaching treatment for transparent wood fabrication, to fit the physicochemical properties of finished transparent wood.
Recent Advances in Fluid Flow in Fractured Porous Media
Authors: Liu Richeng , Lou Sha , Jiang Yujing
Published: May 2019

The fluid flows through both the fractures and pores in deep-seated rock masses, which is of special importance for the performance of underground facilities such as groundwater use and nuclear waste disposal [...]
Spatial Risk Measures and Rate of Spatial Diversification
Authors: Koch Erwan
Published: May 2019

An accurate assessment of the risk of extreme environmental events is of great importance for populations, authorities and the banking/insurance/reinsurance industry. Koch (2017) introduced a notion of spatial risk measure and a corresponding set of axioms which are well suited to analyze the risk due to events having a spatial extent, precisely such as environmental phenomena. The axiom of asymptotic spatial homogeneity is of particular interest since it allows one to quantify the rate of spatial diversification when the region under consideration becomes large. In this paper, we first investigate the general concepts of spatial risk measures and corresponding axioms further and thoroughly explain the usefulness of this theory for both actuarial science and practice. Second, in the case of a general cost field, we give sufficient conditions such that spatial risk measures associated with expectation, variance, value-at-risk as well as expected shortfall and induced by this cost field satisfy the axioms of asymptotic spatial homogeneity of order 0, −2, −1 and −1, respectively. Last but not least, in the case where the cost field is a function of a max-stable random field, we provide conditions on both the function and the max-stable field ensuring the latter properties. Max-stable random fields are relevant when assessing the risk of extreme events since they appear as a natural extension of multivariate extreme-value theory to the level of random fields. Overall, this paper improves our understanding of spatial risk measures as well as of their properties with respect to the space variable and generalizes many results obtained in Koch (2017).
On the Reliability of Surface Current Measurements by X-Band Marine Radar
Authors: Hessner Katrin G. , El Naggar Saad , von Appen Wilken-Jon , Strass Volker H.
Published: May 2019

Real-time quality-controlled surface current data derived from X-Band marine radar (MR) measurements were evaluated to estimate their operational reliability. The presented data were acquired by the standard commercial off-the-shelf MR-based sigma s6 WaMoS® II (WaMoS® II) deployed onboard the German Research vessel Polarstern. The measurement reliability is specified by an IQ value obtained by the WaMoS® II real-time quality control (rtQC). Data which pass the rtQC without objection are assumed to be reliable. For these data sets accuracy and correlation with corresponding vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements are determined. To reduce potential misinterpretation due to short-term oceanic variability/turbulences, the evaluation of the WaMoS® II accuracy was carried out based on sliding means over 20 min of the reliable data only. The associated standard deviation σ W a M o S = 0.02 m/s of the mean WaMoS® II measurements reflect a high precision of the measurement and the successful rtQC during different wave, current and weather conditions. The direct comparison of 7272 WaMoS® II/ADCP northward and eastward velocity data pairs yield a correlation of r   ≥ 0.94 , with | b i a s Δ |   ≤ 0.06 m/s and σ S = 0.05 m/s. This confirms that the MR-based surface current measurements are accurate and reliable.
Estimation of Sea Surface Current from X-Band Marine Radar Images by Cross-Spectrum Analysis
Authors: Chen Zhongbiao , Zhang Biao , Kudryavtsev Vladimir , He Yijun , Chu Xiaoqing
Published: May 2019

The cross-spectral correlation approach has been used to estimate the wave spectrum from optical and radar images. This work aims to improve the cross-spectral approach to derive current velocity from the X-band marine radar image sequence, and evaluate the application conditions of the method. To reduce the dependency of gray levels on range and azimuth, radar images are preprocessed by the contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization. Two-dimensional cross-spectral coherence and phase are derived from neighboring X-band marine radar images, and the phases with large coherences are used to estimate the phase velocity and angular frequency of waves, which are first fitted with the theoretical dispersion relation by different least square models, and then the current velocity can be determined. Compared with the current velocities measured by a current meter, the root-mean-square error, correlation coefficient, bias, and relative error are 0.15 m/s. 0.88, –0.05 m/s, and 7.79% for the north-south velocity, and 0.14 m/s, 0.86, 0.06 m/s, and 10.75% for the east-west velocity in the experimental area, respectively. The preprocessing, critical coherence, and the number of images for applying the cross-spectral approach, are discussed.
Building Extraction from UAV Images Jointly Using 6D-SLIC and Multiscale Siamese Convolutional Networks
Authors: He Haiqing , Zhou Junchao , Chen Min , Chen Ting , Li Dajun , Cheng Penggen
Published: May 2019

Automatic building extraction using a single data type, either 2D remotely-sensed images or light detection and ranging 3D point clouds, remains insufficient to accurately delineate building outlines for automatic mapping, despite active research in this area and the significant progress which has been achieved in the past decade. This paper presents an effective approach to extracting buildings from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) images through the incorporation of superpixel segmentation and semantic recognition. A framework for building extraction is constructed by jointly using an improved Simple Linear Iterative Clustering (SLIC) algorithm and Multiscale Siamese Convolutional Networks (MSCNs). The SLIC algorithm, improved by additionally imposing a digital surface model for superpixel segmentation, namely 6D-SLIC, is suited for building boundary detection under building and image backgrounds with similar radiometric signatures. The proposed MSCNs, including a feature learning network and a binary decision network, are used to automatically learn a multiscale hierarchical feature representation and detect building objects under various complex backgrounds. In addition, a gamma-transform green leaf index is proposed to truncate vegetation superpixels for further processing to improve the robustness and efficiency of building detection, the Douglas–Peucker algorithm and iterative optimization are used to eliminate jagged details generated from small structures as a result of superpixel segmentation. In the experiments, the UAV datasets, including many buildings in urban and rural areas with irregular shapes and different heights and that are obscured by trees, are collected to evaluate the proposed method. The experimental results based on the qualitative and quantitative measures confirm the effectiveness and high accuracy of the proposed framework relative to the digitized results. The proposed framework performs better than state-of-the-art building extraction methods, given its higher values of recall, precision, and intersection over Union (IoU).
Resolutional Analysis of Multiplicative High-Frequency Speckle Noise Based on SAR Spatial De-Speckling Filter Implementation and Selection
Authors: Heidarpour Shahrezaei Iman , Kim Hyun-cheol
Published: May 2019

Due to the inherent characteristics of the electromagnetic wave scattering phenomenon, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are directly degraded by high-frequency multiplicative speckle (HMS) noise, which makes image de-speckling filter application and selection a challenge. In this regard, an adverse effects analysis of the HMS under implementation of seven different spatial de-speckling filters on a reference SAR image is considered in this paper. The investigation includes the formulation of the backscattered data and the HMS based on the pixel statistics and their distribution as an image noise behavioral analysis method. The resulting complex behavioral model is used for HMS power spectral density (PSD) function modeling. This paper also includes HMS system resolution effects analysis on the raw data generation (RDG) and the received frequency profile (RFP). An objective quality assessment procedure was also carried out to investigate both the de-speckled image resolution and the spatial filter evaluation in the presence of the HMS. As a result, the simulations verify that speckles are embedded within the high-frequency parts of the raw data, directly affecting the spatial resolution and the image resolution with non-specific patterns. The results also show that no spatial de-speckling filter consistently outperforms others, and their implementation is completely dependent on the texture, the system parameters, and their evaluation index. As a novel approach, HMS spectral behavioral modeling within the filtered images, as well as the proposed spatial de-speckling filter evaluation methods, are the proper techniques for optimum filter selection and specific purpose applications. The results are very helpful for remote sensing image restoration and data preservation when dealing with SAR images with a less fine resolution, such as ice-covered areas, coastal change detection, vegetation texture detection, geological structures mapping, and so forth. The SAR system resolution analysis is completed based on inversed problem solution (IPS) and with the help of a hybrid-domain image formation algorithm (IFA).
Primary User Localization and Its Error Analysis in 5G Cognitive Radio Networks
Authors: Saeed Nasir , Nam Haewoon , Al-Naffouri Tareq Y. , Alouini Mohamed-Slim
Published: May 2019

It is crucial to estimate the location of primary users (PUs) for the development of cognitive radio networks (CRNs). Great efforts have been made in the past to develop localization algorithms with better accuracy but low computation. In CRNs, PUs do not cooperate with secondary users (SUs), which makes the localization task challenging. Due to this feature, received signal strength (RSS)-based PU localization techniques, such as centroid localization (CL) and multidimensional scaling (MDS), are the best candidates. However, most of the CL- and MDS-based PU localization methods consider omnidirectional wireless communication. Therefore, in this paper we propose a PU localization method which uses the RSS values at different sectors of the SU antenna, where a scoring strategy is applied to all the sectors to estimate the PU location. Two different scoring functions are proposed. Numerical results show that the proposed localization method is robust to PU locations and channel conditions. The proposed method is validated in terms of various network parameters, such as the number of SUs, beamwidth of the SU sectors, size of the grid, and placement of the PUs. Results show that increasing the number of SUs improve the localization accuracy due to an increased number of measurements. However, the localization accuracy degrades with an increase in the beamwidth of the SU sector because the faraway grid points also participate in the localization. The results are also compared with the conventional CL for PU localization. Compared with conventional CL, it offers a significant improvement in the performance.
Localization of Sliding Movements Using Soft Tactile Sensing Systems with Three-axis Accelerometers
Authors: Trinh Hiep Xuan , Iwamoto Yuki , Ho Van Anh , Shibuya Koji
Published: May 2019

This paper presents a soft tactile sensor system for the localization of sliding movements on a large contact surface using an accelerometer. The system consists of a silicone rubber base with a chamber covered by a thin silicone skin in which a three-axis accelerometer is embedded. By pressurizing the chamber, the skin inflates, changing its sensitivity to the sliding movement on the skin’s surface. Based on the output responses of the accelerometer, the sensor system localizes the sliding motion. First, we present the idea, design, fabrication process, and the operation principle of our proposed sensor. Next, we created a numerical simulation model to investigate the dynamic changes of the accelerometer’s posture under sliding actions. Finally, experiments were conducted with various sliding conditions. By confirming the numerical simulation, dynamic analysis, and experimental results, we determined that the sensor system can detect the sliding movements, including the sliding directions, velocity, and localization of an object. We also point out the role of pressurization in the sensing system’s sensitivity under sliding movements, implying the ideal pressurization for it. We also discuss its limitations and applicability. This paper reflects our developed research in intelligent integration and soft morphological computation for soft tactile sensing systems.
Latest Trends in Electrochemical Sensors for Neurotransmitters: A Review
Authors: Tavakolian-Ardakani Zahra , Hosu Oana , Cristea Cecilia , Mazloum-Ardakani Mohammad , Marrazza Giovanna
Published: May 2019

Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemical messengers which play an important role in many of the brain functions, abnormal levels being correlated with physical, psychotic and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease. Therefore, their sensitive and robust detection is of great clinical significance. Electrochemical methods have been intensively used in the last decades for neurotransmitter detection, outclassing more complicated analytical techniques such as conventional spectrophotometry, chromatography, fluorescence, flow injection, and capillary electrophoresis. In this manuscript, the most successful and promising electrochemical enzyme-free and enzymatic sensors for neurotransmitter detection are reviewed. Focusing on the activity of worldwide researchers mainly during the last ten years (2010–2019), without pretending to be exhaustive, we present an overview of the progress made in sensing strategies during this time. Particular emphasis is placed on nanostructured-based sensors, which show a substantial improvement of the analytical performances. This review also examines the progress made in biosensors for neurotransmitter measurements in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo.
An Efficient Relayed Broadcasting Based on the Duplication Estimation Model for IoT Applications
Authors: Kim Youngboo , Park Eun-Chan
Published: May 2019

In this paper, we consider relay-based broadcasting in wireless ad hoc networks, which can enable various emerging services in the Internet of Things (IoT). In this kind of traffic dissemination scheme, also known as flooding, all the nodes not only receive frames but also rebroadcast them. However, without an appropriate relay suppression, a broadcast storm problem arises, i.e., the transmission may fail due to severe collisions and/or interference, many duplicate frames are unnecessarily transmitted, and the traffic dissemination time increases. To mitigate the broadcast storm problem, we propose a reasonable criterion to restrict the rebroadcasting named the duplication ratio. Based on this, we propose an efficient mechanism consisting of duplication suppression and re-queuing schemes. The former discards duplicate frames proactively in a probabilistic manner to decrease the redundancy whereas the latter provides a secondary transmission opportunity reactively to compensate for the delivery failure. Moreover, to apply the duplication ratio practically, we propose a simple method to approximate it based on the number of adjacent nodes. The simulation study confirms that the proposed mechanism tightly ensured the reliability and decreased the traffic dissemination time by up to 6-fold compared to conventional mechanisms.
CNN-Based Target Recognition and Identification for Infrared Imaging in Defense Systems
Authors: d’Acremont Antoine , Fablet Ronan , Baussard Alexandre , Quin Guillaume
Published: May 2019

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have rapidly become the state-of-the-art models for image classification applications. They usually require large groundtruthed datasets for training. Here, we address object identification and recognition in the wild for infrared (IR) imaging in defense applications, where no such large-scale dataset is available. With a focus on robustness issues, especially viewpoint invariance, we introduce a compact and fully convolutional CNN architecture with global average pooling. We show that this model trained from realistic simulation datasets reaches a state-of-the-art performance compared with other CNNs with no data augmentation and fine-tuning steps. We also demonstrate a significant improvement in the robustness to viewpoint changes with respect to an operational support vector machine (SVM)-based scheme.
Experimental Evaluation of UWB Indoor Positioning for Indoor Track Cycling
Authors: Minne Kevin , Macoir Nicola , Rossey Jen , Van den Brande Quinten , Lemey Sam , Hoebeke Jeroen , De Poorter Eli
Published: May 2019

Accurate radio frequency (RF)-based indoor localization systems are more and more applied during sports. The most accurate RF-based localization systems use ultra-wideband (UWB) technology; this is why this technology is the most prevalent. UWB positioning systems allow for an in-depth analysis of the performance of athletes during training and competition. There is no research available that investigates the feasibility of UWB technology for indoor track cycling. In this paper, we investigate the optimal position to mount the UWB hardware for that specific use case. Different positions on the bicycle and cyclist were evaluated based on accuracy, received power level, line-of-sight, maximum communication range, and comfort. Next to this, the energy consumption of our UWB system was evaluated. We found that the optimal hardware position was the lower back, with a median ranging error of 22 cm (infrastructure hardware placed at 2.3 m). The energy consumption of our UWB system is also taken into account. Applied to our setup with the hardware mounted at the lower back, the maximum communication range varies between 32.6 m and 43.8 m. This shows that UWB localization systems are suitable for indoor positioning of track cyclists.
Cantilever Sensors
Authors: Peiner Erwin , Wasisto Hutomo Suryo
Published: May 2019

A cantilever is considered the most basic mechanical spring-mass system and has enormous application potential for sensors [...]
The Effect of Time Synchronization Error in LAN-Based Digital Substation
Authors: Son Kyou Jung , Chang Tae Gyu , Kang Sang-Hee
Published: May 2019

In this paper, the effect of time synchronization error on protection algorithms are studied for the usage of the LAN-based collaborative protection. In order to derive the effect of time synchronization, this paper proposes a substation model which is constructed with IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) supported intelligent electronic devices. The proposed model is used as an example of a target platform to study the effect of time synchronization error with two typical substation protection algorithms, i.e., current differential-based substation protection and distance protection algorithms. From the analyzed and the simulated results, it was well observed that time synchronization error is a significant error-causing factor for both protection algorithms, resulting in erroneous detection of faults and erroneous estimation of fault distances, respectively. The results of research performed in this paper are expected to provide a good guide for constructing the future LAN-based digital power substation with precise time synchronization.
A Non-Destructive Testing Method for Fault Detection of Substation Grounding Grids
Authors: Wang Xiujuan , Fu Zhihong , Wang Yao , Liu Renkuan , Chen Lin
Published: May 2019

The grounding grid is critical to the safety and stability of a power system. Corrosive cracking of the grounding conductor is the main cause of deterioration of grounding grid performance. Existing fault diagnosis methods for grounding grids are limited by the number and distribution of grounding leads, and some of them cannot be used for online detection. This paper proposes a grounding grid detection method based on magnetic source excitation. The measuring device consists of four coils, two horizontal excitation coils, and two vertical receiving coils. The secondary magnetic field signal is extracted from the primary field and the background field by properly positioning the coils, such that the measured signal can reflect the underground media more accurately. The measuring device of the method is portable, the measurement process is contactless with the grounding grid, and it is not limited by the grounding leads. Furthermore, it has a strong anti-interference ability and can realize online detection. It was proven by simulations and experiments that the proposed method has a higher measurement accuracy and stronger anti-interference ability when compared with existing methods. This paper also discusses the influence of various factors such as the number and the location of the breakpoints, the frequency of the excitation source, the soil resistivity, and stratification from the measurement data. It was proven that the method has high precision and a wide application range, and is important for guiding significance and reference value in engineering applications.
Adolescents’ Mobile Phone Use While Crossing the Road
Authors: Baswail Amal , Allinson Lesley , Goddard Paul , Pfeffer Karen
Published: May 2019

Phones and other portable technology can be a distraction for pedestrians, affecting their ability to cross a road safely. This study focused on adolescents and investigated whether using a phone distracts attention while crossing the road. A field observation outside a secondary school in the north of England was carried out over a four-week period in 2018 with permission from the school. Observations included recording what accessories the pedestrian was carrying (phone, headphones or another electronic device) and their associated action (whether they were holding the device, speaking into a phone, looking at it, holding it to their ear or interacting with it manually). We observed whether the pedestrian looked (or failed to look) left and right before crossing the road, whether they crossed when the pedestrian light was on green or red, and whether they crossed within the cross-walk. We found that 31.37% of road crossings were made by adolescents with a phone or other device. They looked left and right before crossing less frequently when they had an electronic device with them, when looking at the screen and when texting or swiping. In conclusion, the safety of adolescent pedestrians is affected by mobile phones and music players.
Comparing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Salmonid Aquaculture Production Systems: Status and Perspectives
Authors: Philis Gaspard , Ziegler Friederike , Gansel Lars Christian , Jansen Mona Dverdal , Gracey Erik Olav , Stene Anne
Published: May 2019

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector worldwide, mostly driven by a steadily increasing protein demand. In response to growing ecological concerns, life cycle assessment (LCA) emerged as a key environmental tool to measure the impacts of various production systems, including aquaculture. In this review, we focused on farmed salmonids to perform an in-depth analysis, investigating methodologies and comparing results of LCA studies of this finfish family in relation to species and production technologies. Identifying the environmental strengths and weaknesses of salmonid production technologies is central to ensure that industrial actors and policymakers make informed choices to take the production of this important marine livestock to a more sustainable path. Three critical aspects of salmonid LCAs were studied based on 24 articles and reports: (1) Methodological application, (2) construction of inventories, and (3) comparison of production technologies across studies. Our first assessment provides an overview and compares important methodological choices. The second analysis maps the main foreground and background data sources, as well as the state of process inclusion and exclusion. In the third section, a first attempt to compare life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) data across production technologies was conducted using a single factor statistical protocol. Overall, findings suggested a lack of methodological completeness and reporting in the literature and demonstrated that inventories suffered from incomplete description and partial disclosure. Our attempt to compare LCA results across studies was challenging due to confounding factors and poor data availability, but useful as a first step in highlighting the importance of production technology for salmonids. In groups where the data was robust enough for statistical comparison, both differences and mean equalities were identified, allowing ranking of technology clusters based on their average scores. We statistically demonstrated that sea-based systems outperform land-based technology in terms of energy demand and that sea-based systems have a generally higher FCR than land-based ones. Cross-study analytics also strongly suggest that open systems generate on average more eutrophying emissions than closed designs. We further discuss how to overcome bottlenecks currently hampering such LCA meta-analysis. Arguments are made in favor of further developing cross-study LCA analysis, particularly by increasing the number of salmonid LCA available (to improve sample sizes) and by reforming in-depth LCA practices to enable full reproducibility and greater access to inventory data.
Comfort First! Vehicle-Sharing Systems in Urban Residential Areas: The Importance for Everyday Mobility and Reduction of Car Use among Pilot Users
Authors: Berg Jessica , Henriksson Malin , Ihlström Jonas
Published: May 2019

The aim of this study is to explore to what extent a vehicle-sharing system (VSS) that includes electric bicycles and cars, connected to a block of apartments in a middle-sized city in Sweden, can cater for individuals’ everyday mobility needs and reduce the need to own a car. The study connects to two different research areas: the usage of VSS and mobility transitions through pilot projects. Our results show a reluctance to voluntarily sacrifice comfort regarding everyday energy use. Owning and using a private car is to a high degree interpreted as convenient. The results from this study suggest that a VSS has the potential to satisfy mobility needs for people living in urban areas. However, in order for it to be successful, both in terms of satisfying mobility needs as well as being regarded as an attractive alternative to private car ownership, we argue that reconfiguration of modal choice and accessibility on different sociotechnical levels is a necessity. Interventions such as satisfactory public transport and better infrastructure for cycling and walking are suggested, as well as stricter parking regulations, banning cars in certain areas and making car use and ownership more expensive. In other words, the deployment of both soft and hard measures in combination is necessary.
Economic and Global Warming Potential Assessment of Flexible Power Generation with Biogas Plants
Authors: Saracevic Ervin , Koch Daniel , Stuermer Bernhard , Mihalyi Bettina , Miltner Angela , Friedl Anton
Published: May 2019

Demand-oriented power generation by power plants is becoming increasingly important due to the rising share of intermittent power sources in the energy system. Biogas plants can contribute to electricity grid stability through flexible power generation. This work involved conducting an economic and global warming potential (GWP) assessment of power generation with biogas plants that focused on the Austrian biogas sector. Twelve biogas plant configurations with electric rated outputs ranging from 150–750 kW and different input material compositions were investigated. The results from the economic assessment reveal that the required additional payment (premium) to make power generation economically viable ranges from 158.1–217.3 € MWh−1. Further, the GWP of biogas plant setups was analyzed using life cycle assessment. The results range from −0.42 to 0.06 t CO2 eq. MWh−1 and show that the 150 kW plant configurations yield the best outcome regarding GWP. Electricity from biogas in all scenarios outperformed the compared conventional electricity sources within the GWP. Greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation costs were calculated by relating the needed premium to the CO2 eq. saving potential and range from 149.5–674.1 € (t CO2 eq.)−1.
Evaluating the Environmental Performance of Solar Energy Systems Through a Combined Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Analysis
Authors: Milousi Maria , Souliotis Manolis , Arampatzis George , Papaefthimiou Spiros
Published: May 2019

The paper presents a holistic evaluation of the energy and environmental profile of two renewable energy technologies: Photovoltaics (thin-film and crystalline) and solar thermal collectors (flat plate and vacuum tube). The selected renewable systems exhibit size scalability (i.e., photovoltaics can vary from small to large scale applications) and can easily fit to residential applications (i.e., solar thermal systems). Various technical variations were considered for each of the studied technologies. The environmental implications were assessed through detailed life cycle assessment (LCA), implemented from raw material extraction through manufacture, use, and end of life of the selected energy systems. The methodological order followed comprises two steps: i. LCA and uncertainty analysis (conducted via SimaPro), and ii. techno-economic assessment (conducted via RETScreen). All studied technologies exhibit environmental impacts during their production phase and through their operation they manage to mitigate significant amounts of emitted greenhouse gases due to the avoided use of fossil fuels. The life cycle carbon footprint was calculated for the studied solar systems and was compared to other energy production technologies (either renewables or fossil-fuel based) and the results fall within the range defined by the global literature. The study showed that the implementation of photovoltaics and solar thermal projects in areas with high average insolation (i.e., Crete, Southern Greece) can be financially viable even in the case of low feed-in-tariffs. The results of the combined evaluation provide insight on choosing the most appropriate technologies from multiple perspectives, including financial and environmental.