bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Rapid, Low-Cost, and High-Precision Multifrequency Electrical Impedance Tomography Data Acquisition System for Plant Phenotyping
Authors: Basak Rinku , Wahid Khan A.
Published: July 2022

Plant phenotyping plays an important role for the thorough assessment of plant traits such as growth, development, and physiological processes with the target of achieving higher crop yields by the proper crop management. The assessment can be done by utilizing two- and three-dimensional image reconstructions of the inhomogeneities. The quality of the reconstructed image is required to maintain a high accuracy and a good resolution, and it is desirable to reconstruct the images with the lowest possible noise. In this work, an electrical impedance tomography (EIT) data acquisition system is developed for the reconstruction and evaluation of the inhomogeneities by utilizing a non-destructive method. A high-precision EIT system is developed by designing an electrode array sensor using a cylindrical domain for the measurements in different planes. Different edible plant slices along with multiple plant roots are taken in the EIT domain to assess and calibrate the system, and their reconstructed results are evaluated by utilizing an impedance imaging technique. A non-invasive imaging is carried out in multiple frequencies by utilizing a difference method of reconstruction. The performance and accuracy of the EIT system are evaluated by measuring impedances between 1 and 100 kHz using a low-cost and rapid electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tool connected to the sensor. A finite element method (FEM) modeling is utilized for image reconstruction, which is carried out using electrical impedance and diffuse optical tomography reconstruction software (EIDORS). The reconstruction is made successfully with the optimized results obtained using Gauss–Newton (GN) algorithms.
Evaluation of FY-3E/HIRAS-II Radiometric Calibration Accuracy Based on OMB Analysis
Authors: Zhang Chunming , Qi Chengli , Yang Tianhang , Gu Mingjian , Zhang Panxiang , Lee Lu , Xie Mengzhen , Hu Xiuqing
Published: July 2022

Before infrared hyperspectral data are used in satellite data assimilation systems or retrieval systems, the quantitative analysis of data deviation is necessary. Based on RTTOV’s (Radiative Transfer for TOVS) simulation data of FY-3E/HIRAS-II (Hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounder) and the observation data of HIRAS-II, we counted the bias of observation minus simulation (OMB) during an on-orbit test; analyzed the characteristics and reasons for the bias from the perspective of the FOV (field of view), the scanning angle of the instrument, the day and night, and the target temperature change; and analyzed the stability of the radiometric calibration accuracy. We also combined the results of the MetOp-C/IASI (infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer), a similar high-precision instrument, with the bias of OMB to compare and evaluate the FY-3E/HIRAS-II radiometric calibration accuracy. In the end, we found that the mean OMB bias of the long-wave and medium-wave infrared bands is within ±2 K, and the bias standard deviation is better than 2 K; the bias of each FOV is consistent and the bias of most channels is better than 2 K. The OMB bias of each channel is consistent with the changes in the angle of the instrument. The bias trend of long-wave and medium-wave infrared channels is more consistent with the deviation of the day and night; the bias of the short-wave infrared channel at night is lower than in the daytime. When counting the bias as the target temperature changed, the results showed that there are no obvious temperature dependencies in the long-wave and medium-wave infrared channels. This reflects that the instrument’s non-linear effect is well ordered. We further evaluated the stability of the radiometric calibration accuracy through statistics from the OMB standard deviation of each channel of FY-3E/HIRAS-II. Most channel accuracy stability values were better than 0.1 K. We calculated that IASI and HIRAS-II OMB have double differences, and the results show that the double difference in most channels is better than 1 K. It shows that the HIRAS-II and IASI observations are highly consistent. Through the statistics of the OMB bias during the on-orbit test period of FY-3E/HIRAS-II, we fully evaluated its radiometric calibration accuracy and laid the foundation for FY-3E/HIRAS-II data to be used in the retrieval application and assimilation system.
Increasing Streamflow in Poor Vegetated Mountain Basins Induced by Greening of Underlying Surface
Authors: Zheng Lilin , Xu Jianhua , Chen Yaning , Wu Zhenhui
Published: July 2022

Arid ecosystems have exhibited greening trends in recent decades. There is no consensus on how underlying surface changes influence streamflow across vegetation gradients. We investigated this issue for the four typical arid mountain basins using a 30-year runoff database and the Budyko framework to quantify the contributions of climate and underlying surface changes to streamflow variations during summer periods. Results showed that in the poor vegetated basins, i.e., Heizi Basin and Kuche Basin, the underlying surface change has increased summer streamflow by 14.01 and 35.67 mm, respectively; climate contributed only −7.32 and 1.86 mm to summer streamflow changes, respectively. Comparatively, in the well-vegetated basins, i.e., Huangshui Basin and Kaidu Basin, climate change dominated summer streamflow variations by increasing 21.50 and 24.65 mm, respectively; the underlying surface change only increased summer streamflow by 3.72 and 1.56 mm, respectively. Additionally, the decomposition results were extended to monthly scale (from June to September) to reveal the effects of climate and underlying surface changes on monthly streamflow. This study deepens our knowledge of runoff responses, which can provide important references to support water resources management in other regions that receive water from mountains.
Simultaneous Measurement of Temperature and Pressure Based on Fabry-Perot Interferometry for Marine Monitoring
Authors: Zhang Shengqi , Mei Yongchang , Xia Titi , Cao Zihan , Liu Zhengyong , Li Zhaohui
Published: July 2022

The temperature and pressure of seawater are of great importance to investigate the environmental evolution for the research of ocean science. With this regard, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated a seawater temperature and pressure sensor realized by a polyimide (PI) tube-based Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) together with a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). Benefiting from the higher thermo-optical coefficient and larger elasticity of polymer than the fused silica fiber, the sensitivity of the sensor is largely improved. The FBG is used to compensate the cross effect of the temperature. The measured temperature and pressure sensitivities of the sensor are 18.910 nm/°C and −35.605 nm/MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the temperature and pressure information measured by the sensor can be achieved simultaneously using the sensitivity matrix method. In addition, the proposed sensor has advantages of easy fabrication, compact size, as well as capability of multiplexing and long-distance measurement, making it competitive and promising during the marine monitoring.
PD Flexible Built-In High-Sensitivity Elliptical Monopole Antenna Sensor
Authors: Zhang Hanting , Zhang Guozhi , Zhang Xiaoxing , Tian Hanlu , Lu Changyue , Liu Jianben , Zhang Yin
Published: July 2022

In view of the insufficient signal detection sensitivity of Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS), partial discharge (PD), ultra-high frequency (UHF), and failure to conform with GIS surface structure when the existing rigid stereo structure UHF sensor is built in, this paper, using rectangular patch antenna equivalent technique, trapezoidal ground plane technique, and coplanar waveguide (CPW) feed line index asymptotic linearization technique, conducts research on a flexible built-in high-sensitivity elliptic monopole antenna. The flexible antenna, with a thickness of only 0.28 mm, can be kept at a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of less than three in the 300 MHz to 3 GHz band under the curvature radius of 0, 100, 300, and 500 mm, and at less than two in the 650 MHz to 3 GHz band. Through the true 220 kV-GIS partial discharge experimental platform built to analyze the high frequency electromagnetic wave detection performance of the built-in flexible antenna, it is shown that the flexible built-in high-sensitivity elliptical monopole antenna designed in this paper can effectively detect the characteristic signals of high-frequency electromagnetic waves emitted by partial discharges with an average discharge amount below 10 pC.
Beam Wander Restrained by Nonlinearity of Femtosecond Laser Filament in Air
Authors: Guo Jiewei , Sun Lu , Liu Jinpei , Shang Binpeng , Tao Shishi , Zhang Nan , Lin Lie , Zhang Zhi
Published: July 2022

The filamentation process under atmospheric turbulence is critical to its remote-sensing application. The effects of turbulence intensity and location on the spatial distribution of femtosecond laser filaments in the air were studied. The experimental results show that the nonlinear effect of the filament can restrain the beam wander. When the turbulence intensity was 3.31×10−13 cm−2/3, the mean deviation of the wander of the filament center was only 27% of that of the linear transmitted beam. The change in turbulence location would lead to a change in the standard deviation of the beam centroid drift. Results also show that the filament length would be shortened, and that the filament would end up earlier in a turbulent environment. Since the filamentation-based LIDAR has been highly expected as an evolution multitrace pollutant remote-sensing technique, the study promotes our understanding of how turbulence influences filamentation and advances atmospheric remote sensing by applying a filament.
Authenticated Semi-Quantum Key Distribution Protocol Based on W States
Authors: Wang Hung-Wen , Tsai Chia-Wei , Lin Jason , Yang Chun-Wei
Published: July 2022

In 2019, Wen et al. proposed authenticated semi-quantum key distribution (ASQKD) for identity and message using the teleportation of W states and GHZ-like states without pre-shared keys. However, the ASQKD protocol presents a vital issue in the teleportation of W states owing to its inappropriate design. Bob recovers the teleported W states without obtaining the position of the corresponding photons and then returns the recovered photons back to Alice. Hence, the teleportation of W states in Wen et al.’s ASQKD protocol was malfunctioning. Moreover, Wen et al.’s ASQKD protocol requires quantum memory, which strongly disobeys the definition of semi-quantum proposed by Boyer et al. Therefore, in this study, we discover the flaws of Wen et al.’s ASQKD protocol and propose an authenticated semi-quantum key distribution protocol. When compared to Wen et al.’s ASQKD protocol, the proposed ASQKD protocol has the following advantages: legal semi-quantum environment (i.e., does not require quantum memory), reduced quantum hardware requirement (i.e., based only on W states), does not involve classical cryptography (i.e., the hash function), and provided 1.6 times higher qubit efficiency.
Would Your Clothes Look Good on Me? Towards Transferring Clothing Styles with Adaptive Instance Normalization
Authors: Fontanini Tomaso , Ferrari Claudio
Published: July 2022

Several applications of deep learning, such as image classification and retrieval, recommendation systems, and especially image synthesis, are of great interest to the fashion industry. Recently, image generation of clothes gained lot of popularity as it is a very challenging task that is far from being solved. Additionally, it would open lots of possibilities for designers and stylists enhancing their creativity. For this reason, in this paper we propose to tackle the problem of style transfer between two different people wearing different clothes. We draw inspiration from the recent StarGANv2 architecture that reached impressive results in transferring a target domain to a source image and we adapted it to work with fashion images and to transfer clothes styles. In more detail, we modified the architecture to work without the need of a clear separation between multiple domains, added a perceptual loss between the target and the source clothes, and edited the style encoder to better represent the style information of target clothes. We performed both qualitative and quantitative experiments with the recent DeepFashion2 dataset and proved the efficacy and novelty of our method.
Railway Line Occupancy Control Based on Distance Determination Sound Method
Authors: Burdzik Rafał , Celiński Ireneusz , Kłaczyński Maciej
Published: July 2022

The purpose of this research paper is to present the application of the developed sound method as a supporting tool to deal with railway traffic flow control. It is found that controlling railway line occupancy is the main issue associated with railway traffic flow. For this purpose, the line occupancy control based on a sound method has been developed. The concept of using sound waves as a source of information about approaching people, animals, vehicles, etc., has been known for centuries, and is due to the natural properties of the sense of hearing. There are many engineering attempts on the use of this phenomenon, which are mostly based on applications of distributed fiber-optic sensing technology. This paper presents the results of the sound pressure measurement in the immediate proximity of the rail to analyze and evaluate the use of the acoustic wave as an information carrier on approaching rail vehicles. The purpose of this research is to discuss the sound method introduced here, and apply it in different circumstances.
Sliding-Window Normalization to Improve the Performance of Machine-Learning Models for Real-Time Motion Prediction Using Electromyography
Authors: Tanaka Taichi , Nambu Isao , Maruyama Yoshiko , Wada Yasuhiro
Published: July 2022

Many researchers have used machine learning models to control artificial hands, walking aids, assistance suits, etc., using the biological signal of electromyography (EMG). The use of such devices requires high classification accuracy. One method for improving the classification performance of machine learning models is normalization, such as z-score. However, normalization is not used in most EMG-based motion prediction studies because of the need for calibration and fluctuation of reference value for calibration (cannot re-use). Therefore, in this study, we proposed a normalization method that combines sliding-window and z-score normalization that can be implemented in real-time processing without need for calibration. The effectiveness of this normalization method was confirmed by conducting a single-joint movement experiment of the elbow and predicting its rest, flexion, and extension movements from the EMG signal. The proposed method achieved 77.7% accuracy, an improvement of 21.5% compared to the non-normalization (56.2%). Furthermore, when using a model trained by other people’s data for application without calibration, the proposed method achieved 63.1% accuracy, an improvement of 8.8% compared to the z-score (54.4%). These results showed the effectiveness of the simple and easy-to-implement method, and that the classification performance of the machine learning model could be improved.
A Novel Approach to Non-Destructive Rubber Vulcanization Monitoring by the Transient Radar Method
Authors: Tayebi Salar , Pourkazemi Ali , Patino Nicolas Ospitia , Thibaut Kato , Kamami Olsi , Stiens Johan
Published: July 2022

Rubber is one of the most used materials in the world; however, raw rubber shows a relatively very low mechanical strength. Therefore, it needs to be cured before its ultimate applicatios. Curing process specifications, such as the curing time and temperature, influence the material properties of the final cured product. The transient radar method (TRM) is introduced as an alternative for vulcanization monitoring in this study. Three polyurethane-rubber samples with different curing times of 2, 4, and 5.5 min were studied by TRM to investigate the feasibility and robustness of the TRM in curing time monitoring. Additionally, the mechanical stiffness of the samples was investigated by using a unidirectional tensile test to investigate the potential correlations between curing time, dielectric permittivity, and stiffness. According to the results, the complex permittivity and stiffness of the samples with 2, 4, and 5.5 min of curing time was 17.33 ± 0.07 − (2.41 ± 0.04)j; 17.09 ± 0.05 − (4.90 ± 0.03)j; 23.60 ± 0.05 − (14.06 ± 0.06)j; and 0.29, 0.35, and 0.38 kPa, respectively. Further statistical analyses showed a correlation coefficient of 0.99 (p = 0.06), 0.80 (p = 0.40), and 0.92 (p = 0.25) between curing time–stiffness, curing time–permittivity (real part), and curing time–permittivity (imaginary part), respectively. The correlation coefficient between curing time and permittivity can show the potential of the TRM system in contact-free vulcanization monitoring, as the impact of vulcanization can be tracked by means of TRM.
Efficient Middleware for the Portability of PaaS Services Consuming Applications among Heterogeneous Clouds
Authors: Bharany Salil , Kaur Kiranbir , Badotra Sumit , Rani Shalli , Kavita  , Wozniak Marcin , Shafi Jana , Ijaz Muhammad Fazal
Published: July 2022

Cloud providers create a vendor-locked-in environment by offering proprietary and non-standard APIs, resulting in a lack of interoperability and portability among clouds. To overcome this deterrent, solutions must be developed to exploit multiple clouds efficaciously. This paper proposes a middleware platform to mitigate the application portability issue among clouds. A literature review is also conducted to analyze the solutions for application portability. The middleware allows an application to be ported on various platform-as-a-service (PaaS) clouds and supports deploying different services of an application on disparate clouds. The efficiency of the abstraction layer is validated by experimentation on an application that uses the message queue, Binary Large Objects (BLOB), email, and short message service (SMS) services of various clouds via the proposed middleware against the same application using these services via their native code. The experimental results show that adding this middleware mildly affects the latency, but it dramatically reduces the developer’s overhead of implementing each service for different clouds to make it portable.
A Wind Tunnel Setup for Fluid-Structure Interaction Measurements Using Optical Methods
Authors: Nietiedt Simon , Wester Tom T. B. , Langidis Apostolos , Kröger Lars , Rofallski Robin , Göring Martina , Kühn Martin , Gülker Gerd , Luhmann Thomas
Published: July 2022

The design of rotor blades is based on information about aerodynamic phenomena. An important one is fluid-structure interaction (FSI) which describes the interaction between a flexible object (rotor blade) and the surrounding fluid (wind). However, the acquisition of FSI is complex, and only a few practical concepts are known. This paper presents a measurement setup to acquire real information about the FSI of rotating wind turbines in wind tunnel experiments. The setup consists of two optical measurement systems to simultaneously record fluid (PIV system) and deformation (photogrammetry system) information in one global coordinate system. Techniques to combine both systems temporally and spatially are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, the successful application is shown by several experiments. Here, different wind conditions are applied. The experiments show that the new setup can acquire high-quality area-based information about fluid and deformation.
Susceptibility of LoRa Communications to Intentional Electromagnetic Interference with Different Sweep Periods
Authors: De São José Artur N. , Deniau Virginie , Gransart Christophe , Vantroys Thomas , Boé Alexandre , Simon Eric Pierre
Published: July 2022

This work presents a detailed analysis of the susceptibility of LoRa communications in the presence of intentional jamming signals. The analysis is performed with a periodic frequency-sweeping intentional electromagnetic interference, corresponding to the most common jamming signals. Such a waveform faithfully represents the signals emitted by commercial jammers. As the sweep period of the jamming signals may vary from one such device to another, the analyses are conducted with different sweep period values, from 1 μs to 50 μs. The experimental results indicate that the impact varies significantly according to the sweep period of the jamming signal. The detailed analysis allows us to identify the jamming signals to which LoRa communications can be resilient or not as well as to identify which LoRa channels are less affected during an attack.
A Novel Sparsity Adaptive Algorithm for Underwater Acoustic Signal Reconstruction
Authors: Li Na , Yin Xinghui , Li Haitao
Published: July 2022

In view of the fact that most of the traditional algorithms for reconstructing underwater acoustic signals from low-dimensional compressed data are based on known sparsity, a sparsity adaptive and variable step-size matching pursuit (SAVSMP) algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the algorithm uses Restricted Isometry Property (RIP) criterion to estimate the initial value of sparsity, and then employs curve fitting method to adjust the initial value of sparsity to avoid underestimation or overestimation, before finally realizing the close approach of the sparsity level with the adaptive step size. The algorithm selects the atoms by matching test, and uses the Least Squares Method to filter out the unsuitable atoms, so as to realize the precise reconstruction of underwater acoustic signal received by the sonar system. The experimental comparison reveals that the proposed algorithm overcomes the drawbacks of existing algorithms, in terms of high computation time and low reconstruction quality.
CM-CPPA: Chaotic Map-Based Conditional Privacy-Preserving Authentication Scheme in 5G-Enabled Vehicular Networks
Authors: Al-Shareeda Mahmood A. , Manickam Selvakumar , Mohammed Badiea Abdulkarem , Al-Mekhlafi Zeyad Ghaleb , Qtaish Amjad , Alzahrani Abdullah J. , Alshammari Gharbi , Sallam Amer A. , Almekhlafi Khalil
Published: July 2022

The security and privacy concerns in vehicular communication are often faced with schemes depending on either elliptic curve (EC) or bilinear pair (BP) cryptographies. However, the operations used by BP and EC are time-consuming and more complicated. None of the previous studies fittingly tackled the efficient performance of signing messages and verifying signatures. Therefore, a chaotic map-based conditional privacy-preserving authentication (CM-CPPA) scheme is proposed to provide communication security in 5G-enabled vehicular networks in this paper. The proposed CM-CPPA scheme employs a Chebyshev polynomial mapping operation and a hash function based on a chaotic map to sign and verify messages. Furthermore, by using the AVISPA simulator for security analysis, the results of the proposed CM-CPPA scheme are good and safe against general attacks. Since EC and BP operations do not employ the proposed CM-CPPA scheme, their performance evaluation in terms of overhead such as computation and communication outperforms other most recent related schemes. Ultimately, the proposed CM-CPPA scheme decreases the overhead of computation of verifying the signatures and signing the messages by 24.2% and 62.52%, respectively. Whilst, the proposed CM-CPPA scheme decreases the overhead of communication of the format tuple by 57.69%.
Energy-Aware Dynamic DU Selection and NF Relocation in O-RAN Using Actor–Critic Learning
Authors: Mollahasani Shahram , Pamuklu Turgay , Wilson Rodney , Erol-Kantarci Melike
Published: July 2022

Open radio access network (O-RAN) is one of the promising candidates for fulfilling flexible and cost-effective goals by considering openness and intelligence in its architecture. In the O-RAN architecture, a central unit (O-CU) and a distributed unit (O-DU) are virtualized and executed on processing pools of general-purpose processors that can be placed at different locations. Therefore, it is challenging to choose a proper location for executing network functions (NFs) over these entities by considering propagation delay and computational capacity. In this paper, we propose a Soft Actor–Critic Energy-Aware Dynamic DU Selection algorithm (SA2C-EADDUS) by integrating two nested actor–critic agents in the O-RAN architecture. In addition, we formulate an optimization model that minimizes delay and energy consumption. Then, we solve that problem with an MILP solver and use that solution as a lower bound comparison for our SA2C-EADDUS algorithm. Moreover, we compare that algorithm with recent works, including RL- and DRL-based resource allocation algorithms and a heuristic method. We show that by collaborating A2C agents in different layers and by dynamic relocation of NFs, based on service requirements, our schemes improve the energy efficiency by 50% with respect to other schemes. Moreover, we reduce the mean delay by a significant amount with our novel SA2C-EADDUS approach.
A Computational Model for Evaluating Transient Auditory Storage of Acoustic Features in Normal Listeners
Authors: Zong Nannan , Wu Meihong
Published: July 2022

Humans are able to detect an instantaneous change in correlation, demonstrating an ability to temporally process extremely rapid changes in interaural configurations. This temporal dynamic is correlated with human listeners’ ability to store acoustic features in a transient auditory manner. The present study investigated whether the ability of transient auditory storage of acoustic features was affected by the interaural delay, which was assessed by measuring the sensitivity for detecting the instantaneous change in correlation for both wideband and narrowband correlated noise with various interaural delays. Furthermore, whether an instantaneous change in correlation between correlated interaural narrowband or wideband noise was detectable when introducing the longest interaural delay was investigated. Then, an auditory computational description model was applied to explore the relationship between wideband and narrowband simulation noise with various center frequencies in the auditory processes of lower-level transient memory of acoustic features. The computing results indicate that low-frequency information dominated perception and was more distinguishable in length than the high-frequency components, and the longest interaural delay for narrowband noise signals was highly correlated with that for wideband noise signals in the dynamic process of auditory perception.
A Study on the Design of Isolator and the Mounting Method for Reducing the Pyro-Shock of a MEMS IMU
Authors: Ryu Kyungdon , Park ByungSu , Lee Hyungsub , Han Kyungjun , Lee Sangwoo
Published: July 2022

In this paper, we proposed two methods for reducing the pyro-shock of the MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). First, we designed the vibration isolator for reducing the pyro-shock inside the IMU. However, it turned out that there is a limit to reducing the pyro-shock with only the vibration isolator. Therefore, we improved the pyro-shock reduction performance by changing the method of mounting on the flight vehicle. Four mounting options were tested and one of them was adopted. The results showed the best reduction performance when we designed the vibration isolator with an aluminum integrated structure. When mounting, two methods were applied. One was to insert a bracket with a different material between the mounting surface and IMU and the other was to insert a set of three washers that was stacked in a PEEK-metal-PEEK order at each part of the screw connections.
E-Skin Using Fringing Field Electrical Impedance Tomography with an Ionic Liquid Domain
Authors: Soleimani Manuchehr , Friedrich Myron
Published: July 2022

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a promising technique for large area tactile sensing for robotic skin. This study presents a novel EIT-based force and touch sensor that features a latex membrane acting as soft skin and an ionic liquid domain. The sensor works based on fringing field EIT where the touch or force leads to a deformation in the latex membrane causing detectable changes in EIT data. This article analyses the performance of this electronic skin in terms of its dynamical behaviour, position accuracy and quantitative force sensing. Investigation into the sensor’s performance showed it to be hypersensitive, in that it can reliably detect forces as small as 64 mN. Furthermore, multi-touch discrimination and annular force sensing is displayed. The hysteresis in force sensing is investigated showing a very negligible hysteresis. This is a direct result of the latex membrane and the ionic liquid-based domain design compared to more traditional fabric-based touch sensors due to the reduction in electromechanical coupling. A novel test is devised that displayed the dynamic performance of the sensor by showing its ability to record a 1 Hz frequency, which was applied to the membrane in a tapping fashion. Overall, the results show a considerable progress in ionic liquid EIT-based sensors. These findings place the EIT-based sensors that comprise a liquid domain, at the forefront of research into tactile robotic skin.
One Model is Not Enough: Ensembles for Isolated Sign Language Recognition
Authors: Hrúz Marek , Gruber Ivan , Kanis Jakub , Boháček Matyáš , Hlaváč Miroslav , Krňoul Zdeněk
Published: July 2022

In this paper, we dive into sign language recognition, focusing on the recognition of isolated signs. The task is defined as a classification problem, where a sequence of frames (i.e., images) is recognized as one of the given sign language glosses. We analyze two appearance-based approaches, I3D and TimeSformer, and one pose-based approach, SPOTER. The appearance-based approaches are trained on a few different data modalities, whereas the performance of SPOTER is evaluated on different types of preprocessing. All the methods are tested on two publicly available datasets: AUTSL and WLASL300. We experiment with ensemble techniques to achieve new state-of-the-art results of 73.84% accuracy on the WLASL300 dataset by using the CMA-ES optimization method to find the best ensemble weight parameters. Furthermore, we present an ensembling technique based on the Transformer model, which we call Neural Ensembler.
Quantile Regression Approach for Analyzing Similarity of Gene Expressions under Multiple Biological Conditions
Authors: Deng Dianliang , Chowdhury Mashfiqul Huq
Published: July 2022

Temporal gene expression data contain ample information to characterize gene function and are now widely used in bio-medical research. A dense temporal gene expression usually shows various patterns in expression levels under different biological conditions. The existing literature investigates the gene trajectory using the mean function. However, temporal gene expression curves usually show a strong degree of heterogeneity under multiple conditions. As a result, rates of change for gene expressions may be different in non-central locations and a mean function model may not capture the non-central location of the gene expression distribution. Further, the mean regression model depends on the normality assumptions of the error terms of the model, which may be impractical when analyzing gene expression data. In this research, a linear quantile mixed model is used to find the trajectory of gene expression data. This method enables the changes in gene expression over time to be studied by estimating a family of quantile functions. A statistical test is proposed to test the similarity between two different gene expressions based on estimated parameters using a quantile model. Then, the performance of the proposed test statistic is examined using extensive simulation studies. Simulation studies demonstrate the good statistical performance of this proposed test statistic and show that this method is robust against normal error assumptions. As an illustration, the proposed method is applied to analyze a dataset of 18 genes in P. aeruginosa, expressed in 24 biological conditions. Furthermore, a minimum Mahalanobis distance is used to find the clustering tree for gene expressions.
Prediction of Resin Production in Copal Trees (Bursera spp.) Using a Random Forest Model
Authors: Buendía-Espinoza Julio César , Martínez-Ochoa Elisa del Carmen , García-Nuñez Rosa María , Arrazate-Jiménez Selene del Carmen , Sánchez-Vélez Alejandro
Published: July 2022

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are essential for community development, but their enormous demand has posed a serious threat to trees growing in their natural habitat. Copal resin is one of these products, which has a great deal of religious and ceremonial significance in Mexico and around the world. Resin extraction from a tree depends on its morphological and physiological characteristics, as well as its physical and sanitary condition. In this study, a methodology was proposed for determining the yield and health status of Copal trees, and a random forest (RF) model was developed to explain their resin production based on their morphological and condition characteristics. The experiment was conducted in the Agua Escondida watershed in Puebla, Mexico. With the training data, the average accuracy of the model was 99%, with a Kappa index of 98%, which is considered an excellent level of agreement beyond chance, and with the validation data, the average accuracy was 71% and 47%, which is considered a good level of agreement beyond chance. Tree condition was the most important factor affecting resin production in Copal trees, followed by stem diameter (33 and 38 cm), height (2 and 2.5 m), and diameter of secondary branches (from 8 to 15, 22 and 32 cm).
Tourism Sustainability Index: Measuring Tourism Sustainability Based on the ETIS Toolkit, by Exploring Tourist Satisfaction via Sentiment Analysis
Authors: De Marchi Damiano , Becarelli Rudy , Di Sarli Leonardo
Published: July 2022

Interest in measuring the sustainability of tourism has been significantly advancing in recent years, together with the need to manage the impact of tourism on territories and hosting communities. This interest was further boosted by the pandemic, with sustainability being identified as one of the central elements in restarting global tourism. The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS), developed by the European Commission, is a point of reference based on self-assessment, data collection, and analysis by tourist destinations themselves. The application of the ETIS toolkit has faced many challenges, especially at the subnational level, most of which are related to the lack of available and updated data to feed into the model. In this article, we explore the implementation issues, develop a synthetic indicator based on the use of the sentiment analysis technique to frame e-reputation and tourism satisfaction, and combine that analysis with other open data sources. The Tourism Sustainability Index (TSI) can provide a scalable and georeferenced evaluation of tourism sustainability, measured according the ETIS criteria and complementing them. The TSI, its pillars and sub-components are all applicable to any tourism destination. The results show that the TSI can be a consistent and valid tool for tourist destinations to use in analyzing sustainability, monitoring the evolution of sustainability through time periods and subareas, and comparing the findings with those of other benchmarks and/or other competitive areas.
Blended Learning Strategies for Sustainable English as a Second Language Education: A Systematic Review
Authors: Ramalingam Sangeeth , Yunus Melor Md , Hashim Harwati
Published: July 2022

Blended learning in English as a Second Language (ESL) has become a growing trend in sustaining education at higher learning institutions. The impact of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 on education has made the integration of technology vital in the teaching and learning dyad. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed even more emphasis on the incorporation of technology in ESL pedagogy. Nevertheless, the reviews on blended learning in ESL are inadequate despite its great significance in sustaining education. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) were adopted for reviewing current studies, and two core journal databases, namely Scopus and Web of Science, with two supporting databases (Science Direct and Mendeley) were utilized. A total of 32 articles were identified through a systematic search of “blended learning” OR “blended education” OR “blended courses” OR “integrated learning” AND “strategies” OR “techniques” OR “applications” OR “methods” AND “ESL” OR “English as a Second Language.” Four main themes emerged from this review, namely collaborative-based learning, learning management systems, social media applications, and technology-based learning. Finally, several recommendations were presented at the end of this research that should be the focus of future studies.
Root Distribution and Root Cohesion of Two Herbaceous Plants in the Loess Plateau of China
Authors: Yang Qihong , Zhang Chaobo , Yao Shiming , Jiang Jing
Published: July 2022

In order to understand the root morphology distribution and mechanical properties of typical herbaceous plants, and to evaluate the ability of soil reinforcement by the plant roots, root morphology investigation, single root tensile test in laboratory and root cohesion evaluation by the Wu-Waldron model were carried out on two local representative herbaceous plants, Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad and Artemisia sacrorum Ledeb. in the Loess Plateau of China. The results showed that the root morphological indexes (root number, single root diameter, root cross-sectional area, root surface area, root volume and root area ratio) of the two herbaceous plants decreased with the increase in soil depth, and the ratio of root to shallow soil layer was the highest in the 0–10 cm soil layer. The efficiency of root reinforcement could be higher in the shallow soil layer less than 10 cm. A positive correlation was observed between the root tensile force and root diameter in power function or exponential function, and a negative correlation was observed between the root tensile strength and root diameter in power function. The root cohesion of Kochia scoparia (2.73 kPa, or 0.92 kPa–1.37 kPa) was greater than that of Artemisia sacrorum (1.60 kPa, or 0.54 kPa–0.8 kPa), which could be used as the preferred herbaceous plant species for soil erosion control. The results could provide a scientific basis for selecting dominant species in the fields of ecological slope protection and soil and water conservation plant engineering in the loess area.
Cactus Cladode Juice as Bioflocculant in the Flocculation-Thickening Process for Phosphate Washing Plant: A Comparative Study with Anionic Polyacrylamide
Authors: Ennawaoui Amine , Lalam Khadija , Harmen Yasser , El Morabit Abdelaziz , Chhiti Younes , Chebak Ahmed , Benssitel Mohammed
Published: July 2022

In the phosphate industry, the thickening process is vital to increasing the solid slurry concentration and to recovering water that is as clear as possible. The performance of the thickening process depends mainly on the coagulation–flocculation effect. The thickening process is based on flocculant agents to concentrate particles: flotation and washing plant rejects as large flocs, which accelerate their sedimentation velocity. The phosphate industry worldwide uses synthetical flocculants such as polyacrylamides. These flocculants are non-biodegradable, limiting the process efficiency regarding cost and harmful effects on the environment. This study proposes cactus cladodes juice as an eco-friendly alternative to industrial flocculants. The particle size of the phosphate samples ranges from 0 μm to 160 μm, with a solid concentration of 8%. This bioflocculant allowed for an increase in sedimentation velocity of 95% compared with the case without flocculant. The optimal amount of cactus bioflocculant for decanting 1 tonne of phosphate pulp at pH 7–8 is 1.12 kg. Special attention is paid to understanding the flocculation mechanism. The results of the physicochemical characterization show that the flocculant biopolymers have similar characteristics to anionic polyacrylamide. This work indicates the promising application of the cactus juice bioflocculant in phosphate washing plants.
Japanese View of Nature: Discursive Tradition, Its Problems and Implications for Food Studies
Authors: Ueda Haruka
Published: July 2022

Revisiting one’s view of nature is essential if one is to construct a sustainable food system. In particular, the Japanese view of nature has been widely recognised as the philosophy of coexistence between humans and nature, with some optimism and over-simplification. In this article, a wide range of literature regarding the Japanese view of nature is carefully analysed, and three discursive traditions of such views—ancient thought, Buddhism and neo-Confucianism—are discussed. Although it is true that the harmonious philosophy between humans and nature has always existed in Japan as a cultural device, some major problems—namely, the confusion of history and ideology, the composite of traditional and modern natural views within contemporary eaters and the inevitable conflict between humans (the killers) and nature (the killed)—should be resolved to ultimately activate such an aesthetic natural view in encouraging favourable eating behaviours for sustainable natural food environments.
Challenges and Difficulties in Implementing an Income-Contingent-Financing Model in Higher Education in Colombia
Authors: Garzón-Correa Camilo Andrés , Bustos-González Atilio , López-Hernández Melisa , Calderón Eduardo , Cespedes Oscar
Published: July 2022

Background: One of the challenges of countries is offering higher education (HE) to populations that are not able to access it. The problem lies in the fact that many citizens are unable to finance the costs of their education. Some countries have implemented a system of financing that is contingent on income, seeking to improve the number of students entering HE and to increase access to educational financing; however, this system requires commitments from higher-education institutions, the country, and companies; thus, this text analyzes the challenges and difficulties regarding the implementation of the current system. Methods: Based on comparative international experience, an analysis of the political and social factors that hinder the implementation of ICF was conducted. This article focuses on countries with average development indexes that are on the verge of applying such a model, as is the case with Colombia. Results: From the economic point of view of the public and private sectors, an ICF model is justified in countries with different economic and social conceptions, and reforms for the implementation of ICF are given by the vision of the political and economic system that each country might have. Conclusion: International experience concludes that, for the ICF model to be successful, it should focus on its beneficiaries; that is, it should accurately identify the aspects of the users of educational credit. Furthermore, politicians must show prodigious leadership skills to effectively explain the economic logic of political leaders.
The Effect of Land Right Stability on the Application of Fertilizer Reduction Technologies—Evidence from Large-Scale Farmers in China
Authors: Li Bowei , Zeng Qiyan
Published: July 2022

This article examines the impact of the stability of the management rights of transferred land (TLMR) on the adoption of technologies aiming to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers (ARFTs) based on the survey data of large-scale grain growing households in Anhui, China. Using the IV-Probit model, the present paper defines the stability of TLMR and the results estimated by IV-Probit model shows that a one-year extension of land lease period can increase the probability of using organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer by 3.16% and 4.92%, respectively, while contract breaching in the lease period can reduce the probability of using organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer by 46.9% and 51.38%, respectively. However, the land-lease period and land transfer contract breaching in the lease period have no significant effect on the use of farmyard manure by large-scale grain growing households. The main conclusion is that improving the stability of TLMR is conducive to prompting large-scale grain growing households to adopt ARFTs, especially the adoption of organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer. The government should improve the stability of TLMR by standardizing the form and content associated with land transfer contracts and setting the minimum land-lease term.
Photosynthetic Characteristics of Macroalgae Ulva fasciata and Sargassum thunbergii in the Daya Bay of the South China Sea, with Special Reference to the Effects of Light Quality
Authors: Wan Mingyue , Wang Zhiqin , Mai Guangming , Ma Zengling , Xia Xiaomin , Tan Yehui , Li Gang
Published: July 2022

The changes in underwater light in field usually occur not only in intensity but in spectrum, affecting the photophysiology of marine photoautotrophs. In this study, we comparably examined the photosynthesis of two dominating macroalgae in the Daya Bay, Chlorophyta Ulva fasciata and Phaeophyta Sargassum thunbergii, under white light, as well as under red, green and blue light. The results showed that the net photosynthetic O2 evolution rate (Pn) of U. fasciata under field light increased from 25.2 ± 3.06 to 168 ± 1.2 µmol O2 g FW−1 h−1 from dawn to noon, then decreased to 42.4 ± 0.20 µmol O2 g FW−1 h−1 at dusk. The Pn of S. thunbergii exhibited a similar diel change pattern, but was over 50% lower than that of U. fasciata. The maximal photosynthetic rate (Pmax) of U. fasciata derived from the photosynthesis vs. irradiance curve under white light (i.e., 148 ± 15.8 µmol O2 g FW−1 h−1) was ~30% higher than that under blue light, while the Pmax of S. thunbergii under white light (i.e., 39.2 ± 3.44 µmol O2 g FW−1 h−1) was over 50% lower than that under red, green and blue light. Furthermore, the daily primary production (PP) of U. fasciata was ~20% higher under white than blue light, while that of S. thunbergii was 34% lower, indicating the varied light spectral compositions influence algal photosynthetic ability and thus their primary production in field, and such an influence is species-specific.
Legislative, Institutional, Industrial and Governmental Involvement in Circular Economy in Central Asia: A Systematic Review
Authors: Tleuken Aidana , Tokazhanov Galym , Jemal Kebir Mohammed , Shaimakhanov Ramazan , Sovetbek Magzhan , Karaca Ferhat
Published: July 2022

As the world faces the detrimental effects of humanity on the environment, the circular economy has started receiving a lot of attention as a tool to keep the value of resources. Although in Europe, circular economy principles have become a trend much earlier, CACs still face challenges in adopting them. The current research aims to review the available literature on sustainability, green economy, and circularity development through the adoption of political, industrial, and financial instruments, followed by an assessment of the barriers and opportunities to circular economy development in the CACs. The novelty of this research lies in the systematic review of different state-of-the-art data resources (journal papers, policies, news, and reports) of CACs by different categories: policy regulations, energy, waste, education, water, and agriculture. This research addresses that the CACs have similar circular economy development barriers (e.g., wide use of fossil fuels, water shortage, and lack of effective waste management) and opportunities (e.g., orientation towards sustainable development, foreign cooperation, and green financing). Therefore, performing effective strategic plans that are already directed to circularity, ensuring stakeholders’ involvement, and providing sufficient funding could benefit their circular economy development.