bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Literature Review on Remedial Reading Teachers: The Gaps in the Philippine Context
Authors: Bautista Judy C. , Gatcho Al Ryanne G.
Published: July 2019

Remedial reading teachers are forerunners in elevating the reading achievement of students in schools. In the Philippines, there has been a continual enrichment of the reading skills of struggling readers through the initiatives of remedial reading teachers. However, the country does not have clear policies on the identities, roles, challenges, and needs of such teachers. This paper presents a review of the literature on remedial reading teachers. The results revealed that remedial reading teachers performed various roles in schools and that the cultivation of the roles and duties of remedial reading teachers rely so much on different factors, some of which are knowledge and the skills that they have, philosophical views in education and the whole school community, the rapport that remedial reading teachers have with their colleagues, the support of the administrators to their personal and career developments, and provisions of the local government. It was also evident in the review that literature and studies are scarce regarding remedial reading teachers in the Philippines, thus, suggesting to explore on the what's and the how's of remedial reading teachers in a hope of creating clear policies that will strengthen their identities and support their professional developments.
Peer Feedback versus Traditional Teaching
Authors: Ishchenko Olga , Verkhovtsova Olga
Published: July 2019

The choice of methods of teaching English depends on the specific features of the subject being taught, certain didactic tasks, student knowledge, specific situations, real means that the teacher has and his experience. The traditional school often represents the teacher as an active unit of learning and the teaching - as an object of learning (passive unit). However, this situation, in the process of learning, can and must change. Especially when the student also becomes an active participant in the learning process and there is targeted cooperation between the teacher and the student. Thanks to the feedback method, there are links between the goal, content and the result of the educational process. The results are observed in the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and skills of students. It helps learners to maximize their potential at different stages of training, raise their awareness of strengths and areas for improvement, and identify actions to be taken to improve performance. Feedback is part of the overall dialogue or interaction between teacher and learner, not a one-way communication. Feedback can be seen as informal or formal encounters between teachers and students or between peers. The purpose of the article is to summarize the arguments in favor of introducing peer feedback practice for English language classrooms. The discussion is based on the analysis of the most effective forms of feedback with a special focus on peer feedback.
Evaluasi Pemberian Air Irigasi Saluran Sekunder Srengseng Hilir dari Bendung Tetap Cikarang Bekasi Laut
Authors: Bahri Fahmi Fathul , Yulius Elma , Srie Gunarti Anita Setyowati
Published: July 2019

Cikarang Bekasi Laut (CBL) is a fixed-dam river-flow that flows through the building for upstream srengseng channel. Srengseng Hilir Secondary-Channel has 32 buildings for watering the rice fields in the Sukatani sub-district. The problem happened in the distribution of water when there is a loss of irrigation water due to infiltration of water into the soil where the soil is saturated. This causes a shortage of debit for field irrigation due to water loss in the secondary channel. The method used in Water Supply Evaluation of Irrigation Cikarang Bekasi Laut (CBL) for the Secondary Channel Srengseng Hilir D.I. Jatiluhur are the maximum discharge data, minimum discharge, and average discharge of the Fixed Cikarang Bekasi Laut (CBL) Dam in 5 year-period and calculating water requirements and water availability in D.I. Jatiluhur. Result showed that the P1 channel has an irrigation area of 105 ha and a channel length of 1906 m with an actual discharge of 2714 liters/sec and has irrigation efficiency of 5.71%. Channel P2 has an irrigation area of 106 ha and channel length of 1006 m with actual discharge of 1560 liters/sec and has irrigation efficiency of 6.11%. P3 channel has an irrigation area of 137 ha and 894 m channel length with an actual discharge of 175 liters/second and has irrigation efficiency of8.41%. Channel P4 has an irrigation area of 50 ha and a channel length of 951 m with an actualdischarge of 180 liters/second and has irrigation efficiency of 21.10%. Channel P5 has an irrigationarea of 71 ha and a channel length of 835 m with an actual discharge of 274 litters/sec and has irrigationefficiency of 37.97%. Channel P6 has an irrigation area of 74 ha and a channel length of 775 m with anactual discharge of 411 liters/sec and has irrigation efficiency of 63.79%.
Antioxidative and Quality Properties of Full-Fat Date Seeds Brew as Influenced by the Roasting Conditions
Authors: Fikry Mohammad , Yusof Yus Aniza , M. Al-Awaadh Alhussein , Abdul Rahman Russly , Chin Nyuk Ling , Ghazali Hasanah Mohd
Published: July 2019

Full-fat roasted date seeds are considered an excellent source of antioxidants which can treat many diseases. The specific objectives were to investigate the effect of roasting temperature and time on the hardness of whole seeds, moisture content of the roasted date seeds powder, DPPH radical scavenging activity, total phenolic contents, extraction yield, pH, browning index and sensory properties of the brew prepared from the full-fat roasted date seeds and to construct descriptive models that could describe this effect. Date seeds were roasted at three temperatures (160, 180 and 200 °C) for different period of times (10, 20 and 30 min) using a natural conventional oven; then grinded and next brewed. Hardness of whole seeds, moisture content of the seeds powder, DPPH radical scavenging activity and total phenolic contents, extraction yield, pH and browning index and sensory properties of the brew were significantly affected by the roasting conditions. The statistical results indicated that the proposed model could adequately describe the measured properties. Strong correlations have been found among the properties of the brew as well. The producers of the date seeds brew can utilize these results for controlling the roasting process.
Cytoprotective Compounds Interfere with the Nutraceutical Potential of Bread Supplemented with Green Coffee Beans
Authors: Gawlik-Dziki Urszula , Luty Marcin , Dziki Dariusz , Świeca Michał , Piwowarczyk Katarzyna , Złotek Urszula , Czyż Jarosław
Published: July 2019

The proliferation and motile activity of prostate epithelial (Pnt2) and cancer cells (DU-145; PC-3) in the presence of bioavailable compounds from green coffee beans (GCB), wholemeal wheat bread (WMWB), and its GCB-fortified variant were analyzed. The considerable cytostatic and anti-invasive activity of GCB extracts was correlated with its phenolic contents. WMWB extract contained significantly lower levels of phenolics but still displayed relatively high cytostatic activity. However, the cytostatic properties of WMWB compounds were hardly augmented by 3% GCB flour supplementation. The cytoprotective activity of the WMWB compounds exerts a negative impact on the cytostatic activity of GCB compounds. These data confirm the relatively high chemopreventive potential of GCB. However, they also indicate that subtle interactions between bioavailable compounds in GCB and WMWB can negatively affect the nutraceutic potential of the fortified bread. Apparently, gastrointestinal processing differentially regulates the availability of individual compounds and affects the balance between the cytostatic and cytoprotective activity of the whole product. Our data show that comprehensive research is necessary before the fortification of a specific carrier with a specific supplement can be recommended.
A Video-Based Fire Detection Using Deep Learning Models
Authors: Kim Byoungjun , Lee Joonwhoan
Published: July 2019

Fire is an abnormal event which can cause significant damage to lives and property. In this paper, we propose a deep learning-based fire detection method using a video sequence, which imitates the human fire detection process. The proposed method uses Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN) to detect the suspected regions of fire (SRoFs) and of non-fire based on their spatial features. Then, the summarized features within the bounding boxes in successive frames are accumulated by Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) to classify whether there is a fire or not in a short-term period. The decisions for successive short-term periods are then combined in the majority voting for the final decision in a long-term period. In addition, the areas of both flame and smoke are calculated and their temporal changes are reported to interpret the dynamic fire behavior with the final fire decision. Experiments show that the proposed long-term video-based method can successfully improve the fire detection accuracy compared with the still image-based or short-term video-based method by reducing both the false detections and the misdetections.
Automatic Bridge Crack Detection Using a Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Xu Hongyan , Su Xiu , Wang Yi , Cai Huaiyu , Cui Kerang , Chen Xiaodong
Published: July 2019

Concrete bridge crack detection is critical to guaranteeing transportation safety. The introduction of deep learning technology makes it possible to automatically and accurately detect cracks in bridges. We proposed an end-to-end crack detection model based on the convolutional neural network (CNN), taking the advantage of atrous convolution, Atrous Spatial Pyramid Pooling (ASPP) module and depthwise separable convolution. The atrous convolution obtains a larger receptive field without reducing the resolution. The ASPP module enables the network to extract multi-scale context information, while the depthwise separable convolution reduces computational complexity. The proposed model achieved a detection accuracy of 96.37% without pre-training. Experiments showed that, compared with traditional classification models, the proposed model has a better performance. Besides, the proposed model can be embedded in any convolutional network as an effective feature extraction structure.
Exoskeleton for Gait Rehabilitation: Effects of Assistance, Mechanical Structure, and Walking Aids on Muscle Activations
Authors: De Luca Alice , Bellitto Amy , Mandraccia Sergio , Marchesi Giorgia , Pellegrino Laura , Coscia Martina , Leoncini Clara , Rossi Laura , Gamba Simona , Massone Antonino , Casadio Maura
Published: July 2019

Several exoskeletons have been developed and increasingly used in clinical settings for training and assisting locomotion. These devices allow people with severe motor deficits to regain mobility and sustain intense and repetitive gait training. However, three factors might affect normal muscle activations during walking: the assistive forces that are provided during walking, the crutches or walker that are always used in combination with the device, and the mechanical structure of the device itself. To investigate these effects, we evaluated eight healthy volunteers walking with the Ekso, which is a battery-powered, wearable exoskeleton. They walked supported by either crutches or a walker under five different assistance modalities: bilateral maximum assistance, no assistance, bilateral adaptive assistance, and unilateral adaptive assistance on each leg. Participants also walked overground without the exoskeleton. Surface electromyography was recorded bilaterally, and the statistical parametric mapping approach and muscle synergies analysis were used to investigate differences in muscular activity across different walking conditions. The lower limb muscle activations while walking with the Ekso were not influenced by the use of crutches or walker aids. Compared to normal walking without robotic assistance, the Ekso reduced the amplitude of activation for the distal lower limb muscles while changing the timing for the others. This depended mainly on the structure of the device, and not on the type or level of assistance. In fact, the presence of assistance did not change the timing of the muscle activations, but instead mainly had the effect of increasing the level of activation of the proximal lower limb muscles. Surprisingly, we found no significant changes in the adaptive control with respect to a maximal fixed assistance that did not account for subjects’ performance. These are important effects to take into careful considerations in clinics where these devices are used for gait rehabilitation in people with neurological diseases.
Toward Automatic Cardiomyocyte Clustering and Counting through Hesitant Fuzzy Sets
Authors: Wang Jiayao , Tawose Olamide Timothy , Jiang Linhua , Zhao Dongfang
Published: July 2019

The isolation and observation of cardiomyocytes serve as the fundamental approach to cardiovascular research. The state-of-the-practice for the isolation and observation relies on manual operation of the entire culture process. Such a manual approach not only incurs high human errors, but also takes a long period of time. This paper proposes a new computer-aided paradigm to automatically, accurately, and efficiently perform the clustering and counting of cardiomyocytes, one of the key procedures for evaluating the success rate of cardiomyocytes isolation and the quality of culture medium. The key challenge of the proposed method lies in the unique, rod-like shape of cardiomyocytes, which has been hardly addressed in literature. Our proposed method employs a novel algorithm inspired by hesitant fuzzy sets and integrates an efficient implementation into the whole process of analyzing cardiomyocytes. The system, along with the data extracted from adult rats’ cardiomyocytes, has been experimentally evaluated with Matlab, showing promising results. The false accept rate (FAR) and the false reject rate (FRR) are as low as 1.46% and 1.97%, respectively. The accuracy rate is up to 98.7%—20% higher than the manual approach—and the processing time is reduced from tens of seconds to 3–5 s—an order of magnitude performance improvement.
A Brief Overview of the Antitumoral Actions of Leelamine
Authors: Merarchi Myriam , Jung Young Yun , Fan Lu , Sethi Gautam , Ahn Kwang Seok
Published: July 2019

For the last couple of decades, natural products, either applied singly or in conjunction with other cancer therapies including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, have allowed us to combat different types of human cancers through the inhibition of their initiation and progression. The principal sources of these useful compounds are isolated from plants that were described in traditional medicines for their curative potential. Leelamine, derived from the bark of pine trees, was previously reported as having a weak agonistic effect on cannabinoid receptors and limited inhibitory effects on pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs). It has been reported to possess a strong lysosomotropic property; this feature enables its assembly inside the acidic compartments within a cell, such as lysosomes, which may eventually hinder endocytosis. In this review, we briefly highlight the varied antineoplastic actions of leelamine that have found implications in pharmacological research, and the numerous intracellular targets affected by this agent that can effectively negate the oncogenic process.
PdI2-Based Catalysis for Carbonylation Reactions: A Personal Account
Authors: Mancuso Raffaella , Della Ca’ Nicola , Veltri Lucia , Ziccarelli Ida , Gabriele Bartolo
Published: July 2019

In this account, we review our efforts in the field of carbonylation reactions promoted by palladium iodide-based catalysts, which have proven to be particularly efficient in diverse kinds of carbonylation processes (oxidative carbonylations as well as additive and substitutive carbonylations). Particularly in the case of oxidative carbonylations, more emphasis has been given to the most recent results and applications.
Experiences and Expectations of International Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Authors: Dos Santos Luis Miguel
Published: July 2019

International students are the most important population in the American higher education system, particularly for students from different cultural backgrounds. Besides research-based universities, comprehensive universities, and liberal arts colleges, historically black colleges and universities have the traditions to provide an equal learning environment to minorities, including international students. This study aimed to understand the academic experiences and expectations of Chinese international students enrolled at historically black colleges and universities in the Southeastern parts of the United States from the lens of neo-racism. One research question guided this study, which was: How would Chinese international university students describe their academic learning experience, expectations, stress, and difficulties at one of the historically black colleges and universities? The interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed to explore the academic experience, difficulties, stress, and lived stories of their academic voyage at one of the historically black colleges and universities in the United States. The findings indicated that discrimination based on skin color, nationality, and race, the gaps in academic expectations, and social unfairness of internship opportunities are still significant. The result indicated the directions and recommendations for leaders, policymakers, school administrators, and related professionals to redesign the current university planning and related counselling services to not only international students but all minority people.
Improvement in SNR by Adaptive Range Gates for RCS Measurements in the THz Region
Authors: Pang Shuang , Zeng Yang , Yang Qi , Deng Bin , Wang Hongqiang , Qin Yuliang
Published: July 2019

One of the major concerns in radar cross-section (RCS) measurements is the isolation of the target echo from unwanted spurious signals. Generally, the method of software range gate is applied to extract useful data. However, this method may not work to expectations, especially for targets with a large length-width ratio. This is because the effective target zone is dependent on the aspect angle. The implementation of conventional fixed range gates will introduce an uneven clutter signal that leads to a decline in signal-to-noise ratio. The influence of this uneven clutter signal becomes increasingly severe in the terahertz band, where the wavelength is short and the illumination power is weak. In this work, the concept of adaptive range gates was adopted to extract a target echo of higher accuracy. The dimension of the range gate was determined by the angle-dependent radial projection of the target. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, both experimental measurements and numerical simulations were conducted. Noticeable improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio at certain angles were observed.
Walking in Each Other’s Footsteps: Do Animal Trail Makers Confer Resilience against Trampling Tourists?
Authors: Croft David B.
Published: July 2019

Modern humans, and other hominins before them, have walked across the landscapes of most continents for many millennia. They shared these landscapes with other large animals, especially mammalian herbivores and their predators, whose footsteps defined trails through the vegetation. Most of the diversity in the wild species is now concentrated in protected areas and visited by large numbers of tourists who may walk amongst them. This review examines the literature about medium-large animal and tourist trampling impacts to uncover any marriage between animal ecology and nature-based tourism research. Methodology is comparable. Animal ecology has focused on the propagation of grazing and trampling effects from a point source (usually water). Tourism research has focused on trail structure (formal/informal, hardened, wide/narrow) and the propagation of effects (especially weeds) into the hinterland and along the trail. There is little research to substantiate an evolutionary view of trampling impacts. At least tourists venturing off formed trails may reduce impacts by following animal trails with caveats, such as risk of encounters with dangerous animals and disruption of animal behavior. This is an under-studied topic but a fertile ground for research, aided by modern tools like trail cameras and geographically enabled devices borne by tourists.
Performance Analysis of Log Extraction by a Small Shovel Operation in Steep Forests of South Korea
Authors: Lee Eunjai , Han Sang-Kyun , Im Sangjun
Published: July 2019

In South Korea, logs for low-value products, such as pulpwood and fuelwood, are primarily extracted from harvest sites and transported to roadside or landing areas using small shovels. Previous studies on log extraction, however, have focused on cable yarding operations with the goal of improving productivity on steep slopes and inaccessible sites, leaving small-shovel operations relatively unexamined. Therefore, the main objectives were to determine small-shovel extraction productivity and costs and to evaluate the impact of related variables on productivity. In addition, we developed a model to estimate productivity under various site conditions. The study took place in 30 case study areas; each area has trees with stems at a diameter at breast height ranging from 18 to 32 cm and a steep slope (greater than 15%). The areas ranged from 241 to 1129 trees per hectare, with conifer, deciduous, and mixed stands. Small-shovel drives ranged from 36 to 72 m per extraction cycle from stump to landing. The results indicated that the mean extraction productivity of small-shovel operations ranged between 2.44 to 9.85 m3 per scheduled machine hour (including all delays). At the forest level, the estimated average stump-to-forest road log production costs were US $4.37 to 17.66/m3. Small-shovel productivity was significantly correlated with stem size (diameter at breast height and tree volume) and total travelled distance (TTD). However, a Pearson’s correlation analysis indicated that stand density and slope did not have a significant effect on productivity. Our findings provide insights into how stem size and TTD influence small shovel performance and the predictive ability of productivity. Further, this information may be a valuable asset to forest planners and managers.
Consumer Preference Heterogeneity Evaluation in Fruit and Vegetable Purchasing Decisions Using the Best–Worst Approach
Authors: Massaglia Stefano , Borra Danielle , Peano Cristiana , Sottile Francesco , Merlino Valentina
Published: July 2019

This study assesses consumer preferences during fruit and vegetable (FV) sales, considering the sociodemographic variables of individuals together with their choice of point of purchase. A choice experiment was conducted in two metropolitan areas in Northwest Italy. A total of 1170 consumers were interviewed at different FV purchase points (mass retail chains and open-air markets) using a paper questionnaire. The relative importance assigned by consumers to 12 fruit and vegetable product attributes, including both intrinsic and extrinsic quality cues, was assessed by using the best–worst scaling (BWS) methodology. The BWS results showed that “origin”, “seasonality”, and “freshness” were the most preferred attributes that Italian consumers took into account for purchases, while no importance was given to “organic certification”, “variety”, or “brand”. Additionally, a latent class analysis was employed to divide the total sample into five different clusters of consumers, characterized by the same preferences related to FV attributes. Each group of individuals is described on the basis of sociodemographic variables and by the declared fruit and vegetable point of purchase. This research demonstrates that age, average annual income, and families with children are all discriminating factors that influence consumer preference and behavior, in addition to affecting which point of purchase the consumer prefers to acquire FV products from.
Maternally Inherited Differences within Mitochondrial Complex I Control Murine Healthspan
Authors: Hirose Misa , Schilf Paul , Zarse Kim , Busch Hauke , Fuellen Georg , Jöhren Olaf , Köhling Rüdiger , König Inke R. , Richer Barbara , Rupp Jan , Schwaninger Markus , Seeger Karsten , Sina Christian , Ristow Michael , Ibrahim Saleh M.
Published: July 2019

Mitochondrial complex I—the largest enzyme complex of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation machinery—has been proposed to contribute to a variety of age-related pathological alterations as well as longevity. The enzyme complex-consisting proteins are encoded by both nuclear (nDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). While some association studies of mtDNA encoded complex I genes and lifespan in humans have been reported, experimental evidence and the functional consequence of such variants is limited to studies using invertebrate models. Here, we present experimental evidence that a homoplasmic mutation in the mitochondrially encoded complex I gene mt-Nd2 modulates lifespan by altering cellular tryptophan levels and, consequently, ageing-related pathways in mice. A conplastic mouse strain carrying a mutation at m.4738C > A in mt-Nd2 lived slightly, but significantly, shorter than the controls did. The same mutation led to a higher susceptibility to glucose intolerance induced by high-fat diet feeding. These phenotypes were not observed in mice carrying a mutation in another mtDNA encoded complex I gene, mt-Nd5, suggesting the functional relevance of particular mutations in complex I to ageing and age-related diseases.
What Is the Evidence for Early Mobilisation in Elective Spine Surgery? A Narrative Review
Authors: Burgess Louise C. , Wainwright Thomas W.
Published: July 2019

Early mobilisation is a cornerstone of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) and is encouraged following spinal procedures. However, evidence of its implementation is limited and there are no formal guidelines on optimal prescription. This narrative review aimed to evaluate the evidence for the effect of early mobilisation following elective spinal surgery on length of stay, postoperative complications, performance-based function and patient-reported outcomes. Four trials (five articles) that compared a specific protocol of early in-hospital mobilisation to no structured mobilisation or bed rest were selected for inclusion. Nine studies that investigated the implementation of a multimodal intervention that was inclusive of an early mobilisation protocol were also included. Results suggest that goal-directed early mobilisation, delivered using an evidence-based algorithm with a clear, procedure-specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, may reduce length of stay and complication rate. In addition, there is evidence to suggest improved performance-based and patient-reported outcomes when compared to bed rest following elective spinal surgery. Whilst this review reveals a lack of evidence to determine the exact details of which early mobilisation protocols are most effective, mobilisation on the day of surgery and ambulation from the first postoperative day is possible and should be the goal. Future work should aim to establish consensus-based, best practice guidelines on the optimal type and timing of mobilisation, and how this should be modified for different spinal procedures.
Uninterrupted Classroom Sitting is Associated with Increased Discomfort and Sleepiness Among College Students
Authors: Hosteng Katie R. , Reichter Alison Phillips , Simmering Jacob E. , Carr Lucas J.
Published: July 2019

Acute bouts of uninterrupted sitting has been associated with discomfort and fatigue in adult populations. However, little is known regarding the impact of uninterrupted sitting on such outcomes among college students. Understanding these relations would be useful for informing best practice and future interventions. The present study explored the relation between uninterrupted sitting and perceived levels of physical discomfort and sleepiness among college students in a real classroom setting. We recruited 54 undergraduate students enrolled in a single class at a Midwestern university. Participants remained seated throughout a 2.5 h lecture while completing the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) and General Comfort Scale (GCS) every 15 min. Linear mixed effect model analyses were used to determine the relations between the independent and dependent variables and the duration at which students reported significant impairments in discomfort and/or sleepiness. Classroom sitting time was associated with increases in discomfort (r = 0.28, p < 0.01) and sleepiness (r = 0.30, p < 0.01). Students reported significant impairments in discomfort and sleepiness after 75 and 15 min, respectively. These findings support further research into the acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of interventions designed to interrupt classroom sitting on discomfort, sleepiness and measures of academic performance.
Intention to Retire in Employees over 50 Years. What is the Role of Work Ability and Work Life Satisfaction?
Authors: K.C. Prakash , Oakman Jodi , Nygård Clas-Håkan , Siukola Anna , Lumme-Sandt Kirsi , Nikander Pirjo , Neupane Subas
Published: July 2019

Background: We investigated work ability and trajectories of work life satisfaction (WLS) as predictors of intention to retire (ITR) before the statutory age. Methods: Participants were Finnish postal service employees, who responded to surveys in 2016 and 2018 (n = 1466). Survey measures included ITR, work ability and WLS. Mixture modelling was used to identify trajectories of WLS. A generalized linear model was used to determine the measures of association (Risk Ratios, RR; 95% Confidence Intervals, CI) between exposures (work ability and WLS) and ITR. Results: Approximately 40% of respondents indicated ITR. Four distinct trajectories of WLS were identified: high (33%), moderate (35%), decreasing (23%) and low (9%). Participants with poor work ability (RR 1.79, 95% CI 1.40–2.29) and decreasing WLS (1.29, 1.13–1.46) were more likely to indicate an ITR early compared to the participants with excellent/good work ability and high WLS. Job control mediated the relationship between ITR and work ability (9.3%) and WLS (14.7%). Job support also played a similar role (14% and 20.6%). Conclusions: Work ability and WLS are important contributors to the retirement intentions of employees. Ensuring workers have appropriate support and control over their work are mechanisms through which organisations may encourage employees to remain at work for longer.
Employing a Fuzzy-Based Grey Modeling Procedure to Forecast China’s Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
Authors: Chang Che-Jung , Li Guiping , Zhang Shao-Qing , Yu Kun-Peng
Published: July 2019

Effective determination of trends in sulfur dioxide emissions facilitates national efforts to draft an appropriate policy that aims to lower sulfur dioxide emissions, which is essential for reducing atmospheric pollution. However, to reflect the current situation, a favorable emission reduction policy should be based on updated information. Various forecasting methods have been developed, but their applications are often limited by insufficient data. Grey system theory is one potential approach for analyzing small data sets. In this study, an improved modeling procedure based on the grey system theory and the mega-trend-diffusion technique is proposed to forecast sulfur dioxide emissions in China. Compared with the results obtained by the support vector regression and the radial basis function network, the experimental results indicate that the proposed procedure can effectively handle forecasting problems involving small data sets. In addition, the forecast predicts a steady decline in China’s sulfur dioxide emissions. These findings can be used by the Chinese government to determine whether its current policy to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions is appropriate.
Modeling Impacts of Highway Circular Curve Elements on Heavy-Duty Diesel Trucks’ CO2 Emissions
Authors: Zhang Xiaodong , Xu Jinliang , Li Menghui , Li Qunshan , Yang Lan
Published: July 2019

Heavy-duty trucks contribute a significant component of all transportation in cargo terminals, such as Shaanxi Province, China. The emissions from these vehicles are the primary source of carbon emissions during highway operations. While several studies have attempted to address emission issues by improving traffic operations, a few focused on the relationship between emissions and highway geometric design, especially for heavy-duty trucks. The primary goal of this research was to understand the impact of circular curve on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions produced by heavy-duty diesel trucks. Firstly, appropriate parameters were specified in MOVES (motor vehicle emission simulator) model according to the geometrical characteristics. Fuel consumption, speed and location data were collected by hiring five skilled drivers on the automotive proving ground located at Chang’an University, Shaanxi Province. The associated carbon emission data were derived from fuel consumption data by applying the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) method. After this, the applicability of MOVES model was verified by the field experiment. Moreover, a multiple regression model for CO2 emissions incorporated with roadway segment radius, circular curve length, and initial vehicle speed was established with data generated by the MOVES model. The proposed CO2 emission model was also verified by field experiment with relative error of 6.17%. It was found that CO2 emission had monotone decreasing property with radius increasing, and the minimum radius that influenced diesel CO2 emission was 550 m. The proposed quantitative CO2 emission model can provide a reference for low-carbon highway design, leading to environment-friendly transportation construction.
Physician-Friendly Machine Learning: A Case Study with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Prediction
Authors: Padmanabhan Meghana , Yuan Pengyu , Chada Govind , Nguyen Hien Van
Published: July 2019

Machine learning is often perceived as a sophisticated technology accessible only by highly trained experts. This prevents many physicians and biologists from using this tool in their research. The goal of this paper is to eliminate this out-dated perception. We argue that the recent development of auto machine learning techniques enables biomedical researchers to quickly build competitive machine learning classifiers without requiring in-depth knowledge about the underlying algorithms. We study the case of predicting the risk of cardiovascular diseases. To support our claim, we compare auto machine learning techniques against a graduate student using several important metrics, including the total amounts of time required for building machine learning models and the final classification accuracies on unseen test datasets. In particular, the graduate student manually builds multiple machine learning classifiers and tunes their parameters for one month using scikit-learn library, which is a popular machine learning library to obtain ones that perform best on two given, publicly available datasets. We run an auto machine learning library called auto-sklearn on the same datasets. Our experiments find that automatic machine learning takes 1 h to produce classifiers that perform better than the ones built by the graduate student in one month. More importantly, building this classifier only requires a few lines of standard code. Our findings are expected to change the way physicians see machine learning and encourage wide adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques in clinical domains.
Deep Learning Based on Event-Related EEG Differentiates Children with ADHD from Healthy Controls
Authors: Vahid Amirali , Bluschke Annet , Roessner Veit , Stober Sebastian , Beste Christian
Published: July 2019

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence and its diagnosis is based on clinical interviews, symptom questionnaires, and neuropsychological testing. Much research effort has been undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of neurophysiological (EEG) data to aid this diagnostic process. In the current study, we applied deep learning methods on event-related EEG data to examine whether it is possible to distinguish ADHD patients from healthy controls using purely neurophysiological measures. The same was done to distinguish between ADHD subtypes. The results show that the applied deep learning model (“EEGNet”) was able to distinguish between both ADHD subtypes and healthy controls with an accuracy of up to 83%. However, a significant fraction of individuals could not be classified correctly. It is shown that neurophysiological processes indicating attentional selection associated with superior parietal cortical areas were the most important for that. Using the applied deep learning method, it was not possible to distinguish ADHD subtypes from each other. This is the first study showing that deep learning methods applied to EEG data are able to dissociate between ADHD patients and healthy controls. The results show that the applied method reflects a promising means to support clinical diagnosis in ADHD. However, more work needs to be done to increase the reliability of the taken approach.
The Role of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on Litopenaeus vannamei During the Maturation of a Biofloc System
Authors: Llario Ferran , Falco Silvia , Sebastiá-Frasquet María-Teresa , Escrivá Julia , Rodilla Miguel , Poersch Luís Henrique
Published: July 2019

Biofloc technology is a sustainable aquaculture production system which uses microorganisms to maintain water quality and to increase productivity. In this system, probiotics can enhance the positive effects of bioflocs on the cultured species. The objective of this research is to study the role of the probiotic bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens during the formation of a biofloc system for the culture of Litopenaeus vannamei. Two doses of probiotic were assayed and applied directly to the water. The experiment was developed in nine tanks distributed as follows: Three control tanks with no probiotic, three tanks with a probiotic dose of 103 cfu/mL, and three tanks with a dose of 104 cfu/mL. Water quality, microbial activity, growth parameters and the immune system state of shrimps were monitored throughout the maturation process. The results indicate a positive effect upon the shrimp immune system throughout the study period, where specifically there was an increase in granular hemocytes in the shrimp hemolymph. During the immature biofloc phase, granular hemocytes were 5% higher in tanks supplemented with the probiotic. During the mature biofloc phase, granular hemocytes were 7% higher in those same tanks. During the maturation of the biofloc, environmental conditions are more unfavorable for shrimp growth, due to the accumulation of nitrites. So, the effect of the probiotic is especially important during this stage when the shrimp are stressed and are more vulnerable to diseases. However, the effects on microbial activity, water quality and Litopenaeus vannamei growth did not increase the benefits of the biofloc system.
Modeling of Sediment Transport in Bothnian Bay in the Vicinity of the Nuclear Power Plant ‘Hanhikivi-1’ Construction Site
Authors: Martyanov Stanislav D. , Dvornikov Anton Yu. , Ryabchenko Vladimir A. , Sein Dmitry V.
Published: July 2019

The intensity of sediment resuspension and sedimentation in the eastern part of the Bothnian Bay near the Hanhikivi cape, where the nuclear power plant ‘Hanhikivi-1’ will be constructed, has been assessed for the first time by means of numerical modeling under the realistic external forcing that occurred in 2014. A brief description of a coupled modeling system used in the study is given. The results of local resuspension intensity and sediment accumulation rates for one-year model run are presented. It has been determined that the main areas of sediment accumulation are located along the northern coast off the Hanhikivi peninsula and in the shallow region situated to the north-east off the cape. Sedimentation rates in the navigation channel have also been estimated. Model results obtained for 2014 suggest that sedimentation in the seaward part of the channel is absent, while sediment accumulation intensity is about 10 cm/year in the middle part of the channel and 70 cm/year in the coastal part. A temporal variability of the sedimentation rates during the year has been emphasized.
2,6-Bis[4-(4-butylphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl]-9-dodecyl-9H-purine
Authors: Šišuļins Andrejs , Bizdēna Ērika , Turks Māris , Novosjolova Irina
Published: July 2019

Target 2,6-bis[4-(4-butylphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl]-9-dodecyl-9H-purine has been prepared via a Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between 2,6-diazido-9-dodecyl-9H-purine and 4-n-butyl(phenylacetylene) in a 29% yield. The obtained compound was fully characterized by NMR, IR and HRMS.
Sorption of Molybdates and Tungstates on Functionalized Montmorillonites: Structural and Textural Features
Authors: Tuchowska Magdalena , Muir Barbara , Kowalik Mariola , Socha Robert P. , Bajda Tomasz
Published: July 2019

Montmorillonite—the most popular mineral of the smectite group—has been recognized as a low-cost, easily available mineral sorbent of heavy metals and other organic and inorganic compounds that pollute water. The aim of this work was to determine the sorption mechanism and to identify the reaction products formed on the surface of montmorillonite and organo-montmorillonite after sorption of molybdates (Mo(VI)) and tungstates (W(VI)). Montmorillonites are often modified to generate a negative charge on the surface. The main objective of the study was to investigate and compare the features of Na-montmorillonite (Na-M), montmorillonite modified with dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DDTMA-M), and montmorillonite modified with didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromide (DDDDMA-M) before and after sorption experiments. The material obtained after sorption was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD pattern showed the presence of a new crystallic phase in the sample that was observed under an SEM as an accumulation of crystals. The FTIR spectra showed bands related to Mo–O and W–O vibration (840 and 940 cm−1, respectively). The obtained results suggest that molybdenum(VI) and tungsten(VI) ions sorb onto the organo-montmorillonite in the form of alkylammonium molybdates and tungstates.
Mechanical-Resonance-Enhanced Thin-Film Magnetoelectric Heterostructures for Magnetometers, Mechanical Antennas, Tunable RF Inductors, and Filters
Authors: Tu Cheng , Chu Zhao-Qiang , Spetzler Benjamin , Hayes Patrick , Dong Cun-Zheng , Liang Xian-Feng , Chen Huai-Hao , He Yi-Fan , Wei Yu-Yi , Lisenkov Ivan , Lin Hwaider , Lin Yuan-Hua , McCord Jeffrey , Faupel Franz , Quandt Eckhard , Sun Nian-Xiang
Published: July 2019

The strong strain-mediated magnetoelectric (ME) coupling found in thin-film ME heterostructures has attracted an ever-increasing interest and enables realization of a great number of integrated multiferroic devices, such as magnetometers, mechanical antennas, RF tunable inductors and filters. This paper first reviews the thin-film characterization techniques for both piezoelectric and magnetostrictive thin films, which are crucial in determining the strength of the ME coupling. After that, the most recent progress on various integrated multiferroic devices based on thin-film ME heterostructures are presented. In particular, rapid development of thin-film ME magnetometers has been seen over the past few years. These ultra-sensitive magnetometers exhibit extremely low limit of detection (sub-pT/Hz1/2) for low-frequency AC magnetic fields, making them potential candidates for applications of medical diagnostics. Other devices reviewed in this paper include acoustically actuated nanomechanical ME antennas with miniaturized size by 1–2 orders compared to the conventional antenna; integrated RF tunable inductors with a wide operation frequency range; integrated RF tunable bandpass filter with dual H- and E-field tunability. All these integrated multiferroic devices are compact, lightweight, power-efficient, and potentially integrable with current complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology, showing great promise for applications in future biomedical, wireless communication, and reconfigurable electronic systems.
Design and Thermal Comparison of Random Structures Realized by Indirect Additive Manufacturing
Authors: Almonti Daniele , Ucciardello Nadia
Published: July 2019

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are used to fabricate three-dimensional complex geometries. There are several technologies that use laser or electron beam over metal powder beds. However, the direct AM processes have inconveniences such as specific set of materials, high thermal stress traced, high local energy absorbed, poor surface finish, anisotropic properties, high cost of material powder, and manufacturing with high-power beams. In this paper, an alternative process was developed. An indirect additive manufacturing (I-AM) combining a 3D print of castable resin and metal casting in order to obtain a cellular structure similar in shape to commercial metal foams but completely definable as design features was developed. Design of the cellular structure was made by the graphical algorithm editor Grasshopper®. Designed structures were realized by a lost-wax casting process and compared with commercial foam specimens by a system designed for this work. The designed metal foams showed a performance superior to that of commercial metal foam; in particular, the heat thermal coefficient of designed metal foams in the better case was 870 W/m2·K, almost doubled in comparison with the commercial foam tested in this work.
Tissue Constructs with Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Treat Bone Defects in Rats
Authors: Caetano Guilherme , Wang Weiguang , Murashima Adriana , Passarini José Roberto , Bagne Leonardo , Leite Marcel , Hyppolito Miguel , Al-Deyab Salem , El-Newehy Mohamed , Bártolo Paulo , Frade Marco Andrey Cipriani
Published: July 2019

The use of porous scaffolds created by additive manufacturing is considered a viable approach for the regeneration of critical-size bone defects. This paper investigates the xenotransplantation of polycaprolactone (PCL) tissue constructs seeded with differentiated and undifferentiated human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) to treat calvarial critical-sized defect in Wistar rats. PCL scaffolds without cells were also considered. In vitro and in vivo biological evaluations were performed to assess the feasibility of these different approaches. In the case of cell seeded scaffolds, it was possible to observe the presence of hADSCs in the rat tissue contributing directly (osteoblasts) and indirectly (stimulation by paracrine factors) to tissue formation, organization and mineralization. The presence of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in the rat tissue treated with cell-seeded PCL scaffolds suggests that the paracrine factors of undifferentiated hADSC cells could stimulate BMP-2 production by surrounding cells, leading to osteogenesis. Moreover, BMP-2 acts synergistically with growth factors to induce angiogenesis, leading to higher numbers of blood vessels in the groups containing undifferentiated and differentiated hADSCs.