bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creation of Backfill Materials Based on Industrial Waste
Authors: Rybak Jarosław , Kongar-Syuryun Cheynesh , Tyulyaeva Yulia , Khayrutdinov Albert M.
Published: July 2021

The possibility of replacing the traditional components of the filling mass with man-made waste and the need for the use of mechanical activation of the components of the filling composite in order to improve its rheological characteristics and the strength of the mass after solidification are proved. The demand for resource-reproducing technologies that allow the most complete use of the industrial mineral resource potential of the mining and processing enterprise, which will lead to a multiplicative ecological and economic effect, is confirmed. It is necessary to introduce the re-processing of man-made waste in order to further extract the useful component to a level that meets the standards of environmental safety and economic feasibility, which would create conditions for the actual sustainable development and give some perspectives for extending the operating time of mining regions. It is established that the sustainable development of the mining and processing region is impossible without a highly efficient exploitation of natural deposits and man-made georesources in combination with an integrated approach to the development of subsurface resources.
Lipidomic Profiling of Ipsilateral Brain and Plasma after Celastrol Post-Treatment in Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Mice Model
Authors: Liu Maozhu , Chen Mengyuan , Luo Ying , Wang Hong , Huang Haifeng , Peng Zhe , Li Miaomiao , Fei Huizhi , Luo Wen , Yang Junqing
Published: July 2021

Celastrol, a pentacyclic triterpene isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F., exhibits effectiveness in protection against multiple central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as cerebral ischemia, but its influence on lipidomics still remains unclear. Therefore, in the present study, the efficacy and potential mechanism of celastrol against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury were investigated based on lipidomics. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) followed by reperfusion was operated in mice to set up a cerebral I/R model. TTC staining and TUNEL staining were used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of celastrol. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC/MS) was employed for lipidomics analysis in ipsilateral hemisphere and plasma. Celastrol remarkably reduced cerebral infarct volume and apoptosis positive cells in tMCAO mice. Furthermore, lipidomics analysis showed that 14 common differentially expressed lipids (DELs) were identified in brain and five common DELs were identified in plasma between the Sham, tMCAO and Celastrol-treated tMCAO groups. Through enrichment analysis, sphingolipid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism were demonstrated to be significantly enriched in all the comparison groups. Among the DELs, celastrol could reverse cerebral I/R injury-induced alteration of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and sulfatide, which may be responsible for the neuroprotective effect of celastrol. Our findings suggested the neuroprotection of celastrol on cerebral I/R injury may be partially associated with its regulation of lipid metabolism.
Identification of Human Kinin-Forming Enzyme Inhibitors from Medicinal Herbs
Authors: Madkhali Hassan , Tarawneh Amer , Ali Zulfiqar , Le Hoang V. , Cutler Stephen J. , Khan Ikhlas A. , Shariat-Madar Zia
Published: July 2021

The goal of this study was to assess the pharmacological effects of black tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) water extract on human kinin-forming enzymes in vitro. Tea is a highly consumed beverage in the world. Factor XII (FXII, Hageman factor)-independent- and -dependent activation of prekallikrein to kallikrein leads to the liberation of bradykinin (BK) from high-molecular-weight kininogen (HK). The excessive BK production causes vascular endothelial and nonvascular smooth muscle cell permeability, leading to angioedema. The prevalence of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced angioedema appears to be through BK. Both histamine and BK are potent inflammatory mediators. However, the treatments for histamine-mediated angioedema are unsuitable for BK-mediated angioedema. We hypothesized that long-term consumption of tea would reduce bradykinin-dependent processes within the systemic and pulmonary vasculature, independent of the anti-inflammatory actions of polyphenols. A purified fraction of the black tea water extract inhibited both kallikrein and activated FXII. The black tea water extracts inhibited factor XII-induced cell migration and inhibited the production of kallikrein on the endothelial cell line. We compared the inhibitory effects of the black tea water extract and twenty-three well-known anti-inflammatory medicinal herbs, in inhibiting both kallikrein and FXII. Surprisingly, arjunglucoside II specifically inhibited the activated factor XII (FXIIa), but not the kallikrein and the activated factor XI. Taken together, the black tea water extract exerts its anti-inflammatory effects, in part, by inhibiting kallikrein and activated FXII, which are part of the plasma kallikrein–kinin system (KKS), and by decreasing BK production. The inhibition of kallikrein and activated FXII represents a unique polyphenol-independent anti-inflammatory mechanism of action for the black tea.
New Strategies for the Simple and Sensitive Voltammetric Direct Quantification of Se(IV) in Environmental Waters Employing Bismuth Film Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode and Amberlite Resin
Authors: Grabarczyk Małgorzata , Adamczyk Marzena
Published: July 2021

An analytical procedure regarding the determination of selenium(IV) by anodic stripping voltammetry exploiting the in situ plated bismuth film electrode is described. Since organics are commonly present in untreated natural water samples, the use of Amberlite XAD-7 resin turns out to be quite important to avoid problems such as the adsorption of these compounds on the working electrode. The optimum circumstances for the detection of selenium in water using differential pulse voltammetry techniques were found to be as follows: 0.1 mol L−1 acetic acid, 1.9 × 10−5 mol L−1 Bi(III), 0.1 g Amberlite XAD-7 resin, and successive potentials of −1.6 V for 5 s and −0.4 V for 60 s, during which the in situ formation of the bismuth film on glassy carbon and the accumulation of selenium took place. The current of the anodic peak varies linearly with the selenium concentration ranging from 3 × 10−9 mol L−1 to 3 × 10−6 mol L−1 (r = 0.9995), with a detection limit of 8 × 10−10 mol L−1. The proposed procedure was used for Se(IV) determination in certified reference materials and natural water samples, and acceptable results and recoveries were obtained.
Statistical Analysis of Polymer Nanocomposites for Mechanical Properties
Authors: Hallad Shankar A. , Banapurmath N. R. , Khan T. M. Yunus , Umarfarooq M. A. , Soudagar Manzoore Elahi M. , Hunashyal Anand M. , Gujjar Sandeep V. , Yaradoddi Jayachandra S. , Ganachari Sharanabasava V. , Elfasakhany Ashraf , Siddiqui Md Irfanul Haque , Ali Masood Ashraf
Published: July 2021

Epoxy resins, due to their high stiffness, ease of processing, good heat, and chemical resistance obtained from cross-linked structures, have found applications in electronics, adhesives coatings, industrial tooling, and aeronautic and automotive industries. These resins are inherently brittle, which has limited their further application. The emphasis of this study is to improve the properties of the epoxy resin with a low-concentration (up to 0.4% by weight) addition of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs). Mechanical characterization of the modified composites was conducted to study the effect of MWCNTs infusion in the epoxy resin. Nanocomposites samples showed significantly higher tensile strength and fracture toughness compared to pure epoxy samples. The morphological studies of the modified composites were studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).
Shape and Structure Formation of Mixed Nonionic–Anionic Surfactant Micelles
Authors: Ludwig Michael , Geisler Ramsia , Prévost Sylvain , von Klitzing Regine
Published: July 2021

Aqueous solutions of a nonionic surfactant (either Tween20 or BrijL23) and an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) are investigated, using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). SANS spectra are analysed by using a core-shell model to describe the form factor of self-assembled surfactant micelles; the intermicellar interactions are modelled by using a hard-sphere Percus–Yevick (HS-PY) or a rescaled mean spherical approximation (RMSA) structure factor. Choosing these specific nonionic surfactants allows for comparison of the effect of branched (Tween20) and linear (BrijL23) surfactant headgroups, both constituted of poly-ethylene oxide (PEO) groups. The nonionic–anionic surfactant mixtures are studied at various concentrations up to highly concentrated samples (ϕ ≲ 0.45) and various mixing ratios, from pure nonionic to pure anionic surfactant solutions. The scattering data reveal the formation of mixed micelles already at concentrations below the critical micelle concentration of SDS. At higher volume fractions, excluded volume effects dominate the intermicellar structuring, even for charged micelles. In consequence, at high volume fractions, the intermicellar structuring is the same for charged and uncharged micelles. At all mixing ratios, almost spherical mixed micelles form. This offers the opportunity to create a system of colloidal particles with a variable surface charge. This excludes only roughly equimolar mixing ratios (X≈ 0.4–0.6) at which the micelles significantly increase in size and ellipticity due to specific sulfate–EO interactions.
Ni Oxidation State and Ligand Saturation Impact on the Capability of Octaazamacrocyclic Complexes to Bind and Reduce CO2
Authors: Vénosová Barbora , Jelemenská Ingrid , Kožíšek Jozef , Rapta Peter , Zalibera Michal , Novotný Michal , Arion Vladimir B. , Bučinský Lukáš
Published: July 2021

Two 15-membered octaazamacrocyclic nickel(II) complexes are investigated by theoretical methods to shed light on their affinity forwards binding and reducing CO2. In the first complex 1[NiIIL]0, the octaazamacrocyclic ligand is grossly unsaturated (π-conjugated), while in the second 1[NiIILH]2+ one, the macrocycle is saturated with hydrogens. One and two-electron reductions are described using Mulliken population analysis, quantum theory of atoms in molecules, localized orbitals, and domain averaged fermi holes, including the characterization of the Ni-CCO2 bond and the oxidation state of the central Ni atom. It was found that in the [NiLH] complex, the central atom is reduced to Ni0 and/or NiI and is thus able to bind CO2 via a single σ bond. In addition, the two-electron reduced 3[NiL]2− species also shows an affinity forwards CO2.
Fabrication of Low Roughness Gradient Nanostructured Inner Surface on an AISI 304 Stainless Steel Pipe via Ultra-Sonic Rolling Treatment (USRT)
Authors: Han Xiaolei , Li Changji , Chen Chunhuan , Zhang Xiaodan , Zhang Hongwang
Published: July 2021

Gradient nanostructure (GNS) has drawn great attention, owing to the unique deformation and properties that are superior to nanostructure with uniform scale. GNS is commonly fabricated via surface plastic deformation with small tips (of balls or shots) so as to produce high deformation to refine the coarse grains, but unfortunately it suffers from the deterioration of surface quality which is hard to guarantee the reliable service. Although there are mirror-finishing techniques that can greatly enhance the surface quality, the induced slight deformation is commonly unable to produce GNS of reasonable thickness. Here, we propose a method to fabricate a GNS surface layer with a substantially enhanced surface quality via ultra-sonic rolling treatment (USRT), namely, surface rolling with a roller vibrated at a frequency of 20,000 Hz. It is found that 4-pass USRT is able to produce 20–30 µm thick GNS on AISI 304 stainless steel pipe inner surface, wherein the surface quality is enhanced by one order of magnitude from the starting Ra = 3.92 µm to 0.19 µm. Processing by a roller with a high-frequency vibration is necessary for both good surface quality and the effective accumulation of heavy deformation on the surface. The flattening mechanism as well as the microstructural evolution from millimeter- to nanometer-scale for AISI 304 stainless steel is discussed.
A Combination of Enhanced Mechanical and Electromagnetic Shielding Properties of Carbon Nanotubes Reinforced Cu-Ni Composite Foams
Authors: Wang Dan , Wu Zhong , Li Fengxian , Gan Xueping , Tao Jingmei , Yi Jianhong , Liu Yichun
Published: July 2021

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) reinforced double-layered Cu-Ni composite foams (Cu-Ni/CNT foams) were prepared through chemical plating and electrodeposition, for the purpose of combining enhanced mechanical and electromagnetic shielding properties. The microstructure characterization revealed a quite uniform dispersion of the CNTs embedded in the metal layers, even after heat treatments. The property testing showed the compressive strength, energy absorption capacity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (SE) of Cu-Ni/CNTs foams were significantly improved, as compared to Cu-Ni foams. The heat treatments of the composite foams resulted in an interdiffusion of the Cu and Ni layers, causing an increase of compressive strength and a slight decrease of average SE. The possible mechanisms of the property evolution are discussed.
Temperature Variation and Host Immunity Regulate Viral Persistence in a Salmonid Host
Authors: Páez David J. , Powers Rachel L. , Jia Peng , Ballesteros Natalia , Kurath Gael , Naish Kerry A. , Purcell Maureen K.
Published: July 2021

Environmental variation has important effects on host–pathogen interactions, affecting large-scale ecological processes such as the severity and frequency of epidemics. However, less is known about how the environment interacts with host immunity to modulate virus fitness within hosts. Here, we studied the interaction between host immune responses and water temperature on the long-term persistence of a model vertebrate virus, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) in steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). We first used cell culture methods to factor out strong host immune responses, allowing us to test the effect of temperature on viral replication. We found that 15 ∘C water temperature accelerated IHNV replication compared to the colder 10 and 8 ∘C temperatures. We then conducted in vivo experiments to quantify the effect of 6, 10, and 15 ∘C water temperatures on IHNV persistence over 8 months. Fish held at 15 and 10 ∘C were found to have higher prevalence of neutralizing antibodies compared to fish held at 6 ∘C. We found that IHNV persisted for a shorter time at warmer temperatures and resulted in an overall lower fish mortality compared to colder temperatures. These results support the hypothesis that temperature and host immune responses interact to modulate virus persistence within hosts. When immune responses were minimized (i.e., in vitro) virus replication was higher at warmer temperatures. However, with a full potential for host immune responses (i.e., in vivo experiments) longer virus persistence and higher long-term virulence was favored in colder temperatures. We also found that the viral RNA that persisted at later time points (179 and 270 days post-exposure) was mostly localized in the kidney and spleen tissues. These tissues are composed of hematopoietic cells that are favored targets of the virus. By partitioning the effect of temperature on host and pathogen responses, our results help to better understand environmental drivers of host–pathogen interactions within hosts, providing insights into potential host–pathogen responses to climate change.
Impact of Matrix Surface Area on Griseofulvin Release from Extrudates Prepared via Nanoextrusion
Authors: Li Meng , Furey Casey , Skros Jeffrey , Xu Olivia , Rahman Mahbubur , Azad Mohammad , Dave Rajesh , Bilgili Ecevit
Published: July 2021

We aimed to examine the impact of milling of extrudates prepared via nanoextrusion and the resulting matrix surface area of the particles on griseofulvin (GF, a model poorly soluble drug) release during in vitro dissolution. Wet-milled GF nanosuspensions containing a polymer (Sol: Soluplus®, Kol: Kolliphor® P407, or HPC: Hydroxypropyl cellulose) and sodium dodecyl sulfate were mixed with additional polymer and dried in an extruder. The extrudates with 2% and 10% GF loading were milled–sieved into three size fractions. XRPD–SEM results show that nanoextrusion produced GF nanocomposites with Kol/HPC and an amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) with Sol. For 8.9 mg GF dose (non-supersaturating condition), the dissolution rate parameter was higher for extrudates with higher external specific surface area and those with 10% drug loading. It exhibited a monotonic increase with surface area of the ASD, whereas its increase tended to saturate above ~30 × 10−3 m2/cm3 for the nanocomposites. In general, the nanocomposites released GF faster than the ASD due to greater wettability and faster erosion imparted by Kol/HPC than by Sol. For 100 mg GF dose, the ASD outperformed the nanocomposites due to supersaturation and only 10% GF ASD with 190 × 10−3 m2/cm3 surface area achieved immediate release (80% release within 30 min). Hence, this study suggests that ASD extrudates entail fine milling yielding > ~200 × 10−3 m2/cm3 for rapid drug release, whereas only a coarse milling yielding ~30 × 10−3 m2/cm3 may enable nanocomposites to release low-dose drugs rapidly.
Aesthetic Theory and the Philosophy of Nature
Authors: Mikki Said
Published: July 2021

We investigate the fundamental relationship between philosophical aesthetics and the philosophy of nature, arguing for a position in which the latter encompasses the former. Two traditions are set against each other, one is natural aesthetics, whose covering philosophy is Idealism, and the other is the aesthetics of nature, the position defended in this article, with the general program of a comprehensive philosophy of nature as its covering theory. Our approach is philosophical, operating within the framework of the ontology of the process of the production of art, inspired especially by the views of Antonin Artaud, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Bakhtin, Deleuze, and Guattari. We interrogate Dilthey and Worringer while outlining an ontology of art based on the production of nonhuman images and a nonpersonal experiential field of nature.
Chain-End Effects on Supramolecular Poly(ethylene glycol) Polymers
Authors: Brás Ana , Arizaga Ana , Agirre Uxue , Dorau Marie , Houston Judith , Radulescu Aurel , Kruteva Margarita , Pyckhout-Hintzen Wim , Schmidt Annette M.
Published: July 2021

In this work we present a fundamental analysis based on small-angle scattering, linear rheology and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments of the role of different hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) types on the structure and dynamics of chain-end modified poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) in bulk. As such bifunctional PEG with a molar mass below the entanglement mass Me is symmetrically end-functionalized with three different hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) groups: thymine-1-acetic acid (thy), diamino-triazine (dat) and 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (upy). A linear block copolymer structure and a Newtonian-like dynamics is observed for PEG-thy/dat while results for PEG-upy structure and dynamics reveal a sphere and a network-like behavior, respectively. These observations are concomitant with an increase of the Flory–Huggins interaction parameter from PEG-thy/dat to PEG-upy that is used to quantify the difference between the H-bonding types. The upy association into spherical clusters is established by the Percus–Yevick approximation that models the inter-particle structure factor for PEG-upy. Moreover, the viscosity study reveals for PEG-upy a shear thickening behavior interpreted in terms of the free path model and related to the time for PEG-upy to dissociate from the upy clusters, seen as virtual crosslinks of the formed network. Moreover, a second relaxation time of different nature is also obtained from the complex shear modulus measurements of PEG-upy by the inverse of the angular frequency where G’ and G’’ crosses from the network-like to glass-like transition relaxation time, which is related to the segmental friction of PEG-upy polymeric network strands. In fact, not only do PEG-thy/dat and PEG-upy have different viscoelastic properties, but the relaxation times found for PEG-upy are much slower than the ones for PEG-thy/dat. However, the activation energy related to the association dynamics is very similar for both PEG-thy/dat and PEG-upy. Concerning the segmental dynamics, the glass transition temperature obtained from both rheological and calorimetric analysis is similar and increases for PEG-upy while for PEG-thy/dat is almost independent of association behavior. Our results show how supramolecular PEG properties vary by modifying the H-bonding association type and changing the molecular Flory–Huggins interaction parameter, which can be further explored for possible applications.
Tattoos in Psychodermatology
Authors: Kıvanç Altunay İlknur , Mercan Sibel , Özkur Ezgi
Published: July 2021

Tattooing is a permanent form of body art applied onto the skin with a decorative ink, and it has been practiced from antiquity until today. The number of tattooed people is steadily increasing as tattoos have become popular all over the world, especially in Western countries. Tattoos display distinctive designs and images, from protective totems and tribal symbols to the names of loved or lost persons or strange figures, which are used as a means of self-expression. They are worn on the skin as a lifelong commitment, and everyone has their own reasons to become tattooed, whether they be simply esthetic or a proclamation of group identity. Tattoos are representations of one’s feelings, unconscious conflicts, and inner life onto the skin. The skin plays a major role in this representation and is involved in different ways in this process. This article aims to review the historical and psychoanalytical aspects of tattoos, the reasons for and against tattooing, medical and dermatological implications of the practice, and emotional reflections from a psychodermatological perspective.
Chronology of Missoula Flood Deposits at the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, Washington State, USA
Authors: Last George V. , Rittenour Tammy M.
Published: July 2021

Late Pleistocene outburst megafloods, mostly from glacial Lake Missoula, hydraulically ponded behind downstream constrictions in the Columbia River in southeastern Washington State, USA. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for flood deposits from the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site, located in a high (315–320 m asl) distal portion of the transient lake, indicate that at least seven floods ponded high enough to inundate the area during the period 20.9 ± 2.6 ka to 16.3 ± 2.8 ka. This is consistent with a radiocarbon age of about 17.4 ± 0.2 ka cal BP from the middle of the flood sequence. OSL ages from loess deposits overlying a paleosol at the top of the flood sequence range from 14.0 ± 2.3 ka to 10.9 ± 2.0 ka, suggesting a hiatus of about 2.3 thousand years. These datasets are consistent with current understanding that multiple late Pleistocene megafloods occurred between 20 ka and 14 ka and that earlier floods produced higher flood stages than later ones. The lack of flood deposits in the Coyote Canyon area younger than 16 ka supports the hypothesis that younger megafloods did not hydraulically pond in the Pasco Basin above about 230 m asl.
Treatment Outcomes of External Beam Radiation Therapy for Unresectable Locally Advanced Thyroid Cancer with or without Metastasis: A Retrospective Single-Center Study
Authors: Wada Yuki , Anbai Akira , Kumagai Satoshi , Okuyama Eriko , Takagi Noriko , Hashimoto Manabu
Published: July 2021

We evaluated treatment outcomes of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for unresectable locally advanced thyroid cancer (LATC) with or without metastasis. We enrolled 11 LATC patients who underwent EBRT (median age: 76 (45–83) years; six males and five females). Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance statuses of 0 (n = 3), 1 (n = 1), 2 (n = 6), and 3 (n = 1) were observed. Histologic types included papillary carcinoma (n = 5), anaplastic carcinoma (n = 3), and squamous cell carcinoma (n = 3). The organs invaded by the tumor that caused it to be deemed unresectable were common carotid artery (n = 5), trachea (n = 4), aorta (n = 1) and larynx (n = 1). The median follow-up time was 6 months. One, seven, two, and one patient showed complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease, and progressive disease, respectively. The rate of local CR+PR was 73%; moreover, 75% of patients achieved a >30% tumor size reduction within 6 months. The median local progression-free survival of patients with local CR+PR was 11.5 (4–68) months. The median overall survival was 6 (1–68) months. Grade 3 acute complications occurred in five (45%) patients. No patients had Grade 4 or 5 complications. In conclusion, EBRT reduced the tumor volume in 75% of LATC patients without inducing severe toxicity. This therapy should be considered as a treatment option for LATC.
Lidar-Based Morphometry of Conical Hills in Temperate Karst Areas in Slovenia
Authors: Telbisz Tamás
Published: July 2021

Conical hills, or residual hills, are frequently mentioned landforms in the context of humid tropical karsts as they are dominant surface elements there. Residual hills are also present in temperate karsts, but generally in a less remarkable way. These landforms have not been thoroughly addressed in the literature to date, therefore the present article is the first attempt to morphometrically characterize temperate zone residual karst hills. We use the methods already developed for doline morphometry, and we apply them to the “inverse” topography using LiDAR-based digital terrain models (DTMs) of three Slovenian sample areas. The characteristics of hills and depressions are analysed in parallel, taking into account the rank of the forms. A common feature of hills and dolines is that, for both types, the empirical distribution of planform areas has a strongly positive skew. After logarithmic transformation, these distributions can be approximated by Inverse Gaussian, Normal, and Weibull distributions. Along with the rank, the planform area and vertical extent of the hills and dolines increase similarly. High circularity is characteristic only of the first-rank forms for both dolines and hills. For the sample areas, the the hill area ratios and the doline area ratios have similar values, but the total extent of the hills is slightly larger in each case. A difference between dolines and hills is that the shapes of hills are more similar to one another than those of dolines. The reason for this is that the larger, closed depressions are created by lateral coalescence, while the hills are residual forms carved from large blocks. Another significant difference is that the density of dolines is much higher than that of hills. This article is intended as a methodological starting point for a new topic, aiming at the comprehensive study of residual karst hills across different climatic areas.
The Applicability of the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager to the Mapping of Sea Surface Salinity in the East China Sea
Authors: Choi Jong-Kuk , Son Young-Baek , Park Myung-Sook , Hwang Deuk-Jae , Ahn Jae-Hyun , Park Young-Gyu
Published: July 2021

During the summer season, low-salinity water (LSW) inputs from the Changjiang River are observed as filamentous or lens-like features in the East China Sea. Sea surface salinity (SSS) is an important factor in ocean science, and is used to estimate oceanic carbon fluxes, trace red tides, and calculate other physical processes at the surface. In this study, a proxy was developed using remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) centered at 490 nm (band 3), 555 nm (band 4), 660 nm (band 5), and 680 nm (band 6), and salinity (data from summer cruises during the period of 2011–2016). It was then validated to map LSW plumes in the East China Sea. The GOCI-derived surface salinity was determined by the empirical relationships between Rrs at the four bands and in situ wave glider SSS data (August 2016), and was validated with synchronous in situ hydrographic SSS data (August 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016). The GOCI-derived SSS was considered reliable in terms of the validation with the in situ measurement with a high coefficient of determination along with a low RMSE (R2 = 0.803, RMSE = 0.914, N = 21), and in comparisons with two previous models that were used to derive SSS in the East China Sea. The GOCI-derived SSS was successfully used to examine time-series variations on diurnal and daily scales, and the effects of a typhoon in terms of marine physical and biological properties in combination with the chlorophyll-a concentration and sea surface temperature.
Intelligent Platform Based on Smart PPE for Safety in Workplaces
Authors: Márquez-Sánchez Sergio , Campero-Jurado Israel , Herrera-Santos Jorge , Rodríguez Sara , Corchado Juan M.
Published: July 2021

It is estimated that we spend one-third of our lives at work. It is therefore vital to adapt traditional equipment and systems used in the working environment to the new technological paradigm so that the industry is connected and, at the same time, workers are as safe and protected as possible. Thanks to Smart Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and wearable technologies, information about the workers and their environment can be extracted to reduce the rate of accidents and occupational illness, leading to a significant improvement. This article proposes an architecture that employs three pieces of PPE: a helmet, a bracelet and a belt, which process the collected information using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques through edge computing. The proposed system guarantees the workers’ safety and integrity through the early prediction and notification of anomalies detected in their environment. Models such as convolutional neural networks, long short-term memory, Gaussian Models were joined by interpreting the information with a graph, where different heuristics were used to weight the outputs as a whole, where finally a support vector machine weighted the votes of the models with an area under the curve of 0.81.
Dual-Arm Coordinated Control Strategy Based on Modified Sliding Mode Impedance Controller
Authors: Liu Xuefei , Xu Xiangrong , Zhu Zuojun , Jiang Yanglin
Published: July 2021

To meet the high-accuracy position/force control requirements of dual-arm robots for handling a target object, a control algorithm for dual-arm robots based on the modified sliding mode impedance controller MSMIC(tanh) is proposed. First, the combinative kinematics equation of the dual-arm robots and the unified dynamics model combining the manipulated object is established. Second, according to the impedance control motion model for the object, the desired joint angular accelerations of the manipulators are obtained, and the sliding mode controller based on the hyperbolic tangent function as the switch function is introduced to design the coordinated control strategy for dual-arm robots. The stability and convergence of the designed controller are proved according to the Lyapunov function theory. Finally, the operation tasks of the coordinated transport the target object for dual-arm robots are carried out in the simulated experiment environment. Simulation results show that the proposed control scheme can stably output the required internal force and achieve a high-precision trajectory tracking effect while reducing the periodic torque and joint chattering amplitude generated in the conventional sliding mode control algorithm.
Machine Learning for Sensorless Temperature Estimation of a BLDC Motor
Authors: Czerwinski Dariusz , Gęca Jakub , Kolano Krzysztof
Published: July 2021

In this article, the authors propose two models for BLDC motor winding temperature estimation using machine learning methods. For the purposes of the research, measurements were made for over 160 h of motor operation, and then, they were preprocessed. The algorithms of linear regression, ElasticNet, stochastic gradient descent regressor, support vector machines, decision trees, and AdaBoost were used for predictive modeling. The ability of the models to generalize was achieved by hyperparameter tuning with the use of cross-validation. The conducted research led to promising results of the winding temperature estimation accuracy. In the case of sensorless temperature prediction (model 1), the mean absolute percentage error MAPE was below 4.5% and the coefficient of determination R2 was above 0.909. In addition, the extension of the model with the temperature measurement on the casing (model 2) allowed reducing the error value to about 1% and increasing R2 to 0.990. The results obtained for the first proposed model show that the overheating protection of the motor can be ensured without direct temperature measurement. In addition, the introduction of a simple casing temperature measurement system allows for an estimation with accuracy suitable for compensating the motor output torque changes related to temperature.
Fast and Accurate Lane Detection via Graph Structure and Disentangled Representation Learning
Authors: He Yulin , Chen Wei , Li Chen , Luo Xin , Huang Libo
Published: July 2021

It is desirable to maintain high accuracy and runtime efficiency at the same time in lane detection. However, due to the long and thin properties of lanes, extracting features with both strong discrimination and perception abilities needs a huge amount of calculation, which seriously slows down the running speed. Therefore, we design a more efficient way to extract the features of lanes, including two phases: (1) Local feature extraction, which sets a series of predefined anchor lines, and extracts the local features through their locations. (2) Global feature aggregation, which treats local features as the nodes of the graph, and builds a fully connected graph by adaptively learning the distance between nodes, the global feature can be aggregated through weighted summing finally. Another problem that limits the performance is the information loss in feature compression, mainly due to the huge dimensional gap, e.g., from 512 to 8. To handle this issue, we propose a feature compression module based on decoupling representation learning. This module can effectively learn the statistical information and spatial relationships between features. After that, redundancy is greatly reduced and more critical information is retained. Extensional experimental results show that our proposed method is both fast and accurate. On the Tusimple and CULane benchmarks, with a running speed of 248 FPS, F1 values of 96.81% and 75.49% were achieved, respectively.
A New Method for Gaining the Control of Standalone Underwater Sensor Nodes Based on Power Supply Sensing
Authors: Rodríguez García Daniel , Montiel-Nelson Juan A. , Bautista Tomás , Sosa Javier
Published: July 2021

In this paper, a new method for gaining the control of standalone underwater sensor nodes based on sensing the power supply evolution is presented. Underwater sensor networks are designed to support multiple extreme scenarios such as network disconnections. In those cases, the sensor nodes involved should go into standalone, and its wired and wireless communications should be disabled. This paper presents how to exit from the standalone status and enter into debugging mode following a practical ultra-low power design methodology. In addition, the discharge and regeneration effects are analyzed and modeled to minimize the error using the sensor node self measurements. Once the method is presented, its implementation details are discussed including other solutions like wake up wireless modules or a pin interruption solution. Its advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The method proposed is evaluated with several simulations and laboratory experiments using a real aquaculture sensor node. Finally, all the results obtained demonstrate the usefulness of our new method to gain the control of a standalone sensor node. The proposal is better than other approaches when the hibernation time is longer than 167.45 μs. Finally, our approach requires two orders of magnitude less energy than the best practical solution.
Automated Loss-of-Balance Event Identification in Older Adults at Risk of Falls during Real-World Walking Using Wearable Inertial Measurement Units
Authors: Hauth Jeremiah , Jabri Safa , Kamran Fahad , Feleke Eyoel W. , Nigusie Kaleab , Ojeda Lauro V. , Handelzalts Shirley , Nyquist Linda , Alexander Neil B. , Huan Xun , Wiens Jenna , Sienko Kathleen H.
Published: July 2021

Loss-of-balance (LOB) events, such as trips and slips, are frequent among community-dwelling older adults and are an indicator of increased fall risk. In a preliminary study, eight community-dwelling older adults with a history of falls were asked to perform everyday tasks in the real world while donning a set of three inertial measurement sensors (IMUs) and report LOB events via a voice-recording device. Over 290 h of real-world kinematic data were collected and used to build and evaluate classification models to detect the occurrence of LOB events. Spatiotemporal gait metrics were calculated, and time stamps for when LOB events occurred were identified. Using these data and machine learning approaches, we built classifiers to detect LOB events. Through a leave-one-participant-out validation scheme, performance was assessed in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and the area under the precision recall curve (AUPR). The best model achieved an AUROC ≥0.87 for every held-out participant and an AUPR 4-20 times the incidence rate of LOB events. Such models could be used to filter large datasets prior to manual classification by a trained healthcare provider. In this context, the models filtered out at least 65.7% of the data, while detecting ≥87.0% of events on average. Based on the demonstrated discriminative ability to separate LOBs and normal walking segments, such models could be applied retrospectively to track the occurrence of LOBs over an extended period of time.
A Hybrid Filtering Stage-Based Rotor Position Estimation Method of PMSM with Adaptive Parameter
Authors: Yu Linxin , Wang Dazhi
Published: July 2021

The performance of sensorless control in a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) highly depends on the accuracy of rotor position estimation. Owing to its strong robustness, phase-locked loop (PLL) is widely used in rotor position estimation. However, due to the influence of harmonics existing in back electromotive force (EMF), estimation error occurs by using PLL. In this paper, a hybrid filtering stage-based PLL is proposed to improve the rotor position estimation. Adaptive notch filters and moving average filters are integrated together to eliminate harmonic EMF. To make the method effective under varying speed conditions, adaptive parameters design guidelines are provided, considering dynamic performance under a wide operating range. The proposed method can accurately detect rotor position even under harmonic EMF disturbances. It can also adjust the frequency adaptively based on the rotating speed of the rotor, which means the estimation performance is not deteriorated under rotating speed changing conditions. The simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
The Mediating Role of Innovation Capability on the Relationship between Strategic Agility and Organizational Performance
Authors: AlTaweel Ibrahim , Al-Hawary Sulieman
Published: July 2021

The changes in the business environment and the increase in competition have led organizations to focus greatly on improving their organizational performance in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by relying on keeping pace with these changes and developing their innovation capability to meet their customers’ desires. Therefore, this research paper aims to explore the relationship between strategic agility and organizational performance through the mediating role of innovation capability. The research population consisted of senior managers in industrial corporations, and the sample comprised 224 senior managers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as a statistical method for testing hypotheses. The results showed that there is a significant influence of strategic agility on organizational performance and innovation capability. Furthermore, innovation capability plays a mediating role in improving the relationship between strategic agility and organizational performance. Accordingly, a set of recommendations are provided to corporations’ senior managers for supporting the organizational activities that lead to the creation of new products and services that are appropriate to the general context of the development of customer desires, realizing the importance of the corporation acquiring flexible re-sources that can be reallocated to meet the changes in the business environment, and adopting modern business models based on stimulating collaborative work and adopting creative ideas.
State-Aware Stochastic Optimal Power Flow
Authors: Pareek Parikshit , Nguyen Hung D.
Published: July 2021

The increase in distributed generation (DG) and variable load mandates system operators to perform decision-making considering uncertainties. This paper introduces a novel state-aware stochastic optimal power flow (SA-SOPF) problem formulation. The proposed SA-SOPF has objective to find a day-ahead base-solution that minimizes the generation cost and expectation of deviations in generation and node voltage set-points during real-time operation. We formulate SA-SOPF for a given affine policy and employ Gaussian process learning to obtain a distributionally robust (DR) affine policy for generation and voltage set-point change in real-time. In simulations, the GP-based affine policy has shown distributional robustness over three different uncertainty distributions for IEEE 14-bus system. The results also depict that the proposed SA-OPF formulation can reduce the expectation in voltage and generation deviation more than 60% in real-time operation with an additional day-ahead scheduling cost of 4.68% only for 14-bus system. For, in a 30-bus system, the reduction in generation and voltage deviation, the expectation is achieved to be greater than 90% for 1.195% extra generation cost. These results are strong indicators of possibility of achieving the day-ahead solution which lead to lower real-time deviation with minimal cost increase.
Naturalness in the City: Demographic Groups’ Differences in Preference for Deciduous Landscape
Authors: Fan Rong , Fan Junxi , Song Jiayu , Li Kaiyuan , Ji Wenli
Published: July 2021

In the past few years, deciduous landscape conservation has become a trend in China; however, the theoretical support is still limited, and the impact of demographic characteristics on people’s attitude toward deciduous landscape still needs to be explained. This study aimed at exploring the differences among demographic groups through Likert scale questionnaires of 981 respondents. The results show that of all characteristics, only age has a significant influence on deciduous landscape preference. However, there is a paradox for elderly people: they have the highest preference for deciduous landscape and the lowest intention to keep deciduous landscape in their lives at the same time. Moreover, the elderly tend to care about the underlying surface of deciduous landscape while the reliable predictor for other age groups is the color of fallen leaves. These findings can be useful for practical applications, which might guide future development of deciduous landscape planning and maintenance.
The plague in Moscow in 1771 and a new coronavirus infection: what they have in common
Authors: Denisov Leonid Anatolievich , Pakhomov Mikhail Sergeevich
Published: July 2021

The article is devoted to a historical event that occurred 250 years ago in Moscow. The authors draw analogies between the plague epidemic and the current situation associated with a new coronavirus infection, and note what unites these events. It shows the dedicated work of doctors in the conditions of complete ambiguity of the causes and spread of these infections, in the absence of effective treatment methods, what was the behavior of the population, how prevention measures were developed, and what is the role of the authorities of Moscow and St. Petersburg in the fight. How the state of medical science and the level of health care, referred to by economists as the non — material sphere, can affect the physical and mental health of the population and the economic situation of the city, country and the whole World.
Labor market of single-industry cities: modern realities
Authors: Vasilieva Anastasia Grigorievna
Published: July 2021

The article presents the results of the investigation of a system of criteria that reflect economic content of the concept of «single-industry city» and take into account, on the one hand, the change in their role in the system of urban settlement and, on the other hand, the specific conditions and challenges of urban development in emerging markets; the outcomes of the approbation of the criteria identified for assessing the status and trends of the labor market of single-industry cities in Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation are presented.
Methodological preparedness of a teacher at a higher educational institution as a tool for developing an inclusive educational environment
Authors: Muller Olga Yurievna
Published: July 2021

The article is devoted to the organization of an inclusive educational process in higher education institutions, which is not possible without the formation of a high-level methodological preparedness of the entire teaching staff of an educational institution. The subject of the analysis is the methodological preparedness of a teacher at a higher educational institution to work in an inclusive education environment. In order to examine the object of this research and clarify its internal content, the author considers the structure of methodological preparedness of a teacher at a higher educational institution in an inclusive education environment.
Specific influence of the media on the transformation of political values and orientations of Russian youth
Authors: Malik Elena Nikolaevna
Published: July 2021

The article reveals the role of the institute of mass media on the processes of forming political consciousness and socio-political guidelines of young citizens in modern Russia. The problems of hygiene of media policy, media literacy and improving the information culture of young people remain relevant and archival, given the new challenges of world politics and the geopolitical situation. The author argues that media education technologies to increase the media literacy of young citizens contribute to the realization of their socio-political subjectivity and initiative in the interests of the state and civil society.
Essence and types of strategic partnership in international relations
Authors: Vorobyov Aleksey Vladimirovich
Published: July 2021

The paper defines the main approaches to understanding the strategic partnership between states in the international arena, identifies the main features of such a partnership. The author substantiates the thesis that at present the strategic partnership between states in the social, spiritual and cultural sphere is no longer of a secondary nature. The article defines the main directions of strategic partnership between states in the social, spiritual and cultural sphere at the present stage. The concept of changing the vector of Russia in the social, spiritual and cultural sphere at the present stage is substantiated.