bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Casos de covid-19 nos municípios do estado do Amazonas, Brasil
Authors: Dagnino Ricardo , de Freitas Marcos Wellausen Dias
Published: April 2020

Este relatório apresenta os dados referentes a pandemia de covid-19 nos municípios do Amazonas atualizados até o dia 2/04/2020. Os dados apresentados neste documento mostram que o primeiro caso foi confirmado na capital Manaus em 13 de março de 2020. Apenas 10 dias depois, em 23 de março, enquanto Manaus registrou 31 casos, era confirmado o primeiro caso no interior, em Parintins. No dia seguinte, Amazonas apresentou o primeiro óbito, justamente em Parintins. Ao que se sabe no momento, o atual coronavírus (SARS-COV-2) provoca uma síndrome respiratória aguda grave (covid-19) e é transmitido de humano para humano sendo capaz de causar doença respiratória grave (Croda; Garcia, 2020). O que mais chama atenção e causa preocupação é que a covid-19 se distingue pela capacidade de transmissão a partir de casos assintomáticos (Munster et al, 2020). A seguir, são apresentados dados e também as informações sobre como foram gerados estes mapas e informações nas seções de fonte de dados e metodologia de trabalho. Uma breve apresentação e discussão dos resultados também é apresentada com enfoque na rápida dispersão e difusão espacial do vírus apresentada no país e no Estado do Amazonas. Esse rápido avanço do vírus em direção ao interior do país representa uma série de desafios ao poder público em face das peculiaridades da região amazônica que apresenta uma série de características que aumentam a vulnerabilidade da sua população neste momento de extrema atenção que estamos vivenciando em face da pandemia do covid-19.
Ceramic Coatings via MOCVD in Injection Molding Tools to Influence Thermal and Demolding Properties
Authors: Frettlöh V. , Mumme F. , Fornalczyk G. , Sommer M. , Beck C. , Korres M.
Published: April 2020

Tool surfaces can be protected against corrosion and wear by thin film coatings. In addition to the protective properties, ceramic materials with low thermal conductivity, such as yttrium-stabilized zirconium oxide, can thermally insulate tool surfaces. In an injection molding process, the thermal insulation enables a more precise partial tempering and can thus be used to reduce surface defects on the plastic parts produced. Furthermore, the coating can have a positive effect on the demolding of the plastic parts. The coatings are applied in a hot wall reactor by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). This enables a homogeneous application of zirconium oxide based thin films on steel tools with complex 3D surfaces. The performance of the coatings was evaluated in various injection molding tests and assessed by the quality of the manufactured parts.
Mechanical properties and wear-corrosion resistance of a new compound extrusion process for magnesium alloy AZ61
Authors: Liu Jiehui , Hu Hongjun , Liu Yang , Zhang Dingfei , Ou Zhongwen , Zhi Yan
Published: April 2020

Compound extrusion (CE) is a newly developed plastic deformation technique which combines direct extrusion (DE) with a two-pass equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE). This paper focuses on the strength, ductility and anti-corrosion properties of an NaCl solution at certain concentrations and the wear-resistance of dry sliding AZ61 magnesium alloy prepared by CE and DE. It is found that the strength and elongation of the AZ61 alloy prepared by CE are enhanced because of grain refinement. Furthermore, AZ61 magnesium alloy made by CE displays higher corrosion and wear resistance than that prepared by DE. Experimental results prove that CE is a prospective manufacturing method for improving the mechanical properties, anti-corrosion and anti-wear of AZ61 magnesium alloy.
Influence of nozzle temperature and volumetric filling on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed PEEK
Authors: Vogel Danny , Weißmann Volker , Rührmund Leo , Hansmann Harald , Bader Rainer
Published: April 2020

Fused deposition modeling is a layer-by-layer 3D printing technology used to additively manufacture polymers. A major benefit of 3D-printed polymers is the option of tailoring their mechanical properties by varying the process parameters. In addition, the present study investigates the influence of the filling degree (50 % or 100 %) and the nozzle temperature during manufacturing on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) material. PEEK samples were built either compact (filling degree 100 %) or closed-cell porous (filling degree 50 %), using three different nozzle temperatures (390 °C, 430 °C and 470 °C). In static bending tests, the bending properties were evaluated and compared with injection molded PEEK samples. Bending strength and modulus increased up to 21.1 %, when the nozzle temperature was increased and up to 40.8 % when the volumetric filling was altered. The results indicate that nozzle temperature and volumetric filling can be altered to tailor the bending properties of 3D-printed PEEK for particular applications. However, the mechanical properties of the 3D-printed samples determined in the current study could not achieve those of the properties of the injection molded PEEK.
Butterfly optimization algorithm for optimum shape design of automobile suspension components
Authors: Yıldız Betül Sultan , Yıldız Ali Rıza , Albak Emre İsa , Abderazek Hammoudi , Sait Sadiq M. , Bureerat Sujin
Published: April 2020

This article presents an implementation of one of the latest optimization methods of obtaining light vehicle designs. First, the problem of coupling with a bolted rim is optimized using the butterfly optimization algorithm (BOA). Finally, the BOA is used to solve the shape optimization of a vehicle suspension arm. It is utilized from the Kriging metamodeling method to obtain equations of objective and constraint functions in shape optimization. At the end of the research effort in this paper, the weight reduction of the suspension arm by using the BOA is 32.9 %. The results show the BOA’s ability to design better optimum components in the automotive industry.
Determination of stress concentration factors for shafts under tension
Authors: Ozkan Murat Tolga , Erdemir Fulya
Published: April 2020

Computer-based design and optimization have become increasingly important in recent years. This paper has investigated the stress concentration factors (SCF) Kt for shoulder filleted shafts with a hole and without a hole. This study contains two types of shoulder filleted shafts, i. e., a stepped bar of circular cross section with shoulder filleted and a tube with filleted shafts under tension stresses. Investigations on SCF that have been carried out in experimental and theoretical studies, were updated and validated for 2 types of shafts. The charts have been converted into numerical value using high precision computer techniques. Dimensional ratios and SCF were determined using previous work charts. This study determines maximum stresses for shoulder filleted shafts by three dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) and artificial intelligence techniques. A set of SCF charts was converted into numerical values and this data was organized and stored in an Excel file. ANSYS models were created and applied the boundary conditions on the models. And also mesh optimizations were performed. Artificial neural networks (ANN) models were designed using previously collected and verified data. Previous works, ANSYS and ANN results were compared to each other. As a result, ANN model and chart results show a good agreement. The usage of ANN model does not require any mathematical formulae or converting the numerical data action for determining the Kt result for shafts. ANN model usage was identified as a very useful and practical method.
Les Soeurs Grises à l’Université de Montréal, 1923-1947 : de
la gestion hospitalière à l’enseignement supérieur en nursing
Authors: Cohen Yolande , Lamontagne Esther
Published: April 2020

This article presents the role of the Grey Nuns in the
development of the teaching of nursing in Quebec universities.
The authors analyze the processes which have led to the
formalization of this discipline through the examination of
their archives and those of the Faculty of Nursing Science of
the Université de Montréal. They reveal the transfer of
practical knowledge that Grey Nuns have acquired as
administrators in the major hospitals of the country to
theoretical knowledge which is essential to the establishment of
nursing as a science. In this manner, the Grey Nuns have also
been involved in the process of secularization of health care
while confirming their irrevocable tie to Catholic
methodologies. Thus emerges a model of care as the structural
element of hospital organization resisting the multiple
transformations in the health care field in the period following
the First World War. Furthermore, in relation to other works,
the importance of this model is highlighted as well as its
continuance in the educational and health care system in spite
of the democratization and secularization movement in the 1970s.
Evaluation of the effectiveness of the drug «Forvet»® in the complex therapy of infectious rhinotracheitis in cats
Authors: Schepetkina Svetlana , Rishko Oksana , Matveeva Veronika , Kiselev Aleksey , Lahova Natal'ya
Published: April 2020

The article presents the results of a multicenter randomized placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness of the drug «Forvet»®. Purpose of research. To determine the effectiveness of the drug «Forvet»® in the complex therapy of infectious rhinotracheitis (herpes virus infection FHV-1) in cats. Materials and methods. The effectiveness of the drug was investigated in a multicenter randomized placebo-controlled study, which was conducted in two veterinary clinics of the Heliet network (Saint Petersburg) in the period from 09.01.2019 to 31.12.2019. The experiment included 120 cats aged 5 to 6 months, weight 1.5... 2 kg, with a diagnosis of «infectious cat rhinotracheitis», based on the results of diagnostic studies (anamnesis, PCR, clinical blood test, body temperature, discharge from the eyes and nasal cavity, the presence of lesions on the mucous membranes). PCR and clinical blood tests were performed on the day of the animal's treatment (to confirm the diagnosis), on the 5th and 10th days of treatment. During the study, the animals were examined by a veterinary specialist with documented clinical signs on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th days of treatment. The treatment regimen was the same for all animals and included the use of an antibacterial drug (sinulox) for 10 days according to the instructions; eye treatment with lotion (chamomile), eye ointment (tetracycline 1 %) ― 2 times a day,7 days. Group 1 (placebo) was administered an isotonic solution of sodium chloride, group 2 (experimental) was administered the drug «Forvet»®― in a dose of 1 ml, once a day, hypodermically for 10 days. Animals in a serious condition were additionally injected with a 5 % glucose solution ― 50 ml intravenously, once or twice a day, until the appearance of appetite. Results. Based on the analysis of the results of a multicenter randomized placebo-controlled study, the clinical effectiveness of the drug «Forvet»® ― a polysaccharide complex of the class of hexose glycosides as part of the complex therapy of cat herpesvirus infection (FHV pathogen) was established. In the treatment of rhinotracheitis in the group of animals that were used «Forvet»® observed faster elimination of the virus, the return of blood parameters to the limits of the physiological norm, a decrease in the severity of clinical signs of the disease by the fifth day and almost complete clinical recovery by the seventh day of treat
Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Some Condensed New Triazolopyrimidines
Authors: Vora Jatin , Vyas Kartik
Published: April 2020

An efficient synthesis of a novel compound series of 2-[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-4-(substitutedphenyl)-1,4-dihydropyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazole (Biginelli reaction) was accomplished from (E)-1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one and 1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-amine Microwave 25 minute heating after the product obtained another method Conventional 7 hrs, with 30 % KOH, Ethanol. Here (E)-1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3-(4-chlorophenyl)prop-2-en-1-one(Chalcone) is prepared by 1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)ethanone and different aldehyde with Claisen-Schimidt Condensation.All the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by infrared and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopic techniques and by elemental analyses. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their antibacterial and antifungal activity.
NFC Based Intelligent Bus Ticketing System
Authors: Hargude Rajshree , Kamthe Aarti , Badgujar Vinod
Published: April 2020

As the India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the Indian urban population has a large dependency on buses for public transport, providing importance of transport within urban/rural area throughout the country. In the public transport various problems are faced like traffic jam, confusion and misunderstanding between the passengers regarding fares, having several security problems in public transport due to antisocial elements, etc. For making the life more convenient for the computer travelling in buses some new technologies can be used like Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification. The proposed system is based on ticketing of bus and tracking of bus. The system suggests a automated ticketing system which will automatically cost will deduct the passengers fare according to the distance travelled.
Article Recommendation and Comics Story Representation for Twitter User Based Preferences
Authors: Vivekanandan S. , N Swathi.
Published: April 2020

Twitter is an interesting platform for the dissemination of news. The real-time nature and brevity of the tweets are conductive to sharing of information related to important events as they unfold.Numerous consumer reviews of topics are now available on the Internet. Automatically identifies the important aspects of topics from online consumer reviews. Our method provides an efficient way to accurately categorize comic topic recommendation without need of external data, enabling news organizations to discover breaking news in real-time, or to quickly identify viral memes that might enrich marketing decisions, among others. We filter the stream of incoming tweets to remove junk tweets using a text classification algorithm.We also compare the performance of different supervised SVM text classification algorithms for this task. This study concentrates on analyzing potential and dynamic user correlations, based on topic-aware similarity and behavioral influence, which may help us to discover communities in social networking sites.
Categorizing Effective Leadership Archetypal in Upsurging Job Motivation : A Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process
Authors: Danso Patrick Obeng , Kong Yusheng
Published: April 2020

Management and line managers in every organization including healthcare organizations have an important role to play in managing their subordinates to ensure that the organization can grow from time to time. Leadership theories stem from the onset in every organization and open fresh doors and contribute greatly to the success of the organization, thus starting from the organizational growth to the last point where it reflect the overall performance of the organization. The research used a purposive sampling technique and selected 10 private hospitals from Accra and Tema as a sample. A questionnaire was designed based on inductive reasoning. To ensure some homogeneity of social background, all subjects were selected purposively. The fuzzy TOPSIS analysis, shows that democratic leadership has the most proximity indicator with promotion of employees’ motivation scales among assessed leadership styles and is recommended as proposal option in organizations where expect leadership approach grounded in promoting employees’ motivation.
PROBLEMATIKA PEMBELAJARAN NAHWU BAGI TINGKAT PEMULA MENGGUNAKAN ARAB PEGON
Authors: Sa’adah Nailis
Published: April 2020

Nahwu learning, especially in scope of Islamic boarding school is connectedwell to classical book (Kitab Kuning). It also used translation method of ArabPegon. Thought nahwu learning is only media, the goal is relative. Nahwulearning should be based on learner ability. This article focuses on the sudy oflearning practices in Islamic boarding school. As the location of the case sudythe author highlighted the practice in the Ali Maksum’s Islamic boarding schoolKrapyak Yogyakarta. The approach in this sudy is qualitative research. This sudyconcluded that Nahwu learning for the beginner level using Arab Pegon metodhwas a problem in learning Arabic (Nahwu).
INTROVERSI DAN PENGUASAAN BERBAHASA ARAB AKTIF
Authors: Rahman Rifqi Aulia
Published: April 2020

Introversion is the self-closing attitude with others. This attitude arises not as timidand inferior in front of them, but it is intense and comfortable with himself andfeels enough of his qualities. Communication becomes a precious activity becausethe activity requires a subject outside itself. In the meantime, undersandingthe Arabic language requires someone to communicate eﬀectively with others,verbally or in writing. The majority of teachers or language insructors in the class,have a major task, meant to make sudents skilled in communicating. Good valuefor sudents who ask a lot of quesions, answers, discuss, brainsorm, do jobs, etc.Consequently, introversion is one of the psychological and social problems oflanguage learning, especially for Arabic.
Uniaxial Compression Fractal Damage Constitutive Model of Rock Subjected to Freezing and Thawing
Authors: Zhou Shengtao , Jiang Nan , Luo Xuedong , Fang Wen , He Xu
Published: April 2020

Mechanical properties of the rock in the cold regions are often affected by freeze-thaw cycles and loads. It is of great theoretical significance and engineering value to establish a uniaxial compression damage constitutive model of the rock under freeze-thaw cycles that can reflect the relationship between macroscopic and mesoscopic structural damage. In this paper, macroscopic and mesoscopic methods are combined with statistical methods to quantitatively analyze the damage degree of rock under freeze-thaw cycles and loads. Combined with the fractal features of the macroscopic image of the section, a fractal damage constitutive model considering the residual strength of rock is established. In addition, the model is subsequently verified by the experiment. The experiment shows that the mechanical properties of rocks subjected to freeze-thaw cycles and loads are determined by freeze-thaw damage variables, load damage variables, and their coupling effects. As the number of freeze-thaw cycles increases, the uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus of rocks decrease, and peak strain increases. By using the fractal dimension of the compression fracture surface as a bridge considering the residual strength of the rock, the constitutive model can better reflect the compaction stage, elastic deformation stage and plastic deformation stage of the uniaxial compression process of the freeze-thaw rocks.
Evaluation of the Impact of Spatial and Environmental Accident Factors on Severity Patterns of Road Segments
Authors: Ghadi Maen Qaseem , Török Árpád
Published: April 2020

Several studies have examined a wide range of accident risk factors affecting road safety. The purpose of this study is to examine the main traffic accident factors that affect the severity of road segments. The practical objective of the article is to assist specialists in identifying risk patterns both from a spatial and casualty point of view. To achieve the desired goals, accidents of a road network have been analyzed through three major steps; segmentation, black spot identification, and decision analysis. A new spatial clustering methodology has been used to divide accidents into smaller groups (or clusters) based on their spatial aggregations. The spatial characteristics are argued to be an important factor, in revealing the heterogeneity between accident data. Then, the empirical Bayesian has been applied to rank the resulted segments by severity level. During this step, the technique of decision rules has been applied to identify the main contributors to accidents in certain segments. The result shows that there is a significant relationship between the accident severity level and the traffic and geometrical characteristics (i.e. speed limits, average daily traffic, path shape) of road segments. The results also revealed that the closer the road to secure and non-hazardous road environmental conditions, the lower the risk level of the road segment.
Kewenangan Pemerintahan Desa Dalam Pengelolaan Wilayah Pesisir dan Pulau-Pulau Kecil
Authors: Saleh Moh
Published: April 2020

The village is the smallest organ in the constitutional structure in Indonesia weremoreawareof the condition andpotential of coastal areasandsmall islands in Indonesia. Therefor, Village Governmentdulyauthorized by theDistrictin the province ofEast Java in the utilizationand supervision to increaseutilization of coastal areasandsmall islands andmay affect for improvingrural welfare. Authorizingthe use andsupervision should be basedon thecriteriaspecified in article 8 GovernmentRegulation number 43/2014, Whichshould be directlyable toimprove servicesand community empowerment. Delegation ofauthorityon control and utilization to thecoastal areasandsmall islands must also complywith therequirements set out in Act 6/2014 and Act 27/2007. Keyword :Coastal AreasandSmall Islands, Delegation ofAuthority, Village Government.
Long-Term Effects of Enriched Environment on Neurofunctional Outcome and CNS Lesion Volume After Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats
Authors: MAEGELE M. , BRAUN M. , WAFAISADE A. , SCHÄFER N. , LIPPERT-GRUENER M. , KREIPKE C. , RAFOLS J. , SCHÄFER U. , ANGELOV D. N. , STUERMER E. K.
Published: April 2020

To determine whether the exposure to long term enriched environment (EE) would result in a continuous improvement of neurological recovery and ameliorate the loss of brain tissue after traumatic brain injury (TBI) vs. standard housing (SH). Male Sprague-Dawley rats (300-350 g, n=28) underwent lateral fluid percussion brain injury or SHAM operation. One TBI group was held under complex EE for 90 days, the other under SH. Neuromotor and sensorimotor dysfunction and recovery were assessed after injury and at days 7, 15, and 90 via Composite Neuroscore (NS), RotaRod test, and Barnes Circular Maze (BCM). Cortical tissue loss was assessed using serial brain sections. After day 7 EE animals showed similar latencies and errors as SHAM in the BCM. SH animals performed notably worse with differences still significant on day 90 (p<0.001). RotaRod test and NS revealed superior results for EE animals after day 7. The mean cortical volume was significantly higher in EE vs. SH animals (p=0.003). In summary, EE animals after lateral fluid percussion (LFP) brain injury performed significantly better than SH animals after 90 days of recovery. The window of opportunity may be wide and also lends further credibility to the importance of long term interventions in patients suffering from TBI.
Different Effects of 7-nitroindazole and L-NAME Administered Both Individually and Together on the Cardiovascular System of the Rat
Authors: KRISTEK F. , DROBNA M. , CACANYIOVA C.
Published: April 2020

We evaluated the effects of NG-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME) (50 mg/kg/day) and 7-nitroindazole (7NI) (10 mg/kg/day) administered from 10th-16th week of age either individually or together on cardiovascular system of Wistar rats and SHR. Systolic blood pressure (sBP) was measured weekly by the plethysmographic method. For morphological studies, the animals (n=10) were perfused with a fixative (120 mm Hg), and thoracic aorta and carotid and coronary arteries were processed for electron microscopy. For functional investigation (n=10), aortic rings were used in an organ bath. In Wistar rats, L-NAME evoked an increase of sBP; hypertrophy of the heart and arterial walls; an increase in cross-sectional areas (CSA) of endothelial cells (EC), muscle cells (SMC), extracellular matrix (ECM), and a decrease in acetylcholine-induced endothelial-dependent relaxation (EDR). 7NI evoked sBP-independent hypotrophy of the heart and arterial walls, a decrease in CSA of EC and SMC without affecting the CSA of ECM, and a mild decrease in acetylcholine-induced EDR. 7NI and L-NAME administered together evoked lower effect on BP and trophicity of the heart and all arteries, and a similar decrease in acetylcholine-induced EDR compared to L-NAME alone. In SHR, 7NI did not evoke any effect on the studied parameters.
Quality Evaluation of Potato Tubers Using Neural Image Analysis Method
Authors: Przybylak Andrzej , Kozłowski Radosław , Osuch Ewa , Osuch Andrzej , Rybacki Piotr , Przygodziński Przemysław
Published: April 2020

This paper describes the research aimed at developing an effective quality assessment method for potato tubers using neural image analysis techniques. Nowadays, the methods used to identify damage and diseases are time-consuming, require specialized knowledge, and often rely on subjective judgment. This study showed the use of the developed neural model as a tool supporting the evaluation of potato tubers during the sorting process in the storage room.
Alpha and Beta-diversity of Microbial Communities Associated to Plant Disease Suppressive Functions of On-farm Green Composts
Authors: Pane Catello , Sorrentino Roberto , Scotti Riccardo , Molisso Marcella , Di Matteo Antonio , Celano Giuseppe , Zaccardelli Massimo
Published: April 2020

Green waste composts are obtained from agricultural production chains; their suppressive properties are increasingly being developed as a promising biological control option in the management of soil-borne phytopathogens. The wide variety of microbes harbored in the compost ecological niches may regulate suppressive functions through not yet fully known underlying mechanisms. This study investigates alpha- and beta-diversity of the compost microbial communities, as indicators of the biological features. Our green composts displayed a differential pattern of suppressiveness over the two assayed pathosystems. Fungal and bacterial densities, as well as catabolic and enzyme functionalities did not correlate with the compost control efficacy on cress disease. Differences in the suppressive potential of composts can be better predicted by the variations in the community levels of physiological profiles indicating that functional alpha-diversity is more predictive than that which is calculated on terminal restriction fragments length polymorphisms (T-RFLPs) targeting the 16S rRNA gene. However, beta-diversity described by nMDS analysis of the Bray–Curtis dissimilarity allowed for separating compost samples into distinct functionally meaningful clusters and indicated that suppressiveness could be regulated by selected groups of microorganisms as major deterministic mechanisms. This study contributes to individuating new suitable characterization procedures applicable to the suppressive green compost chain.
Use of Aloe Vera Gel-Based Edible Coating with Natural Anti-Browning and Anti-Oxidant Additives to Improve Post-Harvest Quality of Fresh-Cut ‘Fuji’ Apple
Authors: Farina Vittorio , Passafiume Roberta , Tinebra Ilenia , Palazzolo Eristanna , Sortino Giuseppe
Published: April 2020

Recently, there is increasing use of edible and biodegradable films and packaging that are both environmentally friendly and functional for storage and market distribution. Fresh-cut ‘Fuji’ apples, harvested in an organic farm, were treated, using a spraying technique, with three new edible coatings based on Aloe vera gel (AVG—40% v/w) and in combination with natural additives: lemon essential oil (LEO—1% v/w) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC—0.1% v/w) and compared with untreated sample (CTR), the physicochemical and sensory characteristics and the proximate compounds were evaluated. During cold storage, weight loss, soluble solids content, and color of uncoated slices were reduced, while softening, ripening, browning, and acidity were accelerated. In contrast, the AVG/HPMC treatment significantly delayed the above parameters related to post-harvest quality loss, while the AVG/LEO treatment delayed the browning processes, maintaining an excellent color during cold storage. Concerning proximate compounds, the treatments did not alter their concentration in the fruit tissues. Sensory analyses revealed no detrimental effect on taste, aroma, or flavor. Our data evidenced the positive effect of Aloe vera gel in combination with LEO and HPMC on fresh-cut apple quality as an innovative and sustainable technique to maintain fresh-cut apple quality.
A Wild Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.), Thouars, IBS 3471, for Improved Insect-Resistance in Cultivated Pigeonpea
Authors: Ngugi-Dawit Abigail , Hoang Thi My Linh , Williams Brett , Higgins Thomas J.V. , Mundree Sagadevan G.
Published: April 2020

Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.), Thouars, is the closest wild crop relative of cultivated pigeonpea, Cajanus cajan (L.), Millspaugh. This wild pigeonpea has several insect-resistance mechanisms, particularly to Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner). Estimated economic losses in the semi-arid tropics from H. armigera damage in pigeonpea are approximately two billion USD/year. Therefore, it is imperative to improve pest resistance in this crop. In this study, we investigated insect-resistance components in IBS 3471, a C. scarabaeoides accession, and explored the possibility of transferring resistance mechanism/s to cultivated pigeonpea. A detached leaf bioassay revealed that IBS 3471 has more effective antibiosis and antixenosis resistance mechanisms against H. armigera compared to the susceptible C. cajan variety, ICPL 87. To further investigate the antibiosis resistance mechanism, we fed H. armigera larvae a heated and non-heated artificial diet supplemented with lyophilised IBS 3471 leaf powder. Incorporation of IBS 3471 leaf powder inhibited H. armigera larval weight and delayed larval development compared to larvae reared on diet supplemented with ICPL 87 leaf powder. The putative insect-resistance compounds in C. scarabaeoides were heat-labile. Proteomic analysis revealed higher levels of potential insecticidal proteins, namely lectin and cysteine proteinase inhibitor, in wild pigeonpea compared to the cultivated variety. Nutritional analysis and interspecific hybridisation experiments also indicated that IBS 3471 is a potential candidate for improvement of insect-resistance in pigeonpea. This study demonstrates that IBS 3471 has multiple resistance mechanisms against H. armigera, and they are transferable to cultivated pigeonpea.
The Effect of Fertilization with Sulphur, Boron, and Amino Acids on the Content of Glucosinolate in Winter Rape Seeds
Authors: Gugała Marek , Sikorska Anna , Zarzecka Krystyna
Published: April 2020

The study was carried out in 2016–2019 at the Zawady Agricultural Experimental Station (52°03’ N and 22°33’ E) belonging to the University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in Siedlce, in Poland. The field experiment was established in a split-plot design with three replicates. The studied factors were: I. Three winter rape morphotypes: population morphotype (Monolit variety); restored morphotype with traditional growth type (PT248 variety); restored morphotype with a semi-dwarf growth type (PX115 variety); II. Types of foliar nutrition: (1) control variant—sprayed with water, without foliar nutrition and amino acids; (2) biostimulant Aminoplant; (3) foliar fertilizer Siarkomag + foliar fertilizer Bormax; (4) foliar fertilizer Siarkomag + foliar fertilizer Bormax + biostimulant Aminoplant. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of foliar application of sulphur, boron, and amino acids on the content of glucosinolates in seeds of three winter rape morphotypes (Monolit, PX115, and PT248). The foliar feeding applied reduced the feed value of winter rape seeds. On treatments (2, 4), where only amino acids were used or in addition in combination with sulphur and boron, the increase in glucosinolate concentration (GLS) was the largest. Regardless of the type of foliar fertilization used, the Monolit variety contained the lowest concentration of these compounds. The content of glucosinolates in rapeseeds of the studied cultivars varied during the years of the experiment. Studies have shown that the value of this feature increased with the growth of water stress occurring before harvest.
The Dependence of Spontaneous Charge Generation in Water on its Flow Rate in a Flow-Based Analytical System
Authors: Ivanov Yuri D. , Kozlov Andrey F. , Galiullin Rafael A. , Valueva Anastasia A. , Pleshakova Tatyana O.
Published: April 2020

Highly sensitive biosensor systems are particularly sensitive to the charge state of an analyte. This charge state can have either a positive (for instance, in case of increasing the efficiency of fishing of low-abundant proteins) or negative effect (for instance, in case of the appearance of charge jumps upon the injection of analyte solution into a measuring cell, what can cause undesirable parasitic signals). Previously, it was demonstrated that upon the pumping of analyte solution through polymeric communications of biosensors with a peristaltic pump at a low (~1 mL/min) flow rate, an accumulation of charge, transferred by the liquid drops from the feeding system into the measuring cell, is observed. At this point, the time dependence of charge accumulation has a linear-stepwise form. In the present study, the influence of the flow rate of water on the parameters of the time dependence of the accumulation of charge in such a system—including the influence on the stepwise charge accumulation—has been investigated. The measurements have been performed with a highly sensitive electrometer sensor at 38 °C, which corresponds to a pathological state of a human body. It has been found that a linear-stepwise time dependence of charge accumulation is observed in a wide range of water flow rates (V= 0.9 to 7.2 mL/min). At that point, upon increasing the flow rate with the transition from the drop-by-drop mode of water supply (0.9 mL/min) to the jet flow (7.2 mL/min), an increase in the absolute value of accumulated charge is observed, but the magnitude of the charge jumps does not change significantly. Thus, the amount of charge accumulated in the cell ambiguously depends on the water flow rate—i.e., this dependence can be non-linear. Accounting for the discovered phenomenon is important in the development of new, more accurate models describing physicochemical properties of aqueous solutions and hemodynamics. This effect should also be taken into account in the development of highly sensitive diagnostic systems intended for the detection of single biomarkers of pathologies in humans and crops, as well as in other living systems. In low-concentration systems, the occurrence of a charge can become a significant factor affecting the efficiency of detection of biomolecules and the reliability of the data obtained. The detection of biomolecules present in the solution at low concentrations is in high demand in medical diagnostics for the revelation of biomarkers at the early asymptomatic stage of various diseases, including aggressive forms of cancer.
Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Detection of Ethane in the Near-IR Exploiting a Highly Performant Spectrophone
Authors: Sgobba Fabrizio , Menduni Giansergio , Dello Russo Stefano , Sampaolo Angelo , Patimisco Pietro , Giglio Marilena , Ranieri Ezio , Passaro Vittorio M. N. , Tittel Frank K. , Spagnolo Vincenzo
Published: April 2020

In this paper the performances of two spectrophones for quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS)-based ethane gas sensing were tested and compared. Each spectrophone contains a quartz tuning fork (QTF) acoustically coupled with a pair of micro-resonator tubes and having a fundamental mode resonance frequency of 32.7 kHz (standard QTF) and 12.4 kHz (custom QTF), respectively. The spectrophones were implemented into a QEPAS acoustic detection module (ADM) together with a preamplifier having a gain bandwidth optimized for the respective QTF resonance frequency. Each ADM was tested for ethane QEPAS sensing, employing a custom pigtailed laser diode emitting at ~1684 nm as the exciting light source. By flowing 1% ethane at atmospheric pressure, a signal-to-noise ratio of 453.2 was measured by implementing the 12.4 kHz QTF-based ADM, ~3.3 times greater than the value obtained using a standard QTF. The minimum ethane concentration detectable using a 100 ms lock-in integration time achieving the 12.4 kHz custom QTF was 22 ppm.
Special Issue on Digital Audio Effects
Authors: Välimäki Vesa , Fontana Federico
Published: April 2020

Digital audio effects (DAFx) play a constantly increasing role in music, which inspires their design and is branded in its turn by their peculiar action [...]
Classification of Urban Road Traffic Noise based on Sound Energy and Eventfulness Indicators
Authors: Brambilla Giovanni , Benocci Roberto , Confalonieri Chiara , Roman Hector Eduardo , Zambon Giovanni
Published: April 2020

Noise energetic indicators, like Lden, show good correlations with long term annoyance, but should be supplemented by other parameters describing the sound fluctuations, which are very common in urban areas and negatively impact noise annoyance. Thus, in this paper, the hourly values of continuous equivalent level LAeqh and the intermittency ratio (IR) were both considered to describe the urban road traffic noise, monitored in 90 sites in the city of Milan and covering different types of road, from motorways to local roads. The noise data have been processed by clustering methods to detect similarities and to figure out a criterion to classify the urban sites taking into account both equivalent noise levels and road traffic noise events. Two clusters were obtained and, considering the cluster membership of each site, the decimal logarithm of the day-time (06:00–22:00) traffic flow was used to associate each new road with the clusters. In particular, roads with average day-time hourly traffic flow ≥1900 vehicles/hour were associated with the cluster with high traffic flow. The described methodology could be fruitfully applied on road traffic noise data in other cities.
Efficiency Improvement Strategy for Multiple Operating Points in Doubly Fed Magnetic Geared Motor
Authors: Shin Homin , Chang Junghwan
Published: April 2020

The doubly fed magnetic geared motor, which has dual AC windings, can be operated with different frequencies in the inner and outer windings. However, the inner and outer windings have different numbers of pole pairs to meet the pole combination derived by the magnetic gearing effect, and hence undesirable space harmonic components of the magnetic flux are produced at the air gaps. These space harmonics affect the iron losses at each core, and the resultant iron loss and efficiency are varied by the frequencies of the inner and outer windings. Thus, in this paper, first, the effect of the space harmonic components of the air gap magnetic flux density in the inner stator, outer stator, and the modulating pieces is separately investigated. In addition, the iron loss characteristics of each ferromagnetic material are presented according to the frequency combinations in the inner and outer windings. Secondly, the iron loss maps and the efficiency maps according to the frequency conditions of the inner and outer windings are drawn, and the causes of the characteristic differences in each map are analyzed. Thirdly, the frequency control sequence and the roles of the inner and outer windings as the armature and field parts are changed, and the analysis of the iron loss map and efficiency map is repeated. Finally, the results in the inner-armature case and the outer-armature case are compared with each other, and the possibility of improving the overall operating efficiency over the multiple operating points by using the individual frequency control and frequency combination selection is proved.
Managing Energy Plus Performance in Data Centers and Battery-Based Devices Using an Online Non-Clairvoyant Speed-Bounded Multiprocessor Scheduling
Authors: Singh Pawan , Khan Baseem , Mahela Om Prakash , Haes Alhelou Hassan , Hayek Ghassan
Published: April 2020

An efficient scheduling reduces the time required to process the jobs, and energy management decreases the service cost as well as increases the lifetime of a battery. A balanced trade-off between the energy consumed and processing time gives an ideal objective for scheduling jobs in data centers and battery based devices. An online multiprocessor scheduling multiprocessor with bounded speed (MBS) is proposed in this paper. The objective of MBS is to minimize the importance-based flow time plus energy (IbFt+E), wherein the jobs arrive over time and the job’s sizes are known only at completion time. Every processor can execute at a different speed, to reduce the energy consumption. MBS is using the tradition power function and bounded speed model. The functioning of MBS is evaluated by utilizing potential function analysis against an offline adversary. For processors m ≥ 2, MBS is O(1)-competitive. The working of a set of jobs is simulated to compare MBS with the best known non-clairvoyant scheduling. The comparative analysis shows that the MBS outperforms other algorithms. The competitiveness of MBS is the least to date.
Soft Computing Ensemble Models Based on Logistic Regression for Groundwater Potential Mapping
Authors: Nguyen Phong Tung , Ha Duong Hai , Avand Mohammadtaghi , Jaafari Abolfazl , Nguyen Huu Duy , Al-Ansari Nadhir , Van Phong Tran , Sharma Rohit , Kumar Raghvendra , Le Hiep Van , Ho Lanh Si , Prakash Indra , Pham Binh Thai
Published: April 2020

Groundwater potential maps are one of the most important tools for the management of groundwater storage resources. In this study, we proposed four ensemble soft computing models based on logistic regression (LR) combined with the dagging (DLR), bagging (BLR), random subspace (RSSLR), and cascade generalization (CGLR) ensemble techniques for groundwater potential mapping in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam. A suite of well yield data and twelve geo-environmental factors (aspect, elevation, slope, curvature, Sediment Transport Index, Topographic Wetness Index, flow direction, rainfall, river density, soil, land use, and geology) were used for generating the training and validation datasets required for the building and validation of the models. Based on the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and several other validation methods (negative predictive value, positive predictive value, root mean square error, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and Kappa), it was revealed that all four ensemble learning techniques were successful in enhancing the validation performance of the base LR model. The ensemble DLR model (AUC = 0.77) was the most successful model in identifying the groundwater potential zones in the study area, followed by the RSSLR (AUC = 0.744), BLR (AUC = 0.735), CGLR (AUC = 0.715), and single LR model (AUC = 0.71), respectively. The models developed in this study and the resulting potential maps can assist decision-makers in the development of effective adaptive groundwater management plans.
Segmentation of River Scenes Based on Water Surface Reflection Mechanism
Authors: Yu Jie , Lin Youxin , Zhu Yanni , Xu Wenxin , Hou Dibo , Huang Pingjie , Zhang Guangxin
Published: April 2020

Segmentation of a river scene is a representative case of complex image segmentation. Different from road segmentation, river scenes often have unstructured boundaries and contain complex light and shadow on the water’s surface. According to the imaging mechanism of water pixels, this paper designed a water description feature based on a multi-block local binary pattern (MB-LBP) and Hue variance in HSI color space to detect the water region in the image. The improved Local Binary Pattern (LBP) feature was used to recognize the water region and the local texture descriptor in HSI color space using Hue variance was used to detect the shadow area of the river surface. Tested on two data sets including simple and complex river scenes, the proposed method has better segmentation performance and consumes less time than those of two other widely used methods.
Determination of Solidification of Rigidity Point Temperature Using a New Method
Authors: Villanueva Ester , Vicario Iban , Sánchez Jon Mikel , Crespo Ignacio
Published: April 2020

This work aims to calculate the rigidity point temperature of aluminum alloys by three new methods and compare them with currently employed methods. The influence of major and minor alloying elements over the rigidity point temperature is also discussed. Until now it has been difficult to determine the exact temperature of the rigidity point, since small variations in the data obtained give variable results, making it difficult to automate the process with high accuracy. In this work we suggested three new mathematic methods based on the calculation of higher order derivatives of (dT/dt) with respect to time or temperature compared to those currently employed. A design of experiments based on the Taguchi method was employed to compare the effect of the major and minor alloying elements for the AlSi10Mg alloy, and to evaluate the accuracy of each developed method. Therefore, these systems will allow better automation of rigidity point temperature (RPT) determination, which is one of the most important solidification parameters for solidification simulators. The importance of the correct determination of this parameter lies in its relation to quality problems related to solidification, such as hot tearing. If the RPT presents very low-temperature values, the aluminum casting will be more sensitive to hot tearing, promoting the presence of cracks during the solidification process. This is why it is so important to correctly determine the temperature of the RPT. An adequate design of chemical composition by applying the methodology and the novel methods proposed in this work, and also the optimization of process parameters of the whole casting process with the help of the integrated computational modeling, will certainly help to decrease any internal defective by predicting one of the most important defects present in the aluminum industry.