bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of bacterial ureolysis for improved gelation of silica sol in rock grouting
Authors: Maclachlan E. , EL Mountassir G. , Lunn R. J.
Published: January 2014

Low pH silica-based grouts suitable for penetrating fine-aperture fractures are increasingly being developed for use in engineering applications. Silica sol has an initial low viscosity; mixing with an accelerator destabilises the suspension, producing a gel. The reported study investigated the influence of sodium, calcium and ammonium chloride accelerators on gel time, rate of gelation and shear strength of the resulting gel. For the first time, the potential use of bacterial ureolysis as an accelerator for the destabilisation of silica sol was also explored. This study demonstrates that bacterial ureolysis can be used to control the gelation of silica sol. The rate of ureolysis increases with increasing bacterial density, resulting in faster gel times and higher rates of gelation. In addition, for grouts with similar gel times, using bacterial ureolysis to induce destabilisation results in a higher rate of gelation, a higher final shear strength and a more uniform gel than direct addition of the corresponding chemical accelerator. These results suggest that bacterial ureolysis could potentially be used in rock grouting to achieve long gel times and hence greater penetration, while also maintaining sufficiently rapid gelation to minimise issues related to fingering and erosion of the fresh grout.
Sustainable operational lane capacity for highways
Authors: Tenekeci Goktug , Wainaina Simon , Askew Ian , Mohammad Adil
Published: January 2014

The concept of capacity plays a fundamental role within the transportation profession since it is applied in planning, design and operational condition of virtually every road. This paper reports on an in-depth statistical analysis has been carried out for 160 sites across the UK strategic motorway network and 32 sites for trunk roads data to produce a reliable estimation of sustainable lane capacity. Geometric parameters and traffic conditions impacting on capacity have been taken into consideration. The formulation of capacity for motorways and trunk roads has then been produced. The deviation between the link capacities has been found to be significant. It is also found that a number of geometric and locational factors are the explanation to the variations. It is concluded that the average sustainable capacity of a motorway lane is 1780 vehicles/h (2000 passenger car unit per hour with a standard deviation of 130 vehicles/h). The trunk road capacity is evaluated as 1520 vehicles/h with a standard deviation of 170 vehicle/h.
Comparison of speaker dependent and speaker independent emotion recognition
Authors: Rybka Jan , Janicki Artur
Published: January 2014

This paper describes a study of emotion recognition based on speech analysis. The introduction to the theory contains a review of emotion inventories used in various studies of emotion recognition as well as the speech corpora applied, methods of speech parametrization, and the most commonly employed classification algorithms. In the current study the EMO-DB speech corpus and three selected classifiers, the k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN), the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs), were used in experiments. SVMs turned out to provide the best classification accuracy of 75.44% in the speaker dependent mode, that is, when speech samples from the same speaker were included in the training corpus. Various speaker dependent and speaker independent configurations were analyzed and compared. Emotion recognition in speaker dependent conditions usually yielded higher accuracy results than a similar but speaker independent configuration. The improvement was especially well observed if the base recognition ratio of a given speaker was low. Happiness and anger, as well as boredom and neutrality, proved to be the pairs of emotions most often confused.
EFFECT OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES FORMED BY BACCILUS COAGULANS TI ON THE GROWTH OF CROPS
Authors: Lisitskaya Tatiana , Trosheva Tatiana
Published: January 2014

The influence of cultural liquid of bacteria, Bacillus coagulans TI on the growth of several crops are studded. It was established that during the submerged cultivation on glucose-peptone medium these bacteria form gibberellins and amino acids. Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with diluted cultural liquid causes the stimulation of plants growth and improves the quality of plant biomass.
More on Divisibility Criteria for Selected Primes
Authors: Naumowicz Adam , Piliszek Radosław
Published: January 2014

This paper is a continuation of [19], where the divisibility criteria for initial prime numbers based on their representation in the decimal system were formalized. In the current paper we consider all primes up to 101 to demonstrate the method presented in [7].
Alternative method for measuring beeswax content in propolis from the Netherlands
Authors: Hogendoorn Elbert A. , Sommeijer Marinus J. , Vredenbregt Marjo J.
Published: January 2014

A convenient method has been developed for the separation and determination of beeswax in propolis from beehives located in the Netherlands. The method is based on differences in specific density and involves the adding of water and microwave heating of a propolis sample. After cooling to room temperature, the resulting three phase system provides a full separation of the beeswax from the propolis in the upper layer. This layer can easily be collected to quantify the authentic beeswax content of the raw propolis sample. Confirmation of the identity of beeswax isolated from propolis with this procedure, was obtained using Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIR).

Propolis samples from 27 Dutch apiaries from various locations were analyzed using this method. The beeswax content varied between 1.0 and 42.5% with an average of 11.1%. This method may also serve for the de-waxing of raw propolis prior to the isolation of biologically active compounds to be used in medicinal products.
EFFECT OF GARLIC EXTRACT ON SEED GERMINATION, SEEDLING HEALTH, AND VIGOUR OF PATHOGEN-INFESTED WHEAT
Authors: Perelló Analía , Gruhlke Martin , Slusarenko Alan J.
Published: January 2014

The effect of garlic extract containing bioactive allicin on the germination and subsequent seedling vigour of pathogeninfested wheat seeds, was tested. The first aim was to characterize the antifungal activities of garlic extract and pure allicin, on the most frequently occurring wheat pathogens of the Helminthosporium genus (sensu lato) in Argentina. The second aim was to characterize the antifungal activities of garlic extract and pure allicin on moulds belonging to the natural endogenous microflora. Garlic extract showed fungicidal activity on the endogenous fungal contamination of the wheat seeds and particularly reduced the degree of disease caused by Bipolaris sorokiniana and Drechslera tritici-repentis. Allicin in garlic juice corrected the poor germination of wheat seeds caused by natural mycoflora of grain. Growth promoting activities of garlic juice on wheat seedling vigour was reported. Interestingly, the inoculum on naturally infected wheat seeds could be reduced with garlic juice as a seed dressing biofungicide, before sowing. In this study, we demonstrated the efficacy and the high control potential of garlic extract against seed-borne wheat fungi. Such results suggest that using garlic extract can minimise the risk of infection as well as minimise the risk of chemical fungicide exposure. On the basis of these results, scale-up to field trials using garlic extract and allicin as the dressing biofungicide before sowing for disinfection of wheat seeds, seems justified as a sustainable alternative to the use of chemical fungicides.
Intra-arterial chemotherapy for retinoblastoma: a practical review
Authors: Balderrama Jorge , Leal-Leal Carlos A. , Alvis-Miranda Hernando , Lee Angel , Zenteno Marco , Moscote-Salazar Luis Rafael
Published: January 2014

The use of chemotherapy for retinoblastoma constitutes a promising treatment strategy. Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in the childhood.. Treatment depends on the laterality, intraocular location and tumor extension. Radiation therapy became an important element in the management of this type of injury risk of extraocular secondary tumor development. Eye salvage is mandatory when vision preserved. The current neuroendovascular techniques constitute a therapeutic tool for these tumors. We present a practical review of current concepts in the management of these tumors.
Intracranial-extracranial meningioma mimicking an aggressive skull bone tumor
Authors: Agrawal Amit , Mohan K.V. Murali , Shanthi Vissa , Reddy Umamaheshwar
Published: January 2014

Intracranial meningiomas with extracranial extension are rare lesions with only few reported cases in literature. In present article we report a case of 62 year male patient presented with progressive swelling over right side frontal region of 2 year duration. In our case the tumor was in close proximity to right fronto-parietal suture and there was a possibility that suture line could have paved the way for its extracranial spread and also there was evidence of transdiploic extension on histopatholgical examination.
Ultrasonic and Lewis acid ionic liquid catalytic system for Kabachnik-Fields reaction
Authors: Rostamnia Sadegh , Amini Mojtaba
Published: January 2014

A combination of ultrasonic (US) and [bmim]AlCl4 ionic liquid is used as an alternative to conventional acid catalysts in the Kabachnik-Fields reaction of an amine and aryl aldehyde with phosphite leading to the formation of aminophosphonates. The reaction time was significantly reduced and the reaction progressed very smoothly.
Rapid determination of fosetyl-aluminium in commercial pesticide formulations by high-performance liquid chromatography
Authors: Karasali Helen , Kasiotis Konstantinos , Machera Kyriaki
Published: January 2014

An isocratic reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method with diode array detection (DAD) was developed for the determination of aluminium tris(ethyl phosphonate) (fosetyl-aluminium, fosetyl-Al) in plant-protection products. The method involves extraction of the active ingredient by sonication of the sample with water and direct measurement by RPHPLC. The isocratic RP-HPLC method for the analysis of fosetyl-Al thus developed was then validated for specificity, linearity, precision, and accuracy. The chromatographic peak confirmation was performed by LC-MS using electron spray ionisation in the negative-ion mode. The repeatability of the method, expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD, %), was found to be 0.5 % and the limit of detection was 0.035 mg mL−1. The average recoveries of the three fortification levels varied from 96.7 % to 100.6 % and the RSDs ranged between 2.6 % and 6.3 %. The precision of the method was also considered to be acceptable as the experimental repeatability relative standard deviation (RSDr) was lower than the RSDr, calculated using the Horwitz equation. The method is rapid, simple, accurate, cost-effective, and provides a new and reliable means for the analysis of fosetyl-Al in formulated products.
TEACHING AND LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR LEGAL PURPOSES IN CROATIA
Authors: Kordić Ljubica , Cigan Vesna
Published: January 2014

In accordance with the Bologna Declaration, modern languages and communication skills have a growing importance in all professions. With the prospect of Croatian membership of the EU and taking into consideration the conditions of the growing internationalization of law in general, knowledge of foreign languages represents an indispensable prerequisite for international com- munication within the legal profession. Thus, teaching foreign languages in the field of law, especially English and German, is necessary not only for the pro- fessional education of Croatian law students, but also for their mobility within the network of European universities. This paper presents a case-study of the current situation in teaching Legal English and Legal German in Croatian Law Schools. First, the status of foreign languages for specific purposes (FLSP) in the Higher Education System of the Republic of Croatia in general is analyzed. The main part of the paper is dedicated to teaching Legal English and / or Legal German as compulsory courses within the curricula of Croatian law faculties (status, syllabus design, teaching methods). Then some projects on teaching foreign languages to practicing lawyers will be presented. With the prospect of Croatian membership of the EU, specific education programmes for lawyer- linguists have been introduced by the Law Faculties of Zagreb and Osijek. These programmes, developed within the lifelong education project for lawyers, offer an opportunity for Croatian law students and young lawyers not only to im- prove their knowledge of Legal English and Legal German, but also to learn other languages of the EU, like French or Italian. These new programmes are the response of Croatian foreign language teachers to the current requirements of the European labour market and the challenges of the internationalization of the modern world.
LATIN MAXIMS AND PHRASES IN THE POLISH, ENGLISH AND FRENCH LEGAL SYSTEMS – THE COMPARATIVE STUDY
Authors: Gałuskina Ksenia , Sycz Joanna
Published: January 2014

The aim of this research paper is to examine Latin in the context of legal translation between the Polish, English and French languages. Latin ap- pears in contemporary legal discourse in the form of maxims, short phrases and terms. Even though it constitutes an integral element of legal drafting, Latin often attracts little attention from legal translators. It is falsely assumed that Latin elements of the text do not require translation due to several miscon- ceptions related to the Latin language. Firstly, Latin is generally perceived as a global language with no local variations in form. Secondly, Latin is believed to be the universal point of reference in international communication (which is true only in the case of the natural sciences). Thirdly, Latin legal phrases or maxims are thought to originate solely from Roman law, thus they express only Roman legal thought.

In the first part of the paper we will address the above issues. To this end, we will briefly discuss the historical presence of Latin in the European lin- guistic context. We will then present the results of our research into the use of Latinisms in the Polish, French and English legal systems. The subject of our research was a set of twenty Latin maxims and phrases that frequently appear in the decisions of the Polish courts. During the first stage of the analysis, the items in question were verified in Legalis (the on-line service devoted to Polish law). The second stage of the research involved the consultation of monolingual dictionaries of French and English legal language to verify the universal charac- ter of the analyzed Latinisms. During the third stage of the analysis, we looked at the practical use of Latinisms in online databases of legal texts (Dalloz.fr, Westlaw International). The paper concludes with some comments on Latinisms in lexicographical publications and online sources.
Implementation and Control of a Residential Electrothermal Microgrid Based on Renewable Energies, a Hybrid Storage System and Demand Side Management
Authors: Pascual Julio , Sanchis Pablo , Marroyo Luis
Published: January 2014

This paper proposes an energy management strategy for a residential electrothermal microgrid, based on renewable energy sources. While grid connected, it makes use of a hybrid electrothermal storage system, formed by a battery and a hot water tank along with an electrical water heater as a controllable load, which make possible the energy management within the microgrid. The microgrid emulates the operation of a single family home with domestic hot water (DHW) consumption, a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system as well as the typical electric loads. An energy management strategy has been designed which optimizes the power exchanged with the grid profile in terms of peaks and fluctuations, in applications with high penetration levels of renewables. The proposed energy management strategy has been evaluated and validated experimentally in a full scale residential microgrid built in our Renewable Energy Laboratory, by means of continuous operation under real conditions. The results show that the combination of electric and thermal storage systems with controllable loads is a promising technology that could maximize the penetration level of renewable energies in the electric system.
Energy Transfer between Er3+ and Pr3+ for 2.7 μm Fiber Laser Material
Authors: Li Xiangtan , Yang Binhua , Zhang Junjie , Hu Lili , Zhang Liyan
Published: January 2014

Energy transfer mechanisms between Er3+ and Pr3+ in Er3+/Pr3+ codoped germinate glass are investigated in detail. Under 980 nm LD pumping, 2.7 μm fluorescence intensity enhanced greatly. Meanwhile, 1.5 μm lifetime and fluorescence were suppressed deeply due to the efficient energy transfer from Er3+:4I13/2 to Pr3+:3F3,4, which depopulates the 4I13/2 level and promotes the 2.7 μm transition effectively. The obvious change in J-O parameters indicates that Pr3+ influences the local environment of Er3+ significantly. The increased spontaneous radiative probability in Er3+/Pr3+ glass is further evidence for enhanced 4I11/2 → 4I13/2 transition. The Er3+:4I11/2→Pr3+:1G4 process is harmful to the population accumulation on 4I11/2 level, which inhibits the 2.7 μm emission. The microscopic energy transfer coefficient of Er3+:4I13/2→Pr3+:3F3,4 is 42.25 × 10−40 cm6/s, which is 11.5 times larger than that of Er3+:4I11/2→Pr3+:1G4. Both processes prefer to be non-phonon assisted, which is the main reason why Pr3+ is so efficient in Er3+:2.7 μm emission.
Molecular Typing of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli Isolated from Various Retail Meats by MLST and PFGE
Authors: Noormohamed Aneesa , Fakhr Mohamed
Published: January 2014

Campylobacter species are one of the leading causes of foodborne disease in the United States. Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are the two main species of concern to human health and cause approximately 95% of human infections. Molecular typing methods, such as pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) are often used to source track foodborne bacterial pathogens. The aim of the present study was to compare PFGE and MLST in typing strains of C. jejuni and C. coli that were isolated from different Oklahoma retail meat sources. A total of 47 Campylobacter isolates (28 C. jejuni and 19 C. coli) isolated from various retail meat samples (beef, beef livers, pork, chicken, turkey, chicken livers, and chicken gizzards) were subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). PFGE was able to group the 47 Campylobacter isolates into two major clusters (one for C. jejuni and one for C. coli) but failed to differentiate the isolates according to their source. MLST revealed 21 different sequence types (STs) that belonged to eight different clonal complexes. Twelve of the screened Campylobacter isolates (8 C. jejuni and 4 C. coli) did not show any defined STs. All the defined STs of C. coli isolates belonged to ST-828 complex. The majority of C. jejuni isolates belonged to ST-353, ST-607, ST-52, ST-61, and ST-21 complexes. It is worthy to mention that, while the majority of Campylobacter isolates in this study showed STs that are commonly associated with human infections along with other sources, most of the STs from chicken livers were solely reported in human cases. In conclusion, retail meat Campylobacter isolates tested in this study particularly those from chicken livers showed relatedness to STs commonly associated with humans. Molecular typing, particularly MLST, proved to be a helpful tool in suggesting this relatedness to Campylobacter human isolates.
Disease Mapping and Regression with Count Data in the Presence of Overdispersion and Spatial Autocorrelation: A Bayesian Model Averaging Approach
Authors: Mohebbi Mohammadreza , Wolfe Rory , Forbes Andrew
Published: January 2014

This paper applies the generalised linear model for modelling geographical variation to esophageal cancer incidence data in the Caspian region of Iran. The data have a complex and hierarchical structure that makes them suitable for hierarchical analysis using Bayesian techniques, but with care required to deal with problems arising from counts of events observed in small geographical areas when overdispersion and residual spatial autocorrelation are present. These considerations lead to nine regression models derived from using three probability distributions for count data: Poisson, generalised Poisson and negative binomial, and three different autocorrelation structures. We employ the framework of Bayesian variable selection and a Gibbs sampling based technique to identify significant cancer risk factors. The framework deals with situations where the number of possible models based on different combinations of candidate explanatory variables is large enough such that calculation of posterior probabilities for all models is difficult or infeasible. The evidence from applying the modelling methodology suggests that modelling strategies based on the use of generalised Poisson and negative binomial with spatial autocorrelation work well and provide a robust basis for inference.
Towards Automated Binding Affinity Prediction Using an Iterative Linear Interaction Energy Approach
Authors: Vosmeer C. Ruben , Pool René , Van Stee Mariël , Perić-Hassler Lovorka , Vermeulen Nico , Geerke Daan
Published: January 2014

Binding affinity prediction of potential drugs to target and off-target proteins is an essential asset in drug development. These predictions require the calculation of binding free energies. In such calculations, it is a major challenge to properly account for both the dynamic nature of the protein and the possible variety of ligand-binding orientations, while keeping computational costs tractable. Recently, an iterative Linear Interaction Energy (LIE) approach was introduced, in which results from multiple simulations of a protein-ligand complex are combined into a single binding free energy using a Boltzmann weighting-based scheme. This method was shown to reach experimental accuracy for flexible proteins while retaining the computational efficiency of the general LIE approach. Here, we show that the iterative LIE approach can be used to predict binding affinities in an automated way. A workflow was designed using preselected protein conformations, automated ligand docking and clustering, and a (semi-)automated molecular dynamics simulation setup. We show that using this workflow, binding affinities of aryloxypropanolamines to the malleable Cytochrome P450 2D6 enzyme can be predicted without a priori knowledge of dominant protein-ligand conformations. In addition, we provide an outlook for an approach to assess the quality of the LIE predictions, based on simulation outcomes only.
Conserved miRNAs and Their Response to Salt Stress in Wild Eggplant Solanum linnaeanum Roots
Authors: Zhuang Yong , Zhou Xiao-Hui , Liu Jun
Published: January 2014

The Solanaceae family includes some important vegetable crops, and they often suffer from salinity stress. Some miRNAs have been identified to regulate gene expression in plant response to salt stress; however, little is known about the involvement of miRNAs in Solanaceae species. To identify salt-responsive miRNAs, high-throughput sequencing was used to sequence libraries constructed from roots of the salt tolerant species, Solanum linnaeanum, treated with and without NaCl. The sequencing identified 98 conserved miRNAs corresponding to 37 families, and some of these miRNAs and their expression were verified by quantitative real-time PCR. Under the salt stress, 11 of the miRNAs were down-regulated, and 3 of the miRNAs were up-regulated. Potential targets of the salt-responsive miRNAs were predicted to be involved in diverse cellular processes in plants. This investigation provides valuable information for functional characterization of miRNAs in S. linnaeanum, and would be useful for developing strategies for the genetic improvement of the Solanaceae crops.
Alginate-Poly(ethylene glycol) Hybrid Microspheres for Primary Cell Microencapsulation
Authors: Mahou Redouan , Meier Raphael , Bühler Léo , Wandrey Christine
Published: January 2014

The progress of medical therapies, which rely on the transplantation of microencapsulated living cells, depends on the quality of the encapsulating material. Such material has to be biocompatible, and the microencapsulation process must be simple and not harm the cells. Alginate-poly(ethylene glycol) hybrid microspheres (alg-PEG-M) were produced by combining ionotropic gelation of sodium alginate (Na-alg) using calcium ions with covalent crosslinking of vinyl sulfone-terminated multi-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-VS). In a one-step microsphere formation process, fast ionotropic gelation yields spherical calcium alginate gel beads, which serve as a matrix for simultaneously but slowly occurring covalent cross-linking of the PEG-VS molecules. The feasibility of cell microencapsulation was studied using primary human foreskin fibroblasts (EDX cells) as a model. The use of cell culture media as polymer solvent, gelation bath, and storage medium did not negatively affect the alg-PEG-M properties. Microencapsulated EDX cells maintained their viability and proliferated. This study demonstrates the feasibility of primary cell microencapsulation within the novel microsphere type alg-PEG-M, serves as reference for future therapy development, and confirms the suitability of EDX cells as control model.
Self-Assembled M2L4 Nanocapsules: Synthesis, Structure and Host-Guest Recognition Toward Square Planar Metal Complexes
Authors: Desmarets Christophe , Ducarre Thierry , Rager Marie , Gontard Geoffrey , Amouri Hani
Published: January 2014

Metallosupramolecular cages of the general formulas [M2(L)4][X]4 can be self-assembled in good yields, where M = Pd, X = NO3, L = L1 (1a); M = Pd, X = OTf, L = L1 (1b); M = Pt, X = OTf, L = L1 (2); M = Pd, X = OTf, L = L2 (3); L1 = 1,3-bis(pyridin-3-ylethynyl)-5-methoxybenzene; and L2 = 2,6-(pyridin-3-ylethynyl)- 4-methoxyaniline, respectively. These cages have been fully characterized using 1H, 13C NMR, elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, and electrospray mass spectrometry. Additionally the molecular structure of [Pd2(L1)4][OTf]4 (1b) was confirmed using single crystal X-ray diffraction. The capacity of central cavities of M2L4 cages to accommodate square planar metal complexes was investigated. In particular, the tetracationic cage [Pd2(L2)4][OTf]4 (3) was found to encapsulate the anionic metal complex [PtCl4]2− through electrostatic interactions and also via hydrogen bonding with the amino groups of the bridging ligand displayed by this nanocage.
A Review of Vitamin D Deficiency in the Critical Care Population
Authors: Massey Kelly , Dickerson Roland , Brown Rex
Published: January 2014

It is well documented that a large percentage of the general population is either vitamin D insufficient or deficient. Vitamin D deficiency adversely affects bone health. More recently, it has been reported that vitamin D is an important component in immune function and glycemic control Substantial data exist that demonstrate an association between vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency and mortality/clinical outcomes of critically ill patients. The larger clinical trials addressing this association have demonstrated an increased odds ratio for mortality in both vitamin D insufficient and deficient patients when compared to those with sufficient vitamin D. There is also some evidence that vitamin D status worsens during critical illness without supplementation of this vitamin. Supplementation of vitamin D during critical illness of patients with vitamin D deficiency has been studied, but not in great detail. Daily supplementation of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin D does very little to improve the 25(OH)D serum concentrations in the critically ill patients with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. There is some evidence that high-dose therapy of vitamin D improves the depressed serum concentrations of this vitamin; however, there are no clinical outcome data available yet. The association between vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency and clinical outcome in the critically ill appears to be important. Supplementation of vitamin D will increase the serum concentrations of this vitamin; however the optimal dose needs to be identified along with an assessment of clinical outcome.
Bienzymatic Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Aspartame by Flow Injection Analysis
Authors: Radulescu Maria-Cristina , Bucur Bogdan , Bucur Madalina-Petruta , Radu Gabriel
Published: January 2014

A rapid, simple and stable biosensor for aspartame detection was developed. Alcohol oxidase (AOX), carboxyl esterase (CaE) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) were immobilised with glutaraldehyde (GA) onto screen-printed electrodes modified with cobalt-phthalocyanine (CoPC). The biosensor response was fast. The sample throughput using a flow injection analysis (FIA) system was 40 h−1 with an RSD of 2.7%. The detection limits for both batch and FIA measurements were 0.1 µM for methanol and 0.2 µM for aspartame, respectively. The enzymatic biosensor was successfully applied for aspartame determination in different sample matrices/commercial products (liquid and solid samples) without any pre-treatment step prior to measurement.
A New Calibration Methodology for Thorax and Upper Limbs Motion Capture in Children Using Magneto and Inertial Sensors
Authors: Ricci Luca , Formica Domenico , Sparaci Laura , Lasorsa Francesca , Taffoni Fabrizio , Tamilia Eleonora , Guglielmelli Eugenio
Published: January 2014

Recent advances in wearable sensor technologies for motion capture have produced devices, mainly based on magneto and inertial measurement units (M-IMU), that are now suitable for out-of-the-lab use with children. In fact, the reduced size, weight and the wireless connectivity meet the requirement of minimum obtrusivity and give scientists the possibility to analyze children’s motion in daily life contexts. Typical use of magneto and inertial measurement units (M-IMU) motion capture systems is based on attaching a sensing unit to each body segment of interest. The correct use of this setup requires a specific calibration methodology that allows mapping measurements from the sensors’ frames of reference into useful kinematic information in the human limbs’ frames of reference. The present work addresses this specific issue, presenting a calibration protocol to capture the kinematics of the upper limbs and thorax in typically developing (TD) children. The proposed method allows the construction, on each body segment, of a meaningful system of coordinates that are representative of real physiological motions and that are referred to as functional frames (FFs). We will also present a novel cost function for the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm, to retrieve the rotation matrices between each sensor frame (SF) and the corresponding FF. Reported results on a group of 40 children suggest that the method is repeatable and reliable, opening the way to the extensive use of this technology for out-of-the-lab motion capture in children.
Sensitivity Distribution Properties of a Phase-Shifted Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor to Ultrasonic Waves
Authors: Wu Qi , Okabe Yoji , Saito Kazuya , Yu Fengming
Published: January 2014

In this research, the sensitivity distribution properties of a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PS-FBG) to ultrasonic waves were investigated employing the surface attachment method. A careful consideration was taken and examined by experimental results to explain that the distances and angles between the sensor and ultrasonic source influence not only the amplitudes, but also the initial phases, waveforms, and spectra of detected signals. Furthermore, factors, including the attachment method and the material’s geometric dimensions, were also discussed. Although these results were obtained based on PS-FBG, they are also applicable to a normal FBG sensor or even an optical fiber sensor, due to the identical physical changes induced by ultrasonic waves in all three. Thus, these results are useful for applications of optical fiber sensors in non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring.
A METHOD FOR LINKING SAFETY FACTOR TO THE TARGET PROBABILITY OF FAILURE IN FIRE SAFETY ENGINEERING
Authors: Kong Depeng , Lu Shouxiang , Frantzich Håkan , Lo S. M.
Published: January 2014

Ensuring occupants’ safety in building fires is one of the most important aspects for fire safety engineering. Many uncertainties are inevitably introduced when estimating the occupant safety level, due to the high complexity of fire dynamics and the human behaviour in fires. Safety factor methods are traditionally employed to deal with such uncertainties. This kind of methods is easy to apply but leaves fire safety engineers unsure of the margin by which the design has failed. A method of linking safety factor and probability of failure in fire safety engineering is proposed in this study. An event tree is constructed to analyse potential fire scenarios that arise from the failure of fire protection systems. Considering uncertainties related to fire dynamics and evacuation, the traditional deterministic safety factor is considered as a random variable. Because there is no target probability of failure accepted by the whole fire safety engineering community, the concept of expected risk to life (ERL) is integrated to determine the target probability of failure. This method employs a Monte Carlo Simulation using Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) to calculate the required safety factor. A practical case study is conducted using the method proposed in this study.
COMPARISON OF SURFACE MACROTEXTURE MEASUREMENT METHODS
Authors: Fisco Nicholas , Sezen Halil
Published: January 2014

Recent advances in technology allowed for the use of laser-based systems that can directly measure macrotexture properties of various surfaces. Volumetric or sand patch method has historically been used as the main technique for measuring macrotexture. Different available methods do not all measure the same surface properties and often generate different measurements. Thus, it is crucial to determine the most suitable method for measuring surface macrotexture. This paper investigates mean profile depth measurements from three laser based macrotexture measuring devices, including a laser profiler, a laser texture scanner and a circular texture meter. The results are compared with mean texture depth obtained from volumetric sand patch tests. Experiments were conducted to measure macrotexture of 26 laboratory specimens, which included asphalt and Portland cement concrete samples of various type and finish, as well as other common manufactured textured samples. Based on the evaluation of experimental data collected in this study, relationships are recommended to predict standard macrotexture using the mean profile depth data measured by a laser equipment or scanner.
Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Disorders Prevalence during Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunches Harvesting Using RULA
Authors: Mokhtar Maznon M. , Md Deros Baba , Sukadarin Ezrin Hani
Published: January 2014

Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in the agricultural industry is a very serious problem but it is not well investigated and understood. In this paper, the authors have made an attempt to evaluate the prevalence of WMSD in oil palm industry during harvesting fresh fruit bunches (FFB). Data collection was conducted by conducting face-to-face structured interviews with FFB harvesters. In addition, video recording on seven FFB harvesters were conducted while they are performing the harvesting work. Demographic data shows that the mean age of FFB harvester was 41.3 years and 71.4% of them are smokers. Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method was used to evaluate the prevalence of WMSD by observing the working postures of the FFB harvesters. RULA analysis of the observed results showed that 83% of the FFB harvesters have scored 7 during harvesting work, which means postural changes must be carried out immediately. Meanwhile, 17% FFB harvesters have scored 5, which means postural change must be carried out soon. Repetitive work is also a main factor that contributes to high prevalence of WMSD among FFB harvesters while they are pulling and pushing the FFB.
Assessment of Oil Palm Fresh Fruit Bunches Harvesters Working Postures Using Reba
Authors: Nawi Nur Syazwani Mohd , Md Deros Baba , Norani Nordin
Published: January 2014

Ergonomics has plays an important role to improve occupational health and work productivity in most industries in Malaysia including agriculture. However, most of the workers in Malaysia especially in oil palm plantation do not highlight ergonomics awareness as priority for their safety and health. They still using manual tools and consequently exposed to ergonomics risk factors. The objective of this study is to evaluate working postures during harvesting oil palm fresh fruit bunches. The Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) is used to evaluate risks working postures and movements corresponding to the tasks. From the analysis, it is revealed that most of the oil palm workers were affected by musculoskeletal disorders especially on left and right hand side. Immediate action such as conduct ergonomics training for the workers must be taken to solve this ergonomic problem.
Impact of Liquid Hot Water Pretreatment on the Structural Changes of Sugarcane Bagasse Biomass for Sugar Production
Authors: Zhang Hong Dan , Wu Shu Bin
Published: January 2014

Liquid hot water pretreatment, as an initial step in an alternative use of lignocellulosic biomass to produce fermentable sugar, was performed in this study. The effect of pretreatment temperature range from 160 to 200 °C on the hemicellulose degradation (the yields of glucose and xylose, as well as inhibitors) and cellulose enzymatic digestibility were evaluated. The results indicated that the maximum xylose yields (combined 2.23 g xylose and 13.20 g xylo-oligosaccharides per 100g raw material) in prehydrolysate liquid were obtained at 180 °C. The untreated and pretreated solid residues were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results showed that liquid hot water pretreatment removed a large number of hemicellulose and resulted in enriched cellulose and lignin content in the pretreated residues. Due to the effective removal of hemicellulose, the maximum glucose yield in enzyme hydrolyzate reached 37.27 g per 100 g raw material (after the pretreatment temperature of 200°C), representing 90.13% of glucose in the sugarcane bagasse.
Dynamic Change and Analysis of Driving Factors of Carbon Emissions from Traffic and Transportation Energy Consumption in Jilin Province
Authors: Gao Biao , Xu Qing Tao , Li Yu Bo
Published: January 2014

Based on the traffic and transportation energy consumption, the carbon emissions of traffic and transportation energy consumption are obtained by using the estimation model of carbon emissions from 1999 to 2011 in Jilin Province, and the dynamic changes and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) of carbon emissions are analyzed. The result indicates that the carbon emission of traffic and transportation energy consumption increased continuously from 99.3750×104 t to 331.8255×104 t between 1999 and 2011 in Jilin Province, the change process is divided into three stages which include the stage of the stationary growth phase, accelerated growth stage and slow growth stage, the large consumption of diesel energy is the main reason of the rapid growth in carbon emissions. The EKC of carbon emission shows the inverted U shape roughly and the turning point appeared in 2011, after 2011, carbon emissions will decrease along with the economic growth. Based on the STIRPAT model, the study reveals that elasticity coefficients of driving factors such as population, per capita GDP, the unit GDP energy consumption, the investment of traffic and transportation, city rate, the number of private cars are 0.23440.2202-0.22470.16570.2864 and 0.2163, respectively. Jilin Province must implement effective measures to change the existing development mode of traffic and transportation, change the energy structure, and increase the innovation of scientific and technological, to strive for the realization of negative growth in carbon emissions of traffic and transportation energy consumption.
Parameter Sensitivity Analysis of Gear Contact in Gear-Bearing-Rotor System Based on Romax
Authors: Wang Yang , Wei Jing , Sun Wei
Published: January 2014

Gear transmission is one of the most important mechanical transmissions. It is widely used because of its high efficiency, compact structure, stable transmission ratio, etc. In general, the failure of gear transmission is mainly due to the failure of tooth. Tooth broken main failure mode of gear tooth is mainly due to the role of the tooth root bending fatigue. So, researching both tooth root bending fatigue strength and tooth surface contact fatigue strength are of great significance for the guarantee of gear life. Basing on romax this paper chooses a gear-bearing-rotor system as the research background to conduct parameter sensitivity analysis of gear contact and simulate the changes of tooth root bending stress and contact lines position in the whole meshing process of gear pair.
The Effect of Annealing Conditions and Alloying Elements on the Microstructure Stability and Mechanical Properties of Mg-Zn-Cesheets
Authors: Aljarrah Mohammad , Essadiqi E. , Fouad Rami H. , Rababah M. , Almagableh A.
Published: January 2014

In this work, four Mg-Zn-Ce sheets were processed on an industrial scale by “Helholtz-ZentrumGreesthacht” company. To study the effect of alloying elements and annealing conditions on the rolled sheets, these sheets were annealed at different conditions. Mechanical properties of these rolled and annealed sheets were determined in rolling and transverse directions. Optical microscopy was used to investigate microstructure evolution and stability as well as grain size after annealing. Annealing at 450°C, 1 hr for A and D sheets provides microstructure stability of these sheets. Whereas, annealing B and C sheets for one hour at 400 and 350°C, respectively, provide the optimum annealing conditions. In the studied alloys, the highest zinc (Zn) presence alloyed with magnesium significantly increases the grain size and the amount of precipitates. Whereas, the highest cerium (Ce) presence alloyed with magnesium, refines the grain size during the recrystallization process.
Study on Performance of Kiewitt Single-Layer Spherical Reticulated Shell Structure under the Action of Fire
Authors: Yin Zhi Xiang , Zhao Jia Peng , Zhao Si Da
Published: January 2014

Under the condition of high temperature, steel basic mechanical property index such as strength, elastic modulus falls sharply. Once there is a fire, long-span reticulated shell has serious damage. This paper, taking Kiewitt reticulated spherical shell as an example, uses ISO - 834 standard temperature - time curve to simulate fire and analyze the distribution of temperature field calculation and mechanical. Analysis by using transient thermal analysis in ANSYS software. Through ANSYS software to analog fire resistant properties of reticulated shell under the action of local fire resistant properties, it is concluded that the fire in the different parts of the structure on the structural deformation and destruction of the structure form, to a certain extent, reflects the overall structure fire resistance of spatial reticulated shell.
Wide-Band Planar Balun Based on Simplified Composite Right-Left-Handed Structure
Authors: Zhu Li , Gao Xiang Jun , Zeng Hui Yong , Wang Guang Ming
Published: January 2014

Wide-band planar microstrip balun implemented with simplified composite right/left-handed (SCRLH) structure is presented in this letter. The proposed balun consists of a wide-band Wilkinson power divider and a broadband 180° phase shifter based on SCRLH structure. The new design was simulated and validated by the measurement. In the experimental results, within the frequency range from 3.1 to 8.3 GHz (91.2%), the measured return losses of the unbalanced and balanced ports are greater than 10 dB, and the balanced ports isolation is below 15 dB. The measured amplitude and phase difference between the two balanced ports are within ±0.6 dB and ±50, respectively, over the operating frequency band.
Pull-In Instability of Electrostatically Actuated Nano-Beams Using the Nonlocal-Gradient Elasticity Theory
Authors: Peng Jian She , Yang Liu
Published: January 2014

A nonlocal-gradient elasticity beam model with two independent gradient coefficients based on the classical nonlocal elasticity theory and strain gradient theory is used to study the pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated nanobeams. The numerical results show that the pull-in voltage of nanobeams are affected by the small scale. And the two independent gradient coefficients play the different roles in it. This paper broadens the way of studying scale effect.
Control Strategy of Proportional Reinsurance with Dividend Process
Authors: Sun Shi Liang , Huang Xiao Qian , Lian Lu
Published: January 2014

This paper is concerned with the problem of proportional reinsurance control strategy with dividend process in insurance company. The existence of optimal control strategy is proved by variational inequality,and the specific construct of optimal control strategy and the explicit structure of optimal return function are derived.
Contents and Techniques Summery of Highway Safety Design Research
Authors: Wang Fang
Published: January 2014

With the rapid development of Chinese highway construction, domestic highway design has stepped into the stage of efficacy. At the present stage, traditional highway design method on the basis of vehicle dynamics is exposing more and more drawbacks. The main factor affecting traffic accidents in highway transportation system should be analyzed form a new perspective and complementarity for Design Specification for Highway Alignment should be proposed. The purpose of this research is summering the relative research and its technique of highway safety.
Research on Optimization Decision of Urban Rail Transit Network Planning Scheme
Authors: Wang Chen , Chen Kuan Min
Published: January 2014

According to the multi-objective features and the importance of scientific decision-making in the scheme selection of rail transit network planning, this paper constructed an evaluation index system of rail transit network from the aspects of network function, traffic function and economic evaluation. After considering the experts knowledge and experience, decision-makers intention and the information contained in the data, the comprehensive evaluation index weight was determined by using AHP and entropy weight method. And also, this paper combined with standardized decision matrix and selected index weight to construct weighted decision matrix and the positive and negative ideal project plan of weighted standardization decision matrix was determined based on TOPSIS. The superiority of urban rail transit network was evaluated through calculating the similarity between scheme index matrix and ideal scheme. Finally, an example was given to prove the model was scientific and effective.
Key Technique of Water Related Emergency Disaster Monitoring and Evaluation on Remote Sensing: Organization and Coordination
Authors: Sun Tao , Li Lin
Published: January 2014

In china, water related disasters occur frequently in recent years. Emergency monitoring of water related disaster is very important to disaster relief. Organization and coordinate are key to the monitoring and evaluation of disasters. In this paper, problems facing are analyzed, monitoring flow, organization and coordination procedure are given to regulate disaster monitoring and evaluating work so as to supply better service for the government.