bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Probiotics Supplements Reduce ER Stress and Gut Inflammation Associated with Gliadin Intake in a Mouse Model of Gluten Sensitivity
Authors: Ferrari Eleonora , Monzani Romina , Saverio Valentina , Gagliardi Mara , Pańczyszyn Elżbieta , Raia Valeria , Villella Valeria Rachela , Bona Gianni , Pane Marco , Amoruso Angela , Corazzari Marco
Published: April 2021

Exposure to gluten, a protein present in wheat rye and barley, is the major inducer for human Celiac Disease (CD), a chronic autoimmune enteropathy. CD occurs in about 1% worldwide population, in genetically predisposed individuals bearing human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQ2/DQ8. Gut epithelial cell stress and the innate immune activation are responsible for the breaking oral tolerance to gliadin, a gluten component. To date, the only treatment available for CD is a long-term gluten-free diet. Several studies have shown that an altered composition of the intestinal microbiota (dysbiosis) could play a key role in the pathogenesis of CD through the modulation of intestinal permeability and the regulation of the immune system. Here, we show that gliadin induces a chronic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress condition in the small intestine of a gluten-sensitive mouse model and that the coadministration of probiotics efficiently attenuates both the unfolded protein response (UPR) and gut inflammation. Moreover, the composition of probiotics formulations might differ in their activity at molecular level, especially toward the three axes of the UPR. Therefore, probiotics administration might potentially represent a new valuable strategy to treat gluten-sensitive patients, such as those affected by CD.
The Dual Role of Vitamin K2 in “Bone-Vascular Crosstalk”: Opposite Effects on Bone Loss and Vascular Calcification
Authors: Mandatori Domitilla , Pelusi Letizia , Schiavone Valeria , Pipino Caterina , Di Pietro Natalia , Pandolfi Assunta
Published: April 2021

Osteoporosis (OP) and vascular calcification (VC) represent relevant health problems that frequently coexist in the elderly population. Traditionally, they have been considered independent processes, and mainly age-related. However, an increasing number of studies have reported their possible direct correlation, commonly defined as “bone-vascular crosstalk”. Vitamin K2 (VitK2), a family of several natural isoforms also known as menaquinones (MK), has recently received particular attention for its role in maintaining calcium homeostasis. In particular, VitK2 deficiency seems to be responsible of the so-called “calcium paradox” phenomenon, characterized by low calcium deposition in the bone and its accumulation in the vessel wall. Since these events may have important clinical consequences, and the role of VitK2 in bone-vascular crosstalk has only partially been explained, this review focuses on its effects on the bone and vascular system by providing a more recent literature update. Overall, the findings reported here propose the VitK2 family as natural bioactive molecules that could be able to play an important role in the prevention of bone loss and vascular calcification, thus encouraging further in-depth studies to achieve its use as a dietary food supplement.
Longitudinal Development of Antibody Responses in COVID-19 Patients of Different Severity with ELISA, Peptide, and Glycan Arrays: An Immunological Case Series
Authors: Heidepriem Jasmin , Dahlke Christine , Kobbe Robin , Santer René , Koch Till , Fathi Anahita , Seco Bruna , Ly My , Schmiedel Stefan , Schwinge Dorothee , Serna Sonia , Sellrie Katrin , Reichardt Niels-Christian , Seeberger Peter , Addo Marylyn , Loeffler Felix ,   on behalf of the ID-UKE COVID-19 Study Group
Published: April 2021

The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). A better understanding of its immunogenicity can be important for the development of improved diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Here, we report the longitudinal analysis of three COVID-19 patients with moderate (#1) and mild disease (#2 and #3). Antibody serum responses were analyzed using spike glycoprotein enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), full-proteome peptide, and glycan microarrays. ELISA immunoglobulin A, G, and M (IgA, IgG, and IgM) signals increased over time for individuals #1 and #2, whereas #3 only showed no clear positive IgG and IgM result. In contrast, peptide microarrays showed increasing IgA/G signal intensity and epitope spread only in the moderate patient #1 over time, whereas early but transient IgA and stable IgG responses were observed in the two mild cases #2 and #3. Glycan arrays showed an interaction of antibodies to fragments of high-mannose and core N-glycans, present on the viral shield. In contrast to protein ELISA, microarrays allow for a deeper understanding of IgA, IgG, and IgM antibody responses to specific epitopes of the whole proteome and glycans of SARS-CoV-2 in parallel. In the future, this may help to better understand and to monitor vaccination programs and monoclonal antibodies as therapeutics.
Rapamycin-Loaded Polymeric Nanoparticles as an Advanced Formulation for Macrophage Targeting in Atherosclerosis
Authors: Craparo Emanuela Fabiola , Cabibbo Marta , Conigliaro Alice , Barreca Maria Magdalena , Musumeci Teresa , Giammona Gaetano , Cavallaro Gennara
Published: April 2021

Recently, rapamycin (Rapa) represents a potential drug treatment to induce regression of atherosclerotic plaques; however, its use requires site-specific accumulation in the vessels involved in the formation of the plaques to avoid the systemic effects resulting from its indiscriminate biodistribution. In this work, a stable pharmaceutical formulation for Rapa was realized as a dried powder to be dispersed extemporaneously before administration. The latter was constituted by mannitol (Man) as an excipient and a Rapa-loaded polymeric nanoparticle carrier. These nanoparticles were obtained by nanoprecipitation and using as a starting polymeric material a polycaprolactone (PCL)/α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)-dl-aspartamide (PHEA) graft copolymer. To obtain nanoparticles targeted to macrophages, an oxidized phospholipid with a high affinity for the CD36 receptor of macrophages, the 1-(palmitoyl)-2-(5-keto-6-octene-dioyl) phosphatidylcholine (KOdia-PC), was added to the starting organic phase. The chemical–physical and technological characterization of the obtained nanoparticles demonstrated that: both the drug loading (DL%) and the entrapment efficiency (EE%) entrapped drug are high; the entrapped drug is in the amorphous state, protected from degradation and slowly released from the polymeric matrix; and the KOdia-PC is on the nanoparticle surface (KP-Nano). The biological characterization demonstrated that both systems are quickly internalized by macrophages while maintaining the activity of the drug. In vitro studies demonstrated that the effect of KP-Nano Rapa-loaded, in reducing the amount of the Phospo-Ser757-ULK1 protein through the inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), is comparable to that of the free drug.
Compressional Optical Coherence Elastography of the Cornea
Authors: Singh Manmohan , Nair Achuth , Aglyamov Salavat R. , Larin Kirill V.
Published: April 2021

Assessing the biomechanical properties of the cornea is crucial for detecting the onset and progression of eye diseases. In this work, we demonstrate the application of compression-based optical coherence elastography (OCE) to measure the biomechanical properties of the cornea under various conditions, including validation in an in situ rabbit model and a demonstration of feasibility for in vivo measurements. Our results show a stark increase in the stiffness of the corneas as IOP was increased. Moreover, UV-A/riboflavin corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) also dramatically increased the stiffness of the corneas. The results were consistent across 4 different scenarios (whole CXL in situ, partial CXL in situ, whole CXL in vivo, and partial CXL in vivo), emphasizing the reliability of compression OCE to measure corneal biomechanical properties and its potential for clinical applications.
Integrated Approach for Species Identification and Quality Analysis for Labisia pumila Using DNA Barcoding and HPLC
Authors: Tarmizi Auni Aqilah Ahmad , Wagiran Alina , Mohd Salleh Faezah , Chua Lee Suan , Abdullah Farah Izana , Hasham Rosnani , Binte Mostafiz Suraiya
Published: April 2021

Labisia pumila is a precious herb in Southeast Asia that is traditionally used as a health supplement and has been extensively commercialized due to its claimed therapeutic properties in boosting a healthy female reproductive system. Indigenous people used these plants by boiling the leaves; however, in recent years it has been marketed as powdered or capsuled products. Accordingly, accuracy in determination of the authenticity of these modern herbal products has faced great challenges. Lack of authenticity is a public health risk because incorrectly used herbal species can cause adverse effects. Hence, any measures that may aid product authentication would be beneficial. Given the widespread use of Labisia herbal products, the current study focuses on authenticity testing via an integral approach of DNA barcoding and qualitative analysis using HPLC. This study successfully generated DNA reference barcodes (ITS2 and rbcL) for L. pumila var. alata and pumila. The DNA barcode that was generated was then used to identify species of Labisia pumila in herbal medicinal products, while HPLC was utilized to determine their quality. The findings through the synergistic approach (DNA barcode and HPLC) implemented in this study indicate the importance of both methods in providing the strong evidence required for the identification of true species and to examine the authenticity of such herbal medicinal products.
Functional Hydrophilic Membrane for Oil–Water Separation Based on Modified Bio-Based Chitosan–Gelatin
Authors: Zakuwan Siti Zarina , Ahmad Ishak , Abu Tahrim Nurfaizah , Mohamed Faizal
Published: April 2021

In this study, we fabricated a modified biomaterial based on chitosan and gelatin, which is an intrinsic hydrophilic membrane for oil–water separation to clean water contamination by oil. Modification of the membrane with a non-toxic natural crosslinker, genipin, significantly enhanced the stability of the biopolymer membrane in a water-based medium towards an eco-friendly environment. The effects of various compositions of genipin-crosslinked chitosan–gelatin membrane on the rheological properties, thermal stability, and morphological structure of the membrane were investigated using a dynamic rotational rheometer, thermogravimetry analysis, and chemical composition by attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (ATR). Modified chitosan–gelatin membrane showed completely miscible blends, as determined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and ATR. Morphological results showed membrane with establish microstructure to further experiment as filtration product. The membranes were successfully tested for their oil–water separation efficiencies. The membrane proved to be selective and effective in separating water from an oil–water mixture. The optimum results achieved a stable microporous structure of the membrane (microfiltration) and a separation efficiency of above 98%. The membrane showed a high permeation flux, generated as high as 698 and 420 L m−2 h−1 for cooking and crude oils, respectively. Owing to its outstanding recyclability and anti-fouling performance, the membrane can be washed away easily, ensuring the reusability of the prepared membrane.
Cosolvent-Driven Interfacial Polymerization for Superior Separation Performance of Polyurea-Based Pervaporation Membrane
Authors: De Guzman Manuel Reyes , Ang Micah Belle Marie Yap , Huang Shu-Hsien , Hu Fang-Chi , Chiao Yu-Hsuan , Tsai Hui-An , Lee Kueir-Rarn
Published: April 2021

A thin-film composite (TFC) polyurea membrane was fabricated for the dehydration of an aqueous tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution through interfacial polymerization, wherein polyethyleneimine (a water-soluble amine monomer) and m-xylene diisocyanate (an oil-soluble diisocyanate monomer) were reacted on the surface of a modified polyacrylonitrile (mPAN) substrate. Cosolvents were used to tailor the membrane properties and increase the membrane permeation flux. Four types of alcohols that differed in the number of carbon (methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and tert-butanol) were added as cosolvents, serving as swelling agents, to the aqueous-phase monomer solution, and their effect on the membrane properties and pervaporation separation was discussed. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the formation of a polyurea layer on mPAN. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and surface water contact angle analysis indicated no change in the membrane morphology and hydrophilicity, respectively, despite the addition of cosolvents for interfacial polymerization. The TFC membrane produced when ethanol was the cosolvent exhibited the highest separation performance (permeation flux = 1006 ± 103 g·m−2·h−1; water concentration in permeate = 98.8 ± 0.3 wt.%) for an aqueous feed solution containing 90 wt.% THF at 25 °C. During the membrane formation, ethanol caused the polyurea layer to loosen and to acquire a certain degree of cross-linking. The optimal fabrication conditions were as follows: 10 wt.% ethanol as cosolvent; membrane curing temperature = 50 °C; membrane curing time = 30 min.
Effects of Postcuring Temperature on the Mechanical Properties and Biocompatibility of Three-Dimensional Printed Dental Resin Material
Authors: Bayarsaikhan Enkhjargal , Lim Jung-Hwa , Shin Seung-Ho , Park Kyu-Hyung , Park Young-Bum , Lee Jae-Hoon , Kim Jong-Eun
Published: April 2021

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an attractive technology in dentistry. Acrylic-based 3D printed resin parts have to undergo postcuring processes to enhance their mechanical and biological properties, such as UV-light and thermal polymerization. However, no previous studies have revealed how the postcuring temperature influences the biocompatibility of the produced parts. Therefore, we postprocessed 3D printed denture teeth resin under different postcuring temperatures (40, 60 and 80 °C) for different periods (15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min), and evaluated their flexural properties, Vickers hardness, cell cytotoxicity, cell viability, and protein adsorption. In addition, confocal laser scanning was used to assess the condition of human gingival fibroblasts. It was found that increasing the postcuring temperature significantly improved the flexural strength and cell viability. The flexural strength and cell viability were 147.48 ± 5.82 MPa (mean ± standard deviation) and 89.51 ± 7.09%, respectively, in the group cured at 80 °C for 120 min, which were higher than the values in the 40 and 60 °C groups. The cell cytotoxicity increased in the 40 °C groups and for longer cultivation time. Confocal laser scanning revealed identifiable differences in the morphology of fibroblasts. This study has confirmed that the postcuring temperature influences the final mechanical and biological properties of 3D printed resin.
Importance of Melt Flow Direction during Injection Molding on Polymer Heat Sinks’ Cooling Efficiency
Authors: Guzej Michal , Zachar Martin , Kominek Jan , Kotrbacek Petr , Brachna Robert
Published: April 2021

Polymers with highly conductive fillers could possibly replace standardly used materials, such as aluminum and copper alloys, for passive cooling purposes. The main problem of the composite polymer-based heat sinks is that their high thermal conductivity is uneven. The orientation of this anisotropy is set according to the position of the highly thermally conductive filler. Its orientation is influenced by the melt flow during the polymer heat sink molding process. This article shows that change of the melt flow inside the mold cavity can improve the overall cooling efficiency of a polymer heat sink, which leads to lower temperatures on the heat source used. Two polymer heat sinks of identical geometries were produced. Their high thermal conductivity was given by the use of graphite flakes as the filler. The only difference between the heat sinks was in the position of the fan gate during their production. Different temperatures of the heat source between the two heat sinks were observed for the same measurement conditions. The measurements were conducted at Heatlab, BUT.
Religious Heritage and Nation in Post-Vatican II Catholicism: A View from Quebec
Authors: Kaell Hillary
Published: April 2021

With Quebec’s croix de chemin (wayside crosses) as a jumping off point, I explore the importance of heritage creation as the province transitioned away from pre-Vatican II Catholicism in the 1960s and 1970s. I include two ‘sites of memory’: fieldwork with contemporary cross caretakers and archival materials from a major government-funded inventory of the crosses in the 1970s. Heritage professionals have generally implied that Catholic objects lose their sacred meaning to become objects of nation-building, while caretakers view them as still-active objects of devotional labour. Regardless, I find that both parties view themselves as laying claim to “modern” ways of interacting with religious objects, while also assuming that a cohesive national identity rests in part on promoting a rural Catholic past. More broadly, I argue that neither side can be fully understood without attention to the convergence of three trends in the 1960s and 1970s: Quebecois and other emergent nationalisms, Catholic liberalization, and the rise of an international heritage industry.
Error Analysis of LAI Measurements with LAI-2000 Due to Discrete View Angular Range Angles for Continuous Canopies
Authors: Geng Jun , Yuan Gang , Chen J. M. , Lyu Chunguang , Tu Lili , Fan Weiliang , Tian Qingjiu , Wu Zhaofu , Tao Tingye , Yu Min , Zhu Yongchao , Huang Jianwei , Xu Kaijian , Li Jinchao , Wang Shaoteng
Published: April 2021

As a widely used ground-based optical instrument, the LAI-2000 or LAI-2200 plant canopy analyzer (PCA) (Li-Cor, Inc., Lincoln, NE) is designed to measure the plant effective leaf area index (Le) by measuring the canopy gap fraction at several limited or discrete view zenith angles (VZAs) (usually five VZAs: 7, 23, 38, 53, and 68°) based on Miller’s equation. Miller’s equation requires the probability of radiative transmission through the canopy to be measured over the hemisphere, i.e., VZAs in the range from 0 to 90°. However, the PCA view angle ranges are confined to several limited ranges or discrete sectors. The magnitude of the error produced by the discretization of VZAs in the leaf area index measurements remains difficult to determine. In this study, a theoretical deduction was first presented to definitely prove why the limited or discrete VZAs or ranges can affect the Le measured with the PCA, and the specific error caused by the limited or discrete VZAs was described quantitatively. The results show that: (1) the weight coefficient of the last PCA ring is the main cause of the error; (2) the error is closely related to the leaf inclination angles (IAs)—the Le measured with the PCA can be significantly overestimated for canopies with planophile IAs, whereas it can be underestimated for erectophile IAs; and (3) the error can be enhanced with the increment of the discrete degree of PCA rings or VZAs, such as using four or three PCA rings. Two corrections for the error are presented and validated in three crop canopies. Interestingly, although the leaf IA type cannot influence the Le calculated by Miller’s equation in the hemispheric space, it affects the Le measured with the PCA using the discrete form of Miller’s equation for several discrete VZAs.
Exploring PRISMA Scene for Fire Detection: Case Study of 2019 Bushfires in Ben Halls Gap National Park, NSW, Australia
Authors: Amici Stefania , Piscini Alessandro
Published: April 2021

Precursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (Hyperspectral Precursor of the Application Mission, PRISMA) is a new hyperspectral mission by the ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Italian Space Agency) mission launched in 2019 to measure the unique spectral features of diverse materials including vegetation and forest disturbances. In this study, we explored the potential use of this new sensor PRISMA for active wildfire characterization. We used the PRISMA hypercube acquired during the Australian bushfires of 2019 in New South Wales to test three detection techniques that take advantage of the unique spectral features of biomass burning in the spectral range measured by PRISMA. The three methods—the CO2-CIBR (continuum interpolated band ratio), HFDI (hyperspectral fire detection index) and AKBD (advanced K band difference)—were adapted to the PRISMA sensor’s characteristics and evaluated in terms of performance. Classification techniques based on machine learning algorithms (support vector machine, SVM) were used in combination with the visual interpretation of a panchromatic sharpened PRISMA image for validation. Preliminary analysis showed a good overall performance of the instrument in terms of radiance. We observed that the presence of the striping effect in the data can influence the performance of the indices. Both the CIBR and HFDI adapted for PRISMA were able to produce a detection rate spanning between 0.13561 and 0.81598 for CO2-CIBR and that between 0.36171 and 0.88431 depending on the chosen band combination. The potassium emission index turned out to be inadequate for locating flaming in our data, possibly due to multiple factors such as striping noise and the spectral resolution (12 nm) of the PRISMA band centered at the potassium emission.
Polar Stratospheric Clouds Detection at Belgrano II Antarctic Station with Visible Ground-Based Spectroscopic Measurements
Authors: Gomez-Martin Laura , Toledo Daniel , Prados-Roman Cristina , Adame Jose Antonio , Ochoa Hector , Yela Margarita
Published: April 2021

By studying the evolution of the color index (CI) during twilight at high latitudes, polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) can be detected and characterized. In this work, this method has been applied to the measurements obtained by a visible ground-based spectrometer and PSCs have been studied over the Belgrano II Antarctic station for years 2018 and 2019. The methodology applied has been validated by full spherical radiative transfer simulations, which confirm that PSCs can be detected and their altitude estimated with this instrumentation. Moreover, our investigation shows that this method is useful even in presence of optically thin tropospheric clouds or aerosols. PSCs observed in this work have been classified by altitude. Our results are in good agreement with the stratospheric temperature evolution obtained by the global meteorological model ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) and with satellite PSCs observations from CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol-Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations). To investigate the presence and long-term evolution of PSCs, the methodology used in this work could also be applied to foreseen and/or historical observations obtained with ground-based spectrometers such e. g. those dedicated to Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) for trace gas observation in Arctic and Antarctic sites.
Toward More Robust and Real-Time Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Detection and Tracking via Cross-Scale Feature Aggregation Based on the Center Keypoint
Authors: Bao Min , Chala Urgessa Guyo , Xing Mengdao , Han Liang , Chen Rui
Published: April 2021

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) play an essential role in various applications, such as transportation and intelligent environmental sensing. However, due to camera motion and complex environments, it can be difficult to recognize the UAV from its surroundings thus, traditional methods often miss detection of UAVs and generate false alarms. To address these issues, we propose a novel method for detecting and tracking UAVs. First, a cross-scale feature aggregation CenterNet (CFACN) is constructed to recognize the UAVs. CFACN is a free anchor-based center point estimation method that can effectively decrease the false alarm rate, the misdetection of small targets, and computational complexity. Secondly, the region of interest-scale-crop-resize (RSCR) method is utilized to merge CFACN and region-of-interest (ROI) CFACN (ROI-CFACN) further, in order to improve the accuracy at a lower computational cost. Finally, the Kalman filter is adopted to track the UAV. The effectiveness of our method is validated using a collected UAV dataset. The experimental results demonstrate that our methods can achieve higher accuracy with lower computational cost, being superior to BiFPN, CenterNet, YoLo, and their variants on the same dataset.
Evaluation of Cloud Mask and Cloud Top Height from Fengyun-4A with MODIS Cloud Retrievals over the Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Xu Wenjing , Lyu Daren
Published: April 2021

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has profound thermal and dynamic influences on the atmospheric circulation, energy, and water cycles of the climate system, which make the clouds over the TP the forefront of atmospheric and climate science. However, the highest altitude and most complex terrain of the TP make the retrieval of cloud properties challenging. In order to understand the performance and limitations of cloud retrievals over the TP derived from the state-of-the-art Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI) onboard the new generation of Chinese Geostationary (GEO) meteorological satellites Fengyun-4 (FY-4), a three-month comparison was conducted between FY-4A/AGRI and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for both cloud detection and cloud top height (CTH) pixel-level retrievals. For cloud detection, the AGRI and MODIS cloud mask retrievals showed a fractional agreement of 0.93 for cloudy conditions and 0.73 for clear scenes. AGRI tended to miss lower CTH clouds due to the lack of thermal contrast between the clouds and the surface of the TP. For cloud top height retrievals, the comparison showed that on average, AGRI underestimated the CTH relative to MODIS by 1.366 ± 2.235 km, and their differences presented a trend of increasing with height.
Heap Leach Pad Surface Moisture Monitoring Using Drone-Based Aerial Images and Convolutional Neural Networks: A Case Study at the El Gallo Mine, Mexico
Authors: Tang Mingliang , Esmaeili Kamran
Published: April 2021

An efficient metal recovery in heap leach operations relies on uniform distribution of leaching reagent solution over the heap leach pad surface. However, the current practices for heap leach pad (HLP) surface moisture monitoring often rely on manual inspection, which is labor-intensive, time-consuming, discontinuous, and intermittent. In order to complement the manual monitoring process and reduce the frequency of exposing technical manpower to the hazardous leaching reagent (e.g., dilute cyanide solution in gold leaching), this manuscript describes a case study of implementing an HLP surface moisture monitoring method based on drone-based aerial images and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Field data collection was conducted on a gold HLP at the El Gallo mine, Mexico. A commercially available hexa-copter drone was equipped with one visible-light (RGB) camera and one thermal infrared sensor to acquire RGB and thermal images from the HLP surface. The collected data had high spatial and temporal resolutions. The high-quality aerial images were used to generate surface moisture maps of the HLP based on two CNN approaches. The generated maps provide direct visualization of the different moisture zones across the HLP surface, and such information can be used to detect potential operational issues related to distribution of reagent solution and to facilitate timely decision making in heap leach operations.
Semantic Interoperability between IEC 61850 and oneM2M for IoT-Enabled Smart Grids
Authors: Cavalieri Salvatore
Published: April 2021

In the era of Industry 4.0, pervasive adoption of communication technologies based on the Internet of Things represents a very strong requirement in several domains. In the smart grid domain, there is the need to overcome one of the main limitations of the current electric grid, allowing the use of heterogeneous devices capable of measuring, monitoring and exchanging information about grid components. For this reason, current literature often presents research activities about enabling internet of things (IoT) in smart grids; in particular, several proposals aim to realize interworking between IoT and smart grid communication standards, allowing exchange of information between IoT devices and the electrical grid components. Semantic interoperability should be achieved in an interworking solution in order to provide a common meaning of the data exchanged by heterogeneous devices, even if they belong to different domains. Until now, semantic interoperability remains an open challenge in the smart grid field. The paper aims to propose a novel solution of interworking between two of the most used communication systems in smart grids and IoT domains, i.e., IEC 61850 and oneM2M, respectively. A semantic interoperability solution is also proposed to be used in the interworking scheme here presented.
A Fast Shape-from-Focus-Based Surface Topography Measurement Method
Authors: Gladines Jona , Sels Seppe , Blom Johan , Vanlanduit Steve
Published: April 2021

Shape from focus is an accurate, but relatively time-consuming, 3D profilometry technique (compared to e.g., laser triangulation or fringe projection). This is the case because a large amount of data that needs to be captured and processed to obtain 3D measurements. In this paper, we propose a two-step shape-from-focus measurement approach that can improve the speed with 40%. By using a faster profilometry technique to create a coarse measurement of an unknown target, this coarse measurement can be used to limit the data capture to only the required frames. This method can significantly improve the measurement and processing speed. The method was tested on a 40 mm by 40 mm custom target and resulted in an overall 46% reduction of measurement time. The accuracy of the proposed method was compared against the conventional shape from focus method by comparing both methods with a more accurate reference.
Coverage Path Planning Using Reinforcement Learning-Based TSP for hTetran—A Polyabolo-Inspired Self-Reconfigurable Tiling Robot
Authors: Le Anh Vu , Veerajagadheswar Prabakaran , Thiha Kyaw Phone , Elara Mohan Rajesh , Nhan Nguyen Huu Khanh
Published: April 2021

One of the critical challenges in deploying the cleaning robots is the completion of covering the entire area. Current tiling robots for area coverage have fixed forms and are limited to cleaning only certain areas. The reconfigurable system is the creative answer to such an optimal coverage problem. The tiling robot’s goal enables the complete coverage of the entire area by reconfiguring to different shapes according to the area’s needs. In the particular sequencing of navigation, it is essential to have a structure that allows the robot to extend the coverage range while saving energy usage during navigation. This implies that the robot is able to cover larger areas entirely with the least required actions. This paper presents a complete path planning (CPP) for hTetran, a polyabolo tiled robot, based on a TSP-based reinforcement learning optimization. This structure simultaneously produces robot shapes and sequential trajectories whilst maximizing the reward of the trained reinforcement learning (RL) model within the predefined polyabolo-based tileset. To this end, a reinforcement learning-based travel sales problem (TSP) with proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm was trained using the complementary learning computation of the TSP sequencing. The reconstructive results of the proposed RL-TSP-based CPP for hTetran were compared in terms of energy and time spent with the conventional tiled hypothetical models that incorporate TSP solved through an evolutionary based ant colony optimization (ACO) approach. The CPP demonstrates an ability to generate an ideal Pareto optima trajectory that enhances the robot’s navigation inside the real environment with the least energy and time spent in the company of conventional techniques.
TruthTrust: Truth Inference-Based Trust Management Mechanism on a Crowdsourcing Platform
Authors: Zhou Jiyuan , Jin Xing , Yu Lanping , Xue Limin , Ren Yizhi
Published: April 2021

On a crowdsourcing platform, in order to cheat for rewards or sabotage the crowdsourcing processes, spam workers may submit numerous erroneous answers to the tasks published by requesters. This type of behavior extremely reduces the completion rate of tasks and the enthusiasm of honest users, which may lead a crowdsourcing platform to a failure. Defending against malicious attacks is an important issue in crowdsourcing, which has been extensively addressed by existing methods, e.g., verification-based defense mechanisms, data analysis solutions, trust-based defense models, and workers’ properties matching mechanisms. However, verification-based defense mechanisms will consume a lot of resources, and data analysis solutions cannot motivate workers to provide high-quality services. Trust-based defense models and workers’ properties matching mechanisms cannot guarantee the authenticity of information when collusion requesters publish shadow tasks to help malicious workers get more participation opportunities. To defend such collusion attacks in crowdsourcing platforms, we propose a new defense model named TruthTrust. Firstly, we define a complete life cycle system that from users’ interaction to workers’ recommendation, and separately define the trust value of each worker and the credence of each requester. Secondly, in order to ensure the authenticity of the information, we establish a trust model based on the CRH framework. The calculated truth value and weight are used to define the global properties of workers and requesters. Moreover, we propose a reverse mechanism to improve the resistance under attacks. Finally, extensive experiments demonstrate that TruthTrust significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of effective task completion rate.
Fast Gating for Raman Spectroscopy
Authors: Chiuri Andrea , Angelini Federico
Published: April 2021

Fast gating in Raman spectroscopy is used to reject the fluorescence contribution from the sample and/or the substrate. Several techniques have been set up in the last few decades aiming either to enhance the Raman signal (CARS, SERS or Resonant Raman scattering) or to cancel out the fluorescence contribution (SERDS), and a number of reviews have already been published on these sub-topics. However, for many reasons it is sometimes necessary to reject fluorescence in traditional Raman spectroscopy, and in the last few decades a variety of papers dealt with this issue, which is still challenging due to the time scales at stake (down to picoseconds). Fast gating (<1 ns) in the time domain allows one to cut off part of the fluorescence signal and retrieve the best Raman signal, depending on the fluorescence lifetime of the sample and laser pulse duration. In particular, three different techniques have been developed to accomplish this task: optical Kerr cells, intensified Charge Coupling Devices and systems based on Single Photon Avalanche Photodiodes. The utility of time domain fast gating will be discussed, and In this work, the utility of time domain fast gating is discussed, as well as the performances of the mentioned techniques as reported in literature.
Registration of Magnetic Resonance Tomography (MRT) Data with a Low Frequency Adaption of Fourier-Mellin-SOFT (LF-FMS)
Authors: Bülow Heiko , Birk Andreas
Published: April 2021

Fourier-Mellin-SOFT (FMS) is a rigid 3D registration method, which allows the robust registration of 3 degrees-of-freedom (dof) rotation, 1-dof scale, and 3-dof translation between scans on discrete grids. FMS is based on a spectral decomposition of these 7-dof. This complete spectral representation of the input data enables an adaption to certain frequency ranges. This special property is used here to focus on relevant mutual 3D information between bone structures with a Low Frequency adaptation of FMS (LF-FMS), that is, it is utilized for matching and concurrently determining corresponding transformation parameters. This process is applied on a set of Magnetic Resonance Tomography (MRT) data representing the hand region, in particular the carpal bone area, in a sequence of different hand positions. This data set is available for different probands, which allows a comparison of resulting parameter plots and furthermore matching in between bone structures.
Performance Evaluation of Machine Learning Frameworks for Aphasia Assessment
Authors: Mahmoud Seedahmed S. , Kumar Akshay , Li Youcun , Tang Yiting , Fang Qiang
Published: April 2021

Speech assessment is an essential part of the rehabilitation procedure for patients with aphasia (PWA). It is a comprehensive and time-consuming process that aims to discriminate between healthy individuals and aphasic patients, determine the type of aphasia syndrome, and determine the patients’ impairment severity levels (these are referred to here as aphasia assessment tasks). Hence, the automation of aphasia assessment tasks is essential. In this study, the performance of three automatic speech assessment models based on the speech dataset-type was investigated. Three types of datasets were used: healthy subjects’ dataset, aphasic patients’ dataset, and a combination of healthy and aphasic datasets. Two machine learning (ML)-based frameworks, classical machine learning (CML) and deep neural network (DNN), were considered in the design of the proposed speech assessment models. In this paper, the DNN-based framework was based on a convolutional neural network (CNN). Direct or indirect transformation of these models to achieve the aphasia assessment tasks was investigated. Comparative performance results for each of the speech assessment models showed that quadrature-based high-resolution time-frequency images with a CNN framework outperformed all the CML frameworks over the three dataset-types. The CNN-based framework reported an accuracy of 99.23 ± 0.003% with the healthy individuals’ dataset and 67.78 ± 0.047% with the aphasic patients’ dataset. Moreover, direct or transformed relationships between the proposed speech assessment models and the aphasia assessment tasks are attainable, given a suitable dataset-type, a reasonably sized dataset, and appropriate decision logic in the ML framework.
Study of the Distortion of the Indirect Angular Measurements of the Calcaneus Due to Perspective: In Vitro Testing
Authors: Espinosa-Moyano Isidoro , Reina-Bueno María , Palomo-Toucedo Inmaculada C. , González-López José Rafael , Castillo-López José Manuel , Domínguez-Maldonado Gabriel
Published: April 2021

The study of the foot is relevant in kinematic analyses of gait. Images captured through a lens can be subjected to various aberrations or distortions that affect the measurements. An in vitro study was performed with a rearfoot simulator to compare the apparent degrees (photographed) with the real ones (placed in the simulator) in the plane of the rearfoot’s orientation, according to variations in the capture angle in other planes of space (the sagittal plane and transverse plane—the latter determined by the foot progression angle). The following regression formula was calculated to correct the distortion of the image: real frontal plane = 0.045 + (1.014 × apparent frontal plane) − (0.018 × sagittal plane × foot progression angle). Considering the results of this study, and already knowing its angle in the transverse and sagittal planes, it is possible to determine the angle of a simulated calcaneus with respect to the ground in the frontal plane, in spite of distortions caused by perspective and the lack of perpendicularity, by applying the above regression formula. The results show that the angular measurements of a body segment made on frames can produce erroneous data due to the variation in the perspective from which the image is taken. This distortion must be considered when determining the real values of the measurements.
A System in Package Based on a Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer Matrix for Ranging Applications
Authors: Robichaud Alexandre , Deslandes Dominic , Cicek Paul-Vahé , Nabki Frederic
Published: April 2021

This paper proposes a system in package (SiP) for ultrasonic ranging composed of a 4 × 8 matrix of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUT) and an interface integrated circuit (IC). The PMUT matrix is fabricated using the PiezoMUMPS process and the IC is implemented in the AMS 0.35 µm technology. Simulation results for the PMUT are compared to the measurement results, and an equivalent circuit has been derived to allow a better approximation of the load of the PMUT on the IC. The control circuit is composed of a high-voltage pulser to drive the PMUT for transmission and of a transimpedance amplifier to amplify the received echo. The working frequency of the system is 1.5 MHz.
High-Sensitivity Dual Electrochemical QCM for Reliable Three-Electrode Measurements
Authors: Tóth Dávid , Kasper Manuel , Alic Ivan , Awadein Mohamed , Ebner Andreas , Baney Doug , Gramse Georg , Kienberger Ferry
Published: April 2021

An electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EC-QCM) is a versatile gravimetric technique that allows for parallel characterization of mass deposition and electrochemical properties. Despite its broad applicability, simultaneous characterization of two electrodes remains challenging due to practical difficulties posed by the dampening from fixture parasitics and the dissipative medium. In this study, we present a dual electrochemical QCM (dual EC-QCM) that is employed in a three-electrode configuration to enable consequent monitoring of mass deposition and viscous loading on two crystals, the working electrode (WE) and the counter electrode (CE). A novel correction approach, along with a three standard complex impedance calibration, is employed to overcome the effect of dampening while keeping high spectral sensitivity. Separation of viscous loading and rigid mass deposition is achieved by robust characterization of the complex impedance at the resonance frequency. Validation of the presented system is done by cyclic voltammetry characterization of Ag underpotential deposition on gold. The results indicate mass deposition of 412.2 ng for the WE and 345.6 ng for the CE, reflecting a difference of the initially-present Ag adhered to the surface. We also performed higher harmonic measurements that further corroborate the sensitivity and reproducibility of the dual EC-QCM. The demonstrated approach is especially intriguing for electrochemical energy storage applications where mass detection with multiple electrodes is desired.
Deep Learning Based Pavement Inspection Using Self-Reconfigurable Robot
Authors: Ramalingam Balakrishnan , Hayat Abdullah Aamir , Elara Mohan Rajesh , Félix Gómez Braulio , Yi Lim , Pathmakumar Thejus , Rayguru Madan Mohan , Subramanian Selvasundari
Published: April 2021

The pavement inspection task, which mainly includes crack and garbage detection, is essential and carried out frequently. The human-based or dedicated system approach for inspection can be easily carried out by integrating with the pavement sweeping machines. This work proposes a deep learning-based pavement inspection framework for self-reconfigurable robot named Panthera. Semantic segmentation framework SegNet was adopted to segment the pavement region from other objects. Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) based object detection is used to detect and localize pavement defects and garbage. Furthermore, Mobile Mapping System (MMS) was adopted for the geotagging of the defects. The proposed system was implemented and tested with the Panthera robot having NVIDIA GPU cards. The experimental results showed that the proposed technique identifies the pavement defects and litters or garbage detection with high accuracy. The experimental results on the crack and garbage detection are presented. It is found that the proposed technique is suitable for deployment in real-time for garbage detection and, eventually, sweeping or cleaning tasks.
Land Use-Driven Changes in Ecosystem Service Values and Simulation of Future Scenarios: A Case Study of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
Authors: Zhou Yongkang , Zhang Xiaoyao , Yu Hu , Liu Qingqing , Xu Linlin
Published: April 2021

Global climate change and land use change arising from human activities affect the ecosystem service values (ESVs). Such impacts have increasingly become significant, especially in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP). Major factors impeding the construction of China’s “ecological security barrier” are shifts in land-use patterns under rapid urbanization, irrational crop and animal husbandry activities, and tourism. In the present study, land use changes in the QTP in recent years were analyzed to determine their impacts on ESVs, followed by simulations of the interactive and evolutionary relationships between land use and ESVs under two scenarios: natural development scenarios and ecological protection scenarios. According to the results, the QTP land-use structure has a small change, and the main land use type is alpine grassland, followed by bare land and woodland. The stability of the major land use types is the key factor responsible for the overall increasing ESV trend. Different regions on the QTP had substantially varied ESVs. The northwest and southeast regions are mostly bare land, which is a concentrated area of low value of ecosystem services. A variety of land use types including grassland and woodland have been found in the humid and semi-humid areas of the central region, so the high value of ecosystem services is concentrated in this area to form a hot spot, with a Z value of 0.63–2.84. Simulations under the natural development and ecological protection scenarios revealed that land use changes guided by ecological policies were more balanced and the associated ESVs were relatively higher than those under the natural development scenario. Under a global climate change context, human activities on the QTP should be better managed. Sustainable development in the region could be facilitated by ensuring synchronization between resource availability and adopted socioeconomic activities.
Measuring the Feature of “The Global”: A Framework for Analyzing the Global City Ranking
Authors: Lin Ka , Ayaz Aisha , Wang Lizheng
Published: April 2021

This study discusses the measurement of the global city with the primary aim to uncover the logical grounds to measure the features of “the global” in the study of ranking and comparing the cities. The study sets up a three-dimensional analysis framework with infrastructure (economy), fluidity (openness), and reputation (influence) for the basic dimensions of measurement for the global cities. Using this framework, the studies of top-10 Chinese cities in the global city comparison have been conducted with the data of cities’ scores from various ranking systems. The resources used include the index of Globalization and World Cities, global urban economic competitiveness index, Economic daily and United Nations global urban sustainable competitiveness rankings. The study tests the effectiveness of this framework by illustrating the coherence and dissimilarity of this analysis with other city ranking systems, and further discloses the advantage of this indicator system. This study exposes the existing problems in the logic and rationale of the urban studies and establishes the basis of global city ranking, thus offering policymakers new perspective on the strategy of city development.