bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identification and Characterizations of Novel, Selective Histone Methyltransferase SET7 Inhibitors by Scaffold Hopping- and 2D-Molecular Fingerprint-Based Similarity Search
Authors: Ding Hong , Lu Wen , Hu Jun , Liu Yu-Chih , Zhang Chen , Lian Fu , Zhang Nai , Meng Fan , Luo Cheng , Chen Kai
Published: March 2018

SET7, serving as the only histone methyltransferase that monomethylates ‘Lys-4’ of histone H3, has been proved to function as a key regulator in diverse biological processes, such as cell proliferation, transcriptional network regulation in embryonic stem cell, cell cycle control, protein stability, heart morphogenesis and development. What′s more, SET7 is involved inthe pathogenesis of alopecia aerate, breast cancer, tumor and cancer progression, atherosclerosis in human carotid plaques, chronic renal diseases, diabetes, obesity, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, there is urgent need to develop novel SET7 inhibitors. In this paper, based on DC-S239 which has been previously reported in our group, we employed scaffold hopping- and 2D fingerprint-based similarity searches and identified DC-S285 as the new hit compound targeting SET7 (IC50 = 9.3 μM). Both radioactive tracing and NMR experiments validated the interactions between DC-S285 and SET7 followed by the second-round similarity search leading to the identification ofDC-S303 with the IC50 value of 1.1 μM. In cellular level, DC-S285 retarded tumor cell proliferation and showed selectivity against MCF7 (IC50 = 21.4 μM), Jurkat (IC50 = 2.2 μM), THP1 (IC50 = 3.5 μM), U937 (IC50 = 3.9 μM) cell lines. Docking calculations suggested that DC-S303 share similar binding mode with the parent compoundDC-S239. What′s more, it presented good selectivity against other epigenetic targets, including SETD1B, SETD8, G9a, SMYD2 and EZH2. DC-S303 can serve as a drug-like scaffold which may need further optimization for drug development, and can be used as chemical probe to help the community to better understand the SET7 biology.
Interactive Hesitation Synthesis: Modelling and Evaluation
Authors: Betz Simon , Carlmeyer Birte , Wagner Petra , Wrede Britta
Published: March 2018

Conversational spoken dialogue systems that interact with the user rather than merely reading the text can be equipped with hesitations to manage dialogue flow and user attention. Based on a series of empirical studies, we elaborated a hesitation synthesis strategy for dialogue systems, which inserts hesitations of a scalable extent wherever needed in the ongoing utterance. Previously, evaluations of hesitation systems have shown that synthesis quality is affected negatively by hesitations, but that they result in improvements of interaction quality. We argue that due to its conversational nature, hesitation synthesis needs interactive evaluation rather than traditional mean opinion score (MOS)-based questionnaires. To validate this claim, we dually evaluate our system’s speech synthesis component, on the one hand, linked to the dialogue system evaluation, and on the other hand, in a traditional MOS way. We are thus able to analyze and discuss differences that arise due to the evaluation methodology. Our results suggest that MOS scales are not sufficient to assess speech synthesis quality, leading to implications for future research that are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, our results indicate that synthetic hesitations are able to increase task performance and that an elaborated hesitation strategy is necessary to avoid likability issues.
Palladium Supported on Titanium Carbide: A Highly Efficient, Durable, and Recyclable Bifunctional Catalyst for the Transformation of 4-Chlorophenol and 4-Nitrophenol
Authors: Fan Guangyin , Li Xiaojing , Xu Caili , Jiang Weidong , Zhang Yun , Gao Daojiang , Bi Jian , Wang Yi
Published: March 2018

Developing highly efficient and recyclable catalysts for the transformation of toxic organic contaminates still remains a challenge. Herein, Titanium Carbide (Ti3C2) MXene modified by alkali treatment process was selected as a support (designated as alk-Ti3C2X2, where X represents the surface terminations) for the synthesis of Pd/alk-Ti3C2X2. Results show that the alkali treatment leads to the increase of surface area and surface oxygen-containing groups of Ti3C2X2, thereby facilitating the dispersion and stabilization of Pd species on the surface of alk-Ti3C2X2. The Pd/alk-Ti3C2X2 catalyst shows excellent catalytic activity for the hydrodechlorination of 4-chlorophenol and the hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol in aqueous solution at 25 °C and hydrogen balloon pressure. High initial reaction rates of 216.6 and 126.3 min−1· g pd − 1 are observed for the hydrodechlorination of 4-chlorophenol and hydrogenation of 4-nitrophenol, respectively. Most importantly, Pd/alk-Ti3C2X2 exhibits excellent stability and recyclability in both reactions without any promoters. The superior property of Pd/alk-Ti3C2X2 makes it as a potential material for practical applications.
Dietary Magnesium Intake and Hyperuricemia among US Adults
Authors: Zhang Yiying , Qiu Hongbin
Published: March 2018

To assess the association between dietary magnesium intake and hyperuricemia in United States (US) adults, we extracted 26,796 US adults aged 20–85 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2001–2014. All dietary intake was measured through 24 h dietary recall method. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between magnesium intake and hyperuricemia after adjusting for several important confounding variables. When compared to the lowest quintile (Q1), for male, adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of hyperuricemia in the second quintile (Q2) to the fifth quintile (Q5) of the magnesium intake were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.72–0.95), 0.74 (0.64–0.85), 0.78 (0.67–0.90), and 0.70 (0.58–0.84, p for trend = 0.0003), respectively. For female, OR was 0.75 (0.62–0.90) in the fourth quintile (Q4) (p for trend = 0.0242). As compared to Q4 of magnesium intake (contains recommended amount), the relative odds of hyperuricemia were increased by 1.29 times in Q1 (OR = 1.29, 1.11–1.50) in male. The ORs were 1.33 (1.11–1.61) in Q1, 1.27 (1.07–1.50) in Q2 in female. Our results indicated that increased magnesium intake was associated with decreased hyperuricemia risk. It also indicated the importance of recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of magnesium and the potential function of magnesium intake in the prevention of hyperuricemia.
Diurnal Variation of Sweet Taste Recognition Thresholds Is Absent in Overweight and Obese Humans
Authors: Sanematsu Keisuke , Nakamura Yuki , Nomura Masatoshi , Shigemura Noriatsu , Ninomiya Yuzo
Published: March 2018

Sweet taste thresholds are positively related to plasma leptin levels in normal weight humans: both show parallel diurnal variations and associations with postprandial glucose and insulin rises. Here, we tested whether this relationship also exists in overweight and obese (OW/Ob) individuals with hyperleptinemia. We tested 36 Japanese OW/Ob subjects (body mass index (BMI) > 25 kg/m2) for recognition thresholds for various taste stimuli at seven different time points from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. using the staircase methodology, and measured plasma leptin, insulin, and blood glucose levels before each taste threshold measurement. We also used the homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) to evaluate insulin resistance. The results demonstrated that, unlike normal weight subjects, OW/Ob subjects showed no significant diurnal variations in the recognition thresholds for sweet stimuli but exhibited negative associations between the diurnal variations of both leptin and sweet recognition thresholds and the HOMA-IR scores. These findings suggest that in OW/Ob subjects, the basal leptin levels (~20 ng/mL) may already exceed leptin’s effective concentration for the modulation of sweet sensitivity and that this leptin resistance-based attenuation of the diurnal variations of the sweet taste recognition thresholds may also be indirectly linked to insulin resistance in OW/Ob subjects.
Prospective Associations of Maternal Dietary Patterns and Postpartum Mental Health in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Cohort: The Growing up in Singapore towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) Study
Authors: Teo Cherlyen , Chia Ai-Ru , Colega Marjorelee , Chen Ling-Wei , Fok Doris , Pang Wei , Godfrey Keith , Tan Kok , Yap Fabian , Shek Lynette , Chong Yap-Seng , Meaney Michael , Chen Helen , Chong Mary
Published: March 2018

Diet in the first month postpartum, otherwise known as “the confinement diet” in Asia, has unique characteristics that are influenced by traditions, cultures, and beliefs. We aimed to characterize dietary patterns during confinement period in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort and examined their associations with postpartum depression (PPD) and anxiety (PPA). Dietary intakes of 490 women were ascertained in the first month postpartum using 3-day food diaries and dietary patterns were derived by factor analysis. Participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at three months’ postpartum; higher scores are indicative of more depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Four dietary patterns were identified: Traditional-Chinese-Confinement diet, Traditional-Indian-Confinement diet, Eat-Out diet and Soup-Vegetables-Fruits diet. The Traditional-Indian-Confinement diet was associated with less PPD symptoms [β (95% CI) −0.62 (−1.16, −0.09) EPDS score per SD increase in diet score] and a non-significant trend with reduced probable PPD (EPDS scores ≥ 13) [OR (95% CI) 0.56 (0.31, 1.01)]. The Soup-Vegetables-Fruits diet was associated with less PPA symptoms [β (95% CI) −1.49 (−2.56, −0.42) STAI-state score]. No associations were observed for other dietary patterns. Independent of ethnicity, adherence to the Traditional-Indian-Confinement diet that is characterized by intake of herbs and legumes, and Soup-Vegetables-Fruits diet high in fruits, vegetables and fish during the postpartum period were associated with less PPD and PPA symptoms, respectively.
Modelling of Rod-Like Fillers’ Rotation and Translation near Two Growing Cells in Conductive Polymer Composite Foam Processing
Authors: Wang Sai , Ameli Amir , Shaayegan Vahid , Kazemi Yasamin , Huang Yifeng , Naguib Hani , Park Chul
Published: March 2018

We developed a simple analytical model to describe the instantaneous location and angle of rod-like conductive fillers as a function of cell growth during the foaming of conductive polymer composites (CPCs). First, we modelled the motion of the fillers that resulted from the growth of one cell. Then, by taking into account the fillers located at the line that connected the centres of the two growing cells, we found the final filler’s angle and location. We identified this as a function of the corresponding cell size, filler size, and the filler’s initial angle and location. We based the model’s development on the assumption that a polymer melt is incompressible during cell growth. The two-cell growth model is better than the one-cell growth model because it describes the filler’s movement in the cell wall between the two growing cells. The results revealed that the fillers near the cell were the ones most affected by the cell growth, while those at the midpoint between the two cells were the least affected. As a cell grows, its affected polymer area also increases. A dimensionless factor η was introduced to demonstrate the effects of the cell size and the filler length on the filler’s interconnectivity in the CPC foams. It is vital to keep the filler length comparable to the cell size when preparing CPC foams with the desired electrical conductivity. Our research provides a deeper understanding of the mechanism through which foaming influences the filler connections in CPC foams.
Reflective Practice: Eight Stages of Publishing a Scientific Research Paper
Authors: Donovan Stephen
Published: March 2018

This paper suggests a methodology of academic paper classification for the scientist intending to contribute to peer-reviewed scientific literature. This will enable the progress of the typescript through the publication system to be accurately determined at any stage. The publication process is split into eight subdivisions of differing worth and import: in navel contemplation; in preparation; submitted; in review; revision, revised, and resubmitted; accepted; in press; and publication. Papers in navel contemplation are referred to as in preparation by many, which can be an embarrassment when asked exactly what has been prepared. Rather than listing papers as in preparation in academic submissions, it is better to list them as unpublished data until published. Efficient authors keep a close watch on their papers between submission and the proof stage. They must be sufficiently organized to manage their publications and to be aware when things slow down. The methodology is flexible and, if it does not work for some authors, then they have a simple framework to adapt to their own preferences. In short, scientists need to show care and not be overly optimistic about the progress of any paper.
The Potential Benefits of Introducing Informal Recyclers and Organic Waste Recovery to a Current Waste Management System: The Case Study of Santiago de Chile
Authors: Rojas C. Ailyn , Yabar Helmut , Mizunoya Takeshi , Higano Yoshiro
Published: March 2018

Chile has experienced rapid economic growth in recent decades. However, this economic growth has been accompanied by a huge increase in waste generation. Although the country has historically put emphasis on appropriate final disposal of waste through landfill, the environmental problems generated by this activity have shown that it is necessary to improve the national solid waste management approach. Santiago, the capital of Chile, generates about 43% of the national solid waste. A study conducted by the Ministry of the Environment in 2011 found that 14% of the waste generated in the capital is recycled, mostly thanks to local campaigns and collection by the informal sector (scavengers). While in 2009 the government set a target to recycle 25% of municipal inorganic waste by 2020, there is no information on the implementation process to reach this target. Most importantly, the law has not established specific recycling rates for target materials, and, has not taken into consideration organic waste recovery, which accounts for 48% of the total waste stream. In order to meet the government target and at the same time promote organic waste recovery, this study proposes and evaluates the environmental impacts of different viable alternatives for municipal solid waste collection, treatment and recovery by using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The proposed scenarios range from the current situation to the introduction of organic waste recovery and the inclusion of informal recyclers in the collection process. By considering the investment and treatment costs of each alternative, the study identifies the most effective scenario in terms of avoided pollutants per cost ratio. Finally, the study analyzes the feasibility of the implementation of the selected scenario by indicating benefits and challenges. The results of the scenario evaluation suggest that the scenario with the highest recovery of inorganic and organic materials, coupled with the participation of the informal collectors, will have a positive impact not only in terms of meeting and surpassing the government goal, but also in the reduction of CO2eq emissions. This scenario can reduce by approximately 3.5% the national CO2eq generated, with a cost of $14.1/ton. Moreover, the potential reductions of CH4 account for 8.5% of the national CH4 emissions and 24.5% of the national waste sector CH4 emissions.
Drone-Borne Hyperspectral Monitoring of Acid Mine Drainage: An Example from the Sokolov Lignite District
Authors: Jackisch Robert , Lorenz Sandra , Zimmermann Robert , Möckel Robert , Gloaguen Richard
Published: March 2018

This contribution explores the potential of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to monitor areas affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). AMD is an environmental phenomenon that usually develops in the vicinity of mining operations or in post-mining landscapes. The investigated area covers a re-cultivated tailing in the Sokolov lignite district of the Czech Republic. A high abundance of AMD minerals occurs in a confined space of the selected test site and illustrates potential environmental issues. The mine waste material contains pyrite and its consecutive weathering products, mainly iron hydroxides and oxides. These affect the natural pH values of the Earth’s surface. Prior research done in this area relies on satellite and airborne data, and our approach focuses on lightweight drone systems that enables rapid deployment for field campaigns and consequently-repeated surveys. High spatial image resolutions and precise target determination are additional advantages. Four field and flight campaigns were conducted from April to September 2016. For validation, the waste heap was probed in situ for pH, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and reflectance spectrometry. Ground truth was achieved by collecting samples that were characterized for pH, X-ray diffraction, and XRF in laboratory conditions. Hyperspectral data were processed and corrected for atmospheric, topographic, and illumination effects using accurate digital elevation models (DEMs). High-resolution point clouds and DEMs were built from drone-borne RGB data using structure-from-motion multi-view-stereo photogrammetry. The supervised classification of hyperspectral image (HSI) data suggests the presence of jarosite and goethite minerals associated with the acidic environmental conditions (pH range 2.3–2.8 in situ). We identified specific iron absorption bands in the UAS-HSI data. These features were confirmed by ground-truth spectroscopy. The distribution of in situ pH data validates the UAS-based mineral classification results. Evaluation of the applied methods demonstrates that drone surveying is a fast, non-invasive, inexpensive technique for multi-temporal environmental monitoring of post-mining landscapes.
Evaluating Endmember and Band Selection Techniques for Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis using Post-Fire Imaging Spectroscopy
Authors: Tane Zachary , Roberts Dar , Veraverbeke Sander , Casas Ángeles , Ramirez Carlos , Ustin Susan
Published: March 2018

Fire impacts many vegetated ecosystems across the world. The severity of a fire is major component in determining post-fire effects, including soil erosion, trace gas emissions, and the trajectory of recovery. In this study, we used imaging spectroscopy data combined with Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA), a form of spectral mixture analysis that accounts for endmember variability, to map fire severity of the 2013 Rim Fire. We evaluated four endmember selection approaches: Iterative Endmember Selection (IES), count-based within endmember class (In-CoB), Endmember Average Root Mean Squared Error (EAR), and Minimum Average Spectral Angle (MASA). To reduce the dimensionality of the imaging spectroscopy data we used uncorrelated Stable Zone Unmixing (uSZU). Fractional cover maps derived from MESMA were validated using two approaches: (1) manual interpretation of fine spatial resolution WorldView-2 imagery; and (2) ground plots measuring the Geo Composite Burn Index (GeoCBI) and the percentage of co-dominant and dominant trees with green, brown, and black needles. Comparison to reference data demonstrated fairly high correlation for green vegetation and char fractions (r2 values as high as 0.741 for the MESMA ash fractions compared to classified WorldView-2 imagery and as high as 0.841 for green vegetation fractions). The combination of uSZU band selection and In-CoB endmember selection had the best trade-off between accuracy and computational efficiency. This study demonstrated that detailed fire severity retrievals based on imaging spectroscopy can be optimized using techniques that would be viable also in a satellite-based imaging spectrometer.
Sparse Subspace Clustering-Based Feature Extraction for PolSAR Imagery Classification
Authors: Ren Bo , Hou Biao , Zhao Jin , Jiao Licheng
Published: March 2018

Features play an important role in the learning technologies and pattern recognition methods for polarimetric synthetic aperture (PolSAR) image interpretation. In this paper, based on the subspace clustering algorithms, we combine sparse representation, low-rank representation, and manifold graphs to investigate the intrinsic property of PolSAR data. In this algorithm framework, the features are projected through the projection matrix with the sparse or/and the low rank characteristic in the low dimensional space. Meanwhile, different kinds of manifold graphs explore the geometry structure of PolSAR data to make the projected feature more discriminative. Those learned matrices, that are constrained by the sparsity and low rank terms can search for a few points from the samples and capture the global structure. The proposed algorithms aim at constructing a projection matrix from the subspace clustering algorithms to achieve the features benefiting for the subsequent PolSAR image classification. Experiments test the different combinations of those constraints. It demonstrates that the proposed algorithms outperform other state-of-art linear and nonlinear approaches with better quantization and visualization performance in PolSAR data from spaceborne and airborne platforms.
Development of a Flexible Broadband Rayleigh Waves Comb Transducer with Nonequidistant Comb Interval for Defect Detection of Thick-Walled Pipelines
Authors: Zhao Huamin , He Cunfu , Yan Lyu , Zhang Haijun
Published: March 2018

It is necessary to develop a transducer that can quickly detect the inner and outer wall defects of thick-walled pipes, in order to ensure the safety of such pipes. In this paper, a flexible broadband Rayleigh-waves comb transducer based on PZT (lead zirconate titanate) for defect detection of thick-walled pipes is studied. The multiple resonant coupling theory is used to expand the transducer broadband and the FEA (Finite Element Analysis) method is used to optimize transducer array element parameters. Optimization results show that the best array element parameters of the transducer are when the transducer array element length is 30 mm, the thickness is 1.2 mm, the width of one end of is 1.5 mm, and the other end is 3 mm. Based on the optimization results, such a transducer was fabricated and its performance was tested. The test results were consistent with the finite-element simulation results, and the −3 dB bandwidth of the transducer reached 417 kHz. Transducer directivity test results show that the Θ−3dB beam width was equal to 10 °, to meet the defect detection requirements. Finally, defects of thick-walled pipes were detected using the transducer. The results showed that the transducer could detect the inner and outer wall defects of thick-walled pipes within the bandwidth.
Security Architecture and Protocol for Trust Verifications Regarding the Integrity of Files Stored in Cloud Services
Authors: Pinheiro Alexandre , Dias Canedo Edna , De Sousa Junior Rafael , De Oliveira Albuquerque Robson , García Villalba Luis , Kim Tai-Hoon
Published: March 2018

Cloud computing is considered an interesting paradigm due to its scalability, availability and virtually unlimited storage capacity. However, it is challenging to organize a cloud storage service (CSS) that is safe from the client point-of-view and to implement this CSS in public clouds since it is not advisable to blindly consider this configuration as fully trustworthy. Ideally, owners of large amounts of data should trust their data to be in the cloud for a long period of time, without the burden of keeping copies of the original data, nor of accessing the whole content for verifications regarding data preservation. Due to these requirements, integrity, availability, privacy and trust are still challenging issues for the adoption of cloud storage services, especially when losing or leaking information can bring significant damage, be it legal or business-related. With such concerns in mind, this paper proposes an architecture for periodically monitoring both the information stored in the cloud and the service provider behavior. The architecture operates with a proposed protocol based on trust and encryption concepts to ensure cloud data integrity without compromising confidentiality and without overloading storage services. Extensive tests and simulations of the proposed architecture and protocol validate their functional behavior and performance.
Estimating and Comparing Dam Deformation Using Classical and GNSS Techniques
Authors: Barzaghi Riccardo , Cazzaniga Noemi , De Gaetani Carlo , Pinto Livio , Tornatore Vincenza
Published: March 2018

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receivers are nowadays commonly used in monitoring applications, e.g., in estimating crustal and infrastructure displacements. This is basically due to the recent improvements in GNSS instruments and methodologies that allow high-precision positioning, 24 h availability and semiautomatic data processing. In this paper, GNSS-estimated displacements on a dam structure have been analyzed and compared with pendulum data. This study has been carried out for the Eleonora D’Arborea (Cantoniera) dam, which is in Sardinia. Time series of pendulum and GNSS over a time span of 2.5 years have been aligned so as to be comparable. Analytical models fitting these time series have been estimated and compared. Those models were able to properly fit pendulum data and GNSS data, with standard deviation of residuals smaller than one millimeter. These encouraging results led to the conclusion that GNSS technique can be profitably applied to dam monitoring allowing a denser description, both in space and time, of the dam displacements than the one based on pendulum observations.
A Context-Aware Indoor Air Quality System for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Prevention
Authors: De La Iglesia Daniel , De Paz Juan , Villarrubia González Gabriel , Barriuso Alberto , Bajo Javier
Published: March 2018

Context-aware monitoring systems designed for e-Health solutions and ambient assisted living (AAL) play an important role in today’s personalized health-care services. The majority of these systems are intended for the monitoring of patients’ vital signs by means of bio-sensors. At present, there are very few systems that monitor environmental conditions and air quality in the homes of users. A home’s environmental conditions can have a significant influence on the state of the health of its residents. Monitoring the environment is the key to preventing possible diseases caused by conditions that do not favor health. This paper presents a context-aware system that monitors air quality to prevent a specific health problem at home. The aim of this system is to reduce the incidence of the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is triggered mainly by environmental factors. In the conducted case study, the system monitored the state of the neonate and the quality of air while it was asleep. The designed proposal is characterized by its low cost and non-intrusive nature. The results are promising.
Nonlinear Errors Resulting from Ghost Reflection and Its Coupling with Optical Mixing in Heterodyne Laser Interferometers
Authors: Fu Haijin , Wang Yue , Hu Pengcheng , Tan Jiubin , Fan Zhigang
Published: March 2018

Even after the Heydemann correction, residual nonlinear errors, ranging from hundreds of picometers to several nanometers, are still found in heterodyne laser interferometers. This is a crucial factor impeding the realization of picometer level metrology, but its source and mechanism have barely been investigated. To study this problem, a novel nonlinear model based on optical mixing and coupling with ghost reflection is proposed and then verified by experiments. After intense investigation of this new model’s influence, results indicate that new additional high-order and negative-order nonlinear harmonics, arising from ghost reflection and its coupling with optical mixing, have only a negligible contribution to the overall nonlinear error. In real applications, any effect on the Lissajous trajectory might be invisible due to the small ghost reflectance. However, even a tiny ghost reflection can significantly worsen the effectiveness of the Heydemann correction, or even make this correction completely ineffective, i.e., compensation makes the error larger rather than smaller. Moreover, the residual nonlinear error after correction is dominated only by ghost reflectance.
A Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm for Multi-Sensor Task Allocation
Authors: Tkach Itshak , Jevtić Aleksandar , Nof Shimon , Edan Yael
Published: March 2018

Multi-sensor systems can play an important role in monitoring tasks and detecting targets. However, real-time allocation of heterogeneous sensors to dynamic targets/tasks that are unknown a priori in their locations and priorities is a challenge. This paper presents a Modified Distributed Bees Algorithm (MDBA) that is developed to allocate stationary heterogeneous sensors to upcoming unknown tasks using a decentralized, swarm intelligence approach to minimize the task detection times. Sensors are allocated to tasks based on sensors’ performance, tasks’ priorities, and the distances of the sensors from the locations where the tasks are being executed. The algorithm was compared to a Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), a Bees System, and two common multi-sensor algorithms, market-based and greedy-based algorithms, which were fitted for the specific task. Simulation analyses revealed that MDBA achieved statistically significant improved performance by 7% with respect to DBA as the second-best algorithm, and by 19% with respect to Greedy algorithm, which was the worst, thus indicating its fitness to provide solutions for heterogeneous multi-sensor systems.
A Lightweight RFID Mutual Authentication Protocol Based on Physical Unclonable Function
Authors: Xu He , Ding Jie , Li Peng , Zhu Feng , Wang Ruchuan
Published: March 2018

With the fast development of the Internet of Things, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been widely applied into many areas. Nevertheless, security problems of the RFID technology are also gradually exposed, when it provides life convenience. In particular, the appearance of a large number of fake and counterfeit goods has caused massive loss for both producers and customers, for which the clone tag is a serious security threat. If attackers acquire the complete information of a tag, they can then obtain the unique identifier of the tag by some technological means. In general, because there is no extra identifier of a tag, it is difficult to distinguish an original tag and its clone one. Once the legal tag data is obtained, attackers can be able to clone this tag. Therefore, this paper shows an efficient RFID mutual verification protocol. This protocol is based on the Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) and the lightweight cryptography to achieve efficient verification of a single tag. The protocol includes three process: tag recognition, mutual verification and update. The tag recognition is that the reader recognizes the tag; mutual verification is that the reader and tag mutually verify the authenticity of each other; update is supposed to maintain the latest secret key for the following verification. Analysis results show that this protocol has a good balance between performance and security.
Energy Efficient Pico Cell Range Expansion and Density Joint Optimization for Heterogeneous Networks with eICIC
Authors: Sun Yanzan , Xia Wenqing , Zhang Shunqing , Wu Yating , Wang Tao , Fang Yong
Published: March 2018

Heterogeneous networks, constituted by conventional macro cells and overlaying pico cells, have been deemed a promising paradigm to support the deluge of data traffic with higher spectral efficiency and Energy Efficiency (EE). In order to deploy pico cells in reality, the density of Pico Base Stations (PBSs) and the pico Cell Range Expansion (CRE) are two important factors for the network spectral efficiency as well as EE improvement. However, associated with the range and density evolution, the inter-tier interference within the heterogeneous architecture will be challenging, and the time domain Enhanced Inter-cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) technique becomes necessary. Aiming to improve the network EE, the above factors are jointly considered in this paper. More specifically, we first derive the closed-form expression of the network EE as a function of the density of PBSs and pico CRE bias based on stochastic geometry theory, followed by a linear search algorithm to optimize the pico CRE bias and PBS density, respectively. Moreover, in order to realize the pico CRE bias and PBS density joint optimization, a heuristic algorithm is proposed to achieve the network EE maximization. Numerical simulations show that our proposed pico CRE bias and PBS density joint optimization algorithm can improve the network EE significantly with low computational complexity.
Composition-Dependent Sorptive Fractionation of Anthropogenic Dissolved Organic Matter by Fe(III)-Montmorillonite
Authors: Young Robert , Avneri-Katz Shani , McKenna Amy , Chen Huan , Bahureksa William , Polubesova Tamara , Chefetz Benny , Borch Thomas
Published: March 2018

Water transports organic matter through soils, where mineral-organic associations form to retain dissolved organic matter (“DOM”), influencing terrestrial carbon cycling, nutrient availability for plant growth, and other soil organic matter functions. We combined Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry with novel data analysis techniques to examine the role of sorptive fractionation in the associations between Fe(III)-montmorillonite and DOM from composted biosolids (“anthropogenic DOM”). To examine the influence of DOM composition on sorption and sorptive fractionation, we used resin-based separation to produce DOM subsamples with different molecular compositions and chemical properties. A large proportion (45 to 64%) of the initial carbon in every DOM solution sorbed to the Fe(III)-montmorillonite. However, when the compositions of the initial solutions were compared to the sorbed organic matter, the computed changes in composition were lower (10 to 32%). In fact, non-selective sorption was more important than selective sorption in every sample, except for the hydrophilic neutral (HiN) fraction, where high nitrogen content and acidic conditions appeared to enhance sorptive fractionation. The results from this study demonstrate that the importance of sorptive fractionation varies with DOM composition and other factors, and that non-selective sorption can contribute substantially to the formation of mineral-organic associations.
Agroecology for the Shrinking City
Authors: Herrmann Dustin , Chuang Wen-Ching , Schwarz Kirsten , Bowles Timothy , Garmestani Ahjond , Shuster William , Eason Tarsha , Hopton Matthew , Allen Craig
Published: March 2018

Many cities are experiencing long-term declines in population and economic activity. As a result, frameworks for urban sustainability need to address the unique challenges and opportunities of such shrinking cities. Shrinking, particularly in the U.S., has led to extensive vacant land. The abundance of vacant land reflects a loss of traditional urban amenities, economic opportunity, neighbors, businesses, and even basic city services and often occurs in neighborhoods with socially and economically vulnerable or underserved populations. However, vacant land also provides opportunities, including the space to invest in green infrastructure that can provide ecosystem services and support urban sustainability. Achieving desirable amenities that provide ecosystem services from vacant land is the central tenet of a recent urban sustainability framework termed ecology for the shrinking city. An agroecological approach could operationalize ecology for the shrinking city to both manage vacancy and address ecosystem service goals. Developing an agroecology in shrinking cities not only secures provisioning services that use an active and participatory approach of vacant land management but also transforms and enhances regulating and supporting services. The human and cultural dimensions of agroecology create the potential for social-ecological innovations that can support sustainable transformations in shrinking cities. Overall, the strength of agroecological principles guiding a green infrastructure strategy stems from its explicit focus on how individuals and communities can shape their environment at multiple scales to produce outcomes that reflect their social and cultural context. Specifically, the shaping of the environment provides a pathway for communities to build agency and manage for resilience in urban social-ecological systems. Agroecology for the shrinking city can support desirable transformations, but to be meaningful, we recognize that it must be part of a greater strategy that addresses larger systemic issues facing shrinking cities and their residents.
Comparing the Effects of Vehicle Automation, Policy-Making and Changed User Preferences on the Uptake of Electric Cars and Emissions from Transport
Authors: Mazur Christoph , Offer Gregory , Contestabile Marcello , Brandon Nigel
Published: March 2018

Switching energy demand for transport from liquid fuels to electricity is the most promising way to significantly improve air quality and reduce transport emissions. Previous studies have shown this is possible, that by 2035 the economics of alternative powertrain and energy vectors will have converged. However, they do not address whether the transition is likely or plausible. Using the UK as a case study, we present a systems dynamics model based study informed by transition theory and explore the effects of technology progress, policy-making, user preferences and; for the first time, automated vehicles on this transition. We are not trying to predict the future but to highlight what is necessary in order for different scenarios to become more or less likely. Worryingly we show that current policies with the expected technology progress and expectations of vehicle buyers are insufficient to reach global targets. Faster technology progress, strong financial incentives or a change in vehicle buyer expectations are crucial but still insufficient. In contrast, the biggest switch to alternatively fuelled vehicles could be achieved by the introduction of automated vehicles. The implications will affect policy makers, automotive manufactures, technology developers and broader society.
Measuring Rice Farmer’s Pesticide Overuse Practice and the Determinants: A Statistical Analysis Based on Data Collected in Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces of China
Authors: Wang Jianhua , Chu May , Ma Yuting
Published: March 2018

Understanding the extent of pesticide overuse and what drives rice farmers to overuse pesticide in agricultural production theoretically and empirically is imperative to increase farmers’ income, promote agricultural transformation and agricultural sustainable development. In this paper, we examined the phenomenon and pattern of pesticides overuse based on the data collected from 861 rice farmers in Jiangsu and Anhui, two provinces in China. By applying the Cobb-Douglas production function (C-D production function) and the damage control model, we estimated the marginal productivity of pesticides. We also adopted the Binary Probit model to further explore factors leading to overuse of pesticide among farmers. Our findings suggested that the marginal productivity of pesticides is close to zero, indicating that there is an excessive use of pesticides in the surveyed areas. According to the Binary Probit model, we also discovered that female farmers, farmers with knowledge about pesticide toxicity, pesticide residue and farmers who hold the view that massive use of pesticide is inimical to the environment, and farmers who participate in pesticide training organized by the government, are more likely to overuse pesticide. On the contrary, experienced farmers have a lower chance of overusing pesticides. Possible explanations to the above findings may be that applying pesticides in accordance with the instructions causes overusing and farmers who are loss-averse, in order to avoid the risk of income loss that may be caused by disease and insect pests, and keep its own income stable, will still increase the amount of pesticide application. It also indicates that farmers are insensitive to increased pesticide overuse.
Collaboration, Adaptation, and Scaling: Perspectives on Environmental Governance for Sustainability
Authors: Schoon Michael , Cox Michael
Published: March 2018

In preview of the special issue on “Environmental Governance for Sustainability”, this manuscript examines three key themes on governance and sustainability. Governance for sustainability, by its nature, requires long-enduring institutional arrangements. Given the complex adaptive systems in which governance decision-making takes place, we explore three key characteristics of successful, long-term governance. The first of these is working across scale. This includes nested institutions as well as communication and coordination both horizontally and vertically between diverse governance groups. Second, we highlight the importance of collaboration. Building on the previous point, we draw on literature from collaborative governance and co-management to emphasize how collaboration can help to build more enduring governance structures. Third, we examine the importance of adaptation and evolution in the resolution of collective action dilemmas in complex systems filled with nonlinearities, unclear causal chains, and environments in which we have less than a full understanding of the ramifications of governance actions.
Optimal Cost–Quality Trade-Off Model for Differentiating Presale Housing Quality Strategies
Authors: Juan Yi-Kai , Lin I-Chieh
Published: March 2018

Housing quality (HQ) has been a long-standing concern for both developers and homebuyers. Currently, HQ depends on the expected profit and subjectivity of the developers, and homebuyers only have a passive choice of whether to accept housing with such quality. Asian housing supply markets have largely adopted the presale housing system. Under this system, developers are able to verify future occupants before commencing construction, enabling them to provide customized designs and differentiated quality items in order to meet user demands and value. Consequently, HQ can be enhanced. A cost–quality trade-off model was developed using a genetic algorithm to help decision-makers identify the optimal HQ differentiation strategy that simultaneously satisfies homebuyers’ expectations of quality and developers’ expectations of profits. The findings showed that the presale housing system effectively improves HQ. A 6% increase in homebuyers’ budgets can achieve the optimal quality improvement effect, while an 8% or more increase in developers’ construction costs in order to improve HQ can generate an additional premium for the developers.
Intercropping Halophytes to Mitigate Salinity Stress in Watermelon
Authors: Simpson Catherine , Franco Jose , King Stephen , Volder Astrid
Published: March 2018

Saline irrigation water can lead to salt buildup and reduced crop yields. Halophytic plants are known to accumulate excess salts in tissues, removing them from the immediate environment. This two-phase experiment explored the feasibility of intercropping watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai var. lanatus) with halophytic species to mitigate the negative effects of saline irrigation water while providing a value-added crop. In the first experiment, six greenhouse-grown species were irrigated with water that was either deionized (0 dS m−1) or contained 3 or 6 dS m−1 of salts for 41 days and screened for growth and salt removal. Two halophytes were selected to be additively intercropped with watermelon under field conditions and irrigated with the same saline irrigation levels as the first experiment. Results indicated that garden orache (Atriplex hortensis L.) exhibited the highest growth rates and purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) accumulated high amounts of sodium in plant tissues under saline irrigation. The field experiment showed that watermelon yields, stem water potential, and fruit quality were not affected by saline irrigation; however, the watermelon/orache intercropping treatment had significantly higher yields. These results suggest intercropping with halophytes has the potential to contribute a value-added crop without reducing watermelon yields.
Visualizing the Academic Discipline of Knowledge Management
Authors: Wang Peng , Zhu Fang-Wei , Song Hao-Yang , Hou Jian-Hua , Zhang Jin-Lan
Published: March 2018

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the research status of knowledge management (KM) and identify the characteristics of KM in the literature. We selected and studied in detail 7628 original research articles from the Web of Science from 1974 to 2017. Although many studies have contributed to the evolution of the KM domain, our results showed that a comprehensive bibliometric and visualization investigation was required. The literature on KM has grown rapidly since the 1970s. The United States of America, as the original contributing country, has also internationally collaborated the most in this field of study. The National Cheng Kung University has made the highest number of contributions. The majority of authors contributed a small number of publications. Additionally, the most common category in KM research was management. The main publications for KM research include Journal of Knowledge Management, and Knowledge Management Research & Practice. A keywords analysis determined that “knowledge sharing”, “innovation”, “ontology”, and “knowledge management” were consistent hotspots in knowledge management research. Through a document co-citation analysis, the intellectual structures of knowledge management were defined, and four emerging trends were identified that focus on new phenomenon, the practice of knowledge management, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) management based on knowledge perspective, innovation and performance, and big data-enabled KM. We also provide eight research questions for future studies. Our results will benefit academics, researchers, and research students who want to rapidly obtain an overview of knowledge management research. This study can also be a starting point for communication between academics and practitioners.
Sustainable Development in Project-Based Industries–Supporting the Realization of Explorative Innovation
Authors: Larsson Lisa , Larsson Johan
Published: March 2018

Both exploitative and explorative innovations are needed for sustainable development in any industry, but balancing the two types is a delicate matter, and exploitation tends to be strongly prioritized in many industries. This is typically evident in project-based industries (PBIs), which are characterized by a fragmented supply chain and the delivery of one-off solutions in business projects. Realizing explorative innovations in this context is complex due to the need to transfer new knowledge between the organization developing the innovations and actors in inter-organizational business projects. The aim of this paper is to highlight areas in the management of explorative innovations developed outside business projects, to increase the understanding of where the specific market setting of PBIs might necessitate an adapted approach for successful realization. A case study of three innovation projects in organizations operating in PBIs have been conducted. The findings confirm that the major challenges lie in the transition between development project and business project. We highlight three aspects linked to this transition that require a flexible management approach: the assignation and acceptance of suitable responsibilities and roles, flexible support for the innovation process, and system acceptance. The findings may provide guidance for actors in PBIs strategically seeking to promote sustainable development, and provide foundations for further research to develop support for explorative innovation.