bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) Extract Impairs Nairovirus Infection by Inhibiting the Attachment to Target Cells
Authors: Mirandola Mattia , Salvati Maria Vittoria , Rodigari Carola , Appelberg K. Sofia , Mirazimi Ali , Maffei Massimo E. , Gribaudo Giorgio , Salata Cristiano
Published: August 2021

Hazara virus (HAZV) belongs to the Nairoviridae family and is included in the same serogroup of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). CCHFV is the most widespread tick-borne arbovirus. It is responsible for a serious hemorrhagic disease, for which specific and effective treatment and preventive systems are missing. Bioactive compounds derived from several natural products may provide a natural source of broad-spectrum antiviral agents, characterized by good tolerability and minimal side effects. Previous in vitro studies have shown that a cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) extract containing a high content of A-type proanthocyanidins (PAC-A) inhibits the replication of herpes simplex and influenza viruses by hampering their attachment to target cells. Given the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of polyphenols and the urgency to develop therapies for the treatment of CCHF, we investigated the antiviral activity of cranberry extract against HAZV, a surrogate nairovirus model of CCHFV that can be handled in Level 2 Biosafety Laboratories (BSL-2). The results indicate that the cranberry extract exerts an antiviral activity against HAZV by targeting early stages of the viral replication cycle, including the initial adsorption to target cells. Although the details of the molecular mechanism of action remain to be clarified, the cranberry extract exerts a virucidal effect through a direct interaction with HAZV particles that leads to the subsequent impairment of virus attachment to cell-surface receptors. Finally, the antiviral activity of the cranberry extract was also confirmed for CCHFV. As a whole, the evidence obtained suggests that cranberry extract is a valuable candidate to be considered for the development of therapeutic strategies for CCHFV infections.
HPV DeepSeq: An Ultra-Fast Method of NGS Data Analysis and Visualization Using Automated Workflows and a Customized Papillomavirus Database in CLC Genomics Workbench
Authors: Shen-Gunther Jane , Xia Qingqing , Cai Hong , Wang Yufeng
Published: August 2021

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has actualized the human papillomavirus (HPV) virome profiling for in-depth investigation of viral evolution and pathogenesis. However, viral computational analysis remains a bottleneck due to semantic discrepancies between computational tools and curated reference genomes. To address this, we developed and tested automated workflows for HPV taxonomic profiling and visualization using a customized papillomavirus database in the CLC Microbial Genomics Module. HPV genomes from Papilloma Virus Episteme were customized and incorporated into CLC “ready-to-use” workflows for stepwise data processing to include: (1) Taxonomic Analysis, (2) Estimate Alpha/Beta Diversities, and (3) Map Reads to Reference. Low-grade (n = 95) and high-grade (n = 60) Pap smears were tested with ensuing collective runtimes: Taxonomic Analysis (36 min); Alpha/Beta Diversities (5 s); Map Reads (45 min). Tabular output conversion to visualizations entailed 1–2 keystrokes. Biodiversity analysis between low- (LSIL) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) revealed loss of species richness and gain of dominance by HPV-16 in HSIL. Integrating clinically relevant, taxonomized HPV reference genomes within automated workflows proved to be an ultra-fast method of virome profiling. The entire process named “HPV DeepSeq” provides a simple, accurate and practical means of NGS data analysis for a broad range of applications in viral research.
Local and Remote Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Administration on Skin Wound Regeneration
Authors: Silina Ekaterina , Stupin Victor , Koreyba Konstantin , Bolevich Sergey , Suzdaltseva Yulia , Manturova Natalia
Published: August 2021

Wound healing is an important medical problem. We evaluated the efficacy of locally administered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from human umbilical cords on the dynamics of skin wound healing. The study was conducted on the backs of Wistar rats, where two square wounds were created by removing all layers of the skin. Four groups were studied in two series of experiments: (1) a Control_NaCl group (the wounds were injected with 0.9% NaCl solution) and a Control_0 group (intact wounds on the opposite side of the same rat’s back); (2) an MSC group (injected MSCs, local effect) and a Control_sc group (intact wounds on the opposite side of the back, remote MSC effect). The area and temperature of the wounds and the microcirculation of the wound edges were measured. Histological and morphometric studies were performed on days 3 and 7 after the wounds were created. The results showed that the injection trauma (Control_NaCl) slowed the regeneration process. In both MSC groups (unlike in either control group), we observed no increase in the area of the wounds; in addition, we observed inhibition of the inflammatory process and improved wound regeneration on days 1–3 in the remote group and days 1–5 in the local (injected) group. The MSC and Control_sc groups demonstrated improved microcirculation and suppression of leukocyte infiltration on day 3. On day 7, all the studied parameters of the wounds of the Control_0 group were the same as those of the wounds that received cell therapy, although in contrast to the results of the Control_ NaCl group, fibroblast proliferation was greater in the MSC and Control_sc groups. The dynamics of the size of the wounds were comparable for both local and remote application of MSCs. Thus, even a one-time application of MSCs was effective during the first 3–5 days after injury due to anti-inflammatory processes, which improved the regeneration process. Remote application of MSC, as opposed to direct injection, is advisable, especially in the case of multiple wounds, since the results were indistinguishable between the groups and injection trauma was shown to slow healing.
Folate-Equipped Cationic Liposomes Deliver Anti-MDR1-siRNA to the Tumor and Increase the Efficiency of Chemotherapy
Authors: Gladkikh Daniil V. , Sen′kova Aleksandra V. , Chernikov Ivan V. , Kabilova Tatyana O. , Popova Nelly A. , Nikolin Valery P. , Shmendel Elena V. , Maslov Mikhail A. , Vlassov Valentin V. , Zenkova Marina A. , Chernolovskaya Elena L.
Published: August 2021

In this study, we examined the in vivo toxicity of the liposomes F consisting of 1,26-bis(cholest-5-en-3-yloxycarbonylamino)-7,11,16,20-tetraazahexacosan tetrahydrochloride, lipid-helper 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine and folate lipoconjugate (O-{2-[rac-2,3-di(tetradecyloxy)prop-1-yloxycarbonyl]aminoethyl}-O’-[2-(pteroyl-L-glutam-5-yl)aminoethyl]octadecaethyleneglycol) and investigated the antitumor effect of combined antitumor therapy consisting of MDR1-targeted siMDR/F complexes and conventional polychemotherapy using tumor xenograft initiated in immunodeficient mice. Detailed analysis of acute and chronic toxicity of this liposomal formulation in healthy C57BL/6J mice demonstrated that formulation F and parent formulation L (without folate lipoconjugate) have no acute and chronic toxicity in mice. The study of the biodistribution of siMDR/F lipoplexes in SCID mice with xenograft tumors formed by tumor cells differing in the expression level of folate receptors showed that the accumulation in various types of tumors strongly depends on the abandons of folate receptors in tumor cells and effective accumulation occurs only in tumors formed by cells with the highest FR levels. Investigating the effects of combined therapy including anti-MDR1 siRNA/F complexes and polychemotherapy on a multidrug-resistant KB-8-5 tumor xenograft in SCID mice demonstrated that siMDR/F increases the efficiency of polychemotherapy: the treatment leads to pronounced inhibition of tumor growth, reduced necrosis and inflammation, and stimulates apoptosis in KB-8-5 tumor tissue. At the same time, it does not induce liver toxicity in tumor-bearing mice. These data confirm that folate-containing liposome F mediated the extremely efficient delivery of siRNA in FR-expressing tumors in vivo and ensured the safety and effectiveness of its action.
Design of Switchable On/Off Subpixels for Primary Color Generation Based on Molybdenum Oxide Gratings
Authors: Santos Gonzalo , González Francisco , Ortiz Dolores , Saiz José María , Losurdo Maria , Gutiérrez Yael , Moreno Fernando
Published: August 2021

Structural color emerges from the interaction of light with structured matter when its dimension is comparable to the incident wavelength. The reflected color can be switched by controlling such interaction with materials whose properties can be changed through external stimuli such as electrical, optical, or thermal excitation. In this research, a molybdenum oxide (MoOx) reflective grating to get a switchable on/off subpixel is designed and analyzed. The design is based on subpixel on and off states that could be controlled through the oxidation degree of MoOx. A suitable combination of three of these subpixels, optimized to get a control of primary colors, red, green, and blue, can lead to a pixel which can cover a wide range of colors in the color space for reflective display applications.
Role of Synthetic Plant Extracts on the Production of Silver-Derived Nanoparticles
Authors: Al-Zahrani Sabah , Astudillo-Calderón Sergio , Pintos Beatriz , Pérez-Urria Elena , Manzanera José Antonio , Martín Luisa , Gomez-Garay Arancha
Published: August 2021

The main antioxidants present in plant extracts—quercetin, β-carotene, gallic acid, ascorbic acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, catechin and scopoletin—are able to synthesize silver nanoparticles when reacting with a Ag NO3 solution. The UV-visible absorption spectrum recorded with most of the antioxidants shows the characteristic surface plasmon resonance band of silver nanoparticles. Nanoparticles synthesised with ascorbic, hydroxybenzoic, caffeic, and gallic acids and scopoletin are spherical. Nanoparticles synthesised with quercetin are grouped together to form micellar structures. Nanoparticles synthesised by β-carotene, were triangular and polyhedral forms with truncated corners. Pentagonal nanoparticles were synthesized with catechin. We used Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to check that the biomolecules coat the synthesised silver nanoparticles. X-ray powder diffractograms showed the presence of silver, AgO, Ag2O, Ag3O4 and Ag2O3. Rod-like structures were obtained with quercetin and gallic acid and cookie-like structures in the nanoparticles obtained with scopoletin, as a consequence of their reactivity with cyanide. This analysis explained the role played by the various agents responsible for the bio-reduction triggered by nanoparticle synthesis in their shape, size and activity. This will facilitate targeted synthesis and the application of biotechnological techniques to optimise the green synthesis of nanoparticles.
Experimental Evaluation of Polyphenylsulfone (PPSF) Powders as Fire-Retardant Materials for Processing by Selective Laser Sintering
Authors: Lv Yifan , Thomas Wayne , Chalk Rodger , Hewitt Andrew , Singamneni Sarat
Published: August 2021

Additive manufacturing has progressed rapidly, and the unique attributes of the layer-wise material consolidation are attracting ever increasing application potentials in critical sectors such as medical and aerospace industries. A lack of materials options has been the main bottleneck for the much wider uptake of these promising new technologies. Inventing new material alternatives has been central to most of the research attention in additive manufacturing in recent times. The current research is focused on evaluating the polyphenylsulfone polymer powders for the first time as fire-resistant candidate materials for processing by selective laser sintering, the most promising additive processing method for polymeric material systems. Experimental evaluations were undertaken based on a selective laser sintering test bed. Single layer and multi-layer samples were produced for microstructural and mechanical characterisations. The microstructural evaluations and the mechanical property results indicate sufficient intra- and inter-layer consolidation together with reasonable tensile property responses. The lower viscosity and thermal conductivity characteristics rendered lower tensile strengths, which will require some further attention in the future, for better consolidation and mechanical properties.
Shelf Life and Storage Conditions of Universal Adhesives: A Literature Review
Authors: Iliev Georgi , Hardan Louis , Kassis Cynthia , Bourgi Rim , Cuevas-Suárez Carlos Enrique , Lukomska-Szymanska Monika , Mancino Davide , Haikel Youssef , Kharouf Naji
Published: August 2021

This paper presents state of the art universal adhesive systems and the effect of shelf-life and storage conditions on their bond performance. Three topics are explored in this review: an introduction to the topic, the mechanisms responsible for the degradation of the hybrid layer, and the factors that play a role in the stability of universal adhesives. In addition, issues such as potential durability and clinical importance are discussed. Universal adhesive systems are promising but must be handled and stored according to the manufacturer’s instructions, with careful attention given to the details of shelf-life and storage conditions for maximal success. It appears that the components of universal adhesives play an important role in their stability. Furthermore, HEMA-free formulations using methacrylamides lead to longer shelf-life. Further research is needed to prove these hypotheses.
A Synergistic Flame Retardant System Based on Expandable Graphite, Aluminum (Diethyl-)Polyphospinate and Melamine Polyphosphate for Polyamide 6
Authors: Tomiak Florian , Schoeffel Angelina , Rathberger Klaus , Drummer Dietmar
Published: August 2021

Expandable graphite (EG), aluminum (diethyl)polyphosphinate (AlPi) and melamine polyphophate (MPP) was used as flame retardant multi-material additive in a polyamide 6 (PA6) matrix. Flame inhabitation performances were conducted by cone calorimeter, LOI and UL-94 tests, synergisms identified analyzed by TGA-FTIR and TGA-GC/MS and effects found were comprehensively discussed. SEM images were used for char residue characterization. For PA6 containing 20 wt.% EG and 5 wt.% AlPi/MPP (3:2), a well working synergism in limiting oxygen indices could be identified exhibiting the highest oxygen index (OI) measured: 46%. The study shows that the synergism due to the partial substitution of EG by AlPi/MPP can be attributed to two effects: (1) When PA6/AlPi/MPP mixtures decompose predominantly CO2 evaporates in early decomposition stages. CO2 evaporations was found to be sensitive to the heating rate applied, whereas specifically high heating rates increased the CO2 yield measured. (2) Solid decomposition products of AlPi/MPP act as “glue” between expanded graphite and thus increase the mechanical residue stability.
Enhanced Performance of Chitosan via a Novel Quaternary Magnetic Nanocomposite Chitosan/Grafted Halloysitenanotubes@ZnγFe3O4 for Uptake of Cr (III), Fe (III), and Mn (II) from Wastewater
Authors: Mubarak Mahmoud F. , Ragab Ahmed H. , Hosny Rasha , Ahmed Inas A. , Ahmed Hanan A. , El-Bahy Salah M. , El Shahawy Abeer
Published: August 2021

A novel chitosan/grafted halloysitenanotubes@Znγmagnetite quaternary nanocomposite (Ch/g-HNTs@ZnγM) was fabricated using the chemical co-precipitation method to remove the ions of Cr (III), Fe (III), and Mn (II) from wastewater. The characteristics of the synthesized Ch/g-HNTs@ZnγM quaternary nanocomposite were investigated using FTIR, SEM, XRD, GPC, TGA, TEM, and surface zeta potential. The characterization analysis proved that the mentioned nanocomposite structure contains multiple functional groups with variable efficiencies. Additionally, they proved the existence of magnetic iron in the nanocomposite internal structure with the clarity of presentation of gaps and holes of high electron density on its surface. The results showed that the pH and time to reach an equilibrium system for all the studied metal ions were obtained at 9.0 and 60 min, respectively. The synthesized Ch/g-HNTs@ZnγM nanocomposite exhibited maximum adsorption removal of 95.2%, 99.06%, and 87.1% for Cr (III), Fe (III), and Mn (II) ions, respectively. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model and, for isotherm, the Langmuir model were best fitted with the experimental data. The thermodynamic parameters indicated the exothermic and spontaneous nature of the adsorption reaction as proven by the ΔH° and ΔG° values. Additionally, chemical adsorption by the coordination bond is supposed as the main mechanism of adsorption of the mentioned metal ions on the nanocomposite. Finally, Ch/g-HNTs@ZnγM displays prospected advantages, such as a low-expense adsorbent, high efficiency and availability, and an eco-friendly source, that will reduce the environmental load via an environmentally friendly method.
The Animated Temple and Its Agency in the Urban Life of the City in Ancient Mesopotamia Beate Pongratz-Leisten, NYU, ISAW
Authors: Pongratz-Leisten Beate
Published: August 2021

In ancient Mesopotamia, the functions of the temple were manifold. It could operate as an administrative center, as a center of learning, as a place of jurisdiction, as a center for healing, and as an economic institution, as indicated in both textual and archaeological sources. All these functions involved numerous and diverse personnel and generated interaction with the surrounding world, thereby turning the temple into the center of urban life. Because the temple fulfilled all these functions in addition to housing the divinity, it acquired agency in its own right. Thus, temple, city, and divinity could merge into concerted action. It is this aspect of the temple that lies at the center of the following considerations.
Introduction: Religion, Experience, and Narrative
Authors: Popp-Baier Ulrike
Published: August 2021

At the end of his famous book Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, Gershom Scholem points to the important role stories have played in Hasidism, the latest phase in Jewish Mysticism, and he closes his lectures with the following story: When the Baal Shem had a difficult task before him, he would go to a certain place in the woods, light a fire and meditate in prayer—and what he had set out to perform was done [...]
Impact of Ocean Domain Definition on Sea Level Budget
Authors: Jeon Taehwan
Published: August 2021

Total sea level changes from space radar altimetry are mainly decomposed into two contributions of mass addition and volume expansion of oceans, measured by GRACE space gravimeter and Argo float array, respectively. However, the averages of altimetry, mass, and steric sea level changes have been usually examined over the respective data domains, which are different to one another. Errors arise from this area inconsistency is rarely discussed in the previous studies. Here in this study, an alternative definition of ocean domain is applied for examining sea level budgets, and the results are compared with estimates from different ocean areas. It shows that the impact of area inconsistency is estimated by about 0.3 mm/yr of global trend difference, and averages based on a consistent ocean area yield a closer agreement between altimetry and mass + steric in trend. This contribution would explain some discordances of past sea level budget studies.
Rice Leaf Blast Classification Method Based on Fused Features and One-Dimensional Deep Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Feng Shuai , Cao Yingli , Xu Tongyu , Yu Fenghua , Zhao Dongxue , Zhang Guosheng
Published: August 2021

Rice leaf blast, which is seriously affecting the yield and quality of rice around the world, is a fungal disease that easily develops under high temperature and humidity conditions. Therefore, the use of accurate and non-destructive diagnostic methods is important for rice production management. Hyperspectral imaging technology is a type of crop disease identification method with great potential. However, a large amount of redundant information mixed in hyperspectral data makes it more difficult to establish an efficient disease classification model. At the same time, the difficulty and small scale of agricultural hyperspectral imaging data acquisition has resulted in unrepresentative features being acquired. Therefore, the focus of this study was to determine the best classification features and classification models for the five disease classes of leaf blast in order to improve the accuracy of grading the disease. First, the hyperspectral imaging data were pre-processed in order to extract rice leaf samples of five disease classes, and the number of samples was increased by data augmentation methods. Secondly, spectral feature wavelengths, vegetation indices and texture features were obtained based on the amplified sample data. Thirdly, seven one-dimensional deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) models were constructed based on spectral feature wavelengths, vegetation indices, texture features and their fusion features. Finally, the model in this paper was compared and analyzed with the Inception V3, ZF-Net, TextCNN and bidirectional gated recurrent unit (BiGRU); support vector machine (SVM); and extreme learning machine (ELM) models in order to determine the best classification features and classification models for different disease classes of leaf blast. The results showed that the classification model constructed using fused features was significantly better than the model constructed with a single feature in terms of accuracy in grading the degree of leaf blast disease. The best performance was achieved with the combination of the successive projections algorithm (SPA) selected feature wavelengths and texture features (TFs). The modeling results also show that the DCNN model provides better classification capability for disease classification than the Inception V3, ZF-Net, TextCNN, BiGRU, SVM and ELM classification models. The SPA + TFs-DCNN achieved the best classification accuracy with an overall accuracy (OA) and Kappa of 98.58% and 98.22%, respectively. In terms of the classification of the specific different disease classes, the F1-scores for diseases of classes 0, 1 and 2 were all 100%, while the F1-scores for diseases of classes 4 and 5 were 96.48% and 96.68%, respectively. This study provides a new method for the identification and classification of rice leaf blast and a research basis for assessing the extent of the disease in the field.
Detection and Mapping of Active Landslides before Impoundment in the Baihetan Reservoir Area (China) Based on the Time-Series InSAR Method
Authors: Dun Jiawei , Feng Wenkai , Yi Xiaoyu , Zhang Guoqiang , Wu Mingtang
Published: August 2021

Many potential landslides occured in the Baihetan reservoir area before impoundment. After impoundment, these landslides may still slide, affecting the safe operation of the reservoir area (e.g., causing barrier lakes and floods). Identifying the locations of landslides and their distribution pattern has attracted attention in China and globally. In addition, due to the rolling terrain of the reservoir area, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging will affect the interactive synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) deformation results. Only by obtaining effective deformation information can active landslides be accurately identified. Therefore, the banks of the Hulukou Xiangbiling section of the Baihetan reservoir area before impoundment in the Jinsha River Basin were studied in this paper. Using terrain data and the satellite parameters from Sentinel-1A ascending and descending orbits and ALOS PALSAR ascending orbit, the line-of-sight visibility was quantitatively analyzed, and an analysis method was proposed. Based on the SAR data visibility analysis, the small baseline subset (SBAS) technique was used to process the SAR data to acquire effective deformation. InSAR deformation data was combined with Google Earth imagery to identify 25 active landslides. After field verification, 21 active landslides (14 new) were determined. Most of the active landslides are controlled by faults, and the strata of the other landslides are relatively weak. This InSAR analysis method based on SAR data visibility can provide a reference for identifying and analyzing active landslides in other complicated terrain.
Using Multisource Satellite Data to Investigate Lake Area, Water Level, and Water Storage Changes of Terminal Lakes in Ungauged Regions
Authors: Zhang Chuanhui , Lv Aifeng , Zhu Wenbin , Yao Guobiao , Qi Shanshan
Published: August 2021

Lake area, water level, and water storage changes of terminal lakes are vital for regional water resource management and for understanding local hydrological processes. Nevertheless, due to the complex geographical conditions, it is difficult to investigate and analyze this change in ungauged regions. This study focuses on the ungauged, semi-arid Gahai Lake, a typical small terminal lake in the Qaidam Basin. In addition to the scant observed data, satellite altimetry is scarce for the excessively large fraction of outlier points. Here, we proposed an effective and simple algorithm for extracting available lake elevation points from CryoSat-2, ICESat-2 and Sentinel-3. Combining with the area data from Landsat, Gaofen (GF), and Ziyuan (ZY) satellites, we built an optimal hypsographic curve (lake area versus water level) based on the existing short-term data. Cross-validation was used to validate whether the curve accurately could predict the lake water level in other periods. In addition, we used multisource high-resolution images including Landsat and digital maps to extract the area data from 1975 to 2020, and we applied the curve to estimate the water level for the corresponding period. Additionally, we adopted the pyramidal frustum model (PFM) and the integral model (IM) to estimate the long-term water storage changes, and analyzed the differences between these two models. We found that there has been an obvious change in the area, water level, and water storage since the beginning of the 21st century, which reflects the impact of climate change and human activities on hydrologic processes in the basin. Importantly, agricultural activities have caused a rapid increase in water storage in the Gahai Lake over the past decade. We collected as much multisource satellite data as possible; thus, we estimated the long-term variations in the area, water level, and water storage of a small terminal lake combining multiple models, which can provide an effective method to monitor lake changes in ungauged basins.
Development of an Anomaly Alert System Triggered by Unusual Behaviors at Home
Authors: Rodriguez-Goncalves Roxana , Garcia-Crespo Angel , Matheus-Chacin Carlos , Ruiz-Arroyo Adrian
Published: August 2021

In many countries, the number of elderly people has grown due to the increase in the life expectancy of the population, many of whom currently live alone and are prone to having accidents that they cannot report, especially if they are immobilized. For this reason, we have developed a non-intrusive IoT device, which, through multiple integrated sensors, collects information on habitual user behavior patterns and uses it to generate unusual behavior rules. These rules are used by our SecurHome system to send alert messages to the dependent person’s family members or caregivers if their behavior changes abruptly over the course of their daily life. This document describes in detail the design and development of the SecurHome system.
An Automated CAD System for Accurate Grading of Uveitis Using Optical Coherence Tomography Images
Authors: Haggag Sayed , Khalifa Fahmi , Abdeltawab Hisham , Elnakib Ahmed , Ghazal Mohammed , Mohamed Mohamed A. , Sandhu Harpal Singh , Alghamdi Norah Saleh , El-Baz Ayman
Published: August 2021

Uveitis is one of the leading causes of severe vision loss that can lead to blindness worldwide. Clinical records show that early and accurate detection of vitreous inflammation can potentially reduce the blindness rate. In this paper, a novel framework is proposed for automatic quantification of the vitreous on optical coherence tomography (OCT) with particular application for use in the grading of vitreous inflammation. The proposed pipeline consists of two stages, vitreous region segmentation followed by a neural network classifier. In the first stage, the vitreous region is automatically segmented using a U-net convolutional neural network (U-CNN). For the input of U-CNN, we utilized three novel image descriptors to account for the visual appearance similarity of the vitreous region and other tissues. Namely, we developed an adaptive appearance-based approach that utilizes a prior shape information, which consisted of a labeled dataset of the manually segmented images. This image descriptor is adaptively updated during segmentation and is integrated with the original greyscale image and a distance map image descriptor to construct an input fused image for the U-net segmentation stage. In the second stage, a fully connected neural network (FCNN) is proposed as a classifier to assess the vitreous inflammation severity. To achieve this task, a novel discriminatory feature of the segmented vitreous region is extracted. Namely, the signal intensities of the vitreous are represented by a cumulative distribution function (CDF). The constructed CDFs are then used to train and test the FCNN classifier for grading (grade from 0 to 3). The performance of the proposed pipeline is evaluated on a dataset of 200 OCT images. Our segmentation approach documented a higher performance than related methods, as evidenced by the Dice coefficient of 0.988 ± 0.01 and Hausdorff distance of 0.0003 mm ± 0.001 mm. On the other hand, the FCNN classification is evidenced by its average accuracy of 86%, which supports the benefits of the proposed pipeline as an aid for early and objective diagnosis of uvea inflammation.
Plate Waves Scattering Analysis and Active Damage Detection
Authors: Yu Tai-Ho
Published: August 2021

This study investigates and evaluates the technology of using plate waves to detect the locations and sizes of circular holes and cracks in plates. Piezoelectric ceramic discs surface-mounted on both sides of an aluminum alloy plate were used as narrow-frequency plate wave actuators and sensors, and the antisymmetric plate wave signal was analyzed by wavelet transform in the time-frequency domain. The damage location and frequency spectrum characteristics were identified by the wave through time-of-flight difference and signal analysis of the damage scattered wave group. The plate wave signal of the damaged plate included the scattered wave signal and the plate wave signal transmitted directly between the piezoelectric discs. Under ideal conditions, the plate wave signal indicating damage can be obtained by subtracting the plate wave signal in a plate without damage from the plate wave signal scattered from actuators to sensors. This study established an optimization program based on the simplex algorithm to inversely calculate the location of the plate damage. The developed damage location objective function has a unique global minimum value that can ensure the accuracy of the damage location calculation, and good results were obtained in experiments. The spectral characteristics of the scattered plate wave were related to the type, size, wave propagation path, and incident angle of the damage. Numerical analyses of scattered spectra for various damages are needed as references to compare with experimental results in the future.
Performance Analysis of Sphere Packed Aided Differential Space-Time Spreading with Iterative Source-Channel Detection
Authors: Khan Hameed Ullah , Minallah Nasru , Masood Arbab , Khalil Amaad , Frnda Jaroslav , Nedoma Jan
Published: August 2021

The introduction of 5G with excessively high speeds and ever-advancing cellular device capabilities has increased the demand for high data rate wireless multimedia communication. Data compression, transmission robustness and error resilience are introduced to meet the increased demands of high data rates of today. An innovative approach is to come up with a unique setup of source bit codes (SBCs) that ensure the convergence and joint source-channel coding (JSCC) correspondingly results in lower bit error ratio (BER). The soft-bit assisted source and channel codes are optimized jointly for optimum convergence. Source bit codes assisted by iterative detection are used with a rate-1 precoder for performance evaluation of the above mentioned scheme of transmitting sata-partitioned (DP) H.264/AVC frames from source through a narrowband correlated Rayleigh fading channel. A novel approach of using sphere packing (SP) modulation aided differential space time spreading (DSTS) in combination with SBC is designed for the video transmission to cope with channel fading. Furthermore, the effects of SBC with different hamming distances d(H,min) but similar coding rates is explored on objective video quality such as peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and also the overall bit error ratio (BER). EXtrinsic Information Transfer Charts (EXIT) are used for analysis of the convergence behavior of SBC and its iterative scheme. Specifically, the experiments exhibit that the proposed scheme of error protection of SBC d(H,min) = 6 outperforms the SBCs having same code rate, but with d(H,min) = 3 by 3 dB with PSNR degradation of 1 dB. Furthermore, simulation results show that a gain of 27 dB Eb/N0 is achieved with SBC having code rate 1/3 compared to the benchmark Rate-1 SBC codes.
Detection of Anti-Counterfeiting Markers through Permittivity Maps Using a Micrometer Scale near Field Scanning Microwave Microscope
Authors: Gutiérrez-Cano José D. , Catalá-Civera José M. , Plaza-González Pedro J. , Peñaranda-Foix Felipe L.
Published: August 2021

This paper describes the use of microwave technology to identify anti-counterfeiting markers on banknotes. The proposed method is based on a robust near-field scanning microwave microscope specially developed to measure permittivity maps of heterogeneous paper specimens at the micrometer scale. The equipment has a built-in vector network analyzer to measure the reflection response of a near-field coaxial probe, which makes it a standalone and portable device. A new approach employing the information of a displacement laser and the cavity perturbation technique was used to determine the relationship between the dielectric properties of the specimens and the resonance response of the probe, avoiding the use of distance-following techniques. The accuracy of the dielectric measurements was evaluated through a comparative study with other well-established cavity methods, revealing uncertainties lower than 5%, very similar to the accuracy reported by other more sophisticated setups. The device was employed to determine the dielectric map of a watermark on a 20 EUR banknote. In addition, the penetration capabilities of microwave energy allowed for the detection of the watermark when concealed behind dielectric or metallic layers. This work demonstrates the benefits of this microwave technique as a novel method for identifying anti-counterfeiting features, which opens new perspectives with which to develop optically opaque markers only traceable through this microwave technique.
An Accessible Smart Home Based on Integrated Multimodal Interaction
Authors: Rocha Ana Patrícia , Ketsmur Maksym , Almeida Nuno , Teixeira António
Published: August 2021

Our homes are becoming increasingly sensorized and smarter. However, they are also becoming increasingly complex, making accessing them and their advantages difficult. Assistants have the potential for improving the accessibility of smart homes, by providing everyone with an integrated, natural, and multimodal way of interacting with the home’s ecosystem. To demonstrate this potential and contribute to more environmentally friendly homes, in the scope of the project Smart Green Homes, a home assistant highly integrated with an ICT (Information and communications technology) home infrastructure was developed, deployed in a demonstrator, and evaluated by seventy users. The users’ global impression of our home assistant is in general positive, with 61% of the participants rating it as good or excellent overall and 51% being likely or very likely to recommend it to others. Moreover, most think that the assistant enhances interaction with the smart home’s multiple devices and is easy to use by everyone. These results show that a home assistant providing an integrated view of a smart home, through natural, multimodal, and adaptive interaction, is a suitable solution for enhancing the accessibility of smart homes and thus contributing to a better living ambient for all of their inhabitants.
Time Switching Based Wireless Powered Relay Transmission with Uplink NOMA
Authors: Lin Zhihua , Cao Shihua , Li Jianqing
Published: August 2021

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) utilizes power domain multiplexing to improve spectrum efficiency compared with orthogonal multiple access (OMA). In the Internet of Things (IoT) uplink NOMA networks, if the channel between the far-end node and the base station is in deep fading, allocating larger transmitting power for this node cannot achieve higher spectrum efficiency and overall system throughput. Relay cooperative communication reduces the transmitting power at the far-end node but leads to extra energy expenditure at the relay node. Fortunately, simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is advocated in energy-constrained IoT networks to save energy consumption. However, early works all focus on energy harvesting (EH) from one source node or one dedicated power supply station. In this paper, we propose a time switching based wireless powered relay transmission model with uplink NOMA where our EH technique can harvest energy from two simultaneously transmitting nodes. More importantly, by optimizing relay position more energy is harvested from the near-end node at the relay and relay signal attenuation to the destination is reduced as well. Furthermore, the closed-form expressions of outage probability and overall system throughput are derived, and numerical results prove that NOMA in our EH scheme achieves better performance compared to the traditional EH scheme and OMA by optimizing the position of the relay node, time switching factor and so on.
Computer Vision-Based Construction Process Sensing for Cyber–Physical Systems: A Review
Authors: Zhang Binghan , Yang Bin , Wang Congjun , Wang Zhichen , Liu Boda , Fang Tengwei
Published: August 2021

Cyber–physical systems (CPSs) are generally considered to be the next generation of engineered systems. However, the actual application of CPSs in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is still at a low level. The sensing method in the construction process plays a very important role in the establishment of CPSs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the application potential of computer vision-based sensing methods and provide practical suggestions through a literature review. This paper provides a review of the current application of CPSs in the AEC industry, summarizes the current knowledge gaps, and discusses the problems with the current construction site sensing approach. Considering the unique advantages of the computer vision (CV) method at the construction site, the application of CV for different construction entities was reviewed and summarized to achieve a CV-based construction site sensing approach for construction process CPSs. The potential of CPS can be further stimulated by providing rich information from on-site sensing using CV methods. According to the review, this approach has unique advantages in the specific environment of the construction site. Based on the current knowledge gap identified in the literature review, this paper proposes a novel concept of visual-based construction site sensing method for CPS application, and an architecture for CV-based CPS is proposed as an implementation of this concept. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a CPS architecture using computer vision as the main information acquisition method based on the literature review. This architecture innovatively introduces computer vision as a sensing method of construction sites, and realizes low-cost and non-invasive information acquisition in complex construction scenarios. This method can be used as an important supplement to on-site sensing to further promote the automation and intelligence of the construction process.
Global Structure-Aware Drum Transcription Based on Self-Attention Mechanisms
Authors: Ishizuka Ryoto , Nishikimi Ryo , Yoshii Kazuyoshi
Published: August 2021

This paper describes an automatic drum transcription (ADT) method that directly estimates a tatum-level drum score from a music signal in contrast to most conventional ADT methods that estimate the frame-level onset probabilities of drums. To estimate a tatum-level score, we propose a deep transcription model that consists of a frame-level encoder for extracting the latent features from a music signal and a tatum-level decoder for estimating a drum score from the latent features pooled at the tatum level. To capture the global repetitive structure of drum scores, which is difficult to learn with a recurrent neural network (RNN), we introduce a self-attention mechanism with tatum-synchronous positional encoding into the decoder. To mitigate the difficulty of training the self-attention-based model from an insufficient amount of paired data and to improve the musical naturalness of the estimated scores, we propose a regularized training method that uses a global structure-aware masked language (score) model with a self-attention mechanism pretrained from an extensive collection of drum scores. The experimental results showed that the proposed regularized model outperformed the conventional RNN-based model in terms of the tatum-level error rate and the frame-level F-measure, even when only a limited amount of paired data was available so that the non-regularized model underperformed the RNN-based model.
The “ReadyPark” Collaborative Parking Search Strategy
Authors: Collard Jean-David , Stattner Erick , Gergos Panagiotis
Published: August 2021

Many of us have experienced this when driving in the city, we had to “turn for hours” to find a parking space. To attenuate this drawback, this paper proposes a collaborative parking search strategy based on the reality of a drivers network in which, depending on his/her role at a given time, each one can help the others to find public on-street parking spots. To highlight a situation of parking spot scarcity, we assume the extreme case where there is no free space and the only solution to park is to swap with a parked car that leaves its location. Under this assumption, agent-based modelling and simulations allow to compare the ReadyPark solution with the classical approach that consists, by luck, in taking the place of a nearby car that is leaving its spot.
Exploring Sustainable Human Resource Practices and Framework in Star-Rated Hotels
Authors: Chan Jennifer Kim Lian , Stephen Steward Giman Anak , Andi Kele Andi Tamsang
Published: August 2021

Extensive attention has been paid to environmental issues when evaluating the sustainability of organisations, and little attention has been paid to sustainable human capital practices. The literature shows contradictions and gaps among theoretical propositions, empirical findings, and the realities of human resource management (HRM). Theoretical approaches and empirical studies state that effective HRM is essential, yet in actual practice and employment conditions, the importance of effective HRM is not reflected. Thus, this paper aims to determine the critical emerging issues that affect human resource practices and management in the current employment context, as well as proposes a sustainable human resource framework for the hotel industry. Data were collected via in-depth focus group interviews with 40 respondents from operational, supervisorial, and managerial positions in the Malaysia hotel industry. The proposed model of sustainable human resource practices can yield a wide selection of tangible and intangible benefits. The findings benefit the hotel organisations by identifying the needs of their employees, a more in-depth point of view, and their thoughts about their organisations. This paper provides a new perspective of sustainable HRM practices by applying resource-based view theory on managing people as the “resource”, specifically in the hotel industry.
Sustainability of Professional Development: A Longitudinal Case Study of an Early Career ESL Teacher’s Agency and Identity
Authors: Huang Jing
Published: August 2021

This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of a Hong Kong early career ESL (English as a second language) secondary teacher, Joyce (pseudonym), who experienced different stages of personal–professional development over seven–eight years (August 2013–December 2020), as follows: (1) entering, and engaging, in teaching for five–six years, upon graduation from a local teacher education BA degree program in summer 2013; (2) resigning from her full-time teaching position and leaving the teaching profession, in response to an “insulting” classroom revisit in her third school; (3) working in an NGO for a short time, after “recovery” from the “insulting” event; and (4) weighing possibilities for resuming teaching, after leaving the NGO in 2019. Drawing on multiple data that were collected over seven–eight years, including interviews, informal communications, and autobiography, this study aimed to examine the issues of teacher attrition and sustainable professional development, in relation to teacher agency and teacher identity, in Hong Kong secondary school contexts. The findings revealed that school and social contexts intertwined with personal experiences, culminating in Joyce’s leaving or staying in the teaching profession. Through focusing on Joyce’s long-term experiences of becoming and being an ESL teacher, the findings shed light on the affordances for, and constraints upon, teacher agency and teacher identity in school contexts.
Climate Change Policies and the Carbon Tax Effect on Meat and Dairy Industries in Brazil
Authors: Alvim Augusto Mussi , Sanguinet Eduardo Rodrigues
Published: August 2021

This study analyzes the impacts of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the meat and dairy industries. To achieve this goal, the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database was used in a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) setting, which allows for the inclusion of carbon taxes and the definition of four alternative environmental policies scenarios using both Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Global Temperature Potential (GTP) as GHG emissions measures. All scenarios analyze the main effects of carbon-based tax economic instruments on the industry and national production, trade, and emissions, comparing the results for different measures of GHG, GWP, and GTP from the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimation System (SEEG) sectoral Brazilian emissions database. In contrast with other industries, relatively lower taxes on the meat and dairy industries seem to be the most adequate in terms of cost distribution in the Brazilian economic structure when only the GWP measure is considered. Urban activities and less-methane-intensive industries benefit from climate change policies designed using GWP-based rather than GTP-based carbon taxes. The article also highlights the importance of a gradual introduction of carbon taxes, allowing the most vulnerable industries a transition moment to adopt clean technologies and/or redirect economic activity to less-GHG-emitting segments.