bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hybrid Unilamellar Vesicles of Phospholipids and Block Copolymers with Crystalline Domains
Authors: Go Yoo Kyung , Kambar Nurila , Leal Cecilia
Published: June 2020

Phospholipid (PL) membranes are ubiquitous in nature and their phase behavior has been extensively studied. Lipids assemble in a variety of structures and external stimuli can activate a quick switch between them. Amphiphilic block copolymers (BCPs) can self-organize in analogous structures but are mechanically more robust and transformations are considerably slower. The combination of PL dynamical behavior with BCP chemical richness could lead to new materials for applications in bioinspired separation membranes and drug delivery. It is timely to underpin the phase behavior of these hybrid systems and a few recent studies have revealed that PL–BCP membranes display synergistic structural, phase-separation, and dynamical properties not seen in pure components. One example is phase-separation in the membrane plane, which seems to be strongly affected by the ability of the PL to form lamellar phases with ordered alkyl chains. In this paper we focus on a rather less explored design handle which is the crystalline properties of the BCP component. Using a combination of confocal laser scanning microscopy and X-ray scattering we show that hybrid membranes of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(ε-caprolactone) (mPEG-b-PCL) display BCP-rich and PL-rich domains when the BCP comprises crystalline moieties. The packing of the hydrophilic part of the BCP (PEG) favors mixing of DPPC at the molecular level or into nanoscale domains while semi-crystalline and hydrophobic PCL moieties bolster microscopic domain formation in the hybrid membrane plane.
Oxygen-Releasing Antibacterial Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications
Authors: Abdullah Turdimuhammad , Gauthaman Kalamegam , Hammad Ahmed , Joshi Navare Kasturi , Alshahrie Ahmed , Bencherif Sidi , Tamayol Ali , Memic Adnan
Published: June 2020

Lack of suitable auto/allografts has been delaying surgical interventions for the treatment of numerous disorders and has also caused a serious threat to public health. Tissue engineering could be one of the best alternatives to solve this issue. However, deficiency of oxygen supply in the wounded and implanted engineered tissues, caused by circulatory problems and insufficient angiogenesis, has been a rate-limiting step in translation of tissue-engineered grafts. To address this issue, we designed oxygen-releasing electrospun composite scaffolds, based on a previously developed hybrid polymeric matrix composed of poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL). By performing ball-milling, we were able to embed a large percent of calcium peroxide (CP) nanoparticles into the PGS/PCL nanofibers able to generate oxygen. The composite scaffold exhibited a smooth fiber structure, while providing sustainable oxygen release for several days to a week, and significantly improved cell metabolic activity due to alleviation of hypoxic environment around primary bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs). Moreover, the composite scaffolds also showed good antibacterial performance. In conjunction to other improved features, such as degradation behavior, the developed scaffolds are promising biomaterials for various tissue-engineering and wound-healing applications.
Highly Effective Sensitizers Based on Merocyanine Dyes for Visible Light Initiated Radical Polymerization
Authors: Jędrzejewska Beata , Wejnerowska Grażyna
Published: June 2020

The 5-(4-substituted-arylidene)-1,3-dimethylpyrimidine-2,4,6-triones were tested as visible light sensitizers for phenyltrialkylborate salts applied to initiate polymerization processes. The initiation occurs as a result of photoinduced electron transfer from the borate salt to the merocyanine dye. The main factor that facilitates the step of the reaction is the free energy change for electron transfer. Its value is favorable according to the reduction properties of the dyes influenced by the type of amino groups and the oxidation potentials of the borate salts. The observed bleaching of the dyes during photopolymerization affects the yield of both the alkyl radical and sensitizer-based radical formation and thus the efficiency of the photopolymerization.
Flame Retardant Submicron Particles via Surfactant-Free RAFT Emulsion Polymerization of Styrene Derivatives Containing Phosphorous
Authors: Kim Taeyoon , Song Joo-Hyun , Back Jong-Ho , Seo Bongkuk , Lim Choong-Sun , Paik Hyun-Jong , Lee Wonjoo
Published: June 2020

The reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) emulsion polymerization of diethyl-(4-vinylbenzyl) phosphate (DEVBP) was performed using PEG-TTC as a macro RAFT agent. PEG-TTC (MW 2000, 4000) was synthesized by the esterification of poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether with a carboxylic-terminated RAFT agent, composed a hydrophilic poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) block and a hydrophobic dodecyl chain. The RAFT emulsion polymerization of DEVBP was well–controlled with a narrow molecular size distribution. Dynamic light scattering and confocal laser scanning microscopy were used to examine the PEG-b-PDVBP submicron particles, and the length of the PEG chain (hydrophilic block) was found to affect the particle size distribution and molecular weight distribution. The submicron particle size increased with increasing degree of polymerization (35, 65, and 130), and precipitation was observed at a high degree of polymerization (DP) using low molecular weight PEG-TTC (DP 130, A3). The flame retardant properties of the PEG-b-PDVBP were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and micro cone calorimeter (MCC). In the combustion process, the residue of PEG-b-PDEVBP were above 500 °C was observed (A1 ~ B3, 27 ~ 38%), and flame retardant effect of PEG-b-PDEVBP submicron particles/PVA composite were confirmed by increasing range of temperature and decreasing total heat release with increasing contents of PEG-b-PDEVBP. The PEG-b-PDEVBP submicron particles can provide flame retardant properties to aqueous, dispersion and emulsion formed organic/polymer products.
Cucumis metuliferus Fruit Extract Loaded Acetate Cellulose Coatings for Antioxidant Active Packaging
Authors: Arrieta Marina Patricia , Garrido Luan , Faba Simón , Guarda Abel , Galotto María José , López de Dicastillo Carol
Published: June 2020

A new active coating was developed by using Cucumis metuliferus fruit extract as antioxidant additive with the aim of obtaining an easy way to functionalize low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films for food packaging applications. Thus, an extraction protocol was first optimized to determine the total phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of CM. The aqueous CM antioxidant extract was then incorporated into cellulose acetate (CA) film-forming solution in different concentrations (1, 3 and 5 wt.%) to be further coated in corona-treated LDPE to obtain LDPE/CA-CM bilayer systems. CA and CA-CM film-forming solutions were successfully coated onto the surface of LDPE, showing good adhesion in the final bilayer structure. The optical, microstructural, thermal, mechanical and oxygen barrier performance, as well as the antioxidant activity, were evaluated. The active coating casted onto the LDPE film did not affect the high transparency of LDPE and improved the oxygen barrier performance. The antioxidant effectiveness of bilayer packaging was confirmed by release studies of Cucumis metuliferus from the cellulose acetate layer to a fatty food simulant. Finally, the LDPE/CA-CM active materials were also tested for their application in minimally processed fruits, and they demonstrated their ability to reduce the oxidation process of fresh cut apples. Thus, the obtained results suggest that CA-CM-based coating can be used to easily introduce active functionality to typically used LDPE at industrial level and enhance its oxygen barrier, without affecting the high transparency, revealing their potential application in the active food packaging sector to extend the shelf-life of packaged food by prevention of lipid oxidation of fatty food or by prevention fruit browning.
Designing Imidazolium Poly(amide-amide) and Poly(amide-imide) Ionenes and Their Interactions with Mono- and Tris(imidazolium) Ionic Liquids
Authors: O’Harra Kathryn E. , Noll Danielle M. , Kammakakam Irshad , DeVriese Emily M. , Solis Gala , Jackson Enrique M. , Bara Jason E.
Published: June 2020

Here we introduce the synthesis and thermal properties of a series of sophisticated imidazolium ionenes with alternating amide-amide or amide-imide backbone functionality, and investigate the structural effects of mono(imidazolium) and unprecedented tris(imidazolium) ionic liquids (ILs) in these ionenes. The new set of poly(amide-amide) (PAA) and poly(amide-imide) (PAI) ionenes represent the intersection of conventional high-performance polymers with the ionene archetype–presenting polymers with alternating functional and ionic elements precisely sequenced along the backbone. The effects of polymer composition on the thermal properties and morphology were analyzed. Five distinct polymer backbones were synthesized and combined with a stoichiometric equivalent of the IL 1-benzyl-3-methylimidazolium bistriflimide ([Bnmim][Tf2N]), which were studied to probe the self-assembly, structuring, and contributions of intermolecular forces when IL is added. Furthermore, three polyamide (PA) or polyimide (PI) ionenes with simpler xylyl linkages were interfaced with [Bnmim][Tf2N] as well as a novel amide-linked tris(imidazolium) IL, to demonstrate the structural changes imparted by the inclusion of functional, ionic additives dispersed within the ionene matrix. This work highlights the possibilities for utilizing concepts from small molecules which exhibit supramolecular self-assembly to guide creative design and manipulate the structuring of ionenes.
Using Epoxidized Solution Polymerized Styrene-Butadiene Rubbers (ESSBRs) as Coupling Agents to Modify Silica without Volatile Organic Compounds
Authors: Liu Chaohao , Guo Mingming , Zhai Xiaobo , Ye Xin , Zhang Liqun
Published: June 2020

Rubber used in tire is usually strengthened by nanofiller, and the most popular nanofiller for tire tread rubber is nano silica, which can not only strengthen rubber but also lower the tire rolling resistance to reduce fuel consumption. However, silica particles are difficult to disperse in the rubber matrix because of the abundant silicon hydroxyl on their surface. Silane coupling agents are always used to modify silica and improve their dispersion, but a large number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted during the manufacturing of the nanosilica/rubber composites because of the condensation reaction between silane coupling agents and silicon hydroxyl on the surface of silica. Those VOCs will do great harm to the environment and the workers’ health. In this work, epoxidized solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubbers (ESSBR) with different epoxy degrees were prepared and used as macromolecular coupling agents aimed at fully eliminating VOCs. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses verified that the different ESSBRs were successfully synthesized from solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubbers (SSBR). With the help of the reaction between epoxy groups and silicon hydroxyl without any VOC emission, nanosilica can be well dispersed in the rubber matrix when SSBR partially replaced by ESSBR which was proved by Payne effect and TEM analysis. Dynamic and static mechanical testing demonstrated that silica/ESSBR/SSBR/BR nanocomposites have better performance and no VOC emission compared with Bis-(γ-triethoxysilylpropyl)-disulfide (TESPD) modified silica/rubber nanocomposites. ESSBR is very hopeful to replace traditional coupling agent TESPD to get high properties silica/rubber nanocomposites with no VOCs emission.
Coarse-Grained Lattice Modeling and Monte Carlo Simulations of Stress Relaxation in Strain-Induced Crystallization of Rubbers
Authors: Egorov Vladislav , Koibuchi Hiroshi , Bernard Chrystelle , Chenal Jean-Marc , Diguet Gildas , Sebald Gael , Cavaille Jean-Yves , Takagi Toshiyuki , Chazeau Laurent
Published: June 2020

Two-dimensional triangulated surface models for membranes and their three-dimensional (3D) extensions are proposed and studied to understand the strain-induced crystallization (SIC) of rubbers. It is well known that SIC is an origin of stress relaxation, which appears as a plateau in the intermediate strain region of stress–strain curves. However, this SIC is very hard to implement in models because SIC is directly connected to a solid state, which is mechanically very different from the amorphous state. In this paper, we show that the crystalline state can be quite simply implemented in the Gaussian elastic bond model, which is a straightforward extension of the Gaussian chain model for polymers, by replacing bonds with rigid bodies or eliminating bonds. We find that the results of Monte Carlo simulations for stress–strain curves are in good agreement with the reported experimental data of large strains of up to 1200%. This approach allows us to intuitively understand the stress relaxation caused by SIC.
Effect of the Chemical Composition on the Structural State and Mechanical Properties of Complex Microalloyed Steels of the Ferritic Class
Authors: Zaitsev Alexander , Koldaev Anton , Arutyunyan Nataliya , Dunaev Sergey , D’yakonov Dmitrii
Published: June 2020

The most promising direction for obtaining a unique combination of difficult-to-combine properties of low-carbon steels is the formation of a dispersed ferrite microstructure and a volumetric system of nanoscale phase precipitates. This study was aimed at establishing the special features of the composition influence on the characteristics of the microstructure, phase precipitates, and mechanical properties of hot-rolled steels of the ferritic class. It was carried out by transmission electron microscopy and testing the mechanical properties of metal using 8 laboratory melts of low-carbon steels microalloyed by V, Nb, Ti, and Mo in various combinations. It was found that block ferrite prevails in the structure of steel cooled after hot rolling at a rate of 10–15 °C/s. Lowering of the microalloying components content leads to a decrease in the block ferrite fraction to 20–35% and the dominance of polygonal ferrite. The presence of nanoscale carbide (carbonitride) precipitates of austenitic and interphase/mixed types was detected in the rolled steels. It was established that the tendencies of changes in the characteristics of the structural state and present phase precipitates correlate well with obtained values of strength properties. The advantages of titanium-based microalloying systems in comparison with vanadium-based are shown.
Improved Dye Removal Ability of Modified Rice Husk with Effluent from Alkaline Scouring Based on the Circular Economy Concept
Authors: Mladenovic Nina , Makreski Petre , Tarbuk Anita , Grgic Katia , Boev Blazo , Mirakovski Dejan , Toshikj Emilija , Dimova Vesna , Dimitrovski Dejan , Jordanov Igor
Published: June 2020

To improve the ability of the rice husk to purify colored wastewater, effluent from the alkaline scouring of cotton yarn was used immediately after the scouring (without cooling and additionally added chemicals) in order to remove the non-cellulosic silicon-lignin shield from the rice husk’s surface. This rice husk, with 93.8 mg/g adsorption capacity, behaves similarly as the rice husk treated with an optimized alkaline scouring recipe consisting of 20 g/L NaOH, 2 mL/L Cotoblanc HTD-N and 1 mL/L Kemonecer NI at 70 °C for 30 min with an adsorption capacity of 88.9 mg/g of direct Congo red dye. Treating one form of waste (rice husk) with another (effluent from the alkaline scouring of cellulosic plant fibers), in an effort to produce a material able to purify colored effluent, is an elegant environment-friendly concept based on the circular economy strategy. This will result in a closed-loop energy-efficient process of the pre-treatment of cotton (alkaline scouring), modification of rice husk using effluent from the alkaline scouring, dyeing cotton fabrics and cleaning its colored effluents with modified rice husk without adding chemicals and energy for heating.
Efficacies of Carbon-Based Adsorbents for Carbon Dioxide Capture
Authors: Khandaker Tasmina , Hossain Muhammad , Dhar Palash , Rahman Md. , Hossain Md. , Ahmed Mohammad
Published: June 2020

Carbon dioxide (CO2), a major greenhouse gas, capture has recently become a crucial technological solution to reduce atmospheric emissions from fossil fuel burning. Thereafter, many efforts have been put forwarded to reduce the burden on climate change by capturing and separating CO2, especially from larger power plants and from the air through the utilization of different technologies (e.g., membrane, absorption, microbial, cryogenic, chemical looping, and so on). Those technologies have often suffered from high operating costs and huge energy consumption. On the right side, physical process, such as adsorption, is a cost-effective process, which has been widely used to adsorb different contaminants, including CO2. Henceforth, this review covered the overall efficacies of CO2 adsorption from air at 196 K to 343 K and different pressures by the carbon-based materials (CBMs). Subsequently, we also addressed the associated challenges and future opportunities for CBMs. According to this review, the efficacies of various CBMs for CO2 adsorption have followed the order of carbon nanomaterials (i.e., graphene, graphene oxides, carbon nanotubes, and their composites) < mesoporous -microporous or hierarchical porous carbons < biochar and activated biochar < activated carbons.
Thermal Radiations and Mass Transfer Analysis of the Three-Dimensional Magnetite Carreau Fluid Flow Past a Horizontal Surface of Paraboloid of Revolution
Authors: Abdeljawad T. , Ullah Asad , Alrabaiah Hussam , Ikramullah  , Ayaz Muhammad , Khan Waris , Khan Ilyas , Khan Hidayat Ullah
Published: June 2020

The dynamics of the 3-dimensional flow of magnetized Carreau fluid past a paraboloid surface of revolution is studied through thermal radiation and mass transfer analysis. The impacts of Brownian motion and chemical reaction rate are considered on the flow dynamics. The system of nonlinear PDEs are converted to coupled ODEs by employing suitable transformation relations. The developed ODEs are solved by applying the standard procedure of homotopy analysis method (HAM). The impacts of various interesting parameters on the state variables of the Carreau fluid (velocity components, temperature, concentration, and shear stress) are explained through various graphs and tables. It is found that the horizontal velocity components augment with the rising magnetic parameter and Grashof number values. The fluid temperature augments with the higher values of the pertinent parameters except Prandtl number. The Nusselet number and fluid concentration enhance with the augmenting Brownian motion parameter. The shear stress augments with the rising Grashof number. The agreement of the obtained and published results validate the accuracy of the employed technique.
Numerical Modeling and Analysis of the Performance of an Aluminum-Air Battery with Alkaline Electrolyte
Authors: Xie Jiadong , He Pan , Zhao Ruijie , Yang Jianhong
Published: June 2020

A numerical model is created to simulate the discharge performance of aluminum-air batteries (AABs) with alkaline electrolyte. The discharge voltage and power density, as a function of the discharge current density, are predicted for the modeled AAB and compared with experimental measurements. A good agreement between model and experiment is found. The effect of various model parameters on the battery performance is studied by adjusting the parameters within a suitable range. The results show that electrolyte thickness is a key factor that can strongly increase the power density and the corresponding current density as the electrolyte thickness decreases. The peak of power density is increased by a factor of two if the electrolyte thickness is reduced from 7 mm to 3 mm. The alkaline concentration is also an important factor, since both the voltage and power density curves are significantly raised as the NaOH concentration is increased from 1 to 4 mol/L. The partial oxygen pressure plays a secondary role in performance improvement. The peak of power density is increased by 35% using pure oxygen in the air electrode. In addition, the active specific surface area of the catalyst layer also affects the discharge capability of the AAB system.
An Analytical Model to Predict the Effects of Suspended Solids in Injected Water on the Oil Displacement Efficiency during Waterflooding
Authors: Nesic Slavko , Zolotukhin Anatoly , Mitrovic Vladimir , Govedarica Dragan , Davarpanah Afshin
Published: June 2020

Suspended solids in the injection water cause impairment of water injectivity during waterflooding operations. Suspended solids affect reservoir properties and decrease the permeability of reservoir rocks causing an increase of injection pressure and a decrease in water injectivity. Removal of all suspended solids from injection water is an expensive and economically unfeasible process. To minimize the effects of suspended solids to the formation, it is necessary to determine an impairment mechanism of suspended solids on oil displacement and, therefore, optimize the water treatment process. In this paper, an analytical model that describes the relationship between injection water quality and impairment mechanisms on oil displacement is presented. A formation impairment was calculated, introducing the parameter called impairment ratio, which represents the ratio between suspended solids and pore size distribution of reservoir rock. Based on the impairment ratio, decreases in porosity and permeability were calculated with changes in capillary pressure, relative permeability, and displacement efficiency. The model was tested for three different types of injection water. Results indicated the presence of formation impairment even with the smallest particles. Suspended solids had the greatest influence on porosity and permeability impairment. The model could be used as input for reservoir modelling studies for monitoring and controlling displacement efficiency during waterflooding as well as for planning and modification of water treatment units.
Analysis of the Installed Productive Capacity in a Medical Angiography Room through Discrete Event Simulation
Authors: Badilla-Murillo Félix , Vargas-Vargas Bernal , Víquez-Acuña Oscar , García-Sanz-Calcedo Justo
Published: June 2020

The installed productive capacity of a healthcare center’s equipment limits the efficient use of its resources. This paper, therefore, analyzes the installed productive capacity of a hospital angiography room and how to optimize patient demand. For this purpose, a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model based on historical variables from the current system was created using computer software. The authors analyzed 2044 procedures performed between 2014 and 2015 in a hospital in San José, Costa Rica. The model was statistically validated to determine that it does not significantly differ from the current system, considering the DMAIC stages for continuous process improvement. In the current scenario, resource utilization is 0.99, and the waiting list increases every month. The results showed that the current capacity of the service could be doubled, and that resource utilization could be reduced to 0.64 and waiting times by 94%. An increase in service efficiency could be achieved by shortening maximum waiting times from 6.75 days to 3.70 h. DES simulation, therefore, allows optimizing of the use of healthcare systems’ resources and hospital management.
Risk and Policy Uncertainty on Stock–Bond Return Correlations: Evidence from the US Markets
Authors: Chiang Thomas
Published: June 2020

This paper investigates dynamic correlations of stock–bond returns for different stock indices and bond maturities. Evidence in the US shows that stock–bond relations are time-varying and display a negative trend. The stock–bond correlations are negatively correlated with implied volatilities in stock and bond markets. Tests show that stock–bond relations are positively correlated with economic policy uncertainty, however, are negatively correlated with the monetary policy and fiscal policy uncertainties. Correlation coefficients between stock and bond returns are positively related to total policy uncertainty for returns of the Dow-Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the S&P 500 Value stock index (VALUE), but negatively correlated with returns of S&P500 (Total market), the NASDAQ Composite Index (NASDAQ), and the RUSSELL 2000 (RUSSELL).
Experimental Evidence of Swell Signatures in Airborne L5/E5a GNSS-Reflectometry
Authors: Munoz-Martin Joan Francesc , Onrubia Raul , Pascual Daniel , Park Hyuk , Camps Adriano , Rüdiger Christoph , Walker Jeffrey , Monerris Alessandra
Published: June 2020

As compared to GPS L1C/A signals, L5/E5a Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) improves the spatial resolution due to the narrower auto-correlation function. Furthermore, the larger transmitted power (+3 dB), and correlation gain (+10 dB) allow the reception of weaker reflected signals. If directive antennas are used, very short incoherent integration times are enough to achieve good signal-to-noise ratios, allowing the reception of multiple specular reflection points without the blurring induced by long incoherent integration times. This study presents for the first time experimental evidence of the wind and swell waves signatures in the GNSS-R waveforms, and it performs a statistical analysis, a time-domain analysis, and a frequency-domain analysis for a unique data set of waveforms collected by the UPC MIR instrument during a series of flights over the Bass Strait, Australia.
A Weighted Accuracy Measure for Land Cover Mapping: Comment on Johnson et al. Local Climate Zone (LCZ) Map Accuracy Assessments Should Account for Land Cover Physical Characteristics that Affect the Local Thermal Environment. Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 2420
Authors: Bechtel Benjamin , Demuzere Matthias , Stewart Iain D.
Published: June 2020

In multi-class classification tasks such as land cover mapping, the achieved accuracies inherently depend on the complexity of the class typology. More specifically, the more complex the typology of (land cover) classes, the lower the resulting accuracies, since the common measures only consider whether a sample was correctly classified or not. To overcome this, a weighted accuracy measure was introduced in 2017 for the case of Local Climate Zone (LCZ) mapping. This method was recently criticized by Johnson and Jozdani and an alternative method was proposed. In this comment, we explain the weighted accuracy measure in more detail and reject the criticism. We show that the proposed method of Johnson and Jozdani is based on weakly supported assumptions. In addition, it is argued that the weighted accuracy is potentially a useful complementary measure beyond the LCZ classification case.
Confusion Matrices Help Prevent Reader Confusion: Reply to Bechtel, B., et al. A Weighted Accuracy Measure for Land Cover Mapping: Comment on Johnson et al. Local Climate Zone (LCZ) Map Accuracy Assessments Should Account for Land Cover Physical Characteristics that Affect the Local Thermal Environment, Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 2420
Authors: Johnson Brian Alan , Jozdani Shahab Eddin
Published: June 2020

Land use/land cover (LULC) maps are now being used across disciplines for many different types of applications, e.g., to analyze urban heat islands or rainfall-runoff dynamics. Traditional map accuracy metrics are limited in this regard, as they only assess LULC map thematic accuracy. In reality, some types of misclassification lead to larger estimation errors for these specific applications. In a previous study, we developed a new map accuracy metric (referred to here as “JJ19”) to assess the accuracy of local climate zone maps for urban microclimate analysis. In the previous work, we also attempted to reproduce another metric (weighted accuracy (WA)) proposed for this purpose, but misinterpreted it due to a lack of methodological information available (principally, the lack of a confusion matrix to demonstrate how WA was derived). We sincerely thank the authors of Bechtel et al. 2019 for providing more information on WA in response to our previous study and are happy to report that we found that the metric is now both reproducible and valid. On the other hand, we found some other aspects of Bechtel et al. 2019’s study to be inaccurate, particularly their claims regarding the suitability of the JJ19 metric. Finally, we made a minor improvement to the JJ19 metric based on Bechtel et al.’s comments.
Change Detection Techniques Based on Multispectral Images for Investigating Land Cover Dynamics
Authors: Panuju Dyah R. , Paull David J. , Griffin Amy L.
Published: June 2020

Satellite images provide an accurate, continuous, and synoptic view of seamless global extent. Within the fields of remote sensing and image processing, land surface change detection (CD) has been amongst the most discussed topics. This article reviews advances in bitemporal and multitemporal two-dimensional CD with a focus on multispectral images. In addition, it reviews some CD techniques used for synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The importance of data selection and preprocessing for CD provides a starting point for the discussion. CD techniques are, then, grouped based on the change analysis products they can generate to assist users in identifying suitable procedures for their applications. The discussion allows users to estimate the resources needed for analysis and interpretation, while selecting the most suitable technique for generating the desired information such as binary changes, direction or magnitude of changes, “from-to” information of changes, probability of changes, temporal pattern, and prediction of changes. The review shows that essential and innovative improvements are being made in analytical processes for multispectral images. Advantages, limitations, challenges, and opportunities are identified for understanding the context of improvements, and this will guide the future development of bitemporal and multitemporal CD methods and techniques for understanding land cover dynamics.
Quantifying the Impact of Light Pollution on Sea Turtle Nesting Using Ground-Based Imagery
Authors: Vandersteen James , Kark Salit , Sorrell Karina , Levin Noam
Published: June 2020

Remote sensing of anthropogenic light has substantial potential to quantify light pollution levels and understand its impact on a wide range of taxa. Currently, the use of space-borne night-time sensors for measuring the actual light pollution that animals experience is limited. This is because most night-time satellite imagery and space-borne sensors measure the light that is emitted or reflected upwards, rather than horizontally, which is often the light that is primarily perceived by animals. Therefore, there is an important need for developing and testing ground-based remote sensing techniques and methods. In this study, we aimed to address this gap by examining the potential of ground photography to quantify the actual light pollution perceived by animals, using sea turtles as a case study. We conducted detailed ground measurements of night-time brightness around the coast of Heron Island, a coral cay in the southern Great Barrier Reef of Australia, and an important sea turtle rookery, using a calibrated DSLR Canon camera with an 8 mm fish-eye lens. The resulting hemispheric photographs were processed using the newly developed Sky Quality Camera (SQC) software to extract brightness metrics. Furthermore, we quantified the factors determining the spatial and temporal variation in night-time brightness as a function of environmental factors (e.g., moon light, cloud cover, and land cover) and anthropogenic features (e.g., artificial light sources and built-up areas). We found that over 80% of the variation in night-time brightness was explained by the percentage of the moon illuminated, moon altitude, as well as cloud cover. Anthropogenic and geographic factors (e.g., artificial lighting and the percentage of visible sky) were especially important in explaining the remaining variation in measured brightness under moonless conditions. Night-time brightness variables, land cover, and rock presence together explained over 60% of the variation in sea turtle nest locations along the coastline of Heron Island, with more nests found in areas of lower light pollution. The methods we developed enabled us to overcome the limitations of commonly used ground/space borne remote sensing techniques, which are not well suited for measuring the light pollution to which animals are exposed. The findings of this study demonstrate the applicability of ground-based remote sensing techniques in accurately and efficiently measuring night-time brightness to enhance our understanding of ecological light pollution.
Similarity Metrics Enforcement in Seasonal Agriculture Areas Classification
Authors: Santos Marcio A. S. , Assad Eduardo D. , Gurgel Angelo C. , Omar Nizam
Published: June 2020

Accurate identification of agriculture areas is a key piece in the building blocks strategy of environment and economics resources management. The challenge requires one to deal with landscape complexity, sensors and data acquisition limitations through a proper computational approach to timely deliver accurate information. In this paper, a Machine Learning (ML) based method to enhance the classification process of areas dedicated to seasonal crops (row crops) is proposed. To this objective, a broad exploration of data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer sensors (MODIS) was made using pixel time-series combined with time-series similarity metrics. The experiment was performed in Brazil, covered 61% of the total agriculture areas, five different states specifically selected to demonstrate biome differences and the country’s diversity. The validation was made against independent data from EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation), RapidEye Sensor Scene Maps. For the eight tested algorithms, the results were enhanced and demonstrate that the method can rate the classification accuracy up to 98.5%, average value for the tested algorithms. The process can be used to timely monitor large areas dedicated to row crops and enables the application of state of art classification techniques, two levels classification process, to identify crops according to each specific need within the areas.
ECG Identification For Personal Authentication Using LSTM-Based Deep Recurrent Neural Networks
Authors: Kim Beom-Hun , Pyun Jae-Young
Published: June 2020

Securing personal authentication is an important study in the field of security. Particularly, fingerprinting and face recognition have been used for personal authentication. However, these systems suffer from certain issues, such as fingerprinting forgery, or environmental obstacles. To address forgery or spoofing identification problems, various approaches have been considered, including electrocardiogram (ECG). For ECG identification, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), support vector machine (SVM), principal component analysis (PCA), deep recurrent neural network (DRNN), and recurrent neural network (RNN) have been conventionally used. Certain studies have shown that the RNN model yields the best performance in ECG identification as compared with the other models. However, these methods require a lengthy input signal for high accuracy. Thus, these methods may not be applied to a real-time system. In this study, we propose using bidirectional long short-term memory (LSTM)-based deep recurrent neural networks (DRNN) through late-fusion to develop a real-time system for ECG-based biometrics identification and classification. We suggest a preprocessing procedure for the quick identification and noise reduction, such as a derivative filter, moving average filter, and normalization. We experimentally evaluated the proposed method using two public datasets: MIT-BIH Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSRDB) and MIT-BIH Arrhythmia (MITDB). The proposed LSTM-based DRNN model shows that in NSRDB, the overall precision was 100%, recall was 100%, accuracy was 100%, and F1-score was 1. For MITDB, the overall precision was 99.8%, recall was 99.8%, accuracy was 99.8%, and F1-score was 0.99. Our experiments demonstrate that the proposed model achieves an overall higher classification accuracy and efficiency compared with the conventional LSTM approach.
A Path Tracking Strategy for Car Like Robots with Sensor Unpredictability and Measurement Errors
Authors: Mohan Rayguru Madan , Rajesh Elara Mohan , Ramalingam Balakrishnan , J. Muthugala M. A. Viraj , P. Samarakoon S. M. Bhagya
Published: June 2020

This work is inspired by motion control of cleaning robots, operating in certain endogenous environments, and performing various tasks like door cleaning, wall sanitizing, etc. The base platform’s motion for these robots is generally similar to the motion of four-wheel cars. Most of the cleaning and maintenance tasks require detection, path planning, and control. The motion controller’s job is to ensure the robot follows the desired path or a set of points, pre-decided by the path planner. This control loop generally requires some feedback from the on-board sensors, and odometry modules, to compute the necessary velocity inputs for the wheels. As the sensors and odometry modules are prone to environmental noise, dead-reckoning errors, and calibration errors, the control input may not provide satisfactory performance in a closed-loop. This paper develops a robust-observer based sliding mode controller to fulfill the motion control task in the presence of incomplete state measurements and sensor inaccuracies. A robust intrinsic observer design is proposed to estimate the input matrix, which is used for dynamic feedback linearization. The resulting uncertain dynamics are then stabilized through a sliding mode controller. The proposed robust-observer based sliding mode technique assures asymptotic trajectory tracking in the presence of measurement uncertainties. Lyapunov based stability analysis is used to guarantee the convergence of the closed-loop system, and the proposed strategy is successfully validated through numerical simulations.
An Open-Source 7-DOF Wireless Human Arm Motion-Tracking System for Use in Robotics Research
Authors: Shintemirov Almas , Taunyazov Tasbolat , Omarali Bukeikhan , Nurbayeva Aigerim , Kim Anton , Bukeyev Askhat , Rubagotti Matteo
Published: June 2020

To extend the choice of inertial motion-tracking systems freely available to researchers and educators, this paper presents an alternative open-source design of a wearable 7-DOF wireless human arm motion-tracking system. Unlike traditional inertial motion-capture systems, the presented system employs a hybrid combination of two inertial measurement units and one potentiometer for tracking a single arm. The sequence of three design phases described in the paper demonstrates how the general concept of a portable human arm motion-tracking system was transformed into an actual prototype, by employing a modular approach with independent wireless data transmission to a control PC for signal processing and visualization. Experimental results, together with an application case study on real-time robot-manipulator teleoperation, confirm the applicability of the developed arm motion-tracking system for facilitating robotics research. The presented arm-tracking system also has potential to be employed in mechatronic system design education and related research activities. The system CAD design models and program codes are publicly available online and can be used by robotics researchers and educators as a design platform to build their own arm-tracking solutions for research and educational purposes.
Landmark-Based Inertial Navigation System for Autonomous Navigation of Missile Platform
Authors: Lyu Donghui , Wang Jiongqi , He Zhangming , Chen Yuyun , Hou Bowen
Published: June 2020

As a new information provider of autonomous navigation, the on-orbit landmark observation offers a new means to improve the accuracy of autonomous positioning and attitude determination. A novel autonomous navigation method based on the landmark observation and the inertial system is designed to achieve the high-accuracy estimation of the missile platform state. In the proposed method, the navigation scheme is constructed first. The implicit observation equation about the deviation of the inertial system output is derived and the Kalman filter is applied to estimate the missile platform state. Moreover, the physical observability of the landmark and the mathematical observability of the navigation system are analyzed. Finally, advantages of the proposed autonomous navigation method are demonstrated through simulations compared with the traditional celestial-inertial navigation system and the deeply integrated celestial-inertial navigation system.
Design of an Always-On Image Sensor Using an Analog Lightweight Convolutional Neural Network
Authors: Choi Jaihyuk , Lee Sungjae , Son Youngdoo , Kim Soo Youn
Published: June 2020

This paper presents an always-on Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS) using an analog convolutional neural network for image classification in mobile applications. To reduce the power consumption as well as the overall processing time, we propose analog convolution circuits for computing convolution, max-pooling, and correlated double sampling operations without operational transconductance amplifiers. In addition, we used the voltage-mode MAX circuit for max pooling in the analog domain. After the analog convolution processing, the image data were reduced by 99.58% and were converted to digital with a 4-bit single-slope analog-to-digital converter. After the conversion, images were classified by the fully connected processor, which is traditionally performed in the digital domain. The measurement results show that we achieved an 89.33% image classification accuracy. The prototype CIS was fabricated in a 0.11 μm 1-poly 4-metal CIS process with a standard 4T-active pixel sensor. The image resolution was 160 × 120, and the total power consumption of the proposed CIS was 1.12 mW with a 3.3 V supply voltage and a maximum frame rate of 120.
Terminal Sliding Mode Control with a Novel Reaching Law and Sliding Mode Disturbance Observer for Inertial Stabilization Imaging Sensor
Authors: Che Xin , Tian Dapeng , Jia Ping , Gao Yang , Ren Yan
Published: June 2020

High-performance control of inertial stabilization imaging sensors (ISISs) is always challenging because of the complex nonlinearities induced by friction, mass imbalance, and external disturbances. To overcome this problem, a terminal sliding mode controller (TSMC) based on a novel exponential reaching law (NERL) method with a high-order terminal sliding mode observer (HOTSMO) is suggested. First, the TSMC based on NERL is adopted to improve system performance. The NERL incorporates the power term and switching gain term of the system state variables into the conventional exponential reaching law, and the convergent speed of the TSMC is accelerated. Then, an HOTSMO is designed, which considers the speed and lumped disturbances of the system as the observation object. The estimated disturbance is then provided as a compensation for the controller, which enhances the disturbance rejection ability of the system. Comparative simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method achieves the best tracking performance and the strongest robustness than PID and the traditional TSMC methods.
Measuring Open Porosity of Porous Materials Using THz-TDS and an Index-Matching Medium
Authors: Naftaly Mira , Tikhomirov Iliya , Hou Peter , Markl Daniel
Published: June 2020

The porosity of porous materials is a critical quality attribute of many products ranging from catalysis and separation technologies to porous paper and pharmaceutical tablets. The open porosity in particular, which reflects the pore space accessible from the surface, is crucial for applications where a fluid needs to access the pores in order to fulfil the functionality of the product. This study presents a methodology that uses terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) coupled with an index-matching medium to measure the open porosity and analyze scattering losses of powder compacts. The open porosity can be evaluated without the knowledge of the refractive index of the fully dense material. This method is demonstrated for pellets compressed of pharmaceutical-grade lactose powder. Powder was compressed at four different pressures and measured by THz-TDS before and after they were soaked in an index-matching medium, i.e., paraffin. Determining the change in refractive index of the dry and soaked samples enabled the calculation of the open porosity. The results reveal that the open porosity is consistently lower than the total porosity and it decreases with increasing compression pressure. The scattering losses reduce significantly for the soaked samples and the scattering centers (particle and/or pore sizes) are of the order of or somewhat smaller than the terahertz wavelength. This new method facilitates the development of a better understanding of the links between material properties (particles size), pellet properties (open porosity) and performance-related properties, e.g., disintegration and dissolution performance of pharmaceutical tablets.
Spatial-Temporal Signals and Clinical Indices in Electrocardiographic Imaging (I): Preprocessing and Bipolar Potentials
Authors: Caulier-Cisterna Raúl , Sanromán-Junquera Margarita , Muñoz-Romero Sergio , Blanco-Velasco Manuel , Goya-Esteban Rebeca , García-Alberola Arcadi , Rojo-Álvarez José Luis
Published: June 2020

During the last years, Electrocardiographic Imaging (ECGI) has emerged as a powerful and promising clinical tool to support cardiologists. Starting from a plurality of potential measurements on the torso, ECGI yields a noninvasive estimation of their causing potentials on the epicardium. This unprecedented amount of measured cardiac signals needs to be conditioned and adapted to current knowledge and methods in cardiac electrophysiology in order to maximize its support to the clinical practice. In this setting, many cardiac indices are defined in terms of the so-called bipolar electrograms, which correspond with differential potentials between two spatially close potential measurements. Our aim was to contribute to the usefulness of ECGI recordings in the current knowledge and methods of cardiac electrophysiology. For this purpose, we first analyzed the basic stages of conventional cardiac signal processing and scrutinized the implications of the spatial-temporal nature of signals in ECGI scenarios. Specifically, the stages of baseline wander removal, low-pass filtering, and beat segmentation and synchronization were considered. We also aimed to establish a mathematical operator to provide suitable bipolar electrograms from the ECGI-estimated epicardium potentials. Results were obtained on data from an infarction patient and from a healthy subject. First, the low-frequency and high-frequency noises are shown to be non-independently distributed in the ECGI-estimated recordings due to their spatial dimension. Second, bipolar electrograms are better estimated when using the criterion of the maximum-amplitude difference between spatial neighbors, but also a temporal delay in discrete time of about 40 samples has to be included to obtain the usual morphology in clinical bipolar electrograms from catheters. We conclude that spatial-temporal digital signal processing and bipolar electrograms can pave the way towards the usefulness of ECGI recordings in the cardiological clinical practice. The companion paper is devoted to analyzing clinical indices obtained from ECGI epicardial electrograms measuring waveform variability and repolarization tissue properties.