bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Insider Trading and Institutional Holdings in Seasoned Equity Offerings
Authors: Wu Ching-Chih , Yang Tung-Hsiao
Published: September 2018

We investigate three issues about the impact of insider trades and institutional holdings on seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). First, we test how insider trades affect the trading behavior of institutional investors in SEOs. Second, we test whose trading behavior, either insiders or institutional investors, has greater explanatory power for the performance of SEO firms after issuing new stocks. Third, we analyze the industry-wide spillover effects of insider trades and institutional holdings. Empirically, we find that insiders and institutional investors of SEO firms may utilize similar information in their transactions because insider trades induce similar trading behavior for institutional investors. In addition, insider trades, relative to institutional holdings, have greater explanatory power for SEO firm’s long-term performance. Finally, compared with insider trades, institutional holdings have a more significant spillover effect in the industry of SEO firms.
Criteria to Confirm Models that Simulate Deforestation and Carbon Disturbance
Authors: Pontius Robert
Published: September 2018

The Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) recommends the Figure of Merit (FOM) as a possible metric to confirm models that simulate deforestation baselines for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). The FOM ranges from 0% to 100%, where larger FOMs indicate more-accurate simulations. VCS requires that simulation models achieve a FOM greater than or equal to the percentage deforestation during the calibration period. This article analyses FOM’s mathematical properties and illustrates FOM’s empirical behavior by comparing various models that simulate deforestation and the resulting carbon disturbance in Bolivia during 2010–2014. The Total Operating Characteristic frames FOM’s mathematical properties as a function of the quantity and allocation of simulated deforestation. A leaf graph shows how deforestation’s quantity can be more influential than its allocation when simulating carbon disturbance. Results expose how current versions of the VCS methodologies could conceivably permit models that are less accurate than a random allocation of deforestation, while simultaneously prohibit models that are accurate concerning carbon disturbance. Conclusions give specific recommendations to improve the next version of the VCS methodology concerning three concepts: the simulated deforestation quantity, the required minimum FOM, and the simulated carbon disturbance.
Effect of Vapor Pressure During the Steam Coating Treatment on Structure and Corrosion Resistance of the Mg(OH)2/Mg-Al LDH Composite Film Formed on Mg Alloy AZ61
Authors: Nakamura Kae , Shimada Yuta , Miyashita Tomohiro , Serizawa Ai , Ishizaki Takahiro
Published: September 2018

Corrosion resistant films with almost the same film thickness were prepared on the magnesium alloy AZ61 by steam coating at different vapor pressure and treatment times. The effect of the vapor pressure on the structures and the corrosion resistance of the films was investigated by using FE-SEM, SEM-EDX, GAXRD, and potentiodynamic polarization curve measurements in a 3.5 mass percentage NaCl aqueous solution. These studies clarified that the interlayers of Mg-Al Layered Double Hydroxide (LDHs) increased and its structure became non-uniform with an increase in the vapor pressure. The corrosion current density slightly increased with an increase in the vapor pressure during the treatment, but pitting corrosion occurred at both low and high vapor pressures. These results indicate that water molecules were pushed into an interlayer of Mg-Al LDHs by high vapor pressure. Consequently, the interlayer distance of Mg-Al LDH was widened and the cracks were generated in the anti-corrosive film. On the other hand, the Mg-Al LDH with an insufficiently large interlayer distance could not fill the cracks in the Mg(OH)2 crystallites and caused pitting corrosion when the vapor pressure was low.
Scattering Theory of Graphene Grain Boundaries
Authors: Romeo Francesco , Di Bartolomeo Antonio
Published: September 2018

The implementation of graphene-based electronics requires fabrication processes that are able to cover large device areas, since the exfoliation method is not compatible with industrial applications. The chemical vapor deposition of large-area graphene represents a suitable solution; however, it has an important drawback of producing polycrystalline graphene with the formation of grain boundaries, which are responsible for the limitation of the device’s performance. With these motivations, we formulate a theoretical model of a single-layer graphene grain boundary by generalizing the graphene Dirac Hamiltonian model. The model only includes the long-wavelength regime of the charge carrier transport, which provides the main contribution to the device conductance. Using symmetry-based arguments deduced from the current conservation law, we derive unconventional boundary conditions characterizing the grain boundary physics and analyze their implications on the transport properties of the system. Angle resolved quantities, such as the transmission probability, are studied within the scattering matrix approach. The conditions for the existence of preferential transmission directions are studied in relation with the grain boundary properties. The proposed theory provides a phenomenological model to study grain boundary physics within the scattering approach, and represents per se an important enrichment of the scattering theory of polycrystalline graphene. Moreover, the outcomes of the theory can contribute to understanding and limiting the detrimental effects of graphene grain boundaries, while also providing a benchmark for more elaborate techniques.
Surface Modification of Calcium Silicate via Mussel-Inspired Polydopamine and Effective Adsorption of Extracellular Matrix to Promote Osteogenesis Differentiation for Bone Tissue Engineering
Authors: Kao Chia-Tze , Chen Yen-Jen , Ng Hooi-Yee , Lee Alvin Kai-Xing , Huang Tsui-Hsien , Lin Tz-Feng , Hsu Tuan-Ti
Published: September 2018

Calcium silicate-based cement has garnered huge interest in recent years, due to its versatility and potential in mass fabrication of a variety of bioceramics. For this study, the main objective was to fabricate functionalized calcium silicate (CS) powder integrated with a simple bio-inspired surface modification using polydopamine (PDA), to regulate cellular behaviors such as cellular adhesion, and subsequently cell differentiation and proliferation. For this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques were used to analyze the chemical compositions and observe the surface characteristics of our PDA coated CS cements. Such modifications were found to enhance Wharton Jelly’s mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSC) in various ways. Firstly, PDA-coated CS cements were found to significantly enhance cell adhesion with higher expressions of cell adhesion markers, such as focal adhesion kinase and integrins. This was further supported by morphology analysis of the cells. This enhanced cell adhesion, in turn, led to significantly higher secretion of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, such as collagen I and fibronectin, which directly promoted cell attachments and proliferation. In our osteogenesis assays, it was found that secretion and expression of osteogenesis related genes and proteins were significantly higher and were dependent on the PDA content. Therefore, these results demonstrated that such simple bio-inspired modification techniques of synthetic degradable CS cements can be applied as a future modification, to modify and convert inert surfaces of synthetic bone grafts to enhance and modulate the cell behaviors of WJMSCs. This in turn can be used as a potential alternative for further bioengineering research.
The Physicochemical Properties of Decellularized Extracellular Matrix-Coated 3D Printed Poly(ε-caprolactone) Nerve Conduits for Promoting Schwann Cells Proliferation and Differentiation
Authors: Chen Chung-Chia , Yu Joyce , Ng Hooi-Yee , Lee Alvin Kai-Xing , Chen Chien-Chang , Chen Yueh-Sheng , Shie Ming-You
Published: September 2018

Although autologous nerve grafting remains the gold standard treatment for peripheral nerve injuries, alternative methods such as development of nerve guidance conduits have since emerged and evolved to counter the many disadvantages of nerve grafting. However, the efficacy and viability of current nerve conduits remain unclear in clinical trials. Here, we focused on a novel decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) and polydopamine (PDA)-coated 3D-printed poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based conduits, whereby the PDA surface modification acts as an attachment platform for further dECM attachment. We demonstrated that dECM/PDA-coated PCL conduits possessed higher mechanical properties when compared to human or animal nerves. Such modifications were proved to affect cell behaviors. Cellular behaviors and neuronal differentiation of Schwann cells were assessed to determine for the efficacies of the conduits. There were some cell-specific neuronal markers, such as Nestin, neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin (TUJ-1), and microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Nestin expressions were found to be 0.65-fold up-regulated, while TUJ1 expressions were 2.3-fold up-regulated and MAP2 expressions were 2.5-fold up-regulated when compared to Ctl. The methodology of PDA coating employed in this study can be used as a simple model to immobilize dECM onto PCL conduits, and the results showed that dECM/PDA-coated PCL conduits can as a practical and clinically viable tool for promoting regenerative outcomes in larger peripheral nerve defects.
Temporal Encoding to Reject Background Signals in a Low Complexity, Photon Counting Communication Link
Authors: Griffiths Alexander D. , Herrnsdorf Johannes , Lowe Christopher , Macdonald Malcolm , Henderson Robert , Strain Michael J. , Dawson Martin D.
Published: September 2018

Communicating information at the few photon level typically requires some complexity in the transmitter or receiver in order to operate in the presence of noise. This in turn incurs expense in the necessary spatial volume and power consumption of the system. In this work, we present a self-synchronised free-space optical communications system based on simple, compact and low power consumption semiconductor devices. A temporal encoding method, implemented using a gallium nitride micro-LED source and a silicon single photon avalanche photo-detector (SPAD), demonstrates data transmission at rates up to 100 kb/s for 8.25 pW received power, corresponding to 27 photons per bit. Furthermore, the signals can be decoded in the presence of both constant and modulated background noise at levels significantly exceeding the signal power. The system’s low power consumption and modest electronics requirements are demonstrated by employing it as a communications channel between two nano-satellite simulator systems.
Fabrication and Characterization of an Electrospun PHA/Graphene Silver Nanocomposite Scaffold for Antibacterial Applications
Authors: Mukheem Abdul , Muthoosamy Kasturi , Manickam Sivakumar , Sudesh Kumar , Shahabuddin Syed , Saidur Rahman , Akbar Noor , Sridewi Nanthini
Published: September 2018

Many wounds are unresponsive to currently available treatment techniques and therefore there is an immense need to explore suitable materials, including biomaterials, which could be considered as the crucial factor to accelerate the healing cascade. In this study, we fabricated polyhydroxyalkanoate-based antibacterial mats via an electrospinning technique. One-pot green synthesized graphene-decorated silver nanoparticles (GAg) were incorporated into the fibres of poly-3 hydroxybutarate-co-12 mol.% hydroxyhexanoate (P3HB-co-12 mol.% HHx), a co-polymer of the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) family which is highly biocompatible, biodegradable, and flexible in nature. The synthesized PHA/GAg biomaterial has been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), elemental mapping, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). An in vitro antibacterial analysis was performed to investigate the efficacy of PHA/GAg against gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) strain 12,600 ATCC and gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain 8739 ATCC. The results indicated that the PHA/GAg demonstrated significant reduction of S. aureus and E. coli as compared to bare PHA or PHA- reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in 2 h of time. The p value (p < 0.05) was obtained by using a two-sample t-test distribution.
A Machine Learning Perspective on Personalized Medicine: An Automized, Comprehensive Knowledge Base with Ontology for Pattern Recognition
Authors: Emmert-Streib Frank , Dehmer Matthias
Published: September 2018

Personalized or precision medicine is a new paradigm that holds great promise for individualized patient diagnosis, treatment, and care. However, personalized medicine has only been described on an informal level rather than through rigorous practical guidelines and statistical protocols that would allow its robust practical realization for implementation in day-to-day clinical practice. In this paper, we discuss three key factors, which we consider dimensions that effect the experimental design for personalized medicine: (I) phenotype categories; (II) population size; and (III) statistical analysis. This formalization allows us to define personalized medicine from a machine learning perspective, as an automized, comprehensive knowledge base with an ontology that performs pattern recognition of patient profiles.
First Order Hadamard Variation of the Harmonic Navigation Function on a Sphere World
Authors: Santos Isabelle , Puechmorel Stéphane , Dufour Guillaume
Published: September 2018

Planning conflict-free trajectories is a long-standing problem in Air Traffic Management. Navigation functions designed specifically to produce flyable trajectories have been previously considered, but lack the robustness to uncertain weather conditions needed for use in an operational context. These uncertainties can be taken into account be modifying the boundary of the domain on which the navigation function is computed. In the following work, we present a method for efficiently taking into account boundary variations, using the Hadamard variation.
Biogenic Polyphosphate Nanoparticles from a Marine Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002: Production, Characterization, and Anti-Inflammatory Properties In Vitro
Authors: Feng Guangxin , Dong Shiyuan , Huang Min , Zeng Mingyong , Liu Zunying , Zhao Yuanhui , Wu Haohao
Published: September 2018

Probiotic-derived polyphosphates have attracted interest as potential therapeutic agents to improve intestinal health. The current study discovered the intracellular accumulation of polyphosphates in a marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 as nano-sized granules. The maximum accumulation of polyphosphates in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 was found at the late logarithmic growth phase when the medium contained 0.74 mM of KH2PO4, 11.76 mM of NaNO3, and 30.42 mM of Na2SO4. Biogenic polyphosphate nanoparticles (BPNPs) were obtained intact from the algae cells by hot water extraction, and were purified to remove the organic impurities by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. By using 100 kDa ultrafiltration, BPNPs were fractionated into the larger and smaller populations with diameters ranging between 30–70 nm and 10–30 nm, respectively. 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole fluorescence and orthophosphate production revealed that a minor portion of BPNPs (about 14–18%) were degraded during simulated gastrointestinal digestion. In vitro studies using lipopolysaccharide-activated RAW264.7 cells showed that BPNPs inhibited cyclooxygenase-2, inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase expression, and the production of proinflammatory mediators, including NO, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β through suppressing the Toll-like receptor 4/NF-κB signaling pathway. Overall, there is promise in the use of the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 to produce BPNPs, an anti-inflammatory postbiotic.
Liposomal Form of the Echinochrome-Carrageenan Complex
Authors: Yermak Irina M. , Gorbach Vladimir I. , Glazunov Valery P. , Kravchenko Anna O. , Mishchenko Natalya P. , Pimenova Evgeniya A. , Davydova Viktoria N.
Published: September 2018

Inclusion of drugs in liposomes offers the potential for localized and sustained delivery to mucosal surfaces. The inclusion of the carrageenan matrix with echinochrome A ((Ech)—the active substance of the drug Histochrome) in liposomes was studied. According to the spectral characteristics, Ech was not oxidized and retained stability after encapsulation in the liposomes and the lyophilization process. Loading the liposomes with negatively charged polysaccharide results in the increase in the zeta potential to more negative values (from −14.6 to −24.4 mV), that together with an increasing in the sizes of liposomes (from 125.6 ± 2.5 nm to 159.3 ± 5.8 nm) propose of the formation of the polymer coating on liposomes. The interactions of liposomes with porcine stomach mucin was determined by the DLS and SEM methods. The changes in the zeta-potential and size of the mucin particles were observed as the result of the interaction of liposomes with mucin. To evaluate the mucoadhesive properties of liposomes and the penetration of Ech in the mucosa, a fresh-frozen inner surface of the small intestine of a pig as a model of mucous tissue was used. Polysaccharide-coated liposomes exhibit very good mucoadhesive properties −50% of Ech remains on the mucosa.
Plasma Deposition and UV Light Induced Surface Grafting Polymerization of NIPAAm on Stainless Steel for Enhancing Corrosion Resistance and Its Drug Delivery Property
Authors: Chen Ko-Shao , Chang Shu-Ju , Feng Chi-Kuang , Lin Win-Li , Liao Shu-Chuan
Published: September 2018

When stainless steel is implanted in human bodies, the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility must be considered. In this study, first, a protective organic silicone film was coated on the surface of stainless steel by a plasma deposition technique with a precursor of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSZ). Then, ultraviolet (UV) light-induced graft polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) and acrylic acid (AAc) in different molar ratios were applied onto the organic silicone film in order to immobilize thermos-/pH-sensitive composite hydrogels on the surface. The thermo-/pH-sensitive composite hydrogels were tested at pH values of 4, 7.4 and 10 of a phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution at a fixed temperature of 37 °C to observe the swelling ratio and drug delivery properties of caffeine which served as a drug delivery substance. According to the results of Fourier Transformation Infrared (FTIR) spectra and a potential polarization dynamic test, the silicone thin film formed by plasma deposition not only improved the adhesion ability between the substrate and hydrogels but also exhibited a high corrosion resistance. Furthermore, the composite hydrogels have an excellent release ratio of up to 90% of the absorbed amount after 8h at a pH of 10. In addition, the results of potential polarization dynamic tests showed that the corrosion resistance of stainless steel could be improved by the HMDSZ plasma deposition.
Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Recycling Behavior in South Africa
Authors: Strydom Wilma F.
Published: September 2018

This paper reports on an application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to understand the relationships between the determinants (latent variables) comprising the Theory of Planned Behavior and, based on these findings, to guide decision-making related to household recycling in South Africa. Data from a representative sample of respondents in large urban areas (n = 2004) was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results of the SEM analysis showed a good fit of the survey data to the Theory of Planned Behavior theoretical model. The Theory of Planned Behavior explains 26.4% of the variance in recycling behavior and 46.4% of the variance in intention to recycle. Only 3.3% of South Africans in large urban areas show dedicated recycling behavior, considering the recycling of five materials: paper, plastic, glass, metal, and compostable organic waste. The recycling frequency item in the recycling behavior construct is the most likely to be over-reported. South Africans lack sufficient knowledge, positive attitudes, social pressure, and perceived control that would encourage recycling behavior. Awareness drives containing moral values (injunctive norms) and information about available recycling schemes, combined with the provision of a curbside collection service for recyclables, have the greatest chance to positively influence recycling behavior amongst South Africa’s city dwellers.
Linear Regression for Heavy Tails
Authors: Balkema Guus , Embrechts Paul
Published: September 2018

There exist several estimators of the regression line in the simple linear regression: Least Squares, Least Absolute Deviation, Right Median, Theil–Sen, Weighted Balance, and Least Trimmed Squares. Their performance for heavy tails is compared below on the basis of a quadratic loss function. The case where the explanatory variable is the inverse of a standard uniform variable and where the error has a Cauchy distribution plays a central role, but heavier and lighter tails are also considered. Tables list the empirical sd and bias for ten batches of one hundred thousand simulations when the explanatory variable has a Pareto distribution and the error has a symmetric Student distribution or a one-sided Pareto distribution for various tail indices. The results in the tables may be used as benchmarks. The sample size is n = 100 but results for n = ∞ are also presented. The error in the estimate of the slope tneed not be asymptotically normal. For symmetric errors, the symmetric generalized beta prime densities often give a good fit.
Reply to Vauhkonen: Comment on Tompalski et al. Combining Multi-Date Airborne Laser Scanning and Digital Aerial Photogrammetric Data for Forest Growth and Yield Modelling. Remote Sens. 2018, 10, 347
Authors: Tompalski Piotr , Coops Nicholas C. , Marshall Peter L. , White Joanne C. , Wulder Michael A. , Bailey Todd
Published: September 2018

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Method Combining Probability Integration Model and a Small Baseline Subset for Time Series Monitoring of Mining Subsidence
Authors: Fan Hongdong , Lu Lu , Yao Yahui
Published: September 2018

Time Series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (TS-InSAR) has high accuracy for monitoring slow surface subsidence. However, in the case of a large-scale mining subsidence areas, the monitoring capabilities of TS-InSAR are poor, owing to temporal and spatial decorrelation. To monitor mining subsidence effectively, a method known as Probability Integration Model Small Baseline Set (PIM-SBAS) was applied. In this method, mining subsidence with a large deformation gradient was simulated by a PIM. After simulated deformation was transformed into a wrapped phase, the residual wrapped phase was obtained by subtracting the simulated wrapped phase from the actual wrapped phase. SBAS was used to calculate the residual subsidence. Finally, the mining subsidence was determined by adding the simulated deformation to the residual subsidence. The time series subsidence of the Nantun mining area was derived from 10 TerraSAR-X (TSX) images for the period 25 December 2011 to 2 April 2012. The Zouji highway above the 9308 workface was the target for study. The calculated maximum mining subsidence was 860 mm. The maximum subsidence for the Zouji highway was about 145 mm. Compared with the SBAS method, PIM-SBAS alleviates the difficulty of phase unwrapping, and may be used to monitor large-scale mining subsidence.
Distributed Space Debris Tracking with Consensus Labeled Random Finite Set Filtering
Authors: Wei Baishen , Nener Brett
Published: September 2018

Space debris tracking is a challenge for spacecraft operation because of the increasing number of both satellites and the amount of space debris. This paper investigates space debris tracking using marginalized δ -generalized labeled multi-Bernoulli filtering on a network of nodes consisting of a collection of sensors with different observation volumes. A consensus algorithm is used to achieve the global average by iterative regional averages. The sensor network can have unknown or time-varying topology. The proposed space debris tracking algorithm provides an efficient solution to the key challenges (e.g., detection uncertainty, data association uncertainty, clutter, etc.) for space situational awareness. The performance of the proposed algorithm is verified by simulation results.
New Approaches to the Integration of Navigation Systems for Autonomous Unmanned Vehicles (UAV)
Authors: Konovalenko Ivan , Kuznetsova Elena , Miller Alexander , Miller Boris , Popov Alexey , Shepelev Denis , Stepanyan Karen
Published: September 2018

The article presents an overview of the theoretical and experimental work related to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) motion parameters estimation based on the integration of video measurements obtained by the on-board optoelectronic camera and data from the UAV’s own inertial navigation system (INS). The use of various approaches described in the literature which show good characteristics in computer simulations or in fairly simple conditions close to laboratory ones demonstrates the sufficient complexity of the problems associated with adaption of camera parameters to the changing conditions of a real flight. In our experiments, we used computer simulation methods applying them to the real images and processing methods of videos obtained during real flights. For example, it was noted that the use of images that are very different in scale and in the aspect angle from the observed images in flight makes it very difficult to use the methodology of singular points. At the same time, the matching of the observed and reference images using rectilinear segments, such as images of road sections and the walls of the buildings look quite promising. In addition, in our experiments we used the projective transformation matrix computation from frame to frame, which together with the filtering estimates for the coordinate and angular velocities provides additional possibilities for estimating the UAV position. Data on the UAV position determining based on the methods of video navigation obtained during real flights are presented. New approaches to video navigation obtained using the methods of conjugation rectilinear segments, characteristic curvilinear elements and segmentation of textured and colored regions are demonstrated. Also the application of the method of calculating projective transformations from frame-to-frame is shown which gives estimates of the displacements and rotations of the apparatus and thereby serves to the UAV position estimation by filtering. Thus, the aim of the work was to analyze various approaches to UAV navigation using video data as an additional source of information about the position and velocity of the vehicle.
A Self-Adaptive Progressive Support Selection Scheme for Collaborative Wideband Spectrum Sensing
Authors: Hu Zhuhua , Bai Yong , Huang Mengxing , Xie Mingshan , Zhao Yaochi
Published: September 2018

The sampling rate of wideband spectrum sensing for sparse signals can be reduced by sub-Nyquist sampling with a Modulated Wideband Converter (MWC). In collaborative spectrum sensing, the fusion center recovers the spectral support from observation and measurement matrices reported by a network of CRs, to improve the precision of spectrum sensing. However, the MWC has a very high hardware complexity due to its parallel structure; it sets a fixed threshold for a decision without considering the impact of noise intensity, and needs a priori information of signal sparsity order for signal support recovery. To address these shortcomings, we propose a progressive support selection based self-adaptive distributed MWC sensing scheme (PSS-SaDMWC). In the proposed scheme, the parallel hardware sensing channels are scattered on secondary users (SUs), and the PSS-SaDMWC scheme takes sparsity order estimation, noise intensity, and transmission loss into account in the fusion center. More importantly, the proposed scheme uses a support selection strategy based on a progressive operation to reduce missed detection probability under low SNR levels. Numerical simulations demonstrate that, compared with the traditional support selection schemes, our proposed scheme can achieve a higher support recovery success rate, lower sampling rate, and stronger time-varying support recovery ability without increasing hardware complexity.
Molecular Fingerprints of Hemoglobin on a Nanofilm Chip
Authors: Saylan Yeşeren , Denizli Adil
Published: September 2018

Hemoglobin is an iron carrying protein in erythrocytes and also an essential element to transfer oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. Abnormalities in hemoglobin concentration are closely correlated with health status and many diseases, including thalassemia, anemia, leukemia, heart disease, and excessive loss of blood. Particularly in resource-constrained settings existing blood analyzers are not readily applicable due to the need for high-level instrumentation and skilled personnel, thereby inexpensive, easy-to-use, and reliable detection methods are needed. Herein, a molecular fingerprints of hemoglobin on a nanofilm chip was obtained for real-time, sensitive, and selective hemoglobin detection using a surface plasmon resonance system. Briefly, through the photopolymerization technique, a template (hemoglobin) was imprinted on a monomeric (acrylamide) nanofilm on-chip using a cross-linker (methylenebisacrylamide) and an initiator-activator pair (ammonium persulfate-tetramethylethylenediamine). The molecularly imprinted nanofilm on-chip was characterized by atomic force microscopy and ellipsometry, followed by benchmarking detection performance of hemoglobin concentrations from 0.0005 mg mL−1 to 1.0 mg mL−1. Theoretical calculations and real-time detection implied that the molecularly imprinted nanofilm on-chip was able to detect as little as 0.00035 mg mL−1 of hemoglobin. In addition, the experimental results of hemoglobin detection on the chip well-fitted with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model with high correlation coefficient (0.99) and association and dissociation coefficients (39.1 mL mg−1 and 0.03 mg mL−1) suggesting a monolayer binding characteristic. Assessments on selectivity, reusability and storage stability indicated that the presented chip is an alternative approach to current hemoglobin-targeted assays in low-resource regions, as well as antibody-based detection procedures in the field. In the future, this molecularly imprinted nanofilm on-chip can easily be integrated with portable plasmonic detectors, improving its access to these regions, as well as it can be tailored to detect other proteins and biomarkers.
Computer-Aided Approach for Rapid Post-Event Visual Evaluation of a Building Façade
Authors: Choi Jongseong , Yeum Chul Min , Dyke Shirley J. , Jahanshahi Mohammad R.
Published: September 2018

After a disaster strikes an urban area, damage to the façades of a building may produce dangerous falling hazards that jeopardize pedestrians and vehicles. Thus, building façades must be rapidly inspected to prevent potential loss of life and property damage. Harnessing the capacity to use new vision sensors and associated sensing platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would expedite this process and alleviate spatial and temporal limitations typically associated with human-based inspection in high-rise buildings. In this paper, we have developed an approach to perform rapid and accurate visual inspection of building façades using images collected from UAVs. An orthophoto corresponding to any reasonably flat region on the building (e.g., a façade or building side) is automatically constructed using a structure-from-motion (SfM) technique, followed by image stitching and blending. Based on the geometric relationship between the collected images and the constructed orthophoto, high-resolution region-of-interest are automatically extracted from the collected images, enabling efficient visual inspection. We successfully demonstrate the capabilities of the technique using an abandoned building of which a façade has damaged building components (e.g., window panes or external drainage pipes).
Improving GNSS Ambiguity Acceptance Test Performance with the Generalized Difference Test Approach
Authors: Wang Lei , Chen Ruizhi , Shen Lili , Feng Yanming , Pan Yuanjin , Li Ming , Zhang Peng
Published: September 2018

In Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data processing, integer ambiguity acceptance test is considered as a challenging problem. A number of ambiguity acceptance tests have been proposed from different perspective and then unified into the integer aperture estimation (IA) framework. Among all the IA estimators, the optimal integer aperture (OIA) achieves the highest success rate with the fixed failure rate tolerance. However, the OIA is of less practical appealing due to its high computation complexity. On the other hand, the popular discrimination tests employ only two integer candidates, which are the essential reason for their sub-optimality. In this study, a generalized difference test (GDT) is proposed to exploit the benefit of including three or more integer candidates to improve their performance from theoretical perspective. The simulation results indicate that the third best integer candidates contribute to more than 70% success rate improvement for integer bootstrapping success rate higher than 0.8 case. Therefore, the GDT with three integer candidates (GDT3) achieves a good trade-off between the performance and computation burden. The threshold function is also applied for rapid determination of the fixed failure rate (FF)-threshold for GDT3. The performance improvement of GDT3 is validated with real GNSS data set. The numerical results indicate that GDT3 achieves higher empirical success rate while the empirical failure rate remains comparable. In a 20 km baseline test, the success rate GDT3 increase 7% with almost the same empirical failure rate.
Earable POCER: Development of a Point-of-Care Ear Sensor for Respiratory Rate Measurement
Authors: Taniguchi Kazuhiro , Nishikawa Atsushi
Published: September 2018

We have carried out research and development on an earphone-type respiratory rate measuring device, earable POCER. The name earable POCER is a combination of “earable”, which is a word coined from “wearable” and “ear”, and “POCER”, which is an acronym for “point-of-care ear sensor for respiratory rate measurement”. The earable POCER calculates respiratory frequency, based on the measurement values over one minute, through the simple attachment of an ear sensor to one ear of the measured subject and displays these on a tablet terminal. The earable POCER irradiates infrared light using a light-emitting diode (LED) loaded on an ear sensor to the epidermis within the ear canal and, by receiving that reflected light with a phototransistor, it measures movement of the ear canal based on respiration. In an evaluation experiment, eight healthy subjects first breathed through the nose 12 times per minute, then 16 times per minute, and finally 20 times per minute, in accordance with the flashing of a timing instruction LED. The results of these evaluation tests showed that the accuracy of the respiratory frequency was 100% for nose breathing 12 times per minute, 93.8% at 16 times, and 93.8% at 20 times.
Edge Computing Based IoT Architecture for Low Cost Air Pollution Monitoring Systems: A Comprehensive System Analysis, Design Considerations & Development
Authors: Idrees Zeba , Zou Zhuo , Zheng Lirong
Published: September 2018

With the swift growth in commerce and transportation in the modern civilization, much attention has been paid to air quality monitoring, however existing monitoring systems are unable to provide sufficient spatial and temporal resolutions of the data with cost efficient and real time solutions. In this paper we have investigated the issues, infrastructure, computational complexity, and procedures of designing and implementing real-time air quality monitoring systems. To daze the defects of the existing monitoring systems and to decrease the overall cost, this paper devised a novel approach to implement the air quality monitoring system, employing the edge-computing based Internet-of-Things (IoT). In the proposed method, sensors gather the air quality data in real time and transmit it to the edge computing device that performs necessary processing and analysis. The complete infrastructure & prototype for evaluation is developed over the Arduino board and IBM Watson IoT platform. Our model is structured in such a way that it reduces the computational burden over sensing nodes (reduced to 70%) that is battery powered and balanced it with edge computing device that has its local data base and can be powered up directly as it is deployed indoor. Algorithms were employed to avoid temporary errors in low cost sensor, and to manage cross sensitivity problems. Automatic calibration is set up to ensure the accuracy of the sensors reporting, hence achieving data accuracy around 75–80% under different circumstances. In addition, a data transmission strategy is applied to minimize the redundant network traffic and power consumption. Our model acquires a power consumption reduction up to 23% with a significant low cost. Experimental evaluations were performed under different scenarios to validate the system’s effectiveness.
An LC Passive Wireless Gas Sensor Based on PANI/CNT Composite
Authors: Shen Sanmin , Fan Zhihong , Deng Jiahao , Guo Xiaowei , Zhang Lei , Liu Guanyu , Tan Qiulin , Xiong Jijun
Published: September 2018

This paper proposes a wireless passive gas sensor based on the principle of LC mutual coupling. After the acidification of the carbon nanotube (CNT), the in-situ polymerization of the aminobenzene monomers was conducted on the surface of the acidified CNT to form a sensitive material composed of a polyaniline/carbon nanotube (PANI/CNT) composite. The Advanced Design System (ADS) software was used for simulating and analyzing the designed structure, which obtained the various parameters of the structure. A lead-free aluminum paste was printed on an alumina ceramic substrate via the screen printing technique to form an inductor coil, before the gas sensitive material was applied to prepare a wireless passive gas sensor, consisting of a single-turn inductor and interdigitated electrodes on the base structure. Finally, an experimental platform was built to test the performance of the sensor. The sensitivity of the gas sensor is about 0.04 MHz/ppm in an atmosphere with a NH3 concentration of 300 ppm. The sensor was shown to have good repeatability and high stability over a long time period.
Fractional-Order PID Control Strategy on Hydraulic-Loading System of Typical Electromechanical Platform
Authors: Wang Ning , Wang Jianmei , Li Zhixiong , Tang Xuefeng , Hou Dingbang
Published: September 2018

In this paper, a control method for a hydraulic loading system of an electromechanical platform based on a fractional-order PID (Proportion-Integration-Differentiation) controller is proposed, which is used to drive the loading system of a mechatronic journal test rig. The mathematical model of the control system is established according to the principle of the electro-hydraulic system. Considering the indetermination of model parameters, the method of parameter identification was used to verify the rationality of the theoretical model. In order to improve the control precision of the hydraulic loading system, the traditional PID controller and fractional-order PID controller are designed by selecting appropriate tuning parameters. Their control performances are analyzed in frequency domain and time domain, respectively. The results show that the fractional-order PID controller has better control effect. By observing the actual control effect of the fractional-order PID controller on the journal test rig, the effectiveness of this control algorithm is verified.
A Sparse-Based Off-Grid DOA Estimation Method for Coprime Arrays
Authors: Si Weijian , Zeng Fuhong , Hou Changbo , Peng Zhanli
Published: September 2018

Recently, many sparse-based direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation methods for coprime arrays have become popular for their excellent detection performance. However, these methods often suffer from grid mismatch problem due to the discretization of the potential angle space, which will cause DOA estimation performance degradation when the target is off-grid. To this end, we proposed a sparse-based off-grid DOA estimation method for coprime arrays in this paper, which includes two parts: coarse estimation process and fine estimation process. In the coarse estimation process, the grid points closest to the true DOAs, named coarse DOAs, are derived by solving an optimization problem, which is constructed according to the statistical property of the vectorized covariance matrix estimation error. Meanwhile, we eliminate the unknown noise variance effectively through a linear transformation. Due to finite snapshots effect, some undesirable correlation terms between signal and noise vectors exist in the sample covariance matrix. In the fine estimation process, we therefore remove the undesirable correlation terms from the sample covariance matrix first, and then utilize a two-step iterative method to update the grid biases. Combining the coarse DOAs with the grid biases, the final DOAs can be obtained. In the end, simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Quadrant-Based Minimum Bounding Rectangle-Tree Indexing Method for Similarity Queries over Big Spatial Data in HBase
Authors: Jo Bumjoon , Jung Sungwon
Published: September 2018

With the rapid development of mobile devices and sensors, effective searching methods for big spatial data have recently received a significant amount of attention. Owing to their large size, many applications typically store recently generated spatial data in NoSQL databases such as HBase. As the index of HBase only supports a one-dimensional row keys, the spatial data is commonly enumerated using linearization techniques. However, the linearization techniques cannot completely guarantee the spatial proximity of data. Therefore, several studies have attempted to reduce false positives in spatial query processing by implementing a multi-dimensional indexing layer. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical indexing structure called a quadrant-based minimum bounding rectangle (QbMBR) tree for effective spatial query processing in HBase. In our method, spatial objects are grouped more precisely by using QbMBR and are indexed based on QbMBR. The QbMBR tree not only provides more selective query processing, but also reduces the storage space required for indexing. Based on the QbMBR tree index, two query-processing algorithms for range query and kNN query are also proposed in this paper. The algorithms significantly reduce query execution times by prefetching the necessary index nodes into memory while traversing the QbMBR tree. Experimental analysis demonstrates that our method significantly outperforms existing methods.
The In Vitro Anti-Proliferative Interaction of Flavonoid Quercetin and Toxic Metal Cadmium in the 1321N1 Human Astrocytoma Cell Line
Authors: Al-Hasawi Nada A. , Amine Sanaa A. , Novotny Ladislav
Published: September 2018

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal occurring in the environment as an industrial pollutant. The systematic accumulation of Cd in the human body may lead to major health problems. Quercetin (QE) is a natural flavonoid widely distributed in plants and is a part of human diet. Many studies have demonstrated the multiple benefits of QE to humans in protecting cells of our bodies. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of QE and Cd on the proliferation of astrocytoma 1321N1 cells. Results indicated that the simultaneous exposure of the cells to 200 µM QE and 16 μM Cd significantly reduced cell viability to 6.9 ± 1.6% with respect to vehicle-treated cells. Other experiments of QE pre-treatment followed by the exposure to Cd alone or with QE indicated significant but decreased ability of QE or Cd to reduce proliferation of the cells compared to their co-incubation. Our study suggested a synergetic anti-proliferative interaction of Cd and QE in malignantly transformed cells. This adds new information regarding the biological effects of QE.
Serving, Contemplating and Praying: Non-Postural Yoga(s), Embodiment and Spiritual Capital
Authors: Di Placido Matteo
Published: September 2018

In this paper, I discuss the role of spiritual seekers’ embodiment of karma, jnana and bhakti yoga(s) in the context of a neo-Vedantic, non-monastic ashram located in southern-Europe, an ashram I regard as an example of modern denominational yoga. Methodologically, I rely on an ex-post multi-sensory autoethnography, involving apprenticeship and full participation immersion, and I share with physical cultural studies a commitment to empirically contextualise the study of the moving body. Theoretically, I employ Shilling’s theory of the body as a multi-dimensional medium for the constitution of society, enriched by other theoretical and sensitising concepts. The findings presented in this paper show that the body of the seekers/devotees can be simultaneously framed as the source of, the location for and the means to, the constitution of the social, cultural and spiritual life of the ashram. As I discuss the development, interiorisation and implementation of serving, contemplative and devotional dispositions, which together form the scheme of dispositions that shape a yogic habitus, I also consider the ties between the specific instances under study and the more general spiritual habitus. The paper ends by broadening its focus in relation to the inclusion of Asian practices and traditions into the Western landscape.
The Contribution of Traditional Agroecological Knowledge as a Digital Commons to Agroecological Transitions: The Case of the CONECT-e Platform
Authors: Calvet-Mir Laura , Benyei Petra , Aceituno-Mata Laura , Pardo-de-Santayana Manuel , López-García Daniel , Carrascosa-García María , Perdomo-Molina Antonio , Reyes-García Victoria
Published: September 2018

Traditional agroecological knowledge (TAeK) refers to the cumulative and evolving body of knowledge, practices, beliefs, institutions, and worldviews about the relationships between a society or cultural group and their agroecosystems. These knowledge systems contribute to maintaining environmental and culturally sensitive food systems and have been considered very relevant for agroecological transitions, or the processes of scaling-up and -out agroecology. However, TAeK’s erosion and enclosure threatens its use and reproduction, which in turn might affect TAeK’s potential contribution to agroecological transitions. Here, we explore how transforming TAeK, and particularly TAeK on landraces, into a digital commons can contribute to its maintenance and protection, and thus to agroecological transitions. We do so by analyzing the CONECT-e platform, an initiative for digitally storing and sharing TAeK in a participatory way. One year after being launched, CONECT-e has documented 452 geographically distinct landraces from 81 different species. The information shared in this platform is well-structured, clear, and reliable; it thus allows for the replication of the knowledge reported. Moreover, because CONECT-e makes the documented information freely available and protects it with a copyleft license, placing information in this platform could help one face landrace misappropriation issues. CONECT-e, or similar initiatives, could contribute to agroecological transitions via maintaining TAeK under the digital commons framework, making it accessible to all society and avoiding enclosure processes.