bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Remarks and New Results in Ordered Partial b-Metric Spaces
Authors: Vujaković Jelena , Aydi Hassen , Radenović Stojan , Mukheimer Aiman
Published: April 2019

We improve and generalize some new results in fixed point theory in the context of partial b-metric spaces.
Nonlocal FEM Formulation for Vibration Analysis of Nanowires on Elastic Matrix with Different Materials
Authors: Uzun Büşra , Civalek Ömer
Published: April 2019

In this study, free vibration behaviors of various embedded nanowires made of different materials are investigated by using Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory. Silicon carbide nanowire (SiCNW), silver nanowire (AgNW), and gold nanowire (AuNW) are modeled as Euler–Bernoulli nanobeams with various boundary conditions such as simply supported (S-S), clamped simply supported (C-S), clamped–clamped (C-C), and clamped-free (C-F). The interactions between nanowires and medium are simulated by the Winkler elastic foundation model. The Galerkin weighted residual method is applied to the governing equations to gain stiffness and mass matrices. The results are given by tables and graphs. The effects of small-scale parameters, boundary conditions, and foundation parameters on frequencies are examined in detail. In addition, the influence of temperature change on the vibrational responses of the nanowires are also pursued as a case study.
Phomaketide A Inhibits Lymphangiogenesis in Human Lymphatic Endothelial Cells
Authors: Tai Huai-Ching , Lee Tzong-Huei , Tang Chih-Hsin , Chen Lei-Po , Chen Wei-Cheng , Lee Ming-Shian , Chen Pei-Chi , Lin Chih-Yang , Chi Chih-Wen , Chen Yu-Jen , Lai Cheng-Ta , Chen Shiou-Sheng , Liao Kuang-Wen , Lee Chien-Hsing , Wang Shih-Wei
Published: April 2019

Lymphangiogenesis is an important biological process associated with cancer metastasis. The development of new drugs that block lymphangiogenesis represents a promising therapeutic strategy. Marine fungus-derived compound phomaketide A, isolated from the fermented broth of Phoma sp. NTOU4195, has been reported to exhibit anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory effects. However, its anti-lymphangiogenic activity has not been clarified to date. In this study, we showed that phomaketide A inhibited cell growth, migration, and tube formation of lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) without an evidence of cytotoxicity. Mechanistic investigations revealed that phomaketide A reduced LECs-induced lymphangiogenesis via vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ), and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) signalings. Furthermore, human proteome array analysis indicated that phomaketide A significantly enhanced the protein levels of various protease inhibitors, including cystatin A, serpin B6, tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), and tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1). Importantly, phomaketide A impeded tumor growth and lymphangiogenesis by decreasing the expression of LYVE-1, a specific marker for lymphatic vessels, in tumor xenograft animal model. These results suggest that phomaketide A may impair lymphangiogenesis by suppressing VEGFR-3, PKCδ, and eNOS signaling cascades, while simultaneously activating protease inhibitors in human LECs. We document for the first time that phomaketide A inhibits lymphangiogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, which suggests that this natural product could potentially treat cancer metastasis.
Mold Nonsinusoidal Oscillation Mode and Its Effect on Slag Infiltration for Lubrication and Initial Shell Growth during Steel Continuous Casting
Authors: Yan Xiaobo , Jia Boran , Wang Qiangqiang , He Shengping , Wang Qian
Published: April 2019

The effect of nonsinusoidal oscillation at different modification ratios (α) on slag lubrication was investigated during mold oscillation. A validated and reliable multiphase model was employed, which involved flow and solidification of the molten steel and mold slag. The main results revealed that a large amount of liquid slag at the entrance of the mold–strand channel reflowed into the slag pool at the middle of the negative strip period. The phenomenon was more distinct, with an increase in the modification ratio. The modification ratio had no obvious effect on the average thickness of the liquid film at different depths below the meniscus. A modification ratio of 0.5 caused less fluctuation of the transient liquid film. Quantitative prediction of slag consumption indicated that as the modification ratio increased from 0.2 to 0.5 to 0.8, the average values were 0.278, 0.286, and 0.279 kg/m2, respectively. Shell solidification and growth near the meniscus mainly occurred when the mold was descending, which not only depended on the heat flux, but also on the liquid slag flow, the pressure driven by slag rim, and the mold oscillation. Optimization of the modification ratio of nonsinusoidal oscillation could be an alternative to delay growth of the initial shell towards the molten steel. A modification ratio of 0.5 had the least robust shell tip at the meniscus, thereby reducing entrapment of inclusions and bubbles by the shell tip.
Mechanistic Studies on the Absorption-Enhancing Effects of Gemini Surfactant on the Intestinal Absorption of Poorly Absorbed Hydrophilic Drugs in Rats
Authors: Alama Tammam , Kusamori Kosuke , Morishita Masaki , Katsumi Hidemasa , Sakane Toshiyasu , Yamamoto Akira
Published: April 2019

Generally, the use of absorption enhancers might be the most effective approaches to ameliorate the enteric absorption of poorly absorbed substances. Among numerous absorption enhancers, we already reported that a gemini surfactant, sodium dilauramidoglutamide lysine (SLG-30) with two hydrophobic and two hydrophilic moieties, is a novel and promising adjuvant with a high potency in improving the absorption safely. Here, we examined and elucidated the absorption-improving mechanisms of SLG-30 in the enteric absorption of substances. SLG-30 increased the intestinal absorption of 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (CF) to a greater level than the typical absorption enhancers, including sodium glycocholate and sodium laurate, as evaluated by an in situ closed-loop method. Furthermore, SLG-30 significantly lowered the fluorescence anisotropy of dansyl chloride (DNS-Cl), suggesting that it might increase the fluidity of protein sections in the intestinal cell membranes. Moreover, SLG-30 significantly lowered the transepithelial-electrical resistance (TEER) values of Caco-2 cells, suggesting that it might open the tight junctions (TJs) between the enteric epithelial cells. Additionally, the levels of claudin-1 and claudin-4 expression decreased in the presence of SLG-30. These outcomes propose that SLG-30 might improve the enteric transport of poorly absorbed substances through both transcellular and paracellular routes.
A Low-Molecular-Weight Polyethylenimine/pDNA-VEGF Polyplex System Constructed in a One-Pot Manner for Hindlimb Ischemia Therapy
Authors: Guo Xiaoshuang , Yuan Zihan , Xu Yang , Zhao Xiaotian , Fang Zhiwei , Yuan Wei-En
Published: April 2019

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is often characterized by continued reduction in blood flow supply to limbs. Advanced therapeutic strategies like gene therapy could potentially be applied to limb ischemia therapy. However, developing a gene delivery system with low toxicity and high efficiency remains a great challenge. In this study, a one-pot construction was used to integrate vector synthesis and polyplex fabrication simultaneously in a simple and robust manner. We fabricated an interpenetrating gene delivery network through the physical interaction between low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine (PEI 1.8 kDa) and plasmid DNA (pDNA) and the chemical bonding between PEI and glutaraldehyde (GA), which was named the glutaraldehydelinked-branched PEI (GPEI) polyplex. The final GPEI polyplex system was pH-responsive and biodegradable due to the imine linkage and it could successfully deliver desired vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pDNA. Compared with PEI (25 kDa)/pDNA polyplexes, GPEI polyplexes showed lower cytotoxicity and higher transfection efficiency both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we demonstrated that GPEI polyplexes could efficiently promote the formation of new capillaries in vivo, which may provide a practicable strategy for clinical hindlimb ischemia therapy in the future.
Crafting Cinema in the Buddhist Contemplative Gaze
Authors: Burger Edward A.
Published: April 2019

In this essay, I discuss the evolution of my approach to creating Buddhist contemplative cinema. I begin, by way of personal anecdotes, defining my approach to Buddhist life and the evolution of what I will call the “Buddhist contemplative gaze”—a fundamental shift in perspective shaped by the Buddhist meditation experience. I continue with a discussion of Buddhist art and the distinctive multidimensional quality of the cinema-viewing experience that makes it suitable for celebrating, sharing, and exploring the Buddhist contemplative experience. I trace how my work and life as a Buddhist and a filmmaker come together in this working approach as an artist. The final section of the essay includes reflections on my film, ONE MIND, as an experiment in crafting cinema in the Buddhist contemplative gaze.
Numerical Assessments of Leaf Area Index in Tropical Savanna Rangelands, South Africa Using Landsat 8 OLI Derived Metrics and In-Situ Measurements
Authors: Dube Timothy , Pandit Santa , Shoko Cletah , Ramoelo Abel , Mazvimavi Dominic , Dalu Tatenda
Published: April 2019

Knowledge on rangeland condition, productivity patterns and possible thresholds of potential concern, as well as the escalation of risks in the face of climate change and variability over savanna grasslands is essential for wildlife/livestock management purposes. The estimation of leaf area index (LAI) in tropical savanna ecosystems is therefore fundamental for the proper planning and management of this natural capital. In this study, we assess the spatio-temporal seasonal LAI dynamics (dry and wet seasons) as a proxy for rangeland condition and productivity in the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. The 30 m Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) spectral bands, derived vegetation indices and a non-parametric approach (i.e., random forest, RF) were used to assess dry and wet season LAI condition and variability in the KNP. The results showed that RF optimization enhanced the model performance in estimating LAI. Moderately high accuracies were observed for the dry season (R2 of 0.63–0.72 and average RMSE of 0.60 m2/m2) and wet season (0.62–0.63 and 0.79 m2/m2). Derived thematic maps demonstrated that the park had high LAI estimates during the wet season when compared to the dry season. On average, LAI estimates ranged between 3 and 7 m2/m2 during the wet season, whereas for the dry season most parts of the park had LAI estimates ranging between 0.00 and 3.5 m2/m2. The findings indicate that Kruger National Park had high levels of productivity during the wet season monitoring period. Overall, this work shows the unique potential of Landsat 8-derived metrics in assessing LAI as a proxy for tropical savanna rangelands productivity. The result is relevant for wildlife management and habitat assessment and monitoring.
Editorial for Special Issue “Ocean Radar”
Authors: Huang Weimin , Lund Björn , Wen Biyang
Published: April 2019

This Special Issue hosts papers related to ocean radars including the high-frequency (HF) surface wave and sky wave radars, X-, L-, K-band marine radars, airborne scatterometers, and altimeter. The topics covered by these papers include sea surface wind, wave and current measurements, new methodologies and quality control schemes for improving the estimation results, clutter and interference classification and detection, and optimal design as well as calibration of the sensors for better performance. Although different problems are tackled in each paper, their ultimate purposes are the same, i.e., to improve the capacity and accuracy of these radars in ocean monitoring.
Preliminary Studies on Atmospheric Monitoring by Employing a Portable Unmanned Mie-Scattering Scheimpflug Lidar System
Authors: Liu Zhi , Li Limei , Li Hui , Mei Liang
Published: April 2019

A portable unmanned Mie-scattering Scheimpflug lidar system has been designed and implemented for atmospheric remote sensing. The Scheimpflug lidar system employs a continuous-wave high-power 808 nm laser diode as the light source and the emitted laser beam is collimated by an F6 lens with a 100 mm aperture. Atmospheric backscattering light is collected by a F5 lens with a 150 mm aperture and then detected by a 45° tilted image sensor. The separation between the transmitting and the receiving optics is about 756 mm to satisfy the Scheimpflug principle. Unmanned outdoor atmospheric measurements were performed in an urban area to investigate system performance. Localized emissions can be identified by performing horizontal scanning measurements over the urban atmosphere for 107° approximately every 17 min. The temporal variation of the vertical aerosol structure in the boundary layer has also been studied through zenith scanning measurements. The promising result shows great potential of the present portable lidar system for unmanned atmospheric pollution monitoring in urban areas.
On Capabilities of Tracking Marine Surface Currents Using Artificial Film Slicks
Authors: Kapustin Ivan A. , Shomina Olga V. , Ermoshkin Alexey V. , Bogatov Nikolay A. , Kupaev Alexander V. , Molkov Alexander A. , Ermakov Stanislav A.
Published: April 2019

It is known that films on the sea surface can appear due to ship pollution, river and collector drains, as well as natural biological processes. Marine film slicks can indicate various geophysical processes in the upper layer of the ocean and in the atmosphere. In particular, slick signatures in SAR-imagery of the sea surface at low and moderate wind speeds are often associated with marine currents. Apart from the current itself, other factors such as wind and the physical characteristics of films can significantly influence the dynamics of slick structures. In this paper, a prospective approach aimed at measuring surface currents is developed. The approach is based on the investigation of the geometry of artificial banded slicks formed under the action of marine currents and on the retrieval of the current characteristics from this geometry. The developed approach is applied to quasi stationary slick bands under conditions when the influence of the film spreading effects can be neglected. For the stationary part of the slick band where transition processes of the band formation, e.g., methods of application of surfactants on water, film spreading processes, possible wind transformation etc., become negligible, some empirical relations between the band geometrical characteristics and the characteristics of the surface currents are obtained. The advantage of the approach is a possibility of getting information concerning the spatial structure of marine currents along the entire slick band. The suggested approach can be efficient for remote sensing data verification.
A Building Detection Method Based on Semi-Suppressed Fuzzy C-Means and Restricted Region Growing Using Airborne LiDAR
Authors: Cai Zhan , Ma Hongchao , Zhang Liang
Published: April 2019

Building detection using airborne Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data is the essential prerequisite of many applications, including three-dimensional city modeling. In the paper, we propose a coarse-to-fine building detection method that is based on semi-suppressed fuzzy C-means and restricted region growing. Based on a filtering step, the remaining points can be separated into two groups by semi-suppressed fuzzy C-means. The group contains points that are located on building roofs that form a building candidate set. Subsequently, a restricted region growing algorithm is implemented to search for more building points. The proposed region growing method perfectly ensures the rapid growth of building regions and slow growth of non-building regions, which enlarges the area differences between building and non-building regions. A two-stage strategy is then adopted to remove tiny point clusters with small areas. Finally, a minimum bounding rectangle (MBR) is used to supplement the building points and refine the results of building detection. Experimental results on five datasets, including three datasets that were provided by the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) and two Chinese datasets, verify that most buildings and non-buildings can be well separated during our coarse building detection process. In addition, after refined processing, our proposed method can offer a high success rate for building detection, with over 89.5% completeness and a minimum 91% correctness. Hence, various applications can exploit our proposed method.
MuCHLoc: Indoor ZigBee Localization System Utilizing Inter-Channel Characteristics
Authors: Kimoto Ryota , Ishida Shigemi , Yamamoto Takahiro , Tagashira Shigeaki , Fukuda Akira
Published: April 2019

The deployment of a large-scale indoor sensor network faces a sensor localization problem because we need to manually locate significantly large numbers of sensors when Global Positioning System (GPS) is unavailable in an indoor environment. Fingerprinting localization is a popular indoor localization method relying on the received signal strength (RSS) of radio signals, which helps to solve the sensor localization problem. However, fingerprinting suffers from low accuracy because of an RSS instability, particularly in sensor localization, owing to low-power ZigBee modules used on sensor nodes. In this paper, we present MuCHLoc, a fingerprinting sensor localization system that improves the localization accuracy by utilizing channel diversity. The key idea of MuCHLoc is the extraction of channel diversity from the RSS of Wi-Fi access points (APs) measured on multiple ZigBee channels through fingerprinting localization. MuCHLoc overcomes the RSS instability by increasing the dimensions of the fingerprints using channel diversity. We conducted experiments collecting the RSS of Wi-Fi APs in a practical environment while switching the ZigBee channels, and evaluated the localization accuracy. The evaluations revealed that MuCHLoc improves the localization accuracy by approximately 15% compared to localization using a single channel. We also showed that MuCHLoc is effective in a dynamic radio environment where the radio propagation channel is unstable from the movement of objects including humans.
Use of a Single Wireless IMU for the Segmentation and Automatic Analysis of Activities Performed in the 3-m Timed Up & Go Test
Authors: Ortega-Bastidas Paulina , Aqueveque Pablo , Gómez Britam , Saavedra Francisco , Cano-de-la-Cuerda Roberto
Published: April 2019

Falls represent a major public health problem in the elderly population. The Timed Up & Go test (TU & Go) is the most used tool to measure this risk of falling, which offers a unique parameter in seconds that represents the dynamic balance. However, it is not determined in which activity the subject presents greater difficulties. For this, a feature-based segmentation method using a single wireless Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is proposed in order to analyze data of the inertial sensors to provide a complete report on risks of falls. Twenty-five young subjects and 12 older adults were measured to validate the method proposed with an IMU in the back and with video recording. The measurement system showed similar data compared to the conventional test video recorded, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.9884 and a mean error of 0.17 ± 0.13 s for young subjects, as well as a correlation coefficient of 0.9878 and a mean error of 0.2 ± 0.22 s for older adults. Our methodology allows for identifying all the TU & Go sub–tasks with a single IMU automatically providing information about variables such as: duration of sub–tasks, standing and sitting accelerations, rotation velocity of turning, number of steps during walking and turns, and the inclination degrees of the trunk during standing and sitting.
Flexible 3D-Printed EEG Electrodes
Authors: Velcescu Andrei , Lindley Alexander , Cursio Ciro , Krachunov Sammy , Beach Christopher , Brown Christopher A. , Jones Anthony K. P. , Casson Alexander J.
Published: April 2019

For electroencephalography (EEG) in haired regions of the head, finger-based electrodes have been proposed in order to part the hair and make a direct contact with the scalp. Previous work has demonstrated 3D-printed fingered electrodes to allow personalisation and different configurations of electrodes to be used for different people or for different parts of the head. This paper presents flexible 3D-printed EEG electrodes for the first time. A flexible 3D printing element is now used, with three different base mechanical structures giving differently-shaped electrodes. To obtain improved sensing performance, the silver coatings used previously have been replaced with a silver/silver-chloride coating. This results in reduced electrode contact impedance and reduced contact noise. Detailed electro-mechanical testing is presented to demonstrate the performance of the operation of the new electrodes, particularly with regards to changes in conductivity under compression, together with on-person tests to demonstrate the recording of EEG signals.
An EEG-Based Identity Authentication System with Audiovisual Paradigm in IoT
Authors: Huang Haiping , Hu Linkang , Xiao Fu , Du Anming , Ye Ning , He Fan
Published: April 2019

With the continuous increment of security risks and the limitations of traditional modes, it is necessary to design a universal and trustworthy identity authentication system for intelligent Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as an intelligent entrance guard. The characteristics of EEG (electroencephalography) have gained the confidence of researchers due to its uniqueness, stability, and universality. However, the limited usability of the experimental paradigm and the unsatisfactory classification accuracy have so far prevented the identity authentication system based on EEG to become commonplace in IoT scenarios. To address these problems, an audiovisual presentation paradigm is proposed to record the EEG signals of subjects. In the pre-processing stage, the reference electrode, ensemble averaging, and independent component analysis methods are used to remove artifacts. In the feature extraction stage, adaptive feature selection and bagging ensemble learning algorithms establish the optimal classification model. The experimental result shows that our proposal achieves the best classification accuracy when compared with other paradigms and typical EEG-based authentication methods, and the test evaluation on a login scenario is designed to further demonstrate that the proposed system is feasible, effective, and reliable.
Tracking Multiple Targets from Multistatic Doppler Radar with Unknown Probability of Detection
Authors: Do Cong-Thanh , Van Nguyen Hoa
Published: April 2019

The measurements from multistatic radar systems are typically subjected to complicated data association, noise corruption, missed detection, and false alarms. Moreover, most of the current multistatic Doppler radar-based approaches in multitarget tracking are based on the assumption of known detection probability. This assumption can lead to biased or even complete corruption of estimation results. This paper proposes a method for tracking multiple targets from multistatic Doppler radar with unknown detection probability. A closed form labeled multitarget Bayes filter was used to track unknown and time-varying targets with unknown probability of detection in the presence of clutter, misdetection, and association uncertainty. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm was illustrated via numerical simulation examples.
Research on Modeling and Analysis of Generative Conversational System Based on Optimal Joint Structural and Linguistic Model
Authors: Tian Yingzhong , Jia Yafei , Li Long , Huang Zongnan , Wang Wenbin
Published: April 2019

Generative conversational systems consisting of a neural network-based structural model and a linguistic model have always been considered to be an attractive area. However, conversational systems tend to generate single-turn responses with a lack of diversity and informativeness. For this reason, the conversational system method is further developed by modeling and analyzing the joint structural and linguistic model, as presented in the paper. Firstly, we establish a novel dual-encoder structural model based on the new Convolutional Neural Network architecture and strengthened attention with intention. It is able to effectively extract the features of variable-length sequences and then mine their deep semantic information. Secondly, a linguistic model combining the maximum mutual information with the foolish punishment mechanism is proposed. Thirdly, the conversational system for the joint structural and linguistic model is observed and discussed. Then, to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, some different models are tested, evaluated and compared with respect to Response Coherence, Response Diversity, Length of Conversation and Human Evaluation. As these comparative results show, the proposed method is able to effectively improve the response quality of the generative conversational system.
Identifying Factors Associated with Food Losses during Transportation: Potentials for Social Purposes
Authors: Lipińska Milena , Tomaszewska Marzena , Kołożyn-Krajewska Danuta
Published: April 2019

The problem of food waste and food loss covers the entire food chain, and its scale varies depending on the part of the chain. The aim of the study was to identify a problem and indicate places where goods redistribution is possible at the food transportation stage. The article provides a detailed breakdown of the causes of losses at the transportation stage. The research material was a large dairy cooperative in Poland. It was found that it was possible to recover 25.08 tons of dairy products. Taking into account the total weight of the cargo carried by all transport units during the analyzed period, this amount is approximately 0.5% of the full load capacity of all transport units in a two-year period. The research conducted shows that losses during the transportation of finished goods are generated, therefore it is possible to recover part of the food during the loading, transportation and unloading stages. The present practice involves an unconditional disposal of all products, which for various reasons are not delivered to the customer at the appropriate time and in proper commercial quality (accidents, collisions). The disposal of ready, often packed, completely safe products is a highly undesirable phenomenon, especially in the context of the poverty experienced by part of society.
Domestic Socioeconomic Barriers to Hydropower Trading: Evidence from Bhutan and Nepal
Authors: Ogino Kaoru , Nakayama Mikiyasu , Sasaki Daisuke
Published: April 2019

Bhutan has increased exports of surplus hydropower generation, whereas Nepal has been suffering from domestic power shortages. Why has Bhutan successfully promoted hydropower development and exports, while Nepal has failed to do so? This paper focuses on inherent development barriers that stem from domestic power supply, internal governance systems, and indigenous societal sensitivity. There are lessons to be learned from Bhutan’s practices that could be applied in Nepal. First, hydropower development can be severely affected by electricity scarcity that arises when power export is privileged over domestic power supply. Nepal has fallen into this negative loop, whereas Bhutan has overcome it through policy interventions that ensure visible links between power exports and domestic power consumption. Second, the sector reforms in the two countries contrast in terms of institutional, operational, and financial efficiency. Without fundamental reforms, Nepal’s sector-wide inefficiency fuels a vicious circle. Third, local resource conflicts and social complexities have made Nepal’s hydropower projects more complicated than Bhutan’s. In planning hydropower projects, it is crucial to pay careful attention to domestic stakeholders and local benefits. Planners and governments must ensure that projects are designed with extensive benefit sharing mechanisms, sustainable value chains, effective sector reforms, and sufficient societal conflict management.
Neighborhood Environment, Lifestyle, and Health of Older Adults: Comparison of Age Groups Based on Ecological Model of Aging
Authors: Zheng Zhenhua , Yang Liu (Lydia)
Published: April 2019

Worldwide population aging is currently in acceleration, which is especially true for China. Echoing the advocacy of “active aging” and “age-friendly communities”, governments and researchers across the world are paying more attention to the impact of neighborhoods on the health of older adults. Using the Ecological Model of Aging, this study aimed to discuss the relationships between neighborhood environment, lifestyle, and health of older adults, and to compare the differences among older adults of different age groups. The results showed that landscape environment has a direct effect on the health of older adults, while leisure environment has an indirect effect through lifestyle. Both leisure environment and landscape environment directly encourage older adults to take part in outdoor activity, in which the former mainly promotes the social participation of the high-aged (aged 80+) group, while the latter merely promotes that of the middle-aged (aged 70–79) group. The positive effect of social participation on health is gradually strengthened with the increase of age. Meanwhile, outdoor activity has its greatest effect on the middle-aged (aged 70–79) group, but not the low-aged (aged 60–69) group. To effectively boost the health of older adults and promote active aging, adequate considerations should also be given to the differentiated demands of older adults of different age groups, optimization of neighborhood environment, as well as cultivation of an amicable atmosphere.
Parameter Setting for a Genetic Algorithm Layout Planner as a Toll of Sustainable Manufacturing
Authors: Krajčovič Martin , Hančinský Viktor , Dulina Ľuboslav , Grznár Patrik , Gašo Martin , Vaculík Juraj
Published: April 2019

The long-term sustainability of the enterprise requires constant attention to the continuous improvement of business processes and systems so that the enterprise is still competitive in a dynamic and turbulent market environment. Improvement of processes must lead to the ability of the enterprise to increase production performance, the quality of provided services on a constantly increasing level of productivity and decreasing level of cost. One of the most important potentials for sustainability competitiveness of an enterprise is the continuous restructuring of production and logistics systems to continuously optimize material flows in the enterprise in terms of the changing requirements of customers and the behavior of enterprise system surroundings. Increasing pressure has been applied to projecting manufacturing and logistics systems due to labor intensity, time consumption, and costs for the whole technological projecting process. Moreover, it is also due to quality growth, complexity, and information ability of outputs generated from this process. One option is the use of evolution algorithms for space solution optimization for manufacturing and logistics systems. This method has higher quality results compared to classical heuristic methods. The advantage is the ability to leave specific local extremes. Classical heuristics are unable to do so. Genetic algorithms belong to this group. This article presents a unique genetic algorithm layout planner (GALP) that uses a genetic algorithm to optimize the spatial arrangement. In the first part of this article, there is a description of a framework of the current state of layout planning and genetic algorithms used in manufacturing and logistics system design, methods for layout design, and basic characteristics of genetic algorithms. The second part of the article introduces its own GALP algorithm. It is a structure which is integrated into the design process of manufacturing systems. The core of the article are parameters setting and experimental verification of the proposed algorithm. The final part of the article is a discussion about the results of the GALP application.
Combined Effects of Isokinetic Training and Botulinum Toxin Type A on Spastic Equinus Foot in Patients with Chronic Stroke: A Pilot, Single-blind, Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Cinone Nicoletta , Letizia Sara , Santoro Luigi , Facciorusso Salvatore , Armiento Raffaella , Picelli Alessandro , Ranieri Maurizio , Santamato Andrea
Published: April 2019

Botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) has been shown effective for poststroke lower limb spasticity. Following injections, a wide range of multidisciplinary approach has been previously provided. The purpose of this pilot, single-blind, randomized controlled trial was to determine whether BoNT-A combined with a regime of a four-week ankle isokinetic treatment has a positive effect on function and spasticity, compared with BoNT-A alone. Secondly, the validity of the use of an isokinetic dynamometer to measure the stretch reflex at the ankle joint and residual strength has been investigated. Twenty-five chronic stroke patients were randomized to receive combined treatment (n = 12; experimental group) or BoNT-A alone (n = 13; control group). Outcome measures were based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. An isokinetic dynamometer was also used for stretch reflex and strength assessment. Patients were evaluated at baseline (t0), after five (t1) and eight weeks after the injection (t2). The experimental group reported significantly greater improvements on lower limb spasticity, especially after eight weeks from baseline. Gait speed (10-m walk test) and walking capacity (6-min walking test) revealed statistically significantly better improvement in the experimental than in control group. Peak resistive ankle torque during growing angular velocities showed a significant reduction at the higher velocities after BoNT-A injections in the experimental group. Peak dorsiflexor torque was significantly increased in the experimental group and peak plantarflexor torque was significantly decreased in control group. Alternative rehabilitation strategies that combine BoNT-A and an intense ankle isokinetic treatment are effective in reducing tone and improving residual strength and motor function in patients with chronic hemiparesis.
Pre-Clinical Pregnancy Models for Evaluating Zika Vaccines
Authors: Kim In-Jeong , Blackman Marcia A. , Lin Jr-Shiuan
Published: April 2019

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy can result in a variety of developmental abnormalities in the fetus, referred to as Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS). The effects of CZS can range from the loss of the viable fetus to a variety of neurological defects in full-term infants, including microcephaly. The clinical importance of ZIKV-induced CZS has driven an intense effort to develop effective vaccines. Consequently, there are approximately 45 different ZIKV vaccine candidates at various stages of development with several undergoing phase I and II clinical trials. These vaccine candidates have been shown to effectively prevent infection in adult animal models, however, there has been less extensive testing for their ability to block vertical transmission to the fetus during pregnancy or prevent the development of CZS. In addition, it is becoming increasingly difficult to test vaccines in the field as the intensity of the ZIKV epidemic has declined precipitously, making clinical endpoint studies difficult. These ethical and practical challenges in determining efficacy of ZIKV vaccine candidates in preventing CZS have led to increased emphasis on pre-clinical testing in animal pregnancy models. Here we review the current status of pre-clinical pregnancy models for testing the ability of ZIKV vaccines to prevent CZS.
Self-Similar Solution of Hot Accretion Flow with Anisotropic Pressure
Authors: Bu De-Fu , Xu Pei-Yao , Zhu Bo-Cheng
Published: April 2019

For the accretion flow in extremely low-luminosity active galactic nuclei, such as our Galactic center (Sgr A*) and M 87, the collisional mean-free path of ions may be much larger than its gyroradius. In this case, the pressure parallel to the magnetic field is different from that perpendicular to the field; therefore, the pressure is anisotropic. We study the effects of anisotropic pressure on the dynamics of accretion flow by assuming the flow is radially self-similar. We find that in the case where the outflow is present, the radial and rotational velocities, the sound speed, and the Bernoulli parameter of the accretion flow are all increased when the anisotropic pressure is taken into account. This result suggests that it becomes easier for the accretion flow to generate outflow in the presence of anisotropic pressure.
An Ensemble Decomposition-Based Artificial Intelligence Approach for Daily Streamflow Prediction
Authors: Rezaie-Balf Mohammad , Fani Nowbandegani Sajad , Samadi S. Zahra , Fallah Hossein , Alaghmand Sina
Published: April 2019

Accurate prediction of daily streamflow plays an essential role in various applications of water resources engineering, such as flood mitigation and urban and agricultural planning. This study investigated a hybrid ensemble decomposition technique based on ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) and variational mode decomposition (VMD) with gene expression programming (GEP) and random forest regression (RFR) algorithms for daily streamflow simulation across three mountainous stations, Siira, Bilghan, and Gachsar, in Karaj, Iran. To determine the appropriate corresponding input variables with optimal lag time the partial auto-correlation function (PACF) and auto-correlation function (ACF) were used for streamflow prediction purpose. Calibration and validation datasets were separately decomposed by EEMD that eventually improved standalone predictive models. Further, the component of highest pass (IMF1) was decomposed by the VMD approach to breakdown the distinctive characteristic of the variables. Results suggested that the EEMD-VMD algorithm significantly enhanced model calibration. Moreover, the EEMD-VMD-RFR algorithm as a hybrid ensemble model outperformed better than other techniques (EEMD-VMD-GEP, RFR and GEP) for daily streamflow prediction of the selected gauging stations. Overall, the proposed methodology indicated the superiority of hybrid ensemble models compare to standalone in predicting streamflow time series particularly in case of high fluctuations and different patterns in datasets.
Effects of Sediment Released from a Check Dam on Sediment Deposits and Fish and Macroinvertebrate Communities in a Small Stream
Authors: Itsukushima Rei , Ohtsuki Kazuaki , Sato Tatsuro , Kano Yuichi , Takata Hiroshi , Yoshikawa Hiroaki
Published: April 2019

Dam removal is typically intended for river restoration or as a countermeasure for aging dams. The influence of dam removal has mainly been studied in large rivers. This study is intended to investigate the influence of the sediment supplied after opening a check dam drain in a small steep stream to contribute to the establishment of sediment release technology form check dam by accumulating the basic knowledge about the influence of sediment release. Deposited sediment in the impoundment was rapidly discharged immediately after opening the drain outlet, and a moderate sediment discharge followed. The water course of the sediments deposited by repeated channel widening and riverbed degradation tended to stop longitudinal topographic changes from downstream. In addition, the turbidity during a flood was high in the first year and tended to decrease in the second year. As for the ecosystem response, changes in the benthic macroinvertebrate community were confirmed in downstream sites, and net-spinning species especially deceased immediately after the sediment supply began. Our monitoring results suggest that the increasing turbidity was suppressed during the flood because sediment release was conducted from the small-scale facility. As a result, a negative impact on the aquatic ecosystem seemed to be reduced.
Recommendations for Improving Integration in National End-to-End Flood Forecasting Systems: An Overview of the FFIR (Flooding From Intense Rainfall) Programme
Authors: Flack David L. A. , Skinner Christopher J. , Hawkness-Smith Lee , O’Donnell Greg , Thompson Robert J. , Waller Joanne A. , Chen Albert S. , Moloney Jessica , Largeron Chloé , Xia Xilin , Blenkinsop Stephen , Champion Adrian J. , Perks Matthew T. , Quinn Niall , Speight Linda J.
Published: April 2019

Recent surface-water and flash floods have caused millions of pounds worth of damage in the UK. These events form rapidly and are difficult to predict due to their short-lived and localised nature. The interdisciplinary Flooding From Intense Rainfall (FFIR) programme investigated the feasibility of enhancing the integration of an end-to-end forecasting system for flash and surface-water floods to help increase the lead time for warnings for these events. Here we propose developments to the integration of an operational end-to-end forecasting system based on the findings of the FFIR programme. The suggested developments include methods to improve radar-derived rainfall rates and understanding of the uncertainty in the position of intense rainfall in weather forecasts; the addition of hydraulic modelling components; and novel education techniques to help lead to effective dissemination of flood warnings. We make recommendations for future advances such as research into the propagation of uncertainty throughout the forecast chain. We further propose the creation of closer bonds to the end users to allow for an improved, integrated, end-to-end forecasting system that is easily accessible for users and end users alike, and will ultimately help mitigate the impacts of flooding from intense rainfall by informed and timely action.
Assessment of Aquatic Ecosystem Health of the Wutong River Based on Benthic Diatoms
Authors: Xue Hao , Zheng Binghui , Meng Fansheng , Wang Yeyao , Zhang Lingsong , Cheng Peixuan
Published: April 2019

The community structure of benthic diatoms and water environmental characteristics were extensively investigated to assess the aquatic ecosystem health of the Wutong River (Heilongjiang Province, China). Several diatom indices were calculated, and a benthic diatom index based on biotic integrity (BD-IBI) was developed. Principal component analysis (PCA), Spearman correlation analysis (CA), cluster analysis, redundancy analysis (RDA), and the box plot analysis were used to analyze the benthic diatom communities, assess the river ecosystem health, and compare the applicability of different indexes. The results indicated that Gomphonema parvulum and other tolerant species were the dominant species. Meanwhile, most sites were in “poor” or “very poor” condition according to the diatom indexes evaluation, indicating that the river has been disturbed by human activities. The sampling sites of the Wutong River were divided into three groups based on different pollution levels. The derived BD-IBI included four individual metrics of different aspects, showed strong distinguishability for three grouping and robust correlation with environmental variables. Of all the indexes selected, IBI performed the best, followed by the species-level diatom indexes and the genus-level diatom indexes.
Patterns of creating suspense in Stephen King's "The Shining"
Authors: Anastasova Maria
Published: April 2019

The article focuses on the ways of creating suspense in Stephen King’s novel The Shining. Its main purpose is to explore the basic suspense motifs in the book and establish some general patterns of their development and distribution throughout the novel. After providing a theoretical definition of what suspense is, the paper sets to explore the ways it is achieved in the novel. A toolkit is adopted from narrative theory, in order to analyze the ways of building suspense in terms of narration. The study shows that the suspenseful motifs in The Shining can be divided into three groups according to their operation in the text: gradually developed suspense motifs, climactic suspense motifs, and mini episodes of suspense.
Tradisi Jamu Laut menjadi Sistem pada Masyarakat Desa Jaring Halus
Authors: Hutapea Daniel Fernando , Amal Bahrul Khair
Published: April 2019

This study aims to find out the Jamu Laut Tradition carried out by the Jaring Halus Village community, and to know the values in the tradition. The problem is how the tradition of sea jamu is carried out by the local community and the values in the tradition become a system of belief. For this reason, the AGIL Talcot Parson theory is used and the method used is a qualitative method, a survey conducted by conducting interviews with informants. This research was conducted in the village of Jaring Halus, Secanggang District. The results of this study are that the tradition is still carried out according to the instructions of the sea handler who can wangsit through the dream. Only the execution time has changed, which once was once a year to once every three years. Even so, the values that exist in the tradition of herbal medicine are well preserved like family values. This tradition has remained until now despite the progress of the times. Likewise human relations with nature are maintained so that there is symbolic mutualism between humans and nature.
Menguji Kepemimpinan Kepala Desa dalam Pembangunan Infrastruktur Desa Rianiate Kecamatan Pangururan Kabupaten Samosir
Authors: Oktavia Monita , Prayetno Prayetno
Published: April 2019

This article aims to present the condition of infrastructure development in Rianiate village under the leadership of the village head in developing village infrastructure. One indicator of the success of infrastructure development in a village depends on the role of the village head in fostering and involving community participation. The village head must be able to carry out his function as a motivator, facilitator, apply the principles of transparency, discipline, fairness and responsibility in carrying out village development tasks. Development in Desa Rianiate is already quite good, although there are still some shortcomings. The leadership of the village head in general is good even though it is still not optimal. The leadership was inherent in the village head of Rianiate. On the other hand, findings in the field are still found by some people who are reluctant to get involved with the tendency to prioritize personal matters.
Peran Guru Pendidikan Kewarganegaraan dalam Mencegah Kenakalan Remaja di Sekolah
Authors: Wulandari Dasu Oka , Hodriani Hodriani
Published: April 2019

This study aims to determine how the role of Civics teachers in preventing juvenile delinquency, as well as barriers experienced by teachers. The research method used by the author is quantitative descriptive. The population in this paper is all SMK students of 164 BAOs from class X, XI, XII. So the sample in this study is 25% of the total population so the authors obtained a sample of 41 students taken randomly and samples taken according to the criteria. Data collection techniques in this study were observations, interviews and questionnaires. The collected data is analyzed through simple calculation techniques using frequency tables. Data analysis is done by quantitative method using frequency table formula.