bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Galectin-3, a novel endogenous TREM2 ligand, detrimentally regulates inflammatory response in Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Boza-Serrano Antonio , Ruiz Rocío , Sanchez-Varo Raquel , García-Revilla Juan , Yang Yiyi , Jimenez-Ferrer Itzia , Paulus Agnes , Wennström Malin , Vilalta Anna , Allendorf David , Davila Jose Carlos , Stegmayr John , Jiménez Sebastian , Roca-Ceballos Maria A. , Navarro-Garrido Victoria , Swanberg Maria , Hsieh Christine L. , Real Luis M. , Englund Elisabet , Linse Sara , Leffler Hakon , Nilsson Ulf J. , Brown Guy C. , Gutierrez Antonia , Vitorica Javier , Venero Jose Luis , Deierborg Tomas
Published: April 2019

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease in which the formation of extracellular aggregates of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide, fibrillary tangles of intraneuronal tau and microglial activation are major pathological hallmarks. One of the key molecules involved in microglial activation is galectin-3 (gal3), and we demonstrate here for the first time a key role of gal3 in AD pathology. Gal3 was highly upregulated in the brains of AD patients and 5xFAD (familial Alzheimer’s disease) mice and found specifically expressed in microglia associated with Aβ plaques. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the LGALS3 gene, which encodes gal3, were associated with an increased risk of AD. Gal3 deletion in 5xFAD mice attenuated microglia-associated immune responses, particularly those associated with TLR and TREM2/DAP12 signaling. In vitro data revealed that gal3 was required to fully activate microglia in response to fibrillar Aβ. Gal3 deletion decreased the Aβ burden in 5xFAD mice and improved cognitive behavior. Interestingly, a single intrahippocampal injection of gal3 along with Aβ monomers in WT mice was sufficient to induce the formation of long-lasting (2 months) insoluble Aβ aggregates, which were absent when gal3 was lacking. High-resolution microscopy (stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy) demonstrated close colocalization of gal3 and TREM2 in microglial processes, and a direct interaction was shown by a fluorescence anisotropy assay involving the gal3 carbohydrate recognition domain. Furthermore, gal3 was shown to stimulate TREM2–DAP12 signaling in a reporter cell line. Overall, our data support the view that gal3 inhibition may be a potential pharmacological approach to counteract AD.
The Identity Theory of Powers Revised
Authors: Giannotti Joaquim
Published: April 2019

Dispositionality and qualitativity are key notions to describe the world that we inhabit. Dispositionality is a matter of what a thing is disposed to do in certain circumstances. Qualitativity is a matter of how a thing is like. According to the Identity Theory of powers, every fundamental property is at once dispositional and qualitative, or a powerful quality. Canonically, the Identity Theory holds a contentious identity claim between a property’s dispositionality and its qualitativity. In the literature, this view faces a contradiction objection that undermines its merits. We should therefore consider an alternative version that does not embrace the identity claim. My aim is to show that we can enjoy the benefits of the Identity Theory without embracing the identity between the dispositional and the qualitative. I shall argue that a distinction between two senses of dispositionality and qualitativity serves the purpose. I will then discuss three readings of the identity claim that can be formulated in light of such a distinction. I will conclude that even if the identity were to fail in any of the suggested readings, it would be possible to hold an account of fundamental powerful qualities.
Existence of self-similar solutions of the two-dimensional Navier–Stokes equation for non-Newtonian fluids
Authors: Wei Dongming , Al-Ashhab Samer
Published: April 2019

The reduced problem of the Navier–Stokes and the continuity equations, in two-dimensional Cartesian coordinates with Eulerian description, for incompressible non-Newtonian fluids, is considered. The Ladyzhenskaya model, with a non-linear velocity dependent stress tensor is adopted, and leads to the governing equation of interest. The reduction is based on a self-similar transformation as demonstrated in existing literature, for two spatial variables and one time variable, resulting in an ODE defined on a semi-infinite domain. In our search for classical solutions, existence and uniqueness will be determined depending on the signs of two parameters with physical interpretation in the equation. Illustrations are included to highlight some of the main results.
Fetal exposure to high levels of maternal glucocorticoids alters reelin signaling in the prefrontal cortex of rat pups
Authors: Kolaka Ratirat , Chotwiwatthanakun Charoonroj , Chutabhakdikul Nuanchan
Published: April 2019

Maternal stress (MS) is associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment in the offspring. However, it is unclear how early life stress alters the pup's brain development and how it contributes to the pathology of neuropsychiatric disorders later in life. Reelin is a large extracellular matrix glycoprotein that plays essential roles in early brain development such as neural migration, synaptic development, and maturation. Dysregulation of reelin and its signaling proteins is associated with the emergence of neuropsychiatric disorders in adulthood. This study examined the effect of repeated maternal Carbenoxolone (CBX) injection during late gestation on reelin signaling in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of rat pups. CBX is a selective 11β‐HSD2 enzyme inhibitor that promotes the direct transfer of maternal corticosteroids (CORT) to the fetus. Therefore, treatment with CBX can mimic the animal model of early life exposure to high levels of maternal stress hormone. In this study, pregnant rats were injected daily with either saline or CBX during gestation day (GD) 14–21, and the levels of reelin and its signaling proteins were examined in the PFC of rat pups at different postnatal age from P0‐P21. The main result of this study is the repeated maternal CBX injections during GD14‐21 acutely increase reln mRNA and protein expression in the PFC of rat pups at birth (P0) and follow by a significant decrease during P7‐P14. The treatment also causes long term decreases in the amount of VLDLR and Dab1 which are the downstream signaling proteins for the reelin pathway, at least until P21. Our results indicated that fetal exposure to high levels of maternal CORT interferes with reelin signaling which might have profound effects on cortical development associated with neuropsychiatric disorders later in life.
THE IPUMS COLLABORATION: INTEGRATING AND DISSEMINATING THE WORLD’S POPULATION MICRODATA
Authors: Ruggles Steven , McCaa Robert , Sobek Matthew , Cleveland Lara
Published: April 2019

The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)-International partnership is a project of the Minnesota Population Center and national statistical agencies, dedicated to collecting and distributing census data from around the world. IPUMS is currently disseminating data on over a half-billion persons enumerated in more than 250 census samples from 79 countries. The data series includes information on a broad range of population characteristics, including fertility, nuptiality, life-course transitions, migration, labor-force participation, occupational structure, education, ethnicity, and household composition. This paper describes sample characteristics and data structure; the data integration process including the creation of constructed family interrelationship variables; the flexible dissemination system that enables researchers to build customized extracts of pooled census samples across time and place; and some of the most significant findings that have emerged from the database.
Credit without banks: the Amsterdam water bailiff's ledger of 1856
Authors: Verwaaij Daan , van Bochove Christiaan
Published: April 2019

Before banks rose to dominate credit markets, ordinary people raised credit themselves or through alternative intermediaries. However, obtaining a comprehensive overview of the size and functioning of the non-bank segments within the credit market has been a great challenge for historians. Notarial deeds are widely available, but typically shed light on the borrowing of relatively well-to-do members of society. Probate inventories and insolvency records do provide insight into the modest loans of ordinary people, but only haphazardly and not for the overall stock of loans. This article exploits an exogenous shock, the Discipline Act introduced in the Netherlands in 1856, which forced lenders to record all unredeemed loans they had provided to a particular group of borrowers: seafarers. Thec.14,000 loans that were recorded, in combination with several additional sources, provide a unique insight into the overall size, composition and functioning of a particular segment of the non-bank credit market.
Marketing by Design
Authors: Nichols John P.
Published: April 2019

The Southern Agricultural Economics Association has made great contributions to our profession. In doing so, it has provided a platform for its members to conduct research, teaching, and Extension education that contributed significantly to the economic growth and success of Southern agriculture and rural communities. I am humbled by the honor received through this Lifetime Achievement Award and want to thank the association and the many colleagues across the profession and in my department at Texas A&M University for their partnership and support over the years. I also want to thankmy wife and family for the contributions they have made to my professional career. Their interest and understanding helped me see through some of the difficult choices and times; and they were there for the celebrations as well. In this article, I have chosen a theme that, to me, has defined much of my professional career. We all have stories or life narratives. This is one of mine.

How can farmers engage in, or influence, downstream marketing activities in a way that increases returns for what would otherwise be a simple sale of a commodity at the market price? The idea of design in the context of marketing decisions of farmers evolved in my mind as the result of early experience on the farm and exposure in college to ideas that have influenced my career ever since.
Between government unilateralism and corporatist bargaining: public sector pension reforms in the UK and Ireland, 2000s–2010s
Authors: Park Sung Ho
Published: April 2019

Studies on welfare reform in advanced European countries have identified two established paths to welfare retrenchment: government unilateralism and corporatist bargaining. This study explores a more complicated path to welfare reform, wherein governments pursue ‘non-corporatist’ bargaining by actively combining features of unilateralism and negotiation. Such a hybrid case is explained by employing an ‘insider-outsider’ framework for public policy reform. The key argument is that the presence of exclusive insiders complicates the reform process, disqualifying both unilateralism and corporatist bargaining as feasible options for benefit cuts. The author demonstrates the validity of this claim by examining three cases of public sector pension retrenchment in the UK and Ireland during the 2000s and 2010s. Defying the common expectation that benefit cuts in residual welfare states would be promoted with government unilateralism, the public sector pension reforms in the UK and Ireland exhibited more complicated features which combined governments' unilateral initiatives andad hocnegotiations with public sector unions. Future studies may build on this finding to examine hybrid reform cases in a general European context.
Electron impact excitation of Astrophysically Important C III Ion
Authors: Aggarwal Kanti M. , Keenan Francis P.
Published: April 2019

Recently, Fernández-Menchero et al. (2014) reported effective collision strengths ϒ for transitions among 238 fine-structure levels, belonging to the n ≤ 7 configurations of C III. They adopted the (semi-relativistic) R-matrix code (ICFT), resolved resonances in a fine energy mesh, averaged Ω over a Maxwellian distribution, and reported results over a wide range of electron temperature up to 1.8×107 K.
Improved wavelengths of Fe V and Ni V for analysis of spectra of white dwarf stars
Authors: Ward J. , Nave G.
Published: April 2019

We summarize measurements of improved wavelengths of Fe V and Ni V in the vacuum ultraviolet.
Wavelengths, energy levels and hyperfine structure of Mn II and Sc II
Authors: Nave G. , Pickering J. C. , Townley-Smith K. I. , Hala
Published: April 2019

We summarize our analysis of singly-ionized elements of astrophysical interest.
Report on the recent advances performed in the determination of radiative parameters for spectral lines of astrophysical interest in heavy elements
Authors: Quinet Pascal
Published: April 2019

We present an overview of the advances made during the past 15 years by the Atomic Physics and Astrophysics Group of Mons University regarding the analysis of the spectra, the transition probabilities, and the radiative lifetimes in heavy elements. More precisely, this review is focused on neutral and lowly ionized atoms belonging to the lanthanide group, the fifth row, and the sixth row of the periodic table (Z = 37–86), for which a very large amount of new data has been obtained.
The Interstellar Abundance of Lead: Experimental Oscillator Strengths for Pb ii λ1203 and λ1433 and New Detections of Pb ii in the Interstellar Medium
Authors: Ritchey A. M. , Heidarian N. , Irving R. E. , Federman S. R. , Ellis D. G. , Cheng S. , Curtis L. J. , Furman W. A.
Published: April 2019

We present the first experimentally determined oscillator strengths for the Pb ii transitions at 1203.6 Å and 1433.9 Å, obtained from lifetime measurements made using beam-foil techniques. We also present new detections of these lines in the interstellar medium from an analysis of archival spectra acquired by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Our observations of the Pb ii λ1203 line represent the first detection of this transition in interstellar gas. Our experimental f-values for the Pb ii λ1203 and λ1433 transitions are consistent with recent theoretical results, including our own relativistic calculations, but are significantly smaller than previous values based on older calculations. Our new f-value for Pb ii λ1433 (0.321 ± 0.034) yields an increase in the interstellar abundance of Pb of 0.43 dex over estimates based on the f-value listed by Morton. With our revised f-values, and with our new detections of Pb ii λ1203 and λ1433, we find that the depletion of Pb onto interstellar grains is not nearly as severe as previously thought, and is very similar to the depletions seen for elements such as Zn and Sn, which have similar condensation temperatures.
High-resolution oscillator strength measurements of the v' = 0,1 bands of the B −X, C −X, and E −X systems in five isotopologues of carbon monoxide
Authors: Stark Glenn , Heays A. N. , Lyons J. R. , Eidelsberg M. , Federman S. R. , Lemaire J. L. , de Oliveira N. , Nahon L.
Published: April 2019

The photochemistry of CO and its isotoplogues affects the structure and evolution of many astronomical environments, including interstellar clouds, circumstellar disks around newly formed stars, and the envelopes surrounding highly evolved stars. When in the presence of a strong ultraviolet field, the primary destruction mechanism for interstellar and circumstellar CO is photodissociation, which is entirely governed by discrete line absorption into predissociating levels in the wavelength range 91.2 to 111.8 nm. Because the CO spectrum consists primarily of resolved line features, self-shielding effects in high-column density environments can lead to strong isotopic fractionation signatures in both CO and elemental oxygen and carbon; for example, CO self-shielding in the solar nebula has been invoked to explain the unusual oxygen isotope ratios observed in the earliest solar system condensates, viz. calcium-aluminum inclusions (CAIs) in primitive meteorites.
Identifying New Molecules from Comparison of Herschel-HIFI Spectra with ab initio Computational Spectra
Authors: Rangwala Naseem , Huang Xinchuan , Colgan Sean , Lee Timothy , Fortenberry Ryan
Published: April 2019

We will identify new molecules in the interstellar medium by comparing a catalog of theoretical spectra generated by the NASA Ames quantum chemistry group with recent high-resolution astronomical line surveys.
Coronene and Pyrene (5,7)-member Ring Defects
Authors: Öttl Silvia , Huber Stefan E. , Kimeswenger Stefan
Published: April 2019

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are one of the most interesting components of the interstellar medium (ISM). But different from laboratory - the isolation of a single species is not possible. The spectra contain a superposition of many different molecules. Therefore a sophisticated understanding of all possible subtypes is required. We present an investigation of the IR spectra of PAHs containing (5, 7)-member ring defects. Using density functional theory, the influence of those defects on the IR spectra of coronene (C24H12) and pyrene (C16H10) and their cations and anions were examined in detail. Additionally, the potential energy surface of the neutral species is explored and an alternative formation pathway is taken into account.
Laboratory Astrophysics with COSmIC: Interstellar and Planetary Applications
Authors: Salama Farid , Contreras Cesar S. , Sciamma-O'Brien Ella , Bejaoui Salma
Published: April 2019

We discuss the capabilities of the laboratory facility, COSmIC, that was developed to generate, process and analyze interstellar, circumstellar and planetary analogs in the laboratory
Interstellar Methanol from the Lab to Protoplanetary Disks
Authors: Drozdovskaya Maria N. , Walsh Catherine , Visser Ruud , Harsono Daniel , van Dishoeck Ewine F.
Published: April 2019

Interstellar methanol is thought to be the precursor of larger, more complex organic molecules. It holds a central role in many astrochemical models (e.g., Garrod & Herbst 2006). Methanol has also been the focus of several laboratory studies (e.g., Watanabe et al. 2004, Fuchs et al. 2009), in an effort to gain insight into grain-surface chemistry, which potentially builds chemical complexity already in the cold, dark prestellar phase. The case of methanol is a prime example of experimental work having implications on astronomical scales. Drozdovskaya et al. (2014) unified physical and chemical models to simulate infalling material during the birth of a low-mass protostar. An axisymmetric 2D semi-analytic collapse model (Visser et al. 2009), wavelength-dependent radiative transfer calculations with RADMC3D (Dullemond & Dominik 2004) and a comprehensive gas-grain chemical network (Walsh et al. 2014) were used to study two modes of protoplanetary disk formation.
Are interstellar ices porous, and how do the pores collapse?
Authors: Hill C. R. , Mitterdorfer C. , Youngs T. G. A. , Bowron D. T. , Pascual N. , Auriacombe O. , Loerting T. , Fraser H. J. , Höfner Susanne
Published: April 2019

Amorphous solid water (ASW) is of great importance in astrochemistry as it has been detected in star forming regions, comets, and cold solar-system objects. A key property of ASW is its porous nature (with the extent of porosity reflecting the formation and growth conditions) and the subsequent pore collapse when the ice is heated. If interstellar ices are porous there are huge implications to both the process of planet formation and the budgets of molecular gas in the solid and gas phases. It is therefore vital to understand ASW porosity over astronomically relevant conditions in order to effectively model its potential effects on these processes.
Molecules, Dust and Ices in Brown Dwarf Atmospheres
Authors: Leggett S. K. , Tremblin P. , Saumon D. , Marley M. S. , Morley C. V. , Amundsen D. S. , Baraffe I. , Chabrier G.
Published: April 2019

Jupiter-sized brown dwarfs are found in the solar neighborhood with effective temperature Teff as low as 250 K [1]. Iron, silicates, chlorides and sulfides condense in the atmospheres of the Teff ≈ 2000 K L-type and Teff ≈ 1000 K T-type dwarfs [2]. At the T-/Y-type boundary, Teff ≈ 500 K and atmospheres are clear [3]. The next species to condense are H2O at Teff ≈ 350 K and NH3 at Teff ≈ 200 K [4].
The survival of PAHs and (hydro)carbon nanoparticles in H II regions
Authors: Micelotta Elisabetta R. , Bocchio Marco , Rémy-Ruyer Aurélie , Köhler Melanie , Ysard Nathalie , Jones Anthony P.
Published: April 2019

Observations show that emission from the Unidentified Infrared (UIR) bands is strongly suppressed in H II regions. UIR bands are generally attributed to vibrational relaxation of FUV - excited Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules or hydrocarbon nanoparticles containing aromatic domains. If the strongly reduced UIR emission in H II regions is due to the suppression of the carriers, an efficient destruction mechanism is required to explain observations. The aim of this work is to clarify whether UV processing of PAHs and nanoparticles is indeed responsible for the observed lack of infrared emission. We present here our first results on the physical response to photo-processing of the proposed UIR-bands carriers.
Laboratory measurements to interpret dust polarimetric observations and in-situ radar studies. Implications for the Rosetta mission.
Authors: Levasseur-Regourd A.-Ch. , Brouet Yann , Hadamcik Edith
Published: April 2019

Polarimetric astronomical observations on dust clouds and regolithic surfaces require laboratory simulations on samples to provide clues to properties of the scattering media. Similarly, in-situ radar investigations of Solar System bodies require laboratory studies to infer the physical properties of their interiors. Recent developments are illustrated by analyses of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimeko (C-G) remote observations and in-situ studies from Rosetta mission.
Amorphous Silica and Carbon-rich nanotemplated surfaces as model interstellar dust surfaces for laboratory astrochemistry
Authors: Pascual Natalia , Dawes A. , Gonz'alez-Posada F. , Chakarov D. , Thompson N. , Mason N. J. , Fraser H. J.
Published: April 2019

Traditional laboratory studies on dust-ice systems have proved how the nature of the dust surface significantly affects ice structure and reactivity. Although the surface composition effects have been widely studied recently, no attention has been paid to the dust sizes. We show how dust the grains size and topography, as well as their composition, affects their interaction with light and the morphology of water ice mantles on top of them.
Characterization of laser-driven Radiative shock of Astrophysical interests
Authors: Chaulagain U. , Stehlé C. , Larour J. , Kozlová M. , Suzuki-Vidal F. , Nejdl J. , Singh R. L.
Published: April 2019

We highlight the recent experimental results on laser-driven radiative shock waves of astrophysical interests using kJ PALS laser facility. The generated shock is probed instantaneously by X-ray laser (λ = 21.2 nm) showing an unambiguous shock structure that includes both the post-shock and the precursor.
Laboratory Astrophysics Data Needed for James Webb Space Telescope Science Investigations
Authors: Sonneborn George
Published: April 2019

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is an infrared-optimized astrophysics observatory to be launched in 2018. JWST is designed to find and study the first galaxies that formed in the early universe, to peer through dusty clouds to see star and planet formation at high spatial resolution, to obtain spectra for characterizing exoplanet atmospheres, and of rocky and icy bodies throughout the Solar System. Laboratory Astrophysics needs are related to molecular/solid data for exoplanet atmospheres and rocky/icy surfaces in the Solar System.
Numerical Models Overestimate Near-Inertial Wind Power Input
Authors: Cook Terri
Published: April 2019

The first study to estimate the global wind power on internal gravity waves based solely on observations offers a new benchmark for comparing future calculations.
Meeting User Requirements for Sea Level Rise Information
Authors: Cook Terri
Published: April 2019

A new framework based on decision analysis can help scientists produce practical data that support informed decisions about climate adaptations.
Scientists Announce TiPES Project
Authors: Blaustein Richard
Published: April 2019

The European Tipping Points in the Earth System project is a multidisciplinary effort to clarify and explain the dynamics and thresholds of climate change tipping points.
Rising Methane Emissions Could Derail the Paris Agreement
Authors: Underwood Emily
Published: April 2019

A new study looks for the source of a spike in the potent greenhouse gas methane.
More Than a Million New Earthquakes Spotted in Archival Data
Authors: Kornei Katherine
Published: April 2019

By reanalyzing seismic records, researchers found a plethora of tiny earthquakes in Southern California that trace new fault structures and reveal how earthquakes are triggered.
Simultaneous measurement of blood pressure and RBC aggregation by monitoring on–off blood flows supplied from a disposable air-compressed pump
Authors: Kang Yang Jun
Published: April 2019

A simple method for simultaneously measuring RBC aggregation and blood pressure is demonstrated by analyzing blood flows supplied from a disposable air-compressed pump.
A novel homolateral and dicationic AIEgen for the sensitive detection of casein
Authors: Li Zenghe , Wang Lianying , Guan Weijiang , Ding Caifeng , Yuan Zhiqin , Lu Chao
Published: April 2019

Sensitive casein detection using a homolateral and dicationic AIEgen is presented.
Site-selective C(sp3)–H amination of thioamide with anthranils under Cp*CoIIIcatalysis
Authors: Liu Rui-Hua , Shan Qi-Chao , Hu Xu-Hong , Loh Teck-Peng
Published: April 2019

Synthetically versatile anthranils as a bifunctional amino source have been employed for the first time to enable direct amination on unactivated C(sp3)–H bonds of thioamides under Cp*CoIIIcatalysis.
Photochemical C–H bond coupling for (hetero)aryl C(sp2)–C(sp3) bond construction
Authors: Zhao Yating , Xia Wujiong
Published: April 2019

This review highlights the recent advances in photochemical (hetero)aryl C(sp2)–C(sp3) bond construction via C–H bond coupling such as (hetero)arylation of C(sp3)–H bonds and alkylation of (hetero)aryl C(sp2)–H bonds.
Bimolecular oxidative C–H alkynylation of α-substituted isochromans
Authors: Mao Ying , Cao Min , Pan Xiaoguang , Huang Jiancheng , Li Jing , Xu Liren , Liu Lei
Published: April 2019

The first bimolecular oxidative C–H functionalization of secondary benzylic ethers for tertiary ether synthesis has been established in high efficiency.
Light‐induced dynamically tunable micropatterned surface for the regulation of the endothelial cell alignment
Authors: Wang Jiao , Chu Chengzhen , He Yang , Xiang Tao , Zhou Shaobing
Published: April 2019

The surface topography has a great effect on the behaviour of adherent cells. We report an efficient method to prepare shape memory surfaces with dynamically changed micropatterns, which can be induced by near‐infrared (NIR) light by varying the power density. After polydopamine (PDA) was coated on the cross‐linked polyethylene glycol‐poly(ɛ‐caprolactone), the surface temperature increases by 40°C at room temperature when 808 nm light with 1.0 W/cm2 is used because of the photothermal properties of PDA. This temperature increase is enough for the shape recovery of the pressed micropatterns. The depth of the recovered micropatterns is controllable by adjusting the power density of the 808 nm light. The NIR‐induced micropatterns efficiently regulate the morphology and alignment of endothelial cells. Therefore, NIR‐induced shape memory surfaces have the potential to be used in remote‐controlled devices.
Selective stimulation of rat sciatic nerve using an array of mm‐size magnetic coils: a simulation study
Authors: Kosta Pragya , Warren David J. , Lazzi Gianluca
Published: April 2019

This work proposes and computationally investigate the use of magnetic neural stimulation as an alternative to electrical stimulation to achieve selective activation of rat sciatic nerve. In particular, they assess the effectiveness of an array of small coils to obtain selective neural stimulation, as compared to a single coil. Specifically, an array of four mm‐sized coils is used to stimulate rat sciatic nerve, targeting the regions of fascicles that are associated with different muscles of the leg. To evaluate the selectivity of activation, a three‐dimensional heterogeneous multi‐resolution nerve model is implemented using the impedance method for the computation of the magnetic and electric fields in the nerve. The performance metric ‘selectivity index’ is defined that measures the recruitment of the targeted region compared to other non‐targeted regions of the nerve. The selectivity index takes values between −1 (least selective) and 1 (most selective). For each targeted region, a selectivity index of 0.75 or better is predicted for the proposed array configuration. The results suggest that an array of coils can provide superior spatial control of the electric field induced in the neural tissue compared to traditional extraneural electrode arrays, thus opening the possibility to applications where selective neurostimulation is of interest.
LED‐based indoor positioning system using novel optical pixelation technique
Authors: Popoola Olaoluwa R. , Sinanović Sinan , Ramirez‐Iniguez Roberto , Popoola Wasiu O.
Published: April 2019

At present, about 47 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's disease (AD), and because there is no treatment currently available to cure AD, people with AD (PWAD) are cared for. The estimated cost of care for PWAD in 2016 alone is about $236 billion, which puts a huge burden on relatives of PWAD. This work aims to reduce this burden by proposing an inexpensive indoor positioning system that can be used to monitor PWAD. For the positioning, freeform lenses are used to enable a novel optically pixeled LED luminaire (OPLL) that focuses beams from LEDs to various parts of a room, thereby creating uniquely identifiable regions which are used to improve positioning accuracy. Monte Carlo simulation with the designed OPLL in a room with dimensions is used to compute the positioning error and theoretical analysis and experiments are used to validate the time for positioning. Results show that by appropriate LED beam design, OPLL has a positioning error and time for positioning of 0.735 m and 187 ms which is 55.1% lower and 1.2 times faster than existing multiple LED estimation model proximity systems.
Improved estimation on transmission intervals and delays for networked control systems using hybrid systems tools
Authors: He Yan , Sun Xi‐Ming , Xia Weiguo
Published: April 2019

The work studies the stability problem of networked control systems (NCSs) exposed to various imperfections, including scheduling protocols, transmission intervals, and delays by using hybrid systems tools. First of all, the above‐mentioned NCSs are converted into hybrid control systems. Then under a weaker assumption, the authors construct a novel Lyapunov function to derive a less conservative sufficient condition for the uniform global asymptotic stability of the systems. Furthermore, they derive useful upper bounds for the maximum allowable transmission interval and maximum allowable delay, which significantly improve the existing results. Finally, some examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theorem.
Effective appearance model update strategy in object tracking
Authors: Yin Xianglei , Liu Guixi
Published: April 2019

Robust and accurate tracking for fast moving object in correlation filter framework is a challenging research problem. The appearance model update strategy impact on performance is usually very significant and hence is worth studying. Unfortunately, very few works focus on this component. This study proposes an adaptive appearance model update method, which utilises both average peak‐to‐correlation energy (APCE) threshold and gradient APCE threshold to measure tracking reliability. When tracking is unreliable, the update rate is modified and the initial template information is used to assist in correcting the model parameters. Different from conventional methods, both APCE threshold and gradient APCE threshold are enhanced by weighting the coefficients. More importantly, the gradient APCE threshold can capture the rapid decline of APCE which implies that the object is in fast motion. Sufficient evaluations on OTB datasets demonstrate that the proposed method can tackle challenging videos well, especially the authors obtain a gain of 4.6% in precision score on the selected 32 videos with fast motion attribute, and a mean gain of 3.0 and 2.2% in precision and success plots on OTB50, compared with the baseline tracker SAMF.
Multi‐sample inference network
Authors: Liang Daojun , Yang Feng , Wang Xiuping , Ju Xiaohui
Published: April 2019

This study explores whether neural networks can classify multiple samples simultaneously in a forward process. Therefore, a multi‐input multi‐prediction network architecture has been proposed. The authors call this method a multi‐sample inference network (MSIN). In addition to maximising the use of network shared parameters, the network can also use multiple samples for training. MSIN allows multiple samples to be randomly combined to act as data augmentation, and the random combination of corresponding labels can regularise the network as a loss regularisation, which makes MSIN have better generalisation performance. In contrast, category expansion is a problem that is difficult to solve because neural networks can only predict a fixed number of categories. The network proposed in this study can solve the category expansion problem by expanding the initial layers and the final layers. It is trained by using samples of multiple domains at the same time to ensure that the network has no significant decline in the predictive performance of the existing categories. The MSIN method can also be applied to the generative adversarial network to enable it to simultaneously generate samples of multiple sample domains.
CMV reduction in a three‐to‐seven phase direct matrix converter using SVPWM
Authors: Rahman Khaliqur , Al‐Emadi Nasser , Al‐Hitmi Mohammad , Iqbal Atif
Published: April 2019

The pulse‐width modulation (PWM)‐controlled modern electric drives causes some serious problems such as the generation of common‐mode voltage (CMV) and high dv/dt. The CMV might cause high‐frequency leakage currents that flow through the possible path that is bearing of the motor. Thus, the flow of current through the motor bearing leads to its premature failure. One of the main challenges in developing PWM methods for control of motor drives is the problem of CMV and its reduction/elimination. In this study, a modulation technique based on space‐vector approach is developed to reduce the CMV in a three‐to‐seven‐phase direct matrix converter. CMV reduction becomes possible by selecting suitable zero‐voltage vectors for a specific duration and the use of a selected set of active vectors for the output voltage synthesis. The proposed space‐vector PWM (SVPWM) for the reduction of CMV is performed with a seven‐phase R–L load to show the viability of the proposed technique. The proposed SVPWM technique is implemented experimentally in dSPACE working in conjunction with field‐programmable gate array processor board using a system generator. Hardware results that validate the proposed control algorithm are discussed.
Analysis of integrated energy‐load characteristics based on sparse clustering and compressed sensing
Authors: Wang He , Hou Yongshan , Yu Huanan
Published: April 2019

An integrated energy system not only provides a platform for multi‐energy coupling utilisation but also satisfies users' diversified energy demands. However, in view of the enormous amount of integrated energy data and the difficulty of analysing the characteristics of that data, an integrated energy‐analysis method based on sparse clustering and compressed sensing is proposed in this study. This method uses the fuzzy c‐means algorithm to construct an over‐complete dictionary and then compresses, collects, and reconstructs the integrated energy data using the compressed sensing theory method. This process analyses integrated energy‐load characteristics accurately and also solves the problem of low data‐transmission efficiency. Simulation results show that the method is suitable for analysing and processing integrated load data in integrated energy systems.
Electricity consumption behaviour analysis based on adaptive weighted‐feature K‐means‐AP clustering
Authors: Li Chunyan , Cai Wenyue , Yu Changqing , Zhao Rongsheng , Zhang Qian
Published: April 2019

The promotion of smart meters has led to the exponential growth of monitoring data. Consequently, challenges have emerged for utilities to analyse and interpret big data at the demand side. In this study, an adaptive weighted‐feature K‐means‐affinity propagation (AP) clustering algorithm is proposed to analyse customer electricity consumption behaviours. First, a comprehensive feature set is constructed, i.e. the time‐domain, frequency‐domain and fluctuation features of load curves. Second, the feature set is applied to a divide‐and‐conquer framework to analyse customer behaviours. In the local modelling, adaptive K‐means algorithm is adopted to cluster load curves by considering the time‐domain and fluctuation features; the former is objectively weighed by entropy weighting. In the global modelling, AP clustering algorithm is introduced and clustering results are obtained by combining the weighted time‐domain and frequency‐domain features. The performance tests on the simulation data and electricity consumption behaviour analyses on the big dataset are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed models and approaches. The divide‐and‐conquer framework is practical, and the proposed features are not only beneficial for clustering the load curves, but also conducive to consumption behaviour analysis.
Online parameter estimation considering input errors for synchronous generation systems
Authors: Jiang Quanyuan , Liu Pengcheng , Zhu Zexiang , Geng Guangchao
Published: April 2019

Parameter estimation of synchronous generation systems helps system operators develop control schemes to enhance system stability and reliability. However, the input signals used in the online estimation are measured with errors and their direct usage may produce biased parameters. To handle this problem, an online parameter estimation method considering input errors is proposed. A Lagrange multiplier‐based input variable selection method is further proposed to reduce the scales of estimation problem and improve the computational efficiency. In order to avoid ill‐conditioned problem resulted from input error over‐fitting, a Tikhonov regularisation approach is applied and the optimal regularisation parameter is determined via cross‐validation. In the case study, the numerical experiments and real‐world results validate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed method.
Influence of shape and texture features on facial expression recognition
Authors: Barman Asit , Dutta Paramartha
Published: April 2019

Shape and texture features provide a novel framework for expression recognition by using salient landmarks based triangle initialisation and identification of texture regions. Detection of effective landmarks is achieved by well‐known appearance‐based model to form a grid. Accordingly, several triangles are identified within the grid with respect to the nose landmark reference point. These salient landmarks are also used to find the texture regions. Normalised shape and texture signatures are derived from triangles and texture regions. Stability indices are determined from shape and texture signatures which are also exploited as significant features for recognition of facial expressions. Statistical measures such as range, moment, skewness, kurtosis, and entropy are used to supplement the feature set. Individual and combined features are fed into multilayer perceptron and deep belief network (DBN) network to classify different expression categories encompassing anger, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and happiness. The authors investigated the performance of their proposed system on Cohn–Kanade, JAFFE, MMI, MUG, and Wild face benchmark databases. Thorough experimentation establishes the performance superiority of the proposed methodology over other existing competitors. Combining features is also validated through extensive results and analyses.
Automated detection of microaneurysms using Stockwell transform and statistical features
Authors: Deepa V. , Sathish Kumar C. , Susan Andrews Sheena
Published: April 2019

Microaneurysms (MAs) are the earliest pre‐eminent indicators of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and are hard to distinguish for ophthalmologists on standard fundus images. This study proposes a method based on discrete orthonormal Stockwell transform and statistical features for discriminating between normal and diseased retinal images. Feature extraction by the two different approaches is consolidated and a total of 24 features are extracted for classifier models. Training and testing of the proposed method have been accomplished using 1140 retinal colour photographs. A comparative study using eight best‐known classifiers is showcased for detection of MAs and the performance of the classifiers is evaluated using retinal images by performing ten‐fold cross‐validation procedure. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency and adequacy of the proposed method which mainly characterise the textural features. The proposed method is compared with existing algorithms and the results show that the algorithm detects DR with high veracity. With the high accuracy and positive prediction, the proposed system assures promising results in early diagnosis of DR.
Comparative framework for vision‐based gesturing modes and implementation of robust colour‐marker detector for practical environments
Authors: Misra Songhita , Hussain Laskar Rabul
Published: April 2019

In this study, the authors have provided a detailed analysis based on experimental analysis, user‐feedback, and the literature survey to choose the appropriate gesturing mode between colour‐markers and bare‐hand for virtual dynamic gesturing system. Salient factors such as lexicon duration, muscle strain, target users, detection/tracking accuracy and so on, indicated that colour‐marker based models can outperform bare‐hand systems in real‐world scenarios. Colour‐markers are more robust to factors such as uneven illumination, affine transformations, and holds a better similarity to the natural way of writing on paper. However, colour‐markers can easily be erroneously detected/tracked due to the presence of imposters in the background. Most of the existing colour‐marker systems are developed with this limitation that reduces the naturalness and confines its application to a narrowed environment. This study addresses multiple types of frequently occurring imposters which are static/dynamic in nature and occlude the genuine colour‐marker often times. The imposters are distinguished based on factors such as speed, start/end position, the area of motion and so on. Some uncertain types of imposters which are partly similar to genuine gestures are distinguished based on the randomness present in the trajectories and classification models. The proposed techniques have achieved an accuracy of 98.26% in distinguishing the given imposter categories in this system.
Combining multi‐wavelet and CNN for palmprint recognition against noise and misalignment
Authors: Zhou Lijian , Guo Han , Lin Shanshan , Hao Siyuan , Zhao Kun
Published: April 2019

A palmprint recognition approach based on multi‐wavelet and convolutional neural network (CNN) against noise and misalignment is given. CNN method has high robustness in biometrics, but a large number of training samples are necessary. Moreover, the gathered palmprint images should be cropped to obtain their region of interest (ROI) and noise pollution and misalignment are not well solved. Therefore, the original training database is augmented to reduce the effects of noise and misalignment. First, an original training palmprint image is split into five new images, and every new image is decomposed once by multi‐wavelet. Three lower frequency bands in the low‐frequency multi‐wavelet component corresponding to pre‐filters are extracted as three samples. Furthermore, the split image is downsampled as a new sample. Second, the CNN model is constructed based on the augmented database by experiments. Third, the softmax method is used to classify the test samples. At last, the final result is obtained from 20 results by using the voting method. The experimental results based on PolyU, CASIA, and IIT Delhi Touchless Palmprint Database palmprint databases show that the proposed method can effectively recognise palmprint with high robustness while there is noise and misalignment, and has a generalisation to other palmprint databases.
Fusion of transformed shallow features for facial expression recognition
Authors: Bougourzi Fares , Mokrani Karim , Ruichek Yassine , Dornaika Fadi , Ouafi Abdelkrim , Taleb‐Ahmed Abdelmalik
Published: April 2019

Facial expression conveys important signs about the human affective state, cognitive activity, intention and personality. In fact, the automatic facial expression recognition systems are getting more interest year after year due to its wide range of applications in several interesting fields such as human computer/robot interaction, medical applications, animation and video gaming. In this study, the authors propose to combine between different descriptors features (histogram of oriented gradients, local phase quantisation and binarised statistical image features) after applying principal component analysis on each of them to recognise the six basic expressions and the neutral face from the static images. Their proposed fusion method has been tested on four popular databases which are: JAFFE, MMI, CASIA and CK+, using two different cross‐validation schemes: subject independent and leave‐one–subject‐out. The obtained results show that their method outperforms both the raw features concatenation and state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Multi‐sensor medical image fusion using pyramid‐based DWT: a multi‐resolution approach
Authors: Nair Rekha R. , Singh Tripty
Published: April 2019

Generally, image fusions are carried out on two‐dimensional (2D) images, but the operations with the 2D images increase the computational complexity than vector data. This study presents an algorithm with Laplacian pyramid built on 1D discrete wavelet transform (DWT) called modified multi‐resolution DWT (MMDWT) for multi‐sensor medical image fusion which was found to be efficient for n‐level decomposition and can work with all mother wavelets with less computational complexity. The MMDWT methodology is compared with the discrete cosine transform, DWT, stationary WT, curvelet transform, principal component analysis, fuzzy and neurofuzzy technique and the performance measure is analysed. The performance evaluation of the MMDWT technique is illustrated using several sets of medical images provided by Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd. (HCG) Hospital Bangalore, based on the subjective and objective analyses. The result is validated by radiologists from HCG for subjective evaluation. The outcome of the MMDWT methodology is analysed with existing fusion algorithms and reveals the supremacy of the final fusion results.