Tracking a Sea Turtle by an AUV with a Multibeam Imaging Sonar: Toward Robotic Observation of Marine Life

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - This paper proposes a method for autonomous underwater vehicles to chase sea turtles without attaching any tag to them, toward efficient...     

Surface Analysis of Cr2O3‐, CoO‐, and Al2O3‐Doped Iron–Phosphate Glasses at High Temperature

Surface structures of iron–phosphate glasses were examined using X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Cr₂O₃, CoO, and Al₂O₃ were introduced to the glass by the replacement of a part of Fe₂O₃, and the simulated fission products are also added. The obtained glasses showed high chemical durabilities by MCC‐1 test. In situ high‐temperature and room‐temperature XPS measurements were conducted on the polished sample surfaces and also those after 1‐week chemical durability test. Unique trends were observed in XPS spectra on heating and after the chemical durability test, respectively. Nature of the glass surface of iron–phosphate glasses was explained from the point of view of surface energy, and the origin of high chemical durability and the effect of chromium ions were discussed based on the changes on surface composition and valence states of transition‐metal ions.     

An experimental study for transmitting MPEG-2 streams over ATM networks

This paper presents a comparative study of different techniques aiming at transmitting MPEG-2 streams over ATM networks, with emphasis on the presentation of practical results achieved on an experimental platform available at LSI, a laboratory of the University of São Paulo, Brazil. This study has the purpose to determine some tuning parameters for optimizing the implementation of distributed multimedia applications on different network technologies. The focus of this experimental study has been on non-native ATM techniques like “Classical IP over ATM” and “LAN Emulation”, as well as native ATM techniques based on direct access service primitives to AAL5. The influence of different parameters, like packet length, buffer size, CPU speed, on the resulting throughput has been studied. Furthermore, a testing tool is being developed for assessing the transmission of MPEG-2 streams based on the practical experience achieved so far. These results will permit the evaluation of different network technologies and also help in the development of distributed multimedia applications like video-on-demand, videoconferencing and telemedicine.     

A case of advanced gastric cancer with liver and lung metastasis effectively treated by combined chemo-immunotherapy of MMC, 5'-DFUR, OK-432

A sixty-eight-year-old male patient was diagnosed as having inoperable advanced gastric cancer with liver and lung metastasis. The patient was treated by combined chemo-immunotherapy of MMC 10 mg/M, 5'-DFUR 800 mg/day and OK-432 5 KE/2 W. Six months after commencing chemotherapy, CT-scan and upper GI series revealed that metasized liver tumors and stomach lesion were remarkably decreased in size and no cancer cell was confirmed by endoscopic biopsy. Further, the metastatic lung tumor has disappeared on chest X-ray. The patient had been well without any evidence of tumor re-progression for over one year, but from July the liver tumor began to metastasize again and the patient eventually died of liver metastasis on Jan. 1, 1993.     

Structural approach to nanoscience: a case study of complex and cluster formation in ZnBr2–ZnCl2 melts

Although the melt structure of glass-forming ZnCl₂ has so far been well studied, there exists quite little information on the structural change due to anion-substitution. In the present work, the short-range structure of ZnCl₂–ZnBr₂ mixture melts was analyzed systematically by time-of-flight pulsed neutron diffraction techniques, Raman spectroscopy, molecular orbital calculations, and molecular dynamics simulations. According to radial distribution analysis, it was found that there were tetrahedral structural units of ligand-substituted [ZnCl_nBr_4−n]²⁻ (n=0–4) in these melts, not implying the simple mixing of [ZnCl₄]²⁻ and [ZnBr₄]²⁻ units. Further detailed estimation indicated that the ligand-substituted complex anions were linked with each other by sharing a common anion.     

Interoperability in semantic Web of Things: Design issues and solutions

The significant improvement in processing power, communication, energy consumption, and the size of computational devices has led to the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT projects raise many challenges, such as the interoperability between IoT applications because of the high number of sensors, actuators, services, protocols, and data associated with these systems. Semantics solves this problem by using annotations that define the role of each IoT element and reduces the ambiguity of information exchanged between the devices. This work presents SWoTPAD, a semantic framework that helps in the development of IoT projects. The framework is designer oriented and provides a semantic language that is more user‐friendly than OWL‐S and WSML and allows the IoT designer to specify devices, services, environment, and requests. Following this, it makes use of these specifications and maps them for RESTful services. Additionally, it generates an automatic service composition engine that is able to combine services needed to handle complex user requests. We validated this approach with two case studies. The former concerns a residential security system and the latter, the cloud application deployment. The average time required for service discovery and automatic service composition corresponds to 72.9% of the service execution time in the case study 1 and 64.4% in the case study 2.     

Preparation and evaluation of a novel wound dressing sheet comprised of β-glucan–chitosan complex

A transparent wound dressing sheet was obtained by forming a complex between β-glucan and chitosan (CS). These materials were chosen for their biocompatible, bioabsorbable, and biodegradable properties, and they were expected to promote the therapeutic efficacy of the dressing by increasing the wound healing response. The therapeutic efficacy of the β-glucan–CS complex sheet as a wound dressing was evaluated in wounds created on the dorsal surfaces of mice. β-glucan–CS complex sheets demonstrated therapeutic efficacies comparable or superior to that of Beschitin®W, a commercial wound dressing made from CS. Additionally, the β-glucan–CS complex sheet did not dissolve during the application period, did not adhere to wounds, and was easy to remove. Cumulatively, these results indicate that β-glucan–CS complex sheets are a promising new wound dressing product.     

Dysregulation of Astrocyte–Neuronal Communication in Alzheimer’s Disease

Recent studies implicate astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, their role in pathogenesis is poorly understood. Astrocytes have well-established functions in supportive functions such as extracellular ionic homeostasis, structural support, and neurovascular coupling. However, emerging research on astrocytic function in the healthy brain also indicates their role in regulating synaptic plasticity and neuronal excitability via the release of neuroactive substances named gliotransmitters. Here, we review how this “active” role of astrocytes at synapses could contribute to synaptic and neuronal network dysfunction and cognitive impairment in AD.     

Stabilization of α-lipoic acid by complex formation with chitosan

α-Lipoic acid (ALA) is an essential cofactor in mitochondrial multi-enzyme complexes related to energy production. However, it is unstable under light or heat, and its decomposition is accompanied by an unpleasant odor. Therefore, its stabilization by complex formation with the cationic polymer chitosan (CS) was investigated. The ALA dissolved in demineralized water was efficiently adsorbed on the precipitated insoluble CS particles, and an ALA–CS complex was obtained. The amount of ALA adsorbed on CS was affected by the CS species and the quantity ratio of ALA to CS. The ALA from the ALA–CS complex was released immediately by changing the pH. When ALA was incubated at 65 °C, it melted and polymerized. In addition, some decomposition of ALA was also observed in the physical mixture of ALA with CS. However, the ALA–CS complex did not decompose at all under the same conditions. Thus, the stabilization of ALA was achieved by complex formation with CS. CS is useful as a material for the stabilization of ALA, leading to its clinical use.     

Energy-efficient node position identification through payoff matrix and variability analysis

This paper investigates the use of punctured recursive systematic convolutional codes for turbo coding in a 2-user binary adder channel (2-BAC) in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise, aiming to achieve a higher transmission sum rate with reduced decoding complexity. The encoders for the 2-BAC are assumed to be block synchronized and to employ identical puncturing patterns. Iterative decoding combining the Bahl Cocke Jelinek Raviv algorithm and a two-user punctured trellis is employed. For each user and for a fixed puncturing pattern, random interleavers of length 256 bits or 1024 bits, respectively, are simulated and corresponding curves relating bit error rate versus signal to noise ratio are presented for performance comparison purposes. Computer simulation indicates that the loss in performance of a punctured turbo code can be negligible when longer interleavers are used for both users, similarly to the single user case.