Origin and Processing Methods Slightly Affect Allergenic Characteristics of Cashew Nuts (Anacardium occidentale)

The protein content and allergen composition was studied of cashews from 8 different origins (Benin, Brazil, Ghana, India, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Tanzania, Vietnam), subjected to different in‐shell heat treatments (steamed, fried, drum‐roasted). On 2D electrophoresis, 9 isoforms of Ana o 1, 29 isoforms of Ana o 2 (11 of the acidic subunit, 18 of the basic subunit), and 8 isoforms of the large subunit of Ana o 3 were tentatively identified. Based on 1D and 2D electrophoresis, no difference in allergen content (Ana o 1, 2, 3) was detected between the cashews of different origins (P > 0.5), some small but significant differences were detected in allergen solubility between differently heated cashews. No major differences in N‐ and C‐terminal microheterogeneity of Ana o 3 were detected between cashews of different origins. Between the different heat treatments, no difference was detected in glycation, pepsin digestibility, or IgE binding of the cashew proteins.     

The Sensitivity Matrix: Using Advanced Auditory Models in Speech and Audio Processing

Perceptually optimal processing of speech and audio signals demands a rigorous approach using a distortion measure that resembles human perception. This requires distortion measures based on sophisticated, complex auditory models. Under the assumption of small distortions these models can be simplified by means of a sensitivity matrix. In this paper, we show the power of this approach. We present a method to derive the sensitivity matrix for distortion measures based on spectro-temporal auditory models. This method is applied to an example auditory model and the region of validity of the approximation and the application of linear algebra to analyze the characteristics of the given model are discussed. Furthermore, we show how to build a coder minimizing a sensitivity matrix distortion measure given the typically long support of a perceptual distortion measure     

HMM-Based Gain Modeling for Enhancement of Speech in Noise

Accurate modeling and estimation of speech and noise gains facilitate good performance of speech enhancement methods using data-driven prior models. In this paper, we propose a hidden Markov model (HMM)-based speech enhancement method using explicit gain modeling. Through the introduction of stochastic gain variables, energy variation in both speech and noise is explicitly modeled in a unified framework. The speech gain models the energy variations of the speech phones, typically due to differences in pronunciation and/or different vocalizations of individual speakers. The noise gain helps to improve the tracking of the time-varying energy of nonstationary noise. The expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm is used to perform offline estimation of the time-invariant model parameters. The time-varying model parameters are estimated online using the recursive EM algorithm. The proposed gain modeling techniques are applied to a novel Bayesian speech estimator, and the performance of the proposed enhancement method is evaluated through objective and subjective tests. The experimental results confirm the advantage of explicit gain modeling, particularly for nonstationary noise sources     

An assessment view to evaluate whether Spatial Data Infrastructures meet their goals

The motives for constructing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) are often based on their anticipated benefits for society, economy, and environment. According to those widely articulated but rarely proven benefits, SDI coordinators have been defining more specific objectives to be achieved by their SDIs. However, there is a limited number of assessment approaches that are able to demonstrate whether SDIs indeed realize the intended goals. In this article we develop, apply and evaluate an assessment view for evaluating the extent to which SDIs realize their goals. The assessment view has been developed stepwise using the Multi-view SDI assessment framework as a guideline. The application of the proposed view in the Dutch SDI demonstrates its potential. In addition, the evaluation of the proposed view by the potential users confirms to a certain extent its usability. The results also show that the ease of determining assessment indicators depends on the precision with which the SDI goals are formulated.     

Physicochemical Characterization of Polymer-Stabilized Coacervate Protocells

The bottom-up construction of cell mimics has produced a range of membrane-bound protocells that have been endowed with functionality and biochemical processes reminiscent of living systems. The contents of these compartments, however, experience semidilute conditions, whereas macromolecules in the cytosol exist in protein-rich, crowded environments that affect their physicochemical properties, such as diffusion and catalytic activity. Recently, complex coacervates have emerged as attractive protocellular models because their condensed interiors would be expected to mimic this crowding better. Here we explore some relevant physicochemical properties of a recently developed polymer-stabilized coacervate system, such as the diffusion of macromolecules in the condensed coacervate phase, relative to in dilute solutions, the buffering capacity of the core, the molecular organization of the polymer membrane, the permeability characteristics of this membrane towards a wide range of compounds, and the behavior of a simple enzymatic reaction. In addition, either the coacervate charge or the cargo charge is engineered to allow the selective loading of protein cargo into the coacervate protocells. Our in-depth characterization has revealed that these polymer-stabilized coacervate protocells have many desirable properties, thus making them attractive candidates for the investigation of biochemical processes in stable, controlled, tunable, and increasingly cell-like environments.     

A comparison of elaborated and restricted feedback in LogEx,a tool for teaching rewriting logical formulae

This article describes an experiment with LogEx, an e‐learning environment that supports students in learning how to prove the equivalence between two logical formulae, using standard equivalences such as DeMorgan. In the experiment, we compare two groups of students. The first group uses the complete learning environment, including hints, next steps, worked solutions, and informative timely feedback. The second group uses a version of the environment without hints or next steps, but with worked solutions, and delayed flag feedback. We use pretest and posttest to measure the performance of both groups with respect to error rate and completion of the exercises. We analyse the loggings of the student activities in the learning environment to compare its use by the different groups. Both groups score significantly better on the posttest than on the pretest. We did not find significant differences between the groups in the posttest, although the group using the full learning environment performed slightly better than the other group. In the examination, which took place 5 weeks after the experiment, the group of students who used the complete learning environment scored significantly better than a control group of students who did not participate in the experiment.     

Supramolecular Antifouling Additives for Robust and Efficient Functionalization of Elastomeric Materials: Molecular Design Matters

The ultimate functionality of elastomeric materials can be largely influenced by the molecular design of antifouling additives that interact through directed hydrogen bonding bisurea motifs. Herein, three additives, composed of matching bisurea groups and antifouling oligo(ethylene glycol) (OEG) functionalities, are judiciously designed. The first additive is composed of one bisurea and one OEG, the second additive of one bisurea and two OEGs, and the third additive of two bisurea and one OEG. On solution‐cast films, non‐cell adhesive properties are dependent on the amount of incorporated OEG irrespective of the bisurea design; however, on 3D electrospun scaffolds only the additive that consists of two bisurea moieties connected via an OEG functionality ensures proper non‐cell adhesive properties. Interestingly, robust non‐cell adhesive properties are maintained, both with repeated cell seeding and after partial enzymatic degradation of the scaffold. These results highlight the importance of additive design in supramolecular functionalization and show that translation from simple 2D solution‐cast films to 3D electrospun scaffolds is not trivial with respect to additive presentation and functionality.     

Using 3D modeling and remote sensing capabilities for a better understanding of spatio-temporal heterogeneities of phytoplankton abundance in large lakes

Lake biological parameters show important spatio-temporal heterogeneities. This is why explaining the spatial patchiness of phytoplankton abundance has been a recurrent ecological issue and is an essential prerequisite for objectively assessing, protecting and restoring freshwater ecosystems. The drivers of these heterogeneities can be identified by modeling their dynamics. This approach is useful for theoretical and applied limnology. In this study, a 3D hydrodynamic model of Lake Geneva (France/Switzerland) was created. It is based on the Delft3D suite software and includes the main tributary (Rhône River) and two-dimensional high-resolution meteorological forcing. It provides 3D maps of water temperature and current velocities with a 1?h time step on a 1?km horizontal grid size and with a vertical resolution of 1?m near the surface to 7?m at the bottom of the lake. The dynamics and the drivers of phytoplankton heterogeneities were assessed by combining the outputs of the model and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) data from MERIS satellite images between 2008 and 2012. Results highlight physical mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of seasonal hot-spots in phytoplankton abundance in the lake. At the beginning of spring, Chl-a heterogeneities are usually caused by an earlier onset of phytoplankton growth in the shallowest and more sheltered areas; spatial differences in the timing of phytoplankton growth can be explained by spatial variability in thermal stratification dynamics. In summer, transient and locally higher phytoplankton abundances are observed in relation to the impact of basin-scale upwelling.     

Protecting shared information in networks: A network security game with strategic attacks

A digital security breach, by which confidential information is leaked, does not only affect the agent whose system is infiltrated but is also detrimental to other agents socially connected to the infiltrated system. Although it has been argued that these externalities create incentives to underinvest in security, this presumption is challenged by the possibility of strategic adversaries that attack the least protected agents. In this paper we study a new model of security games in which agents share tokens of sensitive information in a network of contacts. The agents have the opportunity to invest in security to protect against an attack that can be either strategically or randomly targeted. We show that, in the presence of random attack, underinvestments always prevail at the Nash equilibrium in comparison with the social optimum. Instead, when the attack is strategic, either underinvestments or overinvestments are possible, depending on the network topology and on the characteristics of the process of the spreading of information. Actually, agents invest more in security than socially optimal when dependencies among agents are low (which can happen because the information network is sparsely connected or because the probability that information tokens are shared is small). These overinvestments pass on to underinvestments when information sharing is more likely (and therefore, when the risk brought by the attack is higher). In order to keep our analysis tractable, some of our results on strategic attacks make an assumption of homogeneity in the network, namely, that the network is vertex‐transitive. We complement these results with an analysis on star graphs (which are nonhomogeneous), which confirms that the essential lines of our findings can remain valid on general networks.     

Coverage trajectory planning for a bush trimming robot arm

A novel motion planning algorithm for robotic bush trimming is presented. The algorithm is based on an optimal route search over a graph. Differently from other works in robotic surface coverage, it entails both accuracy in the surface sweeping task and smoothness in the motion of the robot arm. The proposed method requires the selection of a custom objective function in the joint space for optimal node traversal scheduling, as well as a kinematically constrained time interpolation. The algorithm was tested in simulation using a model of the Jaco arm and three target bush shapes. Analysis of the simulated motions showed how, differently from classical coverage techniques, the proposed algorithm is able to ensure high tool positioning accuracy while avoiding excessive arm motion jerkiness. It was reported that forbidding manipulation posture changes during the cutting phase of the motion is a key element for task accuracy, leading to a decrease of the tool positioning error up to 90%. Furthermore, the algorithm was validated in a real‐world trimming scenario with boxwood bushes. A target of 20 mm accuracy was proposed for a trimming result to be considered successful. Results showed that on average 82% of the bush surface was affected by trimming, and 51% of the trimmed surface was cut within the desired level of accuracy. Despite the fact that the trimming accuracy turned out to be lower than the stated requirements, it was found out this was mainly a consequence of the inaccurate, early stage vision system employed to compute the target trimming surface. By contrast, the trimming motion planning algorithm generated trajectories that smoothly followed their input target and allowed effective branch cutting.