Accurate Indexes Research Articles

An approach to the detection of pain from autonomic and cortical correlates

ObjectiveTo assess the value of combining brain and autonomic measures to discriminate the subjective perception of pain from other sensory-cognitive activations. Methods20 healthy individuals received 2 types of tonic painful stimulation delivered to the hand: electrical stimuli and immersion in 10 Celsius degree (°C) water, which were contrasted with non-painful immersion in 15 °C water, and stressful cognitive testing. High-density electroencephalography (EEG) and autonomic measures (pupillary, electrodermal and cardiovascular) were continuously recorded, and the accuracy of pain detection based on combinations of electrophysiological features was assessed using machine learning procedures. ResultsPainful stimuli induced a significant decrease in contralateral EEG alpha power. Cardiac, electrodermal and pupillary reactivities occurred in both painful and stressful conditions. Classification models, trained on leave-one-out cross-validation folds, showed low accuracy (61–73%) of cortical and autonomic features taken independently, while their combination significantly improved accuracy to 93% in individual reports. ConclusionsChanges in cortical oscillations reflecting somatosensory salience and autonomic changes reflecting arousal can be triggered by many activating signals other than pain; conversely, the simultaneous occurrence of somatosensory activation plus strong autonomic arousal has great probability of reflecting pain uniquely. SignificanceCombining changes in cortical and autonomic reactivities appears critical to derive accurate indexes of acute pain perception.

Quantification of hydraulic characteristics and validation of CFD simulation of subsurface flow constructed wetlands using tracer

The analysis of residence time distributions (RTDs) is of great significance in the hydraulic characterization of subsurface flow constructed wetlands (SSF-CWs), and tracer experiments and simulations are generally used methods to obtain RTDs. This study developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model involving two tracer tracking approaches in order to understand and quantify the flow behavior in SSF-CW. To validate the CFD model, RTDs were obtained from bench-scale impulse response tests with finite-constant injection of tracer, and the hydraulic indexes were corrected by introducing tracer injection time and nominal residence time in the formulae. The shape similarities of RTDs between the CFD model, the gamma model and observation were evaluated by a dynamic time warping algorithm, where the CFD model incorporating advection, diffusion and dispersion processes had the highest shape similarity (0.94–0.98). The proposed CFD model gave the tracer the same velocity field as the fluid, characterizing more accurate hydraulic indexes compared to the gamma model. The CFD model is appropriate for design optimization prior to full-scale construction since it saves time and is environmentally benign. It also gives visualization of the tracer trajectory, which aids in understanding contaminant fate and transport within the SSF-CW.

Water ice: Temperature-dependent refractive indexes and their astrophysical implications

Context. Interstellar and circumstellar ices are largely composed of frozen water. Therefore, it is important to derive fundamental parameters for H2O ice such as absorption and scattering opacities, for which accurate complex refractive indexes are needed. Aims. The primary goal of the work presented here is to derive ice-grain opacities based on accurate H2O ice complex refractive indexes at low temperatures and to assess the impact this has on the derivation of water ice column densities and porosity in space. Methods. We used the optool code to derive ice-grain scattering and absorption opacity values based on new and previously reported mid-infrared (mid-IR) complex refractive index measurements of H2O ice, primarily in its amorphous form, but not exclusively. Next, we used those opacities in the RADMC-3D code to run a radiative transfer simulation of a protostellar envelope containing H2O ice, which was then used to calculate water ice column densities. Results. We found that the real refractive index in the mid-IR of H2O ice at 30 K is ~14% lower than previously reported in the literature. This has a direct impact on the ice column densities derived from the simulations of embedded protostars. Additionally, we found that ice porosity plays a significant role in the opacity of icy grains and that the H2O libration mode can be used as a diagnostic tool to constrain the porosity level. Finally, the refractive indexes presented here allowed us to estimate a grain size detection limit of 18 μm based on the 3 μm band, whereas the 6 μm band allowed us to trace grain sizes larger than 20 μm. Conclusions. Based on radiative transfer simulations using new mid-IR refractive indexes, we conclude that H2O ice leads to more absorption of infrared light than previously estimated. This implies that the 3 and 6 μm bands remain detectable in icy grains with sizes larger than 10 μm. Finally, we also propose that the H2O ice libration band can be used as a diagnostic tool to constrain the porosity level of the interstellar ice, in addition to the OH dangling bond, which is now routinely used for this purpose.

Time stationarity, shape and ordinal ranking bias of RCA indexes: a new set of measures

A new set of tools to measure the time stationarity, shape and ordinal ranking bias of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) indexes is suggested. The aim is to help select the most consistent RCA index for a given set of countries, products and time periods, which is especially relevant for economic policy based on comparative advantages. The GMM estimation of an AR(1) process based on RCA indexes provides three measures of time stationarity that are more rational than the measures available in the literature. Furthermore, we revise the statistics that are commonly used to capture shape. Finally, with respect to ordinal ranking bias, we modify the use of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient in Leromain and Orefice (Int Econ 139:48–70, 2014) and generalize the non-parametric measure of Stellian and Danna-Buitrago (J Appl Econ 22(1):349–379, 2019). We discuss different methods of ranking RCA indexes according to all proposed measures. An application to 33 RCA indexes, 67 trade areas and three product classifications shows that, on average, the most accurate RCA indexes are Contribution-to-the-Trade-Balance indexes, Revealed Competitiveness indexes and regression-based indexes.

Concurrent and Predictive Validity of the Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability in Belgian Acute Stroke Patients Based on a 1-Year Follow-Up Study.

The Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) is a standardized clinical swallowing examination, specifically developed as a diagnostic test for the presence of oropharyngeal dysphagia and aspiration in the early period after stroke onset. In the original validation study, cutoff scores of <178 and <170 points, respectively, for the identification of dysphagia and aspiration risk are reported. However, a literature search revealed that alternative cutoff scores for dysphagia and/or aspiration provide better diagnostic accuracy. The aim of this secondary data analysis study was to evaluate the concurrent and predictive validity of the MASA. Data were derived from a Belgian cohort study of an acute stroke population (n = 151). The MASA total score (MASA-TS), which is the sum of weighted scores on the 24 items, was evaluated against the Fiberoptic Endoscopic Dysphagia Severity Scale (FEDSS) to assess concurrent validity. To assess predictive validity of the MASA-TS, pneumonia during hospitalization and over 1 year and mortality acted as a future criterion. Analyses included receiver operating characteristic curves and area under the curve (AUC). Diagnostic accuracy of the MASA-TS was good for dysphagia (AUC = 0.85) and for the presence of relevant aspiration risk (AUC = 0.84). Using the original cutoff scores, the MASA-TS showed perfect sensitivity (Se = 1.00) for the identification of dysphagia and aspiration but inadequate specificity (Sp) for dysphagia (Sp = 0.16) and aspiration (Sp = 0.43). After determining new MASA cutoff scores, the optimal MASA cutoff scores were ≤146 for both dysphagia and aspiration with adequate thresholds (Se = 0.71 and Sp = 0.81 for dysphagia; Se = 0.73 and Sp = 0.80 for aspiration). The MASA-TS was a significant predictor of pneumonia during hospitalization (AUC = 0.85) and 1-year follow-up (AUC = 0.86), and of mortality (AUC = 0.79). The MASA-TS showed good concurrent validity with the FEDSS. Furthermore, using new cutoff scores (≤146 for the identification of dysphagia and aspiration) lead in general to more accurate diagnostic indexes. The MASA-TS is a good predictor of aspiration pneumonia during hospitalization and 1-year follow-up and of mortality.

Spatiotemporal Study of Park Sentiments at Metropolitan Scale Using Multiple Social Media Data

Creating wonderful emotional experiences is the critical social function and cultural service of urban parks. Park sentiment patterns in rapidly urbanizing metropolitan areas need to be understood and interpreted thoroughly. This research aims to systematically study park sentiment patterns in metropolitan areas. By focusing on parks in Shanghai city and using the local mainstream social media data (SMD) of Dazhong Dianping, Ctrip, and Weibo, we created a series of score-related indicators to estimate park sentiment. We then applied statistical analyses to systematically interpret sentiment patterns in the spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal domains, explored their related factors, and compared the performance of different SMD sources. The results proved that Shanghai parks generally bring positive emotions to visitors but showed uneven sentiment patterns citywide. Park sentiment distributions differed from various SMD sources, but the SMD sets of Dazhong Dianping and Ctrip showed significant correlations. For these two SMD sets, visitors have greater and more stable happiness in parks on a workday than on a non-workday and in spring than in other seasons. Parks with higher positive sentiments are scattered citywide, whereas those with lower emotions are clustered in the downtown area. For Weibo, more positive emotions occurred on non-workdays or in autumn, and the lower mood clustering did not exist. Moreover, the quality-related internal factors of the park itself, rather than external factors such as location and conditions, were identified to influence park sentiment. The innovations of park sentiment methods in this study included using multiple SMD sets, creating more accurate sentiment indexes, and applying statistics in temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal domains. These enhanced sentiment analyses for urban parks to obtain more systematic, comprehensive, and thorough results. The defects and improvements for urban park construction were explored by interpreting park sentiment patterns and possible causes and effects. This motivates better park management and urban development, and enlightens urban planners, landscape designers, and policymakers.

An evaluation of competing methods for constructing house price indexes: The case of Warsaw

Accurate house price indexes allow governments and planners to make more effective decisions with regard to land use policy. We compare different ways of computing house price indexes for Warsaw over the period 2006–2018 using a detailed micro-level dataset of 101,182 transactions. We find that when a hedonic approach is used, the resulting index is reasonably robust to the choice of method. More problematic is the repeat-sales method, which is widely used in the US. We find that repeat-sales price indexes are unreliable, affected by sample-selection bias, and prone to significant revisions when new periods are added to the dataset. Even for the hedonic approach, the choice of method can become important for smaller datasets. In such cases, the hedonic time dummy and rolling time dummy methods tend to perform better than the hedonic repricing, hedonic imputation and average characteristics methods. In comparison with the index produced by the National Bank of Poland (NBP), we find that in 2006–7 prices did not rise as much, while since the end of 2012 prices have risen faster than indicated by the NBP index. We attribute these differences to a combination of the choice of hedonic method (we use time-dummy while the NBP index uses the repricing method) and different datasets (the NBP dataset is smaller, especially in the earlier years of the sample).

Representation of In-Service Performance for Cable-Stayed Railway-Highway Combined Bridges Based on Train-Induced Response's Sensing Data and Knowledge.

Real-time representation of the current performance of structures is an important task for perceiving potential danger in in-service bridges. Methods driven by the multisource sensing data of structural health monitoring systems are an effective way to achieve this goal. Due to the explicit zero-point of signals, the live load-induced response has an inherent advantage for quantitatively representing the performance of bridges. Taking a long-span cable-stayed railway–highway combined bridge as the case study, this paper presents a representation method of in-service performance. First, the non-stationary sections of train-induced response are automatically extracted by wavelet transform and window with threshold. Then, the data of the feature parameter of each non-stationary section are automatically divided into four cases of train load according to the calculational theory of bridge vibration under train effect and clustering analysis. Finally, the performance indexes for structural deformation and dynamics are determined separately, based on hierarchical clustering and statistical modeling. Fusing the real variability of massive data from monitoring and the knowledge of mechanics of theoretical calculations, accurate and robust indexes of bridge deflection distribution and forced vibration frequency are obtained in real time. The whole process verifies the feasibility of the representation of bridge in-service performance from massive multisource sensing data. The presented method, framework, and analysis results can be used as a reference for the design, operation, and maintenance works of long-span railway bridges.

Public-Private-Core Maintenance in Public-Private-Graphs

A public-private-graph (pp-graph) is developed to model social networks with hidden relationships, and it consists of one public graph in which edges are visible to all users, and multiple private graphs in which edges are only visible to its endpoint users. In contrast with conventional graphs where the edges can be visible to all users, it lacks accurate indexes to evaluate the importance of a vertex in a pp-graph. In this paper, we first propose a novel concept, public-private-core (pp-core) number based on the <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$k$</tex> -core number, which integrally considers both the public graph and private graphs of vertices, to measure how critical a user is. We then give an efficient algorithm for the pp-core number computation, which takes only linear time and space. Considering that the graphs can be always evolving over time, we also present effective algorithms for pp-core maintenance after the graph changes, avoiding redundant re-computation of pp-core number. Extension experiments conducted on real-world social networks show that our algorithms achieve good efficiency and stability. Compared to recalculating the pp-core numbers of all vertices, our maintenance algorithms can reduce the computation time by about 6–8 orders of magnitude.

DNA metabarcoding reveals differences in distribution patterns and ecological preferences among genetic variants within some key freshwater diatom species

Our study evaluates differences in the distribution and ecology of genetic variants within several ecologically important diatom species that are also key for Water Framework Directive monitoring of European rivers: Fistulifera saprophila (FSAP), Achnanthidium minutissimum (ADMI), Nitzschia inconspicua (NINC) and Nitzschia soratensis (NSTS). We used DADA2 to infer amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) of a short rbcL barcode in 531 environmental samples from biomonitoring campaigns in Catalonia and France. ASVs within each species showed different distribution patterns. Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis revealed three ecological groupings of ASVs in both ADMI and FSAP. Two of these in each species were separated by opposite responses to calcium and conductivity. Boosted regression trees additionally showed that both variables greatly influenced the occurrence of these groupings. A third grouping in FSAP was characterized by a negative response to total organic carbon and hence was better represented in waters with higher ecological status than the other FSAP ASVs, contrasting with what is generally assumed for the species. In the two Nitzschia species, our analyses confirmed earlier studies: NINC preferred higher levels of calcium and conductivity. Our findings suggest that the broad ecological tolerance of some diatom species results from overlapping preferences among genetic variants, which individually show much more restricted preferences and distributions. This work shows the importance of studying the ecological preferences of genetic variants within species complexes, now possible with DNA metabarcoding. The results will help reveal and understand biogeographical distributions and facilitate the development of more accurate biological indexes for biomonitoring programmes.

Diatom metabarcoding reveals differences in ecological preferences among genetic variants within some key species for biomonitoring

We applied DNA metabarcoding to evaluate the ecology of genetic variants within several diatom species that are important for biomonitoring. Benthic diatoms are widely used as bioindicators for biomonitoring programmes, including those for European rivers demanded by Water Framework Directive (WFD). Morphological identification of diatoms at species level is required for assessing the ecological status in biomonitoring programmes. However, this is a time-consuming task and requires expert knowledge. In addition, closely related species, which sometimes are scarcely distinguishable on the basis of their morphology, can show different ecological preferences; these may even vary within a single diatom species. Not being able to identify the different ecological preferences shown by the genetic variants of a single species or closely related species, might have consequences for biomonitoring programmes, especially if such differences occur within common species. The key diatom species that we studied were: Fistulifera saprophila (FSAP), widely regarded as a marker for elevated nutrient levels, organic pollution and hence poor ecological status; Achnanthidium minutissimum (ADMI), which usually indicates good ecological status; and Nitzschia inconspicua (NINC) and N. soratensis (NSTS), two species that are widely separated phylogenetically but almost impossible to distinguish in the light microscope. Our dataset was based on high-throughput sequencing using a 312-bp rbcL marker. We used the denoising pipeline DADA2 to infer amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) from 554 environmental samples from river biomonitoring campaigns in Catalonia (NE Spain) and France. Ecological groupings of ASVs were distinguished according to their environmental responses given by Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis (TITAN); the environmental parameters that most influenced the occurrence of these groupings were tested using boosted regression trees. We could distinguish three different ecological groupings of ASVs within ADMI and three within FSAP. In each species two of the groupings were clearly separated by their opposite responses to calcium and conductivity and boosted regression trees showed that for three out of four of these groupings, these two variables were among the most important variables for explaining the ASV distributions. The third grouping in FSAP had a negative response to total organic carbon and a positive response to altitude and hence was better represented in less organically polluted waters and higher ecological status than is generally assumed for FSAP. Our analyses did not identify ecological groupings of ASVs within NINC and NSTS but confirmed earlier studies, based on more limited sampling, that indicated different preferences of these species. Conductivity and calcium were the variables that most influenced the occurrence of NINC and NSTS, NINC being better distributed in waters with higher levels of calcium and conductivity than NSTS. Our findings indicate the potential use of DNA metabarcoding for distinguishing the ecological preferences of genetic variants within a single species or closely related species. This information, coupled with the broad knowledge generated over many years using traditional microscope-based identifications, will facilitate the development of more accurate biological indexes for the biomonitoring programmes of the future.

Three‐dimensional virtual VR technology in environmental art design

SummaryMore and more diversified environmental art design, combined with advanced 3‐D virtual virtual reality (VR) technology, has made great contributions to the development of modern display design. The purpose of this study is to use the combination of modern technology and traditional art to realize the cohesion of traditional environmental art and promote the economic and cultural development of the city and society. This experiment uses 3D virtual reality virtual technology, which usually takes the form of wearing glasses. There's a screen in front of your eyes. The sound can be transmitted via speakers or acoustics, so that people have an exciting feeling. The application of virtual reality technology to environmental art must follow three principles: the principle of truth in content, the principle of application in form and the principle of the quantity checked. Taking into account the virtual environment art projection function and the degree of user appreciation and referring to the virtual implementation method evaluation indicator in reality, five indices are also formed, such as degree of interaction, degree of photography, degree of function, degree of use, and degree of extension. The experimental results show that the weights of fast and accurate indexes are 0.74 and 0.36, respectively. Virtual interaction technology presents unlimited possibilities, breaks through the narrow nature of traditional display mode, opens up the current real exhibition development space, and provides new thinking for the design of environmental art.

An Evaluation Method for the Skeleton Structure of Cement-Stabilized Crushed Rock Material Using X-Ray CT Images

Abstract No appropriate or accurate skeleton evaluation indexes currently exist for cement-stabilized crushed rock materials (CCRMs). To establish new skeleton evaluation indexes for a CCRM, different skeleton tightness–influenced regions of coarse aggregates were defined and compared to accurately capture the degree of tightness of a skeleton based on computed tomography images. The skeleton denseness index (φ¯) and skeleton stability index (φ¯) were proposed. Moreover, φ¯ was used to evaluate a CCRM that was compacted using the vertical vibration compaction method (VVCM) with different gradations to verify its feasibility. The meso-skeleton and macroscopic indexes (maximum dry density and compressive strength) of a CCRM with different compaction methods and vibration times, along with a field CCRM, were measured and compared. The results show that a range with twice the equivalent radius is rational as the influenced region. The φ¯ of a CCRM compacted using VVCM decreases as the gradation becomes finer, revealing that φ¯ can capture a CCRM skeleton. A CCRM compacted using a quasistatic compaction method has smaller meso-skeleton and macroscopic indexes than a CCRM using VVCM or a field CCRM; all indexes of the CCRM applying VVCM increase as the vibration time increases, whereas the growth rate slows. The results of vibration compaction (90 s) for CCRM match the common outdoor compaction results when constructing semirigid bases (common gradation and cement dosage) in Guangdong Province, China. Moreover, a strong correlation exists between meso-skeleton evaluation indexes and the compressive strength for a 7-day period.

Bayesian Network Model Test Configuration Method based on Genetic and Binary Discrete Particle Swarm Combination Algorithm

Test configuration is an important part in the process of testability design. Most of the existing test configuration methods are based on multi-signal flow diagram model and adopt genetic algorithm or particle swarm optimization (pso). However, there are many problems in this solution. First of all, the multi-signal flow diagram model has poor ability to express uncertain information, low model accuracy, large deviation in the calculation of testability indicators, and the model does not have the ability to learn and update. Secondly, the efficiency of genetic algorithm is low and the computation time is long, while the binary discrete particle swarm optimization algorithm is easy to fall into the local optimal. To solve the above two problems, a test configuration method based on the hybrid algorithm of genetic -binary discrete particle swarm optimization is proposed. This method can combine the global search ability of genetic algorithm with the optimal speed of binary particle swarm optimization, and use the bayesian network model to calculate more accurate testability indexes. It is proved that the algorithm can make full use of the high-precision information provided by the model, and the calculation speed is fast.And it is not easy to fall into the local optimal solution.

Relationship between lncRNA-Ang362 and prognosis of patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention.

The severity and complexity evaluation of coronary artery disease in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) require objective and accurate prognosis indexes. We assessed the relationship between lncRNA-Ang362 and prognosis of CHD patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Clinical follow-up data of CHD patients were prospectively collected. LncRNA-Ang362 levels were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method, and risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were computed using univariate and multivariate COX proportional hazard models. Finally, 434 patients were included in the follow-up cohort. The median follow-up time was 24.8 months (6.7–40). The incidence of adverse cardiovascular events was 13.6%. The high expression group significantly tended to be smoker and higher body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, creatinine, and uric acid levels compared with the low expression group. According to the SYNTAX grade, the high-risk and medium-risk groups had significantly higher lncRNA expression levels than the low-risk group. The univariate COX regression analysis indicated that high lncRAN-Ang362 expression significantly increased the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in CHD patients after PCI (hazard risk (HR) = 3.19, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29–7.92). Multivariate analysis found high lncRNA-Ang362 expression was independently related to worse prognosis in CHD patients after PCI (HR = 2.83, 95%CI: 1.34–6.02). Plasma lncRNA-Ang362 may be a prognosis factor in CHD patients after PCI. The patients with higher lncRNA-Ang362 expression usually have poor prognosis.

Contingency set partition-based impact transfer approach for the reliability assessment of composite generation and transmission systems

It is a challenging task to obtain accurate reliability indexes with high computational efficiency for the reliability assessment of composite generation and transmission systems. A contingency set partition-based impact transfer (CSPIT) approach is proposed in this paper. The CSPIT consists of two stages. In the first stage, a contingency set partition technique is developed to combine the merits of the contingency enumeration method and the Monte Carlo simulation method to obtain accurate reliability indexes with higher efficiency compared to the two traditional methods. With this technique, the contingency set is partitioned into the lower-order contingency subset and the higher-order contingency subset. Then, the contingency enumeration method is applied to enumerate all lower-order contingencies, and the Monte Carlo simulation method is utilized to take samples from the higher-order subset. A new reliability index formulation for the technique is also derived. In the second stage, an impact transfer technique is developed to further improve the computational efficiency. With this technique, the derived formulation in the first stage is modified by transferring partial impacts of higher-order contingencies to the corresponding lower-order ones. The impact transfer reduces the impact variance of higher-order contingencies and thus improves the sampling efficiency of the technique proposed in the first stage. Finally, the reliability index computation flow for the entire CSPIT approach is demonstrated. The CSPIT approach is validated using RTS-79 and IEEE-145 test systems. Study results indicate that our approach can obtain accurate reliability indexes with much higher computational efficiency compared with traditional methods.

Prognostics methods and degradation indexes of proton exchange membrane fuel cells: A review

Prognostics is a promising solution to the short lifetime and high-cost bottlenecks of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The advances of PEMFCs prognostics research can be divided into two main categories, namely, the innovations of prognostics methods and the innovations of degradation indexes. Among them, the degradation indexes are the prerequisites for accurate prognostics of PEMFCs. Although many prognostics methods have been proposed in recent years to improve the performance of prognostics, the research on degradation indexes of PEMFCs has been slow, and few studies have focused on more effective and more general degradation indexes. Currently, the most widely used degradation indexes are still the traditional indexes, which only reflect the macro-scale degradation of PEMFCs, such as voltage and power. In addition, the traditional indexes change as operating conditions change. For PEMFCs under dynamic operating conditions, especially in transportation applications, it is difficult to obtain accurate degradation information based on the traditional indexes. Due to the lack of more accurate, comprehensive, and general degradation indexes, the existing prognostics methods inevitably have limitations and deficiencies. The purpose of this paper is to provide a full review of the latest research advances in the prognostics of PEMFCs, especially the degradation indexes. Moreover, the challenges and future directions of prognostics research are also analyzed.

Experimental Method of Fatigue Performance of Mastic Asphalt for Bridge Deck Pavement

Mastic asphalt is a type of pavement material that has good fluidity and is self-levelling at construction temperature for the bridge deck. There are highly accurate methods and indexes for evaluating fluidity and high-temperature deformation resistance for mastic asphalt-design and construction-control systems. The fatigue cracking is one of the main failure forms of bridge deck pavement. Therefore, the method used to evaluate the fatigue properties of pavement materials is also essential. The anti-deformation capability of the mastic asphalt must be increased, that results in poor fatigue performance and consequent failure of the bridge deck pavement to avoid the rutting of bridge deck pavement. In this study, a simple method is put forward for evaluating mastic asphalt fatigue performance. Impact toughness is defined as the area under the load-displacement curve of a three-point bending beam specimen under impact load to evaluate the fatigue performance of mastic asphalt. The four-point bending beam fatigue test is used to verify the rationality of the impact toughness test method. The results showed that there is a good correlation between the impacts toughness index of mastic asphalt produced under different mixing conditions and the accumulative dissipative energy and fatigue life demonstrated by the four-point bending beam test. Therefore, to evaluate the fatigue performance of mastic asphalt by impact toughness test. Fatigue performance and rut resistance are two ways to evaluate road performance of asphalt mixtures, but they are mutually restrictive. The results show that impact toughness and dynamic stability are inversely correlated. As the impact toughness increases, dynamic stability decreases. Therefore, balancing the fatigue performance and high-temperature rutting resistance of mastic asphalt in the design and quality control is very important.

Nondestructive Evaluation of Wet Aged Beef by Novel Electrical Indexes: A Preliminary Study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the suitability of electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a nondestructive quality monitoring tool of aged beef, focusing on the development of accurate electrical indexes. The relationship between the electrical indexes derived from the impedance ratio (IR) or admittance was established. Quality parameters such as the drip loss, cooking loss, water-holding capacity, and shear force of beef loin wet-aged for 0 to 21 days were evaluated to develop the new electrical indexes. In addition, the predictive capability of EIS was trialed using different indexes and frequencies. This study revealed that the most appropriate choice is to use electrical parameters at a lower frequency to determine or predict the physical properties of aged beef. The IR was derived from the ratio between the electrical impedance measured parallel to and perpendicular to the muscle fibers in the low-frequency domain. Furthermore, the degradation of muscle fibers was observed by optical microscopy. The investigated electrical indexes had higher correlations with shear force (0.52 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.58) compared to correlations with aging days (0.34 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.39). The findings of the study could be used for meat quality inspection in slaughterhouses as well as during aging.

Detection of autumn leaf phenology and color brightness from repeat photography: Accurate, robust, and sensitive indexes and modeling under unstable field observations

Abstract Autumn leaf phenology and its color brightness provide valuable information for managing forest carbon cycles and cultural ecosystem services. Digital repeat photography has provided standard phenological data, but the methodologies for detecting autumn leaf coloring have various strengths and weaknesses. We assessed the accuracy, sensitivity, and uncertainty of various model and color index combinations for detecting autumn leaf coloring. Then we identified the most robust and sensitive methods, using digital repeat photography data from Japanese alpine vegetation. For determining autumn leaf color duration, quadratic or multinomial discriminant analysis using RGB digital numbers had the highest accuracy (hit ratio > 0.7). For determining the peak day of autumn leaf color and its color brightness, we compared uncertainty of methodologies by randomly resampling 80% of the data 20 times to mimic observation errors (e.g., due to heavy rain). The spline-fitted red/green reflectance ratio (RGR) and visible atmospherically resistant index (VARI) proved robust for detecting the peak day (median SD = 1.25). Uncertainty of color brightness was also low when using VARI fitted by a double logistic model for both red and yellow leaves (median coefficient of variation = 1.03). These two indexes are stable despite atmospheric effects, which may result in robustness to daily variation in conditions (e.g., fog). We compared sensitivity of leaf color brightness: RGR and excess red (ExR) fitted by a double logistic model had the highest sensitivity to red and yellow leaves exceeding the average of other combinations by 26% and 88% in median values, respectively. The small denominator or lack of a denominator of these indexes increases the sensitivity to red or yellow. Our results demonstrate the averaged accuracy, sensitivity, and robustness of each methodology among our research sites with different camera observations. These methods should help in utilizing hidden big data from web cameras or past photos that were not intended for scientific research to properly assess autumn leaf phenology and its color brightness.