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Featured Application: Thermal Material Characterisation. Determining thermal material properties such as thermal diffusivity can provide valuable insights into a material's thermal characteristics. A well-established method for this purpose is flash thermography using Parker's half-rise equation. It assumes one-dimensional heat transfer for thermal diffusivity estimation through the thickness of the material. However, research evidence suggests that the technique has not developed as much as the reflection mode over the last decade. This systematic review explores the current state-of-the-art in through-transmission thermography. The methodology adopted for this review is the SALSA framework that seeks to Search, Appraise, Synthesise, and Analyse a selected list of papers. It covers the fundamental physics behind the technique, the advantages/limitations it has, and the current state-of-the-art. Additionally, based on the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Context (PICOC) framework, a specific set of inclusion and exclusion criteria was determined. This resulted in a final list of 81 journal/conference papers selected for this study. These papers were analysed both quantitatively and quantitatively to identify and address the current knowledge gap hindering the further development of through-transmission thermography. The findings from the review outline the current knowledge gap in through-transmission thermography and the challenges hindering the development of the technique, such as depth quantification in pulsed thermography and the lack of a standardised procedure for conducting measurements in the transmission mode. Overcoming some of these obstacles can pave the way for further development of this method to aid in material characterisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Natural language processing, such as ChatGPT, demonstrates growing potential across numerous research scenarios, also raising interest in its applications in public health and epidemiology. Here, we applied a bibliometric analysis for a systematic assessment of the current literature related to the applications of ChatGPT in epidemiology and public health. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted on the Biblioshiny web-app, by collecting original articles indexed in the Scopus database between 2010 and 2023. Results: On a total of 3431 original medical articles, "Article" and "Conference paper", mostly constituting the total of retrieved documents, highlighting that the term "ChatGPT" becomes an interesting topic from 2023. The annual publications escalated from 39 in 2010 to 719 in 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 25.1%. In terms of country production over time, the USA led with the highest overall production from 2010 to 2023. Concerning citations, the most frequently cited countries were the USA, UK, and China. Interestingly, Harvard Medical School emerges as the leading contributor, accounting for 18% of all articles among the top ten affiliations. Conclusions: Our study provides an overall examination of the existing research interest in ChatGPT's applications for public health by outlining pivotal themes and uncovering emerging trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds to a conference call for papers that makes universalist assumptions about clause structures, assuming all languages in the world basically follow the same organizing principles in terms of clause structure, argument structure, and alignment. The article presents data from Tagalog to show how different a language can be from the assumed universal organizing principles to make the point that by imposing an Indo-European framework on non-Indo-European languages, we are overlooking the true diversity of language forms found in the world's languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how agricultural knowledge and innovation systems (AKISs) can address the issue of sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR) is presented in this conference paper. This literature review, which collected published research from the Scopus electronic database, aimed to explore the value of AKISs in enhancing the sustainability of natural resources. Therefore, it examined and evaluated the roles of AKISs as either positive or negative overall. Moreover, it analyzed whether the use of AKISs supports the goal of creating a sustainable system that links agriculture with natural resources. Among its findings, this review presents the positive and negative outcomes of each element and potential future scenarios/suggestions if the current trends persist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of generative learning models in natural language processing (NLP) has significantly contributed to the advancement of natural language applications, such as sentimental analysis, topic modeling, text classification, chatbots, and spam filtering. With a large amount of text generated each day from different sources, such as web-pages, blogs, emails, social media, and articles, one of the most common tasks in NLP is the classification of a text corpus. This is important in many institutions for planning, decision-making, and creating archives of their projects. Many algorithms exist to automate text classification tasks but the most intriguing of them is that which also learns these tasks automatically. In this study, we present a new model to infer and learn from data using probabilistic logic and apply it to text classification. This model, called GenCo, is a multi-input single-output (MISO) learning model that uses a collaboration of partial classifications to generate the desired output. It provides a heterogeneity measure to explain its classification results and enables a reduction in the curse of dimensionality in text classification. Experiments with the model were carried out on the Twitter US Airline dataset, the Conference Paper dataset, and the SMS Spam dataset, outperforming baseline models with 98.40%, 89.90%, and 99.26% accuracy, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current literature dealing with the theory of sampling process flows is limited in scope, a situation addressed by papers presented at conferences by the author. This paper provides a summary of methods to quantify process sampling variance in a sound statistical manner. Two methods of calculation of the process sampling variance are presented here with models for robust estimation of the process covariance/variogram. The strategies for process sampling to acquire the data for process characterisation are described. The method for process characterisation can be based on special sampling campaigns, on the analysis of on-line measurement data, or on the analysis of historical data, which may be based on composite samples, such as shift samples. These scenarios are all dealt with as well as methods based on analysis of process dynamics. The latter analysis demonstrates that use of covariance functions drawn from geostatistical practice can be inappropriate for process analysis. The work is supported with plant data examples and quantitative analyses of process conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For thousands of years till nowadays, Nigella sativa (NS) has served as a common spice and food preservative. Its seed extracts, seed oil, and essential oil in traditional medicine have been used to remedy many ailments such as headaches, fever, gastric complaints, and even rheumatism. In addition, the antibacterial, virucidal, fungicidal, and antiparasitic properties of NS are well known. However, studies on the possible immunomodulatory effects of black cumin are relatively scarce. This article discusses in vitro and in vivo research supporting the immunomodulatory role of NS. Methods: The review is based on articles, books, and conference papers printed until September 2022, found in the Web of Science, PubMed, Wiley Online Library, and Google Scholar databases. Results: Experimental findings were reported concerning the ability of NS to modulate inflammation and immune responses or cytotoxic activity. Conclusions: All results suggest that NS can potentially be employed in developing effective therapeutic agents for regulating immune reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many researchers in the construction field have explored the utilization of augmented reality (AR) and its impact on the industry. Previous studies have shown potential uses for AR in the construction industry. However, a comprehensive critical review exploring the ways in which AR supports synchronized communication is still missing. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining trends identified in the literature and by analyzing both beneficial and challenging attributes. This work was performed by collecting numerous journal and conference papers, using keywords including "augmented reality", "construction", and "synchronous communication". The papers were then categorized based on the reported attributes that were indicated to be challenges or benefits. Throughout the analysis, several benefits were consistently reported, including training, visualization, instantly sharing information, decision making, and intuitive interaction. Similarly, several challenges were consistently reported, such as difficulty in manipulation, unfriendly interface, device discomfort, and sun brightness. Regarding other attributes, such as field of view, cost, safety hazards, and hands-free mode, researchers provided divergent reports regarding whether they were beneficial or detrimental to AR communication. These findings provide valuable guidance for future researchers and practitioners, enabling them to leverage AR for synchronized communication in ways that consistently offer value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This article aims to perform a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to better understand the structures of different methods, techniques, models, methodologies, and technologies related to provenance data management in health information systems (HISs). The SLR developed here seeks to answer the questions that contribute to describing the results. Method: An SLR was performed on six databases using a search string. The backward and forward snowballing technique was also used. Eligible studies were all articles in English that presented on the use of different methods, techniques, models, methodologies, and technologies related to provenance data management in HISs. The quality of the included articles was assessed to obtain a better connection to the topic studied. Results: Of the 239 studies retrieved, 14 met the inclusion criteria described in this SLR. In order to complement the retrieved studies, 3 studies were included using the backward and forward snowballing technique, totaling 17 studies dedicated to the construction of this research. Most of the selected studies were published as conference papers, which is common when involving computer science in HISs. There was a more frequent use of data provenance models from the PROV family in different HISs combined with different technologies, among which blockchain and middleware stand out. Despite the advantages found, the lack of technological structure, data interoperability problems, and the technical unpreparedness of working professionals are still challenges encountered in the management of provenance data in HISs. Conclusion: It was possible to conclude the existence of different methods, techniques, models, and combined technologies, which are presented in the proposal of a taxonomy that provides researchers with a new understanding about the management of provenance data in HISs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a systematic literature review is presented, through a survey of the main digital databases, regarding modelling methods for Short-Term Load Forecasting (STLF) for hourly electricity demand for residential electricity and to realize the performance evolution and impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in STLF. With these specific objectives, a conceptual framework on the subject was developed, along with a systematic review of the literature based on scientific publications with high impact and a bibliometric study directed towards the scientific production of AI and STLF. The review of research articles over a 10-year period, which took place between 2012 and 2022, used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. This research resulted in more than 300 articles, available in four databases: Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Science Direct. The research was organized around three central themes, which were defined through the following keywords: STLF, Electricity, and Residential, along with their corresponding synonyms. In total, 334 research articles were analyzed, and the year of publication, journal, author, geography by continent and country, and the area of application were identified. Of the 335 documents found in the initial research and after applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, which allowed delimiting the subject addressed in the topics of interest for analysis, 38 (thirty-eight) documents were in English (26 journal articles and 12 conference papers). The results point to a diversity of modelling techniques and associated algorithms. The corresponding performance was measured with different metrics and, therefore, cannot be compared directly. Hence, it is desirable to have a unified dataset, together with a set of benchmarks with well-defined metrics for a clear comparison of all the modelling techniques and the corresponding algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ant-inspired metaheuristic algorithms known as ant colony optimization (ACO) offer an approach that has the ability to solve complex problems in both discrete and continuous domains. ACOs have gained significant attention in the field of water resources management, since many problems in this domain are non-linear, complex, challenging and also demand reliable solutions. The aim of this study is to critically review the applications of ACO algorithms specifically in the field of hydrology and hydrogeology, which include areas such as reservoir operations, water distribution systems, coastal aquifer management, long-term groundwater monitoring, hydraulic parameter estimation, and urban drainage and storm network design. Research articles, peer-reviewed journal papers and conference papers on ACO were critically analyzed to identify the arguments and research findings to delineate the scope for future research and to identify the drawbacks of ACO. Implementation of ACO variants is also discussed, as hybrid and modified ACO techniques prove to be more efficient over traditional ACO algorithms. These algorithms facilitate formulation of near-optimal solutions, and they also help improve cost efficiency. Although many studies are attempting to overcome the difficulties faced in the application of ACO, some parts of the mathematical analysis remain unsolved. It is also observed that despite its popularity, studies have not been successful in incorporating the uncertainty in ACOs and the problems of dimensionality, convergence and stability are yet to be resolved. Nevertheless, ACO is a potential area for further research as the studies on the applications of these techniques are few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research focused on using RGB-D images and modifying an existing machine learning network architecture to generate predictions of the location of successfully grasped objects and to optimize the control system for state delays. A five-finger gripper designed to mimic the human palm was tested to demonstrate that it can perform more delicate missions than many two- or three-finger grippers. Experiments were conducted using the 6-DOF robot arm with the five-finger and two-finger grippers to perform at least 100 actual machine grasps, and compared to the results of other studies. Additionally, we investigated state time delays and proposed a control method for a robot manipulator. Many studies on time-delay systems have been conducted, but most focus on input and output delays. One reason for this emphasis is that input and output delays are the most commonly occurring delays in physical or electronic systems. An additional reason is that state delays increase the complexity of the overall control system. Finally, it was demonstrated that our network can perform as well as a deep network architecture with little training data and omitting steps, such as posture evaluation, and when combined with the hardware advantages of the five-finger gripper, it can produce an automated system with a gripping success rate of over 90%. This paper is an extended study of the conference paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When micro-expressions are mixed with normal or macro-expressions, it becomes increasingly challenging to spot them in long videos. Aiming at the specific time prior of micro-expressions (MEs), an ME spotting network called AEM-Net (adaptive enhanced ME detection network) is proposed. This paper is an extension of the conference paper presented at the Chinese Conference on Biometric Recognition (CCBR). The network improves spotting performance in the following five aspects. Firstly, a multi-stage channel feature extraction module is constructed to extract the features at different depths. Then, an attention spatial-temporal module is leveraged to obtain salient and discriminative micro-expression segments while suppressing the generation of excessively long or short suggestions. Thirdly, a ME-NMS (non-maximum suppression) network is developed to reduce redundancy and decision errors. Fourthly, a multi-scale feature fusion module is introduced to fuse up-sampling features of high-level maps and fine-grained information, which obtains meaningful information on feature distribution and contributes to a good representation of MEs. Finally, two spotting mechanisms named anchor-based and anchor free were integrated to get final spotting. Extensive experiments were conducted on prevalent CAS (ME) 2 and the SAMM-Long ME databases to evaluate the spotting performance. The results show that the AEM-Net achieves competitive performance, outperforming other state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Handwritten signatures are widely used for identity authorization. However, verifying handwritten signatures is cumbersome in practice due to the dependency on extra drawing tools such as a digitizer, and because the false acceptance of a forged signature can cause damage to property. Therefore, exploring a way to balance the security and user experiment of handwritten signatures is critical. In this paper, we propose a handheld signature verification scheme called SilentSign, which leverages acoustic sensors (i.e., microphone and speaker) in mobile devices. Compared to the previous online signature verification system, it provides handy and safe paper-based signature verification services. The prime notion is to utilize the acoustic signals that are bounced back via a pen tip to depict a user's signing pattern. We designed the signal modulation stratagem carefully to guarantee high performance, developed a distance measurement algorithm based on phase shift, and trained a verification model. In comparison with the traditional signature verification scheme, SilentSign allows users to sign more conveniently as well as invisibly. To evaluate SilentSign in various settings, we conducted comprehensive experiments with 35 participants. Our results reveal that SilentSign can attain 98.2 % AUC and 1.25 % EER. We note that a shorter conference version of this paper was presented in Percom (2019). Our initial conference paper did not finish the complete experiment. This manuscript has been revised and provided additional experiments to the conference proceedings; for example, by including System Robustness, Computational Overhead, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eddy current brake (ECB) is a braking technology that continues to be developed. The use of the ECB has excellent potential to be applied to vehicles. Various studies have proposed the design, characteristics, and advantages of each. However, further analysis is needed to assess the performance of the ECB and what factors affect the performance. However, no studies have been found that discuss eddy current brakes using bibliometric analysis. Bibliometric analysis is a method used for mapping and knowledge of existing gaps in a particular topic. This article aims to provide a complete discussion with bibliometric statistical methods that have never been presented before in the field of eddy current brakes, especially the phenomenon of heat generation. In addition, the prediction of research gaps in this field can be identified as the initial results of further research. The analysis was carried out using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny integrated through the RStudio tool. The data are obtained through the Scopus database, which is then exported in CSV form. Obtaining the data depends on the keywords used. In this case, the obtained document is filtered with the features provided by Scopus. From the analysis conducted, it was found that the topic related to heat in eddy current brakes is still a recent discussion. Discussions on the heat increase in the ECB are still limited and require mapping and analysis of what parts still need development. The phenomenon of heat generation is one novelty that allows it to be researched. One example from the scientific data obtained is that there are 207 documents in the form of articles and conference papers with a total of 533 authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyper-heuristics have arisen as methods that increase the generality of existing solvers. They have proven helpful for dealing with complex problems, particularly those related to combinatorial optimization. Their recent growth in popularity has increased the daily amount of text in the related literature. This information is primarily unstructured, mainly text that traditional computer data systems cannot process. Traditional systematic literature review studies exhibit multiple limitations, including high time consumption, lack of replicability, and subjectivity of the results. For this reason, text mining has become essential for researchers in recent years. Therefore, efficient text mining techniques are needed to extract meaningful information, patterns, and relationships. This study adopts a literature review of 963 journal and conference papers on hyper-heuristic-related works. We first describe the essential text mining techniques, including text preprocessing, word clouds, clustering, and frequent association rule learning in hyper-heuristic publications. With that information, we implement visualization tools to understand the most frequent relations and topics in the hyper-heuristic domain. The main findings highlight the most dominant topics in the literature. We use text mining analysis to find widespread manifestations, representing the significance of the different areas of hyper-heuristics. Furthermore, we apply clustering to provide seven categories showing the associations between the topics related to hyper-heuristic literature. The vast amount of data available that we find opens up a new opportunity for researchers to analyze the status of hyper-heuristics and help create strategic plans regarding the scope of hyper-heuristics. Lastly, we remark that future work will address the limitations of collecting information from multiple data sources and analyze book chapters related to hyper-heuristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiesel can be produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, frying oils, and from microorganism-synthesized oils. These sources render biodiesel an easily biodegradable fuel. The aim of this work was to perform an advanced bibliometric analysis of primary studies relating to biodiesel production worldwide by identifying the key countries and regions that have shown a strong engagement in this area, and by understanding the dynamics of their collaboration and research outputs. Additionally, an assessment of the main primary feedstocks employed in this research was carried out, along with an analysis of the current and future trends that are expected to define new paths and methodologies to be used in the manufacture of biodegradable and renewable fuels. A total of 4586 academic outputs were selected, including peer-reviewed research articles, conference papers, and literature reviews related to biodiesel production, in the time period spanning from 2010 to 2021. Articles that focused on feedstocks for the production of biodiesel were also included, with a search that returned 330 papers. Lastly, 60 articles relating to biodiesel production via sewage were specifically included to allow for an analysis of this source as a promising feedstock in the future of the biofuel market. Via the geocoding and the document analyses performed, we concluded that China, Malaysia, and India are the largest writers of articles in this area, revealing a great interest in biofuels in Asia. Additionally, it was noted that environmental concerns have caused authors to conduct research on feedstocks that can address the sustainability challenges in the production of biodiesel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathophysiology of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is multifactorial and not entirely clear. The objective of the review was to examine the current state of knowledge concerning the role of exosomes in CRS. For this systematic review, we searched PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, CENTRAL, and Web of Science databases for studies published until 7 August 2022. Only original research articles describing studies published in English were included. Reviews, book chapters, case studies, conference papers, and opinions were excluded. The quality of the evidence was assessed with the modified Office and Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT) Risk of Bias Rating Tool for Human and Animal Studies. Of 250 records identified, 17 were eligible, all of which had a low to moderate risk of overall bias. Presented findings indicate that exosomal biomarkers, including proteins and microRNA, act as promising biomarkers in the diagnostics and prognosis of CRS patients and, in addition, may contribute to finding novel therapeutic targets. Exosomes reflecting tissue proteomes are excellent, highly available material for studying proteomic alterations noninvasively. The first steps have already been taken, but more advanced research on nasal exosomes is needed, which might open a wider door for individualized medicine in CRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this state-of-the-art review, the authors explore the recent advancements in the topics of learning curve models and their estimation methods for manual operations and processes as well as the data collection and monitoring technologies used for supporting these. This objective is achieved by answering the following three research questions: (RQ1) What calculation methods for estimating the learning curve of a worker exist in the recent scientific literature? (RQ2) What other usages are manufacturing enterprises giving to the modern learning curve prediction models according to the recent scientific literature? and (RQ3) What data collection and monitoring technologies exist to automatically acquire the data needed to create and continuously update the learning curve of an assembly operator? To do so, the PRISMA methodology for literature reviews was used, only including journal articles and conference papers referencing the topic of manual operations and processes, and to fulfil the criteria of a state-of-the-art review, only the literary corpus generated in the last five years (from 2017 to 2022) was reviewed. The scientific databases where the explorative research was carried out were Scopus and Web of Science. Such research resulted in 11 relevant journal articles and international conference papers, which were first reviewed, synthesized, and then compared. Four estimating methods were found for learning curves, and one recently developed learning curve model was found. As for the data collection and monitoring technologies, six frameworks were found and reviewed. Lastly, in the discussion, different areas of opportunity were found in the current state-of-the-art, mainly by combining the existing learning curve models and their estimation methods and feeding these with modern real-time data collection and monitoring frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We try to assess the validity of assumptions taken when deriving drift velocity. We give simple formulas for characteristics of the spatiotemporal correlation function of the observed diffraction pattern for the frozen flow and the more general Briggs model. Using Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) Cassiopeia intensity observation, we compare the experimental velocity scaling factor with a theoretical one to show that both models do not follow observations. We also give a qualitative comparison of our drift velocity estimates with SuperDARN convection maps. The article is essentially an extended version of the conference paper: "Determining ionospheric drift and anisotropy of irregularities from LOFAR core measurements", Signal Processing Symposium 2021 (SPSympo 2021). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technology for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has significantly changed over the years, with important improvements in the signal generators, the coils, the positioning systems, and the software for modeling, optimization, and therapy planning. In this systematic literature review (SLR), the evolution of each component of TMS technology is presented and analyzed to assess the limitations to overcome. This SLR was carried out following the PRISMA 2020 statement. Published articles of TMS were searched for in four databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, IEEE). Conference papers and other reviews were excluded. Records were filtered using terms about TMS technology with a semi-automatic software; articles that did not present new technology developments were excluded manually. After this screening, 101 records were included, with 19 articles proposing new stimulator designs (18.8%), 46 presenting or adapting coils (45.5%), 18 proposing systems for coil placement (17.8%), and 43 implementing algorithms for coil optimization (42.6%). The articles were blindly classified by the authors to reduce the risk of bias. However, our results could have been influenced by our research interests, which would affect conclusions for applications in psychiatric and neurological diseases. Our analysis indicates that more emphasis should be placed on optimizing the current technology with a special focus on the experimental validation of models. With this review, we expect to establish the base for future TMS technological developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: This entry presents the theoretical fundamentals, the mathematical formulation, and the numerical solution for the problem of desiccation cracks in clayey soils. The formulation uses two stress state variables (total stress and suction) and results in a non-symmetric and nonlinear system of transient partial differential equations. A release node algorithm technique is proposed to simulate cracking, and the strategy to implement it in the hydromechanical framework is explained in detail. This general framework was validated with experimental results, and several numerical examples were published at international conferences and in journal papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federated learning (FL) is a scheme in which several consumers work collectively to unravel machine learning (ML) problems, with a dominant collector synchronizing the procedure. This decision correspondingly enables the training data to be distributed, guaranteeing that the individual device's data are secluded. The paper systematically reviewed the available literature using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guiding principle. The study presents a systematic review of appliable ML approaches for FL, reviews the categorization of FL, discusses the FL application areas, presents the relationship between FL and Blockchain Technology (BT), and discusses some existing literature that has used FL and ML approaches. The study also examined applicable machine learning models for federated learning. The inclusion measures were (i) published between 2017 and 2021, (ii) written in English, (iii) published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and (iv) Preprint published papers. Unpublished studies, thesis and dissertation studies, (ii) conference papers, (iii) not in English, and (iv) did not use artificial intelligence models and blockchain technology were all removed from the review. In total, 84 eligible papers were finally examined in this study. Finally, in recent years, the amount of research on ML using FL has increased. Accuracy equivalent to standard feature-based techniques has been attained, and ensembles of many algorithms may yield even better results. We discovered that the best results were obtained from the hybrid design of an ML ensemble employing expert features. However, some additional difficulties and issues need to be overcome, such as efficiency, complexity, and smaller datasets. In addition, novel FL applications should be investigated from the standpoint of the datasets and methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift to e-commerce has changed many business areas. Real estate is one of the applications that has been affected by this modern technological wave. Recommender systems are intelligent models that assist users of real estate platforms in finding the best possible properties that fulfill their needs. However, the recommendation task is substantially more challenging in the real estate domain due to the many domain-specific limitations that impair typical recommender systems. For instance, real estate recommender systems usually face the clod-start problem where there are no historical logs for new users or new items, and the recommender system should provide recommendations for these new entities. Therefore, the recommender systems in the real estate market are different and substantially less studied than in other domains. In this article, we aim at providing a comprehensive and systematic literature review on applications of recommender systems in the real estate market. We evaluate a set of research articles (13 journal and 13 conference papers) which represent the majority of research and commercial solutions proposed in the field of real estate recommender systems. These papers have been reviewed and categorized based on their methodological approaches, the main challenges that they addressed, and their evaluation procedures. Based on these categorizations, we outlined some possible directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a review of how the end-of-life (EOL) stage is modelled in life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Twenty-five peer-reviewed journal and conference papers that consider the whole LIB life cycle and describe their EOL modelling approach sufficiently were analyzed. The studies were categorized based on two archetypal EOL modelling approaches in LCA: The cutoff (no material recovery, possibly secondary material input) and EOL recycling (material recovery, only primary material input) approaches. It was found that 19 of the studies followed the EOL recycling approach and 6 the cutoff approach. In addition, almost a third of the studies deviated from the expected setup of the two methods by including both material recovery and secondary material input. Such hybrid approaches may lead to double counting of recycling benefits by both including secondary input (as in the cutoff approach) and substituting primary materials (as in the EOL recycling approach). If the archetypal EOL modelling approaches are not followed, it is imperative that the modelling choices are well-documented and motivated to avoid double counting that leads to over- or underestimations of the environmental impacts of LIBs. Also, 21 studies model hydrometallurgical treatment, and 17 completely omit waste collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process variations during manufacturing lead to differences in the performance of the chips. In order to better utilize the performance of the chips, it is necessary to perform maximum operation frequency ( F m a x ) tests to place the chips into different speed bins. For most F m a x tests, significant efforts are put in place to reduce test cost and improve binning accuracy; e.g., our conference paper published in ICICM 2017 presents a novel binning sensor for low-cost and accurate speed binning. However, by promoting chips placed at the lower bins, because of conservative binning, into higher bins, the overall profit can greatly increase. Therefore, this paper, extended based on a conference paper, presents a novel and adaptive methodology for speed binning, in which the paths impacting the speed bin of a specific IC are identified and adapted by our proposed on-chip Binning Checker and Binning Adaptor. As a result, some parts at a bin margin can be promoted to higher bins. The proposed methodology can be used to optimize the F m a x yield of a digital circuit when it has redundant timing in clock tree, and it can be integrated into current F m a x tests with low extra cost. The proposed adaptive system has been implemented and validated on five benchmarks from ITC, ISCAS89, and OpenSPARCT2 core on 28 nm Altera FPGAs. Measurement results show that the number of higher bin chips is improved by 7–16%, and our cost analysis shows that the profit increase is between 1.18% and 3.04%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been employed in various fields of biotechnology due to their proven properties as an antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent. AgNPs are generally synthesized through chemical, physical and biological approaches involving a myriad of methods. As each approach confers unique advantages and challenges, a trends analysis of literature for the AgNPs synthesis using different types of synthesis were also reviewed through a bibliometric approach. A sum of 10,278 publications were analyzed on the annual numbers of publication relating to AgNPs and biological, chemical or physical synthesis from 2010 to 2020 using Microsoft Excel applied to the Scopus publication database. Furthermore, another bibliometric clustering and mapping software were used to study the occurrences of author keywords on the biomedical applications of biosynthesized AgNPs and a total collection of 224 documents were found, sourced from articles, reviews, book chapters, conference papers and reviews. AgNPs provides an excellent, dependable, and effective solution for seven major concerns: as antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, bone healing, bone cement, dental applications and wound healing. In recent years, AgNPs have been employed in biomedical sector due to their antibacterial, antiviral and anticancer properties. This review discussed on the types of synthesis, how AgNPs are characterized and their applications in biomedical field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a definition, Human–Machine Interface (HMI) enables a person to interact with a device. Starting from elementary equipment, the recent development of novel techniques and unobtrusive devices for biosignals monitoring paved the way for a new class of HMIs, which take such biosignals as inputs to control various applications. The current survey aims to review the large literature of the last two decades regarding biosignal-based HMIs for assistance and rehabilitation to outline state-of-the-art and identify emerging technologies and potential future research trends. PubMed and other databases were surveyed by using specific keywords. The found studies were further screened in three levels (title, abstract, full-text), and eventually, 144 journal papers and 37 conference papers were included. Four macrocategories were considered to classify the different biosignals used for HMI control: biopotential, muscle mechanical motion, body motion, and their combinations (hybrid systems). The HMIs were also classified according to their target application by considering six categories: prosthetic control, robotic control, virtual reality control, gesture recognition, communication, and smart environment control. An ever-growing number of publications has been observed over the last years. Most of the studies (about 67%) pertain to the assistive field, while 20% relate to rehabilitation and 13% to assistance and rehabilitation. A moderate increase can be observed in studies focusing on robotic control, prosthetic control, and gesture recognition in the last decade. In contrast, studies on the other targets experienced only a small increase. Biopotentials are no longer the leading control signals, and the use of muscle mechanical motion signals has experienced a considerable rise, especially in prosthetic control. Hybrid technologies are promising, as they could lead to higher performances. However, they also increase HMIs' complexity, so their usefulness should be carefully evaluated for the specific application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Placental abruption is the separation of the placenta from the lining of the uterus before childbirth. It is an infrequent perinatal complication with serious after-effects and a marked risk of maternal and fetal mortality. Despite the fact that numerous placental abruption risk factors are known, the pathophysiology of this issue is multifactorial and not entirely clear. The aim of this review was to examine the current state of knowledge concerning the molecular changes on the maternal–fetal interface occurring in placental abruption. Only original research articles describing studies published in English until the 15 March 2021 were considered eligible. Reviews, book chapters, case studies, conference papers and opinions were excluded. The systematic literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases identified 708 articles, 22 of which were analyzed. The available evidence indicates that the disruption of the immunological processes on the maternal–fetal interface plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of placental abruption. The features of chronic non-infectious inflammation and augmented immunological cytotoxic response were found to be present in placental abruption samples in the reviewed studies. Various molecules participate in this process, with only a few being examined. More advanced research is needed to fully explain this complicated process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, game-based learning has received growing attention in educational contexts in general and science education in particular. A recent game trend, which has also found its way into STEM classrooms, is escape rooms. In this type of game, players have to work through several puzzles to achieve a specific goal (mostly to escape from an actual room). We conducted a systematic literature review to find out whether the "market" for such games is already saturated or if there is still potential for further development. After searching the common databases (ERIC, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, as well as the German database FIS Bildung), we analyzed 93 journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers in English and German from the following domains: chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, computer science, general science (interdisciplinary), environmental science, and medicine. We selected the ones that targeted a specific educational level (primary, secondary or tertiary education) and were designed for formal educational settings. It transpired that there is a need for more easily adaptable escape rooms as well as for more empirical evidence on their actual effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deterioration of bridge infrastructure is a serious concern to transport and government agencies as it declines serviceability and reliability of bridges and jeopardizes public safety. Maintenance and rehabilitation needs of bridge infrastructure are periodically monitored and assessed, typically every two years. Existing inspection techniques, such as visual inspection, are time-consuming, subjective, and often incomplete. Non-destructive testing (NDT) using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been gaining momentum for bridge monitoring in the recent years, particularly due to enhanced accessibility and cost efficiency, deterrence of traffic closure, and improved safety during inspection. The primary objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive review of the application of UAVs in bridge condition monitoring, used in conjunction with remote sensing technologies. Remote sensing technologies such as visual imagery, infrared thermography, LiDAR, and other sensors, integrated with UAVs for data acquisition are analyzed in depth. This study compiled sixty-five journal and conference papers published in the last two decades scrutinizing NDT-based UAV systems. In addition to comparison of stand-alone and integrated NDT-UAV methods, the facilitation of bridge inspection using UAVs is thoroughly discussed in the present article in terms of ease of use, accuracy, cost-efficiency, employed data collection tools, and simulation platforms. Additionally, challenges and future perspectives of the reviewed UAV-NDT technologies are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visibility of academic articles or conference papers depends on their being easily found in academic search engines, above all in Google Scholar. To enhance this visibility, search engine optimization (SEO) has been applied in recent years to academic search engines in order to optimize documents and, thereby, ensure they are better ranked in search pages (i.e., academic search engine optimization or ASEO). To achieve this degree of optimization, we first need to further our understanding of Google Scholar's relevance ranking algorithm, so that, based on this knowledge, we can highlight or improve those characteristics that academic documents already present and which are taken into account by the algorithm. This study seeks to advance our knowledge in this line of research by determining whether the language in which a document is published is a positioning factor in the Google Scholar relevance ranking algorithm. Here, we employ a reverse engineering research methodology based on a statistical analysis that uses Spearman's correlation coefficient. The results obtained point to a bias in multilingual searches conducted in Google Scholar with documents published in languages other than in English being systematically relegated to positions that make them virtually invisible. This finding has important repercussions, both for conducting searches and for optimizing positioning in Google Scholar, being especially critical for articles on subjects that are expressed in the same way in English and other languages, the case, for example, of trademarks, chemical compounds, industrial products, acronyms, drugs, diseases, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scarce and niche in the literature just a few years ago, the blockchain topic is now the main subject in conference papers and books. However, the hype generated by the technology and its potential implications for real-world applications is flawed by many misconceptions about how it works and how it is implemented, creating faulty thinking or overly optimistic expectations. Too often, characteristics such as immutability, transparency, and censorship resistance, which mainly belong to the bitcoin blockchain, are sought in regular blockchains, whose potential is barely comparable. Furthermore, critical aspects such as oracles and their role in smart contracts receive few literature contributions, leaving results and theoretical implications highly questionable. This literature review of the latest papers in the field aims to give clarity to the blockchain oracle problem by discussing its effects in some of the most promising real-world applications. The analysis supports the view that the more trusted a system is, the less the oracle problem impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this review was to summarize the available evidence about the use of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) as a contraceptive method in nulliparous women. For this purpose, studies evaluating the efficacy, safety, bleeding pattern, satisfaction and discontinuation of the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system in nulliparous women were analyzed. Only original research articles published in English between 1990–27th March 2020 were considered eligible. Reviews, book chapters, case studies, conference papers, opinions, editorials and letters were excluded. The systematic literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase and Cochrane Library databases identified 816 articles, 23 of which were analyzed. The available evidence indicates that LNG-IUS is an effective and safe contraceptive method for nulliparous women that achieves high levels of satisfaction among patients. Moreover, nulliparous women seem to experience fewer expulsions than parous ones. Bleeding pattern is acceptable for the majority of patients, and bleeding disorders mainly occur in the first months after the insertion. More in-depth, long-term prospective studies are needed in this patient group to determine risk factors for the occurrence of side effects and associated discontinuations, which should not, however, delay the wider use of the method in this group, given the number of advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]