Search Results (17)

To assess the impact of a deep learning (DL) denoising reconstruction algorithm applied to identical patient scans acquired with two different voxel dimensions, representing distinct spatial resolutions, this IRB-approved prospective study was conducted at a tertiary pediatric center in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. A General Electric Signa Premier unit (GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI) was employed to acquire two DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) sequences of the left knee on each child at 3T: an in-plane 2.0 × 2.0 ${\mathrm{m}\mathrm{m}}^2$ with section thickness of 3.0 mm and a 2 mm³ isovolumetric voxel; neither had an intersection gap. For image acquisition, a multi-band DTI with a fat-suppressed single-shot spin-echo echo-planar sequence (20 non-collinear directions; b-values of 0 and 600 s/mm²) was utilized. The MR vendor-provided a commercially available DL model which was applied with 75% noise reduction settings to the same subject DTI sequences at different spatial resolutions. We compared DTI tract metrics from both DL-reconstructed scans and non-denoised scans for the femur and tibia at each spatial resolution. Differences were evaluated using Wilcoxon-signed ranked test and Bland–Altman plots. When comparing DL versus non-denoised diffusion metrics in femur and tibia using the 2 mm × 2 mm × 3 mm voxel dimension, there were no significant differences between tract count (p = 0.1, p = 0.14) tract volume (p = 0.1, p = 0.29) or tibial tract length (p = 0.16); femur tract length exhibited a significant difference (p < 0.01). All diffusion metrics (tract count, volume, length, and fractional anisotropy (FA)) derived from the DL-reconstructed scans, were significantly different from the non-denoised scan DTI metrics in both the femur and tibial physes using the 2 mm³ voxel size (p < 0.001). DL reconstruction resulted in a significant decrease in femorotibial FA for both voxel dimensions (p < 0.01). Leveraging denoising algorithms could address the drawbacks of lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) associated with smaller voxel volumes and capitalize on their better spatial resolutions, allowing for more accurate quantification of diffusion metrics. Full article

This paper presents the cloud vendor lock-in prediction framework (CVL), which aims to address the challenges that arise from vendor lock-in in cloud computing. The framework provides a systematic approach to evaluate the extent of dependency between service providers and consumers and offers predictive risk analysis and detailed cost assessments. At the heart of the CVL framework is the Dependency Module, which enables service consumers to input weighted factors that are critical to their reliance on cloud service providers. These factors include service costs, data transfer expenses, security features, compliance adherence, scalability, and technical integrations. The research delves into the critical factors that are necessary for dependency calculation and cost analysis, providing insights into determining dependency levels and associated financial implications. Experimental results showcase dependency levels among service providers and consumers, highlighting the framework’s utility in guiding strategic decision-making processes. The CVL is a powerful tool that empowers service consumers to proactively navigate the complexities of cloud vendor lock-in. By offering valuable insights into dependency levels and financial implications, the CVL aids in risk mitigation and facilitates informed decision-making. Full article

Snacks and beverages are often sold in addition to meals in U.S. schools (“competitive foods”), but their current nutritional quality and compliance with national Smart Snacks standards are unknown. This study assessed competitive foods in a national sample of 90 middle and high schools. Differences in compliance by school characteristics were measured using mixed methods analysis of variance. Overall, 80% of the schools in the sample sold competitive foods; but they were less commonly available in schools with universal free school meal (UFSM) policies. A total of 840 unique products were documented and, on average, 75% were compliant with Smart Snacks standards. A total of 56% aligned with recommended added sugar limits (<10% of calories); and 340 unique products (40%) aligned with both sugar and Smart Snacks standards. Approximately one-fifth of competitive foods contained synthetic dyes, and 31% of beverages contained artificial sweeteners. Smart Snacks standards compliance was greater when competitive foods were overseen by food service departments, in comparison with others (e.g., principals, student organizations, or outside vendors [77% vs. 59% compliance; p = 0.003]). Therefore, district wellness policies should consider requiring food service departments to oversee competitive foods. Federal and state policies should limit added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and synthetic dyes. This appears to be highly feasible, given the substantial number of products that meet these criteria. UFSM policies should also be considered to support healthier school meal environments more broadly. Full article

Remotely performing real-time distributed generation control and a demand response is a basic aspect of the grid ancillary services provided by grid operators, both the transmission grid operators (TSOs) and distribution grid operators (DNOs), in order to ensure that voltage, frequency and power loads of the grid remain within safe limits. The stochastic production of electrical power to the grid from the distributed generators (DGs) from renewable energy sources (RES) in conjunction with the newly appeared stochastic demand consumers (i.e., electric vehicles) hardens the efforts of the DNOs to keep the grid’s operation within safe limits and prevent cascading blackouts while staying in compliance with the SAIDI and SAIFI indices during repair and maintenance operations. Also taking into consideration the aging of the existing grid infrastructure, and making it more prone to failure year by year, it is yet of great significance for the DNOs to have access to real-time feedback from the grid’s infrastructure—which is fast, has low-cost upgrade interventions, is easily deployed on the field and has a fast response potential—in order to be able to perform real-time grid management (RTGM). In this article, we present the development and deployment of a control system for DG units, with the potential to be installed easily to TSO’s and DNO’s substations, RES plants and consumers (i.e., charging stations of electric vehicles). This system supports a hybrid control mechanism, either via ripple signaling or through a network, with the latter providing real-time communication capabilities. The system can be easily installed on the electric components of the grid and can act as a gateway between the different vendors communication protocols of the installed electrical equipment. More specifically, a commercially available, low-cost board (Raspberry Pi) and a ripple control receiver are installed at the substation of a PV plant. The board communicates in real-time with a remote server (decision center) via a 5G modem and with the PV plants inverters via the Modbus protocol, which acquires energy production data and controls the output power of each inverter, while one of its digital inputs can be triggered by the ripple control receiver. The ripple control receiver receives on-demand signals with the HEDNO, triggering the digital input on the board. When the input is triggered, the board performs a predefined control command (i.e., lower the inverter’s power output to 50%). The board can also receive control commands directly from the remote server. The remote server receives real-time feedback of the acquired inverter data, the control signals from the ripple control receiver and the state and outcome of each performed control command. Full article

Tobacco vendors are critical stakeholders in the tobacco supply chain. This study examined their perception, compliance, and potential economic impact of Nigeria’s tobacco control laws related to the retail setting. This was a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews of 24 purposively selected tobacco vendors. The face-to-face interviews were aided by a semi-structured interview guide, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis with NVivo version 12. Five themes emerged, encompassing reasons for selling tobacco, awareness, perception, compliance with tobacco sales laws, the potential economic impact of the laws, and law enforcement activities. Vendors commenced tobacco sales due to consumers’ demand, profit motives, and advice from close family relatives. They were unaware and non-compliant with most of the retail-related laws. Most participants had positive perceptions about the ban on sales to and by minors, were indifferent about the ban on Tobacco Advertising Promotion and Sponsorships (TAPS) and product display, and had negative perceptions about the ban on sales of single sticks. Most vendors stated quitting tobacco sales would not have a serious economic impact on their business. In conclusion, the vendors demonstrated limited awareness and non-compliance with various retail-oriented tobacco control laws in Nigeria. Addressing these gaps requires targeted educational campaigns and effective law enforcement strategies to enhance vendors’ compliance. Full article

Smart grids have emerged as a transformative technology in the power sector, enabling efficient energy management. However, the increased reliance on digital technologies also exposes smart grids to various cybersecurity threats and attacks. This article provides a comprehensive exploration of cyberattacks and cybersecurity in smart grids, focusing on critical components and applications. It examines various cyberattack types and their implications on smart grids, backed by real-world case studies and quantitative models. To select optimal cybersecurity options, the study proposes a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Additionally, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques in smart-grid security is examined, highlighting the potential benefits and challenges. Overall, the findings suggest that “security effectiveness” holds the highest importance, followed by “cost-effectiveness”, “scalability”, and “Integration and compatibility”, while other criteria (i.e., “performance impact”, “manageability and usability”, “compliance and regulatory requirements”, “resilience and redundancy”, “vendor support and collaboration”, and “future readiness”) contribute to the evaluation but have relatively lower weights. Alternatives such as “access control and authentication” and “security information and event management” with high weighted sums are crucial for enhancing cybersecurity in smart grids, while alternatives such as “compliance and regulatory requirements” and “encryption” have lower weighted sums but still provide value in their respective criteria. We also find that “deep learning” emerges as the most effective AI technique for enhancing cybersecurity in smart grids, followed by “hybrid approaches”, “Bayesian networks”, “swarm intelligence”, and “machine learning”, while “fuzzy logic”, “natural language processing”, “expert systems”, and “genetic algorithms” exhibit lower effectiveness in addressing smart-grid cybersecurity. The article discusses the benefits and drawbacks of MCDM-AHP, proposes enhancements for its use in smart-grid cybersecurity, and suggests exploring alternative MCDM techniques for evaluating security options in smart grids. The approach aids decision-makers in the smart-grid field to make informed cybersecurity choices and optimize resource allocation. Full article

Communication protocols play a pivotal role in the substation automation system as they carry critical information related to asset control, automation, protection, and monitoring. Substation legacy protocols run the assets’ bulk data on multiple wires over long distances. These data packets pass through multiple nodes, which makes the identification of the location and type of various malfunctions a challenging and time-consuming task. As downtime of substations is of high importance from a regulatory and compliance point of view, utilities are motivated to revisit the overall scheme and redesign a new system that features flexibility, adaptability, interoperability, and high accuracy. This paper presents a comprehensive review of various legacy protocols and highlights the path forward for a new protocol laid down as per the IEC 61850 standard. The IEC 61850 protocol is expected to be user-friendly, employ fiber optics instead of conventional copper wires, facilitate the application of non-conventional instrument transformers, and connect Ethernet wires to multiple intelligent electronic devices. However, deployment of smart protocols in future substations is not a straightforward process as it requires careful planning, shutdown and foreseeable issues related to interface with proprietary vendor equipment. Along with the technical issues of communication, future smart protocols call for advanced personnel and engineering skills to embrace the new technology. Full article

Accounts Payable (AP) is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process used by large corporations to compensate vendors on time for goods and services received. A comprehensive verification procedure is executed before disbursing funds to a supplier or vendor. After the successful conclusion of these validations, the invoice undergoes further processing by traversing multiple stages, including vendor identification; line-item matching; accounting code identification; tax code identification, ensuring proper calculation and remittance of taxes, verifying payment terms, approval routing, and compliance with internal control policies and procedures, for a comprehensive approach to invoice processing. At the moment, each of these processes is almost entirely manual and laborious, which makes the process time-consuming and prone to mistakes in the ongoing education of agents. It is difficult to accomplish the task of automatically processing these invoices for payment without any human involvement. To provide a solution, we implemented an automated invoicing system with modules based on artificial intelligence. This system processes invoices from beginning to finish. It takes very little work to configure it to meet the specific needs of each unique customer. Currently, the system has been put into production use for two customers. It has handled roughly 80 thousand invoices, of which 76 percent were automatically processed with little or no human interaction. Full article

Introduction: Electronic cigarettes are the most popular tobacco product among U.S. youth, and over 80% of current youth users of e-cigarettes use flavored e-cigarettes, with fruit, mint/menthol, and candy/sweets being the most popular flavors. A number of new e-liquid flavors are currently emerging in the online e-cigarette market. Menthol and other flavored e-cigarettes could incentivize combustible tobacco smokers to transition to e-cigarette use. Methods: From February to May 2021, we scraped data of over 14,000 e-liquid products, including detailed descriptions of their flavors, from five national online vape shops. Building upon the existing e-liquid flavor wheel, we expanded the semantic databases (i.e., key terms) to identify flavors using WordNet—a major database for keyword matching and group discussion. Using the enriched databases, we classified 14,000+ e-liquid products into the following 11 main flavor categories: “fruit”, “dessert/candy/sweets”, “coffee/tea”, “alcohol”, “other beverages”, “tobacco”, “mint/menthol”, “nuts”, “spices/pepper”, “other flavors”, and “unspecified flavor”. Results: We find that the most prominent flavor sold in the five online vape shop in 2021 was fruit flavored products, followed by dessert/candy/other sweets. Online vendors often label a product with several flavor profiles, such as fruit and menthol. Conclusions: Given that online stores market products with multiple flavor profiles and most of their products contain fruit flavor, the FDA may have issued marketing denial orders to some of these products. It is important to further examine how online stores respond to the FDA flavor restrictions (e.g., compliance or non-compliance). Full article

Many countries and institutions have adopted policies to promote healthier food and drink availability in various settings, including public sector workplaces. However, studies reporting barriers and facilitators experienced by food vendors and caterers in providing healthy and nutritious foods and drinks have not been collated and synthesised, representing a significant gap in workplace health promotion knowledge. Our objective was to systematically synthesise evidence on barriers and facilitators relative to the implementation of and compliance with healthy food and drink policies aimed at the general adult population in public sector workplaces internationally. Nine scientific databases, nine grey literature sources, and government websites in key English-speaking countries were searched between April and June 2021. All identified records (n = 8559) were assessed for eligibility. Studies reporting barriers and facilitators were included irrespective of the study design and methods used, but they were excluded if they were published before the year 2000 or in a non-English language. Methodological strengths and limitations of the included studies were assessed with the CASP Qualitative Studies Checklist. Drawing on a thematic synthesis approach, primary findings were generated through research question-led coding and theme development. Forty-one studies were eligible for inclusion, and they were mainly from Australia, the United States, and Canada. The most common workplace settings were healthcare facilities, sports and recreation centres, and government agencies. Generally, poorly reported data collection and analysis methods were observed. Preliminary findings suggest that although vendors encounter challenges, there are also factors that support healthy food and drink policy implementation in public sector workplaces. Generated codes indicate that barriers and facilitators fall into five broad categories of financial ramifications, availability of healthier products, existence of supporting tools and resources, institutional leadership support, and communication between stakeholders. Understanding barriers and facilitators to successful policy implementation will significantly benefit stakeholders interested in or engaging in healthy food and drink policy development and implementation. Full article

Cal/Val activities within the Earthnet Data Assessment Pilot (EDAP) Project of the European Space Agency (ESA) cover several Earth Observation (EO) satellite sensors, including Third-Party Missions (TPMs). As part of the validation studies of very-high-resolution (VHR) sensor data, the geometric and radiometric quality of the images and the mission compliance of the SkySat satellites owned by Planet were evaluated in this study. The SkySat constellation provides optical images with a nominal spatial resolution of 50 cm, and has the capacity for multiple visits of any place on Earth each day. The evaluations performed over several test sites for the purpose of the EDAP Maturity Matrix generation show that the high resolution requirement is fulfilled with high geometric accuracy, although various systematic and random errors could be observed. The 2D and 3D information extracted from SkySat data conform to the quality expectations for the given resolution, although improvements to the vendor-provided rational polynomial coefficients (RPCs) are essential. The results show that the SkySat constellation is compliant with the specifications and the accuracy results are within the ranges claimed by the vendor. The signal-to-noise ratio assessments revealed that the quality is high, but variations occur between the different sensors. Full article

Street food (SF) consists of ready-to-eat food prepared and sold on the street. This food constitutes the food traditions of local populations in many countries of the world. SF characterizes a large number of cities around the world, from New York to Paris, from Palermo to cities of North Africa, China, India and Japan. SF is inexpensive and prepared following traditional methods that meet local consumer preferences, culinary culture and lifestyles. Moreover, SF allows a unique experience for tourists who also want to experience a destination through traditional food consumed on the street together with the locals. Nevertheless, SF is linked to several health hazards. Hence, several studies discussed on the compliance with hygiene and food quality requirements that SF vendors should guarantee, to ensure human health. So far, there is no bibliometric review attempting to provide an objective and comprehensive analysis of the existing scientific documents that simultaneously study the scientific topic of SF linked to that of Food Safety (FS). Therefore, the objective of this paper is to provide a theoretical framework of the interactions between studies on SF and FS topics, in order to discover if the combined topic of “Street Food Safety” (SFS) was investigated as a topic in its own right. A bibliometric analysis was carried out analyzing 276 scientific contributions from the last 21 years, indexed in the Elsevier Scopus database and in the Clarivate Web of Science database. The results showed a very strong interaction between the two topics and many others in several scientific sectors; In particular, the topic of SFS involves many disciplines of social sciences. The results highlight that the scientific topic of SFS exists but not consciously, and it is believed that the research interest in this topic can grow considerably in the coming years, also because of the current COVID-19 pandemic situation that we are experiencing. Full article

Since the purchase of Siri by Apple, and its release with the iPhone 4S in 2011, virtual assistants (VAs) have grown in number and popularity. The sophisticated natural language processing and speech recognition employed by VAs enables users to interact with them conversationally, almost as they would with another human. To service user voice requests, VAs transmit large amounts of data to their vendors; these data are processed and stored in the Cloud. The potential data security and privacy issues involved in this process provided the motivation to examine the current state of the art in VA research. In this study, we identify peer-reviewed literature that focuses on security and privacy concerns surrounding these assistants, including current trends in addressing how voice assistants are vulnerable to malicious attacks and worries that the VA is recording without the user’s knowledge or consent. The findings show that not only are these worries manifold, but there is a gap in the current state of the art, and no current literature reviews on the topic exist. This review sheds light on future research directions, such as providing solutions to perform voice authentication without an external device, and the compliance of VAs with privacy regulations. Full article

Consumption of ready-to-eat chopped fruits sold in the streets is a concern, as such activities are outside the regulation and protection in most developing countries. Ready-to-eat mangos are commonly sold as wedges in plastic cups at ambient temperature by mobile vendors in Ecuador, thus they are prone to contamination by bacteria, which poses a safety issue of concern. This work aimed to evaluate the effect of several antimicrobial cocktails consisting of previously designed specific peptide extract combinations from two probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus plantarum UTNCys5-4 and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis UTNGt28, along with nisin, a commercial food additive, on mango wedges artificially inoculated with a logarithmic phase culture of a five-strain bacterial mixture (FSBM). Preliminary bacteriological analysis of mango wedges purchased from mobile vendors showed the presence of multiple antibiotic-resistant isolates such E. coli spp., Enterobacter spp., Shigella spp., Salmonella spp., along with yeasts and molds, indicating non-compliance with the food safety standards. The results revealed that two antimicrobial cocktails, T2 and T5, containing cell-free supernatant based (CFS) and precipitated peptides (PP) based cocktails from UTNCys5-4 and UTNGt28 strains applied at dose 1:3 (v/v), were the most efficient combinations that inhibited the colonization of total bacterial counts with 56.03% and 55.61% in mango wedges stored with refrigeration. The reduction of total E. coli counts was 64.93%, while Salmonella and Shigella counts were reduced by 98.09% and 97.93%, respectively, when mango wedges were treated with T5-cocktail. The commercial nisin inhibited total Salmonella spp. counts by 40.13%, while E. coli spp. and Shigella spp. diminished by 28.20% and 37.22%, respectively. Moreover, we showed that T5 but not T7 (nisin) damaged the target cell integrity, thereby eventually inhibiting their growth and reproduction. The selected antimicrobial cocktails exerted a bacteriolytic effect by killing the FSBM simultaneously in a fruit matrix and preventing their accumulation in mango wedges. Furthermore, there is a possibility of using peptide combinatorial treatments to combat drug-resistant bacteria in ready-to-eat fruits. Full article

Urbanization has become a global phenomenon that affects the food system. Some studies revealed that urbanization increases income/capita, thus transforming food consumption from cereals to animal products, vegetables, and fruits. Urbanization, particularly in developing countries, not only produces economic benefits but also various issues that might lessen peoples’ capacity to afford food. This study aims to analyze the impact of urbanization on food consumption, food composition, as well as farming performance. Series of consumption data since 1976 and statistical descriptive approaches were employed. The results showed a trend of declining the share of food expenditures, especially in urban areas, which is commonly regarded as a sign of increasing prosperity. Surprisingly, food composition remained stable, dominated by rice, due to lower-income and higher non-food expenditures of urban inhabitants mainly for housing, transportation, water and energy. The stagnancy of food composition provides less incentive for farmers; thus, farming is dominated by low-revenue paddy fields, uneducated laborers, and older farmers. Based on these findings, some recommendations can be suggested: (1) incorporating food composition and farming performance into food security policies, instead of merely focusing on the compliance of food supply and demand, (2) linking food issues with non-food issues, especially with urban planning, housing development, and transportation management to increase the income capacity of the society to purchase a greater variety of food, and (3) developing food diversification served by urban food vendors to support the benefits of the farming business. Full article