bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An experimental evaluation of point-of-interest recommendation in location-based social networks
Authors: Liu Yiding , Pham Tuan-Anh Nguyen , Cong Gao , Yuan Quan
Published: September 2017

Point-of-interest (POI) recommendation is an important service to Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs) that can benefit both users and businesses. In recent years, a number of POI recommender systems have been proposed, but there is still a lack of systematical comparison thereof. In this paper, we provide an all-around evaluation of 12 state-of-the-art POI recommendation models. From the evaluation, we obtain several important findings, based on which we can better understand and utilize POI recommendation models in various scenarios. We anticipate this work to provide readers with an overall picture of the cutting-edge research on POI recommendation.
Time series data cleaning
Authors: Zhang Aoqian , Song Shaoxu , Wang Jianmin , Yu Philip S.
Published: September 2017

Errors are prevalent in time series data, such as GPS trajectories or sensor readings. Existing methods focus more on anomaly detection but not on repairing the detected anomalies. By simply filtering out the dirty data via anomaly detection, applications could still be unreliable over the incomplete time series. Instead of simply discarding anomalies, we propose to (iteratively) repair them in time series data, by creatively bonding the beauty of temporal nature in anomaly detection with the widely considered minimum change principle in data repairing. Our major contributions include: (1) a novel framework of iterative minimum repairing (IMR) over time series data, (2) explicit analysis on convergence of the proposed iterative minimum repairing, and (3) efficient estimation of parameters in each iteration. Remarkably, with incremental computation, we reduce the complexity of parameter estimation from
O
(
n
) to
O
(1). Experiments on real datasets demonstrate the superiority of our proposal compared to the state-of-the-art approaches. In particular, we show that (the proposed) repairing indeed improves the time series classification application.
Memory management techniques for large-scale persistent-main-memory systems
Authors: Oukid Ismail , Booss Daniel , Lespinasse Adrien , Lehner Wolfgang , Willhalm Thomas , Gomes Grégoire
Published: September 2017

Storage Class Memory (SCM) is a novel class of memory technologies that promise to revolutionize database architectures. SCM is byte-addressable and exhibits latencies similar to those of DRAM, while being non-volatile. Hence, SCM could replace both main memory and storage, enabling a novel single-level database architecture without the traditional I/O bottleneck. Fail-safe persistent SCM allocation can be considered
conditio sine qua non
for enabling this novel architecture paradigm for database management systems. In this paper we present PAllocator, a fail-safe persistent SCM allocator whose design emphasizes high concurrency and capacity scalability. Contrary to previous works, PAllocator thoroughly addresses the important challenge of persistent memory fragmentation by implementing an efficient defragmentation algorithm. We show that PAllocator outperforms state-of-the-art persistent allocators by up to one order of magnitude, both in operation throughput and recovery time, and enables up to 2.39x higher operation throughput on a persistent B-Tree.
Revenue maximization in incentivized social advertising
Authors: Aslay Cigdem , Bonchi Francesco , Lakshmanan Laks V. S. , Lu Wei
Published: September 2017

Incentivized social advertising, an emerging marketing model, provides monetization opportunities not only to the owners of the social networking platforms but also to their influential users by offering a "cut" on the advertising revenue. We consider a social network (the host) that sells ad-engagements to advertisers by inserting their ads, in the form of promoted posts, into the feeds of carefully selected "initial endorsers" or seed users: these users receive monetary incentives in exchange for their endorsements. The endorsements help propagate the ads to the feeds of their followers. Whenever any user engages with an ad, the host is paid some fixed amount by the advertiser, and the ad further propagates to the feed of her followers, potentially recursively. In this context, the problem for the host is is to allocate ads to influential users, taking into account the propensity of ads for viral propagation, and carefully apportioning the monetary budget of each of the advertisers between incentives to influential users and ad-engagement costs, with the rational goal of maximizing its own revenue.

We show that, taking all important factors into account, the problem of revenue maximization in incentivized social advertising corresponds to the problem of monotone submodular function maximization, subject to a partition matroid constraint on the ads-to-seeds allocation, and submodular knapsack constraints on the advertisers' budgets. We show that this problem is NP-hard and devise two greedy algorithms with provable approximation guarantees, which differ in their sensitivity to seed user incentive costs.

Our approximation algorithms require repeatedly estimating the expected marginal gain in revenue as well as in advertiser payment. By exploiting a connection to the recent advances made in scalable estimation of expected influence spread, we devise efficient and scalable versions of our two greedy algorithms. An extensive experimental assessment confirms the high quality of our proposal.
SquirrelJoin
Authors: Rupprecht Lukas , Culhane William , Pietzuch Peter
Published: September 2017

To execute distributed joins in parallel on compute clusters, systems partition and exchange data records between workers. With large datasets, workers spend a considerable amount of time transferring data over the network. When compute clusters are shared among multiple applications, workers must compete for network bandwidth with other applications. These variances in the available network bandwidth lead to
network skew
, which causes straggling workers to prolong the join completion time.

We describe
SquirrelJoin
, a distributed join processing technique that uses
lazy partitioning
to adapt to transient network skew in clusters. Workers maintain in-memory
lazy partitions
to withhold a subset of records, i.e. not sending them immediately to other workers for processing. Lazy partitions are then assigned dynamically to other workers based on network conditions: each worker takes periodic throughput measurements to estimate its completion time, and lazy partitions are allocated as to minimise the join completion time. We implement SquirrelJoin as part of the Apache Flink distributed dataflow framework and show that, under transient network contention in a shared compute cluster, SquirrelJoin speeds up join completion times by up to 2.9× with only a small, fixed overhead.
Minimal on-road time route scheduling on time-dependent graphs
Authors: Li Lei , Hua Wen , Du Xingzhong , Zhou Xiaofang
Published: September 2017

On time-dependent graphs, fastest path query is an important problem and has been well studied. It focuses on minimizing the total travel time (waiting time + on-road time) but does not allow waiting on any intermediate vertex if the
FIFO
property is applied. However, in practice, waiting on a vertex can reduce the time spent on the road (for example, resuming traveling after a traffic jam). In this paper, we study how to find a path with the minimal on-road time on time-dependent graphs by allowing waiting on some predefined parking vertices. The existing works are based on the following fact: the arrival time of a vertex
v
is determined by the arrival time of its in-neighbor
u
, which does not hold in our scenario since we also consider the waiting time on
u
if
u
allows waiting. Thus, determining the waiting time on each parking vertex to achieve the minimal on-road time becomes a big challenge, which further breaks
FIFO
property. To cope with this challenging problem, we propose two efficient algorithms using
minimum on-road travel cost function
to answer the query. The evaluations on multiple real-world time-dependent graphs show that the proposed algorithms are more accurate and efficient than the extensions of existing algorithms. In addition, the results further indicate, if the parking facilities are enabled in the route scheduling algorithms, the on-road time will reduce significantly compared to the fastest path algorithms.
A holistic view of stream partitioning costs
Authors: Katsipoulakis Nikos R. , Labrinidis Alexandros , Chrysanthis Panos K.
Published: September 2017

Stream processing has become the dominant processing model for monitoring and real-time analytics. Modern Parallel Stream Processing Engines (pSPEs) have made it feasible to increase the performance in both monitoring and analytical queries by parallelizing a query's execution and distributing the load on multiple workers. A determining factor for the performance of a pSPE is the partitioning algorithm used to disseminate tuples to workers. Until now, partitioning methods in pSPEs have been similar to the ones used in parallel databases and only recently
load-aware
algorithms have been employed to improve the effectiveness of parallel execution.

We identify and demonstrate the need to incorporate
aggregation
costs in the partitioning model when executing
stateful
operations in parallel, in order to minimize the overall latency and/or through-put. Towards this, we propose new stream partitioning algorithms, that consider both tuple
imbalance
and
aggregation
cost. We evaluate our proposed algorithms and show that they can achieve up to an order of magnitude better performance, compared to the current state of the art.
In search of an entity resolution OASIS
Authors: Marchant Neil G. , Rubinstein Benjamin I. P.
Published: September 2017

Entity resolution (ER) presents unique challenges for evaluation methodology. While crowdsourcing platforms acquire ground truth, sound approaches to sampling must drive labelling efforts. In ER, extreme class imbalance between matching and non-matching records can lead to enormous labelling requirements when seeking statistically consistent estimates for rigorous evaluation. This paper addresses this important challenge with the OASIS algorithm: a sampler and F-measure estimator for ER evaluation. OASIS draws samples from a (biased) instrumental distribution, chosen to ensure estimators with optimal asymptotic variance. As new labels are collected OASIS updates this instrumental distribution via a Bayesian latent variable model of the annotator oracle, to quickly focus on unlabelled items providing more information. We prove that resulting estimates of F-measure, precision, recall converge to the true population values. Thorough comparisons of sampling methods on a variety of ER datasets demonstrate significant labelling reductions of up to 83% without loss to estimate accuracy.
A forward scan based plane sweep algorithm for parallel interval joins
Authors: Bouros Panagiotis , Mamoulis Nikos
Published: September 2017

The interval join is a basic operation that finds application in temporal, spatial, and uncertain databases. Although a number of centralized and distributed algorithms have been proposed for the efficient evaluation of interval joins, classic
plane sweep
approaches have not been considered at their full potential. A recent piece of related work proposes an optimized approach based on plane sweep (PS) for modern hardware, showing that it greatly outperforms previous work. However, this approach depends on the development of a complex data structure and its parallelization has not been adequately studied. In this paper, we explore the applicability of a largely ignored
forward scan
(FS) based plane sweep algorithm, which is extremely simple to implement. We propose two optimizations of FS that greatly reduce its cost, making it competitive to the state-of-the-art single-threaded PS algorithm while achieving a lower memory footprint. In addition, we show the drawbacks of a previously proposed hash-based partitioning approach for parallel join processing and suggest a domain-based partitioning approach that does not produce duplicate results. Within our approach we propose a novel breakdown of the partition join jobs into a small number of independent mini-join jobs with varying cost and manage to avoid redundant comparisons. Finally, we show how these mini-joins can be scheduled in multiple CPU cores and propose an adaptive domain partitioning, aiming at load balancing. We include an experimental study that demonstrates the efficiency of our optimized FS and the scalability of our parallelization framework.
Data vocalization
Authors: Trummer Immanuel , Zhu Jiancheng , Bryan Mark
Published: September 2017

Research on data visualization aims at finding the best way to present data via visual interfaces. We introduce the complementary problem of "data vocalization". Our goal is to present relational data in the most efficient way via voice output. This problem setting is motivated by emerging tools and devices (e.g., Google Home, Amazon Echo, Apple's Siri, or voice-based SQL interfaces) that communicate data primarily via audio output to their users.

We treat voice output generation as an optimization problem. The goal is to minimize speaking time while transmitting an approximation of a relational table to the user. We consider constraints on the precision of the transmitted data as well as on the cognitive load placed on the listener. We formalize voice output optimization and show that it is NP-hard. We present three approaches to solve that problem. First, we show how the problem can be translated into an integer linear program which enables us to apply corresponding solvers. Second, we present a two-phase approach that forms groups of similar rows in a pre-processing step, using a variant of the apriori algorithm. Then, we select an optimal combination of groups to generate a speech. Finally, we present a greedy algorithm that runs in polynomial time. Under simplifying assumptions, we prove that it generates near-optimal output by leveraging the sub-modularity property of our cost function. We compare our algorithms experimentally and analyze their complexity.
LocLok
Authors: Xiao Yonghui , Xiong Li , Zhang Si , Cao Yang
Published: September 2017

We demonstrate LocLok, a LOCation-cLOaKing system to protect the locations of a user with differential privacy. LocLok has two features: (a) it protects locations under temporal correlations described through hidden Markov model; (b) it releases the optimal noisy location with the planar isotropic mechanism (PIM), the first mechanism that achieves the lower bound of differential privacy. We show the detailed computation of LocLok with the following components: (a) how to generate the possible locations with Markov model, (b) how to perturb the location with PIM, and (c) how to make inference about the true location in Markov model. An online system with real-word dataset will be presented with the computation details.
Spatial crowdsourcing
Authors: Tong Yongxin , Chen Lei , Shahabi Cyrus
Published: September 2017

Crowdsourcing is a new computing paradigm where humans are actively enrolled to participate in the procedure of computing, especially for tasks that are intrinsically easier for humans than for computers. The popularity of mobile computing and sharing economy has extended conventional web-based crowdsourcing to spatial crowdsourcing (SC), where spatial data such as location, mobility and the associated contextual information, plays a central role. In fact, spatial crowdsourcing has stimulated a series of recent industrial successes including Citizen Sensing (Waze), P2P ride-sharing (Uber) and Real-time Online-To-Offline (O2O) services (Instacart and Postmates).

In this tutorial, we review the paradigm shift from web-based crowdsourcing to spatial crowdsourcing. We dive deep into the challenges and techniques brought by the unique spatio-temporal characteristics of spatial crowdsourcing. Particularly, we survey new designs in task assignment, quality control, incentive mechanism design and privacy protection on spatial crowdsourcing platforms, as well as the new trend to incorporate crowdsourcing to enhance existing spatial data processing techniques. We also discuss case studies of representative spatial crowdsourcing systems and raise open questions and current challenges for the audience to easily comprehend the tutorial and to advance this important research area.
CFD Simulation of a Co-rotating Twin-screw Extruder: Validation of a Rheological Model for a Starch-Based Dough for Snack Food
Authors: Tagliavini Giorgia , Solari Federico , Montanari Roberto
Published: September 2017

The extrusion of starch-based products has been a matter of interest, especially for the pasta and the snack food production. In recent years, twin-screw extruders for snack food have been studied from both structural and fluid dynamics viewpoints. This project started from the rheological characterization of a starch-based dough (corn 34 wt%, tapioca 32 wt%), comparing viscosity values acquired in laboratory with different theoretical models found in literature. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation recreating the simple case of a fluid flow between two parallel plates was carried out to validate the former comparison. After the rheological validation was completed, the second phase of this work covered a 3D CFD simulation of the first part of the twin-screw extruder (feeding zone). The objective was to find a suitable model for describing the dough rheological behavior and the operating conditions of a co-rotating intermeshing twin-screw extruder. Once the model would be defined, it would allow to investigate several working conditions and different screws geometries of the machine, predicting the evolution of the product rheological properties.
A New Testing Device for Characterizing Anisotropic Response of Soils during Compaction Processes
Authors: Mendoza Cristhian , Ovalle William , Caicedo Bernardo , Sasanakul Inthuorn
Published: September 2017

Soil behavior during compaction is not completely understood due to the difficulty of observing principal state variables during this process. Determination of stress paths and failure envelopes occurring during compaction is challenging due to limitations during determination of principal stresses. The development of a new one-dimensional compaction device designed to allow direct measurement of axial and radial stresses provides an innovative testing procedure that allows analysis of the evolution of state variables of soils subjected to compaction. This methodology is presented through the analysis of fine-grained soils subjected to cyclic compaction together with the analysis of the moisture effect over the stress ratio. As variations with loading cycles are observed, the results allow inference of ratios between horizontal and vertical stresses (K) as non-unique values. Yield stresses and failure envelopes obtained from compaction stress paths are analyzed considering the effect of unsaturated undrained conditions.
Quantitative Investigation on Grouting Quality of Immersed Tube Tunnel Foundation Base using Full Waveform Inversion Method
Authors: Wang Huan , Che Ailan , Feng Shaokong
Published: September 2017

Full waveform inversion (FWI) method is used to reveal the internal structure of underground mediums in geotechnical engineering. It comprehensively utilizes the amplitude, travel time, and phase of a wave field. It also offers the potential to produce better resolution of the target medium and feasibility for the detection of buried low-velocity layers. A new FWI method for elastic waves in stratified mediums is presented, which adopts a quasi-linear method coupled with a random search algorithm. The strength of this approach is that the Jaccobian matrix is iteratively calculated instead of the Hession matrix, and the inversion work is helpful for getting out of the local minima within appropriate search scope. To verify our method, it is applied to numerical 2-D stratified models and the appropriate search step and range constraint for inversion are determined by parameter sensitivity analysis. With a series of waveform pretreatments, including filter process, waveform energy normalization, and waveforms mitigation based on correlation analysis, we extended it to use with 3-D stratified media models. Its feasibility and accuracy in recovering the unknown parameters of low-velocity layers are certified. Based on the results of the numerical cases, this FWI method can be used for detecting the grouting quality in immersed tube tunnels. The S-wave velocity profiles of low-velocity layers under the tunnel floor are obtained. Because the S-wave velocities of grouting layers will increase before and after grouting, the grouting quality is effectively evaluated by the FWI method and provides a practical reference for other similar projects.
Male genital tract immune response against Chlamydia trachomatis infection
Authors: Mackern-Oberti Juan Pablo , Motrich Rubén Darío , Damiani Maria Teresa , Saka Héctor Alex , Quintero Cristian Andrés , Sánchez Leonardo Rodolfo , Moreno-Sosa Tamara , Olivera Carolina , Cuffini Cecilia , Rivero Virginia Elena
Published: September 2017

Chlamydia trachomatisis the most commonly reported agent of sexually transmitted bacterial infections worldwide. This pathogen frequently leads to persistent, long-term, subclinical infections, which in turn may cause severe pathology in susceptible hosts. This is in part due to the strategies thatChlamydia trachomatisuses to survive within epithelial cells and to evade the host immune response, such as subverting intracellular trafficking, interfering signaling pathways and preventing apoptosis. Innate immune receptors such as toll-like receptors expressed on epithelial and immune cells in the genital tract mediate the recognition of chlamydial molecular patterns. After bacterial recognition, a subset of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines are continuously released by epithelial cells. The innate immune response is followed by the initiation of the adaptive response againstChlamydia trachomatis, which in turn may result in T helper 1-mediated protection or in T helper 2-mediated immunopathology. Understanding the molecular mechanisms developed byChlamydia trachomatisto avoid killing and host immune response would be crucial for designing new therapeutic approaches and developing protective vaccines. In this review, we focus on chlamydial survival strategies and the elicited immune responses in male genital tract infections.
Students Metacognitive Level on Solving Chemistry Problems
Authors: Milama Burhanudin , Nurjanah Ade Ira , Fairusi Dila
Published: September 2017

Abstract Metacognitive is knowledge and understanding of the cognitive process or knowledge of mind, and it’s work. Metacognitive is needed on solving the problem. Every student has different metacognitive abilities. This research is to describe students metacognitive level on solving chemicals molarity problem. This research was held in SMAN in South Tangerang, by 104 students as the subject research. This research is a quantitative descriptive by the essay results as the data. This result is analyzed, and the metacognitive level is stated based on the indicators. As the results of this research are 14.42% students are in Aware Use level, 73.08% in metacognitive Strategic Use level and 12.50% in metacognitive Reflective Use level. Metacognitive Reflective Use is the level for the high score students. Metacognitive Strategic Use is for middle score students. And metacognitive Aware Use for the low score students. Metacognitive Strategic Use level as the average. Most of the students can use and realized the right strategy on solving problems. Male students have a metacognitive level that is higher than for women. Abstrak Metakognitif adalah pengetahuan dan kesadaran tentang proses kognisi, atau pengetahuan tentang pikiran dan cara kerjanya. Dalam memecahkan masalah kimia, memerlukan keterlibatan metakognitif. Setiap siswa memiliki kemampuan metakognitif yang berbeda-beda. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan level metakognitif siswa dalam memecahkan masalah pada materi kelarutan dan hasil kali kelarutan. Penelitian ini dilakukan di SMA Negeri di Tangerang Selatan dengan subjek penelitian sebanyak 104 siswa. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian deskriptif kuantitatif sehingga datanya berupa hasil tes essai. Hasil tes essai tersebut  dianalisis dan ditentukan level metakognitifnya berdasarkan indikator yang telah dibuat. Hasil yang diperoleh dari penelitian ini adalah sebanyak 14.42 % siswa berada pada level metakognitif Aware Use, sebanyak 73.08 %  siswa berada pada level metakognitif Strategic Use dan sebanyak 12.50 % siswa berada pada level metakognitif Relective Use. Siswa yang memiliki hasil belajar yang tinggi di dalam kelas berada pada level metakognitif Reflective Use. Siswa yang memiliki hasil belajar yang sedang di dalam kelas berada pada level metakognitif Strategic Use. Dan siswa yang memiliki hasil belajar yang rendah di dalam kelas berada pada level metakognitif Aware Use. Rata-rata level metakognitif siswa berada pada level metakognitif Strategic Use, karena rata-rata siswa dapat menggunakan dan menyadari strategi yang tepat dalam menyelesaikan masalah, tidak hanya mampu memahami masalah. How to Cite : Nurjanah, A., I. Milama, B.  Fairusi, D. (2017). Students Metacognitive Level on Solving Chemistry Problems. TARBIYA: Journal of Education in Muslim Society, 4(1), 63-73. doi:10.15408/tjems.v4i1.5846. Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/tjems.v4i1.5846
PERBAIKAN PERTUMBUHAN DAN TOLERANSI SALINITAS IKAN NILA SRIKANDI (Oreochromis aureus x O. niloticus) MELALUI HIBRIDISASI DAN BACK-CROSS DENGAN O. aureus F-1 DI KARAMBA JARING APUNG LAUT
Authors: Setyawan Priadi , Robisalmi Adam , Gunadi Bambang
Published: September 2017

Ikan nila Srikandi merupakan hasil persilangan antara ikan nila hitam (Oreochromis niloticus) dan ikan nila biru (O. aureus) yang dapat tumbuh baik pada salinitas 10-30 g/L. Kendala yang sering dihadapi dalam pengembangan budidaya di tambak adalah mortalitas tinggi akibat tingginya fluktuasi salinitas air tambak. Perairan laut mempunyai fluktuasi salinitas yang rendah sehingga dapat dijadikan solusi. Namun demikian, salinitas di atas 30 g/L menyebabkan penurunan laju pertumbuhan dan sintasan ikan. Persilangan antara ikan nila biru F-1 (AuF1) hasil seleksi famili dengan ikan nila hitam Nirwana 2 (Nw2) atau nila Srikandi (Sr) diharapkan dapat meningkatkan toleransi salinitas dan pertumbuhan ikan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi pertumbuhan dan toleransi salinitas ikan nila hibrida hasil persilangan dengan AuF1 di karamba jaring apung (KJA) laut di Kabupaten Brebes. Penelitian eksperimental dengan tiga ulangan dilakukan pada lima populasi hasil kombinasi perkawinan Nw2 x AuF1, Sr x AuF1, Nw x Au (Nirwana x Aureus atau Srikandi), Nw2 x Nw2 dan AuF1 x AuF1. Benih berukuran 3-5 cm diaklimatisasi hingga salinitas laut. Pemeliharaan dilakukan pada jaring 3 m x 5 m x 2 m dengan padat tebar 10 ekor/m3 selama tiga bulan. Pemberian pakan komersial berprotein 30% dilakukan dua kali sehari sebanyak 3%-5% biomassa. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan rerata bobot akhir pada seluruh populasi berkisar antara 126,9-182,7 g dengan rerata sintasan 14,67%-70,13%. Ikan nila biru F-1 dapat meningkatkan karakter sintasan 33,54% pada hasil hibridisasi Nw2xAuF1 dan 35,27% pada persilangan backcross (Sr x AuF1) dibandingkan dengan ikan nila Srikandi, sedangkan pada karakter bobot badan meningkat sebesar 4,34% pada populasi hibrida dan 11,68% pada populasi backcross. Populasi Nw2 x AuF1 dan Sr x AuF1 menghasilkan biomassa panen yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan ikan nila Srikandi sehingga dapat dijadikan kandidat untuk budidaya ikan nila di KJA laut.
Student-focused virtual histology education: Do new scenarios and digital technology matter?
Authors: Felszeghy Szabolcs , Pasonen-Seppänen Sanna , Koskela Ali , Mahonen Anitta
Published: September 2017

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Innovative changes have become a critical part of teaching when resources are limited. In this study, we examined whether the student-oriented teaching method, when powered by virtual microscopy, improves histology learning compared to traditional microscope-based studies. Anonymous and voluntary post-course surveys were administered to students and essays were processed for content analysis. Google Analytics was used to obtain accurate Internet usage monitoring for WEBMICROSCOPE®. Using SPSS statistics, the examination scores for 2016 were compared to those of previous year, when the course was taught with a traditional-microscope-based model. The results demonstrated that the new teaching scenario was an effective tool, based on the mean examination scores in 2016 compared to the identical groups in 2015. The survey analysis showed that the students benefited more from using WEBMICROSCOPE® and that they frequently gained access to the Web server when they were not in class. The new scenario helped clarify the concept of histology for most of the students and was generally appreciated during teamwork-based histology classes. Students perceived that the use of the digital technology significantly influenced their confidence in learning the fundamentals of histology. In addition, changing to the new teaching scenario powered by WEBMICROSCOPE® improved the students' motivation to participate in discussions and better understand the concept of Histology between the 2015 and 2016 academic years. Finally, these changes all had a positive impact on the students' attention and satisfaction.
Immunostaining of the isolated lymphoid follicles (ILFs) in the whole small intestine v1
Authors: Suzuki Chise , Aoki Reiji , Aoki-Yoshida Ayako
Published: September 2017

The immunostaining detection of isolated lymphoid follicles (ILFs) was performed according to the method of McDonald and Newberry [BioTechniques. 2007; 43(1): 50-56], with some modifications. Instead of mounting the tissue samples on a mounting plate, each segment was treated in a 15 ml tube in each step. DAB stained intestines were finally mounted on a glass slide using an aqueous mounting medium.
Prospective study evaluating the clinical impact of the Breast Cancer Intrinsic Subtype-ProsignaTM Test (Assay) in the management of early-stage breast cancers. v1
Authors: Hequet Delphine
Published: September 2017

Please see attached protocol
机械设备加工工艺设计解析
Authors: 吕 仁良
Published: September 2017

本文对机械制造工艺以及机械设备加工工艺的流程进行了探讨分析，并提出了机械设备加工工艺的优化措施，以供借鉴参考。
某变电站遥控误控缺陷检查处理
Authors: 闵 浩 , 王 桦
Published: September 2017

2016 年某市供电公司调控中心监控班在配合自动化班遥控试验过程中，发现主站对某智能化变电站某开关在进行“遥控撤销”命令时，该开关会误认为是“遥控执行”命令，并执行遥控出口操作。
Learning Needs and Quality Care Among Family Caregivers and Elderly Patients of Guadalupe, Cebu City, Central Philippines
Authors: Alvarez Ivan Cliff Chan , Ong Marylou B. , Abocejo Ferdinand T.
Published: September 2017

This study assessed the learning needs of the family caregivers based on knowledge, skills, attitude and values (KSAV), their quality of care services and the elderly patients’ assessment on the quality of the provided care. The study utilised a descriptive-normative method employing survey research design utilizing a randomized cluster sampling technique. Primary data were collected using a standardised modified interview guide. Face-toface interviews were carried out to family caregivers and elderly patients in Guadalupe Village, Cebu City, Central Philippines. Findings revealed that caregiving jobs are mostly handled by women. Likewise, there were more female than male elderly patients, almost three-fourths of them attained high school or lower level education. Family caregivers’ possessed very good attitude and values. They were also good in terms of knowledge and skills toward the care of elderly patients. Similarly, elderly patients view their caregivers to be very good in attitude and values and good in terms of knowledge and skills. In conclusion, the learning needs among family care givers dealt more on understanding the nature, medical conditions, medication administration, caregiving techniques, diet and nutrition, ambulation techniques and strategies, financial supports from peers and total care management of the elderly patients. The provision of these learning needs anchored on the knowledge, skills, attitude and values ensures the caregivers from experiencing depressions, desperations, and self-isolation.
Load Shedding Control Strategy Based on Transient Instability Evaluation of Power System Using Artificial Neural Network and Analytic Hierarchy Process Algorithm
Authors: Trong Nghia Le , Ngoc Au Nguyen , Huy Anh Quyen , Phan Thi Thanh Binh
Published: September 2017

Emergency control load-shedding is a key solution to prevent blackouts in the power system. This paper proposed a new model of emergency controls load shedding based on the fast identification of the unstable state of the power system. K-means clustering algorithm divided the instability mode into the clusters. The results of analysis of this cluster were used as the basis for classification control. Building load shedding strategies is consisted of the pre-designed rules based on AHP algorithm. When the recognition of the power system “instability” is detected, the signal of load shedding control is triggered immediately, therefore the decision time is greatly shortened comparing to the traditional methods. The effectiveness of the proposed method was tested on the IEEE 39-bus to overcome the limitations of the last traditional methods.
Alt-Right: Ctrl+A; Del
Authors: Salter Anastasia , Blodgett Bridget
Published: September 2017

Built as a hypertext work of electronic literature, “Alt-Right: Ctrl+A; Del” explores the social media fatigue experienced by a woman operating in online spaces. The work takes place from November 9 2016 to January 20 2017, during the pivotal moments of transition prior to Donald Trump’s inauguration. It is heavily influenced by the ongoing challenges faced by participants in social media discourse who are identifiable (or labeled) as other than white, heterosexual, cisgender men (Marciano, 2014). The fictionalised narrative of the work is presented alongside a day-by-day evolving timeline of tweets drawn from real social media discourse. The reader-player experiences both the mundane and the politically momentous, the true and the “fake” news sensations, while navigating through the daily pressures of life which present their own source of exhaustion and challenges. Ultimately, the reader-player must decide to what extent it is worth engaging with the incendiary discourse, and these decisions shape the reputation of the character’s online persona. The choice to engage in political discourse will inevitably result in eventually catching the attention of a horde of procedurally-generated trolls (Phillips 2015), while refraining from participating will leave the character relatively invisible and disengaged from both the media platform and source of social connection. The reader-player must balance the demands of social media to present an active persona to their followers with the personal needs of a human who must cope with the results of harassment from a faceless flood.
Interspecific Hybridization Processes between Michelia yunnanensis and M. crassipes and Embryogenesis of the Heterozygote
Authors: Xu Haiyan , Li Folian , Pan Yuezhi , Gong Xun
Published: September 2017

The investigation of hybridization processes and embryogenesis of heterozygote is an effective approach for early hybrids’ identification, which could provide reliable information for successful crossbreeding. In this study, we reported the whole hybridization processes of the direct cross and reciprocal cross between Michelia yunnanensis Franch. ex Finet et Gagnep. and Michelia crassipes Law using fluorescence microscopy after aniline blue staining, with the pollen germination on stigmas, pollen tube growth in styles, and subsequent extension into the embryo sac as well as the double fertilization processes are documented in detail. The M. yunnanensis × M. crassipes combination displayed considerable cross-compatibility, and the heterozygote embryogenesis was further observed with an approach of modified cryosectioning technique. Besides, the whole formation processes of hybrid seeds from artificial pollination to maturation were successfully observed. However, in the reciprocal cross, we found incompatibility between pollen grains of M. yunnanensis and stigmas of M. crassipes for the reason of hysteretic identification, as well as the abnormal callose deposition which belongs to the prefertilization barriers. This is the first study in which the complete and clear hybridization processes in Michelia were reported. We inferred that unilateral incompatibility of M. crassipes detected in this study may also exist in some other Michelia species. In artificial hybridization practices, we suggest some special treatments for overcoming prefertilization barrier should be taken when treating M. crassipes as the maternal parent.
Cotton Harvest Aid Regimes and Their Interaction with Cotton Cultivar Characteristics Impacting Leaf Grade
Authors: Eder Zachary P. , Singh Sukhbir , Fromme Dan D. , Mott Dale A. , Ibrahim Amir M. H. , Morgan Gaylon D.
Published: September 2017

Core Ideas

Defoliation or desiccation levels did not impact leaf grade values.

Leaf grades values increased with higher leaf trichome densities.

Plant morphological factors other than leaf hairiness did not impact cotton leaf grade values.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) leaf grade values significantly increase with remnants of leaf and bract materials in cotton lint and can result in economic discounts to the producers. We are hypothesizing that cotton harvest aid regimes, and level of defoliation and desiccation are contributing factors in higher cotton leaf grades. The interaction of morphological characteristics of cotton cultivars and the various harvest aid regimes were evaluated to identify key factors contributing to the increased leaf grade values. Multiple trials were conducted during 2010, 2011, and 2012 in Burleson, Colorado, and Matagorda counties in South and southeastern Texas. Cotton cultivars were selected with a range of leaf hairiness and were sprayed with five harvest aid treatments to obtain a range of defoliation and desiccation levels. Leaf and bract pubescence, and leaf and bract area were collected, as well as defoliation and desiccation levels, to analyze the resulting impact on cotton leaf grade values. Seed cotton samples were ginned in a microgin and lint quality was measured with high volume instrument (HIV) analysis. Results from trichome density quantification indicated substantial variation in cultivars and discrepancies from company based rating systems. Defoliation level rating ranged from 0 to 84% at 14 d after treatment application, while desiccation levels were low despite the use of herbicidal products. Defoliation or desiccation did not impact leaf grade. Leaf grades generally increased with higher leaf trichome densities, although not always significantly. Among morphological characteristics of cotton, leaf hairiness is more important for cultivar selection to reduce leaf grade.
Shoot and Root Biomass Allocation of Sunflower Varying with Soil Salinity and Nitrogen Applications
Authors: Ma Tao , Zeng Wenzhi , Li Qi , Yang Xu , Wu Jingwei , Huang Jiesheng
Published: September 2017

Core Ideas

Soil salinity could be alleviated by proper use of N fertilizer.

No alleviation effect of additional N fertilizer is seen under saline conditions in sunflower's seedling stage.

A pot experiment might not be an acceptable substitute for field trail.

Soil salinity (S) is one of the most important abiotic stresses limiting crop production in arid and semiarid regions. This study was conducted to investigate the interactive effects of S and nitrogen (N) fertilizer on shoot and root biomass allocation of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) at different growth stages. Outdoor field and pot experiments were performed in the Hetao Irrigation District, China. The field study consisted of a 3 × 2 factorial design with three salinity levels (S0: electrical conductivity of a saturated‐paste extract [ECe] = 1.9 dS m−1; S1: ECe = 7.4 dS m−1; S2: ECe = 12.7 dS m−1) and two N application rates (low: 45 kg N ha−1; moderate: 135 kg N ha−1); the S2 treatment was not included in pot study. The results indicated that sunflower allocated more biomass to root under saline conditions in the seedling stage. However, a detrimental effect of moderate N application rate on seedling growth could be found at the S1 level. Moreover, after bud initiation, a moderate N application rate accelerated shoot and root biomass accumulation at the S0 and S1 levels, but it still aggravated salt stress and inhibited sunflower growth at the flowering and mature stages at the S2 level. In addition, our study indicated that the sunflowers planted in pots showed enhanced salt tolerance and decreased the root/shoot ratio earlier than sunflowers planted in fields. We suggest applying less N fertilizer before sowing at both the S1 and S2 levels and using proper additional N fertilizer in the bud stage at the S1 level to promote sunflower growth after salt tolerance has been enhanced.
Apparatus for Measuring Coupled Membrane and Diffusion Behavior of Unsaturated Sodium Bentonite
Authors: Sample-Lord Kristin M. , Shackelford Charles D.
Published: September 2017

Core Ideas

Coupled membrane and diffusion behavior was measured in unsaturated Na‐bentonite.

A new testing apparatus advances the state of the art for coupled processes in clays.

The membrane efficiency of Na‐bentonite increased as the degree of saturation decreased.

Sodium bentonite (Na‐bentonite) has been shown to exhibit semipermeable membrane behavior—the ability to selectively restrict the migration of dissolved chemical species through the pores of the clay. However, experimental research to date has focused on the membrane behavior of Na‐bentonite almost exclusively under water‐saturated conditions (i.e., degree of saturationS= 1), even though membrane behavior under unsaturated conditions is expected to be more significant. Further, the limited number of studies that have been performed to evaluate membrane behavior in unsaturated soils have used only open systems to quantify membrane efficiency (ω), despite the testing advantages of using closed systems (e.g., more accurate measurement of ω, easier control of boundary conditions). Thus, a closed‐system testing apparatus capable of measuring coupled membrane and diffusion behavior in unsaturated Na‐bentonite was developed and then used to measure ω and salt diffusion in Na‐bentonite withSof 0.84 and 1.0. For a source solution (concentration difference) of 20 mM KCl, ω increased from 0.61 to 0.71 asSdecreased from 1.0 to 0.84, which is consistent with the current conceptual understanding of membrane behavior and trends in the literature. In contrast, the effective diffusion coefficient for Cl−was essentially the same (i.e., ∼1.8 × 10−10m2s−1) for both specimens due to the small difference inS. The development of the testing apparatus advances the state of the art for laboratory measurement of coupled membrane and diffusion behavior in unsaturated clays commonly used as chemical containment barriers.
Root Water Uptake and Ideotypes of the Root System: Whole‐Plant Controls Matter
Authors: Tardieu Francois , Draye Xavier , Javaux Mathieu
Published: September 2017

Core Ideas

The threshold soil water potential for water uptake depends on stomatal control.

Whole‐plant transpiration increases hydraulic conductance in roots and shoots.

It decreases the rhizosphere hydraulic conductance, resulting in feedback loops.

Root system ideotypes for water uptake are not always associated with the best yields.

Models integrating controls in shoots and roots are needed to optimize root traits.

Simulations of plant water uptake in soil science are based on the interplay between soil and root properties, with an imposed flux or water potential at the stem base. The dialogue between roots and shoots is important in water uptake. The threshold soil water potential for water uptake represents the soil water potential at which stomatal control stops transpiration over 24 h. Measurements show that it has a large variability among species and cultivars. Isohydric plants prevent low leaf water potentials via stomatal control, so their threshold soil water potential is high. Anisohydric plants allow low leaf water potentials, resulting in lower thresholds. These behaviors have a genetic control and can be simulated via whole‐plant models. In studied species, the hydraulic conductance in roots and shoots depends on the whole‐plant transpiration rate. In particular, there is a “dialogue” between the daily alternations in the transpiration rate and the circadian oscillations in root hydraulic conductance that affect the hydraulic conductance of the rhizosphere, with appreciable consequences on water uptake. Root traits such as length, branching, or depth interact with shoot traits such as leaf area or stomatal control, thereby generating feedbacks. As a consequence, optimum root systems for water uptake at a given time are not always those associated with the best yields. Models that take these whole‐plant results into account bring an extra level of complication but are probably indispensable whenever the aim is to optimize root traits in view of improved drought tolerance.
Social media marketing and business competitiveness: evidence from South African tourism SMMEs
Authors: Rambe Patient
Published: September 2017

The increasing prominence of social media marketing in advancing the global reach and visibility of products and services is ideal for the South African tourism industry, which depends on local and international visitors for leveraging its business activities and competitiveness. However, what remains under-explored in tourism literature is the depth of integration of social media marketing into the competitive strategies of emerging tourism small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs). To address this grey area, this study explored the extent to which tourism SMMEs utilize social media technologies (SMTs) to extend their market share and the implications thereof for the competitiveness of their business operations. Drawing on a quantitative approach, a survey was conducted on 234 tourism SMMEs’ owner/managers in the Free State province of South Africa to establish the impact of social media marketing on the competitiveness of their businesses. Evidence suggests that tourism SMMEs employed social media marketing predominantly for online marketing of their products/services, promoting their products/services, attracting existing customers, and sometimes, for integrating it into their marketing strategies. Results of correlation analysis revealed that social media marketing is positively and significantly related to the competitiveness of tourism SMMEs. The recommendations for leveraging the integration of social media marketing into the competitive strategy of the small business are provided.