bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association of smoking cessation after new-onset type 2 diabetes with overall and cause-specific mortality among Korean men: a nationwide population-based cohort study
Authors: Choi Jae Woo , Han Euna , Kim Tae Hyun
Published: July 2020

Introduction

This study aimed to examine the association between smoking cessation after new-onset type 2 diabetes and overall and cause-specific mortality risks among Korean men.

Research design and methods

The Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening Cohort database was searched, and 13 377 Korean men aged ≥40 years diagnosed with new-onset type 2 diabetes between 2004 and 2007 were included and followed up until 2013. We defined smoking status changes by comparing participants’ answers in the last survey before diagnosis to those in the first survey after diagnosis. We estimated the adjusted HR (AHR) and 95% CI for mortality risk using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results

We identified 1014 all-cause mortality events (cancer, n=406 and cardiovascular disease (CVD), n=184) during an average follow-up duration of 7.2 years. After adjustment for all confounding factors, the reduced risk of all-cause mortality was more significant among short-term quitters (AHR 0.78; 95% CI 0.64 to 0.95), long-term quitters (AHR 0.68; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.85), and never smokers (AHR 0.66; 95% CI 0.56 to 0.78) compared with current smokers (p for trend <0.001). The lower risk of mortality from cancer was significant among the short-term quitters (AHR 0.60; 95% CI 0.44 to 0.83), long-term quitters (AHR 0.67; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.90), and never smokers (AHR 0.50; 95% CI 0.39 to 0.65) compared with current smokers (p for trend <0.001). There was no significant association between changes in smoking status and death from CVD. Smoking cessation after diagnosis in non-obese individuals (AHR 0.73; 95% CI 0.58 to 0.92) and exercisers (AHR 0.54; 95% CI 0.38 to 0.76) was significantly associated with reduced mortality risk than current smoking.

Conclusions

Smoking cessation after new-onset type 2 diabetes was associated with reduced mortality risk.
Dietary Recommendations for Familial Hypercholesterolaemia: an Evidence-Free Zone
Authors: Diamond David M , Alabdulgader Abdullah A , de Lorgeril Michel , Harcombe Zoe , Kendrick Malcolm , Malhotra Aseem , O'Neill Blair , Ravnskov Uffe , Sultan Sherif , Volek Jeff S
Published: July 2020

We have evaluated dietary recommendations for people diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a genetic condition in which increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). Recommendations for FH individuals have emphasised a low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet to reduce their LDL-C levels. The basis of this recommendation is the ‘diet-heart hypothesis’, which postulates that consumption of food rich in saturated fat increases serum cholesterol levels, which increases risk of CHD. We have challenged the rationale for FH dietary recommendations based on the absence of support for the diet-heart hypothesis, and the lack of evidence that a low saturated fat, low cholesterol diet reduces coronary events in FH individuals. As an alternative approach, we have summarised research which has shown that the subset of FH individuals that develop CHD exhibit risk factors associated with an insulin-resistant phenotype (elevated triglycerides, blood glucose,haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), obesity, hyperinsulinaemia, high‐sensitivity C reactive protein, hypertension) or increased susceptibility to develop coagulopathy. The insulin-resistant phenotype, also referred to as the metabolic syndrome, manifests as carbohydrate intolerance, which is most effectively managed by a low carbohydrate diet (LCD). Therefore, we propose that FH individuals with signs of insulin resistance should be made aware of the benefits of an LCD. Our assessment of the literature provides the rationale for clinical trials to be conducted to determine if an LCD would prove to be effective in reducing the incidence of coronary events in FH individuals which exhibit an insulin-resistant phenotype or hypercoagulation risk.
Fostering global primary care research: a capacity-building approach
Authors: Ponka David , Coffman Megan , Fraser-Barclay Krystle Elizabeth , Fortier Richard D W , Howe Amanda , Kidd Michael , Lennon Robert P , Madaki Jeremiah K A , Mash Bob , Mohd Sidik Sherina , van Weel Chris , Zawaly Kristina , Goodyear-Smith Felicity
Published: July 2020

The Alma Ata and Astana Declarations reaffirm the importance of high-quality primary healthcare (PHC), yet the capacity to undertake PHC research—a core element of high-quality PHC—in low-income and middle-income countries (LMIC) is limited. Our aim is to explore the current risks or barriers to primary care research capacity building, identify the ongoing tensions that need to be resolved and offer some solutions, focusing on emerging contexts. This paper arose from a workshop held at the 2019 North American Primary Care Research Group Annual Meeting addressing research capacity building in LMICs. Five case studies (three from Africa, one from South-East Asia and one from South America) illustrate tensions and solutions to strengthening PHC research around the world. Research must be conducted in local contexts and be responsive to the needs of patients, populations and practitioners in the community. The case studies exemplify that research capacity can be strengthened at themicro(practice),meso(institutional) andmacro(national policy and international collaboration) levels. Clinicians may lack coverage to enable research time; however, practice-based research is precisely the most relevant for PHC. Increasing research capacity requires local skills, training, investment in infrastructure, and support of local academics and PHC service providers to select, host and manage locally needed research, as well as to disseminate findings to impact local practice and policy. Reliance on funding from high-income countries may limit projects of higher priority in LMIC, and ‘brain drain’ may reduce available research support; however, we provide recommendations on how to deal with these tensions.
Google Trends-based non-English language query data and epidemic diseases: a cross-sectional study of the popular search behaviour in Taiwan
Authors: Chang Yu-Wei , Chiang Wei-Lun , Wang Wen-Hung , Lin Chun-Yu , Hung Ling-Chien , Tsai Yi-Chang , Suen Jau-Ling , Chen Yen-Hsu
Published: July 2020

Objective

This study developed a surveillance system suitable for monitoring epidemic outbreaks and assessing public opinion in non-English-speaking countries. We evaluated whether social media reflects social uneasiness and fear during epidemic outbreaks and natural catastrophes.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Freely available epidemic data in Taiwan.

Main outcome measure

We used weekly epidemic incidence data obtained from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and online search query data obtained from Google Trends between 4 October 2015 and 2 April 2016. To validate whether non-English query keywords were useful surveillance tools, we estimated the correlation between online query data and epidemic incidence in Taiwan.

Results

With our approach, we noted that keywords 感冒 (‘common cold’), 發燒 (‘fever’) and 咳嗽 (‘cough’) exhibited good to excellent correlation between Google Trends query data and influenza incidence (r=0.898, p<0.001; r=0.773, p<0.001; r=0.796, p<0.001, respectively). They also displayed high correlation with influenza-like illness emergencies (r=0.900, p<0.001; r=0.802, p<0.001; r=0.886, p<0.001, respectively) and outpatient visits (r=0.889, p<0.001; r=0.791, p<0.001; r=0.870, p<0.001, respectively). We noted that the query 腸病毒 (‘enterovirus’) exhibited excellent correlation with the number of enterovirus-infected patients in emergency departments (r=0.914, p<0.001).

Conclusions

These results suggested that Google Trends can be a good surveillance tool for epidemic outbreaks, even in Taiwan, the non-English-speaking country. Online search activity indicates that people are concerned about epidemic diseases, even if they do not visit hospitals. This prompted us to develop useful tools to monitor social media during an epidemic because such media usage reflects infectious disease trends more quickly than does traditional reporting.
Breast cancer application protocol: a randomised controlled trial to evaluate a self-management app for breast cancer survivors
Authors: Cheng Andy S K , Liu Xiangyu , Ng Peter H F , Kwok Cindy T T , Zeng Yingchun , Feuerstein Michael
Published: July 2020

Introduction

The eHealth technologies that are being designed for chronic disease constitute a global trend towards health assessment and self-management. However, most of these approaches tend to focus on a single symptom or problem rather than on the multiple problems that are characteristic of many of these chronic illnesses. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of and adherence to a self-management application (app) that identifies multiple problem areas related to surviving breast cancer as the targeted chronic illness.

Methods and analysis

This is a randomised controlled study. Eligible participants will be allocated randomly into either an intervention group or a control group at a 1:1 ratio. The intervention group will be assigned to the self-management app (‘Be-with-You’), while the control group will use a general health app (‘Sham’ app). The primary outcomes will include the differences between the two groups in their health literacy, problem-solving skills and self-management skills. The secondary outcomes will include group differences in self-efficacy, readiness for change and health-related quality of life. All of these outcomes will be measured at baseline and at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after intervention. In addition, usability of these two mobile apps will be measured at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after intervention. The planned sample size is 476.

Ethics and dissemination

The Human Subjects Ethics Sub-committee of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University approved the study (HSEARS20190922001, 24 September 2019). Dissemination of findings will occur at the local, national and international levels.

Trial registration number

ChiCTR1900026244.
Nurses’ decision-making about cancer patients’ end-of-life skin care in Wales: an exploratory mixed-method vignette study protocol
Authors: Samuriwo Ray , Lovell-Smith Candida , Anstey Sally , Job Claire , Hopkinson Jane
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Patients with cancer are at high risk of developing pressure ulcers at the end of life as a result of their underlying condition or cancer treatment. There are many guidelines which set out best practice with regard to end-of-life skin care. However, the complexity of palliative cancer care often means that it is challenging for nurses to make the appropriate person-centred decisions about end-of-life skin care. This study seeks to explore the perceived importance that nurses place on different factors in their end-of-life skin care for patients with cancer. The utility, face validity and content validity of a prototype decision-making tool for end-of-life skin care will also be evaluated.

Methods and analysis

A mixed-method design will be used to gather data from primary and secondary care nurses working in different hospitals and local authority areas across Wales. Clinical vignettes will be used to gather qualitative and quantitative data from nurses in individual interviews. Qualitative data will be subject to thematic analysis and quantitative data will be subject to descriptive statistical analysis. Qualitative and quantitative data will then be synthesised, which will enhance the rigour of this study, and pertinently inform the further development of an end-of-life skin care decision-making tool for patients with cancer.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval to undertake the study has been granted by Cardiff University School of Healthcare Sciences Research Governance and Ethics Screening Committee. Informed consent will be obtained in writing from all the participants in this study. The results of this study will be disseminated through journal articles, as well as presentations at national and international conferences. We will also report our findings to patient and public involvement groups with an interest in improving cancer care, palliative care as well as skin care.
How good is online information on fibromyalgia? An analysis of quality and readability of websites on fibromyalgia in Spanish
Authors: Alioshkin Cheneguin Arturo , Salvat Salvat Isabel , Romay Barrero Helena , Torres Lacomba María
Published: July 2020

Objective

To assess the content, quality and readability of websites with information on fibromyalgia in Spanish.

Methods

Websites were retrieved entering the keyword ‘fibromyalgia’ in Google, Yahoo! and Bing, and by searching records of patients associations in Spain and Latin America. The Bermúdez-Tamayo and DISCERN questionnaires were employed for evaluating quality and content, and INFLESZ for readability. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSSV.24 (Chicago, USA).

Results

Three hundred and five websites were found. After applying the exclusion criteria, 73 websites were analysed. Websites retrieved by search engines obtained median scores of 27.0 (interquartile interval (IQI): 24.5–32.0) with DISCERN, 35.0 (IQI: 31.0–40.5) with Bermúdez-Tamayo and 53.7 (IQI: 47.4–56.2) with INFLESZ, whereas those from patients associations scored 21.0 (IQI: 19.2–23.8), 26.0 (IQI: 25.0–31.0) and 51.7 (IQI: 47.9–55.1), respectively. In general, content was not up-to-date.

Conclusions

Overall quality was medium-low, content quality was very low and readability was poor. Further effort is needed to guarantee meeting quality criteria and accessing updated, relevant, and legible information.

This study exposes the quality and readability of websites on fibromyalgia in Spanish, which can help healthcare workers to better appraise this resource and its potential influence on the development of the pathology.
What is a good death? A critical discourse policy analysis
Authors: Borgstrom Erica
Published: July 2020

Objective

The concept of a good death is a motivating factor for end of life care policy; this article examines what English end-of-life care (EOLC) policy defines as a good death.

Methods

Critical discourse analysis of policy documents and policy-promoting materials published between 2008 and 2016.

Results

Policy explicitly defines a good death as having the following attributes: being treated as an individual, with dignity and respect; being without pain and other symptoms; being in familiar surroundings and being in the company of close family and/or friends. Critical discourse analysis of 54 documents found that rather than just being an outcome or event, descriptions of what makes a death good also include many processes. A more extended definition includes: the person receives holistic EOLC; the dying person is treated with dignity and respect; the death is not sudden and unexpected; people are prepared and have ideally done some advance care planning; people are aware that someone is dying and openly discuss this; on knowing the dying person’s preferences, all involved are to work towards achieving these; the place of death is important; the person’s family are involved and the needs of the bereaved are considered.

Conclusion

This analysis indicates the complex nature of the current discourses around good death in EOLC policy, which often focuses on care rather than death. Policy should focus on outlining what quality end-of-life care looks like, rather than assume ‘good death’ is a suitable outcome statement.
Milestones: a mixed methods study of an educational intervention to improve care of the dying
Authors: Mooney Michelle , Bright Rebecca , Vickerstaff Victoria , Stirling Caroline , Yardley Sarah
Published: July 2020

Background

Approximately 460 000 people die annually in England. Three-quarters of these deaths are expected. Health Education England is prioritising upskilling of clinical staff in response to reports of poor care quality in the last days of life in acute hospitals, where almost half of all deaths occur. This study explores the impact of an end-of-life care (EoLC) educational intervention,Milestones, in acute hospital trusts in Greater London.

Methods

This is a mixed methods study. Learners completed a questionnaire pre- (n=452), immediately post- (n=488) and 3 to 8 months post- (n=37) intervention. The questionnaire measured learner confidence in EoLC covering the National Health Service adopted ‘Priorities for the Care of the Dying Person’. Paired t-tests were used to determine statistically significant difference in learner confidence pre- and post-intervention. A convenience sample of learners (n=7) and educators (n=5) were recruited to qualitative semi-structured interviews that sought to understand if, how and whyMilestonesworked. Data were analysed using a thematic approach.

Results

A statistically significant increase in learner confidence across all five priorities of care’ was sustained up to 8 months (p<0.001). Interviewees wanted to discuss wider challenges in EoLC related to the organisations and cultural contexts in which they worked. Concerns included balancing hope when decision-making, learning as a multidisciplinary team and emotional impact.

Conclusion

The findings suggest thatMilestonesis a flexible, beneficial resource for teaching EoLC that facilitates enhanced learner engagement. Understanding generated about wider concerns can inform future educational material development, organisational process and research study design.
What does informal access to misoprostol in Colombia look like? A mystery client methodology in Bogotá and the Coffee Axis
Authors: Moore Ann M , Blades Nakeisha , Ortiz Juliette , Whitehead Hannah , Villarreal Cristina
Published: July 2020

Introduction

In 2006, abortion was decriminalised in Colombia under certain circumstances. Yet, women avail themselves of ways to terminate pregnancy outside of the formal health system. This study explored how drug sellers engage with women who attempt to purchase misoprostol from them.

Methods

A mapping exercise was undertaken to list small-chain and independent drug stores in two regions in Colombia. A sample (n=558) of drug stores was selected from this list and visited by mystery clients between November and December 2017. Mystery clients sought to obtain a medication to bring back a delayed period, and described the experience, the information obtained and the medications proffered in exit interviews.

Results

Misoprostol was offered for purchase in 15% of the visits; in half of visits, only information about misoprostol was shared, while no information about misoprostol was provided on the remaining visits. Over half of sellers who refused to sell any medication provided referrals, most commonly to an abortion provider. Among visits which included discussion of misoprostol, two out of five sellers provided dosage instructions with most recommending the minimum adequate dosage. Mystery clients received little information on the physical effects to expect with the use of misoprostol and possible complications.

Conclusions

As misoprostol is being obtained from some drug sellers without a prescription, capacitating this cadre with at least a minimum of standardised information on dosage, routes of administration and expected effects and outcomes have the potential to improve reproductive health outcomes for women who choose to terminate pregnancies this way in Colombia.
Augmentation of pulmonary blood flow and cardiac output by non-invasive external ventilation late after Fontan palliation
Authors: Charla Pradeepkumar , Karur Gauri Rani , Yamamura Kenichiro , Yoo Shi-Joon , Granton John T , Oechslin Erwin N , Shah Ashish , Benson Leland N , Honjo Osami , Mertens Luc , Alonso-Gonzalez Rafael , Hanneman Kate , Wald Rachel M
Published: July 2020

Objectives

Although a life-preserving surgery for children with single ventricle physiology, the Fontan palliation is associated with striking morbidity and mortality with advancing age. Our primary objective was to evaluate the impact of non-invasive, external, thoraco-abdominal ventilation on pulmonary blood flow (PBF) and cardiac output (CO) as measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging in adult Fontan subjects.

Methods

Adults with a dominant left ventricle post-Fontan palliation (lateral tunnel or extracardiac connections) and healthy controls matched by sex and age were studied. We evaluated vascular flows using phase-contrast CMR imaging during unassisted breathing, negative pressure ventilation (NPV) and biphasic ventilation (BPV). Measurements were made within target vessels (aorta, pulmonary arteries, vena cavae and Fontan circuit) at baseline and during each ventilation mode.

Results

Ten Fontan subjects (50% male, 24.5 years (IQR 20.8–34.0)) and 10 matched controls were studied. Changes in PBF and CO, respectively, were greater following BPV as compared with NPV. In subjects during NPV, PBF increased by 8% (Δ0.20 L/min/m2(0.10–0.53), p=0.011) while CO did not change significantly (Δ0.17 L/min/m2(−0.11–0.23), p=0.432); during BPV, PBF increased by 25% (Δ0.61 L/min/m2(0.20–0.84), p=0.002) and CO increased by 16% (Δ0.47 L/min/m2(0.21–0.71), p=0.010). Following BPV, change in PBF and CO were both significantly higher in subjects versus controls (0.61 L/min/m2(0.2–0.84) vs −0.27 L/min/m2(−0.55–0.13), p=0.001; and 0.47 L/min/m2(0.21–0.71) vs 0.07 L/min/m2(−0.47–0.33), p=0.034, respectively).

Conclusion

External ventilation acutely augments PBF and CO in adult Fontan subjects. Confirmation of these findings in larger populations with longer duration of ventilation and extended follow-up will be required to determine sustainability of haemodynamic effects.
Protecting people with multiple sclerosis through vaccination
Authors: Reyes Saúl , Ramsay Mary , Ladhani Shamez , Amirthalingam Gayatri , Singh Neena , Cores Carlos , Mathews joela , Lambourne Jonathan , Marta Monica , Turner Benjamin , Gnanapavan Sharmilee , Dobson Ruth , Schmierer Klaus , Giovannoni G
Published: July 2020

Vaccination is one of the most effective and cost-efficient methods for protecting people with multiple sclerosis (MS) from infections. However, use of vaccines has often been problematic because of misguided concerns that they may exacerbate the disease and/or that some disease-modifying therapies may influence the immune response to immunisations and/or their safety. People with MS risk higher morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable infections. It is, therefore, important to address any patient’s reluctance to accept vaccination and to provide clear guidance for clinicians on which vaccinations to consider proactively. We have reviewed the current literature and provide recommendations regarding vaccines in adults with MS, including specific advice regarding vaccination safety in patients receiving—or going to receive—disease-modifying therapies, vaccination during pregnancy, pretravel counselling and patient education.
Role of daily anal stimulation for intractable functional constipation in infants
Authors: Zhu Tianqi , Sun Xiaoyi , Zhu Dan , You Qian , Wan Xiaoting , Meng Xinyao , Feng Jiexiong
Published: July 2020

Objective

Functional constipation is one of the most common problems in pediatric gastroenterology. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of daily anal stimulation in infants with intractable functional constipation (IFC). Our evaluation was based on clinical improvement and on changes in manometric parameters through time.

Methods

Infants with IFC treated between January 2018 and December 2019 were included in this retrospective study. Treatment processing included daily anal stimulation for infants and psychological counseling for parents. All cases underwent a complete intervention program and were evaluated for improvement in symptoms and for changes in anorectal manometry within 1 year of follow-up.

Results

A total of 161 patients were included in this study. Positive response was achieved in all patients. Frequency of defecation, change in stool form and decrease in the defecatory pain were significantly relieved in all infants after intervention. On anorectal manometry, no significant difference was found in the peristaltic frequency of distal rectum before and after treatment. There was a significant increase in the mean amplitude of peristalsis and improvement in the rhythm after intervention. In the 1 year of follow-up, three patients had recurrence of constipation requiring colectomy.

Conclusion

In terms of the high clinical efficacy and limited side effects, daily anal stimulation may be included in the initial part of an intervention program for IFC in infants.
Doped holographic fermionic system
Authors: Huang Wenjun , Fu Guoyang , Zhang Dan , Zhou Zhenhua , Wu Jian-Pin
Published: July 2020

We construct a two-current model. It includes two gauge fields, which introduce the doping effect, and a neutral scalar field. And then we numerically construct an AdS black brane geometry with scalar hair. Over this background, we study the fermionic system with the pseudoscalar Yukawa coupling. Some universal properties from the pseudoscalar Yukawa coupling are revealed. In particular, as the coupling increases, there is a transfer of the spectral weight from the low energy band to the high energy band. The transfer is over low energy scales but not over all energy scales. The peculiar properties are also explored. The study shows that with the increase of the doping, the gap opens more difficult. It indicates that there is a competition between the pseudoscalar Yukawa coupling and the doping.
A Reduction of Integer Factorization to Modular Tetration
Authors: Hittmeir Markus
Published: July 2020

Let [Formula: see text]. By [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], we denote the [Formula: see text] th iterate of the exponential function [Formula: see text] evaluated at [Formula: see text], also known as tetration. We demonstrate how an algorithm for evaluating tetration modulo natural numbers [Formula: see text] could be used to compute the prime factorization of [Formula: see text] and provide heuristic arguments for the efficiency of this reduction. Additionally, we prove that the problem of computing the squarefree part of integers is deterministically polynomial-time reducible to modular tetration.
GUP effect on thermodynamical properties of the noncommutative rotating BTZ black hole
Authors: Gecim Ganim
Published: July 2020

In this paper, we investigated the quantum gravity effects on the thermal properties of the [Formula: see text]-dimensional noncommutative rotating Banados–Teitelboim–Zanelli (NCR-BTZ) black hole in the context of quantum tunneling of relativistic particles. These include Hawking temperature, the thermally local and global stability conditions, and the phase transitions. For this purpose, in the framework of the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP), we used the Hamilton–Jacobi approach to calculate the tunneling probability for a massive scalar, Dirac, and vector boson particles from the [Formula: see text]-dimensional NCR-BTZ black hole. We found that the modified Hawking temperature of the black hole depends on the black hole properties, on the tunneling particle properties, on the noncommutative parameter, and on the GUP parameter. Using the modified Hawking temperature, we calculated the modified heat capacity, and then we discussed the local thermodynamic stability conditions for the black hole. The black hole may undergo a first-type phase transition to become stable under the scalar particle tunneling whereas, it might undergoes both the first and the second-type phase transitions under the both Dirac and vector boson particles tunneling process. Furthermore, we calculated the Gibbs free energy of the black hole, and we investigated the global stability conditions. We observed that Hawking–Page phase transition may occur in the presence of the quantum gravity effect under the tunneling process of scalar, Dirac, and vector boson particles. In the context of quantum gravity effect, we also derived the modified equation of state to investigate the critical behavior of the commutative rotating BTZ black hole. Finally, we shown that Van der Waals-like phase transition may occur in the context of tunneling process of both Dirac and vector boson particle, whereas it may not occur for the tunneling of scalar particle.
The thermal properties of SnSe and Sm1−xCexSnSe2 (x = 0.02–0.5) compounds
Authors: Abdurahmanova V. A. , Abdullaev N. M. , Ismayilov Sh. S. , Mirzayev M. N.
Published: July 2020

SnSe and [Formula: see text] compounds based on SnSe have been synthesized. Thermal properties of SnSe and [Formula: see text] compounds within [Formula: see text] concentration ranges of Ce atoms have been investigated using Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA). Thermodynamic parameters were calculated based on DTA spectra within [Formula: see text] temperature intervals. It was determined from the relation of different rates concentrations of Sm and Ce elements on energies that [Formula: see text] system compounds have their high symmetric structure in the form of [Formula: see text]. Thermodynamic parameters were determined for each system and the changing mechanism of these parameters depending on concentration of Ce atoms was performed.
On defensive alliance in zero-divisor graphs
Authors: Muthana Najat , Mamouni Abdellah
Published: July 2020

Let [Formula: see text] be a finite undirected graph without loops or multiple edges. A non-empty set of vertices [Formula: see text] is called defensive alliance if every vertex in [Formula: see text] have at least one more neighbors inside of [Formula: see text] than it has outside of [Formula: see text]. A non-empty set of vertices [Formula: see text] is called a dominating set if every vertex not in [Formula: see text] is adjacent to at least one member of [Formula: see text]. A defensive alliance dominating set is called global. The global defensive alliance number [Formula: see text] is defined as the minimum cardinality among all global defensive alliances. In this paper, we initiate the study of the global defensive alliance number of zero-divisor graphs [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] is a finite commutative ring. Hence, we calculate [Formula: see text] for some usual kind of rings. We finish by a complete characterization of rings with [Formula: see text].
Quantization-aware phase retrieval
Authors: Mukherjee Subhadip , Seelamantula Chandra Sekhar
Published: July 2020

We address the problem of phase retrieval (PR) from quantized measurements. The goal is to reconstruct a signal from quadratic measurements encoded with a finite precision, which is indeed the case in practical applications. We develop an iterative projected-gradient-type algorithm that recovers the signal subject to ensuring consistency with the measurement, meaning that the recovered signal, when encoded, must yield the same set of measurements that one started with. The algorithm involves rank-1 projection, which stems from the idea of lifting, originally proposed in the context of PhaseLift. The consistency criterion is enforced using a one-sided quadratic cost. We also determine the probability with which different vectors lead to the same set of quantized measurements, which makes it impossible to resolve them. Naturally, this probability depends on how correlated such vectors are, and how coarsely/finely the measurements are quantized. The proposed algorithm is also capable of incorporating a sparsity constraint on the signal. An analysis of the cost function reveals that it is bounded probabilistically, both above and below, by functions that are dependent on how well-correlated the estimate is with the ground-truth. We also derive the Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRB) on the achievable reconstruction accuracy. A comparison with the state-of-the-art algorithms shows that the proposed algorithm has a higher reconstruction accuracy and is about 2 to 3 dB away from the CRB. The edge, in terms of the reconstruction signal-to-noise ratio, over the competing algorithms is higher (about 5 to 6 dB) when the quantization is coarse, thereby making the proposed scheme particularly attractive in such scenarios. We also demonstrate a concrete application of the proposed method to frequency-domain optical-coherence tomography (FDOCT).
Two-dimensional atom localization via a combination of the standing-wave and Gaussian fields
Authors: Abd-El-Nabi Somia
Published: July 2020

The localization of atom is studied in two-dimensional (2D) in a four-level V-type atomic system by using the Gaussian field. The atom localization is investigated through the absorption spectrum of the weak probe field inside two orthogonal standing-wave fields. We consider three hypotheses for the interaction between the atom and fields (standing-wave and Gaussian fields), each hypothesis is considered individually. We obtain the expression for the first-order approximation of the absorption of the probe field mathematically for the hypothesis (I). The Gaussian field parameter plays an important role in the precision of the atom localization. The 2D atom localization can be dependent on the detuning of the probe field (resonance and off-resonance), the Rabi frequencies and the phase shifts.
Runtime Adaptation in Wireless Sensor Nodes Using Structured Learning
Authors: Sapio Adrian , Bhattacharyya Shuvra S. , Wolf Marilyn
Published: July 2020

Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) provide important capabilities for facilitating the dynamic adaptation and self-optimization of cyber physical systems at runtime. In recent years, this has primarily taken the form of Reinforcement Learning (RL) techniques that eliminate some MDP components for the purpose of reducing computational requirements. In this work, we show that recent advancements in Compact MDP Models (CMMs) provide sufficient cause to question this trend when designing wireless sensor network nodes. In this work, a novel CMM-based approach to designing self-aware wireless sensor nodes is presented and compared to Q-Learning, a popular RL technique. We show that a certain class of CPS nodes is not well served by RL methods and contrast RL versus CMM methods in this context. Through both simulation and a prototype implementation, we demonstrate that CMM methods can provide significantly better runtime adaptation performance relative to Q-Learning, with comparable resource requirements.
Pop Music Generation
Authors: Zhu Hongyuan , Liu Qi , Yuan Nicholas Jing , Zhang Kun , Zhou Guang , Chen Enhong
Published: July 2020

Music plays an important role in our daily life. With the development of deep learning and modern generation techniques, researchers have done plenty of works on automatic music generation. However, due to the special requirements of both melody and arrangement, most of these methods have limitations when applying to multi-track music generation. Some critical factors related to the quality of music are not well addressed, such as chord progression, rhythm pattern, and musical style. In order to tackle the problems and ensure the harmony of multi-track music, in this article, we propose an end-to-end melody and arrangement generation framework to generate a melody track with several accompany tracks played by some different instruments. To be specific, we first develop a novel
Chord based Rhythm and Melody Cross-Generation Model
to generate melody with a chord progression. Then, we propose a
Multi-Instrument Co-Arrangement Model
based on multi-task learning for multi-track music arrangement. Furthermore, to control the musical style of arrangement, we design a
Multi-Style Multi-Instrument Co-Arrangement Model
to learn the musical style with adversarial training. Therefore, we can not only maintain the harmony of the generated music but also control the musical style for better utilization. Extensive experiments on a real-world dataset demonstrate the superiority and effectiveness of our proposed models.
Self-aware Power Management for Maintaining Event Detection Probability of Supercapacitor-powered Cyber-physical Systems
Authors: Chai Ruizhi , Zhang Ying , Sun Geng , Li Hongsheng
Published: July 2020

In this article, the self-aware power management framework is investigated for maintaining event detection probability of supercapacitor-powered cyber-physical systems, with a radar network system as an example. Maintaining the event detection probability of the radar network is decomposed as a problem of controlling the quality of service of each network node. Then a power management method based on model predictive control and particle swarm optimization is proposed for tracking the reference quality of service of each node while satisfying the operation constraints. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through three simulation studies that cover both single node and network scenarios. In addition, to support the proposed power management method, an online state of charge prediction method is developed for the supercapacitor. The online prediction method adopts a supercapacitor model that describes both the ohmic leakage and charge redistribution phenomena and uses online model updating to more accurately capture the supercapacitor behavior and estimate the stored energy.
A New Perspective on FO Model Checking of Dense Graph Classes
Authors: Gajarský Jakub , Hliněný Petr , Obdržálek Jan , Lokshtanov Daniel , Ramanujan M. S.
Published: July 2020

We study the first-order (FO) model checking problem of dense graph classes, namely, those that have FO interpretations in (or are FO transductions of) some sparse graph classes. We give a structural characterization of the graph classes that are FO interpretable in graphs of bounded degree. This characterization allows us to efficiently compute such an FO interpretation for an input graph. As a consequence, we obtain an FPT algorithm for successor-invariant FO model checking on any graph class that is FO interpretable in (or an FO transduction of) a graph class of bounded degree. The approach we use to obtain these results may also be of independent interest.
Constrained LSTM and Residual Attention for Image Captioning
Authors: Yang Liang , Hu Haifeng , Xing Songlong , Lu Xinlong
Published: July 2020

Visual structure and syntactic structure are essential in images and texts, respectively. Visual structure depicts both entities in an image and their interactions, whereas syntactic structure in texts can reflect the part-of-speech constraints between adjacent words. Most existing methods either use visual global representation to guide the language model or generate captions without considering the relationships of different entities or adjacent words. Thus, their language models lack relevance in both visual and syntactic structure. To solve this problem, we propose a model that aligns the language model to certain visual structure and also constrains it with a specific part-of-speech template. In addition, most methods exploit the latent relationship between words in a sentence and pre-extracted visual regions in an image yet ignore the effects of unextracted regions on predicted words. We develop a residual attention mechanism to simultaneously focus on the pre-extracted visual objects and unextracted regions in an image. Residual attention is capable of capturing precise regions of an image corresponding to the predicted words considering both the effects of visual objects and unextracted regions. The effectiveness of our entire framework and each proposed module are verified on two classical datasets: MSCOCO and Flickr30k. Our framework is on par with or even better than the state-of-the-art methods and achieves superior performance on COCO captioning Leaderboard.
Recurrent Attention Network with Reinforced Generator for Visual Dialog
Authors: Fan Hehe , Zhu Linchao , Yang Yi , Wu Fei
Published: July 2020

In Visual Dialog, an agent has to parse temporal context in the dialog history and spatial context in the image to hold a meaningful dialog with humans. For example, to answer “what is the man on her left wearing?” the agent needs to (1) analyze the temporal context in the dialog history to infer who is being referred to as “her,” (2) parse the image to attend “her,” and (3) uncover the spatial context to shift the attention to “her left” and check the apparel of the man. In this article, we use a dialog network to memorize the temporal context and an attention processor to parse the spatial context. Since the question and the image are usually very complex, which makes it difficult for the question to be grounded with a single glimpse, the attention processor attends to the image multiple times to better collect visual information. In the Visual Dialog task, the generative decoder (G) is trained under the word-by-word paradigm, which suffers from the lack of sentence-level training. We propose to reinforce G at the sentence level using the discriminative model (D), which aims to select the right answer from a few candidates, to ameliorate the problem. Experimental results on the VisDial dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
iSENSE2.0
Authors: Wang Junjie , Yang Ye , Menzies Tim , Wang Qing
Published: July 2020

Software engineers get questions of “how much testing is enough” on a regular basis. Existing approaches in software testing management employ experience-, risk-, or value-based analysis to prioritize and manage testing processes. However, very few is applicable to the emerging crowdtesting paradigm to cope with extremely limited information and control over unknown, online crowdworkers. In practice, deciding when to close a crowdtesting task is largely done by experience-based guesswork and frequently results in ineffective crowdtesting. More specifically, it is found that an average of 32% testing cost was wasteful spending in current crowdtesting practice. This article intends to address this challenge by introducing automated decision support for monitoring and determining appropriate time to close crowdtesting tasks.

To that end, it first investigates the necessity and feasibility of close prediction of crowdtesting tasks based on an industrial dataset. Next, it proposes a close prediction approach named iSENSE2.0, which applies incremental sampling technique to process crowdtesting reports arriving in chronological order and organizes them into fixed-sized groups as dynamic inputs. Then, a duplicate tagger analyzes the duplicate status of received crowd reports, and a CRC-based (Capture-ReCapture) close estimator generates the close decision based on the dynamic bug arrival status. In addition, a coverage-based sanity checker is designed to reinforce the stability and performance of close prediction. Finally, the evaluation of iSENSE2.0 is conducted on 56,920 reports of 306 crowdtesting tasks from one of the largest crowdtesting platforms. The results show that a median of 100% bugs can be detected with 30% saved cost. The performance of iSENSE2.0 does not demonstrate significant difference with the state-of-the-art approach
iSENSE
, while the later one relies on the duplicate tag, which is generally considered as time-consuming and tedious to obtain.
Improving FPGA-Based Logic Emulation Systems through Machine Learning
Authors: Agnesina Anthony , Lim Sung Kyu , Lepercq Etienne , Cid Jose Escobedo Del
Published: July 2020

We present a machine learning (ML) framework to improve the use of computing resources in the FPGA compilation step of a commercial FPGA-based logic emulation flow. Our ML models enable highly accurate predictability of the final place and route design qualities, runtime, and optimal mapping parameters. We identify key compilation features that may require aggressive compilation efforts using our ML models. Experiments based on our large-scale database from an industry’s emulation system show that our ML models help reduce the total number of jobs required for a given netlist by 33%. Moreover, our job scheduling algorithm based on our ML model reduces the overall time to completion of concurrent compilation runs by 24%. In addition, we propose a new method to compute “recommendations” from our ML model to perform re-partitioning of difficult partitions. Tested on a large-scale industry system on chip design, our recommendation flow provides additional 15% compile time savings for the entire system on chip. To exploit our ML model inside the time-critical multi-FPGA partitioning step, we implement it in an optimized multi-threaded representation.
Machine Learning Approach for Fast Electromigration Aware Aging Prediction in Incremental Design of Large Scale On-chip Power Grid Network
Authors: Dey Sukanta , Nandi Sukumar , Trivedi Gaurav
Published: July 2020

With the advancement of technology nodes, Electromigration (EM) signoff has become increasingly difficult, which requires a considerable amount of time for an incremental change in the power grid (PG) network design in a chip. The traditional Black’s empirical equation and Blech’s criterion are still used for EM assessment, which is a time-consuming process. In this article, for the first time, we propose a machine learning (ML) approach to obtain the EM-aware aging prediction of the PG network. We use neural network--based regression as our core ML technique to instantly predict the lifetime of a perturbed PG network. The performance and accuracy of the proposed model using neural network are compared with the well-known standard regression models. We also propose a new failure criterion based on which the EM-aging prediction is done. Potential EM-affected metal segments of the PG network is detected by using a logistic-regression--based classification ML technique. Experiments on different standard PG benchmarks show a significant speedup for our ML model compared to the state-of-the-art models. The predicted value of MTTF for different PG benchmarks using our approach is also better than some of the state-of-the-art MTTF prediction models and comparable to the other accurate models.
Efficient Authorization of Graph-database Queries in an Attribute-supporting ReBAC Model
Authors: Rizvi Syed Zain Raza , Fong Philip W. L.
Published: July 2020

Neo4j is a popular graph database that offers two versions: an
enterprise edition
and a
community edition
. The enterprise edition offers customizable Role-based Access Control features through custom developed
procedures
, while the community edition does not offer any access control support. Being a graph database, Neo4j appears to be a natural application for Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC), an access control paradigm where authorization decisions are based on relationships between subjects and resources in the system (i.e., an authorization graph). In this article, we present AReBAC, an attribute-supporting ReBAC model for Neo4j that provides finer-grained access control by operating over resources instead of procedures. AReBAC employs Nano-Cypher, a declarative policy language based on Neo4j’s Cypher query language, the result of which allows us to weave database queries with access control policies and evaluate both simultaneously. Evaluating the combined query and policy produces a result that (i) matches the search criteria, and (ii) the requesting subject is authorized to access. AReBAC is accompanied by the algorithms and their implementation required for the realization of the presented ideas, including
GP-Eval,
a query evaluation algorithm. We also introduce Live-End Backjumping (LBJ), a backtracking scheme that provides a significant performance boost over conflict-directed backjumping for evaluating queries. As demonstrated in our previous work, the original version of
GP-Eval
already performs significantly faster than the Neo4j’s Cypher evaluation engine. The optimized version of
GP-Eval
, which employs LBJ, further improves the performance significantly, thereby demonstrating the capabilities of the technique.