bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Forty years of shunt surgery at Rigshospitalet, Denmark: a retrospective study comparing past and present rates and causes of revision and infection
Authors: Kofoed Månsson Philip , Johansson Sofia , Ziebell Morten , Juhler Marianne
Published: January 2017

Objective

The objective of this study is to review our experience of shunt surgery by investigating 40 years of development in terms of rates of revision and infection, shunt survival and risk factors.

Design and participants

Medical records and operative reports were reviewed retrospectively for all patients who underwent primary shunt surgery at our department in the years 2010 to 2012. All results were compared with a previous study from our department. A mixed population consisting of 434 patients was included. Adults (≥15 years) accounted for 89.9% of all patients and the mean follow-up time was 1.71 years.

Results

Overall, 42.6% had a revision of which 65.4% fell within 6 months postoperatively. Low age, high-risk diagnoses and less severe brain injury were associated with a higher risk of revision. One and 5-year shunt survival probabilities were 66.2% (61.5–70.9) and 48.0% (41.1–54.9). Within 4 weeks postoperatively, 3.2% had an infection and overall infection rate was 5.5%. Short duration of surgery and the use of antibiotic prophylaxis were associated with a lower risk of infection. The most frequent causes of revision were valve defects (18.4%) and proximal defects or obstructions (15.7%). Compared to the previous study, no convincing improvement was found with regard to the revision rate (42.6% vs 48.3%, p 0.060) or overall infection rate (5.5% vs 7.4%, p 0.261).

Conclusions

Regardless of changes in patient demographics, techniques and equipment, risk of revision and infection still constitutes a major challenge in shunt surgery. The absence of convincing improvements calls for more studies concerning strategies to reduce complications.
Asthma and lung cancer, after accounting for co-occurring respiratory diseases and allergic conditions: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Denholm Rachel , Crellin Elizabeth , Arvind Ashwini , Quint Jennifer
Published: January 2017

Introduction

Asthma is one of the most frequently diagnosed respiratory diseases in the UK, and commonly co-occurs with other respiratory and allergic diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and atopic dermatitis. Previous studies have shown an increased risk of lung cancer related to asthma, but the evidence is mixed when accounting for co-occurring respiratory diseases and allergic conditions. A systematic review of published data that investigate the relationship between asthma and lung cancer, accounting for co-occurring respiratory and allergic diseases, will be conducted to investigate the independent association of asthma with lung cancer.

Methods and analysis

A systematic review will be conducted, and include original reports of cohort, cross-sectional and case–control studies of the association of asthma with lung cancer after accounting for co-occurring respiratory diseases. Articles published up to June 2016 will be included, and their selection will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A standardised data extraction form will be developed and pretested, and descriptive analyses will be used to summarise the available literature. If appropriate, pooled effect estimates of the association between asthma and lung cancer, given adjustment for a specific co-occurring condition will be estimated using random effects models. Potential sources of heterogeneity and between study heterogeneity will also be investigated.

Ethics and dissemination

The study will be a review of published data and does not require ethical approval. Results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication.

Trial registration number

International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) number CRD42016043341
Risk of sepsis in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a population-based retrospective cohort study in Taiwan
Authors: Lee Cynthia Wei-Sheng , Chen Hsuan-Ju , Liang Ji-An , Kao Chia-Hung
Published: January 2017

Objectives

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, and sepsis is a frequent cause of death in hospitalised patients. We investigated the relationship between ALS and the subsequent risk of sepsis.

Design

A retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting

Patients with ALSs diagnosed between 2000 and 2010 in Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

Participants

We included 701 and 2804 patients as the ALS and the non-ALS groups, respectively.

Outcome measures

The risk of sepsis was calculated by Cox proportional hazards regression model.

Results

During the follow-up period, the incidence density rates were 77.8 and 11.1 per 1000 person-years in the ALS and non-ALS groups, respectively. After adjusting for sex, age, Charlson comorbidity index score, life-support measures, and β2-adrenoceptor agonists treatment, the ALS group had a higher risk of sepsis (HR=3.42; 95% CI 2.60 to 4.50) than the non-ALS group. An increase of the risk was observed in patients with ALS receiving life support treatment measures, whereas a decrease of the risk was associated with treatment of β2-adrenoceptor agonists.

Conclusions

The risk of sepsis is associated with a prior ALS diagnosis, and may be increased by the use of life support measures and decreased by β2-adrenoceptor agonists.
Rococo study: a real-world evaluation of an over-the-counter medicine in acute cough (a multicentre, randomised, controlled study)
Authors: Birring S S , Brew J , Kilbourn A , Edwards V , Wilson R , Morice A H
Published: January 2017

Objectives

To investigate the efficacy and safety of CS1002, an over-the-counter cough treatment containing diphenhydramine, ammonium chloride and levomenthol in a cocoa-based demulcent.

Design

A multicentre, randomised, parallel group, controlled, single-blinded study in participants with acute upper respiratory tract infection-associated cough.

Setting

4 general practitioner (GP) surgeries and 14 pharmacies in the UK.

Participants

Participants aged ≥18 years who self-referred to a GP or pharmacist with acute cough of <7 days' duration. Participant inclusion criterion was cough severity ≥60 mm on a 0–100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Exclusion criteria included current smokers or history of smoking within the past 12 months (including e-cigarettes). 163 participants were randomised to the study (mean participant age 38 years, 57% females).

Interventions

Participants were randomised to CS1002 (Unicough) or simple linctus (SL), a widely used cough treatment, and treatment duration was 7 days or until resolution of cough.

Main outcome measures

The primary analysis was intention-to-treat (157 participants) and comprised cough severity assessed using a VAS after 3 days' treatment (prespecified primary end point at day 4). Cough frequency, sleep disruption, health status (Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ-acute)) and cough resolution were also assessed.

Results

At day 4 (primary end point), the adjusted mean difference (95% CI) in cough severity VAS between CS1002 and SL was −5.9 mm (−14.4 to 2.7), p=0.18. At the end of the study (day 7) the mean difference in cough severity VAS was −4.2 mm (−12.2 to 3.9), p=0.31. CS1002 was associated with a greater reduction in cough sleep disruption (mean difference −11.6 mm (−20.6 to 2.7), p=0.01) and cough frequency (mean difference −8.1 mm (−16.2 to 0.1), p=0.05) compared with SL. There was greater improvement in LCQ-acute quality of life scores with CS1002 compared with SL: mean difference (95% CI) 1.2 (0.05 to 2.36), p=0.04 after 5 days' treatment. More participants prematurely stopped treatment due to cough improvement in the CS1002 group (24.4%) compared with SL (10.7%; p=0.02). Adverse events (AEs) were comparable between CS1002 (20.5%) and SL (27.6%) and largely related to the study indication. 6 participants (7%) in the CS1002 group reduced the dose of medication due to drowsiness/tiredness, which subsequently resolved. These events were not reported by participants as AEs.

Conclusions

Although the primary end point was not achieved, CS1002 was associated with greater reductions in cough frequency, sleep disruption and improved health status compared with SL.

Trial registration number

EudraCT number2014-004255-31.
Impact of advanced autonomous non-medical practitioners in emergency care: protocol for a scoping study
Authors: Sujan Mark , Howard-Franks Hannah , Swann Garry , Soanes Kirsti , Pope Catherine , Crouch Robert , Staniszewska Sophie , Maxwell Elaine , Huang Huayi , Cooke Matthew
Published: January 2017

Introduction

Emergency care services are looking for new models of care delivery to deal with changing patient demographics and increased pressures. It has been suggested that advanced non-medical practitioners might be valuable for delivering such new models of care. However, it is not clear what the impact of the deployment of advanced non-medical practitioners in emergency care is. This scoping study addresses the following research question: What is known from the literature about the different types of impact of the deployment of advanced (autonomous) non-medical practitioners in emergency care?

Methods and analysis

A scoping study will be undertaken to examine and map the impact of the deployment of advanced non-medical practitioners in emergency care. The scoping study follows the methodology proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. Searches will be carried out on databases of peer-reviewed literature and other sources to systematically identify and characterise the literature. Papers will be screened using a 2-stage process to identify the most relevant literature. Papers will be screened by title and abstract, followed by full-text review. Data abstraction and synthesis will be performed using a narrative thematic analysis.

Ethics and dissemination

We will communicate the findings to Health Education England, NHS Improvement and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine through existing links provided by members of the project team. We anticipate that the findings will also be of interest to other similar organisations internationally. By identifying gaps in the research literature, we anticipate that the study will generate recommendations for informing future high-quality research studies about the impact of advanced non-medical practitioners in emergency care as well as in other settings. The research findings will be submitted for publication to relevant peer-reviewed journals as well as professional magazines. The scoping study uses only previously published material, and does not require ethical review.
The e-CRABEL score: an updated method for auditing medical records
Authors: Myuran Tharsika , Turner Oliver , Ben Doostdar Bijan , Lovett Bryony
Published: January 2017

In 2001 the CRABEL score was devised in order to obtain a numerical score of the standard of medical note keeping. With the advent of electronic discharge letters, many components of the CRABEL score are now redundant as computers automatically include some documentation.

The CRABEL score was modified to form the e-CRABEL score. “Patient details on discharge letter” and “Admission and discharge dates on discharge letter” were replaced with “Summary of investigations on discharge letter” and “Documentation of VTE prophylaxis on the drug chart”. The new e-CRABEL score has been used as a monthly audit tool in a busy surgical unit to monitor long-term standards of medical note keeping, with interventions of presenting in the departmental audit meeting, and giving a teaching session to a group of junior doctors at two points.

Following discussion with stakeholders: junior doctors, consultants, and the audit department; it was decided that the e-CRABEL tool was sufficiently compact to be completed on a monthly basis. Critique and interventions included using photographic examples, case note selection and clarification of the e-CRABEL criteria in a teaching session.

Tools used for audit need to be updated in order to accurately represent what they measure, hence the modification of the CRABEL score to make the new e-CRABEL score. Preliminary acquisition and presentation of data using the e-CRABEL score has shown promise in improving the quality of medical record keeping. The tool is sufficiently compact as to conduct on a monthly basis, maintaining standards to a high level and also provides data on VTE documentation.
Persistence of low disease activity after tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) discontinuation in patients with psoriatic arthritis
Authors: Huynh D H , Boyd T A , Etzel C J , Cox V , Kremer J , Mease P , Kavanaugh A
Published: January 2017

Objective

To determine the duration of clinical benefit among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) discontinuing tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapy while in low disease activity (LDA), and to identify patient characteristics associated with prolonged clinical benefit.

Methods

We performed an observational cohort study assessing patients with PsA from the Consortium of Rheumatology Researchers of North America (CORRONA) registry who had discontinued TNFi after achieving LDA, defined as clinical disease activity index (CDAI) score ≤10 and physician's global assessment (PGA) of skin psoriasis ≤20/100. Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate the duration of clinical benefit.

Results

Of the 5945 patients with PsA in CORRONA, 302 patients had discontinued TNFi (n=325) while in LDA and had follow-up data available. At time of discontinuation, mean PsA duration was 9.8 years, mean CDAI was 3.9, and mean duration of TNFi use was 1.5 years; 52.6% of patients had discontinued their first TNFi. Median time to loss of benefit was 29.2 months. 179 (55.1%) patients had persistent benefit at their previous clinic visit. An increased risk of losing clinical benefit was seen among patients with higher disease activity at discontinuation (CDAI≥3.2 vs <3.2; HR 1.43 (p=0.32)) and among smokers (HR 1.78 (p=0.027)).

Conclusions

Patients with PsA who achieve LDA may maintain clinical benefit after discontinuation of TNFi therapy.
A systematic upregulation of nuclear and mitochondrial genes is not present in the initial postexercise recovery period in human skeletal muscle
Authors: Scribbans Trisha D. , Edgett Brittany A. , Bonafiglia Jacob T. , Baechler Brittany L. , Quadrilatero Joe , Gurd Brendon J.
Published: January 2017

The purpose of the current investigation was to determine if an exercise-mediated upregulation of nuclear and mitochondrial-encoded genes targeted by the transcriptional co-activator peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator-1 alpha (PGC-1α) occurs in a systematic manner following different exercise intensities in humans. Ten recreationally active males (age: 23 ± 3 years; peak oxygen uptake: 41.8 ± 6.6 mL·kg−1·min−1) completed 2 acute bouts of work-matched interval exercise at ∼73% (low; LO) and ∼100% (high; HI) of work rate at peak oxygen uptake in a randomized crossover design. Muscle biopsies were taken before, immediately after, and 3 h into recovery following each exercise bout. A main effect of time (p < 0.05) was observed for glycogen depletion. PGC-1α messenger RNA (mRNA) increased following both conditions and was significantly (p < 0.05) higher following HI compared with LO (PGC-1α, LO: +442% vs. HI: +845%). PDK4 mRNA increased following LO whereas PPARα, NRF1, and CS increased following HI. However, a systematic upregulation of nuclear and mitochondrial-encoded genes was not present as TFAM, COXIV, COXI, COXII, ND1, and ND4 mRNA were unchanged. However, changes in COXI, COXII, ND1 and ND4 mRNA were positively correlated following LO and COXI, ND1, and ND4 were positively correlated following HI, which suggests mitochondrial-encoded gene expression was coordinated. PGC-1α and ND4 mRNA, as well as PGC-1α mRNA and the change in muscle glycogen, were positively correlated in response to LO. The lack of observed systematic upregulation of nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded genes suggests that exercise-induced upregulation of PGC-1α targets are differentially regulated during the initial hours following acute exercise in humans.
The physiological response to cold-water immersion following a mixed martial arts training session
Authors: Lindsay Angus , Carr Sam , Cross Sean , Petersen Carl , Lewis John G. , Gieseg Steven P.
Published: January 2017

Combative sport is one of the most physically intense forms of exercise, yet the effect of recovery interventions has been largely unexplored. We investigated the effect of cold-water immersion on structural, inflammatory, and physiological stress biomarkers following a mixed martial arts (MMA) contest preparation training session in comparison with passive recovery. Semiprofessional MMA competitors (n = 15) were randomly assigned to a cold-water immersion (15 min at 10 °C) or passive recovery protocol (ambient air) completed immediately following a contest preparation training session. Markers of muscle damage (urinary myoglobin), inflammation/oxidative stress (urinary neopterin + total neopterin (neopterin + 7,8-dihydroneopterin)), and hypothalamic–pituitary axis (HPA) activation (saliva cortisol) were determined before, immediately after, and 1, 2, and 24 h postsession. Ratings of perceived soreness and fatigue, counter movement jump, and gastrointestinal temperature were also measured. Concentrations of all biomarkers increased significantly (p < 0.05) postsession. Cold water immersion attenuated increases in urinary neopterin (p < 0.05, d = 0.58), total neopterin (p < 0.05, d = 0.89), and saliva cortisol after 2 h (p < 0.05, d = 0.68) and urinary neopterin again at 24 h (p < 0.01, d = 0.57) in comparison with passive recovery. Perceived soreness, fatigue, and gastrointestinal temperatures were also lower for the cold-water immersion group at several time points postsession whilst counter movement jump did not differ. Combative sport athletes who are subjected to impact-induced stress may benefit from immediate cold-water immersion as a simple recovery intervention that reduces delayed onset muscle soreness as well as macrophage and HPA activation whilst not impairing functional performance.
Optimal sampling methods for modelling the occupancy of Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in the Canadian Barrenlands
Authors: Baker Leanne F. , Artym Kyle J. , Swanson Heidi K.
Published: January 2017

In occupancy models, imperfect detectability of animals is usually corrected for by using temporally repeated surveys to estimate probability of detection. Substituting spatial replicates for temporal replicates could be an advantageous sampling strategy in remote Arctic regions, but may lead to serious violations of model assumptions. Using a case study of site occupancy of adfluvial young-of-year Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) in Barrenland tundra streams, we assessed the reliability and efficiency of alternative sampling strategies: (i) randomly distributed versus sequential adjacent spatial replicates; (ii) visual versus electrofishing surveys; and (iii) spatial versus temporal replicates. Sequential, adjacent spatial replicates produced spatially autocorrelated data. Autocorrelation was relieved using randomly distributed spatial replicates, but using these randomly distributed spatial replicates introduced significant error into estimates of the probability of occupancy in streams. Models designed for spatially autocorrelated data could minimize this bias. Visual and electrofishing surveys produced comparable probabilities of detection. Spatially replicated surveys performed better than temporal replicates. The easiest and relatively most cost-effective sampling methods performed as well as, or better than, the more established, expensive, and logistically difficult alternatives for occupancy estimation.
Potential of using data assimilation to support forest planning
Authors: Saad Rami , Eyvindson Kyle , Gong Peichen , Lämås Tomas , Ståhl Göran
Published: January 2017

Uncertainty in forest information typically results in economic and ecological losses as a consequence of suboptimal management decisions. Several techniques have been proposed to handle such uncertainties. However, these techniques are often complex and costly. Data assimilation (DA) has recently been advocated as a tool that may reduce the uncertainty, thereby improving the quality of forest planning results. It offers an opportunity to make use of all new sources of information in a systematic way and thus provides more accurate and up-to-date information to forest planning. In this study, we refer to literature on handling uncertainties in forest planning, as well as related literature from other scientific fields, to assess the potential benefits of using DA in forest planning. We identify five major potential benefits: (i) the accuracy of the information will be improved; (ii) the information will be kept up to date; (iii) the DA process will provide information with estimated accuracy; (iv) stochastic decision making can be applied whereby the accuracy of the information can be utilized in the decision making process; and (v) DA data allows for the analysis of optimal data acquisition decisions.
Surface superconductivity in presence of corners
Authors: Correggi Michele , Giacomelli Emanuela L.
Published: January 2017

We consider an extreme type-II superconducting wire with non-smooth cross section, i.e. with one or more corners at the boundary, in the framework of the Ginzburg–Landau theory. We prove the existence of an interval of values of the applied field, where superconductivity is spread uniformly along the boundary of the sample. More precisely, the energy is not affected to leading order by the presence of corners and the modulus of the Ginzburg–Landau minimizer is approximately constant along the transversal direction. The critical fields delimiting this surface superconductivity regime coincide with the ones in absence of boundary singularities.
QCD fixed points: Banks–Zaks scenario or dynamical gluon mass generation?
Authors: Gomez J. D. , Natale A. A.
Published: January 2017

Fixed points in QCD can appear when the number of quark flavors [Formula: see text] is increased above a certain critical value as proposed by Banks and Zaks (BZ). There is also the possibility that QCD possess an effective charge indicating an infrared frozen coupling constant. In particular, an infrared frozen coupling associated to dynamical gluon mass (DGM) generation does lead to a fixed point even for a small number of quarks. We compare the BZ and DGM mechanisms, their [Formula: see text] functions and fixed points, and within the approximations of this work, which rely basically on extrapolations of the dynamical gluon masses at large [Formula: see text], we verify that between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] both cases exhibit fixed points at similar coupling constant values [Formula: see text]. We argue that the states of minimum vacuum energy, as a function of the coupling constant up to [Formula: see text] and for several [Formula: see text] values, are related to the dynamical gluon mass generation mechanism.
Cutting and Shuffling of a Line Segment: Effect of Variation in Cut Location
Authors: Yu Mengqi , Umbanhowar Paul B. , Ottino Julio M. , Lueptow Richard M.
Published: January 2017

We present a computational study of the impact of variation in cut location on finite-time mixing of a line segment by cutting and shuffling, which is a one-dimensional piecewise isometry (PWI), also known as an interval exchange transformation (IET). A line segment of unit length is repeatedly cut into subsegments and shuffled according to any one of a variety of permutations. To mimic practical process error, variations drawn from a normal distribution are used to perturb cut locations. Illustrative examples of the mixing behaviors and finite-time measures of mixing are used to analyze the effect of variation in cut location for different permutations of subsegment mixing order. Mixing is significantly improved under irreducible nonrotational permutations when the dynamics show a resonance-like structure without variation. Specifically, the requirement of an irrational subsegment length ratio for good mixing can be relaxed as the underlying periodic dynamics is perturbed by the stochastic variation in cut location. Thus, good mixing can occur even with only four subsegments of roughly the same length for most irreducible nonrotational permutations.
Hidden Bifurcations in the Multispiral Chua Attractor
Authors: Menacer Tidjani , Lozi René , Chua Leon O.
Published: January 2017

We introduce a novel method revealing hidden bifurcations in the multispiral Chua attractor in the case where the parameter of bifurcation [Formula: see text] which determines the number of spiral is discrete. This method is based on the core idea of the genuine Leonov and Kuznetsov method for searching hidden attractors (i.e. applying homotopy and numerical continuation) but used in a very different way. Such hidden bifurcations are governed by a homotopy parameter [Formula: see text] whereas [Formula: see text] is maintained constant. This additional parameter which is absent from the initial problem is perfectly fitted to unfold the actual structure of the multispiral attractor. We study completely the multispiral Chua attractor, generated via sine function, and check numerically our method for odd and even values of [Formula: see text] from 1 to 12. In addition, we compare the shape of the attractors obtained for the same value of parameter [Formula: see text] while varying the parameter [Formula: see text].
From Geodesic Flow on a Surface of Negative Curvature to Electronic Generator of Robust Chaos
Authors: Kuznetsov Sergey P.
Published: January 2017

Departing from the geodesic flow on a surface of negative curvature as a classic example of the hyperbolic chaotic dynamics, we propose an electronic circuit operating as a generator of rough chaos. Circuit simulation in NI Multisim software package and numerical integration of the model equations are provided. Results of computations (phase trajectories, time dependencies of variables, Lyapunov exponents and Fourier spectra) show good correspondence between the chaotic dynamics on the attractor of the proposed system and of the Anosov dynamics for the original geodesic flow.
Crisis in Amplitude Control Hides in Multistability
Authors: Li Chunbiao , Sprott Julien Clinton , Xing Hongyan
Published: January 2017

A crisis of amplitude control can occur when a system is multistable. This paper proposes a new chaotic system with a line of equilibria to demonstrate the threat to amplitude control from multistability. The new symmetric system has two coefficients for amplitude control, one of which is a partial amplitude controller, while the other is a total amplitude controller that simultaneously controls the frequency. The amplitude parameter rescales the basins of attraction and triggers a state switch among different states resulting in a failure of amplitude control to the desired state.
Suppression of Spiral Breakup in Excitable Media by Local Periodic Forcing
Authors: Liu Guiquan , Ying Heping , Luo Honglei , Liu Xiaoxia , Yang Jinghua
Published: January 2017

Lowered excitability leads to unstable meandering of spiral tip, which result in breakup of spiral waves into chaotic states induced by Doppler effects. This phenomenon is responsible for the transition from tachycardia to ventricular fibrillation in cardiac tissues. Numerical simulations show that low-energy local periodic forcing (LPF) applied around spiral tip can efficiently suppress the meandering behavior and consequently prevent spiral breakup. The controllable phase diagrams that describe the amplitude and period of LPF against excitability parameter are presented to illustrate the control region. The underlying mechanism of suppressing spiral meandering behavior is explored by greatly decreasing the radius of the meandering tip. The proposed scheme can potentially contribute to controlling cardiac arrhythmia.
Qualitative Analysis of Critical Transitions in Complex Disease Propagation from a Dynamical Systems Perspective
Authors: Wang Gang , Zou Xiufen
Published: January 2017

Considerable evidence suggests that in complex diseases the deteriorations are often abrupt, and can be viewed as a bifurcation or a critical transition from one asymptotically stable equilibrium to another one at a tipping point. Here, we propose some new ideas to detect early-warning signals of such critical transitions from the perspective of qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations. Specifically, we theoretically derive three indicators that serve as a general early-warning signal indicating an imminent bifurcation or sudden deterioration before the critical transition occurs. Then, we verify our theoretical results by numerical simulations for three examples. Our work forms a starting point to motivate new mathematical insights into predictability for critical transitions of dynamical systems from a new perspective.
The relaxation normal form of braids is regular
Authors: Jugé Vincent
Published: January 2017

Braids can be represented geometrically as laminations of punctured disks. The geometric complexity of a braid is the minimal complexity of a lamination that represents it, and tight laminations are representatives of minimal complexity. These laminations give rise to a normal form of braids, via a relaxation algorithm. We study here this relaxation algorithm and the associated normal form. We prove that this normal form is regular and prefix-closed. We provide an effective construction of a deterministic automaton that recognizes this normal form.
Planar algebras and the decategorification of bordered Khovanov homology
Authors: Roberts Lawrence P.
Published: January 2017

We give a simple, combinatorial construction of a unital, spherical, non-degenerate *-planar algebra over the ring [Formula: see text]. This planar algebra is similar in spirit to the Temperley–Lieb planar algebra, but computations show that they are different. The construction comes from the combinatorics of the decategorifications of the type A and type D structures in the author’s previous work on bordered Khovanov homology. In particular, the construction illustrates how gluing of tangles occurs in the bordered Khovanov homology and its difference from that in Khovanov’s tangle homology without being encumbered by any extra homological algebra. It also provides a simple framework for showing that these theories are not related through a simple process, thereby confirming recent work of Manion. Furthermore, using Khovanov’s conventions and a state sum approach to the Jones polynomial, we obtain new invariant for tangles in [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is a compact, planar surface with boundary, and the tangle intersects each boundary cylinder in an even number of points. This construction naturally generalizes Khovanov’s approach to the Jones polynomial.
Existence results for double-phase problems via Morse theory
Authors: Perera Kanishka , Squassina Marco
Published: January 2017

We obtain nontrivial solutions for a class of double-phase problems using Morse theory. In the absence of a direct sum decomposition, we use a cohomological local splitting to get an estimate of the critical groups at zero.
Injective representations of bound quiver algebras
Authors: Asadollahi J. , Hafezi R. , Keshavarz M. H.
Published: January 2017

Let [Formula: see text] be a ring and [Formula: see text] be a finite quiver. We give an explicit formula for the injective envelopes and projective precovers in the category [Formula: see text] of bound representations of [Formula: see text] by left [Formula: see text]-modules, where [Formula: see text] is a combination of monomial and commutativity relations. Some applications will be provided. In particular, it is shown that if [Formula: see text] is acyclic and [Formula: see text] is an Iwanaga-Gorenstein ring, then so are these bound quiver algebras.
Gas-phase COS activation by U+: Reaction mechanisms and bonding analysis
Authors: Zhang Lidan , Du Jiguang , Jiang Gang
Published: January 2017

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to investigate the gas phase reaction of U[Formula: see text] with COS to produce US[Formula: see text]CO and UO[Formula: see text]CS. It is shown that the two reactions are exothermic and the formation of UO[Formula: see text]CS has the lower energy barrier which agrees with the experimental result that UO[Formula: see text] is the main product. The reaction mechanisms and the potential energy profiles (CPEPs) considering different spin states were presented in detail. Diverse analyses including atoms in molecules, natural bond orbital were used to study the bonding properties of all the involved species.
Complex transformation field created by geometrical gradient design of NiTi shape memory alloy
Authors: Bakhtiari Reza , Shariat Bashir S. , Motazedian Fakhrodin , Wu Zhigang , Zhang Junsong , Yang Hong , Liu Yinong
Published: January 2017

Owing to geometrical non-uniformity, geometrically graded shape memory alloy (SMA) structures by design have the ability to exhibit different and novel thermal and mechanical behaviors compared to geometrically uniform conventional SMAs. This paper reports a study of the pseudoelastic behavior of geometrically graded NiTi plates. This geometrical gradient creates partial stress gradient over stress-induced martensitic transformation, providing enlarged stress controlling interval for shape memory actuation. Finite element modeling framework has been established to predict the deformation behavior of such structures in tensile loading cycles, which was validated by experiments. The modeling results show that the transformation mostly propagates along the gradient direction as the loading level increases.
Directly Optimize Diversity Evaluation Measures
Authors: Xu Jun , Xia Long , Lan Yanyan , Guo Jiafeng , Cheng Xueqi
Published: January 2017

The queries issued to search engines are often ambiguous or multifaceted, which requires search engines to return diverse results that can fulfill as many different information needs as possible; this is called
search result diversification
. Recently, the relational learning to rank model, which designs a learnable ranking function following the criterion of maximal marginal relevance, has shown effectiveness in search result diversification [Zhu et al. 2014]. The goodness of a diverse ranking model is usually evaluated with diversity evaluation measures such as α-NDCG [Clarke et al. 2008], ERR-IA [Chapelle et al. 2009], and D#-NDCG [Sakai and Song 2011]. Ideally the learning algorithm would train a ranking model that could directly optimize the diversity evaluation measures with respect to the training data. Existing relational learning to rank algorithms, however, only train the ranking models by optimizing loss functions that loosely relate to the evaluation measures. To deal with the problem, we propose a general framework for learning relational ranking models via
directly optimizing any diversity evaluation measure
. In learning, the loss function upper-bounding the basic loss function defined on a diverse ranking measure is minimized. We can derive new diverse ranking algorithms under the framework, and several diverse ranking algorithms are created based on different upper bounds over the basic loss function. We conducted comparisons between the proposed algorithms with conventional diverse ranking methods using the TREC benchmark datasets. Experimental results show that the algorithms derived under the diverse learning to rank framework always significantly outperform the state-of-the-art baselines.
Multimodal Perception of Histological Images for Persons Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
Authors: Zhang Ting , Duerstock Bradley S. , Wachs Juan P.
Published: January 2017

Lack of suitable substitute assistive technology is a roadblock for students and scientists who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) from advancing in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. It is challenging for persons who are BVI to interpret real-time visual scientific data which is commonly generated during lab experimentation, such as performing light microscopy, spectrometry, and observing chemical reactions. To address this problem, a real-time multimodal image perception system was developed to allow standard laboratory blood smear images to be perceived by BVI individuals by employing a combination of auditory, haptic, and vibrotactile feedback. These sensory feedback modalities were used to convey visual information through alternative perceptual channels, thus creating a palette of multimodal, sensory information. Two sets of image features of interest (primary and peripheral features) were applied to characterize images. A Bayesian network was applied to construct causal relations between these two groups of features. In order to match primary features with sensor modalities, two methods were conceived. Experimental results confirmed that this real-time approach produced higher accuracy in recognizing and analyzing objects within images compared to conventional tactile images.
Pricing for a Hybrid Delivery Model of Video Streaming
Authors: Grégoire J.-Ch. , Hamel Angèle M. , Kilgour D. Marc
Published: January 2017

Media streaming for video-on-demand requires a large initial outlay on server infrastructure. However, a peer-to-peer system whereby existing customers act as relays for new customers is a simple way to provide temporary capacity and gauge demand before committing to new resources. A customer who agrees to act as a relay should be provided the service at a discounted price, but at what price, and is this price affordable for the content provider? This paper investigates financial incentives for the hybrid model of video streaming services.
Editors opine: A simple end to an odd year
Authors: Weikle Dee A. B.
Published: January 2017

The final issue of 2016 is short and sweet. It contains three papers. "Active Dissection of Privacy Policies" by Karen and Michael Bigrigg describes a useful classroom activity to encourage students to read and understand multiple privacy policies. "Investigating a Two-Headed Monster" by Carrillo et al., gives an interesting description of the movement of government in the electronic age to a vision of e-government where citizens collaborate with government to create a better functioning public body. The last article, "Encoding for Access" by Han-Teng Liao, explains the role that the delayed adoption of Unicode is playing in access to content and the ability of the government to fully represent minority languages.
Scheduling algorithm for parallel real-time tasks on multiprocessor systems
Authors: Kuo Chin-Fu , Lu Yung-Feng
Published: January 2017

The purpose of this paper is to study the task scheduling problem of task sets on multiprocessor systems. In the task sets there are parallel tasks and sequential tasks. Parallel tasks can not meet their deadlines if they are executed by one unique thread. However, a parallel task has several parallelization options. A good parallelization level for a parallel task can make it meet its deadline and result in the addition of extra execution time due to parallelization overhead. We propose the
Best-Fit based on Equal Slack
(BEES) algorithm for deadline setting and task assignment. To derive a feasible task assignment, we must select a proper parallelization level from the available parallelization options for each parallel task. Then each parallel task will be split into several subtasks. Finally, sequential tasks and generated subtasks for parallel tasks are assigned to processors. A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm. From the experimental results, we can observe that the proposed algorithm had better performance the compared algorithms. The experimental results demonstrate that the performance of the algorithms using the Equal Slack strategy is better than that using the Equal Flexibility strategy.
Mice with hyperbilirubinemia due to Gilbert’s syndrome polymorphism are resistant to hepatic steatosis by decreased serine 73 phosphorylation of PPARα
Authors: Hinds Terry D. , Hosick Peter A. , Chen Shujuan , Tukey Robert H. , Hankins Michael W. , Nestor-Kalinoski Andrea , Stec David E.
Published: January 2017

Gilbert’s syndrome in humans is derived from a polymorphism (TA repeat) in the hepatic UGT1A1 gene that results in decreased conjugation and increased levels of unconjugated bilirubin. Recently, we have shown that bilirubin binds directly to the fat-burning nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα). Additionally, we have shown that serine 73 phosphorylation [Ser(P)73] of PPARα decreases activity by reducing its protein levels and transcriptional activity. The aim of this study was to determine whether humanized mice with the Gilbert’s polymorphism (HuUGT*28) have increased PPARα activation and reduced hepatic fat accumulation. To determine whether humanized mice with Gilbert’s mutation (HuUGT*28) have reduced hepatic lipids, we placed them and C57BL/6J control mice on a high-fat (60%) diet for 36 wk. Body weights, fat and lean mass, and fasting blood glucose and insulin levels were measured every 6 wk throughout the investigation. At the end of the study, hepatic lipid content was measured and PPARα regulated genes as well as immunostaining of Ser(P)73 PPARα from liver sections. The HuUGT*28 mice had increased serum bilirubin, lean body mass, decreased fat mass, and hepatic lipid content as well as lower serum glucose and insulin levels. Also, the HuUGT*28 mice had reduced Ser(P)73 PPARα immunostaining in livers and increased PPARα transcriptional activity compared with controls. A chronic but mild endogenous increase in unconjugated hyperbiliubinemia protects against hepatic steatosis through a reduction in Ser(P)73 PPARα, causing an increase in PPARα transcriptional activity.
Incidence and Molecular Characterization of Hepatitis E Virus from Swine in Eastern Cape, South Africa
Authors: Adelabu Olusesan Adeyemi , Chuks Iweriebor Benson , Nwodo U. U. , Obi Larry Chikwelu , Okoh Anthony Ifeanyi
Published: January 2017

Hepatitis E virus-mediated infection is a serious public health concern in economically developing nations of the world. Globally, four major genotypes of HEV have been documented. Hepatitis E has been suggested to be zoonotic owing to the increase of evidence through various studies. Thus far, this paper reports on prevalence of hepatitis E virus among swine herd in selected communal and commercial farms in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A total of 160 faecal samples were collected from swine herds in Amathole and Chris Hani District Municipalities of Eastern Cape Province for the presence of HEV. Of the 160 faecal samples screened, only seven were positive (4.4%) for HEV. The nucleotide sequences analyses revealed the isolates as sharing 82% to 99% identities with other strains (KX896664, KX896665, KX896666, KX896667, KX896668, KX896669, and KX896670) from different regions of the world. We conclude that HEV is present among swine in the Eastern Cape Province, albeit in low incidence, and this does have public health implications. There is a need for maintenance of high hygienic standards in order to prevent human infections through swine faecal materials and appropriate cooking of pork is highly advised.
Performance Optimization of 3D Lattice Boltzmann Flow Solver on a GPU
Authors: Tran Nhat-Phuong , Lee Myungho , Hong Sugwon
Published: January 2017

Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is a powerful numerical simulation method of the fluid flow. With its data parallel nature, it is a promising candidate for a parallel implementation on a GPU. The LBM, however, is heavily data intensive and memory bound. In particular, moving the data to the adjacent cells in the streaming computation phase incurs a lot of uncoalesced accesses on the GPU which affects the overall performance. Furthermore, the main computation kernels of the LBM use a large number of registers per thread which limits the thread parallelism available at the run time due to the fixed number of registers on the GPU. In this paper, we develop high performance parallelization of the LBM on a GPU by minimizing the overheads associated with the uncoalesced memory accesses while improving the cache locality using the tiling optimization with the data layout change. Furthermore, we aggressively reduce the register uses for the LBM kernels in order to increase the run-time thread parallelism. Experimental results on the Nvidia Tesla K20 GPU show that our approach delivers impressive throughput performance: 1210.63 Million Lattice Updates Per Second (MLUPS).
Central Venous Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infection with Kocuria kristinae in a Patient with Propionic Acidemia
Authors: Kimura Masato , Kawai Eichiro , Yaoita Hisao , Ichinoi Natsuko , Sakamoto Osamu , Kure Shigeo
Published: January 2017

Kocuria kristinae is a catalase-positive, coagulase-negative, Gram-positive coccus found in the environment and in normal skin and mucosa in humans; however, it is rarely isolated from clinical specimens and is considered a nonpathogenic bacterium. We describe a case of catheter-related bacteremia due to K. kristinae in a young adult with propionic acidemia undergoing periodic hemodialysis. The patient had a central venous catheter implanted for total parenteral nutrition approximately 6 months prior to the onset of symptoms because of repeated acute pancreatitis. K. kristinae was isolated from two sets of blood cultures collected from the catheter. Vancomycin followed by cefazolin for 16 days and 5-day ethanol lock therapy successfully eradicated the K. kristinae bacteremia. Although human infections with this organism appear to be rare and are sometimes considered to result from contamination, physicians should not underestimate its significance when it is isolated in clinical specimens.
Active Hybrid Control Algorithm with Sky-Hook Damping and Lead-Lag Phase Compensation for Multi-DOFs Ultra-Low Frequency Active Vibration Isolation System
Authors: Wang Min , Li Xiaoqing , Chen Xuedong
Published: January 2017

With the improvement of performance in the ultra-precision manufacturing engineering, the requirements for vibration isolation have become more stringent. In order to obtain a wider effective bandwidth and a higher performance of a multi-DOFs active vibration isolation system (AVIS), active hybrid control (AHC) technology is applied in this paper. AHC technology comprises a feedback active control (FBAC) technology and a feedforward active control (FFAC) technology. Absolute velocity feedback is employed to establish a sky-hook damping technology in FBAC technology. Velocity feedforward of base platform is adopted to build a lead-lag phase compensation (LLPC) technology in FFAC technology. Further, a coordinate vector conversion from unit level to system level is mentioned to describe the dynamic characteristic of the six DOFs AVIS applied in the ultra-precision field. And with the assistance of the transformed coordinate vector, the dynamic model of system level is built. Based on the establishment of the dynamic model and the research of AHC, an experimental platform which constitutes three vibration isolators and a real-time active control system is set up. The experimental results indicate that the amplitude of the resonant peak is further reduced significantly, compared to the general feedback control. And simultaneously active effective bandwidth is extended. AHC technology with sky-hook damping algorithm and LLPC control algorithm is verified to be more effective.