bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
China PEACE risk estimation tool for in-hospital death from acute myocardial infarction: an early risk classification tree for decisions about fibrinolytic therapy
Authors: Li Xi , Li Jing , Masoudi Frederick A , Spertus John A , Lin Zhenqiu , Krumholz Harlan M , Jiang Lixin
Published: October 2016

Objectives

As the predominant approach to acute reperfusion for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in many countries, fibrinolytic therapy provides a relative risk reduction for death of ∼16% across the range of baseline risk. For patients with low baseline mortality risk, fibrinolytic therapy may therefore provide little benefit, which may be offset by the risk of major bleeding. We aimed to construct a tool to determine if it is possible to identify a low-risk group among fibrinolytic therapy-eligible patients.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

The China Patient-centered Evaluative Assessment of Cardiac Events (PEACE) study includes a nationally representative retrospective sample of patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in 162 hospitals.

Participants

3741 patients with STEMI who were fibrinolytic-eligible but did not receive reperfusion therapy.

Main outcome measures

In-hospital mortality, which was defined as a composite of death occurring within hospitalisation or withdrawal from treatment due to a terminal status at discharge.

Results

In the study cohort, the in-hospital mortality was 14.7%. In the derivation cohort and the validation cohort, the combination of systolic blood pressure (≥100 mm Hg), age (<60 years old) and gender (male) identified one-fifth of the cohort with an average mortality rate of <3.0%. Half of this low risk group—those with non-anterior AMI—had an average in-hospital death risk of 1.5%.

Conclusions

Nearly, one in five patients with STEMI who are eligible for fibrinolytic therapy are at a low risk for in-hospital death. Three simple factors available at the time of presentation can identify these individuals and support decision-making about the use of fibrinolytic therapy.

Trial registration number

NCT01624883.
Rationale and design of platelet transfusions in haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: the PATH pilot study
Authors: Tay Jason , Allan David , Beattie Sara , Bredeson Christopher , Fergusson Dean , Maze Dawn , Sabloff Mitchell , Thavorn Kednapa , Tinmouth Alan
Published: October 2016

Introduction

In patients with transient thrombocytopenia being treated with high-dose chemotherapy followed by stem cell rescue—haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), prophylactic transfusions are standard therapy to prevent bleeding. However, a recent multicentre trial suggests that prophylactic platelet transfusions in HSCT may not be necessary. Additionally, the potential overuse of platelet products places a burden on a scarce healthcare resource. Moreover, the benefit of prophylactic platelet transfusions to prevent clinically relevant haemorrhage is debatable. Current randomised data compare different thresholds for administering prophylactic platelets or prophylactic versus therapeutic platelet transfusions. An alternative strategy involves prescribing prophylactic antifibrinolytic agents such as tranexamic acid to prevent bleeding.

Methods and analysis

This report describes the design of an open-labelled randomised pilot study comparing the prophylactic use of oral tranexamic acid with platelet transfusions in the setting of autologous HSCT. In 3–5 centres, 100 patients undergoing autologous HSCT will be randomly assigned to either a prophylactic tranexamic acid or prophylactic platelets bleeding prevention strategy-based daily platelet values up to 30 days post-transplant. The study will be stratified by centre and type of transplant. The primary goal is to demonstrate study feasibility while collecting clinical outcomes on (1) WHO and Bleeding Severity Measurement Scale (BSMS), (2) transplant-related mortality, (3) quality of life, (4) length of hospital stay, (5) intensive care unit admission rates, (6) Bearman toxicity scores, (7) incidence of infections, (8) transfusion requirements, (9) adverse reactions and (10) economic analyses.

Ethics and dissemination

This study is funded by a peer-reviewed grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (201 503) and is registered on Clinicaltrials.govNCT02650791. It has been approved by the Ottawa Health Science Network Research Ethics Board. Study results will presented at national and international conferences. Importantly, the results of this trial will inform the feasibility and conduct of a larger study.

Trial registration number

NCT02650791; Pre-results.
Effects of exercise on markers of oxidative stress: an Ancillary analysis of the Alberta Physical Activity and Breast Cancer Prevention Trial
Authors: Friedenreich Christine M , Pialoux Vincent , Wang Qinggang , Shaw Eileen , Brenner Darren R , Waltz Xavier , Conroy Shannon M , Johnson Rhys , Woolcott Christy G , Poulin Marc J , Courneya Kerry S
Published: October 2016

Background

Oxidative stress may contribute to cancer aetiology through several mechanisms involving damage to DNA, proteins and lipids leading to genetic mutations and genomic instability. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of aerobic exercise on markers of oxidative damage and antioxidant enzymes in postmenopausal women.

Methods

The Alberta Physical Activity and Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (ALPHA) was a two-centre, two-armed randomised trial of 320 inactive, healthy, postmenopausal women aged 50–74 years. Participants were randomly assigned to a year-long exercise intervention (225 min/week) or a control group while being asked to maintain a normal diet. Fasting blood samples were obtained and plasma concentrations of two oxidative damage markers (8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and 8-isoprostaglandin F2α (8-Iso-PGF2α)) and two antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase) were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol analyses were performed using linear mixed models adjusted for baseline biomarker concentrations. A further exercise adherence analysis, based on mean minutes of exercise per week, was also performed.

Results

In the ITT and per-protocol analyses, the exercise intervention did not have any statistically significant effect on either oxidative damage biomarkers or antioxidant enzyme activity.

Conclusions

A year-long aerobic exercise intervention did not have a significant impact on oxidative stress in healthy, postmenopausal women.

Trial registration number

NCT00522262.
Teaching M&M rounds skills: enhancing and assessing patient safety competencies using the Ottawa M&M model
Authors: Mondoux Shawn E , Frank Jason R , Kwok Edmund S H , Cwinn A Adam , Lee A Curtis , Calder Lisa A
Published: October 2016

Background

Postgraduate medical education bodies and national patient safety institutes recommend that trainees develop patient safety competencies such as those for Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) rounds, yet there exists no model for their educational delivery.

Objective

We studied the effect of a single educational intervention on emergency medicine residents' aptitudes in selecting and analysing M&M rounds cases.

Methods

In this before-and-after study, participants attended an 1 h educational session based on the previously described Ottawa Morbidity and Mortality Model (OM3). Residents were asked to submit a case suitable for M&M rounds both preintervention and postintervention. A novel M&M rounds case critique tool was developed based on OM3 and used to assign a numerical score to each submitted case. Our primary outcome was an increase in mean scores between phases using the case critique tool. An a priori score increase of 1 was defined as educationally significant. Data were analysed using a paired Student's t test.

Results

A total of 19 residents were recruited for our pre-intervention and 15 residents for the post-intervention analysis. Mean M&M rounds case critique scores increased from 5.53 to 8.67 (p<0.01) between phases. Residents reported higher comfort with structured case selection and analysis, with an increase in five-point Likert scale means of 2.32 and 3.69 (p<0.01).

Conclusions

We found that residents were more effective at M&M rounds case selection and analysis after our focused 1 h educational intervention. Training programmes should consider an M&M rounds training model to ensure future physicians have these skills for 21st-century practice.
Hydrogeological behaviour of an inclined store-and-release cover experimental cell made with phosphate mine wastes
Authors: Knidiri Jihane , Bussière Bruno , Hakkou Rachid , Bossé Bruno , Maqsoud Abdelkabir , Benzaazoua Mostafa
Published: October 2016

A field study was conducted at the Kettara mine site located in arid climatic conditions in Morocco. The goal was to assess the performance of an inclined store-and-release (SR) cover made with phosphate mine wastes to reduce water infiltration and control acid mine drainage (AMD). The SR cover was constructed using phosphate mine wastes (0.8 m) placed over a capillary break layer (CBL) made of coarse-grained materials. The SR cover had a slope inclination of 14.5°. The cover performance was monitored for a period of 1 year under natural and artificial conditions representing important rainfall events for the climatic conditions at the Kettara mine site. Performance was monitored using volumetric lysimeters, suction sensors, and volumetric water content sensors installed at four stations and at different depths. Under natural climatic conditions, the inclined SR cover limited water percolation by diverting and releasing water to the atmosphere through evaporation. However, the cover was unable to store and divert all the water at a precipitation rate >100 mm in 48 h, and percolation was observed in the lysimeters. Nevertheless, the results confirmed the suitability of phosphate mine wastes as cover material for a 31.5 m inclined (≈ 14.5°) SR cover placed over the Kettara mine wastes in natural climatic conditions and for precipitation events <100 mm in 48 h.
Evaluating the long-term influence of alternative commercial thinning regimes and harvesting systems on projected net present value of precommercially thinned spruce–fir stands in northern Maine
Authors: Hiesl Patrick , Crandall Mindy S. , Weiskittel Aaron , Benjamin Jeffrey G. , Wagner Robert G.
Published: October 2016

Commercial thinning (CT) is an important silvicultural practice in the northeastern United States. Relatively little is known, however, about the interaction of harvest system and treatment (removal intensity or timing of entry) on the overall profitability of CT. To address this question, 10-year measurements from a controlled CT experiment across six sites in Maine were used to project the long-term effect of removal intensity (33% and 50% relative density reduction) and timing of entry (no delay, 5-year delay, 10-year delay) on (i) maximum net present value (NPV), (ii) timing of maximum NPV, and (iii) the effect of three harvesting systems (cut-to-length, whole-tree, hybrid systems) on maximum NPV. A regional growth and yield model was used to project individual-tree growth and mortality into the future. Harvest costs for the harvesting systems were estimated using regional cycle-time equations. No difference was found in maximum NPV between the CT and non-CT areas or the timing of CT entry. Stand age at time of maximum NPV differed between delays but not between the two removal intensities. Our results indicate that there is no economic benefit in delaying a CT or removing more volume at the time of thinning for the range of stand conditions evaluated.
Effects and possible mechanism of tea tree oil against Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum in vitro and in vivo test
Authors: Li Yonghua , Shao Xingfeng , Xu Jiayu , Wei Yingying , Xu Feng , Wang Hongfei
Published: October 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antifungal activities and possible mechanisms of tea tree oil (TTO) against Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum in vitro and in vivo. The results show that TTO exhibits dose-dependent antifungal activity against both pathogens, but P. expansum is less sensitive than B. cinerea to TTO not only in the in vitro test but also in artificially inoculated cherry fruits. TTO vapor treatment reduced the decay caused by these pathogens in inoculated cherry fruits, but the effect on P. expansum was less than that on B. cinerea. While the total lipid and ergosterol contents of the cell membrane are greater in P. expansum than in B. cinerea, TTO treatment lowers the total lipid content in the membranes of both species by well over 50%, and ergosterol content is reduced to a greater extent in B. cinerea than in P. expansum. In both pathogens, TTO alters mycelial morphology and cellular ultrastructure. Oxygen consumption measurements show that TTO inhibits respiratory metabolism via the tricarboxylic acid cycle pathway in both pathogens, though more severely in B. cinerea than in P. expansum. The relatively decreased sensitivity of P. expansum to TTO may be due to the fact that TTO causes less disruption of the cell membrane in this organism, and higher inhibition the respiratory metabolism to the extent observed in B. cinerea.
Effects of 5,6-Dihydroxy-2,4-Dimethoxy-9,10-Dihydrophenanthrene on G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Lung Carcinoma Cells
Authors: Duangprompo Wipada , Aree Kalaya , Itharat Arunporn , Hansakul Pintusorn
Published: October 2016

5,6-dihydroxy-2,4-dimethoxy-9,10-dihydrophenanthrene (HMP) is an active compound isolated from the rhizome extracts of Dioscorea membranacea Pierre, a Thai medicinal plant. This study aimed to investigate the growth-inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects of HMP in human lung cancer A549 cells. The antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of HMP were analyzed by a Sulforhodamine B assay. Cell division, cell cycle distribution and membrane asymmetry changes were each performed with different fluorescent dyes and then analyzed by flow cytometry. Real-time PCR and immunoblotting were used to detect cell cycle- and apoptosis-related mRNA levels and proteins, respectively. The nuclear morphology of the cells stained with DAPI and DNA fragmentation were detected by fluorescence microscopy and gel electrophoresis, respectively. The results showed that HMP exerted strong antiproliferative and cytotoxic activities in A549 cells with the highest selectivity index. It halted the cell cycle in [Formula: see text]/M phase via down-regulation of the expression levels of regulatory proteins Cdc25C, Cdk1 and cyclinB1. In addition, HMP induced early apoptotic cells with externalized phosphatidylserine and subsequent apoptotic cells in sub-[Formula: see text] phase. HMP increased caspase-3 activity and levels of the cleaved (active) form of caspase-3 whose actions were supported by the cleavage of its target PARP, nuclear condensation and DNA apoptotic ladder. Moreover, HMP significantly increased the mRNA and protein levels of proapoptotic Bax as well as promoted subsequent caspase-9 activation and BID cleavage, indicating HMP-induced apoptosis via both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. These data support, for the first time, the potential role of HMP as a cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis-inducing agent for lung cancer treatment.
Safflower Yellow Prevents Pulmonary Metastasis of Breast Cancer by Inhibiting Tumor Cell Invadopodia
Authors: Fu Huiying , Wu Renjie , Li Yuanyuan , Zhang Lizong , Tang Xiaofang , Tu Jue , Zhou Weimin , Wang Jianchao , Shou Qiyang
Published: October 2016

Carthamus tinctorius L. is a traditional Chinese medicine that activates blood circulation and dissipates blood stasis, and has been extensively used as antitumor treatment in a clinical setting in single or in compound preparation form. However, empirical evidence and a better understanding of the possible mechanisms involved are still required. Here, we investigated the role of safflower yellow (SY), the active ingredient of C. tinctorius, in the pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer, and the underlying mechanism of action. EGF-meditated time- and dose-dependent cell response profiles were applied to screen for the activity of SY in vitro, while orthotopic lung metastasis and intravenous injection were used to evaluate the antimetastatic role of SY in vivo. SY could dose-dependently inhibit EGF-mediated time- and dose-dependent cell response profiles by inhibiting cytoskeletal rearrangement. We also found that SY significantly inhibited the migration of breast cancer cells in vitro and pulmonary metastasis of breast cancer cells in vivo. Consistent with these phenotypes, formation of invadopodia and the expression of MMP-9 and p-Src proteins were decreased after EGF stimulation in MBA-MD-231 cells treat with SY, as well as in lung metastatic foci. Additionally, circulating tumor cells retained in lung capillaries were also reduced. These results suggest that the antimetastatic effect of SY is due to its inhibition of invadopodia formation, which occurs mainly through Src-dependent cytoskeleton rearrangement. We suggest that SY should be considered as a potential novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer.
Thermal hydraulic analysis of China fusion engineering test reactor during thermal quenching by comparative approach of Relap5 and THEATRe codes
Authors: Khan Salah Ud-Din , Song Yuntao , Khan Shahab Ud-Din
Published: October 2016

Thermal quenching in Tokamak reactor is the most obvious phenomenon happens during plasma disruption conditions. The current research is focused on the thermal behavior of different parameters of China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR) including reactor power, pressure and mass flow rate conditions. The analysis was performed by two thermal hydraulic codes, i.e. THEATRe and Relap5. During the first phase of research, thermal quenching behavior and trends that can be possible during the reactor operation was performed. In the next phase, nodalization diagram of THEATRe and Relap5 codes were developed. The listed parameters were calculated and analyzed for the safety aspects of the reactor. The main objective of the research was to analyze the blanket system of CFETR (Tokamak) for safety concerns during disruption condition. The research will be extended to other components for safe operation of reactor as well.
Numerical simulation of charged wire interferometer for atoms
Authors: Yang Hai-Feng , Tan Yong-Gang , Hu Yao-Hua
Published: October 2016

In recent paper, Nowak et al. report a charged wire interferometer for atoms, and employ analytical method to explain the interference patterns [Phys. Rev. Lett. 81 (1998) 5792]. In this paper, a numerical calculation with semi-classical method is carried out and the experimental patterns are rebuilt very well. The interference patterns are interpreted by path integral. We also calculate the fringe period for different voltages and the agreement with experiment is more rigorous than the analytical expression. Besides, the fringe visibility of the interference patterns at different applied voltages and degrees is also discussed.
Symmetric designs admitting flag-transitive and point-primitive almost simple automorphism groups of Lie type
Authors: Wang Yajie , Zhou Shenglin
Published: October 2016

Let [Formula: see text] be a subgroup of the full automorphism group of a [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] symmetric design [Formula: see text]. If [Formula: see text] is flag-transitive and point-primitive, then Soc[Formula: see text] cannot be [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text].
Entanglement acquirement from continuous variable system
Authors: Shi Ying , Zheng Li , Liu Yu-Jie , Li Chong
Published: October 2016

We investigate a remote establishment of entanglement sharing resource through entanglement transferred from continuous variables to discrete variables. The analysis of generation of entanglement for two initially unentangled atoms with different fields are performed and simultaneous observations of the max entanglement acquirement is given. Based on our result, we suppose that the max and stable entanglement acquirement can be obtained with appropriate field parameters.
OBSTACLES TO INNOVATION FOR SMEs: EVIDENCE FROM GERMANY
Authors: STROBEL NATALIA , KRATZER JAN
Published: October 2016

Achieving effective innovation is a complex task and during this process, firms [especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)] often face obstacles. However, research into obstacles to innovation focusing on SMEs is very scarce. In this study, we propose a theoretical framework for describing these obstacles to innovation and investigate their influence on the innovative performance of SMEs. Data were collected in 2013 through face-to-face interviews with executives of 49 technology SMEs from Germany. The semi-structured interviews were designed on the basis of scales for measuring innovativeness, financial/competitive performance and obstacles to innovation, next to purely open questions. We find that the internal obstacles, lack of know-how, capacity overloading, unclear roles and tasks as well as the external obstacle governmental bureaucracy negatively influence innovative performance of SMEs. However, in contrast to prior findings, this study shows that cooperation ties of firms might also negatively influence the innovative performance.
Dynamics of delayed stochastic predator–prey models with feedback controls based on discrete observations
Authors: Zhao Dianli , Yuan Sanling
Published: October 2016

In this paper, we concern a class of the generalized delayed stochastic predator–prey models with feedback controls based on discrete observations. The existence of global positive solution is given first. Then we discuss the deterministic model briefly, and establish the necessary conditions and the sufficient conditions for almost-sure extinction and persistence in mean for the stochastic system, where we show that the feedback controls can change the properties of the population systems significantly. Finally, numerical simulations are introduced to support the main results.
Hollow structured CoSn(OH)6-supported Pt for effective room-temperature oxidation of gaseous formaldehyde
Authors: Zhou Jing , Zhao Yong , Qin Lifan , Zeng Chen , Xiao Wei
Published: October 2016

Uniform CoSn(OH)6 hollow nanoboxes and the derivative with Pt loading (Pt/CoSn(OH)6) were herein synthesized and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). SEM and TEM analyses showed that CoSn(OH)6 possessed mesoporous hollow structure and Pt nanoparticles with size of 2–8[Formula: see text]nm were uniformly dispersed on the surface of CoSn(OH)6 nanoboxes. The performances of the catalysts for the formaldehyde (HCHO) removal at room temperature were evaluated. These Pt/CoSn(OH)6 catalysts exhibited a remarkable catalytic activity as well as stability for room-temperature oxidative decomposition of gaseous HCHO, while the corresponding CoSn(OH)6 only showed adsorption. The synergetic effect between the highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles and the CoSn(OH)6 nanoboxes with mesoporous hollow structure, a large surface area and abundant surface hydroxyl groups is considered to be the main reason for the observed high catalytic activity of Pt/CoSn(OH)6.
Class dimension of association schemes in singular linear spaces
Authors: Guo Haixia , Gao You
Published: October 2016

A resolving set for an association scheme [Formula: see text] is a set of points [Formula: see text] such that, for all [Formula: see text], the ordered list of relations [Formula: see text] uniquely determines [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] denotes the relation [Formula: see text] containing the pair [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we determine upper bounds on class dimension for a family of association schemes in singular linear spaces, and construct their resolving sets for a special case.
Modeling and analysis of dielectric materials by using gradient-descent optimization method
Authors: Alagoz B. B. , Alisoy H. Z. , Koseoglu M. , Alagoz S.
Published: October 2016

This study presents a numerical method based on parallel RC equivalent circuit model fitting methodology for analysis and modeling of dielectric materials. The proposed method employs gradient-descent optimization method (GDOM) to estimate parallel RC equivalent circuit model from current waveforms by minimizing sum of squared difference (SSD) error. Estimation of parallel RC equivalent circuit parameters from measured current waveforms provides a useful tool for identification, simulation and analysis of dielectric materials. Moreover, applications of the proposed method for time and frequency analyses of dielectric materials are demonstrated numerically. Numerical simulations were presented to discuss efficiency of the proposed method for modeling, analysis and monitoring of insulator materials.
Design of Inlet-Port of the Cyclone-Type Oil Separator Using CFD
Authors: Seon Guwon , Ahn Joon
Published: October 2016

Numerical analysis was performed in order to design the shape of the oil separator for the cyclone-type used in the refrigeration system, which can raise the separation efficiency, and which can reduce the pressure drop. Based on the result of the existing research, the total length of the oil separator, the length of the outlet-port, and the pitch, the turn-number of the spiral structure inside the cylinder was determined. This research was performed to compare and to analyze the separation efficiency and pressure drop of the oil separator while the location of the inlet-port was changed. According to three locations in the entrance, the separation efficiency was predicted from 95.0% to 100%, and the pressure drop ranged from 2.33 to 19.8[Formula: see text]kPa. In conclusion, the shape, which was made eccentric to the edge, had the separation efficiency of 100% and the pressure drop of 2.33[Formula: see text]kPa, which could get the most excellent performance.
Spintronics Based on Topological Insulators
Authors: Fan Yabin , Wang Kang L.
Published: October 2016

Spintronics using topological insulators (TIs) as strong spin–orbit coupling (SOC) materials have emerged and shown rapid progress in the past few years. Different from traditional heavy metals, TIs exhibit very strong SOC and nontrivial topological surface states that originate in the bulk band topology order, which can provide very efficient means to manipulate adjacent magnetic materials when passing a charge current through them. In this paper, we review the recent progress in the TI-based magnetic spintronics research field. In particular, we focus on the spin–orbit torque (SOT)-induced magnetization switching in the magnetic TI structures, spin–torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) measurements in the TI/ferromagnet structures, spin pumping and spin injection effects in the TI/magnet structures, as well as the electrical detection of the surface spin-polarized current in TIs. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in the TI-based spintronics field and its potential applications in ultralow power dissipation spintronic memory and logic devices.
Impacts of Global and Climate Change Uncertainties for Disaster Risk Projections: A Case Study on Rainfall-Induced Flood Risk in Bangladesh
Authors: Hochrainer-Stigler Stefan , Mochizuki Junko , Pflug Georg
Published: October 2016

Future risks linked to extreme events and options for managing them are receiving increasing attention in the research and policy arena, where uncertainty is considered to be one of the most challenging aspects in regard to disasters triggered by natural hazards. To shed more light on this issue, this study conducts a detailed uncertainty assessment of a forward-looking country level catastrophe risk model for extreme flood events in Bangladesh and identifies how various sources of uncertainties contribute to the variability in modeling results. Alternative assumptions of climate, exposure and vulnerability parameters show that scenario uncertainty regarding socio-economic development — and exposure in particular — seems to dominate other sources of uncertainty. Importantly, this trend is particularly notable for the estimate of extreme events rather than annual average losses and for the prediction over the longer-time horizons rather than near future. It is concluded that there is ample need to better understand how future vulnerability and exposure will develop as they found to be core determinants of risk, apart from climate change, for increases in extreme losses. One viable way is the incorporation of bottom-up assessment of exposure asset build-up and further analysis of vulnerability drivers, which could reduce epistemic uncertainty regarding projection of catastrophic economic losses into future. It is suggested that the concept of “iterative risk management” may provide a feasible way to achieve reduction of these uncertainties in a step-by-step basis.
Investigations of continued reservoir triggered seismicity at Koyna, India
Authors: Gupta Harsh K. , Arora Kusumita , Purnachandra Rao N. , Roy Sukanta , Tiwari V. M. , Patro Prasanta K. , Satyanarayana H. V. S. , Shashidhar D. , Mahato C. R. , Srinivas K. N. S. S. S. , Srihari M. , Satyavani N. , Srinu Y. , Gopinadh D. , Raza Haris , Jana Monikuntala , Akkiraju Vyasulu V. , Goswami Deepjyoti , Vyas Digant , Dubey C. P. , Raju D. Ch. V. , Borah Ujjal , Raju Kashi , Chinna Reddy K. , Babu Narendra , Bansal B. K. , Nayak Shailesh
Published: October 2016

Koyna, located in the Deccan Volcanic Province in western India, is the most significant site of reservoir triggered seismicity (RTS) globally. The largest RTS event of M 6.3 occurred here on December 10, 1967. RTS at Koyna has continued. This includes 22 M≥5.0 and thousands of smaller events over the past 50 years. The annual loading and unloading cycles of the Koyna Reservoir and the nearby Warna Reservoir influence RTS. Koyna provides an excellent natural laboratory to comprehend the mechanism of RTS because earthquakes here occur in a small area, mostly at depths of 2–7 km, which are accessible for monitoring. A deep borehole laboratory is therefore planned to study earthquakes in the near-field to understand their genesis, especially in an RTS environment. Initially, several geophysical investigations were carried out to characterize the seismic zone, including 5000 line kilometres of airborne gravity gradiometry and magnetic surveys, high-quality magnetotelluric data from 100 stations, airborne LiDAR surveys over 1064 km
2
, drilling of 8 boreholes of approximately 1500 m depth and geophysical logging. To improve the earthquake locations a unique network of borehole seismometers was installed in six of these boreholes. These results, along with a pilot borehole drilling plan, are presented here.
Sound and Music Recommendation with Knowledge Graphs
Authors: Oramas Sergio , Ostuni Vito Claudio , Noia Tommaso Di , Serra Xavier , Sciascio Eugenio Di
Published: October 2016

The Web has moved, slowly but steadily, from a collection of documents towards a collection of structured data. Knowledge graphs have then emerged as a way of representing the knowledge encoded in such data as well as a tool to reason on them in order to extract new and implicit information. Knowledge graphs are currently used, for example, to explain search results, to explore knowledge spaces, to semantically enrich textual documents, or to feed knowledge-intensive applications such as recommender systems. In this work, we describe how to create and exploit a knowledge graph to supply a hybrid recommendation engine with information that builds on top of a collections of documents describing musical and sound items. Tags and textual descriptions are exploited to extract and link entities to external graphs such as WordNet and DBpedia, which are in turn used to semantically enrich the initial data. By means of the knowledge graph we build, recommendations are computed using a feature combination hybrid approach. Two explicit graph feature mappings are formulated to obtain meaningful item feature representations able to catch the knowledge embedded in the graph. Those content features are further combined with additional collaborative information deriving from implicit user feedback. An extensive evaluation on historical data is performed over two different datasets: a dataset of sounds composed of tags, textual descriptions, and user’s download information gathered from Freesound.org and a dataset of songs that mixes song textual descriptions with tags and user’s listening habits extracted from Songfacts.com and Last.fm, respectively. Results show significant improvements with respect to state-of-the-art collaborative algorithms in both datasets. In addition, we show how the semantic expansion of the initial descriptions helps in achieving much better recommendation quality in terms of aggregated diversity and novelty.
Multivariate Input Uncertainty in Output Analysis for Stochastic Simulation
Authors: Xie Wei , Nelson Barry L. , Barton Russell R.
Published: October 2016

When we use simulations to estimate the performance of stochastic systems, the simulation is often driven by input models estimated from finite real-world data. A complete statistical characterization of system performance estimates requires quantifying both input model and simulation estimation errors. The components of input models in many complex systems could be dependent. In this paper, we represent the distribution of a random vector by its marginal distributions and a dependence measure: either product-moment or Spearman rank correlations. To quantify the impact from dependent input model and simulation estimation errors on system performance estimates, we propose a metamodel-assisted bootstrap framework that is applicable to cases when the parametric family of multivariate input distributions is known or unknown. In either case, we first characterize the input models by their moments that are estimated using real-world data. Then, we employ the bootstrap to quantify the input estimation error, and an equation-based stochastic kriging metamodel to propagate the input uncertainty to the output mean, which can also reduce the influence of simulation estimation error due to output variability. Asymptotic analysis provides theoretical support for our approach, while an empirical study demonstrates that it has good finite-sample performance.
*droid
Authors: Reaves Bradley , Bowers Jasmine , Gorski III Sigmund Albert , Anise Olabode , Bobhate Rahul , Cho Raymond , Das Hiranava , Hussain Sharique , Karachiwala Hamza , Scaife Nolen , Wright Byron , Butler Kevin , Enck William , Traynor Patrick
Published: October 2016

The security research community has invested significant effort in improving the security of Android applications over the past half decade. This effort has addressed a wide range of problems and resulted in the creation of many tools for application analysis. In this article, we perform the first systematization of Android security research that analyzes applications, characterizing the work published in more than 17 top venues since 2010. We categorize each paper by the types of problems they solve, highlight areas that have received the most attention, and note whether tools were ever publicly released for each effort. Of the released tools, we then evaluate a representative sample to determine how well application developers can apply the results of our community’s efforts to improve their products. We find not only that significant work remains to be done in terms of research coverage but also that the tools suffer from significant issues ranging from lack of maintenance to the inability to produce functional output for applications with known vulnerabilities. We close by offering suggestions on how the community can more successfully move forward.
Screwbots
Authors: Malizia Alessio , Chamberlain Alan
Published: October 2016

Have you ever thought of lying to your smartphone to protect your privacy? Everyday we face a dilemma about privacy: We take advantage of apps that are able to use our location or data to provide smart services at the expense of privacy (we all know our data can be supplied to third parties), or we cling on to our privacy and ignore the benefits of such smart technologies. It does not have to necessarily be like this, in this article we describe the rise of a new kind of intelligent apps we called Screwbots.
The Role of Biofuels Coproducts in Feeding the World Sustainably
Authors: Shurson Gerald C.
Published: October 2016

One of the grand challenges facing our society today is finding solutions for feeding the world sustainably. The food-versus-fuel debate is a controversy embedded in this challenge, involving the trade-offs of using grains and oilseeds for biofuels production versus animal feed and human food. However, only 6% of total global grain produced is used to produce ethanol. Furthermore, biofuels coproducts contribute to sustainability of food production because only 1% to 2.5% of the overall energy efficiency is lost from converting crops into biofuels and animal feed, and approximately one-third of the corn used to produce ethanol is recovered as feed coproducts. Extensive research has been conducted over the past 15 years on biofuels coproducts to (a) optimize their use for improving caloric and nutritional efficiency in animal feeds, (b) identify benefits and limitations of use in various animal diets, (c) characterize their unique nutraceutical properties, and (d) evaluate their environmental impacts.
Coal Price Forecasting and Structural Analysis in China
Authors: Guo Xiaopeng , Shi Jiaxing , Ren Dongfang
Published: October 2016

Coal plays an important role in China’s energy structure and its price has been continuously decreasing since the second half of 2012. Constant low price of coal affected the profits of coal enterprises and the coal use of its downstream firms; the precision of coal price provides a reference for these enterprises making their management strategy. Based on the historical data of coal price and related factors such as port stocks, sales volume, futures prices, Producer Price Index (PPI), and crude oil price rate from November 2013 to June 2016, this study aims to forecast coal price using vector autoregression (VAR) model and portray the dynamic correlations between coal price and variables by the impulse response function and variance decomposition. Comparing predicted and actual values, the root mean square error (RMSE) was small which indicated good precision of this model. Thus this short period prediction can help these enterprises make the right business decisions.
A New Algorithm for Positive Semidefinite Matrix Completion
Authors: Xu Fangfang , Pan Peng
Published: October 2016

Positive semidefinite matrix completion (PSDMC) aims to recover positive semidefinite and low-rank matrices from a subset of entries of a matrix. It is widely applicable in many fields, such as statistic analysis and system control. This task can be conducted by solving the nuclear norm regularized linear least squares model with positive semidefinite constraints. We apply the widely used alternating direction method of multipliers to solve the model and get a novel algorithm. The applicability and efficiency of the new algorithm are demonstrated in numerical experiments. Recovery results show that our algorithm is helpful.
Type and Duration of Home Activities of Children with Specific Language Impairment: Case Control Study Based on Parents’ Reports
Authors: Hannus Sinikka , Kauppila Timo , Launonen Kaisa
Published: October 2016

Parents of children with specific language impairment (SLI) are advised to promote language development at home. However, it is not known if children with SLI differ from healthy controls in their daily activities. This study collected prospectively information about the home activities of the children with SLI and their matched controls by using parents’ daily reports. Participants were 20 matched pairs. The ages of children in matched pairs were from 6 to 8 years. During one week, parents filled in daily questionnaires of listed home activities. The observed time was between 5 pm and 9.30 pm each day and it was divided into 30-minute scoring periods. Parents of children with SLI reported more varying home activities and fewer activities of playing outdoors than parents of control children. Home activities with literacy or screen time did not show difference between the two groups, and neither did playing table top games. Parents of children with SLI did more overlapping choices when scoring home activities than parents of control children. Children with SLI seemed to spend somewhat less time with home activities that, in particular, may ask for language and social skills and collaboration with peers.
A New Copy Move Forgery Detection Method Resistant to Object Removal with Uniform Background Forgery
Authors: Ulutas Guzin , Muzaffer Gul
Published: October 2016

Users transfer large number of images everyday over the Internet. Easy to use commercial and open source image editing tools have made intactness of images questionable. Passive methods have been proposed in the literature to determine authenticity of images. However, a specific type of forgery called “Object Removal with uniform Background forgery” becomes a problem for keypoint based methods in the literature. In this paper, we proposed an effective copy move forgery detection technique. The method uses AKAZE features and nonlinear scale space for detection of copied/pasted regions. The proposed method detects “Object Removal with uniform Background” and “Replication” types of forgeries with high precision compared to similar works. Experimental results also indicate that the method yields better discriminative capability compared to others even if forged image has been rotated, blurred, AWGN added, or compressed by JPEG to hide clues of forgery.
Effect of Erythropoietin on Postresuscitation Renal Function in a Swine Model of Ventricular Fibrillation
Authors: Pantazopoulos Charalampos , Iacovidou Nicoletta , Kouskouni Evangelia , Pliatsika Paraskevi , Papalois Apostolos , Kaparos Georgios , Barouxis Dimitrios , Vasileiou Panagiotis , Lelovas Pavlos , Kotsilianou Olympia , Pantazopoulos Ioannis , Gkiokas Georgios , Garosa Clara , Faa Gavino , Xanthos Theodoros
Published: October 2016

Purpose. To investigate the effect of EPO administration on postresuscitation renal function.Methods. Twenty-four female Landrace/Large-White piglets aged 10–15 weeks with average weight of19±2 kg were randomly assigned to 2 different groups of 12 subjects each. After the end of an 8-minute ventricular fibrillation, the control group (Group C) received saline as placebo, whereas the EPO group (Group E) received EPO 5000 U/kg. The animals were resuscitated according to the 2010 European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation.Results. Five animals (41.67%) from Group C and 11 animals (91.67%) from Group E achieved ROSC (p=0.027). Eight animals (66.67%, 5 surviving and 3 nonsurviving) from Group C suffered severe kidney damage or AKI compared to animals from Group E, in which none of the swine had evidence of severe kidney damage or AKI (p=0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in all tested biochemical markers between the two groups, as well as a positive correlation of creatinine with NGAL, L-FABP, and IL-18 (summed mean values’p=0.049, 0.01, and 0.004, resp.).Conclusions. Administration of EPO protected swine from postresuscitation acute kidney injury.
In VitroAnti-Inflammatory Effects of Three Fatty Acids from Royal Jelly
Authors: Chen Yi-Fan , Wang Kai , Zhang Yan-Zheng , Zheng Yu-Fei , Hu Fu-Liang
Published: October 2016

Trans-10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-H2DA), 10-hydroxydecanoic acid (10-HDAA), and sebacic acid (SEA) are the three major fatty acids in royal jelly (RJ). Previous studies have revealed several pharmacological activities of 10-H2DA and 10-HDAA, although the anti-inflammatory effects and underlying mechanisms by which SEA acts are poorly understood. In the present study, we evaluated and compared thein vitroanti-inflammatory effects of these RJ fatty acids in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. The results showed that 10-H2DA, 10-HDAA, and SEA had potent, dose-dependent inhibitory effects on the release of the major inflammatory-mediators, nitric oxide, and interleukin-10, and only SEA decreased TNF-αproduction. Several key inflammatory genes have also been modulated by these RJ fatty acids, with 10-H2DA showing distinct modulating effects as compared to the other two FAs. Furthermore, we found that these three FAs regulated several proteins involved in MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Taken together, these findings provide additional references for using RJ against inflammatory diseases.
Comparative Genomic Analysis of Delftia tsuruhatensis MTQ3 and the Identification of Functional NRPS Genes for Siderophore Production
Authors: Guo Haimeng , Yang Yanan , Liu Kai , Xu Wenfeng , Gao Jianyong , Duan Hairong , Du Binghai , Ding Yanqin , Wang Chengqiang
Published: October 2016

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are a group of rhizosphere bacteria that promote plant growth. Delftia tsuruhatensis MTQ3 is a member of PGPR that produces siderophores. The draft genome sequence of MTQ3 has been reported. Here, we analyzed the genome sequence of MTQ3 and performed a comparative genome analysis of four sequenced Delftia strains, revealing genetic relationships among these strains. In addition, genes responsible for bacteriocin and nonribosomal peptide synthesis were detected in the genomes of each strain. To reveal the functions of NRPS genes in siderophore production in D. tsuruhatensis MTQ3, three NRPS genes were knocked out to obtain the three mutants MTQ3-Δ1941, MTQ3-Δ1945, and MTQ3-Δ1946, which were compared with the wild-type strain. In qualitative and quantitative analyses using CAS assay, the mutants failed to produce siderophores. Accordingly, the NRPS genes in MTQ3 were functionally related to siderophore production. These results clarify one mechanism by which plant growth is promoted in MTQ3 and have important applications in agricultural production.
Early Differentiation of Human CD11c+NK Cells withγδT Cell Activation Properties Is Promoted by Dialyzable Leukocyte Extracts
Authors: Ramírez-Ramírez Dalia , Vadillo Eduardo , Arriaga-Pizano Lourdes Andrea , Mayani Héctor , Estrada-Parra Sergio , Velasco-Velázquez Marco Antonio , Pérez-Tapia Sonia Mayra , Pelayo Rosana
Published: October 2016

Reconstitution of the hematopoietic system during immune responses and immunological and neoplastic diseases or upon transplantation depends on the emergent differentiation of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells within the bone marrow. Although in the last decade the use of dialyzable leukocyte extracts (DLE) as supportive therapy in both infectious and malignant settings has increased, its activity on the earliest stages of human hematopoietic development remains poorly understood. Here, we have examined the ability of DLE to promote replenishment of functional lymphoid lineages from CD34+cells. Our findings suggest that DLE increases their differentiation toward a conspicuous CD56+CD16+CD11c+NK-like cell population endowed with properties such as IFNy production, tumor cell cytotoxicity, and the capability of inducingγδT lymphocyte proliferation. Of note, long-term coculture controlled systems showed the bystander effect of DLE-stromal cells by providing NK progenitors with signals to overproduce this cell subset. Thus, by direct effect on progenitor cells and through activation and remodeling of the supporting hematopoietic microenvironment, DLE may contribute a robust innate immune response by promoting the emerging lymphopoiesis of functional CD11c+NK cells in a partially TLR-related manner. Unraveling the identity and mechanisms of the involved DLE components may be fundamental to advance the NK cell-based therapy field.