bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The supply chain of migrant blood donors: an organisational interview study
Authors: Klinkenberg Elisabeth F. , Langi Sasongko Praiseldy K. B. , de Kort Wim L. A. M. , van Weert Julia C. M. , Fransen Mirjam P. , Huis in ‘t Veld Elisabeth M. J.
Published: January 2019

Background and Objectives

Migrant blood donors are underrepresented worldwide resulting in shortages of compatible blood products. Prior studies focused on individual barriers and motivators of potential blood donors, but no studies addressed organisational factors of the blood supply chain. This study explored the perceptions and experiences in recruitment and retention of migrant – and potentially rare‐blood donors among staff members within the blood supply chain and identified obstacles and solutions in this chain.

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted at Sanquin, the national blood supply organisation of the Netherlands. Qualitative in‐depth interviews were done among key staff members (N = 17). Expert validity was assessed in three feedback meetings.

Results

Seven staff members believed there is a shortage of migrant blood donors, while five believed there is not. However, there was a consensus that it may become a problem in the future due to demographic changes. The perceived obstacles to recruit and retain migrant donors were difficulties in determining how many migrant donors are needed and recruiting them, excluding potentially rare donors prior to donation, limited use of extended phenotyping and high blood typing and frozen storage costs. The possible solutions to increase blood pool diversity lay in registering donor ethnicity, specialised information provision for donors, reconsidering eligibility criteria and optimising blood typing strategies.

Conclusion

Whilst recruitment of migrant blood donors is perceived by staff as difficult, various organisational policies and guidelines seem to hinder retention. Improvements in the blood supply chain may be achieved by addressing logistics, current procedures and registration of ethnicity.
Testing of an integrated regime for effective and sustainable control of invasive Crofton weed (Ageratina adenophora) comprising the use of natural inhibitor species, activated charcoal, and fungicide
Authors: Tang Saichun , Pan Yumei , Wei Chunqiang , Li Xiangqin , Lü Shihong
Published: January 2019

Crofton weed is a major invasive species in China. It exhibits superior growth characteristics and can outcompete with native species via allolepathic effects and modulation of the soil fungal microbiome. The simple removal of invading plants will not ensure restoration of the habitat due to the persistence of allelochemicals and viable seeds in the surrounding soil. An orthogonal experimental design was employed to evaluate the effects of three control factors (A, powdered natural inhibitor species to retard growth; B, activated charcoal to absorb allelochemicals; and C, fungicide to reduce fungal modulation effects), applied at three levels, on the growth and competitive ability of Crofton weed against two native species, in a pot‐culture experiment. All treatments reduced all measured growth parameters (P < 0.05) except for a specific leaf area, when compared with control plants. Furthermore, the competitive capacity of Crofton weed was decreased in the treatments while that of the native species was improved. Application to soil of the powdered natural inhibitor species and of activated charcoal significantly inhibited plant growth and competitive ability of Crofton weed (P < 0.05). Application of fungicide was less effective, but significantly reduced the specific leaf area of Crofton weed plants (P < 0.05). The specific combination of factors producing the greatest decrease in plant growth and competitive ability (compared with the control) included the addition of Delavaya toxocarpa powder (37.5 g per kg soil), addition of activated charcoal to soil at a ratio of 1:3 (v/v) (62.5 g per kg soil), and application of fungicide (Thiophanate‐Methyl) (0.28 g per kg soil).
Startup Suns
Authors: Winters Jeffery
Published: January 2019

A number of startups have attracted millions of dollars from tech investors with the goal to buld a commercial fusion reactor by the end of the next decade. Befitting the merging of plasma physics and startup culture, each company has a bit of secret sauce that they hope will make the difference between success and failure.

This article takes a look at three such startups that are pushing the limits of energy.
Swine Vagina Under Planar Biaxial Loads: An Investigation of Large Deformations and Tears
Authors: McGuire Jeffrey A. , Abramowitch Steven D. , Maiti Spandan , De Vita Raffaella
Published: January 2019

Vaginal tears are very common and can lead to severe complications such as hemorrhaging, fecal incontinence, urinary incontinence, and dyspareunia. Despite the implications of vaginal tears on women's health, there are currently no experimental studies on the tear behavior of vaginal tissue. In this study, planar equi-biaxial tests on square specimens of vaginal tissue, with sides oriented along the longitudinal direction (LD) and circumferential direction (CD), were conducted using swine as animal model. Three groups of specimens were mechanically tested: the NT group (n = 9), which had no pre-imposed tear, the longitudinal tear (LT) group (n = 9), and the circumferential tear (CT) group (n = 9), which had central pre-imposed elliptically shaped tears with major axes oriented in the LD and the CD, respectively. Through video recording during testing, axial strains were measured for the NT group using the digital image correlation (DIC) technique and axial displacements of hook clamps were measured for the NT, LT, and CT groups in the LD and CD. The swine vaginal tissue was found to be highly nonlinear and somewhat anisotropic. Up to normalized axial hook displacements of 1.15, no tears were observed to propagate, suggesting that the vagina has a high resistance to further tearing once a tear has occurred. However, in response to biaxial loading, the size of the tears for the CT group increased significantly more than the size of the tears for the LT group (p = 0.003). The microstructural organization of the vagina is likely the culprit for its tear resistance and orientation-dependent tear behavior. Further knowledge on the structure–function relationship of the vagina is needed to guide the development of new methods for preventing the severe complications of tearing.
Thermo-Mechanical Response of Multilayered Cylinders Under Pressure and Thermal Loading With Generalized Plane Strain Condition
Authors: Kang Sang-Guk , Young Kuao-John
Published: January 2019

Multilayered cylindrical structures subject to pressure and thermal loading are commonly seen in many industries. In this study, the formulas for multilayered cylinders under pressure and thermal loading are derived with an assumption that the cylinders meet generalized plane strain condition, i.e., there is no external constraint in the axial direction and the axial growths of the cylindrical layers are the same. A numerical solution procedure for double-layered cylinders subject to both pressure and thermal load is developed and implemented in a mathcad program. To validate the solution, a finite element model for a double-layered cylinder is prepared with abaqus, and its responses under pressure and thermal loading are compared to those from the mathcad program. The algorithm of the method can be extended to three or more layered cylinders. The method developed in this study allows quick optimization and efficient design refinement for multilayered cylinders without running finite element analysis (FEA).
The Cooling Potential of Sky Radiation With Variations in System Parameters
Authors: Parsons M. Adrienne , Sharp M. Keith
Published: January 2019

This study evaluated the building cooling capacity of sky radiation, which was previously identified to have the greatest cooling potential among common ambient sources for climates across the U.S. A heat pipe augmented sky radiator system was simulated by a thermal network with nine nodes, including a thin polyethylene cover with and without condensation, white (zinc oxide) painted radiator plate, condenser and evaporator ends of the heat pipe, thermal storage fluid (water), tank wall, room, sky and ambient air. Heat transfer between nodes included solar flux and sky radiation to cover and plate, wind convection and radiation from cover to ambient, radiation from plate to ambient, natural convection and radiation from plate to cover, conduction from plate to condenser, two-phase heat transfer from evaporator to condenser, natural convection from evaporator to water and from water to tank wall, natural convection and radiation from tank wall to room, and overall heat loss from room to ambient. A thin layer of water was applied to simulate condensation on the cover. Nodal temperatures were simultaneously solved as functions of time using typical meteorological year (TMY3) weather data. Auxiliary cooling was added as needed to limit room temperature to a maximum of 23.9 °C. For this initial investigation, a moderate climate (Louisville, KY) was used to evaluate the effects of radiator orientation, thermal storage capacity, and cooling load to radiator area ratio (LRR). Results were compared to a Louisville baseline with LRR = 10 W/m2 K, horizontal radiator and one cover, which provided an annual sky fraction (fraction of cooling load provided by sky radiation) of 0.855. A decrease to 0.852 was found for an increase in radiator slope to 20 deg, and a drop to 0.832 for 53 deg slope (latitude + 15 deg, a typical slope for solar heating). These drops were associated with increases in average radiator temperature by 0.73 °C for 20 deg and 1.99 °C for 53 deg. A 30% decrease in storage capacity caused a decrease in sky fraction to 0.843. Sky fractions were 0.720 and 0.959 for LRR of 20 and 5, respectively. LRR and thermal storage capacity had strong effects on performance. Radiator slope had a surprisingly small impact, considering that the view factor to the sky at 53 deg tilt is less than 0.5.
Energy Efficiency and Insulation Thickness According to the Compactness Index Case of a Studio Apartment Under Saharan Weather Conditions
Authors: Bendara S. , Bekkouche S. M. A. , Benouaz T. , Belaid S. , Hamdani M. , Cherier M. K. , Boutelhig A. , Benamrane N.
Published: January 2019

Financial energetic problems oblige citizens to reduce the energy consumption. Accordingly, the recent research showed that major financial economies can be optimally achieved, by introducing some passive measures. The main objective of the current contribution is to investigate the impact of thermal insulation and compactness on energy efficiency. Following the assessment of the methodology, several input parameters were identified and economic insulation thicknesses were obtained. Finding revealed that the best effectiveness of solar gain has been observed for a better insulation and a good compactness, whereas a reduction of about 12.51% of energy needs can be achieved. Similar to the previous case, compactness has an attractive effect, provided that the building was well insulated. Furthermore, any variance cannot be occurred in economic insulation thickness by varying the building compactness. Unlike this remark, for a better compactness, a slight increase in the investment-return time has been noticed, following the energy bill reduction, which becomes more interesting. Hence, the comparative study averred that the previous passive concepts provide reduction in energy needs nearest 73.64%. Thus, reduction was nexus 82.17%, during cold season, and around 59.87%, in overheating period. As consequence, the studied structure type can be integrated in the buildings that have an energy label of “type C.”
An Extended Jacobian-Based Formulation for Operational Space Control of Kinematically Redundant Robot Manipulators With Multiple Subtask Objectives: An Adaptive Control Approach
Authors: Cetin Kamil , Tatlicioglu Enver , Zergeroglu Erkan
Published: January 2019

In this study, an extended Jacobian matrix formulation is proposed for the operational space tracking control of kinematically redundant robot manipulators with multiple subtask objectives. Furthermore, to compensate the structured uncertainties related to the robot dynamics, an adaptive operational space controller is designed, and then, the corresponding stability analysis is presented for kinematically redundant robot manipulators. Specifically, the proposed method is concerned with not only the stability of operational space objective but also the stability of multiple subtask objectives. The combined stability analysis of the operational space objective and the subtask objectives are obtained via Lyapunov based arguments. Experimental and simulation studies are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.
Large Eddy Simulation and Experimental Analysis of Combustion Dynamics in a Gas Turbine Burner
Authors: Moëll Daniel , Lantz Andreas , Bengtson Karl , Lörstad Daniel , Lindholm Annika , Bai Xue-Song
Published: January 2019

Large eddy simulations (LES) and experiments (planar laser-induced fluorescence of the hydroxyl radical (OH-PLIF) and pressure transducer) have been carried out on a gas turbine burner fitted to an atmospheric combustion rig. This burner, from the Siemens SGT-800 gas turbine, is a low NOx, partially premixed burner, where preheat air temperature, flame temperature, and pressure drop across the burner are kept similar to engine full load conditions. The large eddy simulations are based on a flamelet-generated manifold (FGM) approach for representing the chemistry and the Smagorinsky model for subgrid turbulence. The experimental data and simulation data are in good agreement, both in terms of time averaged and time-resolved quantities. From the experiments and LES, three bands of frequencies of pressure fluctuations with high power spectral density are found in the combustion chamber. The first two bands are found to be axial pressure modes, triggered by coherent flow motions from the burner, such as the flame stabilization location and the precessing vortex core (PVC). The third band is found to be a cross flow directional mode interacting with two of the four combustion chamber walls in the square section of the combustion chamber, triggered from general flow motions. This study shows that LES of real gas turbine components is feasible and that the results give important insight into the flow, flame, and acoustic interactions in a specific combustion system.
Myosin Crossbridge, Contractile Unit, and the Mechanism of Contraction in Airway Smooth Muscle: A Mechanical Engineer's Perspective
Authors: Seow Chun Y.
Published: January 2019

Muscle contraction is caused by the action of myosin motors within the structural confines of contractile unit arrays. When the force generated by cyclic interactions between myosin crossbridges and actin filaments is greater than the average load shared by the crossbridges, sliding of the actin filaments occurs and the muscle shortens. The shortening velocity as a function of muscle load can be described mathematically by a hyperbola; this characteristic force–velocity relationship stems from stochastic interactions between the crossbridges and the actin filaments. Beyond the actomyosin interaction, there is not yet a unified theory explaining smooth muscle contraction, mainly because the structure of the contractile unit in smooth muscle (akin to the sarcomere in striated muscle) is still undefined. In this review, functional and structural data from airway smooth muscle are analyzed in an engineering approach of quantification and correlation to support a model of the contractile unit with characteristics revealed by mathematical analyses and behavior matched by experimental observation.
New method to analyze random telegraph signals in resistive random access memories
Authors: González-Cordero Gerardo , González Mireia B. , Jiménez-Molinos Francisco , Campabadal Francesca , Roldán Juan Bautista
Published: January 2019

A new technique to analyze random telegraph noise (RTN) is proposed. It has been used for the analysis of current versus time measurements performed on Ni/HfO2/Si-n+-based resistive random access memories. The method allows us to study current-time traces with a massive number of data without losing the capability of dealing with background noise and discriminating the active defects responsible for current fluctuations. A comparison of this algorithm with the previous ones is given in terms of computing time and RTN description accuracy. The computing efficiency and the validity of the model have been proved, and therefore, it is feasible to propose applications for real time analysis making use of this new algorithm.
Rhesus Macaque Rhadinovirus Encodes a Viral Interferon Regulatory Factor To Disrupt Promyelocytic Leukemia Nuclear Bodies and Antagonize Type I Interferon Signaling
Authors: Springgay Laura K. , Fitzpatrick Kristin , Park Byung , Estep Ryan D. , Wong Scott W.
Published: January 2019

KSHV and RRV encode a unique set of homologs of cellular IFN regulatory factors, termed vIRFs, which are hypothesized to help these viruses evade the innate immune response and establish infections in their respective hosts. Our work elucidates the role of one RRV vIRF, R12, and demonstrates that RRV can dampen the type I IFN response downstream of IFN signaling, which would be important for establishing a successful infection
in vivo
.
Draft Genome Sequence of “
Candidatus
Sulcia muelleri” Strain KPTW1 from
Kolla paulula
, a Vector of Xylella fastidiosa Causing Pierce’s Disease of Grapevine in Taiwan
Authors: Shih Hsien-Tzung , Su Chiou-Chu , Chang Chung-Jan , Vargas Sonia , Dai Zehan , Chen Jianchi
Published: January 2019

The genome of “
Candidatus
Sulcia muelleri” strain KPTW1 from
Kolla paulula
, a vector of
Xylella fastidiosa
that causes Pierce’s disease (PD) of grapevine in Taiwan, was sequenced. The strain has a genome size of 253,942 bp, GC content of 22.7%, 237 predicted protein-coding genes, and 34 RNA genes.
First Complete Genome Sequences of Dengue Virus Serotype 2 Strains from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
Authors: Pyke Alyssa T. , Cameron Jane , McMahon Jamie , De Jong Amanda , Burtonclay Peter
Published: January 2019

Isolates of dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) were recovered from a female resident of the Solomon Islands in 2016 and another female patient who had traveled from Vanuatu to Australia in 2017. Here, we describe the first complete genome sequences of DENV-2 strains from Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Draft Genome Sequence of
Ruminococcus
sp. nov. B05, Isolated from Human Feces
Authors: Huang Chien-Hsun , Liou Jong-Shian , Wang Chun-Lin , Huang Lina
Published: January 2019

Ruminococcus
sp. nov. B05 was isolated from a fecal sample of a 34-year-old adult male in Taiwan, Republic of China. The genome assembly comprised 3,576,560 bp, with a 38.71% G+C content.
High-Depth RNA-Seq Data Sets for Studying Gene Expression Changes Mediated by Phase-Variable DNA Methyltransferases in Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae
Authors: Atack John M. , Bakaletz Lauren O. , Jennings Michael P.
Published: January 2019

Nontypeable
Haemophilus influenzae
(NTHi) is a major bacterial pathogen that causes multiple infections. We report high-depth-coverage RNA-Seq data from three NTHi strains, each of which encodes a different phase-variable methyltransferase.
Complete Genome Sequences of Five Salmonella enterica Strains Used in Inoculation Cocktails in Low-Moisture Food Storage Studies
Authors: Haendiges Julie , Keller Susanne , Suehr Quincy , Anderson Nathan , Reed Elizabeth , Zheng Jie , Miller Jesse D. , Hoffmann Maria
Published: January 2019

Survival kinetics of
Salmonella enterica
have been previously studied using an inoculum cocktail composed of different strains that have been associated with low-moisture foods. Here, we report the closed genome sequences of five strains of
Salmonella enterica
that are commonly used in these storage studies.
Moving repatriation efforts forward for imperilled Canadian freshwater fishes
Authors: Lamothe Karl A. , Drake D. Andrew R.
Published: January 2019

Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened environments on our planet. Disturbances across the terrestrial landscape accrue within freshwater ecosystems and, combined with global stressors such as climate change and invasive species, create a complex situation for recovering imperilled fishes. Given the drastic global decline of freshwater fishes, similarly extreme efforts are needed for their conservation and recovery — repatriation represents one such opportunity. Species repatriation describes the act of releasing a species in areas where extirpation has occurred. Paradoxically, a long history of fish introductions for recreational purposes exists, yet examples of repatriation for imperilled fishes are relatively rare compared with terrestrial species. Stemming from the restoration and species introduction literature, we identify five ecological themes to consider when evaluating repatriation potential of freshwater fishes and suggest that repatriation represents the “drastic” approach needed to achieve meaningful conservation milestones.
A Description of Supply Chain Planning Problems in the Paper Industry with Literature Review
Authors: Jaehn Florian , Juopperi Raisa
Published: January 2019

The paper industry supply chain is highly complex and consists of many processes and planning tasks. It starts with the collection of raw wood and ends up in different paper products from paperboard to high class art papers. Managing the supply chain is difficult and the permanently changing business environment constantly brings new challenges. This paper starts with outlining the challenges in the supply chain management of today’s paper industry. After that we evaluate the state of research to determine planning problems covered by the literature. The purpose is to catch up time-wise on the previous overview from 2009 and also to update the planning problems. This overview paper summarizes comprehensively the paper industry as of today. It provides a reference work for researchers and other interested parties, and uncovers areas for future research.
Signature of Λ(1405) resonance in K− +6Li reaction
Authors: Naderi Beni A. , Esmaili J. , Mohseni M.
Published: January 2019

We investigate whether the mass and momentum spectra of emitted particles in [Formula: see text] reaction can be used for disentangling the nature of [Formula: see text](1405) and how the signature of the [Formula: see text](1405) resonance appears in the cross-sections of the kaon-lithium reaction on the physical real energy. We used different types of [Formula: see text] potentials to study the dependence of the results to the fundamental kaon-nucleon interaction. The momentum spectra are calculated for final pions and neutrons. The possibility of the observation of the [Formula: see text](1405) resonance in the mass spectra is studied. It was demonstrated that the [Formula: see text] mass and neutron momentum spectra are more suitable than the pion momentum spectra to see the trace of the [Formula: see text](1405) resonance and it is a useful tool for investigating the subthreshold behavior of the [Formula: see text] interaction.
Environmental Noise Mitigation by Plenum Window with Sonic Crystals and Jagged Flap
Authors: Lee Hsiao Mun , Haris Andi , Lim Kian Meng , Xie Jinlong , Lee Heow Pueh
Published: January 2019

A plenum window with incorporation of rectangular sonic crystals (SCs) in between two glass panes was tested in a reverberation room. Before the start of the experiment, numerical studies were performed on the whole structure in order to prove the effectiveness of the SCs in enhancing the noise attenuation performance of the plenum window. The effects of flat and jagged flaps on reducing strength of diffracted sound were also investigated in the experimental studies. White, traffic and construction noises were examined during each measurement. When the frequencies were ranging from 100[Formula: see text]Hz to 5000[Formula: see text]Hz, the plenum window with SCs without flap was able to attenuate 9.5, 8.5 and 8.6[Formula: see text]dBA of white, traffic and construction noises, respectively, compared with the case of without window. The effects of flat flaps on noise attenuation performance of the plenum window were negligible while the jagged flap was able to attenuate additional 1.7[Formula: see text]dBA of white noise and 1.6[Formula: see text]dBA of traffic and construction noises compared with the case of without flap. In the narrow frequency range of 900–1300[Formula: see text]Hz, the plenum window with SCs without flap was able to reduce additional 2.7, 2.3 and 2.5[Formula: see text]dBA of white, traffic and construction noises, respectively, compared with the case of without SCs.
Neural Network Model-Based Adaptive Control of a VAV-HVAC&R System
Authors: Ning M. , Zaheeruddin M.
Published: January 2019

A dynamic system model of a two-zone variable air volume heating, ventilation and air conditioning and refrigeration (VAV-HVAC&R) system is considered. The system model consists of two environmental zones, an HVAC system and a water-cooled vapor compression chiller. Five adaptive controllers were designed to achieve good tracking control of set points of zone air temperatures, discharge air temperature, chilled water supply temperature and static pressure of the VAV-HVAC&R system. The PI controller gains were updated online using adaptive neural networks and an auto-tuning algorithm. Simulation results show that adaptive PI control gave faster response and less overshoot compared to conventional constant gain PI control. The control responses tracked set-points closely and remained stable over a typical day simulation of building operation under variable load conditions.
Sentiment Analysis of Iraqi Arabic Dialect on Facebook Based on Distributed Representations of Documents
Authors: Alnawas Anwar , Arici Nursal
Published: January 2019

Nowadays, social media is used by many people to express their opinions about a variety of topics. Opinion Mining or Sentiment Analysis techniques extract opinions from user generated contents. Over the years, a multitude of Sentiment Analysis studies has been done about the English language with deficiencies of research in all other languages. Unfortunately, Arabic is one of the languages that seems to lack substantial research, despite the rapid growth of its use on social media outlets. Furthermore, specific Arabic dialects should be studied, not just Modern Standard Arabic. In this paper, we experiment sentiments analysis of Iraqi Arabic dialect using word embedding. First, we made a large corpus from previous works to learn word representations. Second, we generated word embedding model by training corpus using Doc2Vec representations based on Paragraph and Distributed Memory Model of Paragraph Vectors (DM-PV) architecture. Lastly, the represented feature used for training four binary classifiers (Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, Support Vector Machine and Naive Bayes) to detect sentiment. We also experimented different values of parameters (window size, dimension and negative samples). In the light of the experiments, it can be concluded that our approach achieves a better performance for Logistic Regression and Support Vector Machine than the other classifiers.
Memento
Authors: Jiang Shiqi , Li Zhenjiang , Zhou Pengfei , Li Mo
Published: January 2019

Due to the increasing popularity of mobile devices, the usage of lifelogging has dramatically expanded. People collect their daily memorial moments and share with friends on the social network, which is an emerging lifestyle. We see great potential of lifelogging applications along with rapid recent growth of the wearables market, where more sensors are introduced to wearables, i.e., electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors, that can further sense the user’s mental activities, e.g., emotions. In this article, we present the design and implementation of Memento, an emotion-driven lifelogging system on wearables. Memento integrates EEG sensors with smart glasses. Since memorable moments usually coincides with the user’s emotional changes, Memento leverages the knowledge from the brain-computer-interface domain to analyze the EEG signals to infer emotions and automatically launch lifelogging based on that. Towards building Memento on Commercial off-the-shelf wearable devices, we study EEG signals in mobility cases and propose a multiple sensor fusion based approach to estimate signal quality. We present a customized two-phase emotion recognition architecture, considering both the affordability and efficiency of wearable-class devices. We also discuss the optimization framework to automatically choose and configure the suitable lifelogging method (video, audio, or image) by analyzing the environment and system context. Finally, our experimental evaluation shows that Memento is responsive, efficient, and user-friendly on wearables.
Online Handwritten Gurmukhi Words Recognition
Authors: Singh Sukhdeep , Sharma Anuj
Published: January 2019

Identification of offline and online handwritten words is a challenging and complex task. In comparison to Latin and Oriental scripts, the research and study of handwriting recognition at word level in Indic scripts is at its initial phases. The two main methods of handwriting recognition are global and analytical. The present work introduces a novel analytical approach for online handwritten Gurmukhi word recognition based on a minimal set of words and recognizes an input Gurmukhi word as a sequence of characters. We employed a sequential step-by-step approach to recognize online handwritten Gurmukhi words. Considering the massive variability in online Gurmukhi handwriting, the present work employs the completely linked non-homogeneous hidden Markov model. In the present study, we considered the dependent, major-dependent, and super-dependent nature of strokes to form Gurmukhi characters in words. On test sets of online handwritten Gurmukhi datasets, the word-level accuracy rates are 85.98%, 84.80%, 82.40%, and 82.20% in four different modes. Besides the online Gurmukhi word recognition, the present work also provides Gurmukhi handwriting analysis study for varying writing styles and proposes novel techniques for zone detection and rearrangement of strokes. Our proposed algorithms have been successfully employed to online handwritten Gurmukhi word recognition in dependent and independent modes of handwriting.
Co-occurrence Weight Selection in Generation of Word Embeddings for Low Resource Languages
Authors: Yücesoy Veysel , Koç Aykut
Published: January 2019

This study aims to increase the performance of word embeddings by proposing a new weighting scheme for co-occurrence counting. The idea behind this new family of weights is to overcome the disadvantage of distant appearing word pairs, which are indeed semantically close, while representing them in the co-occurrence counting. For high-resource languages, this disadvantage might not be effective due to the high frequency of co-occurrence. However, when there are not enough available resources, such pairs suffer from being distant. To favour such pairs, a weighting scheme based on a polynomial fitting procedure is proposed to shift the weights up for distant words while the weights of nearby words are left almost unchanged. The parameter optimization for new weights and the effects of the weighting scheme are analysed for the English, Italian, and Turkish languages. A small portion of English resources and a quarter of Italian resources are utilized for demonstration purposes, as if these languages are low-resource languages. Performance increase is observed in analogy tests when the proposed weighting scheme is applied to relatively small corpora (i.e., mimicking low-resource languages) of both English and Italian. To show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in small corpora, it is also shown for a large English corpus that the performance of the proposed weighting scheme cannot outperform the original weights. Since Turkish is relatively a low-resource language, it is demonstrated that the proposed weighting scheme can increase the performance of both analogy and similarity tests when all Turkish Wikipedia pages are utilized as a corpus. The positive effect of the proposed scheme has also been demonstrated in a standard sentiment analysis task for the Turkish language.
Near Optimal Online Algorithms and Fast Approximation Algorithms for Resource Allocation Problems
Authors: Devanur Nikhil R. , Jain Kamal , Sivan Balasubramanian , Wilkens Christopher A.
Published: January 2019

We present prior robust algorithms for a large class of resource allocation problems where requests arrive one-by-one (online), drawn independently from an
unknown
distribution at every step. We design a single algorithm that, for every possible underlying distribution, obtains a 1−ϵ fraction of the profit obtained by an algorithm that knows the entire request sequence ahead of time. The factor ϵ approaches 0 when no single request consumes/contributes a significant fraction of the global consumption/contribution by all requests together. We show that the tradeoff we obtain here that determines how fast ϵ approaches 0, is near optimal: We give a nearly matching lower bound showing that the tradeoff cannot be improved much beyond what we obtain.

Going beyond the model of a static underlying distribution, we introduce the
adversarial stochastic input
model, where an adversary, possibly in an adaptive manner, controls the distributions from which the requests are drawn at each step. Placing no restriction on the adversary, we design an algorithm that obtains a 1−ϵ fraction of the optimal profit obtainable w.r.t. the worst distribution in the adversarial sequence. Further, if the algorithm is given one number per distribution, namely the optimal profit possible for each of the adversary’s distribution, then we design an algorithm that achieves a 1−ϵ fraction of the weighted average of the optimal profit of each distribution the adversary picks.

In the offline setting we give a fast algorithm to solve very large linear programs (LPs) with both packing and covering constraints. We give algorithms to approximately solve (within a factor of 1+ϵ) the mixed packing-covering problem with
O
(γ
m
log (
n
/δ)/ϵ
2
) oracle calls where the constraint matrix of this LP has dimension
n
×
m
, the success probability of the algorithm is 1−δ, and γ quantifies how significant a single request is when compared to the sum total of all requests.

We discuss implications of our results to several special cases including online combinatorial auctions, network routing, and the adwords problem.
Software Effort Interval Prediction via Bayesian Inference and Synthetic Bootstrap Resampling
Authors: Song Liyan , Minku Leandro L. , Yao Xin
Published: January 2019

Software effort estimation (SEE) usually suffers from inherent uncertainty arising from predictive model limitations and data noise. Relying on point estimation only may ignore the uncertain factors and lead project managers (PMs) to wrong decision making. Prediction intervals (PIs) with confidence levels (CLs) present a more reasonable representation of reality, potentially helping PMs to make better-informed decisions and enable more flexibility in these decisions. However, existing methods for PIs either have strong limitations or are unable to provide informative PIs. To develop a “better” effort predictor, we propose a novel PI estimator called Synthetic Bootstrap ensemble of Relevance Vector Machines (SynB-RVM) that adopts Bootstrap resampling to produce multiple RVM models based on modified training bags whose replicated data projects are replaced by their synthetic counterparts. We then provide three ways to assemble those RVM models into a final probabilistic effort predictor, from which PIs with CLs can be generated. When used as a point estimator, SynB-RVM can either significantly outperform or have similar performance compared with other investigated methods. When used as an uncertain predictor, SynB-RVM can achieve significantly narrower PIs compared to its base learner RVM. Its hit rates and relative widths are no worse than the other compared methods that can provide uncertain estimation.
Mannan-Binding Lectin Suppresses Peptidoglycan-Induced TLR2 Activation and Inflammatory Responses
Authors: Wang Fanping , Li Yanhua , Yang Can , Mu Yonghui , Wang Yan , Zhang Wei , Yang Yonghui , Chen Chen , Song Shijun , Shen Zhifa , Wang Wenjun , Li Junpeng , Zhai Jingjing , Guo Kang , Sun Ruili , Yu Lili , Wang Mingyong
Published: January 2019

Peptidoglycan (PGN), as the major components of the bacterial cell wall, is known to cause excessive proinflammatory cytokine production. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is abundantly expressed on immune cells and has been shown to be involved in PGN-induced signaling. Although more and more evidences have indicated that PGN is recognized by TLR2, the role of TLR2 PGN recognition is controversial. Mannan-binding lectin (MBL), a plasma C-type lectin, plays a key role in innate immunity. More and more evidences show that MBL could suppress the amplification of inflammatory signals. Whether MBL can alter PGN-elicited cellular responses through TLR2 in macrophages is still unknown, and possible mechanism underlying it should be investigated. In this study, we found that MBL significantly attenuated PGN-induced inflammatory cytokine production, including TNF-αand IL-6, in PMA-stimulated THP-1 cells at both mRNA and protein levels. The expression of TLR2 was strongly induced by PGN stimulation. Furthermore, the administration of TLR2-neutralized antibody effectively suppressed PGN-induced TNF-αand IL-6 expression. These results supplied the evidence that PGN fromSaccharomyces cerevisiaecould be recognized by TLR2. In addition, we also found that MBL decreased PGN-induced TLR2 expression and suppressed TLR2-mediated downstream signaling, including the phosphorylation of IκBα, nuclear translocation of NF-κBp65, and phosphorylation of MAPK p38 and ERK1/2. Administration of MBL alone did not have an effect on the expression of TLR2. Finally, our data showed that PGN-mediated immune responses were more severely suppressed by preincubation with MBL and indicated that MBL can combine with both TLR2 and PGN to block the inflammation cytokine expression induced by PGN. All these data suggest that MBL could downregulate inflammation by modulating PGN/TLR2 signaling pathways. This study supports an important role for MBL in immune regulation and signaling pathways involved in inflammatory responses.
The Effects of Confining Stress on Rock Fragmentation by TBM Disc Cutters
Authors: Zhai S. F. , Cao S. H. , Gao M. , Feng Y.
Published: January 2019

In this paper, General Particle Dynamics (GPD3D) is developed to simulate rock fragmentation by TBM disc cutters under different confining stress. The processes of rock fragmentation without confining pressure by one disc cutter and two disc cutters are investigated using GPD3D. The crushed zone, initiation and propagation of cracks, and the chipping of rocks obtained from the proposed method are in good agreement with those obtained from the previous experimental and numerical results. The effects of different confining pressure on rock fragmentation are investigated using GPD3D. It is found that the crack initiation forces significantly increase as the confining stress increases, while the maximum angle of cracks decreases as the confining stress increases. The numerical results obtained from the proposed method agree well with those in previous indentation tests. Moreover, the effects of equivalent confining stress on rock fragmentation are studied using GPD3D, and it is found that rock fragmentation becomes easier when the equivalent confining stress is equal to 15MPa.
Mechanical Degradation of Different Classes of Composite Resins Aged in Water, Air, and Oil
Authors: Ricci Weber Adad , Alfano Priscila , Pamato Saulo , Cruz Carlos Alberto dos Santos , Pereira Jefferson Ricardo
Published: January 2019

A significant deterioration of the properties can drastically compromise the survival rate of restorative materials. The aim of this study was to assess flexural strength and hardness of three composite classes: hybrid composite resin (HCR), nanoparticulate composite resin (NCR), and silorane-based composite resin (SBCR). One hundred specimens were prepared for hardness testing by using a split metallic mold measuring 10 mm in diameter and 2 mm deep. Twenty specimens were prepared for each restorative material, randomly assigned for storage in air, distilled water, or mineral oil. After intervals of 24 hours, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days, hardness and flexural strength tests were initially compared in two levels: “storage medium” and “time” within each material group. A two-way analysis of variance was performed (p<0.05) on the variables “material” and “storage time” (p<0.05). The HCR showed to be stable with regard to the evaluation of flexural strength and hardness (p<0.05). A significant reduction occurs for the NCR in comparison to the other groups (p<0.05). The NCR presented the lowest values of hardness and flexural strength kept on water over time. The characteristics of material showed a strong influence on the decrease of the mechanical properties analyzed.
Unrecognized Pseudohypoparathyroidism Type 1A as a Cause of Hypocalcemia and Seizures in a 64-Year-Old Woman
Authors: Del Monte Patrizia , Cuttica Carla Micaela , Marugo Alessandro , Foppiani Luca , Audenino Daniela , Godowicz Tomasz Tadeusz , Elli Francesca Marta , Mantovani Giovanna , Di Maria Emilio
Published: January 2019

Pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1A (PHP1A) is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood. We describe the case of a 64-year-old woman admitted to the Neurological Unit for recurrent episodes of loss of consciousness and seizures. Glycemia and ECG were normal, while hypocalcemia was noted. Clinical history revealed carpo-pedal spasm since the age of 30 years, cognitive impairment, hypothyroidism since early adulthood, and menopause at 30 years. She was taking oral calcium and cholecalciferol for chronic hypocalcemia. Physical features suggested Albright’s osteodystrophy. Blood calcium was confirmed low, with increased parathyroid hormone, moderate 25OH-vitamin D deficiency, and normal creatinine. Brain CT scan revealed calcifications of the basal ganglia, cortical and subcortical white matter, and cerebellum. Therapy was switched to oral calcitriol, with normalization of calcium levels; levetiracetam was started and no further seizures occurred. The clinical diagnosis of PHP1A was confirmed by molecular analysis, which demonstrated the heterozygous c.568_571del mutation of the GNAS gene. Our report illustrates the natural history of a patient with PHP1A, which went undiagnosed until the age of 64 years, with multi-hormonal resistance and clinical sequelae evolving throughout life, and underlines the importance of diagnosing this rare disease, which has a great impact on patients and their family life.
Amifostine Suppresses the Side Effects of Radiation on BMSCs by Promoting Cell Proliferation and Reducing ROS Production
Authors: Huang Bo , He Tao , Yao Qianqian , Zhang Liang , Yao Yang , Tang Hua , Gong Ping
Published: January 2019

This study is aimed at investigating the effect of amifostine (AMI) on rat bone marrow stromal stem cells (BMSCs) exposed to 2 Gy radiation. The BMSCs were divided into four groups, namely, group A that received 0 Gy radiation, group B that received 0 Gy radiation and AMI, group C that received 2 Gy radiation, and group D that received 2 Gy radiation and AMI. The proliferation, apoptosis, and distribution of BMSCs in the cell cycle, along with their osteogenesis ability, adipogenesis ability, and ROS production, were subsequently examined. The levels of ALP, PPARγ, P53, and TNFαwere determined by Western blotting. The results demonstrated that the proliferation of BMSCs and the levels of ALP in group C were much lower than those in group A. The production of ROS and levels of PPARγ, P53, and TNFαin the group that received 2 Gy radiation were much higher than those in group A. Furthermore, the production of ROS and the levels of PPARγ, P53, and TNFαwere much lower in group D than in group C. Additionally, the levels of ALP and extent of cell proliferation were much higher in group D than in group C. The results demonstrated the potential of AMI in reducing the side effects of radiation in BMSCs and in treatment of bone diseases caused by radiation.
The Heterogeneous Effects of FDI and Foreign Trade on CO2 Emissions: Evidence from China
Authors: Huang Yuan , Chen Xiaochun , Zhu Huiming , Huang Chuangxia , Tian Zhongchu
Published: January 2019

The environmental impacts of foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign trade have attracted much attention recently. This paper employs panel quantile regression to explore the effects of FDI and foreign trade on Chinese provincial CO2 emissions for the period of 1997‐2014. The results indicate that the effect of FDI on CO2 emissions is negative and significant except at the 5th and 10th quantiles. Foreign trade has a significant negative effect on CO2 emissions at upper quantiles, and the degree of the effect increases gradually with the increase of CO2 emissions. The results also suggest that the inverted U‐shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is valid only in the least and most polluted provinces. Nevertheless, the positive indirect effects of FDI and foreign trade on CO2 emissions are greater than the negative direct effects; thus the total effects are positive. Finally, several policy implications are proposed for China based on the empirical results obtained.
Positive Response to Tolvaptan Treatment Would Be a Good Prognostic Factor for Cirrhotic Patients with Ascites
Authors: Kida Yohei
Published: January 2019

Aims: Ascites is one of the major complications in advanced cirrhotic patients. Tolvaptan is a non-peptide orally available arginine vasopressin V2 receptor antagonist. We investigated and found that tolvaptan therapy improved the prognosis and predictive factor of cirrhotic patients with ascites. Methods: Overall, 99 patients with newly diagnosed ascites with cirrhosis were enrolled. No patients had intrahepatic malignancy. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on tolvaptan therapy: 86 patients treated with tolvaptan (tolvaptan-group) and 13 patients treated without tolvaptan (non-tolvaptan-group). Tolvaptan-responder was defined as body weight loss of ≥1.5 kg/week after administering tolvaptan. Results: Tolvaptan therapy was effective in 61.6% of cirrhotic patients. There was a significant difference in the overall survival (OS) between the tolvaptan-responder-group and the other groups (p < 0.001). Male (HR 5.05; p = 0.01), tolvaptan responder (HR 0.21; p = 0.02), and dosage of furosemide < 40 mg/day (HR 0.17; p = 0.01) were factors that were independently associated with the OS. The multivariate analysis revealed that C-reactive protein < 0.9 mg/dL (HR 0.07; p = 0.001), and furosemide dosage < 40 mg/day (HR 0.09; p = 0.003) were independently associated with the tolvaptan response. Conclusion: Therapeutic response to tolvaptan was associated with longer survival in cirrhosis patients complicated with ascites. These preliminary findings warrant validation and further exploration.