bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multilocus phylogeny defines a new classification of Staphylininae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), a rove beetle group with high lineage diversity
Authors: Żyła Dagmara , Solodovnikov Alexey
Published: August 2019

We provide the first multilocus molecular phylogeny of a group corresponding to the former subfamily Staphylininae. Results are corroborated by the morphological, biogeographical and palaeobiological evidence to serve as a baseline for an updated suprageneric classification. The former subfamily Staphylininae is proven to be a lineage sister to the monophyletic Paederinae and reclassified according to a robust phylogeny resolving a number of long‐standing controversies. The subfamily Xantholininae (revised status) is reinstated to contain the tribes Xantholinini, Othiini, Maorothiini and Diochini. Subfamily Platyprosopinae (revised status) is reinstated for the tribes Platyprosopinini, Arrowinini and †Thayeralinini. For a highly peculiar genusCoomaniaCameron, formerly in Diochini, a new subfamily Coomaniinaesubfam.n.is established and the composition of Diochini (revised status) is changed accordingly. The subfamily Staphylininae (revised status) is reduced to contain the former tribe Staphylinini only. Elevating this mega‐diverse tribe to the subfamily rank opened up an opportunity for its more fractional classification by raising several subtribes to the tribal level as follows: Acylophorini, Afroquediini, Amblyopinini, Antimerini, †Baltognathini, Cyrtoquediini, Erichsoniini, Hyptiomini, Indoquediini, Quediini and Tanygnathinini (revised status for all). As a result, the most species‐rich tribe Staphylinini (revised status) is reduced to the more homogeneous lineage containing the subtribes Algonina, Anisolinina, Philonthina, Philothalpina, Staphylinina and Xanthopygina. Morphological synapomorphies and diagnostic characters supporting all newly defined higher taxa are provided.

This published work has been registered on ZooBank,http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DED8B042‐83C9‐4D10‐B0CB‐B50372B067A9.
Post “Post‐Truth”: Are We There Yet?
Authors: Haack Susan
Published: August 2019

After explaining why, after dealing with post‐modernist confusions about truth in various books and articles from the mid‐1990s to, most recently, 2014 (§1), Haack returns to the topic of truth. She begins (§2) with some thoughts about the claim that concern for truth is on the decline, and perhaps at a new low; a claim that, sadly, may well be true. Then (§3) she looks at some of the many forms that carelessness with the truth may take, and shows that, so far from revealing that the concept of truth is seriously problematic or that there is no such thing as objective truth, it simply makes no sense to say that lies, half‐truths, etc., are ubiquitous unless there is such a thing as truth, and a legitimate truth‐concept. After that, (§4) she argues that, of course, there is such a thing as objective truth, and a robust truth‐concept. And finally, (§5) she suggests some ways to fight against the rising tide of unconcern for truth—and gives her answer to the (trick) question in her subtitle.
Bank credit, public financial incentives, tax financial incentives and export performance during the global financial crisis
Authors: Okafor Luke Emeka , Bhattacharya Mita , Apergis Nicholas
Published: August 2019

This paper investigates the extent to which access to credit, public financial incentives and tax financial incentives affect export performance using the EU‐EFIGE/Bruegel‐Unicredit data set, covering firms within Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary and the UK during the 2008 global financial crisis. The results show that firms receiving credit or benefiting from public financial incentives display higher export intensity and export a greater number of product lines compared to those that did not, especially in countries with better access to credit and/or financial incentives during the crisis. Further, firms benefiting from tax financial incentives show a better export performance compared to those that did not, regardless of the degree of access to credit and/or financial incentives in the country in which they operate. In addition, the effect of access to credit and public finance incentives on export performance is found to be size‐dependent, while the effect of tax financial incentives is not. We suggest that governments should promote publicly funded financial incentives along with conventional schemes, such as R&D subsidies, to promote exports, particularly during a period of financial crisis.
Welfare and trade elasticity with multinational production
Authors: Bombarda Pamela , Marcassa Stefania
Published: August 2019

We explore welfare properties in a firm heterogeneity model with multinational production and export. The presence of multinational production plays a crucial role in delivering a partial trade elasticity of total sales by exporters and affiliates that is no longer constant, and depends on both supply and demand parameters. We then analyse counterfactual scenarios. Multinational production with intra‐firm trade increases welfare gains by up to 4% with respect to a model with only export and no truncation. Multinational production à la Helpman et al. (American Economic Review, 2004, 94, 300) generates the largest welfare gains from liberalisation.
Use of whole blood as the routine transfusion product in Africa
Authors: Uyoga Sophie , Maitland Kathryn
Published: August 2019

In many countries in sub‐Saharan Africa (sSA) whole blood is more commonly available from blood transfusion services than red cell concentrates. Although in recent years, many countries have made significant progress in the implementing component preparation, this has largely been facilitated by external funding support. The large majority of rather than none of the sSA countries are leucocyte‐reducing or irradiating blood for transfusion. Systems for the routine detection of adverse consequences of blood transfusions (haemovigilance) only exist where transfusion safety has been identified as a health priority by the government. As a resource, the availability of blood transfusion in these countries is limited since less than 5 units of blood were donated per 1000 population far below the recommended requirement of 20 units/1000 per year. Young children are the main users of blood for transfusion in these sSA regions, largely due severe anaemia secondary to infection and sickle cell anaemia. Outcomes for children with severe anaemia are poor, even in those receiving a transfusion. Although it has been speculated that this may be due to transfusion‐related cardiac or pulmonary events, available data from observational studies and clinical trials indicate that these are rare complications of transfusion. Evidence from clinical physiology studies including those examining myocardial functions before and after the receipt of whole blood provide reassuring evidence that volume overload is rare and clinical trials reporting outcomes in children receiving whole blood transfusion, including a Phase II trial examining higher volumes, indicate that there is no evidence of cardiac or pulmonary overload events.
Transferable Mechanisms of Quinolone Resistance from 1998 Onward
Authors: Ruiz Joaquim
Published: August 2019

While the description of resistance to quinolones is almost as old as these antimicrobial agents themselves, transferable mechanisms of quinolone resistance (TMQR) remained absent from the scenario for more than 36 years, appearing first as sporadic events and afterward as epidemics. In 1998, the first TMQR was soundly described, that is, QnrA.
A Protein Antagonist of Activation-Induced Cytidine Deaminase Encoded by a Complex Mouse Retrovirus
Authors: Singh Gurvani B. , Byun Hyewon , Ali Almas F. , Medina Frank , Wylie Dennis , Shivram Haridha , Nash Andrea K. , Lozano Mary M. , Dudley Jaquelin P.
Published: August 2019

Complex retroviruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), cause many human deaths. These retroviruses produce lifelong infections through viral proteins that interfere with host immunity. The complex retrovirus mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) allows for studies of host-pathogen interactions not possible in humans. A mutation preventing expression of the MMTV Rem protein in two different MMTV strains decreased proviral loads in tumors and increased viral genome mutations typical of an evolutionarily ancient enzyme, AID. Although the presence of AID generally improves antibody-based immunity, it may contribute to human cancer progression. We observed that coexpression of MMTV Rem and AID led to AID destruction. Our results suggest that Rem is the first known protein inhibitor of AID and that further experiments could lead to new disease treatments.
Quorum Sensing, Virulence, and Antibiotic Resistance of USA100 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates
Authors: Grundstad Morgan L. , Parlet Corey P. , Kwiecinski Jakub M. , Kavanaugh Jeffrey S. , Crosby Heidi A. , Cho Young-Saeng , Heilmann Kristopher , Diekema Daniel J. , Horswill Alexander R.
Published: August 2019

USA100 health care-associated MRSA isolates are highly antibiotic resistant and can cause invasive disease across all patient populations. Even though USA100 strains are some of the most frequently identified causes of infections, little is known about virulence regulation in these isolates. Our study demonstrates that the USA100
agr
quorum-sensing system is important for the control of toxin and exoenzyme production and that the
agr
system has a key role in skin infection. In some USA100 isolates, the
agr
system is important for growth in the presence of low levels of antibiotics. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that the USA100
agr
system is a critical regulator of virulence and that it may make a contribution to the optimal survival of these MRSA strains in the presence of antibiotics.
Birth of the East African Rift System: Nucleation of magmatism and strain in the Turkana Depression
Authors: Boone Samuel C. , Kohn Barry P. , Gleadow Andrew J.W. , Morley Christopher K. , Seiler Christian , Foster David A.
Published: August 2019

The Turkana Depression of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia contains voluminous plume-related basalts that mark the onset of the Paleogene–recent East African Rift System (EARS) at ca. 45 Ma. Thus, the Turkana Depression is crucial to understanding the inception of intracontinental rifting. However, the precise chronology of early rift-basin formation in Turkana is poorly constrained. We present apatite fission-track and (U-Th-Sm)/He thermochronology data from basement rocks from the margins of the north-south–trending Lokichar Basin that constrain the onset of rift-related cooling. Thermal history modeling of these data documents pronounced Eocene to Miocene denudational cooling of the basin-bounding Lokichar fault footwall. These results, along with ∼7 km of Paleogene to middle Miocene syn-rift strata preserved in the Lokichar fault hanging wall, suggest that formation of the Lokichar Basin began as early as ca. 45–40 Ma. Preexisting lithospheric heterogeneities inherited from earlier Mesozoic rifting and Eocene plume magmatism likely facilitated the broadly concurrent nucleation of strain in the Turkana Depression, up to ∼15 m.y. earlier than EARS initiation elsewhere. Late Paleogene extension in the Lokichar Basin and other parts of Turkana significantly predate the Miocene creation of pronounced plume-related topography in East Africa, suggesting that other mechanism(s), such as far-field stresses or mantle basal drag, likely played a critical role during EARS inception.
Leukemoid reaction: a rare paraneoplastic event in a case of advanced penile cancer and its management
Authors: Mishra Amit Kumar , Mehra Ketan , Manikandan Ramanitharan , Dorairajan Lalgudi Narayanan
Published: August 2019

Leukemoid reaction is a paraneoplastic phenomenon associated predominantly with solid tumours. Malignancies presenting with leukemoid reaction have a grave prognosis. It is defined as persistent neutrophil count greater than 50×103 cells/µL. We report a case of leukemoid reaction in a patient with metastatic penile cancer. A 60-year-old man with partial penectomy status for squamous cell carcinoma of penis on neoadjuvant chemotherapy, presented with left fungating inguinal lymphadenopathy and total leucocyte count 96×103 cells/µL and hypercalcaemia. Leucocytealkaline phosphatase (LAP) score was excessively elevated. The patient underwent left ilioinguinal block dissection along with vastus lateralis flap for defect reconstruction. Postoperatively, the neutrophil counts and serum calcium level normalised. The patient improved clinically and was discharged.
End of life care in the emergency department
Authors: Dawood Mary
Published: August 2019

The importance of end of life care (EoLC) for patients and their families is well documented, however, the skills and knowledge of emergency clinicians in delivering EoLC is not widely understood but it is clear from the existing literature that we fall short in delivering consistently good EoLC although there is recognition of the need to improve. This paper will acknowledge the challenges of delivering good EoLC in the emergency department (ED) but more importantly consider practical ways of improving EoLC in the ED in line with best practice guidelines on EoLC.
Master transcription factors form interconnected circuitry and orchestrate transcriptional networks in oesophageal adenocarcinoma
Authors: Chen Li , Huang Moli , Plummer Jasmine , Pan Jian , Jiang Yan Yi , Yang Qian , Silva Tiago Chedraoui , Gull Nicole , Chen Stephanie , Ding Ling Wen , An Omer , Yang Henry , Cheng Yulan , Said Jonathan W , Doan Ngan , Dinjens Winand NM , Waters Kevin M , Tuli Richard , Gayther Simon A , Klempner Samuel J , Berman Benjamin P , Meltzer Stephen J , Lin De-Chen , Koeffler H Phillip
Published: August 2019

Objective

While oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma remains infrequent in Western populations, the incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) has increased sixfold to eightfold over the past four decades. We aimed to characterise oesophageal cancer-specific and subtypes-specific gene regulation patterns and their upstream transcription factors (TFs). 

Design

To identify regulatory elements, we profiled fresh-frozen oesophageal normal samples, tumours and cell lines with chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq). Mathematical modelling was performed to establish (super)-enhancers landscapes and interconnected transcriptional circuitry formed by master TFs. Coregulation and cooperation between master TFs were investigated by ChIP-Seq, circularised chromosome conformation capture sequencing and luciferase assay. Biological functions of candidate factors were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.

Results

We found widespread and pervasive alterations of the (super)-enhancer reservoir in both subtypes of oesophageal cancer, leading to transcriptional activation of a myriad of novel oncogenes and signalling pathways, some of which may be exploited pharmacologically (eg, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) pathway). Focusing on EAC, we bioinformatically reconstructed and functionally validated an interconnected circuitry formed by four master TFs—ELF3, KLF5, GATA6 and EHF—which promoted each other’s expression by interacting with each super-enhancer. Downstream, these master TFs occupied almost all EAC super-enhancers and cooperatively orchestrated EAC transcriptome. Each TF within the transcriptional circuitry was highly and specifically expressed in EAC and functionally promoted EAC cell proliferation and survival.

Conclusions

By establishing cancer-specific and subtype-specific features of the EAC epigenome, our findings promise to transform understanding of the transcriptional dysregulation and addiction of EAC, while providing molecular clues to develop novel therapeutic modalities against this malignancy.
Phase III, randomised, double-blind, multicentre study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of vonoprazan compared with lansoprazole in Asian patients with erosive oesophagitis
Authors: Xiao Yinglian , Zhang Shutian , Dai Ning , Fei Guijun , Goh Khean-Lee , Chun Hoon Jai , Sheu Bor-Shyang , Chong Chui Fung , Funao Nobuo , Zhou Wen , Chen Minhu
Published: August 2019

Objective

To establish the non-inferior efficacy of vonoprazan versus lansoprazole in the treatment of Asian patients with erosive oesophagitis (EO).

Design

In this phase III, double-blind, multicentre study, patients with endoscopically confirmed EO were randomised 1:1 to receive vonoprazan 20 mg or lansoprazole 30 mg, once daily for up to 8 weeks. The primary endpoint was EO healing rate at 8 weeks. The secondary endpoints were EO healing rates at 2 and 4 weeks. Safety endpoints included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs).

Results

In the vonoprazan (n=238) and lansoprazole (n=230) arms, 8-week EO healing rates were 92.4% and 91.3%, respectively (difference 1.1% (95% CI –3.822% to 6.087%)). The respective 2-week EO healing rates were 75.0% and 67.8% (difference 7.2% (95% CI –1.054% to 15.371%)), and the respective 4-week EO healing rates were 85.3% and 83.5% (difference 1.8% (95% CI –4.763% to 8.395%)). In patients with baseline Los Angeles classification grade C/D, 2-week, 4-week and 8-week EO healing rates were higher with vonoprazan versus lansoprazole (2 weeks: 62.2% vs 51.5%, difference 10.6% (95% CI –5.708% to 27.002%); 4 weeks: 73.3% vs 67.2%, difference 6.2% (95% CI –8.884 to 21.223); and 8 weeks: 84.0% vs 80.6%, difference 3.4% (95% CI –9.187% to 15.993%)). Overall, EO healing rates appeared higher with vonoprazan versus lansoprazole. TEAE rates were 38.1% and 36.6% in the vonoprazan and lansoprazole group, respectively.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrate the non-inferior efficacy of vonoprazan versus lansoprazole in terms of EO healing rate at 8 weeks in this population. Safety outcomes were similar in the two treatment arms.

Trial registration number

NCT02388724.
Prevalence of drug use during sex among swingers and perceived benefits and risks – a cross-sectional internet survey in the Netherlands
Authors: Evers Ymke J , Dukers-Muijrers Nicole H T M , Kampman Carolina J G , van Liere Geneviève A F S , Hautvast Jeannine L A , Koedijk Femke D H , Hoebe Christian J P A
Published: August 2019

Objectives

Drug use during sex has been associated with sexually transmitted infections (STI). While a growing body of research has investigated drug use during sex among men who have sex with men, data in swingers is limited. Swingers are heterosexual couples who have sex with others and singles who have sex with these couples. Our study assessed the prevalence of drug use during sex and perceived benefits and risks among swingers.

Methods

In 2018, 1005 swingers completed an online questionnaire that was advertised at Dutch swinger-websites. We assessed the associations between drug use during sex <6 months (any drug use excluding alcohol and erection medicines) and sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol use and condomless sex using backward multivariable logistic regression analysis. We compared drug use, motives, beliefs and experienced effects between heterosexual male, bisexual male and female drug-using swingers using χ2-tests.

Results

Drug use during sex was reported by 44% (443/1005): 51% in women, 44% in bisexual men and 39% in heterosexual men (P<0.01). Condomless vaginal (46%) and anal sex (22%) was higher in drug-using swingers (vs 34% and 13% in non-drug-using swingers, P<0.001). Among drug-using swingers, XTC (92%), GHB (76%) and laughing gas (69%) were mostly used. Prolonging sex (68%) and increasing arousal (66%) were the most reported motives. Most reported positive effects were feeling happy (78%) and increasing energy (78%). Ninety-four per cent considered drug use to be pleasurable. The most reported negative effect was feeling tired (53%), 7% reported that they might become addicted or felt uncomfortable having sex without drugs.

Conclusion

This study among a large group of swingers shows that drug use during sex is highly prevalent. STI clinics should discuss drug use during sex among swingers and provide information on safer sex and drug use, while acknowledging the perceived benefits, such as the increased quality of sex.
Efficacy and safety of lower versus higher CO2extraction devices to allow ultraprotective ventilation: secondary analysis of the SUPERNOVA study
Authors: Combes Alain , Tonetti Tommaso , Fanelli Vito , Pham Tai , Pesenti Antonio , Mancebo Jordi , Brodie Daniel , Ranieri V Marco
Published: August 2019

Retrospective analysis of the SUPERNOVA trial exploring the hypothesis that efficacy and safety of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) to facilitate reduction of tidal volume (VT) to 4 mL/kg in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) may differ between systems withlower(area of membrane length 0.59 m2; blood flow 300–500 mL/min) andhigher(membrane area 1.30 m2; blood flow between 800 and 1000 mL/min) CO2extraction capacity. Ninety-five patients with moderate ARDS were included (33 patients treated withlowerand 62 patients treated withhigherCO2extraction devices). We found that (1) VTof 4 mL/kg was reached by 55% and 64% of patients with the lower extraction versus 90% and 92% of patients with higher extraction devices at 8 and 24 hours from baseline, respectively (p<0.001), and (2) percentage of patients experiencing episodes of ECCO2R-related haemolysis and bleeding was higher withlowerthan withhigherextraction devices (21% vs 6%, p=0.045% and 27% vs 6%, p=0.010, respectively). Although VTof 4 mL/kg could have been obtained with all devices, this was achieved frequently and with a lower rate of adverse events by devices withhigherCO2extraction capacity.
Diagnostic value of cerebrospinal fluid analysis in a population of dogs with suspected idiopathic epilepsy
Authors: Coelho Ana Maria , Maddox Thomas W , Sanchez‐Masian Daniel , Gonçalves Rita
Published: August 2019

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis is commonly used in the diagnostic investigation of seizure disorders in order to exclude possible inflammatory underlying aetiology. The medical records were searched for dogs presenting with epileptic seizures (ES) that had normal interictal neurological examination, normal complete blood count and biochemistry analysis, unremarkable MRI of the brain and had CSF analysis performed as part of the diagnostic investigation. A total of 200 dogs met the inclusion criteria. The CSF was abnormal in 30 dogs with a median total nucleated cell count of two cells/µl (IQR 1.5–6) and median protein concentration of 0.37 g/l (IQR 0.31–0.41). Pleocytosis was recorded in 14/30 dogs and the CSF protein was increased in 22/30. There was no correlation between abnormal CSF and the type or number of seizures or the time interval between the last seizure and CSF collection. A significant correlation was found between the number of red blood cells on CSF and having an abnormal CSF. The prevalence of having a diagnosis other than suspected idiopathic epilepsy (IE) was 0.5 per cent (1/200). These results suggest that performing CSF analysis in dogs with recurrent ES that have normal interictal neurological examination and unremarkable MRI has a low diagnostic value.
Strong (2 ⋅ t) and Strong (3 ⋅ t) Transformations for Strong M-Equivalence
Authors: Poovanandran Ghajendran , Teh Wen Chean
Published: August 2019

Parikh matrices have been extensively investigated due to their usefulness in studying subword occurrences in words. Due to the dependency of Parikh matrices on the ordering of the alphabet, the notion of strong [Formula: see text]-equivalence was proposed as an order-independent alternative to [Formula: see text]-equivalence in studying words possessing the same Parikh matrix. This paper introduces and studies the notions of strong [Formula: see text] and strong [Formula: see text] transformations in determining when two ternary words are strongly [Formula: see text]-equivalent. The irreducibility of strong [Formula: see text] transformations is then scrutinized, further exemplified by a structural characterization of irreducible strong [Formula: see text] transformations. The common limitation of these transformations in characterizing strong [Formula: see text]-equivalence is then addressed.
Design of Outdoor Fire Intelligent Alarm System Based on Image Recognition
Authors: Zhou Kun , Zhang Xi
Published: August 2019

Fire is one of the most common serious disasters in human society. It is a kind of burning phenomenon that is out of control in time and space. When a fire occurs, how to detect the fire quickly and remove it in the budding state has become the key content of fire control work. Outdoor fire is very common in our daily life, and once it occurs without effective and timely control, it will cause huge losses. Therefore, it is particularly important to study an intelligent alarm system for outdoor fire. Generally, fire detection technology can be divided into sensor fire detection technology and image fire detection technology. Sensor fire detection technology is low cost and easy to design, but its application field is limited. Under the interference of many factors outside, misjudgement and missed judgement will occur. Image fire detection technology can achieve certain detection function through manual design of features and classifiers, but there are still defects in the application in the actual diversified environment. With the development of neural network technology in recent years, it has made great breakthroughs in the field of image recognition. Its judgment type is obtained through a large number of data training algorithms. Because of its automatic feature extraction and classification characteristics, it can effectively adapt to the external environment. Therefore, this paper proposes an end-to-end two-stream neural network model to detect fires, uses fire video on the network to train the algorithm, and then uses the fire database to test. Compared with the existing fire detection algorithms, it is found that the proposed method has good practicability and versatility, and provides a good reference for the development of fire detection technology.
Convolutional Sparse Representation and Local Density Peak Clustering for Medical Image Fusion
Authors: Wang Lifang , Shi Chaoyu , Lin Suzhen , Qin Pinle , Wang Yanli
Published: August 2019

Aiming at the problem of insufficient detail retention in multimodal medical image fusion (MMIF) based on sparse representation (SR), an MMIF method based on density peak clustering and convolution sparse representation (CSR-DPC) is proposed. First, the base layer is obtained based on the registered input image by the averaging filter, and the original image minus the base layer to obtain the detail layer. Second, for retaining the details of the fused image, the detail layer image is fused by CSR to obtain the fused detail layer image, then the base layer image is segmented into several image blocks, and the blocks are clustered by using DPC to obtain some clusters, and each class cluster is trained to obtain a sub-dictionary, and all the sub-dictionaries are fused to obtain an adaptive dictionary. The sparse coefficient is fused through the learned adaptive dictionary, and the fused base layer image is obtained through reconstruction. Finally, fusing the detail layer and the base layer and reconstructing them forms the ultimate fused image. Experiments show that compared to the state-of-the-art two multi-scale transformation methods and five SR methods, the proposed method(CSR-DPC) outperforms the other methods in terms of the image details, the visual quality and the objective evaluation index, which can be helpful for clinical diagnosis and adjuvant treatment.
A New Capacitance Multiplier Structure with High Multiplication Factor for Ultra-Low-Frequency Filter in Biomedical Applications
Authors: Li Yan , Li Yong Liang
Published: August 2019

A novel capacitance multiplier is proposed to implement an ultra-low-frequency filter for physiological signal processing in biomedical applications. With the proposed multiplier, a simple first-order low-pass filter achieves a [Formula: see text]3-dB frequency of 33.4[Formula: see text]μHz with a 1-pF capacitance and a 20[Formula: see text]k[Formula: see text] resistance. This corresponds to a multiplication factor of as large as [Formula: see text]. By changing the controlling terminal, the [Formula: see text]3-dB frequency can be tuned in a wide range of 33.4[Formula: see text]μHz–6.3[Formula: see text]kHz.
On rack homology groups of finite quandles via permutations
Authors: Bae Yongju , Choi Seonmi
Published: August 2019

A quandle is a set equipped with a binary operation satisfying three quandle axioms. It also can be expressed as a sequence of permutations of the underlying set satisfying certain conditions. In this paper, we will calculate the second rack homology group of the disjoint union of two finite quandles and the second and third rack homology groups of certain type of finite quandles.
Extended periodic links and HOMFLYPT polynomial
Authors: Chbili Nafaa , Jebali Hajer
Published: August 2019

Extended strongly periodic links have been introduced by Przytycki and Sokolov as a symmetric surgery presentation of three-manifolds on which the finite cyclic group acts without fixed points. The purpose of this paper is to prove that the symmetry of these links is reflected by the first coefficients of the HOMFLYPT polynomial.
Thermodynamics of scalar field models with kinetic corrections
Authors: Chetry Binod , Dutta Jibitesh , Khyllep Wompherdeiki
Published: August 2019

In this work, we compare the thermodynamical viability of two types of noncanonical scalar field models with kinetic corrections: the square kinetic and square root kinetic corrections. In modern cosmology, the generalized second law of thermodynamics (GSLT) plays an important role in deciding thermodynamical compliance of a model as one cannot consider a model to be viable if it fails to respect GSLT. Hence, for comparing thermodynamical viability, we examine the validity of GSLT for these two models. For this purpose, by employing the Unified first law (UFL), we calculate the total entropy of these two models in apparent and event horizons. The validity of GSLT is then examined from the autonomous systems as the original expressions of total entropy are very complicated. Although, at the background level, both models give interesting cosmological dynamics, however, thermodynamically we found that the square kinetic correction is more realistic as compared to the square root kinetic correction. More precisely, the GSLT holds for the square kinetic correction throughout the evolutionary history except only during the radiation epoch where the scalar field may not represent a true description of the matter content. On the other hand, the square root kinetic model fails to satisfy the GSLT in major cosmological eras.
Simplistic distorted-wave Born approximation interpretation of the 11Li(p,t)9Li reaction
Authors: Cowley A. A.
Published: August 2019

The reaction [Formula: see text]Li([Formula: see text])9Li(gs) at an incident energy of 4.3[Formula: see text]MeV is interpreted in terms of a simplistic distorted-wave Born approximation, which assumes simultaneous transfer of the halo neutrons. The halo neutrons involved in the reaction is treated as either a di-neutron cluster or individual entities. Either of these approaches appears to be a good approximation of the reaction mechanism, as would be expected from earlier studies. The dominant contribution to the yield of the reaction comes from the known (2[Formula: see text])2 neutron structure component of the ground state of [Formula: see text]Li. Furthermore, the cross-section angular distribution seems to be relatively insensitive to the fact that [Formula: see text]Li has an anomalously large radius due to its Borromean halo properties. Significantly this simple treatment of the reaction is in much better agreement with the experimental angular distribution than previous sophisticated calculations. The relevance and limitations of a more advanced theoretical treatment which includes coupled channel and sequential transfer are discussed in the context of the present results.
Factors that Influence Farmers’ Information Seeking Behaviour: A Study of Sri Lankan Vegetable Farmers
Authors: Mahindarathne M. G. P. P. , Min Qingfei
Published: August 2019

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays a vital role in disseminating agricultural information. In this backdrop, to make use of ICT for a prolific agriculture information dissemination, it is vitally important to gain a comprehensive understanding of the farmers’ information seeking behaviour. Despite the vitality, very few informational studies have been carried in Sri Lankan agriculture, particularly with respect to vegetable farmers in the country. To bridge this existing knowledge gap, this study sets out to investigate the information seeking behaviour (ISB) of vegetable farmers in Sri Lanka. Wilson’s general model of information seeking behaviour 1996 was selected to guide the present study. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 289 vegetable farmers and were analysed by performing a regression analysis. The regression analysis revealed that vegetable farmers’ ISB is greatly influenced by their information need and the channel characteristics. The regression results further revealed that the demographic characteristics such as age, education, farming experience and training, operational factors such as land extent, land ownership and types of farming system, and personal and role-related factors such as perception of agri-information and information sharing behaviour also influence vegetable farmers’ ISB significantly. The study findings will inform the policymakers, information systems and applications designers, and researchers about the factors that affecting on ISB of farmers. Furthermore, this study will help stimulate similar studies in developing countries.
The Inductive Blockwise Alperin Weight Condition for PSp4(q)
Authors: Li Conghui , Li Zhenye
Published: August 2019

Let G be a finite group and ℓ be any prime dividing [Formula: see text]. The blockwise Alperin weight conjecture states that the number of the irreducible Brauer characters in an ℓ-block B of G equals the number of the G-conjugacy classes of ℓ-weights belonging to B. Recently, this conjecture has been reduced to the simple groups, which means that to prove the blockwise Alperin weight conjecture, it suffices to prove that all non-abelian simple groups satisfy the inductive blockwise Alperin weight condition. In this paper, we verify this inductive condition for the finite simple groups [Formula: see text] and non-defining characteristic, where q is a power of an odd prime.
Structure of Strict Abundant Semigroups
Authors: Chen Yizhi , Yang Bo , Gan Aiping
Published: August 2019

We introduce a new class of semigroups called strict abundant semigroups, which are concordant semigroups and subdirect products of completely [Formula: see text]-simple abundant semigroups and completely 0-[Formula: see text]-simple primitive abundant semigroups. A general construction and a tree structure of such semigroups are established. Consequently, the corresponding structure theorems for strict regular semigroups given by Auinger in 1992 and by Grillet in 1995 are generalized and extended. Finally, an example of strict abundant semigroups is also given.
Porphyrin-rylene-diimide-hexabenzocoronene triads
Authors: Martin Max M. , Dusold Carolin , Hirsch Andreas , Jux Norbert
Published: August 2019

Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs), substituted by two different chromophores in an ortho arrangement, were synthesized for the first time and investigated towards their photophysical properties. Rylene-diimide dyes, in particular naphthalene-diimides (NDIs) and perylene-diimides (PDIs), were attached to the HBC as the first, and porphyrins as the second chromophore. Therefore, porphyrin-NDI-HPB as well as porphyrin-PDI-HPB precursors were accessed and converted into the respective HBC derivatives applying oxidative Scholl conditions. UV-vis absorption and fluorescence emission spectroscopy showed interesting photophysical behavior such as energy transfer processes. Particularly, the porphyrin-PDI-HBC displays pronounced absorption features between 330–650 nm, which cover a wide range of the visible spectrum.
Unwanted Conflict? The Analysis of the Impact of Misperception, Beliefs and Psychology of President Nasser at the Outbreak of the Six Day War
Authors: Šćepanović Janko
Published: August 2019

The Six Day War was one of the most defining moments in the history of the Modern Middle East. This paper seeks to add to the existing scholarship on the subject by going beyond the structural explanation. It gives special attention to the role of unit-level variables like perception, personality, and political psychology of decision-makers. As one scholar noted, threats are not perceived in a vacuum, and are, instead, products of complex synthesis of subjective appraisal of events by the decision-makers. The focus will be on the beliefs and perceptions of the most impactful actor in this crisis: Egyptian President Nasser. As will be argued, his decision-making was shaped by his experience with foreign imperialism, a general misconception of super power intentions, an incorrect analogy between two crucial crisis situations with Israel: the February 1960 Rotem Crisis, and the build-up to the June War in 1967, and especially his complicated relations with the US leaders.
Mitigating Electrical-level Attacks towards Secure Multi-Tenant FPGAs in the Cloud
Authors: Krautter Jonas , Gnad Dennis R. E. , Tahoori Mehdi B.
Published: August 2019

A rising trend is the use of multi-tenant FPGAs, particularly in cloud environments, where partial access to the hardware is given to multiple third parties. This leads to new types of attacks in FPGAs, which operate not only on the logic level, but also on the electrical level through the common power delivery network. Since FPGAs are configured from the software-side, attackers are enabled to launch hardware attacks from software, impacting the security of an entire system. In this article, we show the first attempt of a countermeasure against attacks on the electrical level, which is based on a bitstream checking methodology. Bitstreams are translated back into flat technology mapped netlists, which are then checked for properties that indicate potential malicious runtime behavior of FPGA logic. Our approach can provide a metric of potential risk of the FPGA bitstream being used in active fault or passive side-channel attacks against other users of the FPGA fabric or the entire SoC platform.
Modal Resolution
Authors: Nalon Cláudia , Dixon Clare , Hustadt Ullrich
Published: August 2019

Resolution-based provers for multimodal normal logics require pruning of the search space for a proof to ameliorate the inherent intractability of the satisfiability problem for such logics. We present a clausal modal-layered hyper-resolution calculus for the basic multimodal logic, which divides the clause set according to the modal level at which clauses occur to reduce the number of possible inferences. We show that the calculus is complete for the logics being considered. We also show that the calculus can be combined with other strategies. In particular, we discuss the completeness of combining modal layering with negative and ordered resolution and provide experimental results comparing the different refinements.
Enabling Efficient Updates in KV Storage via Hashing
Authors: Li Yongkun , Chan Helen H. W. , Lee Patrick P. C. , Xu Yinlong
Published: August 2019

Persistent key-value (KV) stores mostly build on the Log-Structured Merge (LSM) tree for high write performance, yet the LSM-tree suffers from the inherently high I/O amplification. KV separation mitigates I/O amplification by storing only keys in the LSM-tree and values in separate storage. However, the current KV separation design remains inefficient under update-intensive workloads due to its high garbage collection (GC) overhead in value storage. We propose HashKV, which aims for high update performance atop KV separation under update-intensive workloads. HashKV uses
hash-based data grouping
, which deterministically maps values to storage space to make both updates and GC efficient. We further relax the restriction of such deterministic mappings via simple but useful design extensions. We extensively evaluate various design aspects of HashKV. We show that HashKV achieves 4.6× update throughput and 53.4% less write traffic compared to the current KV separation design. In addition, we demonstrate that we can integrate the design of HashKV with state-of-the-art KV stores and improve their respective performance.
Improved Ahead-of-time Compilation of Stack-based JVM Bytecode on Resource-constrained Devices
Authors: Reijers Niels , Shih Chi-Sheng
Published: August 2019

Many virtual machines exist for sensor nodes with only a few kB  RAM and tens- to a few hundred kB Flash memory. They pack an impressive set of features but suffer from a slowdown of one to two orders of magnitude compared to optimised native code, reducing throughput and increasing power consumption.

Compiling bytecode to native code to improve performance has been studied extensively for larger devices, but the restricted resources on sensor nodes mean most modern techniques cannot be applied. Simply replacing bytecode instructions with predefined sequences of native instructions is known to improve performance but produces code several times larger than the optimised C equivalent, limiting the size of programmes that can fit onto a device.

This article identifies the major sources of overhead resulting from this basic approach and presents optimisations to remove most of the remaining performance overhead, and over half the size overhead, reducing them to 67% and 77%, respectively. While this increases the size of the VM, the break-even point at which this fixed cost is compensated for by the smaller code it generates, is well within the range of memory available on a sensor device, allowing us to both improve performance and load more code on a device.
The Supernumerary Hand Illusion in Augmented Reality
Authors: Rosa Nina , Veltkamp Remco C. , Hürst Wolfgang , Nijboer Tanja , Gilbers Carolien , Werkhoven Peter
Published: August 2019

The classic rubber hand illusion (RHI) experiment studies the sense of embodiment over a fake limb. Distinguished subcomponents of embodiment are ownership (sense of self-attribution of a body), agency (sense of having motor control), and self-location (the spatial experience of being inside a body), and are typically evoked in either reality or virtual reality. In augmented reality (AR), however, visually present real limbs can be augmented with (multiple) fake virtual limbs, which results in a variation of the RHI, the augmented reality supernumerary hand illusion (ARSHI). Such conditions occur, for example, in first-person AR games and in AR-interfaces for tele-robotics. In this article, we examined to what extent humans can experience the sense of embodiment over a supernumerary virtual arm in addition to one or two real arms. We also examine how embodiment is affected by the perceptual visual-tactile synchronicity of the virtual and real limbs, and by the synchronicity of active movement of the virtual and real hand. Embodiment was measured subjectively by questionnaire and objectively by skin conductance responses (SCRs). Questionnaire responses show that ownership, agency, and self-location can be evoked over the virtual arm in the presence of a real arm, and that they are significantly stronger for synchronous conditions than for asynchronous conditions. The perceptual and motorical synchronous condition with three visible hands led to an experience of owning the virtual hand. These responses further show that agency was also strongly experienced over the supernumerary virtual arm, and responses regarding self-location suggest a shift in sensed location when one real arm was in view and an additional location when both real arms where in view. SCRs show no significant effect of condition, but do show a significant habituation effect as a function of the number of conditions performed by participants. When analyzing the relations at the individual participant level between the questionnaire data and skin conductance, we found two clusters of participants: (1) participants with low questionnaire responses and low-medium SCRs and (2) participants with high questionnaire responses and low-high SCRs. Finally, we discuss how virtual hand appearance/realism and willingness to accept virtual limbs could play an important role in the ARSHI, and provide insights on intricacies involved with measuring and evaluating RHIs.
Shadow-based Illusion of Depth and Transparency in Printed Images
Authors: Kawabe Takahiro
Published: August 2019

A cast shadow is one of the visual features that serve as a perceptual cue to the three-dimensional (3D) layout of objects. Although it is well known that adding cast shadows to an object produces the illusion that the object has a 3D layout, investigations into this illusion have been limited to virtual objects in a display. Using a light-projection technique, we show that it is possible to create a similar 3D layout illusion for real two-dimensional objects. Specifically, we displayed spatial patterns that look like cast shadows in the vicinity of an object depicted as a printed image. The combination of the cast shadow patterns with the printed object made it appear as if the printed object hovered over its original location even though the object was physically two-dimensional. By using this technique, we demonstrated that the shadow-induced layout illusion resulted in printed images having novel perceptual transparency. Vision researchers may find our technique useful if they want to extend their studies on the perception of cast shadows and transparency with real objects.
Calcification biomarkers and vascular dysfunction in obesity and type 2 diabetes: influence of oral hypoglycemic agents
Authors: Schinzari Francesca , Tesauro Manfredi , Bertoli Aldo , Valentini Alessia , Veneziani Augusto , Campia Umberto , Cardillo Carmine
Published: August 2019

Vascular aging in obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with progressive vascular calcification, an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality. Pathways for vascular calcification modulate bone matrix deposition, thus regulating calcium deposits. We investigated the association between biomarkers of vascular calcification and vasodilator function in obesity or T2D, and whether antidiabetic therapies favorably impact those markers. Circulating levels of proteins involved in vascular calcification, such as osteopontin (OPN), osteoprotegerin (OPG), regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), and fetuin-A were measured in lean subjects, individuals with metabolically healthy obesity (MHO), and patients with metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) or T2D. Vasodilator function was assessed by infusion of ACh and sodium nitroprusside (SNP). Circulating levels of OPN were higher in the MUO/T2D group than in lean subjects ( P < 0.05); OPG and RANTES were higher in MUO/T2D group than in the other groups (both P < 0.001); fetuin-A was not different between groups ( P > 0.05); vasodilator responses to either ACh or SNP were impaired in both MUO/T2D and MHO compared with lean subjects (all P < 0.001). In patients with T2D who were enrolled in the intervention trial, antidiabetic treatment with glyburide, metformin, or pioglitazone resulted in a significant reduction of circulating OPG ( P = 0.001), without changes in the other biomarkers and vasodilator responses (all P > 0.05). In conclusion, obese patients with MUO/T2D have elevated circulating OPN, OPG, and RANTES; in these patients, antidiabetic treatment reduces only circulating OPG. Further study is needed to better understand the mechanisms of vascular calcifications in obesity and diabetes.