bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Study of Recent Recommender System Techniques
Authors: Bansal Saumya , Baliyan Niyati
Published: July 2019

The influx of data in most domains is huge and dynamic, leading to big data and hence the need to build a recommender system grows stronger. This work is a comprehensive survey of the current status of different recommendation approaches, their limitations and extension which when applied may eradicate the incessant information overload problem of web entirely. Further, an investigation is conducted on the Google Scholar database, delineating the temporal distribution of different recommendation techniques. Several popular and most-used evaluation metrics, domain-specific applications, and data sets used in the recommendation are reviewed. By summarizing the current state-of-the-art, this work may help researchers in the field of recommendation system techniques and provides future directions highlighting issues that need to be focused on.
FaceTimeMap
Authors: Shrestha Buddha , Chung Haeyong , Aygün Ramazan S.
Published: July 2019

In this article, the authors study bitmap indexing for temporal querying of faces that appear in videos. Since the bitmap index is originally designed to select a set of records that satisfy a value in the domain of the attribute, there is no clear strategy for how to apply it for temporal querying. Accordingly, the authors introduce a multi-level bitmap index that the authors call “FaceTimeMap” for temporal querying of faces in videos. The first level of the FaceTimeMap index is used for determining whether a person appears in a video or not, whereas the second level of the index is used for determining intervals when a person appears. First, the authors analyze the co-appearance query where two or more people appear simultaneously in a video, and then examine next-appearance query where a person appears right after another person. In addition, to consider the gap between the appearance of people, the authors study eventual- and prior-appearance queries. Queries are satisfied by applying bitwise operations on the FaceTimeMap index. The authors provide some performance studies associated with this index.
Service, Openness and Engagement as Digitally-Based Enablers of Public Value?
Authors: Roy Jeffrey P
Published: July 2019

Public value creation is increasingly viewed as a central pivot of a government's digital transformation. The objective of this article is twofold: to better understand some of the major inhibitors of public value creation within a context of digital government, and to offer some fresh insight into how such inhibitors may be overcome in order to strengthen public value creation by leveraging digital governance innovation. In pursuing this objective, the author adopts the Government of Canada as a broad, qualitative and exploratory case study of digital government's capacities to generate public value. These findings reveal many structural and cultural inhibitors within the Government of Canada to innovation and public value creation across the inter-related realms of service, openness and engagement. How inhibitors can be addressed and eventually overcome is also discussed as a basis for future public sector reform and academic and applied research.
Fast Fashion Store Image, Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty on the Young Vietnamese Perspective
Authors: Bui Huong Thi Lan
Published: July 2019

Fast fashion has become a trend in emerging markets in Asia such as China, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam for over a decade. During the last few years, Vietnam has become the hub for global fast fashion retailers creating fierce competition in the Vietnamese clothing market. Most of past research on fast fashion brands focuses on the global supply chain whereas its interest on the consumer behavior of their target markets is quite limited. This research work explores the store image of fast fashion stores specifically perceived by the Vietnamese target customers as store image has long been considered a key marketing differentiator for retailers over competitors to lure shopper patronage. It further investigates the inter-relationship among each component of the fast fashion store image with store satisfaction and loyalty with the structural equation modeling analysis. The author's findings indicate that the commercial and corporate image components positively influence store loyalty via customer satisfaction as a mediator.
Building and Operating a System to Promote Regional Competitive Industries Through Cross-Sectoral Collaborations
Authors: Kawabata Yuki
Published: July 2019

Initiated by regional governments, economic associations, etc., many regions are trying to promote competitive industries through cross-sectoral collaboration. The purpose of this study is to consider management approaches to build and operate a regional system for facilitating a self-organizing process of cross-sectoral collaborations. First, related literatures are reviewed. Then, the concept of constructing regional advantage is introduced. Then, a platform policy through building a Regional Innovation System based on the Triple-Helix model is examined. In the case study, the experiences of three states in Germany are examined by focusing on the medical technology industry. In these states, to promote regional industries, regional systems to facilitate cross-sectoral collaborations are structured. The main focus is how the systems were built and operated through the involvement of regional stakeholders. Last, the results of the case study are comparatively analyzed and the implications for the management are discussed.
Determinants of Self-Service Analytics Adoption Intention
Authors: Daradkeh Mohammad
Published: July 2019

The increasing popularity of self-service analytics (SSA) is empowering business users to analyze data and generate actionable insights autonomously. While there are many benefits to SSA tools, there is a scarcity of research on the factors influencing their adoption in business organizations. This article presents an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) that incorporates the task-technology fit (TTF), compatibility, and user empowerment as critical antecedents of users' intention to adopt SSA tools for reporting and analytics tasks. To test the proposed model, data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 211 business users working in different industries in Jordan. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of this study demonstrate that the task-technology fit, compatibility, and user empowerment are significant predictors of users' perceptions of usefulness and ease of use of SSA tools. Both of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have a positive effect on users' intention to adopt SSA tools. Collectively, all these factors account for 51.6 percent of the variance in the behavioral intention. The findings of this study provide several key implications for research and practice, and thus should contribute to the design and adoption of more user-accepted SSA tools and applications.
Prevalence and determinants of psychological insulin resistance among type 2 diabetic patients in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Rita Shomba L. , Lubaki Fina J.-P. , Bompeka Lepira F. , Ogunbanjo Gboyega A. , Ngwala Lukanu P.
Published: July 2019

Background: Psychological insulin resistance (PIR) is a common but unappreciated phenomenon by health care providers with a negative impact on the control of type 2 diabetes mellitus.Aim: To determine the frequency of PIR and its determinants in patients with type 2 diabetes.Setting: This study was conducted in Kinshasa in three health centres providing management of diabetic patients.Methods: This study was a multicentric, cross-sectional study conducted from 01 November 2017 to 31 March 2018 in Kinshasa among 213 type 2 diabetic patients who were taking oral anti-diabetic drugs. A standardised questionnaire, the Chinese Attitudes to Starting Insulin Questionnaire (Ch-ASIQ), was used for data collection.Results: The average age of participants was 59.8 ± 11.1 years with a male to female ratio of 1.5. The prevalence of PIR was 42.7%; and its main determinants were 50 years of age (odds ratios [OR] adjusted 2.05; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.98–4.27; p = 0.045), the presence of complications (OR adjusted 3.33; 95% CI 1.68–6.60; p = 0.001), lack of knowledge about insulin therapy (OR adjusted 1.96; 95% CI 1.03–3.71; p = 0.040) and the high cost of insulin (OR adjusted 2.32; 95% CI 1.08–4.95; p = 0.030).Conclusion: The study showed that almost half of type 2 diabetic patients had PIR with the main determinant factors related to the patient and the health system. The establishment of a therapeutic education programme, improved ‘provider–patient’ communication and the development of approaches to increase access to drugs are crucial to reduce the prevalence of PIR.
A qualitative analysis of the Wikipedia N-Substate Algorithm's Enhancement Terms
Authors: Goslin Kyle , Hofmann Markus
Published: July 2019

Automatic Search Query Enhancement (ASQE) is the process of modifying a user submitted search query and identifying terms that can be added or removed to enhance the relevance of documents retrieved from a search engine. ASQE differs from other enhancement approaches as no human interaction is required. ASQE algorithms typically rely on a source of a priori knowledge to aid the process of identifying relevant enhancement terms. This paper describes the results of a qualitative analysis of the enhancement terms generated by the Wikipedia NSubstate Algorithm (WNSSA) for ASQE. The WNSSA utilises Wikipedia as the sole source of a priori knowledge during the query enhancement process. As each Wikipedia article typically represents a single topic, during the enhancement process of the WNSSA, a mapping is performed between the user’s original search query and Wikipedia articles relevant to the query. If this mapping is performed correctly, a collection of potentially relevant terms and acronyms are accessible for ASQE. This paper reviews the results of a qualitative analysis process performed for the individual enhancement term generated for each of the 50 test topics from the TREC-9 Web Topic collection. The contributions of this paper include: (a) a qualitative analysis of generated WNSSA search query enhancement terms and (b) an analysis of the concepts represented in the TREC-9 Web Topics, detailing interpretation issues during query-to-Wikipedia article mapping performed by the WNSSA.
The syntactic parsing of ASD-STE100adverbials in ARTEMIS
Authors: Cortés-Rodríguez Francisco J. , Rodríguez-Juárez Carolina
Published: July 2019

This paper seeks to offer an update of the syntactic representation of adverbials in the Lexical Constructional Model and the multipurpose lexico-conceptual knowledge base, FunGramKB, and to implement the conditions that are necessary for an effective parsing of such constituents within ARTEMIS, a NLP prototype within FunGramKB for the computational treatment of the syntax and semantics of sentences. As regards the status of adverbials in the Layered Structure of the Clause (LSC) proposed in Role and Reference Grammar, it is striking that they have been somewhat sidelined, despite the programmatic proposal in Van Valin (2005) for a distribution of adjuncts along the different layers in the LSC. Since then, almost no further contribution has been offered to fully expand this new scheme. Thus, our aim is to fully embody a layered approach for adverbials and to adapt our proposal to the conditions imposed by the Grammar Development Environment in ARTEMIS, by developing the rules that are necessary for the parsing of the catalogue of adverbials of a corpus written in the controlled natural language ASD-STE100.
After Possession
Authors: MacKenzie Iain
Published: July 2019

Tristan Garcia’s Form and Object has been framed primarily as a contribution to object oriented metaphysics. In this article, I shall explicate and defend four claims that bring it closer to the modern critical tradition: 1) that Garcia’s Form and Object can be read, profitably, within the tradition of reflection upon the nature of possessions, self-possession and possessiveness; 2) that to read the book in this way is to see Garcia as the French heir to C. B. McPherson although it will be argued that what this amounts to is that while McPherson was the anti-Locke, so to speak, Garcia is the anti-Rousseau; 3) that this framing has significant consequences for our reception of Form and Object in that it can be understood as a book that not only marks a moment in debates surrounding speculative realism and object oriented ontology but that it also, and primarily, marks an important moment in debates about the encroachment of things and the culture of possession that, in part, defines modernity; 4) that there is a novel ontological position within Form and Object, one that is neither relational nor individualist, that presents a challenging account of ‘the chance and the price’ of living after possession and how to overcome the deleterious effects of contemporary consumer societies.
Protéger les capacités au travail: Réflexion éthique et politique à partir de l’œuvre de Martha Nussbaum
Authors: Ezvan Cécile
Published: July 2019

Cet article propose une réflexion sur la protection des capacités au travail à partir de Martha Nussbaum. Sa visée est de penser les conditions institutionnelles de l’accès aux capacités, dans le cadre du travail, en mettant en évidence les points de tension entre l’approche des capacités et d’autres approches libérales, contractualiste ou utilitariste, qui structurent l’organisation du travail dans la société de marché.Libérale d’un point de vue politique dans la lignée d’Emmanuel Kant, tout en s’intéressant comme Aristote et à Karl Marx à la question des seuils et des libertés substantielles (et pas seulement formelles), Nussbaum permet de souligner dans le même temps les tensions qui traversent le travail contemporain et les conditions d’un développement humain au travail à partir d’une liste de capacités centrales et d’un seuil d’accès aux ressources nécessaires pour les mettre en œuvre.L’article s’appuie sur cette approche des capacités et la théorie de la justice de Nussbaum pour analyser les limites du droit, souligner les logiques institutionnelles qui conditionnent l’accès aux capacités au travail, et de distinguer les responsabilités collectives vis-à-vis du développement humain au travail.
From Time to Time: Auto-Affection in Derrida’s 1964-65 Heidegger Course
Authors: Colony Tracy
Published: July 2019

Derrida always stressed the importance of his engagement with Heidegger and often returned throughout his life to different aspects of Heidegger’s thought. With the recent publication of his 1964-65 course, Heidegger: The Question of Being and History greater insight is now possible into the exact terms of Derrida’s early engagement with Heidegger and the significance he would accord it in the major works of 1967 and beyond. With the reception of this text just beginning, many lines of interpretation are being unfolded. However, one aspect not yet addressed in this early reception which will be crucial for approaching and orienting this work is the theme of auto-affection. The concept of auto-affection is important for assessing Derrida’s Heidegger course for two reasons. Firstly, Derrida understands auto-affection to be Heidegger’s most radical figuration of temporality in the period of Being and Time. Secondly, tracing Derrida’s early focus on auto-affection in Heidegger can provide an important context for understanding the initial development of what would become a prominent theme in Derrida’s own work. My argument in this paper is structured in three sections. In the first, I give a brief introduction to Derrida’s course. I then present the theme of auto-affection in this course and demonstrate its central importance. In conclusion, I show how Derrida’s treatment of this theme in the context of his early Heidegger engagement can be seen to look forward to his employment of auto-affection in Speech and Phenomena.
Degradacija ali regeneracija? Perspektive razvoja stika pristanišča z mestom v Odesi
Authors: KHALIN Vladimir , KIELY Natalie
Published: July 2019

Iskanje najboljše strategije trajnostnega razvoja je glavni cilj lokalnih oblasti in inovativnih urbanistov po vsem svetu. Zaradi različnih pogledov in interesov so posegi na stiku pristanišča z mestom in obsežna regeneracija mestnega nabrežja med najzapletenejšimi urbanističnimi nalogami. Za sodobno mesto ima razvoj pristanišča nedvomno največje ekološke, družbene in prometne posledice in koristi. Največja svetovna morska pristanišča selijo tovorne terminale iz starih mestnih jeder in prevzemajo naprednejše funkcije, ki niso povezane s pomorstvom, projekti, pri katerih je delež zasebnih in javnih površin enakovreden, pa dobivajo čedalje večji zagon. Najopaznejši projekti umikanja tovornih pristanišč iz starih mestnih jeder in regeneracije pristaniških območij potekajo v evropskih mestih. Za boljše razumevanje različnih uporabljenih pristopov so v članku predstavljeni primeri regeneracije pristanišč v Bilbau, Barceloni in Oslu, ki omogočajo vpogled v izkušnje, pridobljene na različnih krajih in v različnih načrtovalskih razmerah. V raziskavi, predstavljeni v tem članku, se avtorja osredotočata na ukrajinsko pristaniško mesto Odesa, pri čemer poskušata določiti najuspešnejšo strategijo razvoja stika pristanišča z mestom v trenutnih gospodarskih in geopolitičnih razmerah. Z združevanjem zamisli in raziskav urbanistov s področja upravljanja, ekonomije in prometne geografije ter upoštevanjem politik in socioloških vidikov prispevata k boljšemu poznavanju in razumevanju te problematike, na podlagi česar se lahko zagotovi trajnostni razvoj obalnih mest držav v razvoju.
Lexical choices along the creative process of coc comparato
Authors: Oliveira Livia Sprizão de , Panichi Edina Regina
Published: July 2019

Lexicographical words represent things – physical or abstracts – and are also plenty of expressive shapes, which are socially built. The grammatical use of words disseminates denotative meanings and metaphorical effects that engage emotions. The context in which words are placed creates a feedback cycle between the sign and the psychic images that it evokes. Through the analysis of the manuscripts of the Brazilian dramatist, Doc Comparato, we shall observe the movements of experimentation and lexical choice along the creative process of his writing of the script Jamais (Never) - also called Calabar or A tribute to the treason. We are going to verify the changes on the effects of meaning by comparing the reviews applied to the text, following the author’s search for the grammatical shape that gives life to the idea. In order to analyze the metamorphosis of the writing process we shall use the fundaments of Genetic Criticism and the Stylistic to evaluate the results reached by the author – considering that a dramaturgical text is made to be staged and, for being so, must predict the impact of the sounds of words and also the actions that follow them.
Measuring romantic competence in young adults: The Inventory of Romantic Relationship Competence
Authors: Faber Anthony J. , Chin Eu Gene , Wilburn Victor R. , Shafaie Shahrokh M.
Published: July 2019

This article presents psychometric data for a 35-item self-report instrument measuring romantic relationship competence in two separate samples of young adult college students. In study 1 (N = 219), results from Parallel Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) suggested the extraction of seven domains of romantic relationship competence: relationship locus of control, perspective taking, intimacy avoidance, emotion regulation, romantic appeal, conflict resolution skills, and temperament. In study 2 (N = 907), a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) provided support for the aforementioned factor structure albeit with minor revisions (i.e., correlated errors between three pairs of items). MIMIC modeling results provided support for partial measurement invariance across gender. A CFA-based method of estimating scale reliability demonstrated acceptable to good reliability indices. Bivariate correlations with other social competence and self-esteem measures provided support for convergent and divergent validity. An excel-based applet is available to readers who are interested in using the 35-item IRRC with individual respondents (e.g., practitioners). Researchers interested in using the measure within the context of structural equation modeling should model relevant non-invariant parameters before proceeding with the evaluation of structural parameters. This instrument demonstrates promise as an instrument for measuring domains of romantic relationship competence within the emerging adult population.
Splicing in a single neuron is coordinately controlled by RNA binding proteins and transcription factors
Authors: Thompson Morgan , Bixby Ryan , Dalton Robert , Vandenburg Alexa , Calarco John A , Norris Adam D
Published: July 2019

Single-cell transcriptomes are established by transcription factors (TFs), which determine a cell's gene-expression complement. Post-transcriptional regulation of single-cell transcriptomes, and the RNA binding proteins (RBPs) responsible, are more technically challenging to determine, and combinatorial TF-RBP coordination of single-cell transcriptomes remains unexplored. We used fluorescent reporters to visualize alternative splicing in single Caenorhabditis elegans neurons, identifying complex splicing patterns in the neuronal kinase sad-1. Most neurons express both isoforms, but the ALM mechanosensory neuron expresses only the exon-included isoform, while its developmental sister cell the BDU neuron expresses only the exon-skipped isoform. A cascade of three cell-specific TFs and two RBPs are combinatorially required for sad-1 exon inclusion. Mechanistically, TFs combinatorially ensure expression of RBPs, which interact with sad-1 pre-mRNA. Thus a combinatorial TF-RBP code controls single-neuron sad-1 splicing. Additionally, we find ‘phenotypic convergence,’ previously observed for TFs, also applies to RBPs: different RBP combinations generate similar splicing outcomes in different neurons.
Effect of Bleaching on the Physico-chemical Properties of Two Selected Vegetable Oils Using Locally Sourced Materials as Adsorbent
Authors: Ayorinde Jeje, O. , Okoronkwo A. E. , Ajayi O. O.
Published: July 2019

The quality and stability of palm kernel oil (PKO) and cottonseed oil (CTSO) as affected by bleaching using modified oyster shell powder (OSP) and periwinkle shell powder (PSP) were evaluated by analysing their physicochemical properties. The two adsorbents potential was improved on by modification using 5 M HCl and H2SO4. The determinations of the parameters were carried out by titration, while the refractive index was determined using a refractometer. The results indicate that the saponification values (SV) of PKO and CTSO increase after bleaching. However, the result further shows that the peroxide values (PV) of bleached PKO using OSP and PSP modified with 5 M HCl decreased (17.49±0.01 and 20.04±0.08 respectively) and also the iodine values decreased (3.15±0.13 and 3.41±0.02 respectively).

The same decrease in PV and IV values is observed in PKO bleached using 5 M H2SO4. The values of PV for OSP and PSP are 4.99±0.005 and 12.77±0.77 respectively while the IV values for OSP and PSP are1.85±0.01 and 12.53±0.09 respectively. Also, 5 M HCl and H2SO4 modified OSP and PSP reduced the IV content in CTSO. (5 M HCl OSP and PSP are; 3.15±0.13 and 3.41±0.02 respectively while 5 M H2SO4 OSP and PSP values are; 3.33±0.04 and 3.13±0.06 respectively). The study revealed that the bleaching through the use of OSP and PSP influenced the components and properties of the PKO and CTSO, improved on their qualities and therefore, the adsorbents can serve as alternatives to the costly adsorbents available in the markets.
Modeling the Factors Affecting the First Birth in the Family's' Fertility in Hamedan Province
Authors: Soltanian Alireza , Davar Saeedeh , Akhgar Maasoumeh Mahdi , Mahjub Hussein , Karami Manoochehr
Published: July 2019

Background: The role of fertility as the most important determinant of demographic fluctuations has given more importance to its studies compared with other demographic phenomena. In this context, different indexes are used to measure fertility patterns where the index of the first birth after marriage has received much attention.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytic) study in which the fertility data of women are converted into a fictitious cohort and investigated. In this study, married woman in the age group of 15 to 49 years in 500 families in Hamedan were selected. In this study, a researcher-made questionnaire was used that included information related to the number of live births (fertility) and factors related to it (i.e. date of marriage, age, the first pregnancy, number of unwanted pregnancies, average interval between children, and the use of contraceptives). Univariate and multivariate survival analysis was carried out for the interval between marriage and the first birth. In the univariate section, using Kaplan-Meir method and log-rank test, survival functions of the interval between the first births after marriage in different predictive variables were compared.

Result: Mean age of mothers at the first birth was 22.04±4.357 years and mean number of live births was 2.18±0.904. The first marriage age of women, parental education, women’s employment, the use of contraceptives, and the number of live births were at a significance level of 5%.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that parental education, women’s employment, and use of contraceptives play important roles in population growth.
An Analysis of the Deaths Reported by Hurricane Maria: A Mini Review
Authors: Méndez-Tejeda Rafael
Published: July 2019

The purpose of this mini review is to analyze the controversies surrounding the official death toll of Hurricane Maria, driven by the estimates of excess mortality rates by academics and investigative journalists. This review will be a critique of the aforementioned analyses and articles with the purpose of clarifying their figures, which all present different numbers of victims. In three publications (i.e., Kishore et al., 2018; Santos-Lozada et al., 2018; GWU, 2018), the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico reported different numbers of victims in the aftermath of HM on September 20, 2017. Since the occurrence of HM in PR, the reported number of victims of this disaster has varied. According to the PR government, the official number of deaths is 64 CPI (2017), while Kishore et al.’s (2018) report puts the figure at 4,645 and 2,975 deaths, as reported by George Washington University. This article analyzes why these sources disagree on the number of the dead and the possible reasons why there are discrepancies.
Medicaid expansion found to promote wider use of opioid agonist therapy
Authors: Enos Gary
Published: July 2019

Results of a study published this month in Psychiatric Services suggest that if states want to ensure greater provision of evidence‐based care for opioid use disorder (OUD), expanding Medicaid offers an effective strategy for doing so. At the same time, the study data indicate that Medicaid expansion alone is not sufficient for making agonist therapies accessible in dramatic numbers.
Ingestible Osmotic Pill for In Vivo Sampling of Gut Microbiomes
Authors: Rezaei Nejad Hojatollah , Oliveira Bruno C. M. , Sadeqi Aydin , Dehkharghani Amin , Kondova Ivanela , Langermans Jan A. M. , Guasto Jeffrey S. , Tzipori Saul , Widmer Giovanni , Sonkusale Sameer R.
Published: July 2019

Technologies capable of noninvasively sampling different locations in the gut upstream of the colon enable new insights into the role of organ‐specific microbiota in human health. Herein, an ingestible, biocompatible, battery‐less, 3D‐printed microengineered pill with an integrated osmotic sampler and microfluidic channels for in vivo sampling of the gut lumen and its microbiome upstream of the colon is discussed. The pill's sampling performance is characterized using realistic in vitro models and validated in vivo in pigs and primates. Herein, the results show that the bacterial populations recovered from the pill's microfluidic channels closely resemble the bacterial population demographics of the microenvironment to which the pill is exposed. Herein, it is believed that such lab‐on‐a‐pill devices revolutionize the understanding of the spatial diversity of the gut microbiome and its response to medical conditions and treatments.
Nonbubble‐Propelled Biodegradable Microtube Motors Consisting Only of Protein
Authors: Sugai Natsuho , Morita Yoshitsugu , Komatsu Teruyuki
Published: July 2019

This paper describes the synthesis of protein microtube motors having a urease interior surface and highlights their nonbubble‐propelled behavior driven by enzymatic reaction (urea→NH3 and CO2). The precursor microtubes were prepared by layer‐by‐layer assembly using a track‐etched microporous polycarbonate membrane. Immobilization of a urease on the internal wall was accomplished using avidin–biotin interaction. The tubules swam smoothly in an aqueous media containing a physiological concentration of urea. Each tubule was rotating laterally while moving forward. It is remarkable that the microtubes were digested completely by proteases, demonstrating perfect biodegradability.
Distributed accelerating of quantized second‐order consensus with bounded input
Authors: Ahmadi Alireza , Atrianfar Hajar , Abdollahi Farzaneh
Published: July 2019

In this paper, the convergence speed of consensus for a second‐order integrator with the fixed undirected graph is investigated. Additionally, the quantized information and bounded control input are applied to the system. To accelerate the convergence speed, a distributed variable adjacency matrix is proposed where the links' weight are functions defined based on the distance to the neighbors. The stability of the whole system for both of the quantized and non‐quantized consensus protocol considering a general weight function is shown using Lyapunov's direct approach. Furthermore, it is mentioned that the consensus value of the position depends on the structure of the quantizer.
The Comparative Effect of Particle Size and Support Acidity on Hydrogenation of Aromatic Ketones
Authors: Kim Kyung Duk , Wang Zichun , Tao Yongwen , Ling Huajuan , Yuan Yuan , Zhou Cuifeng , Liu Zongwen , Gaborieau Marianne , Huang Jun , Yu Aibing
Published: July 2019

A comparative study was reported for both the effects of shape‐confined cubic Pd particle size (8, 13, and 21 nm) and surface property of most commonly used supports (SiO2, Al2O3, and silica‐alumina) on catalytic performance in the chemoselective hydrogenation of three model bio‐oil chemicals (benzaldehyde, acetophenone, and butyrophenone). The results showed that the size of Pd particles could be more associated with the hydrogenation reaction than acidities of the supports. Smaller size of Pd particles, regardless of the type of the support, provided the higher catalytic performance. XPS data showed that the electronic properties of Pd particles were similar, therefore, the possible reasons were the higher fraction of Pd atoms on corner in smaller particles, the lower accessibility of hydrogen atom to reactant on bigger particles, and the more low‐coordinated sites in the small‐size particles due to the short‐range ordering. In addition, Pd/SA catalysts (Brønsted acid sites on the support) showed the highest conversion and TOF compared to Pd/Al2O3 and Pd/SiO2 catalysts. This might be due to the enhanced the diffusion rates of the chemicals on the surface of the catalysts although they could not induce the ionic effect from the metal surface. Pd/SiO2 catalysts performed better than Pd/Al2O3 catalysts (Lewis acid sites on the support). The flexible SiOH groups on surface made the easy interaction with the metal particles and promote the reaction.
Concentrated Ionic‐Liquid‐Based Electrolytes for High‐Voltage Lithium Batteries with Improved Performance at Room Temperature
Authors: Gao Xinpei , Wu Fanglin , Mariani Alessandro , Passerini Stefano
Published: July 2019

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been widely explored as alternative electrolytes to combat the safety issues associated with conventional organic electrolytes. However, hindered by their relatively high viscosity, the electrochemical performances of IL‐based cells are generally assessed at medium‐to‐high temperature and limited cycling rate. A suitable combination of alkoxy‐functionalized cations with asymmetric imide anions can effectively lower the lattice energy and improve the fluidity of the IL material. The Li/Li1.2Ni0.2Mn0.6O2 cell employing N‐N‐diethyl‐N‐methyl‐N‐(2‐methoxyethyl)ammonium (fluorosulfonyl)(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (DEMEFTFSI)‐based electrolyte delivered an initial capacity of 153 mAh g−1 within the voltage range of 2.5–4.6 V, with a capacity retention of 65.5 % after 500 cycles and stable coulombic efficiencies exceeding 99.5 %. Moreover, preliminary battery tests demonstrated that the drawbacks in terms of rate capability could be improved by using Li‐concentrated IL‐based electrolytes. The improved room‐temperature rate performance of these electrolytes was likely owing to the formation of Li+‐containing aggregate species, changing the concentration‐dependent Li‐ion transport mechanism.
On the capacity of the state‐dependent interference relay channel
Authors: Al‐qudah Zouhair , Musa Ahmed
Published: July 2019

This paper considers the state‐dependent interference relay channel (SIRC) in which one of the two users may operate as a secondary user and the relay has a noncausal access to the signals from both users. For discrete memoryless SIRC, we first establish the achievable rate region by carefully merging Han‐Kobayashi rate splitting encoding technique, superposition encoding, and Gelfand‐Pinsker encoding technique. Then, based on the achievable rate region that we derive, the capacity of the SIRC is established in many different scenarios including (a) the weak interference regime, (b) the strong interference regime, and (c) the very strong interference regime. This means that our capacity results contain all available known results in the literature. Next, the achievable rate region and the associated capacity results are also evaluated in the case of additive Gaussian noise. Additionally, many numerical examples are investigated to show the value of our theoretical derivations.
Recurrence factors in pediatric ameloblastoma: Clinical features and a new classification system
Authors: Yang Rong , Tang Yu , Zhang Xu , Liu Zheqi , Gokavarapu Sandhya , Lin Chengzhong , Ren Zhenhu , Zhou Yongmei , Cao Wei , Ji Tong
Published: July 2019

Background

Ameloblastomas of jaw in the pediatric population are a rare clinical entity and have not been well addressed in the literatures. The present retrospective study analyzed the risk factors associated with recurrence of pediatric ameloblastomas.

Methods

Cases of primary pediatric ameloblastomas seen in a tertiary hospital between 2005 and 2015 were analyzed to identify the clinical factors associated with recurrence.

Results

There were a total of 104 cases of primary pediatric ameloblastomas. The overall mean maximum tumor diameter was 4.11 ± 1.339 cm. The receiver operating characteristic curve and the Youden Index showed an optimal cutoff point of 4.95 cm to accurately predict recurrence. Bone cortex/soft tissue invasion were associated with tumor recurrence (P < .001).

Conclusions

The maximum tumor diameter, root resorption, and bone cortex/soft tissue invasion were risk factors for recurrence of pediatric ameloblastomas. The new classification system may serve as a predictor of recurrence in pediatric ameloblastomas.
A Network Involving Gut Microbiota, Circulating Bile Acids, and Hepatic Metabolism Genes That Protects Against Non‐Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Authors: Petrov Petar Dianov , García‐Mediavilla Maria Victoria , Guzmán Carla , Porras David , Nistal Esther , Martínez‐Flórez Susana , Castell José Vicente , González‐Gallego Javier , Sánchez‐Campos Sonia , Jover Ramiro
Published: July 2019

Scope

Gut microbiota contributes to non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) pathogenesis by multiple mechanisms not yet completely understood. Novel differential features between germ‐free mice (GFm) transplanted with protective or non‐protective cecal microbiota against NAFLD are investigated.

Methods and results

Gut microbiota composition, plasma, and fecal bile acids (BAs) and liver mRNAs are quantified in GFm recipients from four donor mice differing in NAFLD severity (control diet, high‐fat diet [HFD]‐responder, HFD‐non‐responder, and quercetin‐supplemented HFD). Transplanted GFm are on control or HFD for 16‐weeks. Multivariate analysis shows that GFm colonized with microbiota from HFD‐non‐responder and quercetin supplemented‐HFD donors (protected against NAFLD) clusters together, whereas GFm colonized with microbiota from control and HFD‐responder mice (non‐protected against NAFLD) establishes another cluster. Protected phenotype is associated with increased gut Desulfovibrio and Oscillospira, reduced gut Bacteroides and Oribacterium, lower primary and higher secondary BAs in plasma and feces, induction of hepatic BA transporters, and repression of hepatic lipogenic and BA synthesis genes.

Conclusion

Protective gut microbiota associates with increased specific secondary BAs, which likely inhibit lipogenic pathways and enhance bile flow in the liver. This novel cross‐talk between gut and liver, via plasma BAs, that promotes protection against NAFLD may have clinical and nutritional relevance.
Placental studies elucidate discrepancies between NIPT showing a structural chromosome aberration and a differently abnormal fetal karyotype
Authors: Van Opstal Diane , van Veen Stefanie , Joosten Marieke , Diderich Karin E.M. , Govaerts Lutgarde C.P. , Polak Joke , van Koetsveld Nicole , Boter Marjan , Go Attie T.J.I. , Papatsonis Dimitri N.M. , Prinsen Krista , Hoefsloot Lies H. , Srebniak Malgorzata I.
Published: July 2019

Objective

Placental cytogenetic studies may reveal the origin of discordant noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT). We performed placental studies to elucidate discordances between NIPT showing a structural chromosome aberration and the fetus having a different chromosome aberration in three cases.

Method

Diagnostic testing with genomic SNP microarray was performed in three cases with NIPT showing a duplication on 4q (case 1), a terminal deletion of 13q (case 2), and a terminal deletion of 15q (case 3). Placental studies involved SNP array analysis of cytotrophoblast and mesenchymal core of chorionic villi of four placental quadrants. Clinical follow‐up was performed as well.

Results

Amniotic fluid revealed a different structural chromosome aberration than predicted by NIPT: a terminal 2q deletion (case 1), a segmental uniparental isodisomy of 13q (case 2), and a terminal duplication of 15q and of 13q (case 3). Placental studies revealed the aberration detected with NIPT in the cytotrophoblast, whereas the fetal karyotype was confirmed in the placental mesenchymal core.

Conclusion

Our study shows that targeted cytogenetic investigations for confirmation of NIPT showing a microscopically visible structural chromosome aberration should be avoided, since another aberration, even a submicroscopic one or one involving another chromosome, may be present in the fetus.
High‐Quality Biobanks: Pivotal Assets for Reproducibility of OMICS‐Data in Biomedical Translational Research
Authors: Dollé Laurent , Bekaert Sofie
Published: July 2019

Human biospecimen samples (HBS) and associated data stored in biobanks (also called “biotrusts,” “biorepositories,” or “biodistributors”) are very critical resources for translational research. As HBS quality is decisive to the reproducibility of research results, biobanks are also key assets for new developments in precision medicine. Biobanks are more than infrastructures providing HBS and associated data. Biobanks have pioneered in identifying and standardizing sources of preanalytical variations in HBS, thus paving the way for the current biospecimen science. To achieve this milestone, biobankers have successively assumed the role of “detective,” and then “architect,” to identify new detrimental impact of preanalytical variables on the tissue integrity. While standardized methods in omics are required to be practiced throughout research communities, the accepted best practices and standards on biospecimen handling are generally not known nor applied by researchers. Therefore, it is mandatory to raise the awareness within omics communities regarding not only the basic concepts of collecting, storing, and utilizing HBS today, but also to suggest insights on biobanking in the cancer omics context.
Chain‐growth polymerization of azide–alkyne difunctional monomer: Synthesis of star polymer with linear polytriazole arms from a core
Authors: Gan Weiping , Cao Xiaosong , Shi Yi , Gao Haifeng
Published: July 2019

This article reports a chain‐growth coupling polymerization of AB difunctional monomer via copper‐catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction for synthesis of star polymers. Unlike our previously reported CuAAC polymerization of AB
n (n ≥ 2) monomers that spontaneously demonstrated a chain‐growth mechanism in synthesis of hyperbranched polymer, the homopolymerization of AB monomer showed a common but less desired step‐growth mechanism as the triazole groups aligned in a linear chain could not effectively confine the Cu catalyst in the polymer species. In contrast, the use of polytriazole‐based core molecules that contained multiple azido groups successfully switched the polymerization of AB monomers into chain‐growth mechanism and produced 3‐arm star polymers and multi‐arm hyperstar polymers with linear increase of polymer molecular weight with conversion and narrow molecular weight distribution, for example, Mw/Mn ~ 1.05. When acid‐degradable hyperbranched polymeric core was used, the obtained hyperstar polymers could be easily degraded under acidic environment, producing linear degraded arms with defined polydispersity. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020, 58, 84–90
Prediction of heavy precipitation in the eastern China flooding events of 2016: Added value of convection‐permitting simulations
Authors: Li Puxi , Guo Zhun , Furtado Kalli , Chen Haoming , Li Jian , Milton Sean , Field Paul R. , Zhou Tianjun
Published: July 2019

During the period from June 30th to July 6th, 2016, a heavy rainfall event affected the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley in eastern China. The event was characterized by high‐intensity, long‐duration (lasted more than 6 days) precipitation and huge amounts (over 600.0 mm) of rainfall. The rainfall moved eastward from the Sichuan basin to the middle Yangtze River valley during the first 2 days, then Mei‐yu front formed and circulations became more “quasi‐stationary”. During the second‐phase, successive heavy rainfall systems occurred repeatedly over the same areas along the front, leading to widespread and catastrophic flooding. In this study, limited‐area convection‐permitting models (CPMs) covering all of eastern China, and global‐model simulations from the Met Office Unified Model are compared to investigate the added values of CPMs on the veracity of short‐range predictions of the heavy rainfall event. The results show that all the models can successfully simulate the accumulated amount and the evolution of this heavy rainfall event. However, the global model produces too much light rainfall (10.0 mm/day), fails to simulate the small‐scale features of both atmospheric circulations and precipitation, and tends to generate steady heavy rainfall over mountainous region. Afternoon precipitation is also excessively suppressed in global model. By comparison, the CPMs add some value in reproducing the spatial distribution of precipitation, the smaller‐scale disturbances within the rain‐bands, the diurnal cycle of precipitation and also reduce the spurious topographical rainfall, although there is a tendency for heavy rainfall to be too intense in CPMs.
Robust partial least squares path modeling
Authors: Schamberger Tamara , Schuberth Florian , Henseler Jörg , Dijkstra Theo K.
Published: July 2019

Outliers can seriously distort the results of statistical analyses and thus threaten the validity of structural equation models. As a remedy, this article introduces a robust variant of Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS) and consistent Partial Least Squares (PLSc) called robust PLS and robust PLSc, respectively, which are robust against distortion caused by outliers. Consequently, robust PLS/PLSc allows to estimate structural models containing constructs modeled as composites and common factors even if empirical data are contaminated by outliers. A Monte Carlo simulation with various population models, sample sizes, and extents of outliers shows that robust PLS/PLSc can deal with outlier shares of up to$$50\%$$50%without distorting the estimates. The simulation also shows that robust PLS/PLSc should always be preferred over its traditional counterparts if the data contain outliers. To demonstrate the relevance for empirical research, robust PLSc is applied to two empirical examples drawn from the extant literature.
Von unterkühlten Norddeutschen, gemütlichen Süddeutschen und aufgeschlossenen Großstädtern: Regionale Persönlichkeitsunterschiede in Deutschland
Authors: Obschonka Martin , Wyrwich Michael , Fritsch Michael , Gosling Samuel D. , Rentfrow P. Jason , Potter Jeff
Published: July 2019

Zusammenfassung. Die geographische Psychologie befasst sich unter anderem mit Persönlichkeitsunterschieden von Regionen und Regionstypen, in denen Personen leben und handeln. Mittels solcher Forschung können regionale „Mentalitäten“ untersucht werden aus denen sich Forschungsfragen zu Entwicklungspfaden von Regionen und deren Populationen ableiten lassen. Während existierende psychologische Regionalforschung „psychologische Landkarten“ vor allem in den USA und Großbritannien erforschte, liefert die vorliegende Analyse eine Regionaluntersuchung für Deutschland auf kleinteiligem Raumniveau (97 deutsche Raumordnungsregionen). Basierend auf dem Big Five Modell der Persönlichkeit werden deutsche Daten der „The Big Five Project“-Studie ( N = 73756) präsentiert. Es werden regionale Persönlichkeitsunterschiedliche zwischen städtischen und ländlichen Regionen, Ost- und Westdeutschland, und Nord- und Süddeutschland getestet. Es finden sich insbesondere Hinweise für a) die empirische Validität einiger Stereotype (wie das der unterkühlten, rauen Norddeutschen, der gemütlichen Süddeutschen und der aufgeschlossenen Großstädter), b) systematische Migrationsmuster, und c) eine Köln-München Linie in der regionalen Verteilung von Neurotizismus. Die Effektstärken in den Regionalunterschieden sind in der Regel zwar gering, aber dennoch mit wichtigen Implikationen für zukünftige Forschung und Anwendungsgebiete.
Combined Effects of Equatorial Chorus Waves and High‐Latitude Z‐Mode Waves on Saturn's Radiation Belt Electrons
Authors: Yu J. , Li L.Y. , Cui J. , Cao J.B. , Wang J.
Published: July 2019

In this paper, we examined the combined effects of equatorial chorus waves and high‐latitude Z‐mode waves on the energy and pitch angle distribution of Saturn's radiation belt electrons. Our simulation results show that these two types of waves at different latitudes jointly control the fluxes of Saturn's radiation belt electrons, which is very different from the individual effects of each kind of waves. The presence of Z‐mode waves can efficiently inhibit the reversed energy spectrum of electrons driven by chorus waves, whereas the presence of chorus waves can further accelerate and scatter the relativistic electrons accelerated by Z‐mode waves toward the larger and smaller pitch angles. Our findings provide a new insight on how different types of waves at different latitudes jointly affect the radiation belt electron dynamics, including, but not limited to, Saturn.