bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
WHETHER CONSUMER SATISFACTION BENEFITS THE INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM HONG KONG
Authors: LI JIN , TSO GEOFFREY , WU DON
Published: February 2019

This paper aims to investigate the role of a consumer satisfaction index (CSI) for financial investments in the Hong Kong market. Using yearly data for Hong Kong consumer satisfaction index (HKCSI) to compile a CSI at company level, the effect of consumer satisfaction on company market value is identified. A hypothesized investment portfolio based only on CSI at company level is created, and its return compares with a widely used index measuring stock market performance in Hong Kong. A formal statistical test on the outperformance of portfolios that load on consumer satisfaction is conducted. Using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), the beta risk of the entire time period is evaluated, and shows that the portfolio risk based on company level CSI is not significantly different than the market risk. This paper concludes therefore that consumer satisfaction can be incorporated into financial models and applied for formulating investment portfolios with better performance than the market rate in Hong Kong.
Holographic fermionic spectrum with Weyl correction
Authors: Wu Jian-Pin , Xu Baicheng , Fu Guoyang
Published: February 2019

We study the fermionic spectrum with Weyl correction, which exhibits the non-Fermi liquid behavior. Also, we find that both the height of the peak of the fermionic spectrum and the dispersion relation exhibit a nonlinearity with the variety of the Weyl coupling parameter [Formula: see text], which means that such nonlinearity may be ascribed to one of the Maxwell field. Another important property of this system is that for [Formula: see text], the degree of the deviation from Fermi liquid is heavier than that for [Formula: see text]. It indicates that there is a transition of coupling strength in the dual boundary field theory.
Lorentz violating gaugeon formalism of Yang–Mills theory
Authors: Shah Mushtaq B. , Ganai Prince A. , Dar W. A.
Published: February 2019

VSR is a way of keeping the main relativistic effects intact using subgroups of the Lorentz group instead of the full Lorentz group itself. In this paper, we study the quantization of the Yang–Mills theory, gaugeon formalism within the VSR framework. The gauge freedom is restored once we develop the gaugeon formalism. Also, the mass of corresponding gauge boson is modified because of the VSR effect. We find that the gaugeon formalism for Yang–Mills theory in VSR is consistent with the Lorentz invariant case except the fact that each field gets mass. We also discuss the generalization of BRST transformation within VSR framework. It is found that the gaugeon modes appear in the configuration space through the Jacobian of functional measure.
A personalized network-based recommendation approach via distinguishing user’s preference
Authors: Wu Wei , Zhang Ruoxi , Liu Lianggui
Published: February 2019

With the rapid growth of commerce and development of Internet technology, a large number of user consumption preferences become available for online market intelligence analysis. A critical demand is to reduce the impact of information overload by using recommendation algorithms. In physical dynamics, network-based recommendation algorithms based on mass-diffusion have been popular for its simplicity and efficiency. In this paper, to solve the problem that most network-based recommendation algorithms cannot distinguish how much the user likes collected items and make resource configuration more reasonable, we propose a novel method called biased network-based inference (BNBI). The proposed method treats rating systems and nonrating systems differently and measures user’s preference for items by means of item similarity. The proposed method is evaluated in real datasets (MovieLens and Last.FM) and compared with some existing classic recommendation algorithms. Experimental results show that the proposed method is more effective and it can reduce the impact of item diversity and discover the real interest of users.
Research on processing technology of beam membrane structure based on porous silicon
Authors: Shang Ying-Qi , Zhang Lin-Chao , Qi Hong , Wu Ya-Lin , Zhang Yan , Zhang Peng , Chen Jing , Jiang Xiao-Long , Tong Yong , Xu Hai-Xin
Published: February 2019

Aiming at the problem of poor reliability of beam membrane fabrication in silicon microstructure processing technology, a technique for preparing microbeams using porous silicon sacrificial layer is proposed. The comparison of different porosity, different depths of porous silicon to beam membrane release and the comparison of different beam structures to beam membrane release were studied. The experiment was carried out by selecting different process parameters and testing the prepared beam membrane. According to the test results, the appropriate electrochemical corrosion process parameters were selected to prepare the porous silicon layer with appropriate porosity, large depth, good support effect and fast release speed, which can realize the release of the beam membrane and improve the reliability of the beam membrane. The field of application of microsensors and microactuators has been greatly increased.
Social dynamics models with time-varying influence
Authors: McQuade Sean , Piccoli Benedetto , Pouradier Duteil Nastassia
Published: February 2019

This paper introduces an augmented model for first-order opinion dynamics, in which a weight of influence is attributed to each agent. Each agent’s influence on another agent’s opinion is then proportional not only to the classical interaction function, but also to its weight. The weights evolve in time and their equations are coupled with the opinions’ evolution. We show that the well-known conditions for convergence to consensus can be generalized to this framework. In the case of interaction functions with bounded support, we show that constant weights lead to clustering with conditions similar to those of the classical model. Four specific models are designed by prescribing a specific weight dynamics, then the convergence of the opinions and the evolution of the weights for each of them are studied. We prove the existence of different long-term behaviors, such as emergence of a single leader and emergence of two co-leaders. Then we illustrate them via numerical simulations. Last, a statistical analysis is provided for the speed of convergence to consensus and for the clustering behavior of each model, together with a comparison to the classical opinion dynamics with constant equal weights.
Modeling and simulation of bridge-section buffeting response in turbulent flow
Authors: Helgedagsrud Tore A. , Bazilevs Yuri , Mathisen Kjell M. , Yan Jinhui , Øseth Ole A.
Published: February 2019

Buffeting analysis plays an important role in the wind-resistant design of long-span bridges. While computational methods have been widely used in the study of self-excited forces on bridge sections, there is very little work on applying advanced simulation to buffeting analysis. In an effort to address this shortcoming, we developed a framework for the buffeting simulation of bridge sections subjected to turbulent flows. We carry out simulations of a rectangular bridge section with aspect ratio 10 and compute its aerodynamic admittance functions. The simulations show good agreement with airfoil theory and experimental observations. It was found that inflow turbulence plays an important role in obtaining accurate wind loads on the bridge sections. The proposed methodology is envisioned to have practical impact in wind engineering of structures in the future.
A stabilized ALE method for computational fluid–structure interaction analysis of passive morphing in turbomachinery
Authors: Castorrini Alessio , Corsini Alessandro , Rispoli Franco , Takizawa Kenji , Tezduyar Tayfun E.
Published: February 2019

Computational fluid–structure interaction (FSI) and flow analysis now have a significant role in design and performance evaluation of turbomachinery systems, such as wind turbines, fans, and turbochargers. With increasing scope and fidelity, computational analysis can help improve the design and performance. For example, it can help add a passive morphing attachment (MA) to the blades of an axial fan for the purpose of controlling the blade load and section stall. We present a stabilized Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method for computational FSI analysis of passive morphing in turbomachinery. The main components of the method are the Streamline-Upwind/Petrov–Galerkin (SUPG) and Pressure-Stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin (PSPG) stabilizations in the ALE framework, mesh moving with Jacobian-based stiffening, and block-iterative FSI coupling. The turbulent-flow nature of the analysis is handled with a Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) model and SUPG/PSPG stabilization, supplemented with the “DRDJ” stabilization. As the structure moves, the fluid mechanics mesh moves with the Jacobian-based stiffening method, which reduces the deformation of the smaller elements placed near the solid surfaces. The FSI coupling between the blocks of the fully-discretized equation system representing the fluid mechanics, structural mechanics, and mesh moving equations is handled with the block-iterative coupling method. We present two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) computational FSI studies for an MA added to an axial-fan blade. The results from the 2D study are used in determining the spanwise length of the MA in the 3D study.
Puzzle of muons in extensive air showers
Authors: Rybczyński Maciej , Włodarczyk Zbigniew
Published: February 2019

In order to examine a muon excess observed by the Pierre Auger Observatory, detailed Monte Carlo simulations were carried out for primary protons, iron nuclei and strangelets (hypothetical stable lumps of strange quark matter). We obtained a rough agreement between the simulations and the data for ordinary nuclei without any contribution of strangelets in primary flux of cosmic rays. Our simulations suggest that the shower observables are dominated by details of hadronic interaction models.
Adaptive beamforming of MIMO system using optimal steering vector with modified neural network for channel selection
Authors: Sekhar Babu P. , Naganjaneyulu P. V. , Satya Prasad K.
Published: February 2019

The forming of adaptive beam can improve the throughput of the system to a great extent by means of matching the parameters of transmitters to that of the wireless channels that are time-variant. The quality of the channel state is very crucial to the adaptive forming. The Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems are known to provide some very significant gains in the spectral efficiency as well as its reliability. This has been based on an assumption that the transmitter and the receiver will have knowledge of the coefficients of the channels. In reality, however, they will have to be estimated or sometimes predicted. There are some popular methods that are used for the estimation of the channel which is made by means of using the pilot symbols and also the Space-Time Block Codes (STBCs). Both these methods will not avail the time-learning channels even during the transmission of some meaningful data. In this work, a light weight neural network is proposed for the channel selection. The proposed Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is duly optimized with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO)-based algorithms for enhancing the predictions. The method is popular and is robust adaptive as a beamforming technique and optimized weights will be used for training the ANN effectively. The results when compared prove the advantages of the techniques proposed.
Reliability-Based Design Optimization for Design Problems with Random Fuzzy and Interval Uncertainties
Authors: Zhang Li-Xiang , Meng Xin-Jia , Zhang He
Published: February 2019

Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) has been widely used in mechanical design. However, the treatment of various uncertainties and associated computational burden are still the main obstacle of its application. A methodology of RBDO under random fuzzy and interval uncertainties (RFI-RBDO) is proposed in this paper. In the proposed methodology, two reliability analysis approaches, respectively named as FORM-[Formula: see text]-URA and interpolation-based sequential performance measurement approach (ISPMA), are developed for the mixed uncertainties assessment, and a parallel-computing-based SOMUA (PCSOMUA) method is proposed to reduce the computational cost of RFI-RBDO. Finally, two examples are provided to verify the validity of the methods.
An energy-degree evaluation metric for clustering purposes in mobile ad hoc networks
Authors: Amine Khalil
Published: February 2019

Network clustering is the process of partitioning a network into a number of virtual entities mastered by certain nodes, called cluster centers that are responsible for collecting and maintaining topology information and managing the routing processes. In ad hoc networking, clustering has been introduced to deal with the dynamic topology by providing a temporarily stable network core. Clustering process mainly depends on the metric upon which the selection of cluster centers is performed. A wide range of clustering metrics were introduced in the literature based on network issues including mobility and connectivity degree, giving rise to a variety of clustering schemes. Although clustering provides energy consumption reduction, residual energy has not received enough attention and few studies have addressed the clustering on the basis of this feature. This paper discusses the current clustering metrics and proposes an energy-degree evaluation metric with mobility consideration taking into account the nodes residual energy and the network connectivity as two main keys of clustering.
ANCHOR
Authors: Kreutz Diego , Yu Jiangshan , Ramos Fernando M. V. , Esteves-Verissimo Paulo
Published: February 2019

Software-defined networking (SDN) decouples the control and data planes of traditional networks, logically centralizing the functional properties of the network in the SDN controller. While this centralization brought advantages such as a faster pace of innovation, it also disrupted some of the natural defenses of traditional architectures against different threats. The literature on SDN has mostly been concerned with the functional side, despite some specific works concerning non-functional properties such as security or dependability. Though addressing the latter in an ad-hoc, piecemeal way may work, it will most likely lead to efficiency and effectiveness problems.

We claim that the enforcement of non-functional properties as a pillar of SDN robustness calls for a systemic approach. We further advocate, for its materialization, the reiteration of the successful formula behind SDN: ‘logical centralization’. As a general concept, we propose
anchor
, a subsystem architecture that promotes the logical centralization of non-functional properties. To show the effectiveness of the concept, we focus on security in this article: we identify the current security gaps in SDNs and we populate the architecture middleware with the appropriate security mechanisms in a global and consistent manner. Essential security mechanisms provided by
anchor
include reliable entropy and resilient pseudo-random generators, and protocols for secure registration and association of SDN devices.

We claim and justify in the article that centralizing such mechanisms is key for their effectiveness by allowing us to define and enforce global policies for those properties; reduce the complexity of controllers and forwarding devices; ensure higher levels of robustness for critical services; foster interoperability of the non-functional property enforcement mechanisms; and promote the security and resilience of the architecture itself. We discuss design and implementation aspects, and we prove and evaluate our algorithms and mechanisms, including the formalisation of the main protocols and the verification of their core security properties using the T
amarin
prover.
Building Virtual Power Meters for Online Load Tracking
Authors: Barker Sean , Kalra Sandeep , Irwin David , Shenoy Prashant
Published: February 2019

Many energy optimizations require fine-grained, load-level energy data collected in real time, most typically by a plug-level energy meter.
Online load tracking
is the problem of monitoring an individual electrical load’s energy usage in software by analyzing the building’s aggregate smart meter data. Load tracking differs from the well-studied problem of load disaggregation in that it emphasizes per-load accuracy and efficient, online operation rather than accurate disaggregation of every building load via offline analysis. In essence, tracking a particular load creates a
virtual power meter
for it, which mimics having a networked-connected power meter attached to the load, but notably does
not
require tracking every other load as well. We propose
PowerPlay
, a model-driven system for performing accurate, high-performance online load tracking. Our results from applying the system to real-world energy data demonstrate that PowerPlay (i) enables efficient online tracking on low-power embedded platforms, (ii) scales to thousands of loads (across many buildings) on server platforms, and (iii) improves per-load accuracy by more than a factor of two compared to a state-of-the-art load disaggregation algorithm. Our results point to the potential of replacing physical energy meters by “virtual” power meters using a system like PowerPlay.
Safe and Efficient Implementation of a Security System on ARM using Intra-level Privilege Separation
Authors: Kwon Donghyun , Yi Hayoon , Cho Yeongpil , Paek Yunheung
Published: February 2019

Security monitoring has long been considered as a fundamental mechanism to mitigate the damage of a security attack. Recently, intra-level security systems have been proposed that can efficiently and securely monitor system software without any involvement of more privileged entity. Unfortunately, there exists no full intra-level security system that can universally operate at any privilege level on ARM. However, as malware and attacks increase against virtually every level of privileged software including an OS, a hypervisor, and even the highest privileged software armored by TrustZone, we have been motivated to develop an intra-level security system, named
Hilps
. Hilps realizes true intra-level scheme in all these levels of privileged software on ARM by elaborately exploiting a new hardware feature of ARM’s latest 64-bit architecture, called TxSZ, that enables elastic adjustment of the accessible virtual address range. Furthermore, Hilps newly supports the sandbox mechanism that provides security tools with individually isolated execution environments, thereby minimizing security threats from untrusted security tools. We have implemented a prototype of Hilps on a real machine. The experimental results demonstrate that Hilps is quite promising for practical use in real deployments.
Sensing and Quantifying a New Mechanism for Vehicle Brake Creep Groan
Authors: Meng Dejian , Zhang Lijun , Xu Xiaotian , Sardahi Yousef , Chen Gang S.
Published: February 2019

This paper investigates the creep groan of a vehicle’s brake experimentally, analytically, and numerically. Experimentally, the effects of acceleration on caliper and strut, noise, brake pressure, and tension are measured. The results show that the measured signals and their relevant spectra broadly capture the complex vibrations of creep groan. This includes the simple stick‐slip, severe stick‐slip vibrations/resonances, multiple harmonics, half‐order harmonics; stick‐slip‐induced impulsive vibrations, steady/unstable vibrations, and their transitions. Analytically, a new mathematical model is presented to capture the unique features of half‐order harmonics and the connections to fundamental stick‐slip/resonant frequency and multiple harmonics. The analytical solution and the experimental results show that the vibro‐impact of the brake pad‐disc system can be triggered by severe stick‐slip vibrations and is associated with instable, impulsive stick‐slip vibration with wideband. The induced stick‐slip vibro‐impact can evolve into a steady and strong state with half‐order, stick‐slip fundamental, and multiple‐order components. This new mechanism is different from all previously proposed mechanisms of creep groan in that we also view some type of creep groan as a stick‐slip vibration‐induced vibro‐impact phenomenon in addition to conventional stick‐slip phenomena. The new mechanism comprehensively explains the complex experimental phenomena reported in the literature. Numerically, the salient features of phase diagrams of instable stick‐slip and vibro‐impact are examined by using a seven‐degree‐of‐freedom brake system model, which shows that the phase diagrams of the dynamics of creep groan with and without vibro‐impact are substantially different. The phase diagram of the dynamics with vibro‐impact is closer to the experimental results. In contrast to existing mechanisms, the proposed new mechanism encompasses the instable stick‐slip nature of creep groan and elaborates the inherent connections and transition of the spectrogram. The new knowledge can be used to attain critical improvements to brake noise and vibration analysis and design. By applying the proposed new model in addition to existing models, all experimental phenomena in creep groan are elaborated and quantified.
Composite Fault Diagnosis for Rotating Machinery of Large Units Based on Evidence Theory and Multi‐Information Fusion
Authors: Su Naiquang , Li Xiao , Zhang Qinghua , Huo Zhiqiang
Published: February 2019

Due to the complexity of the structure and process of large‐scale petrochemical equipment, different fault characteristics are mixed and present multiple couplings and ambiguities, leading to the difficulty in identifying composite faults in rotating machinery. This paper proposes a composite faults diagnosis method for rotating machinery of the large unit based on evidence theory and multi‐information fusion. The evidence theory and multi‐information fusion method mainly deal with multisource information and conflict information, synthesize multiple uncertain information, and obtain synthetic information from multiple data sources. To detect faults in rotating machinery, the dimensionless index ranges of composite faults are first used to form a feature set as the reference. Then, a two‐sample distribution test is applied to compare the known fault samples with the tested fault samples, and the maximum statistical distance is used. Finally, the multiple maximum statistical distances are fused by evidence theory and identifying fault types based on the fusion result. The proposed method was applied to the large petrochemical unit simulation experiment system, the results of which showed that our proposed method could accurately identify composite faults and provide maintenance guidance for composite fault diagnosis.
Sitagliptin and Simvastatin Interaction Causing Rhabdomyolysis and AKI
Authors: Patel Chinmay , Thompson Courtney , Copley-Harris Megan , Hattab Yousef
Published: February 2019

We report a case of rhabdomyolysis and severe acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring dialysis in a 69-year-old male who was recently started on sitagliptin while on chronic simvastatin therapy. This potential interaction is not included in the package insert for sitagliptin. A comprehensive literature review revealed six previous reports of rhabdomyolysis due to drug interaction between sitagliptin and statins including simvastatin, lovastatin, and atorvastatin. Of these six cases, only two had developed rhabdomyolysis-associated AKI, none of which were severe enough to require dialysis. As patients are commonly prescribed statins and sitagliptin for treatment of dyslipidemia and diabetes, health care professionals should be aware of this potential drug interaction and closely monitor their patients for signs and symptoms of rhabdomyolysis and AKI. This case highlights the importance of conducting further studies on the risk of muscular toxicity of sitagliptin especially when administered concurrently with statins.
Partial Trisomy of Chromosome 13 with a Novel Translocation (8 ; 13) and Unique Clinical Presentation in a Palestinian Infant
Authors: Abuhamda Allam , Elsous Aymen , Sharif Fadel A.
Published: February 2019

Partial trisomy 13 is a rare syndrome that usually culminates in death within the first six months of the infant’s life. We present a rare case of partial trisomy 13q with exclusive clinical manifestations. The full-term male baby was born by normal vaginal delivery, his birth weight was 3500 grams, and head circumference was 30 cm. He had dysmorphic features in the form of microcephaly, trigonocephaly, depressed nose bridge, hypotelorism, long philtrum, high arch palate, left-sided inguinal hernia, hydrocele, and laryngomalacia. He was operated for pyloric stenosis at the age of 28 days. He also had left-sided severe pelvic-ureteral junction stenosis which was repaired by nephrostomy followed by pyeloplasty. Furthermore, he had right-sided vesicoureteral reflux grade III, right-sided hydronephrosis, small ventricular septum defect, small atrial septum defect, left lung lower lobe sequestration, and craniosynostosis of metopic suture. The baby had global developmental delay and failure to thrive. Cytogenetic study showed a 46,XY, der(8)t(8;13)(p23;q14) karyotype, emphasizing a partial trisomy 13q syndrome with a concomitant partial monosomy in 8p. The baby passed away, in the intensive care unit, at the age of 7 months due to respiratory failure resulting from recurrent chest infections. This is the first reported case of a partial trisomy 13q associated with chromosome 8 with unique clinical presentations. Cytogenetic study for both parents is recommended in order to pinpoint the origin of the translocation and to provide the proper counseling for the family.
New distribution records of four species of crop wild relatives to India
Authors: Pradheep K. , John K. Joseph , Harish G. D. , Sultan S. M. , Jaisankar I. , Naveen K. , Ahlawat S. P. , Kanwat Manish
Published: February 2019

A field survey across various parts of India coupled with an analysis of the literature and an examination of herbarium specimens revealed the presence of four species of crop wild relatives that have not been reported from India, viz., Dioscorea piscatorum Prain & Burkill (from Little & Great Nicobar), Fagopyrum gracilipes (Hemsl.) Dammer ex Diels (from Arunachal Pradesh), Rubus praecox Bertol. (from Jammu & Kashmir), and Ziziphus subquinquenervia Miq. (from Great Nicobar). While Rubus praecox is naturalised in the Kashmir Valley, Dioscorea piscatorum and Ziziphus subquinquenervia were found truly wild, and Fagopyrum gracilipes occurs as a weed in buckwheat fields and orchards. Ziziphus subquinquenervia has been resurrected from the allied Z. elegans Wall. of peninsular Malaysia and Singapore owing to the distinct diagnostic characters. Their description, phenology, habitat, and other field observations have been highlighted here.
New record of Blue-eyed Eastern Spadefoot Toad Leptobrachium bompu (Amphibia: Megophryidae) from Sarpang District in Bhutan
Authors: Tenzin Jigme , Wangyal Jigme Tshelthrim
Published: February 2019

This study provides the first report of Leptobrachium bompu Sondhi & Ohler, 2011 from Bhutan.  The species was recorded from Simkhar watershed in Jigmecholing under Sarpang District, at an elevation of 1,610m.  Simkhar Stream is small and perennial, shaded and swampy, with a few moss-laden flat stones along the course, and is pollution-free and slow-flowing.  The current report extends the distribution record of L. bompu towards the east and will help in understanding the range and conservation status of the species.
Sacred groves: a traditional way of conserving plant diversity in West Midnapore District, West Bengal, India
Authors: Sen Uday Kumar
Published: February 2019

Sacred groves are forest patches conserved by the local people interwined with their socio-cultural and religious practices.  An extricable link between the past and present society in terms of religion, socio-culture, heritage and biodiversity exists in the sacred groves.  It is distributed globally where ethnic indigenous communities live.  Several animals and plants that are threatened in forests are still abundant and well conserved in such sacred groves.  The taboos, religious belief and sacredness play a significant role in promoting sustainable utilization and conservation.  In this regard, the study of a sacred grove in the district of West Midnapore in West Bengal highlighting the tradition may provide a powerful tool for ensuring biodiversity conservation through community participation.
Medium and large-sized mammals in an Atlantic Forest fragment of Brazil: recording of threatened species
Authors: Alves Vinícius Nunes , Maia Caroline Marques , Alves Telma Regina , Fonseca Renata Cristina Batista
Published: February 2019

Deforestation and habitat fragmentation affect to a great extent larger wild mammals, which require large areas to establish their populations.  These mammals can have important functions in the structure and dynamics of tropical forests, acting as seed dispersers, herbivory regulators, and umbrella species.  In the present paper, we characterize the community of medium and large wild mammals in a semi-deciduous seasonal forest fragment, a denominated IB Forest (Institute of Biosciences) in Edgardia Experimental Farm, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil.  By adopting sand plots on three trails as the main method, we identified the occurrence of nine species, besides the occurrence of one species by direct visualization.  Some of these are in national red lists — Leopardus pardalis and Puma concolor are listed as threatened and Sapajus cf. nigritus as Near Threatened in São Paulo State; Puma concolor is also listed as Vulnerable at the national level.  Thus, we emphasize the importance of this forest remnant as a wildlife refuge, which makes it necessary to monitor the occurrence of these animals in the area and conserve similar remnants in the region.
Catalogue of Recent and fossil “worm-snail” taxa of the families Vermetidae, Siliquariidae, and Turritellidae (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda)
Authors: BIELER RÜDIGER , PETIT RICHARD E.
Published: February 2019

The taxonomy of the uncoiling “worm-snails” belonging to the marine gastropod families Vermetidae, Siliquariidae and Turritellidae is notoriously confused and their nominal species frequently mixed (in the literature as well as in type specimen collections) with members of superficially similar tube-building polychaete worms or members of unrelated molluscan groups. A long history of introducing and using infrasubspecific names and the rampant employment of homonymous names for unrelated taxa had contributed to a system that became unworkable. The current catalogue researches nearly 1,500 names that have been cited in conjunction with Recent and fossil taxa worm-snail taxonomy (six names above family-group level, 18 family-group names, 195 genus-group names, 1,278 species-group names). Each name’s validity and availability (in the sense of the I.C.Z.N. Code) was investigated and current placement within or outside the mentioned worm-snail families is suggested. 560 species-group names are interpreted as available for members of the worm-snail groups here under discussion. Of these, approximately 280 species-group names are available for extant taxa. Various formal First-Reviser actions are taken to resolve priority issues. The type species for Tulaxoda Blainville, 1828 is herein designated to be Serpulorbis polyphragma Sasso, 1827, making Tulaxoda an objective junior synonym of Thylacodes Guettard, 1770. Magilus Montfort, 1810 is declared a nomen protectum over Campulotus Guettard, 1770, a nomen oblitum. Recurring nomenclatural issues and those too complex to treat within the regular catalogue entries are discussed in 22 taxa notes. The catalogue is fully referenced in 766 literature titles and eight associated literature notes.
Panisaspis, a new genus of pliomerid trilobites from the Lower Ordovician (Ibexian; Tulean and Blackhillsian) of the Great Basin, western USA
Authors: McADAMS NEO E.B. , ADRAIN JONATHAN M.
Published: February 2019

Panisaspis n. gen. is a clade of pliomerid trilobites from the Tulean and Blackhillsian stages (Floian) of the Great Basin.  It includes Protopliomerops? quattuor Hintze, 1953, and ten new species, six of which are formally named: Panisaspis millardensis (type species), P. sevierensis, P. deltaensis, P. rancherensis, P. topscityensis, and P. loganensis.  Four new species are not well enough known for formal naming and are described in open nomenclature.  All species are Tulean in age except for P. millardensis, which is earliest Blackhillsian.  Synapomorphies of Panisaspis include a short, nearly semicircular anterior border; small L1; large genal spines; a rounded, ovoid hypostomal border; elongated third pygidial spines; and a large, triangular terminal piece with distinct pitted impressions.  Phylogenetic analysis indicates that P. millardensis and P. sevierensis are sister taxa, and that P. deltaensis, P. rancherensis, P. topscityensis, P. quattuor, and P. loganensis are successive sister species.  The group may be sister to Ibexaspis Přibyl and Vaněk in Přibyl et al., 1985.
Xylotrechus (Kostiniclytus) alakolensis sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) from East Kazakhstan
Authors: KARPIŃSKI LECH , SZCZEPAŃSKI WOJCIECH T.
Published: February 2019

Xylotrechus (Kostiniclytus) alakolensis sp. nov. from East Kazakhstan is described. Distinguishing characters from closely related species are presented and discussed. The habitus, male genitalia and habitat of the newly described species are illustrated. The new species differs from X. (K.) arnoldii mainly due to its denser pubescence, stockier body sculpture, shape of the scutellum and shorter metatarsomere 1. It can also easily be distinguished from X. (K.) medvedevi inter alia by its smaller eyes, sparser pubescence of the pronotum and elytra, shorter 3rd antennal joint and more elongate, acute lobes of the protarsomere 3. Moreover, there are distinct differences in the morphology of the male genitalia in both cases. Furthermore, the Kostiniclytus subgenus consists exclusively of allopatric representatives and the new described species is distributed about 1,000 km from the known localities of most of the related taxa.
Reexamination of the identity and status of the termite taxa described by Czerwinski (1901) from southern Brazil (Isoptera: Termitidae)
Authors: CONSTANTINO REGINALDO
Published: February 2019

Czerwinski (1901) (sometimes spelled Tscherwinsky) described four new termite taxa in a publication about the termite collection of the former Zoological Cabinet of the Imperial Warsaw University (currently Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, MZPW): Eutermes burmeisteri and Eutermes rippertii iheringi from southern Brazil, Eutermes canariensis from the Canary Islands, and Eutermes nasonovi from Madagascar.
European species of the Gnaphosa alpica complex (Araneae, Gnaphosidae)
Authors: ŘEZÁČ MILAN , RŮŽIČKA VLASTIMIL , OGER PIERRE , ŘEZÁČOVÁ VERONIKA
Published: February 2019

Members of the genus Gnaphosa belong to the largest gnaphosid spiders. They are particularly interesting in nature conservation as their distribution is mainly restricted to disappearing natural non-forest habitats. In Europe, several Gnaphosa species groups occur. The exclusively Palaearctic group G. bicolor is characterised by a retrolaterally-shifted embolus, which occupies at least part of the middle one-third of the palpal bulb; females have laterally expanded epigyne and often have very elongated median epigynal ducts (Ovtsharenko et al. 1992). So far four species of this group have been identified in Europe, with a fifth species found in Central Asia (G. tarabaevi Ovtsharenko, Platnick & Song, 1992). Two of the European species, G. bicolor (Hahn, 1831) and G. badia (L. Koch, 1866), are well known and their taxonomy and nomenclature is stable, but the same does not hold true for the other two.
A new Compsodactylus Fuhrmann (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from Peru
Authors: FIGUEROA LUIS , NEITA-MORENO JHON CÉSAR
Published: February 2019

The tribe Macrodactylini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) is distributed throughout the world, comprising approximately 1028 species and 80 genera; the majority of genera are found in the Neotropical Region, where 46 genera occur (Katovich 2008; Fuhrmann 2012; Smith & Mondaca 2015; Fuhrmann & Vaz-de-Mello 2017).
Operculum shape variation in Theodoxus Montfort, 1810 (Gastropoda: Neritidae)
Authors: MARKOVIĆ VANJA , VUJIĆ VUKICA , ILIĆ MARIJA , TOMOVIĆ JELENA , NIKOLIĆ VERA , KARAN-ŽNIDARŠIČ TAMARA
Published: February 2019

The operculum morphology of neritid snails of genus Theodoxus Montfort, 1810 yields important species-specific taxonomic characters. This study is the first attempt to describe morphological differences in snails based on operculum shapes using a geometric morphometric approach. We examined the variability of opercular shapes between sexes and among populations and species based on 91 opercula of adult specimens belonging to six populations of three species of Theodoxus from the central Balkan and the southern border of the Pannonian plain. There are no sex-related differences in operculum shape and size in the studied species. The presence of shape variations influenced by size (allometry) was confirmed for T. danubialis (C. Pfeiffer, 1828) indicating that allometry could be a component of the morphological variation of this species. At the intraspecific level, phenotypic plasticity of operculum shape was found in T. danubialis and T. fluviatilis (Linnaeus, 1758). Of particular interest is the lack of morphological variability in the rare and endangered T. transversalis (C. Pfeiffer, 1828). At the species level a clear morphological distinction of T. fluviatilis from T. danubialis and T. transversalis was detected, confirming that the operculum with a rib could be used as a species-specific morphological character. The main morphological differences between species are an outwardly-stretched opercular/apophysal rib and a shortened tip of the opercular plate in T. fluviatilis, compared to the same structures in T. danubialis and T. transversalis.
1. A Statement by The Readers Project Concerning Contemporary Literary Practice, Digital Mediation, Intellectual Property, and Associated Moral Rights
Authors: Cayley John , Howe Daniel C.
Published: February 2019

Having been denied permission to publish free-translations of poems by the German poet Mascha Kaleko, Underwood instead began to produce new poems that were both an appreciation of Kaleko's originals, but that also sought to problematise and negotiate issues around intellectual property in poetry. As well as offering excerpts from these ‘Solo for Mascha Voice’ poems, he discusses how such practical engagement can be viewed, in epistemological terms, as an advancement of our critical knowledge of source texts, and how this might also advance our understanding of Creative Writing Studies as practical critical discourse.
2. London-Havana Diary: Art Publishing, Sustainability, Free Speech and Free Papers
Authors: O’Hare Louise
Published: February 2019

This chapter talks about the role of the ‘art publisher’ as an organisation or individual who attempts to set up spaces for discussion, and about democracy (with a small d) and art publishing – attempting to make sense of the way artists books and publishing circulate, beyond art editions for sale. Sonrisa is a bilingual magazine that aims to set up a dialogue between artists and readerships in Havana and London. The magazine was instigated by the author and a group of curators and artists early last year. Sonrisa – Smile in Spanish – always started as a somewhat absurd proposition – to attempt to set up an art magazine in a context where there is no free press. It might seem curious in a place with constrained web access, but sharing files digitally has become a key way for many Cubans to distribute information among themselves – there was a loosening of restrictions on the sale of computers in 2008, and since then e-books and writing often travel person to person via manual USB stick transfer. The different textures of publication ­– the various forms that Sonrisa magazine will manifest itself – seem also representative, in some ways, of the expanded manner in which we can think about, attempt to define perhaps, publishing, in particular art publishing now. Varied approaches are sometimes used for tactical or strategic reasons – inflected by expediency, but more often focused on what forms of publishing can mean in terms of readership – whether the making of publics benefits by being configured as a shared, communal experience (online or in a physical space), or through an intimate moment alone with paper and print. The intentions of artist Sean Dockray in programming the online library, aaaarg.org, are as relevant to these questions of texture, and what constitutes publishing (or perhaps re-publishing) at present.
10. Writing on the Cusp of Becoming Something Else
Authors: Carpenter J. R.
Published: February 2019

As an academic writer, researcher, and educator Carpenter necessarily invested in the rules of citation. As an artist and author of artist’s books, print books, and web-based works of digital literature, however, over the past twenty years she has made extensive use of ‘found’ materials, mixing my own writing, drawing, and photography with images, diagrams, and maps cut and copied from old magazines and textbooks, and source code ‘borrowed’ from dusty corners of the Web. This chapter aims to reconcile these seemingly oppositional tendencies by framing the material appropriation of text as both a compositional process and a contribution to a larger cultural project. In making this argument Carpenter draws upon performance writing methodology, which takes a conceptually broad, historically long, and overtly interdisciplinary approach to considering the performance of text in relation to a wide range of social, cultural, material, mediatic, and disciplinary contexts. Critical and fiscal focus needs to shift away from the publisher and the consumer and toward the writers and the writing. Digital writing, for example, presents complex new contexts for reading, writing, and publishing in which divisions between original and copy, user and product, reader and consumer, and author and publisher are becoming increasingly unclear. How does writing perform differently on the page, on the screen, and online? How can we think and write about writing as not residing in any of these media but rather operating across multiple media, always on the cusp of becoming something else?
5. Is the Current Copyright Framework Fit for Purpose in Relation to Writing, Reading, and Publishing in the Digital Age?
Authors: Whitby Max
Published: February 2019

From the point of view of Whitby, an app publisher, it no longer makes sense to control the right to make and distribute work. In fact, he points out that, from both a creative and entrepreneurial perspective, free distribution of work is often a clever move. He gives his app publishing company Touch Press, as an example of this. Whitby maintains that, in our technological age, a shift in the legal framework of copyright is necessary in order to better control the right to make money, without paradoxically blocking the free flow of ideas.
Long-Term Trends in Marine Boundary Layer Properties over the Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Díaz Juan P. , Expósito Francisco J. , Pérez Juan C. , González Albano , Wang Yuqing , Haimberger Leopold , Wang Junhong
Published: February 2019

The marine boundary layer (MBL) is a key component of Earth’s climate system, and its main characteristics (height, entrainment efficiency, energy and mass fluxes, cloud formation processes, etc.) are closely linked to the properties of the inversion layer, which generally determines its height. Furthermore, cloud response to a warmer climate, one of the main sources of uncertainty in future climate projections, is highly dependent on changes in the MBL and in the inversion-layer properties. Long-term trends of the time series of MBL parameters at 32 stations in the Atlantic Ocean have been analyzed using conveniently homogenized radiosonde profiles from 1981 to 2010. In general, decreasing trends are found in the strength and thickness of the inversion layer and in the difference between the precipitable water vapor (PWV) in the free troposphere and the MBL. In contrast, positive trends are found in the height of the bottom of the inversion layer, the lapse rates of virtual and equivalent potential temperatures, the PWV within the boundary layer, and the sea surface temperature (SST). The weakening trend of the inversion layer and the increasing desiccation of the free troposphere relative to the MBL could have important consequences for both the evolution of low cloud cover in a greenhouse-warming climate and the fragile local ecosystems, such as “cloud forests.”
El Niño–Like Physical and Biogeochemical Ocean Response to Tropical Eruptions
Authors: Eddebbar Yassir A. , Rodgers Keith B. , Long Matthew C. , Subramanian Aneesh C. , Xie Shang-Ping , Keeling Ralph F.
Published: February 2019

The oceanic response to recent tropical eruptions is examined in Large Ensemble (LE) experiments from two fully coupled global climate models, the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Earth System Model (ESM2M), each forced by a distinct volcanic forcing dataset. Following the simulated eruptions of Agung, El Chichón, and Pinatubo, the ocean loses heat and gains oxygen and carbon, in general agreement with available observations. In both models, substantial global surface cooling is accompanied by El Niño–like equatorial Pacific surface warming a year after the volcanic forcing peaks. A mechanistic analysis of the CESM and ESM2M responses to Pinatubo identifies remote wind forcing from the western Pacific as a major driver of this El Niño–like response. Following eruption, faster cooling over the Maritime Continent than adjacent oceans suppresses convection and leads to persistent westerly wind anomalies over the western tropical Pacific. These wind anomalies excite equatorial downwelling Kelvin waves and the upwelling of warm subsurface anomalies in the eastern Pacific, promoting the development of El Niño conditions through Bjerknes feedbacks a year after eruption. This El Niño–like response drives further ocean heat loss through enhanced equatorial cloud albedo, and dominates global carbon uptake as upwelling of carbon-rich waters is suppressed in the tropical Pacific. Oxygen uptake occurs primarily at high latitudes, where surface cooling intensifies the ventilation of subtropical thermocline waters. These volcanically forced ocean responses are large enough to contribute to the observed decadal variability in oceanic heat, carbon, and oxygen.