bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Understanding the impact of ‘cost’ under MACRA: a neurointerventional imperative!
Authors: Spilberg Gabriela , Nicola Gregory N , Rosenkrantz Andrew B , Silva III Ezequiel , Schirmer Clemens M , Ghoshhajra Brian B , Choradia Nirmal , Do Rose , Hirsch Joshua A
Published: July 2018

The cost of providing healthcare in the United States continues to rise. The Affordable Care Act created systems to test value-based alternative payments models. Traditionally, procedure-based specialists such as neurointerventionalists have largely functioned in, and are thus familiar with, the traditional Fee for Service system. Administrative charge data would suggest that neurointerventional surgery is an expensive specialty. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act consolidated pre-existing federal performance programs in the Merit-based Incentive Payments System (MIPS), including a performance category called ‘cost’. Understanding cost as a dimension that contributes to the value of care delivered is critical for succeeding in MIPS and offers a meaningful route for favorably bending the cost curve.
Research on Spinal Lumbar Sacral Degeneration Finite Element Model
Authors: Hui Yu , Zhao Kai-Rui , Wu Jun-Sheng , Yu Bin , Zhang Chen , Du Jing
Published: July 2018

Recent research has shown that lumbar disease has become common in China. Since the structure of the lumbar spine is extremely complex, a finite element analysis method was used to perform biomechanical simulation and analysis of stress and strain on the L3–L4 lumbar segment to provide both a scientific and theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis and medical research. The MC volume-rendering 3D reconstruction method was the first step to accurately constructing the finite element model of the L3–L4 lumbar sacral segment, which was simulated prior to the addition of the ligaments, fibrous ring, and other major spinal tissue. The finite element model network was classified and the material properties of the corresponding parts were described. According to the normal model, careful simulation and deformation were performed, in addition to intervertebral disc degeneration in various cases. We have provided a detailed and professional analysis of the biomechanical properties, providing a powerful biomechanical basis for the diagnosis of intervertebral disc bulge and degeneration.
Online Object Tracking via Novel Adaptive Multicue Based Particle Filter Framework for Video Surveillance
Authors: Walia Gurjit Singh , Kapoor Rajiv
Published: July 2018

Multicue based object tracking frameworks have been extensively explored due to their numerous applications in the field of computer vision. However, the online adaptive fusion of multicue under scale and illumination variations, partial or full occlusion, background clutters and object deformation remains an open challenge problem. In order to address this, we propose an online visual tracking algorithm using adaptive integration of multicue in a particle filter framework. The particle level fusion process is modelled as Shafer’s model with a power set defined over two focal elements. Partial conflicting masses and conjunctive consensus among three cues are estimated for each evaluated particle. Partial conflicts among cues are redistributed using Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT) based proportional conflict redistribution rules (PCR-6). Additionally, context sensitive transductive cues reliabilities are used for discounting the particle likelihoods for quick adaptation of tracker. In the proposed model, automatic boosting of good particles and suppression of low performing particles not only improves resampling process but also enhances tracker accuracy. Experimental validation over benchmarked video sequences reveals that the proposed multicue tracking framework outperforms state-of-the-art trackers under various dynamic environmental challenges.
Improving Vector Space Word Representations Via Kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis
Authors: Bai Xuefeng , Cao Hailong , Zhao Tiejun
Published: July 2018

Cross-lingual word embeddings are representations for vocabularies of two or more languages in one common continuous vector space and are widely used in various natural language processing tasks. A state-of-the-art way to generate cross-lingual word embeddings is to learn a linear mapping, with an assumption that the vector representations of similar words in different languages are related by a linear relationship. However, this assumption does not always hold true, especially for substantially different languages. We therefore propose to use kernel canonical correlation analysis to capture a non-linear relationship between word embeddings of two languages. By extensively evaluating the learned word embeddings on three tasks (word similarity, cross-lingual dictionary induction, and cross-lingual document classification) across five language pairs, we demonstrate that our proposed approach achieves essentially better performances than previous linear methods on all of the three tasks, especially for language pairs with substantial typological difference.
CLASENTI
Authors: Hamdi Ali , Shaban Khaled , Zainal Anazida
Published: July 2018

Arabic text sentiment analysis suffers from low accuracy due to Arabic-specific challenges (e.g., limited resources, morphological complexity, and dialects) and general linguistic issues (e.g., fuzziness, implicit sentiment, sarcasm, and spam). The limited resources problem requires efforts to build new and improved Arabic corpora and lexica. We propose a class-specific sentiment analysis (CLASENTI) framework. The framework includes a new annotation approach to build multi-faceted Arabic corpus and lexicon allowing for simultaneous annotation of different facets, including domains, dialects, linguistic issues, and polarity strengths. Each of these facets has multiple classes (e.g., the nine classes representing dialects found in the Arab world). The new corpus and lexicon annotations facilitate the development of new class-specific classification models and polarity strength calculation. For the new sentiment classification models, we propose a hybrid model combining corpus-based and lexicon-based models. The corpus-based model has two interrelated phases to build; (1) full-corpus classification models for all facets; and (2) class-specific models trained on filtered subsets of the corpus according to the performances of the full-corpus models. To calculate polarity strengths, the lexicon-based model filters the annotated lexicon based on the specific classes of the domain and dialect. As a case study, we collect and annotate 15274 reviews from various sources, including surveys, Facebook comments, and Twitter posts, pertaining to governmental services. In addition, we develop a new web-based application to apply the proposed framework on the case study. CLASENTI framework reaches up to 95% accuracy and 93% F1-Score surpassing the best-known sentiment classifiers implemented in Scikit-learn library that achieve 82% accuracy and 81% F1-Score for Arabic when tested on the same dataset.
A bounded memory allocator for software-defined global address spaces
Authors: Gindraud François , Rastello Fabrice , Cohen Albert , Broquedis François
Published: July 2018

This paper presents a memory allocator targeting manycore architec- tures with distributed memory. Among the family of Multi Processor System on Chip (MPSoC), these devices are composed of multiple nodes linked by an on-chip network; most nodes have multiple processors sharing a small local memory. While MPSoC typically excel on their performance-per-Watt ratio, they remain hard to program due to multilevel parallelism, explicit resource and memory management, and hardware constraints (limited memory, network topology). Typical programming frameworks for MPSoC leave much target-specific work to the programmer: combining threads or node-local OpenMP, software caching, explicit message passing (and sometimes, routing), with non-standard interfaces. More abstract, automatic frameworks exist, but they target large-scale clusters and do not model the hardware constraints of MPSoC. The memory allocator described in this paper is one component of a larger runtime system, called Givy, to support dynamic task graphs with automatic software caching and data-driven execution on MPSoC. To simplify the programmer’s view of memory, both runtime and program data objects live in a Global Address Space (GAS). To avoid address collisions when objects are dynamically allocated, and to manage virtual memory mappings across nodes, a GAS-aware memory allocator is required. This paper proposes such an allocator with the following properties: (1) it is free of inter-node synchronizations; (2) its node-local performance match that of state-of-the-art shared-memory allocators; (3) it provides node-local mechanisms to implement inter-node software caching within a GAS; (4) it is well suited for small memory systems (a few MB per node).
Desugaring Haskell's do-notation into applicative operations
Authors: Marlow Simon , Peyton Jones Simon , Kmett Edward , Mokhov Andrey
Published: July 2018

Monads have taken the world by storm, and are supported by do-notation (at least in Haskell). Programmers are increasingly waking up to the usefulness and ubiquity of Applicatives, but they have so far been hampered by the absence of supporting notation. In this paper we show how to re-use the very same do-notation to work for Applicatives as well, providing efficiency benefits for some types that are both Monad and Applicative, and syntactic convenience for those that are merely Applicative. The result is fully implemented as an optional extension in GHC, and is in use at Facebook to make it easy to write highly-parallel queries in a distributed system.
Pattern synonyms
Authors: Pickering Matthew , Érdi Gergő , Peyton Jones Simon , Eisenberg Richard A.
Published: July 2018

Pattern matching has proven to be a convenient, expressive way of inspecting data. Yet this language feature, in its traditional form, is limited: patterns must be data constructors of concrete data types. No computation or abstraction is allowed. The data type in question must be concrete, with no ability to enforce any invariants. Any change in this data type requires all clients to update their code.

This paper introduces pattern synonyms, which allow programmers to abstract over patterns, painting over all the shortcomings listed above. Pattern synonyms are assigned types, enabling a compiler to check the validity of a synonym independent of its definition. These types are intricate; detailing how to assign a type to a pattern synonym is a key contribution of this work. We have implemented pattern synonyms in the Glasgow Haskell Compiler, where they have enjoyed immediate popularity, but we believe this feature could easily be exported to other languages that support pattern matching.
High-performance client-side web applications through Haskell EDSLs
Authors: Ekblad Anton
Published: July 2018

We present Aplite, a domain-specific language embedded in Haskell for implementing performance-critical functions in client-side web applications. In Aplite, we apply partial evaluation, multi-stage programming and techniques adapted from machine code-targeting, high-performance EDSLs to the domain of web applications. We use Aplite to implement, among other benchmarks, procedural animation using Perlin noise, symmetrical encryption and K-means clustering, showing Aplite to be consistently faster than equivalent hand-written JavaScript -- up to an order of magnitude for some benchmarks. We also demonstrate how Aplite's multi-staged nature can be used to automatically tune programs to the environment in which they are running, as well as to inputs representative of the programs' intended workload.

High-performance computation in the web browser is an attractive goal for many reasons: interactive simulations and games, cryptographic applications and reducing web companies' electricity bills by outsourcing expensive computations to users' web browsers. Similarly, functional programming in the browser is attractive due to its promises of simpler, shorter, safer programs. In this paper, we propose a way to combine the two.
The murine dialysis fistula model exhibits a senescence phenotype: pathobiological mechanisms and therapeutic potential
Authors: Nath Karl A. , O’Brien Daniel R. , Croatt Anthony J. , Grande Joseph P. , Ackerman Allan W. , Nath Meryl C. , Yamada Satsuki , Terzic Andre , Tchkonia Tamara , Kirkland James L. , Katusic Zvonimir S.
Published: July 2018

There is no therapy that promotes maturation and functionality of a dialysis arteriovenous fistula (AVF). The search for such therapies largely relies on evaluation of vascular responses and putative therapies in experimental AVFs. We studied an AVF in mice with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We demonstrate numerous stressors in the vein of the AVF-CKD group, including pathological shear, mitogenic, inflammatory, and hypoxia-reoxygenation stress. Because stress promotes premature senescence, we examined whether senescence is induced in the vein of the AVF-CKD model. We demonstrate a senescence phenotype in the AVF-CKD model, as indicated by increased expression of p16Ink4a, p21Cip1, and p53 and expected changes for certain senescence-associated microRNAs. RNA-sequencing analysis demonstrated differential expression of ~10,000 genes, including upregulation of proinflammatory and proliferative genes, in the vein of the AVF-CKD group. The vein in the AVF-CKD group exhibited telomere erosion and increased senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity and staining. Senescence was induced in the artery of the AVF-CKD group and in the vein of the AVF without CKD. Finally, given the rapidly rising clinical interest in senolytics, we provide proof of concept of senolytics as a therapeutic approach by demonstrating that senolytics decrease p16Ink4a expression in the AVF-CKD model. This study introduces a novel concept underlying the basis for maturational and functional failure in human dialysis AVFs and identifies a new target for senolytic therapy.
Dynamic Secondary Borehole-Sealing Method for Gas Drainage Boreholes along the Coal Seam
Authors: Qin Wei , Xu Jialin
Published: July 2018

Under the influence of advanced abutment pressure, the tightness of a borehole is destroyed, so secondary borehole sealing is needed; however, the opportune time for a secondary borehole sealing is unclear. In addition, current borehole-sealing devices do not have a secondary borehole-sealing functionality. In this paper, an opportunity election model of secondary borehole sealing was established, and a dynamic secondary borehole-sealing device was developed. In working face 3908 of the Kaiyuan Coal Mine, an in situ dynamic secondary borehole-sealing test was conducted. The test results show that the tightness of the boreholes sealed with high-water-expansion slurry is obviously better than that of the boreholes sealed with cement mortar and polyurethane. When a borehole is destroyed by the peak of the advanced abutment pressure, the secondary borehole-sealing measures can significantly improve borehole suction pressure, gas concentration, and gas drainage amount in the advanced abutment pressure loading stage.
A Comparative Analysis of Methods for Evaluation of ECG Signal Quality after Compression
Authors: Němcová Andrea , Smíšek Radovan , Maršánová Lucie , Smital Lukáš , Vítek Martin
Published: July 2018

The assessment of ECG signal quality after compression is an essential part of the compression process. Compression facilitates the signal archiving, speeds up signal transmission, and reduces the energy consumption. Conversely, lossy compression distorts the signals. Therefore, it is necessary to express the compression performance through both compression efficiency and signal quality. This paper provides an overview of objective algorithms for the assessment of both ECG signal quality after compression and compression efficiency. In this area, there is a lack of standardization, and there is no extensive review as such. 40 methods were tested in terms of their suitability for quality assessment. For this purpose, the whole CSE database was used. The tested signals were compressed using an algorithm based on SPIHT with varying efficiency. As a reference, compressed signals were manually assessed by two experts and classified into three quality groups. Owing to the experts’ classification, we determined corresponding ranges of selected quality evaluation methods’ values. The suitability of the methods for quality assessment was evaluated based on five criteria. For the assessment of ECG signal quality after compression, we recommend using a combination of these methods: PSim SDNN, QS, SNR1, MSE, PRDN1, MAX, STDERR, and WEDD SWT.
A Novel Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm Based on Density Peaks for Complex Datasets
Authors: Zhou Rong , Zhang Yong , Feng Shengzhong , Luktarhan Nurbol
Published: July 2018

Clustering aims to differentiate objects from different groups (clusters) by similarities or distances between pairs of objects. Numerous clustering algorithms have been proposed to investigate what factors constitute a cluster and how to efficiently find them. The clustering by fast search and find of density peak algorithm is proposed to intuitively determine cluster centers and assign points to corresponding partitions for complex datasets. This method incorporates simple structure due to the noniterative logic and less few parameters; however, the guidelines for parameter selection and center determination are not explicit. To tackle these problems, we propose an improved hierarchical clustering method HCDP aiming to represent the complex structure of the dataset. A k‐nearest neighbor strategy is integrated to compute the local density of each point, avoiding to select the nonnecessary global parameter dc and enables cluster smoothing and condensing. In addition, a new clustering evaluation approach is also introduced to extract a “flat” and “optimal” partition solution from the structure by adaptively computing the clustering stability. The proposed approach is conducted on some applications with complex datasets, where the results demonstrate that the novel method outperforms its counterparts to a large extent.
Research on Multidomain Fault Diagnosis of Large Wind Turbines under Complex Environment
Authors: Jia Rong , Ma Fuqi , Dang Jian , Liu Guangyi , Zhang Huizhi
Published: July 2018

Under the complicated environment of large wind turbines, the vibration signal of a wind turbine has the characteristics of coupling and nonlinearity. The traditional feature extraction method for the signal is hard to accurately extract fault information, and there is a serious problem of information redundancy in fault diagnosis. Therefore, this paper proposed a multidomain feature fault diagnosis method based on complex empirical mode decomposition (CEMD) and random forest theory (RF). Firstly, this paper proposes a novel method of complex empirical mode decomposition by using the correlation information between two‐dimensional signals and utilizing the idea of ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) by adding white noise to suppress the problem mode mixing in empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Secondly, the collected vibration signals are decomposed into IMFs by CEMD. Then, calculate 11 time domain characteristic parameters and 13 frequency domain characteristic parameters of the vibration signal, and calculate the energy and energy entropy of each IMF components. Make all the characteristic parameters as the multidomain feature vectors of wind turbines. Finally, the redundant feature vectors are eliminated by the importance of each feature vector which has been calculated, and the feature vectors selected are input to the random forest classifier to achieve the fault diagnosis of large wind turbines. Simulation and experimental results show that this method can effectively extract the fault feature of the signal and achieve the fault diagnosis of wind turbines, which has a higher accuracy of fault diagnosis than the traditional classification methods.
Impalpable Testis: Evaluation of Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures and Our Treatment Protocol
Authors: Fratrić Ivana , Šarac Dragan , Antić Jelena , Đermanov Marina , Jokić Radoica
Published: July 2018

Introduction. The aim of this study is to present our treatment protocol for impalpable testis. Material and Methods. In a retrospective study we analyzed clinical data including diagnostic procedures, intraoperative findings, final diagnosis, treatment modality, and outcome of patients with impalpable testis who underwent surgery from January 2010 until December 2015. Results. Ninety-one patients were admitted under the diagnosis of impalpable testis. In 39 patients ultrasound detected testis in the inguinal canal and orchidopexy was done. In 25 patients (48.08%) laparoscopy showed the entrance of the spermatic cord into the inguinal canal. Open exploration of the inguinal canal was done, testicular remnant removed, and appropriate testicular prosthesis implanted. Twenty patients (20/52) underwent orchidopexy of the abdominal testis (46.51%), 4 of which underwent Fowler-Stevens procedure in two stages, and in 16 patients deliberation of the testis and spermatic cord was sufficient to place the testis into the scrotum. Conclusions. Excision of the testicular nubbin is highly recommendable, as well as implantation of the testicular prosthesis at the time of orchiectomy.
Road Traffic Monitoring System Based on Mobile Devices and Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons
Authors: Lewandowski Marcin , Płaczek Bartłomiej , Bernas Marcin , Szymała Piotr
Published: July 2018

The paper proposes a method, which utilizes mobile devices (smartphones) and Bluetooth beacons, to detect passing vehicles and recognize their classes. The traffic monitoring tasks are performed by analyzing strength of radio signal received by mobile devices from beacons that are placed on opposite sides of a road. This approach is suitable for crowd sourcing applications aimed at reducing travel time, congestion, and emissions. Advantages of the introduced method were demonstrated during experimental evaluation in real‐traffic conditions. Results of the experimental evaluation confirm that the proposed solution is effective in detecting three classes of vehicles (personal cars, semitrucks, and trucks). Extensive experiments were conducted to test different classification approaches and data aggregation methods. In comparison with state‐of‐the‐art RSSI‐based vehicle detection methods, higher accuracy was achieved by introducing a dedicated ensemble of random forest classifiers with majority voting.
Patient Views on Advance Care Planning in Cirrhosis: A Qualitative Analysis
Authors: Carbonneau Michelle , Davyduke Tracy , Spiers Jude , Brisebois Amanda , Ismond Kathleen , Tandon Puneeta
Published: July 2018

Aim. To investigate patient experiences and perceptions of advance care planning (ACP) process in cirrhosis. Methods. Purposive sampling was used to identify and recruit participants (N = 17) from discrete patient groups: compensated with no prior decompensation, decompensated and not yet listed for transplant, transplant wait listed, medical contraindications for transplant, and low socioeconomic status. Review and discussion of local ACP videos, documents, and experiences with ACP occurred in two individual interviews and four focus groups. Data were analyzed using inductive content analysis including iterative processes of open coding, categorization, and abstraction. Results. Three overarching categories emerged: (1) lack of understanding about disease trajectories and ACP processes, (2) roles of alternate decision makers, and (3) preferences for receiving ACP information. Most patients desired advanced care-planning conversations before the onset of decompensation (specifically hepatic encephalopathy) with a care provider with whom they had a trusting, preexisting relationship. Involvement of the alternate decision makers was of critical importance to participants, as was the use of direct, easy to understand patient education tools that address practical issues. Conclusion. Our findings support the need for early advance care planning in the outpatient setting. Outpatient clinicians may play a key role in facilitating these discussions.
On the Performance of the DNPS‐Based Relay Networks under Masquerading Attack
Authors: Chang Wenson
Published: July 2018

In the relay networks, two typical issues of physical layer security are selfishness and garbling. As a matter of fact, a certain nontypical but severely harmful misbehavior can also remove the cooperative diversity gain. Here, we coin the masquerading attack to indicate this kind of misbehavior. A masquerade relay can always pretend to be the best one to forward signals and, in consequence, deprive the others of the opportunities to cooperate. To the best of our knowledge, the impact of the masquerading attack has not yet been fully investigated. In this paper, multiple masquerade relays with random masquerading behavior are taken into account. Also, the complete channel effects, including the effects of the flat Rayleigh fading, log‐normal shadowing, and path loss, are considered such that the geographical effects of the network topology can be completely captured. At last, the impact of the masquerade relays are evaluated in terms of the outage probability and end‐to‐end capacity.
Digital versus Analog Procedures for the Prosthetic Restoration of Single Implants: A Randomized Controlled Trial with 1 Year of Follow-Up
Authors: Mangano Francesco , Veronesi Giovanni
Published: July 2018

Aim. To compare the outcome of digital versus analog procedures for the restoration of single implants. Methods. Over a two-year period (2014-2016), all patients who had been treated in a dental center with a single implant were randomly assigned to receive either a monolithic zirconia crown, fabricated with digital workflow (test group), or a metal-ceramic crown, fabricated with analog workflow (control group). All patients were followed for 1 year after the delivery of the final crown. The outcomes were success, complications, peri-implant marginal bone loss (PIMBL), patient satisfaction, and time and cost of the treatment. Results. 50 patients (22 males, 28 females; mean age 52.6±13.4 years) were randomly assigned to one of the groups (25 per group). Both workflows showed high success (92%) and low complication rate (8%). No significant differences were found in the mean PIMBL between test (0.39±0.29mm) and control (0.54±0.32mm) groups. Patients preferred digital impressions. Taking the impression took half the time in the test group (20±5min) than in the control (50±7min) group. When calculating active working time, workflow in the test group was more time-efficient than in the control group, for provisional (70±15min versus 340±37min) and final crowns (29±9min versus 260±26min). The digital procedure presented lower costs than the analog (€277.3 versus €392.2). Conclusions. No significant clinical or radiographic differences were found between digital and analog procedures; however, the digital workflow was preferred by patients; it reduced active treatment time and costs. The present study is registered in the ISRCTN (http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN36259164) with number 36259164.
Estimates on the Bergman Kernels in a Tangential Direction on Pseudoconvex Domains in C3
Authors: Cho Sanghyun
Published: July 2018

Let Ω be a smoothly bounded pseudoconvex domain in C3 and assume that TΩreg(z0)<∞ where z0∈bΩ, the boundary of Ω. Then we get optimal estimates of the Bergman kernel function along some “almost tangential curve” Cb(z0,δ0)⊂Ω∪z0.
Reduced β2GPI Inhibiting Glomerular Mesangial Cells VEGF-NO Axis Uncoupling Induced by High Glucose
Authors: Saijun Zhou , Xin Li , Jie Wang , Shumin Xiao , Shuaihui Liu , Pei Yu
Published: July 2018

VEGF-NO axis uncoupling is an important pathogenesis for DN. Reduced β2GPI could play a part in VEGF signaling pathway and has a protective effect on diabetic vascular disease. This study investigates the effect of reduced β2GPI on glomerular mesangial cells VEGF-NO axis uncoupling induced by high glucose. Compared to control group, glomerular mesangial cell line HBZY-1 cells treated with high glucose expressed higher levels of VEGF mRNA and protein and produced more ROS but less NO. The related proteins related to VEGF-NO axis were assayed. High glucose could significantly increase the expression of the level of VEGFR2 and obviously increase phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS but significantly decrease the expression of GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH-1), reducing the production of eNOS dimer. Both β2GPI and reduced β2GPI partly reverse these effects caused by high glucose. Reduced β2GPI had stronger effect than β2GPI. GCH-1 is the speed limit of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) synthesis enzyme. As the key part of eNOS cofactors, BH4 could partly restore eNOS dimer induced by high glucose. Our results indicated that high glucose could interfere with eNOS dimer formation. β2GPI and reduced β2GPI can partly reverse the VEGF-NO axis uncoupling by restoring the GCH-1 expression level and then promote eNOS dimer formation.
Risks in Surrogacy Considering the Embryo: From the Preimplantation to the Gestational and Neonatal Period
Authors: Simopoulou M. , Sfakianoudis K. , Tsioulou P. , Rapani A. , Anifandis G. , Pantou A. , Bolaris S. , Bakas P. , Deligeoroglou E. , Pantos K. , Koutsilieris M.
Published: July 2018

Surrogacy is an assisted reproduction-based approach in which the intended parents assign the gestation and birth to another woman called the surrogate mother. The drivers of surrogacy refer largely to infertility, medical conditions, same-sex couples’ parenting, and cases of diversity regarding sexual identity and orientation. Surrogacy consists of a valid option for a variety of conditions or circumstances ranging from medical to social reasons. However, surrogacy may be associated with risks during the preimplantation, prenatal, and neonatal period. It became obvious during the exhaustive literature research that data on surrogacy and its association with factors specific to the IVF practice and the options available were not fully represented. Could it be that surrogacy management adds another level of complexity to the process from the ovarian stimulation, the subsequent IVF cycle, and the techniques employed within the IVF and the Genetic Laboratory to the fetal, perinatal, and neonatal period? This work emphasizes the risks associated with surrogacy with respect to the preimplantation embryo, the fetus, and the infant. Moreover, it further calls for larger studies reporting on surrogacy and comparing the surrogate management to that of the routine IVF patient in order to avoid suboptimal management of a surrogate cycle. This is of particular importance in light of the fact that the surrogate cycle may include not only the surrogate but also the egg donor, sperm donor, and the commissioning couple or single person.
Spatial Dynamics for a Generalized Solow Growth Model
Authors: Zhong Yue , Huang Wenyi
Published: July 2018

The existence of nontrivial equilibrium and poverty traps for a generalized Solow growth model with concave and nonconcave production functions is investigated. The explicit solutions of the growth model, which is expressed by a differential equation with corresponding boundary conditions, are employed to illustrate the spatial dynamics of the model in different economic regions. Numerical method is used to justify the validity of the theoretical analysis.
Myasthenia Gravis Presenting as Graft versus Host Disease after Allogeneic Blood Stem Cell Transplant
Authors: Ahmed Zarir , Schoen Martin , Rajeh Nabeel
Published: July 2018

Myasthenia gravis is a very rare manifestation of graft versus host disease after stem cell transplants. Herein, we describe a case of new-onset myasthenia gravis after a stem cell transplant 34 months ago in a patient with myelodysplastic syndrome.
The Principle of Competitive Exclusion about a Stochastic Lotka-Volterra Model with Two Predators Competing for One Prey
Authors: Cao Zhongwei , Zhang Qiumei , Zhao Yanan
Published: July 2018

This paper concerns a stochastic Lotka-Volterra model with two predators competing for one prey. The sufficient conditions which guarantee the principle of competitive exclusion for this perturbed model are given by using Lyapunov analysis methods. Numerical simulations for a set of parameter values are presented to illustrate the analytical findings.
Drug-Induced Liver Injury Associated with the Use of Everolimus in a Liver Transplant Patient
Authors: Patel Serena , Mendler Michel H. , Valasek Mark A. , Tsunoda Shirley M.
Published: July 2018

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has not been previously reported as a complication of treatment with everolimus. A 56-year-old Caucasian male liver transplant recipient developed DILI after receiving everolimus. Elevations in transaminase levels occurred within a week of starting everolimus and an upward trend in the transaminase levels continued with supporting histopathologic changes confirmed by liver biopsy. Within one week of drug discontinuation, his liver enzymes normalized to baseline. This report includes a brief review of the pharmacokinetic properties of everolimus, a review of the relevant literature, and an analysis using the RUCAM and Naranjo algorithms.
An Unusual Case of CMV/EBV Ventriculoencephalitis with Evolution to Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma in HIV-Positive Patient
Authors: Borges Gisela , Neves Diana , Maury Inês Pintado , Pereira Aida , Silva Maria de Jesus
Published: July 2018

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is a well-known cause of different types of malignancies particularly Burkitt’s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Hodgkin’s lymphomas, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas including primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). A higher tendency of malignant transformation associated with EBV has been noticed in immunocompromised patients, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients. The rapid and effective immune reconstitution is crucial to prevent PCNSL in HIV-positive patients. We present a clinical case of a young patient diagnosed with HIV infection and medicated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) with poor immunological recovery. After two weeks, he developed ventriculoencephalitis, observed in the cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) and EBV, both with high serum viral load, rapidly evolving to PCNSL. With this unusual clinical case, the authors want to draw attention to the importance of rapid immunological reconstitution in preventing the progression of EBV infection to PCNSL, as well as encouraging the confirmation of the usefulness of early combination of chemotherapy and antiviral therapy, in order to reach a more effective treatment of this herpesvirus infection and associated malignancies.
Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma of Liver: Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Mass Jirong (Betty) , Talmon Geoffrey
Published: July 2018

Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), previously known as malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH), is rarely reported in the liver as a primary site. We report a case of a previously healthy 56-year-old male, who presented with abdominal pain and jaundice. The patient was originally diagnosed with cholecystitis, treated with cholecystectomy, which was complicated by abdominal abscess. One week following discharge, the patient was readmitted with fever, chills, and leukocytosis. Computed tomography (CT) guided liver biopsies demonstrated an epithelioid to spindle cell neoplasm with markedly atypical nuclei and prominent necrosis infiltrating between hepatocytes. Immunohistochemical studies were negative for epithelial, melanocytic, and hematolymphoid differentiation. Positron emission tomography (PET) was performed, which showed a single markedly hypermetabolic central hepatic mass (14 x 8.5 x 8.5 cm) with likely central necrosis, consistent with primary malignancy. The patient was treated with one cycle of chemotherapy (doxorubicin and ifosfamide), refusing additional cycle due to medication side effects. The patient subsequently succumbed to complications associated with the malignancy and died within 19 days of diagnosis.
TTEthernet Transmission in Software‐Defined Distributed Robot Intelligent Control System
Authors: Liu Caibing , Li Fang , Chen Guohao , Huang Xin
Published: July 2018

With the integration of new technologies such as smart technologies and cloud computing in the industrial Internet of Things, the complexity of industrial IoT applications is increasing. Real‐time performance and determinism are becoming serious challenges for system implementation in these Internet of Things systems, especially in critical security areas. This paper provides a framework for a software‐defined bus‐based intelligent robot system and designs scheduling algorithms to make TTEthernet play the role of scheduling in the framework. Through the framework, the non‐real‐time and uncertainties problem of distributed robotic systems can be solved. Moreover, a fragment strategy was proposed to solve the problem of large delay caused by Rate‐Constrained traffic. Experimental results indicate that the improved scheme based on fragmentation strategy proposed in this paper can improve the real‐time performance of RC traffic to a certain extent. Besides, this paper made a performance test and comparison experiments of the improved scheme in the simulation software to verify the feasibility of the improved scheme. The result showed that the delay of Rate‐Constrained traffic was reduced and the utilization rate of network was improved.
Green Tea Catechins: Their Use in Treating and Preventing Infectious Diseases
Authors: Reygaert Wanda C.
Published: July 2018

Green tea is one of the most popular drinks consumed worldwide. Produced mainly in Asian countries from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, the potential health benefits have been widely studied. Recently, researchers have studied the ability of green tea to eradicate infectious agents and the ability to actually prevent infections. The important components in green tea that show antimicrobial properties are the catechins. The four main catechins that occur in green tea are (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Of these catechins, EGCG and EGC are found in the highest amounts in green tea and have been the subject of most of the studies. These catechins have been shown to demonstrate a variety of antimicrobial properties, both to organisms affected and in mechanisms used. Consumption of green tea has been shown to distribute these compounds and/or their metabolites throughout the body, which allows for not only the possibility of treatment of infections but also the prevention of infections.
On the Capacity and Transmission Techniques of Massive MIMO Systems
Authors: Abdul Haleem Mohamed
Published: July 2018

A massive MIMO wireless system is a multiuser MISO system where base stations consist of a large number of antennas with respect to number of user devices, each equipped with a single antenna. Massive MIMO is seen as the way forward in enhancing the transmission rate and user capacity in 5G wireless. The potential of massive MIMO system lies in the ability to almost always realize multiuser channels with near zero mutual coupling. Coupling factor reduces by 1/2 for each doubling of transmit antennas. In a high bit rate massive MIMO system with m base station antennas and n users, downlink capacity increases as log2⁡m bps/Hz, and the capacity per user reduces as log2⁡n bps/Hz. This capacity can be achieved by power sharing and using signal weighting vectors aligned to respective 1 × m channels of the users. For low bit rate transmission, time sharing achieves the capacity as much as power sharing does. System capacity reduces as channel coupling factor increases. Interference avoidance or minimization strategies can be used to achieve the available capacity in such scenarios. Probability distribution of channel coupling factor is a convenient tool to predict the number of antennas needed to qualify a system as massive MIMO.
Sound Symbolic Patterns in Pokémon Names
Authors: Kawahara Shigeto , Noto Atsushi , Kumagai Gakuji
Published: July 2018

This paper presents a case study of sound symbolism, cases in which certain sounds tend to be associated with particular meanings. We used the corpus of all Japanese Pokémon names available as of October 2016. We tested the effects of voiced obstruents, mora counts, and vowel quality on Pokémon characters' size, weight, strength parameters, and evolution levels. We found that the number of voiced obstruents in Pokémon names correlates positively with size, weight, evolution levels, and general strength parameters, except for speed. We argue that this result is compatible with the frequency code hypothesis of Ohala. The number of moras in Pokémon names correlates positively with size, weight, evolution levels, and all strength parameters. Vowel height is also shown to have an influence on size and weight - Pokémon characters with initial high vowels tend to be smaller and lighter, although the effect size is not very large. Not only does this paper offer a new case study of sound symbolism, it provides evidence that sound symbolism is at work when naming proper nouns.
Sarcopenic Obesity: Time to Meet the Challenge
Authors: Barazzoni Rocco , Bischoff Stephan , Boirie Yves , Busetto Luca , Cederholm Tommy , Dicker Dror , Toplak Hermann , Van Gossum Andre , Yumuk Volkan , Vettor Roberto
Published: July 2018

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide due to increasingly pervasive obesogenic lifestyle changes. Obesity poses unprecedented individual, social, and multidisciplinary medical challenges by increasing the risk for metabolic diseases, chronic organ failures, and cancer as well as complication rates in the presence of acute disease conditions. Whereas reducing excess adiposity remains the fundamental pathogenic treatment for obese individuals, complex metabolic and lifestyle abnormalities as well as weight reduction therapies per se may also compromise the ability to preserve muscle function and mass, especially when chronic disease co-exists with obesity. Emerging evidence indicates that low muscle mass and quality have a strong negative prognostic impact in obese individuals and may lead to frailty, disability, and increased morbidity and mortality. Awareness of the importance of skeletal muscle maintenance in obesity is however low among clinicians and scientists. The term ‘sarcopenic obesity' has been proposed to identify obesity with low skeletal muscle function and mass, but its utilization is largely limited to the aging patient population, and consensus on its definition and diagnostic criteria remains insufficient. Knowledge on prevalence of sarcopenic obesity in various clinical conditions and patient subgroups, on its clinical impacts in patient risk stratification, and on effective prevention and treatment strategies remain therefore dramatically inadequate. In particular, optimal dietary options and medical nutritional support strategies to preserve muscle mass in obese individuals remain largely undefined. The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) recognize and indicate obesity with altered body composition due to low skeletal muscle function and mass (sarcopenic obesity) as a scientific and clinical priority for researchers and clinicians. ESPEN and EASO therefore call for coordinated action aimed at reaching consensus on its definition, diagnostic criteria, and optimal treatment with particular regard to nutritional therapy. We are convinced that achievement of these goals has a strong potential to reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality in the rapidly increasing obese patient population.
Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Pediatric Psoriasis: A Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal from International Dermatology Outcome Measures (IDEOM)
Authors: Salame Nicole , Torres Josefina , Sandhu Jeena , Callis Duffin Kristina , Garg Amit , Gottlieb Alice B. , Latella  John , Merola Joseph F. , Armstrong April W.
Published: July 2018

Childhood onset psoriasis has a profound impact on the development and quality of life of pediatric patients. Consequently, validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for pediatric psoriasis are vital to patient care. We sought to critically appraise the literature on the measurement properties of PROMs used in the pediatric psoriasis population. We performed a 2-stage systematic literature synthesis in MEDLINE (1950–2017) and EMBASE (1947–2017) to identify PROMs and studies evaluating their measurement properties. Analysis of studies followed the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) methodology to inform a best evidence synthesis. From 1,128 articles, we identified 29 PROMs. Subsequently, we identified 8 studies evaluating the measurement properties of 7 instruments. Among these instruments, the Simplified Psoriasis Index (SPI) achieved a positive rating for criterion validity, the Dutch version of the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) achieved a positive rating for hypothesis testing, and the Swedish version of the CDLQI achieved a negative rating for hypothesis testing. All other assessed measurement properties received indeterminate or unknown ratings due to flaws in study design. PROMs are paramount to the management of pediatric psoriasis. This synthesis emphasizes the critical need for additional studies to further describe the measurement properties of PROMs used in pediatric psoriasis and identify validated, standardized measures for use in clinical practice and research.
Prevalence and Clinical Profile of Human Salivirus in Children with Acute Gastroenteritis in Northern Italy, 2014–2015
Authors: Bergallo Massimiliano , Daprà Valentina , Rassu Marco , Bonamin Stefano , Cuccu Roberto , Calvi Cristina , Montanari Paola , Galliano Ilaria
Published: July 2018

Objective: Human Salivirus (SalV) has been associated with gastroenteritis on all continents. Methods: This paper presents the real-time RT-PCR assay for the detection of SalV in clinical fecal samples collected from 192 hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis in Piedmont, Italy. Results: The most commonly detected virus was Norovirus genogroup II (GII) (33.8%), followed by Rotavirus (21.3%), Sapovirus (10.9%), Parechovirus (8%), Norovirus GI (6.7%), and Adenovirus (1%). PCR detected SalV in 1 (0.5%) subject. Conclusions: Our data show that the detection rate of SalV in diarrheal children (0.5%) is lower than that observed in other countries, where it is reported in diarrheal children in 8.6–1.2% of patients.
Intravenous Sotalol: An Under Used Treatment Strategy
Authors: Kerin Nicholas Z.
Published: July 2018

The pharmacologic treatment of arrhythmias has seen little advance over the past few years. Physicians treating life threatening or hemodynamically destabilizing arrhythmias depend almost entirely on intravenous (IV) amiodarone. This is regrettable due to the multiple toxicities of amiodarone and its long half-life. Once administered, it is a therapeutic commitment to long-term therapy. Given the very long terminal elimination half-life, treatment with amiodarone may interfere with baseline electrophysiologic studies and ablation procedures. Additionally, the side effect profile can be consequential, even with brief periods of treatment. Currently, sotalol, like amiodarone, is available in both IV and oral formulations, facilitating their use in emergency situations. IV sotalol has a rapid onset of action with linear pharmacokinetics. While sotalol’s efficacy has mostly been evaluated in small clinical trials, 2 recent meta-analysis have been informative as to the utility of sotalol. Sotalol has similar efficacy as amiodarone, but has much more favorable adverse event profile. IV sotalol has been underutilized and could offer advantage in the treatment of AF for rate and rhythm control, as well in the pediatrics for treatment of supraventricular arrhythmias often resistant to other therapies.