bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Young Learner ESL Classroom: Talk, Talk and More Talk?
Authors: Jeyasingam Shobana , Azahar Zairus Norsiah
Published: October 2019

Teacher talk is a tricky business which often invites more negative remarks rather than positive ones. The issue of ‘too much’ talk or ‘too little’ talk is one such debate that often arises. Then, there is the infamous ‘quality’ versus ‘quantity’ dispute. These issues generally arise when what constitutes good teacher talk should be characterized by who the learners are and in what context does learning occur. This article seeks to discuss characteristics of teacher talk in two rural young learner Malaysian ESL classrooms and also provide an insight into why teacher talk is a major constituent in these classrooms. Two teachers with two different classrooms participated in the study where interviews with the teachers were carried out. Classroom observations were also carried out which were later transcribed to glean most of the data on teacher talk. Stimulated recall interviews were then carried out with the teachers to gain more insight into their classroom practices. This article seeks to proffer a look into what constitutes good teacher talk in a rural young learner L2 classroom taking into account who the learners are and the context of L2 learning present in these classrooms.
A Review of Genre Approaches within Linguistic Traditions
Authors: Wan Fakhruddin Wan Farah Wani , Hassan Hanita
Published: October 2019

This paper reviews three major approaches to genre analysis; Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Based on the review, it is noted that RGS is an approach which regards genre as a form of social action involving analysis of genre through detailed accounts of the social and cultural contexts with an emphasis on how a genre fulfills its social purpose and actions. On the other hand, ESP is an approach which views genre as a communicative event characterised by their communicative purposes as well as rhetorical features where the discourse community acts as those which recognises and sanctions the acceptance of a genre. The final genre approach, which is SFL, perceives genre as the cultural purpose of texts, achieved through a genre’s structural and realisational patterns where meanings are made within the genre. Overall, the ESP and SFL approaches share fundamental view that linguistic features of texts are connected to social context and function. Thus both of the approaches take on a linguistic approach in describing genres. RGS, in contrast, investigates genres through the study of society in which genre is being used thus taking an ethnographic approach to analysis of genres. This paper concludes with a discussion on the concept of genre presented in the various approaches and the possible emergence of other approaches in the study of genre.
Public Speaking Skills Needs of English Majors at Universiti Sains Malaysia
Authors: Al-Tamimi Atef , Shuib Munir
Published: October 2019

Demands of the academic disciplines as well as the versatility and competitiveness in today's job market have prompted scholars, educators and researchers to emphasise the importance of learners’ success in handling oral communication skills, in general, and public speaking skills, in particular (Payne and Carlin 1994; Yamashiro and Johnson, 1997; Lucas, 2007). In line with this necessity, the current investigation draws into the public speaking skills needs of the English majors at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). The study aims to identify the forms and skills of public speaking frequently used by the students. It also explores the students’ lacks and communication apprehension in public speaking. Thirty-nine second, third and fourth year students majoring in English at the School of Humanities, USM participated in the study. The results indicate that besides the frequent use of a number of preparation and delivery skills by the English majors, certain types of speech, such as small group, informative and persuasive appeared to be among the communicative tasks the students confront in their academic discourse discipline. The findings also reveal that the majority of the respondents are competent enough in performing almost all the public speaking skills, although they do experience moderate level of communication apprehension. Some implications for the learners, lecturers and course developers are stated briefly.
Verbal Dramatisation of Words: Incidental Vocabulary Learning via Readers’ Theatre
Authors: Looi Chin Ch’ng , Lau Yih Long Kimberley , Jiin Yih Yeo
Published: October 2019

Although explicit teaching of vocabulary is often practised in language classrooms, it has been proven to be rather ineffective since words are not taught in context. This leads to the increasing use of incidental vocabulary learning approach, which emphasises on repeated readings as a source for vocabulary learning. By adopting this approach, this study aims to investigate students’ ability in learning vocabulary incidentally via verbal dramatisation of written texts. In this case, readers’ theatre (RT) is used as a way to allow learners to engage in active reading so as to promote vocabulary learning. A total of 160 diploma students participated in this case study and they were divided equally into two groups, namely classroom reading (CR) and reader’s theatre (RT) groups. A proficiency test was first conducted to determine their vocabulary levels. Based on the test results, a story was selected as the reading material for the two groups. The CR group read the story through a normal reading lesson in class while the RT group was required to verbally dramatize the text through readers’ theatre activity. Then, a post-test based on vocabulary levels was carried out and the results were compared. The findings revealed that incidental learning was more apparent in the RT group and their ability to learn words from the higher levels was noticeable through higher accuracy scores. Although not conclusive, this study has demonstrated the potential of using readers’ theatre as a form of incidental vocabulary learning activity in ESL settings.
A Comparison of ESL Writing Strategies of Undergraduates and Postgraduates
Authors: Ibrahim Nursuhaila , Rahmat Noor Hanim , Daut Azizah
Published: October 2019

Writing is an essential skill that needs to be mastered by students. They need to adopt some strategies in order to be a good writer, especially in fulfilling their academic requirements. This study attempts to compare the writing strategies used by undergraduate and postgraduate students. A total of 44 students participated in this study. A survey questionnaire adapted from Flower and Hayes (1981) framework was administered to the respondents. Analysis of strategies based on three factors namely task environment, background knowledge and composing process was used. The t-test results showed that there was no significant difference between the mean response of undergraduate and postgraduate students. In task environments, the undergraduate students were found to choose topic that they know while the postgraduate students tend to choose a topic that they like. Both groups tend to use their schemata or background knowledge in order to write. Furthermore, findings from composing process showed that both groups tend to have a proper plan such as a mind map or an outline to write an essay.
Investigation of the Effect of Perforated Sheath on Thermal-Flow Characteristics Over a Gas Turbine Reverse-Flow Combustor—Part 1: Experiment
Authors: Wang Liang , Wang Ting
Published: October 2019

Reverse-flow combustors have been used in heavy, land-based gas turbines for many decades. A sheath is typically installed over the external walls of the combustor and transition piece to provide enhanced cooling through hundreds of small impinging cooling jets, followed by a strong forced convection channel flow. However, this cooling is at the expense of a large pressure loss. With the modern advancements in metallurgy and thermal-barrier coating technologies, it may become possible to remove this sheath to recover the pressure loss without causing thermal damage to the combustor chamber and the transition piece walls. However, without the sheath, the flow inside the dump diffuser may exert nonuniformly reduced cooling on the combustion chamber and transition piece walls. The objective of this paper is to investigate the difference in flow pattern, pressure drop, and heat transfer distribution in the dump diffuser and over the outer surface of the combustor with and without a sheath. Both experimental and computational studies are performed and presented in Part 1 and Part 2, respectively. The experiments are conducted under low pressure and temperature laboratory conditions to provide a database to validate the computational model, which is then used to simulate the thermal-flow field surrounding the combustor and transition piece under elevated gas turbine operating conditions. The experimental results show that the pressure loss between the dump diffuser inlet and exit is 1.15% of the total inlet pressure for the non-sheathed case and 1.9% for the sheathed case. This gives a 0.75 percentage point (or 40%) reduction in pressure losses. When the sheath is removed in the laboratory, the maximum increase of surface temperature is about 35%, with an average increase of 13–22% based on the temperature scale of 23 K, which is the difference between the bulk inlet and the outlet temperatures.
Optimum Arrangement of Fins in a Free Convection-Based Solar Air Heater
Authors: Kumar Digpal , Premachandran B.
Published: October 2019

In this paper, the details of a numerical study performed for the optimum fin arrangement in a solar air heater with a rectangular fin array attached to the bottom side of the absorber plate have been presented. Results have been presented for various fin sizes and spacing between the fins, while the heat transfer and fluid flow are directed by natural convection. An inclined rectangular channel similar to the dimensions of a typical solar air heater has been considered. Three different fin configurations, namely, continuous long fins for the whole length of the channel, in-line interrupted and staggered interrupted arrangements of fins, have been studied. The present analysis aims to identify the optimum configuration of the fin array for enhanced heat transfer. The spacing between the fins and the height of the fins are varied to obtain an optimum configuration. The numerical simulations are performed for heat flux (q″) ranging from 250 to 750 W/m2 on the absorber plate. The inclination angles of the channel (θ) have been maintained at 15 deg, 30 deg, and 45 deg from the horizontal plane. The results show that with the spacing between fins, S = 5.4 cm performs better in the case of longitudinal continuous fin arrangement. However, a fin spacing of 4.75 cm shows a higher heat transfer in the case of staggered fin configuration. In comparison with nine long uninterrupted fins, using the staggered arrangement with 15 × 10 fins saves up to 33% of fin material.
Observation of half-quantum flux in the unconventional superconductor β-Bi
2
Pd
Authors: Li Yufan , Xu Xiaoying , Lee M.-H. , Chu M.-W. , Chien C. L.
Published: October 2019

Unconventional oscillations

At sufficiently low temperatures, superconductors expel an applied magnetic field. However, if the topology of the superconductor is nontrivial—for example, if there is a hole in the sample—there can be a nonzero magnetic flux inside the hole. This flux can only take certain discrete values, and the superconducting critical temperature has maxima at the corresponding values of the magnetic field. Li
et al.
studied these so-called Little-Parks oscillations in superconducting rings made out of polycrystalline thin films of β-Bi
2
Pd. They found that the phase of the oscillations was shifted by π compared with oscillations observed in most superconductors, as predicted for certain unconventional pairing symmetries.

Science
, this issue p.
238
Sleep-wake cycles drive daily dynamics of synaptic phosphorylation
Authors: Brüning Franziska , Noya Sara B. , Bange Tanja , Koutsouli Stella , Rudolph Jan D. , Tyagarajan Shiva K. , Cox Jürgen , Mann Matthias , Brown Steven A. , Robles Maria S.
Published: October 2019

Sleep-wake cycles at mouse synapses

Analysis of the transcriptome, proteome, and phosphoproteome at synapses in the mouse brain during daily sleep-wake cycles reveals large dynamic changes (see the Perspective by Cirelli and Tononi). Noya
et al.
found that almost 70% of transcripts showed changes in abundance during daily circadian cycles. Transcripts and proteins associated with synaptic signaling accumulated before the active phase (dusk for these nocturnal animals), whereas messenger RNAs and protein associated with metabolism and translation accumulated before the resting phase. Brüning
et al.
found that half of the 2000 synaptic phosphoproteins quantified showed changes with daily activity-rest cycles. Sleep deprivation abolished nearly all (98%) of these phosphorylation cycles at synapses.

Science
, this issue p.
eaav2642
, p.
eaav3617
; see also p.
189
Global modeling of nature’s contributions to people
Authors: Chaplin-Kramer Rebecca , Sharp Richard P. , Weil Charlotte , Bennett Elena M. , Pascual Unai , Arkema Katie K. , Brauman Kate A. , Bryant Benjamin P. , Guerry Anne D. , Haddad Nick M. , Hamann Maike , Hamel Perrine , Johnson Justin A. , Mandle Lisa , Pereira Henrique M. , Polasky Stephen , Ruckelshaus Mary , Shaw M. Rebecca , Silver Jessica M. , Vogl Adrian L. , Daily Gretchen C.
Published: October 2019

The future of nature's contributions

A recent Global Assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has emphasized the urgent need to determine where and how nature's contribution matters most to people. Chaplin-Kramer
et al.
have developed a globalscale modeling of ecosystem services, focusing on water quality regulation, coastal protection, and crop pollination (see the Perspective by Balvanera). By 2050, up to 5 billion people may be at risk from diminishing ecosystem services, particularly in Africa and South Asia.

Science
, this issue p.
255
; see also p.
184
Control of aversion by glycine-gated GluN1/GluN3A NMDA receptors in the adult medial habenula
Authors: Otsu Y. , Darcq E. , Pietrajtis K. , Mátyás F. , Schwartz E. , Bessaih T. , Abi Gerges S. , Rousseau C. V. , Grand T. , Dieudonné S. , Paoletti P. , Acsády L. , Agulhon C. , Kieffer B. L. , Diana M. A.
Published: October 2019

An inhibitor causes neuronal excitation

Glycine is thought to be primarily an inhibitory neurotransmitter. However, it also acts as a coagonist on excitatory
N
-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Otsu
et al.
examined the function of the NMDA receptor subunit combination GluN1/GluN3A in the medial habenula (MHb) of adult mice. This NMDA receptor subunit combination in MHb neurons is activated by glycine released from astrocytes. Activation of GluN1/GluN3A NMDA receptors causes depolarization and increased spiking of MHb neurons. Reducing GluN3A receptor subunit levels in the MHb blocks conditioned place aversion.

Science
, this issue p.
250
Torsional refrigeration by twisted, coiled, and supercoiled fibers
Authors: Wang Run , Fang Shaoli , Xiao Yicheng , Gao Enlai , Jiang Nan , Li Yaowang , Mou Linlin , Shen Yanan , Zhao Wubin , Li Sitong , Fonseca Alexandre F. , Galvão Douglas S. , Chen Mengmeng , He Wenqian , Yu Kaiqing , Lu Hongbing , Wang Xuemin , Qian Dong , Aliev Ali E. , Li Na , Haines Carter S. , Liu Zhongsheng , Mu Jiuke , Wang Zhong , Yin Shougen , Lima Márcio D. , An Baigang , Zhou Xiang , Liu Zunfeng , Baughman Ray H.
Published: October 2019

Twisting is cool

Rubber bands that are stretched and held in an extended shape for a while will extract heat from their surroundings as they are allowed to relax, owing to a reversal of stress-induced crystallization, which is an exothermic process. Wang
et al.
examine the potential for solid-state cooling of twisted fibers, along with configurations such as supercoiling, for materials including natural rubber, polyethylene, and nickel-titanium fibers. The cooling is related to the change in entropy of the material as it is mechanically deformed.

Science
, this issue p.
216
Direct electrosynthesis of pure aqueous H
2
O
2
solutions up to 20% by weight using a solid electrolyte
Authors: Xia Chuan , Xia Yang , Zhu Peng , Fan Lei , Wang Haotian
Published: October 2019

A direct route to pure peroxide

Despite the widespread use of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant and disinfectant, its commercial synthesis still requires inefficient concentration and purification steps. Xia
et al.
now report an electrochemical approach to synthesizing pure peroxide solutions straight from hydrogen and oxygen. Using a solid-state electrolyte, they avoid contamination of the product solution by extraneous ions. Varying the flow rate of water through the electrochemical cell tunes the final concentration over a range from 0.3% to 20% by weight.

Science
, this issue p.
226
The precautionary tale of golden rice
Golden Rice: The Imperiled Birth of a GMO Superfood
Ed Regis
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019. 256 pp.
Authors: Wight Andrew J.
Published: October 2019

A journalist reveals the complicated history of a crop created to help millions
The promise of phase-change materials
Authors: Gholipour Behrad
Published: October 2019

Improved nonvolatile memory materials could open up new applications
Developmentally regulated KCC2 phosphorylation is essential for dynamic GABA-mediated inhibition and survival
Authors: Watanabe Miho , Zhang Jinwei , Mansuri M. Shahid , Duan Jingjing , Karimy Jason K. , Delpire Eric , Alper Seth L. , Lifton Richard P. , Fukuda Atsuo , Kahle Kristopher T.
Published: October 2019

Homozygous knockin mice reveal critical regulation of the neuronal channel KCC2 in synaptic development.
Tuning the regulator: Phosphorylation of KCC2 at two specific sites is critical for neurodevelopment
Authors: Zamponi Gerald W.
Published: October 2019

Phosphorylation of the K
+
/Cl
−
cotransporter KCC2 underlies neurodevelopmental pathologies (Watanabe
et al.
and Pisella
et al.
, in 15 October 2019 issue).
How to interpret polysomnography
Authors: Leong Kai Wen , Griffiths Amanda , Adams Anne-Marie , Massie John
Published: October 2019

A 5-year-old child presents to a paediatric clinic with their parents because of concerns about snoring, which is loud, every night and associated with respiratory pauses. This has been present for 6 months. Can clinical evaluation diagnose sleep-disordered breathing in children or are further investigations required? Should further investigations include oximetry or polysomnography? If a polysomnogram is performed, how are the results interpreted? In this paper we describe the indications for polysomnography, outline the parameters measured and decode a clinical polysomnography report.
Protective behaviours of near work and time outdoors in myopia prevalence and progression in myopic children: a 2-year prospective population study
Authors: Huang Pin-Chen , Hsiao Ya-Chuan , Tsai Ching-Yao , Tsai Der-Chong , Chen Chi-Wen , Hsu Chih-Chien , Huang Shier-Chieg , Lin Meng-Hui , Liou Yiing-Mei
Published: October 2019

Aim

To investigate the protective behaviours of longer near work distance, discontinuing near work and more time outdoors in recess from parent self-report in the myopia prevalence and progression among myopic children aged 9–11 years.

Methods

Myopia Investigation study in Taipei is a longitudinal population-based study that enrolled elementary school students in Taipei. We provided vision and refraction examination every 6 months. Spherical equivalent (SE) of cycloplegic refraction ≤−0.50 Diopter (D) is defined as myopia. Total 10 743 (70.4%) students completed 2-year refraction data and questionnaire. The myopia prevalence and progression (difference of SE) in baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months were compared by generalised estimating equations.

Results

Children with persistent protective behaviour had significant lower prevalence of myopia. The protective impact was statistically significant from 6 to 24 months. In 2 years follow-up, risk ratio after adjusting the background variables and the other two behaviours in near work distance, near work time and outdoor time were 0.71, 0.89 and 0.77. In SE analysis, after adjusting the other two behaviours, near work distance >30 cm (−0.7 vs −1.04 D; p<0.001), discontinuing near work every 30 min (−0.77 vs −0.96 D, p=0.005) and more time outdoors in recess from parent self-report (−0.75 vs −0.98 D; p=0.012) revealed protective impacts on diminishing myopia progression from 6 to 24 months.

Conclusion

In myopic children aged around 10 years in Taipei, longer distance in near work, discontinuing near work every 30 min and more outdoor time from parent self-report are protective behaviours in myopia prevalence and progression in 6–24 months.
Predictors of treatment response to intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy for choroidal neovascularisation secondary to chronic central serous chorioretinopathy
Authors: Romdhane Khaled , Zola Marta , Matet Alexandre , Daruich Alejandra , Elalouf Martine , Behar-Cohen Francine , Mantel Irmela
Published: October 2019

Purpose

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy on choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) complicating central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) using multimodal imaging, and to identify possible predictive factors of the treatment response.

Design

Retrospective study.

Methods

Data of 27 eyes with CNV complicating CSC treated with anti-VEGF therapy (either ranibizumab or aflibercept) were reviewed. Response to anti-VEGF treatment was evaluated by change in visual acuity, intra/subretinal fluid modifications and CNV changes on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictive factors for central retinal thickness (CRT) change and for the relative degree of treatment response (complete, incomplete or absent fluid reduction).

Results

CRT was significantly reduced at 32±15 days after 2.8±1.3 injections (p=0.0004) as was the subretinal fluid (p=0002). Complete fluid resorption was observed in 45% of cases. Best corrected visual acuity did not significantly improve (p=0.18). CNV area (p=0.09) and CNV flow area (p=0.07) did not significantly decrease. No changes in CNV pattern were noted. Univariate analysis identified greater CRT at baseline (p<0.0001), greater amount of subretinal fluid (p<0.0001), a shorter period of retinal fluid (p=0.04) and female gender (p=0.04) as predictors for CRT reduction. After multivariate analysis the factor of greater CRT at baseline (p<0.0001) proved independent. The degree of treatment response was dependent on the size of CNV surface (p=0.05) and flow area (p=0.05) on OCTA in the univariate analysis, and the latter independent after multivariate analysis. In addition, a shorter time period of retinal fluid appeared to play a role (p=0.01 multivariate, p=0.19 univariate).

Conclusion

The anti-VEGF response was highly variable and often incomplete, suggesting that CNV was not solely responsible for the fluid accumulation. Predictive factors may guide indication for anti-VEGF in CNV associated with CSC.
Efficacy of a new automated method for quantification of corneal neovascularisation
Authors: Kim Young Jae , Yang Hee Kyung , Lee Yun Ji , Hyon Joon Young , Kim Kwang Gi , Han Sang Beom
Published: October 2019

Background/aims

To evaluate the efficacy of a new automated method for quantification of corneal neovascularisation (NV).

Methods

An in-house software for automated measurement of corneal NV was developed. Anterior segment photographs (ASPs) of 81 consecutive patients with corneal NV were analysed using our newly developed software. Manual measurements were performed by three independent examiners using ImageJ software V.1.48 (National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA). Interobserver reliability of the automated and manual methods, and correlations between the results of both methods were evaluated.

Results

The automated method showed a strong interexaminer reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)=0.994), which was slightly better than the manual method (ICC=0.958). A significant correlation was found between the results of both methods (p<0.001 for all three examiners). The time spent for analysis of each ASP was significantly reduced in the automated method compared with the manual method (p<0.001 for all three examiners).

Conclusions

Our newly developed automated method for quantification of corneal NV was more reproducible and time-saving compared with the manual method. Our method can be useful for diagnosis and monitoring diseases causing corneal NV.
Protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial evaluating the effects of moderate hypothermia versus normothermia on mortality in patients with refractory cardiogenic shock rescued by venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) (HYPO-ECMO study)
Authors: Jacquot Audrey , Lepage Xavier , Merckle Ludovic , Girerd Nicolas , Levy Bruno
Published: October 2019

Introduction

Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) is widely used to support the most severe forms of cardiogenic shock (CS). Nevertheless, despite extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use, mortality still remains high (50%). Moderate hypothermia (MH) (33°C–34°C) may improve cardiac performance and decrease ischaemia–reperfusion injuries. The use of MH during VA-ECMO is strongly supported by experimental and preliminary clinical data.

Methods and analysis

The Hypothermia-Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (HYPO-ECMO) study is a multicentre, prospective, controlled randomised trial between an MH group (33°C≤T°C≤34°C) and normothermia group (36°C≤T°C≤37°C). The primary endpoint is all-cause mortality at day 30 following randomisation. The study will also assess as secondary endpoints the effects of targeted temperature management strategies on (1) mortality rate at different time points, (2) organ failure and supportive treatment use and (3) safety. All intubated adults with refractory CS supported with VA-ECMO will be screened. Exclusion criteria are patients having undergone cardiac surgery for heart transplantation or left or biventricular assist device implantation, acute poisoning with cardiotoxic drugs, pregnancy, uncontrolled bleeding and refractory cardiac arrest.

Three-hundred and thirty-four patients will be randomised and followed up to 6 months to detect a 15% difference in mortality. Data analysis will be intention to treat. The differences between the two study groups in the risk of all-cause mortality at day 30 following randomisation will be studied using logistic regression analysis adjusted for postcardiotomy setting, prior cardiac arrest, prior myocardial infarction, age, vasopressor dose, Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score and lactate at randomisation.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval has been granted by the Comité de Protection des Personnes Est III Ethics Committee. The trial has been approved by the French Health Authorities (Agence Nationale de la Sécurité du Médicament et des Produits de Santé). Dissemination of results will be performed via journal articles and presentations at national and international conferences. Since this study is also the first step in the constitution of an ‘ECMO Trials Group’, its results will also be disseminated by the aforementioned group.

Trial registration number

NCT 02754193.
Optimisation of diagnosis and treatment of heart failure in a primary care setting
Authors: Bakhai Smita , Bhardwaj Aishwarya , Phan Huy , Varghese Shane , Gudleski Gregory D , Reynolds Jessica L
Published: October 2019

Background

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of emergency department visits and hospital admissions in the USA. We identified a gap in the diagnosis and the use of guideline-directed medical therapy in patients with HF at the internal medicine clinic.

Aim

To improve the diagnosis and treatment of HF, as well as to reduce emergency department visits and hospitalisation over 12 months in patients aged 40–75 years.

Methods

The multidisciplinary quality improvement (QI) team performed a root cause analysis and identified barriers to optimal guideline-directed medical therapy. Rates of patients on guideline-directed medical therapy with systolic HF diagnosis, emergency department visits and hospital admissions were the outcome measures. The process measures included echocardiogram order and completion rates, and rates of accurate classification of HF from the baseline rate of less than 10%. We used the focus, analyse, develop, execute and evaluate (FADE) model with five improvement cycles. The major components of interventions included (1) leveraging health information technology; (2) optimising teamwork; and (3) providing education to patients, physicians and internal medicine clinic staff. Data were analysed using statistical process control and run charts.

Results

We observed a reduction in the total number of emergency department visits (160 vs 108), hospital admissions (117 vs 114) and observation visits (22 vs 16) comparing the 1-year preproject and 1-year postproject periods. An increase in the use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers occurred from the baseline rate of 20%–37% during the second half of the project and was sustained at 71.4% (median) during 6 months of the postproject period.

Conclusions

We achieved a sustainable increase in the accurate diagnosis of HF and achieved 80% diagnosis during the 6-month poststudy period.
Inequalities in time from stopping paid work to death: findings from the ONS Longitudinal Study, 2001–2011
Authors: Murray Emily T , Carr Ewan , Zaninotto Paola , Head Jenny , Xue Baowen , Stansfeld Stephen , Beach Brian , Shelton Nicola
Published: October 2019

Background

UK state pension eligibility ages are linked to average life expectancy, which ignores wide socioeconomic disparities in both healthy and overall life expectancy.

Objectives

Investigate whether there are occupational social class differences in the amount of time older adults live after they stop work, and how much of these differences are due to health.

Methods

Participants were 76 485 members of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS), who were 50–75 years at the 2001 census and had stopped work by the 2011 census. Over 10 years of follow-up, we used censored linear regression to estimate mean differences in years between stopping work and death by occupational social class.

Results

After adjustment for age, both social class and health were independent predictors of postwork duration (mean difference (95% CI): unskilled class vs professional: 2.7 years (2.4 to 3.1); not good vs good health: 2.4 years (1.9 to 2.9)), with LS members in the three manual classes experiencing ~1 additional year of postwork duration than professional workers (interaction p values all <0.001). Further adjustment for gender and educational qualifications was reduced but did not eliminate social class and postwork duration associations. We estimate the difference in postwork years between professional classes in good health and unskilled workers not in good health as 5.1 years for women (21.0 vs 26.1) and 5.5 years for men (19.5 vs 25.0).

Conclusions

Lower social class groups are negatively affected by uniform state pension ages, because they are more likely to stop work at younger ages due to health reasons.
Greater energy demand of exercise during pregnancy does not impact mechanical efficiency
Authors: Denize Kathryn M. , Akbari Pegah , da Silva Danilo Fernandes , Haman Francois , Adamo Kristi B.
Published: October 2019

Pregnant women are recommended to engage in 150 min of moderate-intensity physical activity per week to reduce pregnancy complications. Many women struggle to remain physically active throughout pregnancy, and there is no consensus about whether women adopt a less efficient movement pattern as they progress through pregnancy and experience gestational weight gain. This study assessed the change in energy expenditure and mechanical efficiency in pregnant women (PREG; n = 10) when performing a walking treadmill task in early, mid, and late pregnancy and also compared with an age- and body mass index-matched, nonpregnant (CON; n = 10) group. On average, the PREG group gained within the Institute of Medicine’s gestational weight gain guidelines (11.6 ± 3.6 kg) and were all inactive (measured using accelerometry), except for 1 participant, by the third trimester, as per the 2019 Canadian physical activity guidelines for pregnant women. Energy expended to complete the walking task increased throughout pregnancy and was higher than the controls (111.5 ± 24.6 kcal) in mid and late pregnancy (139.0 ± 22.2 kcal, p = 0.02, and 147.3 ± 24.6 kcal, p = 0.005, respectively), but not early pregnancy (129.9 ± 18.9 kcal, p = 0.08). Walking mechanical efficiency was similar within pregnant women at each time point and compared to nonpregnant controls. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence demonstrating that pregnant women can safely perform physical activity by showing that walking mechanical efficiency is unchanged at low to moderate intensities.

Novelty Energy demand during exercise increases proportionally to weight gain across pregnancy trimesters. However, mechanical efficiency remains unchanged during low- to moderate-intensity walking.
A meta-analysis of LHC results
Authors: Açıksöz Sevim , Çark Bilal , Kırpıcı Selim Mert , Yıldız Merve , Özcan Veysi Erkcan
Published: October 2019

We report the preliminary results of a meta-analysis conducted to examine possible biases in the uncertainty values published in papers by ATLAS and CMS experiments. We have performed this analysis using two independent techniques: a vectoral analysis of the vector graphics files and a bitmap analysis of the raster graphic files of the exclusion plots from various physics searches. In both procedures, the aim is to compute the percentages of the data points scattered within 1σ and 2σ bands of the plots and verify whether the measured percentages agree with statistical norms, assuming unbiased estimations of the uncertainties.
AAC Bell barley
Authors: Khanal Raja , Choo Thin Meiw , Ter Beek Sharon , MacDonald Doug , Scott Peter , Dion Y. , Rioux S. , Pageau D.
Published: October 2019

AAC Bell is a two-row spring feed barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar with high yield, heavy kernel weight, and good lodging resistance. It was tested as CH2714-4 in the Atlantic Recommending Committee for Cereal Crops (2015–2017), Quebec Recommending Committee for Cereal (2015–2017), and Ontario Cereal Crops Committee (2016–2017) trials before being registered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in 2018. AAC Bell was developed by the Ottawa Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON. AAC Bell is recommended for barley growing areas in eastern Canada.
Glencross hard red extra strong spring wheat
Authors: Humphreys D.G. , McCallum B.D. , Fetch T.G. , Gilbert J.A. , Lukow O.M. , Menzies J.G. , Brown P.D. , Fox S.L.
Published: October 2019

Glencross is a hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) adapted to the wheat-growing regions of the Canadian Prairies, particularly where orange blossom wheat midge is a production constraint. Glencross was evaluated in the High Yielding Red Wheat Cooperative Test in 2004, 2005, and 2006. Glencross had grain yield similar to the Canada Western Extra Strong (CWES) checks, Glenlea and CDC Rama, as well as the Canada Western Red Spring check, Superb; however, Glencross was significantly (P < 0.05) earlier maturing than all checks by 3 (Superb) to 4 (Glenlea and CDC Rama) days. Glencross had plant height and lodging scores similar to the CWES checks, Glenlea and CDC Rama, but was significantly taller and had significantly higher lodging scores compared with the CWRS check, Superb. Glencross was moderately resistant to moderately susceptible to leaf rust but was highly resistant to stem rust and loose smut. Glencross showed an intermediate reaction to common bunt and was similar to the susceptible checks for Fusarium head blight. Glencross is the first CWES cultivar with resistance to the orange blossom wheat midge (Setodiplosis mosellana Géhin). Glencross demonstrated end-use quality suitable for all grades of the Canada Western Extra Strong wheat class.
Exploring the deviation of cosmological constant by a generalized pressure parameterization
Authors: Wang Jun-Chao , Meng Xin-He
Published: October 2019

We bring forward a generalized pressure (GP) parameterization for dark energy to explore the evolution of the universe. This parametric model has covered three common pressure parameterization types and can be reconstructed as quintessence and phantom scalar fields, respectively. We adopt the cosmic chronometer (CC) datasets to constrain the parameters. The results show that the inferred late-universe parameters of the GP parameterization are (within $$1\sigma $$1σ): the present value of Hubble constant $$H_{0}=(72.30^{+1.26}_{-1.37}) \ \hbox {km s}^{-1}\hbox { Mpc}^{-1}$$H0=(72.30-1.37+1.26)kms-1Mpc-1; the matter density parameter $$\Omega _{\text {m0}}=0.302^{+0.046}_{-0.047}$$Ωm0=0.302-0.047+0.046, and the bias of the universe towards quintessence. Then we perform a dynamic analysis on the GP parameterization and find that there is an attractor or a saddle point in the system corresponding to the different values of the parameters. Finally, we discuss the ultimate fate of the universe under the phantom scenario in the GP parameterization. It is demonstrated that the three cases of pseudo rip, little rip, and big rip are all possible.
Physics design of the superconducting section of the CiADS linac
Authors: Liu Shuhui , Wang Zhijun , Tao Yue , He Yuan , Jia Huan , Xie Zaipeng , Dou Weiping , Chen Weilong , Wang Wangsheng , Jia Yongzhi , Wang Chao
Published: October 2019

The proton accelerator of the China Initiative Accelerator Driven Subcritical System (CiADS) adopts the continuous wave (CW) and superconducting technical route, and it may accelerate 5 mA proton beam to 500 MeV in energy. In this paper, the baseline physics design of the superconducting section (SC) and some design choices are discussed, and the error study results are also presented.
Multipole expansion of densities in the deformed relativistic Hartree–Bogoliubov theory in continuum
Authors: Pan Cong , Zhang Kaiyuan , Zhang Shuangquan
Published: October 2019

The deformed relativistic Hartree–Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc) has been proved as one of the best models to probe the exotic structures in deformed nuclei. In DRHBc, the potentials and densities are expressed in terms of the multipole expansion with Legendre polynomials, the dependence on which has only been touched for light nuclei so far. In this paper, taking a light nucleus [Formula: see text]Ne and a heavy nucleus [Formula: see text]U as examples, we investigated the dependence on the multipole expansion of the potentials and densities in DRHBc. It is shown that the total energy converges well with the expansion truncation both in the absence of and presence of the pairing correlation, either in the ground state or at a constrained quadrupole deformation. It is found that to reach the same accuracy of the total energy, even to the same relative accuracy by percent, a larger truncation is required by a heavy nucleus than a light one. The dependence of the total energy on the truncation increases with deformation. By decompositions of the neutron density distribution, it is shown that a higher-order component has a smaller contribution. With the increase of deformation, the high-order components get larger, while at the same deformation, the high-order components of a heavy nucleus play a more important role than that of a light one.
FRACTIONAL DIFFUSION-LIMITED AGGREGATION: ANISOTROPY ORIGINATING FROM MEMORY
Authors: WANG YUPIN , LIU SHUTANG , LI HUI
Published: October 2019

This paper introduces a modified DLA model, based on a fractional diffusion mechanism, as a novel approach to modeling fractal growth. The specific memory performance of fractional operators can be reflected macroscopically in aggregated patterns eventually. The influence of the model’s order on the structure and behavior of its pattern is further quantitatively described by anisotropy index and fractal dimension. Some simulations are provided to illustrate the correctness and effectiveness of the main results.
THE DISTAL AND ASYMPTOTIC SETS FOR CONTINUED FRACTIONS
Authors: LIU WEIBIN , WANG SHUAILING
Published: October 2019

For continued fraction dynamical system [Formula: see text], we give a classification of the underlying space [Formula: see text] according to the orbit of a given point [Formula: see text]. The sizes of all classes are determined from the viewpoints of measure, Hausdorff dimension and topology. For instance, the Hausdorff dimension of the distal set of [Formula: see text] is one and the Hausdorff dimension of the asymptotic set is either zero or [Formula: see text] according to [Formula: see text] is rational or not.
NANOSCALE PORE SIZE DISTRIBUTION EFFECTS ON GAS PRODUCTION FROM FRACTAL SHALE ROCKS
Authors: XU JINZE , WU KELIU , LI RAN , LI ZANDONG , LI JING , XU QILU , LI LINKAI , CHEN ZHANGXIN
Published: October 2019

Effect of nanoscale pore size distribution (PSD) on shale gas production is one of the challenges to be addressed by the industry. An improved approach to study multi-scale real gas transport in fractal shale rocks is proposed to bridge nanoscale PSD and gas filed production. This approach is well validated with field tests. Results indicate the gas production is underestimated without considering a nanoscale PSD. A PSD with a larger fractal dimension in pore size and variance yields a higher fraction of large pores; this leads to a better gas transport capacity; this is owing to a higher free gas transport ratio. A PSD with a smaller fractal dimension yields a lower cumulative gas production; this is because a smaller fractal dimension results in the reduction of gas transport efficiency. With an increase in the fractal dimension in pore size and variance, an apparent permeability-shifting effect is less obvious, and the sensitivity of this effect to a nanoscale PSD is also impaired. Higher fractal dimensions and variances result in higher cumulative gas production and a lower sensitivity of gas production to a nanoscale PSD, which is due to a better gas transport efficiency. The shale apparent permeability-shifting effect to nanoscale is more sensitive to a nanoscale PSD under a higher initial reservoir pressure, which makes gas production more sensitive to a nanoscale PSD. The findings of this study can help to better understand the influence of a nanoscale PSD on gas flow capacity and gas production.
SMALL-WORLD AND SCALE-FREE PROPERTIES OF THE n-DIMENSIONAL SIERPINSKI CUBE NETWORKS
Authors: ZENG CHENG , ZHOU MENG , XUE YUMEI
Published: October 2019

In this paper, we construct evolving networks from [Formula: see text]-dimensional Sierpinski cube. Using the self-similarity of Sierpinski cube, we show the evolving networks have scale-free and small-world properties.
Multifractal formalism for the inverse of random weak Gibbs measures
Authors: Yuan Zhihui
Published: October 2019

Any Borel probability measure supported on a Cantor set included in [Formula: see text] and of zero Lebesgue measure on the real line possesses a discrete inverse measure. We study the validity of the multifractal formalism for the inverse measures of random weak Gibbs measures. The study requires, in particular, to develop in this context of random dynamics a suitable version of the results known for heterogeneous ubiquity associated with deterministic Gibbs measures.
Doubling pre-Lie algebra of rooted trees
Authors: Belhaj Mohamed Mohamed
Published: October 2019

We study the pre-Lie algebra of rooted trees [Formula: see text] and we define a pre-Lie structure on its doubling space [Formula: see text]. Also, we find the enveloping algebras of the two pre-Lie algebras denoted, respectively, by [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. We prove that [Formula: see text] is a module-bialgebra on [Formula: see text] and we find some relations between the two pre-Lie structures.
Reorganizing topologies of Steiner trees to accelerate their eliminations
Authors: Grodet Aymeric , Tsuchiya Takuya
Published: October 2019

We describe a technique to reorganize topologies of Steiner trees by exchanging neighbors of adjacent Steiner points. We explain how to use the systematic way of building trees, and therefore topologies, to find the correct topology after nodes have been exchanged. Topology reorganizations can be inserted into the enumeration scheme commonly used by exact algorithms for the Euclidean Steiner tree problem in [Formula: see text]-space, providing a method of improvement different than the usual approaches. As an example, we show how topology reorganizations can be used to dynamically change the exploration of the usual branch-and-bound tree when two Steiner points collide during the optimization process. We also turn our attention to the erroneous use of a pre-optimization lower bound in the original algorithm and give an example to confirm its usage is incorrect. In order to provide numerical results on correct solutions, we use planar equilateral points to quickly compute this lower bound, even in dimensions higher than two. Finally, we describe planar twin trees, identical trees yielded by different topologies, whose generalization to higher dimensions could open a new way of building Steiner trees.
Synthesizing Facial Photometries and Corresponding Geometries Using Generative Adversarial Networks
Authors: Shamai Gil , Slossberg Ron , Kimmel Ron
Published: October 2019

Artificial data synthesis is currently a well-studied topic with useful applications in data science, computer vision, graphics, and many other fields. Generating realistic data is especially challenging, since human perception is highly sensitive to non-realistic appearance. In recent times, new levels of realism have been achieved by advances in GAN training procedures and architectures. These successful models, however, are tuned mostly for use with regularly sampled data such as images, audio, and video. Despite the successful application of the architecture on these types of media, applying the same tools to geometric data poses a far greater challenge. The study of geometric deep learning is still a debated issue within the academic community, as the lack of intrinsic parametrization inherent to geometric objects prohibits the direct use of convolutional filters, a main building block of today’s machine learning systems.

In this article, we propose a new method for generating realistic human facial geometries coupled with overlayed textures. We circumvent the parametrization issue by utilizing a specialized non-rigid alignment procedure, and imposing a global mapping from our data to the unit rectangle. This mapping enables the representation of our geometric data as regularly sampled 2D images. We further discuss how to design such a mapping to control the distortion and conserve area within the target image. By representing geometric textures and geometries as images, we are able to use advanced GAN methodologies to generate new plausible textures and geometries. We address the often-neglected topic of relationship between texture and geometry and propose different methods for fitting generated geometries to generated textures. In addition, we widen the scope of our discussion and offer a new method for training GAN models on partially corrupted data. Finally, we provide empirical evidence demonstrating our generative model’s ability to produce examples of new facial identities, independent from the training data, while maintaining a high level of realism—two traits that are often at odds.