bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mindfulness Training Enhances Endurance Performance and Executive Functions in Athletes: An Event-Related Potential Study
Authors: Nien Jui-Ti , Wu Chih-Han , Yang Kao-Teng , Cho Yu-Min , Chu Chien-Heng , Chang Yu-Kai , Zhou Chenglin
Published: August 2020

Mindfulness interventions have been linked to improved sport performance and executive functions; however, few studies have explored the effects of mindfulness on sport performance and executive functions simultaneously. This study sought to examine whether a mindfulness training program would affect both the endurance performance and executive functions of athletes. In addition, event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with the Stroop task were assessed to investigate the potential electrophysiological activation associated with the mindfulness training. Applying a quasiexperimental design, forty-six university athletes were recruited and assigned into a five-week mindfulness training program or a waiting list control group. For each participant, the mindfulness level, endurance performance assessed by a graded exercise test, executive functions assessed via Stroop task, and N2 component of ERPs were measured prior to and following the 5-week intervention. After adjusting for the preintervention scores as a covariate, it was found that the postintervention mindfulness level, exhaustion time, and Stroop task accuracy scores, regardless of task condition, of the mindfulness group were higher than those of the control group. The mindfulness group also exhibited a smaller N2 amplitude than the control group. These results suggest that the five-week mindfulness program can enhance the mindfulness level, endurance performance, and multiple cognitive functions, including executive functions, of university athletes. Mindfulness training may also reduce conflict monitoring in neural processes.
Remaining Useful Life Prediction Techniques of Electric Valves for Nuclear Power Plants with Convolution Kernel and LSTM
Authors: Wang Hang , Peng Min-jun , Liu Yong-kuo , Liu Shi-wen , Xu Ren-yi , Saeed Hanan
Published: August 2020

Electric valves have significant importance in industrial applications, especially in nuclear power plants. Keeping in view the quantity and criticality of valves in any plant, it is necessary to analyze the degradation of electric valves. However, it is difficult to inspect each valve in conventional maintenance. Keeping in view the quantity and criticality of valves in any plant, it is necessary to analyze the degradation of electric valves. Thus, there exists a genuine demand for remote sensing of a valve condition through nonintrusive methods as well as prediction of its remaining useful life (RUL). In this paper, typical aging modes have been summarized. The data for sensing valve conditions were gathered during aging experiments through acoustic emission sensors. During data processing, convolution kernel integrated with LSTM is utilized for feature extraction. Subsequently, LSTM which has an excellent ability in sequential analysis is used for predicting RUL. Experiments show that the proposed method could predict RUL more accurately compared to other typical machine learning and deep learning methods. This will further enhance maintenance efficiency of any plant.
Fractography and Tensile Properties of AA6061 Aluminium Alloy/Rice Husk Ash Silicon Nanocomposite
Authors: Udoye N. E. , Fayomi O. S. I. , Inegbenebor A. O.
Published: August 2020

The unstoppable quest for low-cost reinforcing agent gingered the enthusiasm towards developing and utilising the agro-based waste product as reinforcement since they are promptly accessible, sustainable, and inexpensive to purchase. In this study, AA6061/rice husk ash matrix composites were produced through metallurgical stir casting techniques. Different weight percentages of reinforcement in the range of 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% were used to fabricate the composites. The reinforced composites were characterized by SEM/EDS for microstructural study. The mechanical behaviour was examined for all the produced samples. SEM/EDS analysis revealed the presence of silica, a major constituent of rice husk ash in the produced composites. The results of the mechanical behaviour show that upgrading the weight percentage of reinforcing agent increases the mechanical properties. AA6061/8% rice hush ash generated a consistent rise with filler concentration in comparison with the aluminium alloy in all operating functions.
Combined Effects of Graded Foraminotomy and Annular Defect on Biomechanics after Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Decompression: A Finite Element Study
Authors: Zhang Yefeng , Li Yan , Xue Jingcai , Li Yang , Yang Guihua , Wang Guodong , Li Tao , Wang Junqin
Published: August 2020

Percutaneous endoscopic technology has been widely used in the treatment of lumbar disc stenosis and herniation. However, the quantitative influence of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar decompression on spinal biomechanics of the L5–S1 lumbosacral segment remains poorly understood. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the combined effects on the biomechanics of different grades of foraminotomy and annular defect for the L5–S1 segment. A 3D, nonlinear, detailed finite element model of L4–S1 was established and validated. Changes in biomechanical responses upon stimulation to the intact spine during different degrees of resection were analyzed. Measurements included intervertebral rotation, intradiscal pressure, and the strain of disc structure under flexion, extension, left/right lateral bending, and left/right axial rotation under pure bending moments and physiological loads. Compared with the intact model, under prefollower load, annular defect slightly decreased intervertebral rotation by −5.0% in extension and 2.2% in right axial rotation and significantly increased the mean strain of the exposed disc by 237.7% in all loading cases. For right axial rotation, unilateral total foraminotomy with an annular detect increased intervertebral rotation by 29.5% and intradiscal pressure by 57.6% under pure bending moment while the maximum corresponding values were 9.8% and 6.6% when the degree of foraminotomy was below 75%, respectively. These results indicate that percutaneous endoscopic lumbar foraminotomy highly maintains spinal stability, even if the effect of annular detect is taken into account, when the unilateral facet is not totally removed. Patients should avoid excessive extension and axial rotation after surgery on L5–S1. The postoperative open annular defect may substantially increase the risk of recurrent disc herniation.
Extensive Aplasia Cutis Congenita Encircling the Trunk Associated with Fetus Papyraceus
Authors: Leung Alexander K. C. , Leong Kin Fon , Lam Joseph M.
Published: August 2020

Aplasia cutis congenita associated with fetus papyraceus, though rare, is well known. On the other hand, aplasia cutis congenita associated with fetus papyraceus presenting with symmetrical circumferential scarring encircling the trunk has not been previously reported. Herein, we report a 2-month-old girl with symmetrical circumferential scarring encircling the trunk associated with fetus papyraceus.
Five-Month Follow-Up Assessing Defecography and Urodynamics after Laparoscopic Nerve-Sparing Colorectal Resection for Endometriosis
Authors: Crispi Claudio Peixoto , Crispi Claudio Peixoto , Brandão Salomão Alice Cristina Coelho , Joaquim Claudia Maria Vale , de Oliveira Bruna Rafaela Santos , Fonseca Marlon de Freitas
Published: August 2020

Introduction. Large resections may be necessary in cytoreductive surgery for endometriosis, which present risk of urinary and bowel complications. Presentation of Case. A 29-year-old woman underwent multidisciplinary laparoscopy for endometriosis in a private practice setting for acyclic pelvic pain and cyclic abdominal distension with changes in bowel habits and frequent sensation of incomplete defecation. After surgery, urodynamics remained normal and bowel function improved subjectively and objectively per dynamic magnetic resonance defecography (DMRD). The five-month follow-up found improvements in pain scores, bowel function, and health-related quality of life (assessed by the full versions of the Short Form 36 and Endometriosis Health Profile 30 scales). Discussion. Animus may contribute to the bowel symptoms in women with endometriosis. DMRD provides additional objective parameters for comparing pre- and postoperative functions. Conclusion. A nerve-sparing segmental rectosigmoidectomy for endometriosis carefully executed by a multidisciplinary team can preserve the function of different pelvic organs.
The Optimization of the Location of the Cargo in Three-Dimension Shelf: Employing the FP-Tree and the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithms
Authors: Zhang Shuiwang , Fu Linping , Wang Rui , Chen Rong
Published: August 2020

The allocation issues of the location of the cargo have affected the operational efficiency of retail e-commerce warehouses tremendously. Adjusting the cargo location with the change of the order and the operation of the warehouse is a significant research area. A novel approach employing the FP-Tree and the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithms is proposed. Firstly, energy consumption and shelf stability are employed for the location-allocation. Secondly, the association rules among product items are obtained by the FP-Tree Algorithm to mine frequent list of items. Furthermore, the frequency and the weight of product items are taken into account to ensure the local stability of the shelf during data mining. Thirdly, another method of the location-allocation is obtained with the objectives of the energy consumption and the overall shelf stability along with the frequent items stored nearby that is conducted by the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm. Finally, the picking order distance is obtained through two methods of the location-allocation above. The performance and efficiency of the novel introduced method have been confirmed by running the experiment. The outcomes of the simulation suggest that the introduced method has a higher performance concerning criterion called the picking order distance.
Customized Bus Route Optimization with the Real-Time Data
Authors: Huang Kai , Xu Lin , Chen Yao , Cheng Qixiu , An Kun
Published: August 2020

This paper investigates the real-time customized bus (CB) route optimization problem, which aims to maximize the service rate for clients and profits for operators. The on-road bus has a flexible route, which can be updated based on the real-time data and route optimization solutions. A two-phase framework is established. In phase 1, the vehicle-related data including existing route and schedule, client-related data involving pick-up/drop-off location, and time windows are collected once receiving a new CB request. The second phase optimizes the bus route by establishing three nonlinear programming models under the given data from phase 1. A concept of profit difference is introduced to decide the served demand. To improve computation efficiency, a real-time search algorithm is proposed that the neighboring buses are tested one by one. Finally, a numerical study based on Sioux Falls network reveals the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The results indicate that the real-time route optimization can be achieved within the computation time of 0.17–0.38 seconds.
Prediction of Passive Torque on Human Shoulder Joint Based on BPANN
Authors: Li Shuyang , Dario Paolo , Song Zhibin
Published: August 2020

In upper limb rehabilitation training by exploiting robotic devices, the qualitative or quantitative assessment of human active effort is conducive to altering the robot control parameters to offer the patients appropriate assistance, which is considered an effective rehabilitation strategy termed as assist-as-needed. Since active effort of a patient is changeable for the conscious or unconscious behavior, it is considered to be more feasible to determine the distributions of the passive resistance of the patient’s joints versus the joint angle in advance, which can be adopted to assess the active behavior of patients combined with the measurement of robotic sensors. However, the overintensive measurements can impose a burden on patients. Accordingly, a prediction method of shoulder joint passive torque based on a Backpropagation neural network (BPANN) was proposed in the present study to expand the passive torque distribution of the shoulder joint of a patient with less measurement data. The experiments recruiting three adult male subjects were conducted, and the results revealed that the BPANN exhibits high prediction accurate for each direction shoulder passive torque. The results revealed that the BPANN can learn the nonlinear relationship between the passive torque and the position of the shoulder joint and can make an accurate prediction without the need to build a force distribution function in advance, making it possible to draw up an assist-as-needed strategy with high accuracy while reducing the measurement burden of patients and physiotherapists.
The Effects of Carbendazim on Acute Toxicity, Development, and Reproduction in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Li Jie , Zhou Xinghua , Zhang Caiqin , Zhao Yansheng , Zhu Ying , Zhang Jiayan , Bai Juan , Xiao Xiang
Published: August 2020

Carbendazim, as a fungicide, was commonly used to control fungal diseases in agriculture, forestry, and veterinary medicines. In this study, the acute and reproductive toxicity of carbendazim was assessed using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model in order to preliminarily evaluate the potential risks of this fungicide in agricultural production and application. The results showed that the growth of C. elegans was inhibited by 0.01 μg/L carbendazim. The treatment of 0.1 μg/L carbendazim caused a significant decrease in locomotion behavior and significant damage to the reproductive and antioxidant system, causing the lifespan of nematodes to be drastically shortened. These results provide a better understanding of the environmental risk of carbendazim and raise new concerns about safety.
A Radar Signal Recognition Approach via IIF-Net Deep Learning Models
Authors: Li Ji , Zhang Huiqiang , Ou Jianping , Wang Wei
Published: August 2020

In the increasingly complex electromagnetic environment of modern battlefields, how to quickly and accurately identify radar signals is a hotspot in the field of electronic countermeasures. In this paper, USRP N210, USRP-LW N210, and other general software radio peripherals are used to simulate the transmitting and receiving process of radar signals, and a total of 8 radar signals, namely, Barker, Frank, chaotic, P1, P2, P3, P4, and OFDM, are produced. The signal obtains time-frequency images (TFIs) through the Choi–Williams distribution function (CWD). According to the characteristics of the radar signal TFI, a global feature balance extraction module (GFBE) is designed. Then, a new IIF-Net convolutional neural network with fewer network parameters and less computation cost has been proposed. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) range is −10 to 6 dB in the experiments. The experiments show that when the SNR is higher than −2 dB, the signal recognition rate of IIF-Net is as high as 99.74%, and the signal recognition accuracy is still 92.36% when the SNR is −10 dB. Compared with other methods, IIF-Net has higher recognition rate and better robustness under low SNR.
Histone Demethylase KDM4C Is Required for Ovarian Cancer Stem Cell Maintenance
Authors: Chen Guo-Qing , Ye Ping , Ling Rong-Song , Zeng Fa , Zhu Xiong-Shan , Chen Lu , Huang Yan , Xu Ling , Xie Xiao-Ying
Published: August 2020

Ovarian cancer is a highly deadly disease, which is often diagnosed at a late stage with metastases. However, most ovarian cancers relapse after surgery combined with platinum-based chemotherapy. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are stem-like cells that possess high tumorigenic capability and display higher resistant capability against current therapies. However, our knowledge of ovarian CSCs and their molecular mechanism remains sparse. In the current study, we found that KDM4C, a histone demethylase, was required for ovarian cancer stem cell (CSC) maintenance. Depletion of KDM4C significantly reduced the CSC population and sphere formation in vitro. Moreover, we found that KDM4C can regulate the expression of stem cell factor OCT-4 via binding to its promoter. These data indicate that KDM4C is relevant for ovarian CSC maintenance and underscore its importance as a potential therapeutic target.
Investigation of Stochastic Seismic Response and Index Correlation of an Arch Dam Using Endurance Time Analysis Method
Authors: Xu Qiang , Xu Shutong , Chen Jianyun , Li Jing
Published: August 2020

The seismic dynamic response and correlation between various indicators of an arch dam under a series of stochastic earthquake excitation are analysed. Seismic response assessment of a concrete arch dam is conducted through nonlinear endurance time analysis (ETA) of a typical arch dam. The 289 m high Baihetan arch dam in Southwest China (as a case study) is subjected to a set of 10 three‐component endurance time acceleration histories (ETAHs) synthesised on the basis of the design site acceleration response spectrum to increasing peak ground acceleration (PGA). The effects of dam‐reservoir‐foundation interaction, radiation damping of infinite rock foundation, and nonlinearities of dam material and joint contact elements are considered. The indices to failure modes of damage propagation through the dam body and the deformation and joint opening beyond the limit states of the arch dam are identified. Dynamic responses, including deformation, joint opening, and damage distribution, are statistically analysed. The dispersion and correlation of indicators are analysed by employing the coefficient of variation and coefficient of correlation, respectively. The deterministic relationships between contraction joint opening, displacement, and damage volume ratio are obtained by using a multivariate fitting method. The results show that those failure indices have similar exponential trends, and seismic intensity parameters exert a significant influence on seismic response and damage under increasing PGA. The results of correlation and fragility analysis demonstrate that damage volume ratio and the sum of joint opening are consistent, which can provide a strong scientific basis for predicting earthquake damage.
An Algorithm ofl1-Norm andl0-Norm Regularization Algorithm for CT Image Reconstruction from Limited Projection
Authors: Li Xiezhang , Feng Guocan , Zhu Jiehua
Published: August 2020

Thel1-norm regularization has attracted attention for image reconstruction in computed tomography. Thel0-norm of the gradients of an image provides a measure of the sparsity of gradients of the image. In this paper, we present a new combinedl1-norm andl0-norm regularization model for image reconstruction from limited projection data in computed tomography. We also propose an algorithm in the algebraic framework to solve the optimization effectively using the nonmonotone alternating direction algorithm with hard thresholding method. Numerical experiments indicate that this new algorithm makes much improvement by involvingl0-norm regularization.
Adaptive Residual Channel Attention Network for Single Image Super-Resolution
Authors: Cao Kerang , Liu Yuqing , Duan Lini , Xie Tian
Published: August 2020

Single image super-resolution (SISR) is a traditional image restoration problem. Given an image with low resolution (LR), the task of SISR is to find the homologous high-resolution (HR) image. As an ill-posed problem, there are works for SISR problem from different points of view. Recently, deep learning has shown its amazing performance in different image processing tasks. There are works for image super-resolution based on convolutional neural network (CNN). In this paper, we propose an adaptive residual channel attention network for image super-resolution. We first analyze the limitation of residual connection structure and propose an adaptive design for suitable feature fusion. Besides the adaptive connection, channel attention is proposed to adjust the importance distribution among different channels. A novel adaptive residual channel attention block (ARCB) is proposed in this paper with channel attention and adaptive connection. Then, a simple but effective upscale block design is proposed for different scales. We build our adaptive residual channel attention network (ARCN) with proposed ARCBs and upscale block. Experimental results show that our network could not only achieve better PSNR/SSIM performances on several testing benchmarks but also recover structural textures more effectively.
A Damage-Tolerant Task Assignment Algorithm for UAV Swarm in Confrontational Environments
Authors: Chen Chao , Bao Weidong , Men Tong , Zhou Wen , Liu Daqian , Ma Li
Published: August 2020

As Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are widely used in many applications, a lot of military missions in confrontational environments are being undertaken by UAV swarm rather than human beings due to its advantages. In confrontational environments, the reliability and availability of UAV swarm would be the major concern because of UAVs’ vulnerability, so damage-tolerant task assigning algorithms are of great importance. In this paper, we come up with a novel damage-tolerant framework for assigning real-time tasks to UAVs with dynamical states in confrontational environments. Different from existing scheduling methods, we not only assign tasks but also back up copies of tasks to UAVs when needed, to promote reliability. Meanwhile, we adopt an overlapping mechanism, including Backup-Primary overlapping and Backup-Backup overlapping, in assignment to save the limited swarm resources. On the basis of the damage-tolerant and overlapping mechanism, for the first time, we propose a new damage-tolerant task assignment algorithm named DTTA, aiming at promoting the task success probability. Extensive experiments are conducted based on random synthetic workloads to compare DTTA with three baseline algorithms. The experimental results indicate that DTTA can efficiently promote the probability of tasks’ success without affecting the effectiveness of swarms in confrontational environments.
Systematic Study of the Immune Components after Ischemic Stroke Using CyTOF Techniques
Authors: Li Yaning , Wang Yan , Yao Yang , Griffiths Brian B. , Feng Liangshu , Tao Tao , Wang Feng , Xu Baohui , Stary Creed M. , Zhao Heng
Published: August 2020

Stroke induces a robust inflammatory response. However, it still lacks a systematic view of the various immune cell types due to the limited numbers of fluorophore used in the traditional FACS technique. In our current study, we utilized the novel technique mass cytometry (CyTOF) to analyze multiple immune cell types. We detected these immune cells from the ischemic brain, peripheral blood, spleen, and bone marrow at different time courses after stroke. Our data showed (1) dynamic changes in the immune cell numbers in the ischemic brain and peripheral organs. (2) The expression levels of cell surface markers indicate the inflammation response status after stroke. Interestingly, CD62L, a key adhesion molecule, regulates the migration of leukocytes from blood vessels into secondary lymphoid tissues and peripheral tissues. (3) A strong leukocyte network across the brain and peripheral immune organs was identified using the R program at day 1 after ischemia, suggesting that the peripheral immune cells dramatically migrated into the ischemic areas after stroke. This study provides a systematic, wide view of the immune components in the brain and peripheral organs for a deep understanding of the immune response after ischemic stroke.
An Extended Car-Following Model considering the Driver’s Desire for Smooth Driving and Self-Stabilizing Control with Velocity Uncertainty
Authors: Li Shihao , Wang Ting , Cheng Rongjun , Ge Hongxia
Published: August 2020

In this paper, an extended car-following model with consideration of the driver’s desire for smooth driving and the self-stabilizing control in historical velocity data is constructed. Moreover, for better reflecting the reality, we also integrate the velocity uncertainty into the new model to analyze the internal characteristics of traffic flow in situation where the historical velocity data are uncertain. Then, the model’s linear stability condition is inferred by utilizing linear stability analysis, and the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation is also obtained to depict the evolution properties of traffic congestion. According to the theoretical analysis, we observe that the degree of traffic congestion is alleviated when the control signal is considered, and the historical time gap and the velocity uncertainty also play a role in affecting the stability of traffic flow. Finally, some numerical simulation experiments are implemented and the experiments’ results demonstrate that the control signals including the self-stabilizing control, the driver’s desire for smooth driving, the historical time gap, and the velocity uncertainty are of avail to improve the traffic jam, which are consistent with the theoretical analytical results.
Icosahedral Group and Classification of PSL(2, Z)-Orbits of Real Quadratic Fields
Authors: Chen Tianlan , Bari Muhammad Nadeem , Malik Muhammad Aslam , Afzal Siddiqui Hafiz Muhammad , Liu Jia-Bao
Published: August 2020

Reduced numbers play an important role in the study of modular group action on the PSL2,ℤ-subset of Qm/Q. For this purpose, we define new notions of equivalent, cyclically equivalent, and similar G-circuits in PSL2,ℤ-orbits of real quadratic fields. In particular, we classify PSL2,ℤ-orbits of Qm/Q=∪k∈NQ∗k2m containing G-circuits of length 6 and determine that the number of equivalence classes of G-circuits of length 6 is ten. We also employ the icosahedral group to explore cyclically equivalence classes of circuits and similar G-circuits of length 6 corresponding to each of these ten circuits. This study also helps us in classifying reduced numbers lying in the PSL2,ℤ-orbits.
Short-Term Prediction of Electronic Transformer Error Based on Intelligent Algorithms
Authors: Ye Yuanyu , Yang Aichao , Wu Yu , Hu Chen , Li Min , Li Yan , Deng Xiaosong
Published: August 2020

As the key metering equipment in the smart grid, the measurement accuracy and stability of electronic transformer are important for the normal operation of power system. In order to solve the problem that there is no effective way to predict the error developing trend of electronic transformer, this paper proposed two kinds of short-term prediction methods for electronic transformer error based on the backpropagation neural network and the Prophet model, respectively. First, preprocessing and visualization operation are performed on the original error data. Then, the data fitting and short-term prediction of electronic transformer error are made on the basis of the backpropagation neural network and the Prophet model, and the fitting and prediction results of the two methods are compared and analysed in combination with four evaluation indexes. Finally, the Prophet model is adopted to simulate the development trend and periodic fluctuation of error, and the reason for fluctuation is analysed. The simulation results show that the Prophet model is more suitable for the prediction of electronic transformer measurement error than the backpropagation neural network.
Initial Invasive Versus Conservative Management of Stable Ischemic Heart Disease in Patients With a History of Heart Failure or Left Ventricular Dysfunction
Authors: Lopes Renato D. , Alexander Karen P. , Stevens Susanna R. , Reynolds Harmony R. , Stone Gregg W. , Piña Ileana L. , Rockhold Frank W. , Elghamaz Ahmed , Lopez-Sendon Jose Luis , Farsky Pedro S. , Chernyavskiy Alexander M. , Diaz Ariel , Phaneuf Denis , De Belder Mark A. , Ma Yi-tong , Guzman Luis A. , Khouri Michel , Sionis Alessandro , Hausenloy Derek J. , Doerr Rolf , Selvanayagam Joseph B. , Maggioni Aldo Pietro , Hochman Judith S. , Maron David J.
Published: August 2020

Background:

Whether an initial invasive strategy in patients with stable ischemic heart disease and at least moderate ischemia improves outcomes in the setting of a history of heart failure (HF) or left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) when ejection fraction is ≥35% but <45% is unknown.

Methods:

Among 5179 participants randomized into ISCHEMIA (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches), all of whom had left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥35%, we compared cardiovascular outcomes by treatment strategy in participants with a history of HF/LVD at baseline versus those without HF/LVD. Median follow-up was 3.2 years.

Results:

There were 398 (7.7%) participants with HF/LVD at baseline, of whom 177 had HF/LVEF >45%, 28 HF/LVEF 35% to 45%, and 193 LVEF 35% to 45% but no history of HF. HF/LVD was associated with more comorbidities at baseline, particularly previous myocardial infarction, stroke, and hypertension. Compared with patients without HF/LVD, participants with HF/LVD were more likely to experience a primary outcome composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or hospitalization for unstable angina, HF, or resuscitated cardiac arrest (4-year cumulative incidence rate, 22.7% versus 13.8%; cardiovascular death or myocardial infarction, 19.7% versus 12.3%; and all-cause death or HF, 15.0% versus 6.9%). Participants with HF/LVD randomized to the invasive versus conservative strategy had a lower rate of the primary outcome (17.2% versus 29.3%; difference in 4-year event rate, −12.1% [95% CI, −22.6 to −1.6%]), whereas those without HF/LVD did not (13.0% versus 14.6%; difference in 4-year event rate, −1.6% [95% CI, −3.8% to 0.7%];
P
interaction = 0.055). A similar differential effect was seen for the primary outcome, all-cause mortality, and cardiovascular mortality when invasive versus conservative strategy–associated outcomes were analyzed with LVEF as a continuous variable for patients with and without previous HF.

Conclusions:

ISCHEMIA participants with stable ischemic heart disease and at least moderate ischemia with a history of HF or LVD were at increased risk for the primary outcome. In the small, high-risk subgroup with HF and LVEF 35% to 45%, an initial invasive approach was associated with better event-free survival. This result should be considered hypothesis-generating.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT01471522.
Colchicine in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome
Authors: Tong David C. , Quinn Stephen , Nasis Arthur , Hiew Chin , Roberts-Thomson Philip , Adams Heath , Sriamareswaran Rumes , Htun Nay M. , Wilson William , Stub Dion , van Gaal William , Howes Laurie , Collins Nicholas , Yong Andy , Bhindi Ravinay , Whitbourn Robert , Lee Astin , Hengel Chris , Asrress Kaleab , Freeman Melanie , Amerena John , Wilson Andrew , Layland Jamie
Published: August 2020

Background:

Inflammation plays a crucial role in clinical manifestations and complications of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Colchicine, a commonly used treatment for gout, has recently emerged as a novel therapeutic option in cardiovascular medicine owing to its anti-inflammatory properties. We sought to determine the potential usefulness of colchicine treatment in patients with ACS.

Methods:

This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 17 hospitals in Australia that provide acute cardiac care service. Eligible participants were adults (18–85 years) who presented with ACS and had evidence of coronary artery disease on coronary angiography managed with either percutaneous coronary intervention or medical therapy. Patients were assigned to receive either colchicine (0.5 mg twice daily for the first month, then 0.5 mg daily for 11 months) or placebo, in addition to standard secondary prevention pharmacotherapy, and were followed up for a minimum of 12 months. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality, ACS, ischemia-driven (unplanned) urgent revascularization, and noncardioembolic ischemic stroke in a time to event analysis.

Results:

A total of 795 patients were recruited between December 2015 and September 2018 (mean age, 59.8±10.3 years; 21% female), with 396 assigned to the colchicine group and 399 to the placebo group. Over the 12-month follow-up, there were 24 events in the colchicine group compared with 38 events in the placebo group (
P
=0.09, log-rank). There was a higher rate of total death (8 versus 1;
P
=0.017, log-rank) and, in particular, noncardiovascular death in the colchicine group (5 versus 0;
P
=0.024, log-rank). The rates of reported adverse effects were not different (colchicine 23.0% versus placebo 24.3%), and they were predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms (colchicine, 23.0% versus placebo, 20.8%).

Conclusions:

The addition of colchicine to standard medical therapy did not significantly affect cardiovascular outcomes at 12 months in patients with ACS and was associated with a higher rate of mortality.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.anzctr.org.au
; Unique identifier: ACTRN12615000861550.
Sex and Power in Cassius Dio’s Roman History
Authors: Chrysanthou Chrysanthos S.
Published: August 2020

This article contributes to our understanding of Dio’s technique of using sexual discourse as a useful tool of characterisation and ethical and historical interpretation. It also aims to advance our understanding of the role of sexual-moral critique in ancient historiography more generally. In the first part, it argues that comments on sexual matters in Dio’s history contribute to the construction of imperial portraits and the evaluation of an emperor. Sexual transgressions regularly coalesce with other bad characteristics of a ruler and his overall tyrannical behaviour. In the second part it is suggested that Dio’s representation of Elagabalus is considerably peculiar in terms of both its narrative technique and content, including themes and stories that unfold in signiﬁcantly different and unexpected ways. Sexual misconduct is not simply associated with other vices, but is also used as a significant stand-alone category in the historian’s assessment of Elagabalus’ character and reign. This understanding of Dio’s technique, it is proposed, makes not only a historiographical point, but also a significant historical one about Elagabalus, his rule, and the state of the Roman Empire at the time.
Does Self-isolation Violate the Right to Liberty? An Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights’ Practice in Light of the Ukrainian Experience
Authors: Litins’ka Yana , Karpenko Oleksandra
Published: August 2020

COVID-19 became a stress-test for many legal systems because it required that a balance be found between rapid action to prevent the spread of the disease, and continued respect for human rights. Many states in Europe, including Ukraine, chose to enforce an obligation to self-isolate. In this article we review what the obligation to self-isolate entails in the case of Ukraine. We also analyse whether such an obligation should be viewed as a deprivation or a mere restriction of liberty, and if it is permissible under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Auditory and Visual Durations Load a Unitary Working-Memory Resource
Authors: Yarrow Kielan , Samba Carine , Kohl Carmen , Arnold Derek H.
Published: August 2020

Items in working memory are typically defined by various attributes, such as colour (for visual objects) and pitch (for auditory objects). The attribute of duration can be signalled by multiple modalities, but has received relatively little attention from a working-memory perspective. While the existence of specialist stores (e.g., the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad) is often asserted in the wider working-memory literature, the interval-timing literature has more often implied a unitary (amodal) store. Here we combine two modelling frameworks to probe the basis of working memory for duration; a Bayesian-observer framework, previously used to explain behaviour in duration-reproduction tasks, and mixture models, describing distributions of continuous reports about items in working memory. We modelled different storage mechanisms, such as a limited number of fixed-resolution slots or a resource spread between items at a cost to resolution, in order to ask whether items from different sensory modalities are maintained in separate, independent stores. We initially analysed data from 32 participants, who memorised between one and eight items before reproducing the duration of a randomly selected target. In separate blocks, items could be all visual, all auditory, or an alternating mixture of both. A small control experiment included a further condition with precuing of target modality. Certain kinds of slot models, resource models, and combination models incorporating both mechanisms could account for the data. However, looking across all plausible models, the decline in performance with increasing memory load was most consistent with a single store for event durations, regardless of stimulus modality.
Embroidering Guanyin: Constructions of the Divine through Hair
Authors: Li Yuhang
Published: August 2020

Hair embroidery was a particular technique practiced by lay Buddhist women to create devotional images. The embroiderers used their own hair as threads and applied them on silk to stitch figures. This paper will analyze the religious connotation of hair embroidery, the ritual process and the techniques for making hair embroidery in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. By tracing its appearance in both literary texts and actual surviving objects, this essay will ask how and in what circumstances human hair was applied to embroidery? What was the significance of transferring one’s own hair onto an icon? How did hair embroidery combine women’s bodies (their hair) with a womanly skill (embroidery) to make a unique gendered practice in late imperial China?
Analysis of corrosion resistance of lightweight aluminum alloy sheet in the friction-stir joint area
Authors: Ji Ling , Wang Hongfeng , Shi Man
Published: August 2020

In this thesis, 1 mm thick 6061 aluminum alloy plates are connected using a friction stir joining device, and the metallographic structure and corrosion resistance of the friction stir joint area obtained with different process parameters are systematically analyzed. The results show
that the core region of the joint is composed of small equiaxed crystals, and the grains in the heat-affected zone are elongated in the direction of stirring flow. The grain sizes of the heat-affected zone is different, and it is a coexistence zone of grains of various sizes. When the rotation
speed of the stirring head is 15000 rpm and the forward speed of the stirring head is 300 mm/min, the self-corrosive potential of the connection area is optimized during electrochemical corrosion, and thus the self-corrosion current is the smallest. With this parameter, the joint area has
the best corrosion resistance.
Fabrication of gold nanoshells for improvement of cell apoptosis and its application in photothermal cancer therapy
Authors: Ma Tengbiao , Guan Xue , Wu Dan , Wang Xinxia , Cui Yali
Published: August 2020

For cancer diagnosis and therapeutics, we adopted a novel strategy and established a new approach by using transarterial administration of gold nanoshells on silica nanorattles (GSNs) for multifunctional biomedical application. The GSNs exhibit high biocompatibility and stability in
vitro and in vivo. It was found that an arterial administration of GSNs showed six-fold higher efficiency than the venous method. In this study, we found that the system of using GSNs had a high near-infrared (NIR) absorbance and excellent photothermal transfer capability for cancer
photothermal therapy (PTT) efficiently. More importantly, the GSN treatment method, involving interventional procedures and nanomaterials, showed great potential to promote tumor apoptosis in all research. Using CT imaging technology, we monitored the volume change of tumors and confirmed
cell apoptosis by TUNEL staining and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, arterial administration of GSNs combined with NIR irradiation was established, and the related proteins was examined by Western blotting. Caspase-3 and 9 showed an high expression level within tumor tissues. Finally, a
comparative study of biodistribution and safety was performed in vivo, and the biocompatibility was carefully evaluated. This GSN-based method was ultimately shown to be a promising approach for cancer therapy.
Automatic Detection for Battery Leakage Based on DenseNet
Authors: Xu Junbiao , Liu Qiang , Zhang Zhang , Jiang Wen , Chong Liwen
Published: August 2020

This article proposes a detection method based on thermal imaging for lead acid-battery leakage. First of all, thermal images were obtained by scanning the lead acid-battery with an infrared camera, and the images were categorized into the two sets of train and test. Then, two methods
were introduced to analyze the thermal images to determine whether there was a leakage in the battery. One method used Support Vector Machine (SVM) to train the Local Binary Pattern (LBP) texture features of the images. The other method used deep learning to detect images, and trained the
obtained data by DenseNet. The results demonstrate that the two methods are accurate, and show feasibility of thermal imaging to detect lead acid-battery leakage.
Optimization of Tumor Gene Mapping Based on Visual Communication Design
Authors: Bai Chen
Published: August 2020

In view of the high dimensionality of data needed to be processed by traditional tumor gene map, and the problem of redundant genes still exists, an optimization method of tumor gene map drawing based on visual communication design is proposed. Using a variety of detection methods to
detect tumor genes and their products, according to the visual communication design and deep learning methods, select the appropriate tumor characteristic genes, analyze their applicability, in the low dimensional feature space representation samples, through the data set sample learning model,
effectively express the level of gene difference, select the appropriate tumor characteristic genes, and achieve the optimization of tumor gene mapping. It also designs the control experiment, compares the optimized results with the traditional results, which confirm that the optimized gene
map can greatly reduce the computational complexity.
Design of Green Building Energy Consumption Data Acquisition System Based on Biological Nano Sensors
Authors: Wang Chuan , Shi Lei , Guo Junying , Liu Sufang
Published: August 2020

The traditional energy consumption data acquisition system for green building has low accuracy. Based on biological nano-sensors, the energy consumption data acquisition system for green building is optimized. The original chip of the data acquisition sensor of AD9280 chip is adopted,
the sampling circuit of energy data is designed according to the construction of attenuation circuit, and the rs-485 communication interface electricity meter is connected with the data collector reflecting the building energy consumption to complete the system hardware design. The function
of the data collector was analyzed and the collection program was designed. The energy consumption data analysis method was designed after the serial port code was converted to complete the software design of the energy consumption data collection system for green buildings. It is found that
the designed system solves the problem of "data missing zero" and can effectively eliminate the fault of communication lines. Moreover, when the data volume is 800 bits, the time of the energy consumption data acquisition system is only 2.5 s, which is significantly lower than the other two
collection methods, and the collection efficiency is high.
The Changes of Gene Expression of Active Substance Protein in Martial Arts Teaching and Training
Authors: Hu Nan
Published: August 2020

With the development of martial arts teaching and training level and the increase of practice time, the gene expression of active substance protein often changes in students. Therefore, this paper studies the changes of gene expression of active substance protein in martial arts teaching
and training students. In the experiment, students from junior and senior high school and colleges are selected as the experimental objects, and the same experimental reagents and methods are used to obtain the active substance protein of students. According to the conventional experimental
steps of protein gene expression, the changes of gene expression of students with different ages are observed. The experimental results show that: compared with the students who do not accept martial arts training, the gene expression of students practicing martial arts in junior school has
little change, that of students in senior high school has great change, and that of students in university stage has the greatest change.
Omentoplasty Combined With Endoscopic Stenting in the Treatment of Lateral Duct Injury at Hepatic Duct Bifurcation
Authors: Wei Wei , Fanous Medhat
Published: August 2020

Background

Common bile duct injury (CBDI) is a devastating complication from laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)-based sphincterotomy and stenting were reportedly effective in treating low or distal lateral CBDI. However, in the circumstance of proximal lateral CBDI, the routine biliary stent may not provide coverage of the leak site, which posed a unique clinical challenge when such proximal CBDI occurred.

Methods

This patient is an 85-year-old man who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis. The gallbladder was contracted and atrophic with extensive dense adhesions in the infundibular area. A dome-down approach was attempted, and a small side hole was identified from a tubular structure with minimal bilious leakage. The intraoperative cholangiogram showed a bile leak at the hepatic duct confluence. A vascularized omental patch was fashioned and secured to the vicinity of the CBDI in a tension-free manner. Two drains were placed. ERCP and endoscopic stenting were undertaken the following day.

Results

There was minimal bilious fluid output from the Jackson-Pratt drains in the first 24 hours. This was reduced further following ERCP and resolved in 2 days while tolerating a regular diet. All laboratory studies were normal. The drains were removed week postoperatively. The patient was seen in the clinic at 12 months, and there was no evidence of bile leak or stricture.

Conclusion

The combination of omentopexy and endoscopic stenting is safe in managing high lateral bile duct injury. Prospective studies are needed to further validate this technique.