bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Review and analysis of the potential for glyphosate to interact with the estrogen, androgen and thyroid pathways
Authors: Levine Steven L , Webb Elizabeth G , Saltmiras David A
Published: July 2020

Glyphosate was recently evaluated for its potential to interact with the estrogen, androgen and thyroid (EAT) hormone pathways, including steroidogenesis, under the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), then by Germany, the rapporteur Member State who led the European Annex 1 renewal for glyphosate, and then by the European Food Protection Agency (EFSA) also as part of the Annex 1 renewal for glyphosate. Under the EDSP, 11 Tier 1 assays were run following the USEPA's validated 890‐series test guidelines and included five in vitro and six in vivo assays to evaluate the EAT pathways. Steroidogenesis was evaluated as part of the estrogen and androgen pathways. An up‐to‐date critical review has been conducted that considered results from the EDSP Tier 1 battery, guideline regulatory studies and an in‐depth analysis of the literature studies that informed an endocrine assessment. A strength of this evaluation was that it included data across multiple levels of biological organization, and mammalian and nonmammalian test systems. There was strong agreement across the in vitro and in vivo Tier 1 battery, guideline studies and relevant literature studies, demonstrating that glyphosate does not interact with EAT pathways including steroidogenesis. Based on an analysis of the comprehensive toxicology database for glyphosate and the literature, this review has concluded that glyphosate does not have endocrine‐disrupting properties through estrogen, androgen, thyroid and steroidogenic modes of action. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry
The SPARC Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation initiative
Authors: Anstey James A. , Butchart Neal , Hamilton Kevin , Osprey Scott M.
Published: July 2020

Introduction and background to the Stratosphere–troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC) project, the QBOi, and the papers contained in this Special Section.
Stabilization of linear systems with time‐varying input delay by event‐triggered delay independent truncated predictor feedback
Authors: Xie Yijing , Wei Yusheng , Lin Zongli
Published: July 2020

This article deals with the problem of stabilization of linear systems with time‐varying input delay by an event‐triggered delay independent truncated predictor feedback law, either of the state feedback type or the output feedback type. Only the information of a delay bound rather than the delay itself is required in the design of both control laws and event‐triggering strategies. For both the state feedback case and the output feedback case, an admissible delay bound that guarantees the stabilizability of a general linear system is established, and the Zeno behavior is shown to be excluded. For linear systems with all open‐loop poles at the origin or in the open left‐half plane, stabilization can be achieved for a delay under an arbitrarily large bound.
A Historical Inquiry Into Bilingual Reading Textbooks: Coloniality and Biliteracy at the Turn of the 20th Century
Authors: Curiel Lucía Cárdenas , Durán Leah G.
Published: July 2020

The authors present an analysis of bilingual reading textbooks published at the turn of the 20th century. The authors examined the kinds of opportunities for learning offered by bilingual reading textbooks developed for students in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War. The analysis revealed challenges to understanding related to both the content and the structure of these textbooks, as well as the coloniality of knowledge embedded in them. The historical record also reveals a rejection of the format and content from scholars and educational leaders, and the subsequent turn toward reading materials, which better reflected the everyday experiences of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Filipinx children, albeit often monolingually rather than bilingually. Implications are offered for how contemporary literacy materials might support (bi)literacy development of bilingual students across the globe.
IMNRFixer: A hybrid approach to alleviate class‐imbalance problem for predicting the fixability of Non‐Reproducible bugs
Authors: Goyal Anjali , Sardana Neetu
Published: July 2020

Software maintenance is an important phase in the software development life cycle. Software projects maintain bug repositories to gather, organize, and keep track of bug reports. These bug reports are resolved by numerous software developers. Whenever the reported bug does not get resolved by the assigned developer, he marks the resolution of bug report as Non‐Reproducible (NR). When NR bugs are reconsidered, few of them get resolved, and their resolution changes from NR to fix (NRF). The main aim of this paper is to predict these fixable NRF bug reports. A major challenge in predicting NRF bugs from NR bugs is that only a small portion of NR bugs get fixed, i.e., class‐imbalance problem. For example, NRF bugs account for only 8.64%, 4.73 %, 4.56%, and 1.06% in NetBeans, Eclipse, Open Office, and Mozilla Firefox projects respectively. In this paper, we work on improving the classification performance on these imbalanced datasets. We propose IMNRFixer, a novel and hybrid NRF prediction tool. IMNRFixer uses three different techniques to combat class‐imbalance problem: undersampling, oversampling, and ensemble models. We evaluate the performance of IMNRFixer models on four large and open‐source projects of Bugzilla repository. Our results show that IMNRFixer outperforms conventional machine learning techniques. IMNRFixer achieves performance up to 71.7%, 93.1%, 91.7%, and 96.5% while predicting the minority class (NRF) for NetBeans, Eclipse, Open Office, and Mozilla Firefox projects, respectively.
Empirical studies on software traceability: A mapping study
Authors: Charalampidou Sofia , Ampatzoglou Apostolos , Karountzos Evangelos , Avgeriou Paris
Published: July 2020

During the last decades, software traceability has been studied in a large number of studies, from different perspectives (e.g., how to create traces and what are its benefits). This large body of knowledge needs to be better explored and exploited by both practitioners and researchers: We need an overview of different aspects of traceability and a structured way to assess and compare existing work in order to extend it with new research or apply it in practice, Thus, we have conducted a secondary study on this large corpus of primary studies, focusing on empirical studies on software traceability, without setting any further restrictions in terms of investigating a specific domain or concrete artifacts. The study explores the goals of existing approaches and the empirical methods used for their evaluation. Its main contributions are the investigation of (a) the type of artifacts linked through traceability approaches; (b) the benefits of using artifact traceability approaches; (c) the ways of measuring their benefit; and (d) the research methods used. The results of the study suggest that (i) requirements artifacts are dominant in traceability; (ii) the research corpus focuses on the proposal of novel techniques for establishing traceability; and (iii) the main benefits are the improvement of software correctness and maintainability. Finally, although many studies include some empirical validation, there is still room for improvements and research methods that can be used more extensively. The obtained results are discussed under the prism of both researchers and practitioners and are compared against the state‐of‐the‐art.
Password‐based encryption approach for securing sensitive data
Authors: Mustacoglu Ahmet F. , Catak Ferhat O. , Fox Geoffrey C.
Published: July 2020

The direction of computing is affected and lead by several trends. First, we have the Data Overwhelm from Commercial sources (eg, Amazon), Community sources (eg, Twitter), and Scientific applications (eg, Genomics). Next, we have several light‐weight clients belong to many devices spanning from smartphones, tablets to sensors. Then, clouds are getting popular due to their advantages since they are cheaper, greener, and easy to use compared to traditional systems. Finally, sensitive data stored as a plain text on a cloud system would be vulnerable to unauthorized access and the security become an important aspect. We believe that these advancements steer both research and education, and will put together as we look at data security in the cloud. We introduce a password‐based encryption (PBE) approach to protect sensitive data, investigate the performance metrics of the proposed approach, and present the experimental results for the key generation and the encryption/decryption calculations.
Interaction of Tretinoin and Nimesulide with Amylose Matrices
Authors: Marinopoulou Anna , Christofilos Dimitrios , Arvanitidis John , Raphaelides Stylianos N.
Published: July 2020

Systems of amylose with nimesulide or tretinoin are prepared and characterized in order to evaluate their in vitro release behavior. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) data of the amylose systems containing drug molecules reveal patterns characteristic of the V‐type of complexed amylose. Nevertheless, they cannot be unequivocally assigned to complexed amylose since both drugs exhibit XRD reflections at similar 2‐theta angles. Raman scattering and differential scanning calorimetry thermal analysis provide evidence suggesting that tretinoin is more likely to form molecular inclusion complexes than nimesulide. The drug–amylose interaction is also assessed by means of optical microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The results reveal that the drug molecules are effectively entrapped in the amylose matrix, probably inside or between the amylose helices. Acidic and enzymatic tests allow the quantification of the drug molecules released from the matrix of the amylose systems with tretinoin or nimesulide. In the simulated intestinal fluid, the drug release of the samples reached up to ≈52% for tretinoin and ≈39% for nimesulide systems. Overall, the results show that the molecular interaction of amylose, with tretinoin appears to be more promising for efficient complexation than with nimesulide.
A sectional method to account for shear enhancement in point‐loaded nonslender members
Authors: Uzel Almıla , Daniş Elif
Published: July 2020

In nonslender members, significant vertical compressive stresses occur by the loading and support conditions. Sectional models, which ignore the beneficial effects of these vertical compressive stresses underestimate the shear strength of such members. In this study, a simple expression is derived to calculate the vertical compressive stress at mid‐depth of point‐loaded nonslender beams and shear design provisions in the fib MC2010 are extended to account for the shear enhancement in nonslender members by considering this compressive stress in the equilibrium conditions. ACI‐DAfStb evaluation databases of shear tests on point‐loaded simply supported reinforced concrete members with and without stirrups are employed to evaluate the accuracy of this proposed sectional analysis method. Results show that including vertical compressive stresses in the fib MC2010 sectional shear design procedures greatly improved the accuracy of shear strength predictions for point‐loaded nonslender members.
Exploring the Impacts of Methylmercury‐Induced Behavioral Alterations in Larval Yellow Perch in Lake Michigan Using an Individual‐Based Model
Authors: Armstrong Brandon M. , Mora‐Zamorano Francisco X. , Carvan Michael J. , McNaught Scott , Basu Niladri , Head Jessica , Klingler Rebekah H. , Ivan Lori , Murphy Cheryl A.
Published: July 2020

The inclusion of sublethal behavioral effects in population models has predicted lower estimates of cohort abundance and survival. Methylmercury, a persistent contaminant in the Great Lakes, has been shown to alter foraging and predator avoidance behaviors of larval Yellow Perch Perca flavescens, which may have indirect effects on recruitment. Poor recruitment of Yellow Perch in Lake Michigan has been associated with changes in trophic structure and adverse habitat conditions, but the potential effects of contaminants have not been fully explored. To test this, we adapted existing larval fish individual‐based models to incorporate laboratory‐derived methylmercury behavioral impairments on a larval Yellow Perch cohort in Lake Michigan. Overall, swimming speed reductions following methylmercury exposure did not drastically affect cohort survival. In contrast, the impairment to prey capture success resulted in an additional 8, 45, and 28% starvation of the cohort in simulations with tissue concentrations of 0.21, 0.95, and 3.14 μg/g total mercury whole‐embryo wet weight, respectively. While our experimental methylmercury concentrations were higher than those typically found in Lake Michigan, our findings suggest that contaminants could be an additional factor impacting recruitment of Yellow Perch in systems highly contaminated with mercury.
Black holes with synchronised Proca hair: linear clouds and fundamental non-linear solutions
Authors: Santos Nuno M. , Benone Carolina L. , Crispino Luís C.B. , Herdeiro Carlos A.R. , Radu Eugen
Published: July 2020

Abstract

Recent studies have made key progress on the black hole/solitonic solutions of the Einstein-Proca system. Firstly, fully non-linear dynamical evolutions of the Kerr black hole superradiant instability, triggered by a Proca field, have shown the formation of a new equilibrium state, a spinning black hole with synchronised Proca hair. Secondly, non-linear evolutions of spinning Proca stars have established that they are dynamically stable, unlike their scalar cousins. Thirdly, separability of the Proca equation on the Kerr background has been achieved. Motivated by these results, in this paper we reconsider Kerr black holes with synchronised Proca hair. The separability of the Proca equation on the Kerr background allows us to examine the stationary Proca clouds in greater detail, in particular their dependence on the different quantum numbers. These stationary clouds occur at a set of existence lines in the Kerr parameter space, from which the black holes with synchronised Proca hair bifurcate. We construct the domain of existence of these black holes, comparing the fundamental states missed in the original study with the first excited states and with the cousin scalar model, giving illustrative examples of Kerr-like and non- Kerr-like BHs. In the vanishing event horizon limit, these hairy black holes connect to the fundamental states of spinning Proca stars, which include the dynamically stable solutions.
On a $$\rho $$-Orthogonally Additive Mappings
Authors: Chmieliński Jacek , Sikorska Justyna , Wójcik Paweł
Published: July 2020

We show that a real normed linear space endowed with the$$\rho $$ρ-orthogonality relation, in general need not be an orthogonality space in the sense of Rätz. However, we prove that$$\rho $$ρ-orthogonally additive mappings defined on some classical Banach spaces have to be additive. Moreover, additivity (and approximate additivity) under the condition of an approximate orthogonality is considered.
New Reduction Rules for the Tree Bisection and Reconnection Distance
Authors: Kelk Steven , Linz Simone
Published: July 2020

Recently it was shown that, if the subtree and chain reduction rules have been applied exhaustively to two unrooted phylogenetic trees, the reduced trees will have at most$$15k-9$$15k-9taxa wherekis the TBR (Tree Bisection and Reconnection) distance between the two trees, and that this bound is tight. Here, we propose five new reduction rules and show that these further reduce the bound to$$11k-9$$11k-9. The new rules combine the “unrooted generator” approach introduced in Kelk and Linz (SIAM J Discrete Math 33(3):1556–1574, 2019) with a careful analysis of agreement forests to identify (i) situations when chains of length 3 can be further shortened without reducing the TBR distance, and (ii) situations when small subtrees can be identified whose deletion is guaranteed to reduce the TBR distance by 1. To the best of our knowledge these are the first reduction rules that strictly enhance the reductive power of the subtree and chain reduction rules.
Excessive body weight of children and adolescents in the spotlight of their parents’ overweight and obesity, physical activity, and screen time
Authors: Sigmund Erik , Sigmundová Dagmar , Badura Petr
Published: July 2020

Objectives

The main aim of this study was to bridge the research gap in the countries of Central Europe using the family dyad approach to examine the associations of parents’ overweight/obesity, physical activity (PA), and screen time (ST) with excessive body weight in their offspring.

Methods

The cross-sectional study included 1101 parent–child dyads (648/453 mother/father–child aged 4–16) selected by two-stage stratified random sampling with complete data on body weight categories, weekly PA (Yamax pedometer), ST (family logbook) collected over a regular school/working week during the spring and autumn seasons between 2013 and 2019. Binary logistic regression analyses were used to identify which of parents’ lifestyle indicators were associated with the overweight/obesity of their offspring.

Results

The mother’s overweight/obesity significantly increases her children’s odds of overweight/obesity. Concerning fathers, active participation in organized leisure-time PA and reaching 10,000 steps per day significantly reduce the odds of overweight/obesity in their children and adolescent offspring.

Conclusions

The cumulative effect of parental participation in organized leisure-time PA with their own family-related PA can be a natural means of preventing the development of overweight/obesity in their offspring.
The influence of eddy currents on the excitation winding impedance of solid and laminated salient pole synchronous machines
Authors: Felicetti Roberto , Abrahamsson Curt Johan David , Lundin Urban
Published: July 2020

This work investigates the establishment of steady-state eddy currents in solid and laminated salient poles and rotor rim of synchronous machines due to a periodic excitation voltage. It shows that the presence of eddy currents in the rotor magnetic circuit has the double effect of increasing the excitation winding AC-resistance and decreasing its magnetizing AC-inductance. According to that a simple analytical model is presented in here which allows a rapid rough estimation of the excitation winding AC-resistance when little information is available about the machine geometry and its electric/magnetic materials properties. The model is then verified by reproducing in frequency the excitation winding AC-resistance and the related power loss measured in two synchronous generators. Finally, the limits of reliability and applicability of the model are discussed. The model has implications for periodic field winding current control and voltage regulation in synchronous machines.
Convergence of measures on compactifications of locally symmetric spaces
Authors: Daw Christopher , Gorodnik Alexander , Ullmo Emmanuel
Published: July 2020

We conjecture that the set of homogeneous probability measures on the maximal Satake compactification of an arithmetic locally symmetric space $$S=\Gamma \backslash G/K$$

S
=
Γ
\
G
/
K

is compact. More precisely, given a sequence of homogeneous probability measures on S, we expect that any weak limit is homogeneous with support contained in precisely one of the boundary components (including S itself). We introduce several tools to study this conjecture and we prove it in a number of cases, including when $$G={\mathbf{SL}}_3({{\mathbb {R}}})$$

G
=

SL
3

(
R
)

and $$\Gamma ={\mathbf{SL}}_3({{\mathbb {Z}}})$$

Γ
=

SL
3

(
Z
)

.
Rigging the nose: a pilot study using barbed sutures in patients with deviated nose
Authors: Goffart Yves L. J. , Remacle Sarah
Published: July 2020

Background

A deviated nose is a very common developmental feature in Caucasian populations and represents a frequent indication for rhinoplasty, either functional or esthetic. We aim to assess the pattern of nasal axis stabilization after rhinoplasty in the deviated nose on the basis of anthropometric measurements: median face axis (MFA), interpupillary meridian axis (IMA), and scoliosis angle (SA); to study possible effects of rigging the nose in the midfacial soft tissues using absorbable soft sutures; to investigate possible side effects.

Methods

Seventy patients with a non-traumatic deviated nose (n= 50 as control group,n= 20 as treated group with placement of barbed suture in the midfacial soft tissues) underwent rhinoplasty procedures. We retrospectively examined the pattern of deviation recurrence over time in a consecutive series of 70 non-traumatic patients undergoing primary esthetic or functional rhinoplasty (n= 50 as control group,n= 20 as treated group with placement of barbed suture in the midfacial soft tissues). Patients were followed up at 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 1 year postoperatively.

Results

Ninety-three percent (65/70) of the patients had an asymmetric face after comparing the two anthropometric angles MFA and IMA. Overcorrection of NA at one week postoperatively was observed in 1.25% and 35.7% of patients in the control and treated groups, respectively (p= 0.006). MFA shifted from 4.16° ± 3.1° preoperatively to 1.2° ± 1.4° at 1 week, 1.0° ± 1.1° at 2 weeks, 1.1° ± 1.4° at 1 month, 1.1° ± 1.5° at 3 months, and 1.7° ± 2° at 1 year in the control group. In the treated group, MFA shifted from 5.7° ± 2.9 preoperatively to − 0.34° ± 2.9° at 1 week, 1.0° ± 1.1° at 2 weeks, 0.59° ± 0.96° at 1 month, 1.22° ± 0.83° at 3 months, and 1.63° ± 0.8° at 1 year. Differences between the groups were significant at 1 week (p= 0.02), but differences were not significant at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 1 year.

Conclusions

This pilot study demonstrates that the progressive re-deviation pattern is altered during the first weeks after surgery in the barbed sutures group. Absorbable barbed sutures in facial soft tissues are well tolerated. Longer lasting sutures may help to obtain definite advantage.

Level of evidence: Level IV, therapeutic study.
Laparoscopic liver resection: indications, limitations, and economic aspects
Authors: Schmelzle Moritz , Krenzien Felix , Schöning Wenzel , Pratschke Johann
Published: July 2020

Background

Minimally invasive techniques have increasingly found their way into liver surgery in recent years. A multitude of mostly retrospective analyses suggests several advantages of laparoscopic over open liver surgery. Due to the speed and variety of simultaneous technical and strategic developments, it is difficult to maintain an overview of the current status and perspectives in laparoscopic liver surgery.

Purpose

This review highlights up-to-date aspects in laparoscopic liver surgery. We discuss established indications with regard to their development over time as well as continuing limitations of applied techniques. We give an assessment based on the current literature and according to our own center experiences, not least with regard to a highly topical cost discussion.

Conclusions

While in the beginning mainly benign tumors were laparoscopically operated on, liver metastasis and hepatocellular carcinoma are now among the most frequent indications. Technical limitations remain and should be evaluated with the overall aim not to endanger quality standards in open surgery. Financial aspects cannot be neglected with the necessity of cost-covering reimbursement.
Cardiovascular complications after common bile duct stone extractions
Authors: Syrén Eva-Lena , Enochsson Lars , Eriksson Staffan , Eklund Arne , Isaksson Bengt , Sandblom Gabriel
Published: July 2020

Background

Common bile duct stone (CBDS) is a common condition the rate of which increases with age. Decision to treat in particular elderly and frail patients with CBDS is often complex and requires careful assessment of the risk for treatment-related cardiovascular complications. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of postoperative cardiovascular events in CBDS patients treated with the following: ERCP only; cholecystectomy only; cholecystectomy followed by delayed ERCP; cholecystectomy together with ERCP; or ERCP followed by delayed cholecystectomy.

Methods

The study was based on data from procedures for gallstone disease registered in the Swedish National Quality Register for Cholecystectomy and Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (GallRiks) 2006–2014. ERCP and cholecystectomy procedures performed for confirmed or suspected CBDS were included. Postoperative events were registered by cross-matching GallRiks with the National Patient Register (NPR). A postoperative cardiovascular event was defined as an ICD-code in the discharge notes indicating myocardial infarct, pulmonary embolism or cerebrovascular disease within 30 days after surgery. In cases where a patient had undergone ERCP and cholecystectomy on separate occasions, the 30-day interval was timed from the first intervention.

Results

A total of 23,591 underwent ERCP or cholecystectomy for CBDS during the study period. A postoperative cardiovascular event was registered in 164 patients and death within 30 days in 225 patients. In univariable analysis, adverse cardiovascular event and death within 30 days were more frequent in patients who underwent primary ERCP (p < 0.05). In multivariable analysis, adjusting for history of cardiovascular disease or events, neither risk for cardiovascular complication nor death within 30 days remained statistically significant in the ERCP group.

Conclusions

Primary ERCP as well as cholecystectomy may be performed for CBDS with acceptable safety. More studies are required to provide reliable guidelines for the management of CBDS.
The effect of keratinized mucosa on the severity of peri-implant mucositis differs between periodontally healthy subjects and the general population: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Kabir Laila , Stiesch Meike , Grischke Jasmin
Published: July 2020

Objective

The study aims to investigate the effect of reduced keratinized mucosa (KM) and other risk indicators on the severity of peri-implant mucositis in (i) the general population, (ii) in periodontally healthy patients, and (iii) in periodontally healthy patients without a history of periodontitis.

Materials and methods

Anamnesis and the following clinical parameters were taken: mucosal-index, bleeding on probing, local plaque index, oral hygiene-index, and width of KM. Mucositis severity score was determined for each implant. Multi-level and subgroup analysis was performed on the patient and implant level.

Results

Six hundred twelve implants in 130 patients were analyzed. Subgroup analysis showed significant associations between KM < 2 mm and the severity score in (ii) periodontally healthy patients (p = 0.014) and in (iii) patients without history of periodontitis (p = 0.017). Secondary outcome showed higher severity scores for patients with insufficient oral hygiene or without residual teeth (p ≤ 0.001), in maxillary implants (p = 0.04), and for the number of implants per patient (p ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion

Within the limits of the study, one may conclude that a reduced width of KM is a risk indicator for the severity of peri-implant mucositis in periodontally healthy patients and patients without a history of periodontitis.

Clinical relevance

The results indicate a band of ≥ 2 mm KM to reduce the severity of peri-implant mucositis in periodontally healthy patients.
Effect of food hardness on chewing behavior in children
Authors: Almotairy Nabeel , Kumar Abhishek , Grigoriadis Anastasios
Published: July 2020

Objective

To investigate the effects of food hardness on chewing behavior in children compared with adults.

Materials and methods

Healthy children (3–17 years) were equally divided into five groups based on their dental eruption stages. Each participant ate soft and hard viscoelastic test food models (3 each), while the three-dimensional jaw movements and electromyographic (EMG) activity of the bilateral masseter muscles were recorded. The data from the children were compared with a control group of healthy adults (18–35 years). The data were analyzed with nonparametric tests.

Results

There was no significant difference in the number of chewing cycles and the duration of the chewing sequence between children groups and adults. Children with primary dentition (3–5 years) showed shorter lateral jaw movement and higher muscle activity at the end of the chewing sequence, compared with adults. Further, children’s age-groups (3–14 years) failed to adapt their jaw muscle activity to food hardness. However, at the late-permanent dentition stage (15–17 years), children were capable of performing adult-like chewing behavior.

Conclusions

Overall, it seems that children as young as 3-year-old are quite competent in performing basic chewing function similar to adults. Yet, there are differences in the anticipation or adaption of jaw muscle activity and jaw kinematics to food hardness.

Clinical relevance

The study may have clinical implication in the diagnosis and management of children with chewing impairment associated with dental malocclusions and other orofacial dysfunctions.
Mixed-semantics composition of statecharts for the component-based design of reactive systems
Authors: Graics Bence , Molnár Vince , Vörös András , Majzik István , Varró Dániel
Published: July 2020

The increasing complexity of reactive systems can be mitigated with the use of components and composition languages in model-driven engineering. Designing composition languages is a challenge itself as both practical applicability (support for different composition approaches in various application domains), and precise formal semantics (support for verification and code generation) have to be taken into account. In our Gamma Statechart Composition Framework, we designed and implemented a composition language for the synchronous, cascade synchronous and asynchronous composition of statechart-based reactive components. We formalized the semantics of this composition language that provides the basis for generating composition-related Java source code as well as mapping the composite system to a back-end model checker for formal verification and model-based test case generation. In this paper, we present the composition language with its formal semantics, putting special emphasis on design decisions related to the language and their effects on verifiability and applicability. Furthermore, we demonstrate the design and verification functionality of the composition framework by presenting case studies from the cyber-physical system domain.
Successful implementation of self-management health innovations
Authors: van Beest Wilke , Boon Wouter P. C. , Andriessen Daan , Moors Ellen H. M. , van der Veen Gerrita , Pol Harald
Published: July 2020

Background

Literature on self-management innovations has studied their characteristics and position in healthcare systems. However, less attention has been paid to factors that contribute to successful implementation. This paper aims to answer the question: which factors play a role in a successful implementation of self-management health innovations?

Methods

We conducted a narrative review of academic literature to explore factors related to successful implementation of self-management health innovations. We further investigated the factors in a qualitative multiple case study to analyse their role in implementation success. Data were collected from nine self-management health projects in the Netherlands.

Results

Nine factors were found in the literature that foster the implementation of self-management health innovations: 1) involvement of end-users, 2) involvement of local and business partners, 3) involvement of stakeholders within the larger system, 4) tailoring of the innovation, 5) utilisation of multiple disciplines, 6) feedback on effectiveness, 7) availability of a feasible business model, 8) adaption to organisational changes, and 9) anticipation of changes required in the healthcare system. In the case studies, on average six of these factors could be identified. Three projects achieved a successful implementation of a self-management health innovation, but only in one case were all factors present.

Conclusions

For successful implementation of self-management health innovation projects, the factors identified in the literature are neither necessary nor sufficient. Therefore, it might be insightful to study how successful implementation works instead of solely focusing on the factors that could be helpful in this process.
Addressing the implementation challenge of the global biodiversity framework
Authors: Phang Sui C. , Failler Pierre , Bridgewater Peter
Published: July 2020

A Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is under discussion for the period 2021–2030, which will replace the “Aichi Targets” adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2010. Given the limited success in meeting most of the Aichi Targets, this new framework must adopt a different approach. A key challenge the GBF must address is its implementation at national scales. Four ways this implementation challenge can be addressed include:

The framework must move away from numerical targets to pursue positive trends in biodiversity, through adopting a “vectors of change” approach;

The framework should be structured to focus on ecosystems and processes;

The framework should synergise more extensively with existing biodiversity-relevant global agreements to maximise leverage and reduce overlap of resource use;

The framework must adopt a much stronger theory of change than is in the current GBF Draft, to serve as the roadmap governments can use in upscaling their implementation of biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing.

Finally, the GBF must become a “learning framework”, committed to facilitating and enabling governments to each meet their specific biodiversity challenges, while sharing back experiences with the global community, leading ultimately to realising the 2050 CBD vision of people living in harmony with nature.
“Their Markers as they Go”: Modified Trees as Waypoints in the Dena’ina Cultural Landscape, Alaska
Authors: Deur Douglas , Evanoff Karen , Hebert Jamie
Published: July 2020

The Inland Dena’ina, an Athabaskan people of south-central Alaska, produce and value Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs) in myriad ways. Ethnographic interviews and field visits conducted with Inland Dena’ina residents of the village of Nondalton, Alaska, reveal the centrality of CMTs in the creation and valuation of an Indigenous cultural landscape. CMTs serve as waypoints along trails, as Dena’ina people travel across vast distances to hunt wide-ranging caribou herds and fish salmon ascending rivers from Bristol Bay. CMTs also provide bark and sap used in Dena’ina material culture and medicines, leaving signature marks upon the spruce, birch, and other trees found in the sprawling taiga forest of the region. Dena’ina travelers value these markers as gifts from their elders and ancestors, helping modern-day people to orient themselves geographically, culturally, and spiritually. Today, with industrial-scale resource extraction proposed for Dena’ina traditional lands, including extensive open-pit mines, there is new urgency in demonstrating the geographical presence and extent of potentially affected Dena’ina people. CMTs have been overlooked in existing literatures in spite of their ubiquity and their cultural importance. Our research draws from the first-hand accounts of Dena’ina elders and survey across the landscapes of the Lake Clark core of the Dena’ina homeland.
The BGK Equation as the Limit of an N-Particle System
Authors: Mustafa Dawan , Wennberg Bernt
Published: July 2020

The spatially homogeneous BGK equation is obtained as the limit of a model of a many particle system, similar to Mark Kac’s charicature of the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation.
Content validity of the ASQoL for use in a non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis population: a qualitative study
Authors: Hwang Mark C. , Martin Mona , Harris Kristina , Geerdts Philip , Stark Jeffrey L. , Reveille John
Published: July 2020

Purpose

The ankylosing spondylitis quality of life (ASQoL) instrument is widely used to assess health-related quality of life in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). We assessed the relevance of the ASQoL items in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA), a distinct subgroup within the axSpA disease spectrum.

Methods

This observational, cross-sectional, qualitative interview study recruited patients from clinic settings. Interviews from patients with axSpA who participated in a prior qualitative study were also used. Patients initially underwent a concept elicitation interview using open-ended questions to evaluate relevance of the concepts measured by the ASQoL. They then completed the ASQoL and underwent a cognitive interview to assess their understanding of the items, instructions and response options. Transcripts from patients who participated in the previous qualitative study (who did not complete the ASQoL or undergo cognitive interview) were evaluated to identify expressions of the concepts in the ASQoL.

Results

A total of 18 patients with nr-axSpA participated. The concept elicitation interview findings supported the relevance of the ASQoL items. Cognitive interviews determined that the ASQoL was easily understood; the 13 new patients chose a response for each item that matched their experience with nr-axSpA. Transcripts for the five previously interviewed patients confirmed the concepts presented in the ASQoL items were relevant and important to their experience of living with nr-axSpA.

Conclusions

Our results represent an important first step in confirming the relevance of the concepts in the ASQoL to patients with nr-axSpA, supporting quantitative assessment of ASQoL validity in this population.
Role of Brønsted and Lewis acidic sites in sulfonated Zr-MCM-41 for the catalytic reaction of cellulose into 5-hydroxymethyl furfural
Authors: Pham Son Tung , Nguyen Ba Manh , Le Giang H. , Sapi Andras , Mutyala Suresh , Szenti Imre , Konya Zoltan , Vu Tuan A.
Published: July 2020

A series of sulfonated Zr-MCM-41 samples were synthesized by the in-situ method followed by sulfonation using sulfuric acid for the catalytic study of cellulose to 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in batch condition. All synthesized catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm, FT-IR, TEM, EDX, and NH3 temperature-programmed desorption analysis. The XRD and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm results have confirmed that incorporated Zr4+ was substituted within the framework of silica MCM-41 with hexagonal pores. Similarly, the FT-IR and EDX results have proved that Zr-MCM-41 was sulfonated. The Brønsted acidic and Lewis acidic sites were identified by NH3-TPD analysis. Among the sulfonated Zr-MCM-41 catalysts, S-15Zr-MCM-41 has shown 70% cellulose conversion with 16.4% selectivity of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural at 170 °C for 2 h which was higher than other catalysts. It was attributed to the high ratio of Brønsted acidic to Lewis acidic sites.

Graphic abstract
Upstream Competition with Complex and Unobservable Contracts
Authors: Atiyas Izak , Doganoglu Toker , Inceoglu Firat
Published: July 2020

This paper examines situations where two vertically integrated firms consider supplying an input to an independent downstream competitor via privately observed contracts. We identify equilibria where competition in the upstream market emerges—the downstream competitor gets supplied—as well as when the downstream firm does not receive the input and is excluded from the market. The likelihood of the outcome in which the downstream firm does not get supplied depends not only on demand parameters, but also on contractual flexibility and observability. We show that when contracts are unobservable, downstream entry will occur less often. Furthermore, our results suggest that permitting contracts that enable the contracting parties to coordinate their behavior in the downstream market may improve welfare by increasing the likelihood that the downstream firm is supplied.
Make or Buy: Offshoring of Services Functions in Manufacturing
Authors: Nordås Hildegunn Kyvik
Published: July 2020

About 40% of employment in manufacturing is in services functions. This paper develops a measure of narrow outsourcing: the matching of services functions that are performed by workers who are inside manufacturing firms to the same services functions that are provided by outside suppliers. Narrow outsourcing is entered into labour demand functions where labour is classified by business functions. The impact of narrow offshoring on manufacturing labour demand is small on average but depends strongly on the complexity of the value chain, the policy environment, and ICT maturity. The IT and R&D functions are most sensitive to offshoring.
Earnings forecasts: the case for combining analysts’ estimates with a cross-sectional model
Authors: Azevedo Vitor , Bielstein Patrick , Gerhart Manuel
Published: July 2020

We propose a novel method to forecast corporate earnings, which combines the accuracy of analysts’ forecasts with the unbiasedness of a cross-sectional model. We build on recent insights from the earnings forecasts literature to improve analysts’ forecasts in two ways: reducing their sluggishness with respect to information in recent stock price movements and improving their long-term performance. Our model outperforms the most popular methods from the literature in terms of forecast accuracy, bias, and earnings response coefficient. Furthermore, using our estimates in the implied cost of capital calculation leads to a substantially stronger correlation with realized returns compared to earnings estimates from extant cross-sectional models.
Using autoencoders for session-based job recommendations
Authors: Lacic Emanuel , Reiter-Haas Markus , Kowald Dominik , Reddy Dareddy Manoj , Cho Junghoo , Lex Elisabeth
Published: July 2020

In this work, we address the problem of providing job recommendations in an online session setting, in which we do not have full user histories. We propose a recommendation approach, which uses different autoencoder architectures to encode sessions from the job domain. The inferred latent session representations are then used in a k-nearest neighbor manner to recommend jobs within a session. We evaluate our approach on three datasets, (1) a proprietary dataset we gathered from the Austrian student job portal Studo Jobs, (2) a dataset released by XING after the RecSys 2017 Challenge and (3) anonymized job applications released by CareerBuilder in 2012. Our results show that autoencoders provide relevant job recommendations as well as maintain a high coverage and, at the same time, can outperform state-of-the-art session-based recommendation techniques in terms of system-based and session-based novelty.
Multicore Performance Prediction with MPET
Authors: Arndt Oliver Jakob , Lüders Matthias , Riggers Christoph , Blume Holger
Published: July 2020

Multicore processors serve as target platforms in a broad variety of applications ranging from high-performance computing to embedded mobile computing and automotive applications. But, the required parallel programming opens up a huge design space of parallelization strategies each with potential bottlenecks. Therefore, an early estimation of an application’s performance is a desirable development tool. However, out-of-order execution, superscalar instruction pipelines, as well as communication costs and (shared-) cache effects essentially influence the performance of parallel programs. While offering low modeling effort and good simulation speed, current approximate analytic models provide moderate prediction results so far. Virtual prototyping requires a time-consuming simulation, but produces better accuracy. Furthermore, even existing statistical methods often require detailed knowledge of the hardware for characterization. In this work, we present a concept called Multicore Performance Evaluation Tool (MPET) and its evaluation for a statistical approach for performance prediction based on abstract runtime parameters, which describe an application’s scalability behavior and can be extracted from profiles without user input. These scalability parameters not only include information on the interference of software demands and hardware capabilities, but indicate bottlenecks as well. Depending on the database setup, we achieve a competitive accuracy of 20% mean prediction error (11% median), which we also demonstrate in a case study.
Gross alpha and gross beta activities in selected marine species in Vietnam
Authors: Duong Van Hao , Le Luong Huy , Nguyen Dinh Chau , Nguyen Thanh Duong , Hegedűs Miklós , Csordás Anita , Kovács Tibor
Published: July 2020

The measured gross alpha and gross beta activities in the edible muscle tissues of eleven selected marine species along the coast of North Vietnam varied from 10.2 ± 1.5 to 73.2 ± 8.1 Bq/kg (wwt) and from 10.6 ± 0.4 to 68.8 ± 2.8 Bq/kg (wwt), respectively. The lowest gross alpha activity was recorded for bigfin reef squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana) as a result of its carnivorous diet, and the highest alpha activity was noted for blood cockle (Anadara granosa) as a result of its omnivorous diet. However, the gross beta activities in both carnivorous and omnivorous species were similar. The highest and lowest gross beta activities were observed for narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) and for bigfin reef squid and squid (Teuthida), respectively. All three aforementioned species have carnivorous diets. The calculated annual committed effective dose resulting from the consumption of 25 kg of muscle tissue per year varied from 192 to 1375 μS with an average of 689 μS.