bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Signless Laplacian spectrum of a class of generalized corona and its application
Authors: Lu Pengli , Gao Ke , Wu Yumo
Published: June 2018

Let [Formula: see text] be a graph with [Formula: see text] edges, [Formula: see text] the subdivision graph of [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] the set of inserted vertices of [Formula: see text]. The generalized subdivision-edge corona graph [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is the graph obtained from [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] by joining the [Formula: see text]th vertex of [Formula: see text] to every vertex of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we determine the [Formula: see text]-polynomial of the graph [Formula: see text]. Also, we construct infinitely many pairs of [Formula: see text]-cospectral graphs and compute the incidence energy of subdivision-edge corona graphs.
Xi Jinping’s Building of a New Central Leadership at the 19th Party Congress
Authors: ZHOU Na
Published: June 2018

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China announced its new central leadership, namely, the 19th Central Committee and the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, in October 2017. President Xi Jinping directly led the selection of the candidates. Through this congress, he has hence taken a significant step to place his forces and strengthened his grip on the military.
19th Party Congress and People’s Liberation Army’s Leadership Reshuffle
Authors: LI Nan
Published: June 2018

Appointing new Central Military Commission (CMC) members and chiefs of People’s Liberation Army services and theatres is to (i) ensure political loyalty by appointing people Xi Jinping knows well and trusts personally; (ii) promote functional and technical expertise-based professionalism; (iii) enhance CMC chair’s political control by reducing CMC size and increasing proportion of political officers in CMC; and (iv) enforce age requirements.
How to come up with great ideas
Authors: Matsudaira Kate
Published: June 2018

Think like an entrepreneur.
Effects of Collective Socialization on Newcomers’ Response to Feedback in Online Communities
Authors: Tausczik Yla , Farzan Rosta , Levine John , Kraut Robert
Published: June 2018

Collective socialization involves introducing new members to an organization as a group or cohort. In traditional offline organizations, collective socialization is a standard and effective socialization strategy. This article investigates the impact of collective socialization on newcomers’ motivation and learning in an online community and the effect it has on newcomers’ reaction to feedback from the community. One observational field study and two random-assignment experiments involving editing Wikipedia articles show that collective socialization altered the way newcomers responded to feedback from the community. The observational study of students editing Wikipedia articles as part of a classroom assignment found that those who worked relatively independently without peer support made more edits in response to critical, negative feedback, presumably to fix errors, whereas students who had peer support did not. Two experiments in which Mechanical Turk workers edited Wikipedia articles independently or in a group found that working in a group diffused the impact of both positive and negative feedback. We discuss these findings, which highlight the importance of considering the negative consequences of introducing a new socialization practice to an online community.
A Human-Perceived Softness Measure of Virtual 3D Objects
Authors: Lau Manfred , Dev Kapil , Dorsey Julie , Rushmeier Holly
Published: June 2018

We introduce the problem of computing a human-perceived softness measure for virtual 3D objects. As the virtual objects do not exist in the real world, we do not directly consider their physical properties but instead compute the human-perceived softness of the geometric shapes. In an initial experiment, we find that humans are highly consistent in their responses when given a pair of vertices on a 3D model and asked to select the vertex that they perceive to be more soft. This motivates us to take a crowdsourcing and machine learning framework. We collect crowdsourced data for such pairs of vertices. We then combine a learning-to-rank approach and a multi-layer neural network to learn a non-linear softness measure mapping any vertex to a softness value. For a new 3D shape, we can use the learned measure to compute the relative softness of every vertex on its surface. We demonstrate the robustness of our framework with a variety of 3D shapes and compare our non-linear learning approach with a linear method from previous work. Finally, we demonstrate the accuracy of our learned measure with user studies comparing our measure with the human-perceived softness of both virtual and real objects, and we show the usefulness of our measure with some applications.
ClassiNet -- Predicting Missing Features for Short-Text Classification
Authors: Bollegala Danushka , Atanasov Vincent , Maehara Takanori , Kawarabayashi Ken-Ichi
Published: June 2018

Short and sparse texts such as tweets, search engine snippets, product reviews, and chat messages are abundant on the Web. Classifying such short-texts into a pre-defined set of categories is a common problem that arises in various contexts, such as sentiment classification, spam detection, and information recommendation. The fundamental problem in short-text classification is
feature sparseness
-- the lack of feature overlap between a trained model and a test instance to be classified. We propose
ClassiNet
-- a network of classifiers trained for predicting missing features in a given instance, to overcome the feature sparseness problem. Using a set of unlabeled training instances, we first learn binary classifiers as feature predictors for predicting whether a particular feature occurs in a given instance. Next, each feature predictor is represented as a vertex
v
i
in the ClassiNet, where a one-to-one correspondence exists between feature predictors and vertices. The weight of the directed edge
e
ij
connecting a vertex
v
i
to a vertex
v
j
represents the conditional probability that given
v
i
exists in an instance,
v
j
also exists in the same instance.

We show that ClassiNets generalize word co-occurrence graphs by considering implicit co-occurrences between features. We extract numerous features from the trained ClassiNet to overcome feature sparseness. In particular, for a given instance
x
, we find similar features from ClassiNet that did not appear in
x
, and append those features in the representation of
x
. Moreover, we propose a method based on graph propagation to find features that are indirectly related to a given short-text. We evaluate ClassiNets on several benchmark datasets for short-text classification. Our experimental results show that by using ClassiNet, we can statistically significantly improve the accuracy in short-text classification tasks, without having to use any external resources such as thesauri for finding related features.
Is Virtual Citizen Science A Game?
Authors: Simperl Elena , Reeves Neal , Phethean Chris , Lynes Todd , Tinati Ramine
Published: June 2018

The use of game elements within virtual citizen science is increasingly common, promising to bring increased user activity, motivation, and engagement to large-scale scientific projects. However, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not gamifying systems such as these is actually an effective means by which to increase motivation and engagement in the long term. While gamification itself is receiving a large amount of attention, there has been little beyond individual studies to assess its suitability or success for citizen science; similarly, while frameworks exist for assessing citizen science performance, they tend to lack any appreciation of the effects that game elements might have had. We therefore review the literature to determine what the trends are regarding the performance of particular game elements or characteristics in citizen science, and survey existing projects to assess how popular different game features are. Investigating this phenomenon further, we then present the results of a series of interviews carried out with the EyeWire citizen science project team to understand more about how gamification elements are introduced, monitored, and assessed in a live project. Our findings suggest that projects use a range of game elements with points and leaderboards the most popular, particularly in projects that describe themselves as “games.” Currently, gamification appears to be effective in citizen science for maintaining engagement with existing communities, but shows limited impact for attracting new players.
We are done with 'hacking'
Authors: Bugayenko Yegor
Published: June 2018

The
Communications
Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of
Communications
, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.

twitter

Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM

http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm

Today's programmers offer more valuable skills than simply being able to hack algorithms and make data structures, says Yegor Bugayenko.
Digital nudging
Authors: Schneider Christoph , Weinmann Markus , vom Brocke Jan
Published: June 2018

Designers can create designs that nudge users toward the most desirable option.
Always measure one level deeper
Authors: Ousterhout John
Published: June 2018

Performance measurements often go wrong, reporting surface-level results that are more marketing than science.
Copyright blocks a news-monitoring technology
Authors: Samuelson Pamela
Published: June 2018

An evolving technological landscape has made application of copyright law increasingly difficult.
Ten Surprising Facts About Stressful Life Events and Disease Risk
Authors: Cohen Sheldon , Murphy Michael L.M. , Prather Aric A.
Published: June 2018

After over 70 years of research on the association between stressful life events and health, it is generally accepted that we have a good understanding of the role of stressors in disease risk. In this review, we highlight that knowledge but also emphasize misunderstandings and weaknesses in this literature with the hope of triggering further theoretical and empirical development. We organize this review in a somewhat provocative manner, with each section focusing on an important issue in the literature where we feel that there has been some misunderstanding of the evidence and its implications. Issues that we address include the definition of a stressful event, characteristics of diseases that are impacted by events, differences in the effects of chronic and acute events, the cumulative effects of events, differences in events across the life course, differences in events for men and women, resilience to events, and methodological challenges in the literature.
Transgelin induces dysfunction of fetal endothelial colony-forming cells from gestational diabetic pregnancies
Authors: Varberg Kaela M. , Garretson Rashell O. , Blue Emily K. , Chu Chenghao , Gohn Cassandra R. , Tu Wanzhu , Haneline Laura S.
Published: June 2018

Fetal exposure to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) predisposes children to future health complications including hypertension and cardiovascular disease. A key mechanism by which these complications occur is through the functional impairment of vascular progenitor cells, including endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs). Previously, we showed that fetal ECFCs exposed to GDM have decreased vasculogenic potential and altered gene expression. In this study, we evaluate whether transgelin (TAGLN), which is increased in GDM-exposed ECFCs, contributes to vasculogenic dysfunction. TAGLN is an actin-binding protein involved in the regulation of cytoskeletal rearrangement. We hypothesized that increased TAGLN expression in GDM-exposed fetal ECFCs decreases network formation by impairing cytoskeletal rearrangement resulting in reduced cell migration. To determine if TAGLN is required and/or sufficient to impair ECFC network formation, TAGLN was reduced and overexpressed in ECFCs from GDM and uncomplicated pregnancies, respectively. Decreasing TAGLN expression in GDM-exposed ECFCs improved network formation and stability as well as increased migration. In contrast, overexpressing TAGLN in ECFCs from uncomplicated pregnancies decreased network formation, network stability, migration, and alignment to laminar flow. Overall, these data suggest that increased TAGLN likely contributes to the vasculogenic dysfunction observed in GDM-exposed ECFCs, as it impairs ECFC migration, cell alignment, and network formation. Identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying fetal ECFC dysfunction following GDM exposure is key to ascertain mechanistically the basis for cardiovascular disease predisposition later in life.
Effect of Tim23 knockdown in vivo on mitochondrial protein import and retrograde signaling to the UPRmt in muscle
Authors: Oliveira Ashley N. , Hood David A.
Published: June 2018

The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) is a protein quality control mechanism that strives to achieve proteostasis in the face of misfolded proteins. Because of the reliance of mitochondria on both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, a perturbation of the coordination of these genomes results in a mitonuclear imbalance in which holoenzymes are unable to assume mature stoichiometry and thereby activates the UPRmt. Thus, we sought to perturb this genomic coordination by using a systemic antisense oligonucleotide (in vivo morpholino) targeted to translocase of the inner membrane channel subunit 23 (Tim23), the major channel of the inner membrane. This resulted in a 40% reduction in Tim23 protein content, a 32% decrease in matrix-destined protein import, and a trend to elevate reactive oxygen species (ROS) emission under maximal respiration conditions. This import defect activated the C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) branch of the UPRmt, as evident from increases in caseinolytic mitochondrial matrix peptidase proteolytic subunit (ClpP) and chaperonin 10 (cpn10) but not the activating transcription factor 5 (ATF5) arm. Thus, in the face of proteotoxic stress, CHOP and ATF5 could be activated independently to regain proteostasis. Our second aim was to investigate the role of proteolytically derived peptides in mediating retrograde signaling. Peptides released from the mitochondrion following basal proteolysis were isolated and incubated with import reactions. Dose- and time-dependent effect of peptides on protein import was observed. Our data suggest that mitochondrial proteolytic byproducts exert an inhibitory effect on protein import, possibly to reduce excessive protein import as a potential negative feedback mechanism. The inhibition of import into the organelle also serves a retrograde function, possibly via ROS emission, to modify nuclear gene expression and ultimately improve folding capacity.
Exercise cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: a feasibility study and meta-analysis
Authors: Beaudry Rhys I. , Samuel T. Jake , Wang Jing , Tucker Wesley J. , Haykowsky Mark J. , Nelson Michael D.
Published: June 2018

Cardiac stress testing improves detection and risk assessment of heart disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the clinical gold-standard for assessing cardiac morphology and function at rest; however, exercise MRI has not been widely adapted for cardiac assessment because of imaging and device limitations. Commercially available magnetic resonance ergometers, together with improved imaging sequences, have overcome many previous limitations, making cardiac stress MRI more feasible. Here, we aimed to demonstrate clinical feasibility and establish the normative, healthy response to supine exercise MRI. Eight young, healthy subjects underwent rest and exercise cinematic imaging to measure left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction. To establish the normative, healthy response to exercise MRI we performed a comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis of existing exercise cardiac MRI studies. Results were pooled using a random effects model to define the left ventricular ejection fraction, end-diastolic, end-systolic, and stroke volume responses. Our proof-of-concept data showed a marked increase in cardiac index with exercise, secondary to an increase in both heart rate and stroke volume. The change in stroke volume was driven by a reduction in end-systolic volume, with no change in end-diastolic volume. These findings were entirely consistent with 17 previous exercise MRI studies (226 individual records), despite differences in imaging approach, ergometer, or exercise type. Taken together, the data herein demonstrate that exercise cardiac MRI is clinically feasible, using commercially available exercise equipment and vendor-provided product sequences and establish the normative, healthy response to exercise MRI.
Rodent models of AKI-CKD transition
Authors: Fu Ying , Tang Chengyuan , Cai Juan , Chen Guochun , Zhang Dongshan , Dong Zheng
Published: June 2018

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a contributing factor in the development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Despite rapid progresses, the mechanism underlying AKI-CKD transition remains largely unclear. Animal models recapitulating this process are crucial to the research of the pathophysiology of AKI-CKD transition and the development of effective therapeutics. In this review, we present the commonly used rodent models of AKI-CKD transition, including bilateral ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), unilateral IRI, unilateral IRI with contralateral nephrectomy, multiple episodes of IRI, and repeated treatment of low-dose cisplatin, diphtheria toxin, aristolochic acid, or folic acid. The main merits and pitfalls of these models are also discussed. This review provides helpful information for establishing reliable and clinically relevant models for studying post-AKI development of chronic renal pathologies and the progression to CKD.
Extracellular waveforms reveal an axonal origin of spikelets in pyramidal neurons
Authors: Michalikova Martina , Remme Michiel W. H. , Kempter Richard
Published: June 2018

Spikelets are small spike-like membrane depolarizations measured at the soma whose origin in pyramidal neurons is still unresolved. We investigated the mechanism of spikelet generation using detailed models of pyramidal neurons. We simulated extracellular waveforms associated with action potentials and spikelets and compared these with experimental data obtained by Chorev and Brecht ( J Neurophysiol 108: 1584–1593, 2012) from hippocampal pyramidal neurons in vivo. We considered spikelets originating in the axon of a single cell as well as spikelets generated in two cells coupled with gap junctions. We found that in both cases the experimental data can be explained by an axonal origin of spikelets: in the single-cell case, action potentials are generated in the axon but fail to activate the soma. Such spikelets can be evoked by dendritic input. Alternatively, spikelets resulting from axoaxonal gap junction coupling with a large (greater than several hundred μm) distance between the somata of the coupled cells are also consistent with the data. Our results demonstrate that a cell firing a somatic spikelet generates a detectable extracellular potential that is different from the action potential-correlated extracellular waveform generated by the same cell and recorded at the same location. This, together with the absence of a refractory period between action potentials and spikelets, implies that spikelets and action potentials generated in one cell may easily get misclassified in extracellular recordings as two different cells, albeit they both constitute the output of a single pyramidal neuron.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We addressed the origin of spikelets, using compartmental models of pyramidal neurons. Comparing our simulation results with published extracellular spikelet recordings revealed an axonal origin of spikelets. Our results imply that action potential- and spikelet-associated extracellular waveforms may easily get misclassified as two different cells, albeit they both constitute the output of a single pyramidal cell.
Full-Scale Reconstruction for Transmission Line Galloping Curves Based on Attitudes Sensors
Authors: Wu Decheng , Yang Shizhong , Tao Lu , Cao Hailin , Tan Xiaoheng , Jing Li , Qin Wenjian
Published: June 2018

Caused by strong winds or nonuniform icing, conductor galloping is one of the major hazards that should be monitored in a timely fashion. In this paper, we proposed a new full-scale reconstruction method for transmission line curves based on the attitude sensors that uses only the tangential information and arc-length constraint. Meanwhile, a comparatively low-complexity algorithm is presented: (1) quaternion rotation to generate the tangent vectors; (2) a modified B-spline global interpolation to evaluate the curvature information; and (3) a linear mapping method to correct reconstruction curves. Moreover, sensors placement method is put forward according to the galloping features. Finally, both simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can accurately reconstruct the galloping curves in a relatively short time, which fulfills the requirement of the real-time galloping monitoring system.
Congenital Uterovaginal Prolapse in a Newborn
Authors: Jijo Zenebe Wolde , Betele Million Teshome , Ali Abdurazak Shemolo
Published: June 2018

Background. Uterovaginal prolapse is a rare condition in newborns which is usually associated with spinal cord defects. It is usually diagnosed at birth. Different treatment options have been proposed for genital prolapse in newborns. Most of the treatment options recommended are conservative; radical approach is rarely suggested for the treatment of these cases. Case Details. We report a 6-hour-old newborn that was diagnosed to have congenital uterovaginal prolapse and was successfully managed conservatively with digital reduction of the mass and strapping of both legs together. Conclusion. Congenital uterovaginal prolapse in newborns can be managed conservatively with simple digital reduction followed by strapping of the legs together; this approach is simple and cost-effective and has no associated complications.
Highway Design and Safety Consequences: A Case Study of Interstate Highway Vertical Grades
Authors: Tang Zongxin , Chen Sikai , Cheng Jianchuan , Ghahari Seyed Ali , Labi Samuel
Published: June 2018

Vertical alignment, which includes vertical grades and lengths, is a critical aspect of highway design policy that influences safety. A full understanding of the effect of vertical grade and segment length on highway safety can help agencies to evaluate or adjust their design policies regarding vertical alignment design features (grade and length). For this reason, it is useful to assess the current relationships between design policy and safety performance. To address this task, this paper uses data from interstate segments to first establish the relationship between these design features and safety. Safety is expressed in terms of the three different levels of crash severity (fatal, injury, and property damage only). In its analysis, the paper departs from the traditional univariate models (where each crash severity is modeled separately) and instead uses a seemingly unrelated negative binomial (SUNB) technique, a multivariate model that duly accounts for the unobserved shared effects between the different levels of crash severity. In addition, the paper’s models duly recognize and account for the holistic nature of the grade and tangent length effects: the effect of the sum (interaction) of the vertical grade and length is different from the sum of their individual effects. The paper investigates the relationships for rural and urban interstate highway segments. Against the background of the developed models, the paper evaluates current design policies (specifications on vertical alignment grade and length) for similar classes of highways at a number of countries and presents a set of nomograms that feature lines representing points of equal safety performance. These charts can be used by the highway agencies to evaluate and compare their current or possible future highway design policies.
Design of Signal Timing Plan for Urban Signalized Networks including Left Turn Prohibition
Authors: Tang Qinrui , Friedrich Bernhard
Published: June 2018

Urban road networks may benefit from left turn prohibition at signalized intersections regarding capacity, for particular traffic demand patterns. The objective of this paper is to propose a method for minimizing the total travel time by prohibiting left turns at intersections. With the flows obtained from the stochastic user equilibrium model, we were able to derive the stage generation, stage sequence, cycle length, and the green durations using a stage-based method which can handle the case that stages are sharing movements. The final output is a list of the prohibited left turns in the network and a new signal timing plan for every intersection. The optimal list of prohibited left turns was found using a genetic algorithm, and a combination of several algorithms was employed for the signal timing plan. The results show that left turn prohibition may lead to travel time reduction. Therefore, when designing a signal timing plan, left turn prohibition should be considered on a par with other left turn treatment options.
Effect of Thickness of Gravel Base and Asphalt Pavement on Road Deformation
Authors: He Dongliang , Yang Weijun
Published: June 2018

This study uses a test section of a highway, a study object, to explore the effect of thickness of the gravel base and asphalt layer on the vertical deformation of the road surface. The thickness of the asphalt layer and graded gravel base is changed. The nonlinear description equation of the relationship between the thickness (h1) of the asphalt layer and the vertical deformation (d1) is established: . The thickness of the asphalt pavement is then determined to reduce vertical deformation. Numerical calculation shows that the maximum vertical deformation of the foundation is within 8 mm, which is less than the 15 mm maximum vertical deformation of the embankment. This level meets the design requirements.
Mathematical Modeling and Mechanism of VUV Photodegradation of H2S in the Absence of O2
Authors: Xu Jian-hui , Ding Bin-bin , Lv Xiao-mei , Lan Shan-hong , Li Chao-lin , Peng Liu
Published: June 2018

The existence of H2S has limited the biogas energy promotion. The traditional photodegradation of H2S is usually conducted in the presence of O2, yet this is unsuitable for biogas desulfurization which should be avoided. Therefore, the ultraviolet degradation of H2S in the absence of O2 was investigated for the first time in the present study from a mathematical point of view. Light wavelength and intensity applied were 185 nm and 2.16 × 10−12 Einstein/cm2·s, respectively. Firstly, the mathematical model of H2S photodegradation was established with MATLAB software, including the gas flow distribution model and radiation model of photoreactor, kinetics model, mass balance model, and calculation model of the degradation rate. Then, the influence of the initial H2S concentration and gas retention time on the photodegradation rate were studied, for verification of the mathematical model. Results indicated that the photodegradation rate decreased with the increase in initial H2S concentration, and the maximum photodegradation rate reached 62.8% under initial concentration of 3 mg/m3. In addition, the photodegradation rate of H2S increased with the increase in retention time. The experimental results were in good accordance with the modeling results, indicating the feasibility of the mathematical model to simulate the photodegradation of H2S. Finally, the intermediate products were simulated and results showed that the main photodegradation products were found to be H2 and elemental S, and concentrations of the two main products were close and agreed well with the reaction stoichiometric coefficients. Moreover, the concentration of free radicals of H• and SH• was rather low.
Evaluation of Gas Migration and Rock Damage Characteristics for Underground Nuclear Waste Storage Based on a Coupled Model
Authors: Xue Yi , Dang Faning , Shi Fang , Li Rongjian , Cao Zhengzheng
Published: June 2018

In the deep geological repository of nuclear waste, the corrosion of waste generates gas, which increases the storage pressure, changes the properties of the rock strata, and affects the stability of nuclear waste repository. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the gas migration in the engineering barrier and the potential impact on its integrity for the safety assessment of nuclear waste repository. A hydro-mechanical-damage model for analyzing gas migration in sedimentary rocks is established in this paper. On the basis of which, a set of coupled formulas for the coupling of gas migration in rock mass is established. The model considers the characteristics of gas migration in sedimentary rock, especially the microcracks caused by the degradation of elastic modulus and damage, and the coupling between the rock deformation and failure of fractures. The numerical simulation of gas injection test is beneficial to understand the mechanism of gas migration process in sedimentary rock.
Icariin Improves the Viability and Function of Cryopreserved Human Nucleus Pulposus‐Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Authors: Chen Sheng , Deng Xiangyu , Ma Kaige , Zhao Lei , Huang Donghua , Li Zhiliang , Shao Zengwu
Published: June 2018

Nucleus pulposus‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (NPMSCs) have shown a good prospect in the regeneration of intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues. However, fresh NPMSCs are not always readily available for basic research and clinical applications. Therefore, there is a need for an effective long‐term cryopreservation method for NPMSCs. The aim of this study was to determine whether adding icariin (ICA) to the conventional cryoprotectant containing dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) had a better cryoprotective effect for NPMSCs. The results showed that the freezing solution containing ICA along with DMSO significantly increased the postthawed cell viability, decreased the apoptosis rate, improved cell adherence, and maintained the mitochondrial functions, as compared to the freezing solution containing DMSO alone. And the inhibition of oxidative stress and upregulation of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in the presence of ICA also confirmed the beneficial effect of ICA. Furthermore, ICA had no cytotoxicity and did not alter the characteristics of postthawed NPMSCs. In conclusion, these results suggested that the addition of ICA to the conventional freezing medium could improve the viability and function of the cryopreserved human NPMSCs and provided an optimal formulated freezing solution for human NPMSC cryopreservation.
Influence of Shopping Bags Carrying on Human Responses While Walking
Authors: Ramadan Mohamed Z. , Khalaf Tamer M. , Ragab Adham M. , AbdElgawad AbdElatty A.
Published: June 2018

Shopping as a daily activity that involves carrying shopping bags in hands might be associated with risk factors contributing to the development of low back pain (LBP) and strains and sprains in the upper extremity. A three-way repeated measures experiment was conducted for the purpose of the study. The independent variables were holding style, carrying technique, and shopping bags’ weights. The dependent variables were cardiac cost, muscles’ activities as a percentage of their maximum voluntary contraction’s EMG (%MVC), peak plantar pressure (PPP), and discomfort rating. Carrying grocery bags with both hands to the sides of the body using shopping bags’ holder was favorable and advantageous to other carrying conditions in terms of less cardiac cost, less %MVC, less peak plantar pressure, and less discomfort. It is useful to carry grocery bags close to the body with both hands using holders that are available in the local market.
Enhancing a Client-Centred Practice with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure
Authors: Enemark Larsen A. , Rasmussen B. , Christensen J. R.
Published: June 2018

Background. The active participation of clients is an important aspect of rehabilitation quality as conceptualized in client-centred practice (CCP). A recommended outcome measure for enhancing CCP is the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). However, the relationship between COPM use and CCP enhancement has not been documented. Aim. The aim of this study was to examine whether the use of the COPM enhanced CCP. Methods. We performed a scoping review in five steps: (1) identifying a search strategy with inclusion and exclusion criteria; (2) screening relevant databases for published and unpublished studies by using selected keywords and by manually scrutinizing reference lists; (3) agreeing on eligible papers between authors in terms of inclusion and exclusion criteria; (4) charting included data; and (5) analysing data using qualitative content analysis. Results. Twelve studies were included in the review. The results indicated enhanced CCP in two themes when using the COPM. These themes appeared to influence each other; therefore, the first theme, Conditions for enhancing CCP when using the COPM, represented the circumstances needed for the second theme, Enhancing CCP when using the COPM, to be fulfilled. Conclusion. The use of the COPM seems to enhance CCP if certain conditions are present.
Consensus Control of Multiagent Systems with High-Order Nonlinear Inaccurate Dynamics and Dynamically Switching Undirected Topologies
Authors: Wang Qiang , Meng Qingtian , Fang Xiaonan , Zhang Huaxiang
Published: June 2018

This paper investigates the consensus control of a class of high-order nonlinear multiagent systems, whose topology is dynamically switching directed graph. First, the high-order nonlinear dynamics is transformed into the one-order dynamics by structuring a sliding mode plane; then, two consensus control protocols of the one-order dynamics are designed by feedback linearization, one of which is based on PD (proportion and derivative) and the other is based on PID (proportion, integral and derivative). Under these control protocols, it is proved that the consensus of new variable only requires a weaker topology condition; next, we prove that the consensus of the new variable is sufficient to the consensus of the states of multiagent systems, which implies that it only requires a weaker topology condition for the consensus of multiagent systems; finally, the study of an illustrative example with simulations shows that our results as well as designed control protocols work very well in studying the consensus of this class of multiagent systems.
A Semisupervised Framework for Automatic Image Annotation Based on Graph Embedding and Multiview Nonnegative Matrix Factorization
Authors: Ge Hongwei , Yan Zehang , Dou Jing , Wang Zhen , Wang ZhiQiang
Published: June 2018

Automatic image annotation is for more accurate image retrieval and classification by assigning labels to images. This paper proposes a semisupervised framework based on graph embedding and multiview nonnegative matrix factorization (GENMF) for automatic image annotation with multilabel images. First, we construct a graph embedding term in the multiview NMF based on the association diagrams between labels for semantic constraints. Then, the multiview features are fused and dimensions are reduced based on multiview NMF algorithm. Finally, image annotation is achieved by using the new features through a KNN-based approach. Experiments validate that the proposed algorithm has achieved competitive performance in terms of accuracy and efficiency.
Passenger Aviation and High Speed Rail: A Comparison of Emissions Profiles on Selected European Routes
Authors: Prussi Matteo , Lonza Laura
Published: June 2018

Air transport has been constantly growing and forecasts seem to confirm the trend; the resulting environmental impact is relevant, both at local and at global scale. In this paper, data from various datasets have been integrated to assess the environmental impact of modal substitution with high speed rail. Six intra-EU28 routes and a domestic route have been defined for comparison. The airports have been chosen considering the share of the total number of passengers on flights to/from other EU Member States. Three scenarios have been proposed in the time period 2017–2025; aircraft types, distance bands, and occupancy rate are investigated on each scenario. The comparison with HSR service has been carried out only on passenger service and not for freight. The energy consumption and the consequent emissions for the aircraft have been estimated on the base of the available data for the mix of aircraft types, performing the routes. The results indicate the advantage of the high speed trains, in terms of direct CO2eq emissions per passenger km. Compared to a neutral scenario, with an annual passenger increment of 3.5%, the HSR substitution of the 5% and the 25% of this increment allow a GHG saving of 4% and 20%, respectively. Some of the analysed routes (e.g., Frankfurt Main–Paris CDG) have interesting GHG savings but the duration of the trip today is limiting for a real substitution. Moreover, there is general agreement that the extreme weather events induced by climate change will affect the functioning of the European transport system. In this sense, transportation by the rail mode is expected to play a significant role in strengthening the EU transport system, its resilience, and its reliability, as it is less immediately subject to the impacts of severe weather conditions.
Characteristics, Optimal Design, and Performance Analyses of MRF Damper
Authors: De-kui Xin , Song-lin Nie , Hui Ji , Fang-long Yin
Published: June 2018

Magnetorheological fluid (MRF) damper is one of the most promising semiactive devices for vibration control. In this paper, a shear‐valve mode MRF damper for pipeline vibration control is proposed. The dynamic model and the state equation of the pipeline are established and the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) is used to generate the optimal damping force of MRF damper. The design concept considering the structure and the electromagnetic properties simultaneously is discussed in detail. A mathematical model of the relation between shear stress and control current based on interpolation method is established. Finite element analysis (FEA) software COMSOL is selected to simulate the magnetic field and electromagnetism‐thermal field of the MRF damper. A computational method based on the simulation model is established to calculate the shear stress. In order to reduce the magnetic leakage, a method of adding magnetism‐insulators at both ends of the piston head is presented. The influence of control current, displacement, and velocity on mechanical performance of the proposed MRF damper is experimentally investigated. The test results show that the performance of the MRF damper is basically identical with the theoretical prospective and the simulation conclusions, which proves the correctness and feasibility of this design concept.
Electric-Parameter-Based Inversion of Dynamometer Card Using Hybrid Modeling for Beam Pumping System
Authors: Wei Jingliang , Gao Xianwen
Published: June 2018

Conventional fault diagnosis and production calculation of an oil well can be conducted with the surface dynamometer cards, which are obtained by load sensor installed on the horse head. This method to measure the dynamometer cards is limited by the sensor maintenance and calibration, battery replacement, and safety hazards for staff. As the basic parameter of the oil extraction industry, electric parameters have the advantages of low cost and high efficiency. So the inversions of dynamometer card with electric parameters are attracting more and more attention. In order to solve the problem of insufficient data and consider the real-time performance in the actual oil extraction process, this paper proposes a novel hybrid model which consists of two parts: the mechanism model of polished rod load and the suspension displacement calculated with the space vector equations of motor and a data-dependent kernel online sequential extreme learning machine (DDKOS-ELM) model proposed to correct the output error of the mechanism model, which improves the kernel function selection and makes it real-time. Thus, the highlights of this paper can be summed up in two points: (1) under the circumstance of the bottom dead point detection without sensors, the mechanism modeling of the polished rod load and suspension displacement has been carried out from the perspective of mathematical model of AC motor; (2) a novel data-driven model based on data-dependent kernel online sequential extreme learning machine (DDKOS-ELM) has been proposed to improve the kernel functions selection. The coefficients in the data-dependent kernel function are optimized with improved free search algorithm (IFSA). The proposed hybrid model has been applied to a normal working oil well and the prediction results show better accuracy than the pure data-driven model and mechanism model.
Preparation of Silver-Doped Alumina Spherical Beads with Antimicrobial Properties
Authors: Roque-Ruiz José Hafid , Castillo-Ramírez Daniela , de Jesús Ruíz-Baltazar Álvaro , Espinosa-Cristóbal León Francisco , Reyes-López Simón Yobanny
Published: June 2018

The synthesis of composites with antibacterial properties is of great interest for the development of new biomedical applications. The antimicrobial properties of silver have been verified against microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi; interest in silver has been renewed, so several technologies are currently in development, especially in dental materials. The purpose of this work was to improve the parameters for producing silver-doped alumina spherical beads using sodium alginate as a sacrificial template. Alumina is a biocompatible and thermally stable ceramic, while silver was used for its bactericidal properties. The obtained spheres presented a mean diameter of 2 mm, with an irregular surface and intertwined particles after a sintering process. After electrodeposition, white spheres turned to a dark gray color, demonstrating the presence of silver nanoparticles and fractal silver dendrites on the surface. Spheres were characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD. Antimicrobial activity of the alumina-AgP spheres against E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and S. mutans was analyzed by turbidimetry. The specific antimicrobial activity of all the composites showed specific antibacterial effects, independently of the amount of silver deposited, probably due to the differences in the microbial cell wall structures. Therefore, antibacterial activity depends on microbiological and structural characteristics of each bacterium.
Research on 3D Modeling Method of Cobblestone Road Based on Geometric Characteristics
Authors: Han Jinhua , Feng Ke , Li Huanliang , Cui Hongxin , Chen Jing
Published: June 2018

Based on the analysis of the geometric characteristics, distribution characteristics, and constraints of the cobblestone road, a three-dimensional (3D) parametric road modeling method based on geometric characteristics is proposed. The cobblestone model is established by the exponential oval equation, and the cobblestones distribution is determined by Monte Carlo stochastic search method. Then the 3D theoretical model of cobblestone road is obtained. To veritably simulate the cobblestone road, a generated 3D random road is fusing with the 3D cobblestone road model by alternating values, and the comparison between the real and modeling cobblestone roads is done in space domain and PSD curves. Then based on the establishment of the standard vehicle vibration model, the influences of the key geometric parameters of the cobblestone road on the vehicle vibration are analyzed by using the evaluation indices of the IRI and the RMS of the vehicle body acceleration. The proposed method can be extended to the 3D modeling of almost all strengthened test roads such as Belgian road, fish-scale pits road, ripple tracks, and washboard road and provides a 3D road modeling method with adjustable parameters, authenticity, and accuracy for the comprehensive construction of vehicle virtual test field.
Therapeutic Potential of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma against Human Diseases Based on Activation of Nrf2‐Mediated Antioxidant Defense System: Bioactive Constituents and Mechanism of Action
Authors: Li Guo-Hui , Li Yan-Ru , Jiao Ping , Zhao Yu , Hu Hui-Xin , Lou Hong-Xiang , Shen Tao
Published: June 2018

Oxidative stress plays a central role in the pathogenesis of many human diseases. The nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a key transcription factor regulating the intracellular antioxidant response and is an emerging target for the prevention and therapy of oxidative stress‐related diseases. Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (SMRR) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and is commonly used for the therapy of cardiac cerebral diseases. Cumulative evidences indicated that the extract of SMRR and its constituents, represented by lipophilic diterpenoid quinones and hydrophilic phenolic acids, were capable of activating Nrf2 and inhibiting oxidative stress. These bioactive constituents demonstrated a therapeutic potential against human diseases, exemplified by cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, nephropathy, and inflammation, based on the induction of Nrf2‐mediated antioxidant response and the inhibition of oxidative stress. In the present review, we introduced the SMRR and Nrf2 signaling pathway, summarized the constituents with an Nrf2‐inducing effect isolated from SMRR, and discussed the molecular mechanism and pharmacological functions of the SMRR extract and its constituents.
Hierarchical N- and O-Doped Porous Carbon Composites for High-Performance Supercapacitors
Authors: Zou Ben-Xue , Wang Yan , Huang Xiaodong , Lu Yanhua
Published: June 2018

Hierarchical N- and O-doped porous carbon composites were prepared by hydrothermally assembling of silk fibers with low molecular weight phenolic resin, followed by carbonization and KOH activation process. Silk fibroin is expected to provide nitrogen and oxygen functionalities for the final composite carbon. The introduction of thin layer graphitic structures of low molecular weight phenolic resin-derived carbon offers more abundant structures, low resistance, and hierarchical porosity with a high BET surface area of 1927 m2·g−1. The composition and electrochemical properties of the composite carbon have been studied as a function of the annealing temperature for KOH activation process. The obtained carbon composite exhibits high specific capacitance as high as 330 F·g−1 (1000 mF·cm−2) at 0.5 A·g−1, good rate capability, and excellent cycling stability (91% of capacitance retention after 10000 cycles) in 6 M KOH electrolyte.
Diagnostic Dilemma in Two Cases of Hyperandrogenism
Authors: Alali Ibrahim , Haj Hassan Lilianne , Mardini Ghadeer , Hijazi Nermeen , Hadid Lama , Kabalan Younes
Published: June 2018

Hirsutism is a common endocrine complaint affecting about 10 percent of women. It may be caused by multiple etiologies including adrenal and ovarian disorders. Usually, it is a result of a benign entity such as PCOs and idiopathic hirsutism. However, sometimes especially when it is severe and rapid in progression an androgen-secreting tumor should be excluded. Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors constitute fewer than 0.5 percent of ovarian tumors and it may be benign or malignant. In this article, we present two cases of hyperandrogenism caused by occult ovarian Leydig cell tumors. one of them was confounded by the presence of coincidental bilateral adrenal nodules that complicated the diagnostic process. Tumor dissection was curative in both cases and the diagnosis was confirmed by pathological and hormonal testing after surgery.