bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of gender on the clinical outcomes of Asian non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients: insights from the prospective multicentre COOL-AF registry
Authors: Krittayaphong Rungroj , Phrommintikul Arintaya , Winijkul Arjbordin , Methavigul Komsing , Komoltri Chulalak , Kaewkumdee Pontawee , Yindeengam Ahthit
Published: May 2021

Objective

To determine the effect of gender on clinical outcomes of Asian non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients.

Design

This is a cohort study.

Setting

27 university and regional hospitals in Thailand.

Participants

Patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

Primary and secondary outcomes measures

The clinical outcomes were ischaemic stroke/transient ischaemic attack (TIA), major bleeding, intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), heart failure and death. Follow-up data were recorded every 6 months until 3 years. Differences in clinical outcomes between males and females were determined. Multivariate analysis was performed to assess the effect of gender on clinical outcomes. Survival analysis and log-rank test were performed to determine the time-dependent effect of clinical outcomes, and the difference between males and females. Effect of oral anticoagulant (OAC) on outcomes and net clinical benefit of OAC was assessed. The analysis was performed both for the whole dataset and propensity score matching with multiple imputation.

Results

A total of 3402 patients (mean age: 67.4±11.3 years; 58.2% male) were included. Average follow-up duration 25.7±10.6 months (7192.6 persons-year). Rate of ischaemic stroke/TIA, major bleeding, ICH, heart failure and death were 1.43 (1.17–1.74), 2.11 (1.79–2.48), 0.70 (0.52–0.92), 3.03 (2.64–3.46) and 3.77 (3.33–4.25) per 100 person-years. Females had increased risk for ischaemic stroke/TIA and heart failure and males had increased risk for major bleeding and ICH. Ischaemic stroke/TIA risk in females and major bleeding and ICH risk in males remained even after correction for age, comorbid conditions and anticoagulation treatment. OAC reduced the risk of ischaemic stroke/TIA in males and females, and markedly increased the risk of major bleeding and ICH in males.

Conclusions

Females had a higher risk of ischaemic stroke/TIA and heart failure, and a lower risk of major bleeding and ICH compared with males. OAC reduced risk of ischaemic stroke/TIA in females, and markedly increased risk of major bleeding and ICH in males.
Improving rib fracture management in Morriston hospital: using QI to develop an erector spinae plane catheter service
Authors: Rees Tom , Ee Arthur
Published: May 2021

Introduction

Trauma audit research network (TARN) data for 2018 indicated that we admitted 100 patients with chest wall injuries in our District General Hospital (DGH). Our own retrospective audit of pain team referrals confirmed long length of stay (median 14 days), with 59% requiring level 2/3 care and 11% mortality risk. We noticed that Regional anaesthesia was offered to less than 25% of patients despite 63% reporting severe pain and decided to introduce an erector spinae plane (ESP) catheter service for rib fractures. Our aims were to reduce length of stay and pain scores.

Methods

We set up an email alert system, where TARN data collectors notified us when patients were admitted through the emergency department with rib fractures. Using a secure social media app (Whatsapp), we organised a group of regional anaesthetists who were willing to provide an ESP service. Process mapping and driver diagrams helped to streamline the service.

Results

Mean length of hospital stay was reduced from 10 to 7 days after introduction of the service with significant reduction in variability. Mean pain scores improved from 8.9/10 to 5/10 with an average improvement of pain score of 2.78 points on a numerical scale out of 10. (n=9)

Conclusions

This service improvement relied on a team of hospital clinicians who agreed to provide an extra pain service for patients with rib fracture. The reduction in LOS may be explained by improved respiratory physiology with ESP catheter placement. The ability to deep breathe, cough and engage in physiotherapy treatment are important factors in recovering from rib fractures. The small reduction in pain scores may be explained by the presence of other injuries. Ongoing improvements in training should improve reliability of catheter placement and reduce practitioner variation.
Feasibility randomised controlled trial comparing TRAK-ACL digital rehabilitation intervention plus treatment as usual versus treatment as usual for patients following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
Authors: Dunphy Emma , Button Kate , Hamilton Fiona , Williams Jodie , Spasic Irena , Murray Elizabeth
Published: May 2021

Objectives

To evaluate the feasibility of trialling taxonomy for the rehabilitation of knee conditions—ACL (TRAK-ACL), a digital health intervention that provides health information, personalised exercise plans and remote clinical support combined with treatment as usual (TAU), for people following ACL reconstruction.

Methods

The study design was a two-arm parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT). Eligible participants were English-speaking adults who had undergone ACL reconstruction within the last 12 weeks, had access to the internet and could provide informed consent. Recruitment took place at three sites in the UK. TRAK-ACL intervention was an interactive website informed by behaviour change technique combined with TAU. The comparator was TAU. Outcomes were: recruitment and retention; completeness of outcome measures at follow-up; fidelity of intervention delivery and engagement with the intervention. Individuals were randomised using a computer-generated random number sequence. Blinded assessors allocated groups and collected outcome measures.

Results

Fifty-nine people were assessed for eligibility at two of the participating sites, and 51 were randomised; 26 were allocated to TRAK-ACL and 25 to TAU. Follow-up data were collected on 44 and 40 participants at 3 and 6 months, respectively. All outcome measures were completed fully at 6 months except the Client Service Receipt Inventory. Two patients in each arm did not receive the treatment they were randomised to. Engagement with TRAK-ACL intervention was a median of 5 logins (IQR 3–13 logins), over 18 weeks (SD 12.2 weeks).

Conclusion

TRAK-ACL would be suitable for evaluation of effectiveness in a fully powered RCT.
Self-reported physical activity before a COVID-19 ‘lockdown’: is it just a matter of opinion?
Authors: Cross Troy J , Isautier Jennifer M J , Stamatakis Emmanuel , Morris Sarah Jane , Johnson Bruce D , Wheatley-Guy Courtney , Taylor Bryan J
Published: May 2021

There are growing concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic has facilitated a sedentary shift in our physical activity habits. A reduction in physical activity during the pandemic may be secondary to restrictive policies implemented at the government-level, typically those policies which limit interpersonal contact; for example, physical/social distancing. It is without question that social distancing is a necessary measure to mitigate community transmission of the novel virus; however, these policies often limit the public’s opportunities to engage in physical activity. The strictest enforcement of social distancing occurs during an authority-mandated ‘lockdown’ (also known as a ‘shelter-in-place’ or ‘stay-at-home’ order). This Viewpoint focuses on the current evidence demonstrating that physical activity declines during a COVID-19 ‘lockdown’. We highlight the point that most of the available evidence stems from investigations using non-validated, self-reported measures of physical activity and discuss the caveats therewith. This Viewpoint explores whether current evidence reflects an ‘actual’ or rather a ‘perceived’ reduction in physical activity, and raises the question of whether this distinction matters in the end.
Progesterone promotes immunomodulation and tumor development in the murine mammary gland
Authors: Werner Lauryn R , Gibson Katelin A , Goodman Merit L , Helm Dominika E , Walter Katherine R , Holloran Sean M , Trinca Gloria M , Hastings Richard C , Yang Howard H , Hu Ying , Wei Junping , Lei Gangjun , Yang Xiao-Yi , Madan Rashna , Molinolo Alfredo A , Markiewicz Mary A , Chalise Prabhakar , Axelrod Margaret L , Balko Justin M , Hunter Kent W , Hartman Zachary C , Lange Carol A , Hagan Christy R
Published: May 2021

Background

Clinical studies have linked usage of progestins (synthetic progesterone [P4]) to breast cancer risk. However, little is understood regarding the role of native P4, signaling through the progesterone receptor (PR), in breast tumor formation. Recently, we reported a link between PR and immune signaling pathways, showing that P4/PR can repress type I interferon signaling pathways. Given these findings, we sought to investigate whether P4/PR drive immunomodulation in the mammary gland and promote tumor formation.

Methods

To determine the effect of P4 on immune cell populations in the murine mammary gland, mice were treated with P4 or placebo pellets for 21 days. Immune cell populations in the mammary gland, spleen, and inguinal lymph nodes were subsequently analyzed by flow cytometry. To assess the effect of PR overexpression on mammary gland tumor development as well as immune cell populations in the mammary gland, a transgenic mouse model was used in which PR was overexpressed throughout the entire mouse. Immune cell populations were assessed in the mammary glands, spleens, and inguinal lymph nodes of 6-month-old transgenic and control mice by flow cytometry. Transgenic mice were also monitored for mammary gland tumor development over a 2-year time span. Following development of mammary gland tumors, immune cell populations in the tumors and spleens of transgenic and control mice were analyzed by flow cytometry.

Results

We found that mice treated with P4 exhibited changes in the mammary gland indicative of an inhibited immune response compared with placebo-treated mice. Furthermore, transgenic mice with PR overexpression demonstrated decreased numbers of immune cell populations in their mammary glands, lymph nodes, and spleens. On long-term monitoring, we determined that multiparous PR-overexpressing mice developed significantly more mammary gland tumors than control mice. Additionally, tumors from PR-overexpressing mice contained fewer infiltrating immune cells. Finally, RNA sequencing analysis of tumor samples revealed that immune-related gene signatures were lower in tumors from PR-overexpressing mice as compared with control mice.

Conclusion

Together, these findings offer a novel mechanism of P4-driven mammary gland tumor development and provide rationale in investigating the usage of antiprogestin therapies to promote immune-mediated elimination of mammary gland tumors.
Tofacitinib versus tocilizumab in the treatment of biological-naïve or previous biological-failure patients with methotrexate-refractory active rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Mori Shunsuke , Urata Yukitomo , Yoshitama Tamami , Ueki Yukitaka
Published: May 2021

Objectives

To compare effectiveness between tofacitinib and tocilizumab treatments for biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD)-naïve patients or previous bDMARD-failure patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) refractory to methotrexate (MTX).

Methods

We used two ongoing real-world registries of patients with RA who had first started tofacitinib or tocilizumab between August 2013 and February 2019 at our institutions. Clinical disease activity index (CDAI)-based improvements at 12 months were used for comparisons between tofacitinib and tocilizumab treatments, separately for bDMARD-naïve and previous bDMARD-failure patients.

Results

A total of 464 patients with RA with high or moderate CDAI were enrolled (247 with tofacitinib and 217 with tocilizumab). After adjustments for treatment-selection bias by propensity score matching, we showed that tofacitinib was more likely to induce and maintain ≥85% improvement in CDAI (CDAI85), CDAI70 and remission at 12 months compared with tocilizumab in bDMARD-naïve patients. After adjusting for concurrent use of MTX and prednisolone, the ORs of tofacitinib versus tocilizumab were 3.88 (95% CI 1.87 to 8.03) for CDAI85, 2.89 (95% CI 1.43 to 5.84) for CDAI70 and 3.31 (95% CI 1.69 to 6.48) for remission. These effects were not observed in bDMARD-failure patients. In tofacitinib treatment for bDMARD-failure patients, the number of previously failed bDMARD classes was not associated with CDAI-based improvements. The rate of overall adverse events was similar between both treatments. Similar ORs were obtained from patients adjusted by inverse probability of treatment weighting.

Conclusions

Compared with tocilizumab, tofacitinib can induce greater improvements during the first 12-month treatment in bDMARD-naïve patients, but this difference was not observed in previous bDMARD-failure patients.
Cross-sectional assessment of determinants of STIs among men who have sex with men and transgender women in Kigali, Rwanda
Authors: Twahirwa Rwema Jean Olivier , Herbst Sara , Hamill Matthew M , Liestman Benjamin , Nyombayire Julien , Lyons Carrie E , Mugwaneza Placidie , Makuza Jean Damascène , Sullivan Patrick Sean , Allen Susan , Karita Etienne , Baral Stefan
Published: May 2021

Background

STIs among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TGW) continue to increase. In Rwanda, STI management relies on syndromic management with limited empirical data characterising the burden of specific STIs among MSM/TGW. This study evaluated the prevalence of syphilis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and associated factors among MSM/TGW in Kigali.

Methods

From March to August 2018, 737 MSM/TGW >18 years were enrolled using respondent-driven sampling (RDS). Structured interviews and HIV/STI screening were conducted. Syphilis was screened with rapid plasma reagin confirmed by Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay. CT/NG were tested by Cepheid GeneXpert. RDS-adjusted multivariable Poisson regression models with robust variance estimation were used to evaluate factors associated with any STI, and determinants of urethral and rectal STIs separately.

Results

Prevalence of any STI was 20% (RDS adjusted: 16.7% (95% CI: 13.2% to 20.2%)). Syphilis was 5.7% (RDS adjusted: 6.8% (95% CI: 4.3% to 9.4%)). CT was 9.1% (RDS adjusted: 6.1% (95% CI: 3.9% to 8.4%)) and NG was 8.8% (RDS adjusted: 7.1% (95% CI: 4.9% to 9.2%)). STIs were more common among older MSM and those with HIV (p<0.05). Of CT infections, 67% were urethral, 27% rectal and 6% were dual site. For NG infections, 52% were rectal, 29% urethral and 19% were dual site. Overall, 25.8% (23 of 89) of those with confirmed STI and returned for their results were symptomatic at time of testing.

STI symptoms in the previous year (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR): 1.94 (95% CI: 1.26 to 2.98)) were positively associated with any STI. Being circumcised was negatively associated with any STI (aPR: 0.47 (95% CI: 0.31 to 0.73)). HIV was positively associated with rectal STIs (aPR: 3.50 (95% CI: 1.09 to 11.21)) but negatively associated with urethral STIs.

Conclusion

MSM/TGW, especially those living with HIV, are at high risk of STIs in Rwanda with the vast majority being asymptomatic. These data suggest the potential utility of active STI surveillance strategies using highly sensitive laboratory methods among those at high risk given the anatomical distribution and limited symptomatology of STIs observed among Rwandan MSM/TGW.
Accommodation of freeway merging in a mixed traffic environment including connected autonomous vehicles
Authors: Pakzadnia Afshin , Roustom Saad , Hassan Yasser
Published: May 2021

The use of connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) can help reduce the gaps between vehicles. However, smaller gaps may cause challenges for on-ramp vehicles to merge on the freeway. This study introduces several strategies that allow on-ramp vehicles to merge safely and efficiently with the mainline by providing adequate merging gaps or resolving merging conflicts in a mixed traffic environment. Eight methods are proposed to facilitate merging. These strategies are simulated in a mixed traffic environment with different traffic characteristics, including different proportions of CAVs. The results indicate that the operational performance is affected by the CAV penetration rate and traffic management strategy. For a relatively low freeway traffic volume or 100% CAV penetration rate, traffic operations under the do-nothing option perform almost as well as the best traffic management strategy. However, at lower CAV penetration rates and high freeway traffic volumes, the proposed strategies are more viable than the do-nothing option.
Constraint on primordial magnetic fields in the light of ARCADE 2 and EDGES observations
Authors: Natwariya Pravin Kumar
Published: May 2021

We study the constraints on primordial magnetic fields (PMFs) in the light of the Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature (EDGES) low-band observation and Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE 2). ARCADE 2 observation detected extra-galactic excess radio radiation in the frequency range 3–90 GHz. The enhancement in the radio radiation is also supported by the first station of the Long Wavelength Array (LWA1) in the frequency range 40–80 MHz. The presence of early radiation excess over the cosmic microwave background can not be completely ruled out, and it may explain the EDGES anomaly. In the presence of decaying PMFs, 21 cm differential brightness temperature can modify due to the heating of the gas by decaying magnetic fields, and we can constraint the magnetic fields. For excess radiation fraction ($$A_r$$

A
r

) to be LWA1 limit, we show that the upper bound on the present-day magnetic field strength, $$B_0$$

B
0

, on the scale of 1 Mpc is $$\lesssim 3.7$$

≲
3.7

 nG for spectral index $$n_B=-2.99$$

n
B

=
-
2.99

. While for $$n_B=-1$$

n
B

=
-
1

, we get $$B_0\lesssim 1.1\times 10^{-3}$$

B
0

≲
1.1
×

10

-
3

 nG. We also discuss the effects of first stars on IGM gas evolution and the allowed value of $$B_0$$

B
0

. For $$A_r$$

A
r

to be LWA1 limit, we get the upper constraint on magnetic field to be $$B_0(n_B=-2.99)\lesssim 4.9\times 10^{-1}$$

B
0

(

n
B

=
-
2.99
)

≲
4.9
×

10

-
1

 nG and $$B_0(n_B=-1)\lesssim 3.7\times 10^{-5}$$

B
0

(

n
B

=
-
1
)

≲
3.7
×

10

-
5

 nG. By decreasing excess radiation fraction below the LWA1 limit, we get a more stringent bound on $$B_0$$

B
0

.
Probing ultrastrong light–matter coupling in open quantum systems
Authors: Ridolfo A. , Rajendran J. , Giannelli L. , Paladino E. , Falci G.
Published: May 2021

Dynamically probing systems of ultrastrongly coupled light and matter by advanced coherent control have been recently proposed as a unique tool for detecting peculiar quantum features of this regime. Coherence allows in principle on-demand conversion of virtual photons dressing the entangled eigenstates of the system to real ones, with unitary efficiency and remarkable robustness. Here, we study this effect in the presence of decoherence, showing that also in far from ideal regimes is it possible to probe such peculiar features.
Platinum group elements in lamprophyre, picrobasalt, gabbro and basalts of the Phenai Mata and nearby areas: implications for Fe–Ni–Cu–PGE mineralization in the Deccan Large Igneous Province
Authors: Kumar Jami Vijaya , Randive Kirtikumar
Published: May 2021

Among the basaltic large igneous provinces (LIPs) world over, the Deccan Large Igneous Province (DLIP) is considered barren of metalliferous sulfide deposits, and especially platinum group minerals (PGMs). The tholeiitic basaltic magmas of the DLIP were found to lack sulfur saturation at all stages of its evolution. However, we found some incidences of Fe–Ni–platinum group element (PGE) mineralization in the cumulate gabbros of the Phenai Mata Igneous Complex (PMIC), as well as intrusive dykes of lamprophyre, picrobasalt and basalt in adjoining areas. To examine the metal potential of the gabbros, we adopted the following approach: (a) whole-rock PGE analysis of selected rocks; (b) preconcentration of the samples by communition, sieving and gravity-magnetic separation, followed by froth floatation, Ni-sulfide fire assay and geochemical analysis of the concentrates; and (c) direct scanning of samples using an electron probe microanalyser (EPMA). The geochemical proxies – namely, Pd/Ir, Cu/Ir, Ni/Pd and Ni/Cu – indicate that PMIC has distinct geochemical signatures compared to other parts of the DLIP. The results have further indicated an interesting suite of minerals comprising metal sulfides of Fe–Cu–Zn–Pb–Co–Ni. This metal-rich suite in the otherwise ‘barren’ Deccan Trap tholeiites is a result of accidental fertilization of metals into their sulfides due to the mixing of crustal sulfur.
RLPS: A Reinforcement Learning–Based Framework for Personalized Search
Authors: Yao Jing , Dou Zhicheng , Xu Jun , Wen Ji-Rong
Published: May 2021

Personalized search is a promising way to improve search qualities by taking user interests into consideration. Recently, machine learning and deep learning techniques have been successfully applied to search result personalization. Most existing models simply regard the personal search history as a static set of user behaviors and learn fixed ranking strategies based on all the recorded data. Though improvements have been achieved, the essence that the search process is a sequence of interactions between the search engine and user is ignored. The user’s interests may dynamically change during the search process, therefore, it would be more helpful if a personalized search model could track the whole interaction process and adjust its ranking strategy continuously. In this article, we adapt reinforcement learning to personalized search and propose a framework, referred to as RLPS. It utilizes a
Markov Decision Process
(
MDP
) to track sequential interactions between the user and search engine, and continuously update the underlying personalized ranking model with the user’s real-time feedback to learn the user’s dynamic interests. Within this framework, we implement two models: the listwise RLPS-L and the hierarchical RLPS-H. RLPS-L interacts with users and trains the ranking model with document lists, while RLPS-H improves model training by designing a layered structure and introducing document pairs. In addition, we also design a feedback-aware personalized ranking component to capture the user’s feedback, which impacts the user interest profile for the next query. Significant improvements over existing personalized search models are observed in the experiments on the public AOL search log and a commercial log.
Dirty Pixels: Towards End-to-end Image Processing and Perception
Authors: Diamond Steven , Sitzmann Vincent , Julca-Aguilar Frank , Boyd Stephen , Wetzstein Gordon , Heide Felix
Published: May 2021

Real-world, imaging systems acquire measurements that are degraded by noise, optical aberrations, and other imperfections that make image processing for human viewing and higher-level perception tasks challenging. Conventional cameras address this problem by compartmentalizing imaging from high-level task processing. As such, conventional imaging involves processing the RAW sensor measurements in a sequential pipeline of steps, such as demosaicking, denoising, deblurring, tone-mapping, and compression. This pipeline is optimized to obtain a visually pleasing image. High-level processing, however, involves steps such as feature extraction, classification, tracking, and fusion. While this silo-ed design approach allows for efficient development, it also dictates compartmentalized performance metrics without knowledge of the higher-level task of the camera system. For example, today’s demosaicking and denoising algorithms are designed using perceptual image quality metrics but not with domain-specific tasks such as object detection in mind. We propose an end-to-end differentiable architecture that jointly performs demosaicking, denoising, deblurring, tone-mapping, and classification (see Figure 1). The architecture does not require any intermediate losses based on perceived image quality and learns processing pipelines whose outputs differ from those of existing ISPs optimized for perceptual quality, preserving fine detail at the cost of increased noise and artifacts. We show that state-of-the-art ISPs discard information that is essential in corner cases, such as extremely low-light conditions, where conventional imaging and perception stacks fail. We demonstrate on captured and simulated data that our model substantially improves perception in low light and other challenging conditions, which is imperative for real-world applications such as autonomous driving, robotics, and surveillance. Finally, we found that the proposed model also achieves state-of-the-art accuracy when optimized for image reconstruction in low-light conditions, validating the architecture itself as a potentially useful drop-in network for reconstruction and analysis tasks beyond the applications demonstrated in this work. Our proposed models, datasets, and calibration data are available at
https://github.com/princeton-computational-imaging/DirtyPixels
.
Context-aware Target Apps Selection and Recommendation for Enhancing Personal Mobile Assistants
Authors: Aliannejadi Mohammad , Zamani Hamed , Crestani Fabio , Croft W. Bruce
Published: May 2021

Users install many apps on their smartphones, raising issues related to information overload for users and resource management for devices. Moreover, the recent increase in the use of personal assistants has made mobile devices even more pervasive in users’ lives. This article addresses two research problems that are vital for developing effective personal mobile assistants:
target apps selection
and
recommendation
. The former is the key component of a unified mobile search system: a system that addresses the users’ information needs for all the apps installed on their devices with a unified mode of access. The latter, instead, predicts the next apps that the users would want to launch. Here we focus on context-aware models to leverage the rich contextual information available to mobile devices. We design an
in situ
study to collect thousands of mobile queries enriched with mobile sensor data (now publicly available for research purposes). With the aid of this dataset, we study the user behavior in the context of these tasks and propose a family of context-aware neural models that take into account the sequential, temporal, and personal behavior of users. We study several state-of-the-art models and show that the proposed models significantly outperform the baselines.
Spoken Conversational Context Improves Query Auto-completion in Web Search
Authors: Vuong Tung , Andolina Salvatore , Jacucci Giulio , Ruotsalo Tuukka
Published: May 2021

Web searches often originate from conversations in which people engage before they perform a search. Therefore, conversations can be a valuable source of context with which to support the search process. We investigate whether spoken input from conversations can be used as a context to improve query auto-completion. We model the temporal dynamics of the spoken conversational context preceding queries and use these models to re-rank the query auto-completion suggestions. Data were collected from a controlled experiment and comprised conversations among 12 participant pairs conversing about movies or traveling. Search query logs during the conversations were recorded and temporally associated with the conversations. We compared the effects of spoken conversational input in four conditions: a control condition without contextualization; an experimental condition with the model using search query logs; an experimental condition with the model using spoken conversational input; and an experimental condition with the model using both search query logs and spoken conversational input. We show the advantage of combining the spoken conversational context with the Web-search context for improved retrieval performance. Our results suggest that spoken conversations provide a rich context for supporting information searches beyond current user-modeling approaches.
A Hybrid Framework for Session Context Modeling
Authors: Chen Jia , Mao Jiaxin , Liu Yiqun , Ye Ziyi , Ma Weizhi , Wang Chao , Zhang Min , Ma Shaoping
Published: May 2021

Understanding user intent is essential for various retrieval tasks. By leveraging contextual information within sessions, e.g., query history and user click behaviors, search systems can capture user intent more accurately and thus perform better. However, most existing systems only consider intra-session contexts and may suffer from the problem of lacking contextual information, because short search sessions account for a large proportion in practical scenarios. We believe that in these scenarios, considering more contexts, e.g., cross-session dependencies, may help alleviate the problem and contribute to better performance. Therefore, we propose a novel Hybrid framework for Session Context Modeling (HSCM), which realizes session-level multi-task learning based on the self-attention mechanism. To alleviate the problem of lacking contextual information within current sessions, HSCM exploits the cross-session contexts by sampling user interactions under similar search intents in the historical sessions and further aggregating them into the local contexts. Besides, application of the self-attention mechanism rather than RNN-based frameworks in modeling session-level sequences also helps (1) better capture interactions within sessions, (2) represent the session contexts in parallelization. Experimental results on two practical search datasets show that HSCM not only outperforms strong baseline solutions such as HiNT, CARS, and BERTserini in document ranking, but also performs significantly better than most existing query suggestion methods. According to the results in an additional experiment, we have also found that HSCM is superior to most ranking models in click prediction.
DGeye: Probabilistic Risk Perception and Prediction for Urban Dangerous Goods Management
Authors: Wang Jingyuan , Lin Xin , Zuo Yuan , Wu Junjie
Published: May 2021

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of worldwide megalopolises and the accompanying public safety events, making urban safety a top priority in modern urban management. Among various threats, dangerous goods such as gas and hazardous chemicals transported through cities have bred repeated tragedies and become the deadly “bomb” we sleep with every day. While tremendous research efforts have been devoted to dealing with dangerous goods transportation (DGT) issues, further study is still in great need to quantify this problem and explore its intrinsic dynamics from a big data perspective. In this article, we present a novel system called
DGeye
, to feature a fusion between DGT trajectory data and residential population data for dangers perception and prediction. Specifically,
DGeye
first develops a probabilistic graphical model-based approach to mine spatio-temporally adjacent risk patterns from population-aware risk trajectories. Then,
DGeye
builds the novel causality network among risk patterns for risk pain-point identification, risk source attribution, and online risky state prediction. Experiments on both Beijing and Tianjin cities demonstrate the effectiveness of
DGeye
in real-life DGT risk management. As a case in point, our report powered by
DGeye
successfully drove the government to lay down gas pipelines for the famous Guijie food street in Beijing.
Vid2Player: Controllable Video Sprites That Behave and Appear Like Professional Tennis Players
Authors: Zhang Haotian , Sciutto Cristobal , Agrawala Maneesh , Fatahalian Kayvon
Published: May 2021

We present a system that converts annotated broadcast video of tennis matches into interactively controllable video sprites that behave and appear like professional tennis players. Our approach is based on controllable video textures and utilizes domain knowledge of the cyclic structure of tennis rallies to place clip transitions and accept control inputs at key decision-making moments of point play. Most importantly, we use points from the video collection to model a player’s court positioning and shot selection decisions during points. We use these behavioral models to select video clips that reflect actions the real-life player is likely to take in a given match-play situation, yielding sprites that behave realistically at the macro level of full points, not just individual tennis motions. Our system can generate novel points between professional tennis players that resemble Wimbledon broadcasts, enabling new experiences, such as the creation of matchups between players that have not competed in real life or interactive control of players in the Wimbledon final. According to expert tennis players, the rallies generated using our approach are significantly more realistic in terms of player behavior than video sprite methods that only consider the quality of motion transitions during video synthesis.

The supplementary material/video are available at our https://cs.stanford.edu/~haotianz/research/vid2player/ project website.
A Simply Fabricated Electrochemically Pretreated Glassy Carbon Electrode for Highly Sensitive Determination of Clonazepam by Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry
Authors: Khoka Salinee , Samoson Kritsada , Yodrak Janjira , Thiagchanya Adul , Phonchai Apichai , Limbut Warakorn
Published: May 2021

Using a simple method, a glassy carbon electrode was electrochemically pretreated for highly sensitive determination of clonazepam. The electrochemically pretreated glassy carbon electrode was employed as an adsorbent and a working electrode for the detection of clonazepam by adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry. The surface morphology and electrochemical properties of the glassy carbon electrode and the electrochemically pretreated glassy carbon electrode were studied by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The analytical measurements of clonazepam were evaluated using adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry. To obtain the optimal electrochemical reduction of clonazepam by the electrochemically pretreated glassy carbon electrode, the electrochemical pretreatment process, preconcentration potential and preconcentration time were optimized. The detection of clonazepam standards under the optimal conditions produced a cathodic current response with a detection limit of 19μg l−1, quantification limit of 63μg l−1and a linear range from 0.0250 to 1.50 mg l−1. The sensor exhibited excellent sensitivity (453μA mg−1l cm−2), and good repeatability (%RSD < 11%) and recovery (98 ± 2 to 102 ± 4%). The developed sensor was successfully utilized for the measurement of clonazepam in beverage samples.
High-frequency blood flow-restricted resistance exercise results in acute and prolonged cellular stress more pronounced in type I than in type II fibers
Authors: Bjørnsen Thomas , Wernbom Mathias , Paulsen Gøran , Markworth James F. , Berntsen Sveinung , D’Souza Randall F. , Cameron-Smith David , Raastad Truls
Published: May 2021

BFRRE has been reported to preferentially stress type I muscle fibers, as evidenced by HSP responses. We extend these findings by showing that the HSP responses occur in both fiber types but more so in type I fibers and that they can still be induced after a short-term training period. Furthermore, the reductions in glycogen content of type I fibers after strenuous frequent BFRRE in unaccustomed subjects can be prolonged (≥5 days), probably due to microdamage.
Case Studies in Physiology: Untangling the cause of hypoxemia in a patient with obesity with acute leukemia
Authors: Amaza Iliya , Kalra Hardik , Eberlein Michael , Jethava Yogesh , McDonell Joseph , Wolfe Bobby , Tomasson Michael H. , Bates Melissa L.
Published: May 2021

Discerning the cause of dyspnea and hypoxemia in complex patients can be difficult. We describe the “real world” application of an innovative methodology to untangle the underlying physiology in a patient with multiple comorbidities. This case further demonstrates the importance of applying physiology to interrogate the underlying cause of a patient’s symptoms when treatment based on probability fails.
Short exposure to intermittent hypoxia increases erythropoietin levels in healthy individuals
Authors: Wojan Frank , Stray-Gundersen Sten , Nagel Mercedes J. , Lalande Sophie
Published: May 2021

The objective of this study was to identify the shortest intermittent hypoxia protocol necessary to increase serum erythropoietin levels in healthy individuals. Eight 4-min bouts of intermittent hypoxia, representing a hypoxic duration of 32 min at an arterial oxygen saturation of 80%, significantly increased erythropoietin levels in healthy individuals. These findings suggest that a short session of intermittent hypoxia has the potential to increase oxygen-carrying capacity.
Medication Administration Error Reporting and Associated Factors among Nurses Working in Public Hospitals, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Asefa Kokebie kefelegn , Dagne Deguale , Mekonnen Wassie Negash
Published: May 2021

Background. Medication administration error is one of the most common errors that occur when a discrepancy occurs between the drugs received by the patient and the drug intended by the prescriber. A lot of studies were conducted on medication administration error. But there were a few studies on whether those medication administration errors are reported or not among nurses in Ethiopia. So this study is aimed at assessing the magnitude of medication administration error reporting and the associated factors among nurses. Objectives. To assess the magnitude of reported medication administration error and associated factors among nurses working in public hospitals, Ethiopia. Methods. An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was employed from March to April 2019. Simple random sampling technique was used. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered using EpiData version 3.1 and descriptive analysis, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out using SPSS version 21 software. Results. The magnitude of medication administration error reporting was found to be 37.9%. Being female [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.91; confidence interval (CI) (1.45–5.85)]; belief that errors should not be reported [AOR = .3; CI (.15–.61)]; having work experience of greater than 15 years [AOR = 3.4; CI (1.11–13.85)]; having bachelor science degree [AOR = 3.27; CI (1.61–6.66)]; and caring for greater than 10 patients [(AOR = .4; CI (.16–.96)] were factors associated with nurses medication administration error reporting. Conclusion. The magnitude of medication administration error reporting among nurses was found to be low. To increase medication administration error reporting, efforts should be made to change the attitude of nurses on the belief that errors should be reported, retaining staffs that have longer experience, upgrading staffs educational status, and limiting the number of patients cared by a single nurse.
The Exponential T-X Family of Distributions: Properties and an Application to Insurance Data
Authors: Ahmad Zubair , Mahmoudi Eisa , Alizadeh Morad , Roozegar Rasool , Afify Ahmed Z.
Published: May 2021

Heavy-tailed distributions play a prominent role in actuarial and financial sciences. In this paper, we introduce a family of distributions that we refer to as exponential T-X (ETX) family. Based on the proposed approach, a new extension of the Weibull model is introduced. The proposed model is very flexible in modeling heavy-tailed data. Some mathematical properties are derived, and maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters are obtained. A Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of the maximum likelihood estimators. Actuarial measures such as value at risk and tail value at risk are also calculated. A simulation study based on these actuarial measures is provided. Finally, an application to a heavy-tailed automobile insurance claim data set is presented. The proposed model is compared with some well-known competing distributions.
Robust Finite-Time Trajectory Tracking Control of Quadrotor Aircraft via Terminal Sliding Mode-Based Active Antidisturbance Approach: A PIL Experiment
Authors: Mechali Omar , Iqbal Jamshed , Xie Xiaomei , Xu Limei , Senouci Abdelkader
Published: May 2021

This paper presents an accurate solution of finite-time Cartesian trajectory tracking control problem of a quadrotor system by designing and implementing a novel robust flight-control algorithm. The quadrotor is subject to nonlinearities, unmodeled dynamics, parameters’ uncertainties, and external time-varying disturbances. To reject the disturbances and enhance the control system’s robustness, a terminal sliding mode-based active antidisturbance control (TSMBAADC) approach is proposed for rotational and translational subsystems. To improve the tracking performance, a nonlinear continuous terminal sliding manifold and a fast reaching law are proposed in this work to quickly drive the systems’ states to the equilibrium point even in the presence of lumped disturbances. The convergence time of the states can be pretuned based on the parameters of the sliding manifold and the reaching law. Lyapunov theorem is used to provide a rigorous stability proof for the feedback control system. Numerical simulations and processor-in-the-loop (PIL) experiments are conducted to validate and implement the designed flight control algorithm on real autopilot hardware. The novelty of the proposed research lies in hardware implementation of a sophisticated version of modern control technique that exhibits a multitude of distinguishing features including but not limited to (i) finite-time tracking stability featuring fast convergence is ensured, (ii) chattering and singularity problems in sliding mode control (SMC) are avoided, and (iii) null steady-state error is achieved along with enhanced robustness. Finally, the proposed control law is compared with two recently reported research works. Results of performance comparison in term of the integral of square error (ISE) and the absolute value of the derivative of the input

 
u

t

(IADU) dictate that the proposed technique overperforms by precision and chattering alleviation.
Analysis on the Influence of Fault Protection Coal Pillar Size on Rockburst
Authors: Xin Hengqi , Li Qinghai , Liu Li , Liu Zhijun , Hou Junmin
Published: May 2021

Compared with other types of rockburst, fault rockburst releases the most energy and brings the hugest damage to the stope. Reasonable fault protection coal pillar can effectively prevent and control the occurrence of fault rockburst. Reasonable fault protection coal pillar (FPCP) can prevent and control the occurrence of fault rockburst effectively. Based on the engineering background of No. 7 mining area in a coal mine, this paper analyzes the reasonable coal pillar size on both sides of normal fault. Combined with the geological conditions in site, through the mechanical analysis of coal pillar stability, it is calculated that the critical FPCP size is 27.9 m for the working face in the upper wall and 39.0 m for the working face in the footwall. Through numerical simulation analysis, it is found that with the critical size of FPCP, the stress concentration coefficient in front of the upper wall working faces and footwall working faces is about 1.59. When the size of FPCP is smaller than the critical one, the difference of stress concentration coefficient between the two working faces (upper wall working face and footwall working face) is large, and the difference becomes larger and larger with the decrease of coal pillar size. When the size of FPCP is larger than the critical one, the difference of stress concentration coefficient between the two working faces (upper wall working face and footwall working face) is small, and the stress concentration coefficient of the two faces tends to be equal with the increase of coal pillar size. The rationality of coal pillar size is verified by field application, which provides a basis for the selection of FPCP in subsequent mining under similar conditions.
Medicinal Plants with Prospective Benefits in the Management of Peptic Ulcer Diseases in Ghana
Authors: Boakye-Yiadom Mavis , Kumadoh Doris , Adase Emmanuel , Woode Eric
Published: May 2021

Background. The growth or multiplication of harmful microorganisms in addition to harmful human activities has led to many disorders in humans. Consequently, there is a search for medications to treat these disorders. Interestingly, medicines of plant origin are known to be among the most attractive sources of new drugs and have shown promising results in the treatment of various diseases including peptic ulcers. This review, therefore, is aimed at obtaining knowledge on some Ghanaian ethnomedicinal plants used to treat peptic ulcers, their folkloric uses, their phytochemicals, and their antiulcer and related pharmacological activities as well as finding areas for prospective studies.Methods. Published peer‐reviewed articles on ethnomedicinal plants used for the management of peptic ulcers in Ghana from 1967 to 2020 were sourced and used for the study. Results. In this review, 13 plants were identified which belong to 10 different families including Sapindaceae, Apocynaceae, and Bignoniaceae. The parts most often used for most preparations were the leaves (53%), followed by stem bark and roots (both having the same percentage of use of 17.6%), the whole plant (5.9%), and the rhizomes (5.9%). Azadirachta indica was the only plant that had undergone some patient studies in addition to animal studies. Conclusion. A discussion of various antiulcer activity studies using ulcer models carried out on selected medicinal plants used for the management of peptic ulcer disease in addition to brief information on their folkloric uses and their phytochemical and other pharmacological properties is presented. These medicinal plants may be used in developing herbal products for the management of peptic ulcer disease.
[Retracted] Multiple‐Attribute Decision‐Making Method Based on Normalized Geometric Aggregation Operators of Single‐Valued Neutrosophic Hesitant Fuzzy Information
Authors: Wang Li , Bao Yan-Ling
Published: May 2021

As a generalization of both single‐valued neutrosophic element and hesitant fuzzy element, single‐valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy element (SVNHFE) is an efficient tool for describing uncertain and imprecise information. Thus, it is of great significance to deal with single‐valued neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy information for many practical problems. In this paper, we study the aggregation of SVNHFEs based on some normalized operations from geometric viewpoint. Firstly, two normalized operations are defined for processing SVNHFEs. Then, a series of normalized aggregation operators which fulfill some basic conditions of a valid aggregation operator are proposed. Additionally, a decision‐making method is developed for resolving multiattribute decision‐making problems based on the proposed operators. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the method.