bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improving quality of care in less than 1 min: a prospective intervention study on postoperative handovers to the ICU/PACU
Authors: Keller Niklas , Bosse Götz , Memmert Belinda , Treskatsch Sascha , Spies Claudia
Published: June 2020

Purpose

Standardisation of the postoperative handover process via checklists, trainings or procedural changes has shown to be effective in reducing information loss. The clinical friction of implementing these measures has received little attention. We developed and evaluated a visual aid (VA) and >1 min in situ training intervention to improve the quality of postoperative handovers to the intensive care unit (ICU) and postoperative care unit.

Materials and methods

The VA was constructed and implemented via a brief (<1 min) training of anaesthesiologic staff during the operation. Ease of implementation was measured by amount of information transferred, handover duration and handover structure. 50 handovers were audio recorded before intervention and 50 after intervention. External validity was evaluated by blinded assessment of the recordings by experienced anaesthesiologists (n=10) on 10-point scales.

Results

The brief intervention resulted in increased information transfer (9.0–14.8 items,t(98)=7.44, p<0.0001, Cohen’s d=1.59) and increased handover duration (81.3–192.8 s,t(98)=6.642, p=0.013, Cohen’s d=1.33) with no loss in structure (1.60–1.56,t(98)=0.173, p=0.43). Blinded assessment on 10-point scales by experienced anaesthesiologists showed improved overall handover quality from 7.1 to 7.8 (t(98)=1.89, p=0.031, Cohen’s d=0.21) and improved completeness of information (t(98)=2.42, p=0.009, Cohen’s d=0.28) from 7.3 to 8.3.

Conclusions

An intervention consisting of a simple VA and <1 min instructions significantly increased overall quality and amount of information transferred during ICU/postanaesthetic care unit handovers.
Intravenous iron and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Santer Peter , McGahey Anne , Frise Matthew C , Petousi Nayia , Talbot Nick P , Baskerville Richard , Bafadhel Mona , Nickol Annabel H , Robbins Peter A
Published: June 2020

Background

Increased iron availability modifies cardiorespiratory function in healthy volunteers and improves exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with heart failure or pulmonary hypertension. We hypothesised that intravenous iron would produce improvements in oxygenation, exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods

We performed a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in 48 participants with COPD (mean±SD: age 69±8 years, haemoglobin 144.8±13.2 g/L, ferritin 97.1±70.0 µg/L, transferrin saturation 31.3%±15.2%; GOLD grades II–IV), each of whom received a single dose of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM; 15 mg/kg bodyweight) or saline placebo. The primary endpoint was peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) at rest after 1 week. The secondary endpoints included daily SpO2, overnight SpO2, exercise SpO2, 6 min walk distance, symptom and quality of life scores, serum iron indices, spirometry, echocardiographic measures, and exacerbation frequency.

Results

SpO2was unchanged 1 week after FCM administration (difference between groups 0.8%, 95% CI −0.2% to 1.7%). However, in secondary analyses, exercise capacity increased significantly after FCM administration, compared with placebo, with a mean difference in 6 min walk distance of 12.6 m (95% CI 1.6 to 23.5 m). Improvements of ≥40 m were observed in 29.2% of iron-treated and 0% of placebo-treated participants after 1 week (p=0.009). Modified MRC Dyspnoea Scale score was also significantly lower after FCM, and fewer participants reported scores ≥2 in the FCM group, compared with placebo (33.3% vs 66.7%, p=0.02). No significant differences were observed in other secondary endpoints. Adverse event rates were similar between groups, except for hypophosphataemia, which occurred more frequently after FCM (91.7% vs 8.3%, p<0.001).

Conclusions

FCM did not improve oxygenation over 8 weeks in patients with COPD. However, this treatment was well tolerated and produced improvements in exercise capacity and functional limitation caused by breathlessness. These effects on secondary endpoints require confirmation in future studies.

Trial registration number

ISRCTN09143837.
Current and future management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) in the UK
Authors: Lipman Marc , Cleverley Joanne , Fardon Tom , Musaddaq Besma , Peckham Daniel , van der Laan Roald , Whitaker Paul , White Jacqui
Published: June 2020

A rising number of non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) isolates are being identified in UK clinical practice. There are many uncertainties around the management of non-tuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD), including its epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Regional variations in how patients with NTM-PD are managed reflects the lack of standardised pathways in the UK. Service optimisation and multidisciplinary working can improve the quality of care for patients with NTM-PD, including (1) better identification of patients at risk of NTM-PD and modification of risk factors where applicable; (2) standardisation of reference laboratory testing to offer clinicians access to accurate and prompt information on NTM species and drug sensitivities; (3) development of recognised specialist NTM nursing care; (4) standardisation of NTM-PD imaging strategies for monitoring of treatment and disease progression; (5) establishment of a hub-and-spoke model of care, including clear referral and management pathways, dedicated NTM-PD multidisciplinary teams, and long-term patient follow-up; (6) formation of clinical networks to link experts who manage diseases associated with NTM; (7) enabling patients to access relevant support groups that can provide information and support for their condition; and (8) development of NTM research groups to allow patient participation in clinical trials and to facilitate professional education.
Deaths from heart failure and cancer: location trends
Authors: Shahid Izza , Kumar Pankaj , Khan Muhammad Shahzeb , Arif Abdul Wahab , Farooq Muhammad Zain , Khan Safi U , Davis Dorothy M , Michos Erin D , Krasuski Richard A
Published: June 2020

Background

Increasing utilisation of hospice services has been a major focus in oncology, while only recently have cardiologists realised the similar needs of dying patients with heart failure (HF). We examined recent trends in locations of deaths in these two patient populations to gain further insight.

Methods

Complete population-level data were obtained from the Mortality Multiple Cause-of-Death Public Use Record from the National Center for Health Statistics database, from 2013 to 2017. Location of death was categorised as hospital, home, hospice facility or nursing facility. Demographic characteristics evaluated by place of death included age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status and education, and a multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to analyse possible associations.

Results

Among 2 780 715 deaths from cancer, 27% occurred in-hospital and 14% in nursing facilities; while among 335 350 HF deaths, 27% occurred in-hospital and 30% in nursing facilities. Deaths occurred at hospice facilities in 14% of patients with cancer, compared with just 8.7% in HF (p=0.001). For both patients with HF and cancer, the proportion of at-home and in-hospice deaths increased significantly over time, with majority of deaths occurring at home. In both cancer and HF, patients of non-Hispanic ethnicity (cancer: OR 1.29, (1.27 to 1.31), HF: OR 1.14, (1.07 to 1.22)) and those with some college education (cancer: OR 1.10, (1.09 to 1.11); HF: OR 1.06, (1.04 to 1.09)) were significantly more likely to die in hospice.

Conclusion

Deaths in hospital or nursing facilities still account for nearly half of cancer or HF deaths. Although positive trends were seen with utilisation of hospice facilities in both groups, usage remains low and much remains to be achieved in both patient populations.
GP prescribing in Northern Ireland by deprivation index: retrospective analysis
Authors: Frazer John Scott , Frazer Glenn Ross
Published: June 2020

Objective

In the present study, we sought to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status and prescribing magnitude and cost in primary care throughout Northern Ireland.

Design

We performed a retrospective data analysis of general practitioner (GP) prescribing using open-source databases with data collected from May to October 2019 to determine the number of prescriptions and cost of drugs and drug classes by area, ranking these by deprivation index. We used Kendall’s tau to quantify the relationship between prescribing and deprivation.

Setting

We analysed open-source data collected from 325 GP practices in Northern Ireland during the period from May to October 2019.

Participants

We analysed a total of 2 764 303 prescriptions signed during our study period.

Results

Our study indicates a clear trend of increased overall spending per patient (r=−0.1232, p=0.02) and number of prescriptions per patient (r=−0.3440, p<0.001) in areas of higher deprivation. The mean cost per item was higher in less deprived areas (r=0.3809, p<0.001). Overall, £13.79 more was spent and 3.5 more items were prescribed per patient in the most compared with the least deprived decile, although more expensive items tended to be prescribed in areas with lower socioeconomic deprivation (£11.27 per item vs £9.20 per item). We found a statistically significant correlation of prescribing of key drug classes, such as bronchodilators, antidepressants and drugs used to treat diabetes, among others, with greater deprivation. Prescribing of vaccines and drugs used in the treatment of glaucoma was correlated with lower deprivation.

Conclusion

We provide an exploration of the correlation of prescribing with deprivation by analysing all prescriptions signed within a 6-month period in Northern Ireland. Our study broadly agrees with published literature, although a few notable exceptions are highlighted. We provide evidence of discrepancies in medication cost between areas of differing deprivation and suggest possible explanations for these trends. This information will be valuable for future investigation of disease prevalence, as well as targeting of patient education and future funding.
Pulmonary function and high-resolution computed tomography in outdoor rock drillers exposed to crystalline silica
Authors: Ulvestad Bente , Ulvestad Mariann , Skaugset Nils Petter , Aaløkken Trond Mogens , Günther Anne , Clemm Thomas , Lund May Brit , Ellingsen Dag Gunnar
Published: June 2020

Objectives

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and silicosis are associated with exposure to crystalline silica. We determined the exposure to respirable crystalline silica and estimated exposure–response relationships between cumulative exposure and pulmonary function in outdoor rock drillers.

Methods

136 rock drillers and 48 referents were recruited from three heavy construction companies. 98 air samples were collected by personal sampling for determination of respirable particulate matter and crystalline silica. Information about individual job tasks, type of drilling equipment and years of exposure in different job categories was obtained by interview. Cumulative exposure to crystalline silica was calculated for all workers. Pulmonary function was assessed by spirometry. A subgroup of 39 subjects with high cumulative exposure to crystalline silica underwent high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT).

Results

Cumulative exposure (mean (min–max)) to crystalline silica was 0.69 mg٠years m–3(0.01–5.89) in the exposed group. Mean time of exposure among rock drillers was 10.7 years (1–42). Compared with referents, the rock drillers had a lower forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity ratio (79.4 vs 81.4, p<0.05) and maximal mid-expiratory flow% (85.6 vs 93.9, p<0.05). Further, by stratifying the exposed workers into three equally large groups, a dose–response relationship was demonstrated in the highest exposed group, also in never smokers, at a mean cumulative exposure of 21.7 years at 0.08 mg٠m–3/years. Silicosis was not detected in HRCT, but other patterns of fibrosis and emphysema were seen.

Conclusions

Outdoor rock drillers exposed to crystalline silica had significantly lower pulmonary function than referents, and signs of airflow obstruction. Silicosis was not detected.
Collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy in a young cat
Authors: Hilbe Monika , Schnyder Manuela , Hetzel Udo , Schuppisser Carole , Borel Nicole
Published: June 2020

Collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy, also named collagen III glomerulopathy, is a rare glomerulopathy type caused by deposition of collagen III in the glomerular mesangium and subendothelial space. The aetiology of this entity is unknown and the pathological mechanism remains poorly understood. It is mostly seen in humans in Asian countries, especially in Japan. Collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy has been described in a macaque, in dogs, pigs and in a cat, published as renal glomerular fibrosis. Here, the authors present a case of collagenofibrotic glomerulopathy in a young European domestic shorthair cat, which developed a severe hypoproteinaemia, hypoalbuminaemia and proteinuria and showed a concurrent natural non‐patent infection with the canid lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum.
Multiple successful tiletamine‐zolazepam‐xylazine immobilizations in an Amur tiger cub
Authors: Mercado Julio A , Romano Jacobo , De la Cueva Horacio , Haro Paulina
Published: June 2020

Tiletamine‐zolazepam immobilisation use in tigers is controversial and has been associated with neurological diseases, poor recoveries and death. Recent publications show this controversy is unsubstantiated. The multiple use of the tiletamine‐zolazepam‐xylazine (TZ‐XZ) combination in a 33‐kg Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) cub without adverse reactions is described. The physiological values were not statistically different between anaesthetic events and were comparable with those observed with other protocols. No renal, hepatic or neurological functions were affected during the 10 anaesthetic events over the course of five months. The TZ‐XZ (1–1.5 mg/kg + 0.5–1 mg/kg) combination proved to be safe for use in this tiger during repeated immobilisations. The tiger was healthy at the time of the paper’s submission. Further studies with a larger population of animals are encouraged.
Veterinarians and impostor syndrome: an exploratory study
Authors: Kogan Lori R , Schoenfeld‐Tacher Regina , Hellyer Peter , Grigg Emma K , Kramer Emily
Published: June 2020

Background

Impostor syndrome (IS) is the tendency to doubt one's abilities despite positive evidence to the contrary. Individuals with IS are afraid of being discovered as intellectual frauds and attribute their successes to external qualities.

Methods

An international study explored the prevalence and severity of IS in practicing veterinarians. An anonymous survey consisting of the 20‐question Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale, plus additional demographic and work‐related questions, was distributed online.

Results

A total of 941 practicing veterinarians responded. Overall, 631 participants (68 per cent) met or exceeded the clinical cut‐off score for IS. Ordinal regressions found that residing in New Zealand (NZ) or the UK, being female or having been in practice for less than five years increased the odds of having a high IS score. The effect of these factors on the perceived degree of impact of IS on participants’ professional and personal life was also explored. Women, UK residents and new practitioners reported higher levels of impact in their professional life. However, sex and country of residence did not affect the degree of impact on participants’ personal life.

Conclusion

Veterinarians in general have an alarmingly high prevalence of IS with young, female graduates practising in the UK and NZ at increased risk.
Associations between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and urinary oxidized guanine in colorectal cancer patients: results from the ColoCare Study
Authors: Viskochil Richard , Gigic Biljana , Lin Tengda , Skender Stephanie , Böhm Jürgen , Schrotz-King Petra , Steindorf Karen , Owen Robert , Figueiredo Jane C. , Li Christopher I. , Siegel Erin M. , Hardikar Sheetal , Shibata David , Toriola Adetunji T. , Schneider Martin , Ulrich Alexis , Ulrich Cornelia M. , Ose Jennifer
Published: June 2020

To determine associations between physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and oxidative stress in colorectal cancer patients, ColoCare Study participants in Germany wore an accelerometer 6 and/or 12 months after surgery. Spearman partial correlations were used to assess associations between PA and urinary concentrations of oxidized guanine, a validated marker of oxidative stress. There were no significant associations between PA or SB and oxidized guanine in n = 76 measurements (ng/mg creatinine; r = 0.03, p = 0.76 for PA, r = –0.05, p = 0.69 for SB).

Novelty Objectively measured PA was not associated with a marker of oxidative stress in colorectal cancer patients.
Seismic behaviour of self-insulating inner-framed bearing walls with openings
Authors: Liu Kang , Liu Xin , Zhang Guangpeng , Sun Hongwei , Cui Zhaoyan , Liu Fusheng , Wang Shaojie
Published: June 2020

Traditional masonry structures have prominent problems, such as high building energy consumption and poor seismic performance. In view of this situation, the research group proposed a structural system of self-insulating inner-framed bearing walls (SIBWs) based on the integration of seismic and energy conservation. In this paper, five SIBWs were designed and manufactured. The influence of openings on the seismic performance of the structures was studied, and the unified calculation formula for the seismic bearing capacity was established by a low cycle cyclic loading test. The results showed that all five specimens had a high seismic bearing capacity; ductility coefficients of 2.95, 3.03, 4.09, 3.55, and 3.67, indicating good ductility and deformation capacity; and that the failure modes were all ductile failure modes. The openings had a significant influence on the hysteretic curve, skeleton curve, stiffness, and energy-dissipation capacity of the SIBWs. The failure process of the test wall was characterized by the interaction, transition, and weak framework stages. In theory, based on the equivalent elastic plate model, the unified calculation method of the wall cracking load was established. Based on the idea of the shear resistance mechanism, the diagonal compression bar model of the rigid frame was proposed, and the unified calculation method of the ultimate load of the wall was also established. A comparison with the measured values shows that the calculation method is accurate and that it helps to promote the integrated development of seismic and energy conservation for masonry structures, especially in rural areas.
Observational constraints on the non-flat $$\Lambda CDM$$ model and a null test using the transition redshift
Authors: Velasquez-Toribio A. M. , Magnago A. dos R
Published: June 2020

A natural extension of the standard cosmological model are models that include curvature as a free parameter. In this work we study in detail the observational constraints on the non-flat$$\Lambda CDM$$ΛCDMmodel using the two main geometric tests: SNIa and Hubble parameter measurements. In general we show that the observational constraints on the parameters of the$$\Lambda CDM$$ΛCDMmodel strongly depend on the curvature parameter. In particular, we study the constraints on the transition redshift ($$z_{t}$$zt) of a universe dominated by matter for a universe dominated by the cosmological constant. Using this observable we construct a new null test defining$$\zeta = z_{t, flat}-z_{t, non flat}$$ζ=zt,flat-zt,nonflat. This test depends only on the data of the Hubble parameter, the Hubble constant and the matter density parameter. However, it does not depend on derivative of an observable as generally many tests in the literature. To reconstruct this test, we use the Gaussian process method. When we use the best-fit parameters values ofPLANCK/2018, we find no evidence of a disagreement between the data and the standard model (flat$$\Lambda CDM$$ΛCDM), but if we use the value$$H_{0}$$H0fromRIESS/2018 we found a disagreement with respect at the standard model. However, it is important to note that the Hubble parameter data has large errors for a solid statistical analysis.
Power spectrum of stochastic wave and diffusion equations in the warm inflation models
Authors: Haba Z.
Published: June 2020

We discuss dissipative stochastic wave and diffusion equations resulting from an interaction of the inflaton with an environment in an external expanding homogeneous metric. We show that a diffusion equation well approximates the wave equation in a strong friction limit. We calculate the long wave power spectrum of the wave equation under the assumption that the perturbations are slowly varying in time and the expansion is almost exponential. Under the assumption that the noise has a form invariant under the coordinate transformations we obtain the power spectrum close to the scale invariant one. In the diffusion approximation we go beyond the slow variation assumption. We calculate the power spectrum exactly in models with exponential inflation and polynomial potentials and with power-law inflation and exponential potentials.
Sublimation of Li@C60
Authors: Campbell Eleanor E. B. , Chandler Henry J. , Schaub Renald
Published: June 2020

Experiments that probe the fundamental properties of endohedral fullerenes often require the preparation of molecular beams or thin films of the neutral molecules. It is challenging to cleanly sublime this class of molecules without producing some thermal degradation. We report combined gas phase and scanning tunnelling microscopy studies that probe the thermal decay of commercial [Li+C60]PF6- in a quartz ampoule and provide treatment conditions that will allow the sublimation of intact, neutral Li@C60 accompanied by a well-characterised component of neutral C60. The decay of the material at appropriate temperatures can be modelled with the assumption of a second order decay process in the oven yielding Arrhenius parameters that can predict the ratio of Li@C60 to C60 in the sublimed material.

Graphical abstract
Orbital carriers and inheritance in discrete-time quadratic dynamics
Authors: Gallas Jason A. C.
Published: June 2020

Explicit formulas for orbital carriers of periods 4, 5 and 6 are reported for discrete-time quadratic dynamics. A systematic investigation of orbital inheritance for periods as high as [Formula: see text] is also reported. Inheritance means that unknown orbits may be obtained by nonlinear transformations of known orbits. Such nested orbit within orbit stratification shows orbits not to be necessarily independent of each other as generally assumed. Orbital stratification is potentially significant to rearrange trajectories sums in trace formulas underlying modern semiclassical interpretations of atomic physics spectra. The stratification seems to dominate as the orbital period grows.
Thermodynamics from field equations for charged radiating rotating black hole near horizon
Authors: Papnoi Uma , Ghosh Sushant G.
Published: June 2020

It is well known that near horizon black hole space–times show a resemblance to thermodynamic systems, it is easy to associate the thermodynamic parameters like temperature and entropy with them. In this paper, we study the connection between gravitational dynamics of the horizon and thermodynamics for the case of charged radiating rotating axially symmetric black holes. It is shown that Einstein field equation near apparent horizon can be interpreted in the form of thermodynamic law, i.e. [Formula: see text].
Effective Data Storage and Dynamic Data Auditing Scheme for Providing Distributed Services in Federated Cloud
Authors: Sermakani A. M. , Paulraj D.
Published: June 2020

Recently, many organizations and industries are using the cloud computing technologies for exchanging the resources and their confidential data. For this purpose, many cloud services are available and also provide the facility to categorize their users as private and public users for accessing their own data from private cloud and public cloud. The combination of these two clouds is called federated cloud which facilitates to allow both kinds of cloud users for accessing their own data on same cloud database. In this scenario, the authorization and authentication process is becoming complex task on cloud. For providing the facility to access their own data only from federated cloud, a new secured data storage and retrieval algorithm called AES and Triple-DES-based Secured Storage and Retrieval Algorithm (ATDSRA) are proposed for storing the private and public cloud user’s data securely on cloud database. Here, the TDES is used for encrypting the input data, data merging and aggregation methods were used for grouping the encrypted input data. Moreover, a new dynamic data auditing scheme called CRT-based Dynamic Data Auditing Algorithm (CRTDDA) is proposed for conducting the cloud data auditing over the federated cloud and also restricting the data access. The proposed new auditing mechanism that is able to protect the stored data from access violence. In addition, the standard Table64 is used for encryption and decryption processes. The experimental results of this work proves the efficiency of the proposed model in terms of security level.
The conjugacy problem for Higman’s group
Authors: Baker Owen
Published: June 2020

Higman’s group [Formula: see text] is a remarkable group with large (non-elementary) Dehn function. Higman constructed the group in 1951 to produce the first examples of infinite simple groups. Using finite state automata, and studying fixed points of certain finite state transducers, we show the conjugacy problem in [Formula: see text] is decidable for all inputs. Diekert, Laun and Ushakov have recently shown the word problem in [Formula: see text] is solvable in polynomial time, using the power circuit technology of Myasnikov, Ushakov and Won. Building on this work, we also show in a strongly generic setting that the conjugacy problem for [Formula: see text] has a polynomial time solution.
SELECTIVE AREA DEPOSITION FOR PATTERN GENERATION IN EDM USING MASKING TECHNIQUE
Authors: RAHANG MANESWAR , PATOWARI PROMOD KUMAR
Published: June 2020

This paper describes about selective deposition of material for pattern generation. The process is carried out using masking technique and by deposition of constituent material of powder metallurgical (P/M) green compact tool at selected area of aluminium work surface in Electro Discharge Machining (EDM) process. The process is carried out to generate line pattern with a hard layer of tungsten and copper at the selected area. Thus, it can improve surface integrity of aluminium substrate while maintaining its overall lightness. P/M tool, positive polarity of tool and hydrocarbon dielectric are used to achieve appreciable amount of material transfer from tool to work surface. The average deviation of material deposition from predefined boundary line is evaluated as edge roughness of the pattern. Taguchi Design of Experiment is used to perform Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Overall Evaluation Criteria (OEC) for its parametric study. The surface roughness is obtained in the range of 4.7–10.55[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m and edge roughness in the range of 36.49–56.82[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m in various working conditions. However, surface roughness of 4.00[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m and edge roughness of 21.47[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m are achieved at the optimum condition.
Wealth Effects of Retail Store Closure Announcements
Authors: Khokhar Abdul-Rahman
Published: June 2020

This is the first study, to the best of our knowledge, to use value- and equal-weighted portfolios of U.S. retail firms to examine the stock market reaction to strategic and nonliquidating store closure announcements. Using event study methodology for a sample of 174 hand-collected store closure announcements during the period 1980–2017, we find a negative and significant stock price reaction on the announcement date. Given the highly competitive nature of the retail industry, we further investigate the market reaction for the closest competitors using a matched sample of 157 competing firms. We report a positive, albeit less significant stock price reaction for competing retail firms on the announcement date. Finally, a cross-sectional analysis shows that the stock price reaction to store closure announcements is positively associated with firm size.
Comparison of transport map generated by heat flow interpolation and the optimal transport Brenier map
Authors: Tanana Anastasiya
Published: June 2020

This paper shows that the non-expansive transport map constructed by Y.-H. Kim and E. Milman using heat flow interpolation is in general different from the optimal transport Brenier map.
K-bentonites in Ordovician–Silurian transition from South China: implications for tectonic evolution in the northern margin of Gondwana
Authors: Liu Wei , Liu Yuan , Zeng Zuoxun , Yang Baozhong , Peng Lianhong , Xu Daliang , Wei Yunxu , Li Yaqing , Ellam Rob M. , Xu Sheng
Published: June 2020

Numerous K-bentonites from the Ordovician–Silurian (O–S) transition in South China record important information about the geodynamics of volcanic activity in the northern margin of Gondwana. A series of K-bentonite beds have been identified in the Zhoujiaxi Group (Early Silurian) in foreland basins from central Hunan Province, China. They are dominantly composed of illite with minor kaolinite. Volcanogenic minerals include quartz, feldspar, biotite, and lesser apatite and zircon. U–Pb zircon ages from three beds, 442.8 ± 1.8, 442.2 ± 1.9 and 441.6 ± 2.0 Ma are compatible with the age of the O–S global boundary. Geochemical results indicate calc-alkaline felsic magmas derived from continental crust and erupted in a subduction-related collisional environment. Isopach schemes and grain size reveal that the volcanic ashes were sourced from a volcanic event likely with a volcanic explosivity index of 8, and transported 300
–
1000 km away from the palaeo SSE. The volcanism was associated with northwestern subduction of the Zhenghe-Dapu Ocean beneath the southeastern South China Block (SCB) on the northern margin of Gondwana. The Zhenghe-Dapu fault might be a suture zone, implying the consumption of the Zhenghe-Dapu Ocean during collision between the Nanhai terrane and the SCB. This study supports that the Wuyi-Yunkai Orogenic Belt is a collision-type orogen rather than an intraplate belt.

Supplementary material:
Plots and geochemical data are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5027096
Eileen Mary Lind Hendriks (1887–1978), whose meticulous research resolved the Paleozoic stratigraphy and structure of SW England
Authors: Mather John D. , Bennett Jennifer A.
Published: June 2020

Hendriks was born in Birmingham, the only child of a prosperous middle-class family. Following the early death of her father she studied geology at Aberystwyth before moving to Belfast, with her widowed mother, as senior demonstrator in the Geology Department. She resigned after a year and subsequently tried unsuccessfully to obtain a permanent post as a geologist, including attempting to join what is now the British Geological Survey. Mapping first in mid-Wales and then in SW England she became an accomplished field geologist, gaining a PhD from Imperial College, London in 1932. Finding fragments of fossil wood in apparently barren sediments, she demonstrated their Devonian age and recognized the presence of thrusting which introduced Ordovician and Silurian rocks into the sequence. Moving permanently to Cornwall in 1938–39, and seeking help from specialists throughout the world, she devoted the rest of her long life to geology, without any institutional support. She received awards from the Geological Society of London and the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. Living in isolated cottages with her Alsatian dogs, she became respected by the young researchers who flocked to SW England from 1955 onwards, as the energetic doyenne of Cornish geology
A pioneering geophysicist: Rosemary Hutton
Authors: Hobbs Bruce A. , Jones Alan G.
Published: June 2020

Violet Rosemary Strachan Hutton (‘Rosemary’) graduated from St Andrews University in 1948 and a few years thereafter embarked upon a pioneering career in geophysics, a rare and challenging choice for a single woman at that time. Her impressive research career, starting in 1954, was largely devoted to the investigation of how geophysical methods, in particular electromagnetic techniques, could reveal the structure of the Earth's continental crust and upper mantle. She spent 15 years in Africa at the universities of Ghana, Zaria and Ibadan. Working in comparative isolation, she studied the equatorial electrojet and micropulsations and produced 13 high-quality papers of which three, including her first, were published in
Nature
. This demonstrated a remarkable combination of resourcefulness and self-reliance. In 1969, she joined the University of Edinburgh Geophysics Department and remained at the cutting edge of her science until retirement, investigating crustal electrical conductivity structure, continental rift systems, geothermal regions, geomagnetic source fields and the closure of the Paleozoic Iapetus Ocean. She inaugurated the now highly-successful biennial series of Workshops on Electromagnetic Induction – a high point in the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy calendar. To recognize her contributions, the ‘V.R.S Hutton Symposium’ was held by the European Geophysical Society in 1992. She was elected Fellow of the Institute of Physics and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in recognition of her pioneering and outstanding contributions.
DenseNet-201-Based Deep Neural Network with Composite Learning Factor and Precomputation for Multiple Sclerosis Classification
Authors: Wang Shui-Hua , Zhang Yu-Dong
Published: June 2020

(
Aim
) Multiple sclerosis is a neurological condition that may cause neurologic disability. Convolutional neural network can achieve good results, but tuning hyperparameters of CNN needs expert knowledge and are difficult and time-consuming. To identify multiple sclerosis more accurately, this article proposed a new transfer-learning-based approach. (
Method
) DenseNet-121, DenseNet-169, and DenseNet-201 neural networks were compared. In addition, we proposed the use of a composite learning factor (CLF) that assigns different learning factor to three types of layers: early frozen layers, middle layers, and late replaced layers. How to allocate layers into those three layers remains a problem. Hence, four transfer learning settings (viz., Settings A, B, C, and D) were tested and compared. A precomputation method was utilized to reduce the storage burden and accelerate the program. (
Results
) We observed that DenseNet-201-D (the layers from CP to T3 are frozen, the layers of D4 are updated with learning factor of 1, and the final new layers of FCL are randomly initialized with learning factor of 10) can achieve the best performance. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of DenseNet-201-D was 98.27± 0.58, 98.35± 0.69, and 98.31± 0.53, respectively. (
Conclusion
) Our method gives better performances than state-of-the-art approaches. Furthermore, this composite learning rate gives superior results to traditional simple learning factor (SLF) strategy.
Succinct Range Filters
Authors: Zhang Huanchen , Lim Hyeontaek , Leis Viktor , Andersen David G. , Kaminsky Michael , Keeton Kimberly , Pavlo Andrew
Published: June 2020

We present the
Succinct Range Filter
(SuRF), a fast and compact data structure for approximate membership tests. Unlike traditional Bloom filters, SuRF supports both single-key lookups and common range queries: open-range queries, closed-range queries, and range counts. SuRF is based on a new data structure called the
Fast Succinct Trie (FST)
that matches the point and range query performance of state-of-the-art order-preserving indexes, while consuming only 10 bits per trie node. The false-positive rates in SuRF for both point and range queries are tunable to satisfy different application needs. We evaluate SuRF in RocksDB as a replacement for its Bloom filters to reduce I/O by filtering requests before they access on-disk data structures. Our experiments on a 100-GB dataset show that replacing RocksDB’s Bloom filters with SuRFs speeds up open-seek (without upper-bound) and closed-seek (with upper-bound) queries by up to 1.5× and 5× with a modest cost on the worst-case (all-missing) point query throughput due to slightly higher false-positive rate.
Non-Redundant Subspace Clusterings with Nr-Kmeans and Nr-DipMeans
Authors: Mautz Dominik , Ye Wei , Plant Claudia , Böhm Christian
Published: June 2020

A huge object collection in high-dimensional space can often be clustered in more than one way, for instance, objects could be clustered by their shape or alternatively by their color. Each grouping represents a different view of the dataset. The new research field of
non-redundant clustering
addresses this class of problems. In this article, we follow the approach that different, non-redundant
k
-means-like clusterings may exist in different, arbitrarily oriented subspaces of the high-dimensional space. We assume that these subspaces (and optionally a further
noise space
without any cluster structure) are orthogonal to each other. This assumption enables a particularly rigorous mathematical treatment of the non-redundant clustering problem and thus a particularly efficient algorithm, which we call N
r
-K
means
(for non-redundant
k
-means). The superiority of our algorithm is demonstrated both theoretically, as well as in extensive experiments. Further, we propose an extension of N
r
-K
means
that harnesses Hartigan’s dip test to identify the number of clusters for each subspace automatically.
MiSoSouP
Authors: Riondato Matteo , Vandin Fabio
Published: June 2020

We present MiSoSouP, a suite of algorithms for extracting high-quality approximations of the most interesting subgroups, according to different popular interestingness measures, from a random sample of a transactional dataset. We describe a new formulation of these measures as functions of averages, that makes it possible to approximate them using sampling. We then discuss how pseudodimension, a key concept from statistical learning theory, relates to the sample size needed to obtain an high-quality approximation of the most interesting subgroups. We prove an upper bound on the pseudodimension of the problem at hand, which depends on characteristic quantities of the dataset and of the language of patterns of interest. This upper bound then leads to small sample sizes. Our evaluation on real datasets shows that MiSoSouP outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms offering the same guarantees, and it vastly speeds up the discovery of subgroups w.r.t. analyzing the whole dataset.
Performance Analysis of ACTE
Authors: Bentaleb Abdelhak , Timmerer Christian , Begen Ali C. , Zimmermann Roger
Published: June 2020

HTTP adaptive streaming with chunked transfer encoding can offer low-latency streaming without sacrificing the coding efficiency. This allows media segments to be delivered while still being packaged. However, conventional schemes often make widely inaccurate bandwidth measurements due to the presence of idle periods between the chunks and hence this is causing sub-optimal adaptation decisions. To address this issue, we earlier proposed ACTE (ABR for Chunked Transfer Encoding) [6], a bandwidth prediction scheme for low-latency chunked streaming. While ACTE was a significant step forward, in this study we focus on two still remaining open areas, namely, (i) quantifying the impact of encoding parameters, including chunk and segment durations, bitrate levels, minimum interval between IDR-frames and frame rate on ACTE, and (ii) exploring the impact of video content complexity on ACTE. We thoroughly investigate these questions and report on our findings. We also discuss some additional issues that arise in the context of pursuing very low latency HTTP video streaming.
Application of Logical Sub-networking in Congestion-aware Deadlock-free SDmesh Routing
Authors: Das Tuhin Subhra , Ghosal Prasun , Chatterjee Navonil , Nath Arnab , Banerjee Akash , Khastagir Subhojyoti
Published: June 2020

An adaptive routing helps in evading early network saturation by steering data packets through the less congested area at the oppressive loaded situation. However, performances of adaptive routing are not always promising under all circumstances. Say for, given more freedom in choosing an alternate route on non-minimal paths for a substantially loaded network even may result in worsening network performances due to following longer route under adaptive routing. Here, underlying topology facilitates routing by offering more alternate short-cut routes on minimal or quasi-minimal paths. This work presents a congestion-aware (CA) adaptive routing for one-hop diagonally connected subnet-based mesh (SDmesh) network aiming to facilitate both performances and routing flexibility simultaneously. Our proposed technique on the selected system facilitates packet routing, offering more options in choosing an output link from minimal or quasi-minimal paths and hence helps in lowering packet delay by shortening the length of traversed traffic under the oppressive loaded situation. Furthermore, we have also employed a congestion-aware virtual input crossbar router aiming to split the entire network into two distinct logically separated sub-networks. It facilitates preserving important routing properties like deadlock, live-lock fairness, and other essential routing constraints. Experiments, conducted over two 8×8- and 12×12-sized networks, show an average improvement of 25--87.5% saturated latency and 60--83% throughput improvement under uniform traffic patterns for the proposed CA routing compared to centralized adaptive XY routing. Experimental results on application-specific PARSEC and SPLASH2 benchmark suites show an average of 22--50% latency and 23--30% throughput improvements by the proposed technique compared to centralized XY routing on the baseline mesh network. Moreover, experiments were also carried out to check the performance of the proposed routing method with different newly proposed deadlock-free adaptive routing approaches over the same subnet-based diagonal mesh (SDmesh) network and reported.
The Impact of Motion and Delay on Selecting Game Targets with a Mouse
Authors: Claypool Mark , Cockburn Andy , Gutwin Carl
Published: June 2020

All real-time computer games, particularly networked computer games, have a delay from when a player starts an action (e.g., clicking the mouse) until the game renders the result (e.g., firing a projectile). This delay can degrade both player performance (e.g., reduced game score) and quality of experience (e.g., the game is less fun). While previous work has studied the effects of delay on commercial games and individual game actions, a more detailed understanding is needed of the effects of delay on moving target selection with realistic target motion, a common scenario in many games. This paper presents an in-depth study of the effects of delay on the fundamental game action of selecting a moving target with a mouse while varying two parameters for the target motion – turn frequency and turn angle. We design and implement a custom game where players select moving targets using a mouse, while the game controls both the target motion and input delay. Analysis of data gathered in a 56-person user study shows both target selection time and accuracy degrade with delay. However, both selection time and accuracy increase with the frequency and angle of changes in the target’s movement, because turning slows targets down even while making them less predictable. We set these results in the context of other studies of delay and target selection by comparing our findings to those in seven other previously published papers that investigated the effects of delay on target selection.
LAMBDA
Authors: Kadiyala Sai Praveen , Alam Manaar , Shrivastava Yash , Patranabis Sikhar , Abbas Muhamed Fauzi Bin , Biswas Arnab Kumar , Mukhopadhyay Debdeep , Srikanthan Thambipillai
Published: June 2020

Security is a critical aspect in many of the latest embedded and IoT systems. Malware is one of the severe threats of security for such devices. There have been enormous efforts in malware detection and analysis; however, occurrences of newer varieties of malicious codes prove that it is an extremely difficult problem given the nature of these surreptitious codes. In this article, instead of addressing a general solution, we aim at malware detection for platforms that have more than one core for performance enhancement. We investigate the utility of multiple cores from the point of view of security, where one of the cores operate as a watchdog. We define a notion of a new metric called
LAMBDA
(Lightweight Assessment of Malware for emBeddeD Architectures), denoted by λ, indicating a conceptual boundary between the programs which are allowed to run on a given platform, with the codes that are suspected as malwares. The metric λ is computed using carefully chosen monitors or features, which are tuples of high-level programs representing OS resources, along with low-level hardware performance counters. In comparison to heavy-weight machine learning techniques, we use an online hypothesis testing, in the form of
t
-test, to classify a given program-under-test. For applications where security is of prime concern, we propose an additional step based on multivariate analysis to classify the unknown programs that are closer to the threshold with a high degree of confidence. We present experimental results focusing on an ARM-based platform which validate that the proposed approach provides a lightweight, accurate assessment of malware codes for embedded platforms. In addition to it, we also present a security analysis to show the difficulty of a mimicry attack attempting to bypass LAMBDA.
The Non-Uniform
k
-Center Problem
Authors: Chakrabarty Deeparnab , Goyal Prachi , Krishnaswamy Ravishankar
Published: June 2020

In this article, we introduce and study the Non-Uniform
k
-Center (NUkC) problem. Given a finite metric space (
X
,
d
) and a collection of balls of radii {
r
1
≥ … ≥
r

k

}, the NUkC problem is to find a placement of their centers in the metric space and find the minimum dilation α, such that the union of balls of radius α ⋅
r

i

around the
i
th center covers all the points in
X
. This problem naturally arises as a min-max vehicle routing problem with fleets of different speeds.

The NUkC problem generalizes the classic
k
-center problem, wherein all the
k
radii are the same (which can be assumed to be 1 after scaling). It also generalizes the
k
-center with outliers (kCwO for short) problem, in which there are
k
balls of radius 1 and ℓ (number of outliers) balls of radius 0. Before this work, there was a 2-approximation and 3-approximation algorithm known for these problems, respectively; the former is best possible unless P=NP.

We first observe that no
O
(1)-approximation to the optimal dilation is possible unless P=NP, implying that the NUkC problem is harder than the above two problems. Our main algorithmic result is an (
O
(1),
O
(1))-
bi-criteria
approximation result: We give an
O
(1)-approximation to the optimal dilation; however, we may open Θ(1) centers of each radii. Our techniques also allow us to prove a simple (uni-criterion), optimal 2-approximation to the kCwO problem improving upon the long-standing 3-factor approximation for this problem.

Our main technical contribution is a connection between the NUkC problem and the so-called firefighter problems on trees that have been studied recently in the TCS community. We show NUkC is at least as hard as the firefighter problem. While we do nt know whether the converse is true, we are able to adapt ideas from recent works [1, 3] in non-trivial ways to obtain our constant factor bi-criteria approximation.