bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Our older population: donors as well as recipients?
Authors: Goldman M. , O'Brien S. F.
Published: September 2017

Background

The upper age limit for blood donation differs in various countries, due to concerns about donor safety. In recent years, many countries have reviewed their policies regarding the upper age limits for donation. Evaluation of the impact of changing population and donor demographics may assist in better planning to meet future patient needs for blood.

Aims

We review current policies, evidence of the safety of donation in older individuals, and the contribution that older donors can make to the blood supply.

Methods

We reviewed policies in countries that are part of the Biomedical Excellence for Safer Transfusion Collaborative, and published studies on the safety of donation. We evaluated the contribution that older donors make to the blood supply at Canadian Blood Services.

Results

The upper age limit for regular whole blood donors ranges from 69–70 to 80; blood centres in several countries have recently removed the upper age limit, while many blood centres in the US have long had no upper age limit for donation. Data demonstrate that healthy older individuals can safely donate. Approximately 1·5% of all whole blood donations at Canadian Blood Services are made by donors past their 71st birthday.

Summary/Conclusions

There are more healthy older individuals than ever before. Many donors would like to continue donating into their eighth decade, and perhaps beyond. There is increasing evidence that donation is safe in older individuals, and that they can make a significant contribution to the blood supply.
Effectiveness of collaboration between emergency department and intensive care unit teams on mortality rates of patients presenting with critical illness: a systematic review
Authors: McDowald Kerchelle , Direktor Svetlana , Hynes Elizabeth A. , Sahadeo Anna , Rogers Margaret E.
Published: September 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

The increasing volume of adult patients with critical illness entering emergency departments (EDs) burdens the resources of EDs worldwide. This subpopulation faces a high risk of mortality because they require specialized care which many EDs are not yet poised to deliver. An element crucial to delivering care and decreasing the mortality of critically ill patients in the ED is expert collaborative practice across disciplines. Several ED and intensive care unit (ICU) collaborative models exist including: emergency department intensive care units (EDICU) and medical emergency teams (MET).

Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration between the ED and ICUs on the mortality rates of critically ill adult ED patients.

Inclusion criteria Types of participants

Adult ED patients, 18 years and over, with non-surgical critical illness meeting the criteria for ICU admission.

Types of intervention(s)

Collaboration between the ED and ICU in the management of critically ill patients in the ED.

Types of studies

Observational and descriptive studies.

Type of outcome

All-cause mortality, including 30-day mortality and in-hospital mortality rates at any time period.

Search strategy

The comprehensive literature search included published and unpublished studies in English from the beginning of each database through November 30, 2016. Databases searched included: PubMed, CINAHL, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). A search for gray literature and electronic hand searching of relevant journals was also performed.

Methodological quality

Studies were assessed for methodological quality by four independent reviewers using standardized appraisal tools from the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).

Data extraction

Data related to the methods, participants, interventions and findings were extracted using a standardized data extraction tool from JBI.

Data synthesis

Statistical pooling into a meta-analysis was not possible due to the clinical and methodological heterogeneity in the interventions and outcome measures of the included studies. Results are presented in a narrative form.

Results

Three collaborative models (EDICU, Direct Provider-Provider Collaboration and MET) were identified across five studies. Findings from these studies showed conflicting results. The reviewers were unable to synthesize the evidence to state conclusively the effectiveness of collaborative models on mortality rates of critically ill patients.

Conclusions

There is limited and conflicting evidence related to the effectiveness of EDICU collaborative models on the mortality rates of critically ill patients preventing the development of practice recommendations. This review underscores the need for more research into the benefits of collaborative models between the ED and ICU.
Evaluating the Potential for Gasoline Geysering From Small Engine
Fuel Tanks
Authors: Hetrick Todd M. , Smyth Suzanne A. , Ogle Russell A. , Ramirez Juan C.
Published: September 2017

This paper explores an infrequently encountered hazard associated with liquid fuel tanks on gasoline-powered equipment using unvented fuel tanks. Depending on the location of fuel reserve tanks, waste heat from the engine or other vehicle systems can warm the fuel during operation. In the event that the fuel tank is not vented and if the fuel is sufficiently heated, the liquid fuel may become superheated and pose a splash hazard if the fuel cap is suddenly removed. Accident reports often describe the ejection of liquid as a geyser. This geyser is a transient, two-phase flow of flashing liquid. This could create a fire hazard and result in splashing flammable liquid onto any bystanders. Many existing fuel tank systems are vented to ambient through a vented tank cap. It has been empirically determined that the hazard can be prevented by limiting fuel tank gauge pressure to 10 kPa (1.5 psi). However, if the cap does not vent at an adequate rate, pressure in the tank can rise and the fuel can become superheated. This phenomenon is explored here to facilitate a better understanding of how the hazard is created. The nature of the hazard is explained using thermodynamic concepts. The differences in behavior between a closed system and an open system are discussed and illustrated through experimental results obtained from two sources: experiments with externally heated fuel containers and operation of a gasoline-powered riding lawn mower. The role of the vented fuel cap in preventing the geyser phenomenon is demonstrated.
Natural Convection Heat Transfer From Perforated Hollow Cylinder With Inline and Staggered Holes
Authors: Acharya Swastik , Dash Sukanta K.
Published: September 2017

The continuity, momentum, and the energy conservation equation for air around a hollow cylinder with inline or staggered holes have been solved in three dimensions to assess the buoyancy driven flow and temperature field around the cylinder. From the thermal field, the average surface Nu could be computed for hollow cylinders with inline or staggered holes and the heat loss from the cylinder could be compared with that of a hollow cylinder without holes. Interesting flow and thermal plume around the hollow cylinder with holes could be seen, which could help to explain why there is more heat loss from a cylinder with staggered holes compared to a cylinder with inline holes at lower Ra of 105, whereas for higher Ra of 106 or more, there exists an optimum d/D where the heat loss from the perforated cylinder has a maximum value and thereafter it reduces. There are interesting comparisons on Nu for the hollow cylinder with inline or staggered holes and new correlations for Nu versus many different pertinent input parameters have been developed for many cases, which can be used practically in industry for designing perforated cylinder with heat loss.
Successful ultrasound-guided drainage of an intra-abdominal collection in late pregnancy
Authors: Patel Jugal , Siriwardana HP Priyantha , Hammond Toby , Hanif Muhammad A
Published: September 2017

Pregnancy complicated by an intra-abdominal collection is uncommon and poses a challenge in the management. We present a case that illustrates successful treatment via ultrasound-guided drainage of a collection associated with a dermoid cyst in a 30 weeks pregnant patient presenting with fever and right-sided abdominal pain. Following treatment, the patient clinically improved rapidly. The drain was removed 3 days later and a repeat ultrasound scan showed no collection.
Pure red cell aplasia and myasthenia gravis: a patient having both autoimmune conditions in the absence of thymoma
Authors: Aquilina Annelise , Camilleri David James , Aquilina Josanne
Published: September 2017

This is a patient who was presented initially with symptoms of malaise, tiredness and exertional dyspnoea and found to have a severe normocytic normochromic anaemia with low reticulocyte counts. Bone marrow confirmed the diagnosis of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) and at the time serology for recent parvovirus infection was positive. He was successfully treated with transfusions and intravenous Ig. Six years later, he had a mild relapse of his PRCA and subsequently developed severe dysphagia and dysarthria which were fatigable. Positive antiacetylcholine receptor antibodies confirmed the diagnosis of myasthenia gravis. The two conditions are both known to be associated with thymoma. Imaging and resection of the thymus gland showed only the presence of a thymic cyst. Treatment with pyrdistogmine and intravenous Ig have kept the patient asymptomatic and in remission. The rare association of the two autoimmune conditions associated in the same patient without thymoma is discussed.
An unusual presentation of chronic cyanide toxicity from self-prescribed apricot kernel extract
Authors: Konstantatos Alex , Shiv Kumar Malini , Burrell Aidan , Smith Joel
Published: September 2017

Hypoxia under general anaesthesia is a potentially life-threatening condition. A seemingly well 67-year-old man appeared hypoxic with peripheral pulse oximetric measurement during routine anaesthesia. Postoperatively, the patient admitted to daily self-prescription of apricot kernel extract for a period of 5 years. Apricot kernel is a commonly taken extract used for a range of ailments, and is associated with cyanide toxicity, which was confirmed through blood analysis. Our explanation for the hypoxic measurement was the presence of free cyanide interfering with functioning of the peripheral pulse oximeter. On cessation of the apricot kernel extract, peripheral oxygen saturations returned to normal. Cardiac and respiratory causes together with rare haemoglobinopathies were excluded. This case illustrates how chronic dosing of complementary medicines can result in harmful toxicities, which may carry potential for serious consequences and how these chronic toxicities may present to physicians in atypical ways.
MELAS syndrome associated with a new mitochondrial tRNA-Val gene mutation (m.1616A>G)
Authors: Toyoshima Yuka , Tanaka Yuji , Satomi Kazuo
Published: September 2017

We describe the case of a 40-year-old-man with mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome, with cardiomyopathy and severe heart failure. He had a mitochondrial transfer RNA (tRNA) mutation (m.1616A>G) of the (tRNA-Val) gene, and it was not found in MELAS syndrome ever before. The presence of this newly observed tRNA-Val mutation (m.1616A>G) may induce multiple respiratory chain enzyme deficiencies and contribute to MELAS syndrome symptoms that are associated with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations. We report that the pathognomonic symptom in MELAS syndrome caused by this newly observed mtDNA mutation may be rapid progression of cardiomyopathy and severe heart failure.
Protective effects ofMentha spicataagainst nicotine-induced toxicity in liver and erythrocytes of Wistar rats
Authors: Ben Saad Anouar , Rjeibi Ilhem , Alimi Hichem , Ncib Sana , Bouhamda Talel , Zouari Nacim
Published: September 2017

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of Mentha spicata supplementation against nicotine-induced oxidative damage in the liver and erythrocytes of Wistar rats. Bioactive substances were determined by liquid chromatography – electrospray ionization – tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Animals were divided into 4 groups of 6 rats each: a normal control group, a nicotine-treated group (1 mg/kg), a group receiving M. spicata extract (100 mg/kg), and a group receiving both M. spicata extract (100 mg/kg) and nicotine (1 mg/kg). Many phenolic acids were identified in the M. spicata aqueous extract. After 2 months of treatment, nicotine induced an increase in the level of white blood cells and a marked decrease in erythrocytes, hemoglobin, and haematocrit. Aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase activities were also found to be higher in nicotine-treated group than those of the control group. Furthermore, nicotine-treated rats exhibited oxidative stress, as evidenced by a decrease in antioxidant enzymes activities and an increase in lipid peroxidation level in liver and erythrocytes. Interestingly, the oral administration of M. spicata extract by nicotine-treated rats alleviated such disturbances. M. spicata contained bioactive compounds that possess important antioxidant potential and protected liver and erythrocytes against nicotine-induced damage.
Extra-pair paternity in a long-distance migratory songbird beyond neighbors’ borders and across male age classes
Authors: Reitsma Leonard R. , Jukosky James A. , Kimiatek Alexi J. , Goodnow Marrisa L. , Hallworth Michael T.
Published: September 2017

Roughly 90% of socially monogamous bird species exhibit some degree of extra-pair paternity (EPP), although the extent and the underlying mechanisms vary among species. We analyzed spatial and demographic patterns of EPP over a 6 year period (2005–2010) as part of a long-term population study of Canada Warblers (Cardellina canadensis (L., 1766)). We identified 12 microsatellite loci used to assess paternity for 185 nestlings from 61 nests. Extra-pair young (EPY) accounted for 41.6% of all nestlings and 57.4% of nests contained at least one EPY. Fewer than half of EPY were sired by males who shared territorial boundaries, and some males sired young in nests 1 km from their territory. The age of social males did not differ from males who cuckolded them. The majority (83%) of EPY were sired by males in older age classes (2+ years old), while <17% were sired by 1 year olds. Of the young sired by older males, 58.5% were sired by males 3–7 years old. Males that sired more EPY sired fewer within-pair young (WPY); those without EPY sired more WPY suggesting a possible fitness trade-off between these two strategies. Our findings suggest multiple age-based strategies within a single breeding population, as well as potential strategy shifts to maximize lifetime fitness as they age.
Identification, expression analysis, and the regulating function on C/EBPs of KLF10 in Dalian purple sea urchin,Strongylocentrotus nudus
Authors: Wu Kaikai , Jia Zhiying , Wang Qi’ai , Wei Zhenlin , Zhou Zunchun , Liu Xiaolin
Published: September 2017

Accumulating evidence indicates that Krüppel-like factors (KLFs) play important roles in fat biology via the regulation of CCAAT/enhancer binding proteins (C/EBPs). However, KLFs and C/EBPs have not been identified from Strongylocentrotus nudus, and their roles in this species are not clear. In this study, the full-length cDNA of S. nudus KLF10 (SnKLF10) and three cDNA fragments of S. nudus C/EBPs (SnC/EBPs) were obtained. Examination of tissue distribution and expression patterns during gonadal development implied that SnKLF10 and SnC/EBPs play important roles in gonadal lipogenesis. The presence of transcription factor-binding sites (TFBSs) for KLFs in SnC/EBPs, and the results of an over-expression assay, revealed that SnKLF10 negatively regulates the transcription of SnC/EBPs. In addition, the core promoter regions of SnC/EBPs were determined, and multiple TFBSs for transcription factor (TFs) were identified, which are potential regulators of SnC/EBP transcription. Taken together, these results suggest that SnC/EBP genes are potential targets of SnKLF10, and that SnKLF10 plays a role in lipogenesis by repressing the transcription of SnC/EBPs. These findings provide information for further studies of KLF10 in invertebrates and provide new insight into the regulatory mechanisms of C/EBP transcription.
Nonlinear Semi-Supervised Metric Learning Via Multiple Kernels and Local Topology
Authors: Li Xin , Bai Yanqin , Peng Yaxin , Du Shaoyi , Ying Shihui
Published: September 2017

Changing the metric on the data may change the data distribution, hence a good distance metric can promote the performance of learning algorithm. In this paper, we address the semi-supervised distance metric learning (ML) problem to obtain the best nonlinear metric for the data. First, we describe the nonlinear metric by the multiple kernel representation. By this approach, we project the data into a high dimensional space, where the data can be well represented by linear ML. Then, we reformulate the linear ML by a minimization problem on the positive definite matrix group. Finally, we develop a two-step algorithm for solving this model and design an intrinsic steepest descent algorithm to learn the positive definite metric matrix. Experimental results validate that our proposed method is effective and outperforms several state-of-the-art ML methods.
Inflationary α-attractors and F(R)-gravity
Authors: Kuiroukidis A.
Published: September 2017

We consider a generic class of the so-called inflationary [Formula: see text]-attractor models and compute the cosmological observables in the Einstein and Jordan frames of the corresponding F(R)-gravity theory. We find that the two sets coincide (to within errors from the use of the slow-roll approximation) for moderate and large values of the number of e-foldings N, which is the novel result of this paper, generalizing previous results on the subject (see e.g. Ref. 24). We briefly comment on the possible generalizations of these results.
Darboux transformation and solitons for an integrable nonautonomous nonlinear integro-differential Schrödinger equation
Authors: Yong Xuelin , Fan Yajing , Huang Yehui , Ma Wen-Xiu , Tian Jing
Published: September 2017

By modifying the scheme for an isospectral problem, the non-isospectral Ablowitz–Kaup–Newell–Segur (AKNS) hierarchy is constructed via allowing the time varying spectrum. In this paper, we consider an integrable nonautonomous nonlinear integro-differential Schrödinger equation discussed before in “Multi-soliton management by the integrable nonautonomous nonlinear integro-differential Schrödinger equation” [Y. J. Zhang, D. Zhao and H. G. Luo, Ann. Phys. 350 (2014) 112]. We first analyze the integrability conditions and identify the model. Second, we modify the existing Darboux transformation (DT) for such a non-isospectral problem. Third, the nonautonomous soliton solutions are obtained via the resulting DT and basic properties of these solutions in the inhomogeneous media are discussed graphically to illustrate the influences of the variable coefficients. In the process, a technique by selecting appropriate spectral parameters instead of the variable inhomogeneities is employed to realize a different type of one-soliton management. Several novel optical solitons are constructed and their features are shown by some specific figures. In addition, four kinds of the special localized two-soliton solutions are obtained. The solitonic excitations localized both in space and time, which exhibit the feature of the so-called rogue waves but with a zero background, are discussed.
A Practice-Oriented Bifurcation Analysis for Pulse Energy Converters: A Stability Margin
Authors: Kolokolov Yury , Monovskaya Anna
Published: September 2017

The popularity of systems of pulse energy conversion (PEC-systems) for practical applications is due to the heightened efficiency of energy conversion processes with comparatively simple realizations. Nevertheless, a PEC-system represents a nonlinear object with a variable structure, and the bifurcation analysis remains the basic tool to describe PEC dynamics evolution. The paper is devoted to the discussion on whether the scientific viewpoint on the natural nonlinear dynamics evolution can be involved in practical applications. We focus on the problems connected with stability boundaries of an operating regime. The results of both small-signal analysis and computational bifurcation analysis are considered in the parametrical space in comparison with the results of the experimental identification of the zonal heterogeneity of the operating process. This allows to propose an adapted stability margin as a sufficiently safe distance before the point after which the operating process begins to lose the stability. Such stability margin can extend the permissible operating domain in the parametrical space at the expense of using cause-and-effect relations in the context of natural regularities of nonlinear dynamics. Reasoning and discussion are based on the experimental and computational results for a synchronous buck converter with a pulse-width modulation. The presented results can be useful, first of all, for PEC-systems with significant variation of equivalent inductance and/or capacity. We believe that the discussion supports a viewpoint by which the contemporary methods of the computational and experimental bifurcation analyses possess both analytical abilities and experimental techniques for promising solutions which could be practice-oriented for PEC-systems.
GLOBAL DYNAMICS OF AN SVIR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODEL WITH INFECTION AGE AND NONLINEAR INCIDENCE
Authors: WANG ZHIPING , XU RUI
Published: September 2017

In this paper, an SVIR epidemiological model with infection age (time elapsed since the infection) and nonlinear incidence is studied. In the model, in order to reflect the dependence of disease progress on the infection age, the infected individual is structured by the infection age, and transmission and removal rates are assumed to depend on the infection age. By analyzing corresponding characteristic equations, the local stability of each of steady states of the model is established. It is proved that the semi-flow generated by this system is asymptotically smooth, and if the basic reproduction number is greater than unity, the system is uniformly persistent. By using Lyapunov functional and LaSalle’s invariance principle, the global dynamics of the model is investigated. It is shown that if the basic reproduction number is less than unity, the disease-free steady state is globally asymptotically stable and hence the disease dies out; and if the basic reproduction number is greater than unity, the endemic steady state is globally asymptotically stable and the disease persists. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the main analytic results.
Wave Propagation Analysis of Piezoelectric Nanoplates Based on the Nonlocal Theory
Authors: Ma Li-Hong , Ke Liao-Liang , Wang Yi-Ze , Wang Yue-Sheng
Published: September 2017

Based on the nonlocal theory, this paper develops the Kirchhoff nanoplate and Mindlin nanoplate models for the wave propagation analysis of piezoelectric nanoplates. The effects of small scale parameter and thermo-electro-mechanical loads are incorporated in the nanoplate models. The Hamilton’s principle is employed to derive the governing equations of the nanoplate, which are solved analytically to obtain the dispersion relation for piezoelectric nanoplates. The results show that the nonlocal parameter, temperature change, mechanical load and external electric potential have significant influence on the wave propagation characteristics of the piezoelectric nanoplates. The cut-off wave number is observed to exist for piezoelectric nanoplates subjected to positive electric potential, axial tensile force and temperature rise.
Spatial variation for the solution to the stochastic linear wave equation driven by additive space-time white noise
Authors: Khalil M. , Tudor C. A. , Zili M.
Published: September 2017

We study the asymptotic behavior of the spatial quadratic variation for the solution to the stochastic wave equation driven by additive space-time white noise. We prove that the sequence of its renormalized quadratic variations satisfies a central limit theorem (CLT for short). We obtain the rate of convergence for this CLT via the Stein–Malliavin calculus and we also discuss some consequences.
Mining Weighted Frequent Itemsets without Candidate Generation in Uncertain Databases
Authors: Lin Jerry Chun-Wei , Gan Wensheng , Fournier-Viger Philippe , Hong Tzung-Pei , Chao Han-Chieh
Published: September 2017

Frequent itemset mining (FIM) is a fundamental set of techniques used to discover useful and meaningful relationships between items in transaction databases. In recent decades, extensions of FIM such as weighted frequent itemset mining (WFIM) and frequent itemset mining in uncertain databases (UFIM) have been proposed. WFIM considers that items may have different weight/importance. It can thus discover itemsets that are more useful and meaningful by ignoring irrelevant itemsets with lower weights. UFIM takes into account that data collected in a real-life environment may often be inaccurate, imprecise, or incomplete. Recently, these two ideas have been combined in the HEWI-Uapriori algorithm. This latter considers both item weights and transaction uncertainty to mine the high expected weighted itemsets (HEWIs) using a two-phase Apriori-based approach. Although the upper-bound proposed in HEWI-Uapriori can reduce the size of the search space, it still generates a large amount of candidates and uses a level-wise search. In this paper, a more efficient algorithm named HEWI-Utree is developed to efficiently mine HEWIs without performing multiple database scans and without generating candidates. This algorithm relies on three novel structures named element (E)-table, weighted-probability (WP)-table and WP-tree to maintain the information required for identifying and pruning unpromising itemsets early. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is generally much more efficient than traditional methods for WFIM and UFIM, as well as the state-of-the-art HEWI-Uapriori algorithm, in terms of runtime, memory consumption, and scalability.
Raman spectroscopy as a promising noninvasive tool in brain cancer detection
Authors: Kumar Piyush
Published: September 2017

Despite intensive therapy regimen, brain cancers present with a poor prognosis, with an estimated median survival time of less than 15 months in case of glioblastoma. Early detection and improved surgical resections are suggested to enhance prognosis; several tools are being explored to achieve the purpose. Raman spectroscopy (RS), a nondestructive and noninvasive technique, has been extensively explored in brain cancers. This review summarizes RS-based studies in brain cancers, categorized into studies on animal models, ex vivo human samples, and in vivo human subjects. Findings suggest RS as a promising tool which can aid in improving the accuracy of brain tumor surgery. Further advancements in instrumentation, market-assessment, and clinical trials can facilitate translation of the technology as a noninvasive intraoperative guidance tool.
An Empirical Design Space Analysis of Doorway Tracking Systems for Real-World Environments
Authors: Griffiths Erin , Kalyanaraman Avinash , Ranjan Juhi , Whitehouse Kamin
Published: September 2017

Doorway tracking systems track people’s room location by instrumenting the doorways rather than instrumenting the rooms themselves—resulting in fewer sensors and less monitoring while still providing location information on occupants. In this article, we explore what is required to make doorway tracking a practical solution. We break a doorway tracking system into multiple independent design components, including both sensor and algorithmic design. Informed by this design, we construct a doorway tracking system and analyze how different combinations of these design components affect tracking accuracy. We perform a six-day
in situ
study in a ten-room house with two volunteers to analyze how these design components respond to the natural types and frequencies of errors in a real-world setting. To reflect the needs of different application classes, we analyze these design components using three different evaluation metrics: room accuracy, duration accuracy, and transition accuracy. Results indicate that doorway tracking can achieve 99.5% room accuracy on average in controlled settings and 96% room accuracy in
in situ
settings. This is contrasted against the 76%
in situ
setting room accuracy of Doorjamb, a doorway tracking system whose design implements only a limited number of components in our proposed doorway tracking system design space. We describe the differences between the data in the
in situ
and controlled settings, and provide guidelines about how to design a doorway tracking system for a given application’s accuracy requirements.
On the Effects of Low-Quality Training Data on Information Extraction from Clinical Reports
Authors: Marcheggiani Diego , Sebastiani Fabrizio
Published: September 2017

In the last five years there has been a flurry of work on information extraction from clinical documents, that is, on algorithms capable of extracting, from the informal and unstructured texts that are generated during everyday clinical practice, mentions of concepts relevant to such practice. Many of these research works are about methods based on supervised learning, that is, methods for training an information extraction system from manually annotated examples. While a lot of work has been devoted to devising learning methods that generate more and more accurate information extractors, no work has been devoted to investigating the effect of the quality of training data on the learning process for the clinical domain. Low quality in training data often derives from the fact that the person who has annotated the data is different from the one against whose judgment the automatically annotated data must be evaluated. In this article, we test the impact of such data quality issues on the accuracy of information extraction systems as applied to the clinical domain. We do this by comparing the accuracy deriving from training data annotated by the authoritative coder (i.e., the one who has also annotated the test data and by whose judgment we must abide) with the accuracy deriving from training data annotated by a different coder, equally expert in the subject matter. The results indicate that, although the disagreement between the two coders (as measured on the training set) is substantial, the difference is (surprisingly enough) not always statistically significant. While the dataset used in the present work originated in a clinical context, the issues we study in this work are of more general interest.
SeismoWatch
Authors: Carek Andrew M. , Conant Jordan , Joshi Anirudh , Kang Hyolim , Inan Omer T.
Published: September 2017

The current norm for measuring blood pressure (BP) at home is using an automated BP cuff based on oscillometry. Despite providing a viable and familiar method of tracking BP at home, oscillometric devices can be both cumbersome and inaccurate with the inconvenience of the hardware typically limiting measurements to once or twice per day. To address these limitations, a wrist-watch BP monitor was developed to measure BP through a simple maneuver: holding the watch against the sternum to detect micro-vibrations of the chest wall associated with the heartbeat. As a pulse wave propagates from the heart to the wrist, an accelerometer and optical sensor on the watch measure the travel time -- pulse transit time (PTT) -- to estimate BP. In this paper, we conducted a study to test the accuracy and repeatability of our device. After calibration, the diastolic pressure estimations reached a root-mean-square error of 2.9 mmHg. The watch-based system significantly outperformed (p<0.05) conventional pulse arrival time (PAT) based wearable blood pressure estimations -- the most commonly used method for wearable BP sensing in the existing literature and commercial devices. Our device can be a convenient means for wearable BP monitoring outside of clinical settings in both health-conscious and hypertensive populations.
Remote Control by Body Movement in Synchrony with Orbiting Widgets
Authors: Clarke Christopher , Bellino Alessio , Esteves Augusto , Gellersen Hans
Published: September 2017

In this work we consider how users can use body movement for remote control with minimal effort and maximum flexibility. TraceMatch is a novel technique where the interface displays available controls as circular widgets with orbiting targets, and where users can trigger a control by mimicking the displayed motion. The technique uses computer vision to detect circular motion as a uniform type of input, but is highly appropriable as users can produce matching motion with any part of their body. We present three studies that investigate input performance with different parts of the body, user preferences, and spontaneous choice of movements for input in realistic application scenarios. The results show that users can provide effective input with their head, hands and while holding objects, that multiple controls can be effectively distinguished by the difference in presented phase and direction of movement, and that users choose and switch modes of input seamlessly.
Activity Recognition for Quality Assessment of Batting Shots in Cricket using a Hierarchical Representation
Authors: Khan Aftab , Nicholson James , Plötz Thomas
Published: September 2017

Quality assessment in cricket is a complex task that is performed by understanding the combination of individual activities a player is able to perform and by assessing how well these activities are performed. We present a framework for inexpensive and accessible, automated recognition of cricketing shots. By means of body-worn inertial measurement units, movements of batsmen are recorded, which are then analysed using a parallelised, hierarchical recognition system that automatically classifies relevant categories of shots as required for assessing batting quality. Our system then generates meaningful visualisations of key performance parameters, including feet positions, attack/defence, and distribution of shots around the ground. These visualisations are the basis for objective skill assessment thereby focusing on specific personal improvement points as identified through our system. We evaluated our framework through a deployment study where 6 players engaged in batting exercises. Based on the recorded movement data we could automatically identify 20 classes of unique batting shot components with an average F1-score greater than 88%. This analysis is the basis for our detailed analysis of our study participants’ skills. Our system has the potential to rival expensive vision-based systems but at a fraction of the cost.
Let’s FOCUS
Authors: Kim Inyeop , Jung Gyuwon , Jung Hayoung , Ko Minsam , Lee Uichin
Published: September 2017

With the increasingly frequent appearance of mobile phones in college classrooms, there have been growing concerns regarding their negative aspects including distractive off-task multitasking. In this work, we design and evaluate Let’s FOCUS, a software-based intervention service that assists college students in self-regulating their mobile phone use in classrooms. Our preliminary survey study (with 47 professors and 283 students) reveals that it is critical to encourage voluntary participation by framing intervention as a learning tool and to raise awareness regarding appropriate mobile phone usage by establishing social norms in colleges. Let’s FOCUS introduces a virtual limiting space for each class (or a virtual classroom) where the students can explicitly restrict their mobile phone use voluntarily. Furthermore, it promotes students’ willing participation by leveraging social facilitation and context-aware reminders associated with virtual classrooms. We conducted a campus-wide campaign for approximately six weeks to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed approach. The results confirm that 379 students used the app to limit 9,335 hours of mobile phone usage over 233 classrooms. Let’s FOCUS was used in diverse learning contexts and for different purposes and its social learning and context-awareness features significantly motivated prolonged participation. We present the design considerations of software-based intervention.
Technology Supported Behavior Restriction for Mitigating Self-Interruptions in Multi-device Environments
Authors: Kim Jaejeung , Cho Chiwoo , Lee Uichin
Published: September 2017

The interruptions people experience may be initiated from digital devices but also from oneself, an action which is termed “self-interruption.” Prior work mostly focused on understanding work-related self-interruptions and designing tools for mitigating them in work contexts. However, self-interruption to off-tasks (e.g., viewing social networking sites, and playing mobile games) has received little attention in the HCI community thus far. We conducted a formative study about self-interruptions to off-tasks and coping strategies in multi-device working environments. Off-task usage was considered a serious roadblock to productivity, and yet, the habitual usage and negative triggers made it challenging to manage off-task usage. To mitigate these concerns, we developed “PomodoLock,” a self-interruption management tool that allows users voluntarily to set a timer for a fixed period, during which it selectively blocks interruption sources across multiple devices. To understand the effect of restricting access to self-interruptive sources such as applications and websites, we conducted a three-week field trial (n=40) where participants were asked to identify disrupting apps and sites to be blocked, but the multi-device blocking feature was only provided to the experimental group. Our study results showed the perceived coercion and the stress of the experimental group were lower despite its behavioral restriction with multi-device blocking. Qualitative study results from interviews and surveys confirm that multi-device blocking significantly reduced participants’ mental effort for managing self-interruptions, thereby leading to a reduction in the overall stress level. The findings suggest that when the coerciveness of behavioral restriction is appropriately controlled, coercive design can positively assist users in achieving their goals.
Reconstructing Hand Poses Using Visible Light
Authors: Li Tianxing , Xiong Xi , Xie Yifei , Hito George , Yang Xing-Dong , Zhou Xia
Published: September 2017

Free-hand gestural input is essential for emerging user interactions. We present Aili, a table lamp reconstructing a 3D hand skeleton in real time, requiring neither cameras nor on-body sensing devices. Aili consists of an LED panel in a lampshade and a few low-cost photodiodes embedded in the lamp base. To reconstruct a hand skeleton, Aili combines 2D binary blockage maps from vantage points of different photodiodes, which describe whether a hand blocks light rays from individual LEDs to all photodiodes. Empowering a table lamp with sensing capability, Aili can be seamlessly integrated into the existing environment. Relying on such low-level cues, Aili entails lightweight computation and is inherently privacy-preserving. We build and evaluate an Aili prototype. Results show that Aili’s algorithm reconstructs a hand pose within 7.2 ms on average, with 10.2° mean angular deviation and 2.5-mm mean translation deviation in comparison to Leap Motion. We also conduct user studies to examine the privacy issues of Leap Motion and solicit feedback on Aili’s privacy protection. We conclude by demonstrating various interaction applications Aili enables.
Auto++
Authors: Li Sugang , Fan Xiaoran , Zhang Yanyong , Trappe Wade , Lindqvist Janne , Howard Richard E.
Published: September 2017

In this work, we propose a system that detects approaching cars for smartphone users. In addition to detecting the presence of a vehicle, it can also estimate the vehicle’s driving direction, as well as count the number of cars around the user. We achieve these goals by processing the acoustic signal captured by microphones embedded in the user’s mobile phone. The largest challenge we faced involved addressing the fact that vehicular noise is predominantly due to tire-road friction, and therefore lacked strong (frequency) formant or temporal structure. Additionally, outdoor environments have complex acoustic noise characteristics, which are made worse when the signal is captured by non-professional grade microphones embedded in smartphones. We address these challenges by monitoring a new feature: maximal frequency component that crosses a threshold. We extract this feature with a blurred edge detector. Through detailed experiments, we found our system to be robust across different vehicles and environmental conditions, and thereby support unsupervised car detection and counting. We evaluated our system using audio tracks recorded from seven different models of cars, including SUVs, medium-sized sedans, compact cars, and electric cars. We also tested our system with the user walking in various outdoor environments including parking lots, campus roads, residential areas, and shopping centers. Our results show that we can accurately and robustly detect cars with low CPU and memory requirements.
PrivacyStreams
Authors: Li Yuanchun , Chen Fanglin , Li Toby Jia-Jun , Guo Yao , Huang Gang , Fredrikson Matthew , Agarwal Yuvraj , Hong Jason I.
Published: September 2017

Smartphone app developers often access and use privacy-sensitive data to create apps with rich and meaningful interactions. However, it can be challenging for auditors and end-users to know what granularity of data is being used and how, thereby hindering assessment of potential risks. Furthermore, developers lack easy ways of offering transparency to users regarding how personal data is processed, even if their intentions are to make their apps more privacy friendly. To address these challenges, we introduce PrivacyStreams, a functional programming model for accessing and processing personal data as a stream. PrivacyStreams is designed to make it easy for developers to make use of personal data while simultaneously making it easier to analyze how that personal data is processed and what granularity of data is actually used. We present the design and implementation of PrivacyStreams, as well as several user studies and experiments to demonstrate its usability, utility, and support for privacy.
Conquering the City
Authors: Papangelis Konstantinos , Metzger Melvin , Sheng Yiyeng , Liang Hai-Ning , Chamberlain Alan , Cao Ting
Published: September 2017

With the increasing popularity of mobile video games, game designers and developers are starting to integrate geolocation into video games. Popular location-based games such as Ingress or Pokémon Go have millions of users, yet little is known about how the use of such games influences the nature of a user’s interaction with other users and their physical surroundings. To investigate how location-based games are integrated into a player’s daily life, how they influence a player’s mobility through the city, their perception of places and the role of human territoriality in this context, we have developed a location-based mobile multiplayer game called CityConqueror. In this paper, we present CityConqueror and the results of a study, which has focused on participants playing the game over a period of two weeks. The findings show that location-based games can be designed to give the player the illusion of playing in the context of the “real” world rather than a virtual or hybrid game reality. Our findings also suggest that location-based games can have a strong influence on a player’s mobility and perception of urban space and that human territoriality can be expressed through location-based games. Based on our findings we propose a series of design implications for the design of mobile location-based games.
Running with Technology
Authors: Seuter Matthias , Pfeiffer Max , Bauer Gernot , Zentgraf Karen , Kray Christian
Published: September 2017

The use of wearable devices during running has become commonplace. Although there is ongoing research on interaction techniques for use while running, the effects of the resulting interactions on the natural movement patterns have received little attention so far. While previous studies on pedestrians reported increased task load and reduced walking speed while interacting, running movement further restricts interaction and requires minimizing interferences, e.g. to avoid injuries and maximize comfort. In this paper, we aim to shed light on how interacting with wearable devices affects running movement. We present results from a motion-tracking study (N=12) evaluating changes in movement and task load when users interact with a smartphone, a smartwatch, or a pair of smartglasses while running. In our study, smartwatches required less effort than smartglasses when using swipe input, resulted in less interference with the running movement and were preferred overall. From our results, we infer a number of guidelines regarding interaction design targeting runners.
Watching inside the Screen
Authors: Vuong Tung , Jacucci Giulio , Ruotsalo Tuukka
Published: September 2017

We investigate to what extent it is possible to infer a user’s work tasks by digital activity monitoring and use the task models for proactive information retrieval. Ten participants volunteered for the study, in which their computer screen was monitored and related logs were recorded for 14 days. Corresponding diary entries were collected to provide ground truth to the task detection method. We report two experiments using this data. The unsupervised task detection experiment was conducted to detect tasks using unsupervised topic modeling. The results show an average task detection accuracy of more than 70% by using rich screen monitoring data. The single-trial task detection and retrieval experiment utilized unseen user inputs in order to detect related work tasks and retrieve task-relevant information on-line. We report an average task detection accuracy of 95%, and the corresponding model-based document retrieval with Normalized Discounted Cumulative Gain of 98%. We discuss and provide insights regarding the types of digital tasks occurring in the data, the accuracy of task detection on different task types, and the role of using different data input such as application names, extracted keywords, and bag-of-words representations in the task detection process. We also discuss the implications of our results for ubiquitous user modeling and privacy.
Predicting Commercial Activeness over Urban Big Data
Authors: Yang Su , Wang Minjie , Wang Wenshan , Sun Yi , Gao Jun , Zhang Weishan , Zhang Jiulong
Published: September 2017

This study aims at revealing how commercial hotness of urban commercial districts (UCDs) is shaped by social contexts of surrounding areas so as to render predictive business planning. We define social contexts for a given region as the number of visitors, the region functions, the population and buying power of local residents, the average price of services, and the rating scores of customers, which are computed from heterogeneous data including taxi GPS trajectories, point of interests, geographical data, and user-generated comments. Then, we apply sparse representation to discover the impactor factor of each variable of the social contexts in terms of predicting commercial activeness of UCDs under a linear predictive model. The experiments show that a linear correlation between social contexts and commercial activeness exists for Beijing and Shanghai based on an average prediction accuracy of 77.69% but the impact factors of social contexts vary from city to city, where the key factors are rich life services, diversity of restaurants, good shopping experience, large number of local residents with relatively high purchasing power, and convenient transportation. This study reveals the underlying mechanism of urban business ecosystems, and promise social context-aware business planning over heterogeneous urban big data.