bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
VectorEntry
Authors: Samanta Debasis , Chakraborty Tuhin
Published: August 2020

Mobile phones are now touch-enabled, which allows the use of on-screen keyboards for text entry. Text entry tasks are among the most frequently occurring tasks performed by mobile phone users. However, people with visual impairments find it difficult to use on-screen keyboards, and this affects their digital literacy. In this article, a text entry mechanism is proposed to solve this problem using directional movement gestures suitable for people with visual impairments. Two forms of directional movement gestures, guided and unguided movements, are first studied, and the analysis reveals that unguided directional movement gestures are more suitable for a text entry mechanism for individuals who are visually impaired. Based on this insight, a text entry mechanism called
VectorEntry
is developed. It uses eight unguided directional movement gestures to select characters on the keyboard of a touch-enabled mobile phone. The keyboard is designed in accordance with the traditional
4×3
telephone keypad. The results of experiments show that the average text entry rate of
VectorEntry
was 3.3 wpm, 83.3% higher than the state-of-the-art
No-Look Notes
used for similar tasks. Its average rate of error in text entry was only 0.19% per character.
A Survey on Intersection Management of Connected Autonomous Vehicles
Authors: Khayatian Mohammad , Mehrabian Mohammadreza , Andert Edward , Dedinsky Rachel , Choudhary Sarthake , Lou Yingyan , Shirvastava Aviral
Published: August 2020

Intersection management of Connected Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) has the potential to improve safety and mobility. CAVs approaching an intersection can exchange information with the infrastructure or each other to schedule their cross times. By avoiding unnecessary stops, scheduling CAVs can increase traffic throughput, reduce energy consumption, and most importantly, minimize the number of accidents that happen in intersection areas due to human errors. We study existing intersection management approaches from following key perspectives: (1) intersection management interface, (2) scheduling policy, (3) existing wireless technologies, (4) existing vehicle models used by researchers and their impact, (5) conflict detection, (6) extension to multi-intersection management, (7) challenges of supporting human-driven vehicles, (8) safety and robustness required for real-life deployment, (9) graceful degradation and recovery for emergency scenarios, (10) security concerns and attack models, and (11) evaluation methods. We then discuss the effectiveness and limitations of each approach with respect to the aforementioned aspects and conclude with a discussion on tradeoffs and further research directions.
Duplo: a framework for OCaml post-link optimisation
Authors: Licker Nandor , Jones Timothy M.
Published: August 2020

We present a novel framework,
Duplo
, for the low-level post-link optimisation of OCaml programs, achieving a speedup of 7% and a reduction of at least 15% of the code size of widely-used OCaml applications. Unlike existing post-link optimisers, which typically operate on target-specific machine code, our framework operates on a Low-Level Intermediate Representation (LLIR) capable of representing both the OCaml programs and any C dependencies they invoke through the foreign-function interface (FFI). LLIR is analysed, transformed and lowered to machine code by our post-link optimiser, LLIR-OPT. Most importantly, LLIR allows the optimiser to cross the OCaml-C language boundary, mitigating the overhead incurred by the FFI and enabling analyses and transformations in a previously unavailable context. The optimised IR is then lowered to amd64 machine code through the existing target-specific code generator of LLVM, modified to handle garbage collection just as effectively as the native OCaml backend. We equip our optimiser with a suite of SSA-based transformations and points-to analyses capable of capturing the semantics and representing the memory models of both languages, along with a cross-language inliner to embed C methods into OCaml callers. We evaluate the gains of our framework, which can be attributed to both our optimiser and the more sophisticated amd64 backend of LLVM, on a wide-range of widely-used OCaml applications, as well as an existing suite of micro- and macro-benchmarks used to track the performance of the OCaml compiler.
Effect handlers, evidently
Authors: Xie Ningning , Brachthäuser Jonathan Immanuel , Hillerström Daniel , Schuster Philipp , Leijen Daan
Published: August 2020

Algebraic effect handlers are a powerful way to incorporate effects in a programming language. Sometimes perhaps even _too_ powerful. In this article we define a restriction of general effect handlers with _scoped resumptions_. We argue one can still express all important effects, while improving reasoning about effect handlers. Using the newly gained guarantees, we define a sound and coherent evidence translation for effect handlers, which directly passes the handlers as evidence to each operation. We prove full soundness and coherence of the translation into plain lambda calculus. The evidence in turn enables efficient implementations of effect operations; in particular, we show we can execute tail-resumptive operations _in place_ (without needing to capture the evaluation context), and how we can replace the runtime search for a handler by indexing with a constant offset.
Lower your guards: a compositional pattern-match coverage checker
Authors: Graf Sebastian , Peyton Jones Simon , Scott Ryan G.
Published: August 2020

A compiler should warn if a function defined by pattern matching does not cover its inputs—that is, if there are missing or redundant patterns. Generating such warnings accurately is difficult for modern languages due to the myriad of language features that interact with pattern matching. This is especially true in Haskell, a language with a complicated pattern language that is made even more complex by extensions offered by the Glasgow Haskell Compiler (GHC). Although GHC has spent a significant amount of effort towards improving its pattern-match coverage warnings, there are still several cases where it reports inaccurate warnings.

We introduce a coverage checking algorithm called Lower Your Guards, which boils down the complexities of pattern matching into
guard trees
. While the source language may have many exotic forms of patterns, guard trees only have three different constructs, which vastly simplifies the coverage checking process. Our algorithm is modular, allowing for new forms of source-language patterns to be handled with little changes to the overall structure of the algorithm. We have implemented the algorithm in GHC and demonstrate places where it performs better than GHC’s current coverage checker, both in accuracy and performance.
Raising expectations: automating expected cost analysis with types
Authors: Wang Di , Kahn David M. , Hoffmann Jan
Published: August 2020

This article presents a type-based analysis for deriving upper bounds on the expected execution cost of probabilistic programs. The analysis is naturally compositional, parametric in the cost model, and supports higher-order functions and inductive data types. The derived bounds are multivariate polynomials that are functions of data structures. Bound inference is enabled by local type rules that reduce type inference to linear constraint solving. The type system is based on the potential method of amortized analysis and extends automatic amortized resource analysis (AARA) for deterministic programs. A main innovation is that bounds can contain symbolic probabilities, which may appear in data structures and function arguments. Another contribution is a novel soundness proof that establishes the correctness of the derived bounds with respect to a distribution-based operational cost semantics that also includes nontrivial diverging behavior. For cost models like time, derived bounds imply termination with probability one. To highlight the novel ideas, the presentation focuses on linear potential and a core language. However, the analysis is implemented as an extension of Resource Aware ML and supports polynomial bounds and user defined data structures. The effectiveness of the technique is evaluated by analyzing the sample complexity of discrete distributions and with a novel average-case estimation for deterministic programs that combines expected cost analysis with statistical methods.
Sparcl: a language for partially-invertible computation
Authors: Matsuda Kazutaka , Wang Meng
Published: August 2020

Invertibility is a fundamental concept in computer science, with various manifestations in software development (serializer/deserializer, parser/printer, redo/undo, compressor/decompressor, and so on). Full invertibility necessarily requires bijectivity, but the direct approach of composing bijective functions to develop invertible programs is too restrictive to be useful. In this paper, we take a different approach by focusing on
partially-invertible
functions—functions that become invertible if some of their arguments are fixed. The simplest example of such is addition, which becomes invertible when fixing one of the operands. More involved examples include entropy-based compression methods (e.g., Huffman coding), which carry the occurrence frequency of input symbols (in certain formats such as Huffman tree), and fixing this frequency information makes the compression methods invertible.

We develop a language Sparcl for programming such functions in a natural way, where partial-invertibility is the norm and bijectivity is a special case, hence gaining significant expressiveness without compromising correctness. The challenge in designing such a language is to allow ordinary programming (the “partially” part) to interact with the invertible part freely, and yet guarantee invertibility by construction. The language Sparcl is linear-typed, and has a type constructor to distinguish data that are subject to invertible computation and those that are not. We present the syntax, type system, and semantics of the language, and prove that Sparcl correctly guarantees invertibility for its programs. We demonstrate the expressiveness of Sparcl with examples including tree rebuilding from preorder and inorder traversals and Huffman coding.
Stable relations and abstract interpretation of higher-order programs
Authors: Montagu Benoît , Jensen Thomas
Published: August 2020

We present a novel denotational semantics for the untyped call-by-value λ-calculus, where terms are interpreted as
stable relations
, i.e. as binary relations between substitutions and values, enjoying a monotonicity property. The denotation captures the input-output behaviour of higher-order programs, and is proved sound and complete with respect to the operational semantics. The definition also admits a presentation as a program logic. Following the principles of abstract interpretation, we use our denotational semantics as a
collecting semantics
to derive a modular
relational
analysis for higher-order programs. The analysis infers equalities between the arguments of a program and its result—a form of
frame condition
for functional programs.
The simple essence of algebraic subtyping: principal type inference with subtyping made easy (functional pearl)
Authors: Parreaux Lionel
Published: August 2020

MLsub extends traditional Hindley-Milner type inference with subtyping while preserving compact principal types, an exciting new development. However, its specification in terms of biunification is difficult to understand, relying on the new concepts of bisubstitution and polar types, and making use of advanced notions from abstract algebra. In this paper, we show that these are in fact not essential to understanding the mechanisms at play in MLsub. We propose an alternative algorithm called Simple-sub, which can be implemented efficiently in under 500 lines of code (including parsing, simplification, and pretty-printing), looks more familiar, and is easier to understand.

We present an experimental evaluation of Simple-sub against MLsub on a million randomly-generated well-scoped expressions, showing that the two systems agree. The mutable automaton-based implementation of MLsub is quite far from its algebraic specification, leaving a lot of space for errors; in fact, our evaluation uncovered several bugs in it. We sketch more straightforward soundness and completeness arguments for Simple-sub, based on a syntactic specification of the type system.

This paper is meant to be light in formalism, rich in insights, and easy to consume for prospective designers of new type systems and programming languages. In particular, no abstract algebra is inflicted on readers.
Electrical and NO2 Sensing Properties of a Series of Liquid Crystalline Porphyrins
Authors: Kilinc Necmettin , Ahsen Ali Şems , Öztürk Zafer Ziya
Published: August 2020

The electrical and NO2 sensing properties of a series of porphyrin derivatives (PPC12, PPC16, ZnPPC12) were studied within wide temperature range from 293 to 423 K under the N2 gas flow and in the frequency range from 1 kHz to 1 MHz for ac electrical measurements. The dc conductivities and the activation energies were found to be in the range of 10−13−10−12 S cm−1 at the room temperature and 0.46–1.03 eV respectively. The increased C number in the alkyl chain and addition of metal ion to the porphyrin causes a decrease in the conductivity. The ac conductivity was well represented by the power law form Aω
s. The s parameter depending on temperature was varied 0.79–1.2. The conduction mechanism for all porphyrins could be related to small polaron tunneling (SPT) model. As an application, the NO2 sensing properties of ZnPPC12 were investigated depending on temperature.
Neurodegeneration in juvenile Iberian pigs with diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Authors: Zeltser Nicole , Meyer Isabell , Hernandez Gabriella V. , Trahan Matthew J. , Fanter Rob K. , Abo-Ismail Mohammed , Glanz Hunter , Strand Christine R. , Burrin Douglas G. , La Frano Michael R. , Manjarín Rodrigo , Maj Magdalena
Published: August 2020

The objective of this study was to investigate whether juvenile Iberian pigs with diet-induced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), cholestasis, and gut dysbiosis would develop histological and metabolic markers of neurodegeneration in the frontal cortex (FC) and whether supplementing probiotics would influence the response to the diet. Twenty-eight juvenile Iberian pigs were fed for 10 wk either a control (CON) or high-fructose high-fat (HFF) diet with or without a commercial probiotic mixture. Compared with CON, HFF-fed pigs had a decreased number of neurons and an increase in reactive astrocytes in FC tissue. There was also a decrease in one-carbon metabolites choline and betaine and a marked accumulation of bile acids, cholesteryl esters, and polyol pathway intermediates in FC of HFF-fed pigs, which were associated with markers of neurodegeneration and accentuated with the severity of NAFLD. Betaine depletion in FC tissue was negatively correlated with choline-derived phospholipids in colon content, whereas primary conjugated bile acids in FC were associated with cholestasis. Plasma kynurenine-to-tryptophan quotient, as a marker of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity, and intestinal dysbiosis were also correlated with neuronal loss and astrogliosis. Recognition memory test and FC levels of amyloid-β and phosphorylated Tau did not differ between diets, whereas probiotics increased amyloid-β and memory loss in HFF-fed pigs. In conclusion, our results show evidence of neurodegeneration in FC of juvenile Iberian pigs and establish a novel pediatric model to investigate the role of gut-liver-brain axis in diet-induced NAFLD.
Hyperphosphorylation of fetal liver IGFBP-1 precedes slowing of fetal growth in nutrient-restricted baboons and may be a mechanism underlying IUGR
Authors: Kakadia Jenica H. , Jain Bhawani B. , Biggar Kyle , Sutherland Austen , Nygard Karen , Li Cun , Nathanielsz Peter W. , Jansson Thomas , Gupta Madhulika B.
Published: August 2020

In cultured fetal liver cells, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding protein (IGFBP)-1 hyperphosphorylation in response to hypoxia and amino acid deprivation is mediated by inhibition of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and activation of amino acid response (AAR) signaling and casein kinase (CK)2. We hypothesized that fetal liver mTOR inhibition, activation of AAR and CK2, and IGFBP-1 hyperphosphorylation occur before development of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Pregnant baboons were fed a control (C) or a maternal nutrient restriction (MNR; 70% calories of control) diet starting at gestational day (GD) 30 (term GD 185). Umbilical blood and fetal liver tissue were obtained at GD 120 (C, n = 7; MNR, n = 10) and 165 (C, n = 7; MNR, n = 8). Fetal weights were unchanged at GD 120 but decreased at GD 165 in the MNR group (−13%, P = 0.03). IGFBP-1 phosphorylation, as determined by parallel reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (PRM-MS), immunohistochemistry, and/or Western blot, was enhanced in MNR fetal liver and umbilical plasma at GD 120 and 165. IGF-I receptor autophosphorylationTyr1135(−64%, P = 0.05) was reduced in MNR fetal liver at GD 120. Furthermore, fetal liver CK2 (α/α′/β) expression, CK2β colocalization, proximity with IGFBP-1, and CK2 autophosphorylationTyr182were greater at GD 120 and 165 in MNR vs. C. Additionally, mTOR complex (mTORC)1 (p-P70S6KThr389, −52%, P = 0.05) and mTORC2 (p-AktSer473, −56%, P < 0.001) activity were decreased and AAR was activated (p-GCN2Thr898, +117%, P = 0.02; p-eIF2αSer51, +294%, P = 0.002; p-ERKThr202, +111%, P = 0.03) in MNR liver at GD 120. Our data suggest that fetal liver IGFBP-1 hyperphosphorylation, mediated by mTOR inhibition and both AAR and CK2 activation, is a key link between restricted nutrient and oxygen availability and the development of IUGR.
Ventilatory and chronotropic incompetence during incremental and constant load exercise in end-stage renal disease: a comparative physiology study
Authors: McGuire S. , Horton E. J. , Renshaw D. , Chan K. , Krishnan N. , McGregor G.
Published: August 2020

Maximal O2 uptake is impaired in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), reducing quality of life and longevity. While determinants of maximal exercise intolerance are well defined, little is known of limitation during submaximal constant load exercise. By comparing individuals with ESRD and healthy controls, the aim of this exploratory study was to characterize mechanisms of exercise intolerance in participants with ESRD by assessing cardiopulmonary physiology at rest and during exercise. Resting spirometry and echocardiography were performed in 20 dialysis-dependent participants with ESRD (age: 59 ± 12 yr, 14 men and 6 women) and 20 healthy age- and sex-matched controls. Exercise tolerance was assessed with ventilatory gas exchange and central hemodynamics during a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test and 30 min of submaximal constant load exercise. Left ventricular mass (292 ± 102 vs. 185 ± 83 g, P = 0.01) and filling pressure ( E/ e′: 6.48 ± 3.57 vs. 12.09 ± 6.50 m/s, P = 0.02) were higher in participants with ESRD; forced vital capacity (3.44 ± 1 vs. 4.29 ± 0.95 L/min, P = 0.03) and peak O2 uptake (13.3 ± 2.7 vs. 24.6 ± 7.3 mL·kg−1·min−1, P < 0.001) were lower. During constant load exercise, the relative increase in the arterial-venous O2 difference (13 ± 18% vs. 74 ± 18%) and heart rate (32 ± 18 vs. 75 ± 29%) were less in participants with ESRD despite exercise being performed at a higher percentage of maximum minute ventilation (48 ± 3% vs. 39 ± 3%) and heart rate (82 ± 2 vs. 64 ± 2%). Ventilatory and chronotropic incompetence contribute to exercise intolerance in individuals with ESRD. Both are potential targets for medical and lifestyle interventions.
Mammary transcriptome reveals cell maintenance and protein turnover support milk synthesis in early-lactation cows
Authors: Beckett L. , Xie S. , Thimmapuram J. , Tucker H. A. , Donkin S. S. , Casey T.
Published: August 2020

A more complete understanding of the molecular mechanisms that support milk synthesis is needed to develop strategies to efficiently and sustainably meet the growing global demand for dairy products. With the postulate that coding gene transcript abundance reflects relative importance in supporting milk synthesis, we analyzed the global transcriptome of early lactation cows across magnitudes of normalized RNA-Seq read counts. Total RNA was isolated from milk samples collected from early-lactation cows ( n = 6) following two treatment periods of postruminal lysine infusion of 0 or 63 g/day. Twelve libraries were prepared and sequenced on an Illumina NovaSeq6000 platform using paired end reads. Normalized read counts were averaged across both treatments, because EBseq analysis found no significant effect of lysine infusion. Approximately 10% of the total reads corresponded to 12,730 protein coding transcripts with a normalized read count mean ≥5. For functional annotation analysis, the protein coding transcripts were divided into nine categories by magnitude of reads. The 13 most abundant transcripts (≥50K reads) accounted for 67% of the 23M coding reads and included casein and whey proteins, regulators of fat synthesis and secretion, a ubiquitinating protein, and a tRNA transporter. Mammalian target of rapamycin, JAK/STAT, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, and ubiquitin proteasome pathways were enriched with normalized reads ≥100 counts. Genes with ≤100 reads regulated tissue homeostasis and immune response. Enrichment in ontologies that reflect maintenance of translation, protein turnover, and amino acid recycling indicated that proteostatic mechanisms are central to supporting mammary function and primary milk component synthesis.
Portable Handheld Slit-Lamp Based on a Smartphone Camera for Cataract Screening
Authors: Hu Shenming , Wu Hong , Luan Xinze , Wang Zhuoshi , Adu Mary , Wang Xiaoting , Yan Chunhong , Li Bo , Li Kewang , Zou Ying , Yu Xiaoya , He Xiangdong , He Wei
Published: August 2020

Purpose. As part of plans to provide help to people in remote and poor areas who have no medical resources, a portable slit-lamp based on a smartphone was proposed. This would help in early screening of cataract diseases. Methods. This means a microlens is designed that would work with a phone’s camera. The phone’s photo taking function is used in capturing the image of the eyes lens to replace the observation system of the desktop slit-lamp. A simplified slit light band was designed. In order for the light source part to meet the portable requirements of the slit-lamp, the adjustable and diffused light functions of the ligaments were removed in this design. Furthermore, the images collected by the smartphone are uploaded to the deep learning cataract screening system, which can achieve real-time and effective screening of cataract. Results. Unlike the desktop slit-lamp, which needs skilled personnel to operate, this device can be easily operated by less-skilled or inexperienced doctors. This eliminates the concerns of inaccurate diagnosis based on the use of unskilled professionals. Due to the portability, ease of use, and simplicity in obtaining crystal images of this device, it serves as a promising platform for nonhospital screening and telemedicine. Conclusions. In this paper, we invented a small portable device for screening cataract. This device is to make screening and diagnosis of cataract in remote areas very fast and effective. It will also solve the problem of inadequate specialized doctors and equipment in those areas as well. Translational Relevance. Smartphones can be used with portable slit-lamps to capture the images of the lens.
Ovarian Cancer Metastasis to the Larynx: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Purcell Chad , Al Afif Ayham , Bullock Martin , Corsten Martin
Published: August 2020

Laryngeal secondary malignancies are rare, and most spread locoregionally from hypopharyngeal or thyroid primaries. Metastasis of ovarian carcinoma to the larynx is extremely rare. A 65-year-old woman with a history of high grade serous ovarian carcinoma was undergoing carboplatin chemotherapy for recurrence. She presented with progressive dysphagia and hoarseness; a computer tomography (CT) scan demonstrated bilateral necrotic lymphadenopathy and hypopharyngeal fullness. A hypopharyngeal mass was confirmed on examination, and operative biopsy identified it as high-grade serous ovarian. To our knowledge, this report describes the second immunohistochemically proven metastatic ovarian cancer detected in the larynx in the world literature.
Experimental Study on the Sliding of WJ‐8 Small Resistance Fastener Composite Pad
Authors: Zeng Zhiping , Wang Di , Liu Fushan , Shuaibu Abdulmumin A. , Lin Zhihua
Published: August 2020

Under long‐term temperature loading, long bridges stretch and deform, causing the beam and rail to move relative to each other. This phenomenon could cause a gradual slide of the rail relative to the fastener composite pad and ultimately results in the slipping out of the fastener pad at the end of the ballastless track bridge changes. The slipping out of the fastener composite pad changes the longitudinal resistance of the fastener and causes shock of the train on the rail structure due to direct contact between the rail and the tie, thus inhibiting the normal use of the line. In this paper, a reciprocating tensile test was carried out on a WJ‐8 small resistance fastener to explore the breaking process of the fastener composite pad, identify the interaction mechanism of the fastener composite pad under the rail, and ultimately determine the influence of the pad on the longitudinal resistance of the fastener. The results show that the two factors that affect the longitudinal resistance of the fastener under reciprocating loading are the surface roughness and displacement of the fastener composite pad. While the surface roughness of the fastener composite pad is the main influencing factor in the early stage, the displacement of the composite pad has a greater impact on the later stage. The research results of this paper can provide an important reference for the maintenance and repair of ballastless track fasteners on bridges.
Mycotoxins Detection and Fungal Contamination in Black and Green Tea by HPLC-Based Method
Authors: Pakshir K. , Mirshekari Z. , Nouraei H. , Zareshahrabadi Z. , Zomorodian K. , Khodadadi H. , Hadaegh A.
Published: August 2020

The fungal contamination and total aflatoxins (AF) and ochratoxin A (OTA) of tea samples were examined. A total of 60 tea samples were extracted and treated with immunoaffinity columns. The amount of AF and OTA were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescence detector (FD). Tea samples were cultured and the fungi were identified. The results showed that 24 (40%) samples were contaminated with AFs and none of the tea samples were above the acceptable limit of AFs (≥10 μg/kg). All of the samples were contaminated with OTA where only 3 black tea samples (6.6%) and 1 green tea sample (6.7%) were detected to have more than the standard limits of toxin (10 μg·kg−1). The mean concentration of OTA in the black tea was higher than green tea. Aspergillus niger was the predominant fungi isolated from black and green tea samples. Considering the high contamination of mycotoxins in tea samples, regular monitoring in the tea process for improving quality is recommended.
The Use of 99mTc-Methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (sestaMIBI) Uptake on Scintigraphy (99m-STS) in Amiodarone-Induced Thyrotoxicosis: Case Series and Review of the Literature
Authors: Elshimy Ghada , Alsayed Mahmoud , Targovnik Jerome , Sidarous Gamal , Milas Kresimira M.
Published: August 2020

Amiodarone is a class III antiarrhythmic drug, used by cardiologists to treat arrhythmia including atrial fibrillation (A fib) and ventricular fibrillation. However, amiodarone is associated with endocrine dysfunction including both hypo- and hyperthyroidism. In the literature, two types of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) were described: AIT-1 and AIT-2. Mixed AIT also called AIT type 3 (AIT-3) has been described in the literature when the cases do not have a typical presentation. In order to differentiate different types of AIT, various clinical, biochemical, and radiological tools have been proposed. The use of 99mTc-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile (sestaMIBI) uptake on scintigraphy (99m-STS) has been suggested in the literature in only few studies (no large retrospective or prospective studies have been established in the United States). We present a case series describing 5 patients presenting to the University of Arizona with AIT where we used 99m-STS to assess in diagnosis and treatment of different types of AIT followed by a review of the literature.
Oxidized Oils and Oxidized Proteins Induce Apoptosis in Granulosa Cells by Increasing Oxidative Stress in Ovaries of Laying Hens
Authors: Zhou Ling , Ding Xuemei , Wang Jianping , Bai Shiping , Zeng Qiufeng , Su Zuowei , Xuan Yue , Wu Aimin , Zhang Keying
Published: August 2020

The storage and preparation of corn for animal feed inevitably lead to lipid and protein peroxidation. Granulosa cells play an important role in follicular development in the ovaries, and hen laying productivity is likely to be dependent on follicle health and number. We hypothesized that oxidized oil and protein induce apoptosis via oxidative stress in laying hen granulosa cells. A sample of 360 38-week-old Lohmann commercial laying hens was used in a 2×2 factorial design for 8 weeks. Dietary treatments included dietary oil (fresh corn oil (FO) or oxidized corn oil (OO)) and corn gluten meal (fresh corn gluten meal (FP) or oxidized corn gluten meal (OP)). Productivity, ovarian histology, granulosa cell apoptosis, and indicators of oxidative stress were evaluated in all groups. Both dietary OO and OP decreased egg production and the average daily feed intake (ADFI) of laying hens. Flow cytometry, TUNEL, and real-time PCR revealed that both dietary OO and OP induced granulosa cell apoptosis in prehierarchical and hierarchical follicles. Furthermore, dietary OO and OP caused oxidative stress in prehierarchical and hierarchical follicles, as indicated by the downregulation of antioxidant-related-gene expression. Moreover, forkhead box O1 (FoxO1), extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK), and c-Jun NH2 kinase (JNK) are involved in potential apoptosis regulation pathways in the granulosa cells of laying hens fed OO and OP, as indicated by the upregulation of FoxO1 expression and downregulation of ERK/JNK expression. These results indicate that OO and OP induce granulosa cell apoptosis via oxidative stress, and the combined use of OO and OP aggravates the adverse effects of oxidative stress in laying hens.
Estimates for Fractional Integral Operators and Linear Commutators on Certain Weighted Amalgam Spaces
Authors: Wang Hua
Published: August 2020

In this paper, we first introduce some new classes of weighted amalgam spaces. Then, we give the weighted strong-type and weak-type estimates for fractional integral operators Iγ on these new function spaces. Furthermore, the weighted strong-type estimate and endpoint estimate of linear commutators b,Iγ generated by b and Iγ are established as well. In addition, we are going to study related problems about two-weight, weak-type inequalities for Iγ and b,Iγ on the weighted amalgam spaces and give some results. Based on these results and pointwise domination, we can prove norm inequalities involving fractional maximal operator Mγ and generalized fractional integrals ℒ−γ/2 in the context of weighted amalgam spaces, where 0<γ<n and L is the infinitesimal generator of an analytic semigroup on L2Rn with Gaussian kernel bounds.
Follistatin-Like 1 Protects against Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy through Upregulation of Nrf2
Authors: Zhao Yintao , Sun Jingjing , Zhang Wei , Peng Meng , Chen Jun , Zheng Lu , Zhang Xiangqin , Yang Haibo , Liu Yuan
Published: August 2020

Doxorubicin- (DOX-) induced cardiomyocyte loss results in irreversible heart failure, which limits the clinical applications of DOX. Currently, there are no drugs that can effectively treat DOX-related cardiotoxicity. Follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) has been reported to be a transforming growth factor-beta-inducible gene, and FSTL1 supplementation attenuated ischemic injury and cardiac apoptotic loss in mice. However, the effect of FSTL1 on DOX-induced cardiomyopathy has not been elucidated. We aimed to explore whether FSTL1 could prevent DOX-related cardiotoxicity in mice. Mice were intraperitoneally injected with a single dose of DOX to induce acute cardiotoxicity. We used an adeno-associated virus system to overexpress FSTL1 in the heart. DOX administration decreased FSTL1 mRNA and protein expression in the heart and in cells. FSTL1 prevented DOX-related cardiac injury and inhibited cardiac oxidative stress and apoptosis, thereby improving cardiac function in mice. FSTL1 also improved cardiomyocyte contractile functions in vitro. FSTL1 upregulated expression of nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) in DOX-treated hearts. FSTL1 was not capable of protecting against these toxic effects in Nrf2-deficient mice. In conclusion, FSTL1 protected against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity via upregulation of Nrf2 expression.
An Automatic Epilepsy Detection Method Based on Improved Inductive Transfer Learning
Authors: Yao Yufeng , Cui Zhiming
Published: August 2020

Epilepsy is a chronic disease caused by sudden abnormal discharge of brain neurons, causing transient brain dysfunction. The seizures of epilepsy have the characteristics of being sudden and repetitive, which has seriously endangered patients’ health, cognition, etc. In the current condition, EEG plays a vital role in the diagnosis, judgment, and qualitative location of epilepsy among the clinical diagnosis of various epileptic seizures and is an indispensable means of detection. The study of the EEG signals of patients with epilepsy can provide a strong basis and useful information for in-depth understanding of its pathogenesis. Although, intelligent classification technologies based on machine learning have been widely used to the classification of epilepsy EEG signals and show the effectiveness. In fact, it is difficult to ensure that there is always enough EEG data available for training the model in real life, which will affect the performance of the algorithms. In view of this, to reduce the impact of insufficient data on the detection performance of the algorithms, a novel discriminate least squares regression- (DLSR-) based inductive transfer learning method was introduced which is on the basis of DLSR and the inductive transfer learning. And, it is applied to promote the adaptability and accuracy of the epilepsy EEG signal recognition. The proposed method inherits the advantages of DLSR; it can be more suitable for classification scenarios by expanding the interval between different classes. Meanwhile, it can simultaneously use the data of the target domain and the knowledge of the source domain, which is helpful for getting better performance. The results show that the improved method has more advantages in EEG signal recognition comparing to several other representative methods.
Effect of Foot Reflexology on Pain, Fatigue, and Quality of Sleep after Kidney Transplantation Surgery: A Parallel Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Samarehfekri Atena , Dehghan Mahlagha , Arab Mansoor , Ebadzadeh Mohammad Reza
Published: August 2020

Background and Purpose. Patients undergoing kidney transplantation surgeries suffer from postoperative pain, fatigue, and sleep disorders. Therefore, it is necessary to use different interventions in addition to modern medicine to reduce their symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of foot reflexology on pain, fatigue, and quality of sleep after kidney transplantation surgery. Materials and Methods. The study was a parallel randomized controlled trial. Patients admitted to the transplantation ward participated in the study. Fifty‐three eligible patients were allocated into the foot reflexology group (n = 26) and the control group (n = 27) by using the stratified randomization method. Finally, 25 participants in each group finished the study. The intervention group received foot reflexology for 30 minutes once a day for three consecutive days, and no reflexology was applied in the control group. The intervention started on the second day after surgery. Pain, fatigue, and quality of sleep were measured on the first, second (before intervention), third, fourth, and eleventh days after surgery. Data were collected using visual analogue scale for measuring pain and fatigue and Verran and Snyder‐Halpern sleep scale for measuring quality of sleep. Results. In each group, 25 patients finished the study. The mean pain score in the foot reflexology and control groups decreased from 9.44 ± 0.96 and 9.36 ± 0.91 on the day of surgery to 1.32 ± 0.94 and 4.32 ± 1.68 on the eleventh day after surgery, respectively. The mean fatigue score in the reflexology and control groups decreased from 8.76 ± 1.27 and 8.6 ± 1.26 on the day of surgery to 1.24 ± 1.2 and 3.92 ± 1.63 on the eleventh day after surgery, respectively. The mean sleep score in the foot reflexology and control groups increased from 33.38 ± 11.22 and 39.59 ± 12.8 on the day of surgery to 69.43 ± 12.8 and 56.27 ± 8.03 on the eleventh day after surgery, respectively. While pain, fatigue, and sleep quality scores improved in both groups, those in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement compared with the control group (P < 0.001). No significant difference was found between the two groups in the use of acetaminophen on the first, second, third, fourth, and eleventh days after surgery (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Foot reflexology may reduce pain and fatigue and improve sleep quality of patients after kidney transplantation.
Adsorption of Cu (II) and Cd (II) from Wastewater by Sodium Alginate Modified Materials
Authors: Zhao Yingying , Zhan Linchuan , Xue Zhongjun , Yusef Kianpoor Kalkhajeh , Hu Hongxiang , Wu Mengjun
Published: August 2020

Natural macromolecule adsorbing materials are alternatives for remediation of heavy metals’ polluted waters. In this study, sodium alginate composite gel (SACL) was synthesized from sodium alginate (SA), polyethylene glycol oxide (PEO), and nanomaterials to remove wastewater Cu (II) and Cd (II). The adsorption efficiency of SACL was analysed in relation to the contact time, initial concentrations of metal ions, temperature, adsorbent dosage, and solution pH. Three models, i.e., kinetic model, isothermal adsorption model, and thermodynamic model, were used to fit the experimental data. Our results showed that the highest removal rates of Cu (II) and Cd (II) from wastewater were 96.8% and 78%, respectively, under the condition of the best liquid-solid ratio of 12.5 ml·g−1, and the contact time of 180 min (25°C). Overall, the SACL adsorption of Cu (II) and Cd (II) was spontaneous. The adsorption kinetics and the isothermal adsorption were fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation and Langmuir equation, respectively. Combined with SEM-EDS and FTIR analysis, results suggested that SACL adsorbs wastewater Cu (II) and Cd (II) mainly through chemical reaction on its surface area. Altogether, this work concludes on SACL as an efficient and ecofriendly adsorbent for wastewater Cu (II) and Cd (II).
Knowledge and Perception of Facial Candling for Allergic Rhinitis among University Staff and Students
Authors: Hamdan Nurul Khaleeda Athiraah , Lean Qi Ying , Neoh Chin Fen , Abdullah Amir Heberd , Lim Siong Meng , Ramasamy Kalavathy , Al-Worafi Yaser Mohammed , Goh Khang Wen , Goh Hui Poh , Ming Long Chiau , Lua Pei Lin
Published: August 2020

Introduction. Facial candling is a traditional method used for relieving symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR). This study aims to investigate the knowledge and perception of facial candling in a sample of staff and students in a public university in Malaysia. Methods. An online questionnaire survey method was used. Based on sample size calculation, a total of 1,508 UiTM staff and students from ten selected campuses of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) were invited to participate in this survey. An up‐to‐date e‐mail list of staff in the selected campuses was used as the sampling frame for the study, whereas the students were recruited from the official university student Facebook portal. Results. A total of 788 respondents participated in this survey, 72.2% of them knew about facial candling, though only 35.4% had tried the treatment. Approximately one‐fifth of respondents agreed that facial candling might treat AR. It was found that a higher number of users than nonusers agreed that facial candling was a traditional medicine (78.9% vs 55.0%); could be used on the face and ears (83.5% vs 45.4%); and could be self‐administered at home (83.5 vs 45.4%). Interestingly, more than half of them were uncertain about its long‐term effects and adverse reactions. Conclusion. This study confirms the facial candling use among patients with AR although the percentage is low. The patients and general public need to be better informed about the use of facial candling in AR and its associated risks.
Serum Peptidomic Profile as a Novel Biomarker for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Abdelati Abeer A. , Elnemr Rehab A. , Kandil Noha S. , Dwedar Fatma I. , Ghazala Rasha A.
Published: August 2020

Over the last decades, there has been an increasing need to discover new diagnostic RA biomarkers, other than the current serologic biomarkers, which can assist early diagnosis and response to treatment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the serum peptidomic profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The study included 35 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 35 patients with primary osteoarthritis (OA) as the disease control (DC), and 35 healthy controls (HC). All participants were subjected to serum peptidomic profile analysis using magnetic bead (MB) separation (MALDI-TOF-MS). The trial showed 113 peaks that discriminated RA from OA and 101 peaks that discriminated RA from HC. Moreover, 95 peaks were identified and discriminated OA from HC; 38 were significant (p<0.05) and 57 nonsignificant. The genetic algorithm (GA) model showed the best sensitivity and specificity in the three trials (RA versus HC, OA versus HC, and RA versus OA). The present data suggested that the peptidomic pattern is of value for differentiating individuals with RA from OA and healthy controls. We concluded that MALDI-TOF-MS combined with MB is an effective technique to identify novel serum protein biomarkers related to RA.
Efficacy of Piroxicam Mesotherapy in Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Farpour Hamid Reza , Estakhri Fahime , Zakeri Mohadese , Parvin Reyhaneh
Published: August 2020

Introduction. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most common degenerative diseases that lead to pain and disability. Oral NSAIDs are effective drugs used to alleviate symptoms in patients with KOA, but they have several important complications, especially in the elderly. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of mesotherapy on pain reduction and improvement of functioning in patients with KOA. Methods. Sixty‐two patients with KOA, grade 2‐3 of the Kellgren–Lawrence scale, were randomized into two groups: the mesotherapy group, in which two injections were applied with piroxicam at a 10‐day interval, and the oral group, in which piroxicam was prescribed for 10 days. The patients were evaluated before the treatment and 2, 4, and 8 weeks after it using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Oxford Knee Scare (OKS), and Western Ontario McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC, Persian version). Results. There was no significant difference in demographic characteristics and baseline pain and function scores between the two groups. After 2, 4, and 8 weeks of follow‐up, VAS, WOMAC, and OKS scores significantly improved in both groups (in the mesotherapy group: p value <0.001 in all three scores and in the oral group: p value <0.001 in the VAS scale and p value <0.05 in WOMAC and OKS scores). There was no significant difference between the two groups at any time in the VAS score, but improvement in WOMAC and OKS scales in the mesotherapy group was significantly better (p value <0.05 in both scales [p value <0.03 in OKS and p value <0.02 in WOMAC scales]). Side effects in both groups were not serious: limited heart burn in 32.2% of the total subjects in the oral group and pain at the injection site in 3.2% and bruises in 38.7% of the total subjects in the mesotherapy group. Conclusion. Mesotherapy is an effective and safe treatment modality in patients with mild‐to‐moderate KOA in the short term. This trial is registered with IRCT2017052434113N1.
Research on the Utilization of Metro Regenerative Braking Energy Based on an Improved Differential Evolution Algorithm
Authors: Liu Di , Zhu Song-Qing , Bi Yun-Rui , Liu Kun , Xu You-Xiong
Published: August 2020

Urban metro trains have the characteristics of short running distance between stations and frequent starting and braking. A large amount of regenerative braking energy is generated during the braking process. The effective utilization of the regenerative braking energy can substantially reduce the total energy consumption of train operation. In this paper, we establish two integer programming models of train operation that maximize the overlap time between train traction and braking in peak hours and nonpeak hours. On this basis, an improved differential evolution (IDE) algorithm is developed for solving the two integer programming models. The results demonstrate that the overlap time increases by 51.44% after optimization using the IDE algorithm when the headway is set to 154 s in peak hours. The overlap time is further increased by 14.87% by optimizing the headway. In nonpeak hours, the overlap time of traction and braking of the trains in opposite directions at the same station is increased by optimizing the bidirectional departure interval, thereby reducing the total energy consumption of the system.
EKF-Based Actuator Fault Detection and Diagnosis Method for Tilt-Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Authors: Gao Jiaxin , Zhang Qian , Chen Jiyang
Published: August 2020

Flight safety is of vital importance for tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can take off and land vertically as well as cruise at high speed, especially in different kinds of complex environment. As being the executor of the flight control, the actuator failure will directly affect the controllability of the tilt-rotor UAV, and it has high probability of causing fatal personal injury and financial loss. However, due to the limitation of weight and cost, small UAVs cannot be equipped with redundant actuators. Therefore, there is an urgent need of fault detection and diagnosis method for the actuators. In this paper, an actuator fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) method based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and multiple-model adaptive estimation (MMAE) is proposed. The actuator deflections are added to the state vector and estimated using EKF. The fault diagnosis algorithm of MMAE could assign a conditional probability to each faulty actuator according to the residual of EKF and diagnose the fault. This paper is structured as follows: first, the structure and model of tilt-rotor UAV actuator are established. Then, EKF observers are introduced to estimate the state vector and to calculate residual sequences caused by different faulty actuators. The residuals from EKFs are used by fault diagnosis algorithm to assign a conditional probability to each failure condition, and fault type can be diagnosed according to the probabilities. The FDD method is verified by simulations, and the results demonstrate that the FDD algorithm could accurately and efficiently diagnose actuator fault without any additional sensor.