bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Declarative Resilience
Authors: Omar Hamza , Shi Qingchuan , Ahmad Masab , Dogan Halit , Khan Omer
Published: July 2018

To protect multicores from soft-error perturbations, research has explored various resiliency schemes that provide high soft-error coverage. However, these schemes incur high performance and energy overheads. We observe that not all soft-error perturbations affect program correctness, and some soft-errors only affect program accuracy, i.e., the program completes with certain acceptable deviations from error free outcome. Thus, it is practical to improve processor efficiency by trading off resiliency overheads with program accuracy. This article proposes the idea of declarative resilience that selectively applies strong resiliency schemes for code regions that are crucial for program correctness (crucial code) and lightweight resiliency for code regions that are susceptible to program accuracy deviations as a result of soft-errors (non-crucial code). At the application level, crucial and non-crucial code is identified based on its impact on the program outcome. A cross-layer architecture enables efficient resilience along with holistic soft-error coverage. Only program accuracy is compromised in the worst-case scenario of a soft-error strike during non-crucial code execution. For a set of machine-learning and graph analytic benchmarks, declarative resilience reduces performance overhead over a state-of-the-art system that applies strong resiliency for all program code regions from ∼ 1.43× to ∼ 1.2×.
Dynamic Handwriting Signal Features Predict Domain Expertise
Authors: Oviatt S. , Hang K. , Zhou J. , Yu K. , Chen F.
Published: July 2018

As commercial pen-centric systems proliferate, they create a parallel need for analytic techniques based on dynamic writing. Within educational applications, recent empirical research has shown that signal-level features of students’ writing, such as stroke distance, pressure and duration, are adapted to conserve total energy expenditure as they consolidate expertise in a domain. The present research examined how accurately three different machine-learning algorithms could automatically classify users’ domain expertise based on signal features of their writing, without any content analysis. Compared with an unguided machine-learning classification accuracy of 71%, hybrid methods using empirical-statistical guidance correctly classified 79–92% of students by their domain expertise level. In addition to improved accuracy, the hybrid approach contributed a causal understanding of prediction success and generalization to new data. These novel findings open up opportunities to design new automated learning analytic systems and student-adaptive educational technologies for the rapidly expanding sector of commercial pen systems.
Point
Authors: Shapiro Ehud
Published: July 2018

Considering the possibility of achieving an e-democracy based on long-established foundations that strengthen both real-world democracies and virtual Internet communities.
Efficient Video Encoding for Automatic Video Analysis in Distributed Wireless Surveillance Systems
Authors: Kong Lingchao , Dai Rui
Published: July 2018

In many distributed wireless surveillance applications, compressed videos are used for performing automatic video analysis tasks. The accuracy of object detection, which is essential for various video analysis tasks, can be reduced due to video quality degradation caused by lossy compression. This article introduces a video encoding framework with the objective of boosting the accuracy of object detection for wireless surveillance applications. The proposed video encoding framework is based on systematic investigation of the effects of lossy compression on object detection. It has been found that current standardized video encoding schemes cause temporal domain fluctuation for encoded blocks in stable background areas and spatial texture degradation for encoded blocks in dynamic foreground areas of a raw video, both of which degrade the accuracy of object detection. Two measures, the sum-of-absolute frame difference (SFD) and the degradation of texture in 2D transform domain (TXD), are introduced to depict the temporal domain fluctuation and the spatial texture degradation in an encoded video, respectively. The proposed encoding framework is designed to suppress unnecessary temporal fluctuation in stable background areas and preserve spatial texture in dynamic foreground areas based on the two measures, and it introduces new mode decision strategies for both intra- and interframes to improve the accuracy of object detection while maintaining an acceptable rate distortion performance. Experimental results show that, compared with traditional encoding schemes, the proposed scheme improves the performance of object detection and results in lower bit rates and significantly reduced complexity with comparable quality in terms of PSNR and SSIM.
Image Captioning with Affective Guiding and Selective Attention
Authors: Wang Anqi , Hu Haifeng , Yang Liang
Published: July 2018

Image captioning is an increasingly important problem associated with artificial intelligence, computer vision, and natural language processing. Recent works revealed that it is possible for a machine to generate meaningful and accurate sentences for images. However, most existing methods ignore latent emotional information in an image. In this article, we propose a novel image captioning model with Affective Guiding and Selective Attention Mechanism named AG-SAM. In our method, we aim to bridge the affective gap between image captioning and the emotional response elicited by the image. First, we introduce affective components that capture higher-level concepts encoded in images into AG-SAM. Hence, our language model can be adapted to generate sentences that are more passionate and emotive. In addition, a selective gate acting on the attention mechanism controls the degree of how much visual information AG-SAM needs. Experimental results have shown that our model outperforms most existing methods, clearly reflecting an association between images and emotional components that is usually ignored in existing works.
System and Architecture Level Characterization of Big Data Applications on Big and Little Core Server Architectures
Authors: Malik Maria , Rafatirad Setareh , Homayoun Houman
Published: July 2018

The rapid growth in data yields challenges to process data efficiently using current high-performance server architectures such as big Xeon cores. Furthermore, physical design constraints, such as power and density, have become the dominant limiting factor for scaling out servers. Low-power embedded cores in servers such as little Atom have emerged as a promising solution to enhance energy-efficiency to address these challenges. Therefore, the question of whether to process the big data applications on big Xeon- or Little Atom-based servers becomes important. In this work, through methodical investigation of power and performance measurements, and comprehensive application-level, system-level, and micro-architectural level analysis, we characterize dominant big data applications on big Xeon- and little Atom-based server architectures. The characterization results across a wide range of real-world big data applications, and various software stacks demonstrate how the choice of big- versus little-core-based server for energy-efficiency is significantly influenced by the size of data, performance constraints, and presence of accelerator. In addition, we analyze processor resource utilization of this important class of applications, such as memory footprints, CPU utilization, and disk bandwidth, to understand their run-time behavior. Furthermore, we perform micro-architecture-level analysis to highlight where improvement is needed in big- and little-core microarchitectures to address their performance bottlenecks.
Toward Affective Handles for Tuning Vibrations
Authors: Seifi Hasti , Chun Mattew , Maclean Karon E.
Published: July 2018

When refining or personalizing a design, we count on being able to modify or move an element by changing its parameters rather than creating it anew in a different form or location—a standard utility in graphic and auditory authoring tools. Similarly, we need to tune vibrotactile sensations to fit new use cases, distinguish members of communicative icon sets, and personalize items. For tactile vibration display, however, we lack knowledge of the human perceptual mappings that must underlie such tools. Based on evidence that affective dimensions are a natural way to tune vibrations for practical purposes, we attempted to manipulate perception along three emotion dimensions (agitation,liveliness, andstrangeness) using engineering parameters of hypothesized relevance. Results from two user studies show that an automatable algorithm can increase a vibration’s perceivedagitationandlivelinessto different degrees via signal energy, while increasing its discontinuity or randomness makes it morestrange. These continuous mappings apply across diverse base vibrations; the extent of achievable emotion change varies. These results illustrate the potential for developing vibrotactile emotion controls as efficient tuning for designers and end-users.
Soundscape of an Archaeological Site Recreated with Audio Augmented Reality
Authors: Sikora Marjan , Russo Mladen , Đerek Jurica , Jurčević Ante
Published: July 2018

This article investigates the use of an audio augmented reality (AAR) system to recreate the soundscape of a medieval archaeological site. The aim of our work was to explore whether it is possible to enhance a tourist's archaeological experience, which is often derived from only scarce remains. We developed a smartphone-based AAR system, which uses location and orientation sensors to synthesize the soundscape of a site and plays it to the user via headphones. We recreated the ancient soundscape of a medieval archaeological site in Croatia and tested it in situ on two groups of participants using the soundwalk method. One test group performed the soundwalk while listening to the recreated soundscape using the AAR system, while the second control group did not use the AAR equipment. We measured the experiences of the participants using two methods: the standard soundwalk questionnaire and affective computing equipment for detecting the emotional state of participants. The results of both test methods show that participants who were listening to the ancient soundscape using our AAR system experienced higher arousal than those visiting the site without AAR.
A Video-based Attack for Android Pattern Lock
Authors: Ye Guixin , Tang Zhanyong , Fang Dingyi , Chen Xiaojiang , Wolff Willy , Aviv Adam J. , Wang Zheng
Published: July 2018

Pattern lock is widely used for identification and authentication on Android devices. This article presents a novel video-based side channel attack that can reconstruct Android locking patterns from video footage filmed using a smartphone. As a departure from previous attacks on pattern lock, this new attack does not require the camera to capture any content displayed on the screen. Instead, it employs a computer vision algorithm to track the fingertip movement trajectory to infer the pattern. Using the geometry information extracted from the tracked fingertip motions, the method can accurately infer a small number of (often one) candidate patterns to be tested by an attacker. We conduct extensive experiments to evaluate our approach using 120 unique patterns collected from 215 independent users. Experimental results show that the proposed attack can reconstruct over 95% of the patterns in five attempts. We discovered that, in contrast to most people’s belief, complex patterns do not offer stronger protection under our attacking scenarios. This is demonstrated by the fact that we are able to break all but one complex patterns (with a 97.5% success rate) as opposed to 60% of the simple patterns in the first attempt.

We demonstrate that this video-side channel is a serious concern for not only graphical locking patterns but also PIN-based passwords, as algorithms and analysis developed from the attack can be easily adapted to target PIN-based passwords. As a countermeasure, we propose to change the way the Android locking pattern is constructed and used. We show that our proposal can successfully defeat this video-based attack. We hope the results of this article can encourage the community to revisit the design and practical use of Android pattern lock.
Counterpoint
Authors: Schuler Douglas
Published: July 2018

Increased technology is not the solution to the fundamental issue of declining democratic culture.
Amdahl's law for tail latency
Authors: Delimitrou Christina , Kozyrakis Christos
Published: July 2018

Queueing theoretic models can guide design trade-offs in systems targeting tail latency, not just average performance.
On protocols for accessing protected objects on multiprocessors
Authors: Garrido Jorge , Zamorano Juan , de la Puente Juan A.
Published: July 2018

This paper discusses different issues related to protected object access in Ada. In particular, the in uence of the different approaches on the implementation and analysis of real-time systems is addressed. Based on results from previous and on-going work, some issues are discussed and some proposals are made.
‘True Day Case’ Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in a High-Volume Specialist Unit and Review of Factors Contributing to Unexpected Overnight Stay
Authors: Solodkyy A. , Hakeem A. R. , Oswald N. , Di Franco F. , Gergely S. , Harris A. M.
Published: July 2018

Introduction. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is the gold standard treatment for gallstones. British Association of Day Case Surgery recommends at least 60% of LCs be performed as day cases. The aim of this study was to assess our rate of true day case LCs and review factors preventing same-day discharge. Methods. We prospectively collected data of all elective LCs performed in a district general hospital over 32 months. Results. 500 patients underwent LC during this period; 438 (88.2%) patients were planned day cases and 59 patients (11.8%) planned overnight stays. Of the planned day cases, 75.8% (n=332) were discharged on the same day and 106 (24.2%) had unexpected overnight stay (UOS). Most patients with BMI >35 and ASA3 planned day case patients were successfully discharged. Drain insertion, longer operations, and late recovery departure were the main reasons for UOS. There were more complications in this group compared to day cases. Conclusions. This unit has a high ‘true day case’ rate of 75.8%. High BMI and ASA3 should not be absolute contraindications to day case surgery. The majority of unexpected overnight stays are unavoidable but may be reduced by patient selection, stringent preoperative assessment, operation scheduling, and reduction in unnecessary drain insertion.
Medial Rectus Tendon Elongation with Bovine Pericard (Tutopatch®) in Thyroid-Associated Orbitopathy: A Long-Term Follow-Up including Oculodynamic MRI
Authors: Wipf Monika , Berg Britt-Isabelle , Palmowski-Wolfe Anja
Published: July 2018

Introduction. To assess long-term efficacy of bimedial rectus tendon elongation with Tutopatch in thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO). Materials and Methods. Retrospective chart review of 5 patients with TAO undergoing bimedial rectus recession with Tutopatch tendon elongation between 2009 and 2015. We analyzed horizontal squint angles, motility, field of binocular single vision, dose effect of surgery, and when possible oculodynamic MRI (OD-MRI). Dose effect and motility were compared to 4 TAO patients with conventional bimedial recession. Results and Discussion. In the Tutopatch group, preoperative angles ranged from 14 to 120∆ (prism diopters) at distance and 12–120∆ at near. Mean dose effect was 3.63∆/mm for the distance and 3.43∆/mm for the near angle. All patients were orthotropic at final FU (ranging from 1 to 10 years). OD-MRI showed the elasticity of Tutopatch. In the conventional recession group, preoperative angles ranged between 18 and 35∆ at distance and 12–33∆ at near. At final FU, 2 patients had reverted to their underlying microesotropia <2∆, 1 patient was orthophor, and one was reoperated for a remaining esotropia of 14∆. Dose effect was 2.95∆/mm for the distance and 2.18∆/mm for the near angle. Motility improved in both groups even after 3 months. Conclusions. Dose effect for medial rectus recessions with Tutopatch in TAO was higher than previously reported, presenting a good alternative to treat large squint angles while preserving good motility.
Efficient Certificateless Anonymous Multi-Receiver Encryption Scheme without Bilinear Parings
Authors: Gao Ronghai , Zeng Jiwen , Deng Lunzhi
Published: July 2018

With the growing development of Internet technology and popularization of mobile devices, we easily access the Internet anytime and anywhere by mobile devices. It has brought great convenience for our lives. But it brought more challenges than traditional wired communication, such as confidentiality and privacy. In order to improve security and privacy protection in using mobile network, numerous multi-receiver identity-based encryption schemes have been proposed with bilinear pairing and probabilistic hap-to-point (HTP) function. To address the troubles of private key escrow in multi-receiver encryption scheme based on ID-PKC, recently, some certificateless anonymous multi-receiver encryption (CLAMRE) schemes are introduced. But previous CLAMRE schemes using the bilinear pairing are not suitable to mobile device because the use of bilinear pairing and probabilistic hash-to-point (HTP) function results in expensive operation costs in encryption or decryption. In this paper, we propose an efficient CLAMRE scheme using elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) without bilinear pairing and HTP hash function. Since our scheme does not use bilinear pairing and HTP operation during the encryption and decryption process, the proposed CLAMRE scheme has much less computation cost than the latest CLAMRE schemes. Performance analysis shows that runtime of our scheme is much less when the sender generates ciphertext, compared with existing schemes. Security analysis shows proposed CLAMRE scheme provides confidentiality of message and receiver anonymity under the random oracle model with the difficulties of decision Diffie-Hellman problem and against the adversaries defined in CL-PKC system.
Influence of Dental Restorations on Oxidative Stress in Gingival Crevicular Fluid
Authors: Taso Ervin , Stefanovic Vladimir , Stevanovic Ivana , Vojvodic Danilo , Topic Aleksandra , Petkovic-Curcin Aleksandra , Obradovic-Djuricic Kosovka , Markovic Aleksa , Djukic Mirjana , Vujanovic Dragana
Published: July 2018

Biocompatibility of dental materials (DM) can be evaluated by gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) oxidative stress (OS) status. The goal of the study was to ascertain influence of dental caries degree, teeth position, and type and amount of applied DM on GCF OS profile. For this purpose, we tested six DMs that were sealed in one session: amalgam (Amg), composites: Tetric EvoCeram and Beautifil (BF), phosphate cement—zinc phosphate and polycarboxylate cements—zinc polycarboxylate cements, and glass ionomer cement (GIC). The study included 88 dental outpatients. Follow‐up was scheduled at 7th and 30th day. Oxidative stress parameters (malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels and total superoxide dismutase (tSOD) activity) were measured before (0th day) and after the treatment (7th and 30th day) in GCF. Control teeth were mirror‐positioned healthy teeth. The DM accomplished the following effects (listed in descending order): increase of GSH in GCF was realized by ZPoC > BF > GIC > Amg; tSOD activity increase by ZPoC > BF > Amg; and MDA decrease by ZPoC > ZPhC > Amg > TEC. Dental caries provokes insignificant rise of OS in GCF. ZPoC and ZPhC showed the highest antioxidant effect, contrary to GIC. Restorations with antioxidant properties may reduce gum diseases initiated by caries lesion, what is of great clinical relevance in dentistry.
Privacy-Preserving Oriented Floating-Point Number Fully Homomorphic Encryption Scheme
Authors: Bai Shuangjie , Yang Geng , Shi Jingqi , Liu Guoxiu , Min Zhaoe
Published: July 2018

The issue of the privacy-preserving of information has become more prominent, especially regarding the privacy-preserving problem in a cloud environment. Homomorphic encryption can be operated directly on the ciphertext; this encryption provides a new method for privacy-preserving. However, we face a challenge in understanding how to construct a practical fully homomorphic encryption on non-integer data types. This paper proposes a revised floating-point fully homomorphic encryption scheme (FFHE) that achieves the goal of floating-point numbers operation without privacy leakage to unauthorized parties. We encrypt a matrix of plaintext bits as a single ciphertext to reduce the ciphertext expansion ratio and reduce the public key size by encrypting with a quadratic form in three types of public key elements and pseudo-random number generators. Additionally, we make the FFHE scheme more applicable by generalizing the homomorphism of addition and multiplication of floating-point numbers to analytic functions using the Taylor formula. We prove that the FFHE scheme for ciphertext operation may limit an additional loss of accuracy. Specifically, the precision of the ciphertext operation’s result is similar to unencrypted floating-point number computation. Compared to other schemes, our FFHE scheme is more practical for privacy-preserving in the cloud environment with its low ciphertext expansion ratio and public key size, supporting multiple operation types and high precision.
Association of Self-Reported Dietary and Drug Compliance with Optimal Metabolic Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Clinic-Based Single-Center Study in a Developing Country
Authors: Weerarathna Thilak Priyantha , Weerarathna Miyuru Kavinda , Senadheera Vidarsha , Meththananda Herath Herath Mudiyanselage , Liyanage Gayani
Published: July 2018

Introduction. Influence of dietary and drug compliance of patients with diabetes on attainment of optimal metabolic (glucose and lipid) control remains underexplored in developing countries. Materials and methods. Self-reported dietary and drug compliance score of 0–10, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels were obtained from patients with diabetes. HbA1c <7% and LDL <100 mg/dL were used to define optimal glucose and lipid control, respectively. Proportions achieving each and both optimal parameters were estimated. Regression analysis was used to study the association of age, gender, age of onset and the duration of diabetes, self-reported dietary, and drug compliance scores with achievement of both parameters. Results. Mean (SD) age and duration of diabetes of 207 patients were 55 (10) and 10 (03) years. Optimal glucose and LDL control were achieved by 30% and 62%, and 23% had achieved both. Regression analysis revealed significant association of self-reported high dietary compliance with achievement of both targets. Conclusions. Findings highlight the suboptimal glucose and lipid control among patients with diabetes. Significant association of better dietary compliance with control of both parameters emphasizes the value of proper dietary adherence in achieving the optimal metabolic control among patients with diabetes.
Smooth Muscle-Specific BCL6+/− Knockout Abrogates Sex Bias in Chronic Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Mice
Authors: Yang Yang-Ming , Sehgal Pravin B.
Published: July 2018

The “estrogen paradox” in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) refers to observations that while there is a higher incidence of idiopathic PAH in women, rodent models of PAH show male dominance and estrogens are protective. To explain these differences, we previously proposed the neuroendocrine-STAT5-BCL6 hypothesis anchored in the sex-biased and species-specific patterns of growth hormone (GH) secretion by the pituitary, the targeting of the hypothalamus by estrogens to feminize GH secretion patterns, and the role of the transcription factors STAT5a/b and BCL6 as downstream mediators of this patterned GH-driven sex bias. As a test of this hypothesis, we previously reported that vascular smooth muscle cell- (SMC-) specific deletion of the STAT5a/b locus abrogated the male-dominant sex bias in the chronic hypoxia model of PAH in mice. In the present study, we confirmed reduced BCL6 expression in pulmonary arterial (PA) segments in both male and female SMC:STAT5a/b−/− mice. In order to test the proposed contribution of BCL6 to sex bias in PAH, we developed mice with SMC-specific deletion of BCL6+/− by crossing SM22α-Cre mice with BCL6-floxed mice and investigated sex bias in these mutant mice in the chronic hypoxia model of PAH. We observed that the male-bias observed in wild-type- (wt-) SM22α-Cre-positive mice was abrogated in the SMC:BCL6+/− knockouts—both males and females showed equivalent enhancement of indices of PAH. The new data confirm BCL6 as a contributor to the sex-bias phenotype observed in hypoxic PAH in mice and support the neuroendocrine-STAT5-BCL6 hypothesis of sex bias in this experimental model of vascular disease.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma in a Calyceal Diverticulum Detected by Percutaneous Nephroscopic Biopsy
Authors: Mitome Taku , Tabei Tadashi , Tsuura Yukio , Kobayashi Kazuki
Published: July 2018

A 73-year-old woman was referred to our department with a complaint of asymptomatic gross hematuria. Dynamic computed tomography revealed a complicated (Bosniak type IIF) cyst in the upper pole of her right kidney, which was diagnosed as a calyceal diverticulum. The diagnosis was confirmed by ureteroscopy. The diverticulum was filled with a soft protein matrix that was difficult to completely remove from the inner surface of the calyceal diverticulum. Endoscopy combined with intrarenal surgery (ECIRS) was performed to completely remove the matrix. Percutaneous nephroscopy further revealed papillary lesions on the surface of the diverticulum, confirmed as squamous cell carcinoma on pathological assessment. A laparoscopic right radical nephroureterectomy was performed, with curative intent. Pathological assessment confirmed a high-grade squamous cell carcinoma with renal parenchymal invasion (pT3). Although carcinomas in a calyceal diverticulum are highly uncommon, when present, these tend to be high-grade neoplasms that deeply invade the parenchymal wall. As the effective management of these lesions is difficult, early-stage diagnosis is required for curative treatment. We report the case of squamous cell carcinoma in a calyceal diverticulum that was difficult to diagnose on preoperative computed tomography, urinal cytology examination, and ureteroscopy but was found during ECIRS.
Stigmasterol Alleviates Cutaneous Allergic Responses in Rodents
Authors: Antwi Aaron O. , Obiri David D. , Osafo Newman , Essel Leslie B. , Forkuo Arnold D. , Atobiga Clement
Published: July 2018

The therapeutic potential of stigmasterol, a natural steroid alcohol with established immune-modulatory properties, was assessed on allergic cutaneous responses. We examined its suppressive effect on immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated active cutaneous anaphylaxis (ACA), compound 48/80 (C48/80)-induced pruritus, and irritant dermatitis induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Stigmasterol at 10–100 mg/kg significantly inhibited ACA with reduction in reaction area and concentration of the extravasated Evans blue dye. Given at 50 and 100 mg/kg, stigmasterol significantly inhibited C48/80-induced scratching behaviour when compared to saline-treated C48/80-injected control. Skin histopathology of injected sites confirmed that stigmasterol reduced mast cell trafficking and degranulation associated with C48/80-induced pruritus. Stigmasterol controlled inflammatory features such as ear skin oedema and neutrophilia and also reduced serum levels of TNFα induced by topical application of TPA. Epidermal layer thickening and inflammatory cell infiltration of ear skin tissue were significantly reduced by stigmasterol. Taken together, stigmasterol demonstrates significant potential as a molecule of interest in allergic skin disease therapy.
Estimation of Urban Link Travel Time Distribution Using Markov Chains and Bayesian Approaches
Authors: Qin Wenwen , Yun Meiping
Published: July 2018

Despite the wide application of Floating Car Data (FCD) in urban link travel time and congestion estimation, the sparsity of observations from a low penetration rate of GPS-equipped floating cars make it difficult to estimate travel time distribution (TTD), especially when the travel times may have multimodal distributions that are associated with the underlying traffic states. In this case, the study develops a Bayesian approach based on particle filter framework for link TTD estimation using real-time and historical travel time observations from FCD. First, link travel times are classified by different traffic states according to the levels of vehicle delays. Then, a state-transition function is represented as a Transition Probability Matrix of the Markov chain between upstream and current links with historical observations. Using the state-transition function, an importance distribution is constructed as the summation of historical link TTDs conditional on states weighted by the current link state probabilities. Further, a sampling strategy is developed to address the sparsity problem of observations by selecting the particles with larger weights in terms of the importance distribution and a Gaussian likelihood function. Finally, the current link TTD can be reconstructed by a generic Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm incorporating high weighted particles. The proposed approach is evaluated using real-world FCD. The results indicate that the proposed approach provides good accurate estimations, which are very close to the empirical distributions. In addition, the approach with different percentage of floating cars is tested. The results are encouraging, even when multimodal distributions and very few or no observations exist.
Liposomal Incorporation to Improve Dissolution and Stability of Rosmarinic Acid and Carvacrol Extracted from Oregano (O. onites L.)
Authors: Baranauskaite Juste , Duman Gülengül , Corapcıoğlu Gülcan , Baranauskas Algirdas , Taralp Alpay , Ivanauskas Liudas , Bernatoniene Jurga
Published: July 2018

The potential antimicrobial benefit of high levels of rosmarinic acid (RA) and carvacrol (CA) in oregano (O. onites L.) extract has been limited until now by poor bioavailability arising from the low aqueous-phase solubility and slow dissolution behaviour of the lyophilized extract (E). To address this issue, various ratios of phospholipon 90H (P90H) and 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'-rac-glycerol), sodium salt (DMPG) were sonicated, yielding four empty liposomes (L1, L2, L3, and L90). After an initial selection process, Turkish oregano extract was internalized into the more promising candidates. Each empty liposome, extract-loaded liposome (LE1, LE2, and LE3), and freeze-dried control (E) was assessed in terms of structure, composition, RA and CA dissolution profile, storage stability, and, when relevant, zeta potential. Empty liposome L1, which was prepared using P90H and DMPG in a 1:1 ratio, displayed the most convenient encapsulation traits among the four unloaded types. Loaded liposome LE1, obtained by combining oregano extract and L1 in a 1:1 ratio, proved superior as a vehicle to deliver RA & CA when compared against control freeze-dried E and test liposomes LE2 and LE3. Dissolution profiles of the active compounds RA and CA in loaded liposomes were determined using a semi-automated dissolution tester. The basket method was applied using artificial gastric juice without pepsin (AGJ, 50rpm, 500mL). The pH value was maintained at 1.5 (37 ± 0.5°C). Aliquots (5ml) were manually extracted from parallel dissolution vessels at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60-minute time points. Dissolution tests, run to completion on LE1, showed that approximately 99% of loaded CA and 88% of RA had been released. Shorter dissolution times were also noted in using LE1. In particular, the release profile of CA and RA had levelled off after only 25 minutes, respectively, depicting an impressive 3.0–3.3 and 2.3-2.6 rate increase compared to the freeze-dried control extract. The improved dispersibility of RA and CA in the form of LE1 was supported by particle size and zeta potential measurements of the liposome, yielding 234.3nm and −30.9mV, respectively. The polydispersity index value was 0.35, indicating a reasonable particle size distribution. To study storage stability, liposomes were stored (4°C, 6 months) in amber coloured glass containers (4 oz.). Each container held 30 capsules, which were stored according to the ICH guidelines prescribed for long-term storage (25°C±2°C; 60%±5% RH). Triplicate samples were withdrawn after 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months for analysis. Lastly, LE1 displayed good storage stability. The results imply that RA and CA can be conveniently and routinely delivered via oral and mucosal routes by first internalizing oregano extracts into appropriately engineered liposomes.
Using Internet Search Trends and Historical Trading Data for Predicting Stock Markets by the Least Squares Support Vector Regression Model
Authors: Pai Ping-Feng , Hong Ling-Chuang , Lin Kuo-Ping
Published: July 2018

Historical trading data, which are inevitably associated with the framework of causality both financially and theoretically, were widely used to predict stock market values. With the popularity of social networking and Internet search tools, information collection ways have been diversified. Instead of only theoretical causality in forecasting, the importance of data relations has raised. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate performances of forecasting stock markets by data from Google Trends, historical trading data (HTD), and hybrid data. The keywords employed for Google Trends are collected from three different ways including users’ definitions (GTU), trending searches of Google Trends (GTTS), and tweets (GTT) correspondingly. The hybrid data include Internet search trends from Google Trends and historical trading data. In addition, the correlation-based feature selection (CFS) technique is used to select independent variables, and one-step ahead policy is adopted by the least squares support vector regression (LSSVR) for predicting stock markets. Numerical experiments indicate that using hybrid data can provide more accurate forecasting results than using single historical trading data or data from Google Trends. Thus, using hybrid data of Internet search trends and historical trading data by LSSVR models is a promising alternative for forecasting stock markets.
Biphenotypic Acute Leukemia versus Myeloid Antigen-Positive ALL: Clinical Relevance of WHO Criteria for Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia
Authors: Hammond William A. , Advani Pooja , Ketterling Rhett P. , Van Dyke Daniel , Foran James M. , Jiang Liuyan
Published: July 2018

Updated WHO criteria define mixed phenotype acute leukemia (MPAL) with more stringent diagnostic criteria than the formerly described entity biphenotypic acute leukemia (BAL). The changes in diagnostic criteria influence management by assigning weight to aberrantly expressed markers and minimizing expression of myeloid markers other than myeloperoxidase (MPO), potentially foregoing consolidative allogeneic transplant for an otherwise “favorable” lymphoid phenotypic leukemia. We present a case of MPO-negative, myeloid antigen-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia who progressed with refractory phenotypic acute myeloid leukemia while receiving lymphoid-directed therapy and discuss concerns raised by the adoption of the new, more stringent diagnostic criteria for BAL.
Ultrasonic-Assisted Extraction of Natural Yellow Pigment from Physalis pubescens L. and Its Antioxidant Activities
Authors: Wang Haitang , Shi Lin , Yang Xiaoyu , Hong Rui , Li Liang
Published: July 2018

Physalis pubescens L. is rich in natural pigments but has not yet been fully utilized. Ultrasound-assisted extraction of yellow pigment from Physalis pubescens L. was investigated by response surface methodology in this study. Optimal parameters were ultrasonic power of 29.21%, ultrasonic time of 14.41 min, and ultrasonic interval time of 10.55 s. The yield was 0.193% under optimal parameters. FRAP, ABTS, and superoxide radical scavenging activity of the yellow pigment were 6.11 ± 0.22 mmol/g, 2.80 ± 0.27 mmol/g, and 57281.5 ± 2749.5 U/g, respectively. The results showed that the yield of yellow pigment could be improved by ultrasonic-assisted extraction and the yellow pigment extracted by ultrasound had antioxidant activity.
Trust Management in Collaborative Systems for Critical Infrastructure Protection
Authors: Ait Aali Nawal , Baina Amine , Echabbi Loubna
Published: July 2018

Due to the necessity of Critical Infrastructure (CI) Protection against different threats, several security policies must be applied among the organizations of CI. Based on our conducted study about the different constraints and requirements of the collaborative systems within CI, we reached a security solution: Tr-OrBAC. Its principle is to evaluate the trustworthiness of collaborating organizations based on relevant trust criteria aimed at enhancing collaboration decision-making. The taken decision presents the attribution of the access to the desired service based on calculated trust score which is the result of the combination of the trust criteria values. Generally, the desired services do not meet the same criticism, security requirements, sensitivity, etc. Also, the collaboration context varies from a set of collaborating organizations to another. In this sense, the importance of each trust criterion depends on the desired service and the collaboration context. In this paper, we focus on detailing the trust criteria used in our approach for collaborative system security. Then, we analyze the context variability with the trust evaluation process. In addition, we present a case study to demonstrate and illustrate the feasibility of our solution for CI protection, especially the electrical grid.
Design of sTetro: A Modular, Reconfigurable, and Autonomous Staircase Cleaning Robot
Authors: Ilyas Muhammad , Yuyao Shi , Mohan Rajesh Elara , Devarassu Manojkumar , Kalimuthu Manivannan
Published: July 2018

The mechanical, electrical, and autonomy aspects of designing a novel, modular, and reconfigurable cleaning robot, dubbed as sTetro (stair Tetro), are presented. The developed robotic platform uses a vertical conveyor mechanism to reconfigure itself and is capable of navigating over flat surfaces as well as staircases, thus significantly extending the automated cleaning capabilities as compared to conventional home cleaning robots. The mechanical design and system architecture are introduced first, followed by a detailed description of system modelling and controller design efforts in sTetro. An autonomy algorithm is also proposed for self-reconfiguration, locomotion, and autonomous navigation of sTetro in the controlled environment, for example, in homes/offices with a flat floor and a straight staircase. A staircase recognition algorithm is presented to distinguish between the surrounding environment and the stairs. The misalignment detection technique of the robot with a front staircase riser is also given, and a feedback from the IMU sensor for misalignment corrective measures is provided. The experiments performed with the sTetro robot demonstrated the efficacy and validity of the developed system models, control, and autonomy approaches.
Brachial Plexus Chemical Neurolysis with Ethanol for Cancer Pain
Authors: Loh Tuan-Hsing , Patel Samir , Mirchandani Anish , Eckmann Maxim
Published: July 2018

Chemical neurolytic nerve blocks have been successfully used to treat a variety of cancer-related pain. However, the literature has been sparse regarding neurolysis of the brachial plexus for cancer pain. We present a unique case report of a successful chemical neurolysis of the brachial plexus with dehydrated ethanol for a patient suffering from metastatic mammary carcinoma with tumor invasion of the right brachial plexus.
Predicting the Development of Gastric Neoplasms in a Healthcare Cohort by CombiningHelicobacter pyloriAntibodies and Serum Pepsinogen: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study
Authors: Kwak Min-Sun , Chung Goh Eun , Chung Su Jin , Kang Seung Joo , Yang Jong In , Kim Joo Sung
Published: July 2018

Background.Helicobacter pylori (HP)and gastric atrophy are risk factors for gastric cancer. We evaluated whether the combination of serum HP antibody and pepsinogen (PG), which is indicative of gastric atrophy, could serve as a predictive marker for the development of gastric neoplasms in a Korean population.Methods. The subjects who had undergone health-screening examination with endoscopic follow-ups were classified into the following 4 groups according to serum PG status andHPantibody at baseline: group A (HP(−), normal PG), group B (HP(+), normal PG), group C (HP(+), atrophic PG), and group D (HP(−), atrophic PG). We compared the development of gastric neoplasms among the groups.Results. Of the 3297 subjects, 1239 (37.6%) were categorized as group A, 1484 (45.0%) as group B, 536 (16.3%) as group C, and 38 (1.2%) as group D. During the 5.6 years of mean follow-up period, the annual incidence of gastric neoplasms increased gradually by 0.06% in group A, 0.16% in group B, 0.38% in group C, and 0.49% in group D. A Cox proportional hazard model showed increased development of gastric neoplasms according to group (Pfor trend = 0.025). Compared to group A, the hazard ratio was 8.25 for group D (95% confidence interval 0.2–74.24), 5.35 for group C (1.68–17.05), and 2.65 for group B (0.86–8.14).Conclusion. The combination of serum PG andHPantibody is useful for predicting the development of gastric neoplasms, including cancer and adenoma, in a Korean population using endoscopic surveillance.
An Assessment of Forage Selection by Giraffe Introduced into Umfurudzi Park, Northern Zimbabwe
Authors: Munyaka Takunda V. , Gandiwa Edson
Published: July 2018

Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) is one of the flagship herbivore species in the savanna ecosystem and is of high conservation value. Management of the species under diversified ecosystems, particularly, their introduction in new ecosystems is of great concern, given that limited information is available of how the species acclimatizes to new ecosystems and which forage species it selects. The objectives of the present study were to (i) identify woody plant species selected by the recently introduced giraffes and (ii) determine whether there were differences in woody plant diversity between the dry and wet seasons in Umfurudzi Park, northern Zimbabwe. Forage selection and woody composition data were collected from a herd of giraffe between May and December 2016, using the focal observation method in an enclosure within the study area. A total of 106 observation plots were established. Our results showed that 12 woody plant species comprising six families were selected from a total of 29 woody plant species recorded in the study area. Giraffe showed a higher preference of the selected species in the dry season than in the wet season. In contrast, no significant differences were recorded in terms of forage availability and woody vegetation diversity between seasons. In conclusion, our results suggest that plant phenology, particularly, presence of leaves on plants influences giraffe feed preferences. Establishing long-term monitoring plots to determine woody vegetation utilisation by giraffes is valuable as a way to monitoring habitat utilisation by the species.
The Evaluation of Proanthocyanidins/Chitosan/Lecithin Microspheres as Sustained Drug Delivery System
Authors: Yu Hong-Li , Feng Zhan-Qin , Zhang Jing-Jing , Wang Yong-Hong , Ding De-Jun , Gao Yuan-Yuan , Zhang Wei-Fen
Published: July 2018

Proanthocyanidin (PC) has attracted wide attention on cosmetics and pharmaceutical due to its antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiangiogenic, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, PC applications are limited because of its sensitivity to thermal treatment, light, and oxidation and the poor absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, a novel dosage form of PC needs to be designed to improve its stability and bioavailability for drug delivery. The objective of this study is to fabricate proanthocyanidins/chitosan/lecithin (PC/CTS/LEC) microspheres and investigate various characteristics. In the current study, PC/CTS/LEC microspheres were prepared by spray-drying technology. The yield (61.68%), encapsulation efficiency (68.19%), and drug loading capacity (17.05%) were found in the results. The scanning electron microscope demonstrated that the microspheres were spherical in shape with wrinkled surfaces. DSC study displayed that the microspheres stability was greatly improved when comparing with bare PC. The in vitro release study showed that the 76.92% of PC was released from microspheres within 48 h. The moisture contents of microspheres ranged from 8% to 13%. The swelling rate and tapped density of microspheres were elevated with increasing the concentration of chitosan in the formulations. The moisture uptake of microspheres was saturated at 40°C/RH75% within 12 h. Our results indicated that the stability of PC/CTS/LEC microspheres was enhanced, and it is a promising carrier for sustained drug delivery system.
Effects of Dental Occlusion on Body Sway, Upper Body Muscle Activity and Shooting Performance in Pistol Shooters
Authors: Dias Amândio A. , Redinha Luís A. , Silva Luís M. , Pezarat-Correia Pedro C.
Published: July 2018

Occlusal splints, to some extent, have been related to reduced body sway in a static position and increased muscle activity in the upper limbs. However, how dental occlusion status affects sports performance remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether occlusal splints that reposition the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) influenced body posture, muscle activity, and performance in 10-meter pistol shooters. Thirteen national-level male shooters (age = 38.8 ± 10.9 yrs) were recruited for this study, and cleared of any cervical pathology. An occlusal splint (OS) and a placebo splint (PS) were fabricated for each of the subjects, with the mandibular and maxillary position verified by an expert dentist, with the aid of an adjustable articulator. Surface electromyography (EMG) was assessed in the upper limb that holds the pistol while the subjects were standing on a force platform. Subjects performed two series of 10 shots for each of the three experimental conditions (OS, PS, N (no splint)) in randomized order, with the mandible in a rest position. Results revealed similar centre of pressure (COP) parameters in all conditions, despite a reduction in the average oscillation area caused by the OS. There were also no significant differences in EMG activity between conditions in the five upper limb muscles monitored. Consistent with this, shooting performance was similar in all conditions, despite a reduction in shot dispersion in subjects using OS. Thus, changes in dental occlusion status induced by OS do not affect body posture, upper limb EMG muscle activity, or shot performance in healthy male pistol shooters.
Adaptive Fuzzy Output Feedback Control for Partial State Constrained Nonlinear Pure Feedback Systems
Authors: Wang Liping , Sun Weiwei , Wu You
Published: July 2018

The adaptive fuzzy output feedback control problem for a class of pure feedback systems with partial state constraints is addressed in this paper. The fuzzy state observers are designed to estimate the unmeasured state while the fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions. The proposed adaptive fuzzy output feedback controller can guarantee that the partial state constraints are not violated, and all closed-loop signals remain bounded by use of Barrier Lyapunov Functions (BLFs). A numerical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the results in this paper.