bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Symbolic powers of vertex cover ideals
Authors: Selvaraja S.
Published: March 2020

Let [Formula: see text] be a finite simple graph and [Formula: see text] denote its vertex cover ideal in a polynomial ring over a field [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we show that all symbolic powers of vertex cover ideals of certain vertex-decomposable graphs have linear quotients. Using these results, we give various conditions on a subset [Formula: see text] of the vertices of [Formula: see text] so that all symbolic powers of vertex cover ideals of [Formula: see text], obtained from [Formula: see text] by adding a whisker to each vertex in [Formula: see text], have linear quotients. For instance, if [Formula: see text] is a vertex cover of [Formula: see text], then all symbolic powers of [Formula: see text] have linear quotients. Moreover, we compute the Castelnuovo–Mumford regularity of symbolic powers of certain vertex cover ideals.
Efficient Implicit Content-based Image Re-ranking Approach
Authors: Alqaraleh Saed , Ramadan Omar
Published: March 2020

This paper presents a new image re-ranking approach that can implicitly improve the retrieved images based on the file’s contents and some user-specific actions. In more detail, multiple descriptors are used to describe image files accurately and they do not require user intervention or tuned parameters. Furthermore, each of these descriptors has a weight, which affects the file rank. Unlike existing approaches, descriptor weight is assigned dynamically and changes from one file to another based on the percentage of differences found by the descriptor. Hence, the developed weight mechanism improves the chance of getting the required files significantly. The performance of the developed approach is investigated through several experiments and it has been observed that the approach has the ability of showing the most relevant files at the top of the query results and increases the percentage of the retrieved relevant files.
“WHAT’S THE POINT OF THE TASK?” EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF TASK MEANING ON CREATIVITY IN CROWDSOURCING
Authors: GÖRZEN THOMAS
Published: March 2020

In pursuit of product innovation, companies increasingly use crowdsourcing for idea generation. Apart from financial motives, previous studies on the motivation of crowd workers identified intrinsic motivation, such as task meaningfulness, to play a key role. These studies, however, focused on routine tasks such as image labelling, using output quantity as the variable of interest. Since the primary goal for a creative task such as idea generation is not abundance but high quality, we investigate the influence of task meaning on workers’ effort and on output creativity. In a field experiment involving idea generation by an online crowdsourcing platform, we vary the task meaning in two different conditions, and evaluate the quality of the ideas generated. We find that higher task meaning has no positive influence on either the quantity or the creativity of the output, which carries practical implications for both commissioners and crowdsourcing platform designers.
Welch bound-achieving compressed sensing matrices from optimal codebooks
Authors: Wang Gang , Niu Min-Yao , Gao You
Published: March 2020

Compressed sensing (CS) is a new data acquisition theory taking full use of the sparsity of signals. It reveals that higher-dimensional sparse signals can be reconstructed from fewer nonadaptive linear measurements. The construction of CS matrices in CS is the key problem. In this paper, the deterministic CS matrices from optimal codebooks are constructed. Furthermore, the maximum sparsity of recovering the sparse signals by using our CS matrices are obtained. Meanwhile, a comparison is made with the CS matrices constructed by DeVore based on polynomials over finite fields. In the numerical simulations, our CS matrix outperforms DeVore[Formula: see text]s matrix in the process of recovering sparse signals.
Multifaceted Analysis of Fine-Tuning in a Deep Model for Visual Recognition
Authors: Li Xiangyang , Herranz Luis , Jiang Shuqiang
Published: March 2020

In recent years, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved impressive performance for various visual recognition scenarios. CNNs trained on large labeled datasets not only obtain significant performance on most challenging benchmarks but also provide powerful representations, which can be used for a wide range of other tasks. However, the requirement of massive amounts of data to train deep neural networks is a major drawback of these models, as the data available are usually limited or imbalanced. Fine-tuning is an effective way to transfer knowledge learned in a source dataset to a target task. In this article, we introduce and systematically investigate several factors that influence the performance of fine-tuning for visual recognition. These factors include parameters for the retraining procedure (e.g., the initial learning rate of fine-tuning), the distribution of the source and target data (e.g., the number of categories in the source dataset, the distance between the source and target datasets), and so on. We quantitatively and qualitatively analyze these factors, evaluate their influence, and present many empirical observations. The results reveal insights into what fine-tuning changes CNN parameters and provide useful and evidence-backed intuition about how to implement fine-tuning for computer vision tasks.
A Parallel Algorithm For Anonymizing Large-scale Trajectory Data
Authors: Ward Katrina , Lin Dan , Madria Sanjay
Published: March 2020

With the proliferation of location-based services enabled by a large number of mobile devices and applications, the quantity of location data, such as trajectories collected by service providers, is gigantic. If these datasets could be published, then they would be valuable assets to various service providers to explore business opportunities, to study commuter behavior for better transport management, which in turn benefits the general public for day-to-day commuting. However, there are two major concerns that considerably limit the availability and the usage of these trajectory datasets. The first is the threat to individual privacy, as users’ trajectories may be misused to discover sensitive information, such as home locations, their children’s school locations, or social information like habits or relationships. The other concern is the ability to analyze the exabytes of location data in a timely manner. Although there have been trajectory anonymization approaches proposed in the past to mitigate privacy concerns. None of these prior works address the scalability issue, since it is a newly occurring problem brought by the significantly increasing adoption of location-based services. In this article, we conquer these two challenges by designing a novel parallel trajectory anonymization algorithm that achieves scalability, strong privacy protection, and high utility rate of the anonymized trajectory datasets. We have conducted extensive experiments using MapReduce and Spark on real maps with different topologies, and our results prove both effectiveness and efficiency when compared with the centralized approaches.
Demystifying Stablecoins
Authors: Clark Jeremy , Demirag Didem , Moosavi Seyedehmahsa
Published: March 2020

Self-sovereign stablecoins are interesting and probably here to stay; however, they face numerous regulatory hurdles from banking, financial tracking, and securities laws. For stablecoins backed by a governmental currency, the ultimate expression would be a CBDC. Since paper currency has been in steady decline (and disproportionately for legitimate transactions), a CBDC could reintroduce cash with technological advantages and efficient settlement while minimizing user fees.
Impact of Polyvinylidene Fluoride on Nanofiber Cathode Structure and Durability in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Authors: Slack John J. , Brodt M. , Cullen David A. , Reeves Kimberly S. , More Karren L. , Pintauro Peter N.
Published: March 2020

The impact of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a binder component on the durability of Pt/C cathodes in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell membrane-electrode-assembly (MEA) during a carbon corrosion accelerated stress test (AST) was examined using electrochemical fuel cell data and visual inspection/analysis of the cathode morphology via electron-microscopy. Electrospun nanofiber cathode mat MEAs with a Nafion®/PVDF or Nafion/poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) binder or a slurry cathode MEA with neat Nafion or a Nafion/PVDF binder were investigated. The presence of PVDF had profound effects on the structure and chemical/electrochemical properties of a fuel cell cathode; its hydrophobic property slowed the rate of carbon loss and its robust mechanical properties added strength to the binder. Thus, the extent of carbon loss during an AST was inversely proportional to the PVDF content of the binder and there was no observable cathode thinning nor any change in cathode porosity after the AST, when the cathode binder contained at least 50 wt% PVDF. In terms of long-term durability, these beneficial structural effects outweighed the lower Nafion/PVDF binder conductivity and the associated lower initial power output of a Nafion/PVDF cathode MEA. For hydrophilic slurry and nanofiber cathodes with neat Nafion or Nafion/PAA fibers, low power after the carbon corrosion AST was due to greater carbon losses, cathode thinning and the collapse of cathode pores, which dominated MEA performance even though the initial cathode ECSA and mass activity were high for these two MEAs.
Mechanisms of neuromuscular fatigue and recovery in unilateral versus bilateral maximal voluntary contractions
Authors: Koral Jérôme , Oranchuk Dustin J. , Wrightson James G. , Twomey Rosie , Millet Guillaume Y.
Published: March 2020

The aim of this study was to investigate differences in neuromuscular function and corticospinal excitability in response to sustained unilateral (UNIL) and bilateral (BIL) isometric maximal voluntary contraction (IMVC) of the knee extensors. Eleven men performed a 1-min sustained IMVC of the knee extensors with one or both legs. Central and peripheral measures of neuromuscular function and corticospinal excitability were assessed via surface electromyography (EMG), peripheral nerve stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation before, immediately after, and during recovery from IMVC. IMVC force and root-mean-squared EMG decreased during the fatiguing 1-min IMVC, with a larger decrease in EMG during BIL. All neuromuscular function indexes decreased significantly after the IMVC ( P < 0.005), but the magnitude of these decreases did not differ between conditions. Changes in corticospinal excitability (motor evoked potential) and inhibition (silent period) did not differ between conditions. In contrast to previous studies utilizing submaximal exercise, no more peripheral fatigue was found after UNIL vs. BIL conditions, even though central drive was lower after BIL 1-min IMVC. Corticospinal excitability and inhibition were not found to be different between UNIL and BIL conditions, in line with maximal voluntary activation.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY The present experiment used peripheral nerve stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulations during a sustained isometric maximal voluntary contraction to investigate the influence of muscle mass on neuromuscular fatigue. Contrary to previous studies that used submaximal exercise, peripheral fatigue was not found to be greater in unilateral vs. bilateral knee extensions even though central drive was lower during bilateral contractions. Corticospinal excitability and inhibition were not found to be different between unilateral and bilateral conditions.
Carbamazepine Toxicity Masquerading as Complex Febrile Seizures in a Pediatric Patient
Authors: Chen Richard J , Ershad Muhammad , Dela Cruz Maricel , Mostafa Ahmed Mamdouh Taha
Published: March 2020

Carbamazepine is an antiepileptic drug that can cause seizures in overdose. In certain patient populations, this may be misdiagnosed as a seizure disorder. We describe a case of a 20-month-old female who presented with fever and seizure-like activity who was initially thought to have complex febrile seizures. Further historical information prompted carbamazepine level to be checked, which was found to be 29 mcg/ml (therapeutic range of 4–12 mcg/ml). Her carbamazepine levels downtrended with multidose activated charcoal. Her condition improved, and she was discharged without evidence of permanent neurologic sequelae. This case illustrates that xenobiotic exposure should often be considered, even if historical clues are not present, as they can often present as other conditions leading to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment.
Pericapsular Nerve Group Block: An Excellent Option for Analgesia for Positional Pain in Hip Fractures
Authors: Acharya Utsav , Lamsal Ritesh
Published: March 2020

Fractures in and around the hip are common presentations in the emergency department. It is commonly seen in the elderly as a result of osteoporotic changes. However, younger age groups are also affected, especially as a result of high velocity trauma. Irrespective of age, hip fractures are extremely painful, and it is difficult to position the patients for anesthesia procedures. Most of these cases are performed under subarachnoid block (SAB) or combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSEA), which requires the patient to be in sitting or lateral position. Here, we report a series of ten cases where pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block was administered prior to positioning the patients for SAB or CSEA. This block is a recently described regional anesthesia technique that provides excellent analgesia for hip fractures. It also provides very good analgesia for patient positioning during procedures such as SAB or CSEA.
The Therapeutic Potential of MicroRNAs in Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Xu Xiaona , Zhao Zhiqiang , Li Guangping
Published: March 2020

One of the most globally prevalent supraventricular arrhythmias is atrial fibrillation (AF). Knowledge of the structures and functions of messenger RNA (mRNA) has recently increased. It is no longer viewed as solely an intermediate molecule between DNA and proteins but has come to be seen as a dynamic and modifiable gene regulator. This new perspective on mRNA has led to rising interest in it and its presence in research into new therapeutic schemes. This paper, therefore, focuses on microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small noncoding RNAs that regulate posttranscriptional gene expression and play a vital role in the physiology and normative development of cardiovascular systems. This means they play an equally vital role in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases. In recent years, multiple studies have pinpointed particular miRNA expression profiles as being associated with varying histological features of AF. These studies have been carried out in both animal models and AF patients. The emergence of miRNAs as biomarkers and their therapeutic potential in AF patients will be discussed in the body of this paper.
Analysis for Mutual Impedance of Pistons by Neural Network and Its Extension of Derivative
Authors: Lee Kun-Chou
Published: March 2020

This study is basically a mathematical problem in sonar engineering. The sonar plays a very important role in underwater communication, detection, and remote sensing. Pistons are key sensors in a sonar system. The mutual coupling is a challenging problem in designing a sonar array. The mutual impedance of pistons is required in analyzing the mutual coupling of a sonar array. In this paper, a mathematical model consisting of a neural network and its extension of derivative is given and then utilized to analyze the mutual impedance of pistons. Initially, the mutual impedance of pistons is modelled and predicted by a neural network. By suitably extending the neural network, the derivative, i.e., slope information, for the neural-network output is obtained easily. Therefore, the mutual impedance and its slope information are obtained simultaneously almost in real time as the neural network is well trained in advance. Numerical examples show that the neural network can accurately predict the mutual impedance and its extension of derivative gives the slope information of mutual impedance simultaneously. It should be emphasized that the training work of a neural network is performed only once, i.e., only the training work in mapping the mutual impedance is required. No additional training work is required in obtaining the slope information.
Research on Two-Level Price-Fluctuation Supply Chain Ordering Strategy Problem
Authors: Zheng Minchao , Meng Zhiqing , Shen Rui
Published: March 2020

Uncertainties from retail price-fluctuation sales as well as constraints from suppliers make it difficult for retailers to place accurate orders, which have a great impact on the whole supply chain. Thus, this paper studies a supply chain ordering problem for two-level price-fluctuation sales and establishes a bilevel programming model by Copula function measuring the correlation between price and demand. The optimal order quantity is derived by transforming the bilevel programming model into a single-level model. An algorithm is given for solving the approximate optimal order quantity for the discrete model, and the convergence of the algorithm is proved. The results show that the approximate optimal order quantity decreases with the increase in the uncertainties of price and demand. Supply chain members should sell more products at the normal level, thereby increasing profits of each member in the supply chain under two-level price-fluctuation sales.
Etiologies and Treatment Burden in Adult Patients with Pure Red Cell Aplasia: A Single-Center Experience and Review of Literature
Authors: Niparuck Pimjai , Kanoksil Wasana , Wacharapornin Pathawut , Chantrathammachart Pichika , Boongird Sarinya
Published: March 2020

Background. Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) is less common blood disorder; the causes and the treatments of PRCA are varied. Methods. We conducted a retrospective study during January 2010–December 2017, to explore the etiologies and to evaluate the response and treatment burden in adult patients with PRCA. Results. Of 32 PRCA patients, median age was 57 years (18–90 years). Median hemoglobin level and reticulocyte count at the time of diagnosis were 5.6 g/dL (3.3–7.3 g/dL) and 0.3% (0.1–0.7%), respectively. Median time to hematologic recovery was 12 weeks (3–72 weeks), and median number of red blood cell transfusion (RBC) was 20 units (4–100 units). Causes of PRCA were erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) (47%), parvovirus B19 infection (19%), thymoma (13%), zidovudine (6%), primary autoimmune PRCA (6%), Kaposi’s sarcoma (3%), systemic lupus erythematosus (3%), and ABO-mismatched stem cell transplantation (3%). Only 9 out of 24 treated patients achieved hematologic response within 8 weeks of treatment. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy provided 100% response rate in patients with parvovirus B19-associated PRCA and primary autoimmune PRCA. Low response rate was found in patients receiving immunosuppressants and chemotherapy for the treatment of ESA and thymoma-associated PRCA, respectively. Conclusions. Treatment outcome of PRCA depended upon the causes and the types of treatment, and the burden of RBC transfusion was very high in patients with ESA and thymoma-associated PRCA.
Design and Analysis of Steering and Lifting Mechanisms for Forestry Vehicle Chassis
Authors: Li Wenhao , Kang Feng
Published: March 2020

Due to its special topographical structure, the forest working environment requires a vehicle chassis that can adapt well to complex terrain conditions. This article describes the key components of a chassis that was designed to adapt to complex terrain. The working principle and structural design of the steering structure and the lifting structure are analyzed in detail, and function verification is carried out. The steering mechanism has three degrees of freedom, and the first degree of freedom reduces the body’s inclination by 30°. The second degree of freedom can increase the steering angle of the chassis to 47°, decreasing the turning radius of the chassis. The third degree of freedom reduces the body rollover inclination by 30°. The entire steering mechanism enhances the ride and stability of the chassis. With the lifting mechanism, the wheel-legs are lifted so that the chassis can pass a limit height of 187 mm, and the wheel-legs are lowered to raise the center of gravity of the vehicle chassis by 244 mm. The entire lifting mechanism greatly improves the vehicle's ability to cross forest terrain. The size is reduced by 10% compared to other structures, and the lifting height and obstacle resistance are improved by 12.7%.
Let‐7c‐3p Regulates Autophagy under Oxidative Stress by Targeting ATG3 in Lens Epithelial Cells
Authors: Li Ting , Huang Yanhong , Zhou Wenkai , Yan Qichang
Published: March 2020

Background. Oxidative stress is an important factor during age‐related cataract formation. Apoptosis and autophagy induced by oxidative stress have been reported as key factors in age‐related cataract. In our research, we investigated the role of let‐7c‐3p in the regulation of autophagy and apoptosis during the formation of age‐related cataract. Material and Methods. Real‐time PCR and western blot were employed to detect the expression of let‐7c‐3p in the tissues of age‐related cataract. Human lens epithelial cells (LECs) were treated with H2O2 as an age‐related cataract model. The extent of apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry and western blot. To detect autophagy, immunofluorescence was used to analyze the spot number of LC3, and western blot was used to detect the expression of LC3‐II/I and ATG3. The molecular mechanisms of let‐7c‐3p regulating autophagy via ATG3 under oxidative stress were performed by a luciferase report gene assay and rescue experiment. Results. Downregulation of let‐7c‐3p was found in the age‐related cataract group aged >65 years relative to the age‐related cataract group aged ≤65 years. Consistently, the expression of let‐7c‐3p was also lower under oxidative stress. The activities of LEC apoptosis and autophagy induced by oxidative stress were inhibited by let‐7c‐3p. By the bioinformatics database and the luciferase reporter assay, ATG3 was found to be a direct target of let‐7c‐3p. Let‐7c‐3p reduced the ATG3‐mediated autophagy level, which was induced by oxidative stress in LECs. Conclusion. Let‐7c‐3p inhibits autophagy by targeting ATG3 in LECs in age‐related cataract.
Mathematical Modelling and Analysis of Transmission Dynamics of Lassa Fever
Authors: Bakare E. A. , Are E. B. , Abolarin O. E. , Osanyinlusi S. A. , Ngwu Benitho , Ubaka Obiaderi N.
Published: March 2020

Sub-Saharan Africa harbours the majority of the burden of Lassa fever. Clinical diseases, as well as high seroprevalence, have been documented in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Upper Volta, Gambia, and Mali. Deaths from Lassa fever occur all year round but naturally peak during the dry season. Annually, the number of people infected is estimated at 100,000 to 300,000, with approximately 5,000 deaths. There have been some work done on the dynamics of Lassa fever disease transmission, but to the best of our knowledge, none has been able to capture the seasonal variation of Mastomys rodent population and its impact on the transmission dynamics. In this work, a periodically forced seasonal nonautonomous system of a nonlinear ordinary differential equation is developed that captures the dynamics of Lassa fever transmission and seasonal variation in the birth of Mastomys rodents where time was measured in days to capture seasonality. It was shown that the model is epidemiologically meaningful and mathematically well posed by using the results from the qualitative properties of the solution of the model. A time-dependent basic reproduction number RLt is obtained such that its yearly average is written as R˜L<1, when the disease does not invade the population (means that the number of infected humans always decreases in the seasons of transmission), and R˜L>1, when the disease remains constantly and is invading the population, and it was detected that R˜L≠RL. We also performed some evaluation of the Lassa fever disease intervention strategies using the elasticity of the equilibrial prevalence in order to predict the optimal intervention strategies that can be useful in guiding the local national control program on Lassa fever disease to make a proper decision on the intervention packages. Numerical simulations were carried out to illustrate the analytical results, and we found that the numerical simulations of the model showed that possible combined intervention strategies would reduce the spread of the disease. It was established that, to eliminate Lassa fever disease, treatments with ribavirin must be provided early to reduce mortality and other preventive measures like an educational campaign, community hygiene, isolation of infected humans, and culling/destruction of rodents must be applied to also reduce the morbidity of the disease. Finally, the obtained results gave a primary framework for planning and designing cost-effective strategies for good interventions in eliminating Lassa fever.
Long-Term Rainfall Trends and Future Projections over Xijiang River Basin, China
Authors: Touseef Muhammad , Chen Lihua , Yang Kaipeng , Chen Yunyao
Published: March 2020

Precipitation trend detection is vital for water resources development and decision support systems. This study predicts the climate change impacts on long-term precipitation trends. It deals with the analysis of observed historical (1960–2010) and arithmetic mean method in assembling precipitation from CMIP5 Global Climate Models (GCMs) datasets for a future period (2020–2099) under four emission scenarios. Daily precipitation data of 32 weather stations in the Xijiang River Basin were provided by National Meteorological Information Centre (NMIC) of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and Global Climate Models (GCMs) with all four emission scenarios statistically downscaled using Bias Correction Special Disaggregation (BCSD) and applied for bias correction via Climate Change Toolkit (CCT). Nonparametric Mann–Kendall test was applied for statistical significance trend analysis while the magnitude of the trends was determined by nonparametric Sen’s estimator method on a monthly scale to detect monotonic trends in annual and seasonal precipitation time series. The results showed a declined trend was observed for the past 50 years over the basin with negative values of MK test (Z) and Sen’s slope Q. Historical GCMs precipitation detected decreasing trends except for NoerESM1-M which observed slightly increasing trends. The results are further validated by historical precipitation recorded by the Climate Research Unit (CRU-TS-3.1). The future scenarios will likely be positive trends for annual rainfall. Significant positive trends were observed in monsoon and winter seasons while premonsoon and postmonsoon seasons will likely be slightly downward trends. The 2040s will likely observe the lowest increase of 6.6% while the 2050s will observe the highest increase of 11.5% over the 21st century under future scenarios. However, due to the uncertainties in CMIP5, the future precipitation projections should be interpreted with caution. Thus, it could be concluded that the trend of change in precipitation around the Xijiang River Basin is on the increase under future scenarios. The results can be valuable to water resources and agriculture management policies, as well as the approach for managing floods and droughts under the perspective of global climate change.
Microscopic Polyangiitis Initially Presumed to Be Endocarditis
Authors: Kaneko Takahiro , Hino Shunsuke , Iijima Yosuke , Horie Norio
Published: March 2020

The antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody- (ANCA-) associated vasculitides (AAVs), which include fever of unknown origin (FUO), are rare diseases characterized by necrotizing inflammation of small blood vessels and the presence of ANCAs. Microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) is a subtype of the AAVs. Although the prevalence of AAVs has generally increased over the last 20 years, there have been rare reports from the dental and oral surgery field. In this article, we present a case of MPA suspected to be infective endocarditis (IE) following tooth extraction.
Could the Construction of Sustainable Development Pilot Zones Improve the Urban Environment Efficiency in China?
Authors: Ma Junxia , Zhang Zilong , Lu Chenyu , Xue Bing
Published: March 2020

As the forerunner and policy test field of the sustainable development, the sustainable development pilot zones are an important strategy for China to explore the mechanism and model of the coordinated development of human and land in different regional units. However, the impact of sustainable development pilot zones, especially on the improvement of environmental efficiency, needs to be assessed. In this paper, 187 prefecture-level cities in China were taken as samples (22 sustainable development pilot zones and 165 nonpilot ones). Firstly, the environmental efficiency of 187 prefecture-level cities between 2006 and 2016 was measured by data envelopment analysis (DEA). Then, the effect of construction of sustainable development pilot zones on environmental efficiency was assessed using the difference-in-difference (DID) model. The assessment results were further verified by propensity score matching with difference-in-difference (PSM-DID). In addition, the impact mechanism of construction of the sustainable development pilot zones on the environmental efficiency was discussed. Results show that the environmental efficiency of sustainable development pilot zones is 27.7∼31.7% greater than that of nonsustainable one, which is mainly attributed to the environmental regulation and industrial structure adjustment.
Design and Analysis of a Novel Chaos-Based Image Encryption Algorithm via Switch Control Mechanism
Authors: Xiao Shenyong , Yu ZhiJun , Deng YaShuang
Published: March 2020

Chaos has been widely used in image encryption due to its rich properties. However, it remains an irreconcilable contradiction for security and implementation efficiency for image encryption schemes. In this paper, a novel chaos-based image encryption scheme has been proposed, where the Lorenz chaotic system is applied to generate pseudorandom sequences with good randomness, and a random switch control mechanism is introduced to ensure the security of the encryption scheme. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the algorithm.
Homology Modeling and Virtual Screening Studies of Antigen MLAA-42 Protein: Identification of Novel Drug Candidates against Leukemia—An In Silico Approach
Authors: Shehadi Ihsan A. , Rashdan Huda R. M. , Abdelmonsef Aboubakr H.
Published: March 2020

Monocytic leukemia-associated antigen-42 (MLAA-42) is associated with excessive cell division and progression of leukemia. Thus, human MLAA-42 is considered as a promising target for designing of new lead molecules for leukemia treatment. Herein, the 3D model of the target was generated by homology modeling technique. The model was then evaluated using various cheminformatics servers. Moreover, the virtual screening studies were performed to explore the possible binding patterns of ligand molecules to MLAA’s active site pocket. Thirteen ligand molecules from the ChemBank™ database were identified as they showed good binding affinities, scaffold diversity, and preferential ADME properties which may act as potent drug candidates against leukemia. The study provides the way to identify novel therapeutics with optimal efficacy, targeting MLAA-42.
DpdtC-Induced EMT Inhibition in MGC-803 Cells Was Partly through Ferritinophagy-Mediated ROS/p53 Pathway
Authors: Feng Jiankang , Li Cuiping , Xu Ruifang , Li Yongli , Hou Qi , Feng Rui , Wang Senye , Zhang Lei , Li Changzheng
Published: March 2020

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process in which epithelial cells are partially transformed into stromal cells, which endows the polarized epithelium cells more invasive feature and contributes cancer metastasis and drug resistance. Ferritinophagy is an event of ferritin degradation in lysosomes, which contributes Fenton-mediated ROS production. In addition, some studies have shown that ROS participates in EMT process, but the effect of ROS stemmed from ferritin degradation on EMT has not been fully established. A novel iron chelator, DpdtC (2,2′-di-pyridylketone dithiocarbamate), which could induce ferritinophagy in HepG2 cell in our previous study, was used to investigate its effect on EMT in gastric cancer cells. The proliferation assay showed that DpdtC treatment resulted in growth inhibition and morphologic alteration in MGC-803 cell (IC50=3.1±0.3 μM), and its action involved ROS production that was due to the occurrence of ferritinophagy. More interestingly, DpdtC could also inhibit EMT, leading to the upregulation of E-cadherin and the downregulation of vimentin; however, the addition of NAC and 3-MA could attenuate (or neutralize) the action of DpdtC on ferritinophagy induction and EMT inhibition, supporting that the enhanced ferritinophagic flux contributed to the EMT inhibition. Since the degradation of ferritin may trigger the production of ROS and induce the response of p53, we next studied the role of p53 in the above two-cell events. As expected, an upregulation of p53 was observed after DpdtC insulting; however, the addition of a p53 inhibitor, PFT-α, could significantly attenuate the action of DpdtC on ferritinophagy induction and EMT inhibition. In addition, autophagy inhibitors or NAC could counteract the effect of DpdtC and restore the level of p53 to the control group, indicating that the upregulation of p53 was caused by ferritinophagy-mediated ROS production. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that the inhibition of EMT induced by DpdtC was realized through ferritinophagy-mediated ROS/p53 pathway, which supported that the activation of ferritinophagic flux was the main driving force in EMT inhibition in gastric cancer cells, and further strengthening the concept that NCOA4 participates in EMT process.
Measurement of the Lower Lid Margin Thickness by Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography
Authors: Wang Da-Hu , Li Zhao-Yan , Liu Xin-Quan
Published: March 2020

Purpose: To verify the feasibility of using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) to measure the lower lid margin thickness (LLMT) from posterior lash line to the mucocutaneous junction. Methods: This was a prospective, single-center, observational study. Fifty-six volunteers between 20 and 79 years old with normal healthy eyes were included in this study. Using AS-OCT to measure the LLMT at the middle position was separately performed by two operators under the same conditions. Results: The mean age of 56 subjects (24 males and 32 females) was 45.4 ± 15.7 years. The LLMT measured by AS-OCT between two operators was 0.86 ± 0.23 mm and 0.85 ± 0.22 mm, respectively. The reliability and repeatability between two operators were evaluated by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.97). Based on one operator’s measurements, the LLMT was 0.70 ± 0.10 mm at ages 20–29, 0.68 ± 0.09 mm at ages 30–39, 0.94 ± 0.12 mm at ages 40–49, 0.93 ± 0.20 mm at ages 50–59, 1.03 ± 0.15 mm at ages 60–69, and 1.24 ± 0.19 mm at ages 70–79, which indicated a significant positive correlation with age (rs = 0.74, p < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant difference in the LLMT between genders (0.94 ± 0.26 vs. 0.80 ± 0.19 mm, p = 0.03). Conclusions: A good agreement between two operators indicated that it seemed to be feasible to use AS-OCT to measure the LLMT. Additionally, we found that the LLMT appeared to be closely related to age and gender.
Task-Induced Functional Connectivity of Picture Naming in Healthy Aging: The Impacts of Age and Task Complexity
Authors: Ferré Perrine , Jarret Julien , Brambati Simona Maria , Bellec Pierre , Joanette Yves
Published: March 2020

The topological organization of the brain, governed by the capacity of brain regions to synchronize their activity, allows for cost-effective performance during everyday cognitive activity. Functional connectivity is an fMRI method deemed task-specific and demand-dependent. Although the brain undergoes significant changes during healthy aging, conceptual knowledge and word-production accuracy are generally preserved. The exploration of task-induced functional connectivity patterns during active picture naming may thus provide additional information about healthy functional cerebral mechanisms that are specifically adapted to the cognitive activity at hand. The goal of this study is to assess and describe age-related differences in functional connectivity during an overt picture-naming task, as well as to compare age-related differences under complex task demand, defined by lexical frequency. Results suggest both age-specific and task-specific mechanisms. In the context of preserved behavioral performance in a picture-naming task, older adults show a complex array of differences in functional connectivity architecture, including both increases and decreases. In brief, there is increased segregation and specialization of regions that are classically assigned to naming processes. Results also expand on previous word-production studies and suggest that motor regions are particularly subject to age-related differences. This study also provides the first indication that intrinsic task demand, as manipulated by lexical frequency, interacts little with the relationship between age and functional connectivity. Together, these findings confirm the value of task-induced functional connectivity analysis in revealing the brain organization that subserves task performance during healthy aging.
Membership Inference Attacks on Sequence-to-Sequence Models: Is My Data In Your Machine Translation System?
Authors: Hisamoto Sorami , Post Matt , Duh Kevin
Published: March 2020

Data privacy is an important issue for “machine learning as a service” providers. We focus on the problem of membership inference attacks: Given a data sample and black-box access to a model’s API, determine whether the sample existed in the model’s training data. Our contribution is an investigation of this problem in the context of sequence-to-sequence models, which are important in applications such as machine translation and video captioning. We define the membership inference problem for sequence generation, provide an open dataset based on state-of-the-art machine translation models, and report initial results on whether these models leak private information against several kinds of membership inference attacks.
Problems and Prospects of Uli Art Idiom and the Igbo Heritage Crisis
Authors: Ikwuemesi Chuu Krydz
Published: March 2020

In their various books on Igbo culture, Simon Ottenberg, Adiele Afigbo, P-J Ezeh, Herbert Cole and Chike Aniakor make references to ‘Igbo receptivity’, the ‘resurgence of Igbo arts’, and ‘Igbo cultural self-hate’, in an attempt to capture the wandering of Igbo cultural attitudes from one level of experience to another. While ‘receptivity’ and ‘resurgence’ are positive characterisations and paint a picture of resilience, ‘self-hate’ depicts a postcolonial nihilist tendency also at the heart of Igbo culture. If art is one major index for expressing and assessing the culture of a people, the Igbo uli art, arguably spanning three stages of historical-stylistic development, offers a basis on which Igbo culture and heritage can be appreciated and appraised in light of its receptivity, resurgence, as well as self-hate. Relying on the works of the uli women classicists, the Nsukka artists, and the outcomes of the Art Republic workshops, I argue that traditions never die in any finalistic sense, but rather degenerate and then regenerate new ideas, while nourishing and refreshing paradigms which extend the history and experience of the old.
Karimojong Religion and the Metaphysics of Collective Survival
Authors: Okello Francis
Published: March 2020

When studying the Karimojong religion, it is instructive to examine the role of elders (ngikathikou), the centrality of animals in ritual ceremonies, and the pragmatic solutions that the religion provides to social problems. Elders act as intermediaries between the immediately present world and the supernatural. The Karimojong believe in God (akuj) who is believed to reside in the sky, overseeing and responsible for everything that is happening on earth. The hierarchical status of individuals prominent in the society reflects their relative proximity to the sacred and the Divine. Respected elders intercede and communicate with God differently, concerning social matters on behalf of the whole community. Special categories of elders gifted in communication such as prophets (ngikadwarak) attributed with the ‘know how’ of the society, diviners (ngimurok) who foretell the future, dreamers (ngikejurak) who interpret important prophecies and black magicians (ngikapilak). The black magicians are known to do bad things to others, but when they do good to save the community, they are regarded as virtuous and reliable. Not only the sacredness of such persons, but also places (ngakiriketa) where no creatures are killed, objects whose uses are reserved for religious ceremonies, and time periods reserved for such ceremonies, all have a correspondingly paramount importance in the Karimojong religious understanding of reality.
The Shirazi Civilisation and its Impact on the East African Coast
Authors: Maina Newton Kahumbi
Published: March 2020

The relations between Iran and East Africa are captured well by depicting the impact of the Shirazi (Persian) civilisation on the East African coast. But some influential scholars claim that historians tend to dismiss or trivialise the role played by the Shirazis in East Africa. The demonstrable impact of Shirazi civilisation in East Africa is evident in the expansion of trade between the East African coast and the Persian Gulf region with the expansion of Islam. The Persian language has bequeathed to the Kiswahili language many lexicons that are presently still accessible in the region. Persian poets influenced Kiswahili literature through their classic works. The influence of Persian architecture is seen in Shirazi building styles throughout cities including Zanzibar, Kilwa and Manda. Thus Shirazis brought Persian traditions and customs to East Africa, and some Shirazis intermarried with the Arabs and local communities. As compiled here from other sources, there is enough enduring historical evidence to demonstrate incontrovertibly the impact of the Shirazis in social, economic and political aspects of East African life. This legacy arguably justifies greater contemporary cooperation between East African nation states and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Africa and Climate Change
Authors: Attfield Robin
Published: March 2020

Africa is affected by climate change in multiple ways. Like other continents, its coastline is in danger of being flooded, and its islands are in danger of being inundated. Many people are forced by climate change to migrate, and this increases the flows of refugees moving both north towards the Mediterranean and south towards the Cape, seeking a viable homeland. It is in the interest of African countries to develop in ways that are climate-friendly. More electricity needs to be generated to enhance people’s quality of life, but this should be generated in environmentally friendly ways. Large schemes of tree-planting are also needed, to restore the forests of areas where they have been lost in civil conflicts (as in central and northern Ethiopia) and at the same time to sequestrate some of the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere. As well as mitigation, collaborative efforts are needed in the field of adaptation, so as to limit the impacts of climate change. Developing countries should assist such measures, but they should be adopted whether or not such assistance materialises.
Viambishi Nafsi katika Muundo wa Kitenzi cha Kikuria (E43) [Personal Pronouns in Kuria (E43) Verb Structure]
Authors: Charwi Mary Zacharia
Published: March 2020

Ikisiri

Viambishi nafsi ni miongoni mwa viambishi ambatizi ambavyo hupachikwa mwanzoni mwa vitenzi vya Kibantu (yaani kabla ya mzizi). Kazi kubwa ya viambishi nafsi ni kuleta upatanisho wa kisarufi. Tafiti nyingi zinaonesha kuwa viambishi vya uambatizi hutokea kabla ya mzizi wa kitenzi, tofauti na vile vya unyambulishaji vinavyobadili kategoria au maana vinavyotokea baada ya mzizi. Makala hii inachunguza nafasi ya viambishi nafsi katika kitenzi cha Kikuria (E43). Data iliyotumika ni ya maktabani, hasa kutoka kwenye chapisho la Charwi (2017) na kutoka maandiko mengine ya Kikuria. Nadharia iliyotumika ni Nadharia ya Uambatizi kama inavyoelezwa na Stump (2001), ambayo inafafanua kuwa kila neno linaloambikwa ndani ya sentensi linabeba seti ya sifa za kimofosintaksia. Makala hii imebaini kuwa viambishi hivi vinaweza kutokea kabla au baada ya mzizi wa kitenzi na havibadili kategoria au maana ya neno.
A new species of Bauhinia from coastal areas in Northeastern Brazil

Authors: QUEIROZ LUCIANO PAGANUCCI DE , OLIVEIRA FILIPE GOMES , CEDRAZ BRENA , MELCHOR-CASTRO R. BRIGGITTHE , FERNANDES MOABE FERREIRA
Published: March 2020

Bauhinia includes about 150 species distributed across the tropics. Most Neotropical species belong to Bauhinia ser. Cansenia that includes unarmed trees and shrubs, mostly from areas under seasonally dry climate. A new species of this series is described here from the northeastern Brazilian states of Bahia and Sergipe. Bauhinia corifolia occurs in open vegetation on sandy soils of Restinga vegetation at the Atlantic coastal forests. It is morphologically similar to B. acuruana by sharing the entire and ovate leaflet with a retuse to emarginate apex and a cordate base, but differing by its tall shrub to treelet habit, larger leaves with a glabrous and glossy upper surface, shorter bracts, and longer flowers. We provide description, illustration and distribution map for the new species.
Two new species of Pristimantis (Anura: Craugastoridae) with notes on the distribution of the genus in northeastern Colombia
Authors: ACEVEDO ALDEMAR A. , ARMESTO ORLANDO , PALMA R. EDUARDO
Published: March 2020

We describe two new species of the genus Pristimantis from the western margin of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. The species have a sympatric distribution and are found in the humid tropical forests of the lower part of the Tamá National Natural Park (PNN Tamá) and its buffer zone. The new species were described from morphological comparisons and phylogenetic reconstruction from the sequencing of three mitochondrial and two nuclear genes. With these two new species, the number of Pristimantis species known in the department of Norte de Santander has increased to 10. In addition, we included new sequences for the species P. anolirex, P. nicefori, P. mondolfii, and P. yukpa. Our explorations in the last decade indicate that there are probably between five and 10 species that have not been described in the northeastern part of Colombia, especially in areas where the armed conflict has predominated in the last five decades.
A new species of Hemiodus Müller (Characiformes: Hemiodontidae) from the lower Rio Xingu, Brazil
Authors: DA SILVEIRA SILVA IVANILZA , NOGUEIRA ACÁCIO FREITAS , NETTO-FERREIRA ANDRE LUIZ , AKAMA ALBERTO , DUTRA GUILHERME MOREIRA
Published: March 2020

A new species of Hemiodus is described from the Rio Xingu basin, Pará, Brazil. It is distinguished from congeners by the combination of presence of a dark longitudinal stripe extending from head to tip of lower caudal-fin lobe, an oblique blotch on dorsal-fin, 9–11 scale rows above lateral line, 58–66 perforated lateral line scales, and 17–20 circumpeduncular scales. Comments on the conservation status of the new species, as well as its relationships among Hemiodus species, are made.