bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fast Graph Simplification for Interleaved-Dyck Reachability
Authors: Li Yuanbo , Zhang Qirun , Reps Thomas
Published: February 2022

Many program-analysis problems can be formulated as graph-reachability problems. Interleaved Dyck language reachability (
InterDyck
-reachability) is a fundamental framework to express a wide variety of program-analysis problems over edge-labeled graphs. The
InterDyck
language represents an intersection of multiple matched-parenthesis languages (i.e., Dyck languages). In practice, program analyses typically leverage one Dyck language to achieve context-sensitivity, and other Dyck languages to model data dependencies, such as field-sensitivity and pointer references/dereferences. In the ideal case, an
InterDyck
-reachability framework should model multiple Dyck languages
simultaneously
.

Unfortunately, precise
InterDyck
-reachability is undecidable. Any practical solution must over-approximate the exact answer. In the literature, a lot of work has been proposed to over-approximate the
InterDyck
-reachability formulation. This article offers a new perspective on improving both the precision and the scalability of
InterDyck
-reachability: we aim at simplifying the underlying input graph
G
. Our key insight is based on the observation that if an edge is not contributing to any
InterDyck
-paths, we can safely eliminate it from
G
. Our technique is orthogonal to the
InterDyck
-reachability formulation and can serve as a pre-processing step with any over-approximating approach for
InterDyck
-reachability. We have applied our graph simplification algorithm to pre-processing the graphs from a recent
InterDyck
-reachability-based taint analysis for Android. Our evaluation of three popular
InterDyck
-reachability algorithms yields promising results. In particular, our graph-simplification method improves both the scalability and precision of all three
InterDyck
-reachability algorithms, sometimes dramatically.
MVP: An Efficient CNN Accelerator with Matrix, Vector, and Processing-Near-Memory Units
Authors: Lee Sunjung , Choi Jaewan , Jung Wonkyung , Kim Byeongho , Park Jaehyun , Kim Hweesoo , Ahn Jung Ho
Published: February 2022

Mobile and edge devices become common platforms for inferring
convolutional neural networks (CNNs)
due to superior privacy and service quality. To reduce the computational costs of
convolution (CONV)
, recent CNN models adopt
depth-wise CONV (DW-CONV)
and
Squeeze-and-Excitation (SE)
. However, existing area-efficient CNN accelerators are sub-optimal for these latest CNN models because they were mainly optimized for compute-intensive standard CONV layers with abundant data reuse that can be pipelined with activation and normalization operations. In contrast, DW-CONV and SE are memory-intensive with limited data reuse. The latter also strongly depends on the nearby CONV layers, making an effective pipelining a daunting task. Therefore, DW-CONV and SE only occupy 10% of entire operations but become memory bandwidth bound, spending more than 60% of the processing time in systolic-array-based accelerators.

We propose a CNN acceleration architecture called MVP, which efficiently processes both compute- and memory-intensive operations with a small area overhead on top of the baseline systolic-array-based architecture. We suggest a specialized vector unit tailored for processing DW-CONV, including multipliers, adder trees, and multi-banked buffers to meet the high memory bandwidth requirement. We augment the unified buffer with tiny processing elements to smoothly pipeline SE with the subsequent CONV, enabling concurrent processing of DW-CONV with standard CONV, thereby achieving the maximum utilization of arithmetic units. Our evaluation shows that MVP improves performance by 2.6

\( \times \)

and reduces energy by 47% on average for EfficientNet-B0/B4/B7, MnasNet, and MobileNet-V1/V2 with only a 9% area overhead compared to the baseline.
“Nah, it’s just annoying!” A Deep Dive into User Perceptions of Two-Factor Authentication
Authors: Marky Karola , Ragozin Kirill , Chernyshov George , Matviienko Andrii , Schmitz Martin , Mühlhäuser Max , Eghtebas Chloe , Kunze Kai
Published: February 2022

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a recommended or imposed authentication mechanism for valuable online assets. However, 2FA mechanisms usually exhibit user experience issues that create user friction and even lead to poor acceptance, hampering the wider spread of 2FA. In this article, we investigate user perceptions of 2FA through in-depth interviews with 42 participants, revealing key requirements that are not well met today despite recently emerged 2FA solutions. First, we investigate past experiences with authentication mechanisms emphasizing problems and aspects that hamper good user experience. Second, we investigate the different authentication factors more closely. Our results reveal particularly interesting preferences regarding the authentication factor “ownership” in terms of properties, physical realizations, and interaction. These findings suggest a path toward 2FA mechanisms with considerably better user experience, promising to improve the acceptance and hence, the proliferation of 2FA for the benefit of security in the digital world.
Coding with Purpose: Learning AI in Rural California
Authors: Tena-Meza Stephanie , Suzara Miroslav , Alvero Aj
Published: February 2022

We use an autoethnographic case study of a Latinx high school student from a rural, agricultural community in California to highlight how AI is learned outside classrooms and how her personal background influenced her social-justice-oriented applications of AI technologies. Applying the concept of learning pathways from the learning sciences, we argue that redesigning AI education to be more inclusive with respect to socioeconomic status, ethnoracial identity, and gender is important in the development of computational projects that address social-injustice. We also learn about the role of institutions, power structures, and community as they relate to her journey of learning and applying AI. The future of AI, its potential to address issues of social injustice and limiting the negative consequences of its use, will depend on the participation and voice of students from the most vulnerable communities.
Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 Control Policies on Campus Occupancy and Mobility via WiFi Sensing
Authors: Zakaria Camellia , Trivedi Amee , Cecchet Emmanuel , Chee Michael , Shenoy Prashant , Balan Rajesh
Published: February 2022

Mobile sensing has played a key role in providing digital solutions to aid with
COVID-19
containment policies, primarily to automate contact tracing and social distancing measures. As more and more countries reopen from lockdowns, there remains a pressing need to minimize crowd movements and interactions, particularly in enclosed spaces. Many
COVID-19
technology solutions leverage positioning systems, generally using Bluetooth and GPS, and can theoretically be adapted to monitor safety compliance within dedicated environments. However, they may not be the ideal modalities for indoor positioning. This article conjectures that analyzing user occupancy and mobility via deployed WiFi infrastructure can help institutions monitor and maintain safety compliance according to the public health guidelines. Using smartphones as a proxy for user location, our analysis demonstrates how coarse-grained WiFi data can sufficiently reflect the indoor occupancy spectrum when different
COVID-19
policies were enacted. Our work analyzes staff and students’ mobility data from three university campuses. Two of these campuses are in Singapore, and the third is in the Northeastern United States. Our results show that online learning, split-team, and other space management policies effectively lower occupancy. However, they do not change the mobility for individuals transitioning between spaces. We demonstrate how this data source can be a practical application for institutional crowd control and discuss the implications of our findings for policymaking.
Privacy Concerns for Visual Assistance Technologies
Authors: Stangl Abigale , Shiroma Kristina , Davis Nathan , Xie Bo , Fleischmann Kenneth R. , Findlater Leah , Gurari Danna
Published: February 2022

People who are blind share their images and videos with companies that provide
visual assistance technologies (VATs)
to gain access to information about their surroundings. A challenge is that people who are blind cannot independently validate the content of the images and videos before they share them, and their visual data commonly contains private content. We examine privacy concerns for blind people who share personal visual data with VAT companies that provide descriptions authored by humans or
artifcial intelligence (AI)
. We frst interviewed 18 people who are blind about their perceptions of privacy when using both types of VATs. Then we asked the participants to rate 21 types of image content according to their level of privacy concern if the information was shared knowingly versus unknowingly with human- or AI-powered VATs. Finally, we analyzed what information VAT companies communicate to users about their collection and processing of users’ personal visual data through their privacy policies. Our fndings have implications for the development of VATs that safeguard blind users’ visual privacy, and our methods may be useful for other camera-based technology companies and their users.
Integrating Heterogeneous Ontologies in Asian Languages Through Compact Genetic Algorithm with Annealing Re-sample Inheritance Mechanism
Authors: Xue Xingsi , Liu Wenyu
Published: February 2022

An ontology is a state-of-the-art knowledge modeling technique in the natural language domain, which has been widely used to overcome the linguistic barriers in Asian and European countries’ intelligent applications. However, due to the different knowledge backgrounds of ontology developers, the entities in the ontologies could be defined in different ways, which hamper the communications among the intelligent applications built on them. How to find the semantic relationships among the entities that are lexicalized in different languages is called the Cross-lingual Ontology Matching problem (COM), which is a challenge problem in the ontology matching domain. To face this challenge, being inspired by the success of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) in the ontology matching domain, this work proposes a Compact GA with Annealing Re-sample Inheritance mechanism (CGA-ARI) to efficiently address the COM problem. In particular, a Cross-lingual Similarity Metric (CSM) is presented to distinguish two cross-lingual entities, a discrete optimal model is built to define the COM problem, and the compact encoding mechanism and the Annealing Re-sample Inheritance mechanism (ARI) are introduced to improve CGA’s searching performance. The experiment uses Multifarm track to test CGA-ARI’s performance, which includes 45 ontology pairs in different languages. The experimental results show that CGA-ARI is able to significantly improve the performance of GA and CGA and determine better alignments than state-of-the-art ontology matching systems.
Effector mechanisms in the baroreceptor control of blood pressure
Authors: Urroz Lopez Maryell , Mitchell Jamie R. , Sheldon Robert S. , Tyberg John V.
Published: February 2022

While the effects of changing heart rate and systemic vascular resistance have been generally understood and appreciated, the effects of changes in left ventricular contractility on end-systolic volume may have been less understood and appreciated and the effects of changes in venous capacitance on end-diastolic volume may have been unknown to many readers. Herein, we have provided a brief review for the medical student and beginning graduate student highlighting these sometimes-complex relationships.
Emerging insights in sarcoidosis: moving forward through reverse translational research
Authors: Liu Angela , Sharma Lokesh , Yan Xiting , Dela Cruz Charles S. , Herzog Erica L. , Ryu Changwan
Published: February 2022

Sarcoidosis is a chronic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology that primarily affects the lungs. The development of stage IV or fibrotic lung disease accounts for a significant proportion of the morbidity and mortality attributable to sarcoidosis. Further investigation into the active mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and fibrogenesis might illuminate fundamental mediators of injury and repair while providing new opportunities for clinical intervention. However, progress in sarcoidosis research has been hampered by the heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes and the lack of a consensus modeling system. Recently, reverse translational research, wherein observations made at the patient level catalyze hypothesis-driven research at the laboratory bench, has generated new discoveries regarding the immunopathogenic mechanisms of pulmonary granuloma formation, fibrogenesis, and disease model development. The purpose of this review is to highlight the promise and possibility of these novel investigative efforts.
Acute heat exposure protects against endothelial ischemia-reperfusion injury in aged humans
Authors: Hemingway Holden W. , Richey Rauchelle E. , Moore Amy M. , Olivencia-Yurvati Albert H. , Kline Geoffrey P. , Romero Steven A.
Published: February 2022

Nonpharmacological therapies that protect against endothelial ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) remain limited in aged adults. Acute heat exposure protects against endothelial I/R injury in young adults, but its efficacy has never been explored in aged adults. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that acute heat exposure would prevent the attenuation of endothelium-dependent vasodilation after I/R injury in aged adults. Nine (2 men, 69 ± 8 yr) aged adults were exposed to a thermoneutral control condition or whole body passive heating (water-perfused suit) sufficient to increase body core temperature by 1.2°C. Experiments were separated by at least 7 days. Heat exposure was always performed first to time match the thermoneutral control condition. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation was assessed via flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery before (pre-I/R) and after I/R injury (post-I/R), which was induced by 20 min of arm ischemia followed by 20 min of reperfusion. Flow-mediated dilation was reduced following I/R injury for the thermoneutral control condition (pre-I/R, 4.5 ± 2.9% vs. post-I/R, 0.9 ± 2.8%, P < 0.01), but was well maintained with prior heat exposure (pre-I/R, 4.4 ± 2.8% vs. post-I/R, 3.5 ± 2.8%, P = 0.5). Taken together, acute heat exposure protects against endothelial I/R injury in aged adults. These results highlight the therapeutic potential of heat therapy to prevent endothelial dysfunction associated with I/R injury in aged adults who are most at risk for an ischemic event.
Combined effects of aerobic exercise and 40-Hz light flicker exposure on early cognitive impairments in Alzheimer’s disease of 3×Tg mice
Authors: Park Sang-Seo , Park Hye-Sang , Kim Chang-Ju , Baek Seung-Soo , Park Song-Young , Anderson Cody , Kim Myung-Ki , Park Ik-Ryeul , Kim Tae-Woon
Published: February 2022

Exercising in a 40-Hz light flicker environment was more effective than exercise or 40-Hz light flicker alone. This synergistic effect may prevent cognitive dysfunction by inhibiting Aβ, tau pathway, and neuroinflammation and enhancing neuroplasticity and mitochondrial functions in the hippocampus during early Alzheimer’s disease.
Simulation and Optimization of Temperature Effect in Solar Cells CdTe with Back Connection Cu2O
Authors: Khaledi Parinaz , Behboodnia Mahdi , Karimi Mohammad
Published: February 2022

One of the least studied and most important parameters that are ignored in the simulation and construction of solar cells is temperature. The effect of temperature is complex, and the solar cell is a very temperature-sensitive device. Constructing high-efficient solar cells is an essential task. In this paper, we simulated and studied the effect of temperature on the characteristics of FTO/SnO2/CdS/CdTe/Cu2O solar cells using MATLAB and Maple software. For this purpose, first, the transport and Poisson equations, the continuity of the current, and the transfer of the carrier were solved by the drift-diffusion method and then they were discretized. We examined the cell temperature in the range of 200 to 400 Kelvin. The results showed that increasing temperature from 200 to 400 Kelvin open-circuit voltage decreases the short-circuit current. Furthermore, the filling factor first increases and then decreases. The efficiency of the solar cell also decreases sharply with increasing temperature. The results showed that, by decreasing the temperature of the solar cell, an efficiency of more than 32% can be achieved in cadmium telluride solar cells with FTO/SnO2/CdS/CdTe/Cu2O structure.
Antialiasing Attention Spatial Convolution Model for Skin Lesion Segmentation with Applications in the Medical IoT
Authors: Le Phuong Thi , Chang Ching-Chun , Li Yung-Hui , Hsu Yi-Chiung , Wang Jia-Ching
Published: February 2022

This study presents a noninvasive visual sensing enhancing system for skin lesion segmentation. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, skin cancer kills more than two people every hour in the United States, and one in every five Americans will develop the disease. Skin cancer is becoming more popular, so the need for skin cancer diagnosis is increasing, particularly for melanoma, which has a high metastasis rate. Many traditional algorithms, as well as a computer-aided diagnosis tool, have been implemented in dermoscopic images for skin lesion segmentation to meet this need. However, the accuracy of the model is low, and the prognosis time is lengthy. This paper presents antialiasing attention spatial convolution (AASC) to segment melanoma skin lesions in dermoscopic images. Such a system can enhance the existing Medical IoT (MIoT) applications and provide third-party clues for medical examiners. Empirical results show that the AASC performs well when it is able to overcome dermoscopic limitations such as thick hair, low contrast, or shape and color distortion. The model was evaluated strictly under many statistical evaluation metrics such as the Jaccard index, Recall, Precision, F1 score, and Dice coefficient. The performance of the AASC was trained and tested. Remarkably, the AASC model yielded the highest scores in both three databases compared with the state-of-the-art models across three datasets: ISIC 2016, ISIC 2017, and PH2.
A Robust Image Segmentation Framework Based on Nonlocal Total Variation Spectral Transform
Authors: Zhang Jianwei , Shen Yue , Zheng Zhaohui , Sun Le
Published: February 2022

Image segmentation plays an important role in various computer vision tasks. Nevertheless, noise always inevitably appears in images and brings a big challenge to image segmentation. To handle the problem, we study the nonlocal total variation (NLTV) spectral theory and build up an image segmentation framework with NLTV spectral transform to segment images with noise. Firstly, we decompose an image into the NLTV flow in the NLTV spectral transform, with which the max response time of each pixel is calculated. Secondly, a separation surface is constructed with the max response time to distinguish the objects and preserve the structure details in segmentation. Thirdly, the image is filtered by the surface in the NLTV spectral domain, and a rough segmentation result is obtained by means of an inverse transform. Finally, we use a binary process and morphological operations to refine the segmentation result. Experiments illustrate that our method can preserve edge structures effectively and has the ability to achieve competitive segmentation performance compared with the state-of-the-art approaches.
N6-Methyladenosine Modification Profile in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells Treated with Heat-Inactivated Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Li Ting , Zhu Yifan , Lin Changjie , Chen Jie , Yin Yiya , Tang Xin , Chen Yingyu , Guo Aizhen , Hu Changmin
Published: February 2022

The symptoms of mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in dairy cows are not obvious and difficult to identify, resulting in major economic losses. N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) modification has been reported to be closely associated with the occurrence of many diseases. However, only a few reports have described the role of m6A modification in S. aureus-induced mastitis. In this study, after 24 h of treatment with inactivated S. aureus, MAC-T cells (an immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cell line) showed increased expression levels of the inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and reactive oxygen species. We found that the mRNA levels of METLL3, METLL14, WTAP, and ALKBH5 were also upregulated. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing analysis revealed that 133 genes were m6A hypermethylated, and 711 genes were m6A hypomethylated. Biological functional analysis revealed that the differential m6A methylated genes were mainly related to oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, inflammatory response, and so on. In the present study, we also identified 62 genes with significant changes in m6A modification and mRNA expression levels. These findings elucidated the m6A modification spectrum induced by S. aureus in MAC-T cells and provide the basis for subsequent m6A research on mastitis.
Insulator Hydrophobic Image Edge Detection Algorithm considering Deconvolution and Deblurring Algorithm
Authors: Wang Dalei , Ma Lan
Published: February 2022

In this paper, the Gram matrix is used to calculate the correlation of the filter response sets under different scale kernels learned by each layer of the network in the deconvolution, and the loss between the corresponding feature response correlations in the multilayer network is calculated. Linear summation is used to obtain a stable, multiscale image model representation. This paper extracts the contours of the salient areas of the image and adjusts the parameters of the deconvolution network to learn the salient area patterns of the image. At the same time, for the image to be generated, a shape template is used to limit the range of the area to be generated in order to obtain a shape image with similar patterns. When the spatial relative relationship characteristics of the image constituent objects are obvious, we appropriately add high-level semantic feature activation values for reinforcement. This paper solves the estimation of the unknown blur kernel by using image prior knowledge, filtering and gradient domain algorithms and other different technologies to obtain image jitter or scene movement information and estimate the size, location, and density of the blur kernel. This paper studies a relatively robust deconvolution model, which is insensitive to random noise, has stable effects, and can overcome the water ripple effect caused by the usual convolution process. This paper attempts to study the fuzzy model with variable space. The usual blur is a spatial invariant model; that is, a single kernel is used to describe the motion of all pixels on the image. By selecting different characteristic parameters, this paper conducts experimental research on some existing hydrophobic indicator function methods and calculates the relationship between characteristic parameters and hydrophobicity when different hydrophobic indicator functions are adopted. One characteristic of the hydrophobic image of composite insulators is low contrast. The traditional method of converting color images to grayscale images cannot improve the image contrast. This paper analyzes the hydrophobic image of the composite insulator, and the extracted B channel component image of the hydrophobic image improves the contrast of the image and facilitates the subsequent segmentation of water traces and background. In this paper, the water repellent image's watermark area is counted, and connected-domain wave processing is used to limit the area of water droplets retained, thereby improving the efficiency of filtering water droplets without having a big impact on the image as a whole. The problem of uneven illumination is an unavoidable problem in the field of image processing, and the resulting reflection problem brings difficulties to image processing. This article regards the reflective area of the watermark as a “hole” and uses the idea of “hole filling” to eliminate the reflective point, which weakens the reflection problem to a certain extent.
Two-Channel Portable Biopotential Recording System Can Detect REM Sleep Behavioral Disorder: Validation Study with a Comparison of Polysomnography
Authors: Kataoka Hiroshi , Takatani Tsunenori , Sugie Kazuma
Published: February 2022

Background. Sleep disorders are frequent nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Polysomnography (PSG) has been the gold standard for its assessment. However, it requires patients to stay overnight in a hospital or sleep center. The mobile two-channel electroencephalography (EEG)/electrooculography (EOG) recording system is a self-applicable and affordable method to objectively assess sleep at home. We aimed at evaluating patients with PD to confirm the difference in sleep parameters between the portable recording system and PSG. Methods. PSG and the portable recording system were simultaneously performed on a similar night in eight patients with PD. We compared the difference in sleep parameters between them using nonparametric tests. Results. All patients displayed a score of both PDSS −2 ≥ 15 and PSQI ≥ 5, respectively, which revealed poor sleep quality. There was no difference in the sleep parameters between the portable recording system and PSG, except for the percentage of sleep stage N3. Regarding the detection of REM sleep without atonia, we observed accordance between the portable recording system and PSG in six patients (

P
=
0.686

). Conclusions. The portable EEG/EOG recording system may gain an advantage from home-based evaluations for habitual sleep at home. Our study on device validation may contribute to measuring natural sleep, including rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavioral disorder (RBD), in an outpatient care setting.
Research on the Comprehensive Evaluation of the Higher Education System Based on FCE and ARMA Models
Authors: Xu Xin-Hong , Ye Lei , Pei Yu , Zhao Lin , Wang Jing-Jing
Published: February 2022

A Higher education system is closely related to a country’s development. Governments need to make appropriate adjustments to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of higher education. To measure and evaluate the development status of the national higher education system and propose a set of policies, the following work has been done in this paper: First, this paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation index system based on the AHP‐FCE model. The healthy development of education in significant countries was compared horizontally and vertically. The results of weighted scores were used to determine the Japanese higher education system as the research object. Secondly, this paper uses factor analysis and principal component analysis to evaluate the level of sustainable development of higher education, detecting development barriers that migrate from the current to the future. This paper proposes a healthy and sustainable development policy blueprint from four aspects. Finally, this article uses the ARMA time series model to predict the development trend of Japanese higher education in the next 30 years and formulates a timetable for corresponding implementation arrangements. In addition, this paper quantitatively evaluates the effectiveness of the policies we propose and their impact on reality and provides references for other countries in the world.
Study of Thermal Decomposition of the Copolymer Based on Polyethylene Glycol Fumarate with Acrylic Acid
Authors: Burkeyev Meyram , Tazhbayev Yerkeblan , Bolatbay Abylaikhan , Minayeva Yelena , Davrenbekov Santay , Nassikhatuly Yermauyt , Kovaleva Anna , Kutzhanova Kamshat , Kazhmuratova Akerke
Published: February 2022

Thermal decomposition of the copolymer based on polyethylene glycol fumarate with acrylic acid (p-EGF:AA) at four different heating rates in a nitrogen atmosphere has been investigated by the dynamic thermogravimetry (TGA) method. The TGA curves show that the decomposition process occurs in several stages. The experimental data processed by the Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose and Friedman isoconversion methods made it possible to calculate the activation energy of the main decomposition stage. According to the calculations results, one can see that the values found by these methods do not strongly depend on the conversion. The Achar–Brindley–Sharp method has been applied to determine the compensation parameters. Then, using the compensation effect, the invariant kinetic parameters of the decomposition processes have been found. An experimental curve has been plotted to find the reaction model in comparison with theoretical ones.
Effects of the Addition of Nb and V on the Microstructural Evolution and Hydrogen Embrittlement Resistance of High Strength Martensitic Steels
Authors: Liu Bo , Liao Xiaolin , Tang Yuanshou , Si Yu , Feng Yi , Cao Pengjun , Dai Qingwei , Li Kejian
Published: February 2022

Hydrogen embrittlement can easily occur in high strength martensitic steel, manifesting itself as a sudden failure or fracture without warning and greatly threatening the safety of automotive applications. Optimizing the composition of the alloy can be performed by matching heat treatment processing methods and controlling the precipitation amounts to form hydrogen traps. In doing so, the hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility of steel can be effectively delayed, reducing the risk of hydrogen-induced delayed cracking. In this study, four kinds of 1500 MPa strength grade martensitic steel were selected for testing and supplemented with different loadings of Nb and V, respectively. Their grains, phases, and precipitations were compared by optical microscopy (OM), electron backscattered diffraction (ESBD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. After the addition of Nb and V, the microstructure was refined, the residual austenite content increased, and the hydrogen embrittlement resistance was significantly improved.
A Diagnosis Framework for High‐reliability Equipment with Small Sample Based on Transfer Learning
Authors: Pan Jinxin , Jing Bo , Jiao Xiaoxuan , Wang Shenglong , Zhang Qingyi
Published: February 2022

Conventional methods for fault diagnosis typically require a substantial amount of training data. However, for equipment with high reliability, it is arduous to form a large‐scale well‐annotated dataset due to the expense of data acquisition and costly annotation. Besides, the generated data have a large number of redundant features which degraded the performance of models. To overcome this, we proposed a feature transfer scenario that transfers knowledge from similar fields to enhance the accuracy of fault diagnosis with small sample. To reduces the redundant information, data were filtered according to manifold consistency. Then, features were extracted based on CNN and feature transfer was conducted. For adequate fitness, the joint adaptation of conditional distribution and marginal distribution was used between the two domains. Minimum structural risk and MMD of adaptation were two indicators weighted for training the model. To test the efficiency of the model, we built an airborne fuel pump testbed, and contributed a new dataset that contained 15 categories of fault data, which serves as the small sample dataset in this research. Then the proposed model was applied in our experimental data. As a result, the fault diagnosis rate increases by 28.6% through our proposed model, which is more precise than other classical methods. The results of feature visualization further demonstrate that the features are more distinguished through the proposed method. All code and data are accessible on my GitHub.
Chloroplast Genome Evolution and Species Identification of Styrax (Styracaceae)
Authors: Song Yun , Zhao Wenjun , Xu Jin , Li MingFu , Zhang Yongjiang
Published: February 2022

The genus Styrax L. consists of approximately 130 species distributed in the Americas, eastern Asia, and the Mediterranean region. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of this genus are not clear. Knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships and the method for species identification will be critical for the evolution of this genus. In this study, we sequenced the chloroplast genome of 17 Styrax samples and added 17 additional chloroplast genome sequences from GenBank. The data were used to investigate chloroplast genome evolution, infer phylogenetic relationships, and access the species identification rate within Styrax. The Styrax chloroplast genome contains typical quadripartite structures, ranging from 157,641 bp to 159,333 bp. The chloroplast genome contains 114 unique genes. The P distance among the Styrax species ranged from 0.0003 to 0.00611. Seventeen small inversions and SSR sites were discovered in the Styrax chloroplast genome. By comparing with the chloroplast genome sequences, six mutation hotspots were identified, and the markers ycf1b and trnT-trnL were identified as the best Styrax‐specific DNA barcodes. The specific barcodes and superbarcode exhibited higher discriminatory power than universal barcodes. Chloroplast phylogenomic results improved the resolution of the phylogenetic relationships of Styrax compared to previous analyses.
Administration of Iodine-125 Seeds Promotes Apoptosis in Cholangiocarcinoma through the PI3K/Akt Pathway
Authors: Lin Junqing , Yan Leye , Wang Xiaolong , Wu Zhengzhong , Ke Kun , Lin Xin , Huang Ning , Yang Weizhu
Published: February 2022

Purpose. We aimed to examine the effects of 125I seeds on the gene expression of Bcl-2, Bax, and PI3K/Akt pathway components in cholangiocarcinoma cells. Methods. In vitro, human cholangiocarcinoma RBE cells were treated with 125I seeds (0.39 mCi or 0.85 mCi) for 72 h, 120 h, and 168 h. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were assessed. The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax was detected by RT-PCR, and Western blotting was carried out to explore changes in Akt activity. Result. 125I seeds inhibited the proliferation of RBE cells. The apoptosis rate of the RBE cells in the low-activity group was significantly higher than that in the high-activity group at 120 h and 168 h, while no difference was found between the two groups at 72 h. After 120 h of culture, the gene expression of Bcl-2 and Bax decreased in both groups, the ratio of

Bcl
−
2
/
Bax

in the low-activity group decreased, and the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway was inhibited in both groups. Conclusion. 125I seeds affect the proliferation and apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. The therapeutic effect of low-activity 125I seeds on cancer cells may be better. 125I seed brachytherapy may promote the apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and regulating the

Bcl
−
2
/
Bax

ratio.
Effect of Mobile Internet Technology in Health Management of Heart Failure Patients Guiding Cardiac Rehabilitation
Authors: Liu Tao , Liu Mei
Published: February 2022

In this paper, we are going to explore the effect of mobile Internet technology in health management for the heart failure patients with cardiac rehabilitation. To implement and evaluate its effects in real environment, a total of 60 heart failure patients were divided, preferably in random fashion, into two groups of 30 cases, i.e., control and observation groups. The former group has received the routine home cardiac rehabilitation after discharge, and the latter group, i.e., observation, has received home cardiac rehabilitation based on mobile medical technical guidance after discharge. The 6 min walking test, Minnesota Cardiac Dysfunction Quality of Life Scale score, cardiac function index, and cardiac rehabilitation training compliance were matched between these groups specifically before and after the intervention. After 12 weeks of intervention, the 6 min walking test, Minnesota Cardiac Dysfunction Quality of Life Scale score, B-type natriuretic peptide of N-terminal, end-diastolic diameter preferably left ventricular, left ventricular ejection fraction, and compliance of training, specifically in the observation group, were better than the control group whereas statistically significant differences were observed, i.e.,

P
<
0.01

. Home cardiac rehabilitation guided by mobile Internet technology can improve the function of cardiac, exercise tolerance, life’s quality, and compliance of patients with heart failure.
Simulating Neural Network Processors
Authors: Hu Jian , Zhang Xianlong , Shi Xiaohua
Published: February 2022

Deep learning has achieved competing results compared with human beings in many fields. Traditionally, deep learning networks are executed on CPUs and GPUs. In recent years, more and more neural network accelerators have been introduced in both academia and industry to improve the performance and energy efficiency for deep learning networks. In this paper, we introduce a flexible and configurable functional NN accelerator simulator, which could be configured to simulate u-architectures for different NN accelerators. The extensible and configurable simulator is helpful for system-level exploration of u-architecture, as well as operator optimization algorithm developments. The simulator is a functional simulator that simulates the latencies of calculation and memory access and the concurrent process between modules, and it gives the number of program execution cycles after the simulation is completed. We also integrated the simulator into the TVM compilation stack as an optional backend. Users can use TVM to write operators and execute them on the simulator.
The Enrichment Mechanism of REE at Sulfate and Methane Transition Zone (SMTZ) of the Northern Part of the South China Sea
Authors: Rui Xie , Daidai Wu , Jiangong Wei , Liaoliang Wang , Lihua Liu , Wenjing Li , Gang Wu , Xudong Guo
Published: February 2022

Rare earth elements (REE) are important raw materials for electronic products and green-energy technology and deep-sea sediment as an important potential source of REE mineral. It is of great scientific significance to understand the influence of REE in deep-sea sediments. In this paper, thirty sediments samples and eleven sediments samples were collected at the site SH3 and SH1 of Shenhu area, respectively. The trace elements, major elements, and different Fe-Mn minerals were analyzed to investigate the role of anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in the enrichment of rare earth elements in the marine sediments. The result showed that the content of ∑REE/Ti increased at the top of sulfate and methane transition zone (SMTZ) at site SH1 and SH3. Combined with the analysis of different forms of ferromanganese minerals and the REE patterns, it is inferred that there is little influence of terrigenous input to the REE content. In contrary, the REE-rich carbonate phase and REE-rich Fe-Mn oxides (hydroxides) phase have important contribution of REE enrichment at the top of SMTZ. Meanwhile, the calculations of the quantitative relationship between the REE-rich carbonate phase and REE-rich Fe-Mn oxides (hydroxides) phase also confirm this conclusion. And the AOM caused the decrease of the REE-rich Fe-Mn oxides (hydroxides) phase and increase of the REE-rich carbonate phase. This is the potential explanation of ∑REE/Ti enrichment at the top of SMTZ. This study is of great scientific significance for the study of REE enrichment mechanism in the methane seeps and provided a new sight of REE enrichment mechanism in deep-sea sediments.
A Janus Mesh with Robust Interface and Controllable Wettability for Water Transport
Authors: Guo Ziyi , Guo Fengyun , Gao Lei , Wang Yan , Zhao Yong
Published: February 2022

The rational design of material structure is of great importance to the membrane material in water manipulation and management. Among them, by designing materials and structures on both sides of Janus membranes with porous structures, membranes with opposite wettability can be prepared to show directional liquid transport effects. However, the Janus membrane has the weakness of interfacial bonding due to the difference in the material and structure of the two layers. Here, we report a method to improve the interfacial bonding force of the two layers. Janus membrane is prepared using polyvinylidene fluoride hexafluoropropylene (PVDF‐HFP) and cellulose acetate (CA) through the electrospinning method and then treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution. The as‐prepared Janus membrane has a hydrophilic‐hydrophobicity gradient and a strong bonding interface obtained by adjusting the chemical composition and microstructure. The NaOH solution plays a dominant role in forming hydrophilic‐hydrophobicity gradient and enhancing the interface bonding between the bilayer membranes. The results show that this Janus membrane can achieve the purpose of oil‐water separation and one‐way water transmission by absorbing oil and regulating liquid surface tension. This strategy provides new ideas and technical supports for improving the Janus membrane interfacial bonding force and expands potential applications in the future.
A Clinical Data Management System for Diabetes Clinical Trials
Authors: Nourani Aynaz , Ayatollahi Haleh , Solaymani-Dodaran Masoud
Published: February 2022

Background. The use of novel medications and methods to prevent, diagnose, treat, and manage diabetes requires confirmation of safety and efficacy in a well-designed study prior to widespread adoption. Diabetes clinical trials are the studies that examine these issues. The aim of the present study was to develop a web-based system for data management in diabetes clinical trials. Methods. The present research was a mixed-methods study conducted in 2019. To identify the required data elements and functions to develop the system, 60 researchers completed a questionnaire. The designed system was evaluated using two methods. The usability of the system was initially evaluated by a group of researchers (n = 6) using the think-aloud method, and after system improvement, the system functions were evaluated by other researchers (n = 30) using a questionnaire. Results. The main data elements which were required to develop a case report form included “study data,” “participant’s personal data,” and “clinical data.” The functional requirements of the system were “managing the study,” “creating case report forms,” “data management,” “data quality control,” and “data security and confidentiality.” After using the system, researchers rated the system functions at a “good” level (6.3 ± 0.73) on a seven-point Likert scale. Conclusion. Given the complexity of the data management processes in diabetes clinical trials and the widespread use of information technologies in research, the use of clinical data management systems in diabetes clinical trials seems inevitable. The system developed in the current study can facilitate and improve the process of creating and managing case report forms as well as collecting data in diabetes clinical trials.
Ecological Welfare of China’s Forest Towns: Concept, Formation Mechanism, and Evaluation Index System
Authors: Chen Chen , Sun Haitao , Huang Yingli
Published: February 2022

The economic subsystem, social subsystem, and natural ecosystem of forest towns constitute forest towns’ complex ecosystem. Forest towns’ complex system provides good ecological welfare for the residents’ survival and development, especially the beautiful ecological environment has played a positive role in promoting the residents’ healthcare. First of all, this paper expounds on the concept of forest towns’ ecological welfare from the construction goals of forest towns. Secondly, it analyzes the formation mechanism of forest towns’ ecological welfare based on the DPSIR conceptual model. Finally, taking forest towns in Heilongjiang Province as an example, the index system for ecological welfare evaluation is constructed, and the influence degree of the evaluation index is analyzed through using the analytic hierarchy process. The results show that employment and income are the most important indicators that affect the ecological welfare of forest towns in Heilongjiang Province. This paper provides a theoretical basis for evaluating the level of ecological welfare level, level of healthcare level, and planning development path of Chinese forest towns in the future.
Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Patients with Long COVID Improves Exercise Capacity, Functional Status, Dyspnea, Fatigue, and Quality of Life
Authors: Nopp Stephan , Moik Florian , Klok Frederikus A. , Gattinger Dietlinde , Petrovic Milos , Vonbank Karin , Koczulla Andreas R. , Ay Cihan , Zwick Ralf Harun
Published: February 2022

Background: COVID-19 survivors face the risk of long-term sequelae including fatigue, breathlessness, and functional limitations. Pulmonary rehabilitation has been recommended, although formal studies quantifying the effect of rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients are lacking. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational cohort study including consecutive patients admitted to an outpatient pulmonary rehabilitation center due to persistent symptoms after COVID-19. The primary endpoint was change in 6-min walk distance (6MWD) after undergoing a 6-week interdisciplinary individualized pulmonary rehabilitation program. Secondary endpoints included change in the post-COVID-19 functional status (PCFS) scale, Borg dyspnea scale, Fatigue Assessment Scale, and quality of life. Further, changes in pulmonary function tests were explored. Results: Of 64 patients undergoing rehabilitation, 58 patients (mean age 47 years, 43% women, 38% severe/critical COVID-19) were included in the per-protocol-analysis. At baseline (i.e., in mean 4.4 months after infection onset), mean 6MWD was 584.1 m (±95.0), and functional impairment was graded in median at 2 (IQR, 2–3) on the PCFS. On average, patients improved their 6MWD by 62.9 m (±48.2, p < 0.001) and reported an improvement of 1 grade on the PCFS scale. Accordingly, we observed significant improvements across secondary endpoints including presence of dyspnea (p < 0.001), fatigue (p < 0.001), and quality of life (p < 0.001). Also, pulmonary function parameters (forced expiratory volume in 1 s, lung diffusion capacity, inspiratory muscle pressure) significantly increased during rehabilitation. Conclusion: In patients with long COVID, exercise capacity, functional status, dyspnea, fatigue, and quality of life improved after 6 weeks of personalized interdisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation. Future studies are needed to establish the optimal protocol, duration, and long-term benefits as well as cost-effectiveness of rehabilitation.
Over a century later and 400 kilometers apart: rediscovery of Bulbophyllum barbatum (Orchidaceae) in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Authors: L. F. MENEZES EULER , C. O. GIORDANI SAMUEL , S. ROSIM MAURO , GONELLA PAULO M.
Published: February 2022

Fieldwork focused on the Orchidaceae family from the Diamantina Plateau of the Espinhaço Range in Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil, resulted in the rediscovery of Bulbophyllum barbatum almost 140 years after its original description, in 1882. The species, known only from the original illustration by Barbosa Rodrigues, was originally described from the region known as Zona da Mata Mineira, and its rediscovery is reported from over 400 km to the northwest of that region. The new record allowed a more detailed study of its morphology, the first photographs of the species, as well as the preliminary assessment of its conservation status as Critically Endangered. Such unexpected rediscovery highlights the importance of conservation actions in the Brazilian campos rupestres given its high diversity and endemism, the deficient knowledge on the taxonomy and distribution of its species, and the increasing pressure of human activities.