bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intersecting Vulnerabilities, Intersectional Discrimination, and Stigmatization Among People Living Homeless in Nicaragua
Authors: Vázquez José Juan , Suarez Alexia C. , Berríos Alberto E. , Panadero Sonia
Published: November 2020

Objective

The main objective of this study is to examine the intersecting vulnerabilities, intersectional discrimination, and stigmatization experienced by homeless people living in León (Nicaragua).

Method

The data analyzed come from a Point‐In‐Time count carried out in the city of León, which identified 82 people living homeless. Forty‐seven of the people identified responded to a brief questionnaire that provided more accurate information.

Results

The results obtained showed that people living homeless in León largely presented “non‐white” ethnic‐racial traits, poor personal hygiene, readily visible physical health problems, and observable symptoms associated with mental health problems and alcohol and/or drug abuse.

Conclusions

The information we obtained showed that people living homeless in León were subject to multiple intersecting vulnerabilities and aggravated forms of intersectional discrimination and social stigmatization, with a cumulative effect that could be highly detrimental to their social inclusion processes, leading to high levels of chronification of homelessness.
“GIS works!”—But why, how, and for whom? Findings from a systematic review
Authors: Schulze Uwe
Published: November 2020

This article presents the findings from systematically reviewing 26 empirical research studies published from 2005 to 2014 on the use of GIS for learning and teaching. By employing methods of narrative synthesis and qualitative content analysis, the study gives evidence about the state of knowledge of competence‐based GIS education. The results explain what factors and variables effect GIS learning in terms of technology use, major subject contents, learning contexts, and didactic and pedagogical aspects. They also show what facets of knowledge, process skills, and affect the research literature has investigated. The analysis of the type and quality of the methods used indicates that current GIS education research is a heterogeneous field that needs a systematic research framework for future efforts, according to empirical education research.
Important considerations about space‐time data: Modeling, scrutiny, and ratification
Authors: Griffith Daniel A.
Published: November 2020

Space‐time data are becoming more abundant as time goes by, with hands‐on interest in them becoming more prevalent. These data have a very sensitive ordering in space and time, one that the simplest of recording errors can scramble. These data are also complex, containing both spatial and temporal autocorrelation coupled with their interaction. One goal of many researchers is to disentangle and account for these autocorrelation components in a parsimonious way. This article presents three competing model specifications to achieve this end. In addition, it outlines seven best practices for vetting space‐time datasets. This article cites a publicly available corrupt (containing at least errors of omission) rabies dataset to illustrate how a large volume of potentially valuable data can be rendered meaningless. In addition, it exemplifies postulated contentions about the United States National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program’s 1969–2018 population‐by‐county dataset, a collection of population counts held in high esteem. One major empirical finding is that this particular dataset exhibits traits that may merit remedial revisions action. A key conceptual finding is a suggested set of best practices for space‐time data proofreading. These two findings contribute to an ultimate goal of a large collection of certified open access space‐time datasets supporting repeatable and replicable scientific analyses.
A retrospective study assessing the characteristics of COVID‐19 convalescent plasma donors and donations
Authors: Del Fante Claudia , Franchini Massimo , Baldanti Fausto , Percivalle Elena , Glingani Claudia , Marano Giuseppe , Mengoli Carlo , Mortellaro Cristina , Viarengo Gianluca , Perotti Cesare , Liumbruno Giancarlo Maria
Published: November 2020

Background

Although many trials are currently investigating the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) in critically ill COVID‐19 patients, there is a paucity of ongoing and published studies evaluating the CP donors' side. This retrospective study reports the first Italian experience on CP donors' selection and donations.

Methods

Patients aged 18‐68 years who had recovered from COVID‐19 at least 2 weeks previously were recruited between March 18 and June 30, 2020 in a study protocol at the Italian hospitals of Pavia and Mantova.

Results

During the study period, 494 of 512 donors recruited were judged eligible and underwent 504 plasmapheresis procedures. Eighty‐five percent (437/512) of the CP donors were males. The average time between symptom recovery and CP donation was 36.6 (±20.0) days. Four hundred and eighty‐eight plasmapheresis procedures (96.8%) were concluded and each unit was divided into two subunits (total 976) with an average volume of 316.2 (±22.7) mL. Ninety‐three percent (460/494) of CP donors at the time of plasma donation had a neutralizing IgG titer ≥1:80. Plasmapheresis‐related adverse reactions occurred in 2.6% (13/504) of cases; all the reactions were mild and none required therapeutic intervention. Donors' age and COVID‐19 severity were positively associated with greater antibody responses.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates the feasibility and safety of a pilot CP program conducted in Italy. The identification of factors (ie, age and severity of COVID‐19) positively associated with higher neutralizing antibody titers at the time of donation may help to optimize the selection of CP donors.
SIMPLIFIED CONTROLLER DESIGN FOR OUTPUT PERFORMANCE UNDER COMMON INPUT LIMITATIONS WITH GENERALIZED INTEGRAL ANTI-WINDUP FOR A CLASS OF PROCESSES
Authors: Benjanarasuth Taworn
Published: November 2020

One of basic key tasks of a control system design is to achieve the desired output responses both in transient and steady states. Besides, the common input limitations, such as saturation and slew rate or at least avoiding a sudden jump in the command signal, must be considered in practice. However, popular controllers such as PI and PID cause sudden changes or even impulsive surges in the command signal under external excitations by a step reference input and/or step input/output disturbances. In this paper, a simplified controller design with its preferred structure models to meet the mentioned requirements is presented for a class of minimum-phase stable linear time-invariant single-input single-output processes with proper real rational transfer function. The structure of such controller is mathematically investigated and the result is that the controller must be strictly proper and containing an integral factor. The design procedure is simple and straightforward based on reference model matching and model cancellation with only two required conditions on the desired closed-loop transfer function which are its relative degree comparing to the processes to be controlled and the equality of the lower order coefficient(s) in its numerator and denominator polynomials. A generalized integral anti-windup structure, based on back calculation method and PI/PID anti-windup scheme, to lessen the saturation effect on the integral action of the proposed controller is additionally introduced by rearranging the controller in a parallel form with one separated integral control action portion. Numerical examples are investigated to demonstrate the design procedure and verify the success of the proposed controller to the required objectives.
G-torseurs en théorie de Hodgep-adique
Authors: Fargues Laurent
Published: November 2020

Étant donné un groupe réductif$G$sur une extension de degré fini de$\mathbb {Q}_p$on classifie les$G$-fibrés sur la courbe introduite dans Fargues and Fontaine [Courbes et fibrés vectoriels en théorie de Hodge$p$-adique, Astérisque406(2018)]. Le résultat est interprété en termes de l'ensemble$B(G)$de Kottwitz. On calcule également la cohomologie étale de la courbe à coefficients de torsion en lien avec la théorie du corps de classe local.
Regional variation in the reliability of sweat rate measured via the ventilated capsule technique during passive heating
Authors: Rutherford Maura M. , Akerman Ashley P. , Notley Sean R. , Meade Robert D. , Schmidt Madison D. , Kenny Glen P.
Published: November 2020

The ventilated capsule technique is widely used to measure time‐dependent changes in sweating in humans. However, evaluations of its reliability (consistency) have been restricted to the forearm, despite extensive regional heterogeneity in the sweating response. Given the importance of such information for experimental design, statistical analysis and interpretation, we determined the reliability of local sweat rate at nine sites during whole‐body passive (resting) heating. On three separate occasions, a water‐perfused suit was used to increase and clamp oesophageal temperature 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8°C above baseline in 14 young men [24 (SD 5) years of age], while sweat rate was measured at the forehead, chest, abdomen, biceps, forearm, hand, quadriceps, calf and foot using ventilated capsules (3.8 cm2). Absolute and relative reliability were determined via the coefficient of variation (CV) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. At low heat strain (0.6°C), almost all sites had acceptable relative reliability (ICC ≥ 0.70) and moderate absolute reliability (CV < 25%). At moderate heat strain (1.2°C), only the abdomen, hand, quadriceps and foot had acceptable relative reliability, whereas the forehead, abdomen, forearm, hand and quadriceps had moderate absolute reliability. At high heat strain (1.8°C), relative reliability was acceptable at the abdomen, quadriceps, calf and foot, whereas the chest, abdomen, forearm, hand, quadriceps, calf and foot had moderate absolute reliability. Our findings indicate that the measurement site and level of heat strain impact the consistency of local sweat rate measured via the ventilated capsule technique, and we demonstrate the possible implications for research design and data interpretation.
Measuring Wavelengths with LEGO® Bricks: Building a Michelson Interferometer for Quantitative Experiments
Authors: Haverkamp Nils , Holz Christoph , Ubben Malte , Pusch Alexander
Published: November 2020

The Michelson interferometer is one of the key experiments in modern physics when it comes to the topic of interference (Box 1). Experiments using interferometry have a high historic relevance as well as uses in current areas of research (quantum erasers, gravitational wave detection) and are used in higher education. Because of the high cost of commercial experimental sets (e.g., by Thorlabs, 3B Scientific, or PASCO), they are however not widely used in schools and are only used—if at all—in demonstration experiments. Alternatively there are several variations that have a more favorable pricing range and are still usable in experiments by students. These include a Michelson interferometer realized for example through modeling clay and microscope slides or through LEGO® bricks that can be used for a qualitative approach to interference phenomena. In addition to these variants, there are also few in favorable pricing ranges that can be used to generate quantitative experimental data.
Yo-Yo Jerk Dynamics in the Vicinity of the Lowest Point
Authors: Minkin Leonid , Sikes Daniel
Published: November 2020

The dynamics of yo-yo motion are considered in this article. Many textbooks have examined the “rolling” motion of a yo-yo as it moves vertically up or down. However, in the vicinity of the lowest point, a jerk in the string occurs as the center of mass transitions from a linear motion to a pure rotational motion (with respect to the end of the thread). String tension at the lowest point is calculated, and it is established that it is usually much greater than tension when the yo-yo moves up or down. Experimental data are in agreement with theoretical predictions.
Connecting Torque and Friction Using Tactile Learning Activities
Authors: Ganesh Padma
Published: November 2020

Kinesthetic experiences in the classroom seek to engage students by muscle movement, touch, or some form of physical activity. In this article, I describe an active learning session wherein students develop a qualitative understanding of center of mass and support forces using their sense of touch. The set of activities detailed here is based on a demonstration traditionally done by the instructor. When students conduct an in-class inquiry as opposed to watching passively, their excitement and enthusiasm can help them better understand the relationship between seemingly disconnected concepts of torque and friction.
Solving More ‘Calculus-Based’ Physics Problems with Trigonometry
Authors: Baum Dave
Published: November 2020

In a recent submission to The Physics Teacher, we related how trigonometric identities can be used to find the extremes of several functions in order to solve some standard physics problems that would usually be considered to require calculus. In this work, the functions to be examined are polynomials, which suggests the utilization of the multiple angle identities. Please note that an arrow indicates a step in which quantities irrelevant to the extremization process are simply dropped; as examples, adding a constant term to a function doesn’t change the domain positions of its extremes, nor does rescaling it by a positive factor. Rescaling by a negative factor of course exchanges its maximums and minimums.
Flipped Classes: An Opportunity for Low-Stakes Group Problem Solving
Authors: Matthews G. E. , Dostal Jack
Published: November 2020

We share a flipped class approach to university calculus-based general physics that shows increased learning and high student satisfaction compared to traditional lecture classes.
The Rhodes electric piano: Analysis and simulation of the inharmonic overtones
Authors: Gabrielli Leonardo , Cantarini Michela , Castellini Paolo , Squartini Stefano
Published: November 2020

The Rhodes piano is an electromechanical keyboard instrument, released for the first time in 1946 and subsequently manufactured for at least four decades, reaching an iconic status and being now generally referred to as the electric piano. A few academic works discuss its operating principle and propose different physical modeling strategies; however, the inharmonic modes that characterize the attack transient have not been subject of a dedicated study before. This study addresses this topic by first observing the spectrum at the pickup output, applying a psychoacoustic model to assess perceptual relevance, and then conducts a series of scanning laser Doppler vibrometry (SLDV) experiments on the Rhodes asymmetric tuning fork. This study compares the modes of the Rhodes piano to those of its individual parts, allowing for the extraction of important information regarding role and natural modes. On the basis of this study, numerical experiments are conducted that show the intermodulation of the modes due to the magnetic pickup and allow the tones produced by the Rhodes from the collected data to be closely matched. Finally, this study is able to extract the distribution of the most important modes found on the whole keyboard range of a Rhodes piano, which can be useful for sound synthesis.
Characterization of seafloor roughness from high-frequency acoustic backscattering measurements in shallow water off the west coast of India
Authors: Radhakrishnan Sreeram , A. P. Anu
Published: November 2020

Measurements of the reverberation time series are made at frequencies of 8, 10, and 12 kHz, and the corresponding acoustic bottom backscattering strengths are estimated as functions of grazing angle. The experiment was conducted in the western continental shelf of India (off Kerala) in water depth of ∼61 m where hard sandy sediments of biogenic origin are predominant. The average values of two-dimensional (2D) spectral strength (w2) and exponent (γ2) of seafloor roughness are obtained by inverting bottom backscattering strength data with the help of a scattering model, utilizing the genetic algorithm method. Measurements of one-dimensional interface roughness height are also carried out using a single beam echosounder to analyze the variability of bottom roughness in terms of spatial frequency. The spectral parameters estimated from roughness height measurements are compared to that obtained from inversion results. The 2D spectral strength and exponent of seafloor roughness estimated from the two methods agree with each other and are consistent with the typical values associated with sandy sediments.
Measurements of ear-canal cross-sectional areas from live human ears with implications for wideband acoustic immittance measurements
Authors: Voss Susan E. , Horton Nicholas J. , Fairbank Katherine E. , Xia Lu , Tinglin Lauren R. K. , Girardin Kathryn D.
Published: November 2020

Wideband acoustic immittance (WAI) measures are noninvasive diagnostic measurements that require an estimate of the ear canal's area at the measurement location. Yet, physical measurements of the area at WAI probe locations are lacking. Methods to measure ear-canal areas from silicone molds were developed and applied to 169 subjects, ages 18–75 years. The average areas at the canal's first bend and at 12 mm insertion depth, which are likely WAI probe locations, were 63.4 ± 13.5 and 61.6 ± 13.5 mm2, respectively. These areas are substantially larger than those assumed by current FDA-approved WAI measurement devices as well as areas estimated with acoustical methods or measured on cadaver ears. Left and right ears from the same subject had similar areas. Sex, height, and weight were not significant factors in predicting area. Age cohort was a significant predictor of area, with area increasing with decade of life. A subset of areas from the youngest female subjects did not show an effect of race on area (White or Chinese). Areas were also measured as a function of insertion depth of 4.8–13.2 mm from the canal entrance; area was largest closest to the canal entrance and systematically decreased with insertion depth.
Surface perturbation inverted from angle variations of eigenbeams in an ultrasonic waveguide
Authors: van Baarsel Tobias , Roux Philippe , Mars Jérôme Igor , Nicolas Barbara
Published: November 2020

Ocean acoustic tomography is traditionally performed using the travel-time variations of an acoustic path between a source and a receiver. In the context of shallow-water tomography and multipath propagation, the different acoustic paths can be correctly identified if the source and the receiver are arrays of transducers. Here, a double-beamforming algorithm can be applied to extract a collection of eigenbeams from the raw acoustic dataset. In this study, four observables can be measured for each eigenbeam: the travel-time, the amplitude, and the emitting and receiving angles. In this study, the sensitivity kernel (SK) formulation is used to establish a quantitative relation between a perturbation of the surface of an ultrasonic waveguide and the emitting and receiving angles of each eigenbeam. This theoretical relation is experimentally demonstrated using a forward model experiment designed to measure the SK. The SK formulation is then used in a second experiment to quantitatively and dynamically image the propagation of a surface wave traveling across the surface of the waveguide. The inversion results show that the quality of the joint inversion of the emitting and receiving angles is higher than previous results based on amplitude or travel-time observables.
Woodwind instrument design optimization based on impedance characteristics with geometric constraints
Authors: Ernoult Augustin , Vergez Christophe , Missoum Samy , Guillemain Philippe , Jousserand Michael
Published: November 2020

Computational optimization algorithms coupled with acoustic models of wind instruments provide instrument makers with an opportunity to explore new designs. Specifically, they enable the automatic discovery of geometries exhibiting desired resonance characteristics. In this paper, the design optimization of woodwind instruments with complex geometrical features (e.g., non-cylindrical bore profile and side holes with various radii and chimney heights) is investigated. Optimal geometric designs are searched so that their acoustic input impedance has peaks with specific target frequencies and amplitudes. However, woodwind instruments exhibit complex input impedance whose features, such as resonances, might have non-smooth evolution with respect to design variables, thus hampering gradient-based optimization. For this reason, this paper introduces new formulations of the impedance characteristics (resonance frequencies and amplitudes) using a regularized unwrapped angle of the reflection function. The approach is applied to an illustrative instrument subjected to geometric constraints similar to the ones encountered by manufacturers (a key-less pentatonic clarinet with two-registers). Three optimization problems are considered, demonstrating a strategy to simultaneously adjust several impedance characteristics on all fingerings.
Assessing the benefit of acoustic beamforming for listeners with aphasia using modified psychoacoustic methods
Authors: Villard Sarah , Kidd Gerald
Published: November 2020

Acoustic beamforming has been shown to improve identification of target speech in noisy listening environments for individuals with sensorineural hearing loss. This study examined whether beamforming would provide a similar benefit for individuals with aphasia (acquired neurological language impairment). The benefit of beamforming was examined for persons with aphasia (PWA) and age- and hearing-matched controls in both a speech masking condition and a speech-shaped, speech-modulated noise masking condition. Performance was measured when natural spatial cues were provided, as well as when the target speech level was enhanced via a single-channel beamformer. Because typical psychoacoustic methods may present substantial experimental confounds for PWA, clinically guided modifications of experimental procedures were determined individually for each PWA participant. Results indicated that the beamformer provided a significant overall benefit to listeners. On an individual level, both PWA and controls who exhibited poorer performance on the speech masking condition with spatial cues benefited from the beamformer, while those who achieved better performance with spatial cues did not. All participants benefited from the beamformer in the noise masking condition. The findings suggest that a spatially tuned hearing aid may be beneficial for older listeners with relatively mild hearing loss who have difficulty taking advantage of spatial cues.
Phonetic variability constrained bottleneck features for joint speaker recognition and physical task stress detection
Authors: Zhang Chunlei , Hansen John H. L.
Published: November 2020

Normalizing intrinsic variabilities (e.g., variability in speech production brought on by aging, physical or cognitive task stress, Lombard effect, etc.) in speech and speaker recognition models is essential for system robustness. This study focuses on analysis of speech under physical task stress with its application for speaker recognition and physical task stress detection. An innovative framework using deep neural networks (DNNs) for joint text-independent speaker recognition and physical task stress detection is proposed. Instead of processing consecutive feature frames like d-vectors (i.e., average of frame-level speaker specific features extracted with a speaker discriminative trained DNN), phonetic variability constrained feature vectors as inputs to train deep bottleneck neural networks is proposed. More specifically, a universal background model (UBM) with a small number of mixtures is employed to align the acoustic features. The innovative feature representation is then generated by selecting and concatenating frames according to the alignments from the UBM. The benefit of feature rearrangement is twofold. First, phonetic variability is largely constrained in the front-end feature vector. Second, by sampling a determined number of representations for each speaker/utterance, the issue of data imbalance and over-fitting is alleviated. Experiments for speaker recognition and physical stress detection are conducted on the UTScope-Physical Task Stress Corpus. Improved performance in terms of accuracy (for identification/detection task) and Equal Error Rate (for verification task) over a strong i-vector probabilistic linear discriminant analysis system confirms the effectiveness of this proposed method.
Atmospheric wind and temperature profiles inversion using infrasound: An ensemble model context
Authors: Vera Rodriguez I. , Näsholm S. P. , Le Pichon A.
Published: November 2020

This paper presents an inversion methodology where acoustic observations of infrasound waves are used to update an atmospheric model. This paper sought a flexible parameterization that permits to incorporate physical and numerical constraints without the need to reformulate the inversion. On the other hand, the optimization conveys an explicit search over the solution space, making the solver computationally expensive. Nevertheless, through a parallel implementation and the use of tight constraints, this study demonstrates that the methodology is computationally tractable. Constraints to the solution space are derived from the spread (variance) of ERA5 ensemble reanalysis members, which summarize the best current knowledge of the atmosphere from assimilated measurements and physical models. Similarly, the initial model temperature and winds for the inversion are chosen to be the average of these parameters in the ensemble members. The performance of the inversion is demonstrated with the application to infrasound observations from an explosion generated by the destruction of ammunition at Hukkakero, Finland. The acoustic signals are recorded at an array station located at 178 km range, which is within the classical shadow zone distance. The observed returns are assumed to come from stratospheric reflections. Thus, the reflection altitude is also an inverted parameter.
A hybrid time-frequency domain method to predict insertion loss of intake system
Authors: Liu Lianyun , Zheng Xu , Hao Zhiyong , Qiu Yi
Published: November 2020

A hybrid time-frequency domain method for predicting insertion loss (IL) of intake systems is investigated with detailed evaluation and optimization in terms of acoustic performance and intake efficiency for an automotive engine intake system. Instead of progressively coupling of both domain variables, as in the existing hybrid methods, the proposed method uses frequency-domain source impedance to characterize the acoustic source, and a time-domain method to analyze the acoustic transmission. A simplified equation is derived to predict IL using noise reduction (NR) and acoustic impedance Zl rather than four-pole transfer matrices as used in the traditional frequency-domain method and hybrid-domain method. The NR and Zl of intake systems calculated by the time-domain method are used to predict IL for the first time. This hybrid method has advantages of requiring no numerical engine model while considering the convective and dissipative effect of intake flow on a complex intake system. The predicted ILs of a quarter-wavelength tube and an optimized air cleaner were validated with the measured results. The proposed method and results are applicable and useful to the design of an intake system at an early stage of engine development.
Angular dependence of the acoustic signal of a microbubble cloud
Authors: Sujarittam Krit , Choi James J.
Published: November 2020

Microbubble-mediated ultrasound therapies have a common need for methods that can noninvasively monitor the treatment. One approach is to use the bubbles' acoustic emissions as feedback to the operator or a control unit. Current methods interpret the emissions' frequency content to infer the microbubble activities and predict therapeutic outcomes. However, different studies placed their sensors at different angles relative to the emitter and bubble cloud. Here, it is evaluated whether such angles influence the captured emissions such as the frequency content. In computer simulations, 128 coupled bubbles were sonicated with a 0.5-MHz, 0.35-MPa pulse, and the acoustic emissions generated by the bubbles were captured with two sensors placed at different angles. The simulation was replicated in experiments using a microbubble-filled gel channel (0.5-MHz, 0.19–0.75-MPa pulses). A hydrophone captured the emissions at two different angles. In both the simulation and the experiments, one angle captured periodic time-domain signals, which had high contributions from the first three harmonics. In contrast, the other angle captured visually aperiodic time-domain features, which had much higher harmonic and broadband content. Thus, by placing acoustic sensors at different positions, substantially different acoustic emissions were captured, potentially leading to very different conclusions about the treatment outcome.
Direct PCR on Tissue Samples To Detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex: an Alternative to the Bacteriological Culture
Authors: Lorente-Leal V. , Liandris E. , Pacciarini M. , Botelho A. , Kenny K. , Loyo B. , Fernández R. , Bezos J. , Domínguez L. , de Juan L. , Romero B.
Published: November 2020

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an ongoing issue in several countries within the European Union. Microbiological culture is the official confirmation technique for the presence of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
complex (MTBC) members in bovine tissues, but several methodological issues, such as moderate sensitivity and long incubation times, require the development of more sensitive and rapid techniques.
Complete Genome Sequences of Allofrancisella inopinata SYSU YG23 and Allofrancisella frigidaquae SYSU 10HL1970, Isolated from Water from Cooling Systems in China
Authors: Öhrman Caroline , Uneklint Ingrid , Karlsson Linda , Svensson Daniel , Forsman Mats , Sjödin Andreas
Published: November 2020

Near neighbors to the causative agent of tularemia,
Francisella tularensis
, isolated from diverse sources, have been reported in recent years. In this announcement, we present the complete sequence of the circular chromosome of one of the closest neighboring genera of
Francisella
, the type strains of
Allofrancisella inopinata
and
Allofrancisella frigidaquae
.
Functional Characterization of Circulating Mumps Viruses with Stop Codon Mutations in the Small Hydrophobic Protein
Authors: Stinnett Rita Czakó , Beck Andrew S. , Lopareva Elena N. , McNall Rebecca J. , Latner Donald R. , Hickman Carole J. , Rota Paul A. , Bankamp Bettina
Published: November 2020

Mumps virus (MuV) outbreaks occur in the United States despite high coverage with measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. Routine genotyping of laboratory-confirmed mumps cases has been practiced in the United States since 2006 to enhance mumps surveillance. This study reports the detection of unusual mutations in the small hydrophobic (SH) protein of contemporary laboratory-confirmed mumps cases and is the first to describe the impact of such mutations on SH protein function. These mutations are predicted to profoundly alter the amino acid sequence of the SH protein, which has been shown to antagonize host innate immune responses; however, they were neither associated with defects in virus replication nor attenuated protein function
in vitro
, consistent with detection in clinical specimens. A better understanding of the forces governing mumps virus sequence diversity and of the functional consequences of mutations in viral proteins is important for maintaining robust capacity for mumps detection and disease control.
Revising the Revisions: James Hutton’s Reputation among Geologists in the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Authors: Şengör A. M. Celâl
Published: November 2020

James Hutton’s Theory of the Earth, first published in 1785, was considered completely new by his contemporaries, different from anything that preceded it, and widely discussed both in Hutton’s own country and abroad—from St. Petersburg through Europe to New York. Yet a recent trend among some historians of geology is to characterize Hutton’s work as already behind the times in the late eighteenth century and remembered only because some later geologists found it convenient to represent it as a precursor of the prevailing opinions of the day. Painstakingly researched, richly referenced, and full of interesting stories, this Memoir shatters that line of thinking and restores Hutton’s standing as the father of modern geology, his ideas fully relevant to the geological problems of his day.
Effects of the dietary grain content on rumen and fecal microbiota of dairy cows
Authors: Kotz A. , Azevedo P.A. , Khafipour E. , Plaizier J.C.
Published: November 2020

Six non-lactating Holstein dairy cows received diets with forage to grain mixture ratios of 100:0 (G0), 75:25 (G25), and 50:50 (G50) that contained 0.5%, 10.0%, and 19.5% dry matter (DM) of starch, respectively. Rumen fluid and feces were sampled, and methane emissions were determined during the last week of 5 wk experimental periods. Taxonomic compositions of microbiota were determined using Illumina 16S rRNA sequencing. Increased grain feeding increased the acidity and volatile fatty acid concentrations of rumen fluid and feces, and decreased methane emissions expressed as L·kg−1 DM. Microbial diversities were highest for G25. The numbers of identified genera in rumen fluid were 185, 182, and 171 for G0, G25, and G50, respectively. In feces, these numbers were 197, 182, and 171 for these diets, respectively. In rumen digesta, seven genera were correlated positively to G0 and negatively to G50, and six genera were correlated negatively to G0 and positively to G50. In feces, 16 genera were correlated positively to G0 and negatively to G50, and 13 genera were correlated negatively to G0 and positively to G50. Increasing grain feeding affected a limited number of genera in rumen digesta and feces. This could not explain treatment effects on the functionalities of microbiota.
An Experimental Review on Deep Learning Architectures for Time Series Forecasting
Authors: Lara-Benítez Pedro , Carranza-García Manuel , Riquelme José C.
Published: November 2020

In recent years, deep learning techniques have outperformed traditional models in many machine learning tasks. Deep neural networks have successfully been applied to address time series forecasting problems, which is a very important topic in data mining. They have proved to be an effective solution given their capacity to automatically learn the temporal dependencies present in time series. However, selecting the most convenient type of deep neural network and its parametrization is a complex task that requires considerable expertise. Therefore, there is a need for deeper studies on the suitability of all existing architectures for different forecasting tasks. In this work, we face two main challenges: a comprehensive review of the latest works using deep learning for time series forecasting and an experimental study comparing the performance of the most popular architectures. The comparison involves a thorough analysis of seven types of deep learning models in terms of accuracy and efficiency. We evaluate the rankings and distribution of results obtained with the proposed models under many different architecture configurations and training hyperparameters. The datasets used comprise more than 50,000 time series divided into 12 different forecasting problems. By training more than 38,000 models on these data, we provide the most extensive deep learning study for time series forecasting. Among all studied models, the results show that long short-term memory (LSTM) and convolutional networks (CNN) are the best alternatives, with LSTMs obtaining the most accurate forecasts. CNNs achieve comparable performance with less variability of results under different parameter configurations, while also being more efficient.
Hardware-neutral tools for the exploration of optical phenomena in near-resonant atomic systems
Authors: Silva Nuno A. , Ferreira Tiago , Guerreiro Ariel
Published: November 2020

In the last three decades, a lot of research has been devoted to the optical response of an atomic media in near-to-resonant conditions and to how nonlinear optical properties are enhanced in these systems. However, as current research turns its attention towards multi-level and multidimensional systems interacting with several electromagnetic fields, the ever-increasing complexity of these problems makes it difficult to treat the semiclassical model of the Maxwell–Bloch equations analytically without any strongly-limiting approximations. Thus, numerical methods and particularly robust and fast computational tools, capable of addressing such class of modern and future problems in photonics, are mandatory. In this paper, we describe the development and implementation of a Maxwell–Bloch numerical solver that exploits the massive parallelism of the GPUs to tackle efficiently problems in multidimensional settings or featuring Doppler broadening effects. This constitutes a simulation tool that is capable of addressing a vast class of problems with considerable reduction of simulation time, featuring speedups up to 15 compared with the same codes running on a CPU.
Injection of hydrogen sonic multi-jet on inclined surface at supersonic flow
Authors: Hassanvand Amin , Gerdroodbary M. Barzegar , Abazari Amir Musa
Published: November 2020

The efficient fuel injection system is a vital part of scramjet for a high-speed flight. In this scientific study, the effects of the multi fuel jets on the inclined surface are investigated at the supersonic air stream with Mach[Formula: see text]. This study employed the CFD technique for the simulation of the interaction of multi hydrogen-jets with free stream airflow. The impressions of inclined surface angle and hydrogen jet total pressure on the fuel mixing zone are disclosed. The Mach contour on the jet plane is presented to describe the chief terms on the distribution and penetration of hydrogen jet inside the combustion chamber. To perform a 3D computational study, the RANS equation with the SST turbulence model is used. Our study shows that the mixing performance of multi jets enhances in high jet pressure when the angle of the tending exterior is raised. Our findings also demonstrate that power and slant of the separation shock is highly effective on the size of the mixing zone.
MECHANICAL SIMULATION AND ELECTROCHEMICAL CORROSION IN A BURIED PIPELINE WITH CORROSION DEFECTS SITUATED IN PERMAFROST REGIONS
Authors: LI XIAOLI , CHEN LI , LIU XIAOYAN , ZHANG YU , CUI LIFU
Published: November 2020

The geological environment along a buried pipeline in permafrost regions is complex, where differential frost heave often occurs. To understand the changes in the stress behavior of pipeline structures caused by corrosion while laying them in permafrost regions, we established a thermo-mechanical coupling model of buried pipeline with corrosion defects by using finite element software. Numerical simulation analysis of buried pipeline was conducted. The effects of the frost heave length, the length of the transition section, the corrosion depth, and the corrosion length on the stress displacement were obtained. These analyses showed that the stresses and displacements of the pipeline with corrosion defects in permafrost regions can be simulated by using the finite element software numerical simulation method. Afterward, the corrosion resistances of pipelines with different corrosion lengths and depths were investigated via an electrochemical testing method. These results can provide some useful insights into the possible mechanical state of buried pipeline with regard to their design and construction, as well as some useful theoretical references for simulating real-time monitoring and safety analysis for their operation in permafrost regions.
Quantum Strassen’s theorem
Authors: Friedland Shmuel , Ge Jingtong , Zhi Lihong
Published: November 2020

Strassen’s theorem circa 1965 gives necessary and sufficient conditions on the existence of a probability measure on two product spaces with given support and two marginals. In the case where each product space is finite, Strassen’s theorem is reduced to a linear programming problem which can be solved using flow theory. A density matrix of bipartite quantum system is a quantum analog of a probability matrix on two finite product spaces. Partial traces of the density matrix are analogs of marginals. The support of the density matrix is its range. The analog of Strassen’s theorem in this case can be stated and solved using semidefinite programming. The aim of this paper is to give analogs of Strassen’s theorem to density trace class operators on a product of two separable Hilbert spaces, where at least one of the Hilbert spaces is infinite-dimensional.
White noise delta functions and infinite-dimensional Laplacians
Authors: Accardi Luigi , Hasegawa Ai , Ji Un Cig , Saitô Kimiaki
Published: November 2020

In this paper, we introduce a new white noise delta function based on the Kubo–Yokoi delta function and an infinite-dimensional Brownian motion. We also give a white noise differential equation induced by the delta function through the Itô formula introducing a differential operator directed by the time derivative of the infinite-dimensional Brownian motion and an extension of the definition of the Volterra Laplacian. Moreover, we give an extension of the Itô formula for the white noise distribution of the infinite-dimensional Brownian motion.
Vector bundles satisfying the point property
Authors: Gupta Punam , Singh Sanjay Kumar
Published: November 2020

In this note, we prove that vector bundles which satisfy the point property over a very general principally polarized Jacobian, Prym and abelian variety are indecomposable. We also compare two known constructions of vector bundles satisfying the point property over a very general principally polarized abelian surface.
The Role of Knowledge Management in the Transition from Entrepreneurial Intention to Entrepreneurial Action in the Case of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Authors: Alfalih Abdullah Abdulmohsen
Published: November 2020

This paper presents an analysis of intermediate impacts from knowledge management between entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial action. Results from data for 110 small and medium-sized enterprises in Gulf countries show the presence of a partial mediation from knowledge management linking entrepreneurial intention with the transition to action. Moreover, following the approaches of previous authors, the results show the presence of a moderating influence from knowledge management on the relation between entrepreneurial intention and the transition to entrepreneurial action. The originality of this research lies in its attempt to apprehend the relationship between entrepreneurial intent and action by using a knowledge-based model.
Lyra’s cosmology of homogeneous and isotropic universe in Brans–Dicke theory
Authors: Prasad Rajendra , Gupta Lalit Kumar , Yadav Anil Kumar
Published: November 2020

In this paper, we investigate a scalar field Brans–Dicke cosmological model in Lyra’s geometry which is based on the modifications in a geometrical term as well as energy term of Einstein’s field equations. We have examined the validity of the proposed cosmological model on the observational scale by performing statistical analysis from the latest [Formula: see text] and SN Ia observational data. We find that the estimated values of Hubble’s constant and matter energy density parameter is in agreement with their corresponding values, obtained from recent observations of Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and Plank collaboration. We also derived the deceleration parameter, age of the universe and jerk parameter in terms of red-shift and computed its present values. The dynamics of the deceleration parameter in the derived model of the universe show a signature flipping from positive to a negative value and also indicate that the present universe is in the accelerating phase.
Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets-Immobilized Single-Atom Zn Towards Efficient Electroreduction of CO2
Authors: Zhang Nan , Hussain M. Irfan , Xia Min , Ge Changchun
Published: November 2020

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 into carbon-containing chemical product is greatly desired for mitigating the air pollution and energy crisis. However, there is great challenge to design highly active and stable electrocatalyst for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Here, we develop a facile strategy of graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets-immobilized single-atom Zn (ZnSA–CN–G) to control the mitigation of electrocatalytic CO2RR. The as-synthesized ZnSA–CN–G nanosheets not only possess abundant single-atom Zn as active sites, but also show unique architectures with high surface area and high electrical conductivity. Consequently, the ZnSA–CN–G nanosheets exhibit high electrocatalytic selectivity for CO2RR, including a high Faradaic efficiency value of 87.1% for the production of CO at [Formula: see text]0.5[Formula: see text]V versus RHE. Moreover, such simple approach can be further applied to synthesize a variety of other single-atom catalysts.
Identification of oral squamous cell carcinoma in optical coherence tomography images based on texture features
Authors: Yang Zihan , Shang Jianwei , Liu Chenlu , Zhang Jun , Liang Yanmei
Published: November 2020

Surgical excision is an effective treatment for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), but exact intraoperative differentiation OSCC from the normal tissue is the first premise. As a noninvasive imaging technique, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the nearly same resolution as the histopathological examination, whose images contain rich information to assist surgeons to make clinical decisions. We extracted kinds of texture features from OCT images obtained by a home-made swept-source OCT system in this paper, and studied the identification of OSCC based on different combinations of texture features and machine learning classifiers. It was demonstrated that different combinations had different accuracies, among which the combination of texture features, gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), Laws’ texture measures (LM), and center symmetric auto-correlation (CSAC), and SVM as the classifier, had the optimal comprehensive identification effect, whose accuracy was 94.1%. It was proven that it is feasible to distinguish OSCC based on texture features in OCT images, and it has great potential in helping surgeons make rapid and accurate decisions in oral clinical practice.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Specialized Curricula in Cyber Defense
Authors: Armstrong Miriam E. , Jones Keith S. , Namin Akbar Siami , Newton David C.
Published: November 2020

More specialized cybersecurity education programs are needed to address workforce needs, but it is unclear which knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) fulfil industry needs. We interviewed 48 professionals within four cyber defense specialty areas: (1) Cyber Network Defense Analysis, (2) Cyber Network Defense Infrastructure Support, (3) Incident Response, and (4) Vulnerability Assessment and Management. The professionals rated a number of specialized KSAs along two dimensions: how important the KSA was to their job and how difficult the KSA was to learn. Overall, communication and other non-technical skills were rated as being very important for all cyber defense jobs. Findings indicated that, for some specialty areas, technical knowledge and skills vary considerably between jobs and so the ability to teach oneself is more valuable than proficiency in any one KSA. Findings may be used to inform the development of general cybersecurity curricula, as well as curricula that focus on Cyber Network Defense Analysis, Cyber Network Defense Infrastructure Support, or Vulnerability Assessment and Management.