bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical Significance of Serum Galactose-Deficient IgA1 Level in Children with IgA Nephropathy
Authors: Irabu Hitoshi , Shimizu Masaki , Kaneko Shuya , Inoue Natsumi , Mizuta Mao , Ohta Kazuhide , Yachie Akihiro
Published: May 2020

This study was aimed at investigating the clinical significance of serum galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) levels measured by a novel lectin-independent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using an anti-Gd-IgA1 monoclonal antibody (KM55) as a disease-specific biomarker for IgA nephropathy (IgAN) in children. Thirty-three children with IgAN, 40 with non-IgA glomerular diseases, and 38 age-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Serum Gd-IgA1 levels were quantified by ELISA using KM55. Results were statistically compared with clinical features and pathological findings of IgAN. Serum Gd-IgA1 levels were significantly elevated in children with IgAN compared with children with non-IgA glomerular diseases and HCs. Serum Gd-IgA1 levels in children with IgAN were positively correlated with serum total IgA levels. However, the serum Gd-IgA1/total IgA ratio (Gd-IgA1/IgA) was also significantly elevated in children with IgAN. Serum Gd-IgA1 levels in children with IgAN increased in an age-dependent manner. The cutoff value of serum Gd-IgA1 levels for differentiating IgAN from non-IgA glomerular diseases was 3236 in children<12 years and 5284 in children≥12 years, respectively. In contrast, serum Gd-IgA1/IgA was age-independent. The cutoff value of serum Gd-IgA1/IgA for differentiating IgAN from non-IgA glomerular diseases was 0.2401. Serum Gd-IgA1 levels were negatively correlated with eGFR and positively correlated with mesangial IgA deposition. In contrast, serum Gd-IgA1/IgA levels were not correlated with any clinical parameters of IgAN. In conclusion, serum Gd-IgA1 levels were significantly elevated in children with IgAN. However, those levels were age-dependent; therefore, serum Gd-IgA1 levels classified by age and/or serum Gd-IgA1/IgA might have diagnostic values in children with IgAN.
Indonesian news classification using convolutional neural network
Authors: Ali Ramdhani Muhammad , Maylawati Dian Sa’adillah , Mantoro Teddy
Published: May 2020

Every language has unique characteristics, structures, and grammar. Thus, different styles will have different processes and result in processed in Natural Language Processing (NLP) research area. In the current NLP research area, Data Mining (DM) or Machine Learning (ML) technique is popular, especially for Deep Learning (DL) method. This research aims to classify text data in the Indonesian language using Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) as one of the DL algorithms. The CNN algorithm used modified following the Indonesian language characteristics. Thereby, in the text pre-processing phase, stopword removal and stemming are particularly suitable for the Indonesian language. The experiment conducted using 472 Indonesian News text data from various sources with four categories: ‘hiburan’ (entertainment), ‘olahraga’ (sport), ‘tajuk utama’ (headline news), and ‘teknologi’ (technology). Based on the experiment and evaluation using 377 training data and 95 testing data, producing five models with ten epoch for each model, CNN has the best percentage of accuracy around 90,74% and loss value around 29,05% for 300 hidden layers in classifying the Indonesian News data.
Exploration of the best performance method of emotions classification for arabic tweets
Authors: Al-Hagery Mohammed Abdullah , Al-assaf Manar Abdullah , Al-kharboush Faiza Mohammad
Published: May 2020

Arab users of social media have significantly increased, thus increasing the opportunities for extracting knowledge from various areas of life such as trade, education, psychological health services, etc. The active Arab presence on Twitter motivates many researchers to classify and analysis Arabic tweets from numerous aspects. This study aimed to explore the best performance scenarios in the classification of emotions conveyed through Arabic tweets. Hence, various experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of feature extraction techniques and the N-gram model on the performance of three supervised machine learning algorithms, which are Support Vector Machine (SVM), Naïve Bayes (NB), and Logistic Regression (LR). The general method of the experiments was based on five steps; data collection, preprocessing, feature extraction, emotion classification, and evaluation of results. To implement these experiments, a real-world Twitter dataset was gathered. The best result achieved by the SVM classifier when using a bag of words (BoW) weighting schema (with unigrams and bigrams or with unigrams, bigrams, and trigrams) exceeded the best performance results of other algorithms.
Countermeasures against darknet localisation attacks with packet sampling
Authors: Narita Masaki , Kamada Keisuke , Ogura Kanayo , Bista Bhed Bahadur , Takata Toyoo
Published: May 2020

The darknet monitoring system consists of network sensors widely deployed on the Internet to capture incoming unsolicited packets. A goal of this system is to analyse captured malicious packets and provide effective information to protect regular nonmalicious Internet users from malicious activities. To provide effective and reliable information, the location of sensors must be concealed. However, attackers launch localisation attacks to detect sensors in order to evade them. If the actual location of sensors is revealed, it is almost impossible to identify the latest tactics used by attackers. Thus, in a previous study, we proposed a packet sampling method, which samples incoming packets based on an attribute of the packet sender, to increase tolerance to a localisation attack and maintain the quality of information publicised by the system. We were successful in countering localisation attacks, which generate spikes on the publicised graph to detect a sensor. However, in some cases, with the previously proposed sampling method, spikes were clearly evident on the graph. Therefore, in this paper, we propose advanced sampling methods such that incoming packets are sampled based on multiple attributes of the packet sender. We present our improved methods and show promising evaluation results obtained via a simulation.
Phenomenological model of information operation in social networking services
Authors: Molodetska Kateryna , Tymonin Yuriy , Markovets Oleksandr , Melnychyn Andrii
Published: May 2020

In modern conditions, social networking services have become the users’ leading channel of communication, which are called actors. Therefore, social networking services are used by intruders to gain benefits in the information space of virtual communities for further influence on political and social processes in the state. In the article the phenomenological model of information operation in social networking services is developed. The model allows to take into account the processes of development of social networking services through the formation of new relationships between actors and the formation of virtual communities. At the same time, behind the model are the processes of degradation of social networking services that are associated with the dissipation of content. The developed model is used for experimental research of real information operation in social networking services. The obtained results will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of counteracting the threats to information security of the state in social networking services by the relevant departments.
Wideband millimeter wave rectangular dielectric resonator antenna for 5G applications
Authors: Gaya Abinash , Jamaluddin Mohd Haizal , Ali Irfan
Published: May 2020

A probe fed rectangular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is designed here for millimeter wave 5G applications. A wide bandwidth of 5GHz has been achieved with frequency range from 24.24GHz to 29. 20GHz. The calculated percentage banwidth is 19% centered at 26GHz. The DRA is fed by a probe with a microstrip line of unequal strip dimensions over the substrate.
 The measured gain of the antenna is 6.25dBi. The calculated radiation efficiency is 96%. The measured axial ratio bandwidth is from 24.08GHz to 23.90GHz, which is about 0.75 percentage bandwidth. The probe height above to the substrate is optimized to exite the DRA. The microstripline coupling is used to resonate the DRA at desizred resonating frequency.
 The widebandwidth with high efficiency achived here will make this antenna suitable for the 5G applications at band 30 GHz.
Physical layer security in hybrid TPSR two-way half-duplex relaying networks over rayleigh fading channel: non-zero secrecy probability analysis
Authors: Tin Phu Tran , Ha Duy Hung , Tran Minh
Published: May 2020

In this paper, we proposed and investigated the Hybrid TPSR Two-Way Half-Duplex (HD) Relaying Communication Networks Over Rayleigh Fading Channel in the presence of the Eavesdropper (E). The system model consists of two sources A and B communicate with each other with helping of intermediate Relay (R). For the system performance analysis, we analyzed and derived the exact and approximate integral-form of the system Non-zero secrecy probability (NZSP) in the case that the E uses the MRC (maximal ratio combining) technique. In addition, the effect of the main system parameters on the system performance is investigated. Finally, all the research results are convinced by the Monte Carlo Simulation. This paper can provide a novel recommendation for relaying communication network manufacture.In this paper, we proposed and investigated the Hybrid TPSR Two-Way Half-Duplex (HD) Relaying Communication Networks Over Rayleigh Fading Channel in the presence of the Eavesdropper (E). The system model consists of two sources A and B communicate with each other with helping of intermediate Relay (R). For the system performance analysis, we analyzed and derived the exact and approximate integral-form of the system Non-zero secrecy probability (NZSP) in the case that the E uses the MRC (maximal ratio combining) technique. In addition, the effect of the main system parameters on the system performance is investigated. Finally, all the research results are convinced by the Monte Carlo Simulation. This paper can provide a novel recommendation for relaying communication network manufacture.
Digital control strategy for SPWM MPPT of PV system with three-phase NPC three-level converter
Authors: Aref Mahmoud , Ahmed Ismaiel , Oboskalov Vladislav
Published: May 2020

This paper is aimed at investigating MPPT of PV system controlled by SPWM which is generated by comparing sinusoidal wave with variable frequency sawtooth wave. Perturb and Observe (P&O) method is used for MPPT control of PV system. NPC three-phase three-level converter with LCL filter is designed to produce output voltage with minimum Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and high efficiency. The simple and fast method to get MPP of PV system with variable irradiation is digital control where the maximum power point is obtained from look-up table for the values of optimum voltage that achieve the maximum power for each irradiance value is used for digital control signal in microcontroller. The output voltage harmonic of multi-level three-phase inverter is controlled using SPWM control. THD of output voltage of multi-level three-phase inverter is 22% of stand-alone and grid-connected PV system. Small rate LCL filter is used to limit voltage harmonics within medium and low voltage limits (5%). THD output voltage of LCL filter is 4.9% and 3.51% of stand-alone and grid-connected PV system respectively. 
The MRAC based-adaptive control system for controlling the speed of direct current motor
Authors: Nguyen Manh-Cuong , Vuong Duc-Phuc , Nguyen Trong-Thang
Published: May 2020

This research aims to propose an adaptive control system for controlling the speed of the Direct Current (DC) motor. The system consists of two control loops: the first control loop is a traditional PID controller and the second control loop is an adaptive controller. The role of the adaptive controller is adjusting the output of the control object follows with the output of the reference model. The adjustment mechanism is very simple, but the quality of the whole system is very high: the conversion time is short and there isn't overshoot. The quality of the proposed adaptive control system is also compared to the traditional PID control system to show the advantages of the new system.
Encryption and hiding text using DNA coding and hyperchaotic system
Authors: Al-Khateeb Zeena N. , Jader Melad
Published: May 2020

In this paper, a secure data encryption using DNA sequence operation in a new and innovative direction different from the traditional direction, DNA coding uses the eight rules of DNA code based on a sequence of letter in text that provides the possibility of encrypting the same letter or word in more than one form in one text-based on sequence of this letter or word in the text. Then hiding technique implemented based on a hyperchaotic system. To increase the security of encryption text, we use the hyperchaotic system for obtaining the color image position that used to hide on it. The proposed steganography method hides a letter of the encrypted text in each pixel of the cover image, thus giving the possibility of hiding large text data. Some metrics have been applied to the proposed algorithm such as NPCR analyses, MSE, Correlation, and BER, The results of the simulation and security analysis showed that the new DNA coding is suitable for text encryption/decryption and that the super-chaotic map is suitable for hiding/extract the encrypted data, which indicates that the proposed encryption algorithm has a good encryption and hiding effect. Can resist brute statistical attack, force attack, differential.
Three-wavelength system for practical application in skin oximetry: simultaneous equations with prediction-correction approach
Authors: Huong Audrey , W. Mahmud W. Mahani Hafizah , Ngu Xavier
Published: May 2020

This paper presented the use of a three-wavelength system coupled with a prediction-correction model for the measurement of a person’s tissue oxygen levels and in the eﬀorts towards the development of a ﬁeld-portable system. This study considered light wavelength of market-available emitters in the range 500 − 650 nm for its practical implementation. This approach required the use of light attenuation and hemoglobin absorptivity information of three diﬀerent wavelengths in determining tissue oxygen saturation value, StO2. It was found through the analysis of results using Monte Carlo method that considerable improvement in the accuracy of the predictions was obtained using the corrective models (ρ =0.874). The low mean prediction errors of similar magnitude, not exceeding 4 %, given by two wavelength combinations 538, 560, 633 nm and 538, 560, 650 nm were observed for signals with signal-noise ratio (SNR) of down to 30 dB. A signiﬁcant statistical diﬀerence was found between the prediction errors and the wavelength combination used under this noise condition (ρ =0.011). This work concluded that the ﬁndings of this study provide insights into technology implementation of skin oximetry and the possible impacts it might have in medical arena.
Circular polarization reconfigurable antenna for mid-band 5G applications with a new reconfigurable technique
Authors: AL-Muttairi Alaa Imran , Farhan Malik Jasim
Published: May 2020

In this paper, a novel low cost, single-feed, and circular polarization reconfigurable antenna is designed and fabricated for future mid-band 5G applications. An innovative technique is used in this approach, which combines three techniques, namely: polygon U-slot, switchable vertical or horizontal slots, and shorting posts. The proposed antenna can alter its polarization sense between RHCP and LHCP with the ability to adjust the axial ratio position with respect to frequency along the impedance bandwidth of the antenna. The antenna is built on RT/duroid 5880 substrate with a maximum size of (31*31*3.15) .Two real diodes are integrated across the slot to change polarization sense. CST commercial software is used to simulate the antenna, and then it is fabricated and measured practically. Good agreements between the two results are achieved. However, The antenna has impedance bandwidth starting from 3.4995GHz to 3.73GHz with overlapped axial ratio bandwidth of 2.1% for both operation senses. Also, the antenna has good gain, and it has one resonant frequency at 3.6GHz for both operating states.
Daily predictions of solar radiation utilizing genetic programming techniques
Authors: Kulsum Nadya Rahima Ummi , Ahmed Ali Najah , A. Borhana Abdoulhdi , Mardhiah N. A. , El-Shafie Amr , El-Shafie Ahmed
Published: May 2020

The solar radiation prediction in Kuala Terengganu located in Terengganu, Malaysia was investigated in this study to improve the solar system design. Solar radiation data and number of parameters such as solar radiation, temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunshine hours were obtained from Malaysian Meteorological Malaysia MMD. In order to predict the solar radiation, Genetic Programming Techniques (GP) models were develop and tested. Two scenarios were considered in this study in order to validate the efficiency of the proposed model. Coefficients of determination (R2) for the solar radiation during training and testing phases were ranged between 0.99402 to 0.98934 for all months of the year. This study confirms the ability of GP to predict solar radiation values precisely and accurately. The predictions from the GP models could enable scientists to locate
 and design solar energy systems in Malaysia.
Color moment and gray level co-occurrence matrix in classification of soil organic matter for patchouli plantation
Authors: Dewi Candra , Grahadhuita Akbar , Muflikhah Lailil
Published: May 2020

Patchouli is one of the essential plants that have the most potential and widely cultivated in Indonesia. Patchouli is greedily absorbing soil nutrients and organic matter. Therefore, the selection of soil with high organic matter will maximize the patchouli’s productivity. This paper aims to facilitate soil’s organic matter identification by classifying soil image based on the combination of color and texture features. The color feature extraction was done using the Color Moments method and the texture feature was done using Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) method. The selection of features was performed to obtain the best combination of color and texture features. The selected features then was used as input of classification by using Modified K-Nearest Neighbor (MKNN). The samples of soil that used as data were taken from several districts in Blitar, East Java province. The testing result of this research showed the highest accuracy of 93,33% by using 180 training data, and also particular color and texture feature combination.
A tétrade de McLuhan na pesquisa em comunicação: revisão sistemática de aplicações no Brasil e em Portugal
Authors: Dall'Agnese Carolina Weber , Canavilhas João , Barichello Eugenia Maria Mariano da Rocha
Published: May 2020

O artigo apresenta os resultados de um trabalho exploratório para mapear a aplicação da tétrade de McLuhan em pesquisas da área da comunicação no Brasil e em Portugal. A metodologia usada foi a revisão sistemática da literatura publicada na última década (2009-2019). Para tal mapeamento, trabalhos acadêmicos (teses, dissertações, artigos e capítulos) foram localizados a partir de sistemas de indexação, repositórios públicos e motores de busca especializados. O objetivo foi descobrir como a tétrade vem sendo aplicada e a que objetos. Por fim, são apontadas potencialidades da ferramenta, chamada por McLuhan de “sonda exploratória”
The differences of midialogy’s communication
Authors: Ferrara Lucrécia D’Alessio
Published: May 2020

This study aims to analyze the differences between media and medialogy to reach the matrices that are writing a new epistemology of communication. The study of medialogy contemplates investigative views based on the characteristics of Western civilizations developed amid communicative practices of administrative utilitarian use until taking on another investigative aspect within the contemporary and under the influence of digital media. This media is rooted in the observation of political dimensions of communication that reach greater complexity and demand in their investigative paths, presenting another epistemological aspect, which, through dialogue, overcomes the linearity of communication as a scientific area that is more persuasive than social.
A comunidade na expropriação: modos de alteridade no cinema de Pedro Costa
Authors: Costa Júnior Edson Pereira da
Published: May 2020

O artigo discute os modos de alteridade evidenciados pelos elementos estruturais de Ossos (1997), No quarto da Vanda (2000) e Juventude em marcha (2006), de Pedro Costa. Ao descrever e analisar as formas fílmicas escolhidas para construir vias de acesso entre os corpos em cena, valorizando a constante exposição ao outro, busca-se apresentar como o cinema do realizador português constitui uma comunidade intrínseca à expropriação. O artigo opta por um viés comparatista entre os filmes de Costa e os de cineastas que oinfluenciaram, como John Ford e Yasujiro Ozu; para além da breve consulta a obras de Van Gogh e Gustave Courbet, artistas que compartilham motivos visuais e, acreditamos, uma sensibilidade social comum com o diretor.
A Influência da Infraestrutura de Transporte na Mobilidade do Turista em Ambientes Insulares
Authors: Peixoto Nathane Eva Santos , Silva Elisangela Aparecida Machado da , Ribeiro Hugo Alves Silva
Published: May 2020

A dispersão de atrativos pelo destino turístico prescinde a movimentação dos visitantes. Isso justifica a importância da infraestrutura de transporte disponível e dos mecanismos de promoção da mobilidade para os deslocamentos. Diante de tal importância, este artigo objetivou avaliar as infraestruturas de transporte que influenciam na mobilidade do turista na ilha de Fernando de Noronha, Brasil. Metodologicamente, foi realizado estudo de caso único, com coleta de dados advinda da observação in loco, complementada por análise de dados secundários. Dentre os principais achados, tem-se que o deslocamento a pé é a principal alternativa de mobilidade no ambiente analisado. Isso porque muitos atrativos não estão diretamente conectados com as infraestruturas que atendem ao transporte motorizado. Ante as características geográficas insulares que promove diferentes níveis de dificuldade, algumas caminhadas tornam-se demasiadamente longas o que exige capacidade física do visitante. A mobilidade turística em destinos insulares prescinde de maior apreensão técnica sobre o nível de caminhabilidade proporcionada aos visitantes. Isso requer estudos de soluções alinhadas às restrições normativas ambientais, ao interesse de promover inclusão e, sobretudo, de ofertar estruturas em conformidade ao perfil dos visitantes. Ao final, esta pesquisa auxilia a desenvolver soluções a partir da contribuição multidisciplinar dos campos de estudo do turismo e dos transportes.

Palavras-chave: infraestrutura de transporte, mobilidade, destino turístico.
Humanidade e crítica de Harun Farocki
Authors: Sant'Anna Antonio Carlos Vargas , Person Flávia
Published: May 2020

Este artigo apresenta o resultado de uma investigação sobre o documentário do cineasta Harun Farocki, Imagens da prisão, e identifica seis conjuntos de imagens recorrentes que foram organizados em blocos temáticos: “Corpo disciplinado”, “Corpo oprimido”, “Corpo vigiado”, “A tecnologia como instrumento de dessubjetivação”, “Trabalho e prisão” e “O desejo”. Essa estruturação permitiu uma compreensão do seu pensamento poético e intelectual, evidenciando não apenas a sensibilidade e caráter inovador da estrutura formal de seu trabalho, mas, sobretudo, uma dimensão crítica e humana que adquire especial relevância nos dias atuais. O artigo evidencia o raciocínio do artista ao relacionar a produção das imagens na sociedade contemporânea e o processo de desumanização, que se encontra tanto nos meios de produção quanto no encarceramento.
Publicamos para encontrar camaradas
Authors: Cadôr Amir Brito
Published: May 2020

Artigo a respeito das revistas de artista publicadas no Brasil no período de 1952 a 1988, no qual se mostra a formação de uma rede de colaboradores que perpassa a maioria das publicações, com destaque ao papel que tiveram as revistas para o surgimento dos livros de artista. O artigo é resultado de um mapeamento inédito das revistas, realizado com o objetivo de montar uma exposição dedicada ao tema. Esse tipo de produção, ignorado por boa parte da historiografia brasileira, até mesmo em estudos sobre os livros de artista, é fundamental para entender o fenômeno atual das publicações de artista.
Era uma vez em Westworld
Authors: Oliveira Junior Luiz Carlos
Published: May 2020

Este artigo analisa a ficção televisiva Westworld buscando elucidar a inserção da série na onda distópica contemporânea e sua representação de uma crise do sujeito humanista moderno. Outros aspectos destacados são a relação entre humanos e máquinas, sua ressignificação dos códigos do western cinematográfico, sua complexidade narrativa e as alusões à iconografia da pintura de natureza morta.
Mudança no MoMA
Authors: Foster Hal
Published: May 2020

Neste texto, Hal Foster examina a iniciativa do Museu de Arte Moderna de Nova York, historicamente reconhecido como bastião do modernismo, de confrontar as transformações no meio artístico global e as novas exigências de um ampliado público de arte. Foster comenta o que vê como os grandes acertos dessa iniciativa – dentre eles, a maior diversidade das obras em relação a gênero, raça e proveniência dos artistas –, mas também os seus problemas, como a desautorização de critérios baseados na história da arte em prol de arranjos meramente caprichosos ou fundados na semelhança morfólogica das obras. Foster nota que mudanças semelhantes vêm ocorrendo em outros grandes museus nos Estados Unidos e assinala a premissa populista que subjaz a muitas delas.
Regimes escópicos da modernidade
Authors: Jay Martin
Published: May 2020

Neste texto, Martin Jay debruça-se sobre a perspectiva cartesiana, explorando principalmente as consequências de sua invenção para o regime visual da modernidade. Ele defende que a perspectiva cartesiana, dada sua grande adesão durante o Renascimento, foi tomada desde então como equivalente do modelo escópico moderno. Diante disso, Jay reavalia a suposta unidade desse arranjo visual, enunciando os momentos de inquietação a ele inscritos: a arte de descrever dos Países Baixos no século XVII e a visualidade barroca. Trazendo o debate para o presente, Jay interroga não apenas os resultados como também os limites da crítica à perspectiva cartesiana enquanto modelo dominante e propõe uma abordagem eminentemente pluralista como resposta à hierarquização dos modelos visuais que conduziu ao panorama analisado.
Real-Time Closed-Loop Suppression of Repolarization Alternans Reduces Arrhythmia Susceptibility In Vivo
Authors: Merchant Faisal M. , Sayadi Omid , Sohn Kwanghyun , Weiss Eric H. , Puppala Dheeraj , Doddamani Rajiv , Singh Jagmeet P. , Heist E. Kevin , Owen Chris , Kulkarni Kanchan , Armoundas Antonis A.
Published: May 2020

Background:

Repolarization alternans (RA) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

Methods:

We have developed a real-time, closed-loop system to record and analyze RA from multiple intracardiac leads, and deliver dynamically R-wave triggered pacing stimuli during the absolute refractory period. We have evaluated the ability of this system to control RA and reduce arrhythmia susceptibility, in vivo.

Results:

R-wave triggered pacing can induce RA, the magnitude of which can be modulated by varying the amplitude, pulse width, and size of the pacing vector. Using a swine model (n=9), we demonstrate that to induce a 1 µV change in the alternans voltage on the body surface, coronary sinus and left ventricle leads, requires a delivered charge of 0.04±0.02, 0.05±0.025, and 0.06±0.033 µC, respectively, while to induce a one unit change of the K
score
, requires a delivered charge of 0.93±0.73, 0.32±0.29, and 0.33±0.37 µC, respectively. For all body surface and intracardiac leads, both Δ(alternans voltage) and ΔK
score
between baseline and R-wave triggered paced beats increases consistently with an increase in the pacing pulse amplitude, pulse width, and vector spacing. Additionally, we show that the proposed method can be used to suppress spontaneously occurring alternans (n=7), in the presence of myocardial ischemia. Suppression of RA by pacing during the absolute refractory period results in a significant reduction in arrhythmia susceptibility, evidenced by a lower S
rank
score during programmed ventricular stimulation compared with baseline before ischemia.

Conclusions:

We have developed and evaluated a novel closed-loop method to dynamically modulate RA in a swine model. Our data suggest that suppression of RA directly reduces arrhythmia susceptibility and reinforces the concept that RA plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of arrhythmogenesis.
The COMPASS Trial
Authors: Steffel Jan , Eikelboom John W. , Anand Sonia S. , Shestakovska Olga , Yusuf Salim , Fox Keith A.A.
Published: May 2020

Background:

Rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily plus acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin; ASA) 100 mg reduced the risk of cardiovascular events as compared with ASA monotherapy in the COMPASS trial (Cardiovascular Outcomes for People Using Anticoagulation Strategies) but increased the risk of major bleedings. Analysis of net clinical benefit (NCB) is of key clinical relevance and represents an integrated measure of overall patient outcome.

Methods:

The current prespecified analysis was performed to assess the NCB of adding rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily to ASA monotherapy in patients with chronic vascular disease in the COMPASS study cohort (intention-to-treat study population), with a specific focus on high-risk subgroups. The predefined NCB outcome was the composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, myocardial infarction, fatal bleeding, or symptomatic bleeding into a critical organ.

Results:

A lower number of NCB adverse outcomes was observed with rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily plus ASA versus ASA alone (hazard ratio, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.70–0.91],
P
=0.0005), which became increasingly favorable with longer treatment duration. The main drivers of NCB outcomes were “efficacy” events, in particular stroke (0.5%/y versus 0.8%/y; hazard ratio, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.44–0.76],
P
<0.0001) and cardiovascular death (0.9%/y versus 1.2%/y; hazard ratio, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.64–0.96],
P
=0.02), whereas the bleeding components of the NCB, in particular fatal bleeding (0.09%/y versus 0.06%/y; hazard ratio, 1.49 [95% CI 0.67–3.33],
P
=0.32), only represented a minority of NCB events. In selected high-risk subgroups, including patients with polyvascular disease (≥2 vascular beds affected with atherosclerosis), impaired renal function, heart failure, and/or diabetes mellitus, a larger absolute risk reduction for experiencing a NCB event was observed.

Conclusions:

Compared with ASA monotherapy, the combination of rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily plus ASA resulted in fewer NCB events primarily by preventing adverse efficacy events, particularly stroke and cardiovascular mortality, whereas severe bleedings were less frequent and with less clinical impact. The NCB was particularly favorable in high-risk subgroups and those with multiple risk characteristics.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT01776424.
A new species of the genus Sarcinodes Guenée, [1858] (Lepidoptera, Geometridae) from China
Authors: YU TIANTIAN , WANG MIN
Published: May 2020

The genus Sarcinodes Guenée, [1858]of China is reviewed and totally 9 species are recognized with the description of Sarcinodes hainana sp. nov. from Hainan, China. Sarcinodes lilacina Moore, 1888 is reported for the first time from Yunnan, China. The external morphology of adults, particularly the male and female genitalia, are illustrated. COI sequences were obtained as DNA barcodes for identification of the new species. A key to the Chinese Sarcinodes species is provided.
High-Throughput Analyses of Microplastic Samples Using Fourier Transform Infrared and Raman Spectrometry
Authors: Brandt Josef , Bittrich Lars , Fischer Franziska , Kanaki Elisavet , Tagg Alexander , Lenz Robin , Labrenz Matthias , Brandes Elke , Fischer Dieter , Eichhorn Klaus-Jochen
Published: May 2020

Determining microplastics in environmental samples quickly and reliably is a challenging task. With a largely automated combination of optical particle analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and Raman microscopy along with spectral database search, particle sizes, particle size distributions, and the type of polymer including particle color can be determined. We present a self-developed, open-source software package for realizing a particle analysis approach with both Raman and FT-IR microspectroscopy. Our software GEPARD (Gepard Enabled PARticle Detection) allows for acquiring an optical image, then detects particles and uses this information to steer the spectroscopic measurement. This ultimately results in a multitude of possibilities for efficiently reviewing, correcting, and reporting all obtained results.
Medico-legal and bioethical perspectives following the constitutional legitimacy of assisted suicide in Italy
Authors: Cioffi Andrea , Bersani Giuseppe , Rinaldi Raffaella
Published: May 2020

Assisted suicide is the subject of much debate throughout the world. In Italy, on 24 September 2019, the Italian Constitutional Court legitimised assisted suicide under certain conditions: self-determination capacity, irreversible illness and intense physical/psychological suffering of the patient. This historic judgement surely paved the way for an evolution of the Italian legal framework on the matter but also raised some challenging medico-legal and bioethical questions. This study aims at analysing two of the most controversial among them: the inclusion of psychiatric patients among eligible patients for assisted suicide and the position of physicians related to their right to conscientious objection.
Multimodal Composing and Traditional Essays: Linguistic Performance and Learner Perceptions
Authors: Kim YouJin , Belcher Diane
Published: May 2020

Over the past decade, digital multimodal composing (DMMC) in the language learning context has received growing attention. DMMC entails teaching writing as the social practice of meaning making using various semiotic tools (Siegal, 2012). Despite its potential benefits as a way to teach a meaning-making process in the current digitalized era, much concern regarding a lack of language focus has been expressed. The current small-scale exploratory study compared Korean EFL learners’ writing for DMMC and traditional essay writing in terms of syntactic complexity and accuracy as well as the learners’ perceptions of the two composing tasks. Using a within group comparisons design, 18 university students in Korea completed both DMMC and traditional writing on the same topic of their choice as a part of their required writing class. The findings revealed that traditional writing elicited syntactically more complex writing than DMMC using two measures (i.e. the number of words per T-unit, the number of clauses per T-unit). However, there was no significant difference in the accurate clause rate between the two conditions. Students had generally positive perceptions of DMMC, particularly regarding its effective role in meaning making. However, mixed perceptions were found in terms of helpfulness in improving writing skills. Pedagogical implications for English for academic purposes (EAP) contexts are discussed.
Mood Effects on Humor Production: Positive Mood Improves the Verbal Ability to Be Funny
Authors: Forgas Joseph P. , Matovic Diana
Published: May 2020

Can mood influence people’s ability to produce humorous verbal messages? Based on recent theories linking affect to social cognition and information-processing strategies, this experiment predicted and found that positive mood increased people’s ability to generate more creative, humorous, and elaborate verbal contents. Participants viewed positive, neutral, or negative videos, then produced verbal captions to fit four different cartoon images. Their messages were rated for creativity, humor, and elaboration by two trained raters, and the processing latency to produce each message was also recorded. Results showed that positive mood resulted in more creative and humorous messages, and that this effect was significantly mediated by mood-induced differences in information-processing strategies. The results are interpreted as supporting recent theories linking affect to cognition, and the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for everyday verbal communication are considered.
“What Goes Up Must Come Down”—Elevators in a Long Dream Series
Authors: Schredl Michael
Published: May 2020

Since the formulation of the continuity hypothesis in 1971, research findings have supported the thematic and emotional continuity between waking and dreaming. However, dreams that include experiences that never occurred in the dreamer’s waking life, this is, discontinuous dreams, have not been studied extensively. In a long series ( N = 11,575 dreams), elevator dreams (about 1% of the dreams) were analyzed whether they were continuous or discontinuous to the waking life of the dreamer. Although many elevator dreams are likely to reflect waking life, in over 40% of the elevator dreams the dreamer was using an elevator that showed unusual or even bizarre features, for example, elevator moving horizontally or flying, transforming into a subway, and so on. Often these dreams were associated with anxiety, and the question is whether these dreams—discontinuous on a thematic level—represent a continuity of emotions and/or are a metaphorical expression of the dreamer’s waking life situation, for example, ups and downs.
Adaptive fovea for scanning depth sensors
Authors: Tasneem Zaid , Adhivarahan Charuvahan , Wang Dingkang , Xie Huikai , Dantu Karthik , Koppal Sanjeev J
Published: May 2020

Depth sensors have been used extensively for perception in robotics. Typically these sensors have a fixed angular resolution and field of view (FOV). This is in contrast to human perception, which involves foveating: scanning with the eyes’ highest angular resolution over regions of interest (ROIs). We build a scanning depth sensor that can control its angular resolution over the FOV. This opens up new directions for robotics research, because many algorithms in localization, mapping, exploration, and manipulation make implicit assumptions about the fixed resolution of a depth sensor, impacting latency, energy efficiency, and accuracy. Our algorithms increase resolution in ROIs either through deconvolutions or intelligent sample distribution across the FOV. The areas of high resolution in the sensor FOV act as artificial fovea and we adaptively vary the fovea locations to maximize a well-known information theoretic measure. We demonstrate novel applications such as adaptive time-of-flight (TOF) sensing, LiDAR zoom, gradient-based LiDAR sensing, and energy-efficient LiDAR scanning. As a proof of concept, we mount the sensor on a ground robot platform, showing how to reduce robot motion to obtain a desired scanning resolution. We also present a ROS wrapper for active simulation for our novel sensor in Gazebo. Finally, we provide extensive empirical analysis of all our algorithms, demonstrating trade-offs between time, resolution and stand-off distance.
Surgical outcomes of macular hole and epimacular membrane treatment in patients with intraoperative amaurosis under sub-Tenon’s anesthesia
Authors: Zhang Qi , Huang Zijing , Huang Dingguo , Chen Haoyu , Zheng Dezhi , Zheng Jianlong , Lin Peimin , Chen Weiqi
Published: May 2020

Objective

Some patients have been found to develop intraoperative amaurosis under sub-Tenon’s anesthesia. We explored whether these patients have poor surgical outcomes during mid- to long-term postoperative follow-up.

Methods

In this case series, 74 of 85 patients with macular diseases who underwent phacoemulsification combined with vitrectomy under sub-Tenon’s anesthesia developed intraoperative amaurosis. The surgical outcomes at the 2- and 4-month follow-ups in these patients were investigated and compared with the outcomes in patients without amaurosis using best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and pattern visual evoked potential (PVEP).

Results

Both BCVA and the OCT-based macular structure in patients with intraoperative amaurosis showed significant postoperative improvement comparable with that of patients without amaurosis. The presence of intraoperative amaurosis was not associated with either macular hole closure or macular edema regression. PVEP revealed no significant changes in the wave latency or amplitude before and after surgery.

Conclusion

Intraoperative amaurosis following sub-Tenon’s block is commonly seen but does not predict a poor surgical prognosis. When a patient develops amaurosis during surgery, the surgeon should increase patient comfort through verbal communication rather than perform an additional intervention to help relieve the patient’s anxiety.
Ranking of Al-CSA composite by MCDM approach using AHP–TOPSIS and MOORA methods
Authors: Raju Siva S , Murali Gunji B , Patnaik Prabina K
Published: May 2020

A systematic and efficient approach for the selection of material is necessary to choose a best alternative for the structure or component under consideration. The multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches are well suited to deal intricacy in judgment of material assortment. In this paper, integrated MCDM approaches like analytical hierarchy process (AHP)–technique for order preference by the resemblance to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) and AHP–multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis (MOORA) methods are used to rank aluminum-coconut shell ash (CSA) composites. The weightage for each criterion is calculated by AHP method and utilized in the TOPSIS and MOORA approaches to rank the materials. The target-based attributes such as density (physical property), hardness, tensile strength, toughness (mechanical properties), wear rate, and coefficient of friction (tribological properties) of the prepared composites are considered in the selection of criteria process. The composites are fabricated using stir-casting process by varying the volume fraction (5, 10, 15, and 20%) of CSA incorporated with Al-1100 matrix. A detailed study on the MCDM approaches revealed that Al-15% CSA composite emerged as the best material followed by Al-10% CSA composite among all, whereas the base matrix is found as the poor performed material in this study.
Learning to Become Good Mothers: Immigrant Mothers as Adult Learners
Authors: Zhu Yidan
Published: May 2020

Immigrant mothers, who are socially constructed as an isolated group of people, are often excluded from the studies of adult learners. In adult education, few studies focus on immigrant mothers’ ways of learning, mothering, and knowing. Based on a critical ethnographical study, this article sheds lights on immigrant mothers’ learning in a foreign land. It unveils how immigrant mothers learn mothering skills and how their lifelong learning practice interacts with the ideology of mothering in contemporary neoliberal contexts. The data come from a 2-year critical ethnographic study that included 30 in-depth interviews with Chinese immigrant mothers in a Vancouver-based immigration settlement organization in Canada. The following five types of immigrant mothers’ lifelong learning practices are examined and analyzed: (a) learning parenting skills, (b) learning to find a job, (c) learning language, (d) learning to drive, and (e) learning to live a healthy lifestyle. This article argues that immigrant mothers’ lifelong learning practice constitutes a mechanism, one in which the ideology of mothering and immigrant mothers’ everyday learning and mothering deeply interact to reproduce race, gender, and class relations. This article concludes that there is a need to study immigrant mothers, as adult learners, and to reexamine knowledge systems, ideologies, and people’s different ways of knowing and learning in adult education.
Citizen Participation in Political Markets: Extending Service-Dominant Logic to Public Policy
Authors: Peterson Mark , Godby Robert W.
Published: May 2020

While service-dominant logic prescribes consumer participation with firms, some theorists of elitist democracy oppose citizen participation in governance because these theorists perceive citizens as being incompetent in political matters. This study, grounded in political marketing theory, suggests that citizens do, indeed, have the competence for participating in governance through the thin-participation methods (i.e., those not requiring citizen interaction in groups) presented herein. These methods feature relatively short amounts of time needed for individual respondents to learn about issues in an online environment and to take a survey including trade-off tasks as part of a discrete-choice experimental design. Set in the context of a budget crisis for a state (Wyoming), this study assessed citizens’ thoughts about the state’s political processes as well as about policy preferences for seven important policy areas of state budgeting. The results of this study provide evidence that citizens have the crucial operant resources (knowledge and skills) to participate in all types of political markets (electoral, governmental, and intragovernmental). The study offers researchers knowledge for further developing service-dominant logic in government ecosystems of service.
A Review of the Reality of Violent Offending and the Administration of Justice
Authors: Zgoba Kristen M. , Clear Todd
Published: May 2020

Policy makers have recently been exploring methods to reduce incarceration. Most current proposals for reducing incarceration exclude people in prison who were convicted of violent crimes. This article considers violence exclusion from criminal justice reform by examining a sample released from New Jersey’s prisons ( n = 375). We assess the hidden nature of the violence in the crime through a review of the characteristics behind the criminal label, with particular focus on the displayed aggravation and mitigation. Postrelease outcomes for this sample are compared with a sample released for nonviolent crimes ( n = 1,185). Findings reveal people released for violent offenses frequently display mitigation, as opposed to aggravation. Those released for violent crimes are less likely to be rearrested than those released on nonviolence. The degree of severity of the violence itself has no bearing on the risk of rearrest. Accordingly, policy reform for those convicted of violence is considered.