bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reductions in bilateral transverse sinus pressure gradients with unilateral transverse venous sinus stenting for idiopathic intracranial hypertension
Authors: Larson Anthony , Rinaldo Lorenzo , Chen John J , Cutsforth-Gregory Jeremy , Theiler Amy R , Brinjikji Waleed
Published: June 2020

Background

Venous sinus stenting is an effective treatment for papilledema associated with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). It is unclear whether unilateral transverse-sigmoid sinus (TSS) stenting adequately decompresses the contralateral TSS system in cases of bilateral transverse sinus stenosis. The objective of this study was to compare changes in bilateral TSS pressure gradients following unilateral TSS stenting in a series of patients with IIH.

Methods

Consecutive patients from a single institution who underwent venous sinus stenting for IIH with measurement of bilateral pressure gradients before and after stenting for IIH were enrolled. Pressure gradients in both TSS pre- and post-stenting were measured during the procedure. The TSS with the highest gradient was stented. Changes in TSS pressure gradients following stent placement were calculated for both TSS. Mean changes in pressure gradients of ipsilateral and contralateral TSS were calculated.

Results

Sixteen patients with IIH who underwent TSS stenting were included. All were female. Mean age was 36.4 years. The right-sided TSS was the stented side in 12 (75.0%) patients. The mean pre-stent pressure gradient of the ipsilateral TSS was 19.3 mmHg (SD=10.8), which was reduced to a mean of 3.8 mmHg (3.4) following stent placement (P =<0.0001). On the contralateral (non-stented) side, the mean pre-stent gradient of 15.1 mmHg (7.5) was reduced to a mean of 7.8 mmHg (6.6) following stenting (P=0.006).

Conclusions

The use of a single stent provides some venous decompression of the contralateral non-stented stenosis in most cases of IIH treated with endovascular therapy.
Effects of enhanced STI partner notification counselling and provider-assisted partner services on partner referral and the incidence of STI diagnosis in Cape Town, South Africa: randomised controlled trial
Authors: Mathews Catherine , Lombard Carl , Kalichman Moira , Dewing Sarah , Banas Ellen , Dumile Sekelwa , Mdlikiva Amanda , Mdlikiva Thembinkosi , Jennings Karen Ann , Daniels Johann , Berteler Marcel , Kalichman Seth C
Published: June 2020

Objectives

We investigated the effects of an enhanced partner notification (PN) counselling intervention with the offer of provider-assisted referral among people diagnosed with STI in a Cape Town public clinic.

Methods

Participants were adults diagnosed with STI at a community clinic. After the standard STI consultation, participants were randomly allocated in a 1:1:1 ratio to (1) ‘HE’: 20 min health education; (2) ‘RR’: 45 min risk reduction skills counselling; or (3) ‘ePN’: 45 min enhanced partner notification communication skills counselling and the offer of provider-assisted referral. The primary outcome was the incidence of repeat STI diagnoses during the 12 months after recruitment, and the secondary outcome was participants’ reports 2 weeks after diagnosis of notifying recent partners. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were used to compare the incidence rates between arms using a Poisson regression model.

Results

The sample included 1050 participants, 350 per group, diagnosed with STI between June 2014 and August 2017. We reviewed 1048 (99%) participant records, and identified 136 repeat STI diagnoses in the ePN arm, 138 in the RR arm and 141 in the HE arm. There was no difference in the annual incidence of STI diagnosis between the ePN and HE arms (IRR: 1.0; 95% CI 0.7 to 1.3), or between the RR and HE arms (IRR: 0.9; 95% CI 0.7 to 1.2). There was a greater chance of a partner being notified in the ePN condition compared with the HE condition, 64.3% compared with 53.8%, but no difference between the RR and HE arms.

Conclusions

PN counselling and education with provider-assisted services has the potential to change the behaviour of people diagnosed with STIs, increasing the number of partners they notify by more than 10%. However, these changes in behaviour did not lead to a reduction of repeat STI diagnoses.

Trial registration number

PACTR201606001682364.
Skeletal muscle adiposity and outcomes in candidates for lung transplantation: a lung transplant body composition cohort study
Authors: Anderson Michaela R , Easthausen Imaani , Gallagher Grace , Udupa Jayaram , Tong Yubing , Torigian Drew , Diamond Joshua Matthew , Porteous Mary Katherine , Palmer Scott M , Snyder Laurie D , Benvenuto Luke , Aversa Meghan , Arcasoy Selim , Greenland John R , Hays Steven R , Kukreja Jasleen , Cantu Edward , Kim John Shinn , Gallagher Dympna , Baldwin Matthew R , Barr R Graham , Lederer David J , Christie Jason D , Singer Jonathan Paul
Published: June 2020

CT measurement of body composition may improve lung transplant candidate selection. We assessed whether skeletal muscle adipose deposition on abdominal and thigh CT scans was associated with 6 min walk distance (6MWD) and wait-list survival in lung transplant candidates. Each ½-SD decrease in abdominal muscle attenuation (indicating greater lipid content) was associated with 14 m decrease in 6MWD (95% CI −20 to −8) and 20% increased risk of death or delisting (95% CI 10% to 40%). Each ½-standard deviation decrease in thigh muscle attenuation was associated with 15 m decrease in 6MWD (95% CI −21 to −10). CT imaging may improve candidate risk stratification.
Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) and receptors in type 1, type 2 and type 17 inflammation in cross-sectional asthma study
Authors: Marks Michelle , Steele Chad , Moore Wendy C , Meyers Deborah A , Rector Brian , Ampleford Elizabeth , Bleecker Eugene R , Hastie Annette T
Published: June 2020

Tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) reportedly promotes, or conversely, resolves inflammation in asthma. In this study of TRAIL and cell receptors in sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage and biopsy from subjects in the Severe Asthma Research Program at Wake Forest, the high TRAIL group had significant increases in all leucocytes, and was associated with increased type 1, type 2 and type 17 cytokines, but not type 9 interleukin 9. Two variants at loci in the TRAIL gene were associated with higher sputum levels of TRAIL. Increased TRAIL decoy receptor R3/DcR1 was observed on sputum leucocytes compared with death receptor R1/DR4, suggesting reduced apoptosis and prolonged cellular inflammation.
Exclusive and diffractive $$\gamma \gamma $$ production in PbPb collisions at the LHC, HE-LHC and FCC
Authors: Coelho R. O. , Gonçalves V. P. , Martins D. E. , Rangel M.
Published: May 2020

In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the contribution of the Light-by-Light (LbL), Durham and double diffractive processes for the diphoton production in ultraperipheralPbPbcollisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), High-Energy LHC (HE-LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC). The acceptance of the central and forward LHC detectors is taken into account and predictions for the invariant mass, rapidity, transverse momentum and acoplanarity distributions are presented. Our results indicate that the contribution of the Durham process is negligible and that the double diffractive process can be strongly suppressed by the exclusivity cuts, which will allow to perform a precise analysis of the LbL scattering, as well the search of beyond Standard Model physics in this final state.
Inkjet-/3D-/4D-Printed Wireless Ultrabroadband Modules for IoT, Smartag and Smart City Applications
Authors: Adeyeye Ajibayo , Eid Aline , Hester Jimmy , Nauroze Syed Abdullah , Tehrani Bijan , Cui Yepu , Tentzeris Manos M.
Published: May 2020

This publication provides an overview of additive manufacturing techniques including Inkjet, 3D and 4D printing methods. The strengths, opportunities and advantages of this array of manufacturing techniques are evaluated at different scales. We discuss first the applicability of additive manufacturing techniques at the device scale including the development of origami inspired tunable RF structures as well as the development of skin-like conformal, flexible systems for wireless/IoT, Smartag and smart city applications. We then discuss application at the package scale with on package printed antennas and functional packaging applications. Following this, there is a discussion of additive manufacturing techniques in applications at the die scale such as 3D printed interconnects. The paper is concluded with an outlook on future advancements at the component scale with the potential for fully printed passive components.
Integration of Quantum Dot Gate (QDG) in SWS-FETs for Multi-Bit Logic and QD-NVRAMs for Distributed In-Memory Computing
Authors: Jain F. , Gudlavalleti R. H. , Mays R. , Saman B. , Chan P-Y. , Chandy J. , Lingalugari M. , Heller E.
Published: May 2020

Compared to multi-valued logic (MVL) with conventional 2-state FETs with a single threshold, MVL computing architectures, based on 4-state SWS (Spatial wavefunction switched) and QDG (quantum dot gate)-FETs having multiple thresholds, results in reduced device count, higher clock (CLK) speed, and lower power consumption. We have experimentally shown multi-state characteristics in SWS-FETs as well as QDG-FETs. This paper presents a novel QDG-SWS-FET that: (1) functions as a multi-bit FET for efficient low-power logic, (2) can be configured as a quantum dot (QD) nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), and (3) is suitable for in-memory MVL computing architecture that are compatible with sub-7nm technology nodes. A QDG-SWS-FET with the addition of a control gate dielectric layer functions as a NVRAM cell. Furthermore, it is shown that one single SWS-QD-NVRAM cell gives the functionality of a 1-bit NAND. We have developed circuit/device models and performed quantum simulations for novel multi-layer quantum dot/quantum well FETs and NVRAMs. Our simulations have shown 4-states/2-bit output-input transfer characteristics in SWS-CMOS inverters and NAND gates using two Si/SiGe quantum well channels.
Switching Transients in Memristors
Authors: Mazady Anas , Anwar Mehdi
Published: May 2020

Transient performance of nanowire memristors realized using different material systems is discussed. The approach is validated by comparing simulated results with experimental data obtained for a ZnO nanowire memristor. The ZnO nanowire memristors demonstrate bipolar resistive switching with an ROFF/RON ratio of 684 that is 3 times higher than the previous best report. The transient switching model, derived from the physical mechanisms for memristor switching, show a material dependent switching delay greatly influenced by the mobility of the oxygen vacancies. Measured switching delay of 372 µs for ZnO memristor show excellent agreement with the simulated data. The switching delays for other material systems, namely – TiOx, TaOx, HfOx, and ZrOx are calculated to be 2.5 s, 5.5 ns, 11.8 ps, and 7.15 ps, respectively, for identical device geometry (length 2 µm and diameter 300 nm). Upon scaling devices down to 50 nm, the delay is observed to decrease by 3-4 orders of magnitude. ZrOx based memristors showed the shortest switching delay owing to a mobility as high as 370 cm2/V-s. Experimental data for ZnO memristors suggest rise and fall times shorter than 7 µs and 10 ns, respectively. Ultralow switching power of 261 µW and 155 µW are achieved for SET and RESET switching, respectively. Measured switching energy less than 83 nJ and slew rates greater than 0.02 V/µs are attained.
Multi-Bit SRAMs, Registers, and Logic Using Quantum Well Channel SWS-FETs for Low-Power, High-Speed Computing
Authors: Jain F. , Saman B. , Gudlavalleti R. H. , Mays R. , Chandy J. , Heller E.
Published: May 2020

This paper presents novel multi-bit static random access memories (SRAMs) using spatial wave-function switched (SWS) FETs. A SWS-FET comprises of two or more vertically stacked quantum well channels while having a single gate and multiple sources and drains. Simulations are presented for 2-bit static random access memories (SRAMs) using cross-coupled 4-states SWS-CMOS inverters. The CMOS inverters are based on 4-state SWS FETs using two Si/SiGe quantum well channels. SWS-structures having 4-quantum well channels processing 8-states/3-bit are described. Logic simulation of multi-bit latches and registers is also presented. Multi-bit CMOS SWS-SRAMs and registers, integrated with logic, and quantum dot nonvolatile random access memories (QD-NVRAMs) presents a new paradigm for low power, high-speed computing.
Suppression of the cavity oscillation using high-speed mass injection
Authors: Wang Xiansheng , Yang Dangguo , Zhou Fangqi , Wu Junqiang , Lu Bo
Published: May 2020

The cavity flow oscillation is a typical unsteady, nonlinear flow phenomenon, accompanied by resonance with strong pressure oscillation and intense turbulence. A control method is proposed to suppress the cavity oscillation using high-speed mass injection. Wind-tunnel experiments are performed to validate the control method. A length-to-depth six cavity is employed in the experiments with a Mach number 1.8 of the incoming flow. The upstream injection is generated in the leading edge of the cavity with a large momentum coefficient (more than 10%). Effects of the high-speed mass injection on the cavity oscillation are validated by a significant reduction of the overall sound pressure level inside the cavity. The broadband cavity noise is reduced by more than 10 dB, with a great suppression of the cavity tones. Owing to the high-speed mass injection, the cavity oscillation has been effectively suppressed in the supersonic condition. Because there is no need of additional gas supply in the control system, the control strategy is considered to be a potential and practical candidate for engineering applications.
Experimental study on the entrainment performance and flow choking phenomenon of a two-stage multi-nozzle ejector
Authors: Chen Pei
Published: May 2020

A two-stage multi-nozzle ejector experimental system is established, and the pressure distribution on the wall and in the flow field of the test model is measured when the total pressure of the two-stage primary flow changes. Results show that when the total pressure of primary flow increases, vacuum chamber static pressure decreases to its lowest limit of 1 kPa, and then begins to rise. Flow choking mechanism of two stage ejector is clarified. If the total pressure of the first stage primary flow is low, the flow in the second stage ejector first reaches the choking state when the total pressure of the second stage primary flow increases, which causes the rise of first stage back pressure, and then the first stage ejector reaches the choking state. If the total pressure of the first stage primary flow is high, the increase of total pressure of the second stage primary flow reduces the back pressure of the first stage ejector and therefore the first stage ejector first reaches the choking state, and then the second stage reaches the choking state.
Complex model ultra-short pulses in optical fibers via generalized third-order nonlinear Schrödinger dynamical equation
Authors: Seadawy Aly R. , Nasreen Naila , Lu Dianchen
Published: June 2020

In this paper, several types of solitons such as dark soliton, bright soliton, periodic soliton, kink soliton and solitary waves in three-dimensional and two-dimensional contour plot have been derived for the generalized third-order nonlinear Schrödinger dynamical equations (NLSEs). The generalized third-order NLSE is a significant model ultra-short pulses in optical fibers. The computational work and outcomes achieved show the influence and efficiency of current method. Furthermore, we can solve many other higher-order NLSEs with the help of simple and effective technique.
A thermally tunable terahertz three-dimensional perfect metamaterial absorber for temperature sensing application
Authors: Zou Haijun , Cheng Yongzhi
Published: May 2020

We present a three-dimensional (3D) perfect metamaterial absorber (PMA) for temperature sensing application in terahertz region. The PMA consists of a 3D metal resonator structure array and a continuous metal film separated by an indium antimonide (InSb) layer. The numerical simulations demonstrate that the PMA can achieve perfect absorption (about 99.9%) with the high [Formula: see text]-factor of about 18.8 at 2.323 THz when the temperature is 300 K (room temperature). Further simulation results indicate that this terahertz PMA is polarization-insensitive and wide-angle for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) waves. The electric field and surface current distributions of the unit-cell structure indicate that the perfect absorption is originated from the excitation of the fundamental magnetic and electric dipole resonance mode. Since the permittivity of the InSb is sensitive to the external temperature, the resonance absorption frequency of the PMA can be dynamically adjusted. The temperature sensitivity of the PMA is about 15.24 GHz/K, which may have potential prospects in temperature sensing and detection.
Novel prioritized LRU circuits for shared cache in computer systems
Authors: Wang Yao , Sun Lijun , Wang Haibo , Gopalakrishnan Lavanya , Eaton Ronald
Published: May 2020

Cache sharing technique is critical in multi-core and multi-threading systems. It potentially delays the execution of real-time applications and makes the prediction of the worst-case execution time (WCET) of real-time applications more challenging. Prioritized cache has been demonstrated as a promising approach to address this challenge. Instead of the conventional prioritized cache schemes realized at the architecture level by using cache controllers, this work presents two prioritized least recently used (LRU) cache replacement circuits that directly accomplish the prioritization inside the cache circuits, hence significantly reduces the cache access latency. The performance, hardware and power overheads due to the proposed prioritized LRU circuits are investigated based on a 65 nm CMOS technology. It shows that the proposed circuits have very low overhead compared to conventional cache circuits. The presented techniques will lead to more effective prioritized shared cache implementations and benefit the development of high-performance real-time systems.
Expired Atenolol Drug: A Nontoxic Corrosion Inhibitor for Al in 3 M HCl Pickling Environment
Authors: Raghavendra Narasimha , S. Sheelimath Deeksha , R. Chitnis Soumya
Published: May 2020

Corrosion protection of expired Atenolol drug on the Al in the 3[Formula: see text]M HCl was investigated through the weight loss, gasometric, Tafel plot, impedance, atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), quantum chemical, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies. The addition of different concentrations of expired Atenolol drug enhances the protection efficiency. Gasometric technique was performed in order to study the variation in the amount of hydrogen gas in the presence and absence of the inhibitor. The potentiodynamic polarization plots show that the expired Atenolol drug acts as a mixed type. Data of impedance studies show that the charge transfer process controls the corrosion of Al in the 3[Formula: see text]M HCl medium. The SEM and AFM results explore that the expired Atenolol drug is a powerful corrosion inhibitor for the Al in HCl solution.
The modified binomial options pricing model and the revised replicating portfolio approach with the concept of sustainability options
Authors: Lin Tyrone T. , Yen Hui-Tzu , Hsu Shu-Yen
Published: May 2020

This paper discusses whether the project investment can develop the decision-making for the concept of sustainability options. The conventional net present value (NPV) approach assesses whether the project investment should be implemented, and develops the evaluation criteria of implementing sustainability costs from the modified binomial options pricing model (BOPM) and the revised replicating portfolio approach. It treats options premium value and the replicating portfolio approach (RPA) value as the objective functions, and the options premium of the BOPM and the initial values of the RPA as the decision variables.
H-R
evolve
Authors: Herrmann Julien , (Aupy) Guillaume Pallez
Published: June 2020

We study the problem of checkpointing strategies for adjoint computation on synchronous hierarchical platforms, specifically computational platforms with several levels of storage with different writing and reading costs. When reversing a large adjoint chain, choosing which data to checkpoint and where is a critical decision for the overall performance of the computation. We introduce H-R
evolve
, an optimal algorithm for this problem. We make it available in a public Python library along with the implementation of several state-of-the-art algorithms for the variant of the problem with two levels of storage. We provide a detailed description of how one can use this library in an adjoint computation software in the field of automatic differentiation or backpropagation. Finally, we evaluate the performance of H-R
evolve
and other checkpointing heuristics though an extensive campaign of simulation.
Challenges in Designing a Fully Autonomous Socially Assistive Robot for People with Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Wilson Jason R. , Tickle-Degnen Linda , Scheutz Matthias
Published: June 2020

Assistive robots are becoming an increasingly important application platform for research in robotics, AI, and HRI, as there is a pressing need to develop systems that support the elderly and people with disabilities, with a clear path to market. Yet, what remains unclear is whether current autonomous systems are already up to the task or whether additional HRI work is needed to make these systems acceptable and useful.

In this article, we report our efforts of developing and evaluating an architecture for a fully autonomous robot designed to assist older adults with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in sorting their medications. The main goal for the robot is to aid users in a manner that maintains the autonomy of the user by providing cognitive and social support with varying levels of assistance. We first evaluated the robot with subjects drawn from a pool of university students, which is common practice in experimental work in psychology and HRI. As the results were very positive, we followed up with an evaluation using people with Parkinson’s disease, who surprisingly had mostly negative outcomes. We thus report our analysis of the differences in the evaluations and discuss the challenges for HRI posed by the sources of the negative evaluations: (1) designing a robot to adapt to the many routines the participants use at home, (2) unique needs of participants with PD not present in student participants, and (3) the role of familiar technologies in designing and evaluating a new technology. While it is unlikely, given the current state of technology, that fully autonomous assistive robots for older adults will be available in the near term, we believe that our work exposes a critical need in HRI to involve the target population as early as possible in the design process.
Simplifying CPS Application Development through Fine-grained, Automatic Timeout Predictions
Authors: Peros Stefanos , Delbruel Stéphane , Michiels Sam , Joosen Wouter , Hughes Danny
Published: June 2020

Application development for Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) is challenging, because the wireless network and the devices introduce latencies that vary continuously along with the load, status, or environmental conditions of the infrastructure. Reactive programming is well suited for the development of event-driven applications, yet current reactive programming frameworks require developers to predict event arrival time-boundaries at compile time, which is impractical, if not impossible, for CPS. Thus, there is a tradeoff between timeliness and completeness of complex event computations, e.g., operational efficiency in a manufacturing plant: Waiting too long until all individual events arrive can fail to produce a useful result, while not waiting long enough may lead to faults due to incomplete status information. In this article, we propose (a) a set of extensions to state-of-the-art reactive programming frameworks, which remove the burden of specifying timeouts at compile time by utilizing (b) Khronos, a middleware that automatically determines timeouts by taking into account variations in event arrival times due to the underlying infrastructure. Evaluation on a physical testbed shows that the extensions significantly decrease developer effort and that Khronos considerably improves timeliness under varying network configurations and conditions, while still satisfying the application’s tolerance to missed events.
Unveiling Elite Developers’ Activities in Open Source Projects
Authors: Wang Zhendong , Feng Yang , Wang Yi , Jones James A. , Redmiles David
Published: June 2020

Open source developers, particularly the elite developers who own the administrative privileges for a project, maintain a diverse portfolio of contributing activities. They not only commit source code but also exert significant efforts on other communicative, organizational, and supportive activities. However, almost all prior research focuses on specific activities and fails to analyze elite developers’ activities in a comprehensive way. To bridge this gap, we conduct an empirical study with fine-grained event data from 20 large open source projects hosted on G
IT
H
UB
. We investigate elite developers’ contributing activities and their impacts on project outcomes. Our analyses reveal three key findings: (1) elite developers participate in a variety of activities, of which technical contributions (e.g., coding) only account for a small proportion; (2) as the project grows, elite developers tend to put more effort into supportive and communicative activities and less effort into coding; and (3) elite developers’ efforts in nontechnical activities are negatively correlated with the project’s outcomes in terms of productivity and quality in general, except for a positive correlation with the bug fix rate (a quality indicator). These results provide an integrated view of elite developers’ activities and can inform an individual’s decision making about effort allocation, which could lead to improved project outcomes. The results also provide implications for supporting these elite developers.
Social Collaborative Mutual Learning for Item Recommendation
Authors: Zhu Tianyu , Liu Guannan , Chen Guoqing
Published: May 2020

Recommender Systems (RSs) provide users with item choices based on their preferences reflected in past interactions and become important tools to alleviate the information overload problem for users. However, in real-world scenarios, the user–item interaction matrix is generally sparse, leading to the poor performance of recommendation methods. To cope with this problem, social information is introduced into these methods in several ways, such as regularization, ensemble, and sampling. However, these strategies to use social information have their limitations. The regularization and ensemble strategies may suffer from the over-smoothing problem, while the sampling-based strategy may be affected by the overfitting problem. To overcome the limitations of the previous efforts, a novel social recommendation model, namely, Social Collaborative Mutual Learning (SCML), is proposed in this article. SCML combines the item-based CF model with the social CF model by two well-designed mutual regularization strategies. The embedding-level mutual regularization forces the user representations in two models to be close, and the output-level mutual regularization matches the distributions of the predictions in two models. Extensive experiments on three public datasets show that SCML significantly outperforms the baseline methods and the proposed mutual regularization strategies can embrace the advantages of the item-based CF model and the social CF model to improve the recommendation performance.
Designing Digital Vertigo Experiences
Authors: Byrne Richard , Marshall Joe , Mueller Florian ‘Floyd’
Published: June 2020

Many people enjoy “vertigo” sensations caused by intense playful bodily activities such as spinning in circles, and riding fairground rides. Game scholar Caillois calls such experiences “vertigo play,” elucidating that these enjoyable activities are a result of confusion between sensory channels.

In HCI, designers are often cautious to avoid deliberately causing sensory confusion in players, but we believe there is an opportunity to transition and extend Caillois’ thinking to the digital realm, allowing designers to create novel and intriguing digital bodily experiences inspired by traditional vertigo play activities.

To this end, we present the Digital Vertigo Experience framework. Derived from four case studies and the development of three different digital vertigo experiences, this framework aims to bring the excitement of traditional vertigo play experiences to the digital world, allowing designers to create more engaging and exciting body-based games, and provides players with more possibilities to enjoy novel and exciting play experiences.
SIMT-X
Authors: Tino Anita , Collange Caroline , Seznec André
Published: May 2020

This work introduces Single Instruction Multi-Thread Express (SIMT-X), a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU) microarchitecture that enables Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)-style SIMT execution across multiple threads of the same program for high throughput, while retaining the latency benefits of out-of-order execution, and the programming convenience of homogeneous multi-thread processors. SIMT-X leverages the existing Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) back-end to provide CPU/GPU-like processing on a single core with minimal overhead. We demonstrate that although SIMT-X invokes a restricted form of Out-of-Order (OoO), the microarchitecture successfully captures a majority of the benefits of aggressive OoO execution using at most two concurrent register mappings per architectural register, while addressing issues of partial dependencies and supporting a general-purpose Instruction Set Architecture (ISA).
Testing Linearity against Non-signaling Strategies
Authors: Chiesa Alessandro , Manohar Peter , Shinkar Igor
Published: June 2020

Non-signaling strategies are collections of distributions with certain non-local correlations. They have been studied in physics as a strict generalization of quantum strategies to understand the power and limitations of nature’s apparent non-locality. Recently, they have received attention in theoretical computer science due to connections to Complexity and Cryptography.

We initiate the study of Property Testing against non-signaling strategies, focusing first on the classical problem of
linearity testing
(Blum, Luby, and Rubinfeld; JCSS 1993). We prove that any non-signaling strategy that passes the linearity test with high probability must be close to a
quasi-distribution
over linear functions.

Quasi-distributions generalize the notion of probability distributions over global objects (such as functions) by allowing negative probabilities, while at the same time requiring that “local views” follow standard distributions (with non-negative probabilities). Quasi-distributions arise naturally in the study of quantum mechanics as a tool to describe various non-local phenomena.

Our analysis of the linearity test relies on Fourier analytic techniques applied to quasi-distributions. Along the way, we also establish general equivalences between non-signaling strategies and quasi-distributions, which we believe will provide a useful perspective on the study of Property Testing against non-signaling strategies beyond linearity testing.
Tight Complexity Lower Bounds for Integer Linear Programming with Few Constraints
Authors: Knop Dušan , Pilipczuk Michał , Wrochna Marcin
Published: June 2020

We consider the standard ILP F
easibility
problem: given an integer linear program of the form {A
x
= b, x ⩾ 0}, where
A
is an integer matrix with
k
rows and ℓ columns, x is a vector of ℓ variables, and b is a vector of
k
integers, we ask whether there exists x ∈ N ℓ that satisfies Ax = b. Each row of
A
specifies one linear
constraint
on x; our goal is to study the complexity of ILP F
easibility
when both
k
, the number of constraints, and ‖A‖
∞
, the largest absolute value of an entry in
A
, are small.

Papadimitriou was the first to give a fixed-parameter algorithm for ILP F
easibility
under parameterization by the number of constraints that runs in time ((‖A‖
∞
+ ‖b‖
∞
) ⋅
k
)

O
(
k
2
)

. This was very recently improved by Eisenbrand and Weismantel, who used the Steinitz lemma to design an algorithm with running time (
k
‖A‖
∞
)

O
(
k
)

⋅ log ‖b‖
∞
, which was subsequently refined by Jansen and Rohwedder to
O
(√
k
‖A‖
∞
)

k

⋅ log (‖ A‖
∞
+ ‖b‖
∞
) ⋅ log ‖A‖
∞
. We prove that for {0, 1}-matrices
A
, the running time of the algorithm of Eisenbrand and Weismantel is probably optimal: an algorithm with running time 2

o
(
k
log
k
)

⋅ (ℓ + ‖b‖
∞
)

o
(
k
)

would contradict the exponential time hypothesis. This improves previous non-tight lower bounds of Fomin et al.

We then consider integer linear programs that may have many constraints, but they need to be structured in a “shallow” way. Precisely, we consider the parameter
dual treedepth
of the matrix
A
, denoted td

D

(
A
), which is the treedepth of the graph over the rows of
A
, where two rows are adjacent if in some column they simultaneously contain a non-zero entry. It was recently shown by Koutecký et al. that ILP F
easibility
can be solved in time ‖A‖
∞
2

O
(td

D

(
A
))

⋅ (
k
+ ℓ + log ‖b‖
∞
)

O
(1)

. We present a streamlined proof of this fact and prove that, again, this running time is probably optimal: even assuming that all entries of
A
and b are in {−1, 0, 1}, the existence of an algorithm with running time 2
2

o
(td

D

(
A
))

⋅ (
k
+ ℓ)

O
(1)

would contradict the exponential time hypothesis.
Interview with Dr. Janet Zadina: Applying educational neuroscience research to instruction and elearning
Authors: Howles Les
Published: May 2020

In this interview Dr. Janet Zadina discusses her work as an educational neuroscientist bridging brain research and pedagogy. She provides insights and advice on how instructors can design more learner-centered course experiences and use online technologies more effectively through a better understanding of neuroscience research related to learning. This interview spans a range of topics including contributions of brain research to learning science, common neuromyths, emotions and learning and how the digital information environment is impacting our brains and learning.
In Pursuit
Authors: Fung Inez
Published: May 2020

The atmosphere is the synthesizer, transformer, and communicator of exchanges at its boundaries with the land and oceans. These exchanges depend on and, in turn, alter the states of the atmosphere, land, and oceans themselves. To a large extent, the interactions between the carbon cycle and climate have mapped, and will map, the trajectory of the Earth system. My quest to understand climate dynamics and the global carbon cycle has been propelled by new puzzles that emerge from each of the investigations and has led me to study subdisciplines of Earth science beyond my formal training. This article sketches my trek and the lessons I have learned. ▪  About half the CO2 emitted from combustion of fossil fuels and from cement production has remained airborne. Where are the contemporary carbon sinks? To what degree will these sinks evolve with, and in turn accelerate, climate change itself? ▪  The pursuit of these questions has been propelled by the integration of in situ and satellite observations of the atmosphere, land, and oceans, as well as by advances in theory and coupled climate–carbon cycle modeling. ▪  The urgency of climate change demands new approaches to cross-check national emission statistics.
Performance of the Recycled and Copper-Doped Materials from Spent Electrodes by XPS and Voltammetric Characteristics
Authors: Rada S. , Unguresan M. , Rada M. , Tudoran C. , Wang Jiaou , Culea E.
Published: June 2020

Recycling of electrodes from a car battery and doping them with high CuO content was achieved by the melt quenching method. As sources of PbO2 and Pb, the active mass of the anode (Pb) and the cathode (PbO2) of a spent lead accumulator was used. The analysis of X-ray diffractograms shows that by the doping the recycled electrodes from the spent car battery with high CuO content there is an increasing conversion of the metallic plate made mainly of metallic lead in vitroceramic containing PbO2 and nanoparticles of Cu2O. UV–vis data indicate the presence of Pb+2, Cu+1 and Cu+2 ions in the structure of the electrodes. Values of the optical band gap energies are smaller than 3 eV indicating a semiconductor behavior of the samples. EPR data indicate resonance lines provided from contributions of the isolated Cu+2 ions overlap with the broader resonance lines corresponding to the clustered and/or coupled Cu+2 ions. Cyclic voltamograms of the electrodes dopped with CuO contents show waves in the positive scanning of the current density because of the redox processes of the copper species. The XPS data of Pb 4f show clear evidences for valence fluctuations of lead ions in recycled and copper-doped samples.
Perceptions of People Living with HIV and HIV Healthcare Providers on Real-Time Measuring and Monitoring of Antiretroviral Adherence Using Ingestible Sensors: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Kamal Susan , Rosen Marc I. , Lazar Christina , Siqueiros Lisa , Wang Yan , Daar Eric S. , Liu Honghu
Published: June 2020

Objective. To describe and analyze the perception and attitudes of people living with HIV (PLWH) and HIV HCPs towards medication adherence with a focus on a digital medicine program (DMP) with ingestible sensors (ISs). Methods. This is a qualitative analysis pilot study of PLWH who were using DMP recruited by purposive sampling. A convenience sample of HCPs was interviewed. Semistructured interviews were conducted, and thematic analysis was performed. Results. Fifteen PLWH were interviewed, and thematic analysis resulted in three main themes: self-identified medication adherence patterns, experiences with the DMP, and recommending the DMP to others. Six health care providers (HCPs) described barriers and facilitators to adherence, as well as advantages and disadvantages of using or recommending the DMP to PLWH. Conclusion. This study evaluated participant and provider responses to DMP, which is a novel technology for real-time measuring and monitoring adherence with the IS. Participant and provider responses were mixed, highlighting both the advantages and limitations of the technology. Practice Implications. Taking PLWH experiences into consideration will enhance the development of this and other useful tools that clinicians and researchers can use for enhanced patient care.
TRAF2 Knockdown in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Induced Cell Cycle Arrest and Enhanced the Sensitivity to Radiotherapy
Authors: Zhu Hongyuan , Ding Weijun , Wu Jiaojiao , Ma Rongyou , Pan Zhaohu , Mao Xinli
Published: May 2020

TRAF2 is a crucial adaptor protein involved in various signaling pathways. However, its biological functions in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remain largely unknown. In the present study, we found that TRAF2 was overexpressed in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells. Knockdown of TRAF2 with shRNA significantly suppressed NPC cell proliferation and colony formation. The growth of xenograft tumor significantly reduced after TRAF2 was silenced. Conversely, the ectopic overexpression of TRAF2 significantly promoted cell proliferation and anchorage‐independent growth. In TRAF2 knockdown cells, EGF‐induced activation of transcriptional factors, including MSK1, CREB, and ATF2, markedly decreased. Accordingly, the transcriptional activity of AP‐1 was substantially decreased in TRAF2‐deficient cells. With the suppression of gene transcription, the expression of cyclin D1 was significantly impaired, which gave rise to the G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. Moreover, the overexpression of TRAF2 in NPC cells was associated with resistance to irradiation, and the potency of irradiation was substantially enhanced after TRAF2 was knocked down. Briefly, our studies demonstrated that TRAF2 had a crucial role in NPC development, and it might be of great potential to targeting TRAF2 for NPC prevention and treatment.
Acupoint Catgut Embedding Improves the Lipopolysaccharide‐Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Rats
Authors: Li Dan , Sun Tian , Chi Laiting , Zhao Dengming , Li Wenzhi
Published: June 2020

Background. This study investigated the potential therapeutic effects of acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) at ST36 and BL13 on lipopolysaccharide‐ (LPS‐) induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in rats. Materials and Methods. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were randomized into the normal saline (NS group with a sham procedure), lipopolysaccharide (LPS group with a sham procedure), and LPS plus ACE (LPS+ACE with ACE at bilateral BL13 and ST36 acupoints one day before LPS injection) groups. After intratracheal instillation of normal saline or LPS (0.5 mg/kg), all rats were subjected to mechanical ventilation for 4 h. Their blood gas was analyzed before and after lung injury, and their lung pressure‐volumes were measured longitudinally. The levels of TNF‐α, IL‐6, IL‐10, and phosphatidylcholine (PC) and total proteins (TP) in bronchial alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were assessed. Their wet to dry lung weight ratios, histology, myeloperoxidase (MPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured. Their lung aquaporin 1 (AQP1) and Occludin protein levels were analyzed. Results. LPS administration significantly decreased the ratios of PaO2/FiO2 and pressure‐volumes and induced lung inflammation and injury by increased concentrations of TNF‐α, IL‐6, IL‐10, and TP in BALF and MPO and MDA in the lung but decreased PC in BALF and SOD activity in the lungs. LPS also reduced AQP1 and Occludin protein levels in the lung of rats. In contrast, ACE significantly mitigated the LPS‐induced lung injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress and preserved the AQP1 and Occludin contents in the lung of rats. Conclusions. ACE significantly improved respiratory function by mitigating inflammation and oxidative stress and preserving AQP1 and Occludin expression in the lung in a rat model of LPS‐induced ARDS.
Scattering of SH Waves by a Partially Debonded Cylindrical Inclusion in the Covering Layer
Authors: Qi Hui , Zhang Yang , Chu Fuqing , Guo Jing
Published: May 2020

This article presents analytical solutions to the problem of dynamic stress concentration and the surface displacement of a partially debonded cylindrical inclusion in the covering layer under the action of a steady-state horizontally polarized shear wave (SH wave); these solutions are using the complex function method and wave function expansion method. By applying the large-arc assumption method, the straight line boundary of the half-space covering layer is transformed into a curved boundary. The wave field of the debonded inclusion is constructed utilizing a Fourier series and boundary conditions of continuity. The impact of debonding upon the dynamic stress concentration and surface displacement around the cylindrical concrete or steel inclusion is analyzed through numerical examples of the SH waves that are incident at normal angles, from a harder medium to a softer medium and from a softer medium to a harder medium. The examples show that various factors (including the medium parameters of the soil layers and the inclusion, the frequency of the incident waves, and the debonding situations) jointly affect the dynamic stress concentration factor and the surface displacement around the structure.
Damage Characteristics and Constitutive Model of Deep Rock under Frequent Impact Disturbances in the Process of Unloading High Static Stress
Authors: Wang Chun , Zhan Shuai-fei , Xie Mei-zhi , Wang Cheng , Cheng Lu-ping , Xiong Zu-qiang
Published: May 2020

During the mining of deep mineral resources, the rock is in the complex mechanical environment of high crustal stress and blasting excavation unloading, and the improved SHPB test system is used to carry out frequent impact disturbance test of deep rock in the process of unloading high static stress. Firstly, the general characteristics of dynamic stress-strain curve envelope of the whole process trend can be divided into four stages: the stable development stage of micro cracks, the non-stable development stage of micro cracks, the fatigue damage stage, and the fatigue failure stage. Then, the damage variables of the rock are defined by continuous factors, strain equivalence principle and statistical damage theory, which are based on the whole deformation characteristics of rock during the test. And the derived damage variable equation of rock in the damage process is proved to be reasonable, and the damage constitutive model of rock under frequent disturbances in the process of unloading high static stress is established by the combined model method. Finally, the rationality of constitutive equation is verified by test data, which shows that the dynamic stress-strain curve envelope is in good consistency with the theoretical curve of constitutive equation.
Correlation Effects of Near-Field Seismic Components in Circular Metro Tunnels: A Case Study—Tehran Metro Tunnels
Authors: Razavian Amrei Seyed Amin , Vahdani Reza , Gerami Mohsen , Amiri Gholamreza Ghodrati
Published: May 2020

Seismic evaluation of underground structures such as tunnels requires nonlinear dynamic analysis, due to the complex dynamic behavior of soil and the interaction of soil and structure. Simulation of the seismic response of the structure using nonlinear dynamic analysis is possible only with proper acceleration time history. Considering the vertical component of the earthquake (such as near-fault earthquakes) on the site is an important factor to achieve real structural responses. In the current study, soil-tunnel system has been modeled in ABAQUS software, considering Mohr–Coulomb nonlinear model for soil and concrete damage plasticity model for tunnel lining. In order to investigate the effect of seismic components correlation under different combinations of loads on the acceleration, axial force, and maximum shear force in tunnel lining, nonlinear dynamic analysis has been performed under four near-field earthquakes with different horizontal and vertical component ratios, considering 15 load combinations. The results show that increasing the vertical-horizontal component ratio has an insignificant effect on the maximum horizontal acceleration experienced by the tunnel lining. Also, the results of axial forces and shear forces indicate that increasing the ratio of vertical to horizontal components of the earthquake is the most effective factor on the axial force response.