bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mass spectrometric characterization of intact desferal‐conjugated monoclonal antibodies for immuno‐positron emission tomography imaging
Authors: De Vijlder Thomas , Fissers Jens , Van Broeck Bianca , wyffels Leonie , Mercken Marc , Pemberton Darrel J.
Published: June 2018

Rationale

Immuno‐PET imaging may prove to be a diagnostic and progression/intervention biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD) with improved sensitivity and specificity. Immuno‐PET imaging is based on the coupling of an antibody with a chelator that captures a radioisotope thus serving as an in vivo PET ligand. A robust and quality controlled process for linking the chelator to the antibody is fundamental for the success of this approach.

Methods

The structural integrities of two monoclonal antibodies (trastuzumab and JRF/AβN/25) and the quantity of desferal‐based chelator attached following modification of the antibodies were assessed by online desalting and intact mass analysis. Enzymatic steps for the deglycosylation and removal of C‐terminal lysine was performed sequentially and in a single tube to improve intact mass data.

Results

Intact mass analysis demonstrated that inclusion of enzymatic processing was critical to correctly derive the quantity of chelator linked to the monoclonal antibodies. For trastuzumab, enzymatic cleaving of the glycans was sufficient, whilst additional removal of the C‐terminal lysine was necessary for JRF/AβN/25 to ensure reproducible assessment of the relatively low amount of the attached chelator.

Conclusions

An efficient intact mass analysis based process was developed to reproducibly determine the integrity of monoclonal antibodies and the quantity of the attached chelator. This technique could serve as an essential quality control approach for the development and production of immuno‐PET tracers.
Electron ionization mass spectrometry fragmentation and multiple reaction monitoring quantification of autoxidation products of α‐ and β‐amyrins in natural samples
Authors: Rontani Jean‐François , Charrière Bruno , Menniti Christophe , Aubert Dominique , Aubert Claude
Published: June 2018

Rationale

Riverine particulate organic matter is generally considered to be refractory with respect to further decomposition in the ocean. In order to check the validity of this paradigm, there is a real need for tracers sufficiently stable and specific to monitor the degradation of terrestrial higher plant material in the environment. 3β‐Hydroxy‐urs‐12‐en‐11‐one and 3β‐hydroxy‐olean‐12‐en‐11‐one (autoxidation products of α‐ and β‐amyrin) were previously proposed for such use.

Methods

Electron ionization mass spectrometry (EIMS) fragmentation pathways of 3β‐hydroxy‐urs‐12‐en‐11‐one and 3β‐hydroxyolean‐12‐en‐11‐one trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives were investigated. These pathways were deduced by: (i) low‐energy collision‐induced dissociation (CID)‐gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS/MS), (ii) accurate mass measurement and (iii) deuterium labelling. Quantification of these compounds in total lipid extracts of natural samples was then carried out in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode.

Results

CID‐MS/MS analyses, accurate mass measurement and deuterium‐labelling experiments allowed us to elucidate EIMS fragmentations of 3β‐hydroxy‐urs‐12‐en‐11‐one and 3β‐hydroxyolean‐12‐en‐11‐one TMS derivatives. Some specific fragmentation pathways, useful in addition to chromatographic retention times for further characterization, could be selected. As an application of some of the described fragmentations, TMS derivatives of these oxidation products were characterized and quantified in MRM mode in different natural samples.

Conclusions

EIMS fragmentations of 3β‐hydroxy‐urs‐12‐en‐11‐one and 3β‐hydroxyolean‐12‐en‐11‐one TMS derivatives exhibit specific fragment ions, which appear to be very useful for the quantification of these oxidation products in natural samples (riverine particulate matter, wet and dry deposited atmospheric particles).
A moth‐flame optimization algorithm for web service composition in cloud computing: Simulation and verification
Authors: Ghobaei‐Arani Mostafa , Rahmanian Ali.A , Souri Alireza , Rahmani Amir Masoud
Published: June 2018

In recent years, users are becoming increasingly accustomed to using the Internet to gain software resources in the form of web services provided by information technology organizations. Cloud computing is a service delivery paradigm that shares services and resources to access the web services to the end users over the Internet. In the cloud environment, based on the user's needs, various types of services with similar functionalities but different quality‐of‐service (QoS) criteria can be delivered, which often must be combined to meet the users' requests. The optimal selection and composition of these services are realized as an interesting issue. In this paper, we propose a moth‐flame optimization (MFO) algorithm, which is a novel nature‐inspired metaheuristic paradigm for the web service composition (WSC) problem called “MFO‐WSC,” to improve the QoS criteria in the distributed cloud environment. Also, formal modeling is presented for the QoS‐aware MFO‐WSC algorithm with the model checking approach that receives the particular benefits to collaborate the correctness of the proposed algorithm. The correctness of the proposed behavior model is examined using some logical problems such as deadlock‐free, fairness, and reachability conditions in the new symbolic model verifier model checker. The experimental results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in comparison with similar related works.
Optimizing MapReduce for energy efficiency
Authors: Tiwari Nidhi , Bellur Umesh , Sarkar Santonu , Indrawan Maria
Published: June 2018

The efficient use of energy is essential to address concerns of cost and sustainability. Many data centers contain MapReduce clusters to process Big Data applications. A large number of machines and fault tolerance capabilities make MapReduce clusters energy inefficient. In this paper, we present a Configurator based on performance and energy models to improve the energy efficiency of MapReduce systems. Our solution is novel as it takes into account the dependence of the performance and energy consumption of a cluster on MapReduce parameters. While this dependence is known, we are the first to model it and design a Configurator to optimize these parameter settings for maximizing the energy efficiency of MapReduce systems. Our empirical evaluations show that the Configurator can result in up to 50% improvement in the energy efficiency of typical MapReduce applications in two architecturally different clusters.
Heuristics and metaheuristics for dynamic management of computing and cooling energy in cloud data centers
Authors: Arroba Patricia , Risco‐Martín José L. , Moya José M. , Ayala José L.
Published: June 2018

Data centers handle impressive high figures in terms of energy consumption, and the growing popularity of cloud applications is intensifying their computational demand. Moreover, the cooling needed to keep the servers within reliable thermal operating conditions also has an impact on the thermal distribution of the data room, thus affecting to servers' power leakage. Optimizing the energy consumption of these infrastructures is a major challenge to place data centers on a more scalable scenario. Thus, understanding the relationship between power, temperature, consolidation, and performance is crucial to enable an energy‐efficient management at the data center level. In this research, we propose novel power and thermal‐aware strategies and models to provide joint cooling and computing optimizations from a local perspective based on the global energy consumption of metaheuristic‐based optimizations. Our results show that the combined awareness from both metaheuristic and best fit decreasing algorithms allow us to describe the global energy into faster and lighter optimization strategies that may be used during runtime. This approach allows us to improve the energy efficiency of the data center, considering both computing and cooling infrastructures, in up to a 21.74% while maintaining quality of service.
Non-BPS fractional branes with Bose-Fermi cancellation in asymmetric orbifolds
Authors: Sugawara Yuji , Uetoko Takahiro
Published: June 2018

Abstract

We study non-BPS D-branes in the type II string vacua with chiral space-time SUSY constructed based on the asymmetric orbifolds of

$$ \mathrm{K}3\cong {T}^4/{\mathrm{\mathbb{Z}}}_2 $$

K
3
≅

T
4

/

ℤ
2

as a succeeding work of [21]. We especially focus on the fractional D-branes that contains the contributions from the twisted sector of the

$$ {\mathrm{\mathbb{Z}}}_2 $$

ℤ
2

-orbifolding.

We show that the cylinder partition functions for these fractional branes do not vanish, as in the cases of ordinary non-BPS D-branes. This aspect is in a sharp contrast with the bulk-type branes studied in [21]. We then discuss the extensions of models by including the discrete torsion depending on the spin structures, and investigate whether we obtain the vanishing self-overlaps associated to the fractional branes. The existence/absence of bose-fermi cancellations both in the closed and open string spectra as well as the massless spectra in the twisted sectors crucially depend on the discrete torsion. We find that some choices of the torsion indeed realize the vanishing self-overlaps for the fractional branes, with keeping the vanishing torus partition function intact.
Terminal holographic complexity
Authors: Barbón J. L. F. , Martín-García J.
Published: June 2018

Abstract

We introduce a quasilocal version of holographic complexity adapted to ‘terminal states’ such as spacelike singularities. We use a modification of the action-complexity ansatz, restricted to the past domain of dependence of the terminal set, and study a number of examples whose symmetry permits explicit evaluation, to conclude that this quantity enjoys monotonicity properties after the addition of appropriate counterterms. A notion of ‘complexity density’ can be defined for singularities by a coarse-graining procedure. This definition assigns finite complexity density to black hole singularities but vanishing complexity density to either generic FRW singularities or chaotic BKL singularities. We comment on the similarities and differences with Penrose’s Weyl curvature criterion.
Impact of Postoperative Pneumonia Developing After Discharge on Long‐Term Follow‐up for Resected Lung Cancer
Authors: Shinohara Shuichi , Sugaya Masakazu , Onitsuka Takamitsu , Machida Kazuhiko , Matsuo Masaki , Tanaka Fumihiro
Published: June 2018

Background

Postoperative nosocomial pneumonia is a common immediate complication following lung resection. However, the incidence and mortality of pneumonia developing after discharge (PDAD) for lung‐resected patients during long‐term observation remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of PDAD in patients with resected lung cancer.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 357 consecutive patients with lung cancer who had undergone lung resection at a single institution, between April 2007 and December 2016. The clinical characteristics, pathological features, and overall survival were analyzed. Propensity score matched analysis was used for the evaluation of overall survival between PDAD and non‐PDAD groups with adjusted relevant confounding factors.

Results

PDAD was observed in 66 patients (18.5%). The cumulative incidence of PDAD was 14.9% at 3 years and 21.6% at 5 years. Mortality of PDAD was 30.3%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the risk factors for PDAD were age (OR 1.07; P = 0.005), oral steroid use (OR 5.62; P = 0.046), and lower‐lobe resection (OR 1.87; P = 0.034). After propensity score matching, 52 patients with PDAD and 52 patients without it were compared. The incidence of PDAD resulted in a worse 5‐year overall survival (56.1 vs. 69.3%; P = 0.024). The Cox proportional hazards model indicated that PDAD was associated with poor overall survival (HR 1.99, P = 0.027).

Conclusions

Our findings revealed a high incidence and mortality of PDAD among patients who had undergone lung resection with long‐term follow‐up. Therefore, PDAD could be associated with poorer overall survival.
Design for value change
Authors: van de Poel Ibo
Published: June 2018

In the value sensitive design (VSD) literature, there has been little attention for how values may change during the adoption and use of a sociotechnical system, and what that implies for design. A value change taxonomy is proposed, as well as a number of technical features that allow dealing with value change.
A meta‐analysis of group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) interventions for adolescents with depression
Authors: Keles Serap , Idsoe Thormod
Published: June 2018

The aim of this meta‐analysis was to systematically examine the short‐ and long‐term effects of group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for adolescent depression and to examine the role of various moderators of the reported effect sizes. A comprehensive literature search of relevant randomized‐controlled trials identified 23 studies containing 49 post‐intervention and 56 follow‐up comparisons. Standardized mean differences (SMD) were calculated both for post‐intervention and follow‐up. A three‐level random effects approach was used to model the dependent effect sizes. Group CBT was more efficacious than control conditions both at post‐intervention (SMD = −0.28, 95% CI [‐0.36, −0.19]) and at follow‐up (SMD = −0.21, 95% CI [‐0.30, −0.11]). Having an inactive control group was associated with a larger post‐intervention effect size, while having a longer follow‐up duration was associated with a smaller follow‐up effect size. Even though the effect sizes are low, research suggests that group CBT is a significant treatment for adolescent depression.
Decompression and Instrumentation without Fusion for Spinal Metastases: Loosening Rate and Consequences
Authors: Chong-chung Chan , Martin Wong Chung-ting , Eleanor Wen , Wing-ngai Yim , Hung-on Cheng , Ka-kin Cheung
Published: June 2018

Background/Purpose

For patients with spinal metastases, decompression surgery was usually followed by instrumentation without fusion. Over time, mechanical stress would lead to loosening of implants. Yet, there is a lack of studies concerning the loosening rate, or the impact on patients when the implants are loosened. We aim at finding the postoperative loosening rate of implant, postoperative survivorship of patients, as well as their correlation with the mode of instrumentation.

Methods

A retrospective study including patients with metastatic spinal cord compression, who received decompression and instrumentation without fusion in a local hospital in Hong Kong from 2007 to 2014 was carried out. Patients with primary spinal tumour or prior spinal fusion were excluded. Demographics, tumour characteristics, mode of instrumentation, loosening rate of implants, as well as survivorship of patients were retrieved. Radiographs at 1 year postoperation were counter-examined by 2 Orthopaedic specialists on the Electronic Patient Record System.

Results

Total of 65 operations were retrieved. The age ranged from 27 to 84 years old. The most frequent primary source of malignancy was lung (26.5%), followed by breast (24.62%). Thoracic level (60%) was the most frequent site of spinal metastases. The survivorship at 1 year postoperation was 61.54%. The overall loosening rate of implants was 44.44%, with the Luque rods and sublaminar wire system being the most (70%). None of the cases required revision or removal of implants at 1 year postoperation.

Conclusion

The loosening rate of implants was high, and it is expected to grow even higher as oncological patients continue to improve in their survivorship with the medical advances such as target therapy. Yet there is still no definite evidence on how the implant loosening would affect patients’ quality of life and clinical performance.
Rheology and shear jamming of frictional ellipses
Authors: Trulsson Martin
Published: June 2018

Understanding and predicting dense granular flows is of importance in geology and industrial applications. Still, most theoretical work has been limited to flows and packings composed of discs or spheres, a narrow subset of all possible packings. To advance our understanding of more realistic flows we here study the granular rheology of ellipses in steady-state flow with a focus on the effects of elongation and interparticle friction. We carry out novel numerical simulations of amorphous granular flows in a shear cell under confining pressure, at constant shear rate and at various aspect ratios. Both frictionless and frictional particles are considered. The various rheological curves follow the semi-empirical constitutive relations previously found for granular flows composed of discs or spheres. At the shear jamming point one finds well-defined packings, all characterised by their own set of critical parameters such as critical packing fraction, effective friction, etc. Packings composed of frictionless or almost frictionless particles are found to have a non-monotonic dependence of the macroscopic friction but a monotonic increase in packing fraction as the aspect ratio increases. For packings composed of particles with high interparticle friction the reverse is found. While frictionless packings are found to be hypostatic (except in the disc limit) frictional packings are remarkably close to the isostaticity point of having three contacts per particle. Both frictional and frictionless packings are found to have an increasing nematic ordering as the aspect ratio increases. The onset of a rolling, rather than sliding, motion between very frictional particles diminish this nematic ordering substantially. These findings put new and previously unknown bounds on the packing ratios and yield criteria for these amorphous packings at shear jamming.
Sharp-interface limits of a phase-field model with a generalized Navier slip boundary condition for moving contact lines
Authors: Xu Xianmin , Di Yana , Yu Haijun
Published: June 2018

The sharp-interface limits of a phase-field model with a generalized Navier slip boundary condition for binary fluids with moving contact lines are studied by asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations. The effects of the mobility number as well as a phenomenological relaxation parameter on the boundary condition are considered. In asymptotic analysis, we consider both the cases that the mobility number is proportional to the Cahn number and the square of the Cahn number, and derive the sharp-interface limits for several set-ups of the boundary relaxation parameter. It is shown that the sharp-interface limit of the phase-field model is the standard two-phase incompressible Navier–Stokes equations coupled with several different slip boundary conditions. Numerical results are consistent with the analysis results and also illustrate the different convergence rates of the sharp-interface limits for different scalings of the two parameters.
Taylor–Couette–Poiseuille flow with a weakly permeable inner cylinder: absolute instabilities and selection of global modes
Authors: Tilton Nils , Martinand Denis
Published: June 2018

Variations in the local stability of the flow in a Taylor–Couette cell can be imposed by adding an axial Poiseuille flow and a radial flow associated with one or both of the cylinders being permeable. At a given rotation rate of the inner cylinder, this results in adjacent regions of the flow that can be simultaneously stable, convectively unstable, and absolutely unstable, making this system fit for studying global modes of instability. To this end, building on the existing stability analysis in absolute modes developing over axially invariant base flows, we consider the case of axially varying base flows in systems for which the outer cylinder is impermeable, and the inner cylinder is a weakly permeable membrane through which the radial flow is governed by Darcy’s law. The frameworks of linear and nonlinear global modes are used to describe the instabilities and assess the results of direct numerical simulations using a dedicated pseudospectral method. Three different axially evolving set-ups are considered. In the first, fluid injection occurs along the full inner cylinder. In the second, fluid extraction occurs along the full inner cylinder. Besides its fundamental interest, this set-up is relevant to filtration devices. In the third, fluid flux through the inner cylinder evolves from extraction to injection as cross-flow reversal occurs. In agreement with the global mode analyses, the numerical simulations develop centrifugal instabilities above the predicted critical rotation rates and downstream of the predicted axial locations. The global mode analyses do not fully explain, however, that the instabilities observed in the numerical simulations take the form of axial stacks of wavepackets characterized by jumps of the temporal frequency.
Localised streak solutions for a Blasius boundary layer
Authors: Hewitt Richard E. , Duck Peter W.
Published: June 2018

Streaks are a common feature of disturbed boundary-layer flows. They play a central role in transient growth mechanisms and are a building block of self-sustained structures. Most theoretical work has focused on streaks that are periodic in the spanwise direction, but in this work we consider a single spatially localised streak embedded into a Blasius boundary layer. For small streak amplitudes, we show the perturbation can be described in terms of a set of eigenmodes that correspond to an isolated streak/roll structure. These modes are new, and arise from a bi-global eigenvalue calculation; they decay algebraically downstream and may be viewed as the natural three-dimensional extension of the classical two-dimensional Libby & Fox (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 17 (3), 1963, pp. 433–449) solutions. Despite their bi-global nature, we show that a subset of these eigenmodes (including the slowest decaying) is fundamentally related to the solutions first presented by Luchini (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 327, 1996, pp. 101–116), as derived for spanwise-periodic disturbances (at small spanwise wavenumber). This surprising connection is made by an analysis of the far-field decay of the bi-global state. We also address the fully non-parallel downstream development of nonlinear streaks, confirming that the aforementioned eigenmodes are recovered as the streak/roll decays downstream. Encouraging comparisons are made with available experimental data.
Bistability in the rotational motion of rigid and flexible flyers
Authors: Huang Yangyang , Ristroph Leif , Luhar Mitul , Kanso Eva
Published: June 2018

We explore the rotational stability of hovering flight in an idealized two-dimensional model. Our model is motivated by an experimental pyramid-shaped object (Weatherset al.,J. Fluid Mech, vol. 650, 2010, pp. 415–425; Liuet al.,Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 108, 2012, 068103) and a computational$\wedge$-shaped analogue (Huanget al.,Phys. Fluids, vol. 27 (6), 2015, 061706; Huanget al.,J. Fluid Mech., vol. 804, 2016, pp. 531–549) hovering passively in oscillating airflows; both systems have been shown to maintain rotational balance during free flight. Here, we attach the$\wedge$-shaped flyer at its apex in oscillating flow, allowing it to rotate freely akin to a pendulum. We use computational vortex sheet methods and we develop a quasi-steady point-force model to analyse the rotational dynamics of the flyer. We find that the flyer exhibits stable concave-down ($\wedge$) and concave-up ($\vee$) behaviour. Importantly, the down and up configurations are bistable and co-exist for a range of background flow properties. We explain the aerodynamic origin of this bistability and compare it to the inertia-induced stability of an inverted pendulum oscillating at its base. We then allow the flyer to flap passively by introducing a rotational spring at its apex. For stiff springs, flexibility diminishes upward stability but as stiffness decreases, a new transition to upward stability is induced by flapping. We conclude by commenting on the implications of these findings for biological and man-made aircraft.
Analysis of axisymmetric boundary layers
Authors: Kumar Praveen , Mahesh Krishnan
Published: June 2018

Axisymmetric boundary layers are studied using integral analysis of the governing equations for axial flow over a circular cylinder. The analysis includes the effect of pressure gradient and focuses on the effect of transverse curvature on boundary layer parameters such as shape factor ($H$) and skin-friction coefficient ($C_{f}$), defined as$H=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{\ast }/\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$and$C_{f}=\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}/(0.5\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}U_{e}^{2})$respectively, where$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{\ast }$is displacement thickness,$\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$is momentum thickness,$\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}_{w}$is the shear stress at the wall,$\unicode[STIX]{x1D70C}$is density and$U_{e}$is the streamwise velocity at the edge of the boundary layer. Relations are obtained relating the mean wall-normal velocity at the edge of the boundary layer ($V_{e}$) and$C_{f}$to the boundary layer and pressure gradient parameters. The analytical relations reduce to established results for planar boundary layers in the limit of infinite radius of curvature. The relations are used to obtain$C_{f}$which shows good agreement with the data reported in the literature. The analytical results are used to discuss different flow regimes of axisymmetric boundary layers in the presence of pressure gradients.
A note on the secondary load cycle for a monopile in irregular deep water waves
Authors: Riise Bjørn Hervold , Grue John , Jensen Atle , Johannessen Thomas B.
Published: June 2018

Laboratory experiments with a bottom hinged surface-piercing cylinder, exposed to irregular deep water waves, are used to investigate high-frequency forcing. The focus is on the secondary load cycle, a strongly nonlinear phenomenon regarding the wave load on a vertical cylinder, first identified by Grue et al. (1993 Preprint Series. Mechanics and Applied Mathematics, pp. 1–30. University of Oslo, available at http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-52740; 1994 Ninth International Workshop on Water Waves and Floating Bodies (ed. M. Ohkusu), pp. 77–81, available at http://iwwwfb.org). For a total of 2166 single wave events, the force above $3\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}$ (where $\unicode[STIX]{x1D714}$ is the governing wave frequency) is used to identify and split the strongly nonlinear forces into two peaks: a high-frequency peak closely correlated in time with the wave crest when the total load is positive and a high-frequency peak defining the secondary load cycle which occurs close in time to the wave zero downcrossing when the total load is negative. The two peaks are studied by regression analysis as a function of either the Keulegan–Carpenter number ($KC$) or the Froude number ($Fr$). Regarding the secondary load cycle, the best correlation is found with $Fr$. The speed of the travelling edge of the undisturbed wave approximates the fluid velocity. A threshold value separating between small and large forces is found for $KC\sim 4$–5, indicating effects of flow separation. Alternatively, the threshold occurs for $Fr\sim 0.3$–0.4, indicating local wave effects at the scale of the cylinder diameter. The findings suggest that both effects are present and important.
WANNA BET? CLASSIC BALLCOURT 2 AT NIXTUN-CH'ICH’, PETEN, GUATEMALA
Authors: Rice Prudence M.
Published: June 2018

Surface clearing of small Ballcourt 2 at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, constructed atop a Middle Preclassic platform, revealed that the court was built and used in the Late and Terminal Classic periods and into the Postclassic, before and after apparent termination. Recovered artifacts suggest feasting and gambling.
Kinetic simulations of relativistic magnetic reconnection with synchrotron and inverse Compton cooling
Authors: Nalewajko Krzysztof , Yuan Yajie , Chruślińska Martyna
Published: June 2018

First results are presented from kinetic numerical simulations of relativistic collisionless magnetic reconnection in a pair plasma that include radiation reaction from both synchrotron and inverse Compton (IC) processes, motivated by non-thermal high-energy astrophysical sources, including in particular blazars. These simulations are initiated from a configuration known as ‘ABC fields’ that evolves due to coalescence instability and generates thin current layers in its linear phase. Global radiative efficiencies, instability growth rates, time-dependent radiation spectra, lightcurves, variability statistics and the structure of current layers are investigated for a broad range of initial parameters. We find that the IC radiative signatures are generally similar to the synchrotron signatures. The luminosity ratio of IC to synchrotron spectral components, the Compton dominance, can be modified by more than one order of magnitude with respect to its nominal value. For very short cooling lengths, we find evidence for modification of the temperature profile across the current layers, no systematic compression of plasma density and very consistent profiles of the scalar product$\boldsymbol{E}\boldsymbol{\cdot }\boldsymbol{B}$of electric field$\boldsymbol{E}$and magnetic field$\boldsymbol{B}$. We decompose the profiles of$\boldsymbol{E}\boldsymbol{\cdot }\boldsymbol{B}$with the use of the Vlasov momentum equation, demonstrating a contribution from radiation reaction at the thickness scale consistent with the temperature profile.
Stand-alone Celestial Navigation Positioning Method
Authors: Pierros Frankiskos
Published: June 2018

Finding one's geographical position (fix) without the use of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which was common place before the establishment of the latter, could be tedious and/or inaccurate. Apart from sound knowledge of spherical trigonometry and navigational methods, it also requires the knowledge of the navigator's approximate or assumed position, the use of the current year's celestial bodies' ephemeris (Nautical Almanac), and graphical methods (Lines of Position – LOP) which sometimes can prove wanting in accuracy and/or challenging for the unaccustomed user. The method proposed here is based on sight reduction from two celestial bodies, and directly calculates the geographical position, both for stationary and moving observers (“running fix”) using easily available modern programmable calculating devices, without the need of the assumed position, graphical methods (LOP) or the current year's ephemeris, hence the term “stand-alone”. This self-contained method is implemented by the author in a software application, which can be easily used in a portable computer (for example, a smartphone). The results are considered satisfactorily accurate.
Improved Transversal Polar Navigation Mechanism for Strapdown INS using Ellipsoidal Earth Model
Authors: Qin Fangjun , Chang Lubin , Li An
Published: June 2018

As the geographical meridians converge rapidly, traditional inertial navigation methods fail in the polar regions. Classic transversal navigation methods can address the problem by transversal rotation of the original north and south poles, but this can introduce errors based on the spherical Earth model. To reduce the principle errors, some fruitful research work using an ellipsoidal Earth model has been done. Under the ellipsoid Earth model, transversal navigation for polar region becomes a complex coupling problem. Considering the coupling of the three-dimensional motion, a more rigorous mechanism for transversal navigation using an ellipsoidal Earth model is proposed. Starting from the relationship between Euclidean coordinates and spherical coordinates, the main equations of transversal polar navigation based on an ellipsoidal Earth model are derived in detail. Complete mechanical arrangements of attitude, position and velocity calculation are presented. The new derivation in this paper completely avoids solving the ellipsoidal radius. Numerical results indicate that the proposed transversal navigation mechanism can outperform the traditional method, especially in the condition of vertical motion.
Q fever: an under-reported reportable communicable disease
Authors: Kaufman Harvey W. , Chen Zhen , Radcliff Jeff , Batterman Hollis J. , Leake John
Published: June 2018

The objective of this study was to provide real-world clinical laboratory-based data to supplement Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting of Q fever. We analysed titre results of specimens submitted to a large US clinical laboratory for Coxiella burnetii IgG antibody testing from 2010 through 2016. Presumptive Q fever was defined as acute (phase II IgG titre ⩾1:128, phase I titre <1:1024) or chronic (phase I IgG titre ⩾1:1024), based on the results from a single serum specimen. During 2010–2016, an average of 328 presumptive acute Q fever cases were identified at Quest each year, nearly three times the annual average reported to the CDC (122). During the same period, the number of chronic cases identified annually at Quest Diagnostics (34) was similar to that reported to the CDC (29). These findings suggest that CDC data may underestimate the incidence of acute Q fever.
National outbreak ofSalmonellaGive linked to a local food manufacturer in Malta, October 2016
Authors: Donachie A. , Melillo T. , Bubba L. , Hartman H. , Borg M.-L.
Published: June 2018

SalmonellaGive is a rare serotype across Europe. In October 2016, a national outbreak ofS.Give occurred in Malta. We describe the epidemiological, environmental, microbiological and veterinary investigations. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on human, food, environmental and veterinary isolates. Thirty-six human cases were reported between October and November 2016, 10 (28%) of whom required hospitalisation. Twenty-six (72%) cases were linked to four restaurants.S.Give was isolated from ready-to-eat antipasti served by three restaurants which were all supplied by the same local food manufacturer. Food-trace-back investigations identifiedS.Give in packaged bean dips, ham, pork and an asymptomatic food handler at the manufacturer; inspections found inadequate separation between raw and ready-to-eat food during processing. WGS indicated two genetically distinguishable strains ofS.Give with two distinct clusters identified; one cluster linked to the local food manufacturer and a second linked to veterinary samples. Epidemiological, environmental and WGS evidence pointed towards cross-contamination of raw and ready-to-eat foods at the local manufacturer as the likely source of one cluster. Severity of illness indicates a high virulence of this specific serotype. To prevent future cases and outbreaks, adherence to food safety practices at manufacturing level need to be reinforced.
Geography but not alternative host species explain the spread of raccoon rabies virus in Vermont
Authors: Nadin-Davis S. A. , Fu Q. , Trewby H. , Biek R. , Johnson R. H. , Real L.
Published: June 2018

In North America, the raccoon-associated variant of rabies virus (RRV) is of special concern, given its relatively rapid spread throughout the eastern USA and its potential public health impact due to high raccoon host densities in urban areas. Northward expansion of this epizootic included an outbreak in the Canadian province of Quebec in 2006–2009 due to trans-border spread from the State of Vermont. To inform a more proactive approach to future control efforts, this study uses phylogenetic analyses to explore the role of geography and alternative carnivore hosts in the dynamics of RRV spread within Vermont. Specifically, we sought to examine whether striped skunks, a species frequently infected by RRV, could be part of the maintenance host community. Whole genome sequencing of 160 RRV samples from Vermont and neighbouring US states were used for fine-scale phylogeographic analyses. Results, together with the complete surveillance record of raccoon rabies since its entry into Vermont in 1994, document incursions by two distinct viral lineages and identify topographical features of the landscape which have significantly influenced viral spread, resulting in a complex distribution pattern of viral variants throughout the state. Results of phylogenetic cluster analysis and discrete state reconstruction contained some evidence of skunk-to-skunk and skunk-to-raccoon transmission but overall failed to support a role for skunks as alternative maintenance hosts.
Patient Presentation Trends at 15 Mass-Gathering Events in South Australia
Authors: Anikeeva Olga , Arbon Paul , Zeitz Kathryn , Bottema Murk , Lund Adam , Turris Sheila , Steenkamp Malinda
Published: June 2018

Introduction

Mass gatherings are complex events that present a unique set of challenges to attendees’ health and well-being. There are numerous factors that influence the number and type of injuries and illnesses that occur at these events, including weather, event and venue type, and crowd demographics and behavior.

Problem

While the impact of some factors, such as weather conditions and the availability of alcohol, on patient presentations at mass gatherings have been described previously, the influence of many other variables, including crowd demographics, crowd behavior, and event type, is poorly understood. Furthermore, a large number of studies reporting on the influence of these variables on patient presentations are based on anecdotal evidence at a single mass-gathering event.

Methods

Data were collected by trained fieldworkers at 15 mass gatherings in South Australia and included event characteristics, crowd demographics, and weather. De-identified patient records were obtained from on-site health care providers. Data analysis included the calculation of patient proportions in each variable category, as well as the total number of patient presentations per event and the patient presentation rate (PPR).

Results

The total number of expected attendees at the 15 mass gatherings was 303,500, of which 146 presented to on-site health care services. The majority of patient presentations occurred at events with a mean temperature between 20°C and 25°C. The PPR was more than double at events with a predominantly male crowd compared to events with a more equal sex distribution. Almost 90.0% of patient presentations occurred at events where alcohol was available.

Conclusion:

The results of the study suggest that several weather, crowd, and event variables influence the type and number of patient presentations observed at mass-gathering events. Given that the study sample size did not allow for these interactions to be quantified, further research is warranted to investigate the relationships between alcohol availability, crowd demographics, crowd mobility, venue design, and injuries and illnesses.

Anikeeva O, Arbon P, Zeitz K, Bottema M, Lund A, Turris S, Steenkamp M. Patient presentation trends at 15 mass-gathering events in South Australia. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(4):368–374.
Multilingual SMS-based author profiling: Data and methods
Authors: FATIMA MEHWISH , ANWAR SABA , NAVEED AMNA , ARSHAD WAQAS , NAWAB RAO MUHAMMAD ADEEL , IQBAL MUNTAHA , MASOOD ALIA
Published: June 2018

In the recent years, many benchmark author profiling corpora have been developed for various genres including Twitter, social media, blogs, hotel reviews and e-mail, etc. However, no such standard evaluation resource has been developed for Short Messaging Service (SMS), a popular medium of communication, which is very useful for author profiling. The primary aim of this study is to develop a large multilingual (English and Roman Urdu) benchmark SMS-based author profiling corpus. The proposed corpus contains 810 author profiles, wherein each profile consists of an aggregation of SMS messages as a single document of an author, along with seven demographic traits associated with each author profile: gender, age, native language, native city, qualification, occupation and personality type (introvert/extrovert). The secondary aims of this study include the following: (1) annotating the proposed corpus for code-switching annotations at the lexical level (approximately 0.69 million tokens are manually annotated for code-switching) and (2) applying the stylometry-based method (groups of sixty-four features) and the content-based method (twelve features) for gender identification in order to demonstrate how our proposed corpus can be used for the development and evaluation of various author profiling methods. The results show that the content-based character 5-gram feature outperformed all the other features by obtaining the accuracy score of 0.975 andF1score of 0.947 for gender identification while using the entire corpus. Furthermore, our proposed corpora (SMS–AP–18 and code-switched SMS–AP–18) are freely and publicly available for research purpose.
Pain-related distress among patients referred to a community-based palliative care program
Authors: Riggs Alexa , Breuer Brenda , Patel Vaishali , Harounian Joshua , Chen Jack , Dhingra Lara , Portenoy Russell K. , Knotkova Helena
Published: June 2018

Objective

Numerous studies have characterized the pain reported by patients with advanced illness in terms of descriptors such as severity, but few have measured pain-related distress. Distress may be important in the clinical approach to pain. To evaluate pain-related distress among adult patients with advanced illness and pain following enrollment in an urban, specialist-level, community-based palliative care program.

Method

In a retrospective cross-sectional analysis, data were extracted from the electronic health records of all patients who were able to complete the pain item from the Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale at the start of care. Bivariate and multivariate analyses evaluated the associations between distress and both sociodemographics and disease-related information.

Results

The 506 patients completing the pain item had a mean (SD) age of 70.7 years (13.8); 64.2% were women, 32.1% were Hispanic, 32.6% were white, and 27.7% were black. Of the 503 patients who indicated some level of distress on a 0–4 scale, 221 (43.7%) had high distress, defined as a score ≥3 (“quite a bit” or “very much”). Cancer diagnosis and poor performance status (unable to care for self) were predictors of high pain-related distress (both p < 0.05).

Significance of results

Among patients with advanced illness who reported pain at the start of care by a specialist palliative care program, high pain-related distress was common, particularly among those with cancer or poor physical function. Further studies are needed to explore the extent to which pain-related distress should inform the assessment and management of pain.
Late Brahms, Ancient Modes
Authors: Todd R. Larry
Published: June 2018

History has often viewed Brahms as a Janus-faced composer who turned his gaze backward to contemplate the accumulated riches of music history even as he sought late in his career to exploit new means of musical expression. On the one hand, he habitually collected passages from a long line of composers that breached the traditional prohibition against parallel fifths and octaves; he exchanged ideas with musicologists such as Nottebohm, Mandyczewski and Adler, and read early issues of theVierteljahrsschrift für Musikwissenschaft; and he indulged from time to time in a distinctive musical historicism. But on the other hand, his music was embraced for showing a way forward for a number of next-generation composers who would contend with twentieth-century modernism, most notably of course Schoenberg, in his essay ‘Brahms the Progressive’, but also Anton von Webern, whose transitional Passacaglia op. 1 was unthinkable without the precedent of Brahms’s op. 90, and whose aphoristic miniatures betrayed the concentrated expression and opening up of register in Brahms’s lateKlavierstücke.

This essay considers one still relatively little-explored facet of Brahms’s historical gaze – his use of modes in his later music, and their potential for creating alternative means of musical organization that challenged, and yet were somehow compatible with, tonality. Examples considered include the first movement of the Clarinet Trio op. 114 and slow movement of the String Quintet no. 2 op. 111. Unlike Brahms’s earlier compositions that treat modes as signifiers of a style of folk music or simulated folk music, the later instrumental works seem to juxtapose principles of modal organization within the context of tonal compositions. Thus, in the first movement of the Clarinet Trio, eerie passages infauxbourdonimpress as allusions to a distant, archaic musical other, as if Brahms the historian were searching for the distant roots of his musical aesthetic.
Mahler’s Overwhelming Climaxes: The Symphony as Mass Medium
Authors: Franklin Peter
Published: June 2018

A number of Mahler’s symphonies contain climactic accumulations and releases of musical-expressive energy that overspill conventional boundaries between the aesthetic and the sensational, the spiritual and the physical, high art and the popular. These might be said to define something of the ‘problem’ that his music represented for many of his contemporaries. They are still infrequently confronted in terms of their elaborately staged excess, as if mocking the metaphorical language of harmonically contrived ‘tension and resolution’ by revealing, in spite of conventional mockery of ‘programmaticism’, what such notionally formal or ‘theoretical’ language always implies. Even Lawrence Dreyfus’s recent exploration of the ‘erotic impulse’ in Wagner’s music was to some degree hedged by symptomatic analysis of Wagner’s supposed ‘decadence’, although it valuably opened up the field and offered insight into key features of post-Wagnerian, late-romantic music. Mahler himself, in a famous letter to Gisela Tolnay-Witt, situated these in the specific, socio-cultural characteristics of symphonic music in an era of mass consumption by ever larger numbers of people in ever larger spaces. The history and changing implications of these climactic moments in Mahler’s symphonies will be sketched here with reference to their often explicitly transgressive implications.
Rotman lens design and optimization for 5G applications
Authors: Ershadi S. E. , Keshtkar A. , Bayat A. , Abdelrahman A. H. , Xin H.
Published: June 2018

The next generation of wireless networks (5G) employs directional transmission at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies to provide higher bandwidth and faster data rates. This is achieved by applying antenna arrays with proper beam steering capabilities. Rotman lens has long been used as a lens-based beamformer in electronically scanned arrays and its efficient design is important in the overall performance of the array. Minimizing the phase error on the aperture of the antenna array is an important design criterion in the lens. In this paper, a 7 × 8 wideband Rotman lens is designed. Particle swarm optimization is applied to minimize the path length error and thereby the phase error. The optimized lens operates from 25 to 31 GHz, which covers the frequency bands proposed by the Federal Communications Commission for 5G communications. The proposed optimized lens shows a maximum phase error of <0.1°. The proposed Rotman lens is a good candidate to be integrated with wideband microstrip patch antenna arrays that are suitable for 5G mmW applications.