bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of treating helminths during pregnancy and early childhood on risk of allergy‐related outcomes: Follow‐up of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Namara Benigna , Nash Stephen , Lule Swaib A. , Akurut Hellen , Mpairwe Harriet , Akello Florence , Tumusiime Josephine , Kizza Moses , Kabagenyi Joyce , Nkurunungi Gyaviira , Muhangi Lawrence , Webb Emily L. , Muwanga Moses , Elliott Alison M.
Published: September 2017

Background

Helminth infections, common in low‐income countries, may protect against allergy‐related disease. Early exposure may be a key. In the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study, treating helminths during pregnancy resulted in increased eczema rates in early childhood. We followed the cohort to determine whether this translated to increased asthma rates at school age.

Methods

This randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trial, conducted in Entebbe, Uganda, had three interventions. During pregnancy, women were randomized, simultaneously, to albendazole vs placebo and to praziquantel vs placebo. Their children were independently randomized to quarterly albendazole vs placebo from age 15 months to 5 years. We here report follow‐up to age 9 years. Primary outcomes at 9 years were recent reported wheeze, skin prick test positivity (SPT) to common allergens and allergen‐specific IgE positivity to dust mite or cockroach. Secondary outcomes were doctor‐diagnosed asthma and eczema rates between 5 and 9 years, recent eczema, rhinitis and urticaria at 9 years, and SPT and IgE responses to individual allergens.

Results

2507 pregnant women were enrolled; 1215 children were seen at age nine, of whom 1188 are included in this analysis. Reported wheeze was rare at 9 years (3.7%) while SPT positivity (25.0%) and IgE positivity (44.1%) were common. There was no evidence of a treatment effect for any of the three interventions on any of the primary outcomes.

Conclusions

Prenatal and early‐life treatment of helminths, in the absence of change in other exposures, is unlikely to increase the risk of atopic diseases later in childhood in this tropical, low‐income setting.
Beta‐2 receptor agonist exposure in the uterus associated with subsequent risk of childhood asthma
Authors: Ogawa Kohei , Tanaka Satomi , Limin Yang , Arata Naoko , Sago Haruhiko , Yamamoto‐Hanada Kiwako , Narita Masami , Ohya Yukihiro
Published: September 2017

Background

Although the beta‐2 receptor agonist (B2RA) is occasionally prescribed in the prenatal period for women with preterm labor, few studies have referred to the long‐term effects of intrauterine exposure to B2RA on fetus. We examined the association between intrauterine exposure to B2RA and asthma in the offspring.

Methods

We obtained data from a hospital‐based birth cohort study conducted in Tokyo, Japan. The outcomes of interest were three indicators, consisting of current wheeze, current asthma, and ever asthma at 5 years of age, based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between intrauterine B2RA exposure and outcomes. To evaluate dose‐dependent risk, we categorized children into three groups according to both the cumulative dose and duration (days) and conducted trend analysis.

Results

Of 1158 children, 94 (8.1%) were exposed to B2RA in utero, and 191 (16.5%), 111 (9.6%), and 168 (14.5%) children experienced current wheeze, current asthma, and ever asthma, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, we found an increased risk of current asthma caused by B2RA exposure with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.04 (95% confidence interval: 1.02‐4.05). Trend analysis showed that B2RA exposure in utero was associated with a dose‐dependent increased risk of current asthma in terms of both cumulative dose and duration (P values for trend were .015 and .017, respectively). These results were similar to those for other outcome measures.

Conclusion

Exposure to B2RA in utero could be a risk for childhood asthma.
Identification of a candidate gene for Re, the factor determining the red leaf phenotype in ornamental kale using fine mapping and transcriptome analysis
Authors: Ren Jie , Fu Wei , Du Jiangtao , Hou Ailin , Liu Zhiyong , Feng Hui
Published: September 2017

The red inner leaf phenotype of ornamental kale is due to anthocyanin accumulation and is an important agronomic trait. This phenotype is controlled by a single dominant nuclear gene, Re. An F2 mapping population from a cross between red leaf and white leaf lines was developed, and Re was found to be located between BYIn3 and C09‐In51 on chromosome nine (C09) at a distance of 0.003 and 1.8 cM, respectively. Twenty‐six genes were identified in this region, but none were related to the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway. On the basis of information from Ensembl Plants, transcriptome analysis of the mapping parents and identification of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes in Brassica oleracea, we predicted that Bol035269, which encodes dihydroflavonol 4‐reductase, is a candidate gene for Re, and is located on Scaffold000035_P2. Sequencing of the mapping parents revealed a 2,400‐bp insertion and a 124‐bp deletion in the white leaf line. Quantitative real‐time PCR showed that Bol035269 in the red leaf line was expressed at an approximately 1,045‐fold higher level than in the white leaf line.
Early menarche is associated with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease in adulthood
Authors: Yi Kyung Hee , Hwang Jin Soon , Lim Se Won , Lee Jun Ah , Kim Dong Ho , Lim Jung Sub
Published: September 2017

Background

The aim of this study was to examine the association between early menarche (<12 years) and non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in premenopausal women and to explore whether it is mediated by adult obesity and insulin resistance.

Methods

We analyzed data of premenopausal women, aged ≥15 years, from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2007–2009). We divided the women into three groups: early menarche, reference (12.00–15.99 years), and late menarche. The presence of NAFLD was determined using hepatic steatosis index >36.0.

Results

Of the 4,387 women evaluated, 673 (15.4%) met the criteria for NAFLD. The prevalence of NAFLD was higher in both women with early and late menarche compared with the reference (early, 23.4%; reference, 14.0%; late, 19.9%, P < 0.001). After adjustment of confounders including age, the OR for NAFLD in early menarche compared with the reference was 3.04 (95%CI: 1.99–4.65). Further adjustment of mediators, such as central obesity or insulin resistance, attenuated the association to 1.91–2.17. There was no association, however, between late menarche and NAFLD after adjustment of confounders.

Conclusions

Early menarche was associated with an increased risk of NAFLD in young and middle‐aged premenopausal Korean women.
Evaluation of longitudinal and radial left ventricular functions on 2‐D and 3‐D echocardiography before and after intravenous immunoglobulin in acute Kawasaki disease
Authors: Hashimoto Ikuo , Saitou Yu , Sakata Nao , Shibata Ko
Published: September 2017

Background

The relationship between left ventricular (LV) function and longitudinal or radial contraction has not yet been elucidated in acute Kawasaki disease (KD), especially before and after treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG).

Methods

We studied 28 KD patients without coronary aneurysms (average age, 3.2 years). The LV end‐diastolic volume (LVEDV), end‐systolic volume (LVESV), stroke volume (LVSV), and ejection fraction (LVEF) were assessed on 3‐D echocardiography before IVIG, after IVIG, and in the convalescent phase. LV fractional shortening (LVFS) and the mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE) z‐score were measured as surrogates for radial and longitudinal LV wall motions, respectively. Serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) was also assessed as a heart failure indicator in acute KD patients.

Results

In all KD patients, LVEDV decreased in the acute phase with preservation of LVESV. Both LVSV and MAPSE z‐score were lowest before IVIG and increased after IVIG. MAPSE z‐score was highly correlated with LVEF before and after IVIG treatment. Although there was a good correlation between logBNP and LVEF before IVIG, it was lost after IVIG.

Conclusions

LVEDV decreased longitudinally during the acute phase of KD with preservation of LVESV, reducing both LVSV and LVEF. Serum BNP is a useful marker for evaluating LV function only prior to IVIG treatment.
The Reasoning View and Defeasible Practical Reasoning
Authors: Asarnow Samuel
Published: September 2017

According to the Reasoning View about normative reasons, facts about normative reasons for action can be understood in terms of facts about the norms of practical reasoning. I argue that this view is subject to an overlooked class of counterexamples, familiar from debates about Subjectivist theories of normative reasons. Strikingly, the standard strategy Subjectivists have used to respond to this problem cannot be adapted to the Reasoning View. I think there is a solution to this problem, however. I argue that the norms of practical reasoning, like the norms of theoretical reasoning, are characteristically defeasible, in a sense I make precise. Recognizing this property of those norms makes space for a solution to the problem. The resulting view is in a way analogous to the familiar defeasibility theory of knowledge, but it avoids a standard objection to that theory.
Identification of wheat blue dwarf phytoplasma effectors targeting plant proliferation and defence responses
Authors: Wang N. , Li Y. , Chen W. , Yang H. Z. , Zhang P. H. , Wu Y. F.
Published: September 2017

The identification of effectors from pathogenic microbes is one of the most important subjects for elucidating infection mechanisms. Wheat blue dwarf (WBD) phytoplasma causes dwarfism, witches' broom, and yellow leaf tips in wheat plants, resulting in severe yield loss in northwestern China. In this study, 37 candidate effector proteins were transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. Plants expressing the SAP11‐like protein SWP1 exhibited typical witches' broom. Interestingly, another protein, SWP11, induced both cell death and defence responses, including H2O2 accumulation and callose deposition. Analysis by qRT‐PCR was used to show that a marker gene of the hypersensitive response, HIN1, and three pathogenesis‐related genes, PR1, PR2 and PR3, were significantly up‐regulated in leaves of N. benthamiana expressing SWP11. In addition, SWP12 and SWP21 (TENGU‐like) were shown to suppress SWP11‐, BAX‐, and/or INF1‐induced cell death. These results indicated that SWP21 has a distinct role in virulence compared with TENGU and that WBD phytoplasma possesses effectors that target plant proliferation and defence responses. The ability of these effectors to trigger or suppress plant immunity provides new insights into the phytoplasma–plant interaction.
The Contemporary Presidency: A Lasting Legacy? Presidents, National Monuments, and the Antiquities Act
Authors: Kelso Mark
Published: September 2017

The Antiquities Act became law in 1906 at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt. The law allows presidents to declare national monuments, and thus preserve public land, without congressional approval. While the use of the Act has varied over time, in recent Democratic administrations this legislation has become a major component of environmental policy making. This study examines the use of the Antiquities Act by presidents in order to understand this Act as a policy device and what its development says about environmental policy in modern times. The article also discusses recent efforts to redefine this presidential power.
Fisher information under Gaussian quadrature models
Authors: Marques da Silva Júnior Antonio Hermes , Einbeck Jochen , Craig Peter S.
Published: September 2017

This paper develops formulae to compute the Fisher information matrix for the regression parameters of generalized linear models with Gaussian random effects. The Fisher information matrix relies on the estimation of the response variance under the model assumptions. We propose two approaches to estimate the response variance: the first is based on an analytic formula (or a Taylor expansion for cases where we cannot obtain the closed form), and the second is an empirical approximation using the model estimates via the expectation–maximization process. Further, simulations under several response distributions and a real data application involving a factorial experiment are presented and discussed. In terms of standard errors and coverage probabilities for model parameters, the proposed methods turn out to behave more reliably than does the ‘disparity rule’ or direct extraction of results from the generalized linear model fitted in the last expectation–maximization iteration.
Candidate gene molecular markers as tools for analyzing genetic susceptibility to morbillivirus infection in stranded Cetaceans
Authors: Stejskalova K. , Bayerova Z. , Futas J. , Hrazdilova K. , Klumplerova M. , Oppelt J. , Splichalova P. , Di Guardo G. , Mazzariol S. , Di Francesco C. E. , Di Francesco G. , Terracciano G. , Paiu R.‐M. , Ursache T. D. , Modry D. , Horin P.
Published: September 2017

Morbilliviruses, such as Cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV) or Phocine distemper virus (PDV), represent a growing threat for marine mammals on both hemispheres. Because free‐ranging animal populations strongly rely on natural resistance mechanisms, innate immunity‐related genes and virus cell entry receptor genes may represent key factors involved in susceptibility to CeMV in Cetaceans. Using the next generation sequencing technology, we have sequenced 11 candidate genes in two model species, Stenella coeruleoalba and Phocoena phocoena. Suitable single nucleotide polymorphism markers of potential functional importance, located in genes coding for basigin (BSG, CD147), the signaling lymphocyte activating molecule (SLAMF1), the poliovirus‐related receptor‐4 (NECTIN4, PVRL4), toll‐like receptors 3, 7, 8 (TLR3, TLR7, TLR8), natural resistance‐associated macrophage protein (SLC11A1) and natural cytotoxicity triggering receptor 1 (NCR1), were identified in each model species, along with MHC‐DQB haplotypes unique for each species. This set of molecular markers represents a potentially useful tool for studying host genetic variation and susceptibility to morbillivirus infection in Cetaceans as well as for studying functionally important genetic diversity of selected Cetacean populations.
Trade policies for a small open economy: The case of Singapore
Authors: Chen Xiaoping , Shao Yuchen
Published: September 2017

This paper discusses the trade policies and practices of Singapore based on the latest WTO trade policy review. Though Singapore's trade policies have been effective and contributing to its remarkable economic performance, it also faces problems and new challenges in the modern globalisation era. Reviewing Singapore's policies also provides guidance for other small open economies.
The Examination of the Relation between Teacher Candidates’ Problem Solving Appraisal and Utilization of Motivated Strategies for Learning
Authors: Turgut Ozden , Ocak Gurbuz
Published: September 2017

This study examines the relation between teacher candidates’ problem solving appraisal and utilization of motivated strategies for learning. The study has been carried out with 416 teacher candidates. A correlation has been used between problem solving appraisal and utilization of motivated strategies for learning. Besides, regression analysis has been used to find out whether problem solving appraisal predicts utilization of motivated strategies for learning. In addition, it has been questioned whether various variables (gender, department, class level) and problem solving appraisal have a common effect on utilization of motivated strategies for learning. Results indicate that for both women and men, there is a significant and negative sided relationship between problem solving appraisal and utilization of motivated strategies for learning. Besides, except Elementary Science Education and Early Childhood Education departments, for all the departments, there is a significant relationship between problem solving appraisal and utilization of motivated strategies. Finally, it has been found that problem solving appraisal predicts utilization of motivated strategies significantly, but there is not a common effect of problem solving appraisal and various variables (gender, department, class level) on utilization of motivated strategies for learning.
Blending Problem Based Learning and History of Science Approaches to Enhance Views about Scientific Inquiry: New Wine in an Old Bottle
Authors: Dogan Nihal
Published: September 2017

In 2016, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that approximately 44.4% of students in Turkey obtained very low grades when their scientific knowledge was evaluated. In addition, the vast majority of students were shown to have no knowledge of basic scientific terms or concepts. Science teachers play a significant role in facilitating students’ understanding of science, conceptions of scientific inquiry (SI) and the nature of science (NOS), and the transfer of those conceptions into classroom practice. Therefore, in this paper, I present my experiences of blending problem-based learning (PBL) and the history of science (HOS) with technological approaches. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of this innovative approach in improving pre-service science teachers’ SI views. The Views about Scientific Inquiry (VASI) questionnaire was used as a data collection tool (Lederman et al., 2014). The findings showed that most of the views of pre-service science teachers improved for all SI items except “Consistent with data collected.” The results also indicated that the teachers that used these approaches were able to overcome initial barriers in preparing lesson plans for teaching science and SI.
Assessment and management of burn pain at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital: a best practice implementation project
Authors: Bayuo Jonathan , Munn Zachary , Campbell Jared
Published: September 2017

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

Pain management is a significant issue in health facilities in Ghana. For burn patients, this is even more challenging as burn pain has varied facets. Despite the existence of pharmacological agents for pain management, complaints of pain still persist.

Objectives

The aim of this project was to identify pain management practices in the burns units of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, compare these approaches to best practice, and implement strategies to enhance compliance to standards.

Methods

Ten evidence-based audit criteria were developed from evidence summaries. Using the Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence Software (PACES), a baseline audit was undertaken on a convenience sample of ten patients from the day of admission to the seventh day. Thereafter, the Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) component of PACES was used to identify barriers, strategies, resources and outcomes. After implementation of the strategies, a follow-up audit was undertaken using the same sample size and audit criteria.

Results

The baseline results showed poor adherence to best practice. However, following implementation of strategies, including ongoing professional education and provision of assessment tools and protocols, compliance rates improved significantly. Atlhough the success of this project was almost disrupted by an industrial action, collaboration with external bodies enabled the successful completion of the project.

Conclusion

Pain management practices in the burns unit improved at the end of the project which reflects the importance of an audit process, education, providing feedback, group efforts and effective collaboration.
Experiences of adults with intellectual disability who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex or asexual: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Ramasamy Vemel , Rillotta Fiona , Alexander June
Published: September 2017

Review objective/question:

The purpose of this systematic review is to identify, appraise and synthesize the best available qualitative evidence on the lived experiences of adults with intellectual disability who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex or asexual in mainstream society.
Numerical Study of Cage Dynamics Focused on Hydrodynamic Effects of Guidance Land Clearances for Different Ball-Pocket Clearances in Cryogenic Environments
Authors: Choe Bokseong , Lee Jeonkook , Jeon Doyoung , Lee Yongbok
Published: September 2017

This study presents the dynamic motion of a ball bearing cage submerged in a cryogenic fluid under high-speed conditions. The dynamic motion of the cage has been studied as a function of the race land-cage and ball-cage pocket clearances for different inner race rotation speeds under light load conditions. In addition, this study conducted computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis using commercial software to analyze the fluid dynamic forces on the cage. The hydraulic force obtained from the CFD analysis was coded in commercial ball bearing analysis software as a function of the eccentricity ratio and rotation speed of the cage. Finally, the dynamic motion of the ball bearing cage considering the effects of fluid dynamic forces has been studied. The results include the cage whirling amplitude, fluctuation of cage whirling speed, and cage wear for various cage clearances and rotation speeds. The cage whirling amplitude decreases as the outer guidance clearance decreases, and it decreases as the rotation speed increases up to 11,000 rpm because of the increasing hydrodynamic force of the liquid nitrogen (LN2). However, the probability density function curves indicate that an increase in the rotor speed increases the standard deviation in the cage whirling frequency. The wear loss of the cage was greatest for the largest race land-cage and the smallest ball-cage pocket clearances. Consequently, the analysis results for various operating conditions (inner race rotation speeds, cage clearances, traction coefficients, etc.) are in good agreement with the reference results.
Assessment of RELAP5/MOD3.3 Against Single Rod Reflooding Experiments
Authors: Lymperea N. , Nikoglou A. , Hinis E.
Published: September 2017

This study presents an assessment of the RELAP5/MOD3.3 using the experimental work upon the rewetting mechanism of bottom flooding of a vertical annular water flow inside a channel enclosing concentrically a heated rod. The experiments have been carried out in the experimental rig 1 of the Nuclear Engineering Department of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA-NED-ER1) inside which the dry out and the rewetting process of a hot vertical rod can be simulated. Experiments have been conducted at atmospheric conditions with liquid coolant flow rate within the range of 0.008 and 0.050 kg·s−1 and two levels of subcooling 25 and 50 K. The initial average surface temperature of the rod for each experiment was set at approximately 823 K. The predicted rod surface temperatures during rewetting of the RELAP5/MOD3.3 calculations were compared against the experimental values. The results presented in this study show that RELAP5/MOD3.3 provides temperature estimations of the reflooding mechanism within acceptable marginal error. However, larger deviations between predicted and experimental values have been observed when subcooled water was used instead of saturated one.
Effects of coupled static and dynamic strain rates on mechanical behaviors of rock-like specimens containing pre-existing fissures under uniaxial compression
Authors: Feng Peng , Dai Feng , Liu Yi , Xu Nuwen , Fan Pengxian
Published: September 2017

Rocks containing pre-existing fissures in underground engineering are likely to be subjected to static pre-stress and dynamic loads simultaneously. Understanding the deformation and failure mechanism of fissured rocks under coupled static and dynamic strain rates is beneficial for the stability assessment of rock engineering structures. This study experimentally investigates the mechanical behaviors of fissured specimens under coupled static and dynamic loads with different loading parameters. Our experiments reveal that the coupled static–dynamic strain rates significantly affect the strength, deformation, energy characteristics, and failure mode of fissured specimens. For each dynamic strain rate, the strength and elastic modulus of specimens feature an increase first as the static pre-stress increases up to half of the uniaxial compression strength, and then a decrease. However, for each static pre-stress of coupled loads, the strength and elastic modulus increase noticeably with increasing dynamic strain rate. From the perspective of energy partition, for each static pre-stress, the higher dynamic strain rate induces greater energy dissipation of the specimens during the coupled loading, and more elastic energy is released at the end of loading. Moreover, for each dynamic strain rate, the pre-stress of half uniaxial compression strength induces the highest released elastic energy.
Measurements of radiative vacancy transfer probabilities from L3 subshell to M and N subshells of Sm and Eu in halogen compounds
Authors: Durdu B.G.
Published: September 2017

The radiative vacancy transfer probabilities from the L3 subshell to the M and N subshells for Sm and Eu and their compounds have been measured using L shell fluorescence yields and X-ray intensity ratios. The samples were excited by 59.5 keV γ-rays, which were emitted from an Am-241 radioisotope source. The L X-rays emitted from samples were counted by a Si(Li) detector with a resolution of 155 eV at 5.9 keV. The experimental values were compared with the calculated theoretical values for pure Sm and Eu.
Investigation of conical anode – disc cathode ion source
Authors: Samed S. Abdel , Radwan S.I. , El-Khabeary H.
Published: September 2017

An axial direct-current conical anode – disc cathode ion source has been designed, constructed, and operated. The electrical discharge and the output ion beam characteristics are measured using nitrogen gas. It is found that at the optimum dimensions, pressure equal to 4.5 × 10−5 mm Hg and discharge current equal to 250 μA, a maximum output ion beam current equal to 91 μA can be obtained. A comparison between the experimental results and theoretical calculations of the output ion beam current values at the optimum dimensions and operating parameters for different discharge current of conical anode and disc cathode ion source using nitrogen gas is determined. It is found that a good agreement exists between the experimental results and theoretical calculations.
Stable isotope signatures of whisker and blood serum confirm foraging strategies for female New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) derived from telemetry
Authors: Chilvers B.L.
Published: September 2017

Recognizing the individual variability of foraging behaviour of marine predators is important for understanding their role in the marine ecosystem and identifying how species may respond to environmental variability or human impacts. This research examines stable isotope signatures (δ13C and δ15N) of blood serum and whiskers from 22 female New Zealand sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri (Gray, 1844)) to determine if the isotopic composition of serum reflects foraging strategy, and whether serum and proximal whisker growth have similar signatures, therefore indicating the isotopic composition of whiskers also reflects the foraging strategy diet at the time of their growth. Female New Zealand sea lions are known to have two distinct foraging strategies (mesopelagic or benthic ecotypes), shown to be habitual within and between years. Females who are known to be mesopelagic foragers have higher overlap and are at greater risk of harmful interactions with fisheries. This research found that the two foraging strategies identified from telemetry are also associated with different δ13C and δ15N isotopic values from blood serum and whiskers. Therefore, stable isotope analysis could be used to determine the proportion of the female population that are likely to be exposed to the detrimental direct and indirect interactions with fisheries.
Eigentime identities for on weighted polymer networks
Authors: Dai Meifeng , Tang Hualong , Zou Jiahui , He Di , Sun Yu , Su Weiyi
Published: September 2017

In this paper, we first analytically calculate the eigenvalues of the transition matrix of a structure with very complex architecture and their multiplicities. We call this structure polymer network. Based on the eigenvalues obtained in the iterative manner, we then calculate the eigentime identity. We highlight two scaling behaviors (logarithmic and linear) for this quantity, strongly depending on the value of the weight factor. Finally, by making use of the obtained eigenvalues, we determine the weighted counting of spanning trees.
Quality detection system and method of micro-accessory based on microscopic vision
Authors: Li Dongjie , Wang Shiwei , Fu Yu
Published: September 2017

Considering that the traditional manual detection of micro-accessory has some problems, such as heavy workload, low efficiency and large artificial error, a kind of quality inspection system of micro-accessory has been designed. Micro-vision technology has been used to inspect quality, which optimizes the structure of the detection system. The stepper motor is used to drive the rotating micro-platform to transfer quarantine device and the microscopic vision system is applied to get graphic information of micro-accessory. The methods of image processing and pattern matching, the variable scale Sobel differential edge detection algorithm and the improved Zernike moments sub-pixel edge detection algorithm are combined in the system in order to achieve a more detailed and accurate edge of the defect detection. The grade at the edge of the complex signal can be achieved accurately by extracting through the proposed system, and then it can distinguish the qualified products and unqualified products with high precision recognition.
Gauge transformations of the multi-component BKP and CKP hierarchies
Authors: Song Tao , Li Chuanzhong , Li Xinyue
Published: September 2017

In this paper, we give the definition and multi-folds gauge transformations of the multi-component B-type Kakomtsev–Petviashvili (MBKP) hierarchy and multi-component CKP (MCKP) hierarchy. Besides, we derive new solutions after the one-fold gauge transformation of the MBKP hierarchy. The remarkable differences between the BKP (CKP) hierarchy and the MBKP(MCKP) hierarchy are given in this paper. What is more, we introduce some facts about the multi-component constrained BKP and multi-component constrained CKP hierarchies including some obstacles and some new multi-component equations.
The Pitchfork Bifurcation
Authors: Rajapakse Indika , Smale Steve
Published: September 2017

We present the development of a new theory of the pitchfork bifurcation, which removes the perspective of the third derivative and a requirement of symmetry.
Establishment of Physical and Mathematical Models for Sr0.95Ba0.05TiO3Memristor
Authors: Zhang Yuman , Dou Gang , Sun Zhao , Guo Mei , Li Yuxia
Published: September 2017

The Sr[Formula: see text]Ba[Formula: see text]TiO3(SBT) memristor is prepared using the monolayer Sr[Formula: see text]Ba[Formula: see text]TiO3nano-film structure. In order to apply it into the nonlinear circuit design, the SBT memristor is modeled in the paper. The voltage-controlled physical model of the SBT memristor is established based on its working mechanism. Due to the difficulty in determining the accurate parameters of the voltage-controlled physical model, a flux-controlled mathematical model of the SBT memristor is proposed, and its equivalence relation with the voltage-controlled physical model is proved. Moreover, the parameters of the flux-controlled mathematical model are determined by means of the quadratic polynomial interpolation method using the experimentally measured voltage and current data of the SBT memristor. The simulated [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] characteristic curve using the flux-controlled mathematical model coincides well with the measured [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] characteristic curves. The result indicates that the flux-controlled mathematical model with the definite parameters can be used to characterize the behaviors of the physical SBT memristor and guide its application to nonlinear circuit design.
SIMULATION OF MIRROR ELECTRON MICROSCOPY CAUSTIC IMAGES IN THREE-DIMENSIONS
Authors: KENNEDY S. M. , ZHENG C. X. , JESSON D. E.
Published: September 2017

A full, three-dimensional (3D) ray tracing approach is developed to simulate the caustics visible in mirror electron microscopy (MEM). The method reproduces MEM image contrast resulting from 3D surface relief. To illustrate the potential of the simulation methods, we study the evolution of crater contrast associated with a movie of GaAs structures generated by the droplet epitaxy technique. Specifically, we simulate the image contrast resulting from both a precursor stage and the final crater morphology which is consistent with an inverted pyramid consisting of (111) facet walls. The method therefore facilities the study of how self-assembled quantum structures evolve with time and, in particular, the development of anisotropic features including faceting.
Integration of Current Clinical Knowledge with a Data Driven Approach: An Innovative Perspective
Authors: Mendes D. , Paredes S. , Rocha T. , Carvalho P. , Henriques J. , Morais J.
Published: September 2017

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. The development of models to support clinical decision is of great importance in the management of these diseases. This work aims to improve the performance exhibited by risk assessment scores that are applied in the clinical practice. This methodology has three main phases: (i) representation of scores as a decision tree; (ii) optimization of the decision tree thresholds using data from recent clinical datasets; (iii) transformation of the optimized decision tree into a new score.

This approach was validated in a cardiovascular disease secondary prevention context, supported by a dataset provided by the Portuguese Society of Cardiology ([Formula: see text]). The respective performance was assessed using statistical metrics and was compared with GRACE score, the reference in Portuguese clinical practice. The new model originated a better balance between the sensitivity and specificity when compared with the GRACE, originating an accuracy improvement of approximately 22%.
On the concept of a filtered bundle
Authors: Bruce Andrew James , Grabowska Katarzyna , Grabowski Janusz
Published: September 2017

We present the notion of a filtered bundle as a generalization of a graded bundle. In particular, we weaken the necessity of the transformation laws for local coordinates to exactly respect the weight of the coordinates by allowing more general polynomial transformation laws. The key examples of such bundles include affine bundles and various jet bundles, both of which play fundamental roles in geometric mechanics and classical field theory. We also present the notion of double filtered bundles which provide natural generalizations of double vector bundles and double affine bundles. Furthermore, we show that the linearization of a filtered bundle — which can be seen as a partial polarization of the admissible changes of local coordinates — is well defined.
Cosmology in modified f(R,T)-gravity theory in a variant Λ(T) scenario-revisited
Authors: Sharma Umesh Kumar , Pradhan Anirudh
Published: September 2017

Three new cosmological models of the present Universe are obtained with [Formula: see text] modified theory of gravity proposed by Harko et al. [Phys. Rev. D 84 (2011) 024020, arXiv:1104.2669 [gr-qc]] in a general class of Bianchi space-time. In this paper, we have generalized the modified [Formula: see text] field equations with [Formula: see text]-gravity, where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] denote the curvature scalar and the trace of the stress–energy–momentum tensor, respectively. To find the deterministic solutions we have considered the linearly varying deceleration parameter [Formula: see text] proposed by Akarsu and Dereli [Cosmological models with linearly varying deceleration parameter, Int. J. Theor. Phys. 51 (2011) 612]. We have made the analyses of the variation of pressure, energy density and cosmological term with cosmic time. It is observed that our derived models are unstable in early time whereas they are stable at late and future time (i.e. at present epoch). The physical and geometric properties of all three models are studied in detail.
On the cardinality of subsequence sums
Authors: Jiang Xing-Wang , Li Ya-Li
Published: September 2017

Let [Formula: see text] be a finite sequence of integers, where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text]. A subsequence sum of [Formula: see text] is the sum of all terms of a nonempty subsequence of [Formula: see text]. Denoted by [Formula: see text] the set of all subsequence sums of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, for given [Formula: see text], we give the lower bound for [Formula: see text] with in terms of [Formula: see text] and the numbers of positive, negative integers in [Formula: see text]. We also determine the structure of the finite sequence [Formula: see text] of integers for which [Formula: see text] is minimal. This generalizes the results of Mistri, Pandey and Prakash. Moreover, we give a correction to a result of their paper.
On p-degree of elliptic curves
Authors: Garnek Jędrzej
Published: September 2017

In this note, we investigate the [Formula: see text]-degree function of an elliptic curve [Formula: see text]. The [Formula: see text]-degree measures the least complexity of a non-zero [Formula: see text]-torsion point on [Formula: see text]. We prove some properties of this function and compute it explicitly in some special cases.
Taming the Costs of Trustworthy Provenance through Policy Reduction
Authors: Bates Adam , Tian Dave (Jing) , Hernandez Grant , Moyer Thomas , Butler Kevin R. B. , Jaeger Trent
Published: September 2017

Provenance is an increasingly important tool for understanding and even actively preventing system intrusion, but the excessive storage burden imposed by automatic provenance collection threatens to undermine its value in practice. This situation is made worse by the fact that the majority of this metadata is unlikely to be of interest to an administrator, instead describing system noise or other background activities that are not germane to the forensic investigation. To date, storing data provenance in perpetuity was a necessary concession in even the most advanced provenance tracking systems in order to ensure the completeness of the provenance record for future analyses. In this work, we overcome this obstacle by proposing a
policy-based approach to provenance filtering
, leveraging the confinement properties provided by Mandatory Access Control (MAC) systems in order to identify and isolate subdomains of system activity for which to collect provenance. We introduce the notion of
minimal completeness
for provenance graphs, and design and implement a system that provides this property by exclusively collecting provenance for the trusted computing base of a target application. In evaluation, we discover that, while the efficacy of our approach is domain dependent, storage costs can be reduced by as much as 89% in critical scenarios such as provenance tracking in cloud computing data centers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first policy-based provenance monitor to appear in the literature.
Translating Low-Resource Languages by Vocabulary Adaptation from Close Counterparts
Authors: Passban Peyman , Liu Qun , Way Andy
Published: September 2017

Some natural languages belong to the same family or share similar syntactic and/or semantic regularities. This property persuades researchers to share computational models across languages and benefit from high-quality models to boost existing low-performance counterparts. In this article, we follow a similar idea, whereby we develop statistical and neural machine translation (MT) engines that are trained on one language pair but are used to translate another language. First we train a reliable model for a high-resource language, and then we exploit cross-lingual similarities and adapt the model to work for a close language with almost zero resources. We chose Turkish (Tr) and Azeri or Azerbaijani (Az) as the proposed pair in our experiments. Azeri suffers from lack of resources as there is almost no bilingual corpus for this language. Via our techniques, we are able to train an engine for the Az → English (En) direction, which is able to outperform all other existing models.
Activity Recommendation with Partners
Authors: Tu Wenting , Cheung David W. , Mamoulis Nikos , Yang Min , Lu Ziyu
Published: September 2017

Recommending
social activities
, such as watching movies or having dinner, is a common function found in social networks or e-commerce sites. Besides certain websites which manage activity-related locations (e.g., foursquare.com), many items on product sale platforms (e.g., groupon.com) can naturally be mapped to social activities. For example, movie tickets can be thought of as
activity items
, which can be mapped as a social activity of “watch a movie.” Traditional recommender systems estimate the degree of interest for a target user on candidate items (or activities), and accordingly, recommend the top-
k
activity items to the user. However, these systems ignore an important social characteristic of recommended activities: people usually tend to participate in those activities with friends. This article considers this fact for improving the effectiveness of recommendation in two directions. First, we study the problem of
activity-partner recommendation
; i.e., for each recommended activity item, find a suitable partner for the user. This (i) saves the user’s time for finding activity partners, (ii) increases the likelihood that the activity item will be selected by the user, and (iii) improves the effectiveness of recommender systems to users overall and enkindles their social enthusiasm. Our partner recommender is built upon the users’ historical attendance preferences, their social context, and geographic information. Moreover, we explore how to leverage the partner recommendation to help improve the effectiveness of recommending activities to users. Assuming that users tend to select the activities for which they can find suitable partners, we propose a
partner-aware activity recommendation
model, which integrates this hypothesis into conventional recommendation approaches. Finally, the recommended items not only match users’ interests, but also have high chances to be selected by the users, because the users can find suitable partners to attend the corresponding activities together. We conduct experiments on real data to evaluate the effectiveness of activity-partner recommendation and partner-aware activity recommendation. The results verify that (i) suggesting partners greatly improves the likelihood that a recommended activity item is to be selected by the target user and (ii) considering the existence of suitable partners in the ranking of recommended items improves the accuracy of recommendation significantly.
Caching to Reduce Mobile App Energy Consumption
Authors: Dutta Kaushik , Vandermeer Debra
Published: September 2017

Mobile applications consume device energy for their operations, and the fast rate of battery depletion on mobile devices poses a major usability hurdle. After the display, data communication is the second-biggest consumer of mobile device energy. At the same time, software applications that run on mobile devices represent a fast-growing product segment. Typically, these applications serve as front-end display mechanisms, which fetch data from remote servers and display the information to the user in an appropriate format—incurring significant data communication overheads in the process. In this work, we propose methods to reduce energy overheads in mobile devices due to data communication by leveraging data caching technology. A review of existing caching mechanisms revealed that they are primarily designed for optimizing response time performance and cannot be easily ported to mobile devices for energy savings. Further, architectural differences between traditional client-server and mobile communications infrastructures make the use of existing caching technologies unsuitable in mobile devices. In this article, we propose a set of two new caching approaches specifically designed with the constraints of mobile devices in mind: (a) a response caching approach and (b) an object caching approach. Our experiments show that, even for a small cache size of 250MB, object caching can reduce energy consumption on average by 45% compared to the no-cache case, and response caching can reduce energy consumption by 20% compared to the no-cache case. The benefits increase with larger cache sizes. These results demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed method and raise the possibility of significantly extending mobile device battery life.
Exploring How Drivers Perceive Spatial Earcons in Automated Vehicles
Authors: Beattie David , Baillie Lynne , Halvey Martin
Published: September 2017

Automated vehicles seek to relieve the human driver from primary driving tasks, but this substantially diminishes the connection between driver and vehicle compared to manual operation. At present, automated vehicles lack any form of continual, appropriate feedback to re-establish this connection and offer a feeling of control. We suggest that auditory feedback can be used to support the driver in this context. A preliminary field study that explored how drivers respond to existing auditory feedback in manual vehicles was first undertaken. We then designed a set of abstract, synthesised sounds presented spatially around the driver, known as Spatial Earcons, that represented different primary driving sounds e.g. acceleration. To evaluate their effectiveness, we undertook a driving simulator study in an outdoor setting using a real vehicle. Spatial Earcons performed as well as Existing Vehicle Sounds during automated and manual driving scenarios. Subjective responses suggested Spatial Earcons produced an engaging driving experience. This paper argues that entirely new synthesised primary driving sounds, such as Spatial Earcons, can be designed for automated vehicles to replace Existing Vehicle Sounds. This creates new possibilities for presenting primary driving information in automated vehicles using auditory feedback, in order to re-establish a connection between driver and vehicle.
Intelligent Interruption Management using Electro Dermal Activity based Physiological Sensor for Collaborative Sensemaking
Authors: Goyal Nitesh , Fussell Susan R.
Published: September 2017

Sensemaking tasks are difficult to accomplish with limited time and attentional resources because analysts are faced with a constant stream of new information. While this information is often important, the timing of the interruptions may detract from analyst's work. In an ideal world, there would be no interruptions. But that is not the case in real world sensemaking tasks. So, in this study, we explore the value of timing interruptions based on an analyst's state of arousal as detected by Electrodermal activity derived form galvanic skin response (EDA). In a laboratory study, we compared performance when interruptions were timed to occur during increasing arousal, decreasing arousal, at random intervals or not at all. Analysts performed significantly better when interruptions occurred during periods of increasing arousal than when they were random. Further, analysts rated process component of team experience significantly higher also during periods of increasing arousal than when they were random. Self-reported workload was not impacted by interruptions timing. We discuss how system designs could leverage inexpensive off-the-shelf wrist sensors to improve interruption timing.