bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lifetime risk of prostate cancer overdiagnosis in Australia: quantifying the risk of overdiagnosis associated with prostate cancer screening in Australia using a novel lifetime risk approach
Authors: Pathirana Thanya , Hayen Andrew , Doust Jenny , Glasziou Paul , Bell Katy
Published: March 2019

Objectives

To quantify the risk of overdiagnosis associated with prostate cancer screening in Australia using a novel lifetime risk approach.

Design

Modelling and validation of the lifetime risk method using publicly available population data.

Setting

Opportunistic screening for prostate cancer in the Australian population.

Participants

Australian male population (1982–2012).

Interventions

Prostate-specific antigen testing for prostate cancer screening.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Primary: lifetime risk of overdiagnosis in 2012 (excess lifetime cancer risk adjusted for changing competing mortality); Secondary: lifetime risk of prostate cancer diagnosis (unadjusted and adjusted for competing mortality); Excess lifetime risk of prostate cancer diagnosis (for all years subsequent to 1982).

Results

The lifetime risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer increased from 6.1% in 1982 (1 in 17) to 19.6% in 2012 (1 in 5). Using 2012 competing mortality rates, the lifetime risk in 1982 was 11.5% (95% CI 11.0% to 12.0%). The excess lifetime risk of prostate cancer in 2012 (adjusted for changing competing mortality) was 8.2% (95% CI 7.6% to 8.7%) (1 in 13). This corresponds to 41% of prostate cancers being overdiagnosed.

Conclusions

Our estimated rate of overdiagnosis is in agreement with estimates using other methods. This method may be used without the need to adjust for lead times. If annual (cross-sectional) data are used, then it may give valid estimates of overdiagnosis once screening has been established long enough for the benefits from the early detection of non-overdiagnosed cancer at a younger age to be realised in older age groups.
Doctors don’t Do-little: a national cross-sectional study of workplace well-being of hospital doctors in Ireland
Authors: Hayes Blánaid , Prihodova Lucia , Walsh Gillian , Doyle Frank , Doherty Sally
Published: March 2019

Objectives

To measure levels of occupational stress, burn-out, work–life balance, presenteeism, work ability (balance between work and personal resources) and desire to practise in trainee and consultant hospital doctors in Ireland.

Design

National cross-sectional study of randomised sample of hospital doctors. Participants provided sociodemographic data (age, sex), work grade (consultant, higher/basic specialist trainee), specialty, work hours and completed workplace well-being questionnaires (Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) Scale, overcommitment, Maslach Burnout Inventory) and single item measures of work ability, presenteeism, work–life balance and desire to practise.

Setting

Irish publicly funded hospitals and residential institutions.

Participants

1749 doctors (response rate of 55%). All hospital specialties were represented except radiology.

Results

29% of respondents had insufficient work ability and there was no sex, age or grade difference. 70.6% reported strong or very strong desire to practise medicine, 22% reported good work–life balance, 82% experienced workplace stress, with effort greatly exceeding reward, exacerbated by overcommitment. Burn-out was evident in 29.7% and was significantly associated with male sex, younger age, lower years of practice, lower desire to practise, lower work ability, higher ERI ratio and greater overcommitment. Apart from the measures of work ability and overcommitment, there was no sex or age difference across any variable. However, ERI and burn-out were significantly lower in consultants than trainees.

Conclusions

Hospital doctors across all grades in Ireland had insufficient work ability, low levels of work–life balance, high levels of work stress and almost one-third experienced burn-out indicating suboptimal work conditions and environment. Yet, most had high desire to practise medicine. Measurement of these indices should become a quality indicator for hospitals and research should focus on the efficacy of a range of individual and organisational interventions for burn-out and occupational stress.
Spontaneous clearance of urogenital, anorectal and oropharyngealChlamydia trachomatisandNeisseria gonorrhoeaein women, MSM and heterosexual men visiting the STI clinic: a prospective cohort study
Authors: van Liere Genevieve A F S , Hoebe Christian J P A , Dirks Jeanne AMC , Wolffs Petra FG , Dukers-Muijrers Nicole H T M
Published: March 2019

Objective

Chlamydia trachomatis(CT) andNeisseria gonorrhoeae(NG) infections can clear without treatment. Despite high prevalence of anorectal infections in men who have sex with men (MSM) and women, studies on anorectal clearance are scarce. Moreover it is unknown whether bacterial load affects urogenital/anorectal CT clearance. In this prospective cohort study, CT and NG clearance is assessed at three anatomical sites of men and women.

Methods

CT-positive and NG-positive MSM, heterosexual men and women ≥18 years of age visiting our STI clinic between 2011 and 2013 underwent a repeat test when returning for treatment (n=482). The primary outcome was clearance, defined as a positive nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) at screening-consultation, followed by a negative NAAT at treatment-consultation. Sociodemographics, sexual risk behaviour and CT bacterial load (inhouse quantitative PCR) were tested as determinants for clearance using multivariable logistic regression for CT and Fisher’s exact test for NG.

Results

CT clearance was 9.1% (10/110) for urine, 6.8% (20/292) for vaginal swabs, 12.7% (8/63) for anorectal swabs (ie, 4.0% [1/25] in MSM and 18.4% [7/38] in women) and 57.1% (4/7) for oropharyngeal swabs. For NG this was 33.3% (2/6), 28.6% (2/7), 20.0% (2/10) and 27.3% (6/22), respectively. The number of days between tests (median 10, IQR 7–14) was not associated with clearance. Lower bacterial load at screening was the only predictor for CT clearance (urine mean 1.2 vs 2.6 log CT/mL, p=0.001; vaginal swabs mean 2.1 vs 5.2 log CT/mL p<0.0001; anorectal swabs mean 2.0 vs 3.7 log CT/mL, p=0.002). None of the tested determinants were associated with NG clearance.

Conclusions

This study reports the largest number of anorectal infections tested for CT and NG clearance to date. Clearance in all sample types was substantial: between 7% and 57% for CT, and between 20% and 33% for NG (notwithstanding low absolute numbers). CT clearance was associated with a lower load at screening. However, not all individuals with low bacterial CT load cleared the infection, hampering STI guideline change.
Coastal wetland resilience to climate change: modelling ecosystem response to rising sea level and salinity in a variable climate
Authors: Grenfell S. E. , Fortune F. , Mamphoka M. F. , Sanderson N.
Published: March 2019

We investigate coastal wetland ecosystem resilience to sea level rise by modelling sea level rise trajectories and the impact on vegetation communities for a coastal wetland in South Africa. The rate of sediment accretion was modelled relative to IPCC sea level rise estimates for multiple RCP scenarios. For each scenario, inundation by neap and spring tide and the 2, 4, and 8 year recurrence interval water level was modelled over a period of 200 years. When tidal variation is considered, the rate of sediment accretion exceeds rising sea levels associated with climate change, resulting in no major changes in terms of inundation. When sea level rise scenarios were modelled in conjunction with recurrence interval water levels, flooding of the coastal wetland was much greater than current levels at 1 in 4 and 1 in 8 year events. In the long term, increases in salinity may cause a reduction in Phragmites australis cover. Very small increases in depth and frequency of inundation are likely to cause an expansion of samphire species at the expense of Juncus spp. The study suggests that for this wetland, variability in flow may be a key factor in balancing wetland resilience.
Two weeks of lower body resistance training enhances cycling tolerability to improve precision of maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing in sedentary middle-aged females
Authors: Wagoner Chad W. , Hanson Erik D. , Ryan Eric D. , Brooks Ryan , Wood William A. , Jensen Brian C. , Lee Jordan T. , Coffman Erin M. , Battaglini Claudio L.
Published: March 2019

It is not uncommon for sedentary individuals to cite leg fatigue as the primary factor for test termination during a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) on a cycle ergometer. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of 2 weeks of lower body resistance training (RT) on cardiopulmonary capacity in sedentary middle-aged females. Additionally, the impact of RT on muscle strength was evaluated. Following familiarization, 28 women (18 exercise group, 10 control group) completed a maximal CPET on a cycle ergometer to determine peak oxygen uptake and leg extensor strength assessed using isokinetic dynamometry. Participants in the exercise group performed 2 weeks (6 sessions) of lower body RT, which comprised leg press, leg curl, and leg extension exercises. A 2-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to evaluate the difference in changes of peak oxygen uptake and peak torque (PT). Peak oxygen uptake significantly improved from 22.2 ± 4.5 mL·kg−1·min−1 to 24.3 ± 4.4 mL·kg−1·min−1 (10.8%, p < 0.05) as well as PT from 83.1 ± 25.4 Nm to 89.0 ± 29.7 Nm (6.1%, p < 0.05) in the exercise group with no change in the control group. These findings provide initial evidence that 2 weeks of lower body RT prior to a CPET may be a helpful preconditioning strategy to achieve a more accurate peak oxygen uptake during testing, enhancing tolerability to a CPET by improving lower body strength.
Modeling the distribution of thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) in the southern Grand Banks (Newfoundland, Canada)
Authors: Pennino Maria Grazia , Guijarro-García Elena , Vilela Raul , del Río José Luis , Bellido Jose Maria
Published: March 2019

Globally, commercial fisheries have had a strong impact on elasmobranch populations directly through high catch rates and indirectly through bycatch. Consequently, the abundance of many species is declining to the extent that some are considered under threat of extinction. Regionally, this negative trend is also evident in the international waters of the southern Grand Banks (off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada), where the occurrence of the thorny skate (Amblyraja radiata) has declined by nearly 70% in recent decades. This study used Bayesian species distribution models to investigate the habitat preference and biomass trends of the thorny skate during a 14-year period (2003–2017), linking five environmental predictors (i.e., bathymetry, sea bottom temperature, seabed aspect, slope, and rugosity) and prey distribution with fishery-independent data. Our findings identify some of the sensitive habitats for this species and the ecological factors that may be driving its population dynamics in the area. We argue that knowledge about the factors influencing the distribution of this species and spatiotemporal effects could be exploited as potential mitigation measures for future fishery management strategies.
Vitamin D3 supplementation ameliorates ovariectomy-induced cardiac apoptotic and structural changes in adult albino rats
Authors: Mohammed Nourelhuda A. , El-Malkey Nanees F. , Ibrahim Amal Al-shahat , Abdullah Doaa M.
Published: March 2019

The effect of vitamin D on cardiac dysfunction after menopause is still under investigation. Therefore, we investigated the effect of vitamin D3 on cardiac apoptotic and structural changes in ovariectomized rats. Forty adult female albino rats were divided into 4 equal groups: sham rats, sham rats treated with vitamin D3, ovariectomized rats, and ovariectomized rats treated with vitamin D3 (500 IU/kg per day for 6 weeks, orally). Body mass, blood pressure, heart rate, and whole heart mass (WHM) were measured. Serum soluble receptors of advanced glycation end products (sRAGE), C-reactive protein, malondialdehyde, and total antioxidant capacity were estimated. Cardiac sections were stained with haematoxylin–eosin and Masson’s trichrome stain. Fas and FasL apoptosis-related proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry. Vitamin D3 treatment significantly decreased ovariectomy-induced cardiac Fas and FasL apoptosis-related proteins, whole heart mass, body mass, C-reactive protein, and malondialdehyde accompanied by decreased inflammation and reduced collagen deposition between cardiac muscle fibres. However, vitamin D3 significantly increased total antioxidant capacity and sRAGE in ovariectomized and sham treated groups. Our findings suggest that vitamin D3 treatment can prevent ovariectomy-induced cardiac structural and apoptotic changes in rats via increasing sRAGE and antioxidant activity. Our results suggest that vitamin D3 has therapeutic effect against postmenopausal cardiovascular disease.
Singular Bogoliubov transformations and inequivalent representations of canonical commutation relations
Authors: Arai Asao
Published: March 2019

We introduce a concept of singular Bogoliubov transformation on the abstract boson Fock space and construct a representation of canonical commutation relations (CCRs) which is inequivalent to any direct sum of the Fock representation. Sufficient conditions for the representation to be irreducible are formulated. Moreover, an example of such representations of CCRs is given.
Rogue waves for an inhomogeneous discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation in a lattice
Authors: Wu Xiao-Yu , Tian Bo , Du Zhong , Du Xia-Xia
Published: March 2019

Lattices are used in such fields as electricity, optics and magnetism. Under investigation in this paper is an inhomogeneous discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which models the wave propagation in a lattice. Employing the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (KP) hierarchy reduction, we obtain the rogue-wave solutions, and see that the rogue waves are affected by the coefficient of the on-site external potential. We see (1) the first-order rogue wave with one peak and two hollows; (2) the second-order rogue waves, each of which is with one peak or three humps; (3) the third-order rogue waves, each of which is with one peak or six humps, and those humps exhibit the triangular pattern, anti-triangular pattern and circular pattern. When the coefficient of the on-site external potential is a constant, the rogue waves periodically appear. When the coefficient of the on-site external potential monotonously changes, oscillations emerge on the constant background.
Spherically symmetric double layers in Weyl+Einstein gravity
Authors: Berezin Victor , Dokuchaev Vyacheslav , Eroshenko Yury
Published: March 2019

We study the matching conditions on singular hypersurfaces in Weyl[Formula: see text]Einstein gravity. Unlike General Relativity, the so-called quadratic gravity allows the existence of a double layer, i.e. the derivative of [Formula: see text]-function. This double layer is a purely geometrical phenomenon and it may be treated as the purely gravitational shock wave. The mathematical formalism was elaborated by Senovilla for generic quadratic gravity. We derived the matching conditions for the spherically symmetric singular hypersurface in the Weyl[Formula: see text]Einstein gravity. It was found that in the presence of the double layer, the matching conditions contain an arbitrary function. One of the consequences of such freedom is that a trace of the extrinsic curvature tensor of a singular hypersurface is necessarily equal to zero. We suggested that the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] components of the surface matter energy–momentum tensor of the shell describe energy flow [Formula: see text] and momentum transfer [Formula: see text] of particles produced by the double layer itself. Moreover, the requirement of the zero trace of the extrinsic curvature tensor (mentioned above) implies that [Formula: see text], and this fact also supports our suggestion, because it means that for the observer sitting on the shell, particles will be seen created by pairs, and the sum of their momentum transfers must be zero. We found also that the spherically symmetric null double layer in the Weyl[Formula: see text]Einstein gravity does not exist at all.
Cylindrical wormholes: A search for viable phantom-free models in GR
Authors: Bronnikov K. A. , Bolokhov S. V. , Skvortsova M. V.
Published: March 2019

The well-known problem of wormholes in General Relativity (GR) is the necessity of exotic matter, violating the Weak Energy Condition (WEC), for their support. This problem looks easier if, instead of island-like configurations, one considers string-like ones, among them, cylindrically symmetric spacetimes with rotation. However, for cylindrical wormhole solutions, a problem is the lacking asymptotic flatness, making it impossible to observe their entrances as local objects in our universe. It was suggested to solve this problem by joining a wormhole solution to flat asymptotic regions at some surfaces [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] on different sides of the throat. The configuration then consists of three regions, the internal one containing a throat and two flat external ones. We discuss different kinds of source matter suitable for describing the internal regions of such models (scalar fields, isotropic and anisotropic fluids) and present two examples where the internal matter itself and the surface matter on both junction surfaces [Formula: see text] respect the WEC. In one of these models, the internal source is a stiff perfect fluid whose pressure is equal to its energy density, in the other, it is a special kind of anisotropic fluid. Both models are free from closed timelike curves. We thus obtain examples of regular twice asymptotically flat wormhole models in GR without exotic matter and without causality violations.
To Discard or to Co-Produce by Recycling Waste: An Illustrative Analysis Involving Output Constraint
Authors: Vallée Thomas , Baudry Gino , Guillotreau Patrice
Published: March 2019

This theoretical paper investigates a multi-market Cournot model where a particular firm may process its waste from the primary market to sell them as co-products on a secondary market. Unlike the usual models found in the jointness in production literature based on costs and economies of scope, our model introduces the technical relationship between both outputs as a physical output constraint. We show the conditions under which a co-producing strategy is optimal for the firm. We find that an optimal share of waste processing depends on the structural conditions of the two markets.
Multi-Scale Fractal Dimension to Quantify Heart Rate Variability and Systolic Blood Pressure Variability: A Postural Stress Analysis
Authors: Singh Vikramjit , Gupta Amit , Sohal J. S. , Singh Amritpal
Published: March 2019

This paper presents multi-scale fractal dimension (MFD) for the complexity assessment of heart rate variability (HRV) and systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV) under postural stress. A comparison of MFD with multi-scale approximate entropy (MAE) at multiple time scales ([Formula: see text]–10) is presented. The simulations were conducted on 50 random noise (RN), fractional Brownian motion (fBm), and MIX(p) [ 1 ] series along with standard EuroBaVar dataset. Also, 50 healthy volunteers, 20 post-acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients participated in the study. It is observed that MFD and MAE decrease with [Formula: see text] for healthy volunteers and remained constant for post AMI and BRS failure patients. Average MFD of HRV in supine position is always significantly different than standing position scale except [Formula: see text], whereas the average MAE of HRV shows no significant difference ([Formula: see text]) between supine and standing postures at each [Formula: see text] except [Formula: see text] for healthy volunteers. Average MFD of HRV in supine position is significantly different than the standing position for [Formula: see text]–7, whereas the average MAE of HRV shows significant difference ([Formula: see text]) between supine and standing postures at [Formula: see text] for post AMI, and patients with impaired baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). Average MFD of SBPV in position is significantly different ([Formula: see text]) than standing position at each [Formula: see text], whereas the average MAE of SBPV shows no significant difference ([Formula: see text]) between supine and standing postures at each [Formula: see text] except [Formula: see text]. The complexity of HRV in standing position is less than that of supine position as shown by lower MFD and MAE values in standing than that of supine position, however, the complexity of SBPV decreases from standing to supine position indicating prevalence of sympathetic control.
A Mesh Refinement Algorithm for Singularly Perturbed Boundary and Interior Layer Problems
Authors: Dubey Ritesh Kumar , Gupta Vikas
Published: March 2019

A robust automated mesh refinement algorithm is proposed for numerical solution of singularly perturbed boundary and interior layer problems. The proposed algorithm is heuristically based on two smoothness indicators which are functions of consecutive differences of the computed solution on a given mesh. The main salient features of the proposed heuristic mesh generation algorithm are: (i) it does not require a priori knowledge about the nature or location of the layered region, (ii) it is independent of the problem under consideration and the underlying numerical scheme. The proposed algorithm is applied to solve a wide range of 1D as well as 2D test problems to show its robustness.
Curvature models of conformally flat Walker (2,2)-manifolds
Authors: Chaichi Mohamad
Published: March 2019

Four-dimensional conformally flat curvature models of signature [Formula: see text] are considered and complete classification of curvature tensor is obtained. Then, some remarks about Ivanov–Petrova and Walker–Ivanov–Petrova properties are stated.
Multi-Hazard Resilience Assessment of a Coastal Community Due to Offshore Earthquakes
Authors: Capozzo M. , Rizzi A. , Cimellaro G. P. , Domaneschi M. , Barbosa A. , Cox D.
Published: March 2019

It has been observed in different parts of the world that offshore earthquakes occurred in coastal regions were followed by tsunamis and catastrophic damages due to cascading effects. In this paper, an innovative methodology for the estimation of direct damage losses and resilience for a given community is presented. It combines two existent methodologies, including both earthquake and tsunami hazards. In detail, fragility functions related to earthquake intensity, ground failure and tsunami inundation are combined with regional hazard data to estimate damages and direct economic losses of buildings and bridges. The coastal city of Seaside in Oregon has been used as a case study and as one of the most vulnerable town in the Pacific North United States due to the proximity of a nearfield Cascadia Subduction Zone. The results indicate that, when the earthquake and the subsequent tsunami inundation are considered together, there is an overwhelming increase in the loss estimates in comparison to the case when the tsunami is separately considered.
Shaking Table Test Study on Seismic Performance Improvement for Underground Structures with Center Column Enhancement
Authors: Yue Cuizhou , Zheng Yonglai , Deng Shuxin
Published: March 2019

Central columns have long been demonstrated to play a vital role in withstanding not only static gravity loads but also seismic loads like earthquakes. A series of modeling tests are implemented on shaking table instrument to reflect the mechanism of soil — structure interaction and examine the validity of method of uplifting underground structural seismic resistance through strengthening central columns. An innovative method of enhancing central columns by adhering carbon fiber cloth onto column’s peripheral surface is introduced into a series of shaking table modeling tests, in which two two-layer underground model structures are constructed for comparison, one without any column remedy acts as a benchmark for reference and the other is amended with carbon fiber cloth adhered on column surface. Test results show that soft round model box adopted in tests serves well in simulating earthquake actions with negligible boundary effects on wave transfer; soil dynamic characteristics and the relative stiffness of structure to surrounding soil will interactively limit mutual motion and deformation. Racking deformation assumption may be not applicable for overall two-layer underground structure deformation analysis, but may be suitable for inter-layer displacement calculation for single layer in multi-layer rectangular underground structures. The adopted column enhancement measure could not only greatly increase the stiffness ratio of model structure to soil, reducing structure deformation, but also improve the integrity of underground structure by narrowing down the deformation difference between two structural layers, certifying that such a measure could be validly used in improving the seismic resistance capacity for already built underground structures without enough aseismic consideration when designed.
Entire solutions in a delayed nonlocal dispersal competitive system
Authors: Wang Yang , Liu Guirong , Li Xiong
Published: March 2019

In this paper, we are concerned with the existence of an entire solution in a delayed nonlocal dispersal competitive system. This entire solution converges to two monotone fronts with different speeds, which approach each other from both sides of the [Formula: see text]-axis, as [Formula: see text] converge to [Formula: see text] and then converge to [Formula: see text] as [Formula: see text] converges to [Formula: see text]. Its global dynamic shows the superior species invade the inferior ones from both sides of the [Formula: see text]-axis and then the inferior ones become extinct, which is a new invading way. In fact, our conclusions extend this invading way into a more general competitive system. Furthermore, we show several properties of this entire solution.
Three-dimensional biomagnetic Maxwell fluid flow over a stretching surface in presence of heat source/sink
Authors: Murtaza M. G. , Ferdows M. , Misra J. C. , Tzirtzilakis E. E.
Published: March 2019

The present paper deals with the study of three-dimensional boundary layer flow of biomagnetic Maxwell fluid over a plane horizontal surface stretched linearly along two mutually perpendicular directions. Basic principles of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and ferro-hydrodynamics (FHD) have been employed. The effect of heat generation/absorption has been taken into consideration. The study is theoretical and is conducted by using a combination of approximate and numerical techniques. By using the method of similarity transformation, the governing nonlinear partial differential equations are converted into a set of coupled ordinary differential equations. In the sequel, a suitable numerical method has been developed to solve the coupled differential equations. The accuracy of the numerical method has been checked by comparing the numerical results with those of an earlier study reported in available literatures. Effects of various parameters involved in the study, viz. the magnetohydrodynamic and ferromagnetic parameters, Deborah number, stretching ratio and heat generation on the fluid flow profiles are investigated and the results have been presented graphically. Variations of the skin friction, heat transfer rate and relative wall pressure with change in hydrodynamic and ferromagnetic parameters have also been illustrated. It is found that due to the influence of the Kelvin force, the velocity component in [Formula: see text]-direction is greater than the corresponding one in the hydrodynamic case, but the opposite is true for the velocity component in the [Formula: see text]-direction. We also found that the temperature of the fluid for hydrodynamic flow is greater than that for MHD or FHD flow. It is even greater for BFD flows. The numerical results of the study reveal that the characteristics of blood flow are significantly affected by the presence of a magnetic field.
A new distributed feature selection technique for classifying gene expression data
Authors: Ayyad Sarah M. , Saleh Ahmed I. , Labib Labib M.
Published: March 2019

Classification of gene expression data is a pivotal research area that plays a substantial role in diagnosis and prediction of diseases. Generally, feature selection is one of the extensively used techniques in data mining approaches, especially in classification. Gene expression data are usually composed of dozens of samples characterized by thousands of genes. This increases the dimensionality coupled with the existence of irrelevant and redundant features. Accordingly, the selection of informative genes (features) becomes difficult, which badly affects the gene classification accuracy. In this paper, we consider the feature selection for classifying gene expression microarray datasets. The goal is to detect the most possibly cancer-related genes in a distributed manner, which helps in effectively classifying the samples. Initially, the available huge amount of considered features are subdivided and distributed among several processors. Then, a new filter selection method based on a fuzzy inference system is applied to each subset of the dataset. Finally, all the resulted features are ranked, then a wrapper-based selection method is applied. Experimental results showed that our proposed feature selection technique performs better than other techniques since it produces lower time latency and improves classification performance.
Combined spatial frequency spectroscopy analysis with visible resonance Raman for optical biopsy of human brain metastases of lung cancers
Authors: Zhou Yan , Liu Cheng-Hui , Pu Yang , Wu Binlin , Nguyen Thien An , Cheng Gangge , Zhou Lixin , Zhu Ke , Chen Jun , Li Qingbo , Alfano Robert R.
Published: March 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine optical spatial frequency spectroscopy analysis (SFSA) combined with visible resonance Raman (VRR) spectroscopic method, for the first time, to discriminate human brain metastases of lung cancers adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from normal tissues. A total of 31 label-free micrographic images of three types of brain tissues were obtained using a confocal micro-Raman spectroscopic system. VRR spectra of the corresponding samples were synchronously collected using excitation wavelength of 532[Formula: see text]nm from the same sites of the tissues. Using SFSA method, the difference in the randomness of spatial frequency structures in the micrograph images was analyzed using Gaussian function fitting. The standard deviations, [Formula: see text] calculated from the spatial frequencies of the micrograph images were then analyzed using support vector machine (SVM) classifier. The key VRR biomolecular fingerprints of carotenoids, tryptophan, amide II, lipids and proteins (methylene/methyl groups) were also analyzed using SVM classifier. All three types of brain tissues were identified with high accuracy in the two approaches with high correlation. The results show that SFSA–VRR can potentially be a dual-modal method to provide new criteria for identifying the three types of human brain tissues, which are on-site, real-time and label-free and may improve the accuracy of brain biopsy.
Impacts of uniaxial strain on optical properties of graphene by first principles
Authors: Xu Gongjie , Wang Yaole , Song Gongming , Dou Hongbin
Published: March 2019

The impacts of strain along the zigzag and armchair directions on optical properties of graphene have been investigated theoretically by first principles. The relative changes of the refractive index achieve up to 1 with increasing polarized angle at some frequency points for both cases. It must be noted that strain along the armchair direction results in an additional infrared absorption peak at 1511[Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text], because the electron concentration is inhomogeneous at the direction of atomic vibration. Thus, this work paves the way of strained graphene application in identifying polarization of light and infrared sensors in near future.
Integration of structural simulations into a real-time capable Overall System Simulation for complex mechatronic systems
Authors: Kaufmann Dorit , Rossmann Juergen
Published: March 2019

To meet the rising demand of performing complex tasks in a highly technologized world, the development of mechatronic systems faces two major challenges: First, the system is integrated in a fast changing environment and has to cope with dynamically modified tasks and circumstances. At the same time, the development of new methods has to be fast, cost-effective and efficient. By taking care of both aspects simultaneously, simulations have become an acknowledged tool to cost-effectively and rapidly test and optimize new solutions for complex mechatronic systems, as they are common in, e.g., robotics. Mostly, simulation methods are specialized for one purpose and thus used as a stand-alone tool to analyze the behavior of single components or certain aspects of the whole system. But with size and complexity of the system, the susceptibility to errors rises when the interaction between components fails. If a component shows minimal deviations to its nominal behavior, huge interdependencies between components of complex systems might cause system failure. The structural behavior of a single component is therefore as crucial to the functionality of the whole system as the interplay of all components. Both aspects have to be analyzed in parallel, which is nowadays barely considered. Consequently, this work presents the integration of structural simulations into the overall picture. The developed approach consists of a concept, an implementation and the validation for an automated bidirectional interaction to integrate results from Finite Element Analysis (FEA) into an existing, real-time capable Overall System Simulation for mechatronic systems in general and robotics in particular.
A survey and analysis of traditional Uyghur medicine abnormal body fluid type major depressive disorder with personality traits
Authors: Gul Aman , Wushuer Palidan , Rui Hua , Aihemaiti Aikeranmu , Memtily Nassir , Talifu Ainiwaer
Published: March 2019

Objective: To explore the personality characteristics of Traditional Uyghur Medicine (TUM) abnormal body fluid type major depressive disorder in patients and provide a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment and prevention of depression.

Method: Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) was used to test the 238 patients with depression, responses were compared with normal mode group, test results were obtained using SPSS 21.0 statistical software for data analysis, the two groups were compared using [Formula: see text]-test, variance analysis was used in the comparison, pairwise comparison was made with the LSD method and [Formula: see text] was found to be statistically significant.

Results: The mental qualities namely Psychoticism/Socialization (P), Extroversion/Introversion (E), Neuroticism/Stability (N) and Lie/Social Desirability (L) of patients with depression were found to be higher than the normal mode group, and the difference was statistically significant; the scores of [Formula: see text]- and [Formula: see text]-scales were higher in the patients with abnormal cold and dry type depression than those in the normal group, compared with other abnormal body fluid type depressions.

Conclusion: Research results indicate that abnormal body fluid and personality both play a role in the pathogenesis of depression. In particular, the personality characteristics of patients with abnormal cold and dry type body fluid play an important role in the occurence and development of depression.
A Cross-level Verification Methodology for Digital IPs Augmented with Embedded Timing Monitors
Authors: Vinco Sara , Bombieri Nicola , Pagliari Daniele Jahier , Fummi Franco , Macii Enrico , Poncino Massimo
Published: March 2019

Smart systems are characterized by the integration in a single device of multi-domain subsystems of different technological domains, namely, analog, digital, discrete and power devices, MEMS, and power sources. Such challenges, emerging from the heterogeneous nature of the whole system, combined with the traditional challenges of digital design, directly impact on performance and on propagation delay of digital components.

This article proposes a design approach to enhance the RTL model of a given digital component for the integration in smart systems with the automatic insertion of delay sensors, which can detect and correct timing failures. The article then proposes a methodology to verify such added features at system level. The augmented model is abstracted to SystemC TLM, which is automatically injected with mutants (i.e., code mutations) to emulate delays and timing failures. The resulting TLM model is finally simulated to identify timing failures and to verify the correctness of the inserted delay monitors. Experimental results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed design and verification methodology, thanks to an efficient sensor-aware abstraction methodology, by applying the flow to three complex case studies.
Compilation of Dataflow Applications for Multi-Cores using Adaptive Multi-Objective Optimization
Authors: Schwarzer Tobias , Falk Joachim , Müller Simone , Letras Martin , Heidorn Christian , Wildermann Stefan , Teich Jürgen
Published: March 2019

State-of-the-art system synthesis techniques employ meta-heuristic optimization techniques for Design Space Exploration (DSE) to tailor application execution, e.g., defined by a dataflow graph, for a given target platform. Unfortunately, the performance evaluation of each implementation candidate is computationally very expensive, in particular on recent multi-core platforms, as this involves compilation to and extensive evaluation on the target hardware. Applying heuristics for performance evaluation on the one hand allows for a reduction of the exploration time but on the other hand may deteriorate the convergence of the optimization technique toward performance-optimal solutions with respect to the target platform. To address this problem, we propose DSE strategies that are able to dynamically trade off between (i) approximating heuristics to guide the exploration and (ii) accurate performance evaluation, i.e., compilation of the application and subsequent performance measurement on the target platform. Technically, this is achieved by introducing a set of additional, but easily computable guiding objective functions, and varying the set of objective functions that are evaluated during the DSE adaptively. One major advantage of these guiding objectives is that they are generically applicable for dataflow models without having to apply any configuration techniques to tailor their parameters to the specific use case. We show this for synthetic benchmarks as well as a real-world control application. Moreover, the experimental results demonstrate that our proposed adaptive DSE strategies clearly outperform a state-of-the-art DSE approach known from literature in terms of the quality of the gained implementations as well as exploration times. Amongst others, we show a case for a two-core implementation where after about 3 hours of exploration time one of our proposed adaptive DSE strategies already obtains a 60% higher performance value than obtained by the state-of-the-art approach. Even when the state-of-the-art approach is given a total exploration time of more than 2 weeks to optimize this value, the proposed adaptive DSE strategy features a 20% higher performance value after a total exploration time of about 4 days.
From Biology to Physics and Back: The Problem of Brownian Movement
Authors: Libchaber Albert
Published: March 2019

This article focuses on the history of theoretical ideas but also on the developments of experimental tools. The experiments in our laboratory are used to illustrate the various developments associated with Brownian movement. In the first part of this review, we give an overview of the theory. We insist on the pre-Einstein approach to the problem by Lord Rayleigh, Bachelier, and Smoluchowski. In the second part, we detail the achievements of Perrin, measuring Avogadro's number, quantifying the experimental observations of Brownian movement, and introducing the problem of continuous curves without tangent, a precursor to fractal theory. The third part deals with modern application of Brownian movement, escape from a fixed optical trap, particle dynamics on a moving trap, and finally development of Brownian thermal ratchets. Finally, we give a short overview of bacteria motion, presented like an active Brownian movement with very high effective temperature.
Gut Microbiota Composition and Structure of the Ob/Ob and Db/Db Mice
Authors: Yang Mingsheng , Liu Yixin , Xie Hengchang , Wen Zhengzheng , Zhang Yunxia , Wu Changjing , Huang Li , Wu Jie , Xie Chensheng , Wang Tao , Peng Weifeng , Liu Shangqi , Chen Long , Liu Xiaomeng
Published: March 2019

Introduction. Gut microbiota is involved in the progression of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. The ob/ob and db/db mice are extensively used as models in studies on the pathogenesis of these diseases. The goal of this study is to characterize the composition and structure of gut microbiota in these model mice at different ages. Materials and methods. High-throughput sequencing was used to obtain the sequences of the highly variable 16S rRNA V3-V4 region from fecal samples. The taxa with high abundance in both model mice were identified by bioinformatics analysis. Moreover, the taxa with divergent abundance in one model mice at different ages or in both model mice at the same age were also recognized. Discussion and conclusion. The high abundance of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes in microbiota composition and their imbalanced ratio in both model mice reflect the state of metabolic disorders of these mice. Differences in microbiota composition between the two model mice of the same age or in one model mice with different ages were assumed to be closely linked to the fluctuation of their blood glucose levels with age. The data on gut microbiota in ob/ob and db/db mice investigated herein has broad implications for the pathogenesis study and drug discovery on obesity and related complications.
Improved Permutation Entropy for Measuring Complexity of Time Series under Noisy Condition
Authors: Chen Zhe , Li Yaan , Liang Hongtao , Yu Jing
Published: March 2019

Measuring complexity of observed time series plays an important role for understanding the characteristics of the system under study. Permutation entropy (PE) is a powerful tool for complexity analysis, but it has some limitations. For example, the amplitude information is discarded; the equalities (i.e., equal values in the analysed signal) are not properly dealt with; and the performance under noisy condition remains to be improved. In this paper, the improved permutation entropy (IPE) is proposed. The presented method combines some advantages of previous modifications of PE. Its effectiveness is validated through both synthetic and experimental analyses. Compared with PE, IPE is capable of detecting spiky features and correctly differentiating heart rate variability (HRV) signals. Moreover, it performs better under noisy condition. Ship classification experiment results demonstrate that IPE achieves 28.66% higher recognition rate than PE at 0dB. Hence, IPE could be used as an alternative of PE for analysing time series under noisy condition.
Modeling of Cutting Forces with a Serrated End Mill
Authors: Guo Yu , Lin Bin , Wang Weiqiang
Published: March 2019

The paper presents a mechanistic cutting force model of serrated end mill to predict cutting forces. Geometric model of serrated end mill is established, which covers variable helix end mill geometries. In this model, the serration of helical cutting flutes is expressed spatially and the wave of serration is defined to be a sine wave. The spatial vector is applied to define chip thickness so as to enhance the spatial expressiveness of the model, which is perpendicular to the curvature of each flute. Each helical flute is scatted into a series of infinitesimal cutting edges. The infinitesimal cutting forces depend on three cutting force coefficients and three edge force coefficients in the tangential, radial, and axial directions at every cutting element. By integrating the infinitesimal cutting forces along each cutting edge, the milling forces with serrated end mill can be predicted. The model feasibility of the serrated end mill is verified by comparing the predicted and measured cutting forces. Moreover, the model is also verified such that it can also predict cutting forces with other types of end mills, such as variable helix serrated end mill, variable helix end mill, and regular end mill.
Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Vulnerability Rather than Stenosis Predisposes to Non-ST Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes
Authors: Laimoud Mohamed , Faris Farouk , Elghawaby Helmy
Published: March 2019

Background. Non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) may arise from moderately stenosed atherosclerotic lesions that suddenly undergo transformation to vulnerable plaques complicated by rupture and thrombosis. Objective. Assessment and tissue characterization of the coronary atherosclerotic lesions among NSTE-ACS patients compared to those with stable angina. Methodology. Evaluation of IVUS studies of 312 coronary lesions was done by 2 different experienced IVUS readers, 216 lesions in 66 patients with NSTE-ACS (group I) versus 96 lesions in 50 patients with stable angina (group II). Characterization of coronary plaques structure was done using colored-coded iMap technique. Results. The Syntax score was significantly higher in group I compared to group II (18.7 ± 7.8 vs. 8.07 ± 2.5, p=0.001). Body mass index (BMI) was significantly higher in group II while triglycerides levels were higher in group I (P=0.01 & P=0.04, respectively). History of previous MI and PCI was significantly higher in group I (P=0.016 & P=0.001, respectively). The coronary lesions of NSTE-ACS patients had less vessel area (9.86 ± 3.8 vs 11.36 ± 2.9, p=0.001), stenosis percentage (54.7 ± 14.9% vs 68.6 ± 8.7%, p=0.001), and plaque burden (54.4 ± 14.7 vs 67.8 ± 9.8, p=0.001) with negative remodeling index (0.95 ± 20 vs 1.02 ± 0.14, p=0.008) compared to the stable angina group. On the other hand, they had more lipid content (21.8 ± 7.03% vs 7.26 ± 3.47%, p=0.001), necrotic core (18.08 ± 10.19% vs 15.83 ± 4.9%, p=0.02), and calcifications (10.4 ± 5.2% vs 4.19 ± 3.29%, p=0.001) while less fibrosis (51.67 ± 7.07% vs 70.37 ± 11.7%, p=0.001) compared to the stable angina patients. Syntax score and core composition especially calcification and lipid content were significant predictors to NSTE-ACS. Conclusions. The vulnerability rather than the stenotic severity is the most important factor that predisposes to non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes. The vulnerability is related to the lesion characteristics especially lipidic core and calcification while lesion fibrosis favours lesion stability.