bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is Post-discharge Rehabilitation Timing Associated with 90-Day Readmission in Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty?
Authors: Pathak Shweta , Ganduglia Cecilia M. , Awad Samir S. , Chan Wenyaw , Swint John M. , Morgan Robert O.
Published: June 2019

Background

Physical therapy (PT) is an accepted standard of care after total joint arthroplasty (TJA) and essential to maximizing joint functionality and minimizing complications that lead to readmission. However, evidence-based guidelines about appropriate post-discharge rehabilitative care are not well-defined in the orthopedic literature.

Purposes

We sought to determine the average timing for receiving PT rehabilitation and to evaluate the association between PT rehabilitation timing and unplanned readmission within 90 days of a TJA patient being discharged home from acute care.

Methods

This retrospective study examined 11, 545 joint procedures using claims data for the years 2008 to 2013. Outcomes were assessed using a population-averaged approach to regression models.

Results

The average time for initiating PT was 4 days for knee arthroplasty and 6 days for hip arthroplasty in patients discharged home from acute care. Most patients (89%) began PT consultation or supervised exercises during the first week after discharge. The type of joint surgery considerably modified the effect of rehabilitation timing on the likelihood of readmission. Later initiation of rehabilitation was associated with a higher probability of 90-day readmission in both knee and hip arthroplasty, with the effect of rehabilitation timing being more pronounced in hip rather than knee arthroplasty 2 weeks post-discharge from acute care.

Conclusions

Timing for initiating PT may be an important modifiable factor that can affect readmission in patients discharged home from acute care after TJA. Further exploration of the role of PT timing along with other factors such as dosage and frequency among such patients is needed.
The influence of the physical context and knowledge of artworks on the aesthetic experience of interactive installations
Authors: Szubielska Magdalena , Imbir Kamil , Szymańska Anna
Published: June 2019

In the current study, the influence of the physical context and the knowledge of artworks on the aesthetic experience of installation art is tested for the first time. We assessed non-experts in the field of art (N = 158) who viewed interactive installations in either the art gallery context or the classroom. Some participants knew both the artworks’ titles and the curator descriptions, some knew only the titles, and some had no contextual information. We tested both the aesthetic emotions and the aesthetic judgments. For the measurement of aesthetic emotions, we used the Self-Assessment Manikin approach including the traditional dimensions of affect and the measurement of recently-proposed dimensions such as origin or subjective significance. The study replicated previous findings that the gallery context enhances the aesthetic experience – both of art appreciation and aesthetic emotions. Moreover, our results showed that the emotions caused by viewing the installation in the gallery had more of an automatic source (metaphorically coming “from the heart”) and were more subjectively significant than aesthetic emotions experienced in the classroom context. Curatorial information increased the understanding and appreciation of the works of installation art, and also caused the aesthetic emotion to be more positive and more intensive; while having knowledge about the titles did not influence the aesthetic experience.
Comparing estimation methods of non-stationary errors-in-variables models
Authors: Kunitomo Naoto , Awaya Naoki , Kurisu Daisuke
Published: June 2019

We investigate the estimation methods of the multivariate non-stationary errors-in-variables models when there are non-stationary trend components and the measurement errors or noise components. We compare the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation and the separating information maximum likelihood (SIML) estimation. The latter was proposed by Kunitomo and Sato (Trend, seasonality and economic time series: the nonstationary errors-in-variables models. MIMS-RBP-SDS-3, MIMS, Meiji University. http://www.mims.meiji.ac.jp/, 2017) and Kunitomo et al. (Separating information maximum likelihood method for high-frequency financial data. Springer, Berlin, 2018). We have found that the Gaussian likelihood function can have non-concave shape in some cases and the ML method does work only when the Gaussianity of non-stationary and stationary components holds with some restrictions such as the signal–noise variance ratio in the parameter space. The SIML estimation has the asymptotic robust properties in more general situations. We explore the finite sample and asymptotic properties of the ML and SIML methods for the non-stationary errors-in variables models.
Arctic Glacial Retreat Alters Downstream Fjord Currents
Authors: Stanley Sarah
Published: June 2019

High-resolution mapping efforts could improve predictions of coastal changes as glaciers shrink around the world.
Report Examines New Tools to Protect Coral Reefs
Authors: Showstack Randy
Published: June 2019

Coral reefs face threats including habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change. A novel set of interventions could help them persist in rapidly degrading environmental conditions.
Differential functionalisation of the internal and external surfaces of carbon-stabilised nanoporous silicon
Authors: Alba Maria , Robin Morgane , Menzies Donna , Gengenbach Thomas R. , Prieto-Simon Beatriz , Voelcker Nicolas H.
Published: June 2019

A versatile strategy to differentiate the surface chemistry of the internal and external pore walls of highly-stable nanoporous silicon.
Investigating the solubilization effect of oxcarbazepine by forming cocrystals
Authors: Li Xiangrong , Yu Guojia , Chen Xinjian , He Lichao , Zhou Zhiyong , Ren Zhongqi
Published: June 2019

Oxcarbazepine (OXCBZ) is a poorly soluble drug that can't form a salt. The apparent solubilities of the OXCBZ–OA and OXCBZ–2,5-DHBA cocrystals increased approximately 2.6 and 4.7 times of that of OXCBZ.
Ultrafast decay dynamics of water molecules excited to electronic D̃′ and D̃′′ states: a time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy study
Authors: Min Yanjun , Yang Dongyuan , He Zhigang , Chen Zhichao , Yuan Kaijun , Dai Dongxu , Wu Guorong , Yang Xueming
Published: June 2019

The ultrafast decay dynamics of water molecules excited to D̃′ and D̃′′ states is studied in detail.
Anisotropic thermoelectric properties of Weyl semimetal NbX (X = P and As): a potential thermoelectric material
Authors: Zhou Yu , Zhao Ying-Qin , Zeng Zhao-Yi , Chen Xiang-Rong , Geng Hua-Yun
Published: June 2019

Weyl semimetal, a newly developed thermoelectric material, has aroused much interest due to its extraordinary transport properties.
Modulating and probing the dynamic intermolecular interactions in plasmonic molecule-pair junctions
Authors: Ma Tao , Guo Jing , Chang Shuai , Wang Xuewen , Zhou Jianghao , Liang Feng , He Jin
Published: June 2019

The intermolecular interactions, including hydrogen bonds, are electromechanically modulated and probed in metal–molecule pair–metal junctions.
Exploring the chemical nature of super-heavy main-group elements by means of efficient plane-wave density-functional theory
Authors: Trombach Lukas , Ehlert Sebastian , Grimme Stefan , Schwerdtfeger Peter , Mewes Jan-Michael
Published: June 2019

Presenting an accurate yet efficient plane-wave DFT approach for the computational exploration of the bulk properties of the super-heavy main-group elements including copernicium (Cn–Og, Z = 112–118).
Tuning the catalytic activity of a single Mo atom supported on graphene for nitrogen reduction via Se atom doping
Authors: Zhou Hong Yu , Li Jian Chen , Wen Zi , Jiang Qing
Published: June 2019

Effectively increasing the catalytic activity of a single Mo atom for the NRR by doping heteroatoms.
MOF-derived Ni@NC catalyst: synthesis, characterization, and application in one-pot hydrogenation and reductive amination
Authors: Li Jiayi , Wang Bowei , Qin Yutian , Tao Qin , Chen Ligong
Published: June 2019

MOF-derived Ni@NC is prepared and used as highly selective catalyst for one-pot hydrogenation and reductive amination.
Which quantum statistics–classical dynamics method is best for water?
Authors: Benson Raz L. , Trenins George , Althorpe Stuart C.
Published: June 2019

We make a systematic comparison of TRPMD, CMD, QCMD and LSC-IVR by calculating the infrared spectrum of water in its gas, liquid and ice phases.
Antidepressant-like effects of dietary gardenia blue pigment derived from genipin and tyrosine
Authors: Li Kuang-Dai , Yan Kuo , Wang Qiang-Song , Tian Jun-Sheng , Xu Dong , Zhang Wen-Yan , Cui Yuan-Lu
Published: June 2019

Gardenia blue pigments derived from genipin reacting with amino acids have antidepressant effect.
Ultra-low thermal conductivity in Na/Sb chalcobismuthates: synthesis, crystal structures, optical properties and23Na NMR spectroscopy
Authors: Alahmari Fatimah , Dey Somnath , Emwas Abdul-Hamid , Davaasuren Bambar , Rothenberger Alexander
Published: June 2019

The synthesis and characterization of mixed metal phases, Na2BiSbQ4(Q = S, Se, Te), containing only one metal site in the unit cell, which resulted in extremely low thermal conductivities.
Tuning the membrane permeability of polymersome nanoreactors developed by aqueous emulsion polymerization-induced self-assembly
Authors: Varlas Spyridon , Foster Jeffrey C. , Georgiou Panagiotis G. , Keogh Robert , Husband Jonathan T. , Williams David S. , O'Reilly Rachel K.
Published: June 2019

Membrane modification of epoxy-functionalized enzyme-loaded polymersomes using a series of primary amines and cross-linking diamines of increasing hydrophobicity resulted in functional nanoreactors with tunable permeability.
A convenient one-pot nanosynthesis of a C(sp2)–C(sp3)-linked 3D gridviaan ‘A2+ B3’ approach
Authors: Wei Ying , Luo Mengcheng , Zhang Guangwei , Lei Jiaqi , Xie Ling-Hai , Huang Wei
Published: June 2019

The synthesis of fluorene-based3D-grid-FTPA, which shows excellent chemical, thermal, and photo-stabilities, has been developed using a one-pot Friedel–Crafts reaction.
Visible-light induced decarboxylative alkylation of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones at the C3-position
Authors: Xue Wenxuan , Su Yingpeng , Wang Ke-Hu , Zhang Rong , Feng Yawei , Cao Lindan , Huang Dangfeng , Hu Yulai
Published: June 2019

3-Alkylquinoxalin-2(1H)-ones are synthesized via direct alkylation of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones at the C3 position under visible light irradiation.
A facile approach for preparing multicyclic polymers through combining ATRP and a photo-induced coupling reaction
Authors: Fei Yiyang , Liu Chao , Chen Guang , Hong Chunyan
Published: June 2019

A facile approach for synthesizing bicyclic and tetracyclic polymers.
Effect of the tactic structure on the chiroptical properties of helical vinylbiphenyl polymers
Authors: Li Xiaofu , Wang Rong , Wu Chunji , Chen Junxian , Zhang Jie , Cui Dongmei , Wan Xinhua
Published: June 2019

The effect of a tactic structure on the chiroptical properties of helical vinylbiphenyl polymers is systematically studied.
3D-printed monolithic SiCN ceramic microreactors from a photocurable preceramic resin for the high temperature ammonia cracking process
Authors: Gyak Ki-Won , Vishwakarma Niraj K. , Hwang Yoon-Ho , Kim Jeehwan , Yun Hui-suk , Kim Dong-Pyo
Published: June 2019

A SiCN ceramic microreactor with high temperature tolerance and chemical resistance has been fabricated by a 3D printing method.
Ultrastable and efficient H2 production via membrane-free hybrid water electrolysis over a bifunctional catalyst of hierarchical Mo–Ni alloy nanoparticles
Authors: Cui Xin , Chen Meiling , Xiong Rui , Sun Jian , Liu Xiaowang , Geng Baoyou
Published: June 2019

Mo–Ni alloy nanoparticles were used as a bifunctional catalyst for ultrastable and efficient H2 production via membrane-free hybrid water electrolysis.
Metallovesicles as smart nanoreactors for green catalytic synthesis of benzimidazole derivatives in water
Authors: Kaur Navneet , Kaur Simranpreet , Kaur Gurpreet , Bhalla Aman , Srinivasan Sesha , Chaudhary Ganga Ram
Published: June 2019

Green catalytic synthesis of benzimidazoles using Cu metallovesicles as nanoreactors.
Donor–acceptor type aggregation-induced emission luminophores based on the 1,1-dicyanomethylene-3-indanone unit for bridge-dependent reversible mechanochromism and light-up biosensing of hypochlorites
Authors: Yu Hai-Xia , Zhi Junge , Shen Tianjiao , Ding Weilu , Zhang Xiaoling , Wang Jin-Liang
Published: June 2019

Among three AIE-active molecules with different D–A linkages, TPEIC exhibits reversible high-contrast mechanochromism, light-up sensing and biosensing of ClO−.
High-efficiency synthesis of a naphthalene-diimide-based conjugated polymer using continuous flow technology for organic field-effect transistors
Authors: Wang Weiwei , Chen Ruikun , Hu Yaohui , Lu Hongbo , Qiu Longzhen , Ding Yunsheng , Sun Dengrong , Zhang Guobing
Published: June 2019

A conjugated polymer based on naphthalene-diimide and dithiophene units was synthesized by continuous flow synthesis.
Protective effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles against doxorubicin induced testicular toxicity and DNA damage in male rats
Authors: El-Maddawy Zeynab Khamis , Abd El Naby Walaa Slouma Hamouda
Published: June 2019

The present study aims to investigate the protective effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) on doxorubicin-induced testicular injury. Forty mature male rats were randomly allocated into four equal groups: G1 (control), G2 (3 mg per kg BW of zinc oxide nanoparticles was administered), G3 (6 mg per kg BW of doxorubicin was intraperitoneally injected), and G4 (doxorubicin + ZnO NPs). Some fertility parameters, antioxidant status, genotoxicity assay, and a histopathological examination were used for this investigation. The doxorubicin-treated group showed a significant decrease in the index weight of reproductive organs, epididymal sperm count, motility%, and live sperm% and a significant increase in sperm abnormalities. Moreover, GSH and CAT activities were significantly decreased, and MDA content was significantly increased in the doxorubicin-treated group. Interestingly, co-administration of ZnO NPs significantly reduced the doxorubicin-induced changes in the investigated parameters. In addition, ZnO NPs alone did not show any undesirable effects on the sperm parameters, testis or DNA. However, its administration improves the reproductive parameters and significantly increases the testosterone level. We concluded that the administration of ZnO NPs at 3 mg per kg BW ameliorated the testicular toxicity and genotoxicity caused by doxorubicin through its antioxidant and androgenic activity.
Executive Functioning and Narrative Language in Children With Dyslexia
Authors: Fisher Evelyn L. , Barton-Hulsey Andrea , Walters Casy , Sevcik Rose A. , Morris Robin
Published: June 2019

Purpose

Children with dyslexia often struggle with nonphonological aspects of language and executive functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of executive functioning on language abilities at both structural (e.g., grammar in sentences) and functional (e.g., narrative) levels in 92 third- and 4th-grade students with dyslexia. Additionally, we asked if working memory updating contributed a significant amount of variance in narrative language ability beyond what would be expected by students' structural language skills alone.

Method

Students' language and executive functioning skills were evaluated using a range of language and cognitive measures including the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Fourth Edition (
Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003
), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition (
Dunn & Dunn, 2007
), the Test of Narrative Language (
Gillam & Pearson, 2004
), the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function Scale (
Kaplan, Kramer, & Delis, 2001
), and the Corsi Block-Tapping Test (WISC-IV Integrated;
Kaplan, Fein, Kramer, Delis, & Morris, 2004
).

Results

Low correlations between the language measures suggested that each of these assessments captures a unique element of language ability for children with dyslexia. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that working memory updating accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in oral narrative production beyond what would be expected by structural language ability.

Conclusions

The range of performance found across language measures suggests that it may be important to include a variety of language measures assessing both structural and functional language skills when evaluating children with dyslexia. Including cognitive measures of executive functioning may also be key to determine if deficits in working memory updating are contributing to functional expressive language difficulties.
Mandarin Electrolaryngeal Speech Recognition Based on WaveNet-CTC
Authors: Qian Zhaopeng , Wang Li , Zhang Shaochuan , Liu Chan , Niu Haijun
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The application of Chinese Mandarin electrolaryngeal (EL) speech for laryngectomees has been limited by its drawbacks such as single fundamental frequency, mechanical sound, and large radiation noise. To improve the intelligibility of Chinese Mandarin EL speech, a new perspective using the automatic speech recognition (ASR) system was proposed, which can convert EL speech into healthy speech, if combined with text-to-speech.

Method

An ASR system was designed to recognize EL speech based on a deep learning model WaveNet and the connectionist temporal classification (WaveNet-CTC). This system mainly consists of 3 parts: the acoustic model, the language model, and the decoding model. The acoustic features are extracted during speech preprocessing, and 3,230 utterances of EL speech mixed with 10,000 utterances of healthy speech are used to train the ASR system. Comparative experiment was designed to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.

Results

The results show that the proposed ASR system has higher stability and generalizability compared with the traditional methods, manifesting superiority in terms of Chinese characters, Chinese words, short sentences, and long sentences. Phoneme confusion occurs more easily in the stop and affricate of EL speech than the healthy speech. However, the highest accuracy of the ASR could reach 83.24% when 3,230 utterances of EL speech were used to train the ASR system.

Conclusions

This study indicates that EL speech could be recognized effectively by the ASR based on WaveNet-CTC. This proposed method has a higher generalization performance and better stability than the traditional methods. A higher accuracy of the ASR system based on WaveNet-CTC can be obtained, which means that EL speech can be converted into healthy speech.

Supplemental Material

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8250830
Few‐shot palmprint recognition via graph neural networks
Authors: Shao Huikai , Zhong Dexing
Published: June 2019

At present, palmprint recognition based on deep learning has been more and more widely used in identity recognition due to its many advantages. However, these algorithms often require a large amount of labelled data for training. In fact, it is difficult and expensive to get enough data that meets the requirements. In this Letter, based on a small amount of labelled images, the authors proposed a method for few‐shot palmprint recognition using Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). The palmprint features extracted by the convolutional neural network are processed into nodes in the GNN. The edges in the GNN are used to represent similarities between image nodes. The parameters in the network are continuously optimised, and finally, the category to which each image belongs is obtained. Further, they adopted a mobile phone to create a palmprint database in an unconstrained way. Adequate experiments were performed on the benchmark database and the authors’ self‐built database. The experimental results show that their proposed GNN‐based few‐shot palmprint recognition can obtain state‐of‐the‐art performance, where the accuracy is over 99.90%.
Gamma‐distribution‐based logit weighted block orthogonal matching pursuit for compressed sensing
Authors: Lu Liyang , Xu Wenbo , Cui Yupeng , Dang Yifei , Wang Siye
Published: June 2019

Block orthogonal matching pursuit is an efficient reconstruction algorithm in compressed sensing, which exploits block sparsity during support index selection. In this letter, to further improve the performance, the authors propose two block sparse reconstruction algorithms by incorporating the prior information of block support probability. Based on Gamma distribution approximation, such information is formulated as an additive term during index selection. Moreover, the second algorithm extends the first one to the scenario with inaccurate prior information by introducing an additional judging mechanism with block correlation and prior factor simultaneously. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithms outperform existing algorithms.
Tunable bandstop filter with high suppression and wide tuning range
Authors: Li Qun , Chen Xiong , Yang Tao
Published: June 2019

A tunable bandstop filter (BSF) with high suppression and wide tuning range is presented. The tunable BSF includes nine pairs of coupling microstrip resonators. Each coupling microstrip resonator contains a back‐to‐back varactor pair and the voltage bias circuit is placed at the cathode of each varactor. Moreover, the back‐to‐back varactor pair is connected to an inductive terminal with two parallel metallised vias. Compared to a single metallised via, the inductance of two parallel metallised vias is reduced which can be beneficial to increase the stopband resonant frequency and improve the suppression level of the tunable BSF. Finally, a tunable BSF prototype with the tuning range of 3.8–9 GHz (81%) is fabricated. The measured suppression level is larger than 40 dB, over the entire tuning range.
Control of malaria outbreak using a non‐linear robust strategy with adaptive gains
Authors: Rajaei Arman , Vahidi‐Moghaddam Amin , Chizfahm Amir , Sharifi Mojtaba
Published: June 2019

The aim of this study is to develop a non‐linear robust controller with adaptive gains in order to prevent malaria epidemic as a positive system with an uncertain model. The malaria outbreak is modelled by seven non‐linear coupled differential equations for the population variables: susceptible, exposed, symptomatic infected and recovered humans and the susceptible, exposed and infected mosquitoes. The non‐linear robust adaptive integral‐sliding‐mode controller is developed in order to appropriately adjust the use of treated bednets, treatment rate of infected individuals and the use of insecticide spray to control malaria epidemic. Accordingly, the numbers of exposed and infected humans and infected mosquitoes are decreased to zero by employing the designed control scheme. However, the numbers of susceptible individuals and mosquitoes are increased due to their birth rates and loss of malaria immunity in recovered individuals. The Lyapunov stability theorem is used to prove the stability, robustness and tracking convergence of the closed‐loop system in the presence of modelling uncertainties. The simulation results demonstrate that by increasing the therapy time interval, the use of treated bednets and insecticide spray is decreased; however, a higher treatment rate is required for the infected population.
Finite‐time observer design for singular systems subject to unknown inputs
Authors: Zhang Jiancheng , Chadli Mohammed , Zhu Fanglai
Published: June 2019

This study is concerned with the finite‐time observer (FTO) design for a class of singular systems subject to unknown inputs in both the state and the output equations. First, in order to overcome the restriction of the classical FTO method, two different non‐singular auxiliary dynamic systems, which are simultaneously equivalent to the original singular system, are constructed to act as the new reference systems for the sub‐observers' design. Second, based on the observer matching condition and strong observability condition, it is proven that an FTO can be designed where the observer parameters are given by an algebraic method. Also, in order to present a systematical method to compute the observer parameters, an alternative linear matrix inequality method is proposed. The advantages of the FTO over the conventional asymptotic convergence observer are discussed and numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Masking attack for sampled‐data systems via input redundancy
Authors: Kim Jihan , Park Gyunghoon , Shim Hyungbo , Eun Yongsoon
Published: June 2019

This study discovers a new vulnerability of cyber‐physical systems to malicious attack. It arises when the physical plant, that is modelled as a continuous‐time LTI system, is controlled by a digital controller with periodic sampling and actuation. In the sampled‐data framework, most anomaly detectors monitor the plant's output only at discrete time instants. Consequently, abnormal behaviour between sampling instants cannot be detected if output behaves normally at every sampling instant. This implies that if an actuator attack drives the plant's state to pass through the kernel of the output matrix at each sensing time, then the attack compromises the system while remaining stealthy. It is shown that this type of attack always exists when the sampled‐data system has an input redundancy, i.e. the number of inputs being larger than that of outputs and/or the sampling rate of the actuators being higher than that of the sensors. Simulation results for the X‐38 vehicle and other numerical examples illustrate this new attack strategy may result in disastrous consequences.
Particle filtering‐based recursive identification for controlled auto‐regressive systems with quantised output
Authors: Ding Jie , Chen Jiazhong , Lin Jinxing , Jiang Guoping
Published: June 2019

Recursive prediction error method is one of the main tools for analysis of controlled auto‐regressive systems with quantised output. In this study, a recursive identification algorithm is proposed based on the auxiliary model principle by modifying the standard stochastic gradient algorithm. To improve the convergence performance of the algorithm, a particle filtering technique, which approximates the posterior probability density function with a weighted set of discrete random sampling points is utilised to correct the linear output estimates. It can exclude those invalid particles according to their corresponding weights. The performance of the particle filtering technique‐based algorithm is much better than that of the auxiliary model‐based one. Finally, results are verified by examples from simulation and engineering.
D, Q reference frames for the simulation of multiphase (six phase) wound rotor induction generator driven by a wind turbine for disperse generation
Authors: Mishra Neeraj Kumar , Husain Zakir , Khan M. Rizwan
Published: June 2019

The wound rotor induction machine has been traditionally accepted for a long time in a wind energy conversion system. Despite numerous concepts have been established on wound rotor induction generator (WRIG), the WRIG is lacking in the area of the multi‐phase system. Hence the interest of research fraternity starts growing toward modelling of un‐conventional WRIG with Wind Energy Conversion System. In this direction, six‐phase wound rotor induction generator (SPWRIG) can be a game changer, because it has the property of WRIG as well as multi‐phase technology. This study introduces the novel SPWRIG based on mathematical modelling, control technique, simulation and experimental results. As a major novelty, this study has included a comparison of various currents and its importance in the excitation reference frame, rotor reference frame, stator reference frame. The accuracy of mathematical modelling has been tested by experimental and simulation results.
Enhanced fuzzy‐logic‐based power‐assisted control with user‐adaptive systems for human‐electric bikes
Authors: Lee Jin‐Shyan , Jiang Jun‐Wei
Published: June 2019

With the increasing attention to sustainability, several studies have attempted to develop human‐electric bikes which provide the power to assist the human rider from an electric motor when the rider is pedalling. For such systems, the design of the power‐assisted controller plays a critical role to ensure the comfort and safety of the rider. In practical situations, a bike may be utilised by multiple riders such as the users of bike‐sharing systems. However, the influence of different human riders is seldom discussed in the power‐assisted controller design. In this study, an enhanced fuzzy‐logic‐based control approach with a user‐adaptive mechanism has been presented to online adjust the fuzzy parameters for power‐assisted regulation so as to ensure the riding comfort and safety. Simulation results display that the proposed user‐adaptive approach improves the comfortability and safety for the riding in urban areas. It is believed that the techniques presented in this study could further be adopted in public bike‐sharing systems for short‐range city commuters.
Small form factor UWB antenna integrating geopolymer dielectric material
Authors: Nadir Houda , Gharzouni Ameni , Martinod Edson , Feix Noel , Tantot Olivier , Bertrand Valerie , Rossignol Sylvie , Lalande Michele
Published: June 2019

This study presents a new design of a reduced volumetric ultra‐wideband (UWB) antenna using innovative dielectric based on the use of geopolymer material which is safe and eco‐friendly. The created antenna is intended to radiate in the air. The impedance mismatch due to interface dielectric/air at the aperture of the antenna imposes to choose dielectric material with an appropriate permittivity value. In this study, the authors focus on the experimental protocol that they use to elaborate a dielectric material with suitable dielectric properties over an UWB domain. An experimental phase of dielectric properties assessment is also described. The conceived antenna is inspired by K‐antenna which constitutes the starting point of the proposed new antenna design, particularly because of their small dimensions. The antenna is intended to operate in a frequency band ranging from 300 MHz to 3 GHz. The authors demonstrate that the use of an appropriate innovative dielectric material like a geopolymer is an efficient way to reduce the antenna size. Furthermore, the behaviour of the antenna filled with geopolymer is validated using experimental results.
Implementable phase‐coded radar waveforms featuring extra‐low range sidelobes and Doppler resilience
Authors: Dong Yunhan
Published: June 2019

Golay binary complementary sequences are used to code quadriphase waveforms. The Gaussian minimum shift keying coding scheme is used to produce waveforms with constant amplitude, and continuous and differentiable phase. To satisfy spectral requirements, the waveforms are further spectrally optimised by a spectrum‐optimisation process, making the final waveforms implementable. The extra‐low sidelobe level is achieved by the use of an extended mismatched filter on receive of pulse compression. To improve Doppler tolerance, Doppler‐resilient complementary waveforms are derived that provide first‐order suppression to the raised range sidelobes introduced by the Doppler frequency shift in returned signals. This study is an expanded version of a conference paper presented at 2018 International Radar Conference held in Brisbane, Australia.
Survey on time‐domain power theories and their applications for renewable energy integration in smart‐grids
Authors: Godoy Simões Marcelo , Harirchi Farnaz , Babakmehr Mohammad
Published: June 2019

The increasing aggregation of renewable‐based distributed generating units besides the impressive growing usage of non‐linear loads raises unwanted challenges for traditional power terms definition in power engineering. This fact consequently affected the performance of the conventional control frameworks and industrial compensation techniques. In this study, the authors aim to provide an insightful summary over the most recognised time domain‐based instantaneous power theories and discuss their advantages and disadvantages within a comprehensive mathematical‐conceptual and applicational framework for professionals who are using instantaneous power theories within the smart grid applications. They conclude that there is still a need for a modified power theory which can be validated under non‐sinusoidal‐unbalanced load/source conditions respecting the physical meaning of different power and current components.
Ultimate merging at z ∼ 0.1
Authors: Maschmann Daniel , Melchior Anne-Laure
Published: June 2019

We present a study of 58 double-peaked emission line galaxies for which one of the components is suppressed in [OIII]λ5008 or is significantly weaker than the other one. Accordingly, the two components are classified differently in the BPT diagram. We show that the strong [OIII] component coincides with the stellar velocity and the suppressed component is off-centred in 66% of the galaxies, while in 12% of them it is the opposite. The analysis of their morphology reveals that about half of the sample is composed of S0, and the rest is composed of mergers and late-type galaxies in equal measure. We discuss the hypothesis that these characteristics exclude rotating discs and suggest different stages of merging. It is possible that the number of mergers is underestimated if the double nuclei are not resolved. Tidal features are detected in the outskirts of some S0 galaxies. This high fraction of S0 is surprising, as in addition most of the galaxies are isolated and the others are in small groups. All these galaxies that host an AGN component are massive, lie on the star forming sequence, and exhibit an enhanced star formation at their centre. While we cannot exclude outflows, these galaxies exhibit spectra that do not correspond to usual outflow observations characterised by high gas velocities, and the standard deviations of the two peaks are comparable. In parallel, these characteristics are compatible with ultimate stages of galaxy merging, where the two nuclei are either too close to be detected, or dynamical disturbances might be present in post-mergers like massive S0 galaxies.
Metabolomic insights into polyhydroxyalkanoates production by halophilic bacteria with acetic acid as carbon source
Authors: Wang Pan , Qiu Yin-Quan , Chen Xi-Teng , Liang Xiao-Fei , Ren Lian-Hai
Published: June 2019

A metabolomics method was established to analyze changes of intracellular metabolites and study the mechanism for enhancing polyhydroxyalkanoates production by halotolerant bacteria, Bacillus cereus strain HY-3, using acetic acid as carbon source. Maximum poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) contents for the medium with 0.5 g/L and 5.0 g/L of acetic acid were 41.0 ± 0.415% and 49.2 ± 1.21%. Principal components analysis revealed clear metabolic differences in different growth stages and different concentrations of carbon source. According to statistical analysis, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB), serine, threonine, malate, and pyruvate were determined as potential biomarkers for PHB production. Moreover, metabolic pathways analysis indicated that high level of 3-HB in death phase was due to the limitation of carbon source. Metabolism of glycine, serine, and threonine was influential pathway for PHB production among amino acid metabolisms. High levels of organic acids from the TCA cycle could stimulate the carbon source flux into PHB biosynthetic pathway.
Purification, characterization, and gene cloning of a novel aminoacylase from Burkholderia sp. strain LP5_18B that efficiently catalyzes the synthesis of N-lauroyl-l-amino acids
Authors: Takakura Yasuaki , Asano Yasuhisa
Published: June 2019

An N-lauroyl-l-phenylalanine-producing bacterium, identified as Burkholderia sp. strain LP5_18B, was isolated from a soil sample. The enzyme was purified from the cell-free extract of the strain and shown to catalyze degradation and synthesis activities toward various N-acyl-amino acids. N-lauroyl-l-phenylalanine and N-lauroyl-l-arginine were obtained with especially high yields (51% and 89%, respectively) from lauric acid and l-phenylalanine or l-arginine by the purified enzyme in an aqueous system. The gene encoding the novel aminoacylase was cloned from Burkholderia sp. strain LP5_18B and expressed in Escherichia coli. The gene contains an open reading frame of 1,323 nucleotides. The deduced protein sequence encoded by the gene has approximately 80% amino acid identity to several hydratase of Burkholderia. The addition of zinc sulfate increased the aminoacylase activity of the recombinant E. coli strain.
Treatment of tricuspid valve endocarditis with daptomycin and linezolid therapy
Authors: Galanter Kayla M , Ho Jackie
Published: June 2019

Purpose

A case report of the use of linezolid and daptomycin for the treatment of multidrug-resistant right-sided infective endocarditis is presented.

A 36-year-old patient with a history of intravenous drug use was hospitalized for treatment of native tricuspid valve endocarditis resulting in persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. During the admission the patient was unsuccessfully treated with vancomycin monotherapy (final E-test minimum inhibitory concentration, 4 μg/mL). The patient’s treatment was switched to daptomycin and gentamicin, with no improvement in blood culture results over 4 days. Gentamicin was discontinued, and linezolid was administered in combination with daptomycin; bacteremia was cleared after 13 days of linezolid and daptomycin combination therapy. Due to daptomycin resistance (minimum inhibitory concentration, 4 μg/mL), gentamicin was substituted for daptomycin due to the former agent’s synergistic effects with linezolid. After 23 days of therapy the patient was transferred to another facility for a tricuspid valve replacement procedure, which was completed without complications. The patient was transferred in stable condition to a skilled nursing facility to continue antibiotic therapy lasting 6 weeks from the date of surgery. The patient’s blood cultures remained negative.

Conclusion

A 36-year-old woman with resistant tricuspid valve endocarditis was successfully treated with linezolid in combination with daptomycin.
Promoting transitions of care, safety, and medication adherence for patients taking fingolimod in community pharmacies
Authors: Bourdin Aline , Schluep Myriam , Bugnon Olivier , Berger Jérôme
Published: June 2019

Purpose

The development and dissemination of a specialty pharmacy service to optimize fingolimod therapy management are described.

Fingolimod was the first oral therapy developed to counter relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Pharmacovigilance measures and individualized support are strongly recommended due to associated safety concerns. The Fingolimod Patient Support Program (F-PSP) was developed and disseminated within a community pharmacy network. The F-PSP aims to ensure responsible use of fingolimod and patient empowerment by promoting medication adherence and patient safety through a person-centered and integrated care approach. It complements basic pharmacy services through 2 interventions: medication adherence support and pharmacovigilance tailored to fingolimod. The adherence intervention combines motivational interviewing with longitudinal electronic medication adherence monitoring. The pharmacovigilance component consists of informing patients of fingolimod recommendations, reminding patients of recommended medical tests, and tracking and monitoring symptoms, especially those of potential serious adverse fingolimod reactions. A secure Web platform guides the pharmacist in conducting interviews and enables collection of patient-reported outcome data. A transition care pharmacist proposes program participation to all patients initiated on fingolimod, performs enrollment, and coordinates transfers to patient-designated community pharmacies for ongoing care.

Conclusion

The F-PSP enables support of individual patients, and also provides real-world data, helping to bridge the gap between practice and research. The F-PSP is intended to be a generic model of a specialty pharmacy service that is transferable to any other healthcare context, specialty drug or disease.
Flower colour diversity seen through the eyes of pollinators. A commentary on: ‘Floral colour structure in two Australian herbaceous communities: it depends on who is looking’
Authors: Arnold Sarah E J , Chittka Lars
Published: June 2019

This article comments on:

Mani Shrestha, Adrian G. Dyer, Jair E. Garcia and Martin Burd. 2019. Floral colour structure in two Australian herbaceous communities: it depends on who is looking. Annals of Botany 124(2): 221–232.
Pulvinar Modulates Contrast Responses in the Visual Cortex as a Function of Cortical Hierarchy
Authors: de Souza Bruno Oliveira Ferreira , Cortes Nelson , Casanova Christian
Published: June 2019

The pulvinar is the largest extrageniculate visual nucleus in mammals. Given its extensive reciprocal connectivity with the visual cortex, it allows the cortico-thalamocortical transfer of visual information. Nonetheless, knowledge of the nature of the pulvinar inputs to the cortex remains elusive. We investigated the impact of silencing the pulvinar on the contrast response function of neurons in 2 distinct hierarchical cortical areas in the cat (areas 17 and 21a). Pulvinar inactivation altered the response gain in both areas, but with larger changes observed in area 21a. A theoretical model was proposed, simulating the pulvinar contribution to cortical contrast responses by modifying the excitation-inhibition balanced state of neurons across the cortical hierarchy. Our experimental and theoretical data showed that the pulvinar exerts a greater modulatory influence on neuronal activity in area 21a than in the primary visual cortex, indicating that the pulvinar impact on cortical visual neurons varies along the cortical hierarchy.
Changes in the Molecular Epidemiology of Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis in Senegal After Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Introduction
Authors: Sonko Mouhamadou A , Dube Felix S , Okoi Catherine Bi , Diop Amadou , Thiongane Aliou , Senghore Madikay , Ndow Peter , Worwui Archibal , Faye Papa M , Dieye Baidy , Ba Idrissa D , Diallo Aliou , Boly Diop , Ndiaye Ousmane , Cissé Moussa F , Mwenda Jason M , Kwambana-Adams Brenda A , Antonio Martin
Published: June 2019

Background

Bacterial meningitis is a major cause of mortality among children under 5 years of age. Senegal is part of World Health Organization–coordinated sentinel site surveillance for pediatric bacterial meningitis surveillance. We conducted this analysis to describe the epidemiology and etiology of bacterial meningitis among children less than 5 years in Senegal from 2010 and to 2016.

Methods

Children who met the inclusion criteria for suspected meningitis at the Centre Hospitalier National d’Enfants Albert Royer, Senegal, from 2010 to 2016 were included. Cerebrospinal fluid specimens were collected from suspected cases examined by routine bacteriology and molecular assays. Serotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and whole-genome sequencing were performed.

Results

A total of 1013 children were admitted with suspected meningitis during the surveillance period. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus accounted for 66% (76/115), 25% (29/115), and 9% (10/115) of all confirmed cases, respectively. Most of the suspected cases (63%; 639/1013) and laboratory-confirmed (57%; 66/115) cases occurred during the first year of life. Pneumococcal meningitis case fatality rate was 6-fold higher than that of meningococcal meningitis (28% vs 5%). The predominant pneumococcal lineage causing meningitis was sequence type 618 (n = 7), commonly found among serotype 1 isolates. An ST 2174 lineage that included serotypes 19A and 23F was resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

Conclusions

There has been a decline in pneumococcal meningitis post–pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction in Senegal. However, disease caused by pathogens covered by vaccines in widespread use still persists. There is need for continued effective monitoring of vaccine-preventable meningitis.
Detecting Proxy User Based on Communication Behavior Portrait
Authors: Han Zhen-Hui , Chen Xing-Shu , Zeng Xue-Mei , Zhu Yi , Yin Ming-Yong
Published: June 2019

Proxies can help users to bypass the network filtering system, leaving the network open to banned content, and can also enable users to anonymize themselves for terminal security protection. Proxies are widely used in the current network environment. However, certain spy proxies record user information for privacy theft. In addition, attackers can use such technologies to anonymize malicious behaviors and hide identities. Such behaviors have posed serious challenges to the internal defense and security threat assessment of an organization; however, the anonymity of the proxy makes it consistent with normal network communication, and general network traffic identification methods are not able to detect it. To accurately and effectively discover proxy users in the organization based on s, a proxy user detection method based on communication behavior portrait offers the following: (1) analysis of the communication behavior from the perspective of the portrait. Based on not abandoning the effective information of the traffic itself, the label system is established by introducing exogenous data to identify the difference between proxy communication and normal communication. (2) Construction of the portrait feature set of proxy user detection based on the traffic file and external data by studying the differences between the attribute sets of communication behavior labels for proxy users and non-proxy users. (3) Design and implementation a data-driven machine learning method to supply guidance for automatic recognition of such behavior. The experimental results show that, compared with state-of-the-art methods, the detection accuracy for the proxy user exceeds 95%, and that of real network traffic environment exceeds 85%. These results indicate that the detection method proposed in this paper can accurately distinguish proxy communication and normal communication and thus achieves precise proxy user detection.
An Epiphytic Ant-Plant Mutualism Structures Arboreal Ant Communities
Authors: Volp Trevor M , Lach Lori
Published: June 2019

Arboreal ant communities are primarily structured by interactions among ant species, food availability, and physical structures within the environment. Epiphytes are a common feature of tropical forests that can provide ants with both food and nesting space. To date, little work has examined what role epiphytic ant-plants play in structuring arboreal ant communities. We surveyed ant species inhabiting the Australian epiphytic ant-plant Myrmecodia beccarii Hook.f. (Gentianales: Rubiaceae) and how arboreal ant communities are structured in relation to M. beccarii presence on trees. Myrmecodia beccarii was inhabited by the ant Philidris cordata Smith, F. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on the majority of Melaleuca viridiflora Sol. Ex Gaertn. (Myrtales: Myrtaceae) trees with ant-occupied ant-plants at our two sites. Dominant arboreal ant species at both study sites exhibited discrete, nonoverlapping distributions, and C-score analysis detected an ant mosaic at one site. The distribution of P. cordata was limited by the distribution of ant-plants for both sites. Philidris cordata dominance on trees was also determined by the presence of M. beccarii occupied by P. cordata at both sites. We suggest that by providing P. cordata with nesting space M. beccarii plays a role in structuring these arboreal ant communities.