bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Eco-Modernist Environmental Politics and Counter-Activism Around the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games
Authors: Kim Kyoung-yim , Chung Heejoon
Published: February 2018

This study examines the environmental discourses surrounding the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics in the Korean public sphere. Specifically, it compares the dominant environmental discourse of the government and Olympic organizing committee with the counter-Olympic discourse of Korean civil society. Our study indicates the state has actively mobilized ecological modernization (EM) discourses. Their three discursive conventions of EM—cultural, institutional, and technocratic—and its environmental reforms are revealed as powerful tools in the public communication. The parallel environmental discourse engaged in by Korean civic organizations is shown to be the basis for strategic political engagement in uncovering unknown and silenced knowledge. In short, the environmental reforms led by the government are seen to be illustrative of the prioritizing of economic development over environmental protection with little reflexive or rigorous application of EM principles. In contrast, the parallel discourse is seen to pose a compelling challenge to the dominant. That is, while their activism was limited to a nature-protectionist, dominated by urban elites, it still managed to oppose the top-down Olympic and make it a more democratic process.
Allele-specific long-distance regulation dictates IL-32 isoform switching and mediates susceptibility to HIV-1
Authors: Palstra Robert-Jan , de Crignis Elisa , Röling Michael D. , van Staveren Thomas , Kan Tsung Wai , van Ijcken Wilfred , Mueller Yvonne M. , Katsikis Peter D. , Mahmoudi Tokameh
Published: February 2018

This study links a noncoding DNA variant to long range regulation of IL-32 isoform expression, modulating susceptibility to HIV.
Treatment with Atorvastatin Provides Additional Benefits to Imipenem in a Model of Gram-Negative Pneumonia Induced by Klebsiella pneumoniae in Mice
Authors: de Paula Talles Prosperi , Santos Patrícia Campi , Arifa Raquel Duque do Nascimento , Vieira Angélica T. , Baltazar Ludmila de Matos , Ávila Thiago Vinícius , Fagundes Caio Tavares , Garcia Zélia Menezes , Lima Renata Lacerda , Teixeira Mauro Martins , Souza Danielle G.
Published: February 2018

The clinical pathogenKlebsiella pneumoniaeis a relevant cause of nosocomial infections, and resistance to current treatment with carbapenem antibiotics is becoming a significant problem. Statins are inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) used for controlling plasma cholesterol levels. There is clinical evidence showing other effects of statins, including decrease of lung inflammation. In the current study, we show that pretreatment with atorvastatin markedly attenuated lung injury, which was correlated with a reduction in the cellular influx into the alveolar space and lungs and downmodulation of the production of proinflammatory mediators in the initial phase of infection in C57BL/6 mice withK. pneumoniae. However, atorvastatin did not alter the number of bacteria in the lungs and blood of infected mice, despite decreasing local inflammatory response. Interestingly, mice that received combined treatment with atorvastatin and imipenem displayed better survival than mice treated with vehicle, atorvastatin, or imipenem alone. These findings suggest that atorvastatin could be an adjuvant in host-directed therapies for multidrug-resistantK. pneumoniae, based on its powerful pleiotropic immunomodulatory effects. Together with antimicrobial approaches, combination therapy with anti-inflammatory compounds could improve the efficiency of therapy during acute lung infections.
Protocol for the health economic evaluation of increasing the weekend specialist to patient ratio in hospitals in England
Authors: Watson Samuel I , Chen Yen-Fu , Bion Julian F , Aldridge Cassie P , Girling Alan , Lilford Richard J
Published: February 2018

Introduction

This protocol concerns the evaluation of increased specialist staffing at weekends in hospitals in England. Seven-day health services are a key policy for the UK government and other health systems trying to improve use of infrastructure and resources. A particular motivation for the 7-day policy has been the observed increase in the risk of death associated with weekend admission, which has been attributed to fewer hospital specialists being available at weekends. However, the causes of the weekend effect have not been adequately characterised; many of the excess deaths associated with the ‘weekend effect’ may not be preventable, and the presumed benefits of improved specialist cover might be offset by the cost of implementation.

Methods/design

The Bayesian-founded method we propose will consist of four major steps. First, the development of a qualitative causal model. Specialist presence can affect multiple, interacting causal processes. One or more models will be developed from the results of an expert elicitation workshop and probabilities elicited for each model and relevant model parameters. Second, systematic review of the literature. The model from the first step will provide search limits for a review to identify relevant studies. Third, a statistical model for the effects of specialist presence on care quality and patient outcomes. Fourth, valuation of outcomes. The expected net benefits of different levels of specialist intensity will then be evaluated with respect to the posterior distributions of the parameters.

Ethics and dissemination

The study was approved by the Review Subcommittee of the South West Wales REC on 11 November 2013. Informed consent was not required for accessing anonymised patient case records from which patient identifiers had been removed. The findings of this study will be published in peer-reviewed journals; the outputs from this research will also form part of the project report to the HS&DR Programme Board.
Long-term incidence trends of HPV-related cancers, and cases preventable by HPV vaccination: a registry-based study in Norway
Authors: Hansen Bo T , Campbell Suzanne , Nygård Mari
Published: February 2018

Objectives

Examine long-term incidence trends of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancer in Norway, and estimate the number of cancer cases preventable by vaccines against HPV 16/18 or HPV 16/18/31/33/45/52/58.

Design

Observational registry-based study. We extracted incident cases of HPV-related cancer during 1953–2015 from the Cancer Registry of Norway. Tumour HPV prevalence estimates from large international meta-analyses or from Norway were used to estimate the protective potential of HPV vaccines.

Participants and setting

The Norwegian population.

Primary outcome measures

Incidence trend analyses during 1953–2015 for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix, vulva, vagina, oropharynx, anus and penis, and adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Additionally, the number of cancer cases preventable by HPV vaccination.

Results

Among women, incidences of SCC of the anus, oropharynx, vulva and cervical adenocarcinoma increased, while vaginal SCC showed no trend. For these cancers combined, the average annual percentage change (AAPC) during 1953–2015 was 1.2 (95% CI 0.7 to 1.6). The incidence of cervical SCC generally decreased during 1976–2004 and remained stable thereafter. Among men, incidences of SCC of the anus, oropharynx and penis increased. The AAPC during 1953–2015 combined for all male HPV-related cancer was 1.9 (95% CI 1.3 to 2.5). A vaccine against HPV 16/18 might yearly prevent 402 (95% CI 382 to 420) cancers. A vaccine against HPV 16/18/31/33/45/52/58 might yearly prevent 478 (95% CI 464 to 490) cancers, of which 206 (95% CI 202 to 209) occur in non-cervical organs, and 113 (95% CI 110 to 115) occur among men.

Conclusions

The incidences of HPV-related cancers that are not effectively prevented by screening have generally increased during 1953–2015. HPV vaccination can prevent a substantial number of cancers in Norway, in cervical and non-cervical organs, among women and men.
Attitudes and perceptions of health professionals towards management of hypothyroidism in general practice: a qualitative interview study
Authors: Dew Rosie , King Kathryn , Okosieme Onyebuchi E , Pearce Simon H , Donovan Gemma , Taylor Peter N , Hickey Janis , Dayan Colin M , Leese Graham , Razvi Salman , Wilkes Scott
Published: February 2018

Objective

To explore the attitudes and perceptions of health professionals towards management of hypothyroidism that contributes to the suboptimal treatment of hypothyroidism in general practice.

Design

A qualitative interview study using semistructured interviews.

Participants

Sixteen participants were interviewed between March and August 2016 comprising nine general practitioners (GPs), four pharmacists, two practice nurses and one nurse practitioner.

Setting

General practice and community pharmacies in the counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Stockton-on-Tees and North Cumbria, North of England, UK.

Method

A grounded-theory approach was used to generate themes from interviews, which were underpinned by the theory of planned behaviour to give explanation to the data.

Results

Although health professionals felt that hypothyroidism was easy to manage, GPs and nurses generally revealed inadequate knowledge of medication interactions and levothyroxine pharmacokinetics. Pharmacists felt limited in the advice that they provide to patients due to lack of access to patient records. Most GPs and nurses followed local guidelines, and relied on blood tests over clinical symptoms to adjust levothyroxine dose. The information exchanged between professional and patient was usually restricted by time and often centred on symptoms rather than patient education. Health professionals felt that incorrect levothyroxine adherence was the main reason behind suboptimal treatment, although other factors such as comorbidity and concomitant medication were mentioned. Enablers perceived by health professionals to improve the management of hypothyroidism included continuity of care, blood test reminders, system alerts for interfering medications and prescription renewal, and accessible blood tests and levothyroxine prescriptions for patients.

Conclusion

There is a significant health professional behavioural component to the management of hypothyroidism. Addressing the differences in patient and professional knowledge and perceptions could reduce the barriers to optimal treatment, while continuity of care and increased involvement of pharmacists and practice nurses would help to promote optimal thyroid replacement.
Health state utility values among children and adolescents with disabilities: protocol for a systematic review
Authors: Kanya Lucy , Anokye Nana , Ryan Jennifer M
Published: February 2018

Introduction

Increasingly, assessment of healthcare technologies and interventions requires the assessment of both costs and utilities. Health state utility values (HSUVs) are measured using a range of generic and condition-specific measures. While reviews have identified that generic measures of HSUVs may lack validity in adults with conditions that result in physical disability, there is little information available on the methods used to obtain HSUVs in children and adolescents with disabilities. The objectives of this systematic review are to describe the methods used to obtain HSUVs, including mode of administration and psychometric properties, and provide summary statistics for HSUVs among children and adolescents with disabilities.

Methods and analysis

The following databases will be searched from inception for English-language studies of any design: PubMed, PsychInfo, Medline, Scopus, CINAHL Plus, Econlit and EMBASE databases. Two reviewers will independently screen titles, abstracts and full text articles for studies reporting HSUVs and/or data on the psychometric properties of preference-based measures for children and adolescents with disabilities aged up to 19 years. Two reviewers will independently extract data items including descriptors of the study methods and sample, instruments used to capture HSUVs, summary statistics for HSUVs and items relating to the quality of reporting. A descriptive summary of results from included studies and summary statistics for HSUVs will be presented. If sufficient data is identified, we will pool summary statistics for HSUVs according to the method used to obtain the HSUV using a random effects model. In addition, we will explore the determinants of the HSUVs using a meta-regression.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval will not be required as no original data will be collected as part of this review. The completed review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentation at conferences.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42018086574.
Characteristics, consequences and prevention of falls in institutionalised older adults in the province of Malaga (Spain): a prospective, cohort, multicentre study
Authors: Aranda-Gallardo Marta , Morales-Asencio Jose M , Enriquez de Luna-Rodriguez Margarita , Vazquez-Blanco Maria J , Morilla-Herrera Juan C , Rivas-Ruiz Francisco , Toribio-Montero Juan C , Canca-Sanchez Jose C
Published: February 2018

Objectives

Falls are an important adverse event among institutionalised persons. It is in this clinical setting where falls occur more frequently than in any other, despite the measures commonly taken to prevent them. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of a typical institutionalised elderly patient who suffers a fall and to describe the physical harms resulting from this event. We then examined the association between falls and the preventive measures used.

Methods

This was a prospective cohort study in 37 nursing homes in Spain. The participants were all the nursing home residents institutionalised in these centres from May 2014 to July 2016. Participants were followed up for 9 months. During this period, two observations were made to evaluate the preventive measures taken and to record the occurrence of falls.

Results

896 residents were recruited, of whom 647 completed the study. During this period, 411 falls took place, affecting 213 residents. The injuries caused by the falls were mostly minor or moderate. They took place more frequently among women and provoked 22 fractures (5.35%). The most commonly used fall prevention measure was bed rails (53.53% of cases), followed by physical restraint (16.79%). The latter measure was associated with a higher incidence of injuries not requiring stitches (OR=2.06, 95% CI 1.01 to 4.22, P=0.054) and of injuries that did require stitches (OR=3.51, 95% CI 1.36 to 9.01, P=0.014) as a consequence of falls. Bed rails protected against night-time falls.

Conclusions

Falls are a very common adverse event in nursing homes. The prevention of falls is most commonly addressed by methods to restrain movement. The use of physical restraints is associated with a greater occurrence of injuries caused by a fall.
Adaptation, translation and reliability of the Australian ‘Juniors Enjoying Cricket Safely’ injury risk perception questionnaire for Sri Lanka
Authors: Gamage Prasanna J , Fortington Lauren V , Finch Caroline F
Published: February 2018

Objectives

Cricket is a very popular sport in Sri Lanka. In this setting there has been limited research; specifically, there is little knowledge of cricket injuries. To support future research possibilities, the aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt, translate and test the reliability of an Australian-developed questionnaire for the Sri Lankan context.

Methods

The Australian ‘Juniors Enjoying Cricket Safely’ (JECS-Aus) injury risk perception questionnaire was cross-culturally adapted to suit the Sri Lankan context and subsequently translated into the two main languages (Sinhala and Tamil) based on standard forward-back translation. The translated questionnaires were examined for content validity by two language schoolteachers. The questionnaires were completed twice, 2 weeks apart, by two groups of school cricketers (males) aged 11–15 years (Sinhala (n=24), Tamil (n=30)) to assess reliability. Test–retest scores were evaluated for agreement. Where responses were <100% agreement, Cohen’s kappa (κ) statistics were calculated. Questions with moderate-to-poor test–retest reliability (κ<0.6) were reconsidered for modification.

Results

Both the Sinhala and Tamil questionnaires had 100% agreement for questions on demographic data, and 88%–100% agreement for questions on participation in cricket and injury history. Of the injury risk perception questions, 72% (Sinhala) and 90% (Tamil) questions showed a substantial (κ=0.61–0.8) and almost perfect (κ=0.81–1.0) test–retest agreement.

Conclusion

The adapted and translated JECS-SL questionnaire demonstrated strong reliability. This is the first study to adapt the JECS-Aus questionnaire for use in a different population, providing an outcome measure for assessing injury risk perceptions in Sri Lankan junior cricketers.
N_LyST: a simple and rapid screening test for Lynch syndrome
Authors: Susanti Susanti , Fadhil Wakkas , Ebili Henry Okuchukwu , Asiri Abutaleb , Nestarenkaite Ausrine , Hadjimichael Efthymios , Ham-Karim Hersh A , Field Joanne , Stafford Katherine , Matharoo-Ball Balwir , Hassall James C , Sharif Abid , Oniscu Anca , Ilyas Mohammad
Published: February 2018

Aims

We sought to use PCR followed by high-resolution melting analysis to develop a single closed-tube screening panel to screen for Lynch syndrome. This comprises tests for microsatellite instability (MSI), MLH1 methylation promoter andBRAFmutation.

Methods

For MSI testing, five mononucleotide markers (BAT25, BAT26, BCAT25,MYB,EWSR1) were developed. In addition, primers were designed to interrogate Region C of the MLH1 promoter for methylation (using bisulphite-modified DNA) and to test for mutations in codon 600 of BRAF. Two separate cohorts from Nottingham (n=99, 46 with MSI, 53 being microsatellite stable (MSS)) and Edinburgh (n=88, 45 MSI, 43 MSS) were tested.

Results

All the cases (n=187) were blind tested for MSI and all were correctly characterised by our panel. TheMLH1promoter andBRAFwere tested only in the Nottingham cohort. Successful blinded analysis was performed on the MLH1 promoter in 97 cases. All MSS cases showed a pattern of non-methylation while 41/44 cases with MSI showed full methylation. The three cases with MSI and a non-methylated pattern had aberrations in MSH2 and MSH6 expression.BRAFmutation was detected in 61% of MSI cases and 11% of MSS cases.

Finally, 12 cases were blind screened by using the whole panel as a single test. Of these, five were identified as MSS, four as MSI/non-LS and three as MSI/possible LS. These results were concordant with the previous data.

Conclusion

We describe the Nottingham Lynch Syndrome Test (N_LyST). This is a quick, simple and cheap method for screening for Lynch syndrome.
Exercise and taurine in inflammation, cognition, and peripheral markers of blood-brain barrier integrity in older women
Authors: Chupel Matheus Uba , Minuzzi Luciele Guerra , Furtado Guilherme , Santos Mário Leonardo , Hogervorst Eef , Filaire Edith , Teixeira Ana Maria
Published: February 2018

Immunosenescence contribute to increase the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, leading cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration. Thus, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of exercise and taurine supplementation on peripheral markers of BBB, inflammation, and cognition of elderly women. Forty-eight elderly women (age, 83.58 ± 6.9 years) participated in the study, and were allocated into combined exercise training (CET: n = 13), taurine supplementation (TAU: n = 12), exercise training associated with taurine (CET+TAU: n = 11), or control (CG: n = 12) groups. Exercise was applied twice a week (multi-modal exercise). Taurine ingestion was 1.5 g., once a day. Participants were evaluated before and after 14-weeks of intervention. Plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1ra, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and serum concentration of S100β and neuron specific enolase (NSE) were determined. The mini mental state examination (MMSE) was also applied. Concentrations of S100β were maintained in all intervention groups, while a subtle increase in the CG was found. NSE levels increased only in TAU group (p < 0.05). CET reduced TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β/IL-1ra, IL-6/IL10, and TNF-α/IL-10 ratios (p < 0.05). TAU decreased the IL-1β/IL-1ra ratio (p < 0.05). MMSE score increased only in the CET+TAU group (p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis showed that there was a trend for changes in IL-1β and the Charlson Comorbidity Index to be independently associated with changes in S100β. Exercise and taurine decreased inflammation, and maintained the BBB integrity in elderly women. Exercise emerged as an important tool to improve brain health even when started at advanced ages.
Validity of the 4-compartment model using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry-derived body volume in overweight individuals
Authors: Blue Malia N.M. , Hirsch Katie R. , Trexler Eric T. , Smith-Ryan Abbie E.
Published: February 2018

The purpose of the present study was to assess the validity of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to estimate body volume (BV) for use in a 4-compartment (4C) body composition model in an overweight/obese population. Body composition of 61 overweight/obese adults (age: 37.3 ± 10.0 years; height: 170.2 ± 9.5 cm; body mass: 97.1 ± 17.4 kg) was measured by 2 methods: a criterion 4C model and a DXA-derived BV 4C model. For both models, bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy was used to estimate total body water; total body bone mineral content was measured by a full-body DXA scan. For the criterion 4C model, BV was derived from air displacement plethysmography; for the DXA-4C model, BV was derived from previously published coefficients. Total error (TE) and standard error of the estimate (SEE) values for BV (TE = 1.11 L; SEE = 0.01 L) and body fat percentage (%fat) (TE = 2.92%; SEE = 0.32%) represented good to very good agreement between models. The DXA-derived measures of body composition (BV: 96.6 ± 18.1 L; %fat: 39.5% ± 8.1%; fat mass: 38.5 ± 11.9 kg), were significantly greater (p < 0.001) than 4C criterion measures (BV: 95.7 ± 17.6 L; %fat: 37.0% ± 7.6%; FM: 36.0 ± 10.8 kg) with the exception of lean mass, which was significantly lower (p < 0.001; DXA-4C: 58.2 ± 11.2 kg; criterion 4C: 60.7 ± 12.0 kg). Although small statistically significant mean differences were observed, TE and SEE results support the use of the DXA-4C method, which requires less time and equipment, for valid estimates of body composition in overweight/obese individuals.
Can spawning origin information of catch or a recruitment penalty improve assessment and fishery management performance for a spatially structured stock assessment model?
Authors: Li Yang , Bence James R. , Brenden Travis O.
Published: February 2018

We used simulations based on lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) populations to explore the benefits of using spawning origin information for parsing catch to spawning populations in stock assessments for intermixed fisheries exhibiting an overlapping movement strategy. We compared this origin-informed assessment model with a standard assessment model that did not parse catch. We additionally evaluated the influence of including annual recruitment penalties. For standard assessment models, spawning stock biomass estimates could be unstable and biased (sometimes by more than 50%), depending upon population mixing and productivity, and in some cases estimated near average zero recruitment in the terminal year. Incorporating information on population-specific harvest age composition improved spawning stock biomass estimation (e.g., by sometimes essentially removing 50% biases and improving accuracy). Assessments with recruitment penalties produced less biased terminal recruitment estimates (sometimes a 100% bias was removed). Under status quo target mortality rates, improvements in assessments did not necessarily translate to improved fishery management performance (e.g., avoiding depletion of spawning biomass), but such improvements, and overall better performance, were seen at lower target mortality rates.
Cost-Effective and Scalable Data Sharing in Cloud Storage Using Hierarchical Attribute-Based Encryption with Forward Security
Authors: Wei Jianghong , Huang Xinyi , Liu Wenfen , Hu Xuexian
Published: February 2018

Cloud storage greatly facilitates both individuals and organizations to share data over the Internet. However, there are several security issues that impede to outsource their data. Among various approaches introduced to overcome these issues, attribute-based encryption (ABE) provides secure and flexible access control on shared data, and thus is rather promising. But the original ABE is not adaptable to some special circumstances, where attributes are organized in a hierarchical structure, such as enterprises and official institutions. On the other hand, although the wide use of mobile devices enables users to conveniently access shared data anywhere and anytime, this also increases the risk of key exposure, which will result into unwanted exposure of the shared data. In this paper, we extend the functionality of the original ABE and enhance its security by providing key generation delegation and forward security. Consequently, the enhanced ABE meets applications of large organizations with hierarchies and minimizes the damage in the case of unexpected key exposures. Specifically speaking, we present a forward-secure ciphertext-policy hierarchical attribute-based encryption scheme in prime order bilinear groups, as a core building of attribute-based data sharing scheme. The security of the proposed scheme is proven in the standard model. We conduct experiments to demonstrate its efficiency and practicability.
Zn(II) porphyrin-based photocatalytic synthesis of Cu nanoparticles for electrochemical reduction of CO2
Authors: Zhang Siyu , Zhang Xue , Liu Huiyuan , Lv Yang , Hou Zhongjun , Song Yujiang
Published: February 2018

Copper nanoparticles frequently exhibit unique electrocatalytic activity for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. However, the synthesis of Cu nanoparticles in aqueous systems remains rare. Herein, we report the synthesis of copper nanoparticles by using a zinc(II) porphyrin-based photocatalytic method in the presence of polyacrylic acid sodium salt (PAA) in water under visible light irradiation, leading to a series of Cu nanoparticles with relatively small average sizes ranging from 69 to 97 nm. PAA molecules adsorbed on Cu nanoparticles were simply removed by washing with copious amount of water. The purified Cu nanoparticles show some activity toward the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide as evidenced by linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and gas chromatography (GC).
Privacy-Preserving Publishing of Multilevel Utility-Controlled Graph Datasets
Authors: Palanisamy Balaji , Liu Ling , Zhou Yang , Wang Qingyang
Published: February 2018

Conventional private data publication schemes are targeted at publication of sensitive datasets either after the
k
-anonymization process or through differential privacy constraints. Typically these schemes are designed with the objective of retaining as much utility as possible for the aggregate queries while ensuring the privacy of the individual records. Such an approach, though suitable for publishing aggregate information as public datasets, is inapplicable when users have different levels of access to the same data. We argue that existing schemes either result in increased disclosure of private information or lead to reduced utility when some users have more access privileges than the others. In this article, we present an anonymization framework for publishing large datasets with the goals of providing different levels of utility to the users based on their access privilege levels. We design and implement our proposed multilevel utility-controlled anonymization schemes in the context of large association graphs considering three levels of user utility, namely, (1) users having access to only the graph structure, (2) users having access to the graph structure and aggregate query results, and (3) users having access to the graph structure, aggregate query results, and individual associations. Our experiments on real large association graphs show that the proposed techniques are effective and scalable and yield the required level of privacy and utility for each user privacy and access privilege level.
A Product-Form Model for the Performance Evaluation of a Bandwidth Allocation Strategy in WSNs
Authors: Marin Andrea , Rossi Sabina , Burato Dario , Sina Andrea , Sottana Matteo
Published: February 2018

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are important examples of Collective Adaptive System, which consist of a set of motes that are spatially distributed in an indoor or outdoor space. Each mote monitors its surrounding conditions, such as humidity, intensity of light, temperature, and vibrations, but also collects complex information, such as images or small videos, and cooperates with the whole set of motes forming the WSN to allow the routing process. The traffic in the WSN consists of packets that contain the data harvested by the motes and can be classified according to the type of information that they carry. One pivotal problem in WSNs is the bandwidth allocation among the motes. The problem is known to be challenging due to the reduced computational capacity of the motes, their energy consumption constraints, and the fully decentralised network architecture. In this article, we study a novel algorithm to allocate the WSN bandwidth among the motes by taking into account the type of traffic they aim to send. Under the assumption of a mesh network and Poisson distributed harvested packets, we propose an analytical model for its performance evaluation that allows a designer to study the optimal configuration parameters. Although the Markov chain underlying the model is not reversible, we show it to be ρ-reversible under a certain renaming of states. By an extensive set of simulations, we show that the analytical model accurately approximates the performance of networks that do not satisfy the assumptions. The algorithm is studied with respect to the achieved throughput and fairness. We show that it provides a good approximation of the max-min fairness requirements.
Direction-Constrained Rectangle Escape Routing
Authors: Yan Jin-Tai
Published: February 2018

Given a set of buses with available escape directions inside a chip, a two-phase algorithm is proposed to assign one feasible escape direction onto any bus such that the number of used layers is minimized and to allocate the pin rectangle and the projection rectangle of any escape bus onto the minimized layers in direction-constrained rectangle escape routing. In our proposed algorithm, based on the concept of two-dimensional maximum density inside a chip, the escape directions of the buses can be first assigned to minimize the number of the used layers by iteratively eliminating unnecessary escape directions for any bus inside a chip. Furthermore, based on the construction of the represented intervals and the assignment constraints for the escape buses, a modified left-edge algorithm can be used to allocate all the escape buses onto the minimized layers. Compared with Ma’s integer linear program (ILP)-based algorithm [10] using lp_solve and Gurobi in rectangle escape routing, the experimental results show that our proposed algorithm obtains the same results but reduces CPU time by 94.2% and 35.7% when using lp_solve and Gurobi for 16 tested examples with no direction constraint on average, respectively. Compared with the modified algorithm from Ma's ILP-based algorithm [10] using lp_solve and Gurobi in direction-constrained rectangle escape routing, the experimental results show that our proposed algorithm obtains the same results but reduces CPU time by 94.3% and 37.7% when using lp_solve and Gurobi for 16 tested examples with direction constraints on average, respectively. Besides that, compared with Yan’s iterative algorithm, the experimental results show that our proposed algorithm increases CPU time by 1.0% to reduce the number of used layers 11.1% for 16 tested examples on average.
Replicated Computations Results (RCR) Report for “A Holistic Approach for Collaborative Workload Execution in Volunteer Clouds”
Authors: Vandin Andrea
Published: February 2018

“A Holistic Approach for Collaborative Workload Execution in Volunteer Clouds” [3] proposes a novel approach to task scheduling in volunteer clouds. Volunteer clouds are decentralized cloud systems based on collaborative task execution, where clients voluntarily share their own unused computational resources. By using simulation-based statistical analysis techniques—in particular, statistical model checking—the authors show that their approach can outperform existing distributed task scheduling algorithms in the case of computation-intensive workloads. The analysis considered a realistic workload benchmark provided by Google. This replicated computations results report focuses on the prototypical tool implementation used in the article to perform such analysis. The software was straightforward to install and use, and a representative part of the experimental results from the article could be reproduced in reasonable time using a standard laptop.
Provenance and Probabilities in Relational Databases
Authors: Senellart Pierre
Published: February 2018

We review the basics of data provenance in relational databases. We describe different provenance formalisms, from Boolean provenance to provenance semirings and beyond, that can be used for a wide variety of purposes, to obtain additional information on the output of a query. We discuss representation systems for data provenance, circuits in particular, with a focus on practical implementation. Finally, we explain how provenance is practically used for probabilistic query evaluation in probabilistic databases.
Commonsense Knowledge in Machine Intelligence
Authors: Tandon Niket , Varde Aparna S. , de Melo Gerard
Published: February 2018

There is growing conviction that the future of computing depends on our ability to exploit big data on theWeb to enhance intelligent systems. This includes encyclopedic knowledge for factual details, common sense for human-like reasoning and natural language generation for smarter communication. With recent chatbots conceivably at the verge of passing the Turing Test, there are calls for more common sense oriented alternatives, e.g., the Winograd Schema Challenge. The Aristo QA system demonstrates the lack of common sense in current systems in answering fourth-grade science exam questions. On the language generation front, despite the progress in deep learning, current models are easily confused by subtle distinctions that may require linguistic common sense, e.g.quick food vs. fast food. These issues bear on tasks such as machine translation and should be addressed using common sense acquired from text. Mining common sense from massive amounts of data and applying it in intelligent systems, in several respects, appears to be the next frontier in computing. Our brief overview of the state of Commonsense Knowledge (CSK) in Machine Intelligence provides insights into CSK acquisition, CSK in natural language, applications of CSK and discussion of open issues. This paper provides a report of a tutorial at a recent conference with a brief survey of topics.
Report on the SIGIR 2017 Workshop on eCommerce (ECOM17)
Authors: Degenhardt Jon , Kallumadi Surya , Lin Yiu-Chang , de Rijke Maarten , Si Luo , Trotman Andrew , Venkatesh Sindhuja , Yinghui Xu
Published: February 2018

The SIGIR 2017 Workshop on eCommerce (ECOM17), was a full day workshop that took place on Friday, August 11, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the workshop was to serve as a platform for publication and discussion of Information Retrieval and NLP research and their applications in the domain of eCommerce. The workshop program was designed to bring together practitioners and researchers from academia and industry to discuss the challenges and approaches to product search and recommendation in the eCommerce domain. Another goal of the workshop was to examine the building of a benchmark data set to facilitate research into this topic. The workshop drew contributions from both industry as well as academia, in total the workshop received a total of twenty one submissions, and accepted thirteen papers. In addition to presentation of a subset of accepted submissions, the workshop had two keynotes by invited speakers from the industry, a poster session where all the accepted submissions were presented, a breakout session, a panel discussion, and a group discussion.
Report on LEARNER 2017
Authors: Ferro Nicola , Lucchese Claudio , Maistro Maria , Perego Raffaele
Published: February 2018

The LEARNER workshop was co-located with the "third ACM International Conference on the Theory of Information Retrieval", (ICTIR 2017). The goal of the workshop was to foster investigation on novel Learning-to-Rank algorithms, on their evaluation, on dataset creation and curation, and on domain specific applications of Learning-to-Rank. The half-day workshop hosted eight paper presentations and two invited talks: the first by Craig Macdonald on "Hypothesis Testing for Risk-Sensitive Evaluation and Learning to Rank in Web Search" and the second by Djoerd Hiemstra entitled "Ranking Learning-to-Rank Methods". Detailed information is available at http://learner2017.dei.unipd.it/.
Report on the Second SIGIR Workshop on Neural Information Retrieval (Neu-IR'17)
Authors: Craswell Nick , Croft W. Bruce , de Rijke Maarten , Guo Jiafeng , Mitra Bhaskar
Published: February 2018

The second SIGIR workshop on neural information retrieval (Neu-IR?17) took place on August 11, 2017, in Tokyo, Japan. Following the successful 2016 edition, the workshop continued to serve as a forum for academic and industrial researchers to present new work on neural methods for retrieval. In addition, a special track was organized focusing on resources for evaluation and reproducibility, including proposals for public benchmarking datasets and shared model repositories. A total of 19 papers?which included five special track papers? were presented in the form of oral or poster presentations. Organizers of four of the TREC 2017 tracks were invited to present at the workshop on how these IR tasks may be suitable for evaluating recent data-hungry neural approaches. The full-day workshop?with more than 170 registrants?concluded with an engaging panel discussion.
Effects of Harvest Maturity on Chilling Injury and Storage Quality of Apricots
Authors: Jing Yuanyuan , Ma Xuan , Jin Peng , Zhu Xuan
Published: February 2018

Fresh apricots have high nutritional value and demand. Determination of the appropriate maturity is vital for fruit storage. The effects of harvest maturity on chilling injury and storage quality were investigated in this study. Xinjiang Saimaiti apricots were used as the material; the fruit was picked at three different maturity classes, maturity class I (colored area < 50%), maturity class II (colored area 50–80%), and maturity class III (colored area > 80%) according to yellow conversion rate, and stored at 0°C and 90–95% RH. Chilling injury incidence, chilling index, and the physiological indicators were evaluated. The results showed that the incidence, index of chilling injury, and firmness in apricots of maturity class I were highest than other two groups, but maturity class I apricots did not ripe. Although the incidence and index of chilling injury in maturity class III were relatively low, fruit firmness decreased rapidly. The incidence and index of chilling injury of apricots in maturity class II were lower than those of fruits at maturity class I, whereas fruit firmness, soluble solid content, ascorbic acid level, and extractable juice quantity relatively were well-maintained. Therefore, maturity class II was considered the appropriate maturity stage at harvest for storage.
miRNA-Processing Gene Methylation and Cancer Risk
Authors: Joyce Brian T. , Zheng Yinan , Zhang Zhou , Liu Lei , Kocherginsky Masha , Murphy Robert , Achenbach Chad J. , Musa Jonah , Wehbe Firas , Just Allan , Shen Jincheng , Vokonas Pantel , Schwartz Joel , Baccarelli Andrea A. , Hou Lifang
Published: February 2018

Background: Dysregulation of miRNA and methylation levels are epigenetic hallmarks of cancer, potentially linked via miRNA-processing genes. Studies have found genetic alterations to miRNA-processing genes in cancer cells and human population studies. Our objective was to prospectively examine changes in DNA methylation of miRNA-processing genes and their associations with cancer risk.

Methods: We examined cohort data from the Department of Veterans' Affairs Normative Aging Study. Participants were assessed every 3 to 5 years starting in 1999 through 2013 including questionnaires, medical record review, and blood collection. Blood from 686 consenting participants was analyzed using the Illumina 450K BeadChip array to measure methylation at CpG sites throughout the genome. We selected 19 genes based on a literature review, with 519 corresponding CpG sites. We then used Cox proportional hazards models to examine associations with cancer incidence, and generalized estimating equations to examine associations with cancer prevalence. Associations at false discovery rate < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: Methylation of three CpGs (DROSHA: cg23230564, TNRC6B: cg06751583, and TNRC6B: cg21034183) was prospectively associated with time to cancer development (positively for cg06751583, inversely for cg23230564 and cg21034183), whereas methylation of one CpG site (DROSHA: cg16131300) was positively associated with cancer prevalence.

Conclusions: DNA methylation of DROSHA, a key miRNA-processing gene, and TNRC6B may play a role in early carcinogenesis.

Impact: Changes in miRNA processing may exert multiple effects on cancer development, including protecting against it via altered global miRNAs, and may be a useful early detection biomarker of cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(5); 550–7. ©2018 AACR.
Migration History, Language Acculturation, and Mammographic Breast Density
Authors: Tehranifar Parisa , Rodriguez Carmen B. , April-Sanders Ayana K. , Desperito Elise , Schmitt Karen M.
Published: February 2018

Background: Breast cancer incidence is lower in many U.S. ethnic minority and foreign-born population groups. Investigating whether migration and acculturation patterns in risk are reflected in disease biomarkers may help to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: We compared the distribution of breast cancer risk factors across U.S.-born white, African American and Hispanic women, and foreign-born Hispanic women (n = 477, ages 40–64 years, 287 born in Caribbean countries). We used linear regression models to examine the associations of migration history and linguistic acculturation with mammographic breast density (MBD), measured using computer-assisted methods as percent and area of dense breast tissue.

Results: The distribution of most breast cancer risk factors varied by ethnicity, nativity, and age at migration. In age- and body mass index–adjusted models, U.S.-born women did not differ in average MBD according to ethnicity, but foreign-born Hispanic women had lower MBD [e.g., −4.50%; 95% confidence interval (CI), −7.12 to −1.89 lower percent density in foreign- vs. U.S.-born Hispanic women]. Lower linguistic acculturation and lower percent of life spent in the United States were also associated with lower MBD [e.g., monolingual Spanish and bilingual vs. monolingual English speakers, respectively, had 5.09% (95% CI, −8.33 to −1.85) and 3.34% (95% CI, −6.57 to −0.12) lower percent density]. Adjusting for risk factors (e.g., childhood body size, parity) attenuated some of these associations.

Conclusions: Hispanic women predominantly born in Caribbean countries have lower MBD than U.S.-born women of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including U.S.-born Hispanic women of Caribbean heritage.

Impact: MBD may provide insight into mechanisms driving geographic and migration variations in breast cancer risk. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(5); 566–74. ©2018 AACR.
Epigenetics, Early Adversity and Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Authors: Barker Edward D.
Published: February 2018

Epigenetic modification, such as DNA methylation (DNAm), is a mechanism that can help explain how early adversities can engender long-term vulnerability for mental health problems. At present, there is preliminary evidence to support the possibility of epigenetic mediation: environmental factors are reported to influence offspring DNAm, which in turn associate with child and adolescent psychopathology. However, all analyses have been correlational in nature and, as these studies have focussed on children and adolescents, DNAm has been based on peripheral tissue (cord blood, whole blood, buccal cells). Therefore, the extent to which DNAm could represent a causal mechanism (e.g., a surrogate of central nervous system function) or a biomarker (i.e., an indicator of the pathological process leading to disease) is unclear. This short report has 2 main components. First, 2 studies are summarized, one a candidate gene study and the other an epigenome-wide association study in which DNAm was reported to (partially) mediate the link between adversity and child development. Second, there is a discussion of (1) the “tissue issue,” (2) maximizing the interpretability of candidate gene and epigenome-wide approaches, and (3) the need for examining DNAm as a potential biomarker for mental health. It is argued that advances within these 3 areas will make clearer the role of DNAm in the link between adversity and child and adolescent mental health.
Stranded humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae) in Paraná River Delta, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Comments on the occurrence of marine mammals in the La Plata River Basin
Authors: Lucero Sergio O. , Gariboldi María Constanza , Bauni Valeria , Meluso Juan Manuel , Del Castillo Daniela , Agnolin Federico L. , Bogan Sergio
Published: February 2018

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is distributed among most oceans and seas of the globe (except Mediterranean Sea). These whales migrate from feeding regions in the Antarctic waters to breeding areas in tropical and subtropical seas. Here we report the stranding of a female young humpback whale, which was founded dead in the vicinity of the Talavera Island, in the Paraná River Delta, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. From the analysis of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene sequences, two novel haplotypes were found, totalizing four haplotypes described for the species. In the La Plata River Basin this species was found only twice at the end of the XIX century. Thus, the new finding constitutes an important addition to the list of cetaceans that occurs in Uruguay, Paraná and La Plata Rivers.
Insect gall occurrence in savanna and forest remnant sites of Hidrolândia, GO, Brazil Central
Authors: Silva Elienai Cândida e , Santos Benedito Baptista dos , Araújo Walter Santos de
Published: February 2018

In this study we perform an inventory of the insect galls in savanna and forest sites of Hidrolândia, Goiás, Brazil. We found 150 insect gall morphotypes, distributed on 39 botanical families and 104 plant species. Among the insect galls, 81 gall morphotypes were recorded in the savanna site and 73 in the forest site. The plant taxa richest in insect galls were the family Fabaceae with 22 gall morphotypes, the genus Bauhinia (Fabaceae) with 15, and the species Siparuna guianensis (Siparunaceae) with seven gall morphotypes. We found gall-inducing insects belonging to orders Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera and Thysanoptera. The galling insects of family Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) were the most common inducing 48.1% of the gall morphotypes. This is the first systematic survey of insect galls realized in the city of Hidrolândia, being this the site with the higher insect gall diversity already cataloged to the Central region of Brazil.