bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genotype–phenotype correlation and interaction of 4q25, 15q14 and MIPEP variants with myopia in southern Chinese population
Authors: Liu Junbin , Zhang Riping , Sun Lixia , Zheng Yuqian , Chen Shaowan , Chen Shao-Lang , Xu Yanxuan , Pang Chi-Pui , Zhang Mingzhi , Ng Tsz Kin
Published: October 2019

Background/aims

To determine the association and interaction of genome-wide association study-reported variants for Asian populations with myopia and ocular biometric parameters in southern Chinese population.

Methods

Totally, 1462 unrelated Han Chinese subjects were recruited with complete ophthalmic examinations, including 1196 myopia and 266 control subjects. A total of nine variants were selected for TaqMan genotyping. The genetic association, joint additive effect and genotype–phenotype correlation were investigated.

Results

The 4q25 variant rs10034228 (p=0.002, OR=0.56) and MIPEP variant rs9318086 (p=0.004, OR=1.62) were found to be significantly associated with myopia as well as different severity of myopia. Moreover, 15q14 variant rs524952 (p=0.015, OR=1.49) also showed mild association with myopia and high myopia. However, there was no significant association of CTNND2, vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor 2 and syntrophin beta 1 variants with myopia. Joint additive analysis revealed that the subjects carrying 6 risk alleles of the 3 associated variants were 10-fold higher risk predisposed to high myopia. Genotype–phenotype correlation analysis revealed that high myopia subjects carrying 4q25 rs10034228 T allele showed thicker central corneal thickness, whereas high myopia subjects carrying 15q14 rs524952 A allele were associated with longer axial length and larger curvature ratio.

Conclusion

This study revealed significant association of 4q25, 15q14 and MIPEP variants with myopia and different severity of myopia in southern Chinese population, joint additively enhancing 10-fold of risk predisposing to high myopia. The correlation of these associated variants with axial length and corneal parameters suggests their contribution to the refractive status in high myopia subjects.
Republished: Rotational carotid insufficiency: an unusual cause of bow hunter’s syndrome
Authors: Kan Peter , Srivatsan Aditya , Johnnson Jeremiah N , Chen Stephen R
Published: October 2019

We report an unusual case in which physiologic neck rotation impeded perfusion through the internal carotid artery. The patient had a history of prior radical neck surgery and radiation for malignancy. He presented withbow hunter’s-like symptoms with transient loss of consciousness and right-sided weakness with left lateral neck rotation. A self-expanding peripheral stent was successfully used to treat the patient by preventing rotatory carotid compression. In select patients with prior neck surgery and radiation, carotid injections should be part of a dynamic cerebral angiogram if the vertebral arteries are unremarkable.
Getting it right on mistakes
Authors: Oxtoby Catherine
Published: October 2019

Mistakes are an inevitable part of both life and veterinary practice. But Catherine Oxtoby says there are ways to reduce the risk both of an error occurring and of it impacting on your wellbeing.
The effects of acute sumatriptan treatment on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat and the possible involvement of nitric oxide
Authors: Mobasheran Parnia , Rajai Nazanin , Kohansal Parichehr , Dehpour Ahmad Reza , Shafaroodi Hamed
Published: October 2019

Renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is a common pathological condition. Studies reported renal toxicity following administration of triptans, which are commonly used for treating migraine headaches. To investigate the effects of sumatriptan and the molecular mechanisms involved in renal I/R injury in rats, ischemia was induced by bilateral clamping of renal pedicles followed by 24 h of reperfusion. Sumatriptan was administered in three different doses (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) before I/R injury induction. Biochemical and histopathological changes were evaluated. The contribution of nitric oxide in modulating the effects of sumatriptan was determined by administrating aminoguanidine at 50 mg/kg 60 min before I/R injury. The tissue level of nitrite, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Sumatriptan at 10 and 20 mg/kg increased the serum level of creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) significantly. There was also a significant increase in nitrite level of animals that received 10 mg/kg sumatriptan. Co-administration of sumatriptan with aminoguanidine significantly decreased the BUN and Cr. Depletion of SOD level (P < 0.05) and elevation of serum levels of MDA (P < 0.001) indicated the involvement of oxidative stress in sumatriptan adverse effects. Overall, the administration of sumatriptan intensified renal I/R injury through activation of inducible nitric oxide synthase and oxidative responses in rats.
Consensus formation in continuous opinion dynamics on quasiperiodic lattices
Authors: Alves T. F. A. , Lima F. W. S. , Macedo-Filho A. , Alves G. A.
Published: October 2019

We studied the Biswas–Chatterjee–Sen (BCS) consensus formation model, also known as the Kinetic Continuous Opinion Dynamics (KCOD) model on quasiperiodic lattices by using Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and Finite Size Scaling technique. Our results are consistent with a continuous phase transition, controlled by an external noise. We obtained the order parameter [Formula: see text], defined as the averaged opinion, the fourth-order Binder cumulant [Formula: see text] and susceptibility [Formula: see text] as functions of the noise parameter. We estimated the critical noises for Penrose and Ammann–Beenker lattices. We also considered seven-fold and nine-fold quasiperiodic lattices and estimated the respective critical noises as well. Irrespective of rotational and translational long-range order of the lattice, the system falls in the same universality class of the two-dimensional Ising model. Quasiperiodic order is irrelevant and it does not change any critical exponents for BCS model.
Commuting Double Sugeno Integrals
Authors: Dubois Didier , Fargier Hélène , Rico Agnès
Published: October 2019

In decision problems involving two dimensions (like several agents in uncertainty) the properties of expected utility ensure that the result of a two-stepped procedure evaluation does not depend on the order with which the aggregations of local evaluations are performed (e.g., agents first, uncertainty next, or the converse). We say that the aggregations on each dimension commute. In a previous conference paper, Ben Amor, Essghaier and Fargier have shown that this property holds when using pessimistic possibilistic integrals on each dimension, or optimistic ones, while it fails when using a pessimistic possibilistic integral on one dimension and an optimistic one on the other. This paper studies and completely solves this problem when more general Sugeno integrals are used in place of possibilistic integrals, leading to double Sugeno integrals. The results show that there are capacities other than possibility and necessity measures that ensure commutation of Sugeno integrals. Moreover, the relationship between two-dimensional capacities and the commutation property for their projections is investigated.
DOUBLE GLOW PLASMA SURFACE TITANIZING ON AISI 316 STAINLESS STEEL WITH IMPROVED WEAR RESISTANCE: EFFECTS OF PROCESS PARAMETERS
Authors: MA YONG , LIN NAIMING , LIU QIANG , ZOU JIAOJUAN , LIN XIUZHOU , ZHANG LUXIA , YU SHENGWANG , ZHOU BING , LI BOQIONG , QIN LIN , LIU XIAOPING , WANG ZHIHUA , TANG BIN
Published: October 2019

Using the double glow plasma surface alloying technique, a titanizing coating with improved wear resistance can be prepared on AISI 316 stainless steel. The purpose of this paper is to investigate process parameter effects by orthogonal array design. Four main factors, titanizing temperature, holding time, voltage difference and electrode distance, are adopted in orthogonal experiments. For each factor, four levels are set. The range analysis is used to investigate the factor and level influences on the coating thickness and specific wear rate. Meanwhile, the analysis of variance method is applied to calculate the contributions of each factor. The results indicate that temperature is most critical. In balancing the coating thickness and the wear property, the optimal process parameters are 950∘C, 3[Formula: see text]h, 200[Formula: see text]V and 18[Formula: see text]mm. Corresponding to the optimal process, the thickness and the specific wear rate of the titanizing coating are 10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m and 2.609E−05 mm3⋅ N−1⋅ m−1, respectively.
Local cohomology in Grothendieck categories
Authors: Savoji Fatemeh , Sazeedeh Reza
Published: October 2019

Let [Formula: see text] be a locally noetherian Grothendieck category. In this paper, we define and study the section functor on [Formula: see text] with respect to an open subset of [Formula: see text]. Next, we define and study local cohomology theory in [Formula: see text] in terms of the section functors. Finally, we study abstract local cohomology functor on the derived category [Formula: see text].
Effects of Temperature and Particles Concentration on the Dynamic Viscosity of Graphene-NiO/Coconut Oil Hybrid Nanofluid: Experimental Study
Authors: Senniangiri N. , Bensam Raj J. , Sunil J.
Published: October 2019

In practice, lubricants are used to minimize the friction and wear of frictional surfaces. The disposal of mineral-based lubricating oil possesses environmental issues and forced the development of bio-degradable lubricating agents. The simultaneous mono-dispersion of metallic and metal oxides nanomaterials into lubricating agents may concurrently reveal superior thermo-physical and rheological characteristics. This paper proposes an experimental and theoretical investigation on the dynamic viscosity enhancement of flat platelets textured Graphene/NiO-coconut oil hybrid nanofluids. The results reveal that the dynamic viscosity enhancement of hybrid nanofluids increases with nanomaterial concentration and decreases with temperature. The squat hybrid nanomaterial concentration has less collusion probability and dynamic contact between the mono-dispersed hybrid nanomaterials as it has enough interfacing gaps to conquer superficial surface energy. The high nanomaterial concentration revamps the formation of lamellar-composite agglomerated particles and enhances the dynamic viscosity of base fluid. Further, a theoretical correlation is recommended to estimate the dynamic viscosity of hybrid nanofluid with minimum margin of deviation using artificial neural network (ANN).
A Causal Time-Series Model Based on Multilayer Perceptron Regression for Forecasting Taiwan Stock Index
Authors: Chen Tai-Liang , Cheng Ching-Hsue , Liu Jing-Wei
Published: October 2019

Stock forecasting technology is always a popular research topic because accurate forecasts allow profitable investments and social change. We postulate, based on past research, three major drawbacks for using time series in forecasting stock prices as follows: (1) a simple time-series model provides insufficient explanations for inner and external interactions of the stock market; (2) the variables of a time series behave in strict stationarity, but economic time-series are usually in a nonlinear or nonstationary state and (3) the forecasting factors of multivariable time-series are selected based on researcher’s knowledge, and such a method is a “subjective” way to construct a forecasting model. Therefore, this paper proposes a causal time-series model to select forecasting factors and builds a machine learning forecast model. The “Granger causality test” is utilized first in the proposed model to select the critical factors from technical indicators and market indexes; next, a “multilayer perceptron regression (MLPR)” is employed to construct a forecasting model. This paper collected financial data over a 13-year period (from 2003 to 2015) of the Taiwan stock index (TAIEX) as experimental datasets. Furthermore, the root mean square error (RMSE) was used as a performance indicator, and we use five forecasting models as comparison models. The results reveal that the proposed model outperforms the comparison models in forecasting accuracy and performs well for three key indicators. LAG1, S&P500 and DJIA, are critical factors in all 11 of our time sliding windows (T1–T11). We offer these results to investors to aid in their decision-making processes.
Fine asymptotics for models with Gamma type moments
Authors: Eichelsbacher Peter , Knichel Lukas
Published: October 2019

The aim of this paper is to give fine asymptotics for random variables with moments of Gamma type. Among the examples, we consider random determinants of Laguerre and Jacobi beta ensembles with varying dimensions (the number of observed variables and the number of measurements vary and may be different). In addition to the Dyson threefold way of classical random matrix models (GOE, GUE, GSE), we study random determinants of random matrices of the so-called tenfold way, including the Bogoliubov–de Gennes and chiral ensembles from mesoscopic physics. We show that fixed-trace matrix ensembles can be analyzed as well. Finally, we add fine asymptotics for the [Formula: see text]-dimensional volume of the simplex with [Formula: see text] points in [Formula: see text] distributed according to special distributions, which is strongly correlated to Gram matrix ensembles. We use the framework of mod-[Formula: see text] convergence to obtain extended limit theorems, Berry–Esseen bounds, precise moderate deviations, large and moderate deviation principles as well as local limit theorems. The work is especially based on the recent work of Dal Borgo et al. [Mod-Gaussian convergence for random determinants, Ann. Henri Poincaré (2018)].
Seq: a high-performance language for bioinformatics
Authors: Shajii Ariya , Numanagić Ibrahim , Baghdadi Riyadh , Berger Bonnie , Amarasinghe Saman
Published: October 2019

The scope and scale of biological data are increasing at an exponential rate, as technologies like next-generation sequencing are becoming radically cheaper and more prevalent. Over the last two decades, the cost of sequencing a genome has dropped from $100 million to nearly $100—a factor of over 10
6
—and the amount of data to be analyzed has increased proportionally. Yet, as Moore’s Law continues to slow, computational biologists can no longer rely on computing hardware to compensate for the ever-increasing size of biological datasets. In a field where many researchers are primarily focused on biological analysis over computational optimization, the unfortunate solution to this problem is often to simply buy larger and faster machines.

Here, we introduce
Seq
, the first language tailored specifically to bioinformatics, which marries the ease and productivity of Python with C-like performance. Seq starts with a subset of Python—and is in many cases a drop-in replacement—yet also incorporates novel bioinformatics- and computational genomics-oriented data types, language constructs and optimizations. Seq enables users to write high-level, Pythonic code without having to worry about low-level or domain-specific optimizations, and allows for the seamless expression of the algorithms, idioms and patterns found in many genomics or bioinformatics applications. We evaluated Seq on several standard computational genomics tasks like reverse complementation,
k
-mer manipulation, sequence pattern matching and large genomic index queries. On equivalent CPython code, Seq attains a performance improvement of up to two orders of magnitude, and a 160× improvement once domain-specific language features and optimizations are used. With parallelism, we demonstrate up to a 650× improvement. Compared to optimized C++ code, which is already difficult for most biologists to produce, Seq frequently attains up to a 2× improvement, and with shorter, cleaner code. Thus, Seq opens the door to an age of democratization of highly-optimized bioinformatics software.
Refinement kinds: type-safe programming with practical type-level computation
Authors: Caires Luís , Toninho Bernardo
Published: October 2019

This work introduces the novel concept of
kind refinement
, which we develop in the context of an explicitly polymorphic ML-like language with type-level computation. Just as type refinements embed rich specifications by means of comprehension principles expressed by predicates over values in the type domain, kind refinements provide rich
kind
specifications by means of predicates over
types
in the kind domain. By leveraging our powerful refinement kind discipline, types in our language are not just used to statically classify program expressions and values, but also conveniently manipulated as tree-like data structures, with their kinds refined by logical constraints on such structures. Remarkably, the resulting typing and kinding disciplines allow for powerful forms of type reflection, ad-hoc polymorphism and type-directed meta-programming, which are often found in modern software development, but not typically expressible in a type-safe manner in general purpose languages. We validate our approach both formally and pragmatically by establishing the standard meta-theoretical results of type safety and via a prototype implementation of a kind checker, type checker and interpreter for our language.
Program synthesis with algebraic library specifications
Authors: Mariano Benjamin , Reese Josh , Xu Siyuan , Nguyen ThanhVu , Qiu Xiaokang , Foster Jeffrey S. , Solar-Lezama Armando
Published: October 2019

A key challenge in program synthesis is synthesizing programs that use libraries, which most real-world software does. The current state of the art is to model libraries with mock library implementations that perform the same function in a simpler way. However, mocks may still be large and complex, and must include many implementation details, both of which could limit synthesis performance. To address this problem, we introduce JLibSketch, a Java program synthesis tool that allows library behavior to be described with algebraic specifications, which are rewrite rules for sequences of method calls, e.g., encryption followed by decryption (with the same key) is the identity. JLibSketch implements rewrite rules by compiling JLibSketch problems into problems for the Sketch program synthesis tool. More specifically, after compilation, library calls are represented by abstract data types (ADTs), and rewrite rules manipulate those ADTs. We formalize compilation and prove it sound and complete if the rewrite rules are ordered and non-unifiable. We evaluated JLibSketch by using it to synthesize nine programs that use libraries from three domains: data structures, cryptography, and file systems. We found that algebraic specifications are, on average, about half the size of mocks. We also found that algebraic specifications perform better than mocks on seven of the nine programs, sometimes significantly so, and perform equally well on the last two programs. Thus, we believe that JLibSketch takes an important step toward synthesis of programs that use libraries.
Generating a fluent API with syntax checking from an LR grammar
Authors: Yamazaki Tetsuro , Nakamaru Tomoki , Ichikawa Kazuhiro , Chiba Shigeru
Published: October 2019

This paper proposes a fluent API generator for Scala, Haskell, and C++. It receives a grammar definition and generates a code skeleton of the library in the host programming language. The generated library is accessed through a chain of method calls; this style of API is called a fluent API. The library uses the host-language type checker to detect an invalid chain of method calls. Each method call is regarded as a lexical token in the embedded domain specific language implemented by that library. A sequence of the lexical tokens is checked and, if the sequence is not acceptable by the grammar, a type error is reported during compilation time. A contribution of this paper is to present an algorithm for generating the code-skeleton for a fluent API that reports a type error when a chain of method calls to the library does not match the given LR grammar. Our algorithm works in Scala, Haskell, and C++. To encode LR parsing, it uses the method/function overloading available in those languages. It does not need an advanced type system, or exponential compilation time or memory consumption. This paper also presents our implementation of the proposed generator.
DeepSEA: a language for certified system software
Authors: Sjöberg Vilhelm , Sang Yuyang , Weng Shu-chun , Shao Zhong
Published: October 2019

Writing certifiably correct system software is still very labor-intensive, and current programming languages are not well suited for the task. Proof assistants work best on programs written in a high-level functional style, while operating systems need low-level control over the hardware. We present DeepSEA, a language which provides support for layered specification and abstraction refinement, effect encapsulation and composition, and full equational reasoning. A single DeepSEA program is automatically compiled into a certified ``layer'' consisting of a C program (which is then compiled into assembly by CompCert), a low-level functional Coq specification, and a formal (Coq) proof that the C program satisfies the specification. Multiple layers can be composed and interleaved with manual proofs to ascribe a high-level specification to a program by stepwise refinement. We evaluate the language by using it to reimplement two existing verified programs: a SHA-256 hash function and an OS kernel page table manager. This new style of programming language design can directly support the development of correct-by-construction system software.
FuzzFactory: domain-specific fuzzing with waypoints
Authors: Padhye Rohan , Lemieux Caroline , Sen Koushik , Simon Laurent , Vijayakumar Hayawardh
Published: October 2019

Coverage-guided fuzz testing has gained prominence as a highly effective method of finding security vulnerabilities such as buffer overflows in programs that parse binary data. Recently, researchers have introduced various specializations to the coverage-guided fuzzing algorithm for different domain-specific testing goals, such as finding performance bottlenecks, generating valid inputs, handling magic-byte comparisons, etc. Each such solution can require non-trivial implementation effort and produces a distinct variant of a fuzzing tool. We observe that many of these domain-specific solutions follow a common solution pattern.

In this paper, we present FuzzFactory, a framework for developing domain-specific fuzzing applications without requiring changes to mutation and search heuristics. FuzzFactory allows users to specify the collection of dynamic domain-specific feedback during test execution, as well as how such feedback should be aggregated. FuzzFactory uses this information to selectively save intermediate inputs, called waypoints, to augment coverage-guided fuzzing. Such waypoints always make progress towards domain-specific multi-dimensional objectives. We instantiate six domain-specific fuzzing applications using FuzzFactory: three re-implementations of prior work and three novel solutions, and evaluate their effectiveness on benchmarks from Google's fuzzer test suite. We also show how multiple domains can be composed to perform better than the sum of their parts. For example, we combine domain-specific feedback about strict equality comparisons and dynamic memory allocations, to enable the automatic generation of LZ4 bombs and PNG bombs.
Safer smart contract programming with Scilla
Authors: Sergey Ilya , Nagaraj Vaivaswatha , Johannsen Jacob , Kumar Amrit , Trunov Anton , Hao Ken Chan Guan
Published: October 2019

The rise of programmable open distributed consensus platforms based on the blockchain technology has aroused a lot of interest in replicated stateful computations, aka smart contracts. As blockchains are used predominantly in financial applications, smart contracts frequently manage millions of dollars worth of virtual coins. Since smart contracts cannot be updated once deployed, the ability to reason about their correctness becomes a critical task. Yet, the de facto implementation standard, pioneered by the Ethereum platform, dictates smart contracts to be deployed in a low-level language, which renders independent audit and formal verification of deployed code infeasible in practice.

We report an ongoing experiment held with an industrial blockchain vendor on designing, evaluating, and deploying Scilla, a new programming language for safe smart contracts. Scilla is positioned as an intermediate-level language, suitable to serve as a compilation target and also as an independent programming framework. Taking System F as a foundational calculus, Scilla offers strong safety guarantees by means of type soundness. It provides a clean separation between pure computational, state-manipulating, and communication aspects of smart contracts, avoiding many known pitfalls due to execution in a byzantine environment. We describe the motivation, design principles, and semantics of Scilla, and we report on Scilla use cases provided by the developer community. Finally, we present a framework for lightweight verification of Scilla programs, and showcase it with two domain-specific analyses on a suite of real-world use cases.
Next Generation Transparent Supercapacitor Materials Poster
Authors: Fan Ziyan
Published: October 2019

Supercapacitor utilizes the nano-scaled pores to increase the surface area indefinitely and shortens the distance between the positive and negative plate, on the account that some larger particles cannot fit into the pores. According to the capacitance equation “capacitance = εrε0(area/distance),” as the distance decreasing and area increasing, the magnitude of the capacitance is tremendously magnified. A transparent supercapacitor describes a supercapacitor that has a high optical transmittance. If the intensity of light that transmits across the substance is higher than the rate that it is blocked or reflected. The substance possesses transparency. The flexibility of transparent supercapacitors is another important area of study. It generalizes a combination of stretchability, bendability, or compressibility. In real life, it’s important to obtain the optimal optical transmittance, flexibility, and electrical conductivity for future devices such as smart glasses. These characteristics enable us to develop something more complex and advanced in the future.
Physics of Neutron-Gamma Sensors for Soil Elemental Analysis
Authors: Kavetskiy Aleksandr , Yakubova Galina , Sargsyan Nikolay , Prior Stephen A. , Torbert H. Allen , Chin Bryan A.
Published: October 2019

Soil elemental (mainly carbon) analysis is one of the critical features in agricultural practice. The based on different physical principal methods are began applied today instead of traditional chemical analysis. One of such methods is neutron-gamma analysis. This method has a lot of advantage before traditional methods. It is nondestructive in situ method, no sample preparation is needed, no time consuming and labor-intensive method. Method is based on the registration of gamma rays response of the main soil nuclei at its irradiation by fast neutron flux.In this report we will discussed physical principles of this method, namely processes of penetration, moderation and interaction with soil elements of fast neutrons, gamma rays appearing and propagation in soil, creating the gamma spectra in gamma detector. Based on this discussion the ways of soil elemental content determination from gamma spectra will be represented. The comparison of received results of neutron-gamma analysis with data of chemical analysis demonstrate that this method can replace this last in agricultural practice.
“The Spirit of Old Aksakov … Added to the Charm”
Authors: Mamontov Savva , _ _
Published: October 2019

This text is an extract from the “Chronicle of the Abramtsevo Estate,” a collective diary that details the daily functioning of the estate, as well as the special events, projects, and artistic activities that were held there by Savva Mamontov and his associates from 1870 until 1893. It thus provides a unique glimpse into both the personal and professional lives of one of Russia’s most important and influential artistic colonies.
All the Folk Art News Fit to Print
Authors: Rusnock K. Andrea
Published: October 2019

Neo-nationalism was concerned with a new aesthetic, not just in the fine arts but also in the crafts, particularly needlework. One way that this aesthetic was disseminated for needle art was through publications—magazines, pattern books, how-to-manuals, guides for schools, and the like. Publications on needlework were produced throughout the nineteenth century, and their output increased toward the end of the 1800s, with many portraying peasant imagery and patterns associated with this new style of Neo-nationalism. This article explores how needlework publications propagated Neo-nationalist art to a broad audience and the key role they played in shaping the cultural milieu of the Russian late Imperial period.
Heroes and Representations of Masculinity in Thai Action Films
Authors: Wongchalard Natawan
Published: October 2019

This paper contextualises a cultural construction of hegemonic masculinity and discusses ways in which Thai action film heroes in historical and Muay Thai films are represented. Traditionally, the quality of nakleng is desirable for Thai action heroes along with having mastery in a particular skill. In the moral realm, the idea of gratitude or khwam-katanyu in Thai, is prioritised and highly regarded to be the inevitable requisite for good men, which includes action heroes. This sense of gratitude extends to one’s ideological obligations to one’s motherland or matuphum, which is often thematically portrayed in Muay Thai and historical films through the struggle of the hero. Based on a reading of the two exemplar films, Ong Bak (Muay Thai Warrior 2003, dir. Prachya Pinkaew) and The Legend of King Naresuan: The Elephant Duel (2014, dir. Chatri Chalerm Yukol), the different social backgrounds of the two heroes, their hegemonic masculinity, autonomy and lack can be explained in relation to the discourse of Buddhist spirituality. In addition, the ways in which the two heroes are differently depicted is a cinematic device with the aid of which, in addition to the observance of filmic verisimilitude, the representations are designed to cater to segmented subject/citizen audiences. In psychoanalytic terms, each hero from the two films is similarly made to acquire autonomy and experience ‘lack’ in different realms of the symbolic order.
Tradition and Creativity of the Rahu Symbol in Buddhist Temples: Case Study of Paintings, Sculptures and Amulets in Central and East of Thailand
Authors: Runra Prasirt , Sujachaya Sukanya
Published: October 2019

The objective of the study was to analyze the transmission and application of Rahu symbolism in contemporary Thai society. Data was collected from both documents and a field study in central and eastern Thailand. It was found that in traditional Thai art, the Rahu symbol is portrayed as his face swallowing the sun or the moon. This kind of Rahu symbol is found in Buddhist temples. Such appearances of the Rahu symbol are related to the belief that Rahu has a protective function. Interestingly, the sculpture of Rahu’s body rather than only his face has become popular in contemporary Thai society. Nowadays, Rahu sculptures tend to be located in specific places. A ritual of worshipping Rahu is often created with offerings of food generally of black color. In addition, the Rahu symbol is now created in several other forms such as posters, magic cloths and amulets. Such newly created art forms of Rahu are due to modern interpretations and meanings of the Rahu symbol in contemporary Thai society. These newly-developed meanings of the Rahu symbol are interesting since they can be applied to deal with people’s problems in the socio-cultural and political context of contemporary Thai society.
Prevalence and Expenses of Outpatient Opioid Prescriptions, With Associated Sociodemographic, Economic, and Work Characteristics
Authors: Asfaw Abay , Alterman Toni , Quay Brian
Published: October 2019

Information on opioids obtained by workers is important for both health and safety. We examined the prevalence and total expenses of obtaining outpatient opioid prescriptions, along with associated sociodemographic, economic, and work characteristics, in national samples of U.S. workers. We used Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data (2007–2016) along with descriptive and multiple logistic regression. During the study period, an estimated 21 million workers (12.6%) aged 16 years or older obtained one or more outpatient opioid prescriptions, at an expense of $2.81 billion per year. Private health insurance covered half of the total opioid expenses for workers. The prevalence of obtaining opioid prescriptions was higher for women than for men, but men had higher opioid expenses. In addition, the prevalence of obtaining opioid prescriptions was higher for workers who were older; non-Hispanic white; divorced, separated, or widowed; and non-college-educated. There is an inverse relationship between family income and the likelihood of obtaining opioids. Compared to workers with private insurance, workers with public health insurance had higher expenses for opioid prescriptions. Finally, workers in occupations at higher risk for injury and illness – including construction and extraction; farming; service; and production, transportation, and material moving occupations – were more likely to obtain opioid prescriptions.
“German railways” in China: Technology as a site of knowledge
Authors: Mahltig Philipp
Published: October 2019

In this article, I test how the concept of sites of knowledge – originally developed by Christian Jacob for scholarly work – can be applied to technologies. I analyse how acquisition, transmission and transformation of knowledge work in the construction and use of technologies. The two railway lines built with German participation in China at the turn from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, the Shandong Railway and the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, are taken as an example. By investigating what knowledge for building and operating the railroad as a whole and the trains as a part of it was needed and available and how it relates to space, I demonstrate how technical and non-technical knowledge interact in the practices of the actively involved and passively affected individuals. The article thereby examines the complexity of different forms of knowledge necessary for a site of knowledge to take shape and to exist in relation to its surrounding.
Reliability assessment for systems suffering competing degradation and random shocks under fuzzy environment
Authors: Yu Hongping , Tang Mao
Published: October 2019

Reliability assessment of multi-component systems under competing degradation and random shocks has been intensively investigated in recent years. In most cases, the parameters associated with competing degradation and random shocks are represented by crisp values. However, due to insufficient data and vague judgments from experts, it may produce epistemic uncertainty with those parameters and they are befitting to be described as fuzzy numbers. In this article, the internal degradation is treated as a continuous monotonically increasing random process with respect to operating time, whereas the amount of cumulative damage produced by each external random shock is modeled by a geometric process. As components in a system suffer the same environmental condition, an external random shock will produce different amounts of cumulative damage to each component simultaneously. Each component fails when either the internal degradation or cumulative damage from the random shocks, whichever comes first, exceeds its corresponding random thresholds. Moreover, the parameters associated with the internal degradation and the random shocks are represented by triangular fuzzy numbers. The fuzzy reliability functions of components and the entire system are evaluated by a set of optimization models. A multi-component system, together with some comparative results, is presented to illustrate the implementation of the proposed method.
Twentieth-Century China as an Object of Thought: An Introduction, Part 1 The Birth of the Century: The Chinese Revolution and the Logic of Politics
Authors: Hui Wang
Published: October 2019

This two-part article explores the question of how to constitute China in the twentieth century as an object of thought. This means, first of all, releasing the twentieth century from the position of being a mere object, such that one no longer regards this era as an annotation or appendage to contemporary value systems and ideologies, but instead approaches it as a process in which, passing through the liberation of the object, we may reconstruct a relation of dialogue between ourselves and twentieth-century China. Part 1 proceeds from a temporal analysis of the twentieth century, and Part 2 analyzes this era from a spatial perspective. Part 1 encompasses three sections: first, the long twentieth century, the European fin de siècle, and the century as a trend of the times; second, the conditions of the short century, imperialism, and the rise of the Pacific century; third, the Chinese Revolution and the rise of the short century: unevenness and “the weakest link.” Having pursued an analysis of the global conditions of the imperialist epoch, I assert that any discussion of the birth of the “short twentieth century” must begin with an analysis of “the weakest link.” In seeking the roots of the revolutionary moment, one must look not at the geopolitical contestations in Eurasia, but instead the revolutionary conditions produced by the new situation in Asia (especially the rise of Japan and Japan’s victory over Russia). That is, it was not imperialist wars pure and simple, but instead the “awakening of Asia” called into being by these wars that constituted the multifaceted point of departure for the “short twentieth century.” Thus, from the perspective of temporality, the “short twentieth century” did not, as is often believed, begin in 1914, but rather in the period 1905–1911; from the perspective of spatiality, it did not begin at a single point of beginning, but from a whole series of points of beginning; from the perspective of the moment, it did not begin through destructive wars, but instead was born in a series of attempts to break free of the imperialist system and the archaic regime.
One-dimensional steady-state mathematical model of a novel loop heat pipe with liquid line capillary wick
Authors: Fanxi Meng , Zhang Quan , Du Sheng , Yue Chang , Ma Xiaowei
Published: October 2019

A novel loop heat pipe used for data center with a liquid line wick is designed, and its one-dimensional steady-state mathematical model is developed based on the energy and thermodynamic equilibrium of each component and the simulation results were validated by comparing with the experimental data in this work. The compensation chamber of the loop heat pipe was removed, and a section of capillary wick was added in the end of liquid line in order to reduce heat leakage and vapor backflow and increase working medium circulation power. The mathematical model of the novel loop heat pipe can be used to predict the operating temperature of each characteristic point with small relative errors of <13%. A parametric study of the steady-state performance characteristics including the effects of material, diameter, length, and porosity of liquid line wick are conducted, which provides a powerful basis for the design of novel loop heat pipe experiment.
Restorative justice informed criminal justice social work and probation services
Authors: Kirkwood Steve , Hamad Rania
Published: October 2019

Despite the growth of restorative justice (RJ) research, theory and practice, little work has explored its implications for criminal justice social work (CJSW) and probation services. Our analysis demonstrates that an RJ ‘lens’ transforms the view of CJSW, enlarging the scope to help people make amends for harm, magnifying the role for victims of crime, refocusing on the meaningfulness of reparative acts and clarifying the role of communities in reintegration. Our vision of RJ informed CJSW and probation services offers a way of shifting practice to help people repair harm, make good and move on with their lives.
Developing tools for learning oriented assessment of interactional competence: Bridging theory and practice
Authors: May Lyn , Nakatsuhara Fumiyo , Lam Daniel , Galaczi Evelina
Published: October 2019

In this paper we report on a project in which we developed tools to support the classroom assessment of learners’ interactional competence (IC) and provided learning oriented feedback in the context of preparation for a high-stakes face-to-face speaking test. Six trained examiners provided stimulated verbal reports ( n = 72) on 12 paired interactions, focusing on interactional features of candidates’ performance. We thematically analysed the verbal reports to inform a draft checklist and materials, which were then trialled by four experienced teachers. Informed by both data sources, the final product comprised the following: (a) a detailed IC checklist with nine main categories and over 50 sub-categories, an accompanying detailed description of each area and feedback to learners, which teachers can adapt to suit their teaching and testing contexts; and (b) a concise IC checklist with four categories and bite-sized feedback for real-time classroom assessment.

Interactional competence, a key aspect of face-to-face communication, is under-researched and under-explored in second/foreign language teaching, learning, and assessment contexts. This in-depth treatment of it, therefore, stands to contribute to learning contexts through raising teachers’ and learners’ awareness of micro-level features of the construct, and to assessment contexts through developing a more comprehensive understanding of the construct.
Statistical assumptions in L2 research: A systematic review
Authors: Hu Yuhang , Plonsky Luke
Published: October 2019

Statistical tests carry with them a number of assumptions that must be checked. Failing to do so and to report the results of such preliminary analyses introduce a potential threat to the internal validity of a study and to our ability as consumers to put faith in study findings. This article systematically examines the reporting of checks on assumptions in two major journals of second-language (L2) research ( Language Learning and Second Language Research) over a span of six years (2012–2017 inclusive). Using synthetic techniques, each study in the sample ( K = 107) was coded for whether or not the assumptions associated with five statistical tests were reported: independent samples t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and chi-square. In doing so, two coding standards (‘stringent’ and ‘lenient’) were adopted to arrive at a more comprehensive picture of researchers’ practices and to reflect the different types of checks required by quantitative analyses. The lenient standard was coded as being met if one or more of the assumptions for a given analytical technique was reported; the stringent standard, by contrast, was recorded as met if all assumptions were reported and checked. Overall, 17% and 24% of the sample were found to have met the stringent and lenient standards, respectively. The study also addresses differences in the checking and reporting of assumptions across the five statistical procedures we examined. Despite overall weak reporting, we note several improvements taking place over time. Suggestions for improving data analytic and reporting practices in the field are discussed as well as implications for researcher training (see Loewen et al., 2014; Plonsky, 2014).
Measuring patient activation in Chinese patients with hypertension and/or diabetes: reliability and validity of the PAM13
Authors: Zeng Huijuan , Jiang Runsheng , Zhou Mei , Wu Linxiong , Tian Bo , Zhang Yao , Qu Fanwei
Published: October 2019

Objective

Patient activation is important in the management of chronic diseases (CDs), especially hypertension and diabetes. The 13-item short form Patient Activation Measure (PAM13) is widely used, but data are lacking for China. The study aim was to assess the reliability and validity of the PAM13 in Chinese patients with hypertension and/or diabetes in a community management setting.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted at four community health centres in Kunming (Yunnan province, China) Participants were patients (n = 519) with hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus being managed at the community health centres. Patient activation was measured using the Chinese version of the PAM13. Reliability and validity were tested using Cronbach’s α and confirmatory factor analysis.

Results

The male to female ratio was 1:1.65. In total, 307 (60.3%) patients had ≤9 years of education and 213 (41.8%) had a low household income (≤5000 RMB/month). Cronbach’s α was 0.920 and item–total correlations ranged from 0.535 to 0.714. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the data.

Conclusions

The PAM13 shows good reliability and validity for measuring patient activation in Chinese patients with CDs (hypertension and/or diabetes).
Cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix proteins as markers for metastatic triple negative breast cancer
Authors: Mohammed Mohammed Elimam Ahamed , Elhassan Nuha Mohammed
Published: October 2019

Objective

This study investigated immunohistochemical staining results of two cytoskeletal proteins (vimentin and cytokeratin-18) and two extracellular matrix proteins (fibronectin-1 and laminin-1 receptor) in different stages of triple negative breast cancer.

Methods

Forty triple negative cancerous breast tissues from patients diagnosed as stage 2A (15), 2B (nine), 3A (10), 3B (four), and 3C (two) were included in this study and were compared with 42 normal breast tissues. Immunohistochemistry results were statistically analyzed using the t-test percent of the StatPac program.

Results

The percentages of positive staining in cancerous tissues for all of the studied parameters were significantly greater than their percentages in normal tissues, except for vimentin. All cancerous tissues from patients diagnosed as stage 3A, 3B, and 3C were positive for both fibronectin-1 and laminin-1 receptor.

Conclusion

Fibronectin-1 and laminin-1 receptor are promising markers for stage 3 triple negative breast cancer.