bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plastic ingestion by seabirds in the circumpolar Arctic: a review
Authors: Baak Julia E. , Linnebjerg Jannie F. , Barry Tom , Gavrilo Maria V. , Mallory Mark L. , Price Courtney , Provencher Jennifer F.
Published: August 2020

Plastic pollution is a ubiquitous global environmental problem. Plastic ingestion by seabirds is an increasing issue even in remote areas, such as the Arctic, yet research and monitoring of plastic ingestion in Arctic seabird populations is limited, and there are large knowledge gaps for many geographic regions. There is currently no standard technique for monitoring plastic debris in the Arctic, making it difficult to compare studies and monitor global trends. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of plastic ingestion by seabirds in the Arctic. We analyzed 38 published records that report plastic ingestion by seabirds in the Arctic region. Of the 51 seabird species examined for plastic ingestion in the Arctic, over half have ingested plastic; however, the majority have a limited number of studies, small sample sizes, and (or) data are more than 15 years old. Additionally, the spatial distribution of plastic ingestion reports in the Arctic varies widely, with large knowledge gaps in the northernmost areas of most countries. This indicates that we lack recent information on plastic ingestion for most of the seabird species in the Arctic. Further, less than one-third of studies reference standardized methods from other regions, making it difficult to assess spatial and temporal trends. Long-term monitoring programs should be established in the Arctic to obtain an accurate assessment of plastic ingestion by seabirds in this region.
The newly observed $$\Lambda _b(6072)^0$$ structure and its $$\rho $$-mode nonstrange partners
Authors: Liang Wei , Lü Qi-Fang
Published: August 2020

Inspired by the newly observed $$\Lambda _b(6072)$$Λb(6072) structure, we investigate its strong decay behaviors under various assignments within the $$^3P_0$$3P0 model. Compared with the mass and total decay width, our results suggest that the $$\Lambda _b(6072)$$Λb(6072) can be regarded as the lowest $$\rho $$ρ-mode excitation in $$\Lambda _b$$Λb family. Then, the strong decays of $$\rho $$ρ-mode nonstrange partners for the $$\Lambda _b(6072)$$Λb(6072) are calculated. It is found that the $$J^P=5/2^-$$JP=5/2-$$\Lambda _b$$Λb and $$\Lambda _c$$Λc states are relatively narrow, and mainly decay into the $$\Sigma _b^{(*)} \pi $$Σb(∗)π and $$\Sigma _c^{(*)} \pi $$Σc(∗)π final states, respectively. These two states have good potentials to be observed in future experiments, which may help us to distinguish the three-quark model and diquark model.
Effects of the synergy of pressure regulation and europium substitution on the microstructure and thermoelectric properties of Type-I clathrates EuxBa8−xCu6Si16Ge24
Authors: Wu Chao , Sun Bing , Wang Zheng , Liu Jianjun , Pang Zhenjiang , Li Yan , Cao Lianzhen , Yang Yang , Liu Xia , Zhao Jiaqiang , Ma Hongan
Published: August 2020

The effects of the synergy of pressure regulation and Eu substitution on the microstructure and thermoelectric (TE) properties are investigated for type-I clathrates Eu[Formula: see text]Ba[Formula: see text]Cu6Si[Formula: see text]Ge[Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text], 0.5, 1, 1.5). The rare-earth-substituted and high-pressure modulated samples show complicated morphologies composed of abundant grains and rich in lattice defects. The Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity of the rare-earth-substituted samples synthesized by HPHT method are consistent with [Formula: see text]-type conduction and metal-like behavior. The carrier concentration increases and the Hall carrier mobility decreases with increasing Eu substitution at room temperature. Although the increase of Eu filling rate decreased the Seebeck coefficient of the samples, it increased the power factor (PF) of the samples significantly. The thermal conductivity also reduced on account of Eu filling. As a result, a minimum [Formula: see text] value (0.67 Wm[Formula: see text]K[Formula: see text]) and a relatively higher zT value (0.68) are achieved. Compared to the Eu-free sample, the achieved zT value of the Eu-substituted sample is a [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]62% enhancement. So, high-pressure technique is an effective route to synthesize clathrate materials and optimize TE properties simultaneously.
On a SAV-MAC scheme for the Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes phase-field model and its error analysis for the corresponding Cahn–Hilliard–Stokes case
Authors: Li Xiaoli , Shen Jie
Published: August 2020

We construct a numerical scheme based on the scalar auxiliary variable (SAV) approach in time and the MAC discretization in space for the Cahn–Hilliard–Navier–Stokes phase- field model, prove its energy stability, and carry out error analysis for the corresponding Cahn–Hilliard–Stokes model only. The scheme is linear, second-order, unconditionally energy stable and can be implemented very efficiently. We establish second-order error estimates both in time and space for phase-field variable, chemical potential, velocity and pressure in different discrete norms for the Cahn–Hilliard–Stokes phase-field model. We also provide numerical experiments to verify our theoretical results and demonstrate the robustness and accuracy of our scheme.
There is no coincidence after all!
Authors: Das Saurya
Published: August 2020

We show that if Dark Matter is made up of light bosons, they form a Bose–Einstein condensate in the early Universe. This in turn naturally induces a Dark Energy of approximately equal density and exerting negative pressure. This explains the so-called coincidence problem.
The Role of Bank Liquidity and Bank Risk in Determining Bank Capital: Empirical Analysis of Asian Banking Industry
Authors: Abbas Faisal , Iqbal Shahid , Aziz Bilal
Published: August 2020

This study provides new insights about how bank liquidity and bank risk have influenced the capital ratio of commercial banks operating in Asia’s emerging economies after the financial crisis 2007–2008. The data were collected for 377 banks from the Bankscope database covering the period of eight years between 2010 and 2017. The linear regression panel-corrected standard errors approach is used to find consistent estimators. The results of the overall sample and medium-sized banks regression revealed a positive relationship between bank liquidity and bank capital ratio, whereas the liquidity and bank capital ratio of large commercial banks have a negative association. The impact of liquidity on bank capital ratio is positive but insignificant in the case of smaller banks. The impact of bank risk on bank capital ratio is negative in the case of smaller and medium-sized banks, whereas the association is found positive in the case of larger and overall banks data results in short run, other things remain unchanged. The findings have valued information for researchers, analysts, managers, and policymakers.
Comparison and Detection Analysis of Network Traffic Datasets Using K-Means Clustering Algorithm
Authors: Al-Sanjary Omar Ismael , Roslan Muhammad Aiman Bin , Helmi Rabab Alayham Abbas , Ahmed Ahmed Abdullah
Published: August 2020

Anomaly detection in specific datasets involves the detection of circumstances that are common in a homogeneous data. When looking at network traffic data, it is generally difficult to determine the type of attack without proper analysis and this holds true when simply viewing a record of network traffic with thousands of internet users to detect malicious activity. However, there are different types of datasets in light of the way they record or acquire data and facts. The paper aims to compare and analyse multiple datasets including NSL-KDD and MAWI by using K-means clustering algorithm. Specifically, the paper analyses the blind-Spots of the datasets and evaluates the most suitable dataset for K-means clustering algorithm. This paper’s quantitative data analysis results are helpful in evaluating weaknesses of each dataset of traffic data, when using K-means clustering algorithm.
Securing Branch Predictors with Two-Level Encryption
Authors: Lee Jaekyu , Ishii Yasuo , Sunwoo Dam
Published: August 2020

Modern processors rely on various speculative mechanisms to meet performance demand. Branch predictors are one of the most important micro-architecture components to deliver performance. However, they have been under heavy scrutiny because of recent side-channel attacks. Branch predictors are indexed using the PC and recent branch histories. An adversary can manipulate these parameters to access and control the same branch predictor entry that a victim uses. Recent Spectre attacks exploit this to set up speculative-execution-based security attacks.

In this article, we aim to mitigate branch predictor side-channels using two-level encryption. At the first level, we randomize the set-index by encrypting the PC using a per-context secret key. At the second level, we encrypt the data in each branch predictor entry. While periodic key changes make the branch predictor more secure, performance degradation can be significant. To alleviate performance degradation, we propose a practical set update mechanism that also considers parallelism in multi-banked branch predictors. We show that our mechanism exhibits only 1.0% and 0.2% performance degradation while changing keys every 10K and 50K cycles, respectively, which is much lower than other state-of-the-art approaches.
Schedule Synthesis for Halide Pipelines on GPUs
Authors: Sioutas Savvas , Stuijk Sander , Basten Twan , Corporaal Henk , Somers Lou
Published: August 2020

The Halide DSL and compiler have enabled high-performance code generation for image processing pipelines targeting heterogeneous architectures through the separation of algorithmic description and optimization schedule. However, automatic schedule generation is currently only possible for multi-core CPU architectures. As a result, expert knowledge is still required when optimizing for platforms with GPU capabilities. In this work, we extend the current Halide Autoscheduler with novel optimization passes to efficiently generate schedules for CUDA-based GPU architectures. We evaluate our proposed method across a variety of applications and show that it can achieve performance competitive with that of manually tuned Halide schedules, or in many cases even better performance. Experimental results show that our schedules are on average 10% faster than manual schedules and over 2× faster than previous autoscheduling attempts.
Composing and decomposing op-based CRDTs with semidirect products
Authors: Weidner Matthew , Miller Heather , Meiklejohn Christopher
Published: August 2020

Operation-based Conflict-free Replicated Data Types (CRDTs) are eventually consistent replicated data types that automatically resolve conflicts between concurrent operations. Op-based CRDTs must be designed differently for each data type, and current designs use ad-hoc techniques to handle concurrent operations that do not naturally commute. We present a new construction, the semidirect product of op-based CRDTs, which combines the operations of two CRDTs into one while handling conflicts between their concurrent operations in a uniform way. We demonstrate the construction's utility by using it to construct novel CRDTs, as well as decomposing several existing CRDTs as semidirect products of simpler CRDTs. Although it reproduces common CRDT semantics, the semidirect product can be viewed as a restricted kind of operational transformation, thus forming a bridge between these two opposing techniques for constructing replicated data types.
Economics with a Moral Compass? Welfare Economics: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Sen Amartya , Deaton Angus , Besley Tim
Published: August 2020

This conversation between Nobel Laureates Amartya Sen and Angus Deaton, moderated by Annual Review of Economics Editorial Committee Member Tim Besley, focuses on bringing ethical issues into economics, and the implications that this has for the practice and teaching of economics. A video of this interview is available online at https://www.annualreviews.org/r/EconMoralCompass .
Cities in the Developing World
Authors: Bryan Gharad , Glaeser Edward , Tsivanidis Nick
Published: August 2020

The fast and often chaotic urbanization of the developing world generates both economic opportunity and challenges, like contagious disease and congestion, because proximity increases both positive and negative externalities. In this article, we review the expanding body of economic research on developing-world cities. One strand of this literature emphasizes the economic benefits of urban connection, typically finding that agglomeration benefits are at least as high in poor countries as they are in rich countries. Yet there remains an ongoing debate about whether slums provide a path to prosperity or an economic dead end. A second strand of research analyzes the negative externalities associated with urban density, and the challenges of building and maintaining infrastructure to moderate those harms. Researchers are just beginning to understand the links between institutions (such as public–private partnerships), incentives (such as congestion pricing), and the effectiveness of infrastructure spending in addressing urban problems. A third line of research addresses the spatial structure of cities directly with formal, structural models. These structural models seem particularly valuable when analyzing land-use and transportation systems in the far more fluid cities of the developing world.
Six-Gene Signature Associated with Immune Cells in the Progression of Atherosclerosis Discovered by Comprehensive Bioinformatics Analyses
Authors: Zhao Bin , Wang Dan , Liu Yanling , Zhang Xiaohong , Wan Zheng , Wang Jinling , Su Ting , Duan Linshan , Wang Yan , Zhang Yuehua , Zhao Yilin
Published: August 2020

Background. As a multifaceted disease, atherosclerosis is often characterized by the formation and accumulation of plaque anchored to the inner wall of the arteries and causes some cardiovascular diseases and vascular embolism. Numerous studies have reported on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, fewer studies focused on both genes and immune cells, and the correlation of genes and immune cells was evaluated via comprehensive bioinformatics analyses. Methods. 29 samples of atherosclerosis-related gene expression profiling, including 16 human advanced atherosclerosis plaque (AA) and 13 human early atherosclerosis plaque (EA) samples from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, were analyzed to get differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the construction of protein and protein interaction (PPI) networks. Besides, we detected the relative fraction of 22 immune cell types in atherosclerosis by using the deconvolution algorithm of “cell type identification by estimating relative subsets of RNA transcripts (CIBERSORT).” Ultimately, based on the significantly changed types of immune cells, we executed the correlation analysis between DEGs and immune cells to discover the potential genes and pathways associated with immune cells. Results. We identified 17 module genes and 6 types of significantly changed immune cells. Correlation analysis showed that the relative percentage of T cell CD8 has negative correlation with the C1QB expression (R=−0.63, p=0.02), and the relative percentage of macrophage M2 has positive correlation with the CD86 expression (R=0.57, p=0.041) in EA. Meanwhile, four gene expressions (CD53, C1QC, NCF2, and ITGAM) have a high correlation with the percentages of T cell CD8 and macrophages (M0 and M2) in AA samples. Conclusions. In this study, we suggested that the progression of atherosclerosis might be related to CD86, C1QB, CD53, C1QC, NCF2, and ITGAM and that it plays a role in regulating immune-competent cells such as T cell CD8 and macrophages M0 and M2. These results will enable studies of the potential genes associated with immune cells in the progression of atherosclerosis, as well as provide insight for discovering new treatments and drugs.
Micro- and Nanofibrillated Cellulose (MNFC) from Pineapple (Ananas comosus) Stems and Their Application on Polyvinyl Acetate (PVAc) and Urea-Formaldehyde (UF) Wood Adhesives
Authors: Rigg-Aguilar Priscilla , Moya Roger , Oporto-Velásquez Gloria S. , Vega-Baudrit José , Starbird Ricardo , Puente-Urbina Allen , Méndez Daniel , Potosme Luis Diego , Esquivel Marianelly
Published: August 2020

Micro- and nanofibrillated cellulose (MNFC) was extracted from pineapple stems by acid hydrolysis, then characterized and tested in two concentrations (0.5 and 1.0 wt%) in polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesives. The modified adhesives were used to glue three tropical wood species (Vochysia ferruginea,Cordia alliodora, andGmelina arborea), and their corresponding bond strength resistance was determined. MNFC and the correspondent adhesives were characterized by TGA, FTIR, SEM, TEM, AFM, and viscosity determination. The TGA analysis of MNFC showed three decomposition reactions. The SEM, TEM, and AFM evaluations demonstrated the presence of micro- and nanosized dimensions of particles after the acid hydrolysis of pineapple stems. Adding 1 wt% MNFC to PVAc and UF adhesives increased their thermal stability in similar manner. Viscosity diminished in both modified adhesives with MNFC; however, this reduction did not affect the adhesion properties in the tropical wood tested. MNFC added to PVAc and UF adhesives improved shear strength (SS) of the glue line in the three tropical species tested. The highest SS increase was obtained when adding 0.5 wt% MNFC to PVAc inV. ferruginea, and 1 wt% MNFC concentration in the case ofC. alliodoraandG. arborea. In the case of UF adhesives, the application of 1 wt% MNFC produced significant differences in SS for the three tropical species studied.
Mortality Predictors and Associated Factors in Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Soares Pinheiro Fernanda G. de M. , Santana Santos Eduesley , Barreto Íkaro Daniel de C. , Weiss Carleara , Vaez Andreia C. , Oliveira Jussiely C. , Melo Matheus S. , Silva Francilene A.
Published: August 2020

Background. Mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU) has been associated to an array of risk factors. Identification of risk factors potentially contribute to predict and reduce mortality rates in the ICU. The objectives of the study were to determine the prevalence and the factors associated with the mortality and to analyze the survival. Method. A cross-sectional study conducted in two clinical and surgical ICU in the state of Sergipe, northeastern Brazil. We enrolled 316 patients with at least 48 h of hospitalization, minimum age of 18 years old, sedated or weaned, with RASS ≥ −3, between July 2017 and April 2018. We categorized data in (1) age and gender, (2) clinical condition, and (3) prevalence of delirium. Data from enrolled patients were collected from enrollment until death or ICU discharge. Patients’ outcomes were categorized in (1) death and (2) nondeath (discharge). Results. Twenty-one percent of participants died. Age (53 ± 17 years vs. 45 ± 18 years, p<0.01), electrolyte disturbance (30.3% vs 18.1%, p=0.029), glycemic index (33.3% vs 18.2%, p=0.008), tube feeding (83.3% vs 67.1%, p=0.01), mechanical ventilation (50% vs 35.7%, p=0.035), sedation with fentanyl (24.2 vs 13.6, p=0.035), use of insulin (33.8% vs 21.7%, p=0.042), and higher Charlson score (2.61 vs 2.17, p=0.041) were significantly associated with death on the adjusted model. However, the regression model indicated that patients admitted from the emergency (HR = 0.40, p=0.006) and glycemic index alterations (HR = 1.68, p=0.047) were associated with mortality. There was no statistically significant difference (p=0.540) in survival between patients with and without delirium, based on the survival analysis and length of hospitalization. Conclusion. The prevalence of death was 21%, and age, electrolyte disturbance, glycemic index, tube feeding, mechanical ventilation, sedation with fentanyl, use of insulin, and higher Charlson score were associated with mortality.
Capacity Model of Exclusive Right-Turn Lane at Signalized Intersection considering Pedestrian-Vehicle Interaction
Authors: Yang Chengcheng , Wang Jiawen , Dong Jieshuang
Published: August 2020

In high density urban areas, pedestrians have a great influence on the capacity of intersections. This paper studies the influence of pedestrians on road capacity and proposes an exclusive right-turn lane capacity model considering pedestrian-vehicle interaction (PV-RTC). Firstly, a pedestrian-vehicle interaction (PVI) model is proposed based on the logit model and static games theory of incomplete information. Through this model, the probability of 6 kinds of pedestrian-vehicle interaction situations (vehicles yield to pedestrians, pedestrians yield to vehicles, etc.) in the crosswalk can be obtained. Then, based on the basic idea of the stop line method and the probabilities of above situations, the PV-RTC model is established, and the sensitivity analysis of the important factors (pedestrian arrival rate, yielding rate, and green time ratio) affecting the model is carried out to clarify the mechanism of the proposed model. Finally, a pedestrian-vehicle interaction model of cellular automata for the exclusive right-turn lane is established and its simulation results are compared with the results of the PV-RTC model. The results show that the relative error between the microscopic simulation model and PV-RTC model is less than 15% overall, which verifies the validity of the PV-RTC model. This study provides references for a more precise estimation method of pedestrian impact on road capacity.
A Novel Linear Active Disturbance Rejection Control Design for Air-Breathing Supersonic Vehicle Attitude System with Prescribed Performance
Authors: Ming Chao , Wang Xiaoming
Published: August 2020

This paper investigates the design problem of the attitude controller for air-breathing supersonic vehicle subject to uncertainties and disturbances. Firstly, the longitudinal model is established for the attitude controller design which is devised as a strict feedback formulation, and a transformed tracking error is derived with the prescribed performance control technique such that it can limit the tracking error to a predefined region. Then, a novel linear active disturbance rejection control scheme is proposed for the attitude system to enhance the steady-state and transient-state performances by incorporating the transformed tracking error. On the basis of the Lyapunov stability theorem, the convergence and stability characteristics are both rigorously proved for the closed-loop system. Finally, extensive contrast simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness, robustness, and advantage of the proposed control strategy.
Coordinated Optimization of Departure Time Domains of Multiple Trains at a Station Based on Passenger Satisfaction
Authors: Tian Zhiqiang , Zhang Rui , Sun Guofeng , Cheng Di
Published: August 2020

In order to optimize the passenger train working diagram and improve the passenger satisfaction towards a coordinated optimization problem of departure time domains of multiple passenger trains at a station, the optimization model is designed to maximize the overall passenger travel satisfaction based on the quantification of the level of passenger travel satisfaction. The simulated annealing algorithm is then used to solve the model. Finally, 23 pairs of passenger trains from Chengdu Railway Station are selected as examples to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the algorithm. The result shows that the model and algorithm proposed in this paper can realize the coordinated optimization of the departure time of multiple trains at a station while considering the passengers’ travel satisfaction, which can provide an effective reference for the compilation of passenger train working diagram.
Mast Cell Deficiency Protects Mice from Surgery-Induced Neuroinflammation
Authors: Zhang Xiang , Dong Hongquan , Wang Fei , Zhang Jun
Published: August 2020

Neuroinflammation plays a key role in the occurrence and development of neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia, the resident immune cells in the brain, have been recognized to contribute to neuroinflammation. Previous studies have shown that activated mast cells may be involved in surgery-induced neuroinflammation and neuronal apoptosis by using pharmacological methods. This study is aimed at ascertaining the exactly role of mast cells on neuroinflammation with the mast cell-deficient mice. Adult male C57BL6/J wild-type (WT) and mast cell-deficient (C57BL6/J KitWsh/Wsh (Wsh)) mice underwent tibial fracture surgery. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, microglial activation, and neuroinflammatory levels were examined at 1 day after surgery. Surgery-induced BBB breakdown, microglial activation, and neuroinflammatory levels were significantly, pharmacologically reduced using a mast cell stabilizer, cromolyn sodium in WT mice (P<0.05). These results were reproduced with mast cell deficiency. WT mice administered intraventricularly with cromolyn exhibited reduced BBB breakdown, microglial activation, and neuroinflammatory levels versus vehicle (P<0.05). But there was no effect of cromolyn versus vehicle in Wsh mice, clarifying the specificity of cromolyn on brain mast cells. These findings demonstrated that activated mast cells promote surgery-induced BBB breakdown and neuroinflammation in mice, and open up a new therapeutic target for neuroinflammation-related diseases.
The Main and Interactive Effects of Biological Maturity and Relative Age on Physical Performance in Elite Youth Soccer Players
Authors: Parr James , Winwood Keith , Hodson-Tole Emma , Deconinck Frederik J. A. , Hill James P. , Teunissen Jan Willem , Cumming Sean P.
Published: August 2020

The main and interactive effect of biological maturity and relative age upon physical performance in adolescent male soccer players was considered. Consistent with previous research, it was hypothesised that participants of greater maturity or born earlier in the selection year would perform better in terms of physical performance tests. This cross-sectional study consisted of 84 male participants aged between 11.3 and 16.2 years from a professional soccer academy in the English Premier League. Date of birth, height, weight, and parental height were collected. Sprint, change of direction, countermovement jump, and reactive strength index were considered for physical performance. Relative age was based on the birth quarter for the selection year. Maturity status was based upon the percentage of predicted adult height attained. Linear regression models highlighted that maturation was associated with performance on all but one of the physical performance tests, the reactive strength index. In contrast, relative age only served as a significant predictor of performance on the countermovement jump. This study indicated that physical performance (in the tests studied) seems to be related to the biological maturity status of a player but not their relative age. This finding is important because it suggests that early-maturing players perform better in the majority of physical performance tests, and the commonly held belief that relative age effect influences performance may be overstated.
Knowledge of and Adherence to Anaemia Prevention Strategies among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care Facilities in Juaboso District in Western-North Region, Ghana
Authors: Appiah Prince Kubi , Nkuah Daniel , Bonchel Duut Abdulai
Published: August 2020

Background. Anaemia in pregnancy is a major problem in both developed and developing countries. The commonest source of anaemia is nutritional deficiency of iron with evidence suggesting that up to 90% of maternal anaemia may be due to inadequate consumption of dietary iron; however, there are other causes which include worm infestation, HIV infection, and genetic disorders. There are some implemented approaches in Ghana including education and awareness creation, nutritional supplements, and control and prevention of parasitic infections among others to prevent and control anaemia in pregnancy. This study assessed pregnant women adherence to Ghana’s anaemia prevention strategies being implemented in the Juaboso District. Method. A descriptive cross-sectional data on knowledge of and adherence to anaemia prevention strategies among pregnant women was collected. Pearson’s chi-square and logistic regression models were used to assessed associations between predictor and outcome variables. A p value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Findings. About 13.5% of the pregnant women had high knowledge on anaemia, while 58.4% and 28.1% had moderate and low knowledge, respectively. Less than half (39.1%) of the women adhered to anaemia prevention strategies. There were significant associations between knowledge of anaemia and where pregnant woman resides in the district (AOR: 2.04, 95% CI: 2.16-9.83, p=0.003), woman’s educational (AOR: 10.43, 95% CI: 6.14-51.63, p=0.002), and occupational status (AOR: 15.14, 95% CI: 13.57-18.43, p<0.001). Again, there were significant associations between adherence to anaemia prevention strategies and the woman’s ethnicity (AOR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.04-0.92, p=0.001) and her knowledge of anaemia (AOR: 3.88, 95% CI: 1.32-7.93, p=0.001). Conclusions. Pregnant women’s knowledge of anaemia and adherence to anaemia prevention strategies are not encouraging. However, anaemia in pregnancy and its consequences could be devastating to all stakeholders if actions are not taken to reduce the phenomenon. Therefore, we recommend that more education and sensitisation programs including good nutritional practices in the diet of pregnant women be promoted to increase awareness and adherence to anaemia prevention strategies among pregnant women in the Juaboso District.
Biharmonic Hypersurfaces in Pseudo-Riemannian Space Forms with at Most Two Distinct Principal Curvatures
Authors: Yang Chao , Liu Jiancheng
Published: August 2020

In this paper, we show that biharmonic hypersurfaces with at most two distinct principal curvatures in pseudo-Riemannian space form Nsn+1c with constant sectional curvature c and index s have constant mean curvature. Furthermore, we find that such biharmonic hypersurfaces Mr2k−1 in even-dimensional pseudo-Euclidean space Es2k, Ms−12k−1 in even-dimensional de Sitter space Ss2kcc>0, and Ms2k−1 in even-dimensional anti-de Sitter space ℍs2kcc<0 are minimal.
Using Natural Language Preprocessing Architecture (NLPA) for Big Data Text Sources
Authors: Novo-Lourés María , Pavón Reyes , Laza Rosalía , Ruano-Ordas David , Méndez Jose R.
Published: August 2020

During the last years, big data analysis has become a popular means of taking advantage of multiple (initially valueless) sources to find relevant knowledge about real domains. However, a large number of big data sources provide textual unstructured data. A proper analysis requires tools able to adequately combine big data and text-analysing techniques. Keeping this in mind, we combined a pipelining framework (BDP4J (Big Data Pipelining For Java)) with the implementation of a set of text preprocessing techniques in order to create NLPA (Natural Language Preprocessing Architecture), an extendable open-source plugin implementing preprocessing steps that can be easily combined to create a pipeline. Additionally, NLPA incorporates the possibility of generating datasets using either a classical token-based representation of data or newer synset-based datasets that would be further processed using semantic information (i.e., using ontologies). This work presents a case study of NLPA operation covering the transformation of raw heterogeneous big data into different dataset representations (synsets and tokens) and using the Weka application programming interface (API) to launch two well-known classifiers.
Outcomes and Adverse Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation on the Ventral Intermediate Nucleus in Patients with Essential Tremor
Authors: Lu Guohui , Luo Linfeng , Liu Maolin , Zheng Zijian , Zhang Bohan , Chen Xiaosi , Hua Xing , Fan Houyou , Mo Guoheng , Duan Jian , Li MeiHua , Hong Tao , Zhou Dongwei
Published: August 2020

Objective. This study was aimed at identifying the potential outcome predictors, comparing the efficacy in patients with different tremor characteristics, and summarizing the adverse effect rates (AERs) of deep brain stimulation on the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM-DBS) for essential tremor (ET). Methods. An extensive search of articles published to date in 2019 was conducted, and two main aspects were analyzed. Improvement was calculated as a percentage of change in any objective tremor rating scale (TRS) and analyzed by subgroup analyses of patients’ tremor characteristics, laterality, and stimulation parameters. Furthermore, the AERs were analyzed as follows: the adverse effects (AEs) were classified as stimulation-related, surgical-related, or device-related effects. A simple regression analysis was used to identify the potential prognostic factors, and a two-sample mean-comparison test was used to verify the statistical significance of the subgroup analyses. Results. Forty-six articles involving 1714 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled improvement in any objective TRS score was 61.3% (95% CI: 0.564-0.660) at the mean follow-up visit (20.0±17.3 months). The midline and extremity symptoms showed consistent improvement (P=0.440), and the results of the comparison of postural and kinetic tremor were the same (P=0.219). In addition, the improvement in rest tremor was similar to that in action tremor (OR=2.759, P=0.120). In the simple regression analysis, the preoperative Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Tremor Rating Scale (FTM-TRS) scores and follow-up time were negatively correlated with the percentage change in any objective TRS score (P<0.05). The most common adverse event was dysarthria (10.5%), which is a stimulation-related AE (23.6%), while the rates of the surgical-related and device-related AEs were 6.4% and 11.5%, respectively. Conclusion. VIM-DBS is an efficient and safe surgical method in ET, and the efficacy was not affected by the body distribution of tremor, age at surgery, and disease duration. Lower preoperative FTM-TRS scores likely indicate greater improvement, and the effect of VIM-DBS declines over time.
Preparation and In Vitro Evaluation of Alginate Microparticles Containing Amphotericin B for the Treatment of Candida Infections
Authors: Alvarez-Berrios Merlis P. , Aponte-Reyes Lisa M. , Diaz-Figueroa Lourdes , Vivero-Escoto Juan , Johnston Alexis , Sanchez-Rodriguez David
Published: August 2020

Invasive candidiasis (IC) remains as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Amphotericin B (AmB) is one of the most effective antifungal agents commonly used to treat this infection. However, it induces severe side effects such as nephrotoxicity, cardiac alterations, nausea, fever, and liver damage. The utilization of drug delivery systems has been explored to overcome these limitations. Several AmB lipid formulations have been developed and are currently available in the market. Although they have the ability to reduce the main side effects of free AmB, their high cost, necessity of repeated intravenous injections for successful treatment, and incidence of pulmonary toxicity have limited their use. In the last decades, alginate has gained significant interest in drug delivery applications as a cost-effective strategy to improve the safety and therapeutic effect of toxic drugs. In this work, the clinically relevant drug AmB was encapsulated into alginate microparticles using the emulsification/external gelation method. We hypothesize that this synthesis strategy may positively impact the antifungal efficacy of AmB-loaded MCPs toward Candida albicans cells while reducing the toxicity in human lung cells. To prove this hypothesis, the ability of the microplatform to disrupt the cellular membrane potential was tested and its antifungal effectiveness toward Candida albicans cells was evaluated using the cell counting and plate count methods. Moreover, the toxicity of the microplatform in human lung cells was evaluated using CellTiter 96® AQueous cell viability assay and qualitative diffusion analysis of acridine orange. Our results demonstrated that the platform developed in this work was able to induce antifungal toxicity against Candida albicans yeast cells at the same level of free AmB with minimal toxicity to lung cells, which is one of the main side effects induced by commercial drug delivery systems containing AmB. Overall, our data provides convincing evidence about the effectiveness of the alginate-based microplatform toward Candida albicans cells. In addition, this vehicle may not require several infusions for a successful treatment while reducing the pulmonary toxic effect induced by commercial lipid formulations.
Stability Analysis of Cutting Process with Internally Damped Rotating Tapered Composite Cutter Bar
Authors: Zhang Yuhuan , Ren Yongsheng , Zhang Jinfeng
Published: August 2020

Using the cutter bar made with composite rather than metal in high rotating speed milling or boring operations is a new attempt for suppressing chatter of the cutting system. This is because composite material has much higher specific stiffness and damping as well as dynamic stiffness compared to metal. But, for a rotating composite cutter bar, larger internal damping (or rotational damping) occurs, and such damping may cause the rotor instability in the perspective of rotor dynamics. On the other hand, the effect of internal damping of a rotating composite cutter bar on the chatter stability in high speed cutting process is also an important issue worthy of concern. In this paper, a new dynamic model of the cutting system with a rotating composite cutter bar is presented. The cutter bar is modelled as a rotating, cantilever, tapered, composite Euler–Bernoulli shaft, subjected to a regenerative cutting force. Modal damping loss factors are described based on the viscoelastic constitutive relation of composite combined with an energy approach. The governing equations of the system are obtained by employing Hamilton principle. Galerkin method is used to discretize the partial differential equations of motion. The frequency-domain solution of stability proposed by Altintas and Budak [14] is extended and used to predict the chatter stability of the cutting system. The results reveal the inherent relationship between internal damping instability and cutting chatter. The effects of the geometry parameters of the cutter bar, ply angle, stacking sequences, and internal and external damping are examined.
Design Criteria of Soft Exogloves for Hand Rehabilitation-Assistance Tasks
Authors: Dávila-Vilchis Juana-Mariel , Ávila-Vilchis Juan C. , Vilchis-González Adriana H. , LAZ-Avilés
Published: August 2020

This paper establishes design criteria for soft exogloves (SEG) to be used as rehabilitation or assistance devices. This research consists in identifying, selecting, and grouping SEG features based on the analysis of 91 systems that have been proposed during the last decade. Thus, function, mobility, and usability criteria are defined and explicitly discussed to highlight SEG design guidelines. Additionally, this study provides a detailed description of each system that was analysed including application, functional task, palm design, actuation type, assistance mode, degrees of freedom (DOF), target fingers, motions, material, weight, force, pressure (only for fluids), control strategy, and assessment. Such characteristics have been reported according to specific design methodologies and operating principles. Technological trends are contemplated in this contribution with emphasis on SEG design opportunity areas. In this review, suggestions, limitations, and implications are also discussed in order to enhance future SEG developments aimed at stroke survivors or people with hand disabilities.
Determinants of Work-Related Risks among Veterinary Clinical Students in South West Nigeria
Authors: Adebowale Oluwawemimo O. , Afolabi Monsurat O. , Adesokan Hezekiah K. , Fasanmi Olubunmi G. , Adeyemo Olanike K. , Awoyomi Olajoju J. , Fasina Folorunso O.
Published: August 2020

Veterinary practices or activities expose professionals, including students, to hazards associated with animal contact. To describe workplace health and safety status and risk factors associated with hazards among veterinary clinical students in South West Nigeria, a cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semistructured questionnaire. Data on demographics, health and safety (HS) status, work-related hazards, healthcare facilities, and immunisation history were obtained. Of 167 students recruited, 100 (60.2%) were males, and >77.1% fell within the age group of 21–25 years. Many participants (77.0%) reported the lack of active HS committee. Exposures to various physical hazards (PHs) such as needlestick injuries (NSIs, 41.5%), animal scratches (42.0%), animal kicks (33.0%), falls/slips (25.0%), and, less frequently, animal bites (13.8%) were reported. Allergies (35.9%) and acute gastrointestinal infection (25.6%) mainly after contact with dogs presented with parvoviral enteritis were reported. For chemical hazards, 27.8% and 29.0% of participants indicated having had eye burn and choke on exposure to formalin. No adequate immunisation against either tetanus, rabies, or both was provided (<18%). An association between accommodation type and students’ level of health and safety training was observed (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.241–0.897, p=0.02), and frequencies of student contact with various animal types were strongly associated with exposures to different physical and biological risks (p<0.05). This study revealed poor health and safety training, practices, and increased exposure of students to a wide range of hazards. Therefore, the development of mitigation programmes in veterinary schools becomes critical to safeguard students’ wellbeing.
Simplified Geometric Approach to Freeform Beam Shaper Design
Authors: Wojtanowski Jacek , Drozd Tadeusz
Published: August 2020

Beam of light shaping process can be considered ultimate, if both irradiance and wavefront spatial distributions are under control and both can be shaped arbitrarily. In order to keep these two quantities determined simultaneously, it is required to apply at least two powered refractive or reflective surfaces. In this paper, a fully geometric design method of double-freeform beam shapers is discussed briefly. The presented algorithm is based on two stages. First, integrable input-output ray mapping is calculated by the application of the novel GATMA (Geometric Approach to Monge–Ampere equation) method. It allows us to determine the shape of the first freeform surface. Then, according to the condition of constant optical path length between input and output plane, corrected by wavefront phases at those planes, the second surface is determined. GATMA algorithm combines advantages of Monge–Ampere (MA) equation and ray-tracing efficient apparatus. Compared to the state-of-the-art freeform design methods, GATMA does not need to solve MA equation directly but uses this equation as an error function. Such approach makes the computation algorithm simpler and more robust and convergent. The application of the proposed method in a challenging design example of a beam shaper, transforming uniform collimated beam into a beam having a triangular cross section and flat wavefront, is presented as a case study.
Geochemical Characteristics of Natural Gas and Hydrocarbon Charge History in the Western Qaidam Basin, Northwest China
Authors: Chen Kefei , Zhou Shixin , Li Jing , Zhang Chen , Sun Zexiang , Li Pengpeng , Meng Bingkun
Published: August 2020

31 natural gases in the western Qaidam Basin of China were collected and analyzed for gas composition including light hydrocarbons (C5-C7) and carbon isotopic characteristics. Based on genetic type obtained from C1-C3 and C7 fractions, four types of gases are identified: oil-type gas, coal-type gas, biodegraded gas, and mixed gas. The oil-type gas is the predominant-type gas in the western Qaidam Basin; coal-type gas is mainly distributed in the Zhahaquan and Nanyishan fields; mixed gas is mainly in the Zhahaquan, Wunan, and Nanyishan fields; and biodegraded gas is mainly distributed in the Huatugou and Yuejinerhao fields. According to the empirical relationship between δ13C1 and the equivalent vitrinite reflectance (Ro, %) of source rock, the Ro values of gas range from 0.6% to 1.5%, with an average value of 0.9%. The generation temperatures of major reservoired hydrocarbons (GTMRH) calculated from the C7 components range from 115.6°C to 141.7°C, with an average value of 126.5°C. These two maturity indicators have relatively positive correlation and reveal that the maturity of gas increases from west to east in the southwestern Qaidam Basin. Moreover, combining GTMRH with the homogenous temperature of petroleum inclusions, it is inferred that major petroleum charge in the western Qaidam Basin mainly occurred during the late period of the Himalayan movement. Deep hydrocarbon fluid sources were found in the Shizigou, Yingdong, Zhahaquan, and Nanyishan fields; thus, the deep reservoirs of paleouplifts adjacent to the hydrocarbon-generating depressions are estimated as a favorable area for further exploration in the western Qaidam Basin.
Examining the Impact of Different Periodic Functions on Short-Term Freeway Travel Time Prediction Approaches
Authors: Miao Xu , Wu Bing , Zou Yajie , Wu Lingtao
Published: August 2020

Freeway travel time prediction is a key technology of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Many scholars have found that periodic function plays a positive role in improving the prediction accuracy of travel time prediction models. However, very few studies have comprehensively evaluated the impacts of different periodic functions on statistical and machine learning models. In this paper, our primary objective is to evaluate the performance of the six commonly used multistep ahead travel time prediction models (three statistical models and three machine learning models). In addition, we compared the impacts of three periodic functions on multistep ahead travel time prediction for different temporal scales (5-minute, 10-minute, and 15-minute). The results indicate that the periodic functions can improve the prediction performance of machine learning models for more than 60 minutes ahead prediction and improve the over 30 minutes ahead prediction accuracy for statistical models. Three periodic functions show a slight difference in improving the prediction accuracy of the six prediction models. For the same prediction step, the effect of the periodic function is more obvious at a higher level of aggregation.
Shigellosis Dynamics: Modelling the Effects of Treatment, Sanitation, and Education in the Presence of Carriers
Authors: Edward Stephen , Mureithi Eunice , Shaban Nyimvua
Published: August 2020

A mathematical model for Shigellosis including disease carriers with multiple control strategies is developed. We compute the effective reproductive number Re, which is used to analyze the local stability of the equilibria, while the comparison theorem is used to prove global stability. By constructing a suitable Lyapunov function, the model endemic equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable when Re>1. Sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the parameters that have a high impact on the transmission dynamics of the disease with direct transmission contributing more infections than indirect transmission. The effects of control measures are then investigated both analytically and numerically. Numerical results show that there is a reduction in the number of infections when at least a single control measure is applied efficiently. However, as the number of control interventions increases, Shigellosis elimination is more possible. Results also show that carriers play a potential role in the prevalence of Shigellosis and ignoring these individuals could potentially undermine the efforts of containing this epidemic.