bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bounds on the signed total Roman 2-domination in graphs
Authors: Khoeilar R. , Shahbazi L. , Sheikholeslami S. M. , Shao Zehui
Published: November 2019

Let [Formula: see text] be an integer and [Formula: see text] be a simple and finite graph with vertex set [Formula: see text]. A signed total Roman [Formula: see text]-dominating function (STR[Formula: see text]DF) on a graph [Formula: see text] is a function [Formula: see text] such that (i) every vertex [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] is adjacent to at least one vertex [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] and (ii) [Formula: see text] holds for any vertex [Formula: see text]. The weight of an STR[Formula: see text]DF [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text] and the minimum weight of an STR[Formula: see text]DF is the signed total Roman [Formula: see text]-domination number [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we establish some sharp bounds on the signed total Roman 2-domination number.
Live Birth Rate After Transfer of Fresh or Frozen Poor Quality Day-3 Embryos Only
Authors: Vuong Lan N. , Pham Toan D. , Huynh Bao G. , Nguyen Quynh N. , Ho Tuong M. , Norman Robert J. , Mol Ben W.
Published: November 2019

Background: Embryo quality is an important predictor of successful outcome in in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, current knowledge on the live birth rate after transfer of poor quality embryos is limited. This study investigated the live birth rate after transfer of only poor quality day-3 embryos in women undergoing IVF.

Methods: This retrospective study included 153 couples who underwent IVF at IVFMD, My Duc Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam between June 2014 and January 2017 and had only poor quality day-3 embryos available for fresh (n [Formula: see text] 102) or frozen (n [Formula: see text] 51) transfer. The control group included patients who had transfer of one good embryo (n [Formula: see text] 64). Embryos were rated using the Istanbul criteria.

Results: In the poor quality embryo group, the mean number of oocytes retrieved and number of embryos were 7.5 ± 4.4 and 1.8 ± 0.9, respectively. Mean number of embryos transferred was 1.6 ± 0.5 in the fresh transfer group and 2.0 ± 0.2 in the freeze-only group. Live births did occur after transfer of poor quality embryos, but the implantation, clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were significantly lower than after fresh or frozen transfer of a single good quality embryo (9.5 vs. 26.6%, p < 0.001; 13.7 vs. 26.6%, p < 0.001; and 7.2 vs. 18.8%, p [Formula: see text] 0.02, respectively).

Conclusions: Live birth was achieved after transfer of only poor quality embryos in women undergoing IVF. This suggests that transfer of poor quality embryos could be an option when higher grade embryos are not available, after the chances of live birth have been discussed with the patient.
Interval Markov Decision Processes with Multiple Objectives
Authors: Hahn Ernst Moritz , Hashemi Vahid , Hermanns Holger , Lahijanian Morteza , Turrini Andrea
Published: November 2019

Accurate Modelling of a real-world system with probabilistic behaviour is a difficult task. Sensor noise and statistical estimations, among other imprecisions, make the exact probability values impossible to obtain. In this article, we consider Interval Markov decision processes (
IMDP
s), which generalise classical
MDP
s by having interval-valued transition probabilities. They provide a powerful modelling tool for probabilistic systems with an additional variation or uncertainty that prevents the knowledge of the exact transition probabilities. We investigate the problem of robust multi-objective synthesis for
IMDP
s and Pareto curve analysis of multi-objective queries on
IMDP
s. We study how to find a robust (randomised) strategy that satisfies multiple objectives involving rewards, reachability, and more general ω-regular properties against all possible resolutions of the transition probability uncertainties, as well as to generate an approximate Pareto curve providing an explicit view of the trade-offs between multiple objectives. We show that the multi-objective synthesis problem is
PSPACE
-hard and provide a value iteration-based decision algorithm to approximate the Pareto set of achievable points. We finally demonstrate the practical effectiveness of our proposed approaches by applying them on several case studies using a prototype tool.
Integrating Simulation and Numerical Analysis in the Evaluation of Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets
Authors: Zimmermann Armin , Hotz Thomas
Published: November 2019

The standard existing performance evaluation methods for discrete-state stochastic models such as Petri nets either generate the reachability graph followed by a numerical solution of equations or use some variant of simulation. Both methods have characteristic advantages and disadvantages depending on the size of the reachability graph and type of performance measure.

This article proposes a hybrid performance evaluation algorithm for the steady-state solution of Generalized Stochastic Petri Nets that integrates elements of both methods. It automatically adapts its behavior depending on the available size of main memory and number of model states. As such, the algorithm unifies simulation and numerical analysis in a joint framework. It is proved to result in an unbiased estimator whose variance tends to zero with increasing simulation time.

The article extends earlier results with an algorithm variant that starts with a small maximum number of particles and increases them during the run to increase the efficiency in cases that are rapidly solved by regular simulation. The algorithm’s applicability is demonstrated through case studies, including an example where it outperforms the standard methods.
Digital Dance Ethnography
Authors: Aristidou Andreas , Shamir Ariel , Chrysanthou Yiorgos
Published: November 2019

Folk dances often reflect the socio-cultural influences prevailing in different periods and nations; each dance produces a meaning, a story with the help of music, costumes and dance moves. However, dances have no borders; they have been transmitted from generation to generation, along different countries, mainly due to movements of people carrying and disseminating their civilization. Studying the contextual correlation of dances along neighboring countries, unveils the evolution of this unique intangible heritage in time, and helps in understanding potential cultural similarities. In this work we present a method for contextually motion analysis that organizes dance data semantically, to form the first digital dance ethnography. Firstly, we break dance motion sequences into some narrow temporal overlapping feature descriptors, named
motion
and
style words
, and then cluster them in a high-dimensional features space to define
motifs
. The distribution of those motion and style motifs creates
motion
and
style signatures
, in the content of a bag-of-motifs representation, that implies for a succinct but descriptive portrayal of motions sequences. Signatures are time-scale and temporal-order invariant, capable of exploiting the contextual correlation between dances, and distinguishing fine-grained difference between semantically similar motions. We then use
quartet
-based analysis to organize dance data into a
categorization tree
, while inferred information from dance metadata descriptions are then used to set parent-child relationships. We illustrate a number of different organization trees, and portray the evolution of dances over time. The efficiency of our method is also demonstrated in retrieving contextually similar dances from a database.
Fast Feedback Control over Multi-hop Wireless Networks with Mode Changes and Stability Guarantees
Authors: Baumann Dominik , Mager Fabian , Jacob Romain , Thiele Lothar , Zimmerling Marco , Trimpe Sebastian
Published: November 2019

Closing feedback loops fast and over long distances is key to emerging cyber-physical applications; for example, robot motion control and swarm coordination require update intervals of tens of milliseconds. Low-power wireless communication technology is preferred for its low cost, small form factor, and flexibility, especially if the devices support multi-hop communication. Thus far, however, feedback control over multi-hop low-power wireless networks has only been demonstrated for update intervals on the order of seconds. To fill this gap, this article presents a wireless embedded system that supports dynamic mode changes and tames imperfections impairing control performance (e.g., jitter and message loss), and a control design that exploits the essential properties of this system to provably guarantee closed-loop stability for physical processes with linear time-invariant dynamics in the presence of mode changes. Using experiments on a cyber-physical testbed with 20 wireless devices and multiple cart-pole systems, we are the first to demonstrate and evaluate feedback control and coordination with mode changes over multi-hop networks for update intervals of 20 to 50 milliseconds.
Exploiting Bank Conflict-based Side-channel Timing Leakage of GPUs
Authors: Jiang Zhen Hang , Fei Yunsi , Kaeli David
Published: November 2019

To prevent information leakage during program execution, modern software cryptographic implementations target constant-time function, where the number of instructions executed remains the same when program inputs change. However, the underlying microarchitecture behaves differently when processing different data inputs, impacting the execution time of the same instructions. These differences in execution time can covertly leak confidential information through a timing channel.

Given the recent reports of covert channels present on commercial microprocessors, a number of microarchitectural features on CPUs have been re-examined from a timing leakage perspective. Unfortunately, a similar microarchitectural evaluation of the potential attack surfaces on GPUs has not been adequately performed. Several prior work has considered a timing channel based on the behavior of a GPU’s coalescing unit. In this article, we identify a second finer-grained microarchitectural timing channel, related to the banking structure of the GPU’s Shared Memory. By considering the timing channel caused by Shared Memory bank conflicts, we have developed a differential timing attack that can compromise table-based cryptographic algorithms. We implement our timing attack on an Nvidia Kepler K40 GPU and successfully recover the complete 128-bit encryption key of an Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) GPU implementation using 900,000 timing samples. We also evaluate the scalability of our attack method by attacking an implementation of the AES encryption algorithm that fully occupies the compute resources of the GPU. We extend our timing analysis onto other Nvidia architectures: Maxwell, Pascal, Volta, and Turing GPUs. We also discuss countermeasures and experiment with a novel multi-key implementation, evaluating its resistance to our side-channel timing attack and its associated performance overhead.
Crossroads+
Authors: Khayatian Mohammad , Lou Yingyan , Mehrabian Mohammadreza , Shirvastava Aviral
Published: November 2019

As vehicles become autonomous and connected, intelligent management techniques can be utilized to operate an intersection without a traffic light. When a Connected Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) approaches an intersection, it shares its status and intended direction with the Intersection Manager (IM), and the IM checks the status of other CAVs and assigns a target velocity/reference trajectory for it to maintain. In practice, however, there is an unknown delay between the time a CAV sends a request to the IM and the moment it receives back the response, namely, the Round-Trip Delay (RTD). As a result, the CAV will start tracking the target velocity/reference trajectory later than when the IM expects, which may lead to accidents. In this article, we present a time-aware approach, Crossroads+, that makes CAVs’ behaviors deterministic despite the existence of the unknown RTD. In Crossroads+, we use timestamping and synchronization to ensure that both the IM and the CAVs have the same notion of time. The IM will also set a fixed start time to track the target velocity/reference trajectory for each CAV. The effectiveness of the proposed Crossroads+ technique is illustrated by experiments on a 1/10 scale model of an intersection with CAVs. We also built a simulator to demonstrate the scalability of Crossroads+ for multi-lane intersections. Results from our experiments indicate that our approach can reduce the position uncertainty by 15% in comparison with conventional techniques and achieve up to 36% better throughputs.
Design and Implementation of Secret Key Agreement for Platoon-based Vehicular Cyber-physical Systems
Authors: Li Kai , Ni Wei , Emami Yousef , Shen Yiran , Severino Ricardo , Pereira David , Tovar Eduardo
Published: November 2019

In a platoon-based vehicular cyber-physical system (PVCPS), a lead vehicle that is responsible for managing the platoon’s moving directions and velocity periodically disseminates control messages to the vehicles that follow. Securing wireless transmissions of the messages between the vehicles is critical for privacy and confidentiality of the platoon’s driving pattern. However, due to the broadcast nature of radio channels, the transmissions are vulnerable to eavesdropping. In this article, we propose a cooperative secret key agreement (CoopKey) scheme for encrypting/decrypting the control messages, where the vehicles in PVCPS generate a unified secret key based on the quantized fading channel randomness. Channel quantization intervals are optimized by dynamic programming to minimize the mismatch of keys. A platooning testbed is built with autonomous robotic vehicles, where a TelosB wireless node is used for onboard data processing and multi-hop dissemination. Extensive real-world experiments demonstrate that CoopKey achieves significantly low secret bit mismatch rate in a variety of settings. Moreover, the standard NIST test suite is employed to verify randomness of the generated keys, where the p-values of our CoopKey pass all the randomness tests. We also evaluate CoopKey with an extended platoon size via simulations to investigate the effect of system scalability on performance.
Counting Rules of Nambu–Goldstone Modes
Authors: Watanabe Haruki
Published: November 2019

When global continuous symmetries are spontaneously broken, there appear gapless collective excitations called Nambu–Goldstone modes (NGMs) that govern the low-energy property of the system. The application of this famous theorem ranges from high-energy particle physics to condensed matter and atomic physics. When a symmetry breaking occurs in systems that lack the Lorentz invariance to start with, as is usually the case in condensed matter systems, the number of resulting NGMs can be lower than that of broken symmetry generators, and the dispersion of NGMs is not necessarily linear. In this article, we review recently established formulae for NGMs associated with broken internal symmetries that work equally for relativistic and nonrelativistic systems. We also discuss complexities of NGMs originating from space-time symmetry breaking. Along the way we cover many illuminating examples from various context. We also present a complementary point of view from the Lieb–Schultz–Mattis theorem.
Nonparametric Spectral Analysis of Multivariate Time Series
Authors: von Sachs Rainer
Published: November 2019

Spectral analysis of multivariate time series has been an active field of methodological and applied statistics for the past 50 years. Since the success of the fast Fourier transform algorithm, the analysis of serial auto- and cross-correlation in the frequency domain has helped us to understand the dynamics in many serially correlated data without necessarily needing to develop complex parametric models. In this work, we give a nonexhaustive review of the mostly recent nonparametric methods of spectral analysis of multivariate time series, with an emphasis on model-based approaches. We try to give insights into a variety of complimentary approaches for standard and less standard situations (such as nonstationary, replicated, or high-dimensional time series), discuss estimation aspects (such as smoothing over frequency), and include some examples stemming from life science applications (such as brain data).
Urine α-fetoprotein and orosomucoid 1 as biomarkers of hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Zhan Zhu , Guan Yalan , Mew Kenley , Zeng Weiqiong , Peng Mingli , Hu Peng , Yang Yixuan , Lu Yi , Ren Hong
Published: November 2019

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth common malignant tumor worldwide, but current efficient and convenient screening methods remain lacking. This study aimed to discover a diagnostic or a screening biomarker from the urine of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC patients. We used iTRAQ coupled with mass spectrometry to identify candidate urinary proteins in a discovery cohort ( n = 40). The selected proteins were confirmed using ELISA in a validation cohort ( n = 140). Diagnostic performance of the selected proteins was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and qualitative diagnostic analysis. A total of 96 differentially expressed proteins were identified. Urinary α-fetoprotein (u-AFP) and orosomucoid 1 (u-ORM1) were selected as target proteins by bioinformatics analysis and were significantly higher in HCC than in non-HCC patients, as validated by Western blot analysis and ELISA. u-AFP had a strong correlation with serum AFP-L3 (Pearson’s r = 0.944, P < 0.0001), indicating that u-AFP may be derived from circulating blood. The area under the curve (AUC) of u-AFP was 0.795 with a sensitivity of 62.5% and a specificity of 95.4%, which showed no significantly difference with serum AFP (se-AFP). The AUC was 0.864 as u-AFP and u-ORM1 were combined, and they performed much better than u-AFP or u-ORM1 alone. Qualitative diagnostic analysis showed that the positive predictive value of u-AFP was 90.1% and the diagnostic sensitivity of parallel combination of u-AFP and u-ORM1 was 85.1%. Taken together, AFP and ORM1 in the urine may be used as a diagnostic or screening biomarker of HCC, and studies on large samples are needed to validate the result.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study provides a novel way to find biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and a new perspective of α-fetoprotein clinical application. The urine reagent strips may be helpful in high epidemic areas of HCC and in low-resource settings.
WNK bodies cluster WNK4 and SPAK/OSR1 to promote NCC activation in hypokalemia
Authors: Thomson Martin N. , Cuevas Catherina A. , Bewarder Tim M. , Dittmayer Carsten , Miller Lauren N. , Si Jinge , Cornelius Ryan J. , Su Xiao-Tong , Yang Chao-Ling , McCormick James A. , Hadchouel Juliette , Ellison David H. , Bachmann Sebastian , Mutig Kerim
Published: November 2019

K+deficiency stimulates renal salt reuptake via the Na+-Cl−cotransporter (NCC) of the distal convoluted tubule (DCT), thereby reducing K+losses in downstream nephron segments while increasing NaCl retention and blood pressure. NCC activation is mediated by a kinase cascade involving with no lysine (WNK) kinases upstream of Ste20-related proline-alanine-rich kinase (SPAK) and oxidative stress-responsive kinase-1 (OSR1). In K+deficiency, WNKs and SPAK/OSR1 concentrate in spherical cytoplasmic domains in the DCT termed “WNK bodies,” the significance of which is undetermined. By feeding diets of varying salt and K+content to mice and using genetically engineered mouse lines, we aimed to clarify whether WNK bodies contribute to WNK-SPAK/OSR1-NCC signaling. Phosphorylated SPAK/OSR1 was present both at the apical membrane and in WNK bodies within 12 h of dietary K+deprivation, and it was promptly suppressed by K+loading. In WNK4-deficient mice, however, larger WNK bodies formed, containing unphosphorylated WNK1, SPAK, and OSR1. This suggests that WNK4 is the primary active WNK isoform in WNK bodies and catalyzes SPAK/OSR1 phosphorylation therein. We further examined mice carrying a kidney-specific deletion of the basolateral K+channel-forming protein Kir4.1, which is required for the DCT to sense plasma K+concentration. These mice displayed remnant mosaic expression of Kir4.1 in the DCT, and upon K+deprivation, WNK bodies developed only in Kir4.1-expressing cells. We postulate a model of DCT function in which NCC activity is modulated by plasma K+concentration via WNK4-SPAK/OSR1 interactions within WNK bodies.
Influence of acute moderate- to high-intensity aerobic exercise on markers of immune function and microparticles in renal transplant recipients
Authors: Highton Patrick J. , White Alice E. M. , Nixon Daniel G. D. , Wilkinson Thomas J. , Neale Jill , Martin Naomi , Bishop Nicolette C. , Smith Alice C.
Published: November 2019

Renal transplant recipients (RTRs) and patients with nondialysis chronic kidney disease display elevated circulating microparticle (MP) counts, while RTRs display immunosuppression-induced infection susceptibility. The impact of aerobic exercise on circulating immune cells and MPs is unknown in RTRs. Fifteen RTRs [age: 52.8 ± 14.5 yr, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): 51.7 ± 19.8 mL·min−1·1.73 m−2 (mean ± SD)] and 16 patients with nondialysis chronic kidney disease (age: 54.8 ± 16.3 yr, eGFR: 61.9 ± 21.0 mL·min−1·1.73 m−2, acting as a uremic control group), and 16 healthy control participants (age: 52.2 ± 16.2 yr, eGFR: 85.6 ± 6.1 mL·min−1·1.73 m−2) completed 20 min of walking at 60–70% peak O2 consumption. Venous blood samples were taken preexercise, postexercise, and 1 h postexercise. Leukocytes and MPs were assessed using flow cytometry. Exercise increased classical ( P = 0.001) and nonclassical ( P = 0.002) monocyte subset proportions but decreased the intermediate subset ( P < 0.001) in all groups. Exercise also decreased the percentage of platelet-derived MPs that expressed tissue factor in all groups ( P = 0.01), although no other exercise-dependent effects were observed. The exercise-induced reduction in intermediate monocyte percentage suggests an anti-inflammatory effect, although this requires further investigation. The reduction in the percentage of tissue factor-positive platelet-derived MPs suggests reduced prothrombotic potential, although further functional assays are required. Exercise did not cause aberrant immune cell activation, suggesting its safety from an immunological standpoint (ISRCTN38935454).
Validation of an efficient and continuous urodynamic monitoring system for awake, unrestrained, chronic rodent studies
Authors: Angoli D. , Geramipour A. , Danziger Z. C.
Published: November 2019

The postvoid residual (PVR) is an important measure of bladder function, but obtaining PVR is burdensome because bladder volume must be measured at the time of voiding. The PVR measurement problem has led to experimental tricks in animal studies (infusing the bladder at supraphysiological rates and limiting animal observation windows) to keep the number of observed voids statistically robust while reducing the time an experimenter must be present. Our solution to the PVR measurement problem is a system called Automatic Monitoring for Efficient, Awake, Sensitive, Urine Residual Estimation (AMEASURE). AMEASURE combines metabolic cages and optimization algorithms to estimate continuously PVR for every voiding event 24 h/day for multiple weeks, without artificial bladder infusion, continuous experimenter supervision, anesthesia, or restraints. Using AMEASURE, we obtained voided volumes, PVRs, and other urodynamic parameters continuously for 21 days in 10 healthy female Sprague-Dawley rats. Importantly, this required only one manual measurement of animals’ bladder volume every 12 h. We validated the accuracy of the system experimentally and in simulation. We detected marked differences in voiding frequency and efficiency between light and dark cycles and found that voiding frequency increased over time during the dark cycle (but not the light cycle), due to surgical recovery, cage acclimation, and socialization. This tool enhances the relevance of rodent models to the study of human lower urinary tract by expanding observation periods and obviating the need to infuse the bladder and facilitates the study of conditions for which behavioral, social, or circadian factors play essential roles.
Response Bandwidth Design of Fabry-Perot Sensors for Partial Discharge Detection Based on Frequency Analysis
Authors: Chen Qi-Chao , Zhang Wei-Chao , Zhao Hong
Published: November 2019

The insulation of power equipment can be effectively assessed by analyzing the acoustic signals originated from partial discharges (PD). Fabry-Perot (F-P) sensors are capable of detecting PD acoustic signals. Although the frequency bandwidth of an F-P sensor is mainly referred to conventional piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sensor, it is still doubtful to identify a suitable bandwidth for fiber sensors in detection of PD signals. To achieve a suitable bandwidth for an F-P sensor, the frequency distribution of PD acoustic emission is investigated, and an extrinsic F-P sensor is designed to detect acoustic signals generated from PD. F-P sensors with different intrinsic frequencies are fabricated as possible design standards of bandwidth for acoustic detection. PD acoustic signals are detected by these F-P sensors and PZT sensors in the experimental system, in which four typical electrode models are employed. The measured results of frequency performance are analyzed in linear and semilogarithmic coordinates. The results show that F-P sensors can effectively detect PD acoustic emissions in both wideband and narrowband modes. Moreover, F-P sensors achieve a higher sensitivity in the narrowband mode. We propose that intrinsic frequency of the F-P sensor should be designed in the frequency range of 100–170 kHz to obtain maximum sensitivity.
A Prospective, Randomized Comparison of Duodenoscope Reprocessing Surveillance Methods
Authors: De Wolfe Travis J. , Safdar Nasia , Meller Megan , Marx John , Pfau Patrick R. , Nelsen Eric M. , Benson Mark E. , Soni Anurag , Reichelderfer Mark , Duster Megan , Gopal Deepak V.
Published: November 2019

Duodenoscope use in healthcare facilities has been associated with transmission of multidrug resistant pathogens between patients. To assist healthcare facilities in monitoring the quality of their duodenoscope reprocessing procedures and limit patient risk of infection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deployed voluntary interim duodenoscope sampling and culturing surveillance protocols in 2015. Though the interim methods were widely adopted, alternative surveillance protocols were developed and implemented at individual institutions. Here, we compared two sampling methods—the 2015 CDC interim protocol and an alternative protocol developed by the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics (UWHC). We hypothesized that the UWHC protocol would detect a higher incidence of bacterial contamination from reprocessed duodenoscopes. A total of 248 sampling events were performed at UWHC. The CDC protocol (n = 129 sampling events) required culturing samples collected from each duodenoscope after brushing its terminal end and flushing its lumen with sterile water. The UWHC protocol (n = 119 sampling events) required culturing samples collected from each duodenoscope after swabbing its elevator, immersing its terminal end into broth and flushing its lumen with saline. With the CDC method, 8.53% (n = 11) of the duodenoscopes sampled were positive for bacterial growth with 15 isolates recovered. Using the UWHC method, 15.13% (n = 18) of cultures were positive for bacterial growth with 20 isolates recovered. The relative risk of identifying a contaminated duodenoscope using the CDC interim method, however, was not different than when using the UWHC protocol. Mean processing time (27.35 and 5.11 minutes, p<0.001) and total cost per sample event ($17.87 and $15.04) were lower using the UWHC method. As the UWHC protocol provides similar detection rates as the CDC protocol, the UWHC method is useful, provided the shorter processing time and lower cost to perform.
Quantitative Nondestructive Testing of Wire Ropes Based on Features Fusion of Magnetic Image and Infrared Image
Authors: Lu Shiliang , Zhang Juwei
Published: November 2019

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) detection is one of the most widely used and best performing wire rope nondestructive testing (NDT) methods for more than a decade. However, the traditional MFL detection has the disadvantages of single source of information, low precision, easy to miss detection, and false detection. To solve these problems, we propose a method of fusion recognition of magnetic image features and infrared image features. A denoising algorithm based on Hilbert vibration decomposition (HVD) and wavelet transform is proposed to denoise the MFL signal, and the modulus maxima method is used to locate and segment the defect. An infrared image acquisition system was designed to collect the infrared image of the surface of the wire rope. Digital image processing techniques are used to segment infrared defect images. The features of the MFL image and the infrared image are extracted separately for fusion. The fusion feature is input into the nearest neighbor (NN) algorithm for quantitative identification, and the same data are input into the backpropagation (BP) neural network for comparison verification. The experimental results show that the fusion of MFL features and infrared features effectively improves the recognition rate of wire rope defects and reduces the recognition error.
Genomics Analysis of Metabolic Pathways of Human Stem Cell-Derived Microglia-Like Cells and the Integrated Cortical Spheroids
Authors: Bejoy Julie , Yuan Xuegang , Song Liqing , Hua Thien , Jeske Richard , Sart Sébastien , Sang Qing-Xiang Amy , Li Yan
Published: November 2019

Brain spheroids or organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are still not capable of completely recapitulating in vivo human brain tissue, and one of the limitations is lack of microglia. To add built-in immune function, coculture of the dorsal forebrain spheroids with isogenic microglia-like cells (D-MG) was performed in our study. The three-dimensional D-MG spheroids were analyzed for their transcriptome and compared with isogenic microglia-like cells (MG). Cortical spheroids containing microglia-like cells displayed different metabolic programming, which may affect the associated phenotype. The expression of genes related to glycolysis and hypoxia signaling was increased in cocultured D-MG spheroids, indicating the metabolic shift to aerobic glycolysis, which is in favor of M1 polarization of microglia-like cells. In addition, the metabolic pathways and the signaling pathways involved in cell proliferation, cell death, PIK3/AKT/mTOR signaling, eukaryotic initiation factor 2 pathway, and Wnt and Notch pathways were analyzed. The results demonstrate the activation of mTOR and p53 signaling, increased expression of Notch ligands, and the repression of NF-κB and canonical Wnt pathways, as well as the lower expression of cell cycle genes in the cocultured D-MG spheroids. This analysis indicates that physiological 3-D microenvironment may reshape the immunity of in vitro cortical spheroids and better recapitulate in vivo brain tissue function for disease modeling and drug screening.
Fabrication of Reduced Graphene Oxide-Ag Nanocomposites and Analysis on the Interaction with BSA
Authors: Zhang Huali , Liu Wen , Yang Linqing , Liu Jun , Wang Yunfei , Mao Xuyan , Wang Jing , Xu Xiangyu
Published: November 2019

Graphene is an excellent platform to support and stabilize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The reduced graphene oxide-silver nanoparticles (rGO-AgNPs) were synthesized by the chemical reduction method and characterized by using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and scanning probe microscopy (SPM). The binding reaction of rGO-AgNPs with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by using fluorescence spectrometry and SPM. As the concentration of AgNPs increased, the fluorescence spectrum was quenched, and the quenching process of rGO-AgNPs and BSA was static quenching. Thermodynamic parameters of the absorption process were evaluated at different temperatures, and the negative values of Gibbs free energy (

Δ
G

) showed that this process was spontaneous. The main type of interaction was hydrophobic interaction according to the values of changes in standard enthalpy (

Δ
H

) and entropy (

Δ
S

). In addition, the morphology changes of proteins interacting with nanomaterials were detected by SPM.
Metagenomics and Faecal Metabolomics Integrative Analysis towards the Impaired Glucose Regulation and Type 2 Diabetes in Uyghur-Related Omics
Authors: Nuli Rebiya , Azhati Jureti , Cai Junxiu , Kadeer Aizhatiguli , Zhang Bing , Mohemaiti Patamu
Published: November 2019

Objective. Gut microbiota and their metabolites play an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This research was designed to study the relationship between gut microbiota and faecal metabolites of Uyghur newly onset T2DM and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) patients.Materials and Methods. A total of 60 different glycemic Uyghur subjects were enrolled and divided into T2DM, IGR, and normal glucose tolerance (NGT) groups. Metagenomics and LC-MS-based untargeted faecal metabolomics were employed. Correlations between bacterial composition and faecal metabolomics were evaluated.Results. We discovered that the composition and diversity of gut microbiota in newly onset T2DM and IGR were different from those in NGT. Theα-diversity was higher in NGT than in T2DM and IGR;β-diversity analysis revealed apparent differences in the bacterial community structures between patients with T2DM, IGR, and NGT. LC-MS faecal metabolomics analysis discovered different metabolomics features in the three groups. Alchornoic acid, PE (14 : 0/20 : 3), PI, L-tyrosine, LysoPC (15 : 0), protorifamycin I, pimelic acid, epothilone A, 7-dehydro-desmosterol, L-lysine, LysoPC (14 : 1), and teasterone are the most significant differential enriched metabolites. Most of the differential enriched metabolites were involved in metabolic processes, including carbohydrate metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and biosynthesis of amino acids. Procrustes analysis and correlation analysis identified correlations between gut microbiota and faecal metabolites. Matricin was positively correlated withBacteroidesand negatively correlated withActinobacteria; protorifamycin I was negatively correlated withActinobacteria; epothilone A was negatively correlated withActinobacteriaand positively correlated withFirmicutes; PA was positively correlated withBacteroidesand negatively correlated withFirmicutes; and cristacarpin was positively correlated withActinobacteria; however, this correlation relationship does not imply causality.Conclusions. This study used joint metagenomics and metabolomics analyses to elucidate the relationship between gut microbiota and faecal metabolites in different glycemic groups, and the result suggested that metabolic disorders and gut microbiota dysbiosis occurred in Uyghur T2DM and IGR. The results provide a theoretical basis for studying the pathological mechanism for further research.
Effects of Empathy on the Evolutionary Dynamics of Fairness in Group‐Structured Systems
Authors: Zhang Yanling , Liu Jian , Li Aming
Published: November 2019

The ultimatum game has been a prominent paradigm in studying the evolution of fairness. It predicts that responders should accept any nonzero offer and proposers should offer the smallest possible amount according to orthodox game theory. However, the prediction strongly contradicts with the experimental behaviors where the mean offer typically ranges from 0.3 to 0.5 and the mean demand tends to lie between 0.2 and 0.35. To explain the evolution of such fair behaviors, here we introduce empathy in a mutation‐selection process with group structure and find that our results quantitatively reproduce the experimental behaviors at low randomness with intermediate empathy or relatively high randomness with small empathy. Moreover, we show that with low randomness more empathy leads to a fairer outcome with a higher mean offer and demand. Counterintuitively, more empathy corresponds to a lower mean offer together with a higher mean demand for relatively high randomness. Finally, we analytically provide the mean offer and demand under both weak and strong intensities of selection when the largest or smallest level of empathy is introduced. Our study provides systematic insights into the evolutionary origin of fairness in a mutation‐selection process with empathetic strategies and group structure.
An Energy and SLA-Aware Resource Management Strategy in Cloud Data Centers
Authors: Zhang Chi , Wang Yuxin , Lv Yuanchen , Wu Hao , Guo He
Published: November 2019

Reducing energy consumption of data centers is an important way for cloud providers to improve their investment yield, but they must also ensure that the services delivered meet the various requirements of consumers. In this paper, we propose a resource management strategy to reduce both energy consumption and Service Level Agreement (SLA) violations in cloud data centers. It contains three improved methods for subproblems in dynamic virtual machine (VM) consolidation. For making hosts detection more effective and improving the VM selection results, first, the overloaded hosts detecting method sets a dynamic independent saturation threshold for each host, respectively, which takes the CPU utilization trend into consideration; second, the underutilized hosts detecting method uses multiple factors besides CPU utilization and the Naive Bayesian classifier to calculate the combined weights of hosts in prioritization step; and third, the VM selection method considers both current CPU usage and future growth space of CPU demand of VMs. To evaluate the performance of the proposed strategy, it is simulated in CloudSim and compared with five existing energy–saving strategies using real-world workload traces. The experimental results show that our strategy outperforms others with minimum energy consumption and SLA violation.
WNT7A Overexpression Inhibits Growth and Migration of Hepatocellular Carcinoma via the β-Catenin Independent Pathway
Authors: Lan Lihui , Wang Wei , Huang Yue , Zhao Chenghai , Bu Xianmin
Published: November 2019

Background/Aims. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the lethal digestive cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men worldwide. Wnt7a, a 39Kd secreted glycoprotein composed of 349 amino acids, was reported to be related to various diseases. However, its role in HCC has not been studied yet. In this study, using gene expression data and clinical information obtained from the Oncomine and KMplot database, we acknowledged that WNT7A was underexpressed in HCC cancer tissue compared with normal tissue, and WNT7A underexpression was correlated with the decreased survival rate of HCC patients. The function of Wnt7a in cell viability, apoptosis, and migration was evaluated by biological behavior assay and molecular analysis. The findings revealed that WNT7A overexpression significantly restrained cell viability and migration while enhancing apoptosis. In addition, WNT7A overexpression promoted cell apoptosis by strengthening Caspase-3 activity and inhibited migration by downregulating EMT transcriptional factor Snail. Furthermore, the expression level of SKP2 was significantly downregulating in the WNT7A overexpression group. In conclusion, this study illustrated that overexpression of WNT7A inhibited cell viability and migration, which was likely attributed to the regulation of SKP2/P21.
MWPoW: Multiple Winners Proof of Work Protocol, a Decentralisation Strengthened Fast-Confirm Blockchain Protocol
Authors: Xu Yibin , Huang Yangyu
Published: November 2019

Blockchain mining should not be a game among power oligarchs. In this paper, we present the Multiple Winners Proof of Work Protocol (MWPoW), a mining-pool-like decentralised blockchain consensus protocol. MWPoW enables disadvantaged nodes which post only a small amount of calculation resource in the mining game to create blocks together and compete with power oligarchs without centralised representatives. A precise Support Rate of blocks can be determined through the mining process; the mechanism of the mainchain determination is therefore changed and has become faster and more straightforward. A method that periodically adjusts the block size and the block interval is introduced into MWPoW, which increases the system flexibility in the changes of network conditions and data flow. Experiments suggest, without lifting calculation and bandwidth requirements, MWPoW is more attractive to disadvantaged nodes due to its mostly increased reward expectation for disadvantaged nodes. The transaction pending time is shortened chiefly, and either the block interval or the block size can be adapted amid the changes of overall network conditions.
Unforeseen Hodgkin Lymphoma Hidden behind Hypercalcemia
Authors: Ghrewati Moutaz , Singh Balraj , Kaur Parminder , Maroules Michael
Published: November 2019

As one of the leading causes of hypercalcemia, malignancy is an essential consideration when patients present with such symptomology. While certain tumors are more known to cause hypercalcemia, it can occur with almost any type of cancer. Hodgkin lymphoma is an infrequent cause of hypercalcemia. Only a few case reports have been published in the literature to date. We report an unusual case of a 61-year-old female who presented with altered mental status, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness and was found to have multiple enlarged lymph nodes, and blood work showed hypercalcemia. Biopsy of the cervical lymph node showed Hodgkin lymphoma of the nodular sclerosis subtype. Our case aims to raise awareness of this rare but significant presentation of hypercalcemia and how timely treatment of calcium levels can facilitate the employment of available chemotherapeutic options.
Increased BMPR1A Expression Enhances the Adipogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis
Authors: Liu Zhenhua , Wang Peng , Cen Shuizhong , Gao Liangbin , Xie Zhongyu , Wu Xiaohua , Su Hongjun , Wu Yanfeng , Shen Huiyong
Published: November 2019

Objective. To investigate the adipogenic differentiation capacity of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients and explore the mechanism of abnormal MSC adipogenesis in AS.Methods. MSCs from patients with AS (ASMSCs) and healthy donors (HDMSCs) were cultured in adipogenic differentiation medium for up to 21 days. Adipogenic differentiation was determined using oil red O (ORO) staining and quantification and was confirmed by assessing adipogenic marker expression (PPAR-γ, FABP4, and adiponectin). Gene expression of adipogenic markers was detected using qRT-PCR. Protein levels of adipogenic markers and signaling pathway-related molecules were assessed via Western blotting. Levels of bone morphogenetic proteins 4, 6, 7, and 9 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Lentiviruses encoding short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) were constructed to reverse abnormal bone morphogenetic protein receptor 1A (BMPR1A) expression and evaluate its role in abnormal ASMSC adipogenic differentiation. Bone marrow fat content was assessed using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. BMPR1A expression in bone marrow MSCs was measured using immunofluorescence staining.Results. ASMSCs exhibited a greater adipogenic differentiation capacity than HDMSCs. During adipogenesis, ASMSCs expressed BMPR1A at higher levels, which activated the BMP-pSmad1/5/8 signaling pathway and increased adipogenesis. BMPR1A silencing using an shRNA eliminated the difference in adipogenic differentiation between HDMSCs and ASMSCs. Moreover, HE and immunofluorescence staining showed higher bone marrow fat content and BMPR1A expression in patients with AS than in healthy donors.Conclusion. Increased BMPR1A expression induces abnormal ASMSC adipogenic differentiation, potentially contributing to fat metaplasia and thus new bone formation in patients with AS.
Internal Force Analysis and Field Test of Lattice Beam Based on Winkler Theory for Elastic Foundation Beam
Authors: Li Jingbang , Zhu Yanpeng , Ye Shuaihua , Ma Xiaorui
Published: November 2019

As a new flexible supporting structure, prestressed anchor cable lattice beams have been widely used in high‐slope support engineering and have achieved good results. However, theoretical research on the internal force analysis of lattice beams is far behind engineering practice. Based on the theory of the Winkler elastic foundation model, a mechanical model of a prestressed anchor cable lattice beam at the tension stage was established. Considering the nonhomogeneous lattice beam materials, a calculation method was given and applied to engineering examples. A calculation method of the measured moment was introduced in the field test conducted in the Zhouqu County “8·8” debris flow disaster reconstruction project. Comparisons between the test results and the theoretical results were performed. The results showed that the theoretical results of the distribution trend of the lattice beam moment were consistent with the test results, which verified the rationality of the proposed calculation method. The inertia moment of the beam section solved by the transformed section method was more realistic. The results of the transformed section method could improve the bending resistance of the lattice beam and reduce the reinforcement ratio. The greater the anchoring force was, the more obvious the lifting effect was. The anchoring force was an important influencing factor of the internal force of the lattice beam. The greater the anchoring force was, the greater the lattice beam moment was, and they showed the same proportional change phenomenon. Compared with the theoretical moment, the measured moment obtained by the test was smaller, which indicated that the lattice beam of the tested slope was safe at the present stage.
A Heuristic Approach to Identify the Steel Grid Direction of R/C Slabs Using the Yield‐Line Method for Analysis
Authors: Fenu Luigi , Colasanti Valeria , Congiu Eleonora , Giaccu Gian Felice , Trentadue Francesco , Briseghella Bruno
Published: November 2019

In the last few years, nonregular reinforced concrete (R/C) slabs have become more popular in buildings and bridges due to architectural or functional requirements. In these cases, an optimum design method to obtain the ultimate load capacity and the minimum reinforcement amount should be used. For simple R/C slabs, the yield‐line method is extensively used in engineering practice. In addition to strength, the “true” failure mechanism is also obtained by identifying the parameters that define it and minimizing the collapse load. Unfortunately, when the mechanism is too complicated to be described or defined by several parameters (e.g., in slabs with complicated geometry), the method becomes more difficult because the system of nonlinear equations becomes harder to solve through traditional methods. In this case, an efficient and robust algorithm becomes necessary. In this paper, a structural analysis of R/C slabs is performed by using the yield‐line method in association with a zero‐th order optimization algorithm (the sequential simplex method) to avoid calculating gradients as well as any derivatives. The constraints that often limit these parameters are taken into account through the exterior penalty function method, leading to a successful solution of the problem. Considering that the direction of each yield‐line is sought by minimizing the ultimate load and finding the parameters defining the collapse mechanism, another parameter concerned with the direction of an orthotropic reinforcement grid is introduced. In this way, the number of unknown parameters increases, but aside from obtaining the ultimate load and the parameters defining the collapse mechanism, the solution also finds both best and worst reinforcement orientations.