bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Integrated Approach for Assessing the Impact of Large‐Scale Future Floods on a Highway Transport System
Authors: Wang Weiping , Yang Saini , Gao Jianxi , Hu Fuyu , Zhao Wanyi , Stanley H. Eugene
Published: June 2020

The negative impact of climate change continues to escalate flood risk. Floods directly and indirectly damage highway systems and disturb the socioeconomic order. In this study, we propose an integrated approach to quantitatively assess how floods impact the functioning of a highway system. The approach has three parts: (1) a multi‐agent simulation model to represent traffic, heterogeneous user demand, and route choice in a highway network; (2) a flood simulator using future runoff scenarios generated from five global climate models, three representative concentration pathways (RCPs), and the CaMa‐Flood model; and (3) an impact analyzer, which superimposes the simulated floods on the highway traffic simulation system, and quantifies the flood impact on a highway system based on car following model. This approach is illustrated with a case study of the Chinese highway network. The results show that (i) for different global climate models, the associated flood damage to a highway system is not linearly correlated with the forcing levels of RCPs, or with future years; (ii) floods in different years have variable impacts on regional connectivity; and (iii) extreme flood impacts can cause huge damages in highway networks; that is, in 2030, the estimated 84.5% of routes between provinces cannot be completed when the highway system is disturbed by a future major flood. These results have critical implications for transport sector policies and can be used to guide highway design and infrastructure protection. The approach can be extended to analyze other networks with spatial vulnerability, and it is an effective quantitative tool for reducing systemic disaster risk.
Supply Constraint from Earthquakes in Japan in Input–Output Analysis
Authors: Yagi Michiyuki , Kagawa Shigemi , Managi Shunsuke , Fujii Hidemichi , Guan Dabo
Published: June 2020

Disasters often cause exogenous flow damage (i.e., the [hypothetical] difference in economic scale with and without a disaster in a certain period) to production (“supply constraint”). However, input‐output (IO) analysis (IOA) cannot usually consider it, because the Leontief quantity model (LQM) assumes that production is endogenous; the Ghosh quantity model (GQM) is considered implausible; and the Leontief price model (LPM) and the Ghosh price model (GPM) assume that quantity is fixed. This study proposes to consider a supply constraint in the LPM, introducing the price elasticity of demand. This study uses the loss of social surplus (SS) as a damage estimation because production (sales) is less informative as a damage index than profit (margin); that is, production can be any amount if without considering profit, and it does not tell exactly how much profit is lost for each supplier (upstream sector) and buyer (downstream sector). As a model application, this study examines Japan's largest five earthquakes from 1995 to 2017 and the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) in March 2011. The worst earthquake at the peak tends to increase price by 10–20% and decrease SS by 20–30%, when compared with the initial month's prices/production. The worst damage tends to last eight months at most, accumulating 0.5‐month‐production damage (i.e., the sum of [hypothetical] differences in SS with and without an earthquake [for eight months] is 50% of the initial month production). Meanwhile, the GEJE in the five prefectures had cumulatively, a 25‐month‐production damage until the temporal recovery at the 37th month.
Multilevel Network Meta-Regression for Population-Adjusted Treatment Comparisons
Authors: Phillippo David M. , Dias Sofia , Ades A. E. , Belger Mark , Brnabic Alan , Schacht Alexander , Saure Daniel , Kadziola Zbigniew , Welton Nicky J.
Published: June 2020

Standard network meta-analysis (NMA) and indirect comparisons combine aggregate data from multiple studies on treatments of interest, assuming that any effect modifiers are balanced across populations. Population adjustment methods relax this assumption using individual patient data from one or more studies. However, current matching-adjusted indirect comparison and simulated treatment comparison methods are limited to pairwise indirect comparisons and cannot predict into a specified target population. Existing meta-regression approaches incur aggregation bias. We propose a new method extending the standard NMA framework. An individual level regression model is defined, and aggregate data are fitted by integrating over the covariate distribution to form the likelihood. Motivated by the complexity of the closed form integration, we propose a general numerical approach using quasi-Monte-Carlo integration. Covariate correlation structures are accounted for by using copulas. Crucially for decision making, comparisons may be provided in any target population with a given covariate distribution. We illustrate the method with a network of plaque psoriasis treatments. Estimated population-average treatment effects are similar across study populations, as differences in the distributions of effect modifiers are small. A better fit is achieved than a random effects NMA, uncertainty is substantially reduced by explaining within- and between-study variation, and estimates are more interpretable.
Estimating The Binary Endogenous Effect of Insurance on Doctor Visits by Copula-Based Regression Additive Models
Authors: Marra Giampiero , Radice Rosalba , Zimmer David M.
Published: June 2020

The paper estimates the causal effect of having health insurance on healthcare utilization, while accounting for potential endogeneity bias. The topic has important policy implications, because health insurance reforms implemented in the USA in recent decades have focused on extending coverage to the previously uninsured. Consequently, understanding the effects of those reforms requires an accurate estimate of the causal effect of insurance on utilization. However, obtaining such an estimate is complicated by the discreteness inherent in common measures of healthcare usage. The paper presents a flexible estimation approach, based on copula functions, that consistently estimates the coefficient of a binary endogenous regressor in count data settings. The relevant numerical computations can be easily carried out by using the freely available GJRM R package. The empirical results find significant evidence of favourable selection into insurance. Ignoring such selection, insurance appears to increase doctor visit usage by 62% but, adjusting for it, the effect increases to 134%.
International normalized ratio (INR) values in patients receiving oral vitamin K antagonists and undergoing oral surgery: A clinical audit
Authors: Lombardi Niccolò , Varoni Elena M. , Sorrentino Daniela , Lodi Giovanni
Published: June 2020

Introduction

Dental extractions can be safely carried out on patients under vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) therapy, without stopping or changing the dosage, but the international normalized ratio (INR) needs to be monitored on the day of the intervention, showing adequate rates before proceeding.

Objectives

This study aims at evaluating INR values, measured before oral surgery procedures, to assess the rate of patients, under VKAs therapy, outside the therapeutic range.

Materials and methods

A clinical audit was carried out involving patients under VKAs, who needed minor oral surgery procedures, over a period of 18 months. The patient was instructed to not modify or suspend VKAs prior to the intervention. Before surgery, each patient fulfilled a questionnaire on dietary and oral hygiene habits, and a blood sample was collected for INR assessment (cut‐off value for surgical procedure ≤3.5).

Results

One hundred twenty‐two patients were enrolled: 69 (56.6%) had an INR value within the established therapeutic range, 53 (43.4%) were out of range. No intra‐ or postsurgical major bleeding was recorded.

Conclusions

INR, measured on the same day of oral surgery, has the potential to prevent bleeding complications by the identification of those patients out of range, who may require adjusting the drug therapeutic dosage.
Immunodeficiency in cartilage‐hair hypoplasia: Pathogenesis, clinical course and management
Authors: Vakkilainen Svetlana , Taskinen Mervi , Mäkitie Outi
Published: June 2020

Cartilage‐hair hypoplasia (CHH) is an autosomal recessive syndromic immunodeficiency with skeletal dysplasia, short stature, hypotrichosis, variable degree of immune dysfunction and increased incidence of anaemia, Hirschsprung disease and malignancy. CHH is caused by variants in the RMRP gene, encoding the untranslated RNA molecule of the mitochondrial RNA‐processing endoribonuclease, which participates in for example cell cycle regulation and telomere maintenance. Recent studies have expanded our understanding of the complex pathogenesis of CHH. Immune dysfunction has a major impact on clinical course and prognosis. Clinical features of immune dysfunction are highly variable, progressive and include infections, lung disease, immune dysregulation and malignancy. Mortality is increased compared with the general population, due to infections, malignancy and pulmonary disease. Several risk factors for early mortality have been reported in the Finnish CHH cohort and can be used to guide management. Newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency can possibly be of prognostic value in CHH. Regular follow‐up by a multidisciplinary team should be implemented to address immune dysfunction in all patients with CHH, also in asymptomatic cases. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation can cure immune dysfunction, but its benefits in mildly symptomatic patients with CHH remain debatable. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind the variability of clinical features, to search for potential molecular treatment targets, to examine and validate risk factors for early mortality outside the Finnish CHH cohort and to develop management guidelines. This review focuses on the pathogenesis, clinical course and management of CHH.
Cycling‐specific isometric resistance training improves peak power output in elite sprint cyclists
Authors: Kordi Mehdi , Folland Jonathan P , Goodall Stuart , Menzies Campbell , Patel Tejal Sarika , Evans Martin , Thomas Kevin , Howatson Glyn
Published: June 2020

Introduction

This study aimed to assess the efficacy of a 6‐week cycling‐specific, isometric resistance training program on peak power output (PPO) in elite cyclists.

Methods

Twenty‐four elite track sprint cyclists were allocated to EXP (n = 13, PPO, 1537 ± 307 W) and CON (n = 11, PPO, 1541 ± 389 W) groups. All participants completed a 6‐week training program; training content was identical except participants in the EXP group replaced their usual compound lower body resistance training exercise with a cycling‐specific, isometric resistance training stimulus. Cycling PPO, knee extensor and cycling‐specific isometric strength, and measures of muscle architecture were assessed pre‐ and post‐training.

Results

In EXP, absolute and relative PPO increased (46 ± 62 W and 0.8 ± 0.7 W/kg, P < .05), and the change in relative PPO was different to CON (−0.1 ± 1.0 W/kg, group × time interaction P = .02). The increase in PPO was concurrent with an increase in extrapolated maximal torque in EXP (7.1 ± 6.5 Nm, P = .007), but the effect was not different from the change in CON (2.4 ± 9.7 Nm, group × time P = .14). Cycling‐specific isometric strength also increased more in EXP (group × time P = .002). There were no other between‐group differences in response to training.

Conclusion

A 6‐week novel, cycling‐specific isometric resistance training period improved PPO in a group of elite sprint cyclists by 3%‐4%. These data support the use of a cycling‐specific isometric resistance training stimulus in the preparation programs of world‐class cyclists.
Antiblackness as a Logic for Anti‐Immigrant Resentment: Evidence From California
Authors: Mora G. Cristina , Paschel Tianna S.
Published: June 2020

Drawing on data from a novel survey of Californians, this article examines the relationship between anti‐immigrant resentment and antiblackness. Over the last decade, there has been a significant increase in research on anti‐immigrant resentment, as well as a steady growth in public opinion literature on antiblack bias. Nonetheless, there are almost no studies that examine the relationship between these types of attitudes. Using two different measures of anti‐immigrant resentment and three different measures of antiblack bias, we find that antiblackness among those Californians surveyed was significantly and robustly correlated with anti‐immigrant resentment. Our findings suggest that even in a state where there is a relatively small black population and where there is little overlap between the categories of “black” and “immigrant,” attitudes toward blacks may be shaping attitudes toward immigrants. The findings suggest a need to move beyond dyadic theories of othering and in doing so, to think more critically about how the racialization of one group can shape the racialization of other groups.
Uncharitable Acts in Charity: Socioeconomic Drivers of Charity‐Related Fraud
Authors: Goel Rajeev K.
Published: June 2020

Objective

This article examines determinants of charity‐related crimes, focusing on socioeconomic influences. Charity crimes have proliferated in recent years but formal research on their causes is limited.

Method

Estimation methods using robust regression and two‐stage least squares are used, employing data across states in the United States obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other government sources.

Results

The estimation results show that states with heightened cases of identity theft have greater charity‐related crimes. However, I found no contagion from border identity theft or border charity crimes. With regard to other social factors, race and ethnic homogeneity were associated with charity crimes. Among economic factors, economic prosperity and economic disparity did not matter, but unemployment was associated with more charity crimes. Different dimensions of charity markets did not significantly matter.

Conclusion

The findings show that other white‐collar crimes such as identity theft might be crucially driving charity crimes.
Characterization of the novel HLA‐DQB1*02:141 allele by sequencing‐based typing
Authors: Elsermans Vincent , Visentin Jonathan , Top Isabelle , Varlet Pauline , Labalette Myriam
Published: June 2020

HLA‐DQB1*02:141 differs from HLA‐DQB1*02:02:01:01 by one nucleotide substitution at codon 55 in exon 2.
Characterization of the novel HLA‐B*18:161 allele by sequencing‐based typing
Authors: Elsermans Vincent , Visentin Jonathan , Top Isabelle , Varlet Pauline , Labalette Myriam
Published: June 2020

HLA‐B*18:161 differs from HLA‐B*18:01:01:01 by one nucleotide substitution in codon 136 in exon 3.
Specific donor HLA allotypes as predictors of cytomegalovirus disease risk in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Min Gi‐June , Kim Hee‐Je , Kim Tai‐Gyu , Hyun You‐Seok , Hyun Seung‐Joo , Baek In‐Cheol , Yoon Seug Yun , Park Sung‐Soo , Park Silvia , Yoon Jae‐Ho , Lee Sung‐Eun , Cho Byung‐Sik , Eom Ki‐Seong , Kim Yoo‐Jin , Lee Seok , Min Chang‐Ki , Cho Seok‐Goo , Kim Dong‐Wook , Lee Jong Wook
Published: June 2020

Some HLA alleles have been shown to be associated with susceptibility to cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease incidence in vitro. The objective of this study was to identify correlations between donor HLA allotypes and CMV disease incidence in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who had undergone allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods and materials we retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 613 donors and recipients with acute myeloid leukemia who had received an allogeneic HSCT from matched sibling (n = 260), unrelated (n = 168), or haploidentical (n = 186) donors, from 2012 to 2017. The HLA‐A, ‐B, ‐C, and ‐DRB1 allotypes in the donors were determined using sequence‐based typing. Overall, CMV disease incidence was significantly associated with three genotype alleles, HLA‐A*30:04:01G, ‐B*51:01:01G, and ‐DRB1*09:01:02G. In the donor CMV IgG seropositive subgroup, CMV disease incidence was significantly associated with HLA‐B*51:01:01G and ‐DRB1*09:01:02G. In the IgG seropositive donors in the unrelated allo‐HSCT subgroup CMV disease incidence was also significantly associated with HLA‐B*51:01:01G. In the CMV seropositive donors in the haploidentical allo‐HSCT subgroup, the incidence of CMV disease was significantly associated with HLA‐A*24:02:01G and ‐DRB1*09:01:02G. HLA‐DRB1*13:02:01G was a protective marker among IgG seropositive donors in the unrelated allo‐HSCT recipient category. Discussion and conclusions The incidence of CMV disease among HSCT recipients varies according to donor HLA alleles and the donor CMV IgG serostatus. Certain donor HLA alleles can be considered to be risk or protective markers. Donors' HLA types and CMV IgG serostatus should be considered in donor selection.
Geological control on dinosaurs’ rise to dominance: Late Triassic ecosystem stress by relative sea level change
Authors: Klausen Tore G. , Paterson Niall W. , Benton Michael J.
Published: June 2020

The Late Triassic is enigmatic in terms of how terrestrial life evolved: it was the time when new groups arose, such as dinosaurs, lizards, crocodiles and mammals. Also, it witnessed a prolonged period of extinctions, distinguishing it from other great mass extinction events, while the gradual rise of the dinosaurs during the Carnian to Norian remains unexplained. Here we show that key extinctions during the early Norian might have been triggered by major sea‐level changes across the largest delta plain in Earth's history situated in the Triassic Boreal Ocean, northern Pangea. Fossil and rock records display extensive marine inundations with floral turnover, demonstrating how susceptible widespread low‐gradient delta plains were to transgressions. Landward shoreline translocation implies decrease in important coastal regions and ecological stress on the dominant Archosauria, thriving in these habitats, and we argue that these unique geological factors played an important role in dinosaurs gradual rise to dominance.
Prevalence of multidrug‐resistant tuberculosis in Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Tengan Fátima M , Figueiredo Gerusa M , Leite Olavo HM , Nunes Arielle KS , Manchiero Carol , Dantas Bianca P , Magri Mariana C , Barone Antonio A , Bernardo Wanderley M
Published: June 2020

Objectives

To evaluate the prevalence of multidrug‐resistant tuberculosis (MDR‐TB) in individuals living in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Methods

We searched the MEDLINE, Embase and Literatura Latino Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (Lilacs) databases until 08 August 2019 for all studies on the subject, without time or language restrictions. Original studies reporting the prevalence of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin simultaneously (MDR) in LAC, the prevalence of resistance in cases with no previous treatment (new cases) and the prevalence of resistance in previously treated cases were selected. Considering the expected heterogeneity between studies, all analyses were performed using the random effects model, and heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic.

Results

We included 91 studies from 16 countries. The estimated overall prevalence was 13.0% (95% CI 12.0–14.0%), and the heterogeneity between studies was substantial (I2 = 96.1%). In the subgroup analyses, it was observed that the prevalence of MDR‐TB among new cases was 7.0% (95% CI 6.0–7.0%) and in previously treated cases was 26.0% (95% CI 24.0–28.0%).

Conclusions

This review highlights multidrug resistance to antituberculosis drugs in LAC, indicating that prevention strategies have not been effective. Government institutions should invest heavily in strategies for early diagnosis and the rapid availability of effective treatments and prioritise adequate protection for health professionals. In addition, screening programmes should be adopted to prevent secondary cases.
Analysis of DNA methylation and TP53 mutational status for differentiating feline oral squamous cell carcinoma from non‐neoplastic mucosa: A preliminary study
Authors: Renzi Andrea , Morandi Luca , Lenzi Jacopo , Rigillo Antonella , Bettini Giuliano , Bellei Emma , Giacomini Alessandra , Tinto Debora , Sabattini Silvia
Published: June 2020

Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) is characterized by high local invasiveness and early bone lysis. The late diagnosis largely limits the efficacy of therapy and increases treatment‐related morbidity. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the methylation pattern of 10 candidate genes and TP53 mutational status in histologic samples of FOSCC. Results were compared with normal oral mucosa and oral inflammatory lesions, in order to establish a gene panel for FOSCC detection. For 10 cats, the above analyses were also performed on oral brushing samples, in order to explore the utility of these methods for screening purposes. Thirty‐one FOSCC, 25 chronic inflammatory lesions and 12 controls were included. TP53 mutations were significantly more frequent in the FOSCC (68%) than in the non‐neoplastic oral mucosa (3%; P <.001). Based on lasso regression analysis, a step‐wise algorithm including TP53, FLI1, MiR124‐1, KIF1A and MAGEC2 was proposed. The algorithm allowed to differentiate FOSCC with 94% sensitivity and 100% specificity (accuracy, 97%). When applying the proposed algorithm on 10 brushing samples, accuracy decreased to 80%. These results indicate that the altered DNA methylation of specific genes is present in FOSCC, together with a significant proportion of TP53 mutations. Such alterations are infrequent in normal oral mucosa and chronic stomatitis in cats, suggesting their involvement in feline oral carcinogenesis and their utility as diagnostic biomarkers. Further studies on a high number of brushing samples will be needed to assess the utility of a screening test for the early detection of FOSCC.
Exploring the Englishes of world politics
Authors: Bhatia Aditi
Published: June 2020

This issue intends to open the gates to unexplored areas of research and analysis in world Englishes from the prism of critical discourse analysis, by exploring how political discourse can take on the unique linguistic properties of the cultural contexts in which it is conceived and, accordingly, sculpt the identities of all those addressed or involved. As such, the issue borrows data from different parts of the world, including Ghana, Turkey, Britain, Singapore, America, India, and the Middle East, to investigate how political parties, political leaders, and socio‐political movements are most persuasively narrativized when they play on local sentiment and language features representative of local communities and audiences, despite often common, populist aims.
Xenotransplantation in Australia: Development of the regulatory process
Authors: Hawthorne Wayne J. , Cowan Peter J.
Published: June 2020

In this commentary, we present a brief history of the development of a national regulatory framework for xenotransplantation clinical research in Australia, including the reasons behind the imposition of a 5‐year moratorium in 2005 and its subsequent lifting. We conclude with a summary of current relevant guidelines and standards.
Risk of zoonotic transmission of swine influenza at the human–pig interface in Guangdong Province, China
Authors: Li Yin , Edwards John , Huang Baoxu , Shen Chaojian , Cai Chang , Wang Youming , Zhang Guihong , Robertson Ian
Published: June 2020

A cross‐sectional survey was conducted from 2015 to 2018 to assess the risk of zoonotic influenza to humans at the human–pig interface in Guangdong Province, south China. One hundred and fifty‐three pig farmers, 21 pig traders and 16 pig trade workers were recruited using convenience sampling and surveyed at local pig farms, live pig markets and slaughterhouses, respectively. Questionnaires were administered to collect information on the biosecurity and trading practices adopted and their knowledge and beliefs about swine influenza (SI). Most (12 of 16) trade workers said they would enter piggeries to collect pigs and only six of 11 said they were always asked to go through an on‐farm disinfection procedure before entry. Only 33.7% of the interviewees believed that SI could infect humans, although pig farmers were more likely to believe this than traders and trade workers (p < .01). Several unsafe practices were reported by interviewees. ‘Having vaccination against seasonal flu’ (OR = 3.05, 95% CI: 1.19–8.93), ‘Believe that SI can cause death in pigs’ (no/yes: OR = 8.69, 95% CI: 2.71–36.57; not sure/yes: OR = 4.46, 95% CI: 1.63–14.63) and ‘Keep on working when getting mild flu symptoms’ (OR = 3.80, 95% CI: 1.38–11.46) were significantly and positively correlated to ‘lacking awareness of the zoonotic risk of SI’. ‘Lacking awareness of the zoonotic risk of SI’ (OR = 3.19, 95% CI: 1.67–6.21), ‘Keep on working when getting mild flu symptoms’ (OR = 3.59, 95% CI: 1.57–8.63) and ‘Don't know SI as a pig disease’ (OR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.02–16.45) were significantly and positively correlated to ‘not using personal protective equipment when contacting pigs’. The findings of this study would benefit risk mitigation against potential pandemic SI threats in the human–pig interface in China.
Biological validation of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) image oxygen thresholds in tissue
Authors: Gertsenshteyn Inna , Giurcanu Mihai , Vaupel Peter , Halpern Howard
Published: June 2020

Measuring molecular oxygen levels in vivo has been the cornerstone of understanding the effects of hypoxia in normal tissues and malignant tumors. Here we discuss the advances in a variety of partial pressure of oxygen () measurements and imaging techniques and relevant oxygen thresholds. A focus on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) imaging shows the validation of treating hypoxic tumours with a threshold of  ≤ 10 Torr, and demonstrates utility for in vivo oxygen imaging, as well as its current and future role in cancer studies.

image
El covid-19 y su impacto en el contrato de seguros. una visión desde el derecho de seguros
Authors: Signorino Barbat Andrea
Published: June 2020

El impacto de la aparición del nuevo virus, el COVID-19, convertido en una pandemia, y su influencia en los contratos privados, está hoy siendo un tema de intenso debate. De este contexto, no escapa el seguro que cobra una importancia esencial, pues detrás de toda actividad económica, existe, o debería existir, el seguro como elemento que respalde dicha actividad, que permita al comerciante desarrollar su negocio con visión de prevención y sea útil a todas las personas como respaldo ante los infortunios. 

 El contrato de seguros se basa en un equilibro que excede el mero equilibrio contractual entre las prestaciones de las partes, pues su desequilibrio produce consecuencias que afectan no sólo a las partes en el contrato sino que puede llegar a afectar a la mutualidad de asegurados. Si ese desequilibrio permanece sin ser solucionado, si no se recompone el equilibrio, se pone en peligro la solvencia de la empresa de seguros y por lo tanto a todo el sistema asegurador nacional e incluso internacional, cual efecto dominó.

Ante esta realidad técnico -jurídica del seguro, un factor imprevisto como la aparición de la pandemia del COVID-19, puede alterar y mucho, el equilibrio contractual. 

En el presente artículo buscaremos recurrir a los institutos propios del seguro como ser los riesgos no cubiertos, el agravamiento y la disminución del riesgo, para tratar de buscar respuestas en la esfera del derecho de seguros.
Metal Binder Jetting Additive Manufacturing: A Literature Review
Authors: Li Ming , Du Wenchao , Elwany Alaa , Pei Zhijian , Ma Chao
Published: June 2020

Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing process utilizing a liquid-based binding agent to selectively join the material in a powder bed. It is capable of manufacturing complex-shaped parts from a variety of materials including metals, ceramics, and polymers. This paper provides a comprehensive review on currently available reports on metal binder jetting from both academia and industry. Critical factors and their effects in metal binder jetting are reviewed and divided into two categories, namely material-related factors and process-related parameters. The reported data on density, dimensional and geometric accuracy, and mechanical properties achieved by metal binder jetting are summarized. With parameter optimization and a suitable sintering process, ten materials have been proven to achieve a relative density of higher than 90%. Indepth discussion is provided regarding densification as a function of various attributes of powder packing, printing, and post-processing. A few grades of stainless steel obtained equivalent or superior mechanical properties compared to cold working. Although binder jetting has gained its popularity in the past several years, it has not been sufficiently studied compared with other metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes such as powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition. Some aspects that need further research include the understanding of powder spreading process, binder-powder interaction, and part shrinkage.
Tribological Performance of Steel With Multi-Layer Graphene Grown by Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition
Authors: Singh Sudesh , Chen Xinchun , Zhang Chenhui , Gautam Rakesh Kumar , Tyagi Rajnesh , Luo Jianbin
Published: June 2020

To explore the potential of directly grown multi-layer graphene as an agent in reducing friction and wear of steel on steel tribo-pair, multi-layer graphene films were synthesized on GCr15 steel in a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) setup using a gaseous mixture of acetylene and hydrogen onto a bearing steel substrate. An interlayer of electroplated nickel was deposited on steel to assist and accelerate the graphene deposition. The tribological performance was evaluated using a ball-on-disc tribometer with an average Hertzian pressure of 0.2, 0.28, 0.34, and 0.42 GPa over a stroke length of 5 mm against GCr15 steel ball and compared with bare steel and nickel-plated steel. The results indicate that the friction coefficient is dependent on the applied load and decrease with increasing load, and the minimum friction coefficient of ∼0.13 was obtained for an applied normal load of 1 N; however, the coating failed after 250 cycles. The decrease in friction coefficient has been attributed to the homogenization of the deposited multi-layer graphene along the sliding direction and transfer of graphene to counter-face ball leading to inhibition of metal-metal contact. The investigation suggests that this kind of coating has the potential of improving the tribological performance of metal-metal tribo-pairs.
Analysis of Chemo-Poro-Thermo-Mechanical Effects on Wellbore Strengthening
Authors: Li Jia , Qiu Zhengsong , Zhong Hanyi , Zhao Xin , Huang Weian
Published: June 2020

The application of wellbore strengthening treatment has less effect on shale formations. Several numerical studies were developed to describe the mechanism, which promoted the development of wellbore strengthening theory. Previous studies explored the mechanism mainly by considering the seepage flow. Therefore, multi-field coupled models were established to analyze the solute transmission, thermal convection, and heat conduction on wellbore strengthening by introducing the theory of multi-field coupling into physical model. First, the fracture width distribution and wellbore tangential stress were investigated to research the interaction of thermal and chemical effects with different gradients. Then, the concrete mechanism of temperature and solute concentration gradient was analyzed based on the distribution of pore pressure and stress field. Results show that the prediction of hoop stress and fracture aperture may not be accurate without considering the influence of solute transfer, thermal convection, and heat conduction, because stress state is mainly affected by temperature field and the pore pressure varies greatly under different chemical gradients. Additionally, the lower temperature and larger solute concentration improve the wellbore strengthening effect of drilling fluid.
Molecular alterations in the extracellular matrix in the brains of newborns with congenital Zika syndrome
Authors: Aguiar Renato S. , Pohl Fabio , Morais Guilherme L. , Nogueira Fabio C. S. , Carvalho Joseane B. , Guida Letícia , Arge Luis W. P. , Melo Adriana , Moreira Maria E. L. , Cunha Daniela P. , Gomes Leonardo , Portari Elyzabeth A. , Velasquez Erika , Melani Rafael D. , Pezzuto Paula , de Castro Fernanda L. , Geddes Victor E. V. , Gerber Alexandra L. , Azevedo Girlene S. , Schamber-Reis Bruno L. , Gonçalves Alessandro L. , Junqueira-de-Azevedo Inácio , Nishiyama Milton Y. , Ho Paulo L. , Schanoski Alessandra S. , Schuch Viviane , Tanuri Amilcar , Chimelli Leila , Vasconcelos Zilton F. M. , Domont Gilberto B. , Vasconcelos Ana T. R. , Nakaya Helder I.
Published: June 2020

Multiomics analysis reveals the changes that occur in the extracellular matrix in the brains of Zika virus–infected newborns.
A Population-Specific Optimized GeneXpert Pooling Algorithm for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae To Reduce Cost of Molecular Sexually Transmitted Infection Screening in Resource-Limited Settings
Authors: Connolly Sarah , Kilembe William , Inambao Mubiana , Visoiu Ana-Maria , Sharkey Tyronza , Parker Rachel , Wall Kristin M. , Tichacek Amanda , Hunter Eric , Allen Susan
Published: June 2020

The sexually transmitted infections (STIs) chlamydia (CT) and gonorrhea (NG) are often asymptomatic in women and undetected by syndromic management, leading to complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. Molecular testing, such as the GeneXpert CT/NG assay, is highly sensitive, but cost restraints preclude implementation of these technologies in resource-limited settings. Pooled testing is one strategy to reduce the cost per sample, but the extent of savings depends on disease prevalence.
Controlling the Growth of the Skin Commensal Staphylococcus epidermidis Using
d
-Alanine Auxotrophy
Authors: Dodds David , Bose Jeffrey L. , Deng Ming-De , Dubé Gilles R. , Grossman Trudy H. , Kaiser Alaina , Kulkarni Kashmira , Leger Roger , Mootien-Boyd Sara , Munivar Azim , Oh Julia , Pestrak Matthew , Rajpura Komal , Tikhonov Alexander P. , Turecek Traci , Whitfill Travis
Published: June 2020

The skin microbiome is rich in opportunities for novel therapeutics for skin diseases, and synthetic biology offers the advantage of providing novel functionality or therapeutic benefit to live biotherapeutic products. The development of novel bacterial strains whose growth can be controlled without the use of antibiotics or genetic elements conferring antibiotic resistance enables modulation of therapeutic exposure and improves safety. This study presents the design and
in vitro
evidence of a skin commensal whose growth can be controlled through
d-
alanine. The basis of this strain will support future clinical studies of this strain in humans.
Supplemental Material: Archean lithospheric differentiation: Insights from Fe and Zn isotopes
Authors: Doucet Luc , al. et
Published: June 2020

Analytical method for iron purification, and iron isotope values for reference materials.
Geothermal energy resources: potential environmental impact and land reclamation
Authors: Dhar Amalesh , Naeth M. Anne , Jennings P. Devereaux , Gamal El-Din Mohamed
Published: June 2020

With increasing costs, finite sources, and adverse environmental impacts of fossil fuels, global attention has focused on developing renewable and clean sources of energy. Although geothermal energy is considered one of the most promising sources of renewable and clean energy, it may not be as benign as widely believed. In this paper, we evaluate the environmental challenges for geothermal resource extraction and describe potential reclamation strategies for disturbed ecosystems. Generally, the environmental impacts of geothermal power generation and direct use are minor and in most cases controllable. Geothermal plants have low emissions of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia, and low land and water usage; these impacts can be minimized through appropriate mitigation measures. Other potential emissions such as mercury, boron, and arsenic may result in local and regional environmental consequences, although their impacts are poorly understood on a global scale. Geothermal plants can alter vegetation and wildlife habitat by reducing species diversity and community composition. There are small risks of subsidence, induced seismicity, and landslides, with potential serious consequences. Integration of timely reclamation during and after plant operation can significantly contribute to reducing long term reclamation costs while enhancing ecosystem recovery. This paper is expected to contribute to understanding environmental impacts associated with geothermal energy production and to determining appropriate mitigation and land reclamation strategies.
Accurate Lane Detection for Self-Driving Cars: An Approach Based on Color Filter Adjustment and K-Means Clustering Filter
Authors: Liu Dongfang , Wang Yaqin , Chen Tian , Matson Eric T.
Published: June 2020

Lane detection is a crucial factor for self-driving cars to achieve a fully autonomous mode. Due to its importance, lane detection has drawn wide attention in recent years for autonomous driving. One challenge for accurate lane detection is to deal with noise appearing in the input image, such as object shadows, brake marks, breaking lane lines. To address this challenge, we propose an effective road detection algorithm. We leverage the strength of color filters to find a rough localization of the lane marks and employ a K-means clustering filter to screen out the embedded noises. We use an extensive experiment to verify the effectiveness of our method. The result indicates that our approach is robust to process noises appearing in input image, which improves the accuracy in lane detection.
Nearly ETH-tight Algorithms for Planar Steiner Tree with Terminals on Few Faces
Authors: Kisfaludi-Bak Sándor , Nederlof Jesper , Leeuwen Erik Jan van
Published: June 2020

The S
TEINER
T
REE
problem is one of the most fundamental NP-complete problems, as it models many network design problems. Recall that an instance of this problem consists of a graph with edge weights and a subset of vertices (often called terminals); the goal is to find a subtree of the graph of minimum total weight that connects all terminals. A seminal paper by Erickson et al. [Math. Oper. Res., 1987{ considers instances where the underlying graph is planar and all terminals can be covered by the boundary of
k
faces. Erickson et al. show that the problem can be solved by an algorithm using
n
O(k)
time and
n
O(k)
space, where
n
denotes the number of vertices of the input graph. In the past 30 years there has been no significant improvement of this algorithm, despite several efforts.

In this work, we give an algorithm for P
LANAR
S
TEINER
T
REE
with running time 2
O(k)
n
O(√k)
with the above parameterization, using only polynomial space. Furthermore, we show that the running time of our algorithm is almost tight: We prove that there is no
f
(
k
)
n
o(√k)
algorithm for P
LANAR
S
TEINER
T
REE
for any computable function
f
, unless the Exponential Time Hypothesis fails.
Periods of Iterations of Functions with Restricted Preimage Sizes
Authors: Martins Rodrigo S. V. , Panario Daniel , Qureshi Claudio , Schmutz Eric
Published: June 2020

Let [
n
{ = {1, …,
n
} and let Ω
n
be the set of all mappings from [
n
{ to itself. Let
f
be a random uniform element of Ω
n
and let T(
f
) and B(
f
) denote, respectively, the least common multiple and the product of the length of the cycles of
f
. Harris proved in 1973 that T converges in distribution to a standard normal distribution and, in 2011, Schmutz obtained an asymptotic estimate on the logarithm of the expectation of T and B over all mappings on
n
nodes. We obtain analogous results for random uniform mappings on
n
=
kr
nodes with preimage sizes restricted to a set of the form {0,k}, where
k
=
k
(
r
) ≥ 2. This is motivated by the use of these classes of mappings as heuristic models for the statistics of polynomials of the form

x
k

+ a over the integers modulo
p
, with
p
≡ 1 (mod k). We exhibit and discuss our numerical results on this heuristic.
Tight Bounds on Online Checkpointing Algorithms
Authors: Bar-On Achiya , Dinur Itai , Dunkelman Orr , Hod Rani , Keller Nathan , Ronen Eyal , Shamir Adi
Published: June 2020

The problem of online checkpointing is a classical problem with numerous applications that has been studied in various forms for almost 50 years. In the simplest version of this problem, a user has to maintain
k
memorized checkpoints during a long computation, where the only allowed operation is to move one of the checkpoints from its old time to the current time, and his goal is to keep the checkpoints as evenly spread out as possible at all times.

Bringmann, Doerr, Neumann, and Sliacan studied this problem as a special case of an online/offline optimization problem in which the deviation from uniformity is measured by the natural discrepancy metric of the worst case ratio between real and ideal segment lengths. They showed this discrepancy is smaller than 1.59-o(1) for all
k
and smaller than ln 4-o(1)≈ 1.39 for the sparse subset of
k
’s, which are powers of 2. In addition, they obtained upper bounds on the achievable discrepancy for some small values of
k
.

In this article, we solve the main problems left open in the above-mentioned paper by proving that ln 4 is a tight upper and lower bound on the asymptotic discrepancy for all large
k
and by providing tight upper and lower bounds (in the form of provably optimal checkpointing algorithms, some of which are in fact better than those of Bringmann et al.) for all the small values of
k
≤ 10.

In the last part of the article, we describe some new applications of this online checkpointing problem.
Extracting Arabic Composite Names Using Genitive Principles of Arabic Grammar
Authors: Khalil Hussein , Osman Taha , Miltan Mohammed
Published: June 2020

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is a basic prerequisite of using Natural Language Processing (NLP) for information retrieval. Arabic NER is especially challenging as the language is morphologically rich and has short vowels with no capitalisation convention. This article presents a novel rule-based approach that uses linguistic grammar-based techniques to extract Arabic composite names from Arabic text. Our approach uniquely exploits the genitive Arabic grammar rules; in particular, the rules regarding the identification of definite nouns (معرفة) and indefinite nouns (نكرة) to support the process of extracting composite names. Based on domain knowledge and Arabic Genitive Rules (AGR), the developed approach formalises a set of syntactical rules and linguistic patterns that initially use genitive patterns to classify definiteness within phrases and then extracts proper composite names from the unstructured text. The developed novel approach does not place any constraints on the length of the Arabic composite name and our initial experimentation demonstrated high recall and precision results when the NER algorithm was applied to a financial domain corpus.
Hindi EmotionNet
Authors: Garg Kanika , Lobiyal D. K.
Published: June 2020

In this study, we create an emotion lexicon for the Hindi language called Hindi EmotionNet. It can assign emotional affinity to words in IndoWordNet. This lexicon contains 3,839 emotion words, with 1,246 positive and 2,399 negative words. We also introduce ambiguous (217 words) and neutral (95 words) emotions to Hindi. Positive emotion words covered nine types of positive emotions, negative emotion words covered eleven types of negative emotions, ambiguous emotion words covered seven types of ambiguous emotions, and neutral emotion words covered two neutral emotions. The proposed Hindi EmotionNet was then applied to opinion classification and emotion classification. We introduce a centrality-based approach for emotion classification that uses degree, closeness, betweenness, and page rank as centrality measures. We also created a dataset of Hindi based on screenplays, stories, and blogs in the language. We translated emotion data from SemEval 2017 into Hindi for further comparison. The proposed approach delivered promising results on opinion and emotion classification, with an accuracy of 85.78% for the former and 75.91% for the latter.
Real-time Image Smoothing via Iterative Least Squares
Authors: Liu Wei , Zhang Pingping , Huang Xiaolin , Yang Jie , Shen Chunhua , Reid Ian
Published: June 2020

Edge-preserving image smoothing is a fundamental procedure for many computer vision and graphic applications. There is a tradeoff between the smoothing quality and the processing speed: the high smoothing quality usually requires a high computational cost, which leads to the low processing speed. In this article, we propose a new global optimization based method, named iterative least squares (ILS), for efficient edge-preserving image smoothing. Our approach can produce high-quality results but at a much lower computational cost. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can produce results with little visible artifacts. Moreover, the computation of ILS can be highly parallel, which can be easily accelerated through either multi-thread computing or the GPU hardware. With the acceleration of a GTX 1080 GPU, it is able to process images of 1080p resolution (1920 × 1080) at the rate of 20fps for color images and 47fps for gray images. In addition, the ILS is flexible and can be modified to handle more applications that require different smoothing properties. Experimental results of several applications show the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. The code is available at https://github.com/wliusjtu/Real-time-Image-Smoothing-via-Iterative-Least-Squares.
On the Analysis of a Multipartite Entanglement Distribution Switch
Authors: Nain Philippe , Vardoyan Gayane , Guha Saikat , Towsley Don
Published: June 2020

We study a quantum switch that distributes maximally entangled multipartite states to sets of users. The entanglement switching process requires two steps: first, each user attempts to generate bipartite entanglement between itself and the switch; and second, the switch performs local operations and a measurement to create multipartite entanglement for a set of users. In this work, we study a simple variant of this system, wherein the switch has infinite memory and the links that connect the users to the switch are identical. Further, we assume that all quantum states, if generated successfully, have perfect fidelity and that decoherence is negligible. This problem formulation is of interest to several distributed quantum applications, while the technical aspects of this work result in new contributions within queueing theory. Via extensive use of Lyapunov functions, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the stability of the system and closed-form expressions for the switch capacity and the expected number of qubits in memory.