bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Wheat yield and soil properties reveal legacy effects of artificial erosion and amendments on a dryland Dark Brown Chernozem
Authors: Larney Francis J. , Olson Andrew F.
Published: September 2018

Erosion leads to substantial loss of soil productivity. To abate such decline, amendments such as manure or fertilizer have been successfully employed. However, the longevities of erosion and soil amendment legacy effects are not well quantified. In 1957, a Dark Brown Chernozem soil at Lethbridge, AB, was land-levelled, creating three degrees of topsoil removal or erosion: noneroded, moderate erosion, or severe erosion. Two amendment studies (1980–1985 and 1987–1991) were superimposed on the erosion treatments. Both studies were cropped to spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from 1993–2010 to examine legacy effects of erosion and soil amendments on wheat yield and soil properties. Without amendment, mean wheat yield under moderate erosion was 40% of the noneroded treatment, whereas severe erosion was 34% of the noneroded treatment, 36–42 yr (1993–1999) after erosion. Under moderate or severe erosion, the restorative power of manure diminished substantially in the first 10–15 yr following cessation of addition, but then levelled off resulting in wheat yields up to 35% higher than equivalent nonamended treatments. Legacy effects of erosion (54 yr) and amendment (27–31 yr) on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen were also observed.
Mortality assessment of moose (Alces alces) calves during successive years of winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) epizootics in New Hampshire and Maine (USA)
Authors: Jones H. , Pekins P. , Kantar L. , Sidor I. , Ellingwood D. , Lichtenwalner A. , O’Neal M.
Published: September 2018

Populations within ecological communities constantly fluctuate due to a multitude of interactions that can be influenced by climate change. Moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) populations in northern New Hampshire and western Maine, subunits of the largest regional moose population in the continental United States, are suspected to be declining due to increasing frequency of winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus Packard, 1869) epizootics that cause >50% late-winter mortality of 9- to 12-month-old calves. To investigate this hypothesis, we collected general health measurements of calves captured at two study sites in January 2014–2016 and subsequently performed field necropsies and histologic examination of tissues of those radio-marked calves that died during winter and spring. At capture, calves (n = 179) were in normal (66%) and thin (32%) physical condition with high infestations of winter ticks. Most (88%) mortalities (n = 125) were associated with moderate to severe infestations of winter ticks. Gross necropsies and histologic examination found high tick infestations, emaciation, anemia, and endoparasitism; lungworm (species of the genus Dictyocaulus Railliet and Henry, 1907) was also found in most (87%) calves. Three consecutive years (2014–2016) of winter tick epizootics is unprecedented in the region, rare in North America, and arguably reflects a host–parasite relationship strongly influenced by climate change at the southern fringe of moose habitat.
Synthesis of LaMnO3–Diamond Composites and Their Photocatalytic Activity in the Degradation of Weak Acid Red C-3GN
Authors: Huang Hao , Lu Benqian , Liu Yuanyuan , Wang Xeuqian , Hu Jie
Published: September 2018

In this study, a series of LaMnO3–diamond composites with varied LaMnO3 mass contents supported on micro-diamond have been synthesized using a sol–gel method. The as-prepared composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy and the Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR). Meanwhile, the photocatalytic performances were also tested by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflection spectra (UV-Vis DRS) and the degradation of weak acid red C-3GN (RC-3GN). Results show that the peak position of LaMnO3 is shifted to low angle after the introduction of diamond, and perovskite particles uniformly distributed on the surface of diamond, forming a network structure, which can increase the active sites and the absorption of dye molecules. When the mass ratio of LaMnO3 and diamond is 1:2 (LMO–Dia-2), the composite shows the most excellent photocatalytic activity. This result offers a sample route to enlarge the range of the application of micro-diamond and provide a new carrier for perovskite photocatalysts.
Building the universal archive of source code
Authors: Abramatic Jean-François , Di Cosmo Roberto , Zacchiroli Stefano
Published: September 2018

A global collaborative project for the benefit of all.
Shadow Symbolic Execution for Testing Software Patches
Authors: Kuchta Tomasz , Palikareva Hristina , Cadar Cristian
Published: September 2018

While developers are aware of the importance of comprehensively testing patches, the large effort involved in coming up with relevant test cases means that such testing rarely happens in practice. Furthermore, even when test cases are written to cover the patch, they often exercise the same behaviour in the old and the new version of the code. In this article, we present a symbolic execution-based technique that is designed to generate test inputs that cover the new program behaviours introduced by a patch. The technique works by executing both the old and the new version in the same symbolic execution instance, with the old version shadowing the new one. During this combined shadow execution, whenever a branch point is reached where the old and the new version diverge, we generate a test input exercising the divergence and comprehensively test the new behaviours of the new version. We evaluate our technique on the Coreutils patches from the CoREBench suite of regression bugs, and show that it is able to generate test inputs that exercise newly added behaviours and expose some of the regression bugs.
The mythos of model interpretability
Authors: Lipton Zachary C.
Published: September 2018

In machine learning, the concept of interpretability is both important and slippery.
Person-Job Fit
Authors: Zhu Chen , Zhu Hengshu , Xiong Hui , Ma Chao , Xie Fang , Ding Pengliang , Li Pan
Published: September 2018

Person-Job Fit is the process of matching the right talent for the right job by identifying talent competencies that are required for the job. While many qualitative efforts have been made in related fields, it still lacks quantitative ways of measuring talent competencies as well as the job’s talent requirements. To this end, in this article, we propose a novel end-to-end data-driven model based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), namely, the Person-Job Fit Neural Network (PJFNN), for matching a talent qualification to the requirements of a job. To be specific, PJFNN is a bipartite neural network that can effectively learn the joint representation of Person-Job fitness from historical job applications. In particular, due to the design of a hierarchical representation structure, PJFNN can not only estimate whether a candidate fits a job but also identify which specific requirement items in the job posting are satisfied by the candidate by measuring the distances between corresponding latent representations. Finally, the extensive experiments on a large-scale real-world dataset clearly validate the performance of PJFNN in terms of Person-Job Fit prediction. Also, we provide effective data visualization to show some job and talent benchmark insights obtained by PJFNN.
Enabling highly scalable remote memory access programming with MPI-3 one sided
Authors: Gerstenberger Robert , Besta Maciej , Hoefler Torsten
Published: September 2018

Modern high-performance networks offer remote direct memory access (RDMA) that exposes a process' virtual address space to other processes in the network. The
Message Passing Interface
(MPI) specification has recently been extended with a programming interface called MPI-3
Remote Memory Access
(MPI-3 RMA) for efficiently exploiting state-of-the-art RDMA features. MPI-3 RMA enables a powerful programming model that alleviates many message passing downsides. In this work, we design and develop bufferless protocols that demonstrate how to implement this interface and support scaling to millions of cores with negligible memory consumption while providing highest performance and minimal overheads. To arm programmers, we provide a spectrum of performance models for RMA functions that enable rigorous mathematical analysis of application performance and facilitate the development of codes that solve given tasks within specified time and energy budgets. We validate the usability of our library and models with several application studies with up to half a million processes. In a wider sense, our work illustrates how to use RMA principles to accelerate computation- and data-intensive codes.
Transient electronics take shape
Authors: Greengard Samuel
Published: September 2018

Advances in materials science and chemistry are leading to self-destructing circuits and transient electronics, which could impact many fields.
The Rise and Restraint of the Preventive State
Authors: Zedner Lucia , Ashworth Andrew
Published: September 2018

Security has always been a core function of the modern state. Yet the rise of the Preventive State captures an intensification of that role as threats to security and demands for public protection increase, prompting states to prioritize new practices of preventive criminalization, policing, and punishment. The rise of the Preventive State may promise greater security, but the costs of ever more coercive preventive laws and measures are burdensome and pose a threat to civil liberties. This review considers the drivers, multiple manifestations, and direct and collateral consequences of preventive endeavors that assess and manage risk, target hazards, and restrain or detain those deemed dangerous. It also explores their ramifications for criminology and criminal justice. It concludes by considering the potential of criminology to join cross-disciplinary efforts to articulate a new jurisprudence of security and to elaborate principles of preventive justice with which to restrain the excesses of the Preventive State.
Development of Baits for Population Management of Subterranean Termites
Authors: Su Nan-Yao
Published: September 2018

The objective of bait application envisioned by early researchers was to eliminate the source of infestation, the colony, but because of the lack of adequate evaluation tools, results of field trials with mirex baits in the 1960s were mostly inconclusive. On-the-ground monitoring stations and mark-recapture protocol developed in the 1970s marked the turning point in the field studies of termite baits. Results of field studies with metabolic inhibitors and chitin synthesis inhibitors (CSIs) in the 1990s indicated that a bait toxicant has to be slow-acting and nonrepellent, and its lethal time has to be dose independent. A recent discovery that termites return to the central nest to molt and CSI-poisoned termites die near the royal pair further explains the success of CSI baits in eliminating colonies. Owing to the availability of durable baits that require less-frequent site inspection, more termite control professionals have adopted baiting systems in recent years.
Common-Ownership Concentration and Corporate Conduct
Authors: Schmalz Martin C.
Published: September 2018

The question of whether and how partial common-ownership links between strategically interacting firms affect firm objectives and behavior has been the subject of theoretical inquiry for decades. Since then, the growth of intermediated asset management and consolidation in the asset management sector has led to more pronounced common-ownership links at the level at which corporate control is exercised. Recent empirical research has provided evidence consistent with the literature's prediction that common-ownership concentration (CoOCo) can affect product market outcomes. The resulting antitrust concerns have received worldwide attention. However, because CoOCo can change the objective function of a firm, the potential implications span all fields of economics that involve corporate conduct, including corporate governance, strategy, industrial organization, and financial economics. This article connects the papers establishing the theoretical foundations, reviews the empirical and legal literatures, and discusses challenges and opportunities for future research.
Capital Reallocation
Authors: Eisfeldt Andrea L. , Shi Yu
Published: September 2018

Capital reallocation is procyclical, despite measured productive reallocative opportunities being acyclical or even countercyclical. This article reviews the advances in the literature studying the causes and consequences of capital reallocation (or lack thereof). We provide a comprehensive set of stylized facts about capital reallocation for the United States and an illustrative model of capital reallocation in equilibrium. We relate capital reallocation to the broader literatures on business cycles with financial frictions and on resource misallocation and aggregate productivity. Throughout, we provide directions for future research.
Electrohydrodynamics of Drops and Vesicles
Authors: Vlahovska Petia M.
Published: September 2018

The 1969 review by J.R. Melcher and G.I. Taylor defined the field of electrohydrodynamics. Fifty years on, the interaction of weakly conducting (leaky dielectric) fluids with electric fields continues to yield intriguing phenomena. The prototypical system of a drop in a uniform electric field has revealed remarkable dynamics in strong electric fields such as symmetry-breaking instabilities (e.g., Quincke rotation) and streaming from the drop equator. This review summarizes recent experimental and theoretical studies in the area of fluid particles (drop and vesicles) in electric fields, with a focus on the transient dynamics and extreme deformations. A theoretical framework to treat the time evolution of nearly spherical shapes is provided. The model has been successful in describing the dynamics of vesicles (closed lipid membranes) in an electric field, highlighting the broader range of applicability of the leaky dielectric approach.
Sodium–Glucose Cotransporter–2 (SGLT-2) Inhibitors and the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Kramer Caroline K. , Zinman Bernard
Published: September 2018

Clinical studies evaluating the cardiovascular safety/impact of sodium–glucose cotransporter–2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors demonstrated a reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events driven primarily by a reduced cardiovascular mortality in individuals with type 2 diabetes and previous cardiovascular disease. These somewhat unexpected results are coupled with SGLT-2 inhibitors’ known acute effect of improvement in glycemia, reduction in blood pressure, and weight loss. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of action of SGLT-2 inhibitors, the metabolic effects of this class of medication, and the remarkable results of cardiovascular safety trials. In addition, we discuss adverse effects associated with these medications and the current recommendations for the use of these agents in the management of diabetes.
Motor Development: Embodied, Embedded, Enculturated, and Enabling
Authors: Adolph Karen E. , Hoch Justine E.
Published: September 2018

Motor development and psychological development are fundamentally related, but researchers typically consider them separately. In this review, we present four key features of infant motor development and show that motor skill acquisition both requires and reflects basic psychological functions. ( a) Motor development is embodied: Opportunities for action depend on the current status of the body. ( b) Motor development is embedded: Variations in the environment create and constrain possibilities for action. ( c) Motor development is enculturated: Social and cultural influences shape motor behaviors. ( d) Motor development is enabling: New motor skills create new opportunities for exploration and learning that instigate cascades of development across diverse psychological domains. For each of these key features, we show that changes in infants’ bodies, environments, and experiences entail behavioral flexibility and are thus essential to psychology. Moreover, we suggest that motor development is an ideal model system for the study of psychological development.
Nonverbal Communication
Authors: Hall Judith A. , Horgan Terrence G. , Murphy Nora A.
Published: September 2018

The field of nonverbal communication (NVC) has a long history involving many cue modalities, including face, voice, body, touch, and interpersonal space; different levels of analysis, including normative, group, and individual differences; and many substantive themes that cross from psychology into other disciplines. In this review, we focus on NVC as it pertains to individuals and social interaction. We concentrate specifically on ( a) the meanings and correlates of cues that are enacted (sent) by encoders and ( b) the perception of nonverbal cues and the accuracy of such perception. Frameworks are presented for conceptualizing and understanding the process of sending and receiving nonverbal cues. Measurement issues are discussed, and theoretical issues and new developments are covered briefly. Although our review is primarily oriented within social and personality psychology, the interdisciplinary nature of NVC is evident in the growing body of research on NVC across many areas of scientific inquiry.
Inhibitory effects of openers of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels on agonist-induced phasic contractions in rabbit and mouse bronchial smooth muscle
Authors: Bradley Eamonn , Large Roddy J. , Bihun Viktoriia Volodymyrivna , Mullins Nicolas D. , Hollywood Mark A. , Sergeant Gerard P. , Thornbury Keith D.
Published: September 2018

Airway smooth muscle expresses abundant BKCa channels, but their role in regulating contractions remains controversial. This study examines the effects of two potent BKCa channel openers on agonist-induced phasic contractions in rabbit and mouse bronchi. First, we demonstrated the ability of 10 μM GoSlo-SR5-130 to activate BKCa channels in inside-out patches from rabbit bronchial myocytes, where it shifted the activation V1/2 by −88 ± 11 mV (100 nM Ca2+, n = 7). In mouse airway smooth muscle cells, GoSlo-SR5-130 dose dependently shifted V1/2 by 12–83 mV over a concentration range of 1–30 μM. Compound X, a racemic mixture of two enantiomers, reported to be potent BKCa channel openers, shifted V1/2 by 20–79 mV over a concentration range of 0.3–3 μM. In rabbit bronchial rings, exposure to histamine (1 μM) induced phasic contractions after a delay of ~35 min. These were abolished by GoSlo-SR5-130 (30 μM). Nifedipine (100 nM) and CaCCinhA01 (10 μM), a TMEM16A blocker, also abolished histamine-induced phasic contractions. In mouse bronchi, similar phasic contractions were evoked by exposure to U46619 (100 nM) and carbachol (100 nM). In each case, these were inhibited by concentrations of GoSlo-SR5-130 and compound X that shifted the activation V1/2 of BKCa channels in the order of −80 mV. In conclusion, membrane potential-dependent regulation of L-type Ca2+ channels appears to be important for histamine-, U46619-, and carbachol-induced phasic contractions in airway smooth muscle. Contractions can be abolished by BKCa channel openers, suggesting that these channels are potential targets for treating some causes of airway obstruction.
Loss of the adipokine lipocalin-2 impairs satellite cell activation and skeletal muscle regeneration
Authors: Rebalka Irena A. , Monaco Cynthia M. F. , Varah Nina E. , Berger Thorsten , D’souza Donna M. , Zhou Sarah , Mak Tak W. , Hawke Thomas J.
Published: September 2018

Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is an adipokine previously described for its contribution to numerous processes, including innate immunity and energy metabolism. LCN2 has also been demonstrated to be an extracellular matrix (ECM) regulator through its association with the ECM protease matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). With the global rise in obesity and the associated comorbidities related to increasing adiposity, it is imperative to gain an understanding of the cross talk between adipose tissue and other metabolic tissues, such as skeletal muscle. Given the function of LCN2 on the ECM in other tissues and the importance of matrix remodeling in skeletal muscle regeneration, we examined the localization and expression of LCN2 in uninjured and regenerating wild-type skeletal muscle and assessed the impact of LCN2 deletion (LCN2−/−) on skeletal muscle repair following cardiotoxin injury. Though LCN2 was minimally present in uninjured skeletal muscle, its expression was increased significantly at 1 and 2 days postinjury, with expression present in Pax7-positive satellite cells. Although satellite cell content was unchanged, the ability of quiescent satellite cells to become activated was significantly impaired in LCN2−/− skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscle regeneration was also significantly compromised as evidenced by decreased embryonic myosin heavy chain expression and smaller regenerating myofiber areas. Consistent with a role for LCN2 in MMP-9 regulation, regenerating muscle also displayed a significant increase in fibrosis and lower ( P = 0.07) MMP-9 activity in LCN2−/− mice at 2 days postinjury. These data highlight a novel role for LCN2 in muscle regeneration and suggest that changes in adipokine expression can significantly impact skeletal muscle repair.
Vasodilator function is impaired in burn injury survivors
Authors: Romero Steven A. , Moralez Gilbert , Jaffery Manall F. , Huang Mu , Crandall Craig G.
Published: September 2018

The effect of severe burn injury on vascular health is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that, compared with nonburn control subjects, vasodilator function would be reduced and that pulse-wave velocity (a measure of arterial stiffness) would be increased in individuals with prior burn injuries, the extent of which would be associated with the magnitude of body surface area having sustained a severe burn. Pulse-wave velocity and macrovascular (flow-mediated dilation) and microvascular (reactive hyperemia) dilator functions were assessed in 14 nonburned control subjects and 32 age-matched subjects with well-healed burn injuries. Fifteen subjects with burn injuries covering 17–40% of body surface area were assigned to a moderate burn injury group, and 17 subjects with burn injuries covering >40% of body surface area were assigned to a high burn injury group. Pulse-wave velocity [ P = 0.3 (central) and P = 0.3 (peripheral)] did not differ between the three groups. Macrovascular dilator function was reduced in the moderate ( P = 0.07) and high ( P < 0.05) burn injury groups compared with the control group. Likewise, peak vascular conductance during postocclusive reactive hyperemia differed from the moderate burn injury group ( P = 0.08 vs. control) and the high burn injury group ( P < 0.05 vs. control). These data suggest that vasodilator function is impaired in well-healed burn injury survivors, with the extent of impairment not dependent on the magnitude of body surface area having sustained a severe burn injury.
Involvement of complement 3 in the salt-sensitive hypertension by activation of renal renin-angiotensin system in spontaneously hypertensive rats
Authors: Negishi Eriko , Fukuda Noboru , Otsuki Tomoyasu , Katakawa Mayumi , Komatsu Kazutoshi , Chen Lan , Tanaka Sho , Kobayashi Hiroki , Hatanaka Yoshinari , Ueno Takahiro , Endo Morito , Mashimo Tomoji , Nishiyama Akira , Abe Masanori
Published: September 2018

We previously showed that complement 3 (C3) is highly expressed in mesenchymal tissues in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We targeted C3 gene by zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN) gene-editing technology and investigated blood pressure and phenotype in SHR. Blood pressure was measured by tail-cuff and telemetry methods. Histology and expression of liver X receptor α (LXRα), renin, Krüppel-like factor 5 (KLF5), and E-cadherin were evaluated in kidneys. Mesangial cells (MCs) were removed from glomeruli from three strains, and we evaluated the phenotype in vitro. SHR showed the salt-sensitive hypertension that was abolished in C3 knockout (KO) SHR. Proliferation of MCs from SHR was higher than that from Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats and showed a synthetic phenotype. Renal injury scores were higher in SHR than in WKY rats and C3 KO SHR. Expression of E-cadherin was lower, and expression of renin was higher in the nephrotubulus from SHR than WKY rats and C3 KO SHR. Expression of C3 α-chain protein and α-smooth muscle actin protein was significantly higher in renal medulla from SHR than from WKY rats. Expression of angiotensinogen, LXRα, renin, and KLF5 mRNA was increased in kidney from SHR compared with C3 KO SHR. Intrarenal angiotensin II levels were significantly higher in kidney from SHR than WKY rats and C3 KO SHR. Urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine excretions were significantly higher in SHR than in WKY rats and C3 KO SHR. These findings showed that increased C3 induces salt-sensitive hypertension with increases in urinary catecholamine excretion and intrarenal activation of the renin-angiotensin system by the dedifferentiation of mesenchymal tissues in kidney from SHR.
Automatic glomerular identification and quantification of histological phenotypes using image analysis and machine learning
Authors: Sheehan Susan M. , Korstanje Ron
Published: September 2018

Current methods of scoring histological kidney samples, specifically glomeruli, do not allow for collection of quantitative data in a high-throughput and consistent manner. Neither untrained individuals nor computers are presently capable of identifying glomerular features, so expert pathologists must do the identification and score using a categorical matrix, complicating statistical analysis. Critical information regarding overall health and physiology is encoded in these samples. Rapid comprehensive histological scoring could be used, in combination with other physiological measures, to significantly advance renal research. Therefore, we used machine learning to develop a high-throughput method to automatically identify and collect quantitative data from glomeruli. Our method requires minimal human interaction between steps and provides quantifiable data independent of user bias. The method uses free existing software and is usable without extensive image analysis training. Validation of the classifier and feature scores in mice is highlighted in this work and shows the power of applying this method in murine research. Preliminary results indicate that the method can be applied to data sets from different species after training on relevant data, allowing for fast glomerular identification and quantitative measurements of glomerular features. Validation of the classifier and feature scores are highlighted in this work and show the power of applying this method. The resulting data are free from user bias. Continuous data, such that statistical analysis can be performed, allows for more precise and comprehensive interrogation of samples. These data can then be combined with other physiological data to broaden our overall understanding of renal function.
Coherence: a unifying mechanism of deep brain stimulation
Authors: Al-Fatly Bassam
Published: September 2018

Deep brain stimulation is a powerful neurostimulation technique that proved its efficacy in treating a group of neurological diseases. Several scientific works tried to understand the mechanism of action of deep brain stimulation. Wang et al. ( J Neurosci 38: 4556–4568, 2018) demonstrated new evidence on the role of interregional neuro-oscillatory coherence as a promising model to explain mechanism the of deep brain stimulation.
Neuronal adaptation to sound statistics in the inferior colliculus of behaving macaques does not reduce the effectiveness of the masking noise
Authors: Rocchi Francesca , Ramachandran Ramnarayan
Published: September 2018

The detectability of target sounds embedded within noisy backgrounds is affected by the regularities that summarize acoustic sceneries. Previous studies suggested that the dynamic range of neurons in the inferior colliculus (IC) of anesthetized guinea pigs shifts toward the mean sound pressure level in irregular acoustic environments. Yet, it is unclear how this neuronal adaptation processes may influence the effectiveness of sounds as a masker, both behaviorally and in terms of neuronal encoding. To answer this question, we measured the neural response of IC neurons while macaque monkeys performed a Go/No-Go tone detection task. Macaques detected a 50-ms tone that was either simultaneously gated with a burst of noise or embedded within a continuous noise background, whose levels were randomly sampled (every 50 ms) from a probability distribution. The mean of the distribution matched the level of the gated burst of noise. Psychometric and IC neurometric thresholds to tones did not differ between the two masking conditions. However, the neuronal firing rate versus level function was significantly affected by the temporal characteristics of the noise masker. Simultaneously gated noise caused higher baseline responses and greater dynamic range compression compared with noise distribution. The slopes of psychometric and neurometric functions were significantly shallower for higher variance distributions, suggesting that neuronal sensitivity might change with the variability of the sound. Our results suggest that the adaptive response of IC neurons to sound regularities does not affect the effectiveness of the noise-masking signal, which remains invariant to surrounding noise amplitudes.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Auditory neurons adapt to the statistics of sound levels in the acoustic scene. However, it is still unclear to what extent such adaptation influences the effectiveness of the stimulus as a masker. Our study represents the first attempt to investigate how the adaptation to the statistics of masking stimuli may be related to the effectiveness of masking, and to the single-unit encoding of the midbrain auditory neurons in behaving animals.
Pathway mechanism for excitatory and inhibitory control in working memory
Authors: Barbas Helen , Wang Jingyi , Joyce Mary Kate P. , García-Cabezas Miguel Ángel
Published: September 2018

Humans engage in many daily activities that rely on working memory, the ability to hold and sequence information temporarily to accomplish a task. We focus on the process of working memory, based on circuit mechanisms for attending to relevant signals and suppressing irrelevant stimuli. We discuss that connections critically depend on the systematic variation in laminar structure across all cortical systems. Laminar structure is used to group areas into types regardless of their placement in the cortex, ranging from low-type agranular areas that lack layer IV to high-type areas that have six well-delineated layers. Connections vary in laminar distribution and strength based on the difference in type between linked areas, according to the “structural model” (Barbas H, Rempel-Clower N. Cereb Cortex 7: 635–646, 1997). The many possible pathways thus vary systematically by laminar distribution and strength, and they interface with excitatory neurons to select relevant stimuli and with functionally distinct inhibitory neurons that suppress activity at the site of termination. Using prefrontal pathways, we discuss how systematic architectonic variation gives rise to diverse pathways that can be recruited, along with amygdalar and hippocampal pathways that provide sensory, affective, and contextual information. The prefrontal cortex is also connected with thalamic nuclei that receive the output of the basal ganglia and cerebellum, which may facilitate fast sequencing of information. The complement of connections and their interface with distinct inhibitory neurons allows dynamic recruitment of areas and shifts in cortical rhythms to meet rapidly changing demands of sequential components of working memory tasks.
Research on Rock Creep Characteristics Based on the Fractional Calculus Meshless Method
Authors: Peng Gang , Chen Zhanqing , Chen Jiarui
Published: September 2018

The application of fractional calculus in the rheological problems has been widely accepted. In this study, the constitutive relationship of the generalized Kelvin model based on fractional calculus was studied, and the meshless method was introduced so as to derive a new meshless algorithm formula based on the fractional calculus of the generalized Kelvin model. By using the MTS815.02 hydraulic servo rock mechanics test system, the creep test of mudstones is carried out, and the related data of the creep process were obtained. Based on the generalized Kelvin model of fractional calculus, the related creep parameters of the argillaceous sandstone under compression were fitted. The results showed that the solution of the generalized Kelvin model based on fractional calculus was greatly consistent with the numerical method solution. Meanwhile, the meshless algorithm based on fractional calculus had a favorable stability and accuracy.
FPGA Implementation of a Single Step MFCV Estimator Based on EMG in Diabetic Neuropathy
Authors: De Venuto Daniela , Mezzina Giovanni
Published: September 2018

This paper details the design and the hardware implementation of a real-time diagnostic system based on FPGA for the muscle fibre conduction velocity estimation (MFCV). The MFCV is considered as a principal monitoring index for diabetic neuropathy (DPN), as well as in muscle fatigue assessment, to evaluate the muscle fibre status. The FPGA platform evaluates the MFCV during dynamic contractions (e.g., gait), by exploiting a multichannel sensing system composed of 4 wireless surface EMG electrodes, placed in pair on each leg. Raw data are digitized and made binary to create two bitstreams for each monitored limb. Then, a comparison between the two-bit streamed EMGs extracted from the same leg is carried out. The comparison, which allows extracting the MFCV, exploits a computationally light version of the cross-correlation method. The overall architecture implemented and validated on an Altera Cyclone V FPGA is HPS-free and exploits 22.5% ALMs, 10,874 ALUTs, 9.81% registers, 3.36% block memory, and <2.7% of the total wires available on the platform. The choice of FPGA as computing system lies in the possibility to determine resource utilization, related timing constraints for a future real-time ASIC implementation in wearable applications. From the actual muscle contraction during gait (cyclical starting point of the computing), the system spends about 316 ms to acquire useful data and 47.5 ms (on average) to process the signal and provide the output, dynamically dissipating 28.6 mW. The accuracy of the tool evaluation has been evaluated proving the repeatability of the measurements by in vivo test. In this context, 1250 contractions from each subject involved in a protocolled 10-meter walk have been acquired (n=10 subjects evaluated). On average, the same MFCV estimation has been extracted on 1184/1250 contractions (standard deviation of 11 contractions), reaching an accuracy of 94.7%. These estimations fully match the physiological value range reported in literature.
Group Decision‐Making Approach Based on Generalized Grey Linguistic 2‐Tuple Aggregation Operators
Authors: Wang Lidong , Wang Yanjun
Published: September 2018

To address complexity information fusion problems involving fuzzy and grey uncertainty information, we develop prioritized averaging aggregation operator and Bonferroni mean aggregation operator with grey linguistic 2‐tuple variables and apply them to design a new decision‐making scheme. First, the grey linguistic 2‐tuple prioritized averaging (GLTPA) operator is developed to characterize the prioritization relationship among experts and employed to fuse experts’ information into an overall opinion. Second, we establish dual generalized grey linguistic 2‐tuple weighted Bonferroni mean (DGGLTWBM) operator to capture the interrelationship among any attribute subsets, which can be reduced to some conventional operators by adjusting parameter vector. On that basis, a flexible group decision‐making approach with fuzzy and grey information is designed and applied to an evaluation problem, in which grey relationship analysis (GRA) method and a linear programming model are combined to extract attribute weights from partially known attribute information. Furthermore, an illustrative example is employed to illustrate the practicality and flexibility of the designed method by conducting the related comparative studies.
Perceptions and Practice of Labor Pain-Relief Methods among Health Professionals Conducting Delivery in Minia Maternity Units in Egypt
Authors: Mousa Ola , Abdelhafez Amal Ahmed , Abdelraheim Ahmed R. , Yousef Ayman M. , Ghaney Ahmed A. , El Gelany Saad
Published: September 2018

Introduction. In low-resource settings (LRSs), pain relief during labor is often neglected. Women and health professionals (HPs) may lack awareness of analgesic options, may not accept these options, or may have concerns regarding their safety. Furthermore, even if women or HPs preferred labor analgesia, options may not be available at the hospital. This study was carried out to explore how HPs perceive and practice pain management during labor in Minia maternity units in Egypt. Methods. A structured, self-administered questionnaire from 306 HPs in Minia maternity units from August 1, 2016, to August 30, 2017, after approval by the organizational Ethical Review Committee. Results. The response rate was 76.5%. The majority, 78.2% of participants, believed in pain relief during labor. However, their practices are different. In the first stage of labor, almost 44.9% used nonpharmacological methods, whereas 36.8% used neither pharmacological nor nonpharmacological methods. Hospital-related factors were the major barriers against using pain-relief methods, as stated by HPs. Conclusion. Although most HPs understand the role of analgesia in labor pain relief, there is a wide gap between the use of pain-relief methods and women’s need in Minia, Egypt; HPs claim this is due to health care facilities. There is an urgent need to identify the barriers against and raise the awareness among the community and HPs of the need to use pain-relief methods as part of improving the quality of care during labor.
Basal Cell Carcinoma Arises from Interfollicular Layer of Epidermis
Authors: Tan Sukmawati Tansil , Ghaznawie Mahmud , Heenan Peter J. , Dosan Ricky
Published: September 2018

Background. BCC is currently the most common type of skin cancer in humans. Although having a low-grade malignancy and metastatic potential, BCC is locally aggressive and destructive. Despite numerous studies, the origin of BCC, whether arising from the follicular or interfollicular layer, remains controversial. Objectives. This study aims to evaluate whether BCC arises from the follicular or interfollicular layer by using immunohistochemical staining. Methods. Twenty-three specimens of superficial and nodular BCC at its very early stage were examined. The samples were immunohistochemically stained using BerEP4 antibody. The stained specimens were then examined and scored by 2 independent observers. Results. BerEP4 was found to be strongly positive in all BCC lesions, including a very early lesions budding off the basal layer of the epidermis. Conclusion. This study confirmed that the origin site of BCC is basal layer of epidermis. This finding suggests that BCC arises from the interfollicular epidermis.
Dynamic Characteristics and Restraint Mechanism of Elastically Restrained Connecting Joints on the Flexible Robotic Manipulator
Authors: Liu Yufei , Xu Han , Zhang Xi
Published: September 2018

Connecting joints are significant components in mechanical systems as well as the Cartesian flexible robotic manipulator (FRM) which consists of a flexible arm and a moving base through connecting joints. Uncertain factors, such as unqualified assembly, accidental collision, and longtime service, will reduce the restraint stiffness of the connecting joints and enhance the dynamic nonlinearity of the system subsequently. In this case, the traditional perfectly fixed restrained model cannot reflect the real property of the connecting joints. This paper focuses on the elasticity property of the connecting joints with uncertain restraint stiffness, which is defined as the elastically restrained connecting joints (ERCJ), and investigates the dynamic characteristics and restraint mechanism of the ERCJ. An elastic restrained model is proposed to describe the elasticity property of the connecting joints and determine the elastic restrained region of the ERCJ, and the frequency relationship equation in the elastic restrained region is simultaneously determined and verified. Based on the proposed elastic restrained model and Hamilton’s variational principle, the dynamic model and vibration displacement equation of the FRM with elastically restrained connecting joints (FRMERCJ) are established. The virtual prototype experiment of the FRMERCJ is conducted to verify the dynamic model and reveal the restraint mechanism of the ERCJ. The proposed elastic restrained model in this paper can accurately describe the elasticity property of the connecting joints, and the ERCJ is sensitive to motion velocities especially under higher velocities for higher‐order vibrations in the initial stage. The results are meaningful for the dynamic analysis and vibration control of robotic manipulators.
A Multidomain Standards‐Based Fog Computing Architecture for Smart Cities
Authors: Rampérez Víctor , Soriano Javier , Lizcano David
Published: September 2018

Many of the problems arising from rapid urbanization and urban population growth can be solved by making cities “smart”. These smart cities are supported by large networks of interconnected and widely geo‐distributed devices, known as Internet of Things or IoT, that generate large volumes of data. Traditionally, cloud computing has been the technology used to support this infrastructure; however, some of the essential requirements of smart cities such as low‐latency, mobility support, location‐awareness, bandwidth cost savings, and geo‐distributed nature of such IoT systems cannot be met. To solve these problems, the fog computing paradigm proposes extending cloud computing models to the edge of the network. However, most of the proposed architectures and frameworks are based on their own private data models and interfaces, which severely reduce the openness and interoperability of these solutions. To address this problem, we propose a standard‐based fog computing architecture to enable it to be an open and interoperable solution. The proposed architecture moves the stream processing tasks to the edge of the network through the use of lightweight context brokers and Complex Event Processing (CEP) to reduce latency. Moreover, to communicate the different smart cities domains we propose a Context Broker based on a publish/subscribe middleware specially designed to be elastic and low‐latency and exploit the context information of these environments. Additionally, we validate our architecture through a real smart city use case, showing how the proposed architecture can successfully meet the smart cities requirements by taking advantage of the fog computing approach. Finally, we also analyze the performance of the proposed Context Broker based on microbenchmarking results for latency, throughput, and scalability.
Structural Properties and Reactive Site Selectivity of Some Transition Metal Complexes of 2,2′(1E,1′E)-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene))bis(phenylmethan-1-yl-1-ylidene)dibenzoic Acid: DFT, Conceptual DFT, QTAIM, and MEP Studies
Authors: Bine Fritzgerald Kogge , Nkungli Nyiang Kennet , Numbonui Tasheh Stanley , Numbonui Ghogomu Julius
Published: September 2018

Herein is presented a density functional theory (DFT) study of reactivity and structural properties of transition metal complexes of the Schiff base ligand 2,2′(1E,1′E)-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidene))bis(phenylmethan-1-yl-1-ylidene)dibenzoic acid (hereafter denoted EDA2BB) with Cu(II), Mn(II), Ni(II), and Co(II). The quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules (QTAIM), conceptual DFT, natural population analysis (NPA), and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) methods have been used. Results have revealed a distorted octahedral geometry around the central metal ion in each gas phase complex. In the DMSO solvent, a general axial elongation of metal-oxygen bonds involving ancillary water ligands has been observed, suggestive of loosely bound water molecules to the central metal ion that may be acting as solvent molecules. Weak, medium, and strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds along with hydrogen-hydrogen and van der Waals interactions have been elucidated in the complexes investigated via geometric and QTAIM analyses. From the chemical hardness values, the complex [Co(EDA2BB)(OH2)2] is the hardest, while [Cu(EDA2BB)(OH2)2] is the softest. Based on the global electrophilicity index, the complexes [Ni(EDA2BB)(OH2)2] and [Cu(EDA2BB)(OH2)2] are the strongest and weakest electrophiles, respectively, among the complexes studied. In conclusion, the reactivity of the complexes is improved vis-à-vis the ligand, and stable geometries of the complexes are identified, alongside their prominent electrophilic and nucleophilic sites.
Choosing between Alternative Motor Insurance Policies: A Discrete Choice Experiment
Authors: Kwofie Charles , Yormekpe Dieu Donne , Mensah Samuel Osei , Botchway Priscilla
Published: September 2018

The research expounds the use of Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) approach and Random Utility Theory (RUT) in analyzing alternative motor insurance policy choice behaviour for drivers in Sunyani municipality in Brong-Ahafo, Ghana. We design a DCE to identify the factors (premium cost, claims settlement, customer satisfaction, and proximity) that influences an individual choice for insuring with a particular insurance company given the existence of an alternative. Probit model was used in estimating the parameters of the consideration sets of the DCE. The research sampled 100 respondents comprising mainly of private and commercial drivers. The magnitude of estimates from both probit model and estimated marginal effects indicates respondents highly value insurers with the attribute of paying claims promptly, charging moderate premium, and closer in terms of proximity. However, customer satisfaction will result in a disutility of choice of insurer. Also, the levels of customer satisfaction can be traded off for other attributes.
Web Phishing Detection Using a Deep Learning Framework
Authors: Yi Ping , Guan Yuxiang , Zou Futai , Yao Yao , Wang Wei , Zhu Ting
Published: September 2018

Web service is one of the key communications software services for the Internet. Web phishing is one of many security threats to web services on the Internet. Web phishing aims to steal private information, such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details, by way of impersonating a legitimate entity. It will lead to information disclosure and property damage. This paper mainly focuses on applying a deep learning framework to detect phishing websites. This paper first designs two types of features for web phishing: original features and interaction features. A detection model based on Deep Belief Networks (DBN) is then presented. The test using real IP flows from ISP (Internet Service Provider) shows that the detecting model based on DBN can achieve an approximately 90% true positive rate and 0.6% false positive rate.