bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) border security deployment on the civilian population’s subjective sense of security
Authors: Rácz Attila
Published: January 2019

Communities that are directly affected by the migration crisis perceive and evaluate events differently than others who live farther off, and just have got information about the events from different news channels. The civilian population’s attitudes toward the military or security forces are key factor in maintaining conflict-free or in minimizing conflict situation in times of various crises. Civilians living in an operation area are directly affected by the operations with the events often taking place on their own property. It follows from that the civilians in the operation area relate differently to migration and migrants, and border protecting troopers and policemen too, than others who live far off. In this research we have focused to regional level, because the national researches that try to examine the irregular migration mostly on a national representative sample, so these have limited ability to provide reliable information on smaller territorial units. Otherwise this study is analysing how the attitudes changed in these smaller territorial units or societies which was affected by the migratory crisis directly. A further aim of this analysis is to show those possible explanations and interpretations which are lying behind the quantitative data. This study aims to show the attitudes to migration among the civilian population and the changes in their subjective sense of security, based on empirical data, along the Southern border in Hungary.
Factors Associated to the Decision to Terminate or not an Unwanted Pregnancy among a Sample of Civil Servant in São Paulo State, Brazil.
Authors: Bento Silvana Ferreira , Bento Silvana Ferreira , de Pádua Karla Simônia , de Pádua Karla Simônia , Duarte Graciana Alves , Duarte Osis Maria José , Duarte Osis Maria José , Faúndes Anibal , Faúndes Anibal
Published: January 2019

This is a cross sectional study of a sample of civil servants from the interior of São Paulo state, carried out with the purpose of evaluating the occurrence of unwanted pregnancies, the proportion which were terminated, the reason given for having or not having an abortion and which factors were associated to the decision whether or not to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Just over one fifth declared to have experienced an unwanted pregnancy and over half of them were aborted. The reasons to abort concentrate on interferance with their life expectancy: “to continue studying or working” “being single”, “too young to get married” and “to become a father or mother”. Also important were fear of parents and rejection by the respondents'partner. Among those who did not terminate the unwanted pregnancy religion acted as a barrier among almost one third and the legal barrier for almost one fourth. Not having a permanent partner, being in use of behavioral or barrier method of contraception and higher education were associated with higher incidence of abortion of the unwanted pregnancy, but in multiple regression, only higher education remain significantly associated. Our results showed that once the unwanted pregnancy occur, more than half of them will be aborted, confirming the need to concentrate the efforts in reducing unwanted pregnancies if we want to prevent abortion.
Outcomes in Patients With Cirrhosis on Primary Compared to Secondary Prophylaxis for Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis
Authors: Bajaj Jasmohan S. , Tandon Puneeta , O'Leary Jacqueline G. , Wong Florence , Biggins Scott W. , Garcia-Tsao Guadalupe , Kamath Patrick S. , Maliakkal Benedict , Fallon Michael B. , Lai Jennifer C. , Thuluvath Paul J. , Vargas Hugo E. , Subramanian Ram M. , Thacker Leroy R. , Reddy K. Rajender ,   On behalf of NACSELD (North American Consortium for the Study of End-Stage Liver Disease)
Published: January 2019

OBJECTIVES:

Antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended for prevention of the first episode of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP; primary prophylaxis 1°) and subsequent episodes (secondary prophylaxis 2°). We aimed to compare outcomes in cirrhotic inpatients on 1° vs 2° SBP prophylaxis.

METHODS:

Data from North American Consortium for the Study of End-Stage Liver Disease were evaluated for cirrhosis details, reasons for admission/medications, inpatient course recorded, and outcomes over 90 days. Outcomes (intensive care units, acute kidney injury, inpatient/90-day mortality) were compared between the 2 groups after propensity-matching on admission model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score and serum albumin.

RESULTS:

Among the 2,731 patients enrolled, 305 were on 1° and 187 on 2° SBP prophylaxis. After propensity-matching, 154 patients remained in each group. Patients on 1° prophylaxis were more likely to have admission systemic inflammatory response syndrome (P = 0.02), with higher intensive care unit admissions (31% vs 21%; P = 0.05) and inpatient mortality (19% vs 9%; P = 0.01) than the 2° prophylaxis group. Patients on 2° prophylaxis had higher total (22% vs 10%; P = 0004), readmission (16% vs 9%; P = 0.03), and nosocomial (6% vs 0.5%; P = 0.01) SBP rates with predominant Gram-negative organisms compared to 1° prophylaxis patients. At 90 days, 1° prophylaxis patients had a higher mortality (35% vs 22%; P = 0.02) and acute kidney injury incidence (48% vs 30%; P = 0.04) compared to 2° prophylaxis patients.

DISCUSSION:

In this inpatient cirrhosis study, despite prophylaxis, a high proportion of patients developed SBP, which was associated with mortality. Cirrhotic inpatients on 1° prophylaxis had worse outcomes than those on 2° prophylaxis when propensity-matched for the MELD score and serum albumin during the index admission and 90-day follow-up.
Comparing the Real-World Effectiveness of Competing Colonoscopy Preparations: Results of a Prospective Trial
Authors: Gu Phillip , Lew Daniel , Oh Sun Jung , Vipani Aarshi , Ko Jeffrey , Hsu Kevin , Mirakhor Ebrahim , Pattisapu Varun , Bullen Tia , Fuller Garth , Spiegel Brennan M.R. , Almario Christopher V.
Published: January 2019

OBJECTIVES:

National societies provide little guidance regarding which colonoscopy bowel preps are best tolerated and most effective; this reflects a lack of comparative effectiveness studies that directly evaluate the available preps in a “real-world” setting. To address this gap, we conducted a prospective, commercially unfunded comparative effectiveness study of currently available bowel preps and measured their impact on bowel cleansing.

METHODS:

We included patients aged ≥18 years, who presented for an outpatient colonoscopy at a large medical center serving more than 70 academic and community-based endoscopists who are free to prescribe the bowel prep of their choice. The primary outcome was bowel cleansing quality as measured by the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale. We performed regression models with random effects on the outcomes to adjust for confounding.

RESULTS:

Approximately 4,339 colonoscopies were performed by 75 endoscopists. Magnesium citrate, MiraLAX with Gatorade, MoviPrep, OsmoPrep, Prepopik/Clenpiq, and Suprep all had significantly higher prep tolerability compared with GoLYTELY (all P < 0.05). For bowel cleansing, Suprep (7.28 ± 1.66; P < 0.001), MoviPrep (7.11 ± 1.62; P = 0.004), and MiraLAX with Gatorade (7.09 ± 1.64; P < 0.001) had higher total Boston Bowel Preparation Scale scores compared with GoLYTELY (6.67 ± 1.87); there were no significant differences among the remaining preps. Split-prep dosing was associated with better cleansing; however, men, opioid and tricyclic antidepressent users, and patients with diabetes and cirrhosis had worse cleansing (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

In this prospective, real-world comparative effectiveness study of available bowel preps, we found that MiraLAX with Gatorade, MoviPrep, and Suprep were prospectively associated with superior tolerability and bowel cleansing.
Alcoholic and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Liver-Related Mortality: A Cohort Study
Authors: Chang Yoosoo , Cho Yong Kyun , Cho Juhee , Jung Hyun-Suk , Yun Kyung Eun , Ahn Jiin , Sohn Chong Il , Shin Hocheol , Ryu Seungho
Published: January 2019

OBJECTIVES:

We compared liver-related mortality by fibrosis severity between 2 types of fatty liver disease (FLD), nonalcoholic FLD (NAFLD) and alcoholic FLD (AFLD), in a large cohort of nonobese and obese individuals.

METHODS:

A cohort study was performed with 437,828 Korean adults who were followed up for up to 14 years. Steatosis was diagnosed based on ultrasonography; fibrosis severity was determined by the fibrosis 4 (FIB-4) score. Vital status and liver-related deaths were ascertained through linkage to national death records.

RESULTS:

The prevalence of NAFLD and AFLD was 20.9% and 4.0%, respectively. During 3,145,541.1 person-years of follow-up, 109 liver-related deaths were identified (incidence rate of 3.5 per 105 person-years). When changes in fatty liver status, FIB-4 scores, and confounders during follow-up were updated as time-varying covariates, compared with the reference (absence of both excessive alcohol use and FLD), the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals for liver-related mortality among those with low, intermediate, and high FIB-4 scores were 0.43 (0.19–0.94), 2.74 (1.23–6.06), and 84.66 (39.05–183.54), respectively, among patients with NAFLD, whereas among patients with AFLD, the corresponding hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.67 (0.20–2.25), 5.44 (2.19–13.49), and 59.73 (27.99–127.46), respectively. The associations were more evident in nonobese individuals than in obese individuals (P for interaction = 0.004).

DISCUSSION:

In this large cohort of young and middle-aged individuals, NAFLD and AFLD with intermediate to high fibrosis scores were associated with an increased risk of liver-related mortality in a dose-dependent manner, especially among nonobese individuals.
Histologic Healing Rates of Medical Therapies for Ulcerative Colitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Battat Robert , Duijvestein Marjolijn , Guizzetti Leonardo , Choudhary Daksh , Boland Brigid S. , Dulai Parambir S. , Parker Claire E. , Nguyen Tran M. , Singh Siddharth , Vande Casteele Niels , Pai Rish K. , Feagan Brian G. , Sandborn William J. , Jairath Vipul
Published: January 2019

OBJECTIVES:

Histologic remission is a potentially valuable means of assessing disease activity and treatment response in ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the efficacy of existing therapies to achieve this outcome is unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of histologic outcomes in UC randomized controlled trials and examined the relationship between histologic and endoscopic outcomes.

METHODS:

MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and the Cochrane IBD Register were searched for randomized controlled trials of aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, immunosuppressives, biologics, and small molecules. Histologic and endoscopic remission and response data were independently extracted and pooled using binomial–normal random-effect or fixed-effect models. Pooled efficacy estimates were calculated as risk ratios (RRs) using the Mantel–Haenszel method. Univariable and multivariable random-effect meta-regression models examined factors associated with histologic remission.

RESULTS:

Seventy-four studies (68 induction and 7 maintenance) were identified. Topical aminosalicylate enemas [37.2%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 29.0–46.3] and suppositories (44.9%, 95% CI, 28.9–62.3) had the highest induction of histologic remission rates. Aminosalicylate enemas (RR = 4.14, 95% CI, 2.35–7.31), aminosalicylate suppositories (RR = 3.94, 95% CI, 1.26–12.32), and budesonide multimatrix (RR = 1.47, 95% CI 1.08–1.99) had higher histologic remission rates than placebo. Data were lacking for biologics and immunosuppressives. The pooled histologic remission rate for placebo in induction studies was 10.4% (95% CI, 7.1–15.2). Histologic and endoscopic remission correlated strongly (r = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.50–0.78). In multivariate analysis of placebo-arm data, less severe clinical disease activity and corticosteroid use were associated with higher histologic remission rates. Similarly, mild clinical disease activity was associated with higher histologic remission rates when active-arm data were analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS:

Histologic remission rates for current UC treatments ranged from 15.0% to 44.9% according to drug class and patient population with the highest rates observed for topical aminosalicylates. Placebo remission rates were low with relatively narrow CIs. These data provide benchmarks to inform future trial design. Histologic remission is a potential treatment target in clinical practice.
An Approach to the Patient With Chronic Undiagnosed Abdominal Pain
Authors: Pichetshote Nipaporn , Pimentel Mark
Published: January 2019

Abdominal pain is a common reason for referral to a gastroenterologist. The workup of patients with chronic abdominal pain can be extremely challenging as clinicians are responsible for determining whether the patient can be observed or treated symptomatically or this abdominal pain heralds a more systemic disease. The differential is typically wide and given the innervation of the abdomen, localization of abdominal pain does not always provide clear insight into the etiology. This review attempts to help the gastroenterologist narrow down that broad differential and focus on key elements of the patient visit. We emphasize the importance of a detailed history from the patient, along with review-specific details of their history and physical examination that can clue one in about the etiology of the abdominal pain. We review the causes of diffuse abdominal pain that may not first be considered along with uncommon causes of localized abdominal pain. We also review the functional causes of abdominal pain and the importance of identifying these disorders, to avoid unnecessary testing that commonly occurs with these patients.
Increasing Trend in Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer in Asia: More Cancers in Men and More Rectal Cancers
Authors: Sung Joseph J.Y. , Chiu Han-Mo , Jung Kyu-Won , Jun Jae Kwan , Sekiguchi Masau , Matsuda Takahisa , Kyaw Moe H.
Published: January 2019

BACKGROUND:

The incidence of young-onset colorectal cancer (CRC) is reported to be increasing in the Western world. There are no population-based studies assessing the trend across Asia.

METHODS:

We performed a multinational cohort study involving four Asian countries/regions, namely Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. The magnitude and direction of trend in the incidence of young-onset CRC (age < 50) were quantified using Joinpoint Regression Program to estimate average annual percentage change (AAPC).

RESULTS:

In Taiwan (1995–2014), incidence of young-onset CRC significantly increased in both men (colon cancer: 4.9–9.7 per 100,000; rectal cancer: 4.0–8.3 per 100,000) and women (colon cancer: 5.1–9.7 per 100,000; rectal cancer: 3.8–6.4 per 100,000). In Korea (1999–2014), incidence of young-onset CRC significantly increased in both men (colon cancer: 5.0–10.4 per 100,000; rectal cancer: 4.9–14.0 per 100,000) and women (colon cancer: 4.1–9.6 per 100,000; rectal cancer: 4.1–9.1 per 100,000). The most pronounced change was observed with male rectal cancer, increasing by 3.9% per year in Taiwan (AAPC + 3.9, 95% confidence interval + 3.3 to +4.5, P < 0.05) and 6.0% per year in Korea (AAPC +6.0, 95% confidence interval + 4.5 to +7.6, P < 0.05). Only a significant increase in rectal cancer was noted in Japan (male rectal cancer: 7.2–10.1 per 100,000, female rectal cancer 4.7–6.7 per 100,000) and Hong Kong (male rectal cancer: 4.4–7.0 per 100,000).

CONCLUSIONS:

Increasing trend in young-onset CRC is not limited to the Western world. This finding may have implications on screening program for CRC in these countries/regions.
Evolution of Endoscopic Bariatric Devices: From Development to Practice
Authors: Goyal Deepinder , Singh Vikesh K. , Amateau Stuart K. ,   the FDA-Related Matters Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology
Published: January 2019

OBJECTIVES:

To familiarize medical providers with the Food and Drug Administration approval process for antiobesity devices and to provide a brief overview of current and promising endoscopy-based bariatric devices.

METHODS:

Literature review of published scholarly articles.

RESULTS:

There has been a rapid development of novel endoscopic bariatric therapies in recent years, resulting in the approval of multiple devices. Several promising endoscopic strategies are currently under investigation and review. The Food and Drug Administration has laid down an objective-tiered model to review antiobesity device applications.

DISCUSSION:

Endoscopic bariatric devices provide a new and promising paradigm in obesity management both as first-line therapy and as adjunctive treatment to medical and surgical strategies. Physicians who plan to offer endoscopic bariatric therapy in their practice need appropriate understanding of the regulatory processes involved in the development and approval of such devices.
APPLICATION OF THE MODIFIED MAGNETOELASTIC METHOD AND AN ANALYSIS OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD
Authors: Klier Tomáš , Míčka Tomáš , Polák Michal , Plachý Tomáš , Hedvábný Milan , Jelínek Roman , Bláha Filip
Published: January 2019

In the technical praxis there is very often a need of axial force determination in the important structural elements of a building during its construction or operational state. The paper presents practical application of the new approach based on the magnetoelastic principle, especially aimed on experimental evaluation of the axial forces in the prestressed reinforcement on prestressed concrete structures. Described approach is usable not only for newly built structures but in particular for existing ones. The experiment was realized on a prestressed concrete beam dismantled from a bridge that was put out of operation. The influence of a simulated defect of the reinforcement on its magnetoelastic properties has also been investigated. During result evaluation, the knowledge based on the theoretical analysis of the electromagnetic field was used.
DETERMINATION OF HYGROEXPANSION COEFFICIENTS OF WOOD USING ANALYTICAL AND NUMERICAL HOMOGENIZATION
Authors: Kucíková Lucie , Šejnoha Michal , Vorel Jan
Published: January 2019

This paper is concerned with the determination of hygroexpansion coefficients of wood. Wood is a naturally hygroscopic material, attracting moisture from its surroundings. Its dimensions change depending on the actual moisture content. This dependence is characterized by the coefficient of hygroexpansion. For complex microstructures, this coefficient can be determined, similarly to the coefficient of thermal expansion, either from analytical or numerical homogenization. The homogenization procedure, used in this paper, comprises several steps corresponding to the wood structural composition. Accuracy of this approach is governed by correctness of the chosen input parameters. One of the most important parameters are the volume fractions of the earlywood and latewood. Ascertained dependence of the earlywood and latewood volume fractions on dry wood density is also presented.
DETERMINATION OF DRYING TIME OF THE RAMMED EARTH WALLS
Authors: Plaček Otcovská Tereza , Mužíková Barbora , Padevět Pavel
Published: January 2019

The unburned earth is a building material with long history of use. Buildings made of unburned clay are all over the world. But at present, unburned earth is minority building material and its properties are not sufficiently investigated. The rammed earth is one of main kind of unburned earth. This paper is focused on drying rate of the rammed earth of known composition. The significant part of the paper is focused on principle of our own research and the main idea of our research is explained here. The second part of the paper is devoted to drying rate experiment and measured results from this experiment. Determination of drying time of universal rammed earth walls is the main result of the experiment.
CHARACTERIZATION OF CEMENT-BASED COMPOSITE EXPOSED TO HIGH TEMPERATURES VIA ULTRASONIC PULSE METHOD
Authors: Rozsypalová Iva , Vyhlídal Michal , Dvořák Richard , Majda Tomáš , Topolář Libor , Pazdera Luboš , Šimonová Hana , Keršner Zbyněk
Published: January 2019

In this paper, the attention is paid to the investigation of the influence of high temperature acting on specimens made from specially designed cement-based composite. The experimental programme was carried out on six sets of beam specimens with the dimensions of 20 × 40 × 200 mm. The specimens were loaded to a pre-set temperature of 100, 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 °C and then the temperature was kept for 60 minutes. When the temperature loading had been done, the specimens were left to cool down to the ambient temperature. After that, the ultrasonic pulse method was used to determine the degree of damage of temperature loaded specimens. The measured data obtained by this non-destructive method are in high correlation with values of informative compressive strength of the composite obtained after the temperature loading of specimens.
GEOMETRY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF A 3D-PRINTED TITANIUM MICROSTRUCTURE
Authors: Řehounek Luboš , Hájková Petra , Vakrčka Petr , Jíra Aleš
Published: January 2019

Construction applications sometimes require use of a material other than construction steel or concrete – mainly in cases, where strength to weight ratio needs to be considered. A suitable solution to this problem are structures manufactured using the 3D printing process, as they have a very good strength to weight ratio (i.e.: Ti-6Al-4V – σult = 900 MPa and ρ = 4500 kg/m3). Trabecular structures are porous structures with local material characteristics identical to their commonly manufactured counterparts, but due to their geometry, they have different global mechanical properties and are suited for special applications. We designed and manufactured six variants of these structures and subjected them to uniaxial compression tests, nanoindentation tests and subsequently evaluated their differences and elastic moduli. The values of global moduli E are in the range of 2.55 GPa – 3.55 GPa for all specimens.
ASSESSMENT OF ADHESION BETWEEN MINERAL AGGREGATE AND BITUMINOUS BINDER USING DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS
Authors: Trejbal Jan , Prošek Zdeněk , Valentová Tereza
Published: January 2019

This work presents how to assess a rate of adhesion between bituminous binder and mineral aggregate. Asphalt mixtures composed from grade bitumen 50/70, reference or modified with adhesion promoters based on amines, and aggregate (Brant, Zbraslav, Skuteč – 8-16mm) were made and then photographed. Three adhesion assessment approaches were applied: (i) standardized adhesion visual assessment, (ii) gray level thresholding, and (iii) entropy-based image segmentation, both evaluated from digital images. It was shown that adhesion between both Brant and Skuteč and reference binder, expressed as a rate of binder-coated area onto aggregate particles, was equal to ca. 50-70 %, while mixture composed from Zbraslav exhibited ca. 70-80 %. If adhesion promoters were used, these areas increased in all three cases up to 80-90 %. It was shown that results obtained using visual and entropy segmentation analysis were very similar, while these differed in comparison with gray-level thresholding.
OPPORTUNITIES OF TRANSPEDICULAR SPINAL INSTRUMENTATION FROM THE POSITION OF BIOMECHANICAL MODELING
Authors: Afaunov Asker Alievich , Usikov Vladimir Dmitryevich , Afaunov Ali Ibragimovich , Dunaev Igor Mikhailovich
Published: January 2019

Objective. The authors analyze the causes of destabilization of transpedicular spinal instrumentation and prove the measures of its prevention basing on biomechanical modeling results and clinical data. Material and Methods. Experimental study included three series of 10 tests and one series of 12 tests with human spine cadaver specimens. The stability of injured spinal segments after transpedicular instrumentation was studied under mechanical load similar to that experienced by the human spine. Clinical study included the outcome analysis of transpedicular instrumentation in 107 patients with unstable thoracic and lumbar spine injuries. Results. The bone tissue mass around screws inserted in a cranial vertebra for two-segment spinal fusion proved to be the weakest place in a system consisting of a fourscrew transpedicular metal construction and spinal segments. The static mechanical strength of the injured vertebral motion segment stabilized with transpedicular device turned to be lower by 8–42 % (depending on loading conditions) than that of a corresponding intact vertebral motion segment. The identified factors negatively affecting the mechanical stability of transpedicular fixation were the following: osteoporosis, incomplete correction of deformity, motion coordination disorder due to neurological deficit, excessive weight, and postoperative regimen breach. A differentiated approach to reposition and transpedicular instrumentation for significant spinal deformities was offered allowing the restoration of anatomical interrelations and stable fixation in the spine regardless of the time of trauma.
Asymptotic behavior of solutions of forced third-order dynamic equations
Authors: Bohner Martin , Grace Said R. , Jadlovská Irena
Published: January 2019

This paper deals with asymptotic behavior of nonoscillatory solutions of certain third-order forced dynamic equations on time scales. The main goal is to investigate when all solutions behave at infinity like certain nontrivial nonlinear functions.
Iterative learning control for trajectory tracking of a parallel Delta robot
Authors: Boudjedir Chems Eddine , Bouri Mohamed , Boukhetala Djamel
Published: January 2019

This paper proposes an iterative learning controller (ILC) under the alignment condition for trajectory tracking of a parallel Delta robot, that performs various repetitive tasks for palletization. Motivated by the high cadence of our application that leads to significant coupling effects, where the traditional PD/PID fail to satisfy the requirements performances. A PD-type ILC is combined with a PD controller in order to enhance the performance through iterations during the whole operation interval. The traditional resetting condition is replaced by the practical alignment condition, then the convergence of the tracking error is derived based on the Lyapunov’s theory. We definitely point out that the position and velocity errors decrease as the number of iterations increases. Experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.
Model-based routing in flexible manufacturing systems
Authors: Windmann Stefan , Balzereit Kaja , Niggemann Oliver
Published: January 2019

In this paper, a model-based routing approach for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) with alternative routes for the work pieces is proposed. For each work piece, an individual task has to be accomplished, which consists of several processing steps. Each processing step can be executed on alternative working stations of the FMS. The proposed routing method employs a model of the conveying system to find energy efficient and fast routes for the respective work pieces. The conveying system model is based on a directed graph, where the individual conveyors are modeled as weighted edges. It can be straightforwardly applied to several types of FMS by adjusting the application-dependent parameters. Efficient computation of the fastest route through the conveying system is accomplished by means of dynamic programming, i. e., by integration of Dijkstra’s algorithm in a dynamic programming framework, which is based on the proposed conveying system model. Additional consideration of energy efficiency aspects leads to a Mixed Integer Quadratically Constraint Program (MIQCP), which is solved by substitution of Dijkstra’s algorithm by a branch and bound method. Experimental results for an application scenario, where the energy efficient routing method is applied to route work pieces between the working stations of an FMS, lead to 20 % reduction of energy consumption on average.
Rethinking agreement: Cognition-to-form mapping
Authors: Kibrik Andrej A.
Published: January 2019

The prevailing assumption is that an

Research underlying this study was conducted with support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant #17-06-00460.

agreement feature originates in one linguistic element, that is a controller, and is copied onto another one, a target. This form-to-form approach encounters massive difficulties when confronted with data, such as missing controllers or feature mismatches. A cognition-to-form mapping approach is proposed instead, suggesting that agreement features, such as person, number, and gender, are associated with referents in the cognitive representation. They serve to specify referents on either notional or conventional grounds, and are thus referential features. Referential features are mapped onto various sites in linguistic structure, including inflections. Parallel agreement between various sites is observed, as a side effect of mappings from the same cognitive source. Languages differ in which and how many sites for marking referential features they require. Analysis of Russian evidence suggests that the cognition-to-form mapping approach has a much greater explanatory force than the traditional form-to-form approach. There are only peripheral classes of instances in which form-to-form agreement may be needed as a supplementary factor. In general, the roots of agreement lie in cognitively motivated discourse processes associated with reference.
Critical Labour in Capital: A Reading of Marx’s Life in His Work
Authors: Victoriano Felipe
Published: January 2019

This essay proposes a reading of Marx’s Capital that considers the correlation between life and labour, between material existence and productive activity, as essential to the book’s critical project. It argues that there is a critical and paradoxical moment in the plexus of this relationship that academic discourse should consider: if Capital argues that capitalism constitutes a system of organization of life, inscribing human labour as labour power, that is, as commodity or market goods, then how can we extract critical labour itself from this totalizing structure? In other words, what kind of labour is critical labour and what function should it represent in a world in which all labour would already be inscribed within the logic of capital? Drawing on biographical, anecdotic and circumstantial considerations about Marx’s labour while writing Capital, this essay traces the conditions of existence of the author and creates a reading position that explores the relationship between life and work, between Marx and Capital, and thus questions critical labour itself as a productive activity and the material life it contains.
Solutions to Neumann boundary value problems with a generalized 𝑝-Laplacian
Authors: Szymańska-Dȩbowska Katarzyna
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this work is to investigate the existence of solutions for various Neumann boundary value problems associated to the Laplacian-type operators. The main results are obtained using the extension of Mawhin’s continuation theorem.
Nodal promotes the malignancy of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells via activation of NF-κB/IL-6 signals
Authors: Xu Xiaohui , Zhou Xiaoyun , Gao Chao , Cao Lei , Zhang Ye , Hu Xue , Cui Yushang
Published: January 2019

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the malignancy of NSCLC cells is important for therapy and drug development. Nodal, an important embryonic morphogen, has been reported to modulate tumorigenesis. We found that Nodal can trigger the proliferation of NSCLC cells and decrease the sensitivity to doxorubicin (Dox) and cisplatin (CDDP) treatment. Targeted inhibition of Nodal can suppress the proliferation of NSCLC cells. Among the measured cytokines, Nodal can increase the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) in NSCLC cells. Inhibition of IL-6, while not VEGFA, attenuated Nodal induced cell proliferation, suggesting the essential roles of IL-6 in Nodal induced malignancy of NSCLC cells. Nodal can trigger the phosphorylation, nuclear translocation and transcriptional activities of p65, the key signal transducer of NF-κB. This was due to the fact that Nodal can increase the phosphorylation of IKKβ/IκBα. The inhibitor of IKKβ abolished Nodal induced activation of p65 and expression of IL-6. Collectively, we found that Nodal can increase the proliferation and decrease chemosensitivity of NSCLC cells via regulation of NF-κB/IL-6 signals. It indicated that Nodal might be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC treatment.
Integrated Power Flow Analysis with Large-scale Solar Photovoltaic Power Systems Employing N-R Method
Authors: Navada Girisha H , Shubhanga K. N.
Published: January 2019

A method is proposed to modify the conventional load flow programme to accommodate large-scale Solar PhotoVoltaics (SPV) power plant with series power specifications. The programme facilitates easy handling of any number of SPV systems with standard control strategies such as pf-control and voltage-control, considering solar inverter’s power constraints. In this method, the non-linear equations related to SPV systems, located at multiple locations, are solved with the main load flow equations in an integrated fashion, considerably reducing the implementation task. This task is achieved by augmenting the inverter buses to the existing power system network in such a way that the changes required in the conventional programme are minimal. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method, it is compared with the alternate-iteration method popularly followed in the literature. The workability of the proposed method has been demonstrated by using a Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) system and the IEEE14-bus power system with SPV systems. Various test cases pertaining to meteorological variables and control strategies are also presented.
The roles of english varieties and L2 motivation in English learners’ willingness to communicate in the internationalization at home (IaH) context
Authors: Chen Yih-Lan , Cheng Hsing-Fu , Tang Hui-Wen , Wang Chaochang
Published: January 2019

To meet the challenges of internationalization, universities around the globe have implemented a variety of strategies, including study abroad, academic exchange, and cross-border collaboration. For any of these strategies, it was perhaps inevitable that English would become a crucial means of communication for both native and non-native speakers. The current study investigates the relationship between domestic college students’ perceptions of English varieties (PEV), L2 motivation, and willingness to communicate (WTC) in the internationalization at home (IaH) context. A model linking PEV, L2 motivation, and WTC was proposed. A total of 273 college students at a university in Taiwan responded to a questionnaire consisting of 16 items in four major categories. The results indicate that in the IaH context college students’ PEV significantly affects L2 motivation and only when learners are intrinsically motivated are they willing to communicate interculturally using English. The results suggest that promoting an appreciation for English varieties in the college context strengthens students’ intrinsic motivation to learn English, which may promote the students’ willingness to use English for communication.
Disaster Risk Analysis Part 2: The Systemic Underestimation of Risk
Authors: Mamuji Aaida A. , Etkin David
Published: January 2019

How risk is defined, the nature of methodologies used to assess risk, and the degree to which rare events should be included in a disaster risk analysis, are important considerations when developing policies, programs and priorities to manage risk. Each of these factors can significantly affect risk estimation. In Part 1 of this paper [Etkin, D. A., A. A. Mamuji, and L. Clarke. 2018. “Disaster Risk Analysis Part 1: The Importance of Including Rare Events.”Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.] we concluded that excluding rare events has the potential to seriously underestimate the cumulative risk from all possible events,

For example, of the 100 most expensive weather disasters in the US, the single most expensive event accounts for 16% of total economic impacts. Similarly, the worst explosion disaster accounts for 17% of the fatalities of the total 100 worst events.

though including them can be very challenging both from a methodological and data availability perspective. Underestimating risk can result in flawed disaster risk reduction policies, resulting in insufficient attention being devoted to mitigation and/or prevention. In Part 2, we survey various governmental emergency management policies and methodologies in order to evaluate varying equations used to define risk, and to assess potential biases within disaster risk analyses that do comparative risk ranking. We find (1) that the equations used to define risk used by emergency management organizations are frequently less robust than they should or are able to be, and (2) that methodologies used to assess risk are often inadequate to properly account for the potential contribution of rare events. We conclude that there is a systemic bias within many emergency management organizations that results in underestimation of risk.
Cauchy difference priors for edge-preserving Bayesian inversion
Authors: Markkanen Markku , Roininen Lassi , Huttunen Janne M. J. , Lasanen Sari
Published: January 2019

We consider inverse problems in which the unknown target includes sharp edges, for example interfaces between
different materials.
Such problems are typical in image reconstruction, tomography, and other inverse problems algorithms.
A common solution for edge-preserving inversion is to use total variation (TV) priors.
However, as shown by Lassas and Siltanen 2004, TV-prior is
not discretization-invariant: the edge-preserving
property is lost when the computational mesh is made denser and denser.
In this paper we propose another class of priors for edge-preserving
Bayesian inversion, the Cauchy difference priors.
We construct Cauchy priors starting from continuous one-dimensional
Cauchy motion, and show that its
discretized version, Cauchy random walk, can be used as a
non-Gaussian prior for edge-preserving Bayesian inversion.
We generalize the methodology to two-dimensional Cauchy fields, and briefly consider a generalization of the Cauchy priors to Lévy α-stable random field priors.
We develop a suitable posterior distribution sampling algorithm for conditional mean estimates with single-component Metropolis–Hastings.
We apply the methodology to one-dimensional deconvolution and two-dimensional X-ray tomography problems.
On an inverse problem in photoacoustics
Authors: Belishev Mikhail I. , Langemann Dirk , Mikhaylov Alexander S. , Mikhaylov Victor S.
Published: January 2019

We consider the problem of reconstruction of the Cauchy data for the wave equation in

ℝ
3

{\mathbb{R}^{3}}

and

ℝ
2

{\mathbb{R}^{2}}

by the measurements of its solution on the boundary of the unit ball.
An Integrated High-Speed Full Duplex Coherent OFDM-PON and Visible-Light Communication System
Authors: Kaur Simarpreet , Kumar Mahendra , Verma Ashu
Published: January 2019

We demonstrated a full duplex hybrid passive optical network and indoor optical wireless system employing coherent optical frequency division multiplexing. To accomplish reliable transmission in passive optical networks integrated visible-light communication (VLC), yellow light-emitting diode and infrared LED is used in downstream and upstream, respectively, for intra building network. In order to support high data rate, pulse-width reduction scheme based on dispersion compensation fiber is incorporated and system successfully covered the distance of 50 km. A data stream at the rate of 30 Gb/s is transmitted for each user out of eight users. VLC-supported users are catered with the bit rate of 1.87 Gb/s over 150 cm and in order to realize a low-cost system, visible and infrared LEDs are used in downlink and uplink, respectively.
Intercomparison of Warm-Rain Bulk Microphysics Schemes using Asymptotics
Authors: Rosemeier Juliane , Baumgartner Manuel , Spichtinger Peter
Published: January 2019

Clouds are important components of the atmosphere. As it is usually not possible to treat them as ensembles of huge numbers of particles, parameterizations on the basis of averaged quantities (mass and/or number concentration) must be derived. Since no first-principles derivations of such averaged schemes are available today, many alternative approximating schemes of cloud processes exist. Most of these come in the form of nonlinear differential equations. It is unclear whether these different cloud schemes behave similarly under controlled local conditions, and much less so when they are embedded dynamically in a full atmospheric flow model. We use mathematical methods from the theory of dynamical systems and asymptotic analysis to compare two operational cloud schemes and one research scheme qualitatively in a simplified context in which the moist dynamics is reduced to a system of ODEs. It turns out that these schemes behave qualitatively differently on shorter time scales, whereas at least their long time behavior is similar under certain conditions. These results show that the quality of computational forecasts of moist atmospheric flows will generally depend strongly on the formulation of the cloud schemes used.
Is native-speakerism impacting the Dual Language Immersion teacher shortage?
Authors: Amanti Cathy
Published: January 2019

Although Dual Language Immersion Education is growing in popularity in the United States, staffing these programs represents one of the greatest challenges for school administrators. Ironically, this is the case even for Spanish-English Dual Language Immersion programs despite the fact that the United States has the second highest number of Spanish speakers of any country in the world. What barriers hinder Spanish-English Dual Language Immersion schools from filling their teaching positions? This exploratory article suggests that native-speakerism may be part of the problem. Drawing on literature from the field of English Language Teaching, this article goes further to suggest that notions of who is the ideal Dual Language teacher, unless carefully considered, may exacerbate the linguistic marginalization of U.S.-born Latinxs, a group whose Spanish-speaking abilities are too often stigmatized.
Impact of Diet and the Gut Microbiome on Neurodegeneration and Regeneration in Neurological Disorders
Authors: Gisevius Barbara , Haghikia Aiden , Hirschberg Sarah
Published: January 2019

Aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse im Bereich neurodegenerativer Erkrankungen deuten vermehrt darauf hin, dass die Ernährung und damit assoziiert die Zusammensetzung des Darm-Mikrobioms einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Entstehung und den Verlauf verschiedenster Krankheiten haben. Die sogenannte Darm-Hirn Achse, oder präziser die Darm-Mikrobiom-Hirn Achse hat dadurch deutlich an Aufmerksamkeit gewonnen. Dabei kann der Darm das zentrale Nervensystem auf unterschiedliche Weisen beeinflussen, I) direkt durch bakterielle Bestandteile und Metaboliten von Bakterien, II) durch Manipulation der im Körper zirkulierenden Immunzellen, oder III) durch direkten Kontakt, z. B. über den N. vagus.

Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Molekularbiologie, wie das Next Generation Sequencing ermöglichen aufgrund ihres hohen Auflösungsvermögens die genaue Identifikation von Bakterien und die Kompositionen ganzer Mikrobiome. Dadurch ist es möglich, die Interaktionen zwischen dem intestinalen Mikrobiom, dem Metabolom und dem Darm- assoziierten Immunsystem detailliert zu erforschen.

In dieser Arbeit diskutieren wir den Einfluss des Mikrobioms, der Ernährung und den damit verbundenen Gesundheitszustand auf die Neuroregeneration. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Möglichkeit, wie dieses Wissen in Zukunft für therapeutische Zwecke genutzt werden kann.
Energy efficiency in low consistency refining: a study using a Valley beater
Authors: Vaz Álvaro , Espírito-Santo António , Araújo Pedro , Simões Rogério , Silvy Jacques
Published: January 2019

The purpose of this work was to study the influence of pulp fiber suspensions refining operating variables on energy efficiency coefficient. Three chemical pulps with different average morphological characteristics were used, obtained from bleached kraft Pinus sylvestris, Eucalyptus globulus and Betula verrucosa. The final objective was to establish the chemical pulps refining efficiency parameters. Refining hydromechanics and energy consumption profiles were analyzed. Average normal and tangential forces on pulp suspension in the gap clearance, resulting rotor-stator distance and no-load and refining conditions power consumption were obtained. The refining trials took place in a laboratory Valley beater, and the manipulated variables were charge on the roll and rotor rotation speed. Global relationships for tangential stress and energy efficiencies in terms of rotation speed and rotor-stator gap were obtained. A relationship between energy efficiency and shear stress was obtained. The results have shown that in a Valley beater increased rotor-stator gaps reduce energy efficiency, concomitantly increasing apparent viscosity and reducing shear stress. No-load power was seen to increase with crowding factor, and thus with flocculation. Inversely, crowding factor and ultimately flocculation had an adverse effect on energy efficiency.
Reference values of conditioned pain modulation
Authors: Schliessbach Jürg , Lütolf Christian , Streitberger Konrad , Scaramozzino Pasquale , Arendt-Nielsen Lars , Curatolo Michele
Published: January 2019

Background and aims

Endogenous pain modulation can be studied in humans by conditioned pain modulation (CPM): pain induced by a test stimulus is attenuated by a distantly applied noxious conditioning stimulus. The detection of impaired CPM in individual patients is of potential importance to understand the pathophysiology and predict outcomes. However, it requires the availability of reference values.

Methods

We determined reference values of CPM in 146 pain-free subjects. Pressure and electrical stimulation were the test stimuli. For electrical stimuli, we recorded both pain threshold and threshold for the nociceptive withdrawal reflex. Cold pressor test was the conditioning stimulus. The 5th, 10th and 25th percentiles for the three tests were computed by quantile regression analyses.

Results

The average thresholds increased after the conditioning stimulus for all three tests. However, a subset of subjects displayed a decrease in thresholds during the conditioning stimulus. This produced negative values for most of the computed percentiles.

Conclusions

This study determined percentile reference values of CPM that can be used to better phenotype patients for clinical and research purposes. The negative value of percentiles suggests that a slightly negative CPM effect can be observed in pain-free volunteers.

Implications

Pain facilitation rather than inhibition during the conditioning stimulus occurs in some pain-free volunteers and may not necessarily represent an abnormal finding.