bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Survey on the Computation of Quaternions From Rotation Matrices
Authors: Sarabandi Soheil , Thomas Federico
Published: November 2018

The parameterization of rotations is a central topic in many theoretical and applied fields such as rigid body mechanics, multibody dynamics, robotics, spacecraft attitude dynamics, navigation, three-dimensional image processing, and computer graphics. Nowadays, the main alternative to the use of rotation matrices, to represent rotations in ℝ3, is the use of Euler parameters arranged in quaternion form. Whereas the passage from a set of Euler parameters to the corresponding rotation matrix is unique and straightforward, the passage from a rotation matrix to its corresponding Euler parameters has been revealed to be somewhat tricky if numerical aspects are considered. Since the map from quaternions to 3 × 3 rotation matrices is a 2-to-1 covering map, this map cannot be smoothly inverted. As a consequence, it is erroneously assumed that all inversions should necessarily contain singularities that arise in the form of quotients where the divisor can be arbitrarily small. This misconception is herein clarified. This paper reviews the most representative methods available in the literature, including a comparative analysis of their computational costs and error performances. The presented analysis leads to the conclusion that Cayley's factorization, a little-known method used to compute the double quaternion representation of rotations in four dimensions from 4 × 4 rotation matrices, is the most robust method when particularized to three dimensions.
Analysis of the Runner Behavior During the Start-Up Sequence in a Bulb Turbine Model
Authors: Coulaud Maxime , Lemay Jean , Deschenes Claire
Published: November 2018

An experimental analysis of the start-up sequence of a bulb turbine was performed in a closed-loop circuit, and analyses of global performances were conducted under three start-up conditions. In order to conduct a deeper analysis of the runner behavior, a runner blade was equipped with 26 sensors, which were used to evaluate the transient pressure field using an interpolation method. By checking the global performances of all the conditions, the flow rate evolution follows the guide vane opening (GVO) evolution only for the two slowest GVO test cases. Additionally, the use of defined dimensionless numbers allowed for some degree of universal evolution to be revealed, and for the peak of torque to be characterized. The pressure on the runner blades was also investigated. Although the runner operates like an impulse turbine at the beginning of the start-up sequence, its blades act like more airfoils when the torque reaches its peak. Moreover, the fluctuations at the end of the start/up sequence suggest that the stress on the blade could be more important than the stress observed on the driven shaft. Furthermore, local phenomena, such as suction on the pressure side of the runner blade near the shroud, were also observed on the pressure distribution, which is incongruent with the theoretical inlet velocity field estimated from global performances. These observations suggest the presence of a backflow and a cavitation pocket. Moreover, a flow instability probably occurs at low GVO speed and produces some torque fluctuations around the maximum torque value.
Co-Generation of Solar Electricity and Agriculture Produce by Photovoltaic and Photosynthesis—Dual Model by Abellon, India
Authors: Patel Beena , Gami Bharat , Baria Vipul , Patel Akash , Patel Pankaj
Published: November 2018

Sustainable use of land and water is crucial in the era of climate change. Abellon Clean Energy has established 3 MW solar plant for practicing agricultural under the solar panels to address food and energy security involving a rural community. This innovation is first of its kind named as “solar-agri-electric model.” The water used for washing the solar panels to maintain efficiency by dust removal irrigates agriculture produce under the panels. This gives 24–34 tones/hectare/yr agriculture produced by reusing 78 lakhs liters of water per year and capturing 250 tons of CO2 in vegetables as food. The 3 MW solar project is registered under clean development mechanism (CDM) under United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that reduces 0.1 million tonnes CO2 emissions over 25 years vis-a-vis fossil fuels. Around 52 MT/yr post-harvested residues are used for organic fertilizer, composting, and fodder. Compound wall to safeguard the project site allowed creeper vegetables to grow and reduces dust deposition on the panels through wind breaking filtration. This initiative enhanced degree of sustainability along with local employment of 215 people from four villages including 156 women. In India, 1059.64 MW installed solar plants have potential to sequester 1,600,000 tons CO2/year with abilities of 10,000 tons of agricultural produce that could employ 2000 people. Worldwide solar farms have potential to sequester 143,000 MTCO2 through vegetation producing 100,000 MT of agriculture produce annually. Efficient use of natural resources requires facilitation of local/regional policies with reference to climatic condition, agricultural potential, and availability of natural resources.
A Numerical Study of Sensitivity Coefficients for a Model of Amyloid Precursor Protein and Tubulin-Associated Unit Protein Transport and Agglomeration in Neurons at the Onset of Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Kuznetsov I. A. , Kuznetsov A. V.
Published: November 2018

Modeling of intracellular processes occurring during the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be instrumental in understanding the disease and can potentially contribute to finding treatments for the disease. The model of intracellular processes in AD, which we previously developed, contains a large number of parameters. To distinguish between more important and less important parameters, we performed a local sensitivity analysis of this model around the values of parameters that give the best fit with published experimental results. We show that the influence of model parameters on the total concentrations of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tubulin-associated unit (tau) protein in the axon is reciprocal to the influence of the same parameters on the average velocities of the same proteins during their transport in the axon. The results of our analysis also suggest that in the beginning of AD the aggregation of amyloid-β and misfolded tau protein have little effect on transport of APP and tau in the axon, which suggests that early damage in AD may be reversible.
Biological performance of the predatory mites Amblyseius largoensis and Euseius concordis fed on eggs of Aleurodicus cocois
Authors: De Alfaia Josiane Pacheco , Neves Maria Edvania Barros , Melo Luana Lima , Lima Debora Barbosa , Dias Nivia Da Silva , Melo Jose Wagner Silva
Published: November 2018

No abstract, but the first three sentences are shown below:Giant whiteflies, Aleurodicus cocois, commonly occur in some fruit trees, especially on cashew trees, and are actually recognized as a key pest in this crop. It is possible that some of the phytoseiid species that commonly occur on cashew trees have the potential to be used to control the giant whitefly. Amblyseius largoensis and Euseius concordis has been suggested as potential natural enemies of the giant whitefly. Thus, the present study evaluated the development and reproduction of A. largoensis and E. concordis when fed exclusively on giant whitefly eggs.
Mutation of Influenza A Virus PA-X Decreases Pathogenicity in Chicken Embryos and Can Increase the Yield of Reassortant Candidate Vaccine Viruses
Authors: Hussain Saira , Turnbull Matthew L. , Wise Helen M. , Jagger Brett W. , Beard Philippa M. , Kovacikova Kristina , Taubenberger Jeffery K. , Vervelde Lonneke , Engelhardt Othmar G. , Digard Paul
Published: November 2018

Influenza A virus is a widespread pathogen that affects both humans and a variety of animal species, causing regular epidemics and sporadic pandemics, with major public health and economic consequences. A better understanding of virus biology is therefore important. The primary control measure is vaccination, which for humans mostly relies on antigens produced in eggs from PR8-based viruses bearing the glycoprotein genes of interest. However, not all reassortants replicate well enough to supply sufficient virus antigen for demand. The significance of our research lies in identifying that mutation of the PA-X gene in the PR8 strain of virus can improve antigen yield, potentially by decreasing the pathogenicity of the virus in embryonated eggs.
An unusual presentation of gall bladder papillomatosis in association with metachromatic leukodystrophy
Authors: Kurian Jujju Jacob , Jacob Tarun John K
Published: November 2018

A 5-year-old boy with metachromatic leukodystrophy, debilitated by spastic quadriparesis presented to us with massive ascites and respiratory distress. A subtotal cholecystectomy was performed on him from another centre for a gall bladder mass a year before he came to us. Imaging revealed a polypoidal frond-like mass arising from the gall bladder fossa which was supplied by a hypertrophied branch of the right hepatic artery. A decision was made to offer surgical resection preceded by embolisation of the feeding vessel. At surgery, a polypoidal frond-like mass in communication with the peritoneal cavity was seen arising from the remnant gall bladder bed with over 4 L of mucoid ascites. The mass along with the remnant gall bladder was removed. Biopsy revealed villous papilloma of the gall bladder. The child is well and asymptomatic at 5-month follow-up.
Jones lacrimal bypass tubes in children and adults
Authors: Mombaerts Ilse , Witters Elodie
Published: November 2018

Background/aims

Although a Jones tube is considered the mainstay for epiphora in patients with total blockage of the canalicular system, it has been discouraged in children for reasons of inadequate self-care and maintenance. The purpose of this study is to compare the long-term outcome of Jones tube surgery in paediatric versus adult patients.

Methods

Retrospective, interventional case series of a single academic institution. The medical records of all children (≤16 years old) and adults (>16 years old) who underwent conjunctivorhinostomy with placement of a 130° angled extended Jones tube were reviewed. The outcome measures were patency and anatomical position of the tube, type and frequency of complications and subjective relief of epiphora.

Results

The study included 10 children (11 eyes) (range, 5.1–16.0 years old) and 102 adults (127 eyes) (range, 19.7–82.4 years old). The success and complication rate did not differ between the two age groups. Tube dislodgement and obstruction occurred in 4 (36.4%) of the paediatric tubes with an incidence rate of 6.1%/year and in 47 (37.0%) of the adult tubes with an incidence rate of 9.3%/year (p=0.3867). Two adults required routine self-irrigation of the tube. The median follow-up was 6.7 years for the children and 8.7 years for the adults (p=0.3430).

Conclusion

With a similar outcome profile and minimal self-care, young age is not a prognostic nor limiting factor for surgery with angled Jones tubes. Exchange with tubes of a longer length is not required during growth.
Relationship between exclusive breast feeding and cardiorespiratory fitness in children and adolescents: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Berlanga-Macías Carlos , Pozuelo-Carrascosa Diana P. , Álvarez-Bueno Celia , Martínez-Hortelano Jose Alberto , Garrido-Miguel Miriam , Martínez-Vizcaíno Vicente
Published: November 2018

Introduction

Breast feeding has been considered important due to its short-term and long-term benefits on infant and maternal health. Regarding the long-term benefits, the influence of exclusive breastfeeding on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) during childhood and adolescence has been studied, although with controversial conclusions. This study protocol aims to provide a clear and standardised procedure for systematically reviewing the relationship between breast feeding, in terms of duration and exclusivity, and CRF in children and adolescents.

Methods and analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis protocol is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols. A literature search will be conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. Observational studies regarding the association between breast feeding and CRF in children and adolescents written in English or Spanish will be included. A Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross Sectional Studies and The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for longitudinal studies will be used for quality assessment of included studies. Standardised mean differences of CRF by exclusive breastfeeding categories will be calculated as the primary outcome. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression will be performed based on the sources of heterogeneity.

Ethics and dissemination

This evidence-based systematic review will summarise the relevant information on the association of exclusive breast feeding and CRF in children and adolescents. The results will be disseminated by publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Given that the data used for this systematic review will be exclusively extracted from published studies, ethical approval will not be required.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42018082642.
Use of a novel suction cervical retractor for intrauterine device insertion: a pilot feasibility trial
Authors: Turok David K , Simmons Rebecca G , Cappiello Benjamin , Gawron Lori M , Saviers-Steiger Jane , Sanders Jessica N
Published: November 2018

Introduction

The Bioceptive suction cervical retractor (SCR) is a novel device that can replace the standard single-tooth tenaculum to place traction on the cervix. A feasibility trial was conducted on the device for intrauterine device (IUD) placement.

Methods

Our three-stage feasibility process began with Stage 1, where the device was tested on in-vitro and ex-vivo samples. In Stage 2, 10 women received their IUD using the device. In Stage 3, a feasibility trial, we randomly assigned 25 consenting women to receive their IUD using either the Bioceptive SCR or the standard single-tooth tenaculum. In Stages 2 and 3, we collected pain scores using an electronically adapted 100-point visual analogue scale (VAS) at eight timepoints during and after the insertion procedure, as well as satisfaction and acceptability measures. The primary outcome was the pain score after attaching the SCR or tenaculum (VAS 3). Wilcoxon rank sum tests compared pain scores between devices.

Results

In Stage 2, pain scores with the SCR were lower than historical controls with the single-tooth tenaculum. In Stage 3, the median VAS 3 pain scores were 31 and 57 for the intervention and control groups, respectively. The differences in pain scores were not statistically significant but the trend was to lower pain scores with the intervention. Reported patient satisfaction with the SCR device was 80% in Stage 2% and 90% in Stage 3.

Conclusions

The Bioceptive SCR has potential as an atraumatic alternative to standard cervical retractor devices for gynaecological procedures. These findings can guide point estimates for future clinical studies.

Trial registration

NCT02283463.
Perioperative gastrointestinal reflux in dogs
Authors: Reid Katherine
Published: November 2018

Perioperative vomiting, regurgitation and reflux cause problems for veterinary patients during, but mostly after, anaesthesia. A history of gastrointestinal disease will often indicate the possibility of reflux, but many animals that regurgitate under anaesthesia have no previous history or predisposing factors, making this event an unwelcome surprise. If the refluxate fails to reach the larynx or mouth, the anaesthetist will be unaware and reflux will go untreated, with repeated incidents causing oesophagitis that can lead to stricture. Regurgitation complicates anaesthesia because animals have reduced or absent laryngeal reflexes and aspiration of refluxate leads to pneumonia. Following anaesthesia, irritation may make animals uncomfortable and less willing to eat, thus slowing their recovery and increasing any complications. This article aims to provide a greater depth of understanding as to why and how reflux occurs in anaesthetised dogs and what options are available for treatment.
Primary lung cancer in patients with previous malignancies: a nationwide study
Authors: Mets Onno M , Schaefer-Prokop Cornelia M , de Jong Pim A
Published: November 2018

Overall survival of patients with cancer continues to increase and so they receive more frequent CT imaging, making oncological patients a growing population that effectively receives lung cancer screening in the course of daily practice. However, it is currently uncertain how early lung cancer detection in this subgroup of patients should be optimally managed. We describe the relationship between primary lung cancer and prior malignancies in a nationwide cohort, in an attempt to identify possible areas of improvement in nodule management. We found that a substantial number of subjects with lung cancer suffered from a prior malignancy; however, with the exception of otorhinolaryngeal malignancies, they did not show a high absolute risk for lung cancer. Future research should provide more data on how to handle this subgroup of patients in clinical and screening setting.
Polytobacco use among young adult smokers: prospective association with cigarette consumption
Authors: Petersen Angela , Myers Mark G , Tully Lyric , Brikmanis Kristin , Doran Neal
Published: November 2018

Background. The risks of polytobacco use among young adults are unclear because we know relatively little about the consistency of multiproduct patterns over time and how these patterns impact cigarette smoking. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in multiple tobacco product use over time and associations with cigarette smoking quantity.

Methods. Participants (n=335; 55% male) were 18–24 years old non-daily cigarette smokers living in California. Polytobacco use patterns were assessed quarterly for 2 years.

Results. Transition analyses showed that while the number of products that had been used recently was volatile, the most common pattern was stability between timepoints. A longitudinal negative binomial regression model indicated that those who used more non-cigarette products also reported greater cigarette quantity. The strength of this relationship increased over time.

Conclusions. Findings suggest that individuals who use more tobacco products are at greater risk for increased cigarette smoking and maintaining a multiple product use pattern.
Decreased mortality, laparotomy, and embolization rates for liver injuries during a 13-year period in a major Scandinavian trauma center
Authors: Gaski Iver Anders , Skattum Jorunn , Brooks Adam , Koyama Tomohide , Eken Torsten , Naess Paal Aksel , Gaarder Christine
Published: November 2018

Background

Although non-operative management (NOM) has become the treatment of choice in hemodynamically normal patients with liver injuries, the optimal management of Organ Injury Scale (OIS) grades 4 and 5 injuries is still controversial. Oslo University Hospital Ulleval (OUHU) has since 2008 performed angiography only with signs of bleeding. Simultaneously, damage control resuscitation was implemented. Would these changes result in a decreased laparotomy rate and need for angioembolization (AE), as well as decreased mortality?

Methods

We performed a retrospective study on all adult patients with liver injuries admitted at OUHU between 2002 and 2014. The total study population and patients with OIS grades 4 and 5 liver injuries underwent comparison between the periods before (P1) and after (P2) August 1, 2008.

Results

583 patients were included (P1: 237, P2: 346), with a median Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 29. The total population and the subgroup of OIS 4 and 5 injuries were comparable in age, gender, mechanism of injury, injury severity and physiology. Overall laparotomy rates decreased from P1 to P2 (35%–24%; p<0.01), as did the AE rate (11%–5%; p<0.01). The 30-day crude mortality decreased from 14% to 7% (p<0.05). A logistic regression model predicted an OR of 0.45 (95% CI 0.21 to 0.98) for dying when admitted in P2. In OIS grades 4 and 5 injuries (n=149, median ISS 34), similar reduction in AE rate was seen (30%–12%; p<0.05). The NOM rate for OIS grades 4 and 5 injuries was 70%, with 98% success rate. For the 30% requiring surgery, the mortality remained high (P1 52%; P2 40%), despite more balanced transfusion strategy.

Discussion

Changes in resuscitation and treatment protocols were associated with decreased laparotomy, and AE rates as well as overall mortality. NOM is safe in 70% of patients with OIS grades 4 and 5 injuries, in contrast to the critically ill 30% requiring surgery who still have poor outcome.

Level of evidence

IV.
Neonatal intestinal injury induced by maternal separation: pathogenesis and pharmacological targets
Authors: Li Bo , Yu Fang Zhou , Minich Adam , Hock Alison , Lee Carol , Pierro Agostino
Published: November 2018

Maternal separation (MS) is a well-studied phenomenon thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of many diseases ranging from neuropsychiatric to early intestinal disorders such as necrotizing enterocolitis. The existing evidence suggests that MS initiates a variety of processes that in turn lead to early intestinal injury. Although there are many theories as to how MS alters normal physiological processes, the exact mechanism of action remains to be elucidated. This review aims to describe some of the pathological processes affecting the intestine that are caused by MS, including (i) brain–gut axis, (ii) intestinal epithelial barrier function, (iii) microbiome, (iv) oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress, and (v) gut inflammation.
Direct and indirect health impacts of climate change on the vulnerable elderly population in East China
Authors: Kinay Pelin , Morse Andrew P. , Villanueva Elmer V. , Morrissey Karyn , Staddon Philip L.
Published: November 2018

The latest scientific advances on the impacts of climate change on the health of the elderly in East China were reviewed consulting peer-reviewed publications from 2000 to 2017. The direct impacts of climate change result from rising temperatures, heat waves, and increases in the frequency of complex extreme weather events such as windstorms, floods, and droughts. The health and social consequences of these events are far reaching, ranging from reduced labour productivity and heat-related deaths through to direct physical injury during extreme weather events, the spread of infectious diseases, and mental health effects following widespread flooding or prolonged drought. Research has indicated that climate change will have the greatest impact on vulnerable groups of people, including the elderly population. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence, a lack of focus on vulnerable segments of the population (especially elderly), limited understanding of how health status will change in the future, and lack of acknowledgement of how different regions in China vary in terms of the consequences of climate change. The main risk in East China that climate change may exacerbate is flooding (sea level rise, coastal and riverine, flood risk). However in some regions of East China such as in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hebei, and Shandong the biggest climate change risk is considered to be drought. Main health risks linked to climate change are evident as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases (heat stroke, exhaustion, and asthma), often caused by interactions between heat wave episodes and concurrent poor air quality.
DIFFERENCES IN PUTTER TRAJECTORY AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR GOLFERS UNDER STRESS CONDITION
Authors: CHOI JIN SEUNG , SEO JEONG WOO , TACK GYE RAE
Published: November 2018

This study compared the differences in the putter trajectory and psychophysiological variables of winners and losers in a competitive putting game that targeted professional and amateur golfers under stress. Eight professional golfers (handicap: [Formula: see text]) and eight amateur golfers (handicap: [Formula: see text]) participated. To maximize the tension of the competition, the putting game was held in a single-elimination one-on-one knockout tournament with a single 2.1[Formula: see text]m putting competition for each group. In the case of a hole-in or a failure by both golfers, the game resumed until the winner was determined. To compare the golfers during the game, the maximum speed, moving length, and amplitude of the putter head during the back-swing and the follow-through were set as the motion variables; and psychological variables (heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2)) were analyzed. The results showed significant differences between the putter trajectory variables (maximum velocity and amplitude of the putter head during follow-through) of the groups, but no differences in the psychophysiological variables. In comparing winners and losers within each group, however, the professional group showed a difference in only the psychophysiological variables (HRV and self-confidence of CSAI-2), whereas the amateur group showed a difference in only one putter trajectory variable (follow-through length). It was quantitatively confirmed that factors that determine the outcome of the game differed at a technical level.
NOVEL METHOD FOR ASSESSING ARTERIAL STIFFNESS BASED ON OSCILLOMETRIC BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT
Authors: ZHANG CHI , GAO YONGJIA , LONG TAOCHEN , DU YI , HOU XIAOXU , LI DEYU
Published: November 2018

Arterial stiffness is a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study is to explore the physiological significance of the brachial mechanical parameters, which could be estimated from oscillometric blood pressure (BP) measurement, and investigate on the potential of these arterial parameters as an index of arterial stiffness. The mechanical characteristics of brachial artery were modeled based on the collapsible tube theory, which includes two important parameters to describe the compliance of brachial artery. After the model validation, the arterial parameters were estimated from the measured oscillometric envelope of 56 subjects by solving an inverse problem. The physiological significance of these parameters was explored by analyzing their association with pulse wave velocity (PWV) as well as with the BP. Arterial compliance parameters were successfully estimated from the envelope of the oscillometric pulse wave in the BP measurement. The parameters were found to be linearly associated with age, PWV, and BP. These results suggest that our method may provide a potential approach to assess arterial compliance based on oscillometric measurement of BP.
WHAT EMPLOYEES REALLY WANT: DEMANDS FOR INDIVIDUAL IDEA DEVELOPMENT
Authors: GERNREICH CHRIS C.
Published: November 2018

Present research on the front-end of innovation mainly examines factors or resources influencing an employee’s creativity, measured by outcomes such as the generated ideas. From the point of articulation, the ideas are more or less easy to handle as they enter a company’s sphere of influence. However, ideas that are held back by employees are not so easy to grasp, although they could provide a large pool of ideas to gain benefits from. This qualitative-empirical study points at demands of employees that have to be met to create an environment, which supports the development of ideas. Employees have great demands during information gathering and idea evaluation. Furthermore, the moment, when employees enter ideas into the idea management system, they are very sensitive to obstacles and feedback.
Living in the Present
Authors: Compton Ryan J. , Warshaw Jeff , Badenes Hernan , Smith Barton , Whittaker Steve
Published: November 2018

Successful online communities accumulate large amounts of long-term content. However there has been little quantitative, theoretically-motivated exploration of how communities organize such content, nor which community members take responsibility for active organization. We examine one aspect of long-term content organization through link behavior, also exploring role differences between enterprise community leaders and members in the context of life-cycle community models. We first classify how content is linked within posts, identifying usage patterns that organize information within and outside communities. We next present an exploratory quantitative analysis of 2,010 communities including 428,476 posts and 1,246,570 links. We show paradoxically that although mature communities accumulate substantial content, organizing that content using links decreases over time. Further analyses suggest that this arises from a recency bias, with communities being focused on current content. Our results also challenge descriptive lifecycle community models, which propose that regular community members adopt greater responsibility over time. We explore explanations for our findings and implications including new tools that encourage responsibility for active organization, as well as methods for members to revisit critical content.
Engaging with Health Data
Authors: Costa Figueiredo Mayara , Caldeira Clara , Eikey Elizabeth Victoria , Mazmanian Melissa , Chen Yunan
Published: November 2018

Self-tracking data is often seen as a means to reflect and achieve a goal, usually focusing on positive insights and actions. Lately, some studies have discussed the negative consequences of self-tracking, suggesting that people interact with personal data in different ways. We explored how self-tracking activities and the emotional context characterize how people engage with personal health data through the analysis of a complex and emotionally-loaded use case: fertility self-tracking. We qualitatively analyzed patient-generated content in an online health community dedicated to fertility. We found five distinct types of engagement with data: positive, burdened, obsessive, trapped, and abandoning. Each of them is composed of an action and an emotional component that mutually influence each other. We discuss how the interplay of these components characterize a person's engagement with data, how the online forum made these issues visible, and how they are embedded in the self-tracking culture. We also provide insights into the implications of these issues for self-tracking tools. Finally, we hypothesize how people transition through the types of relationships with data, suggesting directions for future research in the area.
Coloring in the Links
Authors: Deri Sebastian , Rappaz Jeremie , Aiello Luca Maria , Quercia Daniele
Published: November 2018

The richness that characterizes relationships is often absent when they are modeled using computational methods in network science. Typically, relationships are represented simply as links, perhaps with weights. The lack of finer granularity is due in part to the fact that, aside from linkage and strength, no fundamental or immediately obvious dimensions exist along which to categorize relationships. Here we propose a set of dimensions that capture major components of many relationships -- derived both from relevant academic literature and people's everyday descriptions of their relationships. We first review prominent findings in sociology and social psychology, highlighting dimensions that have been widely used to categorize social relationships. Next, we examine the validity of these dimensions empirically in two crowd-sourced experiments. Ultimately, we arrive at a set of ten major dimensions that can be used to categorize relationships: similarity, trust, romance, social support, identity, respect, knowledge exchange, power, fun, and conflict. These ten dimensions, while not dispositive, offer higher resolution than existing models. Indeed, we show that one can more accurately predict missing links in a social graph by using these dimensions than by using a state-of-the-art link embeddedness method. We also describe tinghy.org, an online platform we built to collect data about how social media users perceive their online relationships, allowing us to examine these dimensions at scale. Overall, by proposing a new way of modeling social graphs, our work aims to contribute both to theory in network science and practice in the design of social-networking applications.
'We can go anywhere'
Authors: Kameswaran Vaishnav , Gupta Jatin , Pal Joyojeet , O'Modhrain Sile , Veinot Tiffany C. , Brewer Robin , Parameshwar Aakanksha , Y Vidhya , O'Neill Jacki
Published: November 2018

Ride-hailing services have received attention as part of the growing work around the sharing economy, but the focus of these studies has largely been on drivers. In this paper, we examine how ride-hailing is transforming the transportation practices of one group of passengers - people with visual impairments in metropolitan India. Through a qualitative study consisting of interviews and observations, we examined the use and impact of these services on our target population, who otherwise contend with chaotic, unreliable, and largely inaccessible modes of transportation. We found that ride-hailing services positively affects participants' notions of independence, and we tease out how independence for our participants is not just about 'doing things alone, without help' but is also situated, social and relative. Furthermore, we show how accessibility, in the case of ride-hailing in India, is a socio-technical and collaborative achievement, involving interactions between the passenger, the driver, and the technology.
Fact or Fiction
Authors: Lovering Charles , Lu Anqi , Nguyen Cuong , Nguyen Huyen , Hurley David , Agu Emmanuel
Published: November 2018

Subjective reporting polarizes competing viewpoints. However, helping readers to recognize subjective content leads to more impartial discussions. Towards this end, we develop machine learning models that classify sentence objectivity. We contribute a set of linguistic rules for determining sentence objectivity collated from previous work. We also develop a labeled dataset with over 5000 sentences retrieved from various news sources. Further, we evaluate traditional machine learning classification models and artificial neural networks on our dataset. The best performing model, a convolutional neural network, achieved an accuracy of 85% and an AUC of 0.933. Using our subjective-objective sentence classification model, we implement Fact-or-Fiction, an end-to-end web system that highlights objective sentences in user text. Fact-or-Fiction provides additional information, such as links to related web pages and related previous submissions.
StreamWiki
Authors: Lu Zhicong , Heo Seongkook , Wigdor Daniel J.
Published: November 2018

Knowledge-sharing live streams are distinct from traditional educational videos, at least because of the large concurrently-viewing audience and the real-time discussions between viewers and the streamer. Though this creates unique opportunities for interactive learning, it also brings a challenge for creating a useful archive for post hoc learning. This paper presents the results of interviews with knowledge sharing streamers, their moderators, and viewers to understand current experiences and needs for sharing and learning knowledge through live streaming. Based on those findings, we built StreamWiki, a tool which leverages the viewers during live streams to produce useful archives of the interactive learning experience. On StreamWiki, moderators initiate tasks that viewers complete by conducting microtasks, such as writing a summary, commenting, and voting for informative comments. As a result, a summary document is built in real time. Through the tests of our prototype with streamers and viewers, we found that StreamWiki could help understanding the content and the context of the stream, during the stream and for post hoc learning.
How Social Ties Influence Hurricane Evacuation Behavior
Authors: Metaxa-Kakavouli Danaë , Maas Paige , Aldrich Daniel P.
Published: November 2018

Natural disasters bring enormous costs every year, both in terms of lives and materials. Evacuation from potentially affected areas stands out among the most critical factors that can reduce mortality and vulnerability to crisis. We know surprisingly little about the factors that drive this important and often life-saving behavior, though recent work has suggested that social capital may play a critical and previously underestimated role in natural disaster preparedness. Moving beyond retrospective self-reporting and vehicle count estimates, we use social media data from a large number of Facebook users to examine connections between levels of social capital and evacuation behavior. This work is the first of its kind, examining these phenomena across three major U.S. disasters-Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria-with data on over 1.5 million social media users. Our analysis confirms that, holding confounding factors constant, several aspects of social capital are correlated with whether or not an individual evacuates. Higher levels of bridging and linking social ties correlate strongly with evacuation. However, these social capital related factors are not significantly associated with the rate of return after evacuation.
Public WiFi is for Men and Mobile Internet is for Women
Authors: Mudliar Preeti
Published: November 2018

Public WiFi networks are increasingly viewed as last-mile Internet solutions for rural areas given the infrastructure intensive nature of fibre optic broadband connectivity, but how inclusive are they? This study reports on interviews, observations, and practices around WiFi access points in public spaces in a rural community in India. It illustrates the ways in which Internet savvy women may continue to experience exclusions in Internet access and use. Bound by social norms that restrict their movements and tether them to spotty mobile data, women's Internet usage is limited in comparison to men, whose relatively unconstrained mobility permits them access and use of the free WiFi in the community. Additionally, interviews with a commercial WiFi provider reveals naive assumptions about women's Internet habits and gendered mobilities influencing access. The findings suggest that in certain contexts, women may remain invisible as potential customers despite their desire and ability to pay for WiFi access.
Ease on Down the Code
Authors: Ganji Abbas , Orand Mania , McDonald David W.
Published: November 2018

This paper describes the design and development of a preliminary qualitative coding tool as well as a method to improve the process of achieving inter-coder reliability (ICR) in small teams. Software applications that support qualitative coding do not sufficiently assist collaboration among coders and overlook some fundamental issues related to ICR. We propose a new dimension of collaborative coding called 'coders' certainty" and demonstrate its ability to illustrate valuable code disagreements that are missing from existing approaches. Through a case study, we describe the utility of our tool, Code Wizard, and how it helped a group of researchers effectively collaborate to code naturalistic observation data. We report the valuable lessons we learned from the development of our tool and method: (1) identifying coders' certainty constitutes an important part of determining the quality of data analysis and facilitates identifying overlapping and ambiguous codes, (2) making the details of coding process visible helps streamline the coding process and leads to a sense of ownership of the research results, and (3) there is valuable information hidden in coding disagreements that can be leveraged for improving the process of data analysis.
Deglobalization: The Rise of Disembedded Unilateralism
Authors: James Harold
Published: November 2018

There is some evidence of deglobalization in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The economic data are mixed and indicate a stall, but not a collapse, of globalization. Cross-border financial flows have been reduced, but the overall outcome mostly reflects changes in European banking. Trade is not growing as quickly as before the crisis, but that may be the consequence of technology shortening supply chains. There are more protectionist measures, but they have not radically cut trade. But political deglobalization has advanced much further, and consequently, there is the prospect of more intense conflicts over trade and financial regulation in the future, as well as one of an increasing backlash against migration. Globalization depends on a complex system of regulating cross-border flows and on embedding domestic rules in an international order. The political momentum is directed against the existing methods or regulation and against the complex rules that had been established to manage globalization. The promise given by populist myth builders is that eliminating international entanglements can make life simpler, less regulated, and above all, less subject to the dictates of an administrative class. Modern economic nationalism or unilateralism can be understood as a reversal of the process of embedding and may thus be termed “disembedded unilateralism.”
Postbuckling and Free Nonlinear Vibration of Microbeams Based on Nonlinear Elastic Foundation
Authors: Hieu Dang Van
Published: November 2018

In this paper, post-buckling and free nonlinear vibration of microbeams resting on nonlinear elastic foundation subjected to axial force are investigated. The equations of motion of microbeams are derived by using the modified couple stress theory. Using Galerkin’s method, the equation of motion of microbeams is reduced to the nonlinear ordinary differential equation. By using the equivalent linearization in which the averaging value is calculated in a new way called the weighted averaging value, approximate analytical expressions for the nonlinear frequency of microbeams with pinned–pinned and clamped–clamped end conditions are obtained in closed-forms. Comparisons with previous solutions are showed accuracy of the present solutions. Effects of the material length scale parameter and the axial compressive force on the frequency ratios of microbeams; and effect of the material length scale parameter on the buckling load ratios of microbeams are investigated in this paper.
Therapy with Ulipristal Acetate in a Hypertensive Patient
Authors: Alcalde Dominguez A. , Rabasa Antonijuan J. , Cusidó Gimferrer M. , Ortuño M. Jiménez
Published: November 2018

Ulipristal acetate (UPA) is a medical therapy for patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids. The drug has shown efficacy in the control of heavy menstrual bleeding and, as a consequence, in anaemia improvement. We report the case of a hypertensive patient treated with two courses of UPA. In addition to its observed benefits on hypermenorrhea caused by uterine fibroids, no exacerbation of the underlying disease was observed. No adverse effects were observed, and blood pressure levels were well controlled throughout.
A Sparse Optimization Approach for Energy-Efficient Timetabling in Metro Railway Systems
Authors: Luo Ziyan , Li Xiaoyu , Xiu Naihua
Published: November 2018

In this paper, we propose a sparse optimization approach to maximize the utilization of regenerative energy produced by braking trains for energy-efficient timetabling in metro railway systems. By introducing the cardinality function and the square of the Euclidean norm function as the objective function, the resulting sparse optimization model can characterize the utilization of the regenerative energy appropriately. A two-stage alternating direction method of multipliers is designed to efficiently solve the convex relaxation counterpart of the original NP-hard problem and then to produce an energy-efficient timetable of trains. The resulting approach is applied to Beijing Metro Yizhuang Line with different instances of service for case study. Comparison with the existing two-step linear program approach is also conducted which illustrates the effectiveness of our proposed sparse optimization model in terms of the energy saving rate and the efficiency of our numerical optimization algorithm in terms of computational time.
An Earlier Predictive Rollover Index Designed for Bus Rollover Detection and Prevention
Authors: Tian Shun , Wei Lang , Schwarz Chris , Zhou WenCai , Jiao Yuan , Chen YanQin
Published: November 2018

As vehicle rollovers annually cause a great deal of traffic-related deaths, an increasing number of vehicles are being equipped with rollover prevention systems with the aim of avoiding such accidents. To improve the functionality of active rollover prevention systems, this study provided a potential enhanced method with the intention to predict the tendency of the lateral load transfer ratio (LTR), which is the most common rollover index. This will help provide a certain amount of lead time for the control system to respond more effectively. Before the prediction process, an estimation equation was proposed to better estimate the LTR; the equation was validated using Simulink and TruckSim. Further, to eliminate the influence of drawbacks and make this method practical, a buffer operator was added. Simulation results showed that grey LTR (GLTR) was able to roundly predict the future trend of the LTR based on current and previous data. Under the tests of “Sine with Dwell” (Sindwell) and double lane change (DLC), the GLTR could provide the control system with sufficient time beforehand. Additionally, to further examine the performance of the GLTR, a differential system model was adopted to verify its effectiveness. Through the Sindwell maneuver, it was demonstrated that the GLTR index could improve the performance of the rollover prevention systems by achieving the expected response.
Predicting Drivers’ Eyes-Off-Road Duration in Different Driving Scenarios
Authors: Yuan Wei , Liu Zhuofan , Fu Rui
Published: November 2018

Drivers consecutively direct their gaze to various areas to select relevant information from the traffic environment. The rate of crash risk increases with different off-road glance durations in different driving scenarios. This paper proposed an approach to identify current driving scenarios and predict driver’s eyes-off-road durations using Hidden Markov Model (HMM). A moving base driving simulator study with 26 participants driving in three driving scenarios (urban, rural, and motorway) was conducted. Three different fixed occlusion durations (0-s, 1-s, and 2-s) were applied to quantify eyes-off-road durations. Participants could initiate each occlusion for certain duration by pressing a microswitch on a finger. They were instructed to occlude their vision as often as possible while still driving safely. Drivers’ visual behavior and occlusion behavior were captured and analyzed based on manually frame by frame coding. Visual behaviors in terms of glance duration and glance location in time series were used as input to train HMMs. The results showed that current driving scenarios could be identified ideally using glance location sequences, the accuracy achieving up to 89.3%. And motorway was relatively distinguishable easily with over 90% accuracy. Moreover, HMM-based algorithms that fed up with both glance duration and glance location sequences resulted in a highest accuracy of 92.7% in driver’s eyes-off-road durations prediction. And higher accuracy achieved in longer eyes-off-road durations prediction. It indicates that time series of glance allocations could be used to predict driving behavior and indentify driving environment. The developed models in this study could contribute to the development of scenario sensitive visual inattention prewarning system.