bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plant water status and genotype affect fruit respiration in grapevines
Authors: Hernández‐Montes Esther , Escalona José Mariano , Tomàs Magdalena , Medrano Hipólito
Published: March 2020

An understanding of fruit gas exchange is necessary to determine the carbon balance in grapevines, but little attention has been paid to the relationships among fruit respiration, plant water status and genetic variability. The effect of plant water status and genotype on cluster respiration was studied over two seasons (2013 and 2014) under field conditions using a whole cluster respiration chamber. Whole cluster CO2 fluxes were measured in growing grapevines at hard‐green, veraison and ripening stages under irrigated and non‐irrigated conditions, and under light and dark conditions in two grapevine varieties, Tempranillo and Grenache. A direct relationship between cluster CO2 efflux and plant water status was found at hard‐green stage. Genotype influenced the fruit CO2 efflux that resulted in higher carbon losses in Tempranillo than in Grenache. Fruit respiration rates decreased from the first berry developmental stages to ripening stage. The integration of fruit respiration rates under light and dark conditions showed the magnitude of fruit carbon losses and gains as well as interesting variety and environmental conditions effects on those processes.
Genomic evidence reveals SPA‐regulated developmental and metabolic pathways in dark‐grown Arabidopsis seedlings
Authors: Pham Vinh Ngoc , Paik Inyup , Hoecker Ute , Huq Enamul
Published: March 2020

Photomorphogenesis is repressed in the dark mainly by an E3 ubiquitin ligase complex comprising CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) and four homologous proteins called SUPPRESSOR OF PHYA‐105 (SPA1–SPA4) in Arabidopsis. This complex induces the ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of positively acting transcription factors (TFs; e.g. ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (HY5), LONG HYPOCOTYL IN FAR‐RED 1 (HFR1), PRODUCTION OF ANTHOCYANIN PIGMENT 1 (PAP1) and others] in the dark to repress photomorphogenesis. Genomic evidence showed a large number of genes regulated by COP1 in the dark, of which many are direct targets of HY5. However, the genomic basis for the constitute photomorphogenic phenotype of spaQ remains unknown. Here, we show that >7200 genes are differentially expressed in the spaQ background compared to wild‐type in the dark. Comparison of the RNA sequencing (RNA‐Seq) data between cop1 and spaQ revealed a large overlapping set of genes regulated by the COP1–SPA complex. In addition, many of the genes coordinately regulated by the COP1–SPA complex are also regulated by HY5 directly and indirectly. Taken together, our data reveal that SPA proteins repress photomorphogenesis by controlling gene expression in concert with COP1, likely through regulating the abundance of downstream TFs in light signaling pathways. Moreover, SPA proteins may function both in a COP1‐dependent and ‐independent manner in regulating many biological processes and developmental pathways in Arabidopsis.
Disruption of the Notch pathway aggravates airway inflammation by inhibiting regulatory T cell differentiation via regulation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells
Authors: Qu Shuo‐Yao , Ti Xin‐Yu , Zhang Jian , Wu Chang‐gui
Published: March 2020

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) regulate immunity and promote tolerance in asthma. Notch signalling is a highly conserved pathway that regulates the immune response; however, its role in pDC‐mediated asthmatic airway inflammation is unclear. This study clarified the effects of Notch signalling on pDC‐mediated airway inflammation using murine models of ovalbumin‐sensitized allergic asthma. RBP‐J‐deficient pDCs (RBP‐J−/− pDCs) were co‐cultured with naïve CD4+ T cells and supernatants and T cell subtypes were analysed. RBP‐J−/− pDCs were intranasally transferred to the airways of ovalbumin‐sensitized recipient mice. Lung samples of all mice were subjected to tests for histopathology, cytokine profile of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, airway hyperactivity and expression of T helper type 1 (Th1)/Th2 cells, regulatory T cells and type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s). The results showed that pDCs with and without RBP‐J deficiency significantly differed in expression levels of cluster of differentiation 83 (CD83), but not CD80, CD86 and major histocompatibility complex class II. Co‐culturing pDCs with naïve T cells revealed a poorer immunosuppressive effect of RBP‐J−/− pDCs. This may be attributed to the lower expression levels of inducible co‐stimulator ligand and lower production of interleukin 10 in RBP‐J−/− pDCs than in control pDCs, which impeded T cell activation and Treg suppression. RBP‐J−/− pDCs were associated with high ILC2 expression and severe Th2 immune responses and airway inflammation. Therefore, Notch signalling is critical for pDC‐dependent immunoregulation, and RBP‐J deficiency reduces pDC‐based immunosuppression via T cell activation and Th cell differentiation. Thus, this pathway may be a therapeutic target for pDC‐based anti‐asthma immunotherapy.
The novel HLA‐DRB1*13:290 allele, identified by next‐generation sequencing in a Saudi individual
Authors: Jawdat Dunia , Almutairi Yasser , Fakhoury Hana A. , Alaskar Ahmed S. , Hajeer Ali H.
Published: March 2020

HLA‐DRB1*13:290 differs from HLA‐DRB1*13:02:01:01 by a single nucleotide substitution in codon 86 (Gly > Ala).
An Inconsistent Triad: Priority Pluralism, Perdurantism and (the Possibility of) Gunky Time
Authors: Taylor Jamie
Published: March 2020

Priority pluralism, perdurantism and that temporal gunk – where some interval of time is gunky iff every interval of it has a proper subinterval – is at least metaphysically possible, are three commonly held views in contemporary metaphysics. However, there cannot be a temporally gunky world where objects perdure, and where there are mereological simples. Given that – as I will argue – pluralists should be committed to atomism, and cannot plausibly revise their view to accommodate temporal gunk if they are perdurantists, pluralism is incompatible with the combination of temporal gunk and perdurantism. Therefore, priority pluralism, perdurantism and the possibility of temporal gunk are jointly incompatible, and at least one of these views must be false. Subsequently, it means that at least one of the following views must be true: priority monism or metaphysical infinitism; endurantism; and/or that time is atomistic. The triad's inconsistency, then, has some interesting metaphysical implications.
Integrative Review of Dietary Choice Revealed by fMRI: Considerations for Obesity Prevention and Weight‐Loss Education
Authors: Long JoAnn D. , Dodd Sara L. , Doumit Rita , Boswell Carol , O’Boyle Michael W. , Rogers Toby
Published: March 2020

Background

Emerging findings from neuroimaging studies investigating brain activity associated with dietary behavior are illuminating the interaction of biological and behavioral mechanisms that have implications for obesity prevention. Globally, A total of 1.9 billion adults are overweight, and 650 million are obese. Obesity and being overweight are major risk factors for chronic illness and death. Behaviorally based health interventions have had limited success in curbing the obesity epidemic. Greater understanding of brain responses to food cues will contribute to new knowledge and shape public health efforts in obesity prevention. However, an integration of this knowledge for obesity prevention education has not been published.

Aims

This study links evidence generated from brain activation studies generated in response to diet and food images and highlights educational recommendations for nurses engaged in obesity prevention and weight‐loss education.

Methods

An integrative review of the literature was conducted using the MeSH keywords “magnetic resonance imaging,” “diet,” and “food images” in PubMed, MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases from their first appearance in 2006 through March 2018. Studies published in English and using functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain response to diet, and food images were initially identified. Animal models, those whose primary focus was a specific disease, and intervention studies were excluded.

Results

Of 159 studies identified, 26 met inclusion criteria. Findings from neuroimaging studies may help explain the relationship between brain mechanisms and behavioral aspects of dietary choice and inform patient education in obesity prevention. Awareness of this evidence is applicable to nursing education efforts. This review contributes several recommendations that should be considered by nurses providing individualized weight‐loss education.

Linking Evidence to Action

Nurses engaged in patient education for obesity prevention should consider personalized interventions that cultivate internal awareness for dietary adherence, self‐care, exercise, hydration, and mood state; avoid using caloric deprivation approaches, such as skipping breakfast, for weight‐loss interventions; and note the importance of individualized obesity prevention and weight‐loss education.
Near Exact Calculation of American Options
Authors: Simozar Saied
Published: March 2020

A new practical approach for the analysis of American (bond) options is developed which is a combination of the closed form solutions and binomial lattice models. The model is calibrated to the observed term structure of rates and traded volatilities and is arbitrage free. The convergence is very fast, but numerically intensive. By extrapolation the near exact premium of an American (bond) option can be calculated.
Configuration Optimization for End-Point Stabilization of Redundant Manipulators With Base Flexibility
Authors: LiBretto Michael , Ahn Yong Han , Han Chang Soo , Cho Yong K. , Ueda Jun
Published: March 2020

This paper presents a method to determine an optimal configuration of a teleoperated excavator to minimize the induced undercarriage oscillation for robust end-point stabilization. Treating the excavator as a kinematically redundant system, where non-unique combinations of the undercarriage position and arm posture can locate the end-point at the same reference. A specific configuration can be chosen to not excite undercarriage oscillation with simple end-point error feedback control without model-based or measurement-based vibration suppression. Robust stability measures based on normalized coprime factorization as well as modal decomposition solve the redundancy of the kinematics. An advantage of this approach is that the control engineer can proceed as if the excavator arm is fixed to rigid ground, which is practically not the case, and apply simple traditional Jacobian-based end-point control.
Morphological ontogeny of Damaeolus ornatissimus (Acari: Oribatida: Damaeolidae), with comments on Damaeolus Paoli

Authors: Seniczak Stanisław , Ivan Otilia , Seniczak Anna
Published: March 2020

The morphological ontogeny of Damaeolus ornatissimus Csiszár, 1962 from Romania is described and illustrated. The nymphs of this species are quadrideficient and eupheredermous, i.e. they carry the exuvial scalps of previous instars on the gastronotum. The bothridial seta of juveniles is fusiform, with long apical flagellum, and all prodorsal and gastronotal setae are smooth, and some of them are covered with thick layer of granular cerotegument. The larva has polygonal pattern on the gastronotum, two pairs of setae on paraproctal valves and 12 pairs of gastronotal setae, the nymphs have 12 pairs of latter setae. In all instars, seta d on all genua and tibiae is present.
YAP1 is a potent driver of the onset and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Omori Hirofumi , Nishio Miki , Masuda Muneyuki , Miyachi Yosuke , Ueda Fumihito , Nakano Takafumi , Sato Kuniaki , Mimori Koshi , Taguchi Kenichi , Hikasa Hiroki , Nishina Hiroshi , Tashiro Hironori , Kiyono Tohru , Mak Tak Wah , Nakao Kazuwa , Nakagawa Takashi , Maehama Tomohiko , Suzuki Akira
Published: March 2020

MOB1 deficiency promotes rapid onset and progression of oral SCC (OSCC) via YAP1 activation.
Recapitulating complex biological signaling environments using a multiplexed, DNA-patterning approach
Authors: Scheideler Olivia J. , Yang Chun , Kozminsky Molly , Mosher Kira I. , Falcón-Banchs Roberto , Ciminelli Emma C. , Bremer Andrew W. , Chern Sabrina A. , Schaffer David V. , Sohn Lydia L.
Published: March 2020

Photolithographic patterning of DNA leads to the assembly of complex signaling environments to study single-cell behavior.
Development of a CRISPR-SaCas9 system for projection- and function-specific gene editing in the rat brain
Authors: Sun Haojie , Fu Su , Cui Shuang , Yin Xiangsha , Sun Xiaoyan , Qi Xuetao , Cui Kun , Wang Jiaxin , Ma Longyu , Liu Feng-Yu , Liao Fei-Fei , Wang Xin-Hong , Yi Ming , Wan You
Published: March 2020

A CRISPR-based technique achieves projection- and function-specific gene editing in the rat brain.
Activation of adenosine A
2A
receptor by lipids from docosahexaenoic acid revealed by NMR
Authors: Mizumura Takuya , Kondo Keita , Kurita Masatoshi , Kofuku Yutaka , Natsume Mei , Imai Shunsuke , Shiraishi Yutaro , Ueda Takumi , Shimada Ichio
Published: March 2020

NMR studies of A
2A
AR in lipid bilayers of nanodiscs revealed the mechanism underlying activation of A
2A
AR by DHA chains.
An untethered isoperimetric soft robot
Authors: Usevitch Nathan S. , Hammond Zachary M. , Schwager Mac , Okamura Allison M. , Hawkes Elliot W. , Follmer Sean
Published: March 2020

A large-scale, isoperimetric, untethered, soft robot changes shape by manipulating constant-length inflated tubes using movable joints.
Dynamic obstacle avoidance for quadrotors with event cameras
Authors: Falanga Davide , Kleber Kevin , Scaramuzza Davide
Published: March 2020

Micro-aerial vehicles dodge fast-moving objects using only onboard sensing and computation.
Complete Genome Sequence of Pediococcus pentosaceus Strain GDIAS 001
Authors: Song Maopeng , Wang Yongfei , Ma Xianyong , Deng Dun
Published: March 2020

Pediococcus pentosaceus
strain GDIAS 001 was isolated from a tapioca sample in Guangzou, China. The genome of GDIAS 001 was assembled using single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing, and it contains 1 chromosome of 1.83 Mbp and 1,835 protein-coding genes, 71 RNA genes, and 56 tRNA genes.
Experimental quantification of bedrock abrasion under oscillatory flow
Authors: Bramante James F. , Perron J. Taylor , Ashton Andrew D. , Donnelly Jeffrey P.
Published: March 2020

Although wave-driven abrasion of submarine bedrock affects the evolution of rocky coasts and reefs globally, the dependence of the abrasion rate on wave forcing and sediment availability remains poorly quantified. We performed experiments in which an artificial substrate was abraded by varying amounts of coarse-grained sediment subjected to oscillatory flows. In these experiments, the bedrock incision rate scaled by the square of bedrock tensile strength (I, m yr–1 MPa2) varied with mean root-mean-square (rms) velocity (, m s–1) according to a power law, I = 1.04.2 (angle brackets indicate time-averaging over an entire experiment). Additionally, the relationship between sediment load and bedrock incision rate demonstrates tools and cover effects similar to abrasion in fluvial environments, such that incision is fastest at intermediate sediment loads. However, because oscillatory flows accumulate sediment into bedforms, the increased bedrock exposure reduces the efficiency of the cover effect for high sediment loads relative to unidirectional flow. Our results provide an empirical model that can be used to predict bedrock incision rates in nearshore environments based on wave forcing.
Permeability of polydisperse magma foam
Authors: Vasseur Jérémie , Wadsworth Fabian B. , Dingwell Donald B.
Published: March 2020

Effective models for the evolution of magma permeability are key to understanding shallow magma ascent and eruption dynamics. Models are generally empirical constructs, commonly focused on monodisperse systems, and unable to cope with the foam limit at high porosity. Here, we confirm that bubble size distributions in high-porosity pyroclasts are highly polydisperse. We combine collated experimental data and numerical simulations to test and validate a theoretically grounded percolation model for isotropic magma permeability, which accounts for the effect of polydispersivity of bubble sizes. We find that the polydispersivity controls the percolation threshold. It also serves as essential input into the scaling of permeability that is required to achieve universality in the description of permeability. Our model performs well against collated published data for the permeability of high-porosity volcanic rocks. We then extend this model to predict the viscous and inertial contributions to fluid flow that are required to model magma outgassing in all regimes. Our scaling relationship holds across the full range of porosity, from the percolation threshold to the open-foam limit.
Symptomatic hyponatremia: a rare but reversible adverse reaction of lubiprostone
Authors: Takenaka Tsuneo , Zeniya Mikio , Miura Soichiro , Amano Takahiro
Published: March 2020

Several intestinal secretagogues became available for the patients with irritable bowel syndrome. We report a case of symptomatic hyponatremia after lubiprostone ingestion. A male patient was visiting our office to manage chronic kidney disease. He suffered chronic hepatitis (type C), which was successfully treated with asunaprevir and daclatasvir. He took lubiprostone due to constipation, and then watery diarrhoea was frequently developed. Next morning, he came to our hospital due to consciousness disturbance. Physical examination showed dehydration and laboratory data exhibited hyponatremia (110 mEq/L). Subsequent treatment against hypovolemic hyponatremia recovered his consciousness without any sequels. This case suggests that intestinal secretagogues can accompany severe electrolyte disturbance. Potential mechanisms for hyponatremia were discussed.
Early-onset dementia: diagnostic challenges
Authors: Elhusein Bushra , Mahgoub Omer Bakri , Khairi Abdalla
Published: March 2020

A 56-year-old man was brought to our hospital by his family, seeking medical treatment for the patient’s long-standing progressive word-finding difficulties, forgetfulness, agitation and social withdrawal. After multiple previous physician consultations, the patient was mistakenly diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed multiple anticonvulsants, to which his above mentioned symptoms were unresponsive. His condition progressed over the next 10 years, resulting in severe cognitive impairments and a complete dysfunctionality. An electroencephalogram (EEG) assessment revealed persistent spike and wave activity in the left temporal lobe. Brain MRI revealed multiple small bright T2 and fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) foci within the white matter of both cerebral hemispheres surrounding the ventricular system, as well as some widening of extra-axial cerebrospinal fluid spaces. The patient was finally diagnosed with early-onset dementia and temporal lobe epileptiform abnormalities. This case emphasises the need for diagnostic consideration of dementia in cognitively impaired patients, even when they are not of an advanced age.
Complete resection of a massive mesenteric lymphangioma in an adult
Authors: Parker Dominic Robert , Kiely Philip , Smith Richard
Published: March 2020

Mesenteric lymphangioma is a benign cystic tumour of the lymphatic vessels that occurs rarely in adults. Due to the infrequency of cases and the insidious presentation, these tumours can be diagnosed late and become massive. Resection of mesenteric lymphangioma in its entirety is the recommended management in order to prevent recurrence. This case report describes the finding of a massive mesenteric lymphangioma (dimensions 420×470×100 mm) in a young man, the investigations leading to diagnosis, and the subsequent surgical management. The substantial size of this tumour produced considerable challenges for the surgical team, including involvement of adjacent small bowel and mesenteric vasculature. Preoperative diagnosis and assessment of the anatomy was pivotal in achieving a complete resection and a good patient outcome.
Type B lactic acidosis due to Warburg effect in a child presenting with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: a milder phenotype
Authors: Khera Sanjeev , Pramanik Suman Kumar , Kalra Suprita , Dwivedi Aradhana
Published: March 2020

Lactic acidosis (LA) is characterised by persistently increased blood lactate >5 mmol/L. Type A LA due to anaerobic glycolysis is frequently seen during management of haematological malignancies. A rare form of LA known as type B LA, which occurs as a result of metabolic dysregulation at cellular level has been described recently. This has been reported to be because of Warburg effect (WE) or aerobic glycolysis, which is seen in cancerous cells as they rely on aerobic glycolysis rather than oxidative phosphorylation for energy generation. Presence of type B LA at initial presentation of haematological malignancies is a poor prognosticating factor and has rarely been reported in children. We present a child with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with mild phenotype of type B LA due to WE. She responded dramatically to definitive chemotherapy and tolerated intensive phase of chemotherapy without any significant morbidity.
Comparison of staff and resident health status ratings in care homes
Authors: Benson Tim , Bowman Clive
Published: March 2020

Background

Many care home residents cannot self-report their own health status. Previous studies have shown differences between staff and resident ratings. In 2012, we collected 10 168 pairs of health status ratings using thehowRuhealth status measure. This paper examines differences between staff and resident ratings.

Method

HowRuis a short generic person-reported outcome measure with four items: pain or discomfort (discomfort), feeling low or worried (distress), limited in what you can do (disability) and require help from others (dependence). A summary score (howRuscore) is also calculated. Mean scores are shown on a 0–100 scale. High scores are better than low scores. Differences between resident and staff reports (bias) were analysed at the item and summary level by comparing distributions, analysing correlations and a modification of the Bland-Altman method.

Results and conclusions

Distributions are similar superficially but differ statistically. Spearman correlations are between 0.55 and 0.67. For items, more than 92.9% of paired responses are within one class; for thehowRusummary score, 66% are within one class. Mean differences (resident score minus staff score) on 0–100 scale are pain and discomfort (−1.11), distress (0.67), discomfort (1.56), dependence (3.92) andhowRusummary score (1.26). The variation is not the same for different severities. At higher levels of pain and discomfort, staff rated their discomfort and distress as better than residents. On the other hand, staff rated disability and dependence as worse than did residents. This probably reflects differences in perspectives. Red amber green (RAG) thresholds of 10 and 5 points are suggested for monitoring changes in care home mean scores.
Cross-sectional study of surgical quality with a novel evidence-based tool for low-resource settings
Authors: Roa Lina , Citron Isabelle , Ramos Jania A , Correia Jessica , Feghali Berenice , Amundson Julia R , Saluja Saurabh , Alonso Nivaldo , Vaz Ferreira Rodrigo
Published: March 2020

Background

Adverse events from surgical care are a major cause of death and disability, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries. Metrics for quality of surgical care developed in high-income settings are resource-intensive and inappropriate in most lower resource settings. The purpose of this study was to apply and assess the feasibility of a new tool to measure surgical quality in resource-constrained settings.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study of surgical quality using a novel evidence-based tool for quality measurement in low-resource settings. The tool was adapted for use at a tertiary hospital in Amazonas, Brazil resulting in 14 metrics of quality of care. Nine metrics were collected prospectively during a 4-week period, while five were collected retrospectively from the hospital administrative data and operating room logbooks.

Results

183 surgeries were observed, 125 patient questionnaires were administered and patient charts for 1 year were reviewed. All metrics were successfully collected. The study site met the proposed targets for timely process (7 hours from admission to surgery) and effective outcome (3% readmission rate). Other indicators results were equitable structure (1.1 median patient income to catchment population) and equitable outcome (2.5% at risk of catastrophic expenditure), safe outcome (2.6% perioperative mortality rate) and effective structure (fully qualified surgeon present 98% of cases).

Conclusion

It is feasible to apply a novel surgical quality measurement tool in resource-limited settings. Prospective collection of all metrics integrated within existing hospital structures is recommended. Further applications of the tool will allow the metrics and targets to be refined and weighted to better guide surgical quality improvement measures.
Fall prevention implementation strategies in use at 60 United States hospitals: a descriptive study
Authors: Turner Kea , Staggs Vincent , Potter Catima , Cramer Emily , Shorr Ronald , Mion Lorraine C
Published: March 2020

Background

To guide fall prevention efforts, United States organisations, such as the Joint Commission and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, have recommended organisational-level implementation strategies: leadership support, interdisciplinary falls committees, electronic health record tools, and staff, family and patient education. It is unclear whether hospitals adhere to such strategies or how these strategies are operationalised.

Objective

To identify and describe the prevalence of specific hospital fall prevention implementation strategies.

Methods

In 2017, we surveyed 80 US hospitals participating in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators who volunteered for the study. We conducted descriptive statistics by calculating percentages for categorical variables and the median and IQR for count variables.

Results

A total of 60/80 (75%) of hospitals completed the survey. The majority of hospitals were not-for-profit (98%) and urban (90%); more than half were Magnet (53%), small (53%) and teaching (52%). Hospitals were more likely to use leadership strategies, such as updating fall policies in the past 3 years (98%) but less likely to reward staff (40%). Hospitals commonly used interdisciplinary falls committees (83%) but membership rarely included physicians. Hospitals lacked access to electronic health record tools, such as high-risk medication warnings (27%). Education strategies were commonly used; 100% of hospitals provided fall education at staff orientation, but only 22% educated all employees (not just nursing staff).

Conclusions

Our study is the first to our knowledge to examine which expert-recommended implementation strategies are being used and how they are being operationalised in US hospitals. Future studies are needed to document fall prevention implementation strategies in detail and to test which implementation strategies are most effective at reducing falls. Additionally, research is needed to evaluate the quality of implementation (eg, fidelity) of fall prevention interventions.
Does virtual reality training improve veterinary students’ first canine surgical performance?
Authors: Hunt Julie A , Heydenburg Matthew , Anderson Stacy L , Thompson R Randall
Published: March 2020

Background

Virtual reality (VR) applications are effective tools in many educational disciplines. A minimally interactive VR application allowing stereoscopic viewing of surgical videos has been developed to aid veterinary students learning to perform surgery. We sought to describe how students used the VR application while preparing to perform their first canine sterilisation surgery and compare surgical performance of students who prepared using traditional methods with students who also used VR.

Methods

Third‐year veterinary students (n=44) were randomised into control and VR groups in a parallel superiority randomised controlled trial. All were given lectures, videos and skills practice on models. VR group students were also given a VR application and headset to view stereoscopic surgical videos. Blinded raters scored a subset of students (n=19) as they performed their first canine ovariohysterectomy.

Results and conclusions

Groups spent similar time preparing to perform surgery, potentially because of the rigour of students’ non‐surgical course load. When VR training was added to an already comprehensive surgical skills curriculum, students watched VR videos for a median of 90 min. Groups did not differ in surgical performance scores or time. A larger study of the VR application with prescribed use guidelines would be a helpful subsequent study.
Biomechanics of electro-kinetically modulated peristaltic motion of bio-fluid through a divergent complex wavy channel
Authors: Javid Khurram , Asghar Zeeshan , Ur Rehman Fiaz
Published: March 2020

The utility of electrically-driven peristaltic flow to enhance the mechanical efficiency of a biological system is diverse. This motivates us to discuss the mathematical modelling of magnetic fluid flow via complex wavy walls. Additionally, an electric field is also applied in the axial direction. The non-Newtonian couple stress fluid model is used here. The analysis is performed under the Debye–Hückel linearization. The governing equations are modelled under long wavelength and low Reynolds number assumptions. A closed form solution is obtained for the stream function, which is further used to calculate other physical quantities. To observe the remarkable effects of eminent parameters on the velocity distribution and volumetric flow rate, we have plotted graphs in both the two- and three-dimensional axes. A comparison between the simple and complex peristaltic waves is also provided. This study is very useful for designing a non-uniform microperistaltic pump in which flow can be controlled by electromagnetic forces.
Progress in integrative systems biology, physiology and medicine: towards a scale-relative biology
Authors: Auffray Charles , Noble Denis , Nottale Laurent , Turner Philip
Published: March 2020

In this paper we present a review of progress in addressing the challenge to understand and describe the vast complexity and multi-level organisation associated with biological systems. We begin with a review of past and current approaches, key lessons, and unresolved challenges, which require a new conceptual framework to address them. After summarizing the core of the problem, which is linked to computational complexity, we review recent developments within the theoretical framework of scale relativity, which offers new insights into the emergence of structure and function (at multiple scales), providing a new integrative approach to biological systems. The theoretical framework describes the critical role of thermodynamics and quantum vacuum fluctuations in the emergence of charge-induced macroscopic quantum fields (effectively a new quantum field theory) at multiple scales, which underpin a macroscopic quantum description of biological systems as a complex exemplar of condensed matter. The theory is validated through a new biomimetic experimental approach, which leads to the emergence of plant and individual cell-like structures with the intrinsic capacity to divide, differentiate and form multicellular structures. We discuss how this theoretical framework could be applied to extend our understanding of cardiac systems biology and physiology, and challenges such as cancer and neurodegenerative disease. We also consider the potential of these new insights to support a new approach to the development of emerging quantum technologies.
An update on fine-tunings in the triple-alpha process
Authors: Lähde Timo A. , Meißner Ulf-G. , Epelbaum Evgeny
Published: March 2020

The triple-alpha process, whereby evolved stars create carbon and oxygen, is believed to be fine-tuned to a high degree. Such fine-tuning is suggested by the unusually strong temperature dependence of the triple-alpha reaction rate at stellar temperatures. This sensitivity is due to the resonant character of the triple-alpha process, which proceeds through the so-called “Hoyle state” of$${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$$12Cwith spin-parity$$0^+$$0+. The question of fine-tuning can be studied within theab initioframework of nuclear lattice effective field theory, which makes it possible to relate ad hoc changes in the energy of the Hoyle state to changes in the fundamental parameters of the nuclear Hamiltonian, which are the light quark mass$$m_q$$mqand the electromagnetic fine-structure constant$$\alpha _\mathrm{em}$$αem. Here, we update the effective field theory calculation of the sensitivity of the triple-alpha process to small changes in the fundamental parameters. In particular, we consider recent high-precision lattice QCD calculations of the nucleon axial coupling$$g_A$$gA, as well as new and more comprehensive results from stellar simulations of the production of carbon and oxygen. While the updated stellar simulations allow for much larger ad hoc shifts in the Hoyle state energy than previously thought, recent lattice QCD results for the nucleon S-wave singlet and triplet scattering lengths now disfavor the “no fine-tuning scenario” for the light quark mass$$m_q$$mq.
The study on coffee slag/recycled polystyrene circulation materials and its application on blinds
Authors: Kuan Hsu-Chiang , Chiang Chin-Lung , Shen Ming-Yuan , Kuan Chen-Feng
Published: March 2020

In this study, we combine the coffee slag, metal powder with recycled petrochemical plastics (polystyrene, PS) to prepare circulation composite materials. It is an energy saving and carbon footprint reduction composite material compared with traditional one. The resulted PS/coffee composite has tensile strength 117.5 kgf/cm2 and flexural strength is 314.2 kgf/cm2. The heat deflection temperature (HDT) is 92[Formula: see text]C and the UV test fits the ASTM G154 requirement. The metal gross composite is with tensile strength 318.8 kgf/cm2 and flexural strength is 581.6 kgf/cm2. The HDT is 91[Formula: see text]C and the UV test fits the ASTM G154 requirement as well. Its reuse ratio can reach 85% for recycled PS. The resultant product has metal texture blinds with metal gross and wood-like blinds with coffee aroma flavor.
Will Online Digital Footprints Reveal Your Relationship Status?
Authors: Wang Jiangtao , Ma Junyi , Wang Yasha , Wang Ning , Wang Leye , Zhang Daqing , Wang Feng , Lv Qin
Published: March 2020

With the increasing social acceptance and openness, more and more sexual-minority men (SMM) have succeeded in creating and sustaining steady relationships in recent years. Maintaining steady relationships is beneficial to the wellbeing of SMM both mentally and physically. However, the relationship maintaining for them is also challenging due to the much less supports compared to the heterosexual couples, so that it is important to identify those SMM in steady relationship and provide corresponding personalized assistance. Furthermore, knowing SMM's relationship and the correlations with other visible features is also beneficial for optimizing the social applications' functionalities in terms of privacy preserving and friends recommendation. With the prevalence of SMM-oriented social apps (called SMMSA for short), this paper investigates the relationship status of SMM from a new perspective, that is, by introducing the SMM's online digital footprints left on SMMSA (e.g., presented profile, social interactions, expressions, sentiment, and mobility trajectories). Specifically, using a filtered dataset containing 2,359 active SMMSA users with their self-reported relationship status and publicly available app usage data, we explore the correlations between SMM's relationship status and their online digital footprints on SMMSA and present a set of interesting findings. Moreover, we demonstrate that by utilizing such correlations, it has the potential to construct machine-learning-based models for relationship status inference. Finally, we elaborate on the implications of our findings from the perspective of better understanding the SMM community and improving their social welfare.
DeepMV
Authors: Xue Hongfei , Jiang Wenjun , Miao Chenglin , Ma Fenglong , Wang Shiyang , Yuan Ye , Yao Shuochao , Zhang Aidong , Su Lu
Published: March 2020

Recently, significant efforts are made to explore device-free human activity recognition techniques that utilize the information collected by existing indoor wireless infrastructures without the need for the monitored subject to carry a dedicated device. Most of the existing work, however, focuses their attention on the analysis of the signal received by a single device. In practice, there are usually multiple devices "observing" the same subject. Each of these devices can be regarded as an information source and provides us an unique "view" of the observed subject. Intuitively, if we can combine the complementary information carried by the multiple views, we will be able to improve the activity recognition accuracy. Towards this end, we propose DeepMV, a unified multi-view deep learning framework, to learn informative representations of heterogeneous device-free data. DeepMV can combine different views' information weighted by the quality of their data and extract commonness shared across different environments to improve the recognition performance. To evaluate the proposed DeepMV model, we set up a testbed using commercialized WiFi and acoustic devices. Experiment results show that DeepMV can effectively recognize activities and outperform the state-of-the-art human activity recognition methods.
Dynamic Public Resource Allocation Based on Human Mobility Prediction
Authors: Ruan Sijie , Bao Jie , Liang Yuxuan , Li Ruiyuan , He Tianfu , Meng Chuishi , Li Yanhua , Wu Yingcai , Zheng Yu
Published: March 2020

The objective of public resource allocation, e.g., the deployment of billboards, surveillance cameras, base stations, trash bins, is to serve more people. However, due to the dynamics of human mobility patterns, people are distributed unevenly on the spatial and temporal domains. As a result, in many cases, redundant resources have to be deployed to meet the crowd coverage requirements, which leads to high deployment costs and low usage. Fortunately, with the development of unmanned vehicles, the dynamic allocation of those public resources becomes possible. To this end, we provide the first attempt to design an effective and efficient scheduling algorithm for the dynamic public resource allocation. We formulate the problem as a novel multi-agent long-term maximal coverage scheduling (MALMCS) problem, which considers the crowd coverage and the energy limitation during a whole day. Two main components are employed in the system: 1) multi-step crowd flow prediction, which makes multi-step crowd flow prediction given the current crowd flows and external factors; and 2) energy adaptive scheduling, which employs a two-step heuristic algorithm, i.e., energy adaptive scheduling (EADS), to generate a scheduling plan that maximizes the crowd coverage within the service time for agents. Extensive experiments based on real crowd flow data in Happy Valley (a popular theme park in Beijing) demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach.
SmokingOpp
Authors: Chatterjee Soujanya , Moreno Alexander , Lizotte Steven Lloyd , Akther Sayma , Ertin Emre , Fagundes Christopher P , Lam Cho , Rehg James M. , Wan Neng , Wetter David W. , Kumar Santosh
Published: March 2020

Context plays a key role in impulsive adverse behaviors such as fights, suicide attempts, binge-drinking, and smoking lapse. Several contexts dissuade such behaviors, but some may trigger adverse impulsive behaviors. We define these latter contexts as 'opportunity' contexts, as their passive detection from sensors can be used to deliver context-sensitive interventions.

In this paper, we define the general concept of 'opportunity' contexts and apply it to the case of smoking cessation. We operationalize the smoking 'opportunity' context, using self-reported smoking allowance and cigarette availability. We show its clinical utility by establishing its association with smoking occurrences using Granger causality. Next, we mine several informative features from GPS traces, including the novel location context of smoking spots, to develop the SmokingOpp model for automatically detecting the smoking 'opportunity' context. Finally, we train and evaluate the SmokingOpp model using 15 million GPS points and 3,432 self-reports from 90 newly abstinent smokers in a smoking cessation study.
Real-time Travel Time Estimation with Sparse Reliable Surveillance Information
Authors: Zhang Wen , Wang Yang , Xie Xike , Ge Chuancai , Liu Hengchang
Published: March 2020

Origin-destination (OD) travel time estimation is of paramount importance for applications such as intelligent transportation. In this work, we propose a new solution for OD travel time estimation, with road surveillance camera data. The surveillance information supports accurate and reliable observations at camera-equipped intersections, but is associated with missing and incomplete surveillance records at the camera-free intersections. To overcome this, we propose a modified version of multi-layer graph convolutional networks. The camera surveillance data is used to extract the traffic flow of each intersection, the extracted information serves as the input of the multi-layer GCN based model, based on which the real-time traffic status can be predicted. To enhance the estimation accuracy, we address the effects of various features for the travel time estimation with encoder-decoder networks and embedding techniques. We further improve the generalization of our model by using multi-task learning. Extensive experiments on real datasets are done to verify the effectiveness of our proposals.
Using Sonar for Liveness Detection to Protect Smart Speakers against Remote Attackers
Authors: Lee Yeonjoon , Zhao Yue , Zeng Jiutian , Lee Kwangwuk , Zhang Nan , Shezan Faysal Hossain , Tian Yuan , Chen Kai , Wang XiaoFeng
Published: March 2020

Smart speakers, which wait for voice commands and complete tasks for users, are becoming part of common households. While voice commands came with basic functionalities in the earlier days, as the market grew, various commands with critical functionalities were developed; e.g., access banking services, send money, open front door. Such voice commands can cause serious consequences once smart speakers are attacked. Recent research shows that smart speakers are vulnerable to malicious voice commands sent from other speakers (e.g., TV, baby monitor, radio) in the same area. In this work, we propose the Speaker-Sonar, a sonar-based liveness detection system for smart speakers. Our approach aims to protect the smart speakers from remote attackers that leverage network-connected speakers to send malicious commands. The key idea of our approach is to make sure that the voice command is indeed coming from the user. For this purpose, the Speaker-Sonar emits an inaudible sound and tracks the user's direction to compare it with the direction of the received voice command. The Speaker-Sonar does not require additional action from the user and works through an automatic consistency check. We built the Speaker-Sonar on a raspberry pi 3b, a circular microphone array, and a commodity speaker by imitating the Amazon Echo. Our evaluation shows that the Speaker-Sonar can reject remote voice attacks with an average accuracy of 95.5% in 2 meters, which significantly raises the bar for remote attackers. To the best of our knowledge, our defense is able to defend against known remote voice attack techniques.
Quantifying the Relationships between Everyday Objects and Emotional States through Deep Learning Based Image Analysis Using Smartphones
Authors: Darvariu Victor-Alexandru , Convertino Laura , Mehrotra Abhinav , Musolesi Mirco
Published: March 2020

There has been an increasing interest in the problem of inferring emotional states of individuals using sensor and user-generated information as diverse as GPS traces, social media data and smartphone interaction patterns. One aspect that has received little attention is the use of visual context information extracted from the surroundings of individuals and how they relate to it. In this paper, we present an observational study of the relationships between the emotional states of individuals and objects present in their visual environment automatically extracted from smartphone images using deep learning techniques.

We developed MyMood, a smartphone application that allows users to periodically log their emotional state together with pictures from their everyday lives, while passively gathering sensor measurements. We conducted an in-the-wild study with 22 participants and collected 3,305 mood reports with photos. Our findings show context-dependent associations between objects surrounding individuals and self-reported emotional state intensities. The applications of this work are potentially many, from the design of interior and outdoor spaces to the development of intelligent applications for positive behavioral intervention, and more generally for supporting computational psychology studies.
He Is Just Like Me
Authors: Garg Radhika , Sengupta Subhasree
Published: March 2020

Over the past few years, the technological vision of the HCI and UbiComp communities regarding conversational devices has become manifest in the form of smart speakers such as Google Home and Amazon Echo. Even though millions of households have adopted and integrated these devices into their daily lives, we lack a deep understanding of how different members of a household use such devices. To this end, we conducted interviews with 18 families and collected their Google Home Activity logs to understand the usage patterns of adults and children. Our findings reveal that there are substantial differences in the ways smart speakers are used by adults and children in families over an extended period of time. We report on how parents influence children's use and how different users perceive the devices. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and provide guidelines for improving the design of future smart speakers and conversational agents.
FairCharge
Authors: Wang Guang , Zhang Yongfeng , Fang Zhihan , Wang Shuai , Zhang Fan , Zhang Desheng
Published: March 2020

Our society is witnessing a rapid taxi electrification process. Compared to conventional gas taxis, a key drawback of electric taxis is their prolonged charging time, which potentially reduces drivers' daily operation time and income. In addition, insufficient charging stations, intensive charging peaks, and heuristic-based charging station choice of drivers also significantly decrease the charging efficiency of electric taxi charging networks. To improve the charging efficiency (e.g., reduce queuing time in stations) of electric taxi charging networks, in this paper, we design a fairness-aware Pareto efficient charging recommendation system called FairCharge, which aims to minimize the total charging idle time (traveling time + queuing time) in a fleet-oriented fashion combined with fairness constraints. Different from existing works, FairCharge considers fairness as a constraint to potentially achieve long-term social benefits. In addition, our FairCharge considers not only current charging requests, but also possible charging requests of other nearby electric taxis in a near-future duration. More importantly, we simulate and evaluate FairCharge with real-world streaming data from the Chinese city Shenzhen, including GPS data and transaction data from more than 16,400 electric taxis, coupled with the data of 117 charging stations, which constitute, to our knowledge, the largest electric taxi network in the world. The extensive experimental results show that our fairness-aware FairCharge effectively reduces queuing time and idle time of the Shenzhen electric taxi fleet by 80.2% and 67.7%, simultaneously.