bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Apparent temperature and heat‐related illnesses during international athletic championships: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Hollander Karsten , Klöwer Milan , Richardson Andy , Navarro Laurent , Racinais Sébastien , Scheer Volker , Murray Andrew , Branco Pedro , Timpka Toomas , Junge Astrid , Edouard Pascal
Published: August 2021

International outdoor athletics championships are typically hosted during the summer season, frequently in hot and humid climatic conditions. Therefore, we analyzed the association between apparent temperature and heat‐related illnesses occurrence during international outdoor athletics championships and compared its incidence rates between athletics disciplines. Heat‐related illnesses were selected from illness data prospectively collected at seven international outdoor athletics championships between 2009 and 2018 using a standardized methodology. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was calculated as a measure of the apparent temperature based on weather data for each day of the championships. Heat‐related illness numbers and (daily) incidence rates were calculated and analyzed in relation to the daily maximum UTCI temperature and between disciplines. During 50 championships days with UTCI temperatures between 15℃ and 37℃, 132 heat‐related illnesses were recorded. Average incidence rate of heat‐related illnesses was 11.7 (95%CI 9.7 to 13.7) per 1000 registered athletes. The expected daily incidence rate of heat‐related illnesses increased significantly with UTCI temperature (0.12 more illnesses per 1000 registered athletes/°C; 95%CI 0.08–0.16) and was found to double from 25 to 35°C UTCI. Race walkers (RR = 45.5, 95%CI 21.6–96.0) and marathon runners (RR = 47.7, 95%CI 23.0–98.8) had higher heat‐related illness rates than athletes competing in short‐duration disciplines. Higher UTCI temperatures were associated with more heat‐related illnesses, with marathon and race walking athletes having higher risk than athletes competing in short‐duration disciplines. Heat‐related illness prevention strategies should predominantly focus on marathon and race walking events of outdoor athletics championships when high temperatures are forecast.
Visualizing spatiotemporal patterns of city service demand through a space‐time exploratory approach
Authors: Jing Changfeng , Zhu Yanli , Du Mingyi , Liu Xintao
Published: August 2021

City service demand fluctuates across space and time. Although various data, such as 311 hotline data and social media data, have been used to explore the spatiotemporal patterns of city services, data uncertainty and the uneven distribution of service demand are overlooked to some extent and thus could result in bias. To overcome these shortcomings, top‐down collected city service data that fully cover urban areas are used as an emerging data source in this article. A visual analytical approach that employs a three‐dimensional model based on a space‐time cube combined with the Mann–Kendall algorithm is developed and applied in Xicheng District, Beijing, China. The results show that in comparison to other methods, the emerging data and visualization methods have more power to explain city services in terms of overall trends and micro‐scale details. For instance, city service cases demonstrate a significant downward trend. Meanwhile, the distribution of hotspots/coldspots is found to be related to the built environment and population density. For example, high‐incidence cases are located in some communities that are the key governance areas, indicating a demand to increase the staffing of grid administrators. The findings of this work can potentially benefit other cities in China and worldwide.
REVISITING THE FINANCIAL ISSUES AND THE IMPACT TO CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN MALAYSIA
Authors: Mohd Fateh Mohd Ashraf , Yee Tan Hee
Published: August 2021

Every activity in a construction project is related to time and cost. Delay is considered common and often occurred in a construction project. A slight delay can be very costly. It will impact all of the related stakeholders. This paper seeks to identify the financial issues in the construction industry and the impact of the financial issues towards the projects in Malaysia. Literature reviews and questionnaire surveys were used to carry out the study. The data collected were analysed via Microsoft Excel and SPSS software. The paper reveals that the withholding of payment by the approval parties is the critical financial issues in Malaysia’s construction industry, while the main impact when the financial issues occurs is where the project is delayed/postponed/terminated. The findings of this research will give a good insight to the industry and help to improve the local players’ competitive capabilities as highlighted by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in the Construction Transformation Programme (CITP) 2016-2020 and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that was introduced by the United Nations (UN).
EXAMING THE PRACTICE OF MANGEMENT ASPECTS AND MAINTENANCE IMPLEMENTATIONS OF WELFARE FACILITIES IN IRAQ’S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
Authors: Mohammed Hatem Zaid , Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahim , Kunle Elizah Ogundipe , Zahid Abdulrahman , Allawi Ahmed , Almthailee Yousef
Published: August 2021

The Iraqi construction industry has many problems, especially when it comes in terms of coordinating and managing welfare facilities for the construction project. Proper managing and regular maintenance of welfare facilities is a task divided between official parties in charge of safety and health, mostly the contractors, clients, managers, and work-force. The need for safe work conditions that seem very much lacking in the Iraqi construction sites. This research examines how effectively management is mainly conducted within construction welfare facilities in Iraq’s construction industry. Using a quantitative methodology for collecting and analyzing data in consdreation of the listed objectives, A questionnaire survey was administered to experienced engineers (58) that are involved in the construction industry for investigating the keys causative in management and maintenance aspects. The data was analyzed and interprented using SPSS-12. Most of the analyzed results were classified as important and very important, but some awareness was missing related to planning and inspection. Finally, the interpretation illustrated that the awareness of management and maintenance of welfare facilities are in need to be more studied within the scope of worker’s productivity, health, and safety.
VARIATION IN BEARING CAPACITY OF SOIL DUE TO CHANGES IN WATER TABLE DEPTH IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH
Authors: Tahmid Ahanaf , Junaed Siam , Hossain A S M Fahad
Published: August 2021

The bearing capacity of the soil is a significant topic in geotechnical engineering, especially in foundation engineering, as the stability of any foundation depends on it. A structure with a very sound design may collapse standing on poor soil with low bearing capacity. As the depth of the water table increases, the ultimate bearing capacity of soil increases. The effect of an increase in depth on safe bearing capacity is predominant due to an increase in surcharge weight. The higher the water table, the lesser is as far as possible and strength of the soil. In this research, soil test reports of different locations of Dhaka city were collected, and the bearing capacity of the soil was calculated by Terzaghi's method based on a fixed foundation depth with a variation of water table depth. Bearing capacity was compared with the depth of the water table in graphical format and it was seen that bearing capacity of soil increases with the increase of water table depth.
EFFECT OF PH2S INFLUENCE ON AUSTENITIC STAINLESS STEEL 316L CORROSION BEHAVIOURS IN CHLORIDE ENVIRONMENT / KESAN PENGARUH TEKANAN SEPARA GAS H2S TERHADAP TINGKAH LAKU KAKISAN KELULI TAHAN KARAT 316L DI PERSEKITARAN KLORIDA
Authors: Shah Mazlan , Abdul Manap Nor Rahafza , Mawardi Ayob Muhammad Taqiyuddin , Yaakob Najmiddin , Embong Zaidi , Kamil Othman Norinsan
Published: August 2021

H2S corrosion of equipment and pipeline system failures in oil and gas industry is a major concern of researchers as it involves high maintenance costs. Therefore, this study discusses the effect of H2S partial pressure at 0, 3 and 15 bar towards the corrosion behaviour of 316L austenitic stainless steel in chloride environments. The 316L steel exposed to 0 bar pH2S was slightly corroded due to the presence of Cr element which has increased the corrosion resistance of the 316L steel. However, pit penetration rate of 316L steel was increased by 90.1% from 0.07 mm/year at 0 bar pH2S to 0.74 mm/year at 3 bar pH2S and decreased by 83.2% at 15 bar pH2S due to the saturated sulfide content in the test solution. Therefore, 316L steel at 3 bar shows highest corrosion effect due to the dissolution of Cr element at 316L steels surface, thus enhanced passive film breakdown.
RESOURCE UTILIZATION ANALYSIS OF HIGHWAY PROJECTS USING ARENA
Authors: P Shiji , Rangaswamy Kodi , Chandramohan Arun
Published: August 2021

The construction sector is a significant contributor to the Gross Domestic Product of a developing country. Infrastructure improvement plays a vital role in this wherein highway construction is a dynamic sector requiring proper planning and scheduling multiple resources. Appropriate integration among various associated stakeholders is essential for a project’s success, aided by supply chain management. Resource planning is one of the basic concepts in supply chain management, with material and equipment management being the critical area. The main objective of this study is to develop a conceptual supply chain simulation model using ARENA, to analyze the equipment idling and utilization rate, keeping inter-arrival time for dispatch, the number of equipment, and working hours as constant. This model employs the real-time ‘best fit’ material utilization data as input. Material utilization data collected from 62 construction projects are analyzed to arrive at a ‘best fit’ probability distribution. This study’s conceptual supply chain simulation model helps formulate suitable material and equipment delivery plans to lessen risk in construction projects.
Extracellular vesicles released from stress‐induced prematurely senescent myoblasts impair endothelial function and proliferation
Authors: Hettinger Zachary R. , Kargl Christopher K. , Shannahan Jonathan H. , Kuang Shihuan , Gavin Timothy P.
Published: August 2021

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

What is the impact of stress‐induced premature senescence on skeletal muscle myoblast‐derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) and myoblast–endothelial cell crosstalk?

What is the main finding and its importance?

Hydrogen peroxide treatment of human myoblasts induced stress‐induced premature senescence (SIPS) and increased the release of exosome‐sized EVs (30–150 nm in size) five‐fold compared to untreated controls. Treatment of SIPS myoblast‐derived EVs on endothelial cells increased senescence markers and decreased proliferation. Gene expression analysis of SIPS myoblast‐derived EVs revealed a four‐fold increase in senescence factor transforming growth factor‐β. These results highlight potential mechanisms by which senescence imparts deleterious effects on the cellular microenvironment.

Cellular senescence contributes to numerous diseases through the release of pro‐inflammatory factors as part of the senescence‐associated secretory phenotype (SASP). In skeletal muscle, resident muscle progenitor cells (satellite cells) express markers of senescence with advancing age and in response to various pathologies, which contributes to reduced regenerative capacities in vitro. Satellite cells regulate their microenvironment in part through the release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), but the effect of senescence on EV signaling is unknown. Primary human myoblasts were isolated following biopsies of the vastus lateralis from young healthy subjects. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treatment was used to achieve stress‐induced premature senescence (SIPS) of myoblasts. EVs secreted by myoblasts with and without H2O2treatment were isolated, analysed and used to treat human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to assess senescence and angiogenic impact. H2O2treatment of primary human myoblasts in vitro increased markers of senescence (β‐galactosidase and p21Cip1), decreased proliferation and increased exosome‐like EV (30–150 nm) release approximately five‐fold. In HUVECs, EV treatment from H2O2‐treated myoblasts increased markers of senescence (β‐galactosidase and transforming growth factor β), decreased proliferation and impaired HUVEC tube formation. Analysis of H2O2‐treated myoblast‐derived EV mRNA revealed a nearly four‐fold increase in transforming growth factor β expression. Our novel results highlight the impact of SIPS on myoblast communication and identify a VasoMyo Crosstalk by which SIPS myoblast‐derived EVs impair endothelial cell function in vitro.
Differential shifts in baroreflex control of renal and lumbar sympathetic nerve activity induced by freezing behaviour in rats
Authors: Kondo Naomi , Yoshimoto Misa , Ikegame Shizuka , Miki Kenju
Published: August 2021

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

Is the arterial baroreflex involved in causing patterned, region‐specific changes in sympathetic nerve activity during freezing behaviour in conscious rats?

What is the main finding and its importance?

Freezing behaviour is accompanied by differential shifts in the baroreflex control of renal and lumbar sympathetic nerve activity and heart rate. It is noteworthy that baroreflex pathways may be discretely separated, allowing differential modification of baroreflex curves that may generate differential changes in sympathetic nerve activity during freezing behaviour.

The present study was designed to test whether the baroreflex stimulus–response curves for renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA), lumbar sympathetic nerve activity (LSNA) and heart rate (HR) were shifted in a regionally specific manner during freezing behaviour in conscious rats. Male Wistar rats were chronically instrumented with electrodes and arterial and venous catheters for measurement of RSNA, LSNA and electrocardiogram. After a 60‐min control period, freezing behaviour in conscious rats was induced by exposure to loud white noise (90 dB) for 10 min. The baroreflex curves for RSNA, LSNA and HR were generated by changing systemic arterial pressure using rapid intravenous infusions of vasoactive drugs and then fitted to an inverse sigmoid function curve. During the freezing behaviour, the baroreflex curve for RSNA was expanded upward with a significant (P < 0.001) increase (by 153% compared with the control level) in the upper plateau (maximum capacity of RSNA drive), whereas the baroreflex curve for LSNA remained unchanged. Conversely, the baroreflex curve for HR was shifted leftward with a significant (P = 0.004) decrease (by 11 mmHg relative to the control level) in the midpoint pressure. Our results indicate that baroreflex curve shifts for RSNA, LSNA and HR occur in a regionally specific manner during freezing behaviour. This indicates that baroreflex pathways may be discretely separated, allowing differential modification of baroreflex curves that may generate differential changes in sympathetic nerve activity during freezing behaviour.
Influence of Contact Positioning of Pivot Support on Machining Vibration
Authors: Mori Kotaro , Yamaji Iwao , Kono Daisuke , Matsubara Atsushi , Ishida Takehiro , Kaitani Yuki , Higashi Eiji , Urakami Taisuke
Published: August 2021

The authors have studied support mechanisms for the machining of thin-walled workpieces. Previous studies have shown that the newly proposed pivot support has a vibration suppression effect on flat plate workpieces. This report clarifies the guideline for determining the placement interval for deploying this support on a cylindrical workpiece. Also, a machining test was conducted to compare the damping effect of pivot support with that of conventional rigid body support. As a result, it was found that the pivot support has an equivalent vibration suppression effect as the conventional support has. By using the proposed support, installation can be simplified while maintaining the damping effect.
Automated Tool Path Generation for End-Milling Operation Using CAD Model in STL Format
Authors: Nishida Isamu , Shirase Keiichi
Published: August 2021

A method to extract the machining region from 3D CAD model in STL (Standard Triangulated Language) format and automatically generate tool path is proposed. At first, this study proposes a method to extract the machining region and obtain the geometrical feature such as convex shape or concave shape from only the 3D CAD model in STL format. The STL format has only triangular mesh data and drops all the information which is necessary to extract the removal volume for machining and the geometrical characteristics. Furthermore, the triangular mesh size is non-uniform. Then, the contour line model, in which the product model is minutely divided on the plane along any one axial direction and represented by points at intervals below the indicated resolution obtained from the contour line of the cross section of the product, is proposed. Subsequently, this study proposes a method to determine the machining conditions for each extracted machining region and automatically generate tool path according to the obtained geometrical feature of the machining region.
Cutting State Estimation via Chatter Mark on End Milled Surface and Analysis of Its Formation Mechanism Using Voxel Model Simulation
Authors: Ozaki Nobutoshi , Matsui Shota , Hirogaki Toshiki , Aoyama Eiichi
Published: August 2021

When chatter vibrations occur during cutting, a characteristic pattern called chatter mark appears on the machined surface. In our previous studies, it was estimated that this chatter mark is formed by the tool (or workpiece) vibration in the normal direction with respect to the machined surface. We thus proposed a method to inversely analyze the chatter vibration information during cutting through the chatter mark using two-dimensional discrete Fourier transform. Previous studies confirmed that the analysis results of this method are in good agreement with those of the information obtained via conventional sensing. However, the correctness of the pattern formation mechanism is yet to be directly verified, as it is difficult to measure the cutting phenomenon directly. In this study, the chatter vibration during cutting was measured by the displacement of the tool-shank. Then, based on the results obtained in the static stiffness test, the movement of the tool edge was estimated. A cutting simulation using a voxel model was executed based on this tool-edge movement. When the simulation using the chatter vibration in the normal direction was performed, a chatter mark appeared on the simulated surface. It could thus be confirmed more directly that the analytical model is correct compared with the previous methods.
Advances in Nanoparticle Sintering Simulation: Multiple Layer Sintering and Sintering Subject to a Heat Gradient
Authors: Dibua Obehi , Foong Chee S. , Cullinan Michael
Published: August 2021

Nanoparticles are being used in Additive Manufacturing to improve on the minimum feature sizes that the processes are able to achieve. In order to accurately control this process, it is important to understand the underlying characteristics that define the sintering of nanoparticles. This is done by modelling the process. A nanoparticle simulation has been introduced to model the sintering between the nanoparticles in a powder bed. These simulations make use of Phase Field Modelling to track the diffusion between the particles in the system. However, the current state of the simulations only consider the sintering of single layers of powder beds subject to isothermal heating. For the simulation to be able to simulate an actual Additive Manufacturing process where a 3D part is built, the model has to consider the characteristics of multiple layers of nanoparticles in beds undergoing sintering. Additionally, during Additive Manufacturing processes like Selective Laser Sintering, where the bed is not undergoing an even temperature heating, a nanoparticle sintering simulation for this process must be able to account for these temperature changes. This paper presents advancements in simulating nanoparticle sintering to be able to model the sintering behavior between multiple layers of nanoparticles as well as the effects of a temperature gradient on the sintering of nanoparticles.
Mask-EdTM: A scoping review
Authors: Bridgman Kate , Hughes Phillip
Published: August 2021

Introduction: Simulation is commonly used in health professional education. Mask-EdTM is a novel form of teacher-in-role methodology involving the educator wearing a purpose-made silicone mask to become the simulated patient. The simulation unfolds spontaneously and in response to the students’ or cohorts’ knowledge, skills or learning objectives. The evidence to support adoption appears limited. This is significant given the resources required to establish a Mask-EdTMcharacter and the changes to courses educators will likely make to embed this simulation. This scoping review aims to explore the current literature and evidence base relating to Mask-EdTM.Methods: A scoping review was completed in September 2020 following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. Five databases and Google Scholar were searched for English, peer-reviewed publications containing variants of “Mask-Ed”. Screening and data charting were completed independently by both authors and then reviewed collaboratively. A descriptive analysis was conducted reporting findings based on study design. A thematic synthesis was completed for studies containing qualitative data.Results: Eighteen studies published between 2011 and 2020 by Australian universities and health institutions were included. Twelve studies reported on 10 unique datasets drawing on survey, focus group and mixed method designs. Two studies reported case studies without data, one study was on training and a final three provided research summaries or pedagogical discussion of Mask-EdTM. Conclusion: There is emerging evidence, self-reported by preclinical nursing students, that Mask-EdTM supports improved engagement and confidence in formative learning activities. There is limited evidence, however, to support use in other health or medical disciplines or in individual or summative assessment.
Preparing dental graduates to provide care for frail and care-dependent older patients: An educational intervention
Authors: Nilsson Angie , Young Louise , Croker Felicity
Published: August 2021

Introduction: Australia’s population is living longer and retaining more of their dentition. While the demand for oral health services in residential aged-care facilities increases, there is a call for further inclusion of gerodontology in the undergraduate dental curriculum. This qualitative study explored the attitude of dental students to providing oral health care to older people using a pilot gerodontology curriculum as an intervention during a final-year clinical placement in Hobart, Tasmania.Methods: Focus groups with undergraduate dental students on clinical placement were conducted in 2018 prior to and after implementation of a pilot gerodontology curriculum. The qualitative data was thematically analysed.Results: Two focus groups were conducted with a total of 18 dental students. The main themes included: applied practical learning in aged care, unpreparedness for managing frail older patients, lack of confidence with the process of gaining consent from people with dementia, barriers to providing care to older people and interactions with residents and staff of residential aged-care facilities. Conclusions: This study highlighted the barriers for dental students providing care to older people. There is a need to evaluate how gerodontology is currently taught in the undergraduate dental curriculum to better prepare the dental workforce to respond effectively and more confidently to the growing population of dentate older people in residential aged-care facilities.
Discussion Paper: Conceptual thresholds in health professional education research and scholarship
Authors: Kumar Koshila , King Svetlana , Seymour-Walsh Amy
Published: August 2021

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are increasingly undertaking health professional education (HPE) research and scholarship. This discussion paper highlights key transition points experienced by HCPs newly engaging in HPE research and scholarship, using conceptual thresholds as a theoretical lens. The identified thresholds are: (1) recognising limits, (2) navigating discourses and (3) negotiating identities, and our paper evidences the epistemic, discursive and existential repositioning underpinning these thresholds. Supporting HCPs to successfully navigate the rich and vibrant world of HPE research and scholarship requires a multi-faceted strategy involving individual upskilling, co-construction of resources and strategies, and enhancing the invitational quality of HPE research activities, environments and communities.
Take 5: Designing and evaluating 5-minute eLearning for busy hospital staff
Authors: May Nicholas , Young Jeanne , Gillman Lucia
Published: August 2021

Introduction: Ongoing professional education is an essential activity to ensure that hospital staff are using the best available evidence to deliver healthcare. Hospital staff from a range of professional groups cite increasing work volume and being too time poor to complete or attend education. To address this issue, a new 5-minute online education format (Take 5) was developed.Methods: A descriptive study using a short evaluation survey was undertaken at Royal Perth Hospital in Perth, Western Australia, to evaluate interprofessional healthcare staffs’ levels of engagement with the new education format.Results: The Take 5 education format facilitated the development of over 120 topics available via an intranet library page. During the study, it received 26,623 hits, averaging 19.3 visits per day. Topics were downloaded 45,611 times. Medication discrepancies (n = 1,326) and personal protective equipment (PPE) conservation (n = 1,115) were the most frequently downloaded. A total of 2,001 evaluation surveys were received, with nursing and medicine having the highest participation. The majority of staff (n = 1,895; 94.4%) rated the resource as having “good” to “high” quality content. Qualitative data showed that the topics were informative, easy to access and understand and perceived to help the participants change their clinical practice.Conclusion: The Take 5 uptake has been strong and sustained, as highlighted by the substantive utilisation and evaluation. The concept was not designed to replace formal education but to act as an adjunct, providing key education to meet staff demands. It provided immediacy of information and quality evidence-based content and directed the learner to more formal learning content and resources.
Today’s Lesson is Brought to Us By COVID-19: A poem
Authors: Ni Chroinin Danielle
Published: August 2021

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Refining assessment: Rasch analysis in health professional education and research
Authors: Farlie Melanie , Johnson Christina , Wilkinson Tim , Keating Jennifer
Published: August 2021

Educators want to assess learners using assessment processes that provide valid measures of learner ability. An ideal assessment tool would include items that are appropriate for assessing the target attributes. Ideal assessment results would accurately differentiate learners across the spectrum of ability, determine which learners satisfied the required standard and enable comparison between learner cohorts (e.g., across different years). Similar considerations are relevant to researchers who are designing or revising methods used to gather other kinds of assessment data, such as participant responses to surveys or clinical measurements of performance. Analysing assessment scores using Rasch analysis provides information about scores and the nature of each assessment item, and analysis output guides refinement of assessment. However, few health professional educators have published research that includes Rasch modelling methods. It may be that health professional educators find the language used to describe Rasch analysis to be somewhat impenetrable and that this has, to date, limited engagement in exploring applications for Rasch. In this paper, we lay out an overview of the potential benefits of Rasch analysis in health professional education and research.
Gut Microbiome and Serum Metabolome Alterations Associated with Isolated Dystonia
Authors: Ma Lingyan , Keng Jing , Cheng Min , Pan Hua , Feng Bo , Hu Yongfeng , Feng Tao , Yang Fan
Published: August 2021

Dystonia is the third most common movement disorder, after essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease. However, the cause for the majority of cases is not known.
Dietary Inflammatory Index in relation to psoriasis risk, cardiovascular risk factors, and clinical outcomes: a case-control study in psoriasis patients
Authors: Kashani Arvin , Moludi Jalal , Lateef Fateh Hawal , Tandorost Arash , Jafari-Vayghan Hamed , Dey Priyankar
Published: August 2021

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease. Despite the understanding of disease pathogenesis, the link between diet-induced inflammation and the risk of psoriasis remains underexplored. Therefore, we examined the capability of the literature-derived energy-adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (E-DII) as a predictive tool for inflammation, incidence, and severity of psoriasis (as indexed by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI)). We conducted a case-control study of 149 adults (75 cases and 74 controls). The E-DII score was calculated based on the dietary intake that was evaluated using a validated 168 item quantity food-frequency questionnaire. The E-DII tertile cut-offs were categorized based on the following cut points: tertiles 1 ≤ −1.99; tertiles 2 = −2.00 to 0.60; tertile 3 ≥ 0.61. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the multivariable odds ratio (OR) adjusted for confounders. Patients with higher pro-inflammatory E-DII had a 3.60-times increased risk of psoriasis relative to patients in tertiles 1 (E-DIIT3 vs E-DIIT1: OR = 3.64; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51 to 8.79, P = 0.005). The severity of disease as indexed by PASI remained associated with E-DII (E-DIIT3 vs E-DIIT1: OR = 3.64; 95% CI 1.74 to 7.57, P = 0.015). For each unit increase in E-DII, the probability of disease severity is increased 3 times. Patients consuming a more pro-inflammatory diet were at a greater risk of psoriasis. These patients also demonstrated increased disease severity relative to individuals consuming a more anti-inflammatory diet.

Novelty: A pro-inflammatory diet is associated with higher psoriasis incidence. Subjects with higher DII scores had higher inflammatory markers levels.
Data-limited models to predict river temperatures for aquatic species at risk1
Authors: Rosencranz Jordan , Cuddington Kim , Brook Madison , Koops Marten A. , Drake D. Andrew
Published: August 2021

In data-poor regions, modeled river temperatures are essential for predicting potential stressors for species at risk. With limited data from the Grand, Thames, and Sydenham rivers in southern Ontario, Canada, we evaluated simple mixed-effect regression models to predict water temperature using air temperature from nearby weather stations. Model performance was assessed for periods relevant to the fitness of the black redhorse (Moxostoma duquesni): June to August, when heat events may be likely; and May, when spawning occurs. All of the models performed better when trained on data from these periods, compared with using data from the entire growing season. The best model was a linear regression using 5 days of lagged air temperature. This model had a root mean square error for summer means of 1.5 °C. The differences in prediction error at different times of year highlight the importance of considering species ecology in model interpretation. However, the improvement in model fit when using only data from the relevant time of year suggests that relatively simple models can be used effectively in a management arena when applied appropriately.
SketchGNN: Semantic Sketch Segmentation with Graph Neural Networks
Authors: Yang Lumin , Zhuang Jiajie , Fu Hongbo , Wei Xiangzhi , Zhou Kun , Zheng Youyi
Published: August 2021

We introduce
SketchGNN
, a convolutional graph neural network for semantic segmentation and labeling of freehand vector sketches. We treat an input stroke-based sketch as a graph with nodes representing the sampled points along input strokes and edges encoding the stroke structure information. To predict the per-node labels, our
SketchGNN
uses graph convolution and a static-dynamic branching network architecture to extract the features at three levels, i.e., point-level, stroke-level, and sketch-level.
SketchGNN
significantly improves the accuracy of the state-of-the-art methods for semantic sketch segmentation (by 11.2% in the pixel-based metric and 18.2% in the component-based metric over a large-scale challenging SPG dataset) and has magnitudes fewer parameters than both image-based and sequence-based methods.
Supervoxel Convolution for Online 3D Semantic Segmentation
Authors: Huang Shi-Sheng , Ma Ze-Yu , Mu Tai-Jiang , Fu Hongbo , Hu Shi-Min
Published: August 2021

Online 3D semantic segmentation, which aims to perform real-time 3D scene reconstruction along with semantic segmentation, is an important but challenging topic. A key challenge is to strike a balance between efficiency and segmentation accuracy. There are very few deep-learning-based solutions to this problem, since the commonly used deep representations based on volumetric-grids or points do not provide efficient 3D representation and organization structure for online segmentation. Observing that on-surface supervoxels, i.e., clusters of on-surface voxels, provide a compact representation of 3D surfaces and brings efficient connectivity structure via supervoxel clustering, we explore a supervoxel-based deep learning solution for this task. To this end, we contribute a novel convolution operation (SVConv) directly on supervoxels. SVConv can efficiently fuse the multi-view 2D features and 3D features projected on supervoxels during the online 3D reconstruction, and leads to an effective supervoxel-based convolutional neural network, termed as
Supervoxel-CNN
, enabling 2D-3D joint learning for 3D semantic prediction. With the
Supervoxel-CNN
, we propose a
clustering-then-prediction
online 3D semantic segmentation approach. The extensive evaluations on the public 3D indoor scene datasets show that our approach significantly outperforms the existing online semantic segmentation systems in terms of efficiency or accuracy.
Software-driven Security Attacks: From Vulnerability Sources to Durable Hardware Defenses
Authors: Biernacki Lauren , Gallagher Mark , Xu Zhixing , Aga Misiker Tadesse , Harris Austin , Wei Shijia , Tiwari Mohit , Kasikci Baris , Malik Sharad , Austin Todd
Published: August 2021

There is an increasing body of work in the area of hardware defenses for software-driven security attacks. A significant challenge in developing these defenses is that the space of security vulnerabilities and exploits is large and not fully understood. This results in specific point defenses that aim to patch particular vulnerabilities. While these defenses are valuable, they are often blindsided by fresh attacks that exploit new vulnerabilities. This article aims to address this issue by suggesting ways to make future defenses more durable based on an organization of security vulnerabilities as they arise throughout the program life cycle. We classify these vulnerability sources through programming, compilation, and hardware realization, and we show how each source introduces unintended states and transitions into the implementation. Further, we show how security exploits gain control by moving the implementation to an unintended state using knowledge of these sources and how defenses work to prevent these transitions. This framework of analyzing vulnerability sources, exploits, and defenses provides insights into developing durable defenses that could defend against broader categories of exploits. We present illustrative case studies of four important attack genealogies—showing how they fit into the presented framework and how the sophistication of the exploits and defenses have evolved over time, providing us insights for the future.
A Variation-aware Hold Time Fixing Methodology for Single Flux Quantum Logic Circuits
Authors: Li Xi , Shahsavani Soheil Nazar , Zhou Xuan , Pedram Massoud , Beerel Peter A.
Published: August 2021

Single flux quantum (SFQ) logic is a promising technology to replace complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor logic for future exa-scale supercomputing but requires the development of reliable EDA tools that are tailored to the unique characteristics of SFQ circuits, including the need for active splitters to support fanout and clocked logic gates. This article is the first work to present a physical design methodology for inserting hold buffers in SFQ circuits. Our approach is variation-aware, uses
common path pessimism removal
and incremental placement to minimize the overhead of timing fixes, and can trade off layout area and timing yield. Compared to a previously proposed approach using fixed hold time margins, Monte Carlo simulations show that, averaging across 10 ISCAS’85 benchmark circuits, our proposed method can reduce the number of inserted hold buffers by 8.4% with a 6.2% improvement in timing yield and by 21.9% with a 1.7% improvement in timing yield.
An Energy-Efficient Inference Method in Convolutional Neural Networks Based on Dynamic Adjustment of the Pruning Level
Authors: Maleki Mohammad-Ali , Nabipour-Meybodi Alireza , Kamal Mehdi , Afzali-Kusha Ali , Pedram Massoud
Published: August 2021

In this article, we present a low-energy inference method for convolutional neural networks in image classification applications. The lower energy consumption is achieved by using a highly pruned (lower-energy) network if the resulting network can provide a correct output. More specifically, the proposed inference method makes use of two pruned neural networks (NNs), namely mildly and aggressively pruned networks, which are both designed offline. In the system, a third NN makes use of the input data for the online selection of the appropriate pruned network. The third network, for its feature extraction, employs the same convolutional layers as those of the aggressively pruned NN, thereby reducing the overhead of the online management. There is some accuracy loss induced by the proposed method where, for a given level of accuracy, the energy gain of the proposed method is considerably larger than the case of employing any one pruning level. The proposed method is independent of both the pruning method and the network architecture. The efficacy of the proposed inference method is assessed on Eyeriss hardware accelerator platform for some of the state-of-the-art NN architectures. Our studies show that this method may provide, on average, 70% energy reduction compared to the original NN at the cost of about 3% accuracy loss on the CIFAR-10 dataset.
Slanted Canonicity of Analytic Inductive Inequalities
Authors: De Rudder Laurent , Palmigiano Alessandra
Published: August 2021

We prove an algebraic canonicity theorem for normal LE-logics of arbitrary signature, in a generalized setting in which the non-lattice connectives are interpreted as operations mapping tuples of elements of the given lattice to closed or open elements of its canonical extension. Interestingly, the syntactic shape of LE-inequalities which guarantees their canonicity in this generalized setting turns out to coincide with the syntactic shape of
analytic inductive inequalities
, which guarantees LE-inequalities to be equivalently captured by analytic structural rules of a proper display calculus. We show that this canonicity result connects and strengthens a number of recent canonicity results in two different areas: subordination algebras, and transfer results via Gödel-McKinsey-Tarski translations.
Nova
: Value-based Negotiation of Norms
Authors: Aydoğan Reyhan , Kafali Özgür , Arslan Furkan , Jonker Catholijn M. , Singh Munindar P.
Published: August 2021

Specifying a normative multiagent system (nMAS) is challenging, because different agents often have conflicting requirements. Whereas existing approaches can resolve
clear-cut
conflicts, tradeoffs might occur in practice among alternative nMAS specifications with no apparent resolution. To produce an nMAS specification that is acceptable to each agent, we model the specification process as a negotiation over a set of norms. We propose an agent-based negotiation framework, where agents’ requirements are represented as
values
(e.g., patient safety, privacy, and national security), and an agent revises the nMAS specification to promote its values by executing a set of norm revision rules that incorporate ontology-based reasoning. To demonstrate that our framework supports creating a
transparent
and
accountable
nMAS specification, we conduct an experiment with human participants who negotiate against our agent. Our findings show that our negotiation agent reaches better agreements (with small
p
-value and large effect size) faster than a baseline strategy. Moreover, participants perceive that our agent enables more
collaborative
and transparent negotiations than the baseline (with small
p
-value and large effect size in particular settings) toward reaching an agreement.
Mining Customers’ Changeable Electricity Consumption for Effective Load Forecasting
Authors: Tajeuna Etienne Gael , Bouguessa Mohamed , Wang Shengrui
Published: August 2021

Most existing approaches for electricity load forecasting perform the task based on overall electricity consumption. However, using such a global methodology can affect load forecasting accuracy, as it does not consider the possibility that customers’ consumption behavior may change at any time. Predicting customers’ electricity consumption in the presence of unstable behaviors poses challenges to existing models. In this article, we propose a principled approach capable of handling customers’ changeable electricity consumption. We devise a network-based method that first builds and tracks clusters of customer consumption patterns over time. Then, on the evolving clusters, we develop a framework that exploits long short-term memory recurrent neural network and survival analysis techniques to forecast electricity consumption. Our experiments on real electricity consumption datasets illustrate the suitability of the proposed approach.
StarFL: Hybrid Federated Learning Architecture for Smart Urban Computing
Authors: Huang Anbu , Liu Yang , Chen Tianjian , Zhou Yongkai , Sun Quan , Chai Hongfeng , Yang Qiang
Published: August 2021

From facial recognition to autonomous driving, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will transform the way we live and work over the next couple of decades. Existing AI approaches for urban computing suffer from various challenges, including dealing with synchronization and processing of vast amount of data generated from the edge devices, as well as the privacy and security of individual users, including their bio-metrics, locations, and itineraries. Traditional centralized-based approaches require data in each organization be uploaded to the central database, which may be prohibited by data protection acts, such as GDPR and CCPA. To decouple model training from the need to store the data in the cloud, a new training paradigm called Federated Learning (FL) is proposed. FL enables multiple devices to collaboratively learn a shared model while keeping the training data on devices locally, which can significantly mitigate privacy leakage risk. However, under urban computing scenarios, data are often communication-heavy, high-frequent, and asynchronized, posing new challenges to FL implementation. To handle these challenges, we propose a new hybrid federated learning architecture called StarFL. By combining with Trusted Execution Environment (TEE), Secure Multi-Party Computation (MPC), and (Beidou) satellites, StarFL enables safe key distribution, encryption, and decryption, and provides a verification mechanism for each participant to ensure the security of the local data. In addition, StarFL can provide accurate timestamp matching to facilitate synchronization of multiple clients. All these improvements make StarFL more applicable to the security-sensitive scenarios for the next generation of urban computing.
Rethinking Culture and Cognition
Authors: Cerulo Karen A. , Leschziner Vanina , Shepherd Hana
Published: August 2021

Paul DiMaggio's (1997) Annual Review of Sociology article urged integration of the cognitive and the cultural, triggering a cognitive turn in cultural sociology. Since then, a burgeoning literature in cultural sociology has incorporated ideas from the cognitive sciences—cognitive anthropology, cognitive psychology, linguistics, neuroscience and philosophy—significantly reshaping sociologists’ approach to culture, both theoretically and methodologically. This article reviews work published since DiMaggio's agenda-setting piece—research that builds on cross-disciplinary links between cultural sociology and the cognitive sciences. These works present new ideas on the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of culture, on how forms of personal culture interact, on how culture becomes shared, and on how social interaction and cultural environments inform cognitive processes. Within our discussion, we point to research questions that remain unsettled. We then conclude with issues for future research in culture and cognition that can enrich sociological analysis about action more generally.
The (Un)Managed Heart: Racial Contours of Emotion Work in Gendered Occupations
Authors: Wingfield Adia Harvey
Published: August 2021

The concept of emotional labor has been very useful for elucidating how the expansion of a service economy perpetuated new forms of work that maintained gender divisions and inequalities. Research has been slower to catch up to the ways that emotional labor has racial implications as well, but recent studies are making important contributions and moving the literature in this direction. In this review, I consider how increasing racial diversity in the US population informs how emotion work is performed in the current economy. I also discuss how other macrostructural changes such as the rise of aesthetic labor, the gig economy, and the overwhelming growth of the service industry can reshape our understanding of the intersections between race and gender in emotional labor.
Black Men and Black Masculinity
Authors: Young Alford A.
Published: August 2021

In recent decades, sociological studies of black males and of black masculinity in America unfolded with great rapidity. In the 1960s, sociological studies of black males gained currency. Much of their focus has been on the problematic state of black males in education, employment, family life, peer and social relations, and within criminal justice systems. That tradition moved from employing a social problems lens for researching black men to documenting how their efforts in these and other spheres of life reflect creativity and efficacy as much as malaise and despair. Emerging several decades later in sociology, black masculinity studies began with an emphasis on how black males contended with hegemonic masculinity. This tradition moved to explore how sexual, socioeconomic, and other variations in the black male experience elucidated vulnerability as a common feature of that experience, as well as to more extensive visions of black masculinity. New research questions stand before both traditions that constitute the twenty-first-century agenda.