bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rare variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome after chikungunya viral fever
Authors: Hameed Sajid , Khan Sara
Published: April 2019

Chikungunya (CHIK) viral fever is a self-limiting illness that presents with severe debilitating arthralgia, myalgia, fever and rash. Neurological complications are rare. We present a case of a 36-year-old woman who presented with acute onset progressive difficulty swallowing and left arm weakness. She was diagnosed with CHIK viral fever 4 weeks prior to admission. After investigations, she was diagnosed with a pharyngeal–cervical–brachial variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome. In hospital, she required ventilator support. Her condition improved after five sessions of intravenous immunoglobulin with almost complete resolution within 6 months of symptom onset. With frequent CHIK outbreaks, the neurological complications are increasingly seen in the emergency department. The knowledge of these associations will result in early diagnosis and treatment.
Understanding and applying practitioner and patient views on the implementation of a novel automated Computer-Aided Risk Score (CARS) predicting the risk of death following emergency medical admission to hospital: qualitative study
Authors: Dyson Judith , Marsh Claire , Jackson Natalie , Richardson Donald , Faisal Muhammad , Scally Andrew J , Mohammed Mohammed
Published: April 2019

Objectives

The Computer-Aided Risk Score (CARS) estimates the risk of death following emergency admission to medical wards using routinely collected vital signs and blood test data. Our aim was to elicit the views of healthcare practitioners (staff) and service users and carers (SU/C) on (1) the potential value, unintended consequences and concerns associated with CARS and practitioner views on (2) the issues to consider before embedding CARS into routine practice.

Setting

This study was conducted in two National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts in the North of England. Both had in-house information technology (IT) development teams, mature IT infrastructure with electronic National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and were capable of integrating NEWS with blood test results. The study focused on emergency medical and elderly admissions units. There were 60 and 39 acute medical/elderly admissions beds at the two NHS hospital trusts.

Participants

We conducted eight focus groups with 45 healthcare practitioners and two with 11 SU/Cs in two NHS acute hospitals.

Results

Staff and SU/Cs recognised the potential of CARS but were clear that the score should not replace or undermine clinical judgments. Staff recognised that CARS could enhance clinical decision-making/judgments and aid communication with patients. They wanted to understand the components of CARS and be reassured about its accuracy but were concerned about the impact on intensive care and blood tests.

Conclusion

Risk scores are widely used in healthcare, but their development and implementation do not usually involve input from practitioners and SU/Cs. We contributed to the development of CARS by eliciting views of staff and SU/Cs who provided important, often complex, insights to support the development and implementation of CARS to ensure successful implementation in routine clinical practice.
Family group decision-making interventions in adult healthcare and welfare: a systematic literature review of its key elements and effectiveness
Authors: Hillebregt Chantal F , Scholten Eline W M , Post Marcel W M , Visser-Meily Johanna M A , Ketelaar Marjolijn
Published: April 2019

Background

Family group decision-making (FGDM) is a structured decision-making process, aiming to shift the balance of power from professional towards the person in need and their family. It differentiates from other family-centred meetings by the presence of three key elements: (1) plan with actions/goals, (2) family driven, (3) three phases of meetings gradually increasing empowerment. FGDM studies are increasing in different settings in adult healthcare/welfare, although effectiveness is unknown at this date.

Objectives

(1) to systematically review the presence of the three FGDM key elements in family-centred interventions in adult care and welfare, (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of FGDM interventions.

Design

Systematic review.

Data sources and eligibility criteria

A total of 14 relevant electronic databases and 1 academic search machine were searched until February 2018. First, family-centred studies were selected with controlled trial designs in adult healthcare/welfare. Second, interventions were categorised as FGDM if all three key elements were present.

Data extraction and synthesis

Studies were examined concerning their (1) characteristics (2) quality/level of evidence (3) presence of FGDM key elements and (4) results.

Results

Six articles from three studies on family-centred interventions were selected from a total of 1680 articles. All were of low quality. One study (two articles) met all criteria for an FGDM intervention, describing the efficacy of family group conferences among social welfare recipients on mental health outcomes. Although the intervention group showed significantly better outcomes after 16–23 weeks; no differences were seen at the 1-year follow-up.

Conclusions

Controlled studies of both family-centred interventions and FGDM are still low in quantity and quality. No conclusions on FGDM effectiveness can be drawn. Further high-quality intervention studies are required to evaluate the impact of FGDM on adults in need, including their families; as well as evaluation research detecting possible barriers and facilitators influencing FGDM implementation.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42017077585.
Rest Evaluation for Active Concussion Treatment (ReAct) Protocol: a prospective cohort study of levels of physical and cognitive rest after youth sports-related concussion
Authors: Yang Jingzhen , Yeates Keith , Sullivan Lindsay , Singichetti Bhavna , Newton Alison , Xun Pengcheng , Taylor H Gerry , MacDonald James , Pommering Thomas , Tiso Michael , Cohen Daniel , Huang Yungui , Patterson Jeremy , Lu Zhong-lin
Published: April 2019

Introduction

Although current guidelines for the early clinical management of sports-related concussion (SRC) call for a gradual return-to-activity, the optimal level of rest needed to promote recovery remains unknown. This paper describes the protocol of the Rest Evaluation for Active Concussion Treatment (ReAct) study which objectively measures physical and cognitive rest following SRC and its relation to recovery among youth athletes.

Methods and analysis

Youth athletes aged 11–17 years are recruited preinjury and enrolled within 72 hours following a physician-diagnosed concussion. Injury information and acute clinical presentation are assessed at the time of injury. Youth participants are prospectively followed to objectively monitor daily physical and cognitive rest using two electronic devices: ActiGraph (to measure physical rest and sleep) and Narrative Clip (to measure cognitive rest), along with self-reported postconcussive symptoms using daily surveys. Other concussion outcomes, including functional outcomes, are assessed by surveying youth and their parents at three time points: (1) within 72 hours of injury, (2) at day 7 postenrolment and (3) at symptom resolution (or a maximum of 45 days postconcussion).

Ethics and dissemination

This study has received ethical approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the participating institution (IRB at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, IRB16-00613). The results of the study will be presented at national and international scientific conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Patients’ perspective on how to improve the care of people with chronic conditions in France: a citizen science study within the ComPaRe e-cohort
Authors: Tran Viet-Thi , Riveros Carolina , Péan Clarisse , Czarnobroda Arnaud , Ravaud Philippe
Published: April 2019

Background

This study aimed to involve patients with chronic conditions in generating ideas for improving their care.

Methods

We performed a citizen science study. Participants were adult patients with chronic conditions recruited in Community of Patients for Research ‘ComPaRe,’ a French e-cohort of patients with chronic conditions. Participants generated ideas to improve their care in answer to the open-ended question, ‘If you had a magic wand, what would you change in your healthcare?’ Three researchers and two patients independently extracted ideas from open-ended answers by using thematic analysis. Ideas were grouped into areas for improvement at the consultation, hospital/clinic and health system levels. Findings were validated and enriched by a second sample of participants recruited in ComPaRe.

Results

Between May 2017 and April 2018, a total of 1636 patients provided 3613 ideas to improve consultations (1701 ideas related to 58 areas for improvement), hospitals/clinics (928 ideas related to 41 areas for improvement) and the health system (984 ideas related to 48 areas for improvement). At the consultation level, most ideas were related to improving physician–patient discussions, informing patients about their own care, and adapting treatment to patient preferences and context. At the hospital/clinic level, most ideas aimed at improving the coordination and collaboration in care. At the health system level, most ideas were related to decreasing the administrative burden imposed on patients, improving access to care and reducing the costs of care.

Conclusion

Patients have many ideas to improve their care, from the content of consultations to the organisation of hospitals. Our study provides the proof of concept for a method to leverage patients’ practical knowledge of the care system to improve it.
Safety and efficacy of Edaravone Dexborneol versus edaravone for patients with acute ischaemic stroke: a phase II, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, multiple-dose, active-controlled clinical trial
Authors: Xu Jie , Wang Yilong , Wang Anxin , Gao Zhiqiang , Gao Xiaoping , Chen Huisheng , Zhou Junshan , Zhao Xingquan , Wang Yongjun
Published: April 2019

Background

Edaravone Dexborneol is a novel neuroprotective agent that comprised edaravone and (+)-borneol, a food additive with an anti-inflammatory effect in animal ischaemic stroke models. This study aims to assess the safety and efficacy of Edaravone Dexborneol compared with edaravone in treating patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS).

Methods

In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, multiple-dose, active-controlled, phase II clinical trial, patients with AIS within 48 hours after stroke onset were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to low-dose (12.5 mg), medium-dose (37.5 mg) or high-dose (62.5 mg) Edaravone Dexborneol groups, and an active control group with edaravone (30 mg) by 30 min intravenous infusion every 12 hours, for 14 consecutive days. The primary efficacy outcome was the proportion of modified Rankin Scale (mRS)score ≤1 at 90 days and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score change from baseline to 14 days after randomisation. The safety outcome included any adverse event during 90 days after treatment.

Results

Of 385 patients included in the efficacy analysis, 94 were randomised to low-dose group, 97 to medium-dose group, 98 to high-dose group and 96 to the control group. No significant difference was observed among the four groups on mRS score (mRS ≤1, p=0.4054) at 90 days or NIHSS score change at 14 days (p=0.6799). However, a numerically higher percentage of patients with mRSscore ≤1 at 90 days in the medium-dose (69.39%) and high-dose (65.63%) groups was observed than in the control group (60.64%). No significant difference in severe adverse events was found among the four groups (p=0.3815).

Conclusions

Compared with edaravone alone, Edaravone Dexborneol was safe and well tolerated at all doses, although no significant improvement in functional outcomes was observed at 90days.

Trial registration number

NCT01929096.
Propofol promotes apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells via alleviating the suppression of lncRNA HOXA11-AS on miRNA let-7i
Authors: Ren Yan-Ling , Zhang Wei
Published: April 2019

To date, surgical resection is the mainstay for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol), one of the most commonly used intravenous anaesthetic agents, has been reported to be involved in modulating the malignancy of a variety of human cancers. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, using a cell counting kit (CCK-8), flow cytometry, and caspase-3 cleavage assays, we found that propofol promoted cell apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation in both Colo205 and SW620 cells, through the down-regulation of HOXA11-AS and up-regulation of let-7i. Moreover, gain-of-function studies of HOXA11-AS or loss-of-function studies of let-7i also revealed a negative correlation between HOXA11-AS and let-7i in propofol-mediated biological functions of CRC cells. Furthermore, our mechanistic experiments revealed that HOXA11-AS acts as a molecular sponge for let-7i, thereby regulating the expression of ABCC10. We investigate the theory that propofol suppresses colorectal cancer tumorigenesis by modulating the HOXA11-AS–let-7i–ABCC10 regulatory network, indicating the potential for propofol to control CRC development.
Growth and survival of Siberian larch in Alberta at the species, population, and family levels
Authors: Benowicz Andy , Krakowski Jodie , Rweyongeza Deogratias
Published: April 2019

Survival and growth of Siberian larch (SL, Larix sibirica Ledeb.) were compared with those of three conifer species native to Alberta, Canada: lodgepole pine (LP; Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson), white spruce (WS, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and jack pine (JP, Pinus banksiana Lamb.) at 12, 10, and 3 trial locations, respectively. The average data age was 18 years (range: 3 to 27 years). Survival of SL averaged 4.2% and 6.5% worse than LP and WS, respectively, while it was 5% better than JP. SL grew 25%, 94%, and 23% taller than LP, WS, and JP, respectively. Stem forking rates were similar between SL and LP, WS, and JP. The best seed sources for Alberta were mature trees established in Alberta and Saskatchewan of unknown initial provenances. The Russian Altai Mountain source grew well at high elevations, while the Finnish Raivola performed well in the northern, low-elevation area. Open-pollinated progeny tests of 58 families planted in five diverse locations yielded individual-tree narrow-sense heritabilities and family mean heritabilities for height at age 15 of 0.15 and 0.59, respectively. The type B between-site genetic correlation was 0.44, indicating a strong genotype × environment interaction. SL has performed well in Alberta, and its growth can be further improved by selection and breeding from appropriate seed sources.
Metabonomics Study on the Hepatoprotective Effect of Panax notoginseng Leaf Saponins Using UPLC/Q-TOF-MS Analysis
Authors: Liu Fang , Wang Meng , Wang Yang , Cao Yiwei , Sun Zhaolin , Chen Mingcang , Tian Xiaoting , Wan Jianbo , Huang Chenggang
Published: April 2019

Alcohol liver disease is a major public health problem associated with lifestyle. Our recent study demonstrated that the roots of Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) exert hepatoprotective effects against alcohol consumption. Considering that the leaves of Panax notoginseng saponins (LPNS) have similar chemical ingredients with PNS, increased attention should be given to the hepatoprotective effects of LPNS. In this study, a metabonomic approach based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF/MS) was developed to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of LPNS on alcoholic fatty liver and elucidate the interaction mechanisms. Results showed that the ethanol-induced metabolic perturbations were restored after treatment with LPNS. Furthermore, 12 potential biomarkers (11 upregulated and 1 downregulated) were identified by V-plot and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis. Changes in the levels of these metabolites indicated that glycerophospholipid and fatty acid metabolism were disturbed in alcoholic fatty liver mouse. Our findings demonstrated that the UHPLC–QTOF/MS-based metabonomic method may provide a useful means for exploring biomarkers involved in alcoholic fatty liver and elucidating the therapeutic effects of LPNS. This work also showed that the metabonomic approach is a powerful and promising tool for the evaluation of the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine and elucidation of related mechanisms.
Simulation of stress distribution and evolution in SiC particle reinforced iron matrix composites
Authors: Zhuang Weibin , Xie Lei , Liu Guangzhu , Liu Jingfu
Published: April 2019

An Eshelby particle-compounded model was employed to investigate the stress distribution in the SiCp/Fe composites during straining in order to predict the stress-strain curves of the composites. Effect of the SiC volume content and aspect ratios on yield strength of the SiCp/Fe composites was studied by the simulation. The modeling results indicate that the stress in the iron matrix is much smaller than that in SiC particles as straining the composites, which means the strengthening mechanisms of the SiCp/Fe composites is determined by the load transfer mechanisms. The aspect ratios of the particles play a significant role in yield strength of the SiCp/Fe composites especially as the particle volume content is large. The stress in SiC particles has a stronger dependence on the aspect ratios of the particles only if the reinforcement volume content is small.
First-principles calculations of the site preference, phase stability and brittle versus ductile behaviors of TiAl intermetallic alloyed with ternary elements
Authors: Hu Hai , Ren Yinshuan , Wu Xiaozhi , Liu Wanguo , Luo JuanJuan
Published: April 2019

Effects of site preference, phase stability and brittle versus ductile behaviors of W, Mo, La and Ce in TiAl have been investigated by using the first-principles calculations. The results show that transition elements W and Mo can effectively stabilize B2 phase except rare earth elements La or Ce. Elastic modulus show that the ductility can be improved for ternary elements addition and there is a plastic transition from intrinsic brittleness to intrinsic ductility with W and Mo addition due to phase transition. The competitive mechanisms between the opening of microcracks and dislocation emission show the increased ductility is mainly due to the energetic dislocation but suppressed cracks. Finally, electronic density of states and charge density show that weakened covalent interactions of TiAl for W, Mo, La and Ce addition are the essential reasons for the transformation from brittleness to ductility.
Performance Analysis of Different Optimizers for Deep Learning-Based Image Recognition
Authors: Postalcıoğlu Seda
Published: April 2019

Deep learning refers to Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). CNN is used for image recognition for this study. The dataset is named Fruits-360 and it is obtained from the Kaggle dataset. Seventy percent of the pictures are selected as training data and the rest of the images are used for testing. In this study, an image size is [Formula: see text]. Training is realized using Stochastic Gradient Descent with Momentum (sgdm), Adaptive Moment Estimation (adam) and Root Mean Square Propogation (rmsprop) techniques. The threshold value is determined as 98% for the training. When the accuracy reaches more than 98%, training is stopped. Calculation of the final validation accuracy is done using trained network. In this study, more than 98% of the predicted labels match the true labels of the validation set. Accuracies are calculated using test data for sgdm, adam and rmsprop techniques. The results are 98.08%, 98.85%, 98.88%, respectively. It is clear that fruits are recognized with good accuracy.
Application of Cloud Video Information Processing Technology in Alleviating the Food Safety Trust Crisis
Authors: Dai Yu
Published: April 2019

In view of the current consumer trust crisis in food safety, some researchers proposed to build a reliable food safety traceability system solution. Because the food safety traceability system requires storing and processing of massive video data, this paper proposes to build a reliable food safety traceability system by introducing cloud storage technology into video surveillance system. Hadoop platform is built to store and process massive monitoring of video data. In addition, in order to make use of Map Reduce framework for parallel computing, this paper optimizes the traditional particle filter target tracking algorithm, and proposes using the parallel computing framework Map Reduce in Hadoop to achieve the parallel computing of all particles in particle filter. Finally, the simulation results show that when the number of videos is large, the time of parallel processing is obviously shorter than that of single-machine mode. And as the video data becomes larger and larger, the advantages of parallel processing become more and more obvious.
Optimal boundary control for the stationary Boussinesq equations with variable density
Authors: Boldrini José Luiz , Mallea-Zepeda Exequiel , Rojas-Medar Marko Antonio
Published: April 2019

Certain classes of optimal boundary control problems for the Boussinesq equations with variable density are studied. Controls for the velocity vector and temperature are applied on parts of the boundary of the domain, while Dirichlet and Navier friction boundary conditions for the velocity and Dirichlet and Robin boundary conditions for the temperature are assumed on the remaining parts of the boundary. As a first step, we prove a result on the existence of weak solution of the dynamical equations; this is done by first expressing the fluid density in terms of the stream-function. Then, the boundary optimal control problems are analyzed, and the existence of optimal solutions are proved; their corresponding characterization in terms of the first-order optimality conditions are obtained. Such optimality conditions are rigorously derived by using a penalty argument since the weak solutions are not necessarily unique neither isolated, and so standard methods cannot be applied.
An embedding theorem for BV-functions
Authors: Greco Luigi , Schiattarella Roberta
Published: April 2019

We prove an embedding theorem for functions of bounded variation. We give an application to the study of Poisson integral on the disk.
Lorentz–Morrey global bounds for singular quasilinear elliptic equations with measure data
Authors: Tran Minh-Phuong , Nguyen Thanh-Nhan
Published: April 2019

The aim of this paper is to present the global estimate for gradient of renormalized solutions to the following quasilinear elliptic problem: [Formula: see text] in Lorentz–Morrey spaces, where [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]), [Formula: see text] is a finite Radon measure, [Formula: see text] is a monotone Carathéodory vector-valued function defined on [Formula: see text] and the [Formula: see text]-capacity uniform thickness condition is imposed on the complement of our domain [Formula: see text]. It is remarkable that the local gradient estimates have been proved first by Mingione in [Gradient estimates below the duality exponent, Math. Ann. 346 (2010) 571–627] at least for the case [Formula: see text], where the idea for extending such result to global ones was also proposed in the same paper. Later, the global Lorentz–Morrey and Morrey regularities were obtained by Phuc in [Morrey global bounds and quasilinear Riccati type equations below the natural exponent, J. Math. Pures Appl. 102 (2014) 99–123] for regular case [Formula: see text]. Here in this study, we particularly restrict ourselves to the singular case [Formula: see text]. The results are central to generalize our technique of good-[Formula: see text] type bounds in the previous work [M.-P. Tran, Good-[Formula: see text] type bounds of quasilinear elliptic equations for the singular case, Nonlinear Anal. 178 (2019) 266–281], where the local gradient estimates of solution to this type of equation were obtained in the Lorentz spaces. Moreover, the proofs of most results in this paper are formulated globally up to the boundary results.
Norms of weighted sums of log-concave random vectors
Authors: Chasapis Giorgos , Giannopoulos Apostolos , Skarmogiannis Nikos
Published: April 2019

Let [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] be centrally symmetric convex bodies of volume 1 in [Formula: see text]. We provide upper bounds for the multi-integral expression [Formula: see text] in the case where [Formula: see text] is isotropic. Our approach provides an alternative proof of the sharp lower bound, due to Gluskin and Milman, for this quantity. We also present some applications to “randomized” vector balancing problems.
Finite Larmor radius regime: Collisional setting and fluid models
Authors: Bostan Mihaï , Finot Aurélie
Published: April 2019

The subject matter of this paper concerns the derivation of fluid limits for gyro-kinetic models. The arguments apply for any collision kernel satisfying the usual conservations (mass, momentum, kinetic energy) and possessing a production entropy sign. We describe the set of equilibria in terms of several moments, we determine the average collision invariants, and we write the associated macroscopic equations and the entropy inequality.
A Bochner principle and its applications to Fujiki class 𝒞 manifolds with vanishing first Chern class
Authors: Biswas Indranil , Dumitrescu Sorin , Guenancia Henri
Published: April 2019

We prove a Bochner-type vanishing theorem for compact complex manifolds [Formula: see text] in Fujiki class [Formula: see text], with vanishing first Chern class, that admit a cohomology class [Formula: see text] which is numerically effective (nef) and has positive self-intersection (meaning [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text]). Using it, we prove that all holomorphic geometric structures of affine type on such a manifold [Formula: see text] are locally homogeneous on a non-empty Zariski open subset. Consequently, if the geometric structure is rigid in the sense of Gromov, then the fundamental group of [Formula: see text] must be infinite. In the particular case where the geometric structure is a holomorphic Riemannian metric, we show that the manifold [Formula: see text] admits a finite unramified cover by a complex torus with the property that the pulled back holomorphic Riemannian metric on the torus is translation invariant.
The pth Kazdan–Warner equation on graphs
Authors: Ge Huabin
Published: April 2019

Let [Formula: see text] be a connected finite graph and [Formula: see text] be the set of functions defined on [Formula: see text]. Let [Formula: see text] be the discrete [Formula: see text]-Laplacian on [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is positive everywhere. Consider the operator [Formula: see text]. We prove that [Formula: see text] is one-to-one, onto and preserves order. So it implies that there exists a unique solution to the equation [Formula: see text] for any given [Formula: see text]. We also prove that the equation [Formula: see text] has a solution which is unique up to a constant, where [Formula: see text] is the average of [Formula: see text]. With the help of these results, we finally give various conditions such that the [Formula: see text]th Kazdan–Warner equation [Formula: see text] has a solution on [Formula: see text] for given [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Thus we generalize Grigor’yan, Lin and Yang’s work Kazdan–Warner equation on graph, Calc. Var. Partial Differential Equations 55(4) (2016) Paper No. 92, 13 pp. for [Formula: see text] to any [Formula: see text].
Nonlinear Snap-Through Instability of FGM Shallow Micro-Arches with Integrated Surface Piezoelectric Layers Based on Modified Couple Stress Theory
Authors: Babaei Hadi , Reza Eslami M.
Published: April 2019

Based on the modified couple stress theory, an attempt is made in this study to analyze the nonlinear snap-through instability of shallow sandwich arches. The microstructure-dependent functionally graded material (FGM) arch with surface bonded piezoelectric actuator layers is analyzed. The piezo-FGM sandwich arch is subjected to uniform transverse pressure load in thermo-electrical environment. All material properties of the FGM micro arch are assumed to be temperature- and position-dependent. The governing equilibrium equations of the piezo-FGM sandwich arch are established with the aid of virtual displacement principle and the uncoupled thermoelacticity theory. The obtained governing differential equations are based on the first-order shear deformation shallow arch theory of the Timoshenko and von Kármán nonlinear assumptions. These equilibrium equations contain three coupled ordinary differential equations in terms of displacements. The nondimensional governing equations are solved for the cases of piezo-FGM sandwich arches with simply supported and clamped boundary conditions by using the two-step perturbation technique. Analytical closed-form solutions are derived to give the deflected shape of the piezo-FGM sandwich arch with immovable ends. Comparison is made with the existing results for the cases of FGM arch without couple stress and piezoelectric layers, where good agreement is obtained. The nonlinear behavior of the sandwich arches is highly affected by the couple stress, piezoelectric layers, temperature change, volume fraction index, and geometrical properties of the arch.
Buckling and Post-Buckling Analysis of Geometrically Imperfect FGM Pin-Ended Tubes Surrounded by Nonlinear Elastic Medium Under Compressive and Thermal Loads
Authors: Babaei Hadi , Kiani Yaser , Reza Eslami M.
Published: April 2019

The present study aims to analyze the buckling and post-buckling behavior of the geometrically imperfect functionally graded pin-ended tube. Imperfect FGM tube is surrounded by nonlinear elastic medium and is subjected to the axial compression or various thermal loads. Pinned-pinned boundary conditions are movable or immovable for the FGM tube under axial compression or thermal loads, respectively. In thermal analysis, different types of thermal loads such as uniform temperature rise, linear temperature distribution, and heat conduction are analyzed and contrasted. Displacement field of the FGM tube satisfies the tangential traction-free boundary conditions on the inner and outer surfaces. Properties of the FGM tube are assumed to be temperature-dependent and are distributed through the radial direction of tube using a power law function. The governing equilibrium equations of the FGM tube are obtained by means of the virtual displacement principle. These are nonlinear coupled differential equations based on a higher order shear deformation tube theory and the von Kármán nonlinear assumption. The coupled nonlinear dimensionless differential equations are solved using the two-step perturbation method. These asymptotic solutions are as explicit functions of the axial compression or different types of thermal load. Numerical results are provided to explore the effects of the linear and nonlinear spring stiffness of elastic medium and imperfection parameter of the tube. The effects of the volume fraction index and two geometrical parameters of the FGM tube are also included.
pH Driven self-assembly of aza-BODIPY J-aggregates
Authors: Cheng Miffy H. Y. , Bao Shuozhen , Zheng Gang , Chen Juan
Published: April 2019

A pH-driven self-assembly of a simple aza-BODIPY was discovered in PBS solution, whereby ion-specific J-aggregated nanostructures were generated at very low dye concentration (2.5–20 [Formula: see text]M). The aggregation process was investigated in different conditions (pH, temperature and time) by monitoring absorption spectral shifts and associated nanostructure morphological changes. The pH-driven self-assembly process demonstrated an instantaneous thermodynamic phenomenon associated with three characteristic structures, each with distinctive optical properties. When the sample was first formulated within a short time window, a thermodynamically less stable intermediate with an unusual morphology of triangular nanoplates and broad absorption was observed. The formation of these structures was independent of the ions in PBS solution (Na[Formula: see text], K[Formula: see text], thus indicating that the triangular structure was inherent to the anisotropic structure of aza-BODIPY scaffolds. The second structure associated with a metastable pathway generated a uniform population of spherical nanovesicles, while the third structure, generated through a more thermodynamically stable pathway consisted of fibers. The absorption spectra suggested that both spherical and fiber structures contributed to the J-aggregation band at 735 nm in the near infrared optical spectrum and their population in each formulation was concentration dependent. The results highlighted the significance of ion effects in self-assembly of aza-BODIPY and the mechanistic structural changes of the morphology. Furthermore, this fundamental discovery offers a versatile method for the self-assembly of aza-BODIPY J-aggregates as a new nanoplatform with potential photonic applications.
ESOPs AND NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH: CONDITIONAL EFFECTS OF FINANCIAL SLACK AND OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION
Authors: AGNIHOTRI ARPITA , BHATTACHARYA SAURABH
Published: April 2019

Basing on risk propensity and cognitive evaluation theory, this study explores the relationship between stock options and new product launch. A study based on archival data of 273 group affiliated Indian firms for 3 years demonstrates that the rate of new product introduction is a function of stock options provided to employees. Furthermore, ownership concentration of business groups and financial slack moderate this relationship.
IS FIRM INNOVATION ASSOCIATED WITH CORPORATE GOVERNANCE?
Authors: IYENGAR RAGHAVAN J. , SUNDARARAJAN MALAVIKA
Published: April 2019

U.S. Corporations spend millions of dollars on innovating new technologies. This despite the fact that such capital expenditure outlay runs the risk of possible failure and loss of investments. This paper investigates what factors drive a corporation to innovate. In addition to firm-specific factors, we examine board governance and industry concentration. This study examines the association of firm, governance and industry characteristics that may influence a firm to innovate. Results from logit regression seem to suggest that firm size, capital expenditure growth, and industry concentration are more likely to influence firm’s innovation efforts. Estimates also indicate that younger CEOs are more prone to innovation than older CEOs. These findings stand up to greater scrutiny when we perform a battery of robustness checks.
Chinese-Catalan
Authors: Costa-Jussà Marta R. , Casas Noé , Escolano Carlos , Fonollosa José A. R.
Published: April 2019

This article innovatively addresses machine translation from Chinese to Catalan using neural pivot strategies trained without any direct parallel data. The Catalan language is very similar to Spanish from a linguistic point of view, which motivates the use of Spanish as pivot language. Regarding neural architecture, we are using the latest state-of-the-art, which is the Transformer model, only based on attention mechanisms. Additionally, this work provides new resources to the community, which consists of a human-developed gold standard of 4,000 sentences between Catalan and Chinese and all the others United Nations official languages (Arabic, English, French, Russian, and Spanish). Results show that the standard pseudo-corpus or synthetic pivot approach performs better than cascade.
AAAI/ACM SIGAI job fair 2019
Authors: Amato Christopher , Dickerson John P
Published: April 2019

For the fourth year running, AAAI and ACM SIGAI jointly ran the popular AAAI/ACM SIGAI Job Fair. With the AAAI main conference increasing in the number of submissions, number of accepted papers, and attendance each year, one would expect the job fair to grow in turn; indeed, this year, we saw a growth on both fronts. This year, twenty-six companies formally attended---typically with a booth, team of recruiters, swag, and other representatives---increasing from twenty-one companies during the job fair's previous run in 2018. In turn, many hundreds of students, post-docs, and other job seekers either uploaded their resumes or CVs before the event, or uploaded their CVs after attending the event in person. Following this, as in previous years, those resumes and CVs were shared with participating companies. Those companies are listed below.
AI education matters
Authors: Eckroth Joshua
Published: April 2019

Prolog is a great language to include in an undergraduate AI course. Its logical programming paradigm challenges students to write code in a way that is usually very different from their other courses. Students struggle with its approach but, in my experience, come to appreciate its ability to handle a broad range of AI tasks elegantly.
AI policy matters
Authors: Medsker Larry
Published: April 2019

AI Policy is a regular column in AI Matters featuring summaries and commentary based on postings that appear twice a month in the AI Matters blog (https://sigai.acm.org/aimatters/blog/). Selected posts are summarized in issues of
AI Matters.
Don't blame the user
Authors: Schmidt Albrecht
Published: April 2019

Envisioning, designing, and implementing the user interface require a comprehensive understanding of interaction technologies. In this forum we scout trends and discuss new technologies with the potential to influence interaction design.
--- Albrecht Schmidt, Editor
POS Tag-enhanced Coarse-to-fine Attention for Neural Machine Translation
Authors: Yin Yongjing , Su Jinsong , Wen Huating , Zeng Jiali , Liu Yang , Chen Yidong
Published: April 2019

Although neural machine translation (NMT) has certain capability to implicitly learn semantic information of sentences, we explore and show that Part-of-Speech (POS) tags can be explicitly incorporated into the attention mechanism of NMT effectively to yield further improvements. In this article, we propose an NMT model with tag-enhanced attention mechanism. In our model, NMT and POS tagging are jointly modeled via multi-task learning. Besides following common practice to enrich encoder annotations by introducing predicted source POS tags, we exploit predicted target POS tags to refine attention model in a coarse-to-fine manner. Specifically, we first implement a coarse attention operation solely on source annotations and target hidden state, where the produced context vector is applied to update target hidden state used for target POS tagging. Then, we perform a fine attention operation that extends the coarse one by further exploiting the predicted target POS tags. Finally, we facilitate word prediction by simultaneously utilizing the context vector from fine attention and the predicted target POS tags. Experimental results and further analyses on Chinese-English and Japanese-English translation tasks demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model over the conventional NMT models. We release our code at https://github.com/middlekisser/PEA-NMT.git.
Automatizing the power grid
Authors: Bischofberger Catherine
Published: April 2019

The
Interactions
website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field.
Medication Belief and Adherence among Patients with Epilepsy
Authors: Niriayo Yirga Legesse , Mamo Abraham , Gidey Kidu , Demoz Gebre Teklemariam
Published: April 2019

Background. Medication adherence and belief are crucial to achieving the desired goal of therapy in epileptic patients. However, there is a lack of study regarding medication adherence and belief in our setting. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate medication adherence and belief and associated factors among ambulatory patients with epilepsy. Method. A cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected epileptic patients at the neurologic clinic of Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. Medication adherence and belief were assessed using self-reported questionnaires which were developed based on the review of different literatures. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression analysis. Result. We included a total of 292 patients. Almost two-thirds (65.4%) of the patients were nonadherent to their medications. The most common cause of nonadherence was forgetfulness (48.7%) followed by inability to get medicine (28.8) and safety concern (23.5%). The majority (78.4%) of the patients had high medication necessity belief while 44.1% had high concern belief about the potential adverse effect of their medications. Overall, 39.4% of the patients had a negative belief toward their medications. Comorbidity (AOR: 3.51, 95% CI: 1.20-10.31), seizure encounter within the last 3 months (AOR: 5.45, 95% CI: 2.48-12.00), low medication necessity belief (AOR: 3.38, 95% CI: 1.14-10.00), high medication concern belief (AOR: 4.23, 95% CI: 2.07-8.63), and negative medication belief (AOR: 4.17, 95% CI: 1.74-10.02) were predictors of medication nonadherence. Conclusion. Majority of the epileptic patients were nonadherent to their medications, and more than one-third of the patients had a negative medication belief. Low medication necessity belief, high medication concern belief, negative medication belief, comorbidity, and seizure encounter were predictors of medication nonadherence. Therefore, healthcare providers should design educational programs to enhance the patients’ believe about their medication in order to improve medication adherence and overall treatment outcome.
Evaluation and Prediction of Mass Transport Properties for Porous Implant with Different Unit Cells: A Numerical Study
Authors: Li Jian , Chen Diansheng , Fan Yubo
Published: April 2019

Efficient exchange of nutrients and wastes required for cell proliferation and differentiation plays a pivotal role in improving the service life of porous implants. In this study, mass transport properties for porous implant with different unit cells were evaluated and predicted when the porosities are kept the same. To this end, three typical unit cells (diamond (DO), rhombic dodecahedron (RD), and octet truss (OT)) were selected, in which DO displayed diagonal-symmetrical shape, while RD and OT share midline-symmetrical structure. Then, single unit cells were designed quantitatively, and its shape parameters were measured and calculated. Moreover, corresponding porous scaffolds with same outline size were created, respectively. Furthermore, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology, flow performances with Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM) in vitro were simulated for three different porous implants, and flow trajectory, velocity, and wall shear stress which could reflect the properties of mass transfer and tissue regeneration were compared and predicted numerically. Results demonstrated that different unit cell could directly lead to different mass transport properties for porous implant, in spite of same porosity, scaffold size, and service environment. Additionally, by the results, DO displayed greater tortuosity, more appropriate areas, and smoother shear stress distribution than RD and OT, which would provide better surroundings for implant fixation and tissue regeneration. However, RD and OT showed better mass transport properties because of bigger maximum velocity (5.177 mm/s, 4.381 mm/s) than DO (3.941 mm/s). This study would provide great helps for unit cell selection and biological performance optimization for 3D printed bone implants.
Examination of the Effects of Curvature in Geometrical Space on Accuracy of Scaling Derived Projections of Plant Biomass Units: Applications to the Assessment of Average Leaf Biomass in Eelgrass Shoots
Authors: Echavarría-Heras Héctor , Leal-Ramírez Cecilia , Villa-Diharce Enrique , Montesinos-López Abelardo
Published: April 2019

Conservation of eelgrass relies on transplants and evaluation of success depends on nondestructive measurements of average leaf biomass in shoots among other variables. Allometric proxies offer a convenient way to assessments. Identifying surrogates via log transformation and linear regression can set biased results. Views conceive this approach to be meaningful, asserting that curvature in geometrical space explains bias. Inappropriateness of correction factor of retransformation bias could also explain inconsistencies. Accounting for nonlinearity of the log transformed response relied on a generalized allometric model. Scaling parameters depend continuously on the descriptor. Joining correction factor is conceived as the partial sum of series expansion of mean retransformed residuals leading to highest reproducibility strength. Fits of particular characterizations of the generalized curvature model conveyed outstanding reproducibility of average eelgrass leaf biomass in shoots. Although nonlinear heteroscedastic regression resulted also to be suitable, only log transformation approaches can unmask a size related differentiation in growth form of the leaf. Generally, whenever structure of regression error is undetermined, choosing a suitable form of retransformation correction factor becomes elusive. Compared to customary nonparametric characterizations of this correction factor, present form proved more efficient. We expect that offered generalized allometric model along with proposed correction factor form provides a suitable analytical arrangement for the general settings of allometric examination.
Antimicrobial Activity of 4-Chlorocinnamic Acid Derivatives
Authors: Silva Rayanne H. N. , Andrade Ana C. M. , Nóbrega Diego F. , Castro Ricardo D. de , Pessôa Hilzeth L. F. , Rani Nidhi , de Sousa Damião P.
Published: April 2019

The microbial resistance of fungi and bacteria is currently considered a major public health problem. Esters derived from cinnamic acid have a broad spectrum of pharmacological properties that include antimicrobial activity. In this study, a collection of structurally related 4-chlorocinnamic acid esters was prepared using Fischer esterification reactions, alkyl or aryl halide esterification, and Mitsunobu and Steglich reactions. All of the esters were submitted to antimicrobial tests against strains of the species Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida guilliermondii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The compounds also were subjected to molecular docking study with the enzyme 14α-demethylase. Twelve esters derived from 4-chlorocinnamic acid were obtained, with yields varying from 26.3% to 97.6%, three of which were unpublished. The ester methyl 4-chlorocinnamate (1) presented activity against S. aureus at the highest concentration tested. In the antifungal evaluation, all of the esters were bioactive, but methoxyethyl 4-chlorocinnamate (4) and perillyl 4-chlorocinnamate (11) were the most potent (MIC = 0.13 and 0.024 μmol/mL, respectively). The data of molecular docking suggested that all the compounds present good affinity towards the active site related to antifungal activity. Therefore, the esters tested may be inhibitors of the enzyme 14α-demethylase. In addition, the results demonstrate that substituents of short alkyl chains with presence of heteroatom, such as oxygen, or those with a perillyl type terpenic substructure promote better antifungal profiles.