bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identification and Characterization of Leptomeningeal Metastases Using SPINE, A Web‐Based Collaborative Platform
Authors: Deol Madhvi , Palotai Miklos , Pinzon Alfredo Morales , Marciniak Andrzej , Bliault Gregory , Covert Etta , Aizer Ayal , Guenette Jeffrey P. , Desalvo Matthew N. , Li Xiao Tian , Thomas Aaron , Tran Ngoc‐Anh , Jacobson Alex , Huang Raymond , Guttmann Charles R.G.
Published: December 2020

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Leptomeningeal metastases (LMs) carry a poor prognosis. Existing LM scoring systems show limited reproducibility. We assessed the contribution of education level on the reproducibility of LM scoring using structured planning and implementation of new experiments (SPINE), a novel web‐based platform.

METHODS

Stringent radiological definitions of LM and a customized interactive scoring system were implemented in SPINE. Five patients with brain LM and 3 patients with spine, but no brain LM, were selected. Each patient's baseline post‐contrast T1‐weighted brain MRI was analyzed by three attending neuroradiologists, two neuroradiology fellows, and two radiology residents. Raters identified and characterized all LMs based on: (1) location (cerebrum, cerebellum, brainstem, ventricle, and/or cranial nerves); (2) shape (nodular and/or linear/curvilinear); (3) size (≥ or <5mm in two orthogonal diameters); (4) spatial extension (focal or diffuse). Inter‐rater agreement and association of LM with patient survival were investigated.

RESULTS

On average, 6.5 LMs per case were detected. Forty‐nine percent of LMs were cerebral, 77.7% were nodular, 86.6% were focal, and 66% were <5 × 5 mm. Agreement on the total number of LMs and the above‐mentioned common LM characteristics was higher between attendings (intra‐class correlation [ICC] = 0.8‐0.94) than fellows (ICC = 0.6‐0.82) or residents (ICC = 0.43‐0.73). Agreement on ventricular, cranial nerve, and nodular + linear LM was low even between attendings. The number of brainstem LMs showed significant correlation with survival.

CONCLUSION

Structured education using SPINE may improve consistency in LM reporting. Future work should address the impact of the presented approach on the reproducibility of longitudinal analyses directly relevant to the assessment of treatment‐response.
VoiceThread
Authors: Erickson Diandra C.
Published: December 2020

VoiceThread is a useful and versatile tool that provides instructors and students with a space for dynamic interaction, collaboration, and community building in an asynchronous environment. VoiceThread addresses specific drawbacks of asynchronous discussions by providing a space for students to interact with their instructor and classmates “face‐to‐face.” This review provides an overview of how VoiceThread can significantly improve student engagement, interaction, and collaboration in an asynchronous environment.
The effect of the interruption of agitation, temporary cooling, and pneumatic tube transportation on platelet quality during storage for transfusion
Authors: Böhmert Stephanie , Kübel Sarah , Müller Markus Matthias , Weber Christian Friedrich , Adam Elisabeth Hannah , Dröse Stefan , Zacharowski Kai , Fischer Dania
Published: December 2020

Background

Conditions during blood product storage and transportation should maintain quality. The aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the effect of interruption of agitation, temporary cooling (TC), and pneumatic tube system transportation (PTST) on the aggregation ability (AA) and mitochondrial function (MF) of platelet concentrates (PC).

Study Design and Methods

A PC was divided equally into four subunits and then allocated to four test groups. The control group (I) was stored as recommended (continuous agitation, 22 ± 2°C) for 4 days. The test groups were stored without agitation (II), stored as recommended, albeit 4°C for 60 minutes on day (d)2 (III) and PTST (IV). Aggregometry was measured using Multiplate (RocheAG; ADPtest, ASPItest, TRAPtest, COLtest) and MF using Oxygraph‐2k (Oroboros Instruments). The basal and maximum mitochondrial respiratory rate (MMRR) were determined. AA and MF were measured daily in I and II and AA in III and IV on d2 after TC/PTST. Statistical analysis was performed using tests for matched observations.

Results

Eleven PCs were used. TRAP‐6 induced AA was significantly lower in II when compared to I on d4 (P = 0.015*). In III the ASPItest was significantly lower (P = 0.032*). IV showed no significant differences. The basal and MMRR were significantly reduced over 4 days in I and II (for both rates in both groups: P = <0.0001*). No significant differences occurred on d4 (P = 0.495).

Conclusion

Our results indicate that ex vivo AA and MF of PCs are unaffected, even in no‐ideal storage and transport circumstances with respect to agitation, temperature, and force.
BETWEEN IRON SKIES AND COPPER EARTH: ANTINATALISM AND THE DEATH OF GOD
Authors: Zandbergen J. Robbert
Published: December 2020

The proclamation of the death of God came at a pivotal time in the history of humankind. It far transcended the concerns of the religious faithful and dented the entire fabric of human existence. Left to its own devices, humans intended their consciousness to replace God's. This proved to be a terrible mistake that collapsed the entire modern project. One of the worldviews that emerged in the wake of this eruption was antinatalism, which refers to the conviction that human reproduction should be brought to an absolute halt. This is the most modern outgrowth of the death of God and represents the most radical face of secular humanism. In spite of the admittedly dark fumes that leak out from the term ‘antinatalism’, this philosophical position emerges quite naturally when we consider the depletion of our traditional sources of philosophical enquiry.
Supplemental Material: Geochemical evidence of tropical cyclone controls on shallow-marine sedimentation (Pliocene, Taiwan)
Authors: Dashtgard Shahin , Löwemark Ludvig , al. et
Published: December 2020

δ13Corg and C:N ratios for organic carbon sources derived from published studies and for mudstone samples analyzed in this study.
Chinook salmon exhibit long-term rearing and early marine growth in the Fraser River, British Columbia, a large urban estuary
Authors: Chalifour Lia , Scott David C. , MacDuffee Misty , Stark Steven , Dower John F. , Beacham Terry D. , Martin Tara G. , Baum Julia K.
Published: December 2020

Estuaries represent a transition zone for salmon migrating from fresh water to marine waters, yet their contribution to juvenile growth is poorly quantified. Here, we use genetic stock identification and otolith analyses to quantify estuarine habitat use by Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) — the Pacific salmon species considered most reliant on this habitat — in Canada’s most productive salmon river, the Fraser River. Two years of sampling revealed subyearling migrant (ocean-type) Chinook from the Harrison River to be the estuary’s dominant salmon population throughout the emigration period. These Chinook salmon were caught predominantly in the estuary’s brackish marshes but shifted to more saline habitats as they grew. Otolith analyses indicated that these Chinook salmon have wide-ranging entry timing (from February to May) and longer estuarine residency (weeks to months, mean 41.8 days) than estimated by prior studies, but similar daily growth rates (mean ± SD: 0.57 ± 0.13 mm) across entry dates and residency periods, implying sufficient foraging opportunities throughout the emigration period and habitats. Together, these results suggest that estuarine habitat is more important for early marine growth of subyearling migrant Chinook salmon than previously recognized.
Soil phosphorus fractionation after co-applying biochar and paper mill biosolids
Authors: Ziadi Noura , Zhang Xiangru , Gagnon Bernard , Manirakiza Eric
Published: December 2020

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the recycling of organic materials such as paper mill biosolids (PB) and biochar for use as soil amendments. However, the benefits of co-application of PB and biochar and its effects on soil phosphorus (P) availability remain unknown. An incubation study was conducted on two acidic soils to assess the effect of two PB types (2.5% w/w) co-applied with three rates (0%, 2.5%, and 5% w/w) of pine (Pinus strobus L.) biochar on soil P fractions. An unfertilized control and a mineral NP fertilizer were used as a reference. Soil P fractions were determined by Hedley procedure after 2 and 16 wk of incubation. Material fractionation indicated that the PB containing the highest total P and the lowest Al content had the highest proportion of labile P, whereas most P in the biochar was in a stable form. The incubation study revealed that the P-rich PB increased P availability in both soils to a level comparable to mineral fertilizer at the end of the incubation. The addition of biochar to PB, however, did not affect soil P availability, but the highest rate induced a conversion of P fixed to Al and Fe oxides towards recalcitrant forms, particularly in the sandy loam soil. We conclude that co-applying biochar and PB could be more beneficial than application biochar alone and soils amended with such a mixture would be expected to release part of their P slowly over a longer period of time.
Self-complete and GUP-modified charged and spinning black holes
Authors: Carr Bernard , Mentzer Heather , Mureika Jonas , Nicolini Piero
Published: December 2020

We explore some implications of our previous proposal, motivated in part by the Generalised Uncertainty Principle (GUP) and the possibility that black holes have quantum mechanical hair that the ADM mass of a system has the form $$M + \beta M_{\mathrm{Pl}}^2/(2M)$$

M
+
β

M

Pl

2

/

(
2
M
)

, where M is the bare mass, $$M_{\mathrm{Pl}}$$

M
Pl

is the Planck mass and $$\beta $$
β
is a positive constant. This also suggests some connection between black holes and elementary particles and supports the suggestion that gravity is self-complete. We extend our model to charged and rotating black holes, since this is clearly relevant to elementary particles. The standard Reissner–Nordström and Kerr solutions include zero-temperature states, representing the smallest possible black holes, and already exhibit features of the GUP-modified Schwarzschild solution. However, interesting new features arise if the charged and rotating solutions are themselves GUP-modified. In particular, there is an interesting transition below some value of $$\beta $$
β
from the GUP solutions (spanning both super-Planckian and sub-Planckian regimes) to separated super-Planckian and sub-Planckian solutions. Equivalently, for a given value of $$\beta $$
β
, there is a critical value of the charge and spin above which the solutions bifurcate into sub-Planckian and super-Planckian phases, separated by a mass gap in which no black holes can form.
Studying the parameters of the extended σ-ω model for neutron star matter
Authors: Alvarez-Castillo David , Ayriyan Alexander , Barnaföldi Gergely Gábor , Grigorian Hovik , Pósfay Péter
Published: December 2020

In this work we study the parameters of the extended σ-ω model for neutron star matter by a Bayesian analysis of state-of-the-art multi-messenger astronomy observations, namely mass, radius and tidal deformabilities. We have considered three parameters of the model, the Landau mass mL, the nuclear compressibility K0, and the value of the symmetry energy S0, all at saturation density n0. As a result, we are able to estimate the best values of the Landau mass of mL ≈ 0.73 GeV, whereas the values of K0 and S0 fall within already known empirical values. Furthermore, for neutron stars we find the most probable value of 13 km < R1.4 < 13.5 km and the upper mass limit of Mmax ≈ 2.2 M⊙.
ANALYSIS AND MICROHARDNESS PROFILE OF HOT DIPPING COATING ON LOW-ALLOY STEEL
Authors: SHEHAB ABEER , AL-EZZI ATHIL , KATAWY ALI AL
Published: December 2020

This research is an effort to understand the morphology of the coating produced during hot dipping process in pure zinc bath based on iron–zinc phase diagram. In this investigation, zinc coating on low-alloy steel AISI 4340 samples was applied by hot dipping method followed by an annealing process. Morphological characterizations of the steel surface layer were accomplished by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). Results revealed that the coating is bonded to the steel surface through a sequence of Fe–Zn layers namely alpha ([Formula: see text], delta ([Formula: see text] and zeta ([Formula: see text] with uniform sloping hardness profile.
EFFECT OF PHASE-SHIFTED AUDITORY CUE ON GAIT SYMMETRY AND TRUNK DISPLACEMENT DURING TREADMILL WALKING
Authors: KO BYUNG-WOO , SONG WON-KYUNG
Published: December 2020

This study investigated changes in gait symmetry with trunk displacement during phase-shifted auditory paced treadmill walking for effective training with auditory cueing provided in conventional gait training. Eighteen able-bodied participants walked at a comfortable speed on a treadmill and the measured cadence was set at 100% (baseline). The phase-shifted auditory cue was set to both phase advance and delay of 20% at 5% intervals based on the baseline with respect to matching foot contact to the auditory cue. Trunk displacement increased with the phase-shifted auditory cue, and the largest value was found in the 120% condition compared to baseline ([Formula: see text]). Step length, step time, and swing phase time symmetry ratio gradually increased with increasing phase delay and gradually decreased with increasing phase advance on the linear model. However, single support time and stance phase time symmetry ratio showed contrasting characteristics compared to above parameters. The results indicate that the phase-shifted auditory cue significantly changes gait symmetry and trunk displacement. Particularly, the 20% phase advance and delay cues yielded about a 5% change in the step length symmetry ratio. These results could be used to induce a symmetric gait pattern when an asymmetric gait appears in hemiplegia.
SOVEREIGN DEFAULT CONTAGION AND MONETARY POLICY IN AN AGENT-BASED MODEL
Authors: SILVESTRE JOÃO
Published: December 2020

Sovereign default contagion was one of the most debated topics during the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Despite all the improvements in the financial situation since 2010, namely after European Central Bank quantitative easing policies, the nature of the problem and the policy prescriptions are still under dispute today. Using an agent-based model, we simulate sovereign default contagion for different monetary policy options in a world where governments have random incomes, different heterogeneous borrowing behaviors and risk aversion levels and where countries can enter into ex-ante agreements to protect themselves against default. Our simulations showed that default contagion can be a very fast and “destructive” process, and that monetary policy can have a very important role in preventing sovereign defaults through zero interest rate and quantitative easing policies.
HOW HARD IS FOR AGENTS TO LEARN THE USER EQUILIBRIUM? CHARACTERIZING TRAFFIC NETWORKS BY MEANS OF ENTROPY
Authors: REDWAN CAMIL S. Z. , BAZZAN ANA L. C.
Published: December 2020

Traffic assignment is an important stage in the task of modeling a transportation system. Several methods for solving the traffic assignment problem (TAP) were proposed, mostly based on iterative procedures. However, little was done in the direction of analyzing the difficulty of such procedures. For instance, why is it that some networks require orders of magnitude more iterations than others? What matters in this task? Clearly, the topology of the network can only give hints up to a certain level; the assignment task is fundamentally tied to how the demand is distributed (among other characteristics of the problem). This means that methods to estimate the complexity of a network (e.g. those based on centrality measures) can only help up to a certain level. The motivation for this work is to, a priori, estimate how hard will the effort underlying solving the TAP be (i.e. without doing the actual assignment). It arose from the fact that after performing assignment in several different networks, we noted that finding the solution for the problem was much easier for some networks than for others. Specifically, the more complex the network, the more difficulty it is to setup the parameters underlying the procedure for solving the TAP. In this work, we propose a new measure of how coupled routes in a network are, based on an estimation of the demand distribution. Our approach involves three main steps: (i) sampling the universe of all possible assignments, (ii) creating a model that gives the incentive a road user has for changing routes, as well as the asymptotic distribution of preference for routes, and (iii) computing the entropy of this distribution. This approach is experimentally validated using several networks of different natures. We then solve the TAP by letting road users use reinforcement learning to learn the user equilibrium. With this, we are able to make important relationships between the entropy values and how hard are the learning tasks. Results suggest that it is possible to use both the entropy values as well as the asymptotic distribution of preferences of the road users to gain important information that guides the traffic expert. For instance, the higher the entropy, the higher the indication that more than one route is perceived as preferable and, hence, the more difficult the learning task.
Temperature Sensitivity of Magnetic Nanoparticle Hyperthermia Using IR Thermography
Authors: Francis Femy , Anandhi J. Shebha , Jacob G. Antilen , Sastikumar D. , Joseyphus R. Justin
Published: December 2020

Magnetite nanoparticles are extensively studied for their applications in magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia. However, existing methods involve invasive methods for monitoring the thermal profile while the heat generated by the magnetite nanoparticles is utilized for cancer therapy. Tumor diagnosis utilizing thermography for monitoring the thermal profile is in the early stage of development since the temperature sensitivity is influenced by various experimental factors. Magnetite nanoparticles embedded in agar matrix which mimics the human tissues and their heating characteristics were investigated using infrared thermography. The magnetite nanoparticles with an average particle size of 10[Formula: see text]nm were subjected to heating in an applied frequency of 500[Formula: see text]kHz. The influence of concentration, area and depth on the heating characteristics of the tumor phantoms were deduced from the thermography images. The parameters that influence the therapeutical sensitivity while using infrared thermography for magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia, have been studied for potential applications in theranostics.
Characterizing temperature dependent complex electrical impedance analysis of LaFe1−xZnxO3(x= 0.03, 0.05, and 0.07) ceramics
Authors: Triyono D. , Fajriyani F. , Hanifah U. , Rafsanjani R. A.
Published: December 2020

LaFe[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]O3([Formula: see text] = 0.03, 0.05, and 0.07) ceramics were prepared in two steps: preparation of the powder form by a sol–gel method followed by sintering-annealing treatments to form the bulk-phase. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that all ceramics were crystallized in the orthorhombic perovskite structure with Pbnm symmetry. Grain size distribution and morphological characteristics were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Specific surface area was analyzed through BET–BJH methods. Electrical impedance analysis was investigated as a function of frequency at various temperatures. It was found that the electrical behavior is dominated by grain boundary contribution, i.e., electrical conductivity. The frequency dependence of the complex conductivity was analyzed through Joncher’s power law and the dominance of translational motion with a sudden hopping mechanism in the electrical conduction mechanism increased with increasing Zn content. Activation energy decreased with increasing Zn content.
Efficient Market Managers
Authors: Atanasov Vladimir , Pirinsky Christo , Wang Qinghai
Published: December 2020

We examine the effect of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) on the investment behavior of mutual fund managers. We show that managers who are more likely to be exposed to the ideas of EMH throughout their higher education are more “passive” than their unexposed peers: they are more likely to manage index funds, and when managing active funds, they hold portfolios with larger numbers of stocks and deviate less from their investment benchmarks. Exposed managers, however, take more systematic risks. Although academic exposure to the EMH does not result in better performance, it helps professional investors generate capital inflows.
TouchID
Authors: Zhang Xinchen , Yin Yafeng , Xie Lei , Zhang Hao , Ge Zefan , Lu Sanglu
Published: December 2020

Due to the widespread use of mobile devices, it is essential to authenticate users on mobile devices to prevent sensitive information leakage. In this paper, we propose TouchID, which combinedly uses the touch sensor and the inertial sensor for gesture analysis, to provide a touch gesture based user authentication scheme. Specifically, TouchID utilizes the touch sensor to analyze the on-screen gesture while using the inertial sensor to analyze the device's motion caused by the touch gesture, and then combines the unique features from the on-screen gesture and the device's motion for user authentication. To mitigate the intra-class difference and reduce the inter-class similarity, we propose a spatial alignment method for sensor data and segment the touch gesture into multiple sub-gestures in space domain, to keep the stability of the same user and enhance the discriminability of different users. To provide a uniform representation of touch gestures with different topological structures, we present a four-part based feature selection method, which classifies a touch gesture into a start node, an end node, the turning node(s), and the smooth paths, and then select effective features from these parts based on Fisher Score. In addition, considering the uncertainty of user's postures, which may change the sensor data of same touch gesture, we propose a multi-threshold kNN based model to adaptively tolerate the posture difference for user authentication. Finally, we implement TouchID on commercial smartphones and conduct extensive experiments to evaluate TouchID. The experiment results show that TouchID can achieve a good performance for user authentication, i.e., having a low equal error rate of 4.90%.
Understanding User Behavior in Car Sharing Services Through The Lens of Mobility
Authors: Wang Guang , Vaish Harsh Rajkumar , Sun Huijun , Wu Jianjun , Wang Shuai , Zhang Desheng
Published: December 2020

Qualitative and quantitative user studies can reveal valuable insights into user behavior, which in turn can assist system designers in providing better user experiences. Car sharing (e.g., Zipcar and car2go), as an emerging App-based online shared mobility mode, has been increasing dramatically worldwide in recent years. However, to date, comprehensive user behavior in car sharing systems has not been investigated, which is essential for understanding their characteristics and promotion roadblocks. With the goal of understanding various facets of user behavior in online car sharing systems, in this paper, we performed a qualitative and quantitative user study by adopting a mixed-methods approach. We first designed an attitude-aware online survey with a set of qualitative questions to perceive people's subjective attitudes to online car sharing, where a total of 185 participants (68 females) completed the survey. Next, we quantitatively analyzed a one-year real-world car sharing operation dataset collected from the Chinese city Beijing, which involves over 68,000 unique users and over 587,850 usage records. We dissected this attitude-free dataset to understand the objective car sharing user behavior from different dimensions, e.g., spatial, temporal, and demographic. Furthermore, we conducted a comparative study by utilizing one-year data from other two representative Chinese city Fuzhou and Lanzhou to show if the obtained findings from Beijing data may be generalizable to other cities having different urban features, e.g., different city size, population density, wealth, and climate conditions. We also do a case study by designing a user behavior-aware usage prediction model (i.e., BeXGBoost) based on findings from our user study (e.g., unbalanced spatiotemporal usage patterns, weekly regularity, demographic-related usage difference, and low-frequency revisitation), which is the basis for car sharing service station deployment and vehicle rebalancing. Finally, we summarize a set of findings obtained from our study about the unique user behavior in online car sharing systems, combined with some detailed discussions about implications for design.
PMC
Authors: Liu Bingyan , Li Yuanchun , Liu Yunxin , Guo Yao , Chen Xiangqun
Published: December 2020

Deep learning models have been deployed to a wide range of edge devices. Since the data distribution on edge devices may differ from the cloud where the model was trained, it is typically desirable to customize the model for each edge device to improve accuracy. However, such customization is hard because collecting data from edge devices is usually prohibited due to privacy concerns. In this paper, we propose PMC, a privacy-preserving model customization framework to effectively customize a CNN model from the cloud to edge devices without collecting raw data. Instead, we introduce a method to extract statistical information from the edge, which contains adequate domain-related knowledge for model customization. PMC uses Gaussian distribution parameters to describe the edge data distribution, reweights the cloud data based on the parameters, and uses the reweighted data to train a specialized model for the edge device. During this process, differential privacy can be enforced by adding computed noises to the Gaussian parameters. Experiments on public datasets show that PMC can improve model accuracy by a large margin through customization. Finally, a study on user-generated data demonstrates the effectiveness of PMC in real-world settings.
Evaluating the Reproducibility of Physiological Stress Detection Models
Authors: Mishra Varun , Sen Sougata , Chen Grace , Hao Tian , Rogers Jeffrey , Chen Ching-Hua , Kotz David
Published: December 2020

Recent advances in wearable sensor technologies have led to a variety of approaches for detecting physiological stress. Even with over a decade of research in the domain, there still exist many significant challenges, including a near-total lack of reproducibility across studies. Researchers often use some physiological sensors (custom-made or off-the-shelf), conduct a study to collect data, and build machine-learning models to detect stress. There is little effort to test the applicability of the model with similar physiological data collected from different devices, or the efficacy of the model on data collected from different studies, populations, or demographics.

This paper takes the first step towards testing reproducibility and validity of methods and machine-learning models for stress detection. To this end, we analyzed data from 90 participants, from four independent controlled studies, using two different types of sensors, with different study protocols and research goals. We started by evaluating the performance of models built using data from one study and tested on data from other studies. Next, we evaluated new methods to improve the performance of stress-detection models and found that our methods led to a consistent increase in performance across all studies, irrespective of the device type, sensor type, or the type of stressor. Finally, we developed and evaluated a clustering approach to determine the stressed/not-stressed classification when applying models on data from different studies, and found that our approach performed better than selecting a threshold based on training data. This paper's thorough exploration of reproducibility in a controlled environment provides a critical foundation for deeper study of such methods, and is a prerequisite for tackling reproducibility in free-living conditions.
Where You Go Matters
Authors: Baron Benjamin , Musolesi Mirco
Published: December 2020

Data gathered from smartphones enables service providers to infer a wide range of personal information about their users, such as their traits, their personality, and their demographics. This personal information can be made available to third parties, such as advertisers, sometimes unbeknownst to the users. Leveraging location information, advertisers can serve ads micro-targeted to users based on the places they visited. Understanding the types of information that can be extracted from location data and implications in terms of user privacy is of critical importance.

In this context, we conducted an extensive in-the-wild research study to shed light on the range of personal information that can be inferred from the places visited by users, as well as privacy sensitivity of the personal information. To this end, we developed TrackingAdvisor, a mobile application that continuously collects user location and extracts personal information from it. The app also provides an interface to give feedback about the relevance of the personal information inferred from location data and its corresponding privacy sensitivity. Our findings show that, while some personal information such as social activities is not considered private, other information such as health, religious belief, ethnicity, political opinions, and socio-economic status is considered private by the participants of the study. This study paves the way to the design of privacy-preserving systems that provide contextual recommendations and explanations to help users further protect their privacy by making them aware of the consequences of sharing their personal data.
MM-Fit
Authors: Strömbäck David , Huang Sangxia , Radu Valentin
Published: December 2020

Fitness tracking devices have risen in popularity in recent years, but limitations in terms of their accuracy and failure to track many common exercises presents a need for improved fitness tracking solutions. This work proposes a multimodal deep learning approach to leverage multiple data sources for robust and accurate activity segmentation, exercise recognition and repetition counting. For this, we introduce the MM-Fit dataset; a substantial collection of inertial sensor data from smartphones, smartwatches and earbuds worn by participants while performing full-body workouts, and time-synchronised multi-viewpoint RGB-D video, with 2D and 3D pose estimates. We establish a strong baseline for activity segmentation and exercise recognition on the MM-Fit dataset, and demonstrate the effectiveness of our CNN-based architecture at extracting modality-specific spatial temporal features from inertial sensor and skeleton sequence data. We compare the performance of unimodal and multimodal models for activity recognition across a number of sensing devices and modalities. Furthermore, we demonstrate the effectiveness of multimodal deep learning at learning cross-modal representations for activity recognition, which achieves 96% accuracy across all sensing modalities on unseen subjects in the MM-Fit dataset; 94% using data from the smartwatch only; 85% from the smartphone only; and 82% on data from the earbud device. We strengthen single-device performance by using the zeroing-out training strategy, which phases out the other sensing modalities. Finally, we implement and evaluate a strong repetition counting baseline on our MM-Fit dataset. Collectively, these tasks contribute to recognising, segmenting and timing exercise and non-exercise activities for automatic exercise logging.
MOF Ni-BTC Derived Ni/C/Graphene Composite for Highly Sensitive Non-Enzymatic Electrochemical Glucose Detection
Authors: Li Guofu , Chen Di , Chen Yingjie , Dong Lifeng
Published: December 2020

In comparison with enzymatic detection, non-enzymatic detection of glucose has lower cost, better stability, and simpler immobilization operation, but it still lacks sensitivity. Rational design and controllable synthesis of materials with unique morphology are important for non-enzymatic glucose detection. Herein, graphene oxide (GO) is utilized as structure-directing agent for the hydrothermal synthesis of Ni-BTC, followed by pyrolysis to obtain graphene decorated with Ni nanoparticles and carbon (Ni/C/G). GO confines the growth of Ni nanoparticles and GO-derived graphene improves the dispersion of Ni nanoparticles. Ni/C/G demonstrates higher sensitivity for non-enzymatic glucose electrochemical detection. In contrast, pyrolysis of Ni-BTC without GO produces micro-size rod-like Ni/C with poor performance towards glucose detection. Thus, the introduction of GO as the stabilizer in the hydrothermal synthesis of Ni-BTC is an effective approach to synthesize electrocatalysts containing metal nanoparticles. Furthermore, this strategy can be utilized to synthesize other low-cost nanomaterials for non-enzyme glucose detection.
The Impacts of Freight Trade on Carbon Emission Efficiency: Evidence from the Countries along the “Belt and Road”
Authors: Hu Jiangfeng , Shi Haoming , Huang Qinghua , Luo Yalan , Li Yamei
Published: December 2020

Extensive research has been carried out on the “Belt and Road” initiative, most of it focusing on geographical economy and international trade. However, there is a lack of research on the carbon emissions efficiency of the countries along the “Belt and Road,” especially regarding the impact of freight trade. To address this research gap, this paper first employs a metafrontier nonradial directional distance function to measure the carbon emission efficiency of 32 countries along the “Belt and Road” from 1990 to 2014. It then examines the role of freight trade. Our main research findings are as follows. Firstly, the carbon emission efficiency of the countries along the “Belt and Road” is generally low. Among them, Russia and Central Asia are mainly due to the large between-group gap in carbon emission efficiency, while Southeast Asia, Western Asia and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe are mainly due to the large within-group gap. Secondly, freight trade promotes carbon emission efficiency, but it will aggravate the gap between the contemporaneous technology and the group technology. Freight trade mainly promotes the contemporaneous carbon emission efficiency (CTCEI) and group-frontier carbon emission efficiency (ITCEI) of low fossil energy dependent countries, and the metafrontier carbon emission efficiency (GTCEI) of high fossil energy dependent countries. Thirdly, foreign direct investment (FDI) has a significant negative effect on a host country’s ITCEI and GTCEI, and it will decrease the gap between the group technology and the metafrontier technology. However, freight trade can effectively prevent the entry of FDI, thereby indirectly improving carbon emission efficiency and reducing carbon emission gap.
The Long Noncoding RNA LOXL1-AS1 Promotes the Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Liu Jiang , Zhai Chengtong , Liu Degan , Liu Jianhua
Published: December 2020

Objective. To investigate the expression of long noncoding RNA lysyl oxidase-like 1-antisense 1 (LOXL1-AS1) in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and its effect on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Methods. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to analyze the expression of LOXL1-AS1 RNA in tumor tissues, adjacent normal tissues, and cell lines. MTT assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry analysis, transwell assays, and lentivirus-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) technology were used to evaluate cell proliferation and migration. Results. In the present study, we observed that the expression level of LOXL1-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma tissue was significantly higher than that in adjacent nontumor tissues, and its expression in three hepatic carcinoma cell lines was obviously higher than that in a normal cell line. In addition, in the Hep-G2 cell line, LOXL1-AS1 downregulation significantly inhibited cell proliferation in the light of the MTT and colony formation assays in vitro, which was consistent with animal experiment in vivo. What is more, cell migration was also inhibited in vitro in Matrigel Transwell Assay by LOXL1-AS1 knockdown, which might be partly attributed to the reduction of MMP-2 and MMP-9 protein expressions. Finally, cell cycle analysis revealed that knockdown of LOXL1-AS1 induced significantly a G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest, which might be partly attributed to the downregulation of Cdc2, Cdc25A, and cyclin B1 protein expression. Conclusion. In conclusion, we demonstrated that reduced LOXL1-AS1 expression could inhibit hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. The application of RNAi targeting LOXL1-AS1 might be a potential treatment strategy in advanced cases.
Efficacy of Nucleotide/Nucleoside Analogues and Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin Therapy in Blocking Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis B in an Eastern Chinese Group
Authors: Sun Xiaojun , Wang Chengwei , Wang Bian , Yang Xiuzhen , Xu Hongtao , Shen Meilong , Zhu Kuichun
Published: December 2020

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and potential side-effects of nucleotide/nucleoside analogues and hepatitis B immunoglobulin injection of newborns in blocking mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus in the middle and late pregnancy period. 238 cases of enrolled pregnant women were divided into the Telbivudine group, the Tenofovir group, the Lamivudine group, and the hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) group. Enrolled patients received corresponding therapies. Clinical and laboratory data were collected. Results showed that the levels of HBV DNA of the enrolled pregnant women in the Telbivudine, Tenofovir, and Lamivudine groups decreased rapidly after 12 weeks of drug intervention compared with those in the control. HBsAg positive rate in newborns and in children 24 weeks after birth was 0/60, 0/60, 0/60, 3/30, and 11/28 in the Telbivudine, Tenofovir, Lamivudine, HBIG, and control groups, respectively. No significant side-effects were identified after following up to 12 months after birth. Our results show that routine HBV vaccine plus HBIG injections is insufficient in blocking mother-to-child HBV transmission. Administration of nucleotide/nucleoside analogues or HBIG at pregnancy is suggested to maximize the blocking of vertical HBV transmission.
Personalized Music Recommendation Simulation Based on Improved Collaborative Filtering Algorithm
Authors: Ning Hui , Li Qian
Published: December 2020

Collaborative filtering technology is currently the most successful and widely used technology in the recommendation system. It has achieved rapid development in theoretical research and practice. It selects information and similarity relationships based on the user’s history and collects others that are the same as the user’s hobbies. User’s evaluation information is to generate recommendations. The main research is the inadequate combination of context information and the mining of new points of interest in the context-aware recommendation process. On the basis of traditional recommendation technology, in view of the characteristics of the context information in music recommendation, a personalized and personalized music based on popularity prediction is proposed. Recommended algorithm is MRAPP (Media Recommendation Algorithm based on Popularity Prediction). The algorithm first analyzes the user’s contextual information under music recommendation and classifies and models the contextual information. The traditional content-based recommendation technology CB calculates the recommendation results and then, for the problem that content-based recommendation technology cannot recommend new points of interest for users, introduces the concept of popularity. First, we use the memory and forget function to reduce the score and then consider user attributes and product attributes to calculate similarity; secondly, we use logistic regression to train feature weights; finally, appropriate weights are used to combine user-based and item-based collaborative filtering recommendation results. Based on the above improvements, the improved collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm in this paper has greatly improved the prediction accuracy. Through theoretical proof and simulation experiments, the effectiveness of the MRAPP algorithm is demonstrated.
Infinite Existence Solutions of Fractional Systems with Lipschitz Nonlinearity
Authors: Guefaifia Rafik , Boulaaras Salah Mahmoud , Cherif Bahri , Radwan Taha
Published: December 2020

The paper deals with the existence of infinitely many solutions of a class of perturbed nonlinear fractional

p

-Laplacian differential systems using one control parameter combined with the variational method.
Mesoscopic Simulation Method for Uniaxial Compression Test of RCC Dam Material Based on DEM
Authors: Li Zilong , Tang Yang
Published: December 2020

The roller compacted concrete (RCC) dam has become one of the most competitive dam types due to its fast construction speed, low cost, and strong adaptability. However, the macroscale compaction test can hardly reflect the mesoscopic structure on the RCC’s rolling characteristics. According to the characteristics of RCC dam materials, a numerical discrete element method (DEM) is proposed in this paper, which is used to simulate the irregular shape and proportion of RCC aggregates. Moreover, a mesoscopic parameter inversion method based on the adaptive differential evolution (ADE) algorithm is proposed to enhance the efficiency of model contact parameters determination and overcome the inconvenience and time-consumption of conventional methods. Compared with the physical test, the simulation compression curve has good consistency with the physical test curve, and the proposed method can adequately reflect the physical and mechanical properties of RCC dam materials, which provides a basis for the subsequent research on the properties of RCC dam materials under different filling times.
tempo della malafede": L'attualità del pensiero di Nicola Chiaromonte
Authors: Cavallari Doris N
Published: December 2020

Nicola Chiaromonte era giornalista e saggista, erede delle idee di An- drea Caffi, amico di personalità come Albert Camus e Hanna Arendt e integrante del gruppo newyorkese della Politics di Dwight Macdonald. Ha scritto innumerevoli saggi sulla società del ventesimo secolo che ci possono aiutare a capire la crisi attuale dei valori e dell’arte. Questo testo si propone a discutere alcune delle idee del saggista presenti, specialmente, nel testo ‘Il tempo della malafede’, nel quale l’autore parla delle “menzogne utili” che si sovrappongono alle verità “inutili” nel nostro mondo “artefatto – interamente voluto e costruito dall’uomo”. Con questo saggio, Chiaromonte anticipa l’attuale concetto della “post-verità” (o post-truth, secondo l’Oxford Dictionary).
Aspectos da cultura italiana nas aulas de língua portuguesa : reflexões sobre o livro didático
Authors: Porsette Igor , Paixão Grace
Published: December 2020

O uso do livro didático (LD) nas aulas de língua portuguesa é uma realidade da maioria das escolas regulares brasileiras. Em muitos casos, trata-se da única ferramenta do(a) professor(a) para subsidiar suas aulas. Este artigo tem como objetivo fazer um levantamento de dados acerca da presença da cultura italiana na coleção de livros didáticos de português para o Ensino Médio: Esferas das linguagens. Para tanto, utilizamos uma abordagem qualitativa, de natureza básica e com objetivos exploratórios e descritivos, já que se trata de um aspecto ainda muito pouco pesquisado nos livros didáticos. A partir disso, a ideia do estudo é refletir sobre como uma formação em Letras, que não se limite ao estudo do Português, mas inclua uma língua e uma literatura estrangeira, pode oferecer ao professor ferramentas capazes de auxiliar também nas aulas de Português. Nosso foco aqui será a cultura italiana pelo papel fundamental que possui na formação da identidade brasileira e pela frequência com a qual referências a essa cultura são utilizadas nos livros didáticos, fato que o manual escolhido para a nossa análise evidencia.
legado de Maquiavel no teatro de Luigi Pirandello
Authors: Da Rocha Priscilla Nogueira , Reis Sonia Cristina
Published: December 2020

O presente artigo pretende analisar as obras Mandragola (1518), de Nicolau Maquiavel, e L’uomo, la bestia e la virtù (1919), de Luigi Pirandello, buscando evidenciar que, embora em séculos diferentes, os textos dos dramaturgos facultam um diálogo no que tange à utilização do recurso de máscaras sociais para encobrir seu real interesse, como, por exemplo, na figura do astuto, que usa uma poção na tentativa de ajudar a personagem principal a resolver seus problemas, e no emprego do riso como recurso estilístico. Assim como na obra de Maquiavel, é possível encontrar no texto de Pirandello uma sátira sobre a Itália de sua época, indicando uma série de hábitos de sua sociedade e, tal como Lucrezia na obra de Maquiavel, a Sra. Perella da obra de Pirandello disfarça sua traição e, mediante o riso (ou mais especificamente o riso humorístico), o autor siciliano direciona o público a perceber que, independente da época, manter as aparências é mais relevante para a manutenção do status social do que a essência e a virtude.
Detection and correction of incomplete duplicate 24-hour urine collections – theory and practical evidence
Authors: Wulkan Raymond W , van der Horst Martin
Published: December 2020

Introduction: The intraindividual variability in urinary creatinine excretion is notoriously large. The aims of this study were to investigate the variability
of duplicate consecutive 24-hour urinary creatinine excretions in patients and to develop a model for the detection and correction of discrepant
creatinine excretions.
Materials and methods: A group of 270 patients (82 men and 188 women) were included in the study. We collected the following data: urinary
24-hour volumes (volumetric/gravimetric) and urinary creatinine concentrations (Jaffé/enzymatic) on both collection days. We performed specific
calculations to detect discrepant creatinine excretions.
Results: In 60 patients (22%) discrepant collections were found. Among the remaining 78%, 22% of the patients collected very accurately (almost
identical urinary creatinine excretions). In this subgroup the volume ratios and the creatinine concentration ratios behave inversely as in a dilution
curve. A theoretical model and six collection scenarios were developed to detect, interpret and correct discrepant collections. Practical examples are
given to illustrate the use of the model in successful correction of creatinine and other analytes for under- or overcollection.
Conclusions: We conclude that missed or overcollected urine volumes are the largest source of variation in creatinine excretion. Discrepancies in
consecutive duplicate 24-hour creatinine excretions can be detected and corrected with specific calculations by means of the presented model. The
effectiveness of these corrections is demonstrated with examples from daily practice. These calculations can be easily automated.