bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stability analysis in Greenberg’s traffic model
Authors: Rosas-Jaimes Oscar A. , Quezada-Téllez Luis A. , Fernández-Anaya Guillermo
Published: October 2017

In this document, Greenberg’s classical traffic model is analyzed by varying the critical velocity [Formula: see text] that appears in it as a parameter. This model is transformed as a discrete expression and manipulated by means of isolating variables such as vehicular density [Formula: see text], flow [Formula: see text] and velocity [Formula: see text] that appear in the model. So-called fundamental diagrams are obtained by pairing two out of these three variables, and then they are used to support trajectories of iterated processes depicting distinct behaviors of traffic. As it is shown in this paper, those behaviors have monotonous and stable patterns for some range of values of the parameter [Formula: see text], but they can change to cyclic and stable trajectories when this parameter is modified. If the modifications of that parameter are taken to a higher range of values, then cycles of different periods appear, reaching chaotic trajectories. These behaviors are analyzed from a dynamical approach, proving their stability conditions, and then they are illustrated with simulations in each case.
Quantum coherence of cosmological perturbations
Authors: Giovannini Massimo
Published: October 2017

In this paper, the degrees of quantum coherence of cosmological perturbations of different spins are computed in the large-scale limit and compared with the standard results holding for a single mode of the electromagnetic field in an optical cavity. The degree of second-order coherence of curvature inhomogeneities (and, more generally, of the scalar modes of the geometry) reproduces faithfully the optical limit. For the vector and tensor fluctuations, the numerical values of the normalized degrees of second-order coherence in the zero time-delay limit are always larger than unity (which is the Poisson benchmark value) but differ from the corresponding expressions obtainable in the framework of the single-mode approximation. General lessons are drawn on the quantum coherence of large-scale cosmological fluctuations.
Square array photonic crystal fiber-based surface plasmon resonance refractive index sensor
Authors: Liu Min , Yang Xu , Zhao Bingyue , Hou Jingyun , Shum Ping
Published: October 2017

Based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR), a novel refractive index (RI) sensor comprising a square photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed to realize the detection of the annular analyte. Instead of hexagon structure, four large air-holes in a square array are introduced to enhance the sensitivity by allowing two polarization directions of the core mode to be more sensitive. The gold is used as the only plasmonic material. The design purpose is to reduce the difficulty in gold deposition and enhance the RI sensitivity. The guiding properties and the effects of the parameters on the performance of the sensor are numerically investigated by the Finite Element Method (FEM). By optimizing the structure, the sensor can exhibit remarkable sensitivity up to 7250 nm/RIU and resolution of [Formula: see text] RIU with only one plasmonic material, which is very competitive compared with the other reported externally coated and single-layer coated PCF-based SPR (PCF–SPR) sensors, to our best knowledge.
Fusion dynamics of stable and weakly bound colliding systems
Authors: Gautam Manjeet Singh
Published: October 2017

This work systematically analyzed the fusion dynamics of the projectile-target combinations involving stable and loosely bound systems within the view of the energy-dependent Woods–Saxon potential model (EDWSP model) and the coupled channel approach. The different projectiles are bombarded onto series of Sm-isotopes, which possess the dominance of the different kinds of the nuclear structure degrees of freedom and with the increase of the neutron richness, the Sm-isotopes gradually shift from spherical shape to a statically deformed shape. In the fusion of [Formula: see text] reaction, the impacts of vibrational degrees of freedom of the colliding nuclei are dominant while in the case of [Formula: see text] systems, the rotational states of the deformed target isotopes have a strong impression on the below-barrier fusion data. The heavier target isotopes ([Formula: see text] also exhibit the higher order deformation such as [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]-deformation parameter in its ground state and couplings to such channels must be incorporated in theoretical calculations in order to achieve close agreement with the sub-barrier fusion data. However, in the case of the loosely bound systems, the projectile breakup channel significantly affects the fusion excitation functions in the domain of the Coulomb barrier. To ensure the role of the projectile breakup channel, the fusion of the different loosely bound projectiles ([Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] with Sm-isotopes are investigated, wherein the above-barrier fusion data of these reactions are suppressed with reference to the coupled channel calculations. This hindrance is the result of the projectile breakup effects that occur as a consequence of the breakup of the projectile before reaching the fusion barrier due to its low binding energy. However, in the EDWSP model calculations the magnitude of the hindrance of the above-barrier fusion data of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] reactions is reduced by a factor varying from 7% to 13% with respect to a value reported in the literature. In contrast to this, the sub-barrier fusion enhancement of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] reactions is the result of the dominance of the nuclear structure degrees of freedom of the colliding systems.
Impact Response of Flying Objects Modeled by Positional Finite Element Method
Authors: de Barros Cavalcante João Paulo , Maciel Daniel Nelson , Greco Marcelo
Published: October 2017

This paper analyzes the dynamic response of space and plane trusses with geometrical and material nonlinear behaviors using different time integration algorithms, considering an alternative Finite Element Method (FEM) formulation called positional FEM. Each algorithm is distinguished from each other by its specific form of position, velocity, acceleration and equilibrium equation concerning the stability, consistency, accuracy and efficiency of solution. Particularly, the impact problems against rigid walls are analyzed considering Null-Penetration Condition. This formulation is based on the minimum potential energy theorem written according to the nodal positions, instead of the structural displacements. It has the advantage of simplicity when compared with the classical counterparts, since it does not necessarily reply on the corotational axes. Moreover, the performance of each temporal integration algorithm is evaluated by numerical simulations.
Artinian serial rings R with J3(R) = 0
Authors: Ibrahim Yasser
Published: October 2017

In this paper, we provide several new and interesting characterizations of artinian serial rings [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]. Our results are nontrivial extensions of known results on the well-established class of artinian serial rings with [Formula: see text].
Maximal depth property of finitely generated modules
Authors: Rahimi Ahad
Published: October 2017

Let [Formula: see text] be a Noetherian local ring and [Formula: see text] a finitely generated [Formula: see text]-module. We say [Formula: see text] has maximal depth if there is an associated prime [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] such that depth [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we study finitely generated modules with maximal depth. It is shown that the maximal depth property is preserved under some important module operations. Generalized Cohen–Macaulay modules with maximal depth are classified. Finally, the attached primes of [Formula: see text] are considered for [Formula: see text].
Descriptor selection based on variable stability for predicting inhibitor activity
Authors: Chen Jing , Gao Yunjing , Hu Xiaoyan , Qin Dongdong , Lu Xiaoquan
Published: October 2017

Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) has been a technique to study the relationship between chemical structures and properties, and variable selection is an important problem for finding the informative variables and building reliable models. A variable selection method based on variable stability is proposed and used for selecting the informative descriptors in the QSAR model of inhibitors. In the method, a series of models are built by leave-one-out cross validation (LOOCV), and variable stability is defined as the ratio of the absolute mean value and standard deviation of the regression coefficients in the models for a descriptor. Therefore, the descriptors with larger stabilities are more informative to the model. To further enhance the difference among the descriptors, an exponential parameter is used to modify the standard deviation. The results show that 13 descriptors are selected as informative ones from 1217 descriptors for the QSAR model of inhibitors. An effective prediction model can be constructed by them.
A new class of quaternary generalized cyclotomic sequences of order 2d and length 2pm with high linear complexity
Authors: Liu Longfei , Yang Xiaoyuan , Wei Bin , Wu Liqiang
Published: October 2017

Periodic sequences over finite fields, constructed by classical cyclotomic classes and generalized cyclotomic classes, have good pseudo-random properties. The linear complexity of a period sequence plays a fundamental role in the randomness of sequences. In this paper, we construct a new family of quaternary generalized cyclotomic sequences with order [Formula: see text] and length [Formula: see text], which generalize the sequences constructed by Ke et al. in 2012. In addition, we determine its linear complexity using cyclotomic theory. The conclusions reveal that these sequences have high linear complexity, which means they can resist linear attacks.
Optimal Trajectory Control for Capturing a Mobile Sound Source by a Mobile Robot
Authors: Kim M. S. Hyunwoo , Han Jongho , Lee Jangmyung
Published: October 2017

This paper presents a novel trajectory planning optimization process for a mobile robot to capture a mobile sound source (MSS) efficiently. The sound source can be an arbitrary object for the mobile robot to follow, such as a human being. The mobile robot is equipped with a microphone array so that it can obtain the location and direction of the MSS. During the capturing process, the location and direction of the MSS need to be known in advance so that an optimal path for capturing the sound source can be generated based upon a single or a double curvature path. Also a path predictive algorithm is used to estimate the moving path of the sound source. The conventional Kalman filter is used to realize an efficient prediction process for the mobile robot to capture the sound source quickly and accurately. The validity of the proposed algorithm has been demonstrated through its application in real experiments.
Dynamics of Bianchi V Ih universe with bulk viscous fluid in modified gravity
Authors: Mishra B. , Tarai Sankarsan , Pacif S. K. J.
Published: October 2017

In this paper, the dynamical behavior of the anisotropic universe has been investigated in [Formula: see text] theory of gravity. The functional [Formula: see text] has been rescaled in the form [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the Ricci scalar and [Formula: see text] is the trace of energy momentum tensor. Three cosmological models are constructed using the power law expansion in Bianchi type [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) universe for three different values of [Formula: see text], where the matter field is considered to be of bulk viscous fluid. It is observed that the anisotropic [Formula: see text] model in the modified theory of gravity is in agreement with a quintessence phase for the value of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. We could not obtain a viable cosmological model in accordance with the present day observations for [Formula: see text]. The bulk viscous coefficient in both the cases are found to be positive and remain constant at late time. The physical behaviors of the models along with the energy conditions are also studied.
HOW INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERISTICS PROMOTE EXPERIMENTATION IN INNOVATION
Authors: HASSI LOTTA , REKONEN SATU
Published: October 2017

Individuals are at the heart of innovation, and their innovative behavior is influenced by their ability and willingness to be innovative. Experimentation is a key activity in innovation. An individual's experimentation behavior - the behavior towards designing, executing and learning from experiments - can be seen as a subset of innovative behavior. Yet, previous research has largely overlooked the level of an individual when studying factors influencing experimentation. This paper investigates how characteristics of an individual promote their experimentation behavior. To understand experimentation on the level of an individual, 18 individuals working in five short-term innovation projects adopting experimentation were selected for this explorative study. Data was collected from multiple sources, through action research. The results of the study suggest 12 characteristics of an individual that promote the experimentation behavior of individuals who are involved in experimentation for the first time, in specific ways at the different stages of the experimentation cycle.
Temperature, Strain Rate and Pressure Sensitivity of the Polyetheretherketone’s Yield Stress
Authors: El-Qoubaa Zakaria , Othman Ramzi
Published: October 2017

The polymer yield behavior is affected by temperature, strain rate and pressure. In this work, tensile yield stress of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is characterized for temperature ranging between [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]C and [Formula: see text]C). The tensile yield stress is decreasing in terms of temperature. Two temperature transitions are observed: [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]C) and the glass transition temperature. The temperature sensitivity is well captured by the modified-Eyring equation proposed by the authors. This paper completes three previous works where the PEEK’s yield behavior was described under compression on wide ranges of strain rate and temperature and under tension on a wide range of strain rates. Thus, the pressure effect is analyzed in terms of temperature and strain rate. Using either the experimental data or the modified-Eyring equation, the effect of the hydrostatic pressure is increasing with temperature and decreasing with strain rate.
Existence and asymptotic behavior of invasion wave solutions in temporally discrete diffusion systems with delays
Authors: Xue Hui , Huang Jianhua , Yu Zhixian
Published: October 2017

This paper is concerned with the existence and asymptotic behavior of invasion wave solutions for a time-discrete delayed diffusion competitive system with non-quasi-monotone conditions. The existence of invasion wave solution is investigated by applying upper–lower solutions method and Schauder’s fixed point theorem. Further, with the help of Ikeharaś theorem, we establish the exponential decay asymptotic behavior of traveling wave solutions at the minus/plus infinity.
Optimal control of intervention strategies in malaria–tuberculosis co-infection with relapse
Authors: Mwamtobe Peter Mpasho , Simelane Simphiwe Mpumelelo , Abelman Shirley , Tchuenche Jean Michel
Published: October 2017

A model which incorporates some of the basic epidemiological features of the co-dynamics of malaria and tuberculosis (TB) is formulated and the effectiveness of current intervention strategies of these two diseases is analyzed. The malaria-only and TB-only models are considered first. Global stability disease-free steady states of the two sub-models does not hold due to the co-existence of stable disease-free with stable endemic equilibria, a phenomenon known as backward bifurcation. The dynamics of the dual malaria–TB model with intervention strategies are also analyzed. Numerical simulations of the malaria–TB model are carried out to determine whether the two diseases can co-exist. Lastly, sensitivity analysis on key parameters that drive the disease dynamics is performed in order to identify their relative importance to disease transmission.
A new public key cryptosystem over ℤn2*
Authors: Goswami Pinkimani , Singh Madan Mohan , Bhuyan Bubu
Published: October 2017

At Eurocrypt ’99, Paillier showed a cryptographic application of the group [Formula: see text], the multiplicative group modulo [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is some RSA modulus. In this paper, we have present a new public key cryptosystem over [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is a product of two safe primes, which is based on two intractable problems namely, integer factorization and partial discrete logarithm problem over [Formula: see text], the group of quadratic residues modulo [Formula: see text]. This scheme is a combination of BCP (Bresson–Catalano–Pointcheval) cryptosystem, proposed by Bresson et al. at Asiacrypt ’03 and the Rabin–Paillier scheme proposed by Galindo et al. at PKC 2003. We will show that the one-wayness of this new scheme equally depends on the Computational Diffie–Hellman assumption and factoring assumption. We will also prove that the proposed scheme is more secure than the BCP cryptosystem and the Rabin–Paillier cryptosystem.
Role of new ideas in the mobile phone market share
Authors: Gündüç Semra , Eryiğit Recep
Published: October 2017

In this work, dynamics of diffusion of innovation in the smartphone markets is modeled by using an agent-based simulation in a period of 28 quarters starting from 2009. Rapid changes in smartphone technology affected the consumer preferences and two operating systems, namely Android and iOS, out of over 10 operating systems, and dominated the smartphone markets in a period of 6 years. The model aims to study the conditions of competition and adoption among similar high technology products. Relative roles of the essential parameters, namely affordability and social effects have been the main interest points in these studies. For this end, a simple, Cobb–Douglas production relation-based model on simple square lattice is introduced. The model parameters are adjusted to match the simulation results with the actual market shares data obtained from Statista. A clear relation between the model parameter values and global sales of different operating systems is observed.
Demand Response and Smart Buildings
Authors: Qi Junjian , Kim Youngjin , Chen Chen , Lu Xiaonan , Wang Jianhui
Published: October 2017

In this article, we perform a comprehensive survey of the technical aspects related to the implementation of demand response and smart buildings. Specifically, we discuss various smart loads such as heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs); the power architecture with multibus characteristics; different control algorithms such as the hybrid centralized and decentralized control and the distributed coordination among buildings; the communication technologies and network architectures; and the potential cyber-physical security issues and possible mechanisms for enhancing the system security at both cyber and physical layers. The current status of the demand response in United States, Europe, Japan, and China is reviewed, and the benefits, costs, and challenges of implementing and operating demand response and smart buildings are also discussed.
A Multi-Dimensional Smart Community Discovery Scheme for IoT-Enriched Smart Homes
Authors: Kim Taehun , Lim Junsung , Son Heesuk , Shin Byoungheon , Lee Dongman , Hyun Soon J.
Published: October 2017

The proliferation of the Internet into every household has provided more opportunities for residents to become closer to each other than before. However, solid structural barrier is raised and social relationships within such neighborhoods are weak compared to those in traditional towns. Accordingly, activating communities and ultimately enhancing a sense of community through constructive participation and communal sharing of labor among residents has currently emerged as a challenging issue in a contemporary housing complex. In an effort to activate those communities, a notion of smart community is presented in which multiple smart homes are equipped with Internet of Things and interconnected with each other. Beyond the unadorned smart community composed by physical proximity, it is essential to discover a human-centric community that achieves communal benefits and enables residents to maximize individual economic gain by leveraging collective intelligence. In this article, we present a multi-dimensional smart community discovery scheme that enables householders to find human-centric community considering multi-dimensional factors in terms of physical, social, and economical aspects. We conduct experiments with 30 real households by applying a community-based energy saving scenario. Experiment results show that the proposed scheme performs better when compared to the physical proximity-based one in energy consumption and user satisfaction.
Heads-up limit hold'em poker is solved
Authors: Bowling Michael , Burch Neil , Johanson Michael , Tammelin Oskari
Published: October 2017

Poker is a family of games that exhibit imperfect information, where players do not have full knowledge of past events. While many perfect information games have been solved (e.g., Connect-Four and checkers), no nontrivial imperfect information game played competitively by humans has previously been solved. In this paper, we announce that the smallest variant of poker in-play, heads-up limit Texas hold'em, is now essentially weakly solved. Furthermore, this computation formally proves the common wisdom that the dealer in the game holds a significant advantage. This result was enabled by a new algorithm, CFR
+
, which is capable of solving extensive-form games three orders of magnitude larger than previously possible. This paper is an extended version of the original 2015
Science
article, with additional results showing Cepheus' in-game performance against computer and human opponents.
The ethics of doing research with vulnerable populations
Authors: Antle Alissa N.
Published: October 2017

In this forum we celebrate research that helps to successfully bring the benefits of computing technologies to children, older adults, people with disabilities, and other populations that are often ignored in the design of mass-marketed products. ---
Juan Pablo Hourcade, Editor
Quantify Resilience Enhancement of UTS through Exploiting Connected Community and Internet of Everything Emerging Technologies
Authors: Bellini Emanuele , Ceravolo Paolo , Nesi Paolo
Published: October 2017

This work aims at investigating and quantifying the Urban Transport System (UTS) resilience enhancement enabled by the adoption of emerging technology such as Internet of Everything (IoE) and the new trend of the Connected Community (CC). A conceptual extension of Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) and its formalization have been proposed and used to model UTS complexity. The scope is to identify the system functions and their interdependencies with a particular focus on those that have a relation and impact on people and communities. Network analysis techniques have been applied to the FRAM model to identify and estimate the most critical community-related functions. The notion of
Variability Rate
(VR) has been defined as the amount of output variability generated by an upstream function that can be tolerated/absorbed by a downstream function, without significantly increasing of its subsequent output variability. A fuzzy-based quantification of the VR based on expert judgment has been developed when quantitative data are not available. Our approach has been applied to a critical scenario as flash flooding considering two cases: when UTS has CC and IoE implemented or not. However, the method can be applied in different scenarios and critical infrastructures. The results show a remarkable VR enhancement if CC and IoE are deployed.
Opportunities for women, minorities in information retrieval
Authors: Kobayashi Mei
Published: October 2017

The
Communications
Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of
Communications
, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.

twitter

Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM

http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm

Mei Kobayashi describes activities to support diversity and inclusion at the annual meeting of the ACM Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval in Tokyo this summer.
Censoring sensors
Authors: Wright Alex
Published: October 2017

Amid growing outcry over controversial online videos, tech firms grapple with how best to police online advertising.
Pareto Optimal Security Resource Allocation for Internet of Things
Authors: Rullo Antonino , Midi Daniele , Serra Edoardo , Bertino Elisa
Published: October 2017

In many Internet of Thing (IoT) application domains security is a critical requirement, because malicious parties can undermine the effectiveness of IoT-based systems by compromising single components and/or communication channels. Thus, a security infrastructure is needed to ensure the proper functioning of such systems even under attack. However, it is also critical that security be at a reasonable resource and energy cost. In this article, we focus on the problem of efficiently and effectively securing IoT networks by carefully allocating security resources in the network area. In particular, given a set of security resources
R
and a set of attacks to be faced
A
, our method chooses the subset of
R
that best addresses the attacks in
A
, and the set of locations where to place them, that ensure the security coverage of all IoT devices at minimum cost and energy consumption. We model our problem according to game theory and provide a Pareto-optimal solution in which the cost of the security infrastructure, its energy consumption, and the probability of a successful attack are minimized. Our experimental evaluation shows that our technique improves the system robustness in terms of packet delivery rate for different network topologies. Furthermore, we also provide a method for handling the computation of the resource allocation plan for large-scale networks scenarios, where the optimization problem may require an unreasonable amount of time to be solved. We show how our proposed method drastically reduces the computing time, while providing a reasonable approximation of the optimal solution.
Social agents
Authors: Dignum Virginia
Published: October 2017

Seeking better integration of two research communities.
Measuring YouTube Content Delivery over IPv6
Authors: Bajpai Vaibhav , Ahsan Saba , Schönwälder Jürgen , Ott Jörg
Published: October 2017

We measure YouTube content delivery over IPv6 using ∼100 SamKnows probes connected to dual-stacked networks representing 66 different origin ASes. Using a 34-months long (Aug 2014-Jun 2017) dataset, we show that success rates of streaming a stall-free version of a video over IPv6 have improved over time. We show that a Happy Eyeballs (HE) race during initial TCP connection establishment leads to a strong (more than 97%) preference over IPv6. However, even though clients prefer streaming videos over IPv6, we observe worse performance over IPv6 than over IPv4. We witness consistently higher TCP connection establishment times and startup delays (∼100 ms or more) over IPv6. We also observe consistently lower achieved throughput both for audio and video over IPv6. We observe less than 1% stall rates over both address families. Due to lower stall rates, bitrates that can be reliably streamed over both address families are comparable. However, in situations, where a stall does occur, 80% of the samples experience higher stall durations that are at least 1s longer over IPv6 and have not reduced over time. The worse performance over IPv6 is due to the disparity in the availability of Google Global Caches (GGC) over IPv6. The measurements performed in this work using the youtube test and the entire dataset is made available to the measurement community.
How to Measure the Killer Microsecond
Authors: Primorac Mia , Bugnion Edouard , Argyraki Katerina
Published: October 2017

Datacenter-networking research requires tools to both generate traffic and accurately measure latency and throughput. While hardware-based tools have long existed commercially, they are primarily used to validate ASICs and lack flexibility, e.g. to study new protocols. They are also too expensive for academics. The recent development of kernel-bypass networking and advanced NIC features such as hardware timestamping have created new opportunities for accurate latency measurements. This paper compares these two approaches, and in particular whether commodity servers and NICs, when properly configured, can measure the latency distributions as precisely as specialized hardware.

Our work shows that well-designed commodity solutions can capture subtle differences in the tail latency of stateless UDP traffic. We use hardware devices as the ground truth, both to measure latency and to forward traffic. We compare the ground truth with observations that combine five latency-measuring clients and five different port forwarding solutions and configurations. State-of-the-art software such as MoonGen that uses NIC hardware timestamping provides sufficient visibility into tail latencies to study the effect of subtle operating system configuration changes. We also observe that the kernel-bypass-based TRex software, that only relies on the CPU to timestamp traffic, can also provide solid results when NIC timestamps are not available for a particular protocol or device.
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt: impact on systemic hemodynamics and renal and cardiac function in patients with cirrhosis
Authors: Busk Troels M. , Bendtsen Flemming , Poulsen Jørgen H. , Clemmesen Jens O. , Larsen Fin S. , Goetze Jens P. , Iversen Jens S. , Jensen Magnus T. , Møgelvang Rasmus , Pedersen Erling B. , Bech Jesper N. , Møller Søren
Published: October 2017

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) alleviates portal hypertension and possibly increases central blood volume (CBV). Moreover, renal function often improves; however, its effects on cardiac function are unclear. The aims of our study were to examine the effects of TIPS on hemodynamics and renal and cardiac function in patients with cirrhosis. In 25 cirrhotic patients, we analyzed systemic, cardiac, and splanchnic hemodynamics by catheterization of the liver veins and right heart chambers before and 1 wk after TIPS. Additionally, we measured renal and cardiac markers and performed advanced echocardiography before, 1 wk after, and 4 mo after TIPS. CBV increased significantly after TIPS (+4.6%, P < 0.05). Cardiac output (CO) increased (+15.3%, P < 0.005) due to an increase in stroke volume (SV) (+11.1%, P < 0.005), whereas heart rate (HR) was initially unchanged. Cardiopulmonary pressures increased after TIPS, whereas copeptin, a marker of vasopressin, decreased (−18%, P < 0.005) and proatrial natriuretic peptide increased (+52%, P < 0.0005) 1 wk after TIPS and returned to baseline 4 mo after TIPS. Plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, renin, aldosterone, and serum creatinine decreased after TIPS (−36%, P < 0.005; −65%, P < 0.05; −90%, P < 0.005; and −13%, P < 0.005, respectively). Echocardiography revealed subtle changes in cardiac function after TIPS, although these were within the normal range. TIPS increases CBV by increasing CO and SV, whereas HR is initially unaltered. These results indicate an inability to increase the heart rate in response to a hemodynamic challenge that only partially increases CBV after TIPS. These changes, however, are sufficient for improving renal function.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY For the first time, we have combined advanced techniques to study the integrated effects of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) in cirrhosis. We showed that TIPS increases central blood volume (CBV) through improved cardiac inotropy. Advanced echocardiography demonstrated that myocardial function was unaffected by the dramatic increase in preload after TIPS. Finally, renal function improved due to the increase in CBV. Recognition of these physiological changes significantly contributes to our clinical understanding of TIPS.
Diurnal variations in intestinal barrier integrity and liver pathology in mice: implications for alcohol binge
Authors: Voigt Robin M. , Forsyth Christopher B. , Shaikh Maliha , Zhang Lijuan , Raeisi Shohreh , Aloman Costica , Preite Nailliw Z. , Donohue Terrence M. , Fogg Louis , Keshavarzian Ali
Published: October 2017

Recent studies suggest that circadian rhythms regulate intestinal barrier integrity, but it is not clear whether there are daily variations in barrier integrity. This study investigated daily variations in intestinal barrier integrity, including whether there are differences in alcohol-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction after an alcohol binge at different times of day and whether this is associated with concurrent liver injury. C57BL6/J male mice were fed a standard chow diet, an alcohol-containing liquid diet, or an alcohol control diet for 4 wk. During week 5 (i.e., on days 43–45), mice received three once-daily gavages of alcohol (6 g/kg) or the control (phosphate-buffered saline) at the same time each day. Immediately after the binge on the second day, intestinal permeability was assessed. Four hours after the third and final binge, mice were euthanized and tissue samples collected. The results demonstrated diet-specific and outcome-specific effects of time, alcohol, and/or time by alcohol interaction. Specifically, the alcohol binge robustly influenced markers of intestinal barrier integrity, and liver markers were robustly influenced by time of day. Only intestinal permeability (i.e., sucralose) demonstrated a significant effect of time and also showed a binge by time interaction, suggesting that the time of the alcohol binge influences colonic permeability.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study investigated daily variations in intestinal barrier integrity, including whether there are differences in alcohol-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction after an alcohol binge at different times of day and whether this is associated with concurrent liver injury. We conclude that 1) alcohol binge significantly impacted markers of intestinal permeability, 2) time of day significantly affected liver outcomes, and 3) the time of day influenced colonic permeability.
Autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine protects against endothelial cell barrier dysfunction in acute lung injury
Authors: Slavin Spencer A. , Leonard Antony , Grose Valerie , Fazal Fabeha , Rahman Arshad
Published: October 2017

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved cellular process that facilitates the continuous recycling of intracellular components (organelles and proteins) and provides an alternative source of energy when nutrients are scarce. Recent studies have implicated autophagy in many disorders, including pulmonary diseases. However, the role of autophagy in endothelial cell (EC) barrier dysfunction and its relevance in the context of acute lung injury (ALI) remain uncertain. Here, we provide evidence that autophagy is a critical component of EC barrier disruption in ALI. Using an aerosolized bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) inhalation mouse model of ALI, we found that administration of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA), either prophylactically or therapeutically, markedly reduced lung vascular leakage and tissue edema. 3-MA was also effective in reducing the levels of proinflammatory mediators and lung neutrophil sequestration induced by LPS. To test the possibility that autophagy in EC could contribute to lung vascular injury, we addressed its role in the mechanism of EC barrier disruption. Knockdown of ATG5, an essential regulator of autophagy, attenuated thrombin-induced EC barrier disruption, confirming the involvement of autophagy in the response. Similarly, exposure of cells to 3-MA, either before or after thrombin, protected against EC barrier dysfunction by inhibiting the cleavage and loss of vascular endothelial cadherin at adherens junctions, as well as formation of actin stress fibers. 3-MA also reversed LPS-induced EC barrier disruption. Together, these data imply a role of autophagy in lung vascular injury and reveal the protective and therapeutic utility of 3-MA against ALI.
Effects of contraction mode and stimulation frequency on electrical stimulation-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy
Authors: Ashida Yuki , Himori Koichi , Tatebayashi Daisuke , Yamada Ryotaro , Ogasawara Riki , Yamada Takashi
Published: October 2017

We compared the skeletal muscle hypertrophy resulting from isometric (Iso) or eccentric (Ecc) electrical stimulation (ES) training with different stimulation frequencies. Male Wistar rats were assigned to the Iso and Ecc groups. These were divided into three further subgroups that were stimulated at 10 Hz (Iso-10 and Ecc-10), 30 Hz (Iso-30 and Ecc-30), or 100 Hz (Iso-100 and Ecc-100). In experiment 1, the left plantarflexor muscles were stimulated every other day for 3 wk. In experiment 2, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling was investigated 6 h after one bout of ES. The contralateral right muscle served as a control (non-ES). Ecc contractions comprised forced dorsiflexion combined with ES. The peak torque and torque-time integral during ES were higher in the Ecc group than that in the Iso group in all stimulation frequencies examined. The gastrocnemius muscle weight normalized to body weight in ES side was increased compared with the non-ES side by 6, 7, and 17% in the Ecc-30, Iso-100, and Ecc-100 groups, respectively, with a greater gain in Ecc-100 than the Ecc-30 and Iso-100 groups. The p70S6K (Thr389) phosphorylation level was higher in the Ecc-30 and -100 than in the Iso-30 and -100 groups, respectively. The peak torque and torque-time integral were highly correlated with the magnitude of increase in muscle mass and the phosphorylation of p70S6K. These data suggest that ES-induced muscle hypertrophy and mTORC1 activity are determined by loading intensity and volume during muscle contraction independent of the contraction mode.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Eccentric contraction and high-frequency stimulation (HFS) are regarded as an effective way to increase muscle mass by electrical stimulation (ES) training. However, little is known about whether muscle hypertrophy is affected by contraction mode and stimulation frequency in ES training. Here, we provide the evidence that muscle hypertrophy and mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 activity are determined by mechanical loading during contraction but not on the contraction mode itself, with a greater gain at HFS.
Investigation and Assessment of the CFD for Horizontal Flow in the VHTR Core
Authors: Shengyuan Yan , Habiyaremye Jean Luc , Yingying Wei , Chi Tran Cong
Published: October 2017

A nuclear power station using gas as a cooling medium has attracted so much attention because it offers high efficiency and greater safety. For a nuclear station that operates at a very high temperature, a gas-cooled reactor is fueled by uranium, moderated by graphite, and customarily cooled by helium. Nevertheless, throughout the operation, the bypass flow might be a result of a change in graphite shape that is caused by neutron damage. Core bypass and cross flows are significant elements to consider since the cross gap set hurdles to the flow field that are capable of diverting sufficient amount of coolant from reactor core location and initiating a possible fuel overheating. However, there is a great need to sufficiently validate this method by carrying out a thorough evaluation based on working environment analysis. Comparing the computed results with the existing data from Groehn’s NHDA PMR-200 study was the only way to validate data. A model simulation was performed on a two-prismatic fuel block with a cross gap to examine the gaping size effect. Finally, the prediction methods for horizontal flow phenomena using a CFD technique and the field investigation results from the VHTR core were verified, and the identification of the horizontal flow behavior played a vital role in investigating the coolant velocity and pressure distribution in the horizontal gap.
Electromagnetic Scattering of Electrically Large Ship above Sea Surface with SBR-SDFM Method
Authors: Guo Lixin , Feng Tiantian
Published: October 2017

Hybrid scheme combining shooting and bouncing ray with semi-deterministic facet model is proposed to analyze composite scattering from ship-ocean scene in this study. This model can deal with complex electromagnetic interaction between ship and sea surface. Thus, scattering properties of composite ship-ocean scenes with influence of various parameters (such as incident angle and wind speed) can be studied and analyzed efficiently. Studying such properties is of significance for target detection and high-resolution radar imaging in sea environments. Accuracy and performance of this method are validated and evaluated by comparing with multilevel fast multipole method of FEKO for electrically small objects. All simulation results indicate that the proposed method is suitable for providing preliminary radar cross section prediction of electrically large composite model.
The Instrument for Measuring the Implementation Situation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Guideline: Evaluation and Application
Authors: Li Hui , Wang Yangyang , Chen Yaolong , Wang Xiaoyun , Lu Chuanjian , Deng Jingwen
Published: October 2017

Clinical practice guidelines play an important role in reducing the variations in clinical practices and improving the quality of care. To assess the real effect, measuring its implementation situation is needed. The implementation situation can be reflected by testing the consistency between the actual clinical practice and the guideline. We constructed an instrument to measure the implementation situation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) guideline through consistency testing. The main objectives of our study were to validate the instrument and evaluate the implementation situation of menopause syndrome guideline of TCM, using the data from the consistency test of comparing the medical records with the guideline. A total of 621 cases were included for data analysis. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient is 0.73. The model fit of 7 items in four dimensions was good (SRMR = 0.04; GFI = 0.97; NFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.96; CFI = 0.98; AGFI = 0.90). This instrument is of good reliability and validity. It can help the guideline developers to measure the implementation situation, find the reasons affecting the implementation, and revise the guideline. The method of using consistency test to measure the implementation situation may provide a sample for evaluating the guideline implementation in other fields.
A Competition between Care Teams Improved Recording of Diagnoses in Primary Dental Care: A Longitudinal Follow-Up Study
Authors: Kallio Jouko , Kauppila Timo , Suominen Lasse , Heikkinen Anna Maria
Published: October 2017

Introduction. A playful competition was launched in a primary dental health care system to improve the recording of diagnoses into an electronic patient chart system and to study what diagnoses were used in primary dental care.Methods. This was a longitudinal follow-up study with public sector primary dental care practices in a Finnish city. A one-year-lasting playful competition between the dental care teams was launched and the monthly percentage of dentists’ visits with recorded diagnosis before, during, and after the intervention was recorded. The assessed diagnoses were recorded with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).Results. Before the competition, the level of diagnosis recordings was practically zero. At the end of this intervention, about 25% of the visits had a recorded diagnosis. Two years after the competition, this percentage was 35% without any additional measures. The most frequent diagnoses were dental caries (K02, 38.6%), other diseases of hard tissues of teeth (K03, 14.8%), and diseases of pulp and periapical tissues (K04, 11.4%).Conclusions. Commitment to the idea that recording of diagnoses was beneficial improved the recording of dental diagnoses. However, the diagnoses obtained did not accurately reflect the reputed prevalence of oral diseases in the Finnish population.
Aptamers as the Agent in Decontamination Assays (Apta-Decontamination Assays): From the Environment to the Potential Application In Vivo
Authors: Bilibana Mawethu Pascoe , Citartan Marimuthu , Yeoh Tzi Shien , Rozhdestvensky Timofey S. , Tang Thean-Hock
Published: October 2017

The binding specificity and affinity of aptamers have long been harnessed as the key elements in the development of aptamer-based assays, particularly aptasensing application. One promising avenue that is currently explored based on the specificity and affinity of aptamers is the application of aptamers in the decontamination assays. Aptamers have been successfully harnessed as the decontamination agents to remove contaminants from the environment and to decontaminate infectious elements. The reversible denaturation property inherent in aptamers enables the repeated usage of aptamers, which can immensely save the cost of decontamination. Analogous to the point-of-care diagnostics, there is no doubt that aptamers can also be deployed in the point-of-care aptamer-based decontamination assay, whereby decontamination can be performed anywhere and anytime for instantaneous decision-making. It is also prophesied that aptamers can also serve more than as a decontaminant, probably as a tool to capture and kill hazardous elements, particularly pathogenic agents.
Metabolic Differences between Dogs of Different Body Sizes
Authors: Middleton Rondo P. , Lacroix Sebastien , Scott-Boyer Marie-Pier , Dordevic Nikola , Kennedy Adam D. , Slusky Amanda R. , Carayol Jerome , Petzinger-Germain Christina , Beloshapka Alison , Kaput Jim
Published: October 2017

Introduction.The domesticated dog,Canis lupus familiaris, has been selectively bred to produce extreme diversity in phenotype and genotype. Dogs have an immense diversity in weight and height. Specific differences in metabolism have not been characterized in small dogs as compared to larger dogs.Objectives.This study aims to identify metabolic, clinical, and microbiota differences between small and larger dogs.Methods.Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry, clinical chemistry analysis, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and 16S pyrosequencing were used to characterize blood metabolic, clinical, and fecal microbiome systems, respectively. Eighty-three canines from seven different breeds, fed the same kibble diet for 5 weeks, were used in the study.Results.449 metabolites, 16 clinical parameters, and 6 bacteria (at the genus level) were significantly different between small and larger dogs. Hierarchical clustering of the metabolites yielded 8 modules associated with small dog size.Conclusion.Small dogs had a lower antioxidant status and differences in circulating amino acids. Some of the amino acid differences could be attributed to differences in microflora. Additionally, analysis of small dog metabolites and clinical parameters reflected a network which strongly associates with kidney function.