bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DIVERT-Collaboration Action Research and Evaluation (CARE) Trial Protocol: a multiprovincial pragmatic cluster randomised trial of cardiorespiratory management in home care
Authors: Costa Andrew P , Schumacher Connie , Jones Aaron , Dash Darly , Campbell Graham , Junek Mats , Agarwal Gina , Bell Chaim M , Boscart Veronique , Bronskill Susan E , Feeny David , Hébert Paul C , Heckman George A , Hirdes John P , Lee Linda , McKelvie Robert S , Mitchell Lori , Sinha Samir K , Davis Joy , Priddle Tammy , Rose Joanne , Gillan Roslyn , Mills Deborah , Haughton Dilys
Published: December 2019

Introduction

Home care clients are increasingly medically complex, have limited access to effective chronic disease management and have very high emergency department (ED) visitation rates. There is a need for more appropriate and targeted supportive chronic disease management for home care clients. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness and preliminary cost effectiveness of a targeted, person-centred cardiorespiratory management model.

Methods and analysis

The Detection of Indicators and Vulnerabilities of Emergency Room Trips (DIVERT) — Collaboration Action Research and Evaluation (CARE) trial is a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, multicentre superiority trial of a flexible multicomponent cardiorespiratory management model based on the best practice guidelines. The trial will be conducted in partnership with three regional, public-sector, home care providers across Canada. The primary outcome of the trial is the difference in time to first unplanned ED visit (hazard rate) within 6 months. Additional secondary outcomes are to identify changes in patient activation, changes in cardiorespiratory symptom frequencies and cost effectiveness over 6 months. We will also investigate the difference in the number of unplanned ED visits, number of inpatient hospitalisations and changes in health-related quality of life. Multilevel proportional hazard and generalised linear models will be used to test the primary and secondary hypotheses. Sample size simulations indicate that enrolling 1100 home care clients across 36 clusters (home care caseloads) will yield a power of 81% given an HR of 0.75.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval was obtained from the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board as well as each participating site’s ethics board. Results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and for presentation at relevant conferences. Home care service partners will also be informed of the study’s results. The results will be used to inform future support strategies for older adults receiving home care services.

Trial registration number

NCT03012256.
Diagnostic accuracy of presepsin in predicting bacteraemia in elderly patients admitted to the emergency department: prospective study in Japan
Authors: Imai Yoshiro , Taniguchi Kohei , Iida Ryo , Nitta Masahiko , Uchiyma Kazuhisa , Takasu Akira
Published: December 2019

Objective

Early prediction of bacteraemia in the elederly is needed in the emergency department (ED).

Design, setting and participants

A prospective study in Japan; single-centre trial in patients who satisfied the sepsis criteria was conducted between September 2014 and March 2016. Forty-six elderly patients aged ≥70 years were included. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Osaka Medical College. Ethics Committee approval number was 1585.

Interventions

Blood sampling to evaluate C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT) and presepsin plasma levels; two sets of blood sampling for bacterial cultures; and evaluations of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation scores were performed on arrival at the ED. The results were compared between patients with bacteraemia and those without bacteraemia.

Main outcome measure

The accuracy of detecting bacteraemia.

Results

The presepsin value was significantly higher in the bacteraemia group than in the non-bacteraemia group (866.6±184.6 vs 639.9±137.1 pg/mL, p=0.03). The PCT and CRP did not significantly differ between the groups. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values were not significantly different among presepsin (0.69), PCT (0.61) and CRP (0.53). Multivariate analysis showed that presepsin was independently associated with bacteraemia (OR 8.84; 95% CI 0.95 to 81.79; p=0.02).

Conclusion

Presepsin could be a good biomarker to predict bacteraemia in elderly patients with sepsis criteria admitted to the ED.
Drowning among fishing communities on the Tanzanian shore of lake Victoria: a mixed-methods study to examine incidence, risk factors and socioeconomic impact
Authors: Whitworth Hilary S , Pando Joyce , Hansen Christian , Howard Natasha , Moshi Amen , Rocky Otto , Mahanga Happiness , Jabbar Mtoro , Ayieko Philip , Kapiga Saidi , Grosskurth Heiner , Watson-Jones Deborah
Published: December 2019

Objectives

To estimate the incidence of unintentional fatal drowning and describe associated risk factors among Lake Victoria fishing communities, and to assess perceived social, financial and other impacts among families and colleagues of persons who drowned.

Design

A retrospective, observational mixed-methods study, conducted between September 2017 and February 2018.

Setting

Eight Tanzanian fishing communities on Lake Victoria.

Participants

Persons who drowned in the preceding 24 months were identified using an extensive community networking approach. Adult family members, colleagues or community members familiar with the habits and behaviours of people who drowned and/or circumstances of drowning incidents participated in surveys (n=44) and in-depth interviews (n=22).

Main outcome measures

Pooled drowning incidence, with sensitivity analyses allowing for uncertainties in population estimates. Risk factors were identified through the evaluation of behavioural characteristics of persons who drowned and circumstances of drowning incidents. Perceived socioeconomic impacts were assessed through semi-structured interviews with their family members and colleagues.

Results

The estimated drowning incidence was 217/100 000 person-years (95% CI 118 to 425/100 000). Of 86 victims identified, 70 (81%) were fishermen (79% aged 18–40 years; all men) and 9 were children (all ≤10 years). All deaths occurred in the lake. Most adults (65/77; 84%) were fishing from a boat when they drowned; 57/77 (74%) died in the evening (from ~5 pm) or at night. Six children (67%) drowned while swimming/playing at the lakeshore unsupervised. Few victims (2/86; 2%) were wearing a life jacket at the time of death. Reported socioeconomic impacts of these deaths ranged from income loss to family break-up.

Conclusions

Drowning is a significant risk in Tanzanian lakeside fishing communities, with estimated mortality exceeding national incidence rates of fatal malaria, tuberculosis or HIV, but preventative strategies appear uncommon. Socioeconomic impact at the family level may be substantial. Intervention strategies are required to reduce the drowning burden among this neglected at-risk population.
Variation in relationships between maternal age at first birth and pregnancy outcomes by maternal race: a population-based cohort study in the United States
Authors: Schummers Laura , Hacker Michele R , Williams Paige L , Hutcheon Jennifer A , Vanderweele Tyler J , McElrath Thomas F , Hernandez-Diaz Sonia
Published: December 2019

Objective

To estimate absolute risks of obstetric outcomes in the USA according to maternal age at first birth from age 15 to 45 separately by maternal race.

Design and setting

Population-based cohort study.

Setting

Vital statistics Birth Cohort-Linked Birth- Infant Death Data Files and Fetal Death Data Files in the USA.

Participants

16 514 849 births to nulliparous women from 2004 to 2013.

Outcome measures

We estimated absolute risks of obstetric outcomes (multiple gestations, caesarean delivery, early and late preterm birth, small for gestational age birth, stillbirth, neonatal mortality, postneonatal infant mortality) at each year of maternal age from 15 to 45 years using logistic regression in the overall population and stratified by maternal race. We modelled maternal age flexibly to allow curvilinear shapes and plotted risk curves for each outcome.

Results

In the overall population, multiple gestations, caesarean delivery and stillbirth risks were lowest at young maternal ages with linear or quadratic increases with age. Curves for preterm birth, small for gestational age, neonatal mortality and postneonatal mortality were u or j shaped, with nadirs between 20 and 29 years, and elevated risks at both younger and older maternal ages. In race-stratified analyses, the shapes of the curves were generally similar across races. Risks increased for all women for all outcomes after age 30. However, increased risks at young maternal ages were most pronounced for white and Asian/Pacific Islander women, for whom young childbearing was least common. Conversely, risks at older ages were more pronounced for Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women, for whom delayed childbearing was least common.

Conclusion

Our findings confirm risks associated with first births to women younger than 20 and older than 30 years, provide easily interpretable risk curves and illuminate variability in these relationships across categories of maternal race in the USA.
A structured medication review tool to promote psychotropic medication optimisation for adults with intellectual disability: feasibility study
Authors: Sheehan Rory , Strydom André , Marston Louise , Morant Nicola , Fiori Federico , Santosh Paramala , Hassiotis Angela
Published: December 2019

Objectives

To investigate the feasibility of delivering structured psychotropic medication review in community services for adults with intellectual disability (ID).

Design

Single-arm feasibility study conducted over a 6-month period.

Setting

Specialist community ID teams in England.

Participants

Psychiatrists working with adults with ID and adults with ID who had been prescribed psychotropic medication.

Intervention

A structured web-based psychotropic medication review tool (the HealthTracker-based structured medication review) comprising measures of therapeutic benefit and adverse side-effects was made available for use by psychiatrists in routine clinic appointments. A summary measure of medication effectiveness was graphically presented to aid discussion and decision-making.

Main outcome measures

Feasibility metrics including number of people with ID referred, eligible and recruited, and uptake of the medication review tool in naturalistic clinical settings. Psychiatrist and patient feedback was collected to assess acceptability of the intervention and suggestions for development.

Results

Fifteen psychiatrists from five clinical teams took part. In total 94 potentially eligible people with ID were referred, of whom 79 (84%) were recruited and together underwent 97 medication reviews over the 6-month study period. Feedback from participants with ID was favourable. Psychiatrists indicated that the HealthTracker-based structured medication review was broadly acceptable and suggested adaptations to improve integration with existing information technology systems and to enhance patient involvement in the review.

Conclusions

Structured psychotropic medication review can be used in community services for adults with ID as part of a programme of medication optimisation. It would be feasible to test clinical and patient outcomes of the HealthTracker-based medication review in a randomised clinical trial.
Number needed to treat with ursodeoxycholic acid therapy to prevent liver transplantation or death in primary biliary cholangitis
Authors: Harms Maren H , de Veer Rozanne C , Lammers Willem J , Corpechot Christophe , Thorburn Douglas , Janssen Harry L A , Lindor Keith D , Trivedi Palak J , Hirschfield Gideon M , Pares Albert , Floreani Annarosa , Mayo Marlyn J , Invernizzi Pietro , Battezzati Pier Maria , Nevens Frederik , Ponsioen Cyriel Y , Mason Andrew L , Kowdley Kris V , Hansen Bettina E , Buuren Henk R van , van der Meer Adriaan J
Published: December 2019

Objective

The clinical benefit of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) has never been reported in absolute measures. The aim of this study was to assess the number needed to treat (NNT) with UDCA to prevent liver transplantation (LT) or death among patients with PBC.

Methods

The NNT was calculated based on the untreated LT-free survival and HR of UDCA with respect to LT or death as derived from inverse probability of treatment weighting-adjusted Cox proportional hazard analyses within the Global PBC Study Group database.

Results

We included 3902 patients with a median follow-up of 7.8 (4.1–12.1) years. The overall HR of UDCA was 0.46 (95% CI 0.40 to 0.52) and the 5-year LT-free survival without UDCA was 81% (95% CI 79 to 82). The NNT to prevent one LT or death within 5 years (NNT5y) was 11 (95% CI 9 to 13). Although the HR of UDCA was similar for patients with and without cirrhosis (0.33 vs 0.31), the NNT5ywas 4 (95% CI 3 to 5) and 20 (95% CI 14 to 34), respectively. Among patients with low alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (≤2× the upper limit of normal (ULN)), intermediate ALP (2–4× ULN) and high ALP (>4× ULN), the NNT5yto prevent one LT or death was 26 (95% CI 15 to 70), 11 (95% CI 8 to 17) and 5 (95% CI 4 to 8), respectively.

Conclusion

The absolute clinical efficacy of UDCA with respect to LT or death varied with baseline prognostic characteristics, but was high throughout. These findings strongly emphasise the incentive to promptly initiate UDCA treatment in all patients with PBC and may improve patient compliance.
Mechanism of action of HTX-011: a novel, extended-release, dual-acting local anesthetic formulation for postoperative pain
Authors: Ottoboni Thomas , Quart Barry , Pawasauskas Jayne , Dasta Joseph F , Pollak Richard A , Viscusi Eugene R
Published: December 2019

Background and objectives

Obtaining consistent efficacy beyond 12–24 hours with local anesthetics, including extended-release formulations, has been a challenging goal. Inflammation resulting from surgery lowers the pH of affected tissues, reducing neuronal penetration of local anesthetics. HTX-011, an investigational, nonopioid, extended-release dual-acting local anesthetic combining bupivacaine and low-dose meloxicam, was developed to reduce postsurgical pain through 72 hours using novel extended-release polymer technology. Preclinical studies and a phase II clinical trial were conducted to confirm the mechanism of action of HTX-011.

Methods

In a validated postoperative pain pig model and a phase II bunionectomy trial, the analgesic effects of HTX-011, oral meloxicam (preclinical only), liposomal bupivacaine (preclinical only) and saline placebo were evaluated. The optimal meloxicam:bupivacaine ratio for HTX-011 and the effect of HTX-011 on incisional tissue pH were also evaluated preclinically.

Results

Preclinical data demonstrate the ability of HTX-011 to address local tissue inflammation as demonstrated by a less acidic tissue pH, which was associated with potentiated and prolonged analgesic activity. In the phase II bunionectomy study, HTX-011 achieved superior and sustained pain relief through 72 hours after surgery compared with each component in the polymer.

Conclusions

Preclinical animal and clinical results confirm that the low-dose meloxicam in HTX-011 normalizes the local pH in the incision, resulting in superior and synergistic analgesic activity compared with extended-release bupivacaine. HTX-011 represents an extended-release local anesthetic with a dual-acting mechanism of action that may provide an important advancement in the treatment of postoperative pain.

Trial registration number

NCT02762929
.
Arthritis, panuveitis and hyperaesthesia associated with Borrelia afzelii infection in a warmblood gelding
Authors: Sommerauer Sophia , Blohm Klaas‐Ole , Spergser Joachim , Buchner Heinz Hans Florian
Published: December 2019

A 13‐year‐old warmblood gelding presented with a history of lameness, muscle atrophy and weight loss of 3 months. The horse demonstrated extensive hyperaesthesia over the left dorsal trunk, marked effusion of several joints, laryngitis and a dampened mental attitude. Synovial fluid analysis revealed arthritis of the left tarsocrural joint, being PCR‐positive for Borreliaafzelii DNA. Subsequently, mild anterior uveitis of the right and severe panuveitis of the left eye with B. afzelii PCR‐positive aqueous and vitreous humour, respectively, were diagnosed. Treatment included arthroscopy of the left tarsocrural joint, oral doxycycline administration for 6 weeks, ophthalmic and systemic anti‐inflammatory therapy and left intravitreal preservative‐free gentamicin (4 mg) injection. After initial improvement, the gelding’s clinical signs deteriorated resulting in peracute recumbency and sudden death 12 months later. Lyme borreliosis should be considered as differential diagnosis in complex cases of equine lameness, particularly when accompanied by hyperaesthesia and bilateral uveitis.
Amino acid composition, protein content and accurate nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor for sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis)
Authors: Zhang Qingfen , Qi Dongmei , Dong Xiaobing , Li Xiaoxia , Cheng Liqin , Liu Hui , Chen Shuangyan , Rajora Om P. , Li Xiu-Qing , Liu Gongshe
Published: December 2019

The protein content of plants is commonly estimated by multiplying the total nitrogen content (Kjeldahl; KN) by a nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor of 6.25. This method is based on the incorrect assumption that all nitrogen in the ammonia/ammonium and organic substances in plants is protein nitrogen, usually resulting in overestimation of protein content. We have examined amino acid composition, amino acid nitrogen, total nitrogen (KN), and actual protein content (AP) determined from amino acid residues in 16 accessions of perennial sheepgrass (Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvelev). We determined a new nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor, kP, as the ratio of AP to KN, and applied this factor to estimate the total protein content (TP) as KN × kP. The non-protein nitrogen accounted for 40.5% to 62.4% of the total nitrogen. The average kP value was 3.17 overall, 3.20 in the accessions sampled at the jointing stage, and 3.15 in the accessions sampled at the flowering stage. The TP, calculated as KN × 3.17, was about half that of crude protein contents, calculated as KN × 6.25. Our study suggests that the AP-based kP of 3.17 can be used to more accurately estimate the total protein content in sheepgrass.
Effect of calcium and boron on growth and development of callus and shoot regeneration of date palm ‘Barhee’
Authors: Al-Mayahi Ahmed Madi Waheed
Published: December 2019

There are some major obstacles in practical applications of date palm tissue culture in the laboratory such as reduced number of shoots, vitrification of tissues, and browning of cultured tissues. The objective of the present study is to determine the effect of boron (B) and calcium (Ca) on enhancing organogenesis of buds from callus, shoot multiplication, and phytochemicals of in vitro cultures of date palm ‘Barhee’. Addition of calcium chloride and boric acid to the medium was most effective on callus for shoot regeneration and number of shoots per jar, where the best result (88.89%, 8.2 shoots per jar, respectively) was obtained by using 660 mg L−1 Ca + 9.3 mg L−1 B, compared with other treatments. It was observed that the interaction between 660 mg L−1 Ca + 9.3 mg L−1 B resulted in the highest tissue content of B [(4.75 mg L−1 dry weight (DW)]. The highest medium calcium chloride level (880 mg L−1) increased Ca content in the shoots. The combined application had the effect in reducing the vitrification. Application of Ca and B induced synthesis of proteins bands with molecular weights of 88.0, 55.6, 52.8, 43.0, 41.1, 38.3, 28.3, and 16.6 KDa in a medium supplemented with 660 mg L−1 Ca + 9.3 mg L−1 B.
The Impacts of Channel Structure and Information on an OEM’s Procurement Strategy
Authors: Lv Fei
Published: December 2019

This paper investigates the optimal procurement strategy for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) under different information and channel structures. We consider two possible sourcing strategies, Consignment and Turnkey, in which Consignment represents the situation when an OEM procures components itself and only assigns the production activity to a contract manufacturer (CM) and Turnkey is defined as when an OEM delegates both the procurement and production activities to the CM. We specifically consider two channel structures, a single channel with one OEM and one CM and two competing channels in which each consists of an OEM and a CM. Under each channel structure, the CM’s purchasing cost may be public or private information. We find that under both channel structures, in the absence of information asymmetry, the OEM will always choose Turnkey if its cost is higher than the CM’s average cost. However, in the presence of information asymmetry, the OEM is more likely to adopt Consignment with the increase in market size. We also find that when the two CMs’ cost correlation is small (large), the structure of the competing channels increases the possibility that the OEM adopts Turnkey (Consignment) in equilibrium.
The Sagnac and Hafele–Keating experiments: Two keys to the understanding of space–time physics in the vicinity of the Earth
Authors: Field J. H.
Published: December 2019

The role of preferred frames for light propagation and time dilation in the region of a massive, spherical, gravitating bodies, where according to general relativity, space–time curvature is described by the Schwarzschild metric equation, is discussed in the context of the Sagnac effect (for light propagation) and the Hafele–Keating experiment (for time dilation). Predictions for both translational and rotational motion relative to the preferred frame are calculated up to order [Formula: see text]. Different published theoretical calculations of the Sagnac effect are critically reviewed. The conflation in the literature of measured time differences in Sagnac experiments (a classical order [Formula: see text] effect) and time dilation (a relativistic order [Formula: see text] effect) are also discussed.
The structural and optical properties of mg-doped zinc oxide multiquantum barrier thin films
Authors: Yang Jing-Jing , Du Wen-Han
Published: December 2019

[Formula: see text]O asymmetric quantum barriers on JGS1 quartz glass and [Formula: see text] substrates were prepared by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Microstructure characterization confirmed the designed structure. Because of the design of [Formula: see text] asymmetric quantum barrier, representative exciton peaks were observed in the optical absorption spectrum at room-temperature. This confirmed that the designed [Formula: see text] asymmetric quantum barrier structure realized the quantum-binding effect at room-temperature. Moreover, when [Formula: see text], the asymmetric quantum barrier structure had optimum performance compared with other [Formula: see text] values.
A study on the microstructure and properties of Al/Cu lap joints welded by friction stir brazing with ultrahigh rotation speed
Authors: Chen Shujin , Wang Di , Pu Juan , Zhang Jiaqi , Liu Bin , Li Ruifeng
Published: December 2019

Friction stir brazing (FSB) with ultrahigh rotation speed was applied to join 6061 aluminum to pure copper with the aid of zinc foil. The effects of different shoulder diameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al/Cu FSB joints were investigated combined with temperature and axial force. In the joint brazed by a 7 mm diameter shoulder, the filler metal layer exhibited the original zinc. Meanwhile, a layer of thick [Formula: see text] was found on the Cu interface. As the diameter of the shoulder was increased to 10 mm, the homogeneous structure of Al–Zn eutectic formed at the Al–Cu interface. Further increasing the shoulder diameter to 12 mm, however, resulted in the interlayer obtaining a microstructure of Al–Zn eutectic with refined and dispersed [Formula: see text]. When the shoulder diameter increased to 15 mm, brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs) such as [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were generated and holes appeared owing to the high-temperature and axial force. Shear tensile tests showed that the joint brazed by a 12 mm diameter shoulder achieved the highest shear tensile strength.
Influence of Doppler broadening on cross-Kerr nonlinearity in a four-level inverted-Y system: An analytical approach
Authors: Bang Nguyen Huy , Xuan Khoa Dinh , An Nguyen Le Thuy , Sau Vu Ngoc , Son Doan Hoai , Van Doai Le
Published: December 2019

In this work, we study the influence of Doppler broadening on cross-Kerr nonlinearity in a four-level inverted-Y atomic system under electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) condition. The first- and third-susceptibilities in the presence of Doppler effect are derived as a function of probe, signal and coupling beams and temperature of medium. Under EIT condition, cross-Kerr nonlinearity is enhanced several orders of magnitude compared to that without EIT. The Doppler effect leads to a reduction in the transparent efficiency and thus reduces the amplitude of cross-Kerr nonlinear coefficient. For hot atomic gaseous medium, such consideration of the Doppler effect may be useful for experimental observations and apply to photonic devices operating at different temperature conditions.
A STUDY ON COGNITIVE RESPONSE TENDENCY AND DAMAGE THRESHOLD OF ABSORBING MEDIUM BY LASER-INDUCED INDIRECT STIMULATION
Authors: KANG GEON-HO , KIM SEUNG-EUN , PARK JONG-RAK , LEE HYUN CHEOL , JUN JAE-HOON
Published: December 2019

Laser-based research can be used in biology, medicine, engineering and many other industries. The use of pulsed laser can induce thermoelastic effect in a short time and give mechanical stimulation to the human body. When the elastic medium is attached to the human body and the laser is irradiated, the mechanical stimulus induced in the elastic medium can be transferred to the human body, which may cause tactile sensation. In this study, we investigated the effects of laser-induced indirect stimulation on cognitive response and damage to absorbing medium. Through the human body experiment, we studied the laser parameter condition that most subjects feel touch. In addition, thermal analysis simulations were performed to predict the condition of the laser pulse energy, the laser frequency and the temperature at the damage threshold of the absorption medium. The results of this study are expected to be useful for conducting non-contact tactile sensation using laser, and this technique can be widely used in laser biomedical stimulation, haptic technology, and other biological and medical fields.
Thread Batching for High-performance Energy-efficient GPU Memory Design
Authors: Li Bing , Mao Mengjie , Liu Xiaoxiao , Liu Tao , Liu Zihao , Wen Wujie , Chen Yiran , Li Hai (Helen)
Published: December 2019

Massive multi-threading in GPU imposes tremendous pressure on memory subsystems. Due to rapid growth in thread-level parallelism of GPU and slowly improved peak memory bandwidth, memory becomes a bottleneck of GPU’s performance and energy efficiency. In this article, we propose an integrated architectural scheme to optimize the memory accesses and therefore boost the performance and energy efficiency of GPU. First, we propose a
thread batch enabled memory partitioning (TEMP)
to improve GPU memory access parallelism. In particular, TEMP groups multiple thread blocks that share the same set of pages into a thread batch and applies a page coloring mechanism to bound each
stream multiprocessor (SM)
to the dedicated memory banks. After that, TEMP dispatches the thread batch to an
SM
to ensure high-parallel memory-access streaming from the different thread blocks. Second, a
thread batch-aware scheduling (TBAS)
scheme is introduced to improve the GPU memory access locality and to reduce the contention on memory controllers and interconnection networks. Experimental results show that the integration of TEMP and TBAS can achieve up to 10.3% performance improvement and 11.3% DRAM energy reduction across diverse GPU applications. We also evaluate the performance interference of the mixed CPU+GPU workloads when they are run on a heterogeneous system that employs our proposed schemes. Our results show that a simple solution can effectively ensure the efficient execution of both GPU and CPU applications.
HGAN
Authors: Nie Weizhi , Wang Weijie , Liu Anan , Nie Jie , Su Yuting
Published: December 2019

In this article, we propose a novel method to address the two-dimensional (2D) image-based 3D object retrieval problem. First, we extract a set of virtual views to represent each 3D object. Then, a soft-attention model is utilized to find the weight of each view to select one characteristic view for each 3D object. Second, we propose a novel Holistic Generative Adversarial Network (HGAN) to solve the cross-domain feature representation problem and make the feature space of virtual characteristic view more inclined to the feature space of the real picture. This will effectively mitigate the distribution discrepancies across the 2D image domains and 3D object domains. Finally, we utilize the generative model of the HGAN to obtain the “virtual real image” of each 3D object and make the characteristic view of the 3D object and real picture possess the same feature space for retrieval. To demonstrate the performance of our approach, We established a new dataset that includes pairs of 2D images and 3D objects, where the 3D objects are based on the ModelNet40 dataset. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of our proposed method over the state-of-the-art methods.
Embedding Distortion Analysis in Wavelet-domain Watermarking
Authors: Bhowmik Deepayan , Abhayaratne Charith
Published: December 2019

Imperceptibility and robustness are two complementary fundamental requirements of any watermarking algorithm. Low-strength watermarking yields high imperceptibility, but exhibits poor robustness. High-strength watermarking schemes achieve good robustness but often infuse distortions resulting in poor visual quality in host images. This article analyses the embedding distortion for wavelet-based watermarking schemes. We derive the relationship between distortion, measured in mean square error (MSE), and the watermark embedding modification and propose the linear proportionality between MSE and the sum of energy of the selected wavelet coefficients for watermark embedding modification. The initial proposition assumes the orthonormality of discrete wavelet transform. It is further extended for non-orthonormal wavelet kernels using a weighting parameter that follows the energy conservation theorems in wavelet frames. The proposed analysis is verified by experimental results for both non-blind and blind watermarking schemes. Such a model is useful to find the optimum input parameters, including the wavelet kernel, coefficient selection, and subband choices for wavelet domain image watermarking.
Heterogeneous Scheduling of Deep Neural Networks for Low-power Real-time Designs
Authors: Shea Colin , Mohsenin Tinoosh
Published: December 2019

Deep neural networks have become the readiest answer to a range of application challenges including image recognition, stock analysis, natural language processing, and biomedical applications such as seizure detection. All while outperforming prior leading solutions that relied heavily on hand-engineered techniques. However, deployment of these neural networks often requires high-computational and memory-intensive solutions. These requirements make it challenging to deploy Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) in embedded, real-time low-power applications where classic architectures, GPUs and CPUs, still impose significant power burden. Systems-on-Chip (SoC) with Field-programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) can be used to improve performance and allow more fine-grain control of resources than CPUs or GPUs, but it is difficult to find the optimal balance between hardware and software to improve DNN efficiency. In the current research literature there have been few proposed solutions to address optimizing hardware and software deployments of DNNs in embedded low-power systems. To address the computation resource restriction and low-power needs for deploying these networks, we describe and implement a domain-specific metric model for optimizing task deployment on differing platforms, hardware and software. Next, we propose a DNN hardware accelerator called Scalable Low-power Accelerator for real-time deep neural Networks (SCALENet) that includes multithreaded software workers. Finally, we propose a heterogeneous aware scheduler that uses the DNN-specific metric models and the SCALENet accelerator to allocate a task to a resource based on solving a numerical cost for a series of domain objectives. To demonstrate the applicability of our contribution, we deploy nine modern deep network architectures, each containing a different number of parameters within the context of two different neural network applications: image processing and biomedical seizure detection. Utilizing the metric modeling techniques integrated into the heterogeneous aware scheduler and the SCALENet accelerator, we demonstrate the ability to meet computational requirements, adapt to multiple architectures, and lower power by providing an optimized task to resource allocation. Our heterogeneous aware scheduler improves power saving by decreasing power consumption by 10% of the total system power, does not affect the accuracy of the networks, and still meets the real-time deadlines. We demonstrate the ability to achieve parity with or exceed the energy efficiency of NVIDIA GPUs when evaluated against Jetson TK1 with embedded GPU SoC and with a 4× power savings in a power envelope of 2.0W. When compared to existing FPGA-based accelerators, SCALENet’s accelerator and heterogeneous aware scheduler achieves a 4× improvement in energy efficiency.
Eye, Head and Torso Coordination During Gaze Shifts in Virtual Reality
Authors: Sidenmark Ludwig , Gellersen Hans
Published: December 2019

Humans perform gaze shifts naturally through a combination of eye, head and body movements. Although gaze has been long studied as input modality for interaction, this has previously ignored the coordination of the eyes, head and body. This article reports a study of gaze shifts in virtual reality aimed to address the gap and inform design. We identify general eye, head and torso coordination patterns and provide an analysis of the relative movements’ contribution and temporal alignment. We quantify effects of target distance, direction and user posture, describe preferred eye-in-head motion ranges and identify a high variability in head movement tendency. Study insights lead us to propose gaze zones that reflect different levels of contribution from eye, head and body. We discuss design implications for HCI and VR, and in conclusion argue to treat gaze as multimodal input, and eye, head and body movement as synergetic in interaction design.
Tile-based Adaptive Streaming for Virtual Reality Video
Authors: Hooft Jeroen Van der , Vega Maria Torres , Petrangeli Stefano , Wauters Tim , Turck Filip De
Published: December 2019

The increasing popularity of head-mounted devices and 360° video cameras allows content providers to provide virtual reality (VR) video streaming over the Internet, using a two-dimensional representation of the immersive content combined with traditional HTTP adaptive streaming (HAS) techniques. However, since only a limited part of the video (i.e., the viewport) is watched by the user, the available bandwidth is not optimally used. Recent studies have shown the benefits of adaptive tile-based video streaming; rather than sending the whole 360° video at once, the video is cut into temporal segments and spatial tiles, each of which can be requested at a different quality level. This allows prioritization of viewable video content and thus results in an increased bandwidth utilization. Given the early stages of research, there are still a number of open challenges to unlock the full potential of adaptive tile-based VR streaming. The aim of this work is to provide an answer to several of these open research questions. Among others, we propose two tile-based rate adaptation heuristics for equirectangular VR video, which use the great-circle distance between the viewport center and the center of each of the tiles to decide upon the most appropriate quality representation. We also introduce a feedback loop in the quality decision process, which allows the client to revise prior decisions based on more recent information on the viewport location. Furthermore, we investigate the benefits of parallel TCP connections and the use of HTTP/2 as an application layer optimization. Through an extensive evaluation, we show that the proposed optimizations result in a significant improvement in terms of video quality (more than twice the time spent on the highest quality layer), compared to non-tiled HAS solutions.
Unsupervised Learning of Human Action Categories in Still Images with Deep Representations
Authors: Zheng Yunpeng , Li Xuelong , Lu Xiaoqiang
Published: December 2019

In this article, we propose a novel method for unsupervised learning of human action categories in still images. In contrast to previous methods, the proposed method explores distinctive information of actions directly from unlabeled image databases, attempting to learn discriminative deep representations in an unsupervised manner to distinguish different actions. In the proposed method, action image collections can be used without manual annotations. Specifically, (i) to deal with the problem that unsupervised discriminative deep representations are difficult to learn, the proposed method builds a training dataset with surrogate labels from the unlabeled dataset, then learns discriminative representations by alternately updating convolutional neural network (CNN) parameters and the surrogate training dataset in an iterative manner; (ii) to explore the discriminatory information among different action categories, training batches for updating the CNN parameters are built with triplet groups and the triplet loss function is introduced to update the CNN parameters; and (iii) to learn more discriminative deep representations, a Random Forest classifier is adopted to update the surrogate training dataset, and more beneficial triplet groups then can be built with the updated surrogate training dataset. Extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Results of Field Trials with a Mobile Service Robot for Older Adults in 16 Private Households
Authors: Bajones Markus , Fischinger David , Weiss Astrid , Puente Paloma De La , Wolf Daniel , Vincze Markus , Körtner Tobias , Weninger Markus , Papoutsakis Konstantinos , Michel Damien , Qammaz Ammar , Panteleris Paschalis , Foukarakis Michalis , Adami Ilia , Ioannidi Danae , Leonidis Asterios , Antona Margherita , Argyros Antonis , Mayer Peter , Panek Paul , Eftring Håkan , Frennert Susanne
Published: December 2019

In this article, we present results obtained from field trials with the Hobbit robotic platform, an assistive, social service robot aiming at enabling prolonged independent living of older adults in their own homes. Our main contribution lies within the detailed results on perceived safety, usability, and acceptance from field trials with autonomous robots in real homes of older users. In these field trials, we studied how 16 older adults (75 plus) lived with autonomously interacting service robots over multiple weeks.

Robots have been employed for periods of months previously in home environments for older people, and some have been tested with manipulation abilities, but this is the first time a study has tested a robot in private homes that provided the combination of manipulation abilities, autonomous navigation, and non-scheduled interaction for an extended period of time. This article aims to explore how older adults interact with such a robot in their private homes. Our results show that all users interacted with Hobbit daily, rated most functions as well working, and reported that they believe that Hobbit will be part of future elderly care. We show that Hobbit’s adaptive behavior approach towards the user increasingly eased the interaction between the users and the robot. Our trials reveal the necessity to move into actual users’ homes, as only there, we encounter real-world challenges and demonstrate issues such as misinterpretation of actions during non-scripted human-robot interaction.
Preventive CTLA-4-Ig Treatment Reduces Hepatic Egg Load and Hepatic Fibrosis inSchistosoma mansoni-Infected Mice
Authors: Sombetzki Martina , Rabes Anne , Bischofsberger Miriam , Winkelmann Franziska , Koslowski Nicole , Schulz Cindy , Reisinger Emil C.
Published: December 2019

Background. Hepatic fibrosis and granuloma formation as a consequence of tissue entrapped eggs produced by female schistosomes characterize the pathology ofSchistosoma mansoniinfection. We have previously shown that single-sex infection with female schistosomes mitigates hepatic fibrosis after secondary infection. This was associated with an increased expression of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein-4 (CTLA-4), known as a negative regulator of T cell activation. Based on these findings, we hypothesized that administration of agonistic CTLA-4-Ig (Belatacept) is capable to prevent and/or treat hepatic fibrosis during schistosomiasis.Methods. Mice were infected with 50S. mansonicercariae and CTLA-4-Ig, or appropriated control-Ig was administered for 4 weeks. Preventive treatment started 4 weeks after infection, before onset of egg production, and therapeutic treatment started 8 weeks after infection when hepatic fibrosis was already established.Results. When given early after infection, livers of CTLA-4-Ig-treated mice showed significantly reduced collagen deposition and decreased expression of profibrotic genes in comparison to controls. In addition, administration of CTLA-4-Ig suppressed the inflammatory T cell response in infected mice. If therapy was started at a later time point when fibrogenesis was initiated, CTLA-4-Ig had no impact on hepatic fibrosis.Conclusion. We could demonstrate that an early preventive administration of CTLA-4-Ig suppresses effector T cell function and therefore ameliorates liver fibrosis. CTLA-4-Ig administration after onset of egg production fails to treat hepatic fibrosis.
Sirolimus for the Treatment of Airway Obstruction due to Indolent T-Lymphoblastic Proliferation
Authors: Moughames Eric , Kiess Ana P. , Akst Lee M. , Azar Antoine
Published: December 2019

Introduction. Indolent T-lymphoblastic proliferation (iT-LBP) is a rare nonmalignant entity that presents as a proliferation of T-lymphoblasts. We report a first such case with a recurrent laryngeal obstruction presentation that was successfully controlled with Sirolimus. Case presentation. This is the case of a 29-year-old female who presented with a recurrent significant lymphoid hyperplasia in the adenoid and tongue base region as well as a right cervical lymph node. After repeated adenoidectomies and tonsillectomies, and based on pathological and clinical findings she was diagnosed with iT-LBP. Trials of radiotherapy and immunotherapy with cyclosporine and rituximab all failed to control the progression of the disease. Sirolimus was finally able to restrict the growth and improve her symptoms. Conclusion. While It-LBP does not usually require treatment, it is important to report cases in which treatment was crucial for the survival of the patient, and the effective role of Sirolimus in doing so, without any major adverse effects.
Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella enterica Serovar Rissen Clusters Detected in Azores Archipelago, Portugal
Authors: Silveira Leonor , Pinto Miguel , Isidro Joana , Pista Ângela , Themudo Patrícia , Vieira Luís , Machado Jorge , Gomes João Paulo
Published: December 2019

Gastrointestinal infections caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) remain one of the main causes of foodborne illness worldwide. Within the multiple existing Salmonella enterica serovars, the serovar Rissen is rarely reported, particularly as a cause of human salmonellosis. Between 2015 and 2017, the Portuguese National Reference Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Infections observed an increase in the number of clinical cases caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) S. enterica serovar Rissen, particularly from the Azores archipelago. In the present study, we analyzed by whole genome sequencing (WGS) all clinical, animal, food, and environmental isolates received up to 2017 in the Portuguese Reference Laboratories. As such, through a wgMLST-based gene-by-gene analysis, we aimed to identify potential epidemiological clusters linking clinical and samples from multiple sources, while gaining insight into the genetic diversity of S. enterica serovar Rissen. We also investigated the genetic basis driving the observed multidrug resistance. By integrating 60 novel genomes with all publicly available serovar Rissen genomes, we observed a low degree of genetic diversity within this serovar. Nevertheless, the majority of Portuguese isolates showed high degree of genetic relatedness and a potential link to pork production. An in-depth analysis of these isolates revealed the existence of two major clusters from the Azores archipelago composed of MDR isolates, most of which were resistant to at least five antimicrobials. Considering the well-known spread of MDR between gastrointestinal bacteria, the identification of MDR circulating clones should constitute an alert to public health authorities. Finally, this study constitutes the starting point for the implementation of the “One Health” approach for Salmonella surveillance in Portugal.
Channel Projection-Based CCA Target Identification Method for an SSVEP-Based BCI System of Quadrotor Helicopter Control
Authors: Gao Qiang , Zhang Yuxin , Wang Zhe , Dong Enzeng , Song Xiaolin , Song Yu
Published: December 2019

The brain-computer interface (BCI) plays an important role in assisting patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to enable them to participate in communication and entertainment. In this study, a novel channel projection-based canonical correlation analysis (CP-CCA) target identification method for steady-state visual evoked potential- (SSVEP-) based BCI system was proposed. The single-channel electroencephalography (EEG) signals of multiple trials were recorded when the subject is under the same stimulus frequency. The CCAs between single-channel EEG signals of multiple trials and sine-cosine reference signals were obtained. Then, the optimal reference signal of each channel was utilized to estimate the test EEG signal. To validate the proposed method, we acquired the training dataset with two testing conditions including the optimal time window length and the number of the trial of training data. The offline experiments conducted a comparison of the proposed method with the traditional canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and power spectrum density analysis (PSDA) method using a 5-class SSVEP dataset that was recorded from 10 subjects. Based on the training dataset, the online 3D-helicopter control experiment was carried out. The offline experimental results showed that the proposed method outperformed the CCA and the PSDA methods in terms of classification accuracy and information transfer rate (ITR). Furthermore, the online experiments of 3-DOF helicopter control achieved an average accuracy of 87.94 ± 5.93% with an ITR of 21.07 ± 4.42 bit/min.