bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collecting public RGB-D datasets for human daily activity recognition
Authors: Wu Hanbo , Ma Xin , Zhang Zhimeng , Wang Haibo , Li Yibin
Published: November 2017

Human daily activity recognition has been a hot spot in the field of computer vision for many decades. Despite best efforts, activity recognition in naturally uncontrolled settings remains a challenging problem. Recently, by being able to perceive depth and visual cues simultaneously, RGB-D cameras greatly boost the performance of activity recognition. However, due to some practical difficulties, the publicly available RGB-D data sets are not sufficiently large for benchmarking when considering the diversity of their activities, subjects, and background. This severely affects the applicability of complicated learning-based recognition approaches. To address the issue, this article provides a large-scale RGB-D activity data set by merging five public RGB-D data sets that differ from each other on many aspects such as length of actions, nationality of subjects, or camera angles. This data set comprises 4528 samples depicting 7 action categories (up to 46 subcategories) performed by 74 subjects. To verify the challengeness of the data set, three feature representation methods are evaluated, which are depth motion maps, spatiotemporal depth cuboid similarity feature, and curvature space scale. Results show that the merged large-scale data set is more realistic and challenging and therefore more suitable for benchmarking.
A new vision measurement method based on active object gazing
Authors: Xu De , Wang Qingbin
Published: November 2017

A new vision measurement system is developed with two cameras. One is fixed in pose to serve as a monitor camera. It finds and tracks objects in image space. The other is actively rotated to track the object in Cartesian space, working as an active object-gazing camera. The intrinsic parameters of the monitor camera are calibrated. The view angle corresponding to the object is calculated from the object’s image coordinates and the camera’s intrinsic parameters. The rotation angle of the object-gazing camera is measured with an encoder. The object’s depth is computed with the rotation angle and the view angle. Then the object’s three-dimensional position is obtained with its depth and normalized imaging coordinates. The error analysis is provided to assess the measurement accuracy. The experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed vision system and measurement method.
Human–robot collaboration in industrial applications
Authors: Maurtua Iñaki , Ibarguren Aitor , Kildal Johan , Susperregi Loreto , Sierra Basilio
Published: November 2017

Human–robot collaboration is a key factor for the development of factories of the future, a space in which humans and robots can work and carry out tasks together. Safety is one of the most critical aspects in this collaborative human–robot paradigm. This article describes the experiments done and results achieved by the authors in the context of the FourByThree project, aiming to measure the trust of workers on fenceless human–robot collaboration in industrial robotic applications as well as to gauge the acceptance of different interaction mechanisms between robots and human beings.
Natural multimodal communication for human–robot collaboration
Authors: Maurtua Iñaki , Fernández Izaskun , Tellaeche Alberto , Kildal Johan , Susperregi Loreto , Ibarguren Aitor , Sierra Basilio
Published: November 2017

This article presents a semantic approach for multimodal interaction between humans and industrial robots to enhance the dependability and naturalness of the collaboration between them in real industrial settings. The fusion of several interaction mechanisms is particularly relevant in industrial applications in which adverse environmental conditions might affect the performance of vision-based interaction (e.g. poor or changing lighting) or voice-based interaction (e.g. environmental noise). Our approach relies on the recognition of speech and gestures for the processing of requests, dealing with information that can potentially be contradictory or complementary. For disambiguation, it uses semantic technologies that describe the robot characteristics and capabilities as well as the context of the scenario. Although the proposed approach is generic and applicable in different scenarios, this article explains in detail how it has been implemented in two real industrial cases in which a robot and a worker collaborate in assembly and deburring operations.
Haptic feedback and visual servoing of teleoperated unmanned aerial vehicle for obstacle awareness and avoidance
Authors: Roberts Ricardo , Barajas Manlio , Rodriguez-Leal Ernesto , Gordillo José Luis
Published: November 2017

Obstacle avoidance represents a fundamental challenge for unmanned aerial vehicle navigation. This is particularly relevant for low altitude flight, which is highly subjected to collisions, causing property damage or even compromise human safety. Autonomous navigation algorithms address this problem and are applied in various tasks. However, this approach is usually overshadowed by unreliable results in uncertain environments. In contrast, human pilots are able to maneuver vehicles in complex situations, in which an algorithm would no offer a reliable performance. This article explores a novel configuration of assisted flying and implements an experimental setup in order to prove its efficacy. The user controls an unmanned aerial vehicle with a force feedback device, where simultaneously an assisted navigation algorithm can manipulate this apparatus to divert the unmanned aerial vehicle from its path. Experiments confirm the authors’ hypothesis that the unmanned aerial vehicle is deviated or maintains the same course at the operator’s will. Unlike conventional controllers that dictate roll, pitch, and yaw, this implementation uses direct mapping between the position represented by the haptic device and the unmanned aerial vehicle. This configuration applies feedback before the unmanned aerial vehicle has reached the position referenced by the haptic device, providing valuable time for the user to make the necessary path correction.
A unified design for lightweight robotic arms based on unified description of structure and drive trains
Authors: Yin Haibin , Huang Shansheng , He Mingchang , Li Junfeng
Published: November 2017

This article presents a unified design for lightweight robotic arms based on a unified description of structure and drive trains. In the unified design, the drive trains and structural dimensions are parameterized as design variables, and a major objective minimizes the total mass of robotic arms satisfying the constraint conditions and design criteria. To implement the optimization problem, a mapping relationship between mass and torque of drive trains is introduced as their power–density curves, which enable a unified description of structure and drive trains combining with the dynamics of robotic arms. In this implementation of unified design, there are two modules: structure optimization and drive trains design. The finite element method with nonlinear programming by quadratic Lagrange algorithm is adopted to implement the structure optimization. Moreover, the dynamic analysis in MSC ADAMS is achieved to design the drive trains of robotic arms. This method could uniformly evaluate all components of robotic arms in mass and continuously search the global optimal results. Finally, a design example on this unified design is compared with a referenced design to illustrate the validity and advantage of the proposed scheme.
Recent progress on tactile object recognition
Authors: Liu Huaping , Wu Yupei , Sun Fuchun , Guo Di
Published: November 2017

Conventional visual perception technology is subject to many restrictions, such as illumination, background clutter, and occlusion. Many intrinsic properties of objects, like stiffness, hardness, and internal state, cannot be effectively perceived by visual sensors. For robots, tactile perception is a key approach to obtain environmental and object information. Different from vision sensors, tactile sensors can directly measure some physical properties of objects and environment. At the same time, humans also utilize touch sensory receptors as an important means to perceive and interact with the environment. In this article, we present a detailed discussion on tactile object recognition problem. We divide the current studies on the tactile object recognition into three subcategories and detailed analysis has been put forward on them. In addition, we also discuss some advanced topics such as visual–tactile fusion, exploratory procedure, and data sets.
Robotic teleoperation systems using a wearable multimodal fusion device
Authors: Fang Bin , Sun Fuchun , Liu Huaping , Guo Di , Chen Wendan , Yao Guodong
Published: November 2017

Teleoperation is of great importance in the area of robotics especially when people’s presence at the robot working space is unavailable. It provides an alternative to employ human intelligence in the control of the robot remotely. We establish robotic teleoperation systems with a wearable multimodal fusion device. The device is integrated with 18 low-cost inertial and magnetic measurement units, which cover all segments of the arm and hand. The multimodal fusion algorithm based on extended Kalman filter is deduced to determine the orientations and positions of each segment. Then, the robotic teleoperation systems using the proposed device are designed. The novel teleoperation schemes can be applied for 11DOF robotic arm–hand system and 10DOF robotic arm–hand system, in which the operator’s fingers are used for robotic hand teleoperation, and the arms with palm are used for robotic arm teleoperation. Meanwhile, the proposed robotic teleoperation systems are fully realized with a user-friendly human–machine interaction interface. Finally, a series of experiments are conducted with our robotic teleoperation system successfully.
A combined cepstral distance method for emotional speech recognition
Authors: Quan Changqin , Zhang Bin , Sun Xiao , Ren Fuji
Published: November 2017

Affective computing is not only the direction of reform in artificial intelligence but also exemplification of the advanced intelligent machines. Emotion is the biggest difference between human and machine. If the machine behaves with emotion, then the machine will be accepted by more people. Voice is the most natural and can be easily understood and accepted manner in daily communication. The recognition of emotional voice is an important field of artificial intelligence. However, in recognition of emotions, there often exists the phenomenon that two emotions are particularly vulnerable to confusion. This article presents a combined cepstral distance method in two-group multi-class emotion classification for emotional speech recognition. Cepstral distance combined with speech energy is well used as speech signal endpoint detection in speech recognition. In this work, the use of cepstral distance aims to measure the similarity between frames in emotional signals and in neutral signals. These features are input for directed acyclic graph support vector machine classification. Finally, a two-group classification strategy is adopted to solve confusion in multi-emotion recognition. In the experiments, Chinese mandarin emotion database is used and a large training set (1134 + 378 utterances) ensures a powerful modelling capability for predicting emotion. The experimental results show that cepstral distance increases the recognition rate of emotion sad and can balance the recognition results with eliminating the over fitting. And for the German corpus Berlin emotional speech database, the recognition rate between sad and boring, which are very difficult to distinguish, is up to 95.45%.
Evaluating patients' perception towards generic and branded medicines: A segmentation approach
Authors: Alam Md Moddassir , Mittal Arun , Chawla Deepak
Published: November 2017

The objective of this study is to identify the underlying subgroups of consumers in terms of their perceptions towards branded and generic medicines in emerging economies. To the best of our knowledge, no research till date has dwelled on their patient segmentation based on their psychographic towards medicine. This makes the current study a seminal attempt in its category. Based on the survey data collected by the authors from Delhi and National Capital region of India, the present research employs consumer research methodologies. Cluster analysis based on psychographics and demographic was employed to cluster consumers based on their perception towards and generic medicines. The cluster-based analysis segmented the patients into three categories namely Branded Medicine Inclined, Generic Medicine inclined, Cost Conscious. From the extant review of the literature, it was observed that segmentation of patients based on their perceptions was found to be insignificant. Identifying and establishing patient clusters will help the government agencies in devising and managing healthcare awareness program towards generic medicines in an efficient fashion.
PolyMorphine provides extended analgesic-like effects in mice with spared nerve injury
Authors: Lax Neil C , Chen Renxun , Leep Sarah R , Uhrich Kathryn E , Yu Lei , Kolber Benedict J
Published: November 2017

Morphine is a well-characterized and effective analgesic commonly used to provide pain relief to patients suffering from both acute and chronic pain conditions. Despite its widespread use and effectiveness, one of the major drawbacks of morphine is its relatively short half-life of approximately 4 h. This short half-life often necessitates multiple administrations of the drug each day, which may contribute to both dependence and tolerance to morphine. Here, we tested the analgesic properties of a new polymer form of morphine known as PolyMorphine. This polymer has monomeric units of morphine incorporated into a poly(anhydride-ester) backbone that has been shown to hydrolyze into free morphine in vitro. Using an animal model of chronic pain, the spared nerve injury surgery, we showed that PolyMorphine is able to block spared nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity in mice for up to 24-h post-administration. Free morphine was shown to only block spared nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity for up to 2-h post-injection. PolyMorphine was also shown to act through the mu opioid receptor due to the ability of naloxone (a mu opioid receptor antagonist) to block PolyMorphine-induced analgesia in spared nerve injury animals pretreated with PolyMorphine. Additionally, we observed that PolyMorphine causes similar locomotor and constipation side effects as free morphine. Finally, we investigated if PolyMorphine had any effects in a non-evoked pain assay, conditioned place preference. Pretreatment of spared nerve injury mice with PolyMorphine blocked the development of conditioned place preference for 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP), a short-lasting mGluR5 antagonist with analgesic-like properties. Free morphine does not block the development of preference for MPEP, suggesting that PolyMorphine has longer lasting analgesic effects compared to free morphine. Together, these data show that PolyMorphine has the potential to provide analgesia for significantly longer than free morphine while likely working through the same receptor.
Colchicine alleviates acute postoperative pain but delays wound repair in mice: Roles of neutrophils and macrophages
Authors: Sukeishi Asami , Isami Koichi , Hiyama Haruka , Imai Satoshi , Nagayasu Kazuki , Shirakawa Hisashi , Nakagawa Takayuki , Kaneko Shuji
Published: November 2017

Background

Acute postoperative pain is induced by most incisional surgeries and usually resolves with wound repair. However, many patients experience moderate to severe pain despite receiving currently available postoperative pain relief. Accumulating evidence suggests that inflammatory cells, neutrophils, and macrophages infiltrating the wound site contribute to the acute inflammation, pain, and subsequent wound repair. Colchicine is commonly used to relieve pain in gout by inhibiting the infiltration of granulocytes and other motile cells. In this study, we examined the effects of colchicine on acute postoperative pain and wound repair by correlating the infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages in a mouse model of postoperative pain induced by plantar incision. Furthermore, these effects of colchicine were compared with clodronate liposomes, which selectively deplete circulating macrophages.

Results

Plantar incision induced mechanical hypersensitivity in the ipsilateral hind paw that peaked one day and lasted for three days after the surgery. Treatment with colchicine significantly attenuated the early infiltration of Gr1-positive cells (neutrophils) around the incision site and mechanical hypersensitivity, which was accompanied with inhibition of the subsequent infiltration of Iba1-positive cells (macrophages) and macrophage polarization toward the proinflammatory M1 phenotype. By contrast, an intravenous injection of clodronate liposomes significantly inhibited the infiltration of macrophages around the incision site but had little effect on the infiltration of neutrophils or mechanical hypersensitivity. Importantly, colchicine treatment significantly delayed wound closure after the incisional surgery, whereas clodronate liposome administration had no effect on wound closure.

Conclusion

These results suggest that colchicine can alleviate acute postoperative pain and also enhance the risk of delayed wound repair, which are associated with the suppression of neutrophil and subsequent proinflammatory M1 macrophage infiltration around the incision site, while the involvement of macrophages may be limited.
Standardized measurement of sensorimotor recovery in stroke trials: Consensus-based core recommendations from the Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable
Authors: Kwakkel Gert , Lannin Natasha A , Borschmann Karen , English Coralie , Ali Myzoon , Churilov Leonid , Saposnik Gustavo , Winstein Carolee , van Wegen Erwin EH , Wolf Steven L , Krakauer John W , Bernhardt Julie
Published: November 2017

Finding, testing and demonstrating efficacy of new treatments for stroke recovery is a multifaceted challenge. We believe that to advance the field, neurorehabilitation trials need a conceptually rigorous starting framework. An essential first step is to agree on definitions of sensorimotor recovery and on measures consistent with these definitions. Such standardization would allow pooling of participant data across studies and institutions aiding meta-analyses of completed trials, more detailed exploration of recovery profiles of our patients and the generation of new hypotheses. Here, we present the results of a consensus meeting about measurement standards and patient characteristics that we suggest should be collected in all future stroke recovery trials. Recommendations are made considering time post stroke and are aligned with the international classification of functioning and disability. A strong case is made for addition of kinematic and kinetic movement quantification. Further work is being undertaken by our group to form consensus on clinical predictors and pre-stroke clinical data that should be collected, as well as recommendations for additional outcome measurement tools. To improve stroke recovery trials, we urge the research community to consider adopting our recommendations in their trial design.
Improving the development, monitoring and reporting of stroke rehabilitation research: Consensus-based core recommendations from the Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable
Authors: Walker Marion F , Hoffmann Tammy C , Brady Marian C , Dean Catherine M , Eng Janice J , Farrin Amanda J , Felix Cynthia , Forster Anne , Langhorne Peter , Lynch Elizabeth A , Radford Kathryn A , Sunnerhagen Katharina S , Watkins Caroline L
Published: November 2017

Recent reviews have demonstrated that the quality of stroke rehabilitation research has continued to improve over the last four decades but despite this progress, there are still many barriers in moving the field forward. Rigorous development, monitoring and complete reporting of interventions in stroke trials are essential in providing rehabilitation evidence that is robust, meaningful and implementable. An international partnership of stroke rehabilitation experts committed to develop consensus-based core recommendations with a remit of addressing the issues identified as limiting stroke rehabilitation research in the areas of developing, monitoring and reporting stroke rehabilitation interventions. Work exploring each of the three areas took place via multiple teleconferences and a two-day meeting in Philadelphia in May 2016. A total of 15 recommendations were made. To validate the need for the recommendations, the group reviewed all stroke rehabilitation trials published in 2015 (n = 182 papers). Our review highlighted that the majority of publications did not clearly describe how interventions were developed or monitored during the trial. In particular, under-reporting of the theoretical rationale for the intervention and the components of the intervention call into question many interventions that have been evaluated for efficacy. More trials were found to have addressed the reporting of interventions recommendations than those related to development or monitoring. Nonetheless, the majority of reporting recommendations were still not adequately described. To progress the field of stroke rehabilitation research and to ensure stroke patients receive optimal evidence-based clinical care, we urge the research community to endorse and adopt our recommendations.
Agreed definitions and a shared vision for new standards in stroke recovery research: The Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable taskforce
Authors: Bernhardt Julie , Hayward Kathryn S , Kwakkel Gert , Ward Nick S , Wolf Steven L , Borschmann Karen , Krakauer John W , Boyd Lara A , Carmichael S Thomas , Corbett Dale , Cramer Steven C
Published: November 2017

The first Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable established a game changing set of new standards for stroke recovery research. Common language and definitions were required to develop an agreed framework spanning the four working groups: translation of basic science, biomarkers of stroke recovery, measurement in clinical trials and intervention development and reporting. This paper outlines the working definitions established by our group and an agreed vision for accelerating progress in stroke recovery research.
Big data analytics for modeling scoring probability in basketball: The effect of shooting under high-pressure conditions
Authors: Zuccolotto Paola , Manisera Marica , Sandri Marco
Published: November 2017

In this paper, we analyze the shooting performance of basketball players by examining the factors that may generate high-pressure game situations. Using play-by-play data from the Italian “Serie A2” Championship 2015/2016 to build the model, we validate the main results using data from the Olympic Basketball Tournament “Rio 2016” to determine whether the relationships we identified can be confirmed using data from players at a very different professional level. After a preliminary exploratory analysis, we (1) develop a multivariate model based on the Classification and Regression Tree algorithm in order to investigate how selected high-pressure situations, jointly considered, affect scoring probability and then propose new shooting performance measures; (2) investigate players’ personal reactions to selected high-pressure game situations by introducing additional new measures, improving the indices currently used to measure shooting performance. The results are interesting and easy to interpret with the aid of some insightful graphical representations. Our approach can be exploited by both scouts and coaches to understand important player characteristics and, ultimately, to measure and enhance a team’s performance.
K-mixed strategy: A new redundancy strategy for reliability problems
Authors: Peiravi Abdossaber , Karbasian Mahdi , Abouei Ardakan Mostafa
Published: November 2017

This article presents a new redundancy strategy for system reliability optimization. The proposed strategy is a general form of a recently introduced strategy called “Mixed Strategy.” Adding parallel redundant component is a common approach in order to improve the reliability of a specific system. This approach is known as redundancy allocation problem. The redundancy allocation problem is a challenging issue for many researchers which has been subjected to investigation in this study. Generally, in the redundancy allocation problem, there are three redundancy strategies for using the redundant components: active, standby and mixed. The new emerging mixed strategy is a general form which involves both active and standby strategies. In this article, a general form of the mixed strategy called “K-mixed,” will be introduced and mathematical formulation for calculating the reliability of this new strategy will be presented. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the K-mixed strategy, a single specific subsystem with four components will be used and reliability of the subsystem will be computed by considering all three previous strategies and the new one. To have a better understanding about the performance of these four strategies, the effect of switch reliability and component reliability will be further examined.
Natural selection: Empiricist discourse in the talk of broadcast journalists
Authors: Reardon Sally
Published: November 2017

Journalists are frequently used as a source of information for those studying news production and practice and as a means of describing the ‘real’ world of news. However, these conversations between researcher and journalist have often largely been treated as a transfer of neutral, transparent information about news practice rather than a discursive practice in itself. Discourse analysis has been extensively applied to the output of news, yet is underdeveloped in the area of production studies. This article argues that a more discursive approach to news production studies yields a more nuanced understanding of journalistic culture and practice. This is illustrated by using the tools of discursive social psychology to analyse interviews with 23 broadcast journalists about the nature of news. The analysis helps with the identification of the use of empiricist discourse to construct a ‘natural’ journalism and to justify certain constructions of journalistic practice.
Immune-inflammatory activation after a single laparotomy in a rat model: effect of adenosine, lidocaine and Mg2+ infusion to dampen the stress response
Authors: Davenport Lisa , Letson Hayley L , Dobson Geoffrey P
Published: November 2017

Our aim was to examine the effect of low-volume 0.9% NaCl adenosine, lidocaine and Mg2+ (ALM) ‘drip’ on early immune-inflammatory activation after a single laparotomy with no further manipulation. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were anesthetized and randomly assigned to one of the groups, baseline, 1 h infusion 0.9% NaCl ± ALM and metrics, 1 h infusion and 6-h metrics, and 6 h continuous infusion and metrics. Complete blood count, acid–base balance, systemic levels of IL-6 and IL-10, and coagulation status were measured. After 1 h, there was a disproportionate increase in circulating neutrophils between saline and ALM groups despite an identical 45% fall in lymphocytes. Disproportionate increases also occurred in platelet counts 1 h after surgery, and saline controls had increased respiratory alkalosis at 6 h with higher lactate. Systemic inflammation was also evident after 1 h in both groups (plasma IL-6 increase) and was amplified in saline-controls after 6 h. The ALM group increased anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Surgery was not associated with acute coagulopathy; however, there were significant reductions in fibrinolysis. Following a single laparotomy, ALM infusion appeared to reduce stress-induced release of neutrophils and platelets into the circulation, and reduced acid–base disturbance. After 1 h, both groups had similar IL-6 levels, but ALM animals had increased IL-10, indicating improved inflammatory balance. The uncoupling of inflammation and coagulation activation but not fibrinolysis may offer a unique opportunity to investigate differential activation of innate immunity in response to sterile injury in this model.
Moderating roles of leadership effectiveness and job stress on relationship between paternalism and leadership-induced stress
Authors: Lawal Olufemi Adigun , Babalola Sunday Samson
Published: November 2017

Leadership has been subjected to so many studies examining the high performing organizations in literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the moderating roles of leadership effectiveness and job stress on relationship between paternalism and leadership-induced stress. Survey method was used to tap responses from 276 employees from corporate organizations. Results, especially on significant interactions, show that only the interaction between paternalism and job stress significantly predicted leadership-induced stress. Leadership-induced stress was lowest for employees who perceived high paternalism and low job stress and was highest for employees who perceived low paternalism and low job stress. However, leadership-induced stress was higher in employees who perceived low paternalism and low job stress than in employees who perceived low paternalism and high job stress. Leadership-induced stress was also higher in employees who perceived high paternalism and high job stress than in employees who perceived high paternalism and low job stress. The results have implications for research and practice.
Modeling of cutting performances in turning process using artificial neural networks
Authors: Dahbi Samya , Ezzine Latifa , EL Moussami Haj
Published: November 2017

In this article, we present the modeling of cutting performances in turning of 2017A aluminum alloy under four turning parameters: cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut, and nose radius. The modeled performances include surface roughness, cutting forces, cutting temperature, material removal rate, cutting power, and specific cutting pressure. The experimental data were collected by conducting turning experiments on a computer numerically controlled lathe and by measuring the cutting performances with forces measuring chain, an infrared camera, and a roughness tester. The collected data were used to develop an artificial neural network that models the pre-cited cutting performances by following a specific methodology. The adequate network architecture was selected using three performance criteria: correlation coefficient ( R2), mean squared error (MSE), and average percentage error (APE). It was clearly seen that the selected network estimates the cutting performances in turning process with high accuracy: R2 > 99%, MSE < 0.3%, and APE < 6%.
Encrypted quick response scheme for hotel check-in and access control system
Authors: Cheong Soon-Nyean , Ling Huo-Chong , Teh Pei-Lee , Ahmed Pervaiz K , Yap Wen-Jiun
Published: November 2017

The unpleasant experience of long queue while waiting to check-in at hotel is a common problem faced by guests especially during holidays. As such, various self-service technologies (SSTs) were introduced over the years by researchers with the aim to increase the avenues of checking-in guests. Self-check-in kiosk is an invention that allows guests to check-in themselves using bar codes that were sent to them in advance. Although bar codes are able to reduce guests’ waiting time, it cannot be used to unlock hotel rooms. This makes mobile device a better medium for hotel check-in and access control system. Despite mobile device is very convenient and easy to operate, guests would have to own the specific type of mobile device such as near-field communication smartphone and its customized application before using the system. This makes the solution not user-friendly to guests. Therefore, a novel encrypted quick response scheme is presented to extend the existing SST to unify the process of check-in and room access control. The proposed scheme uses quick response codes and cryptography techniques to generate secure hotel keys that can be printed or stored inside a smartphone, thus, supporting a wide range of guests.
Population Structure and Fruit Production of Carapa guianensis (Andiroba) in Amazonian Floodplain Forests
Authors: Londres Marina , Schulze Mark , Staudhammer Christina L. , Kainer Karen A.
Published: November 2017

Andiroba ( Carapa guianensis) is a multiple-use tree species that plays a crucial socioeconomic role across thousands of Amazonian traditional and indigenous communities. In the floodplain forests of the Amazon estuary, we partnered with local forest managers to investigate C. guianensis ecological parameters, addressing seed production rates, tree density, and size class structure across a range of environmental conditions and forest use history. C. guianensis population structure was measured in three forest types: baixio, restinga, and terra preta, differentiated by tidal influence, species dominance and composition, and edaphic conditions. We found significant differences across forest types, whereby seedling and sapling densities were higher in terra preta and adult densities were higher in baixio. Adult densities were 28.7, 23.0, and 19.5 trees/ha, and seedling densities were 22.9, 105, and 151 trees/ha in baixio, restinga, and terra preta forest types, respectively. Seed production rates varied significantly across forest types, year, size class, crown form, and crown illumination. There were higher numbers of viable seeds in terra preta versus baixio (5.5 kg and 2.6 seeds/tree/year, respectively) as well as more trees with better crown forms, more light, and larger diameter sizes. Long-term patterns of community timber management intensity by forest type significantly influenced both population structure and population-level seed production. Nonetheless, assessment of seed production for the total population suggests that the local community was collecting less than 1% of the viable C. guianensis seeds produced annually within community forest lands. This study illustrates the potential of management to impact the sustainability of an important multiple use species and shows the impact that community conservation planning and action can have on future natural resource availability.
Nursing care using KT (Kuchi-kara Taberu) index radar chart enabling elderly patients with dysphagia to live like human beings after initiating gastrostomy feeding
Authors: Aruga Yumiko , Saito Ayako , Aoki Yuji
Published: November 2017

Some patients with severe dysphagia need to undergo percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (gastrostomy feeding), which improves nutrition but leads them to feel they are not living like human beings. The KT (Kuchi-kara Taberu, or ingesting orally in Japanese) index was developed in order to comprehensively assess and intervene in problems with eating and swallowing. We present three cases where the KT index improved quality of life after gastrostomy feeding. Through continued nursing care using the KT index, the patient in Case 1 was able to eat orally again; the patient in Case 2 could eat a piece of jelly and communicate a little; and the patient in Case 3 was able to ingest a small amount of food orally, with support from her husband. Thus, the feeding support provided by the KT index radar chart improves quality of life, even after the implementation of gastrostomy feeding. Further studies are needed to investigate how the KT index best helps elderly patients with severe dysphagia live like human beings while taking into account the perspectives of patients and their family members.
‘The Masters of War’: Finding ways to talk about the First World War today
Authors: O’Connor Peter
Published: November 2017

This article sets out to challenge conventional descriptions and explanations of war and teaching about war. It draws on raw data from three qualitative arts-based projects to illustrate the complexity of cognitive and affective understandings of the place of war, past, present and future, through the jarring dissonance of ‘mash-up’ – a strategy that deliberately juxtaposes text from varying sources on top, around and side-by-side with other text. It is best read aloud – more than once.
Differences in symptoms, first medical contact and pre-hospital delay times between patients with ST- and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction
Authors: Ängerud Karin H , Sederholm Lawesson Sofia , Isaksson Rose-Marie , Thylén Ingela , Swahn Eva
Published: November 2017

Aim:

In ST-elevation myocardial infarction, time to reperfusion is crucial for the prognosis. Symptom presentation in myocardial infarction influences pre-hospital delay times but studies about differences in symptoms between patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction are sparse and inconclusive. The aim was to compare symptoms, first medical contact and pre-hospital delay times in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

Methods and results:

This multicentre, observational study included 694 myocardial infarction patients from five hospitals. The patients filled in a questionnaire about their pre-hospital experiences within 24 h of hospital admittance. Chest pain was the most common symptom in ST-elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (88.7 vs 87.0%, p=0.56). Patients with cold sweat (odds ratio 3.61, 95% confidence interval 2.29–5.70), jaw pain (odds ratio 2.41, 95% confidence interval 1.04–5.58), and nausea (odds ratio 1.70, 95% confidence interval 1.01–2.87) were more likely to present with ST-elevation myocardial infarction, whereas the opposite was true for symptoms that come and go (odds ratio 0.58, 95% confidence interval 0.38-0.90) or anxiety (odds ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.29–0.92). Use of emergency medical services was higher among patients admitted with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. The pre-hospital delay time from symptom onset to first medical contact was significantly longer in non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (2:05 h vs 1:10 h, p=0.001).

Conclusion:

Patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction differed from those with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction regarding symptom presentation, ambulance utilisation and pre-hospital delay times. This knowledge is important to be aware of for all healthcare personnel and the general public especially in order to recognise symptoms suggestive of ST-elevation myocardial infarction and when to decide if there is a need for an ambulance.
Persistence of bone voids after calcaneal bone-graft harvest
Authors: Nwankwo Eugene C , Grimes Jerry S
Published: November 2017

Objectives:

The complications associated with iliac crest bone-graft harvest have resulted in the development of alternative harvest sites. Lower extremity alternative sites that have been reported for foot and ankle procedures include greater trochanter, proximal tibia, distal tibia, and calcaneus. These sites have been studied in terms of complications, postoperative pain, and quality of the harvested bone. The long-term effect of the harvest on the bone of the calcaneus has not been reported.

Methods:

Case report on incidental CT imaging 4 years after bone graft harvest from the calcaneus.

Results:

This case demonstrates the failure of the calcaneal trabecular bone to regenerate after harvesting cancellous bone graft for foot fusion procedure.

Conclusions:

The calcaneal graft site should not be used for a repeat bone-graft harvest without advanced imaging to confirm reconstitution of the harvest bed.
Surgical management of extensive hypertrophic scarring of the halluces secondary to a decade of untreated onychocryptosis: An illustrative case report
Authors: Samaras Dean J , Kingsford Andrew C
Published: November 2017

Extensive hypertrophic scarring of the halluces secondary to chronic onychocryptosis is a rare condition, which causes significant physical and psychosocial effects. In this case, a 31-year-old male developed large lesions on both great toes after he delayed treatment of chronic hallucal onychocryptosis for over a decade. Current treatment options for hypertrophic and keloid lesions in the foot and ankle vary considerably and differentiation is critical for appropriate treatment planning. In this case, surgical excision with total matrixectomy (modified Zadik–Syme) was considered optimal management. Histopathology testing confirmed the diagnosis of irritated hypertrophic scar secondary to onychocryptosis. The patient was monitored closely and at 3 months post-operatively, the incisional scars exhibited progressive maturation, and there was no recurrence of the lesions and no nail regrowth. Furthermore, the halluces were only marginally shorter providing good function and cosmesis. At the long-term follow-up consultation (5.5 years), the patient indicated complete satisfaction and had returned to regular footwear and social activities. Chronic onychocryptosis can trigger and facilitate proliferation of large benign keloid-like fibrous lesions; excision with total matrixectomy can provide an excellent long-term outcome.
The impact of elite frames and motivated reasoning on beliefs in a global warming conspiracy: The promise and limits of trust
Authors: Saunders Kyle L
Published: November 2017

Given the potential attitudinal and behavioral impact of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) conspiracy beliefs, it is important to understand their causes and moderators. Here, two explanations for the variation in these beliefs are engaged: the first is the choice among elites to frame AGW using the phrase ‘global warming’ (GW) as opposed to ‘climate change’ (CC); the second is partisan motivated reasoning. A theory is then developed about the role of trust in moderating the impact of the two frames on AGW conspiracy beliefs. In the case of CC, which is perceived as less severe than GW (and is therefore less identity threatening among Republicans), it is hypothesized that trust will moderate hoax beliefs among Republicans. In the case of GW, where the implications of existence beliefs have policy consequences that are more unpleasant, motivated reasoning will ‘win out’, and trust will not moderate conspiracy endorsement among Republicans. The results from an original question framing experiment are consistent with the author’s hypotheses. Whilst trust is a welcome commodity to those looking to persuade citizens to support AGW-ameliorating policies, it is not a cure-all, especially in the face of elite partisan cues that edify pre-existing attitudes/identities and arouse a strong desire to engage in motivated reasoning.
How oil income and missing hydrocarbon rents data influence autocratic survival: A response to Lucas and Richter (2016)
Authors: Wright Joseph , Frantz Erica
Published: November 2017

This paper re-examines the findings from a recently published study on hydrocarbon rents and autocratic survival by Lucas and Richter (LR hereafter). LR introduce a new data set on hydrocarbon rents and use it to examine the link between oil income and autocratic survival. Employing a placebo test, we show that the authors’ strategy for dealing with missingness in the new hydrocarbon rents data set – filling in missing data with zeros – creates bias in the reported estimates of interest. Addressing missingness with multiple imputation shows that the LR findings linking oil rents to democratization do not hold. Instead, we find that hydrocarbon rents reduce the chances of transition to a new dictatorship, consistent with the conclusions of Wright et al.
Forecasting Dutch elections: An initial model from the March 2017 legislative contests
Authors: Dassonneville Ruth , Lewis-Beck Michael S. , Mongrain Philippe
Published: November 2017

Serious election forecasting has become a routine activity in most Western democracies, with various methodologies employed, for example, polls, models, prediction markets, and citizen forecasting. In the Netherlands, however, election forecasting has limited itself to the use of polls, mainly because other approaches are viewed as too complicated, given the great fragmentation of the Dutch party system. Here we challenge this view, offering the first structural forecasting model of legislative elections there. We find that a straightforward Political Economy equation managed an accurate forecast of the 2017 contest, clearly besting the efforts of the pollsters.
Twitter and Encountering Diversity: The Moderating Role of Network Diversity and Age in the Relationship Between Twitter Use and Crosscutting Exposure
Authors: Park Chang Sup , Kaye Barbara K.
Published: November 2017

This article investigates whether Twitter use motivations relate to exposure to discordant information. To this end, this research conducted an online survey of 1,350 adults of South Korea. The results reveal that using Twitter for information-seeking, public-expression, and leisure-seeking purposes helps users to encounter crosscutting exposure, while the use of Twitter for private expression does not. Offline network diversity has a significant association with crosscutting exposure, and it moderates the relationship between Twitter use for public expression or leisure seeking and crosscutting exposure. The positive association between Twitter use for leisure seeking and crosscutting exposure is stronger among younger people than among older people.
Risk Factors for Mortality in Reoperations for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery in a Developing Country
Authors: Villa-Hincapie Carlos A. , Carreno-Jaimes Marisol , Obando-Lopez Carlos E. , Camacho-Mackenzie Jaime , Umaña-Mallarino Juan P. , Sandoval-Reyes Nestor F.
Published: November 2017

Background:

The survival of patients with congenital heart disease has increased in the recent years, because of enhanced diagnostic capabilities, better surgical techniques, and improved perioperative care. Many patients will require reoperation as part of staged procedures or to treat grafts deterioration and residual or recurrent lesions. Reoperations favor the formation of cardiac adhesions and consequently increase surgery time; however, the impact on morbidity and operative mortality is certain. The objective of the study was to describe the risk factors for mortality in pediatric patients undergoing a reoperation for congenital heart disease.

Methods:

Historic cohort of patients who underwent reoperation after pediatric cardiac surgery from January 2009 to December 2015. Operations with previous surgical approach different to sternotomy were excluded from the analysis.

Results:

In seven years, 3,086 surgeries were performed, 481 were reoperations, and 238 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Mean number of prior surgeries was 1.4 ± 0.6. Median age at the time of reoperation was 6.4 years. The most common surgical procedures were staged palliation for functionally univentricular heart (17.6%). Median cross-clamp time was 66 minutes. Younger age at the moment of resternotomy, longer cross-clamp time, and Society of Thoracic Surgeons–European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Congenital Heart Surgery (STAT) Mortality Categories risk category greater than three were risk factors for mortality. The number of resternotomies was not associated with mortality. Mortality prior to hospital discharge was 4.6%, and mortality after discharge but prior to 30 days after surgery was 0.54%. Operative mortality was 5.1%.

Conclusions:

Resternotomy in pediatric cardiac surgery is a safe procedure in our center.