bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Crescentic postinfectious glomerulonephritis in an adult patient with juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma
Authors: Manalili Sheryll Anne , So Paolo Nikolai , Naidas Maria Ana Louise , Villanueva Anthony Russell
Published: April 2021

Crescentic glomerulonephritis is usually associated with an acute nephritic syndrome with rapidly declining renal function. Postinfectious cases usually have a higher possibility of recovery. Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is a rare, locally aggressive tumour affecting mostly young men. A 28-year-old man presented with recurrent JNA initially excised 2 years prior. The patient was initially managed as a case of airway obstruction and pneumonia. He developed tea-coloured urine, oedema and acute kidney failure requiring dialysis while awaiting surgery. Urine and immunological studies (low C3, negative antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody and antinucleosomal antibody and high antistreptolysin O) suggested a nephritic aetiology. Nasopharyngeal swab cultures of the mass revealed gram-negative organisms. Kidney biopsy showed diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis compatible with a postinfectious glomerulonephritis with 77% cellular crescents. The mass was excised with histopathology consistent with JNA. The patient was eventually discharged off dialysis.
Kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 convalescent plasma transfusion in patients with severe respiratory failure: an observational case–control study
Authors: Klein Matthew N , Wang Elizabeth Wenqian , Zimand Paul , Beauchamp Heather , Donis Caitlin , Ward Matthew D , Martinez-Hernandez Aidaelis , Tabatabai Ali , Baddley John W , Bloch Evan M , Mullins Kristin E , Fontaine Magali J
Published: April 2021

Aims

While the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic may be contained through vaccination, transfusion of convalescent plasma (CCP) from individuals who recovered from COVID-19 (CCP) is considered an alternative treatment. We investigate if CCP transfusion in patients with severe respiratory failure increases plasma titres of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and improves clinical outcomes.

Methods

Patients with COVID-19 (n=34) were consented for CCP transfusion and serial blood draws pretransfusion and post-transfusion. Plasma SARS-CoV-2 antireceptor binding domain (RBD) IgG and IgM titres were measured by ELISA serially, and compared with serial plasma titre levels from control patients (n=68). The primary outcome was survival at 30 days, and secondary outcomes were length of ventilator and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support, length of stay (LOS) in the hospital and in the intensive care unit (ICU). Outcomes were compared with matched control patients (n=34). Kinetics of antibodies and clinical outcomes were compared using LOess regression and ORs, respectively.

Results

Prior to CCP transfusion, 74% of patients were anti-RBD seropositive for IgG (median 1:3200), and 81% were anti-RBD IgM seropositive (median 1:320), while 16% were seronegative. The kinetics of antibody titres in CCP recipients were similar to controls. CCP recipients presented with similar survival, duration on ventilatory and/or ECMO support, as well as ICU and hospital LOS compared with controls.

Conclusions

CCP transfusion did not increase the kinetics of SARS-CoV2 antibodies and did not result in improved clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 with severe respiratory failure, suggesting that CCP may not be indicated in this category of patients.
‘Creative Ferment’: abortion and reproductive agency in Bessie Head’sPersonal Choicestrilogy
Authors: Stobie Caitlin E
Published: April 2021

Using original archival research from Amazwi South African Museum of Literature, this article examines representations of abortion in three novels by Bessie Head:When Rain Clouds Gather(1968),Maru(1971) andA Question of Power(1973). I argue that Bessie Head documents both changing attitudes to terminations of pregnancy and dramatic environmental, medical, and sociopolitical developments during southern Africa’s liberation struggles. Furthermore, her fictional writing queers materialism and its traditionally gender-dichotomous origins, presenting an understanding of development which exceeds temporal or national boundaries. Her treatment of human reproduction in both tangible and figurative terms disrupts teleological definitions of exile: separation and loss, rendered through literal and metaphorical abortions, are seen as inherently vital processes for gaining agency in post/colonial southern Africa. Instead of using discourse from contemporary debates about freedom and choice, which are often polarised, I use the term ‘reproductive agency’ to refer to a continuum of ethical presentness, rooted in considering women’s desires. My literary analysis explicitly concentrates on Head’s biological imagery of growth and separation and how this ruptures repronormative discourse underpinning colonial expansion in southern Africa. I refer to Head’s ethical outlook as a critical form of humanism. My understanding of critical humanism differs from humanism proper in that it relies on queer associations: both queerness as strangeness, and queerness as resistance to categorisation (much like Head’s critiques of essentialist national identities). Adapting new materialist theories with postcolonial scholarship, I coin the term ‘queer vitality’ to argue that abortion involves both tragedy and desire, and that southern African feminist fiction functions as postcolonial theory when the concept of reproductive agency is understood to encompass both individual and collective desires. In Head’s words, in her creative worlds, abortion does not signal the ending of a life, but rather a plethora of new possibilities.
The mediated discourse and voice of euthanasia: the Israeli media as a case study
Authors: Shomron Baruch
Published: April 2021

Euthanasia is an important social and quality of life issue. However, it is highly controversial and thus continuously debated especially given its legitimacy and legality differ between countries. Little is known about the role media plays concerning this topic. To fill this gap, this study applies a mixed methods approach to a case study of Israeli media, including a quantitative content analysis of news articles (to measure the discourse of ‘civil participation’), a thematic analysis of news articles (to examine the ‘voice’) and a quantitative content analysis of Facebook comments (to measure ‘being heard’). Results indicate that while the media highly enables the media capability of ‘voice’ (both ‘voicing’ and ‘being heard’), it limits the media capability of ‘civil participation’ to a narrow array of discourse, hindering the social debate. These results reveal the role the media plays regarding euthanasia, integral to individuals’ quality of life through the realisation of their media capabilities, and in relation to the act of euthanasia itself.
Local characteristics of the standing genetic diversity of European beech with high within-region differentiation at the eastern part of the range
Authors: Höhn M. , Major E. , Avdagić A. , Bielak K. , Bosela M. , Coll L. , Dinca L. , Giammarchi F. , Ibrahimspahić A. , Mataruga M. , Pach M. , Uhl E. , Zlatanov T. , Cseke K. , Kovács Zs. , Palla B. , Ladányi M. , Heinze B.
Published: April 2021

Developing “climate smart forestry” (CSF) indicators in mountain forest regions requires collection and evaluation of local data and their attributes. Genetic resources are listed among the core indicators for forest biological diversity. This study is a report on the evaluation of the standing genetic diversity within and across 12 pure beech stands (Fagus sylvatica L.) established within the CLIMO (CLImate Smart Forestry in MOuntain Regions) project, using nuclear microsatellite markers. The sampling sites were set along the species’ distribution range, including the Balkan region and extending towards the Iberian Peninsula. Cores or leaves from 20 to 23 old, mature trees per plot were sampled for DNA analysis. Genetic diversity indices were high across the range (HE = 0.74−0.81) with the highest in the Bosnian Mountains. Genetic divergence increased significantly with the geographical distance (Mantel test: r = 0.81, p < 0.001). Most of the stands exhibited an excess of heterozygotes, with the highest value at the Hungarian site (HO/HE = 1.177), where beech persists close to the eastern xeric limit of the species’ distribution. STRUCTURE revealed within-region differentiation in the Balkan Peninsula, where the Bulgarian stand was the most outstanding. The genetic parameters of each stand could be assessed as a resource for CSF indicators interpreted especially at the local level.
Hawking evaporation of Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet AdS black holes in $$D\geqslant 4$$ dimensions
Authors: Wu Chen-Hao , Hu Ya-Peng , Xu Hao
Published: April 2021

Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet theory is a string-generated gravity theory when approaching the low energy limit. By introducing the higher order curvature terms, this theory is supposed to help to solve the black hole singularity problem. In this work, we investigate the evaporation of the static spherically symmetric neutral AdS black holes in Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity in various spacetime dimensions with both positive and negative coupling constant $$\alpha $$
α
. By summarizing the asymptotic behavior of the evaporation process, we find the lifetime of the black holes is dimensional dependent. For $$\alpha >0$$

α
>
0

, in $$D\geqslant 6$$

D
⩾
6

cases, the black holes will be completely evaporated in a finite time, which resembles the Schwarzschild-AdS case in Einstein gravity. While in $$D=4,5$$

D
=
4
,
5

cases, the black hole lifetime is always infinite, which means the black hole becomes a remnant in the late time. Remarkably, the cases of $$\alpha >0, D=4,5$$

α
>
0
,
D
=
4
,
5

will solve the terminal temperature divergent problem of the Schwarzschild-AdS case. For $$\alpha <0$$

α
<
0

, in all dimensions, the black hole will always spend a finite time to a minimal mass corresponding to the smallest horizon radius $$r_{min}=\sqrt{2|\alpha |}$$

r

min

=

2
|
α
|

which coincide with an additional singularity. This implies that there may exist constraint conditions to the choice of coupling constant.
Ill-Posedness Determination of Moving Force Identification and Parameters Selection for Regularization Methods
Authors: Chen Zhen , Sun Pudong , Chan Tommy H. T. , Yu Ling
Published: April 2021

Moving force identification (MFI) from dynamic responses of bridges is a typical inverse problem with ill-posedness. Under the efforts of researchers, some regularization methods have been presented to solve the ill-posed problem, but there still lacks an effective index to reveal the ill-posedness of the vehicle–bridge dynamic system such that it can be utilized as a guidance for the regularization parameter selection. In this paper, an ill-posedness indicator (IPI) defined as the ratio of the Fourier coefficient to the singular value is adopted to reveal the ill-posedness in the MFI problem. Simulation results show that the larger the IPI value is, the more obvious the ill-posedness of the vehicle–bridge system equation, namely, the intrinsic factor of ill-posedness in MFI is attributed to very large IPI value. The maximum IPI value increases with the increasing noise level, which leads directly to the ill-posedness of the vehicle–bridge system equation. In addition, a relative percentage error (RPE) is used to select the optimal regularization parameters, while evaluating the ill-posedness existing in the MFI. Using the proposed IPI value, the influence of ill-posedness on identified results is evaluated in this study, which can assist qualitatively and quantitatively in selecting optimal regularization parameters and proper regularization methods.
A Two-Stage PAN-Sharpening Algorithm Based on Sparse Representation for Spectral Distortion Reduction
Authors: Gogineni Rajesh , Sangani Dhara J.
Published: April 2021

Inspite of technological advancement, inherent processing capability of current age sensors limits the desired details in the acquired image for variety of remote sensing applications. Pan-sharpening is a prominent scheme to integrate the essential spatial details inferred from panchromatic (PAN) image and the desired spectral information of multispectral (MS) image. This paper presents an effective two-stage pan-sharpening method to produce high resolution multispectral (HRMS) image. The proposed method is based on the premise that the HRMS image can be formulated as an amalgam of spectral and spatial components. The spectral components are estimated by processing the interpolated MS image with a filter approximated with modulation transfer function (MTF) of the sensor. Sparse representation theory is adapted to construct the spatial components. The high-frequency details extracted from the PAN image and its low resolution variant are utilized to construct dual dictionaries. The dictionaries are jointly learned by an efficient training algorithm to enhance the adaptability. The hypothesis of sparse coefficients invariance over scales is also incorporated to reckon the appropriate spatial information. Further, an iterative filtering mechanism is developed to enhance the quality of fused image. Four distinct datasets generated from QuickBird, IKONOS, Pléiades and WorldView-2 sensors are used for experimentation. The comprehensive assessment at reduced-scale and full-scale persuade the effectiveness of proposed method in the retention of spectral information and intensification of the spatial details.
Intercept/resend and translucent attacks on the quantum key distribution protocol based on the pre- and post-selection effect
Authors: Azuma Hiroo , Ban Masashi
Published: April 2021

We investigate the security against the intercept/resend and translucent attacks on the quantum key distribution protocol based on the pre- and post-selection effect. In 2001, Bub proposed the quantum cryptography scheme, which was an application of the so-called mean king’s problem. We evaluate a probability that legitimate users cannot detect eavesdropper’s malicious acts for Bub’s protocol. We also estimate a probability that the eavesdropper guesses right at the random secret key one of the legitimate users tries to share with the other one. From rigorous mathematical and numerical analyses, we conclude that Bub’s protocol is weaker than the Bennett–Brassard protocol of 1984 (BB84) against both the intercept/resend and translucent attacks. Because Bub’s protocol uses a two-way quantum channel, the analyses of its security are tough to accomplish. We refer to their technical points accurately in the current paper. For example, we impose some constraints upon the eavesdropper’s strategies in order to let their degrees of freedom be small.
Performance of reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution in underwater channel
Authors: Sun Zhongqi , Wang Jipeng , Li Zhenhua , Qu Wenxiu , Dou Tianqi , Zhou Fen , Ma Haiqiang
Published: April 2021

During free-space quantum key distribution, the rotation and fluctuation of reference frame degrades the performance of quantum key distribution (QKD). Reference-frame-independent QKD (RFI-QKD) overcomes this issue effectively. To date, much theoretical and experimental research has been conducted on the performance of free-space RFI-QKD. However, these studies are all based on free-space air and satellite ground, and none have investigated the performance of RFI-QKD in an underwater channel. Therefore, this paper constructed a channel model that considered both scattering and optical attenuation to obtain an RFI-QKD secret key rate in an underwater channel. The simulation results confirm that even in a relatively harsh underwater scenario, RFI-QKD maintains good performance.
Path to Success and Future Impact of Nucleic Acid Vaccines: DNA and mRNA
Authors: Ulmer Jeffrey B. , Liu Margaret A.
Published: April 2021

The rapid development of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 has both astonished the world and raised concerns about their safety, perhaps because many people do not realize the decades’ long efforts for nucleic acid vaccines, both mRNA and DNA vaccines, including the licensure of several veterinary DNA vaccines. This manuscript traces the milestones for nucleic acid vaccine research and development (R&D), with a focus on the immune and safety issues they both raised and answered. The characteristics of the two entities are compared, demonstrating the similarities and differences between them, the advantages and disadvantages, which might lead toward using one or the other technology for different indications. In addition, as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has once again highlighted the importance of One Health, that is, the interactions between animal and human pathogens, focus will also be given to how DNA vaccine utilization and studies both in large domestic animals and in wildlife pave the way for more integrated approaches for vaccines to respond quickly to, and prevent, the global impacts of emerging diseases.
Scoresbysund Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element, East Greenland Rifted Margin, Denmark Strait
Authors: Fyhn Michael B. W.
Published: April 2021

The little explored central East Greenland margin contains thick sedimentary accumulations confined within the Scoresbysund Basin. The geological evolution of the area distinguishes it from other parts of East Greenland. Even so, resemblances with the prospective basins onshore and offshore further north probably exist, and the margin may hold real petroleum potential. The Scoresbysund Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element (CTSE) delineates the oldest part of the Scoresbysund Basin. It formed through multiple phases of rifting, volcanism, uplift and thermal subsidence between Devonian and Miocene times. The development of the CTSE concluded with the latest Oligocene or early Miocene continental break-up of the Jan Mayen microcontinent and East Greenland. The Scoresbysund CTSE contains approximately 4 km of Eocene–lower Miocene fan-delta deposits that accumulated during downfaulting along the East Greenland Escarpment and which further seawards intercalate with basalts. The fan-delta deposits rest on Paleocene basalts that most probably cover Paleozoic–Mesozoic strata. Equivalent to onshore, the deeply buried section probably includes source rock and reservoir intervals of Carboniferous, Permian and Mesozoic age. Together with the major fault structures existing in the western part of the area, this may form the basis for a working petroleum system.
CO
2
mineral trapping comparison in different regions: predicted geochemical reactivity of the Precipice Sandstone reservoir and overlying Evergreen Formation
Authors: Pearce J. K. , La Croix A. D. , Brink F. J. , Hayes P. J. , Underschultz J. R.
Published: April 2021

Injected CO
2
streams may have geochemical reactivity to different rock types in a CO
2
storage complex depending on solubility and formation water chemistry. The Precipice Sandstone and Evergreen Formation are a low-salinity reservoir–seal pair in the Surat Basin, Australia, targeted for potential CO
2
storage. The kinetic geochemical CO
2
reactivity of different rock facies from three regions were predicted over 30 and 1000 year time periods. No material CO
2
mineral trapping in the quartz-rich Precipice Sandstone reservoir was predicted, owing to the low rock reactivity. Predicted CO
2
mineral trapping in the Evergreen Formation was more variable due to different amounts of more reactive feldspars, clays, calcite and siderite. Predicted mineral trapping as siderite and ankerite was between 0.03 and 8.4 kg m
−3
CO
2
, and mainly depends on chlorite and plagioclase content. Predicted pH was between 5 and 7.5 after 1000 years. Pyrite precipitation was also predicted with SO
2
present in the injectate. QEMSCAN and SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy) spot imaging of samples from the seal containing natural fractures filled by siderite, pyrite, clays, ankerite, calcite, barite and apatite represent a natural analogue for natural mineral trapping. These are in good agreement with our model predictions. This study suggests that, from a geochemical perspective, the Precipice Sandstone is a suitable storage reservoir, whereas mineral trapping would occur in the overlying Evergreen Formation.

Supplementary material:
Additional model inputs, characterization and model images, and an excel file of QEMSCAN mineral and porosity components, are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5395393

Thematic collection:
This article is part of the Geoscience for CO
2
storage collection available at:
https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/geoscience-for-co2-storage
Playing Design
Authors: Benito-Santos Alejandro , Dorn Amelie , Gómez Antonio G. Losada , Palfinger Thomas , Sánchez Roberto Therón , Wandl-Vogt Eveline
Published: April 2021

This article reports on the experience of co-designing an educational video game aimed at promoting good dietary habits in youngsters and fostering Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). To ensure the quality of the results, we developed a methodology under a social innovation paradigm that enabled the co-creation of the game. The methodology was driven by a series of three workshops, during which we adopted several different gamification strategies to support a Participatory Design (PD) process with the stakeholders, a group of local pre-teen and teen girls at social risk (N = 22). Captured requirements materialized into intermediate prototype evaluations that motivated a progressive refinement of the game.
The Bryn Celli Ddu Minecraft Experience
Authors: Edwards B. , Edwards B. B. , Griffiths S. , Reynolds F. F. , Stanford A. , Woods M.
Published: April 2021

This article explores the technical and interpretative issues surrounding the creation of a Minecraft Education Edition world for use by primary age school children (5–11 years). The project team undertook to create a Minecraft version of the prehistoric landscape surrounding the Neolithic passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom. The workflow described here details the process from the initial aims of the project, designed to integrate heritage and STEM education; through the processing of lidar data to create the topography of the world; through the archaeological reconstruction; and then final release. An understanding of the workflow is particularly important for researchers and educators because the successful delivery of our aims resulted in a number of technical obstacles inherent in creating a Minecraft world when a designer is required to navigate several versions of the program—Java architecture, C++ architecture, and the Education Edition—and explains workarounds developed to overcome these issues. The article also considers the interpretative compromises required to translate complex archaeological remains into an accessible and engaging experience for school children set within the strictures of a program that allows a maximum physical resolution of a 1 × 1 m voxel block.
A Side-Channel-Resistant Implementation of SABER
Authors: Beirendonck Michiel Van , D’anvers Jan-Pieter , Karmakar Angshuman , Balasch Josep , Verbauwhede Ingrid
Published: April 2021

The candidates for the NIST Post-Quantum Cryptography standardization have undergone extensive studies on efficiency and theoretical security, but research on their side-channel security is largely lacking. This remains a considerable obstacle for their real-world deployment, where side-channel security can be a critical requirement. This work describes a side-channel-resistant instance of Saber, one of the lattice-based candidates, using masking as a countermeasure. Saber proves to be very efficient to masking due to two specific design choices: power-of-two moduli and limited noise sampling of learning with rounding. A major challenge in masking lattice-based cryptosystems is the integration of bit-wise operations with arithmetic masking, requiring algorithms to securely convert between masked representations. The described design includes a novel primitive for masked logical shifting on arithmetic shares and adapts an existing masked binomial sampler for Saber. An implementation is provided for an ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller, and its side-channel resistance is experimentally demonstrated. The masked implementation features a 2.5x overhead factor, significantly lower than the 5.7x previously reported for a masked variant of NewHope. Masked key decapsulation requires less than 3,000,000 cycles on the Cortex-M4 and consumes less than 12kB of dynamic memory, making it suitable for deployment in embedded platforms.
A Hybrid Model for Named Entity Recognition on Chinese Electronic Medical Records
Authors: Wang Yu , Sun Yining , Ma Zuchang , Gao Lisheng , Xu Yang
Published: April 2021

Electronic medical records (EMRs) contain valuable information about the patients, such as clinical symptoms, diagnostic results, and medications. Named entity recognition (NER) aims to recognize entities from unstructured text, which is the initial step toward the semantic understanding of the EMRs. Extracting medical information from Chinese EMRs could be a more complicated task because of the difference between English and Chinese. Some researchers have noticed the importance of Chinese NER and used the recurrent neural network or convolutional neural network (CNN) to deal with this task. However, it is interesting to know whether the performance could be improved if the advantages of the RNN and CNN can be both utilized. Moreover, RoBERTa-WWM, as a pre-training model, can generate the embeddings with word-level features, which is more suitable for Chinese NER compared with Word2Vec. In this article, we propose a hybrid model. This model first obtains the entities identified by bidirectional long short-term memory and CNN, respectively, and then uses two hybrid strategies to output the final results relying on these entities. We also conduct experiments on raw medical records from real hospitals. This dataset is provided by the China Conference on Knowledge Graph and Semantic Computing in 2019 (CCKS 2019). Results demonstrate that the hybrid model can improve performance significantly.
DeepWukong
Authors: Cheng Xiao , Wang Haoyu , Hua Jiayi , Xu Guoai , Sui Yulei
Published: April 2021

Static bug detection has shown its effectiveness in detecting well-defined memory errors, e.g., memory leaks, buffer overflows, and null dereference. However, modern software systems have a wide variety of vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are extremely complicated with sophisticated programming logic, and these bugs are often caused by different bad programming practices, challenging existing bug detection solutions. It is hard and labor-intensive to develop precise and efficient static analysis solutions for different types of vulnerabilities, particularly for those that may not have a clear specification as the traditional well-defined vulnerabilities.

This article presents D
eep
W
ukong
, a new deep-learning-based embedding approach to static detection of software vulnerabilities for C/C++ programs. Our approach makes a new attempt by leveraging advanced recent graph neural networks to embed code fragments in a compact and low-dimensional representation, producing a new code representation that preserves high-level programming logic (in the form of control- and data-flows) together with the natural language information of a program. Our evaluation studies the top 10 most common C/C++ vulnerabilities during the past 3 years. We have conducted our experiments using 105,428 real-world programs by comparing our approach with four well-known traditional static vulnerability detectors and three state-of-the-art deep-learning-based approaches. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our research and have shed light on the promising direction of combining program analysis with deep learning techniques to address the general static code analysis challenges.
Automatic API Usage Scenario Documentation from Technical Q&A Sites
Authors: Uddin Gias , Khomh Foutse , Roy Chanchal K.
Published: April 2021

The online technical Q&A site Stack Overflow (SO) is popular among developers to support their coding and diverse development needs. To address shortcomings in API official documentation resources, several research works have thus focused on augmenting official API documentation with insights (e.g., code examples) from SO. The techniques propose to add code examples/insights about APIs into its official documentation. Recently, surveys of software developers find that developers in SO consider the combination of code examples and reviews about APIs as a form of API documentation, and that they consider such a combination to be more useful than official API documentation when the official resources can be incomplete, ambiguous, incorrect, and outdated. Reviews are opinionated sentences with positive/negative sentiments. However, we are aware of no previous research that attempts to automatically produce API documentation from SO by considering both API code examples and reviews. In this article, we present two novel algorithms that can be used to automatically produce API documentation from SO by combining code examples and reviews towards those examples. The first algorithm is called statistical documentation, which shows the distribution of positivity and negativity around the code examples of an API using different metrics (e.g., star ratings). The second algorithm is called concept-based documentation, which clusters similar and conceptually relevant usage scenarios. An API usage scenario contains a code example, a textual description of the underlying task addressed by the code example, and the reviews (i.e., opinions with positive and negative sentiments) from other developers towards the code example. We deployed the algorithms in Opiner, a web-based platform to aggregate information about APIs from online forums. We evaluated the algorithms by mining all Java JSON-based posts in SO and by conducting three user studies based on produced documentation from the posts. The first study is a survey, where we asked the participants to compare our proposed algorithms against a Javadoc-syle documentation format (called as Type-based documentation in Opiner). The participants were asked to compare along four development scenarios (e.g., selection, documentation). The participants preferred our proposed two algorithms over type-based documentation. In our second user study, we asked the participants to complete four coding tasks using Opiner and the API official and informal documentation resources. The participants were more effective and accurate while using Opiner. In a subsequent survey, more than 80% of participants asked the Opiner documentation platform to be integrated into the formal API documentation to complement and improve the API official documentation.
An Exact Method for the Minimum Feedback Arc Set Problem
Authors: Baharev Ali , Schichl Hermann , Neumaier Arnold , Achterberg Tobias
Published: April 2021

A feedback arc set of a directed graph
G
is a subset of its arcs containing at least one arc of every cycle in
G
. Finding a feedback arc set of minimum cardinality is an NP-hard problem called the
minimum feedback arc set problem
. Numerically, the minimum set cover formulation of the minimum feedback arc set problem is appropriate as long as all simple cycles in
G
can be enumerated. Unfortunately, even those sparse graphs that are important for practical applications often have Ω (2
n
) simple cycles. Here we address precisely such situations: An exact method is proposed for sparse graphs that enumerates simple cycles in a lazy fashion and iteratively extends an incomplete cycle matrix. In all cases encountered so far, only a tractable number of cycles has to be enumerated until a minimum feedback arc set is found. The practical limits of the new method are evaluated on a test set containing computationally challenging sparse graphs, relevant for industrial applications. The 4,468 test graphs are of varying size and density and suitable for testing the scalability of exact algorithms over a wide range.
How Should I Improve the UI of My App?
Authors: Chen Qiuyuan , Chen Chunyang , Hassan Safwat , Xing Zhengchang , Xia Xin , Hassan Ahmed E.
Published: April 2021

UI (User Interface) is an essential factor influencing users’ perception of an app. However, it is hard for even professional designers to determine if the UI is good or not for end-users. Users’ feedback (e.g., user reviews in the Google Play) provides a way for app owners to understand how the users perceive the UI. In this article, we conduct an in-depth empirical study to analyze the UI issues of mobile apps. In particular, we analyze more than 3M UI-related reviews from 22,199 top free-to-download apps and 9,380 top non-free apps in the Google Play Store. By comparing the rating of UI-related reviews and other reviews of an app, we observe that UI-related reviews have lower ratings than other reviews. By manually analyzing a random sample of 1,447 UI-related reviews with a 95% confidence level and a 5% interval, we identify 17 UI-related issues types that belong to four categories (i.e.,
“Appearance,”
“Interaction,”
“Experience,”
and
“Others”
). In these issue types, we find
“Generic Review”
is the most occurring one.
“Comparative Review”
and
“Advertisement”
are the most negative two UI issue types. Faced with these UI issues, we explore the patterns of interaction between app owners and users. We identify eight patterns of how app owners dialogue with users about UI issues by the review-response mechanism. We find
“Apology or Appreciation”
and
“Information Request”
are the most two frequent patterns. We find updating UI timely according to feedback is essential to satisfy users. Besides, app owners could also fix UI issues without updating UI, especially for issue types belonging to
“Interaction”
category. Our findings show that there exists a positive impact if app owners could actively interact with users to improve UI quality and boost users’ satisfactoriness about the UIs.
Ivabradine augments high-frequency dynamic gain of the heart rate response to low- and moderate-intensity vagal nerve stimulation under β-blockade
Authors: Kawada Toru , Yamamoto Hiromi , Uemura Kazunori , Hayama Yohsuke , Nishikawa Takuya , Zheng Can , Li Meihua , Miyamoto Tadayoshi , Sugimachi Masaru
Published: April 2021

Since ivabradine (IVA) inhibits hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channels, interactions among the sympathetic effect, vagal effect, and IVA can occur in the control of heart rate (HR). To remove the sympathetic effect, we estimated the transfer function from vagal nerve stimulation to HR under β-blockade in anesthetized rats. IVA augmented the high-frequency dynamic gain during low- and moderate-intensity vagal nerve stimulation. Untethering the hyperpolarizing effect of acetylcholine-sensitive potassium channels after IVA may be a possible underlying mechanism.
Preparation and Characterization of Functionalized Cellulose Nanomaterials (CNMs) for Pb(II) Ions Removal from Wastewater
Authors: Tsade Hizkeal , Anshebo Sisay Tadesse , Sabir Fedlu Kedir
Published: April 2021

Due to their remarkable properties, cellulose nanomaterials are emerging materials for wastewater (WW) treatment. In this study, both pristine cellulose nanomaterial (CNM) and sodium periodate modified cellulose nanomaterial (NaIO4-CNM) were prepared from the stem of the Erythrina brucei plant for the removal of Pb(II) ions from WW. As-prepared CNMs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis with differential thermogravimetry (TGA-DTG) analysis. The as-prepared and characterized CNMs were tested for the removal of Pb(II) ions from secondary run-off wastewater (SERWW). Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were certainly fixed to a maximum Pb(II) ions uptake capability (Qmax) of 91.74 and 384.62 mg g−1 by CNM and NaIO4-CNM adsorbents, respectively. The pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetics model was well fitted to the uptake process. Results revealed that the percentage removal (%R) of Pb(II) ions was decreased by the presence of nitrogen and organic matter, but not affected by the presence of phosphorous in SERWW. Due to its high efficiency, NaIO4-CNM was selected for the regeneration study. The regeneration study was conducted after desorption of Pb(II) ions from the adsorbent by the addition of HCl, and the regenerated sorbent was reused as an adsorbent for at least 13 successive cycles. The results indicated excellent recycling capabilities, and the adsorbent was used as adsorbing material for the removal of Pb(II) ions from SERWW after 13 successive cycles without significant efficient loss.
The Effect of Luteolin and Luteoloside on the Secondary Structure of Lysozyme
Authors: Wu Yu , Cui Lijian , Qu Lingling , Wang Rong , Chen Ning , Huang Yun , Zhang Yan , Lv Pin
Published: April 2021

The changes of lysozyme conformation in the absence and presence of luteolin and luteoloside were investigated by spectral analysis including fluorescence, UV, CD, Raman, and ATR-FTIR, and the biological activity of lysozyme was investigated by lysozyme assay kit. The results showed that the microenvironment hydrophobicity of lysozyme increased and peptide extension decreased with the addition of luteolin or luteoloside. The α-helix of lysozyme might be influenced by luteolin or luteoloside, and its relative content had a significant difference after adding luteolin or luteoloside by the ATR-FTIR method, which was reconfirmed by CD and Raman spectra. The lysozyme activity changed obviously after adding luteolin or luteoloside. All of the conclusions above indicated the active site of lysozyme in the α-helix might be influenced by luteolin and luteoloside.
[Retracted] Effects of Tai Chi on Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Lin Run , Cui Shaoyang , Yang Juan , Yang Huijun , Feng Zitong , Wahner-Roedler Dietlind L. , Zhou Xuan , Salinas Manisha , Mallory Molly J. , Do Alexander , Bublitz Sara E. , Chon Tony Y. , Tang Chunzhi , Bauer Brent A. , Xu Mingzhu
Published: April 2021

Background and Purpose. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a common condition, which threatens the quality of life of older adults. Tai Chi (TC) is growing in popularity among patients with MCI. This study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness and safety of TC in older adults with MCI. Design. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from multiple databases from inception to December 2020 published in English were searched. Two researchers independently performed eligible study screening and data extraction. The methodological quality was assessed with the Jadad score. Meta‐analysis of RCTs on TC in the treatment of MCI was performed with RevMan Version 5.4.1. Results. Seven RCTs with 1265 participants were included. For most RCTs, the overall reporting of methodological quality was high. Results of the meta‐analysis indicate that TC improved MCI patients’ cognitive function significantly, including overall cognitive function (MD = −2.24, 95% CI ‐3.51 to ‐0.97, P = 0.0005), memory and learning (SMD = 0.83, 95% CI 0.22 to 1.45, P = 0.008), visuospatial ability (MD = 3.15, 95% CI 0.74 to 5.56, P = 0.01), executive functions (MD = 0.32, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.61, P = 0.03), and physical activity (MD = 18.78, 95% CI 10.80 to 26.76, P < 0.00001). However, no significant benefit was found for TC on psychological activity (MD = 0.17, 95% CI ‐0.62 to 0.96, P = 0.36) and biomarker improvement. Conclusion. The meta‐analysis confirmed the clinical therapeutic effect of TC for MCI. More rigorous and long‐term follow‐up RCTs should be conducted in the future.
Three-Band Simulation of the
g
-Factor of an Electron in an InAs Quantum Well in Strong Magnetic Fields
Authors: Gulyamov G. , Abdulazizov B. T. , Baymatov P. J.
Published: April 2021

The results of calculations of the Landau level and cyclotron

g

-electron factor in strong magnetic fields in an InAs quantum well based on both the three-band and two-band models are presented. The calculations were performed in the approximation of infinity of the depth of the quantum well, taking into account the Landau level of the second subband. It is shown that the three-band model satisfactorily describes the experimental data.
Clinical Significance of Isolated Third Cranial Nerve Palsy in Traumatic Brain Injury: A Detailed Description of Four Different Mechanisms of Injury through the Analysis of Our Case Series and Review of the Literature
Authors: Uberti Micaela , Hasan Shumaila , Holmes David , Ganau Mario , Uff Chris
Published: April 2021

Third cranial nerve palsy (3cnP) following traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a worrying neurological sign and is often associated with an expanding mass lesion, such as extradural or acute subdural haematomas. Isolated 3cnP can be found in the absence of posttraumatic space-occupying mass lesion, yet it is often considered as a devastating prognostic factor in the context of diffuse axonal injury (DAI). Through the analysis of five exemplificative cases and a thorough review of the literature, we identified four possible mechanisms leading to 3cnP: (1) a partial rootlet avulsion at the site of exit from the midbrain, representing a direct shearing injury to the nerve; (2) a direct traction injury due to the nerve stretching against the posterior petroclinoid ligament at the base of the oculomotor triangle secondary to the downward displacement of the brainstem at the time of impact; (3) a direct vascular compression as a result of internal carotid artery (ICA) dissection or pseudoaneurysm; (4) an indirect injury caused by impaired blood supply to the third nerve in addition to the detrimental biochemical effects of the underlying brain injury itself. Understanding the exact mechanism underlying the onset of 3cnP is key to provide an informed clinical decision-making to the patients and ensure their best chances of recovery. Our experience corroborates data from the literature showing that, even in Grade III DAI, prompt recognition of isolated 3cnP can guide adequate treatment. Nonetheless, even when an overall good neurological outcome is achieved, recovery of isolated 3cnP is dismal, and only rarely the visual deficit completely resolves.
Removal of Uranyl Ion from Wastewater by Magnetic Adsorption Material of Polyaniline Combined with CuFe2O4
Authors: Feng Xinrui , Sun Shaoshuai , Cheng Ge , Shi Lei , Yang Xiangshan , Zhang Yibo
Published: April 2021

The magnetic adsorption material of polyaniline (PANI) with amino functional group combined with CuFe2O4 (CuFe2O4/PANI nanocomposite) has been described in this work. It has been characterized by TEM, XRD, XPS, BET, FTIR, and VSM, respectively. Significantly, it exhibits extremely high maximum adsorption capacity (322.6 mg/g) for removal of uranyl ions from wastewater at a pH of 4. The adsorption process is consistent with the quasisecond-order kinetic equation, and the isotherm and kinetic data are accurately described by the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model. Furthermore, the magnetic CuFe2O4/PANI displays stable adsorption performance for uranyl ions after five cycles of recovery in acid medium, which indicates it possesses good recovery due to its magnetism and excellent regeneration ability for reusability.
A Blockchain-Based Hierarchical Authentication Scheme for Multiserver Architecture
Authors: Wu Miqi , You Lin , Hu Gengran , Li Liang , Cao Chengtang
Published: April 2021

In a multiserver architecture, authentication schemes play an important role in the secure communication of the system. In many multiserver authentication schemes, the security of the mutual authentications among the participants is based on the security of the registration center’s private key. This centralized architecture can create security risks due to the leakage of the registration center’s private key. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized, tamper-proof, and distributed features, can provide a new solution for multiserver authentication schemes. In a lot of multiserver authentication schemes, users’ permission is generally controlled by the registration center (RC), but these permission control methods cannot be applied in the decentralized blockchain system. In this paper, a blockchain-based authentication scheme for multiserver architecture is proposed. Our scheme provides a hierarchical authentication method to solve the problems of user permission control and user revocation caused by no registration center. The security of our scheme is formally proved under the random oracle model. According to our analysis, our scheme is resistant to attacks such as impersonation attacks and man-in-the-middle attacks. In addition, our performance analysis shows that the proposed scheme has less computation overhead.
Spectral Representation‐Based Multidimensional Nonstationary Ground Motion Model for Seismic Reliability Analysis of Frame Structures
Authors: Laminou Lawali Moussa , Chen Xinghua
Published: April 2021

A framework for a multidimensional nonstationary ground motion model based on spectral representation theory is proposed in this paper. The multidimensional nonstationary ground motion model is built from a local target to fit the multidimensional response spectrum. A four‐stage modulation function takes into account the multidimensional intensity correlation and the modified Clough–Penzien (C‐P) power spectrum with parameter correlation, which represent the two main aspects, the modulation function and the power spectrum of constructing the multidimensional nonstationary ground motion model. A multidimensional response spectrum constructed according to the standardizing response spectrum is used as the fitting target response spectrum. Samples of random ground motion for random seismic response and dynamic reliability study are finally obtained. The random seismic responses are then combined with the probability density evolution method (PDEM) to carry out the seismic reliability analysis of a randomly base‐excited moment‐resisting frame structure. In the numerical analysis, the nonlinear seismic responses and reliability of a 10‐story reinforced concrete frame structure are carefully investigated in accordance with the Egyptian seismic code. As a result, the effectiveness of the proposed method is fully demonstrated.
[Retracted] Grey Correlation Analysis of Economic Growth and Cultural Industry Competitiveness
Authors: Li Jian
Published: April 2021

The influence of cultural industry competitiveness on economic growth is analyzed by using grey relational degree method. Then, the influence of cultural industry on the three industries is analyzed and compared in the same way. On this basis, further from the cultural industry, the impacts of core layer, outer layer, and related layer on economic growth were compared and analyzed. Finally, the economic growth model is used to measure the impact of investment, labor, and innovation in cultural industry on economic growth. The results show that cultural industry has a great influence on economic growth. The cultural industry has an obvious driving effect on the tertiary industry. The correlative layer of cultural industry has the greatest influence on economic growth. Cultural industry innovation has a huge pulling effect on economic growth. The SPSS software was used to process the data, and the data indicators were screened. Finally, the grey relational degree model was constructed. Then, the improved diamond model was used to select the influential factors of the development of cultural industry, and the main influencing factors were found out through the grey relational degree analysis. This paper analyzes the factors affecting economic benefits and puts forward countermeasures. The results show that it is of great significance to pay attention to the development of cultural manufacturing industry in cultural industry and promote cultural innovation to promote economic growth.