bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bridging Fluency Disparity between Native and Nonnative Speakers in Multilingual Multiparty Collaboration Using a Clarification Agent
Authors: Duan Wen , Yamashita Naomi , Shirai Yoshinari , Fussell Susan R.
Published: October 2021

Multiparty collaboration using a common language is often challenging for nonnative speakers (NNS). Conversation can move forward rapidly, with terms and references unfamiliar to NNS often going unexplained because NNS do not request clarification due to cognitive overload or face concerns. Language difficulties may further lead to NNS having a low level of participation in a conversation, which could be a loss for multilingual teams. To help NNS resolve potential confusions due to unfamiliar language use without risking face concerns, we created a conversation agent that asked clarification questions intended to help NNS follow and participate in multiparty conversations. We conducted a within-subjects laboratory experiment with 17 triads of 2 NS and 1 NNS, who performed a series of collaborative tasks under three conditions: a) no agent, b) a high-level agent that resembles a NNS with good command of English, and c) a low-level agent that resembles a NNS with poor English skills. Results suggest that NS made significantly more clarifications in both agent conditions than without an agent. In the high-level agent condition, NNS reported an increase in understanding after the agent's interruption and spoke significantly more. Further, NNS evaluated their communication competence in English highest in the low-level agent condition and lowest in the control condition. Our findings suggest several directions to improve the tool to better facilitate multilingual multiparty communication.
Dissemination, Situated Fact-checking, and Social Effects of Misinformation among Rural Bangladeshi Villagers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Sultana Sharifa , Fussell Susan R.
Published: October 2021

This paper investigates the dissemination, situated fact-checking processes, and social effects of COVID-19 related online and offline misinformation in rural Bangladeshi life. A six-month-long ethnographic study in three villages found villagers perceived a lack of knowledge and experience among local medical professionals and often fell for flashy promotions of unreliable and unconfirmed cures. Villagers built on their local beliefs and myths, religious faiths, and social justice sensibilities while fact-checking suspicious information. They often reported being misled by misinformation that caters to these values, and they further spread this information through conversations with friends and family. Based on our findings, we argue that CSCW and HCI researchers should study misinformation and situated fact-checking together as a communal practice to design appropriate wellbeing technologies and social media for given communities.
Won't You Think of Others?: Interdependent Privacy in Smartphone App Permissions
Authors: Marsch Maximilian , Grossklags Jens , Patil Sameer
Published: October 2021

The ever increasing amount of data on smartphones often contains private information of others that people interact with via the device. As a result, one user's decisions regarding app permissions can expose the information of other parties. However, research typically focuses on consequences of privacy-related decisions only for the user who makes the decisions. Work on the impact of these decisions on the privacy of others is still relatively scant. We fill this gap with an online study that extends prior work on interdependent privacy in social networking sites to the context of smartphone permissions. Our findings indicate that people typically give less consideration to the implications of their actions for the privacy of others compared to the impact on themselves. However, we found that priming people with information that features others can help reduce this discrepancy. We apply this insight to offer suggestions for enhancing permission-specification interfaces and system architectures to accommodate interdependent privacy.
Datasheets for Datasets help ML Engineers Notice and Understand Ethical Issues in Training Data
Authors: Boyd Karen L.
Published: October 2021

The social computing community has demonstrated interest in the ethical issues sometimes produced by machine learning (ML) models, like violations of privacy, fairness, and accountability. This paper discovers what kinds of ethical considerations machine learning engineers recognize, how they build understanding, and what decisions they make when working with a real-world dataset. In particular, it illustrates ways in which Datasheets for Datasets, an accountability intervention designed to help engineers explore unfamiliar training data, scaffolds the process of issue discovery, understanding, and ethical decision-making. Participants were asked to review an intentionally ethically problematic dataset and asked to think aloud as they used it to solve a given ML problem. Out of 23 participants, 11 were given a Datasheet they could use while completing the task. Participants were ethically sensitive enough to identify concerns in the dataset; participants who had a Datasheet did open and refer to it; and those with Datasheets mentioned ethical issues during the think-aloud earlier and more often than than those without. The think-aloud protocol offered a grounded description of how participants recognized, understood, and made a decision about ethical problems in an unfamiliar dataset. The method used in this study can test other interventions that claim to encourage recognition, promote understanding, and support decision-making among technologists.
Bringing Friends into the Loop of Recommender Systems: An Exploratory Study
Authors: Piao Jinghua , Zhang Guozhen , Xu Fengli , Chen Zhilong , Zheng Yu , Gao Chen , Li Yong
Published: October 2021

The recommender system (RS), as a computer-supported information filtering system, is ubiquitous and influences what we eat, watch, or even like. In online RS, interactions between users and the system form a feedback loop: users take actions based on the recommendations provided by RS, and RS updates its recommendations accordingly. As such interactions increase, the issue of recommendation homogeneity intensifies, which significantly impairs user experience. In the face of this long-standing issue, the newly-emerging social e-commerce offers a new solution -- bringing friends' recommendations into the loop (friend-in-the-loop). In this paper, we conduct an exploratory study on the benefits of friend-in-the-loop through mixed methods on a leading social e-commerce platform in China, Beidian. We reveal that friend-in-the-loop provides users with more accurate and diverse recommendations than merely RS, and significantly alleviates algorithmic homogeneity. Moreover, our qualitative results demonstrate that the introduction of friends' external knowledge, consumers' trust, and empathy accounts for these benefits. Overall, we elaborate that friend-in-the-loop comprehensively benefits both users and RS, and it is a promising HCI-based solution to recommendation homogeneity, which offers insightful implications on designing future human-algorithm collaboration models.
"PocketBot Is Like a Knock-On-the-Door!": Designing a Chatbot to Support Long-Distance Relationships
Authors: Zheng Qingxiao , Markazi Daniela M. , Tang Yiliu , Huang Yun
Published: October 2021

Many couples experience long-distance relationships (LDRs), and "couple technologies" have been designed to influence certain relational practices or maintain them in challenging situations. Chatbots show great potential in mediating people's interactions. However, little is known about whether and how chatbots can be desirable and effective for mediating LDRs. In this paper, we conducted a two-phase study to design and evaluate a chatbot, PocketBot, that aims to provide effective interventions for LDRs. In Phase I, we adopted an iterative design process through conducting need-finding interviews to formulate design ideas and piloted the implemented PocketBot with 11 participants. In Phase II, we evaluated PocketBot with eighteen participants (nine LDR couples)in a week-long field trial followed by exit interviews, which yielded empirical understandings of the feasibility, effectiveness, and potential pitfalls of using PocketBot. First, a knock-on-the-door feature allowed couples to know when to resume an interaction after evading a conflict; this feature was preferred by certain participants (e.g., participants with stoic personalities). Second, a humor feature was introduced to spice up couples' conversations. This feature was favored by all participants, although some couples' perceptions of the feature varied due to their different cultural or language backgrounds. Third, a deep talk feature enabled couples at different relational stages to conduct opportunistic conversations about sensitive topics for exploring unknowns about each other, which resulted in surprising discoveries between couples who have been in relationships for years. Our findings provide inspiration for future conversational-based couple technologies that support emotional communication.
KinVoices: Using Voices of Friends and Family in Voice Interfaces
Authors: Chan Sam W. T. , Gunasekaran Tamil Selvan , Pai Yun Suen , Zhang Haimo , Nanayakkara Suranga
Published: October 2021

With voice user interfaces (VUIs) becoming ubiquitous and speech synthesis technology maturing, it is possible to synthesise voices to resemble our friends and relatives (which we will collectively call 'kin') and use them on VUIs. However, designing such interfaces and investigating how the familiarity of kin voices affect user perceptions remain under-explored. Our surveys and interviews with 25 users revealed that VUIs using kin voices were perceived as more engaging, persuasive and safer yet eerier than VUIs using common virtual assistant voices. We then developed a technology probe, KinVoice, an Alexa-based VUI that was deployed in three households over two weeks. Users set reminders using KinVoice, which in turn, gave the reminders in synthesised kin voices. This was to explore users' needs, uncover challenges involved and inspire new applications. We discuss design guidelines for integrating familiar kin voices into VUIs, applications that benefit from its usage, and implications for balancing voice realism and usability with security and diversification.
Sensemaking and the Chemtrail Conspiracy on the Internet: Insights from Believers and Ex-believers
Authors: Xiao Sijia , Cheshire Coye , Bruckman Amy
Published: October 2021

How do people come to believe conspiracy theories, and what role does the internet play in this process as a socio-technical system? We explore these questions by examining online participants in the "chemtrails" conspiracy, the idea that visible condensation trails behind airliners are deliberately sprayed for nefarious purposes. We apply Weick's theory of sensemaking to examine the role of people's frames (beliefs and worldviews), as well as the socio-technical contexts (social interactions and technological affordances) for processing informational cues about the conspiracy. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews with thirteen believers and seven ex-believers, we find that many people become curious about chemtrails after consuming rich online media, and they later find welcoming online communities to support shared beliefs and worldviews. We discuss how the socio-technical context of the internet may inadvertently trap people in a perpetual state of ambiguity that becomes reinforced through a collective sensemaking process. In addition, we show how the conspiracy offers a way for believers to express their dissatisfaction with authority, enjoy a sense of community, and find some entertainment along the way. Finally, we discuss how people's frames and the various socio-technical contexts of the internet are important in the sensemaking of debunking evidence, and how such factors may function in the rejection of conspiratorial beliefs.
Time for Historicism in CSCW: An Invitation
Authors: Soden Robert , Ribes David , Avle Seyram , Sutherland Will
Published: October 2021

This paper contributes to the development of an under-utilized area of focus for CSCW research and design: history. The design and evaluation of technology, as practiced in the field, has positioned CSCW as a largely forward-looking community. The enduring "presentism' and lack of historical view threatens to leave out a wealth of resources that can inspire design, support comparative analysis, and develop a deeper understanding of technology development and its social consequences. This paper argues that a historicist sensibility should inform the due diligence of all CSCW research, and we present connection points for the various ways in which historical research might more deeply inform CSCW, while offering a selection of historiographic challenges to sensitize CSCW scholars as we seek to better situate our collective work within both the present moment as well as ongoing temporal change.
"Jol" or "Pani"?: How Does Governance Shape a Platform's Identity?
Authors: Das Dipto , Østerlund Carsten , Semaan Bryan
Published: October 2021

In this paper, we explore how sociotechnical systems support and impede the identity performances and identity expression of communities that have experienced a long history of colonialism, where colonization is the practice through which a foreign power reshapes the social structures and systems of other societies. We conducted a trace ethnography among members of a specific digital platform-Bengali Quora (BnQuora). BnQuora is part of the question and answer (Q&A) platform Quora, where people with this particular ethnolinguistic identity come together to engage in conversations about their identities; identities which were shaped through a long history of colonization in the Global South. In drawing on a conceptual framework that brings together identity performativity, governance, content moderation, and surveillance, we find that the sociotechnical mechanisms of governance that mediate people's performances on the BnQuora platform give rise to a kind of platform identity-certain identities are privileged while others are pushed to the margins based on linguistic practices, nationalities, and religious affiliations. We illustrate this through the themes of moderators as prison guards, collective surveillance as enforcing a majority identity, algorithmic coloniality, and staging as self-imprisonment. Finally, we discuss the ways in which governance shapes a platform's identity and can create, strengthen, and reinforce coloniality.
The UX Factor: Using Comparative Peer Review to Evaluate Designs through User Preferences
Authors: Bawabe Sarah , Wilson Laura , Zhou Tongyu , Marks Ezra , Huang Jeff
Published: October 2021

Peer review has been used in both online and offline classrooms to inspire creativity, gather feedback, and lessen instructor grading loads, especially for design-based tasks without definitive rubrics. To explore the nuances and quality of peer feedback, we developed UX Factor, a peer grading platform that aims to characterize the behavior of peer reviews and the consistency of the ranking models used to aggregate these reviews. This system harnesses the power of pairwise comparisons to minimize bias and encourage context-driven analysis. We adopted UX Factor in a user interface course of 133 students and teaching assistants (TAs) across 3 different individual design projects over a semester and found that the system was effective in eliciting high-quality feedback. We saw that raters have higher agreement than random preferences, and with at least 15 ratings per submission, a simple average of ratings produced rankings that were consistent to both the raw ratings and other more complex models. These rankings were robust to disagreeable raters and changing class sizes, demonstrating the potential of comparative peer review to match the quality of expert feedback at scale.
Planning to Minimize the Human Muscular Effort during Forceful Human-Robot Collaboration
Authors: Figueredo Luis F. C. , Aguiar Rafael De Castro , Chen Lipeng , Richards Thomas C. , Chakrabarty Samit , Dogar Mehmet
Published: October 2021

This work addresses the problem of planning a robot configuration and grasp to position a shared object during forceful human-robot collaboration, such as a puncturing or a cutting task. Particularly, our goal is to find a robot configuration that positions the jointly manipulated object such that the muscular effort of the human, operating on the same object, is minimized while also ensuring the stability of the interaction for the robot. This raises three challenges. First, we predict the human muscular effort given a human-robot combined kinematic configuration and the interaction forces of a task. To do this, we perform task-space to muscle-space mapping for two different musculoskeletal models of the human arm. Second, we predict the human body kinematic configuration given a robot configuration and the resulting object pose in the workspace. To do this, we assume that the human prefers the body configuration that minimizes the muscular effort. And third, we ensure that, under the forces applied by the human, the robot grasp on the object is stable and the robot joint torques are within limits. Addressing these three challenges, we build a planner that, given a forceful task description, can output the robot grasp on an object and the robot configuration to position the shared object in space. We quantitatively analyze the performance of the planner and the validity of our assumptions. We conduct experiments with human subjects to measure their kinematic configurations, muscular activity, and force output during collaborative puncturing and cutting tasks. The results illustrate the effectiveness of our planner in reducing the human muscular load. For instance, for the puncturing task, our planner is able to reduce muscular load by

\( 69.5\% \)

compared to a user-based selection of object poses.
Adaptive Computation Reuse for Energy-Efficient Training of Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Servais Jason , Atoofian Ehsan
Published: October 2021

In recent years, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have been deployed into a diverse set of applications from voice recognition to scene generation mostly due to their high-accuracy. DNNs are known to be computationally intensive applications, requiring a significant power budget. There have been a large number of investigations into energy-efficiency of DNNs. However, most of them primarily focused on inference while training of DNNs has received little attention.

This work proposes an adaptive technique to identify and avoid redundant computations during the training of DNNs. Elements of activations exhibit a high degree of similarity, causing inputs and outputs of layers of neural networks to perform redundant computations. Based on this observation, we propose Adaptive Computation Reuse for Tensor Cores (ACRTC) where results of previous arithmetic operations are used to avoid redundant computations. ACRTC is an architectural technique, which enables accelerators to take advantage of similarity in input operands and speedup the training process while also increasing energy-efficiency. ACRTC dynamically adjusts the strength of computation reuse based on the tolerance of precision relaxation in different training phases. Over a wide range of neural network topologies, ACRTC accelerates training by 33% and saves energy by 32% with negligible impact on accuracy.
Personal Values Across Cultures
Authors: Sagiv Lilach , Schwartz Shalom H.
Published: October 2021

Values play an outsized role in the visions, critiques, and discussions of politics, religion, education, and family life. Despite all the attention values receive in everyday discourse, their systematic study took hold in mainstream psychology only in the 1990s. This review discusses the nature of values and presents the main contemporary value theories, focusing on the theory of basic personal values. We review evidence for the content and the structure of conflict and compatibility among values found across cultures. We discuss the assumptions underlying the many instruments developed to measure values. We then consider the origins of value priorities and their stability or change over time. The remainder of the review presents the evidence for the ways personal values relate to personality traits and subjective well-being and the implications of value differences for religiosity, prejudice, pro- and antisocial behavior, political and environmental behavior, and creativity, concluding with a discussion of mechanisms that link values to behavior.
Numerical Evaluation of the Opening Effects on the Reinforced Concrete Slab Structural Performance
Authors: Aminitabar Meysam , Kanaani Omar , Eskenati Amir Reza
Published: October 2021

A finite element method was used in this study to investigate the effects of openings on the resistive behavior of concrete slabs. The presented modeling procedure is used to conduct numerical analyses on the response of reinforced concrete slab subjected to in‐plane monotonic loads in X (perpendicular to the beam) and Z (parallel to the beam) directions. Initially, the developed numerical model was calibrated and compared with laboratory results. In building this three‐dimensional model, it is attempted to accurately model all nonlinear properties of steel and concrete materials as well as the interactions between them. Then, the behavior of bilaterally concrete slabs under different loads was investigated and used as a reference. Finally, the effect of openings under different loads on the strength of concrete slabs was studied. The results confirm that openings have a great influence on the change of hardness, ductility, initiation and cracking path, and stress distribution under shear and gravitational loading. Moreover, by adding an opening inside the diaphragm, not only did beam and block flooring show more fragile behavior, but also its strength and resistance decreased against lateral load. Given the results of the parametric study of the effect of layout, generally, its place became critical at the state that opening disturbed transmission of shear stresses to the collector beams. By adding the area of the opening and loading in X direction, the concentration of the tensile stresses (equivalent to main maximum stresses) was at the tensile edge as well as at the middle of the flooring around the opening. It is worth noting that an increase in the opening’s area caused the number of tensile stresses to be increased at the middle of the flooring. Meanwhile, the concentration of maximum compressive stresses which is equivalent to the main minimum stresses was at the compressive edge, started at the area of the collectors, and stretched to the edge of the opening. Among different layouts, X‐1 and Z‐3 states were more critical than other states. Considering openings with different layouts, X‐1 and Z‐3 have the most stiffness deteriorating and strength in such a way that stiffness deteriorating and strength were 39.93% and 37.89%, respectively, for Z‐3 model and 38.68% and 43.33%, respectively, for Z‐3 model.
An Autonomous Cyber-Physical Anomaly Detection System Based on Unsupervised Disentangled Representation Learning
Authors: Li Chunyu , Guo Xiaobo , Wang Xiaowei
Published: October 2021

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) in heavy industry are a combination of closely integrated physical processes, networking, and scientific computing. The physical production process is monitored and controlled by the CPS in question, through advanced real-time networking systems, where high-precision feedback loops can be changed when the overgrid of cooperative computing and communication components that make up the industrial process is required. These CPS operate independently but integrate interaction capabilities as well as with the external environment, creating the connection of the physical with the digital world. The outline is that the most effective modeling and development of high-reliability CPS are directly related to the maximization of the production process, extroversion, and industrial competition. In this paper, considering the high importance of the operational status of CPS for heavy industry, an innovative autonomous anomaly detection system based on unsupervised disentangled representation learning is presented. It is a temporal disentangled variational autoencoder (TDVA) which, mimicking the process of rapid human intuition, using high- or low-dimensional reasoning, finds and models the useful information independently, regardless of the given problem. Specifically, taking samples from the real data distribution representation space, separating them appropriately, and encoding them as separate disentangling dimensions create new examples that the system has not yet dealt with. In this way, first, it utilizes information from potentially inconsistent sources to learn the right representations that can then be broken down into subspace subcategories for easier and simpler categorization, and second, utilizing the latent representation of the model, it performs high-precision estimates of how similar or dissimilar the inputs are to each other, thus recognizing, with great precision and in a fully automated way, the system anomalies.
Preparation, High-Density Spherical, and Low Sensitivity of RDX/NC/PMMA Composite Particles
Authors: Jia Xinlei , Peng Wenshan , Xu Lanjuan , Cao Qing , Xing Shaohua , Liu Guangyi , Geng Xiaoheng , Guo Haiying , Han Guojun , Wang Jingyu
Published: October 2021

In order to reduce the mechanical sensitivity of cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) and improve its energy density, spherical RDX/PMMA/NC composite particles were prepared by spray drying method, selecting polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, hydrocarbon binder) with excellent mechanical properties and nitrocellulose (NC, energy-containing binder) with higher density as the desensitizing shell material, RDX as the core material. PMMA/NC composite particles of the same component were prepared by a simple solvent evaporation method at the same time. Structural characterizations and thermal stability of the composites were systematically studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), respectively. Moreover, the safety performance has been qualitatively tested and analyzed through impact sensitivity and friction sensitivity. The results show that the addition of NC/PMMA binder would not change the original crystal structure of RDX, and the RDX/NC/PMMA composites fabricated by spray drying presented spherical particles with uniform distribution and smooth surface. The Tp0 of RDX/NC/PMMA composite particles increased from 220.3°C to 228.2°C, improving the thermal decomposition performance. The H50 rose from 29.32 cm to 84.3 cm, and the probability of friction explosion decreased from 96% to 8%, significantly enhancing the safety performance. In short, the RDX/NC/PMMA composites prepared via the spray drying method and the improvement of their performance have positive significance for the development of explosives in pursuit of high energy and low sensitivity.
Bavachin Induces Ferroptosis through the STAT3/P53/SLC7A11 Axis in Osteosarcoma Cells
Authors: Luo Yi , Gao Xu , Zou Luetao , Lei Miao , Feng Junming , Hu Zhenming
Published: October 2021

Ferroptosis is a new form of regulated cell death, which is mediated by intracellular iron. Although it is reported that bavachin has antitumour effects on several tumour cells and prompts the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, it is unclear whether ferroptosis can be induced by bavachin in osteosarcoma (OS) cells. In this study, we found that bavachin inhibits the viability of MG63 and HOS OS cell lines along with an increase in the ferrous iron level, ROS accumulation, malondialdehyde overexpression, and glutathione depletion. Moreover, iron chelators (deferoxamine), antioxidants (Vit E), and ferroptosis inhibitors (ferrostatin‐1 and liproxstatin‐1) reverse bavachin‐induced cell death. Bavachin also altered the mitochondrial morphology of OS cells, leading to smaller mitochondria, higher density of the mitochondrial membrane, and reduced mitochondrial cristae. Further investigation showed that bavachin upregulated the expression of transferrin receptor, divalent metal transporter‐1, and P53, along with downregulating the expression of ferritin light chain, ferritin heavy chain, p‐STAT3 (705), SLC7A11, and glutathione peroxidase‐4 in OS cells. More importantly, STAT3 overexpression, SLC7A11 overexpression, and pretreatment with pifithrin‐α (P53 inhibitor) rescued OS cell ferroptosis induced by bavachin. The results show that bavachin induces ferroptosis via the STAT3/P53/SLC7A11 axis in OS cells.
Effect of the Bracing System on the Probability of Collapse of Steel Structures under Maximum Credible Earthquake
Authors: Kianmehr Alireza
Published: October 2021

Simple bracing frames can be divided into two types in terms of concentric or eccentric. Concentric bracing frames are frames that intersect with other structural members at one point in the structure along the bracing members. Otherwise, the braced frame will be eccentric. It is said empirically that due to this type of shaping, eccentric bracing frames exhibit more ductile behavior and concentric bracing frames exhibit more stiff behavior. This behavioral difference caused this study to be numerically computing for five frames, including unique concentric and eccentric bracing frames of 5 and 10 stories and an ordinary 5‐story concentric bracing frame. Their tensions and drift ratios should be acceptable for the use of residential buildings. Using the primary two steps of the new PEER probabilistic framework, namely, probabilistic seismic hazard analysis and structural analysis, which leads to the drawing of fragility curves, the probability of collapse is obtained to compare the safety capability of these frames according to their different characteristics against earthquakes. The results show that increasing the ductility or increasing the number of floors or the height of these systems can reduce collapse. Also, according to the results of the probability of collapse obtained in frames with 5‐story concentric bracing frames, it can be said that some of the current regulations, which work based on previous approaches of analysis, can lead to unsafe structures with a high probability of collapse.
Real-Time Evaluation Method of Vehicle Conflict Risk on Urban Expressway Based on Smartphone GPS Data
Authors: Wang Le-Ning
Published: October 2021

To effectively evaluate the traffic safety risk of urban expressways in real time and ensure their traffic safety and smoothness, a real-time evaluation method of vehicle conflict risk of an urban expressway based on smartphone GPS data was proposed. We screened and processed smartphone GPS data to obtain vehicle behavior data, including acceleration and angular acceleration, and road state data, including average vehicle speed. Urban expressways were divided into four categories, closed straight section, closed curve section, vehicle entry section, and vehicle exit section; the evaluation indexes of abnormal vehicle behavior were established. Based on the improved entropy weight method, the vehicle conflict risk entropy was established to distribute the weight of different types of abnormal behaviors of vehicles. The evaluation system of vehicle conflict risk entropy was applied to the vehicle behavior data. Urban Expressways with more abnormal vehicle behavior were obtained to evaluate the risk of vehicle conflict in real time. The results showed that the easily obtained smartphone GPS data may be effectively used to analyze the abnormal behavior of vehicles, identify vehicle conflict risk points hidden in urban expressways in real time to provide effective methods for batch and dynamic real-time evaluations of vehicle conflict risks on urban expressways, and improve the traffic safety service level of urban expressways.
Effects of Different Particle Sizes of Hydroxyapatite on the Distribution and Migration of Trace Elements (Copper and Cadmium) in a Smelter-Impacted Soil
Authors: Xu Lei , Xing Xiangyu , Zhu Zhenqiu , Cui Hongbiao , Peng Jianbiao , Li Ding , Ji Mingfei , Zhou Jing
Published: October 2021

To study the remediation effect of hydroxyapatite with different particle sizes, a field in situ experiment was carried out by adding conventional hydroxyapatite (0.25 mm) and microhydroxyapatite (3 μm) and nanohydroxyapatite (40 nm) to the contaminated soil and planting Elsholtzia splendens. The distribution and migration of copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) in soil were investigated after 4 years. The results show that the application of three different particle sizes of hydroxyapatite significantly raise the soil pH, total phosphorus, and soil organic carbon. Moreover, the addition of hydroxyapatite can reduce the EXC fraction of Cu and Cd by 73.7%–80.1% and 20.8%–35.2%, respectively. In addition, the concentrations of Cu and Cd in >2 mm, 0.25–2 mm, 0.053–0.25 mm, and <0.053 mm aggregate are significantly increased. This improvement indicates that there are risks which may cause the increasing of total Cu and Cd in the soil where the pollution sources still exist. Furthermore, the content of soil colloid is significantly increased, and the colloidal Cu and Cd distribution percentage have been significantly increased by 49.9%–120% and 30.3%–181%. This result illustrates that the application of hydroxyapatite may greatly increase the possibility of colloid and dust migration of Cu and Cd.
Numerical Computation of MHD Thermal Flow of Cross Model over an Elliptic Cylinder: Reduction of Forces via Thickness Ratio
Authors: Majeed Afraz Hussain , Mahmood Rashid , Abbasi Waqas Sarwar , Usman K.
Published: October 2021

The present work is concerned with a comprehensive analysis of hydrodynamic forces, under MHD and forced convection thermal flow over a heated cylinder in presence of insulated plates installed at walls. The magnetic field is imposed in the transverse direction of flow. The Galerkin finite element (GFE) scheme has been used to discretize the two-dimensional system of nonlinear partial different equations. The study is executed for the varying range of flow behavior index

n

from 0.4 to 1.6, Hartmann number

Ha

from 0 to 100, Reynolds number

Re

from 10 to 50, Grashof number

Gr

from 1 to 10, thickness ratio

e

from 0.5 to 1.0, and Prandtl number

Pr

from 1 to 10, respectively. A coarse hybrid computational grid is developed, and further refinement is carried out for obtaining the highly accurate solution. The optimum case selection is based on flow patterns, drag and lift coefficients, and pressure drop reduction against cylinder thickness ratios and average Nusselt numbers. Drag coefficient increases with an increase in thickness ratio

e

.

The drag force reduction for

e
=
0.5

and

e
=
0.75

is also observed for a range of the power law index as compared with

e
=
1.0

cylinder. Maximum pressure drop over the back and front points of cylinder is reported at

Ha
=
100

.
The Intelligent Integration of Interactive Installation Art Based on Artificial Intelligence and Wireless Network Communication
Authors: Gao Ze , Lin Lin
Published: October 2021

With the development of technology and the times, the development of new media technology and interactive installation art has slowly entered the vision of our audience. It is simply “silent art.” The public no longer “retires” like the traditional one, but participates in it and swims with the artists in the world of art. This article is aimed at studying the application of artificial intelligence and wireless network communication to the application of interactive installation art. Through the optimization of various communication equipment and the continuous advancement of various algorithms, we can strengthen the communication and connection between our interactive installation art. This article proposes that with the addition of artificial intelligence and wireless network communication, the interaction between artists and audiences may be more fun, so that we can be more colorful in our lives. The experimental results in this article show that when performing wireless network communication, the communication delay rate of the intelligent algorithm with artificial intelligence is much lower than that of the one without it, which shows that they can better transmit information to the control end. When affected by the outside world, the bit error rate of wireless network communication will increase, however, the artificial intelligence algorithm is added to his impact range, and his bit error rate increase is obviously not so high. In the process of wireless network communication, the improved algorithm is definitely better than the nonimproved algorithm in terms of energy consumption, communication delay, and bit error rate. Through the enhancement of signals and the selection of materials for communication equipment, these are all in continuous progress, and in this respect, are in continuous exploration. Compared with other algorithms, the ml algorithm has improved positioning accuracy by about 70%, 65%, and 30%. Increasing the number of nodes in the transmission signal can greatly reduce the number of hops between nodes, correspondingly reducing the hop distance error, correspondingly reducing the distance estimation error, and improving the positioning accuracy. It can solve the technical barriers of interactive installation art faster.
A Novel Cause of Bowel Obstruction in a Patient with Long-Standing Crohn’s Disease
Authors: Vedula Satya V. , Nickerson T. Paul , Grider Douglas J.
Published: October 2021

Solitary fibrous tumors are rare tumors of mesenchymal origin. Although most often observed in the lung pleura, they have been reported in varied extrapleural sites. A 70-year-old male with complicated Crohn’s disease presented with 3 days of nausea, emesis, constipation, and abdominal pain. Computed Tomography (CT) demonstrated mucosal thickening of the middescending colon, consistent with fibrosing stricture. Surgical excision revealed an unusual, 5 cm mass originating in the subserosa. Histopathology of the lesion was notable for a proliferation of cells with spindle and stellate-shaped nuclei and no appreciable mitotic figures, which extended into the muscularis and submucosa. Immunohistochemistry was STAT6 nuclear positive and cytoplasmic CD34 positive, diagnostic for solitary fibrous tumor (SFT). In this case, the SFT infiltrating into the muscularis propria and subserosa caused the stricture and bowel obstruction. This illustrates that while fibrosing strictures are usually the etiology of bowel obstruction in the setting of Crohn’s disease, other rare possible causes should be considered.
Observation on the Curative Effect of Microsurgery in 154 Children with Strabismus and Analysis of Its Influencing Factors
Authors: Zhao Zhihua , Li Kejun , Ma Qingmin , Zhao Xiaobin , Jia Zhiyang
Published: October 2021

Strabismus is a common ophthalmic disease in the process of child body development, in which the two eyes cannot gaze at the target at the same time, and the incidence of this disease of children is higher. In children with esotropia, exotropia, and up and down strabismus and other typical symptoms, the cause is genetic, innerve, and refractive and regulated, and not receiving timely treatment may lead to stereo vision and diplopia and other phenomena, affecting their learning and life. Surgical treatment is the main treatment for strabismus at present. Traditional orthodontic surgery is performed by doctors under the naked eye, often due to improper operation or suture error and other factors, resulting in more postoperative complications, such as more tissue damage, conjunctival congestion, and muscle suture reaction, which seriously affect the clinical effect of surgical treatment. In recent years, with the continuous development of microsurgical technology, the correction of strabismus under a microscope has been widely carried out in clinic. The operation under the microscope makes the operation more delicate and accurate, overcomes the defects of traditional surgery, and highlights the advantages of minimally invasive surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of microsurgical techniques in the treatment of strabismus in children and to analyze the factors influencing the outcome. The results showed that microsurgical strabismus correction in the treatment of strabismus children has short operation time, less intraoperative blood loss, short hospital stay, high efficiency, and less complications, which is worthy of popularization. Age, preoperative strabismus angle, refractive error, distance stereopsis injury, near stereoscopic injury, and duration of disease were all independent influencing factors of postoperative efficacy.
Increased IgE Deposition in Appendicular Tissue Specimens Is Compatible with a Type I Hypersensitivity Reaction in Acute Appendicitis
Authors: Carvalho Nuno , Barros André , Coelho Hélder , Cóias Ana , Botelho Pedro , Cismasiu Brigitta , Moita Luís , Costa Paulo
Published: October 2021

Background. IgE mediates type I hypersensitivity reaction and can be found in the mucosa of organs affected by allergy. Acute appendicitis (AA) is a common disease, but its etiology remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated IgE deposition in histological sections of AA samples to test the hypothesis that an allergic reaction may substantially contribute to the pathophysiology of AA. Materials and Methods. In a retrospective study, we assessed the presence of IgE in appendicular specimens of histologically confirmed appendicitis and in the control group, comprised of negative appendicitis and incidental appendectomies, using a monoclonal antibody against human IgE. Samples from 134 appendectomies were included: 38 phlegmonous and 27 gangrenous appendicitis from the study group and 52 incidental appendectomies and 17 negative appendicitis from the control group. The slides were visualized by light microscopy, and a standard procedure was used to manually count the positive IgE staining cells. Results. IgE staining was present in the cells of all but 5 appendicular specimens. We found a significantly increased number of IgE-positive cells in phlegmonous AA (

median
=
28

) when compared to incidental appendectomy (

median
=
17

) (

p
=
0.005

;

p
<
0.0001

when adjusted for age and gender). No difference was found for gangrenous appendicitis. Discussion. The presence of IgE supports the contribution of an allergic reaction for the pathophysiology of phlegmonous appendicitis. The reduced number of IgE staining cells in gangrenous appendicitis can be due to tissue destruction, or, as been claimed by others, gangrenous appendicitis is a distinct entity, with different etiology. Conclusion. In this study, phlegmonous appendicitis had the highest number of IgE-positive appendicular cells. These findings suggest that an allergic reaction can contribute to the pathophysiology of AA, opening a novel possibility for preventive measures in a disease that typically requires surgery.
In Vitro Anticancer Activity of Imperata cylindrica Root’s Extract toward Human Cervical Cancer and Identification of Potential Bioactive Compounds
Authors: Nayim Paul , Sudhir Krishna , Mbaveng Armelle T. , Kuete Victor , Sanjukta Mukherjee
Published: October 2021

Imperata cylindrica is traditionally used to cure several diseases including cancer, wounds, and hypertension. The present study was designed to investigate the anticancer activity of the methanolic root extract of I. cylindrica (IC‐MeOH). The water‐soluble tetrazolium‐1 and colony formation assays were used to check the proliferation ability of the cells. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle were measured by flow cytometry‐based fluorescence‐activated cell sorting. The ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography‐high‐resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐HRMS) analysis was used for the metabolites profiling of IC‐MeOH. Based on high‐mass accuracy, spectral data, and previous reports, tentative compound identifications were assigned. Our findings revealed that IC‐MeOH inhibited the proliferation of HeLa and CaSki cells. The plant extract was also found to induce a concentration‐ and time‐dependent apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase (IC50 value) in CaSki cell line. Analysis of IC‐MeOH permitted the identification of 10 compounds already reported for their anticancer activity, epicatechin, curcumin, (‐)‐yatein, caffeic acid, myricetin, jatrorrhizine, harmaline, cinnamaldehyde, dobutamine, and syringin. In conclusion, IC‐MeOH is a rich source of cytotoxic metabolites that inhibits human cervical cancer proliferation via apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.
Identification of Preferred Learning Style of Medical and Dental Students Using VARK Questionnaire
Authors: Fahim Ayesha , Rehman Saba , Fayyaz Fariha , Javed Mariyah , Alam Muhammad Anwaar , Rana Sadia , Jafari Fahim Haider , Alam Mohammad Khursheed
Published: October 2021

Students have unique preferences when it comes to knowledge acquisition, information processing, retention in memory, and recall. This study is aimed at examining the preferred learning styles of medical and dental undergraduate students of Pakistan. It is also aimed at investigating the influence of gender, preclinical or clinical academic year, and academic record on the preferred learning style. A descriptive cross‐sectional study was conducted in Pakistan. The learning styles of undergraduate students were identified using visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire. Students were also asked about their satisfaction towards teaching style of their teachers in institute. Descriptive statistics were done to characterize the learning styles of the students. The Fisher test and chi‐square test were used to compare the learning preferences between genders and public/private sector students and among preclinical/clinical years. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. A total of 1473 students participated in the study. Among the students, 39.37% preferred unimodal learning style whereas 60.62% preferred multimodal style. Kinesthetic (K) and visual (V) were the most preferred unimodal styles. The preferred learning styles of female students are aural (A), visual (V), and kinesthetic (K), whereas male students preferred visual (V) and kinesthetic more (K). Students with lower academic record chose unimodal styles in comparison to high achievers that chose multimodal styles. Students of clinical year preferred multimodal and quadmodal styles in comparison to preclinical year students. An alarming 78% of students were dissatisfied with their teacher’s instructional style. Majority of students prefer multimodal learning styles over unimodal style. Gender, public/private sector, and academic record have influence on the preference of learning styles. Majority of the students are dissatisfied with their teacher’s instructional style and rely on social media platforms for understanding. Academics need to adapt their teaching methods according to student preferences in order to get better graduates.