bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Restoration of fertility in a woman with giant prolactinoma in response to cabergoline treatment
Authors: Astaf’eva L I , Sidneva Y G , Kadashev B A , Kalinin P L , Melnichenko G A , Agadzhanian S A
Published: September 2019

A 32-year-old woman presented with primary amenorrhoea, prolactin (PRL) level of 154 150 mIU/L and was diagnosed with a giant pituitary adenoma measuring maximum 6.2 cm. Cabergoline (CAB) treatment at a dose of 0.5 mg/week was prescribed to the patient. The treatment decreased the tumour size after 3 months (MRI scans of the brain) and brought back to normal the level of the PRL (345 mIU/L) after 6 months of CAB treatment. After 7 months of CAB treatment, menarche was achieved, and after 12 months, the patient became pregnant. She discontinued taking CAB at 4-week gestation. The pregnancy resulted in a missed miscarriage at 6–7 weeks; an abortion was conducted by the vacuum aspiration method. The MRI scans of the brain did not show any tumour enlargement. After 18 months from the start of the treatment the patient got pregnant for the second time. At 25-week gestation an MRI scan of the brain was conducted which did not show any increase in the tumour size. At 38 weeks the patient delivered a healthy full-term girl via C-section. The patient chose not to breastfeed and resumed CAB therapy after the delivery. During the treatment, the PRL level returned to the normal range and the menstrual cycle was restored. After 3 years the patient got pregnant for the third time. The patient did not receive CAB during the pregnancies; the examination did not show any tumour enlargement. Further MRI scans did not show any tumour growth. CAB therapy was effective in normalization of the PRL level, tumour shrinkage, menarche and pregnancy-induction which led to the birth of healthy children in a woman with primary amenorrhoea and a giant prolactinoma invading the skull base bones.

Learning points:

Giant prolactinomas are very rarely found in women.

Cabergoline therapy can be effective in the normalization of the PRL level, tumour shrinkage, menarche induction in a woman with primary amenorrhoea, and giant prolactinoma.

Cabergoline therapy can be effective in pregnancy induction which leads to the birth of children in a woman with giant prolactinoma.

Cabergoline discontinuation did not trigger tumour enlargement during pregnancy.
Influence of hormones on the immunotolerogenic molecule HLA-G: a cross-sectional study in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia
Authors: Nguyen Lee S , Rouas-Freiss Nathalie , Funck-Brentano Christian , Leban Monique , Carosella Edgardo D , Touraine Philippe , Varnous Shaida , Bachelot Anne , Salem Joe-Elie
Published: September 2019

Background

HLA-G is an immune checkpoint molecule, naturally expressed during pregnancy, playing a critical role in the tolerance of the fetal semi-allograft from the maternal immune system. While HLA-G expression levels are associated with progesterone, the influence of other hormones is still unclear. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) represents an adequate model to study the hormonal influence on biomarkers as it leads to impaired cortisol biosynthesis and increased progesterone and androgens production due to 21-hydroxylase enzyme deficiency.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study of CAH patients matched on sex and age with healthy control, the association between circulating levels of soluble HLA-G and hormones was assessed by use of non-parametric analyses tests. Multivariable linear regressions were performed on normalized data.

Results

Overall, 83 CAH patients and 69 healthy controls were included. Among CAH patients, all were under glucocorticoid and 52 (62.6%) were under mineralocorticoid supplementation. Compared to controls, CAH patients had increased HLA-G levels (15 vs 8 ng/mL, P = 0.02). In controls, HLA-G level was independently associated with progesterone and estradiol (β = 0.44 (0.35–1.27) and −0.44 (−0.94, −0.26) respectively, both P values = 0.001). In CAH patients, HLA-G level was independently associated with mineralocorticoid supplementation dosage (β = 0.25 (0.04–0.41), P = 0.001) and estradiol (β = −0.22 (−0.57, −0.02), P < 0.001).

Conclusion

CAH patients had higher HLA-G levels than healthy controls. HLA-G level was positively associated with progesterone and corticosteroid supplementation, and negatively with estradiol. The association between mineralocorticoid, renin and HLA-G levels may suggest a role of the renin-angiotensin system in the expression of soluble HLA-G.
Glucocorticoid regulation of amino acid transport in primary human trophoblast cells
Authors: Vaughan O.R. , Powell T.L. , Jansson T.
Published: September 2019

Excess maternal glucocorticoids reduce placental amino acid transport and fetal growth, but whether these effects are mediated directly on the syncytiotrophoblast remains unknown. We hypothesised that glucocorticoids inhibit mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling and insulin-stimulated System A amino acid transport activity in primary human trophoblast (PHT) cells. Syncytialised PHTs, isolated from term placentas (n = 15), were treated with either cortisol (1 μM) or dexamethasone (1 μM), ± insulin (1 nM) for 24 h. Compared to vehicle, dexamethasone increased mRNA expression, but not protein abundance of the mTOR suppressor, regulated in development and DNA damage response 1 (REDD1). Dexamethasone enhanced insulin receptor abundance, activated mTOR complex 1 and 2 signaling and stimulated System A activity, measured by Na+-dependent 14C-methylaminoisobutyric acid uptake. Cortisol also activated mTORC1 without significantly altering insulin receptor or mTORC2 read-outs or System A activity. Both glucocorticoids downregulated expression of the glucocorticoid receptor and the System A transporter genes SLC38A1, SLC38A2 and SLC38A4, without altering SNAT1 or SNAT4 protein abundance. Neither cortisol nor dexamethasone affected System L amino acid transport. Insulin further enhanced mTOR and System A activity, irrespective of glucocorticoid treatment and despite downregulating its own receptor. Contrary to our hypothesis, glucocorticoids do not inhibit mTOR signaling or cause insulin resistance in cultured PHT cells. We speculate that glucocorticoids stimulate System A activity in PHT cells by activating mTOR signaling, which regulates amino acid transporters post-translationally. We conclude that downregulation of placental nutrient transport in vivo following excess maternal glucocorticoids is not mediated by a direct effect on the placenta.
NLRP7 is expressed in the ovine ovary and associated with in vitro pre-implantation embryo development
Authors: Li Guangdong , Tian Xiuzhi , Lv Dongying , Zhang Lu , Zhang Zhenzhen , Wang Jing , Yang Minghui , Tao Jingli , Ma Teng , Wu Hao , Ji Pengyun , Wu Yingjie , Lian Zhengxing , Cui Wei , Liu Guoshi
Published: September 2019

NLRP (NACHT, LRR and PYD domain-containing proteins) family plays pivotal roles in mammalian reproduction. Mutation of NLRP7 is often associated with human recurrent hydatidiform moles. Few studies regarding the functions of NLRP7 have been performed in other mammalian species rather than humans. In the current study, for the first time, the function of NLRP7 has been explored in ovine ovary. NLRP7 protein was mainly located in ovarian follicles and in in vitro pre-implantation embryos. To identify its origin, 763 bp partial CDS of NLRP7 deriving from sheep cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) was cloned, it showed a great homology with Homo sapiens. The high levels of mRNA and protein of NLRP7 were steadily expressed in oocytes, parthenogenetic embryos or IVF embryos. NLRP7 knockdown by the combination of siRNA and shRNA jeopardized both the parthenogenetic and IVF embryo development. These results strongly suggest that NLRP7 plays an important role in ovine reproduction. The potential mechanisms of NLRP7 will be fully investigated in the future.
Tiempo, evidencialidad y miratividad en guaraní paraguayo y español de contacto: ra’e y había sido
Authors: Carol Javier Jerónimo , Avellana Alicia Mariana
Published: September 2019

En guaraní paraguayo y otras variedades de esta lengua existe un morfema libre ra’e que presenta valores de evidencial indirecto, mirativo y pasado, aunque con frecuentes contraejemplos en los que prima facie la evidencia aparece como directa, la miratividad no se observa y el valor temporal es de presente. En sus usos evidenciales y mirativos equivale frecuentemente, en el español paraguayo, a la expresión adverbial había sido. El presente artículo se propone situar ra’e y había sido en el contexto de debates recientes sobre tiempo, aspecto, evidencialidad y miratividad, y sugerir una explicación unificada para sus diversos valores a partir de la noción de Tiempo de Adquisición de la Evidencia (Lee 2011). A partir de esto, asimismo, establecemos diferencias entre ambas expresiones y otros evidenciales semejantes en otras lenguas, incluyendo los usos evidenciales de las perífrasis haber + participio documentadas en otras variedades sudamericanas.
Comparison of fatty acids profile of the gonads and eggs of Lutjanus guttatus (Perciformes: Lutjanidae) obtained from wild and captive broodstock
Authors: Chacón-Guzmán Jonathan , Carvajal-Oses Milagro , Toledo-Agüero Pedro , Flores-Gatica Héctor
Published: September 2019

The proportions of fatty acids present in eggs and gonads of wild and captive Lutjanus guttatus (Steindachner, 1869) were evaluated to assist in obtaining nutritional information necessary to improve the diets provided in aquaculture production centers of this species. Samples of eggs and gonads were obtained from broodstock (1.0±0.1 kg) kept in the Pacific Marine Park (PMP), Costa Rica, and from individuals caught by fishermen in their natural environment.  The samples were taken in triplicate during the period spanning from August to September 2015.  Captive snappers were fed a fresh diet. Spawns and gonads were obtained from two groups of 16 specimens each of captive and wild fish, both groups having a sex ratio of 1:1 male to female. Gonads from females were selected according to their maturity stage, and male gonads were sampled based on the quantity, viscosity and color of semen. There were no statistically significant differences (p≥0.05) between egg diameters and oil droplets size; viability rates, expressed as percentages, were considered to be high and appropriate for comparison (91.2% captive, 86.1% wild).  There were also no statistically significant differences in the fatty acid composition of eggs obtained from wild and captive females (p=0.2188), or in gonads from males (p=0.6179) and wild and captive females (p=0.1153). The presence of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was observed in all of the samples analyzed, while arachidonic acid (ARA) was found in amounts ranging from 0.38 to 5.07% and was not present in the eggs of wild females or in the gonads of captive females.
Gender Differences in Earnings of Early- and Midcareer Pediatricians
Authors: Frintner Mary Pat , Sisk Blake , Byrne Bobbi J. , Freed Gary L. , Starmer Amy J. , Olson Lynn M.
Published: September 2019

BACKGROUND:

The US physician workforce includes an increasing number of women, with pediatrics having the highest percentage. In recent research on physicians, it is indicated that men earn more than women. It is unclear how this finding extends to pediatricians.

METHODS:

We examined cross-sectional 2016 data on earnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study, a longitudinal study of early- and midcareer pediatricians. To estimate adjusted differences in pediatrician earnings between men and women, we conducted 4 ordinary least squares regression models. Model 1 examined gender, unadjusted; model 2 controlled for labor force characteristics; model 3 controlled for both labor force and physician-specific job characteristics; and model 4 controlled for labor force, physician-specific job, and work-family characteristics.

RESULTS:

Sixty-seven percent of Pediatrician Life and Career Experience Study participants completed the 2016 surveys (1213 out of 1801). The analytic sample was restricted to participants who completed training and worked in general pediatrics, hospitalist care, or subspecialty care (n = 998). Overall pediatrician-reported mean annual income was $189 804. Before any adjustment, women earned ∼76% of what men earned, or ∼$51 000 less. Adjusting for common labor force characteristics such as demographics, work hours, and specialty, women earned ∼87% of what men earned, or ∼$26 000 less. Adjusting for a comprehensive set of labor force, physician-specific job, and work-family characteristics, women earned ∼94% of what men earned, or ∼$8000 less.

CONCLUSIONS:

Early- to midcareer female pediatricians earned less than male pediatricians. This difference persisted after adjustment for important labor force, physician-specific job, and work-family characteristics. In future work, researchers should use longitudinal analyses and further explore family obligations and choices.
Medio ambiente, crecimiento urbano y rol del Estado: planificación urbana en San Carlos de Bariloche
Authors: Medina Víctor Damián , Guevara Tomás Alejandro , Marigo Pablo
Published: September 2019

El presente artículo busca explorar y describir la relación entre crecimiento urbano y medio ambiente y su incidencia en la configuración territorial de las ciudades turísticas tomando como eje el rol del Estado y sus herramientas de planificación urbana. Esta relación se torna más evidente en ciudades turísticas basadas en el medio ambiente, donde la disputa por la apropiación y el uso del suelo están atravesadas por la principal actividad económica local. Como caso de estudio se propone analizar la instrumentación normativa, y aplicación efectiva, del Plan Director de 1979 de San Carlos de Bariloche, un centro turístico localizado al norte de la Patagonia argentina que históricamente tendió a crecer a lo largo de su franja costera. La metodología cualitativa empleada incluyó, principalmente, el análisis de documentos públicos —como códigos urbanos y ordenanzas modificatorias—, y entrevistas en profundidad a informantes clave. Complementariamente, también se hizo uso de imágenes aéreas y mapas de la ciudad para situar históricamente el proceso de  urbanización. Se concluye que el mercado inmobiliario local traza, en definitiva, las lógicas de expansión territorial que, mediadas por el atractivo turístico, expresan la apropiación desigual del suelo y el medioambiente.
Avaliação da regulação sensorial do equilíbrio corporal e risco de queda de mulheres adultas e idosas fisicamente ativas
Authors: Nascimento Marcelo De Maio , De Castro Hugo Daniel Gomez , Ramos Mateus Alves
Published: September 2019

OBJECTIVE: To examine the sensory performance of static and dynamic balance regulation and the risk of falling in physically active adult and elderly women.METHOD: This is a non-probabilistic and intentional cross-sectional study. Thirty four women (51.90±15.84 years) enrolled in a gym attended. The population evaluated was stratified in age groups: 20-59 years (n=18) and 60 69 years (n=16). The gait was evaluated by the Time Up and Go (TUGs), Time Up and Go manual (TUGm), and Time Up and Go cognitive (TUGc), the balance by the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and Body Balance Test (TEC). RESULTS: Student’s t-test showed significant differences between age groups for comorbidities: hearing, vision, vertigo, labyrinthitis (p≤0.05). Comparatively, adult women showed better performance indices than older women in physical tests. According to the standards of the tests, there was no risk of falling for any group. However, regardless of age, a detailed examination of the TEC test showed a deficit in the sensory regulation of the visual, vestibular and somatosensory systems of the static and dynamic balance of fallers and non fallers (p≤0.05). The logistic regression analysis indicated the interoceptive regulation of the dynamic balance as a predictor of fall (p≤0.05). CONCLUSION: Deficits in the vestibular and somatosensory systems gradually potentiate the risk of falls in adult and elderly women, even if they remain physically active.
Estudo comparativo do perfil de idosos atendidos em um hospital terciário: ambulatório de psiquiatria geriátrica e unidade de internação psiquiátrica
Authors: Güenter Letícia , Jardim Gabriel Behr Gomes , Jr Francisco Pascoal , Spanemberg Lucas , Pacheco Marco Antônio , Sgnaolin Vanessa , Cataldo Neto Alfredo
Published: September 2019

AIMS: To verify the profile of the elderly and their main diagnoses in the geriatrics psychiatric outpatient clinic and the psychiatric hospitalization unit of a tertiary hospital. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of population-based was performed in a tertiary referral hospital, with individuals aged ≥55 years attending the geriatric psychiatric outpatient clinic and psychiatric hospitalization, from 2014 to 2018. Data were collected through interviews. The studied variables were sociodemographic and clinical aspects.  RESULTS: A total of 497 individuals were evaluated, 269 from the psychiatric outpatient clinic and 228 from the psychiatric hospital. The mean age was 69.34±8.87 years. Most of the patients were female (75.8%), had no partner (56.3%), had primary education (50.3%), lived in Porto Alegre (75.6%) and were retired (66.5%). According to the clinical variables studied, 89.6% of the individuals had some morbidity, 36.9% had already been admitted to the psychiatric ward, the most common diagnosis was depression (40.8%), followed by bipolar disorder (19%) and anxiety (14.1%). CONCLUSIONS: With the population aging, it is expected to increase morbidity and mental disorders, requiring more specific diagnostic tools and better treatment approaches. There are still no consistent data on the management of mood disorders in the elderly, so our study can guide a better care for elderly and aging individuals, improving the planning of health services and policies.
Tradisi Ulak Manah dan Komunikasi Transendental: Studi Masyarakat Muslim Pedalaman Ulu Kapuas
Authors: Ibrahim Ibrahim , Muttaqin Imron
Published: September 2019

This article discusses the transcendental commu­nication of the Ulu Kapuas Muslim community, which is represented in the oral tradition of Ulak Manah. Through a descriptive qualitative method that focuses on analyzing the story of the Umung Putri Raja and the Shaman Agreement with the crocodile king, this study found that the Ulu Kapuas Muslim community believed that there was a familial relation­ship between humans and descendants of crocodiles. This tradition is manifested in the tradition of buang-buang, main­taining relationships and descent, as well as reminding of promises owed. Preservation of these traditions forms trans­cendental communication between human descendants and crocodile offspring in Ulak Manah.
Demystification of the Myth of Freedom in the Characterization of Christopher McCandless in Krakauer’s Into The Wild
Authors: Suwastini Ni Komang Arie , Suprianti Gusti Ayu Putu , Suparyanta Nyoman Trijaya
Published: September 2019

While Krakauer’s Into The Wild depicts McCandless’ flee from society to live in the wild, many reviews argue that McCandless was not really a kind of person who finds freedom in nature. The present study will investigate further the surface characterizations of McCandless as freedom chaser with the plot development to fill the gap between McCandless’ characterizations and the myth of freedom that he chases. By applying Barthes’ mythology, the study reveals that McCandless was described as an adventurer, immaterialist, and loner. However, the plot development reveals that as a person who sought an adventure in nature, McCandless would deal with water, but knowing that he had fear of water, it is contradictive with his characterization as an adventurer. As a person who rejected capitalism and materialist society, he was found working at McDonald's for having money in which both McDonalds and money are symbols of capitalism and materialistic society. As a person who spent his time mostly alone and intended to be alone in Alaska, he was a lonely person after all. Thus these contradictions demystify the myth of freedom that McCandless chases.
Correction of hypertriglyceridemia in order to reduce the residual risk in atherosclerosis-related diseases. Expert Council Opinion
Authors: Arutyunov G. P. , Boytsov S. A. , Voevoda M. I. , Drapkina O. M. , Kukharchuk V. V. , Martynov A. I. , Shestakova M. V. , Gurevich V. S. , Sergienko I. V. , Alieva A. S. , Akhmedzhanov N. M. , Bubnova M. G. , Galyavich A. S. , Gordeev I. G. , Yezhov M. V. , Karpov Yu. A. , Konstantinov V. O. , Nedogoda S. V. , Nifontov E. M. , Orlova Y. A. , Panov A. V. , Saiganov S. A. , Skibitsky V. V. , Tarlovskaya E. I. , Urazgildeeva S. A. , Khalimov Yu. Sh.
Published: September 2019

In opinion the Expert council provides management tactics for patients with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG). It is demonstrated that HTG is a common condition in overweight patients and is an important component of residual risk. HTG creates additional conditions for the progression of atherosclerosis, so the level of triglycerides (TG) is recommended to be measured in patients with a high, very high and extremely high risk level. An indication for the appointment of drugs that reduce the concentration of TG is its level of more than 2,3 mmol/L. Statins are the agents of choice to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in high-risk patients with hypercholesterolemia and HTG. Fenofibrate is used to correct HTG, and in case of intolerance to it or when the target level of TG is not reached, omega-3 ethers of polyunsaturated fatty acids in a dose of 2-4 g/day are recommended. In patients with HTG with a TG level >5,6 mmol/L, fenofibrate is the agent of choice.
Constitutional guarantee of the right to health and the practice of medical care: legal positions of the judicial authorities in cases related to cardiovascular pathology
Authors: Nesterov S. S. , Taratukhin Е. О. , Chasovskykh G. A.
Published: September 2019

The article discusses a number of situations related medical and constitutional aspects of cardiovascular medical care. The ability to prevent the negative consequences caused by diseases is not only a task of medicine as a scientific and practical field, but also a task of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Article 41 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes the protection of human life and health as one of the main tasks of the state. Medical and civil aspects of the methods for preventing diseases and its consequences are shown. An integrated approach to the analysis of this problem contributes not only to the systematization of knowledge and experience in this field, but also helps to implement the definition of health of the World Health Organization.
Constitutional and ethical medical points of view on the importance of hospitalization of a patient with emergency cardiovascular pathology
Authors: Nesterov S. S. , Taratukhin Е. О.
Published: September 2019

The article discusses the constitutional, ethical and medical aspects of hospitalization of patients with a life-threatening cardiovascular event. In itself, a medical condition is a complex biological event with many unpredictable aspects of its own course and adverse events and reactions in case of medical intervention. A doctor, as the central subject of medical care, faces four categories of difficulties: law, organizational, biomedical and ethical. Medical care is regulated by both article 41 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and departmental acts of the health care system. Actually, doctor as a part of the healthcare system implement this right. The article provides an example of delivered judgment regarding complicated course of acute coronary syndrome. It shows the complexity of the medical situation, that regards the issues of doctor’s legal liability.
Urban space and physical activity are a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases
Authors: Maksimov S. A. , Fedorova N. V. , Artamonova G. V.
Published: September 2019

Lack of physical activity (PA) is considered as one of the risk factors for a number of chronic non-communicable diseases. The sedentary lifestyle of a significant part of developed countries population, along with the insufficient effectiveness of traditional tools to stimulate the PA of the population, determine the interest of healthcare in optimizing urban space for increasing PA. In Russia, the number of studies in this area is extremely small, which determines the purpose of this review: presentation of the foreign results of the implementation of practical concepts and programs for optimizing urban space, as well as prospective studies that demonstrate the most evidence-based causal relationships of PA changes. Focus in prevention of diseases in Russia over the past decade, determines the scientific interest in risk factors, the features of its formation, and possible ways of implementation. In this regard, the results of such topics will be in demand by Russian health care, which will require the conduct of own Russian studies, taking into account foreign experience.
Poll-Confident Voters in Iterative Voting
Authors: Wilczynski Anaëlle
Published: September 2019

This article deals with strategic voting under incomplete information. We propose a descriptive model, inspired by political elections, where the information about the vote intentions of the electorate comes from public opinion polls and a social network, modeled as a graph over the voters. The voters are assumed to be confident in the poll and they update the communicated results with the information they get from their relatives in the social network. We consider an iterative voting model based on this behavior and study the associated “poll-confident” dynamics. In this context, we ask the question of manipulation by the polling institute.
Defending Elections against Malicious Spread of Misinformation
Authors: Wilder Bryan , Vorobeychik Yevgeniy
Published: September 2019

The integrity of democratic elections depends on voters’ access to accurate information. However, modern media environments, which are dominated by social media, provide malicious actors with unprecedented ability to manipulate elections via misinformation, such as fake news. We study a zerosum game between an attacker, who attempts to subvert an election by propagating a fake new story or other misinformation over a set of advertising channels, and a defender who attempts to limit the attacker’s impact. Computing an equilibrium in this game is challenging as even the pure strategy sets of players are exponential. Nevertheless, we give provable polynomial-time approximation algorithms for computing the defender’s minimax optimal strategy across a range of settings, encompassing different population structures as well as models of the information available to each player. Experimental results confirm that our algorithms provide nearoptimal defender strategies and showcase variations in the difficulty of defending elections depending on the resources and knowledge available to the defender.
Distributionally Adversarial Attack
Authors: Zheng Tianhang , Chen Changyou , Ren Kui
Published: September 2019

Recent work on adversarial attack has shown that Projected Gradient Descent (PGD) Adversary is a universal first-order adversary, and the classifier adversarially trained by PGD is robust against a wide range of first-order attacks. It is worth noting that the original objective of an attack/defense model relies on a data distribution p(x), typically in the form of risk maximization/minimization, e.g., max/min Ep(x) L(x) with p(x) some unknown data distribution and L(·) a loss function. However, since PGD generates attack samples independently for each data sample based on L(·), the procedure does not necessarily lead to good generalization in terms of risk optimization. In this paper, we achieve the goal by proposing distributionally adversarial attack (DAA), a framework to solve an optimal adversarial-data distribution, a perturbed distribution that satisfies the L∞ constraint but deviates from the original data distribution to increase the generalization risk maximally. Algorithmically, DAA performs optimization on the space of potential data distributions, which introduces direct dependency between all data points when generating adversarial samples. DAA is evaluated by attacking state-of-the-art defense models, including the adversarially-trained models provided by MIT MadryLab. Notably, DAA ranks the first place on MadryLab’s white-box leaderboards, reducing the accuracy of their secret MNIST model to 88.56% (with l∞ perturbations of ε = 0.3) and the accuracy of their secret CIFAR model to 44.71% (with l∞ perturbations of ε = 8.0). Code for the experiments is released on https://github.com/tianzheng4/Distributionally-Adversarial-Attack.
A Two-Individual Based Evolutionary Algorithm for the Flexible Job Shop Scheduling Problem
Authors: Ding Junwen , Lü Zhipeng , Li Chu-Min , Shen Liji , Xu Liping , Glover Fred
Published: September 2019

Population-based evolutionary algorithms usually manage a large number of individuals to maintain the diversity of the search, which is complex and time-consuming. In this paper, we propose an evolutionary algorithm using only two individuals, called master-apprentice evolutionary algorithm (MAE), for solving the flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP). To ensure the diversity and the quality of the evolution, MAE integrates a tabu search procedure, a recombination operator based on path relinking using a novel distance definition, and an effective individual updating strategy, taking into account the multiple complex constraints of FJSP. Experiments on 313 widely-used public instances show that MAE improves the previous best known results for 47 instances and matches the best known results on all except 3 of the remaining instances while consuming the same computational time as current state-of-the-art metaheuristics. MAE additionally establishes solution quality records for 10 hard instances whose previous best values were established by a well-known industrial solver and a state-of-the-art exact method.
Greedy Maximization of Functions with Bounded Curvature under Partition Matroid Constraints
Authors: Friedrich Tobias , Göbel Andreas , Neumann Frank , Quinzan Francesco , Rothenberger Ralf
Published: September 2019

We investigate the performance of a deterministic GREEDY algorithm for the problem of maximizing functions under a partition matroid constraint. We consider non-monotone submodular functions and monotone subadditive functions. Even though constrained maximization problems of monotone submodular functions have been extensively studied, little is known about greedy maximization of non-monotone submodular functions or monotone subadditive functions.

We give approximation guarantees for GREEDY on these problems, in terms of the curvature. We find that this simple heuristic yields a strong approximation guarantee on a broad class of functions.

We discuss the applicability of our results to three real-world problems: Maximizing the determinant function of a positive semidefinite matrix, and related problems such as the maximum entropy sampling problem, the constrained maximum cut problem on directed graphs, and combinatorial auction games.

We conclude that GREEDY is well-suited to approach these problems. Overall, we present evidence to support the idea that, when dealing with constrained maximization problems with bounded curvature, one needs not search for (approximate) monotonicity to get good approximate solutions.
On the Time Complexity of Algorithm Selection Hyper-Heuristics for Multimodal Optimisation
Authors: Lissovoi Andrei , Oliveto Pietro S. , Warwicker John Alasdair
Published: September 2019

Selection hyper-heuristics are automated algorithm selection methodologies that choose between different heuristics during the optimisation process. Recently selection hyperheuristics choosing between a collection of elitist randomised local search heuristics with different neighbourhood sizes have been shown to optimise a standard unimodal benchmark function from evolutionary computation in the optimal expected runtime achievable with the available low-level heuristics. In this paper we extend our understanding to the domain of multimodal optimisation by considering a hyper-heuristic from the literature that can switch between elitist and nonelitist heuristics during the run. We first identify the range of parameters that allow the hyper-heuristic to hillclimb efficiently and prove that it can optimise a standard hillclimbing benchmark function in the best expected asymptotic time achievable by unbiased mutation-based randomised search heuristics. Afterwards, we use standard multimodal benchmark functions to highlight function characteristics where the hyper-heuristic is efficient by swiftly escaping local optima and ones where it is not. For a function class called CLIFFd where a new gradient of increasing fitness can be identified after escaping local optima, the hyper-heuristic is extremely efficient while a wide range of established elitist and non-elitist algorithms are not, including the well-studied Metropolis algorithm. We complete the picture with an analysis of another standard benchmark function called JUMPd as an example to highlight problem characteristics where the hyper-heuristic is inefficient. Yet, it still outperforms the wellestablished non-elitist Metropolis algorithm.
Updates in Human-AI Teams: Understanding and Addressing the Performance/Compatibility Tradeoff
Authors: Bansal Gagan , Nushi Besmira , Kamar Ece , Weld Daniel S. , Lasecki Walter S. , Horvitz Eric
Published: September 2019

AI systems are being deployed to support human decision making in high-stakes domains such as healthcare and criminal justice. In many cases, the human and AI form a team, in which the human makes decisions after reviewing the AI’s inferences. A successful partnership requires that the human develops insights into the performance of the AI system, including its failures. We study the influence of updates to an AI system in this setting. While updates can increase the AI’s predictive performance, they may also lead to behavioral changes that are at odds with the user’s prior experiences and confidence in the AI’s inferences. We show that updates that increase AI performance may actually hurt team performance. We introduce the notion of the compatibility of an AI update with prior user experience and present methods for studying the role of compatibility in human-AI teams. Empirical results on three high-stakes classification tasks show that current machine learning algorithms do not produce compatible updates. We propose a re-training objective to improve the compatibility of an update by penalizing new errors. The objective offers full leverage of the performance/compatibility tradeoff across different datasets, enabling more compatible yet accurate updates.
Ekinezya (Echinaceae purpurea L.) bitkisinde tuz stresi ve deniz yosunu uygulamalarının bazı fizyolojik parametreler üzerine etkisinin araştırılması
Authors: KARA Alya , TUNÇTÜRK Murat , TUNÇTÜRK Rüveyde
Published: September 2019

Araştırma,
ekinezyada (Echinacea purpurea L.) 150 mM dozunda farklı tuz kaynakları (NaCl, KCl ve CaCl2) ve deniz yosunu (Ascophyllum
nodosum) ekstraktı dozlarının (kontrol, 2, 4 ve
6 cc l-1) büyüme parametreleri ile biyokimyasal
değişiklikler üzerine etkilerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Deneme,
Tesadüf Parselleri Deneme Deseni’ ne göre faktöriyel düzende 4 tekerrürlü
olarak kontrollü iklim odasında yürütülmüştür. Denemede, ekinezyanın yaprak
alanı, klorofil miktarı, yaprak dokularında iyon sızıntısı, malondialdehit
düzeyi (MDA), yaprak dokularında bağıl su içeriği ve membran dayanıklılık
indeksi gibi özellikler incelenmiştir. Çalışmada, tuz stresinin bitkinin yaprak
alanını, yaprak dokularında bağıl su içeriğini, membran dayanıklılık indeksi ve
klorofil miktarını azalttığı; MDA seviyesi ile yaprak dokularında iyon
sızıntısını arttırdığı belirlenmiştir. Deniz yosunu uygulamaları ile MDA
seviyesi ve yaprak dokularında iyon sızıntısı dışında incelenen tüm
parametreler önemli seviyede artmıştır.
Harran ovasında sulama, drenaj ve toprak tuzluluğu etkileşimi
Authors: BAHÇECİ Barış
Published: September 2019

Bu çalışmada, Harran ovasında drenaj sularının
sulamada kullanılmasının toprakta su ve tuz dengesi üzerine olası etkileri
irdelenmiştir. Ovadaki açık drenaj kanal sularının, yüzeyaltı drenaj sularına
göre daha az tuz içerdiği ve mevsim sonuna doğru tuz içeriklerinin azaldığı
görülmüştür. Drenaj sistemleri kurulu alanlarda sulama mevsiminde, su tablası
düzeyi genellikle 140-160 cm derinlikte seyretmektedir. Bu koşullarda
SaltMod bilgisayar modeli, kök bölgesi tuzluluğunun, 3 yıl içinde 7.0’den
3.0 dSm-1ye, 10 yıl içinde ise 1.5 dSm-1’ye
düşeceğini, ayrıca tuzluluğu EC=1.5 dSm-1’ye kadar olan sularla
yapılan sulamaların toprak tuzluluğunda azalışa, EC=2.5-3.0 dS m-1
ve daha fazla olanların ise toprak tuzluluğunda artışa neden olacağını
öngörmüştür.
Adopción e impacto de las tecnologías agropecuarias generadas en el Ecuador
Authors: Hugo Sánchez Victor , Zambrano Mendoza Jose Luis
Published: September 2019

El conocimiento de los efectos que tienen las tecnologías en la sociedad es el instrumento esencial para motivar el desarrollo de la investigación, ya que brinda insumos a los tomadores de decisiones y generadores de políticas que permiten proyectar el impacto de futuras inversiones. En Ecuador, el principal centro público encargado de la investigación y desarrollo de tecnologías en el sector agropecuario es el Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP), que desarrolla material genético, alternativas de manejo para incrementar y agregar valor a la producción, alternativas para el manejo del suelo y agua y la conservación de los recursos genéticos. Con el objetivo de estimar la adopción e impacto de las tecnologías agropecuarias que se generan en el país, se analizaron 37 estudios de adopción, impacto y rentabilidad económica de tecnologías generadas por el INIAP, publicados en el período 2007-2017. La tasa de adopción promedio a nivel nacional de las variedades desarrolladas por el INIAP fue del 37%, con una tasa interna de retorno promedio del 33%. Los impactos fueron positivos a nivel económico, ambiental y productivo para los agricultores que adoptaron las tecnologías. Estos resultados sirven de apoyo a los políticos y tomadores de decisiones en el país para el direccionamiento y planificación estratégica de la investigación, que permita el desarrollo de una agricultura sostenible y de referencia para la región.
UC Davis - Imaging CMGI v2
Authors: J. Rowland Douglas
Published: September 2019

Summary: The Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging (CMGI) provides small animal imaging services for preclinical research. Contrast agents are a prerequisite for scientifically useful imaging studies involving microPET and microSPECT. In some studies, a contrast agent is also necessary for microCT imaging studies. Contrast agents include iodine-based compounds for x-ray computed tomography (CT), gadolinium for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and radioactive tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).
Automated, Rapid Preparation of Tissue Sections for Proteomic Analysis v2
Authors: Allen Jamie , Spraggins Jeff , Gutierrez Danielle
Published: September 2019

Scope: To describe the procedure for the lysis, reduction/alkylation, trypsin digestion, and clean-up of tissue. Lysis will cover the lysing of tissue and protein concentration. Acetone precipitation will cover the precipitation of proteins. Digestion will cover the process for digesting 100 µg of protein using the Agilent AssayMap Bravo Robot and Promega Rapid Trypsin/LysC. The clean-up of the cells will cover the desalting process on the Agilent AssayMap Bravo and the subsequent preparation of the samples for LC/MS peptide analysis. Expected Outcome/Data: Cell samples lysed, digested, and desalted for analysis on MS instrument. Samples to be analyzed within one or two days of desalting.
ASD FieldSpec3 field measurement protocols v1
Authors: Kalacska Margaret , Pablo Arroyo-Mora J. , Soffer Raymond , Elmer Kathryn
Published: September 2019

The following protocol describes best practices for collecting field spectrometer measurements with an ASD Fieldspec 3 spectroradiometer. In order to determine absolute reflectance users are urged to follow the calibration and analytical theory described in Soffer et al (2019). Processing of the files collected by the ASD following the theory presented in Soffer et al. (2019) can be carried out with the ASDtoolkit (Elmer et al. 2019). Soffer R., Ifimov G., Arroyo-Mora J.P., Kalacska M. 2019 Validation of Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery from Laboratory Panel Characterization to Image Quality Assessment: Implications for an Arctic Peatland Surrogate Simulation Site. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing. DOI: 10.1080/07038992.2019.1650334 Elmer K, Soffer R, Kalacska M, Schaaf ES, Arroyo-Mora JP. (2019) ASDtoolkit for reflectance measurements dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.6pahdie
On the Ground‐Motion Models for Chinese Seismic Hazard Mapping
Authors: Hong Han Ping , Feng Chao
Published: September 2019

The ground‐motion models (GMMs) used to map seismic hazard in China were developed based on the so‐called projection method, assuming relations of a pair of predicted macrointensities and of a pair of predicted ground‐motion measures in two different regions. The use of such a method is necessary because the ground‐motion records of a large number of strong earthquakes are lacking in mainland China, although the catalog of historical Chinese earthquakes is relatively rich. A critical review of the GMMs adopted to develop the third‐, fourth‐, and fifth‐generation Chinese seismic hazard maps (CSHMs) for mainland China suggests that some of the information used to project these models, such as the earthquake magnitude interpretation and GMM for the macrointensity, may need additional justification, and that the standard deviation (sigma) of the GMMs may be low. Also, new GMMs applicable to mainland China are developed based on the projection method and a set of the GMMs from the Next Generation Attenuation relationships. The results obtained using newly projected GMMs and seismic hazard analysis indicate that the ratio of the return period values of the peak ground acceleration obtained using the newly projected GMMs and using the GMMs adopted for the fifth‐generation CSHM is about 1.35 for a return period range from 50 to 2475 yr. Part of this increase is attributed to the differences in the standard deviations of residuals for the newly projected GMMs and the adopted GMMs used to map seismic hazard for mainland China. The results also suggest that the shape of the adopted seismic design spectrum in Chinese structural design code differs from the uniform hazard spectra obtained based on the newly projected GMMs for simple seismic source zones.
Cold-modulated small proteins abundance in winter triticale (x Triticosecale, Wittm.) seedlings tolerant to the pink snow mould (Microdochium nivale, Samuels & Hallett) infection
Authors: Golebiowska Gabriela Julia , Bonar Emilia , Emami Kaveh , Wędzony Maria
Published: September 2019

Two winter triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack) model cultivars: Hewo (tolerant to pink snow mould) and Magnat (sensitive) were used to test the effect of cold-hardening (4 weeks at 4°C) on soluble ≤50 kDa protein profiles of the seedling leaves. The presence and abundance of individual proteins were analysed via two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (SELDI-TOF). Up to now, no proteomics analysis of triticale response to hardening has been performed. Thus, the present paper is the first in the series describing the obtained results. In our experiments, the exposure to the low temperature-induced only quantitative changes in the leaves of both cultivars, causing either an increase or decrease of 4–50 kDa protein abundance. Among proteins which were cold-accumulated in cv. Hewo’s leaves, we identified two thioredoxin peroxidases (chloroplastic thiol-specific antioxidant proteins) as well as mitochondrial- β-ATP synthase subunit and ADP-binding resistance protein. On the contrary, in hardened seedlings of this genotype, we observed the decreased level of chloroplastic RuBisCO small subunit PW9 and epidermal peroxidase 10. Simultaneous SELDI-TOF analysis revealed several low mass proteins better represented in cold-hardened plants of tolerant genotype in comparison to the sensitive one and the impact of both genotype and temperature on their level. Based on those results, we suggest that indicated proteins might be potential candidates for molecular markers of cold-induced snow mould resistance of winter triticale and their role is worth to be investigated in the further inoculation experiments.
ISLAMIC BANKING REVOLUTION IN MALAYSIA: A REVIEW
Authors: Husseini Saleh Ali , Fam Soo-Fen , Ahmat Norun Najjah , Azmi Fadhlur Rahim , Prastyo Dedy Dwi , Yanto Heri
Published: September 2019

Purpose of the study: The study aims to review the development of Malaysian Islamic banks from year 2008 to 2015 and its role in financing Malaysian economy.

Methodology: The sources of data were collectted from Malaysian banks, the reviews of the experience of Islamic banks in Malaysia has been discussed, then this study analysed the roles of Islamic banks in the allocation of resources in the banking system. finally, this study explined the  overall development of performance in Islamic banks in Malaysia.

Main Findings and Novelty: The results of this study show that the Malaysian Islamic banks have contributed on the structure of the Malaysian economy; particularly in supporting the SME (small and medium entrepreneurship) industries as well the large projects, which create a good positive impact on Malaysian economy and became one of the main financial sources of Malaysian investment.

Applications of this study: Achieving the required requirements for the success of the desired Islamic financial system such as adherence to ethical controls and behavior would reduce the problematic ethical risks and the risks of information asymmetry and emphasis on the importance of participations in the banking system and the need to adopt them.
PUBLIC DEBT AS A SOURCE OF FINANCING FOR GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC SCHOLARS
Authors: Mawardi Imron , Widiastuti Tika , Anova Debrina Farrah , Al Mustofa Muhammad Ubaidillah , Ardiantono Dewie Saktia , Insani Taqiyah Dinda
Published: September 2019

Purpose of the study: This study aims to examine foreign debt as a source of financing for economic development. This research is expected to provide (1) an overview of debt as a source of funding for state projects, (2) investigate its impacts and (3) offer additional knowledge of its Islamic perspective.

Methodology: This research is a qualitative study using the study literature approach. This research is conducted by analysing books, literature, journals, and magazines with themes related to the focus of the discussion on this study. It is expected that the method used can provide insight, general knowledge, and develop the view of Islam in relation to foreign debt.

Main Findings: The government has to ensure that the state has the ability to pay off its obligations in the future; guarantee that loans have to be free from interest; prioritize taking loans from internal sources rather than external sources. In Addition, debts are not intended for deferred needs and not taking loans that exceed their needs.

Applications of this study: basically the results of this study can be applied to any country that considers the use of public debt, like other Islamic systems.

Novelty/Originality of this study: This research is conceptual research in an Islamic perspective. This study successfully examined comprehensively related to the public debt with the Islamic approach.