bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Metabolic and performance‐related consequences of exercising at and slightly above MLSS
Authors: Iannetta Danilo , Inglis Erin Calaine , Fullerton Christopher , Passfield Louis , Murias Juan M.
Published: August 2018

Exercising at the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) results in increased but stable metabolic responses. We tested the hypothesis that even a slight increase above MLSS (10 W), by altering the metabolic steady state, would reduce exercise performance capacity. Eleven trained men in our study performed: one ramp‐incremental tests; two to four 30‐minute constant‐load cycling exercise trials to determine the PO at MLSS (MLSSp), and ten watts above MLSS (MLSSp+10), which were immediately followed by a time‐to‐exhaustion test; and a time‐to‐exhaustion test with no‐prior exercise. Pulmonary O2 uptake V.O2) and blood lactate concentration ([La−]b) as well as local muscle O2 extraction ([HHb]) and muscle activity (EMG) of the vastus lateralis (VL) and rectus femoris (RF) muscles were measured during the testing sessions. When exercising at MLSSp+10, although V.O2 was stable, there was an increase in ventilatory responses and EMG activity, along with a non‐stable [La−]b response (P < 0.05). The [HHb] of VL muscle achieved its apex at MLSSp with no additional increase above this intensity, whereas the [HHb] of RF progressively increased during MLSSp+10 and achieved its apex during the time‐to‐exhaustion trials. Time‐to‐exhaustion performance was decreased after exercising at MLSSp (37.3 ± 16.4%) compared to the no‐prior exercise condition, and further decreased after exercising at MLSSp+10 (64.6 ± 6.3%) (P < 0.05). In summary, exercising for 30 min slightly above MLSS led to significant alterations of metabolic responses which disproportionately compromised subsequent exercise performance. Furthermore, the [HHb] signal of VL seemed to achieve a “ceiling” at the intensity of exercise associated with MLSS.
Ameliorating acidity of an extensively‐managed permanent pasture soil
Authors: Norton M. R. , Garden D. L. , Orchard B. A. , Armstrong P.
Published: August 2018

Acid soil amelioration was measured annually over an 11 year experiment. Lime, and superphosphate were surface‐applied under combinations of three rates of lime, viz. nil, lime to raise pHCa of 0–10 cm to 5.0 (low rate) and 5.5 (high rate) respectively, two rates of superphosphate (125 kg/ha every 2 to 3 yr, 250 kg/ha/yr) and two sheep stocking rates. Soils were sampled at 0–2.5, 2.5–5, 5–7.5, 7.5–10, 10–15 and 15–20 cm. Soil pH stratification developed after lime application. By 11 yr lime had not raised pHCa to either 5.0 or 5.5 in the 5–10 cm profile. However, pHCa >5.0 or >5.5 were observed in the 0–5 cm profile. Under high P, low lime application, soil pHCa was higher in the 0–2.5 cm profile at low stocking rate. Effects of applied lime on pHCa declined with time and depth under low lime and the relationship with Alex which increased as pHCa declined, was modelled. A rarely reported relationship showed that as soil C increased the apparent solubility of Al decreased. At the lowest pHCa considered, there was a strong negative association between Alex and total C, becoming weaker with positive pHCa increments. Higher P rates increased pHCa under low lime contrasting with lesser effects on pHCa under low P at the same lime rate. Slow and limited lime movement means that farmers growing acid sensitive plants must apply lime early enough and at rates and frequencies sufficient to ensure downward movement.
Effects of clotrimazole troches on tacrolimus dosing in heart transplant recipients
Authors: Laub Melissa R. , Crow Stacy A. , Personett Heather A. , Dierkhising Ross , Boilson Barry , Razonable Raymund
Published: August 2018

Background

Tacrolimus is a cornerstone of immunosuppression after transplantation but is highly susceptible to changes from interacting variables and has a narrow therapeutic index. Clotrimazole troches are commonly used as a non‐systemic antifungal to prevent oral candidiasis. Studies suggest that clotrimazole troches, though minimally absorbed systemically, may affect tacrolimus concentrations by inhibition of metabolic enzyme activity in the intestines. However, the magnitude of the impact of clotrimazole on tacrolimus dosing requirements to maintain goal levels is not well described.

Methods

To assess this, tacrolimus dose adjustments and trough concentrations were retrospectively examined in 95 heart transplant recipients before and after the discontinuation of clotrimazole.

Results

The median percent tacrolimus dose change was an increase of 66.7% (IQR 28.6%, 100%) after clotrimazole discontinuation, and the median trough concentration percent change from baseline to the first trough after clotrimazole discontinuation (in the absence of a dose change) was −42.5% (IQR −52.3%, −30.9%). Five cases of allograft rejection were observed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, clotrimazole troches exert a meaningful interaction with tacrolimus that requires close monitoring and dose adjustment. The data from this single‐center study provide novel information that could guide providers on the degree of tacrolimus dose adjustment needed when discontinuing clotrimazole prophylaxis after heart transplantation.
About the Extension of Wind Turbine Power Curve in the High Wind Region
Authors: Astolfi Davide , Castellani Francesco , Lombardi Andrea , Terzi Ludovico
Published: August 2018

The financial sustainability and the profitability of wind farms strongly depend on the efficiency of the conversion of wind kinetic energy. This motivates further research about the improvement of wind turbine power curve. If the site is characterized by a considerable occurrence of very high wind speeds, it can become particularly profitable to update the power curve management. This is commonly done by raising the cut-out velocity and the high wind speed cut-in regulating the hysteresis logic. Doing this, on one side, the wind turbine possibly undergoes strong vibration and loads. On the other side, the energy improvement is almost certain and the point is quantifying precisely its magnitude. In this work, the test case of an onshore wind farm in Italy is studied, featuring 17 2.3 MW wind turbines. Through the analysis of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) data, the energy improvement from the extension of the power curve in the high wind speed region is simulated and measured. This could be useful for wind farm owners evaluating the realistic profitability of the installation of the power curve upgrade on their wind turbines. Furthermore, the present work is useful for the analysis of wind turbine behavior under extremely stressing load conditions.
An Experimental Study for the Development of Mandrel-Free Hot-Spinning for Large Size Titanium Alloy Plate Forming
Authors: Imamura Yoshihide , Ikawa Ken , Motoyama Kojiro , Iwasaki Hayato , Hirakawa Takeo , Utsunomiya Hiroshi
Published: August 2018

A mandrel-free hot-spinning was developed as a near-net-shape titanium alloy plate forming technique. In this work, a Ti–6Al–4V alloy conical product with a wall angle of 34 deg and 170 mm height was formed from a large size Ti–6Al–4V plate (890–920 mm diameter × 30 mm thick). The product was characterized metallurgically and mechanical properties were measured, and the shape of formed products was investigated. It was found that the mandrel-free hot-spinning is able to form a large size titanium alloy plate. Material properties including tensile strength and microstructure of the formed products satisfied the material specifications. Fatigue stress of the formed product was higher than that of the typical Ti–6Al–4V material. For a further improvement, a forming method using preformed material was proposed and which was successfully conducted with two types of preforms and found to be effective in the forming process.
Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in a Semicircular Microtube Induced by Electroosmosis and Pressure Gradient
Authors: Karabi Mehdi , Jabari Moghadam Ali
Published: August 2018

The hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of electroosmotic and pressure-driven flows of power-law fluids are examined in a semicircular microchannel under the constant wall heat flux condition. For sufficiently large values of the electrokinetic radius, the Debye length is thin; the active flow within the electric double layer (EDL) drags the rest of the liquid due to frictional forces arising from the fluid viscosity, and consequently a plug-like velocity profile is attained. The velocity ratio can affect the pure electrokinetic flow as well as the flow rate depending on the applied pressure gradient direction. Since the effective viscosity of shear-thinning fluids near the wall is quite small compared to the shear-thickening fluids, the former exhibits higher dimensionless velocities than the later close to the wall; the reverse is true at the middle section. Poiseuille number increases with increasing the flow behavior index and/or the electrokinetic radius. Due to the comparatively stronger axial advection and radial diffusion in shear-thinning fluids, better temperature uniformity is achieved in the channel. Reduction of Nusselt number continues as far as the fully developed region where it remains unchanged; as the electrokinetic radius tends to infinity, Nusselt number approaches a particular value (not depending on the flow behavior index).
Impulsive Consensus of Networked Multi-Agent Systems With Distributed Delays in Agent Dynamics and Impulsive Protocols
Authors: Liu Xinzhi , Zhang Kexue , Xie Wei-Chau
Published: August 2018

This paper studies the consensus problem of networked multi-agent systems (NMASs). Distributed delays are considered in the agent dynamics, and we propose a new type of impulsive consensus protocols that also takes into account of distributed delays. A novel method is developed to estimate the relation between the agent states at the impulsive instants and the distributed-delayed agent states, which helps to use the Razumikhin-type stability result to investigate the consensus of NMASs with distributed-delayed impulses. Sufficient conditions are established to guarantee that the network consensus can be reached via the proposed consensus protocols with fixed and switching topologies, respectively. Numerical simulations are also provided to demonstrate our theoretical results.
Concurrent events of memory and threshold switching in Ag/SiNx/Si devices
Authors: Kim Sungjun , Kim Min-Hwi , Kim Tae-Hyeon , Chen Ying-Chen , Chang Yao-Feng , Ismail Muhammad , Kim Yoon , Ryoo Kyung-Chang , Park Byung-Gook
Published: August 2018

In this work, the simultaneous detection of threshold switching and bipolar memory switching in Ag/SiNx/p++-Si devices is investigated. In the DC sweep mode, threshold switching is observed with low compliance current limit (CCL) of 1 μA while memory switching is dominant when high CCL (1 mA) is applied. It is found that in the pulse switching mode, pulse amplitude is an important factor in determining the nature of switching. It has been proven that the strength of the Ag filament formed in the SiNx determines the nonvolatile property of the switching. The undirectional threshold switching behavior in low currents of Ag/SiNx/p++-Si devices could be used as a selector for a low-power unipolar memory. Moreover, operating in two modes in one device will provide more flexibility in device design.
Multi-beam echo-sounder bathymetric measurements: Implications of using frequency modulated pulses
Authors: H. Mohammadloo Tannaz , Snellen Mirjam , Simons Dick G.
Published: August 2018

In this contribution bathymetric uncertainties induced by the use of frequency modulated (FM) signals for multi-beam-echo-sounder (MBES) measurements are quantified and their relevance for MBES bathymetric uncertainty predictions is assessed. When switching to FM, the quality of depth measurements can get deteriorated due to the Doppler effect and baseline decorrelation. The uncertainty due to the former is divided into second-order (imperfectness of the Doppler-range correction) and first-order (effect on beamsteering) effects. The latter also holds for continuous wave (CW) signals. Here, situations of relevance for measurements in the continental shelf and ship dynamics associated to rough and calm sea-states are considered, and the vertical uncertainty induced by the above sources is quantified. The influence of the Doppler effect depends on the sea state, but is found to potentially have a significant contribution to the MBES error budget for both FM and CW [nearly 82% (rough) and 68% (calm) of the total uncertainty]. The effect of baseline decorrelation depends on the actual pulse shape. For the specifications investigated, vertical uncertainties induced by this source are predicted to be larger for FM than that of CW. This is confirmed by a comparison between the modelled and measured effect on depth uncertainties when switching to FM.
Zebra finches are sensitive to combinations of temporally distributed features in a model of word recognition
Authors: Knowles Jeffrey M. , Doupe Allison J. , Brainard Michael S.
Published: August 2018

Discrimination between spoken words composed of overlapping elements, such as “captain” and “captive,” relies on sensitivity to unique combinations of prefix and suffix elements that span a “uniqueness point” where the word candidates diverge. To model such combinatorial processing, adult female zebra finches were trained to discriminate between target and distractor syllable sequences that shared overlapping “contextual” prefixes and differed only in their “informative” suffixes. The transition from contextual to informative syllables thus created a uniqueness point analogous to that present between overlapping word candidates, where targets and distractors diverged. It was found that target recognition depended not only on informative syllables, but also on contextual syllables that were shared with distractors. Moreover, the influence of each syllable depended on proximity to the uniqueness point. Birds were then trained birds with targets and distractors that shared both prefix and suffix sequences and could only be discriminated by recognizing unique combinations of those sequences. Birds learned to robustly discriminate target and distractor combinations and maintained significant discrimination when the local transitions from prefix to suffix were disrupted. These findings indicate that birds, like humans, combine information across temporally distributed features, spanning contextual and informative elements, in recognizing and discriminating word-like stimuli.
G protein–coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) orchestrate biased agonism at the β
2
-adrenergic receptor
Authors: Choi Minjung , Staus Dean P. , Wingler Laura M. , Ahn Seungkirl , Pani Biswaranjan , Capel William D. , Lefkowitz Robert J.
Published: August 2018

A mutant GPCR exhibits G protein–biased signaling because of defective phosphorylation by GRK, not because of an inability to bind to β-arrestin.
Investigation of the Plasma Virome from Cases of Unexplained Febrile Illness in Tanzania from 2013 to 2014: a Comparative Analysis between Unbiased and VirCapSeq-VERT High-Throughput Sequencing Approaches
Authors: Williams Simon H. , Cordey Samuel , Bhuva Nishit , Laubscher Florian , Hartley Mary-Anne , Boillat-Blanco Noémie , Mbarack Zainab , Samaka Josephine , Mlaganile Tarsis , Jain Komal , d’Acremont Valerie , Kaiser Laurent , Lipkin W. Ian
Published: August 2018

Characterization of the viruses found in the blood of febrile patients provides information pertinent to public health and diagnostic medicine. PCR and culture have historically played an important role in clinical microbiology; however, these methods require a targeted approach and may lack the capacity to identify novel or mixed viral infections. High-throughput sequencing can overcome these constraints. As the cost of running multiple samples continues to decrease, the implementation of high-throughput sequencing for diagnostic purposes is becoming more feasible. Here we present a comparative analysis of findings from an investigation of unexplained febrile illness using two strategies: unbiased high-throughput sequencing and VirCapSeq-VERT, a positive selection high-throughput sequencing system.
Internal iliac artery transposition for vascular reconstruction in a patient with life-threatening iatrogenic common iliac artery injury
Authors: Mishra Biplab , Joshi Mohit Kumar , Gupta Babita , Farooque Kamran
Published: August 2018

Major vascular injury during surgery is life threatening and can be a nightmare for any surgeon.

We share our experience of a 42-year-old woman where right common iliac artery and both common iliac veins were accidentally injured during lumbar discectomy leading to haemorrhagic shock. Patient was resuscitated and explored. A 4 cm segment of right common iliac artery was found lacerated along with perforations of both iliac veins. Proximal segment of internal iliac artery was mobilised quickly and vascular continuity was restored by end-to-end anastomosis of this segment to the proximal segment of common iliac artery after excising the damaged segment. Iliac veins were repaired primarily. Patient made an uneventful recovery. We share this technique as it was found expeditious and effective and may benefit surgeons working in this field.
What ‘Just Culture’ doesn’t understand about just punishment
Authors: Reis-Dennis Samuel
Published: August 2018

Recent years have seen the rise of ‘Just Culture’ as an ideal in the patient safety movement, with numerous hospitals and professional organisations adopting a Just Culture response to incidents ranging from non-culpable human error to intentional misconduct. This paper argues that there is a deep problem with the Just Culture model, resulting from its impoverished understanding of the value of punitive, fundamentally backward-looking, practices of holding people accountable. I show that the kind of ‘accountability’ and ‘punishment’ contemporary Just Culture advocates endorse disrespects both patients and providers. I claim, first, that punishment is good because it respects participants in the healthcare system by restoring an equilibrium of social and moral status that wrongdoing disturbs, and, second, that it only does so when it communicates a backward-looking message of resentful blame.
Current research priorities for UK occupational physicians and occupational health researchers: a modified Delphi study
Authors: Lalloo Drushca , Demou Evangelia , Smedley Julia , Madan Ira , Asanati Kaveh , Macdonald Ewan Beaton
Published: August 2018

Objectives

Studies identifying national occupational health (OH) research priorities have been conducted in several countries to establish where OH research should be focused and where funding should be targeted. However, the UK findings are now over 20 years old, and OH practice is continuously evolving. The aim of this study was to identify current research priorities for UK occupational physicians (OPs) and occupational health researchers (OHRs).

Methods

Current research priorities in OH were identified using a modified Delphi technique. This was conducted in two rounds to achieve consensus. Research priorities were rated, and then ranked using questionnaires developed from expert panel discussions, key research topics identified from the medical literature and participant feedback. Overall and intergroup comparisons were completed for the ranking scores.

Results

Consensus among OPs and OHRs was high with almost all (9/10) primary domains rated as ‘very important’ or ‘absolutely necessary’ by more than 54% of respondents. The research priority areas ranked highest were jointlyeconomic evaluation/cost effectiveness studiesanddisability managementfollowed byoccupational disease/injury/illness. Occupational health policywas ranked lowest aftersickness absence managementandhealth promotion. The secondary domain analysis identified priority emphasis on mental health and psychosocial hazards within the workplace and the need to further develop evidence-based guidance for clinical OH practice.

Conclusions

We identified the current research priorities for UK OPs and OHRs. The findings will inform future national OH research strategy and support research that addresses important knowledge gaps within OH and other interdisciplinary specialties.
Climatic niche modeling reveals divergence between cytotypes in Eutrema edwardsii (Brassicaceae)
Authors: Mastin Jared E. , Anthamatten Peter , Bruederle Leo P.
Published: August 2018

Polyploidy among plants is most frequent in the arctic, where glaciation cycles put selective pressures on populations by repeated fragmentation and fluctuation in climate. Polyploids should have been more fit in the novel habitats created as glaciers receded because of increased genetic material and novel gene products, which results in phenotypic plasticity and rapid adaptation. Higher ploidy is then expected to confer a broader tolerance of environmental conditions. Eutrema edwardsii R. Br. (Brassicaceae) is an arctic-alpine mustard with a near circumpolar distribution that occurs as a tetraploid, hexaploid, and octaploid. We used flow cytometry to document the distribution of polyploid cytotypes using herbarium tissue, and modeled the niche of each cytotype to test for niche differentiation. Flow cytometry revealed four cytotypes among 85 individuals. Notably, 60% of the herbarium tissue assays were successful using tissue up to 50 years old. Principle components analysis was performed on 20 climatic variables, of which, the first four axes were used as environmental variables for niche modeling. Niche models were created for tetraploid and hexaploid populations and used to calculate niche overlap (Shoener’s D). Overlap between tetraploid and hexaploid models (D = 0.534) is lower than the null distribution (D = 0.681–0.944) supporting the hypothesis of niche divergence.
Avoidance of carbon dioxide in flowing water by bighead carp
Authors: Hasler Caleb T. , Woodley Christa M. , Schneider Eric V. , Hixson Bryton K. , Fowler Cynthia J. , Midway Stephen R. , Suski Cory D. , Smith David L.
Published: August 2018

Carbon dioxide (CO2) in water has been explored for use as an invasive species deterrent system. To date, studies have not determined CO2 avoidance by fish in flowing water, and this is a necessary step before an operational deterrent system can be implemented. The objective of the study was to define how flowing water influences the response of bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) to continuous plugs of CO2. A choice experiment by which CO2 was injected into channels of an annular flowing water flume was completed. In trials when CO2 was injected into the inner vein, fish spent less time in the vein when compared with control conditions. An increased amount of lateral movements and reduced performance were also observed when fish were exposed to elevated CO2. The study demonstrates that bighead carp in flowing water enriched with CO2 move away, a finding consistent with static water experiments.
One-Variable Word Equations and Three-Variable Constant-Free Word Equations
Authors: Nowotka Dirk , Saarela Aleksi
Published: August 2018

We prove connections between one-variable word equations and three-variable constant-free word equations, and use them to prove that the number of equations in an independent system of three-variable constant-free equations is at most logarithmic with respect to the length of the shortest equation in the system. We also study two well-known conjectures. The first conjecture claims that there is a constant [Formula: see text] such that every one-variable equation has either infinitely many solutions or at most [Formula: see text]. The second conjecture claims that there is a constant [Formula: see text] such that every independent system of three-variable constant-free equations with a nonperiodic solution is of size at most [Formula: see text]. We prove that the first conjecture implies the second one, possibly for a different constant.
Inflation with explicit parametric connection between general relativity and scalar–tensor gravity
Authors: Fomin I. V. , Chervon S. V.
Published: August 2018

We consider the cosmological inflation with scalar–tensor gravity and compare it with standard inflation based on General Relativity. The difference is determined by the value of the parameter [Formula: see text]. This approach is associated with using the special ansatz which links a function that defines a type of gravity with a scale factor of the universe.
Note on soft photons and Faddeev–Jackiw symplectic reduction of quantum electrodynamics in the eikonal limit
Authors: Dengiz Suat
Published: August 2018

In this note, we go over the recent soft photon model and Faddeev–Jackiw quantization of the massless quantum electrodynamics in the eikonal limit to some extent. Throughout our readdressing, we observe that the gauge potentials in both approaches become pure gauges and the associated eikonal Faddeev–Jackiw quantum bracket matches with the soft quantum bracket. These observations and the fact that the gauge fields in two cases localize in two-dimensional plane (even if it is spatial in soft photon case and (1[Formula: see text]+[Formula: see text]1)-dimensional Minkowski in the eikonal case) imply that there might be an interesting relation between these two distinct perspectives.
Groups satisfying identities with high probability
Authors: Mann Avinoam
Published: August 2018

We survey results about finite groups in which some identity is satisfied with high probability.
An Efficient Feature Selection and Classification Using Optimal Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Authors: Appavu alias Balamurugan S. , Nancy S. Gilbert
Published: August 2018

Feature selection is the process of identifying and removing many irrelevant and redundant features. Irrelevant features, along with redundant features, severely affect the accuracy of the learning machines. In high dimensional space finding clusters of data objects is challenging due to the curse of dimensionality. When the dimensionality increases, data in the irrelevant dimensions may produce much noise. And also, time complexity is the major issues in existing approach. In order to rectify these issues our proposed method made use of efficient feature subset selection in high dimensional data. Here we are considering the input dataset is the high dimensional micro array dataset. Initially, we have to select the optimal features so that our proposed technique employed Modified Social Spider Optimization (MSSO) algorithm. Here the traditional Social Spider Optimization is modified with the help of fruit fly optimization algorithm. Next the selected features are the input for the classifier. Here the classification is performed using Optimized Radial basis Function based neural network (ORBFNN) technique to classify the micro array data as normal or abnormal data. The effectiveness of RBFNN is optimized by means of artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC). Experimental results indicate that the proposed classification framework have outperformed by having better accuracy for five benchmark dataset 93.66%, 97.09%, 98.66%, 98.28% and 98.93% which is minimum value when compared to the existing technique. The proposed method is executed in MATLAB platform.
A Novel Model for Mining Frequent Patterns Based on Embedded Granular Computing
Authors: Fang Gang , Wang Jiale , Ying Hong
Published: August 2018

For mining frequent patterns, it is very expensive for the Apriori mining model to read the database repeatedly, and a highly condensed data structure made the FP-growth mining model cost larger memory. In order to avoid the disadvantages of these data mining model, this paper proposes a novel data mining model for discovering frequent patterns, called a data mining model based on embedded granular computing, which is different from the Apriori model and the FP-growth model. The data mining model adopts efficiently dividing and conquering from granular computing, which can construct adaptively different hierarchical granules. To form the data mining model, an embedded granular computing model is proposed in this paper. The granular computing model is used in discovering frequent patterns, on the one hand, it avoids reading the database repeatedly via constructing the extended information granule, and lessen the calculated amount of support; on the other hand, it reduces the memory requirements by the attribute granule, where the search space can compress the memory space of data structure that make the method of generating the candidate become simple relatively; and it can divide the overlarge computing task into several easy operations via the attribute granule, namely, the embedded granular computing model could short the size of the search space from a super state to several sub-states. All experimental results show that the data mining model based on embedded granular computing is more reasonable and efficient than these classical models for mining frequent patterns under these different types of datasets. Otherwise, an extra discussion describes the performance trend of the model by a group of experiments.
Reidemeister spectrum of special and general linear groups over some fields contains 1
Authors: Nasybullov Timur
Published: August 2018

We prove that if [Formula: see text] is an algebraically closed field of zero characteristic which has infinite transcendence degree over [Formula: see text], then there exists a field automorphism [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text]. This fact implies that [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] do not possess the [Formula: see text]-property. However, if the transcendece degree of [Formula: see text] over [Formula: see text] is finite, then [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are known to possess the [Formula: see text]-property [13].
Prüfer modules over Leavitt path algebras
Authors: Abrams Gene , Mantese Francesca , Tonolo Alberto
Published: August 2018

Let [Formula: see text] denote the Leavitt path algebra associated to the finite graph [Formula: see text] and field [Formula: see text]. For any closed path [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text], we define and investigate the uniserial, artinian, non-Noetherian left [Formula: see text]-module [Formula: see text]. The unique simple factor of each proper submodule of [Formula: see text] is isomorphic to the Chen simple module [Formula: see text]. In our main result, we classify those closed paths [Formula: see text] for which [Formula: see text] is injective. In this situation, [Formula: see text] is the injective hull of [Formula: see text].
Quasi-flat representations of uniform groups and quantum groups
Authors: Banica Teodor , Chirvasitu Alexandru
Published: August 2018

Given a discrete group [Formula: see text] and a number [Formula: see text], a unitary representation [Formula: see text] is called quasi-flat when the eigenvalues of each [Formula: see text] are uniformly distributed among the [Formula: see text]th roots of unity. The quasi-flat representations of [Formula: see text] form altogether a parametric matrix model [Formula: see text].

We compute here the universal model space [Formula: see text] for various classes of discrete groups, notably with results in the case where [Formula: see text] is metabelian. We are particularly interested in the case where [Formula: see text] is a union of compact homogeneous spaces, and where the induced representation [Formula: see text] is stationary in the sense that it commutes with the Haar functionals. We present several positive and negative results on this subject.

We also discuss similar questions for the discrete quantum groups, proving a stationarity result for the discrete dual of the twisted orthogonal group [Formula: see text].
Alternative algorithms for computing generic μ∗-sequences and local Euler obstructions of isolated hypersurface singularities
Authors: Nabeshima Katsusuke , Tajima Shinichi
Published: August 2018

A new algorithm is introduced for computing [Formula: see text]-sequences of isolated hypersurface singularities. It is shown that the new algorithm results in better performance, compared to our previous algorithm that utilizes parametric local cohomology systems, in computation speed. Furthermore, it can be used to compute local Euler obstruction of a hypersurface with an isolated singularity. The key idea of the new algorithm is computing standard bases in a local ring over a field of rational functions.
Finite groups in which every non-abelian subgroup is a TI-subgroup or a subnormal subgroup
Authors: Shi Jiangtao
Published: August 2018

It is known that a TI-subgroup of a finite group may not be a subnormal subgroup and a subnormal subgroup of a finite group may also not be a TI-subgroup. For the non-abelian subgroups, we prove that if every non-abelian subgroup of a finite group [Formula: see text] is a TI-subgroup or a subnormal subgroup, then every non-abelian subgroup of [Formula: see text] must be subnormal in [Formula: see text]. We also show that the non-cyclic subgroups have the same property.
Predictor Packing in Developing Unprecedented Shaped Colloidal Particles
Authors: Ali Mubarak , Lin I-Nan , Yeh Chien-Jui
Published: August 2018

Developing anisotropic particles of different shapes has been a hot topic of research since decades as they possess special features not possible to achieve through other means. It is considered challenging to control atoms for developing their particles of certain size and shape. In this study, different shapes of gold particles were developed while employing a pulse-based electron–photon–solution interface process. Gold atoms, when they are in certain transition state, develop their monolayer assembly around the light glow known in argon plasma generating at the bottom of copper capillary known in cathode. The rate of uplifted gold atoms to develop monolayer assembly at solution surface is controlled by electron streams and traveling photons of high-density entering the solution. Gold atoms dissociated from the precursor on transforming photons (propagating through immersed graphite rod known in anode) to heat energy. Double-packets of nanoshape energy are generated under tuned pulse protocol when they are placed over the compact monolayer assembly resulting in tiny-sized particles of own shape. On the separation of joined tiny particles into two equilateral triangular-shaped tiny particles, each atom of their one-dimensional array elongated on both sides from the centre while exerting opposite poles forces of surface format. This results in convertion of each array of atoms into a structure of smooth elements. Due to immersing force of solution surface and their termination at the centre of light glow, tiny-shaped particles pack from different zones where their structures of smooth elements assemble to develop monolayers of developing particle in a certain shape. Developing particles of one-dimension undertake assembling of structures of smooth elements where packing of their tiny-shaped particles is from the near regions belonging to rearward sides of north–south poles at the solution surface, whereas, developing particles of multi-dimension undertake assembling of structures of smooth elements where packing of their tiny-shaped particles is from the regions of east–west poles and near regions of east–west poles on the solution surface. Depending on the number and orientation of assembled structures of smooth elements nucleating monolayers for different particles, their different anisotropic shapes develop. At fixed precursor concentration, increasing the process time results in developing particles of low aspect ratio. Under tuned parameters, particles of unprecedented features developed.
Evaluation of growth characteristics of Aspergillus parasiticus inoculated in different culture media by shortwave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging
Authors: Chu Xuan , Wang Wei , Ni Xinzhi , Zheng Haitao , Zhao Xin , Zhuang Hong , Lawrence Kurt C. , Li Chunyang , Li Yufeng , Lu Chengjun
Published: August 2018

The growth characteristics of Aspergillus parasiticus incubated on two culture media were examined using shortwave infrared (SWIR, 1000–2500[Formula: see text]nm) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) in this work. HSI images of the A. parasiticus colonies growing on rose bengal medium (RBM) and maize agar medium (MAM) were recorded daily for 6 days. The growth phases of A. parasiticus were indicated through the pixel number and average spectra of colonies. On score plot of the first principal component [Formula: see text] and PC2, four growth zones with varying mycelium densities were identified. Eight characteristic wavelengths (1095, 1145, 1195, 1279, 1442, 1655, 1834 and 1929[Formula: see text]nm) were selected from PC1 loading, average spectra of each colony as well as each growth zone. Furthermore, support vector machine (SVM) classifier based on the eight wavelengths was built, and the classification accuracies for the four zones (from outer to inner zones) on the colonies on RBM were 99.77%, 99.35%, 99.75% and 99.60% and 99.77%, 99.39%, 99.31% and 98.22% for colonies on MAM. In addition, a new score plot of PC2 and PC3 was used to differentiate the colonies incubated on RBM and MAM for 6 days. Then characteristic wavelengths of 1067, 1195, 1279, 1369, 1459, 1694, 1834 and 1929[Formula: see text]nm were selected from the loading of PC2 and PC3. Based on them, a new SVM model was developed to differentiate colonies on RBM and MAM with accuracy of 100.00% and 99.99%, respectively. In conclusion, SWIR hyperspectral image is a powerful tool for evaluation of growth characteristics of A. parasiticus incubated in different culture media.
The improved element-free Galerkin method based on the nonsingular weight functions for elastic large deformation problems
Authors: Liu Fengbin , Cheng Yumin
Published: August 2018

In this paper, the interpolating moving least-squares (IMLS) method based on a nonsingular weight function is applied to obtain the approximation function. The penalty method is applied to impose the displacement boundary condition, and Galerkin weak form of elastic large deformation problems based on total Lagrange formulation is used to form the final equations which is solved with the Newton–Raphson iteration method, then the improved element-free Galerkin (IEFG) method based on a nonsingular weight function for elastic large deformation problems is presented. The IMLS method can overcome the disadvantage of singular weight functions in the traditional MLS method, then the IEFG method in this paper has high computational accuracy and efficiency, which are shown by numerical examples of elastic large deformation problems. And the influences of the weight functions, scale parameter of influence domain, step number and penalty factor on the numerical results are discussed.
Syneresis dependent shear strength parameters of sodium silicate grouted sands
Authors: Avci Eyubhan , Mollamahmutoğlu Murat
Published: August 2018

The influence of syneresis on the shear strength parameters of both sodium silicate-formamide and sodium silicate-glyoxal grouted sands was investigated under wet-cured as well as air-dried conditions. Syneresis of sodium silicate-formamide and sodium silicate-glyoxal grout gels increased with the increase of sodium silicate content up to a certain point. After which, as the silicate content of both grout gels increased, their syneresis decreased. In general, syneresis of sodium silicate-glyoxal grout gels was higher than those of sodium silicate-formamide grout gels. Syneresis of sands injected by the above-mentioned grouts was also observed and found to be less compared to the related grout gels. Triaxial tests were run on both wet-cured and air-dried sand specimens at different time intervals to determine the effect of syneresis on the internal friction angle and cohesion intercept of grouted sands. Due to syneresis, the shear strength parameters of wet-cured sand specimens decreased with time to some extent and then ceased to have an effect. In contrast, the shear strength parameters of air-dried sand specimens increased with time up to a certain point, even though they underwent syneresis, and then became stable.
Dynamic Time Warping and Geometric Edit Distance
Authors: Gold Omer , Sharir Micha
Published: August 2018

Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) and Geometric Edit Distance (GED) are basic similarity measures between curves or general temporal sequences (e.g., time series) that are represented as sequences of points in some metric space (
X
, dist). The DTW and GED measures are massively used in various fields of computer science and computational biology. Consequently, the tasks of computing these measures are among the core problems in P. Despite extensive efforts to find more efficient algorithms, the best-known algorithms for computing the DTW or GED between two sequences of points in
X
= R
d
are long-standing dynamic programming algorithms that require quadratic runtime, even for the one-dimensional case
d
= 1, which is perhaps one of the most used in practice.

In this article, we break the nearly 50-year-old quadratic time bound for computing DTW or GED between two sequences of
n
points in R by presenting deterministic algorithms that run in
O
(
n
2
log log log
n
/ log log
n
) time. Our algorithms can be extended to work also for higher-dimensional spaces R
d
, for any constant
d
, when the underlying distance-metric dist is polyhedral (e.g.,
L
1
,
L
infin
).
Packing Groups of Items into Multiple Knapsacks
Authors: Chen Lin , Zhang Guochuan
Published: August 2018

We consider a natural generalization of the classical multiple knapsack problem in which instead of packing single items we are packing groups of items. In this problem, we have multiple knapsacks and a set of items partitioned into groups. Each item has an individual weight, while the profit is associated with groups rather than items. The profit of a group can be attained if and only if every item of this group is packed. Such a general model finds applications in various practical problems, e.g., delivering bundles of goods. The tractability of this problem relies heavily on how large a group could be. Deciding if a group of items of total weight 2 could be packed into two knapsacks of unit capacity is already
NP
-hard and it thus rules out a constant-approximation algorithm for this problem in general. We then focus on the parameterized version where the total weight of items in each group is bounded by a factor δ of the total capacity of all knapsacks. Both approximation and inapproximability results with respect to δ are derived. We also show that, depending on whether the number of knapsacks is a constant or part of the input, the approximation ratio for the problem, as a function on δ, changes substantially, which has a clear difference from the classical multiple knapsack problem.
Nuclear Folate Metabolism
Authors: Field Martha S. , Kamynina Elena , Chon James , Stover Patrick J.
Published: August 2018

Despite unequivocal evidence that folate deficiency increases risk for human pathologies, and that folic acid intake among women of childbearing age markedly decreases risk for birth defects, definitive evidence for a causal biochemical pathway linking folate to disease and birth defect etiology remains elusive. The de novo and salvage pathways for thymidylate synthesis translocate to the nucleus of mammalian cells during S- and G2/M-phases of the cell cycle and associate with the DNA replication and repair machinery, which limits uracil misincorporation into DNA and genome instability. There is increasing evidence that impairments in nuclear de novo thymidylate synthesis occur in many pathologies resulting from impairments in one-carbon metabolism. Understanding the roles and regulation of nuclear de novo thymidylate synthesis and its relationship to genome stability will increase our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying folate- and vitamin B12–associated pathologies.
Bioavailability of Fat-Soluble Vitamins and Phytochemicals in Humans: Effects of Genetic Variation
Authors: Borel Patrick , Desmarchelier Charles
Published: August 2018

Recent data have shown that interindividual variability in the bioavailability of vitamins A (β-carotene), D, and E, and carotenoids (lutein and lycopene), as well as that of phytosterols, is modulated by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The identified SNPs are in or near genes involved in intestinal uptake or efflux of these compounds, as well as in genes involved in their metabolism and transport. The phenotypic effect of each SNP is usually low, but combinations of SNPs can explain a significant part of the variability. Nevertheless, results from these studies should be considered preliminary since they have not been validated in other cohorts. Guidelines for future studies are provided to ensure that sound associations are elucidated that can be used to build consolidated genetic scores that may allow recommended dietary allowances to be tailored to individuals or groups by taking into account the multiloci genotypic signature of people of different ethnic origin or even of individuals.
Soy Isoflavone Intake and Bladder Cancer Risk in Japan: From the Takayama Study
Authors: Wada Keiko , Tsuji Michiko , Tamura Takashi , Konishi Kie , Goto Yuko , Mizuta Fumi , Koda Sachi , Uji Takahiro , Hori Akihiro , Tanabashi Shinobu , Matsushita Shogen , Tokimitsu Naoki , Nagata Chisato
Published: August 2018

Background: There is growing evidence suggesting that soy isoflavones play a protective role in the development of cancer. However, few epidemiological studies have investigated the association between soy isoflavone intake and bladder cancer.

Methods: We evaluated the associations of soy and isoflavone intakes with bladder cancer incidence in a population-based prospective study in Japan. Subjects were 14,233 men and 16,584 women age 35 years or older in September 1992. Soy and isoflavone intakes were assessed via a validated food-frequency questionnaire, while controlling for total energy intake. Cancer incidence was mainly confirmed through regional population-based cancer registries. Bladder cancer was defined as code C67 according to the International Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems, 10th Revision.

Results: During mean follow-up of 13.6 years, 120 men and 41 women had developed bladder cancer. After adjustments for multiple confounders, compared with the lowest quartile of soy food intake, the estimated hazard ratios for the second, third, and highest quartiles of soy food intake were 0.74, 0.52, and 0.55, respectively, in men (P-trend: 0.023). The corresponding values were 0.60, 0.75, and 0.64, respectively, in women (P-trend: 0.43). Similar inverse associations were observed between isoflavone intake and bladder cancer risk.

Conclusions: A significant decreased risk of bladder cancer was observed among men who had higher intakes of total soy and isoflavones.

Impact: Our finding on the potential benefit of consuming soy foods against bladder cancer is promising and warrants further studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(11); 1371–5. ©2018 AACR.