bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cardiopulmonary function in breast cancer patients versus healthy control women
Authors: Odynets Tetiana , Briskin Yuriy , Ikkert Oksana , Todorova Valentina , Yefremova Anzhelika
Published: February 2020

Introduction

The study investigated cardiopulmonary function in breast cancer patients versus healthy control women.

Methods

Overall, 115 women after breast cancer surgery and 50 healthy controls were included. The outcome measures were spirographic and hemodynamic parameters.

Results

Most of the investigated parameters in breast cancer patients were significantly lower than in healthy women. The actual vital capacity (VC) was significantly lower by 0.34 l (p < 0.001), forced vital capacity (FVC) by 0.25 l (p < 0.001), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) by 0.26 l (p < 0.001), peak expiratory flow (PEF) by 0.95 l/s (p < 0.001), maximum expiratory flow25 (MEF25) by 0.98 l/s (p < 0.001), maximum expiratory flow50 (MEF50) by 0.65 l/s (p < 0.001), expiratory reserve volume by 0.48 l (p < 0.001), maximal voluntary ventilation by 22.73 l/min (p < 0.001). The percentage of predicted values of VC, FVC, FEV1, PEF, MEF25, and MEF50 was lower by 9.93% (p < 0.001), 7.39% (p < 0.001), 8.87% (p < 0.001), 15.7% (p < 0.001), 18.09% (p < 0.001), and 15.96% (p < 0.001), respectively. As for the cardiovascular system, the actual stroke volume was higher in the control group compared with the main group by 12.20 ml/beat (p < 0.001), stroke index by 8.85 ml/beat/m2 (p < 0.001), cardiac output by 0.87 l/min (p < 0.001), left ventricular work by 0.96 g · m/beat (p < 0.001), LVP by 0.26 W (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Cancer treatment negatively affected most cardiorespiratory parameters. The results support the need for physiotherapy intervention in breast cancer patients after treatment.
Physiotherapy practice of early mobilization in intensive care units of selected west Malaysian hospitals: a cross-sectional survey
Authors: Yean Lim Yuh , Balaraman Thirumalaya , Swaminathan Narasimman
Published: February 2020

Introduction

Early mobilization (EM) in the intensive care unit (ICU) improves clinical outcomes. Despite the positive evidence, the implementation of EM is low in many countries. However, little is known about the practice of EM in ICU by physiotherapists in West Malaysia. Hence, this study was planned to assess the practice of physiotherapist-initiated EM in respiratory ICUs of selected West Malaysian hospitals.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using a self-administered questionnaire. The participants were registered physiotherapists with a minimum of 2 years working experience in respiratory ICUs, recruited from private or government hospitals with the convenience sampling method.

Results

Overall, 102 complete responses out of 200 were received. Most respondents stated that they practised EM in ICU, while 73.53% claimed that they mobilized patients with ventilator support. The majority indicated that they used a standard protocol to select patients for EM. The most common factors that influenced the physiotherapists’ clinical decision to perform EM were patient’s medical stability and safety concerns about EM.

Conclusions

Most physiotherapists in the selected West Malaysian hospitals stated that they practised EM in ICU. However, studies are required to assess the effectiveness and outcomes of the EM performed by physiotherapists in Malaysia.
A model-based analysis of foliar NOx deposition
Authors: Delaria Erin R. , Cohen Ronald C.
Published: February 2020

Abstract. Foliar deposition of NO2 removes a large fraction of the global soil-emitted NOx. Understanding the mechanisms of NOx
foliar loss is important for constraining surface ozone, constraining NOx mixing ratios, and assessing the impacts of nitrogen inputs to ecosystems. We
have constructed a 1-D multibox model with representations of chemistry and vertical transport to evaluate the impact of leaf-level processes on
canopy-scale concentrations, lifetimes, and canopy fluxes of NOx. Our model is able to closely replicate canopy fluxes and above-canopy
NOx daytime mixing ratios observed during two field campaigns, one in a western Sierra Nevada pine forest (BEARPEX-2009) and the other in
a northern Michigan mixed hardwood forest (UMBS-2012). We present a conceptual argument for the importance of NO2 dry deposition and
demonstrate that NO2 deposition can provide a mechanistic explanation for the canopy reduction of NOx. We show that foliar
deposition can explain observations suggesting as much as ∼60 % of soil-emitted NOx is removed within forest canopies. Stomatal
conductances greater than 0.1 cm s−1 result in modeled canopy reduction factors in the range of those used in global models,
reconciling inferences of canopy NOx reduction with leaf-level deposition processes. We show that incorporating parameterizations for
vapor pressure deficit and soil water potential has a substantial impact on predicted NO2 deposition in our model, with the percent of
soil NOx removed within one canopy increasing by ∼15 % in wet conditions compared to dry conditions. NO2 foliar
deposition was also found to have a significant impact on ozone and nitrogen budgets under both high- and low-NOx conditions.
Estimating causal networks in biosphere–atmosphere interaction with the PCMCI approach
Authors: Krich Christopher , Runge Jakob , Miralles Diego G. , Migliavacca Mirco , Perez-Priego Oscar , El-Madany Tarek , Carrara Arnaud , Mahecha Miguel D.
Published: February 2020

Abstract. The dynamics of biochemical processes in terrestrial ecosystems are tightly coupled to local meteorological conditions. Understanding these interactions is an essential prerequisite for predicting, e.g. the response of the terrestrial carbon cycle to climate change. However, many empirical studies in this field rely on correlative approaches and only very few studies apply causal discovery methods.
Here we explore the potential for a recently proposed causal graph discovery algorithm to reconstruct the causal dependency structure underlying biosphere–atmosphere interactions. Using artificial time series with known dependencies that mimic real-world biosphere–atmosphere interactions we address the influence of non-stationarities, i.e. periodicity and heteroscedasticity, on the estimation of causal networks.
We then investigate the interpretability of the method in two case studies. Firstly, we analyse three replicated eddy covariance datasets from a Mediterranean ecosystem. Secondly, we explore global Normalised Difference Vegetation Index time series (GIMMS 3g), along with gridded climate data to study large-scale climatic drivers of vegetation greenness.
We compare the retrieved causal graphs to simple cross-correlation-based approaches to test whether causal graphs are considerably more informative. Overall, the results confirm the capacity of the causal discovery method to extract time-lagged linear dependencies under realistic settings. For example, we find a complete decoupling of the net ecosystem exchange from meteorological variability during summer in the Mediterranean ecosystem. However, cautious interpretations are needed, as the violation of the method's assumptions due to non-stationarities increases the likelihood to detect false links. Overall, estimating directed biosphere–atmosphere networks helps unravel complex multidirectional process interactions. Other than classical correlative approaches, our findings are constrained to a few meaningful sets of relations, which can be powerful insights for the evaluation of terrestrial ecosystem models.
A comprehensive oceanographic dataset of a subpolar, mid-latitude broad fjord: Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, Canada
Authors: Donnet Sebastien , Lazure Pascal , Ratsimandresy Andry , Han Guoqi
Published: February 2020

Abstract. While the dynamics of narrow fjords, i.e. narrow with respect to their internal Rossby radius, have been widely studied, it is only recently that interest sparked in studying the physics of broad fjords due to their importance in glacial ice melting (in Greenland, especially). Here, we present a comprehensive set of data collected in Fortune Bay, a broad, mid-latitude fjord located on the Northwest Atlantic shores. Aside from being wide (15–25 km width) and deep (600 m at its deepest), Fortune Bay also has the characteristics of having steep slopes, weak tides and of being strongly stratified from spring to fall. Thus, and since strong along-shore winds also characterise the region, this system is prone to interesting dynamics, generally taking the form of transient upwelling and downwelling travelling along its shores, similar to processes encountered in broad fjords of higher latitudes. The dataset collected to study those dynamics consists of water column physical parameters (temperature, salinity, currents and water level) and atmospheric forcing (wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, air temperature and solar radiation) taken at several points around the fjord using oceanographic moorings and land-based stations. The program lasted 2 full years and achieved a good data return of 90 %, providing a comprehensive dataset not only for Fortune Bay studies but also for the field of broad fjord studies. The data are available publically from the SEANOE repository (http://www.seanoe.org/data/00511/62314/; Donnet and Lazure, 2020).
A semi-automatic procedure to support the detection of rapid-moving landslides using spaceborne SAR imagery
Authors: Esposito Giuseppe , Marchesini Ivan , Mondini Alessandro Cesare , Reichenbach Paola , Rossi Mauro , Sterlacchini Simone
Published: February 2020

Abstract. The increasing availability of free-access satellite data represents a relevant opportunity for the analysis and assessment of natural hazards. The systematic acquisition of spaceborne imagery allows monitoring areas prone to geo-hydrological disasters, providing relevant information for risk evaluation and management. In case of major landslide events, for example, spaceborne radar data can provide an innovative solution for the detection of slope failures, even in case of persistent cloud cover. The information about extension and location of the landslide-affected areas may support decision-making processes during the emergency responses. In this paper, we present a semi-automatic procedure, based on Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images, aimed to facilitate the detection of rapid-moving landslides. The procedure evaluates changes of radar backscattered signals associated to land cover modifications, that may be also caused by mass movements. The procedure requires an initial manual selection of some parameters, and is able to execute automatically the download and pre-processing of images, the detection of SAR amplitude changes, and the identification of areas potentially affected by landslides, which are then displayed in a geo-referenced map. This map should help decision-makers and emergency managers to organize field investigations. The processes automatization is implemented with specific scripts running on a GNU/Linux operating system and exploiting modules of Open Source software. We tested the processing chain, in back analysis, on an area of about 3000 km2 in central Papua New Guinea that in February/March 2018 was struck by a severe seismic sequence that triggered numerous widespread landslides. In the area, we simulated a periodic survey of about seven months, from 12 November 2017 to 6 June 2018, downloading 36 Sentinel-1 images and performing 17 change detection analyses automatically. The procedure resulted in statistical and graphical evidences of widespread land cover changes occurred just after the most severe seismic events. Most of them can be interpreted as mass movements triggered by the main seismic shocks.
The Developmental Tendency in Computer-based Assessment
Authors: Mohammed Saif Husam , Alrababah Saleh Ahmad
Published: February 2020

This study will examine the primary characteristics of traditional assessment while outlining the benefits, limitations, and possibilities of computer-based assessment (CBA) concerning education. It will also assess the emerging technology regarding item writing in terms of achievement tests, along with the diverse approaches for item development. Further, numerous studies have focused on CBA’s benefits for the classic methods of assessment. As noted by Molnár and Csapó (2018), information and communication technologies, computers in particular, significantly affect the development of educational examination from the quantitative as well as qualitative perspectives (Molnár & Csapó, 2018). Although CBA offers efficient examinations compared to traditional methods such as PP or face-to-face assessment, numerous CBA stages can be detected in PP’s transition to third-generation CBA concerning the educational context. While the first generation CBA made less use of technology with its items, primarily multiple-choice, as well as tests being fixed and similar to PP tests and items, the second generation CBA tasks involved multimedia elements that made adaptive testing feasible, Moreover, the third generation CBA tasks ensured that complicated constructs could also be assessed such as the 21st-century skills through simulation, interaction, dynamically changing items, as well as cooperation (see Csapó & Molnár, 2017). Apart from the item and test development options, technology opens a new arena through storing and assessing contextual data, known as educational data mining, learning analytics, or logfile analyses, which indicates a diverse analytical form. Considering the numerous advantages, the crucial assessments in the coming future may be implemented through a technological environment.
Cryptococcus cutaneous: marker of severity in disseminated infection
Authors: Cadena Vélez Ivan , Valentim Marta , Nicolau Sara , Gil Francisco , Grego Manuela , Siopa Luis
Published: February 2020

Cryptococcosis is an opportunistic fungal infection responsible for high morbidity and mortality in patients in immunosuppressive clinical conditions. The sites most affected by the hematogenous spread after the lungs are the central nervous system and the skin. The early diagnostic associated with a standard fungal therapy is important for decrease the clinical sequelae derived. We describe an unusual situation of disseminated cryptococcosis without pulmonary involvement in a patient with newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency syndrome with cutaneous lesions as initial markers of severity and precursory of cryptococcal meningitis. In this case, the authors describe a systemic approach to how an initial skin lesion is key to reach the diagnosis and perform an early treatment avoiding irreversible sequelae.
Patient transfers during hospitalization: An examination of intra facility patient locations using network analysis
Authors: Sadowski Joshua , Luetkemeyer Mark , Kara Areeba
Published: February 2020

Patient movements following hospitalization are difficult to track. In a large Midwestern academic institution, we analyzed data using network statistics for patients discharged by the hospitalist service between June 2016-June 2018. We retrieved all major patient movements logged in the patient throughput management system following admission. The 4,869 patients discharged by the hospitalist service during the study period experienced 6,832 movements. The mean was 1.4 movements per patient while the maximum was 8. Most patients (72.3%) moved once following hospitalization while 27.7% moved more than once. The predominant movement type was downgrades which comprised 51.8% (n = 3,543) of all movements. Lateral movements were the next most common (25.9%, n = 1,771). Network statistics revealed progressive care units to be central to patient flow across the system. Transfers following hospitalization are common. Visualizing these transfers using network statistics may provide valuable insights to enhance patient safety.
Moderating Role of Acculturation and School Type on Association between Parenting Style and Positive Psychological Development among Iranian Adolescents in Malaysia
Authors: Sheibani Shahnaz , Juhari Rumaya , Looyeh Majid Yoosefi
Published: February 2020

This study examines the moderating role of acculturation and school type (Iranian vs. International schools) on the association between parenting style and positive psychological development (PPD) among Iranian youth in Malaysia. Some 194 Iranian adolescents were selected from Iranian and International schools using the stratified random sampling method. The Iranian Version of the Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA), Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ), and Positive Youth Development-Short Form (PYD-SF) were employed. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis. The results indicated that acculturation moderated the association between father involvement and poor monitoring in the PPD of adolescents. Moreover, positive parenting moderated the correlation between the total scores for acculturation and PPD, although the school type did not. The current study has indicated the importance of the role of acculturation on the association between parenting and PPD of migrated Iranian adolescents in host countries.
Teologiens rolle i vår tids religionspedagogikk Retrospektive refleksjoner – og et utblikk
Authors: Sagberg Sturla
Published: February 2020

Religionspedagogisk forskning og undervisning på ulike nivåer – iallfall i Skandinavia – forholder seg i dag til et mangfold av fagtradisjoner, og det har vært reist spørsmål ved om teologien i det hele tatt kan være premissleverandør for religionsfaget når det har sin ramme i offentlig utdanning. Mitt eget fokus har endret seg fra kristendomsundervisning på teologisk basis til religionsfag der teologien som akademisk fag går i dialog med flere andre fag.  Dette handler ikke bare om at jeg gikk fra prestetjeneste og bibelskoleundervisning til lærerutdanning. Det har også teologiske grunner.
Datenschutzrechtsverstöße als kartellrechtlicher Konditionenmissbrauch
Authors: Barth Julia
Published: February 2020

The German Federal Cartel Office´s decision stating that Facebook violated antitrust law by breaching the Data Protection Law is highly controversial. Is it possible to ground an abuse of market dominance on Data Protection Law violations?

The author examines the formal, substantive and doctrinal issues of this legal question. By determining the scope and system of antitrust law, she establishes a number of criteria for deciding whether non-Antitrust Law breaches may justify an abuse of market power by use of unreasonable contractual terms. The monograph also addresses and evaluates the competence-related problems deriving from two different authorities examining the same Data Protection Law violations.

The author concludes that non-antitrust law breaches may constitute an abuse of market power under circumstances present in the case of Data Protection Law, but that cartel authorities in Europe lack the competence to determine a breach of the GDPR themselves.
Bürgerliches Vermögensrecht
Authors: Deckenbrock Christian , Höpfner Clemens
Published: February 2020

Unternehmen haben im Alltag oft mit Rechtsfragen zu tun. Das Lehrbuch vermittelt Wirtschaftswissenschaftlern und sonstigen Studierenden, die nicht das juristische Staatsexamen anstreben, das hierfür nötige Grundwissen, vermeidet es aber, sie mit juristischer Dogmatik zu strapazieren. Der Stoff wird komprimiert dargestellt. Zahlreiche Kontrollfragen ermöglichen die selbständige Nacharbeit. So werden auch juristisch nicht vorgebildete Laien befähigt, Rechtsfragen des Unternehmensalltags selbst kompetent zu beurteilen. Die 4. Auflage befindet sich auf dem Stand von Januar 2020 und berücksichtigt die jüngsten Entwicklungen im Verbraucherwiderrufs- und Kaufrecht; die gesetzlichen Neuerungen im Bereich der kaufrechtlichen Mängelhaftung sind umfassend eingearbeitet.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis: New Negotiation Chapter In European Union-Turkey Relations
Authors: Aydin Ulviyye
Published: February 2020

Syria is one of the countries where a revolution wave named Arab Spring uprose in early
2011. The most radical discourse from Arab Spring into the still ongoing civil wars took
place in Syria as early as the second half of 2011. At the beginning it was a civil protest
against Assad’s government. Nobody could not estimate the future developments in Syria. The cost of the war in Syria increases every day. More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from Islamic State. Mixed featured developments and longer resistance of Assad’s regime than estimated escalated tension in Syria in last four and half years. As a result, many countries in the Middle East, such as Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, also Turkey, Serbia, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Netherlands, Bulgaria are the sides that should pay a cost of the Syrian war. These states spend a remarkable budget for the Syrian refugees. Economic expenditure is just one dimension of Syrian refugee crisis. Movement of Syrian refugees to the European countries passing Turkish borders is one of the biggest migration crisis of the modern world history. Considering multifaced impacts of the migration, the aim of this paper is to analyze the Syrian refugee crisis as a new negotiation headline between the Europan Union and Turkey.
Does Aristotelian logic describe human reasoning? Valid syllogisms and canonical models
Authors: López-Astorga Miguel
Published: February 2020

In the case of quantified propositions, the mental models theory distinguishes between
canonical and noncanonical models. While people identify the canonical models in an
immediate, rapid, and easy way, the noncanonical models cannot be detected without
reflection and cognitive effort. In this paper, I try to show that all of the valid syllogisms in
Aristotelian logic can be considered to be correct by resorting only to the canonical models of their sentences. In this way, I argue that this means that Aristotelian logic can be a useful criterion to explain, describe, and even predict people’s conclusions from quantified assertions.
The Impact of Rhythm and Gender on Spelling Output of Iranian EFL Learners: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Nouraey Peyman , Karimnia Amin
Published: February 2020

The present study aimed at investigating the probable effects of gender and rhythmic
methods on the final output of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (henceforth EFL)
learners with special reference to their spelling skills. In this regard, 108 Iranian EFL
learners studying at three different levels were divided into two groups of genders, each
consisting of 54 students. Primarily, the students were taught the new English vocabularies using both rhythmic and non-rhythmic methods of spelling. After the trainings, participants were given a test consisting ten marks of spelling in search for the effect of a) gender of the learners and b) the application of the methods in question. The results of the Two-Way ANOVA test revealed statistically significant gender-derived differences while dealing with spelling. In addition, the results pointed out that both groups of learners achieved much higher marks on the words taught using rhythmic method of spelling rather than the nonrhythmic one.
Fenomenologicko-pragmatistická interpretace hyperkonektivistického světa: k problémům filosofie informace
Authors: Černý Michal
Published: February 2020

Against the background of the ideas of selected phenomenologists (Martin Heidegger, Jan Patočka, Jan Sokol) and pragmatist philosophers (Marc Johnson, Georg Lakoff or Antonio Damasio), the monograph reflects the phenomenon of the philosophy of information in a new framework than Luciano Floridi does. The monograph takes much more on transforming the contemporary world and its relationship to education and thought. On the example of individual sub-facets, they form a comprehensive critical reflection on how it is possible with the philosophy of information and the philosophy of education. It strives to be a clear guide to the contemporary world, which is trying to think new ways.
Essential oil composition of Artemisia abrotanum L. during different vegetation stages in Lithuania
Authors: Saunoriūtė Sandra , Ragažinskienė Ona , Ivanauskas Liudas , Marksa Mindaugas
Published: February 2020

Artemisia abrotanum L. was introduced in the Middle of Lithuania Collection of Spice–Melliferous Plants of the Scientific Sector of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Botanical Garden ex situ at Vytautas Magnus University since 1980. The object of investigation was Artemisiae abrotani herba of Artemisia abrotanum L. All samples were collected at different vegetation stages: growth and leaf production, flower bud development, the beginning of flowering, massive flowering and the end of flowering. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation. The chemical composition of the essential oils of Artemisiae abrotani herba was studied by GC/MS in the Department of Analytical and Toxicological Chemistry at the Lithuanian University of Health Science in 2018–2019. Fifty-six compounds of the oil were identified, of which (+)-piperitone was the major component (20.38–38.48%). The data in this study showed a remarkable quantitative variation of constituents in the essential oils. The highest content and diversity of compounds was determined during the flower bud development stage. Sixty identified compounds in this stage reached 76.6% of the identified oil content. The highest concentration of this compound (38.48%) was detected at the end of the flowering vegetation stage and the lowest amount (20.38%) was found during the growth and leaf production. Among the other major compounds were (+)-piperitone, 1,4-cineole, lavandulyl butyrate, aromandendrene and isogermacrene D.
IPS Supported Employment for Transition Age Youth: Helping Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions to Access Jobs, Education and Careers
Authors: Swanson Sarah , Becker Deborah , Bond Gary , Reeder Kimberly , Ellison Marsha
Published: February 2020

This manual describes IPS supported employment and education services for adolescents and young adults (IPS-Y). IPS stands for Individual Placement and Support and indicates a type of supported employment program that is evidence-based for people who have mental illnesses. Growing evidence indicates that IPS may be an effective approach for other populations and age groups as well. IPS practitioners in Maryland and other states helped us learn more about serving youth as a part of developing this manual. Young workers and students also described what helped them and what may benefit other youth. We appreciate their assistance in developing this manual.
Visual Object Detection For Autonomous UAV Cinematography
Authors: Patrona Fotini , Nousi Paraskevi , Mademlis Ioannis , Tefas Anastasios , Pitas Ioannis
Published: February 2020

The popularization of commercial, battery-powered, camera-equipped, Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) during the past decade, has significantly affected aerial video capturing operations in varying domains. UAVs are affordable, agile and flexible, having the ability to access otherwise inaccessible spots. However, their limited resources burden computation cinematography techniques on operating with high accuracy and real-time speed on such devices. State-of-the-art object detectors and feature extractors are, thus, studied in this work, aiming to find a trade-off between performance and speed that will allow UAV exploitation for intelligent cinematography purposes. Experimental evaluation on three newly introduced datasets of rowing boats, cyclists and parkour athletes is performed and evidence is provided that even limited-resource autonomous UAVs can indeed be used for cinematography applications.
Notes on the Symmetries of 2-Layer ReLU-Networks
Authors: Petzka Henning , Trimmel Martin , Sminchisescu Cristian
Published: February 2020

Symmetries in neural networks allow different weight configurations leading to the same network function. For odd activation functions, the set of transformations mapping between such configurations have been studied extensively, but less is known for neural networks with ReLU activation functions. We give a complete characterization for fully-connected networks with two layers. Apart from two well-known transformations, only degenerated situations allow additional transformations that leave the network function unchanged. Reduction steps can remove only part of the degenerated cases. Finally, we present a non-degenerate situation for deep neural networks leading to new transformations leaving the network function intact.
Machine listening in spatial acoustic scenes with deep networks in different microphone geometries
Authors: Anemüller Jörn
Published: February 2020

Multi-channel acoustic source localization evaluates direction-dependentinter-microphone differences in order to estimate the position of an acousticsource embedded in an interfering sound field. We here investigate a deep neuralnetwork (DNN) approach to source localization that improves on previous workwith learned, linear support-vector-machine localizers. DNNs with depthsbetween 4 and 15 layers were trained to predict azimuth direction of targetspeech in 72 directional bins of width 5 degree, embedded in an isotropic,multi-speech-source noise field. Several system parameters were varied, inparticular number of microphones in the bilateral hearing aid scenario wasset to 2, 4, and 6, respectively.

Results show that DNNs provide a clear improvement inlocalization performance over a linear classifier reference system.Increasing the number of microphones from 2 to 4 results in a larger increase ofperformance for the DNNs than for the linear system. However, 6 microphonesprovide only a small additional gain. The DNN architectures perform betterwith 4 microphones than the linear approach does with 6 microphones, thusindicating that location-specific information in source-interference scenariosis encoded non-linearly in the sound field.
Using Deep Learning Methods to Monitor Non-Observable States in a Building
Authors: Tangrand Kristoffer , Bremdal Bernt
Published: February 2020

This paper presents results from ongoing research with a goal to use a combination of time series from non-intrusive soft sensors and deep recurrent neural networks to predict room usage at a university campus. Training data was created by collecting measurements from sensors measuring room CO2, humidity, temperature, light, motion and sound, while the labels was created manually by human inspection. Results include analyses of relationships between different sensor data sequences and recommendations for a prototype predictive model using deep recurrent neural networks.
Impact of examined lymph node count on long-term survival of T1-2N0M0 double primary NSCLC patients after surgery: a SEER study
Authors: Jiang Kan , Zhi Xiaohui , Shen Yue , Ma Yuanyuan , Su Xinyu , Zhou Liqing
Published: February 2020

Purpose

The relationship between examined lymph nodes (ELN) and survival has been confirmed in several single early-stage malignancies. We studied the association between the ELN count and the long-term survival of T1-2N0M0 double primary non-small cell lung cancer (DP-NSCLC) patients after surgery, based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database.

Methods

A total of 948 patients were identified and their independent prognostic factors were analyzed. These factors included the ELN count, which related to overall survival (OS) and the cancer-specific survival (CSS) of synchronous (n = 426) and metachronous (n = 522) T1-2N0M0 DP-NSCLC patients after surgery.

Results

X-tile analysis indicated that the cutoff value for the sum of ELNs was 22 for both OS and CSS in the synchronous DP-NSCLC group. Patients with a sum of ELNs >22 were statistically more likely to survive than those with ≤22 ELNs. X-tile analysis revealed that the ELN count of the second lesion was related to both OS and CSS in the metachronous DP-NSCLC group. The optimal cutoff value was nine. These results were confirmed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that ELN count was highly correlated with the long-term survival of T1-2N0M0 double primary NSCLC patients after surgery.
The Essentials of Biochemistry of the Proteins as Related to Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review
Authors: Prasad A. S. V.
Published: February 2020

Amyloid plaques and Tau tangles, constitute the pathological hallmarks of the brains of the patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. They are identified as far back as 1996 by Alois Alzheimer, a German psychiatrist and neuropathologist, but till this date, how they produce neuronal death remained an enigma. The amyloid cascade theory held its sway until recent times until the emphasis is shifted to the metabolites of amyloid Beta precursor protein (APP). Several metabolites of APP are formed depending on by which pathway, the APP is metabolized, either by the non -amyloidogenic pathway (forming α-C terminal fragment -CTFα / C83 and the N-terminal fragment sAPPα / P3 and the APP intracellular domain AICD). Or amyloidogenic pathways. (Forming extracellular Aβ and APP intracellular domain -AICD). The hyperphosphorylation is held responsible for the tau protein tangles. The over activity of the tau kinases or the failure of inhibition by the tau phosphatases is implicated, in tau tangle deposits. These biochemical aspects of AD assumed importance in connection with the interventional therapeutic strategies that are developed in the years bygone, as well as those still are in the developing stage. In keeping with this fact, it is attempted to review the essentials of the biochemical aspects of the involved proteins, as related to AD, in this article.
Albumin/Ag Nanoparticles Synthesized by Using UV-Irradiation and Estimation of Their Antibacterial Activity
Authors: Elsupikhe Randa Fawzi , Alfazani Tahani Soliman , Al-Jazwia Fawzia Muftah , Abo-Eisa Hitham. , Hammad Imperiyka , Sheltami Rasha M.
Published: February 2020

Nano-scale (less than 100 nm) materials have received wide attention because of their rare properties that differ significantly from a bulk sample of the same material. In this research, a physical irradiation method by using UV lamp was established for preparation nanoparticles colloids of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) with an eco-friendly stabilizer (Albumin). The preparation process was carried out using silver nitrate (AgNO3) in aqueous albumin at room temperature. The effects of UV-irradiation time and the concentrations of Ag+ and albumin on the particle size have been investigated. Moreover, the antibacterial effect of the Ag/Albumin nanoparticles has been tested. The results showed that, the UV–irradiation can influence the Ag-NPs size, which the of Nps  decreases with the UV–irradiation increases. The morphological study demonstrated well-dispersed spherical Ag-NPs with an average diameter of about 29 nm at the optimum conditions. The antibacterial results exhibited a significant inhibitory effect for the Ag-NPs that synthesized in this work. The current fabrication method of the silver nanoparticles colloid could be extended to other metals such as Cu- Nps and may possibly find various additional applications.
Effects of Cattle Manure on the Growth, Yield, Quality and Shelf Life of Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L. cv. Detroit Dark Red)
Authors: Dlamini Vusumuzi C. , Nxumalo Kwanele A. , Masarirambi Michael T. , Wahome Paul K. , Oseni Tajudeen O. , Zwane Mathole G.
Published: February 2020

Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) is one of the widely and popularly used salad vegetable in the Kingdom of Eswatini: However, there is scarcity of information pertaining to its organic production. A field study laid out in a Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) was conducted at the Horticulture Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Luyengo Campus, at the University of Eswatini to determine the effects of cattle manure on growth, yield, quality and shelf-life of beetroot. Five treatments were applied in this experiment, and included cattle manure applied at 20, 40, 60, and 80 t/ha and a control of inorganic fertilizer, NPK [2:3:2 (22)] applied at 100 kg/ha as basal dressing and limestone ammonium nitrate (LAN) (28) applied at 80 kg as a top dressing. The treatments were replicated four times. The results obtained showed that beetroot grown under the application rate of 80 t/ha exhibited higher values in plant height (32.5 cm), number of leaves (9), leaf area (206 cm2), root diameter (5.1 cm), root length (11.7 cm), root fresh mass/plant (10.8 g), root dry mass/plant (9.2 g), marketable yield/plant (9.2 g) and quality [(aroma (33.5%), flavour (34%), texture (35%)] of the edible part. Plants supplied with 20 t/ha of cattle manure and inorganic fertiliser (control) gave the lowest vegetative growth parameters, quality parameters and marketable yield.
Incorporating biological modeling into patient‐specific plan verification
Authors: Alexandrian Ara N. , Mavroidis Panayiotis , Narayanasamy Ganesh , McConnell Kristen A. , Kabat Christopher N. , George Renil B. , Defoor Dewayne L. , Kirby Neil , Papanikolaou Nikos , Stathakis Sotirios
Published: February 2020

Purpose

Dose–volume histogram (DVH) measurements have been integrated into commercially available quality assurance systems to provide a metric for evaluating accuracy of delivery in addition to gamma analysis. We hypothesize that tumor control probability and normal tissue complication probability calculations can provide additional insight beyond conventional dose delivery verification methods.

Methods

A commercial quality assurance system was used to generate DVHs of treatment plan using the planning CT images and patient‐specific QA measurements on a phantom. Biological modeling was performed on the DVHs produced by both the treatment planning system and the quality assurance system.

Results

The complication‐free tumor control probability, P+, has been calculated for previously treated intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) patients with diseases in the following sites: brain (−3.9% ± 5.8%), head‐neck (+4.8% ± 8.5%), lung (+7.8% ± 1.3%), pelvis (+7.1% ± 12.1%), and prostate (+0.5% ± 3.6%).

Conclusion

Dose measurements on a phantom can be used for pretreatment estimation of tumor control and normal tissue complication probabilities. Results in this study show how biological modeling can be used to provide additional insight about accuracy of delivery during pretreatment verification.
Dosimetric characterization of a body‐conforming radiochromic sheet
Authors: Wang Yi‐Fang , Dona Olga , Liu Kevin , Adamovics John , Wuu Cheng‐Shie
Published: February 2020

Purpose

A novel radiochromic PRESAGE sheet (Heuris Inc.) with 3 mm thickness has been developed as a measurement tool for 2D dosimetry. Its inherent ability to conform to irregular surfaces makes this dosimeter advantageous for patient surface dosimetry. This study is a comprehensive investigation into the PRESAGE sheet’s dosimetric characteristic, accuracy and its potential use as a dosimeter for clinical applications.

Methods

The characterization of the dosimeter included evaluation of the temporal stability of the dose linearity, reproducibility, measurement uncertainties, dose rate, energy, temperature and angular dependence, lateral response artifacts, percent depth dose curve, and 2D dose measurement. Dose distribution measurements were acquired for regular square fields on a flat and irregular surface and an irregular modulated field on the smooth surface. All measurements were performed using an Epson 11000XL high‐resolution scanner.

Results

The examined dosimeters exhibit stable linear response, standard error of repeated measurements within 2%, negligible dose rate, energy, and angular dependence. The same linear dose response was measured while the dosimeter was in contact with a heated water surface. Gamma test and histogram analysis of the dose difference between PRESAGE and EBT3 film, PRESAGE and the treatment planning system (TPS) were used to evaluate the measured dose distributions. The PRESAGE sheet dose distributions showed good agreement with EBT3 film and TPS. A discrepancy smaller than the statistical error of the two dosimeters was reported.

Conclusions

This study established a full dosimetric characterization of the PRESAGE sheets with the purpose of laying the foundation for future clinical uses. The results presented here for the comparison of this novel dosimeter with those currently in use reinforce the possibility of using this dosimeter as an alternative for irregular surface dose measurements.
Adaptive control of electrically‐driven nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots: Taylor series‐based approach with guaranteed asymptotic stability
Authors: Haqshenas M. AmirReza , Fateh Mohammad Mehdi , Ahmadi Seyed Mohammad
Published: February 2020

Taking advantage of an adaptive Taylor series approximator, this research seeks to address a two‐loop robust controller for electrically‐driven differential drive wheeled mobile robots. A fictitious current signal is designed in the outer loop such that the good tracking performance as well as the asymptotic stability of system will be achieved. Also, the error of currents will be minimized by an actual control input in the inner loop. For both inner/outer loops, uncertain nonlinear functions can be approximated by adaptive Taylor series systems. To validate the proposed control algorithm, numerous simulations have been carried out with two different desired trajectories and multiple initial conditions. Also, the proposed controller is compared with a recent well‐designed robust adaptive fuzzy controller. In addition, to simplify the procedure of mathematical modelling of a wheeled mobile robot, the “Simscape Multibody” environment of “MATLAB” is used for 3D simulations.
A Red Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitter Simultaneously Having High Photoluminescence Quantum Efficiency and Preferentially Horizontal Emitting Dipole Orientation
Authors: Gong Xu , Li Pan , Huang Yu‐Hsin , Wang Chun‐Yu , Lu Chen‐Han , Lee Wei‐Kai , Zhong Cheng , Chen Zhanxiang , Ning Weimin , Wu Chung‐Chih , Gong Shaolong , Yang Chuluo
Published: February 2020

The development of red thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters having excellent optoelectronic properties and satisfactory electroluminescence efficiency is full of challenges due to strict molecular design principles. Two red TADF molecules, 3‐(9,9‐dimethylacridin‐10(9H)‐yl)acenaphtho[1,2‐b]quinoxaline‐9,10‐dicarbonitrile and 3‐(2,7‐dimethyl‐10H‐spiro[acridine‐9,9′‐fluoren]‐10‐yl)acenaphtho[1,2‐b]quinoxaline‐9,10‐dicarbonitrile, are developed by adopting a donor–acceptor molecular architecture bearing an electron‐accepting acenaphtho[1,2‐b]quinoxaline‐9,10‐dicarbonitrile (ANQDC) moiety and a 9,9‐dimethyl‐9,10‐dihydroacridine or 2,7‐dimethyl‐10H‐spiro[acridine‐9,9′‐fluorene] electron donor. The combined effects of rigid and planar D/A moieties and highly steric hindrance between D and A groups endow both molecules with high rigidity to suppress nonradiative decay processes, resulting in high photoluminescence quantum efficiencies (ΦPLs) of up to 95%. Attributed to the linear and planar acceptor motif and rod‐like molecular configuration, both emitters achieve high horizontal ratios of emitting dipole orientation of ≈80%. The organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on both emitters exhibit red emissions peaking at ≈615 nm and successfully afford ultrahigh electroluminescence performance with an external quantum efficiency of nearly 28% and a power efficiency of above 50 lm W−1, on par with the state‐of‐the‐art device efficiency for red TADF OLEDs. This presents a feasible design strategy for excellent TADF emitters simultaneously possessing high ΦPLs and horizontally aligned emitting dipoles.
Interlayer‐Sensitized Linear and Nonlinear Photoluminescence of Quasi‐2D Hybrid Perovskites Using Aggregation‐Induced Enhanced Emission Active Organic Cation Layers
Authors: Lim Chang‐Keun , Maldonado Melissa , Zalesny Robert , Valiev Rashid , Ågren Hans , Gomes Anderson S. L. , Jiang Jie , Pachter Ruth , Prasad Paras N.
Published: February 2020

A concept of interlayer‐sensitized photoluminescence (PL) of quasi‐2D hybrid perovskite (PVK) with a π‐conjugated optically interacting organic cation layer is introduced and demonstrated. A rod‐shaped aggregation‐induced enhanced emission (AIEE) organic cation (BPCSA+), well fitted into the lattice size of 2D PVK layers, is designed and synthesized to prolong the exciton lifetime in a condensed layer assembly in the PVK. The BPCSA+ promotes the PL of this hybrid PVK up to 10‐folds from that of a non‐π‐conjugated organic cation (OA) 2D PVK. Notably, different from PL of OA 2D PVK, the increased PL intensity of BPCSA 2D PVKs with an increase of the BPCSA ratio in the PVK indicates a critical photon‐harvesting contribution of BPCSA. The films of BPCSA 2D PVKs are incredibly stable in ambient environments for more than 4 months and even upon direct contact with water. Additionally, due to the strong two‐photon absorption property of BPCSA, the BPCSA 2D PVK displays superior emission properties upon two‐photon excitation with a short wavelength IR laser. Thus, the AIEE sensitization system for quasi‐2D PVK hybrid system can make a drastic improvement in performance as well as in the stability of the PVK emitter and PVK based nonlinear optical devices.
Gold‐Supported Gadolinium Doped CoB Amorphous Sheet: A New Benchmark Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation with High Turnover Frequency
Authors: ul Haq Tanveer , Mansour Said A. , Munir Akhtar , Haik Yousef
Published: February 2020

Electrochemical water splitting has been considered a promising approach for green and sustainable hydrogen as a future energy carrier. However, the lack of high performance and inexpensive electrocatalysts for kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) hinder the practical application. Here, the noteworthy enhancement of electrodeposited cobalt boride (CoB) nanosheets from the combined effect of using gadolinium as a dopant and thin film of gold as prudent support is demonstrated. The free‐standing Gd‐CoB@Au exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance, high intrinsic activity, and lower reaction resistance, which are confirmed by lower onset potential, small charge transfer resistance, lower Tafel slope value, and high turnover frequency. Furthermore, the post‐OER characterization signpost, no observable change in the chemical structure or morphology of nanosheets during the long‐lasting oxidation process. Because of the inexpensive, facile, and scalable one‐step preparation processes, the catalyst is highly encouraging for large‐scale practical applications.