bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Carbon sequestration and selected hydraulic characteristics under conservation agriculture and traditional tillage practices in Malawi
Authors: Simwaka Pacsu L. , Tesfamariam Eyob H. , Ngwira Amos R. , Chirwa Paxie W.
Published: October 2020

Conservation agriculture (CA) is increasingly promoted among smallholder farmers of sub-Saharan Africa in a quest to improve food security while sustaining the natural resource base of the agro-ecosystems where agriculture is based. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of CA and traditional tillage on soil organic carbon (SOC) and selected hydraulic properties in two contrasting agro-ecological zones of Malawi. Six farmers hosted on-farm trials in each location, with each farmer having the following treatments: CA with continuous sole maize (CA-SM), CA with maize–legume intercrops (CA-ML), and traditional tillage with continuous sole maize (CT-SM). Soil samples were randomly collected in October 2015, from farmers’ fields located in Chipeni, Chinguluwe, Lemu, and Zidyana where CA had been implemented for 10 years (2005–2015) at six depth intervals: 0–10, 10–20, 20–40, 40–60, 60–80, and 80–100 cm. Bulk density, soil water characteristics, and pore size distribution were determined using undisturbed core samples. At all sites, CA improved total SOC, carbon stocks, and the stable fraction of particulate organic carbon. Maize–legume intercropping under CA had 35%, 33%, and 73% more total SOC than CT-SM in Chipeni, Lemu, and Zidyana respectively. In Chinguluwe and Lemu, CA-ML had 0.54 and 0.50 g kg–1 respectively more stable fraction of particulate organic carbon (POMP) than CT-SM; whereas in Chipeni, CA-SM had 0.73 g kg–1 higher POMP compared with CT-SM. CA also improved soil porosity, pore size distribution, and water retention capacity by increasing the proportion of mesopores and micropores compared with CT-SM. Thus, changing management practices from CT-SM to CA has the potential to improve the soil organic matter and soil hydraulic properties across agro-ecological zones in Malawi, which is important for sustainable agriculture. Farmers should be encouraged to minimise tillage, retain residues as mulch on the soil surface, and practice crop rotation.
A simple approach to estimate coastal soil salinity using digital camera images
Authors: Xu Lu , Viscarra Rossel Raphael A. , Lee Juhwan , Wang Zhichun , Ma Hongyuan
Published: October 2020

Soil salinisation is a global problem that hinders the sustainable development of ecosystems and agricultural production. Remote and proximal sensing technologies have been used to effectively evaluate soil salinity over large scales, but research on digital camera images is still lacking. In this study, we propose to relate the pixel brightness of soil surface digital images to the soil salinity information. We photographed the surface of 93 soils in the field at different times and weather conditions, and sampled the corresponding soils for laboratory analyses of soil salinity information. Results showed that the pixel digital numbers were related to soil salinity, especially at the intermediate and higher brightness levels. Based on this relationship, we employed random forest (RF) and partial least-squares regression (PLSR) to model soil salt content and ion concentrations, and applied root mean squared error, coefficient of determination and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient to evaluate the accuracy of models. We found that ions with high concentration were estimated more accurately than ions with low concentrations, and RF models performed overall better than PLSR models. However, the method is only suitable for bare land of coastal soil, and verification is needed for other conditions. In conclusion, a new approach of using digital camera images has good potential to predict and manage soil salinity in the context of precision agriculture with the rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicles.
Functional plasticity and evolutionary adaptation of allosteric regulation
Authors: Leander Megan , Yuan Yuchen , Meger Anthony , Cui Qiang , Raman Srivatsan
Published: October 2020

Significance

Allostery is a fundamental mechanism by which proteins recognize environmental cues and elicit a response at a distal site. Allosteric signaling is essential in the regulation of myriad cellular processes, yet its molecular basis is poorly understood. Compared to traditional approaches that rely on structure to understand allostery, we chose a high-throughput function-centric approach. Using systematic mutagenesis, we found allosteric signaling to be highly adaptable where a mutation that inactivates allostery can be functionally compensated by another distal mutation. Although functionally important, allosteric hotspots, residues critical for signaling, were poorly conserved. In contrast, residues important for structural stability are significantly conserved, suggesting evolution selects fold over function. Our approach can lead to broad molecular principles of allostery.
Refining and modifying the EFCAMDAT
Authors: Shatz Itamar
Published: October 2020

This report outlines the development of a new corpus, which was created by refining and modifying the largest open-access L2 English learner database – the EFCAMDAT. The extensive data-curation process, which can inform the development and use of other corpora, included procedures such as converting the database from XML to a tabular format, and removing problematic markup tags and non-English texts. The final dataset contains two corresponding samples, written by similar learners in response to different prompts, which represents a unique research opportunity when it comes to analyzing task effects and conducting replication studies. Overall, the resulting corpus contains ~406,000 texts in the first sample and ~317,000 texts in the second sample, written by learners representing diverse L1s and a large range of L2 proficiency levels.
A kinematic comparison of on‐ergometer and on‐water kayaking
Authors: Klitgaard Kent K. , Hauge Christian , Oliveira Anderson Souza , Heinen Frederik
Published: October 2020

The aim of this study was to compare the kinematic profile of on‐water and on‐ergometer kayaking during maximal paddling. Eleven elite junior female kayak athletes (Mean SD, age: 16.8 ± 1.2 years; body mass: 64.1 ± 8.1 kg) performed a 2‐minute maximal kayaking exercise with their competition equipment on water, and a 2‐minute maximal kayaking exercise on a standard ergometer. Kinematic data was recorded with an inertial motion capture system. Elbow, shoulder and knee angles and their respective angular velocities were extracted and normalised with respect to the stroke cycle. Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) was used to identify statistically significant differences between the two conditions. The stroke rate was significantly higher on ergometer (122.1 ± 6.8 strokes per minute) compared to on water (107.1 ± 4.6 strokes per minute, p < 0.05), with a difference of 8.4 ± 5.9 strokes per minute. Elite kayak female athletes exhibited differences in elbow, shoulder and knee kinematics when comparing on‐ergometer to on‐water performance. Moreover, the results demonstrated an increased range of motion in lateral bending in the thoracolumbar joint (p < 0.001). The current results support recent findings that a kayak ergometer may not replicate on‐water kinematics.
Final report for GULFMET.M.M-K4: key comparison of 1 kg stainless steel mass standards
Authors: Korutlu Beste , Mitsas Christos , Malengo Andrea , Wüthrich Christian , Lee Sungjun , Alqarni Saud , Al-Abdulhadi Aisha , Al-Qattan Abeer I , Mahmoud Khalid Sadee
Published: October 2020

This report summarizes the results of the key comparison (KC) carried out among eight National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and an Accredited Calibration Laboratory, six of which are member countries of Gulf Association for Metrology (GULFMET). The KC of two 1 kg stainless steel knob weights was decided during the 11th meeting of GULFMET TC Mass held in Abu Dhabi, 2017. TÜBİTAK UME (Turkey) acted as pilot laboratory. The comparison was linked to CCM.M-K4 via INRIM (Italy), METAS (Switzerland), KRISS (Republic of Korea). The results were evaluated by the generalized least square (GLS) estimation. Majority of results were consistent with each other and with the key comparison reference value of CCM.M-K4 within their expanded uncertainties with the coverage factor of k = 2.

Main text

To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/.

The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).
Generalized scalar field cosmologies: theorems on asymptotic behavior
Authors: Leon Genly , Franz Silva Felipe Orlando
Published: October 2020

Phase-space descriptions are used to find qualitative features of the solutions of generalized scalar field cosmologies with arbitrary potentials and arbitrary couplings to matter. Previous results are summarized and new ones are presented as theorems, which include the previous ones as corollaries. Examples of these results are presented as well as counterexamples when the hypotheses of the theorems are not fulfilled. Potentials with small cosine-like corrections motivated by inflationary loop-quantum cosmology are discussed. Finally, the Hubble‐normalized formulation for the FRW metric and for the Bianchi I metric is applied to a scalar field cosmology with a generalized harmonic potential, non-minimally coupled to matter, and the stability of the solutions is discussed.
TV-based reconstruction of periodic functions
Authors: Fageot Julien , Simeoni Matthieu
Published: October 2020

We introduce a general framework for the reconstruction of periodic multivariate functions from finitely many and possibly noisy linear measurements. The reconstruction task is formulated as a penalized convex optimization problem, taking the form of a sum between a convex data fidelity functional and a sparsity-promoting total variation based penalty involving a suitable spline-admissible regularizing operator L. In this context, we establish a periodic representer theorem, showing that the extreme-point solutions are periodic L-splines with less knots than the number of measurements. The main results are specified for the broadest classes of measurement functionals, spline-admissible operators, and convex data fidelity functionals. We exemplify our results for various regularization operators and measurement types (e.g., spatial sampling, Fourier sampling, or square-integrable functions). We also consider the reconstruction of both univariate and multivariate periodic functions.
An unbiased approach to compressed sensing
Authors: Carlsson Marcus , Gerosa Daniele , Olsson Carl
Published: October 2020

In compressed sensing a sparse vector is approximately retrieved from an under-determined equation system Ax = b. Exact retrieval would mean solving a large combinatorial problem which is well known to be NP-hard. For b of the form Ax
0 + ϵ, where x
0 is the ground truth and ϵ is noise, the ‘oracle solution’ is the one you get if you a priori know the support of x
0, and is the best solution one could hope for. We provide a non-convex functional whose global minimum is the oracle solution, with the property that any other local minimizer necessarily has high cardinality. We provide estimates of the type

‖

x

̂

−

x

0

‖

2

⩽
C
‖
ϵ

‖

2

with constants C that are significantly lower than for competing methods or theorems, and our theory relies on soft assumptions on the matrix A, in comparison with standard results in the field. The framework also allows to incorporate a priori information on the cardinality of the sought vector. In this case we show that despite being non-convex, our cost functional has no spurious local minima and the global minima is again the oracle solution, thereby providing the first method which is guaranteed to find this point for reasonable levels of noise, without resorting to combinatorial methods.
Dynamic switching-induced back-carrier-injection in a-InGaZnO thin film transistors
Authors: Tai Mao-Chou , Tsao Yu-Ching , Wang Yu-Xuan , Lin Chih-Chih , Tsai Yu-Lin , Tu Hong-Yi , Huang Bo-Shen , Chang Ting-Chang
Published: October 2020

In this work, degradation due to carrier injection at the etch-stop layer was observed under dynamic switching. A significant threshold voltage shift is observed in alternating current stress but is absent in direct current stress. A model which transitions from the accumulation to depletion phases indicates electron-trapping at the etch-stop layer since the transition time is insufficient for carriers to drift back to the source/drain electrodes. Results are discussed through both horizontal and lateral band diagrams to confirm back channel injections. Also, comparing transfer curves with capacitance-voltage curves at the same threshold voltage in different structure devices provides direct evidence of electron-trapping regions. Finally, COMSOL simulation is performed to confirm the difference in electron-trapping between back channel and corner regions, a difference which leads to an abnormal hump during capacitance-voltage measurements.
Enhanced antitumor effect via amplified oxidative stress by near-infrared light-responsive and folate-targeted nanoplatform
Authors: Wang Senlin , Chen Fanghui , Wu Hongshuai , Zhang Yuchen , Sun Kai , Yin Yujie , Chen Jian , Hossain Abul Monsur Showkot , Sun Baiwang
Published: October 2020

The efficiency of producing hydroxyl radicals (·OH) from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) catalyzed by different iron compounds have been explored extensively. Exclusively, ferrocenecarboxylic acid (FCA) showed the best catalyzed activity for ·OH generation. Then, we designed and prepared near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive and folate-targeted nanoplatform, which co-delivered FCA, cisplatin and indocyanine green (ICG) for improving antitumor therapy through amplified oxidative stress. The noteworthy observation is that under the irradiation of NIR light, the lecithin structure could able to depolymerize through the photothermal conversion mechanism of encapsulated dye ICG, which has achieved an intelligent release of drugs. In addition, the released cisplatin is not only fully effective to damage the DNA of cancer cells but it is able to induce the production of intracellular H2O2, which could further be catalyzed by FCA to generate toxic ·OH for oxidative damage via Fenton and Haber–Weiss reaction. This original strategy may provide an efficient way for improved chemotherapy via amplified oxidative stress.
Theory of mode conversion in helicon plasmas
Authors: Cho Suwon
Published: October 2020

The helicon wave can be converted into the Trivelpiece–Gould (TG) mode and vice versa in nonuniform helicon plasmas. A theory is presented to study this phenomena using a full wave analysis with the stratified model and spectral collocation methods. The properties of the power flux are analyzed, and the reflection and conversion coefficients are obtained by constructing appropriate solutions representing the incident helicon or TG mode propagating toward the mode conversion layer (MCL). It is found that these coefficients are independent of the incident mode type in the collisionless limit, and that conversion of power from the helicon to the TG mode is the same as that from the TG to the helicon mode, regardless of collisions. It is also found that the radiation resistance peaks approximately where the conversion peaks when there is an MCL, or the reflection reaches its local minimum when there is no MCL. Finally, the absorbed power of the waves excited by an antenna is decomposed into those of the incident helicon and TG modes, which shows that their partitions are affected by the existence of mode conversion as well as the collision frequency.
Three-dimensional density distributions of NO in the effluent of the COST reference microplasma jet operated in He/N2/O2
Authors: Preissing Patrick , Korolov Ihor , Schulze Julian , Schulz-von der Gathen Volker , Böke Marc
Published: October 2020

Laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIF) is used to measure absolute ground state densities of nitric oxide (NO) in the effluent of the COST reference microplasma jet (COST-jet) with three-dimensional spatial resolution. The jet is operated in helium with a nitrogen/oxygen admixture. The experiments are performed with the jet expanding into open air and into a controlled He/synthetic air atmosphere. The most efficient production of NO is found at a 0.5% admixture of N2/O2 at a ratio of 4/1, that is considered to be synthetic air. Maximum NO densities of 3.25 × 1014 cm−3 and 4.5 × 1014 cm−3 are measured in the air and He/synthetic air atmosphere, respectively, at an axial distance of 2 mm from the nozzle. The distribution patterns are found to transit into a turbulent regime for air atmosphere at greater axial distances, while in the He/synthetic air atmosphere this effect is not observed. It is found that the expansion of the region of high NO density in the effluent is strongly coupled to the helium flow. Furthermore, the NO density is found to depend on the absolute feed gas flow, i.e. its maximum decreases as a function of the gas flow. This is a result of the longer residence time of the gas in the active plasma volume at lower gas flows and higher energy densities. For very high values of the applied radio frequency power the NO density is saturated. From time resolved measurements of the LIF signals the quenching coefficient for the NO(A
2Σ+) state by air is found to be k

u,air = 4.2(±0.5) × 10−11 cm3 s−1, while quenching by He is negligible, k

u,He ⩽ 1 × 10−14 cm3 s−1. The amount of ambient air intruding the helium effluent is determined as well.
Time-resolved imaging of pulsed positive nanosecond discharge on water surface: plasma dots guided by water surface
Authors: Hamdan Ahmad , Diamond James , Stafford Luc
Published: October 2020

Pulsed nanosecond discharges at atmospheric pressure produce non-thermal plasmas that can be used in various applications. The dynamics of such discharges are highly dependent on experimental conditions, particularly the propagation medium. In this study, pulsed nanosecond discharges in air in-contact with deionized water are investigated, and the dynamics of plasma emission are studied using an ultrafast imaging technique. Depending on the magnitude of the applied voltage, two discharge modes are observed: (i) highly-organized filaments and (ii) intense and less-organized plasma filaments that superimpose to the organized ones. Based on the acquired 1 ns resolved images, the highly-organized filaments can be considered as plasma dots that propagate at the water surface with velocities in the order of hundreds of km s−1. Detailed analyses of the dots number, by imaging, and of the discharge properties, by current–voltage characteristics, reveal that the charge of each dot is constant (3–5 nC), irrespective of the experimental conditions. After being compared with the plasma bullets, usually produced by jets, the analyzed dots are proposed as plasma quanta.
Temperature measurements of the background gas and metastable argon atoms in N2/Ar nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges
Authors: Manoharan Rounak , Boyson Toby K , O’Byrne Sean
Published: October 2020

Characterization of plasma properties that underpin kinetic processes in nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges (NRPDs) is necessary to understand and manipulate the behavior of these discharges for a wide variety of applications. Here, the neutral gas temperature in N2 and 50% N2/50% Ar NRPDs during the discharge is determined by characterizing the rotational temperature of rovibrational spectra from the N2 2nd positive system. At the conditions investigated, it is shown that the timescale for rotational–translational relaxation is shorter than the effective lifetime of the N2(C) state, thereby, rendering the rotational temperature measurements a reasonable representation of the background gas temperature. The measurements show that the translational temperature of ground state nitrogen molecules does not increase significantly above ambient temperature during the discharge generated at a constant pressure of 20 Torr, 10 kHz pulse repetition frequency, and pulse energy of 50 μJ. An absorption based detection technique with a 2 ns time-resolution used to measure the translational temperature history of the metastable argon atoms (Ar(1s3)) in the N2/Ar NRPDs shows that the Ar(1s3) atoms and the neutral background gas are in thermal non-equilibrium during the discharge. Furthermore, the addition of nitrogen gas is shown to significantly reduce the translational energy enhancement of the metastable argon atoms produced in the N2/Ar discharges compared to that in pure argon discharges.
Thermodynamics of optical Bloch equations
Authors: Elouard Cyril , Herrera-Martí David , Esposito Massimiliano , Auffèves Alexia
Published: October 2020

Optical Bloch equations (OBE) describe the coherent exchange of energy between a quantum bit (qubit) and a quasi-resonant driving field in the presence of a thermal bath. Despite it being an ubiquitous process in quantum technologies, a sound thermodynamic analysis is still missing. We hereby provide such an analysis, by deriving the relevant framework from first principles. We start from a complete microscopic description of the qubit-bath system where definitions of heat, work and entropy production are unambiguous. We trace out the bath and coarse-grain the resulting expressions in time, using a methodology similar to the derivation of the dynamical master equation, to derive closed expressions for the first and second law in terms of system properties. Long coarse graining times yield the Floquet Master equation and its already known thermodynamic description. Short coarse-graining times yield instead the OBE and a novel thermodynamic framework which explicitly depends on quantum coherences in the qubit’s energy basis which produce quantum signatures in the heat and entropy production flows. This allows us to characterize a genuinely quantum non-equilibrium situation, where the coherences created by the driving field are continuously erased by the bath. Our findings can be readily extended to larger open quantum systems. They carry the seeds for future thermodynamic analyses of quantum gates and the design of quantum engines in the strong coherent driving regime.
Erratum: Multiscatter capture of superheavy dark matter by Pop III
stars
Authors: Cosmin Ilie  , Saiyang Zhang
Published: October 2020

In this erratum, we fix a typo and an error in two of the equations used in our
paper titled “Multiscatter capture of superheavy dark matter by Pop III stars,”
published in JCAP 12 (2019) 051, hereafter IZ19. The typo was just
cosmetic, appeared only once, and in the entirety of our work, we used the
correct spelling for that equation, so none of the results is affected. The
error is propagated from our usage of eq. (23) from Bramante, Delgado and Martin
[Phys. Rev. D 96 (2017) 063002, hereafter BDM17], which, as we have
recently shown in Ilie, Pilawa, Szhang [Phys. Rev. D accepted
(2020), hereafter IPZ20] contains a term with the wrong sign, among other
typos/errors. We did investigate if this term affects our results presented
IZ19, and found out that this is not the case. Namely, none of our results is
affected by this term that is completely subdominant in the parameter space
explored by our original paper.
Experimental investigation of bending and tensile strength of friction stir processed TIG-welded AA5083-H111 joint
Authors: Msomi Velaphi , Mabuwa Sipokazi
Published: October 2020

This paper reports on the experimental investigation of bending and tensile strength of the friction stir processed TIG-welded AA5083-H111 joint. The friction stir processed joint was studied comparatively with the TIG-welded joint (unprocessed joint). The TIG-welded joint was processed using a single-pass friction stir processing technique. The microstructural analysis revealed that the unprocessed joint was dominated with coarse grains while the refined grains dominated the friction stir processed joint. The unprocessed joint consistently failed at the center of the joint during tensile testing while the processed joint failed in different locations of the stir zone. The tensile strength of the unprocessed joint was found to be 47.4% to that of the base metal while that of the processed joint was found to be 76.5% to that of the base metal. The percentage elongation of the processed joint was found to be 82.4% to that of the base metal while that of the unprocessed joint was found to be 34.8% to that of the base metal. The bending failure mode of the processed and unprocessed joint was similar to that observed during tensile testing.
Memory selection and information switching in oscillator networks with higher-order interactions
Authors: Skardal Per Sebastian , Arenas Alex
Published: October 2020

We study the dynamics of coupled oscillator networks with higher-order interactions and their ability to store information. In particular, the fixed points of these oscillator systems consist of two clusters of oscillators that become entrained at opposite phases, mapping easily to information more commonly represented by sequences of 0’s and 1’s. While 2
N
such fixed point states exist in a system of N oscillators, we find that a relatively small fraction of these are stable, as chosen by the network topology. To understand the memory selection of such oscillator networks, we derive a stability criterion to identify precisely which states are stable, i.e., which pieces of information are supported by the network. We also investigate the process by which the system can switch between different stable states when a random perturbation is applied that may force the system into the basin of attraction of another stable state.
Intersections Of Neighborhood Co-Ethnic Density and Nativity Status On Heavy Drinking In a General Population Sample Of US Latinos and Asians
Authors: Tam Christina C , Lui Camillia K , Karriker-Jaffe Katherine J
Published: October 2020

Aims

Greater neighborhood co-ethnic density (living in proximity with people sharing an ethnicity) and being foreign-born each can protect against risky drinking, but little is known about whether these two factors interact. Using a representative sample of Latinos and Asians from California, USA, we investigate main and interactive effects of neighborhood co-ethnic density and nativity status in relation to heavy episodic drinking (HED).

Methods

This study uses the California Health Interview Survey (N = 30,203) linked with neighborhood data to investigate associations of co-ethnic density and nativity status with HED. Co-ethnic density was based on matching each respondent’s ethnicity to the proportion of residents of the corresponding group in their Census tract. Using weighted logistic regression, we first examined main effects of neighborhood co-ethnic density and respondent nativity status on HED. Next, we assessed the interaction of co-ethnic density and nativity status. Finally, we estimated nativity-stratified models to investigate variation in effects of co-ethnic density.

Results

Co-ethnic density was not associated with HED for the full sample, but US-born nativity status was associated with increased odds of past-year HED. The interaction model showed co-ethnic density and nativity had synergistic effects, whereby greater levels of neighborhood co-ethnic density buffered risk associated with being US-born. Further, greater neighborhood co-ethnic density was associated with reduced odds of HED for US-born respondents, but it was not associated with HED for foreign-born respondents.

Conclusions

Protective effects of high neighborhood co-ethnic density on HED are stronger for US-born than for foreign-born Latinos and Asians in California.
Patient Satisfaction with Telephone Neuropsychological Assessment
Authors: Lacritz Laura H , Carlew Anne R , Livingstone Julia , Bailey K Chase , Parker Allison , Diaz Aislinn
Published: October 2020

Objective

Telephone-based neuropsychological assessment (TeleNP) has been shown to be a valid alternative to in-person or video-based assessment. However, there is limited information regarding patients’ satisfaction with TeleNP. This report presents satisfaction survey data from a diverse, clinical sample who received TeleNP during the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Method

A total of 43 adult patients (30.2% Hispanic/Latinx, 32.6% Black), aged 24–75, who received TeleNP as part of routine clinical care participated in a postassessment satisfaction survey. Responses were analyzed qualitatively and via nonparametric comparisons based on demographic factors.

Results

Given options of “Not Satisfied,” “Somewhat Satisfied,” “Satisfied,” or “Very Satisfied,” 97.7% of patients reported satisfaction with their visit as well as the visit length, and 80% felt the visit met their needs (“Good” + “Very Good”). There were no significant differences in responses based on age, race/ethnicity, sex, or education. Endorsed advantages of TeleNP included “Avoid potential exposure to illness” and “Flexibility/Convenience,” and 20% reported difficulty communicating, concentrating, and/or connecting with their provider as potential disadvantages. Although 67.7% reported a preference for in-person visits, 83.7% expressed interest in another “virtual visit” (telephone or video conference) with their provider.

Conclusions

TeleNP was well received by the sample and demonstrated good patient satisfaction. These results in conjunction with other research supporting the validity of TeleNP support consideration of this assessment modality for patients who might not otherwise have access to in-person or video conference-based neuropsychological services. Based on these findings, a greater focus on rapport building may be warranted when utilizing TeleNP to enhance patients’ sense of connection to their provider.
A general near-exact k-mer counting method with low memory consumption enables de novo assembly of 106× human sequence data in 2.7 hours
Authors: Shi Christina Huan , Yip Kevin Y.
Published: October 2020

Motivation

In de novo sequence assembly, a standard pre-processing step is k-mer counting, which computes the number of occurrences of every length-k sub-sequence in the sequencing reads. Sequencing errors can produce many k-mers that do not appear in the genome, leading to the need for an excessive amount of memory during counting. This issue is particularly serious when the genome to be assembled is large, the sequencing depth is high, or when the memory available is limited.

Results

Here, we propose a fast near-exact k-mer counting method, CQF-deNoise, which has a module for dynamically removing noisy false k-mers. It automatically determines the suitable time and number of rounds of noise removal according to a user-specified wrong removal rate. We tested CQF-deNoise comprehensively using data generated from a diverse set of genomes with various data properties, and found that the memory consumed was almost constant regardless of the sequencing errors while the noise removal procedure had minimal effects on counting accuracy. Compared with four state-of-the-art k-mer counting methods, CQF-deNoise consistently performed the best in terms of memory usage, consuming 49–76% less memory than the second best method. When counting the k-mers from a human dataset with around 60× coverage, the peak memory usage of CQF-deNoise was only 10.9 GB (gigabytes) for k = 28 and 21.5 GB for k = 55. De novo assembly of 106× human sequencing data using CQF-deNoise for k-mer counting required only 2.7 h and 90 GB peak memory.

Availability and implementation

The source codes of CQF-deNoise and SH-assembly are available at https://github.com/Christina-hshi/CQF-deNoise.git and https://github.com/Christina-hshi/SH-assembly.git, respectively, both under the BSD 3-Clause license.
Community development has been hijacked
Authors: Schutte De Wet
Published: October 2020

Community development lacks a proper theory. This paper postulates that the reason for this intolerable state being that community development has been hijacked by charity organizations and politicians with ‘do good’ intentions, simply because it lacks proper scientific theory that offers some element of prediction in the outcome. Current development approaches are revisited and the basic needs theory proposed as a useful theory that takes community development beyond just various ‘approaches’. It merges the complexities of the community development concept into a distinct scientifically based theory that includes an assessment technique (Priority Index), which makes it possible to identify and prioritize the basic or ‘true’ needs in a community. The theory equates addressing the basic community needs with the ‘art of timing’, which means doing the right thing at the right time is the only real solution to trigger the upward development spiral. In doing so, the basic needs theory postulates that once the identified basic needs in the target community are brought within their locus of control, the upward development spiral is triggered and a predictably new set of ‘higher level’ needs will emerge. This process is essential to the change principle inherent to the community development process.
Interpersonal Neural Synchronization during Interpersonal Touch Underlies Affiliative Pair Bonding between Romantic Couples
Authors: Long Yuhang , Zheng Lifen , Zhao Hui , Zhou Siyuan , Zhai Yu , Lu Chunming
Published: October 2020

Interpersonal touch plays a key role in creating and maintaining affiliative pair bonds in romantic love. However, the neurocognitive mechanism of interpersonal touch in affiliative pair bonding remains unclear. Here, we hypothesized that interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) during interpersonal touch underlies affiliative pair bonding between romantic couples. To test this hypothesis, INS between heterosexual romantic couples and between opposite-sex friends was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning, while the pairs of participants touched or vocally communicated with each other. The results showed significantly greater INS between the mentalizing and sensorimotor neural systems of two members of a pair during interpersonal touch than during vocal communication between romantic couples but not between friends. Moreover, touch-induced INS was significantly correlated with the self-reported strength of romantic love. Finally, the results also showed that men’s empathy positively modulated the association between touch-induced INS increase and the strength of romantic love. These findings support the idea that INS during interpersonal touch underlies affiliative pair bonding between romantic couples and suggest that empathy plays a modulatory role in the neurocognitive mechanism of interpersonal touch in affiliative pair bonding.
A New Intrusion Detection System Using the Improved Dendritic Cell Algorithm
Authors: Farzadnia Ehsan , Shirazi Hossein , Nowroozi Alireza
Published: October 2020

The dendritic cell algorithm (DCA) as one of the emerging evolutionary algorithms is based on the behavior of the specific immune agents, known as dendritic cells (DCs). DCA has several potentially beneficial features for binary classification problems. In this paper, we aim at providing a new version of this immune-inspired mechanism acts as a semi-supervised classifier, which can be a defensive shield in network intrusion detection problem. Till now, no strategy or idea has been adopted on the $Get_{Antigen()}$ function on the detection phase, but random sampling entails the DCA to provide undesirable results in several cycles at each time. This leads to uncertainty. Whereas it must be accomplished by biological behaviors of DCs in peripheral tissues, we have proposed a novel strategy that exactly acts based on its immunological functionalities of dendritic cells. The proposed mechanism focuses on two items: first, to obviate the challenge of needing to have a preordered antigen set for computing danger signal, and the second, to provide a novel immune-inspired idea for nonrandom data sampling. A variable functional migration threshold is also computed cycle by cycle that shows the necessity of the migration threshold flexibility. A significant criterion so-called capability of intrusion detection (CID) is used for tests. All the tests have been performed in a new benchmark dataset named UNSW-NB15. Experimental consequences demonstrate that the present schema as the best version among improved DC algorithms achieves 76.69% CID by 90% accuracy and outperforms its counterpart methods.
Right axillary artery cannulation for venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a retrospective single centre observational study
Authors: Pisani Angelo , Braham Wael , Brega Carlotta , Lajmi Moklhes , Provenchere Sophie , Danial Pichoy , Alkhoder Soleiman , Para Marylou , Ghodbane Walid , Nataf Patrick
Published: October 2020

OBJECTIVES

Our goal was to assess the safety, outcomes and complication rate of axillary artery cannulation for venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted on data obtained from the review of medical charts of all consecutive patients undergoing VA-ECMO implantation between January 2013 and December 2017 at a teaching hospital. Only patients with right axillary VA-ECMO implantation in a non-emergency setting were included. Post-procedural outcomes and local and systemic complications were analysed.

RESULTS

One hundred and seventy-four [131 male (75.3%), 43 female (24.7%); mean age 56.8 ± 15.1 years] patients underwent femoral-axillary VA-ECMO. Indications were cardiogenic shock from any cause (n = 78, 44.8%) or post-cardiotomy syndrome (n = 96, 55.2%). Fifty-three (30.5%) patients died while on VA-ECMO support. At the time of VA-ECMO ablation, 89 (51.1%) patients had recovered; 13 (7.5%) patients were bridged to a long-term mechanical support device and 19 (10.9%) patients underwent heart transplants. Thirty-day and 1-year mortality was 36.2% (n = 63) and 49.4% (n = 86), respectively. The 1-year survival rate of patients who were weaned from VA-ECMO support was 72.7% (n = 88). The complications of axillary cannulation were bleeding (n = 7, 4%), local infection (n = 3, 1.7%), upper limb ischaemia (n = 2, 1.1%) and brachial plexus injury (n = 1, 0.6%). Left ventricle unloading was required for 9 (5.2%) patients. The median duration of VA-ECMO support was 7 (range 1–26) days.

CONCLUSIONS

Right axillary artery cannulation is a safe and reliable method for VA-ECMO support with a low rate of local complications. In the absence of a control group with femoro-femoral cannulation, no definitive conclusion about the superiority of axillary over femoral cannulation can be drawn.
The European Values Study 2017: On the Way to the Future Using Mixed-Modes
Authors: Luijkx Ruud , Jónsdóttir Guðbjörg Andrea , Gummer Tobias , Ernst Stähli Michèle , Frederiksen Morten , Ketola Kimmo , Reeskens Tim , Brislinger Evelyn , Christmann Pablo , Gunnarsson Stefán Þór , Hjaltason Árni Bragi , Joye Dominique , Lomazzi Vera , Maineri Angelica M , Milbert Patricia , Ochsner Michael , Pollien Alexandre , Sapin Marlène , Solanes Ivet , Verhoeven Sascha , Wolf Christof
Published: October 2020

The European Values Study (EVS) was first conducted in 1981 and then repeated in 1990, 1999, 2008, and 2017, with the aim of providing researchers with data to investigate whether European individual and social values are changing and to what degree. The EVS is traditionally carried out as a probability-based face-to-face survey that takes around 1 hour to complete. In recent years, large-scale population surveys such as the EVS have been challenged by decreasing response rates and increasing survey costs. In the light of these challenges, six countries that participated in the last wave of the EVS tested the application of self-administered mixed-modes (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland). With the present data brief, we will introduce researchers to the latest wave of the EVS, the implemented mode experiments, and the EVS data releases. In our view, it is pivotal for data use in substantive research to make the reasoning behind design changes and country-specific implementations transparent as well as to highlight new research opportunities.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and atrial fibrillation: an interdisciplinary perspective
Authors: Simons Sami O , Elliott Adrian , Sastry Manuel , Hendriks Jeroen M , Arzt Michael , Rienstra Michiel , Kalman Jonathan M , Heidbuchel Hein , Nattel Stanley , Wesseling Geertjan , Schotten Ulrich , van Gelder Isabelle C , Franssen Frits M E , Sanders Prashanthan , Crijns Harry J G M , Linz Dominik
Published: October 2020

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is highly prevalent among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), shares common risk factors, and adds to the overall morbidity and mortality in this population. Additionally, it may promote AF and impair treatment efficacy. The prevalence of COPD in AF patients is high and is estimated to be ∼25%. Diagnosis and treatment of COPD in AF patients requires a close interdisciplinary collaboration between the electrophysiologist/cardiologist and pulmonologist. Differential diagnosis may be challenging, especially in elderly and smoking patients complaining of unspecific symptoms such as dyspnoea and fatigue. Routine evaluation of lung function and determination of natriuretic peptides and echocardiography may be reasonable to detect COPD and heart failure as contributing causes of dyspnoea. Acute exacerbation of COPD transiently increases AF risk due to hypoxia-mediated mechanisms, inflammation, increased use of beta-2 agonists, and autonomic changes. Observational data suggest that COPD promotes AF progression, increases AF recurrence after cardioversion, and reduces the efficacy of catheter-based antiarrhythmic therapy. However, it remains unclear whether treatment of COPD improves AF outcomes and which metric should be used to determine COPD severity and guide treatment in AF patients. Data from non-randomized studies suggest that COPD is associated with increased AF recurrence after electrical cardioversion and catheter ablation. Future prospective cohort studies in AF patients are needed to confirm the relationship between COPD and AF, the benefits of treatment of either COPD or AF in this population, and to clarify the need and cost-effectiveness of routine COPD screening.
25.I. Skills building seminar: Utilizing document review and content analysis for monitoring public health initiatives
Authors:   Organised by: American Evaluation Association (USA),   Chair persons: Eve Pinsker - USA, Eve Pinsker - Greece
Published: October 2020

Ongoing monitoring and process evaluation of public health initiatives can be challenging, particularly with complex initiatives involving multiple partners and systems and environmental change goals. Limited resources for monitoring and evaluation contribute to these challenges. Many initiatives and programs generate multiple reporting documents, however, such as planning documents, site visit or trip reports, and summative evaluation reports. Often these documents are underutilized, although they contain valuable information that can be mined. If (ideally) thoughtfully designed and then systematically reviewed using quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods (e.g. Neuendorff 2019, White and Marsh 2006), such documents can serve as valuable and cost- and time-efficient sources of data for monitoring and course correction. The presenters have experience both teaching, designing, and utilizing documents and content analysis methods for supporting effective planning, monitoring, and process evaluation. We will briefly present both quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods that can be applied both to documents tailored for such methods and pre-existing documents. The use of simpler tools for managing and analyzing data such as Excel as well as more complex computer assisted data analysis software (CAQDAS) packages will be reviewed. We will give examples utilizing experiences applying these methods to local public health department work as well as global health engagement projects. Following presentation giving an overview of content analysis methods and developing tools for applying them to documents via identified criteria, participants will be dividing into small breakout groups, and supported in brainstorming discussions about how they can use these methods with their own programs and initiatives.

Following this workshop, participants should be able to: 1) discuss the differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches to content analysis of documents, for monitoring purposes; 2) understand the process of identifying criteria or categories tied to the goals and objectives of initiatives or programs, even if goals and objectives change over time, and utilizing these criteria to develop tools for systematic review and content analysis of available documents; and 3) leave with initial ideas about how to apply these tools in their own work and resources for doing so.

Key messages

Program or project generated documents such as plans, site visit and existing reports are underutilized for monitoring and process evaluation but can serve as valuable and accessible data sources. Systematic review including quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods can be used with project documents to support valid and rigorous data extraction for monitoring purposes.
The association between non-diabetic hyperglycaemia and incident vascular disease
Authors: Palladino R , Majeed A , Millett C , Vamos E
Published: October 2020

Background

It is unknown whether the associated risk of vascular disease for individuals with non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (NDH) persists following the Type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis. We assessed whether NDH detection before the T2D diagnosis is associated with different risk of incident vascular disease following the T2D diagnosis.

Methods

Population-based retrospective cohort study including 159,736 individuals with newly diagnosed T2D from the CPRD database in England between 2004 and 2017. Outcomes: incident retinopathy, nephropathy, and composite macrovascular disease. We employed time-partitioned Cox regression models partitioning the 10-year follow-up period into 4 equal time segments to model differences in rates between groups with different glycaemic status in the 3 years before diagnosis of T2D.

Results

Following T2D diagnosis those with prior NDH had 86%, 58%, and 42% increased rates of retinopathy in the 30 months, between 31 and 60 months, and 61 and 90 months, respectively(0-30 months: HR 1.86,95%CI 1.69-2.04;31-60 months: HR 1.58,95%CI 1.37-1.84;61-90 months:HR 1.42,95%CI 1.10-1.83), as compared with those with prior normoglycaemia. They also had 16% and 25% increased rates of nephropathy in the period 0-30 months and 31-60 months, respectively (0-30 months: HR 1.16,95%CI 1.07-1.26;31-60 months: HR 1.25,95%CI 1.09-1.42). Individuals with prior NDH had 19% reduced rate of macrovascular disease in the first 30 months of the study period (HR 0.81,95%CI 0.71-0.93), as compared with individuals with glycaemic values within the normal range.

Conclusions

Individuals detected with NDH had increased rates of microvascular disease up to 7.5 years following the diagnosis of T2D. Timely testing and identification of NDH and specific clustering of NDH with other risk factors for T2D might prompt earlier risk factor assessment and tailored vascular risk reduction strategies during the NDH phase to reduce the burden of vascular disease following the diagnosis of T2D

Key messages

Individuals detected with NDH had increased rates of microvascular disease up to 7.5 years following the diagnosis of T2D, as compared with individuals with prior normoglycaemia. Timely detection of NDH and specific clustering with other risk factors for T2D might prompt earlier and tailored vascular risk reduction strategies to reduce the burden of vascular disease.