bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Apnoeic oxygenation with nasal cannula oxygen at different flow rates in anaesthetised patients: a study protocol for a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial
Authors: Theiler Lorenz , Schneeberg Fabian , Riedel Thomas , Kaiser Heiko , Riva Thomas , Greif Robert
Published: July 2019

Introduction

Apnoeic oxygenation using nasal high-flow oxygen delivery systems with heated and humidified oxygen has recently gained popularity in the anaesthesia community. It has been shown to allow a prolonged apnoea time of up to 65 min as CO2increase was far slower compared with previously reported data from CO2increase during apnoea. A ventilatory exchange due to the high nasal oxygen flow was proposed explaining that phenomenon. However, recent studies in children did not show any difference in CO2clearance comparing high-flow with low-flow oxygen. To investigate this ventilatory exchange in adults, we plan this study comparing different oxygen flow rates and the increase of CO2during apnoea. We hypothesise that CO2clearance is non-inferior when applying low oxygen flow rates.

Methods and analysis

In this single-centre, single-blinded, randomised controlled trial, we randomly assign 100 patients planned for elective surgery to either control (oxygen 70 L/min, airway opened by laryngoscopy) or one of three intervention groups: oxygen 70, or 10, or 2 L/min, all with jaw thrust to secure airway patency. After anaesthesia induction and neuromuscular blockage, either one of the interventions or the control will be applied according to randomisation. Throughout the apnoea period, we will measure the increase of transcutaneous pCO2(tcpCO2) until any one of the following criteria is met: time=15 min, SpO2<92%, tcpCO2>10.67 kPa, art. pH <7.1, K+>6.0 mmol/L. Primary outcome is the mean tcpCO2increase in kPa/min.

Ethics and dissemination

After Cantonal Ethic Committee of Bern approval (ID 2018–00293, 22.03.2018), all study participants will provide written informed consent. Patients vulnerable towards hypoxia or hypercarbia are excluded. Study results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences.

Trial registration number

This study was registered onwww.clinicaltrials.gov(NCT03478774,Pre-results) and the Swiss Trial Registry KOFAM (SNCTP000002861).
Could changing invitation and booking processes help women translate their cervical screening intentions into action? A population-based survey of women’s preferences in Great Britain
Authors: Ryan Mairead , Waller Jo , Marlow Laura AV
Published: July 2019

Objectives

Many women who do not attend screening intend to go, but do not get around to booking an appointment. Qualitative work suggests that these ‘intenders’ face more practical barriers to screening than women who are up-to-date (‘maintainers’). This study explored practical barriers to booking a screening appointment and preferences for alternative invitation and booking methods that might overcome these barriers.

Design

A cross-sectional survey was employed.

Setting

Great Britain.

Participants

Women aged 25–64, living in Great Britain who intended to be screened but were overdue (‘intenders’, n=255) and women who were up-to-date with screening (‘maintainers’, n=359).

Results

‘Intenders’ reported slightly more barriers than ‘maintainers’ overall (mean=1.36 vs 1.06, t=3.03, p<0.01) and were more likely to think they might forget to book an appointment (OR=2.87, 95% CI: 2.01 to 4.09). Over half of women said they would book on a website using a smartphone (62%), a computer (58%) or via an app (52%). Older women and women from lower social grades were less likely to say they would use online booking methods (all ps <0.05). Women who reported two or more barriers were more likely to say they would use online booking than women who reported none (ps <0.01).

Conclusions

Women who are overdue for screening face practical barriers to booking appointments. Future interventions may assess the efficacy of changing the architecture of the invitation and booking system. This may help women overcome logistical barriers to participation and increase coverage for cervical screening.
Factors influencing return to work after stroke: the Korean Stroke Cohort for Functioning and Rehabilitation (KOSCO) Study
Authors: Han Junhee , Lee Hae In , Shin Yong-Il , Son Ju Hyun , Kim Soo-Yeon , Kim Deog Young , Sohn Min Kyun , Lee Jongmin , Lee Sam-Gyu , Oh Gyung-Jae , Lee Yang-Soo , Joo Min Cheol , Han Eun Young , Chang Won Hyuk , Kim Yun-Hee
Published: July 2019

Objective

To investigate the rate of return to work and identify key factors associated with return to work between 3 months and 2 years after stroke.

Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting

The Korean Stroke Cohort for Functioning and Rehabilitation (KOSCO) in Korea.

Participants

A total of 193 persons with first-ever stroke who reported working status at 3 months after stroke.

Outcome measures

Data on baseline characteristics were collected from medical records. Functional assessments were performed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, the modified Rankin Scale, the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, the Functional Ambulatory Category, the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination, the Korean version of the Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association National Outcomes Measurement System, the Korean-Modified Barthel Index, the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form and the EuroQol-5 dimensions. An enumeration survey included the Reintegration to Normal Living Index, the Psychosocial Well-being Index-Short Form (, the Family Support Index and the Caregivers Burden Index.

Results

Overall, 145 (75.1%) patients who had a stroke in the "Continuously-Employed" group and 48 (24.9%) in the "Employed-Unemployed" group returned to work between 3 months and 2 years after stroke. Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that in patients who had a stroke, characteristics such as age, PWI-SF Score, and caregiver characteristics, including age, sex (female) and living arrangements, were significantly associated with return to work between 3 months and 2 years after stroke.

Conclusion

Age and PWI-SF Score of patients who had a stroke, as well as the age, sex and living arrangements of caregivers, are key factors influencing the return to work after stroke.

Trial registration number

NCT03402451.
What school-level and area-level factors influenced HPV and MenACWY vaccine coverage in England in 2016/2017? An ecological study
Authors: Tiley Karen , White Joanne , Andrews Nick , Tessier Elise , Ramsay Mary , Edelstein Michael
Published: July 2019

Objective

To describe school-level and area-level factors that influence coverage of the school-delivered human papillomavirus (HPV) and meningococcal A, C, W and Y (MenACWY) programmes among adolescents.

Design

Ecological study.

Setting and participants

Aggregated 2016/2017 data from year 9 pupils were received from 1407 schools for HPV and 1432 schools for MenACWY. The unit of analysis was the school.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Outcome measures were percentage point (pp) difference in vaccine coverage by schools’ religious affiliation, school type, urban/rural, single sex/mixed and region. A subanalysis of mixed-sex, state-funded secondary schools also included deprivation, proportion of population from black and ethnic minorities, and school size.

Results

Muslim and Jewish schools had significantly lower coverage than schools of no religious character for HPV (24.0 (95% CI −38.2 to −9.8) and 20.5 (95% CI −30.7 to −10.4) pp lower, respectively) but not for MenACWY. Independent, special schools and pupil referral units had increasingly lower vaccine coverage compared with state-funded secondary schools for both HPV and MenACWY. For both vaccines, coverage was 2 pp higher in rural schools than in urban schools and lowest in London. Compared with mixed schools, HPV coverage was higher in male-only (3.7 pp, 95% CI 0.2 to 7.2) and female-only (4.8 pp, 95% CI 2 to 7.6) schools. In the subanalysis, schools located in least deprived areas had the highest coverage for both vaccines (3.8 (95% CI 0.9 to 6.8) and 10.4 (95% CI 7.0 to 13.8) pp for HPV and MenACWY, respectively), and the smallest schools had the lowest coverage (−10.4 (95% CI −14.1 to −6.8) and −7.9 (95% CI −12 to −3.8) for HPV and MenACWY, respectively).

Conclusions

Tailored approaches are required to improve HPV vaccine coverage in Muslim and Jewish schools. In addition, better ways of reaching pupils in smaller specialist schools are needed.
Comparison of peripapillary and subfoveal choroidal thickness in normal versus primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) subjects using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT)
Authors: Komma Swetha , Chhablani Jay , Ali Mohammed Hasnat , Garudadri Chandra S , Senthil Sirisha
Published: July 2019

Objective

To elucidate the difference between choroidal thickness (CT) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal subjects and to compare the CT measured using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).

Methods and analysis

This cross-sectional observational study included 25 eyes of 17 POAG subjects (cases) and 31 eyes of 20 normal subjects (controls). All the patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examination, enhanced depth imaging, SD-OCT and SS-OCT. In both controls and cases, the CT was measured in seven predetermined points in macular and peripapillary area and were compared.

Results

Choroid was significantly thicker on SS-OCT compared with SD-OCT in peripapillary and macular area in both cases and controls, except for inferior peripapillary in controls. The CT was not different from glaucoma and controls in peripapillary or macular area on SD-OCT (p>0.05), however, the CT was significantly thicker in glaucoma compared with controls in peripapillary area on SS-OCT (p<0.05) except inferior peripapillary (p=0.13). There was good intraobserver (±20 µm) and interobserver (±55 µm and ±45 µm) agreement on both SD-OCT and SS-OCT respectively.

On SD-OCT, choroid was thinnest at the temporal peripapillary and thickest at subfoveal location in controls. In POAG, choroid was thinnest at inferior peripapillary region and thickest (500 µm) nasal to the fovea. On SS-OCT, choroid was thinnest at inferior peripapillary and thickest at the temporal peripapillary area in both cases and controls.

Conclusion

CT measurements on SS-OCT were higher than the SD-OCT measurements possibly due to better delineation of the sclerochoroidal junction on SS-OCT. CT was significantly thicker in glaucoma subjects compared with controls in peripapillary area on SS-OCT but not in macular area.
Towards Clinical Trials in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy: Classification and Outcome Measures—The Bowman Club Lecture 2019
Authors: Patel Sanjay V
Published: July 2019

The surgical treatment of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) has advanced dramatically over the last two decades. Penetrating keratoplasty has been superseded by various iterations of endothelial keratoplasty, and currently, surgical removal of host Descemet membrane without keratoplasty is being investigated. These surgical advances have been accompanied by significant improvement of our understanding of the underlying disease mechanisms, not least the discovery that FECD in western populations is predominantly an intronic trinucleotide repeat expansion disorder in thetranscription factor 4gene that results in RNA toxicity and mis-splicing. Understanding the disease mechanisms augurs well for developing targeted molecular medical therapies, which will require careful clinical investigation through trials to prove their efficacy and safety. As the field advances towards clinical trials, investigators should carefully define the disease state being treated and consider the options for outcome measures relevant to the type of intervention. FECD, and the outcomes of interventions to treat the disease, can be measured in terms of corneal morphology, corneal function and clinical impact. Standardising the approach for defining FECD and careful thought about the outcomes of intervention that are reported will help make the results of future trials for FECD applicable in clinical practice.
miRNAs and NAFLD: from pathophysiology to therapy
Authors: Gjorgjieva Monika , Sobolewski Cyril , Dolicka Dobrochna , Correia de Sousa Marta , Foti Michelangelo
Published: July 2019

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with a thorough reprogramming of hepatic metabolism. Epigenetic mechanisms, in particular those associated with deregulation of the expressions and activities of microRNAs (miRNAs), play a major role in metabolic disorders associated with NAFLD and their progression towards more severe stages of the disease. In this review, we discuss the recent progress addressing the role of the many facets of complex miRNA regulatory networks in the development and progression of NAFLD. The basic concepts and mechanisms of miRNA-mediated gene regulation as well as the various setbacks encountered in basic and translational research in this field are debated. miRNAs identified so far, whose expressions/activities are deregulated in NAFLD, and which contribute to the outcomes of this pathology are further reviewed. Finally, the potential therapeutic usages in a short to medium term of miRNA-based strategies in NAFLD, in particular to identify non-invasive biomarkers, or to design pharmacological analogues/inhibitors having a broad range of actions on hepatic metabolism, are highlighted.
Physical environment and violence perpetration among male youth in Pittsburgh: a spatial analysis
Authors: Bushover Brady , Miller Elizabeth , Bair-Merritt Megan , Abebe Kaleab , Culyba Alison
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Examine associations between features of the built environment and violence perpetration among male youth.

Methods

We enrolled 866 male adolescents, ages 13–19 years, as part of a violence prevention study in 20 lower-resource neighbourhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Exposure to built environmental features was defined using participants’ neighbourhood study site. Violence perpetration was measured by three survey items: physical fighting, threatening someone with a weapon, and injuring someone with a weapon. Logistic regression models examined associations between each environmental feature and violence perpetration.

Results

Better neighbourhood walkability was associated with significantly lower odds of fighting (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.86, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.99). Alcohol and tobacco outlets were associated with slightly lower odds of violence perpetration (AORs=0.89–0.96).

Conclusions

This work extends previous studies from large urban centres to a mid-sized city context and suggests that walkable neighbourhoods create opportunities for social interactions and may serve as a protective factor in youth violence.
Dataset for the reporting of renal biopsy for tumour: recommendations from the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR)
Authors: Delahunt Brett , Srigley John R , Judge Meagan , Amin Mahul , Billis Athanase , Camparo Philippe , Fleming Stewart , Griffiths David , Lopez-Beltran Antonio , Martignoni Guido , Moch Holger , Nacey John N , Zhou Ming , Evans Andrew John
Published: July 2019

The International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR) has developed a suite of detailed datasets for international implementation. These datasets are based on the reporting protocols developed by the Royal College of Pathologists (UK), The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and the College of American Pathologists, with modifications undertaken by international expert groups appointed according to ICCR protocols. The dataset for the reporting of renal biopsy for tumour is designed to provide a structured reporting template containing minimum data recording key elements suitable for international use. In formulating the dataset, the ICCR panel incorporated recommendations from the 2012 Vancouver Consensus Conference of the International Society of Urological Pathology (ISUP) and the 2016 edition of the WHO Bluebook on tumours of the urinary and male genital systems. Reporting elements were divided intoRequired(Core) andRecommended(Non-core) components of the report.Requiredelements are as follows: specimen laterality, histological tumour type, WHO/ISUP histological tumour grade, sarcomatoid morphology, rhabdoid morphology, necrosis, lymphovascular invasion and coexisting pathology in non-neoplastic kidney.Recommendedreporting elements are as follows: operative procedure, tumour site(s), histological tumour subtype and details of ancillary studies. In particular, it is noted that fluorescence in situ hybridisation studies may assist in diagnosing translocation renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and in distinguishing oncocytoma and eosinophilic chromophobe RCC. It is anticipated that the implementation of this dataset into routine clinical practice will facilitate uniformity of pathology reporting worldwide. This, in turn, should have a positive impact on patient treatment and the quality of demographic information held by cancer registries.
Low-Grade Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasms Confined to the Appendix: Clinical Manifestations and CT Findings
Authors: Yu Xiang-Rong , Mao Jun , Tang Wei , Meng Xiang-ying , Tian Ye , Du Zhong-Li
Published: July 2019

The clinical findings and CT images are investigated in order to fulfill an early preoperative diagnosis and increase awareness of low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm (LAMN) confined to the appendix. 17 cases with histologically proven LAMNs confined to the appendix were included in this study. All patients had received multiphase CT examinations before the surgery. The imaging criteria included shape, size, margin, attenuation, secondary degeneration and internal mass enhancement pattern. In CT images, all cases appeared as oval or tubular cystic masses (average attenuation 20.4±3.6 Hounsfield units), with the longest dimensions ranging from approximately 38 to 106 mm (mean 66.3 mm), and the ratio of length against width was 1.83 in average. The cystic wall was unevenly thickened, with a mean maximal wall thickness of 5.7 mm (>10 mm in 3 cases). The inner capsule wall was rough, and calcification was observed in 3 cases. A few amounts of periappendiceal fat stranding were noted in 2 cases. Mild ring mural enhancement of the cystic wall was seen during the arterial phase, with progressive enhancement during the portal venous phase. In addition, mini enhancing mural nodules was observed in 5 cases. Although preoperative diagnosis of LAMNs confined to the appendix remains challenging, it should be considered when a focal well-defined cystic mass with slightly higher than water attenuation, thickened cystic wall with ring mural enhancement and a characteristic progressive contrast enhancement in CT imaging, especially in older females with non-specific symptoms similar to appendicitis.
Reasons for and time to retraction of genetics articles published between 1970 and 2018
Authors: Dal-Ré Rafael , Ayuso Carmen
Published: July 2019

Introduction

Between 0.02% and 0.04% of articles are retracted. We aim to: (a) describe the reasons for retraction of genetics articles and the time elapsed between the publication of an article and that of the retraction notice because of research misconduct (ie, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism); and (b) compare all these variables between retracted medical genetics (MG) and non-medical genetics (NMG) articles.

Methods

All retracted genetics articles published between 1970 and 2018 were retrieved from the Retraction Watch database. The reasons for retraction were fabrication/falsification, plagiarism, duplication, unreliability, and authorship issues. Articles subject to investigation by company/institution, journal, US Office for Research Integrity or third party were also retrieved.

Results

1582 retracted genetics articles (MG, n=690; NMG, n=892) were identified . Research misconduct and duplication were involved in 33% and 24% of retracted papers, respectively; 37% were subject to investigation. Only 0.8% of articles involved both fabrication/falsification and plagiarism. In this century the incidence of both plagiarism and duplication increased statistically significantly in genetics retracted articles; conversely, fabrication/falsification was significantly reduced. Time to retraction due to scientific misconduct was statistically significantly shorter in the period 2006–2018 compared with 1970–2000. Fabrication/falsification was statistically significantly more common in NMG (28%) than in MG (19%) articles. MG articles were significantly more frequently investigated (45%) than NMG articles (31%). Time to retraction of articles due to fabrication/falsification was significantly shorter for MG (mean 4.7 years) than for NMG (mean 6.4 years) articles; no differences for plagiarism (mean 2.3 years) were found. The USA (mainly NMG articles) and China (mainly MG articles) accounted for the largest number of retracted articles.

Conclusion

Genetics is a discipline with a high article retraction rate (estimated retraction rate 0.15%). Fabrication/falsification and plagiarism were almost mutually exclusive reasons for article retraction. Retracted MG articles were more frequently subject to investigation than NMG articles. Retracted articles due to fabrication/falsification required 2.0–2.8 times longer to retract than when plagiarism was involved.
Meeting the needs of underserved populations: setting the agenda for more inclusive citizen science of medicine
Authors: Fiske Amelia , Prainsack Barbara , Buyx Alena
Published: July 2019

In its expansion to genomic, epidemiological and biomedical research, citizen science has been promoted as contributing to the democratisation of medical research and healthcare. At the same time, it has been criticised for reinforcing patterns of exclusion in health and biomedicine, and sometimes even creating new ones. Although citizen science has the potential to make biomedical research more inclusive, the benefits of current citizen science initiatives are not equally accessible for all people—in particular those who are resource-poor, located outside of traditional networks of healthcare services, or members of minorities and marginalised groups. In view of growing public investments in participatory research endeavours, we argue that it should be considered more explicitly if, and how, citizen science could help make research more inclusive, contribute to the public good, and possibly even lead to better and more equitable healthcare. Reflecting on emerging ethical concerns for scientific conduct and best medical practice, we propose a set of relevant considerations for researchers, practitioners, bioethicists, funders and participants who seek to advance ethical practices of citizen-led health initiatives, and address profound differences in position, privilege and power in research.
Fast-track incorporation of the transradial approach in endovascular neurointervention
Authors: Almallouhi Eyad , Leary Jonathan , Wessell Jeffrey , Al kasab Sami , Pai Suhas , Sattur Mithun G , Lena Jonathan R , Spiotta Alejandro M
Published: July 2019

Background

The transradial approach as a frontline approach is a novel technique in neuroendovascular procedures. In this study we aim to present our early experience with full transition to transradial access as the first-line approach for neuroendovascular procedures.

Methods

We prospectively collected data on the first 100 consecutive patients who underwent a diagnostic or interventional neuroendovascular procedure using the transradial approach at our institution between March 22 and April 30, 2019. Baseline characteristics were collected in addition to the type of procedure, access site, catheters and wires used, complications, and whether there was crossover to transfemoral access.

Results

Transradial access was attempted in 121 cases and 91 cases were completed successfully (72 diagnostic procedures and 19 interventional procedures). Mean (SD) age was 56.8 (14.7) years, 54.9% (50/91) underwent the procedure in the outpatient setting, and 60.4% (55/91) were women. Seven patients had minor immediate complications related to the radial access. Interventional procedures successfully performed included aneurysm embolization (ruptured (n=3) and unruptured (n=8)), tumor embolization (n=2), cervical internal carotid artery stenting (n=2), balloon occlusion test (n=1), vertebral artery sacrifice (n=1), and arteriovenous malformation embolization (n=2).

Conclusion

In this early experience, full transition to the transradial approach as the frontline approach is feasible with a low complication rate for both diagnostic and interventional neuroendovascular procedures.
Heart sounds: a pilot randomised trial to determine the feasibility and acceptability of audio recordings to improve discharge communication for cardiology inpatients protocol
Authors: Schott Stacey L , Dannenberg Michelle D , Dodge Shayne E , Schoonmaker Jesse A , Caisse Molly M , Barr Paul J , O'Malley A. James , Bruce Martha L.
Published: July 2019

Introduction

Ineffective hospital discharge communication can significantly impact patient understanding, safety and treatment adherence. This may be especially true for cardiology inpatients who leave the hospital with complex discharge plans delivered in a time-pressured discharge discussion. The goal of this pilot trial was to determine if providing supplemental audio-recorded discharge instructions is feasible and to explore its impact on cardiology patients' ability to understand and self-manage their care .

Methods and analysis

We will conduct a parallel-group, randomised controlled trial in adult cardiology inpatients with balanced blocking by a physician. Patients (n=50) will be randomised to usual care (verbal discussion and written summary) or intervention (usual care, plus audio-recorded discharge discussion provided to patients on a portable electronic recording device). Enrolled patients will complete study assessments immediately prior to the discharge discussion, immediately postdischarge discussion and 1 week after hospital discharge by telephone. Primary outcomes include the proportion of eligible providers and inpatients who agree to take part in the trial, the proportion of inpatients who receive the audio recording in accordance with a fidelity checklist, and the proportion who use the audio recording. We will analyse preliminary data about the impact of audio recording on patient activation, health confidence, provider communication ability, adherence and 30-day readmissions.

Ethics and dissemination

This trial was approved by The Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) at Dartmouth College (CPHS# 00031211). Findings will be disseminated in scientific journals and at meetings.

Trial registration number

NCT03735342

Protocol version

1.0
Medical treatment of keratomalacia in a cat
Authors: Kokuti Roza
Published: July 2019

A cat presented for deterioration of a superficial corneal ulcer already under treatment. Bacterial keratomalacia with presumed concurrent uveitis was diagnosed. The cat was treated with topical antibiotic, autologous serum and atropine drops, and oral antibiotic and non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatories. There was sufficient improvement within the first 24 hours to elect to continue with medical treatment alone. The cat remained hospitalised for 4 days for intensive treatment until the malacia had resolved and the ulceration could be treated at home. Ulceration resolved within 4 weeks This case highlights how corneal ulcers can deteriorate very quickly. It emphasises how thorough investigation can aid in choosing treatment. Some malacic corneal ulcers respond to medical management alone and surgery is not always necessary. Case presentation, patient temperament, initial response to treatment, and owner compliance and financial considerations all play a role in treatment choice for keratomalacia.
RP5-1120P11.3 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma development via the miR-196b-5p–WIPF2 axis
Authors: Zhai Hongjun , Zhang Xinwu , Chen Shuo , Fan Meng , Ma Shuangyu , Sun Xiaoli
Published: July 2019

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a huge threat to human health even though the diagnosis and treatment strategies have improved rapidly in the past few decades. Increasing evidence has illustrated the critical role noncoding RNA and their regulatory network play in the pathology of HCC. Here, we identified a novel long noncoding RNA, RP5-1120P11.3, that is ectopically expressed in HCC. Further characterization of RP5-1120P11.3 revealed that it promoted proliferation and invasion of HCC cells while inhibiting apoptosis. Importantly, our data revealed that miR-196b-5p interacted with and was regulated by RP5-1120P11.3 via a sponging mechanism. Inhibition of miR-196b-5p attenuated the phenotypes resulting from RP5-1120P11.3 inhibition. Moreover, our data showed that miR-196b-5p inhibited the expression of WIPF2 in HCC, illustrating a regulatory axis of RP5-1120P11.3–miR-196b-5p–WIPF2 that facilitated the progression of HCC. In addition, our data showed that RP5-1120P11.3 contributed to xenograft generation in vivo by regulating miR-196b-5p and WIPF2. These findings suggested that the RP5-1120P11.3–miR-196b-5p–WIPF2 axis is a potential target for treatment of HCC.
An approach for modeling tachyons with gravitation
Authors: Schwartz Charles
Published: July 2019

This work expands previous efforts, within the classical theories of Special and General Relativity, to include tachyons (faster-than-light particles) along with ordinary (slower-than-light) particles at any energy. The objective here is to construct a Hamiltonian that includes both the particles and the gravitational field that they produce. We do this with a linear approximation for the Einstein field equations; and we also assume a time-independent gravitational metric implied by a static picture of the particles’ motion. The resulting formulas will allow serious modeling to test the idea that cosmic background neutrinos may be tachyons, which can produce the observed gravitational effects now ascribed to some mysterious Dark Matter.
Tuning the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn-doped graphene by gas adsorption and effect of external electric field: First-principles study
Authors: Ma Huan , Ma Ling , Ma Liang-Cai
Published: July 2019

The effect of gas molecule (H2CO, NO, NO2, O2 and SO2) adsorption on the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn-doped graphene (MnG) is investigated by first-principles calculations in the framework of density functional theory (DFT). Our study reveals that after H2CO, NO, NO2 and SO2 adsorption, MnG transforms from half-metal to semiconductor, and this transformation indicates that MnG’s conductivity is changed significantly. Meanwhile, O2 adsorption has no influence on MnG’s original electronic property. Therefore, the substrate of MnG is highly sensitive to H2CO, NO, NO2 and SO2. The reconfiguration of electron distribution caused by gas adsorption dramatically alters the spin polarization distribution of the combined system, that is, NO2 and H2CO adsorption leads to local spin polarization, whereas O2, NO and SO2 adsorption result in complete spin polarization. In addition, the external electric field (E-field) is varied from −0.50 V/Å to +0.50 V/Å then applied to the adsorption system. A strong interaction is observed between gas and MnG with a positive E-field as reflected in the enhancement of adsorption energy. The interaction is obviously weakened by introducing the E-field in the negative direction. Hence, the adsorption strength and sensitivity of gas on MnG can be effectively tuned by the E-field. The results can serve as useful references for the design of graphene-based gas sensor.
Long-wavelength gauge symmetry and translations in a magnetic field for Dirac electrons in graphene
Authors: Shizuya K.
Published: July 2019

In two-dimensional (2D) electron systems in a magnetic field, the Coulomb interaction among charge carriers, under Landau quantization, essentially governs a variety of many-body phenomena while there are also phenomena, such as the (integer) quantum Hall effect, that appear unaffected by the interaction. It is pointed out that the response of 2D electrons to spatially-uniform potentials and fields enjoys a long-wavelength gauge symmetry, associated with cyclotron motion of electrons, that leaves the Coulomb interaction invariant and that thus naturally explains why cyclotron resonance (as implied by Kohn’s theorem) and the quantized Hall conductance appear insensitive to the interaction. It is discussed, in the light of this new long-wavelength gauge symmetry, how Dirac electrons in graphene and conventional 2D electrons differ in cyclotron-resonance characteristics and the quantum Hall effect.
Fractional Krill–Lion Algorithm Based Actor Critic Neural Network for Face Recognition in Real Time Surveillance Videos
Authors: Dharrao Deepak S. , Uke Nilesh J.
Published: July 2019

Face recognition from low quality videos is one of the major challenges prevailing in video surveillance system. Several works have been contributed towards the face recognition, but have suffered due to the fact that the low quality videos have face part with low resolution. Also, using traditional feature extraction schemes make the recognition process to be tough. This paper introduces a novel feature descriptor and classification scheme for recognizing the face from low quality videos. Here, the video frames are sequentially provided to the Viola–Jones algorithm for detecting the face part, and the quality of the face part is improved by applying bi-cubic interpolation based super resolution scheme. Now, the features of enhanced video frame are extracted using proposed local direction feature descriptor, namely scattering wavelet-based local directional pattern (SW-LDP). Then, the extracted features are fed as the input to the actor critic neural network, where training is done using the newly developed fractional calculus based krill–lion (fractional KL) algorithm. The proposed fractional KL-ACNN algorithm is experimented using the standard FAMED database. From the analysis, it is evident that the proposed classifier achieved low FAR of 3.89%, and low FRR of 4.04%, and high accuracy value of 95%, respectively.
Reconstruction of subsurface sand remobilization from seismic data
Authors: Laake Andreas W.
Published: July 2019

Sand remobilization often occurs in deltaic depositional environments as a result of sediment load and de-watering during sediment compaction. Three-dimensional seismic data from a shelf and fan delta environment in the Central North Sea are interpreted using a colour processing technique which gives clues for reconstructing the depositional environment and remobilizing the sand. The shape and thickness of the sand remobilization features appear to be influenced by the depositional environment of parent sand. In the shallow part of the fan delta, irregular injectite geobodies are observed. In the proximal fan delta, large round saucer-shaped injectites indicate that the pressure release largely occurred in a crater-like shape. With increasing distance from the shelf break, the thickness of the sediment load and, thus, the pressure increases. Thin and extensive sheet-like injectite structures develop along faults. Some of these appear to reactivate pre-existing flanks of giant pockmarks.
Automatic Diacritics Restoration for Tunisian Dialect
Authors: Masmoudi Abir , Mdhaffar Salima , Sellami Rahma , Belguith Lamia Hadrich
Published: July 2019

Modern Standard Arabic, as well as Arabic dialect languages, are usually written without diacritics. The absence of these marks constitute a real problem in the automatic processing of these data by NLP tools. Indeed, writing Arabic without diacritics introduces several types of ambiguity. First, a word without diacratics could have many possible meanings depending on their diacritization. Second, undiacritized surface forms of an Arabic word might have as many as 200 readings depending on the complexity of its morphology [12]. In fact, the agglutination property of Arabic might produce a problem that can only be resolved using diacritics. Third, without diacritics a word could have many possible parts of speech (POS) instead of one. This is the case with the words that have the same spelling and POS tag but a different lexical sense, or words that have the same spelling but different POS tags and lexical senses [8]. Finally, there is ambiguity at the grammatical level (syntactic ambiguity). In this article, we propose the first work that investigates the automatic diacritization of Tunisian Dialect texts. We first describe our annotation guidelines and procedure. Then, we propose two major models, namely a statistical machine translation (SMT) and a discriminative model as a sequence classification task based on Conditional Random Fields (CRF). In the second approach, we integrate POS features to influence the generation of diacritics. Diacritics restoration was performed at both the word and the character levels. The results showed high scores of automatic diacritization based on the CRF system (Word Error Rate (WER) 21.44% for CRF and WER 34.6% for SMT).
Accurate appearance preserving prefiltering for rendering displacement-mapped surfaces
Authors: Wu Lifan , Zhao Shuang , Yan Ling-Qi , Ramamoorthi Ravi
Published: July 2019

Prefiltering the reflectance of a displacement-mapped surface while preserving its overall appearance is challenging, as smoothing a displacement map causes complex changes of illumination effects such as shadowing-masking and interreflection. In this paper, we introduce a new method that prefilters displacement maps and BRDFs jointly and constructs SVBRDFs at reduced resolutions. These SVBRDFs preserve the appearance of the input models by capturing both shadowing-masking and interreflection effects. To express our appearance-preserving SVBRDFs efficiently, we leverage a new representation that involves spatially varying NDFs and a novel scaling function that accurately captures micro-scale changes of shadowing, masking, and interreflection effects. Further, we show that the 6D scaling function can be factorized into a 2D function of surface location and a 4D function of direction. By exploiting the smoothness of these functions, we develop a simple and efficient factorization method that does not require computing the full scaling function. The resulting functions can be represented at low resolutions (e.g., 4
2
for the spatial function and 15
4
for the angular function), leading to minimal additional storage. Our method generalizes well to different types of geometries beyond Gaussian surfaces. Models prefiltered using our approach at different scales can be combined to form mipmaps, allowing accurate and anti-aliased level-of-detail (LoD) rendering.
Multi-robot collaborative dense scene reconstruction
Authors: Dong Siyan , Xu Kai , Zhou Qiang , Tagliasacchi Andrea , Xin Shiqing , Nießner Matthias , Chen Baoquan
Published: July 2019

We present an autonomous scanning approach which allows multiple robots to perform collaborative scanning for dense 3D reconstruction of unknown indoor scenes. Our method plans scanning paths for several robots, allowing them to efficiently coordinate with each other such that the collective scanning coverage and reconstruction quality is maximized while the overall scanning effort is minimized. To this end, we define the problem as a dynamic task assignment and introduce a novel formulation based on Optimal Mass Transport (OMT). Given the currently scanned scene, a set of task views are extracted to cover scene regions which are either unknown or uncertain. These task views are assigned to the robots based on the OMT optimization. We then compute for each robot a smooth path over its assigned tasks by solving an approximate traveling salesman problem. In order to showcase our algorithm, we implement a multi-robot auto-scanning system. Since our method is computationally efficient, we can easily run it in real time on commodity hardware, and combine it with online RGB-D reconstruction approaches. In our results, we show several real-world examples of large indoor environments; in addition, we build a benchmark with a series of carefully designed metrics for quantitatively evaluating multi-robot autoscanning. Overall, we are able to demonstrate high-quality scanning results with respect to reconstruction quality and scanning efficiency, which significantly outperforms existing multi-robot exploration systems.
LayerCode
Authors: Maia Henrique Teles , Li Dingzeyu , Yang Yuan , Zheng Changxi
Published: July 2019

With the advance of personal and customized fabrication techniques, the capability to embed information in physical objects becomes evermore crucial. We present
LayerCode
, a tagging scheme that embeds a carefully designed barcode pattern in 3D printed objects as a deliberate byproduct of the 3D printing process. The LayerCode concept is inspired by the structural resemblance between the parallel black and white bars of the standard barcode and the universal layer-by-layer approach of 3D printing. We introduce an encoding algorithm that enables the 3D printing layers to carry information without altering the object geometry. We also introduce a decoding algorithm that reads the LayerCode tag of a physical object by just taking a photo. The physical deployment of LayerCode tags is realized on various types of 3D printers, including Fused Deposition Modeling printers as well as Stereolithography based printers. Each offers its own advantages and tradeoffs. We show that LayerCode tags can work on complex, nontrivial shapes, on which all previous tagging mechanisms may fail. To evaluate LayerCode thoroughly, we further stress test it with a large dataset of complex shapes using virtual rendering. Among 4,835 tested shapes, we successfully encode and decode on more than 99% of the shapes.
Silly rubber
Authors: Fang Yu , Li Minchen , Gao Ming , Jiang Chenfanfu
Published: July 2019

Simulating viscoelastic polymers and polymeric fluids requires a robust and accurate capture of elasticity and viscosity. The computation is known to become very challenging under large deformations and high viscosity. Drawing inspirations from return mapping based elastoplasticity treatment for granular materials, we present a finite strain integration scheme for general viscoelastic solids under arbitrarily large deformation and non-equilibrated flow. Our scheme is based on a predictor-corrector exponential mapping scheme on the principal strains from the deformation gradient, which closely resembles the conventional treatment for elastoplasticity and allows straightforward implementation into any existing constitutive models. We develop a new Material Point Method that is fully implicit on both elasticity and inelasticity using augmented Lagrangian optimization with various preconditioning strategies for highly efficient time integration. Our method not only handles viscoelasticity but also supports existing elastoplastic models including Drucker-Prager and von-Mises in a unified manner. We demonstrate the efficacy of our framework on various examples showing intricate and characteristic inelastic dynamics with competitive performance.
Creating impactful characters
Authors: Kuo Calvin , Liang Ziheng , Fan Ye , Blouin Jean-Sébastien , Pai Dinesh K.
Published: July 2019

Human motion capture using video-based or sensor-based methods gives animators the capability to directly translate complex human motions to create lifelike character animations. Advances in motion capture algorithms have improved their accuracy for estimating human generalized motion coordinates (joint angles and body positions). However, the traditional motion capture pipeline is not well suited to measure short duration, high acceleration impacts, such as running and jumping footstrikes. While high acceleration impacts have minimal influence on generalized coordinates, they play a big role in exciting soft tissue dynamics.

Here we present a method for correcting motion capture trajectories using a sparse set of inertial measurement units (IMUs) collecting at high sampling rates to produce more accurate impact accelerations without sacrificing accuracy of the generalized coordinates representing gross motions. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method by correcting human motion captured experimentally using commercial motion capture systems with high rate IMUs sampling at 400Hz during basketball jump shots and running. With our method, we automatically corrected 185 jumping impacts and 1266 running impacts from 5 subjects. Post correction, we found an average increase of 84.6% and 91.1% in pelvis vertical acceleration and ankle dorsiflexion velocity respectively for basketball jump shots, and an average increase of 110% and 237% in pelvis vertical acceleration and ankle plantarflexion velocity respectively for running. In both activities, pelvis vertical position and ankle angle had small corrections on average below 2.0cm and 0.20rad respectively. Finally, when driving a human rig with soft tissue dynamics using corrected motions, we found a 143.4% and 11.2% increase in soft tissue oscillation amplitudes in basketball jump shots and running respectively. Our methodology can be generalized to correct impact accelerations for other body segments, and provide new tools to create realistic soft tissue animations during dynamic activities for more lifelike characters and better motion reconstruction for biomechanical analyses.
Surface2Volume
Authors: Araújo Chrystiano , Cabiddu Daniela , Attene Marco , Livesu Marco , Vining Nicholas , Sheffer Alla
Published: July 2019

Users frequently seek to fabricate objects whose outer surfaces consist of regions with different surface attributes, such as color or material. Manufacturing such objects in a single piece is often challenging or even impossible. The alternative is to partition them into single-attribute volumetric parts that can be fabricated separately and then assembled to form the target object. Facilitating this approach requires partitioning the input model into parts that
conform
to the surface segmentation and that can be moved apart with no collisions. We propose
Surface2Volume
, a partition algorithm capable of producing such
assemblable
parts, each of which is affiliated with a single attribute, the outer surface of whose assembly conforms to the input surface geometry and segmentation. In computing the partition we strictly enforce conformity with surface segmentation and assemblability, and optimize for ease of fabrication by minimizing part count, promoting part simplicity, and simplifying assembly sequencing. We note that computing the desired partition requires solving for three types of variables: per-part assembly trajectories, partition topology, i.e. the connectivity of the interface surfaces separating the different parts, and the geometry, or location, of these interfaces. We efficiently produce the desired partitions by addressing one type of variables at a time: first computing the assembly trajectories, then determining interface topology, and finally computing interface locations that allow parts assemblability. We algorithmically identify inputs that necessitate sequential assembly, and partition these inputs gradually by computing and disassembling a subset of assemblable parts at a time. We demonstrate our method's robustness and versatility by employing it to partition a range of models with complex surface segmentations into assemblable parts. We further validate our framework via output fabrication and comparisons to alternative partition techniques.