bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Examining the relationship of vaping to smoking initiation among US youth and young adults: a reality check
Authors: Levy David T , Warner Kenneth E , Cummings K Michael , Hammond David , Kuo Charlene , Fong Geoffrey T , Thrasher James F , Goniewicz Maciej Lukasz , Borland Ron
Published: November 2018

Background

The 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Report found substantial evidence that electronic cigarette use (vaping) by youth is strongly associated with an increased risk of ever using cigarettes (smoking) and moderately associated with progressing to more established smoking. However, the Report also noted that recent increases in vaping have been associated with declining rates of youth smoking. This paper examines the temporal relationship between vaping and youth smoking using multiple data sets to explore the question of whether vaping promotes smoking initiation in the USA.

Methods

Using publicly available, nationally representative data on smoking and vaping among youth and young adults, we conducted a trend line analysis of deviations from long-term trends in smoking starting from when vaping became more prevalent.

Results

There was a substantial increase in youth vaping prevalence beginning in about 2014. Time trend analyses showed that the decline in past 30-day smoking prevalence accelerated by two to four times after 2014. Indicators of more established smoking rates, including the proportion of daily smokers among past 30-day smokers, also decreased more rapidly as vaping became more prevalent.

Conclusions

The inverse relationship between vaping and smoking was robust across different data sets for both youth and young adults and for current and more established smoking. While trying electronic cigarettes may causally increase smoking among some youth, the aggregate effect at the population level appears to be negligible given the reduction in smoking initiation during the period of vaping’s ascendance.
Tensile monotonic capacity of helical anchors in sand: interaction between helices
Authors: Hao Dongxue , Wang Dong , O’Loughlin Conleth D. , Gaudin Christophe
Published: November 2018

This note examines the interaction between the helices of a multi-helix anchor in terms of the mobilized drained capacity response in tension. Assessments are made on the basis of centrifuge tests in dense silica sand, supplemented with data from existing studies. The centrifuge tests were designed to isolate potential anchor installation effects from those due to the interactions between helices. The data show that additional helices will only contribute to anchor capacity if they are located outside the region of soil mobilized in the failure mechanism of the lower helices. In the dense sand considered in these centrifuge tests, this required helices to be separated by greater than nine diameters, and hence for the lowermost helix to be located at a depth greater than nine diameters. This separation distance is much higher than suggested in previous studies, which tended to attribute the low or nil contribution of additional helices to the soil disturbance generated during anchor installation.
Matter, dark matter, and antimatter in our Universe
Authors: Berezhiani Zurab
Published: November 2018

I discuss the possibility of dark matter conversion into our antimatter, assuming that a part of dark matter is represented by a hypothetical mirror matter. In the Early Universe, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] violating interactions between the particles of ordinary and mirror worlds can co-generate their baryon asymmetries in comparable amounts, [Formula: see text], also predicting the sign of mirror baryon asymmetry. At low energies, the same interactions induce particle mixing phenomena between two sectors. In this way, e.g. mirror neutron [Formula: see text] should oscillate into our antineutron [Formula: see text], with probability that depends on environmental conditions as matter density and magnetic fields. This oscillation can be faster than the neutron decay itself, with [Formula: see text] conversion rate accessible for the experimental search. It can have fascinating phenomenological and astrophysical consequences, and can potentially open an unlimited source of energy by transforming dark mirror matter into antimatter in a controllable way.
Comparison of three-pole AMB and HMB for magnetic suspended molecular pump
Authors: Ju Jintao , Liu Xiaobin , Xu Zegang , Gu Chao , Liu Yilin
Published: November 2018

Molecular pumps have been widely used in the vacuum metallurgy, coating, semiconductor manufacturing and many other fields in which the high vacuum, ultra-clean environment is needed. The application of magnetic bearings can bring many advantages for molecular pump, such as eliminating the friction, decreasing the power loss, lowering the maintenance costs, and increasing the rotating speed and service life. Besides, the magnetic bearings can fundamentally solve the vacuum chamber pollution problem which is caused by the backflow of lubrication oil steam. The three-pole magnetic bearings are the simplest structure of radial magnetic bearings and can be driven by three-phase converter which has the advantages of low costs, small volume and low power loss. In this paper, the performance of the three-pole active magnetic bearing (AMB) and hybrid magnetic bearing (HMB) are compared based on radial force–current characteristics analysis. Firstly, the mathematical model of three-pole AMB and HMB is built by equivalent magnetic circuit model, and the radial force–current characteristics are analyzed. Then, simulation by the three-dimensional (3D) finite element method (FEM) is performed. Finally, the experiment is conducted. The FEM results are consistent with the analytical results, showing that the nonlinearity and coupling of three-pole HMB are lower than three-pole AMB. The reason of causing nonlinearity and coupling is also discussed.
A wireless sensor network location algorithm based on insufficient fingerprint information
Authors: Qin Ningning , Chen Ken
Published: November 2018

To realize sensor network-based positioning, the use of conventional techniques based on fingerprints has considerable cost due to the need of establishing in an offline manner a fingerprint database. Besides, it is also time-consuming when searching the database for calculating the localization solution. To address these drawbacks, we first propose to utilize the inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation method to improve the spatial resolution of the fingerprint database. The genetic algorithm learning machine (GAELM) is introduced to speed up the database lookup while enhancing the positioning accuracy of the fingerprint-based localization. Experiments show that the proposed Extreme Learning Location algorithm based on Insufficient Fingerprint information (ELL-IF) offers improved positioning performance over the BP-neural network (BP-NN)-based and extreme learning machine (ELM)-based methods.
Charges solve the truncated complex moment problem
Authors: Idrissi K. , Zerouali E. H.
Published: November 2018

Let [Formula: see text], with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], be a given complex-valued sequence. The complex moment problem (respectively, the general complex moment problem) associated with [Formula: see text] consists in determining necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a positive Borel measure (respectively, a charge) [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text]

In this paper, we investigate the notion of recursiveness in the two variable case. We obtain several useful results that we use to deduce new necessary and sufficient conditions for the truncated complex moment problem to admit a solution. In particular, we show that the general complex moment problem always has a solution. A concrete construction of the solution and an illustrating example are also given.
Decremental Single-Source Shortest Paths on Undirected Graphs in Near-Linear Total Update Time
Authors: Henzinger Monika , Krinninger Sebastian , Nanongkai Danupon
Published: November 2018

In the decremental single-source shortest paths (SSSP) problem, we want to maintain the distances between a given source node
s
and every other node in an
n
-node
m
-edge graph
G
undergoing edge deletions. While its static counterpart can be solved in near-linear time, this decremental problem is much more challenging even in the
undirected unweighted
case. In this case, the classic
O
(
mn
) total update time of Even and Shiloach [16] has been the fastest known algorithm for three decades. At the cost of a (1+ϵ)-approximation factor, the running time was recently improved to
n

2+
o
(1)

by Bernstein and Roditty [9]. In this article, we bring the running time down to near-linear: We give a (1+ϵ)-approximation algorithm with
m

1+
o
(1)

expected total update time, thus obtaining
near-linear time
. Moreover, we obtain
m

1+
o
(1)

log
W
time for the weighted case, where the edge weights are integers from 1 to
W
. The only prior work on weighted graphs in
o
(
mn
) time is the
mn

0.9 +
o
(1)

-time algorithm by Henzinger et al. [18, 19], which works for directed graphs with quasi-polynomial edge weights. The expected running time bound of our algorithm holds against an oblivious adversary.

In contrast to the previous results, which rely on maintaining a sparse emulator, our algorithm relies on maintaining a so-called
sparse
(
h
,
ϵ
)-
hop set
introduced by Cohen [12] in the PRAM literature. An (
h
, ϵ)-hop set of a graph
G
=(
V
,
E
) is a set
F
of weighted edges such that the distance between any pair of nodes in
G
can be (1+ϵ)-approximated by their
h
-hop distance (given by a path containing at most
h
edges) on
G
′
=(
V
,
E
∪
F
). Our algorithm can maintain an (
n

o
(1)

, ϵ)-hop set of near-linear size in near-linear time under edge deletions. It is the first of its kind to the best of our knowledge. To maintain approximate distances using this hop set, we extend the monotone Even-Shiloach tree of Henzinger et al. [20] and combine it with the bounded-hop SSSP technique of Bernstein [4, 5] and Mądry [27]. These two new tools might be of independent interest.
Knee Articular Cartilage Segmentation from MR Images
Authors: Kumar Dileep , Gandhamal Akash , Talbar Sanjay , Hani Ahmad Fadzil Mohd
Published: November 2018

Articular cartilage (AC) is a flexible and soft yet stiff tissue that can be visualized and interpreted using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the assessment of knee osteoarthritis. Segmentation of AC from MR images is a challenging task that has been investigated widely. The development of computational methods to segment AC is highly dependent on various image parameters, quality, tissue structure, and acquisition protocol involved. This review focuses on the challenges faced during AC segmentation from MR images followed by the discussion on computational methods for semi/fully automated approaches, whilst performances parameters and their significances have also been explored. Furthermore, hybrid approaches used to segment AC are reviewed. This review indicates that despite the challenges in AC segmentation, the semi-automated method utilizing advanced computational methods such as active contour and clustering have shown significant accuracy. Fully automated AC segmentation methods have obtained moderate accuracy and show suitability for extensive clinical studies whilst advanced methods are being investigated that have led to achieving significantly better sensitivity. In conclusion, this review indicates that research in AC segmentation from MR images is moving towards the development of fully automated methods using advanced multi-level, multi-data, and multi-approach techniques to provide assistance in clinical studies.
Indistinguishability Obfuscation from Functional Encryption
Authors: Bitansky Nir , Vaikuntanathan Vinod
Published: November 2018

Indistinguishability obfuscation (IO) is a tremendous notion, powerful enough to give rise to almost any known cryptographic object. Prior candidate IO constructions were based on specific assumptions on algebraic objects called multi-linear graded encodings.

We present a generic construction of indistinguishability obfuscation from public-key functional encryption with succinct encryption circuits and subexponential security. This shows the equivalence of indistinguishability obfuscation and public-key functional encryption, a primitive that has previously seemed to be much weaker, lacking the power and the staggering range of applications of indistinguishability obfuscation.

Our main construction can be based on functional encryption schemes that support a
single functional key
, and where the encryption circuit grows sub-linearly in the circuit-size of the function. We further show that sublinear succinctness in circuit-size for single-key schemes can be traded with sublinear succinctness in the number of keys (also known as the
collusion-size
) for multi-key schemes. We also show that, under the Learning with Errors assumption, our techniques imply that any indistinguishability obfuscator can be converted into one where the size of obfuscated circuits is twice that of the original circuit plus an additive overhead that is polynomial in its depth, input length, and the security parameter.
A Manifesto for Future Generation Cloud Computing
Authors: Buyya Rajkumar , Srirama Satish Narayana , Casale Giuliano , Calheiros Rodrigo , Simmhan Yogesh , Varghese Blesson , Gelenbe Erol , Javadi Bahman , Vaquero Luis Miguel , Netto Marco A. S. , Toosi Adel Nadjaran , Rodriguez Maria Alejandra , Llorente Ignacio M. , Vimercati Sabrina De Capitani Di , Samarati Pierangela , Milojicic Dejan , Varela Carlos , Bahsoon Rami , Assuncao Marcos Dias De , Rana Omer , Zhou Wanlei , Jin Hai , Gentzsch Wolfgang , Zomaya Albert Y. , Shen Haiying
Published: November 2018

The Cloud computing paradigm has revolutionised the computer science horizon during the past decade and has enabled the emergence of computing as the fifth utility. It has captured significant attention of academia, industries, and government bodies. Now, it has emerged as the backbone of modern economy by offering subscription-based services anytime, anywhere following a pay-as-you-go model. This has instigated (1) shorter establishment times for start-ups, (2) creation of scalable global enterprise applications, (3) better cost-to-value associativity for scientific and high-performance computing applications, and (4) different invocation/execution models for pervasive and ubiquitous applications. The recent technological developments and paradigms such as serverless computing, software-defined networking, Internet of Things, and processing at network edge are creating new opportunities for Cloud computing. However, they are also posing several new challenges and creating the need for new approaches and research strategies, as well as the re-evaluation of the models that were developed to address issues such as scalability, elasticity, reliability, security, sustainability, and application models. The proposed manifesto addresses them by identifying the major open challenges in Cloud computing, emerging trends, and impact areas. It then offers research directions for the next decade, thus helping in the realisation of Future Generation Cloud Computing.
Quality-Enhanced OLED Power Savings on Mobile Devices
Authors: Lin Chun-Han , Kang Chih-Kai , Hsiu Pi-Cheng
Published: November 2018

In the future, mobile systems will increasingly feature more advanced organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. The power consumption of these displays is highly dependent on the image content. However, existing OLED power-saving techniques either change the visual experience of users or degrade the visual quality of images in exchange for a reduction in the power consumption. Some techniques attempt to enhance the image quality by employing a compound objective function. In this article, we present a win-win scheme that always enhances the image quality while simultaneously reducing the power consumption. We define metrics to assess the benefits and cost for potential image enhancement and power reduction. We then introduce algorithms that ensure the transformation of images into their quality-enhanced power-saving versions. Next, the win-win scheme is extended to process videos at a justifiable computational cost. All the proposed algorithms are shown to possess the win-win property without assuming accurate OLED power models. Finally, the proposed scheme is realized through a practical camera application and a video camcorder on mobile devices. The results of experiments conducted on a commercial tablet with a popular image database and on a smartphone with real-world videos are very encouraging and provide valuable insights for future research and practices.
Switching Predictive Control Using Reconfigurable State-Based Model
Authors: Amir Maral , Vahid Frank , Givargis Tony
Published: November 2018

Advanced control methodologies have helped the development of modern vehicles that are capable of path planning and path following. For instance, Model Predictive Control (MPC) employs a predictive model to predict the behavior of the physical system for a specific time horizon in the future. An optimization problem is solved to compute optimal control actions while handling model uncertainties and nonlinearities. However, these prediction routines are computationally intensive and the computational overhead grows with the complexity of the model.
Switching MPC
addresses this issue by combining multiple predictive models, each with a different precision granularity. In this artcle, we proposed a novel switching predictive control method based on a model reduction scheme to achieve various model granularities for path following in autonomous vehicles. A state-based model with tunable parameters is proposed to operate as a reconfigurable predictive model of the vehicle. A runtime switching algorithm is presented that selects the best model using machine learning. We employed a metric that formulates the tradeoff between the error and computational savings due to model reduction. Our simulation results show that the use of the predictive model in the switching scheme as opposed to single granularity scheme, yields a 45% decrease in execution time in tradeoff for a small 12% loss in accuracy in prediction of future outputs and no loss of accuracy in tracking the reference trajectory.
Adipose tissue transplantation ameliorates lipodystrophy-associated metabolic disorders in seipin-deficient mice
Authors: Wang Huan , Xu Peng-Fei , Li Jing-Yi , Liu Xue-Jing , Wu Xiao-Yue , Xu Fang , Xie Bei-Chen , Huang Xiao-Min , Zhou Zi-Hao , Kayoumu Abudurexiti , Liu George , Huang Wei
Published: November 2018

Seipin deficiency is responsible for type 2 congenital generalized lipodystrophy with severe loss of adipose tissue and can lead to hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance (IR), and dyslipidemia in humans. Adipose tissue secretes many adipokines that are central to the regulation of metabolism. In this study, we investigated whether transplantation of normal adipose tissue could ameliorate severe hepatic steatosis, IR, and dyslipidemia in lipoatrophic seipin knockout (SKO) mice. Normal adipose tissue from wild-type mice was transplanted into 6-wk-old SKO mice. At 4 mo after adipose tissue transplantation (AT), the transplanted fat survived with detectable blood vessels, and the reduced levels of plasma leptin, a major adipokine, were dramatically increased. Severe hepatic steatosis, IR, and dyslipidemia in SKO mice were ameliorated after AT. In addition, abnormal hepatic lipogenesis and β-oxidation gene expression in SKO mice were improved after AT. Our results suggest that AT may be an effective treatment to improve lipodystrophy-associated metabolic disorders.
Hyperpolarized MRI Visualizes Warburg Effects and Predicts Treatment Response to mTOR Inhibitors in Patient-Derived ccRCC Xenograft Models
Authors: Dong Yiyu , Eskandari Roozbeh , Ray Chelsea , Granlund Kristin L. , Santos-Cunha Lidia Dos , Miloushev Vesselin Z. , Tee Sui Seng , Jeong Sangmoo , Aras Omer , Chen Ying-Bei , Cheng Emily H. , Hsieh James J. , Keshari Kayvan R.
Published: November 2018

The ever-changing tumor microenvironment constantly challenges individual cancer cells to balance supply and demand, presenting tumor vulnerabilities and therapeutic opportunities. Everolimus and temsirolimus are inhibitors of mTOR (mTORi) approved for treating metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). However, treatment outcome varies greatly among patients. Accordingly, administration of mTORi in mRCC is diminishing, which could potentially result in missing timely delivery of effective treatment for select patients. Here, we implemented a clinically applicable, integrated platform encompassing a single dose of [1-13C] pyruvate to visualize the in vivo effect of mTORi on the conversion of pyruvate to lactate using hyperpolarized MRI. A striking difference that predicts treatment benefit was demonstrated using two preclinical models derived from patients with clear cell RCC (ccRCC) who exhibited primary resistance to VEGFRi and quickly succumbed to their diseases within 6 months after the diagnosis of metastasis without receiving mTORi. Our findings suggest that hyperpolarized MRI could be further developed to personalize kidney cancer treatment.

Significance:

These findings demonstrate hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate MRI as a tool for accurately assessing the clinical success of mTOR inhibition in patients with ccRCC.
ВПЛИВ ПЕПТИДІВ НА СТАН ІМУННОЇ СИСТЕМИ ОРГАНІЗМУ ТА ВМІСТ БІЛКОВИХ ФРАКЦІЙ КРОВІ ЩУРІВ, УРАЖЕНИХ СОЛЯМИ ВАЖКИХ МЕТАЛІВ І РАУНДАПОМ
Authors: Korda M. M. , Dumukhalska Ye. B. , Yaroshenko T. Ya.
Published: November 2018

Вступ. Свинець, як і всі важкі метали, – протоплазматична отрута широкого спектра дії, що викликає зміни в нервовій, серцево-судинній системах та крові. Він порушує ферментативні реакції і знижує імунобіологічну резистентність організму. В організмі іони свинцю гальмують гуморальну імунну відповідь, що проявляється низьким продукуванням антитіл та імуноглобулінів класів M, E, A, збільшенням частоти респіраторних захворювань в осіб, уражених сполуками Плюмбуму.

Мета дослідження – вивчити вплив пептиду цистеїл-гістидил-тирозил-гістидил-ізолейцину на стан імунної системи та вміст білкових фракцій у сироватці крові щурів різного віку з хронічним токсикозом, викликаним важкими металами і гліфосатом.

Методи дослідження. Досліди проводили на лабораторних нелінійних білих щурах-самцях трьох вікових груп: статевого дозрівання, статевої зрілості й старих тваринах, яким внутрішньошлунково протягом 30 днів вводили водні розчини Плюмбум ацетату, Купрум сульфату, гліфосату (у формі гербіциду раундапу). З метою корекції на 21 день через 6 год після введення токсикантів протягом 10 днів вводили пептид цистеїл-гістидил-тирозил-гістидил-ізолейцин. Стан імунної системи оцінювали за рівнем імуноглобулінів класів A, M, G та циркулюючих імунних комплексів у сироватці крові щурів.

Результати й обговорення. Встановлено, що в інтактних тварин і щурів при комбінованій дії Плюмбум ацетату, Купрум сульфату і гліфосату (у формі гербіциду раундапу) з віком підвищувалась концентрація циркулюючих імунних комплексів та імуноглобулінів у сироватці крові. Введення пептиду призводило до часткового відновлення співвідношення білкових фракцій у сироватці крові щурів та вмісту імуноглобулінів.

Висновок. Використання пептиду як чинника корекції частково нормалізує стан імунної системи та співвідношення білкових фракцій у сироватці крові щурів із токсикозом, викликаним Плюмбум ацетатом, Купрум сульфатом і раундапом.
БІОХІМІЧНІ МАРКЕРИ МОРФОЛОГІЧНИХ ЗМІН У МІОКАРДІ ЩУРІВ ПРИ ЙОГО АДРЕНАЛІНОВО-КАЛЬЦІЄВОМУ УШКОДЖЕННІ
Authors: Musiienko А. M. , Denefil O. V. , Nebesnaya Z. M. , Kramar S. B.
Published: November 2018

Вступ. Інфаркт міокарда є динамічним процесом, що супроводжується переходом оборотних змін до необоротного ішемічного ушкодження і завершується заміною зменшеної частини міокарда фіброзним рубцем.

Метадослідження – визначити взаємозв’язок між змінами продуктів пероксидного окиснення ліпідів, окисної модифікації білків (ОМБ), нітрит-аніона та морфологічними порушеннями в серці тварин з адреналіново-кальцієвою моделлю його ушкодження і при корекції патологічного процесу кверцетином.

Методи дослідження. Досліди виконано на 195 щурах-самцях лінії Вістар віком 5–6 місяців. Тваринам вводили адреналіну гідротартрат і глюконат кальцію, для корекції – кверцетин. У серці визначали концентрацію дієнових кон’югатів, ТБК-активних продуктів, ОМБ, нітрит-аніона. Гістологічні препарати вивчали при забарвленні гематоксиліном і еозином, за Гейденгайном, а також розглядали їх у поляризованому світлі.

Результати й обговорення. При адреналіново-кальцієвій моделі ушкодження серця найбільше зростання концентрації дієнових кон’югатів і ТБК-активних продуктів спостерігали через 7 та 14 діб, ОМБ – через 24 год, через 3 доби (максимум), через 7 діб. Концентрація нітрит-аніона була високою в проміжку від 24 год до 21 доби (через 3 і 14 діб відмічено максимуми). Кверцетин сприяв зменшенню вмісту продуктів ОМБ через 7, 14 і 28 діб, дієнових кон’югатів – через 7, 14 і 21 доби, ТБК-активних продуктів, нітрит-аніона – в усі терміни дослідження. При морфологічному дослідженні виявлено порушення тинкторіальних властивостей, виникнення некрозів, контрактур. Зміни наростали зі збільшенням терміну дослідження та відповідали за часом відхиленням біохімічних показників. Кверцетин попереджував виникнення ушкоджень.

Висновки. Виявлені морфологічні зміни підтверджували дані біохімічних показників. Морфологічні зміни наростали зі збільшенням терміну дослідження та відповідали відхиленням біохімічних показників. Кверцетин зменшував виникнення ушкоджень серця.
ВИЗНАЧЕННЯ ВІДХАРКУВАЛЬНОЇ АКТИВНОСТІ ТАБЛЕТОК НА ОСНОВІ ЕКСТРАКТІВ ІЗ КВІТОК МАЛЬВИ ЛІСОВОЇ ТА ПОДОРОЖНИКА ЛАНЦЕТОЛИСТОГО
Authors: Beley S. Ya. , Stechyshyn I. P. , Dub A. I.
Published: November 2018

Вступ. Згідно з останніми даними ВООЗ, сьогодні захворювання дихальної системи є провідною причиною смерті та інвалідності у світі. Відповідно до формулярної системи України (2009), лікування гострих бронхолегеневих захворювань інфекційного походження починають з етіотропних засобів, до яких приєднують патогенетичні монопрепарати. До цієї групи належать препарати рослинного походження і препарати резорбтивної дії.

Мета дослідження – вивчити відхаркувальні властивості таблеток, до складу яких входять екстракти з квіток мальви лісової та подорожника ланцетолистого.

Методи дослідження. Для експерименту було використано здорових мишей-самців BALB/c (20–25 г). Через 10 днів адаптації тварин випадковим чином поділили на групи по 6 мишей у кожній. Усім тваринам речовини вводили атравматичним зондом інтрагастрально: мишам 1-ї групи – воду дистильовану; 2-ї – розчин амонію хлориду (1,0 г/кг маси тіла тварини); 3–5 – розчинені екстракти з квіток мальви лісової (0,062 г/кг), подорожника ланцетолистого (0,062 г/кг) та досліджувані таблетки (0,4819 г/кг). Через 30 хв після останнього введення мишам вводили внутрішньочеревно розчин фенолового червоного (5 % у фізіо­логічному розчині, 0,1 мл/10 г маси тіла). Після впливу ультразвуку на ізольовані органи протягом 10 хв додавали 0,1 мл 1 М розчину натрію гідроксиду. Для вимірювання оптичної щільності одержаного розчину при довжині хвилі 546 нм було використано спектрофотометр Lambda 25 (“PerkinElmer”, США).

Результати й обговорення. Введення експериментальним тваринам амонію хлориду, екстрактів із квіток мальви лісової та подорожника ланцетолистого, а також таблеток стимулювало секреторну функцію бронхів. Дана експериментальна модель дала змогу охарактеризувати відхаркувальні властивос­ті досліджуваного препарату та визначити його вплив на секреторну функцію бронхів: за відхаркувальною здатністю досліджуваний засіб на 40,16 % перевищував препарат порівняння (амонію хлорид).

Висновок. Досліджувані таблетки мають високу здатність секретувати мокротиння, проявляють хорошу терапевтичну активність та можуть бути рекомендовані для подальших досліджень як потенційний препарат із відхаркувальними властивостями.
Dissociating Reward- and Attention-driven Biasing of Global Feature-based Selection in Human Visual Cortex
Authors: Garcia-Lazaro Haydee G. , Bartsch Mandy V. , Boehler Carsten N. , Krebs Ruth M. , Donohue Sarah E. , Harris Joseph A. , Schoenfeld Mircea A. , Hopf Jens-Max
Published: November 2018

Objects that promise rewards are prioritized for visual selection. The way this prioritization shapes sensory processing in visual cortex, however, is debated. It has been suggested that rewards motivate stronger attentional focusing, resulting in a modulation of sensory selection in early visual cortex. An open question is whether those reward-driven modulations would be independent of similar modulations indexing the selection of attended features that are not associated with reward. Here, we use magnetoencephalography in human observers to investigate whether the modulations indexing global color-based selection in visual cortex are separable for target- and (monetary) reward-defining colors. To assess the underlying global color-based activity modulation, we compare the event-related magnetic field response elicited by a color probe in the unattended hemifield drawn either in the target color, the reward color, both colors, or a neutral task-irrelevant color. To test whether target and reward relevance trigger separable modulations, we manipulate attention demands on target selection while keeping reward-defining experimental parameters constant. Replicating previous observations, we find that reward and target relevance produce almost indistinguishable gain modulations in ventral extratriate cortex contralateral to the unattended color probe. Importantly, increasing attention demands on target discrimination increases the response to the target-defining color, whereas the response to the rewarded color remains largely unchanged. These observations indicate that, although task relevance and reward influence the very same feature-selective area in extrastriate visual cortex, the associated modulations are largely independent.
Taxonomic revision of the Neotropical diving beetles genus Laccodytes Régimbart, 1895 (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)
Authors: TOLEDO MARIO , SPANGLER PAUL J. , BALKE MICHAEL
Published: November 2018

The Neotropical Laccophilinae genus Laccodytes Régimbart, 1895 is redefined and revised. We recognize ten species, six of which are described as new. We define two species groups: the Laccodytes apalodes-group (L. apalodes Guignot, 1955, L. rondonia sp.n.), and the L. phalacroides-group (L. americanus Peschet, 1919, L. obscuratus sp.n., L. bassignanii sp.n., L. neblinae sp.n., L. olibroides Régimbart, 1895, L. phalacroides Régimbart, 1895, L. takutuanus sp.n., L. androginus sp.n.). Laccophilus pumilio LeConte, 1878, assigned to Laccodytes by Young (1954), belongs to an undescribed genus. Laccodytes species are lotic and most of them inhabit the north-eastern part of South America, apparently with Venezuela and Guyana as centre of diversity. Descriptions, illustrations and SEM photos of habitus, genitals and other diagnostic features are provided for each species, together with habitat notes, when known. We provide a key for species identification.
Two new species of Dentilabus Heinrich (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae: Ichneumoninae) from Japan and Korea, with redefinition of the genus
Authors: KIKUCHI NAMIKI , KONISHI KAZUHIKO
Published: November 2018

We discovered Dentilabus Heinrich (Icneumoninae: Platylabini) for the first time from the Eastern Palearctic region. Two new species, D. nigripodus sp. n. [Japan and Korea] and D. iyoensis sp. n. [Japan] are described. Dentilabus nigripodus resembles its Western Palearctic congener, D. variegatus (Wesmael), but they can be easily distinguished by the uniformly black hind femora in D. nigripodus. With the inclusion of D. iyoensis, we also redefine the generic limits of Dentilabus. A key to Palearctic species of the genus is provided.
Morphological characterization of Badis species (Teleostei: Badidae) from Nepal
Authors: BLAIR WILLIAM K. , VAN DER VOORT STEFAN , EDDS DAVID R.
Published: November 2018

We characterized morphological variation among 172 specimens of Badis sp. (Teleostei: Badidae), collected from across Nepal and previously identified as Badis badis, to investigate whether any represented an undescribed species. Size-corrected principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), and discriminant analysis (DA) revealed four significantly different groups. One group was characterized by shallower body depth and shorter pelvic to anal distance than other groups and lacked a cleithral blotch. It was identified as Badis andrewraoi, previously unknown from Nepal, yet represented in our sample by 19 specimens from small rivers in the southeastern part of the country. Distribution of the remaining groups, all identified as B. badis, did not correspond to a zoogeographic hypothesis relating to major river drainages. Instead, morphological differences among these groups was better explained by allometric shifts. We provide information on the distribution and ecology of B. andrewraoi and B. badis in Nepal.
Larvae of Huxelhydrus syntheticus Sharp, 1882 (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Bidessini)
Authors: MICHAT MARIANO C. , ALARIE YVES , HÁJEK JIŘÍ
Published: November 2018

The three larval instars of Huxelhydrus syntheticus Sharp, 1882, the only species of the New Zealand endemic genus Huxelhydrus Sharp, 1882, are described and illustrated including detailed morphometric and chaetotaxic analyses of the cephalic capsule, head appendages, legs, last abdominal segment and urogomphi. Larvae of this species are characterized by the absence of the primary pore ABc, shared with all other known Bidessini larvae and therefore representing a potential synapomorphy of the tribe. Third instars of Huxelhydrus can be separated from those of all other known Bidessini genera by the following combination of characters: larger size, mandibular pore MNa located in a clearly distal position with respect to pore MNb, and presence of secondary setae on dorsal surface of protarsus, on posteroventral surface of all tarsi, and on urogomphus. First instars, on their part, can be distinguished by the presence of: an occipital suture, the primary pore PAk, a ventroapical spinula on antennomere 3, and an anterotransverse carina on meso- and metathorax.
A retrospective pilot study to examine the potential of aspartate aminotransferase to alanine aminotransferase ratio as a predictor of postoperative acute kidney injury in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Xu Jianjun , Xia Yun , Li Suzhen , Cheng Xiang , Hu Shaobo , Gao Yang , Zhou Xing , Wang Guoliang , Zheng Qichang
Published: November 2018

Background

The aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AST/ALT) is an independent predictor of hepatic disease.

Objectives

To evaluate the association between preoperative AST/ALT and postoperative acute kidney injury in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Methods

A total of 422 hepatitis B- or C- virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma patients, who underwent hepatectomy between September 2012 and April 2018, were enrolled this retrospective study. From all patients, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase parameters were collected, and the AST/ALT ratio was calculated. For diagnostic criteria of postoperative acute kidney injury, the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria guidelines were used.

Results

In 48 patients (11.4%), postoperative acute kidney injury was confirmed. In patients with postoperative acute kidney injury, the mean preoperative serum AST/ALT was significantly higher when compared with patients without postoperative acute kidney injury. After multivariate logistic regression analysis, AST/ALT, haemoglobin, age, hypertension, Child-Turcotte-Pugh classification and the Milan criteria were all confirmed as predictive factors of postsurgical acute kidney injury. We found that an AST/ALT of 1.29 was the best cut-off point for predicting postoperative acute kidney injury. The positive predictive value (23.9%) of the cut-off is actually poor. After matching the propensity score, AST/ALT ≥1.29 was still confirmed as an independent predictor of postoperative acute kidney injury by multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

Preoperative elevated serum AST/ALT may be a potential independent predictor of postoperative acute kidney injury in hepatocellular carcinoma patients who have undergone hepatectomy. This needs to be tested in further prospective studies.
Musical performance and emotions in children: The case of musical competitions
Authors: Rucsanda Mădălina Dana , Cazan Ana-Maria , Truța Camelia
Published: November 2018

Emotion is a condition that facilitates or inhibits music performance. Our research aimed to explore emotions of young musicians performing in music competitions. We tried to highlight the possible differences in terms of emotions between young singers who obtained prizes in musical competitions and those who did not. Another aim of the study was to explore the relationship between pre-competition emotions and music performance, focusing on the mediating role of singing experience. The sample consisted of 146 participants in international music competitions for young musicians. A nonverbal pictorial assessment technique measuring the valence, arousal and dominance dimensions of emotions was administered just before and immediately after each participant’s performance in the competition. Our study revealed that negative emotions were associated with lower performance quality while positive emotions, low arousal and increased dominance were associated with higher performance quality. Experienced young singers reported more positive emotions, low arousal and high dominance. Our results also revealed that experience in music competitions could mediate the associations between emotions and music performance in competition. The implications of the results support the inclusion of psychological/emotional training in music education of young singers.
Automated laser engraving system for the calibration and manufacturing of nonlinear scales for electrical measuring instruments
Authors: Kirillov Alexey G , Sakevich Valeriy N , Trochimczuk Roman
Published: November 2018

Currently, most of the techniques of dial manufacturing for electrical measuring instruments are low-productive and expensive owing to the single-piece dials’ manufacturing. Application of laser engraving system as a way to produce individual dials for the electrical measuring instruments is described in this paper. The automated system is expected to increase productivity, reduce cost, and improve the quality of the final product. A novel structure of hardware–software system was created for single-piece dials’ manufacturing and special novel software system was developed to control the system and to verify scales’ quality. Damped oscillations parameters of instrument pointer were determined. The real-time recognition algorithm of instrument scale was developed. These innovative solutions have been allowed to upgrade the instruments’ accuracy class from 2.5 to 1.5 and to reduce the time of making information marks on the dial by 13.2 times in comparison with traditional techniques. The following technological operations have been excluded: relief printing, manual calibration, and manual scale marks drawing.
Comparison of the curve negotiation properties of two different articulated monorail vehicles
Authors: Jiang Yongzhi , Wu Pingbo , Zeng Jing , Gao Hao
Published: November 2018

This paper introduces two types of articulated monorails. The vehicle model of the traditional monorail is set up first, and a genetic algorithm is used to modify the parameters with the experimental data. Then, the two types of articulated monorail vehicle models are set up with the components and parameters of the model of the traditional monorail. By comparing the dynamic properties of the traditional monorail with the two types of articulated monorails, the advantage of the latter is realized. Finally, it has been concluded that the “non-bolster type” structure will be a better choice for vehicles passing a small radius curve. This analysis can be helpful in selecting the appropriate monorail system for particular conditions.
Investigating Relationships Between Drinking Venues, Drinking Companions, and Corporal Punishment of Children
Authors: Price Wolf Jennifer , Dellor Elinam D.
Published: November 2018

Limited evidence suggests that how much a parent drinks in a particular venue, such as a bar, restaurant, or a friend’s home, is associated with use of corporal punishment. However, these relationships could differ depending on their drinking companions (e.g., spouse or friends). In this study, weighted zero-inflated Poisson models were used to examine whether the relationships between venue-specific drinking frequency, heavier drinking, and corporal punishment are moderated by drinking companions in a mixed-mode sample of parents ( n = 1,599). The relationships between drinking frequency, heavier drinking, and corporal punishment varied by drinking companions, with some combinations being protective and others conferring risk. While most alcohol screening tools focus on individual alcohol use, more nuanced assessment examining where and with whom parents are drinking could be helpful in understanding risk of physical discipline.
Percutaneous Hepatic Perfusion With Filtered Melphalan for Localized Treatment of Metastatic Hepatic Disease: A Risk Assessment
Authors: McEwan Pauline E. , Bailey Lynn , Trost David , Scull Christopher , Keating John H. , Williams Misty , Guttendorf Robert J.
Published: November 2018

Regional therapies for metastatic liver disease have garnered interest in recent years due to technological advances in drug delivery. A percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP) using a newly developed generation 2 (GEN2) filtration system was designed to mitigate systemic toxicity and cardiovascular risk associated with hepatic blood filtration during hepatic artery infusion of the chemotherapy drug melphalan. The GEN2 system was evaluated in healthy swine, and plasma samples were assessed for clinical chemistry, melphalan toxicokinetics (TK), inflammatory cytokines, catecholamines, hematological, and cardiac biomarkers. Cardiovascular safety was assessed by echocardiography, electrocardiogram, and telemetry. Toxicology parameters included clinical signs, body weight, gross pathology, and histopathology. There were no treatment-related deaths associated with the PHP procedure with GEN2 filtration, and all animals survived to scheduled necropsy. Assessment of the pharmacokinetic/TK plasma concentrations of melphalan demonstrated that the GEN2 filter was able to extract melphalan from blood with high efficiency and reduce melphalan exposure in the systemic circulation. The hemodynamic, immunosuppressive, immunotoxic, cardiotoxic, and histopathologic effects of melphalan were limited. The significant hemodynamic challenge imposed by filtration resulted in a compensatory tachycardia with supranormal left ventricular function, although no wall motion abnormalities were detected and left ventricular function remained normal. Catecholamines decreased and then quickly rebounded during washout. Transient and reversible effects of treatment on cardiac enzymes, catecholamines, and cytokines and reversible hemodynamic effects without cardiac damage indicated that PHP with melphalan was not cardiotoxic or immunotoxic under the conditions tested, due to high efficiency of the filtration system limiting exposure of melphalan to the systemic circulation.
Heterosexercising women’s sexual pleasure in Finnish sex manuals
Authors: Haataja Marika , Juvonen Tuula
Published: November 2018

This article examines the ways in which heterosexual women’s sexual pleasure becomes a subject of exercise in Finnish sex manuals published between 2005 and 2015. Our research focuses on the production of the heterosexual mindscape, and how women are encouraged to engage in exercise and adopt a heterosexual state of mind in order to increase their sexual pleasure. Our analysis demonstrates how power constitutes, through sex manuals, paradoxical subject positions for heterosexual women. These manuals take into account both gender and sexual equality for the sake of women’s greater sexual enjoyment, but at the same time they continue to maintain gendered power imbalances and sexism. Throughout the article, we use the term ‘heterosexercise’ as an analytical tool to examine this complexity and to understand the production of heterosexuality as a state of mind.
Porn culture, embodied experiences and knowledge of sexual practices
Authors: Stella Renato
Published: November 2018

Much research has been conducted to date on the online pornography consumption of young people and adults. Very little has been done, however, to investigate its fallout on the sexual knowledge and attitudes (acceptance or rejection) of individuals who are online pornography consumers from early adolescence. In an exploratory study on Online Sexual Activities conducted with a sample of 301 students attending Padua University (between 20 and 25 years old), participants were asked to judge 24 sexual practices based on five options: ‘arousing’, ‘arousing but immoral’, ‘disgusting’, ‘unappealing’ or ‘no idea what it means’. The results showed that online pornography consumption enables individuals to accumulate an encyclopedic personal ‘erudition’, while it also tends to confirm their orientation towards ‘normal’ sexual practices, and to reproduce gender stereotypes, albeit in a setting where more ‘moral’ attention is paid to socially less acceptable online content.
Speaking Stata: On Structure and Shape: The Case of Multiple Responses
Authors: Cox Nicholas J. , Kohler Ulrich
Published: November 2018

A frequent problem in data management is that datasets may not arrive in the best structure for many analyses, so that it may be necessary to restructure the data in some way. The particular case of multiple response data is discussed at length, with special attention to different possible structures; the generation of new variables holding the data in different form; valuable inbuilt string and egen functions; using foreach and forvalues to loop over lists; and the use of the reshape command. Tabulations and graphics for such data are also reviewed briefly.
Cumulative Incidence Estimation in the Presence of Competing Risks
Authors: Coviello Vincenzo , Boggess May
Published: November 2018

When competing risks are present, the appropriate estimate of the failure probabilities is the cumulative incidence. stcompet creates new variables containing the estimate of this function, its standard error, and ln(– ln) transformed confidence bounds. Two examples are presented to illustrate the use of the new command and some key features of the cumulative incidence.
Testing for Cross-Sectional Dependence in Panel-Data Models
Authors: De Hoyos Rafael E. , Sarafidis Vasilis
Published: November 2018

This article describes a new Stata routine, xtcsd, to test for the presence of cross-sectional dependence in panels with many cross-sectional units and few time-series observations. The command executes three different testing procedures—namely, Friedman's ( Journal of the American Statistical Association 32: 675–701) (FR) test statistic, the statistic proposed by Frees ( Journal of Econometrics 69: 393–414), and the cross-sectional dependence (CD) test of Pe-saran ( General diagnostic tests for cross-section dependence in panels [University of Cambridge, Faculty of Economics, Cambridge Working Papers in Economics, Paper No. 0435]). We illustrate the command with an empirical example.
Bayesian Analysis in Stata with WinBUGS
Authors: Thompson John , Palmer Tom , Moreno Santiago
Published: November 2018

WinBUGS is a program for Bayesian model fitting by Gibbs sampling. WinBUGS has limited facilities for data handling, whereas Stata has no routines for Bayesian analysis; therefore, much can be gained by running Stata and Win-BUGS together. We present a set of ado-files that enable data to be processed in Stata and then passed to WinBUGS for model fitting; finally, the results are read back into Stata for further processing.