bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Level of Heat Shock Protein 70 is Lower in Postterm Pregnancy
Authors: Soetrisno Soetrisno
Published: May 2019

Objective: To analyze whether there are differences between the levels of HSP70 of Postterm pregnancy and aterm pregnancy in Dr. Moewardi Hospital, Surakarta, Central Java.

Method: This was a cross-sectional study. The independent variable was the level of Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70), and the dependent variable was the incidence of postterm pregnancy. The data was then analyzed by t test.

Result: The subjects were 45 women, who were divided into 2 groups of women with postterm pregnancies (15 women) and aterm pregnancies (30 women). The mean levels of HSP70 in the serum of women with postterm pregnancy is lower (0.40 ng/ml) compared to the level of the normal pregnant group (3.94 ng/ml) and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The mean level of HSP70 in postterm pregnancy is lower than in normal full-term pregnancy. 

Keywords: Heat Shock Protein 70, Maternal Stress, postterm pregnancy
Risk of Malignancy Index is not accurate as a Triage Tool for Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Tanamas Gregorius , Iskandar Jasmine , Utami Tofan W , Anggraeni Tricia D , Nuryanto Kartiwa H
Published: May 2019

Objective: To evaluate Risk of Malignancy Index (RMI) as a triage tool for ovarian cancer in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

Method: This is a retrospective study conducted from January 2008-December 2012 in patients diagnosed with ovarian mass. Patients admitted for surgery due to ovarian masses were included to this study. RMI 3 score was calculated based on ultrasonography examination in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, CA-125 test and menopausal status. Patients without final pathological report and incomplete data were excluded from study. Data were analysed using SPSS 20 to evaluate RMI result and final pathlogical report in benign and malignant case.

Result: From 882 patients identified with ovarian masses from cancer registry, only 99 patients aged 17-70 y.o were included in this study. Most of the patients were nully-parity (28.3%), non-menopausal women (60.6%), normal body mass index (40.4%), and with stage IIIC ovarian cancer (33.3%). Ultrasonography examination showed that most of patients had solid mass and ascites (19.2%). Meanwhile, CA-125 showed that patients with <35 U/ml were 10.1% and ≥ 35 U/ml were 89.9%. Patients with RMI scores <200 (benign cases) were 19 cases (19.2%) and ≥ 200 (malignant cases) were 80 cases (80.8%). Meanwhile, patients with benign final pathological report were 23 cases (23.2%) and malignant cases were 76 cases (76.8%). There was no statistical difference in RMI between benign and malignant cases based on final pathological report.

Conclusion: Our study showed that RMI was not accurate as triage tool for ovarian cancer in our hospital. Further investigation and more patients are needed to confirm this study.

Keywords: CA-125, menopausal status, ovarian cancer, risk of malignancy index (RMI), ultrasonography.
Prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Postmenopausal Women
Authors: Fernando Darrell , Santoso Budi I
Published: May 2019

Objective: To determine the most effective and applicable methods to reduce recurrence of urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women.

Method: A search was conducted on Pubmed, NEJM, BMJ, and Google. After screening and selection, six articles were considered useful; comprising of two original research articles, one systematic review, and three society guidelines.

Result: Society guidelines recommended continuous antimicrobial prophylaxis, with postcoital antimicrobial prophylaxis as an alternative. The first research article found similar results in continous antimicrobial prophylaxis group and intermittent antimicrobial prophylaxis group. The second research article found no significant difference in cranberry and trimethoprim group. The systematic review revealed vaginal estrogens are effective in preventing recurrent UTI, but the type of estrogen is less clear. Oral estrogens are not effective.

Conclusion: Prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women include risk factor identification, non-antimicrobial prophylaxis with cranberry and vaginal estrogen preparations, and antimicrobial prophylaxis (continuous or intermittent).

Keywords: postmenopausal, prevention, recurrent urinary tract infection.
Heat Pump Heating System Development of Educational Building based on Energy, Economical and Environmental Impacts
Authors: Kassai Miklós
Published: May 2019

In this research the technical designing of energy efficient heating system with vertical-borehole heat pumps for institutional buildings was performed. The local government would like to change the old gas boiler-based heat producing system to up-to-date, environmental friendly equipment with the financial support of the European Union. The payback time was calculated and environmental calculations were achieved with carbon dioxide saving by various conditions that were also achieved during the research project. The results show that the heat pump system also provides a significant reduction of environmental load, in addition to significant energy savings. The amount of calculated savings justifies the environmental friendliness of heat pump systems.
ANALISIS PENERIMAAN SISTEM E-PERSONAL DI BBVET MAROS DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN TECHOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL (TAM)
Authors: SUPARYATI SUPARYATI
Published: May 2019

This study analyzes the acceptance of the E-Personal System at the Maros Center for Veterinary Medicine using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) method. In TAM, it is mentioned that two beliefs, namely perceptions of usability (POU) and perceptions of ease of use (PEU) determine interest in behavior to use the Information System. Beliefs about the use of systems that will improve performance are called perceptions of usability (POU), while beliefs about system ease in their use are called perceptions of ease of use (PEU). Analysis of E-Personal acceptance in this study is the context of acceptance by the user. What the user in this study meant was an employee at the Maros Veterinary Center who had the obligation to run E-Personal. The analysis is focused on the user's perception of the E-Personal that they must run. The perceptions of the users analyzed were user perceptions about the ease of use of E-Personal and the user's perception of the benefits of E-Personal. The study was conducted at the E-Personal of the Maros Veterinary Center. The respondents of this study were 48 respondents from various levels of rank and class. The results showed that Perceived Usefulness affected the use of E-Personal, while the Perceived Ease of Use did not affect.
UJI VALIDITAS INTERNATIONAL STANDARD OF SERIAL NUMBER (ISSN) ONLINE OR E-ISSN MENGGUNAKAN ARITMATIKA MODULO
Authors: Hertina Desi Rose , Widiyanto Max Teja Ajie Cipta
Published: May 2019

According to the history of coding (or encryption) data and information were carried out during the time of Julius Caesar, who used simple cryptographic techniques to protect his messages from the eyes of the enemy. In this paper a study will be conducted on the issuance of ISSN (International Standard of Serial Number) 10 sample journals The Scientific Information and Documentation Center (PDII) LIPI has the duty and authority to monitor all periodical publications published in Indonesia. As part of these responsibilities, PDII publishes an International Standard of Serial Number (ISSN), which is a unique identifier of each periodic publication that applies globally. The ISSN is granted by the ISDS (International Serial Data System) which is based in Paris, France. The ISSN was adopted as the implementation of ISO-3297 in 1975 by Subcommittee no. 9 of the Technical Committee no. 46 of ISO (TC 46 / SC 9). ISDS delegates the provision of ISSN both regionally and nationally. The Asian region is centered on the Thai National Library, Bangkok, Thailand. PDII LIPI is the only ISSN National Center for Indonesia. To do the validity test the E-ISSN code uses the Modulo algorithm.
Patrimonio y cultura como recursos para el desarrollo urbano. Málaga como laboratorio
Authors: López Bravo Celia , Navas Carrillo Daniel
Published: May 2019

Málaga es una de las ciudades andaluzas cuyo análisis puede resultar de mayor interés para el debate planteado. No solo es, junto a La Coruña y Murcia, una de las tres únicas ciudades españolas que cuenta con Agenda Urbana, sino que la cultura entendida como producto turístico constituye desde hace más de veinte años uno de los protagonistas fundamentales del desarrollo urbano y económico de la ciudad.
The Effect of Reading Interests, Communication Skill, and Adversity Quotient towards Senior High school Students’ Problem Solving Ability
Authors: Apriyanto Apriyanto , Karlina Elin , Iswadi Iswadi
Published: May 2019

The purposes of the research are to examine:  1) the effect of reading interests on senior high school students’ problem solving ability in Bekasi, Indonesia; 2) the effect of communication Skill towards senior high school students’ problem solving ability in Bekasi, Indonesia; 3) the effect of adversity quotient towards senior high school students’ problem solving ability in Bekasi, Indonesia;4) the effect of reading interests, communication skill, and adversity quotient towards senior high school students’ problem solving ability in Bekasi, Indonesia. The method used is quantitative. Afterward, the population of the research is thetenth grades of senior high school students inBekasi. The number of populations itself are488 students. Then, the sample is taken by random sampling using Slovin with 10% of error margin, thus the number obtained are 83 students. The data analyses used is correlation analyses, and multiple linear regression analyses. In determining the hypothesis, T and F test are used with 5 % alpha.  Hence, the results shows that there is no significant effectof reading interests towards senior high school students’ problem solving ability in Bekasi, meanwhile there is significant effect of communication skill and adversity quotient towards senior high school students’ problem solving ability in Bekasi.
Live-in migrant care worker arrangements in Germany and the Netherlands: motivations and justifications in family decision-making
Authors: Horn Vincent , Schweppe Cornelia , Böcker Anita , Bruquetas-Callejo María
Published: May 2019

Private households in ageing societies increasingly employ live-in migrant carers (LIMCs) to care for relatives in need of 24/7 care and supervision. Whilst LIMC arrangements are a common practice in Germany, they are only recently emerging in the Netherlands. Taking this development as a starting point, this study uses the countries’ different long-term care (LTC) regimes as the analytical framework to explore and compare the motivations and justifications of German and Dutch family carers who opt for an LIMC arrangment. Findings show that Dutch and German LTC regimes impact differently the decision-making processes of families, as well as on patterns of justification, through a combination of policies and social norms and their related expectations towards care and care work in old age.
Retained radicular/ residual cyst- A case report
Authors: Muthunagai R. , Agarwal Mudit , Sankary R.Siva
Published: May 2019

Inflammatory odontogenic cysts are benign osteolytic asymptomatic lesions, but that, depending on the size, they can destroy the surrounding bone and let it infected. The term residual cyst is used most often for retained radicular cyst from teeth that has been removed. Residual cysts are among most common cysts of the jaws. This article aims to report characteristics and main aspects and highlighting the importance of the differential diagnosis for the treatment of these lesions. It can be concluded that early detection and accurate diagnosis are essential for the proper treatment of the residual cysts.

Key Words- Residual cyst, radicular cyst, enucleation
Mechanical Simplification of Variable-Stiffness Actuators Using Dielectric Elastomer Transducers
Authors: Allen David P. , Bolívar Edgar , Farmer Sophie , Voit Walter , Gregg Robert D.
Published: May 2019

Legged and gait-assistance robots can walk more efficiently if their actuators are compliant. The adjustable compliance of variable-stiffness actuators (VSAs) can enhance this benefit. However, this functionality requires additional mechanical components making VSAs impractical for some uses due to increased weight, volume, and cost. VSAs would be more practical if they could modulate the stiffness of their springs without additional components, which usually include moving parts and an additional motor. Therefore, we designed a VSA that uses dielectric elastomer transducers (DETs) for springs. It does not need mechanical stiffness-adjusting components because DETs soften due to electrostatic forces. This paper presents details and performance of our design. Our DET VSA demonstrated independent modulation of its equilibrium position and stiffness. Our design approach could make it practical to obtain the benefits of variable-stiffness actuation with less weight, volume, and cost than normally accompanies them, once weaknesses of DET technology are addressed.
Gaussian Mixture Reduction for Time-Constrained Approximate Inference in Hybrid Bayesian Networks
Authors: Park Cheol Young , Laskey Kathryn Blackmond , Costa Paulo C. G. , Matsumoto Shou
Published: May 2019

Hybrid Bayesian Networks (HBNs), which contain both discrete and continuous variables, arise naturally in many application areas (e.g., image understanding, data fusion, medical diagnosis, fraud detection). This paper concerns inference in an important subclass of HBNs, the conditional Gaussian (CG) networks, in which all continuous random variables have Gaussian distributions and all children of continuous random variables must be continuous. Inference in CG networks can be NP-hard even for special-case structures, such as poly-trees, where inference in discrete Bayesian networks can be performed in polynomial time. Therefore, approximate inference is required. In approximate inference, it is often necessary to trade off accuracy against solution time. This paper presents an extension to the Hybrid Message Passing inference algorithm for general CG networks and an algorithm for optimizing its accuracy given a bound on computation time. The extended algorithm uses Gaussian mixture reduction to prevent an exponential increase in the number of Gaussian mixture components. The trade-off algorithm performs pre-processing to find optimal run-time settings for the extended algorithm. Experimental results for four CG networks compare performance of the extended algorithm with existing algorithms and show the optimal settings for these CG networks.
Identity Management and Access Control Based on Blockchain under Edge Computing for the Industrial Internet of Things
Authors: Ren Yongjun , Zhu Fujian , Qi Jian , Wang Jin , Sangaiah Arun Kumar
Published: May 2019

Edge computing provides a unified platform for computing, networking, and storage resources, enabling data to be processed in a timely and efficient manner near the source. Thus, it has become the basic platform for industrial Internet of things (IIoT). However, computing′s unique features have also introduced new security problems. To solve the problem, in this paper, blockchain-based identity management combining access control mechanism is designed under edge computing. The self-certified cryptography is utilized to realize the registration and authentication of network entities. We bind the generated implicit certificate to its identity and construct the identity and certificate management mechanism based on blockchain. Secondly, an access control mechanism based on Bloom filter is designed and integrated with identity management. Moreover, for secure communication in resource-constrained edge devices, a lightweight secret key agreement protocol based on self-authenticated public key is constructed. These mechanisms work together to provide data security guarantees for IIoT such as authentication, auditability, and confidentiality.
Spatiotemporal Modeling of the Smart City Residents’ Activity with Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Olszewski Robert , Pałka Piotr , Turek Agnieszka , Kietlińska Bogna , Płatkowski Tadeusz , Borkowski Marek
Published: May 2019

The article proposes the concept of modeling that uses multi-agent systems of mutual interactions between city residents as well as interactions between residents and spatial objects. Adopting this perspective means treating residents, as well as buildings or other spatial objects, as distinct agents that exchange multifaceted packages of information in a dynamic and non-linear way. The exchanged information may be reinforced or diminished during the process, which may result in changing the social activity of the residents. Utilizing Latour’s actor–network theory, the authors developed a model for studying the relationship between demographic and social factors, and the diversified spatial arrangement and the structure of a city. This concept was used to model the level of residents’ trust spatiotemporally and, indirectly, to study the level of social (geo)participation in a smart city. The devised system, whose test implementation as an agent-based system was done in the GAMA: agent-based, spatially explicit, modeling and simulation platform, was tested on both model and real data. The results obtained for the model city and the capital of Poland, Warsaw, indicate the significant and interdisciplinary analytical and scientific potential of the authorial methodology in the domain of geospatial science, geospatial data models with multi-agent systems, spatial planning, and applied social sciences.
Predicting the Loose Zone of Roadway Surrounding Rock Using Wavelet Relevance Vector Machine
Authors: Liu Yang , Ye Yicheng , Wang Qihu , Liu Xiaoyun , Wang Weiqi
Published: May 2019

By applying the Wavelet Relevance Vector Machine (WRVM) method, this research proposes the loose zone of roadway surrounding rock prediction. Based on the theory of relevance vector machine (RVM), the wavelet function is introduced to replace the original Gauss function as the model kernel function to form the WRVM. Five factors affecting the loose zone of roadway surrounding rock are selected as the model input, and the prediction model of the loose zone of roadway surrounding rock based on WRVM is established. By using cross-validation method, the kernel parameters of three kinds of wavelet relevance vector machines (RVMs) are calculated. By comparing and analyzing the root mean square (RMS) error of the test results of each predictive model, the advantages and accuracy of the model are verified. In practical engineering applications, the average relative prediction errors of the Mexican relevance vector machine, the Morlet relevance vector machine and the difference of Gaussian (DOG) relevance vector machine models are accordingly 4.581%, 4.586% and 4.575%. The square correlation coefficient of the predicted samples is 0.95 > 0.9, which further verifies the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method.
Real-Time Control Strategy for CVT-Based Hybrid Electric Vehicles Considering Drivability Constraints
Authors: Li Hangyang , Zhou Yunshan , Xiong Huanjian , Fu Bing , Huang Zhiliang
Published: May 2019

The energy management strategy has a great influence on the fuel economy of hybrid electric vehicles, and the equivalent consumption minimization strategy (ECMS) has proved to be a useful tool for the real-time optimal control of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). However, the adaptation of the equivalent factor poses a major challenge in order to obtain optimal fuel consumption as well as robustness to varying driving cycles. In this paper, an adaptive-ECMS based on driving pattern recognition (DPR) is established for hybrid electric vehicles with continuously variable transmission. The learning vector quantization (LVQ) neural network model was adopted for the on-line DPR algorithm. The influence of the battery state of charge (SOC) on the optimal equivalent factor was studied under different driving patterns. On this basis, a method of adaptation of the equivalent factor was proposed by considering the type of driving pattern and the battery SOC. Besides that, in order to enhance drivability, penalty terms were introduced to constrain frequent engine on/off events and large variations of the continuously variable transmission (CVT) speed ratio. Simulation results showed that the proposed method efficiently improved the equivalent fuel consumption with charge-sustaining operations and also took into account driving comfort.
MISFP-Growth: Hadoop-Based Frequent Pattern Mining with Multiple Item Support
Authors: Wang Chen-Shu , Chang Jui-Yen
Published: May 2019

In practice, single item support cannot comprehensively address the complexity of items in large datasets. In this study, we propose a big data analytics framework (named Multiple Item Support Frequent Patterns, MISFP-growth algorithm) that uses Hadoop-based parallel computing to achieve high-efficiency mining of itemsets with multiple item supports (MIS). The proposed architecture consists of two phases. First, in the counting support phase, a Hadoop MapReduce architecture is employed to determine the support for each item. Next, in the analytics phase, sub-transaction blocks are generated according to MIS and the MISFP-growth algorithm identifies the frequency of patterns. To facilitate decision makers in setting MIS, we also propose the concept of classification of item (COI), which classifies items of higher homogeneity into the same class, by which the items inherit class support as their item support. Three experiments were implemented to validate the proposed Hadoop-based MISFP-growth algorithm. The experimental results show approximately 38% reduction in the execution time on parallel architectures. The proposed MISFP-growth algorithm can be implemented on the distributed computing framework. Furthermore, according to the experimental results, the enhanced performance of the proposed algorithm indicates that it could have big data analytics applications.
Oscillation of Fourth-Order Functional Differential Equations with Distributed Delay
Authors: Cesarano Clemente , Bazighifan Omar
Published: May 2019

In this paper, the authors obtain some new sufficient conditions for the oscillation of all solutions of the fourth order delay differential equations. Some new oscillatory criteria are obtained by using the generalized Riccati transformations and comparison technique with first order delay differential equation. Our results extend and improve many well-known results for oscillation of solutions to a class of fourth-order delay differential equations. The effectiveness of the obtained criteria is illustrated via examples.
The Influence of Trait Emotional Intelligence on Archers’ Autonomic Cardiac Recovery Responses Immediately After a Shooting Session
Authors: Dal Nihal
Published: May 2019

The present study aimed to investigate the association between trait emotional intelligence and heart rate variability (HRV) recovery responses of archers immediately after a shooting session. The sample included 87 novice archers ranging in age from 18 to 26. Participants first completed Schutte Emotional Intelligence Inventory. Then, they shot 10 arrows from 18 m to an 80-cm diameter target in four minutes. Afterward, participants’ HRV recovery responses were measured during a four-minute recovery period. In this study, HRV was represented in terms of low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and LF/HF ratio. Results indicated a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and HRV recovery responses. A regression model containing emotional intelligence sub-dimensions was able to explain a significant amount of variance in HRV frequency domain parameters. Besides, high emotional intelligence archers were found to have higher-level LF and HF power but a lower LF/HF ratio than their low emotional intelligence counterparts. Taken together, the results observed in the present study indicated that emotional intelligence might give rise to more adaptive HRV recovery responses following a demanding arrow shooting session.
PD1/PD-L1 Expression in Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm
Authors: Aung Phyu P. , Sukswai Narittee , Nejati Reza , Loghavi Sanam , Chen Weina , Torres-Cabala Carlos A. , Yin C. Cameron , Konopleva Marina , Zheng Xiaofeng , Wang Jing , Tang Zhenya , Medeiros L. Jeffrey , Prieto Victor G. , Pemmaraju Naveen , Khoury Joseph D.
Published: May 2019

Patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) have poor outcomes despite intensive chemotherapy, underscoring the need for novel therapeutic approaches. The expression status of PD1/PD-L1 in BPDCN remains unknown. We evaluated PD1/PD-L1 by immunohistochemistry and RNAseq expression profiling in a cohort of BPDCN patients. The study group included 28 patients with a median age of 66.8 years (range, 22.8–86.7), 22 men and 6 women. PD-L1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in 10/21 (47.6%) cases. PD-L1 expression had a median H-score of 157. The H-score was ≥60 in 7 patients. PD-L1 protein levels (H-score) were proportional to normalized PD-L1 mRNA transcript levels (CD274 mRNA). In addition, high-level PD-L1 expression correlated with higher numbers of PD1-positive cells within BPDCN tumors. There was no correlation between clinicopathologic characteristics and PD-L1 expression status. Similarly, there was no significant difference in overall survival between patients with PD-L1-positive and PD-L1-negative BPDCN (median 12 vs. 23 month, respectively; p = 0.743). In conclusion, PD-L1 expression by tumor cells is detectable in a sizeable subset of patients with BPDCN, suggesting that exploration of the effectiveness of therapeutic inhibition of the PD1/PD-L1 axis in patients with refractory or progressive BPDCN is warranted.
Fast Degradation of Monochloroacetic Acid by BiOI-Enhanced UV/S(IV) Process: Efficiency and Mechanism
Authors: Wang Lili , Liu Xiaowei
Published: May 2019

Iodide ( I − ) could promote ultraviolet-activated S(IV) processes (UV/S(IV)) and degrade aqueous halogenated organic compounds and hazardous oxoanions. With the interest of promoting use of this technology, this study investigated the feasibility of using bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI) as an I − source to enhance UV/S(IV) where monochloroacetic acid (MCAA) was selected as a testing model compound. Degradation of MCAA by UV/S(IV) increased by 50% in presence of BiOI. Results of competitive kinetics indicated that the promotion effect brought by BiOI mainly originated from its sustainable release of I − , and subsequent enhanced generation of hydrated electrons. Electron spin resonance detection and fluorescence characterization proved increased formation of sulfite radical, resulting from sulfite oxidation by UV-excited BiOI. However, the sulfite radical only made a small contribution (9%) to MCAA degradation due to its moderate reactivity toward MCAA (4.2 × 105 M−1·s−1). UV/S(IV) combined with BiOI significantly decreasing the biotoxicity of MCAA solution. BiOI can be regenerated using I − -containing solution. Our findings provide evidence that BiOI is a promising I − source and photocatalyst, which progresses the I − -assisted UV/S(IV) process towards practical application.
Expression and Characterization of a Dye-Decolorizing Peroxidase from Pseudomonas Fluorescens Pf0-1
Authors: Lončar Nikola , Drašković Natalija , Božić Nataša , Romero Elvira , Simić Stefan , Opsenica Igor , Vujčić Zoran , Fraaije Marco W.
Published: May 2019

The consumption of dyes is increasing worldwide in line with the increase of population and demand for clothes and other colored products. However, the efficiency of dyeing processes is still poor and results in large amounts of colored effluents. It is desired to develop a portfolio of enzymes which can be used for the treatment of colored wastewaters. Herein, we used genome sequence information to discover a dye-decolorizing peroxidase (DyP) from Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-01. Two genes putatively encoding for DyPs were identified in the respective genome and cloned for expression in Escherichia coli, of which one (PfDyP B2) could be overexpressed as a soluble protein. PfDyP B2 shows some typical features known for DyPs which includes the ability to convert dyes at the expense of hydrogen peroxide. Interestingly, t-butyl hydroperoxide could be used as an alternative substrate to hydrogen peroxide. Immobilization of PfDyP B2 in calcium-alginate beads resulted in a significant increase in stability: PfDyP B2 retains 80% of its initial activity after 2 h incubation at 50 °C, while the soluble enzyme is inactivated within minutes. PfDyP B2 was also tested with aniline and ethyl diazoacetate as substrates. Based on GC-MS analyses, 30% conversion of the starting material was achieved after 65 h at 30 °C. Importantly, this is the first report of a DyP-catalyzed insertion of a carbene into an N-H bond.
Trade, Institutional Quality and Income: Empirical Evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Doan Huy Quang
Published: May 2019

This paper looks at how trade liberalization and institutional quality influence real income. Previous evidence has provided mixed results, and we find that indicators representing trade liberalization have been very weak. By using strongly balanced panel data of 45 Sub-Saharan African countries covering the last 34 years (1980–2013), along with numerous advanced econometric instruments (random effect, fixed effect, system-generalized method of moments, pooled mean group) and composite trade indicators (KOF indicators), this paper determines the impact of trade liberalization, social factors and political globalization on real income per capita in both static and dynamic settings. The paper also considers short-term and long-term effects. The study confirms that free trade has a significant positive impact on the growth of real income per capita in static and dynamic settings. However, it also finds that countries must pay in the short-term to gain more significantly in the long-term. Further, we point out that social factors, especially information flows, can have significant but varying influences on real income under different scenarios and that political globalization both challenges and gives opportunities for improving living standards. We also find that institutional quality is a key factor for economic development in any situation.
Automatic Coordination of Internet-Connected Thermostats for Power Balancing and Frequency Control in Smart Microgrids
Authors: Bashash Saeid , Lee Kai Lun
Published: May 2019

This paper proposes a novel feedback control strategy, so-called clock-like controller (CLC), to balance power supply and demand in smart microgrids by adjusting the setpoint temperatures of air conditioning (AC) loads. In the CLC algorithm, the grid operator communicates with the individual thermostats via the Internet and adjusts their setpoints by discrete temperature intervals (e.g., ±0.5 °C). Numerical simulations indicate that the proposed algorithm is able to deliver a smooth controllability of the aggregate AC power despite discrete temperature offsets. It can also be used for peak load shedding to mitigate the power generation cost. The CLC algorithm is then integrated into the grid frequency control problem, in which both power generators and loads in the network attempt to regulate the frequency of the system despite disturbances from demand, renewable sources, and local weather conditions. An autonomous microgrid model including a steam and a hydro generator, a solar energy source, and a large number of thermostatic loads is developed to evaluate and demonstrate the proposed method. Simulation results indicate that the AC loads with CLC algorithm can help maintain the power system frequency during extreme events when demand exceeds the maximum generation capacity available to the network. Under normal conditions, the contribution of demand-side control is marginalized by the fast responding generators, because of time delays in the frequency measurement and internet communication network.
Analyzing Visitors’ Preferences and Evaluation of Satisfaction Based on Different Attributes, with Forest Trails in the Akasawa National Recreational Forest, Central Japan
Authors: Zhang Tong , Zhang Weikang , Meng Huan , Zhang Zhi
Published: May 2019

For forest park managers and designers, it is very important to provide forest trails and high–quality forest landscapes that meet visitor’s needs. In this study, based on demographic characteristics, our main purpose is to analyze whether the preferences of visitors for different trails differ, and to discuss whether forest park visitors’ satisfaction is affected when preferences for choosing trails change, mainly in order to improve knowledge about visitors’ needs for forest walking spaces. Through this analysis, we can aid in the planning and management of forest parks to improve visitors’ experiences. We mainly consider five attributes, namely, sex, age, number of visitors, number of visits and duration of stay in the park, in a questionnaire, and use the Kruskal–Wallis Test and Mann–Whitney U Test to analyze multigroup data in “SPSS for Windows”. The results are as follows: (1) Visitors with different attributes exhibit significant differences in terms of their choices of forest trails and the evaluation of visitor satisfaction in the duration of stay. (2) The correlation analysis showed that trail condition factors, such as the degree of difficulty and facility status, affect the satisfaction evaluation of tourists on many levels. In addition, the number of visits by visitors is negatively correlated with the preference for a forest trail based on recreational indicators. (3) Compared to visitors who stay in the forest for a short amount of time, visitors who remain in the forest for longer have a higher satisfaction level. Based on these results, we recommend that parks consider the number of visits (visiting experience) and the duration of stays in the forest when planning walking routes to more effectively plan forest park trails.
Evaluation of Forest Conversion Effects on Soil Erosion, Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen Based on 137Cs Tracer Technique
Authors: Zhu Xi , Lin Jie , Dai Qiao , Xu Yanying , Li Haidong
Published: May 2019

Soil erosion can affect the horizontal and the vertical distribution of soil carbon at the landscape scale. The 137Cs tracer technique can overcome the shortcomings of traditional erosion research and has proven to be the best method to study soil erosion. To understand the responses of soil organic carbon and nitrogen to soil erosion and forest conversion in the development of slope economic forests in rocky mountain areas, three representative types of economic forests that were all formed after clear-cutting and afforestation on the basis of CBF (coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests) were selected: CF (chestnut forests) with small human disturbance intensity, AF (apple forests), and HF (hawthorn forests) with high interference intensity. The results showed that all land use types have significantly eroded since 1950; the average annual loss of soil was 0.79 mm in the CBF, 2.31 mm in the AF, 1.84 mm in the HF, and 0.87 mm in the CF. The results indicated aggravation of soil erosion after the transformation of the CBF into an economic forest. The economic forest management reduced the average carbon storage and accelerated nutrient loss. The better vegetation coverage and litter coverage of CF made them stand out among the three economic forest varieties. Therefore, when developing economic forests, we should select species that can produce litter to ensure as much soil conservation as possible to reduce the risk of soil erosion.
Development of Oxygen-Plasma-Surface-Treated UHMWPE Fabric Coated with a Mixture of SiC/Polyurethane for Protection against Puncture and Needle Threats
Authors: Firouzi Dariush , Ching Chan Y. , Rizvi Syed N. , Selvaganapathy P. Ravi
Published: May 2019

Although considerable research has been directed at developing materials for ballistic protection, considerably less has been conducted to address non-firearm threats. Even fewer studies have examined the incorporation of particle-laden elastomers with textiles for spike, knife, and needle protection. We report on a new composite consisting of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fabric impregnated with nanoparticle-loaded elastomer, specifically designed for spike- and needle-resistant garments. Failure analysis and parametric studies of particle-loading and layer-count were conducted using a mixture of SiC and polyurethane at 0, 30, and 50 wt.%. The maximum penetration resistance force of a single-layer of uncoated fabric increased up to 218–229% due to nanoparticle loading. Multiple-layer stacks of coated fabric show up to 57% and 346% improvement in spike puncture and hypodermic needle resistance, respectively, and yet were more flexible and 21–55% thinner than a multiple-layer stack of neat fabric (of comparable areal density). We show that oxygen-plasma-treatment of UHMWPE is critical to enable effective coating.
Total, Neutral, and Polar Lipids of Brewing Ingredients, By-Products and Beer: Evaluation of Antithrombotic Activities
Authors: Lordan Ronan , O’Keeffe Eoin , Tsoupras Alexandros , Zabetakis Ioannis
Published: May 2019

The in vitro antithrombotic properties of polar lipid constituents of malted grain (MG), pelleted hops (PH), brewer’s spent grain (BSG), spent hops (SH), wort, and bottled beer from the same production line were assessed in human platelets. The total lipids (TL) were extracted according to the Bligh and Dyer method and further separated into the total neutral lipids (TNL) and total polar lipids (TPL) extracts by counter-current distribution. The TL, TNL, and TPL extracts of all samples were assessed for their ability to inhibit platelet-activating factor (PAF) and thrombin-induced human platelet aggregation. The raw materials, by-products, wort, and beer lipid extracts all exhibited antithrombotic properties against PAF and thrombin. However, the beer TPL exhibited the lowest IC50 values against PAF-induced (7.8 ± 3.9 µg) and thrombin-induced (4.3 ± 3.0 µg) platelet aggregation indicating that these polar lipids were the most antithrombotic. The lipid extracts tended to be more bioactive against the thrombin pathway. The fatty acid content of all the TPL extracts were assessed using GC-MS. The fatty acid composition of the most bioactive TPL extracts, the wort and the beer, shared similar fatty acid profiles. Indeed, it was noted that fermentation seems to play a role in increasing the antithrombotic properties of polar lipids against PAF and thrombin by moderately altering the polar lipid fatty acid composition. Furthermore, the use of brewing by-products as a source of functional cardioprotective lipids warrants further investigation and valorisation.
Senses of Echo Lake: Michael Palmer, Stanley Cavell, and the Moods of an American Philosophical Tradition
Authors: Deming Richard
Published: May 2019

This essay explores a philosophical tradition that Stanley Cavell has traced out and which he emphasizes as being American inasmuch as it is arises out of the thinking of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. It then investigates how the poems of the avant-garde poet Michael Palmer link with, overlap with, this strain of American philosophy in terms of how it enacts an understanding of what we might call “philosophical mood,” on outlook based on the navigation of representation, generative self-consciousness, and doubt that amounts to a form of epistemology. The essay does not trace the influence—direct or otherwise of Cavell and his arguments for philosophy on the poems, despite a biographical connection between Cavell and Palmer, his former student. Instead it brings out the way that one might fruitfully locate Palmer’s work within an American literary/philosophical continuum. The article shows how that context opens up the work to a range of important existential and ethical implications. I endeavor to show that Notes for Echo Lake, Palmer’s most important collection, locates itself, its language, within such a frame so as to provide a place for readerly encounters with the limitations of language. These encounters then are presented as an opportunity for a deeper understanding of subjectivity and for attuning oneself to the role that active reading and interpretation might play in moral perfectionism.
The American Film Musical and the Place(less)ness of Entertainment: Cabaret’s “International Sensation” and American Identity in Crisis
Authors: Zitzelsberger Florian
Published: May 2019

This article looks at cosmopolitanism in the American film musical through the lens of the genre’s self-reflexivity. By incorporating musical numbers into its narrative, the musical mirrors the entertainment industry mise en abyme, and establishes an intrinsic link to America through the act of (cultural) performance. Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the chronotope and its recent application to the genre of the musical, I read the implicitly spatial backstage/stage duality overlaying narrative and number—the musical’s dual registers—as a means of challenging representations of Americanness, nationhood, and belonging. The incongruities arising from the segmentation into dual registers, realms complying with their own rules, destabilize the narrative structure of the musical and, as such, put the semantic differences between narrative and number into critical focus. A close reading of the 1972 film Cabaret, whose narrative is set in 1931 Berlin, shows that the cosmopolitanism of the American film musical lies in this juxtaposition of non-American and American (at least connotatively) spaces and the self-reflexive interweaving of their associated registers and narrative levels. If metalepsis designates the transgression of (onto)logically separate syntactic units of film, then it also symbolically constitutes a transgression and rejection of national boundaries. In the case of Cabaret, such incongruities and transgressions eventually undermine the notion of a stable American identity, exposing the American Dream as an illusion produced by the inherent heteronormativity of the entertainment industry. The film advocates a cosmopolitan model of cultural hybridity and the plurality of identities by shedding light on the faultlines of nationalist essentialism.
Risk Assessment of Miners’ Unsafe Behaviors: A Case Study of Gas Explosion Accidents in Coal Mine, China
Authors: Tong Ruipeng , Yang Yunyun , Ma Xiaofei , Zhang Yanwei , Li Shian , Yang Hongqing
Published: May 2019

China’s coal mine production situation is grim and various types of accidents occur frequently, and gas explosion accidents are the highest incidence of coal mine accidents. The authors selected 200 gas explosion accidents of coal mine enterprises in recent years, and extracted a large number of workers’ unsafe behaviors. Meanwhile, four working types related to gas explosion accidents were obtained, namely ventilation, gas prevention and fire extinguishing, blasting, and electrician. This article listed some influencing factors of unsafe behaviors and corrected the probability of unsafe behaviors. In addition, a probabilistic risk assessment model was established, and the Monte Carlo method was used to analyze the risks caused by unsafe behaviors of various working types. The results show that the risk of unsafe behaviors caused by the ventilation working type is the highest, followed by gas prevention and fire extinguishing, and finally blasting and electrician. This paper studies the influencing factors of miners’ unsafe behaviors from the perspective of behavior, guarantees effectively the safety management of coal mine enterprises, and lays a foundation for studying unsafe behaviors related to coal mine gas explosions.
Knowledge, Beliefs, Dietary, and Lifestyle Practices Related to Bone Health among Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese in Klang Valley, Malaysia
Authors: Chan Chin Yi , Subramaniam Shaanthana , Chin Kok-Yong , Ima-Nirwana Soelaiman , Muhammad Norliza , Fairus Ahmad , Mohd Rizal Abdul Manap , Ng Pei Yuan , Nor Aini Jamil , Aziz Noorazah Abd , Mohamed Norazlina
Published: May 2019

Osteoporosis is a growing health problem in Asian countries with a rapidly expanding aging population. Adequate knowledge and positive health beliefs regarding osteoporosis will encourage individuals to adopt measures to protect bone health. This study aimed to investigate the association between knowledge, beliefs, and practices regarding osteoporosis and bone health among Malaysians Chinese aged 40 years and above. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 367 Malaysians Chinese (182 men, 185 women) aged ≥ 40 years in Klang Valley, Malaysia. They completed a questionnaire on knowledge, beliefs, and practices of osteoporosis and underwent bone mineral density scan using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry device. The subjects showed moderate knowledge and high level of health beliefs regarding osteoporosis, but poor osteoprotective practices. Osteoporosis knowledge and beliefs were significantly different based on subjects’ demographic characteristics (p < 0.05). Additionally, osteoporosis knowledge was correlated positively with beliefs, coffee or tea intake (p < 0.05) but not with other lifestyle practices. Osteoporosis health beliefs was associated positively with physical activity, dairy and calcium intake (p < 0.05). However, bone health was not associated with knowledge, beliefs and practices regarding osteoporosis (p > 0.05). The present findings highlight the need of formulating osteoporosis prevention program targeting Malaysians Chinese, especially men, to improve their knowledge, health beliefs, and practice.
Corporate Editors in the Evolving Landscape of OpenStreetMap
Authors: Anderson Jennings , Sarkar Dipto , Palen Leysia
Published: May 2019

OpenStreetMap (OSM), the largest Volunteered Geographic Information project in the world, is characterized both by its map as well as the active community of the millions of mappers who produce it. The discourse about participation in the OSM community largely focuses on the motivations for why members contribute map data and the resulting data quality. Recently, large corporations including Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook have been hiring editors to contribute to the OSM database. In this article, we explore the influence these corporate editors are having on the map by first considering the history of corporate involvement in the community and then analyzing historical quarterly-snapshot OSM-QA-Tiles to show where and what these corporate editors are mapping. Cumulatively, millions of corporate edits have a global footprint, but corporations vary in geographic reach, edit types, and quantity. While corporations currently have a major impact on road networks, non-corporate mappers edit more buildings and points-of-interest: representing the majority of all edits, on average. Since corporate editing represents the latest stage in the evolution of corporate involvement, we raise questions about how the OSM community—and researchers—might proceed as corporate editing grows and evolves as a mechanism for expanding the map for multiple uses.