bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inhibitory control of active expiration by the Bötzinger complex in rats
Authors: Flor Karine C. , Barnett William H. , Karlen‐Amarante Marlusa , Molkov Yaroslav I. , Zoccal Daniel B.
Published: July 2020

Key points

Contraction of abdominal muscles at the end of expiration during metabolic challenges (such as hypercapnia and hypoxia) improves pulmonary ventilation.

The emergence of this active expiratory pattern requires the recruitment of the expiratory oscillator located on the ventral surface of the medulla oblongata.

Here we show that an inhibitory circuitry located in the Bötzinger complex is an important source of inhibitory drive to the expiratory oscillator.

This circuitry, mediated by GABAergic and glycinergic synapses, provides expiratory inhibition that restrains the expiratory oscillator under resting condition and regulates the formation of abdominal expiratory activity during active expiration.

By combining experimental and modelling approaches, we propose the organization and connections within the respiratory network that control the changes in the breathing pattern associated with elevated metabolic demand.

The expiratory neurons of the Bötzinger complex (BötC) provide inhibitory inputs to the respiratory network, which, during eupnoea, are critically important for respiratory phase transition and duration control. Here, we investigated how the BötC neurons interact with the expiratory oscillator located in the parafacial respiratory group (pFRG) and control the abdominal activity during active expiration. Using the decerebrated, arterially perfused in situ preparations of juvenile rats, we recorded the activity of expiratory neurons and performed pharmacological manipulations of the BötC and pFRG during hypercapnia or after the exposure to short‐term sustained hypoxia – conditions that generate active expiration. The experimental data were integrated in a mathematical model to gain new insights into the inhibitory connectome within the respiratory central pattern generator. Our results indicate that the BötC neurons may establish mutual connections with the pFRG, providing expiratory inhibition during the first stage of expiration and receiving excitatory inputs during late expiration. Moreover, we found that application of GABAergic and glycinergic antagonists in the BötC caused opposing effects on abdominal expiratory activity, suggesting complex inhibitory circuitry within the BötC. Using mathematical modelling, we propose that the BötC network organization and its interactions with the pFRG restrain abdominal activity under resting conditions and contribute to abdominal expiratory pattern formation during active expiration observed during hypercapnia or after the exposure to short‐term sustained hypoxia.
Two new eriophyid species (Acariformes: Eriophyidae) from North of Iran

Authors: Varandi Forough Ranjbar , Irani-nejad Karim Haddad , Lotfollahi Parisa
Published: July 2020

This paper includes descriptions and illustrations of two new species namely Leipothrix mazandaranicus sp. nov. and Aceria punicae sp. nov. found on Urtica dioica L. (Urticaceae) and Punica granatum L. (Lythraceae), respectively, in Sari county, Mazandaran province, North of Iran. They are the second Leipothrix species from the plants of family Urticaceae and the second Aceria species from plants of the genus Punica.
Holographic s-wave superconductors with Horndeski correction
Authors: Lu Jun-Wang , Wu Ya-Bo , Mi Li-Gong , Liao Hao , Dong Bao-Ping
Published: July 2020

Via both numerical and analytical methods, we build the holographic s-wave insulator/superconductor model in the five-dimensional AdS soliton with the Horndeski correction in the probe limit and study the effects of Horndeski parameter k on the superconductor model. For the fixed mass squared of the scalar field ($$m^2$$m2), the critical chemical potential $$\mu _c$$μc increases with the larger Horndeski parameter k, which means that the increasing Horndeski correction hinders the superconductor phase transition. Meanwhile, above the critical chemical potential, the obvious pole arises in the low frequency of the imaginal part of conductivity, which signs the appearance of superconducting state. What is more, the energy of quasiparticle excitation decreases with the larger Horndeski correction. Furthermore, the critical exponent of the condensate (charge density) is $$\frac{1}{2}$$12 (1), which is independent of the Horndeski correction. In addition, the analytical results agree well with the numerical results. Subsequently, the conductor/superconductor model with Horndeski correction is analytically realized in the four- and five-dimensional AdS black holes. It is observed that the increasing Horndeski correction decreases the critical temperature and thus hinders the superconductor phase transition, which agrees with the numerical result in the previous works.
Driver Emotion Recognition for Intelligent Vehicles
Authors: Zepf Sebastian , Hernandez Javier , Schmitt Alexander , Minker Wolfgang , Picard Rosalind W.
Published: July 2020

Driving can occupy a large portion of daily life and often can elicit negative emotional states like anger or stress, which can significantly impact road safety and long-term human health. In recent decades, the arrival of new tools to help recognize human affect has inspired increasing interest in how to develop emotion-aware systems for cars. To help researchers make needed advances in this area, this article provides a comprehensive literature survey of work addressing the problem of human emotion recognition in an automotive context. We systematically review the literature back to 2002 and identify 63 peer-review published articles on this topic. We overview each study’s methodology to measure and recognize emotions in the context of driving. Across the literature, we find a strong preference toward studying emotional states associated with high arousal and negative valence, monitoring the different states with cardiac, electrodermal activity, and speech signals, and using supervised machine learning to automatically infer the underlying human affective states. This article summarizes the existing work together with publicly available resources (e.g., datasets and tools) to help new researchers get started in this field. We also identify new research opportunities to help advance progress for improving driver emotion recognition.
Key Negotiation Downgrade Attacks on Bluetooth and Bluetooth Low Energy
Authors: Antonioli Daniele , Tippenhauer Nils Ole , Rasmussen Kasper
Published: July 2020

Bluetooth (BR/EDR) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) are pervasive wireless technologies specified in the Bluetooth standard. The standard includes key negotiation protocols used to generate long-term keys (during pairing) and session keys (during secure connection establishment). In this work, we demonstrate that the key negotiation protocols of Bluetooth and BLE are vulnerable to standard-compliant entropy downgrade attacks. In particular, we show how an attacker can downgrade the entropy of any Bluetooth session key to 1 byte, and of any BLE long-term key and session key to 7 bytes. Such low entropy values enable the attacker to brute-force Bluetooth long-term keys and BLE long-term and session keys, and to break all the security guarantees promised by Bluetooth and BLE. As a result of our attacks, an attacker can decrypt all the ciphertext and inject valid ciphertext in any Bluetooth and BLE network.

Our key negotiation downgrade attacks are conducted remotely, do not require access to the victims’ devices, and are stealthy to the victims. As the attacks are standard-compliant, they are effective regardless of the usage of the strongest Bluetooth and BLE security modes (including Secure Connections), the Bluetooth version, and the implementation details of the devices used by the victims. We successfully attack 38 Bluetooth devices (32 unique Bluetooth chips) and 19 BLE devices from different vendors, using all the major versions of the Bluetooth standard. Finally, we present effective legacy compliant and non-legacy compliant countermeasures to mitigate our key negotiation downgrade attacks.
Energy-efficient Real-time Scheduling on Multicores
Authors: Sheikh Saad Zia , Pasha Muhammad Adeel
Published: July 2020

With the increasing demand for higher performance, the adoption of multicores has been a major stepping stone in the evolution of hard real-time systems. Though the computational bandwidth is increased due to parallel processing, the indispensable interactivity between the hierarchical memory sub-system and multiple cores has further aggravated the already complex worst case execution time (WCET) analysis of tasks. Furthermore, caches have the biggest influence on task execution time, and the inclusion of shared caches further increases the unpredictability of the system. Cache partitioning techniques have been proposed as a counter-measure to decouple the shared cache latency from the WCET. However, existing energy-efficient scheduling algorithms are oblivious to the unpredictable nature of shared caches or cache partitioning techniques, thus, diminishing their applicability to real-world systems. Without considering inter-task cache contention, directly using existing algorithms or attempting to allocate and schedule a taskset with cache-partition assignments can result in cache violations. To overcome this dilemma, we propose a novel approach to model inter-task cache contention as a dependency graph to be used by well-established algorithms to minimize energy consumption. Extensive simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach to minimize energy consumption while also avoiding cache violations.
A Coordination Law for Multiple Air Vehicles in Distributed Communication Scenarios
Authors: Cheng Zhongtao , Su Mao , Liu Lei , Wang Bo , Wang Yongji
Published: July 2020

This paper proposes a consensus-based guidance methodology for multiple air vehicles to arrive at the same spot cooperatively. First, based on the Lyapunov stability theory, a guidance law with only one control parameter is proposed, and the exact expression of total flight time can be obtained with a control parameter equal to one. Then, a two-step guidance scheme, which can achieve a finite-time consensus of the flight time, is built upon the Lyapunov-based guidance law. In the first step, on account of the information exchange between the air vehicles through an undirected and connected communication topology, a time-varying control parameter is designed to reduce the disparities of the flight time. After the consensus of the flight time, the control parameter will remain constant at one, and simultaneous arrival can be achieved. Besides, the guidance strategy is applied in a leader-follower case that one of the vehicles cannot receive information from the others and acts as the leader. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated with simulations.
The Impact of Government Subsidies on Private R&D Investment in Different Markets
Authors: Wang Jinglve , Zhou Guohua
Published: July 2020

In contrast to the econometric models that have been commonly used throughout a large portion of the literature, we develop six game-theoretic models to analyze governmental subsidy strategies in different market environments and to investigate the question of whether government subsidies crowd in or crowd out private investment in R&D activities. Based on realistic situations, we classify governmental subsidy strategies into three types, namely, no subsidy provided, subsidies provided based on the price of the end products, and subsidies provided based on the cost of R&D. In addition, according to whether competition exists in the market, we classify markets into monopoly markets and duopoly markets. Our research shows (a) that the relationship between government subsidies and private R&D investment is deeply impacted by the form of the subsidies used; (b) that the characteristic value of the R&D project and the competitive environment of the market are the two key factors that should be considered when governments decide which form of subsidy to employ; and (c) the optimal amount for each type of subsidy.
Research Progress of Drug Prophylaxis for Lens Capsule Opacification after Cataract Surgery
Authors: Zhang Rong-Pei , Xie Zheng-Gao
Published: July 2020

Phacoemulsification combined with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation is the international standard operation procedure for cataract and has been generalized worldwide. However, lens capsule opacification, one of the common complications after cataract surgery, impacts the recovery of patients’ visual function to a large extent. Lens capsule opacification has two types, anterior capsule opacification (ACO) and posterior capsule opacification (PCO), according to the location. There is not an accepted approach to treat ACO. Nd : YAG laser capsulotomy, the common treatment of PCO, can effectively improve the vision, but may cause a series of complications and is inappropriate for children who are too young to cooperate with this treatment. It is generally known that the responses of lens epithelial cells (LECs) after cataract surgery, including cell proliferation, migration, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), play a key role in the pathogenesis of lens capsule opacification. Scholars found that substantial drugs can reduce the occurrence of lens capsule opacification by inhibiting, clearing, or killing LECs, and made great efforts as well as innovations on the exploration of drug species or modes of administration. This article is a systematic interpretation and elaboration about how to prevent lens capsule opacification after cataract surgery via different drugs.
Disturbance Observer-Based Discrete Sliding-Mode Control for a Marine Diesel Engine with Variable Sampling Control Technique
Authors: Li Xuemin , Liu Yufei , Shu Haoyu , Wang Runzhi , Yang Yunlong , Feng Chunyue
Published: July 2020

This paper proposes a disturbance observer-based discrete sliding-mode control scheme with the variable sampling rate control for the marine diesel engine speed control in the presence of system uncertainties and disturbances. Initially, a sliding-mode controller based on the fast power reaching law is employed, which has a good dynamic quality of the arrival stage and can suppress chattering. To satisfy the practical requirements in the digital controller and the crank angle-based fuel injection in engine speed control, the proposed method is discretized under the variable sampling rate condition. A disturbance observer based on the second-order sliding-mode control is designed to compensate the system uncertainties and disturbances, by doing such the requirement of the parameters of the sliding-mode controller to be reduced significantly. In addition, a cylinder-by-cylinder mean value engine model (MVEM) is built by restructuring the combustion torque model, based on which numerical simulations are carried out by comparing the proposed method with PID and the extended state observer (ESO)-based sliding mode controllers. The common operation situations of the marine diesel engines are taken into account, including starting process, acceleration and deceleration, load variation, and varied propulsion system parameters. The results demonstrate that the proposed disturbance observer-based sliding-mode controller has prominent control performance and strong robustness.
Deterministic Epidemic Models for Ebola Infection with Time-Dependent Controls
Authors: Okyere Eric , De-Graft Ankamah Johnson , Hunkpe Anthony Kodzo , Mensah Dorcas
Published: July 2020

In this paper, we have studied epidemiological models for Ebola infection using nonlinear ordinary differential equations and optimal control theory. We considered optimal control analysis of SIR and SEIR models for the deadly Ebola infection using vaccination, treatment, and educational campaign as time-dependent control functions. We have applied indirect methods to study existing deterministic optimal control epidemic models for Ebola virus disease. These methods in optimal control are based on Hamiltonian function and Pontryagin’s maximum principle to construct adjoint equations and optimality systems. The forward-backward sweep numerical scheme with the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is used to solve the optimality system for the various control strategies. From our numerical illustrations, we can conclude that effective educational campaigns and vaccination of susceptible individuals as well as effective treatments of infected individuals can help reduce the disease transmission.
Performance Analysis of Hydrodynamic Pressure Finger Seal by Wall Slip Effect
Authors: Zhang Yan-chao , Wang Ting , Zhang Dong-ya , Yin Ming-hu , Cui Ya-hui , Chen Ling-ping , Du Peng-fei , Wang Rui
Published: July 2020

Hydrodynamic pressure finger seal1 is a kind of flexible noncontact dynamic sealing device with good application potential. It relies on the ultrathin dynamic pressure film effect produced by the rotation of finger boot and rotor to realize the design of noncontact and low leakage and is suitable for high-speed dynamic sealing parts. However, under the high-speed condition, there is a wall slip effect when the gas flows in the microchannel with a thickness of about 10 μm between the finger boot and rotor, which affects the stability of the dynamic pressure air film and also affects the change of the air film bearing capacity and the leakage rate of the finger seal. Therefore, based on the theory of microflow, the interstitial flow field model of finger seal under fluid dynamic pressure is established, and its slip effect under high speed is analyzed. The results show that the slip ratio of the sealing medium temperature of 500°C and 0.1 MPa conditions reached 27.28%. When considering the slip effect of the wall surface generated by the gas under shear driving, the gas film bearing capacity decreased and the leakage rate increased. When the pressure difference between the upper and lower reaches of the seal is 0.1 MPa, and the rotor line speed is 400 m/s, the gas film bearing capacity decreases by 17.39% after considering the slip effect of the wall surface, and the leakage rate increases by 14.06%. The results provide an important reference for the structural design and leakage control of hydrodynamic finger seal.
“Buy Online, Pick Up in Store” under Fit Uncertainty: To Offer or Not to Offer
Authors: Li Huijing , Yang Shilei , Kang Haiyan , Shi Victor
Published: July 2020

Retailers offer BOPS (Buy Online, Pick Up in Store) service to improve consumers shopping experience. However, this greatly increases the decision complexity for retailers and consumers. For consumers, whether to purchase online or from a store with the BOPS service is a complex decision. This is especially true when the product has fit uncertainty. That is, consumers are uncertain about product fitness before using it. Also, their store visit cost can be heterogeneous and follows some distribution function. For a retailer, it needs to jointly optimize multiple decisions including the convenience degree of BOPS. To help the retailer develop the jointly optimal decisions, we first build a mathematical model where the retailer sells the product through online and store channel and analyzes the possible effects of BOPS. We find that the retailer should offer BOPS when the channel cost ratio (ratio of shipment fee divided by average store visit cost) is large enough. Through numerical studies, we show that the ratio of profit offering BOPS divided by the benchmark increases with the probability of product fit, shipment fee, and the convenience degree of BOPS. We then consider the case where the convenience degree of BOPS is also a decision itself. We find the optimal convenience degree of BOPS increases along with the average store visit cost and the probability of product fit. When the cost factor of offering the convenience for BOPS is larger than a threshold, the retailer should never offer BOPS.
Psychotherapy for Physical Pain in Patients with Fibromyalgia: A Systematic Review
Authors: Gómez-de-Regil Lizzette , Estrella-Castillo Damaris F.
Published: July 2020

Objective. To provide a brief and comprehensive summary of the recent evidence from clinical trials testing psychotherapeutic interventions in patients with fibromyalgia with particular interest in their possible effect on physical pain.Methods. Bibliographical search was performed in PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases. Content of the manuscripts was studied to obtain, if available, the following information: year of publication, location of the research team, design, type of psychotherapeutic intervention tested, pain measures, and a brief description of the psychotherapy, groups, and outcomes regarding physical pain.Results. Initial search eliciting 475 citations got reduced to 13 relevant papers. Most research studies from Spain (n = 8) are randomized control trials (n = 10) and used guided imagery (n = 5) or cognitive behavioral therapy (n = 4). The Visual Analogue Scale (n = 4) and the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (n = 4) were the physical pain measures mostly used. Improvements on physical pain were reported on all studies with published results; nevertheless, only in five cases, differences were significant.Conclusions. Evidence on the effect of psychotherapy on physical pain in patients with FS was divergent; though most studies report a reduction in pain, this was not always lasting and/or significant. Diversity of the results might be due to the selected psychotherapeutic approaches, assessment tools, and other internal (e.g., personality traits, (sub)clinical psychiatric symptoms, and treatment adherence) and external (e.g., family environment and social support) variables worth to be considered in the future research.
Numerical Analysis of Self-Excited Combustion Instabilities in a Small MMH/NTO Liquid Rocket Engine
Authors: Qin Jianxiu , Zhang Huiqiang
Published: July 2020

Combustion instabilities in a small MMH/NTO liquid rocket engine used for satellite attitude and course control are numerically investigated. A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code is developed to simulate two-phase spray combustion for cases with five different droplet Sauter Mean Diameters. As the droplet size increases from 30 microns to 80 microns, pressure oscillations are stronger with larger amplitudes. But an increase of the droplet size in the range of 80 microns to 140 microns indicates a reduction in the amplitudes of pressure oscillations. This trend is the same as the Hewitt criterion. The first tangential (1T) mode and the first longitudinal (1L) mode self-excited combustion instabilities are captured in the 60-micron and 80-micron cases. Abrupt spikes occur in the mass fraction of MMH and coincide with abrupt spikes in the mass fraction of NTO at the downstream regions just adjacent to the impinging points. Thus, local combustible high-dense mixtures are formed, which result in quasiconstant volume combustion and abrupt pressure spikes. The propagation and reflection of pressure waves in the chamber stimulate the combustion instability. When the droplet size is too small or too large, it is difficult to form local high-dense premixtures and combustion is stable in the chamber.
Clinical Characteristics of Peripheral Neuropathy in Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis: A Retrospective Single-Center Study in China
Authors: Zhang Zhaocui , Liu Suying , Guo Ling , Wang Li , Wu Qingjun , Zheng Wenjie , Hou Yong , Tian Xinping , Zeng Xiaofeng , Zhang Fengchun
Published: July 2020

Objective. To investigate clinical features, independent associated factors, treatment, and outcome of patients with peripheral neuropathy (PN) in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA). Methods. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 110 EGPA patients from 2007 to 2019 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The independent factors associated with PN in EGPA were analyzed with univariate and multivariate logistic regressions. Results. In EGPA with PN, paresthesia and muscle weakness were observed in 82% and 33% of patients, respectively. Both the upper and lower limbs were involved in 51% of patients. 30% of EGPA patients had symmetrical multiple peripheral neuropathy, whereas only 16.4% presented with mononeuritis multiplex. Compared to patients without PN, patients with PN had a higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor, Birmingham vasculitis activity score (BVAS), and positivity of myeloperoxidase-antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (MPO-ANCA). Regarding manifestations, patients with PN tended to develop weight loss and arthritis or joint pain. Notably, ANCA positivity, arthritis or joint pain, and higher BVAS were found to be independent associated factors for PN in EGPA. Patients with PN more frequently need glucocorticoid pulses and intravenous infusion of cyclophosphamide. With the longest follow-up of 11.0 years, we found that age and cardiac involvement were risk factors for survival, and female was the protective factor. Conclusion. PN in EGPA frequently displays with symmetrical multiple peripheral neuropathy in China. Positive ANCA, arthritis or joint pain, and higher BVAS are the independent associated factors of PN in EGPA. Glucocorticoids with immunosuppressants are vital therapeutic strategy.
Antimicrobial Activity of Chitosan-Based Films Enriched with Green Tea Extracts on Murine Norovirus, Escherichia coli, and Listeria innocua
Authors: Amankwaah Collins , Li Jianrong , Lee Jaesung , Pascall Melvin A.
Published: July 2020

Edible films can be designed to serve as carriers of antimicrobial agents and be used to control pathogenic foodborne viruses and bacteria. This research tested this concept by dissolving green tea extract (GTE) in chitosan film-forming solutions (FFS) and using it to prepare dried chitosan edible films. As a control, the GTE was also dissolved in deionized water (DW). The FFS and the dried chitosan films with the GTE and the DW without chitosan were all evaluated against murine norovirus (MNV-1), Escherichia coli K12, and Listeria innocua. Both the FFS and the DW with GTE were incubated with ~107 PFU/ml of the virus suspensions for 3 h. The chitosan films with GTE were incubated for 4 and 24 h at 23±1°C. The results showed that the DW containing 1, 1.5, and 2.5% aqueous GTE, significantly (p<0.05) reduced MNV-1 plaques by 1.7, 2.5, and 3.3 logs after 3 h exposure, respectively. Similarly, FFS containing 2.5 and 5.0% GTE reduced MNV-1 counts by 2.5 and 4.0 logs, respectively, after 3 h exposure. The dried chitosan films with 5, 10, and 15% GTE were also effective against MNV-1 infectivity. After 24 h incubation, the 5 and 10% chitosan GTE films produced significant (p<0.05) titer reductions of 1.6 and 4.5 logs, respectively. Chitosan films containing 15% GTE reduced MNV-1 plaques to undetectable levels in 24 h. All chitosan GTE films reduced E. coli K12 and L. innocua populations to undetectable levels in tryptic soy broth after 24 h exposure. The results of this study showed that edible films enriched with GTE have potential to reduce both foodborne viruses and bacteria.
Physical Frailty and Fall Risk in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Chittrakul Jiraporn , Siviroj Penprapa , Sungkarat Somporn , Sapbamrer Ratana
Published: July 2020

Introduction. Frailty is a condition in older adults with decreased physical and cognitive performance that can affect health outcomes associated with fracture, disability, and falls. The aim of this study was to compare fall risk with different physical frailty statuses and investigate factors associated with fall risk in community-dwelling older adults.Methods. The population studied included 367 older adults (mean age = 73.2 years ± 7.0; 237 females (64.6%) and 130 males (35.4%)) who live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This study was of cross-sectional design. Fried’s phenotype was used to screen the physical frailty status. The physiological profile assessment (PPA) was used to screen for fall risk. One-way ANOVA analysis was used to compare the fall risk between the different levels of frailty status. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the association between frailty status and fall risk.Results. The prevalence of the frailty group was 8.7% and that of the prefrailty group was 76.8%. The three statuses of frailty identified were found to have different levels of risk of falling. The frailty group had a higher fall risk than the nonfrailty group and the prefrailty group. In addition, the nonfrailty group had a lower fall risk than the prefrailty group.Conclusion. The frailty group had the highest fall risk in this cohort of older adults living in a community-dwelling facility. Therefore, it is important to assess the frailty status among older adults as it can be a predictor for fall risk. This assessment will therefore lead to a reduction in the rate of disability and death in the community.
Self-Reported Nonadherence Predicts Changes of Medication after Discharge from Hospital in People with Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Feldmann Francis , Zipprich Hannah M. , Witte Otto W. , Prell Tino
Published: July 2020

Background. Medication is often changed after hospital discharge in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Objective. This observational study aimed to describe changes in PD medication after discharge and explore their association with self-reported adherence and clinical parameters. Methods. During hospitalisation sociodemographic characteristics, the Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified PD Rating Scale for motor function (MDS-UPDRS III), Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stage, levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) score, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score, nonmotor symptoms questionnaire (NMSQ), and Stendal Adherence to Medication Score (SAMS) were collected in 125 people with PD. A semistructured interview was conducted 1 month after discharge to determine the extent and reasons for medication changes. Results. Thirty-eight patients (30.4%) changed their PD medication after discharge. Most changes (20.8%) were performed by physicians while 9.6% of patients changed their medication by themselves due to side effects, missing effect of the medication, missing knowledge about the indication, running out of medication, or nonspecific reason. This led to decreased doses while changes by physicians resulted in both increase and decrease of doses as well as new drug prescription. Patients without changes, patients with changes performed by them, and patients with changes performed by physicians did not differ in age, disease duration, MDS-UPDRS III, LEDD, NMSQ, MoCA, BDI-II, gender, marital status, or education. However, patients who themselves made the changes were more likely to be nonadherent according to baseline SAMS. Patients who made changes after discharge had higher SAMS modification and forgetting subscores than patients without changes or with changes made by physicians. Conclusion. Both intended and unintended nonadherence occur in patients who change medication after discharge. The use of an adherence questionnaire during inpatient treatment may help detect patients with higher risk of changing medication after discharge.
Simulation Study of Autonomous Vehicles’ Effect on Traffic Flow Characteristics including Autonomous Buses
Authors: Muhammad Tanveer , Kashmiri Faizan Ahmad , Naeem Hassan , Qi Xin , Chia-Chun Hsu , Lu Huapu
Published: July 2020

Autonomous vehicles are expected to revolutionize the transportation industry. The goal of this research is to study the heterogeneity in traffic flow dynamics by comparing different penetration rates of four different types of vehicles: autonomous cars (AC), autonomous buses (AB), manual cars (MC), and manual buses (MB). For the purpose of this research, a modified cellular automata (CA) model is developed in order to analyze the effect of heterogeneous vehicles (manual and autonomous). Previously, studies have focused on manual and autonomous cars, but we believe a gap in perception and analysis of mixed traffic still exists, as inclusion of other modes of autonomous vehicle research is very limited. Therefore, we have explicitly examined the effect of the AB on overall traffic flow. Moreover, two types of lane changing behavior (aggressive lane changing and polite lane changing) were also integrated into the model. Multiple scenarios through different compositions of vehicles were simulated. As per the results, if AB is employed concurrently with AC, there will be a significant improvement in traffic flow and road capacity, as equally more passengers can be accommodated in AB as AC is also anticipated to be used in carpooling. Secondly, when the vehicles change the lanes aggressively, there is a substantial growth in the flow rate and capacity of the network. Polite lane change does not significantly affect the flow rate.
Habit or Utility: A Key Choice Point in Promoting the Adoption of Telehealth in China
Authors: Fan Yun , Liu Sifeng , Liu Jun , Javed Saad Ahmed , Fang Zhigeng
Published: July 2020

Telehealth, as an indispensable means of technical support in the Healthy China Strategy, currently has less than 20 percent adoption rate in China despite a great deal of government policies and investments. In the current study, to analyse the influencing factors behind doctors’ and patients’ adoption of telehealth, an asymmetric dynamic evolutionary game model of doctor-patient behaviour selection was established. Based on the model solution, the evolutionarily stable strategies that emerge in different situations were analysed. The results show that it is difficult for the adoption of telehealth in China to keep pace with coverage due to the “dual low” nature of telehealth: both doctors’ utility from telehealth and patients’ telehealth cost threshold are too low to incentivize adoption. The strategy to promote the adoption of telehealth in China should include providing adequate training for doctors and patients on the use of telehealth technology, rewarding doctors who provide telehealth services and raising the threshold cost of patient’s telehealth adoption.
Perception of Women regarding Respectful Maternity Care during Facility-Based Childbirth
Authors: Pathak Pratima , Ghimire Bijaya
Published: July 2020

Background. Respectful care during childbirth has been described as “a universal human right that encompasses the principles of ethics and respect for women’s feelings, dignity, choices, and preferences.” Many women experience a lack of respectful and abusive care during childbirth across the globe. Objective. This study aimed to determine women’s perception of respectful maternity care (RMC) during facility-based childbirth. Method. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 150 mothers admitted to the maternity ward of Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital using a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through an interview technique by using a validated tool containing 15 items each measured on a scale of 5. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 16 was used for data analysis. Frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation, chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were used to analyze descriptive and inferential statistics. Results. In total, 84.7% of the women reported that they have experienced overall RMC services with a mean score ± SD (61.70 ± 12.12). Though the majority of the women reported that they have experienced RMC services, they also revealed that they have experienced disrespectful care in various forms such as being shouted upon (30.0%), being slapped (18.7%), delayed service provision (22.7%), and not talking positively about pain and relief during childbirth (28.0%). Likewise, length of stay, parity, and time of delivery were found as factors that influenced friendly care (COR = 0.383, 95% CI: 0.157–0.934), abuse-free care (COR = 3.663, 95% CI: 1.607–8.349), and timely care (COR = 2.050, 95% CI: 1.031–4.076) dimensions of RMC, respectively. Conclusion. Even though RMC emphasizes eliminating disrespectful and abusive environment from health facilities, 15.0% of participants perceived that they have not experienced overall RMC services. So, the health facility should focus on the interventions which ensure that every woman receives this basic human dignity during one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.
State Synchronization for a Class of n-Dimensional Nonlinear Systems with Sector Input Nonlinearity via Adaptive Two-Stage Sliding Mode Control
Authors: Yang Chi-Hsin , Wang Kun-Chieh , Wu Long , Wen Ren
Published: July 2020

This study addresses an adaptive two-stage sliding mode control (SMC) scheme for the state synchronization between two identical systems, which belong to a kind of n-dimensional chaotic system, by considering the appearance of lumped system uncertainties and external disturbances. The controlled system is assumed to be attached to sector nonlinearity for the control input. The proposed adaptive control scheme involves time-variable state-feedback gains, which are updated in accordance with the appropriate adapted rules without foreknown the certain information of nonlinear system dynamics, bounds of lumped system uncertainties and external disturbances, and sector input nonlinearity. The derivation of the control scheme is found based on the introduced sequence of two sliding functions. The stage 1 sliding function is defined by the states of the error dynamical system, where the asymptotical stability is inherent. Then, the stage 2 sliding function is formed by the stage 1 function, where the finite-time stabilization is guaranteed. The proposed adaptive control scheme can cope with the effect of sector nonlinearity for the control to meet the control goal. The sufficient conditions of the stability of the error dynamical system are proven mathematically by means of the Lyapunov theorem. Besides, the capacity of the present scheme is carried out by the numerical studies.
A Comparison of Normal Cone Conditions for Homotopy Methods for Solving Inequality Constrained Nonlinear Programming Problems
Authors: Zhou Zhengyong , Zhang Ting
Published: July 2020

Homotopy methods are powerful tools for solving nonlinear programming. Their global convergence can be generally established under conditions of the nonemptiness and boundness of the interior of the feasible set, the Positive Linear Independent Constraint Qualification (PLICQ), which is equivalent to the Mangasarian-Fromovitz Constraint Qualification (MFCQ), and the normal cone condition. This paper provides a comparison of the existing normal cone conditions used in homotopy methods for solving inequality constrained nonlinear programming.
The Construction of a Virtual Backbone with a Bounded Diameter in a Wireless Network
Authors: Liang Jiarong , Yi Meng , Li Yanyan , Liang Xinyu
Published: July 2020

We usually use a digraph to represent a wireless network (WN). Correspondingly, a connected dominating set (CDS) of the digraph is usually used to denote a virtual backbone (VB) of the corresponding WN. In this article, focusing on the problem of a minimum strongly connected dominating and absorbing set (MSCDAS) with a bounded diameter (or guaranteed routing cost) for a digraph, which is strongly connected, we introduce two algorithms. One is called the guaranteed routing cost strongly connected dominating and absorbing set (GOC-SCDAS), which can generate a strongly connected dominating and absorbing set (SCDAS) with a performance ratio 14.4k+1/22 in respect of the optimal solution. Another is called the α guaranteed routing cost strongly connected bidirectional dominating and absorbing set (α-GOC-SCBDAS), which can generate a strongly connected bidirectional dominating and absorbing set (SCBDAS) with a performance ratio 8.8443k+1/22k+1/22 in respect of the optimal solution and a better routing cost, where k=rmax/rmin and rmin,rmax is the transmission range of nodes in the network. Through the simulation experiments, we obtain the conclusion that in terms of the diameter and average routing path length (ARPL) of CDS, the outputs of our algorithms are better than those of the algorithm in (Du et al. 2006).
Observer-Based Controllers for Two-Wheeled Inverted Robots with Unknown Input Disturbance and Model Uncertainty
Authors: Tran Khanh G. , Nguyen Nam H. , Nguyen Phuoc D.
Published: July 2020

In this paper, two controllers with a compound disturbance observer are proposed for a two-wheeled inverted robot (TWIR) with model uncertainty and unknown input disturbance. First, an equivalent linear model of the TWIR with uncertainty and input disturbance is proposed using the Taylor series expansion for the nonlinear model of the TWIR at an equilibrium point, in which the nonlinear part of the Taylor series and the model uncertainty are combined with unknown input disturbance as compound input disturbance. Then, the compound input disturbance is estimated by using the Newton method and reference model. As the estimated compound disturbance is used to compensate for the compound disturbance, the equivalent linear system becomes closely definite without compound input disturbance. Finally, two controllers are proposed using the equivalent linear system. Stability analysis of the proposed control methods is also given. To illustrate the proposed methods, some simulations for the TWIR are performed and compared with the existing methods. The main contribution of this work includes the following: (i) simple controllers based on compound input disturbance observer for trajectory tracking and balancing of TWIRs with unknown input disturbance and model uncertainty are proposed; (ii) the stability of proposed closed-loop control systems is proved; (iii) our proposed methods are simulated and compared with the existing methods.
Assessment of the Excavation Damaged Zones in the Surrounding Rock of an Underground Powerhouse under High In Situ Stress Using an Acoustic Velocity Detecting Method
Authors: Zhang Liguo , Wang Dong , Dong Jiaxing
Published: July 2020

Excavation damaged zones (EDZs) in deeply buried underground powerhouse have become major obstacles to design and support, which potentially threaten safety and stability and increase construction and support costs. In this study, investigations of the EDZs were performed by applying an acoustic velocity detecting method in Houziyan hydropower project, southwest of China. A total of 38 testing boreholes distributed in high sidewalls of the main powerhouse were carried out, and corresponding 153 curves were obtained and analyzed. Then, EDZs were divided into highly damaged zone (HDZ), slightly damaged zone (SDZ), and excavation influence zone (EIZ), respectively. Furthermore, we classified the wave velocity curves into four categories: type I, type II, type III, and type IV. EDZs were qualitatively assessed based on the curve categories; in addition, we used a qualitative assessment method, which mainly involved an index of damage degree named D. The assessment results show that HDZ, but not SDZ, was significantly asymmetrically distributed in the upstream (average depth of 4.1 m) and downstream (average depth of 7.5 m) high sidewalls; in partial areas, depth of HDZ exceeded the length of designed rock bolts, which indicates that rock bolts cannot restrain crack development and EDZs evolution. Generally, EDZs distribution was consistent with deformation and failure phenomena distribution; compared to the field failure phenomena, the assessment results were reliable and reasonable. Finally, EDZs formation mechanism was discussed, and it can be concluded that the relatively large intermediate principal stresses σ2 were a critical driving factor of the EDZs evolution.
FoxC1-Induced Vascular Niche Improves Survival and Myocardial Repair of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Infarcted Hearts
Authors: Zhao Lan , Zhang Rui , Su Feng , Dai Libing , Wang Jiahong , Cui Jin , Huang Weiguang , Zhang Shaoheng
Published: July 2020

Aims. Forkhead box C1 (FoxC1) is essential for maintaining the hair follicle stem cell niche. The role of FoxC1 in maintaining mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) niches after myocardial infarction (MI) has not been directly determined to date. In this study, we determined to explore the possible roles and mechanisms of FoxC1 on MSC survival and function in the ischemic niche. Methods and Results. MI model was established in this study, and expression level of FoxC1 was overexpressed or knocked down through efficient delivery of FoxC1 transfection or siFoxC1. Fifteen days later, the animals were allocated randomly to receive phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) injection or MSC transplantation. We identified FoxC1 as a key regulator of maintaining the vascular niche in the infarcted hearts (IHs) by driving proangiogenic and anti-inflammatory cytokines while repressing inflammatory and fibrotic factor expression. This vascular niche improved MSC survival and capacity in the IHs. Importantly, FoxC1 interacted with MSCs and was required for vessel specification and differentiation of engrafted MSCs in the ischemic niches, promoting myocardial repair. Inhibiting FoxC1 abolished these effects. Conclusion. These results definitively implicate FoxC1 signaling in maintaining ischemic vascular niche, which may be helpful in myocardial repair induced by MSC therapy.
The Postural Control Indexes during Unipodal Support in Patients with Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Dąbrowska Aneta , Olszewska-Karaban Marzena A. , Permoda-Białozorczyk Anna K. , Szalewska Dominika A.
Published: July 2020

Proper posture provides the best balance and body stability at minimal muscular effort. It is constantly controlled by the central nervous system, which integrates the stimuli from the proprioceptors (deep feeling sensors), vision receptors, and balance receptors through the subcortical structures. The main purpose of the study was to describe single stance stability and its correlation with the degree of scoliosis and trunk rotation among patients suffering from idiopathic scoliosis and in the control group without scoliosis. The study included 80 patients (69 girls and 11 boys) and 40 healthy children without scoliosis (21 girls and 19 boys). The Cobb angle technique was used to determine the magnitude of the deformity. All subjects were divided into three subgroups according to Bogdanov’s classification. Single stance stability with eyes open and eyes closed was assessed with an electronic postural station—Delos Postural Proprioceptive System (DPPS). In case of multiple group comparisons for variables with normal distribution ANOVA with Scheffe, post hoc test was used or Kruskal‐Wallis test was used as the nonparametric equivalent. The relationship between the two continuous variables was investigated using either Pearson product‐moment correlation or Spearman’s rank correlation. In all these calculations, the statistical significance level was set to p < 0.05. The single stance test showed a significant difference between the stability index with eyes open and stability index with eyes closed in study and control groups. The character of these alterations is influenced by the degree of trunk rotation. The degree of scoliosis according to Bogdanov classification does not determine the decrease in stability indexes. In summary, significantly lower values of the stability index during one‐leg standing with eyes closed indicated balance impairment, which is mainly connected with inadequate functioning of the proprioceptive system.