bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of scholars who review for predatory and legitimate journals: linkage study of Cabells Scholarly Analytics and Publons data
Authors: Severin Anna , Strinzel Michaela , Egger Matthias , Domingo Marc , Barros Tiago
Published: July 2021

Objectives

To describe and compare the characteristics of scholars who reviewed for predatory or legitimate journals in terms of their sociodemographic characteristics and reviewing and publishing behaviour.

Design

Linkage of random samples of predatory journals and legitimate journals of the Cabells Scholarly Analytics’ journal lists with the Publons database, employing the Jaro-Winkler string metric. Descriptive analysis of sociodemographic characteristics and reviewing and publishing behaviour of scholars for whom reviews were found in the Publons database.

Setting

Peer review of journal articles.

Participants

Reviewers who submitted peer review reports to Publons.

Measurements

Numbers of reviews for predatory journals and legitimate journals per reviewer. Academic age of reviewers, the total number of reviews, number of publications and number of reviews and publications per year.

Results

Analyses included 183 743 unique reviews submitted to Publons by 19 598 reviewers. Six thousand and seventy-seven reviews were for 1160 predatory journals (3.31% of all reviews) and 177 666 reviews for 6403 legitimate journals (96.69%). Most scholars never submitted reviews for predatory journals (90.0% of all scholars); few scholars (7.6%) reviewed occasionally or rarely (1.9%) for predatory journals. Very few scholars submitted reviews predominantly or exclusively for predatory journals (0.26% and 0.35%, respectively). The latter groups of scholars were of younger academic age and had fewer publications and reviews than the first groups. Regions with the highest shares of predatory reviews were sub-Saharan Africa (21.8% reviews for predatory journals), Middle East and North Africa (13.9%) and South Asia (7.0%), followed by North America (2.1%), Latin America and the Caribbean (2.1%), Europe and Central Asia (1.9%) and East Asia and the Pacific (1.5%).

Conclusion

To tackle predatory journals, universities, funders and publishers need to consider the entire research workflow and educate reviewers on concepts of quality and legitimacy in scholarly publishing.
Comparative effectiveness of combined antiplatelet treatments in acute minor ischaemic stroke
Authors: Kim Shina , Kim Joon-Tae , Lee Ji Sung , Kim Beom Joon , Park Jong-Moo , Kang Kyusik , Lee Soo Joo , Kim Jae Guk , Cha Jae-Kwan , Kim Dae-Hyun , Park Tai Hwan , Park Sang-Soon , Lee Kyung Bok , Lee Jun , Hong Keun-Sik , Cho Yong-Jin , Park Hong-Kyun , Lee Byung-Chul , Yu Kyung-Ho , Oh Mi Sun , Kim Dong-Eog , Ryu Wi-Sun , Choi Jay Chol , Kwon Jee-Hyun , Kim Wook-Joo , Shin Dong-Ick , Sohn Sung-Il , Hong Jeong-Ho , Park Man-Seok , Choi Kang-Ho , Cho Ki-Hyun , Lee Juneyoung , Bae Hee-Joon
Published: July 2021

Background

No study has thoroughly compared the effectiveness of combined antiplatelet treatments (other than clopidogrel–aspirin) versus clopidogrel–aspirin or aspirin alone for early secondary prevention in acute ischaemic stroke.

Methods

We identified patients with acute, minor, non-cardiogenic ischaemic stroke treated with aspirin alone, clopidogrel–aspirin or other combination treatment. Propensity scores considering the inverse probability of treatment weighting were used to adjust for baseline imbalances. The primary outcome was the composite of all strokes (ischaemic or haemorrhagic), myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality at 3 months.

Results

Among 12 234 patients (male: 61.9%; age: 65.5±13 years) who met the eligibility criteria, aspirin, clopidogrel–aspirin and other combination treatments were administered in 52.2%, 42.9% and 4.9% of patients, respectively. In the crude analysis, the primary outcome event at 3 months occurred in 14.5% of the other combination group, 14.4% of the aspirin group and 13.0% of the clopidogrel–aspirin group. In the weighted Cox proportional hazards analysis, the 3-month primary outcome event occurred less frequently in the clopidogrel–aspirin group than in the other combination group (weighted HR: 0.82 (0.59–1.13)), while no association was found between the aspirin group (weighted HR: 1.04 (0.76–1.44)) or other combination group and the 3-month primary outcome.

Conclusion

Other combined antiplatelet treatment, compared with aspirin alone or clopidogrel–aspirin, was not associated with reduced risks of primary composite vascular events or recurrent stroke during the first 3 months after stroke. Therefore, the results suggest that other combination treatments, particularly the cilostazol-based combination, may not be effective alternatives for clopidogrel–aspirin to prevent early vascular events in patients with acute minor stroke. Further exploration in clinical trials will be needed.
Quantitative analysis of intermuscular septa in the leg: implications for trauma surgery
Authors: Agandi Lorreen , Fuller Kristina , Sonderman Kristin , Tisherman Samuel , Puche Adam C
Published: July 2021

Background

Compartment syndrome is the excess swelling within an inelastic compartment leading to excessive compartment pressure. Lower limb trauma has a high risk of compartment syndrome, which is typically mitigated using a two-incision fasciotomy. Our previous findings showed surgeons sometimes perform incomplete fasciotomies due to misidentifying the septum between the lateral and superficial posterior compartments as the septum between the anterior and lateral compartments. We conjectured this may be due to variability in the septal position between individuals leading to misinterpretation of the septal identity.

Methods

A retrospective analysis was performed using CT angiograms to analyze septal position between the anterior and lateral compartments of the leg of 100 patients randomly selected from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center database.

Results

Analysis of septal position showed that (1) as the septum progresses distally down the leg, the relative septum position shifts anteriorly; and that (2) there was considerable variability in the intermuscular septum position between individuals even when accounting for the anterior to posterior progression of septal position.

Discussion

This variability could lead to erroneous septal identification in individuals with a very anteriorly located septum during a leg fasciotomy with the classic initial incision being insufficiently anterior. We propose making the lateral initial incision ‘two finger breadths posterior the tibia’ rather than the traditional ‘one finger breadth anterior’ to the fibula. This moves the initial incision slightly anteriorly, uses the more readily palpable tibia, and makes the medial and lateral incisions symmetrical at ‘two finger breadths’ from the tibia, simplifying the procedure.

Level of evidence

Level 3.
Advancing trauma care through social media
Authors: Luu Hannah , Keating Jane , Jacobs Lenwoth , Gates Jonathan , Ricaurte Daniel
Published: July 2021

Social media has become an integral part of everyday life. Because of this, medical representation has become increasingly popular across social media. Medical professionals have begun to recognize the value of social media in areas such as research promotion, mentorship program expansion and collaboration with peers. To date, these online medical communities are being underused in the field of trauma. Trauma centers may benefit by creating a more prominent online presence to allow for the dissemination of critical research, expansion of injury prevention programs and participation in national annual meetings. When used properly, social media can serve as a platform for the advancement of trauma care in a cost-effective manner.
Optimal design of an adaptive robust controller using a multi-objective artificial bee colony algorithm for an inverted pendulum system
Authors: Mahmoodabadi Mohammad Javad , Hadipour Lakmesari Sadegh
Published: July 2021

In this study, a multi-objective artificial bee colony (MOABC) optimization algorithm was utilized to improve the performance of an adaptive robust control technique. This approach is implemented using an inverted pendulum system. More precisely, the proposed controller is a combination of a decoupled sliding-mode controller (DSMC) and adaptation laws based on the gradient descent approach. To achieve optimum control operation, the MOABC, as a novel meta-heuristic method simulated from the smart foraging activity of honeybee groups, was employed to optimize the coefficients of the suggested controller. In this regard, the objective functions are determined as the integral time of the absolute value of the pole angle and cart position errors. Finally, the time responses of the system states and control effort are presented to prove the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed strategy compared with other contemporary studies referenced in this paper.
Erratum to: Data blinding for the nEDM experiment at PSI
Authors: Ayres N. J. , Ban G. , Bison G. , Bodek K. , Bondar V. , Chanel E. , Chiu P.-J. , Crawford C. B. , Daum M. , Emmenegger S. , Ferraris-Bouchez L. , Flaux P. , Grujić Z. , Harris P. G. , Hild N. , Hommet J. , Kasprzak M. , Kermaïdic Y. , Kirch K. , Komposch S. , Kozela A. , Krempel J. , Lauss B. , Lefort T. , Lemiere Y. , Leredde A. , Mohanmurthy P. , Mtchedlishvili A. , Naviliat-Cuncic O. , Pais D. , Piegsa F. M. , Pignol G. , Rawlik M. , Rebreyend D. , Rienäcker I. , Ries D. , Roccia S. , Rozpedzik D. , Schmidt-Wellenburg P. , Schnabel A. , Virot R. , Weis A. , Wursten E. , Zejma J. , Zsigmond G.
Published: July 2021

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-021-00456-1
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Quasi-dimensional models applied to kinetic and exchange energy density functionals
Authors: Urso Vittoria , Constantin Lucian A.
Published: July 2021

We investigate the behavior of three-dimensional 3D exchange energy functional of density-functional theory in anisotropic systems with two-dimensional 2D character and 1D character. The local density approximation (LDA), the generalized gradient approximation (GGA), and the meta-GGA behave as functions of quantum well width. We use the infinite-barrier model (IBM) for the quantum well. In the first section, we describe the problem of three-dimensional exchange functional, in the second section we introduce the quasi-2D IBM system, in the third section we introduce the quasi-1D IBM system. Using that an exact-exchange functional provides the correct approach to the true two-dimensional limit, we want to show that the 2D limit can be considered as a constraint on approximate functionals. For the 1D limit case we also propose a new functional obtained with methods completely similar to those of 2D limit.
QCD factorization of the four-lepton decay $$B^-\rightarrow \ell \bar{\nu }_\ell \ell ^{(\prime )} \bar{\ell }^{(\prime )}$$
Authors: Beneke Martin , Böer Philipp , Rigatos Panagiotis , Vos K. Keri
Published: July 2021

Motivated by the first search for the rare charged-current B decay to four leptons, $$\ell \bar{\nu }_\ell \ell ^{(\prime )} \bar{\ell }^{(\prime )}$$

ℓ

ν

¯

ℓ

ℓ

(
′
)

ℓ

¯

(
′
)

, we calculate the decay amplitude with factorization methods. We obtain the $$B\rightarrow \gamma ^*$$

B
→

γ
∗

form factors, which depend on the invariant masses of the two lepton pairs, at leading power in an expansion in $$\Lambda _\mathrm{QCD}/m_b$$

Λ
QCD

/

m
b

to next-to-leading order in $$\alpha _s$$

α
s

, and at $$\mathcal {O}(\alpha _s^0)$$

O
(

α
s
0

)

at next-to-leading power. Our calculations predict branching fractions of a few times $$10^{-8}$$

10

-
8

in the $$\ell ^{(\prime )} \bar{\ell }^{(\prime )}$$

ℓ

(
′
)

ℓ

¯

(
′
)

mass-squared bin up to $$q^2=1~$$

q
2

=
1

GeV$$^2$$

2

with $$n_+q>3~$$

n
+

q
>
3

GeV. The branching fraction rapidly drops with increasing $$q^2$$

q
2

. An important further motivation for this investigation has been to explore the sensitivity of the decay rate to the inverse moment $$\lambda _B$$

λ
B

of the leading-twist B meson light-cone distribution amplitude. We find that in the small-$$q^2$$

q
2

bin, the sensitivity to $$\lambda _B$$

λ
B

is almost comparable to $$B^- \rightarrow \mathrm {\ell }^- \bar{\nu }_{\mathrm {\ell }}\gamma $$

B
-

→

ℓ

-

ν

¯

ℓ

γ

when $$\lambda _B$$

λ
B

is small, but with an added uncertainty from the light-meson intermediate resonance contribution. The sensitivity degrades with larger $$q^2$$

q
2

.
Charged black hole and radiating solutions in entangled relativity
Authors: Minazzoli Olivier , Santos Edison
Published: July 2021

In this manuscript, we show that the external Schwarzschild metric can be a good approximation of exact black hole solutions of entangled relativity. Since entangled relativity cannot be defined from vacuum, the demonstrations need to rely on the definition of matter fields. The electromagnetic field being the easiest (and perhaps the only) existing matter field with infinite range to consider, we study the case of a charged black hole – for which the solution of entangled relativity and a dilaton theory agree – as well as the case of a pure radiation – for which the solution of entangled relativity and general relativity seem to agree, despite an apparent ambiguity in the field equations. Based on these results, we argue that the external Schwarzschild metric is an appropriate mathematical idealization of a spherical black hole in entangled relativity. The extension to rotating cases is briefly discussed.
Iterative Multi-Attribute Procurement Auction with Decision Support for Bid Formulation
Authors: Chetan T. G. , Jenamani Mamata , Sarmah S. P.
Published: July 2021

Iterative multi-attribute reverse auctions in practice create certain difficulties for both the buyer and participating bidders. While the buyer faces the problem of creating the right attribute weights, the bidders have difficulty in adjusting the attribute values in each round. In this paper, we present an iterative multi-attribute reverse auction mechanism based on integrated data envelopment analysis (DEA) and best–worst method (BWM) with an objective of reducing the intervention of the buyer in the determination of the winner and also easing up the preference elicitation process. Unlike the typical scoring auctions, the proposed mechanism does not require the buyer to estimate the characteristics of the participating sellers in order to determine the optimal scoring function. As there will be no other intervention from the buyer during the winner determination process, the proposed method makes the procurement process impartial and corruption-free. Besides solving the buyer’s problem, the proposed mechanism is also associated with an optimal bid determination method (OBDM) to assist the sellers in formulating improvised bids in iterative rounds of the auction. Simulation experiments show that the proposed OBDM benefits both the buyer and sellers. For the buyer, it provides higher expected utility and attribute values as per his preferences; for the seller, it gives a better expected profit and a higher probability of winning.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UPPER BOX DIMENSION OF CONTINUOUS FUNCTIONS AND ORDERS OF WEYL FRACTIONAL INTEGRAL
Authors: GAO H. B. , LIANG Y. S. , XIAO W.
Published: July 2021

In this paper, we mainly investigate relationship between fractal dimension of continuous functions and orders of Weyl fractional integrals. If a continuous function defined on a closed interval is of bounded variation, its Weyl fractional integral must still be a continuous function with bounded variation. Thus, both its Weyl fractional integral and itself have Box dimension one. If a continuous function satisfies Hölder condition, we give estimation of fractal dimension of its Weyl fractional integral. If a Hölder continuous function is equal to 0 on [Formula: see text], a better estimation of fractal dimension can be obtained. When a function is continuous on [Formula: see text] and its Weyl fractional integral is well defined, a general estimation of upper Box dimension of Weyl fractional integral of the function has been given which is strictly less than two. In the end, it has been proved that upper Box dimension of Weyl fractional integrals of continuous functions is no more than upper Box dimension of original functions.
THE INFLUENCE OF SPATIAL RESOLUTION AND FIBER DENSITY ON THE FRACTAL DIMENSION OF CEREBRAL FIBER TRACTS
Authors: REISHOFER GERNOT , STUDENCNIK FRITZ , KOSCHUTNIG KARL , DEUTSCHMANN HANNES , GUNZER FELIX , HASSLER EVA , LEBER STEFAN L. , WOOD GUILHERME
Published: July 2021

The determination of the generalized fractal dimensions (FDs) from MRI tractograms is affected by image resolution and the number of fiber tracts. In this work, we demonstrate that only certain combinations of image resolution, number of fiber tracts and exponent of the generalized dimensions are able to capture structural changes in human cerebral white matter. MRI tractography was carried out for a different number of fiber tracts and was discretized on different grid sizes. Generalized FDs were evaluated for two groups of healthy subjects with different age distribution. For the box-counting dimension ([Formula: see text]) the highest difference between two age groups was found for a matrix size of 20483 pixel with a strong dependence on the number of fiber tracts. The correlation dimension found the highest differences for a resolution of 10243 pixel, largely independent of the number of fiber tracts. The correlation dimension evaluated for tractograms discretized on a 10243 grid is a robust measurement to capture structural changes in human cerebral white matter by means of FD.
L2-type contraction of viscous shocks for scalar conservation laws
Authors: Stokols Logan F.
Published: July 2021

We study small shocks of 1D scalar viscous conservation laws with uniformly convex flux and nonlinear dissipation. We show that such shocks are [Formula: see text] stable independently of the strength of the dissipation, even with large perturbations. The proof uses the relative entropy method with a spatially-inhomogeneous pseudo-norm.
On the null-timelike boundary for Maxwell and spin-2 fields in asymptotically flat spaces
Authors: Han Qing , Zhang Lin
Published: July 2021

We study the Maxwell equation and the spin-2 field equation in Bondi–Sachs coordinates associated with an asymptotically flat Lorentzian metric. We consider the mixed boundary/initial value problem, where the initial data are imposed on a null hypersurface and a boundary value is prescribed on a timelike hypersurface. We establish Sobolev [Formula: see text] space-time estimates for solutions and their asymptotic expansions at the null infinity.
Nonlinear Damping and Forced Response of Laminated Composite Cylindrical Shells with Inherent Material Damping
Authors: Dai Qiyi , Liu Yunfei , Qin Zhaoye , Chu Fulei
Published: July 2021

In this paper, the nonlinear damping and forced response behaviors of laminated composite cylindrical shells considering the internal damping of composite materials are investigated. Based on Donnell nonlinear shell theory, the dynamic governing equations of composite cylindrical shells with geometrical nonlinearity are established by using the Hamilton principle, in which the inherent material damping is taken into account by complex modulus method. The dependence of nonlinear damping on vibration amplitude and amplitude–frequency response are analytically obtained by the Galerkin method in conjunction with harmonic balance method. By comparing the results of natural frequency and modal damping with those in the literature, the correctness of the above theoretical analysis is verified. Furthermore, the effects of the circumferential wave number, lamination schemes, vibration amplitude and geometric configuration on the nonlinear damping and forced responses of the composite cylindrical shell with unidirectional, angle-ply and cross-ply laminations are analyzed. The results show that the damping dissipation capacity of the composite cylindrical shell is amplitude-dependent, and the effect of the amplitude on the nonlinear damping characteristics gradually decreases with the increase of the length-to-radius ratio. The ply angle not only affects the value of the resonance peak, but also significantly changes the degree of the soft and hard spring characteristics of the composite cylindrical shell. With the increase of internal material damping, the amplitude-frequency curve of the composite cylindrical shell changes from the coexistence of hard and soft characteristics to the only soft characteristics.
Sensor-Based Estimation of Dim Light Melatonin Onset Using Features of Two Time Scales
Authors: Wan Cheng , Mchill Andrew W. , Klerman Elizabeth B. , Sano Akane
Published: July 2021

Circadian rhythms influence multiple essential biological activities, including sleep, performance, and mood. The dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) is the gold standard for measuring human circadian phase (i.e., timing). The collection of DLMO is expensive and time consuming since multiple saliva or blood samples are required overnight in special conditions, and the samples must then be assayed for melatonin. Recently, several computational approaches have been designed for estimating DLMO. These methods collect daily sampled data (e.g., sleep onset/offset times) or frequently sampled data (e.g., light exposure/skin temperature/physical activity collected every minute) to train learning models for estimating DLMO. One limitation of these studies is that they only leverage one time-scale data. We propose a two-step framework for estimating DLMO using data from both time scales. The first step summarizes data from before the current day, whereas the second step combines this summary with frequently sampled data of the current day. We evaluate three moving average models that input sleep timing data as the first step and use recurrent neural network models as the second step. The results using data from 207 undergraduates show that our two-step model with two time-scale features has statistically significantly lower root-mean-square errors than models that use either daily sampled data or frequently sampled data.
Expressive Cognitive Architecture for a Curious Social Robot
Authors: Rosenberg Maor , Park Hae Won , Rosenberg-Kima Rinat , Ali Safinah , Ostrowski Anastasia K. , Breazeal Cynthia , Gordon Goren
Published: July 2021

Artificial curiosity, based on developmental psychology concepts wherein an agent attempts to maximize its learning progress, has gained much attention in recent years. Similarly, social robots are slowly integrating into our daily lives, in schools, factories, and in our homes. In this contribution, we integrate recent advances in artificial curiosity and social robots into a single expressive cognitive architecture. It is composed of artificial curiosity and social expressivity modules and their unique link, i.e., the robot verbally and non-verbally communicates its internally estimated learning progress, or learnability, to its human companion. We implemented this architecture in an interaction where a fully autonomous robot took turns with a child trying to select and solve tangram puzzles on a tablet. During the curious robot’s turn, it selected its estimated most learnable tangram to play, communicated its selection to the child, and then attempted at solving it. We validated the implemented architecture and showed that the robot learned, estimated its learnability, and improved when its selection was based on its learnability estimation. Moreover, we ran a comparison study between curious and non-curious robots, and showed that the robot’s curiosity-based behavior influenced the child’s selections. Based on the artificial curiosity module of the robot, we have formulated an equation that estimates each child’s moment-by-moment curiosity based on their selections. This analysis revealed an overall significant decrease in estimated curiosity during the interaction. However, this drop in estimated curiosity was significantly larger with the non-curious robot, compared to the curious one. These results suggest that the new architecture is a promising new approach to integrate state-of-the-art curiosity-based algorithms to the growing field of social robots.
A Survey on Security and Privacy Issues in Modern Healthcare Systems
Authors: Newaz Akm Iqtidar , Sikder Amit Kumar , Rahman Mohammad Ashiqur , Uluagac A. Selcuk
Published: July 2021

Recent advancements in computing systems and wireless communications have made healthcare systems more efficient than before. Modern healthcare devices can monitor and manage different health conditions of patients automatically without any manual intervention from medical professionals. Additionally, the use of implantable medical devices, body area networks, and Internet of Things technologies in healthcare systems improve the overall patient monitoring and treatment process. However, these systems are complex in software and hardware, and optimizing between security, privacy, and treatment is crucial for healthcare systems because any security or privacy violation can lead to severe effects on patients’ treatments and overall health conditions. Indeed, the healthcare domain is increasingly facing security challenges and threats due to numerous design flaws and the lack of proper security measures in healthcare devices and applications. In this article, we explore various security and privacy threats to healthcare systems and discuss the consequences of these threats. We present a detailed survey of different potential attacks and discuss their impacts. Furthermore, we review the existing security measures proposed for healthcare systems and discuss their limitations. Finally, we conclude the article with future research directions toward securing healthcare systems against common vulnerabilities.
C-Hg
Authors: Zhao Huan , Amat Ashwaq Zaini , Migovich Miroslava , Swanson Amy , Weitlauf Amy S. , Warren Zachary , Sarkar Nilanjan
Published: July 2021

Computer-assisted systems can provide efficient and engaging ASD intervention environments for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, most existing computer-assisted systems target only one skill deficit (e.g., social conversation skills) and ignore the importance of other areas, such as motor skills, that could also impact social interaction. This focus on a single domain may hinder the generalizability of learned skills to real-world scenarios, because the targeted teaching strategies do not reflect that real-world tasks often involve more than one skill domain. The work presented in this article seeks to bridge this gap by developing a Collaborative Haptic-gripper virtual skill training system (C-Hg). This system includes individual and collaborative games that provide opportunities for simultaneously practicing both fine motor skills (hand movement and grip control skills) as well as social skills (communication and collaboration) and investigating how they relate to each other. We conducted a usability study with 10 children with ASD and 10 Typically Developing (TD) children (8–12 years), who used C-Hg to play a series of individual and collaborative games requiring differing levels of motor and communication skill. Results revealed that participant performance significantly improved in both individual and collaborative fine motor skill training tasks, including significant improvements in collaborative manipulations between partners. Participants with ASD were found to conduct more collaborative manipulations and initiate more conversations with their partners in the post collaborative tasks, suggesting more active collaboration and communication of participants with ASD in the collaborative tasks. Results support the potential of our C-Hg system for simultaneously improving fine motor and social skills, with implications for impacts of improved fine motor skills on social outcomes.
Opinion Dynamics Optimization by Varying Susceptibility to Persuasion via Non-Convex Local Search
Authors: Abebe Rediet , Chan T.-H. HUBERT , Kleinberg Jon , Liang Zhibin , Parkes David , Sozio Mauro , Tsourakakis Charalampos E.
Published: July 2021

A long line of work in social psychology has studied variations in people’s susceptibility to persuasion—the extent to which they are willing to modify their opinions on a topic. This body of literature suggests an interesting perspective on theoretical models of opinion formation by interacting parties in a network: in addition to considering interventions that directly modify people’s intrinsic opinions, it is also natural to consider interventions that modify people’s susceptibility to persuasion.

In this work, motivated by this fact, we propose an influence optimization problem. Specifically, we adopt a popular model for social opinion dynamics, where each agent has some fixed innate opinion, and a resistance that measures the importance it places on its innate opinion; agents influence one another’s opinions through an iterative process. Under certain conditions, this iterative process converges to some equilibrium opinion vector. For the unbudgeted variant of the problem, the goal is to modify the resistance of any number of agents (within some given range) such that the sum of the equilibrium opinions is minimized; for the budgeted variant, in addition the algorithm is given upfront a restriction on the number of agents whose resistance may be modified.

We prove that the objective function is in general non-convex. Hence, formulating the problem as a convex program as in an early version of this work (Abebe et al., KDD’18) might have potential correctness issues. We instead analyze the structure of the objective function, and show that any local optimum is also a global optimum, which is somehow surprising as the objective function might not be convex. Furthermore, we combine the iterative process and the local search paradigm to design very efficient algorithms that can solve the unbudgeted variant of the problem optimally on large-scale graphs containing millions of nodes. Finally, we propose and evaluate experimentally a family of heuristics for the budgeted variant of the problem.
The Fertilization Enigma: How Sperm and Egg Fuse
Authors: Deneke Victoria E. , Pauli Andrea
Published: July 2021

Fertilization is a multistep process that culminates in the fusion of sperm and egg, thus marking the beginning of a new organism in sexually reproducing species. Despite its importance for reproduction, the molecular mechanisms that regulate this singular event, particularly sperm–egg fusion, have remained mysterious for many decades. Here, we summarize our current molecular understanding of sperm–egg interaction, focusing mainly on mammalian fertilization. Given the fundamental importance of sperm–egg fusion yet the lack of knowledge of this process in vertebrates, we discuss hallmarks and emerging themes of cell fusion by drawing from well-studied examples such as viral entry, placenta formation, and muscle development. We conclude by identifying open questions and exciting avenues for future studies in gamete fusion.
Simultaneous Determination of Hydrochlorothiazide and Losartan Potassium in Pharmaceutical Product by UV-Vis Spectrophotometric Method with Kalman Filter Algorithm
Authors: Binh Tran Thuc , Phuong Tram Le Thi , Van Hop Nguyen , Giang Chau Nguyen Dang , Luu Nguyen Duy , Quynh Trang Nguyen Thi
Published: July 2021

In this paper, hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and losartan potassium (LSP) in tablets are simultaneously determined with UV-Vis spectrophotometry and chemometrics without separation. The spectra of standard and sample solutions were recorded in the wavelength from 220 to 300 nm at 1.0 nm intervals. The concentrations of HCT and LSP in the sample solutions were computed with the Kalman filter algorithm written on the Microsoft Excel 2016 and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) platform. The method validation was determined via the accuracy and repeatability of measurements when analyzing HCT and LSP in the Splozarsin Plus tablet and comparing the mean values of their contents in the sample with those analyzed with HPLC. The proposed method is simple with a low cost compared with the standard HPLC method.
Sound Radiation Mitigation of Geometrically Nonlinear Plates Subjected to Subsonic Airflow
Authors: Norouzi Hamed , Younesian Davood
Published: July 2021

This paper gives a theoretical analysis to obtain and reduce the acoustic pressure generated from plates with geometric nonlinearities subjected to subsonic airflow and external excitation. von-Kármán assumptions are applied considering the nonlinear terms in strain-displacement relations. Airflow passing through the plate is considered as an incompressible, irrotational, and inviscid flow. Galerkin’s method is employed to acquire the governing equations of time-dependent coefficients. Multiple Time Scale Method (MTSM) is then used to obtain the response of the plate. Suppressing undesirable vibration is carried out using an optimal tuned mass damper (TMD) system and an analytical solution is proposed based on Laplace transform and Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM). The acoustic pressure received from the plate is calculated by solving the Rayleigh integral using Boundary Element Method (BEM). A parametric study is carried out, and the effects of the flow speed, the aspect ratio, the thickness of the plate, the material of the plate, the forcing frequency, and the effectiveness of the designed TMD system on the sound pressure are examined. According to the results, using the TMD system reduces the amplitudes of the plate vibrations and, consequently, reduces the acoustic pressure around the vibrating plate. In this study, the passive control strategy leads to a significant decrease in the sound pressure level (about 35%) in some airflow speeds. Results show good efficiency in the control strategy. It is also found that the acoustic pressure generated from steel plates is significantly larger than that generated from aluminum plates. Moreover, increasing the aspect ratio and the plate thickness reduces the acoustic pressure. On the other hand, the external excitations with lower frequencies and the airflows with higher densities can generate lower sound pressures around the plate.
Firework Optimization Algorithm-Based Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Hepatic Cavernous Hemangioma Using MRI Images
Authors: Liu Geng , Chen Huiqun , Fang Fang , Song Lei
Published: July 2021

This study was aimed to explore the diagnostic features of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and hepatic cavernous hemangioma (HCH). A fireworks algorithm optimization (FAO) was proposed based on the fireworks algorithm (FA), and it was compared with the maximum between-class variance method (OTSU) and the maximum entropy threshold method (KSW) for analysis. In addition, it was applied to the diagnosis of MRI images of 55 HCC patients in the experimental group (group E) and 55 HCH patients in the control group (group C). It was found that the FAO showed a greatly lower difference function (DF) and a shorter running time in contrast to the OTSU and KSW algorithms (

P
<
0.05

); the diagnostic accuracy (DA) of the T1-weighted image (T1WI) for patients in groups E and C was 85.31% and 95.85%, respectively, and the DA of the T2-weighted image (T2WI) was 97.84% (group E) and 89.71% (group C), respectively. In short, FAO showed an excellent performance in segmentation and reconstruction of MRI images for liver tissue, and T1WI and T2WI of MRI images showed high accuracy in diagnosing the HCC and HCH, respectively.
Research on Freight Development of Guangdong Province Based on Grey Theory Model
Authors: Liu Lianhua , Xie Aili , Ping Hai
Published: July 2021

Logistics and economic development complement each other. The comprehensive competitiveness of Guangdong provincial economy ranks first in China. Under the influence of COVID-19, the freight development of Guangdong Province has been affected, but there is still lack of quantitative research. It is significant to explore the trend of economic development through the freight development of Guangdong Province. Based on the grey theory model, this paper uses six freight indexes to research freight development of Guangdong Province. Under the assumption that COVID-19 did not happen, we predicted the development value of freight index of Guangdong Province from January to December in 2020 and studied the influence based on the comparison between the predicted value and actual value. The empirical study shows three impact characteristics: stage characteristics, structural characteristics, and entity transmission characteristics. COVID-19 has a negative impact on the development of total freight volume, highway freight volume, waterway freight volume, and air freight volume in Guangdong Province. The influence values were −23.001%, −29.344%, −11.296%, and −3.838%. But, the freight volumes of railway and pipeline were positively affected by 14.343% and 13.057%, respectively, due to their continuity and substitution to other transportation modes. To further explore the abate measures of COVID-19 impact on Guangdong’s freight development, the grey correlation model is introduced to study the correlation factors of freight development of Guangdong Province. Through the research of the related factors, this paper puts forward some measures to promote the freight development of Guangdong Province in the postepidemic era.
[Retracted] A Review of Intelligent Driving Pedestrian Detection Based on Deep Learning
Authors: Tian Di , Han Yi , Wang Biyao , Guan Tian , Wei Wei
Published: July 2021

Pedestrian detection is a specific application of object detection. Compared with general object detection, it shows similarities and unique characteristics. In addition, it has important application value in the fields of intelligent driving and security monitoring. In recent years, with the rapid development of deep learning, pedestrian detection technology has also made great progress. However, there still exists a huge gap between it and human perception. Meanwhile, there are still a lot of problems, and there remains a lot of room for research. Regarding the application of pedestrian detection in intelligent driving technology, it is of necessity to ensure its real‐time performance. Additionally, it is necessary to lighten the model while ensuring detection accuracy. This paper first briefly describes the development process of pedestrian detection and then concentrates on summarizing the research results of pedestrian detection technology in the deep learning stage. Subsequently, by summarizing the pedestrian detection dataset and evaluation criteria, the core issues of the current development of pedestrian detection are analyzed. Finally, the next possible development direction of pedestrian detection technology is explained at the end of the paper.
An Efficient Compartmented Secret Sharing Scheme Based on Linear Homogeneous Recurrence Relations
Authors: Xu Guoai , Yuan Jiangtao , Xu Guosheng , Dang Zhongkai
Published: July 2021

Multipartite secret sharing schemes are those that have multipartite access structures. The set of the participants in those schemes is divided into several parts, and all the participants in the same part play the equivalent role. One type of such access structure is the compartmented access structure, and the other is the hierarchical access structure. We propose an efficient compartmented multisecret sharing scheme based on the linear homogeneous recurrence (LHR) relations. In the construction phase, the shared secrets are hidden in some terms of the linear homogeneous recurrence sequence. In the recovery phase, the shared secrets are obtained by solving those terms in which the shared secrets are hidden. When the global threshold is

t

, our scheme can reduce the computational complexity of the compartmented secret sharing schemes from the exponential time to polynomial time. The security of the proposed scheme is based on Shamir’s threshold scheme, i.e., our scheme is perfect and ideal. Moreover, it is efficient to share the multisecret and to change the shared secrets in the proposed scheme.
IL-31 and IL-8 in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma: Looking for Their Role in Itch
Authors: Abreu Maria , Miranda Marta , Castro Mafalda , Fernandes Iolanda , Cabral Renata , Santos Ana Helena , Fonseca Sónia , Rodrigues João , Leander Magdalena , Lau Catarina , Freitas Inês , Coimbra Susana , Santos-Silva Alice , Lima Margarida
Published: July 2021

The itch associated with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), including Mycosis Fungoides (MF) and Sézary syndrome (SS), is often severe and poorly responsive to treatment with antihistamines. Recent studies have highlighted the possible role of interleukins in nonhistaminergic itch. We investigated the role of IL-31 and IL-8 in CTCL, concerning disease severity and associated itch. Serum samples of 27 patients with CTCL (17 MF and 10 SS) and 29 controls (blood donors) were analyzed for interleukin- (IL-) 31 and IL-8; correlations with disease and itch severity were evaluated. IL-31 serum levels were higher in CTCL patients than in controls and higher in SS than in MF. Also, serum IL-31 levels were higher in patients with advanced disease compared to those with early disease, and they correlated positively with lactate dehydrogenase and beta 2-microglobulin levels, as well as with the Sézary cell count. Itch affected 67% of CTCL patients (MF: 47%; SS: 100%). Serum IL-31 levels were higher in itching patients than in controls and in patients without itching. There was no association between serum IL-8 and disease severity, nor with itching. Serum IL-8 levels correlated positively with peripheral blood leukocyte and neutrophil counts in CTCL patients. Our study suggests a role for IL-31 in CTCL-associated itch, especially in advanced disease and SS, offering a rational target for new therapeutic approaches. Increased serum IL-8 observed in some patients may be related to concomitant infections, and its role in exacerbating itch by recruiting neutrophils and promoting the release of neutrophil proteases deserves further investigation.
Environmental Efficiency of Node Cities in Chinese Section of Silk Road Economic Zone and Its Influencing Factors
Authors: Zhang Lei , Peng Xinyu
Published: July 2021

This paper adopts an environmental data envelopment analysis (DEA) model containing pollution emissions to measure the environmental efficiency of node cities in the Chinese section of Silk Road Economic Zone (SREZ) in 2011–2020 and verifies the convergence of the environmental efficiency. The results show that the ten node cities had an overall low environmental efficiency and a large gap in environmental efficiency, highlighting the necessity of cross-regional cooperation in emission reduction and the promotion of environmental technologies between regions; the environmental efficiency gaps between node cities and between the three regions started to narrow in 2016 and 2018, respectively, showing a certain convergence trend. In addition, the Tobit model was called to analyze the factors affecting environmental efficiency, revealing that per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), foreign trade, and population density promote environmental efficiency, while the proportion of the secondary industry, number of authorized patents, and regional feature significantly suppresses environmental efficiency. Finally, several suggestions were provided to reduce regional pollution emissions and increase China’s environmental efficiency, according to the results of empirical analysis.
Value of Rehabilitation Training for Children with Cerebral Palsy Diagnosed and Analyzed by Computed Tomography Imaging Information Features under Deep Learning
Authors: Zhang Xi , Wang Zhenfang , Liu Jun , Bi Lulin , Yan Weilan , Yan Yueyue
Published: July 2021

To analyze the brain CT imaging data of children with cerebral palsy (CP), deep learning-based electronic computed tomography (CT) imaging information characteristics were used, thereby providing help for the rehabilitation analysis of children with CP and comorbid epilepsy. The brain CT imaging data of 73 children with CP were collected, who were outpatients or inpatients in our hospital. The images were randomly divided into two groups. One group was the artificial intelligence image group, and hybrid segmentation network (HSN) model was employed to analyze brain images to help the treatment. The other group was the control group, and original images were used to help diagnosis and treatment. The deep learning-based HSN was used to segment the CT image of the head of patients and was compared with other CNN methods. It was found that HSN had the highest Dice score (DSC) among all models. After treatment, six cases in the artificial intelligence image group returned to normal (20.7%), and the artificial intelligence image group was significantly higher than the control group (X2 = 335191,

P
<
0.001

). The cerebral hemodynamic changes were obviously different in the two groups of children before and after treatment. The VP of the cerebral artery in the child was (139.68 ± 15.66) cm/s after treatment, which was significantly faster than (131.84 ± 15.93) cm/s before treatment,

P
<
0.05

. To sum up, the deep learning model can effectively segment the CP area, which can measure and assist the diagnosis of future clinical cases of children with CP. It can also improve medical efficiency and accurately identify the patient’s focus area, which had great application potential in helping to identify the rehabilitation training results of children with CP.
A Novel Deep Learning Approach for Anomaly Detection of Time Series Data
Authors: Ji Zhiwei , Gong Jiaheng , Feng Jiarui
Published: July 2021

Anomalies in time series, also called “discord,” are the abnormal subsequences. The occurrence of anomalies in time series may indicate that some faults or disease will occur soon. Therefore, development of novel computational approaches for anomaly detection (discord search) in time series is of great significance for state monitoring and early warning of real-time system. Previous studies show that many algorithms were successfully developed and were used for anomaly classification, e.g., health monitoring, traffic detection, and intrusion detection. However, the anomaly detection of time series was not well studied. In this paper, we proposed a long short-term memory- (LSTM-) based anomaly detection method (LSTMAD) for discord search from univariate time series data. LSTMAD learns the structural features from normal (nonanomalous) training data and then performs anomaly detection via a statistical strategy based on the prediction error for observed data. In our experimental evaluation using public ECG datasets and real-world datasets, LSTMAD detects anomalies more accurately than other existing approaches in comparison.