bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impacts of undetected and inadequately treated hypertension on incident stroke in China
Authors: Han Thang S , Wang Harry Hao-Xiang , Wei Li , Pan Yuesong , Ma Ying , Wang Yu , Wang Jiaji , Hu Zhi , Sharma Pankaj , Chen Ruoling
Published: October 2017

Objectives

China carries the greatest burden of stroke given its largest volume of people with hypertension. This study assessed the impacts of suboptimal controls of hypertension on incident stroke and projected the number of patients with stroke saved after the control of blood pressure improved in population.

Setting

Anhui, China.

Participants

We examined data from the Anhui cohort of 2001–2011, consisting of 3336 participants aged ≥60 years who were randomly recruited from the urban and rural Anhui. 2852 participants had hypertensive status measured and no stroke at baseline, and were followed up until 2011 in three surveys using a standard method of interview.

Results

At baseline, 1646 participants (57.7%) were identified to have hypertension, among whom 912 (55.4%) were previously undetected, 115 (7.0%) detected but not treated, 452 (27.5%) treated but not controlled and only 127 (7.7%) controlled. During the 10-year follow-up, 211 incident stroke cases (12.8/1000 person-years) occurred. Compared with normotensive individuals at baseline, multivariate adjusted HR for having stroke increased in those with undetected hypertension by 1.63 (95%CI 1.15 to 2.32), untreated by 2.21 (1.26–3.85) and uncontrolled hypertension by 3.34 (2.28–4.88), but did not differ from those with controlled hypertension (1.34; 0.60–2.99). Based on a two-fold increase in the detection and management of current levels of hypertension and algorithms on the current situation in China, approximately 250 000 incident stroke cases could be prevented annually.

Conclusions

In China, hypertension is frequently undetected or inadequately treated. With appropriate management of hypertension, a substantial number of people could be saved form stroke.
Prevalence ofTrichomonas vaginalisinfection and protozoan load in South African women: a cross-sectional study
Authors: de Waaij Dewi J , Dubbink Jan Henk , Ouburg Sander , Peters Remco P H , Morré Servaas A
Published: October 2017

Objectives

Trichomonas vaginalisis thought to be the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection worldwide. We investigated the prevalence, risk factors and protozoan load ofT. vaginalisinfection in South African women.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of 604 women was conducted at 25 primary healthcare facilities in rural South Africa (Mopani district).T. vaginalisDNA was detected in vaginal and rectal swabs. In univariate and multivariate analyses, theT. vaginalisinfection was investigated in relation to demographic characteristics, medical history and behavioural factors. TheT. vaginalisload was determined as the logarithm of DNA copies per microlitre sample solution.

Results

Collected vaginal and rectal swabs were tested forT. vaginalisDNA. Prevalence of vaginalT. vaginaliswas 20% (95% CI 17.0% to 23.4%) and rectal 1.2% (95% CI 0.6% to 2.4%). Most women (66%) with a vaginal infection were asymptomatic. Factors associated withT. vaginalisinfection were a relationship status of single (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.5 to 4.0; p<0.001) and HIV positive infection (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.0 to 2.6; p=0.041). Women with vaginalT. vaginalisinfection were more likely to have concurrentChlamydia trachomatisrectal infection than those without vaginal infection (12%vs3%; p<0.001; OR 4.1). A higher medianT. vaginalisload was observed among women with observed vaginal discharge compared with those without vaginal discharge (p=0.025).

Conclusions

Vaginal trichomoniasis is highly prevalent in rural South Africa, especially among single women and those with HIV infection, and often presents without symptoms.
Patterns and correlates of active commuting in adults with type 2 diabetes: cross-sectional evidence from UK Biobank
Authors: Falconer Catherine L , Cooper Ashley R , Flint Ellen
Published: October 2017

Objectives

To describe the active commuting (AC) patterns of adults with type 2 diabetes and how these relate to physical activity and sedentary behaviour in UK Biobank. Social and environmental correlates of AC will also be explored.

Design

Cross-sectional analysis of a cohort study.

Settings

This is a population cohort of over 500 000 people recruited from 22 centres across the UK. Participants aged between 37 and 73 years were recruited between 2006 and 2010.

Participants

6896 participants with a self-reported type 2 diabetes diagnosis who reported commuting to work and had complete covariate data were included in the analysis.

Exposure measures

Exposure measures were AC to work, measured as usual mode of transport.

Outcome measures

Outcome measures were weekly minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), hours/day of sedentary time and participation in active travel.

Results

AC (reporting walking or cycling to work only) was reported by 5.5% of participants, with the great majority using the car to commute (80%). AC was associated with an additional 73 (95% CI 10.8 to 134.9) and 105 (95% CI 41.7 to 167.2) weekly minutes of MVPA for men and women, respectively. AC was associated with reduced sedentary time (β −1.1, 95% CI −1.6 to –0.7 hours/day for men; and β −0.8, 95% CI −1.2 to –0.3 hours/day for women). Deprivation and distance from home to work were identified as correlates of AC behaviour.

Conclusions

Rates of AC are very low in adults with type 2 diabetes. However, AC offers a potentially sustainable solution to increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour. Therefore, strategies to improve the environment and encourage AC may help to increase population levels of physical activity and reduce the disease burden associated with type 2 diabetes.
Single-centre retrospective analysis of growth hormone supplementation in IVF patients classified as poor-prognosis
Authors: Keane Kevin N , Yovich John L , Hamidi Anahita , Hinchliffe Peter M , Dhaliwal Satvinder S
Published: October 2017

Background

Patients undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) receive various adjuvant therapies in order to enhance success rates, but the true benefit is actively debated. Growth hormone (GH) supplementation was assessed in poor-prognosis women undergoing fresh IVF transfer cycles.

Methods

Data were retrospectively analysed from 400 IVF cycles, where 161 women received GH and 239 did not.

Results

Clinical pregnancy, live birth rates and corresponding ORs and CIs were significantly greater with GH, despite patients being significantly older with lower ovarian reserve. Patient’s age, quality of transferred embryo and GH were the only significant independent predictors of clinical pregnancy (OR: 0.90, 5.00 and 2.49, p<0.002, respectively) and live birth chance (OR: 0.91, 3.90 and 4.75, p<0.014, respectively). GH increased clinical pregnancy chance by 3.42-fold (95% CI 1.82 to 6.44, p<0.0005) and live birth chance by 6.16-fold (95% CI 2.83 to 13.39, p<0.0005) after adjustment for maternal age, antral follicle count and transferred embryo quality.

Conclusion

These data provided further evidence to indicate that GH may support more live births, particularly in younger women. It also appears that embryos generated under GH have a better implantation potential, but whether the biological mechanism is embryo-mediated or endometrium-mediated is unclear.
The first prospective injury audit of League of Ireland footballers
Authors: Fitzharris Nigel , Jones Gareth , Jones Ashley , Francis Peter
Published: October 2017

Objectives

Football has the highest sports participation (10.6%) in Ireland ahead of its Gaelic counterpart (3.9%). Research into injury incidence and patterns in Irish football is non-existent. The aim of this study was to conduct a prospective injury audit of League of Ireland (semiprofessional) footballers during the 2014 season (8 months, 28 games).

Methods

A total of 140 semiprofessional League of Ireland footballers were prospectively followed between March and November 2014. Data were collected in accordance with the international consensus on football injury epidemiology.

Results

The injury rate was 9.2/1000 hour exposure to football (95% CI 6.2 to 12.9, p<0.05). Players were at a higher risk of injury during a match compared with training (23.1 (95% CI 15.2 to 31.3) vs 4.8 (95% CI 2.2 to 7.7)/1000 hours, p<0.05). Injuries were most common during non-contact activity (54.6%), mainly running (30.9%), and occurred almost three times more often in the second half (56% vs 21%, p<05). Strains (50.1%) and sprains (20.3%) were the most common injury types, and the thigh region was injured most often (28.3%).

Conclusions

The prevalence of injury in League of Ireland football is similar to that of European professional football, although the incidence of injury is higher. The incidence of injury is in line with that of Dutch amateur football.
Cracking the code for maintaining quality training in Olympic distance triathlon: lessons learnt from a squad of elite Scandinavian athletes
Authors: Myburgh Corrie , Hansen Tobias , Holm Beck Anders , Boyle Eleanor
Published: October 2017

Objective

High-quality training is a key determinant of performance in the Olympic distance triathlon and is potentially influenced by a unique array of context-specific biopsychosocial factors. Our objective was to explore and describe these factors among squad members of a university-based, elite Olympic distance triathlete developmental programme.

Method

A qualitative investigation using a visual communication tool-assisted focus group and longitudinal semistructured individual interviews was conducted. Responses were solicited from the University of Southern Denmark’s elite triathlon team (n=8), and inductive coding from the focus group formed the basis of questions for the two rounds of individual interviews 11 months apart. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and then analysed thematically.

Results

Seventeen context-relevant factors were identified and 10 themes emerged, these being ‘the cold weather ritual’, ‘digestive system conditioning’, ‘the curse of the night owl’, ‘the strings attached to sponsorship’, ‘my coach—my rock’, ‘mood maintenance’, ‘the asynchronous training rhythm’, ‘psychological slavery’, ‘the legacy of the asphalt tattoo’ and ‘the tension of family and friends’.

Conclusions

By reflecting on their personal training vortex, elite triathletes were able to provide context-relevant insights into the maintenance of training quality over the course of a competitive season. Further research is required to elucidate whether and how biopsycholosocial factors can be modified to optimise the achievement of training goals.
Patient-family agreement on values and preferences for life-sustaining treatment: results of a multicentre observational study
Authors: Abdul-Razzak Amane , Heyland Daren K , Simon Jessica , Ghosh Sunita , Day Andrew G , You John J
Published: October 2017

Objectives

To quantify agreement between patients and their family members on their own values and preferences for use or non-use of life-sustaining treatments for the patient.

Methods

Hospitalised patients aged 55 years or older with advanced pulmonary, cardiac, liver disease or metastatic cancer or aged 80 years or older from medical wards at 16 Canadian hospitals and their family members completed a questionnaire including eight items about values related to life-sustaining treatment and a question about preferences for life-sustaining treatments.

Results

We recruited a total of 313 patient-family member dyads. Crude agreement between patients and family members about values related to life-sustaining treatment was 42% across all eight items but varied widely: 20% when asking how important it was for the patient to respect the wishes of family members regarding their care; 72% when asking how important it was for the patient to be kept comfortable and suffer as little as possible. Crude agreement on preferences for life-sustaining treatment was 91% (kappa 0.60; 95%CI 0.45 to 0.75) when looking at preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) versus no CPR but fell to 56% when including all five response options with varying degrees of resuscitative, medical or comfort options (kappa 0.39; 95%CI 0.31 to 0.47).

Conclusions

There is appreciable disagreement between seriously ill hospitalised patients and family members in their values and preferences for life-sustaining treatment. Strategies are needed to improve the quality of advance care planning, so that surrogates are better able to honour patient’s wishes at the end of life.
Sequential simulation used as a novel educational tool aimed at healthcare managers: a patient-centred approach
Authors: Weldon Sharon Marie , Kelay Tanika , Ako Emmanuel , Cox Benita , Bello Fernando , Kneebone Roger
Published: October 2017

Background

A new challenge for healthcare managers is to improve the patient experience. Simulation is often used for clinical assessment and rarely for those operating outside of direct clinical care. Sequential simulation (SqS) is a form of simulation that re-creates care pathways, widening its potential use.

Local problem

Numbers, outcome measures and system profiling are used to inform healthcare decisions. However, none of these captures the personal subtleties of a patient’s experience.

Intervention

56 students attended a teaching module using SqS and facilitated workshops as part of their induction week on an MSc International Health Management course. The workshop was voluntary and was offered as an opportunity for the students to gain an insight into the UK health system through the medium of simulation.

Methods

An evaluation survey incorporating quantitative and qualitative student feedback was conducted. Descriptive statistics were generated from the quantitative data, and thematic analysis was undertaken for the qualitative data.

Results

There was strong agreement for the acceptability of the workshop approach in relation to the aims and objectives. Likert scale (1–-5) mean total=4.49. Participants responded enthusiastically (revealed through the qualitative data) with ideas related to perspectives sharing, understanding healthcare management and processes and the consideration of feasibility and practicalities. They also suggested other applications that SqS could be used for.

Conclusion

The SqS approach has demonstrated that simulation has a wider potential than for clinical assessment alone. Further studies are required to determine its potential uses and affordances beyond its current format.
A qualitative evaluation of the role of simulation in policy development for service improvement
Authors: Blanks Thomas , Woodier Nicholas , Baxendale Bryn , Fores Mark , Fullerton Lynn
Published: October 2017

Objective

To evaluate the efficacy of simulation-based techniques to prospectively assess developing polices prior to implementation.

Methods

A self-selected sample of nursing staff from a local, acute hospital reviewed a draft intravenous drug administration policy before simulating drug administration of either an infusion or direct injection. The participants completed a postsimulation questionnaire regarding the new policy and simulation, took part in a semistructured interview and were observed during the simulation with their consent.

Results

10 staff attended the simulation. The emergent themes identified a wide range of factors relating to the everyday usability and practicalities of the policy. There were issues surrounding inconsistent language between different clinical teams and training requirements for the new policy.

Conclusion

Simulation, using simple scenarios, allows the safe evaluation of new policies before publication to ensure they are appropriate for front-line use. It engages staff in user-centred design in their own healthcare system.
Uterine perforation by intrauterine devices: a 16-year review
Authors: O’Brien Paul A , Pillai Sarah
Published: October 2017

Introduction

One of the major concerns with the insertion of intrauterine devices is uterine perforation. Though uncommon, it can be debilitating and result in failure of the device. In this article we review uterine perforation with intrauterine contraception (IUC) in a community clinic in the UK over a 16-year period.

Methods

We prospectively collected data on uterine perforations for the years 2000–2015, reviewed associated factors and calculated the annual rate of perforation, estimating if this lay within the expected range of normal variation using statistical process control (SPC) analysis. We analysed the rates of perforation in relation to the time from delivery and to breastfeeding.

Results

We identified 30 uterine perforations in 22 795 IUC insertions over the 16 years of observation, with an annual rate ranging from 0 to 4.3 per 1000 insertions, and a mean annual rate of 1.3 per 1000 insertions (95% CI 0.9 to 1.9), which remain within the SPC limits. Twenty-eight of the perforations were in parous women, 87% of whom were within 18 weeks of delivery, peaking at 13 weeks postpartum. Twenty of these were in breastfeeding women. In 3/28 cases for which we have outcome data the device was adherent to or had perforated either the bladder or bowel.

Conclusion

Our perforation rate is consistent with other studies. Most of our perforations were within 18 weeks of childbirth, earlier than in a recent major study. We cannot tell from our data if there is a true peak in perforations 3 months postpartum as that may be a time when a high proportion of insertions are done.
Critical Flicker Frequency is Diagnostic of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy
Authors: Esmat Serag , Garem Nouman El , Raslan Hassan , Elfekki Mohamed , Sleem Gihan A
Published: October 2017

Minimal hepatic encephalopathy may affect up to 80% of cirrhotic patients, in the absence of overt hepatic encephalopathy. The objective of the study is to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy with critical flicker frequency (CFF). The study was conducted on 180 patients with post hepatitis C liver cirrhosis and on 60 healthy subjects as control. Patients and controls were divided into four groups: group 1 (60), healthy individuals as a control group; group 2 (60), patients with liver cirrhosis (Child class A); group 3 (60), patients with liver cirrhosis (Child class B); and group 4 (60), patients with liver cirrhosis (Child class C). All participants were subjected to estimation of CFF, line drawing test, complete blood picture, liver functions, viral markers, and abdominal ultrasound. CFF detected abnormality in 90% of patients. Accuracy of CFF in differentiation of Child A from normal is 100%, Child B from normal is 100%, Child C from normal is 100%, Child A from Child B is 80%, Child A from Child C is 100% and Child B from Child C is 100%, and it has higher accuracy than line drawing test. CFF is a simple, reliable and accurate method for the diagnosis of minimal hepatic encephalopathy. It is not influenced by the patient level of education.
Association of Life's Simple 7 and presence of cardiovascular disease in general Australians
Authors: Peng Yang , Wang Zhiqiang
Published: October 2017

Objective

The American Heart Association developed Life’s Simple 7 to define and monitor cardiovascular health (CVH), but their contributions to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in general Australians are still unclear. Our study aimed to evaluate the separate and combined effects of Life’s Simple 7 on CVD among Australians.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional study based on 7499 adults (≥18 years) who have been tested for total cholesterol and fasting plasma glucose as part of the 2011–2012 Australian Health Survey. Poisson regression analyses were used to estimate the incidence rate ratios and population attributable fractions of those metrics to CVD prevalence. Participants were classified into three CVH status groups based on the number of ideal metrics: inadequate (0–2), average (3–4) and optimal (5–7). Logistic regression analyses were performed to illustrate the relationships between overall CVH and CVD prevalence.

Results

2100 (21.0%) participants were having CVD. Smoking, elevated body mass index, blood pressure, total cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose and physical inactivity were observed as significant indicators of CVD. Compared with the inadequate category, participants in the optimal and average category have a 66% (adjusted OR, 0.34; 95% CI 0.22 to 0.54) and a 33% (adjusted OR, 0.67; 95% CI 0.56 to 0.81) lower CVD risk. One more ideal metric was associated with a 21% reduced CVD risk (adjusted OR, 0.79; 95% CI 0.73 to 0.84).

Conclusions

We have identified several modifiable risk factors and contributors of CVD in general Australians. The improvement of overall CVH may also reduce CVD risk.
Lung function response and side effects to rapamycin for lymphangioleiomyomatosis: a prospective national cohort study
Authors: Bee Janet , Fuller Sharon , Miller Suzanne , Johnson Simon R
Published: October 2017

Rationale

Mechanistic target of rapamycin inhibitors reduce loss of lung function in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), although their benefit varies between individuals. We examined lung function response and side effects to rapamycin in a national cohort.

Methods

Subjects were receiving rapamycin for progressive lung disease. Clinical evaluation, detailed phenotyping, serial lung function, rapamycin and safety monitoring were performed according to a clinical protocol. Lung function change, measured as FEV1 slope (ΔFEV1), was reported for those treated for 1 year or longer.

Results

Rapamycin was associated with improved ΔFEV1 in 21 individuals where pretreatment data were available (p<0.0001). In 47 treated for a mean duration of 35.8 months, mean ΔFEV1 was +11 (SD 75) mL/year, although it varied from +254 to −148 mL/year. The quartile with the highest positive ΔFEV1 had greater pretreatment FEV1 (p=0.02) and shorter disease durations (p=0.02) than the lowest quartile. Serum rapamycin level was positively associated with side effects (p=0.02) but not ΔFEV1 over 1 year. Within the first month of therapy, apthous ulcers, nausea and diarrhoea were associated with higher rapamycin levels. Acne, oedema and menstrual irregularities tended to increase over the first year of therapy. At the end of observation, the prevalence of side effects was 5% or less.

Conclusions

Rapamycin reduces lung function loss in LAM, although in some, ΔFEV1 continues to fall at an accelerated rate. Poor response to rapamycin was associated with lower pretreatment lung function and longer disease duration but not serum level. Early intervention with low-dose rapamycin may preserve lung function and reduce side effects.
Tobacco price boards as a promotional strategy—a longitudinal observational study in Australian retailers
Authors: Bayly Megan , Scollo Michelle , White Sarah , Lindorff Kylie , Wakefield Melanie
Published: October 2017

Background

Price boards in tobacco retailers are one of the few forms of tobacco promotion remaining in Australia. This study aimed to examine how these boards were used to promote products over a period of rapidly rising taxes.

Methods

Observations were made in a panel of 350 stores in Melbourne, Australia, in November of 2013 (just before) and in 2014 and 2015 (after 12.5% increases in tobacco duty). Fieldworkers unobtrusively noted the presence and characteristics of price boards, and the brand name, size and price of the product at the top of each board.

Results

Price boards were common in all store types apart from newsagent/lottery agents. The characteristics of the top-listed product changed notably over time: premium brands accounted for 66% of top-listed products in 2013, significantly declining to 43% in 2015, while packs of 20 cigarettes increased in prominence from 32% to 45%. The prevalence of packs of 20 cigarettes in budget market segments tripled from 2013 (13%) and 2014 (11%) to 32% in 2015, with no change in the proportion of packs that were under $A20 from 2014 (37%) to 2015 (36%). The rate of increase in the average price of the top-listed pack correspondingly flattened from 2014 to 2015 compared with 2013–2014.

Conclusions

Price boards promote tobacco products in ways that undermine the effectiveness of tax policy as a means of discouraging consumption. Communication to consumers about prices should be restricted to information sheets provided to adult smokers on request at the point of sale.
Forest pests and their management in the Anthropocene
Authors: Ayres Matthew P. , Lombardero María J.
Published: October 2017

Forest managers are facing unprecedented challenges from rapid changes in forest pests. The core causes are changes in climate, land use, and global distributions of organisms. Due to invasions and range expansions by pests, and propagation of nonnative trees, managers are increasingly confronted with pest problems outside their range of experience. There is a need to adapt pest management practices more quickly and efficiently than is possible when managers work in isolation and mainly learn by trial and error. Here we identify general tactics for adaptation of forest pest management in the Anthropocene: growth and application of practical theory; improved biosecurity against future invasions; improved monitoring, prediction, and mitigation; increased sharing of knowledge among regions, countries, and continents; management plans that anticipate continuing change; improved assessment of costs, benefits, and risks of possible responses to new potential pests; assessment of system responses to pest management decisions so that subsequent decisions are increasingly better informed; and improved understanding of the couplings between forests, forest management, and socioeconomic systems. Examples of success in forest management can aid in other sectors (e.g., agriculture, pastoralism, fisheries, and water resources) that are similarly important to our environmental security and similarly challenged by global change.
Comparison of methods for spatial interpolation of fire weather in Alberta, Canada
Authors: Jain P. , Flannigan M.D.
Published: October 2017

Spatial interpolation of fire weather variables from station data allow fire danger indices to be mapped continuously across the landscape. This information is crucial to fire management agencies, particularly in areas where weather data are sparse. We compare the performance of several standard interpolation methods (inverse distance weighting, spline, and geostatistical interpolation methods) for estimating output from the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI) system at unmonitored locations. We find that geostatistical methods (kriging) generally outperform the other methods, particularly when elevation is used as a covariate. We also find that interpolation of the input meteorological variables and the previous day’s moisture codes to unmonitored locations followed by calculation of the FWI output variables is preferable to first calculating the FWI output variables and then interpolating, in contrast to previous studies. Alternatively, when the previous day’s moisture codes are estimated from interpolated weather, rather than directly interpolated, errors can accumulate and become large. This effect is particularly evident for the duff moisture code and drought moisture code due to their significant autocorrelation.
Nonequilibrium opinion dynamics on triangular, honeycomb, and Kagome lattices
Authors: Lima F. W. S. , Crokidakis N.
Published: October 2017

The Ising model on all Archimedean lattices exhibits spontaneous ordering. Three examples of these lattices, namely triangular ([Formula: see text]), honeycomb [Formula: see text] and Kagome [Formula: see text] lattices, are considered to study the kinetic continuous opinion dynamics model (KCOD) through extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The order/disorder phase transition is observed in all lattices for the KCOD. The estimated values of the critical disorder parameter are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] lattices, respectively. The critical exponents [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for the model are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]; [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]; [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], for [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] lattices, respectively. These results agree with the majority-vote model on ([Formula: see text]), ([Formula: see text]), and [Formula: see text] lattices but are different from KCOD model results on square lattices [Formula: see text].
Effects of Financial Soundness and Openness on Financial Development
Authors: Ziaei Sayyed Mahdi
Published: October 2017

Using panel data estimation, we evaluate the effects of financial soundness indicators, financial openness and bank liquidity on financial development across 40 countries. According to our dynamic panel estimates, the following variables are found to significantly affect financial development: capital to asset ratio, nonperforming loans and direct foreign investment. Our result indicated that the change in capitalization ratio was the main driver of financial development. Moreover, nonperforming loan shock has a negative and significant influence on financial development. This study emphasizes the important role of financial soundness and financial openness in maintaining financial stability and development of banking system.
Generalized Littlewood–Paley characterizations of fractional Sobolev spaces
Authors: Sato Shuichi , Wang Fan , Yang Dachun , Yuan Wen
Published: October 2017

In this paper, the authors characterize the Sobolev spaces [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] via a generalized Lusin area function and its corresponding Littlewood–Paley [Formula: see text]-function. The range [Formula: see text] is also proved to be nearly sharp in the sense that these new characterizations are not true when [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Moreover, in the endpoint case [Formula: see text], the authors also obtain some weak type estimates. Since these generalized Littlewood–Paley functions are of wide generality, these results provide some new choices for introducing the notions of fractional Sobolev spaces on metric measure spaces.
Global weighted Orlicz estimates for irregular obstacle problems with general growth over bounded nonsmooth domains
Authors: Cho Yumi
Published: October 2017

We study a generalized variational inequality with an irregular obstacle in the frame of Orlicz–Sobolev spaces. Over a bounded nonsmooth domain having a sufficiently flat boundary in the Reifenberg sense, a global weighted Orlicz estimate is established for the gradient of the solution to the obstacle problem assumed BMO smallness of a coefficient.
Periodic homogenization for quasi-filling fractal layers
Authors: Capitanelli Raffaela , Pocci Cristina
Published: October 2017

In this paper, we study the periodic homogenization of the stationary heat equation in a domain with two connected components, separated by an oscillating interface defined on prefractal Koch type curves. The problem depends both on the parameter [Formula: see text], which is the index of the prefractal iteration, and [Formula: see text], that defines the periodic structure of the composite material. First, we study the limit as [Formula: see text] goes to infinity, giving rise to a limit problem defined on a domain with fractal interface. Then, we compute the limit as [Formula: see text] vanishes, showing that the homogenized problem is strictly dependent on the amplitude of the oscillations and the parameter appearing in the transmission condition. Finally, we discuss about the commutative nature of the limits in [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text].
Commutative single power cyclic hypergroups of order three and period two
Authors: Al Tahan M. , Davvaz B.
Published: October 2017

Cyclic hypergroups are of great importance due to their applications to many fields in mathematics. In this paper, we classify all commutative single power cyclic hypergroups of order three and period two. Moreover, we prove some new interesting properties regarding cyclic hypergroups.
Complex random matrices have no real eigenvalues
Authors: Luh Kyle
Published: October 2017

Let [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] are iid copies of a mean zero, variance one, subgaussian random variable. Let [Formula: see text] be an [Formula: see text] random matrix with entries that are iid copies of [Formula: see text]. We prove that there exists a [Formula: see text] such that the probability that [Formula: see text] has any real eigenvalues is less than [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] only depends on the subgaussian moment of [Formula: see text]. The bound is optimal up to the value of the constant [Formula: see text]. The principal component of the proof is an optimal tail bound on the least singular value of matrices of the form [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is a deterministic complex matrix with the condition that [Formula: see text] for some constant [Formula: see text] depending on the subgaussian moment of [Formula: see text]. For this class of random variables, this result improves on the results of Pan–Zhou [Circular law, extreme singular values and potential theory, J. Multivariate Anal. 101(3) (2010) 645–656] and Rudelson–Vershynin [The Littlewood–Offord problem and invertibility of random matrices, Adv. Math. 218(2) (2008) 600–633]. In the proof of the tail bound, we develop an optimal small-ball probability bound for complex random variables that generalizes the Littlewood–Offord theory developed by Tao–Vu [From the Littlewood–Offord problem to the circular law: Universality of the spectral distribution of random matrices, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.[Formula: see text]N.S.[Formula: see text] 46(3) (2009) 377–396; Inverse Littlewood–Offord theorems and the condition number of random discrete matrices, Ann. of Math.[Formula: see text] 169(2) (2009) 595–632] and Rudelson–Vershynin [The Littlewood–Offord problem and invertibility of random matrices, Adv. Math. 218(2) (2008) 600–633; Smallest singular value of a random rectangular matrix, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 62(12) (2009) 1707–1739].
3D Mapping for Autonomous Quadrotor Aircraft
Authors: Saeedi Sajad , Thibault Carl , Trentini Michael , Li Howard
Published: October 2017

Autonomous navigation in global positioning system (GPS)-denied environments is one of the challenging problems in robotics. For small flying robots, autonomous navigation is even more challenging. These robots have limitations such as fast dynamics and limited sensor payload. To develop an autonomous robot, many challenges including two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) perception, path planning, exploration, and obstacle avoidance should be addressed in real-time and with limited resources. In this paper, a complete solution for autonomous navigation of a quadrotor rotorcraft is presented. The proposed solution includes 2D and 3D mapping with several autonomous behaviors such as target localization and displaying maps on multiple remote tablets. Multiple tests were performed in simulated and indoor/outdoor environments to show the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
Unpredictably Dynamic Environment Patrolling
Authors: Seok Jinwoo , Faied Mariam , Girard Anouck
Published: October 2017

Patrolling is the most commonly requested type of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mission; thus we use it as a prototypical example of autonomous mission planning. In this paper, we design an autonomous mission planner for UAV patrolling missions in unpredictably dynamic environments (UDEs) using recomposable restricted finite state machines (ReRFSM). UDEs admit online changes to the number of waypoints, their priorities, and the availability of paths without any prediction. ReRFSM can model UDEs and restricted inputs. Dynamic programming is used to generate policies and limited breadth-first search (LBFS) is used to generate solutions with a small computation time that plan single UAV tours. Finally, we introduce patrolling policies for multiple UAVs by composing multiple mission RFSMs and modifying the inputs of the ReRFSMs. We demonstrate the case of two vehicles as a proof of concept.
The geological history of the Istria ‘Depression’, Romanian Black Sea shelf: tectonic controls on second-/third-order sequence architecture
Authors: Boote David R. D.
Published: October 2017

The Istria ‘Depression’ or sub-basin of offshore Romania lies at the intersection of the trans-European Tornquist–Teisseyre ‘Zone’ and the Black Sea back-arc basin, just outboard of the East Carpathian orogenic welt. Its Late Mesozoic–Cenozoic succession records an extraordinary polyphase history of subsidence and sedimentation, interrupted by several quite spectacular second-/third-order erosional unconformities, reflecting the interplay between these tectonic domains. The unconformities divide the succession into a number of stratigraphic sequences.

The sub-basin first developed as a transtensional rift in the Triassic–Early Jurassic, evolving into a narrow oceanized trough in the later Jurassic. This was tilted west during the Early Cretaceous, and the residual Late Jurassic topography was filled and buried by a west-facing clastic–evaporite wedge. Following Late Aptian–Albian(?) rifting, post-rift subsidence and spreading in the Western Black Sea imposed a strong easterly tilt, encouraging the partial evacuation of its Early Cretaceous sedimentary fill by gravity-driven mass wastage. The incised valley topography was subsequently infilled and buried during the later Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic. During the mid-Late Cenozoic, the Black Sea Basin experienced intermittent periods of partial to complete isolation from the world ocean and significant base-level drawdown. The first major sea-level fall occurred in the Eocene when the Istria ‘Depression’ was deeply incised, to be healed by Oligocene shales during the subsequent rise. Yet another period of drawdown and exposure occurred in the mid-Miocene, with extensive shelf-margin mass wastage and erosion, followed by re-flooding and deposition of a transgressive backstepping sequence in the middle-late Miocene. Messinian drawdown in the Mediterranean caused a further period of isolation and falling base level. The shelf margin was again exposed, and experienced widespread mass wastage and slumping. Rising sea level eroded the earlier slumped sequence and the margin was healed by a lowstand prograding wedge in the late Miocene–early Pliocene. This was followed by shelf sedimentation in the Plio-Pleistocene periodically interrupted by canyon-incision events, testifying to continued climatically or tectonically imposed base-level fluctuations.

Several direct and indirect tectonic factors were responsible for valley/canyon incision within the Istria Depression and erosion of the Romanian Black Sea shelf margin. These include: (1) the local structural framework; (2) direct tectonic uplift and tilting; and (3) more indirect tectonically imposed isolation encouraging significant base-level falls.
Tight and Rigorous Error Bounds for Basic Building Blocks of Double-Word Arithmetic
Authors: Joldes Mioara , Muller Jean-Michel , Popescu Valentina
Published: October 2017

We analyze several classical basic building blocks of double-word arithmetic (frequently called “double-double arithmetic” in the literature): the addition of a double-word number and a floating-point number, the addition of two double-word numbers, the multiplication of a double-word number by a floating-point number, the multiplication of two double-word numbers, the division of a double-word number by a floating-point number, and the division of two double-word numbers. For multiplication and division we get better relative error bounds than the ones previously published. For addition of two double-word numbers, we show that the previously published bound was incorrect, and we provide a new relative error bound. We introduce new algorithms for division. We also give examples that illustrate the tightness of our bounds.
Efficient Data Streaming Multiway Aggregation through Concurrent Algorithmic Designs and New Abstract Data Types
Authors: Gulisano Vincenzo , Nikolakopoulos Yiannis , Cederman Daniel , Papatriantafilou Marina , Tsigas Philippas
Published: October 2017

Data streaming relies on continuous queries to process unbounded streams of data in a real-time fashion. It is commonly demanding in computation capacity, given that the relevant applications involve very large volumes of data. Data structures act as articulation points and maintain the state of data streaming operators, potentially supporting high parallelism and balancing the work among them. Prompted by this fact, in this work we study and analyze parallelization needs of these articulation points, focusing on the problem of streaming multiway aggregation, where large data volumes are received from multiple input streams. The analysis of the parallelization needs, as well as of the use and limitations of existing aggregate designs and their data structures, leads us to identify needs for appropriate shared objects that can achieve low-latency and high-throughput multiway aggregation. We present the requirements of such objects as abstract data types and we provide efficient lock-free linearizable algorithmic implementations of them, along with new multiway aggregate algorithmic designs that leverage them, supporting both deterministic order-sensitive and order-insensitive aggregate functions. Furthermore, we point out future directions that open through these contributions. The article includes an extensive experimental study, based on a variety of continuous aggregation queries on two large datasets extracted from SoundCloud, a music social network, and from a Smart Grid network. In all the experiments, the proposed data structures and the enhanced aggregate operators improved the processing performance significantly, up to one order of magnitude, in terms of both throughput and latency, over the commonly used techniques based on queues.
Apache REEF
Authors: Chun Byung-Gon , Condie Tyson , Chen Yingda , Cho Brian , Chung Andrew , Curino Carlo , Douglas Chris , Interlandi Matteo , Jeon Beomyeol , Jeong Joo Seong , Lee Gyewon , Lee Yunseong , Majestro Tony , Malkhi Dahlia , Matusevych Sergiy , Myers Brandon , Mykhailova Mariia , Narayanamurthy Shravan , Noor Joseph , Ramakrishnan Raghu , Rao Sriram , Sears Russell , Sezgin Beysim , Um Taegeon , Wang Julia , Weimer Markus , Yang Youngseok
Published: October 2017

Resource Managers like YARN and Mesos have emerged as a critical layer in the cloud computing system stack, but the developer abstractions for leasing cluster resources and instantiating application logic are very low level. This flexibility comes at a high cost in terms of developer effort, as each application must repeatedly tackle the same challenges (e.g., fault tolerance, task scheduling and coordination) and reimplement common mechanisms (e.g., caching, bulk-data transfers). This article presents REEF, a development framework that provides a control plane for scheduling and coordinating task-level (data-plane) work on cluster resources obtained from a Resource Manager. REEF provides mechanisms that facilitate resource reuse for data caching and state management abstractions that greatly ease the development of elastic data processing pipelines on cloud platforms that support a Resource Manager service. We illustrate the power of REEF by showing applications built atop: a distributed shell application, a machine-learning framework, a distributed in-memory caching system, and a port of the CORFU system. REEF is currently an Apache top-level project that has attracted contributors from several institutions and it is being used to develop several commercial offerings such as the Azure Stream Analytics service.
Ghrelin Protects Human Lens Epithelial Cells against Oxidative Stress‐Induced Damage
Authors: Bai Jie , Yang Fan , Dong Li , Zheng Yi
Published: October 2017

Oxidative stress has been recognized as an important mediator in the pathogenesis of age‐related cataracts; using antioxidant supplements is one plausible strategy to protect the antioxidative defense system against oxidative stress. Ghrelin administration is expected to reduce ROS, preventing the onset of different diseases. The role of ghrelin, if any, in protecting against oxidative stress in HLECs has never been examined. In the present study, we investigated the effects of ghrelin against H2O2‐induced oxidative stress and the associated molecular mechanisms in HLECs and rat lenses. The results showed that pretreatment with ghrelin reduced H2O2‐induced cellular apoptosis and ROS accumulation, increased the expression levels of SOD and CAT, and decreased the expression level of MDA. The morphological examination showed that the ghrelin‐treated lens organ culture maintained transparency. This is the first report to show that ghrelin can protect HLECs from H2O2‐induced oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that ghrelin may prevent the progression of cataracts, which has treatment value for ophthalmologists.
Demography and Risk Factors of Suicide in Bangladesh: A Six-Month Paper Content Analysis
Authors: Shah Md. Mohsin Ali , Ahmed Srijony , Arafat S. M. Yasir
Published: October 2017

Background. Suicide is a global public health problem too often neglected by researchers and Bangladesh is not an exception. There is no suicide surveillance and nationwide study is yet to be conducted in the country.Objectives. This paper aimed to look into suicide based on newspaper reporting in Bangladesh focusing on the demographic variables and risk factors.Methods. 6 national newspapers were scrutinized from November 2016 to April 2017. Data were checked, cross-checked, and then analyzed with SPSS software.Results. In a duration of six months, a total of 271 cases were reported; age was found to be in the range of 11–70 years (26.67±13.47). 61% of the reported cases were below 30 years of age, 58% were female, 24% were students, 17% were house makers, 61% were from rural background, and 45% were married. Hanging was found to be the commonest method (82.29%); marital and familial discord remained a noticeable risk factor (34.32%). Family members and neighbors noticed 103 cases, and only 3 cases were found to have suicide notes.Conclusion. Suicide is an underattended public health problem in Bangladesh with few researches and paucity of literature. Establishment of national suicide surveillance is now a time demanded step.
New Coordination Software for Parameter Identification Applied to Thermal Models of an Actuator Strut
Authors: Hensel Burkhard , Schroeder Steffen , Kabitzsch Klaus
Published: October 2017

The practical worth of models of technical processes depends on their accuracy, that is, the difference between model outputs and real measurements. For minimizing these differences, process identification methods are used. In this article, coordination software for process identification is presented which has the unique feature that it allows the integration of models that have been created with external tools, for example, Matlab or Python scripts. There is no need to transform the models into another type of software format to use the common identification coordinator. The concept of the software is described and two examples for the coupling with external simulation software are given. Additionally, this article contains a detailed case study of the parameter identification of two models using that identification coordination software. This highlights the benefit of the new coordination software regarding similar work flow for different model types. The modeled physical subject is the thermal behavior of an actuator strut.