bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Making a Case for Partially Connected 3D NoC
Authors: Arka Aqeeb Iqbal , Gopal Srinivasan , Doppa Janardhan Rao , Heo Deukhyoun , Pande Partha Pratim
Published: July 2020

3D Network-on-Chip (3D NoC) enables design of high-performance and energy-efficient manycore computing platforms. Two of the commonly used vertical interconnection technologies are: through silicon via (TSV) and near-field inductive coupling (NFIC). Both TSV- and NFIC-based links introduce additional area overhead. One of the possible ways to reduce the area overhead is to design partially connected 3D NoC with minimal effect on overall performance. The achievable performance of the partially connected 3D NoCs depends on the area, energy, and bandwidth of the vertical links. Moreover, the electromigration-induced failure of TSV is more severe than the misalignment-induced error in NFIC. By considering all these pertinent factors, we demonstrate that it is indeed possible to design a partially connected NFIC-based 3D NoC that performs as good as a fully connected TSV-based counterpart when the data rate is below a certain limit. For higher data rates, the partially connected TSV-based 3D NoC is a viable solution. However, NFIC-based 3D NoC is always more robust than the TSV-based counterpart.
BLAST2
Authors: Beneventano Domenico , Bergamaschi Sonia , Gagliardelli Luca , Simonini Giovanni
Published: July 2020

We present
BLAST2
, a novel technique to efficiently extract
loose schema information
, i.e., metadata that can serve as a surrogate of the schema alignment task within the Entity Resolution (ER) process, to identify records that refer to the same real-world entity when integrating multiple, heterogeneous, and voluminous data sources. The
loose schema information
is exploited for reducing the overall complexity of ER, whose naïve solution would imply O(n
2
) comparisons, where
n
is the number of entity representations involved in the process and can be extracted by both structured and unstructured data sources.
BLAST2
is completely unsupervised yet able to achieve almost the same precision and recall of supervised state-of-the-art schema alignment techniques when employed for Entity Resolution tasks, as shown in our experimental evaluation performed on two real-world datasets (composed of 7 and 10 data sources, respectively).
The Shoutcasters, the Game Enthusiasts, and the AI: Foraging for Explanations of Real-time Strategy Players
Authors: Penney Sean , Dodge Jonathan , Anderson Andrew , Hilderbrand Claudia , Simpson Logan , Burnett Margaret
Published: July 2020

Assessing and understanding intelligent agents is a difficult task for users who lack an AI background. “Explainable AI” (XAI) aims to address this problem, but what should be in an explanation? One route toward answering this question is to turn to theories of how humans try to obtain information they seek. Information Foraging Theory (IFT) is one such theory. In this article, we present a series of studies
1
using IFT: the first investigates how expert explainers
supply
explanations in the RTS domain, the second investigates what explanations domain experts
demand
from agents in the RTS domain, and the last focuses on how both populations try to explain a state-of-the-art AI. Our results show that RTS environments like StarCraft offer so many options that change so rapidly, foraging tends to be very costly. Ways foragers attempted to manage such costs included “satisficing” approaches to reduce their cognitive load, such as focusing more on What information than on Why information, strategic use of language to communicate a lot of nuanced information in a few words, and optimizing their environment when possible to make their most valuable information patches readily available. Further, when a real AI entered the picture, even very experienced domain experts had difficulty understanding and judging some of the AI’s unconventional behaviors. Finally, our results reveal ways Information Foraging Theory can inform future XAI interactive explanation environments, and also how XAI can inform IFT.
Preserving Secrecy in Mobile Social Networks
Authors: Suntaxi Gabriela , Ghazi Aboubakr Achraf El , Böhm Klemens
Published: July 2020

Location-based services are one of the most important services offered by mobile social networks. Offering this kind of service requires accessing the physical position of users together with the access authorizations, i.e., who is authorized to access what information. However, these physical positions and authorizations are sensitive information that have to be kept secret from any adversary, including the service providers. As far as we know, the problem of offering location-based services in mobile social networks with a revocation feature under collusion assumption, i.e., an adversary colludes with the service provider, has not been studied. In this article, we show how to solve this problem in the example of range queries. Specifically, we guarantee any adversary, including the service provider, is not able to learn (1) the physical position of the users, (2) the distance between his position and that of the users, and (3) whether two users are allowed to learn the distance between them. We propose two approaches, namely, two-layer symmetric encryption and two-layer attribute-based encryption. The main difference between them is that they use, among other encryption schemes, symmetric and attribute-based encryption, respectively. Next, we prove the secrecy guarantees of both approaches, analyze their complexity, and provide experiments to evaluate their performance in practice.
IoT Architecture for Urban Data-Centric Services and Applications
Authors: Luckner Marcin , Grzenda Maciej , Kunicki Robert , Legierski Jaroslaw
Published: July 2020

In this work, we describe an urban Internet of Things (IoT) architecture, grounded in big data patterns and focused on the needs of cities and their key stakeholders. First, the architecture of the dedicated platform USE4IoT (Urban Service Environment for the Internet of Things), which gathers and processes urban big data and extends the Lambda architecture, is proposed. We describe how the platform was used to make IoT an enabling technology for intelligent transport planning. Moreover, key data processing components vital to provide high-quality IoT data streams in a near-real-time manner are defined. Furthermore, tests showing how the IoT platform described in this study provides a low-latency analytical environment for smart cities are included.
Approval Voting and Incentives in Crowdsourcing
Authors: Shah Nihar B.
Published: July 2020

The growing need for labeled training data has made crowdsourcing an important part of machine learning. The quality of crowdsourced labels is, however, adversely affected by three factors: (1) the workers are not experts; (2) the incentives of the workers are not aligned with those of the requesters; and (3) the interface does not allow workers to convey their knowledge accurately, by forcing them to make a single choice among a set of options. In this paper, we address these issues by introducing approval voting to %judiciously utilize the expertise of workers who have partial knowledge of the true answer, and coupling it with a ("strictly proper") incentive-compatible compensation mechanism. We show rigorous theoretical guarantees of optimality of our mechanism together with a simple axiomatic characterization. We also conduct preliminary empirical studies on Amazon Mechanical Turk which validate our approach.
Adaptive HTF-MPR
Authors: Albaqsami Ahmad , Hosseini Maryam S. , Jasemi Masoomeh , Bagherzadeh Nader
Published: July 2020

Deep neural networks are widely used in many artificial intelligence applications. They have demonstrated state-of-the-art accuracy on many artificial intelligence tasks. For this high accuracy to occur, deep neural networks require the right parameter values. This is achieved by a process known as
training
. The training of large amounts of data via many iterations comes at a high cost in regard to computation time and energy. Optimal resource allocation would therefore reduce the training time. TensorFlow, a computational graph library developed by Google, alleviates the development of neural network models and provides the means to train these networks. In this article, we propose
Adaptive HTF-MPR
to carry out the resource allocation, or mapping, on TensorFlow. Adaptive HTF-MPR searches for the best mapping in a hybrid approach. We applied the proposed methodology on two well-known image classifiers: VGG-16 and AlexNet. We also performed a full analysis of the solution space of MNIST Softmax. Our results demonstrate that Adaptive HTF-MPR outperforms the default homogeneous TensorFlow mapping. In addition to the speed up, Adaptive HTF-MPR can react to changes in the state of the system and adjust to an improved mapping.
Phishing Scams Detection in Ethereum Transaction Network
Authors: Chen Liang , Peng Jiaying , Liu Yang , Li Jintang , Xie Fenfang , Zheng Zibin
Published: July 2020

Blockchain has attracted an increasing amount of researches, and there are lots of refreshing implementations in different fields. Cryptocurrency as its representative implementation, suffers the economic loss due to phishing scams. In our work, accounts and transactions are treated as nodes and edges, thus detection of phishing accounts can be modeled as a node classification problem. Correspondingly, we propose a detecting method based on Graph Convolutional Network and autoencoder to precisely distinguish phishing accounts. Experiments on different large-scale real-world datasets from Ethereum show that our proposed model consistently performs promising results compared with related methods.
Deep Learning on Mobile and Embedded Devices
Authors: Chen Yanjiao , Zheng Baolin , Zhang Zihan , Wang Qian , Shen Chao , Zhang Qian
Published: July 2020

Recent years have witnessed an exponential increase in the use of mobile and embedded devices. With the great success of deep learning in many fields, there is an emerging trend to deploy deep learning on mobile and embedded devices to better meet the requirement of real-time applications and user privacy protection. However, the limited resources of mobile and embedded devices make it challenging to fulfill the intensive computation and storage demand of deep learning models. In this survey, we conduct a comprehensive review on the related issues for deep learning on mobile and embedded devices. We start with a brief introduction of deep learning and discuss major challenges of implementing deep learning models on mobile and embedded devices. We then conduct an in-depth survey on important compression and acceleration techniques that help adapt deep learning models to mobile and embedded devices, which we specifically classify as pruning, quantization, model distillation, network design strategies, and low-rank factorization. We elaborate on the hardware-based solutions, including mobile GPU, FPGA, and ASIC, and describe software frameworks for mobile deep learning models, especially the development of frameworks based on OpenCL and RenderScript. After that, we present the application of mobile deep learning in a variety of areas, such as navigation, health, speech recognition, and information security. Finally, we discuss some future directions for deep learning on mobile and embedded devices to inspire further research in this area.
Reconfigurable Framework for Environmentally Adaptive Resilience in Hybrid Space Systems
Authors: Sabogal Sebastian , George Alan , Wilson Christopher
Published: July 2020

Due to ongoing innovations in both sensor technology and spacecraft autonomy, onboard space processing continues to be outpaced by the escalating computational demands required for next-generation missions. Commercial-off-the-shelf, hybrid system-on-chips, combining fixed-logic CPUs with reconfigurable-logic FPGAs, present numerous architectural advantages that address onboard computing challenges. However, commercial devices are highly susceptible to space radiation and require dependable computing strategies to mitigate radiation-induced single-event effects. Depending upon the mission, the dynamics of the near-Earth space-radiation environment expose spacecraft to radiation fluxes that can vary by several orders of magnitude. By adopting an adaptive approach to dependable computing, spacecraft computers can reconfigure system resources to efficiently accommodate changing environmental conditions to maximize system performance while satisfying availability constraints throughout the mission. In this article, we propose Hybrid, Adaptive, Reconfigurable Fault Tolerance (HARFT), a reconfigurable framework for environmentally adaptive resilience in hybrid space systems. Furthermore, we describe a methodology to model adaptive systems, represented as phased-mission systems using Markov chains, subject to the near-Earth space-radiation environment, using a combination of orbital perturbation, geomagnetic field, and single-event effect rate prediction tools. We apply this methodology to evaluate the HARFT architecture using various static and adaptive strategies for several orbital case studies and demonstrate the achievable performability gains.
Inositol polyphosphate multikinase in adipocytes is dispensable for regulating energy metabolism and whole body metabolic homeostasis
Authors: Lee Seulgi , Beon Jiyoon , Kim Min-Gyu , Kim Seyun
Published: July 2020

Adipose tissue plays a central role in regulating whole body energy and glucose homeostasis at both organ and systemic levels. Inositol polyphosphates, such as 5-diphosphoinositol pentakisphosphate, reportedly control adipocyte functions and energy expenditure. However, the physiological roles of the inositol polyphosphate (IP) pathway in the adipose tissue are not yet fully defined. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that inositol polyphosphate multikinase (IPMK), a key enzyme in the IP metabolism, plays a critical role in adipose tissue biology and obesity. We generated adipocyte-specific IPMK knockout ( Ipmk AKO) mice and evaluated metabolic phenotypes by measuring fat accumulation, glucose homeostasis, and insulin sensitivity in adult mice fed either a regular-chow diet or high-fat diet (HFD). Despite substantial reduction of IPMK, Ipmk AKO mice exhibited normal glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity and did not show changes in fat accumulation in response to HFD-feeding. In addition, loss of IPMK had no major impact on thermogenic processes in response to cold exposure. Collectively, these findings suggest that adipocyte IPMK is dispensable for normal adipose tissue and its physiological functions in whole body metabolism, suggesting the complex roles that inositol polyphosphate metabolism has in the regulation of adipose tissue.
Health-Related Quality of Life, Blood Pressure, and Biochemical and Anthropometric Profile in Vegetarians and Nonvegetarians
Authors: Saintila Jacksaint , Lozano López Tabita E. , Ruiz Mamani Percy G. , White Michael , Huancahuire-Vega Salomón
Published: July 2020

Several studies have been carried out which mainly focus on the analysis of the lipid profile in vegetarians and nonvegetarians. However, few studies have been undertaken in this population oriented to quality of life and health. This study aimed to compare health-related quality of life, blood pressure, and biochemical and anthropometric profile in vegetarians and nonvegetarians. The study included 149 participants out of an initial sample of 162: 62 vegetarians and 87 nonvegetarians. Health-related quality of life was assessed with the SF-12 Health Questionnaire version 2 and was related with the lipid profile, glucose, blood pressure, anthropometric measures, and sociodemographic characteristics. Vegetarians presented better Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), as well as higher LDL levels. No significant differences in HDL and TG concentrations were found. Serum glucose concentrations were significantly lower among vegetarians. Nonvegetarian males had higher diastolic pressure levels. Vegetarian women had significantly higher levels of systolic pressure. As for the physical health and mental health components of quality of life, no significant differences were found in vegetarian and nonvegetarian women and men. In conclusion, vegetarians presented a better anthropometric profile, lower glycaemia, and higher LDL levels but no significant differences in health-related quality of life compared with nonvegetarians.
Response Modification Factor of RC Frames Strengthened with RC Haunches
Authors: Akbar Junaid , Ahmad Naveed , Rizwan Muhammad , Javed Sairash , Alam Bashir
Published: July 2020

This paper presents experimental and numerical studies carried out on two-story reinforced concrete (RC) frames having weaker beam-column joints, which were retrofitted with reinforced concrete haunches to avoid joint panel damage under seismic actions. The design philosophy of the retrofit solution is to allow beam-column members to deform inelastically and dissipate seismic energy. Shake table tests were performed on three 1 : 3 reduced scale two-story RC frame models, including one model incorporating construction deficiencies common in developing countries, which was retrofitted with two retrofit schemes using RC haunches. The focus of the experimental study was to understand the seismic behaviour of both as-built and retrofitted models and obtain the seismic response properties, i.e., lateral force-displacement capacity curves and time histories of model response displacement. The derived capacity curves were used to quantify overstrength and ductility factors of both as-built and retrofitted frames. Finite element- (FE-) based software SeismoStruct was used to develop representative numerical models, which were calibrated with the experimental data in simulating the time history response of structure roof displacement and in predicting peak roof-displacement and peak base shear force. Moreover, the FE-based numerical models were subjected to a suite of spectrum natural accelerograms, linearly scaled to multiple intensity levels for performing incremental dynamic analysis. Lateral force-displacement capacity and response curves were developed, which were analyzed to calculate the structure ductility and overstrength factors. The structure R factor is the product of ductility and overstrength factors, which exhibited substantial increase due to the proposed retrofitting technique. A case study was presented for the seismic performance assessment of RC frames with/without RC haunches in various seismic zones using the static force procedure given in seismic code and using response modification factor quantified in the present research.
Novel Constrained Dual Mobility Hip Prosthesis to Combat Instability in Revision Total Hip Arthroplasty whilst Preserving Normal Function
Authors: Jiang Michael , Lambers Anton , Richardson Rodney
Published: July 2020

We present the case of a male patient with sepsis and a chronic discharging sinus in a multirevised total hip replacement. Following extensive debridement, the reimplanted hip became unstable. With the patient’s long-term desire to return to work and ride a bicycle with his children, the patient agreed to proceed with a novel, custom-designed, constrained dual mobility liner which allowed unrestricted movement. In 2017, the patient underwent revision surgery with this novel dual mobility constrained prosthesis. The patient was very quickly able to regain independence. After 16 years of unemployment, he managed to return to gainful employment as a cleaner rapidly regaining function as well as finally being able to ride a bike with his children for the first time.
Cryptogamic Packed Biofilter as Potential Adsorbent for CO2, NH3, and H2S Impurities from Biogas
Authors: Temba Norbert W. , Kivevele Thomas , Pogrebnaya Tatiana
Published: July 2020

The presence of elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and trace impurities in biogas affect its caloric value as well as causes corrosion and is extremely toxic. There are various methods in existence for removal of these impurities, but most are chemically based and expensive and are limited in use. In our work, cryptogams (moss) integrated with soil and biochar packed in a filter have been employed for simultaneous removal of CO2, H2S, and NH3, from biogas. Different soil types rich in metallic oxides at different masses of 100 g, 150 g, and 200 g with a fixed mass of moss and biochar were tested in an on-site experiment to determine the removal efficiency (RE) and sorption capacity (SC). The adsorption dynamics of the filters were investigated at two flow rates, 80 ml/min and 100 ml/min, by determining removal efficiency. For the contribution of each substrate, sorption capacity and breakthrough time were determined by considering 5 g of each substrate that made up the filter. The soils with a high content of extractable cations showed excellent adsorption capacity for H2S by about 20 g S/100 g, which was higher than other adsorbents tested. It was found that integrated biofilter made up of bed arrangement of the soil, biochar, and moss plant improved the quality of biogas with SC of 11 g S and RE of 93% for H2S, 72% for NH3, and 68% for CO2.
Flow Chart Generation-Based Source Code Similarity Detection Using Process Mining
Authors: Zhang Feng , Li Lulu , Liu Cong , Zeng Qingtian
Published: July 2020

Source code similarity detection has extensive applications in computer programming teaching and software intellectual property protection. In the teaching of computer programming courses, students may utilize some complex source code obfuscation techniques, e.g., opaque predicates, loop unrolling, and function inlining and outlining, to reduce the similarity between code fragments and avoid the plagiarism detection. Existing source code similarity detection approaches only consider static features of source code, making it difficult to cope with more complex code obfuscation techniques. In this paper, we propose a novel source code similarity detection approach by considering the dynamic features at runtime of source code using process mining. More specifically, given two pieces of source code, their running logs are obtained by source code instrumentation and execution. Next, process mining is used to obtain the flow charts of the two pieces of source code by analyzing their collected running logs. Finally, similarity of the two pieces of source code is measured by computing the similarity of these two flow charts. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can deal with more complex obfuscation techniques including opaque predicates and loop unrolling as well as function inlining and outlining, which cannot be handled by existing work properly. Therefore, we argue that our approach can defeat commonly used code obfuscation techniques more effectively for source code similarity detection than the existing state-of-the-art approaches.
Clinical Significance of Pre-to-Postoperative Dynamics of Aspartate Transaminase/Alanine Transaminase Ratio in Predicting the Prognosis of Renal Cell Carcinoma after Surgical Treatment
Authors: Kang Minyong , Shin Seung Jea , Sung Hyun Hwan , Jeon Hwang Gyun , Jeong Byong Chang , Jeon Seong Soo , Lee Hyun Moo , Seo Seong Il
Published: July 2020

Background. This study is aimed at examining the prognostic role of pre-to-postoperative dynamics of De Ritis ratio (aspartate aminotransaminase (AST)/alanine aminotransaminase (ALT)) in patients with nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following radical nephrectomy. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 670 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy for nonmetastatic RCC between 1996 and 2012 at our institution. The cutoff points for preoperative (=1.0) and postoperative AST/ALT ratios (=1.12) were assigned based on the median values. We categorized patients into four groups according to the dynamics of AST/ALT ratios: group 1 (lower (≤1.0) ⟶ lower (≤1.12)), group 2 (lower (≤1.0) ⟶ higher (>1.12)), group 3 (higher (>1.0) ⟶ lower (≤1.12)), and group 4 (higher (>1.0) → higher (>1.12)). Results. When grouped by a preoperative AST/ALT ratio alone, the groups were not statistically different in cancer-specific survival (CSS) or overall survival (OS). In contrast, in Kaplan-Meier analysis, CSS (P=0.0296) and OS (P=0.0324) were both significantly shorter with an increased postoperative AST/ALT ratio. According to the pre-to-postoperative dynamics of the AST/ALT ratio, group 2 (lower (≤1.0) ⟶ higher (>1.12)) had a significantly lower CSS (P=0.0028) and OS (P=0.0194) than the other groups. On multivariate Cox regression analysis, the pre-to-postoperative dynamics of the AST/ALT ratio were a significant prognostic factor for CSS (hazard ratio, HR=3.45) and OS (HR=2.18). Conclusion. This study is the first to suggest that the dynamics of the pre-to-postoperative De Ritis ratio represent an independent prognostic factor for RCC patients following nephrectomy.
Clinical Considerations for Return to Driving a Car following a Total Knee or Hip Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review
Authors: Na Annalisa , Richburg Kacy , Gugala Zbigniew
Published: July 2020

Aim. The purpose of this study is to systematically review patient characteristics and clinical determinants that may influence return to driving status and time frames following a primary TKA or THA and provide an update of the current literature. Methods. This review was completed per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Final electronic database searches were completed in October 2019 in Medline/PubMed, Medline/OVID, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Cochrane Library using preselected search terms. Manuscripts of prospective and nonrandomized studies that examined the return to driving a car after a primary knee or hip arthroplasty patients were included. The Methodological Index for Non‐Randomized Studies was used to measure study quality. Two authors selected studies and assessed their qualities. All disagreements were resolved through discussion and, as needed, a third reviewer. Data on study title, author(s), country, year, study design, sample size, inclusion and exclusion criteria, age, BMI, gender, statistical analyses, driving measure, follow‐up time, surgical approach, laterality, and postoperative management were extracted from each study. Results. A total of 23 studies were eligible, including 12 TKA studies (n = 654) with mean ages between 43 and 82 years, 9 THA studies (n = 922) with mean ages between 34 and 85 years, and 2 combined TKA and THA (TKA, n = 815; THA, n = 685), yielded MINORS scores between 6 and 12. Most patients achieved or exceeded preoperative response times between 1 and 8 weeks following a TKA and 2 days to 8 weeks following a THA, and/or self‐reported return to driving between 1 week and 6 months. Influences on return to driving time included laterality and pain, but gender was mixed. Discussion/Conclusions. Study results were consistent with previous systematic reviews in that return to driving a car after a primary TKA or THA is highly variable, and most commonly occurs around 4 weeks, but can range between 2 and 8 weeks. While various patient and clinical factors can influence return to driving for a TKA or THA, the most common contributing facts were pain and laterality. The heterogeneous nature of the studies prevented a meta‐analysis for determining contributions of return to driving following a primary TKA or THA. Regardless, this study updates previous systematic reviews and presents insight on patient and clinical factors beyond generalized timeframes for return to driving a car. This information and results from future studies are essential to guide clinical recommendations and patient and clinician expectations for return to driving a car after a primary TKA or THA.
Role of Mesencephalic Astrocyte-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Alcohol-Induced Liver Injury
Authors: Chhetri Goma , Liang Yanyan , Shao Juntang , Han Dan , Yang Yi , Hou Chao , Wang Peng , Tao XiaoFang , Shen Yujun , Jiang Tongcui , Feng Lijie , Shen Yuxian
Published: July 2020

Consumption of alcohol in immoderate quantity induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response (alcohol-induced ER stress). Mesencephalic astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factor (MANF), an ER stress-inducible protein, works as an evolutionarily conserved regulator of systemic and liver metabolic homeostasis. In this study, the effects of MANF on alcohol-induced liver injury were explored by using hepatocyte-specific MANF-knockout mice (MANFΔHep) in a chronic-plus-binge alcohol feeding model. We found that alcohol feeding upregulated MANF expression and MANFΔHep mice exhibited more severe liver injury with extra activated ER stress after alcohol feeding. In addition, we found that MANF deficiency activated iNOS and p65 and increased the production of NO and anti-inflammatory cytokines, which was further enhanced after alcohol treatment. Meanwhile, MANF deletion upregulated the levels of CYP2E1, 4-HNE, and MDA and downregulated the levels of GSH and SOD. These results indicate that MANF has potential protection on alcohol-induced liver injury, and the underlying mechanisms may be associated with meliorating the overactivated ER stress triggered by inflammation and oxidative stress via inhibiting and reducing NO/NF-κB and CYP2E1/ROS, respectively. Therefore, MANF might be a negative regulator in alcohol-induced ER stress and participate in the crosstalk between the NF-κB pathway and oxidative stress in the liver. Conclusions. This study identifies a specific role of MANF in alcohol-induced liver injury, which may provide a new approach for the treatment of ALI.
Comparison between Cryopreserved and Dehydrated Human Amniotic Membrane Graft in Treating Challenging Cases with Macular Hole and Macular Hole Retinal Detachment
Authors: Huang Yu-Hsuan , Tsai Der-Chong , Wang Lei-Chi , Chen Shih-Jen
Published: July 2020

Purpose. To evaluate the surgical outcomes of cryopreserved and dehydrated human amniotic membrane (hAM) graft transplantation for macular hole (MH) and macular hole retinal detachment (MHRD) repair. Materials and Methods. This retrospective, interventional case series was conducted in two hospitals. Two types of hAM grafts, namely, the dehydrated form (AmnioGen, HCT Regenerative, Taiwan) and the cryopreserved form (AmnioGraft, Bio-Tissue, Miami, FL), were consecutively used in MH surgeries. Anatomical and functional outcomes between the 2 types of hAM grafts were compared. Results. Seventeen patients (mean age: 62.1 ± 10.0 years, 9 (52.9%) males) were enrolled. Of them, 11 patients had persistent MH, 3 had MH without prior surgery, and 3 had MHRD. A cryopreserved hAM graft was used in 10 patients, and a dehydrated hAM graft was used in 8 patients. One patient used a cryopreserved hAM in the first MH surgery and a dehydrated hAM in the second surgery for extramacular hole with retinal detachment. After a 6-month follow-up, 13 (76.5%) patients had sealed MHs. The average visual acuity (VA) of cases with sealed MHs improved from 1.38 ± 0.62 to 1.12 ± 0.47 logMAR (p=0.03). In the other 4 cases with persistent MH, 3 had graft dislocation and 1 had a reopened MH with graft contraction. There were no significant differences in closure rate (80.00% vs. 71.43%, p=0.68) or VA improvement (0.19 ± 0.37 logMAR vs. 0.15 ± 0.41 logMAR, p=0.85) between the 2 kinds of hAM graft. Conclusion. This preliminary case series showed that both cryopreserved hAM and dehydrated hAM are feasible alternative grafts for either persistent or recurrent MH. Both approaches have similar anatomical and functional outcomes.
To Clot or Not: HELLP Syndrome and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation in an Eclamptic Patient with Intrauterine Fetal Demise
Authors: Walker Justin , Bonavia Anthony
Published: July 2020

A 39-year-old G2P1001 female presented from an outside hospital following an eclamptic seizure in the setting of HELLP syndrome. This condition was complicated by intrauterine fetal demise and disseminated intravascular coagulation, which required an emergent cesarean section. We report the work-up and intraoperative and postoperative management of this complex patient with multiple medical needs. We focus on the hemostatic abnormalities in this patient and describe how our management would differ from that of a similar, nonpregnant patient.
Which Factors Contribute to Frailty among the Oldest Old? Results of the Multicentre Prospective AgeCoDe and AgeQualiDe Study
Authors: Hajek André , Brettschneider Christian , Röhr Susanne , Gühne Uta , van der Leeden Carolin , Lühmann Dagmar , Mamone Silke , Wiese Birgitt , Weyerer Siegfried , Werle Jochen , Fuchs Angela , Pentzek Michael , Weeg Dagmar , Mösch Edelgard , Heser Kathrin , Wagner Michael , Maier Wolfgang , Riedel-Heller Steffi G. , Scherer Martin , König Hans-Helmut
Published: July 2020

Introduction: There is a lack of studies investigating the link between time-varying factors associated with changes in frailty scores in very old age longitudinally. This is important because the level of frailty is associated with subsequent morbidity and mortality. Objective: To examine time-dependent predictors of frailty among the oldest old using a longitudinal approach. Methods: Longitudinal data were drawn from the multicentre prospective cohort study “Study on Needs, health service use, costs and health-related quality of life in a large sample of oldest-old primary care patients (85+)” (AgeQualiDe), covering primary care patients aged 85 years and over. Three waves were used (from follow-up, FU, wave 7 to FU wave 9 [with 10 months between each wave]; 1,301 observations in the analytical sample). Frailty was assessed using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). As explanatory variables, we included sociodemographic factors (marital status and age), social isolation as well as health-related variables (depression, dementia, and chronic diseases) in a regression analysis. Results: In total, 18.9% of the individuals were mildly frail, 12.4% of the individuals were moderately frail, and 0.4% of the individuals were severely frail at FU wave 7. Fixed effects regressions revealed that increases in frailty were associated with increases in age (β = 0.23, p < 0.001), and dementia (β = 0.84, p < 0.01), as well as increases in chronic conditions (β = 0.03, p = 0.058). Conclusion: The study findings particularly emphasize the importance of changes in age, probably chronic conditions as well as dementia for frailty. Future research is required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, future longitudinal studies based on panel regression models are required to confirm our findings.
Neural Components of Reading Revealed by Distributed and Symbolic Computational Models
Authors: Staples Ryan , Graves William W.
Published: July 2020

Determining how the cognitive components of reading—orthographic, phonological, and semantic representations—are instantiated in the brain has been a long-standing goal of psychology and human cognitive neuroscience. The two most prominent computational models of reading instantiate different cognitive processes, implying different neural processes. Artificial neural network (ANN) models of reading posit nonsymbolic, distributed representations. The dual-route cascaded (DRC) model instead suggests two routes of processing, one representing symbolic rules of spelling–to–sound correspondence, the other representing orthographic and phonological lexicons. These models are not adjudicated by behavioral data and have never before been directly compared in terms of neural plausibility. We used representational similarity analysis to compare the predictions of these models to neural data from participants reading aloud. Both the ANN and DRC model representations corresponded to neural activity. However, the ANN model representations correlated to more reading-relevant areas of cortex. When contributions from the DRC model were statistically controlled, partial correlations revealed that the ANN model accounted for significant variance in the neural data. The opposite analysis, examining the variance explained by the DRC model with contributions from the ANN model factored out, revealed no correspondence to neural activity. Our results suggest that ANNs trained using distributed representations provide a better correspondence between cognitive and neural coding. Additionally, this framework provides a principled approach for comparing computational models of cognitive function to gain insight into neural representations.
Three new Amazonian species of Myrcia sect. Myrcia (Myrtaceae) based on morphology and near-infrared spectroscopy

Authors: GAEM PAULO HENRIQUE , DOS SANTOS LEIDIANA LIMA , ANDRADE ANA , VICENTINI ALBERTO , MAZINE FIORELLA FERNANDA
Published: July 2020

Three new Amazonian species of the Myrcia splendens group from Brazil are proposed based on morphology and near-infrared spectroscopy of leaves and compared with similar taxa. Myrcia eveae resembles M. splendens and may be recognised mostly by large and oblong leaf blades that tapers abruptly at the apex and large bracts; Myrcia otocalyx also resembles M. splendens, being recognised mainly by pyriform flower buds, campanulate hypanthia that are longitudinally ridged, and sepals of different shapes that are patent on fruit; and Myrcia prismatica is similar to M. deflexa, being recognised essentially by chartaceous leaf blades, pedicels clustered at the tips of inflorescence axes, and oblong fruits with longitudinal edges. Spectral data revealed a unique pattern for each one of the new species and the putative related ones, reinforcing the morphological propositions. This is the first study to use morphology and spectroscopy of leaves combined to propose new species of Myrtaceae. Information on geographical distribution, habitat, conservation status, and an identification key are also provided.
Eighteen new species of Oecetis McLachlan 1877 (Trichoptera, Leptoceridae) from New Caledonia
Authors: JOHANSON KJELL ARNE , MARY NATHALIE JEANNE , SJÖBERG TIN , MALM TOBIAS
Published: July 2020

Eighteen new species of Oecetis are described, diagnosed, and illustrated from New Caledonia: Oecetis amphora sp. nov., Oecetis ovula sp. nov., Oecetis ramosa sp. nov., Oecetis loyolaensi sp. nov., Oecetis millei sp. nov., Oecetis christinae sp. nov., Oecetis rostrata sp. nov., Oecetis alicae sp. nov., Oecetis oxybelis sp. nov., Oecetis dorsospina sp. nov., Oecetis multidentata sp. nov., Oecetis gracilis sp. nov., Oecetis rostra sp. nov., Oecetis triramosa sp. nov., Oecetis flucta sp. nov., Oecetis nouvellecaledoniensis sp. nov., Oecetis variabilis sp. nov., and Oecetis ovata sp. nov. A diagnostic key is provided for males of Oecetis species of New Caledonia. The species display similarities in genitalic characteristics but also a high diversity of apomorphic features. The new species were collected from lotic habitats across most of Grande Terre.
New records of ectoparasites for Mexico and their prevalence in the montane shrew Sorex monticolus (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae) at Cerro del Mohinora, Sierra Madre Occidental of Chihuahua, Mexico
Authors: ACOSTA ROXANA , GUZMÁN-CORNEJO CARMEN , CISNEROS FLOR ANGÉLICA QUIÑONEZ , QUIÑONEZ ANGÉLICA ANNAY TORRES , FERNÁNDEZ JESÚS A.
Published: July 2020

The Flora and Fauna Protection Area (Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna—ÁPFF) Cerro del Mohinora, is the highest mountain in northern Mexico, reaching an elevation of 3,300 meters. It constitutes one of the last high-elevation islands of alpine and subalpine vegetation known in the Sierra Madre Occidental, in the extreme southwestern part of Chihuahua. The ÁPFF Cerro del Mohinora is located near the state border and limits with Durango and Sinaloa. This type of ecosystem located at high altitudes is in danger of disappearing since only 1% or less of its original extension remains; it is considered a refuge for species with boreal affinities (McDonald et al. 2011).
Socially-Structured Mobility Networks and School Segregation Dynamics: The Role of Emergent Consideration Sets
Authors: Burdick-Will Julia , Grigg Jeffrey A. , Nerenberg Kiara Millay , Connolly Faith
Published: July 2020

This study proposes and applies a novel method for empirically evaluating the role of social structure in the school sorting process. We use administrative records from Baltimore City and suburban Baltimore County public elementary schools (2011 to 2015) to generate a network of schools based on student transfers. We then apply repeated calculations of the Louvian method of community detection to estimate emergent sets of schools that similar parents are likely to consider—which we term emergent consideration sets—and use gravity models to explore the role of social structure, demographics, and geography in observed enrollment patterns. We find that our network-derived emergent consideration sets are better defined by structural boundaries than by student composition or proficiency alone. Within consideration sets, students tend to avoid schools with relatively higher levels of free- and reduced-price meal eligibility and flock toward schools with higher proficiency levels. School racial composition, however, plays a much smaller role in predicting movement between schools, in part because structural constraints generate racially homogeneous consideration sets. Together, these findings highlight how regional social and geographic organization shapes school segregation processes and the policies used to combat them.
An exploration of the challenges faced by traveling adjuncts
Authors: Witt Phyllis A , Gearin Christopher A
Published: July 2020

Higher education institutions are heavily reliant on part-time adjuncts to teach their students. These part-time adjuncts now account for the majority of faculty in the United States. This qualitative study utilizes a phenomenological approach to explore the essence of the lived experiences of part-time adjuncts who travel to more than one university in their work roles. This study utilized semi-structured interviews with eight traveling adjuncts. The interview questions were based on: the theory of underemployment, employee engagement theory, and the learned helplessness model. While higher education institutions are reliant on adjunct faculty for their survival, the findings uncovered negative factors within the work environment which included job dissatisfaction, low pay, and little or no benefits. The implications and recommendations of these findings and recommendations for future research are also discussed.
The impacts of oil price on exchange rates: Evidence from Saudi Arabia
Authors: Mohammed Suliman Tilal Hassen , Abid Mehdi
Published: July 2020

The real exchange rate is a key indicator of a country’s trade competitiveness in the world. This paper investigates the interaction between oil price and real exchange rates in Saudi Arabia during the period January 1986 -March 2019, using monthly data. This study uses the autoregressive distributed lag model and the error correction model in order to investigate the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables. The evidence reveals that there is a strong long-run cointegration. The robustness of the autoregressive distributed lag bounds test cointegration was confirmed using the newly developed combined cointegration, which also provided the same evidence for a strong long-run relationship. In the short term, the results confirm the existence of a unidirectional causal relationship ranging from the oil price to the exchange rate. In the long term, however, the causal relationship is bidirectional between these two variables. An appreciation of the Saudi exchange rate generates an increase in the relative demand for oil, which in turn creates upward pressure on its price. For policy purposes, such evidence suggests that Saudi Arabia should be careful not to put too much weight on the benefits of higher revenue due to higher oil price.
In the Shadow of Social Stereotypes: Gender diversity on corporate boards, board chair’s gender and strategic change
Authors: Sidhu Jatinder S. , Feng Ying , Volberda Henk W. , Van Den Bosch Frans A.J.
Published: July 2020

Against the backdrop of spirited public and academic discourse about women’s low visibility in corporate leadership positions, we examine board gender diversity’s influence on strategic change in firms. Viewing gender as an institutionalized system of social beliefs, the article makes two related arguments. First, it contends that because of gender status difference and bias, more gender diversity will result in less strategic change as a board’s decisions begin to follow the stance of a smaller but relatively more influential ‘boy’s club’. Second, it contends that should a board have a female chair as opposed to a male chair, a recession in the shadow of gender stereotypes will reverse board gender diversity’s negative effect on strategic change. Instrumental variables analysis of data from Fortune 500 firms supports the theory. We discuss the study’s contributions and implications.
Predictors of Postoperative Radiation Following Laser Resection in Early‐Stage Glottic Cancer
Authors: Silverman Dustin A. , Zhan Kevin Y. , Puram Sidharth V. , Eskander Antoine , Teknos Theodoros N. , Rocco James W. , Old Matthew O. , Kang Stephen Y.
Published: July 2020

Objective

Guideline recommendations for the treatment of early‐stage glottic cancer are limited to single‐modality therapy with surgery or radiation alone. We sought to investigate the clinicopathologic and treatment factors associated with the use of postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) following laser excision for patients with T1‐T2N0 glottic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Study Design

Retrospective observational study of the National Cancer Database.

Setting

National Cancer Database review from 2004 to 2014.

Patients and Methods

A total of 1338 patients with primary cT1‐T2N0M0 glottic SCC undergoing primary laser excision were included. Hospitals were divided into quartiles based on yearly volume of laryngeal laser cases performed. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors of PORT.

Results

The overall rate of PORT was 30.0%. Predictors of PORT included treatment at lower‐volume hospitals (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] for quartiles 2‐4, 1.32‐4.84), positive margins (aOR, 3.83 [95% CI, 2.54‐5.78]), and T2 tumors (aOR, 3.58 [95% CI, 2.24‐5.74]). PORT utilization demonstrated a strong inverse correlation with hospital volume. Among top‐quartile hospitals, the rate of PORT was 11.2%, while rates of PORT at second‐, third‐, and fourth‐quartile institutions were 19.2%, 32.2%, and 37.4%, respectively.

Conclusions

Predictors of PORT in multivariable analysis included treatment at lower‐volume facilities, positive margins, and T2 disease. This study highlights the importance of treating early‐stage glottic carcinoma at high‐volume institutions. In addition, there is a need to reevaluate the use of PORT and reduce the rate of dual‐modality therapy for patients with early‐stage glottic SCC.
Self-Report Accuracy in Local Economic Development Programs
Authors: Farley Bill
Published: July 2020

Local economic development programs are primarily aimed at increasing employment and tax revenues. Data on these programs are collected through self-report surveys conducted by the International City Managers Association and others. This study evaluates predictors of accurate self-reporting. Using agency theory as a theoretical framework, the study measures the quantity of internal reporting components and the quality of financial reporting and evaluates how these are associated with accurate self-reporting. As a control, the condition of the local economy is also evaluated. The findings indicate a statistically significant relationship between the quality of financial reporting and the strength of a local economy with accurate self-reporting. Recommendations to improve research in this area are for the Government Finance Officers Association and the International City Managers Association to work together, with the former creating standards for reporting on local economic development programs and the latter aligning its survey with these standards.