bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Determinantes de Spreads Soberanos durante la reciente crisis financiera: el caso Europeo
Authors: Martinez Lisana Belén , Terceño Antonio , Teruel Mercedes
Published: December 2016

En este artículo se identifican los principales determinantes de spreads soberanos considerando el bono alemán y de EEUU como benchmarks de referencia, para países de la Unión Europea y de la Unión Monetaria Europea, desde 2004 hasta 2011. Se aplica la metodología econométrica de datos de panel con efectos fijos. Los resultados presentan altos ajustes ante los distintos benchmarks. La crisis financiera presenta mayor impacto en los países de la eurozona. Futuras líneas de investigación podrían contemplar un periodo de estudio más amplio, incluir más variables macroeconómicas y agrupar los países de acuerdo con la similitud de sus fundamentales para realizar un análisis más exhaustivo de los mercados de deuda.
Validation of Constant Load C-Ring Apex Stresses for Stress Corrosion Cracking Testing in Supercritical Water
Authors: Swift R. , Cook W. , Bradley C. , Newman R.C.
Published: December 2016

In selecting the materials for the Canadian supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR), the effects and extent of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) on candidate alloys of construction, under various operational conditions, must be considered. Several methods of applying stress to a corroding material are available for investigating SCC and each have their benefits and drawbacks; for simplicity of the experimental setup at University of New Brunswick (UNB), a constant load C-ring assembly has been used with Inconel 718 Belleville washers acting as a spring to deliver a near-constant load to the sample. To predict the stress at the apex of the C-ring, a mechanistic model has been developed to determine the force applied by the spring due to the thermal expansion of each component constrained within a fixed length when the temperature of the assembly is increased from ambient conditions to SCWR operational temperatures. In an attempt to validate the mechanistic model, trials to measure the force applied by the washers as the assembly thermally expanded were performed using an Instron machine and an environmental chamber. Accounting for the thermal expansion of the pull rods, the force was measured as temperature was increased while maintaining a constant displacement between the platens holding the C-ring. Results showed the initial model to be insufficient as it could not predict the force measured through this simple experiment. The revised model presented here considers the thermal expansion of the C-ring and all the components of the testing apparatus including the tree, backing washers, and Belleville washers. Further validation using the commercial finite element (FE) package abaqus is presented, as are preliminary results from the use of the apparatus to study the SCC of a zirconium-modified 310 s SS exposed to supercritical water.
Assessment of Linearization Approaches for Multibody Dynamics Formulations
Authors: González Francisco , Masarati Pierangelo , Cuadrado Javier , Naya Miguel A.
Published: December 2016

Formulating the dynamics equations of a mechanical system following a multibody dynamics approach often leads to a set of highly nonlinear differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). While this form of the equations of motion is suitable for a wide range of practical applications, in some cases it is necessary to have access to the linearized system dynamics. This is the case when stability and modal analyses are to be carried out; the definition of plant and system models for certain control algorithms and state estimators also requires a linear expression of the dynamics. A number of methods for the linearization of multibody dynamics can be found in the literature. They differ in both the approach that they follow to handle the equations of motion and the way in which they deliver their results, which in turn are determined by the selection of the generalized coordinates used to describe the mechanical system. This selection is closely related to the way in which the kinematic constraints of the system are treated. Three major approaches can be distinguished and used to categorize most of the linearization methods published so far. In this work, we demonstrate the properties of each approach in the linearization of systems in static equilibrium, illustrating them with the study of two representative examples.
Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of a Simplest Fractional-Order Delayed Memristive Chaotic System
Authors: Hu Wei , Ding Dawei , Wang Nian
Published: December 2016

A simplest fractional-order delayed memristive chaotic system is investigated in order to analyze the nonlinear dynamics of the system. The stability and bifurcation behaviors of this system are initially investigated, where time delay is selected as the bifurcation parameter. Some explicit conditions for describing the stability interval and the transversality condition of the emergence for Hopf bifurcation are derived. The period doubling route to chaos behaviors of such a system is discussed by using a bifurcation diagram, a phase diagram, a time-domain diagram, and the largest Lyapunov exponents (LLEs) diagram. Specifically, we study the influence of time delay on the chaotic behavior, and find that when time delay increases, the transitions from one cycle to two cycles, two cycles to four cycles, and four cycles to chaos are observed in this system model. Corresponding critical values of time delay are determined, showing the lowest orders for chaos in the fractional-order delayed memristive system. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to verify the correctness of theoretical analysis using the modified Adams–Bashforth–Moulton method.
A Planar Beam Finite-Element Formulation With Individually Interpolated Shear Deformation
Authors: Hurskainen Vesa-Ville T. , Matikainen Marko K. , Wang Jia J. , Mikkola Aki M.
Published: December 2016

This paper introduces a new planar gradient deficient beam element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. In the proposed formulation, the centerline position is interpolated using cubic polynomials while shear deformation is taken into account via independently interpolated linear terms. The orientation of the cross section, which is defined by the axial slope of the element's centerline position combined with the independent shear terms, is coupled with the displacement field. A structural mechanics based formulation is used to describe the strain energy via generalized strains derived using a local element coordinate frame. The accuracy and the convergence properties of the proposed formulation are verified using numerical tests in both static and dynamics cases. The numerical results show good agreement with reference formulations in terms of accuracy and convergence.
Metal Additive Manufacturing: Cost Competitive Beyond Low Volumes
Authors: Laureijs Rianne E. , Roca Jaime Bonnín , Narra Sneha Prabha , Montgomery Colt , Beuth Jack L. , Fuchs Erica R. H.
Published: December 2016

Additive manufacturing (AM) is increasingly of interest for commercial and military applications due to its potential to create novel geometries with increased performance. For additive manufacturing to find commercial application, it must be cost competitive against traditional processes such as forging. Forecasting the production costs of future products prior to large-scale investment is challenging due to the limits of traditional cost accounting's ability to handle both the systemic process implications of new technologies and the cognitive biases in humans' additive and systemic estimates. Leveraging a method uniquely suited to these challenges, we quantify the production and use economics of an additively manufactured versus a traditionally forged GE engine bracket of equivalent performance for commercial aviation. Our results show that, despite the simplicity of the engine bracket, when taking into account the part redesign for AM and the associated lifetime fuel savings of the additively designed bracket, the additively manufactured part and design is cheaper than the forged one for a wide range of scenarios, including at higher volumes of 2000–12,000 brackets per year. Opportunities to further reduce costs include accessing lower material prices without compromising quality, producing vertical builds with equivalent performance to horizontal builds, and increasing process control so as to enable reduced testing. Given the conservative nature of our assumptions as well as our choice of part, these results suggest that there may be broader economic viability for additively manufactured parts, especially when systemic factors and use costs are incorporated.
Experimental Study of Operation Stability of a Spark Ignition Engine Fueled With Coal Bed Gas
Authors: Chen Lei , Song Peng , Long Wuqiang , Feng Liyan , Zhang Jing , Wang Yang
Published: December 2016

Experimental research has been carried out on a single cylinder naturally aspirated spark ignition engine which was modified to operate with coal-bed gas fuel to investigate the method of improving operation stability and lean burn limit. Varied fuel composition with methane concentration 30–100% and CO2 volumetric fraction 0–0.7 was employed to simulate coal-bed methane (CBM) and coal mined methane (CMM), respectively. Hydrogen was then employed to improve operational stability and lean burn limit. The results show that a stable operation range of the engine was obtained under most of the fuel compositions even if up to CO2 volumetric fraction = 0.6 was employed. Besides lean burn limit, the unstable operation with COVIMEP > 10% only appears at lean burn limit as well as CO2 volumetric fraction = 0.7 at each equivalence ratio. The lean burn limit of coal-bed gas has been significantly enlarged from the equivalence ratio equals to 0.6–0.4 by hydrogen addition. Stable operation with COVIMEP < 5% at the equivalence ratio equals to 0.4 has also been obtained at some high hydrogen concentration conditions. Hydrogen addition induced the reduction of both carbon monoxide (CO) and total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions at all equivalence ratio conditions, especially at the equivalence ratio equals to 0.4 and 0.6. CO2 addition improves NOx emission significantly; however, high CO2 volumetric fraction will lead to unstable operation, which results in deteriorated CO and THC emissions. Hydrogen addition has benefits of improving operation stability and enlarging lean burn limit of coal-bed gas engine, which has practical significance to improve the application of coal-bed gas engine technology.
Stability and Robustness Analysis of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems Using Entropy Properties of Left and Right Singular Vectors
Authors: Kap Son Young , Savage Gordon J.
Published: December 2016

This paper presents a novel approach to determine the stability space of nonlinear, uncertain dynamic systems that obviates the traditional eigenvalue approach and the accompanying linearizing approximations. In the new method, any long-term dynamic uncertainty is used in an extremely simple and economical way. First, the variability of the design variables about a particular design point is captured through the design of experiments (DOE). Then, corresponding computer simulations of the mechanistic model, over only a small time span, provide a matrix of discrete time responses. Finally, singular value decomposition (SVD) separates out parameter and time information and the expected uncertainty of the first few left and right singular vectors predicts any instability that might occur over the entire life-time of the dynamics. The singular vectors are viewed as random variables and their entropy leads to a simple metric that accurately predicts stability. The stable/unstable spaces are found by investigating the overall design space using an array of grid points of suitable spacing. The length of the time span needed to capture the nature of the dynamics can be as short as two or three periods. The robustness of the stability space is related to the tolerances assigned to the design variables. Errors due to sampling size, time increments, and number of significant singular vectors are controllable. The method can be implemented with readily available software. A study of two practical engineering systems with different distributions and tolerances, various initial conditions, and different time spans shows the efficacy of the proposed approach.
Predictive Abnormal Events Analysis Using Continuous Bayesian Network
Authors: Song Guozheng , Khan Faisal , Yang Ming , Wang Hangzhou
Published: December 2016

The reliable prediction and diagnosis of abnormal events provide much needed guidance for risk management. The traditional Bayesian network (traditional BN) has been used to dynamically predict and diagnose abnormal events. However, its inherent limitation caused by discrete categorization of random variables degrades the assessment reliability. This paper applied a continuous Bayesian network (CBN)-based model to reduce the above-mentioned limitation. To compute complex posterior distributions of CBN, the Markov chain Monte Carlo method (MCMC) was used. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the application of CBN, based on which a comparative analysis of the traditional BN and CBN was presented. This work highlights that the use of CBN can overcome the drawbacks of traditional BN to make dynamic prediction and diagnosis analysis more reliable.
Experimental Time-Domain Vibration-Based Fault Diagnosis of Centrifugal Pumps Using Support Vector Machine
Authors: Rapur Janani Shruti , Tiwari Rajiv
Published: December 2016

When the hydraulic flow path is incompatible with the physical contours of the centrifugal pump (CP), flow instabilities occur. A prolonged operation in the flow-instability region may result in severe damages of the CP system. Hence, two of the major causes of flow instabilities such as the suction blockage (with five levels of increasing severity) and impeller defects are studied in the present work. Thereafter, an attempt is made to classify these faults and differentiate the physics behind the flow instabilities caused due to them. The tri-axial CP vibration data in time domain are employed for the fault classification. Multidistinct and multicoexisting fault classifications have been performed with different combinations of these faults using support vector machine (SVM) algorithm with radial basis function (RBF) kernel. Prediction results from the experiments and the developed methodology help to segregate the faults into appropriate class, identify the severity of the suction blockage, and substantiate the practical applicability of this study.
Genome Sequence of Bacteriophage GG32, Which Can Infect both Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7
Authors: Chae Su-Jin , Kwon Taesoo , Lee Sunjin , Kang Yeon Ho , Chung Gyung Tae , Kim Dae-Won , Lee Deog-Yong
Published: December 2016

We report here a new virulent
Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium (
S
. Typhimurium) bacteriophage, GG32, which was isolated from the Guem River in the Republic of Korea. The strain can infect both
S
. Typhimurium and
Escherichia coli
(
E. coli
) O157:H7 and may be a good candidate for a bio-control agent.
Complete Genome Sequence of vB_EcoM-UFV13, a New Bacteriophage Able To Disrupt Trueperella pyogenes Biofilm
Authors: Duarte Vinícius S. , Dias Roberto S. , Kropinski Andrew M. , Vidigal Pedro M. P. , Sousa Flávia O. , Xavier André S. , Silva Cynthia C. , de Paula Sergio O.
Published: December 2016

vB_EcoM-UFV13, a member of the
T4virus
genus, shows lytic activity against
Escherichia coli
and effectiveness in controlling the biofilm formed by
Trueperella pyogenes
, which qualifies it as a promising component of phage cocktails for mastitis and metritis control.
Genome Sequence of Burkholderia plantarii ZJ171, a Tropolone-Producing Bacterial Pathogen Responsible for Rice Seedling Blight
Authors: Qian Yuan , Matsumoto Haruna , Li Wenzhuo , Zhu Guonian , Hashidoko Yasuyuki , Hu Yang , Wang Mengcen
Published: December 2016

Burkholderia plantarii
is the causal agent of rice seedling blight. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of
B. plantarii
, which contains 8,020,831 bp, with a G+C content of 68.66% and a predicted 7,688 coding sequences. The annotated genome sequence will provide further insight into its pathogenicity.
Complete Genome Sequences of the Endophytic
Streptomyces
Strains EN16, EN23, and EN27, Isolated from Wheat Plants
Authors: Franco Christopher M. M. , Araujo Ricardo , Adetutu Eric , Tobe Shanan S. , Mallya Sandeep , Paul Bobby , Satyamoorthy Kapaettu
Published: December 2016

The complete genome sequences of three endophytic
Streptomyces
species were compared. Strains EN16, EN23, and EN27 were isolated from surface-sterilized roots of wheat plants from South Australia. In field trials, these strains are effective in suppressing fungal root diseases of wheat when added as spore coatings to wheat seed.
Complete Genome Sequence of Nitrilotriacetate-Degrading Aminobacter aminovorans KCTC 2477
T
Authors: Lee Sang-Heon , Choe Hanna , Nasir Arshan , Park Doo-Sang , Kim Kyung Mo
Published: December 2016

Aminobacter aminovorans
is a Gram-negative, pleomorphic rod-shaped, flagellated, and obligately aerobic bacterium that was isolated from soil. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of
A. aminovorans
KCTC 2477
T
, which degrades nitrilotriacetate-metal complexes and iminodiacetate, a metabolic intermediate of nitrilotriacetate.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Anaerobic Ammonium-Oxidizing Bacterium “
Candidatus
Brocadia sp. 40”
Authors: Ali Muhammad , Haroon Mohamed Fauzi , Narita Yuko , Zhang Lei , Rangel Shaw Dario , Okabe Satoshi , Saikaly Pascal E.
Published: December 2016

The anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacterium “
Candidatus
Brocadia sp. 40” demonstrated the fastest growth rate compared to others in this taxon. Here, we report the 2.93-Mb draft genome sequence of this bacterium, which has 2,565 gene-coding regions, 41 tRNAs, and a single
rrn
operon.
Nearly Complete Genome Sequences of Two
Mimivirus
Strains Isolated from a Japanese Freshwater Pond and River Mouth
Authors: Takemura Masaharu , Mikami Tatsuya , Murono Shingo
Published: December 2016

Members of the
Mimiviridae
family are large DNA viruses that infect
Acanthamoeba
cells. Here, we report the genome sequences of two new
Mimiviridae
family members, isolated from water samples from Shirakoma Pond and the mouth of the Arakawa River in Japan, with nearly complete genome sizes of 1,182,849 and 1,182,801 bp, respectively.
A new attraction-detachment model for explaining flow sliding in clay-rich tephras
Authors: Kluger Max O. , Moon Vicki G. , Kreiter Stefan , Lowe David J. , Churchman G.J. , Hepp Daniel A. , Seibel David , Jorat M. Ehsan , Mörz Tobias
Published: December 2016

Altered pyroclastic (tephra) deposits are highly susceptible to landsliding, leading to fatalities and property damage every year. Halloysite, a low-activity clay mineral, is commonly associated with landslide-prone layers within altered tephra successions, especially in deposits with high sensitivity, which describes the post-failure strength loss. However, the precise role of halloysite in the development of sensitivity, and thus in sudden and unpredictable landsliding, is unknown. Here we show that an abundance of mushroom cap–shaped (MCS) spheroidal halloysite governs the development of sensitivity, and hence proneness to landsliding, in altered rhyolitic tephras, North Island, New Zealand. We found that a highly sensitive layer, which was involved in a flow slide, has a remarkably high content of aggregated MCS spheroids with substantial openings on one side. We suggest that short-range electrostatic and van der Waals interactions enabled the MCS spheroids to form interconnected aggregates by attraction between the edges of numerous paired silanol and aluminol sheets that are exposed in the openings and the convex silanol faces on the exterior surfaces of adjacent MCS spheroids. If these weak attractions are overcome during slope failure, multiple, weakly attracted MCS spheroids can be separated from one another, and the prevailing repulsion between exterior MCS surfaces results in a low remolded shear strength, a high sensitivity, and a high propensity for flow sliding. The evidence indicates that the attraction-detachment model explains the high sensitivity and contributes to an improved understanding of the mechanisms of flow sliding in sensitive, altered tephras rich in spheroidal halloysite.
The dynamics of gold in regolith change with differing environmental conditions over time
Authors: Anand Ravi , Lintern Mel , Hough Rob , Noble Ryan , Verrall Mike , Salama Walid , Balkau Jens , Radford Nigel
Published: December 2016

Significant Au discoveries are becoming less common because the remaining prospective, underexplored areas are obscured by transported cover. At Moolart Well (Western Australia), secondary Au deposits hosted in transported pisolitic ferricrete and saprolite are overlain by younger transported cover. Here, we show how Au has been, and is being, dispersed and concentrated in these deposits and the overlying younger transported cover and biota during the evolution of the landscape. We identified coarse (>400 µm), Ag-rich, primary, angular Au accumulated residually along with some precipitated, Ag-poor (<0.5% Ag) secondary Au in saprolite. Gold enrichment in the pisolitic ferricrete is mostly secondary nanometer- to micron-sized spheres, chains, triangles, and wires in precipitates of organic carbon (C), goethite, kaolinite, and amorphous Si within cortices, cracks, and cavities in pisoliths. Spectacular secondary Au as clumps and larger clusters, not previously reported in ferricrete, occurs in organic C-rich zones of the cortices and cavities of pisoliths, implying a role for organic matter in their formation. To our knowledge, the organic C–Au relationship in pisolitic ferricrete described in this study has not been documented previously. We propose that minor Au was recycled from the pisolitic ferricrete formed during humid conditions (Miocene) into an overlying silicified subsoil that was formed in an arid climate of the mid-Miocene to the present. The presence of Au in vegetation (Acacia aneura) and termite mounds indicates active dispersion.
Economic valuation of the impact of a large surgical charity using the value of lost welfare approach
Authors: Corlew Daniel Scott , Alkire Blake C , Poenaru Dan , Meara John G , Shrime Mark G
Published: December 2016

Background

The assessment of the economic burden of surgical disease is integral to determining allocation of resources for health globally. We estimate the economic gain realised over an 11-year period resulting from a vertical surgical programme addressing cleft lip (CL) and cleft palate (CP).

Methods

The database from a large non-governmental organisation (Smile Train) over an 11-year period was analysed. Incidence-based disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted through the programme were calculated, discounted 3%, using disability weights from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study and an effectiveness factor for each surgical intervention. The effectiveness factor allowed for the lack of 100% resolution of the disability from the operation. We used the value of lost welfare approach, based on the concept of the value of a statistical life (VSL), to assess the economic gain associated with each operation. Using income elasticities (IEs) tailored to the income level of each country, a country-specific VSL was calculated and the VSL-year (VSLY) was determined. The VSLY is the economic value of a DALY, and the DALYs averted were converted to economic gain per patient and aggregated to give a total value and an average per patient. Sensitivity analyses were performed based on the variations of IE applied for each country.

Results

Each CL operation averted 2.2 DALYs on average and each CP operation 3.3. Total averted DALYs were 1 325 678 (CP 686 577 and CL 639 102). The economic benefit from the programme was between US$7.9 and US$20.7 billion. Per patient, the average benefit was between US$16 133 and US$42 351. Expense per DALY averted was estimated to be $149.

Conclusions

Addressing basic surgical needs in developing countries provides a massive economic boost through improved health. Expansion of surgical capacity in the developing world is of significant economic and health value and should be a priority in global health efforts.
Development of a critical appraisal tool to assess the quality of cross-sectional studies (AXIS)
Authors: Downes Martin J , Brennan Marnie L , Williams Hywel C , Dean Rachel S
Published: December 2016

Objectives

The aim of this study was to develop a critical appraisal (CA) tool that addressed study design and reporting quality as well as the risk of bias in cross-sectional studies (CSSs). In addition, the aim was to produce a help document to guide the non-expert user through the tool.

Design

An initial scoping review of the published literature and key epidemiological texts was undertaken prior to the formation of a Delphi panel to establish key components for a CA tool for CSSs. A consensus of 80% was required from the Delphi panel for any component to be included in the final tool.

Results

An initial list of 39 components was identified through examination of existing resources. An international Delphi panel of 18 medical and veterinary experts was established. After 3 rounds of the Delphi process, the Appraisal tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS tool) was developed by consensus and consisted of 20 components. A detailed explanatory document was also developed with the tool, giving expanded explanation of each question and providing simple interpretations and examples of the epidemiological concepts being examined in each question to aid non-expert users.

Conclusions

CA of the literature is a vital step in evidence synthesis and therefore evidence-based decision-making in a number of different disciplines. The AXIS tool is therefore unique and was developed in a way that it can be used across disciplines to aid the inclusion of CSSs in systematic reviews, guidelines and clinical decision-making.
Meaning of living with severe chronic obstructive lung disease: a qualitative study
Authors: Marx Gabriella , Nasse Maximilian , Stanze Henrikje , Boakye Sonja Owusu , Nauck Friedemann , Schneider Nils
Published: December 2016

Objectives

To explore what it means for patients to live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as an incurable and constantly progressing disease.

Design

Qualitative longitudinal study using narrative and semistructured interviews. This paper presents findings of the initial interviews. Analysis using grounded theory.

Setting

Lung care clinics and community care in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Participants

17 patients with advanced-stage COPD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) III/IV).

Findings

Analysis shows that these patients have difficulties accepting their life situation and feel at the mercy of the disease, which could be identified as a core-experienced phenomenon. Over a long period of time, patients have only a vague feeling of being ill, caused by uncertain knowledge, slow progress and doubtful attribution of clinical symptoms of the disease (causal conditions). As an action strategy, patients try to maintain daily routines for as long as possible after diagnosis. Both effective standard and rescue medication, which helps to reduce breathlessness and other symptoms, and the feeling of being faced with one's own responsibility (intervening conditions) support this strategy, whereby patients' own responsibility is too painful to acknowledge. As a consequence, patients try to deny the threat to life for a long period of time. Frequently, they need to experience facing their own limits, often in the form of an acute crisis, to realise their health situation. The experience of the illness is contextualised by a continuous increase in limited mobility and social isolation.

Conclusion

In order to help patients to improve disease awareness, to accept their life situation and to improve their reduced quality of life, patients may benefit from the early integration of palliative care (PC), considering its multiprofessional patient-centred and team-centred approach. Psychological support and volunteer work, which are relevant aspects of PC, should be appropriate to address psychosocial needs. More research is needed to evaluate how patients could benefit from early PC.
Older patient considering treatment for advanced renal disease: protocol for a scoping review of the information available for shared decision-making
Authors: Raj Rajesh , Ahuja Kiran D K , Frandsen Mai , Jose Matthew
Published: December 2016

Introduction

Older adults constitute the largest group of patients on dialysis in most parts of the world. Management of advanced renal disease in the older adult is complex; treatment outcomes and prognosis can be markedly different from younger patients. Clinical teams caring for such patients are often called on to provide information regarding prognosis and outcomes with treatment—particularly, the comparison between having dialysis treatment versus not having dialysis. These discussions can be difficult for clinicians because they have to contend with incomplete or nascent data regarding prognosis and outcomes in this age group. We aim to summarise the currently available information regarding the prognosis and outcomes of advanced renal disease in the older adult by means of a scoping review of the literature. This article discusses our protocol.

Methods

This scoping review will be undertaken in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute's methodology for scoping reviews. A directed search will look for relevant articles in English (within electronic databases and the grey literature), written between 2000 and 2016, which have studied older patients with advanced renal disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min/1.73 m2). After screening by two independent reviewers, selected articles will be analysed using a data charting tool. Reporting will include descriptions, analysis of themes using qualitative software and display of information using charts.

Ethics and dissemination

This scoping review will analyse previously collected data, and so does not require ethical approval. Results will be disseminated through academic journals, conferences and seminars. We anticipate that our summary of the currently available knowledge regarding the older adult with advanced renal disease will be a repository of information for clinicians in the field. We expect to identify areas of study that are suited to systematic reviews. Our findings can also be expected to influence guidelines and clinical practice recommendations in the future.
What can a participatory approach to evaluation contribute to the field of integrated care?
Authors: Eyre Laura , Farrelly Michael , Marshall Martin
Published: December 2016

Better integration of care within the health sector and between health and social care is seen in many countries as an essential way of addressing the enduring problems of dwindling resources, changing demographics and unacceptable variation in quality of care. Current research evidence about the effectiveness of integration efforts supports neither the enthusiasm of those promoting and designing integrated care programmes nor the growing efforts of practitioners attempting to integrate care on the ground. In this paper we present a methodological approach, based on the principles of participatory research, that attempts to address this challenge. Participatory approaches are characterised by a desire to use social science methods to solve practical problems and a commitment on the part of researchers to substantive and sustained collaboration with relevant stakeholders. We describe how we applied an emerging practical model of participatory research, the researcher-in-residence model, to evaluate a large-scale integrated care programme in the UK. We propose that the approach added value to the programme in a number of ways: by engaging stakeholders in using established evidence and with the benefits of rigorously evaluating their work, by providing insights for local stakeholders that they were either not familiar with or had not fully considered in relation to the development and implementation of the programme and by challenging established mindsets and norms. While there is still much to learn about the benefits and challenges of applying participatory approaches in the health sector, we demonstrate how using such approaches have the potential to help practitioners integrate care more effectively in their daily practice and help progress the academic study of integrated care.
CAUSALITY-IN-VARIANCE BETWEEN THE STOCK MARKET AND MACROECONOMIC VARIABLES IN SINGAPORE
Authors: NIKMANESH LIDA , MOHD NOR ABU HASSAN SHAARI
Published: December 2016

The present study investigates the causality-in-variance between macroeconomic variables and the stock market in Singapore from November 1990 to March 2013. This study utilizes the [Sanso, A, V Arago and JL Carrion (2004). Testing for change in the unconditional variance of financial time series. Revista de Economia Financiera, 4, 32–53.] test to detect the structural break in variance; a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) process to model volatility; and the cross correlation function (CCF) causality method. The results demonstrate that the most important macroeconomic causes of stock market volatility in Singapore is exchange rate volatility. The findings provide preliminary insights on risk elements for policy makers monitoring the stability of financial markets by providing insights about volatility spillovers and risk transmission between the stock market and macroeconomic variables in Singapore.
Systematic Synthesis of High-Q T–T Filters Employing CCCIIs
Authors: Li Yong-An
Published: December 2016

This paper initially presents a modified T–T filter with high [Formula: see text] and derives two nodal admittance matrix (NAM) of the filter. Next, in accordance with the nullor-mirror models of the CCCII, 32 different forms of the Tow–Thomas (T–T) filter using various types of the CCCII are synthesized by bracket notation method. One of the synthesized circuits is analyzed to support the generation method.
A Dynamic Regional Model of Irrigated Perennial Crop Production
Authors: Franklin Bradley , Knapp Keith C. , Schwabe Kurt A.
Published: December 2016

Economic analyses of regional irrigated agricultural production typically make little distinction between perennial and annual crops despite the distinctive characteristics of perennials. Such factors include high planting costs, lags in production, long lifespan, and potentially long-lasting impacts of input use and weather shocks. This study establishes a fully dynamic model of irrigated perennial crop production in a regional context where annuals are also grown. Perennial crop area is modeled as a vintage capital stock with age-dependent yields. The model is applied to the Riverland region of South Australia to examine the possible effects of both temporary and permanent changes in water supplies and the establishment of water prices, which is then used to estimate agricultural water demand. The model demonstrates that annuals are fallowed during drought so that perennial crops may be preserved and how, due to the fixed costs of re-planting perennials, annual crops are used to smooth profits while recovering from a severe shock. In all scenarios, a very slow rate of convergence to the steady state is found, highlighting the need for models that capture the transitional dynamics of agricultural land use in areas with significant perennial production.
Permian ammonoid biostratigraphy
Authors: Leonova Tatiana B.
Published: December 2016

A brief historical review of ammonoid-based Permian biostratigraphy is performed. Changes in ammonoid associations are shown for each of nine Permian stages. The major correlation problems were discussed. A renewed ammonoid zonal scale is proposed.
Relative Discrepancy Does Not Separate Information and Communication Complexity
Authors: Fontes Lila , Jain Rahul , Kerenidis Iordanis , Laplante Sophie , Laurière Mathieu , Roland Jérémie
Published: December 2016

Does the information complexity of a function equal its communication complexity? We examine whether any currently known techniques might be used to show a separation between the two notions. Ganor et al. [2014] recently provided such a separation in the distributional case for a specific input distribution. We show that in the non-distributional setting, the relative discrepancy bound is smaller than the information complexity; hence, it cannot separate information and communication complexity. In addition, in the distributional case, we provide a linear program formulation for relative discrepancy and relate it to variants of the partition bound, resolving also an open question regarding the relation of the partition bound and information complexity. Last, we prove the equivalence between the adaptive relative discrepancy and the public-coin partition, implying that the logarithm of the adaptive relative discrepancy bound is quadratically tight with respect to communication.
Microarchitecture and Circuits for a 200 MHz Out-of-Order Soft Processor Memory System
Authors: Wong Henry , Betz Vaughn , Rose Jonathan
Published: December 2016

Although FPGAs have grown in capacity, FPGA-based soft processors have grown very little because of the difficulty of achieving higher performance in exchange for area. Superscalar out-of-order processors promise large performance gains, and the memory subsystem is a key part of such a processor that must help supply increased performance. In this article, we describe and explore microarchitectural and circuit-level tradeoffs in the design of such a memory system. We show the significant instructions-per-cycle wins for providing various levels of out-of-order memory access and memory dependence speculation (1.32 × SPECint2000) and for the addition of a second-level cache (another 1.60 × ). With careful microarchitecture and circuit design, we also achieve a L1 translation lookaside buffers and cache lookup with 29% less logic delay than the simpler Nios II/f memory system.
Authentication Protocol for an IoT-Enabled LTE Network
Authors: Saxena Neetesh , Grijalva Santiago , Chaudhari Narendra S.
Published: December 2016

The Evolved Packet System-based Authentication and Key Agreement (EPS-AKA) protocol of the long-term evolution (LTE) network does not support Internet of Things (IoT) objects and has several security limitations, including transmission of the object’s (user/device) identity and key set identifier in plaintext over the network, synchronization, large overhead, limited identity privacy, and security attack vulnerabilities. In this article, we propose a new secure and efficient AKA protocol for the LTE network that supports secure and efficient communications among various IoT devices as well as among the users. Analysis shows that our protocol is secure, efficient, and privacy preserved, and reduces bandwidth consumption during authentication.
Intelligent Intrusion Detection in Low-Power IoTs
Authors: Saeed Ahmed , Ahmadinia Ali , Javed Abbas , Larijani Hadi
Published: December 2016

Security and privacy of data are one of the prime concerns in today’s Internet of Things (IoT). Conventional security techniques like signature-based detection of malware and regular updates of a signature database are not feasible solutions as they cannot secure such systems effectively, having limited resources. Programming languages permitting immediate memory accesses through pointers often result in applications having memory-related errors, which may lead to unpredictable failures and security vulnerabilities. Furthermore, energy efficient IoT devices running on batteries cannot afford the implementation of cryptography algorithms as such techniques have significant impact on the system power consumption. Therefore, in order to operate IoT in a secure manner, the system must be able to detect and prevent any kind of intrusions before the network (i.e., sensor nodes and base station) is destabilised by the attackers. In this article, we have presented an intrusion detection and prevention mechanism by implementing an intelligent security architecture using random neural networks (RNNs). The application’s source code is also instrumented at compile time in order to detect out-of-bound memory accesses. It is based on creating tags, to be coupled with each memory allocation and then placing additional tag checking instructions for each access made to the memory. To validate the feasibility of the proposed security solution, it is implemented for an existing IoT system and its functionality is practically demonstrated by successfully detecting the presence of any suspicious sensor node within the system operating range and anomalous activity in the base station with an accuracy of 97.23%. Overall, the proposed security solution has presented a minimal performance overhead.
Lifecycle Modeling for Buzz Temporal Pattern Discovery
Authors: Chang Yi , Yamada Makoto , Ortega Antonio , Liu Yan
Published: December 2016

In social media analysis, one critical task is detecting a burst of topics or
buzz
, which is reflected by extremely frequent mentions of certain keywords in a short-time interval. Detecting buzz not only provides useful insights into the information propagation mechanism, but also plays an essential role in preventing malicious rumors. However, buzz modeling is a challenging task because a buzz time-series often exhibits sudden spikes and heavy tails, wherein most existing time-series models fail. In this article, we propose novel buzz modeling approaches that capture the rise and fade temporal patterns via
Product Lifecycle (PLC)
model, a classical concept in economics. More specifically, we propose to model multiple peaks in buzz time-series with PLC mixture or PLC group mixture and develop a probabilistic graphical model (K-Mixture of Product Lifecycle (
K-MPLC
) to automatically discover inherent lifecycle patterns within a collection of buzzes. Furthermore, we effectively utilize the model parameters of PLC mixture or PLC group mixture for burst prediction. Our experimental results show that our proposed methods significantly outperform existing leading approaches on buzz clustering and buzz-type prediction.
Generating Efficient Context-Switch Capable Circuits through Autonomous Design Flow
Authors: Bourge Alban , Muller Olivier , Rousseau Frédéric
Published: December 2016

Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are becoming increasingly powerful. In addition to their huge hardware resources, they are also integrated into complete systems on chips (SOCs), e.g., in the latest Xilinx Zynq or Altera Stratix platforms. However, cooperation between FPGAs and their surroundings, and the flexibility of hardware task management could still be improved. For instance, mechanisms have yet to be automated to allow multi-user approaches. A reconfigurable resource can be shared between applications or users only if it has a context-switch ability allowing applications to be paused and resumed in response to system demands. Here, we present a high-level synthesis (HLS) design flow producing a context-switch-capable circuit. The design flow manipulates the intermediate representation of an HLS tool to build the context extraction mechanism and to optimize performance for the circuit produced. The method is based on efficient checkpoint selection and insertion of a powerful scan-chain into the initial circuit. This scan-chain can extract flip-flops or memory content. Experiments with the system produced show that it has a low hardware overhead for many benchmark applications, and that the hardware added has a negligible impact on application performance. Comparisons with current standard methods highlight the efficiency of our contributions.
AI profiles
Authors: McGovern Amy , Eaton Eric
Published: December 2016

This column is the first in a new series profiling senior AI researchers. This month focuses on Peter Norvig.
Multi-objective decision-theoretic planning
Authors: Roijers Diederik M.
Published: December 2016

Decision making is hard. It often requires reasoning about uncertain environments, partial observability and action spaces that are too large to enumerate. In such tasks decision-theoretic agents can often assist us. In most research on decision-theoretic agents, the desirability of actions and their effects is codified in a scalar reward function. However, many real-world decision problems have multiple objectives. In such cases the problem is more naturally expressed using a vector-valued reward function, leading to a
multi-objective decision problem (MODP).
Automatic extraction of future references from news using morphosemantic patterns with application to future trend prediction
Authors: Nakajima Yoko , Ptaszynski Michal , Honma Hirotoshi , Masui Fumito
Published: December 2016

In everyday life people use past events and their own knowledge to predict future events. In such everyday predictions people use widely available resources (newspapers, Internet). This study focused on sentences referring to the future, such as the one below, as one of such resource.
How disability discrimination law can enable new assistive technologies
Authors: Kirkham Reuben
Published: December 2016

Disability Discrimination Law is a relatively recent innovation whose principles have now been accepted by the vast majority of the world's nations. Chief amongst these is the elastic yet mercurial concept of reasonable adjustments, which can have some surprising yet potent implications for this rights of people with disabilities. This article is an overview of my varied work aimed at exploring how disability discrimination law can enable new assistive technologies, including systems of general utility (e.g. Google Glass) which as a side effect, can also assist in helping ameliorate disability related disadvantages. At the same time, I also discuss some of the existing limitations with respect to disability discrimination law and its implementation.
Airway smooth muscle tone increases airway responsiveness in healthy young adults
Authors: Gazzola Morgan , Lortie Katherine , Henry Cyndi , Mailhot-Larouche Samuel , Chapman David G. , Couture Christian , Seow Chun Y. , Paré Peter D. , King Gregory G. , Boulet Louis-Philippe , Bossé Ynuk
Published: December 2016

Force adaptation, a process whereby sustained spasmogenic activation (viz., tone) of airway smooth muscle (ASM) increases its contractile capacity, has been reported in isolated ASM tissues in vitro, as well as in mice in vivo. The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of tone on airway responsiveness in humans. Ten healthy volunteers underwent methacholine challenge on two occasions. One challenge consisted of six serial doses of saline followed by a single high dose of methacholine. The other consisted of six low doses of methacholine 5 min apart followed by a higher dose. The cumulative dose was identical for both challenges. After both methacholine challenges, subjects took a deep inspiration (DI) to total lung capacity as another way to probe ASM mechanics. Responses to methacholine and the DI were measured using a multifrequency forced oscillation technique. Compared with a single high dose, the challenge preceded by tone led to an elevated response measured by respiratory system resistance (Rrs) and reactance at 5 Hz. However, there was no difference in the increase in Rrs at 19 Hz, suggesting a predominant effect on smaller airways. Increased tone also reduced the efficacy of DI, measured by an attenuated maximal dilation during the DI and an increased renarrowing post-DI. We conclude that ASM tone increases small airway responsiveness to inhaled methacholine and reduces the effectiveness of DI in healthy humans. This suggests that force adaptation may contribute to airway hyperresponsiveness and the reduced bronchodilatory effect of DI in asthma.