bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pay-As-You-Go Description Logic Reasoning by Coupling Tableau and Saturation Procedures
Authors: Steigmiller Andreas , Glimm Birte
Published: July 2018

Nowadays, saturation-based reasoners for the OWL EL profile of the Web Ontology Language are able to handle large ontologies such as SNOMED very efficiently. However, it is currently unclear how saturation-based reasoning procedures can be extended to very expressive Description Logics such as SROIQ--the logical underpinning of the current and second iteration of the Web Ontology Language. Tableau-based procedures, on the other hand, are not limited to specific Description Logic languages or OWL profiles, but even highly optimised tableau-based reasoners might not be efficient enough to handle large ontologies such as SNOMED. In this paper, we present an approach for tightly coupling tableau- and saturation-based procedures that we implement in the OWL DL reasoner Konclude. Our detailed evaluation shows that this combination significantly improves the reasoning performance for a wide range of ontologies.
Large-Scale Election Campaigns: Combinatorial Shift Bribery
Authors: Bredereck Robert , Faliszewski Piotr , Niedermeier Rolf , Talmon Nimrod
Published: July 2018

We study the complexity of a combinatorial variant of the Shift Bribery problem in elections. In the standard Shift Bribery problem, we are given an election where each voter has a preference order over the set of candidates and where an outside agent, the briber, can pay each voter to rank the briber's favorite candidate a given number of positions higher. The goal is to ensure the victory of the briber's preferred candidate. The combinatorial variant of the problem, introduced in this paper, models settings where it is possible to affect the position of the preferred candidate in multiple votes, either positively or negatively, with a single bribery action. This variant of the problem is particularly interesting in the context of large-scale campaign management problems (which, from the technical side, are modeled as bribery problems). We show that, in general, the combinatorial variant of the problem is highly intractable; specifically, NP-hard, hard in the parameterized sense, and hard to approximate. Nevertheless, we provide parameterized algorithms and approximation algorithms for natural restricted cases.
Continuing Plan Quality Optimisation
Authors: Siddiqui Fazlul Hasan , Haslum Patrik
Published: July 2018

Finding high quality plans for large planning problems is hard. Although some current anytime planners are often able to improve plans quickly, they tend to reach a limit at which the plans produced are still very far from the best possible, but these planners fail to find any further improvement, even when given several hours of runtime.

We present an approach to continuing plan quality optimisation at larger time scales, and its implementation in a system called BDPO2. Key to this approach is a decomposition into subproblems of improving parts of the current best plan. The decomposition is based on block deordering, a form of plan deordering which identifies hierarchical plan structure. BDPO2 can be seen as an application of the large neighbourhood search (LNS) local search strategy to planning, where the neighbourhood of a plan is defined by replacing one or more subplans with improved subplans. On-line learning is also used to adapt the strategy for selecting subplans and subplanners over the course of plan optimisation.

Even starting from the best plans found by other means, BDPO2 is able to continue improving plan quality, often producing better plans than other anytime planners when all are given enough runtime. The best results, however, are achieved by a combination of different techniques working together.
On the Satisfiability Problem for SPARQL Patterns
Authors: Zhang Xiaowang , Van den Bussche Jan , Picalausa François
Published: July 2018

The satisfiability problem for SPARQL 1.0 patterns is undecidable in general, since the relational algebra can be emulated using such patterns. The goal of this paper is to delineate the boundary of decidability of satisfiability in terms of the constraints allowed in filter conditions. The classes of constraints considered are bound-constraints, negated bound- constraints, equalities, nonequalities, constant-equalities, and constant-nonequalities. The main result of the paper can be summarized by saying that, as soon as inconsistent filter conditions can be formed, satisfiability is undecidable. The key insight in each case is to find a way to emulate the set difference operation. Undecidability can then be obtained from a known undecidability result for the algebra of binary relations with union, composition, and set difference. When no inconsistent filter conditions can be formed, satisfiability is decidable by syntactic checks on bound variables and on the use of literals. Although the problem is shown to be NP-complete, it is experimentally shown that the checks can be implemented efficiently in practice. The paper also points out that satisfiability for the so-called ‘well-designed’ patterns can be decided by a check on bound variables and a check for inconsistent filter conditions.
Effective Heuristics for Suboptimal Best-First Search
Authors: Wilt Christopher , Ruml Wheeler
Published: July 2018

Suboptimal heuristic search algorithms such as weighted A* and greedy best-first search are widely used to solve problems for which guaranteed optimal solutions are too expensive to obtain. These algorithms crucially rely on a heuristic function to guide their search. However, most research on building heuristics addresses optimal solving. In this paper, we illustrate how established wisdom for constructing heuristics for optimal search can fail when considering suboptimal search. We consider the behavior of greedy best-first search in detail and we test several hypotheses for predicting when a heuristic will be effective for it. Our results suggest that a predictive characteristic is a heuristic's goal distance rank correlation (GDRC), a robust measure of whether it orders nodes according to distance to a goal. We demonstrate that GDRC can be used to automatically construct abstraction-based heuristics for greedy best-first search that are more effective than those built by methods oriented toward optimal search. These results reinforce the point that suboptimal search deserves sustained attention and specialized methods of its own.
Computing Repairs of Inconsistent DL-Programs over EL Ontologies
Authors: Eiter Thomas , Fink Michael , Stepanova Daria
Published: July 2018

Description Logic (DL) ontologies and non-monotonic rules are two prominent Knowledge Representation (KR) formalisms with complementary features that are essential for various applications. Nonmonotonic Description Logic (DL) programs combine these formalisms thus providing support for rule-based reasoning on top of DL ontologies using a well-defined query interface represented by so-called DL-atoms. Unfortunately, interaction of the rules and the ontology may incur inconsistencies such that a DL-program lacks answer sets (i.e., models), and thus yields no information. This issue is addressed by recently defined repair answer sets, for computing which an effective practical algorithm was proposed for DL-Lite A ontologies that reduces a repair computation to constraint matching based on so-called support sets. However, the algorithm exploits particular features of DL-Lite A and can not be readily applied to repairing DL-programs over other prominent DLs like EL. compared to DL-Lite A , in EL support sets may neither be small nor only few support sets might exist, and completeness of the algorithm may need to be given up when the support information is bounded. We thus provide an approach for computing repairs for DL-programs over EL ontologies based on partial (incomplete) support families. The latter are constructed using datalog query rewriting techniques as well as ontology approximation based on logical difference between EL-terminologies. We show how the maximal size and number of support sets for a given DL-atom can be estimated by analyzing the properties of a support hypergraph, which characterizes a relevant set of TBox axioms needed for query derivation. We present a declarative implementation of the repair approach and experimentally evaluate it on a set of benchmark problems; the promising results witness practical feasibility of our repair approach.
Datalog+- Ontology Consolidation
Authors: Deagustini Cristhian Ariel D. , Martinez Maria Vanina , Falappa Marcelo A. , Simari Guillermo R.
Published: July 2018

Knowledge bases in the form of ontologies are receiving increasing attention as they allow to clearly represent both the available knowledge, which includes the knowledge in itself and the constraints imposed to it by the domain or the users. In particular, Datalog± ontologies are attractive because of their property of decidability and the possibility of dealing with the massive amounts of data in real world environments; however, as it is the case with many other ontological languages, their application in collaborative environments often lead to inconsistency related issues. In this paper we introduce the notion of incoherence regarding Datalog± ontologies, in terms of satisfiability of sets of constraints, and show how under specific conditions incoherence leads to inconsistent Datalog± ontologies. The main contribution of this work is a novel approach to restore both consistency and coherence in Datalog± ontologies. The proposed approach is based on kernel contraction and restoration is performed by the application of incision functions that select formulas to delete. Nevertheless, instead of working over minimal incoherent/inconsistent sets encountered in the ontologies, our operators produce incisions over non-minimal structures called clusters. We present a construction for consolidation operators, along with the properties expected to be satisfied by them. Finally, we establish the relation between the construction and the properties by means of a representation theorem. Although this proposal is presented for Datalog± ontologies consolidation, these operators can be applied to other types of ontological languages, such as Description Logics, making them apt to be used in collaborative environments like the Semantic Web.
ProMoca: Probabilistic Modeling and Analysis of Agents in Commitment Protocols
Authors: Günay Akın , Liu Yang , Zhang Jie
Published: July 2018

Social commitment protocols regulate interactions of agents in multiagent systems. Several methods have been developed to analyze properties of commitment protocols. However, analysis of an agent's behavior in a commitment protocol, which should take into account the agent's goals and beliefs, has received less attention. In this paper we present ProMoca framework to address this issue. Firstly, we develop an expressive formal language to model agents with respect to their commitments. Our language provides dedicated elements to define commitment protocols, and model agents in terms of their goals, behaviors, and beliefs. Furthermore, our language provides probabilistic and non-deterministic elements to model uncertainty in agents' beliefs. Secondly, we identify two essential properties of an agent with respect to a commitment protocol, namely compliance and goal satisfaction. We formalize these properties using a probabilistic variant of linear temporal logic. Thirdly, we adapt a probabilistic model checking algorithm to automatically analyze compliance and goal satisfaction properties. Finally, we present empirical results about efficiency and scalability of ProMoca.
A Model-Theoretic View on Qualitative Constraint Reasoning
Authors: Bodirsky Manuel , Jonsson Peter
Published: July 2018

Qualitative reasoning formalisms are an active research topic in artificial intelligence. In this survey we present a model-theoretic perspective on qualitative constraint reasoning and explain some of the basic concepts and results in an accessible way. In particular, we discuss the significance of omega-categoricity for qualitative reasoning, of primitive positive interpretations for complexity analysis, and of Datalog as a unifying language for describing local consistency algorithms.
Some Properties of Batch Value of Information in the Selection Problem
Authors: Shperberg Shahaf S. , Shimony Solomon Eyal
Published: July 2018

Given a set of items of unknown utility, we need to select one with a utility as high as possible (the selection problem). Measurements (possibly noisy) of item values prior to selection are allowed, at a known cost. The goal is to optimize the overall sequential decision process of measurements and selection.

Value of information (VOI) is a well-known scheme for selecting measurements, but the intractability of the problem typically leads to using myopic VOI estimates. Other schemes have also been proposed, some with approximation guarantees, based on submodularity criteria. However, it was observed that the VOI is not submodular in general. In this paper we examine theoretical properties of VOI for the selection problem, and identify cases of submodularity and supermodularity. We suggest how to use these properties to compute approximately optimal measurement batch policies, with an example based on a wine selection problem.
Uniform Random Generation and Dominance Testing for CP-Nets
Authors: Allen Thomas E. , Goldsmith Judy , Justice Hayden Elizabeth , Mattei Nicholas , Raines Kayla
Published: July 2018

The generation of preferences represented as CP-nets for experiments and empirical testing has typically been done in an ad hoc manner that may have introduced a large statistical bias in previous experimental work. We present novel polynomial-time algorithms for generating CP-nets with n nodes and maximum in-degree c uniformly at random. We extend this result to several statistical cultures commonly used in the social choice and preference reasoning literature. A CP-net is composed of both a graph and underlying cp-statements; our algorithm is the first to provably generate both the graph structure and cp-statements, and hence the underlying preference orders themselves, uniformly at random. We have released this code as a free and open source project. We use the uniform generation algorithm to investigate the maximum and expected flipping lengths, i.e., the maximum length over all outcomes o and o', of a minimal proof that o is preferred to o'. Using our new statistical evidence, we conjecture that, for CP-nets with binary variables and complete conditional preference tables, the expected flipping length is polynomial in the number of preference variables. This has positive implications for the usability of CP-nets as compact preference models.
Survey of the State of the Art in Natural Language Generation: Core tasks, applications and evaluation
Authors: Gatt Albert , Krahmer Emiel
Published: July 2018

This paper surveys the current state of the art in Natural Language Generation (NLG), defined as the task of generating text or speech from non-linguistic input. A survey of NLG is timely in view of the changes that the field has undergone over the past two decades, especially in relation to new (usually data-driven) methods, as well as new applications of NLG technology. This survey therefore aims to (a) give an up-to-date synthesis of research on the core tasks in NLG and the architectures adopted in which such tasks are organised; (b) highlight a number of recent research topics that have arisen partly as a result of growing synergies between NLG and other areas of artificial intelligence; (c) draw attention to the challenges in NLG evaluation, relating them to similar challenges faced in other areas of NLP, with an emphasis on different evaluation methods and the relationships between them.
The Linear Programming Approach to Reach-Avoid Problems for Markov Decision Processes
Authors: Kariotoglou Nikolaos , Kamgarpour Maryam , Summers Tyler H. , Lygeros John
Published: July 2018

One of the most fundamental problems in Markov decision processes is analysis and control synthesis for safety and reachability specifications. We consider the stochastic reach-avoid problem, in which the objective is to synthesize a control policy to maximize the probability of reaching a target set at a given time, while staying in a safe set at all prior times. We characterize the solution to this problem through an infinite dimensional linear program. We then develop a tractable approximation to the infinite dimensional linear program through finite dimensional approximations of the decision space and constraints. For a large class of Markov decision processes modeled by Gaussian mixtures kernels we show that through a proper selection of the finite dimensional space, one can further reduce the computational complexity of the resulting linear program. We validate the proposed method and analyze its potential with numerical case studies.
KABouM: Knowledge-Level Action and Bounding Geometry Motion Planner
Authors: Gaschler Andre , Petrick Ronald P. A. , Khatib Oussama , Knoll Alois
Published: July 2018

For robots to solve real world tasks, they often require the ability to reason about both symbolic and geometric knowledge. We present a framework, called KABouM, for integrating knowledge-level task planning and motion planning in a bounding geometry. By representing symbolic information at the knowledge level, we can model incomplete information, sensing actions and information gain; by representing all geometric entities--objects, robots and swept volumes of motions--by sets of convex polyhedra, we can efficiently plan manipulation actions and raise reasoning about geometric predicates, such as collisions, to the symbolic level. At the geometric level, we take advantage of our bounded convex decomposition and swept volume computation with quadratic convergence, and fast collision detection of convex bodies. We evaluate our approach on a wide set of problems using real robots, including tasks with multiple manipulators, sensing and branched plans, and mobile manipulation.
Chamberlin--Courant Rule with Approval Ballots: Approximating the MaxCover Problem with Bounded Frequencies in FPT Time
Authors: Skowron Piotr , Faliszewski Piotr
Published: July 2018

We consider the problem of winner determination under Chamberlin--Courant's multiwinner voting rule with approval utilities. This problem is equivalent to the well-known NP-complete MaxCover problem and, so, the best polynomial-time approximation algorithm for it has approximation ratio 1 - 1/e. We show exponential-time/FPT approximation algorithms that, on one hand, achieve arbitrarily good approximation ratios and, on the other hand, have running times much better than known exact algorithms. We focus on the cases where the voters have to approve of at most/at least a given number of candidates.
Symbol Grounding Association in Multimodal Sequences with Missing Elements
Authors: Raue Federico , Dengel Andreas , Breuel Thomas M. , Liwicki Marcus
Published: July 2018

In this paper, we extend a symbolic association framework for being able to handle missing elements in multimodal sequences. The general scope of the work is the symbolic associations of object-word mappings as it happens in language development in infants. In other words, two different representations of the same abstract concepts can associate in both directions. This scenario has been long interested in Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, and Neuroscience. In this work, we extend a recent approach for multimodal sequences (visual and audio) to also cope with missing elements in one or both modalities. Our method uses two parallel Long Short-Term Memories (LSTMs) with a learning rule based on EM-algorithm. It aligns both LSTM outputs via Dynamic Time Warping (DTW). We propose to include an extra step for the combination with the max operation for exploiting the common elements between both sequences. The motivation behind is that the combination acts as a condition selector for choosing the best representation from both LSTMs. We evaluated the proposed extension in the following scenarios: missing elements in one modality (visual or audio) and missing elements in both modalities (visual and sound). The performance of our extension reaches better results than the original model and similar results to individual LSTM trained in each modality.
When Subgraph Isomorphism is Really Hard, and Why This Matters for Graph Databases
Authors: McCreesh Ciaran , Prosser Patrick , Solnon Christine , Trimble James
Published: July 2018

The subgraph isomorphism problem involves deciding whether a copy of a pattern graph occurs inside a larger target graph. The non-induced version allows extra edges in the target, whilst the induced version does not. Although both variants are NP-complete, algorithms inspired by constraint programming can operate comfortably on many real-world problem instances with thousands of vertices. However, they cannot handle arbitrary instances of this size. We show how to generate "really hard" random instances for subgraph isomorphism problems, which are computationally challenging with a couple of hundred vertices in the target, and only twenty pattern vertices. For the non-induced version of the problem, these instances lie on a satisfiable / unsatisfiable phase transition, whose location we can predict; for the induced variant, much richer behaviour is observed, and constrainedness gives a better measure of difficulty than does proximity to a phase transition. These results have practical consequences: we explain why the widely researched "filter / verify" indexing technique used in graph databases is founded upon a misunderstanding of the empirical hardness of NP-complete problems, and cannot be beneficial when paired with any reasonable subgraph isomorphism algorithm.
Culturing Symbiodinium v1
Authors: Xiang Tingting , Grossman Arthur
Published: July 2018

we generated five clonal, axenic strains of Symbiodinium. These strains were assigned to clades A (two strains), B, E, and F based on their chloroplast 23S rDNA sequences. Growth studies in liquid cultures showed that the clade B strain and one of the clade A strains were able to grow photoautotrophically (in light with no fixed carbon), mixotrophically (in light with fixed carbon), or heterotrophically (in dark with fixed carbon). Here this protocol describes the steps of culturing SSB01 in different types of medium as an example.
2×CTAB Protocol for (simultaneous) DNA Isolation from Aiptasia and Symbiodinium v1
Authors: Lab Pringle , CR Renicke Christian
Published: July 2018

This protocol is kit-free and can be used to simultanously isolate high quality genomic DNAofSymbiodinium and Aiptasia from symbiotic anemones which can be used e.g. as PCR template for genotyping. It is based on the method described in Coffroth et al., 1992.
Cold-shock protocol to bleach Aiptasia v1
Authors: lab Pringle
Published: July 2018

Thisprotocol describes how to use a short-term cold shock to render Aiptasiaaposymbiotic. After the cold shock it includes two possibilities to proceed one faster one with usage of DCMU and a slower and more gentle one with only keeping the animals in the dark.
Embedding living larvae in low-melting agarose for imaging and recovery thereafter v1
Authors: Lab Pringle , CR Renicke Christian
Published: July 2018

This protocol describes how to use agarose with a low gelling point (27-30°C; often calledlow-melting agarose)to immobilize Aiptasia larvae for microscopy. Larvae stay alive and in one place for prolonged periods of several hours but continue to mainly spin around the longitudal axis. After imaging, larvae can easily be retrieved from the agarose and transferred back to artificial sea water.
Symbiodinium cp23S RFLP and sequence analysis v1
Authors: Lab Pringle , Lab Grossman
Published: July 2018

This protocol describes how to perform PCR on extracted Symbiodinium DNA to amplify a fragment of the chloroplast 23S rRNA gene. It is based on the method describes in Pochon et al., 2006. The protocol then explains how to perform an RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis on the PCR products as well as eitherusing them directly for sequence analysis by Sanger sequencing or cloning them into a plasmid back bone to separate genes from mixed Symbiodinium populations and perform the sequence analysis on several clones per original sample. The attached file contains reference sequences of the following Symbiodinium strains: Clade A strains SSA01, SSA02, SSA03;SSB01 (clade B), SSB01del6, SSB01del136, SSE01 (clade E) and A001 (Clade D).
Aiptasia spawning and embryo/larvae handling - Weis Lab v1
Authors: Weis Lab OSU , S Presnell Jason
Published: July 2018

This protocol outlines the steps taken to support sexual reproduction in Aiptasia lab cultures. It also provides steps for handling embryos and larvae, and basic husbandry to keepthem alive. Spawning protocol based on the methods fromGrawunder et al. 2015.
Protein extraction from Aiptasia v1
Authors: Weis Lab OSU
Published: July 2018

This protocol, developedin 2011 by Angela Poole while in the Weis lab, is a quickprep forprotein extractionfrom Aiptasia adults.
Sequenom MassARRAY platform v1
Authors: Wang Juan
Published: July 2018

Background: Aberrant DNA methylation occurs frequently in cancer. The aim of this study was to identify novel methylation markers in lung cancer in Xuanwei, China, through integrated genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression studies. Methods: Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected on 10 paired lung cancer tissues and noncancerous lung tissues by methylated DNA immunoprecipitation combined with microarray (MeDIP-chip) and gene expression microarray analyses, respectively. Integrated analysis of DMRs and DEGs was performed to screen out candidate methylation-related genes. Both methylation and expression changes of the candidate genes were further validated and analyzed. Results: Compared with normal lung tissues, lung cancer tissues expressed a total of 6,899 DMRs, including 5,788 hypermethylated regions and 1,111 hypomethylated regions. Integrated analysis of DMRs and DEGs identified 45 tumor-specific candidate genes: 38 genes whose DMRs were hypermethylated and expression was downregulated, and 7 genes whose DMRs were hypomethylated and expression was upregulated. The methylation and expression validation results identified 4 candidate genes (STXBP6, BCL6B, FZD10, and HSPB6) that were significantly hypermethylated and downregulated in most of the tumor tissues compared with the noncancerous lung tissues. Conclusions: This integrated analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression in lung cancer in Xuanwei revealed several genes regulated by promoter methylation that have not been described in lung cancer before. These results provide new insight into the carcinogenesis of lung cancer in Xuanwei and represent promising new diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
iGEM Registry Bacterial Transformation v1
Authors: Lubiana Tiago
Published: July 2018

Protocol for heatshock transforming E.coli competent cells, from strains such as DH5-alpha. These can be made competent in-house or bought from various suppliers. Transformations are essential to using the DNA Distribution Kits: resuspend the DNA sample in a well, transform the DNA into competent cells, and select single colonies. However, transformations can also be one of the more fickle laboratory techniques. Read through the entire protocol before starting! If you have issues with transformations, read through the Troubleshooting page for help. (adapted from http://parts.igem.org/Help:Protocols/Transformation)
Aiptasia spawning and embryo/larvae handling - Pringle Lab v1
Authors: Lab Pringle , Perez Santiago , Barry Olivia
Published: July 2018

This protocol seeks to provide all information needed to allow regular spawning of Aiptasia and safe handling of the spawn. It is based on the protocol described in Grawunder et al., 2015.
Preparation of Proteoliposomes v1
Authors: Kahveci Zehra
Published: July 2018

Detergent mediated reconstitution of membrane proteins.
Sky Islands Collection 2018 v1
Authors: Ponisio Lauren
Published: July 2018

This protocol details the Ponisio Lab's collecting protocol for the 2017 Sky Islands season. Insects were collected into cyanide kill jars and pinned later the same day.
A política de valorização profissional da SEMED de Unaí para os professores: concepções de gestores em educação e sindicalistas
Authors: Caetano Eduardo Ferreira da Silva , Silva Érica Ferreira da , Ferreira Vilma Caetano de Jesus
Published: July 2018

O presente artigo busca evidenciar como gestores em educação e membros sindicais do município de Unaí avaliam a política de valorização ou sua ausência na realidade dos professores municipais do ensino fundamental, do 1º ao 5º ano de Unaí. Procura ainda, revelar a visão desses gestores e sindicalistas sobre as contradições entre a determinação da Lei do Piso, Acórdão do STF e o seu não cumprimento por parte do governo local. Por fim, apresenta o posicionamento dos gestores em educação e sindicalistas sobre a carência de recursos financeiros para o financiamento da educação e sua materialização para a valorização dos professores municipais de Unaí.
Psychoneurology in the province: works and days of Mikhail Dobrokhotov at the edge of the centuries
Authors: Manyshev S. B. , Manysheva K. B.
Published: July 2018

The article is devoted to the unexplored period of life of the famous Russian neurologist and psychiatrist of the first half of the 20th century Mikhail Sergeyevich Dobrokhotov (1878–1952). Based on the first time archived materials brought into scientific circulation from the funds of the State Archives of the Rostov Region, the Central State Archives of the Republic of Dagestan, the archive of the Dagestan State Medical University, the milestones of the life path of the privat-docent M.S. Dobrokhotov in the city of Rostov-on-Don, where he lived and worked during the Civil War. The authors consider the multifaceted activity of M.S. Dobrokhotov in the Don University. For the period of the Civil War, the most difficult years occur in the history of the medical faculty, at the department of psychoneurology of which the university professor M.S. Dobrokhotov. The authors focus on the functioning of the health care system of the Don region in the period under review. A separate place is given to the history of the department and the clinic of psycho-neurology of the University, since after the First World War the number of patients with psycho-neurological disorders increased sharply. In addition, on the basis of archival materials, the history of the Don Traumatology Institute is being reconstructed, the director of which was M.S. Dobrokhotov. It was in this institution that the combatants were provided with specialized medical care: the treatment of fractures, contractures, paralysis, neuroses, and lesions of the central and peripheral nervous system. The article reveals the history of the creation of the Rostov Society of Doctors-Psycho-Neurologists, whose members were famous Russian scientists A.I. Yushchenko, S.N. Davidenkov, K.S. Agadzhanyants, V.V. Brailovsky, N.M. Itsenko, N.M. Krol’ and others. A certain place is also given to M.S. Dobrokhotov in the post of head of the psychiatric section of the Don Regional Department of Health.
Experiences and Retention Among Rural Mental Health Counselors
Authors: Wilson Tara A. , Knezevic Branislava , Kibugi Barbara , Peterson Paula , Polacek Erin
Published: July 2018

The current shortage of rural mental health counselors has been well documented. This study explores the experiences that contribute to long-term employment as mental health counselors in rural settings. This qualitative study is based on the narratives of eight mental health counselors who had been working in a rural setting for at least 10 years. Through thematic narrative analysis, four common themes were discovered throughout the participants' narratives that facilitated long-term retention among rural mental health counselors. Themes discovered included historical legacy and connections, distance, way of life, and ethics. The results highlight important considerations that may facilitate retention among rural mental health counselors. Implications for successful long-term practice of rural mental health counselors are discussed.
Research on construction site management of environmental protection engineering
Authors: Zhao Huimin , Li Zilong , Ma Xiaoqing , Ma Zhiyong , Li Na
Published: July 2018

With the improvement of the social and economic level, the quality of people's lives has been significantly improved, and environmental protection has gradually attracted people's attention. Environmental protection projects have developed rapidly in this environment. In order to further improve the environmental protection effect of the project construction, it is necessary to do a good job of control and management of the construction site. Judging from the current situation, there are still many problems in China's environmental protection engineering construction site management. Based on this, this article analyzes the deficiencies in the field management of environmental protection projects and proposes corresponding solutions, hoping to promote the overall level of environmental protection projects.
Research on construction technology of road subgrade and bridge engineering
Authors: Zhang Shicai , Zhang Jinwei , Yang Xijie , Zhao Lihua , Zhao Chenghai
Published: July 2018

In recent years, China's economic level has made rapid progress. The construction industry occupies a large proportion in the overall economy, and people pay more and more attention to the construction of various projects. The quality of construction projects is directly related to the safety of people's lives and property, which puts forward higher and higher requirements for the construction technology level. As we all know, road subgrade and bridge engineering have certain complexity, and construction takes time and construction environment is bad. In recent years, with the increase in the number of relevant projects, more and more problems have emerged. This article analyzes the construction technology of road subgrade and bridge engineering, focuses on the key technologies in construction, and makes the project construction as much as possible to meet the needs of human production and living.
Analysis of the innovation of construction technology in Civil Engineering
Authors: Zhao Peng , Zhuang Xuliang , Liu Wenzhong , Liang Bing , Yang Xuan
Published: July 2018

With the development of our country's economy and society, the level of science and technology is constantly improving, and the construction industry is also booming. The construction technology has greatly affected the quality of civil engineering. Due to the rapid development of social economy, people's economic level and living standards have greatly improved. Therefore, people's requirements for the quality of civil engineering are getting higher and higher. Therefore, the construction company must continuously improve and innovate the civil engineering construction technology, and improve the quality of the construction project to meet the social needs.
Explore the Development and Application of Electrical Automation Control Systems
Authors: Niu Zhishan , Zhao Yanfeng , Hu Junjun , Wang Deyong , Dong Lin , Wang Lijun
Published: July 2018

The development of electrical automation engineering control system is the foundation of modern industrial development in China, and also an important embodiment of the rapid development of modern technology. The application of electric automation technology can not only improve work efficiency, but also reduce enterprise cost. Based on this, the current situation and development trend of electrical automation engineering control system are studied for reference by relevant staff.
Research on Pipeline and Material Optimization Design of Chemical Engineering Equipment
Authors: Bai Peng , Zhao Zhijie , Ma Suzhen , Xue Bin , Tian Yongjie
Published: July 2018

Over the past few years, China’s economic development has been swift, and the economic investment in science and technology has gradually increased and it has achieved great development. Therefore, China’s chemical industry has achieved notable achievements. As the chemical industry is closely connected with our daily life and plays a significant role, so to a great extent, people are increasingly concerned about the issue of building chemical engineering. During the construction of chemical engineering projects, design work is particularly important. When an entire chemical engineering project is in production, most of the substances involved in the reaction are either harmful or flammable and explosive. If these materials are not handled properly due to negligence, they will pose a serious threat to the safety and health of workers. Therefore, when designing chemical engineering projects, it is necessary to rationally design the installation of pipeline equipment and to strengthen the pre-control of related materials. In the construction of chemical engineering, the most important procedural step is the layout of equipment piping. Because it is the core device of the whole project, it plays a very important role in the operation. The quality of it will be directly related to the completion of the work of a whole chemical engineering. In addition, considering the personal safety, the design of the project is optimized to ensure the life, health and safety of each worker. Therefore, based on the basic principles of design, this paper studied the design of pipelines and materials for optimization of chemical engineering equipment and carried out a comprehensive analysis to provide a certain reference value for chemical engineering, so as to promote the development of chemical engineering[1].
The haemato-protective effect of Piliostigma thonningii leaf extract on indomethacin-induced gastric mucosa ulcer in rats
Authors: Asuk A. A. , Dasofunjo K. , Ugwu M. N. , Adie F. O.
Published: July 2018

Background: Gastric ulcer is a common gastrointestinal disorder with global consequence, which is aggravated by an imbalance between the aggressive factors and factors that maintain the mucosal integrity. The role of Piliostigma thonningii leaf extract on hematological indices of indomethacin-induced gastric mucosa lesions in Wistar rats was examined.Methods: Thirty-six male rats were divided into six groups of 6 rats each. Group I, the normal control, II gastric ulcerated + cimetidine (standard control), III extract only (100mg/kg bwt), while IV, gastric ulcerated control, V gastric ulcerated + extract (100mg/kg bwt) and VI gastric ulcerated + extract (200mg/kg bwt). After 12 days of administration, gastric ulcer was then induced by oral administration of 40mg/kg bwt indomethacin to rats in groups II, IV, V and VI. The rats were sacrificed 12 hours after indomethacin treatment and blood collected for hematological assay.Results: The RBC count and Hb pattern were similar. There was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in RBC and Hb of the ulcer control group which was normalized on administration of 200mg/kg bwt of P. thonningii extract. The MCV of the ulcer lesion was significantly (P<0.05) reversed to normal by the extract.Conclusions: The P. thonningii leaf extract showed promising result by normalizing decreased levels in RBC and Hb caused by ulcer. Except for platelet counts, the WBC count and differential WBC counts were quite positive. It was able to reverse macrocytosis caused by ulcer lesions to normal, hence exhibiting a hemato-protective nature.
ST elevated myocardial infarction: clinical manifestation and outcomes of thrombolysis in a tertiary care hospital
Authors: M. S. Ravishankar , S. Harish Kumar
Published: July 2018

Background: Acute myocardial infarction has reached enormous proportion in the developing countries and it is speculated that atherosclerotic heart disease will replace infectious disease as the leading cause of death in India. It has been shown that the thrombolytic therapy is underutilized. So, the study was taken to study the clinical manifestations and outcome of thrombolytic therapy in STEMI.Methods: The study was conducted for a period of 18 months in a tertiary care centre during which 100 cases of STEMI admitted to ICCU were included in the study, after fulfilling the inclusion criteria for thrombolysis, data related to clinical profile and outcome of thrombolysis was collected. SPSS 16 was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics like proportions mean and SD were computed.Results: Incidence of STEMI was high among subjects in the age group 51-60 years. Males were more affected (72%). Smoking, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes mellitus were the most common risk factors. Chest pain (92%) was the most common symptom. Majority (56%) were admitted within 6 hours of onset of symptoms. Anterior wall infarction was most common type of myocardial infarction. Majority (82%) were admitted in either Killips I/II class. Left Ventricular failure and Arrhythmias were most common complication. 64% patients had objective evidence in a form of ECG with ST-T resolution (>50%) between 1-6 hours, 18% between 6-24 hours and 18% patients had no significant resolution even after 24 hours. Echocardiography showed good left ventricle function (LVEF >45%) in 70% and 30% of the patients showed reduced ejection fraction (LVEF<45%). Mortality was seen in 8% of cases.Conclusions: Smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus and hypertension were most important risk factors for MI in the study. Coronary pain relief was most frequent and early marker of reperfusion. The ST segment elevation resolution has been widely accepted as most reliable objective criteria of coronary reperfusion. Hence ST segment resolution is regarded as a marker of salvaged myocardium by post-thrombolytic reperfusion. Early reperfusion of the ischaemic myocardial tissue with thrombolytic therapy decreases the morbidity and mortality.
Physical activity is associated with lower blood glucose level in high school teachers in Palu, Indonesia
Authors: Sakung Jamaludin M. , Sirajuddin Saifuddin , Zulkifli Andi , Rahman Stang Abdul , Sudargo Toto
Published: July 2018

Background: Physical activity refers to the movement of the body that causes the expenditure of energy for the maintenance of physical and mental health and is produced by skeletal muscle which is repeated over a period of time. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of physical activity on blood glucose level in high school teachers in Palu, Indonesia.Methods: This was a descriptive analytic research with a cross-sectional approach. The research was conducted in Palu city. Seventy-five pre-diabetic high school teachers in Palu city meeting the inclusion criteria participated in this study. Data analysis in this research was done using Ordinal Regression Test.Results: Overall, 40 respondents (53.3%) had moderate physical activity (600-1500 Mets), 32 respondents (42.7%) had heavy physical activity (>1500 Mets), and 3 respondents (4.0%) had light activity (<600 Mets). Spearman correlation test indicated a significant correlation between physical activity and blood glucose level in high school teachers in Palu City.Conclusions: Higher level of physical activity is associated with lower level of blood glucose.
Awareness of text neck syndrome in young-adult population
Authors: Samani Pankti P. , Athavale Neeraj A. , Shyam Ashok , Sancheti Parag K.
Published: July 2018

Background: Text neck is a repeated stress injury and pain sustained from excessive watching or texting on handheld devices for long periods of time. Dependence of mobile phone is increasing rapidly and people spend long hours on mobile phone that lead to various musculoskeletal problems. This study will help us find the awareness of text neck syndrome and awareness of hazards which are caused by excess usage of phone. This study also aimed at finding the knowledge regarding the preventive measures of text neck syndrome.Methods: The study design was an observational study with a sample size of 311. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all subjects. Results were calculated in percentile format.Results: This study stated that 35% population has heard of text neck syndrome out of which only 8% population has knowledge of this syndrome. The results also stated that 21% population have knowledge regarding the preventive measures of this syndrome.Conclusions: This study has demonstrated a low level of awareness of text neck syndrome amongst young adult population. Also it mentioned about lack of knowledge of preventive measures in this population.
Perceived stress and source of stress among undergraduate medical students of Government Medical College, Mysore
Authors: Nivetha M. Bhavani , Ahmed Mansoor , B. Prashantha
Published: July 2018

Background: Stress is defined as a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize. Medical school is recognized as a stressful environment that may have a negative effect on students’ academic performance, physical health, and psychosocial well-being. This stress when it exceeds the limit of tolerability causes various physical and mental health problems. Identifying this root cause will help us to put a barrier to many future mental health problems in a student’s life.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study done in Mysore Medical College among undergraduate students. Perceived stress scale was used to assess the level of stress and Medical student’s Stressor questionnaire was used to assess the source of stress.Results: A total of 303 students were included in the final analysis. Among them 51.5% were male and 48.5% were females. The age group of the students ranged between 18 and 24 with a mean age of 20.48 and standard deviation (SD) of 0.4. The mean and SD of PSS score is 17.7 and 5.5. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe stress was 20%, 74% and 6% respectively. Majority of the students (40.9%) considered academic related stressors to be the source of high stress.Conclusions: In our study though majority of the students were stressed (80%), only 6% were severely stressed. The coping strategies adopted by the students like resorting to sleep and music/dance appeared to be appropriate methods of handling stress.
Take a stand against ageism: quality of life among elderly in a rural area of Himachal Pradesh
Authors: Chawla Bharti , Chawla Sumit , S. K. Shashikantha , Kaur Harpreet , Kumar Shashi , Aggarwal Satish
Published: July 2018

Background: Quality of life (QOL) among elderly is an important area of concern which reflects the health status and well-being of this vulnerable population. The WHOQOL-BREF contains a total of 26 questions which measures QOL is being used in this study.Methods: It is a community based observational study with cross-sectional design carried out on 100 elderly (60+year age) in a rural area of Solan district using pre-designed, pretested and semi-structured interview schedule, which is based on WHOQOL-BREF standard quality of life questionnaire. Appropriate statistical tests were used for analysis using SPSS software.Results: Majority 60% of the subjects were in the age group of 60-70 years, 62% of them were males and 38% of them were females. The mean score value of physical domain, psychological growth, social relations and environment domain among the subjects was found to be 52.50±10.56, 52.86±13.25, 61.15±16.06 and 63.92±11.10 respectively. The mean score of all four domains was found higher among age group 60-70 than age group >70 and It was statistically significant in social domain with p value of 0.017. By gender, mean score of all four individual domains was found higher among males as compared to females but this difference was not statistically significant.Conclusions: The overall quality of life was poor among the study subjects. The subjects who were illiterate, unmarried/widow/widower/divorced/separated, belonged to nuclear family had poor quality of life compared to those who were literate married and belonged to joint family. Males had comparatively better quality of life compared to females in the study area.