bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modeling impacts of combustion products on humans in complex processing facilities
Authors: Tan Jia W. , Garaniya Vikram , Baalisampang Til , Abbassi Rouzbeh , Khan Faisal , Dadashzadeh Mohammad
Published: December 2019

Heat radiation, combustion products, and flame engulfment are the main hazards from a fire event. Several reports have indicated that fire toxicity has caused greater numbers of human injuries and fatalities than those of heat radiation and flame engulfment. In a complex facility, the risk of fire toxicity increases significantly due to the difficulty of escaping in cases of emergency rescue and evacuation operations. This study proposes a methodology to model the impact of combustion products on humans. Several fire scenarios were considered to identify credible fire scenarios. In the most credible fire scenario, concentrations of combustion products over the layout of a facility were modeled. The results showed that the concentrations of CO and CO2 are below the short‐term exposure limit and lethal concentration 50 threshold limits at the considered time. The possible reasons for this are that the fire location was in a well‐ventilated area and equipment layouts were designed with proper safety gaps replicating a full‐scale dimension of an operating floating liquefied natural gas processing facility. The concentration of soot is above the threshold limit, and this has the potential to cause adverse health effects. This study can provide a tool for assessing fire toxicity in processing facilities, which will help improve safety measures.
Semi‐quantitative risk assessment on the impact of port development to wellhead platform
Authors: Hermansyah Heri , Kumaraningrum Anggraini R. , Sommeng Andy N. , Wijanarko Anondho , Sahlan Muhamad , Shariff Azmi M.
Published: December 2019

An offshore company intends to develop a new field by installing two wellhead platforms to accommodate the well production from this field. Based on port development plans, the locations of these platforms are closed to port dumping and commercial anchorage areas. This can affect the platform's safety. Therefore, risk assessment and mitigation studies are required to forecast the impact of the new wellhead platform project. In this research, a risk analysis was conducted using a semi‐quantitative risk analysis method to determine the value of total external risk that affects the safety of platforms and security of personnel. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to identify the maximum likelihood factors that affect the risk values of platforms. The values for the new platforms were found to high‐risk levels. To ensure that the risks are more tolerable, risk mitigation tasks need to be executed. Such tasks should be conducted by the company and related governmental bodies, such that the risk value, can be reduced to medium risk level. The typical risk factor developed in this research can be used by related stakeholders to determine the risk value for the impact of port development on platforms during construction and operation.
Spectral Dependencies of the Stretched Exponential Dispersion Factor and Photoluminescence Quantum Yield as a Common Feature of Nanocrystalline Si
Authors: Greben Michael , Khoroshyy Petro , Valenta Jan
Published: December 2019

Herein, the spectral dependencies of the dispersion factor β (from the stretched exponential function) and photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY) of silicon nanocrystals (Si NCs) are thoroughly studied. Spectrally resolved PL decay kinetics of Si NCs in both liquid and solid samples are measured and their corresponding distributions of rates are retrieved by means of the hybrid maximum‐entropy method. This enables us to demonstrate a direct correlation of dispersion factor β with the width of rate distribution. Here, the evidence of the same step‐like spectral dependence of rate distribution widths (dispersion factor) for different forms of nanocrystalline silicon (including porous silicon and chemically synthesized Si NCs) is presented suggesting intrinsic (core‐related) origin of rate distributions. Spectral dependence of normalized QY of Si NCs reveals two characteristic peaks with spectral positions at ≈1.42 and ≈1.68 eV. A similar peak in QY spectral dependence of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) is found, which suggests its common origin regardless the material of semiconductor QDs.
Supported Lipid Membranes at the Au‐Buffer Interface by Solvent Exchange: The Effect of Initial Solvent Concentration
Authors: Betlem Kai , Cordoyiannis George , Losada-Pérez Patricia
Published: December 2019

The recently introduced solvent‐assisted lipid bilayer (SALB) formation method has proved a fast, simple, and versatile alternative to vesicle fusion in forming membrane‐mimicking platforms on solid supports such as SiO2, TiO2, graphene, and Au. This confers SALB with a broad applicability for developing biomaterial coatings for implants, biomimetic cell culture platforms, and cancer diagnostics. Although significant understanding on the interplay of the parameters controlling SALB (type of solvent, lipid concentration, and flow rate) has been achieved to date, there still exists several unexplored specific questions to be tackled. Herein, the question of how the initial solvent concentration affects the formation and organization of (zwitterionic) lipid membranes formed by SALB on Au surfaces is addressed. Using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring, differences in frequency and dissipation responses are observed upon dissolving the lipid compound dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) in either pure isopropanol or mixtures of different volume ratios of isopropanol and aqueous buffer. At high and medium initial solvent concentrations, thin and rigid supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) are typically formed at the Au–liquid interface, irrespective of the lipid structures formed in bulk, whereas at low solvent concentrations, irreversible vesicle adsorption takes place hindering the homogeneous SLB formation.
Chronic pelvic pain syndrome: Highlighting medicinal plants toward biomolecules discovery for upcoming drugs formulation
Authors: Salehi Bahare , Butnariu Monica , Corneanu Mihaela , Sarac Ioan , Vlaisavljevic Sanja , Kitic Dusanka , Rahavian Amirhossein , Abedi Amirreza , Karkan Morteza F. , Bhatt Indra D. , Jantwal Arvind , Sharifi‐Rad Javad , Rodrigues Célia F. , Martorell Miquel , Martins Natália
Published: December 2019

Chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) can be triggered by a various types of gynecological, gastrointestinal, urological, and musculoskeletal disorders. Recently, the role of the central nervous system has proven to be an integral part on the development of any chronic pain syndrome, including CPPS. However, owing to the complex and heterogeneous etiology and pathophysiology of CPPS, the establishment of effective therapeutic interventions remains challenging for both physicians and patients. Nonetheless, recent studies have pointed that medicinal plants and their secondary metabolites can be effectively used in CPPS therapy, besides contributing to restore the patients' quality of life and potentiate the conventional CPPS management. In this sense, this review aims to provide a careful overview on the biomedical data for the use of medicinal plants use and their secondary metabolites on CPPS management.
Optimization of ion trajectories in a dynamically harmonized Fourier‐transform ion cyclotron resonance cell using a design of experiments strategy
Authors: Maillard Julien , Ferey Justine , Rüger Christopher P. , Schmitz‐Afonso Isabelle , Bekri Soumeya , Gautier Thomas , Carrasco Nathalie , Afonso Carlos , Tebani Abdellah
Published: December 2019

Rationale

With the recent introduction of the dynamically harmonized Fourier‐transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT‐ICR) cell, the complexity of tuning has expanded drastically, and fine‐tuning of the direct current voltages is required to optimize the ion cloud movement. As this adjustment must typically be performed manually, more reliable computational methods would be useful.

Methods

Here we propose a computational method based on a design of experiments (DoE) strategy to overcome the limits of classical manual tuning. This DoE strategy was exemplarily applied on a 12 T FT‐ICR instrument equipped with a dynamically harmonized ICR cell. The chemometric approach, based on a central composite face (CCF) design, was first applied to a reference material (sodium trifluoroacetate) allowing for the evaluation of the primary cell parameters. Eight factors related to shimming and gating were identified. The summed intensity of the signal corresponding to the even harmonics was defined as one quality criterion.

Results

The DoE response allowed for rapid and complete mapping of cell parameters resulting in an optimized parameter set. The new set of cell parameters was applied to the study of an ultra‐complex sample: Tholins, an ultra‐complex mixture that mimics the haze present on Titan, was chosen. We observed a substantial improvement in mass spectrometric performance. The sum of signals related to harmonics was decreased by a factor of three (from 4% for conventional tuning to 1.3%). Furthermore, the dynamic range was also increased, which in turn led to an increase in attributed peaks by 13%.

Conclusions

This computational procedure based on an experimental design can be applied to any other mass spectrometric parameter optimization problem. This strategy will lead to a more transparent and data‐driven method development.
Differential adsorption of analyte and deuterated analogue onto the rotor seal of the injector in high‐performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry
Authors: Lord Gwyn A.
Published: December 2019

Rationale

Quantitation of analytes by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) is now very widely used, usually with an appropriate internal standard, but this does not guarantee problem‐free analyses. Investigation of a problem that arose during method development is described, where it was surmised that differential adsorption onto the high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) injector of the analyte (Rac GTPase inhibitor NSC23766) and its deuterated analogue, as internal standard, was taking place.

Methods

Samples were injected onto the HPLC system via either a Valco C14W.1 internal sample injector or a Rheodyne 7125 injector, both with dissimilar Vespel rotor seals, and linked to a quadrupole time‐of‐flight (QTOF) mass spectrometer. Alternatively, samples were infused directly into the mass spectrometer via a syringe‐driver. Electrospray ionisation in positive mode was used in both cases.

Results

Experiments demonstrated significant differential adsorption of the analyte (RAC inhibitor, NSC23766) and its tri‐deuterated internal standard onto the Vespel rotor seal, with the latter seeming to be preferentially adsorbed. The deuterated analogue also showed lower electrospray sensitivity, as demonstrated by syringe infusion of a mixture of the compounds, compared with their separate infusion at the same concentration.

Conclusions

This study has demonstrated the problem of differential adsorption onto HPLC Vespel rotor seals, and that the use of a stable‐isotope‐labelled analogue as internal standard does not guarantee the constancy of the analyte/internal response ratio in quantitative methods. The partial solution was to work at much higher concentration where adsorption, whilst still apparent, was relatively insignificant.
Total oesophago‐gastric dissociation in neurologically impaired children: Laparoscopic vs robotic approach
Authors: Mattioli Girolamo , Wong Michela C.Y. , Angotti Rossella , Mazzola Cinzia , Arrigo Serena , Gandullia Paolo , Mancardi Margherita , Fusi Giulia , Messina Mario , Zanaboni Clelia , Razore Barbara , Barabino Arrigo , Molinaro Francesco
Published: December 2019

Purpose

To evaluate and compare the feasibility and short‐term results of laparoscopic and robotic total oesophago‐gastric dissociation (TOGD) with a Roux‐en‐Y oesophago‐jejunostomy. Minimal invasive surgery has multiple advantages in neurologically impaired patients. Robotic approach has overcome disadvantages linked to laparoscopy, in particular, referring to the surgeon fatigue.

Methods

A retrospective study comparing five laparoscopic and five robotic TOGD was conducted between February and October 2016 in Giannina Gaslini Children's Hospital and Section of Pediatric Surgery of Siena. Neurologically impaired children scheduled for TOGD were included. Age, sex, weight, symptomatology, presence of epilepsy, and preoperative X‐ray contrast were considered. Operative time, hospital stay, postoperative complications, redo surgery, nutrition rehabilitation, and X‐ray contrast study after 5 days and after 1 month from the intervention were recorded.

Results

In our series, there were no intraoperative complications, no conversions to open surgery, and no vagal lesions. In two of five robotic cases, a pyloroplasty was necessary. The median operative time was statistically longer in the robotic group. One dehiscence in the robotic group was recorded, and no dumping episodes occurred. No statistical differences in terms of complications were detected.

Conclusion

TOGD is feasible both with laparoscopic and robotic‐assisted surgery with similar results. Robotic approach is considered feasible. At the same time, high laparoscopic skills allow to reach the same results as robotic approach with shorter operative time.
Stay with the flow: How macroinvertebrate communities recover during the rewetting phase in Alpine streams affected by an exceptional drought
Authors: Doretto Alberto , Bona Francesca , Falasco Elisa , Morandini Daniele , Piano Elena , Fenoglio Stefano
Published: December 2019

Droughts are affecting an increasing number of lotic ecosystems worldwide due to the combined effects of climatic and anthropogenic pressures. Unlike naturally intermittent rivers, where the drying phase is a part of the annual flow regime, water scarcity in Alpine rivers represents a relatively recent phenomenon and, therefore, a major threat for the biodiversity of these lotic ecosystems. However, Alpine stream community response to drought is still poorly investigated. Here, we assess the recovery of macroinvertebrates in two Alpine streams after a supraseasonal drought. As water returned, a total of 10 sampling sessions were carried out, and temporal patterns in diversity, density, and taxonomic composition of benthic communities, as well as in the percentage of functional feeding groups, were investigated.

We found that the resistance of invertebrate communities in Alpine streams is generally low: drought markedly reduced the diversity and density of macroinvertebrates. Conversely, our results suggest that the passive dispersal by drift from the upstream river sections seems the most probable mechanism promoting the post‐drought recovery. Nevertheless, this resilience ability appears to be stream specific and influenced by intrinsic stream characteristics, including the flow permanence and distance from the nearest upstream perennial reach. This work sheds light on the ecological consequences of droughts on macroinvertebrate communities. As flow intermittency in Alpine areas is expected to intensify under current global change scenarios, results of this study provide important information to predict changes in the taxonomic composition and diversity of macroinvertebrate communities.
Research on hierarchical architecture and routing of satellite constellation with IGSO‐GEO‐MEO network
Authors: Zhou Wei , Zhu Yi‐fan , Li Yao‐yu , Li Qun , Yu Qin‐Zhang
Published: December 2019

In this paper, a three‐layered medium Earth orbit (MEO), geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), and inclined geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellite network (IGMSN) is presented. Based on the idea of time‐slot division, a novel dynamic hierarchical and distributed QoS (quality of service) routing protocol (HDRP) is investigated, and an adaptive bandwidth‐constrained minimum‐delay path for IGSO/GEO/MEO hierarchical architecture constellation (BMDP‐HAC) algorithm is developed to calculate routing tables efficiently using the QoS metric information composed of delays and bandwidth. The performance of the IGMSN and HDRP is evaluated through simulations and theoretical analysis. And then, the paper further analyzes the performance of the IGMSN structure and the BMDP‐HAC algorithm with failure satellites.
Design and analysis considerations for cohort stepped wedge cluster randomized trials with a decay correlation structure
Authors: Li Fan
Published: December 2019

A stepped wedge cluster randomized trial is a type of longitudinal cluster design that sequentially switches clusters to intervention over time until all clusters are treated. While the traditional posttest‐only parallel design requires adjustment for a single intraclass correlation coefficient, the stepped wedge design allows multiple outcome measurements from the same cluster and so additional correlation parameters are necessary to characterize the within‐cluster correlation structure. Although a number of studies have differentiated between the concepts of within‐period and between‐period correlations, only a few studies have allowed the between‐period correlation to decay over time. In this article, we consider the proportional decay correlation structure for a cohort stepped wedge design, and provide a matrix‐adjusted quasi‐least squares approach to accurately estimate the correlation parameters along with the marginal intervention effect. We further develop the sample size and power procedures accounting for the correlation decay, and investigate the accuracy of the power procedure with continuous outcomes in a simulation study. We show that the empirical power agrees well with the prediction even with as few as nine clusters, when data are analyzed with matrix‐adjusted quasi‐least squares concurrently with a suitable bias‐corrected sandwich variance. Two trial examples are provided to illustrate the new sample size procedure.
A unified method for rare variant analysis of gene‐environment interactions
Authors: Lim Elise , Chen Han , Dupuis Josée , Liu Ching‐Ti
Published: December 2019

Advanced technology in whole‐genome sequencing has offered the opportunity to comprehensively investigate the genetic contribution, particularly rare variants, to complex traits. Several region‐based tests have been developed to jointly model the marginal effect of rare variants, but methods to detect gene‐environment (GE) interactions are underdeveloped. Identifying the modification effects of environmental factors on genetic risk poses a considerable challenge. To tackle this challenge, we develop a method to detect GE interactions for rare variants using generalized linear mixed effect model. The proposed method can accommodate either binary or continuous traits in related or unrelated samples. Under this model, genetic main effects, GE interactions, and sample relatedness are modeled as random effects. We adopt a kernel‐based method to leverage the joint information across rare variants and implement variance component score tests to reduce the computational burden. Our simulation studies of continuous and binary traits show that the proposed method maintains correct type I error rates and appropriate power under various scenarios, such as genotype main effects and GE interaction effects in opposite directions and varying the proportion of causal variants in the model. We apply our method in the Framingham Heart Study to test GE interaction of smoking on body mass index or overweight status and replicate the Cholinergic Receptor Nicotinic Beta 4 gene association reported in previous large consortium meta‐analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism‐smoking interaction. Our proposed set‐based GE test is computationally efficient and is applicable to both binary and continuous phenotypes, while appropriately accounting for familial or cryptic relatedness.
Helical Pore Alignment on Cylindrical Carbon
Authors: Maruyama Jun , Shinagawa Tsutomu , Watanabe Mitsuru , Kashiwagi Yukiyasu , Maruyama Shohei , Nagaoka Toru , Matsuda Wakana , Tsutsui Yusuke , Seki Shu , Uyama Hiroshi
Published: December 2019

Interest in chiral substances has mainly focused on the substances themselves, but not on the accompanying space, especially regarding the pore alignment. As a method to form both the chiral substance and the accompanying space, cylindrical self‐assembly of uniform polystyrene nanoparticles with fructose is carried out in the presence of both carbon and sodium alginate, which is followed by heat treatment in an inert atmosphere. The carbonization generates fructose‐derived honeycomb‐like carbon walls with helically aligned nanopores left after the polystyrene decomposition. The diffuse reflectance circular dichroism measurements give peaks with opposite signs for the d‐ and l‐fructose‐derived cylindrical carbons. Circularly polarized light sensitivity in transient photoconductivity is confirmed apparently in the carbon‐based helical structures. This sensitivity as well as straightforward formation of composites with another component to give helicity shows potential applications of the helically aligned pores.
A machine learning approach for classification of equivalent mutants
Authors: Naeem Muhammad Rashid , Lin Tao , Naeem Hamad , Liu Hailu
Published: December 2019

Mutation testing is a fault‐based technique to test the quality of test suites by inducing artificial syntactic faults or mutants in a source program. However, some mutants have the same semantics as original program and cannot be detected by any test suite input known as equivalent mutants. Equivalent mutant problem (EMP) is undecidable as it requires manual human effort to identify a mutant as equivalent or killable. The constraint‐based testing (CBT) theory suggests the use of mathematical constraints which can help reveal some equivalent mutants using mutant features. In this paper, we consider three metrics of CBT theory, ie, reachability, necessity, and sufficiency to extract feature constraints from mutant programs. Constraints are extracted using program dependency graphs. Other features such as degree of significance, semantic distance, and information entropy of mutants are also extracted to build a binary classification model. Machine learning algorithms such as Random Forest, GBT, and SVM are applied under two application scenarios (split‐project and cross‐project) on ten Java programs to predict equivalent mutants. The analysis of the study demonstrates that that the proposed techniques not only improves the efficiency of the equivalent mutant detection but also reduces the effort required to perform it with small accuracy loss.
Security assessment of data management systems for cyber physical system applications
Authors: Chaudhry Natalia , Yousaf Muhammad Murtaza , Khan Muhammad Taimoor
Published: December 2019

Cyber physical system (CPS) applications are widely used to control critical infrastructure of various application domains, eg, medical health care, energy, and power, to name a few. Such applications usually take input data from sensors, estimate current state of the system, and then based on the estimation, make critical decisions to control the underlying infrastructure automatically. Therefore, security and integrity of the (system state) data are critically important to ensure safe operations of CPS. In this paper, we present a review of security of various data management systems used in CPS. Since CPS are composed of systems of (sub)systems that generate a huge amount of data (ie, periodical sensor input data), therefore, recently, NoSQL and NewSQL data management systems have emerged as popular data management systems to support efficient and scalable analysis of unstructured data. Unfortunately, these systems were not initially build for data security and thus are vulnerable to numerous security attacks. Considering flexible data model and efficient access methods in NoSQL and NewSQL, we discuss the security attacks on such data management systems and their corresponding solutions to mitigate them. In particular, we analyze the system and data security of popular NoSQL and NewSQL systems. To analyze that, we defined feature vectors for system and data security and compared the data systems against them. Finally, we propose security solutions for data management systems by identifying various security vulnerabilities in internal security algorithms of such systems.
Distributed automated manufacturing of pluripotent stem cell products
Authors: Shariatzadeh Maryam , Chandra Amit , Wilson Samantha L , McCall Mark J , Morizur Lise , Lesueur Léa , Chose Olivier , Gepp Michael M. , Schulz André , Neubauer Julia C. , Zimmermann Heiko , Abranches Elsa , Man Jennifer , O’Shea Orla , Stacey Glyn , Hewitt Zoe , Williams David J
Published: December 2019

Establishing how to effectively manufacture cell therapies is an industry-level problem. Decentralised manufacturing is of increasing importance, and its challenges are recognised by healthcare regulators with deviations and comparability issues receiving specific attention from them. This paper is the first to report the deviations and other risks encountered when implementing the expansion of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in an automated three international site–decentralised manufacturing setting. An experimental demonstrator project expanded a human embryonal carcinoma cell line (2102Ep) at three development sites in France, Germany and the UK using the CompacT SelecT (Sartorius Stedim, Royston, UK) automated cell culture platform. Anticipated variations between sites spanned material input, features of the process itself and production system details including different quality management systems and personnel. Where possible, these were pre-addressed by implementing strategies including standardisation, cell bank mycoplasma testing and specific engineering and process improvements. However, despite such measures, unexpected deviations occurred between sites including software incompatibility and machine/process errors together with uncharacteristic contaminations. Many only became apparent during process proving or during the process run. Further, parameters including growth rate and viability discrepancies could only be determined post-run, preventing ‘live’ corrective measures. The work confirms the critical nature of approaches usually taken in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacturing settings and especially emphasises the requirement for monitoring steps to be included within the production system. Real-time process monitoring coupled with carefully structured quality systems is essential for multiple site working including clarity of decision-making roles. Additionally, an over-reliance upon post-process visual microscopic comparisons has major limitations; it is difficult for non-experts to detect deleterious culture changes and such detection is slow.
Improved method for analyzing cohesive strength development of pMDI
Authors: Solt Pia , Libowitzky Simon , van Herwijnen Hendrikus W. G. , Konnerth Johannes
Published: December 2019

Analyzing the development of cohesive strength of polymeric diphenylmethane diisocyanate (pMDI) with the help of the small-scale test method proposed in the standard (ASTM-D7998-15) is rarely used, as resulting lap-shear strength values are lacking in informative value. Up to now, the gained strength values have been dramatically below the ones typically achieved with most standard wood adhesives, while the performance in a panel product is at least of equal quality. In order to address this discrepancy and to fill the gap of the lacking method to properly investigate curing behavior of pMDI adhesives, a modification of the specimen geometry for pMDI adhesive analysis is proposed, resulting in meaningful tensile shear strength values also when using pMDI as adhesive. Applying this modified specimen geometry enables investigating relevant processing parameters, such as the effect of press time, press temperature and wood moisture content on the tensile shear strength development using pMDI. The strength development was found to be positively affected by all three factors significantly. Furthermore, the calculated reactivity index showed a decrease in activation energy of 20% with increasing wood moisture content. Based on the results gained, it can be concluded that both, wood moisture and temperature, are crucial factors to accelerate curing of pMDI. Even so the principle influence of the exemplary selected parameters has already been shown earlier, the new methodology opens up new possibilities in investigating the curing behavior of pMDI.
Bounds and dynamics for empirical game theoretic analysis
Authors: Tuyls Karl , Perolat Julien , Lanctot Marc , Hughes Edward , Everett Richard , Leibo Joel Z. , Szepesvári Csaba , Graepel Thore
Published: December 2019

This paper provides several theoretical results for empirical game theory. Specifically, we introduce bounds for empirical game theoretical analysis of complex multi-agent interactions. In doing so we provide insights in the empirical meta game showing that a Nash equilibrium of the estimated meta-game is an approximate Nash equilibrium of the true underlying meta-game. We investigate and show how many data samples are required to obtain a close enough approximation of the underlying game. Additionally, we extend the evolutionary dynamics analysis of meta-games using heuristic payoff tables (HPTs) to asymmetric games. The state-of-the-art has only considered evolutionary dynamics of symmetric HPTs in which agents have access to the same strategy sets and the payoff structure is symmetric, implying that agents are interchangeable. Finally, we carry out an empirical illustration of the generalised method in several domains, illustrating the theory and evolutionary dynamics of several versions of theAlphaGoalgorithm (symmetric), the dynamics of the Colonel Blotto game played by human players on Facebook (symmetric), the dynamics of several teams of players in the capture the flag game (symmetric), and an example of a meta-game in Leduc Poker (asymmetric), generated by the policy-space response oracle multi-agent learning algorithm.
Solving the shift and break design problem using integer linear programming
Authors: Akkermans Arjan , Post Gerhard , Uetz Marc
Published: December 2019

In this paper we propose a two-phase approach to solve the shift and break design problem using integer linear programming. In the first phase we create the shifts, while heuristically taking the breaks into account. In the second phase we assign breaks to each occurrence of any shift, one by one, repeating this until no improvement is found. On a set of benchmark instances, composed by both randomly-generated and real-life ones, this approach obtains better results than the current best known method for shift and break design problem.
Familial Influences on Neuroticism and Education in the UK Biobank
Authors: Cheesman R. , Coleman J. , Rayner C. , Purves K. L. , Morneau-Vaillancourt G. , Glanville K. , Choi S. W. , Breen G. , Eley T. C.
Published: December 2019

Genome-wide studies often exclude family members, even though they are a valuable source of information. We identified parent–offspring pairs, siblings and couples in the UK Biobank and implemented a family-based DNA-derived heritability method to capture additional genetic effects and multiple sources of environmental influence on neuroticism and years of education. Compared to estimates from unrelated individuals, total heritability increased from 10 to 27% and from 17 to 56% for neuroticism and education respectively by including family-based genetic effects. We detected no family environmental influences on neuroticism. The couple similarity variance component explained 35% of the variation in years of education, probably reflecting assortative mating. Overall, our genetic and environmental estimates closely replicate previous findings from an independent sample. However, more research is required to dissect contributions to the additional heritability by rare and structural genetic effects, assortative mating, and residual environmental confounding. The latter is especially relevant for years of education, a highly socially contingent variable, for which our heritability estimate is at the upper end of twin estimates in the literature. Family-based genetic effects could be harnessed to improve polygenic prediction.
Communication of IPCC visuals: IPCC authors’ views and assessments of visual complexity
Authors: Harold Jordan , Lorenzoni Irene , Shipley Thomas F. , Coventry Kenny R.
Published: December 2019

Scientific figures, i.e. visuals such as graphs and diagrams, are an important component of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that support communication and policy-making. It is therefore imperative that figures are robust representations of the science and are accessible to target audiences. We interviewed IPCC authors (n = 18) to understand the development of figures in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) Working Group 1 (WG1) Summary for Policy-Makers (SPM). Authors expressed the view that the need to maintain scientific accuracy constrained making figures more accessible, with the consequence that figures retained complexity and often required specialists to explain the figures to others. Using sort tasks with IPCC authors and with a group of non-specialists (undergraduate students; n = 38), we found that IPCC authors generally had good awareness of which figures non-specialists perceived as being most difficult to understand. Further, by evaluating the visual complexity of the AR5 WG1 SPM figures using a computational measure, we found that greater visual complexity (i.e. high quantity of information, use of multiple colours and densely packed visual elements) is associated with greater perceived comprehension difficulty. Developing and integrating computational approaches to assess figures alongside user testing could help inform how to overcome visual complexity while maintaining scientific rigour and so enhance communication of IPCC figures and scientific visuals.
Countrywide climate features during recorded climate-related disasters
Authors: Tschumi Elisabeth , Zscheischler Jakob
Published: December 2019

Climate-related disasters cause substantial disruptions to human societies. With climate change, many extreme weather and climate events are expected to become more severe and more frequent. The International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) records climate-related disasters associated with observed impacts such as affected people and economic damage on a country basis. Although disasters are classified into different meteorological categories, they are usually not linked to observed climate anomalies. Here, we investigate countrywide climate features associated with disasters that have occurred between 1950 and 2015 and have been classified as droughts, floods, heat waves, and cold waves using superposed epoch analysis. We find that disasters classified as heat waves are associated with significant countrywide increases in annual mean temperature of on average 0.13 ∘C and a significant decrease in annual precipitation of 3.2%. Drought disasters show positive temperature anomalies of 0.08 ∘C and a 4.8 % precipitation decrease. Disasters classified as droughts and heat waves are thus associated with significant annual countrywide anomalies in both temperature and precipitation. During years of flood disasters, precipitation is increased by 2.8 %. Cold wave disasters show no significant signal for either temperature or precipitation. We further find that climate anomalies tend to be larger in smaller countries, an expected behavior when computing countrywide averages. In addition, our results suggest that extreme weather disasters in developed countries are typically associated with larger climate anomalies compared to developing countries. This effect could be due to different levels of vulnerability, as a climate anomaly needs to be larger in a developed country to cause a societal disruption. Our analysis provides a first link between recorded climate-related disasters and observed climate data, which is an important step towards linking climate and impact communities and ultimately better constraining future disaster risk.
Social Perceptions of Forest Ecosystem Services in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Cuni-Sanchez Aida , Imani Gerard , Bulonvu Franklin , Batumike Rodrigue , Baruka Grace , Burgess Neil D. , Klein Julia A. , Marchant Rob
Published: December 2019

The forests of the Albertine Rift are known for their high biodiversity and the important ecosystem services they provide to millions of inhabitants. However, their conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem service delivery is a challenge, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our research investigates how livelihood strategy and ethnicity affects local perceptions of forest ecosystem services. We collected data through 25 focus-group discussions in villages from distinct ethnic groups, including farmers (Tembo, Shi, and Nyindu) and hunter-gatherers (Twa). Twa identify more food-provisioning services and rank bush meat and honey as the most important. They also show stronger place attachment to the forest than the farmers, who value other ecosystem services, but all rank microclimate regulation as the most important. Our findings help assess ecosystem services trade-offs, highlight the important impacts of restricted access to forests resources for Twa, and point to the need for developing alternative livelihood strategies for these communities.
The fiscal aspect of the refugee crisis
Authors: Ruist Joakim
Published: December 2019

An important part of the resistance to higher refugee immigration in rich countries is due to the fear of the negative fiscal consequences. Yet this article shows that the fiscal consequences even of substantially increased refugee immigration are likely to be quite modest. According to the estimates, if the European Union received all refugees currently in Asia and Africa, the implied average annual fiscal cost over the lifetime of these refugees would be at most 0.6% of the union’s GDP. If other rich countries also shared the burden, the cost per country would be even lower.
3D Vision System for a Robotic Arm Based on Equal Baseline Camera Array
Authors: Kaczmarek Adam L.
Published: December 2019

This paper presents a lightweight 3D vision system called Equal Baseline Camera Array (EBCA). EBCA can work in different light conditions and it can be applied for measuring large range of distances. The system is a useful alternative to other known distance measuring devices such as structured-light 3D scanners, time-of-flight cameras, Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) devices and structure from motion techniques. EBCA can be mounted on a robotic arm without putting significant load on its construction. EBCA consists of a central camera and a ring of side cameras. The system uses stereo matching algorithms to acquire disparity maps and depth maps similarly as in case of using stereo cameras. This paper introduces methods of adapting stereo matching algorithms designed for stereo cameras to EBCA. The paper also presents the analysis of local, semi-global and global stereo matching algorithms in the context of the EBCA usage. Experiments show that, on average, results obtained from EBCA contain 37.49% less errors than the results acquired from a single stereo camera used in the same conditions.
Factor Structure of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale in Treatment Seeking Adults with Eating Disorders
Authors: Nordgren Line , Monell Elin , Birgegård Andreas , Bjureberg Johan , Hesser Hugo
Published: December 2019

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is extensively used as a measure of emotion (dys-)regulation ability in both clinical and nonclinical populations. This is the first study to examine the factor structure of both the original 36-item and short 16-item version of the DERS in adults with eating disorders and to test measurement invariance across diagnostic subgroups. The factor structure of the scale was examined using confirmatory factor analysis in a psychiatric sample of adults with eating disorders (N = 857). Four primary factor structures were fitted to the data: (1) a unidimensional model, (2) a six-factor correlated-traits model, (3) a higher-order factor solution, and (4) a bifactor model. Measurement invariance was tested for diagnostic subgroups of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and associations between factors and eating pathology were examined in each diagnostic group. Results indicated that a modified bifactor solution fitted the data adequately for both the 36-item and 16-item version of the DERS. A general factor explained most of the variance (86%) and reliability was high for the general factor of DERS (total) but lower for the subscales. Measurement invariance of the bifactor model was supported across diagnostic subgroups and test of factor means reveled that bulimia nervosa had a higher factor mean than anorexia nervosa on the general factor. The general factor accounted for a significant proportion of variance in eating pathology. Our results support the use of the total scale of both the 36-item and 16-item version among adults with eating disorders.
Experimental validation of corrections factors for γ–γ and γ–X coincidence summing of 133Ba, 152Eu, and 125Sb in volume sources
Authors: Jonsson S. , Kastlander J. , Vidmar T. , Ramebäck H.
Published: December 2019

True coincidence summing correction factors for 133Ba, 152Eu and 125Sb were determined experimentally for a small volume source and compared with correction factors obtained with three softwares (EFFTRAN-X, GESPECOR and VGSL). The radionuclides investigated have a relatively challenging decay scheme and their spectra are known to suffer from losses due to summation (γ–γ, γ–X and X–X) when measured at close distances on a HPGe detector sensitive to low energy photons. This study shows that the softwares were in good agreement with each other and the experimental data and the calculated activity was consistent with the activity in the volume source.
Why Snowden and not Greenwald? On the Accountability of the Press for Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Information
Authors: Mokrosinska Dorota
Published: December 2019

In 2013, following the leaks by Edward Snowden, The Guardian published a number of classified NSA documents. Both leaking and publishing leaks violate the law prohibiting unauthorized disclosures. Accordingly, there are two potential targets for prosecution: the leakers and the press. In practice, however, only the leakers are prosecuted: Snowden is facing a threat of 30 years’ imprisonment; no charges have been made against The Guardian. If both leaking and publishing leaks violate the law, why prosecute only the leakers and not the press? I consider and reject two arguments. The first claims that the press has special moral claims by virtue of its rights (press freedom) or its role (the Fourth Estate; conduit for information). The second argument states that the leakers commit a greater wrong than the press. I conclude that the current prosecution practice is inconsistent: prosecutors should either prosecute both or neither.
Branching Collision Processes with Immigration
Authors: Chen Anyue , Li Junping , Zhang Jing
Published: December 2019

We consider the regularity and ergodic properties of the Branching Collision Process with Immigration (BCIP) in this paper. We establish an easy checking sufficient condition under which the Feller minimal BCIP is honest. We provide some good conditions under which the Feller minimal BCIP is positive recurrent and then establish an analytic form of the generating function of the stationary distribution. The closely associated expected hitting times are also considered. Examples and numerical calculations are provided to illustrate our results.
Digital camera identification based on analysis of optical defects
Authors: Bernacki Jaroslaw
Published: December 2019

In this paper we deal with the problem of digital camera identification by photographs. Identifying camera is possible by analyzing camera’s sensor artifacts that occur during the process of photo processing. The problem of digital camera identification has been popular for a long time. Recently many effective and robust algorithms for solving this problem have been proposed. However, almost all solutions are based on state-of-the-art algorithm, proposed by Lukás et al. in 2006. Core of this algorithm is to calculate the so-called sensor pattern noise based on denoising images with wavelet-based denoising filter. Such technique is very efficient, but very time consuming. In this paper we consider tracing cameras by analyzing defects of their optical systems, like vignetting and lens distortion. We show that analysis of vignetting defect allows for recognizing brand of the camera. Lens distortion can be used to distinguish images from different cameras. Experimental evaluation was carried out on 60 devices (compact cameras and smartphones) for a total number of 12 051 images, with support of the Dresden Image Database. Proposed methods do not require denoising images with wavelet-based denoising filter what has a significant influence for speed of image processing, compared with state-of-the-art algorithm.
Immersive virtual reality to enforce teaching in engineering education
Authors: Halabi Osama
Published: December 2019

Prior studies on the use of digital prototyping and virtual reality (VR) in designing as well as evaluating new products have shown that VR reduces both development time and costs whilst augmenting student motivation and creativity. The current study demonstrates that VR and 3D prototyping in the context of project-based learning (PBL) promote effective communication, increase problem solving skills, and enhance learning outcomes. VR and digital prototyping have been extensively used in industries for the purpose of product design and usability evaluation. In the context of engineering education, many research studies have attempted to explore the effect of VR on teamwork, engagement, retention, and motivation. In this paper, VR is used in conjunction with PBL in self-directed approach to design and implement a product using 3D software whilst also using virtual reality immersive CAVE display to evaluate their design. The hypothesis is that the use of VR with a project-based-learning approach to facilitate the attainment of desirable goals in the engineering design project, improved achievement of course learning outcomes and promoted effective communication. According to the research findings, VR approach significantly affected the distribution of cumulative project grades. Students’ project grades improved, particularly the implementation component. In addition, the course outcomes related to project design were better achieved in VR approach. The communication and problem-solving skills were improved in the VR approach as compared to traditional approach.