bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
La subrogación en el contrato de seguro análisis jurisprudencial
Authors: Novoa Hernández Juliana María
Published: June 2020

El presente trabajo aborda distintos problemas jurídicos que han surgido en torno a la aplicación de la subrogación legal del contrato de seguro. Con el análisis de estos temas controversiales se pretende obtener una visión panorámica de la problemática, sin aspirar a dar respuestas definitivas se quiere otorgar elementos de análisis que faciliten la resolución de casos análogos al conocer el escenario de cada una de las problemáticas.

Los temas que se abordarán son los siguientes: (1) Alcance de la expresión “hasta concurrencia del importe” del art. 1096 del Código de Comercio en el cual se regula la subrogación en el contrato de seguro; (2) Legitimación de las administradoras de riesgos laborales para subrogarse en las acciones de la víctima una vez a pagado las prestaciones económicas y ha reconocido la pensión de sobrevivientes; (3) Requisitos que debe reunir el pago efectuado por la aseguradora a título de indemnización del siniestro para que el mismo dé lugar a la subrogación.
Combining Direct and Indirect User Data for Calculating Social Impact Indicators of Products in Developing Countries
Authors: Stringham Bryan J. , Smith Daniel O. , Mattson Christopher A. , Dahlin Eric C.
Published: June 2020

Evaluating the social impacts of engineered products is critical to ensuring that products are having their intended positive impacts and learning how to improve product designs for a more positive social impact. Quantitative evaluation of product social impacts is made possible through the use of social impact indicators, which combine the user data in a meaningful way to give insight into the current social condition of an individual or population. Most existing methods for collecting these user data for social impact indicators require direct human interaction with users of a product (e.g., interviews, surveys, and observational studies). These interactions produce high-fidelity data that help indicate the product impact but only at a single snapshot in time and are typically infrequently collected due to the large human resources and cost associated with obtaining them. In this article, a framework is proposed that outlines how low-fidelity data often obtainable using remote sensors, satellites, or digital technology can be collected and correlated with high-fidelity, infrequently collected data to enable continuous, remote monitoring of engineered products via the user data. These user data are critical to determining current social impact indicators that can be used in a posteriori social impact evaluation. We illustrate an application of this framework by demonstrating how it can be used to collect data for calculating several social impact indicators related to water hand pumps in Uganda. Key to this example is the use of a deep learning model to correlate user type (man, woman, or child statured) with the raw hand pump data obtained via an integrated motion unit sensor for 1200 hand pump users.
Topology Optimization of Multimaterial Thermoelectric Structures
Authors: Xu Xiaoqiang , Wu Yongjia , Zuo Lei , Chen Shikui
Published: June 2020

A large amount of energy from power plants, vehicles, oil refining, and steel or glass making process is released to the atmosphere as waste heat. The thermoelectric generator (TEG) provides a way to reutilize this portion of energy by converting temperature differences into electricity using Seebeck phenomenon. Because the figures of merit zT of the thermoelectric materials are temperature-dependent, it is not feasible to achieve high efficiency of the thermoelectric conversion using only one single thermoelectric material in a wide temperature range. To address this challenge, the authors propose a method based on topology optimization to optimize the layouts of functional graded TEGs consisting of multiple materials. The multimaterial TEG is optimized using the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method. Instead of dummy materials, both the P-type and N-type electric conductors are optimally distributed with two different practical thermoelectric materials. Specifically, Bi2Te3 and Zn4Sb3 are selected for the P-type element while Bi2Te3 and CoSb3 are employed for the N-type element. Two optimization scenarios with relatively regular domains are first considered with one optimizing on both the P-type and N-type elements simultaneously, and the other one only on single P-type element. The maximum conversion efficiency could reach 9.61% and 12.34% respectively in the temperature range from 25 °C to 400 °C. CAD models are reconstructed based on the optimization results for numerical verification. A good agreement between the performance of the CAD model and optimization result is achieved, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Development of Cost Effective Data Acquisition System to Evaluate the Performance of Solar Photovoltaic Thermal Systems
Authors: Franklin J. Charles , Chandrasekar M. , Mattius D. Ansalam
Published: June 2020

The thermal and electrical performance of the solar photovoltaic (PV) panel of a solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) air system is determined experimentally in the present work. For this purpose, a data acquisition system was developed indigenously using ATMEL MEGA 2560 and ATMEL 328 microcontrollers. The parameters measured were PV panel surface temperature, inlet and outlet air temperatures, PV current, and voltage. The parameters were also compared with those of a reference PV system to demonstrate the effect of cooling of PV panel on its electrical power output. The experiments were performed in the locality of Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India (11 deg N latitude, 79 deg E longitude) and the working of the PV data acquisition was tested for a period of 3 months from February to April 2017. The results indicate acceptable working of the indigenously developed PV/PVT data acquisition system.
In-Flight Detection of Vibration Anomalies in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Authors: Banerjee Portia , Okolo Wendy A. , Moore Andrew J.
Published: June 2020

Owing to the frequency of occurrence and high risk associated with bearings, identification, and characterization of bearing faults in motors via nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods have been studied extensively, among which vibration analysis has been found to be a promising technique for early diagnosis of anomalies. However, a majority of the existing techniques rely on vibration sensors attached onto or in close proximity to the motor in order to collect signals with a relatively high SNR. Due to weight and space restrictions, these techniques cannot be used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), especially during flight operations since accelerometers cannot be attached onto motors in small UAVs. Small UAVs are often subjected to vibrational disturbances caused by multiple factors such as weather turbulence, propeller imbalance, or bearing faults. Such anomalies may not only pose risks to UAV’s internal circuitry, components, or payload, they may also generate undesirable noise level particularly for UAVs expected to fly in low-altitudes or urban canyon. This paper presents a detailed discussion of challenges in in-flight detection of bearing failure in UAVs using existing approaches and offers potential solutions to detect overall vibration anomalies in small UAV operations based on IMU data.
Endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition compromises vascular integrity to induce Myc-mediated metabolic reprogramming in kidney fibrosis
Authors: Lovisa Sara , Fletcher-Sananikone Eliot , Sugimoto Hikaru , Hensel Janine , Lahiri Sharmistha , Hertig Alexandre , Taduri Gangadhar , Lawson Erica , Dewar Rajan , Revuelta Ignacio , Kato Noritoshi , Wu Chang-Jiun , Bassett Roland L. , Putluri Nagireddy , Zeisberg Michael , Zeisberg Elisabeth M. , LeBleu Valerie S. , Kalluri Raghu
Published: June 2020

Kidney injury triggers endothelial-epithelial cellular crosstalk that culminates in fibrosis.
Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Progress and Challenges in Eight South Asian and Southeast Asian Countries
Authors: Gandra Sumanth , Alvarez-Uria Gerardo , Turner Paul , Joshi Jyoti , Limmathurotsakul Direk , van Doorn H. Rogier
Published: June 2020

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious global health threat and is predicted to cause significant health and economic impacts, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). AMR surveillance is critical in LMICs due to high burden of bacterial infections; however, conducting AMR surveillance in resource-limited settings is constrained by poorly functioning health systems, scarce financial resources, and lack of skilled personnel. In 2015, the United Nations World Health Assembly endorsed the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan to tackle AMR; thus, several countries are striving to improve their AMR surveillance capacity, including making significant investments and establishing and expanding surveillance networks.
A 20-Mer Peptide Derived from the Lectin Domain ofSP-A2Decreases Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Production during Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection
Authors: Younis Usir S. , Chu Hong Wei , Kraft Monica , Ledford Julie G.
Published: June 2020

Human surfactant protein-A2 (hSP-A2) is a component of pulmonary surfactant that plays an important role in the lung’s immune system by interacting with viruses, bacteria, and fungi to facilitate pathogen clearance and by downregulating inflammatory responses after an allergic challenge. Genetic variation in SP-A2 at position Gln223Lys is present in up to ∼30% of the population and has been associated with several lung diseases, such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, and lung cancer (M.
Nonclassical Biofilms Induced by DNA Breaks in Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Liu Yan , Pan Chao , Ye Lijun , Si Yue , Bi Changhao , Hua Xiaoting , Yu Yunsong , Zhu Li , Wang Hengliang
Published: June 2020

Many pathogenic bacteria can form biofilm matrices that consist of complex molecules such as polysaccharides, proteins, and DNA. These biofilms help the bacteria to infect and colonize a host. Such biofilms may attach and develop on the surfaces of indwelling medical devices or other supportive environments. This study found that following double-strand breaks in their DNA,
Klebsiella pneumoniae
cells can form a novel type of biofilm with ring-like or discoid morphology. This biofilm structure, named the “R-biofilm,” helps protect the bacteria against adverse conditions such as exposure to ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, and UV radiation.
Late Devonian fossils and position of the Frasnian-Famennian boundary in the Foreknobs Formation of Virginia and West Virginia
Authors: Rossbach Thomas J.
Published: June 2020

The Upper Devonian Foreknobs Formation is a series of sandstones and siltstones that outcrops in the central Appalachian Basin from Pennsylvania south into Virginia and West Virginia. The Foreknobs Formation is generally regarded as the delta slope portion of the Catskill clastic wedge (= Catskill delta) occurring between the dark marine lithologies of the underlying Brallier and Scherr Formations and the younger fluvial red beds and conglomerates of the overlying Hampshire Formation. Progradational and retrogradational pulses of the clastic wedge are recorded in the alternating siltstones and sandstones before grading into nonmarine lithologies at its top. Well-preserved fossils are very abundant within the Foreknobs Formation. They have aided in locating the Frasnian-Famennian Stage boundary and have provided important information regarding its namesake extinction event. The progradation of the clastic wedge during Foreknobs Formation deposition allowed for both shallow- and deep-water environments to exist up to and across the Frasnian-Famennian boundary, which may have contributed to some uncertainty in correlating the lithostratigraphic position of the boundary with the biostratigraphic signature of the extinction event.
Temporal variations in the dynamic evolution of an overriding plate: Evidence from the Wulong area in the eastern North China Craton, China
Authors: Zhang Shuai , Zhu Guang , Xiao Shiye , Su Nan , Liu Cheng , Wu Xiaodong , Yin Hao , Li Yunjian , Lu Yuanchao
Published: June 2020

The evolution of overriding-plate deformation, and the mechanisms responsible for this deformation, are debated. One area where these processes can be investigated is the eastern North China Craton (NCC) in China, which was situated in an overriding-plate position relative to the subducting Paleo-Pacific Plate during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Here we constrain the structural evolution of the Jurassic and Cretaceous using new structural, stress field, and geochronological data from the Wulong area. The results show that the first phase of deformation (D1) produced a series of SE-dipping reverse shear zones and parallel folds in response to NW-SE shortening at 157–146 Ma (Late Jurassic). Based on microscopic observations and quartz c-axis analysis, it is suggested that the temperature during D1 deformation was 500 ± 50 °C. A second phase of contractional deformation (D2) at 146–132 Ma (earliest Early Cretaceous) gave rise to numerous NE-SW–striking sinistral faults and shear zones. The majority of D2 structures display ductile fabrics in the southwest of the Wulong area and brittle deformational features in the northeast, thus indicating enhanced exhumation in the former area. Microstructures of D2 sinistral shear zones indicate deformation temperatures of 300–400 °C. Inversion of fault slip data from the sinistral faults demonstrate that N-S compression was responsible for the D2 structures. The third phase of deformation (D3) was related to WNW-ESE extension during the middle to late Early Cretaceous (132–100 Ma). This extensional phase produced a series of NE-SW–striking normal faults and reactivated pre-existing structures. Dikes and plutons were emplaced during the D3 deformation, synchronous with the peak destruction of the NCC. Our results indicate that the eastern NCC showed temporal variations in stress and strain during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Consistent with the slab-driven model, we suggest that this behavior represents the response of the overriding-plate to changes in subduction kinematics.
Provenance and tectonic setting of late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks from the Alxa Tectonic Belt (NW China): Implications for accretionary tectonics of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt
Authors: Song Dongfang , Xiao Wenjiao , Windley Brian F. , Han Chunming
Published: June 2020

The Central Asian Orogenic Belt has long been considered the largest Phanerozoic accretionary orogen in the world; it developed through the subduction and final closure of the Paleo–Asian Ocean. However, the architecture and duration of the accretionary orogenesis of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt are still controversial despite decades of investigation. In this study, we present field, compositional, and stratigraphically controlled detrital zircon geochronological data for late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks from the Alxa Tectonic Belt to constrain their provenance, tectonic setting, and the overall tectonic configuration of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. A Devonian sample yields a unimodal age peak (ca. 424 Ma) and broad late Mesoproterozoic ages. A Carboniferous sample has Early Silurian (ca. 438 Ma) and Late Devonian (ca. 382 Ma) peaks along with Neoproterozoic to Archean ages. The Permian samples are dominated by Ordovician–Devonian and Carboniferous–Permian ages. They yield maximum depositional ages ranging from ca. 291 Ma to 248 Ma and contain abundant zircon ages that are close to their depositional ages. These data reveal Ordovician–Silurian and Carboniferous–Permian magmatic flare-ups separated by a Devonian magmatic lull in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The arc terranes in southern Mongolia, central Beishan, and northern Alxa provided major detritus for the late Paleozoic sediments. An abrupt shift of zircon εHf(t) values at ca. 400 Ma reveals significant late Paleozoic crustal growth and excludes southern Alxa as a source. Oceanic basins prevented detritus from southern Alxa from reaching northern Alxa during Permian–Early Triassic time. A geological and provenance comparison of Permian basins in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt reveals the existence of two separate forearcs ascribed to bipolar subduction of the Paleo–Asian Ocean. Combined with recent paleomagnetic data, this leads us to advocate for an archipelago-style accretionary process induced by subduction retreat for the late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, which continued into Late Permian–Early Triassic.
Supplemental Material: No valley deepening of the Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians) during the past 300 ka
Authors: Szczygieł Jacek , al. et
Published: June 2020

Methods, sample location, and their geomorphological context.
Supplemental Material: Experimental formation of clay-coated sand grains using diatom biofilm exopolymers
Authors: Duteil Thibault , al. et
Published: June 2020

AFM and cryo-SEM images of clay-EPS experiments, FTIR spectra of clay-EPS experiments, physico-chemical properties of standard clay minerals, potential mechanisms of interaction between EPS and mineral surfaces, and a list of of FTIR absorption bands in Figure 2.
Supplemental Material: Co-evolution of trace elements and life in Precambrian oceans: The pyrite edition
Authors: Mukherjee Indrani , Large Ross
Published: June 2020

Additional information on seawater-pyrite link and method.
Supplemental Material: Minimal net incision of the northern Sierra Nevada (California, USA) since the Eocene–early Oligocene
Authors: Gabet Emmanuel , Miggins Daniel
Published: June 2020

Site identification, error analysis, and Ar/Ar dating.
Educational activities on language and behavioural outcomes at school entry are more important for socioeconomically disadvantaged children: a prospective observational study of Australian children
Authors: Gialamas Angela , Haag Dandara G , Mittinty Murthy N , Lynch John W
Published: June 2020

Background

To investigate whether time spent in educational activities at 2–3 years and developmental outcomes at school entry differ among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Methods

Participants were from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (n=4253). Time spent in educational activities was collected using 24-hour time-use diaries. Income was measured using parent self-report. Receptive vocabulary was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and problem behaviours were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Marginal structural models were used to test whether the effects of educational activities on outcomes differed by income.

Results

Children exposed to both <30 min/day in educational activities and being in a low-income household were at greater risk of poorer outcomes at school entry than the simple sum of their independent effects. Compared with children who spent ≥30 min/day in educational activities from high-income households, children who experienced <30 min/day in educational activities from low-income households had a 2.30 (95% CI 1.88 to 2.80) higher risk of having a receptive vocabulary score in the lowest quartile at school entry. The Relative Excess Risk due to Interaction of 0.15 (95% CI −0.38 to 0.67) was greater than 0, indicating a super-additive effect measure modification by income. These patterns were similar for behavioural outcomes.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that if there was an intervention of sufficient dose to increase the amount of time spent in educational activities to at least 30 min/day for children in the lower-income group, the risk of children having sub-optimal receptive vocabulary would be reduced by 45% and the risk of teacher-reported conduct and hyperactivity problems reduced by 67% and 70%, respectively.
Diagnostic and prognostic values of circular RNAs for lung cancer: a meta-analysis
Authors: Yang Qian , Chen Lizhen , Yang Li , Huang Yuanshuai
Published: June 2020

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) may serve as potential biomarkers for patients with lung cancer. The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyse the diagnostic, prognostic and clinicopathological values of circRNAs in lung cancer patients. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and the Cochrane Library databases was performed for relevant articles from inception to 29 January 2020. Pooled parameters including sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) were used to assess the diagnostic performance, HRs and 95% CIs were used to evaluate overall survival (OS) and ORs were used to estimate clinicopathological parameters. 52 studies from 45 articles were enrolled in this study, including 17 on diagnosis and 35 on prognosis. For diagnostic values, circRNAs could discriminate lung cancer patients from the controls, with AUC of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.79 to 0.86), a relatively high sensitivity of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.73 to 0.81) and speciﬁcity of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71 to 0.79). For prognostic significances, overexpression of 23 upregulated circRNAs was relevant to a poor prognosis (OS: HR=2.21, 95% CI: 1.96 to 2.49, p<0.001), and overexpression of 9 downregulated circRNAs was correlated with a favourable prognosis (OS: HR=0.62, 95% CI: 0.53 to 0.73, p<0.001). As for clinicopathological parameters, high expression of 23 upregulated circRNAs was associated with unfavourable clinicopathological features while 9 downregulated circRNAs proved the contrary. In conclusion, this study confirmed that circRNAs might serve as important biomarkers for diagnostic and prognostic values of lung cancer.
Greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands under manipulated warming, nitrogen addition, and vegetation composition change: a review and data synthesis
Authors: Gong Yu , Wu Jianghua , Vogt Judith , Ma Weiwei
Published: June 2020

Peatlands play an essential role in carbon cycling and global warming. However, the feedback of peatlands to global changes is still unclear. Here, we conducted a data synthesis of 236 observations from 52 field experiments to evaluate the effect of three important global changes (warming, nitrogen addition, and vegetation composition change) on three major greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes: CO2, CH4, and N2O. The results showed that (i) GHG responses to warming varied among warming methods, between air temperature increase rates, and between warming durations; (ii) GHG responses to N addition varied between peatland types, between N forms, between N concentrations, and between experimental durations; (iii) the response rates of GHGs were associated with local environmental parameters (mean annual precipitation, MAP; and water table level, WTL); (iv) the global warming potential (GWP) considerably increased under these global changes, which indicates that cooling function of peatlands will be weakened. Overall, given these global changes occur simultaneously, the interaction of them on GHG fluxes should not be ignored. Our results highlight that a large number of studies in different locations are needed to comprehensively understand and accurately predict GHG emissions from peatlands.
A Multi-Attribute Reverse Auction Model on Margin Bidding
Authors: Ma Benjiang , Zhou Zhongmin , Bashir Muhammad Farhan , Huang Yuanji
Published: June 2020

Multi-attribute reverse auction has many advantages for the buyer with the multi-dimensional attribute requirements. However, it is hard to design an optimal auction mechanism for the scenario in practice. Therefore, this paper presents a method transforming multi-attribute auction into single-attribute auction by bidding in deposit. The analysis indicates that our method can reduce not only the transaction risk caused by the supplier’s bid abandonment but also the operating cost and complexity of the multi-attribute auction. Besides, our method meets the incentive compatibility and participation constraint conditions by promising that the highest bidding supplier is the winner in the Auction and can obtain higher expected profits than traditional auctions for the buyer.
HONEYCOMB-LIKE MESOPOROUS g-C3N4 FOR ELEMENTAL MERCURY REMOVAL FROM SIMULATED FLUE GAS
Authors: LIU DONGJING , ZHANG ZHEN , LIU LIANG , WU JIANG
Published: June 2020

The [Formula: see text]-conjugated graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N[Formula: see text] has gained increasing attention due to its unique electronic property, accessible nanoporous framework, chemical and thermal stability. The nanopore structure of g-C3N4 is believed to be favorable for adsorption process owing to the improved mass transfer process. Here, a honeycomb-like mesoporous g-C3N4 is synthesized by direct thermal polymerization of the mixture of urea and ammonium carbonate. It displays an excellent affinity with elemental mercury at reaction temperatures of 50–[Formula: see text]C. The optimal mass ratio of ammonium carbonate/urea is 2 with the highest Hg0 removal efficiency of 87.5% at [Formula: see text]C. NO has a negative effect on Hg0 removal, whereas SO2 slightly reinforces Hg0 adsorption in the presence of oxygen. The Hg0 is probably captured on the carbon atoms of g-C3N4 by producing a covalent carbon-mercury (C–Hg) bond via Lewis acid-base interactions.
Existence result for the coupling of shallow water and Borda–Carnot equations with Riemann data
Authors: Goudiaby Mouhamadou Samsidy , Kreiss Gunilla
Published: June 2020

We consider a subcritical flow in a sudden expansion canal. The flow is given by 1D Saint-Venant equations on each side of the expansion together with mass conservation and Borda–Carnot conditions at the expansion. We show, following the ideas of [M. S. Goudiaby and G. Kreiss, A Riemann problem at a junction of open canals, J. Hyp. Diff. Eq. 10(3) (2013) 431–460], that the linear Riemann problem always has a unique solution while for the nonlinear problem, a unique solution is obtained only under a certain condition.
Graph Theory and Classifying Security Events in Grid Security Gateways
Authors: Obert James , Chavez Adrian
Published: June 2020

In recent years, the use of security gateways (SG) located within the electrical grid distribution network has become pervasive. SGs in substations and renewable distributed energy resource aggregators (DERAs) protect power distribution control devices from cyber and cyber-physical attacks. When encrypted communications within a DER network is used, TCP/IP packet inspection is restricted to packet header behavioral analysis which in most cases only allows the SG to perform anomaly detection of blocks of time-series data (event windows). Packet header anomaly detection calculates the probability of the presence of a threat within an event window, but fails in such cases where the unreadable encrypted payload contains the attack content. The SG system log (syslog) is a time-series record of behavioral patterns of network users and processes accessing and transferring data through the SG network interfaces. Threatening behavioral pattern in the syslog are measurable using both anomaly detection and graph theory. In this paper, it will be shown that it is possible to efficiently detect the presence of and classify a potential threat within an SG syslog using light-weight anomaly detection and graph theory.
Reinforcement of General Shell Structures
Authors: Gil-Ureta Francisca , Pietroni Nico , Zorin Denis
Published: June 2020

We introduce an efficient method for designing shell reinforcements of minimal weight. Inspired by classical Michell trusses, we create a reinforcement layout whose members are aligned with optimal stress directions, then optimize their shape minimizing the volume while keeping stresses bounded.

We exploit two predominant techniques for reinforcing shells: adding ribs aligned with stress directions and using thicker walls on regions of high stress. Most previous work can generate either only ribs or only variable-thickness walls. However, in the general case, neither approach by itself will provide optimal solutions.

By using a more precise volume model, our method is capable of producing optimized structures with the full range of qualitative behaviors: from ribs to walls and smoothly transitioning in between. Our method includes new algorithms for determining the layout of reinforcement structure elements, and an efficient algorithm to optimize their shape, minimizing a non-linear non-convex functional at a fraction of the cost and with better optimality compared to standard solvers.

We demonstrate the optimization results for a variety of shapes and the improvements it yields in the strength of 3D-printed objects.
On Time Synchronization Issues in Time-Sensitive Networks with Regulators and Nonideal Clocks
Authors: Thomas Ludovic , Le Boudec Jean-Yves
Published: June 2020

Flow reshaping is used in time-sensitive networks (as in the context of IEEE TSN and IETF Detnet) in order to reduce burstiness inside the network and to support the computation of guaranteed latency bounds. This is performed using per-flow regulators (such as the Token Bucket Filter) or interleaved regulators (as with IEEE TSN Asynchronous Traffic Shaping, ATS). The former use one FIFO queue per flow, whereas the latter use one FIFO queue per input port. Both types of regulators are beneficial as they cancel the increase of burstiness due to multiplexing inside the network. It was demonstrated, by using network calculus, that they do not increase the worst-case latency. However, the properties of regulators were established assuming that time is perfect in all network nodes. In reality, nodes use local, imperfect clocks. Time-sensitive networks exist in two flavours: (1) in non-synchronized networks, local clocks run independently at every node and their deviations are not controlled and (2) in synchronized networks, the deviations of local clocks are kept within very small bounds using for example a synchronization protocol (such as PTP) or a satellite based geo-positioning system (such as GPS). We revisit the properties of regulators in both cases. In non-synchronized networks, we show that ignoring the timing inaccuracies can lead to network instability due to unbounded delay in per-flow or interleaved regulators. We propose and analyze two methods (rate and burst cascade, and asynchronous dual arrival-curve method) for avoiding this problem. In synchronized networks, we show that there is no instability with per-flow regulators but, surprisingly, interleaved regulators can lead to instability. To establish these results, we develop a new framework that captures industrial requirements on clocks in both non-synchronized and synchronized networks, and we develop a toolbox that extends network calculus to account for clock imperfections.
DSM
Authors: Vakil Ghahani Seyed Armin , Kandemir Mahmut Taylan , Kotra Jagadish B.
Published: June 2020

The number of cores and the capacities of main memory in modern systems have been growing significantly. Specifically, memory scaling, although at a slower pace than computation scaling, provided opportunities for very large DRAMs with Terabytes (TBs) capacity. Consequently, addressing the performance and energy consumption bottlenecks of DRAMs is more important than ever. DRAM memory refresh operation is one of the main contributing factors to the memory overheads, especially for large capacity DRAMs used in modern servers and emerging large-scale data centers. This paper addresses the memory refresh problem by leveraging the fact that most cloud servers host virtualized systems that use similar kernels, libraries, etc. We propose and experimentally evaluate a novel approach that exploits this observation to address the DRAM refresh overhead in such systems. More specifically, in this work, we present DSM, a light-weight hardware extension in memory controller to detect the pages with same content in memory and refresh only one of them and redirect the requests to the others to this page. Our detailed experimental analysis shows that the proposed DSM design can reduce 99\textsuperscriptth percentile memory access latency by up to 2.01x, and it also reduces the overall memory energy consumption by up to 8.5%.
Stability and Scalability of Blockchain Systems
Authors: Gopalan Aditya , Sankararaman Abishek , Walid Anwar , Vishwanath Sriram
Published: June 2020

The blockchain paradigm provides a mechanism for content dissemination and distributed consensus on Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks. While this paradigm has been widely adopted in industry, it has not been carefully analyzed in terms of its network scaling with respect to the number of peers. Applications for blockchain systems, such as cryptocurrencies and IoT, require this form of network scaling. In this paper, we propose a new stochastic network model for a blockchain system. We identify a structural property called one-endedness, which we show to be desirable in any blockchain system as it is directly related to distributed consensus among the peers. We show that the stochastic stability of the network is sufficient for the one-endedness of a blockchain. We further establish that our model belongs to a class of network models, called monotone separable models. This allows us to establish upper and lower bounds on the stability region. The bounds on stability depend on the connectivity of the P2P network through its conductance and allow us to analyze the scalability of blockchain systems on large P2P networks. We verify our theoretical insights using both synthetic data and real data from the Bitcoin network.
Measuring Membership Privacy on Aggregate Location Time-Series
Authors: Pyrgelis Apostolos , Troncoso Carmela , De Cristofaro Emiliano
Published: June 2020

While location data is extremely valuable for various applications, disclosing it prompts serious threats to individuals' privacy. To limit such concerns, organizations often provide analysts with aggregate time-series that indicate, e.g., how many people are in a location at a time interval, rather than raw individual traces. In this paper, we perform a measurement study to understand Membership Inference Attacks (MIAs) on aggregate location time-series, where an adversary tries to infer whether a specific user contributed to the aggregates. We find that the volume of contributed data, as well as the regularity and particularity of users' mobility patterns, play a crucial role in the attack's success. We experiment with a wide range of defenses based on generalization, hiding, and perturbation, and evaluate their ability to thwart the attack vis-à-vis the utility loss they introduce for various mobility analytics tasks. Our results show that some defenses fail across the board, while others work for specific tasks on aggregate location time-series. For instance, suppressing small counts can be used for ranking hotspots, data generalization for forecasting traffic, hotspot discovery, and map inference, while sampling is effective for location labeling and anomaly detection when the dataset is sparse. Differentially private techniques provide reasonable accuracy only in very specific settings, e.g., discovering hotspots and forecasting their traffic, and more so when using weaker privacy notions like crowd-blending privacy. Overall, our measurements show that there does not exist a unique generic defense that can preserve the utility of the analytics for arbitrary applications, and provide useful insights regarding the disclosure of sanitized aggregate location time-series.
Understanding (Mis)Behavior on the EOSIO Blockchain
Authors: Huang Yuheng , Wang Haoyu , Wu Lei , Tyson Gareth , Luo Xiapu , Zhang Run , Liu Xuanzhe , Huang Gang , Jiang Xuxian
Published: June 2020

EOSIO has become one of the most popular blockchain platforms since its mainnet launch in June 2018. In contrast to the traditional PoW-based systems (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum), which are limited by low throughput, EOSIO is the first high throughput Delegated Proof of Stake system that has been widely adopted by many decentralized applications. Although EOSIO has millions of accounts and billions of transactions, little is known about its ecosystem, especially related to security and fraud. In this paper, we perform a large-scale measurement study of the EOSIO blockchain and its associated DApps. We gather a large-scale dataset of EOSIO and characterize activities including money transfers, account creation and contract invocation. Using our insights, we then develop techniques to automatically detect bots and fraudulent activity. We discover thousands of bot accounts (over 30% of the accounts in the platform) and a number of real-world attacks (301 attack accounts). By the time of our study, 80 attack accounts we identified have been confirmed by DApp teams, causing 828,824 EOS tokens losses (roughly \$2.6 million) in total.
The Effect of Mn Dopant on Structural and Optoelectronic Properties of γ-Ga2O3 thin Film Photodetectors
Authors: Huang Yuanqi , Liu Zeng , Wang Jun , Zhi Yusong , Guo Daoyou , Wang Xia , Wang Xiaolong , Chen Zhengwei , Li Peigang , Tang Weihua
Published: June 2020

The metastable cubic γ-(Ga1−x
Mn
x
)2O3 thin films are successfully obtained at high growth temperature by laser molecular beam epitaxy technology. The optoelectronic properties of the solar blind Schottky-type photodetectors (PDs) based on γ-(Ga1−x
Mn
x
)2O3 thin films are reported for the first time. In this experimental system, the γ-(Ga0.96Mn0.04)2O3 PD exhibits the highest light-to-dark ratio (LDR) of 6.89 × 103, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the pure β-Ga2O3 PD prepared under the same condition. In addition, it shows a fast photoresponse decay speed of about 0.081 s. The results suggest that Mn element is expected to be one of the promising dopants to induce and stabilize the metastable γ-Ga2O3, as well as optimize the optoelectronic performance of photodetectors.
Synergistic Effect of Pad “Macroporous-Reactors” on Passivation Mechanisms to Modulate Cu Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP) Performance
Authors: Wortman-Otto Katherine M. , Graverson Carolyn F. , Linhart Abigail N. , McDonough Rose K. , Mlynarski Amy L. , Keleher Jason J.
Published: June 2020

Decoupling the key interfacial mechanisms (chemical and mechanical) present during Cu CMP is critical to the development of slurry/pad consumable sets to reduce defectivity at advanced technology nodes. Understanding the Prestonian relationship, or lack thereof, can give rise to correlations between film density as a result of passivation film kinetics and thermodynamics as they relate to Cu oxidation/electrochemistry under dynamic conditions. The efficiency of film removability is strongly correlated to the molecular structure of the passivating agent and its synergistic relationship with the macroporous-reactor sites presented in this work. Results indicate that passivation film activation energy (Ea) is altered by the transport of fresh and waste slurry chemistry to the Cu interface via pad asperity contact. Furthermore, this work employs inhibitors with varying structural attributes to probe how the density of film formation is impacted by the efficiency of complexation and non-covalent interactions at the Cu surface. When comparing the best-in-class benzotriazole (BTA) with salicylhydroxamic acid (SHA), the triazole film formation is driven by a traditional complexation/π-stacking mechanism, while the hydroxamic acid film is the result of a colloidal supramolecular complex and soft surface-adsorption requiring reduced downforce for Cu removal.
Circulating extracellular vesicles from patients with valvular heart disease induce neutrophil chemotaxis via FOXO3a and the inhibiting role of dexmedetomidine
Authors: Yuan Hao-Xiang , Chen Cai-Yun , Li Yu-Quan , Ning Da-Sheng , Li Yan , Chen Ya-Ting , Li Shang-Xuan , Fu Meng-Xia , Li Xiao-Di , Ma Jian , Jian Yu-Peng , Liu Dong-Hong , Mo Zhi-Wei , Peng Yue-Ming , Xu Kang-Qing , Ou Zhi-Jun , Ou Jing-Song
Published: June 2020

We previously demonstrated that circulating extracellular vesicles (EVs) from patients with valvular heart disease (VHD; vEVs) contain inflammatory components and inhibit endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Neutrophil chemotaxis plays a key role in renal dysfunction, and dexmedetomidine (DEX) can reduce renal dysfunction in cardiac surgery. However, the roles of vEVs in neutrophil chemotaxis and effects of DEX on vEVs are unknown. Here, we investigated the impact of vEVs on neutrophil chemotaxis in kidneys and the influence of DEX on vEVs. Circulating EVs were isolated from healthy subjects and patients with VHD. The effects of EVs on chemokine generation, forkhead box protein O3a (FOXO3a) pathway activation and neutrophil chemotaxis on cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and kidneys in mice and the influence of DEX on EVs were detected. vEVs increased FOXO3a expression, decreased phosphorylation of Akt and FOXO3a, promoted FOXO3a nuclear translocation, and activated the FOXO3a signaling pathway in vitro. DEX pretreatment reduced vEV-induced CXCL4 and CCL5 expression and neutrophil chemotaxis in cultured HUVECs via the FOXO3a signaling pathway. vEVs were also found to suppress Akt phosphorylation and activate FOXO3a signaling to increase plasma levels of CXCL4 and CCL5 and neutrophil accumulation in kidney. The overall mechanism was inhibited in vivo with DEX pretreatment. Our data demonstrated that vEVs induced CXCL4-CCL5 to stimulate neutrophil infiltration in kidney, which can be inhibited by DEX via the FOXO3a signaling. Our findings reveal a unique mechanism involving vEVs in inducing neutrophils chemotaxis and may provide a novel basis for using DEX in reducing renal dysfunction in valvular heart surgery.
Identification of Prognostic Immune‐Related Genes in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma and Establishment of a Prognostic Nomogram: A Bioinformatic Study
Authors: Wu Guolin , Deng Zhenfeng , Jin Zongrui , Wang Jilong , Xu Banghao , Zeng Jingjing , Peng Minhao , Wen Zhang , Guo Ya
Published: June 2020

Background. The prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) is extremely poor and has not been improved. Thus, an effective method to assess the prognosis of patients must be established to improve their survival rate. Method. This study investigated immune‐related genes that could be used as potential therapeutic targets for PAAD. Level 3 gene expression data from the PAAD cohort and the relevant clinical information were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. For validation, other PAAD datasets (DSE62452) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The PAAD datasets from TCGA and GEO were used to screen immune‐related genes through the Molecular Signatures Database using gene set enrichment analysis. Then, the overlapping immune‐related genes of the two datasets were identified. Coexpression networks of the immune‐related genes were constructed. Results. A signature of three immune‐related genes (CKLF, ERAP2, and EREG) was identified in patients with PAAD. The signature could be used to divide the patients with PAAD into high‐ and low‐risk groups based on their median risk score. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to determine the independent prognostic factors of PAAD. Time‐dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to assess the prediction accuracy of the prognostic signature. Last, a nomogram was established to assess the individualized prognosis prediction model based on the clinical characteristics and risk score of the TCGA PAAD dataset. The accuracy of the prognostic signature was further evaluated through functional evaluation and principal component analysis. Conclusions. The results indicated that the signature of three immune‐related genes had excellent predictive value for PAAD. These findings might help improve personalized treatment and medical decisions.
Some T-Spherical Fuzzy Einstein Interactive Aggregation Operators and Their Application to Selection of Photovoltaic Cells
Authors: Zeng Shouzhen , Munir Muhammad , Mahmood Tahir , Naeem Muhammad
Published: June 2020

In this article, it is pointed out that the existing intuitionistic fuzzy and T-spherical fuzzy Einstein averaging and geometric operators have some limitations. To overcome these limitations, we proposed some new averaging and geometric operators in the T-spherical fuzzy environment instead of the intuitionistic fuzzy environment because the T-spherical fuzzy set is the most generalized form and the proposed operators can be particularized to the intuitionistic fuzzy environment. First, new operational laws for T-spherical fuzzy information are defined, on the basis of which Einstein geometric interaction operators and Einstein averaging interactive aggregation operators are then proposed. Some basic properties and advantages of proposed aggregation operators are also discussed. Moreover, the proposed operators are applied to the MADM problem to check their reliability. The superiority of the proposed operators over existing work is checked with the help of an example.
Statistical Risk Characteristics and Risk Scoring of Hospital-Acquired Malnutrition for Pediatric Patients
Authors: Syuhada Khreshna , Wanda Dessie , Nur’aini Risti , Ardiantari Chairun , Susilo Ayu
Published: June 2020

Background. Malnutrition is a global health problem and challenge for every country. It may occur in any form and affect all levels of age including children. We pay particular attention to the so-called hospital-acquired malnutrition (HaM) for pediatric patients. Our aim was to explore statistical risk factors or characteristics as well as to forecast risk scoring for such malnutrition. Methods. This study employed a cross-sectional design involving children from 1 month to 18 years of age who were hospitalized for at least 72 hours. We used secondary data from 308 medical records of pediatric patients who were admitted to the hospital in 2017. We excluded the data if the patient had tumors or organomegaly, fluid retention, and dehydration. HaM was determined based on a weight loss each day during hospitalization until the day of discharge. Statistical data analysis is carried out for both descriptive and inferential statistics. Our predictive model is yielded by linear regression, and risk scoring is obtained through logistic regression. Results. The findings showed several risk factors or characteristics for HaM prevalence: sex, age, medical diagnosis, diet, nutrition route, and NEWS score. The early warning system to pediatric patients is conducted by calculating malnutrition-at-risk in which a value beyond 100.5 is considered as having high potential risk for HaM. Conclusion. Nurses are expected to monitor pediatric patients’ condition, including measuring the anthropometry regularly, in order to identify the initial signs of HaM.
Association Game for Conflict Resolution between UEs and Small Cells
Authors: Park Jaesung
Published: June 2020

Small cells are expected to increase the capacity and the coverage of a wireless network. Since the transmission ranges of the small cells overlap with each other, a user equipment (UE) can be located within the service areas of multiple cells. Therefore, the association decisions made by the small cells and the UEs influence the energy efficiency of the cells and the data rates provided to the UEs. However, if they attempt to achieve their goals selfishly, the network may become instable in that a UE has to change its associated cell and a cell has to change the set of UEs associated with it frequently. To tackle the problem, in this paper, we propose an association game between UEs and cells. We cast the problem as a matching game where each player has preference over the other player. Then, we propose an association algorithm composed of a UE-side part and a cell-side part. Through simulation studies, we show that the proposed method outperforms the other methods in that it can enhance the average energy efficiency of the small cell network and the data rates that UEs can obtain from the network.