bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Type 2 diabetes does not account for ethnic differences in exercise capacity or skeletal muscle function in older adults
Authors: Jones Siana , Tillin Therese , Williams Suzanne , Eastwood Sophie V. , Hughes Alun D. , Chaturvedi Nishi 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Aims/hypothesis
The aim of this study was to compare exercise capacity, strength and skeletal muscle perfusion during exercise, and oxidative capacity between South Asians, African Caribbeans and Europeans, and determine what effect ethnic differences in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has on these functional outcomes.

Methods
In total, 708 participants (aged [mean±SD] 73 ± 7 years, 56% male) were recruited from the Southall and Brent Revisited (SABRE) study, a UK population-based cohort comprised of Europeans (n = 311) and South Asian (n = 232) and African Caribbean (n = 165) migrants. Measurements of exercise capacity using a 6 min stepper test (6MST), including measurement of oxygen consumption ($$ \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$V̇O2) and grip strength, were performed. Skeletal muscle was assessed using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS); measures included changes in tissue saturation index (∆TSI%) with exercise and oxidative capacity (muscle oxygen consumption recovery, represented by a time constant [τ]). Analysis was by multiple linear regression.

Results
When adjusted for age and sex, in South Asians and African Caribbeans, exercise capacity was reduced compared with Europeans ($$ \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$V̇O2 [ml min−1 kg−1]: β = −1.2 [95% CI –1.9, −0.4], p = 0.002, and β −1.7 [95% CI –2.5, −0.8], p < 0.001, respectively). South Asians had lower and African Caribbeans had higher strength compared with Europeans (strength [kPa]: β = −9 [95% CI –12, −6), p < 0.001, and β = 6 [95% CI 3, 9], p < 0.001, respectively). South Asians had greater decreases in TSI% and longer τ compared with Europeans (∆TSI% [%]: β = −0.9 [95% CI –1.7, −0.1), p = 0.024; τ [s]: β = 11 [95% CI 3, 18], p = 0.006). Ethnic differences in $$ \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2 $$V̇O2 and grip strength remained despite adjustment for type 2 diabetes or HbA1c (and fat-free mass for grip strength). However, the differences between Europeans and South Asians were no longer statistically significant after adjustment for other possible mediators or confounders (including physical activity, waist-to-hip ratio, cardiovascular disease or hypertension, smoking, haemoglobin levels or β-blocker use). The difference in ∆TSI% between Europeans and South Asians was marginally attenuated after adjustment for type 2 diabetes or HbA1c and was also no longer statistically significant after adjusting for other confounders; however, τ remained significantly longer in South Asians vs Europeans despite adjustment for all confounders.

Conclusions/interpretation
Reduced exercise capacity in South Asians and African Caribbeans is unexplained by higher rates of type 2 diabetes. Poorer exercise tolerance in these populations, and impaired muscle function and perfusion in South Asians, may contribute to the higher morbidity burden of UK ethnic minority groups in older age.
Evolutionary stability in the generalized second-price auction
Authors: Norman Thomas W. L. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractThe “generalized second-price auction” is widely employed to sell internet advertising positions and has many equilibria. Analysis of this auction has assumed that myopic players commonly know each others’ position values, and that the resulting equilibrium play is “locally envy-free”. Here, I argue that the appropriate refinement of Nash equilibrium for this setting is evolutionary stability, and show that it implies that an equilibrium is locally envy-free if the whole population of players bids in each auction and the set of possible bids is not too coarse. However, not all locally envy-free equilibria are evolutionarily stable in this case, as I show by example for the popular Vickrey–Clarke–Groves outcome. The existence of evolutionarily stable equilibrium is established when one position is auctioned, as well as for two positions and a large number of bidders.
Criterion validity of the Ekblom-Bak and the Åstrand submaximal test in an elderly population
Authors: Väisänen Daniel , Ekblom Örjan , Ekblom-Bak Elin , Andersson Eva , Nilsson Jonna , Ekblom Maria 
Published: December 2019

AbstractPurposeThe aim of this study was to validate the submaximal Ekblom-Bak test (EB-test) and the Åstrand test (Å-test) for an elderly population.MethodsParticipants (n = 104), aged 65–75 years, completed a submaximal aerobic test on a cycle ergometer followed by an individually adjusted indirect calorimetry VO2max test on a treadmill. The HR from the submaximal test was used to estimate VO2max using both the EB-test and Å-test equations.ResultsThe correlation between measured and estimated VO2max using the EB method and Å method in women wasr = 0.64 andr = 0.58, respectively and in menr = 0.44 andr = 0.44, respectively. In women, the mean difference between estimated and measured VO2max was − 0.02 L min−1(95% CI − 0.08 to 0.04) for the EB method and − 0.12 L min−1(95% CI − 0.22 to − 0.02) for the Å method. Corresponding values for men were 0.05 L min−1(95% CI − 0.04 to 0.14) and − 0.28 L min−1(95% CI − 0.42 to − 0.14), respectively. However, the EB method was found to overestimate VO2max in men with low fitness and the Å method was found to underestimate VO2max in both women and men. For women, the coefficient of variance was 11.1%, when using the EB method and 19.8% when using the Å method. Corresponding values for men were 11.6% and 18.9%, respectively.ConclusionThe submaximal EB-test is valid for estimating VO2max in elderly women, but not in all elderly men. The Å-test is not valid for estimating VO2max in the elderly.
Physical activity in patients with cancer: self-report versus accelerometer assessments
Authors: Douma Joeri A.J. , de Beaufort Maaike B. , Kampshoff Caroline S. , Persoon Saskia , Vermaire Jorine A. , Chinapaw Mai J. , van Mechelen Willem , Nollet Frans , Kersten Marie José , Smit Jan H. , Verdonck-de Leeuw Irma M. , Altenburg Teatske M. , Buffart Laurien M. 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Purpose
The level of daily physical activity in patients with cancer is frequently assessed by questionnaires, such as the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE). Objective assessments, with for example accelerometers, may be a good alternative. The aim of this study was to investigate the agreement between the PASE questionnaire and accelerometer-assessed physical activity in a large group of patients with different types of cancer.

Methods
Baseline accelerometer and PASE questionnaire data of 403 participants from the REACT (Resistance and Endurance Exercise After Chemotherapy, n = 227), the EXIST (Exercise Intervention After Stem-Cell Transplantation, n = 74), and NET-QUBIC (NEtherlands QUality of Life And Biomedical Cohort Studies In Cancer, n = 102) studies were available for the current analyses. Physical activity was assessed by the PASE questionnaire (total score) and accelerometers (total minutes per day > 100 counts). Linear mixed models regression analysis was used to assess the agreement between the PASE questionnaire and accelerometer-assessed physical activity.

Results
The mean (SD) PASE score was 95.9 (75.1) points and mean (SD) time in physical activity measured with the accelerometer was 256.6 (78.8) min per day. The agreement between the PASE score and the accelerometer data was significant, but poor (standardized regression coefficient (B) = 0.36, 95%CI = 0.27; 0.44, p < 0.01).

Conclusion
Agreement between the PASE questionnaire and accelerometer-assessed physical activity was poor. The poor agreement indicates that they measure different physical activity constructs and cannot be used interchangeably to assess the level of daily physical activity in patients with cancer.
Exosomes produced from 3D cultures of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in a hollow-fiber bioreactor show improved osteochondral regeneration activity
Authors: Yan Litao , Wu Xing 
Published: December 2019

AbstractAnimal and clinical studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) play an important role in cartilage repair. The therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stem cells based therapies has been increasingly demonstrated to exosome-mediated paracrine secretion. Here, we investigated the cellular processes and mechanism of exosomes produced by conventional 2D culture (2D-Exos) and exosomes produced from 3D culture (3D-Exos) of umbilical MSCs (U-MSCs) in a hollow-fiber bioreactor for the treatment of cartilage repair. We found that the yield of 3D-Exos was 7.5-fold higher than that of 2D-Exos. The in vitro experiments indicated that both 2D-Exos and 3D-Exos can stimulate chondrocyte proliferation, migration, and matrix synthesis, and inhibit apoptosis, with 3D-Exos exerting a stronger effect than 2D-Exos. This effect was partly attributed to the activation of transforming growth factor beta 1 and Smad2/3 signaling. The injection of 2D-Exos and 3D-Exos showed enhanced gross appearance and attenuated cartilage defect; however, 3D-Exos showed a superior therapeutic effect than 2D-Exos. In summary, our study provides novel insights into the chondroprotective effects of exosomes produced from 3D culture of U-MSCs in a hollow-fiber bioreactor. Because of its promising biological function and high yield, 3D-Exos may become a promising therapeutic method for the treatment of cartilage defects.
OPTCON3: An Active Learning Control Algorithm for Nonlinear Quadratic Stochastic Problems
Authors: Blueschke-Nikolaeva V. , Blueschke D. , Neck R. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractIn this paper, we describe the new OPTCON3 algorithm, which serves to determine approximately optimal policies for stochastic control problems with a quadratic objective function and nonlinear dynamic models. It includes active learning and the dual effect of optimizing policies, whereby optimal policies are used to learn about the stochastics of the dynamic system in addition to their immediate effect on the performance of the system. The OPTCON3 algorithm approximates the nonlinear model with a time-varying linear model and applies a procedure similar to that of Kendrick to the series of linearized models to calculate approximately optimal policies. The results for two simple economic models serve to test the OPTCON3 algorithm and compare it to previous solutions of the stochastic control problem. Initial evaluations show that the OPTCON3 approach may be promising to enhance our understanding of the adaptive economic policy problem under uncertainty.
A Life Plan Principle of Voting Rights
Authors: Angell Kim 
Published: December 2019

AbstractWho should have a right to participate in a polity’s decision-making? Although the answers to this ‘boundary problem’ in democratic theory remain controversial, it is widely believed that the enfranchisement of tourists and children is unacceptable. Yet, the two most prominent inclusion principles in the literature – Robert Goodin’s ‘all (possibly) affected interests’-principle and the ‘all subjected to law’-principle – both enfranchise those groups. Unsurprisingly, democratic theorists have therefore offered several reasons for nonetheless exempting tourists and children from the franchise. In this paper, I argue that their attempts fail. None of the proposed rationales can do the job without having unacceptable implications for the voting rights of other groups. I then develop a new specification of the affected interests-view, one that avoids such problems. According to my life plan-principle, a person is entitled to participate in a polity’s decision-making if and only if its decisions will actually affect her autonomously chosen life plans, or prevent her from developing or revising plans of that kind. I show that this principle straightforwardly avoids enfranchising tourists and children, and thus improves upon its two prominent rivals. The paper ends by considering and rejecting two objections to my new principle.
XOR-ed visual secret sharing scheme with robust and meaningful shadows based on QR codes
Authors: Tan Longdan , Lu Yuliang , Yan Xuehu , Liu Lintao , Zhou Xuan 
Published: December 2019

AbstractQuick response (QR) codes are becoming increasingly popular in various areas of life due to the advantages of the error correction capacity, the ability to be scanned quickly and the capacity to contain meaningful content. The distribution of dark and light modules of a QR code looks random, but the content of a code can be decoded by a standard QR reader. Thus, a QR code is often used in combination with visual secret sharing (VSS) to generate meaningful shadows. There may be some losses in the process of distribution and preservation of the shadows. To recover secret images with high quality, it is necessary to consider the scheme’s robustness. However, few studies examine robustness of VSS combined with QR codes. In this paper, we propose a robust (k, n)-threshold XOR-ed VSS (XVSS) scheme based on a QR code with the error correction ability. Compared with OR-ed VSS (OVSS), XVSS can recover the secret image losslessly, and the amount of computation needed is low. Since the standard QR encoder does not check if the padding codewords are correct during the encoding phase, we replace padding codewords by initial shadows shared from the secret image using XVSS to generate QR code shadows. As a result, the shadows can be decoded normally, and their error correction abilities are preserved. Once all the shadows have been collected, the secret image can be recovered losslessly. More importantly, if some conventional image attacks, including rotation, JPEG compression, Gaussian noise, salt-and-pepper noise, cropping, resizing, and even the addition of camera and screen noises are performed on the shadows, the secret image can still be recovered. The experimental results and comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme.
The results of a randomized controlled trial of police body-worn video in Australia
Authors: Clare Joseph , Henstock Darren , McComb Christine , Newland Roy , Barnes Geoffrey C. 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Objectives
We report the results of a randomized controlled trial of police body-worn video (BWV) cameras in an Australian context, with a focus on how cameras influence evidence gathering, court processes/outcomes, and police/public behavior.

Methods
The 6-month trial undertaken by the Western Australia Police Force involved a sample of officers (N = 498) acting as their own controls with camera use (“treatment”) randomly allocated across shifts. A range of parametric and non-parametric tests were conducted to explore the influence of BWV on interview efficiency, rate/timing of guilty pleas, conviction rates, sanction rates, police use-of-force, assaults against police, and citizen complaints against police.

Results
The trial generated mixed results in support of this technology within this Australian context. BWV recordings did result in evidence-gathering benefits by producing cost/time efficiencies when taking field interviews. BWV footage had limited impact on court processes/outcomes, with indication that camera evidence encouraged earlier guilty pleas but no corresponding increase in the rate of guilty pleas or convictions. BWV did influence police operational decision-making, with increased sanction rates and use-of-force on treatment days. The extent to which officers engaged with the trial compounded these patterns. There was no evidence that BWV prevents problem behavior, with citizens’ complaints increasing on treatment days and no influence of BWV on rates of assaults against police.

Conclusions
These findings highlight the need for additional context-specific clarity about why police use BWV cameras. In particular, BWV users should clearly specify the causal mechanisms through which cameras will achieve administrative, evidentiary, operational, and/or problem-prevention goals.
The Associations between Problematic Social Networking Site Use and Sleep Quality, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Depression, Anxiety and Stress
Authors: Hussain Zaheer , Griffiths Mark D. 
Published: December 2019

AbstractSocial networking sites (SNSs) are now used by billions of users worldwide and can help facilitate communication and the sharing of information. However, there is evidence that problematic SNS use (PSNSU) can have negative effects on health. The present study examined the associations between PSNSU, sleep quality, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety and stress among SNS users. A total of 638 SNS users (mean age = 32.03 years, SD = 10.08) completed an online survey comprising instruments assessing SNS addiction, sleep quality, ADHD, depression, anxiety and stress. Regression analysis indicated that the factors of age (β = − .24, p < .01), relationship status (i.e., being in a relationship) (β = − .09, p < .05), ADHD (β = .43, p < .01) and anxiety (β = .12, p < .01) explained 23.9% of the variance in problematic SNS use. Bivariate correlations identified moderate positive correlations between PSNSU, poor sleep quality (r = .24, p < .01, R2 = .06), ADHD (r = .47, p < .01, R2 = .22), depression (r = .32, p < .01, R2 = .10), anxiety (r = .38, p < .01, R2 = .14) and stress (r = .34, p < .01, R2 = .12). The study demonstrated that PSNSU was associated with psychopathological and psychiatric disorders symptoms, the findings will help inform future interventions for reducing and tackling PSNSU.
Performing ‘blue degrowth’: critiquing seabed mining in Papua New Guinea through creative practice
Authors: Childs John 
Published: December 2019

AbstractScripted as a sustainable alternative to terrestrial mining, the licence for the world’s first commercial deep-sea mining (DSM) site was issued in Papua New Guinea in 2011 to extract copper and gold from a deposit situated 1600 m below the surface of the Bismarck Sea. Whilst DSM’s proponents locate it as emergent part of a blue economy narrative, its critics point to the ecological and economic uncertainty that characterises the proposed practice. Yet, due its extreme geography, DSM is also profoundly elusive to direct human experience and thus presents a challenge to forms of resistance against an industry extolled as having ‘no human impact’. Against this background, this paper analyses the ways in which ‘blue degrowth’—as a distinct form of counter-narrative—might be ‘performed’, and which imagined (and alternative) geographies are invoked accordingly. To do this it critically reflects upon 2 years of participatory research in the Duke of York Islands focusing on three, community-developed methods of resisting DSM. Practices of counter mapping, sculpture and participatory drama all sought to ‘perform’ the deep-ocean environment imagined as relational whilst simultaneously questioning the very notion of ‘economy’ central to the discourse of ‘blue growth’.
Structure Modification upon Ultrasonic Processing of an AA4032 Piston Alloy: Comparison of Permanent Mold and Direct-Chill Casting
Authors: Chankitmunkong Suwaree , Eskin Dmitry G. , Limmaneevichitr Chaowalit 
Published: December 2019

Abstract
Piston Al-Si alloys have very complex compositions and multi-phase heterogeneous structure, so it is necessary to control the formation of primary and eutectic compounds. In this study, the ultrasonic melt processing (USP) of a eutectic Al-Si piston alloy (AA4032-type) was performed in a permanent mold and during direct-chill (DC) casting to study its effects on the structure refinement and modification. The principal difference between these two ways of casting is that in the permanent mold the solidification front progressively moves towards the ultrasound source, while in the DC casting the position of the solidification front is fixed in space. The results showed that the USP can successfully refine primary Si, Fe-containing intermetallics and aluminum grains. Refinement of primary Si was accompanied by the increase in its amount, which was attributed to both enhanced heterogeneous nucleation and fragmentation. The refinement of Fe-containing intermetallics and Al grains resulted from the fragmentation mechanism and were more pronounced when USP was applied below the liquidus temperature in the permanent mold. However, the eutectic phases coarsened upon USP, and this effect was most pronounced when USP was applied to the semi-solid material. This was related to the strong attenuation of acoustic waves, which effectively heats the semi-solid material and induces corresponding coarsening of the phases. Acoustic streaming induced by an oscillating sonotrode affected the depth of the sump while simultaneously decreasing the macrosegregation, which reflects the dominant role of the melt flow directed against natural convection. The results demonstrated the importance of the solidification stage at which the USP was applied and the specifics of the USP mechanisms acting at the different stages of solidification.
Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Drought in the Heihe River Basin Based on the Extreme-Point Symmetric Mode Decomposition Method
Authors: Feng Kai , Su Xiaoling 
Published: December 2019

AbstractAssessment of spatiotemporal characteristics of drought under climate change is significant for drought mitigation. In this study, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) calculated at different timescales was adopted to describe the drought conditions in the Heihe River Basin (HRB) from 1961 to 2014. The period characteristics and spatiotemporal distribution of drought were analyzed by using the extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition (ESMD) and inverse distance weight interpolation methods. Four main results were obtained. (1) The SPEI series of the upper reaches of the HRB at different timescales showed an upward trend (not significant) during 1961–2014. In the middle and lower reaches, the SPEI series exhibited significant downward trends. (2) The annual SPEI series of the lower reaches was decomposed through the ESMD method and exhibited a fluctuating downward trend as a whole. The oscillation showed quasi-3.4-year and quasi-4.5-year periods in the interannual variation, while a quasi-13.5-year period occurred in the interdecadal variation. The interannual period plays a leading role in drought variation across the HRB. (3) The entire research period was divided into three subperiods by the Bernaola–Galvan segmentation algorithm: 1961–1966, 1967–1996, and 1997–2014. The spring drought frequency and autumn drought intensity arrived at their maxima in the lower reaches during 1997–2014, with values of 72.22% and 1.56, respectively. The high frequency and intensity areas of spring, summer, and autumn drought moved from the middle-upper reaches to the middle-lower reaches of the HRB during 1961–2014. (4) Compared to the wavelet transform, the ESMD method has self-adaptability for signal decomposition and is more accurate for drought period analysis. Extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition is a more efficient decomposition method for nonlinear and nonstationary time series and has important significance for revealing the complicated change features of climate systems.