bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The comparative empirical analysis of the social protection system in selected Central and Eastern European countries: Emerging models of capitalism1
Authors: Maszczyk Piotr 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
This article analyzes the institutional architecture and the level of similarity between the social protection system in 11 new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe and chosen Western European countries, representing four different models of capitalism identified by Amable. In the selected institutional area, a comparative analysis was performed, and based on it, similarity hexagons were created. They serve the purpose of comparing Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries with Western European countries of reference. The dynamic approach adopted in this study—two different time periods were compared—allows an analysis of path dependence and the evolution of institutional architecture over time. The analysis indicates that in 2014, in the area of social protection, almost all CEE countries, apart from Latvia and Romania, were most comparable to the Continental model of capitalism represented by Germany. Nevertheless, the variety of results for the individual variables (especially input and output variables) and substantial changes between 2005 and 2014 also show that the model of capitalism prevailing in Central and Eastern Europe in the area of the social protection system is evolving constantly at a very fast pace and thus currently may be called a hybrid or even patchwork capitalism.
Corruption and the Desire to Leave Quasi-Experimental Evidence on Corruption as a Driver of Emigration Intentions
Authors: Auer Daniel , Römer Friederike , Tjaden Jasper 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Whether and to what extent corruption drives emigration has received growing attention in the literature in recent years, yet the nature of the relationship remains unclear. To test causal claims, we rely on representative global survey data of more than 280,000 respondents across 67 countries from 2010 to 2014. We use two different measures of emigration intentions and individual, as well as country-level measures of corruption, and propose to instrument the endogenous presence of corruption in a country with the prevalence of cashless transactions in the economy to correct for potential estimation bias. We find robust support for the hypothesis that corruption increases emigration intentions across countries. The effect, however, is likely to be underestimated in conventional models that do not account for endogeneity. The results highlight the need to look beyond purely economic, social, security-related, and environmental drivers when assessing the root causes of migration.
Detecting Visual Objects by Edge Crawling
Authors: Grycuk Rafał , Wojciechowski Adam , Wei Wei , Siwocha Agnieszka 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Content-based image retrieval methods develop rapidly with a growing scale of image repositories. They are usually based on comparing and indexing some image features. We developed a new algorithm for finding objects in images by traversing their edges. Moreover, we describe the objects by histograms of local features and angles. We use such a description to retrieve similar images fast. We performed extensive experiments on three established image datasets proving the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Drug Thrombus Resulting in Superior Vena Cava Syndrome: A Case Report
Authors: Vanstraelen Stijn , Vandenbrande Jeroen , Yilmaz Alaaddin 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Superior vena cava syndrome is one of the more serious complications of central venous catheter insertion. Drug interactions of administered drugs used in association with these catheters can lead to formation of precipitations and consequently thrombus formation. These interactions can be either anion-cation or acid-base based and more commonly present in clinical practice than expected.

Case presentation
The case of a 31-year old female who was admitted to an intensive care unit with an intracranial haemorrhage, is presented. Occlusion of the superior vena cava was caused by a drug-induced thrombus, formed by the precipitation and clotting of total parenteral nutrition and intravenous drugs. Given the nature of the thrombus and a recent intracranial haemorrhage, the patient was treated with a central thrombectomy supported by a heparin-free extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

Conclusion
Knowledge of drug interactions is crucial in order to heighten awareness for the dangers of concomitant drug administration, especially in combination with total parenteral nutrition in critically ill patients.
An Intentional Aconite Overdose: A Case Report
Authors: Wood Christopher , Coulson James , Thompson John , Bonner Stephen 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Background
Aconite is one of the most toxic known herbs, widely used for centuries as an essential Chinese medicine, but also for deliberate poisoning throughout history. Clinically indicated in herbal medicine for a range of ailments from headaches to muscle spasm, unfortunately the narrow therapeutic window may lead to a range of toxic presentations. The mechanism of action of the pharmacologically active compounds in Aconite relate to the activation of voltage gated sodium channels within a range of tissue including myocardial, neuronal and smooth muscle leading to persistent cellular activity.

Case presentation
We report on a rare case of a fifty year old male with intentional aconite overdose presenting with refractory cardiovascular instability from persistent life threatening arrhythmias, respiratory failure and seizure activity.

Conclusion
An overview of Aconite, its history, pharmacological effects, treatment of overdose and outcomes is presented.
The Relationship between Blood Viscosity and Acute Arterial Occlusion
Authors: Erdoğan Güney , Yenerçağ Mustafa , Arslan Uğur 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Background: Blood viscosity is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events. However, the relationship between blood viscosity and acute arterial occlusion (AAO) has not been studied adequately so far.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between whole blood viscosity (WBV) and AAO.

Material and methods: The study included 93 patients who were diagnosed with AAO between January 2017 and September 2019, and 90 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. WBV was assessed using a validated calculation formula derived from hematocrit and total plasma protein levels, both as a low (LSR) and a high (HSR) shear rate.

Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in regards to the baseline characteristics, with the exception of smoking and LDL cholesterol levels. Subjects with AAO presented significantly higher WBV values both at LSR (32.2 ± 5.0 vs. 26.6 ± 5.0, p <0.001) and HSR (6.2 ± 0.3 vs. 5.7 ± 0.3, p <0.001). The ROC analysis revealed a cut-off value of 27.4 for WBV at LSR (sensitivity 66%, specificity 64%, AUC = 0.770, p <0.001) and a cut-off value of 5.29 in case of HSR (sensitivity 69%, specificity 74%, AUC = 0.801, p <0.001) for predicting AAO. Multivariate analysis, both LSR (OR 3.33, 95% CI: 1.20–9.43, p = 0.006) and HSR (p = 0.020, OR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.020–1.123) were independent predictors of AAO.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that WBV levels at both HSR and LSR are significantly higher in the AAO group than in the control subjects, indicating that an increased WBV may be associated with the development of AAO.
Knowledge Organization and Representation under the AI Lens
Authors: Qin Jian 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Purpose
This paper compares the paradigmatic differences between knowledge organization (KO) in library and information science and knowledge representation (KR) in AI to show the convergence in KO and KR methods and applications.

Methodology
The literature review and comparative analysis of KO and KR paradigms is the primary method used in this paper.

Findings
A key difference between KO and KR lays in the purpose of KO is to organize knowledge into certain structure for standardizing and/or normalizing the vocabulary of concepts and relations, while KR is problem-solving oriented. Differences between KO and KR are discussed based on the goal, methods, and functions.

Research limitations
This is only a preliminary research with a case study as proof of concept.

Practical implications
The paper articulates on the opportunities in applying KR and other AI methods and techniques to enhance the functions of KO.

Originality/value:
Ontologies and linked data as the evidence of the convergence of KO and KR paradigms provide theoretical and methodological support to innovate KO in the AI era.
MMSE based beamformer in massive MIMO-IDMA downlink systems
Authors: Shukla Aasheesh , Goyal Vishal , Kumar Manish , Trivedi Munesh Chandra , Deolia Vinay Kumar 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Now-a-days Massive MIMO (mMIMO) become an attractive technology due to its spectral and energy efficiency by the means of simple signal processing. However, in overloaded scenario, wherein the number of users equipments (UEs) are larger than number of antennas, the spectral effciency (SE) suffers and hence error rate performance, it has been shown recently that use of code domain NOMA in mMIMO can improve the SE performance. Further, interleave division multiple access (IDMA) has been drawn much attention as a suitable code domain non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) for future communication standards. This paper proposes the work in two folds, first a massive multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) and IDMA communication system is jointly proposed in which antennas on the base station serves users simultaneously in the same frequency band. Both and are large in numbers. Secondly, the minimum mean square error (MMSE) based beamformer is suggested to combat the propagation loss and effect of multiple access interference (MAI), for massive MIMO-IDMA system under downlink communication constraints. With the help of simulation results, the performance of the proposed system with MMSE beamforming have been investigated in terms of BER vs SNR curve plot.
Automatic statistical evaluation of quality of unit selection speech synthesis with different prosody manipulations
Authors: Přibil Jiří , Přibilová Anna , Matoušek Jindřich 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Quality of speech synthesis is a crucial issue in comparison of various text-to-speech (TTS) systems. We proposed a system for automatic evaluation of speech quality by statistical analysis of temporal features (time duration, phrasing, and time structuring of an analysed sentence) together with standard spectral and prosodic features. This system was successfully tested on sentences produced by a unit selection speech synthesizer with a male as well as a female voice using two different approaches to prosody manipulation. Experiments have shown that for correct, sharp, and stable results all three types of speech features (spectral, prosodic, and temporal) are necessary. Furthermore, the number of used statistical parameters has a significant impact on the correctness and precision of the evaluated results. It was also demonstrated that the stability of the whole evaluation process is improved by enlarging the used speech material. Finally, the functionality of the proposed system was verified by comparison of the results with those of the standard listening test.
Functional nano-structuring of thin silicon nitride membranes
Authors: Matějka Milan , Krátký Stanislav , Řiháček Tomáš , Knápek Alexandr , Kolařík Vladimír 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
The paper describes the development and production of a nano-optical device consisting of a nano-perforated layer of silicon nitride stretched in a single-crystal silicon frame using electron beam lithography (EBL) and reactive ion etching (RIE) techniques. Procedures for transferring nanostructures to the nitride layer are described, starting with the preparation of a metallic mask layer by physical vapor deposition (PVD), high-resolution pattern recording technique using EBL and the transfer of the motif into the functional layer using the RIE technique. Theoretical aspects are summarized including technological issues, achieved results and application potential of patterned silicon nitride membranes.
Investigation of physiological swelling on conductivity distribution in lower leg subcutaneous tissue by electrical impedance tomography
Authors: Ogawa R. , Baidillah M. R. , Akita S. , Takei M. 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
There is a strong need for a non-invasive measurement technique that is capable of accurately identifying the physiological condition change or heterogeneity of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) by localizing the abnormalities within the compartment. This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) to assess the interstitial fluid in subcutaneous adipose tissue as an enhancement method of bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS). Here, we demonstrate the preliminary result of EIT with a wearable 16 electrodes sensor. The image-based reference EIT with fat weighted threshold method is proposed. In order to evaluate the performance of our novel method, a physiological swelling experiment is conducted, and Multi-Frequency Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (MFBIA) is also applied as a comparison with EIT results. The experimental results showed that the proposed method was able to distinguish the physiological swelling condition and effectively to remove the unexpected background noise. Furthermore, the conductivity variation in the subcutaneous layer had a good correlation with extracellular water volume change from MFBIA data; the correlation coefficient R2 = 0.927. It is concluded that the proposed method provides a significant prospect for SAT assessment.
The Concept of a Sustainable Urban Transport System Model for Developing Countries on the Example of Lagos
Authors: Udoji Chinonso Uchenna , Szpytko Janusz 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
The subject of the article is the concept of a sustainable urban transport system model for developing countries on the example of Lagos in Nigeria. The city of Lagos is the largest and most populated city in Africa. Nowadays, the state of Lagos is facing many challenges, and the problem of urban transport is becoming more and more important due to the increase in the number of inhabitants and the size of the city. Significant problems were identified in the urban transport system in the Lagos state, and conceptual solutions were proposed taking into account the approach of sustainable development.
Research progress in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy using traditional Chinese medicine
Authors: Lang Rui , Wang Xinhui , Liang Ying , Yan Lei , Shi Bin , Yu Renhuan 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
This article reviews the most significant literature of the recent years on the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). One major goal of the article is to classify and summarize the research on the clinical aspects and the associated mechanisms of the use of Chinese herbal compounds and single drugs to treat IMN. It was found that TCM treats IMN via two major approaches: by benefiting qi, activating blood circulation and eliminating dampness, or by benefiting qi and nourishing yin. The method of benefiting qi, to activate blood circulation and eliminate dampness for dredging channels, is the most popular. The commonly used drugs in this approach include Huang Qi (astragalus), Dang Shen (codonopsis root), Bai Zhu (white atractylodes rhizome), Fu Ling (poria cocos), Dang Gui (angelica sinensis), and so on. Several randomized, controlled, clinical trials are reviewed in the article, including a multicenter one.
Concise review: Harnessing iPSC-derived cells for ischemic heart disease treatment
Authors: Duan Bin 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases and is the leading cause of death worldwide. Stem cell therapy is a promising strategy to promote cardiac regeneration and myocardial function recovery. Recently, the generation of human induced pluripotent cells (hiPSCs) and their differentiation into cardiomyocytes and vascular cells offer an unprecedented opportunity for the IHD treatment. This review briefly summarizes hiPSCs and their differentiation, and presents the recent advances in hiPSC injection, engineered cardiac patch fabrication, and the application of hiPSC derived extracellular vesicle. Current challenges and further perspectives are also discussed to understand current risks and concerns, identify potential solutions, and direct future clinical trials and applications.
Ketogenic, hypocaloric diet improves nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
Authors: Belopolsky Yuliya , Khan Mohammad Q. , Sonnenberg Amnon , Davidson David J. , Fimmel Claus J. 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Background and objectives
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is strongly associated with obesity. A weight loss of ≥10% is necessary to improve NASH severity, but this goal has rarely been achieved in published studies using different diet protocols. The effect of a ketogenic, hypocaloric, commercial diet (“Ideal Protein,” IP) on body weight, metabolic markers, and liver tests in a group of NASH patients is evaluated in this study. Daily calorie intake was tailored to achieve a weight loss of ≥10%.

Methods
We analyzed 38 patients with NASH who were placed on the IP diet between 2014 and 2018 and compared their outcomes with 6 control patients who declined the diet. All patients were evaluated by a trained health coach in weekly intervals throughout the study period. Clinical and laboratory data obtained before and at 6.5 months after intervention were compared using paired t-testing.

Results
The patients on the IP diet experienced a significant weight reduction (217 ± 8 lb vs. 194 ± 7 lb; mean ± S.E.M.), corresponding to an average weight loss of 9.7% ± 1.6%. Significant changes in systolic blood pressure (133 ± 3 mmHg vs. 123 ± 3 mmHg), triglycerides (200 ± 21 mmol/L vs. 132 ± 11 mmol/L), hemoglobin A1c (6.71% ± 0.29% vs. 5.74% ± 0.19%), SGPT (97.3 ± 11.1 IU/L vs. 44.2 ± 5.9 IU/L), SGOT (82.4 ± 10.5 IU/L vs. 32.8 ± 5.2 IU/L), and Fib-4 scores (2.25 ± 0.23 vs. 1.40 ± 0.13) were also observed (P<0.05 in all cases). In the IP group, 50.5% of patients lost ≥10% body weight. In contrast, no significant changes were observed in the control group. The IP diet was well tolerated, and no safety signals were noticed.

Conclusions
A ketogenic, hypocaloric resulted in striking weight loss and significant improvements in metabolic parameters and liver tests, suggesting that this approach carries promise for the dietary management of patients with NASH.
Molecular study of Cysticercus tenuicollis from slaughtered sheep in Sulaymaniyah province, Iraq
Authors: Mohammed Aram Ahmad 
Published: May 2020

Abstract

Introduction
Cysticercosis caused by the larval stage of Taenia hydatigena is economically the most important endemic parasitic disease in Iraq. Few data are available relating to the genetic divergence of this helminth. This study aimed to molecularly characterise Cysticercus tenuicollis isolates from sheep in Sulaymaniyah province, Iraq.

Material and Methods
DNA extraction and amplification of specimens of C. tenuicollis from 46 sheep were conducted by PCR for the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. The 19 amplicons were subjected to purification and partial sequencing.

Results
Five 12S rRNA nucleotide sequence haplotypes were found. The pairwise nucleotide difference between haplotypes of 12S rRNA gene ranged from 0.2% to 0.7%. Four out of the five haplotypes of C. tenuicollis contained one to two base mutations and were discovered in Iraq for the first time, and this may be a unique mutation globally which has not been recorded previously. Three newly recorded haplotypes contained only one single mutation, and the other one contained two mutations. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all isolated strains were closely related to Iranian sheep isolates.

Conclusions
Four new strains of T. hydatigena were discovered for the first time in the study area.
Corrosion studies on XD3 reinforced concrete samples prepared by using calcium nitrate as inorganic corrosion inhibitor with different superplasticizers
Authors: Abdulsada S. A. , Bak R. , Heczel A. , Török T. I. 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
This research paper presents an analysis of the corrosion properties of steel-reinforced concrete samples during immersion in 3.5 wt. % NaCl aqueous solution by measuring their response both cathodic and anodic polarization in order to determine the corrosion rates in the function of their calcium nitrate inhibitor content. This cheap inorganic inhibitor was added to the concrete mix in concentrations of 1% and 3% by weight of cement in addition to two different superplasticizers (MapeiDynamon SR 31 and Oxydtron). The compressive strengths of the so prepared samples were also checked according to the relevant European standard and were within the acceptable limits, so this inhibitor does not weaken this important property of the concrete samples.
The test results on steel reinforced samples immersed in 3.5 wt. % NaCl aqueous solutions at room temperature showed promising corrosion mitigating effects just after 6 months testing period. After 6 months the lower corrosion currents (i.e. better corrosion resistance) for both types of superplasticizers were observed with those samples which contained 3% calcium nitrate inhibitor. The best result was observed with sample C4 (in this case 3% calcium nitrate was added to the mixture of cement+Oxydtron superplasticizer). The advantageous inhibition mechanism of nitrate anions is also discussed and interpreted.
Petrology and origin of the Lar igneous complex of the Sistan suture zone, Iran
Authors: Boomeri Mohammad , Moradi Rahele , Bagheri Sasan 
Published: May 2020

Abstract
The Oligocene Lar igneous complex is located in the Sistan suture zone of Iran, being emplaced in Paleocene to Eocene flysch-type rocks. This complex includes mainly intermediate K-rich volcanic (trachyte, latite and andesite) and plutonic (syenite and monzonite) rocks that belong to shoshonitic magma. The geochemical characteristics of the Lar igneous complex, such as an enrichment of LREE and LILE relative to HREE and HFSE, respectively, a negative anomaly of Ti, Ba and Nb and a positive anomaly of Rb and Th are similar to those of arc-type igneous rocks. Tectonic discrimination diagrams also show that rocks of the Lar igneous complex fall within the arc-related and post-collisional fields and K-enrichment of these rocks confirm the post-collisional setting. Based on geochemical features, the Lar igneous complex magma was derived from partial melting of a phlogopite-bearing, enriched and metasomatised lithospheric mantle source and the magma was affected by some evolutionary processes like fractional crystallisation and crustal contamination.