bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The ecologies of technological experimentation: Sheba Chhachhi’s multimedia environments
Authors: Adajania Nancy 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
This article concentrates on the multimedia installations of the feminist artist Sheba Chhachhi. Her art practice is situated in such diverse ecologies of pedagogic and technological experimentation as, first, her own experiences of sharing visual communications skills with urban and rural activists in the women’s movement and presenting her photographs in slums and women’s workshops, and later showing her video installations in a gallery setting, a mall and community centre. Secondly, the historic multimedia environments of the National Institute of Design (Dashrath Patel was the founder-secretary of NID and a mentor figure to Chhachhi) will be investigated; and finally, the discussion encompasses the jugaad-oriented entrepreneurship of artisans in India’s street-markets whose creative improvisations modify the techno-kitsch that washes up on our shores as the flotsam of globalisation.
Is this just a story? Friendships and fictions for speculative alliances. The Yugantar film collective (1980–83)
Authors: Wolf Nicole 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
Idhi Katha Matramena/Is this just a story? (1983) is one of three short films made by the feminist film collective Yugantar (1980–83). Through a collaborative process with members of the activist and research collective Stree Shakhti Sanghatana, the film developed into an improvised fiction. The collective’s self-reflective debates, or activist ‘study’ (Harney and Moten 2013) on the manifold layers and subtlety of physical and emotional violence within the family, including their own hitherto unspoken experiences, brought forth novel aesthetic vocabularies affording new female subjectivities on-screen. Those in turn offered a new political language that entered the autonomous women’s movement in India, off-screen. I argue for the political as constituted in the interstices between activism, research and the creative collective process of film-making, rather than political film as either advocacy for a set political agenda or a position of autonomous creative/artistic practice and thought. I particularly stress legacies of feminist fiction’s ‘passionate constructions’ (Haraway 1988), i.e., experimental film practice that is specifically cultivated out of collective study and the complexities of feminist friendship, forging a process of collective imagination as speculative politics. Thinking from Yugantar’s contextually situated practice as an expansion of the possible, I join arguments for fiction and speculation as modes of feminist intervention in South Asian film, activism and discourse. Rather than stressing an authentically Indian legacy of feminist film, however, this exploration of Idhi Katha Matramena highlights collective aesthetic practices that build solidarities within the context of India, and through speculative cinematic friendships across space/time localities of radical change. The text thus probes Yugantar’s past practice as a pertinent spectre for our present future.
Moving towards the epicentre: The void and the image in the film-making of R.V. Ramani
Authors: King Lucia Imaz 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
This article explores the methodology of one of India’s leading non-fiction film-makers, R.V. Ramani. His films critically examine the practices of artists and film-makers in works such as Blue Black Yellow (1996), Face like a Man (1993), Heaven on Earth (2001) and, more recently, A Documentary Proposal (2016) and 409 Ramkinkars; Santhal Family to Mill Re-Call (2017). 409 Ramkinkars, an ambitious collaboration initiated by the artist Vivan Sundaram, is a multi-authored installation and promenade performance investigating the work of the Bengali modernist sculptor Ramkinkar Baij. (Baij’s artworks famously celebrated the Santhal communities living near his workplace at the arts faculty of Santiniketan, north of Kolkata). Other works such as Padharo Mharey Desh/Welcome to my country (2010) tackle directly political issues such as the impact of tourism in the state of Rajasthan, as well as the complexities of caste and gender discrimination. The films discussed in this article, however, were not commissioned by others but were initiated by Ramani himself, emerging from autobiographical and environmental dilemmas in his home state of Tamil Nadu, South India. They include, among others, My Camera and Tsunami (2011) and Brahma Vishnu Shiva (1998). These works are analysed to discover how they reflect an engagement with the concept of ‘void’ while simultaneously detailing the film-maker’s authoring processes as a cinematographer. To aid this analysis, I draw upon certain theories of the (late) Indian film-maker, art critic and theorist, Mani Kaul, who describes the space and temporality in which film texts are formed as a movement towards an absent object or void (1991). I will explore how the conceptualisation of ‘void’ can be understood as integral to the film text itself in Ramani’s films, being attentive to the ways in which the gap between the image and the unrepresentable in film-making as well as film spectatorship can be mobilised. I also reference a lecture by the Russian chemist Ilya Prigogine on the behaviour of particles and atoms in chemistry to create analogies between the self-organising systems that exist in natural phenomena, and the modes of rendering sound and image in Ramani’s film composition. Another sub-theme of the article concerns the relationship between spacetime, music and choreography in the work of this film-maker. Choreography refers here not only to the dynamics of on-screen images that film-makers achieve by designing in-camera movement or through editing, but also to the spatial and temporal signifiers at work in the filmic imaginary.
Optimizing error of high-dimensional statistical queries under differential privacy
Authors: McKenna Ryan , Miklau Gerome , Hay Michael , Machanavajjhala Ashwin 
Published: July 2018

Differentially private algorithms for answering sets of predicate counting queries on a sensitive database have many applications. Organizations that collect individual-level data, such as statistical agencies and medical institutions, use them to safely release summary tabulations. However, existing techniques are accurate only on a narrow class of query workloads, or are extremely slow, especially when analyzing more than one or two dimensions of the data.
In this work we propose HDMM, a new differentially private algorithm for answering a workload of predicate counting queries, that is especially effective for higher-dimensional datasets. HDMM represents query workloads using an implicit matrix representation and exploits this compact representation to efficiently search (a subset of) the space of differentially private algorithms for one that answers the input query workload with high accuracy. We empirically show that HDMM can efficiently answer queries with lower error than state-of-the-art techniques on a variety of low and high dimensional datasets.
MLbench
Authors: Liu Yu , Zhang Hantian , Zeng Luyuan , Wu Wentao , Zhang Ce 
Published: July 2018

Modern machine learning services and systems are complicated data systems --- the process of designing such systems is an art of compromising between
functionality
,
performance
, and
quality
. Providing different levels of system supports for different functionalities, such as automatic feature engineering, model selection and ensemble, and hyperparameter tuning, could improve the quality, but also introduce additional cost and system complexity. In this paper, we try to facilitate the process of asking the following type of questions:
How much will the users lose if we remove the support of functionality x from a machine learning service?

Answering this type of questions using existing datasets, such as the UCI datasets, is challenging. The main contribution of this work is a novel dataset, MLBench, harvested from Kaggle competitions. Unlike existing datasets, MLBench contains not only the raw features for a machine learning task, but also those used by the winning teams of Kaggle competitions. The winning features serve as a baseline of best human effort that enables multiple ways to measure the quality of machine learning services that cannot be supported by existing datasets, such as relative ranking on Kaggle and relative accuracy compared with best-effort systems.
We then conduct an empirical study using MLBench to understand example machine learning services from Amazon and Microsoft Azure, and showcase how MLBench enables a comparative study revealing the strength and weakness of these existing machine learning services quantitatively and systematically. The full version of this paper can be found at arxiv.org/abs/1707.09562
Is it Worth Being Good? – The Efficiency and Risk of Socially Responsible Investing in Light of Various Empirical Studies
Authors: Jedynak Tomasz 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
The paper discusses the issue of the effects of using SRI strategies on performance and risk of investment portfolios. During the research procedure, a number of goals were executed which is reflected by the article’s structure. In the first place, potential directions of the effects of using SRI strategies on portfolio parameters were indicated. Generally, these are hypotheses about 1) positive; 2) negative; 3) neutral impacts of SRI on investment portfolio parameters. Then the main streams in the research on SRI were identified. These streams are mainly based on: modern portfolio theory, the costs of an asset selection conception and the analysis of the correlation between CSR policy and company profitability. Moreover, the research stream which focuses on the relationship between the social responsibility of business and its competitive position was identified. The performed wide review of the literature raising the issues of performance and risk of SRI allows us to make an attempt to synthesize the results obtained by various authors. This synthesis is based on criteria such as: subjective scope, geographical span, methodology and findings of particular research. The main finding of the research is that despite many attempts in which various methods were used, so far there is no firm evidence to support or reject any of the above formulated hypotheses.
Models for evaluating craters morphology, relation of indentation hardness and uniaxial compressive strength via a flat-end indenter
Authors: Zhang Ligang , Fu Xiao Fei , Liu G. R. , Li Shi Bin , Li Wei , Qu Sining 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn this work, the intensive theoretical study and laboratory tests are conducted to evaluate the craters morphology via the flat-ended indenter test, relationship of indentation hardness (HRI) and uniaxial compressive strength (UCS). Based on the stress distribution, failure process and Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion, the mathematical mechanical models are presented to express the formation conditions of “pulverized zone” and “volume break”. Moreover, a set of equations relating the depth and apex angle of craters, the ratio of indentation hardness and uniaxial compressive strength, the angle of internal friction and Poisson’s ratio are obtained. The depth, apex angle of craters and ratio of indentation hardness and uniaxial compressive strength are all affected by the angle of internal friction and Poisson’s ratio. The proposed models are also verified by experiments of rock samples which are cored from Da Qing oilfield, the percentage error between the test and calculated results for depth, apex angle of craters and the ratio of HRI and UCS are mainly in the range of –1.41%–8.92%, –5.91%–3.94% and –8.22%–13.22% respectively for siltstone, volcanic tuff, volcanic breccia, shale, sand stone and glutenite except mudstone, which demonstrates that our proposed models are robust and effective for brittle rock.
Inter- and intraspecific variability of selected diarylheptanoid compounds and leaf morphometric traits in Alnus glutinosa and Alnus incana
Authors: Vidaković Vera , Stefanović Milena , Novaković Miroslav , Jadranin Milka , Popović Zorica , Matić Rada , Tešević Vele , Bojović Srdjan 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
The reliability of diarylheptanoids as chemotaxonomic markers at inter- and intraspecific levels has been investigated. Six diarylheptanoids were quantified in bark ethanol extracts of four Alnus spp. populations by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The populations described here as locus classicus Alnus glutinosa (I) and locus classicus Alnus incana (III) are clearly differentiated. Compared to population I, individuals in population III have higher extract yields and hirsutanonol-5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside content and lower contents of hirsutanonol, rubranoside A and oregonin. Individuals from neighboring populations of A. glutinosa (II) and A. incana (IV) share similar contents of hirsutanonol. All the studied populations exhibit a high intrapopulation variability of the selected diarylheptanoids; they have a heterogeneous chemotype and they partially overlap. The geographical proximity of populations II and IV increases their chemical similarity. Principal component analysis (PCA) clearly shows that the biggest dispersion of individuals lies within population IV. The reason for its heterogeneity might be its physical proximity to population II, i.e. the appearance of hybrids. Also, geometric morphometrics of leaves was performed as a screening criterion for spontaneous hybrids.
Microstructure and Interface Bonding Strength of WC-10Ni/NiCrBSi Composite Coating by Vacuum Brazing
Authors: Xu X. P. , He L. , Xia C. Z. , Zou J. S. 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
WC flexible cloth was fabricated by rolling WC powder that was pre-mixed with a nano-scale binder. BNi-2 braze alloy was used to braze the WC flexible cloth to a workpiece surface in a vacuum to form a compact composite coating. The composite coatings with different percentages of WC (wt.%, 30 %, 50 % and 80 %) have been successfully brazed onto Q345 steel substrate. Microscopic morphology and interfacial structure were characterized in terms of porosity, segregation and the distribution of WC particles. The bonding strength between the coating and the substrate was evaluated by shear test. The results showed that the segregation of WC particles appeared in all three coatings. With the increase of WC content in the coating, the segregation phenomenon was gradually reduced, and the WC particles were more closed. Furthermore, the thickness of the coating and matrix reaction layer was narrower, and more holes were found in the coating. Fracture of the 30 % and 50 % WC coatings was mainly plastic fracture, and the fracture of the 80 % WC coating was mainly brittle fracture accompanied by local plastic fracture. The maximum bonding strength of the coating to the substrate was determined to be 302 MPa.
Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding of Dissimilar 6061/7075 Aluminum Alloy
Authors: Liu Zhenlei , Yang Kang , Yan Dejun 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
Refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) was used to join 6061-T6 and 7075-T6 aluminum alloys in this work. Different sheet configurations and welding parameters were used to optimize joint strength. The effect of sleeve plunge depth on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints were investigated. The results showed that no defects were obtained when 6061-T6 aluminum alloy was placed as the upper sheet. The lap shear failure load of the joint using 6061-T6 aluminum alloy as the upper sheet was higher than that using 7075-T6 as the upper sheet. The maximum failure load of 12,892 N was attained when using the sleeve plunge depth of 3.6 mm. The joint failed at the upward flowing 7075 near the hook.
A Buck-Boost DC/DC Converter with High Efficiency Suitable for Renewable Energies
Authors: Maalandish M , Hosseini S. H. , Jalilzadeh T , Pourjafar S 
Published: July 2018

AbstractIn this paper, a non-isolated buck-boost dc/dc converter with only one switch is presented. The proposed converter consists of one switch in the input side (S), four inductors, four diodes, six capacitors and a capacitor in the output side (Co). In fact, the combination of the inductor, diode and capacitor leads voltage level is increased. Actually, the voltage stress on power switch is decreased for higher power limits at various duty-cycles by combining these components. Therefore, conduction losses can be reduced by using a switch with lower resistanceRDS(ON). Another advantage of the proposed converter is that the normalized voltage stress on diodes is low. As a result, the efficiency of proposed converter is high. In order to investigate the competences of the proposed converter, comparison results with other structures are provided. The principle of operation, theoretical analysis and the experimental prototype of proposed converter in about 120 W with operating at 25 kHz are provided.
Anforderungen an die sprachlichen Qualifikationen von Arbeitnehmern mit Migrationshintergrund
Authors: Thielmann Winfried 
Published: July 2018

Zusammenfassung
Bis vor kurzem ist die Politik davon ausgegangen, dass Menschen, die einen Integrationskurs besucht und das Niveau B1 nach GER nachgewiesen haben, die sprachlichen Anforderungen einer Berufsausbildung bewältigen können. Wie hingegen die Bildungsträger erfahren haben, ist dies keineswegs der Fall, weswegen das BAMF die Sprachförderung um die „Berufsbezogene Deutschsprachförderung“ erweitert hat. Aber wie verhalten sich die Anforderungen einer Berufsausbildung zum Niveau B1 des GER bzw. zu der gegenwärtig etablierten Sprachdidaktik? Ausgehend von einer linguistischen Charakterisierung der Niveaustufe B1 wird in diesem Beitrag der Frage nachgegangen, welcher Art die Lücke in der sprachlichen Qualifizierung ist, die durch die „Berufsbezogene Deutschsprachförderung“ geschlossen werden soll, und welche sprachdidaktischen Konsequenzen hier zu ziehen sind. Für diese Bestimmung sind sowohl einschlägige Befunde der Spracherwerbsforschung als auch exemplarisch faktische sprachliche Anforderungen, wie sie für eine Ausbildung im dualen System charakteristisch sind, ausschlaggebend.
Prepubertal gynaecomastia in a boy with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome: managing the aromatase overexpression
Authors: Simões-Pereira Joana , Santos Filipa , Lopes Lurdes , Limbert Catarina 
Published: July 2018

Abstract

Background
Gynaecomastia, although rarely related to testicular tumours, in boys with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS) usually occurs due to large-cell calcifying Sertoli cell tumour (LCCSCT).

Case presentation
A 4-year-old boy, with a genetic diagnosis of PJS, presented gynaecomastia since the age of 2, associated with increased height velocity (HV). He exhibited bilateral breast enlargement (Tanner-B4) and a testicular volume of 4 mL. Testicular ultrasound revealed multifocal microcalcifications in both testicles. A laboratory evaluation showed undetectable gonadotrophins, testosterone and oestrogen and inhibin A of 4.6 pg/mL (0.9–1.7). The boy was subjected to therapy with anastrozole. In the last follow-up, 2 years after the start of therapy, he experienced a less tense Tanner-B2 and a decrease in HV; serum inhibin A had become negative.

Conclusions
This is one of the most precocious PJS-related gynaecomastia treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) reported in the literature. Oestrogen levels, although under the detection limit, may be sufficient to stimulate breast tissue/growth plates. Inhibin A is a good marker of LCCSCT and an indicator of response to AIs.
Maternal iodine excess: an uncommon cause of acquired neonatal hypothyroidism
Authors: Hamby Tyler , Kunnel Nayana , Dallas John S. , Wilson Don P. 
Published: July 2018

Abstract

Background
Excessive iodine exposure is an often overlooked cause of neonatal hypothyroidism.

Case presentation
We present an infant with iodine-induced hypothyroidism, which was detected at age 15 days by newborn screening. The infant’s iodine excess resulted from maternal intake of seaweed soup both during and after pregnancy. Treatment included discontinuation of seaweed soup, temporary interruption of breastfeeding and short-term levothyroxine therapy. By age 4 months, the infant’s hypothyroidism had resolved, and her growth and development were normal.

Conclusions
This case illustrates the importance of considering excess dietary iodine as a possible cause of hypothyroidism in infants.
Two siblings with metachromatic leukodystrophy caused by a novel identified homozygous mutation in the ARSA gene
Authors: Aslan Mahmut , Kirik Serkan , Özgör Bilge , Güngör Serdal 
Published: July 2018

Abstract

Background
Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is an autosomal recessively (AR) inherited disease caused by the deficiency of the enzyme arylsulfatase A (ARSA). Although MLD is the most common form of hereditary leukoencephalopathy, it is still very rare. More than 200 gene mutations have been identified in the ARSA gene. The most frequently identified mutation is the one located on chromosome 22q13.33. In the present study, new mutations are reported in two siblings of different ages and with different clinical presentations.

Case presentation
A 9-year-old male patient, suffering from ataxia, attention deficit and perceptual difficulties, was first seen at the age of 7. While the findings of neurological examination and neuroradiological evaluation suggested MLD, the ARSA enzyme levels were analyzed and found to be at a lower limit. Genetic analysis revealed variant homozygous mutations of the ARSA gene at p.N352S/c.1055T>C in exon 6 and at p.E331K/c.991G>A in exon 7. In the genetic analysis of his three siblings and parents, a variant heterozygous mutation of the ARSA gene was detected at p.N352S/c.1055T>C in exon 6 and at p.E331K/c.991G>A in exon 7.

Conclusions
MLD is a rare disease; however, it is likely to find different variant forms in our population, in which the frequency of consanguineous marriages is high. Genetic diagnosis is important in symptomatic cases with enzyme levels within the normal ranges.
The Roman Army during the Regal Period
Authors: Dinu Dana 
Published: July 2018

Abstract
The intention of this article is to give a brief overview of how the military power was organised in Rome during the regal period. There is little information about the military organisation of the Romans between 753 and 509 BC. However, some written historical sources have enabled us to reconstruct some aspects of the military life in early Rome. The Indo-European studies and the comparative mythology of the Indo-European peoples also help to understand how the warrior function was valued in early Roman society. Like the other Indo-European peoples, the Romans structured their society in a system reflecting the ideology of the three functions represented, according to G. Dumézil, by the priests, warriors and herdsmen-cultivators. The same conception can be found at the theological level, within the triad Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus, the most important gods of Rome. Romulus, the founder of Rome, is the son of the god Mars, thereby consecrating the predominance of the warlike function within the trifunctional system. The army has always been the main instrument that assured the defence of Rome, but especially the expansion and preservation of its power over the conquered territories