ALBERT

Description: A deformed exponential family is a generalization of exponential families. Since the useful classes of power law tailed distributions are described by the deformed exponential families, they are important objects in the theory of complex systems. Though the deformed exponential families are defined by deformed exponential functions, these functions do not satisfy the law of exponents in general. The deformed algebras have been introduced based on the deformed exponential functions. In this paper, after summarizing such deformed algebraic structures, it is clarified how deformed algebras work on deformed exponential families. In fact, deformed algebras cause generalization of expectations. The three kinds of expectations for random variables are introduced in this paper, and it is discussed why these generalized expectations are natural from the viewpoint of information geometry. In addition, deformed algebras cause generalization of independences. Whereas it is difficult to check the well-definedness of deformed independence in general, the κ-independence is always well-defined on κ-exponential families. This is one of advantages of κ-exponential families in complex systems. Consequently, we can well generalize the maximum likelihood method for the κ-exponential family from the viewpoint of information geometry.

Description: We consider the problem of learning a Bayesian network structure given n examples and the prior probability based on maximizing the posterior probability. We propose an algorithm that runs in O(n log n) time and that addresses continuous variables and discrete variables without assuming any class of distribution. We prove that the decision is strongly consistent, i.e., correct with probability one as n ! 1. To date, consistency has only been obtained for discrete variables for this class of problem, and many authors have attempted to prove consistency when continuous variables are present. Furthermore, we prove that the “log n” term that appears in the penalty term of the description length can be replaced by 2(1+ε) log log n to obtain strong consistency, where ε > 0 is arbitrary, which implies that the Hannan–Quinn proposition holds.

Description: Background: In 2012, a pilot health policy of contractual service relations between general practitioners and patients was implemented in China. Due to the decline in body and cognitive function, as well as the lack of family care and narrow social support networks, the demand of health services among the elderly is much higher than that among the general population. This study aims to probe into the empty nesters’ willingness-to-pay for general practitioners using a contractual service policy, investigating empty nesters’ payment levels for the service, and analyze the main factors affecting the willingness of empty-nesters’ general practitioners using contractual service supply cost. Methods: This cross-sectional study adopted a multistage stratified sampling method to survey 865, city empty nesters (six communities in three districts of one city) aged 60–85 years. A condition value method was used to infer the distribution of the willingness-to-pay; Cox’s proportional hazards regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors of willingness-to-pay. Results: More than seventy percent (76.6%) of the empty nesters in this city were willing to pay general practitioners using contract service in Chongqing. The level of willingness-to-pay for the surveyed empty nesters was 34.1 yuan per year. The median value was 22.1 yuan per year, which was below the Chongqing urban and rural cooperative medical insurance individual funding level (60 yuan per year) in 2013. Cox’s proportional hazards regression model analysis showed that the higher the education level was, the worse the self-reported health status would be, accompanied by higher family per capita income, higher satisfaction of community health service, and higher willingness-to-pay empty nesters using a contract service. Women had a higher willingness-to-pay than men. Conclusions: The willingness-to-pay for general practitioners by contractual service is high among city empty nesters in Chongqing, thus, individual financing is feasible. However, people are willing to pay less than half of the current personal financing of cooperative medical insurance of urban and rural residents. Education level, family per capita income, and self-reported health status are the main factors affecting the cost sharing intention for general practitioners using contract service supply. According to the existing situation of different empty nesters, it is important to perfect the design of general practitioners using a contractual service policy system, according to differentiated personal financing levels.

Description: Stimulated Brillouin scattering during electron gyro-harmonic heating at EISCAT Annales Geophysicae, 33, 983-990, 2015 Author(s): H. Y. Fu, W. A. Scales, P. A. Bernhardt, S. J. Briczinski, M. J. Kosch, A. Senior, M. T. Rietveld, T. K. Yeoman, and J. M. Ruohoniemi Observations of secondary radiation, stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE), produced during ionospheric modification experiments using ground-based, high-power, high-frequency (HF) radio waves are considered. The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility is capable of generating narrowband SEE in the form of stimulated Brillouin scatter (SBS) and stimulated ion Bernstein scatter (SIBS) in the SEE spectrum. Such narrowband SEE spectral lines have not been reported using the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) heater facility before. This work reports the first EISCAT results of narrowband SEE spectra and compares them to SEE previously observed at HAARP during electron gyro-harmonic heating. An analysis of experimental SEE data shows observations of emission lines within 100 Hz of the pump frequency, interpreted as SBS, during the 2012 July EISCAT campaign. Experimental results indicate that SBS strengthens as the pump frequency approaches the third electron gyro-harmonic. Also, for different heater antenna beam angles, the CUTLASS radar backscatter induced by HF radio pumping is suppressed near electron gyro-harmonics, whereas electron temperature enhancement weakens as measured by EISCAT/UHF radar. The main features of these new narrowband EISCAT observations are generally consistent with previous SBS measurements at HAARP.

Description: Model selection is an integral, yet contentious, component of epidemiologic research. Unfortunately, there remains no consensus on how to identify a single, best model among multiple candidate models. Researchers may be prone to selecting the model that best supports their a priori, preferred result; a phenomenon referred to as “wish bias”. Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), based on background causal and substantive knowledge, are a useful tool for specifying a subset of adjustment variables to obtain a causal effect estimate. In many cases, however, a DAG will support multiple, sufficient or minimally-sufficient adjustment sets. Even though all of these may theoretically produce unbiased effect estimates they may, in practice, yield somewhat distinct values, and the need to select between these models once again makes the research enterprise vulnerable to wish bias. In this work, we suggest combining adjustment sets with model averaging techniques to obtain causal estimates based on multiple, theoretically-unbiased models. We use three techniques for averaging the results among multiple candidate models: information criteria weighting, inverse variance weighting, and bootstrapping. We illustrate these approaches with an example from the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition (PIN) study. We show that each averaging technique returns similar, model averaged causal estimates. An a priori strategy of model averaging provides a means of integrating uncertainty in selection among candidate, causal models, while also avoiding the temptation to report the most attractive estimate from a suite of equally valid alternatives.

Description: The widespread, intentional and increasingly frequent chemical emplacement in the troposphere has gone unidentified and unremarked in the scientific literature for years. The author presents evidence that toxic coal combustion fly ash is the most likely aerosolized particulate sprayed by tanker-jets for geoengineering, weather-modification and climate-modification purposes and describes some of the multifold consequences on public health. Two methods are employed: (1) Comparison of 8 elements analyzed in rainwater, leached from aerosolized particulates, with corresponding elements leached into water from coal fly ash in published laboratory experiments, and (2) Comparison of 14 elements analyzed in dust collected outdoors on a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter with corresponding elements analyzed in un-leached coal fly ash material. The results show: (1) the assemblage of elements in rainwater and in the corresponding experimental leachate are essentially identical. At a 99% confidence interval, they have identical means (T-test) and identical variances (F-test); and (2) the assemblage of elements in the HEPA dust and in the corresponding average un-leached coal fly ash are likewise essentially identical. The consequences on public health are profound, including exposure to a variety of toxic heavy metals, radioactive elements, and neurologically-implicated chemically mobile aluminum released by body moisture in situ after inhalation or through transdermal induction.

Description: The impacts of climate change on human health have been documented globally and in the United States. Numerous studies project greater morbidity and mortality as a result of extreme weather events and other climate-sensitive hazards. Public health impacts on the U.S. Gulf Coast may be severe as the region is expected to experience increases in extreme temperatures, sea level rise, and possibly fewer but more intense hurricanes. Through myriad pathways, climate change is likely to make the Gulf Coast less hospitable and more dangerous for its residents, and may prompt substantial migration from and into the region. Public health impacts may be further exacerbated by the concentration of people and infrastructure, as well as the region’s coastal geography. Vulnerable populations, including the very young, elderly, and socioeconomically disadvantaged may face particularly high threats to their health and well-being. This paper provides an overview of potential public health impacts of climate variability and change on the Gulf Coast, with a focus on the region’s unique vulnerabilities, and outlines recommendations for improving the region’s ability to minimize the impacts of climate-sensitive hazards. Public health adaptation aimed at improving individual, public health system, and infrastructure resilience is urgently needed to meet the challenges climate change may pose to the Gulf Coast in the coming decades.

Description: Strange VLF bursts in northern Scandinavia: case study of the afternoon "mushroom-like" hiss on 8 December 2013 Annales Geophysicae, 33, 991-995, 2015 Author(s): J. Manninen, N. G. Kleimenova, A. Kozlovsky, I. A. Kornilov, L. I. Gromova, Y. V. Fedorenko, and T. Turunen We investigate a non-typical very low frequency (VLF) 1–4 kHz hiss representing a sequence of separated noise bursts with a strange "mushroom-like" shape in the frequency–time domain, each one lasting several minutes. These strange afternoon VLF emissions were recorded at Kannuslehto (KAN, ϕ = 67.74° N, λ = 26.27° E; L ∼ 5.5) in northern Finland during the late recovery phase of the small magnetic storm on 8 December 2013. The left-hand (LH) polarized 2–3 kHz "mushroom caps" were clearly separated from the right-hand (RH) polarized "mushroom stems" at the frequency of about 1.8–1.9 kHz, which could match the lower ionosphere waveguide cutoff (the first transverse resonance of the Earth–ionosphere cavity). We hypothesize that this VLF burst sequence could be a result of the modulation of the VLF hiss electron–cyclotron instability from the strong Pc5 geomagnetic pulsations observed simultaneously at ground-based stations as well as in the inner magnetosphere by the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms mission probe (THEMIS-E; ThE). This assumption is confirmed by a similar modulation of the intensity of the energetic (1–10 keV) electrons simultaneously observed by the same ThE spacecraft. In addition, the data of the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) radar at Tromsø show a similar quasi-periodicity in the ratio of the Hall-to-Pedersen conductance, which may be used as a proxy for the energetic particle precipitation enhancement. Our findings suggest that this strange mushroom-like shape of the considered VLF hiss could be a combined mutual effect of the magnetospheric ULF–VLF (ultra low frequency–very low frequency) wave interaction and the ionosphere waveguide propagation.

Description: Aiming at the combined power quality +disturbance recognition, an automated recognition method based on wavelet packet entropy (WPE) and modified incomplete S-transform (MIST) is proposed in this paper. By combining wavelet packet Tsallis singular entropy, energy entropy and MIST, a 13-dimension vector of different power quality (PQ) disturbances including single disturbances and combined disturbances is extracted. Then, a ruled decision tree is designed to recognize the combined disturbances. The proposed method is tested and evaluated using a large number of simulated PQ disturbances and some real-life signals, which include voltage sag, swell, interruption, oscillation transient, impulsive transient, harmonics, voltage fluctuation and their combinations. In addition, the comparison of the proposed recognition approach with some existing techniques is made. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively recognize the single and combined PQ disturbances.

Description: For general metric theories of gravity, we compare the approach that describes/derives the field equations of gravity as a thermodynamic identity with the one which looks at them from entropy bounds. The comparison is made through the consideration of the matter entropy flux across (Rindler) horizons, studied by making use of the notion of a limiting thermodynamic scale l* of matter, previously introduced in the context of entropy bounds. In doing this: (i) a bound for the entropy of any lump of matter with a given energy-momentum tensor Tab is considered, in terms of a quantity, which is independent of the theory of gravity that we use; this quantity is the variation of the Clausius entropy of a suitable horizon when the element of matter crosses it; (ii) by making use of the equations of motion of the theory, the same quantity is then expressed as the variation of Wald’s entropy of that horizon (and this leads to a generalized form of the generalized covariant entropy bound, applicable to general diffeomorphism-invariant theories of gravity); and (iii) a notion of l* for horizons, as well as an expression for it, is given.

Description: Background and Purpose: The aim of the present study was to assess a relationship between readiness to quit and post-stroke smoking behavior. Methods: Eighty-six active smokers with first-ever ischemic stroke were recruited in a tertiary-care stroke unit. The question “Are you ready to quit smoking within the next month?” with yes/no responses and the 10-cm readiness visual analog scale (VAS) was administered during the anti-smoking intervention. Smoking status was verified at the 3- and 12-month follow-up. Results: The readiness VAS score at hospitalization was significantly lower in patients classified as smokers as compared to patients classified as non-smokers. The readiness score 〈5 cm was a significant predictor of smoking at the 3-month (OR, 7.3) and 12-month follow-up (OR, 4.9). Conclusions: The present results suggest that the readiness VAS can be used as a simple and inexpensive instrument for early identification of patients who continue to smoke after stroke.

Description: Patients with a polyherbal prescription are more likely to receive duplicate medications and thus suffer from adverse drug reactions. We conducted a population-based retrospective study to examine the items of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) per prescription in the ambulatory care of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Taiwan. We retrieved complete TCM ambulatory visit datasets for 2010 from the National Health Insurance database in Taiwan. A total of 59,790 patients who received 313,482 CHM prescriptions were analyzed. Drug prescriptions containing more than five drugs were classified as polyherbal prescriptions; 41.6% of patients were given a polyherbal prescription. There were on average 5.2 ± 2.5 CHMs: 2.3 ± 1.1 compound herbal formula items, and 3.0 ± 2.5 single Chinese herb items in a single prescription. Approximately 4.6% of patients were prescribed 10 CHMs or more. Men had a lower odds ratio (OR) among polyherbal prescriptions (OR = 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92–0.99), and middle-aged patients (35–49 years) had the highest frequency of polyherbal prescription (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.13–1.26). Patients with neoplasm, skin and subcutaneous tissue disease, or genitourinary system disease were more likely to have a polyherbal prescription; OR = 2.20 (1.81–2.67), 1.65 (1.50–1.80), and 1.52 (1.40–1.64), respectively. Polyherbal prescription is widespread in TCM in Taiwan. Potential herb interactions and iatrogenic risks associated with polyherbal prescriptions should be monitored.

Description: This paper introduces a new simple system with a butterfly chaotic attractor. This system has rich and complex dynamics. With some typical parameters, its Lyapunov dimension is greater than other known three dimensional chaotic systems. It exhibits chaotic behavior over a large range of parameters, and the divergence of flow of this system is not a constant. The dynamics of this new system are analyzed via Lyapunov exponent spectrum, bifurcation diagrams, phase portraits and the Poincaré map. The compound structures of this new system are also analyzed. By means of topological horseshoe theory and numerical computation, the Poincaré map defined for the system is proved to be semi-conjugate to 3-shift map, and thus the system has positive topological entropy.

Description: In this paper, the problem of robust control of nonlinear fractional-order systems in the presence of uncertainties and external disturbance is investigated. Fuzzy logic systems are used for estimating the unknown nonlinear functions. Based on the fractional Lyapunov direct method and some proposed Lemmas, an adaptive fuzzy controller is designed. The proposed method can guarantee all the signals in the closed-loop systems remain bounded and the tracking errors converge to an arbitrary small region of the origin. Lastly, an illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.

Description: The multi-parameter character of supersymmetric dark-matter models implies the combination of their experimental studies with astrophysical and cosmological probes. The physics of the early Universe provides nontrivial effects of non-equilibrium particles and primordial cosmological structures. Primordial black holes (PBHs) are a profound signature of such structures that may arise as a cosmological consequence of supersymmetric (SUSY) models. SUSY-based mechanisms of baryosynthesis can lead to the possibility of antimatter domains in a baryon asymmetric Universe. In the context of cosmoparticle physics, which studies the fundamental relationship of the micro- and macro-worlds, the development of SUSY illustrates the main principles of this approach, as the physical basis of the modern cosmology provides cross-disciplinary tests in physical and astronomical studies.

Description: In this paper, we study a generalized Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation in three variables, which has applications in the nonlinear development of ion-acoustic waves in a magnetized plasma. Conservation laws for this equation are constructed for the first time by using the new conservation theorem of Ibragimov. Furthermore, new exact solutions are obtained by employing the Lie symmetry method along with the simplest equation method.

Description: At the center of core technologies for a future cyber world, such as Internet of Things (IoT) or big data, is a context-rich system that offers services by using situational information. The field where context-rich systems were first introduced is near-field communication (NFC)-based electronic payments. Near-field Communication (NFC) integrated payment services collect the payment information of the credit card and the location information to generate patterns in the user’s consumption or movement through big data technology. Based on such pattern information, tailored services, such as advertisement, are offered to users. However, there is difficulty in controlling access to personal information, as there is a collaborative relationship focused on the trusted service manager (TSM) that is close knit to shared personal information. Moreover, in the case of Hadoop, among the many big data analytical technologies, it offers access control functions, but not a way to authorize the processing of personal information, making it impossible to grant authority between service providers to process information. As such, this paper proposes a key generation and distribution method, as well as a secure communication protocol. The analysis has shown that the efficiency was greater for security and performance compared to relation works.

Description: We introduced an analysis to identify structural characterization of two-dimensional regular and amorphous networks. The analysis was shown to be reliable to determine the global network rigidity and can also identify local floppy regions in the mixture of rigid and floppy regions. The eigenmode analysis explores the structural properties of various networks determined by eigenvalue spectra. It is useful to determine the general structural stability of networks that the traditional Maxwell counting scheme based on the statistics of nodes (degrees of freedom) and bonds (constraints) does not provide. A visual characterization scheme was introduced to examine the local structure characterization of the networks. The eigenmode analysis is under development for various practical applications on more general network structures characterized by coordination numbers and nodal connectivity such as graphenes and proteins.

Description: We study the Bäcklund transformations of integrable geometric curve flows in certain geometries. These curve flows include the KdV and Camassa-Holm flows in the two-dimensional centro-equiaffine geometry, the mKdV and modified Camassa-Holm flows in the two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the Schrödinger and extended Harry-Dym flows in the three-dimensional Euclidean geometry and the Sawada-Kotera flow in the affine geometry, etc. Using the fact that two different curves in a given geometry are governed by the same integrable equation, we obtain Bäcklund transformations relating to these two integrable geometric flows. Some special solutions of the integrable systems are used to obtain the explicit Bäcklund transformations.

Description: We suggest a diagrammatic model of computation based on an axiom of distributivity. A diagram of a decorated colored tangle, similar to those that appear in low dimensional topology, plays the role of a circuit diagram. Equivalent diagrams represent bisimilar computations. We prove that our model of computation is Turing complete and with bounded resources that it can decide any language in complexity class IP, sometimes with better performance parameters than corresponding classical protocols.

Description: Information technology (IT) security has become a major concern due to the growing demand for information and massive development of client/server applications for various types of applications running on modern IT infrastructure. How has security been taken into account and which paradigms are necessary to minimize security issues while increasing efficiency, reducing the influence on transmissions, ensuring protocol independency and achieving substantial performance? We have found cryptography to be an absolute security mechanism for client/server architectures, and in this study, a new security design was developed with the MODBUS protocol, which is considered to offer phenomenal performance for future development and enhancement of real IT infrastructure. This study is also considered to be a complete development because security is tested in almost all ways of MODBUS communication. The computed measurements are evaluated to validate the overall development, and the results indicate a substantial improvement in security that is differentiated from conventional methods.

Description: With the increase in the number of music files on various devices, it can be difficult to locate a desired file, especially when the title of the song or the name of the singer is not known. We propose a new query-by-singing/humming (QbSH) system that can find music files that match what the user is singing or humming. This research is novel in the following three ways: first, the Fourier descriptor (FD) method is proposed as the first classifier; it transforms the humming or music waveform into the frequency domain. Second, quantized dynamic time warping (QDTW) using symmetrical search space and quantized linear scaling (QLS) are used as the second and third classifiers, respectively, which increase the accuracy of the QbSH system compared to the conventional DTW and LS methods. Third, five classifiers, which include the three already mentioned along with the conventional DTW using symmetrical search space and LS methods, are combined using score level fusion, which further enhances performance. Experimental results with the 2009 MIR-QbSH corpus and the AFA MIDI 100 databases show that the proposed method outperforms those using a single classifier and other fusion methods.

Description: We introduce, generate and study a family of supersymmetric displaced number states (SDNS) that can be considered generalized coherent states of the supersymmetric harmonic oscillator. The family is created from the seminal supersymmetric boson-fermion entangling annihilation operator introduced by Aragone and Zypman and later expanded by Kornbluth and Zypman. Using the momentum representation, the states are obtained analytically in compact form as displaced supersymmetric number states. We study their position-momentum uncertainties, and their bunchiness by classifying them according to their Mandel Q-parameter in phase space. We were also able to find closed form analytical representations in the space and number basis.

Description: Virtual simulation technology has been considered as a highly efficient and cost-effective solution for a soldier training system, and evolved into diverse combinations of hardware and software. To maximize the virtual reality effect within a restricted space, a locomotion interface such as an omni-directional treadmill is introduced as a major component of a virtual simulator, therefore real time interaction between human and the virtual simulator becomes very important. Displacement and heading changes of the trainee are crucial information to control the virtual simulator when we implement highly reactive motion control for the omni-directional treadmill and interaction control of the virtual contents. This paper proposes a control parameter estimation algorithm for the virtual training simulator by using two types of motion capture sensors and presents the experimental results. Kinematic joint positions are analyzed to estimate the trainee’s location and velocity for feedback and feedforward control of the omni-directional treadmill. The accuracy of two approaches is evaluated by comparing with the reference system, which gives a ground truth value.

Description: A case study on generation mechanisms of a sporadic sodium layer above Tromsø (69.6° N) during a night of high auroral activity Annales Geophysicae, 33, 941-953, 2015 Author(s): T. Takahashi, S. Nozawa, T. T. Tsuda, Y. Ogawa, N. Saito, T. Hidemori, T. D. Kawahara, C. Hall, H. Fujiwara, N. Matuura, A. Brekke, M. Tsutsumi, S. Wada, T. Kawabata, S. Oyama, and R. Fujii We have quantitatively evaluated generation mechanisms of a sporadic sodium layer (SSL) based on observational data obtained by multiple instruments at a high-latitude station: Ramfjordmoen, Tromsø, Norway (69.6° N, 19.2° E). The sodium lidar observed an SSL at 21:18 UT on 22 January 2012. The SSL was observed for 18 min, with a maximum sodium density of about 1.9 × 10 10 m −3 at 93 km with a 1.1 km thickness. The European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) UHF radar observed a sporadic E layer (Es layer) above 90 km from 20:00 to 23:00 UT. After 20:00 UT, the Es layer gradually descended and reached 94 km at 21:18 UT when the SSL appeared at the same altitude. In this event, considering the abundance of sodium ions (10 % or less), the Es layer could provide only about 37 % or less of the sodium atoms to the SSL. We have investigated a temporal development of the normal sodium ion layer with a consideration of chemical reactions and the effect of the (southwestward) electric field using observational values of the neutral temperature, electron density, horizontal neutral wind, and electric field. This calculation has shown that those processes, including contributions of the Es layer, would provide about 88 % of sodium atoms of the SSL. The effects of meteor absorption and auroral particle sputtering appear to be less important. Therefore, we have concluded that the major source of the SSL was sodium ions in a normal sodium ion layer. Two processes – namely the downward transportation of sodium ions from a normal sodium ion layer due to the electric field and the additional supply of sodium ions from the Es layer under relatively high electron density conditions (i.e., in the Es layer) – played a major role in generating the SSL in this event. Furthermore, we have found that the SSL was located in a lower-temperature region and that the temperature inside the SSL did not show any remarkable temperature enhancements.

Description: Objective: To assess the burden of regional environmental factors influencing the incidence of Melanoma in the Italian population and overcome the problem of partial population coverage by local cancer registries and thematic archives. Methods: We analyzed the Italian national hospitalization records from 2001 to 2008 provided by the Ministry of Health, excluding hospital re-admissions of the same patients, in order to assess the occurrence of Melanoma over a 8-year period. Data were presented by age groups (absolute number of cases from 20 to ≥80 years old) and per Region (rates per 100,000 inhabitants) for each year. Results: The overall number of new hospitalizations due to malignant Melanoma increased by 16.8% from 2001 (n = 4846) to 2008 (n = 5823), with the rate per 100,000 inhabitants passing from 10.5 to almost 12.0 at a national level. The majority of new diagnoses of malignant Melanoma was observed in two age groups: 61–70 years old (from 979 in 2001 up to 2109 in 2008, corresponding to 15.1 and 18.1 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively) and 71–80 years old (from 954 in 2001 up to 1141 in 2008, corresponding to 19.5 and 21.8 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively). The number of hospitalizations due to Melanoma increased in all age groups with the only exception of the youngest patients aged 20–30 years old. The highest increases over the 8-year period were observed in people aged ≥81 years old (+34%), 61–70 years old (+20%) and surprisingly in the age group 31–40 years old (+17%). Southern Regions showed lower hospitalization rates compared to Northern Italy and Region Lazio. The highest increases between 2001 and 2008 were observed in Trentino/Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Valla d’Aosta and Veneto Region. Conclusions: Hospitalizations due to malignant Melanoma in Italy seem to be influenced by environmental or population-related factors showing a decreasing incidence rate from the Northern to Southern Regions.

Description: In this paper, we investigate the basic properties of binary classification with a pseudo model based on the Itakura–Saito distance and reveal that the Itakura–Saito distance is a unique appropriate measure for estimation with the pseudo model in the framework of general Bregman divergence. Furthermore, we propose a novelmulti-task learning algorithm based on the pseudo model in the framework of the ensemble learning method. We focus on a specific setting of the multi-task learning for binary classification problems. The set of features is assumed to be common among all tasks, which are our targets of performance improvement. We consider a situation where the shared structures among the dataset are represented by divergence between underlying distributions associated with multiple tasks. We discuss statistical properties of the proposed method and investigate the validity of the proposed method with numerical experiments.

Description: Background: Second hand smoke (ETS)-associated particulate matter (PM) contributes considerably to indoor air contamination and constitutes a health risk for passive smokers. Easy to measure, PM is a useful parameter to estimate the dosage of ETS that passive smokers are exposed to. Apart from its suitability as a surrogate parameter for ETS-exposure, PM itself affects human morbidity and mortality in a dose-dependent manner. We think that ETS-associated PM should be considered an independent hazard factor, separately from the many other known harmful compounds of ETS. We believe that brand-specific and tobacco-product-specific differences in the release of PM matter and that these differences are of public interest. Methods: To generate ETS of cigarettes and cigarillos as standardized and reproducible as possible, an automatic second hand smoke emitter (AETSE) was developed and placed in a glass chamber. L&M cigarettes (“without additives”, “red label”, “blue label”), L&M filtered cigarillos (“red”) and 3R4F standard research cigarettes (as reference) were smoked automatically according to a self-developed, standardized protocol until the tobacco product was smoked down to 8 mm distance from the tipping paper of the filter. Results: Mean concentration (Cmean) and area under the curve (AUC) in a plot of PM2.5 against time were measured, and compared. CmeanPM2.5 were found to be 518 μg/m3 for 3R4F cigarettes, 576 μg/m3 for L&M “without additives” (“red”), 448 μg/m3 for L&M “blue label”, 547 μg/m3 for L&M “red label”, and 755 μg/m3 for L&M filtered cigarillos (“red”). AUCPM2.5-values were 208,214 μg/m3·s for 3R4F reference cigarettes, 204,629 μg/m3·s for L&M “without additives” (“red”), 152,718 μg/m3·s for L&M “blue label”, 238,098 μg/m3·s for L&M “red label” and 796,909 μg/m3·s for L&M filtered cigarillos (“red”). Conclusion: Considering the large and significant differences in particulate matter emissions between cigarettes and cigarillos, we think that a favorable taxation of cigarillos is not justifiable.

Description: Fruit classification is quite difficult because of the various categories and similar shapes and features of fruit. In this work, we proposed two novel machine-learning based classification methods. The developed system consists of wavelet entropy (WE), principal component analysis (PCA), feedforward neural network (FNN) trained by fitness-scaled chaotic artificial bee colony (FSCABC) and biogeography-based optimization (BBO), respectively. The K-fold stratified cross validation (SCV) was utilized for statistical analysis. The classification performance for 1653 fruit images from 18 categories showed that the proposed “WE + PCA + FSCABC-FNN” and “WE + PCA + BBO-FNN” methods achieve the same accuracy of 89.5%, higher than state-of-the-art approaches: “(CH + MP + US) + PCA + GA-FNN ” of 84.8%, “(CH + MP + US) + PCA + PSO-FNN” of 87.9%, “(CH + MP + US) + PCA + ABC-FNN” of 85.4%, “(CH + MP + US) + PCA + kSVM” of 88.2%, and “(CH + MP + US) + PCA + FSCABC-FNN” of 89.1%. Besides, our methods used only 12 features, less than the number of features used by other methods. Therefore, the proposed methods are effective for fruit classification.

Description: We wish to make the following changes to the published article [1], agreed upon by all authors. Claudia R. Binder has withdrawn her co-authorship. The corrected author list should therefore read: Camilo Lesmes-Fabian.[...]

Description: The cadmium (Cd) contaminated rice fields in Mae Sot District, Tak Province, Thailand has been one of the major environmental problems in Thailand for the last 10 years. We used disability adjusted life years (DALYs) to estimate the burden of disease attributable to Cd in terms of additional DALYs of Mae Sot residents. Cd exposure data included Cd and β2–microglobulin (β2-MG) in urine (as an internal exposure dose) and estimated cadmium daily intake (as an external exposure dose). Compared to the general Thai population, Mae Sot residents gained 10%–86% DALYs from nephrosis/nephritis, heart diseases, osteoporosis and cancer depending on their Cd exposure type and exposure level. The results for urinary Cd and dietary Cd intake varied according to the studies used for risk estimation. The ceiling effect was observed in results using dietary Cd intake because of the high Cd content in rice grown in the Mae Sot area. The results from β2-MG were more robust with additional DALYs ranging from 36%–86% for heart failure, cerebral infraction, and nephrosis/nephritis. Additional DALYs is a useful approach for assessing the magnitude of environmental Cd exposure. The Mae Sot population lost more healthy life compared to populations living in a non- or less Cd polluted area. This method should be applicable to various types of environmental contamination problems if exposure assessment information is available.

Description: Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) suspensions (concentration 1.0 g/L) in synthetic sweat solution were applied on Franz cells for 24 h using intact and needle-abraded human skin. Titanium content into skin and receiving phases was determined. Cytotoxicity (MTT, AlamarBlue® and propidium iodide, PI, uptake assays) was evaluated on HaCat keratinocytes after 24 h, 48 h, and seven days of exposure. After 24 h of exposure, no titanium was detectable in receiving solutions for both intact and damaged skin. Titanium was found in the epidermal layer after 24 h of exposure (0.47 ± 0.33 μg/cm2) while in the dermal layer, the concentration was below the limit of detection. Damaged skin, in its whole, has shown a similar concentration (0.53 ± 0.26 μg/cm2). Cytotoxicity studies on HaCaT cells demonstrated that TiO2NPs induced cytotoxic effects only at very high concentrations, reducing cell viability after seven days of exposure with EC50s of 8.8 × 10−4 M (MTT assay), 3.8 × 10−5 M (AlamarBlue® assay), and 7.6 × 10−4 M (PI uptake, index of a necrotic cell death). Our study demonstrated that TiO2NPs cannot permeate intact and damaged skin and can be found only in the stratum corneum and epidermis. Moreover, the low cytotoxic effect observed on human HaCaT keratinocytes suggests that these nano-compounds have a potential toxic effect at the skin level only after long-term exposure.

Description: The disposal of industrial paper mill sludge waste is a big issue and has a great importance all over the world. A study was conducted to determine the chemical properties of recycled paper mill sludge (RPMS) and assess its possibilities for land application. RPMS samples were collected from six different paper mills in Malaysia and analyzed for physical and chemical properties, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 13C-NMR spectra and for the presence of dioxins/furans. The RPMS was dewatered, sticky with a strong odour, an average moisture of 65.08%, pH 7.09, cation exchange capacity (CEC) 14.43 cmol (+) kg–1, N 1.45, P 0.18, K 0.12, Ca 0.82, Mg 0.73, Na 0.76 and Al, 1.38%. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals levels were below the standard Class 2 limits. The dioxin and furan were in below the standard concentration of Class 1. The most prominent peak in the 13C-NMR spectra of RPMS was centered at 31 ppm, proving the presence of methylene (-CH2) groups in long aliphatic chains, with lipids and proteins. The signal at 89 ppm and highly shielded shoulder at 83 ppm were due to presence of cellulose carbon C-4, and the peak at 63 and 65 ppm was due to the cellulose carbon spectrum. The RPMS therefore contains significant amount of nutrients with safe levels of heavy metals and PAHs for environment and can be used as a fertilizer and soil amendment for land application.

Description: Doctor-shopping has caused an increase in medical expense, potential to receive duplicate medications, and suffer adverse drug reactions. We carried out a population-based retrospective study aimed at examining the user patterns of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ambulatory care in Taiwan. We retrieved complete TCM ambulatory visit datasets for the year 2007 from the National Health Insurance database in Taiwan. We defined the patients whose distribution of TCM physician numbers scored more than 97.5 percent (more than, or equal to, five TCM physicians) within one year as TCM doctor-shoppers. In total, 6,596,814 subjects (28.9%) paid TCM visits during that year. All 177,728 subjects (2.69%) who visited more than five (including) TCM physicians were classified as TCM shoppers. The most prevalent diagnostic grouping was upper respiratory infections (44.7%) and sprains and strains (44.0%). Men had a lower odds ratio (OR) among TCM shoppers than women (OR = 0.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.93–0.96). Younger people were less likely to be TCM shoppers than other people were. The ORs of TCM shoppers were higher among veterans and low-income patients (OR = 1.29 (1.23–1.35), and 1.33 (1.27–1.41)). In conclusion, health education on the potential of drug interactions and iatrogenic health risks incurred from doctor-shopping should be addressed to those high-risk patients.

Description: Day-to-day variability and stability of children’s physical activity levels across days of the week are not well understood. Our aims were to examine the day-to-day variability of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), to determine factors influencing the day-to-day variability of MVPA and to estimate stability of MVPA in children. The sample comprises 686 Portuguese children (10 years of age). MVPA was assessed with an accelerometer, and BMI was computed from measured height and weight. Daily changes in MVPA and their correlates (gender, BMI, and maturity) were modeled with a multilevel approach, and tracking was calculated using Foulkes & Davies γ. A total of 51.3% of boys and 26.2% of girls achieved 60 min/day of MVPA on average. Daily MVPA was lower during the weekend (23.6% of boys and 13.6% of girls comply with the recommended 60 min/day of MVPA) compared to weekdays (60.8% and 35.4%, boys and girls, respectively). Normal weight children were more active than obese children and no effect was found for biological maturation. Tracking is low in both boys (γ = 0.59 ± 0.01) and girls (γ = 0.56 ± 0.01). Children’s MVPA levels during a week are highly unstable. In summary, boys are more active than girls, maturation does not affect their MVPA, and obese children are less likely to meet 60 min/day of MVPA. These results highlight the importance of providing opportunities for increasing children’s daily MVPA on all days of week, especially on the weekend.

Description: The microbiological sanitary quality and safety of leafy greens and strawberries were assessed in the primary production in Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Norway and Spain by enumeration of Escherichia coli and detection of Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and Campylobacter. Water samples were more prone to containing pathogens (54 positives out of 950 analyses) than soil (16/1186) and produce on the field (18/977 for leafy greens and 5/402 for strawberries). The prevalence of pathogens also varied markedly according to the sampling region. Flooding of fields increased the risk considerably, with odds ratio (OR) 10.9 for Salmonella and 7.0 for STEC. A significant association between elevated numbers of generic E. coli and detection of pathogens (OR of 2.3 for STEC and 2.7 for Salmonella) was established. Generic E. coli was found to be a suitable index organism for Salmonella and STEC, but to a lesser extent for Campylobacter. Guidelines on frequency of sampling and threshold values for E. coli in irrigation water may differ from region to region.

Description: The objective of this research is to provide a standardized platform to monitor and predict indicators of people with traumatic brain injury using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, and analyze its potential benefits for people with disabilities, health centers and administrations. We developed a platform that allows automatic standardization and automatic graphical representations of indicators of the status of individuals and populations. We used data from 730 people with acquired brain injury performing periodic comprehensive evaluations in the years 2006–2013. Health professionals noted that the use of color-coded graphical representation is useful for quickly diagnose failures, limitations or restrictions in rehabilitation. The prognosis system achieves 41% of accuracy and sensitivity in the prediction of emotional functions, and 48% of accuracy and sensitivity in the prediction of executive functions. This monitoring and prognosis system has the potential to: (1) save costs and time, (2) provide more information to make decisions, (3) promote interoperability, (4) facilitate joint decision-making, and (5) improve policies of socioeconomic evaluation of the burden of disease. Professionals found the monitoring system useful because it generates a more comprehensive understanding of health oriented to the profile of the patients, instead of their diseases and injuries.

Description: Objectives: In 2005, China acceded to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the foundation for the global fight against tobacco. Certain cities in China have established local regulations to control tobacco use ahead of national policy; however, without the enforcement of statutory law, some of these regulations are merely lip service. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of city policy on smoking prevalence and on second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure status among non-smokers in Changchun City. Methods: A cross-sectional survey covering a multiple-stage, representative sample of the urban population aged ≥15 years was conducted between 1 Dec 2013 and 31 Jan 2014. The WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the questionnaires used, which included demographic characteristics, smoking behaviors and SHS exposure status. Results: Overall cigarette smoking prevalence was 23.5%; daily cigarette smoking prevalence was 21.2%. Smoking prevalence and cigarettes consumed per day was higher among men (p 〈 0.05) and those aged 45–64 years (p 〈 0.05). Among current smokers, 8.1% planned to quit within 12 months; 53.4% had no intention of quitting. Overall SHS exposure prevalence was 41.9% (workplace) and 34.1% (at home) over the previous 30 days. The weighted workplace SHS exposure prevalence increased with age. Conclusions: The high proportion of smokers with no intention of quitting and the high level of SHS exposure may constitute one of the most significant barriers to successful smoking cessation in the city. A continued drive to promote full implementation of the WHO FCTC is still needed.

Description: Contemporary ecological models of health prominently feature the natural environment as fundamental to the ecosystem services that support human life, health, and well-being. The natural environment encompasses and permeates all other spheres of influence on health. Reviews of the natural environment and health literature have tended, at times intentionally, to focus on a limited subset of ecosystem services as well as health benefits stemming from the presence, and access and exposure to, green infrastructure. The sweeping influence of green infrastructure on the myriad ecosystem services essential to health has therefore often been underrepresented. This survey of the literature aims to provide a more comprehensive picture—in the form of a primer—of the many simultaneously acting health co-benefits of green infrastructure. It is hoped that a more accurately exhaustive list of benefits will not only instigate further research into the health co-benefits of green infrastructure but also promote consilience in the many fields, including public health, that must be involved in the landscape conservation necessary to protect and improve health and well-being.

Description: There is growing evidence of climate change affecting infectious disease risk in Western Europe. The call for effective adaptation to this challenge becomes increasingly stronger. This paper presents the results of a survey exploring Dutch expert perspectives on adaptation responses to climate change impacts on infectious disease risk in Western Europe. Additionally, the survey explores the expert sample’s prioritization of mitigation and adaptation, and expert views on the willingness and capacity of relevant actors to respond to climate change. An integrated view on the causation of infectious disease risk is employed, including multiple (climatic and non-climatic) factors. The results show that the experts consider some adaptation responses as relatively more cost-effective, like fostering interagency and community partnerships, or beneficial to health, such as outbreak investigation and response. Expert opinions converge and diverge for different adaptation responses. Regarding the prioritization of mitigation and adaptation responses expert perspectives converge towards a 50/50 budgetary allocation. The experts consider the national government/health authority as the most capable actor to respond to climate change-induced infectious disease risk. Divergence and consensus among expert opinions can influence adaptation policy processes. Further research is necessary to uncover prevailing expert perspectives and their roots, and compare these.

Description: Cigarette butts (tobacco product waste (TPW)) are the single most collected item in environmental trash cleanups worldwide. This brief descriptive study used an online survey tool (Survey Monkey) to assess knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs among individuals representing the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) about this issue. The FCA has about 350 members, including mainly non-governmental tobacco control advocacy groups that support implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Although the response rate (28%) was low, respondents represented countries from all six WHO regions. The majority (62%) have heard the term TPW, and nearly all (99%) considered TPW as an environmental harm. Most (77%) indicated that the tobacco industry should be responsible for TPW mitigation, and 72% felt that smokers should also be held responsible. This baseline information may inform future international discussions by the FCTC Conference of the Parties (COP) regarding environmental policies that may be addressed within FCTC obligations. Additional research is planned regarding the entire lifecycle of tobacco’s impact on the environment.

Description: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between blood lead levels and both serum uric acid and hyperuricemia in adult residents living within an area of China with lead pollution.  We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 2120 subjects (1180 of whom were male) between the ages of 20 and 75 years who had undergone health examinations at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a lead-polluted area of China between January 2013 and August 2014. Blood lead was positively correlated with serum uric acid in both males (r = 0.095, p = 0.001) and females (r = 0.134, p 〈 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated that for males, blood lead (p = 0.006), age (p = 0.001), current smoking (p = 0.012), education (p = 0.001), triglycerides (TG) (p 〈 0.001), and serum creatinine (p 〈 0.001) were independently associated with serum uric acid. For females, blood lead (p 〈 0.001), body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.009), and TG (p 〈 0.001) were independently associated with serum uric acid. After multiple adjustments, blood lead was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of hyperuricemia when female subjects were categorized into quartiles (for the highest quartile vs. the lowest quartile, odds ratio (OR) = 2.190; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.106–4.338; p = 0.025); however, no such association was observed for male subjects. Continuous lead exposure has an independent impact on serum uric acid for both males and females, although this impact is more pronounced for females than for males. Lead exposure is significantly associated with hyperuricemia for females but not for males.

Description: Numerical study of upper hybrid to Z -mode leakage during electromagnetic pumping of groups of striations in the ionosphere Annales Geophysicae, 33, 1019-1030, 2015 Author(s): B. Eliasson and T. B. Leyser We investigate numerically the interaction between ionospheric magnetic field-aligned density striations and a left-hand circularly polarized ( L )-mode wave. The L -mode wave is scattered into upper hybrid (UH) waves which are partially trapped in the striations, but leak energy to electromagnetic waves in the Z -mode branch. For small-amplitude (1 %) striations, this loss mechanism leads to a significant reduction in amplitude of the UH waves. For several striations organized in a lattice, the leaking of Z -mode waves is compensated by influx of Z -mode radiation from neighboring striations, leading to an increased amplitude of the weakly trapped UH waves. For large-amplitude (10 %) striations the trapped UH waves rapidly increase in amplitude far beyond the threshold for parametric instabilities, and the Z -mode leakage is less important. The results have relevance for the growth of striations and the onset of UH and lower hybrid turbulence during electromagnetic high-frequency pumping of ionospheric plasma, which require large-amplitude UH waves.

Description: Observation of a new type of low-frequency waves at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Annales Geophysicae, 33, 1031-1036, 2015 Author(s): I. Richter, C. Koenders, H.-U. Auster, D. Frühauff, C. Götz, P. Heinisch, C. Perschke, U. Motschmann, B. Stoll, K. Altwegg, J. Burch, C. Carr, E. Cupido, A. Eriksson, P. Henri, R. Goldstein, J.-P. Lebreton, P. Mokashi, Z. Nemeth, H. Nilsson, M. Rubin, K. Szegö, B. T. Tsurutani, C. Vallat, M. Volwerk, and K.-H. Glassmeier We report on magnetic field measurements made in the innermost coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in its low-activity state. Quasi-coherent, large-amplitude (δ B / B ~ 1), compressional magnetic field oscillations at ~ 40 mHz dominate the immediate plasma environment of the nucleus. This differs from previously studied cometary interaction regions where waves at the cometary ion gyro-frequencies are the main feature. Thus classical pickup-ion-driven instabilities are unable to explain the observations. We propose a cross-field current instability associated with newborn cometary ion currents as a possible source mechanism.

Description: This study investigated the capability of a biosurfactant produced by a novel strain of Bacillus salmalaya to enhance the biodegradation rates and bioavailability of organic contaminants. The biosurfactant produced by cultured strain 139SI showed high physicochemical properties and surface activity in the selected medium. The biosurfactant exhibited a high emulsification index and a positive result in the drop collapse test, with the results demonstrating the wetting activity of the biosurfactant and its potential to produce surface-active molecules. Strain 139SI can significantly reduce the surface tension (ST) from 70.5 to 27 mN/m, with a critical micelle concentration of 0.4%. Moreover, lubricating oil at 2% (v/v) was degraded on Day 20 (71.5). Furthermore, the biosurfactant demonstrated high stability at different ranges of salinity, pH, and temperature. Overall, the results indicated the potential use of B. salmalaya 139SI in environmental remediation processes.

Description: Objective: To evaluate the outcome of 80 pregnant women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and explore the risk factors for lupus flare, obstetric complications and fetal loss. Methods: 83 pregnancies in 80 women were divided into three groups. Group A: patients in remission for > 6 months before pregnancy, proteinuria 〈 0.5 g per day, without renal failure and discontinuation of cytotoxic drugs for > one year; Group B: patients with SLE disease activity in the six months before pregnancy; Group C: patients with new onset SLE during pregnancy. Results: In group A, 76.47% pregnancies achieved full-term deliveries and 80.39% achieved live born infants. In group B and C, the outcome was poor. Among 62 patients (64 pregnancies) diagnosed as SLE before pregnancy, SLE flares occurred in 27 (42.19%) pregnancies. SLE disease activity in the six months before pregnancy was significantly associated with lupus flare (OR 5.00, 95% CI 1.14–21.87, p = 0.03) and fetal loss. New onset lupus during pregnancy was independently associated with obstetric complications (OR 7.22, 95% CI 2.14–24.38, p = 0.001). Conclusions: The current study confirmed the previous report that SLE should be considered a high risk of pregnancy. If pregnancy is planned after remission for > 6 months, the favorable outcome can be achieved.

Description: Purpose: To determine the epidemiological characteristics of work-related eye injury in representative southwest region of China. Methods: Patients with eye injuries treated at the Ninth People’s Hospital of Chongqing from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014 were included in the current study. All patients completed a comprehensive examination and interview. Demographic characteristics and injury details were recorded. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) were used. Results: The average age of eye injury patients was 37.52 years and the majority were male. Among the 1055 total patients, approximately 42.9% of the injuries were work-related. The highest proportion of occupational eye trauma was observed in the group between 36 and 45 years of age. Occupational ocular trauma occurred more frequently in summer, with most from 16:00 to 18:00. Metal was the most common injury cause. Foreign body on external eye was the most common diagnosis. Workers in the manufacturing industry without pre-work safety training or eye protection were far more likely to suffer from occupational ocular trauma than those with training and protection. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the epidemiological characteristics of occupational ocular trauma in southwest region of China. The current findings might be considered as a baseline for future research on regional work-related eye injuries. Our findings will provide valuable information for further development of preventive strategies.

Description: We present a brief overview of some key concepts in the theory of generalized complex manifolds. This new geometry interpolates, so to speak, between symplectic geometry and complex geometry. As such it provides an ideal framework to analyze thermodynamical fluctuation theory in the presence of gravitational fields. To illustrate the usefulness of generalized complex geometry, we examine a simplified version of the Unruh effect: the thermalising effect of gravitational fields on the Schroedinger wavefunction.

Description: In modern industrial processes, it is easier and less expensive to configure alarms by software settings rather than by wiring, which causes the rapid growth of the number of alarms. Moreover, because there exist complex interactions, in particular the causal relationship among different parts in the process, a fault may propagate along propagation pathways once an abnormal situation occurs, which brings great difficulty to operators to identify its root cause immediately and to take proper actions correctly. Therefore, causality detection becomes a very important problem in the context of multivariate alarm analysis and design. Transfer entropy has become an effective and widely-used method to detect causality between different continuous process variables in both linear and nonlinear situations in recent years. However, such conventional methods to detect causality based on transfer entropy are computationally costly. Alternatively, using binary alarm series can be more computational-friendly and more direct because alarm data analysis is straightforward for alarm management in practice. The methodology and implementation issues are discussed in this paper. Illustrated by several case studies, including both numerical cases and simulated industrial cases, the proposed method is demonstrated to be suitable for industrial situations contaminated by noise.

Description: Association of the pre-monsoon thermal field over north India and the western Tibetan Plateau with summer monsoon rainfall over India Annales Geophysicae, 33, 1051-1058, 2015 Author(s): S. D. Bansod, S. Fadnavis, and S. P. Ghanekar In this paper, interannual variability of tropospheric air temperatures over the Asian summer monsoon region during the pre-monsoon months is examined in relation to Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR; June to September total rainfall). For this purpose, monthly grid-point temperatures in the entire troposphere over the Asian summer monsoon region and ISMR data for the period 1949–2012 have been used. Spatial correlation patterns are investigated between the temperature field in the lower tropospheric levels during May over the Asian summer monsoon region and ISMR. The results indicate a strong and significant northwest–southeast dipole structure in the spatial correlations over the Indian region, with highly significant positive (negative) correlations over the regions of north India and the western Tibetan Plateau region – region R1 (north Bay of Bengal: region R2). The observed dipole is seen significantly up to a level of 850 hPa and eventually disappears at 700 hPa. Thermal indices evaluated at 850 hPa level, based on average air temperatures over the north India and western Tibetan Plateau region (TI 1 ) and the north Bay of Bengal region (TI 2 ) during May, show a strong, significant relationship with the ISMR. The results are found to be consistent and robust, especially in the case of TI 1 during the period of analysis. A physical mechanism for the relationship between these indices and ISMR is proposed. Finally the composite annual cycle of tropospheric air temperature over R1 during flood/drought years of ISMR is examined. The study brings out the importance of the TI 1 in the prediction of flood/drought conditions over the Indian subcontinent.

Description: An inkling of the relation between the monofractality of temperatures and pressure anomalies Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics Discussions, 2, 1339-1353, 2015 Author(s): A. Deliège and S. Nicolay We use the discrete "wavelet transform microscope" to study the monofractal nature of surface air temperature signals of weather stations spread across Europe. This method reveals that the information obtained in this way is richer than previous works studying long range correlations in meteorological stations: the approach presented here allows to bind the Hölder exponents with the standard deviation of surface pressure anomalies, while such a link does not appear with methods previously carried out.

Description: Explanation of the values of Hack's drainage basin, river length scaling exponent Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics Discussions, 2, 1355-1361, 2015 Author(s): A. G. Hunt Percolation theory can be used to find water flow paths of least resistance. The application of percolation theory to drainage networks allows identification of the range of exponent values that describe the tortuosity of rivers in real river networks, which is then used to generate the observed scaling between drainage basin area and channel length, a relationship known as Hack's law. Such a theoretical basis for Hack's law allows interpretation of the range of exponent values based on an assessment of the heterogeneity of the substrate.

Description: Spectral diagonal ensemble Kalman filters Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 22, 485-497, 2015 Author(s): I. Kasanický, J. Mandel, and M. Vejmelka A new type of ensemble Kalman filter is developed, which is based on replacing the sample covariance in the analysis step by its diagonal in a spectral basis. It is proved that this technique improves the approximation of the covariance when the covariance itself is diagonal in the spectral basis, as is the case, e.g., for a second-order stationary random field and the Fourier basis. The method is extended by wavelets to the case when the state variables are random fields which are not spatially homogeneous. Efficient implementations by the fast Fourier transform (FFT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) are presented for several types of observations, including high-dimensional data given on a part of the domain, such as radar and satellite images. Computational experiments confirm that the method performs well on the Lorenz 96 problem and the shallow water equations with very small ensembles and over multiple analysis cycles.

Description: Published evidence on the impact of the integration of International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) for breastfeeding promotion is growing, but still relatively limited. Our study aims at evaluating the effects of adding an IBCLC for breastfeeding support in a mother and child hospital environment. We conducted a prospective study in the maternity ward of our maternal and child health Institute, recruiting 402 mothers of healthy term newborns soon after birth. The 18-month intervention of the IBCLC (Phase II) was preceded (Phase I) by data collection on breastfeeding rates and factors related to breastfeeding, both at hospital discharge and two weeks later. Data collection was replicated just before the end of the intervention (Phase III). In Phase III, a significantly higher percentage of mothers: (a) received help to breastfeed, and also received correct information on breastfeeding and community support, (b) started breastfeeding within two hours from delivery, (c) reported a good experience with the hospital staff. Moreover, the frequency of sore and/or cracked nipples was significantly lower in Phase III. However, no difference was found in exclusive breastfeeding rates at hospital discharge or at two weeks after birth.

Description: Currently, use and disposal of plastic by consumers through waste management activities in Ghana not only creates environmental problems, but also reinforces the notion of a wasteful society. The magnitude of this problem has led to increasing pressure from the public for efficient and practical measures to solve the waste problem. This paper analyses the impact of plastic use and disposal in Ghana. It emphasizes the need for commitment to proper management of the impacts of plastic waste and effective environmental management in the country. Sustainable Solid Waste Management (SSWM) is a critical problem for developing countries with regards to climate change and greenhouse gas emission, and also the general wellbeing of the populace. Key themes of this paper are producer responsibility and management of products at end of life. The paper proposes two theatrical recovery models that can be used to address the issue of sachet waste in Ghana.

Description: Three-dimensional finite element model of the drilling process used for fixation of Salter–Harris type-3 fractures by using a K-wire Mechanical Sciences, 6, 147-154, 2015 Author(s): A. Gok, K. Gok, and M. B. Bilgin In this study, the drilling process was performed with Kirschner wire (K-wire) for stabilization after reduction of Salter–Harris (SH) type-3 epiphyseal fractures of distal femur. The study was investigated both experimentally and numerically. The numerical analyses were performed with finite element method (FEM), using DEFORM-3D software. Some conditions such as friction, material model and load and boundary must be identified exactly while using FEM. At the same time, an analytic model and software were developed, which calculate the process parameters such as drilling power and thrust power, heat transfer coefficients and friction coefficient between tool–chip interface in order to identify the temperature distributions occurring in the K-wire and bone model (Keklikoǧlu Plastik San.) material during the drilling process. Experimental results and analysis results have been found as consistent with each other. The main cutting force, thrust force, bone model temperature and K-wire temperature were measured as 80° N, 120° N, 69 °C and 61 °C for 400 rpm in experimental studies. The main cutting force, thrust force, bone model temperature and K-wire temperature were measured as 65° N, 87° N, 91 °C and 82 °C for 800 rpm in experimental studies. The main cutting force, thrust force, bone model temperature and K-wire temperature were measured as 85° N, 127° N, 72 °C and 67 °C for 400 rpm in analysis studies. The main cutting force, thrust force, bone model temperature and K-wire temperature were measured as 69° N, 98° N, 83 °C and 76 °C for 800 rpm in analysis studies. A good consistency was obtained between experimental results and finite element analysis (FEA) results. This proved the validity of the software and finite element model. Thus, this model can be used reliably in such drilling processes.

Description: We provide an entropy analysis for light storage and light retrieval. In this analysis, entropy extraction and reduction in a typical light storage experiment are identified. The spatiotemporal behavior of entropy is presented for D1 transition in cold sodium atoms. The governing equations are the reduced Maxwell field equations and the Liouville–von Neumann equation for the density matrix of the dressed atom.

Description: A person’s image, which is determined through physical appearance, considerably affects self-esteem developed from early childhood. Scoliosis causes multiple trunk deformations that can affect a person’s perception of the body. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of scoliosis dimension and the degree of trunk deformation on the level of self-esteem and sexual functioning in women with idiopathic scoliosis. Thirty-six women diagnosed with idiopathic scoliosis were recruited to a prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. The subjects were divided into two groups depending on the value of the Cobb angle. The level of self-esteem was determined by means of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), whereas the sexual functioning was assessed via the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). The trunk deformations were specified with the Posterior Trunk Symmetry Index (POTSI). A statistically significant correlation was proved between the amount of points received in the Rosenberg scale evaluation and the POTSI index in Group A (R = −0.56, p = 0.04). Subjects with smaller deformations within the coronal plane had a higher level of self-confidence. The trunk asymmetries in the coronal plane may have a negative effect on women with scoliosis and their self-appraisal.

Description: The aeroderivate gas turbines are widely used for power generation in the oil and gas industry. In offshore marine platforms, the aeroderivative gas turbines provide the energy required to drive mechanically compressors, pumps and electric generators. Therefore, the study of the performance of aeroderivate gas turbines based on a parametric analysis is relevant to carry out a diagnostic of the engine, which can lead to operational as well as predictive and/or corrective maintenance actions. This work presents a methodology based on the exergetic analysis to estimate the irrevesibilities and exergetic efficiencies of the main components of a two-shaft aeroderivate gas turbine. The studied engine is the Solar Turbine Mars 100, which is rated to provide 11.86 MW. In this engine, the air is compressed in an axial compressor achieving a pressure ratio of 17.7 relative to ambient conditions and a high pressure turbine inlet temperature of 1220 °C. Even if the thermal efficiency associated to the pressure ratio of 17.7 is 1% lower than the maximum thermal efficiency, the irreversibilities related to this pressure ratio decrease approximately 1 GW with respect to irreversibilities of the optimal pressure ratio for the thermal efficiency. In addition, this paper contributes to develop a mathematical model to estimate the high turbine inlet temperature as well as the pressure ratio of the low and high pressure turbines.

Description: The minimum error entropy (MEE) criterion is an important learning criterion in information theoretical learning (ITL). However, the MEE solution cannot be obtained in closed form even for a simple linear regression problem, and one has to search it, usually, in an iterative manner. The fixed-point iteration is an efficient way to solve the MEE solution. In this work, we study a fixed-point MEE algorithm for linear regression, and our focus is mainly on the convergence issue. We provide a sufficient condition (although a little loose) that guarantees the convergence of the fixed-point MEE algorithm. An illustrative example is also presented.

Description: Continuous flow processes have recently emerged as a powerful technology for performing chemical transformations since they ensure some advantages over traditional batch procedures. In this work, the use of commercially available and affordable PEEK (Polyetheretherketone) and PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) tubing as microreactors was exploited to perform organic reactions under continuous flow conditions, as an alternative to the commercial traditional glass microreactors. The wide availability of tubing with different sizes allowed quickly running small-scale preliminary screenings, in order to optimize the reaction parameters, and then to realize under the best experimental conditions a reaction scale up for preparative purposes. The gram production of some Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) such as (S)-Pregabalin and (S)-Warfarin was accomplished in short reaction time with high enantioselectivity, in an experimentally very simple procedure.

Description: Integrable spin systems possess interesting geometrical and gauge invariance properties and have important applications in applied magnetism and nanophysics. They are also intimately connected to the nonlinear Schrödinger family of equations. In this paper, we identify three different integrable spin systems in (2 + 1) dimensions by introducing the interaction of the spin field with more than one scalar potential, or vector potential, or both. We also obtain the associated Lax pairs. We discuss various interesting reductions in (2 + 1) and (1 + 1) dimensions. We also deduce the equivalent nonlinear Schrödinger family of equations, including the (2 + 1)-dimensional version of nonlinear Schrödinger–Hirota–Maxwell–Bloch equations, along with their Lax pairs.

Description: This paper presents a novel hierarchical clustering method using support vector machines. A common approach for hierarchical clustering is to use distance for the task. However, different choices for computing inter-cluster distances often lead to fairly distinct clustering outcomes, causing interpretation difficulties in practice. In this paper, we propose to use a one-class support vector machine (OC-SVM) to directly find high-density regions of data. Our algorithm generates nested set estimates using the OC-SVM and exploits the hierarchical structure of the estimated sets. We demonstrate the proposed algorithm on synthetic datasets. The cluster hierarchy is visualized with dendrograms and spanning trees.

Description: After a long and brave battle with a serious illness, our dear friend and colleague Slavik Jablan passed away on 26 February 2015. [...]

Description: Melanoma diagnosis depends on the experience of doctors. Symmetry is one of the most important factors to measure, since asymmetry shows an uncontrolled growth of cells, leading to melanoma cancer. A system for melanoma detection in diagnosing melanocytic diseases with high sensitivity is proposed here. Two different sets of features are extracted based on the importance of the ABCD rule and symmetry evaluation to develop a new architecture. Support Vector Machines are used to classify the extracted sets by using both an alternative labeling method and a structure divided into two different classifiers which prioritize sensitivity. Although feature extraction is based on former works, the novelty lies in the importance given to symmetry and the proposed architecture, which combines two different feature sets to obtain a high sensitivity, prioritizing the medical aspect of diagnosis. In particular, a database provided by Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín was tested, obtaining a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 66.66% using a leave-one-out validation method. These results show that 66.66% of biopsies would be avoided if this system is applied to lesions which are difficult to classify by doctors.

Description: Brief Communication: Breeding vectors in the phase space reconstructed from time series data Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics Discussions, 2, 1301-1315, 2015 Author(s): E. Lynch, D. Kaufman, A. S. Sharma, E. Kalnay, and K. Ide Bred vectors characterize the nonlinear instability of dynamical systems and so far have been computed only for systems with known evolution equations. In this article, bred vectors are computed from a single time series data using time-delay embedding, with a new technique, nearest-neighbor breeding. Since the dynamical properties of the standard and nearest-neighbor breeding are shown to be similar, this provides a new and novel way to model and predict sudden transitions in systems represented by time series data alone.

Description: Search for the 531-day-period wobble signal in the polar motion based on EEMD Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 22, 473-484, 2015 Author(s): H. Ding and W. Shen In this study, we use a nonlinear and non-stationary time series analysis method, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition method (EEMD), to analyze the polar motion (PM) time series (EOP C04 series from 1962 to 2013) to find a 531-day-period wobble (531 dW) signal. The 531 dW signal has been found in the early PM series (1962–1977), but cannot be found in the recent PM series (1978–2013) using conventional analysis approaches. By virtue of the demodulation feature of EEMD, the 531 dW can be confirmed to be present in PM based on the differences of the amplitudes and phases between different intrinsic mode functions. Results from three sub-series divided from the EOP C04 series show that the period of the 531 dW is subject to variations, in the range of 530.9–524 days, and its amplitude is also time-dependent (about 2–11 mas). Synthetic tests are carried out to explain why the 531 dW can only be observed in recent 30-year PM time series after using EEMD. The 531 dW is also detected in the two longest available superconducting gravimeter (SG) records, which further confirms the presence of the 531 dW. The confirmation of the 531 dW existence could be significant in establishing a more reasonable Earth rotation model and may effectively contribute to the prediction of the PM and its mechanism interpretation.

Description: To investigate the association of the hygiene index values of live fresh aquatic products and food-borne diarrhea in the population of the Ningbo area in China. Volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), histamine (HIS), indole, tetrodotoxin (TTX), and paralytic, neurotoxic, amnesic and diarrhetic shellfish poisons (PSP, NSP, ASP, and DSP, respectively) in the samples of live fresh aquatic products and food-borne diarrhea cases in six studied districts were analyzed. Results indicate that the incidence rate of food-borne diarrhea is related to the hygiene index values. Aside from VBN, the main risk factors related to food-borne diarrhea in edible aquatic products include DSP (in marine fish, shrimp, and other shellfishes), NSP, and ASP (in marine shrimp and crab). Hygiene index values among different species were significantly different. No significant difference in the monitoring index values was found among the six different studied districts. The reported cases of food-borne diarrhea were positively associated with VBN and DSP in aquatic products in Haishu, Jiangbei, Zhenhai, and Beilun, as well as VBN and NSP in aquatic products in Jiangdong and Yinzhou. In conclusion, VBN, DSP, NSP, and ASP are important risk factors for the occurring of food-borne diarrhea in the population of the Ningbo area in China.

Description: Background: The relationship between policy networks and policy development among local health departments (LHDs) is a growing area of interest to public health practitioners and researchers alike. In this study, we examine policy activity and ties between public health leadership across large urban health departments. Methods: This study uses data from a national profile of local health departments as well as responses from a survey sent to three staff members (local health official, chief of policy, chief science officer) in each of 16 urban health departments in the United States. Network questions related to frequency of contact with health department personnel in other cities. Using exponential random graph models, network density and centrality were examined, as were patterns of communication among those working on several policy areas using exponential random graph models. Results: All 16 LHDs were active in communicating about chronic disease as well as about use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD). Connectedness was highest among local health officials (density = .55), and slightly lower for chief science officers (d = .33) and chiefs of policy (d = .29). After accounting for organizational characteristics, policy homophily (i.e., when two network members match on a single characteristic) and tenure were the most significant predictors of formation of network ties. Conclusion: Networking across health departments has the potential for accelerating the adoption of public health policies. This study suggests similar policy interests and formation of connections among senior leadership can potentially drive greater connectedness among other staff.

Description: Computer work is characterized by sedentary static workload with low-intensity energy metabolism. The aim of our study was to evaluate the dynamics of skin surface temperature in the hand during prolonged computer mouse work under different ergonomic setups. Digital infrared imaging of the right forearm and wrist was performed during three hours of continuous computer work (measured at the start and every 15 minutes thereafter) in a laboratory with controlled ambient conditions. Four people participated in the study. Three different ergonomic computer mouse setups were tested on three different days (horizontal computer mouse without mouse pad; horizontal computer mouse with mouse pad and padded wrist support; vertical computer mouse without mouse pad). The study revealed a significantly strong negative correlation between the temperature of the dorsal surface of the wrist and time spent working with a computer mouse. Hand skin temperature decreased markedly after one hour of continuous computer mouse work. Vertical computer mouse work preserved more stable and higher temperatures of the wrist (>30 °C), while continuous use of a horizontal mouse for more than two hours caused an extremely low temperature (〈28 °C) in distal parts of the hand. The preliminary observational findings indicate the significant effect of the duration and ergonomics of computer mouse work on the development of hand hypothermia.

Description: LDH-C4 is a lactate dehydrogenase that catalyzes the conversion of pyruvate to lactate. In mammals, ldh-c was originally thought to be expressed only in testis and spermatozoa. Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), which belongs to the genus Ochotona of the Ochotonidea family, is a hypoxia tolerant mammal living 3000–5000 m above sea level on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, an environment which is strongly hypoxic. Ldh-c is expressed not only in testis and sperm but also in somatic tissues of plateau pika. In this study, the effects of N-propyl oxamate and N-isopropyl oxamate on LDH isozyme kinetics were compared to screens for a selective inhibitor of LDH-C4. To reveal the role and physiological mechanism of LDH-C4 in skeletal muscle of plateau pika, we investigated the effect of N-isopropyl oxamate on the pika exercise tolerance as well as the physiological mechanism. Our results show that Ki of N-propyl oxamate and N-isopropyl oxamate for LDH-A4, LDH-B4, and LDH-C4 were 0.094 mmol/L and 0.462 mmol/L, 0.119 mmol/L and 0.248 mmol/L, and 0.015 mmol/L and 0.013 mmol/L, respectively. N-isopropyl oxamate is a powerful selective inhibitor of plateau pika LDH-C4. In our exercise tolerance experiment, groups treated with inhibitors had significantly lower swimming times than the uninhibited control group. The inhibition rates of LDH, LD, and ATP were 37.12%, 66.27%, and 32.42%, respectively. Our results suggested that ldh-c is expressed in the skeletal muscle of plateau pika, and at least 32.42% of ATP in the skeletal muscle is catalyzed by LDH-C4 by anaerobic glycolysis. This suggests that pika has reduced dependence on oxygen and enhanced adaptation to hypoxic environment due to increased anaerobic glycolysis by LDH-C4 in skeletal muscle. LDH-C4 in plateau pika plays the crucial role in anaerobic glycolysis and generates ATP rapidly since this is the role of LDH-A4 in most species on plain land, which provide evidence that the native humans and animals in Qinghai-Tibet plateau can adapt to the hypoxia environment.

Description: Leukemias and hematopoietic disorders induced by benzene may arise from the toxicity of benzene to hematopoietic stem or progenitor cells (HS/PCs). Since there is a latency period between initial benzene exposure and the development of leukemia, subsequent impact of benzene on HS/PCs are crucial for a deeper understanding of the carcinogenicity and hematotoxicity in post-exposure stage. This study aims to explore the effects of benzene on HS/PCs and gene-expression in Wnt, Notch and Hh signaling pathways in post-exposure stage. The C3H/He mice were injected subcutaneously with benzene (0, 150, 300 mg/kg/day) for three months and were monitored for another 10 months post-exposure. The body weights were monitored, the relative organ weights, blood parameters and bone marrow smears were examined. Frequency of lineage- sca-1+ c-kit+ (LSK) cells, capability of colony forming and expression of genes in Wnt, Notch and Hedghog (Hh) signaling pathways were also analyzed. The colony formation of the progenitor cells for BFU-E, CFU-GEMM and CFU-GM was significantly decreased with increasing benzene exposure relative to controls, while no significant difference was observed in colonies for CFU-G and CFU-M. The mRNA level of cyclin D1 was increased and Notch 1 and p53 were decreased in LSK cells in mice exposed to benzene but with no statistical significance. These results suggest that subsequent toxic effects of benzene on LSK cells and gene expression in Wnt, Notch and Hh signaling pathways persist in post-exposure stage and may play roles in benzene-induced hematotoxicity.

Description: Statistical analysis of storm-time near-Earth current systems Annales Geophysicae, 33, 965-982, 2015 Author(s): M. W. Liemohn, R. M. Katus, and R. Ilie Currents from the Hot Electron and Ion Drift Integrator (HEIDI) inner magnetospheric model results for all of the 90 intense storms (disturbance storm-time (Dst) minimum 〈 −100 nT) from solar cycle 23 (1996–2005) are calculated, presented, and analyzed. We have categorized these currents into the various systems that exist in near-Earth space, specifically the eastward and westward symmetric ring current, the partial ring current, the banana current, and the tail current. The current results from each run set are combined by a normalized superposed epoch analysis technique that scales the timeline of each phase of each storm before summing the results. It is found that there is a systematic ordering to the current systems, with the asymmetric current systems peaking during storm main phase (tail current rising first, then the banana current, followed by the partial ring current) and the symmetric current systems peaking during the early recovery phase (westward and eastward symmetric ring current having simultaneous maxima). The median and mean peak amplitudes for the current systems ranged from 1 to 3 MA, depending on the setup configuration used in HEIDI, except for the eastward symmetric ring current, for which the mean never exceeded 0.3 MA for any HEIDI setup. The self-consistent electric field description in HEIDI yielded larger tail and banana currents than the Volland–Stern electric field, while the partial and symmetric ring currents had similar peak values between the two applied electric field models.

Description: In the paper, we address Bayesian sensitivity issues when integrating experts’ judgments with available historical data in a case study about strategies for the preventive maintenance of low-pressure cast iron pipelines in an urban gas distribution network. We are interested in replacement priorities, as determined by the failure rates of pipelines deployed under different conditions. We relax the assumptions, made in previous papers, about the prior distributions on the failure rates and study changes in replacement priorities under different choices of generalized moment-constrained classes of priors. We focus on the set of non-dominated actions, and among them, we propose the least sensitive action as the optimal choice to rank different classes of pipelines, providing a sound approach to the sensitivity problem. Moreover, we are also interested in determining which classes have a failure rate exceeding a given acceptable value, considered as the threshold determining no need for replacement. Graphical tools are introduced to help decisionmakers to determine if pipelines are to be replaced and the corresponding priorities.

Description: Background: An earthquake struck Ludian in Yunnan Province (China) on 3 August 2014, resulting in 3143 injuries, 617 deaths, and 112 missing persons. Our study aimed at estimating the health status and associated determinants among adolescent survivors after the Ludian earthquake. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 845 was conducted at the Ludian No. 1 Middle School. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA and stepwise linear regression analysis were used for data analysis. Results: The mean scores on the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) were 46.23 (SD = 7.10) and 36.34 (SD = 7.09), respectively. Lower PCS scores in the aftermath of an earthquake were associated with being trapped or in danger, being female, being an ethnic minority, injury to self and house damage, while lower MSC scores were associated with fear during the earthquake, Han ethnicity, death in the family, not being involved in the rescue and low household income. Conclusions: In our study, significant associations between demographic, socio-economic, and trauma-related experiences variables and overall physical and mental health of adolescent survivors were presented. The results of this study help expand our knowledge of health status among adolescent survivors after the Ludian earthquake.

Description: This paper develops a class of density regression models based on proportional hazards family, namely, Gamma transformation proportional hazard (Gt-PH) model . Exact inference for the regression parameters and hazard ratio is derived. These estimators enjoy some good properties such as unbiased estimation, which may not be shared by other inference methods such as maximum likelihood estimate (MLE). Generalised confidence interval and hypothesis testing for regression parameters are also provided. The method itself is easy to implement in practice. The regression method is also extended to Lasso-based variable selection.

Description: Since Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in stream modes, such as counter (CTR), output feedback (OFB) and cipher feedback (CFB), can meet most industrial requirements, the range of applications for dedicated stream ciphers is decreasing. There are many attack results using algebraic properties and side channel information against stream ciphers for hardware applications. Al-Hinai et al. presented an algebraic attack approach to a family of irregularly clock-controlled linear feedback shift register systems: the stop and go generator, self-decimated generator and alternating step generator. Other clock-controlled systems, such as shrinking and cascade generators, are indeed vulnerable against side channel attacks. To overcome these threats, new clock-controlled systems were presented, e.g., the generalized alternating step generator, cascade jump-controlled generator and mutual clock-controlled generator. However, the algebraic attack could be applied directly on these new systems. In this paper, we propose a new clock-controlled generator: the switching generator, which has resistance to algebraic and side channel attacks. This generator also preserves both security properties and the efficiency of existing clock-controlled generators.

Description: Dynamics of turbulence under the effect of stratification and internal waves Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 22, 337-348, 2015 Author(s): O. A. Druzhinin and L. A. Ostrovsky The objective of this paper is to study the dynamics of small-scale turbulence near a pycnocline, both in the free regime and under the action of an internal gravity wave (IW) propagating along a pycnocline, using direct numerical simulation (DNS). Turbulence is initially induced in a horizontal layer at some distance above the pycnocline. The velocity and density fields of IWs propagating in the pycnocline are also prescribed as an initial condition. The IW wavelength is considered to be larger by the order of magnitude as compared to the initial turbulence integral length scale. Stratification in the pycnocline is considered to be sufficiently strong so that the effects of turbulent mixing remain negligible. The dynamics of turbulence is studied both with and without an initially induced IW. The DNS results show that, in the absence of an IW, turbulence decays, but its decay rate is reduced in the vicinity of the pycnocline, where stratification effects are significant. In this case, at sufficiently late times, most of the turbulent energy is located in a layer close to the pycnocline center. Here, turbulent eddies are collapsed in the vertical direction and acquire the "pancake" shape. IW modifies turbulence dynamics, in that the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) is significantly enhanced as compared to the TKE in the absence of IW. As in the case without IW, most of the turbulent energy is localized in the vicinity of the pycnocline center. Here, the TKE spectrum is considerably enhanced in the entire wave-number range as compared to the TKE spectrum in the absence of IW.

Description: Portfolio selection in the financial literature has essentially been analyzed under two central assumptions: full knowledge of the joint probability distribution of the returns of the securities that will comprise the target portfolio; and investors’ preferences are expressed through a utility function. In the real world, operators build portfolios under risk constraints which are expressed both by their clients and regulators and which bear on the maximal loss that may be generated over a given time period at a given confidence level (the so-called Value at Risk of the position). Interestingly, in the finance literature, a serious discussion of how much or little is known from a probabilistic standpoint about the multi-dimensional density of the assets’ returns seems to be of limited relevance. Our approach in contrast is to highlight these issues and then adopt throughout a framework of entropy maximization to represent the real world ignorance of the “true” probability distributions, both univariate and multivariate, of traded securities’ returns. In this setting, we identify the optimal portfolio under a number of downside risk constraints. Two interesting results are exhibited: (i) the left- tail constraints are sufficiently powerful to override all other considerations in the conventional theory; (ii) the “barbell portfolio” (maximal certainty/ low risk in one set of holdings, maximal uncertainty in another), which is quite familiar to traders, naturally emerges in our construction.

Description: A diverse, cross-sectorial group of partners, stakeholders and researchers, collaborated to develop an evidence-informed Position Statement on active outdoor play for children aged 3–12 years. The Position Statement was created in response to practitioner, academic, legal, insurance and public debate, dialogue and disagreement on the relative benefits and harms of active (including risky) outdoor play. The Position Statement development process was informed by two systematic reviews, a critical appraisal of the current literature and existing position statements, engagement of research experts (N = 9) and cross-sectorial individuals/organizations (N = 17), and an extensive stakeholder consultation process (N = 1908). More than 95% of the stakeholders consulted strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the Position Statement; 14/17 participating individuals/organizations endorsed it; and over 1000 additional individuals and organizations requested their name be listed as a supporter. The final Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play states: “Access to active play in nature and outdoors—with its risks— is essential for healthy child development. We recommend increasing children’s opportunities for self-directed play outdoors in all settings—at home, at school, in child care, the community and nature.” The full Position Statement provides context for the statement, evidence supporting it, and a series of recommendations to increase active outdoor play opportunities to promote healthy child development.

Description: Risky outdoor play has been associated with promoting children’s health and development, but also with injury and death. Risky outdoor play has diminished over time, concurrent with increasing concerns regarding child safety and emphasis on injury prevention. We sought to conduct a systematic review to examine the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children, in order to inform the debate regarding its benefits and harms. We identified and evaluated 21 relevant papers for quality using the GRADE framework. Included articles addressed the effect on health indicators and behaviours from three types of risky play, as well as risky play supportive environments. The systematic review revealed overall positive effects of risky outdoor play on a variety of health indicators and behaviours, most commonly physical activity, but also social health and behaviours, injuries, and aggression. The review indicated the need for additional “good quality” studies; however, we note that even in the face of the generally exclusionary systematic review process, our findings support the promotion of risky outdoor play for healthy child development. These positive results with the marked reduction in risky outdoor play opportunities in recent generations indicate the need to encourage action to support children’s risky outdoor play opportunities. Policy and practice precedents and recommendations for action are discussed.

Description: Background: Smoking cessation research output should move beyond descriptive research of the health problem to testing interventions that can provide causal data and effective evidence-based solutions. This review examined the number and type of published smoking cessation studies conducted in low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) and disadvantaged population groups. Methods: A systematic database search was conducted for two time periods: 2000–2004 (TP1) and 2008–2012 (TP2). Publications that examined smoking cessation in a low-SES or disadvantaged population were coded by: population of interest; study type (reviews, non-data based publications, data-based publications (descriptive, measurement and intervention research)); and country. Intervention studies were coded in accordance with the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care data collection checklist and use of biochemical verification of self-reported abstinence was assessed. Results: 278 citations were included. Research output (i.e., all study types) had increased from TP1 27% to TP2 73% (χ² = 73.13, p 〈 0.001), however, the proportion of data-based research had not significantly increased from TP1 and TP2: descriptive (TP1 = 23% vs. TP2 = 33%) or intervention (TP1 = 77% vs. TP2 = 67%). The proportion of intervention studies adopting biochemical verification of self-reported abstinence had significantly decreased from TP1 to TP2 with an increased reliance on self-reported abstinence (TP1 = 12% vs. TP2 = 36%). Conclusions: The current research output is not ideal or optimal to decrease smoking rates. Research institutions, scholars and funding organisations should take heed to review findings when developing future research and policy.

Description: In this paper, the leader-following consensus algorithm, which is accompanied with compensations related to neighboring agents’ delayed states, is constructed for second-order multi-agent systems with communication delay. Using frequency-domain analysis, delay-independent and delay-dependent consensus conditions are obtained for second-order agents respectively to converge to the dynamical leader’s states asymptotically. Simulation illustrates the correctness of the results.

Description: Cumulative areawise testing in wavelet analysis and its application to geophysical time series Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics Discussions, 2, 1227-1273, 2015 Author(s): J. A. Schulte Statistical significance testing in wavelet analysis was improved through the development of a cumulative areawise test. The test was developed to eliminate the selection of two significance levels that an existing geometric test requires for implementation. The selection of two significance levels was found to make the test sensitive to the chosen pointwise significance level, which may preclude further scientific investigation. A set of experiments determined that the cumulative areawise test has greater statistical power than the geometric test in most cases, especially when the signal-to-noise ratio is high. The number of false positives identified by the tests was found to be similar if the respective significance levels were set to 0.05. The new testing procedure was applied to the time series of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and Niño 3.4 index. The testing procedure determined that the NAO, PDO, and AMO are consistent with red-noise processes, whereas significant power was found in the 2–7 year period band for the Niño 3.4 index.

Description: Fluid machinery operating in the supersonic regime unveil avenues towards more compact technology. However, internal supersonic flows are associated with high aerodynamic and thermal penalties, which usually prevent their practical implementation. Indeed, both shock losses and the limited operational range represent particular challenges to aerodynamic designers that should be taken into account at the initial phase of the design process. This paper presents a design methodology for supersonic passages based on direct evaluations of the velocity field using the method of characteristics and computation of entropy generation across shock waves. This meshless function evaluation tool is then coupled to an optimization scheme, based on evolutionary algorithms that minimize the entropy generation across the supersonic passage. Finally, we assessed the results with 3D Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes calculations.

Description: We propose a novel approach framed in terms of information theory and entropy to tackle the issue of the propagation of conspiracy theories. We represent the initial report of an event (such as the 9/11 terroristic attack) as a series of strings of information, each string classified by a two-state variable Ei = ±1, i = 1, …, N. If the values of the Ei are set to −1 for all strings, a state of minimum entropy is achieved. Comments on the report, focusing repeatedly on several strings Ek, might alternate their meaning (from −1 to +1). The representation of the event is turned fuzzy with an increased entropy value. Beyond some threshold value of entropy, chosen by simplicity to its maximum value, meaning N/2 variables with Ei = 1, the chance is created that a conspiracy theory might be initiated/propagated. Therefore, the evolution of the associated entropy is a way to measure the degree of penetration of a conspiracy theory. Our general framework relies on online content made voluntarily available by crowds of people, in response to some news or blog articles published by official news agencies. We apply different aggregation levels (comment, person, discussion thread) and discuss the associated patterns of entropy change.

Description: Signature schemes, proposed in 1976 by Diffie and Hellman, have become ubiquitous across modern communications. They allow for the exchange of messages from one sender to multiple recipients, with the guarantees that messages cannot be forged or tampered with and that messages also can be forwarded from one recipient to another without compromising their validity. Signatures are different from, but no less important than encryption, which ensures the privacy of a message. Commonly used signature protocols—signatures based on the Rivest–Adleman–Shamir (RSA) algorithm, the digital signature algorithm (DSA), and the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA)—are only computationally secure, similar to public key encryption methods. In fact, since these rely on the difficulty of finding discrete logarithms or factoring large primes, it is known that they will become completely insecure with the emergence of quantum computers. We may therefore see a shift towards signature protocols that will remain secure even in a post-quantum world. Ideally, such schemes would provide unconditional or information-theoretic security. In this paper, we aim to provide an accessible and comprehensive review of existing unconditionally securesecure signature schemes for signing classical messages, with a focus on unconditionally secure quantum signature schemes.

Description: The fine particulate matter (PM2.5) problem has attracted much scientific and public attention, due to its effects on visibility, human health, and global climate. There are three factors that have important effect on PM2.5 mass concentration: domestic pollutant emission sources, external sources outside of the country, and the meteorological conditions. Nagasaki is a coastal prefecture located at the westernmost part of Japan, which is an ideal location to study pollutants from long range transport and correlation between PM2.5 and meteorological conditions. In this paper, PM2.5 concentration data and meteorological data were obtained during 1 January 2013~31 December 2013. The spatial distribution depicts that the western part of the study area has the most serious PM2.5 pollution. The correlation analysis results between PM2.5 concentration and meteorological data showed that temperature had a negative, and precipitation had a positive, correlation with PM2.5. There was a threshold in the correlations between humidity and wind speed and PM2.5. The correlation was positive or negative depending on the meteorological variable values, if these were lower or higher than the threshold. From the relationship with wind direction, it can be depicted that the west wind might bring the most pollutants to Nagasaki.

Description: The role of symmetry in computer vision has waxed and waned in importance during the evolution of the field from its earliest days. At first figuring prominently in support of bottom-up indexing, it fell out of favour as shape gave way to appearance and recognition gave way to detection. With a strong prior in the form of a target object, the role of the weaker priors offered by perceptual grouping was greatly diminished. However, as the field returns to the problem of recognition from a large database, the bottom-up recovery of the parts that make up the objects in a cluttered scene is critical for their recognition. The medial axis community has long exploited the ubiquitous regularity of symmetry as a basis for the decomposition of a closed contour into medial parts. However, today’s recognition systems are faced with cluttered scenes and the assumption that a closed contour exists, i.e., that figure-ground segmentation has been solved, rendering much of the medial axis community’s work inapplicable. In this article, we review a computational framework, previously reported in [1–3], that bridges the representation power of the medial axis and the need to recover and group an object’s parts in a cluttered scene. Our framework is rooted in the idea that a maximally-inscribed disc, the building block of a medial axis, can be modelled as a compact superpixel in the image. We evaluate the method on images of cluttered scenes.

Description: Big data refers to informationalization technology for extracting valuable information through the use and analysis of large-scale data and, based on that data, deriving plans for response or predicting changes. With the development of software and devices for next generation sequencing, a vast amount of bioinformatics data has been generated recently. Also, bioinformatics data based big-data technology is rising rapidly as a core technology by the bioinformatician, biologist and big-data scientist. KEGG pathway is bioinformatics data for understanding high-level functions and utilities of the biological system. However, KEGG pathway analysis requires a lot of time and effort because KEGG pathways are high volume and very diverse. In this paper, we proposed a network analysis and visualization system that crawl user interest KEGG pathways, construct a pathway network based on a hierarchy structure of pathways and visualize relations and interactions of pathways by clustering and selecting core pathways from the network. Finally, we construct a pathway network collected by starting with an Alzheimer’s disease pathway and show the results on clustering and selecting core pathways from the pathway network.

Description: The similarity patterns of the genetic code result from similar codons encoding similar messages. We develop a new mathematical model to analyze these patterns. The physicochemical characteristics of amino acids objectively quantify their differences and similarities; the Hamming metric does the same for the 64 codons of the codon set. (Hamming distances equal the number of different codon positions: AAA and AAC are at 1-distance; codons are maximally at 3-distance.) The CodonPolytope, a 9-dimensional geometric object, is spanned by 64 vertices that represent the codons and the Euclidian distances between these vertices correspond one-to-one with intercodon Hamming distances. The CodonGraph represents the vertices and edges of the polytope; each edge equals a Hamming 1-distance. The mirror reflection symmetry group of the polytope is isomorphic to the largest permutation symmetry group of the codon set that preserves Hamming distances. These groups contain 82,944 symmetries. Many polytope symmetries coincide with the degeneracy and similarity patterns of the genetic code. These code symmetries are strongly related with the face structure of the polytope with smaller faces displaying stronger code symmetries. Splitting the polytope stepwise into smaller faces models an early evolution of the code that generates this hierarchy of code symmetries. The canonical code represents a class of 41,472 codes with equivalent symmetries; a single class among an astronomical number of symmetry classes comprising all possible codes.

Description: Frequent graph pattern mining is one of the most interesting areas in data mining, and many researchers have developed a variety of approaches by suggesting efficient, useful mining techniques by integration of fundamental graph mining with other advanced mining works. However, previous graph mining approaches have faced fatal problems that cannot consider important characteristics in the real world because they cannot process both (1) different element importance and (2) multiple minimum support thresholds suitable for each graph element. In other words, graph elements in the real world have not only frequency factors but also their own importance; in addition, various elements composing graphs may require different thresholds according to their characteristics. However, traditional ones do not consider such features. To overcome these issues, we propose a new frequent graph pattern mining method, which can deal with both different element importance and multiple minimum support thresholds. Through the devised algorithm, we can obtain more meaningful graph pattern results with higher importance. We also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has more outstanding performance compared to previous state-of-the-art approaches in terms of graph pattern generation, runtime, and memory usage.

Description: Hybrid Position-Force Control of a Cable-Driven Parallel Robot with Experimental Evaluation Mechanical Sciences, 6, 119-125, 2015 Author(s): W. Kraus, P. Miermeister, V. Schmidt, and A. Pott For cable-driven parallel robots elastic cables are used to manipulate a mobile platform in the workspace. In this paper, we present a hybrid position-force control, which allows for applying defined forces on the environment and simultaneous movement along the surface. We propose a synchronous control of the cable forces to ensure the stability of the platform during movement. The performance of the controller is experimentally investigated regarding contact establishment and dynamic behavior during a motion on the cable robot IPAnema 3.

Description: A large class of dynamic sensors have nonlinear input-output characteristics, often corresponding to a bistable potential energy function that controls the evolution of the sensor dynamics. These sensors include magnetic field sensors, e.g., the simple fluxgate magnetometer and the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), ferroelectric sensors and mechanical sensors, e.g., acoustic transducers, made with piezoelectric materials. Recently, the possibilities offered by new technologies and materials in realizing miniaturized devices with improved performance have led to renewed interest in a new generation of inexpensive, compact and low-power fluxgate magnetometers and electric-field sensors. In this article, we review the analysis of an alternative approach: a symmetry-based design for highly-sensitive sensor systems. The design incorporates a network architecture that produces collective oscillations induced by the coupling topology, i.e., which sensors are coupled to each other. Under certain symmetry groups, the oscillations in the network emerge via an infinite-period bifurcation, so that at birth, they exhibit a very large period of oscillation. This characteristic renders the oscillatory wave highly sensitive to symmetry-breaking effects, thus leading to a new detection mechanism. Model equations and bifurcation analysis are discussed in great detail. Results from experimental works on networks of fluxgate magnetometers are also included.

Description: Recently, the hospital information system environment using IT communication technology and utilization of medical information has been increasing. In the medical field, the medical information system only supports the transfer of patient information to medical staff through an electronic health record, without information about patient status. Hence, it needs a method of real-time monitoring for the patient. Also, in this environment, a secure method in approaching healthcare through various smart devices is required. Therefore, in this paper, in order to classify the status of the patients, we propose a dynamic approach of the medical information system in a hospital information environment using the dynamic access control method. Also, we applied the symmetric method of AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). This was the best encryption algorithm for sending and receiving biological information. We can define usefulness as the dynamic access application service based on the final result of the proposed system. The proposed system is expected to provide a new solution for a convenient medical information system.

Description: Approximately two decades after the first pioneering analyses, the study of shape asymmetry with the methods of geometric morphometrics has matured and is a burgeoning field. New technology for data collection and new methods and software for analysis are widely available and have led to numerous applications in plants and animals, including humans. This review summarizes the concepts and morphometric methods for studying asymmetry of shape and size. After a summary of mathematical and biological concepts of symmetry and asymmetry, a section follows that explains the methods of geometric morphometrics and how they can be used to analyze asymmetry of biological structures. Geometric morphometric analyses not only tell how much asymmetry there is, but also provide information about the patterns of covariation in the structure under study. Such patterns of covariation in fluctuating asymmetry can provide valuable insight about the developmental basis of morphological integration, and have become important tools for evolutionary developmental biology. The genetic basis of fluctuating asymmetry has been studied from empirical and theoretical viewpoints, but serious challenges remain in this area. There are many promising areas for further research that are only little explored at present.

Description: The developmental instability (DI)-sexual selection hypothesis proposes that large size and symmetry in secondary sexual traits are favored by sexual selection because they reveal genetic quality. A critical prediction of this hypothesis is that there should exist negative correlations between trait fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and size of condition dependent sexual traits; condition dependent traits should reveal an organism’s overall health and vigor, and be influenced by a multitude of genetic loci. Here, we tested for the predicted negative FA-size correlations in the male sex comb of Drosophila bipectinata. Among field-caught males from five widely separated geographic localities, FA-size correlations were consistently positive, despite evidence that sex comb size is condition dependent. After controlling for trait size, FA was significantly negatively correlated with body size within several populations, indicating that developmental instability in the comb may reveal individual genetic quality. We suggest the possibility that condition dependent traits in some cases tap into independent units of the genome (a restricted set of genes), rather than signaling overall genetic properties of the organism. There were pronounced among-population differences in both comb FA and size, and these traits were positively correlated across populations, recapitulating the within-population patterns. We conclude that the results are inconsistent with the DI-sexual selection hypothesis, and discuss potential reasons for positive FA-size co-variation in sexual traits.

Description: We present three types of polyhedral surfaces, which are continuously flexible and have not only an initial pose, where all faces are coplanar, but pass during their self-motion through another pose with coplanar faces (“flat pose”). These surfaces are examples of so-called rigid origami, since we only admit exact flexions, i.e., each face remains rigid during the motion; only the dihedral angles vary. We analyze the geometry behind Miura-ori and address Kokotsakis’ example of a flexible tessellation with the particular case of a cyclic quadrangle. Finally, we recall Bricard’s octahedra of Type 3 and their relation to strophoids.

Description: By insisting on naturalness in both the electroweak and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) sectors of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), the portrait for dark matter production is seriously modified from the usual weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) miracle picture. In supersymmetry (SUSY) models with radiatively-driven naturalness (radiative natural SUSY or radiative natural SUSY (RNS)) which include a Dine–Fischler–Srednicki–Zhitnitsky (DFSZ)-like solution to the strong charge-conjugation-parity (CP) and SUSY \(\mu\) problems, dark matter is expected to be an admixture of both axions and higgsino-like WIMPs. The WIMP/axion abundance calculation requires simultaneous solution of a set of coupled Boltzmann equations which describe quasi-stable axinos and saxions. In most of parameter space, axions make up the dominant contribution of dark matter although regions of WIMP dominance also occur. We show the allowed range of Peccei-Quinn (PQ) scale \(f_a\) and compare to the values expected to be probed by the axion dark matter search experiment (ADMX) axion detector in the near future. We also show WIMP detection rates, which are suppressed from usual expectations, because now WIMPs comprise only a fraction of the total dark matter. Nonetheless, ton-scale noble liquid detectors should be able to probe the entirety of RNS parameter space. Indirect WIMP detection rates are less propitious since they are reduced by the square of the depleted WIMP abundance.

Description: Based on our field investigations of landslide hazards in the Wenchuan earthquake, some findings can be reported: (1) the multi-aspect terrain facing empty isolated mountains and thin ridges reacted intensely to the earthquake and was seriously damaged; (2) the slope angles of most landslides was larger than 45°. Considering the above disaster phenomena, the reasons are analyzed based on shaking table tests of one-sided, two-sided and four-sided slopes. The analysis results show that: (1) the amplifications of the peak accelerations of four-sided slopes is stronger than that of the two-sided slopes, while that of the one-sided slope is the weakest, which can indirectly explain the phenomena that the damage is most serious; (2) the amplifications of the peak accelerations gradually increase as the slope angles increase, and there are two inflection points which are the point where the slope angle is 45° and where the slope angle is 50°, respectively, which can explain the seismic phenomenon whereby landslide hazards mainly occur on the slopes whose slope angle is bigger than 45°. The amplification along the slope strike direction is basically consistent, and the step is smooth.