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In order to solve the problem that the forwarding layer interface status was outdated or invalid, this paper proposed a network layer forwarding strategy based on real-time status. Aiming at the information failure phenomenon existing in the adaptive forwarding layer of the content center network, the slow convergence problem and the detection swing problem caused by the SRTI, it enhanced the real-time performance of acquiring network information by improving the periodic detection and triggering top-N detection mechanism in the adaptive forwarding strategy. Theoretical analysis and experimental simulations show that this strategy can effectively reduce the slow convergence time of SRTI and greatly reduce the packet loss rate caused by the detection swing problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers for non-convex nonlinear programming problems. First, we prove, under the strict complementarity condition, that the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is linear and the ratio constant is proportional to 1/c when the ratio ‖ (μ 0 , λ 0) − (μ ¯ , λ ¯) ‖ / c is small enough, which implies that the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is superlinear when the parameter c increases to + ∞. Second, we prove that, without strict complementarity condition, the rate of convergence of the proximal method of multipliers is proportional to 1/c when c exceeds a threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the potential impact of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) rules on the CT rate in a large paediatric minor traumatic head injury (MTHI) cohort and compare this with current national Dutch guidelines. This was a planned sub-study of a prospective multicentre observational study that enrolled 1006 children younger than 18 years with MTHI. We calculated the number of recommended CT scans and described trauma-related CT scan abnormalities. The PECARN rules recommended a significantly lower percentage of CT scans in all age categories, namely 101/357 (28.3%) versus 164/357 (45.9%) (p < 0.001) in patients under 2 years of age and 148/623 (23.8%) versus 394/623 (63.2%) (p < 0,001) versus in patients 2 years and older.Conclusion: The projected CT rate can significantly be reduced if the PECARN rules are applied. We therefore advocate that the PECARN guidelines are also implemented in The Netherlands. What is Known: • To guide clinicians whether to perform a CT scan in children with a minor traumatic head injury (MTHI) clinical decision rules has been developed. • The overall CT scan rate in adherence with the Dutch MTHI guidelines is 44%. What is New: • The projected CT rate can significantly be reduced in a Dutch cohort of MTHI if the PECARN rules are applied. • The Dutch national guidelines for MTHI can safely be replaced by the PECARN rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consider a rank-ordering problem, ranking a group of subjects by the conditional probability from a Bayesian network (BN) model of binary variables. The conditional probability is the probability that a subject is in a certain state given an outcome of some other variables. The classification is based on the rank order and the class levels are assigned with equal proportions. Two BN models are said to be similar to each other if they are of the same model structure but with different probability distributions each of which satisfies the positive association condition. Let ℳ be a set of BN models which are similar to each other. We constructed a BN model M∗, which is similar to all the models in ℳ and the best with regard to ℳ in the sense of the Kullback-Leibler divergence measure. It is found by numerical experiments that, on average, the agreement rate of classifications between a model in ℳ and the similar model M∗ is far larger than that by a random classification and the difference in agreement rate becomes more apparent as the class number increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When using discontinuous assay of reactions, initial rates are often estimated from a limited number of time points. There has been no detailed study of how best to do this. In this work, time courses were simulated by different theoretical equations (including strong product inhibition, first order, Michaelis–Menten and truly linear), but with random error addition to each data point. Various methods were tested to fit an initial rate to the data, and the result compared with the known "true" value. Fitting a simple quadratic generally gives initial rates as accurate as any other curve, and is better than a linear fit if there are about 8 or more time points. For fewer points a linear fit gives less variable and often more accurate rates. The absolute contribution to data point error has a major impact on rate accuracy, and often dominates that due to curvature, so that sampling to at least 10% conversion is preferred. The accuracy of a linear fit can be improved by methods that reject some later points based on curvature tests. Awareness of these effects can help avoid rate inaccuracies of 10% or more due to poor methods of data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a general monotone regression estimation where we allow for independent and dependent regressors. We propose a modification of the classical isotonic least squares estimator and establish its rate of convergence for the integrated $L^{1}$ -loss function. The methodology captures the shape of the data without assuming additivity or a parametric form for the regression function. Furthermore, the degree of smoothing is chosen automatically and no auxiliary tuning is required for the theoretical analysis. Some simulations and two real data illustrations complement the study of the proposed estimator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Resection is the cornerstone of curative treatment for many nonmetastatic gastric cancers (GCs), but the population treatment patterns remains largely unknown. This large international population-based study aimed at investigating the treatment patterns and trends for nonmetastatic GC in Europe and the United States and at exploring factors associated with resection. Methods: Data of patients with microscopically confirmed primary invasive GC without distant metastasis from the national cancer registries of the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, and Estonia and the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-18 Program were retrieved. Age-standardized treatment rates were computed and trends were evaluated using linear regression. Associations of resection with patient and tumor characteristics were analyzed using multivariable-adjusted log-binomial regression. Analysis was performed in each country respectively without pooling. Results: Together 65 707 nonmetastatic GC patients diagnosed in 2003-2016 were analyzed. Age-standardized resection rates significantly decreased over years in all countries (by 4-24%). In 2013-2014, rates varied greatly from54 to 75%. Patients with increasing ages, cardia cancers, or cancers invading adjacent structure were significantly less frequently resected. Resection was further associated with sex, performance status, comorbidities, tumor histology, tumor size, hospital type, and hospital volume. Association patterns and strengths varied across countries. After multivariable adjustment, resection rates remained decreasing (prevalence ratio = 0.97-0.995 per year), with decreasing trends consistently seen in various subgroups. Conclusions: Nonmetastatic GCs were less frequently resected in Europe and the United States in the early 21st century. Resection rates varied greatly across countries and appeared not to be optimal. Various factors associated with resection were revealed. Our findings can help to identify differences and possibly modifiable places in clinical practice and provide important novel references for designing effective population-based GC management strategies. * In Europe and the United States, nonmetastatic gastric cancers were less frequently resected in the early 21st century. * Resection rates varied greatly across countries and appeared not optimal. * Various factors associated with resection were revealed. * Our findings identify differences and possibly modifiable places in clinical practice and provide important novel references for designing effective population-based management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the geometric shape on the dissolution rate of the domperidone, a drug model for immediate release dosage form. In this regard, a lack of sufficient information about the effective dissolution rate of the drugs regarding their shapes has made this issue an interesting subject for researchers. Methods: For this purpose, three tablet shapes, namely flat and biconvex both in a round and oblong shapes, with different four sizes were modelled for the preparation of domperidone tablet. In vitro dissolution test was accomplished using a USP dissolution apparatus II. The drug dissolution rate was assessed by calculating various dissolution parameters; e.g., dissolution efficiency (DE), mean dissolution rate (MDR), mean dissolution time (MDT), and difference and similarity factors (f1 and f2). Results: Regarding the disintegration time, the larger tablets showed a faster disintegration time. When the size of the tablets was smaller, the amount of released drug was significantly decreased. In addition, #9 tablets with a flat or biconvex geometry had obvious effects on the DE values. Generally, biconvex tablets had higher DE percentage than the flat tablets. Conclusion: Noticeable differences in dissolution parameters by considering the different geometric shapes play an important role in the drug release kinetics which makes a significant effect on quick onset of action in oral administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past few decades, response rates have declined across social science research. Although some researchers are willing to accept this state of affairs, in this comment, we argue that low response rates weaken the value of social science research, thereby jeopardizing science research and associated knowledge. We describe the case of a Hong Kong-based multi-site study of addiction treatment seekers to examine approaches to stimulating clinical research and response rates. For this case of addiction treatment seekers, the overall response rate was acceptable (69.7%), despite variation among the three study sites. We discuss factors that likely contributed to this response rate variation to illustrate practical steps that investigators can undertake to improve response rates instead of capitulating to the status quo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using Fourier-Bessel analysis combined with Ingham's inequality and the multiplier techniques, a polynomial decay rate for the energy of the wave equation, in a two-dimensional bounded domain with Wentzell-Dirichlet boundary conditions, is established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The currently popular approach to a direct determination of the specific breakage rate of particles of a given size in the ball milling operation involves: (i) using material crushed in jaw/roll crushers as the starting feed charge, (ii) batch grinding in four–five steps for a total period of 4–8 min, and (iii) determining the slope of the best-fit straight line of a log-linear 'first-order disappearance kinetics' plot. In this paper, using published data on grinding of the mixtures of minerals, and effect of the mill operating variables on grinding kinetics, it has been shown that this approach is not quite suitable for carrying out a meaningful analysis of the grinding operation as the specific breakage rate of particles varies quite significantly during the period of grinding covered in the test work. It has been emphasized that the disappearance kinetics of the crushed particles as a top size should not be of any concern to us for the purpose of design and scale-up. It is the instantaneous specific breakage rate of particles produced in the test ball mill under the operating conditions of interest that needs to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marginal Value Theorem (MVT) is an integral supplement to Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) as it seeks to explain an animal's decision of when to leave a patch when food is still available. MVT predicts that a forager capable of depleting a patch, in a habitat where food is patchily distributed, will leave the patch when the intake rate within it decreases to the average intake rate for the habitat. MVT relies on the critical assumption that the feeding rate in the patch will decrease over time. We tested this assumption using feeding data from a population of wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) from Gunung Palung National Park. We hypothesized that the feeding rate within orangutan food patches would decrease over time. Data included feeding bouts from continuous focal follows between 2014 and 2016. We recorded the average feeding rate over each tertile of the bout, as well as the first, midpoint, and last feeding rates collected. We did not find evidence of a decrease between first and last feeding rates (Linear Mixed Effects Model, n = 63), between a mid‐point and last rate (Linear Mixed Effects Model, n = 63), between the tertiles (Linear Mixed Effects Model, n = 63), nor a decrease in feeding rate overall (Linear Mixed Effects Model, n = 146). These findings, thus, do not support the MVT assumption of decreased patch feeding rates over time in this large generalist frugivore. Research Highlights: Wild Bornean orangutan feeding rates do not decrease during a feeding bout.The critical assumption of Marginal Value Theorem, that feeding rates decrease as patch residence, and thus patch depletion, increases, is not upheld in this population of wild Bornean orangutans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinetic study of organic reactions, especially multistep catalytic reactions, is crucial to in-depth understanding of reaction mechanisms. Here we report our kinetic study on the chiral disulfonimide-catalyzed cyanosilylation of an aldehyde, which revealed that two molecules of TMSCN are involved in the rate-determining C–C bond-forming step. In addition, the apparent activation energy, enthalpy of activation, and entropy of activation were deduced through a study of the temperature dependence of the reaction rates. More importantly, a novel and efficient method that makes use of the progress rates was developed to treat kinetic data obtained by continuous monitoring of the progress of a reaction by in situ FTIR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: It has long been recognized that tropical bird species demonstrate a wide range of traits characteristic for slow life histories, as indicated by lower investment in reproduction, slower senescence or slower physiological pace of life. Nevertheless, evidence for latitudinal variation in avian developmental rates has, so far, been inconclusive and based on limited geographic or phylogenetic sampling. The aim of this study was to test for global associations of avian developmental rates with latitude and migratoriness. Location: Global. Taxon: Birds. Methods: We compiled data on developmental (incubation and fledging) periods of 3,500 passerine and non‐passerine bird species distributed worldwide, which represented nearly all extant avian orders and families. Associations of developmental periods with latitude and migratoriness were analysed with phylogenetically informed comparative models that controlled for major sources of variation in developmental rates (body mass, clutch size, and developmental mode across altricial‐precocial spectrum). Results: Our analyses provided support for a negative latitudinal gradient in the duration of fledging, but not incubation period. After controlling for latitude, we also found that migratory birds showed faster developmental rates than resident species. Finally, we found that developmental rates were nonlinearly associated with clutch size (fastest developmental rates at intermediate clutch size) and that duration of fledging period had higher evolutionary lability than incubation period. Main conclusions: Our global comparative analysis provided convincing and phylogenetically robust evidence for a long‐held hypothesis on latitudinal variation in avian developmental rates, although the pattern was apparent only at the post‐embryonic stage of development (fledging period). This challenges a common belief on longer incubation periods in tropics and indicates that incubation and fledging periods may differently respond to external environmental factors, which can possibly be driven by their different evolutionary lability. The results may contribute to our understanding of biogeographic variation in species diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcription bursting creates variation among the individuals of a given population. Bursting emerges as the consequence of turning on and off the transcription process randomly. There are at least three sub-processes involved in the bursting phenomenon with different timescale regimes viz. flipping across the on–off state channels, microscopic transcription elongation events and the mesoscopic transcription dynamics along with the mRNA recycling. We demonstrate that when the flipping dynamics is coupled with the microscopic elongation events, then the distribution of the resultant transcription rates will be over-dispersed. This in turn reflects as the transcription bursting with over-dispersed non-Poisson type distribution of mRNA numbers. We further show that there exist optimum flipping rates (αC, βC) at which the stationary state Fano factor and variance associated with the mRNA numbers attain maxima. These optimum points are connected via α C = β C β C + γ r . Here α is the rate of flipping from the on-state to the off-state, β is the rate of flipping from the off-state to the on-state and γr is the decay rate of mRNA. When α = β = χ with zero rate in the off-state channel, then there exist optimum flipping rates at which the non-stationary Fano factor and variance attain maxima. Here χ C , v ≃ 3 k r + / 2 1 + k r + t (here k r + is the rate of transcription purely through the on-state elongation channel) is the optimum flipping rate at which the variance of mRNA attains a maximum and χ C , κ ≃ 1.72 / t is the optimum flipping rate at which the Fano factor attains a maximum. Close observation of the transcription mechanism reveals that the RNA polymerase performs several rounds of stall-continue type dynamics before generating a complete mRNA. Based on this observation, we model the transcription event as a stochastic trajectory of the transcription machinery across these on–off state elongation channels. Each mRNA transcript follows different trajectory. The total time taken by a given trajectory is the first passage time (FPT). Inverse of this FPT is the resultant transcription rate associated with the particular mRNA. Therefore, the time required to generate a given mRNA transcript will be a random variable. For a stall-continue type dynamics of RNA polymerase, we show that the overall average transcription rate can be expressed as k r ≃ h ∞ + k r + where k r + ≃ λ r + / L , λr+ is the microscopic transcription elongation rate in the on-state channel and L is the length of a complete mRNA transcript and h∞+ = [β/(α + β)] is the stationary state probability of finding the transcription machinery in the on-state channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a 1-dimensional chain of N weakly anharmonic classical oscillators coupled at its ends to heat baths at different temperatures. Each oscillator is subject to pinning potential and it also interacts with its nearest neighbors. In our set up both potentials are homogeneous and bounded (with N dependent bounds) perturbations of the harmonic ones. We show how a generalised version of Bakry–Emery theory can be adapted to this case of a hypoelliptic generator which is inspired by Baudoin (J Funct Anal 273(7):2275-2291, 2017). By that we prove exponential convergence to non-equilibrium steady state in Wasserstein–Kantorovich distance and in relative entropy with quantitative rates. We estimate the constants in the rate by solving a Lyapunov-type matrix equation and we obtain that the exponential rate, for the homogeneous chain, has order bigger than N - 3 . For the purely harmonic chain the order of the rate is in [ N - 3 , N - 1 ] . This shows that, in this set up, the spectral gap decays at most polynomially with N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given X ∈ R p and Y ∈ R two random variables, assume the model Y = ψ (X) + ε where ψ (·) is an unknown function and ε is a random error. We estimate the conditional covariance matrix Cov (E [ X | Y ]) applying a plug-in kernel-based algorithm to its entries. Next, we investigate the estimators rate of convergence under smoothness hypotheses on the density function of (X , Y). In a high-dimensional context, we improve the consistency the whole matrix estimator by providing a decreasing structure over the Cov (E [ X | Y ]) entries. We illustrate a sliced inverse regression setting with a simulation study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population-level case-fatality rate (CFR) associated with COVID-19 varies substantially, both across countries at any given time and within countries over time. We analyze the contribution of two key determinants of the variation in the observed CFR: the age-structure of diagnosed infection cases and age-specific case-fatality rates. We use data on diagnosed COVID-19 cases and death counts attributable to COVID-19 by age for China, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain, the United States, and New York City. We calculate the CFR for each population at the latest data point and also for Italy, Germany, Spain, and New York City over time. We use demographic decomposition to break the difference between CFRs into unique contributions arising from the age-structure of confirmed cases and the age-specific case-fatality. In late June 2020, CFRs varied from 2.2% in South Korea to 14.0% in Italy. The age-structure of detected cases often explains more than two-thirds of cross-country variation in the CFR. In Italy, the CFR increased from 4.2% to 14.0% between March 9 and June 30, 2020, and more than 90% of the change was due to increasing age-specific case-fatality rates. The importance of the age-structure of confirmed cases likely reflects several factors, including different testing regimes and differences in transmission trajectories; while increasing age-specific case-fatality rates in Italy could indicate other factors, such as the worsening health outcomes of those infected with COVID-19. Our findings lend support to recommendations for data to be disaggregated by age, and potentially other variables, to facilitate a better understanding of population-level differences in CFRs. They also show the need for well-designed seroprevalence studies to ascertain the extent to which differences in testing regimes drive differences in the age-structure of detected cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are interested in the decay properties of the axisymmetric solutions to the stationary Navier-Stokes equations in R 3 with finite Dirichlet integral. We establish some new a priori decay rates for the second order derivatives of the velocity. The result is obtained by combining the weighted energy estimates, the Brezis-Galleout inequality and the scaling argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the inaccuracy of the traditional user-based collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm and the lack of reasonable application of user ratings, this paper proposed a recommendation algorithm combining the measure of medium truth degree ( MMTD ) and the interest bias coefficient. The m ethod firstly used MMTD to m easure the similarity of user ratings. Secondly, it improved the cosine similarity formula and Jaccard formula by adopting user score similarity, and obtained a new MMTD-based user similarity measurement m ethod. Finally, combining the interest bias coefficient, it output the recommendation result. The experimental results on the M ovieLens-lOOk dataset show that the algorithm can improve the accuracy of the similarity m easure be tween users to some extent, and improve the precision and recall of recommendation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treatment of palmar and axillary primary focal hyperhidrosis (PFH) in children up to 16 years using thoracoscopic sympathicotomy is supported by scarce evidence. Therefore, this study aimed to summarize the results of our standardized bilateral, one‐stage, single‐port sympathicotomy (BOSS) in children up to 16 years of age. Methods: Consecutive children (n = 14) up to 16 years of age undergoing BOSS between October 2011 and June 2015 in our institution were included in this retrospective study. Results: Recurrence of primary hyperhidrosis was noted in seven patients (50.0%), of whom five patients (35.7%) underwent reoperation. Reoperations were associated with placement of additional thoracoscopic ports (n = 1; 12.5%), intraoperative placement of pleural drains (n = 2; 25%), and prolonged air leak (n = 1; 12.5%). Despite the high recurrence and reoperation rates, overall patient satisfaction was high with a median satisfaction score of 7.5 (interquartile range of 1.75; range: 4‐9). Conclusion: Although the overall patient satisfaction score in our cohort was good, BOSS for the treatment of intolerable palmar and axillary PFH in children up to 16 years of age is associated with a high recurrence and reoperation rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the scenario of classical communication over a finite-dimensional quantum channel with memory using a separable-state input ensemble and local output measurements. We propose algorithms for estimating the information rate of such communication setups, along with algorithms for bounding the information rate based on so-called auxiliary channels. Some of the algorithms are extensions of their counterparts for (classical) finite-state-machine channels. Notably, we discuss suitable graphical models for doing the relevant computations. Moreover, the auxiliary channels are learned in a data-driven approach; i.e., only input/output sequences of the true channel are needed, but not the channel model of the true channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colonoscopies are effective means of detecting and removing precancerous adenomatous polyps. The adenoma detection rate (ADR) is a marker of colonoscopy quality and an independent predictor of colorectal cancer incidence. Focused training interventions may improve an endoscopist's ADR, but the supporting research is limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis identified, critically appraised, and meta-analyzed data from randomized trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of training interventions on ADRs.Methods: Ovid Medline, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Eric, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for RCTs investigating the effect of an educational intervention on ADRs. Two reviewers independently screened, identified, and extracted trial-level data. Internal validity was assessed in duplicate using the Risk of Bias tool. Our primary outcome was the ADR. Secondary outcomes were advanced ADR, adenocarcinoma detection rate, polyp detection rate, and withdrawal times. Safety outcomes were post-polypectomy bleeding rate and colonoscopy-related perforation rate.Results: From 2837 screened citations, we identified 3 trials (119 endoscopists) meeting our inclusion criteria. Training interventions were associated with a trend toward increased ADRs (odds ratio 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.34; I2 83%; 3 trials; 119 endoscopists). When limited to screening colonoscopies, the odds ratio for ADRs associated with training interventions was 1.17 (95% CI 1.00-1.36; I2 80%; 3 trials; 119 endoscopists). There was a high level of heterogeneity between the trials' training interventions. Training intervention improved the advanced ADR, adenocarcinoma detection rate, polyp detection rate, and withdrawal times. Safety outcomes were not reported.Conclusions: A focused training intervention was associated with a strong trend toward increased ADRs among certified endoscopists. While the described training interventions definitely show promise, further efforts around continuing professional developments activities are needed to more consistently improve ADRS among certified endoscopists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Delirium in advanced cancer inpatient ranges between 13% and 85%. Reasons for this variability on the reported data could be related to the setting where they are admitted. Methods: This is an observational, comparative, prospective study on delirium diagnosis and delirium course of advanced cancer inpatients in two different palliative care settings. Hospice (C1) versus palliative care supportive team (C2). Differences between delirium precipitants, delirium treatment, and delirium survival were observed. Results: From 582 consecutive admissions, 494 from C1 and 88 from C2, finally 227 patients met inclusion criteria, were entered in the study. Total population delirium rate at admission, if we add both centers, was 57 patients (25%), 46 (26%) from C1 and 11 (22%) from C2; no statistically significant differences between delirium rate at admission between the two centers were found (χ2). When delirium course between delirious patients admitted in C1 and C2 was analyzed, a significantly higher rate of delirium reversibility was found in C2 [11/14 (78%)] versus [9/65 (14%)] in C1 (χ2p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: The frequency of delirium at admission and during the hospitalization in advanced cancer patients does not seem to be related to the setting, what seems to be related is the delirium course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of evidence suggests that mutation rates exhibit intra-species specific variation. We estimated genome-wide loss of heterozygosity (LOH), gross chromosomal changes, and single nucleotide mutation rates to determine intra-species specific differences in hybrid and homozygous strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The mutation accumulation lines of the S. cerevisiae hybrid backgrounds - S288c/YJM789 (S/Y) and S288c/RM11-1a (S/R) were analyzed along with the homozygous diploids RM11, S288c, and YJM145. LOH was extensive in both S/Y and S/R hybrid backgrounds. The S/Y background also showed longer LOH tracts, gross chromosomal changes, and aneuploidy. Short copy number aberrations were observed in the S/R background. LOH data from the S/Y and S/R hybrids were used to construct a LOH map for S288c to identify hotspots. Further, we observe up to a sixfold difference in single nucleotide mutation rates among the S. cerevisiae S/Y and S/R genetic backgrounds. Our results demonstrate LOH is common during mitotic divisions in S. cerevisiae hybrids and also highlight genome-wide differences in LOH patterns and rates of single nucleotide mutations between commonly used S. cerevisiae hybrid genetic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a problem of a perfect recovering cosinusoidal signal of any phase being sampled critically is considered. It is shown that there is no general solution to this problem. Its detailed analysis presented here shows that recovering both the original cosinusoidal signal amplitude and its phase is not possible at all. Only one of this quantities can be recovered under the assumption that the second one is known. And even then, performing some additional calculations is needed. As a byproduct, it is shown here that a transfer function of the recovering filter that must be used in the case of the critical sampling differs from the one which is used when a cosinusoidal signal is sampled with the use of a sampling frequency greater than the Nyquist rate. All the results achieved in this paper are soundly justified by thorough derivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We give a rational approximation to Euler's constant at a geometric rate of convergence, which is easy to compute. Moreover, such an approximation is completely monotonic. The approximants are built up in terms of expectations of the harmonic numbers acting on the standard Poisson process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to study the effect of flow rate (0.42∼2.09 m/s) on the corrosion behavior of WB36CN1 steel pipe in the simulated secondary circuit water environment (170°C, 6 mg/L ethanolamine + 100 µg/L NaCl), for which an autoclave was used to simulate the secondary circuit environment for carrying out related experiments. Design/methodology/approach: The corrosion behaviors were studied by electrochemical methods, morphological observations and elemental analysis. Findings: As flow rate increases, the amplitude of the current noise fluctuates increased, noise resistance Rn and spectral noise resistance Rsn decreased, the shear stress on the surface of WB36CN1 steel increases, the oxygen content on the surface decreases, the roughness becomes smaller. Meanwhile, the energy of energy distribution plot is concentrated at high frequencies under the three flow conditions, the slopes of current power spectral density curve approach 0 db/decade. This means that the oxide on the surface becomes less and corrosion rate increases with increasing flow rate. The corrosion type of WB36CN1 steel was uniform corrosion; the degree of uniform corrosion is higher at high flow rate. Originality/value: The effect of flow rate on the corrosion behavior of WB36CN1 steel pipe in the secondary circuit water environment was studied by using electrochemical methods in the laboratory. The effect mechanism of flow rate for corrosion behavior was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the time decay rates of smooth solutions to the Cauchy problem for the compressible Navier-Stokes system with and without a Yukawa- type potential. We prove the existence and uniqueness of global solutions by the standard energy method under small initial data assumptions. Further- more, if the initial data belong to L¹(R³), we establish the optimal time decay rates of the solution as well as its higher-order spatial derivatives. In particu- lar, we obtain the optimal decay rates of the highest-order spatial derivatives of the velocity. Finally, we derive the lower bound time decay rates for the solution and its spacial derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rate adaptation (RA) solutions have been proposed for legacy Wi-Fi standards. However, these solutions lack extensibility, and cannot therefore be easily applied to new Wi-Fi standards such as IEEE 802.11ac. Furthermore, while several practical RA solutions have been proposed for IEEE 802.11ac network interface cards (NICs), e.g., Minstrel and Iwlwifi, they achieve poor goodput performance in some cases since they lack scalability or thoroughness. Given a large number of rates in IEEE 802.11ac, the lack of scalability results in a slow convergence on the search of the best rate over time. To accelerate the rate search, several RA solutions skip some rates to narrow down the scope of candidate rates, but lack thoroughness and may miss the best rate. Accordingly, the present study proposes a holistic RA solution, designated as Machine Learning-based RA (MLRA), which is not only practical, but also extensible, scalable and thorough. MLRA achieves the extensible property by leveraging machine learning to automatically identify the correlations among the rate, goodput performance and link quality. Moreover, it achieves the scalable and thorough properties using a two-level rate search procedure and a congestion detector. The performance of MLRA is evaluated on commodity IEEE 802.11ac NICs using TensorFlow with an asynchronous framework implemented across the kernel and user spaces of the operating system. The results show that MLRA outperforms other practical RAs by up to around 133.0%-658.0% with a negligible overhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function–based wireless network with multiple hops, a node operates on its own with several predefined data rates (i.e. following modulation and coding schemes). Moreover, the IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function node's communication is characterized by transmission and carrier-sensing distances. The transmission one is, in general, reverse proportional to the data rate. Meanwhile, the carrier distance keeps constant regardless of the modulation and coding scheme. Therefore, when a node has a high transmission rate, within its carrier-sensing range, the number of nodes may increase. The previous works have not yet extensively investigated the impact of data rates on such a scenario. This article addresses that issue aiming to quantify the network performance of the multi-hop IEEE 802.11 networks. As a solution, we propose the mathematical expressions, which consider data rates, for end-to-end throughputs, as well as delays in the network with string topology. We confirm the expressions' correctness by presenting the quantitative agreements between the analytical and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the degree to which the coherence of quantum states is affected by noise. We give the definition of the n-th decay rate and investigate the coherence of Bell-diagonal states under n iterations of channels. We derive explicit formulas of the n-th decay rates based on l1 norm of coherence, relative entropy of coherence and skew information-based coherence. It is found that the larger n is, the faster the n-th decay rate decreases as the parameter p of Bell-diagonal states increases. Moreover, for any fixed n, with the increase of p, Bell-diagonal states can be completely incoherent under generalized amplitude damping (GAD) channels, depolarization (DEP) channels and phase flip (PF) channels, while this is not the case for bit flip (BF) channels and bit-phase flip (BPF) channels. We also investigate the geometry of the relative entropy of coherence and skew information-based coherence of Bell-diagonal states under different channels when the n-th decay rate is one, i.e., the coherence is frozen. It is shown that compared with BF and BPF channels, when n is large enough, the coherence of Bell-diagonal states will not be frozen under GAD, DEP and PF channels. For skew information-based coherence, similar properties of coherence freezing are found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of people use the bicycle for urban trips resulting in local congestion at intersections, especially during peak hours. Understanding the queue dynamics is key to find the correct measures that can reduce the delays for cyclists without affecting other traffic modes. To this end, the discharge process of bicycle queues is studied, focusing on the impact of jam density on the queue discharge rate and how this process is affected by cyclists that merge into the queue during the discharge phase. The impact of merging cyclists is captured by a newly introduced bicycle equivalent (BE) value. This direction-specific BE value is used to convert a merging cyclist into a cyclist that is waiting in the original queue. Results show that the queue discharge rate increases with increasing density of the queue. Furthermore, cyclists that merge by overtaking contribute to the queue discharge rate, while cyclists who merge from a perpendicular direction hinder the discharge process, thereby decreasing the bicycle flow at the intersection. The insights can be used to develop measures which minimise delay at intersections and to design efficient infrastructure for bicyclists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entanglements affect marine mammal species around the globe, and for some, those impacts are great enough to cause population declines. This study aimed to document rates and causes of entanglement and trends in local haulout abundance for Steller and California sea lions on the north coast of Washington from 2010–2018. We conducted small boat surveys to count sea lions and document entangled individuals. Rates of entanglement and entangling material occurrence were compared with records of stranded individuals on the Washington and Oregon coast and with packing bands recorded during beach debris surveys. The rate of entanglement for California sea lions was 2.13%, almost entirely composed of adult males, with a peak rate during June and July potentially due to some entangled individuals not migrating to their breeding grounds. For Steller sea lions, the rate of entanglement was 0.41%, composed of 77% adults (32.4% male, 63.3% female), 17.1% juveniles, 5.9% unknown age, and no pups. Steller sea lions exhibited a 7.9% ± 3.2 rate of increase in abundance at the study haulouts, which was similar to that seen in California sea lions (7.8% ± 4.2); both increases were greater than the population growth rates observed range-wide despite high rates of entanglement. Most entanglements for both species were classified as packing bands, followed by entanglement scars. Salmon flashers were also prevalent and only occurred from June–September during the local ocean salmon troll fishery. Packing band occurrence in beach debris surveys correlated with packing band entanglements observed on haulouts. However, no packing band entanglements were observed in the stranding record and the rate of stranded animals exhibiting evidence of entanglement was lower than expected, indicating that entanglement survival is higher than previously assumed. Future studies tracking individual entanglement outcomes are needed to develop effective, targeted management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this work was to create a technique that could measure all possible spatial and temporal delivery rates used in pencil-beam scanning (PBS) proton therapy. The proposed system used a fast scintillation screen for full-field imaging to resolve temporal and spatial patterns as it was delivered. A fast intensified CMOS camera used continuous mode with 10 ms temporal frame rate and 1 × 1 mm2 spatial resolution, imaging a scintillation screen during clinical proton PBS delivery. PBS plans with varying dose, dose rate, energy, field size, and spot-spacing were generated, delivered and imaged. The captured images were post processed to provide dose and dose rate values after background subtraction, perspective transformation, uniformity correction for the camera and the scintillation screen, and calibration into dose. The linearity in scintillation response with respect to varying dose rate, dose, and field size was within 2%. The quenching corrected response with varying energy was also within 2%. Large spatio-temporal variations in dose rate were observed, even for plans delivered with similar dose distributions. Dose and dose rate histograms and maximum dose rate maps were generated for quantitative evaluations. With the fastest PBS delivery on a clinical system, dose rates up to 26.0 Gy s−1 were resolved. The scintillation imaging technique was able to quantify proton PBS dose rate profiles with spot weight as low as 2 MU, with spot-spacing of 2.5 mm, having a 1 × 1 mm2 spatial resolution. These dose rate temporal profiles, spatial maps, and cumulative dose rate histograms provide useful metrics for the potential evaluation and optimization of dose rate in treatment plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During isometric activation of airway smooth muscle (ASM), cross‐bridge cycling and ATP hydrolysis rates decline across time even though isometric force is sustained. Thus, tension cost (i.e., ATP hydrolysis rate per unit of force during activation) decreases with time. The "latch‐state" hypothesis attributes the dynamic change in cross‐bridge cycling and ATP hydrolysis rates to changes in phosphorylation of the regulatory myosin light chain (rMLC20). However, we previously showed that in ASM, the extent of rMLC20 phosphorylation remains unchanged during sustained isometric force. As an alternative, we hypothesized that cytoskeletal remodeling within ASM cells results in increased internal loading of contractile proteins that slows cross‐bridge cycling and ATP hydrolysis rates. To test this hypothesis, we simultaneously measured isometric force and ATP hydrolysis rate in permeabilized porcine ASM strips activated by Ca2+ (pCa 4.0). The extent of rMLC20 phosphorylation remained unchanged during isometric activation, even though ATP hydrolysis rate (tension cost) declined with time. The effect of cytoskeletal remodeling was assessed by inhibiting actin polymerization using Cytochalasin D (Cyto‐D). In Cyto‐D treated ASM, isometric force was reduced while ATP hydrolysis rate increased compared to untreated ASM strips. These results indicate that external transmission of force, cross‐bridge cycling and ATP hydrolysis rates are affected by internal loading of contractile proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypersingular integrals have appeared as effective tools for inversion of multidimensional potential-type operators such as Riesz, Bessel, Flett, parabolic potentials, etc. They represent (at least formally) fractional powers of suitable differential operators. In this paper the family of the so-called "truncated hypersingular integral operators" D ε α f is introduced, that is generated by the modified Poisson semigroup and associated with the Flett potentials F α φ = (E + − Δ) − α φ (0 < α < ∞ , φ ∈ L p (R n) ). Then the relationship between the order of " L p -smoothness" of a function f and the "rate of L p -convergence" of the families D ε α F α f to the function f as ε → 0 + is also obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the songbird zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) has advanced our behavioral, hormonal, neuronal, and genetic understanding of vocal learning. However, little is known about the impact of typical experimental manipulations on the welfare of these birds. Here we explore whether the undirected singing rate can be used as an indicator of welfare. We tested this idea by performing a post hoc analysis of singing behavior in isolated male zebra finches subjected to interactive white noise, to surgery, or to tethering. We find that the latter two experimental manipulations transiently but reliably decreased singing rates. By contraposition, we infer that a high-sustained singing rate is suggestive of successful coping or improved welfare in these experiments. Our analysis across more than 300 days of song data suggests that a singing rate above a threshold of several hundred song motifs per day implies an absence of an acute stressor or a successful coping with stress. Because singing rate can be measured in a completely automatic fashion, its observation can help to reduce experimenter bias in welfare monitoring. Because singing rate measurements are non-invasive, we expect this study to contribute to the refinement of the current welfare monitoring tools in zebra finches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed COVID-19 data through May 6th, 2020 using a partially observed Markov process. Our method uses a hybrid deterministic and stochastic formalism that allows for time variable transmission rates and detection probabilities. The model was fit using iterated particle filtering to case count and death count time series from 55 countries. We found evidence for a shrinking epidemic in 30 of the 55 examined countries. Of those 30 countries, 27 have significant evidence for subcritical transmission rates, although the decline in new cases is relatively slow compared to the initial growth rates. Generally, the transmission rates in Europe were lower than in the Americas and Asia. This suggests that global scale social distancing efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 are effective although they need to be strengthened in many regions and maintained in others to avoid further resurgence of COVID-19. The slow decline also suggests alternative strategies to control the virus are needed before social distancing efforts are partially relaxed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of vertex-disjoint paths (disjoint paths) is an important research topic in various kinds of interconnection networks, which can improve the transmission rate and reliability. The k -ary n -cube is a family of popular networks. In this paper, we determine that there are m 2 ≤ m ≤ n disjoint paths in 3-ary n -cube covering Q n 3 − F from S to T (many-to-many) with F ≤ 2 n − 2 m and from s to T (one-to-many) with F ≤ 2 n − m − 1 where s is in a fault-free cycle of length three. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolism is linked with the pace‐of‐life, co‐varying with survival, growth, and reproduction. Metabolic rates should therefore be under strong selection and, if heritable, become less variable over time. Yet intraspecific variation in metabolic rates is ubiquitous, even after accounting for body mass and temperature. Theory predicts variable selection maintains trait variation, but field estimates of how selection on metabolism varies are rare. We use a model marine invertebrate to estimate selection on metabolic rates in the wild under different competitive environments. Fitness landscapes varied among environments separated by a few centimeters: interspecific competition selected for higher metabolism, and a faster pace‐of‐life, relative to competition‐free environments. Populations experience a mosaic of competitive regimes; we find metabolism mediates a competition‐colonization trade‐off across these regimes. Although high metabolic phenotypes possess greater competitive ability, in the absence of competitors, low metabolic phenotypes are better colonizers. Spatial heterogeneity and the variable selection on metabolic rates that it generates is likely to maintain variation in metabolic rate, despite strong selection in any single environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolism is linked with the pace‐of‐life, co‐varying with survival, growth, and reproduction. Metabolic rates should therefore be under strong selection and, if heritable, become less variable over time. Yet intraspecific variation in metabolic rates is ubiquitous, even after accounting for body mass and temperature. Theory predicts variable selection maintains trait variation, but field estimates of how selection on metabolism varies are rare. We use a model marine invertebrate to estimate selection on metabolic rates in the wild under different competitive environments. Fitness landscapes varied among environments separated by a few centimeters: interspecific competition selected for higher metabolism, and a faster pace‐of‐life, relative to competition‐free environments. Populations experience a mosaic of competitive regimes; we find metabolism mediates a competition‐colonization trade‐off across these regimes. Although high metabolic phenotypes possess greater competitive ability, in the absence of competitors, low metabolic phenotypes are better colonizers. Spatial heterogeneity and the variable selection on metabolic rates that it generates is likely to maintain variation in metabolic rate, despite strong selection in any single environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Successful management of pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) can be complicated by eloquent anatomical location, as well as specific pathologic and molecular features. Some authors have proposed using the VEGF inhibitor bevacizumab to improve disease control, but its safety and efficacy are poorly defined. Correspondingly, our aim was to pool systematically identified clinical data in the literature to assess the clinical utility of bevacizumab for pLGG at progression. Methods A systematic search of 7 electronic databases from inception to June 2019 was conducted following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Articles were screened against prespecified criteria. Outcomes were then pooled by random-effects meta-analyses of proportions. Results Seven pertinent studies described the outcomes of 110 progressive pLGG patients managed with bevacizumab in largely multiagent regimens. While on treatment, the rate of clinical response was 58% (95% CI, 43%-72%), and the rate of response on imaging was 80% (95% CI, 58%-96%). The rate of grade 3 or higher toxicity was 8% (95% CI, 2%-17%), with proteinuria the most commonly described. In the off-treatment period up to median 1 year, the rate of progression was estimated to be 51% (95% CI, 28%-74%). Conclusions Bevacizumab has the potential to control clinical and radiographic disease with relatively low grade 3 or higher toxicity risk in progressive pLGG patients. However, the long-term off-treatment benefits of this therapy are not yet well defined. Heterogeneity in the literature precludes any formal recommendations regarding its use until larger, more standardized investigations can be performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove some new results concerning the approximation rate of neural networks with general activation functions. Our first result concerns the rate of approximation of a two layer neural network with a polynomially-decaying non-sigmoidal activation function. We extend the dimension independent approximation rates previously obtained to this new class of activation functions. Our second result gives a weaker, but still dimension independent, approximation rate for a larger class of activation functions, removing the polynomial decay assumption. This result applies to any bounded, integrable activation function. Finally, we show that a stratified sampling approach can be used to improve the approximation rate for polynomially decaying activation functions under mild additional assumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neural networks implemented with traditional hardware face inherent limitation of memory latency. Specifically, the processing units like GPUs, FPGAs, and customized ASICs, must wait for inputs to read from memory and outputs to write back. This motivates memristor-based neuromorphic computing in which the memory units (i.e., memristors) have computing capabilities. However, training a memristor-based neural network is difficult since memristors work differently from CMOS hardware. This paper proposes a new training approach that enables prevailing neural network training techniques to be applied for memristor-based neuromorphic networks. Particularly, we introduce momentum and adaptive learning rate to the circuit training, both of which are proven methods that significantly accelerate the convergence of neural network parameters. Furthermore, we show that this circuit can be used for neural networks with arbitrary numbers of layers, neurons, and parameters. Simulation results on four classification tasks demonstrate that the proposed circuit achieves both high accuracy and fast speed. Compared with the SGD-based training circuit, on the WBC data set, the training speed of our circuit is increased by 37.2% while the accuracy is only reduced by 0.77%. On the MNIST data set, the new circuit even leads to improved accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various studies have focused on secret sharing schemes and in all of them, each shareholder is interested in a shorter share. The information rate of a secret sharing scheme shows the ratio between the size of the secret to the maximum number of shares given to each shareholder. In this regard, the researchers investigated the optimal information rate of the graph access structure. This paper aims to discover the exact values for the optimal information rates of the two graph access structures, which remained as open problems in Van Dijk's paper. Furthermore, we introduced the developed multipartite graph and the developed cycle graph and calculated the exact value of their optimal information rate. Moreover, we presented a lower bound on the information rate for other developed graph access structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the convergence rate of the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) method under the Hölderian local error bound condition and the Hölderian continuity of the Jacobian, which are more general than the local error bound condition and the Lipschitz continuity of the Jacobian. Various choices of the LM parameter are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solar wind (SW) and the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation modulate fluxes of interstellar and heliospheric particles inside the heliosphere both in time and in space. Understanding this modulation is necessary to correctly interpret measurements of particles of interstellar origin inside the heliosphere. We present a revision of heliospheric ionization rates and provide the Sun–Heliosphere Observation-based Ionization Rates model based on the currently available data. We calculate the total ionization rates using revised SW and solar EUV data. We study the in-ecliptic variation of the SW parameters, the latitudinal structure of the SW speed and density, and the reconstruction of the photoionization rates. The revision most affects the SW out of the ecliptic plane during solar maximum and the estimation of the photoionization rates, the latter due to a change of the reference data. The revised polar SW is slower and denser during the solar maximum of solar cycle (SC) 24. The current estimated total ionization rates are higher than the previous ones for H, O, and Ne, and lower for He. The changes for the in-ecliptic total ionization rates are less than 10% for H and He, up to 20% for O, and up to 35% for Ne. Additionally, the changes are not constant in time and vary as a function of time and latitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose four confidence intervals for the ratio of two independent Poisson rates. We apply a parametric bootstrap approach, two modified asymptotic results, and we propose an ad-hoc approximate-estimate method to construct confidence intervals. We justify the correctness of the proposed methods asymptotically in the case of non-rare events (when the Poisson rates are large). We also compare the proposed confidence intervals with some recommended ones in the case of rare events (when the Poisson rates are small) via an extensive simulation study. The results show that the proposed modified asymptotic and the approximate-estimate confidence intervals perform reasonably well in terms of coverage probability and average length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor land leveling of paddy fields leads to irrigation problems which affect crop establishment and ultimately yield. One way to manage this is to vary the seeding rate according to the level profile of the land in order to get a more uniform crop establishment. In this work, a variable rate seeding technique for paddy production is presented. The method determined the variable rate seeding strategy based on the land leveling index of the plot. The leveling index is a measure of the unevenness of a land surface. The determination of land leveling index was carried out during the final land tilling stage. This minimized time and labor usage because the leveling index measurement could be done simultaneously while the land was being prepared. The system produced an accuracy of ± 20 mm vertically and ± 10 mm horizontally. The data collected from the system was processed to determine the leveling index of the field. Leveling index 5 was used as a reference to generate a variable rate seeding treatment map. Conditional rules were created to split the map into three categories ("High", "Low" and "Even") to facilitate practical use of the variable rate map. An analysis of variance was done to compare between the variable rate seeding strategy and the conventional blanket seeding strategy. The results showed that there was no significant difference in plant population between the "High", "Low "and "Even" areas when the variable rate seeding strategy was employed. This means that the proposed approach was able to ensure a more uniform crop establishment across the paddy field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]