bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Application of portable X-ray fluorescence analysis to characterize dolerite dykes at the Plutonic Gold Mine, Western Australia
Authors: Gazley Michael F. , Tutt Chelsea M. , Brisbout Lucy I. , Fisher Louise A. , Duclaux Guillaume
Published: April 2014

The amphibolite-facies, Au-mineralized mafic rocks at the Plutonic Gold Mine are intruded by a suite of dolerite dykes of unknown age. The zones between these intrusive units often host significant Au mineralization. It is unclear whether this enrichment in Au mineralization is a function of the intrusion of the dolerites themselves or the influence of pre-existing structures (e.g. faults or shears). Geochemical characterization of the different microcrystalline dolerite units is important to the understanding of the structural architecture of the deposit and to the possible relationship of the dolerites to Au mineralization. The collection of a large geochemical dataset (
n
= 497) from the dolerite dykes from across the deposit using portable X-ray fluorescence technology allows us to break them into four distinct geochemical groupings. Thus we can define their geometries with greater confidence than was possible using lithology alone. Traverses across individual dolerite dykes indicate that the chill margins are the most geochemically homogenous and most likely to represent the chemistry of the source magma. Plots of Ti v. Zr combined with principal component analysis (PCA) define four geochemically distinct suites of dolerites. By applying this understanding to dolerites in a small area of the deposit, a new interpretation was generated whereby significant amounts of rock that were previously modelled as being dolerite were reclassified as potential host-rock, thus increasing the potential for Au in this area.
Effect of montmorillonite content on mechanical and hydraulic properties of bentonite and its numerical modelling
Authors: Takayama Yusuke , Tsurumi Shuhei , Kobayashi Ichizo , Ohwada Hitoshi , Ishii Tomoko , Yahagi Ryoji , Iizuka Atsushi
Published: April 2014

Recently, the hydraulic/mechanical/chemical (HMC) analytical method has been studied with the aim of evaluating the long-term performance of Trans-Uranium (TRU) geological repositories. In this particular research, the hydraulic/mechanical modelling of bentonite materials for HMC analyses has been studied, with bentonite materials considered as the engineered barrier. It is said that the bentonite material in the TRU disposal facilities is altered chemically by cement leachate. Moreover, there is a concern that chemical alteration changes the expansion characteristics and water permeability of the bentonite material. In this paper, using past test results, the influence of montmorillonite content and the exchange of sodium and calcium ions on mechanical and hydraulics behaviour is examined. Hydraulic/mechanical mathematical modelling is also presented, describing the mechanical behaviour of bentonite from an initially unsaturated state while also taking into account the hydraulic and mechanical characteristics of bentonite mentioned above. We also simulate the saturation process from an initially unsaturated state in a TRU disposal facility, which is modelled one-dimensionally.
Machine learning based typology development in archaeology
Authors: Hörr Christian , Lindinger Elisabeth , Brunnett Guido
Published: April 2014

Formalizing and objectifying the process of artefact classification is an old wish of many archaeologists. On the other hand, data mining in general and machine learning in particular have already inspired many disciplines to introduce new paradigms of data analysis and knowledge discovery. Hence, this article aims for reviving the Typological Debate by adapting approved methods from other fields of science to archaeological data. To this end, we extensively discuss the concept of similarity and assess the suitability of machine learning techniques for the purposes of classification and typology development. Our methodology covers all steps starting from unordered, unlabelled objects to the emergence of a consistent and reusable typology. The application of this process is exemplarily illustrated by classifying the vessels from a Late Bronze Age cemetery in Eastern Saxony. Despite the individual character of these vessels, we achieved class prediction rates of more than 95%. Such a success was only possible, because we permanently reconciled the output of the learning algorithms with our own expectations in order to identify and eliminate the systematic errors within the typology.
Intangible cultural heritage preservation
Authors: Chen Gen-Fang
Published: April 2014

This article introduces the study contents and some research findings regarding digital preservation methods for Chinese
Kunqu
opera libretto historical literature, including historical literature electronic libretto transformation, libretto musical score image segmentation, musical information recognition, musical score information representation, musical score information storage, and libretto reconstruction on the Web. It proposes a novel editable text method to represent the multidimensional tree-like information structure of the
Kunqu
libretto literature and a musical semantic annotation method based on numbered musical notation to accommodate the musical features of
Kunqu
librettos. To maintain the characteristics of the original
Kunqu
musical notation, it proposes a method to reconstruct
Kunqu
libretto on the Web based on scalable vector graphics. Some
Kunqu
librettos were randomly selected for experiments, and the results demonstrated that the editable text method and the musical semantic annotation method were able to fully represent the effective information of the
Kunqu
libretto literature and that the method to reconstruct librettos on the Web was able to reflect the writing characteristics of the musical notation in the original librettos. Finally, it discusses the primary future research directions related to digital
Kunqu
, including
Kunqu
libretto metadata research, corpus construction for the librettos and
Qupai
(the unique ancient Chinese tune mode), libretto music information disambiguation research, libretto image segmentation and pattern recognition, digital
Kunqu
roles, digital
Kunqu
stages, digital
Kunqu
costume suitcases, virtual
Kunqu
, digitization and restoration of
Kunqu
cultural relics, and
Kunqu
's application prospects in conventional media such as animation, anime, and movies.
Reading the legends of Roman Republican coins
Authors: Kavelar Albert , Zambanini Sebastian , Kampel Martin
Published: April 2014

Coin classification is one of the main aspects of numismatics. The introduction of an automated image-based coin classification system could assist numismatists in their everyday work and allow hobby numismatists to gain additional information on their coin collection by uploading images to a respective Web site. For Roman Republican coins, the inscription is one of the most significant features, and its recognition is an essential part in the successful research of an image-based coin recognition system. This article presents a novel way for the recognition of ancient Roman Republican coin legends. Traditional optical character recognition (OCR) strategies were designed for printed or handwritten texts and rely on binarization in the course of their recognition process. Since coin legends are simply embossed onto a piece of metal, they are of the same color as the background and binarization becomes error prone and prohibits the use of standard OCR. Therefore, the proposed method is based on state-of-the-art scene text recognition methods that are rooted in object recognition. Siftdescriptors are computed for a dense grid of keypoints and are tested using support vector machines trained for each letter of the respective alphabet. Each descriptor receives a score for every letter, and the use of pictorial structures allows one to detect the optimal configuration for the lexicon words within an image; the word causing the lowest costs is recognized. Character and word recognition capabilities of the proposed method are evaluated individually; character recognition is benchmarked on three and word recognition on different datasets. Depending on the Siftconfiguration, lexicon, and dataset used, the word recognition rates range from 29% to 67%.
Worst-case guarantees on a processor with temperature-based feedback control of speed
Authors: Kumar Pratyush , Thiele Lothar
Published: April 2014

On-chip temperatures continue to rise, in spite of design efforts towards more efficient cooling and novel low-power technologies. Run-time thermal management techniques, such as speed scaling and system throttling, constitute a standard component in today's processors. One such technique is the feedback control of the processing speed based on the on-chip temperature. If suitably designed, such a controller can ensure that the temperature of the processor does not exceed a given bound, independent of the application. Such isolation of needs is encouraging. However, from the application's stand-point, such a processor must provide performance guarantees; in particular, the guarantee that real-time jobs do not have worst-case delays larger than their relative deadlines. For applications which exhibit variability, such as bursty arrival patterns, computing such guarantees is not apparent. As key enablers in such a computation, for the specific setting of First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) scheduling, we (a) define and prove a monotonicity principle satisfied by the processor with the said controller, and (b) propose a thermally clipped processor model. We identify the worst-case trace simulating which on a suitably chosen thermally clipped processor provides the tight upper-bound on the worst-case delay. These results hold for general models of (a) the power consumption of the processor, (b) its thermal model, (c) the speed scaling law, and (d) the task model. For this modelling scope, we show that the same worst-case trace also leads to the worst-case temperature of the processor. This is useful to characterise tasks which do not load the processor sufficiently to hit the given peak temperature bound. We demonstrate the utility of this calculation by designing a shaper to delay the arrival times of jobs and thereby restrict the observed worst-case temperature while still meeting the task's deadlines.
Safety-critical medical device development using the UPP2SF model translation tool
Authors: Pajic Miroslav , Jiang Zhihao , Lee Insup , Sokolsky Oleg , Mangharam Rahul
Published: April 2014

Software-based control of life-critical embedded systems has become increasingly complex, and to a large extent has come to determine the safety of the human being. For example, implantable cardiac pacemakers have over 80,000 lines of code which are responsible for maintaining the heart within safe operating limits. As firmware-related recalls accounted for over 41% of the 600,000 devices recalled in the last decade, there is a need for rigorous model-driven design tools to generate verified code from verified software models. To this effect, we have developed the UPP2SF model-translation tool, which facilitates automatic conversion of verified models (in UPPAAL) to models that may be simulated and tested (in Simulink/Stateflow). We describe the translation rules that ensure correct model conversion, applicable to a large class of models. We demonstrate how UPP2SF is used in the model-driven design of a pacemaker whose model is (a) designed and verified in UPPAAL (using timed automata), (b) automatically translated to Stateflow for simulation-based testing, and then (c) automatically generated into modular code for hardware-level integration testing of timing-related errors. In addition, we show how UPP2SF may be used for worst-case execution time estimation early in the design stage. Using UPP2SF, we demonstrate the value of integrated end-to-end modeling, verification, code-generation and testing process for complex software-controlled embedded systems.
Near optimal rate selection for wireless control systems
Authors: Saifullah Abusayeed , Wu Chengjie , Tiwari Paras Babu , Xu You , Fu Yong , Lu Chenyang , Chen Yixin
Published: April 2014

With the advent of industrial standards such as WirelessHART, process industries are now gravitating towards wireless control systems. Due to limited bandwidth in a wireless network shared by multiple control loops, it is critical to optimize the overall control performance. In this article, we address the scheduling-control co-design problem of determining the optimal sampling rates of feedback control loops sharing a WirelessHART network. The objective is to minimize the overall control cost while ensuring that all data flows meet their end-to-end deadlines. The resulting constrained optimization based on existing delay bounds for WirelessHART networks is challenging since it is nondifferentiable, nonlinear, and not in closed-form. We propose four methods to solve this problem. First, we present a subgradient method for rate selection. Second, we propose a greedy heuristic that usually achieves low control cost while significantly reducing the execution time. Third, we propose a global constrained optimization algorithm using a simulated annealing (SA) based penalty method. We study SA method under both constant factor penalty and adaptive penalty. Finally, we formulate rate selection as a differentiable convex optimization problem that provides a quick solution through a convex optimization technique. This is based on a new delay bound that is convex and differentiable, and hence simplifies the optimization problem. We study both the gradient descent method and the interior point method to solve it. We evaluate all methods through simulations based on topologies of a 74-node wireless sensor network testbed. The subgradient method is disposed to incur the longest execution time as well as the highest control cost among all methods. Among the SA-based constant penalty method, the greedy heuristic, and the gradient descent method, the first two represent the opposite ends of the tradeoff between control cost and execution time, while the third one hits the balance between the two. We further observe that the SA based adaptive penalty method is superior to the constant penalty method, and that the interior point method is superior to the gradient method. Thus, the interior point method and the SA-based adaptive penalty method are the two most effective approaches for rate selection. While both methods are competitive against each other in terms of control cost, the interior point method is significantly faster than the penalty method. As a result, the interior point method upon convex relaxation is more suitable for online rate adaptation than the SA based adaptive penalty method due to their significant difference in run-time efficiency.
WCET analysis with MRU cache
Authors: Guan Nan , Lv Mingsong , Yi Wang , Yu Ge
Published: April 2014

Most previous work on cache analysis for WCET estimation assumes a particular replacement policy called LRU. In contrast, much less work has been done for non-LRU policies, since they are generally considered to be very unpredictable. However, most commercial processors are actually equipped with these non-LRU policies, since they are more efficient in terms of hardware cost, power consumption and thermal output, while still maintaining almost as good average-case performance as LRU.

In this work, we study the analysis of MRU, a non-LRU replacement policy employed in mainstream processor architectures like Intel Nehalem. Our work shows that the predictability of MRU has been significantly underestimated before, mainly because the existing cache analysis techniques and metrics do not match MRU well. As our main technical contribution, we propose a new cache hit/miss classification,
k
-Miss, to better capture the MRU behavior, and develop formal conditions and efficient techniques to decide
k
-Miss memory accesses. A remarkable feature of our analysis is that the
k
-Miss classifications under MRU are derived by the analysis result of the same program under LRU. Therefore, our approach inherits the advantages in efficiency and precision of the state-of-the-art LRU analysis techniques based on abstract interpretation. Experiments with instruction caches show that our proposed MRU analysis has both good precision and high efficiency, and the obtained estimated WCET is rather close to (typically 1%∼8% more than) that obtained by the state-of-the-art LRU analysis, which indicates that MRU is also a good candidate for cache replacement policies in real-time systems.
ColLoc
Authors: Zhu Xiuming , Huang Pei-Chi , Meng Jianyong , Han Song , Mok Aloysius K. , Chen Deji , Nixon Mark
Published: April 2014

Localization in wireless sensor networks is an important functionality that is required for tracking personnel and assets in industrial environments, especially for emergency response. Current commercial localization systems such as GPS suffer from the limitations of either high cost or low availability in many situations (e.g., indoor environments that exclude direct line-of-sight signal reception). The development of industrial wireless sensor networks such as WirelessHART provides an alternative. In this article, we present the design and implementation of ColLoc: a collaborative location and tracking system on WirelessHART as an industrially viable solution. This solution is built upon several technological advances. First, ColLoc adds the roaming functionality to WirelessHART and thus provides a means for keeping mobile WirelessHART devices connected to the network. Second, ColLoc employs a collaborative framework to integrate different types of distance measurements into the location estimation algorithm by weighing them according to their precision levels. ColLoc adopts several novel techniques to improve distance estimation accuracy and decreases the RSSI presurvey cost. These techniques include introducing distance error range constraints to the measurements, judiciously selecting the initial point in location estimation and online updating the signal propagation models in the anchor nodes, integrating Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) with trilateration to track moving objects. Our implementation of ColLoc can be applied to any WirelessHART-conforming network because no modification is needed on the WirelessHART field devices. We have implemented a complete ColLoc system to validate both the design and the effectiveness of our localization algorithm. Our experiments show that the mobile device never drops out of the WirelessHART network while moving around; with the help of even one dependable anchor, using RSSI can yield at least 75% of distance errors below 5 meters, which is quite acceptable for many typical industrial automation applications.
Ubiquity symposium: The science in computer science: unplugging computer science to find the science
Authors: Bell Tim
Published: April 2014

The Computer Science Unplugged project provides activities that enable students to engage with concepts from computer science without having to program. Many of the activities provide the basis of a scientific exploration of computer science, and thus help students to see the relationship of the discipline with science.
Ontology driven creational design patterns as parameterized and reusable components
Authors: Chaturvedi Amrita , Prabhakar T. V.
Published: April 2014

We have explored the use of a generic ontology component to separate and encapsulate the design pattern logic of the GoF creational design patterns. We used a unique generic ontology as a runtime component in the creational patterns and then analyzed and compared the implementations with those of traditional GoF creational patterns. We concluded after experimental analysis that ontology driven solutions to creational design patterns not only mitigate the drawbacks identified in the creational patterns but also make the patterns a plug and play parameterized and reusable component whereby the desired objects can be created on the fly. Once the pattern parameters i.e. the participant classes are fed into the pattern ontology, the pattern functionality embedded within the ontological component becomes ready to use. This not only decouples the pattern logic from application logic but also decouples the pattern participant classes from each other. Thus the patterns become reusable even at the implementation level.
Interaction between feature subset selection techniques and machine learning classifiers for detecting unsolicited emails
Authors: Trivedi Shrawan Kumar , Dey Shubhamoy
Published: April 2014

Detection of the spam emails within a set of email files has become challenging task for researchers. Identification of an effective classifier is based not only on high accuracy of detection but also on low false alarm rates, and the need to use as few features as possible. In view of these challenges, this research examines the effects of using features selected by four feature subset selection methods (i.e. Genetic, Greedy Stepwise, Best First, and Rank Search) on popular Machine Learning Classifiers like Bayesian, Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine, Genetic Algorithm, J48 and Random Forest. Tests were performed on three different publicly available spam email datasets: "Enron", "SpamAssassin" and "LingSpam". Results show that, Greedy Stepwise Search method is a good method for feature subset selection for spam email detection. Among the Machine Learning Classifiers, Support Vector Machine has been found to be the best classifier both in terms of accuracy and False Positive rate. However, results of Random Forest were very close to that of Support Vector Machine. The Genetic classifier was identified as a weak classifier.
Making a difference in social use of computers
Authors: Hiltz Starr Roxanne
Published: April 2014

The SIGCAS Making a Difference Award is given annually to an individual nationally recognized for work related to the interaction of computers and society. The recipient is a leader in promoting awareness of ethical and social issues in computing. The recipients of this award, and the award itself, encourage responsible action by computer professionals.
MCKit
Authors: Zhan Lei , Chiu Dah Ming
Published: April 2014

Smart phones have become very popular. Most people attending a conference have a smartphone with them; so it is natural to think about how to build a mobile application to support a conference. In the process of organizing ACM Sigcomm 2013, we initiated a student project to build such a conference app. As a conference organizator, we had good motivation and inspiration to design functions we would like to support. In this paper, we share our experiences, in both functional design and implementation, as well as our experience in trying it out during Sigcomm 2013.
IP addresses considered harmful
Authors: Carpenter Brian E.
Published: April 2014

This note describes how the Internet has got itself into deep trouble by over-reliance on IP addresses and discusses some possible ways forward.
Workshop report
Authors: Ford Mat
Published: April 2014

This paper reports on a workshop convened to develop an action plan to reduce Internet latency.

Internet latency has become a focus of attention at the leading edge of the industry as the desire to make Internet applications more responsive outgrows the ability of increased bandwidth to address this problem. There are fundamental limits to the extent to which latency can be reduced, but there is considerable capacity for improvement throughout the system, making Internet latency a multifaceted challenge. Perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to re-educate the mainstream of the industry to understand that bandwidth is not the panacea, and other optimizations, such as reducing packet loss, are at odds with latency reduction.

For Internet applications, reducing the latency impact of sharing the communications medium with other users and applications is key. Current Internet network devices were often designed with a belief that additional buffering would reduce packet loss. In practice, this additional buffering leads to intermittently excessive latency and even greater packet loss under saturating load. For this reason, getting smarter queue management techniques more widely deployed is a high priority. We can reduce these intermittent increases in delay, sometimes by up to two orders of magnitude, by shifting the focus from packet loss avoidance to delay avoidance using technology that we already have developed, tested, implemented and deployed today.

There is also plenty of scope for removing other major sources of delay. For instance, connecting to a website could be completed in one roundtrip (the time it takes for packets to travel from source to destination and back again) rather than three or four, by folding two or three rounds of flow and security set-up into the first data exchange, without compromising security or efficiency.

Motivating the industry to deploy these advances needs to be aided by the availability of mass-market latency testing tools that could give consumers the information they need to gravitate towards low latency services, providers and products. There is no single network latency metric but several alternatives have been identified that compactly express aggregate delay (e.g. as relationships or a constellation), and tools that make use of these will give greater insight into the impact of changes and the diversity of Internet connections around the world.

In many developing countries (and in rural regions of developed countries), aside from Internet access itself, there are significant structural issues, such as trombone routes through the developed world and a lack of content distribution networks (CDNs), that need to be addressed with more urgency than Active Queue Management (AQM) deployment, but the `blank slate' of new deployments provides an opportunity to consider latency now. More widespread use of Internet exchange points for hosting local content and fostering local interconnections is key to addressing some of these structural challenges.
The road to SDN
Authors: Feamster Nick , Rexford Jennifer , Zegura Ellen
Published: April 2014

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is an exciting technology that enables innovation in how we design and manage networks. Although this technology seems to have appeared suddenly, SDN is part of a long history of efforts to make computer networks more programmable. In this paper, we trace the intellectual history of programmable networks, including active networks, early efforts to separate the control and data plane, and more recent work on OpenFlow and network operating systems. We highlight key concepts, as well as the technology pushes and application pulls that spurred each innovation. Along the way, we debunk common myths and misconceptions about the technologies and clarify the relationship between SDN and related technologies such as network virtualization.
Transarterial Chemoembolization for the Treatment of Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis: Prognostic Factors in a Single-Center Study of 188 Patients
Authors: Liu Lei , Zhang Cheng , Zhao Yan , Qi Xingshun , Chen Hui , Bai Wei , He Chuangye , Guo Wengang , Yin Zhanxin , Fan Daiming , Han Guohong
Published: April 2014

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) could achieve a better survival benefit than conservative treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT). In this retrospective study, all HCC patients with Child-Pugh score <7 and PVTT who were consecutively admitted to our center between January 2006 and June 2012 and underwent TACE were enrolled. The efficacy and safety of TACE were analyzed. Prognostic factors were determined by Cox regression analysis. Of the 188 patients included, 89% had hepatitis B virus infection, 100% were at Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage C, and 81% (n=152) and 19% (n=36) were at Child-Pugh classes A and B, respectively. The incidence of procedure-related complications was 88%. No procedure-related death was found. The median overall survival was 6.1 months. Type of PVTT (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.806), number of tumor lesions (HR = 2.288), Child-Pugh class (HR = 2.981), and presence of metastasis (HR = 1.909) were the independent predictors of survival. In conclusion, TACE could be selectively used for the treatment of advanced HCC with PVTT. But a high rate of postoperative adverse events should not be undermined in spite of no procedure-related death. Preoperative type of PVTT, number of tumor lesions, Child-Pugh class, and metastasis could predict the prognosis of these patients.
Overexpression of Aquaporin 1 in the Tunica Vaginalis May Contribute to Adult-Onset Primary Hydrocele Testis
Authors: Hattori Mami , Tonooka Akiko , Zaitsu Masayoshi , Mikami Koji , Suzue-Yanagisawa Ayako , Uekusa Toshimasa , Takeuchi Takumi
Published: April 2014

To investigate the cause of the adult-onset primary noncommunicating hydrocele testis, protein expressions of water channel aquaporins (AQPs) 1 and 3 in the tunica vaginalis were assessed. Frozen tunica vaginalis specimens from patients with adult-onset primary hydrocele testis and control male nonhydrocele patients were subjected to Western blot analysis for the detection of AQP1 and AQP3 proteins. Paraffin-embedded sections of tunica vaginalis specimens were histochemically stained with anti-AQP1 and anti-AQP3 antibodies as well as an anti-podoplanin antibody to stain lymphatic endothelia. Hydrocele fluid was subjected to biochemical analysis. AQP1 protein expression in the tunica vaginalis was significantly higher in patients with adult-onset hydrocele testis than in the controls. The AQP3 protein was not detected in the tunica vaginalis. Histochemically, AQP1 expression in the tunica vaginalis was localized in vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells. The densities of AQP1-expressing capillaries and lymphatic vessels were similar between the tunica vaginalis of the controls and those of hydrocele patients. Sodium levels were higher in the hydrocele fluid than in the serum. In conclusion, overexpression of the AQP1 protein in individual capillary endothelial cells of the tunica vaginalis may contribute to the development of adult-onset primary noncommunicating hydrocele testis as another aquaporin-related disease.
5-Aminolevulinic Acid Fluorescence in High Grade Glioma Surgery: Surgical Outcome, Intraoperative Findings, and Fluorescence Patterns
Authors: Puppa Alessandro Della , Ciccarino Pietro , Lombardi Giuseppe , Rolma Giuseppe , Cecchin Diego , Rossetto Marta
Published: April 2014

Background. 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) fluorescence is a validated technique for resection of high grade gliomas (HGG); the aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical outcome and the intraoperative findings in a consecutive series of patients.Methods. Clinical and surgical data from patients affected by HGG who underwent surgery guided by 5-ALA fluorescence at our Department between June 2011 and February 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. Surgical outcome was evaluated by assessing the resection rate as gross total resection(GTR)>98% andGTR>90%. We finally stratified data for recurrent surgery, tumor location, tumor size, and tumor grade (IV versus III grade sec. WHO).Results. 94 patients were finally enrolled. OverallGTR>98% andGTR>90% was achieved in 93% and 100% of patients. Extent of resection(GTR>98%)was dependent on tumor location, tumor grade(P<0.05), and tumor size(P<0.05). In 43% of patients the boundaries of fluorescent tissue exceeded those of tumoral tissue detected by neuronavigation, more frequently in larger (57%)(P<0.01)and recurrent (60%) tumors.Conclusions. 5-ALA fluorescence in HGG surgery enables a GTR in 100% of cases even if selection of patients remains a main bias. Recurrent surgery, and location, size, and tumor grade can predict both the surgical outcome and the intraoperative findings.
Marichev‐Saigo‐Maeda Fractional Integration Operators Involving Generalized Bessel Functions
Authors: Mondal Saiful R. , Nisar K. S.
Published: April 2014

Two integral operators involving Appell′s functions, or Horn′s function in the kernel are considered. Composition of such functions with generalized Bessel functions of the first kind is expressed in terms of generalized Wright function and generalized hypergeometric series. Many special cases, including cosine and sine function, are also discussed.
“Mohsite” of Colomba: Identification as Dessauite-(Y)
Authors: Bittarello Erica , Ciriotti Marco E. , Costa Emanuele , Gallo Lorenzo Mariano
Published: April 2014

During a reorganization of the mineralogical collection of Turin University, old samples of the so-called mohsite of Colomba were found. “Mohsite” was discredited in 1979 by Kelly et al., as a result of some analyses performed on the equivalent material coming from the French region of Hautes-Alpes, but the original samples found in similar geological setting in Italy were lost and never analysed with modern equipment. After more than a century, the rediscovered samples of Professor Colomba were analysed by means of SEM-EDS analysis, microRaman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The results have demonstrated that the historical samples studied by Colomba are Pb-free dessauite-(Y), and pointed to an idealized crystal chemical formula (Sr0.70Na0.25Ca0.09)Σ=1.04 (Y0.62U0.18Yb0.09Sc0.08)Σ=0.97  Fe22+(Ti12.66Fe4.783+V0.263+)Σ=17.70O38 and unit-cell parameters a = 10.376(3) Å, c = 20.903(6) Å, and V = 1949(1) Å3.
Oxidation State of a Polyurethane Membrane after Plasma Etching
Authors: Moles Matthew D. , Scotchford Colin A. , Campbell Ritchie Alastair
Published: April 2014

Low moduli cell culture substrates can be used to apply dynamic mechanical strain to cells, by surface deformation. Understanding the surface interaction with cells is critical to improving cell adhesion and normal growth. A medical grade polyurethane (PU), Chronoflex AL 80A, was modified by oxygen plasma etching and characterised by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Etching resulted in increased cross-linking at the isocyanate bond and formation of new oxygen moieties. The model, derived from patent data and XPS data of the unetched PU, indicated that the additional oxygen was likely to be hydroxyl and carbonyl groups. Etched membranes enhanced protein adhesion, resulting in full surface coverage compared to unetched PU. The etched PU supported cell adhesion and spreading, while the unetched PU was not conducive to monolayer formation.
High-Amylose Sodium Carboxymethyl Starch Matrices: Development and Characterization of Tramadol Hydrochloride Sustained-Release Tablets for Oral Administration
Authors: Nabais Teresa , Leclair Grégoire
Published: April 2014

Substituted amylose (SA) polymers were produced from high-amylose corn starch by etherification of its hydroxyl groups with chloroacetate. Amorphous high-amylose sodium carboxymethyl starch (HASCA), the resulting SA polymer, was spray-dried to obtain an excipient (SD HASCA) with optimal binding and sustained-release (SR) properties. Tablets containing different percentages of SD HASCA and tramadol hydrochloride were produced by direct compression and evaluated for dissolution. Once-daily and twice-daily SD HASCA tablets containing two common dosages of tramadol hydrochloride (100 mg and 200 mg), a freely water-soluble drug, were successfully developed. These SR formulations presented high crushing forces, which facilitate further tablet processing and handling. When exposed to both a pH gradient simulating the pH variations through the gastrointestinal tract and a 40% ethanol medium, a very rigid gel formed progressively at the surface of the tablets providing controlled drug-release properties. These properties indicated that SD HASCA was a promising and robust excipient for oral, sustained drug-release, which may possibly minimize the likelihood of dose dumping and consequent adverse effects, even in the case of coadministration with alcohol.
A Cluster-Based Secure Synchronization Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Xu Ming , Liu Guangzhong , Zhu Daqi , Wu Huafeng
Published: April 2014

Secure time synchronization is one of the key concerns for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs). This paper presents a CLUster-based Secure Synchronization (CLUSS) protocol that ensures the security of synchronization under harsh underwater environments against various attacks, including Sybil attack, replay attack, message manipulation attack, and delay attack. The time synchronization process of CLUSS is divided into three phases: authentication phase, intercluster synchronization phase, and intracluster synchronization phase. During the authentication phase, cluster heads are authenticated to beacons and ordinary nodes are authenticated to cluster heads. During the process of intercluster and intracluster synchronization phases, CLUSS distinguishes the propagation delay of downlink from that of uplink caused by node movement in order to improve time synchronization accuracy. Moreover, part of these two phases can be executed concurrently for reducing the number of messages generated in synchronization. We demonstrate through simulations that CLUSS can reduce synchronization errors as well as energy consumption compared to traditional protocols in various circumstances.
Effect of Heterogeneity of Vertex Activation on Epidemic Spreading in Temporal Networks
Authors: Zhu Yixin , Li Dongfen , Guo Wenqiang , Zhang Fengli
Published: April 2014

Development of sensor technologies and the prevalence of electronic communication services provide us with a huge amount of data on human communication behavior, including face‐to‐face conversations, e‐mail exchanges, phone calls, message exchanges, and other types of interactions in various online forums. These indirect or direct interactions form potential bridges of the virus spread. For a long time, the study of virus spread is based on the aggregate static network. However, the interaction patterns containing diverse temporal properties may affect dynamic processes as much as the network topology does. Some empirical studies show that the activation time and duration of vertices and links are highly heterogeneous, which means intense activity may be followed by longer intervals of inactivity. We take heterogeneous distribution of the node interactivation time as the research background to build an asynchronous communication model. The two sides of the communication do not have to be active at the same time. One derives the threshold of virus spreading on the communication mode and analyzes the reason the heterogeneous distribution of the vertex interactivation time suppresses the spread of virus. At last, the analysis and results from the model are verified on the BA network.
Biosynthesis, Characterization, and Antidermatophytic Activity of Silver Nanoparticles Using Raamphal Plant (Annona reticulata) Aqueous Leaves Extract
Authors: Shivakumar Singh P. , Vidyasagar G. M.
Published: April 2014

The present work investigated the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using Annona reticulata leaf aqueous extract. The biosynthesised silver nanoparticles were confirmed by visual observation and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Appearance of dark brown colour indicated the synthesis of silver in the reaction mixture. The silver nanoparticles were found to be spherical, rod, and triangular in shape with variable size ranging from 23.84 to 50.54 nm, as evident by X-ray diffraction studies, TEM. The X-ray diffraction studies, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and TEM analysis indicate that the particles are crystalline in nature. The nanoparticles appeared to be associated with some chemical compounds which possess hydroxyl and carbonyl groups, confirmed by FTIR. This is the first and novel report of silver nanoparticles synthesised from Annona reticulata leaves extract and their antidermatophytic activity.
Standardised Models for Inducing Experimental Peritoneal Adhesions in Female Rats
Authors: Kraemer Bernhard , Wallwiener Christian , Rajab Taufiek K. , Brochhausen Christoph , Wallwiener Markus , Rothmund Ralf
Published: April 2014

Animal models for adhesion induction are heterogeneous and often poorly described. We compare and discuss different models to induce peritoneal adhesions in a randomized, experimental in vivo animal study with 72 female Wistar rats. Six different standardized techniques for peritoneal trauma were used: brushing of peritoneal sidewall and uterine horns (group 1), brushing of parietal peritoneum only (group 2), sharp excision of parietal peritoneum closed with interrupted sutures (group 3), ischemic buttons by grasping the parietal peritoneum and ligating the base with Vicryl suture (group 4), bipolar electrocoagulation of the peritoneum (group 5), and traumatisation by electrocoagulation followed by closure of the resulting peritoneal defect using Vicryl sutures (group 6). Upon second look, there were significant differences in the adhesion incidence between the groups (P<0.01). Analysis of the fraction of adhesions showed that groups 2 (0%) and 5 (4%) were significantly less than the other groups (P<0.01). Furthermore, group 6 (69%) was significantly higher than group 1 (48%) (P<0.05) and group 4 (47%) (P<0.05). There was no difference between group 3 (60%) and group 6 (P=0.2). From a clinical viewpoint, comparison of different electrocoagulation modes and pharmaceutical adhesion barriers is possible with standardised models.
Effects of Single Pill-Based Combination Therapy of Amlodipine and Atorvastatin on Within-Visit Blood Pressure Variability and Parameters of Renal and Vascular Function in Hypertensive Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Azushima Kengo , Uneda Kazushi , Tamura Kouichi , Wakui Hiromichi , Ohsawa Masato , Kobayashi Ryu , Dejima Toru , Kanaoka Tomohiko , Maeda Akinobu , Toya Yoshiyuki , Umemura Satoshi
Published: April 2014

Both strict blood pressure (BP) control and improvements in BP profile such as BP variability are important for suppression of renal deterioration and cardiovascular complication in hypertension and chronic kidney disease (CKD). In the present study, we examined the beneficial effects of the single pill-based combination therapy of amlodipine and atorvastatin on achievement of the target BP and clinic BP profile, as well as markers of vascular and renal damages in twenty hypertensive CKD patients. The combination therapy with amlodipine and atorvastatin for 16 weeks significantly decreased clinic BP, and achievement of target BP control was attained in an average of 45% after the combination therapy in spite of the presence of no achievement at baseline. In addition, the combination therapy significantly decreased the within-visit BP variability. With respect to the effects on renal damage markers, combination therapy with amlodipine and atorvastatin for 16 weeks significantly decreased albuminuria (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio,1034±1480versus733±1218 mg/g-Cr,P<0.05) without decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate. Concerning parameters of vascular function, the combination therapy significantly improved both brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and central systolic BP (cSBP) (baPWV,1903±353versus1786±382 cm/s,P<0.05; cSBP,148±19versus129±23 mmHg,P<0.01). Collectively, these results suggest that the combination therapy with amlodipine and atorvastatin may exert additional beneficial effects on renal and vascular damages as well as BP profile in addition to BP lowering in hypertension with CKD.
Minimally Invasive Video-Assisted versus Minimally Invasive Nonendoscopic Thyroidectomy
Authors: Fík Zdeněk , Astl Jaromír , Zábrodský Michal , Lukeš Petr , Merunka Ilja , Betka Jan , Chovanec Martin
Published: April 2014

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) and minimally invasive nonendoscopic thyroidectomy (MINET) represent well accepted and reproducible techniques developed with the main goal to improve cosmetic outcome, accelerate healing, and increase patient’s comfort following thyroid surgery. Between 2007 and 2011, a prospective nonrandomized study of patients undergoing minimally invasive thyroid surgery was performed to compare advantages and disadvantages of the two different techniques. There were no significant differences in the length of incision to perform surgical procedures. Mean duration of hemithyroidectomy was comparable in both groups, but it was more time consuming to perform total thyroidectomy by MIVAT. There were more patients undergoing MIVAT procedures without active drainage in the postoperative course and we also could see a trend for less pain in the same group. This was paralleled by statistically significant decreased administration of both opiates and nonopiate analgesics. We encountered two cases of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies in the MIVAT group only. MIVAT and MINET represent safe and feasible alternative to conventional thyroid surgery in selected cases and this prospective study has shown minimal differences between these two techniques.
Chronic Maxillary Rhinosinusitis of Dental Origin: A Systematic Review of 674 Patient Cases
Authors: Lechien Jerome R. , Filleul Olivier , Costa de Araujo Pedro , Hsieh Julien W. , Chantrain Gilbert , Saussez Sven
Published: April 2014

Objectives. The aim of this systematic review is to study the causes of odontogenic chronic maxillary rhinosinusitis (CMRS), the average age of the patients, the distribution by sex, and the teeth involved.Materials and Methods. We performed an EMBASE-, Cochrane-, and PubMed-based review of all of the described cases of odontogenic CMRS from January 1980 to January 2013. Issues of clinical relevance, such as the primary aetiology and the teeth involved, were evaluated for each case.Results. From the 190 identified publications, 23 were selected for a total of 674 patients following inclusion criteria. According to these data, the main cause of odontogenic CMRS is iatrogenic, accounting for 65.7% of the cases. Apical periodontal pathologies (apical granulomas, odontogenic cysts, and apical periodontitis) follow them and account for 25.1% of the cases. The most commonly involved teeth are the first and second molars.Conclusion. Odontogenic CMRS is a common disease that must be suspected whenever a patient undergoing dental treatment presents unilateral maxillary chronic rhinosinusitis.
Whole Body Bone Tissue and Cardiovascular Risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Popescu Claudiu , Bojincă Violeta , Opriş Daniela , Ionescu Ruxandra
Published: April 2014

Introduction. Atherosclerosis and osteoporosis share an age-independent bidirectional correlation. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) represents a risk factor for both conditions.Objectives. The study aims to evaluate the connection between the estimated cardiovascular risk (CVR) and the loss of bone tissue in RA patients.Methods. The study has a prospective cross-sectional design and it includes female in-patients with RA or without autoimmune diseases; bone tissue was measured using whole body dual X-ray absorptiometry (wbDXA); CVR was estimated using SCORE charts and PROCAM applications.Results. There were 75 RA women and 66 normal women of similar age. The wbDXA bone indices correlate significantly, negatively, and age-independently with the estimated CVR. The whole body bone percent (wbBP) was a significant predictor of estimated CVR, explaining 26% of SCORE variation along with low density lipoprotein (P < 0.001) and 49.7% of PROCAM variation along with glycemia and menopause duration (P < 0.001). Although obese patients had less bone relative to body composition (wbBP), in terms of quantity their bone content was significantly higher than that of nonobese patients.Conclusions. Female patients with RA and female patients with cardiovascular morbidity have a lower whole body bone percent. Obese female individuals have higher whole body bone mass than nonobese patients.