bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The identification and management of cuttings at risk from deep-seated, delayed failure on the Highways Agency network
Authors: Parry L. N.
Published: October 2012

The UK trunk road network includes a considerable number of cuttings constructed through high plasticity, overconsolidated clays. These materials are prone to the process of delayed, deep-seated failure whereby instability can occur some considerable time after construction. The timescale between excavation and failure can be anywhere between 20 and 120 years. Many of the recorded deep-seated failures in the literature are from railway cuttings in the UK which are generally much older than cuttings on major highways. The bulk of trunk road construction in the UK occurred during the 1960s and 1970s and many cuttings are at, or approaching, an age when delayed, deep-seated failures might be expected to occur.

The Highways Agency (HA) has been aware of this issue and has sought to understand the causes and associated risks of these types of failure. The first phase of a study (concluded in 2007) provided a framework for assessing the likelihood of failure. The selection criteria were based on a combination of cutting height and slope angle. Mott MacDonald was commissioned to undertake the second phase of the study to focus on the application of the Phase 1 recommendations to the HA asset base. This paper describes the work undertaken during this study and conclusions reached.
Evidence for multiple ice centres during the late Palaeozoic ice age in Oman: outcrop sedimentology and provenance of the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian Al Khlata Formation
Authors: Martin Joe R. , Redfern Jonathan , Williams Brian P. J.
Published: October 2012

This paper proposes a model for glaciation in Oman during the late Palaeozoic ice age (LPIA) based on sedimentological and provenance analyses of the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian Al Khlata Formation, exposed in the Huqf, Oman. The results demonstrate a complex pattern of glaciation across Oman, not fully recognized in previous models. Striated glacial pavements provide evidence for two phases of ice advance: a phase of ice sheet advance towards the NE, and a second and probably younger phase where an ice centre localized on the Huqf High flowed towards the SW. The stratigraphy is constrained by previous palynological studies and is subdivided into three units, from oldest to youngest: ‘early’ AKP5, ‘late’ AKP5 and AKP5/P1. ‘Early’ AKP5 palaeogeography is characterized by ice-contact glacial lacustrine and deltaic sedimentary environments along the western margin of the Huqf High. Meltwater discharge flowed into the lake from ice margins located to the east, upon the Huqf High, recorded by progradational delta and fan complexes. ‘Late’ AKP5 palaeogeography is characterized by pro-glacial fluvial-deltaic outwash braidplains that record high-magnitude meltwater discharge from an ice margin located to the SW of the study area. The youngest undifferentiated AKP5/P1 palaeogeography is characterized by re-establishment of ice-contact glaciolacustrine conditions.
Formal Verification and Debugging of Precise Interrupts on High Performance Microprocessors
Authors: Alizadeh Bijan
Published: October 2012

The increased parallelism provided by Out-Of-Order (OOO) and superscalar mechanisms have made the control portion of advanced processors more complicated so that the state-of-the-art formal verification techniques for Register-Transfer-Level (RTL) and gate-level designs cannot scale to the complexity of such complicated processors. Moreover, verification and debugging of exceptions and external interrupts on such processors are nontrivial tasks. Because the exceptions arrival time, the external interrupt arrival time, as well as the microprocessor response time must be precise, verification and debugging require sophisticated hardware and software capabilities. This article proposes techniques for effective verification and debugging of cycle-accurate OOO processors in the event of exceptions and external interrupts. The results show that our techniques reduce the complexity of the verification and debugging processes by reducing the number of simulation cycles (3.3 × average reduction) and the number of state variables (8.7 × average reduction) to be traced for localizing bugs.
Buffer Optimization and Dispatching Scheme for Embedded Systems with Behavioral Transparency
Authors: Wang An-Ping , Hahn Jiwon , Roumi Mahshid , Chou Pai H.
Published: October 2012

This article presents a buffer minimization scheme with low dispatching overhead for embedded software processes. To accomplish this, we exploit behavioral transparency in the model of computation. In such a model (e.g., synchronous dataflow), the state of buffer requirements is determined completely by the firing sequence of the actors without requiring functional simulation of the actors. Fine-grained buffer allocation incurs high and code pointer overhead while coarse-grained allocation suffers from memory fragmentation. Instead, we propose a medium-grained, “access-contiguous” buffer allocation scheme that minimizes the total buffer space and pointer overhead. We formulate the buffer allocation problem as 2D tiles that represent the lifetime of the buffers to minimize their memory occupation spatially and temporally. Experimental results show that our scheme uses less data memory than existing techniques by 26% on average, or up to 57% in the best case. Our technique retains code modularity for dynamic configuration and, more importantly, enables many more applications that otherwise would not fit if implemented using previous state-of-the-art techniques.
Symbolic-Event-Propagation-Based Minimal Test Set Generation for Robust Path Delay Faults
Authors: Mondal Arijit , Chakrabarti P. P. , Dasgupta Pallab
Published: October 2012

We present a symbolic-event-propagation-based scheme to generate hazard-free tests for robust path delay faults. This approach identifies all robustly testable paths in a circuit and the corresponding complete set of test vectors. We address the problem of finding a minimal set of test vectors that covers all robustly testable paths. We propose greedy and simulated-annealing-based algorithms to find the same. Results on ISCAS89 benchmark circuits show a considerable reduction in test vectors for covering all robustly testable paths.
A SDM-TDM-Based Circuit-Switched Router for On-Chip Networks
Authors: Lusala Angelo Kuti , Legat Jean-Didier
Published: October 2012

This article proposes a circuit-switched router that combines Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) in order to increase path diversity in the router while sharing channels among multiple connections. In this way, the probability of establishing paths through the network is increased, thereby significantly reducing contention in the network. Furthermore, Quality of Service (QoS) is easily guaranteed. The proposed router was synthesized on an Stratix III 3SL340F FPGA device. A 4 × 4 2D Mesh SDM-TDM Network-on-Chip (NoC) was built with the proposed router and synthesized on the 3SL340F FPGA device. The 4 × 4 2D Mesh SDM-TDM NoC was used to build on an FPGA device, a Multiprocessor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) platform consisted of 16 Nios II/f processors, 16 20-KB On-chip Memories, and 16 Network Interfaces. Synthesis results of the MPSoC platform show that the proposed router architecture can be used to built large practicable MPSoC platforms with the proposed NoC architecture with a reasonable hardware overhead and appreciable clock frequency. Simulation results show that combining SDM and TDM techniques in a router allows the highest probability of establishing paths through the network.
Enabling Adaptive Techniques in Heterogeneous MPSoCs Based on Virtualization
Authors: Ost Luciano , Varyani Sameer , Indrusiak Leandro Soares , Mandelli Marcelo , Almeida Gabriel Marchesan , Wachter Eduardo , Moraes Fernando , Sassatelli Gilles
Published: October 2012

This article explores the use of virtualization to enable mechanisms like task migration and dynamic mapping in heterogeneous MPSoCs, thereby targeting the design of systems capable of adapt their behavior to time-changing workloads. Because tasks may have to be mapped to target processors with different instruction set architectures, we propose the use of Low Level Virtual Machine (LLVM) to postcompile the tasks at runtime depending on their target processor. A novel dynamic mapping heuristic is also proposed, aiming to exploit the advantages of specialized processors while taking into account the overheads imposed by virtualization. Extensive experimental work at different levels of abstraction---FPGA prototype, RTL and system-level simulation---is presented to evaluate the proposed techniques.
The IS-BioBank project
Authors: Ceci Michelangelo , Guzzi Pietro Hiram , Masciari Elio , Coluccia Mauro , Mandreoli Federica , Mecella Massimo , Fumarola Fabio , Martoglia Riccardo , Penzo Wilma
Published: October 2012

Advances of high throughput technologies have yielded the possibility to investigate human cells of healthy and morbid ones at different levels. Consequently, this has made possible the discovery of new biological and biomedical data and the proliferation of a large number of databases. In this paper, we describe the IS-BioBank (Integrated Semantic Biological Data Bank) proposal. It consists of the realization of a framework for enabling the interoperability among different biological data sources and for ultimately supporting expert users in the complex process of extraction, navigation and visualization of the precious knowledge hidden in such a huge quantity of data. In this framework, a key role has been played by the Connectivity Map, a databank which relates diseases, physiological processes, and the action of drugs. The system will be used in a pilot study on the Multiple Myeloma (MM).
Distilling GeneChips with GP on the emerald GPU supercomputer
Authors: Langdon William B.
Published: October 2012

The Emerald supercomputer contains 1008 x86 CPU cores and 372 nVidia M2090 Tesla. A CUDA GPGPU genetic programming GeneChip datamining application which searches for non-linear gene expression based prediction of long term survival following breast cancer surgery was transferred without change and run on part of the Emerald cluster. An average of 33 giga GPopS
-1
was achieved.
Claudin-4 forms a paracellular barrier, revealing the interdependence of claudin expression in the loose epithelial cell culture model opossum kidney cells
Authors: Borovac Jelena , Barker Reid S. , Rievaj Juraj , Rasmussen Andrew , Pan Wanling , Wevrick Rachel , Alexander R. Todd
Published: October 2012

The effect of claudins on paracellular fluxes has been predominantly studied in either Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) or LLCPK cells. Neither model system has a very low transepithelial resistance (TER) as observed in leaky epithelia. Moreover, results from one model system are not always consistent with another. Opossum kidney (OK) cells form tight junctions yet have a very low TER. We therefore set out to characterize the paracellular transport properties of this cell culture model. Ussing chamber dilution potential measurements revealed that OK cells exhibit a very low TER (11.7 ± 1.4 Ω·cm2), slight cation selectivity ( PNa/ PCl = 1.10 ± 0.01), and the Eisenman permeability sequence IV; the permeability of monovalent cations ranking K+ > Cs+ > Rb+ > Na+ > Li+. Quantitative real-time PCR studies found that OK cells endogenously express claudin-4 > -1 > -6 > -20 > -9 > -12 > -11 > -15. Overexpression of claudin-4 significantly increased TER, decreased Na+ and Cl− permeability, and increased levels of claudin-1, -6, and -9 mRNA. Knockdown of claudin-4 in the overexpressing cells significantly decreased TER without altering claudin expression; thus claudin-4 forms a barrier in OK cells. Knockdown of endogenous claudin-4 decreased claudin-1, -9, and -12 expression without altering TER. Claudin-2 overexpression decreased TER, significantly increased Na+ and Cl− permeability, and decreased claudin-12 and -6 expression. Together these results demonstrate that claudin expression is tightly coupled in OK cells.
Aberrant production of extracellular matrix proteins and dysfunction in kidney endothelial cells with a short duration of diabetes
Authors: Grutzmacher Cathy , Park SunYoung , Zhao Yun , Morrison Margaret E. , Sheibani Nader , Sorenson Christine M.
Published: October 2012

Diabetic nephropathy is the most common cause of end-stage renal disease and is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In the United States, microvascular complications during diabetic nephropathy contribute to high morbidity and mortality rates. However, the cell-autonomous impact of diabetes on kidney endothelial cell function requires further investigation. Male Akita/+ [autosomal dominant mutation in the insulin II gene (Ins2)] mice reproducibly develop diabetes by 4 wk of age. Here, we examined the impact a short duration of diabetes had on kidney endothelial cell function. Kidney endothelial cells were prepared from nondiabetic and diabetic mice (4 wk of diabetes) to delineate the early changes in endothelial cell function. Kidney endothelial cells from Akita/+ mice following 4 wk of diabetes demonstrated aberrant expression of extracellular matrix proteins including decreased osteopontin and increased fibronectin expression which correlated with increased α5-integrin expression. These changes were associated with the attenuation of migration and capillary morphogenesis. Kidney endothelial cells from Akita/+ mice had decreased VEGF levels but increased levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase(eNOS) and NO, suggesting uncoupling of VEGF-mediated NO production. Knocking down eNOS expression in Akita/+ kidney endothelial cells increased VEGF expression, endothelial cell migration, and capillary morphogenesis. Furthermore, attenuation of sprouting angiogenesis of aortas from Akita/+ mice with 8 wk of diabetes was restored in the presence of the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine. These studies demonstrate that aberrant endothelial cell function with a short duration of diabetes may set the stage for vascular dysfunction and rarefaction at later stages of diabetes.
Intermedin protects against renal ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibition of oxidative stress
Authors: Qiao Xi , Li Rong-Shan , Li Hong , Zhu Guo-Zhen , Huang Xiao-Guang , Shao Shan , Bai Bo
Published: October 2012

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a critical role in renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Intermedin (IMD) reportedly protected against myocardial IRI via its antioxidant effects; however, its protective role in renal IRI has not been investigated. We overexpressed IMD in rat kidneys and examined how the kidneys respond to renal IRI. Eukaryotic expression plasmid encoding the rat IMD gene or control empty vector was transfected into the left kidney using an ultrasound-microbubble-mediated delivery system. This method yielded high expression of IMD in kidney cells. Renal IRI was induced by clamping the left renal artery followed by reperfusion. In response to IRI, overexpression of IMD in the kidney significantly improved renal function and pathology compared with the kidney transfected with control plasmid. We investigated the mechanisms by which IMD protects against renal IRI. We examined renal superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content and found SOD activity was significantly increased, while MDA level was markedly decreased in kidneys transfected with IMD, suggesting ROS production and oxidative stress were reduced by IMD overexpression. We also measured myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, tubular cell apoptosis, and the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), P-selectin, and endothelin-1 (ET-1) in the kidney. Renal MPO activity and the expression of ICAM-1, P-selectin, and ET-1 stimulated by IRI were significantly inhibited by IMD overexpression. Moreover, IMD overexpression prevented kidney cells from apoptosis caused by IRI. Our results demonstrate that overexpression of IMD in the kidney protects against renal IRI, apparently by reducing oxidative stress, consequently suppressing inflammation and vasoconstrictor production and apoptosis.
Not so primitive: context-sensitive meta-learning about unattended sound sequences
Authors: Todd Juanita , Provost Alexander , Whitson Lisa R. , Cooper Gavin , Heathcote Andrew
Published: October 2012

Mismatch negativity (MMN), an evoked response potential elicited when a “deviant” sound violates a regularity in the auditory environment, is integral to auditory scene processing and has been used to demonstrate “primitive intelligence” in auditory short-term memory. Using a new multiple-context and -timescale protocol we show that MMN magnitude displays a context-sensitive modulation depending on changes in the probability of a deviant at multiple temporal scales. We demonstrate a primacy bias causing asymmetric evidence-based modulation of predictions about the environment, and we demonstrate that learning how to learn about deviant probability (meta-learning) induces context-sensitive variation in the accessibility of predictive long-term memory representations that underpin the MMN. The existence of the bias and meta-learning are consistent with automatic attributions of behavioral salience governing relevance-filtering processes operating outside of awareness.
Patterns of inspiratory phase-dependent activity in the in vitro respiratory network
Authors: Carroll Michael S. , Viemari Jean-Charles , Ramirez Jan-Marino
Published: October 2012

Mechanistic descriptions of rhythmogenic neural networks have often relied on ball-and-stick diagrams, which define interactions between functional classes of cells assumed to be reasonably homogenous. Application of this formalism to networks underlying respiratory rhythm generation in mammals has produced increasingly intricate models that have generated significant insight, but the underlying assumption that individual cells within these network fall into distinct functional classes has not been rigorously tested. In the present study we used multiunit extracellular recording in the in vitro pre-Bötzinger complex to identify and characterize the rhythmic activity of 951 cells. Inspiratory phase-dependent activity was estimated for all cells, and the data set as a whole was analyzed with principal component analysis, nonlinear dimensionality reduction, and hierarchical clustering techniques. None of these techniques revealed categorically distinct functional cell classes, indicating instead that the behavior of these cells within the network falls along several continua of spiking behavior.
Short-term saccadic adaptation in the macaque monkey: a binocular mechanism
Authors: Schultz K. P. , Busettini C.
Published: October 2012

Saccadic eye movements are rapid transfers of gaze between objects of interest. Their duration is too short for the visual system to be able to follow their progress in time. Adaptive mechanisms constantly recalibrate the saccadic responses by detecting how close the landings are to the selected targets. The double-step saccadic paradigm is a common method to simulate alterations in saccadic gain. While the subject is responding to a first target shift, a second shift is introduced in the middle of this movement, which masks it from visual detection. The error in landing introduced by the second shift is interpreted by the brain as an error in the programming of the initial response, with gradual gain changes aimed at compensating the apparent sensorimotor mismatch. A second shift applied dichoptically to only one eye introduces disconjugate landing errors between the two eyes. A monocular adaptive system would independently modify only the gain of the eye exposed to the second shift in order to reestablish binocular alignment. Our results support a binocular mechanism. A version-based saccadic adaptive process detects postsaccadic version errors and generates compensatory conjugate gain alterations. A vergence-based saccadic adaptive process detects postsaccadic disparity errors and generates corrective nonvisual disparity signals that are sent to the vergence system to regain binocularity. This results in striking dynamical similarities between visually driven combined saccade-vergence gaze transfers, where the disparity is given by the visual targets, and the double-step adaptive disconjugate responses, where an adaptive disparity signal is generated internally by the saccadic system.
Sensitivity of spinal neurons to GABA and glycine during voluntary movement in behaving monkeys
Authors: Wu Guoji , Perlmutter Steve I.
Published: October 2012

GABAergic and glycinergic inhibition play key roles in the function of spinal motor pathways. However, there is little direct information on the extent to which inhibition controls the activity of spinal neurons during behavior or the relative effectiveness of GABA and glycine on cell activity under normal conditions. These issues were investigated in three macaque monkeys trained to perform voluntary ramp-and-hold wrist movements and grip. Pipettes with an extracellular recording electrode and iontophoresis barrels were used to eject GABA, glycine, and/or their respective antagonists, bicuculline and strychnine, as the activity of single neurons was recorded in the C6–T1 spinal segments during hand movements. The firing rate of the vast majority of neurons decreased when an inhibitory neurotransmitter was ejected from the electrode, suggesting that most movement-related spinal neurons are sensitive to both GABA and glycine. Most movement-related neurons exhibited increased activity during iontophoresis of an antagonist, suggesting that both GABAergic and glycinergic inhibition actively regulate the majority of spinal neurons during movement. These conclusions were supported by the responses of neurons tested with both agonists or both antagonists. Bicuculline and strychnine produced the largest increases in firing rate during dynamic movements (ramp phase), smaller increases during maintained torque/force (hold phase), and the smallest increase during the rest period. Since excitatory inputs also tend to increase progressively from rest to static to dynamic muscle contractions, this result is consistent with coupled excitatory and inhibitory inputs to spinal neurons during movement.
Bilateral Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Developed under Interferon Therapy
Authors: Selcukbiricik Fatih , Tural Deniz , Senel Tuba Elif , Sarıca Ahmet , Soyluk Ozlem , Serdengecti Suheyla
Published: October 2012

Introduction. Interferon is a glycoprotein produced by assigned cells of immune system. It has been used in many different diseases. Although flu-like syndrome, myalgia, rash, hypotension, thrombocytopenia and peripheral neuropathy due to interferon use are encountered frequently, ocular side effects are rare, generally mild and transient.Case Report. 47-year-old female patient, presented with a mass lesion in right renal pelvis. Right radical nephrectomy was applied and the histopathological examination was consistent with papillary renal cell carcinoma. Interferon alpha treatment was started subcutaneously at the dose of 5 MIU/3 times in a week. Four weeks after the interferon therapy, suddenly bilateral visual loss developed. We discussed the diagnosis, followup, and treatment of the patient who developed irreversible ischemic optic neuropathy and had no previous known primary systemic disease to cause this condition.Conclusion. We suggest that patients should be screened for risk factors causing optic ischemic neuropathy, before interferon therapy. Although there was no adequate information in the literature for the followup, patients should be monitorized before, 1 month after, and 2 months after the treatment. And if there is no complication, we suggest that they should be followed up at 3-month intervals.
Airway Smooth Muscle Dynamics and Hyperresponsiveness: In and outside the Clinic
Authors: Noble Peter B. , Ansell Thomas K. , James Alan L. , McFawn Peter K. , Mitchell Howard W.
Published: October 2012

The primary functional abnormality in asthma is airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR)—excessive airway narrowing to bronchoconstrictor stimuli. Our understanding of the underlying mechanism(s) producing AHR is incomplete. While structure-function relationships have been evoked to explain AHR (e.g., increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass in asthma) more recently there has been a focus on how the dynamic mechanical environment of the lung impacts airway responsiveness in health and disease. The effects of breathing movements such as deep inspiration reveal innate protective mechanisms in healthy individuals that are likely mediated by dynamic ASM stretch but which may be impaired in asthmatic patients and thereby facilitate AHR. This perspective considers the evidence for and against a role of dynamic ASM stretch in limiting the capacity of airways to narrow excessively. We propose that lung function measured after bronchial provocation in the laboratory and changes in lung function perceived by the patient in everyday life may be quite different in their dependence on dynamic ASM stretch.
Factors Affecting Acceptance and Intention to Receive Pandemic Influenza A H1N1 Vaccine among Primary School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Birmingham, UK
Authors: Janks Michaela , Cooke Sara , Odedra Aimee , Kang Harkeet , Bellman Michelle , Jordan Rachel E.
Published: October 2012

UK pandemic influenza strategy focused on vaccination of high risk groups, although evidence shows that school-age children have the highest infection rates. Vaccination of children might be an additional strategy. We undertook a cross-sectional study amongst 149 parents of primary school children aged 4–7 years in Birmingham, UK to quantify intention to accept pandemic influenza vaccine and identify factors affecting uptake. Ninety-one (61.1%, 95% CI 52.8, 68.9) had or would accept vaccine for their child. The most common reasons for declining vaccine were concerns about safety (58.6% reported this), side effects (55.2%), or believing their child had already had swine flu (12.1%). Parents of nonwhite ethnicity (OR 2.4 (1.1, 5.0)) and with asthmatic children (OR 6.6 (1.4, 32.1)) were significantly more likely to accept pandemic vaccine, as were those whose children had ever received seasonal vaccine and those who believed swine flu to be a serious threat (OR 4.2 (1.9, 9.1)). Parents would be more likely to accept vaccination if they received a letter of invite, if the government strongly encouraged them, if it were administered at school, and if it were more thoroughly tested. Accurate media portrayal of safety of the vaccine during future pandemics will be essential.
Sex and Speciation: Drosophila Reproductive Tract Proteins— Twenty Five Years Later
Authors: Singh Rama , Jagadeeshan Santosh
Published: October 2012

The protein electrophoresis revolution, nearly fifty years ago, provided the first glimpse into the nature of molecular genetic variation within and between species and showed that the amount of genetic differences between newly arisen species was minimal. Twenty years later, 2D electrophoresis showed that, in contrast to general gene-enzyme variation, reproductive tract proteins were less polymorphic within species but highly diverged between species. The 2D results were interesting and revolutionary, but somewhat uninterpretable because, at the time, rapid evolution and selective sweeps were not yet part of the common vocabulary of evolutionary biologists. Since then, genomic studies of sex and reproduction-related (SRR) genes have grown rapidly into a large area of research in evolutionary biology and are shedding light on a number of phenomena. Here we review some of the major and current fields of research that have greatly contributed to our understanding of the evolutionary dynamics and importance of SRR genes and genetic systems in understanding reproductive biology and speciation.
Typhoidal Tularemia: 2 Familial Cases
Authors: Faucher J. F. , Chirouze C. , Coutris C. , Fery-Blanco C. , Maurin M. , Hoen B.
Published: October 2012

Eastern France was not known as a region endemic for tularemia until year 2006. We report on 2 cases of typhoidal tularemia in Eastern France, a 43-year-old hospitalized woman and her husband. Diagnosis was established after fever clearance on serodiagnosis criteria. The source of infection is unclear. As persons in the same family may likely be exposed to a common zoonotic source of infection, tularemia should be considered in the etiologies of familial fever epidemics.
Solar Photocatalytic Degradation of Azo Dye in AqueousTiO2Suspension Assisted by Fresnel Lens
Authors: Kuo Wen-Shiuh , Chen Wen-Yu
Published: October 2012

Solar TiO2photocatalytic process assisted by a Fresnel lens was investigated for treating an azo dye wastewater of Acid Orange 10 (AO10). Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to assess the effect of critical process parameters (including initial pH of wastewater, concentration of TiO2, and reaction time) on treatment performance in terms of COD and TOC degradation efficiency. Optimized reaction conditions based on the analysis of RSM were established under an initial pH of 6.0, a concentration of TiO2of 1 g/L, and a reaction time of 2 h for reaching a 90% COD and TOC degradation of AO10 wastewater. With the assistance of Fresnel lens, the TOC degradation rate of AO10 wastewater increased significantly from 0.606 h−1and 0.289 h−1to 1.477 h−1and 0.866 h−1in summer (June) season (UV280–400 nm nm: 39.9–44.8 W/m2) and winter (December) season (UV280–400 nm nm: 23.9–26.9 W/m2), respectively. This could be mainly due to the concentrating effect of Fresnel lens for solar energy, resulting in an increase of 2~2.5 times of solar light intensity and a raising heat irradiation in terms of 10~15 °C of wastewater temperature. These results revealed that solar energy could be concentrated effectively by using Fresnel lens and showed a significant promoting effect on the TiO2photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater.
Comparative Study ofSiO2,Al2O3, and BeO Ultrathin Interfacial Barrier Layers in Si Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Devices
Authors: Yum J. H. , Oh J. , Hudnall Todd. W. , Bielawski C. W. , Bersuker G. , Banerjee S. K.
Published: October 2012

In a previous study, we have demonstrated that beryllium oxide (BeO) film grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on Si and III-V MOS devices has excellent electrical and physical characteristics. In this paper, we compare the electrical characteristics of inserting an ultrathin interfacial barrier layer such as SiO2, Al2O3, or BeO between the HfO2gate dielectric and Si substrate in metal oxide semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs) and n-channel inversion type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). Si MOSCAPs and MOSFETs with a BeO/HfO2gate stack exhibited high performance and reliability characteristics, including a 34% improvement in drive current, slightly better reduction in subthreshold swing, 42% increase in effective electron mobility at an electric field of 1 MV/cm, slightly low equivalent oxide thickness, less stress-induced flat-band voltage shift, less stress induced leakage current, and less interface charge.
Coexistence of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2B and Chilaiditi Sign: A Case Report
Authors: Çetin Deniz , Ünübol Mustafa , Soyder Aykut , Güney Engin , Coşkun Adil , Özbaş Serdar , Ünsal Alparslan , Erkuş Muhan
Published: October 2012

We present a 15-year-old female patient with medullary thyroid carcinoma, marfanoid habitus, and mucosal ganglioneuromatosis. Our case had aRETprotooncogene mutation ser836 polymorphism in exon 14 and ser904 polymorphism in exon 15. Our patient is thought to be atypical MEN2B due to the absence of M918T or A883F mutations. Chilaiditi sign is an incidental radiographic finding of a usually asymptomatic condition in which a part of intestine is located between the liver and diaphragm; however, the term “Chilaiditi syndrome” is used for symptomatic hepatodiaphragmatic interposition. The patient had no symptoms as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, or emesis. Incidentally, Chilaiditi sign was diagnosed with chest radiograph and thoracoabdominal CT. Our case is the first in the literature indicating the coexistence of Chilaiditi sign and MEN2B.
Systems Biology of Meridians, Acupoints, and Chinese Herbs in Disease
Authors: Lin Li-Ling , Wang Ya-Hui , Lai Chi-Yu , Chau Chan-Lao , Su Guan-Chin , Yang Chun-Yi , Lou Shu-Ying , Chen Szu-Kai , Hsu Kuan-Hao , Lai Yen-Ling , Wu Wei-Ming , Huang Jian-Long , Liao Chih-Hsin , Juan Hsueh-Fen
Published: October 2012

Meridians, acupoints, and Chinese herbs are important components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). They have been used for disease treatment and prevention and as alternative and complementary therapies. Systems biology integrates omics data, such as transcriptional, proteomic, and metabolomics data, in order to obtain a more global and complete picture of biological activity. To further understand the existence and functions of the three components above, we reviewed relevant research in the systems biology literature and found many recent studies that indicate the value of acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Acupuncture is useful in pain moderation and relieves various symptoms arising from acute spinal cord injury and acute ischemic stroke. Moreover, Chinese herbal extracts have been linked to wound repair, the alleviation of postmenopausal osteoporosis severity, and anti-tumor effects, among others. Different acupoints, variations in treatment duration, and herbal extracts can be used to alleviate various symptoms and conditions and to regulate biological pathways by altering gene and protein expression. Our paper demonstrates how systems biology has helped to establish a platform for investigating the efficacy of TCM in treating different diseases and improving treatment strategies.
Hypoxia-Induced Oxidative Stress in Ischemic Retinopathy
Authors: Li Suk-Yee , Fu Zhong Jie , Lo Amy C. Y.
Published: October 2012

Oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of retinal ischemia/hypoxia, a complication of ocular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy (DR) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Oxidative stress refers to the imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the ability to scavenge these ROS by endogenous antioxidative systems. Free radicals and ROS are implicated in the irreversible damage to cell membrane, DNA, and other cellular structures by oxidizing lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Anti-oxidants that can inhibit the oxidative processes can protect retinal cells from ischemic/hypoxic insults. In particular, treatment using anti-oxidants such as vitamin E and lutein, inhibition of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH oxidase) or related signaling pathways, and administration of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) are possible therapeutic regimens for DR, ROP, and other retinal ischemic diseases. The role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of DR and ROP as well as the underlying mechanisms involved in the hypoxia/ischemia-induced oxidative damage is discussed. The information provided will be beneficial in understanding the underlying mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of the diseases as well as in developing effective therapeutic interventions to treat oxidative stress-induced damages.
Protective Effects of the Traditional Herbal Formula Oryeongsan Water Extract on Ethanol-Induced Acute Gastric Mucosal Injury in Rats
Authors: Jeon Woo-Young , Lee Mee-Young , Shin In-Sik , Lim Hye-Sun , Shin Hyeun-Kyoo
Published: October 2012

This study was performed to evaluate the protective effect and safety of Oryeongsan water extract (OSWE) on ethanol-induced acute gastric mucosal injury and an acute toxicity study in rats. Acute gastric lesions were induced via intragastric oral administration of absolute ethanol at a dose of 5 mL/kg. OSWE (100 and 200 mg/kg) was administered to rats 2 h prior to the oral administration of absolute ethanol. The stomach of animal models was opened and gastric mucosal lesions were examined. Gastric mucosal injuries were evaluated by measuring the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and the activity of antioxidant enzymes. In the acute toxicity study, no adverse effects of OSWE were observed at doses up to 2000 mg/kg/day. Administration of OSWE reduced the damage by conditioning the gastric mucosa against ethanol-induced acute gastric injury, which included hemorrhage, hyperemia, and loss of epithelial cells. The level of MDA was reduced in OSWE-treated groups compared with the ethanol-induced group. Moreover, the level of GSH and the activity of antioxidant enzymes were significantly increased in the OSWE-treated groups. Our findings suggest that OSWE has a protective effect on the gastric mucosa against ethanol-induced acute gastric injury via the upregulation of antioxidant enzymes.
Antidiabetic Effects of Add-OnGynostemma pentaphyllumExtract Therapy with Sulfonylureas in Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Authors: Huyen V. T. T. , Phan D. V. , Thang P. , Ky P. T. , Hoa N. K. , Ostenson C. G.
Published: October 2012

Aims.To investigate the antidiabetic effect of the traditional Vietnamese herbGynostemma pentaphyllum(GP) together with sulfonylurea (SU) in 25 drug-naïve type 2 diabetic patients.Methods.After 4-week treatment with gliclazide (SU), 30 mg daily, all patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups to add on GP extract or placebo extract, 6 g daily, during eight weeks.Results.After 4-week SU treatment, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1Cdecreased significantly (P<0.001). FPG was further reduced after add-on therapy with 2.9 ± 1.7 and 0.9 ± 0.6 mmol/L in the GP and placebo groups, respectively (P<0.001). Therapy with GP extract also reduced 30- and 120-minute oral glucose tolerance test postload values. HbA1Clevels decreased approximately 2% units in the GP group compared to 0.7% unit in the placebo group (P<0.001).Conclusion.GP extract in addition to SU offers an alternative to addition of other oral medication to treat type 2 diabetic patients.
An Evolutionary Algorithm for Solving Bilevel Programming Problems Using Duality Conditions
Authors: Li Hecheng , Fang Lei
Published: October 2012

Bilevel programming is characterized by two optimization problems located at different levels, in which the constraint region of the upper level problem is implicitly determined by the lower level problem. This paper is focused on a class of bilevel programming with a linear lower level problem and presents a new algorithm for solving this kind of problems by combining
an evolutionary algorithm with the duality principle. First, by using the prime‐dual conditions of the lower level problem, the original problem is transformed into a single‐level nonlinear
programming problem. In addition, for the dual problem of the lower level, the feasible bases are taken as individuals in population. For each individual, the values of dual variables can
be obtained by taking the dual problem into account, thus simplifying the single‐level problem. Finally, the simplified problem is solved, and the objective value is taken as the fitness of the
individual. Besides, when nonconvex functions are involved in the upper level, a coevolutionary scheme is incorporated to obtain global optima. In the computational experiment, 10 problems,
smaller or larger‐scale, are solved, and the results show that the proposed algorithm is efficient and robust.
Altered AKT1 and MAPK1 Gene Expression on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and Correlation with T-Helper-Transcription Factors in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients
Authors: Garcia-Rodriguez Sonia , Callejas-Rubio Jose-Luis , Ortego-Centeno Norberto , Zumaquero Esther , Ríos-Fernandez Raquel , Arias-Santiago Salvador , Navarro Pilar , Sancho Jaime , Zubiaur Mercedes
Published: October 2012

Kinases have been implicated in the immunopathological mechanisms of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). v-akt murine-thymoma viral-oncogene-homolog 1 (AKT1) and mitogen-activated-protein-kinase 1 (MAPK1) gene expressions in peripheral mononuclear cells from thirteen SLE patients with inactive or mild disease were evaluated using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase-chain-reaction and analyzed whether there was any correlation with T-helper (Th) transcription factors (TF) gene expression, cytokines, and S100A8/S100A9-(Calprotectin). Age- and gender-matched thirteen healthy controls were examined. AKT1 and MAPK1 expressions were upregulated in SLE patients and correlated with Th17-(Retinoic acid-related orphan receptor (ROR)-C), T-regulatory-(Treg)-(Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGFB)-2), and Th2-(interleukin (IL)-5)-related genes. MAPK1 expression correlated with Th1-(IL-12A, T-box TF-(T-bet)), Th2-(GATA binding protein-(GATA)-3), and IL-10 expressions. IL-10 expression was increased and correlated with plasma Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-αand Th0-(IL-2), Th1-(IL-12A, T-bet), GATA3, Treg-(Forkhead/winged-helix transcription factor- (FOXP)-3), and IL-6 expressions. FOXP3 expression, FOXP3/RORC, and FOXP3/GATA3 expression ratios were increased. Plasma IL-1β, IL-12(p70), Interferon-(IFN)-γ, and IL-6 cytokines were augmented. Plasma IL-1β, IL-6, IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10, and IL-13 correlated with C-reactive protein, respectively. Increased Calprotectin correlated with neutrophils. Conclusion, SLE patients presented a systemic immunoinflammatory activity, augmented AKT1 and MAPK1 expressions, proinflammatory cytokines, and Calprotectin, together with increased expression of Treg-related genes, suggesting a regulatory feedback opposing the inflammatory activity.
Influence of Tumour Necrosis Factor Alpha on the Outcome of Ischaemic Postconditioning in the Presence of Obesity and Diabetes
Authors: Lacerda Lydia , Opie Lionel H. , Lecour Sandrine
Published: October 2012

Obesity and diabetes contribute to cardiovascular disease and alter cytokine profile. The cytokine, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), activates a protective signalling cascade during ischaemic postconditioning (IPostC). However, most successful clinical studies with IPostC have not included obese and/or diabetic patients. We aimed to investigate the influence of TNFαon the outcome of IPostC in obese or diabetic mice. TNF knockout or wildtype mice were fed for 11 weeks with a high carbohydrate diet (HCD) to induce modest obesity. Diabetes was induced in a separate group by administration of a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Hearts were then isolated and subjected to ischaemia (35 min of global ischaemia) followed by 45 min of reperfusion. HCD increased body weight, plasma insulin and leptin levels while the glucose level was unchanged. In streptozotocin-treated mice, blood glucose, plasma leptin and insulin were altered. Control, obese or diabetic mice were protected with IPostC in wiltype animals. In TNF knockout mice, IPostC failed to protect control and diabetic hearts while a slight protection was observed in obese hearts. Our data confirm a bidirectional role for TNFαassociated with the severity of concomitant comorbidities and suggest that diabetic and/or modestly obese patients may still benefit from IPostC.
Quality of Wood and Charcoal fromEucalyptusClones for Ironmaster Use
Authors: Pereira Bárbara Luísa Corradi , Oliveira Aylson Costa , Carvalho Ana Márcia Macedo Ladeira , Carneiro Angélica de Cássia Oliveira , Santos Larissa Carvalho , Vital Benedito Rocha
Published: October 2012

Considering the wide variety of species and clones ofEucalyptuscultivated in Brazil, it is necessary to search for new information on wood properties, so that the selection of genetically superior material may be successful. The present study aimed to determine the properties of wood and charcoal from different clones ofEucalyptusspp. Six clones at the age of 7.5 years were evaluated and the samples were from a clonal, located in the city of Lassance, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Basic density, chemical composition, and higher heating value were determined. Carbonizations in a laboratory kiln were done and the levels of volatile matter, ash, and fixed carbon, higher heating value, and bulk density of the charcoal produced were determined. Evaluated genetic materials showed differences in their properties. According to research results, several properties of wood should be considered together for the selection of clones for charcoal production. However, basic density and chemical composition of wood, especially high contents of lignin and low contents of extractives, are the properties that had more influence on charcoal yield and its quality. Concerning charcoal production for steelmaking, clone 6 stood out and, conversely, clone 4 showed inferior properties to those of others.
Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials on Androgens versus Erythropoietin for Anaemia of Chronic Kidney Disease: Implications for Developing Countries
Authors: Adamu B. , Ma'aji S. M. , Erwin P. J. , Tleyjeh I. M.
Published: October 2012

Androgens which are relatively cheap were used in the treatment of anaemia in dialysis patients before the advent of Erythropoietin (EPO). However, there are concerns about their efficacy and side effects.Aims. To examine the efficacy and harms of androgens for the treatment of anaemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) compared to EPO.Settings and Design. A systematic review and meta-analysis using an a priori protocol.Methods and Materials. We searched several databases for randomized controlled trials using the key terms anaemia, chronic kidney disease, and androgens, without language restrictions. We also searched reference lists of relevant articles.Statistical Analysis Used. Data was analyzed using Review manger 5 software. We summarized treatment effects as relative risks and mean differences, with 95% confidence intervals using a random-effect model. We tested for heterogeneity with Chi2and theI2statistics.Results. We identified four eligible trials involving 114 participants, majority (83.33%) of whom were males, mostly over 50 years of age. The pooled difference in mean haemoglobin between the nandrolone and EPO arms at the end of the trials was −0.11 (CI −0.80 to 0.58) which is not statistically significant.Conclusions. This meta-analysis revealed no difference between nandrolone and EPO for the treatment of anaemia of CKD in men over 50 years. Therefore, nandrolone can be used for the treatment of anaemia of CKD in this category of patients, in resource-limited countries. However, further studies are needed to determine the long-term safety of nandrolone in men over 50 years old, as well as its effectiveness and safety in females in general, and males less than 50 years of age.
Safety Assessment of Zigbir®: A Polyherbal Formulation in Sprague-Dawley Rats
Authors: Allan Joseph Joshua , Bhide Ranjit Madhukar , Agarwal Amit
Published: October 2012

The safety of Zigbir®, a polyherbal formulation intended for use as food supplement, was evaluated in Sprague-Dawley rats treated orally at the dose of 2000 mg/kg in acute and at 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg for 90 days in subchronic toxicity study. The median lethal dose of Zigbir® was found to be more than 2000 mg/kg, and fourteen-day repeated dose toxicity study revealed it to be safe up to 1000 mg/kg. The subchronic study did not show any mortality or treatment-related adverse clinical signs. The treated animals exhibited normal feed intake and comparable body weight gain except for a decrease in females of 500 and 1000 mg/kg groups. Ocular examination revealed no abnormalities. Further, Zigbir® administration in rats did not induce any major changes in urinalysis, hematological, and biochemical evaluations except for minor alterations in few parameters at different dose levels. Gross and histopathological findings did not show any lesions attributable to Zigbir® administration. The no observed effect level of Zigbir® was found to be 500 and 250 mg/kg in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats.
On Radiation by a Heavy Quark in𝒩=4SYM
Authors: Baier Rudolf
Published: October 2012

A short note on radiation by a moving classical particle in𝒩=4supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory is discussed in this paper.