bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tracking performance and global stability guaranteed neural control of uncertain hypersonic flight vehicle
Authors: Teng Tao , Yang Chenguang , Dai Shi-Lu , Wang Min
Published: February 2017

In this article, a global adaptive neural dynamic surface control with predefined tracking performance is developed for a class of hypersonic flight vehicles, whose accurate dynamics is hard to obtain. The control scheme developed in this paper overcomes the limitations of neural approximation region by employing a switching mechanism which incorporates an additional robust controller outside the neural approximation region to pull the transient state variables back when they overstep the neural approximation region, such that globally uniformly ultimately bounded stability can be guaranteed. Especially, the developed global adaptive neural control also improves the tracking performance by introducing an error transformation mechanism, such that both transient and steady-state performance can be shaped according to the predefined bounds. Simulation studies on the hypersonic flight vehicle validate that the designed controller has good velocity modulation and velocity stability performance.
Determining next best view based on occlusion information in a single depth image of visual object
Authors: Zhang Shihui , Miao Yuxia , Li Xin , He Huan , Sang Yu , Du Xuezhe
Published: February 2017

How to determine the camera’s next best view is a challenging problem in vision field. A next best view approach is proposed based on occlusion information in a single depth image. First, the occlusion detection is accomplished for the depth image of visual object in current view to obtain the occlusion boundary and the nether adjacent boundary. Second, the external surface of occluded region is constructed and modeled according to the occlusion boundary and the nether adjacent boundary. Third, the observation direction, observation center point, and area information of external surface of occluded region are solved. And then, the set of candidate observation directions and the visual space of each candidate direction are determined. Finally, the next best view is achieved by solving the next best observation direction and camera’s observation position. The proposed approach does not need the prior knowledge of visual object or limit the camera position on a specially appointed surface. Experimental results demonstrate that the approach is feasible and effective.
Generic drugs: Current status and future potential
Authors: Mallam Neelima , Byalakere Rudraiah Chandra Shekar , Rudraswamy Sushma
Published: February 2017

Health care expenditure is increasing day by day across the globe. High cost of branded/innovator drug could be one possible reason for this. Policy makers and governments were looking for alternative strategies to reduce cost without compromising quality of care delivered. Generic drugs were found to be one such alternative. Present review was undertaken to enlighten on generic drugs, policies implemented by various governments, and perceptions of physicians and patients worldwide. Literature search was carried out in May 2016 using keywords “generic drug,” “generic medicine,” “physicians perception,” “patients perception,” “policies.” Full text articles of past decade were retrieved using electronic databases PubMed, Google Scholar. Thirteen studies were included for final analysis. Results were discussed under five themes: history, policies, and ethical considerations, perceptions of patients, and perceptions of physicians. It was noticed that results were mixed in nature. Some countries have well-established policies with good awareness among physicians and patients while some of them were in budding stages. Great variations that exist in health care structure among developed and developing countries reflected on generic drugs also. Long-term randomized trials to establish safety, bioequivalence of generic drugs were recommended. Awareness programs by mass media, health care professionals are need of the hour to increase acceptability of generic drugs.
Principals’ metaphors as a lens to understand how they perceive leadership
Authors: Hernández-Amorós María J. , Martínez Ruiz María A.
Published: February 2017

A prolific number of researchers have chosen to study metaphorical narratives, confirming their usefulness in educational research. The aim of this paper is to analyse the metaphorical expressions used by 68 principals from infant, primary and secondary schools in Alicante (Spain), concerning the way they see the figure of the principal and how it makes them feel. The data were processed using AQUAD 7. Results indicated a weak presence of characteristics related to social and contextual leader learning, as principals’ views tended more towards traditional models with duty predominating as a motivating force. Such views are usually associated with the experience of negative emotions. Findings highlighted the need to introduce an important cognitive and dispositional change in leadership education to ensure the development of professional skills aligned with current shared leadership models.
Sialylation of Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS and its effect on bacterial–host interactions
Authors: Zaric Svetislav S , Lappin Mark J , Fulton Catherine R , Lundy Fionnuala T , Coulter Wilson A , Irwin Christopher R
Published: February 2017

Porphyromonas gingivalis produces different LPS isoforms with significant structural variations of their lipid A and O-antigen moieties that can affect its pro-inflammatory and bone-resorbing potential. We show here, for the first time, that P. gingivalis LPS isolated from W83 strain is highly sialylated and possesses significantly reduced inflammatory potential compared with less sialylated ATCC 33277 strain LPS. Nevertheless, the reduction in the endotoxin activity is not mediated by the presence of sialic acid LPS moieties as the sialic acid-free LPS produced by the mutant W83 strain exhibits a similar inflammatory potential to the wild type strain. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the interaction between the sialic acid LPS moieties and the inhibitory CD33 receptor is prevented by endogenously expressed sialic acid on the surface of THP-1 cells that cannot be out-competed by sialic acid containing P. gingivalis LPS. The present study also highlights the importance of endogenous sialic acid as a ‘self-associated molecular pattern’ and CD33 receptors in modulation of innate immune response as human gingival fibroblasts, which do not express CD33 receptors, and desialylated THP-1 cells have both been found to have much higher spontaneous IL-8 production than naïve THP-1 cells.
“When You Come to the Fork in the Road, Take It . . .” Aspirations for Applied and Clinical Sociology
Authors: Steele Stephen F.
Published: February 2017

This 2016 presidential address presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (AACS) looks forward to possible alternative forms of the discipline. Not intended as a purely academic article, this essay provides an overview of five “aspirations” that the presenter has for applied and clinical sociology and AACS:

1. A sociology that uses its perspectives and tools creatively.

2. Applied sociology will more aggressively mine the human stories that make human social life.

3. Applied sociology will ethically engage action and “doing” to produce positive social change.

4. Applied and Clinical Sociology will demonstrate its value, broaden its functional appeal, and create paths to diversity. Known for its integrative nature as a problem-solution-focused being, AACS will be a model twenty-first-century organization.

5. Sociology will clarify its core and demonstrate its direct value. Support solutions to societal and client problems.

The address provides some novel, sometimes humorous, ways to achieve these aspirations.
Growth inhibitory activity of Ankaferd hemostat on primary melanoma cells and cell lines
Authors: Turk Seyhan , Malkan Umit Yavuz , Ghasemi Mehdi , Hocaoglu Helin , Mutlu Duygu , Gunes Gursel , Aksu Salih , Haznedaroglu Ibrahim Celalettin
Published: February 2017

Objective:

Ankaferd hemostat is the first topical hemostatic agent about the red blood cell–fibrinogen relations tested in the clinical trials. Ankaferd hemostat consists of standardized plant extracts including Alpinia officinarum, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Thymus vulgaris, Urtica dioica, and Vitis vinifera. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Ankaferd hemostat on viability of melanoma cell lines.

Methods:

Dissimilar melanoma cell lines and primary cells were used in this study. These cells were treated with different concentrations of Ankaferd hemostat to assess the impact of different dosages of the drug. All cells treated with different concentrations were incubated for different time intervals. After the data had been obtained, one-tailed T-test was used to determine whether the Ankaferd hemostat would have any significant inhibitory impact on cell growth.

Results:

We demonstrated in this study that cells treated with Ankaferd hemostat showed a significant decrease in cell viability compared to control groups. The cells showed different resistances against Ankaferd hemostat which depended on the dosage applied and the time treated cells had been incubated. We also demonstrated an inverse relationship between the concentration of the drug and the incubation time on one hand and the viability of the cells on the other hand, that is, increasing the concentration of the drug and the incubation time had a negative impact on cell viability.

Conclusion:

The findings in our study contribute to our knowledge about the anticancer impact of Ankaferd hemostat on different melanoma cells.
Well-differentiated adenocarcinoma associated with ulcerative colitis
Authors: Yamamoto Tomoko , Hiroi Atsuko , Itagaki Hiroko , Kato Yoichiro , Iizuka Bunei , Itabashi Michio , Shibata Noriyuki , Nagashima Yoji
Published: February 2017

Objectives:

Adenocarcinoma is known to be associated with ulcerative colitis, but the diagnosis is sometimes challenging, both clinically and pathologically.

Methods and Results:

We present a case of extremely well-differentiated adenocarcinoma associated with ulcerative colitis, in which preoperative diagnosis was not possible. Glands in biopsy specimens showed a serrated appearance that looked like low-grade dysplasia or regenerative mucosa. After an operation due to severe symptoms of stenosis, carcinoma was diagnosed. Tumor cells, especially in invasive glands, tended to show stronger immunoreactivity against anti-CK7, TNF-α and Aurora B antibodies compared to cells of mucosal lesion. Interestingly, CD44v6, one of the adhesion molecules, was less expressed in invasive glands, while those glands exhibited stronger expression of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM 17), one of the sheddases that cleaves an extracellular domain of CD44.

Conclusions:

These observations appear interesting to consider the pathogenesis and to diagnose extremely well-differentiated adenocarcinoma in ulcerative colitis, although further investigation is needed.
Switching to aripiprazole for the treatment of residual mutism resulted in distinct clinical courses in two catatonic schizophrenia cases
Authors: Muneoka Katsumasa , Kanahara Nobuhisa , Kimura Shou
Published: February 2017

Objectives:

The efficacy of a partial agonist for the dopamine D2 receptor, aripiprazole, for catatonia in schizophrenia has been reported.

Methods:

We report distinct clinical courses in challenging aripiprazole to treat residual mutism after severe catatonic symptoms improved.

Results:

In the first case, mutism was successfully treated when the patient was switched from olanzapine to aripiprazole. In contract, switching to aripiprazole from risperidone aggravated auditory hallucinations in the second case.

Conclusions:

We will discuss the benefits and risks of using aripiprazole for the treatment of catatonic schizophrenia and the possibility of dopamine supersensitivity psychosis.
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo secondary to laparoscopic surgery
Authors: Shan Xizheng , Wang Amy , Wang Entong
Published: February 2017

Objectives:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a common vestibular disorder and it may be idiopathic or secondary to some conditions such as surgery, but rare following laparoscopic surgery.

Methods:

We report two cases of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo secondary to laparoscopic surgery, one after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a 51-year-old man and another following laparoscopic hysterectomy in a 60-year-old woman.

Results:

Both patients were treated successfully with manual or device-assisted canalith repositioning maneuvers, with no recurrence on the follow-up of 6 -18 months.

Conclusions:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is a rare but possible complication of laparoscopic surgery. Both manual and device-assisted repositioning maneuvers are effective treatments for this condition, with good efficacy and prognosis.
High-flow priapism treated with superselective transcatheter embolization using polyvinyl alcohol particles
Authors: Sánchez-López Sebastián , González-Gómez Silvia , Di lizio-Miele Katyna , González-Gómez Joaquín
Published: February 2017

Objectives:

Priapism is a persistent erection of the penis not associated with sexual stimulation. High-flow priapism is caused by unregulated arterial inflow, usually preceded by perineal or penile blunt trauma and formation of an arterial-lacunar fistula. We present a case of high-flow priapism in a 13-year-old patient managed with polyvinyl alcohol particles.

Methods:

After obtaining informed consent of the parents of the minor, diagnosis was made with penile Color Doppler Ultrasound and confirmed with flush angiography. Selective arterial embolization was performed with the use of polyvinyl alcohol particles.

Results:

Complete detumescence was achieved without compromising the patient’s erectile function.

Conclusions:

The use of permanent occlusive agents like polyvinyl alcohol particles for embolization shows good occlusion rates compared to temporary agents. More studies are needed to find the safer and better agent for the treatment of high flow priapism without compromising erectile function.
Contribution of oral triamcinolone to treating proliferative and necrotising otitis externa in a 14-year-old Persian cat
Authors: Momota Yutaka , Yasuda Junya , Arai Nobuaki , Yamamoto Masami , Yoshimura Hisashi , Ikezawa Mitsutaka , Suzuki Shuji , Takahashi Kimimasa , Sako Toshinori
Published: February 2017

Case summary

A 14-year-old female spayed cat was referred for recurrent otitis externa and unusual proliferative lesions in both ear canals. The affected pinnae and external ear canals were covered with large reddish-to-dark-brown verrucous and necrotic tissue. Friable material and exudates occluded both ear canals. Proliferative lesions developed in both ears 2–3 weeks before referral. The histopathological diagnosis from two biopsies obtained from the friable materials with endoscopic biopsy forceps was proliferative and necrotising otitis externa (PNOE). Treatment was initiated with once-daily application of a potent topical glucocorticoid (mometasone furoate) to both ears. Although the auricle and vertical ear canals responded well, no improvement was seen in the horizontal part of the ear canal after 9 weeks. Therefore, oral triamcinolone (0.9 mg/kg q24h) was added for 1 week, and was then tapered (q48h) for 3 weeks. Most lesions resolved, and after a further 2 weeks of prednisolone (2 mg/kg q48h) there was complete resolution. No recurrence was observed during a 2 year follow-up period.

Relevance and novel information

PNOE commonly occurs in kittens, but it can develop in older cats. To our knowledge, the PNOE in this case is the oldest age of onset reported. This condition is rare and was only described recently, and therapeutic options appear limited. According to previously published reports, steroid therapy is ineffective, and tacrolimus is the only treatment known to achieve resolution. However, oral and topical glucocorticoids were beneficial in this case.
Mentoring and Psychological Empowerment: Relationship with Turnover Intentions of Managers: A Study on Private Sector Banks of Delhi-NCR Region
Authors: Srivastava Shalini
Published: February 2017

The purpose of the study was to understand impact of mentoring and psychological empowerment on turnover intentions of managers of private sector banks of Delhi-NCR Region of India. The study was conducted on 280 middle-level managers of private sector banks. Validated instruments were used and SPSS 20 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product moment correlation, and moderated regression analysis were used for the study. A significant relationship was found between psychological empowerment and turnover intention. The result found a negative association between mentoring and turnover intention. The results further found that mentoring moderated the psychological empowerment–turnover intentions relationship. As human capital is the pillar of the organization, it is pertinent that organizations must emphasize the role of mentoring in making the employees realize the true sense of empowerment and thereby reducing turnover intentions. The study is first of its kind in Indian work setting that has tried to understand the relationship between mentoring, psychological empowerment, and turnover intentions with reference to banking sector employees.
Cointegration between Energy Consumption, CO2Emissions, and GDP in India
Authors: Inumula Krishna Murthy , Deeppa K.
Published: February 2017

This article examines the cointegration relationship among the per capita gross domestic product (GDP), per capita energy consumption, and per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the effect of energy consumption and per capita GDP on CO2emissions for India covering the period 1980–2014. All the data variables are non-stationary in level form but are integrated of order one. Johansen’s rank procedure and Engle–Granger vector autoregressive (VAR) is used to determine the cointegration relation and direction of causality among the variables (Murthy, 2011). Vector error correction mechanism is used to study the short-run behavior of the variables; impulse responses to the shocks of variables are also studied in order to identify the variance decomposition of variables energy consumption, CO2emissions, and economic activity. VAR model is used for short-term forecasting of CO2emissions. Results have identified that the data variables energy consumption, CO2emissions, and GDP are cointegrated and VAR is proved to be good tool for short-term forecasting of CO2emissions.
The Gap Within the Gap
Authors: Michelmore Katherine , Dynarski Susan
Published: February 2017

Gaps in educational achievement between high- and low-income children are growing. Administrative data sets maintained by states and districts lack information about income but do indicate whether a student is eligible for subsidized school meals. We leverage the longitudinal structure of these data sets to develop a new measure of economic disadvantage. Half of eighth graders in Michigan are eligible for a subsidized meal, but just 14% have been eligible for subsidized meals in every grade since kindergarten. These children score 0.94 standard deviations below those who are never eligible for meal subsidies and 0.23 below those who are occasionally eligible. There is a negative, linear relationship between grades spent in economic disadvantage and eighth-grade test scores. This is not an exposure effect; the relationship is almost identical in third-grade, before children have been exposed to varying years of economic disadvantage. Survey data show that the number of years that a child will spend eligible for subsidized lunch is negatively correlated with her or his current household income. Years eligible for subsidized meals can therefore be used as a reasonable proxy for income. Our proposed measure can be used to estimate heterogeneous effects in program evaluations, to improve value-added calculations, and to better target resources.
A Comparative Analysis of Method Books for Class Jazz Instruction
Authors: Watson Kevin E.
Published: February 2017

The purpose of this study was to analyze and compare instructional topics and teaching approaches included in selected class method books for jazz pedagogy through content analysis methodology. Frequency counts for the number of pages devoted to each defined instructional content category were compiled and percentages of pages allotted to each category were calculated. Analyses of supplementary media consisted of noting the duration in seconds that each excerpt devoted to illustrating concepts in each instructional content category. Results indicated that the largest amount of content was devoted to arrangements of tunes for group performance (34%), rhythm section pedagogy (13%), and suggested rehearsal techniques (10%). Of note, the categories of improvisation and aural training each comprised only 3% of the surveyed content. Pedagogical approaches to the emphasized instructional areas were identified and discussed within the context of prior research in jazz pedagogy.
Mapping arsenopyrite alteration in a quartz vein-hosted gold deposit using microbeam analytical techniques
Authors: Gilligan M. , Costanzo A. , Feely M. , Rollinson G. K. , Timmins E. , Henry T. , Morrison L.
Published: February 2017

An unworked quartz vein-hosted gold deposit occurs in the Clew bay area of County Mayo, western Ireland. The veins are late-Caledonian in age and transect greenschist-facies poly-deformed Silurian quartzites. The veins contain disseminated arsenopyrite that may be a primary mineral source for elevated levels of arsenic (As) found in groundwater samples recovered from wells related spatially to the gold deposit. Levels from 5 to 188 μg/L (significantly above the 7.5 μg/L threshold for safe drinking water) have been detected. A series of element distribution maps using a scanning electron microscope (Hitachi model S-4700) linked to an energy-dispersive spectrometer (INCA® Oxford Instruments) and mineral distribution maps generated by QEMSCAN® (Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning electron microscopy) were used to map the distribution of the primary arsenopyrite and related secondary As-bearing phases. Laser Raman microspectroscopy was used to identify the secondary As-bearing phases. 'Island weathering' of primary arsenopyrite together with hydrated pseudomorphs of arseniosiderite, pharmacosiderite and scorodite after arsenopyrite are recorded. Circulating groundwater hydrates the primary arsenopyrite, providing the release mechanism that forms the secondary As-bearing phases that occur as microfracture infills together with muscovite and biotite. The textural relationships between the primary and secondary As minerals indicate their potential as mineral sources of As that could enter transport pathways leading to its release into groundwater.
Epidote supergroup nomenclature: The names hancockite, niigataite and tweddillite reinstated
Authors: Revheim Olav , King Vandall T.
Published: February 2017

The epidote-group nomenclature report by Armbruster et al. (2006) provides a clear and concise definition of the epidote group, and a set of consistent rules and naming conventions for establishing new subgroups and mineral species within what is now the epidote supergroup (Mills et al., 2009). In order to comply with these rules, it was decided to rename the already approved minerals hancockite, niigataite and tweddillite to epidote-(Pb), clinozoisite-(Sr) and manganipiemontite-(Sr), respectively. These names were already well established within the mineral community, and the renaming caused some controversy. Recent International Mineralogical Association guidelines (Hatert et al. 2013) have given priority to the historical provenance of names over nomenclature consistency. Hatert et al. (2013) state as a main principle that "retroactivity will not be applied", but that "Every change in nomenclature has to go through the CNMNC, and is examined on its own merit", thus establishing a mechanism for re-instating historical names on a case by case basis. The CNMNC (Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification Committee of the International Mineralogical Association) has therefore decided, as an exception to the main principle, to re-instate hancockite, niigataite and tweddillite. In part to maintain the historical names but, more importantly, re-establish the link between the mineral names and their structural and chemical definitions.
Goal-directed fluid restriction during brain surgery: a prospective randomized controlled trial
Authors: Luo Jinfeng , Xue Jing , Liu Jin , Liu Bin , Liu Li , Chen Guo
Published: February 2017

Background

The value of goal-directed fluid therapy in neurosurgical patients, where brain swelling is a major concern, is unknown. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of an intraoperative goal-directed fluid restriction (GDFR) strategy on the postoperative outcome of high-risk patients undergoing brain surgery.

Methods

High-risk patients undergoing brain surgery were randomly assigned to a usual care group (control group) or a GDFR group. In the GDFR group, (1) fluid maintenance was restricted to 3 ml/kg/h of a crystalloid solution and (2) colloid boluses were allowed only in case of hypotension associated with a low cardiac index and a high stroke volume variation. The primary outcome variable was ICU length of stay, and secondary outcomes were lactates at the end of surgery, postoperative complications, hospital length of stay, mortality at day 30, and costs.

Results

A total of 73 patients from the GDFR group were compared with 72 patients from the control group. Before surgery, the two groups were comparable. During surgery, the GDFR group received less colloid (1.9 ± 1.1 vs. 3.9 ± 1.6 ml/kg/h, p = 0.021) and less crystalloid (3 ± 0 vs. 5.0 ± 2.8 ml/kg/h, p < 0.001) than the control group. ICU length of stay was shorter (3 days [1–5] vs. 6 days [3–11], p = 0.001) and ICU costs were lower in the GDFR group. The total number of complications (46 vs. 99, p = 0.043) and the proportion of patients who developed one or more complications (19.2 vs. 34.7%, p = 0.034) were smaller in the GDFR group. Hospital length of stay and costs, as well as mortality at 30 day, were not significantly reduced.

Conclusion

In high-risk patients undergoing brain surgery, intraoperative GDFR was associated with a reduction in ICU length of stay and costs, and a decrease in postoperative morbidity.

Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-TRC-13003583, Registered 20 Aug, 2013
The effectiveness of spawning habitat creation or enhancement for substrate spawning temperate fish: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Taylor Jessica J. , Rytwinski Trina , Bennett Joseph R. , Smokorowski Karen E. , Cooke Steven J.
Published: February 2017

Background

Habitat is the foundation for healthy and productive fisheries. For substrate spawning fish, lack of appropriate spawning substrate is inherently limiting and a lack of access to suitable spawning habitat will lead to population collapse. When specific properties of a habitat (e.g., temperature, depth, vegetation composition) are matched to the species’ ecological niche, a spawning habitat can be created or enhanced as a means of mitigating or offsetting the harmful effects of human development. Given the acceleration of habitat degradation in aquatic systems as a result of human activity and resultant loss of biodiversity, it is becoming ever more important to consider the effectiveness of the techniques being used to enhance or create habitat, to ensure management resources are being allocated wisely. The primary aim of this systematic review will be to assess the effectiveness of techniques currently being used to create or enhance spawning habitat for substrate spawning fish in temperate climate regions.

Methods

This review will examine studies on the effectiveness of habitat creation or enhancement for substrate spawning fish. We will consider studies in either the North or South temperate climate regions, and include freshwater, estuarine, coastal, or marine environments. Relevant outcomes will include a range of measures used by authors to define effectiveness, including but not limited to the presence of eggs, successful emergence, or improved recruitment. This review will obtain relevant studies from online publication databases, specialist websites, and grey literature using a range of search engines and networking tools. Additional searches will be conducted using the bibliographies of relevant review publications. Study data will be extracted and appraised for quality, including study design, confounding factors, and statistical analysis. A narrative synthesis will be compiled and a meta-analysis will be completed should the data availability and quality allow for it.
Applying shot boundary detection for automated crystal growth analysis during in situ transmission electron microscope experiments
Authors: Moeglein W. A. , Griswold R. , Mehdi B. L. , Browning N. D. , Teuton J.
Published: February 2017

In situ scanning transmission electron microscopy is being developed for numerous applications in the study of nucleation and growth under electrochemical driving forces. For this type of experiment, one of the key parameters is to identify when nucleation initiates. Typically, the process of identifying the moment that crystals begin to form is a manual process requiring the user to perform an observation and respond accordingly (adjust focus, magnification, translate the stage, etc.). However, as the speed of the cameras being used to perform these observations increases, the ability of a user to “catch” the important initial stage of nucleation decreases (there is more information that is available in the first few milliseconds of the process). Here, we show that video shot boundary detection can automatically detect frames where a change in the image occurs. We show that this method can be applied to quickly and accurately identify points of change during crystal growth. This technique allows for automated segmentation of a digital stream for further analysis and the assignment of arbitrary time stamps for the initiation of processes that are independent of the user’s ability to observe and react.
Data systems for the Linac coherent light source
Authors: Thayer J. , Damiani D. , Ford C. , Dubrovin M. , Gaponenko I. , O’Grady C. P. , Kroeger W. , Pines J. , Lane T. J. , Salnikov A. , Schneider D. , Tookey T. , Weaver M. , Yoon C. H. , Perazzo A.
Published: February 2017

The data systems for X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) experiments at the Linac coherent light source (LCLS) are described. These systems are designed to acquire and to reliably transport shot-by-shot data at a peak throughput of 5 GB/s to the offline data storage where experimental data and the relevant metadata are archived and made available for user analysis. The analysis and monitoring implementation (AMI) and Photon Science ANAlysis (psana) software packages are described. Psana is open source and freely available.
Efficient implementation of a local tomography reconstruction algorithm
Authors: Paleo Pierre , Mirone Alessandro
Published: February 2017

We propose an efficient implementation of an interior tomography reconstruction method based on a known subregion. This method iteratively refines a reconstruction, aiming at reducing the local tomography artifacts. To cope with the ever increasing data volumes, this method is highly optimized on two aspects: firstly, the problem is reformulated to reduce the number of variables, and secondly, the operators involved in the optimization algorithms are efficiently implemented. Results show that $$4096^2$$

4096
2

slices can be processed in tens of seconds, while being beyond the reach of equivalent exact local tomography method.
Nanosurveyor: a framework for real-time data processing
Authors: Daurer Benedikt J. , Krishnan Hari , Perciano Talita , Maia Filipe R. N. C. , Shapiro David A. , Sethian James A. , Marchesini Stefano
Published: February 2017

Background

The ever improving brightness of accelerator based sources is enabling novel observations and discoveries with faster frame rates, larger fields of view, higher resolution, and higher dimensionality.

Results

Here we present an integrated software/algorithmic framework designed to capitalize on high-throughput experiments through efficient kernels, load-balanced workflows, which are scalable in design. We describe the streamlined processing pipeline of ptychography data analysis.

Conclusions

The pipeline provides throughput, compression, and resolution as well as rapid feedback to the microscope operators.
Data analysis of potential field methods using geostatistics
Authors: Shamsipour Pejman , Chouteau Michel , Marcotte Denis
Published: February 2017

Processing of potential field data is commonly done by spectral methods because of their low computational complexity. However, we have studied some geostatistical methods to process the potential field data, and we find the advantages of using these spatial methods. First, we investigate transformation of data by kriging using a gravimetric model of covariance, we compare this approach with the spectral method, and we find its advantage when the data were sparse and not on a regular grid using a synthetic example as well as a field data example. Then, we use factorial kriging for noise reduction and separation of the regional and residual components. This method does not have some of the practical limitations that the spectral-based methods encounter. Finally, we determine the flexibility of interpolation using nonstationary covariances.
Facies analysis by integrating 3D seismic attributes and well logs for prospect identification and evaluation — A case study from Northwest China
Authors: Wang Xingjian , Zhang Bo , Zhao Tao , Hang Junbo , Wu Hao , Yong Ziquan
Published: February 2017

Characterization of facies within a hydrocarbon reservoir is essential for potential prospect identification and evaluation. We have developed a practical workflow that integrates poststack seismic attributes and well-log facies analysis to understand the development and depositional setting of the Triassic-age Akekule Formation in Tahe field, Northwest China. The workflow begins with sequence and sedimentary cycle analysis on selected benchmark wells. We then identify sand bodies within each sedimentary cycle using well logs. The analysis from well logs and drilling cuttings together illustrate that there exist five sand bodies within the fourth member of Akekule Formation. We next predict the horizontal distribution of each sand body based on the facies analysis on well logs. We finally perform multiple poststack seismic attributes analyses to identify seismic facies. Multiattribute analysis is implemented either through corendering multiple seismic attributes or neural network clustering on multiple seismic attributes. The lithofacies obtained from seismic attribute analysis is calibrated with facies identified using well logs.
Development of a Fragility Model for the Residential Building Stock in South America
Authors: Villar-Vega Mabé , Silva Vitor , Crowley Helen , Yepes Catalina , Tarque Nicola , Acevedo Ana Beatriz , Hube Matías A. , Gustavo Coronel D. , María Hernán Santa
Published: February 2017

South America—in particular, the Andean countries—are exposed to high levels of seismic hazard, which, when combined with the elevated concentration of population and properties, has led to an alarming potential for human and economic losses. Although several fragility models have been developed in recent decades for South America, and occasionally used in probabilistic risk analysis, these models have been developed using distinct methodologies and assumptions, which renders any direct comparison of the results across countries questionable, and thus application at a regional level unreliable. This publication aims at obtaining a uniform fragility model for the most representative building classes in the Andean region, for large-scale risk analysis. To this end, sets of single-degree-of-freedom oscillators were created and subjected to a series of ground motion records using nonlinear time history analyses, and the resulting damage distributions were used to derive sets of fragility functions.
Mythic and Modern: The Aesthetics of Space in the Films of Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani
Authors: Suchenski Richard I.
Published: February 2017

Although their work is most frequently discussed in relation to the “Indian New Wave” or within the more theoretically charged framework of the “avant-garde,” filmmakers Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani have spent decades pursuing aesthetic projects whose parameters exceed the bounds of these critical categories. Informed by the practices of both Ritwik Ghatak and Robert Bresson, Kaul and Shahani remain rigorously attentive to the concreteness of image/sound relations in cinema and acutely conscious of the perspectival system underlying conventional cinematic representation. In markedly different but complementary ways, both filmmakers have tried to develop synthetic approaches that would extend the strategies of international cinematic modernism while also reinvigorating premodern forms, drawing fresh attention to the structure, embedded histories, and experiential possibilities of spatial vision.
Haveli: A Cinematic Topos
Authors: Jaikumar Priya
Published: February 2017

The vernacular architectural style of the haveli in India is defined by social historian Sarah Tillotson as a “distinguishable type of inward looking courtyard house” prevalent in precolonial North India. Havelis lost their ability to function as efficient domiciles with the decline of the Mughal empire, under which a hierarchical, patriarchal system of aristocratic patronage and indirect landownership once flourished, to be replaced by indigenous bureaucratic elites as well as subservient princely states suited to British imperialism. The ability of wealthy families to sustain extended communities overseen by the haveli's amir (overlord) dissipated with the declining financial and social powers of the Mughal emperor, and India's many regents and noblemen. Since the mid-twentieth century, havelis largely populate the nation's landscape as heritage sites or decaying buildings parceled out among multiple owners. Studied by anthropologists and architectural historians as signs and ruins of another era, havelis and the lifestyle associated with them have nevertheless been kept alive for popular audiences by novels, television, and, most prominently, commercially successful Hindi films. Popular postindependence Hindi-Urdu films such as Madhumati (1958), Sahib bibi aur ghulam (1962), Bahu begum (1967), Lal patthar (1971), Kudrat (1981), Bees Saal baad (1988), and Purani haveli (1989), among others, have endowed havelis with an affective life that creatively processes and reflects on the structure's material decline, by using architectural form as a trigger point for emotions about the changing role of class, religion, and gender in the biography of a modern nation. The films scramble history and erase India's colonial period, which was historically central to the haveli's decline as an architectural hub of cities. Faced with such a hermeneutic, a historian's attention is drawn away from the logic of causality to the logic of signification, to understand what misalignments of time have meant in the popular imagination of an architectural form. This article recuperates the omitted middle of British colonialism to reveal how ruptures from a sense of continuous time produced this cinematic imagination of a place to write a critical historiography of affective space in cinema.
Time varying auditory gain control in response to double pulse stimuli in harbour porpoises is not mediated by a stapedial reflex
Authors: Schrøder Asger Emil Munch , Beedholm Kristian , Madsen Peter Teglberg
Published: February 2017

Echolocating animals reduce their output level and hearing sensitivity, presumably to stabilize the perceived echo intensity during target approaches. In bats this variation in hearing sensitivity is formed by a call-induced stapedial reflex that tapers off over time after the call. Here we test the hypothesis that a similar mechanism exists in toothed whales by subjecting a trained harbour porpoise to a series of double sound pulses varying in delay and frequency, while measuring the magnitudes of the evoked ABRs. We find that the recovery of the ABR to the second pulse is frequency dependent, and that a stapedial reflex therefore cannot account for the reduced hearing sensitivity at short pulse delays. Thus, we propose that toothed whale auditory time varying gain control during echolocation is not enabled by the middle ear as in bats, but rather by frequency dependent mechanisms such as forward masking and perhaps higher order control of efferent feedback to the outer hair cells.
Localization of phosphorylated connexin 43 using serial section immunogold electron microscopy
Authors: Norris Rachael P. , Baena Valentina , Terasaki Mark
Published: February 2017

Gap junction turnover occurs through the internalization of both of the plasma membranes of a gap junction plaque, forming a double membrane-enclosed vesicle, or connexosome. Phosphorylation has a key role in regulation, but further progress requires the ability to clearly distinguish gap junctions and connexosomes, and to precisely identify proteins associated with them. We examined, by using electron microscopy, serial sections of mouse preovulatory ovarian follicles that had been collected with an automated tape collecting ultramicrotome (ATUM). We found that connexosomes can form from adjacent cell bodies, from thin cell processes or from the same cell. By immunolabeling serial sections, we found that residue S368 of connexin 43 (also known as GJA1) is phosphorylated on gap junctions and connexosomes, whereas connexin 43 residue S262 is phosphorylated only on some connexosomes. These data suggest that phosphorylation at S262 contributes to connexosome formation or processing, and they provide more precise evidence that phosphorylation has a key role in gap junction internalization. Serial section electron microscopy of immunogold-labeled tissues offers a new way to investigate the three-dimensional organization of cells in their native environment.
It's cool to be dominant: social status alters short-term risks of heat stress
Authors: Cunningham Susan J. , Thompson Michelle L. , McKechnie Andrew E.
Published: February 2017

Climate change has potential to trigger social change. As a first step towards understanding mechanisms determining the vulnerability of animal societies to rising temperatures, we investigated interactions between social rank and thermoregulation in three arid-zone bird species: fawn-coloured lark (Mirafra africanoides, territorial); African red-eyed bulbul (Pycnonotus nigricans, loosely social) and sociable weaver (Philetairus socius, complex cooperative societies). We assessed relationships between body temperature (Tb), air temperature (Ta) and social rank in captive groups in the Kalahari Desert. Socially dominant weavers and bulbuls had lower mean Tb than subordinate conspecifics, and dominant individuals of all species maintained more stable Tb as Ta increased. Dominant bulbuls and larks tended to monopolise available shade, but dominant weavers did not. Nevertheless, dominant weavers thermoregulated more precisely, despite expending no more behavioural effort on thermoregulation than subordinates. Increasingly unequal risks associated with heat stress may have implications for stability of animal societies in warmer climates.
Comparison of human gastrocnemius forces predicted by Hill-type muscle models and estimated from ultrasound images
Authors: Dick Taylor J. M. , Biewener Andrew A. , Wakeling James M.
Published: February 2017

Hill-type models are ubiquitous in the field of biomechanics, providing estimates of a muscle’s force as a function of its activation state and its assumed force-length and force-velocity properties. However, despite their routine use, the accuracy with which Hill-type models predict the forces generated by muscles during submaximal, dynamic tasks remains largely unknown. This study compared human gastrocnemii forces predicted by Hill-type models to the forces estimated from ultrasound-based measures of tendon length changes and stiffness during cycling, over a range of loads and cadences. We tested both a traditional model, with one contractile element, and a differential model, with two contractile elements that accounted for independent contributions of slow and fast muscle fibres. Both models were driven by subject-specific, ultrasound-based measures of fascicle lengths, velocities, and pennation angles and by activation patterns of slow and fast muscle fibres derived from surface electromyographic recordings. The models predicted on average, 54 % the time-varying gastrocnemii forces estimated from the ultrasound-based methods. However, differences between predicted and estimated forces were smaller under low speed-high activation conditions, with models able to predict nearly 80 % of the gastrocnemii force over a complete pedal cycle. Additionally, the predictions from the Hill-type muscle models tested here showed that a similar pattern of force production could be achieved for most conditions with and without accounting for the independent contributions of different muscle fibre types.
Practical data handling pipeline improves performance of qPCR-based circulating miRNA measurements
Authors: de Ronde Maurice W.J. , Ruijter Jan M. , Lanfear David , Bayes-Genis Antoni , Kok Maayke G.M. , Creemers Esther E. , Pinto Yigal M. , Pinto-Sietsma Sara-Joan
Published: February 2017

Since numerous miRNAs have been shown to be present in circulation, these so-called circulating miRNAs have emerged as potential biomarkers for disease. However, results of qPCR studies on circulating miRNA biomarkers vary greatly and many experiments cannot be reproduced. Missing data in qPCR experiments often occur due to off-target amplification, nonanalyzable qPCR curves and discordance between replicates. The low concentration of most miRNAs leads to most, but not all missing data. Therefore, failure to distinguish between missing data due to a low concentration and missing data due to randomly occurring technical errors partly explains the variation within and between otherwise similar studies. Based on qPCR kinetics, an analysis pipeline was developed to distinguish missing data due to technical errors from missing data due to a low concentration of the miRNA-equivalent cDNA in the PCR reaction. Furthermore, this pipeline incorporates a method to statistically decide whether concentrations from replicates are sufficiently concordant, which improves stability of results and avoids unnecessary data loss. By going through the pipeline's steps, the result of each measurement is categorized as “valid, invalid, or undetectable.” Together with a set of imputation rules, the pipeline leads to more robust and reproducible data as was confirmed experimentally. Using two validation approaches, in two cohorts totaling 2214 heart failure patients, we showed that this pipeline increases both the accuracy and precision of qPCR measurements. In conclusion, this statistical data handling pipeline improves the performance of qPCR studies on low-expressed targets such as circulating miRNAs.