bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the death of a baby.
Authors: Stinson R , Stinson P
Published: November 2008

Andrew was a desperately premature baby weighing under two pounds. He died after months of "heroic' efforts in an intensive care facility. The story of his short cruel institutionalised life is a case study in the limits and excesses of modern medicine. The night he told us our son Andrew was about to die the doctor who had taken charge of him six months before also told us we were "intellectually tight' that we had "no feelings only thoughts and words and strategies'. We were "bad parents'. As the parents of a five-year-old daughter we knew the love a mother and father feels for children. Yet as Andrew's parents we were used to condemnation and insult. Andrew was a baby born 15 weeks prematurely weighing only 1lb 12oz and in a state of painful deterioration almost from the start. We wanted him to be allowed to die a natural death. Andrew's story is the story of what can happen when a baby becomes hopelessly entrapped in an intensive care unit where the machinery is more sophisticated than the code of law and ethics governing its use. The letter printed below was sent to the administrator and numerous personnel of the hospital that controlled the life and death of our son. The physician-in-chief of that hospital characterised it as a "carefully documented critique'. The letter appear here somewhat edited and abridged and the names of people and institutions have been changed all but our own. It is the personal record of what happened to our baby and to us.
Learning about death: a project report from the Edinburgh University Medical School.
Authors: Thompson I E , Lowther C P , Doyle D , Bird J , Turnbull J
Published: November 2008

A report of a problem-based learning project on the ethics of terminal care, offered as one of the options available to first year MB ChB students in Edinburgh University Medical School. The project formed part of the 'clinical correlation course' in the new curriculum. Six students took part under the supervision of two clinical tutors and a moral philosopher. The course was case-based and practical with students being given the opportunity over a period of eight weeks to meet patients, relatives and hospital staff at a local geriatrics hospital and terminal care home. The main issue studied was the degree of choice available to patients electing to be treated at home, in hospital or in a hospice. Other issues included: pre-death, disposal of the dead, certification of death, communication with relatives and follow-up bereavement services.
Students' attitudes to ethics in the medical school curriculum.
Authors: Shelp E E , Russell M L , Grose N P
Published: November 2008

A survey of 106 medical students assessing their interest in and attitudes to medical ethics in the curriculum is reported by the authors. Results indicate that 64 per cent of the students rated the importance of medical ethics to good medical care as high or critical and 66 per cent desired to learn more about the topic. However, in reports of patient encounters identifying ethical issues, less than six per cent of the students reported a frequency of more than one such patient encounter per week. The students also demonstrated a greater awareness of more obvious ethical issues than of more subtle, less publicised issues. When asked how medical ethics should be taught, the students clearly affirmed a desire for an integrated exposure to the subject throughout the medical curriculum. Possible implications of these findings for medical education are discussed.
GRAVITATIONAL ANOMALY AND HAWKING RADIATION OF BRANEWORLD BLACK HOLES
Authors: HUANG CHAO-GUANG , SUN JIA-RUI , WU XIAONING , ZHANG HAI-QING
Published: November 2008

Wilczek and his collaborators' anomaly cancellation approach is applied to the 3D Schwarzschild- and BTZ-like braneworld black holes induced by the generalized [Formula: see text] metrics in the Randall–Sundrum scenario. Based on the fact that the horizon of braneworld black hole will extend into the bulk spacetime, calculation is done from the bulk generalized [Formula: see text] metrics side and it is shown that this approach also reproduces the correct Hawking radiation for these braneworld black holes. Besides, since this approach does not involve the dynamical equation, it is also shown that the Hawking radiation is only a kinematic effect.
ON THE QUESTION OF DECONFINEMENT IN NONCOMMUTATIVE SCHWINGER MODEL
Authors: SAHA ANIRBAN , RAHAMAN ANISUR , MUKHERJEE PRADIP
Published: November 2008

The (1+1)-dimensional bosonized Schwinger model with a generalized gauge-invariant regularization has been studied in a noncommutative scenario. The original commutative model with the indicated regularization revealed the transition from confinement to deconfinement of the fermion.10 We show that though the introduction of spacetime noncommutativity gives rise to new features in the confinement scenario, it does not affect the deconfining limit.
NON-MINIMAL INFLATION AFTER WMAP3
Authors: NOZARI KOUROSH , SADATIAN S. DAVOOD
Published: November 2008

The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) three-year results are used to constraint non-minimal inflation models. Two different non-minimally coupled scalar field potentials are considered to calculate the corresponding slow-roll parameters of non-minimal inflation. The results of numerical analysis of parameter space are compared with WMAP3 data to find the appropriate new constraints on the values of the non-minimal coupling.
COLORED SCALAR PARTICLES PRODUCTION IN pp-COLLISIONS AND POSSIBLE MASS LIMITS FOR SCALAR GLUONS FROM FUTURE LHC DATA
Authors: MARTYNOV M. V. , SMIRNOV A. D.
Published: November 2008

Cross sections of the colored scalar particle production in pp-collisions are calculated and differential and total cross sections of the corresponding parton subprocesses are obtained. The total cross section of scalar gluon production in pp-collisions at the LHC is estimated and the dominant decays of scalar gluons are discussed. The production cross section of scalar gluons F with masses mF ≲ 1300 GeV is shown to be sufficient for the effective production of these particles at the LHC.
MEASURING NEUTRINO MASSES AND DARK ENERGY
Authors: TU HUITZU
Published: November 2008

We review some recent efforts in determining the absolute neutrino mass scale in cosmology. We illustrate in particular how distance measurements such as the baryon acoustic oscillations and the galaxy weak lensing can break the degeneracy between the neutrino mass and dark energy equation of state parameters.
A UNIFYING FRAMEWORK FOR GENERALIZED CONSTRAINT ACQUISITION
Authors: VU XUAN-HA , O'SULLIVAN BARRY
Published: November 2008

When a practical problem can be modeled as a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP), which is a set of constraints that need to be satisfied, it can be solved using many constraint programming techniques. In many practical applications, while users can recognize examples of where a CSP should be satisfied or violated, they cannot articulate the specification of the CSP itself. In these situations, it can be helpful if the computer can take an active role in learning the CSP from examples of its solutions and non-solutions. This is called constraint acquisition. This paper introduces a framework for constraint acquisition in which one can uniformly define and formulate constraint acquisition problems of different types as optimization problems. The difference between constraint acquisition problems within the framework is not only in the type of constraints that need to be acquired but also in the learning objective. The generic framework can be instantiated to obtain specific formulations for acquiring classical, fuzzy, weighted or probabilistic constraints. The paper shows as an example how recent techniques for acquiring classical constraints can be directly obtained from the framework. Specifically, the formulation obtained from the framework to acquire classical CSPs with the minimum number of violated examples is equivalent to a simple pseudo-boolean optimization problem, thus being efficiently solvable by using many available optimization tools. The paper also reports empirical results on constraint acquisition methods to show the utility of the framework.
DETERMINING THE PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING PERFORMANCE VARIATION IN CSP HEURISTICS
Authors: WALLACE RICHARD J.
Published: November 2008

This paper develops the idea that variable ordering heuristics for CSPs can be characterised in terms of a small number of distinguishable actions or strategies, and that while specific heuristics may be classified differently depending on the problem type, the basic actions that determine their classification are the same. These strategies can be described as building up contention and propagating effects to future, uninstantiated variables. The propagation-of-effects type of action is related to the "simplification hypothesis" of Hooker and Vinay, but since this is only one of two independent actions, this work gives a more complete account of the basis of heuristic performance.

The basic technique uses factor analysis to simplify the set of correlations between performance scores for a particular set of problems. The present work shows that the results of this analysis are robust, and that amenability of a problem to one or the other kind of heuristic action is also a robust effect. This approach also elucidates the effectiveness of modern adaptive heuristics by showing that they balance the two kinds of heuristic action, which is known to enhance performance. The two heuristic actions are distinguished by descriptive measures such as depth of failure and depth at which a problem becomes tractable, that reflect differences in rapidity of effects with respect to search depth. Other experiments indicate that the effectiveness of propagation-of-effects depends on the degree to which nonadjacent assignments can interact in the future part of the problem. Extensions to structured problems suggest that the theoretical analysis can be generalised, although the factor analysis of performance becomes more complicated due to the interaction of the basic actions with specific parts of the problem. This work contributes to the goals of explaining heuristic performance and putting heuristic selection on a rational basis.
A HYBRID MULTIAGENT REINFORCEMENT LEARNING APPROACH USING STRATEGIES AND FUSION
Authors: Partalas IOANNIS , FENERIS IOANNIS , VLAHAVAS IOANNIS
Published: November 2008

Reinforcement Learning comprises an attractive solution to the problem of coordinating a group of agents in a Multiagent System, due to its robustness for learning in uncertain and unknown environments. This paper proposes a multiagent Reinforcement Learning approach, that uses coordinated actions, which we call strategies and a fusing process to guide the agents. To evaluate the proposed approach, we conduct experiments in the Predator-Prey domain and compare it with other learning techniques. The results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach.
ADVANCED ADAPTIVE NONMONOTONE CONJUGATE GRADIENT TRAINING ALGORITHM FOR RECURRENT NEURAL NETWORKS
Authors: PENG CHUN-CHENG , MAGOULAS GEORGE D.
Published: November 2008

Recurrent networks constitute an elegant way of increasing the capacity of feedforward networks to deal with complex data in the form of sequences of vectors. They are well known for their power to model temporal dependencies and process sequences for classification, recognition, and transduction. In this paper we propose an advanced nonmonotone Conjugate Gradient training algorithm for recurrent neural networks, which is equipped with an adaptive tuning strategy for both the nonmonotone learning horizon and the stepsize. Simulation results in sequence processing using three different recurrent architectures demonstrate that this modification of the Conjugate Gradient method is more effective than previous attempts.
STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION OF XML DOCUMENTS USING MULTISETS
Authors: IYER SWAMI , SIMOVICI DAN A.
Published: November 2008

In this paper, we investigate the problem of clustering XML documents based on their structure. We represent the paths in an XML document as a multiset and use the symmetric difference operation on multisets to define certain metrics. These metrics are then used to obtain a measure of similarity between any two documents in a collection. Our technique was successfully applied to real and synthesized XML documents yielding high-quality clusterings.
GLOBALLY AWARE ROUTING IN MULTI-HOP WIRELESS NETWORKS: A FORMULATION AND ANALYSIS
Authors: KOLAR VINAY , ABU-GHAZALEH NAEL B.
Published: November 2008

Routing in multi-hop wireless networks is typically greedy, with every connection attempting to establish a path with the smallest number of hops. However, interference plays a major role in limiting the capacity of such networks. While recent protocols have attempted to account for interference, they do so reactively and without coordination. Approaches that coordinate routing to account for mutual interference achieve better performance than traditional approaches. Modeling routing with interference constraints is a complex non-linear optimization problem. We approach the problem using a Multi Commodity flow (MCF) formulation. We analyze the interaction of multiple routes and propose effective objective functions which attempt to maximize interference separation while limiting path inflation. We also show that the pattern of interference experienced by a link plays an important role in defining capacity. The model is directly useful in traffic engineering, provisioning and QoS admission control for mesh networks. In addition, it provides a tool for analyzing effective operation in MHWN providing insight into developing effective distributed protocols for them. We evaluate the formulation against routes obtained using a conventional routing algorithm under several scenarios and show that better performance is achieved in terms of throughput, goodput, and end-to-end delay.
WEIGHTED CHANNEL ALLOCATION AND POWER CONTROL FOR SELF-CONFIGURABLE INFRASTRUCTURE WLANS
Authors: MANITPORNSUT SUPARERK , LANDFELDT BJÖRN
Published: November 2008

IEEE802.11 WLANs show increasing growth in popularity. Since these networks operate in the unlicensed ISM bands where the number of non-overlapping channels is limited, the growing number of wireless nodes leads to interference. It is well known that the interference leads to degraded performance of WLANs, especially in densely populated areas where the number of overlapping nodes is very large. Channel assignment algorithms have been proposed in recent years, in order to minimize or avoid interference between neighboring access points and hence alleviating the problem. In particular, weighted assignment algorithms have been frequently occurring in the literature. However, the effects of these algorithms are currently not well understood. In this paper, we present results, which show that weighted channel assignment algorithms that do not consider traffic categories can lead to heavy interference among WLANs with delay sensitive traffic, e.g. voice traffic. In order to overcome this, we instead propose a weighted access category channel assignment algorithm (WACCA). We present results from experiments, which show that WACCA achieves a small degree of Interference (DOI) as compared with a greedy algorithm. We also show that there is a tradeoff with convergence time. Furthermore, we propose an integration of WACCA with dynamic transmission power control and show how this combined method produces even more gain.
Algorithms and Data Structures for Multi-Adaptive Time-Stepping
Authors: Jansson Johan , Logg Anders
Published: November 2008

Multi-adaptive Galerkin methods are extensions of the standard continuous and discontinuous Galerkin methods for the numerical solution of initial value problems for ordinary or partial differential equations. In particular, the multi-adaptive methods allow individual and adaptive time steps to be used for different components or in different regions of space. We present algorithms for efficient multi-adaptive time-stepping, including the recursive construction of time slabs and adaptive time step selection. We also present data structures for efficient storage and interpolation of the multi-adaptive solution. The efficiency of the proposed algorithms and data structures is demonstrated for a series of benchmark problems.
Algorithm 885
Authors: Linhart Jean Marie
Published: November 2008

We present and compare three C functions to compute the logarithm of the cumulative standard normal distribution. The first is a new algorithm derived from Algorithm 304’s calculation of the standard normal distribution via a series or continued fraction approximation, and it is good to the accuracy of the machine. The second is based on Algorithm 715’s calculation of the standard normal distribution via rational Chebyshev approximation. This is related to, and an improvement on, the algorithm for the logarithm of the normal distribution available in the software package R. The third is a new and simple algorithm that uses the compiler’s implementation of the error function, and complement of the error function, to compute the log of the normal distribution.
Algorithm 887
Authors: Chen Yanqing , Davis Timothy A. , Hager William W. , Rajamanickam Sivasankaran
Published: November 2008

CHOLMOD is a set of routines for factorizing sparse symmetric positive definite matrices of the form
A
or
AA
T
, updating/downdating a sparse Cholesky factorization, solving linear systems, updating/downdating the solution to the triangular system
Lx
 = 
b
, and many other sparse matrix functions for both symmetric and unsymmetric matrices. Its supernodal Cholesky factorization relies on LAPACK and the Level-3 BLAS, and obtains a substantial fraction of the peak performance of the BLAS. Both real and complex matrices are supported. CHOLMOD is written in ANSI/ISO C, with both C and MATLAB
TM
interfaces. It appears in MATLAB 7.2 as x = A\b when A is sparse symmetric positive definite, as well as in several other sparse matrix functions.
Algorithm 888
Authors: Drake John B. , Worley Pat , D’Azevedo Eduardo
Published: November 2008

A collection of MATLAB classes for computing and using spherical harmonic transforms is presented. Methods of these classes compute differential operators on the sphere and are used to solve simple partial differential equations in a spherical geometry. The spectral synthesis and analysis algorithms using fast Fourier transforms and Legendre transforms with the associated Legendre functions are presented in detail. A set of methods associated with a spectral_field class provides spectral approximation to the differential operators ∇ ⋯, ∇ ×, ∇, and ∇
2
in spherical geometry. Laplace inversion and Helmholtz equation solvers are also methods for this class. The use of the class and methods in MATLAB is demonstrated by the solution of the barotropic vorticity equation on the sphere. A survey of alternative algorithms is given and implementations for parallel high performance computers are discussed in the context of global climate and weather models.
Re-cinematography
Authors: Gleicher Michael L. , Liu Feng
Published: November 2008

This article presents an approach to postprocessing casually captured videos to improve apparent camera movement.
Re-cinematography
transforms each frame of a video such that the video better follows cinematic conventions. The approach breaks a video into shorter segments. Segments of the source video where there is no intentional camera movement are made to appear as if the camera is completely static. For segments with camera motions, camera paths are keyframed automatically and interpolated with matrix logarithms to give velocity-profiled movements that appear intentional and directed. Closeups are inserted to provide compositional variety in otherwise uniform segments. The approach automatically balances the tradeoff between motion smoothness and distortion to the original imagery. Results from our prototype show improvements to poor quality home videos.
ScaleFFS
Authors: Jung Dawoon , Kim Jaegeuk , Kim Jin-Soo , Lee Joonwon
Published: November 2008

NAND flash memory has become one of the most popular storage media for mobile multimedia systems. A key issue in designing storage systems for mobile multimedia systems is handling large-capacity storage media and numerous large files with limited resources such as memory. However, existing flash file systems, including JFFS2 and YAFFS in particular, exhibit many limitations in addressing the storage capacity of mobile multimedia systems.

In this article, we design and implement a scalable flash file system, called ScaleFFS, for mobile multimedia systems. ScaleFFS is designed to require only a small fixed amount of memory space and to provide fast mount time, even if the file system size grows to more than tens of gigabytes. The measurement results show that ScaleFFS can be instantly mounted regardless of the file system size, while achieving the same write bandwidth and up to 22% higher read bandwidth compared to JFFS2.
Geometric skinning with approximate dual quaternion blending
Authors: Kavan Ladislav , Collins Steven , Žára Jiří , O'Sullivan Carol
Published: November 2008

Skinning of skeletally deformable models is extensively used for real-time animation of characters, creatures and similar objects. The standard solution, linear blend skinning, has some serious drawbacks that require artist intervention. Therefore, a number of alternatives have been proposed in recent years. All of them successfully combat some of the artifacts, but none challenge the simplicity and efficiency of linear blend skinning. As a result, linear blend skinning is still the number one choice for the majority of developers. In this article, we present a novel skinning algorithm based on linear combination of dual quaternions. Even though our proposed method is approximate, it does not exhibit any of the artifacts inherent in previous methods and still permits an efficient GPU implementation. Upgrading an existing animation system from linear to dual quaternion skinning is very easy and has a relatively minor impact on runtime performance.
New Multiparty Signature Schemes for Network Routing Applications
Authors: Boldyreva Alexandra , Gentry Craig , O'Neill Adam , Yum Dae Hyun
Published: November 2008

We construct two new multiparty digital signature schemes that allow multiple signers to sequentially and non-interactively produce a compact, fixed-length signature. First, we introduce a new primitive that we call
ordered multisignature
(OMS) scheme, which allows signers to attest to a common message as well as the order in which they signed. Our OMS construction substantially improves computational efficiency and scalability over any existing scheme with suitable functionality. Second, we design a new identity-based sequential aggregate signature scheme, where signers can attest to different messages and signature verification does not require knowledge of traditional public keys. The latter property permits savings on bandwidth and storage as compared to public-key solutions. In contrast to the only prior scheme to provide this functionality, ours offers improved security that does not rely on synchronized clocks or a trusted first signer. We provide formal security definitions and support the proposed schemes with security proofs under appropriate computational assumptions. We focus on applications of our schemes to secure network routing, but we believe that they will find other applications as well.
Private Information
Authors: Yao Danfeng , Frikken Keith B. , Atallah Mikhail J. , Tamassia Roberto
Published: November 2008

This article studies the notion of quantitative policies for trust management and gives protocols for realizing them in a disclosure-minimizing fashion. Specifically, Bob values each credential with a certain number of points, and requires a minimum total threshold of points before granting Alice access to a resource. In turn, Alice values each of her credentials with a privacy score that indicates her degree of reluctance to reveal that credential. Bob's valuation of credentials and his threshold are private. Alice's privacy-valuation of her credentials is also private. Alice wants to find a subset of her credentials that achieves Bob's required threshold for access, yet is of as small a value to her as possible. We give protocols for computing such a subset of Alice's credentials without revealing any of the two parties' above-mentioned private information. Furthermore, we develop a fingerprint method that allows Alice to independently and easily recover the optimal knapsack solution, once the computed optimal value is given, but also enables verification of the integrity of the optimal value. The fingerprint method is useful beyond the specific authorization problem studied, and can be applied to any integer knapsack dynamic programming in a private setting.
Market equilibrium via a primal--dual algorithm for a convex program
Authors: Devanur Nikhil R. , Papadimitriou Christos H. , Saberi Amin , Vazirani Vijay V.
Published: November 2008

We give the first polynomial time algorithm for exactly computing an equilibrium for the linear utilities case of the market model defined by Fisher. Our algorithm uses the primal--dual paradigm in the enhanced setting of KKT conditions and convex programs. We pinpoint the added difficulty raised by this setting and the manner in which our algorithm circumvents it.
Interactive TV narratives
Authors: Ursu Marian F. , Thomas Maureen , Kegel Ian , Williams Doug , Tuomola Mika , Lindstedt Inger , Wright Terence , Leurdijk Andra , Zsombori Vilmos , Sussner Julia , Myrestam Ulf , Hall Nina
Published: November 2008

This article is motivated by the question whether television should do more than simply offer interactive services alongside (and separately from) traditional linear programs, in the context of its dominance being seriously challenged and threatened by interactive forms of screen media entertainment. It suggests: yes. Interactive
narrativity
, that is, the ability to interact with (and influence) stories whilst they are being told, represents one clear development path for interactive television. The capabilities of computing technology are ripe for exploring this new form of storytelling, from creation to commercial distribution. The article starts by looking at the relationship between narrativity and interactivity in the current context of screen media, and identifies clear signs of interest from certain European public broadcasters in interactive TV narratives. It then presents in detail four recent experimental interactive TV productions in the genres of drama, news, and documentary, developed in collaboration with public broadcasters, which illustrate the potential and richness of this new form of storytelling, but also highlight new technological capabilities necessary for such productions. A number of essential technological requirements are then discussed in more detail in the final part. The article suggests that the ShapeShifting Media Technology, employed in the implementation of the four productions, has made significant advances both at the technological and the creative ends in supporting the development of interactive TV narrativity, but, however, that further developments are required before being able to answer questions such as “Would end users want such a form of screen media entertainment?” and “Would it be effective for both end users and producers?”
Watch-and-comment as a paradigm toward ubiquitous interactive video editing
Authors: Cattelan Renan G. , Teixeira Cesar , Goularte Rudinei , Pimentel Maria Da Graça C.
Published: November 2008

The literature reports research efforts allowing the editing of interactive TV multimedia documents by end-users. In this article we propose complementary contributions relative to end-user generated interactive video, video tagging, and collaboration. In earlier work we proposed the
watch-and-comment
(WaC) paradigm as the seamless capture of an individual's comments so that corresponding annotated interactive videos be automatically generated. As a proof of concept, we implemented a prototype application, the WaCTool, that supports the capture of digital ink and voice comments over individual frames and segments of the video, producing a declarative document that specifies both: different media stream structure and synchronization.

In this article, we extend the WaC paradigm in two ways. First, user-video interactions are associated with edit commands and digital ink operations. Second, focusing on collaboration and distribution issues, we employ annotations as simple containers for context information by using them as tags in order to organize, store and distribute information in a P2P-based multimedia capture platform. We highlight the design principles of the watch-and-comment paradigm, and demonstrate related results including the current version of the WaCTool and its architecture. We also illustrate how an interactive video produced by the WaCTool can be rendered in an interactive video environment, the Ginga-NCL player, and include results from a preliminary evaluation.
Multilayer stacking technology using wafer-to-wafer stacked method
Authors: Miyakawa Nobuaki , Hashimoto Eiri , Maebashi Takanori , Nakamura Natsuo , Sacho Yutaka , Nakayama Shigeto , Toyoda Shinjiro
Published: November 2008

We have developed a new three-dimensional stacking technology using the wafer-to-wafer stacked method. Electrical conductivity between each wafer is almost 100% and contact resistance is less than 0.7Ω between a through-silicon via (TSV) and a microbump. We have also created a prototype of a three-layer stacking device using our technology, where each wafer for the stacking is fabricated by using 0.18um CMOS technology based on 8-inch wafers. The device is operated by two times the frequency of the multichip module (MCM) device case using a two-dimensional device with identical functions and minimally different power consumption. The yields obtained from the results comprising all functional tests are over 60%.
α- and β-Monosaccharide transport in human erythrocytes
Authors: Leitch Jeffry M. , Carruthers Anthony
Published: November 2008

Equilibrative sugar uptake in human erythrocytes is characterized by a rapid phase, which equilibrates 66% of the cell water, and by a slow phase, which equilibrates 33% of the cell water. This behavior has been attributed to the preferential transport of β-sugars by erythrocytes (Leitch JM, Carruthers A. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 292: C974–C986, 2007). The present study tests this hypothesis. The anomer theory requires that the relative compartment sizes of rapid and slow transport phases are determined by the proportions of β- and α-sugar in aqueous solution. This is observed with d-glucose and 3- O-methylglucose but not with 2-deoxy-d-glucose and d-mannose. The anomer hypothesis predicts that the slow transport phase, which represents α-sugar transport, is eliminated when anomerization is accelerated to generate the more rapidly transported β-sugar. Exogenous, intracellular mutarotase accelerates anomerization but has no effect on transport. The anomer hypothesis requires that transport inhibitors inhibit rapid and slow transport phases equally. This is observed with the endofacial site inhibitor cytochalasin B but not with the exofacial site inhibitors maltose or phloretin, which inhibit only the rapid phase. Direct measurement of α- and β-sugar uptake demonstrates that erythrocytes transport α- and β-sugars with equal avidity. These findings refute the hypothesis that erythrocytes preferentially transport β-sugars. We demonstrate that biphasic 3- O-methylglucose equilibrium exchange kinetics refute the simple carrier hypothesis for protein-mediated sugar transport but are compatible with a fixed-site transport mechanism regulated by intracellular ATP and cell shape.
Hyperosmotic stress contributes to mouse colonic inflammation through the methylation of protein phosphatase 2A
Authors: Schwartz Laurent , Abolhassani Mohammad , Pooya Mohammad , Steyaert Jean-Marc , Wertz Xavier , Israël Maurice , Guais Adeline , Chaumet-Riffaud Philippe
Published: November 2008

There are several reports suggesting hyperosmotic contents in the feces of patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Previous works have documented that hyperosmolarity can cause inflammation attributable to methylation of the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) and subsequent NF-κB activation resulting in cytokine secretion. In this study, we demonstrate that dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) induces colitis due to hyperosmolarity and subsequent PP2A activation. Mice were randomized and fed with increased concentrations of DSS (0 mOsm, 175 mOsm, 300 mOsm, and 627 mOsm) for a duration of 3 wk or with hyperosmotic concentrations of DSS (627 mOsm) or mannitol (450 mOsm) for a duration of 12 wk. Long-term oral administration of hyposmotic DSS or mannitol had no demonstrable effect. Hyperosmotic DSS or mannitol produced a significant increase in colonic inflammation, as well as an increase in the weight of sacral lymph nodes and in serum amyloid A protein levels. Similar results were obtained through the ingestion of comparable osmolarities of mannitol. Hyperosmolarity induces the methylation of PP2A, nuclear p65 NF-κB activation. and cytokine secretion. The rectal instillation of okadaic acid, a well-known PP2A inhibitor, reverses the IBD. Short inhibiting RNAs (siRNAs) targeted toward PP2Ac reverse the effect of hyperosmotic DSS. The present study strongly suggests that DSS-induced chronic colitis is a consequence of the methylation of PP2Ac induced by hyperosmolarity.
Involvement of a Stat3 binding site in inflammation-induced enteric apelin expression
Authors: Han Song , Wang Guiyun , Qi Xiang , Englander Ella W. , Greeley George H.
Published: November 2008

Apelin is the endogenous ligand for the APJ receptor; both are expressed in the gastrointestinal tract. Experimental colitis in rodents and inflammatory bowel disease in humans are associated with increased intestinal apelin production. Our aim was to use LPS and proinflammatory cytokine-treated (IL-6 and IFN-γ) rodents or enteric cells to identify signaling mechanisms underlying inflammation-induced enteric apelin expression. LPS, IL-6, or IFN-γ treatment of rodents increased enteric apelin expression. Pharmacological blockade of Jak/Stat signaling or IL-6 antibody administration inhibited elevations in enteric apelin expression. Transient transfection experiments showed that LPS, IL-6, or IFN-γ increased apelin expression by stimulation of apelin promoter activity, and blockade of Jak/Stat signaling abolished elevations in apelin promoter activity. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that IL-6 induced binding of phospho-Stat3 to a putative Stat3 site in the apelin promoter; mutation of this site abrogated the LPS-induced elevation in apelin promoter activity. Together, our findings indicate that binding of phospho-Stat3 to the apelin promoter is the final step underlying proinflammatory cytokine-induced enteric apelin expression during intestinal inflammation.
Dietary iron alters waterborne copper-induced gene expression in soft water acclimated zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Authors: Craig Paul M. , Galus Michal , Wood Chris M. , McClelland Grant B.
Published: November 2008

Metals like iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) function as integral components in many biological reactions, and, in excess, these essential metals are toxic, and organisms must control metal acquisition and excretion. We examined the effects of chronic waterborne Cu exposure and the interactive effects of elevated dietary Fe on gene expression and tissue metal accumulation in zebrafish. Softwater acclimated zebrafish exposed to 8 μg/l Cu, with and without supplementation of a diet high in Fe (560 vs. 140 mg Fe/kg food) for 21 days demonstrated a significant reduction in liver and gut Cu load relative to waterborne Cu exposure alone. Gene expression levels for divalent metal transport (DMT)-1, copper transporter (CTR)-1, and the basolateral metal transporter ATP7A in the gills and gut increased when compared with controls, but the various combinations of Cu and high-Fe diet revealed altered levels of expression. Further examination of the basolateral Fe transporter, ferroportin, showed responses to waterborne Cu exposure in the gut and a significant increase with Fe treatment alone in the liver. Additionally, we examined metallothionein 1 and 2 (MT1 and MT2), which indicated that MT2 is more responsive to Cu. To explore the relationship between transcription and protein function, we examined both CTR-1 protein levels and gill apical uptake of radiolabeled Cu64, which demonstrated decreased Cu uptake and protein abundance in the elevated Cu treatments. This study shows that high dietary Fe can significantly alter the genetic expression pattern of Cu transporters at the level of the gill, liver, and gastrointestinal tract.
Changes in protein profiles during course of experimental glomerulonephritis
Authors: Nazeer Khurram , Janech Michael G. , Lin Jim J.-C. , Ryan Kevin J. , Arthur John M. , Budisavljevic Milos N.
Published: November 2008

Better characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying glomerular cell proliferation may improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of glomerulonephritis and yield disease-specific markers. We used two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) and mass spectrometry (MS) to generate expression profiles of glomerular proteins in the course of anti-Thy-1 nephritis. Glomeruli were isolated from Wistar rats by sieving, and proteins were separated by 2DE. In preliminary studies using normal rats, we identified known glomerular proteins from microfilaments [tropomyosin (Tm)] and intermediate filaments (vimentin and lamin A), proteins involved in assembly (α-actinin-4, F-actin capping protein) and membrane cytoskeletal linking (ezrin), as well as several enzymes (protein disulfide isomerase, ATP synthase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase). Comparison of glomerular protein abundance between normal rats and rats in the early phase of anti-Thy-1 nephritis yielded 28 differentially expressed protein spots. MS analysis identified 16 differentially expressed proteins including Tm. Altered Tm abundance in the course of anti-Thy-1 nephritis was confirmed, and specific isoforms were characterized by Western blotting. We demonstrated a complex change in Tm isoform abundance in the course of anti-Thy-1 nephritis. The early mesangiolytic phase of the disease was characterized by decreased abundance of low-molecular-weight isoforms Tm5a/5b and increased abundance of high-molecular-weight isoforms Tm6, Tm1, Tm2, and Tm3. The late proliferative phase of the disease was associated with increased abundance of isoforms Tm5a/5b, Tm6, and Tm1 and decreased abundance of Tm3. Isoforms Tm4 and Tm5 remained unchanged in the course of this model of experimental glomerulonephritis. Characterization of Tm isoform abundance in the course of clinical glomerulonephritis may identify disease-specific markers.
Left ventricular torsion and recoil: implications for exercise performance and cardiovascular disease
Authors: Esch Ben T. , Warburton Darren E. R.
Published: November 2008

In recent years, advancements in echocardiography assessment techniques have allowed for the quantification of left ventricular (LV) rotation. This information has provided new insight into LV function in health and disease. In this review, we discuss the importance of assessing LV circumferential rotation for understanding cardiac function in a wide range of populations. We provide a synopsis of LV rotational mechanics in the context of the various techniques currently available to assess LV rotation. We also highlight the factors that alter LV function at rest and during exercise. Finally, we discuss the influences of age, sex, and cardiac pathology on LV rotation. Collectively, this review highlights the importance of understanding LV rotation and its measurement in both health and disease.
FPGA Implementation of Block Parallel DF‐MPIC Detectors for DS‐CDMA Systems in Frequency‐Nonselective Channels
Authors: Dahmane Adel Omar , Mejri Lotfi
Published: November 2008

Multistage parallel interference cancellation‐ (MPIC‐) based detectors allow to mitigate multiple‐access interference in direct‐sequence code‐division multiple‐access (DS‐CDMA) systems. They are considered serious candidates for practical implementation showing a good tradeoff between performance and complexity. Better performance is obtained when decision feedback (DF) is employed. Although MPIC and DF‐MPIC have the same arithmetic complexity, DF‐MPIC needs much more FPGA resources when compared to MPIC without decision feedback. In this letter, FPGA implementation of block parallel DF‐MPIC (BP‐DF‐MPIC) is proposed allowing better tradeoff between performance and FPGA area occupancy. To reach an uncoded bit‐error rate of 10−3, BP‐DF‐MPIC shows a 1.5 dB improvement over the MPIC without decision feedback with only 8% increase in FPGA resources compared to 69% for DF‐MPIC.
Vesicoscopic Ureteral Reimplantation: A Minimally Invasive Technique for the Definitive Repair of Vesicoureteral Reflux
Authors: Jayanthi Venkata , Patel Ashay
Published: November 2008

The surgical treatment of vesicoureteral relfux can range from injection therapy to open ureteral reimplantation. Minimally invasive applications for treatment of vesicoureteral relfux include laparoscopic extravesical and intravesical ureteral reimplantation. We present our extended experience of the technique for intravesical cross-trigonal ureteral reimplantation for vesicoureteral relux.
Laparoscopic Nephroureterectomy: Oncologic Outcomes and Management of Distal Ureter; Review of the Literature
Authors: Berger Andre , Fergany Amr
Published: November 2008

Introduction. Laparoscopic radical nephroureterectomy (LNU) is being increasingly performed at several centers across the world. We review oncologic outcomes after LNU procedure and the techniques for the management of distal ureter.Materials and Methods. A comprehensive review of the literature was performed on the oncological outcomes and management of distal ureter associated with LNU for upper tract transitional cell carcinoma (TCC).Results and Discussion. LNU for upper tract TCC is performed pure laparoscopically (LNU) or hand-assisted (HALNU). The management of the distal ureter is still debated. LNU appears to have superior perioperative outcomes when compared to open surgery. Intermediate term oncologic outcomes after LNU are comparable to open nephroureterectomy (ONU).Conclusions. Excision of the distal ureter and bladder cuff during nephroureterectomy remains controversial. Intermediate term oncologic outcomes for LNU compare well with ONU. Initial long-term oncologic outcomes are encouraging. Prospective randomized comparison between LNU and open surgery is needed to define the role of these modalities in the current context.
Puffing Style and Human Exposure Minimally Altered by Switching to a Carbon-Filtered Cigarette
Authors: Rees Vaughan W. , Wayne Geoffrey Ferris , Connolly Gregory N.
Published: November 2008

Objective: Potential Reduced Exposure tobacco Products (PREP) are intended to lower human exposure to toxic constituents of tobacco smoke, but rigorous clinical evaluations are required to assess such claims. The present study assessed human smoking behavior and short-term exposure to a new carbon-filtered PREP, Marlboro UltraSmooth (MUS). Two MUS prototypes with filter carbon loads of 120 and 180 mg were compared with low and ultralow-yield conventional cigarettes.

Methods: After a 48-hour baseline period, 32 adult Marlboro Lights smokers were switched in a counterbalanced order, to MUS and Marlboro Ultra Lights for 48 hours each. Measures of smoking topography, subjective response, change in cardiac response, and carbon monoxide boost were obtained under supervised test conditions on separate days. After each test, topography measures were obtained via a 48-hour free smoking phase for each brand. Salivary cotinine was measured at the end of each 48-hour period.

Results: Although MUS was generally smoked in a style similar to conventional cigarettes, compensatory smoking was observed with 1 MUS prototype (P = 0.003). Carbon monoxide boost was lower for MUS compared with Marlboro Lights, but salivary cotinine and cardiac function measures after smoking of MUS did not vary from conventional brands.

Conclusions: Smoking MUS produced few differences in smoking topography and exposure compared with conventional low and ultralow-yield cigarettes. Results suggest that the manner in which MUS is smoked by humans is unlikely in the short term to reduce exposure among smokers who switch from a conventional brand. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(11):2995–3003)
Self-report versus Medical Records for Assessing Cancer-Preventive Services Delivery
Authors: Ferrante Jeanne M. , Ohman-Strickland Pamela , Hahn Karissa A. , Hudson Shawna V. , Shaw Eric K. , Crosson Jesse C. , Crabtree Benjamin F.
Published: November 2008

Accurate measurement of cancer-preventive behaviors is important for quality improvement, research studies, and public health surveillance. Findings differ, however, depending on whether patient self-report or medical records are used as the data source. We evaluated concordance between patient self-report and medical records on risk factors, cancer screening, and behavioral counseling among primary care patients. Data from patient surveys and medical records were compared from 742 patients in 25 New Jersey primary care practices participating at baseline in SCOPE (supporting colorectal cancer outcomes through participatory enhancements), an intervention trial to improve colorectal cancer screening in primary care offices. Sensitivity, specificity, and rates of agreement describe concordance between self-report and medical records for risk factors (personal or family history of cancer, smoking), cancer screening (breast, cervical, colorectal, prostate), and counseling (cancer screening recommendations, diet or weight loss, exercise, smoking cessation). Rates of agreement ranged from 41% (smoking cessation counseling) to 96% (personal history of cancer). Cancer screening agreement ranged from 61% (Pap and prostate-specific antigen) to 83% (colorectal endoscopy) with self-report rates greater than medical record rates. Counseling was also reported more frequently by self-report (83% by patient self-report versus 34% by medical record for smoking cessation counseling). Deciding which data source to use will depend on the outcome of interest, whether the data is used for clinical decision making, performance tracking, or population surveillance; the availability of resources; and whether a false positive or a false negative is of more concern. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(11):2987–94)