bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Monaural speech intelligibility and detection in maskers with varying amounts of spectro-temporal speech features
Authors: Schubotz Wiebke , Brand Thomas , Kollmeier Birger , Ewert Stephan D.
Published: July 2016

Speech intelligibility is strongly affected by the presence of maskers. Depending on the spectro-temporal structure of the masker and its similarity to the target speech, different masking aspects can occur which are typically referred to as energetic, amplitude modulation, and informational masking. In this study speech intelligibility and speech detection was measured in maskers that vary systematically in the time-frequency domain from steady-state noise to a single interfering talker. Male and female target speech was used in combination with maskers based on speech for the same or different gender. Observed data were compared to predictions of the speech intelligibility index, extended speech intelligibility index, multi-resolution speech-based envelope-power-spectrum model, and the short-time objective intelligibility measure. The different models served as analysis tool to help distinguish between the different masking aspects. Comparison shows that overall masking can to a large extent be explained by short-term energetic masking. However, the other masking aspects (amplitude modulation an informational masking) influence speech intelligibility as well. Additionally, it was obvious that all models showed considerable deviations from the data. Therefore, the current study provides a benchmark for further evaluation of speech prediction models.
Investigation of the interwire energy transfer of elastic guided waves inside prestressed cables
Authors: Treyssède Fabien
Published: July 2016

Elastic guided waves are of interest for the non-destructive evaluation of cables. Cables are most often multi-wire structures, and understanding wave propagation requires numerical models accounting for the helical geometry of individual wires, the interwire contact mechanisms and the effects of prestress. In this paper, a modal approach based on a so-called semi-analytical finite element method and taking advantage of a biorthogonality relation is proposed in order to calculate the forced response under excitation of a cable, multi-wired, twisted, and prestressed. The main goal of this paper is to investigate how the energy transfers from a given wire, directly excited, to the other wires in order to identify some localization of energy inside the active wire as the waves propagate along the waveguide. The power flow of the excited field is theoretically derived and an energy transfer parameter is proposed to evaluate the level of energy localization inside a given wire. Numerical results obtained for different polarizations of excitation, central and peripheral, highlight how the energy may localize, spread, or strongly change in the cross-section as waves travel along the axis. In particular, a compressional mode localized inside the central wire is found, with little dispersion and significant excitability.
The Role of Trunk Stabilization in Functional-Classification Levels in Wheelchair Basketball
Authors: Saltan Asuman , Ankarali Handan
Published: July 2016

Objective:

To compare classification levels and trunk stabilization of wheelchair basketball players and to identify their norm values of trunk balance.

Participants:

113 wheelchair basketball players in the super and first Turkish leagues.

Interventions:

A modified Wheelchair Skills Test (WST) (version 4.1) was used to evaluate trunk stabilization. Two skills were chosen that correspond to the stationary wheelie activity in WST, the 30-s stationary wheelie and stationary wheelie in 180°.

Main Outcome Measure:

There are no statistical differences between WST rates and point means.

Results:

The skills and success and safety rates of the players with 1.5 points (51.9%, 44.4%) were lower than those of the players with 1.0 point (70%, 66.7%). In players with 2.5 and 2.0 points, the most successful and safest percentage values were 78.6%, 78.6% and 82.1%, 75%.

Conclusions:

Although it is expected that trunk stabilization would be better in players with high points, in our study we encountered conflicting results between the points and sitting balance or trunk stabilization. Our study supports the studies in the literature suggesting modifications in the functional-classification system.
Schizophyllum radiatum, an Emerging Fungus from Human Respiratory Tract
Authors: Siqueira J. P. Z. , Sutton D. , Gené J. , García D. , Guevara-Suarez M. , Decock C. , Wiederhold N. , Guarro J.
Published: July 2016

Schizophyllum
is an important genus of basidiomycetes that, apart from being of genetic and biotechnological interest, is also reported to be a plant and animal pathogen.
Schizophyllum commune
is the best-known species and the only one reported from clinical specimens thus far, being recovered mainly from the respiratory tract. The aim of this study was to determine the species diversity of 23 clinical isolates of
Schizophyllum
from the United States using multilocus phylogenetic analysis and their
in vitro
susceptibilities to six drugs. The markers used for sequencing were the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), a portion of the nuclear large subunit (LSU) of ribosomal DNA, the RNA polymerase II second-largest subunit (
RPB2
), and the translation elongation factor 1α (
EF-1
α) gene. The analyses revealed that 22 of the clinical isolates were in the
Schizophyllum radiatum
clade with high support values and 1 isolate was in the
S. commune
clade. This is the first report of this species in clinical samples. The two species mentioned above showed very similar morphological features in culture (i.e., white, cottony, unsporulated colonies composed of hyphae with clamp connections), making morphological discrimination between the two impossible. An epitype is designed for
S. radiatum
, and its sequences have been deposited in GenBank. The antifungal that showed the greatest
in vitro
activity against the strains tested was shown to be amphotericin B. In general, the strains of
S. radiatum
showed higher MICs than
S. commune
.
Detection of (1→3)-β-
d
-Glucan in Eumycetoma Patients
Authors: Fahal Ahmed H. , Finkelman Malcolm A. , Zhang Yonglong , van de Sande Wendy W. J.
Published: July 2016

Mycetoma can be caused by bacteria (actinomycetoma) or fungi (eumycetoma). Here, we demonstrated in 45 eumycetoma patients, 30 actinomycetoma patients, and 30 healthy controls that (1→3)-β-
d
-glucan detection in serum cannot reliably be used to discriminate between the two types of mycetoma.
Assessing Host-Virus Codivergence for Close Relatives of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infecting African Great Apes
Authors: Madinda Nadège F. , Ehlers Bernhard , Wertheim Joel O. , Akoua-Koffi Chantal , Bergl Richard A. , Boesch Christophe , Akonkwa Dieudonné Boji Mungu , Eckardt Winnie , Fruth Barbara , Gillespie Thomas R. , Gray Maryke , Hohmann Gottfried , Karhemere Stomy , Kujirakwinja Deo , Langergraber Kevin , Muyembe Jean-Jacques , Nishuli Radar , Pauly Maude , Petrzelkova Klara J. , Robbins Martha M. , Todd Angelique , Schubert Grit , Stoinski Tara S. , Wittig Roman M. , Zuberbühler Klaus , Peeters Martine , Leendertz Fabian H. , Calvignac-Spencer Sébastien
Published: July 2016

It has long been hypothesized that polyomaviruses (PyV; family
Polyomaviridae
) codiverged with their animal hosts. In contrast, recent analyses suggested that codivergence may only marginally influence the evolution of PyV. We reassess this question by focusing on a single lineage of PyV infecting hominine hosts, the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) lineage. By characterizing the genetic diversity of these viruses in seven African great ape taxa, we show that they exhibit very strong host specificity. Reconciliation analyses identify more codivergence than noncodivergence events. In addition, we find that a number of host and PyV divergence events are synchronous. Collectively, our results support codivergence as the dominant process at play during the evolution of the MCPyV lineage. More generally, our results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting an ancient and stable association of PyV and their animal hosts.

IMPORTANCE
The processes involved in viral evolution and the interaction of viruses with their hosts are of great scientific interest and public health relevance. It has long been thought that the genetic diversity of double-stranded DNA viruses was generated over long periods of time, similar to typical host evolutionary timescales. This was also hypothesized for polyomaviruses (family
Polyomaviridae
), a group comprising several human pathogens, but this remains a point of controversy. Here, we investigate this question by focusing on a single lineage of polyomaviruses that infect both humans and their closest relatives, the African great apes. We show that these viruses exhibit considerable host specificity and that their evolution largely mirrors that of their hosts, suggesting that codivergence with their hosts played a major role in their diversification. Our results provide statistical evidence in favor of an association of polyomaviruses and their hosts over millions of years.
Response of Three Different Viruses to Interferon Priming and Dithiothreitol Treatment of Avian Cells
Authors: Lostalé-Seijo Irene , Martínez-Costas José , Benavente Javier
Published: July 2016

We have previously shown that the replication of avian reovirus (ARV) in chicken cells is much more resistant to interferon (IFN) than the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) or vaccinia virus (VV). In this study, we have investigated the role that the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase (PKR) plays in the sensitivity of these three viruses toward the antiviral action of chicken interferon. Our data suggest that while interferon priming of avian cells blocks vaccinia virus replication by promoting PKR activation, the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus appears to be blocked at a pretranslational step. Our data further suggest that the replication of avian reovirus in chicken cells is quite resistant to interferon priming because this virus uses strategies to downregulate PKR activation and also because translation of avian reovirus mRNAs is more resistant to phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of initiation factor eIF2 than translation of their cellular counterparts. Our results further reveal that the avian reovirus protein sigmaA is able to prevent PKR activation and that this function is dependent on its double-stranded RNA-binding activity. Finally, this study demonstrates that vaccinia virus and avian reovirus, but not vesicular stomatitis virus, express/induce factors that counteract the ability of dithiothreitol to promote eIF2 phosphorylation. Our data demonstrate that each of the three different viruses used in this study elicits distinct responses to interferon and to dithiothreitol-induced eIF2 phosphorylation when infecting avian cells.

IMPORTANCE
Type I interferons constitute the first barrier of defense against viral infections, and one of the best characterized antiviral strategies is mediated by the double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase R (PKR). The results of this study revealed that IFN priming of avian cells has little effect on avian reovirus (ARV) replication but drastically diminishes the replication of vaccinia virus (VV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) by PKR-dependent and -independent mechanisms, respectively. Our data also demonstrate that the dsRNA-binding ability of ARV protein sigmaA plays a key role in the resistance of ARV toward IFN by preventing PKR activation. Our findings will contribute to improve the current understanding of the interaction of viruses with the host's innate immune system. Finally, it would be of interest to uncover the mechanisms that allow avian reovirus transcripts to be efficiently translated under conditions (moderate eIF2 phosphorylation) that block the synthesis of cellular proteins.
The Interaction between Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Tegument Proteins UL51 and UL14 and Its Role in Virion Morphogenesis
Authors: Oda Shinya , Arii Jun , Koyanagi Naoto , Kato Akihisa , Kawaguchi Yasushi
Published: July 2016

To investigate the molecular mechanism(s) by which herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) tegument protein UL51 promotes viral replication, we screened for viral proteins that interact with UL51 in infected cells. Affinity purification of tagged UL51 in HSV-1-infected Vero cells was coupled with immunoblotting of the purified UL51 complexes with various antibodies to HSV-1 virion proteins. Subsequent analyses revealed that UL51 interacted with another tegument protein, UL14, in infected cells. Mutational analyses of UL51 showed that UL51 amino acid residues Leu-111, Ile-119, and Tyr-123 were required for interaction with UL14 in HSV-1-infected cells. Alanine substitutions of these UL51 amino acid residues reduced viral replication and produced an accumulation of unenveloped and partially enveloped nucleocapsids in the cytoplasm at levels comparable to those of UL51-null, UL14-null, and UL51/UL14 double-null mutations. In addition, although UL51 and UL14 colocalized at juxtanuclear domains in HSV-1-infected cells, the amino acid substitutions in UL51 produced aberrant localization of UL51 and UL14. The effects of these substitutions on localization of UL51 and UL14 were similar to those of the UL51-null and UL14-null mutations on localization of UL14 and UL51, respectively. These results suggested that the interaction between UL51 and UL14 was required for proper localization of these viral proteins in infected cells and that the UL51-UL14 complex regulated final viral envelopment for efficient viral replication.

IMPORTANCE
Herpesviruses contain a unique virion structure designated the tegument, which is a protein layer between the nucleocapsid and the envelope. HSV-1 has dozens of viral proteins in the tegument, which are thought to facilitate viral envelopment by interacting with other virion components. However, although numerous interactions among virion proteins have been reported, data on how these interactions facilitate viral envelopment is limited. In this study, we have presented data showing that the interaction of HSV-1 tegument proteins UL51 and UL14 promoted viral final envelopment for efficient viral replication. In particular, prevention of this interaction induced aberrant accumulation of partially enveloped capsids in the cytoplasm, suggesting that the UL51-UL14 complex acted in the envelopment process but not in an upstream event, such as transport of capsids to the site for envelopment. This is the first report showing that an interaction between HSV-1 tegument proteins directly regulated final virion envelopment.
A Single Mutation in the VP1 of Enterovirus 71 Is Responsible for Increased Virulence and Neurotropism in Adult Interferon-Deficient Mice
Authors: Caine Elizabeth A. , Moncla Louise H. , Ronderos Monica D. , Friedrich Thomas C. , Osorio Jorge E.
Published: July 2016

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) has spread throughout the Asia-Pacific region, affecting millions of young children, who develop symptoms ranging from painful blisters around their mouths and hands to neurological complications. Many members of the genus
Enterovirus
(family
Picornaviridae
) cause HFMD. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the primary causative agents and has been linked to severe disease. Vaccine efficacy and pathogenesis studies for EV71 have been limited because there is a lack of suitable animal models. Previously, we generated a mouse-adapted EV71 (mEV71) capable of infecting 12-week-old interferon receptor-deficient AG129 mice and used the model to evaluate the efficacy of candidate HFMD vaccines. Here, we present data investigating the genetic correlates of EV71 adaptation and characterize the virus's tissue tropism in mice. Using reverse genetics, a VP1 mutation (K244E) was shown to be necessary for mEV71 virulence in adult mice. Another VP1 mutation (H37R) was required for mEV71 recovery on rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells. Viral loads determined by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR confirmed the presence of mEV71 in the sera and multiple organs of mice. Histological analysis revealed signs of meningitis and encephalitis, characteristic of severe human disease. The further description of this model has provided insight into EV71 pathogenesis and demonstrates the importance of the VP1 region in facilitating mEV71 adaptation.

IMPORTANCE
EV71 is a reemerging pathogen, and little is known about the genetic determinants involved in its pathogenesis. The absence of animal models has contributed to this lack of knowledge. The data presented here improve upon the existing animal models by characterizing a mouse-adapted strain of EV71. We determined that a VP1 mutation (K244E) was needed for EV71 virulence in adult AG129 mice. While this mutation was found previously for EV71 adaptation in 5-day-old BALB/c mice, neurotropic disease did not develop. Using interferon-deficient mice, we raised the age of susceptibility beyond 6 weeks and provided clear evidence that our model mimics severe human infections. The model can be exploited to identify determinants of EV71 virulence and to reveal molecular mechanisms that control the virus-host interaction, especially those associated with neurotropic disease. Furthermore, these data provide useful information regarding the importance of VP1, specifically position 244, in host adaptation and tissue dissemination.
Physical activity in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: prevalence of inactivity and perceived barriers
Authors: Sweeting Joanna , Ingles Jodie , Timperio Anna , Patterson Jillian , Ball Kylie , Semsarian Christopher
Published: July 2016

Objectives

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of physical inactivity and perceived barriers to physical activity among individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and to determine potential demographic, clinical and health-related factors influencing likelihood of meeting physical activity guidelines.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study of consecutive patients (n=198) with HCM attending a specialist HCM centre from July 2014 to November 2015. The primary outcome measure was physical activity (minutes per day), as measured by self-report (International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)) and objective means (ActiGraph accelerometer). For both, participants were classified as meeting guidelines if they did at least 150 min per week of physical activity. Quality of life (Short Form-36 V.2, SF-36v2), barriers to exercise and clinical–demographic data were also collected.

Results

In total, 54.8% of participants did not meet physical activity recommendations based on IPAQ, and 12.7% did not meet guidelines based on accelerometer data. The most commonly identified barriers to exercise were ‘pain interferes with my exercise’ (33%) and ‘I have an injury/disability that stops me’ (29%). Independent factors associated with meeting guidelines included older age (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.85, p=0.002), higher education level (OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.08 to 4.93, p=0.03), better physical quality of life (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.09, p=0.05) and more reported barriers (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.91, p=0.01).

Conclusions

More than half of the patients with HCM did not meet minimum physical activity recommendations. Several barriers to exercise among individuals with HCM exist, and provide the basis for targeted interventions to promote physical activity and improve overall health in patients with HCM.
Immunoglobulins in dogs: correspondence and maturation in 15 litters of German shepherd dogs and their dams
Authors: Vilson Åsa , Hedhammar Åke , Reynolds Arleigh , Spears Julie , Satyaraj Ebenezer , Pelker Robyn , Rottman Cari , Björkstén Bengt , Hansson‐Hamlin Helene
Published: July 2016

Some dog breeds, including the German shepherd dog (GSD), are predisposed to immune‐related disorders. The authors prospectively described development of serum and faecal IgA and serum IgE in GSD from puppies until adulthood and the relationship between mothers and their offspring. Further, the authors tested whether dogs with lower serum IgA also have low faecal IgA and/or serum IgE. To reveal whether any of the parameters could be proven to influence the immune response, the authors also measured serum IgG against canine distemper virus (CDV). To test their hypothesis, the authors used linear mixed models to investigate the relationship of serum IgA, serum IgE and faecal IgA levels in litters and their mothers. Fifteen GSD bitches beginning at 42 days of pregnancy and subsequently all of their offspring (n=83 puppies), reared under well‐controlled conditions, were included. All dogs came from the kennel of the Swedish Armed Forces.

Serum IgE, serum IgA and faecal IgA levels were lower in seven‐week‐old puppies than at one year of age. There was no relationship in Ig concentrations between bitches and their puppies at seven weeks of age. Dogs with higher faecal IgA had higher IgG titres against CDV, indicating a favourable systemic immune status.
Effects of vacuum annealing treatment on microstructures and residual stress of AlSi10Mg parts produced by selective laser melting process
Authors: Chen Tian , Wang Linzhi , Tan Sheng
Published: July 2016

Selective laser melting (SLM)-fabricated AlSi10Mg parts were heat-treated under vacuum to eliminate the residual stress. Microstructure evolutions and tensile properties of the SLM-fabricated parts before and after vacuum annealing treatment were studied. The results show that the crystalline structure of SLM-fabricated AlSi10Mg part was not modified after the vacuum annealing treatment. Additionally, the grain refinement had occurred after the vacuum annealing treatment. Moreover, with increasing of the vacuum annealing time, the second phase increased and transformed to spheroidization and coarsening. The SLM-produced parts after vacuum annealing at 300[Formula: see text]C for 2 h had the maximum ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation, while the elastic modulus decreased significantly. In addition, the tensile residual stress was found in the as-fabricated AlSi10Mg samples by the microindentation method.
An effective study of polynomial maps
Authors: Adamus Elżbieta , Bogdan Paweł , Crespo Teresa , Hajto Zbigniew
Published: July 2016

In this paper, using an effective algorithm, we obtain an equivalent statement to the Jacobian Conjecture. For a polynomial map [Formula: see text] on an affine space of dimension [Formula: see text] over a field of characteristic [Formula: see text], we define recursively a finite sequence of polynomial maps. We give an equivalent condition to the invertibility of [Formula: see text] as well as a formula for [Formula: see text] in terms of this finite sequence of polynomial maps. Some examples illustrate the effective aspects of our approach.
Statistical approximation properties of modified Durrmeyer q-Baskakov type operators with two parameters α and β
Authors: Mishra Vishnu Narayan , Sharma Preeti
Published: July 2016

The main aim of this study is to obtain statistical approximation properties of these operators with the help of the Korovkin type statistical approximation theorem. Rates of statistical convergence by means of the modulus of continuity and the Lipschitz type maximal function are also established. Our results show that rates of convergence of our operators are at least as fast as classical Durrmeyer type modified Baskakov operators.
Parameter free hybrid numerical method for solving modified Burgers’ equations on a nonuniform mesh
Authors: Kadalbajoo Mohan K. , Awasthi Ashish
Published: July 2016

In this paper, the modified Burgers’ equation is considered. These kinds of problems come from the field of sonic boom and explosions theories. At big Reynolds’ number there is a boundary layer in the right side of the domain. From numerical point of view, the major difficulty in dealing with this type of problem is that the smooth initial data can give rise to solution varying regions i.e. boundary layer regions. To tackle this situation, we propose a numerical method on nonuniform mesh of Shishkin type, which works well at high as well as low Reynolds number. The proposed method comprises of Euler implicit scheme and hybrid scheme in time and space direction, respectively. First, we discretize the continuous problem in temporal direction by Euler implicit method, which yields a set of ode’s at each time level. The resulting set of differential equations are approximated by a hybrid scheme on Shishkin mesh i.e. upwind in regular region (nonboundary layer region) and central difference in boundary layer regions. The convergence of proposed method has been shown parameter uniform. Some numerical experiments have been carried out to corroborate the theoretical results.
Recent Advances in Biohybrid Materials for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Authors: Wan Ying , Li Xing , Wang Shenqi
Published: July 2016

Biohybrid materials play an important role in tissue engineering, artificial organs and regenerative medicine due to their regulation of cell function through specific cell–matrix interactions involving integrins, mostly those of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, and ligands on the matrix surface, which have become current research focus. In this paper, recent progress of biohybrid materials, mainly including main types of biohybrid materials, rapid prototype (RP) technique for construction of 3D biohybrid materials, was reviewed in detail; moreover, their applications in tissue engineering, artificial organs and regenerative medicine were also reviewed in detail. At last, we address the challenges biohybrid materials may face.
Assessing General-Purpose Algorithms to Cope with Fail-Stop and Silent Errors
Authors: Benoit Anne , Cavelan Aurélien , Robert Yves , Sun Hongyang
Published: July 2016

In this article, we combine the traditional checkpointing and rollback recovery strategies with verification mechanisms to cope with both fail-stop and silent errors. The objective is to minimize makespan and/or energy consumption. For divisible load applications, we use first-order approximations to find the optimal checkpointing period to minimize execution time, with an additional verification mechanism to detect silent errors before each checkpoint, hence extending the classical formula by Young and Daly for fail-stop errors only. We further extend the approach to include intermediate verifications, and to consider a bicriteria problem involving both time and energy (linear combination of execution time and energy consumption). Then, we focus on application workflows whose dependence graph is a linear chain of tasks. Here, we determine the optimal checkpointing and verification locations, with or without intermediate verifications, for the bicriteria problem. Rather than using a single speed during the whole execution, we further introduce a new execution scenario, which allows for changing the execution speed via Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS). In this latter scenario, we determine the optimal checkpointing and verification locations, as well as the optimal speed pairs for each task segment between any two consecutive checkpoints. Finally, we conduct an extensive set of simulations to support the theoretical study, and to assess the performance of each algorithm, showing that the best overall performance is achieved under the most flexible scenario using intermediate verifications and different speeds.
Listwise Learning to Rank from Crowds
Authors: Wu Ou , You Qiang , Xia Fen , Ma Lei , Hu Weiming
Published: July 2016

Learning to rank has received great attention in recent years as it plays a crucial role in many applications such as information retrieval and data mining. The existing concept of learning to rank assumes that each training instance is associated with a reliable label. However, in practice, this assumption does not necessarily hold true as it may be infeasible or remarkably expensive to obtain reliable labels for many learning to rank applications. Therefore, a feasible approach is to collect labels from crowds and then learn a ranking function from crowdsourcing labels. This study explores the listwise learning to rank with crowdsourcing labels obtained from multiple annotators, who may be unreliable. A new probabilistic ranking model is first proposed by combining two existing models. Subsequently, a ranking function is trained by proposing a maximum likelihood learning approach, which estimates ground-truth labels and annotator expertise, and trains the ranking function iteratively. In practical crowdsourcing machine learning, valuable side information (e.g., professional grades) about involved annotators is normally attainable. Therefore, this study also investigates learning to rank from crowd labels when side information on the expertise of involved annotators is available. In particular, three basic types of side information are investigated, and corresponding learning algorithms are consequently introduced. Further, the top-k learning to rank from crowdsourcing labels are explored to deal with long training ranking lists. The proposed algorithms are tested on both synthetic and real-world data. Results reveal that the maximum likelihood estimation approach significantly outperforms the average approach and existing crowdsourcing regression methods. The performances of the proposed algorithms are comparable to those of the learning model in consideration reliable labels. The results of the investigation further indicate that side information is helpful in inferring both ranking functions and expertise degrees of annotators.
The Effects of Interpersonal Attitude of a Group of Agents on User’s Presence and Proxemics Behavior
Authors: Cafaro Angelo , Ravenet Brian , Ochs Magalie , Vilhjálmsson Hannes Högni , Pelachaud Catherine
Published: July 2016

In the everyday world people form small conversing groups where social interaction takes place, and much of the social behavior takes place through managing interpersonal space (i.e., proxemics) and group formation, signaling their attentio to others (i.e., through gaze behavior), and expressing certain attitudes, for example, friendliness, by smiling, getting close through increased engagement and intimacy, and welcoming newcomers. Many real-time interactive systems feature virtual anthropomorphic characters in order to simulate conversing groups and add plausibility and believability to the simulated environments. However, only a few have dealt with autonomous behavior generation, and in those cases, the agents’ exhibited behavior should be evaluated by users in terms of appropriateness, believability, and conveyed meaning (e.g., attitudes). In this article we present an integrated intelligent interactive system for generating believable nonverbal behavior exhibited by virtual agents in small simulated group conversations. The produced behavior supports group formation management and the expression of interpersonal attitudes (friendly vs. unfriendly) both among the agents in the group (i.e., in-group attitude) and towards an approaching user in an avatar-based interaction (out-group attitude). A user study investigating the effects of these attitudes on users’ social presence evaluation and proxemics behavior (with their avatar) in a three-dimensional virtual city environment is presented. We divided the study into two trials according to the task assigned to users, that is, joining a conversing group and reaching a target destination behind the group. Results showed that the out-group attitude had a major impact on social presence evaluations in both trials, whereby friendly groups were perceived as more socially rich. The user’s proxemics behavior depended on both out-group and in-group attitudes expressed by the agents. Implications of these results for the design and implementation of similar intelligent interactive systems for the autonomous generation of agents’ multimodal behavior are briefly discussed.
Identifying the Root Causes of Wait States in Large-Scale Parallel Applications
Authors: Böhme David , Geimer Markus , Arnold Lukas , Voigtlaender Felix , Wolf Felix
Published: July 2016

Driven by growing application requirements and accelerated by current trends in microprocessor design, the number of processor cores on modern supercomputers is increasing from generation to generation. However, load or communication imbalance prevents many codes from taking advantage of the available parallelism, as delays of single processes may spread wait states across the entire machine. Moreover, when employing complex point-to-point communication patterns, wait states may propagate along far-reaching cause-effect chains that are hard to track manually and that complicate an assessment of the actual costs of an imbalance. Building on earlier work by Meira, Jr., et al., we present a scalable approach that identifies program wait states and attributes their costs in terms of resource waste to their original cause. By replaying event traces in parallel both forward and backward, we can identify the processes and call paths responsible for the most severe imbalances, even for runs with hundreds of thousands of processes.
Fast Sampling for Time-Varying Determinantal Point Processes
Authors: Qiao Maoying , Xu Richard Yi Da , Bian Wei , Tao Dacheng
Published: July 2016

Determinantal Point Processes (DPPs) are stochastic models which assign each subset of a base dataset with a probability proportional to the subset’s degree of diversity. It has been shown that DPPs are particularly appropriate in data subset selection and summarization (e.g., news display, video summarizations). DPPs prefer diverse subsets while other conventional models cannot offer. However, DPPs inference algorithms have a polynomial time complexity which makes it difficult to handle large and time-varying datasets, especially when real-time processing is required. To address this limitation, we developed a fast sampling algorithm for DPPs which takes advantage of the nature of some time-varying data (e.g., news corpora updating, communication network evolving), where the data changes between time stamps are relatively small. The proposed algorithm is built upon the simplification of marginal density functions over successive time stamps and the sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) sampling technique. Evaluations on both a real-world news dataset and the Enron Corpus confirm the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
The Convergence Behavior of Naive Bayes on Large Sparse Datasets
Authors: Li Xiang , Ling Charles X. , Wang Huaimin
Published: July 2016

Large and sparse datasets with a lot of missing values are common in the big data era, such as user behaviors over a large number of items. Classification in such datasets is an important topic for machine learning and data mining. Practically, naive Bayes is still a popular classification algorithm for large sparse datasets, as its time and space complexity scales linearly with the size of non-missing values. However, several important questions about the behavior of naive Bayes are yet to be answered. For example, how different mechanisms of data missing, data sparsity, and the number of attributes systematically affect the learning curves and convergence? In this paper, we address several common data missing mechanisms and propose novel data generation methods based on these mechanisms. We generate large and sparse data systematically, and study the entire AUC (Area Under ROC Curve) learning curve and convergence behavior of naive Bayes. We not only have several important experiment observations, but also provide detailed theoretic studies. Finally, we summarize our empirical and theoretic results as an intuitive decision flowchart and a useful guideline for classifying large sparse datasets in practice.
Selecting Multiple Order Statistics with a Graphics Processing Unit
Authors: Blanchard Jeffrey D. , Opavsky Erik , Uysaler Emircan
Published: July 2016

Extracting a set of multiple order statistics from a huge data set provides important information about the distribution of the values in the full set of data. This article introduces an algorithm, bucketMultiSelect, for simultaneously selecting multiple order statistics with a graphics processing unit (GPU). Typically, when a large set of order statistics is desired, the vector is sorted. When the sorted version of the vector is not needed, bucketMultiSelect significantly reduces computation time by eliminating a large portion of the unnecessary operations involved in sorting. For large vectors, bucketMultiSelect returns thousands of order statistics in less time than sorting the vector while typically using less memory. For vectors containing 2
28
values of type double, bucketMultiSelect selects the 101 percentile order statistics in less than 95ms and is more than 8× faster than sorting the vector with a GPU optimized merge sort.
Greedily Improving Our Own Closeness Centrality in a Network
Authors: Crescenzi Pierluigi , D'angelo Gianlorenzo , Severini Lorenzo , Velaj Yllka
Published: July 2016

The closeness centrality is a well-known measure of importance of a vertex within a given complex network. Having high closeness centrality can have positive impact on the vertex itself: hence, in this paper we consider the optimization problem of determining how much a vertex can increase its centrality by creating a limited amount of new edges incident to it. We will consider both the undirected and the directed graph cases. In both cases, we first prove that the optimization problem does not admit a polynomial-time approximation scheme (unless
P
=
NP
), and then propose a greedy approximation algorithm (with an almost tight approximation ratio), whose performance is then tested on synthetic graphs and real-world networks.
The Stability and Usability of Statistical Topic Models
Authors: Yang Yi , Pan Shimei , Lu Jie , Topkara Mercan , Song Yangqiu
Published: July 2016

Statistical topic models have become a useful and ubiquitous tool for analyzing large text corpora. One common application of statistical topic models is to support topic-centric navigation and exploration of document collections. Existing work on topic modeling focuses on the inference of model parameters so the resulting model fits the input data. Since the exact inference is intractable, statistical inference methods, such as Gibbs Sampling, are commonly used to solve the problem. However, most of the existing work ignores an important aspect that is closely related to the end user experience: topic model stability. When the model is either re-trained with the same input data or updated with new documents, the topic previously assigned to a document may change under the new model, which may result in a disruption of end users’ mental maps about the relations between documents and topics, thus undermining the usability of the applications. In this article, we propose a novel user-directed non-disruptive topic model update method that balances the tradeoff between finding the model that fits the data and maintaining the stability of the model from end users’ perspective. It employs a novel constrained LDA algorithm to incorporate pairwise document constraints, which are converted from user feedback about topics, to achieve topic model stability. Evaluation results demonstrate the advantages of our approach over previous methods.
First-year medical students' naïve beliefs about respiratory physiology
Authors: Badenhorst Elmi , Mamede Silvia , Abrahams Amaal , Bugarith Kishor , Friedling Jacqui , Gunston Geney , Kelly-Laubscher Roisin , Schmidt Henk G.
Published: July 2016

The present study explored the nature and frequency of physiology naïve beliefs by investigating novices' understanding of the respiratory system. Previous studies have shown considerable misconceptions related to physiology but focused mostly on specific physiological processes of normal respiration. Little is known about novices' broader understanding of breathing in a clinical context. Our study hypothesized that naïve beliefs could hamper participants' ability to understand the interrelatedness of respiratory structures and functions related to breathing during a clinical complication. The study entailed both quantitative and qualitative foci. A two-tier test was designed and administered to 211 first-year medical students. Participants were asked to choose the correct answer out of a set of four options and to substantiate their choices. Questions were purposefully left open to elicit a wide range of responses. Statistical analysis (SPSS) was done to evaluate the frequency of naïve beliefs. Thematic analysis was used to determine themes within the raw data. The majority of participants selected incorrect answers in the multiple-choice question part of the questionnaire. Results from the thematic analysis yielded a considerable range of naïve beliefs about gas exchange, foundational physics, airflow, anatomic structures, and breathing pathways. An awareness of the existence of such naive beliefs in respiratory physiology will allow educators to address them in their teaching and thereby prevent naïve beliefs transforming into misconceptions.
Pilot study of small bowel mucosal gene expression in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea
Authors: Camilleri Michael , Carlson Paula , Valentin Nelson , Acosta Andres , O'Neill Jessica , Eckert Deborah , Dyer Roy , Na Jie , Klee Eric W. , Murray Joseph A.
Published: July 2016

Prior studies in with irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) patients showed immune activation, secretion, and barrier dysfunction in jejunal or colorectal mucosa. We measured mRNA expression by RT-PCR of 91 genes reflecting tight junction proteins, chemokines, innate immunity, ion channels, transmitters, housekeeping genes, and controls for DNA contamination and PCR efficiency in small intestinal mucosa from 15 IBS-D and 7 controls (biopsies negative for celiac disease). Fold change was calculated using 2(−ΔΔCT) formula. Nominal P values ( P < 0.05) were interpreted with false detection rate (FDR) correction ( q value). Cluster analysis with Lens for Enrichment and Network Studies (LENS) explored connectivity of mechanisms. Upregulated genes (uncorrected P < 0.05) were related to ion transport (INADL, MAGI1, and SONS1), barrier (TJP1, 2, and 3 and CLDN) or immune functions (TLR3, IL15, and MAPKAPK5), or histamine metabolism (HNMT); downregulated genes were related to immune function (IL-1β, TGF-β1, and CCL20) or antigen detection (TLR1 and 8). The following genes were significantly upregulated ( q < 0.05) in IBS-D: INADL, MAGI1, PPP2R5C, MAPKAPK5, TLR3, and IL-15. Among the 14 nominally upregulated genes, there was clustering of barrier and PDZ domains (TJP1, TJP2, TJP3, CLDN4, INADL, and MAGI1) and clustering of downregulated genes (CCL20, TLR1, IL1B, and TLR8). Protein expression of PPP2R5C in nuclear lysates was greater in patients with IBS-D and controls. There was increase in INADL protein (median 9.4 ng/ml) in patients with IBS-D relative to controls (median 5.8 ng/ml, P > 0.05). In conclusion, altered transcriptome (and to lesser extent protein) expression of ion transport, barrier, immune, and mast cell mechanisms in small bowel may reflect different alterations in function and deserves further study in IBS-D.
Regulation and dysregulation of esophageal peristalsis by the integrated function of circular and longitudinal muscle layers in health and disease
Authors: Mittal Ravinder K.
Published: July 2016

Muscularis propria throughout the entire gastrointestinal tract including the esophagus is comprised of circular and longitudinal muscle layers. Based on the studies conducted in the colon and the small intestine, for more than a century, it has been debated whether the two muscle layers contract synchronously or reciprocally during the ascending contraction and descending relaxation of the peristaltic reflex. Recent studies in the esophagus and colon prove that the two muscle layers indeed contract and relax together in almost perfect synchrony during ascending contraction and descending relaxation of the peristaltic reflex, respectively. Studies in patients with various types of esophageal motor disorders reveal temporal disassociation between the circular and longitudinal muscle layers. We suggest that the discoordination between the two muscle layers plays a role in the genesis of esophageal symptoms, i.e., dysphagia and esophageal pain. Certain pathologies may selectively target one and not the other muscle layer, e.g., in eosinophilic esophagitis there is a selective dysfunction of the longitudinal muscle layer. In achalasia esophagus, swallows are accompanied by the strong contraction of the longitudinal muscle without circular muscle contraction. The possibility that the discoordination between two muscle layers plays a role in the genesis of esophageal symptoms, i.e., dysphagia and esophageal pain are discussed. The purpose of this review is to summarize the regulation and dysregulation of peristalsis by the coordinated and discoordinated function of circular and longitudinal muscle layers in health and diseased states.
Polyuria-associated hydronephrosis induced by xenobiotic chemical exposure in mice
Authors: Yoshioka Wataru , Kawaguchi Tatsuya , Nishimura Noriko , Akagi Toshiya , Fujisawa Nozomi , Yanagisawa Hiroyuki , Matsumura Fumio , Tohyama Chiharu
Published: July 2016

Hydronephrosis is a commonly found disease state characterized by the dilation of renal calices and pelvis, resulting in the loss of kidney function in the severest cases. A generally accepted etiology of hydronephrosis involves the obstruction of urine flow along the urinary tract. In the recent years, we have developed a mouse model of hydronephrosis induced by lactational exposure to dioxin and demonstrated a lack of anatomical obstruction in this model. We also showed that prostaglandin E2synthesis system plays a critical role in the onset of hydronephrosis. In the present study, we found that neonatal hydronephrosis was not likely to be associated with functional obstruction (impaired peristalsis) but was found to be associated with polyuria and low urine osmolality with the downregulation of proteins involved in the urine concentrating process. The administration of an antidiuretic hormone analog to the dioxin-exposed pups not only suppressed the increased urine output but also decreased the incidence and severity of hydronephrosis. In contrast to the case in pups, administration of dioxin to adult mice failed to induce polyuria and upregulation of prostaglandin E2synthesis system, and the adult mice were resistant to develop hydronephrosis. These findings suggest the possibility that polyuria could induce hydronephrosis in the absence of anatomical or functional obstruction of the ureter. It is concluded that the present animal model provides a unique example of polyuria-associated type of hydronephrosis, suggesting a need to redefine this disease state.
The function of SH2B3 (LNK) in the kidney
Authors: Blass Gregory , Mattson David L. , Staruschenko Alexander
Published: July 2016

Recent evidence indicates the adaptor protein SH2B3 has a major role in the progression of renal diseases. SH2B3 is highly expressed by hematopoietic cells and regulates cytokine signaling, inducing cell-specific effects. Additionally, its expression in other cell types suggests that SH2B3 may have a more extensive role within the kidney. Ex vivo studies have determined targets of SH2B3 cell-specific signaling, while in vivo studies have observed the SH2B3 overall affects in the progression of renal diseases. This mini-review covers the function of SH2B3-expressing cell types that contribute to renal pathologies and their regulation by SH2B3.