bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influenza A Virus PB1-F2 Protein Expression Is Regulated in a Strain-Specific Manner by Sequences Located Downstream of the PB1-F2 Initiation Codon
Authors: Buehler Jason , Navi Deepak , Lorusso Alessio , Vincent Amy , Lager Kelly , Miller Cathy L.
Published: July 2013

Translation of influenza A virus PB1-F2 occurs in a second open reading frame (ORF) of the PB1 gene segment. PB1-F2 has been implicated in regulation of polymerase activity, immunopathology, susceptibility to secondary bacterial infection, and induction of apoptosis. Experimental evidence of PB1-F2 molecular function during infection has been collected primarily from human and avian viral isolates. As the 2009 H1N1 (H1N1pdm09) strain highlighted, some swine-derived influenza viruses have the capacity to infect human hosts and emerge as a pandemic. Understanding the impact that virulence factors from swine isolates have on both human and swine health could aid in early identification of viruses with pandemic potential. Studies examining PB1-F2 from swine isolates have focused primarily on H1N1pdm09, which does not encode PB1-F2 but was engineered to carry a full-length PB1-F2 ORF to assess the impact on viral replication and pathogenicity. However, experimental evidence of PB1-F2 protein expression from swine lineage viruses has not been demonstrated. Here, we reveal that during infection, PB1-F2 expression levels are substantially different in swine and human influenza viruses. We provide evidence that PB1-F2 expression is regulated at the translational level, with very low levels of PB1-F2 expression from swine lineage viruses relative to a human isolate PB1-F2. Translational regulation of PB1-F2 expression was partially mapped to two independent regions within the PB1 mRNA, located downstream of the PB1-F2 start site. Our data suggest that carrying a full-length PB1-F2 ORF may not be predictive of PB1-F2 expression in infected cells for all influenza A viruses.
Modulation of the Cellular Distribution of Human Cytomegalovirus Helicase by Cellular Factor Snapin
Authors: Luo Jun , Chen Jun , Yang Edward , Shen Ao , Gong Hao , Pei Zenglin , Xiao Gengfu , Lu Songya , Liu Fenyong
Published: July 2013

Controlled regulation of genomic DNA synthesis is a universally conserved process for all herpesviruses, including human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and plays a key role in viral pathogenesis, such as persistent infections. HCMV UL105 is believed to encode the helicase of the DNA replication machinery that needs to localize in the nuclei, the site of viral DNA synthesis. No host factors that interact with UL105 have been identified. In this study, we show that UL105 specifically interacts with Snapin, a human protein that is predominantly localized in the cytoplasm and associated with cellular vesicles. UL105 was found to interact with Snapin in both the yeast two-hybrid screen and coimmunoprecipitation experiments in HCMV-infected cells. The nuclear and cytoplasmic levels of UL105 were decreased and increased in cells overexpressing Snapin, respectively, while the levels of UL105 in the nuclei and cytoplasm were increased and decreased in cells in which the expression of Snapin was downregulated with anti-Snapin small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules, respectively. Furthermore, viral DNA synthesis and progeny production were decreased in cells overexpressing Snapin and increased in the anti-Snapin siRNA-treated cells, respectively. Our results provide the first direct evidence to suggest that Snapin interacts with UL105 and alters its cellular distribution, leading to modulation of viral DNA synthesis and progeny production. Our study further suggests that modulation of the cellular distribution of viral helicase by Snapin may represent a possible mechanism for regulating HCMV genomic DNA synthesis, a key step during herpesvirus lytic and persistent infections.
ORIGIN OF GRANITE
Authors: GROUT FRANK F.
Published: July 2013

As a result of wide experiences, prolonged study, and many conferences I am convinced that granites, strictly defined, form by cooling of granite magma, by metasomatic replacement of other rocks, and possibly by some intermediate action or mixture of the two processes.

Granite magmas may form from large bodies of basalt magma; or more directly by the melting of part of an earth-zone, characterized by abundant gneisses and granites—a zone that seems to have persisted from early Archean time to the present. The solutions that replace other rocks by granite are partly the granite magmas themselves and partly emanations from such magma; but the suggestion that emanations for this replacement arise from great “unknown depths” throws the discussion into the realm of speculation, which will be unprofitable until we have very strong evidence that large masses of granite result from metasomatism.

The evidences and experiences which have influenced the writer to the views he-now holds are presented in brief.
Difficulty with learning of exercise instructions associated with ‘working memory’ dysfunction and frontal glucose hypometabolism in a patient with very mild subcortical vascular dementia with knee osteoarthritis
Authors: Takeda Kenji , Meguro Kenichi , Tanaka Naofumi , Nakatsuka Masahiro
Published: July 2013

We present a patient with no dementia, depression or apathy, who had difficulty in learning self-exercise instructions. The patient was an 80-year-old right-handed woman who was admitted to a rehabilitation unit to receive postoperative rehabilitation after a femoral neck fracture. She was instructed quadriceps isometric exercises to perform 10 repetitions and to hold each stretch for 10 s. She performed the exercise correctly with motivation, but she had difficulty in learning the number of repetitions and the duration of each stretch. She had no history of cerebrovascular accident and the neurological examination was normal. Neuropsychological testing, MRI and18F-fluoro- D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) were performed to examine the neural mechanisms associated with this difficulty in learning instructions. Neuropsychological tests revealed dysfunction of working memory while other cognitive domains were relatively preserved. Her neuropsychological tests scores were (1) Mini-Mental State Examination: 24 (mild cognitive impairment), (2) Geriatric Depression Scale-15: 2 (no depression), (3) Apathy Scale: 2 (no apathy), (4) digit span forward: 5 (normal), (5) digit span backward: 2 (impaired), (6) visuospatial span forward: 4 (normal), (7) visuospatial span backward: 2 (impaired), (8) frontal assessment battery: 11 (normal), (9) Weigl test: 0 (impaired), (10) trail making test A: 52 s (normal), (11) train making test B: failed (impaired). T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI showed high signal-intensity lesions in the cerebral deep white matter. FDG-PET revealed hypometabolic areas in the bilateral frontal lobes, particularly in the bilateral dorsolateral frontal area, anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. One of the possible neural mechanisms underlying the learning difficulties in this patient may have been partial blockage of the cingulofrontal network by deep white matter lesions.
Aesthetic acceptance equals to nature’s compensation plus surgical correction
Authors: Vadgaonkar Vaishali , Gangurde Parag , Karandikar Anita , Mahajan Nikhil
Published: July 2013

Orthognathic surgery has become an acceptable treatment plan for patients with various maxillofacial deformities. The rehabilitation of severe class III adult patients requires a complex interdisciplinary orthodontic and orthognathic approach. This presentation aims to show a case of combination of camouflage and bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO).Camouflage in maxillary arch was accepted after analysing visual treatment objective (VTO) and pleasing soft tissue compensation which gave us the clue to go ahead for surgical correction of excess mandibular length to achieve best aesthetic outcome while maintaining nature’s compensation in upper arch.
Successful catheter directed thrombolysis in postpartum deep venous thrombosis complicated by nicoumalone-induced skin necrosis and failure in retrieval of inferior vena caval filter
Authors: Srinivas B C , Patra Soumya , Agrawal Navin , Manjunath C N
Published: July 2013

Venous thromboembolism is an important cause for maternal morbidity and mortality in postpartum period. Though catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) is now considered as a safe and effective therapy for the management of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) but still it is not indicated in postpartum DVT. We are presenting a case of 22-year-old female patient who presented with post-partum lower limb DVT and managed successfully with CDT by using injection streptokinase and temporary inferior vena caval filter was inserted as prophylactic for pulmonary embolism as she had extensive DVT extending into inferior vena cava (IVC). During follow-up, she developed large skin necrosis in left lower limb which was managed by adding injection low-molecular-weight heparin. IVC filter also could not be retrieved even after trying all manoeuvres during follow-up after 2 weeks.
Suboptimal prescribing of proton-pump inhibitors in low-dose aspirin users: a cohort study in primary care
Authors: de Jong Hilda J I , Korevaar Joke C , van Dijk Liset , Voogd Eef , van Dijk Christel E , van Oijen Martijn G H
Published: July 2013

Objective

Determine the adherence to recommendations of concomitant proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment in regular low-dose of aspirin (LDASA) users, taking factors associated with the probability of receiving a PPI into account.

Design

Cohort study.

Setting

Data were obtained from 120 Dutch primary care centres participating in the Netherlands Information Network of Primary Care (LINH).

Participants

Patients 18 years and older who were regularly prescribed LDASA (30–325 mg) in 2008–2010 were included.

Main outcome measures

Regular medication use was defined as receiving each consecutive prescription within 6 months after the previous one. Based on national guidelines, we categorised LDASA users into low and high gastrointestinal (GI) risk. A multilevel multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to identify patient characteristics that influenced on the probability of regular PPI prescriptions.

Results

We identified 12 343 patients who started LDASA treatment, of whom 3213 (26%) were at increased risk of GI complications. In this group, concomitant regular use of PPI was 46%, 36% did not receive PPI prescriptions and 18% obtained prescriptions irregularly (p<0.0001). The chance to obtain regularly PPI prescriptions versus no PPI was significantly influenced by, among others, previous GI complications (OR 13.9 (95% CI 11.8 to 16.4)), use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (OR 5.2 (4.3 to 6.3)), glucocorticosteroids (6.1 (4.6 to 8.0)), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (9.1 (6.7 to 12.2)), drugs for functional GI disorders (2.4 (1.9 to 3.0)) and increased age.

Conclusions

Primary care physicians do not fully adhere to the current recommendations to prescribe PPIs regularly to LDASA users with an increased GI risk. More than 50% of the patients with an increased GI risk are not treated sufficiently with a concomitant PPI, increasing the risk of GI side effects. This finding underlines the necessity to consider merging recommendations into one common, standard and frequently used recommendation by primary care physicians.
Ten questions to ask when choosing an architect
Authors: Denning Andrew
Published: July 2013

A new building, extension or major refurbishment for your practice entails a significant investment of money and time. Choosing the right architect to help manage the project is the first step on the way to a less stressful process and a successful outcome. Andrew Denning discusses some of the questions to ask yourself and potential architects to ensure you select the right person.
Veterinary laboratories revisited
Authors: Jagger Tim
Published: July 2013

Tim Jagger looks at how veterinary laboratory services have developed over the past 14 years, and how they are being integrated in practice.
Honesty and euthanasia
Authors: Fordyce Peter
Published: July 2013

THIS series gives readers the opportunity to consider and contribute to discussion of some of the ethical dilemmas that can arise in veterinary practice. Each month, a case scenario is presented, followed by discussion of some of the issues involved. In addition, a possible way forward is suggested; however, there is rarely a cut‐and‐dried answer in such cases, and readers may wish to suggest an alternative approach. This month's dilemma, ‘Honesty and euthanasia’, was submitted and is discussed by Peter Fordyce. Readers with comments to contribute are invited to send them as soon as possible, so that they can be considered for publication in the next issue. Discussion of the dilemma ‘Being a badger's advocate’, which was published in the June issue of In Practice, appears on page 423.

The series is being coordinated by Siobhan Mullan, of the University of Bristol. It is hoped it will provide a framework that will help practices find solutions when facing similar dilemmas.
Comments on the dilemma in the June issue: ‘Being a badger's advocate’
Authors: Mullan Siobhan
Published: July 2013

The dilemma in the June issue concerned considering things from the badger's perspective during a public debate on bovine TB and the badger cull (In Practice, May 2012, volume 34, pages 350‐351). Glen Cousquer argued that to be a badger's representative one would need to ensure its position was taken into account and suggested that a way of doing so was to recognise the badger as an individual, rather this than taking an anthropocentric view and considering the badger as just one of a population or species. He proposed that this shift in perspective would highlight exactly whose fate was being debated and could challenge the ‘distancing’ language that was often used when discussing such issues.
Improving the diagnostic quality of thoracic radiographs of dogs and cats
Authors: Martin Mike , Mahoney Paul
Published: July 2013

Evaluating a series of thoracic radiographs may be one of the most challenging imaging tasks confronting the small animal clinicians in their daily practice. Pathological changes can sometimes be quite subtle, while at other times they can be confusing in their complexity. Radiographs that are not of optimal quality only add to this confusion, either by hiding pathological changes or creating artifacts that resemble pathology. In the ideal world, every thoracic radiograph would be perfect and the clinician's task would be easier. In the real world, patients with intrathoracic disease can be high risk and difficult to position, and a balance needs to be struck between patient safety and diagnostic quality. This article describes how to get the most out of thoracic radiographs by improving the diagnostic quality of radiographic films.
MAJORITY-VOTE MODEL WITH HETEROGENEOUS AGENTS ON SQUARE LATTICE
Authors: LIMA F. W. S.
Published: July 2013

We study a nonequilibrium model with up-down symmetry and a noise parameter q known as majority-vote model (MVM) of [M. J. Oliveira, J. Stat. Phys.66, 273 (1992)] with heterogeneous agents on square lattice (SL). By Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and finite-size scaling relations, the critical exponents β∕ν, γ∕ν and 1∕ν and points qc and U* are obtained. After extensive simulations, we obtain β∕ν = 0.35(1), γ∕ν = 1.23(8) and 1∕ν = 1.05(5). The calculated values of the critical noise parameter and Binder cumulant are qc = 0.1589(4) and U* = 0.604(7). Within the error bars, the exponents obey the relation 2β∕ν + γ∕ν = 2 and the results presented here demonstrate that the MVM heterogeneous agents belongs to a different universality class than the nonequilibrium MVM with homogeneous agents on SL.
A REAL OPTIONS FRAMEWORK FOR DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY IN SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT INVESTMENTS
Authors: SALAHALDIN L. , GRANGER T.
Published: July 2013

In this paper, we develop a real options framework that sets rules for investment decision in sustainable transport projects under both demand and costs uncertainties. First, we present the model we use to calculate the cost of transport externalities. Using stochastic analysis, we show how to maximize inter-generational utility by choosing the optimal time to invest. The method is implemented using a dynamic programming approach that gives, at each moment, the thresholds for demand and cost for which it is optimal to invest. We calculate the expected waiting time until investing and perform a sensitivity analysis to study the impact of the different parameters on the decision.
ELECTRON–ELECTRON INTERACTION EFFECTS ON TRANSPORT THROUGH MESOSCOPIC SUPERCONDUCTING HYBRID JUNCTIONS
Authors: SAHA ARIJIT
Published: July 2013

Effects due to the proximity of a superconductor has motivated a lot of research work in the last several decades both from theoretical and experimental point of view. In this review, we are going to describe the physics of systems containing normal metal-superconductor interface. Mainly we discuss transport properties through such hybrid structures. In particular, we describe the effects of electron–electron interaction on transport through such superconducting junction of multiple one-dimensional quantum wires. The latter can be described in terms of a non-Fermi liquid theory called Luttinger liquid. In this review, from the application point of view, we also demonstrate the possible scenarios for production of pure spin current and large tunneling magnetoresistance in such hybrid junctions and analyze the influence of electron–electron interaction on the stability of the production of pure spin current.
MICROSTRUCTURE EVALUATION OF Fe-BASED AMORPHOUS ALLOYS INVESTIGATED BY DOPPLER BROADENING POSITRON ANNIHILATION TECHNIQUE
Authors: LU WEI , HUANG PING , WANG YUXIN , YAN BIAO
Published: July 2013

Microstructure of Fe -based amorphous and nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloy has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and Doppler broadening positron annihilation technique (PAT). Doppler broadening measurement reveals that amorphous alloys (Finemet, Type I) which can form a nanocrystalline phase have more defects (free volume) than alloys (Metglas, Type II) which cannot form this microstructure. XRD and TEM characterization indicates that the nanocrystallization of amorphous Finemet alloy occurs at 460°C, where nanocrystallites of α- Fe with an average grain size of a few nanometers are formed in an amorphous matrix. With increasing annealing temperature up to 500°C, the average grain size increases up to around 12 nm. During the annealing of Finemet alloy, it has been demonstrated that positron annihilates in quenched-in defect, crystalline nanophase and amorphous-nanocrystalline interfaces. The change of line shape parameter S with annealing temperature in Finemet alloy is mainly due to the structural relaxation, the pre-nucleation of Cu nucleus and the nanocrystallization of α- Fe ( Si ) phase during annealing. This study throws new insights into positron behavior in the nanocrystallization of metallic glasses, especially in the presence of single or multiple nanophases embedded in the amorphous matrix.
PREPARATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND LUMINESCENCE PROPERTIES OF Eu DOPED CaAl2O4 NANOCONES
Authors: LIANG J. M. , HE L. L. , SHEN Z. Q. , ZHANG D. L.
Published: July 2013

Europium doped CaAl 2 O 4 nanocones have been grown first time by thermal evaporation method. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) were used to analyze the morphology, size and crystal structure of the nanocones. The body of the nanocones are about 2–20 μm in length and their diameters are 200 nm to 1 μm at one end and tapers off to a ~ 40–200 nm at the tip end. The as-synthesized nanocones are single crystalline in monoclinic structure and grow along the [010] direction and the normal direction of (100) and (001). The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrum measurement reveals that CaAl 2 O 4: Eu 2+ nanocones emit light at about 440 nm.
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF MC (M = V, Nb, Ta): FIRST-PRINCIPLES CALCULATIONS
Authors: CAO YONG , ZHU JINGCHUAN , LIU YONG , LONG ZHISHEN
Published: July 2013

Through the quasi-harmonic Debye model, the pressure and temperature dependences of linear expansion coefficient, bulk modulus, Debye temperature and heat capacity have been investigated. The calculated thermodynamic properties were compared with experimental data and satisfactory agreement is reached.
CONSTITUTIVE BEHAVIOR OF AS-QUENCHED Al-Cu-Mn ALLOY
Authors: YANG XIA-WEI , ZHU JING-CHUAN , NONG ZHI-SHENG , YE MAO , LAI ZHONG-HONG , LIU YONG
Published: July 2013

The hot flow stress of as-quenched Al - Cu - Mn alloy was modeled using the constitutive equations. The as-quenched Al - Cu - Mn alloy were treated with isothermal hot compression tests in the temperature range of 350–500°C, the strain rate range of 0.001–1 s-1. The hyperbolic sine equation was found to be appropriate for flow stress modeling and prediction. Based on the hyperbolic sine equation, a constitutive equation is a relation between 0.2 pct yield stress and deformation conditions (strain rate and deformation temperature) was established. The corresponding hot deformation activation energy (Q) for as-quenched Al - Cu - Mn alloy was determined to be 251.314 kJ/mol. Parameters of constitutive equation of as-quenched Al - Cu - Mn alloy were calculated at different small strains (≤ 0.01). The calculated flow stresses from the constitutive equation are in good agreement with the experimental results. Therefore, this constitutive equation can be used as an accurate temperature-stress model to solve the problems of quench distortion of Al - Cu - Mn alloy parts.
IMPLICATIONS FOR HEDGING OF THE CHOICE OF DRIVING PROCESS FOR ONE-FACTOR MARKOV-FUNCTIONAL MODELS
Authors: KENNEDY JOANNE E. , PHAM DUY
Published: July 2013

In this paper, we study the implications for hedging Bermudan swaptions of the choice of the instantaneous volatility for the driving Markov process of the one-dimensional swap Markov-functional model. We find that there is a strong evidence in favor of what we term "parametrization by time" as opposed to "parametrization by expiry". We further propose a new parametrization by time for the driving process which takes as inputs into the model the market correlations of relevant swap rates. We show that the new driving process enables a very effective vega-delta hedge with a much more stable gamma profile for the hedging portfolio compared with the existing ones.
BUCKLING BEHAVIOR OF COMPOSITE LAMINATES (WITH AND WITHOUT CUTOUTS) SUBJECTED TO NONUNIFORM IN-PLANE LOADS
Authors: SONI GANESH , SINGH RAMESH , MITRA MIRA
Published: July 2013

Critical buckling loads of composite laminates are usually calculated using analytical solutions based on the assumption of uniform in-plane loads, despite of the fact that real structures are often subjected to various nonuniform loads. The present work is focused on the buckling behavior of composite laminates, with and without cutouts, subjected to various nonuniform in-plane loads. The effect of the size of the cutouts, on the buckling behavior, has been studied using finite element method. Furthermore, parametric studies on the effects of plate aspect ratio, location of the cutout and the application of a nonuniform load combined with a shear load have also been studied. Higher buckling loads were observed in pure in-plane bending compared to uniformly/nonuniformly distributed loads. Consequently, it is important to consider nonuniformly distributed loading whenever applicable, to utilize complete strength of the composite laminate and to avoid premature failure of the composite laminate due to structural instability.
EXPONENTIAL COMPACT HIGHER-ORDER SCHEMES AND THEIR STABILITY ANALYSIS FOR UNSTEADY CONVECTION-DIFFUSION EQUATIONS
Authors: MISHRA NACHIKETA , SANYASIRAJU Y. V. S. S.
Published: July 2013

Exponential compact higher-order schemes have been developed for unsteady convection-diffusion equation (CDE). One of the developed scheme is sixth-order accurate which is conditionally stable for the Péclet number 0 ≤ Pe ≤ 2.8 and the other is fourth-order accurate which is unconditionally stable. Schemes for two-dimensional (2D) problems are made to use alternate direction implicit (ADI) algorithm. Example problems are solved and the numerical solutions are compared with the analytical solutions for each case.
CWW, LANGUAGE, AND THINKING
Authors: PERLOVSKY L. I. , ILIN R.
Published: July 2013

Computing with words, CWW, is considered in the context of natural language functioning, unifying language with thinking. Previous attempts at modeling natural languages as well as thinking processes in artificial intelligence have met with computational complexity. To overcome computational complexity we use dynamic logic (DL), an extension of fuzzy logic describing fuzzy to crisp transitions. We suggest a possible architecture motivated by mathematical and neural considerations. We discuss the reasons why CWW has to be modeled jointly with thinking and propose an architecture consistent with brain neural structure and with a wealth of psychological knowledge. The proposed architecture implies the existence of relationships between languages and cultures. We discuss these implications for further evolution of English and Chinese cultures, and for cultural effects of interactions between natural languages and CWW.
EFFECT OF NICKEL CONTENTS ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE OF MESOPOROUS NICKEL OXIDE/GADOLINIUM-DOPED CERIA
Authors: AHN SEUNGHYUN , KOO HYUN , BAE SUNG-HWAN , PARK CHAN , CHO GUYOUNG , CHANG IKWHANG , CHA SUK-WON , YOO YOUNG-SUNG
Published: July 2013

The effect of NiO contents on the microstructure of mesoporous NiO - Gd 0.25 Ce 0.75 O 2-x ( NiO -GDC) composite for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC) was investigated. Mesoporous NiO -GDC powders with different NiO contents were synthesized by self-assembly hydrothermal method using tri-block copolymer, Pluronic F127, as a structure directing agent. Grain growth/agglomeration behaviors of NiO particles and changes of mesoporous structure of GDC particles were characterized by microstructural analyses. NiO -GDC powders were composed of GDC nano particles with ordered mesopore inside the particles and octahedral NiO grains with truncated-edges. As the amount of NiO increases, specific area value of mesoporous NiO -GDC was decreased, and the agglomeration/growth behavior of NiO grains was accelerated.
Tectonic evolution of the European Variscan belt constrained by palaeomagnetic, structural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility data from the Northern Vosges magmatic arc (eastern France)
Authors: Edel J. B. , Schulmann K. , Skrzypek E. , Cocherie A.
Published: July 2013

Geochronology, structural and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility data from the northern Vosges batholith, which belongs to the Northern Vosges–Mid-German Crystalline Rise arc, show contrasting emplacement modes of southern granodiorites and northern granites. The ENE–WSW-trending fabrics of granodiorites (346–334 Ma) are parallel to the metamorphic cleavage affecting the host rocks developed during regional compression. The NNW–SSE-trending fabrics of younger granitoids (
c
. 330 Ma) reveal an extensional emplacement mode, associated with a normal shear zone separating the two magmatic suites. Palaeomagnetism shows that the switch from a compressive to an extensional regime coincides with a regional counterclockwise rotation. The 330–325 Ma extension is further supported by palaeomagnetic and seismic data indicating southeastward tilt of the whole batholith. Finally the system is rotated clockwise without any structural overprint. Data from the Early Carboniferous northern Vosges magmatic arc and remote Bohemian Massif suggest that this evolution is valid for the whole eastern branch of the European Variscan belt, for which the following model is proposed: (1) Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous east–west shortening of the Variscides above the Rhenohercynian subduction zone; (2) axial NNW–SSE shortening of the assembled Variscan orogen associated with (3) ‘internal’ sinistral rotation of inherited Rhenohercynian transform faults and shortening of intervening blocks; (4) east–west extension and dextral ‘external’ rotation of blocks between dextrally reactivated transforms.

Supplementary materials:

Analytical procedures for geochronology, magnetism, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and palaeomagnetism are available at
www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18635
.
Stratigraphic, geochemical and U–Pb zircon constraints from Slieve Gallion, Northern Ireland: a correlation of the Irish Caledonian arcs
Authors: Hollis Steven P. , Cooper Mark R. , Roberts Stephen , Earls Garth , Herrington Richard , Condon Daniel J.
Published: July 2013

Recent Ar–Ar and U–Pb zircon geochronology from across the British and Irish Caledonides has revealed a prolonged period of arc-ophiolite formation (
c
. 514–464 Ma) and accretion (
c
. 490–470 Ma) to the Laurentian margin during the Grampian orogeny. The Slieve Gallion Inlier of Northern Ireland, an isolated occurrence of the Tyrone Volcanic Group, records the development of a peri-Laurentian island arc–backarc and its obduction to an outboard microcontinental block. Although a previous biostratigraphic age constraint provides a firm correlation of at least part of the volcanic succession to the Ca1 Stage of the Arenig (
c
. 475–474 Ma), there is uncertainty on its exact statigraphic position in the Tyrone Volcanic Group. Earliest magmatism is characterized by light rare earth element (LREE) depleted island-arc tholeiite. Overlying deposits are dominated by large ion lithophile and LREE-enriched, hornblende-phyric and feldspathic calc-alkaline basaltic andesites and andesitic tuffs with strongly negative ϵNd
t
values. Previously published biostratigraphic age constraints, combined with recent U–Pb zircon geochronology and new petrochemical correlations, suggest that the Slieve Gallion Inlier is equivalent to the lower Tyrone Volcanic Group. Temporal and geochemical correlations between the Slieve Gallion Inlier and Charlestown Group of Ireland suggest that they may be part of the same arc system, which was accreted at a late stage (
c
. 470 Ma) in the Grampian orogeny. A switch from tholeiitic volcanism to calc-alkaline dominated activity within the Lough Nafooey Group of western Ireland occurred prior to
c
. 490 Ma, some 15–20 Myr earlier than at Tyrone and Charlestown.

Supplementary materials:

Sampling and geochemical results (major elements, loss on ignition, trace elements, REE and Nd isotopes) are available at
www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18640
.
Precise timing of the Late Ordovician (Sandbian) super-eruptions and associated environmental, biological, and climatological events
Authors: Sell B. , Ainsaar L. , Leslie S.
Published: July 2013

Two of the largest known eruptions in the Phanerozoic produced the Ordovician Millbrig K-bentonite of North America and the Kinnekulle K-bentonite of Scandinavia, which have been previously suggested to be coeval. The Millbrig K-bentonite from Kentucky, USA and the Kinnekulle K-bentonite from Bornholm, Denmark yielded chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry U–Pb zircon dates of 452.86 ± 0.29 and 454.41 ± 0.17 Ma (2σ analytical uncertainty), respectively, thus showing significant age differences contrary to what is generally held. These data and four additional newly dated K-bentonites directly establish the first radioisotopic age constraints for the Ordovician Katian–Sandbian global stage boundary, refine global stratigraphic correlations, date associated chemostratigraphic events, and suggest an alternative volcanic–climate hypothesis for the Late Ordovician.

Supplementary material:

U–Pb radioisotopic data table and analytical methods are available at
www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18636
.
Weathering rinds as mirror images of palaeosols: examples from the Western Alps with correlation to Antarctica and Mars
Authors: Mahaney W. C. , Keiser Leslie , Krinsley D. H. , Pentlavalli P. , Allen C. C. R. , Somelar P. , Schwartz Stephane , Dohm James M. , Dirszowsky R. , West Allen , Julig P. , Costa P.
Published: July 2013

Weathering rinds have been used for decades as relative age indicators to differentiate glacial deposits in long Quaternary sequences, but only recently has it been shown that rinds contain long and extensive palaeoenvironmental records that often extend far beyond mere repositories of chemical weathering on both Earth and Mars. When compared with associated palaeosols in deposits of the same age, rinds often carry a zonal weathering record that can be correlated with palaeosol horizon characteristics, with respect to both abiotic and biotic parameters. As demonstrated with examples from the French and Italian Alps, rinds in coarse clastic sediment contain weathering zones that correlate closely with horizon development in associated palaeosols of presumed Late Glacial age. In addition to weathering histories in both rinds and palaeosols, considerable evidence exists to indicate that the black mat impact (12.8 ka) reached the European Alps, a connection with the Younger Dryas readvance supported by both mineral and chemical composition. Preliminary metagenomic microbial analysis using density gradient gel electrophoresis suggests that the eubacterial microbial population found in at least one Ah palaeosol horizon associated with a rind impact site is different from that in other Late Glacial and Younger Dryas surface palaeosol horizons.
Evaluation of Envisat ASAR IMP imagery for snow mapping at varying spatial resolution (Deception Island, South Shetlands – Antarctica)
Authors: Mora Carla , Vieira Gonçalo , Ramos Miguel
Published: July 2013

Advanced synthetic aperture radar image mode precision (ASAR IMP) scenes of Deception Island from December 2008 to September 2010 have been analysed to assess its potential for snow cover classification. Backscattering was checked against ground truth. Despite the good spatial resolution of the ASAR, its applicability for detecting snow cover, and especially wet snow, was only possible at much lower resolutions, since noise was found to be very high. Scenes with bare ground or with dry snow cover showed highest backscattering, with averages from −10 to −12 dB. Wet snow showed a shift towards lower values, peaking at −15 dB. A threshold of −13 to −14 dB was identified between dry/bare ground and wet snow scenes at Crater Lake. The backscatter difference to a reference snow-free scene usually provided better classification results, and a threshold ranging from −2 to −3 dB was found. Results show that, despite the relative ease of use of C-band ASAR, special care is necessary since the results show significant noise, and it should only be applied to large areas. Large seasonal patterns of snow melt were identified on Deception Island.
How useful are databases in environmental and criminal forensics?
Authors: McKinley Jennifer
Published: July 2013

Advances in computational and information technologies have facilitated the acquisition of geospatial information for regional and national soil and geology databases. These have been completed for a range of purposes from geological and soil baseline mapping to economic prospecting and land resource assessment, but have become increasingly used for forensic purposes. On the question of provenance of a questioned sample, the geologist or soil scientist will draw invariably on prior expert knowledge and available digital map and database sources in a ‘pseudo Bayesian’ approach. The context of this paper is the debate on whether existing (digital) geology and soil databases are indeed useful and suitable for forensic inferences. Published and new case studies are used to explore issues of completeness, consistency, compatibility and applicability in relation to the use of digital geology and soil databases in environmental and criminal forensics. One key theme that emerges is that, despite an acknowledgement that databases can be neither exhaustive nor precise enough to portray spatial variability at the scene of crime scale, coupled with expert knowledge, they play an invaluable role in providing background or reference material in a criminal investigation. Moreover databases can offer an independent control set of samples.
Diagnostic tracing for wireless sensor networks
Authors: Sundaram Vinaitheerthan , Eugster Patrick , Zhang Xiangyu , Addanki Vamsidhar
Published: July 2013

Wireless sensor networks are typically deployed in harsh environments, thus post-deployment failures are not infrequent. An execution trace containing events in their order of execution could play a crucial role in postmortem diagnosis of these failures. Obtaining such a trace however is challenging due to stringent resource constraints. We propose an efficient approach to intraprocedural and interprocedural control-flow tracing that generates traces of all interleaving concurrent events and of the control-flow paths taken inside those events. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach with the help of case studies and illustrate its low overhead through measurements and simulations.
A high-frequency sampling monitoring system for environmental and structural applications
Authors: Alippi Cesare , Camplani Romolo , Galperti Cristian , Marullo Antonio , Roveri Manuel
Published: July 2013

High-frequency sampling is not only a prerogative of high-energy physics or machinery diagnostic monitoring: critical environmental and structural health monitoring applications also have such a challenging constraint. Moreover, such unique design constraints are often coupled with the requirement of high synchronism among the distributed acquisition units, minimal energy consumption, and large communication bandwidth. Such severe constraints have led scholars to suggest wired centralized monitoring solutions, which have only recently been complemented with wireless technologies. This article suggests a hybrid wireless-wired monitoring system combining the advantages of wireless and wired technologies within a distributed high-frequency-sampling framework. The suggested architecture satisfies the mentioned constraints, thanks to an ad-hoc design of the hardware, the availability of efficient energy management policies, and up-to-date harvesting mechanisms. At the same time, the architecture supports adaptation capabilities by relying on the remote reprogrammability of key application parameters. The proposed architecture has been successfully deployed in the Swiss-Italian Alps to monitor the collapse of rock faces in three geographical areas.
A game theory distributed approach for energy optimization in WSNs
Authors: Abrardo Andrea , Balucanti Lapo , Mecocci Alessandro
Published: July 2013

One of the major sources of energy waste in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is idle listening, that is, the cost of actively listening for potential packets. This article focuses on reducing idle-listening time via a dynamic duty-cycling technique which aims at optimizing the sleep interval between consecutive wake-ups. We considered a receiver-initiated MAC method for WSNs in which the sender waits for a beacon signal from the receiver before starting to transmit. Since each sender receives beacon signals from several nodes, the data are routed on multiple paths in a data collection network. In this context, we propose an optimization framework for minimizing the energy waste of the most power-hungry node of the network. To this aim, we first derive an analytic model that predicts nodes' energy consumption. Then, we use the model to derive a distributed optimization technique. Simulation results via NS-2 simulator are included to illustrate the accuracy of the model, and numerical results assess the validity of the proposed scheme.
Sensor node source privacy and packet recovery under eavesdropping and node compromise attacks
Authors: Pongaliur Kanthakumar , Xiao Li
Published: July 2013

Securing a sensor network poses a variety of problems. Of those, an important one is of providing privacy to the event-detecting sensor node and integrity to the data gathered by the node. Compromised source privacy can inadvertently leak event location. Safeguarding the privacy of the source node is important, as sensor networks hold critical roles in military application, tracking endangered species, etc. Existing techniques in sensor networks use either random walk path or generate fake event packets to make it hard for an adversary to trace back to the source, since encryption alone may not help prevent a traffic analysis attack. In this work, without using traditional overhead-intensive methods, we present a scheme for hiding source information using cryptographic techniques incurring lower overhead. The packet is modified en route by dynamically selected nodes to make it difficult for a malicious entity to trace back the packet to a source node and also to prevent packet spoofing. This is important because the adversary model considers a super-local eavesdropper having the ability to compromise sensor nodes. Additionally, we provide a method for the base station to recover corrupted packets and identify the location of the compromised node. We analyze the ability of our proposed scheme to withstand different attacks and demonstrate its efficiency in terms of overhead and functionality when compared to existing work.
Managing software evolution in large-scale wireless sensor and actuator networks
Authors: Porter Barry , Coulson Geoff , Roedig Utz
Published: July 2013

Wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) will increasingly require support for managed software evolution: that is, systematic, ongoing, efficient and nondisruptive means of updating the software running on the nodes of a WSAN. While aspects of this requirement have been examined in the literature, the big picture remains largely untouched, resulting in the generally static WSAN deployments we see today. In this article, we propose a comprehensive approach to managed software evolution. Our approach has the following key features: (i) it supports divergent evolution of the WSAN's software, such that different nodes can evolve along different lines (e.g., to meet the needs of different stakeholders, or to address localized adaptations) and (ii) it supports both instructed and autonomous evolution such that nodes can be instructed to change their software configuration or can evolve their own configuration (e.g., to manage rapidly-changing environmental conditions where remote micromanagement would be infeasible due to the high latency of the WSAN environment). We present the four intra-WSAN protocols that comprise our solution, along with an accompanying server-side infrastructure, and evaluate our approach at scale.
Generalized Optimal Response Time Retrieval of Replicated Data from Storage Arrays
Authors: Altiparmak Nihat , Tosun Ali Şaman
Published: July 2013

Declustering techniques reduce query response times through parallel I/O by distributing data among parallel disks. Recently, replication-based approaches were proposed to further reduce the response time. Efficient retrieval of replicated data from multiple disks is a challenging problem. Existing retrieval techniques are designed for storage arrays with identical disks, having no initial load or network delay. In this article, we consider the generalized retrieval problem of replicated data where the disks in the system might be heterogeneous, the disks may have initial load, and the storage arrays might be located on different sites. We first formulate the generalized retrieval problem using a Linear Programming (LP) model and solve it with mixed integer programming techniques. Next, the generalized retrieval problem is formulated as a more efficient maximum flow problem. We prove that the retrieval schedule returned by the maximum flow technique yields the optimal response time and this result matches the LP solution. We also propose a low-complexity online algorithm for the generalized retrieval problem by not guaranteeing the optimality of the result. Performance of proposed and state of the art retrieval strategies are investigated using various replication schemes, query types, query loads, disk specifications, network delays, and initial loads.
Analysis and minimization of power-transmission loss in locally daisy-chained systems by local energy buffering
Authors: Kim Sehwan , Chou Pai H.
Published: July 2013

Power-transmission loss can be a severe problem for low-power embedded systems organized in a daisy-chain topology. The loss can be so high that it can result in failure to power the load in the first place. The first contribution of this article is a recursive algorithm for solving the transmission current on each segment of the daisy chain at a given supply voltage. It enables solving not only the transmission loss but also reports infeasible configurations if the voltage is too low. Using this core algorithm, our second contribution is to find energy-efficient configurations that use local energy buffers (LEBs) to eliminate peak load on the bus without relying on high voltage. Experimental results confirm that our proposed techniques significantly reduce the total energy consumption and enable the deployed system to operate for significantly longer.
Software aims to ensure fairness in crowdsourcing projects
Authors: Hyman Paul
Published: July 2013

The debate rages on about whether crowdsourcing is a win-win for workers, as well as for employers.
Ultra-low-cost computing and developing countries
Authors: Heeks Richard , Robinson Andrew
Published: July 2013

Raspberry Pi and its potential in the "global South."
How productivity and impact differ across computer science subareas
Authors: Wainer Jacques , Eckmann Michael , Goldenstein Siome , Rocha Anderson
Published: July 2013

How to understand evaluation criteria for CS researchers.
Economical Caching
Authors: Englert Matthias , Röglin Heiko , Spönemann Jacob , Vöcking Berthold
Published: July 2013

We study the management of buffers and storages in environments with unpredictably varying prices in a competitive analysis. In the economical caching problem, there is a storage with a certain capacity. For each time step, an online algorithm is given a price from the interval [1,
α
], a consumption, and possibly a buying limit. The online algorithm has to decide the amount to purchase from some commodity, knowing the parameter
α
but without knowing how the price evolves in the future. The algorithm can purchase at most the buying limit. If it purchases more than the current consumption, then the excess is stored in the storage; otherwise, the gap between consumption and purchase must be taken from the storage. The goal is to minimize the total cost. Interesting motivating applications are, for example, stream caching on mobile devices with different classes of service, battery management in micro hybrid cars, and the efficient purchase of resources.

First we consider the simple but natural class of algorithms that can informally be described as memoryless. We show that these algorithms cannot achieve a competitive ratio below √
α
. Then we present a more sophisticated deterministic algorithm achieving a competitive ratio of where
W
denotes the Lambert W function. We prove that this algorithm is optimal and that not even randomized online algorithms can achieve a better competitive ratio. On the other hand, we show how to achieve a constant competitive ratio if the storage capacity of the online algorithm exceeds the storage capacity of an optimal offline algorithm by a factor of log
α
.