bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Late Toxicities after Conventional Radiotherapy for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Incidence and Risk Factors
Authors: Siala Wicem , Mnejja Wafa , Elloumi Fatma , Ghorbel Abdelmoneem , Mnif Jameleddine , Frikha Mounir , Daoud Jamel
Published: February 2014

Background. To determine the incidence and analyze the factors affecting late toxicity for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with conventional radiotherapy. Patients and Methods. Retrospective analysis was performed on 239 NPC patients treated between 1993 and 2004 in our institution. One hundred and fifty-seven patients were treated with conventional fractionation (2 Gy per fraction, 5 fractions per week) and eighty-two patients with hyperfractionated radiotherapy (1.6 Gy per fraction twice a day, 5 days per week). One hundred fifty nine patients underwent neoadjuvant cisplatin based chemotherapy. Late toxicity was evaluated according to the RTOG/EORTC score. Results. Xerostomia was the most common related complication (98.7%). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and hyperfractionated radiotherapy did not increase late toxicities. Multivariate analyses showed that radiation dose was a significant factor for hearing impairment, younger age for trismus, initial node status for neck fibrosis, and initial dental hygiene for dental complications. Female gender was associated with significantly higher incidence of trismus and hearing impairment. Conclusion. Conventional radiotherapy was associated with a high rate of late toxicities which affect patients’ quality of life. With the development of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and intensity modulated radiotherapy, a reduced incidence of radiation related complications could be expected.
Acoustic Emission Measurement by Fiber Bragg Grating Glued to Cylindrical Sensor Holder
Authors: Takuma Masanori , Hisada Shigeyoshi , Saitoh Kenichi , Takahashi Yoshimasa , Kobayashi Yuuki , Kadono Akira , Murata Atushi , Iwata Satoshi , Sasaki Toshinori
Published: February 2014

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is an optical fiber sensor and is suitable for acoustic emission (AE) measurements of structures such as chemical plants that require water resistance, explosion proofing, and so forth, However, directionality has been a problem in conventional usage which glues the grating range of an FBG to the inspection surface. This study proposes a cylinder-FBG (C-FBG) sensor with the FBG glued to a cylindrical sensor holder. Effectiveness of the sensor was evaluated by characterizing directionality and frequency sensitivity of the sensor and by comparing the detected AE signals in a 3-point bending test of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminate against a conventional wide-band piezoelectric AE sensor. The features of the detected signals were similar to the signals detected by the wide-band AE sensor. These results show that it is possible to produce a wide-band cylindrical sensor without the directionality limitations of the conventional usage of FBG.
A Regularization SAA Scheme for a Stochastic Mathematical Program with Complementarity Constraints
Authors: Li Yu-xin , Zhang Jie , Xia Zun-quan
Published: February 2014

To reflect uncertain data in practical problems, stochastic versions of the mathematical program with complementarity constraints (MPCC) have drawn much attention in the recent literature. Our concern is the detailed analysis of convergence properties of a regularization sample average approximation (SAA) method for solving a stochastic mathematical program with complementarity constraints (SMPCC). The analysis of this regularization method is carried out in three steps: First, the almost sure convergence of optimal solutions of the regularized SAA problem to that of the true problem is established by the notion of epiconvergence in variational analysis. Second, under MPCC-MFCQ, which is weaker than MPCC-LICQ, we show that any accumulation point of Karash-Kuhn-Tucker points of the regularized SAA problem is almost surely a kind of stationary point of SMPCC as the sample size tends to infinity. Finally, some numerical results are reported to show the efficiency of the method proposed.
Synthesis of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes on Silicalite‐1 Monolayer‐Supported Substrate
Authors: Zhao Wei , Basnet Bijay , Kim Sukyoung , Kim Ik Jin
Published: February 2014

Monodisperse magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) with the size of ca. 3.5 nm were prepared and used as the catalysts for the synthesis of vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) arrays. A silicalite‐1 microcrystal monolayer was used as the support layer between catalyst NPs and the silicon substrate. Compared to our previous report which used radio‐frequency‐ (rf‐) sputtered Fe2O3 film as the catalyst, Fe3O4 NPs that were synthesized by wet chemical method showed an improved catalytic ability with less agglomeration. The silicalite‐1 crystal monolayer acted as an effective “buffer” layer to prevent the catalyst NPs from agglomerating during the reaction process. It is believed that this is the first report that realizes the vertical alignment of CNTs over the zeolite monolayer, namely, silicalite‐1 microcrystal monolayer, instead of using the intermediate anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) scaffold to regulate the growth direction of CNT products.
Simulation and Modeling Efforts to Support Decision Making in Healthcare Supply Chain Management
Authors: AbuKhousa Eman , Al-Jaroodi Jameela , Lazarova-Molnar Sanja , Mohamed Nader
Published: February 2014

Recently, most healthcare organizations focus their attention on reducing the cost of their supply chain management (SCM) by improving the decision making pertaining processes’ efficiencies. The availability of products through healthcare SCM is often a matter of life or death to the patient; therefore, trial and error approaches are not an option in this environment. Simulation and modeling (SM) has been presented as an alternative approach for supply chain managers in healthcare organizations to test solutions and to support decision making processes associated with various SCM problems. This paper presents and analyzes past SM efforts to support decision making in healthcare SCM and identifies the key challenges associated with healthcare SCM modeling. We also present and discuss emerging technologies to meet these challenges.
Analysis of Paralleling Limited Capacity Voltage Sources by Projective Geometry Method
Authors: Penin Alexandr
Published: February 2014

The droop current-sharing method for voltage sources of a limited capacity is considered. Influence of equalizing resistors and load resistor is investigated on uniform distribution of relative values of currents when the actual loading corresponds to the capacity of a concrete source. Novel concepts for quantitative representation of operating regimes of sources are entered with use of projective geometry method.
Allocation of Secondary Metabolites, Photosynthetic Capacity, and Antioxidant Activity of Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumilaBenth) in Response toCO2and Light Intensity
Authors: Ibrahim Mohd Hafiz , Jaafar Hawa Z. E. , Karimi Ehsan , Ghasemzadeh Ali
Published: February 2014

A split plot 3 by 4 experiment was designed to investigate and distinguish the relationships among production of secondary metabolites, soluble sugar, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL; EC 4.3.1.5) activity, leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll content, antioxidant activity (DPPH), and lipid peroxidation under three levels of CO2(400, 800, and 1200 μmol/mol) and four levels of light intensity (225, 500, 625, and 900 μmol/m2/s) over 15 weeks inLabisia pumila. The production of plant secondary metabolites, sugar, chlorophyll content, antioxidant activity, and malondialdehyde content was influenced by the interactions between CO2and irradiance. The highest accumulation of secondary metabolites, sugar, maliondialdehyde, and DPPH activity was observed under CO2at 1200 μmol/mol + light intensity at 225 μmol/m2/s. Meanwhile, at 400 μmol/mol CO2 + 900 μmol/m2/s light intensity the production of chlorophyll and maliondialdehyde content was the highest. As CO2levels increased from 400 to 1200 μmol/mol the photosynthesis, stomatal conductance,fv/fm(maximum efficiency of photosystem II), and PAL activity were enhanced. The production of secondary metabolites displayed a significant negative relationship with maliondialdehyde indicating lowered oxidative stress under high CO2and low irradiance improved the production of plant secondary metabolites that simultaneously enhanced the antioxidant activity (DPPH), thus improving the medicinal value ofLabisia pumilaunder this condition.
A Note on the Drazin Indices of Square Matrices
Authors: Yu Lijun , Bu Tianyi , Zhou Jiang
Published: February 2014

For a square matrixA, the smallest nonnegative integerksuch that rank (Ak) = rank (Ak+1) is called the Drazin index ofA. In this paper, we give some results on the Drazin indices of sum and product of square matrices.
Interleukin-1 Receptors Are Differentially Expressed in Normal and Psoriatic T Cells
Authors: Bebes Attila , Kovács-Sólyom Ferenc , Prihoda Judit , Kui Róbert , Kemény Lajos , Gyulai Rolland
Published: February 2014

This study was carried out to examine the possible role of interleukin-1 (IL-1) in the functional insufficiency of regulatory T cells in psoriasis, by comparing the expression of IL-1 receptors on healthy control and psoriatic T cells. Patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis and healthy volunteers, matched in age and sex, were selected for all experiments. CD4+CD25−effector and CD4+CD25+CD127lowregulatory T cells were separated and used for the experiments. Expression of the mRNA of IL-1 receptors (IL-1R1, IL-1R2, and sIL-1R2) was determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Cell surface IL-1 receptor expression was assessed by flow cytometry. Relative expression of the signal transmitting IL-1 receptor type 1 (IL-1R1) mRNA is higher in resting psoriatic effector and regulatory T cells, and activation induces higher IL-1R1 protein expression in psoriatic T cells than in healthy cells. Psoriatic regulatory and effector T cells express increased mRNA levels of the decoy IL-1 receptors (IL-1R2 and sIL-1R2) upon activation compared to healthy counterparts. Psoriatic T cells release slightly more sIL-1R2 into their surrounding than healthy T cells. In conclusion, changes in the expression of IL-1 receptors in psoriatic regulatory and effector T cells could contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.
Flight Protection Data via Dynamic Sensor Networks
Authors: Lee Deok Gyu , Han Jong Wook
Published: February 2014

In wireless sensor networks, adversaries can compromise sensor nodes and use them to inject forged reports, which can lead to false alarms and energy depletion. Recently, several research solutions have been proposed to detect and drop such forged reports during the forwarding process. Since each of them has its own energy consumption characteristics, employing only a single filtering solution for a network is not a recommended strategy, in terms of energy savings. While a technique for the adaptive selection of filtering solutions has been proposed, it considers only static networks. This paper relates to a system and method for automatically protecting flight data in response to a variety of kinds of cyberterror that paralyze control service in a flight data system by enhancing the availability, reliability, and integrity of the flight data system when damage due to external or internal viruses or hacking, such as the alteration or modification of flight data, occurs. The flight data protection system has an advantage in that it can manage a system safely by providing an embedded system, using an Enhanced Write Filter (EWF), and protecting an operating system.
Price and Service Competition of Dual-Channel Supply Chain with Consumer Returns
Authors: Ren Lili , He Yong , Song Houfei
Published: February 2014

Products returned by consumers are common in the retail industry and result in additional costs to both the manufacturer and the retailer. This paper proposes dual-channel supply chain models involving consumer returns policies. Also, the price and service competition between retail channel and direct channel is considered in the models. According to the models, we analyze the optimal decisions in both centralized and decentralized scenarios. Then we design a new contract, coordinate the dual-channel supply chain, and enable both the retailer and the manufacturer to be a win-win.
The Study of Cooperative Obstacle Avoidance Method for MWSN Based on Flocking Control
Authors: Chen Zuo , Ding Lei , Chen Kai , Li Renfa
Published: February 2014

Compared with the space fixed feature of traditional wireless sensor network (WSN), mobile WSN has better robustness and adaptability in unknown environment, so that it is always applied in the research of target tracking. In order to reach the target, the nodes group should find a self-adaptive method to avoid the obstacles together in their moving directions. Previous methods, which were based on flocking control model, realized the strategy of obstacle avoidance by means of potential field. However, these may sometimes lead the nodes group to fall into a restricted area like a trap and never get out of it. Based on traditional flocking control model, this paper introduced a new cooperative obstacle avoidance model combined with improved SA obstacle avoidance algorithm. It defined the tangent line of the intersection of node’s velocity line and the edge of obstacle as the steering direction. Furthermore, the cooperative obstacle avoidance model was also improved in avoiding complex obstacles. When nodes group encounters mobile obstacles, nodes will predict movement path based on the spatial location and velocity of obstacle. And when nodes group enters concave obstacles, nodes will temporarily ignore the gravity of the target and search path along the edge of the concave obstacles. Simulation results showed that cooperative obstacle avoidance model has significant improvement on average speed and time efficiency in avoiding obstacle compared with the traditional flocking control model. It is more suitable for obstacle avoidance in complex environment.
Solving Reality Problems by Using Mutual Information Analysis
Authors: Liu Chia-Ju , Huang Chin-Fei , Huang Ray-Ying , Shih Ching-Sen , Ho Ming-Chung , Ho Hsing-Chung
Published: February 2014

Cross‐mutual information (CMI) can calculate to time series for thousands of sampled points from corticocortical connection among different functional states of brain in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. The aim of this study was to use mutual information analysis in the multichannel EEG to predict the probability of AD disease. Considering the correlation between AD disease and ageing effect, the participants were 9 AD patients and 45 normal cases involving teenagers, young people and elders. This data revealed that both right frontal and temporo‐parietal are differences between normal and AD participants. Besides, this study found the theta band is the main frequency to separate AD patients from all participants. Furthermore, this study suggested a higher distinguishable method by mutual information to predict the possibility AD patients.
Volumetric Properties of Aqueous Solutions of Ethylene Glycols in the Temperature Range of 293.15–318.15 K
Authors: Ahmed Adam Omer El-Amin , Al-Dujaili Ammar Hani , Awwad Akl M.
Published: February 2014

Densities of aqueous solutions of Ethylene glycol (EG), diethylene glycol (DEG), and triethylene glycol (TEG) were measured at temperatures from 293.15 to 318.15 K and molalities ranging from 0.0488 to 0.5288 mol·kg−1. Volumes of all investigated solutions at a definite temperature were linearly dependent on the solute molality; from this dependence the partial molar volumes at infinite dilution were determined for all solutes. It was found that the partial molar volumes at infinite dilution V-2,0 were concentration independent and slightly increase with increasing temperature. The partial molar volumes at infinite dilution V-2,0 or the limiting apparent molar volumes of ethylene glycols were fitted to a linear equation with the number of oxyethylene groups (n) in the solute molecule. From this equation a constant contribution of the terminal (OH) and the (CH2CH2O) groups to the volumetric properties was obtained. The thermal expansion coefficient (α1,2) for all investigated solutions was calculated at temperatures from 293.15 to 318.15 K. The thermal expansion coefficients for all solutes increase with increasing temperature and molality. Values of (α1,2) were higher than the value of the thermal expansion coefficient of the pure water.
Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in an Elderly Nonimmunocompromised Adult Successfully Treated with Rituximab
Authors: Smeltzer Jacob P. , Howard Matthew T. , Gonsalves Wilson I. , Witzig Thomas E.
Published: February 2014

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous virus that commonly affects children and adolescents. In addition to causing a viral illness, it is also associated with various malignancies in particular B cell lymphomas and lymphoproliferative disorders. Differentiating between the two processes can be a diagnostic challenge. Here, we present a case of an atypical EBV infection in an elderly patient with severe systemic symptoms, multiorgan involvement, lymphadenopathy, and negative EBV serology. Excisional lymph node biopsy demonstrated features of a lymphoproliferative process involving EBV. Despite supportive care, she experienced continued clinical deterioration and was successfully treated with rituximab. This case illustrates the diagnostic challenges of these cases particularly in the elderly who may have age related immunosenescence, the utility of EBV PCR testing, and the clinical efficacy of rituximab in clearing the infected cells.
A New Subcarrier Allocation Strategy for MIMO-OFDMA Multicellular Networks Based on Cooperative Interference Mitigation
Authors: Gkonis Panagiotis K. , Seimeni Maria A. , Asimakis Nikolaos P. , Kaklamani Dimitra I. , Venieris Iakovos S.
Published: February 2014

The goal of the study presented in this paper is to investigate the performance of a new subcarrier allocation strategy for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) multicellular networks which employ Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) architecture. For this reason, a hybrid system-link level simulator has been developed executing independent Monte Carlo (MC) simulations in parallel. Up to two tiers of cells around the central cell are taken into consideration and increased loading per cell. The derived results indicate that this strategy can provide up to 12% capacity gain for 16-QAM modulation and two tiers of cells around the central cell in a symmetric2×2MIMO configuration. This gain is derived when comparing the proposed strategy to the traditional approach of allocating subcarriers that maximize only the desired user’s signal.
New Oscillation Criteria for Third-Order Nonlinear Mixed Neutral Difference Equations
Authors: Elabbasy Elmetwally Mohammed , Barsom Magdy Yoseph , AL-dheleai Faisal Saleh
Published: February 2014

Some new oscillation criteria are established for a third-order nonlinear mixed neutral difference equation. Our results improve and extend some known results in the literature. Several examples are given to illustrate the importance of the results.
A Systematic Comparison of Data Selection Criteria for SMT Domain Adaptation
Authors: Wang Longyue , Wong Derek F. , Chao Lidia S. , Lu Yi , Xing Junwen
Published: February 2014

Data selection has shown significant improvements in effective use of training data by extracting sentences from large general-domain corpora to adapt statistical machine translation (SMT) systems to in-domain data. This paper performs an in-depth analysis of three different sentence selection techniques. The first one is cosine tf-idf, which comes from the realm of information retrieval (IR). The second is perplexity-based approach, which can be found in the field of language modeling. These two data selection techniques applied to SMT have been already presented in the literature. However, edit distance for this task is proposed in this paper for the first time. After investigating the individual model, a combination of all three techniques is proposed at both corpus level and model level. Comparative experiments are conducted on Hong Kong law Chinese-English corpus and the results indicate the following: (i) the constraint degree of similarity measuring is not monotonically related to domain-specific translation quality; (ii) the individual selection models fail to perform effectively and robustly; but (iii) bilingual resources and combination methods are helpful to balance out-of-vocabulary (OOV) and irrelevant data; (iv) finally, our method achieves the goal to consistently boost the overall translation performance that can ensure optimal quality of a real-life SMT system.
Vibration Analysis of Inclined Laminated Composite Beams under Moving Distributed Masses
Authors: Bahmyari E. , Mohebpour S. R. , Malekzadeh P.
Published: February 2014

The dynamic response of laminated composite beams subjected to distributed moving masses is investigated using the finite element method (FEM) based on the both first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) and the classical beam theory (CLT). Six and ten degrees of freedom beam elements are used to discretize the CLT and FSDT equations of motion, respectively. The resulting spatially discretized beam governing equations including the effect of inertial, Coriolis, and centrifugal forces due to moving distributed mass are evaluated in time domain by applying Newmark’s scheme. The presented approach is first validated by studying its convergence behavior and comparing the results with those of existing solutions in the literature. Then, the effect of incline angle, mass, and velocity of moving body, layer orientation, load length, and inertial, Coriolis, and centrifugal forces due to the moving distributed mass and friction force between the beam and the moving distributed mass on the dynamic behavior of inclined laminated composite beams are investigated.
Harmful Algae Records in Venice Lagoon and in Po River Delta (Northern Adriatic Sea, Italy)
Authors: Facca Chiara , Bilaničovà Dagmar , Pojana Giulio , Sfriso Adriano , Marcomini Antonio
Published: February 2014

A detailed review of harmful algal blooms (HAB) in northern Adriatic Sea lagoons (Po River Delta and Venice lagoon) is presented to provide “updated reference conditions” for future research and monitoring activities. In the study areas, the high mollusc production requires the necessity to identify better methods able to prevent risks for human health and socioeconomical interests. So, an integrated approach for the identification and quantification of algal toxins is presented by combining microscopy techniques with Liquid Chromatography coupled with High Resolution Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-HR-TOF-MS). The method efficiency was first tested on some samples from the mentioned coastal areas, whereDinophysisspp. occurred during summer in the sites directly affected by seawaters. Although cell abundance was always <200 cells/L, the presence of Pectenotoxin-2 (PTX2), detected by HPLC-HR-TOF-MS, indicated the potential release of detectable amounts of toxins even at low cell abundance.
Nuclear Pattern of CXCR4 Expression Is Associated with a Better Overall Survival in Patients with Gastric Cancer
Authors: Nikkhoo Bahram , Jalili Ali , Fakhari Shohreh , Sheikhesmaili Farshad , Fathi Fardin , Rooshani Daem , Hoseinpour Feizi Mohammad Ali , Nikzaban Mehrnoush
Published: February 2014

Introduction. Previous studies have shown that stromal-derived factor-1 (CXCL12) and its receptor, CXCR4, play a crucial role in metastasis of various tumors. Similarly, it has been cleared that CXCR4 is expressed on the cell surface of gastric cancers. However, nuclear expression of CXCR4 and its clinical importance have not been yet studied.Materials and Methods. Herein, we studied the expression of CXCR4 in gastric samples from patients with gastric adenocarcinoma as well as human gastric carcinoma cell line, AGS, by employing RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, and flow cytometry techniques.Results. RT-PCR data showed that CXCR4 is highly expressed on AGS cells. This was confirmed by IHC and FACS as CXCR4 was detected on cell membrane, in cytoplasm, and in nucleus of AGS cells. Moreover, we found that both cytoplasmic and nuclear CXCR4 are strongly expressed in primary gastric cancer and the cytoplasmic pattern of CXCR4 tends to be associated with a shorter overall survival than nuclear staining. In conclusion, we present evidence for the first time that both cytoplasmic and nuclear expression of CXCR4 are detectable in gastric cancer tissues. However, the role of both cytoplasmic and nuclear CXCR4 needs to be further elucidated.
Analysis of Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A and Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1alpha in Patients Operated on Stage I Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Honguero Martínez Antonio Francisco , Arnau Obrer Antonio , Figueroa Almánzar Santiago , León Atance Pablo , Guijarro Jorge Ricardo
Published: February 2014

Objectives. Recent studies show that expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1α) favours expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), and these biomarkers are linked to cellular proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis in different cancers. We analyze expression of HIF-1αand VEGF-A to clinicopathologic features and survival of patients operated on stage I non-small-cell lung cancer.Methodology. Prospective study of 52 patients operated on with stage I. Expression of VEGF-A and HIF-1αwas performed through real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR).Results. Mean age was 64.7 and 86.5% of patients were male. Stage IA represented 23.1% and stage IB 76.9%. Histology classification was 42.3% adenocarcinoma, 34.6% squamous cell carcinoma, and 23.1% others. Median survival was 81.0 months and 5-year survival 67.2%. There was correlation between HIF-1αand VEGF-A (P=0.016). Patients with overexpression of HIF-1αhad a tendency to better survival with marginal statistical significance (P=0.062). Patients with overexpression of VEGF-A had worse survival, but not statistically significant (P=0.133).Conclusion. The present study revealed that VEGF-A showed correlation with HIF-1α. HIF-1αhad a tendency to protective effect with aPvalue close to statistical significance. VEGF-A showed a contrary effect but without statistical significance.
Influence of Forest Therapy on Cardiovascular Relaxation in Young Adults
Authors: Lee Juyoung , Tsunetsugu Yuko , Takayama Norimasa , Park Bum-Jin , Li Qing , Song Chorong , Komatsu Misako , Ikei Harumi , Tyrväinen Liisa , Kagawa Takahide , Miyazaki Yoshifumi
Published: February 2014

Background. Despite increasing attention toward forest therapy as an alternative medicine, very little evidence continues to be available on its therapeutic effects. Therefore, this study was focused on elucidating the health benefits of forest walking on cardiovascular reactivity. Methods. Within‐group comparisons were used to examine the cardiovascular responses to walking in forest and urban environments. Forty‐eight young adult males participated in the two‐day field research. Changes in heart rate variability, heart rate, and blood pressure were measured to understand cardiovascular reactivity. Four different questionnaires were used to investigate the changes in psychological states after walking activities. Results. Forest walking significantly increased the values of ln(HF) and significantly decreased the values of ln(LF/HF) compared with the urban walking. Heart rate during forest walking was significantly lower than that in the control. Questionnaire results showed that negative mood states and anxiety levels decreased significantly by forest walking compared with urban walking. Conclusion. Walking in the forest environment may promote cardiovascular relaxation by facilitating the parasympathetic nervous system and by suppressing the sympathetic nervous system. In addition, forest therapy may be effective for reducing negative psychological symptoms.
High Prevalence ofHelicobacter pylori hopQII Genotype Isolated from Iranian Patients with Gastroduodenal Disorders
Authors: Talebi Bezmin Abadi Amin , Mohabbati Mobarez Ashraf
Published: February 2014

Helicobacter pyloriplays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis, peptic ulceration, and noncardia gastric cancer. Several putative virulence factors forH. pylorihave been identified includingvacA,babA, andiceA. HopQ is one of the outer membrane proteins involved in bacterial adherence to gastric mucosa and has been suggested to also play a role in the virulence ofH. pylori. Due to the substantial geographic differences in the prevalence ofH. pylorivirulence factors reported, the main purpose of the current study was to investigate the association between differentH. pylorivirulencehopQalleles (types I and II) and patients with gastroduodenal disorders. The presence ofH. pyloriandhopQalleles in gastric biopsy specimens was identified by specific PCR assays.H. pyloritype IIhopQwas found to be significantly associated with gastric cancer patients (odds ratio: 3.47, 95% CI: 1.56–5.89). Information about the prevalence ofH. pylori hopQtype II can be used for determining the high-risk diseases type which is actually colonized byH. pylori hopQtype II positive strains. The presence ofH. pylori hopQtype II should be investigated in different geographical regions as confirmatory findings may provide a definite biomarker attributed to the pathogenesis of certain severe digestive diseases.
A Game Theoretical Approach for Solving Winner Determination Problems
Authors: Tsung Chen-Kun , Ho Hann-Jang , Lee Sing-Ling
Published: February 2014

Determining the winners in combinatorial auctions to maximize the auctioneer's revenue is an NP-complete problem. Computing an optimal solution requires huge computation time in some instances. In this paper, we apply three concepts of the game theory to design an approximation algorithm: the stability of the Nash equilibrium, the self-learning of the evolutionary game, and the mistake making of the trembling hand assumption. According to our simulation results, the proposed algorithm produces near-optimal solutions in terms of the auctioneer's revenue. Moreover, reasonable computation time is another advantage of applying the proposed algorithm to the real-world services.
Corneal Endothelial Cell Density and Morphology in Healthy Turkish Eyes
Authors: Arıcı Ceyhun , Arslan Osman Sevki , Dikkaya Funda
Published: February 2014

Purpose. To describe the normative values of corneal endothelial cell density, morphology, and central corneal thickness in healthy Turkish eyes.Methods. Specular microscopy was performed in 252 eyes of 126 healthy volunteers (M : F, 42 : 84). Parameters studied included mean endothelial cell density (MCD), mean cell area (MCA), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell size, percentage of hexagonal cells, and central corneal thickness (CCT).Results. The mean age of volunteers was44.3±13.5(range, 20 to 70) years. There was a statistically significant decrease in MCD (P<0.001; correlation, −0.388) and percentage of hexagonal cells, (P<0.001; correlation, −0.199) with age. There was also a statistically significant increase in MCA (P<0.001; correlation, 0.363) with increasing age. There was no statistically significant difference in MCD, MCA, CV in cell size, percentage of hexagonal cells, and CCT between genders and there was also no significant difference in these parameters between fellow eyes of subjects.Conclusions. Normotive data for the endothelium in the Turkish population are reported. Endothelial cell density in the Turkish eyes is less than that described in the Japanese, American, Chinese, and Filipino eyes and higher than that described in Indian, Thai, and Iranian eyes.
Structural and Magnetic Properties of Microwave Assisted Sol-Gel Synthesized La0.9Sr0.1MnO3 Manganite Nanoparticles
Authors: Eshraghi Mahin , Kameli Parviz
Published: February 2014

The structural and magnetic properties of nanoparticles of La0.9Sr0.1MnO3 (LSMO) were studied using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and magnetic measurements. The XRD refinement result indicates that samples crystallize in the rhombohedral structure with R-3C space group. The dc magnetization measurements revealed that samples exhibit no hysteretic behavior at room temperature, symptomatic of the superparamagnetic (SPM) behavior. The results of ac magnetic susceptibility measurements show that the susceptibility data are not in accordance with the Néel-Brown model for SPM relaxation but fit well with conventional critical slowing down model which indicates that the dipole-dipole interactions are strong enough to cause superspin-glass-like phase in LSMO samples.
Possible Biogeophysical Effects of Cultivated Land Conversion in Northeast China in 2010–2030
Authors: Yan Haiming , Zhan Jinyan , Huang Juan , Zhai Tengteng
Published: February 2014

There will be substantial cultivated land change in China as the society strives to meet the growing food demands, which will greatly influence the future climate. This study analyzed the possible biogeophysical effects of cultivated land change on the climate in Northeast China during 2010–2030 on the basis of simulation with the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. Scenario analysis was first carried out on the possible changing trends of cultivated land. Then the climate effects of the cultivated land change were analyzed on the basis of the simulation with the WRF model. The simulation results indicate that the total cultivated land area in Northeast China will decrease during 2010–2030, mainly converting into urban and built-up land and forests due to the urbanization and governmental policies. Besides, the cultivated land change will lead to the increase of the sensible heat flux in the regions where a lot of cultivated land will change into urban and built-up land, while it will make the latent heat flux increase in the regions where the cultivated land will be mainly converted into forests through influencing the evapotranspiration. All these results can provide theoretical support for implementing the future land management in Northeast China.
Some Properties of Solutions of a Functional-Differential Equation of Second Order with Delay
Authors: Ana Ilea Veronica , Otrocol Diana
Published: February 2014

Existence, uniqueness, data dependence (monotony, continuity, and differentiability with respect to parameter), and Ulam-Hyers stability results for the solutions of a system of functional-differential equations with delays are proved. The techniques used are Perov’s fixed point theorem and weakly Picard operator theory.
Design and Implementation of the Control System of an Internal Combustion Engine Test Unit
Authors: Koç Tufan , Karayel Durmuş , Boru Barış , Ayhan Vezir , Cesur İdris , Parlak Adnan
Published: February 2014

Accurate tests and performance analysis of engines are required to minimize measurement errors and so the use of the advanced test equipment is imperative. In other words, the reliable test results depend on the measurement of many parameters and recording the experimental data accurately which is depended on engine test unit. This study aims to design the control system of an internal combustion engine test unit. In the study, the performance parameters of an available internal combustion engine have been transferred to computer in real time. A data acquisition (DAQ) card has been used to transfer the experimental data to the computer. Also, a user interface has been developed for performing the necessary procedures by using LabVIEW. The dynamometer load, the fuel consumption, and the desired speed can easily be adjusted precisely by using DAQ card and the user interface during the engine test. Load, fuel consumption, and temperature values (the engine inlet-outlet, exhaust inlet-outlet, oil, and environment) can be seen on the interface and also these values can be recorded to the computer. It is expected that developed system will contribute both to the education of students and to the researchers’ studies and so it will eliminate a major lack.
Increasing the Efficacy of SLNB in Cases of Malignant Melanoma Located in Close Proximity to the Lymphatic Basin
Authors: Bogdanov-Berezovsky Alexander , Pagkalos Vasileios A. , Silberstein Eldad , Shoham Yaron , Xanthinaki Arsinoi A. , Krieger Yuval
Published: February 2014

Background. Being predictive of the entire nodal bed, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is invaluable in the surgical management of melanoma. Although the concept is simple, sentinel lymph node (SLN) identification and removal can be technically challenging. Methods. A total of 102 consecutive patients have undergone SLNB in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of Soroka University Medical Center from 2009 to 2012. Patients have undergone SLNB using a radioactive tracer and blue stain in order to identify the SLN. Although SLNB usually precedes the wide excision of melanoma, primary lesions in close proximity (<10 cm) to the lymph basin require wide excision before beginning the SLN quest. Results. All pathology reports confirmed the excision of lymph nodes. Conclusions. When treating MM in close proximity to the lymph basin, changing the sequence of the SLNB procedure seems to increase the efficacy of the method.
IL-27 Activates Human Trophoblasts to Express IP-10 and IL-6: Implications in the Immunopathophysiology of Preeclampsia
Authors: Yin Nanlin , Zhang Hua , Luo Xin , Ding Yubin , Xiao Xiaoqiu , Liu Xiru , Shan Nan , Zhang Xuemei , Deng Qinyin , Zhuang Baimei , Qi Hongbo
Published: February 2014

Purpose.To investigate the effects of IL-27 on human trophoblasts and the underlying regulatory signaling mechanisms in preeclampsia.Methods.The expression of IL-27 and IL-27 receptor (WSX-1) was studied in the placenta or sera from patients with preeclampsia.In vitro, we investigated the effects of IL-27 alone or in combination with inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) on the proinflammatory activation of human trophoblast cells (HTR-8/SVneo) and the underlying intracellular signaling molecules.Results.The expression of IL-27 and IL-27 receptorα(WSX-1) was significantly elevated in the trophoblastic cells from the placenta of patients with preeclampsia compared with control specimens.In vitro, IL-27 could induce the expression of inflammatory factors IFN-γ-inducible protein 10 (CXCL10/IP-10) and IL-6 in trophoblasts, and a synergistic effect was observed in the combined treatment of IL-27 and TNF-αon the release of IP-10 and IL-6. Furthermore, the production of IP-10 and IL-6 stimulated by IL-27 was differentially regulated by intracellular activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase-AKT, p38MAPK, and JAK/STAT pathways.Conclusions.These results provide a new insight into the IL-27-activated immunopathological effects mediated by distinct intracellular signal transduction molecules in preeclampsia.
The Synthesis of NiO/TiO2 Heterostructures and Their Valence Band Offset Determination
Authors: Ibupoto Z. H. , Abbasi M. A. , Liu X. , AlSalhi M. S. , Willander M.
Published: February 2014

In this work, a heterojunction based on p‐type NiO/n‐type TiO2 nanostructures has been prepared on the fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate by hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X‐Ray diffraction techniques were used for the morphological and crystalline arrays characterization. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to determine the valence‐band offset (VBO) of the NiO/TiO2 heterojunction prepared on FTO glass substrate. The core levels of Ni 2p and Ti 2p were utilized to align the valence‐band offset of p‐type NiO/n‐type TiO2 heterojunction. The valence band offset was found to be ∼0.41 eV and the conduction band was calculated about ∼0.91 eV. The ratio of conduction band offset and the valence‐band offset was found to be 2.21.
Application of Novel Printed Dipole Antenna to Design Broadband Planar Phased Array
Authors: Xu Jie , Dou Wenbin
Published: February 2014

A broadband planar phased array consisting of 22 linear printed dipole antennas (PDA) is presented in this paper. The element is designed by a coax probe feeding mechanism with a ground plate configuration. The PDA with two arms placed on both sides of a substrate is realized. The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is connected to the PDA’s upper arm, and the outer conductor is connected to the PDA’s lower arm, so it eliminates the balun. The impedance bandwidth of the PDA array can be improved by increasing mutual coupling effect between the adjacent array elements. A dielectric layer, which is integrated on the surface of the antenna, is designed and fabricated to improve the impedance bandwidth and to shield the array. The measured results indicate the active VSWR is less than 3 over the frequency range of 4–20 GHz.
Purslane Weed (Portulaca oleracea): A Prospective Plant Source of Nutrition, Omega-3 Fatty Acid, and Antioxidant Attributes
Authors: Uddin Md. Kamal , Juraimi Abdul Shukor , Hossain Md Sabir , Nahar Most. Altaf Un , Ali Md. Eaqub , Rahman M. M.
Published: February 2014

Purslane (Portulaca oleraceaL.) is an important plant naturally found as a weed in field crops and lawns. Purslane is widely distributed around the globe and is popular as a potherb in many areas of Europe, Asia, and the Mediterranean region. This plant possesses mucilaginous substances which are of medicinal importance. It is a rich source of potassium (494 mg/100 g) followed by magnesium (68 mg/100 g) and calcium (65 mg/100 g) and possesses the potential to be used as vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acid. It is very good source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and gamma-linolenic acid (LNA, 18 : 3 w3) (4 mg/g fresh weight) of any green leafy vegetable. It contained the highest amount (22.2 mg and 130 mg per 100 g of fresh and dry weight, resp.) of alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid (26.6 mg and 506 mg per 100 g of fresh and dry weight, resp.). The oxalate content of purslane leaves was reported as 671–869 mg/100 g fresh weight. The antioxidant content and nutritional value of purslane are important for human consumption. It revealed tremendous nutritional potential and has indicated the potential use of this herb for the future.
Load Balancing for Future Internet: An Approach Based on Game Theory
Authors: Song Shaoyi , Lv Tingjie , Chen Xia
Published: February 2014

In recent years, countries all over the world consider the future internet as the country’s strategic development directions, so projects about future internet have been launched by these countries. Load balancing algorithms and job allocations are main research problems in areas of resource management of future internet. In this paper, we introduce a load balancing model for future internet. We formulate the static load balancing problem in the model proposed above as noncooperative game among users and cooperative game among processors. Based on this model, we derive a load balancing algorithm for computing center. Finally, we execute the algorithm presented in this paper with another three algorithms for comparison purpose. The advantages of our algorithm are better scalability to the model, improving system performance, and low cost on maintaining system information.
A Review of Theoretical Perspectives in Cognitive Science on the Presence of 1/f Scaling in Coordinated Physiological and Cognitive Processes
Authors: Wijnants Maarten L.
Published: February 2014

Time series of human performances present fluctuations around a mean value. These fluctuations are typically considered as insignificant, and attributable to random noise. Over recent decades, it became clear that temporal fluctuations possess interesting properties, however, one of which the property of fractal 1/f scaling. 1/f scaling indicates that a measured process extends over a wide range of timescales, suggesting an assembly over multiple scales simultaneously. This paper reviews neurological, physiological, and cognitive studies that corroborate the claim that 1/f scaling is most clearly present in healthy, well-coordinated activities. Prominent hypotheses about the origins of 1/f scaling are confronted with these reviewed studies. It is concluded that 1/f scaling in living systems appears to reflect their genuine complex nature, rather than constituting a coincidental side-effect. The consequences of fractal dynamics extending from the small spatial and temporal scales (e.g., neurons) to the larger scales of human behavior and cognition, are vast, and impact the way in which relevant research questions may be approached. Rather than focusing on specialized isolable subsystems, using additive linear methodologies, nonlinear dynamics, more elegantly so, imply a complex systems methodology, thereby exploiting, rather than rejecting, mathematical concepts that enable describing large sets of natural phenomena.
New genera of Afrotropical limosinine sphaerocerids (Diptera: Sphaeroceridae)
Authors: PAPP LÁSZLÓ
Published: February 2014

Eight new genera of the subfamily Limosininae are described from the Afrotropical region: Afrolimosina gen. n. (type species A. albitarsis sp. n.), Biphallapodema gen. n. (type species B. polydentata sp. n., additional species B. oligodentata sp. n.), Chelilimosina gen. n. (type species Ch. baloghi sp. n.), Mislocatus gen. n. (type species Ceroptera ealensis Vanschuytbroeck, 1951), Oligochaetosella gen. n. (type species O. inconspicua sp. n.), Permixtolimosina gen. n. (type species P. sexsetosa sp. n.), Preepiphallus gen. n. (type species P. nitidifacies sp. n., additional species P. endrodyi sp. n.), Subacuminiseta gen. n. (type species S. minor sp. n.). Comparisons to the key for the identification of Old World genera of Limosininae (Papp 2008) are given. With 118 original figures.
Three new species of Seira Lubbock (Collembola, Entomobryidae) from Caatinga Domain, northeastern Brazil
Authors: GODEIRO NERIVANIA N. , BELLINI BRUNO C.
Published: February 2014

Three new species of Seira Lubbock, Seira jiboiensis sp.nov., Seira primaria sp. nov. and Seira harena sp.nov. from Neotropical Region are described and illustrated. All species were collected from humid areas of Caatinga Biogeographic Domain, northeastern Brazil. Seira jiboiensis sp.nov. shows some similarities with S. mendoncea Bellini & Zeppelini and S. ritae Bellini & Zeppelini, while S. primaria sp.nov. resembles S. pseudoannulata Bellini & Zeppelini and S. paraibensis Bellini & Zeppelini in dorsal chaetotaxy in some aspects. Seira harena sp.nov. belongs to a subgroup of Seira originally described in the subgenus Lepidocyrtinus Börner, which has modified macrochaetae on distal manubrium and proximal dens, like S. prodiga (Arlé), S. xinguensis (Arlé) and S. nigrans (Arlé).
A new species of the Yelicones Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Rogadinae) from Thailand
Authors: BUTCHER BUNTIKA AREEKUL
Published: February 2014

Yelicones samaesanensis Butcher, new species, is described and illustrated based on a female and male specimens collected at light trap in Chonburi province, Thailand. This wasp is the tenth species of Yelicones described from the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions. Y. samaesanensis appears closest to Y. contractus Papp from Vietnam and India. A key is included to differentiate Y. samaesanensis from the similar species.