bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bromine–bromine interactions in the packing ofcis,trans,cis-1,2,3,4-tetrakis(bromomethyl)cyclobutane
Authors: Kelch André , Dix Ina , Hopf Henning , Jones Peter G.
Published: May 2013

The title compound, C8H12Br4, displays crystallographic inversion symmetry, so that the cyclobutane ring is exactly planar. The ring C—C bond with eclipsed substituents is lengthened somewhat to 1.572 (5) Å. The packing can be described in terms of three Br...Br contacts; two of these combine to form layers of molecules parallel to theacplane, while the third crosslinks the layers in the third dimension. A simple topological descriptor for systems involving Br...Br contacts is proposed.
The Efficacy and Safety of Pharmacoinvasive Therapy with Prourokinase for Acute ST‐Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients with Expected Long Percutaneous Coronary Intervention‐Related Delay
Authors: Han Ya‐Ling , Liu Jian‐Ning , Jing Quan‐Min , Ma Ying‐Yan , Jiang Tie‐Min , Pu Kui , Zhao Rui‐Ping , Zhao Xin , Liu Hai‐Wei , Xu Kai , Wang Geng , Wang Bin , Sun Rui‐Hua , Wang Jie
Published: May 2013

Objectives

To elucidate the efficacy and safety of pharmacoinvasive therapy by using prourokinase (prouk) in patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Background

Patients with STEMI often have long percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)‐related delays due to various reasons, which are associated with poor outcomes.

Methods

A randomized study which enrolled patients from four centers in China was conducted. Patients were randomly assigned to accept routine primary PCI or prouk‐PCI. The primary end points were the angiographic parameters, including thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade, TIMI frame count, and myocardial blush grade. Secondary endpoints were incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE, defined as death from all causes, reinfarction, revascularization, or rehospitalization due to new or worsening congestive heart failure) at 30 days and 1 year.

Results

One hundred and ninety‐seven eligible patients were enrolled, of whom 100 were randomized to the prouk‐PCI group. Significantly more patients in the prouk‐PCI group than in the PCI group had an opened infarct‐related artery on arrival in the catheterization laboratory (48% vs. 21%, P = 0.0002) and better TIMI frame count after PCI (33 ± 6 vs. 40 ± 10, P < 0.001). At 1‐year follow‐up, there was a trend that patients in the prouk‐PCI group had less chances to have MACE (7.0% vs. 12.6%, P = 0.235) or be readmitted to hospital due to new or worsening congestive heart failure (1.0% vs. 4.1%, P = 0.209).

Conclusion

A strategy of emergent PCI preceded by fibrinolysis with prouk results in a better myocardial perfusion in infarct‐related artery compared with primary PCI alone in patients with STEMI and long PCI‐related delay.
Not Just Football: An Intergroup Perspective on the Sandusky Scandal at Penn State
Authors: Alderfer Clayton P.
Published: May 2013

When the Penn State football scandal exploded in 2012, observers tended to frame events in terms of individuals behaving badly or irresponsibly. The perpetrator of child abuse was convicted and sent to prison; the head football coach was fired; the president of the University and several senior administrators were terminated; and the former head of the Board of Trustees was forced to resign. Certainly, these actions were understandable under the circumstances. Terrible crimes had been committed and covered up for over a decade. Nevertheless, an exclusively individual focus overlooks the roles of 9 groups whose collective behavior first allowed the criminal acts to occur and then put an end to them. The groups included the children's families and high school coaches, the Penn State football coaching staff, the Penn State senior administration, the Penn State Board of Trustees, the Second Mile charitable organization, the Centre County Pennsylvania criminal justice system, Penn State students, the Big 10 athletic conference, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. This article employs a group and intergroup perspective to analyze key events and to explain both the dysfunctional systemic behavior and the corrective actions.
Leadership and Responses to Organizational Crisis
Authors: Wagner Stephen H.
Published: May 2013

The tragic failure of Penn State University to effectively respond to years of child sex abuse perpetrated by Jerry Sandusky was both a breakdown of leaders and of leadership systems. Numerous individual leaders at Penn State had the knowledge, power, and interpersonal influence to effectively intervene in support of Jerry Sandusky's victims. However, fully understanding how this tragedy occurred also requires an examination of the organizational system of leadership that enabled each leader to rationalize the cover up of the sexual abuse of children. Alderfer's (2011) laws of embedded intergroup relations are useful for understanding the organizational dysfunction at Penn State; especially when those laws are integrated with other theories of organizational psychology, including the social identity maintenance theory of groupthink, the romance of leadership, and authentic leadership. The integration of these theories suggests specific strategies and tactics for preventing similar lapses of ethical behavior in the future through the development of leaders and leadership systems.
Is it Time to Voluntarily Turn Over Theories of Voluntary Turnover?
Authors: Russell Craig J.
Published: May 2013

The current research literature on voluntary employee turnover exhibits at least four shortcomings: low predictive validity, excessive exuberance with predictors, low rigor, and little relevance. Existing theories of voluntary employee turnover research are under specified, as none contains the full range of variables originally hypothesized by March and Simon as contributing to individual employees' decisions to quit their jobs. March and Simon (1958) contributed to the current state of affairs by making at least one assumption that subsequent results do not support. Subsequent efforts to expand theory and to detect and integrate new explanatory constructs have led to a much deeper understanding of the same small portion of turnover variance explained in employee decisions to quit. Deficiencies in current approaches and what a nondeficient model of voluntary employee turnover might look like are described. Directions for future voluntary turnover research are identified, as are past trends that need to be discontinued.
Isotopic and chemical variation of organic nanoglobules in primitive meteorites
Authors: De Gregorio Bradley T. , Stroud Rhonda M. , Nittler Larry R. , Alexander Conel M. O'D. , Bassim Nabil D. , Cody George D. , Kilcoyne A. L. David , Sandford Scott A. , Milam Stefanie N. , Nuevo Michel , Zega Thomas J.
Published: May 2013

Organic nanoglobules are microscopic spherical carbon‐rich objects present in chondritic meteorites and other astromaterials. We performed a survey of the morphology, organic functional chemistry, and isotopic composition of 184 nanoglobules in insoluble organic matter (IOM) residues from seven primitive carbonaceous chondrites. Hollow and solid nanoglobules occur in each IOM residue, as well as globules with unusual shapes and structures. Most nanoglobules have an organic functional chemistry similar to, but slightly more carboxyl‐rich than, the surrounding IOM, while a subset of nanoglobules have a distinct, highly aromatic functionality. The range of nanoglobule N isotopic compositions was similar to that of nonglobular 15N‐rich hotspots in each IOM residue, but nanoglobules account for only about one third of the total 15N‐rich hotspots in each sample. Furthermore, many nanoglobules in each residue contained no 15N enrichment above that of bulk IOM. No morphological indicators were found to robustly distinguish the highly aromatic nanoglobules from those that have a more IOM‐like functional chemistry, or to distinguish 15N‐rich nanoglobules from those that are isotopically normal. The relative abundance of aromatic nanoglobules was lower, and nanoglobule diameters were greater, in more altered meteorites, suggesting the creation/modification of IOM‐like nanoglobules during parent‐body processing. However, 15N‐rich nanoglobules, including many with highly aromatic functional chemistry, likely reflect preaccretionary isotopic fractionation in cold molecular cloud or protostellar environments. These data indicate that no single formation mechanism can explain all of the observed characteristics of nanoglobules, and their properties are likely a result of multiple processes occurring in a variety of environments.
MULTISPECIES EXPLOITATION WITH EVOLUTIONARY SWITCHING OF HARVESTING STRATEGIES
Authors: BISCHI GIAN‐ITALO , LAMANTIA FABIO , RADI DAVIDE
Published: May 2013

In this paper, we propose a bioeconomic model which describes a fishery in which each of two noninteracting species is harvested by a given group of fishers during a defined time period. Then the Fishing Regulatory Authority allows each fisher to reconsider the harvesting decision at fixed (discrete) periods of time. The model derives from an Italian fisheries management experience in the Northern Adriatic Sea, where this kind of “self‐adjusting” fishing policy has been proposed to regulate harvesting of two shellfish species. The proposed dynamic model assumes the form of a hybrid system, as the natural growth functions of the two species (in continuous time) are coupled with a discrete time adaptive system that regulates how agents switch from one harvesting strategy to the other period by period according to an evolutionary mechanism based on profit comparison. In order to obtain some insights into the basic mechanisms of the system, some relevant benchmark cases are analyzed before tackling (mainly numerically) the complete hybrid model. Our results suggest that, for proper sets of parameters, this kind of myopic and adaptive self‐regulation may ensure a virtuous trade‐off between profit maximization and resource conservation, driven by cost externalities and market pressure.
Pan-Genome and Comparative Genome Analyses of Propionibacterium acnes Reveal Its Genomic Diversity in the Healthy and Diseased Human Skin Microbiome
Authors: Tomida Shuta , Nguyen Lin , Chiu Bor-Han , Liu Jared , Sodergren Erica , Weinstock George M. , Li Huiying
Published: May 2013

Propionibacterium acnes
constitutes a major part of the skin microbiome and contributes to human health. However, it has also been implicated as a pathogenic factor in several diseases, including acne, one of the most common skin diseases. Its pathogenic role, however, remains elusive. To better understand the genetic landscape and diversity of the organism and its role in human health and disease, we performed a comparative genome analysis of 82
P. acnes
strains, 69 of which were sequenced by our group. This collection covers all known
P. acnes
lineages, including types IA, IB, II, and III. Our analysis demonstrated that although the
P. acnes
pan-genome is open, it is relatively small and expands slowly. The core regions, shared by all the sequenced genomes, accounted for 88% of the average genome. Comparative genome analysis showed that within each lineage, the strains isolated from the same individuals were more closely related than the ones isolated from different individuals, suggesting that clonal expansions occurred within each individual microbiome. We also identified the genetic elements specific to each lineage. Differences in harboring these elements may explain the phenotypic and functional differences of
P. acnes
in functioning as a commensal in healthy skin and as a pathogen in diseases. Our findings of the differences among
P. acnes
strains at the genome level underscore the importance of identifying the human microbiome variations at the strain level in understanding its association with diseases and provide insight into novel and personalized therapeutic approaches for
P. acnes
-related diseases.

IMPORTANCE
Propionibacterium acnes
is a major human skin bacterium. It plays an important role in maintaining skin health. However, it has also been hypothesized to be a pathogenic factor in several diseases, including acne, a common skin disease affecting 85% of teenagers. To understand whether different strains have different virulent properties and thus play different roles in health and diseases, we compared the genomes of 82
P. acnes
strains, most of which were isolated from acne or healthy skin. We identified lineage-specific genetic elements that may explain the phenotypic and functional differences of
P. acnes
as a commensal in health and as a pathogen in diseases. By analyzing a large number of sequenced strains, we provided an improved understanding of the genetic landscape and diversity of the organism at the strain level and at the molecular level that can be further applied in the development of new and personalized therapies.
Green space is associated with walking and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in middle-to-older-aged adults: findings from 203 883 Australians in the 45 and Up Study
Authors: Astell-Burt Thomas , Feng Xiaoqi , Kolt Gregory S
Published: May 2013

Background

Green space is widely hypothesised to promote physical activity. Few studies, however, examine whether this is the case for walking and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). We investigated to what extent neighbourhood green space was associated with weekly participation and frequency of walking and MVPA in a large cross-sectional survey of Australian adults 45 years and older.

Methods

Logit and negative binomial regression were used to estimate the degree of association between walking, MVPA and neighbourhood green space in a sample of 203 883 adults from the Australian 45 and Up Study. Walking and MVPA were measured using the Active Australia Survey. Green space was measured as a percentage of the total land-use within 1 km radius of residence. We controlled for a range of individual and neighbourhood characteristics.

Results

86.6% of the sample walked and 85.8% participated in MVPA at least once a week. These rates fell steeply with age. Compared with residents of neighbourhoods containing 0–20% green space, those in greener areas were significantly more likely to walk and participate in MVPAs at least once a week (trend for both p<0.001). Among those participating at least once a week, residents of neighbourhoods containing 80%+ green space participated with a greater frequency of walking (incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.09, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.13) and MVPA (IRR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.15).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the amount of green space available to adults in middle-to-older age within their neighbourhood environments could help to promote walking and MVPA.
Semen quality of 1559 young men from four cities in Japan: a cross-sectional population-based study
Authors: Iwamoto Teruaki , Nozawa Shiari , Mieno Makiko Naka , Yamakawa Katsunori , Baba Katsuyuki , Yoshiike Miki , Namiki Mikio , Koh Eitetsu , Kanaya Jiro , Okuyama Akihiko , Matsumiya Kiyomi , Tsujimura Akira , Kanetake Hiroshi , Eguchi Jiro , Skakkebaek Niels E , Vierula Matti , Toppari Jorma , Jørgensen Niels
Published: May 2013

Objectives

To provide information of semen quality among normal young Japanese men and indicate the frequency of reduced semen quality.

Design

Cross-sectional, coordinated studies of Japanese young men included from university areas. The men had to be 18–24 years, and both the man and his mother had to be born in Japan. Background information was obtained from questionnaires. Standardised and quality-controlled semen analyses were performed, reproductive hormones analysed centrally and results adjusted for confounding factors.

Setting

Four study centres in Japan (Kawasaki, Osaka, Kanazawa and Nagasaki).

Participants

1559 men, median age 21.1 years, included during 1999–2003.

Outcome measures

Semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm count, sperm motility, sperm morphology and reproductive hormone levels.

Results

Median sperm concentration was 59 (95% CI 52 to 68) million/ml, and 9% and 31.9% had less than 15 and 40 million/ml, respectively. Median percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa was 9.6 (8.8 to 10.3)%. Small, but statistically significant, differences were detected for both semen and reproductive hormone variables between men from the four cities. Overall, the semen values were lower than those of a reference population of 792 fertile Japanese men.

Conclusions

Assuming that the investigated men were representative for young Japanese men, a significant proportion of the population had suboptimal semen quality with reduced fertility potential, and as a group they had lower semen quality than fertile men. However, the definitive role—if any—of low semen quality for subfertility and low fertility rates remain to be investigated.
Economically derived yields for even- and uneven-aged stands
Authors: Wagner John E. , Kiernan Diane , Bevilacqua Eddie
Published: May 2013

We propose an approach to develop economic-based yields for even- and uneven-aged stands that could be compared with yields generated by using silvicultural treatments. Economic-based yields are derived from economic parameters that describe markets and the landowner’s ownership goals and objectives. This study highlights five conclusions. First, economic-based yields define a lower bound on silvicultural-based yields required to just satisfy these economic parameters and provide a metric of confidence that a silvicultural prescription would increase (or decrease) the landowner’s wealth. Second, a main driver of the economic-based yields is the opportunity costs of the reserve growing stock or regeneration costs and the land. Third, the economic-based yields followed a similar pattern regardless of whether the stand was defined as even- or uneven-aged. Fourth, the economic-based yields illustrate the physical impacts that recreational leases, taxes, or the sale of nontimber forest ecosystem goods and services have on this lower bound. Finally, if the economic-based yields are greater than the silvicultural-based yields and if physical output estimates could be derived for the suite of nontimber forest ecosystem goods and services resulting from the forest structure, then implied economic values for this suite of goods and services could be derived using the models presented.
Clustering under approximation stability
Authors: Balcan Maria-Florina , Blum Avrim , Gupta Anupam
Published: May 2013

A common approach to clustering data is to view data objects as points in a metric space, and then to optimize a natural distance-based objective such as the
k
-median,
k
-means, or min-sum score. For applications such as clustering proteins by function or clustering images by subject, the implicit hope in taking this approach is that the optimal solution for the chosen objective will closely match the desired “target” clustering (e.g., a correct clustering of proteins by function or of images by who is in them). However, most distance-based objectives, including those mentioned here, are NP-hard to optimize. So, this assumption by itself is not sufficient, assuming P ≠ NP, to achieve clusterings of low-error via polynomial time algorithms.

In this article, we show that we can bypass this barrier if we slightly extend this assumption to ask that for some small constant
c
, not only the optimal solution, but also all
c
-approximations to the optimal solution, differ from the target on at most some ϵ fraction of points—we call this
(c,ϵ)-approximation-stability
. We show that under this condition, it is possible to efficiently obtain low-error clusterings even if the property holds only for values
c
for which the objective is known to be NP-hard to approximate. Specifically, for any constant
c > 1, (c,ϵ)
-approximation-stability of
k
-median or
k
-means objectives can be used to efficiently produce a clustering of error
O
(ϵ) with respect to the target clustering, as can stability of the min-sum objective if the target clusters are sufficiently large. Thus, we can perform nearly as well in terms of agreement with the target clustering
as if
we could approximate these objectives to this NP-hard value.
The complexity of conservative valued CSPs
Authors: Kolmogorov Vladimir , Živný Stanislav
Published: May 2013

We study the complexity of valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs) parametrized by aconstraint language, a fixed set of cost functions over a finite domain. An instance of the problem is specified by a sum of cost functions from the language and the goal is to minimize the sum. Under the unique games conjecture, the approximability of finite-valued VCSPs is well understood, see Raghavendra [2008]. However, there is no characterization of finite-valued VCSPs, let alone general-valued VCSPs, that can be solved exactly in polynomial time, thus giving insights from a combinatorial optimization perspective.

We consider the case of languages containing all possible unary cost functions. In the case of languages consisting of only {0,∞}-valued cost functions (i.e., relations), such languages have been calledconservativeand studied by Bulatov [2003, 2011] and recently by Barto [2011]. Since we study valued languages, we call a languageconservativeif it contains all finite-valued unary cost functions. The computational complexity of conservative valued languages has been studied by Cohen et al. [2006] for languages over Boolean domains, by Deineko et al. [2008] for {0,1}-valued languages (a.k.a Max-CSP), and by Takhanov [2010a] for {0,∞}-valued languages containing all finite-valued unary cost functions (a.k.a. Min-Cost-Hom).

We prove a Schaefer-like dichotomy theorem for conservative valued languages: if all cost functions in the language satisfy a certain condition (specified by a complementary combination ofSTP and MJN multimorphisms), then any instance can be solved in polynomial time (via a new algorithm developed in this article), otherwise the language is NP-hard. This is the first complete complexity classification ofgeneral-valued constraint languagesover non-Boolean domains. It is a common phenomenon that complexity classifications of problems over non-Boolean domains are significantly harder than the Boolean cases. The polynomial-time algorithm we present for the tractable cases is a generalization of the submodular minimization problem and a result of Cohen et al. [2008].

Our results generalize previous results by Takhanov [2010a] and (a subset of results) by Cohen et al. [2006] and Deineko et al. [2008]. Moreover, our results do not rely on any computer-assisted search as in Deineko et al. [2008], and provide a powerful tool for proving hardness of finite-valued and general-valued languages.
A learning theory approach to noninteractive database privacy
Authors: Blum Avrim , Ligett Katrina , Roth Aaron
Published: May 2013

In this article, we demonstrate that, ignoring computational constraints, it is possible to release synthetic databases that are useful for accurately answering large classes of queries while preserving differential privacy. Specifically, we give a mechanism that privately releases synthetic data useful for answering a class of queries over a
discrete
domain with error that grows as a function of the size of the smallest net approximately representing the answers to that class of queries. We show that this in particular implies a mechanism for counting queries that gives error guarantees that grow only with the VC-dimension of the class of queries, which itself grows at most logarithmically with the size of the query class.

We also show that it is not possible to release even simple classes of queries (such as intervals and their generalizations) over
continuous
domains with worst-case utility guarantees while preserving differential privacy. In response to this, we consider a relaxation of the utility guarantee and give a privacy preserving polynomial time algorithm that for any halfspace query will provide an answer that is accurate for some small perturbation of the query. This algorithm does not release synthetic data, but instead another data structure capable of representing an answer for each query. We also give an efficient algorithm for releasing synthetic data for the class of interval queries and axis-aligned rectangles of constant dimension over
discrete
domains.
An in-depth analysis of stochastic Kronecker graphs
Authors: Seshadhri C. , Pinar Ali , Kolda Tamara G.
Published: May 2013

Graph analysis is playing an increasingly important role in science and industry. Due to numerous limitations in sharing real-world graphs, models for generating massive graphs are critical for developing better algorithms. In this article, we analyze the stochastic Kronecker graph model (SKG), which is the foundation of the Graph500 supercomputer benchmark due to its favorable properties and easy parallelization. Our goal is to provide a deeper understanding of the parameters and properties of this model so that its functionality as a benchmark is increased. We develop a rigorous mathematical analysis that shows this model cannot generate a power-law distribution or even a lognormal distribution. However, we formalize an enhanced version of the SKG model that uses random noise for smoothing. We prove both in theory and in practice that this enhancement leads to a lognormal distribution. Additionally, we provide a precise analysis of isolated vertices, showing that the graphs that are produced by SKG might be quite different than intended. For example, between 50% and 75% of the vertices in the Graph500 benchmarks will be isolated. Finally, we show that this model tends to produce extremely small core numbers (compared to most social networks and other real graphs) for common parameter choices.
An algorithm for the complete solution of quadratic eigenvalue problems
Authors: Hammarling Sven , Munro Christopher J. , Tisseur Françoise
Published: May 2013

We develop a new algorithm for the computation of all the eigenvalues and optionally the right and left eigenvectors of dense quadratic matrix polynomials. It incorporates scaling of the problem parameters prior to the computation of eigenvalues, a choice of linearization with favorable conditioning and backward stability properties, and a preprocessing step that reveals and deflates the zero and infinite eigenvalues contributed by singular leading and trailing matrix coefficients. The algorithm is backward-stable for quadratics that are not too heavily damped. Numerical experiments show that our MATLAB implementation of the algorithm, quadeig, outperforms the MATLAB function polyeig in terms of both stability and efficiency.
A framework for partitioning and execution of data stream applications in mobile cloud computing
Authors: Yang Lei , Cao Jiannong , Yuan Yin , Li Tao , Han Andy , Chan Alvin
Published: May 2013

The contribution of cloud computing and mobile computing technologies lead to the newly emerging mobile cloud computing paradigm. Three major approaches have been proposed for mobile cloud applications: 1) extending the access to cloud services to mobile devices; 2) enabling mobile devices to work collaboratively as cloud resource providers; 3) augmenting the execution of mobile applications on portable devices using cloud resources. In this paper, we focus on the third approach in supporting mobile data stream applications. More specifically, we study how to optimize the computation partitioning of a data stream application between mobile and cloud to achieve maximum speed/throughput in processing the streaming data.

To the best of our knowledge, it is the first work to study the partitioning problem for mobile data stream applications, where the optimization is placed on achieving high throughput of processing the streaming data rather than minimizing the makespan of executions as in other applications. We first propose a framework to provide runtime support for the dynamic computation partitioning and execution of the application. Different from existing works, the framework not only allows the dynamic partitioning for a single user but also supports the sharing of computation instances among multiple users in the cloud to achieve efficient utilization of the underlying cloud resources. Meanwhile, the framework has better scalability because it is designed on the elastic cloud fabrics. Based on the framework, we design a genetic algorithm for optimal computation partition. Both numerical evaluation and real world experiment have been performed, and the results show that the partitioned application can achieve at least two times better performance in terms of throughput than the application without partitioning.
An architecture for ethical and privacy-sensitive social network experiments
Authors: Hutton Luke , Henderson Tristan
Published: May 2013

Social Network Sites (SNSs) are used for sharing personal data and delivering personalised services to hundreds of millions of users, and thus represent an important sector of the Digital Economy. Measuring and collecting data from SNSs is crucial for research and development of new services, but the sensitive and personal nature of these data means that great care must be taken by researchers when conducting SNS studies.

This paper presents a work-in-progress architecture for conducting experiments across multiple SNSs while acknowledging and preserving participant privacy. We evaluate the architecture by conducting an experiment using live SNS data, exploring willingness to share sensitive data with researchers. We also outline some outstanding challenges as we finalise the implementation of the architecture.
On the linkability of complementary information from free versions of people databases
Authors: Gupta Minaxi , Wu Yuqing (Melanie) , Joshi Swapnil S. , Tiwari Aparna , Nair Ashish , Ilangovan Ezhilan
Published: May 2013

The privacy of hundreds of millions of people today could be compromised due to people databases which claim to store many personal details about individuals, often without their knowledge. While the paid versions of these databases may be prohibitively expensive for data mining on a mass scale, in this paper, we show that even the limited information provided by the unpaid versions of these databases can be effectively exploited for its complementarity and poses a significant privacy threat since an adversary can mine this information on a mass scale free of cost and then use it to his/her advantage, hurting the privacy of individuals.
A forensic case study on as hijacking
Authors: Schlamp Johann , Carle Georg , Biersack Ernst W.
Published: May 2013

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) was designed without security in mind. Until today, this fact makes the Internet vulnerable to hijacking attacks that intercept or blackhole Internet traffic. So far, significant effort has been put into the detection of IP prefix hijacking, while AS hijacking has received little attention. AS hijacking is more sophisticated than IP prefix hijacking, and is aimed at a long-term benefit such as over a duration of months.

In this paper, we study a malicious case of AS hijacking, carried out in order to send spam from the victim's network. We thoroughly investigate this AS hijacking incident using live data from both the control and the data plane. Our analysis yields insights into how an attacker proceeded in order to covertly hijack a whole autonomous system, how he misled an upstream provider, and how he used an unallocated address space. We further show that state of the art techniques to prevent hijacking are not fully capable of dealing with this kind of attack. We also derive guidelines on how to conduct future forensic studies of AS hijacking. Our findings show that there is a need for preventive measures that would allow to anticipate AS hijacking and we outline the design of an early warning system.
Stream-monitoring with blockmon
Authors: Simoncelli Davide , Dusi Maurizio , Gringoli Francesco , Niccolini Saverio
Published: May 2013

Recent work in network measurements focuses on scaling the performance of monitoring platforms to 10Gb/s and beyond. Concurrently, IT community focuses on scaling the analysis of big-data over a cluster of nodes. So far, combinations of these approaches have targeted flexibility and usability over real-timeliness of results and efficient allocation of resources. In this paper we show how to meet both objectives with BlockMon, a network monitoring platform originally designed to work on a single node, which we extended to run distributed stream-data analytics tasks. We compare its performance against Storm and Apache S4, the state-of-the-art open-source stream-processing platforms, by implementing a phone call anomaly detection system and a Twitter trending algorithm: our enhanced BlockMon has a gain in performance of over 2.5x and 23x, respectively. Given the different nature of those applications and the performance of BlockMon as single-node network monitor [1], we expect our results to hold for a broad range of applications, making distributed BlockMon a good candidate for the convergence of network-measurement and IT-analysis platforms.
Standardizing large-scale measurement platforms
Authors: Bagnulo Marcelo , Eardley Philip , Burbridge Trevor , Trammell Brian , Winter Rolf
Published: May 2013

Over the last few years, we have witnessed the deployment of large measurement platforms that enable measurements from many vantage points. Examples of these platforms include SamKnows and RIPE ATLAS. All told, there are tens of thousands of measurement agents. Most of these measurement agents are located in the end-user premises; these can run measurements against other user agents located in strategic locations, according to the measurements to be performed. Thanks to the large number of measurement agents, these platforms can provide data about key network performance indicators from the end-user perspective. This data is useful to network operators to improve their operations, as well to regulators and to end users themselves. Currently deployed platforms use proprietary protocols to exchange information between the different parts. As these platforms grow to become an important tool to understand network performance, it is important to standardize the protocols between the different elements of the platform. In this paper, we present ongoing standardization efforts in this area as well as the main challenges that these efforts are facing.
Latest trends in telecommunication standards
Authors: Costa-Pérez Xavier , Festag Andreas , Kolbe Hans-Joerg , Quittek Juergen , Schmid Stefan , Stiemerling Martin , Swetina Joerg , van der Veen Hans
Published: May 2013

Standardization organizations play a major role in the telecommunications industry to guarantee interoperability between vendors and allow for a common ground where all players can voice their opinion regarding the direction the industry should follow. In this paper we review the current activities in some of the most relevant standardization bodies in the area of communication networks: 3GPP, IEEE 802.11, BBF, IETF, ONF, ETSI ISG NFV, oneM2M and ETSI TC ITS. Major innovations being developed in these bodies are summarized describing the most disruptive directions taken and expected to have a remarkable impact in future networks.

Finally, some trends common among different bodies are identified covering different dimensions: i) core technology enhancements, ii) inter-organizations cooperation for convergence, iii) consideration of raising disruptive technical concepts, and iv) expanding into emerging use cases aiming at an increase of future market size.
Neuroendocrine Tumor, Well Differentiated, of the Breast: A Relatively High-Grade Case in the Histological Subtype
Authors: Tajima Shogo , Horiuchi Hajime
Published: May 2013

Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast is a rare entity, comprising <1% of breast carcinomas. Described here is the case of a 78-year-old woman who developed an invasive tumor in the left breast measuring 2.0 cm x 1.5 cm x 1.2 cm. The tumor was composed of only endocrine elements in the invasive part. It infiltrated in a nested fashion with no tubular formation. Intraductal components were present both inside and outside of the invasive portion. Almost all carcinoma cells consisting of invasive and intraductal parts were positive for synaptophysin and neuron-specific enolase. According to the World Health Organization classification 2012, this tumor was subclassified as neuroendocrine tumor, well-differentiated. Among the subgroup, this tumor was relatively high-grade because it was grade 3 tumor with a few mitotic figures. Vascular and lymphatic permeation and lymph node metastases were noted. In the lymph nodes, the morphology of the tumor was similar to the primary site. No distant metastasis and no relapse was seen for one year after surgery. The prognosis of neuroendocrine carcinomas is thought to be worse than invasive mammary carcinomas, not otherwise specified. Therefore, immunohistochemistry for neuroendocrine markers is important in the routine practice to prevent overlooking neuroendocrine carcinomas.
Algebraic Verification Method for SEREs Properties via Groebner Bases Approaches
Authors: Zhou Ning , Wu Jinzhao , Gao Xinyan
Published: May 2013

This work presents an efficient solution using computer algebra system to perform linear temporal properties verification for synchronous digital systems. The method is essentially based on both Groebner bases approaches and symbolic simulation. A mechanism for constructing canonical polynomial set based symbolic representations for both circuit descriptions and assertions is studied. We then present a complete checking algorithm framework based on these algebraic representations by using Groebner bases. The computational experience result in this work shows that the algebraic approach is a quite competitive checking method and will be a useful supplement to the existent verification methods based on simulation.
Probiotics as Antiviral Agents in Shrimp Aquaculture
Authors: Lakshmi Bestha , Viswanath Buddolla , Sai Gopal D. V. R.
Published: May 2013

Shrimp farming is an aquaculture business for the cultivation of marine shrimps or prawns for human consumption and is now considered as a major economic and food production sector as it is an increasingly important source of protein available for human consumption. Intensification of shrimp farming had led to the development of a number of diseases, which resulted in the excessive use of antimicrobial agents, which is finally responsible for many adverse effects. Currently, probiotics are chosen as the best alternatives to these antimicrobial agents and they act as natural immune enhancers, which provoke the disease resistance in shrimp farm. Viral diseases stand as the major constraint causing an enormous loss in the production in shrimp farms. Probiotics besides being beneficial bacteria also possess antiviral activity. Exploitation of these probiotics in treatment and prevention of viral diseases in shrimp aquaculture is a novel and efficient method. This review discusses the benefits of probiotics and their criteria for selection in shrimp aquaculture and their role in immune power enhancement towards viral diseases.
Optimizing Combinations of Flavonoids Deriving from Astragali Radix in Activating the Regulatory Element of Erythropoietin by a Feedback System Control Scheme
Authors: Yu Hui , Zhang Wendy L. , Ding Xianting , Zheng Ken Y. Z. , Ho Chih-Ming , Tsim Karl W. K. , Lee Yi-Kuen
Published: May 2013

Identifying potent drug combination from a herbal mixture is usually quite challenging, due to a large number of possible trials. Using an engineering approach of the feedback system control (FSC) scheme, we identified the potential best combinations of four flavonoids, including formononetin, ononin, calycosin, and calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside deriving from Astragali Radix (AR; Huangqi), which provided the best biological action at minimal doses. Out of more than one thousand possible combinations, only tens of trials were required to optimize the flavonoid combinations that stimulated a maximal transcriptional activity of hypoxia response element (HRE), a critical regulator for erythropoietin (EPO) transcription, in cultured human embryonic kidney fibroblast (HEK293T). By using FSC scheme, 90% of the work and time can be saved, and the optimized flavonoid combinations increased the HRE mediated transcriptional activity by ~3-fold as compared with individual flavonoid, while the amount of flavonoids was reduced by ~10-fold. Our study suggests that the optimized combination of flavonoids may have strong effect in activating the regulatory element of erythropoietin at very low dosage, which may be used as new source of natural hematopoietic agent. The present work also indicates that the FSC scheme is able to serve as an efficient and model-free approach to optimize the drug combination of different ingredients within a herbal decoction.
Stability Analysis and Control of a New Smooth Chua's System
Authors: Zhou Guopeng , Huang Jinhua , Liao Xiaoxin , Cheng Shijie
Published: May 2013

This paper is concerned with the stability analysis and control of a new smooth Chua's system. Firstly, the chaotic characteristic of the system is confirmed with the aid of the Lyapunov exponents. Secondly, it is proved that the system has globally exponential attractive set and positive invariant set. For the three unstable equilibrium points of the system, a linear controller is designed to globally exponentially stabilize the equilibrium points. Then, a linear controller and an adaptive controller are, respectively, proposed so that two similar types of smooth Chua's systems are globally synchronized, and the estimation errors of the uncertain parameters converge to zero asttends to infinity. Finally, the numerical simulations are also presented.
DFT Study of Binding and Electron Transfer from a Metal-Free Dye with Carboxyl, Hydroxyl, and Sulfonic Anchors to a Titanium Dioxide Nanocluster
Authors: Oprea Corneliu I. , Panait Petre , Lungu Jeanina , Stamate Daniela , Dumbravă Anca , Cimpoesu Fanica , Gîrţu Mihai A.
Published: May 2013

We report results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations of a metal-free dye, 5-(4-sulfophenylazo)salicylic acid disodium salt, known as Mordant Yellow 10 (MY-10), used as sensitizer for TiO2dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Given the need to better understand the behavior of the dyes adsorbed on the TiO2nanoparticle, we studied various single and double deprotonated forms of the dye bound to a TiO2cluster, taking advantage of the presence of the carboxyl, hydroxyl, and sulfonic groups as possible anchors. We discuss various binding configurations to the TiO2substrate and the charge transfer from the pigment to the oxide by means of DFT calculations. In agreement with other reports, we find that the carboxyl group tends to bind in bidentate bridging configurations. The salicylate uses both the carboxyl and hydroxyl substituent groups for either a tridentate binding to adjacent Ti(IV) ions or a bidentate Ti-O binding together with an O-H-O binding, due to the rotation of the carboxyl group out of the plane of the dye. The sulfonic group prefers a tridentate binding. We analyze the propensity for electron transfer of the various dyes and find that for MY-10, as a function of the anchor group, the DSSC performance decreases in the order hydroxyl + carboxyl > carboxyl > sulfonate.
Bioactive Fraction of Geopropolis fromMelipona scutellarisDecreases Neutrophils Migration in the Inflammatory Process: Involvement of Nitric Oxide Pathway
Authors: Franchin Marcelo , da Cunha Marcos Guilherme , Denny Carina , Napimoga Marcelo Henrique , Cunha Thiago Mattar , Bueno-Silva Bruno , Matias de Alencar Severino , Ikegaki Masaharu , Luiz Rosalen Pedro
Published: May 2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate the activity of the ethanolic extract of geopropolis (EEGP) fromMelipona scutellarisand its fractions on the modulation of neutrophil migration in the inflammatory process, and the participation of nitric oxide (NO) pathway, as well as to check the chemical profile of the bioactive fraction. EEGP and its aqueous fraction decreased neutrophil migration in the peritoneal cavity and also the interaction of leukocytes (rolling and adhesion) with endothelial cells. The levels of chemokines CXCL1/KC and CXCL2/MIP-2 were not altered after treatment with EEGP and the aqueous fraction. It was found that the injection of NO pathway antagonists abolished the EEGP and the aqueous fraction inhibitory activity on the neutrophil migration. The expression of intercellular adhesion molecule type 1 (ICAM-1) was reduced, and nitrite levels increased after treatment with EEGP and aqueous fraction. In the carrageenan-induced paw edema model, EEGP and the aqueous fraction showed antiedema activity. No pattern of flavonoid and phenolic acid commonly found in propolis samples ofApis melliferacould be detected in the aqueous fraction samples. These data indicate that the aqueous fraction found has promising bioactive substances with anti-inflammatory activity.
Maternal Thyroid Dysfunction and Neonatal Thyroid Problems
Authors: Ozdemir Hulya , Akman Ipek , Coskun Senay , Demirel Utku , Turan Serap , Bereket Abdullah , Bilgen Hulya , Ozek Eren
Published: May 2013

Aim.To investigate obstetric features of pregnant women with thyroid disorders and thyroid function tests of their newborn infants.Methods.Women with hypothyroidism and having anti-thyroglobulin (ATG) and anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies were assigned as group I, women with hypothyroidism who did not have autoantibodies were assigned as group II, and women without thyroid problems were assigned as group III.Results.Pregnant women with autoimmune hypothyroidism (group I) had more preterm delivery and their babies needed more frequent neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission. In group I, one infant was diagnosed with compensated hypothyroidism and one infant had transient hyperthyrotropinemia. Five infants (23.8%) in group II had thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels >20 mIU/mL. Only two of them had TSH level >7 mIU/L at the 3rd postnatal week, and all had normal free T4 (FT4). Median maternal TSH level of these five infants with TSH >20 mIU/mL was 6.6 mIU/mL. In group III, six infants (6.5%) had TSH levels above >20 mIU/mL at the 1st postnatal week.Conclusion.Infants of mothers with thyroid problems are more likely to have elevated TSH and higher recall rate on neonatal thyroid screening. Women with thyroid disorders and their newborn infants should be followed closely for both obstetrical problems and for thyroid dysfunction.