bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Type II Secretion Pathway in Vibrio cholerae Is Characterized by Growth Phase-Dependent Expression of Exoprotein Genes and Is Positively Regulated by σ
E
Authors: Zielke Ryszard A. , Simmons Ryan S. , Park Bo R. , Nonogaki Mariko , Emerson Sarah , Sikora Aleksandra E.
Published: April 2014

Vibrio cholerae
, an etiological agent of cholera, circulates between aquatic reservoirs and the human gastrointestinal tract. The type II secretion (T2S) system plays a pivotal role in both stages of the lifestyle by exporting multiple proteins, including cholera toxin. Here, we studied the kinetics of expression of genes encoding the T2S system and its cargo proteins. We have found that under laboratory growth conditions, the T2S complex was continuously expressed throughout
V. cholerae
growth, whereas there was growth phase-dependent transcriptional activity of genes encoding different cargo proteins. Moreover, exposure of
V. cholerae
to different environmental cues encountered by the bacterium in its life cycle induced transcriptional expression of T2S. Subsequent screening of a
V. cholerae
genomic library suggested that σ
E
stress response, phosphate metabolism, and the second messenger 3′,5′-cyclic diguanylic acid (c-di-GMP) are involved in regulating transcriptional expression of T2S. Focusing on σ
E
, we discovered that the upstream region of the T2S operon possesses both the consensus σ
E
and σ
70
signatures, and deletion of the σ
E
binding sequence prevented transcriptional activation of T2S by RpoE. Ectopic overexpression of σ
E
stimulated transcription of T2S in wild-type and isogenic Δ
rpoE
strains of
V. cholerae
, providing additional support for the idea that the T2S complex belongs to the σ
E
regulon. Together, our results suggest that the T2S pathway is characterized by the growth phase-dependent expression of genes encoding cargo proteins and requires a multifactorial regulatory network to ensure appropriate kinetics of the secretory traffic and the fitness of
V. cholerae
in different ecological niches.
A Listeria monocytogenes-Based Vaccine That Secretes Sand Fly Salivary Protein LJM11 Confers Long-Term Protection against Vector-Transmitted Leishmania major
Authors: Abi Abdallah Delbert S. , Pavinski Bitar Alan , Oliveira Fabiano , Meneses Claudio , Park Justin J. , Mendez Susana , Kamhawi Shaden , Valenzuela Jesus G. , Marquis Hélène
Published: April 2014

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a sand fly-transmitted disease characterized by skin ulcers that carry significant scarring and social stigmatization. Over the past years, there has been cumulative evidence that immunity to specific sand fly salivary proteins confers a significant level of protection against leishmaniasis. In this study, we used an attenuated strain of
Listeria monocytogenes
as a vaccine expression system for LJM11, a sand fly salivary protein identified as a good vaccine candidate. We observed that mice were best protected against an intradermal needle challenge with
Leishmania major
and sand fly saliva when vaccinated intravenously. However, this protection was short-lived. Importantly, groups of vaccinated mice were protected long term when challenged with infected sand flies. Protection correlated with smaller lesion size, fewer scars, and better parasite control between 2 and 6 weeks postchallenge compared to the control group of mice vaccinated with the parent
L. monocytogenes
strain not expressing LJM11. Moreover, protection correlated with high numbers of CD4
+
, gamma interferon-positive (IFN-γ
+
), tumor necrosis factor alpha-positive/negative (TNF-α
+/−
), interleukin-10-negative (IL-10
−
) cells and low numbers of CD4
+
IFN-γ
+/−
TNF-α
−
IL-10
+
T cells at 2 weeks postchallenge. Overall, our data indicate that delivery of LJM11 by
Listeria
is a promising vaccination strategy against cutaneous leishmaniasis inducing long-term protection against ulcer formation following a natural challenge with infected sand flies.
Adenomatoid odontogenic tumour in a 20-year-old woman
Authors: Virupakshappa Deepti , Rajashekhara Bhari Sharanesha , Manjunatha Bhari Sharanesha , Das Nagarajappa
Published: April 2014

Adenomatoid odontogenic tumour is a relatively rare and distinct odontogenic tumour that is exclusively odontogenic epithelium in origin. It comprises 3% of all odontogenic tumours. This report describes the surgical therapy, clinical course and morphological characteristics of an adenomatoid odontogenic tumour that developed in the left maxilla of a 20-year-old patient.
Juvenile xanthogranuloma presenting as a large neck mass and ocular complications: a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma
Authors: Taghipour Zahir Shokouh , Sharahjin Naser Sefidrokh , Vahedian Hasanali , Akhavan Ali
Published: April 2014

Juvenile xanthogranuloma is a non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis that originates from dendritic cells. Dendritic cells can accumulate in the skin of the head, neck, trunk, arms and legs. They may also involve other tissues such as the bones, lung, liver, heart, bone marrow, central nervous system, spleen and large intestine in rare cases. We report a rare case of juvenile xanthogranuloma in a 16-year-old girl who presented with a neck mass and left-sided ptosis 2.5 months previously. Excisional biopsy of the neck lesion revealed proliferated histiocytes admixed with numerous eosinophils and multinucleated giant cells that simulate eosinophilic granuloma; however, the histiocytes were negative for CD1a, CD123 and S-100 protein and positive for CD68 and CD14. The course of the disease led to treatment of the patient with chemotherapy, followed by low-dose radiotherapy.
Paratesticular fibrous pseudotumour
Authors: Katz Matthew , Ramasamy Ranjith , Robinson Brian D , Rosoff James S
Published: April 2014

A 38-year-old man presented with a 2-year history of an enlarging scrotal nodule. Scrotal ultrasound revealed two soft tissue masses separate from the testicle in the right scrotum measuring 1.7 and 0.8 cm. The patient underwent excision of the scrotal nodules, revealing firm, white tissue with a smooth, nodular surface. On histology, the lesions appeared fibrous with scattered capillaries and areas of inflammatory infiltrate consistent with paratesticular fibrous pseudotumour. On a follow-up ultrasound at 6 months, he had no evidence of recurrence.
Echinococcus multilocularisinfection of the liver presenting as abdominal wall fistula
Authors: Juodeikis Zygimantas , Poskus Tomas , Seinin Dmitrij , Strupas Kestutis
Published: April 2014

Echinococcus multiloculariscauses infection where the most commonly affected organ is the liver, followed by the lung, kidney, bone and the brain. Other sites such as the heart, spleen, pancreas and soft tissues are very rarely affected. Surgical treatment combined with chemotherapy using various technical approaches remains the main therapeutic modality for echinococcal liver disease. To the best of our knowledge there are less than five clinical cases of cutaneous presentation of liver alveolar echinococcosis described. We present a unique case of liver echinococcosis presenting as recurrent abdominal wall fistula and abscess in a 29-year-old man. Diagnosis was based on CT imaging, serological analysis and histological findings from the fistula. Medical treatment with albendazole was initiated and liver resection was performed. The patient has no symptoms and signs of recurrence 1 year after operation, while still on albendazole therapy. This case description highlights the importance of early suspicion and treatment of unusual echinococcosis clinical presentations.
OUTSOURCING DECISIONS IN m-MACHINE PERMUTATION FLOW SHOP SCHEDULING PROBLEMS WITH MACHINE-DEPENDENT PROCESSING TIMES
Authors: CHOI BYUNG-CHEON , PARK MYOUNG-JU
Published: April 2014

We consider m-machine permutation flow shop problems with an outsourcing option for a special case where each job's processing time equals the job's processing requirement plus a characteristic value of the machine. The objective is to minimize the sum of the performance measure for in-house jobs (the total completion time or the makespan) and the total outsourcing cost. We prove that two problems are polynomially solvable when the number of machines is fixed.
Landau's statistical mechanics for quasi-particle models
Authors: Bannur Vishnu M.
Published: April 2014

Landau's formalism of statistical mechanics [following L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Statistical Physics (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1980)] is applied to the quasi-particle model of quark–gluon plasma. Here, one starts from the expression for pressure and develop all thermodynamics. It is a general formalism and consistent with our earlier studies [V. M. Bannur, Phys. Lett. B647, 271 (2007)] based on Pathria's formalism [following R. K. Pathria, Statistical Mechanics (Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1977)]. In Pathria's formalism, one starts from the expression for energy density and develop thermodynamics. Both the formalisms are consistent with thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. Under certain conditions, which are wrongly called thermodynamic consistent relation, we recover other formalism of quasi-particle system, like in M. I. Gorenstein and S. N. Yang, Phys. Rev. D52, 5206 (1995), widely studied in quark–gluon plasma.
Seismic Stability Assessment of a High-Rise Concrete Tower Utilizing Endurance Time Analysis
Authors: Hariri-Ardebili Mohammad Amin , Rahmani-Samani Hamid , Mirtaheri Masoud
Published: April 2014

This paper investigates the seismic performance of a high-rise telecommunication tower using the endurance time analysis (ETA) method. Conceptually, the ETA is a time history-based incremental dynamic procedure in which the structure is excited using an intensifying acceleration function. The structural performance is then evaluated based on the equivalent seismic intensity level that the structure can endure while satisfying the required performance goal. In this paper, the ETA is applied to the Tehran telecommunication concrete tower. The accuracy of the ETA is assessed by comparing the results with those obtained from the time history analysis (THA) and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). For this purpose, a two-dimensional fiber element model of the tower is developed and analyzed. It is found that the ETA can estimate the THA results at the equivalent target time, and the general trend of the IDA curves with acceptable accuracy, while ETA requires considerably less computational effort. Also it is realized that the peak ground velocity and spectral acceleration considering the higher modes effect are the most appropriate intensity measure parameters for comparison of the IDA and ETA methods.
The Role of Social Media During a Natural Disaster: A Case Study of the 2011 Thai Flood
Authors: Kongthon Alisa , Haruechaiyasak Choochart , Pailai Jaruwat , Kongyoung Sarawoot
Published: April 2014

Recently, social media has become a key platform that allowed people to interact and share information. The use of social media is expanding significantly and can serve a variety of purposes. Over the last few years, users of social media have played an increasing role in the dissemination of emergency and disaster information. In this paper, we conduct a case study exploring how Thai people used social media such as Twitter in response to one of the country's worst disasters in recent history: the 2011 Thai Flood. We combine multiple analysis methods in this study, including content analysis of Twitter messages, trend analysis of different message categories, and influential Twitter users analysis. This study helps us understand the role of social media in time of natural disaster.
Synthesis and photocatalytic property of graphene/multi-walled carbon nanotube/ZnO nanocrystalline aggregates hybrids by spray drying method
Authors: Chen C. S. , Cao S. Y. , Zeng B. , Ning X. T. , Liu T. G. , Chen X. H. , Xiao Y. , Yu W. W.
Published: April 2014

The novel 3D graphene oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/ ZnO nanocrystalline aggregate (GR/MWNTs/ ZnO ) hybrids were prepared by a spray drying method, and their adsorption and photocatalytic degradation for methyl orange (MO) were studied. Experimental results show that the synthetic GR/MWNTs/ ZnO nanohybrids exhibited very strong adsorption capacity and high photocatalytic activity for MO. The maximum adsorption capacity of GR/MWNTs/ ZnO sample reached 106.2 mg/g, and the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO nanocrystallines was improved about one time by GR/MWNTs hybrids.
Mesh Discriminative Features for 3D Steganalysis
Authors: Yang Ying , Ivrissimtzis Ioannis
Published: April 2014

We propose a steganalytic algorithm for triangle meshes, based on the supervised training of a classifier by discriminative feature vectors. After a normalization step, the triangle mesh is calibrated by one step of Laplacian smoothing and then a feature vector is computed, encoding geometric information corresponding to vertices, edges and faces. For a given steganographic or watermarking algorithm, we create a training set containing unmarked meshes and meshes marked by that algorithm, and train a classifier using Quadratic Discriminant Analysis. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on six well-known watermarking/steganographic schemes with satisfactory accuracy rates.
A Hamming Embedding Kernel with Informative Bag-of-Visual Words for Video Semantic Indexing
Authors: Wang Feng , Zhao Wan-Lei , Ngo Chong-Wah , Merialdo Bernard
Published: April 2014

In this article, we propose a novel Hamming embedding kernel with informative bag-of-visual words to address two main problems existing in traditional BoW approaches for video semantic indexing. First, Hamming embedding is employed to alleviate the information loss caused by SIFT quantization. The Hamming distances between keypoints in the same cell are calculated and integrated into the SVM kernel to better discriminate different image samples. Second, to highlight the concept-specific visual information, we propose to weight the visual words according to their informativeness for detecting specific concepts. We show that our proposed kernels can significantly improve the performance of concept detection.
Facial performance enhancement using dynamic shape space analysis
Authors: Bermano Amit H. , Bradley Derek , Beeler Thabo , Zund Fabio , Nowrouzezahrai Derek , Baran Ilya , Sorkine-Hornung Olga , Pfister Hanspeter , Sumner Robert W. , Bickel Bernd , Gross Markus
Published: April 2014

The facial performance of an individual is inherently rich in subtle deformation and timing details. Although these subtleties make the performance realistic and compelling, they often elude both motion capture and hand animation. We present a technique for adding fine-scale details and expressiveness to low-resolution art-directed facial performances, such as those created manually using a rig, via marker-based capture, by fitting a morphable model to a video, or through Kinect reconstruction using recent
faceshift
technology. We employ a high-resolution facial performance capture system to acquire a representative performance of an individual in which he or she explores the full range of facial expressiveness. From the captured data, our system extracts an expressiveness model that encodes subtle spatial and temporal deformation details specific to that particular individual. Once this model has been built, these details can be transferred to low-resolution art-directed performances. We demonstrate results on various forms of input; after our enhancement, the resulting animations exhibit the same nuances and fine spatial details as the captured performance, with optional temporal enhancement to match the dynamics of the actor. Finally, we show that our technique outperforms the current state-of-the-art in example-based facial animation.
Refractive radiative transfer equation
Authors: Ament Marco , Bergmann Christoph , Weiskopf Daniel
Published: April 2014

We introduce a refractive radiative transfer equation to the graphics community for the physically based rendering of participating media that have a spatially varying index of refraction. We review principles of geometric nonlinear optics that are crucial to discuss a more generic light transport equation. In particular, we present an optical model that has an integral form suitable for rendering. We show rigorously that the continuous bending of light rays leads to a nonlinear scaling of radiance. To obtain physically correct results, we build on the concept of basic radiance—known from discontinuous refraction—to conserve energy in such complex media. Furthermore, the generic model accounts for the reduction in the speed of light due to the index of refraction to render transient effects like the propagation of light echoes. We solve the refractive volume rendering equation by extending photon mapping with transient light transport in a refractive, participating medium. We demonstrate the impact of our approach on the correctness of rendered images of media that are dominated by spatially continuous refraction and multiple scattering. Furthermore, our model enables us to render visual effects like the propagation of light echoes or time-of-flight imagery that cannot be produced with previous approaches.
Flow-complex-based shape reconstruction from 3D curves
Authors: Sadri Bardia , Singh Karan
Published: April 2014

We address the problem of shape reconstruction from a sparse unorganized collection of 3D curves, typically generated by increasingly popular 3D curve sketching applications. Experimentally, we observe that human understanding of shape from connected 3D curves is largely consistent, and informed by both topological connectivity and geometry of the curves. We thus employ the
flow complex
, a structure that captures aspects of input topology and geometry, in a novel algorithm to produce an intersection-free 3D triangulated shape that interpolates the input 3D curves. Our approach is able to triangulate highly nonplanar and concave curve cycles, providing a robust 3D mesh and parametric embedding for challenging 3D curve input. Our evaluation is fourfold: we show our algorithm to match designer-selected curve cycles for surfacing; we produce user-acceptable shapes for a wide range of curve inputs; we show our approach to be predictable and robust to curve addition and deletion; we compare our results to prior art.
DIP
Authors: Gaeta Rossano , Grangetto Marco , Bovio Lorenzo
Published: April 2014

Peer-to-peer live streaming applications are vulnerable to malicious actions of peers that deliberately modify data to decrease or prevent the fruition of the media (pollution attack). In this article we propose
DIP
, a fully distributed, accurate, and robust algorithm for the identification of polluters.
DIP
relies on checks that are computed by peers upon completing reception of all blocks composing a data chunk. A check is a special message that contains the set of peer identifiers that provided blocks of the chunk as well as a bit to signal if the chunk has been corrupted. Checks are periodically transmitted by peers to their neighbors in the overlay network; peers receiving checks use them to maintain a factor graph. This graph is bipartite and an incremental belief propagation algorithm is run on it to compute the probability of a peer being a polluter. Using a prototype deployed over PlanetLab we show by extensive experimentation that
DIP
allows honest peers to identify polluters with very high accuracy and completeness, even when polluters collude to deceive them. Furthermore, we show that
DIP
is efficient, requiring low computational, communication, and storage overhead at each peer.
Identifying Compression History of Wave Audio and Its Applications
Authors: Luo Da , Luo Weiqi , Yang Rui , Huang Jiwu
Published: April 2014

Audio signal is sometimes stored and/or processed in WAV (waveform) format without any knowledge of its previous compression operations. To perform some subsequent processing, such as digital audio forensics, audio enhancement and blind audio quality assessment, it is necessary to identify its compression history. In this article, we will investigate how to identify a decompressed wave audio that went through one of three popular compression schemes, including MP3, WMA (windows media audio) and AAC (advanced audio coding). By analyzing the corresponding frequency coefficients, including modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) and Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs), of those original audio clips and their decompressed versions with different compression schemes and bit rates, we propose several statistics to identify the compression scheme as well as the corresponding bit rate previously used for a given WAV signal. The experimental results evaluated on 8,800 audio clips with various contents have shown the effectiveness of the proposed method. In addition, some potential applications of the proposed method are discussed.
A dexterous crabster robot explores the seafloor
Authors: Jun Bong-Huan , Shim Hyungwon
Published: April 2014

Crabster CR200 is a giant crab robot with six legs and 30 powerful joints developed at the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering. The robot can help explore ancient shipwrecks in areas of harsh tidal currents and turbid water, where traditional underwater vehicles have trouble operating.
Networking vehicles for safety
Authors: Fallah Yaser P.
Published: April 2014

A cyber-physical systems perspective on the design of vehicular networking solutions for safer and greener transportation.
Composing on-demand intelligent PHYsical layers
Authors: Dutta Aveek , Saha Dola
Published: April 2014

In the future, our radio devices will adapt to deal with new types of signals. The challenge is to describe those signals so that devices can learn from one another and communicate.
Employing a Parametric Model for Analytic Provenance
Authors: Chen Yingjie Victor , Qian Zhenyu Cheryl , Woodbury Robert , Dill John , Shaw Chris D.
Published: April 2014

We introduce a propagation-based parametric symbolic model approach to supporting analytic provenance. This approach combines a script language to capture and encode the analytic process and a parametrically controlled symbolic model to represent and reuse the logic of the analysis process. Our approach first appeared in a visual analytics system called CZSaw. Using a script to capture the analyst’s interactions at a meaningful system action level allows the creation of a parametrically controlled symbolic model in the form of a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). Using the DAG allows propagating changes. Graph nodes correspond to variables in CZSaw scripts, which are results (data and data visualizations) generated from user interactions. The user interacts with variables representing entities or relations to create the next step’s results. Graph edges represent dependency relationships among nodes. Any change to a variable triggers the propagation mechanism to update downstream dependent variables and in turn updates data views to reflect the change. The analyst can reuse parts of the analysis process by assigning new values to a node in the graph. We evaluated this symbolic model approach by solving three IEEE VAST Challenge contest problems (from IEEE VAST 2008, 2009, and 2010). In each of these challenges, the analyst first created a symbolic model to explore, understand, analyze, and solve a particular subproblem and then reused the model via its dependency graph propagation mechanism to solve similar subproblems. With the script and model, CZSaw supports the analytic provenance by capturing, encoding, and reusing the analysis process. The analyst can recall the chronological states of the analysis process with the CZSaw script and may interpret the underlying rationale of the analysis with the symbolic model.
Heavy Silicone Oil as a Long-Term Endotamponade Agent for Complicated Retinal Detachments
Authors: Prazeres Juliana , Magalhães Octaviano , Lucatto Luiz F. A. , Navarro Rodrigo Milan , Moraes Nilva S. , Farah Michel E. , Maia André , Maia Maurício
Published: April 2014

We retrospectively evaluated a heavy silicone oil (HSO) as a long-term intraocular endotamponade agent to treat complicated RD by inferior PVR in 25 eyes of 25 patients. Patients underwent PPV and injection of Oxane HD as an internal tamponade agent. A comparison of preoperative and postoperative BCVA at month 1, month 6, and last visit was made in the group in which HSO was removed and in the group in which HSO was not removed. Statistical calculations were performed using the Wilcoxon test. The HSO was removed from 11 patients after a mean of 26.55 ± 21.38 months. The HSO remained inside the vitreous cavity in 14 eyes due to a high chance of PVR recurrence (mean follow-up period, 11.07 ± 7.44 months). Anatomic success was achieved in 92%. The BCVA in the group, in which HSO was not removed, improved significantly during the first 6 months. Among the patients who had the oil removed, there was improvement in BCVA after 1 month. Oil emulsification was the most common adverse effect in 52% of eyes. HSO is an effective tamponade in complex rhegmatogenous and tractional RD complicated by PVR. HSO can remain in the eye for long periods with relative tolerability and safety.
Effect of Ce Doping on RGO-TiO2Nanocomposite for High Photoelectrocatalytic Behavior
Authors: Hasan Md. Rakibul , Lai Chin Wei , Bee Abd Hamid Sharifah , Jeffrey Basirun Wan
Published: April 2014

Ce doped RGO-TiO2composite films on ITO substrates were prepared by sol-gel process using tetrabutyl titanate and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as the starting materials. The sample was designed for the photoelectrocatalytic applications. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that doping of Ce on RGO-TiO2composite film inhibited the TiO2anatase-rutile phase transformation. In this case, Ce atoms could serve as dispersion oxide and suppress the recombination of photoinduced electron-hole pairs. Besides, the change in absorbance from UV to visible region was observed in Ce doped RGO-TiO2nanocomposite films. The Ce doped RGO-TiO2composite film showed higher photoelectrochemical performance than that of RGO-TiO2composite and pure TiO2under solar simulator irradiation. The main reason might be attributed to the optimum content of Ce that could act as electrons acceptor to hinder the recombination loss and facilitate the better transportation for photoinduced charge carriers.
Etiology and Use of the “Hanging Drop” Technique: A Review
Authors: Todorov Ludmil , VadeBoncouer Timothy
Published: April 2014

Background. The hanging drop (HD) technique presumably relies on the presence of subatmospheric epidural pressure. It is not clear whether this negative pressure is intrinsic or an artifact and how it is affected by body position. There are few data to indicate how often HD is currently being used.Methods. We identified studies that measured subatmospheric pressures and looked at the effect of the sitting position. We also looked at the technique used for cervical and thoracic epidural anesthesia in the last 10 years.Results. Intrinsic subatmospheric pressures were measured in the thoracic and cervical spine. Three trials studied the effect of body position, indicating a higher incidence of subatmospheric pressures when sitting. The results show lower epidural pressure (−10.7 mmHg) with the sitting position. 28.8% of trials of cervical and thoracic epidural anesthesia that documented the technique used, utilized the HD technique. When adjusting for possible bias, the rate of HD use can be as low as 11.7%.Conclusions. Intrinsic negative pressure might be present in the cervical and thoracic epidural space. This effect is more pronounced when sitting. This position might be preferable when using HD. Future studies are needed to compare it with the loss of resistance technique.
Structural Equation Modeling for Analyzing Erythrocyte Fatty Acids in Framingham
Authors: Pottala James V. , Djira Gemechis D. , Espeland Mark A. , Ye Jun , Larson Martin G. , Harris William S.
Published: April 2014

Research has shown that several types of erythrocyte fatty acids (i.e., omega-3, omega-6, andtrans) are associated with risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, there are complex metabolic and dietary relations among fatty acids, which induce correlations that are typically ignored when using them as risk predictors. A latent variable approach could summarize these complex relations into a few latent variable scores for use in statistical models. Twenty-two red blood cell (RBC) fatty acids were measured in Framingham (N= 3196). The correlation matrix of the fatty acids was modeled using structural equation modeling; the model was tested for goodness-of-fit and gender invariance. Thirteen fatty acids were summarized by three latent variables, and gender invariance was rejected so separate models were developed for men and women. A score was developed for the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) latent variable, which explained about 30% of the variance in the data. The PUFA score included loadings in opposing directions among three omega-3 and three omega-6 fatty acids, and incorporated the biosynthetic and dietary relations among them. Whether the PUFA factor score can improve the performance of risk prediction in cardiovascular diseases remains to be tested.
Semantic Consistency Checking in Building Ontology from Heterogeneous Sources
Authors: Yang Shihan , Tan Hongyan , Wu Jinzhao
Published: April 2014

Semantic collision is inevitable while building a domain ontology from heterogeneous data sources (semi-)automatically. Therefore, the semantic consistency is indispensable precondition for building a correct ontology. In this paper, a model-checking-based method is proposed to handle the semantic consistency problem with a kind of middle-model methodology, which could extract a domain ontology from structured and semistructured data sources semiautomatically. The method translates the middle model into the Kripke structure, and consistency assertions into CTL formulae, so a consistency checking problem is promoted to a global model checking. Moreover, the feasibility and correctness of the transformation is proved, and case studies are provided.
iSentenizer-μ: Multilingual Sentence Boundary Detection Model
Authors: Wong Derek F. , Chao Lidia S. , Zeng Xiaodong
Published: April 2014

Sentence boundary detection (SBD) system is normally quite sensitive to genres of data that the system is trained on. The genres of data are often referred to the shifts of text topics and new languages domains. Although new detection models can be retrained for different languages or new text genres, previous model has to be thrown away and the creation process has to be restarted from scratch. In this paper, we present a multilingual sentence boundary detection system (iSentenizer-μ) for Danish, German, English, Spanish, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Finnish, and Swedish languages. The proposed system is able to detect the sentence boundaries of a mixture of different text genres and languages with high accuracy. We employ i+Learning algorithm, an incremental tree learning architecture, for constructing the system. iSentenizer-μ, under the incremental learning framework, is adaptable to text of different topics and Roman-alphabet languages, by merging new data into existing model to learn the new knowledge incrementally by revision instead of retraining. The system has been extensively evaluated on different languages and text genres and has been compared against two state-of-the-art SBD systems, Punkt and MaxEnt. The experimental results show that the proposed system outperforms the other systems on all datasets.
Selective Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment to Identify RNA Aptamers against Shiga Toxins
Authors: Challa Sreerupa , Tzipori Saul , Sheoran Abhineet
Published: April 2014

Infection with Shiga toxin- (Stx-) producingE. colicauses life threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a leading cause of acute renal failure in children. Of the two antigenically distinct toxins, Stx1 and Stx2, Stx2 is more firmly linked with the development of HUS. In the present study, selective evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) was used in an attempt to identify RNA aptamers against Stx1 and Stx2. After 5 rounds of selection, significant enrichment of aptamer pool was obtained against Stx2, but not against Stx1, using a RNA aptamer library containing 56 random nucleotides (N56). Characterization of individual aptamer sequences revealed that six unique RNA aptamers (mA/pC, mB/pA, mC, mD, pB, and pD) recognized Stx2 in a filter binding assay. None of these aptamers bound Stx1. Aptamers mA/pC, mB/pA, mC, and mD, but not pB and pD, partially blocked binding of Alexa 488-labeled Stx2 with HeLa cells in a flow cytometry assay. However, none of the aptamers neutralized Stx2-mediated cytotoxicity and death of HeLa cells.
Preparation of Schiff Base Derived from 3,4-Dimethoxybenzaldehyde andp-Aminobenzoic Acid by Supersonic Speed Gas Impacting Method
Authors: Cai Yan-Hua , Luo Wen
Published: April 2014

A Schiff base derived from 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde andp-aminobenzoic acid (SBDA) was synthesized by novel supersonic speed gas impacting method. The morphology and geometric structure of the synthesized Schiff base SBDA were investigated, the results showed that the particles of SBDA were not completely regular and the HOMO and LUMO of SBDA optimized geometry structure using the semiempirical method PM3 were −9.115 eV and −1.191 eV, respectively, and some bond length of synthesized SBDA became short and bone angle became large compared to the reactant. The thermogravimetric analysis results indicated that SBDA began to decompose above 280°C; the decomposition temperature and thermogravimetric rate could vary with the different heating rate.
A Data‐Driven Reliability Estimation Approach for Phased‐Mission Systems
Authors: He Hua-Feng , Li Juan , Zhang Qing-Hua , Sun Guoxi
Published: April 2014

We attempt to address the issues associated with reliability estimation for phased‐mission systems (PMS) and present a novel data‐driven approach to achieve reliability estimation for PMS using the condition monitoring information and degradation data of such system under dynamic operating scenario. In this sense, this paper differs from the existing methods only considering the static scenario without using the real‐time information, which aims to estimate the reliability for a population but not for an individual. In the presented approach, to establish a linkage between the historical data and real‐time information of the individual PMS, we adopt a stochastic filtering model to model the phase duration and obtain the updated estimation of the mission time by Bayesian law at each phase. At the meanwhile, the lifetime of PMS is estimated from degradation data, which are modeled by an adaptive Brownian motion. As such, the mission reliability can be real time obtained through the estimated distribution of the mission time in conjunction with the estimated lifetime distribution. We demonstrate the usefulness of the developed approach via a numerical example.
Transforaminal Approach in Thoracal Disc Pathologies: Transforaminal Microdiscectomy Technique
Authors: Dalbayrak Sedat , Yaman Onur , Öztürk Kadir , Yılmaz Mesut , Gökdağ Mahmut , Ayten Murat
Published: April 2014

Objective. Many surgical approaches have been defined and implemented in the last few decades for thoracic disc herniations. The endoscopic foraminal approach in foraminal, lateral, and far lateral disc hernias is a contemporary minimal invasive approach. This study was performed to show that the approach is possible using the microscope without an endoscope, and even the intervention on the discs within the spinal canal is possible by having access through the foramen.Methods.Forty-two cases with disc hernias in the medial of the pedicle were included in this study; surgeries were performed with transforaminal approach and microsurgically. Extraforaminal disc hernias were not included in the study. Access was made through the Kambin triangle, foramen was enlarged, and spinal canal was entered.Results.The procedure took 65 minutes in the average, and the mean bleeding amount was about 100cc. They were mobilized within the same day postoperatively. No complications were seen. Follow-up periods range between 5 and 84 months, and the mean follow-up period is 30.2 months.Conclusion.Transforaminal microdiscectomy is a method that can be performed in any clinic with standard spinal surgery equipment. It does not require additional equipment or high costs.
A Triple-Masked, Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Ultrasound-Guided Brachial Plexus and Distal Peripheral Nerve Block Anesthesia for Outpatient Hand Surgery
Authors: Lam Nicholas C. K. , Charles Matthew , Mercer Deana , Soneru Codruta , Dillow Jennifer , Jaime Francisco , Petersen Timothy R. , Mariano Edward R.
Published: April 2014

Background. For hand surgery, brachial plexus blocks provide effective anesthesia but produce undesirable numbness. We hypothesized that distal peripheral nerve blocks will better preserve motor function while providing effective anesthesia.Methods. Adult subjects who were scheduled for elective ambulatory hand surgery under regional anesthesia and sedation were recruited and randomly assigned to receive ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block or distal block of the ulnar and median nerves. Each subject received 15 mL of 1.5% mepivacaine at the assigned location with 15 mL of normal saline injected in the alternate block location. The primary outcome (change in baseline grip strength measured by a hydraulic dynamometer) was tested before the block and prior to discharge. Subject satisfaction data were collected the day after surgery.Results. Fourteen subjects were enrolled. Median (interquartile range [IQR]) strength loss in the distal group was 21.4% (14.3, 47.8%), while all subjects in the supraclavicular group lost 100% of their preoperative strength,P= 0.001. Subjects in the distal group reported greater satisfaction with their block procedures on the day after surgery,P= 0.012.Conclusion. Distal nerve blocks better preserve motor function without negatively affecting quality of anesthesia, leading to increased patient satisfaction, when compared to brachial plexus block.
Noninvasive Biomarkers of Liver Fibrosis: An Overview
Authors: Fallatah Hind I.
Published: April 2014

Chronic liver diseases of differing etiologies are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Establishing accurate staging of liver disease is very important for enabling both therapeutic decisions and prognostic evaluations. A liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for assessing the stage of hepatic fibrosis, but it has many limitations. During the last decade, several noninvasive markers for assessing the stage of hepatic fibrosis have been developed. Some have been well validated and are comparable to liver biopsy. This paper will focus on the various noninvasive biochemical markers used to stage liver fibrosis.
A Case of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Limited Systemic Sclerosis Overlap Successfully Treated with Tocilizumab for Arthritis and Concomitant Generalized Lymphadenopathy and Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
Authors: Saito Eiko , Sato Shinji , Nogi Shinichi , Sasaki Noriko , Chinen Naofumi , Honda Kiri , Wakabayashi Takayuki , Yamada Chiho , Nakamura Naoya , Suzuki Yasuo
Published: April 2014

A 57-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and limited systemic sclerosis (lSSc) was suspected to have lymphadenopathy and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). Lymph node biopsy showed reactive follicular lymphadenopathy with intrafollicular plasmacyte infiltration that was interleukin-6 positive by immunohistostaining. Because of gradually worsening arthritis, tocilizumab was administered and arthritis improved markedly. Interestingly, lymphadenopathy and PBC improved simultaneously. This suggested that interleukin-6 might play an important role in reactive lymphadenopathy and PBC associated with RA/lSSc.
The Relationship between Mechanical Hyperalgesia Assessed by Manual Tender Point Examination and Disease Severity in Patients with Chronic Widespread Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Amris Kirstine , Wæhrens Eva Ejlersen , Jespersen Anders , Stockmarr Anders , Bennett Robert , Bliddal Henning , Danneskiold-Samsøe Bente
Published: April 2014

The clinical utility of tender point (TP) examination in patients reporting chronic widespread pain (CWP) is the subject of contemporary debate. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between mechanical hyperalgesia assessed by manual TP examination and clinical disease severity. 271 women with CWP were recruited from a clinical setting. Data collection included patient-reported symptoms, health-related quality of life variables, and observation-based measures of functional ability, muscle strength, 6-minute walk, and pressure pain thresholds measured by cuff algometry. TP examination was conducted according to ACR-guidelines. Relationships between disease variables and TP count (TPC) were analyzed with logistic regression in a continuum model, allowing the TPC to depend on the included disease variables and two regression models carried out for a TPC threshold level, varying between 1 and 17. The threshold analyses indicated a TPC threshold at 8, above which a large number of disease variables became consistently significant explanatory factors, whereas none of the disease variables reached a significance level in the continuum model. These results support the premise that the presence of mechanical hyperalgesia influences symptomatology in CWP and that the severity of clinical expression is related to a threshold of TPs, rather than being part of a continuum.
Multiobjective Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling with a Time-Varying Number of Tasks
Authors: Abello Manuel Blanco , Michalewicz Zbigniew
Published: April 2014

In resource-constrained project scheduling (RCPS) problems, ongoing tasks are restricted to utilizing a fixed number of resources. This paper investigates a dynamic version of the RCPS problem where the number of tasks varies in time. Our previous work investigated a technique called mapping of task IDs for centroid-based approach with random immigrants (McBAR) that was used to solve the dynamic problem. However, the solution-searching ability of McBAR was investigated over only a few instances of the dynamic problem. As a consequence, only a small number of characteristics of McBAR, under the dynamics of the RCPS problem, were found. Further, only a few techniques were compared to McBAR with respect to its solution-searching ability for solving the dynamic problem. In this paper, (a) the significance of the subalgorithms of McBAR is investigated by comparing McBAR to several other techniques; and (b) the scope of investigation in the previous work is extended. In particular, McBAR is compared to a technique called, Estimation Distribution Algorithm (EDA). As with McBAR, EDA is applied to solve the dynamic problem, an application that is unique in the literature.
Novel Web Service Selection Model Based on Discrete Group Search
Authors: Zhai Jie , Shao Zhiqing , Guo Yi , Zhang Haiteng
Published: April 2014

In our earlier work, we present a novel formal method for the semiautomatic verification of specifications and for describing web service composition components by using abstract concepts. After verification, the instantiations of components were selected to satisfy the complex service performance constraints. However, selecting an optimal instantiation, which comprises different candidate services for each generic service, from a large number of instantiations is difficult. Therefore, we present a new evolutionary approach on the basis of the discrete group search service (D-GSS) model. With regard to obtaining the optimal multiconstraint instantiation of the complex component, the D-GSS model has competitive performance compared with other service selection models in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and ability to solve high-dimensional service composition component problems. We propose the cost function and the discrete group search optimizer (D-GSO) algorithm and study the convergence of the D-GSS model through verification and test cases.
PEM-PCA: A Parallel Expectation-Maximization PCA Face Recognition Architecture
Authors: Rujirakul Kanokmon , So-In Chakchai , Arnonkijpanich Banchar
Published: April 2014

Principal component analysis or PCA has been traditionally used as one of the feature extraction techniques in face recognition systems yielding high accuracy when requiring a small number of features. However, the covariance matrix and eigenvalue decomposition stages cause high computational complexity, especially for a large database. Thus, this research presents an alternative approach utilizing an Expectation-Maximization algorithm to reduce the determinant matrix manipulation resulting in the reduction of the stages’ complexity. To improve the computational time, a novel parallel architecture was employed to utilize the benefits of parallelization of matrix computation during feature extraction and classification stages including parallel preprocessing, and their combinations, so-called a Parallel Expectation-Maximization PCA architecture. Comparing to a traditional PCA and its derivatives, the results indicate lower complexity with an insignificant difference in recognition precision leading to high speed face recognition systems, that is, the speed-up over nine and three times over PCA and Parallel PCA.
Single-Sided Electromagnetic Induction Heating Based on IGBT
Authors: Wang Song , Li Guangda , Li Xiaokun
Published: April 2014

A single-sided induction heating system based on IGBT is proposed. The system includes the series resonant circuit, control circuit, and auxiliary circuit. The main circuit includes rectifier, filter, inverter, and resonant circuit. A drive circuit is designed for IGBT combing some protection circuits. We have a simulation of the single-sided induction heating system in ANSYS. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results. The performance of the system is promising. And also we estimate the temperature distribution model by the least squares theory.
Enzyme-Free Electrochemical Glucose Sensors Prepared by Dealloying Pd-Ni-P Metallic Glasses
Authors: Zeng Yuqiao , Xiang Hua , Yang Chunlei , Yang Shengchen , Chen Luyang , Chen Mingwei , Inoue Akihisa , Zhang Xuhai , Jiang Jianqing
Published: April 2014

We report the formation of enzyme-free electrochemical glucose sensors by electrochemical dealloying palladium-containing Pd-Ni-P metallic glasses. When metallic glasses with different Pd contents are used as the dealloying precursor alloys, palladium-based nanoporous metals with different ligament and pore sizes can be obtained. The chemical compositions of the nanoporous metals also vary according to the different precursor compositions. All the as-obtained nanoporous metals exhibit electrochemical catalytic activity towards the oxidation of d-glucose, indicating that the nanoporous metals prepared by dealloying the Pd-Ni-P metallic glasses are promising materials for enzyme-free electrochemical glucose sensor.