bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Early Career Experiences of Physical Education Teachers in Urban Schools
Authors: Flory Sara Barnard
Published: June 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine the early career experiences of three physical education (PE) teachers who taught in urban charter schools. Using cultural relevance theory, three early career PE teachers were observed and interviewed for approximately six weeks each. Data were analyzed using constant comparison. Two major themes emerged from the data: the mechanisms of school support, and achieving ‘insider’ versus ‘outsider’ status during teachers’ early careers. These findings highlight the challenges that early career PE teachers face in urban schools, and demonstrate how being a culturally relevant teacher can improve teaching in physical education.
Transposable Phage Mu
Authors: Harshey Rasika M.
Published: June 2015

Transposable phage Mu has played a major role in elucidating the mechanism of movement of mobile DNA elements. The high efficiency of Mu transposition has facilitated a detailed biochemical dissection of the reaction mechanism, as well as of protein and DNA elements that regulate transpososome assembly and function. The deduced phosphotransfer mechanism involves in-line orientation of metal ion-activated hydroxyl groups for nucleophilic attack on reactive diester bonds, a mechanism that appears to be used by all transposable elements examined to date. A crystal structure of the Mu transpososome is available. Mu differs from all other transposable elements in encoding unique adaptations that promote its viral lifestyle. These adaptations include multiple DNA (enhancer, SGS) and protein (MuB, HU, IHF) elements that enable efficient Mu end synapsis, efficient target capture, low target specificity, immunity to transposition near or into itself, and efficient mechanisms for recruiting host repair and replication machineries to resolve transposition intermediates. MuB has multiple functions, including target capture and immunity. The SGS element promotes gyrase-mediated Mu end synapsis, and the enhancer, aided by HU and IHF, participates in directing a unique topological architecture of the Mu synapse. The function of these DNA and protein elements is important during both lysogenic and lytic phases. Enhancer properties have been exploited in the design of mini-Mu vectors for genetic engineering. Mu ends assembled into active transpososomes have been delivered directly into bacterial, yeast, and human genomes, where they integrate efficiently, and may prove useful for gene therapy.
Programmed Genome Rearrangements in
Tetrahymena
Authors: Yao Meng-Chao , Chao Ju-Lan , Cheng Chao-Yin
Published: June 2015

Ciliates are champions in programmed genome rearrangements. They carry out extensive restructuring during differentiation to drastically alter the complexity, relative copy number, and arrangement of sequences in the somatic genome. This chapter focuses on the model ciliate
Tetrahymena
, perhaps the simplest and best-understood ciliate studied. It summarizes past studies on various genome rearrangement processes and describes in detail the remarkable progress made in the past decade on the understanding of DNA deletion and other processes. The process occurs at thousands of specific sites to remove defined DNA segments that comprise roughly one-third of the genome including all transposons. Interestingly, this DNA rearranging process is a special form of RNA interference. It involves the production of double-stranded RNA and small RNA that guides the formation of heterochromatin. A domesticated piggyBac transposase is believed to cut off the marked chromatin, and the retained sequences are joined together through nonhomologous end-joining processes. Many of the proteins and DNA players involved have been analyzed and are described. This link provides possible explanations for the evolution, mechanism, and functional roles of the process. The article also discusses the interactions between parental and progeny somatic nuclei that affect the selection of sequences for deletion, and how the specific deletion boundaries are determined after heterochromatin marking.
An Overview of Tyrosine Site-specific Recombination: From an Flp Perspective
Authors: Jayaram Makkuni , Ma Chien-Hui , Kachroo Aashiq H , Rowley Paul A , Guga Piotr , Fan Hsui-Fang , Voziyanov Yuri
Published: June 2015

Tyrosine site-specific recombinases (YRs) are widely distributed among prokaryotes and their viruses, and were thought to be confined to the budding yeast lineage among eukaryotes. However, YR-harboring retrotransposons (the DIRS and PAT families) and DNA transposons (Cryptons) have been identified in a variety of eukaryotes. The YRs utilize a common chemical mechanism, analogous to that of type IB topoisomerases, to bring about a plethora of genetic rearrangements with important physiological consequences in their respective biological contexts. A subset of the tyrosine recombinases has provided model systems for analyzing the chemical mechanisms and conformational features of the recombination reaction using chemical, biochemical, topological, structural, and single molecule-biophysical approaches. YRs with simple reaction requirements have been utilized to bring about programmed DNA rearrangements for addressing fundamental questions in developmental biology. They have also been employed to trace the topological features of DNA within high-order DNA interactions established by protein machines. The directed evolution of altered specificity YRs, combined with their spatially and temporally regulated expression, heralds their emergence as vital tools in genome engineering projects with wide-ranging biotechnological and medical applications.
Copy-out–Paste-in Transposition of IS
911
: A Major Transposition Pathway
Authors: Chandler Michael , Fayet Olivier , Rousseau Philippe , Ton Hoang Bao , Duval-Valentin Guy
Published: June 2015

IS
911
has provided a powerful model for studying the transposition of members of a large class of transposable element: the IS
3
family of bacterial Insertion Sequences (IS). These transpose by a Copy-out–Paste-in mechanism in which a double-strand IS circle transposition intermediate is generated from the donor site by replication and proceeds to integrate into a suitable double strand DNA target. This is perhaps one of the most common transposition mechanisms known to date. Copy-out–Paste-in transposition has been adopted by members of at least eight large IS families. This chapter details the different steps of the Copy-out–Paste-in mechanism involved in IS
911
transposition. At a more biological level it also describes various aspects of regulation of the transposition process. These include transposase production by programmed translational frameshifting, transposase expression from the circular intermediate using a specialized promoter assembled at the circle junction and binding of the nascent transposase while it remains attached to the ribosome during translation (co-translational binding). This co-translational binding of the transposase to neighboring IS ends provides an explanation for the longstanding observation that transposases show a
cis
-preference for their activities.
The Long Terminal Repeat Retrotransposons Tf1 and Tf2 of
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Authors: Esnault Caroline , Levin Henry L.
Published: June 2015

The long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons Tf1 and Tf2 of
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
are active mobile elements of the Ty3/gypsy family. The mobilization of these retrotransposons depends on particle formation, reverse transcription and integration, processes typical of other LTR retrotransposons. However, Tf1 and Tf2 are distinct from other LTR elements in that they assemble virus-like particles from a single primary translation product, initiate reverse transcription with an unusual self-priming mechanism, and, in the case of Tf1, integrate with a pattern that favors specific promoters of RNA pol II-transcribed genes. To avoid the chromosome instability and genome damage that results from increased copy number,
S. pombe
applies a variety of defense mechanisms that restrict Tf1 and Tf2 activity. The mRNA of the Tf elements is eliminated by an exosome-based pathway when cells are in favorable conditions whereas nutrient deprivation triggers an RNA interference-dependent pathway that results in the heterochromatization of the elements. Interestingly, Tf1 integrates into the promoters of stress-induced genes and these insertions are capable of increasing the expression of adjacent genes. These properties of Tf1 transposition raise the possibility that Tf1 benefits cells with specific insertions by providing resistance to environmental stress.
The Tn
3
-family of Replicative Transposons
Authors: Nicolas Emilien , Lambin Michael , Dandoy Damien , Galloy Christine , Nguyen Nathan , Oger Cédric A. , Hallet Bernard
Published: June 2015

Transposons of the Tn
3
family form a widespread and remarkably homogeneous group of bacterial transposable elements in terms of transposition functions and an extremely versatile system for mediating gene reassortment and genomic plasticity owing to their modular organization. They have made major contributions to antimicrobial drug resistance dissemination or to endowing environmental bacteria with novel catabolic capacities. Here, we discuss the dynamic aspects inherent to the diversity and mosaic structure of Tn
3
-family transposons and their derivatives. We also provide an overview of current knowledge of the replicative transposition mechanism of the family, emphasizing most recent work aimed at understanding this mechanism at the biochemical level. Previous and recent data are put in perspective with those obtained for other transposable elements to build up a tentative model linking the activities of the Tn
3
-family transposase protein with the cellular process of DNA replication, suggesting new lines for further investigation. Finally, we summarize our current view of the DNA site-specific recombination mechanisms responsible for converting replicative transposition intermediates into final products, comparing paradigm systems using a serine recombinase with more recently characterized systems that use a tyrosine recombinase.
Spontaneous gallbladder perforation in a patient of situs inversus totalis, misdiagnosed as perforation peritonitis due to gas under the right dome of the diaphragm
Authors: Kumar Sanjeev , Kumar Shailendra , Kumar Suresh , Gautam Shefali
Published: June 2015

Acute biliary tract disease is a common condition in adults. Apart from bile duct perforation, spontaneous perforation of the gallbladder itself is very rare in all age groups; to date, all recorded cases are secondary to coexistent disease. We present the case report of a 60-year-old adult having an idiopathic gallbladder perforation. In our case, an unusual presentation was situs inversus totalis and fundal gas shadow was considered as free air under the right dome of the diaphragm by mistake. The patient underwent laparotomy and emergency cholecystectomy was performed in the perforated gallbladder. To date, no case has been described in the literature.
Down syndrome, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and hyperthyroidism: a rare association
Authors: Marques Inês , Silva Ana , Castro Sofia , Lopes Lurdes
Published: June 2015

The association between Down syndrome (DS) and autoimmune endocrinopathies is well established. These disorders become increasingly frequent as children grow older and the onset of one often predisposes to the development of others. However, there are few cases in the literature reporting the simultaneous onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus and hyperthyroidism in children with DS. We describe a case of an 8-year-old girl with DS who presented at the emergency department with hyperglycaemia and ketosis as a primary manifestation of type 1 diabetes mellitus. During the initial investigation, hyperthyroidism was detected, with thyroid-stimulating hormone<0.01 µUI/mL, positive antithyroid antibodies and an increase in thyroid gland on ultrasound. The authors present this case to underline the usefulness of monitoring thyroid function at the diagnosis of diabetes, even without apparent clinical manifestations, and to alert for the possibility of autoimmune endocrine dysfunction in children with DS.
Diffuse cholangiocarcinoma presenting with hepatic failure and extensive portal and mesenteric vein thrombosis
Authors: Vakil Abhay , Guru Pramod , Reddy Dereddi Raja (Raja) , Iyer Vivek
Published: June 2015

A 64-year-old previously healthy man presented with a 4-week history of vague right upper quadrant abdominal pain. Imaging studies revealed extensive portal, splenic, superior and inferior mesenteric vein thrombosis with mosaic perfusion and wedge-shaped areas of liver perfusion abnormalities. An extensive thrombophilia workup including tests for factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, lupus anticoagulant, paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria, protein C and S, homocysteine and antinuclear antibody titres were all negative. Other laboratory testing revealed an elevated alkaline phosphatase (340 IU/L). Surgical exploration and catheter-directed thrombolysis were not felt to be feasible given the extensive clot burden. He was started on anticoagulation therapy. Over the next 10 days, he required intensive care unit admission due to progressive hepatic encephalopathy and fulminant liver failure. He continued to decline and eventually died of multiorgan failure. Autopsy revealed extensive, diffuse intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma that had almost entirely replaced his normal liver parenchyma.
Endogenous endophthalmitis secondary to erysipelas
Authors: Costa José F , Marques João Pedro , Marques Marco , Quadrado Maria João
Published: June 2015

A 64-year-old woman with chronic right arm lymphoedema presented with progressive and painful vision loss in the right eye following diagnosis of erysipelas in the ipsilateral arm. Visual acuity was light perception. Biomicroscopy revealed marked conjunctival injection, decreased corneal transparency and an inflammatory mass in the anterior chamber, which precluded fundoscopy. The ocular ultrasonography features were consistent with acute endophthalmitis, and the patient was admitted to the hospital. A systemic evaluation, including complete physical examination, echocardiography and blood tests, ruled out other sources of infection besides the cutaneous site. Blood cultures were positive for group AStreptococcus. A diagnosis of unilateral acute endophthalmitis due to group AStreptococcusbacteraemia secondary to erysipelas was made and successfully treated with optimal medical care, including prompt intravitreal and systemic antibiotic administration. Despite resolution of the infectious process, visual acuity did not improve.
Malignant mixed Mullerian tumour of uterus secondary to tamoxifen therapy for hormone responsive breast cancer
Authors: Gupta Mayank , Kiruthiga Kala Gnanasekaran
Published: June 2015

Tamoxifen is used in the treatment of hormone responsive breast cancer because of its antiestrogenic effect. However, it also has an estrogenic effect on the uterus, thereby increasing the risk of endometrial hyperplasia, endometrial polyp and endometrial neoplasms such as endometrial adenocarcinoma and malignant mixed Mullerian tumour (MMMT). This case describes the possible pathogenesis and risk of developing MMMT due to long-term tamoxifen intake in hormone responsive breast cancer.
Refractory hypocalcaemia complicating metastatic prostatic carcinoma
Authors: Rizzo Christopher , Vella Sandro , Cachia Mario J
Published: June 2015

A 72-year-old man with a background of ischaemic heart disease was referred to the accident and emergency department with a 1-week history of worsening dyspnoea and lethargy. A chest X-ray revealed a right-sided lobar pneumonia and a prolonged corrected QT interval was noted on his ECG at presentation. Laboratory investigations confirmed severe hypocalcaemia, significant vitamin D deficiency and relative hypoparathyroidism. A markedly elevated prostate-specific antigen was also identified. Bone scintigraphy demonstrated widespread osteoblastic bone metastases. Severe hypocalcaemia persisted despite treatment and he succumbed after 60 days of hospitalisation.
‘Pitted’ to ‘Pleasing’ in 20 min
Authors: Sinha Soumya , Sudulakunta Vorse Kirankumar , Kariya Pratik B , Mallikarjuna Rachappa
Published: June 2015

In recent times, as a result of extensive drinking water fluoridation, the number of patients affected by fluorosis has increased considerably. The purpose of this clinical report is to describe the use of enamel microabrasion for a patient with severe fluorosis using 37% phosphoric acid and pumice mixture. The results were pleasing, and hence 37% phosphoric acid can be recommended as a safe and easily available alternative in microabrasion procedures.
Cinnamon and its Components Suppress Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation by Up-Regulating Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors
Authors: Kwon Hyeeun , Lee Jung-Jin , Lee Ji-Hye , Cho Won-Kyung , Gu Min Jung , Lee Kwang Jin , Ma Jin Yeul
Published: June 2015

Cinnamomum cassia bark has been used in traditional herbal medicine to treat a variety of cardiovascular diseases. However, the antiproliferative effect of cinnamon extract on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and the corresponding restenosis has not been explored. Hence, after examining the effect of cinnamon extract on VSMC proliferation, we investigated the possible involvement of signal transduction pathways associated with early signal and cell cycle analysis, including regulatory proteins. Besides, to identify the active components, we investigated the components of cinnamon extract on VSMC proliferation. Cinnamon extract inhibited platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced VSMC proliferation and suppressed the PDGF-stimulated early signal transduction. In addition, cinnamon extract arrested the cell cycle and inhibited positive regulatory proteins. Correspondingly, the protein levels of p21 and p27 not only were increased in the presence of cinnamon extract, also the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was inhibited by cinnamon extract. Besides, among the components of cinnamon extract, cinnamic acid (CA), eugenol (EG) and cinnamyl alcohol significantly inhibited the VSMC proliferation. Overall, the present study demonstrates that cinnamon extract inhibited the PDGF-BB-induced proliferation of VSMCs through a G0/G1arrest, which down-regulated the expression of cell cycle positive regulatory proteins by up-regulating p21 and p27 expression.
Alpha-Pinene Exhibits Anti-Inflammatory Activity Through the Suppression of MAPKs and the NF-κB Pathway in Mouse Peritoneal Macrophages
Authors: Kim Dae-Seung , Lee Hyun-Ja , Jeon Yong-Deok , Han Yo-Han , Kee Ji-Ye , Kim Hyun-Jeong , Shin Hyun-Ji , Kang JongWook , Lee Beom Su , Kim Sung-Hoon , Kim Su-Jin , Park Sang-Hyun , Choi Byung-Min , Park Sung-Joo , Um Jae-Young , Hong Seung-Heon
Published: June 2015

In this study, we found that alpha-pinene (α-pinene) exhibits anti-inflammatory activity through the suppression of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway in mouse peritoneal macrophages. α-Pinene is found in the oils of many coniferous trees and rosemary. We investigated the inhibitory effects of α-Pinene on inflammatory responses induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) using mouse peritoneal macrophages. α-Pinene significantly decreased the LPS-induced production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and nitric oxide (NO). α-Pinene also inhibited inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expressions in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Additionally, the activations of MAPKs and NF-κB were attenuated by means of α-pinene treatment. These results indicate that α-pinene has an anti-inflammatory effect and that it is a potential candidate as a new drug to treat various inflammatory diseases.
Anti-Colon Cancer Effects of 6-Shogaol Through G2/M Cell Cycle Arrest by p53/p21-cdc2/cdc25A Crosstalk
Authors: Qi Lian-Wen , Zhang Zhiyu , Zhang Chun-Feng , Anderson Samantha , Liu Qun , Yuan Chun-Su , Wang Chong-Zhi
Published: June 2015

Chemopreventive agents can be identified from botanicals. Recently, there has been strong support for the potential of 6-shogaol, a natural compound from dietary ginger (Zingiber officinale), in cancer chemoprevention. However, whether 6-shogaol inhibits the growth of colorectal tumors in vivo remains unknown, and the underlying anticancer mechanisms have not been well characterized. In this work, we observed that 6-shogaol (15 mg/kg) significantly inhibited colorectal tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. We show that 6-shogaol inhibited HCT-116 and SW-480 cell proliferation with IC50 of 7.5 and 10 μM, respectively. Growth of HCT-116 cells was arrested at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, primarily mediated by the up-regulation of p53, the CDK inhibitor p21waf1/cip1and GADD45α, and by the down-regulation of cdc2 and cdc25A. Using p53-/-and p53+/+HCT-116 cells, we confirmed that p53/p21 was the main pathway that contributed to the G2/M cell cycle arrest by 6-shogaol. 6-Shogaol induced apoptosis, mainly through the mitochondrial pathway, and the bcl-2 family might act as a key regulator. Our results demonstrated that 6-shogaol induces cancer cell death by inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. 6-Shogaol could be an active natural product in colon cancer chemoprevention.
On geometry of the (generalized) G2-manifolds
Authors: Hu Sen , Hu Zhi
Published: June 2015

In this paper, we first understand the classical [Formula: see text]-structure and [Formula: see text]-geometry from the viewpoint of spinor, which is a more familiar framework for physicists. Explicit construction of invariant spinor is given via the Dirac gamma matrices. We introduce a notion of multispinor bundle associated with invariant spinor and differential operator on the section of this bundle. Then we study the vector fields satisfy some additional properties on [Formula: see text]-manifold, more precisely, we prove some no-go theorems corresponding to the vector field preserving the associated 4-form on [Formula: see text]-manifold, and we also consider the nowhere-vanishing vector field which induces an integrable complex structure on the vertical direction of tangent bundle. Next we discuss the relation between the variation of metric and that of effective action on the moduli space of integrable [Formula: see text]-structures. In the last section, we deal with the structure operators on generalized [Formula: see text]-manifold after describing the integrability of generalized [Formula: see text]-structure, some identities of structure operators are derived, which are analogues of Kähler-type and Weitzenböck-type identities under the classical case. And finally, we introduce a flow of which a generalized [Formula: see text]-manifold can be realized as the fixed point.
Holographic baryons and instanton crystals
Authors: Kaplunovsky Vadim , Melnikov Dmitry , Sonnenschein Jacob
Published: June 2015

In a wide class of holographic models, like the one proposed by Sakai and Sugimoto, baryons can be approximated by instantons of non-Abelian gauge fields that live on the world-volume of flavor D-branes. In the leading order, those are just the Yang–Mills instantons, whose solutions can be constructed from the celebrated Atiyah–Drinfeld–Hitchin–Manin (ADHM) construction. This fact can be used to study various properties of baryons in the holographic limit. In particular, one can attempt to construct a holographic description of the cold dense nuclear matter phase of baryons. It can be argued that holographic baryons in such a regime are necessarily in a solid crystalline phase. In this review, we summarize the known results on the construction and phases of crystals of the holographic baryons.
VALIDITY OF THE RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION OF OXFORD HIP AND KNEE SCORES
Authors: Falconer Travis M. , Headford Julie , Edmondston Stephen , Yates Piers J.
Published: June 2015

The Oxford Hip Score (OHS) and Oxford Knee Score (OKS) are validated, reliable and reproducible outcome measures, however their use retrospectively has not been examined. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to examine the accuracy and reliability of patients' ability to recall their OHS and OKS in a retrospective manner. A total of 137 patients undergoing primary hip (40) or primary knee (97) arthroplasty with a mean age of 70.8 years (range, 47–88) and a mean time to follow up of 27.2 months (range, 6–46) were included in the study. The mean retrospective OHS and OKS decreased compared to the pre-operative score (OHS = 1.6 ± SD, p = 0.36, OKS = 4.7 ± SD, p < 0.001). There was only a weak positive relationship between the actual pre-operative scores and the retrospective scores (OHS: r2 = 0.30, OKS: r2 = 0.19). Bland–Altman analysis demonstrated 95% limits of agreement between scores of -19.9 to 23.1 for the OHS and -15.3 to 24.8 for the OKS. This study shows that patients are poor at retrospectively recalling their pre-operative OHS and OKS and therefore these scores should not be used in a retrospective manner.
Nonlinear Free Vibration of Hybrid Composite Moving Beams Embedded with Shape Memory Alloy Fibers
Authors: Ebrahimi M. R. , Moeinfar A. , Shakeri M.
Published: June 2015

The aim of this paper is to investigate the free vibration of hybrid composite moving beams embedded with shape memory alloy (SMA) fibers. The nonlinear equations of motion are derived based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory in conjunction with the von Karman type of nonlinearity in strain–displacement relations via the extended Hamilton principle. Also, the recovery stress induced by the SMA fibers is computed by applying the one-dimensional Brinson model and Reuss scheme. Then, an analytical approach in used to solve the nonlinear equation of motion for the simply supported shape memory alloy hybrid composite (SMAHC) moving beams. Based on the analytical solution, several parametric studies are presented to show the effects of various parameters such as volume fraction, pre-strain in the SMA fibers, temperature rise and velocity on the fundamental frequency of the SMAHC moving beams. Due to the lack of similar results in the specialized literature on the subject of interest, this paper is likely to fill a gap in the state of the art of the related research.
Deterministic relativistic quantum bit commitment
Authors: Adlam Emily , Kent Adrian
Published: June 2015

We describe new unconditionally secure bit commitment schemes whose security is based on Minkowski causality and the monogamy of quantum entanglement. We first describe an ideal scheme that is purely deterministic, in the sense that neither party needs to generate any secret randomness at any stage. We also describe a variant that allows the committer to proceed deterministically, requires only local randomness generation from the receiver, and allows the commitment to be verified in the neighborhood of the unveiling point. We show that these schemes still offer near-perfect security in the presence of losses and errors, which can be made perfect if the committer uses an extra single random secret bit. We discuss scenarios where these advantages are significant.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE GREEN INNOVATION IN THE SEARCH OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF ENTERPRISES OF THE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC BRAZILIAN SECTORS
Authors: ARENHARDT DANIEL LUIS , BATTISTELLA LUCIANA FLORES , GROHMANN MARCIA ZAMPIERI
Published: June 2015

This study aimed to verify how the adoption of green innovations influences in the obtention of competitive advantage of companies in the electrical and electronic Brazilian sectors. Quantitative in nature, the study adopted the conceptual model proposed by [Chen et al. (2006). The influence of green innovation performance on corporate advantage in Taiwan. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(4), 331–339]. Using as target population companies linked to the Brazilian Association of Electrical and Electronics Industry (ABINEE), the sample consisted of 113 organisations representing 20.62% of this population. The results showed that the level of adoption of innovative green practices among the participating companies is high and that the relationship between products innovation and green processes and the achievement of competitive advantage is significant, but at a moderate level.
THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE-INTEGRATION PRACTICES IN SERVICE INNOVATION PROJECTS
Authors: HURNONEN SALLA , RITALA PAAVO , ELLONEN HANNA-KAISA
Published: June 2015

Services comprise an increasingly bigger proportion of contemporary economies, making service innovation more relevant than ever. However, the practices and processes related to the utilisation of knowledge for service development are not very well understood in this context. To narrow this gap, this study focuses on how Knowledge-Intensive Business Service (KIBS) firms utilise knowledge-integration practices in different phases of the service-innovation projects they carry out for their customers. A multiple-case study with in-depth qualitative data is conducted, focusing on four case firms in the Finnish KIBS sector. Case-by-case and cross-case analyses are reflected against four categories of knowledge-integration practices: Rules and directives, sequencing, decision-making, and group problem-solving and routines. The results show the detailed evidence on how these practices are utilised in different types of service-innovation projects. Furthermore, two generic types of service-innovation projects are identified with different implications for knowledge-integration and problem-solving.
Parity results for 7-regular and 23-regular partitions
Authors: Baruah Nayandeep Deka , Das Kuwali
Published: June 2015

We find several new parity results for 7- and 23-regular partitions.
Characterization of BL-almost distributive lattices
Authors: Rao G. C. , Kakumanu Naveen Kumar
Published: June 2015

Necessary and sufficient conditions for an Almost Distributive Lattice (ADL) to become a BL-ADL are derived. Different characterization of a BL-ADL are obtained. Relation between the operators on BL-ADL are derived. Wide choice of fundamental operations for a BL-ADL are derived.
Betti number of nilpotent Lie algebras and graph ideals
Authors: Khaksari Ahmad
Published: June 2015

It is shown that, how spectral sequence arguments can contribute to a solution in a concrete setting. For one-dimensional extensions of a Heisenberg algebra, we determine the Betti numbers exactly and then show that some families in this class have a M-shaped Betti number distribution, and construct the first examples with an even more exotic complete bipartite graph which are independent of choice of field. Finally, we discuss the Betti numbers for the star graph with [Formula: see text] vertices.
A curious matrix-sum identity and certain finite sums identities
Authors: Kiliç Emrah , Akkus Ilker , Ömür Neşe , Ulutaş Yücel T.
Published: June 2015

In this paper, we consider two generalized binary sequences and then give a generalization of a matrix equality proposed as an advanced problem. Then, we derive new certain finite sums including the generalized binary sequences as applications.
Some results on the beta function and the incomplete beta function
Authors: Lin Mongkolsery , Fisher Brian , Orankitjaroen Somsak
Published: June 2015

The incomplete Beta function [Formula: see text] is defined for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. This definition was extended to negative integer values of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] by Özçaḡ et al. using neutrix limits. Partial derivatives of the incomplete Beta function [Formula: see text] for negative integer values of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] were then evaluated. In the following, a number of results are obtained for the incomplete Beta function [Formula: see text] and then the corresponding results for the Beta function [Formula: see text] are deduced.
Some inequalities for differentiable coordinated convex mappings
Authors: Sarikaya Mehmet Zeki
Published: June 2015

In this paper, we indicate some inequalities for double integrals of functions whose partial derivatives in absolute value are convex on the coordinates on rectangle from the plane. Our established results generalize some recent results for functions whose partial derivatives in absolute value are convex on the coordinates on the rectangle from the plane.
ALLOCATION OF EMISSION ALLOWANCES: IMPACTS ON TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS
Authors: ROSENDAHL KNUT EINAR , STORRØSTEN HALVOR BRISEID
Published: June 2015

Allocation of allowances in an emission trading system (ETS) may affect firms' investments in new technologies. In this paper, we investigate how the incentives to invest depend on the regulator's expected response to these investments, assuming that allowances are allocated in proportion to output (output-based allocation (OBA)). If the regulator has commited to the allocation factor, OBA tends to stimulate investments in cleaner technologies, due to higher output and increased price of allowances. On the other hand, if each firm expects the regulator to tighten the allocation factor after observing its clean technology investment, the firms' incentives to invest are moderated. If strong, this last negative effect may dominate the former positive effect on investments. Finally, if allowances are given only to a subset of firms or sectors, then other firms regulated by the ETS will increase their technology investments if and only if their total emission payments increase.
Symbiotic Network Simulation and Emulation
Authors: Erazo Miguel A. , Rong Rong , Liu Jason
Published: June 2015

A testbed capable of representing detailed operations of complex applications under diverse network conditions is invaluable for understanding the design and performance of new protocols and applications before their real deployment. We introduce a novel method that combines high-performance large-scale network simulation and high-fidelity network emulation, and thus enables real instances of network applications and protocols to run in real operating environments and be tested under simulated network settings. Using our approach, network simulation and emulation can form a symbiotic relationship, through which they are synchronized for an accurate representation of the network-scale traffic behavior. We introduce a model downscaling method along with an efficient queuing model and a traffic reproduction technique, which can significantly reduce the synchronization overhead and improve accuracy. We validate our approach with extensive experiments via simulation and with a real-system implementation. We also present a case study using our approach to evaluate a multipath data transport protocol.
Simulating Fixations When Looking at Visual Arts
Authors: Pflüger Hermann , Höferlin Benjamin , Raschke Michael , Ertl Thomas
Published: June 2015

When people look at pictures, they fixate on specific areas. The sequences of such fixations are so characteristic for certain pictures that metrics can be derived that allow successful grouping of similar pieces of visual art. However, determining enough fixation sequences by eye tracking is not practically feasible for large groups of people and pictures. In order to get around this limitation, we present a novel algorithm that simulates eye movements by calculating scan paths for images and time frames in real time. The basis of our algorithm is an attention model that combines and optimizes rectangle features with Adaboost. The model is adapted to the characteristics of the retina, and its input is dependent on a few earlier fixations. This method results in significant improvements compared to previous approaches. Our simulation process delivers the same data structures as an eye tracker, thus can be analyzed by standard eye-tracking software. A comparison with recorded data from eye tracking experiments shows that our algorithm for simulating fixations has a very good prediction quality for the stimulus areas on which many subjects focus. We also compare the results with those from earlier works. Finally, we demonstrate how the presented algorithm can be used to calculate the similarity of pictures in terms of human perception.
Social Haystack
Authors: Ludwig Thomas , Reuter Christian , Pipek Volkmar
Published: June 2015

People all over the world are regularly affected by disasters and emergencies. Besides official emergency services, ordinary citizens are getting increasingly involved in crisis response work. They are usually present on-site at the place of incident and use social media to share information about the event. For emergency services, the large amount of citizen-generated content in social media, however, means that finding high-quality information is similar to “finding a needle in a haystack”. This article presents an approach to how a dynamic and subjective quality assessment of citizen-generated content could support the work of emergency services. First, we present results of our empirical study concerning the usage of citizen-generated content by emergency services. Based on our literature review and empirical study, we derive design guidelines and describe a concept for dynamic quality measurement that is implemented as a service-oriented web-application “Social Haystack.” Finally, we outline findings of its evaluation and implications thereof.
Placing in Age
Authors: Lindley Siân , Wallace Jayne
Published: June 2015

Moving home in later life is an experience born of necessity for many older people. Yet, although a good deal of research has considered how to support “ageing in place,” relatively little attention has been given to the transition of moving to a new home, or how a feeling of belonging is accomplished once there. We present findings from two studies that explore “placing in age.” The first looks at downsizing one's home and the second at living in a residential care home. We reflect on what placing in age means in these two circumstances, and how technology might be used to support it. We highlight the importance of continuity through change and the ability to “design” everyday life. Rather than support for stability or reminiscing about the past, the aim is to address the need for change and to enable the meaningful spending of time now and in the future.
Towards Fully Automated Motion Capture of Signs -- Development and Evaluation of a Key Word Signing Avatar
Authors: Alexanderson Simon , BESKOW JONAS
Published: June 2015

Motion capture of signs provides unique challenges in the field of multimodal data collection. The dense packaging of visual information requires high fidelity and high bandwidth of the captured data. Even though marker-based optical motion capture provides many desirable features such as high accuracy, global fitting, and the ability to record body and face simultaneously, it is not widely used to record finger motion, especially not for articulated and syntactic motion such as signs. Instead, most signing avatar projects use costly instrumented gloves, which require long calibration procedures. In this article, we evaluate the data quality obtained from optical motion capture of isolated signs from Swedish sign language with a large number of low-cost cameras. We also present a novel dual-sensor approach to combine the data with low-cost, five-sensor instrumented gloves to provide a recording method with low manual postprocessing. Finally, we evaluate the collected data and the dual-sensor approach as transferred to a highly stylized avatar. The application of the avatar is a game-based environment for training Key Word Signing (KWS) as augmented and alternative communication (AAC), intended for children with communication disabilities.
Time-Warp
Authors: Diegues Nuno , Romano Paolo
Published: June 2015

The multicore revolution that took place one decade ago has turned parallel programming into a major concern for the mainstream software development industry. In this context, Transactional Memory (TM) has emerged as a simpler and attractive alternative to that of lock-based synchronization, whose complexity and error-proneness are widely recognized.

The notion of permissiveness in TM translates to only aborting a transaction when it cannot be accepted in any history that guarantees a target correctness criterion. This theoretically powerful property is often neglected by state-of-the-art TMs because it imposes considerable algorithmic costs. Instead, these TMs opt to maximize their implementation’s efficiency by aborting transactions under overly conservative conditions. As a result, they risk rejecting a significant number of safe executions.

In this article, we seek to identify a sweet spot between permissiveness and efficiency by introducing the Time-Warp Multiversion (TWM) algorithm. TWM is based on the key idea of allowing an update transaction that has performed stale reads (i.e., missed the writes of concurrently committed transactions) to be serialized by “committing it in the past,” which we call a
time-warp
commit. At its core, TWM uses a novel, lightweight validation mechanism with little computational overhead. TWM also guarantees that read-only transactions can never be aborted. Further, TWM guarantees
Virtual World Consistency
, a safety property that is deemed as particularly relevant in the context of TM.

We demonstrate the practicality of this approach through an extensive experimental study: we compare TWM with five other TMs, representative of typical alternative design choices, and on a wide variety of benchmarks. This study shows an average performance improvement across all considered workloads and TMs of 65% in high concurrency scenarios, with gains extending up to 9 × with the most favorable benchmarks. These results are a consequence of TWM’s ability to achieve drastic reduction of aborts in scenarios of nonminimal contention, while introducing little overhead (approximately 10%) in worst-case, synthetically designed scenarios (i.e., no contention or contention patterns that cannot be optimized using TWM).
Remote Memory Access Programming in MPI-3
Authors: Hoefler Torsten , Dinan James , Thakur Rajeev , Barrett Brian , Balaji Pavan , Gropp William , Underwood Keith
Published: June 2015

The Message Passing Interface (MPI) 3.0 standard, introduced in September 2012, includes a significant update to the one-sided communication interface, also known as remote memory access (RMA). In particular, the interface has been extended to better support popular one-sided and global-address-space parallel programming models to provide better access to hardware performance features and enable new data-access modes. We present the new RMA interface and specify formal axiomatic models for data consistency and access semantics. Such models can help users reason about details of the semantics that are hard to extract from the English prose in the standard. It also fosters the development of tools and compilers, enabling them to automatically analyze, optimize, and debug RMA programs.
Foondi workshops
Authors: Wanyiri Juliet
Published: June 2015

In this forum we celebrate research that helps to successfully bring the benefits of computing technologies to children, older adults, people with disabilities, and other populations that are often ignored in the design of mass-marketed products.
--- Juan Pablo Hourcade, Editor
Using Parametric Transformations Toward Polynomial Kernels for Packing Problems Allowing Overlaps
Authors: Fernau Henning , López-Ortiz Alejandro , Romero Jazmín
Published: June 2015

We consider the problem of discovering overlapping communities in networks that we model as generalizations of the Set and Graph Packing problems with overlap. As usual for Set Packing problems, we seek a collection

S
′

⊆
S
consisting of at least
k
sets subject to certain disjointness restrictions. In the
r
-Set Packing with
t
-Membership, each element of
U
belongs to at most
t
sets of

S
′

, while in
r
-Set Packing with
t
-Overlap, each pair of sets in

S
′

overlaps in at most
t
elements. For both problems, each set of
S
has at most
r
elements.

Similarly, both of our Graph Packing problems seek a collection
K
of at least
k
subgraphs in a graph
G
, each isomorphic to a graph
H
∈
H
. In
H
-Packing with
t
-Membership, each vertex of
G
belongs to at most
t
subgraphs of
K
, while in
H
-Packing with
t
-Overlap, each pair of subgraphs in
K
overlaps in at most
t
vertices. For both problems, each member of
H
has at most
r
vertices and
m
edges, where
t
,
r
, and
m
are constants.

Here, we show NP-completeness results for all of our packing problems. Furthermore, we give a dichotomy result for the
H
-Packing with
t
-Membership problem analogous to the Kirkpatrick and Hell dichotomy [Kirkpatrick and Hell 1978]. Using polynomial parameter transformations, we reduce the
r
-Set Packing with
t
-Membership to a problem kernel with
O
((
r
+ 1)

r

k
r

) elements and the
H
-Packing with
t
-Membership and its edge version to problem kernels with
O
((
r
+ 1)

r

k
r

) and
O
((
m
+ 1)

m

k
m

) vertices, respectively. On the other hand, by generalizing [Fellows et al. 2008; Moser 2009], we achieve a kernel with
O
(

r
r
k

r
−
t
− 1

) elements for the
r
-Set Packing with
t
-Overlap and kernels with
O
(

r
r
k

r
−
t
− 1

) and
O
(

m
m
k

m
−
t
− 1

) vertices for the
H
-Packing with
t
-Overlap and its edge version, respectively. In all cases,
k
is the input parameter, while
t
,
r
, and
m
are constants.
A personal perspective on research through design
Authors: Storni Cristiano
Published: June 2015

This forum highlights conversations at the intersection of design methods and social studies of technology. By highlighting a diversity of perspectives on design interventions and programs, we aim to forge new connections between HCI design and communication, science and technology studies, and media studies scholarship.
--- Daniela Rosner, Editor
Electrochemical Oxidation Using BDD Anodes Combined with Biological Aerated Filter for Biotreated Coking Wastewater Treatment
Authors: Wang C. R. , Hou Z. F. , Zhang M. R. , Qi J. , Wang J.
Published: June 2015

Coking wastewater is characterized by poor biodegradability and high microorganism toxicity. Thus, it is difficult to meet Grade I of Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard of China by biological treatment technology; specifically, COD cannot meet above standard due to containing refractory organics. A novel coupling reactor, electrochemical oxidation using BDD anodes and biological aerated filter (BAF), has been developed for carbon and nitrogen removal from biotreated coking wastewater, focusing on COD, BOD5,NH4+-N, andNO3--N removal on operation over 90 days with average effluent value of 91.3, 9.73, 0.62, and 13.34 mgL−1, respectively. Average value of BOD5/COD and BOD5/NO3--N was enhanced from 0.05 to 0.27 and from 0.45 to 1.21 by electrochemical oxidation, respectively, with average energy consumption of 67.9 kWh kg−1COD. In addition, the refractory organics also were evidently mineralized in the unit based on the data of the three-dimensional fluorescence spectra. Meanwhile, its effluent provided excellent substrate for biological denitrification in BAF. At hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 13.08 h, about 12 mgL−1  NO3--N was depleted through denitrification, and it mainly occurred at top of 0.25 m height of BAF. Therefore, it is feasible to apply the coupling reactor for biotreated coking wastewater treatment and achieve desirable effluent quality.