bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of a neck collar on upper airway size in children sedated with propofol–midazolam combination during magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Moustafa Moustafa A. , Emara Doaa M. , Nouh Mohamed R.
Published: January 2015

Introduction

Propofol and midazolam are widely used for pediatric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sedation. Increasing depth of sedation may be associated with airway obstruction. A neck collar supporting the mandible and maintaining the head in slight extension may be beneficial in maintaining airway patency.

Aim of the study

Primary aim: To assess upper airway size with and without a neck collar during pediatric MRI sedation with propofol–midazolam. Secondary aim: To evaluate complications encountered during the procedure.

Materials and Methods

Sixty patients aged 2–4 years scheduled for MRI of the brain were selected. They were sedated with intramuscular midazolam 0.1 mg·kg−1 30 min before the procedure. Patients were sedated with i.v. propofol 1 mg·kg−1 and continued with 50–100 μg·kg−1·min−1. T1 3D fast‐field echo axial sequence from the nasopharyngeal roof to subglottic region was taken with and without application of a neck collar. Airway dimensions were measured and analyzed at the base of the tongue, soft palate, and at the epiglottis.

Results

At the base of the tongue and soft palate, the cross‐sectional area (CSA) and the anteroposterior diameter of the airway were respectively statistically significantly higher when the neck collar was applied. The CSA at the epiglottis was significantly less with application of the neck collar. Complications were not significantly different between the two sequences.

Conclusion

Application of a soft neck collar in children aged 2–4 years may enhance the retropalatal and retroglossal airway dimensions during pediatric sedation in the supine position.
Selection of subspecialty fellows in anesthesia for pediatric anesthesia: a national survey of program directors in the United States
Authors: Benzon Hubert A. , De Oliveira Gildasio S. , Jagannathan Narasimhan , Suresh Santhanam
Published: January 2015

Background

Several studies have investigated the selection process for medical students, residents, and fellows across different specialties. Currently, the selection criteria used by pediatric anesthesia program directors to select prospective pediatric anesthesia fellows are unknown.

Objective

To evaluate the criteria used by program directors in the selection of prospective pediatric anesthesia fellows in the United States.

Methods

Survey responses were solicited from 51 pediatric anesthesia fellowship directors in the United States. Questions evaluated department demographic information, the importance of fellowship selection criteria, and program satisfaction with the Match process.

Results

Forty‐two of 51 fellowship directors responded to the survey (a response rate of 82%). The personal statement was reported as extremely/very important for 30 of 42 (71%) program directors, while research experience and prior publications were reported as extremely/very important for 16 of 41 (39%) and 16 of 41 (39%) program directors, respectively. Programs that offered all the spots through the Match were smaller, median (IQR) number of fellows of 3 (2–6) compared to the ones that did not offer all the spots through the Match, 8 (2–12), P = 0.03. In contrast, no difference in program directors’ satisfaction with the Match was detected between smaller (≤3 fellows) and larger programs (>3 fellows), P = 0.25.

Conclusion

A minority of pediatric fellowship program directors rated prior research experience as an important factor in the selection of prospective fellows. The lack of emphasis on research qualities for fellows is potentially concerning for the future of our specialty.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Fibromyalgia: Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Knijnik Leonardo M. , Dussán‐Sarria Jairo A. , Rozisky Joanna R. , Torres Iraci L. S. , Brunoni Andre R. , Fregni Felipe , Caumo Wolnei
Published: January 2015

Background

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a prevalent chronic pain syndrome with few effective therapeutic options available. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an emerging therapeutic alternative for this condition; however, results have been mixed.

Objectives

To evaluate the efficacy of rTMS on FM, a comprehensive systematic review and meta‐analysis were performed.

Methods

Relevant published, English and Portuguese language, randomized clinical trials (RCT) comparing rTMS (irrespective of the stimulation protocol) to sham stimulation for treating FM pain intensity, depression, and/or quality of life (QoL) were identified, considering only those with low risk for bias. Trials available until April 2014 were searched through MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library Databases, and other 26 relevant medical databases covering from every continent. The outcomes for pain, depression, and QoL assessed closest to the 30th day after rTMS treatment were extracted, and changes from baseline were calculated to compare the effects of rTMS vs. placebo.

Results

One hundred and sixty‐three articles were screened, and five with moderate to high quality were included. rTMS improved QoL with a moderate effect size (Pooled SMD = −0.472 95%CI = −0.80 to −0.14); it showed a trend toward reducing pain intensity (SMD = −0.64 95%CI = −0.31 to 0.017), but did not change depressive symptoms.

Conclusion

In comparison with sham stimulation, rTMS demonstrated superior effect on the QoL of patients with FM 1 month after starting therapy. However, further studies are needed to determine optimal treatment protocols and to elucidate the mechanisms involved with this effect, which does not seem to be mediated by changes in depression, but that may involve pain modulation. Level of evidence 1b.
Breakdown of middle lamella pectin by ●OH during rapid abscission in Azolla
Authors: YAMADA YOSHIYA , KOIBUCHI MIZUKI , MIYAMOTO KENSUKE , UEDA JUNICHI , UHEDA EIJI
Published: January 2015

Azolla, a small water fern, abscises its roots and branches within 30 min upon treatment with various stresses. This study was conducted to test whether, in the rapid abscission that occurs in Azolla, breakdown of wall components of abscission zone cells by ●OH is involved. Experimentally generated ●OH caused the rapid separation of abscission zone cells from detached roots and the rapid shedding of roots from whole plants. Electron microscopic observations revealed that ●OH rapidly and selectively dissolved a well‐developed middle lamella between abscission zone cells and resultantly caused rapid cell separation and shedding. Treatment of abscission zones of Impatiens leaf petiole with ●OH also accelerated the separation of abscission zone cells. However, compared with that of Azolla roots, accelerative effects in Impatiens were weak. A large amount of ●OH was cytochemically detected in abscission zone cells both of Azolla roots and of Impatiens leaf petioles. These results suggest that ●OH is involved in the cell separation process not only in the rapid abscission in Azolla but also in the abscission of Impatiens. However, for rapid abscission to occur, a well‐developed middle lamella, a unique structure, which is sensitive to the attack of ●OH, might be needed.
Novel function of histamine signaling in hyperlipidemia‐induced atherosclerosis: Histamine H1 receptors protect and H2 receptors accelerate atherosclerosis
Authors: Yamada Sohsuke , Wang Ke‐Yong , Tanimoto Akihide , Sasaguri Yasuyuki
Published: January 2015

Histamine is not only essential for acute inflammatory reactions, but it also participates in a chronic inflammatory disorder. We generated apolipoprotein E (apoE) and histamine receptors (HHRs), including the major H1 and H2 receptors (HH1R, HH2R) double knockout mice (DKO) to clarify the role of HHRs in hyperlipidemia‐induced atherosclerosis, in which apoE‐KO and DKO mice were fed a high cholesterol diet. We found that pronounced hyperlipidemia‐induced atherosclerotic progression occurred in HH1R/apoE‐DKO mice, but in HH2R/apoE‐DKO mice less atherosclerosis, despite pro‐atherogenic serum cholesterol levels compared with apoE‐KO mice. Furthermore, the increased expressions of scavenger receptors (SRs), such as SR‐A, CD36 and lectin‐like oxidized low‐density lipoprotein receptor 1 (LOX‐1), nuclear factor‐kappa B (NFκB), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP‐1), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) or liver X receptor (LXR)‐related inflammatory signaling factors, were consistent with the pro‐atherogenic phenotype of HH2R/apoE‐DKO mice. We hypothesize that histamine/HH1R and HH2R signaling has conflicting innate functions, inflammatory/atherogenic and anti‐inflammatory/anti‐atherogenic actions, and that there are innate links between histamine signaling and hyperlipidemia‐induced atherosclerosis, independently of serum cholesterol metabolism. Specific histamine signaling blockers, in particular, HH2R blockers, are a possible novel therapeutic target for hyperlipidemia‐induced atherosclerosis.
Springing forward to medium‐term results for endobronchial coils for emphysema
Authors: Shah Pallav L. , Kemp Samuel V.
Published: January 2015

See article, page 319
Efficacy and Safety of a New Technique of Conversion from Temporary to Tunneled Central Venous Catheters
Authors: Lomonte Carlo , Libutti Pasquale , Casucci Francesco , Lisi Piero , Basile Carlo
Published: January 2015

The usually applied conversion technique from temporary to tunneled central venous catheters (CVCs) using the same venous insertion site requires a peel‐away sheath. We propose a conversion technique without peel‐away sheath: a guide wire is advanced through the existing temporary CVC; then, a subcutaneous tunnel is created from the exit to the venotomy site. After removing the temporary CVC, the tunneled one is advanced along the guide wire. The study group included all patients requiring a catheter conversion from January 2012 to June 2014; the control group included incident patients who had received de novo placement of tunneled CVCs from January 2010 to December 2011. The main outcome measures were technical success and immediate complications. Seventy‐two tunneled catheters (40 with our conversion technique and 32 with the traditional one) were placed in 72 patients. The technical success was 95% in the study group and 75% in the controls (p = 0.019). The immediate complications were one bleeding in the study group (2.5%) and one air embolism, one pneumothorax, and four bleedings (18.7%) in the controls (p = 0.039). Conversion from temporary to tunneled CVC using a guide wire and without a peel‐away sheath is an effective and safe procedure.
A retrospective longitudinal study of cognitive and language skills in poor reading comprehension
Authors: Elwér Åsa , Gustafson Stefan , Byrne Brian , Olson Richard K. , Keenan Janice M. , Samuelsson Stefan
Published: January 2015

Fifty‐six specific poor reading comprehenders (SPRC) were selected in Grade 4 and retrospectively compared to good comprehenders at preschool (age 5) and at the end of kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. The results revealed deficits in vocabulary, grammar, verbal memory and early deficits in phonological awareness in most of the SPRC sample, beginning in preschool. The reading comprehension deficits in children with SPRC were not as marked in earlier assessments in Grade 1 and 2, probably because of the greater dependence on word decoding in reading comprehension in the early grades.
Impact of a Suicide‐Specific Intervention within Inpatient Psychiatric Care: The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality
Authors: Ellis Thomas E. , Rufino Katrina A. , Allen Jon G. , Fowler James C. , Jobes David A.
Published: January 2015

A growing body of literature indicates that suicidal patients differ from other psychiatric patients with respect to specific psychological vulnerabilities and that suicide‐specific interventions may offer benefits beyond conventional care. This naturalistic controlled‐comparison trial (n = 52) examined outcomes of intensive psychiatric hospital treatment (mean length of stay 58.8 days), comparing suicidal patients who received individual therapy from clinicians utilizing the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) to patients whose individual therapists did not utilize CAMS. Propensity score matching was used to control for potential confounds, including age, sex, treatment unit, and severity of depression and suicidality. Results showed that both groups improved significantly over the course of hospitalization; however, the group receiving CAMS showed significantly greater improvement on measures specific to suicidal ideation and suicidal cognition. Results are discussed in terms of the potential advantages of treating suicide risk with a suicide‐specific intervention to make inpatient psychiatric treatment more effective in reducing risk for future suicidal crises.
Immediate and extended effects of abrasion on stratum corneum natural moisturizing factor
Authors: Hoffman D. R. , Kroll L. M. , Basehoar A. , Reece B. , Cunningham C. T. , Koenig D. W.
Published: January 2015

Background

Natural moisturizing factor (NMF), principally comprised of hygroscopic amino acids and derivatives that absorb moisture from the surrounding environment, serves as the primary humectant of the stratum corneum (SC). Acute barrier disruption has been shown to differentially affect the concentration of NMF in the SC. This study measured the recovery kinetics of NMF after mechanical damage of the SC, which is not well understood.

Methods

The study population included 20 healthy female volunteers (18–72‐year old) with no history of dermatological disorders. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema, and SC water and NMF were measured at all sites before abrasion, 30 min following abrasion, and 1–3, 6, 8, and 10 days following abrasion. Measurements obtained from the abraded site were compared with those obtained from an untreated site.

Results

As expected, both TEWL and erythema increased significantly with abrasion. Erythema and TEWL values remained higher at the abraded site for 2 and 6 days, respectively, after abrasion. No changes in NMF component levels in the SC were observed at 30 min after abrasion. One day following abrasion, reduced levels of glycine, histidine pH4, trans‐urocanic acid (tUca) pH4, and tUca pH8 were observed. In addition, a significantly lower level of serine was observed at the abraded site 2 and 6 days following abrasion. Within 8 days after abrasion, these components returned to levels comparable to those observed in untreated skin. Throughout the study, no differences were observed in the level of water in the SC.

Conclusion

These results demonstrate that acute barrier disruption induced by mechanical abrasion has relatively little impact on biochemical events responsible for NMF generation. Though reductions in certain NMF components were observed, abrasion had no measureable effect on SC water content over the duration of the study. This implies that the reduced NMF components may not contribute substantially to water retention in the SC. The reduced components belong to a group of NMF molecules thought to be principally derived through degradation of S‐100 proteins in the epidermis. NMF components measured in this study that are derived from sweat and/or urea cycling were not impacted. These data imply that while abrasion elicits clinical signs of barrier disruption within the SC, effects on its biochemical constituents and ability to retain water are relatively minor.
Tuberculosis before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in patients with hematologic diseases: report of a single‐center experience
Authors: Eom K.‐S. , Lee D.‐G. , Lee H.‐J. , Cho S.‐Y. , Choi S.‐M. , Choi J.‐K. , Kim Y.‐J. , Lee S. , Kim H.‐J. , Cho S.‐G. , Lee J.‐W.
Published: January 2015

Background

Few reports discuss the optimal management of patients diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) before scheduled stem cell transplantation (SCT), who then proceed with transplantation.

Methods

We found 13 patients with TB before SCT (proven, n = 9; probable, n = 3; possible, n = 1) in the medical records of our institution.

Results

Most of the patients had pulmonary TB (n = 8; disseminated, n = 2; extrapulmonary, n = 3). Eight of 9 patients with proven disease had SCT after at least 100 days of anti‐tuberculous medication, ranging from 103 to 450 days. None of those patients suffered TB‐related events after SCT. However, 1 patient with proven pulmonary TB who underwent SCT after only 40 days of anti‐tuberculous therapy subsequently died of TB meningitis. Patients with possible and probable disease had their transplants after 6–176 days of anti‐tuberculous medication, and all were alive at the time of analysis. The entire duration of anti‐tuberculous medication was 12 months in most cases. With a follow‐up duration ranging from 0.7 to 87.5 months, 4 patients died, but TB was the cause of death in only 1 case.

Conclusion

In conclusion, for proven cases of TB, SCT after >100 days of anti‐tuberculous medication is probably feasible and safe, in terms of TB control, in patients with various hematologic diseases.
Semi‐automated counting method of axons in transmission electron microscopic images
Authors: Kim Chan Yun , Rho Seungsoo , Lee Naeun , Lee Chang‐Kyu , Sung Youngje
Published: January 2015

Objective

To evaluate the accuracy of a new semi‐automated method for counting axons in transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images.

Procedures

Optic nerve cross sections were obtained from both eyes of Sprague Dawley rats after unilateral induction of chronic ocular hypertension. TEM images (3000× magnification) of cross sections were evaluated by both semi‐automated and manual counting methods. The semi‐automated counting method was performed using ImageJ software after simple image optimization, and the resulting estimate of axon damage was compared with semiquantitative damage grading scale from light microscopic (LM) images.

Results

Axon counts obtained from the semi‐automated method were strongly correlated with those obtained from the manual counting method (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.996, P < 0.001) and from the full manual count from LM images (Spearman's ρ = 0.973, P < 0.001). The semi‐automated method measured axonal damage with an error of 0.94 ± 3.16% (mean ± standard deviation), with worse axonal damage associated with greater error. Interobserver and intra‐observer variability in axons counts were low (Spearman's ρ = 0.999, P < 0.005). The results of the semi‐automated counting method were highly correlated with semiquantitative damage grading scale (Spearman's ρ = 0.965, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Results of our semi‐automated method for counting axons in TEM images were strongly correlated with those of conventional counting methods and showed excellent reproducibility.
A Mesoscale Electrohydrodynamic-Driven Two-Phase Flow Heat Transport Device in Circular Geometry and In-Tube Boiling Heat Transfer Coefficient Under Low Mass Flux
Authors: Patel Viral K. , Seyed-Yagoobi Jamal
Published: January 2015

Meso and microscale two-phase flow heat transport involves devices that are used to remove heat from small surface areas by circulating a working fluid through the heated space and causing phase change from liquid to vapor. There is an impetus to develop such devices for applications that require compact thermal management systems. The active, mesoscale two-phase flow heat transport device presented in this paper is driven solely by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pumping, and its heat transport characteristics are provided. An important understanding of the EHD conduction pump performance under a two-phase system versus single-phase system is also elucidated from these results. In addition, the ability to generate reliable low mass fluxes by this method has also allowed for determining local in-tube flow boiling heat transfer coefficient as a function of vapor quality in a mesoscale circular tube evaporator, providing limited but valuable information currently unavailable in the literature.
Implementation of High-Order Spherical Harmonics Methods for Radiative Heat Transfer on openfoam
Authors: Ge Wenjun , Marquez Ricardo , Modest Michael F. , Roy Somesh P.
Published: January 2015

A general formulation of the spherical harmonics (PN) methods was developed recently to expand the method to high orders of PN. The set of N(N + 1)/2 three-dimensional second-order elliptic PDEs formulation and their Marshak boundary conditions for arbitrary geometries are implemented in the openfoam finite volume based cfd software. The results are verified for four cases, including a 1D slab, a 2D square enclosure, a 3D cylindrical enclosure, and an axisymmetric flame. All cases have strongly varying radiative properties, and the results are compared with exact solutions and solutions from the photon Monte Carlo method (PMC).
Phenomenon and Mechanism of Two-Regime-Surge in a Centrifugal Compressor
Authors: Zheng Xinqian , Liu Anxiong
Published: January 2015

“Two-regime-surge” is a special instability behavior of compressors, which was investigated in this paper. When the compressor operates at medium rotor speed, mild surge happens first, where the transient pressure signals show sinusoidal form with Helmholtz frequency of the compressor system. Reducing the mass flow rate, the mild surge vanishes and gets replaced by the local stall. Further reducing the mass flow rate, deep surge breaks out suddenly. During two-regime-surge, two distinct surge patterns exit and vastly narrow stable flow range, which highlights the characteristics of two-regime-surge. It is found that the impeller leading-edge stall is a necessary part of the mild surge, while the diffuser rotating stall incepts the deep surge. At higher speeds, the mild surge oscillation prompts the early occurrence of the diffuser stall so that the mild surge transforms and the deep surge happens in advance. As a result, both regimes of mild surge and deep surge are going to merge, and the stable flow range at high rotational speed is greatly narrowed. Impeller casing treatment is considered as an effective method for flow range extension because the impeller leading-edge stall is removed and the mild surge is avoided as well.
Morphological Instability of a Transversally Isotropic Solid Cylinder Under Stress
Authors: Colin Jérôme
Published: January 2015

The linear stability of the surface of a transversally isotropic cylinder submitted to uniaxial stress has been theoretically investigated with respect to the development by surface diffusion of longitudinal fluctuations of its radius. The effect of stress has been characterized on the instability threshold.
Optimum Shape Design for Multirow Turbomachinery Configurations Using a Discrete Adjoint Approach and an Efficient Radial Basis Function Deformation Scheme for Complex Multiblock Grids
Authors: Walther Benjamin , Nadarajah Siva
Published: January 2015

This paper proposes a framework for fully automatic gradient-based constrained aerodynamic shape optimization in a multirow turbomachinery environment. The concept of adjoint-based gradient calculation is discussed and the development of the discrete adjoint equations for a turbomachinery Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solver, particularly the derivation of flow-consistent adjoint boundary conditions as well as the implementation of a discrete adjoint mixing-plane formulation, are described in detail. A parallelized, automatic grid perturbation scheme utilizing radial basis functions (RBFs), which is accurate and robust as well as able to handle highly resolved complex multiblock turbomachinery grid configurations, is developed and employed to calculate the gradient from the adjoint solution. The adjoint solver is validated by comparing its sensitivities with finite-difference gradients obtained from the flow solver. A sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm is then utilized to determine an improved blade shape based on the gradient information from the objective functional and the constraints. The developed optimization method is used to redesign a single-stage transonic flow compressor in both inviscid and viscous flow. The design objective is to maximize the isentropic efficiency while constraining the mass flow rate and the total pressure ratio.
Crystal Plasticity Analysis of Stress Partitioning Mechanisms and Their Microstructural Dependence in Advanced Steels
Authors: Pu Chao , Gao Yanfei
Published: January 2015

Two-phase advanced steels have an optimized combination of high yield strength and large elongation strain at failure, as a result of stress partitioning between a hard phase (martensite) and a ductile phase (ferrite or austenite). Provided with strong interfaces between the constituent phases, the failure in the brittle martensite phase will be delayed by the surrounding geometric constraints, while the rule of mixture will dictate a large strength of the composite. To this end, the microstructural design of these composites is imperative especially in terms of the stress partitioning mechanisms among the constituent phases. Based on the characteristic microstructures of dual phase and multilayered steels, two polycrystalline aggregate models are constructed to simulate the microscopic lattice strain evolution of these materials during uniaxial tensile tests. By comparing the lattice strain evolution from crystal plasticity finite element simulations with advanced in situ diffraction measurements in literature, this study investigates the correlations between the material microstructure and the micromechanical interactions on the intergranular and interphase levels. It is found that although the applied stress will be ultimately accommodated by the hard phase and hard grain families, the sequence of the stress partitioning on grain and phase levels can be altered by microstructural designs. Implications of these findings on delaying localized failure are also discussed.
Coarse-to-Fine Extraction of Free-Form Surface Features
Authors: Yi Bing , Liu Zhenyu , Duan Guifang , Tan Jianrong
Published: January 2015

Free-form surface features (FFSFs) extraction is one of the key issues for redesigning and reediting the surface models exported from commercial software or reconstructed by reverse engineering. In this paper, a coarse-to-fine method is proposed to robustly extract the FFSFs. First, by iterative Laplacian smoothing, a set of height functions are generated, and principal component analysis (PCA) is employed to obtain the appropriate iteration number for the feature field extraction that is then accomplished by the Gaussian mix model (GMM) with a high segmentation threshold. Second, based on the feature field, an adaptive smooth ratio for each vertex is proposed for Laplacian smoothing, which is implemented to generate a precise base surface. Thereby, with the base surface, the FFSFs can be easily extracted by using the GMM. The empirical results illustrate that the proposed method yields improved performance for extracting FFSFs compared with conventional methods.
Laser Induced Porosity and Crystallinity Modification of a Bioactive Glass Coating on Titanium Substrates
Authors: Kongsuwan Panjawat , Brandal Grant , Lawrence Yao Y.
Published: January 2015

Functionally graded bioactive glass coatings on bioinert metallic substrates were produced by using continuous-wave (CW) laser irradiation. The aim is to achieve strong adhesion on the substrates and high bioactivity on the top surface of a coating material for load-bearing implants in biomedical applications. The morphology and microstructure of the bioactive glass from the laser coating process were investigated as functions of processing parameters. Laser sintering mechanisms were discussed with respect to the resulting morphology and microstructure. It has been shown that double layer laser coating results in a dense bond coat layer and a porous top coat layer with lower degree of crystallinity than an enameling coating sample. The dense bond coat strongly attached to the titanium substrate with a 10 μm wide mixed interfacial layer. A highly bioactive porous structure of the top coat layer is beneficial for early formation of a bone-bonding hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA) layer. The numerical model developed in this work also allows for prediction of porosity and crystallinity in top coat layers of bioactive glass developed through laser induced sintering and crystallization.
Graphene based electron field emitter
Authors: Wenger Christian , Kitzmann Julia , Wolff André , Fraschke Mirko , Walczyk Christian , Lupina Gregorz , Mehr Wolfgang , Junige Marcel , Albert Matthias , Bartha Johann W.
Published: January 2015

Graphene based electron field emitter arrays consisting of cone-shaped silicon tips, a thin Al2O3 tunnel barrier, and graphene top electrode are fabricated. Due to the monolayered graphene top electrode, the electrons are able to tunnel through the Al2O3 layer and emit into the vacuum. The temperature behavior of the tunnel leakage current as well as the emission current is characterized.
Validity of activity monitors worn at multiple nontraditional locations under controlled and free-living conditions in young adult women
Authors: Kumahara Hideaki , Ayabe Makoto , Ichibakase Misato , Tashima Akari , Chiwata Maiko , Takashi Tomomi
Published: January 2015

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of counting steps and computing indices of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using miniature activity monitors with 3-D technology worn at various locations under controlled (CON) and free-living conditions (FL). Kenz e-style2, Tanita Calorism Smart, and Omron Calori Scan HJA-306 activity monitors were assessed. Nine and 31 young adult women were assigned to the CON and FL studies, respectively. While walking or jogging on a treadmill at 5 different speeds, the subjects simultaneously carried the 3 different monitors in a pants pocket (PP), a chest shirt pocket, and a shoulder bag (B). Under the FL condition, the 3 monitors were placed only at the PP and B locations for practical reasons. Significant effects of monitor location and walking/jogging speed on the step count measured by the 3 monitors were evaluated under the CON condition. Monitors placed at both PP and B tended to underestimate the number of steps; however, there were no significant differences between the values obtained with the Kenz monitor and those obtained with a criterion accelerometer under the FL condition. Moreover, strong correlations were observed between steps measured by monitors placed at PP and steps measured by the criterion accelerometer. The amount of MVPA for the PP location and the non-carrying duration of the bag for the B location were considered to be important determinants of the accuracy of step counting under the FL condition. In conclusion, monitors placed at the PP location, especially the Kenz monitor, showed acceptable accuracy for young adult women in real-life settings. In contrast, MVPA indices assessed using these monitors showed limited validity.
Effects of isolated or combined carbohydrate and caffeine supplementation between 2 daily training sessions on soccer performance
Authors: Andrade-Souza Victor Amorim , Bertuzzi Romulo , de Araujo Gustavo Gomes , Bishop David , Lima-Silva Adriano Eduardo
Published: January 2015

This study aimed to investigate whether isolated or combined carbohydrate (CHO) and caffeine (CAF) supplementation have beneficial effects on performance during soccer-related tests performed after a previous training session. Eleven male, amateur soccer players completed 4 trials in a randomized, double-blind, and crossover design. In the morning, participants performed the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (LIST). Then, participants ingested (i) 1.2 g·kg−1 body mass·h−1 CHO in a 20% CHO solution immediately after and 1, 2, and 3 h after the LIST; (ii) CAF (6 mg·kg−1 body mass) 3 h after the LIST; (iii) CHO combined with CAF (CHO+CAF); and (iv) placebo. All drinks were taste-matched and flavourless. After this 4-h recovery, participants performed a countermovement jump (CMJ) test, a Loughborough Soccer Passing Test (LSPT), and a repeated-sprint test. There were no main effects of supplementation for CMJ, LSPT total time, or best sprint and total sprint time from the repeated-sprint test (p > 0.05). There were also no main effects of supplementation for heart rate, plasma lactate concentration, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), pleasure–displeasure, and perceived activation (p > 0.05). However, there were significant time effects (p < 0.05), with heart rate, plasma lactate concentration, RPE, and perceived activation increasing with time, and pleasure–displeasure decreasing with time. In conclusion, isolated and/or combined CHO and CAF supplementation is not able to improve soccer-related performance tests when performed after a previous training session.
Structure and reactivity of phosphate diesters. Dependence on the nonleaving group
Authors: Kirby Anthony J. , Souza Bruno S. , Nome Faruk
Published: January 2015

The hydrolytic reactivity of simple phosphate diesters with very good leaving groups is known to be practically independent of the nonleaving group at 100 °C. Calculations on the (too slow to measure) hydrolysis at 25 °C of a series of p-nitrophenyl diesters ROPO2––OpNP with a wide range of nonleaving group OR indicate a small but significant effect at the lower temperature, making the R = methyl ester the most reactive. This is in the opposite sense to the much larger effect observed for the reactions of triesters and consistent with a reaction driven primarily by leaving group departure. The calculations use a continuum model with up to four discrete water molecules: two or three waters give the best results.
The roles of inoculants’ carbon source use in the biocontrol of potato scab disease
Authors: Sun Pingping , Zhao Xinbei , Shangguan Nini , Chang Dongwei , Ma Qing
Published: January 2015

Despite the application of multiple strains in the biocontrol of plant diseases, multistrain inoculation is still constrained by its inconsistency in the field. Nutrients, especially carbons, play an important role in the biocontrol processes. However, little work has been done on the systematic estimation of inoculants’ carbon source use on biocontrol efficacies in vivo. In the present study, 7 nonpathogenic Streptomyces strains alone and in different combinations were inoculated as biocontrol agents against the potato scab disease, under field conditions and greenhouse treatments. The influence of the inoculants’ carbon source use properties on biocontrol efficacies was investigated. The results showed that increasing the number of inoculated strains did not necessarily result in greater biocontrol efficacy in vivo. However, single strains with higher growth rates or multiple strains with less carbon source competition had positive effects on the biocontrol efficacies. These findings may shed light on optimizing the consistent biocontrol of plant disease with the consideration of inoculants’ carbon source use properties.
Origin and evolution of a new retained intron on thevulcangene inDrosophila melanogastersubgroup species
Authors: Zhan Leilei , Meng Qiaohong , Chen Ran , Yue Yuan , Jin Yongfeng
Published: January 2015

Although numerous intron gains have been discovered, the mechanisms of intron creation have proven to be elusive. Previous study revealed that the vulcan gene of Drosophila melanogaster contained four exons in its coding region. In the current study, a newly created intron (Intron L) was identified on exon 2 of vulcan in D. melanogaster by comparing expression sequence tags. The RT–PCR experiment revealed that Intron L was associated with intron retention, in which two alternative transcripts of the gene differ by the inclusion or removal of an intron. It was found that Intron L was created by intronization of exonic sequence, and its donor and acceptor splice sites were created by synonymous mutation, leading to the origin of a new vulcan protein that is 22 amino acids shorter than the previously reported vulcan protein. Moreover, to track the origin of Intron L, 36 orthologous genes of species of Drosophila were cloned or annotated, and phylogenetic analysis was carried out. It indicated that the common ancestor of D. melangaster subgroup species created Intron L about 15 million years ago.
The Bubble skein element and applications
Authors: Hajij Mustafa
Published: January 2015

We study a certain skein element in the relative Kauffman bracket skein module of the disk with some marked points, and expand this element in terms of linearly independent elements of this module. This expansion is used to compute and study the head and the tail of the colored Jones polynomial and in particular we give a simple q-series for the tail of the knot 85. Furthermore, we use this expansion to obtain an easy determination of the theta coefficients.
Large Amplitude Vibration Analysis of Laminated Composite Spherical Panels Under Hygrothermal Environment
Authors: Mahapatra T. R. , Kar V. R. , Panda S. K.
Published: January 2015

Large amplitude vibration problem of laminated composite spherical shell panel under combined temperature and moisture environment is analyzed in this paper. A general nonlinear mathematical model of laminated composite panel is developed based on higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT) by taking the geometric nonlinearity in the Green–Lagrange sense. The sets of nonlinear governing differential equations are obtained using Hamilton’s principle and discretized via finite element steps. The nonlinear vibration responses are computed using a direct iterative method by incorporating hygral and/or temperature dependent material properties for laminated composite. The convergence behavior of the developed model has been checked and validated by comparing the responses with those available published results. Finally, some new examples are computed for different parameters (geometry, support condition and lamination scheme, etc.) and their effects on nonlinear free vibration responses under uneven environment are discussed.
Pulsatile blood flow through stenosed artery with axial translation
Authors: Sharma Mukesh Kumar , Sharma P. R. , Nasha Vinay
Published: January 2015

The study of pulsatile blood flow through axisymmetric stenosed artery subject to an axial translation has been attempted with hematocrit concentration-dependent blood viscosity. The heart contraction and subsequent relaxation generate periodic pressure gradient in blood flow and translation in the artery can be represented by Fourier series. Numerical data required for computing Fourier harmonics for the pressure gradient and acceleration in the artery has been simulated from pressure waveform graph and biplanar angiogram. Velocity field has been obtained by solving governing equation using variational Ritz method. The hemodynamic indicators WSS, AWSS, OSI, RRT are derived and computed numerically. The effects of thickness of stenosis, and hematocrit concentration index on these indicators are computed and analyzed through graphs.
Ichthyosaurs from the Jurassic of Skye, Scotland
Authors: Brusatte Stephen L. , Young Mark T. , Challands Thomas J. , Clark Neil D. L. , Fischer Valentin , Fraser Nicholas C. , Liston Jeff J. , MacFadyen Colin C. J. , Ross Dugald A. , Walsh Stig , Wilkinson Mark
Published: January 2015

Fossils of Mesozoic vertebrates are rare in Scotland, particularly specimens of marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. We describe a suite of ichthyosaur fossils from the Early to Middle Jurassic of Skye, which to our knowledge are the first ichthyosaurs from Scotland to be described and figured in detail. These fossils span approximately 30 million years, from the Sinemurian to the Bathonian, and indicate that ichthyosaurs were a major component of Scottish marine faunas during this time. The specimens include isolated teeth that could represent the most northerly known occurrences of the widespread Sinemurian species
Ichthyosaurus communis
, a characteristic component of the famous Lyme Regis faunas of England, suggesting that such faunas were also present in Scotland during the Early Jurassic. An associated humerus and vertebrae from Toarcian–Bajocian-aged deposits are named as a new genus and species of basal neoichthyosaurian,
Dearcmhara shawcrossi
. The taxonomic affinities of this taxon, which comes from a critical but poorly sampled interval in the fossil record, suggest that non-ophthalmosaurid neoichthyosaurians dominated European assemblages around the Early–Middle Jurassic boundary, and were later replaced by ophthalmosaurids, whose radiation likely took place outside Europe. Many of these specimens were collected by amateurs and donated to museum collections, a co-operative relationship essential to the preservation of Scotland’s fossil heritage.
Speaker-Following Video Subtitles
Authors: Hu Yongtao , Kautz Jan , Yu Yizhou , Wang Wenping
Published: January 2015

We propose a new method for improving the presentation of subtitles in video (e.g., TV and movies). With conventional subtitles, the viewer has to constantly look away from the main viewing area to read the subtitles at the bottom of the screen, which disrupts the viewing experience and causes unnecessary eyestrain. Our method places on-screen subtitles next to the respective speakers to allow the viewer to follow the visual content while simultaneously reading the subtitles. We use novel identification algorithms to detect the speakers based on audio and visual information. Then the placement of the subtitles is determined using global optimization. A comprehensive usability study indicated that our subtitle placement method outperformed both conventional fixed-position subtitling and another previous dynamic subtitling method in terms of enhancing the overall viewing experience and reducing eyestrain.
Twitter is Faster
Authors: Deng Zhengyu , Yan Ming , Sang Jitao , Xu Changsheng
Published: January 2015

Traditional personalized video recommendation methods focus on utilizing user profile or user history behaviors to model user interests, which follows a static strategy and fails to capture the swift shift of the short-term interests of users. According to our cross-platform data analysis, the information emergence and propagation is faster in social textual stream-based platforms than that in multimedia sharing platforms at micro user level. Inspired by this, we propose a dynamic user modeling strategy to tackle personalized video recommendation issues in the multimedia sharing platform YouTube, by transferring knowledge from the social textual stream-based platform Twitter. In particular, the cross-platform video recommendation strategy is divided into two steps. (1) Real-time hot topic detection: the hot topics that users are currently following are extracted from users' tweets, which are utilized to obtain the related videos in YouTube. (2) Time-aware video recommendation: for the target user in YouTube, the obtained videos are ranked by considering the user profile in YouTube, time factor, and quality factor to generate the final recommendation list. In this way, the short-term (hot topics) and long-term (user profile) interests of users are jointly considered. Carefully designed experiments have demonstrated the advantages of the proposed method.
On a Model of Virtual Address Translation
Authors: Jurkiewicz Tomasz , Mehlhorn Kurt
Published: January 2015

Modern computers are not Random Access Machines (RAMs). They have a memory hierarchy, multiple cores, and a virtual memory. We address the computational cost of the address translation in the virtual memory. The starting point for our work on virtual memory is the observation that the analysis of some simple algorithms (random scan of an array, binary search, heapsort) in either the RAM model or the External Memory (EM) model does not correctly predict growth rates of actual running times. We propose the Virtual Address Translation (VAT) model to account for the cost of address translations and analyze the algorithms mentioned and others in the model. The predictions agree with the measurements. We also analyze the VAT-cost of cache-oblivious algorithms.
Social Event Classification via Boosted Multimodal Supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation
Authors: Qian Shengsheng , Zhang Tianzhu , Xu Changsheng , Hossain M. Shamim
Published: January 2015

With the rapidly increasing popularity of social media sites (e.g., Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook), it is convenient for users to share their own comments on many social events, which successfully facilitates social event generation, sharing and propagation and results in a large amount of user-contributed media data (e.g., images, videos, and text) for a wide variety of real-world events of different types and scales. As a consequence, it has become more and more difficult to exactly find the interesting events from massive social media data, which is useful to browse, search and monitor social events by users or governments. To deal with these issues, we propose a novel boosted multimodal supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation (BMM-SLDA) for social event classification by integrating a supervised topic model, denoted as multi-modal supervised Latent Dirichlet Allocation (mm-SLDA), in the boosting framework. Our proposed BMM-SLDA has a number of advantages. (1) Our mm-SLDA can effectively exploit the multimodality and the multiclass property of social events jointly, and make use of the supervised category label information to classify multiclass social event directly. (2) It is suitable for large-scale data analysis by utilizing boosting weighted sampling strategy to iteratively select a small subset of data to efficiently train the corresponding topic models. (3) It effectively exploits social event structure by the document weight distribution with classification error and can iteratively learn new topic model to correct the previously misclassified event documents. We evaluate our BMM-SLDA on a real world dataset and show extensive experimental results, which demonstrate that our model outperforms state-of-the-art methods.
Analysis of Stereoscopic Images as a New Method for Daylighting Studies
Authors: Moscoso Claudia , Matusiak Barbara , Svensson U. Peter , Orleanski Krzysztof
Published: January 2015

This article presents the comparison analysis and results of an experiment designed with two presentation modes: real environments and stereoscopic images. The aim of this article is of a methodological nature, with a main objective of analyzing the usability of stereoscopic image presentation as a research tool to evaluate the daylight impact on the perceived architectural quality of small rooms. Twenty-six participants evaluated 12 different stimuli, divided in equal parts between real rooms and stereoscopic images. The stimuli were two similar rooms of different achromatic-colored surfaces (white and black) with three different daylight openings in each room. The participants assessed nine architectural quality attributes on a semantic differential scale. A pragmatic statistical approach (Bland-Altman Approach) for assessing agreement between two methods was used. Results suggest that stereoscopic image presentation is an accurate method to be used when evaluating all nine attributes in the white room and nearly all attributes in the black room.