bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Posterior Sampling using Particle Swarm Optimizers and Model Reduction Techniques
Authors: Martínez J. L. Fernández , Gonzalo E. García , Muñiz Z. Fernández , Mariethoz G. , Mukerji T.
Published: May 2012

Inverse problems are ill-posed and posterior sampling is a way of providing an estimate of the uncertainty based on a finite set of the family of models that fit the observed data within the same tolerance. Monte Carlo methods are used for this purpose but are highly inefficient. Global optimization methods address the inverse problem as a sampling problem, particularly Particle Swarm, which is a very interesting algorithm that is typically used in an exploitative form. Although PSO has not been designed originally to perform importance sampling, the authors show practical applications in the domain of environmental geophysics, where it provides a proxy for the posterior distribution when it is used in its explorative form. Finally, this paper presents a hydrogeological example how to perform a similar task for inverse problems in high dimensional spaces through the combined use with model reduction techniques.
Reserve Constrained Multi-Area Economic Dispatch Employing Evolutionary Approach
Authors: Sharma Manisha , Pandit Manjaree
Published: May 2012

The objective of Multi-area economic dispatch (MAED) is to determine the generation levels and the interchange power between areas that minimize fuel costs, while satisfying power balance and generating limit and transmission constraints. If an area with excess power is not adjacent to a power deficient area, or the tie-line between the two areas is at transmission limit, it is necessary to find an alternative path between these two areas to transmit additional power. When a MAED problem is solved with spinning reserve constraints, the problem becomes further complicated. The power allocation to each unit is done in such a manner that after supplying the total load, some specified reserve is left behind. In this paper, the authors compare classic PSO and DE strategies and their variants for reserve constrained MAED. The superior constraint handling capability of these techniques enables them to produce high quality solutions. The performance is tested on a 2-area system having 4 generating units and a 4-area, 16-unit system.
Application of Machine Learning Techniques to Predict Software Reliability
Authors: Mohanty Ramakanta , Ravi V. , Patra M. R.
Published: May 2012

In this paper, the authors employed machine learning techniques, specifically, Back propagation trained neural network (BPNN), Group method of data handling (GMDH), Counter propagation neural network (CPNN), Dynamic evolving neuro–fuzzy inference system (DENFIS), Genetic Programming (GP), TreeNet, statistical multiple linear regression (MLR), and multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS), to accurately forecast software reliability. Their effectiveness is demonstrated on three datasets taken from literature, where performance is compared in terms of normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) obtained in the test set. From rigorous experiments conducted, it was observed that GP outperformed all techniques in all datasets, with GMDH coming a close second.
Buffer Management in Cellular IP Networks using Evolutionary Algorithms
Authors: Anbar Mohammad , Vidyarthi Deo P.
Published: May 2012

Real-time traffic in Cellular IP network is considered to be important and therefore given priority over non-real-time. Buffer is an important but scarce resource and to optimize Quality of Service by managing buffers of the network is an important and complex problem. Evolutionary Algorithms are quite useful in solving such complex optimization problems, and in this regard, a two-tier model for buffer, Gateway and Base Station, management in Cellular IP network has been proposed. The first tier applies a prioritization algorithm for prioritizing real-time packets in the buffer of the gateway with a specified threshold. Packets which couldn’t be served, after the threshold, is given to the nearest cells of the network to be dealt with in the second tier, while Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) based procedures are applied in order to optimally store these packets in the buffer of the base stations. Experiments have been conducted to observe the performance of the proposed models and a comparative study of the models, GA based and PSO based, has been carried out to depict the advantage and disadvantage of the proposed models.
A Comparative Study of Metaheuristic Methods for Transmission Network Expansion Planning
Authors: Verma Ashu R. , Bijwe P. K. , Panigrahi B.
Published: May 2012

Transmission network expansion planning is a very complex and computationally demanding problem due to the discrete nature of the optimization variables. This complexity has increased even more in a restructured deregulated environment. In this regard, there is a need for development of more rigorous optimization techniques. This paper presents a comparative analysis of three metaheuristic algorithms known as Bacteria foraging (BF), Genetic algorithm (GA), and Particle swarm optimization (PSO) for transmission network expansion planning with and without security constraints. The DC power flow based model is used for analysis and results for IEEE 24 bus system are obtained with the above three metaheuristic drawing a comparison of their performance characteristic.
Image Forensics Using Generalised Benford’s Law for Improving Image Authentication Detection Rates in Semi-Fragile Watermarking
Authors: Zhao Xi , Ho Anthony T.S. , Shi Yun Q.
Published: May 2012

In the past few years, semi-fragile watermarking has become increasingly important to verify the content of images and localise the tampered areas, while tolerating some non-malicious manipulations. In the literature, the majority of semi-fragile algorithms have applied a predetermined threshold to tolerate errors caused by JPEG compression. However, this predetermined threshold is typically fixed and cannot be easily adapted to different amounts of errors caused by unknown JPEG compression at different quality factors (QFs). In this paper, the authors analyse the relationship between QF and threshold, and propose the use of generalised Benford’s Law as an image forensics technique for semi-fragile watermarking. The results show an overall average QF correct detection rate of approximately 99%, when 5%, 20% and 30% of the pixels are subjected to image content tampering and compression using different QFs (ranging from 95 to 65). In addition, the authors applied different image enhancement techniques to these test images. The proposed image forensics method can adaptively adjust the threshold for images based on the estimated QF, improving accuracy rates in authenticating and localising the tampered regions for semi-fragile watermarking.
Palmprint Recognition Based on Subspace Analysis of Gabor Filter Bank
Authors: Laadjel Moussadek , Bouridane Ahmed , Kurugollu Fatih , Yan WeiQi
Published: May 2012

This paper introduces a new technique for palmprint recognition based on Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis (FLDA) and Gabor filter bank. This method involves convolving a palmprint image with a bank of Gabor filters at different scales and rotations for robust palmprint features extraction. Once these features are extracted, FLDA is applied for dimensionality reduction and class separability. Since the palmprint features are derived from the principal lines, wrinkles and texture along the palm area. One should carefully consider this fact when selecting the appropriate palm region for the feature extraction process in order to enhance recognition accuracy. To address this problem, an improved region of interest (ROI) extraction algorithm is introduced. This algorithm allows for an efficient extraction of the whole palm area by ignoring all the undesirable parts, such as the fingers and background. Experiments have shown that the proposed method yields attractive performances as evidenced by an Equal Error Rate (EER) of 0.03%.
Suspect Sciences?
Authors: Edmond Gary
Published: May 2012

This article examines the standards governing the admission of new types of expert evidence. Based on the rules of evidence and procedure in Australia, it explains how judges have been largely uninterested in the reliability of expert opinion evidence. Focused on the use of CCTV images and covert sound recordings for the purposes of identification, but relevant to other forensic sciences, the article explains the need for interest in the reliability of incriminating expert opinion evidence. It also explains why many of the traditional trial safeguards may not be particularly useful for identifying or explaining problems and complexities with scientific and technical evidence. In closing, the article argues that those developing new types of evidence and new techniques, whether identification-based or derived from IT, camera or computer forensics, need to be able to explain why it is that the court can have confidence in any opinions expressed.
Grey Areas
Authors: Davis Michael , Sedsman Alice
Published: May 2012

Cloud computing has been heralded as a new era in the evolution of information and communications technologies. ICT giants have invested heavily in developing technologies and mega server facilities, which allow end users to access web-based software applications and store their data off-site. Businesses using cloud computing services will benefit from reduced operating costs as they cut back on ICT infrastructure and personnel. Individuals will no longer need to buy and install software and will have universal access to their data through any internet-ready device. Yet, hidden amongst the host of benefits are inherent legal risks. The global nature of cloud computing raises questions about privacy, security, confidentiality and access to data. Current terms of use do not adequately address the multitude of legal issues unique to cloud computing. In the face of this legal uncertainty, end users should be educated about the risks involved in entering the cloud.
A Conceptual Methodology for Dealing with Terrorism “Narratives”
Authors: Zarri Gian Piero
Published: May 2012

This paper concerns the use of in-depth analytical/conceptual techniques pertaining to the Artificial Intelligence domain to deal with narrative information (or “narratives”) in the terrorism- and crime-related areas. More precisely, the authors supply details about NKRL (Narrative Knowledge Representation Language), a representation and querying/inferencing environment especially created for an advanced exploitation of all types of narrative information. This description will be integrated with concrete examples that illustrate the use of NKRL tools in two recent ‘defence’ applications, the first dealing with a corpus of “Southern Philippines terrorism” news stories used in an R&D European project, the second, carried out in collaboration with the French “Délégation Générale pour l’Armement” (DGA, Central Bureau for Armament), which handles news stories about Afghanistan’s war.
Business Process Change in E-Government Projects
Authors: Kennedy Aileen , Coughlan Joseph P. , Kelleher Carol
Published: May 2012

This research investigates one of the first e-Government services launched as part of Ireland’s Information Society programme, the Irish Land Registry’s implementation of their award winning Electronic Access (EAS) project. In-depth enquiries into how public sector organisations manage IT-enabled transformations have remained relatively limited and this case contributes to this emerging body of literature. The analysis highlights that the implementation of e-Government initiatives beyond basic service levels necessitates business process change in order to reap rewards. This study fulfils an identified need for research in Business Process Change (BPC) in the implementation of e-Government initiatives. In this way the research attempts to add to, and complement, the existing pool of studies exploring e-Government induced change. The conclusions from the research stress the importance of planning for process change and the support of top management in the achievement of the efficiency gains and improved customer experience that are outcomes of e-Government.
Citizens and Service Channels
Authors: Pieterson Willem
Published: May 2012

The arrival of electronic channels in the 1990s has had a huge impact on governmental service delivery. The new channels have led to many new opportunities to improve public service delivery, not only in terms of citizen satisfaction, but also in cost reduction for governmental agencies. However, until now these promises of e-government have not been met. In general the use of the traditional channels remains high and the costs of introducing and maintaining the electronic channels have merely been additional costs. These observations call for a deeper understanding of the behavior of citizens. Why do citizens choose the channels they use to obtain services? Furthermore, how should knowledge about these behaviors be used to improve governmental multi-channel service strategies and marketing activities? In this article, citizens’ channel behavior will be analyzed while channel usage will be discussed. The authors will explore the channel choices of citizens and further converse on how these findings may help in improving channel strategies and marketing and thus help in improving citizen satisfaction and reduce cost of governmental service delivery.
Evaluating Public Programs Implementation
Authors: Sorrentino Maddalena , Passerini Katia
Published: May 2012

This paper discusses the importance of evaluating the implementation of public programs as an integral component of organizational actions performed by public administrations. Drawing on contributions from policy studies and organization theory, the authors assign a dual role to evaluation: valuable cognitive resource and accountability tool for the policymakers. This exploratory case study contributes to the literature on implementation evaluation by providing an encompassing theory-grounded perspective on a recent e-government project by the City of Milan. The authors’ preliminary findings confirm the heuristic potential of an evaluation approach where interdisciplinary inputs can enlighten not only the results, but also the process of design, adoption and the use of e-services.
G2C Adoption of E-Government in Malaysia
Authors: Hussein Ramlah , Mohamed Norshidah , Ahlan Abdul Rahman , Mahmud Murni , Aditiawarman Umar
Published: May 2012

Electronic government or e-government has long been known as a breakthrough of a new form of communication and transaction between the government and citizens, the government and industries, and among government agencies. Simply, e-government is meant not only to help the government to accomplish its daily administrative activities but also provide an easier way to communicate with external entities like citizens and businesses throughout the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With the implementation of e-government in Malaysia, study about Government to Citizens (G2C) adoption is important in reflecting its progress. Against this backdrop, this paper studies G2C adoption in Malaysia by espousing the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory as a framework. Other factors that are believed to influence citizens’ intentions for using the G2C system are also examined.
The Same Wine but in New Bottles. Public E-Services Divide and Low Citizens’ Satisfaction
Authors: Harfouche Antoine
Published: May 2012

When introducing public e-services, the Lebanese government predicted that it would reduce inequality between citizens (OMSAR, 2002). However, the results of this research prove that this will not be the case, and the introduction of the virtual channel of services delivery system will create a public e-services divide. In response to the research questions: “what is an e-services divide?” and “what are its antecedents and consequences?”, this cross-sectional explanatory research shows that the public e-services divide will separate citizen’s who have access to ICTs, who have the skills to use ICTs, and who accept use of public e-services from the others. The public e-services divide will result from the e-access divide, the e-skills divide, and from the public e-services acceptance divide, which will lead to lower citizen satisfaction.
An Analysis of Literature on Consumer Adoption and Diffusion of Information System/Information Technology/Information and Communication Technology
Authors: Dwivedi Yogesh   K. , Williams Michael D. , Lal Banita , Mustafee Navonil
Published: May 2012

This paper provides a comprehensive and systematic review of literature pertaining to consumer/household/residential adoption and diffusion issues in relation to ICT/IT/IS to ascertain the current “state of play” within the field along a number of dimensions. Eighty articles on the adoption, acceptance and diffusion of ICT/IT/IS, published in 54 peer reviewed journals between 1998 and 2008, were reviewed, from which information on a series of variables were extracted. The subsequent findings suggest that the positivist paradigm, empirical and quantitative research, the survey method and the TAM theory were predominantly used when investigating the topics of the adoption and diffusion of technology within the consumer/household/residential context.
Tissue Image Classification Using Multi-Fractal Spectra
Authors: Mukundan Ramakrishnan , Hemsley Anna
Published: May 2012

Tissue image classification is a challenging problem due to the fact that the images contain highly irregular shapes in complex spatial arrangement. The multi-fractal formalism has been found useful in characterizing the intensity distribution present in such images, as it can effectively resolve local densities and also represent various structures present in the image. This paper presents a detailed study of feature vectors derived from the distribution of Holder exponents and the geometrical characteristics of the multi-fractal spectra that can be used in applications requiring image classification and retrieval. The paper also gives the results of experimental analysis performed using a tissue image database and demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed multi-fractal-based descriptors in tissue image classification and retrieval. Implementation aspects that need to be considered for improving classification accuracy and the feature representation capability of the proposed descriptors are also outlined.
Automatic Pitch Type Recognition System from Single-View Video Sequences of Baseball Broadcast Videos
Authors: Takahashi Masaki , Fujii Mahito , Shibata Masahiro , Yagi Nobuyuki , Satoh Shin’ichi
Published: May 2012

This article describes a system that automatically recognizes individual pitch types like screwballs and sliders in baseball broadcast videos. These decisions are currently made by human specialists in baseball, who are watching the broadcast video of the game. No automatic system has yet been developed for identifying individual pitch types from single view camera images. Techniques using multiple fixed cameras promise highly accurate pitch type identification, but the systems tend to be large. Our system is designed to identify the same pitch types using only the same single-view broadcast baseball videos used by the human specialists, and accordingly we used a number of features, such as the ball’s location, ball speed and catcher’s stance based on the advice of those specialists. The system identifies the pitch type using a classifier trained with the Random Forests ensemble learning algorithm and achieved about 90% recognition accuracy in experiments.
Synthetic Video Generation for Evaluation of Sprite Generation
Authors: Chen Yi , Aygün Ramazan S.
Published: May 2012

Sprite generation is the process of aligning, warping, and blending of pixels that belong to an object in a video. The evaluation of the correctness of a sprite is usually accomplished by a combination of objective and subjective evaluations. Availability of ground-truth image would help mere objective evaluation. In this paper, the authors present video generation from an image based on various camera motion parameters to be used as ground-truth for the sprite evaluation. This paper introduces a framework for evaluation of sprite generation algorithms. Experiments under the proposed framework were performed on the synthetic videos of different camera motion patterns to reveal the components of the sprite generation algorithm to be improved.
Fast Caption Alignment for Automatic Indexing of Audio
Authors: Knight Allan , Almeroth Kevin
Published: May 2012

For large archives of audio media, just as with text archives, indexing is important for allowing quick and accurate searches. Similar to text archives, audio archives can use text for indexing. Generating this text requires using transcripts of the spoken portions of the audio. From them, an alignment can be made that allows users to search for specific content and immediately view the content at the position where the search terms were spoken. Although previous research has addressed this issue, the solutions align the transcripts only in real-time or greater. In this paper, the authors propose AutoCap. It is capable of producing accurate audio indexes in faster than real-time for archived audio and in real-time for live audio. In most cases it takes less than one quarter the original duration for archived audio. This paper discusses the architecture and evaluation of the AutoCap project as well as two of its applications.
Building Tag-Aware Groups for Music High-Order Ranking and Topic Discovery
Authors: Rafailidis Dimitrios , Nanopoulos Alexandros , Manolopoulos Yannis
Published: May 2012

In popular music information retrieval systems, users have the opportunity to tag musical objects to express their personal preferences, thus providing valuable insights about the formulation of user groups/communities. In this article, the authors focus on the analysis of social tagging data to reveal coherent groups characterized by their users, tags and music objects (e.g., songs and artists), which allows for the expression of discovered groups in a multi-aspect way. For each group, this study reveals the most prominent users, tags, and music objects using a generalization of the popular web-ranking concept in the social data domain. Experimenting with real data, the authors’ results show that each Tag-Aware group corresponds to a specific music topic, and additionally, a three way ranking analysis is performed inside each group. Building Tag-Aware groups is crucial to offer ways to add structure in the unstructured nature of tags.
Content Adaptation in Mobile Learning Environments
Authors: Castillo Sergio , Ayala Gerardo
Published: May 2012

In this paper, the authors present their proposal for adaptation of educational contents of learning objects to a particular mobile device and a specific learner. Content adaptation in mobile learning objects implies user adaptation and device adaptation, and requires additional metadata categories in comparison with SCORM 2004. This learning object content model, ALMA (A Learning content Model Adaptation), inherits from the SCORM standard a subset of metadata categories, and extends it with three top level metadata categories for content adaptation, i.e., Knowledge, Use, and Mobile Device Requirements (Castillo & Ayala, 2008). For user adaptation, the authors developed NORIKO (NOn-monotonic Reasoning for Intelligent Knowledge awareness and recommendations On the move), a belief system based on DLV, a programming system based on Answer Set Programming paradigm. For device adaptation the authors designed CARIME (Content Adapter of Resources In Mobile learning Environments), which uses transcoding and transrating to adapt media content to suit the device characteristics.
Iterative Usability Evaluation for an Online Educational Web Portal
Authors: Wang Xin C. , Yadamsuren Borchuluun , Paul Anindita , Adkins DeeAnna , Laur George , Tawfik Andrew , Erdelez Sanda
Published: May 2012

Online education is a popular paradigm for promoting continuing education for adult learners. However, only a handful of studies have addressed usability issues in the online education environment. Particularly, few studies have integrated the multifaceted usability evaluation into the lifecycle of developing such an environment. This paper will show the integration of usability evaluation into the development process of an online education center. Multifaceted usability evaluation methods were applied at four different stages of the MU Extension web portal’s development. These methods were heuristic evaluation, focus group interview and survey, think-aloud interviewing, and multiple-user simultaneous testing. The results of usability studies at each stage enhanced the development team’s understanding of users’ difficulties, needs, and wants, which served to guide web developers’ subsequent decisions.
Region-Based Theories of Space
Authors: Hahmann Torsten , Grüninger Michael
Published: May 2012

This chapter focuses on the topological and mereological relations, contact, and parthood, between spatio-temporal regions as axiomatized in so-called mereotopologies. Despite, or because of, their simplicity, a variety of different first-order axiomatizations have been proposed. This chapter discusses their underlying ontological choices and different ways of systematically looking at them. The chapter further gives an overview of the algebraic, topological, and graph-theoretic representations of mereotopological models which help to better understand the model-theoretic consequences of the various ontological choices. While much work on mereotopologies has been primarily theoretical, the focus started shifting towards applications and domain-specific extensions of mereotopology. These aspects will most likely guide the future direction of the field: How can mereotopologies be extended or otherwise adjusted to better suit practical needs? Moreover, the integration of mereotopology into more comprehensive and maybe more pragmatic ontologies of space and time remains another challenge in the field of region-based space.
A Region-Based Ontology of the Brain Ventricular System and Its Relation to Schizophrenia
Authors: Santos Paulo , Freire Rodolpho , dos Santos Danilo N. , Thomaz Carlos , Sallet Paulo , Louzã Mario , Cohn Anthony G.
Published: May 2012

This chapter describes an initial region-based formalisation of some concepts about neuroanatomy into ontological and epistemic terms, as part of a major effort into the formalisation of the knowledge contained in neuroimages of patients with schizophrenia. The long-term goal is to build an ontology that is a formal basis for the expectations generated from statistical data analysis. To this end, the chapter presents an example of applying this ontology to interpret the results of image-based analysis of neuroimages from schizophrenic patients.
Qualitative Spatial Reasoning for Applications
Authors: Wolter Diedrich , Wallgrün Jan Oliver
Published: May 2012

This chapter approaches QSTR from an application perspective. Considering the exemplary application domains of robot navigation, GIS, and computer-aided design, the authors conclude that reasoning must be interpreted in a broader sense than the often-considered constraint-based reasoning and that supporting tools must become available. The authors then discuss the newly identified reasoning tasks and how they can be supported by QSTR toolboxes to foster the dissemination of QSTR in applications. Furthermore, the authors explain how they aim to overcome the lack-of-tools dilemma through the development of the QSTR toolbox SparQ.
A Framework to Analyze the Alignment of E-Government Projects
Authors: Bouaziz Fatma , Chaabouni Jamil
Published: May 2012

Alignment is perceived as a key factor for profiting from the implementation of information system and technology (IS/IT). However, studies in the domain of e-government and alignment, particularly in developing countries are scarce. In this research, the authors examine the significant impact that IS/IT alignment can have on e-government project implementation success. Through inspecting e-government projects, the authors capture the role of alignment in e-government and discuss strategies that can be adopted to improve implementation success. An empirical enquiry based on case studies of e-government projects by Tunisian public administration reveals that a dynamic approach to alignment can be adopted and consequently supported through partial alignment of horizontal integration. This empirical enquiry also reveals that political support can be seen as a key influencing factor that impacted success. Finally, the findings are used to propose a framework to analyze the alignment of e-government projects.
Monocytic Thrombomodulin Triggers LPS- and Gram-Negative Bacteria-Induced Inflammatory Response
Authors: Ma Chih-Yuan , Shi Guey-Yueh , Shi Chung-Sheng , Kao Yuan-Chung , Lin Shu-Wha , Wu Hua-Lin
Published: May 2012

Sepsis results from the host hyperinflammatory response to bacterial infection, causing multiple organ failure and high mortality. We previously demonstrated that LPS binds to monocytic membrane-bound thrombomodulin (TM), but the role of monocytic TM in LPS-induced inflammation remains unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that TM knockdown in human monocytic cells attenuated LPS-induced signaling pathways and cytokine production. Coimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence assays showed that monocytic TM interacted with the LPS receptors, CD14 and TLR4/myeloid differentiation factor-2 (MD-2) complex, indicating that it binds to LPS and triggers an LPS-induced inflammatory response by interacting with the CD14/TLR4/MD-2 complex. We also found that monocytic TM knockdown reduced cytokine production induced by Gram-negative bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae, suggesting that monocytic TM plays an important role in Gram-negative bacteria-induced inflammation. To further investigate the function of monocytic TM in vivo, myeloid-specific TM-deficient mice were established and were found to display improved survival that resulted from the attenuation of septic syndrome, including reduced systemic inflammatory response and resistance to bacterial dissemination, after K. pneumoniae infection or cecal ligation and puncture surgery. The inhibition of bacterial dissemination in mice with a deficiency of myeloid TM may be caused by the early increase in neutrophil infiltration. Therefore, we conclude that monocytic TM is a novel component in the CD14/TLR4/MD-2 complex and participates in the LPS- and Gram-negative bacteria-induced inflammatory response.
High DGK-α and Disabled MAPK Pathways Cause Dysfunction of Human Tumor-Infiltrating CD8+ T Cells That Is Reversible by Pharmacologic Intervention
Authors: Prinz Petra U. , Mendler Anna N. , Masouris Ilias , Durner Leopold , Oberneder Ralph , Noessner Elfriede
Published: May 2012

CD8+ tumor-infiltrating T cells (CD8-TILs) are found in many types of tumors including human renal cell carcinoma. However, tumor rejection rarely occurs, suggesting limited functional activity in the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we document that CD8-TILs are unresponsive to CD3 stimulation, showing neither lytic activity, nor lytic granule exocytosis, nor IFN-γ production. Mechanistically, no deficits in TCR proximal signaling molecules (lymphocyte-specific protein tyrosine kinase, phospholipase Cγ) were identified. In contrast, distal TCR signaling was suppressed, as T cells of TILs showed strongly reduced steady-state phosphorylation of the MAPK ERK and were unable to increase phosphorylation of ERK and JNK as well as AKT and AKT client proteins (IκB, GSK3) after stimulation. These deficits were tumor-specific as they were not observed in CD8+ T cells infiltrating non-tumor kidney areas (CD8+ non-tumor kidney-infiltrating lymphocytes; CD8-NILs). Diacylglycerol kinase-α (DGK-α) was more highly expressed in CD8-TILs compared with that in CD8-NILs, and its inhibition improved ERK phosphorylation and lytic granule exocytosis. Cultivation of TILs in low-dose IL-2 reduced DGK-α protein levels, increased steady-state phosphorylation of ERK, improved stimulation-induced phosphorylation of ERK and AKT, and allowed more CD8-TILs to degranulate and to produce IFN-γ. Additionally, the protein level of the AKT client molecule p27kip, an inhibitory cell cycle protein, was reduced, whereas cyclin E, which promotes G1–S phase transition, was increased. These results indicate that the tumor-inflicted deficits of TILs are reversible. DGK-α inhibition and provision of IL-2 signals could be strategies to recruit the natural CD8+ T cells to the anti-tumor response and may help prevent inactivation of adoptively transferred T cells thereby improving therapeutic efficacy.
Presenting a framework for knowledge management within a web-enabled Living Lab
Authors: De Jager Lizette , Buitendag Albertus A.K. , Van der Walt Jacobus S.
Published: May 2012

Background: The background to this study showed that many communities, countries and continents are only now realising the importance of discovering innovative collaborative knowledge. Knowledge management (KM) enables organisations to retain tacit knowledge. It has many advantages, like competitiveness, retaining workers’ knowledge as corporate assets and assigning value to it. The value of knowledge can never depreciate. It can only grow and become more and more valuable because new knowledge is added continuously to existing knowledge.Objective: The objective of this study was to present a framework for KM processes and using social media tools in a Living Lab (LL) environment.Methods: In order to find a way to help organisations to retain tacit knowledge, the researchers conducted in-depth research. They used case studies and Grounded Theory (GT) to explore KM, social media tools and technologies as well as the LL environment. They emailed an online questionnaire and followed it up telephonically. The study targeted academic, support and administrative staff in higher education institutions nationwide to establish their level of KM knowledge, understanding of concepts and levels of application.Results: The researchers concluded that the participants did not know the term KM and therefore were not using KM. They only used information hubs, or general university systems, like Integrated Technology Software (ITS), to capture and store information. The researchers suggested including social media and managing them as tools to help CoPs to meet their knowledge requirements. Therefore, the researchers presented a framework that uses semantic technologies and the social media to address the problem.Conclusion: The success of the LL approach in developing new web-enabled LLs allows organisations to amalgamate various networks. The social media help organisations to gather, classify and verify knowledge.
The distribution and habitats of Chambardia wahlbergi and Chambardia petersi (Bivalvia: Iridinidae) in South Africa.
Authors: De Kock Kenné N. , Wolmarans Corrie T.
Published: May 2012

Based on the data in the database of the National Freshwater Snail Collection (NFSC), the distribution and habitat of Chambardia wahlbergi and Chambardia petersi, are presented and discussed. Although the distribution of these two species overlaps extensively in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga Provinces, contrary to reports in literature, specimens of C. wahlbergi were also collected in the North West Province and the Free State Province in the west-flowing Vaal River, as well as in Gauteng. The majority of samples of both species were collected in rivers and dams, in water conditions described as perennial, standing, clear and fresh. Multivariate analyses indicated that temperature, altitude and waterbodies played a significant role in the geographical distribution of both species. Although little is known of the conservation status of these species, it is categorised as of least concern in the revised edition of the UCN Red Data List (Seddon et al. 2011). The majority of records of both species in the database of the NFSC date from work done during the previous century in the Kruger National Park (KNP). More recent surveys by the authors in the KNP revealed a decline in the number of positive sites, as well as the number of specimens per site. This data suggest that there might be reason for concern regarding their conservation status. The fact that exceptionally large specimens of C. wahlbergi were collected, mostly by chance, on several occasions in the west-flowing Vaal River as recently as 2007 emphasises the need to conduct extensive mollusc surveys, as during the previous century, to update the documented geographical distribution and to monitor the progress of exotic invader species.
Julius Wellhausen � die denke van �n Ou-Testamentikus
Authors: Serfontein Gideon J. , Le Roux Jurie H.
Published: May 2012

Julius Wellhausen � the thoughts of an Old Testament scholar. The purpose of this article is to examine the life, influence and greatest works of Old Testament scholar Julius Wellhausen. Wellhausen was influenced by the findings of other Old Testament critics that preceded him, as well as the new environment that the Enlightenment has created. These influences can be seen in his three major works: Die Komposition des Hexateuchs � here an idea of the method he used in the recognition, grouping and dating of the sources can be found. Wellhausen made use of these sources to construct a history of Israel which can be viewed in his Geschichte Israels. His greatest work was most certainly his Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels and he makes significant findings in the part on the Geschichte des Kultus. The question to be answered though is: Does Wellhausen�s source hypothesis still has a part to play in our modern research on the Pentateuch?
On the accuracy of integrated water vapor observations and the potential for mitigating electromagnetic path delay error in InSAR
Authors: Cimini D. , Pierdicca N. , Pichelli E. , Ferretti R. , Mattioli V. , Bonafoni S. , Montopoli M. , Perissin D.
Published: May 2012

Abstract. A field campaign was carried out in the framework of the Mitigation of Electromagnetic Transmission errors induced by Atmospheric Water Vapour Effects (METAWAVE) project sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the accuracy of currently available sources of atmospheric columnar integrated water vapor measurements. The METAWAVE campaign took place in Rome, Italy, for the 2-week period from 19 September to 4 October 2008. The collected dataset includes observations from ground-based microwave radiometers and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, from meteorological numerical model analysis and predictions, from balloon-borne in-situ radiosoundings, as well as from spaceborne infrared radiometers. These different sources of integrated water vapor (IWV) observations have been analyzed and compared to quantify the accuracy and investigate the potential for mitigating IWV-related electromagnetic path delay errors in Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) imaging. The results, which include a triple collocation analysis accounting for errors inherently present in every IWV measurements, are valid not only to InSAR but also to any other application involving water vapor sensing. The present analysis concludes that the requirements for mitigating the effects of turbulent water vapor component into InSAR are significantly higher than the accuracy of the instruments analyzed here. Nonetheless, information on the IWV vertical stratification from satellite observations, numerical models, and GPS receivers may provide valuable aid to suppress the long spatial wavelength (>20 km) component of the atmospheric delay, and thus significantly improve the performances of InSAR phase unwrapping techniques.
Investigating the long-term evolution of subtropical ozone profiles applying ground-based FTIR spectrometry
Authors: García O. E. , Schneider M. , Redondas A. , González Y. , Hase F. , Blumenstock T. , Sepúlveda E.
Published: May 2012

Abstract. We investigate the long-term evolution of subtropical ozone profile time series (1999–2010) obtained from different ground-based FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed) retrieval setups. We examine the influence of an additional temperature retrieval and different constraints. The study is performed at the Izaña Observatory ozone super-site (Tenerife Island, Spain). The FTIR system is able to resolve four independent ozone layers with a theoretical precision of better than 7.5% in the troposphere, lower, middle and upper stratosphere. This total error includes the smoothing error, which is dominating the random error budget. Furthermore, our theoretical calculations indicate that a very precise knowledge of the instrumental line shape is mandatory for a precise ground-based FTIR remote sensing of stratospheric ozone. Likewise, we show that a simultaneous temperature retrieval is highly recommended. We empirically confirm our precision estimates by daily intercomparisons with Electro Chemical Cell (ECC) sonde profiles. Both FTIR and ECC sonde profile time series show similar seasonality: in winter stratospheric ozone profiles are typical middle latitude profiles (low tropopause, low ozone maximum concentrations) and in summer/autumn they are typical tropical profiles (high tropopause, high maximum concentrations). Good agreement is also observed for the linear trends estimated from the FTIR and the ECC datasets: a negative trend in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere region of about −0.3% yr−1 and a positive trend in the middle/upper stratosphere of about +0.3% yr−1. Admittedly, a 12-yr time series is too short for reliable trend studies, however, it is worthwhile mentioning that such subtropical ozone profile trends are predicted by climate models due to an increased stratospheric circulation in response to climate change.
Positive ionospheric storm effects at Latin America longitude during the superstorm of 20–22 November 2003: revisit
Authors: Zhao B. , Wan W. , Lei J. , Wei Y. , Sahai Y. , Reinisch B.
Published: May 2012

Abstract. Positive ionospheric storm effects that occurred during the superstorm on 20 November 2003 are investigated using a combination of ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) total electron content (TEC), and the meridian chain of ionosondes distributed along the Latin America longitude of ~280° E. Both the ground-based GPS TEC and ionosonde electron density profile data reveal significant enhancements at mid-low latitudes over the 280° E region during the main phase of the November 2003 superstorm. The maximum enhancement of the topside ionospheric electron content is 3.2–7.7 times of the bottomside ionosphere at the locations of the ionosondes distributed around the mid- and low latitudes. Moreover, the height of maximum electron density exceeds 400 km and increases by 100 km compared with the quiet day over the South American area from middle to low latitudes, which might have resulted from a continuous eastward penetration electric field and storm-generated equatorward winds. Our results do not support the conclusions of Yizengaw et al. (2006), who suggested that the observed positive storm over the South American sector was mainly the consequence of the changes of the bottomside ionosphere. The so-called "unusual" responses of the topside ionosphere for the November 2003 storm in Yizengaw et al. (2006) are likely associated with the erroneous usage of magnetometer and incomplete data.
Addressing secondary school students' everyday ideas about freshwater springs in order to develop an instructional tool to promote conceptual reconstruction
Authors: Reinfried S. , Tempelmann S. , Aeschbacher U.
Published: May 2012

Abstract. "Water knowledge" has now become a socio-political and future-orientated necessity. Everyday ideas or preconceptions of hydrology can have a deleterious effect one people's understanding of the scientific facts and their interrelations that are of relevance to sustainable water management. This explorative pilot study shows that preconceived notions about the origin of freshwater springs are common at the lower secondary school level. The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to investigate the nature of everyday ideas about freshwater springs among 81 13-yr-old Swiss students, and (2) to develop an efficient instructional tool that promotes conceptual reconstruction in the learners' minds. To assess students' everyday ideas we conducted interviews, examined student work, and asked students to fill in a questionnaire. The results indicate that half of the students have some basic hydrological knowledge. However, several preconceived notions that can significantly impede the understanding of hydrological concepts have been found. A common preconception concerns the idea that solid rocks cannot be permeable and that large underground cavities constitute a necessary precondition for the formation of springs. While these ideas may well be true for karst springs they inhibit the understanding of the concept of other spring types due to their plausibility and intelligibility. We therefore chose the concept of the hillslope spring to construct an instructional tool that takes into account the findings of the psychology of learning aimed at promoting deep learning, thus facilitating a lasting conceptual reconstruction of the concept of springs.
A 2-D FEM thermal model to simulate water flow in a porous media: Campi Flegrei caldera case study
Authors: Romano V. , Tammaro U. , Capuano P.
Published: May 2012

Abstract. Volcanic and geothermal aspects both exist in many geologically young areas. In these areas the heat transfer process is of fundamental importance, so that the thermal and fluid-dynamic processes characterizing a viscous fluid in a porous medium are very important to understand the complex dynamics of the these areas. The Campi Flegrei caldera, located west of the city of Naples, within the central-southern sector of the large graben of Campanian plain, is a region where both volcanic and geothermal phenomena are present. The upper part of the geothermal system can be considered roughly as a succession of volcanic porous material (tuff) saturated by a mixture formed mainly by water and carbon dioxide. We have implemented a finite elements approach in transient conditions to simulate water flow in a 2-D porous medium to model the changes of temperature in the geothermal system due to magmatic fluid inflow, accounting for a transient phase, not considered in the analytical solutions and fluid compressibility. The thermal model is described by means of conductive/convective equations, in which we propose a thermal source represented by a parabolic shape function to better simulate an increase of temperature in the central part (magma chamber) of a box, simulating the Campi Flegrei caldera and using more recent evaluations, from literature, for the medium's parameters (specific heat capacity, density, thermal conductivity, permeability). A best-fit velocity for the permeant is evaluated by comparing the simulated temperatures with those measured in wells drilled by Agip (Italian Oil Agency) in the 1980s in the framework of geothermal exploration. A few tens of days are enough to reach the thermal steady state, showing the quick response of the system to heat injection. The increase in the pressure due to the heat transport is then used to compute ground deformation, in particular the vertical displacements characteristics of the Campi Flegrei caldera behaviour. The vertical displacements range from 1 cm to 10 cm in accordance with the mini uplift, characterizing the recent behaviour of the caldera. The time needed to move fluid particles from the bottom to the upper layer (years) is compatible with the timing of the mini uplift.