bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Psychometric validation of the Coronary Revascularisation Outcome Questionnaire (CROQv2) in the context of the NHS Coronary Revascularisation PROMs Pilot
Authors: Schroter Sara , Miles Rebecca , Green Stephen , Jackson Mark
Published: March 2017

Objectives

The Coronary Revascularisation Outcome Questionnaire (CROQ) is a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We tested the psychometric properties of a modified version (CROQv2) when administered in a National Health Service (NHS)/Department of Health (DH) funded pilot of PROMs for coronary revascularisation.

Design

Psychometric validation study.

Setting

11 English hospitals in the UK taking part in the NHS/DH funded pilot of PROMs for coronary revascularisation.

Participants

Comprehensive analyses of acceptability, reliability, validity and responsiveness were conducted independently for each of the prerevascularisation (n=2685 and n=3711) and postrevascularisation (n=869 and n=837) versions of the CROQ-CABG and CROQ-PCI, respectively.

Results

All versions met prespecified stringent criteria for (1) acceptability of items (missing data) and scales (missing data, floor and ceiling effects, skewness); (2) tests of scaling assumptions; (3) reliability: internal consistency (Cronbach's α, item-total correlations); (4) construct validity based on within-scale analyses (internal consistency, intercorrelations between scales, factor analysis and hypothesis testing); (5) construct validity based on comparisons with external measures (convergent and discriminant validity and hypothesis testing) and (6) responsiveness. Results were also confirmed when tests were repeated on subsamples of CABG (n=639) and PCI (n=615) patients who reported receiving help completing prerevascularisation questionnaires.

Conclusions

The availability of a psychometrically robust procedure-specific tool that could be used as part of a large-scale coronary revascularisation PROMs programme to capture the patients' perspective of coronary revascularisation will enable outcomes important to patients to be routinely collected alongside clinical outcomes. The CROQ is suitable for administration by postal survey or the prerevascularisation versions can be administered in the clinical setting as in the Coronary Revascularisation PROMs Pilot.
Abundance and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria in the rhizosphere soil of three plants in the Ebinur Lake wetland
Authors: He Yuan , Hu Wenge , Ma Decao , Lan Hongzhu , Yang Yang , Gao Yan
Published: March 2017

Ammonia oxidation is carried out by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The Ebinur Lake wetland is the best example of a temperate arid zone wetland ecosystem in China. Soil samples were collected from rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil containing Halocnemum strobilaceum (samples H and H′), Phragmites australis (samples R and R′), and Karelinia caspia (samples K and K′) to study the relationship between environmental factors and the community structure of AOB and AOA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the AOA sequences belonged to the Nitrosopumilus and Nitrososphaera clusters. AOB were grouped into Nitrosospira sp. and Nitrosomonas sp. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that the AOA abundance ranged from 2.09 × 104 to 2.94 × 105 gene copies/g soil. The highest number of AOA was detected in sample K, followed by samples R and H. AOB abundance varied between 2.91 × 105 and 1.05 × 106 gene copies/g soil, which was higher than that of AOA. Redundancy analysis indicated that electrical conductivity, pH, and NH4+-N might influence the community structure of AOA and AOB. AOB might play a more crucial role than AOA in ammonia oxidation based on AOB’s higher diversity and abundance in the Ebinur Lake wetland in Xinjiang.
Calcium decline reduces population growth rates of zooplankton in field mesocosms
Authors: Arnott S.E. , Azan S.S.E. , Ross A.J.
Published: February 2017

Regional calcium (Ca) decline, a legacy of acid deposition and logging, is a potential threat to aquatic organisms. Lake surveys and laboratory studies indicate that Ca-rich daphniids are likely most susceptible, allowing for competitive release of other taxa with low Ca demand. Indeed, dramatic shifts in zooplankton community structure have been documented in lakes where Ca has declined, amid multiple other stressors. Given the perceived threat of this large-scale stressor, manipulative studies are needed to evaluate causal relationships between Ca decline and zooplankton community structure. We analysed per capita growth rates of zooplankton from three independent mesocosm experiments where we manipulated aqueous Ca concentrations to reflect current and future Ca concentrations. In two experiments where Ca concentration was reduced to 0.6 or 0.9 mg/L, we observed reduced growth rates for several taxa, including daphniids, bosminids, and copepods. No effect of Ca was detected in the experiment where Ca concentrations ranged from 1.2 to 2.5 mg/L, a gradient representing 68% of lakes in south-central Ontario. These results suggest that future Ca decline in soft-water Canadian Shield lakes may be accompanied by shifts in community structure and overall declines in zooplankton production.
QCD(SU(∞)) as a model of infinite-dimensional constant gauge field configurations
Authors: Botelho Luiz C. L.
Published: March 2017

We study and clarify in a reduced dynamical model for [Formula: see text] called Bollini–Giambiagi model and defined by constant gauge fields Yang–Mills path integral several concepts on the validity of string representations on [Formula: see text] and the confinement problem.
Annihilation rates of 3D2(2−−) and 3D3(3−−) heavy quarkonia
Authors: Wang Tianhong , Fu Hui-Feng , Jiang Yue , Li Qiang , Wang Guo-Li
Published: March 2017

We calculate the annihilation decay rates of the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] charmonia and bottomonia by using the instantaneous Bethe–Salpeter (BS) method. The wave functions of states with quantum numbers [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are constructed. By solving the corresponding instantaneous BS equations, we obtain the mass spectra and wave functions of the quarkonia. The annihilation amplitude is written within Mandelstam formalism and the relativistic corrections are taken into account properly. This is important, especially for high excited states, since their relativistic corrections are large. The results for the [Formula: see text] channel are as follows: [Formula: see text] keV, [Formula: see text] keV, [Formula: see text] keV and [Formula: see text] keV.
Topological phase transition of two-dimensional topological polaritons
Authors: Chi Zimeng , Guo Xiaoyong , Wang Zaijun
Published: March 2017

Topological phase transitions of a two-dimensional topologically nontrivial polaritonic system are studied. A generic model of semiconductor excitons strongly coupled with tailored photonic modes is considered. We introduce a pseudospin operator, measuring the polariton polarization between photonic-like and excitonic-like. The associated pseudospin spectrum and pseudospin Chern numbers are calculated. It is shown that the pseudospin Chern number phase diagram exhibits certain features resembling the topological phase of quantum-spin-Hall-like. Moreover, a series of topological phase transitions may occur with the closing of the bulk energy gap or the pseudospin spectrum gap. In a tight-binding form, the edge-mode simulation is done numerically to confirm the analytically results.
Chemical potential, Gibbs–Duhem equation and quantum gases
Authors: Lee M. Howard
Published: March 2017

Thermodynamic relations like the Gibbs–Duhem are valid from the lowest to the highest temperatures. But they cannot by themselves provide any specific temperature behavior of thermodynamic functions like the chemical potential. In this work, we show that if some general conditions are attached to the Gibbs–Duhem equation, it is possible to obtain the low temperature form of the chemical potential for the ideal Fermi and Bose gases very directly.
Comment on the spherical quantum dot with interaction effects
Authors: Katriel Jacob
Published: March 2017

A series of studies of the lowest [Formula: see text] state of a model of a two-electron quantum dot, that consists of a finite spherical well [see, for example, Sivakami et al., Int. J. Mod. Phys. B 24, 5561 (2010)], exhibited a range of interesting applications. However, the quantity of central interest, the expectation value of the interelectronic repulsion (that must be nonnegative) was calculated erroneously, yielding negative values. In the present note, this expectation value is evaluated with respect to the exact first-order perturbation theory wavefunction (the scheme considered in the papers cited above) as well as with respect to a minimal basis set Gaussian variational wavefunction. Reasonable agreement between the two schemes is confirmed, both yielding the expected positive values of the expectation value of the interelectronic repulsion, over the whole range of the relevant parameters.
Performance analysis on cascaded asymmetric photonic crystal Mach–Zehnder tunable filter
Authors: Chen Ying , Zhao Zhiyong , Liu Teng , He Lei , Di Yuanjian , Cui Xingning
Published: March 2017

A cascaded asymmetric photonic crystal Mach–Zehnder filter structure is proposed to improve the quality factor (Q value) and the sensitivity of the tunable optical filter. The mathematical relationship between the output wavelength of M–Z filter and the voltage applied on the multilayer PZT is established. The simulation results show that the full width at half maximum can be decreased from 17 nm to 9 nm, in addition, the transmission peak wavelength varies by adjusting the applied voltage and the sensitivity can attain to 0.7 nm/V by using the multilayer PZT, which can achieve tunable filtering effectively.
Breathers and rogue waves for an eighth-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation in an optical fiber
Authors: Hu Wen-Qiang , Gao Yi-Tian , Zhao Chen , Lan Zhong-Zhou
Published: March 2017

In this paper, an eighth-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation is investigated in an optical fiber, which can be used to describe the propagation of ultrashort nonlinear pulses. Lax pair and infinitely-many conservation laws are derived to verify the integrability of this equation. Via the Darboux transformation and generalized Darboux transformation, the analytic breather and rogue wave solutions are obtained. Influence of the coefficients of operators in this equation, which represent different order nonlinearity, and the spectral parameter on the propagation and interaction of the breathers and rogue waves is also discussed. We find that (i) the periodic of the breathers decreases as the augment of the spectral parameter; (ii) the coefficients of operators change the compressibility and periodic of the breathers, and can affect the interaction range and temporal–spatial distribution of the rogue waves.
CONVEX REGULARIZATION OF LOCAL VOLATILITY ESTIMATION
Authors: ALBANI VINICIUS , DE CEZARO ADRIANO , ZUBELLI JORGE P.
Published: March 2017

We apply convex regularization techniques to the problem of calibrating Dupire’s local volatility surface model taking into account the practical requirement of discrete grids and noisy data. Such requirements are the consequence of bid and ask spreads, quantization of the quoted prices and lack of liquidity of option prices for strikes far away from the at-the-money level. We obtain convergence rates and results comparable to those obtained in the idealized continuous setting. Our results allow us to take into account separately the uncertainties due to the price noise and those due to discretization errors, thus, allowing estimating better discretization levels both in the domain and in the image of the parameter to solution operator by a Morozov’s discrepancy principle. We illustrate the results with simulated as well as real market data. We also validate the results by comparing the implied volatility prices of market data with the computed prices of the calibrated model.
Transition Contour Synthesis with Dynamic Patch Transitions
Authors: Ferraris John , Tian Feng , Gatzidis Christos
Published: March 2017

In this article, we present a novel approach for modulating the shape of transitions between terrain materials to produce detailed and varied contours where blend resolution is limited. Whereas texture splatting and blend mapping add detail to transitions at the texel level, our approach addresses the broader shape of the transition by introducing intermittency and irregularity. Our results have proven that enriched detail of the blend contour can be achieved with a performance competitive to existing approaches without additional texture, geometry resources, or asset preprocessing. We achieve this by compositing blend masks on-the-fly with the subdivision of texture space into differently sized patches to produce irregular contours from minimal artistic input. Our approach is of particular importance for applications where GPU resources or artistic input is limited or impractical.
Acquisition and corpus description of NITR conscious walk dataset
Authors: Raman Rahul , Sa Pankaj K , Majhi Banshidhar , Bakshi Sambit
Published: March 2017

This report describes the NITR Conscious Walk Dataset which is constraint human walk database captured in visible spectrum. The database provides videos of 8 different walk directions. The 8 discrete directions spanning from 0° to 360° with respect to view axis of camera are equiangular from neighbouring directions. The video database is ideal for the estimation of pedestrian walk direction using both inter-frame and intra-frame properties, and can also be used for the further generaized study of object tracking, person reidentification, and studying gait features in different camera angles.
Insulin resistance and normal thyroid hormone levels: prospective study and metabolomic analysis
Authors: Ferrannini Ele , Iervasi Giorgio , Cobb Jeff , Ndreu Rudina , Nannipieri Monica
Published: March 2017

While hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism cause dysglycemia, the relationship between thyroid hormone levels within the normal range and insulin resistance (IR) is unclear. In 940 participants with strictly normal serum concentrations of free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) followed up for 3 yr, we measured insulin sensitivity (by the insulin clamp technique) and 35 circulating metabolites. At baseline, across quartiles of increasing fT3levels (or fT3/fT4ratio) most features of IR emerged [i.e., male sex, greater body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, heart rate, blood pressure, fatty liver index, free fatty acids, and triglycerides; reduced insulin-mediated glucose disposal; and β-cell glucose sensitivity). In multiadjusted analyses, fT3was reciprocally related to insulin sensitivity and, in a subset of 303 subjects, directly related to endogenous glucose production. In multiple regression models adjusting for sex, age, BMI, and baseline value of insulin sensitivity, higher baseline fT3levels were significant predictors of decreases in insulin sensitivity. Moreover, baseline fT3predicted follow-up increases in glycemia independently of sex, age, BMI, insulin sensitivity, β-cell glucose sensitivity, and baseline glycemia. Serum tyrosine levels were higher with IR and were directly associated with fT3; higher α-hydroxybutyrate levels signaled enhanced oxidative stress, thereby impairing tyrosine degradation. In 25 patients with morbid obesity, surgery-induced weight loss improved IR and consensually lowered fT3levels. High-normal fT3levels are associated with IR both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and predict deterioration of glucose tolerance. This association is supported by a metabolite pattern that points at increased oxidative stress as part of the IR syndrome.
Asphalt Pavement Pothole Detection and Segmentation Based on Wavelet Energy Field
Authors: Wang Penghui , Hu Yongbiao , Dai Yong , Tian Mingrui
Published: March 2017

Potholes are one type of pavement surface distresses whose assessment is essential for developing road network maintenance strategies. Existing methods for automatic pothole detection either rely on expensive and high‐maintenance equipment or could not segment the pothole accurately. In this paper, an asphalt pavement pothole detection and segmentation method based on energy field is put forward. The proposed method mainly includes two processes. Firstly, the wavelet energy field of the pavement image is constructed to detect the pothole by morphological processing and geometric criterions. Secondly, the detected pothole is segmented by Markov random field model and the pothole edge is extracted accurately. This methodology has been implemented in a MATLAB prototype, trained, and tested on 120 pavement images. The results show that it can effectively distinguish potholes from cracks, patches, greasy dirt, shadows, and manhole covers and accurately segment the pothole. For pothole detection, the method reaches an overall accuracy of 86.7%, with 83.3% precision and 87.5% recall. For pothole segmentation, the overlap degree between the extracted pothole region and the original pothole region is mostly more than 85%, which accounts for 88.6% of the total detected pavement pothole images.
Predicting Factors for Allogeneic Blood Transfusion and Excessive Postoperative Blood Loss after Single Low-Dosage Intra-Articular Tranexamic Acid Application in Total Knee Replacement
Authors: Sa-ngasoongsong Paphon , Wongsak Siwadol , Kulachote Noratep , Chanplakorn Pongsthorn , Woratanarat Patarawan , Kawinwonggowit Viroj
Published: February 2017

Background.Recently, intra-articular tranexamic acid (IA-TXA) application has become a popular method for perioperative blood loss (PBL) reduction in total knee replacement (TKR). Nevertheless, through our knowledge, no previous studies had shown the correlation perioperative factors and the risk of excessive PBL or need of blood transfusion (BT) after IA-TXA.Materials and Methods.A retrospective study was conducted in patients underwent 299 primary TKRs, using IA-TXA, during 2-year period (2013-2014). Patient’s characteristic and perioperative data were reviewed and collected. PBL was measured as total hemoglobin loss (THL), estimated total blood loss (ETBL), and drainage volume per kg (DV/kg). Excessive PBL was defined as PBL that exceeded 90th percentile.Results. From multivariate analysis, low preoperative hemoglobin (Hb) level and body mass index (BMI) were the significant predictors of postoperative BT (p<0.0001and 0.003, resp.). Excessive THL significant associated with preoperative Hb (p<0.0001). Excessive ETBL significantly associated with preoperative Hb, height, preoperative range-of-motion, and creatinine clearance (p<0.05all). Low BMI and large prosthesis size were the significant predictors of excessive DV/kg (p=0.0001and 0.002, resp.).Conclusions. Low preoperative Hb and BMI were the significant risks of postoperative transfusion after TKR with IA-TXA. Moreover, multiple perioperative factors could result in higher PBL.
A Secure Localization Approach Using Mutual Authentication and Insider Node Validation in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Kumar Gulshan , Rai Mritunjay Kumar , Kim Hye-jin , Saha Rahul
Published: February 2017

Localization is a concerning issue in the applications of wireless sensor networks. Along with the accuracy of the location estimation of the sensor nodes, the security of the estimation is another priority. Wireless sensor networks often face various attacks where the attackers try to manipulate the estimated location or try to provide false beacons. In this paper, we have proposed a methodology that will address this problem of security aspects in localization of the sensor nodes. Moreover, we have considered the network environment with random node deployment and mobility as these two conditions are less addressed in previous research works. Further, our proposed algorithm provides low overhead due to the usage of less control messages in a limited transmission range. In addition, we have also proposed an algorithm to detect the malicious anchor nodes inside the network. The simulated results show that our proposed algorithm is efficient in terms of time consumption, localization accuracy, and localization ratio in the presence of malicious nodes.
Cardioprotection Effects of Sevoflurane by Regulating the Pathway of Neuroactive Ligand-Receptor Interaction in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Authors: Wang Jinquan , Cheng Jian , Zhang Chao , Li Xiaojun
Published: March 2017

This study was designed to identify attractor modules and further reveal the potential biological processes involving in sevoflurane-induced anesthesia in patients treated with coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Microarray profile data (ID: E-GEOD-4386) on atrial samples obtained from patients receiving anesthetic gas sevoflurane prior to and following CABG procedure were downloaded from EMBL-EBI database for further analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of baseline and sevoflurane groups were inferred and reweighted according to Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC), followed by systematic modules inference using clique-merging approach. Subsequently,attractmethod was utilized to explore attractor modules. Finally, pathway enrichment analyses for genes in the attractor modules were implemented to illuminate the biological processes in sevoflurane group. Using clique-merging approach, 27 and 36 modules were obtained from the PPI networks of baseline and sevoflurane-treated samples, respectively. By comparing with the baseline condition, 5 module pairs with the same gene composition were identified. Subsequently, 1 out of 5 modules was identified as an attractor based onattractmethod. Additionally, pathway analysis indicated that genes in the attractor module were associated with neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction. Accordingly, sevoflurane might exert important functions in cardioprotection in patients following CABG, partially through regulating the pathway of neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction.
LEA: An Algorithm to Estimate the Level of Location Exposure in Infrastructure-Based Wireless Networks
Authors: Garcia Francisco , Gomez Javier , Lopez-Guerrero Miguel , Rangel Victor , Pascoe-Chalke Michael
Published: February 2017

Location privacy in wireless networks is nowadays a major concern. This is due to the fact that the mere fact of transmitting may allow a network to pinpoint a mobile node. We consider that a first step to protect a mobile node in this situation is to provide it with the means to quantify how accurately a network establishes its position. To achieve this end, we introduce the location-exposure algorithm (LEA), which runs on the mobile terminal only and whose operation consists of two steps. In the first step, LEA discovers the positions of nearby network nodes and uses this information to emulate how they estimate the position of the mobile node. In the second step, it quantifies the level of exposure by computing the distance between the position estimated in the first step and its true position. We refer to these steps as alocation-exposureproblem. We tested our proposal with simulations and testbed experiments. These results show the ability of LEA to reproduce the location of the mobile node, as seen by the network, and to quantify the level of exposure. This knowledge can help the mobile user decide which actions should be performed before transmitting.
Non-Toxic Buffer Layers in Flexible Cu(In,Ga)Se2Photovoltaic Cell Applications with Optimized Absorber Thickness
Authors: Asaduzzaman Md. , Hosen Md. Billal , Ali Md. Karamot , Bahar Ali Newaz
Published: March 2017

Absorber layer thickness gradient in Cu(In1−xGax)Se2(CIGS) based solar cells and several substitutes for typical cadmium sulfide (CdS) buffer layers, such as ZnS, ZnO, ZnS(O,OH), Zn1−xSnxOy(ZTO), ZnSe, and In2S3, have been analyzed by a device emulation program and tool (ADEPT 2.1) to determine optimum efficiency. As a reference type, the CIGS cell with CdS buffer provides a theoretical efficiency of 23.23% when the optimum absorber layer thickness was determined as 1.6 μm. It is also observed that this highly efficient CIGS cell would have an absorber layer thickness between 1 μm and 2 μm whereas the optimum buffer layer thickness would be within the range of 0.04–0.06 μm. Among all the cells with various buffer layers, the best energy conversion efficiency of 24.62% has been achieved for the ZnO buffer layer based cell. The simulation results with ZnS and ZnO based buffer layer materials instead of using CdS indicate that the cell performance would be better than that of the CdS buffer layer based cell. Although the cells with ZnS(O,OH), ZTO, ZnSe, and In2S3buffer layers provide slightly lower efficiencies than that of the CdS buffer based cell, the use of these materials would not be deleterious for the environment because of their non-carcinogenic and non-toxic nature.
Estimating Macroscopic Volume Delay Functions with the Traffic Density Derived from Measured Speeds and Flows
Authors: Kucharski Rafał , Drabicki Arkadiusz
Published: February 2017

This paper proposes a new method to estimate the macroscopic volume delay function (VDF) from the point speed-flow measures. Contrary to typical VDF estimation methods it allows estimating speeds also for hypercritical traffic conditions, when both speeds and flow drop due to congestion (high density of traffic flow). We employ the well-known hydrodynamic relation of fundamental diagram to derive the so-called quasi-density from measured time-mean speeds and flows. This allows formulating the VDF estimation problem with a speed being monotonically decreasing function of quasi-density with a shape resembling the typical VDF like BPR. This way we can use the actually observed speeds and propose the macroscopic VDF realistically reproducing actual speeds also for hypercritical conditions. The proposed method is illustrated with half-year measurements from the induction loop system in city of Warsaw, which measured traffic flows and instantaneous speeds of over 5 million vehicles. Although the proposed method does not overcome the fundamental limitations of static macroscopic traffic models, which cannot represent dynamic traffic phenomena like queue, spillback, wave propagation, capacity drop, and so forth, we managed to improve the VDF goodness-of-fit fromR2of 27% to 72% most importantly also for hypercritical conditions. Thanks to this traffic congestion in macroscopic traffic models can be reproduced more realistically in line with empirical observations.
Developing and Sustaining Recovery-Orientation in Mental Health Practice: Experiences of Occupational Therapists
Authors: Nugent Alexandra , Hancock Nicola , Honey Anne
Published: February 2017

Background/Aim.Internationally, mental health policy requires clinicians to shift from a medical to a recovery-oriented approach. However, there is a significant lag in the translation of policy into practice. Occupational therapists have been identified as ideally situated to be recovery-oriented yet limited research exploring how they do this exists. This study aimed to explore Australian occupational therapists’ experiences of developing and sustaining recovery-orientation in mental health practice.Methods.Semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with twelve occupational therapists working across different mental health service types. Participants identified themselves as being recovery-oriented. Data were analysed using constant comparative analysis.Results.Occupational therapists described recovery-oriented practice as an active, ongoing, and intentional process of seeking out knowledge, finding fit between understandings of recovery-oriented practice and their professional identity, holding hope, and developing confidence through clinical reasoning. Human and systemic aspects of therapists’ workplace environment influenced this process.Conclusions.Being a recovery-oriented occupational therapist requires more than merely accepting a specific framework. It requires commitment and ongoing work to develop and sustain recovery-orientation. Occupational therapists are called to extend current leadership activity beyond their workplace and to advocate for broader systemic change.
Influence of a Moving Mass on the Dynamic Behaviour of Viscoelastically Connected Prismatic Double-Rayleigh Beam System Having Arbitrary End Supports
Authors: Abiodun Gbadeyan Jacob , Akangbe Hammed Fatai
Published: February 2017

This paper deals with the lateral vibration of a finite double-Rayleigh beam system having arbitrary classical end conditions and traversed by a concentrated moving mass. The system is made up of two identical parallel uniform Rayleigh beams which are continuously joined together by a viscoelastic Winkler type layer. Of particular interest, however, is the effect of the mass of the moving load on the dynamic response of the system. To this end, a solution technique based on the generalized finite integral transform, modified Struble’s method, and differential transform method (DTM) is developed. Numerical examples are given for the purpose of demonstrating the simplicity and efficiency of the technique. The dynamic responses of the system are presented graphically and found to be in good agreement with those previously obtained in the literature for the case of a moving force. The conditions under which the system reaches a state of resonance and the corresponding critical speeds were established. The effects of variations of the ratio (γ1) of the mass of the moving load to the mass of the beam on the dynamic response are presented. The effects of other parameters on the dynamic response of the system are also examined.
A Review of Recent Advancement in Integrating Omics Data with Literature Mining towards Biomedical Discoveries
Authors: Raja Kalpana , Patrick Matthew , Gao Yilin , Madu Desmond , Yang Yuyang , Tsoi Lam C.
Published: February 2017

In the past decade, the volume of “omics” data generated by the different high-throughput technologies has expanded exponentially. The managing, storing, and analyzing of this big data have been a great challenge for the researchers, especially when moving towards the goal of generating testable data-driven hypotheses, which has been the promise of the high-throughput experimental techniques. Different bioinformatics approaches have been developed to streamline the downstream analyzes by providing independent information to interpret and provide biological inference. Text mining (also known as literature mining) is one of the commonly used approaches for automated generation of biological knowledge from the huge number of published articles. In this review paper, we discuss the recent advancement in approaches that integrate results from omics data and information generated from text mining approaches to uncover novel biomedical information.
Melanomas and Dysplastic Nevi Differ in Epidermal CD1c+ Dendritic Cell Count
Authors: Dyduch Grzegorz , Tyrak Katarzyna Ewa , Glajcar Anna , Szpor Joanna , Ulatowska-Białas Magdalena , Okoń Krzysztof
Published: February 2017

Background.Dendritic cells could be involved in immune surveillance of highly immunogenic tumors such as melanoma. Their role in the progression melanocytic nevi to melanoma is however a matter of controversy.Methods.The number of dendritic cells within epidermis, in peritumoral zone, and within the lesion was counted on slides immunohistochemically stained for CD1a, CD1c, DC-LAMP, and DC-SIGN in 21 of dysplastic nevi, 27 in situ melanomas, and 21 invasive melanomas.Results.We found a significant difference in the density of intraepidermal CD1c+ cells between the examined lesions; the mean CD1c cell count was 7.00/mm2for invasive melanomas, 2.94 for in situ melanomas, and 13.35 for dysplastic nevi. The differences between dysplastic nevi and melanoma in situ as well as between dysplastic nevi and invasive melanoma were significant. There was no correlation in number of positively stained cells between epidermis and dermis. We did not observe any intraepidermal DC-LAMP+ cells neither in melanoma in situ nor in invasive melanoma as well as any intraepidermal DC-SIGN+ cells in dysplastic nevi.Conclusion.It was shown that the number of dendritic cells differs between dysplastic nevi, in situ melanomas, and invasive melanomas. This could eventually suggest their participation in the development of melanoma.
Heating Has No Effect on the Net Protein Utilisation from Egg Whites in Rats
Authors: Matsuoka Ryosuke , Takahashi Yayoi , Kimura Mamoru , Masuda Yasunobu , Kunou Masaaki
Published: February 2017

Egg whites (EW) are a good source of protein; however, they are typically heated prior to consumption. Therefore, we investigated the effects of different heating conditions on the protein utilisation rate of EW. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=36,198±1 g) were divided into six groups and fed American Institute of Nutrition-76 chow containing unheated EW, soft-boiled EW, boiled EW, milk whey protein, soybean protein, or no protein over a 10-day period using pair-feeding. Urine and faeces were sampled daily beginning on day 5 to measure nitrogen content and the net protein utilisation (NPU) rate. The soybean protein group had a significantly lower level of food intake and was thus excluded from subsequent analyses. The NPU value was similar among the unheated, soft-boiled, and boiled EW groups (97.5±0.4,96.5±0.1, and96.5±0.7, resp.). The EW group values were significantly higher than the whey group values (90.5±1.0). These results show that EW serve as a good source of protein, irrespective of heating.
Influence of Surface Energy Effects on Elastic Fields of a Layered Elastic Medium under Surface Loading
Authors: Tirapat Supakorn , Senjuntichai Teerapong , Rungamornrat Jaroon
Published: February 2017

This paper presents the analysis of a layered elastic half space under the action of axisymmetric surface loading and the influence of the surface energy effects. The boundary value problems for the bulk and the surface are formulated based on classical linear elasticity and a complete Gurtin-Murdoch constitutive relation. An analytical technique using Love’s representation and the Hankel integral transform is employed to derive an integral-form solution for both displacement and stress fields. An efficient numerical quadrature is then applied to accurately evaluate all involved integrals. Selected numerical results are presented to portray the influence of various parameters on elastic fields. Numerical results indicate that the surface stress displays a significant influence on both displacement and stress fields. It is also found that the layered half space becomes stiffer with the presence of surface stresses. In addition, unlike the classical elasticity solution, size-dependent behavior of elastic fields is noted. The present analytical solutions provide fundamental understanding of the influence of surface energy on layered elastic materials. It can also be used as a benchmark solution for the development of numerical techniques such as FEM and BEM, for analysis of more complex problems involving a layered medium under the influence of surface energy effects.
An Improved Unscented Kalman Filter for Discrete Nonlinear Systems with Random Parameters
Authors: Wang Yue , Qiu Zhijian , Qu Xiaomei
Published: February 2017

This paper investigates the nonlinear unscented Kalman filtering (UKF) problem for discrete nonlinear dynamic systems with random parameters. We develop an improved unscented transformation by incorporating the random parameters into the state vector to enlarge the number of sigma points. The theoretical analysis reveals that the approximated mean and covariance via the improved unscented transformation match the true values correctly up to the third order of Taylor series expansion. Based on the improved unscented transformation, an improved UKF method is proposed to expand the application of the UKF for nonlinear systems with random parameters. An application to the mobile source localization with time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements and sensor position uncertainties is provided where the simulation results illustrate that the improved UKF method leads to a superior performance in comparison with the normal UKF method.
Nitazoxanide in Acute Rotavirus Diarrhea: A Randomized Control Trial from a Developing Country
Authors: Mahapatro Samarendra , Mahilary Nijwm , Satapathy Amit Kumar , Das Rashmi Ranjan
Published: February 2017

Background. Acute diarrhea is one of the leading causes of childhood mortality, with rotavirus being an important pathogen. Nitazoxanide, an antiparasitic agent, has been shown to inhibit rotavirus. Objective. This double-blind, randomized trial was designed to study the role of nitazoxanide in acute rotavirus diarrhea. Methods. Of 174 children (12 months to 5 years) with acute diarrhea, 50 rotavirus positive cases were randomized. The intervention group received syrup nitazoxanide twice daily (100 mg in 12–47 months, 200 mg in ≥4 yr) for 3 days along with standard treatment of diarrhea. Duration of diarrhea was the primary outcome measure. Results. The median duration (hrs) of diarrhea (54 versus 80; 95% CI: –26 [–13.2 to –38.8]) and hospitalization (68 versus 90; 95% CI: –22 [–12.98 to –31.02]) was significantly shorter in the nitazoxanide group. No significant difference was seen in the median duration (hrs) of fever or vomiting or the proportion of children requiring parenteral rehydration. There was no report of any adverse events. Conclusions. Oral nitazoxanide is effective and safe in the management of acute rotavirus diarrhea in Indian children (CTRI REF/2016/10/012507).
Uncertainty Quantification and Sensitivity Analysis of Transonic Aerodynamics with Geometric Uncertainty
Authors: Wu Xiaojing , Zhang Weiwei , Song Shufang
Published: February 2017

Airfoil geometric uncertainty can generate aerodynamic characteristics fluctuations. Uncertainty quantification is applied to compute its impact on the aerodynamic characteristics. In addition, the contribution of each uncertainty variable to aerodynamic characteristics should be computed by the uncertainty sensitivity analysis. In the paper, Sobol’s analysis is used for uncertainty sensitivity analysis and a nonintrusive polynomial chaos method is used for uncertainty quantification and Sobol’s analysis. It is difficult to describe geometric uncertainty because it needs a lot of input parameters. In order to alleviate the contradiction between the variable dimension and computational cost, a principal component analysis is introduced to describe geometric uncertainty of airfoil. Through this technique, the number of input uncertainty variables can be reduced and typical global deformation modes can be obtained. By uncertainty quantification, we can learn that the flow characteristics of shock wave and boundary layer separation are sensitive to the geometric uncertainty in transonic region, which is the main reason that transonic drag is sensitive to the geometric uncertainty. The sensitivity analysis shows that the model can be simplified by eliminating unimportant geometric modes. Moreover, which are the most important geometric modes to transonic aerodynamics can be learnt. This is very helpful for airfoil design.
Dental Age and Tooth Development in Orthodontic Patients with Agenesis of Permanent Teeth
Authors: Badrov Jozo , Lauc Tomislav , Nakaš Enita , Galić Ivan
Published: February 2017

Objective. To compare the development of permanent teeth in a group of children with the congenitally missing permanent teeth (CMPT) and corresponding nonaffected group.Methods. The formation stages of all developing permanent teeth were determined on 345 panoramic radiographs (OPTs) by the method of Haavikko (1970), and dental age was calculated. The paired samplest-test was used to compare the differences between dental age (DA) and chronological age (CA) in those with CMPT and those not affected. Spearman test was used to evaluate the correlation between DA-CA and the number of missing teeth. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the development of the teeth adjacent to the place of the agenesis with matched pair in corresponding nonaffected group.Results. Dental age was significantly delayed in CMPT children compared to the nonaffected group (p<0.001). The mean differences were −0.57 ± 1.20 years and −0.61 ± 1.23 years in males and females, without difference between sexes (p=0.763). The number of missing teeth affected the delay only in females (p=0.024). Only mesial teeth in females were significantly delayed in development when compared to the nonaffected group (p=0.007).Conclusion. Our findings show that the development of the permanent teeth is delayed when compared to the nonaffected group of the same sex and age.
Congestion Detection and Alleviation in Multihop Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Chughtai Omer , Badruddin Nasreen , Rehan Maaz , Khan Abid
Published: February 2017

Multiple traffic flows in a dense environment of a mono-sink wireless sensor network (WSN) experience congestion that leads to excessive energy consumption and severe packet loss. To address this problem, a Congestion Detection and Alleviation (CDA) mechanism has been proposed. CDA exploits the features and the characteristics of the sensor nodes and the wireless links between them to detect and alleviate node- and link-level congestion. Node-level congestion is detected by examining the buffer utilisation and the interval between the consecutive data packets. However, link-level congestion is detected through a novel procedure by determining link utilisation using back-off stage of Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA). CDA alleviates congestion reactively by either rerouting the data traffic to a new less congested, more energy-efficient route or bypassing the affected node/link through ripple-based search. The simulation analysis performed in ns-2.35 evaluates CDA with Congestion Avoidance through Fairness (CAF) and with No Congestion Control (NOCC) protocols. The analysis shows that CDA improves packet delivery ratio by 33% as compared to CAF and 54% as compared to NOCC. CDA also shows an improvement in throughput by 16% as compared to CAF and 36% as compared to NOCC. Additionally, it reduces End-To-End delay by 17% as compared to CAF and 38% as compared to NOCC.
An Adolescent and Early Adulthood Dietary Pattern Associated with Inflammation and the Incidence of Breast Cancer
Authors: Harris Holly R. , Willett Walter C. , Vaidya Rita L. , Michels Karin B.
Published: March 2017

Adolescence is a highly susceptible period for mammary carcinogenesis, but few prospective studies have examined the role of adolescent diet in breast cancer risk. Reduced rank regression has previously been used to identify a dietary pattern associated with markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein, IL6, and TNFα receptor 2). We investigated whether an adolescent and early adulthood inflammatory dietary pattern was associated with breast cancer among 45,204 women in the Nurses' Health Study II using reduced rank regression. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1998 about their high school diet (HS-FFQ) and a FFQ in 1991 when they were ages 27–44 years. Among women who completed the HS-FFQ, 1,477 cases of breast cancer were diagnosed during 22 years of follow-up. An adolescent and early adulthood dietary pattern characterized by inflammation was associated with an increased incidence of premenopausal but not postmenopausal breast cancer. Women in the fifth quintile of the inflammatory pattern score had multivariable adjusted HRs for premenopausal breast cancer of 1.35 for adolescent diet [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.06–1.73; Ptrend = 0.002] and 1.41 for early adulthood diet (95% CI, 1.11–1.78; Ptrend = 0.006) compared with women in the first quintile. The corresponding RRs for postmenopausal breast cancer were 0.84 (95% CI, 0.60–1.17) for adolescent and 0.76 (95% CI, 0.54–1.06) for adult intake. Overall, our findings support the notion that an adolescent and early adulthood diet characterized by high intake of sugar-sweetened and diet soft drinks, refined grains, red and processed meat, and margarine, and low intake of green leafy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, and coffee may increase the incidence of premenopausal breast cancer. Cancer Res; 77(5); 1179–87. ©2017 AACR.
Abstract A12: Contribution of the transcription factor STAT2 in the promotion and progression of colorectal cancer
Authors: Kotredes Kevin P. , Gamero Ana M.
Published: March 2017

Accumulation of genetic lesions such as loss of, or mutations in the APC, KRAS, and TP53 genes play a pivotal role in the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC), the third most common cancer in the United States. Yet the effects deregulated signaling pathways, caused by these canonical alterations, may have on parallel signaling networks remain less clear. Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription-2 (STAT2) is a critical molecule in the interferon transduction pathway, best known for its role in antiviral and antitumor immunity. However, we recently discovered that the transcription factor STAT2 functions as a promoter of colorectal carcinogenesis when tested in a model of colitis-associated CRC. In our recent study, we have reproduced this finding in which deletion of Stat2 in the ApcMin/+ mouse model of sporadic CRC also decreased the incidence and number of colon adenomas. We next investigated the role of STAT2 in the progression of CRC under the setting of p53 inactivation by employing isogenic colon carcinoma cells that differed in their p53 expression (p53+/+ vs. p53-/-). Our studies show that STAT2 knockdown weakened the oncogenic effects of p53 deficiency by drastically reducing migration and invasion whereas STAT2 knockdown had no effect in tumor cells with intact p53. In vivo, STAT2 depleted/p53-/- colon carcinoma cells, when transplanted in mice, formed smaller tumors when compared to tumor cells with intact STAT2 expression. Furthermore, we demonstrate expression of STAT2 dictates the expression of E-cadherin, a key epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) marker, in the absence of p53. Additionally, evaluation of human CRC tissues revealed an increased STAT2 presence in the nucleus suggesting STAT2 is transcriptionally active in cancer; and genomic data mining of human CRC databases had led us to the identification of a putative STAT2 molecular signature upregulated in human CRC tumors. In conclusion, our study provides evidence that STAT2 has oncogenic properties thus positioning STAT2 as a major contributor to the pathophysiology of CRC.

Citation Format: Kevin P. Kotredes, Ana M. Gamero. Contribution of the transcription factor STAT2 in the promotion and progression of colorectal cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Colorectal Cancer: From Initiation to Outcomes; 2016 Sep 17-20; Tampa, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(3 Suppl):Abstract nr A12.