bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ten Years of Rich Internet Applications
Authors: Casteleyn Sven , Garrig'os Irene , Maz'on Jose-Norberto
Published: July 2014

BACKGROUND. The term Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) is generally associated with Web applications that provide the features and functionality of traditional desktop applications. Ten years after the introduction of the term, an ample amount of research has been carried out to study various aspects of RIAs. It has thus become essential to summarize this research and provide an adequate overview.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study is to assemble, classify, and analyze all RIA research performed in the scientific community, thus providing a consolidated overview thereof, and to identify well-established topics, trends, and open research issues. Additionally, we provide a qualitative discussion of the most interesting findings. This work therefore serves as a reference work for beginning and established RIA researchers alike, as well as for industrial actors that need an introduction in the field, or seek pointers to (a specific subset of) the state-of-the-art.

METHOD. A systematic mapping study is performed in order to identify all RIA-related publications, define a classification scheme, and categorize, analyze, and discuss the identified research according to it.

RESULTS. Our source identification phase resulted in 133 relevant, peer-reviewed publications, published between 2002 and 2011 in a wide variety of venues. They were subsequently classified according to four facets: development activity, research topic, contribution type, and research type. Pie, stacked bar, and bubble charts were used to depict and analyze the results. A deeper analysis is provided for the most interesting and/or remarkable results.

CONCLUSION. Analysis of the results shows that, although the RIA term was coined in 2002, the first RIA-related research appeared in 2004. From 2007 there was a significant increase in research activity, peaking in 2009 and decreasing to pre-2009 levels afterwards. All development phases are covered in the identified research, with emphasis on “design” (33%) and “implementation” (29%). The majority of research proposes a “method” (44%), followed by “model” (22%), “methodology” (18%), and “tools” (16%); no publications in the category “metrics” were found. The preponderant research topic is “models, methods and methodologies” (23%) and, to a lesser extent, “usability and accessibility” and “user interface” (11% each). On the other hand, the topic “localization, internationalization and multilinguality” received no attention at all, and topics such as “deep Web” (under 1%), “business processing”, “usage analysis”, “data management”, “quality and metrics” (all under 2%), “semantics”, and “performance” (slightly above 2%) received very little attention. Finally, there is a large majority of “solution proposals” (66%), few “evaluation research” (14%), and even fewer “validation” (6%), although the latter have been increasing in recent years.
Mining social media with social theories
Authors: Tang Jiliang , Chang Yi , Liu Huan
Published: July 2014

The increasing popularity of social media encourages more and more users to participate in various online activities and produces data in an unprecedented rate. Social media data is big, linked, noisy, highly unstructured and in- complete, and differs from data in traditional data mining, which cultivates a new research field - social media mining. Social theories from social sciences are helpful to explain social phenomena. The scale and properties of social media data are very different from these of data social sciences use to develop social theories. As a new type of social data, social media data has a fundamental question - can we apply social theories to social media data? Recent advances in computer science provide necessary computational tools and techniques for us to verify social theories on large-scale social media data. Social theories have been applied to mining social media. In this article, we review some key social theories in mining social media, their verification approaches, interesting findings, and state-of-the-art algorithms. We also discuss some future directions in this active area of mining social media with social theories.
NCBI BLASTP on the convey HC1-EX
Authors: Mahram Atabak , Herbordt Martin C.
Published: July 2014

The BLAST sequence alignment program is a central application in bioinformatics. The
de facto
standard version, NCBI BLAST, uses complex heuristics which make it challenging to simultaneously achieve both high performance and exact agreement. In previous work, a system that used novel FPGA-based filters reduced the input database by over 99.97% without loss of sensitivity. In the present work we report experiences in getting from a prototype to a potential product for the Convey HC1-EX. There are several issues. The first is the efforts made to maintain timing for a highly complex configuration as it is optimized by including additional filter stages. This requires implementation and optimization of new interface logic as well as floor-planning. The second is the system-level tradeoffs necessary to maintain correctness. The issue here is preventing low frequency events, which necessarily cannot be mapped to the FPGA, from diluting the performance benefits without sacrificing sensitivity. We present results for various usage scenarios and find a factor of nearly 5x speed-up over a fully parallel implementation of the reference code on a contemporaneous CPU. We believe that the resulting system is the leading accelerated NCBI BLAST. The significance of this work is that, while such in-depth work is necessary to achieve highperformance for complex systems, these issues are rarely described nin the academic literature.
Accelerating finite difference time domain simulations with reconfigurable dataflow computers
Authors: Giefers Heiner , Plessl Christian , Förstner Jens
Published: July 2014

Finite difference methods are widely used, highly parallel algorithms for solving differential equations. However, the algorithms are memory bound and thus difficult to implement efficiently on CPUs or GPUs. In this work we study the implementation of the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method for solving Maxwell's equations on an FPGA-based Maxeler dataflow computer. We evaluate our work with actual problems from the domain of computational nanophotonics. The use of realistic simulations requires us to pay special attention to boundary conditions (Dirichlet, periodic, absorbing), which are critical for the correctness of results but detrimental to the performance and thus frequently neglected. We discuss and evaluate the design of two different FDTD implementations, which outperform CPU and GPU implementations. To our knowledge, our implementation is the fastest FPGA-based FDTD solver.
Blueshell
Authors: Plumbridge Gary , Whitham Jack , Audsley Neil
Published: July 2014

The rapid increase in FPGA logic capacity has enabled the prototyping of multiprocessor Network-on-Chip (NoC) architectures. However, the design space exploration of these complex architectures is highly time consuming with traditional methodologies for FPGA design.

Our paper addresses the challenges of multiprocessor network design with the Blueshell framework for generating multiprocessor networks on chip (NoC) and a coupled Java software stack, Network-Chi. With Blueshell hardware is mconstructed from high-level components including processors and routers using concise Bluespec System Verilog. The Network-Chi software framework is also presented to enable programming the on-chip processors in a familiar Java style and without exposing the low-level systems programming to the application designer.

We demonstrate that Blueshell systems with as many as 20 processors can be implemented on a modestly sized FPGA. Performance figures for a selection of distributed applications are also provided.
Report on the workshop on reproducibility and replication in recommender systems evaluation (RepSys)
Authors: Bellogín Alejandro , Castells Pablo , Said Alan , Tikk Domonkos
Published: July 2014

Experiment replication and reproduction are key requirements for empirical research methodology, and an important open issue in the field of Recommender Systems. When an experiment is repeated by a different researcher and exactly the same result is obtained, we can say the experiment has been replicated. When the results are not exactly the same but the conclusions are compatible with the prior ones, we have a reproduction of the experiment. Reproducibility and replication involve recommendation algorithm implementations, experimental protocols, and evaluation metrics. While the problem of reproducibility and replication has been recognized in the Recommender Systems community, the need for a clear solution remains largely unmet, which motivates the main questions addressed in the present workshop.
Beyond linear chain
Authors: Marcheggiani Diego
Published: July 2014

Information Extraction (IE) is a field at the crossroads of IR and NLP that studies methods for extracting information from text in such a way that this information can be used to populate a structured information repository. The main methods by means of which IE has been tackled rely on supervised learning;the best-performing such methods belong to the class of probabilistic graphical models, and, in particular, to the class of Conditional Random Fields (CRFs). In this thesis we investigate two major aspects related to textual IE via CRFs: (a) the creation of CRFs models that can outperform the commonly adopted linear- chain CRFs, and the creation of methods for ensuring the quality of training data and for assessing the impact of training data quality on the accuracy of CRFs systems for IE.

We start by facing the task of IE from medical documents written in the Italian language. We propose two novel approaches: (i) a cascaded, two-stage method composed by two layers of CRFs, and (ii) a confidence-weighted ensemble method that combines standard linear-chain CRFs and the proposed two-stage method. Both the proposed models are shown to outperform a standard linear-chain CRFs system.

We then investigate aspect-oriented sentence-level opinion mining from product reviews, that consists in predicting, for all sentences in the review, whether the sentence expresses a positive, neutral, or negative opinion (or no opinion at all) about a specific aspect of the product. We propose a set of increasingly powerful models based on CRFs, including a hierarchical multi-label CRFs scheme that jointly models the overall opinion expressed in a product review and the set of aspect-specific opinions expressed in each of its sentences. The proposed CRFs models are shown to obtain better results than linear-chain CRFs.

We then study the impact that the quality of training data has on the accuracy of an IE system via experiments performed on a dataset in which inter-coder agreement data are available. Finally, we investigate active learning techniques for a type of semi-supervised CRFs specifically devised for partially labeled sequences. We show that margin-based strategies always obtain the best results on the four tasks we have tested them on.
Rolling Bearing Fault Diagnosis Based on CEEMD and Time Series Modeling
Authors: Zhao Liye , Yu Wei , Yan Ruqiang
Published: July 2014

Accurately identifying faults in rolling bearing systems by analyzing vibration signals, which are often nonstationary, is challenging. To address this issue, a new approach based on complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) and time series modeling is proposed in this paper. This approach seeks to identify faults appearing in a rolling bearing system using proper autoregressive (AR) model established from the nonstationary vibration signal. First, vibration signals measured from a rolling bearing test system with different defect conditions are decomposed into a set of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) by means of the CEEMD method. Second, vibration signals are filtered with calculated filtering parameters. Third, the IMF which is closely correlated to the filtered signal is selected according to the correlation coefficient between the filtered signal and each IMF, and then the AR model of the selected IMF is established. Subsequently, the AR model parameters are considered as the input feature vectors, and the hidden Markov model (HMM) is used to identify the fault pattern of a rolling bearing. Experimental study performed on a bearing test system has shown that the presented approach can accurately identify faults in rolling bearings.
Polynomial Reproduction of Vector Subdivision Schemes
Authors: Shen Y. F. , Yuan D. H. , Yang S. Z.
Published: July 2014

We discuss the polynomial reproduction of vector subdivision schemes with general integer dilationm≥2. We first present a simple algebraic condition for polynomial reproduction of such schemes with standard subdivision symbol. We then extend it to general subdivision symbol satisfying certain order of sum rules. We also illustrate our results with several examples. Our results show that such kind of scheme can produce exactly the same scalar polynomial from which the data is sampled by convolving with a finite nonzero sequence of vectors.
Multiplicity of Homoclinic Solutions for a Class of Nonperiodic Fourth-Order Differential Equations with General Perturbation
Authors: Yang Liu
Published: July 2014

In this paper, we investigate a class of nonperiodic fourth-order differential equations with general perturbation. By using the mountain pass theorem and the Ekeland variational principle, we obtain that such equations possess two homoclinic solutions. Recent results in the literature are generalized and significantly improved.
Antifungal Susceptibility Patterns,In VitroProduction of Virulence Factors, and Evaluation of Diagnostic Modalities for the Speciation of PathogenicCandidafrom Blood Stream Infections and Vulvovaginal Candidiasis
Authors: Tellapragada Chaitanya , Eshwara Vandana Kalwaje , Johar Ruqaiyah , Shaw Tushar , Malik Nidhi , Bhat Parvati V. , Kamath Asha , Mukhopadhyay Chiranjay
Published: July 2014

Candidaspp. have emerged as successful pathogens in both invasive and mucosal infections. Varied virulence factors and growing resistance to antifungal agents have contributed to their pathogenicity. We studied diagnostic accuracy of HiCromeCandidaDifferential Agar and Vitek 2 Compact system for identification ofCandidaspp. in comparison with species-specific PCR on 110 clinical isolates ofCandidafrom blood stream infections (54, 49%) and vulvovaginal candidiasis (56, 51%).C. albicans(61%) was the leading pathogen in VVC, whileC. tropicalis(46%) was prominent among BSIs. HiCrome Agar and Vitek 2 Compact had good measures of agreement (κ) 0.826 and 0.895, respectively, in comparison with PCR. We also tested these isolates forin vitroproduction of proteinase, esterase, phospholipases, and biofilms. Proteinase production was more among invasive isolates (P=0.017), while phospholipase production was more among noninvasive isolates (P=0.001). There was an overall increase in the production of virulence factors among non-albicansCandida. Identification of clinical isolates ofCandidaup to species level either by chromogenic agar or by Vitek 2 Compact system should be routinely done to choose appropriate therapy.
Atmospheric Deposition of Inorganic Elements and Organic Compounds at the Inlets of the Venice Lagoon
Authors: Morabito E. , Contini D. , Belosi F. , Stortini A. M. , Manodori L. , Gambaro A.
Published: July 2014

The Venice Lagoon is subjected to long-range transport of contaminants via aerosol from the near Po Valley. Moreover, it is an area with significant local anthropogenic emissions due to the industrial area of Porto Marghera, the urban centres, and the glass factories and with emissions by ships traffic within the Lagoon. Furthermore, since 2005, the Lagoon has also been affected by the construction of the MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico—Electromechanical Experimental Module) mobile dams, as a barrier against the high tide. This work presents and discusses the results from chemical analyses of bulk depositions, carried out in different sites of the Venice Lagoon. Fluxes of pollutants were also statistically analysed on PCA with the aim of investigating the spatial variability of depositions and their correlation with precipitations. Fluxes of inorganic pollutants depend differently on precipitations, while organic compounds show a more seasonal trend. The statistical analysis showed that the site in the northern Lagoon has lower and almost homogeneous fluxes of pollutants, while the other sites registered more variable concentrations. The study also provided important information about the annual trend of pollutants and their evolution over a period of about five years, from 2005 to 2010.
Multiobjective Optimization Model of Residential Spatial Distribution
Authors: Li Xia , Zhuge Chengxiang , Zhang Xiang , Gao Jian , Zhang Hui
Published: July 2014

The concept of jobs‐housing balance has been adopted as an effective way to alleviate the traffic congestion, especially in metropolis. A multiobjective model of residential spatial distribution (MOOMRSD) is developed in this paper to address the problem of how to locate the housing in a reasonable way when the workplace location is given. Three objectives are integrated into the MOOMRSD and they are (1) minimizing the average commute cost from residence to workplace; (2) minimizing the total travel time of citizens; and (3) maximizing the aggregate utility and social benefit. In addition, a multiobjective genetic algorithm (MOGA) is proposed to figure out a satisfactory solution to the MOOMRSD. Finally, Both MOOMRSD and MOGA are applied into two cases.
Risk Factors for Mortality in Patients with Septic Acute Kidney Injury in Intensive Care Units in Beijing, China: A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study
Authors: Wang Xin , Jiang Li , Wen Ying , Wang Mei-Ping , Li Wei , Li Zhi-Qiang , Xi Xiu-Ming
Published: July 2014

Objective. To discover risk factors for mortality of patients with septic AKI in ICU via a multicenter study.Background. Septic AKI is a serious threat to patients in ICU, but there are a few clinical studies focusing on this.Methods. This was a prospective, observational, and multicenter study conducted in 30 ICUs of 28 major hospitals in Beijing. 3,107 patients were admitted consecutively, among which 361 patients were with septic AKI. Patient clinical data were recorded daily for 10 days after admission. Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria were used to define and stage AKI. Of the involved patients, 201 survived and 160 died.Results. The rate of septic AKI was 11.6%. Twenty-one risk factors were found, and six independent risk factors were identified: age, APACHE II score, duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of MAP <65 mmHg, time until RRT started, and progressive KIDGO stage. Admission KDIGO stages were not associated with mortality, while worst KDIGO stages were. Only progressive KIDGO stage was an independent risk factor.Conclusions. Six independent risk factors for mortality for septic AKI were identified. Progressive KIDGO stage is better than admission or the worst KIDGO for prediction of mortality. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-ONC-11001875.
Beta-Thalassaemia Intermedia: Evaluation of Endocrine and Bone Complications
Authors: Baldini M. , Marcon A. , Cassin R. , Ulivieri F. M. , Spinelli D. , Cappellini M. D. , Graziadei G.
Published: July 2014

Objective. Data about endocrine and bone disease in nontransfusion-dependent thalassaemia (NTDT) is scanty. The aim of our study was to evaluate these complications inβ-TI adult patients.Methods. We studied retrospectively 70β-TI patients with mean followup of 20 years. Data recorded included age, gender, haemoglobin and ferritin levels, biochemical and endocrine tests, liver iron concentration (LIC) fromT2*, transfusion regimen, iron chelation, hydroxyurea, splenectomy, and bone mineralization by dual X-ray absorptiometry.Results. Thirty-seven (53%) males and 33 (47%) females were studied, with mean age41±12years, mean haemoglobin9.2±1.5 g/dL, median ferritin 537 (range 14–4893), and mean LIC7.6±6.4 mg Fe/g dw. Thirty-three patients (47%) had been transfused, occasionally (24/33; 73%) or regularly (9/33; 27%); 37/70 (53%) had never been transfused; 34/70 patients had been splenectomized (49%); 39 (56%) were on chelation therapy; and 11 (16%) were on hydroxyurea. Endocrinopathies were found in 15 patients (21%): 10 hypothyroidism, 3 hypogonadism, 2 impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and one diabetes. Bone disease was observed in 53/70 (76%) patients, osteoporosis in 26/53 (49%), and osteopenia in 27/53 (51%).Discussion and Conclusions. Bone disease was found in most patients in our study, while endocrinopathies were highly uncommon, especially hypogonadism. We speculate that low iron burden may protect against endocrinopathy development.
Understanding the Polar Character Trend in a Series of Diels-Alder Reactions Using Molecular Quantum Similarity and Chemical Reactivity Descriptors
Authors: Morales-Bayuelo Alejandro , Vivas-Reyes Ricardo
Published: July 2014

In molecular similarity there is a premise “similar molecules tend to behave similarly”; however in the actual quantum similarity field there is no clear methodology to describe the similarity in chemical reactivity, and with this end an analysis of charge-transfer (CT) processes in a series of Diels-Alder (DA) reactions between cyclopentadiene (Cp) and cyano substitutions on ethylene has been studied. The CT analysis is performed in the reagent assuming a grand canonical ensemble and the considerations for an electrophilic system using B3LYP/6-31G(d)and M06-2X/6-311 +G(d,p)methods. An analysis for CT was performed in agreement with the experimental results with a good statistical correlation(R2=0.9118)relating the polar character to the bond force constants in DA reactions. The quantum distortion analysis on the transition states (TS) was performed using molecular quantum similarity indexes of overlap and coulomb showing good correlation(R2=0.8330)between the rate constants and quantum similarity indexes. In this sense, an electronic reorganization based on molecular polarization in terms of CT is proposed; therefore, new interpretations on the electronic systematization of the DA reactions are presented, taking into account that today such electronic systematization is an open problem in organic physical chemistry. Additionally, one way to quantify the similarity in chemical reactivity was shown, taking into account the dependence of the molecular alignment on properties when their position changes; in this sense a possible way to quantify the similarity of the CT in systematic form on these DA cycloadditions was shown.
Cloning, Expression, Purification, and Characterization of Glutaredoxin from Antarctic Sea-Ice BacteriumPseudoalteromonassp. AN178
Authors: Wang Quanfu , Hou Yanhua , Shi Yonglei , Han Xiao , Chen Qian , Hu Zhiguo , Liu Yuanping , Li YuJin
Published: July 2014

Glutaredoxins (Grxs) are small ubiquitous redox enzymes that catalyze glutathione-dependent reactions to reduce protein disulfide. In this study, a full-length Grx gene (PsGrx) with 270 nucleotides was isolated from Antarctic sea-ice bacteriumPseudoalteromonassp. AN178. It encoded deduced 89 amino acid residues with the molecular weight 9.8 kDa. Sequence analysis of the amino acid sequence revealed the catalytic motif CPYC. RecombinantPsGrx (rPsGrx) stably expressed inE. coliBL21 was purified to apparent homogeneity by Ni-affinity chromatography. rPsGrx exhibited optimal activity at 30°C and pH 8.0 and showed 25.5% of the activity at 0°C. It retained 65.0% of activity after incubation at 40°C for 20 min and still exhibited 37.0% activity in 1.0 M NaCl. These results indicated that rPsGrx was a typical cold active protein with low thermostability.
Optimal Control of Switching Topology Networks
Authors: Mojica-Nava Eduardo , Salgado Jimmy , Tellez Duvan , Lopez Alvaro
Published: July 2014

We present an extension of a previously proposed approach based on the method of moments for solving the optimal control problem for a switching system considering now a continuous external input. This method is based on the transformation of a nonlinear, nonconvex optimal control problem, into an equivalent optimal control problem with linear and convex structure, which allows us to obtain an equivalent convex formulation more appropriate to be solved by high‐performance numerical computing. Finally, the design of optimal logic‐based controllers for networked systems with a dynamic topology is presented
as an application of this work.
Hand Gesture and Character Recognition Based on Kinect Sensor
Authors: Murata Tomoya , Shin Jungpil
Published: July 2014

The purpose of this research was to see if Kinect sensor can recognize numeric and alphabetic characters written with the hand in the air. Kinect sensor can capture motion without the sensor device being attached to the user's body. The input screen has both modes of numerals and alphabet. The recognition rate was measured and the user wrote the numbers from zero to nine and the letters from A to Z twice. Alphabet recognition relied on Palm's Graffiti. The input numerals and alphabet were recognized by dynamic programming matching based on interstroke information. In addition, this system can perform the numeral operation, such as +, −, ×, and /. Most people are not used to writing in the air and are unfamiliar with Kinect sensor, and it takes some time to master them both. First, the user needs to become accustomed to using the sensor. Average recognition rates of 95.0% and 98.9%, respectively, were obtained for numerical and alphabetical characters.
Single Machine Predictive Scheduling Using Inserted Idle Times
Authors: Zhu Hongli , Zhou Hong
Published: July 2014

A single machine predictive scheduling problem is considered. The primary objective is to minimize the total completion times. The predictability of the schedule is measured by the completion time deviations between the predictive schedule and realized schedule. The surrogate measure of predictability is chosen to evaluate the completion time deviations. Both of the primary objective and predictability are optimized. In order to absorb the effects of disruptions, the predictive schedule is generated by inserting idle times. Right-shift rescheduling method is used as the rescheduling strategy. Three methods are designed to construct predictive schedules. The computational experiments show that these algorithms provide high predictability with minor sacrifices in shop performance.
Disease Modifying Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Williams U. E. , Oparah S. K. , Philip-Ephraim E. E.
Published: July 2014

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system characterized by inflammatory demyelination and axonal degeneration. It is the commonest cause of permanent disability in young adults. Environmental and genetic factors have been suggested in its etiology. Currently available disease modifying drugs are only effective in controlling inflammation but not prevention of neurodegeneration or accumulation of disability. Search for an effective neuroprotective therapy is at the forefront of multiple sclerosis research.
Uniqueness and Existence of Solution for a System of Fractionalq-Difference Equations
Authors: Zhou Wen-Xue , Liu Hai-zhong
Published: July 2014

We prove the existence and uniqueness of solution for a system of fractional differential equations. Our results are based on the nonlinear alternative of Leray-Schauder type and Banach’s fixed-point theorem.
Value and Vulnerability Assessment of a Historic Tomb for Conservation
Authors: Erkal Aykut , Ozhan Hakki O.
Published: July 2014

Monumental tombs reflect various social, cultural, architectural, religious, economic, and engineering features of a community. However, environmental weathering, natural disasters, poor maintenance, vandalism, and misuse unfortunately pose serious threats to these cultural assets. Historic monuments are often exposed to the highest risk due to their vulnerability. The Ottoman-style Nişancı Hamza Paşa tomb located in Karacaahmet Cemetery, Istanbul, the largest and oldest public cemetery in Turkey, is a case in point. The tomb consisting of six granite columns and a brick dome supported by six arches was constructed in 1605. Cracks, material loss, and decay as a result of adverse environmental effects and past earthquakes are evident. Therefore, this paper analyses the overall value of the tomb with respect to its historical, communal, evidential, and aesthetic aspects. Using the finite element approach and data on the tomb’s material properties, a structural analysis under the self-weight and a time history analysis based on the earthquake ground motion data recorded in Duzce, Turkey, in November 1999 were conducted to encourage the conservation of this tomb and similar cultural heritage assets all over the world. The damage observed in the structure is congruent with the analysis results.
Romidepsin Used as Monotherapy in Sequence with Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant in a Patient with Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma
Authors: Finn Nicholas , Larouche Jean-Francois
Published: July 2014

Despite advances in the field, a clear treatment algorithm for most peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) subtypes remains to be defined. Generating reliable randomized data for this type of pathology remains a challenge because of the relative rarity of the disease and the heterogeneity of subtypes. Newer agents, such as the class-I selective histone deacetylase inhibitor romidepsin, have demonstrated efficacy and manageable toxicity in the relapsed and refractory setting. Whether novel agents should be used in conjunction with more conventional cytotoxic therapies or in sequence with a transplant strategy is unknown at this time. Here we report the successful use of romidepsin monotherapy as a bridge to allogeneic stem cell transplantation in a patient who had previously relapsed after several lines of conventional cytotoxic therapy for PTCL. Romidepsin provided the patient with sufficient disease control to proceed to transplantation while remaining in complete remission.
Complications of Minimally Invasive, Tubular Access Surgery for Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar Surgery
Authors: Ross Donald A.
Published: July 2014

The object of the study was to review the author’s large series of minimally invasive spine surgeries for complication rates. The author reviewed a personal operative database for minimally access spine surgeries done through nonexpandable tubular retractors for extradural, nonfusion procedures. Consecutive cases (n=1231) were reviewed for complications. There were no wound infections. Durotomy occurred in 33 cases (2.7% overall or 3.4% of lumbar cases). There were no external or symptomatic internal cerebrospinal fluid leaks or pseudomeningoceles requiring additional treatment. The only motor injuries were 3 C5 root palsies, 2 of which resolved. Minimally invasive spine surgery performed through tubular retractors can result in a low wound infection rate when compared to open surgery. Durotomy is no more common than open procedures and does not often result in the need for secondary procedures. New neurologic deficits are uncommon, with most observed at the C5 root. Minimally invasive spine surgery, even without benefits such as less pain or shorter hospital stays, can result in considerably lower complication rates than open surgery.
Evaluation of Macular Retinal Ganglion Cell-Inner Plexiform Layer Thickness after Vitrectomy with Internal Limiting Membrane Peeling for Idiopathic Macular Holes
Authors: Sabater Alfonso L. , Velázquez-Villoria Álvaro , Zapata Miguel A. , Figueroa Marta S. , Suárez-Leoz Marta , Arrevola Luis , Teijeiro María-Ángeles , García-Layana Alfredo
Published: July 2014

Purpose. To evaluate macular retinal ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness changes after Brilliant Blue G-assisted internal limiting membrane peeling for idiopathic macular hole repair using a high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).Methods. 32 eyes from 32 patients with idiopathic macular holes who underwent vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling between January 2011 and July 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. GCIPL thickness was measured before surgery, and at one month and at six months after surgery. Values obtained from automated and semimanual SD-OCT segmentation analysis were compared (Cirrus HD-OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA).Results. No significant differences were found between average GCIPL thickness values between preoperative and postoperative analysis. However, statistical significant differences were found in GCIPL thickness at the temporal macular quadrants at six months after surgery. Quality measurement analysis performed by automated segmentation revealed a significant number of segmentation errors. Semimanual segmentation slightly improved the quality of the results.Conclusion. SD-OCT analysis of GCIPL thickness found a significant reduction at the temporal macular quadrants at 6 months after Brilliant Blue G-assisted internal limiting membrane peeling for idiopathic macular hole.
Interaction Potential between Parabolic Rotator and an Outside Particle
Authors: Wang Dan , Yin Yajun , Wu Jiye , Wang Xugui , Zhong Zheng
Published: July 2014

At micro/nanoscale, the interaction potential between parabolic rotator and a particle located outside the rotator is studied on the basis of the negative exponential pair potential (1/R)n between particles. Similar to two‐dimensional curved surfaces, we confirm that the potential of the three‐dimensional parabolic rotator and outside particle can also be expressed as a unified form of curvatures; that is, it can be written as the function of curvatures. Furthermore, we verify that the driving forces acting on the particle may be induced by the highly curved micro/nano‐parabolic rotator. Curvatures and the gradient of curvatures are the essential elements forming the driving forces. Through the idealized numerical experiments, the accuracy of the curvature‐based potential is preliminarily proved.
A Procedure for Extending Input Selection Algorithms to Low Quality Data in Modelling Problems with Application to the Automatic Grading of Uploaded Assignments
Authors: Otero José , Palacios Ana , Suárez Rosario , Junco Luis , Couso Inés , Sánchez Luciano
Published: July 2014

When selecting relevant inputs in modeling problems with low quality data, the ranking of the most informative inputs is also uncertain. In this paper, this issue is addressed through a new procedure that allows the extending of different crisp feature selection algorithms to vague data. The partial knowledge about the ordinal of each feature is modelled by means of a possibility distribution, and a ranking is hereby applied to sort these distributions. It will be shown that this technique makes the most use of the available information in some vague datasets. The approach is demonstrated in a real-world application. In the context of massive online computer science courses, methods are sought for automatically providing the student with a qualification through code metrics. Feature selection methods are used to find the metrics involved in the most meaningful predictions. In this study, 800 source code files, collected and revised by the authors in classroom Computer Science lectures taught between 2013 and 2014, are analyzed with the proposed technique, and the most relevant metrics for the automatic grading task are discussed.
Advances in Human Biology: Combining Genetics and Molecular Biophysics to Pave the Way for Personalized Diagnostics and Medicine
Authors: Alexov Emil
Published: July 2014

Advances in several biology-oriented initiatives such as genome sequencing and structural genomics, along with the progress made through traditional biological and biochemical research, have opened up a unique opportunity to better understand the molecular effects of human diseases. Human DNA can vary significantly from person to person and determines an individual’s physical characteristics and their susceptibility to diseases. Armed with an individual’s DNA sequence, researchers and physicians can check for defects known to be associated with certain diseases by utilizing various databases. However, for unclassified DNA mutations or in order to reveal molecular mechanism behind the effects, the mutations have to be mapped onto the corresponding networks and macromolecular structures and then analyzed to reveal their effect on the wild type properties of biological processes involved. Predicting the effect of DNA mutations on individual’s health is typically referred to as personalized or companion diagnostics. Furthermore, once the molecular mechanism of the mutations is revealed, the patient should be given drugs which are the most appropriate for the individual genome, referred to as pharmacogenomics. Altogether, the shift in focus in medicine towards more genomic-oriented practices is the foundation of personalized medicine. The progress made in these rapidly developing fields is outlined.
Adaptive Dynamic Surface Control for Generator Excitation Control System
Authors: Xiu-yu Zhang , Cui-ping Liu , Jian-guo Wang , Yan Lin
Published: July 2014

For the generator excitation control system which is equipped with static var compensator (SVC) and unknown parameters, a novel adaptive dynamic surface control scheme is proposed based on neural network and tracking error transformed function with the following features: (1) the transformation of the excitation generator model to the linear systems is omitted; (2) the prespecified performance of the tracking error can be guaranteed by combining with the tracking error transformed function; (3) the computational burden is greatly reduced by estimating the norm of the weighted vector of neural network instead of the weighted vector itself; therefore, it is more suitable for the real time control; and (4) the explosion of complicity problem inherent in the backstepping control can be eliminated. It is proved that the new scheme can make the system semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded. Simulation results show the effectiveness of this control scheme.
Acupuncture Mechanism and Redox Equilibrium
Authors: Zeng Xiang-Hong , Li Qian-Qian , Xu Qian , Li Fang , Liu Cun-Zhi
Published: July 2014

Oxidative stress participates in the pathological process of various diseases. Acupuncture is a component of the health care system in China that can be traced back for at least 3000 years. Recently, increased evidences indicate that acupuncture stimulation could reduce oxidative damage in organisms under pathological state, but the exact mechanism remains unclear. This review focuses on the emerging links between acupuncture and redox modulation in various disorders, such as vascular dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and hypertension, ranging from redox system, antioxidant system, anti‐inflammatory system, and nervous system to signaling pathway. Although the molecular and cellular pathways studies of acupuncture effect on oxidative stress are preliminary, they represent an important step forward in the research of acupuncture antioxidative effect.
Comparison of the Cutaneous Wound Healing of Ovariectomized Mouse at 12 Weeks with That of SHAM and Estrogen-Administered Mice
Authors: Mukai Kanae , Miyasaka Yuriko , Takata Kana , Urai Tamae , Nakajima Yukari , Komatsu Emi , Sugama Junko , Nakatani Toshio
Published: July 2014

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of 17β-estradiol on cutaneous wound healing in 12-week ovariectomized (OVX) female mice. Eight-week-old female mice were divided into three groups: administration of 17β-estradiol after OVX (OVX + 17β-estradiol), OVX, and sham (SHAM). Four weeks after surgery, the mice received two full-thickness cutaneous wounds. 17β-Estradiol at 0.01 g/day was administered on the backs of mice in the OVX + 17β-estradiol group every day. Plasma 17β-estradiol level in the OVX + 17β-estradiol group was thus significantly higher than in the SHAM and OVX groups, but there was no significant difference between SHAM and OVX groups. The ratio of wound area was not significantly different among the three groups. However, the period required to reach a ratio of wound area of 0.15 in the OVX + 17β-estradiol group was significantly shorter than in the SHAM and OVX groups. These results indicate that cutaneous wound healing in young OVX mice was promoted by the administration of 17β-estradiol compared with that in SHAM and OVX mice without such administration, but there was no difference between the latter two groups that did not differ in 17β-estradiol level.
Influence of Vacancy Defect on Surface Feature and Adsorption of Cs on GaN(0001) Surface
Authors: Ji Yanjun , Du Yujie , Wang Meishan
Published: July 2014

The effects of Ga and N vacancy defect on the change in surface feature, work function, and characteristic of Cs adsorption on a2×2GaN(0001) surface have been investigated using density functional theory with a plane-wave ultrasoft pseudopotential method based on first-principles calculations. The covalent bonds gain strength for Ga vacancy defect, whereas they grow weak for N vacancy defect. The lower work function is achieved for Ga and N vacancy defect surfaces than intact surface. The most stable position of Cs adatom on Ga vacancy defect surface is at T1site, whereas it is atBGasite on N vacancy defect surface. TheEadsof Cs on GaN(0001) vacancy defect surface increases compared with that of intact surface; this illustrates that the adsorption of Cs on intact surface is more stable.
The Dual Triple I Methods of FMT and IFMT
Authors: Yan Liu , Mucong Zheng
Published: July 2014

The Triple I method for the model of intuitionistic fuzzy
modus tollens (IFMT) satisfies the local reductivity instead of the reductivity.
In order to improve the quality of the Triple I method for lack of reductivity,
the paper is intended to present a new approximate reasoning method for
IFMT problem. First, the concept of intuitionistic fuzzy difference operator
is proposed and its properties on the lattice structure of intuitionistic fuzzy
sets are studied. Then, the dual Triple I method for FMT based on residual
fuzzy difference operator is presented and the dual Triple I method is generated
for IFMT. Moreover, a decomposition method of IFMT is provided.
Furthermore, the reductivity of methods is investigated. Finally, α‐dual
Triple I method of IFMT is proposed.
Predictors of Size for Gestational Age in St. Louis City and County
Authors: Xaverius Pamela K. , Salas Joanne , Woolfolk Candice L. , Leung Frances , Yuan Jessica , Chang Jen Jen
Published: July 2014

Objective. To identify social, behavioral, and physiological risk factors associated with small for gestational age (SGA) by gestational age category in St. Louis City and County.Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using birth certificate and fetal death records from 2000 to 2009 (n= 142,017). Adjusted associations of risk factors with SGA were explored using bivariate logistic regression. Four separate multivariable logistic regression analyses, stratified by gestational age, were conducted to estimate adjusted odds ratios.Results. Preeclampsia and inadequate weight gain contributed significantly to increased odds for SGA across all gestational age categories. The point estimates ranged from a 3.41 increased odds among women with preeclampsia and 1.76 for women with inadequate weight gain at 24–28 weeks’ gestational age to 2.19 and 2.11 for full-term infants, respectively. Among full-term infants, smoking (aOR = 2.08), chronic hypertension (aOR = 1.46), and inadequate prenatal care (aOR = 1.25) had the next most robust and significant impact on SGA.Conclusion. Preeclampsia and inadequate weight gain are significant risk factors for SGA, regardless of gestational age. Education on the importance of nutrition and adequate weight gain during pregnancy is vital. In this community, disparities in SGA and smoking rates are important considerations for interventions designed to improve birth outcomes.
Postpartum Coronary Vasospasm with Literature Review
Authors: Koneru Jayanth , Cholankeril Matthew , Patel Kunal , Alattar Fadi , Alqaqa Ashraf , Virk Hirtaj , Shamoon Fayez , Bikkina Mahesh
Published: July 2014

Acute myocardial infarction during pregnancy or the postpartum period is rare. We report a case of a 39-year-old postpartum woman who developed non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction due to severe diffuse coronary vasospasm. To our knowledge, this is the first case of angiographically evidenced coronary vasospasm, in a postpartum woman, with resistance to intracoronary nitroglycerin.
Vegetational Diversity Analysis across Different Habitats in Garhwal Himalaya
Authors: Rawat Vardan Singh , Chandra Jagdish
Published: July 2014

Four forest sites varying in vegetation types were studied along an altitudinal range between 2200 and 2500 m. Maximum tree, shrub, and herb species were recorded on stream bank site (22, 25, and 54, resp.). Pteridophytes and bryophytes species richness was maximum on moist site (4 and 5, resp.). The number of climbers was greater in moist and dry habitats (7 species each). Parasitic species were restricted only on dry and stream bank habitats. Restricted tree and shrub species were greater on stream bank site and dry site, respectively. The herb and climber species were greater on moist site. The distribution and species richness pattern in this elevational range largely depend on the altitude and climatic variables. Along the entire range of Garhwal Himalaya, the overlapping among species regimes is broad; therefore, transitional communities having mixture of many species and zones are present. The present study indicates that the opening canopies increase the richness of tree, shrub, herb, and climbers.
Asymptotic Study of the 2D-DQGE Solutions
Authors: Benameur Jamel , Blel Mongi
Published: July 2014

We study the regularity of the solutions of the surface quasi-geostrophic equation with subcritical exponent1/2<α≤1. We prove that if the initial data is small enough in the critical spaceH˙2-2α(R2), then the regularity of the solution is of exponential growth type with respect to time and itsH˙2-2α(R2)norm decays exponentially fast. It becomes then infinitely differentiable with respect to time and has value in all homogeneous Sobolev spacesH˙s(R2)fors≥2-2α. Moreover, we give some general properties of the global solutions.
Second Order Duality in Multiobjective Fractional Programming with Square Root Term under Generalized Univex Function
Authors: Tripathy Arun Kumar
Published: July 2014

Three approaches of second order mixed type duality are introduced for a nondifferentiable multiobjective fractional programming problem in which the numerator and denominator of objective function contain square root of positive semidefinite quadratic form. Also, the necessary and sufficient conditions of efficient solution for fractional programming are established and a parameterization technique is used to establish duality results under generalized second order ρ-univexity assumption.