bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
FREAC-LUT: A NEW DYNAMIC LOOK-UP TABLE APPROACH TO SECURE CHAOTIC ENCRYPTION
Authors: HASIMOTO-BELTRAN ROGELIO
Published: March 2013

In this work, we present a new chaos-based cryptosystem scheme consisting of a noniterative plaintext transformation and a high dimensionally (K-map) populated dynamic Look-Up Table (LUT) with random access that outperforms the security and speed of previous LUT-based chaotic encryption schemes. Experimental analysis of the proposed scheme reveals excellent statistical properties, naturally extended permanent cycle, and high performance for real-time multimedia communications. Our scheme is one order of magnitude faster than the fastest LUT-based approach in the literature and robust to differential and chosen plaintext attacks.
DETECTING EMULATED ENVIRONMENTS
Authors: PARVEEN TAUHIDA , TILLEY SCOTT , ALLEN WILLIAM , MARIN GERALD , FORD RICHARD
Published: March 2013

One of the most powerful tools in the hacker's reverse engineering arsenal is the virtual machine. These systems provide a simple mechanism for executing code in an environment in which the program can be carefully monitored and controlled, allowing attackers to subvert copy protection and access trade secrets. One of the challenges for anti-reverse engineering tools is how to protect software within such an untrustworthy environment. From the perspective of a running program, detecting an emulated environment is not trivial: the attacker can emulate the result of different operations with arbitrarily high fidelity. This paper demonstrates a mechanism that is able to detect even carefully constructed virtual environments by focusing on the stochastic variation of system call timings. A statistical technique for detecting emulated environments is presented, which uses a model of normal system call behavior to successfully identify two commonly used virtual environments under realistic conditions.
ASYMPTOTICS FOR EXPONENTIAL LÉVY PROCESSES AND THEIR VOLATILITY SMILE: SURVEY AND NEW RESULTS
Authors: ANDERSEN LEIF , LIPTON ALEXANDER
Published: March 2013

Exponential Lévy processes can be used to model the evolution of various financial variables such as FX rates, stock prices, and so on. Considerable efforts have been devoted to pricing derivatives written on underliers governed by such processes, and the corresponding implied volatility surfaces have been analyzed in some detail. In the non-asymptotic regimes, option prices are described by the Lewis-Lipton formula, which allows one to represent them as Fourier integrals, and the prices can be trivially expressed in terms of their implied volatility. Recently, attempts at calculating the asymptotic limits of the implied volatility have yielded several expressions for the short-time, long-time, and wing asymptotics. In order to study the volatility surface in required detail, in this paper we use the FX conventions and describe the implied volatility as a function of the Black-Scholes delta. Surprisingly, this convention is closely related to the resolution of singularities frequently used in algebraic geometry. In this framework, we survey the literature, reformulate some known facts regarding the asymptotic behavior of the implied volatility, and present several new results. We emphasize the role of fractional differentiation in studying the tempered stable exponential Lévy processes and derive novel numerical methods based on judicious finite-difference approximations for fractional derivatives. We also briefly demonstrate how to extend our results in order to study important cases of local and stochastic volatility models, whose close relation to the Lévy process based models is particularly clear when the Lewis-Lipton formula is used. Our main conclusion is that studying asymptotic properties of the implied volatility is not always practically useful because the domain of validity of many asymptotic expressions is small.
Applicability of InSAR to tropical volcanoes: insights from Central America
Authors: Ebmeier S. K. , Biggs J. , Mather T. A. , Amelung F.
Published: March 2013

Measuring volcano deformation is key to understanding the behaviour of erupting volcanoes and detecting those in periods of unrest. Satellite techniques provide the opportunity to do so on a global scale but, with some notable exceptions, the deformation of volcanoes in the tropics has been understudied relative to those at higher latitudes, largely due to technical difficulties in applying Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR).

We perform a systematic survey of the Central American Volcanic Arc to investigate the applicability of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to volcanoes in the tropics. Volcano characteristics that may prevent InSAR measurement include: (1) dense vegetation cover; (2) persistent activity; and (3) steep slopes. Measurements of deformation are further inhibited by atmospheric artefacts associated with: (4) large changes in topographical relief. We present a systematic method for distinguishing between water vapour artefacts and true deformation. Our data show a linear relationship (
c
. 2 cm/km) between the magnitudes of water vapour artefacts and volcano edifice height. For high relief volcanoes (e.g. Fuego, Guatemala, 3763 m a.s.l. (above sea level)) errors are of the order of 4–5 cm across the volcano's edifice but are less than 2 cm for lower relief (e.g. Masaya, Nicaragua, 635 m a.s.l.). Examples such as Arenal, Atitlan and Fuego illustrate that satellite acquisition strategies incorporating ascending and descending tracks are particularly important for studying steep-sided volcanoes.

Poor coherence is primarily associated with temporal decorrelation, which is typically more rapid in southern Central America where Evergreen broadleaf vegetation dominates. Land-use classification is a better predictor of decorrelation rate than vegetation index. Comparison of coherence for different radar wavelengths match expectations; high resolution X-band radar is best suited to local studies where high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) exist, while L-band wavelengths are necessary for regional surveys. However, this is the first time that relationships between phase coherence and time, perpendicular baseline, radar wavelength, and land use have been quantified on the scale of a whole volcanic arc.
Abstract painting with interactive control of perceptual entropy
Authors: Zhao Mingtian , Zhu Song-Chun
Published: March 2013

This article presents a framework for generating abstract art from photographs. The aesthetics of abstract art is largely attributed to its greater perceptual ambiguity than photographs. According to psychological theories [Berlyne 1971], the ambiguity tends to invoke moderate mental effort in the viewer for interpreting the underlying contents, and this process is usually accompanied by subtle aesthetic pleasure. We study this phenomenon through human experiments comparing the subjects' interpretations of abstract art and photographs, and quantitatively verify, the increased perceptual ambiguities in terms of recognition accuracy and response time. Based on the studies, we measure the level of perceptual ambiguity using entropy, as it measures uncertainty levels in information theory, and propose a painterly rendering method with interactive control of the ambiguity levels. Given an input photograph, we first segment it into regions corresponding to different objects and parts in an interactive manner and organize them into a hierarchical parse tree representation. Then we execute a painterly rendering process with image obscuring operators to transfer the photograph into an abstract painting style with increased perceptual ambiguities in both the scene and individual objects. Finally, using kernel density estimation and message-passing algorithms, we compute and control the ambiguity levels numerically to the desired levels, during which we may predict and control the viewer's perceptual path among the image contents by assigning different ambiguity levels to different objects. We have evaluated the rendering results using a second set of human experiments, and verified that they achieve similar abstract effects to original abstract paintings.
Data embedding in image-media using weight-function on modulo operations
Authors: Sun Hung-Min , Weng Chi-Yao , Wang Shiuh-Jeng , Yang Cheng-Hsing
Published: March 2013

Multimedia hiding system is to embed message behind the specified media, but it is still kept normal in media representations via human sensitive organizations without causing imperceptibility. In this article, we propose a data hiding system by means of flexible exploiting modification directions to achieve safer message concealments in image-media. In our scheme,
n
cover-pixels are flexibly chosen on modulo operations to embed a secret
s
, where
n
= ⌈ log
3
(
s
) ⌉. The varied pixel values associated with the chosen
n
pixels are only changed among [-1, 1]. Because the numbers of adjustable pixels are much greater than the pixels in the past scheme, our scheme is able to obtain a higher embedded ratio in response to the capacity requirements of information hiding systems. In addition, we also applied the statistics-steganalyzers to demonstrate that our scheme has accomplishment not only higher capacity but also kept the robustness against the blind steganalyzers.
Artistic image generation for emerging multimedia services by impressionist manner
Authors: Seo Sanghyun , Ryoo Seungtaek , Yoon Kyunghyun
Published: March 2013

In this article, we propose the rendering framework for painting-like image generation and general system architecture for mobile device. Especially, we focused on a color division method for generating neo-impressionist images. The French painter, George Seurat, introduced pointillism under the theory that the individual pigments of colors on the canvas are reconstructed on the human retina. Pointillism is a painting technique in which many small brush strokes are combined to form a picture and determines the color of brush strokes based on the optical mixing of juxtaposed colors.

In order to express countless separate dots, we form hierarchical points using Wang Tiles contained points. Also palette will be constructed using neo-impressionist colors. Based on this palette, we propose color division algorithm that distributes hierarchical point's color to pointillist colors using probability function. Finally, hierarchical points set that applied proposed color division rule is converted into brush strokes that possesses properties such as shape and direction. This rendering algorithm is performed in our proposed system. Our scheme is able to produce a painting with artistic style and be applied to the various platform having the different computing performance and display resolution. This system also can be extended to various imaging devices (IPTV, camera, smart phone, digital photo frame and so on).
ENFFiS
Authors: Park Sang Oh , Kim Sung Jo
Published: March 2013

Since the typical erase cycle limit of a NAND flash memory's block is about 1,000,000, flash memory should be erased as evenly as possible; otherwise, file system hot spots will soon be worn out. This forces a NAND flash memory file system to scan the whole flash memory during its mount rather than saving frequently updated file system information in a fixed area. Since the mount time linearly increases with the size of NAND flash memory, boot times of embedded systems are also linearly increased. In addition, since data loss may occur if a file system terminates abnormally due to unexpected errors, a stability scheme for NAND flash memory file system is in great demand. To resolve these problems, this article suggests an extended logical block called
Exblock
(Extended Block) and a table called
SNode
(Snapshot Node) to reduce the mount time and proposes a new journaling scheme to improve stability for an enhanced file system for NAND flash memory storage called ENFFiS (Enhanced NAND Flash memory File System). It also proposes a new cache policy to improve read/write performances. ENFFiS shows better performance than existing file systems in terms of reading, writing, mount time and stability.
Video search and indexing with reinforcement agent for interactive multimedia services
Authors: Paul Anand , Chen Bo-Wei , Bharanitharan Karunanithi , Wang Jhing-Fa
Published: March 2013

In this study, we present a video search and indexing system based on the state support vector (SVM) network, video graph, and reinforcement agent for recognizing and organizing video events. In order to enhance the recognition performance of the state SVM network, two innovative techniques are presented: state transition correction and transition quality estimation. The classification results are also merged into the video indexing graph, which facilitates the search speed. A reinforcement algorithm with an efficient scheduling scheme significantly reduces both the power consumption and time. The experimental results show the proposed state SVM network was able to achieve a precision rate as high as 83.83% and the query results of the indexing graph reached 80% accuracy. The experiments also demonstrate the performance and feasibility of our system.
Data reorganization for scalable video service with embedded mobile devices
Authors: Lim Seung-Ho , Choi Min , Jeong Young Sik
Published: March 2013

Recent development of high-speed wireless networks and embedded systems has enabled the recording and delivery of high-performance multimedia to heterogeneous mobile users. To support heterogeneous mobile users with high-quality multimedia services, scalable video coding was introduced. In the scalable video coding (SVC), through multidimensional scalability, all types of these scalability can be exploited at the same time. However, the generated video sequences of scalable video coding are not adequate for mobile multimedia service systems since its flexibility makes non contiguous storing and retrieval of partial stream data. In this article, we propose efficient scalable video data reorganization for video servicing systems, which consist of video server and mobile clients. For video server, we reorganize scalable video streams taking into account both of decoding dependency and location in disk array storage, where disk array is widely used for storage systems of video server. In the mobile devices, we place substreams with the consideration of NAND flash memory page and block boundaries, which is storage for mobile devices. The experimental results show that the proposed reorganization of scalable video can improve the performance of mobile multimedia service systems.
A RF4CE-based remote controller with interactive graphical user interface applied to home automation system
Authors: Lai Chin-Feng , Chen Min , Qiu Meikang , Vasilakos Athanasios V. , Park Jong Hyuk
Published: March 2013

With the increase in commercial electronic equipment and its complicated control interfaces, how to design an effective and user-friendly control interface has become a topic for many researchers. This research introduces two-directional communication of an interactive graphical user interface on a universal remote control (URC). It is different from current URCs where users must often spend huge amounts of time setting the command codes and encoding each device. With the increase in the number of appliances that the controller needs to manage and the complicated and numerous control buttons, using such controllers often causes difficulties for users. This research employs a cross-platform with integration theories, so when a user wants to connect an appliance, both the appliance end and the controller end will build a two-directional connection through pairing over Radio Frequency for Consumer Electronics (RF4CE). After connection, the system will automatically set the communication protocol between the controller and the device. The appliance will automatically transmit its current state and service in the form of bundles to the controller, then the controller will project it onto an LCD screen. The controller can also show the number of appliances connected to the current position of the user, allowing the user to use one controller to control all home appliances with ease, achieving a simplified and instinctive control interface to build the integrated control environment for commercial appliances.
Models of linguistic facial expressions for American Sign Language animation
Authors: Kacorri Hernisa
Published: March 2013

Facial expressions are a necessary and important part of the grammar of American Sign Language (ASL) sentences. However, current computational linguistic software cannot produce a huge portion of ASL constructions that include facial expressions. Here we summarize our research motivations, proposed plan, and potential contributions in the accessibility field. Our research aim is to formulate signer-independent models of facial movements for various types of linguistically meaningful facial expressions in ASL animation. This project summary also includes a brief description of current progress and future research plans.
Semantic disambiguation of non-syntactic and continuous motion text entry for AAC
Authors: Wiegand Karl
Published: March 2013

Many people with severe speech impairments use icon-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. These systems typically present users with hierarchical arrays of icons that are sequentially selected to construct messages, which are then voiced by text-to-speech (TTS) engines. For the people who use these systems, it is important that the message construction task be fast and physically comfortable; unfortunately, current systems are often slow and require repetitive physical movements that are fatiguing. The current work aims to examine three main assumptions that are commonly made during the design of icon-based AAC systems. These assumptions may contribute to design decisions that place the major burden of work on the user rather than the system. This work aims to remove these assumptions from the design process and address the resulting problems with a systematic set of algorithms and design approaches. By mitigating the need for these fundamental design assumptions, it may be possible to shift work from the user to the system and allow for faster, less fatiguing communication. The removal of some of these assumptions may also enable future innovation in the field of icon-based AAC, and AAC in general, especially when leveraging continuous modalities, such as brain waves.
Osteoporosis Self-Assessment Tool Performance in a Large Sample of Postmenopausal Women of Mendoza, Argentina
Authors: Saraví Fernando D.
Published: March 2013

The Osteoporosis Self-assessment Tool (OST) is a clinical instrument designed to select patients at risk of osteoporosis, who would benefit from a bone mineral density measurement. The OST only takes into account the age and weight of the subject. It was developed for Asian women and later validated for European and North American white women. The performance of the OST in a sample of 4343 women from Greater Mendoza, a large metropolitan area of Argentina, was assessed. Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of lumbar spine and hip were obtained. Patients were classified as either osteoporotic (N=1830) or nonosteoporotic (n=2513) according to their lowest T-score at any site. Osteoporotic patients had lower OST scores (P<0.0001). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed an area under the curve of 71% (P<0.0001), with a sensitivity of 83.7% and a specificity of 44% for a cut-off value of 2. Positive predictive value was 52% and negative predictive value was 79%. The odds ratio for the diagnosis of osteoporosis was 4.06 (CI95 3.51 to 4.71;P<0.0001). It is concluded that the OST is useful for selecting postmenopausal women for DXA testing in the studied population.
Structural Vibration Monitoring Using Cumulative Spectral Analysis
Authors: Goto Satoru , Takahashi Yoshinori , Tohyama Mikio
Published: March 2013

This paper describes a resonance decay estimation for structural health monitoring in the presence of nonstationary vibrations. In structural health monitoring, the structure's frequency response and resonant decay characteristics are very important for understanding how the structure changes. Cumulative spectral analysis (CSA) estimates the frequency decay by using the impulse response. However, measuring the impulse response of buildings is impractical due to the need to shake the building itself. In a previous study, we reported on system damping monitoring using cumulative harmonic analysis (CHA), which is based on CSA. The current study describes scale model experiments on estimating the hidden resonance decay under non-stationary noise conditions by using CSA for structural condition monitoring.
Metachronous Periadrenal Fatty Tissue Metastasis from Contralateral Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Alkan Erdal , Ozkanli Oguz , Balbay Derya
Published: March 2013

Contralateral adrenal metastases from renal cell carcinomas are not commonly seen. To our knowledge, we are presenting the first case of extraadrenal metastasis in the English literature, from the contralateral RCC 6 months after radical nephrectomy. Patient was treated with robotic right adrenalectomy for continuous growing of a de novo right adrenal mass of 6 × 4 × 3 cm in diameter. Tissue between vena cava, renal capsule, and inferior diaphragmatic surface was removed en block. Pathological evaluation revealed renal cell carcinoma within the fatty tissue abutting the adrenal capsule from outside with negative surgical margins. Our experience dictates that removing adrenal tissue only after identifying the adrenal borders may sometimes result in insufficient tumor removal. Therefore, adrenal containing tissue within the anatomic boundaries should be removed en block, if surgical removal is planned for metachronous tumor metastasis in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma.
A Review on the Faults of Electric Machines Used in Electric Ships
Authors: V. Spyropoulos Dionysios , D. Mitronikas Epaminondas
Published: March 2013

Electric propulsion systems are today widely applied in modern ships, including transport ships and warships. The ship of the future will be fully electric, and not only its propulsion system but also all the other services will depend on electric power. The robust and reliable operation of the ship’s power system is essential. In this work, a review on the mechanical and electrical faults of electric machines that are used in electric ships is presented.
Pulmonary Mucus Gland Adenomas: Are They Always of Endobronchial Localization?
Authors: Karpathiou Georgia , Sivridis Efthimios , Mikroulis Dimitrios , Froudarakis Marios , Giatromanolaki Alexandra
Published: March 2013

Mucus gland adenoma is an extremely rare benign lung tumor, presumed to arise from the bronchial mucus glands; it is a TTF-1 negative tumor, centrally located, causing the clinical manifestations of obstruction. We report a TTF-1 negative mucus gland adenoma, arising into the medial bronchopulmonary segment, lacking any relation to a bronchus.
A Unified Framework for GPS Code and Carrier-Phase Multipath Mitigation Using Support Vector Regression
Authors: Phan Quoc-Huy , Tan Su-Lim , McLoughlin Ian , Vu Duc-Lung
Published: March 2013

Multipath mitigation is a long-standing problem in global positioning system (GPS) research and is essential for improving the accuracy and precision of positioning solutions. In this work, we consider multipath error estimation as a regression problem and propose a unified framework for both code and carrier-phase multipath mitigation for ground fixed GPS stations. We use the kernel support vector machine to predict multipath errors, since it is known to potentially offer better-performance traditional models, such as neural networks. The predicted multipath error is then used to correct GPS measurements. We empirically show that the proposed method can reduce the code multipath error standard deviation up to 79% on average, which significantly outperforms other approaches in the literature. A comparative analysis of reduction of double-differential carrier-phase multipath error reveals that a 57% reduction is also achieved. Furthermore, by simulation, we also show that this method is robust to coexisting signals of phenomena (e.g., seismic signals) we wish to preserve.
Occult Hepatitis B: Clinical Viewpoint and Management
Authors: Zobeiri Mehdi
Published: March 2013

Occult HBV infection (OBI) is defined as HBV DNA detection in serum or in the liver by sensitive diagnostic tests in HBsAg-negative patients with or without serologic markers of previous viral exposure. OBI seems to be higher among subjects at high risk for HBV infection and with liver disease. OBI can be both a source of virus contamination in blood and organ donations and the reservoir for full blown hepatitis after reactivation. HBV reactivation depends on viral and host factors but these associations have not been analyzed thoroughly. In OBI, it would be best to prevent HBV reactivation which inhibits the development of hepatitis and subsequent mortality. In diverse cases with insufficient data to recommend routine prophylaxis, early identification of virologic reactivation is essential to start antiviral therapy. For retrieving articles regarding OBI, various databases, including OVID, PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect, were used.
Enhanced Optical Properties of Germanate and Tellurite Glasses Containing Metal or Semiconductor Nanoparticles
Authors: de Araujo Cid Bartolomeu , Silvério da Silva Diego , Alves de Assumpção Thiago Alexandre , Kassab Luciana Reyes Pires , Mariano da Silva Davinson
Published: March 2013

Germanium‐ and tellurium‐based glasses have been largely studied due to their recognized potential for photonics. In this paper, we review our recent studies that include the investigation of the Stokes and anti‐Stokes photoluminescence (PL) in different glass systems containing metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs). In the case of the samples with metallic NPs, the enhanced PL was attributed to the increased local field on the rare‐earth ions located in the proximity of the NPs and/or the energy transfer from the metallic NPs to the rare‐earth ions. For the glasses containing silicon NPs, the PL enhancement was mainly due to the energy transfer from the NPs to the Er3+ ions. The nonlinear (NL) optical properties of PbO‐GeO2 films containing gold NPs were also investigated. The experiments in the pico‐ and subpicosecond regimes revealed enhanced values of the NL refractive indices and large NL absorption coefficients in comparison with the films without gold NPs. The reported experiments demonstrate that germanate and tellurite glasses, having appropriate rare‐earth ions doping and NPs concentration, are strong candidates for PL‐based devices, all‐optical switches, and optical limiting.
Corrosion Inhibition of Aluminium in HCl by Amine Modified Epoxy Resin
Authors: Oki Makanjuola , Oki Kayode , Otaigbe John , Otikor Samuel
Published: March 2013

N-Butyl amine has been grafted unto Dow epoxy resin. The product was evaluated as an acid inhibitor by gravimetric techniques. The reduction in corrosion of aluminium in 1 M HCl solution was 92% at and 83% at with an inhibitor concentration of 100 ppm. The corrosion rate at this concentration was and mm/yr at and . For the specimens in HCl without inhibitor at 10-hour immersion period, the corrosion rate was and mm/yr, respectively, at and . Data obtained correlate with Langmuir isotherm.
Decomposition and Nutrient Release Dynamics of Ficus benghalensis L. Litter in Traditional Agroforestry Systems of Karnataka, Southern India
Authors: Dhanya B. , Viswanath Syam , Purushothaman Seema
Published: March 2013

Decomposition and nutrient release dynamics of leaf litter of Ficus benghalensis, a common agroforestry species in southern dry agroclimatic zone of Karnataka, were studied using the standard litter bag technique in surface and subsurface methods of application. Results revealed a marginally higher rate of decay in subsurface placement (22.5% of initial litter mass remaining after one year of decomposition) compared to surface treatment (28.3% of initial litter mass remaining). Litter quality (lignin content and lignin/N ratio) and climatic and soil conditions of the study site (monthly rainfall and soil moisture) were found to influence the rate of decomposition. Mineralisation of litter was found to be in the order K > N > P. The paper further discusses the implications of these results for rainfed farming in Mandya and emphasises the potential of F. benghalensis in reducing nutrient input costs for resource-poor dryland farmers.
MSF: An Efficient Mobile Phone Sensing Framework
Authors: Cardone Giuseppe , Cirri Andrea , Corradi Antonio , Foschini Luca , Maio Dario
Published: March 2013

Recent evolutions in smartphones, today provided with several sensors, have the strong processing capabilities needed to extract from raw sensed data sensor meaningful high-level views of the physical context around the user. A new promising research area called mobile sensing promotes completely decentralized sensing based on smartphone capabilities only. However, current mobile sensing solutions are not very mature; yet, because they are based on ad hoc software solutions tailored to one specific technical problem (e.g., power management, resource locking, etc.), they are difficult to reuse and integrate in different projects, and they do not focus on the performance efficiency of the monitoring support. To overcome those limitations, this paper proposes Mobile Sensing Framework (MSF), a flexible platform to ease the development of mobile sensing applications through the definition of a common set of facilities that mask all low-level technical details in reading and processing raw sensor data. MSF has been optimized also to enhance performances for Android-based systems, and we report an extensive set of experimental results that assess our architecture and quantitatively compare it with a selection of other mobile sensing systems by showing that MSF outperforms them by presenting lower CPU usage and memory footprints.
Improvement of Circadian Rhythm of Heart Rate Variability by Eurythmy Therapy Training
Authors: Seifert Georg , Kanitz Jenny-Lena , Pretzer Kim , Henze Günter , Witt Katharina , Reulecke Sina , Voss Andreas
Published: March 2013

Background. Impairment of circadian rhythm is associated with various clinical problems. It not only has a negative impact on quality of life but can also be associated with a significantly poorer prognosis. Eurythmy therapy (EYT) is an anthroposophic movement therapy aimed at reducing fatigue symptoms and stress levels.Objective. This analysis of healthy subjects was conducted to examine whether the improvement in fatigue symptoms was accompanied by improvements in the circadian rhythm of heart rate variability (HRV).Design. Twenty-three women performed 10 hours of EYT over six weeks. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) were recorded before and after the EYT trial. HRV was quantified by parameters of the frequency and time domains and the nonlinear parameters of symbolic dynamics.Results. The day-night contrast with predominance of vagal activity at night becomes more pronounced after the EYT training, and with decreased Ultralow and very low frequencies, the HRV shows evidence of calmer sleep. During the night, the complexity of the HRV is significantly increased indicated by nonlinear parameters.Conclusion. The analysis of the circadian patterns of cardiophysiological parameters before and after EYT shows significant improvements in HRV in terms of greater day-night contrast caused by an increase of vagal activity and calmer and more complex HRV patterns during sleep.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Interaction with Biomolecules of Platinum(II) Complexes with Shikimic Acid-Based Ligands
Authors: Peng Yan , Zhang Min-Min , Chen Zhen-Feng , Hu Kun , Liu Yan-Cheng , Chen Xia , Liang Hong
Published: March 2013

Starting from the active ingredient shikimic acid (SA) of traditional Chinese medicine and NH2(CH2)nOH, (n=2–6), we have synthesized a series of new water-soluble Pt(II) complexes PtLa–eCl2, where La–eare chelating diamine ligands with carbon chain covalently attached to SA (La–e= SA-NH(CH2)nNHCH2CH2NH2; La,n=2; Lb,n=3; Lc,n=4; Ld,n=5; Le,n=6). The results of the elemental analysis, LC-MS, capillary electrophoresis, and1H,13C NMR indicated that there was only one product (isomer) formed under the present experimental conditions, in which the coordinate mode of PtLa–eCl2was two-amine bidentate. Theirin vitrocytotoxic activities were evaluated by MTT method, where these compounds only exhibited low cytotoxicity towards BEL7404, which should correlate their low lipophilicity. The interactions of the five Pt(II) complexes with DNA were investigated by agarose gel electrophoresis, which suggests that the Pt(II) complexes could induce DNA alteration. We also studied the interactions of the Pt(II) complexes with5′-GMP with ESI-MS and1H NMR and found that PtLbCl2, PtLcCl2, and PtLdCl2could react with5′-GMP to form mono-GMP and bis-GMP adducts. Furthermore, the cell-cycle analysis revealed that PtLbCl2, PtLcCl2cause cell G2-phase arrest after incubation for 72 h. Overall, these water-soluble Pt(II) complexes interact with DNA mainly through covalent binding, which blocks the DNA synthesis and replication and thus induces cytotoxicity that weakens as the length of carbon chain increases.
A Cross-Layer Framework for Network Management in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Weighted Cognitive Maps
Authors: El-Mougy Amr , Ibnkahla Mohamed
Published: March 2013

Achieving the end-to-end goals and objectives of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) is a highly challenging task. Such objectives include maximizing network lifetime, guaranteeing connectivity and coverage, and maximizing throughput. In addition, some of these goals are in conflict such as network lifetime and throughput. Cross-layer design can be efficient in proposing network management techniques that can consider different network objectives and conflicting constraints. This can be highly valuable in challenging applications where multiple Quality of Service (QoS) requirements may be demanded. In this paper, a novel cross-layer framework for network management is proposed that particularly targets WSN with challenging applications. The proposed framework is designed using the tool known as Weighted Cognitive Map (WCM). The inference properties of WCMs allow the system to consider multiple objectives and constraints while maintaining low complexity. Methods for achieving different objectives using WCMs are illustrated, as well as how system processes can operate coherently to achieve common end-to-end goals. Using extensive computer simulations, the proposed system is evaluated. The results show that it achieves good performance results in metrics of network lifetime, throughput, and Packet Loss Ratio (PLR).
Successful Management of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia Using Argatroban in a Very Old Woman: A Case Report
Authors: Putot A. , Perrin S. , Sordet-Guépet H. , de Maistre E. , Manckoundia P.
Published: March 2013

Thrombosis due to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is rare but has a severe prognosis. Its management is not always easy, particularly in old patients with renal insufficiency. A 95-year-old woman was hospitalized for dyspnea. Curative treatment with unfractionated heparin was started because pulmonary embolism was suspected. Disseminated intravascular coagulation was then suspected because of thrombocytopenia, hypoprothrombinemia, hypofibrinogenemia, and a positive ethanol gelation test. The first immunoassay for HIT was negative. On the 12th day of hospitalization, bilateral cyanosis of the toes occurred associated with recent deep bilateral venous and arterial thrombosis at duplex ultrasound. New biological tests confirmed HIT and led us to stop heparin and to start argatroban with a positive clinical and biological evolution. Venous and arterial thrombosis associated with thrombocytopenia during heparin treatment must be considered HIT whatever the biological test results are. Argatroban is a good alternative treatment in the elderly.
An Entropy-Based Automated Cell Nuclei Segmentation and Quantification: Application in Analysis of Wound Healing Process
Authors: Oswal Varun , Belle Ashwin , Diegelmann Robert , Najarian Kayvan
Published: March 2013

The segmentation and quantification of cell nuclei are two very significant tasks in the analysis of histological images. Accurate results of cell nuclei segmentation are often adapted to a variety of applications such as the detection of cancerous cell nuclei and the observation of overlapping cellular events occurring during wound healing process in the human body. In this paper, an automated entropy-based thresholding system for segmentation and quantification of cell nuclei from histologically stained images has been presented. The proposed translational computation system aims to integrate clinical insight and computational analysis by identifying and segmenting objects of interest within histological images. Objects of interest and background regions are automatically distinguished by dynamically determining 3 optimal threshold values for the 3 color components of an input image. The threshold values are determined by means of entropy computations that are based on probability distributions of the color intensities of pixels and the spatial similarity of pixel intensities within neighborhoods. The effectiveness of the proposed system was tested over 21 histologically stained images containing approximately 1800 cell nuclei, and the overall performance of the algorithm was found to be promising, with high accuracy and precision values.
Linezolid Is Associated with Serotonin Syndrome in a Patient Receiving Amitriptyline, and Fentanyl: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Samartzis Lampros , Savvari Paraskevi , Kontogiannis Sofoklis , Dimopoulos Stavros
Published: March 2013

We report a unique case of an adverse interaction between the oxazolidinone antibiotic linezolid, the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline and the opioid analgesic fentanyl in a 68-year-old woman with advanced ischemic peripheral arterial disease and sepsis, under empirical antibiotic treatment. We also summarize the current relevant literature as identified via PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO as well as reference sections of selected articles.
Bisphosphonates and Cancer: What Opportunities from Nanotechnology?
Authors: De Rosa Giuseppe , Misso Gabriella , Salzano Giuseppina , Caraglia Michele
Published: March 2013

Bisphosphonates (BPs) are synthetic analogues of naturally occurring pyrophosphate compounds. They are used in clinical practice to inhibit bone resorption in bone metastases, osteoporosis, and Paget's disease. BPs induce apoptosis because they can be metabolically incorporated into nonhydrolyzable analogues of adenosine triphosphate. In addition, the nitrogen-containing BPs (N-BPs), second-generation BPs, act by inhibiting farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) synthase, a key enzyme of the mevalonate pathway. These molecules are able to induce apoptosis of a number of cancer cellsin vitro. Moreover, antiangiogenic effect of BPs has also been reported. However, despite these promising properties, BPs rapidly accumulate into the bone, thus hampering their use to treat extraskeletal tumors. Nanotechnologies can represent an opportunity to limit BP accumulation into the bone, thus increasing drug level in extraskeletal sites of the body. Thus, nanocarriers encapsulating BPs can be used to target macrophages, to reduce angiogenesis, and to directly kill cancer cell. Moreover, nanocarriers can be conjugated with BPs to specifically deliver anticancer agent to bone tumors. This paper describes, in the first part, the state-of-art on the BPs, and, in the following part, the main studies in which nanotechnologies have been proposed to investigate new indications for BPs in cancer therapy.
Impact of Diabetes on Cardiovascular Disease: An Update
Authors: Matheus Alessandra Saldanha de Mattos , Tannus Lucianne Righeti Monteiro , Cobas Roberta Arnoldi , Palma Catia C. Sousa , Negrato Carlos Antonio , Gomes Marilia de Brito
Published: March 2013

Cardiovascular diseases are the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The proposed mechanisms that can link accelerated atherosclerosis and increased cardiovascular risk in this population are poorly understood. It has been suggested that an association between hyperglycemia and intracellular metabolic changes can result in oxidative stress, low-grade inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction. Recently, epigenetic factors by different types of reactions are known to be responsible for the interaction between genes and environment and for this reason can also account for the association between diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The impact of clinical factors that may coexist with diabetes such as obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension are also discussed. Furthermore, evidence that justify screening for subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic patients is controversial and is also matter of this review. The purpose of this paper is to describe the association between poor glycemic control, oxidative stress, markers of insulin resistance, and of low-grade inflammation that have been suggested as putative factors linking diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Metal‐Enhanced Fluorescence of Chlorophylls in Light‐Harvesting Complexes Coupled to Silver Nanowires
Authors: Kowalska Dorota , Krajnik Bartosz , Olejnik Maria , Twardowska Magdalena , Czechowski Nikodem , Hofmann Eckhard , Mackowski Sebastian
Published: March 2013

We investigate metal‐enhanced fluorescence of peridinin‐chlorophyll protein coupled to silver nanowires using optical microscopy combined with spectrally and time‐resolved fluorescence techniques. In particular we study two different sample geometries: first, in which the light‐harvesting complexes are deposited onto silver nanowires, and second, where solution of both nanostructures are mixed prior deposition on a substrate. The results indicate that for the peridinin‐chlorophyll complexes placed in the vicinity of the silver nanowires we observe higher intensities of fluorescence emission as compared to the reference sample, where no nanowires are present. Enhancement factors estimated for the sample where the light‐harvesting complexes are mixed together with the silver nanowires prior deposition on a substrate are generally larger in comparison to the other geometry of a hybrid nanostructure. While fluorescence spectra are identical both in terms of overall shape and maximum wavelength for peridinin‐chlorophyll‐protein complexes both isolated and coupled to metallic nanostructures, we conclude that interaction with plasmon excitations in the latter remains neutral to the functionality of the biological system. Fluorescence transients measured for the PCP complexes coupled to the silver nanowires indicate shortening of the fluorescence lifetime pointing towards modifications of radiative rate due to plasmonic interactions. Our results can be applied for developing ways to plasmonically control the light‐harvesting capability of photosynthetic complexes.
Effect of Two Different Doses of Gabapentin on the Intraocular Pressure and Hemodynamic Stress Responses to Laryngoscopy and Tracheal Intubation
Authors: Ali Amani A. , Elnakera Abeer M. , Samir Ahmed
Published: March 2013

Background. The stress response to laryngoscopy and intubation causes an undesirable increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and intraocular pressure. This study was designed to compare the effect of two doses of gabapentin on the stress response to laryngoscopy and intubation.Patients and Methods. (ASA I and II) 60 patients, aged from 18 to 60 years undergoing elective eye surgery requiring endotracheal intubation, were randomly allocated into 3 groups, 20 patients each. 2 hours before the surgery, group I received oral placebo, and groups II and III received oral gabapentin 800 mg and 1200 mg, respectively. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and intraocular pressure (IOP) were measured before and after induction of anesthesia, immediately after, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes after intubation.Results. Gabapentin 1200 mg prevented the increase in HR, MAP, and IOP, secondary to laryngoscopy and intubation, and kept them below the baseline till 10 minutes after intubation (), while with gabapentin 800 mg, the increase in HR, MAP, and IOP was nonsignificant () and returned to levels below the baseline at 5 and 10 minutes after intubation.Conclusion. Preoperative gabapentin 1200 mg effectively prevented the stress response to laryngoscopy and intubation; meanwhile, gabapentin 800 mg only prevented significant stress response.
Surgical Guides (Patient-Specific Instruments) for Pediatric Tibial Bone Sarcoma Resection and Allograft Reconstruction
Authors: Bellanova Laura , Paul Laurent , Docquier Pierre-Louis
Published: March 2013

To achieve local control of malignant pediatric bone tumors and to provide satisfactory oncological results, adequate resection margins are mandatory. The local recurrence rate is directly related to inappropriate excision margins. The present study describes a method for decreasing the resection margin width and ensuring that the margins are adequate. This method was developed in the tibia, which is a common site for the most frequent primary bone sarcomas in children. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerized tomography (CT) were used for preoperative planning to define the cutting planes for the tumors: each tumor was segmented on MRI, and the volume of the tumor was coregistered with CT. After preoperative planning, a surgical guide (patient-specific instrument) that was fitted to a unique position on the tibia was manufactured by rapid prototyping. A second instrument was manufactured to adjust the bone allograft to fit the resection gap accurately. Pathologic evaluation of the resected specimens showed tumor-free resection margins in all four cases. The technologies described in this paper may improve the surgical accuracy and patient safety in surgical oncology. In addition, these techniques may decrease operating time and allow for reconstruction with a well-matched allograft to obtain stable osteosynthesis.
Estimation of Extreme Values by the Average Conditional Exceedance Rate Method
Authors: Naess A. , Gaidai O. , Karpa O.
Published: March 2013

This paper details a method for extreme value prediction on the basis of a sampled time series. The method is specifically designed to account for statistical dependence between the sampled data points in a precise manner. In fact, if properly used, the new method will provide statistical estimates of the exact extreme value distribution provided by the data in most cases of practical interest. It avoids the problem of having to decluster the data to ensure independence, which is a requisite component in the application of, for example, the standard peaks-over-threshold method. The proposed method also targets the use of subasymptotic data to improve prediction accuracy. The method will be demonstrated by application to both synthetic and real data. From a practical point of view, it seems to perform better than the POT and block extremes methods, and, with an appropriate modification, it is directly applicable to nonstationary time series.
Empirical Doppler Characterization of Signals Scattered by Wind Turbines in the UHF Band under Near Field Condition
Authors: Angulo Itziar , Montalbán Jon , Cañizo Josune , Wu Yiyan , de la Vega David , Guerra David , Angueira Pablo , Arrinda Amaia
Published: March 2013

Time variability of the scattering signals from wind turbines may lead to degradation problems on the communication systems provided in the UHF band, especially under near field condition. In order to analyze the variability due to the rotation of the blades, this paper characterizes empirical Doppler spectra obtained from real samples of signals scattered by wind turbines with rotating blades under near field condition. A new Doppler spectrum model is proposed to fit the spectral characteristics of these signals, providing notable goodness of fit. Finally, the effect of this kind of time variability on the degradation of OFDM signals is studied.