bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plasmodium Knowlesi Malaria: Assessing the Risk to the British Armed Forces
Authors: Roughton Susanna , Green AD
Published: March 2013

Plasmodium knowlesiis a zoonosis and is now recognised as the fifth commonly occurring form of human malaria. It is endemic in South East Asia, including some areas previously declared malaria free or at low risk for malaria. The epidemiology of the disease is very different to other forms of malaria which are determined by transmission by anthrophilic mosquitoes from human reservoirs. In contrastPlasmodium knowlesimalaria has a monkey reservoir and disease is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that normally feed on animals. People become accidentally infected when they enter the ranges of the vector mosquitoes and animal hosts. Improved and novel diagnostic methods have indicated that human disease is much more common than previously thought. Although the greatest disease burden falls on local populations living in endemic areas, visitors entering such zones are also at risk. The changing nature of tourism with deep jungle expeditions being more heavily marketed, and short visits to endemic zones now common, mean that new populations are increasingly recognised as being at risk. One such group are military personnel undergoing jungle training or deployed on Operations. The potential for severe disease in areas previously considered at low risk for malaria means that risk assessment needs to be reviewed, coupled with communication strategies to address prevention of a zoonotic form of the disease. The role of chemoprophylaxis in some specific groups may need to be considered.
Characteristics and Visual Outcomes of Eye Trauma in the Chinese Armed Services
Authors: Xiao J , Zhang Maonian , Jiang C , Zhang Y , Qiu H , Chaloulias C , Suleman H
Published: March 2013

Objectives:

To outline the characteristics and outcomes of eye injuries in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

Methods:

A retrospective review of military inpatient eye injuries, in one military region, population 250,000 soldiers, between January 2006 and December 2010.

Results:

There were 709 eye injury patients (759 eyes) during the 5-year period with an incidence of inpatient eye injuries of 57 per 100,000 person-years. The mean age of patients was 24 years, the vast majority male. The majority of eye injuries occurred during recreational time (62%), with the commonest causing being violence (46%). The immediate post-injury vision acuity of 48% of eyes was >6/12; 93% of cases had mechanical ocular injuries and 7% had non-mechanical ocular injuries. 71% of patients were sent to an evacuation hospital within 24 hours and 75% had surgery within 24 hours of injury. The majority of cases (97%) were hospitalized for one visit. On discharge, there was a statistically significant improvement in visual outcomes with 85% of eyes achieving >6/12.

Conclusions:

Eye injuries secondary to violence were a frequent occurrence amongst young male PLA members, particularly during recreational time. Most injuries were not sight-threatening, with the majority of patients achieving an excellent visual outcome.
A comparison of two 3-week resistance training programmes commonly used in short-term military rehabilitation
Authors: Kristensen Jakob , Burgess S
Published: March 2013

Introduction

Resistance training is an important component of rehabilitation due to its ability to increase muscular strength and enhance functional ability. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of two different resistance-training programmes currently used in military rehabilitation.

Method

27 male rehabilitation patients, serving with the Armed Forces and suffering from a range of lower limb musculoskeletal injuries were divided into two matched groups. Group 1 (n=14) performed the Daily Adjusted Progressive Resistance Exercise (DAPRE), whereas Group 2 (n=13) performed the Functional Strength Training (FST). An 8 repetition maximum (8RM) deadlift and countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ) test were used as Functional Assessment Tests (FATs) and as measures of changes in strength and power, respectively. Both were conducted on admission and at discharge.

Results

Lower limb strength and power increased significantly in both the DAPRE (p≤0.001/p≤0.001) and the FST (p≤0.001/0.001) groups. There was no significant difference between groups for either strength (p≥0.05) or power (p≥0.05).

Conclusions

Short-term resistance training during rehabilitation can lead to gains in strength and power despite differences in programme design. However we conclude that three weeks of resistance training is insufficient duration to see significant differences between different training protocols.
Design for fire of concrete elements strengthened or reinforced with fibre-reinforced polymer: state of the art and opportunities from performance-based approaches
Authors: Bisby Luke , Stratford Tim
Published: March 2013

Recent years have seen widespread success applying fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials for internal reinforcement and externally bonded strengthening of concrete structures. However, considerable reductions in mechanical and bond properties of FRP materials at elevated temperatures continue to hinder their application in buildings, where structural fire-resistance ratings are typically required. To meet currently imposed fire safety requirements, FRP materials often require supplemental fire protection insulation or thick concrete cover to maintain their temperature below an assumed (though not currently well-defined) “critical” value during an assumed standard fire exposure. Such requirements are based on a definition of structural fire resistance that is rooted in a prescriptive framework and that fails to take advantage of the state of the art in performance-based structural design for fire safety. This paper is intended to present a summary of the state of the art in this area and also to demonstrate clear opportunities for internal FRP reinforcement and external FRP strengthening of concrete elements that may arise from taking a performance-based fire safety design approach.
Variation in wood color among natural populations of five tree and shrub species in the Sahelian and Sudanian ecozones of Mali
Authors: Sotelo Montes Carmen , Weber John C. , Garcia Rosilei A. , Silva Dimas A. , Muñiz Graciela I.B.
Published: March 2013

There is very little published information about variation in the wood properties of African tree species. To expand markets for wood products from these species, we must understand the factors that affect wood properties, and select the best species and sites to produce wood with the preferred properties. Wood color may be affected by edaphic and climatic conditions, tree age, wood density, and other biological and environmental factors. The major objective of this research was to determine if the mean and variability of wood color variables (L*, a*, and b*) of Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile, Combretum glutinosum Perr. ex DC., Guiera senegalensis J.F. Gmel., Piliostigma reticulatum (DC.) Hochst., and Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. trees varied among regions, soil types, land-use types, and terrain types; and were linearly related with geographical coordinates and mean annual rainfall in the Sahelian and Sudanian ecozones of Mali. Correlations were also investigated among color variables and between wood density and color variables. Results indicated that there was considerable intraspecific variation in wood color variables due to all factors except land-use type; variation patterns were similar for some wood color variables and species, but there were notable differences among some species; and correlations among wood color variables and wood density differed among some species.
Synbiotic administration of canine-derived strain Lactobacillus fermentum CCM 7421 and inulin to healthy dogs
Authors: Strompfová Viola , Lauková Andrea , Cilik Dušan
Published: March 2013

The canine-derived strain Lactobacillus fermentum CCM 7421 has been demonstrated to exert certain health benefits as a probiotic in dogs. Synbiotic combinations are widely used but are rarely studied in dogs. In this study the prebiotic inulin in combination with L. fermentum CCM 7421 was tested for its effects on faecal microbial populations, faecal characteristics, and blood biochemistry in canine experiments. Healthy adult dogs (n = 36) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups (12 dogs/treatment): (i) the control group (C), (ii) the probiotic group (LF group: L. fermentum CCM 7421, 108 CFU/mL of Ringer buffer, 0.1 mL/kg of body mass), and (iii) the synbiotic group (LF+I group: L. fermentum CCM 7421 + inulin (I; Raftifeed IPS) added as 1% of diet). The experiment lasted for 7 weeks with a 2-week treatment period. We detected a significant increase of lactic acid bacteria (LF versus C, day 7; LF versus C and LF versus LF+I, days 28 and 49), a decrease of clostridia (LF versus C, day 14), a lower pH value (LF versus LF+I, day 28), and a higher ammonia concentration (LF versus LF+I, days 14 and 49) in faecal samples. The synbiotic LF+I combination did not intensify the probiotic L. fermentum CCM 7421 efficacy, but its slight laxative effect can be useful to prevent constipation, e.g., in senior dogs.
Cyclic AMP receptor protein is a repressor of adenylyl cyclase genecyaAinYersinia pestis
Authors: Qu Shi , Zhang Yiquan , Liu Lei , Wang Li , Han Yanping , Yang Ruifu , Zhou Dongsheng , Liu Mingyuan
Published: March 2013

Yersinia pestis is one of the most dangerous pathogens. The cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) is required for the full virulence of Y. pestis, and it acts as a transcriptional regulator to control a large regulon, which includes several virulence-associated genes. The regulatory action of CRP is triggered only by binding to the small molecule cofactor cyclic AMP (cAMP). cAMP is synthesized from adenosine triphosphate by the adenylyl cyclase encoded by cyaA. In the present work, the regulation of crp and cyaA by CRP was investigated by primer extension, LacZ fusion, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and DNase I footprinting. No transcriptional regulatory association between CRP and its own gene could be detected under the growth conditions tested. In contrast, CRP bound to a DNA site overlapping the core promoter −10 region of cyaA to repress the cyaA transcription. The determination of cellular cAMP levels further verified that CRP negatively controlled cAMP production. Repression of cAMP production by CRP through acting on the cAMP synthesase gene cyaA would represent a mechanism of negative automodulation of cellular CRP function.
SUPPORTING END-USER ARTICULATIONS IN EVOLVING BUSINESS PROCESSES: A CASE STUDY TO EXPLORE INTUITIVE NOTATIONS AND INTERACTION DESIGNS
Authors: HESS JAN , REUTER CHRISTIAN , PIPEK VOLKMAR , WULF VOLKER
Published: March 2013

Adaptations of business processes are important in work environments, specifically when process-support needs to be tailored according to changing needs. The creation, management, and adaptation of the process models require typically modeling-experts. While these actors are knowledgeable in formalizing and operationalizing processes end-users who do not necessarily possess sophisticated modeling skills know typically local practices and framing conditions best. In this paper, we present an approach to support users in articulating their needs and to involve them into the (re-)design of process specifications. We explore how end-users reflect upon and articulate about business processes. Based on results of a qualitative study, we present a new, paper-based interaction technique, which enables users with little skills to model processes. The resulting process specifications can be transferred either in paper or in digital form into traditional modeling systems for further elaboration.
AN EVENT-DRIVEN ARCHITECTURE FOR INTEGRATING INFORMATION, PROCESSES AND SERVICES IN A PLASTIC TOYS SUPPLY CHAIN
Authors: OVERBEEK SIETSE , JANSSEN MARIJN , TAN YAO-HUA
Published: March 2013

In global supply chains, a multitude of public and private organizations collaborate to reach the collective goal of transporting goods from the seller to the buyer. Given the dynamicity of global supply chains it is hard to predict which information is needed by whom at which point in time which often causes service delivery delays. Integrating relevant information, processes and services prevents disruptions in the supply chain and deterioration in service provisioning caused by missing information required for processes that need to be executed to supply services. In this paper, an ontology-based, event-driven architecture is designed for integrating information, processes and services that acts as a mechanism to coordinate service delivery in a global supply chain. The architecture is evaluated in the context of a global supply chain of plastic toys. This illustrates how the events facilitated by the architecture enable the availability of information in time which positively influences the delivery of a barge planning service.
Studies of a supramolecular photoelectrochemical cell using magnesium tetraphenylporphyrin as photosensitizer
Authors: Subbaiyan Navaneetha K. , D'Souza Francis
Published: March 2013

Magnesium tetrapyrrole, the natural choice of metal tetrapyrrole in photosynthesis, as a photosensitizer in dye sensitized solar cell applications is performed by constructing solar cells using metal-ligand axial coordination approach on TiO2surface modified with 4-carboxyphenyl imidazole and compared with cells constructed using traditionally used zinc porphyrin as sensitizer. Studies involving optical absorption, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence, and differential pulse voltammetry, suggested that the employed magnesium tetraphenylporphyrin (MgTPP) to be a better photosentizer compared to zinc tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) for dye sensitized solar cell applications under the employed self-assembly conditions. Consequently, the constructed solar cells using MgTPP outperformed the cells constructed using ZnTPP in all aspects. That is, the open circuit potential, short circuit current, fill-factor, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency, and overall efficiency of the solar cell were found to be better for the cells built using MgTPP photosensitizer. In order to further improve the performance of the solar cells, efforts were made to increase the fill-facotor by adding polar acetonitrile to the mediator solvent media made out of dichlorobenzene. Moderate additions of acetonitrile improved the performance of the solar cells. However, the performance of DSSC constructed using pure acetonitrile was poor due to acetonitrile competatively binding to MgTPP instead of imidazolde on the TiO2surface. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies suggested that the significant decrease in the resistance at platinum electrolyte interface facilitating better iodide/iodine mediation and dye regeneration are main contributing factors for this improved cell performance.
IMITATION PROCESSES AND THEIR APPLICATION FOR BUSINESS MODEL INNOVATION: AN EXPLORATIVE STUDY
Authors: ENKEL ELLEN , MEZGER FLORIAN
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the approach of imitation (across industry boundaries) on business models. We analyzed nine case studies of firms that introduced breakthrough business models by transferring and adapting characteristic business model components of other industries. Our results show that companies can facilitate cross-industry innovation on business model level through a process of abstraction, analogy identification and adaptation. Imitation is realized by deconstructing and mapping business model components based on their contribution to abstract, generic elements of the value proposition. We propose a systematic process model for business model innovation analyzing structural similarities between industries on the level of these abstract elements linked to specific other components of the business model. Firms can leverage this process by transformative learning processes, especially provided through a broad industrial and functional experience of members in business model innovation teams.
Digest of ACM educational activities
Authors: Wilson Cameron , McGettrick Andrew , Timanovsky Yan
Published: March 2013

Welcome to the latest installment of "EduBits," your quarterly pipeline to new and exciting happenings in the world of ACM education. In this edition, the ACM Education Board publishes an important white paper on online learning. In addition, Cameron Wilson, Director of ACM's Public Policy Office, offers his perspectives.
Is LINQ in your toolbox?
Authors: Dietrich Suzanne W.
Published: March 2013

LINQ is a query language integrating declarative and functional paradigms within an object-oriented language. LINQ looks a bit like SQL with from, where, and select clauses. However, the execution order of the clauses is different due to its underlying foundation of functional programming. LINQ also provides a unifying paradigm for querying relations, objects, and XML (ROX). This paper provides a brief overview of LINQ by example and discusses its importance from both a historical and a pedagogical perspective.
A first semester freshman project
Authors: Goulding Tom
Published: March 2013

This case study continues our effort to introduce complex systems development projects into the college curriculum at the earliest possible moment. In our previous work, we demonstrated that sophomores were quite capable of developing a complex encryption system in assembly language; we also discussed the success of second semester freshman developing multi-game, client-server casino systems in C#. Our next pedagogical challenge was to determine whether freshman could master the basics of C programming rapidly enough to complete the WWII German Encryption system during their first semester in college. In this article we describe how a project based learning pedagogy, combined with a Socratic-like method, once again led entering freshmen to success.
Comparative Document Summarization via Discriminative Sentence Selection
Authors: Wang Dingding , Zhu Shenghuo , Li Tao , Gong Yihong
Published: March 2013

Given a collection of document groups, a natural question is to identify the differences among these groups. Although traditional document summarization techniques can summarize the content of the document groups one by one, there exists a great necessity to generate a summary of the differences among the document groups. In this article, we study a novel problem of summarizing the differences between document groups. A discriminative sentence selection method is proposed to extract the most discriminative sentences that represent the specific characteristics of each document group. Experiments and case studies on real-world data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
Enhancing user experiences by exploiting energy and launch delay trade-off of mobile multimedia applications
Authors: Chung Yi-Fan , Lo Yin-Tsung , King Chung-Ta
Published: March 2013

Launch delay has been an important factor affecting users' experiences in mobile multimedia applications. To launch applications quickly, modern mobile systems such as Android usually keep inactive applications in the background and manage them through an LRU-based activity stack. Whenever the user wants to run and interact with a background application again, that application can be switched back into the foreground quickly from the activity stack without delay in initializing the applications anew. Since background multimedia applications often continuously consume the battery power of the smart phone, the challenge is to effect a balance between application launch delay and battery lifetime. In this article, we propose innovative application management strategies that terminate “unbeneficial” background applications to save energy and pre-launch “beneficial” applications to improve the application launch delay. The proposed strategies are evaluated through a trace-driven simulation and a real experiment. The results show that the average application launch delay can be reduced by 15% while the average battery lifetime is increased by 18%.
Synchronous programming of device drivers for global resource control in embedded operating systems
Authors: Berthier Nicolas , Maraninchi Florence , Mounier Laurent
Published: March 2013

In embedded systems, controlling a shared resource like a bus, or improving a property like power consumption, may be hard to achieve when programming device drivers individually. In this article, we propose a
global resource control
approach, based on a centralized view of the devices' states. The solution we propose operates on the hardware/software interface. It involves a simple adaptation of the application level, to communicate with the hardware via a
control layer
. The control layer itself is built from a set of simple automata: the device drivers, whose states correspond to functional or power consumption modes, and a controller to enforce global properties. All these automata are programmed using a synchronous language, and compiled into a single piece of C code. We take as example the node of a sensor network. We explain the approach in details, demonstrate its use and benefits with an event-driven or multithreading operating system, and draw guidelines for its use in other contexts.
Sensitivity of cache replacement policies
Authors: Reineke Jan , Grund Daniel
Published: March 2013

The sensitivity of a cache replacement policy expresses to what extent the execution history may influence the number of cache hits and misses during program execution. We present an algorithm to compute the sensitivity of a replacement policy. We have implemented this algorithm in a tool called R
elacs
that can handle a large class of replacement policies including LRU, FIFO, PLRU, and MRU. Sensitivity properties obtained with R
elacs
demonstrate that the execution history can have a strong impact on the number of cache hits and misses if FIFO, PLRU, or MRU is used. A simple model of execution time is used to evaluate the impact of cache sensitivity on measured execution times. The model shows that measured execution times may strongly underestimate the worst-case execution time for FIFO, PLRU, and MRU.
Parallel programming patterns for multi-processor SoC
Authors: Paulin Pierre G. , Özcan Ali Erdem , Gagné Vincent , Lavigueur Bruno , Benny Olivier
Published: March 2013

Efficient, scalable and productive parallel programming is a major challenge for exploiting the future multi-processor SoC platforms. This article presents the
MultiFlex
programming environment which has been developed to address this challenge. It is targeted for use on
Platform 2012
, a scalable multi-processor fabric. The MultiFlex environment supports high-level simulation, iterative platform mapping, and includes tools for programming model aware debug, trace, visualization and analysis.

This article focuses on the two classes of programming abstractions supported in MultiFlex. The first is a set of Parallel Programming Patterns (PPP) which offer a rich set of programming abstractions for implementing efficient data- and task-level parallel applications. The second is a Reactive Task Management (RTM) abstraction, which offers a lightweight C-based API to support dynamic dispatching of small grain tasks on tightly coupled parallel processing resources.

The use of the MultiFlex native programming model is illustrated through the capture and mapping of two representative video applications. The first is a high-quality rescaling (HQR) application on a multi-processor platform. We present the details of the optimization process which was required for mapping the HQR application, for which the reference code requires 350 GIPS (giga instructions per second), onto a 16 processor cluster. Our results show that the parallel implementation using the PPP model offers almost linear acceleration with respect to the number of processing elements.

The second application is a high-definition VC-1 decoder. For this application, we illustrate two different parallel programming model variants, one using PPPs, the other based on RTM. These two versions are mapped onto two variants of a homogeneous version of the Platform 2012 multi-core fabric.
Predictability for timing and temperature in multiprocessor system-on-chip platforms
Authors: Thiele Lothar , Schor Lars , Bacivarov Iuliana , Yang Hoeseok
Published: March 2013

High computational performance in multiprocessor system-on-chips (MPSoCs) is constrained by the ever-increasing power densities in integrated circuits, so that nowadays MPSoCs face various thermal issues. For instance, high chip temperatures may lead to long-term reliability concerns and short-term functional errors. Therefore, the new challenge in designing embedded real-time MPSoCs is to guarantee the final performance and correct function of the system, considering both functional and non-functional properties. One way to achieve this is by ruling out mapping alternatives that do not fulfill requirements on performance or peak temperature already in early design stages. In this article, we propose a thermal-aware optimization framework for mapping real-time applications onto MPSoC platforms. The performance and temperature of mapping candidates are evaluated by formal temporal and thermal analysis models. To this end, analysis models are automatically generated during design space exploration, based on the same specifications as used for software synthesis. The analysis models are automatically calibrated with performance data reflecting the execution of the system on the target platform. The data is automatically obtained prior to design space exploration based on a set of benchmark mappings. Case studies show that the performance and temperature requirements are often conflicting goals and optimizing them together leads to major benefits in terms of a guaranteed and predictable high performance.
Reliable and adaptive network-on-chip architectures for cyber physical systems
Authors: Göhringer Diana , Meder Lukas , Oey Oliver , Becker Jürgen
Published: March 2013

Reliability in embedded systems is crucial for many application domains. Especially, for safety critical application, as they can be found in the automotive and avionic domain, a high reliability has to be ensured. The technology in chip production undergoes a steady shrinking process from nowadays 25 nanometers. It is proven that coming technologies, which are much smaller, can have a higher defect rate after production, but also at runtime. The physical effects at runtime come from a higher susceptibility for radiation. Since the silicon die of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) includes a high amount of physical wiring, the radiation effect plays here a major role. Therefore, this article describes an approach of a reliable Network-on-Chip (NoC) which can be used for an FPGA-based system. The article describes the concept and the physical realization of this NoC and evaluates its reliability.
G9a is transactivated by C/EBPβ to facilitate mitotic clonal expansion during 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation
Authors: Li Shu-Fen , Guo Liang , Qian Shu-Wen , Liu Yuan , Zhang You-You , Zhang Zhi-Chun , Zhao Yue , Shou Jian-Yong , Tang Qi-Qun , Li Xi
Published: March 2013

In 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation, the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-β (C/EBPβ) is an important early transcription factor that activates cell cycle genes during mitotic clonal expansion (MCE), sequentially activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) and C/EBPα during terminal differentiation. Although C/EBPβ acquires its DNA binding activity via dual phosphorylation at about 12–16 h postinduction, the expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα is not induced until 36–72 h. The delayed expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα ensures the progression of MCE, but the mechanism responsible for the delay remains elusive. We provide evidence that G9a, a major euchromatic methyltransferase, is transactivated by C/EBPβ and represses PPARγ and C/EBPα through H3K9 dimethylation of their promoters during MCE. Inhibitor- or siRNA-mediated G9a downregulation modestly enhances PPARγ and C/EBPα expression and adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Conversely, forced expression of G9a impairs the accumulation of triglycerides. Thus, this study elucidates an epigenetic mechanism for the delayed expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα.
Existence of Multiple Positive Periodic Solutions to Two Species Parasitical Model with Impulsive Effects and Harvesting Terms
Authors: Li Zhouhong
Published: March 2013

By applying Mawhin’s continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and some skills of inequalities, we establish the existence of four positive solutions for two species parasitical system with impulsive effects and harvesting terms. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of our results.
The Mann-Type Extragradient Iterative Algorithms with Regularization for Solving Variational Inequality Problems, Split Feasibility, and Fixed Point Problems
Authors: Ceng Lu-Chuan , Gupta Himanshu , Wen Ching-Feng
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and analyze the Mann-type extragradient iterative algorithms with regularization for finding a common element of the solution setΞof a general system of variational inequalities, the solution setΓof a split feasibility problem, and the fixed point setFix(S)of a strictly pseudocontractive mappingSin the setting of the Hilbert spaces. These iterative algorithms are based on the regularization method, the Mann-type iteration method, and the extragradient method due to Nadezhkina and Takahashi (2006). Furthermore, we prove that the sequences generated by the proposed algorithms converge weakly to an element ofFix(S)∩Ξ∩Γunder mild conditions.
A New Fixed Point Theorem and Applications
Authors: Fang Min , Ding Xie Ping
Published: March 2013

A new fixed point theorem is established under the setting of a generalized finitely continuous topological space (GFC-space) without the convexity structure. As applications, a weak KKM theorem and a minimax inequalities of Ky Fan type are also obtained under suitable conditions. Our results are different from known results in the literature.
Respiratory Gating for Radiotherapy: Main Technical Aspects and Clinical Benefits
Authors: Giraud Philippe , Houle Annie
Published: March 2013

Respiratory-gated radiotherapy offers a significant potential for improvement in the irradiation of tumor sites affected by respiratory motion such as lung, breast, and liver tumors. An increased conformality of irradiation fields leading to decreased complication rates of organs at risk is expected. Five main strategies are used to reduce respiratory motion effects: integration of respiratory movements into treatment planning, forced shallow breathing with abdominal compression, breath-hold techniques, respiratory gating techniques, and tracking techniques. Measurements of respiratory movements can be performed either in a representative sample of the general population, or directly on the patient before irradiation. Reduction of breathing motion can be achieved by using either abdominal compression, breath-hold techniques, or respiratory gating techniques. Abdominal compression can be used to reduce diaphragmatic excursions. Breath-hold can be achieved with active techniques, in which airflow of the patient is temporarily blocked by a valve, or passive techniques, in which the patient voluntarily breath-holds. Respiratory gating techniques use external devices to predict the phase of the breathing cycle while the patient breathes freely. Another approach is tumor-tracking technique, which consists of a real-time localization of a constantly moving tumor. This work describes these different strategies and gives an overview of the literature.
Reconstruction Method for Nonconcyclic Dual-Source Circular Cone-Beam CT with a Large Field of View
Authors: Chen Ming , Li Gang , Qi Weiwei , Zou Jing , Zheng Yong-guo
Published: March 2013

In industrial computed tomography (CT), it is often required to inspect large objects whose size is beyond a reconstructed field of view (FOV). Some multiscan modes have been developed to acquire the complete CT projection data for a larger object using small panel detectors. In this paper, we give a non-concyclic dual-source circular cone-beam scanning geometry based on the idea of multiscan modes and propose a backprojection-filtration-based (BPF) reconstruction algorithm without data rebinning. Since the FOV calculated according to this nonconcyclic dual-source circular CT scanning geometry is larger than cardiac dual-source CT scanning geometry, our method can reconstruct larger horizontal slices (i.e., the slices perpendicular to rotation axis) than cardiac dual-source CT. The quality of CT images is expected to be superior to those obtained using larger panel detectors. The simulation results have indicated that CT images obtained by the proposed method are satisfying.
Risk of Infectious Disease Outbreaks by Imported Cases with Application to the European Football Championship 2012
Authors: Dénes Attila , Kevei Péter , Nishiura Hiroshi , Röst Gergely
Published: March 2013

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control called the attention in March 2012 to the risk of measles in Ukraine among visitors to the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship. Large populations of supporters travelled to various locations in Poland and Ukraine, depending on the schedule of Euro 2012 and the outcome of the games, possibly carrying the disease from one location to another. In the present study, we propose a novel two-phase multitype branching process model with immigration to describe the risk of a major epidemic in connection with large-scale sports-related mass gathering events. By analytic means, we calculate the expected number and the variance of imported cases and the probability of a major epidemic caused by the imported cases in their home country. Applying our model to the case study of Euro 2012 we demonstrate that the results of the football games can be highly influential to the risk of measles outbreaks in the home countries of supporters. To prevent imported epidemics, it should be emphasized that vaccinating travellers would most efficiently reduce the risk of epidemic, while requiring the minimum doses of vaccines as compared to other vaccination strategies. Our theoretical framework can be applied to other future sport tournaments too.
-Regular Modules
Authors: Abduldaim Areej M. , Chen Sheng
Published: March 2013

We introduced and studied -regular modules as a generalization of -regular rings to modules as well as regular modules (in the sense of Fieldhouse). An -module is called -regular if for each and , there exist and a positive integer such that . The notion of -pure submodules was introduced to generalize pure submodules and proved that an -module is -regular if and only if every submodule of is -pure iff   is a -regular -module for each maximal ideal of . Many characterizations and properties of -regular modules were given. An -module is -regular iff is a -regular ring for each iff is a -regular ring for finitely generated module . If is a -regular module, then .
Synchronization of Coupled Stochastic Systems Driven byα-Stable Lévy Noises
Authors: Gu Anhui
Published: March 2013

The synchronization of the solutions to coupled stochastic systems ofN-Marcus stochastic ordinary differential equations which are driven byα-stable Lévy noises is investigated(N∈ℕ,1<α<2). We obtain the synchronization between two solutions and among different components of solutions under certain dissipative conditions. The synchronous phenomena persist no matter how large the intensity of the environment noises. These results generalize the work of two Marcus canonical equations in X. M. Liu et al.' s (2010).
Crocin Exhibits Antitumor Effects on Human Leukemia HL-60 Cells In Vitro and In Vivo
Authors: Sun Yan , Xu Hui-Juan , Zhao Yan-Xia , Wang Ling-Zhen , Sun Li-Rong , Wang Zhi , Sun Xiu-Fang
Published: March 2013

Crocin is a carotenoid of the saffron extract that exhibits antitumor activity against many human tumors. However, the effects of crocin on HL-60 cells in vivo have not been evaluated. This study aimed to examine the effects of crocin on HL-60 cells in vitro and in vivo and investigate the underlying mechanisms. HL-60 cells were treated by crocin, and cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle profiles were examined by MTT assay, AO/EB staining, and flow cytometry, respectively. Furthermore, HL-60 cells were xenografted into nude mice and treated by crocin, the tumor weight and size were calculated, and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in xenografts was detected by immunohistochemical staining. The results showed that crocin (0.625–5 mg/mL) inhibited HL-60 cell proliferation and induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, in a concentration and time-dependent manner. In addition, crocin (6.25, 25 mg/kg) inhibited the tumor weight and size of HL-60 xenografts in nude mice, inhibited Bcl-2 expression, and increased Bax expression in xenografts. In summary, crocin inhibits the proliferation and tumorigenicity of HL-60 cells, which may be mediated by the induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest and the regulation of Bcl-2 and Bax expression.
Active Student Participation May Enhance Patient Centeredness: Patients' Assessments of the Clinical Education Ward for Integrative Medicine
Authors: Scheffer Christian , Tauschel Diethard , Neumann Melanie , Lutz Gabriele , Valk-Draad Maria , Edelhäuser Friedrich
Published: March 2013

Objectives. To examine the impact of active student participation on quality of care in an integrative inpatient setting.Methods. Over a two-year period, we surveyed all patients treated on the Clinical Education Ward for Integrative Medicine (CEWIM), where final-year medical students are integrated into an internal medicine ward complementing conventional medicine with anthroposophic medicine. Patients treated on the regular wards of the same internal medicine department served as the control group (CG). General quality of care was studied with the Picker Inpatient Questionnaire, physician empathy with the Consultation and Relational Empathy measure, and patient enablement with the Patient Enablement Index. ANCOVA was used to control for covariates while examining significant differences between both patient groups.Results. Comparison of the CG wards and the CEWIM revealed no significant differences in medical treatment success. The CEWIM, however, achieved better results for physician-patient interaction, physician empathy, and patient enablement. Eighty Percent of the CEWIM patients rated student participation as positively impacting quality of care.Conclusion. Our results indicate that incorporating students in an integrative healthcare setting may result in greater patient centeredness. Further studies are needed to determine whether this is due to organizational advantages, students' empathic activity, the impact of teaching, or learner-teacher interaction.
Changes in Primary School Children's Behaviour, Knowledge, Attitudes, and Environments Related to Nutrition and Physical Activity
Authors: Magarey Anthea Margaret , Pettman Tahna Lee , Wilson Annabelle , Mastersson Nadia
Published: March 2013

Rigorous evaluation of large-scale community-based obesity interventions can provide important guidance to policy and decision makers. The eat well be active (ewba) Community Programs, a five-year multilevel, multistrategy community-based obesity intervention targeting children in a range of settings, was delivered in two communities. A comprehensive mixed-methods evaluation using a quasiexperimental design with nonmatched comparison communities was undertaken. This paper describes the changes in primary school children's attitudes, behaviours, knowledge, and environments associated with healthy eating and physical activity, based on data from six questionnaires completed pre- and postintervention by students, parents, and school representatives. As self-reported by students in years from five to seven there were few significant improvements over time in healthy eating and physical activity behaviours, attitudes, knowledge, and perceived environments, and there were few changes in the home environment (parent report). Overall there were considerably more improvements in intervention compared with comparison schools affecting all environmental areas, namely, policy, physical, financial, and sociocultural, in addition to improvements in teacher skill and knowledge. These improvements in children's learning environments are important and likely to be sustainable as they reflect a change of school culture. More sensitive evaluation tools may detect behaviour changes.
Using Extension Theory to Design a Low-Cost and High-Accurate Personal Recognition System
Authors: Wang Meng-Hui , Chen Po-Yuan
Published: March 2013

With the advancement in information technology, personal recognition systems have attracted wide attention. With more options of the recognition systems, the recognition rate and price become very important. This paper used palmprint with the extension method to design a low-cost personal recognition system. First, this paper uses a low-cost webcam to capture the image of palmprints, here the length, slop, and distance of principal line of palmprints can be captured by the image process method. Generally, the devices for capturing hand images should have higher-resolution, so their prices are higher. This paper used a low-pixel and low-cost webcam as the capturer, and it had also a high recognition rate that is equivalent in high resolution devices. The recognition algorithm of this study used extension algorithm for hand recognition and was compared with other traditional algorithms and recognition systems. Finally, the experimental results showed that the method proposed in this study has higher recognition rate than traditional algorithms and proved that low-resolution and low-cost capture tools have a high recognition rate as well.
An RBF Neural Network Combined with OLS Algorithm and Genetic Algorithm for Short-Term Wind Power Forecasting
Authors: Chang Wen-Yeau
Published: March 2013

An accurate forecasting method for power generation of the wind energy conversion system (WECS) is urgently needed under the relevant issues associated with the high penetration of wind power in the electricity system. This paper proposes a hybrid method that combines orthogonal least squares (OLS) algorithm and genetic algorithm (GA) to construct the radial basis function (RBF) neural network for short-term wind power forecasting. The RBF neural network is composed of three-layer structures, which contain the input, hidden, and output layers. The OLS algorithm is used to determine the optimal number of nodes in a hidden layer of RBF neural network. With an appropriate RBF neural network structure, the GA is then used to tune the parameters in the network, including the centers and widths of RBF and the connection weights in second stage. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, the method is tested on the practical information of wind power generation of a WECS installed in Taichung coast of Taiwan. Comparisons of forecasting performance are made to the persistence method and back propagation neural network. The good agreements between the realistic values and forecasting values are obtained; the test results show the proposed forecasting method is accurate and reliable.
Effects of Increasing Diffusive Sodium Removal on Blood Pressure Control in Hemodialysis Patients with Optimal Dry Weight
Authors: Zhou Yi-Lun , Liu Jing , Ma Li-Jie , Sun Fang , Shen Yang , Huang Jing , Cui Tai-Gen
Published: March 2013

Background: Sodium, apart from volume, may have an independent effect on blood pressure (BP) regulation. Methods: Sixteen hypertensive hemodialysis patients were enrolled, who have achieved their dry weight assessed by bioimpedance methods, with pre-dialysis plasma sodium levels slightly higher than the facility dialysate sodium concentration 138 mmol/l. After a 1-month period of dialysis with standard dialysate sodium concentration of 138 mmol/l, the patients were followed up for a 4-month period with dialysate sodium set at 136 mmol/l. Results: Along with lowering dialysate sodium, there were significant decreases (-10 mm Hg and -6 mm Hg) in 44-hour ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP at 4 months. Interdialytic weight gain adjusted to the estimated dry weight mildly but significantly decreased (4.81 ± 1.51 vs. 4.36 ± 1.37%, p = 0.047). The post-dialysis volume parameters remained constant throughout the study period. Conclusion: In selected hypertensive hemodialysis patients with optimal dry weight, increasing diffusive sodium removal resulted in significant BP decrease. It was probably due to a volume-independent effect.
A Novel Role for c-Myc in G Protein–Coupled Receptor Kinase 4 (GRK4) Transcriptional Regulation in Human Kidney Proximal Tubule Cells
Authors: Gildea John J. , Tran Hanh T. , Van Sciver Robert E. , Bigler Wang Dora , Carlson Julia M. , Felder Robin A.
Published: March 2013

The G protein–coupled receptor kinase 4 (GRK4) negatively regulates the dopaminergic system by desensitizing the dopamine-1-receptor. The expressional control of GRK4 has not been reported, but here we show that the transcription factor c-Myc binds to the promoter of GRK4 and positively regulates GRK4 protein expression in human renal proximal tubule cells (RPTCs). Addition of phorbol esters to RPTCs not only increased c-Myc binding to the GRK4 promoter but also increased both phospho-c-Myc and GRK4 expression. The phorbol ester–mediated increase in GRK4 expression was completely blocked by the c-Myc inhibitor, 10074-G5, indicating that GRK4 is downstream of phospho-c-Myc. The autocrine production of angiotensin II (Ang II) in RPTCs increased the phosphorylation and activation of c-Myc and subsequently GRK4 expression. 3-Amino-4-thio-butyl sulfonate, an inhibitor of aminopeptidase A, increased RPTC secretion of Ang II. 3-Amino-4-thio-butyl sulfonate or Ang II increased the expression of both phospho-c-Myc and GRK4, which was blocked by 10074-G5. Blockade of the Ang II type 1 receptor with losartan decreased phospho-c-Myc and GRK4 expression. Both inhibition of c-Myc activity and blockade of Ang II type 1 receptor restored the coupling of dopamine-1-receptor to adenylyl cyclase stimulation in uncoupled RPTCs, whereas phorbol esters or Ang II caused the uncoupling of normally coupled RPTCs. We suggest that the Ang II type 1 receptor impairs dopamine-1-receptor function via c-Myc activation of GRK4. This novel pathway may be involved in the increase in blood pressure in hypertension that is mediated by increased activity of the renin–angiotensin system and decreased activity of the renal dopaminergic system.