bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
LIFTING HAMILTONIAN LOOPS TO ISOTOPIES IN FIBRATIONS
Authors: VIÑA ANDRÉS
Published: June 2013

Let G be a Lie group, H a closed subgroup and M the homogeneous space G/H. Each representation Ψ of H determines a G-equivariant principal bundle [Formula: see text] on M endowed with a G-invariant connection. We consider subgroups [Formula: see text] of the diffeomorphism group Diff (M), such that, each vector field [Formula: see text] admits a lift to a preserving connection vector field on [Formula: see text]. We prove that [Formula: see text]. This relation is applicable to subgroups [Formula: see text] of the Hamiltonian groups of the flag varieties of a semisimple group G. Let MΔbe the toric manifold determined by the Delzant polytope Δ. We put φbfor the loop in the Hamiltonian group of MΔdefined by the lattice vector b. We give a sufficient condition, in terms of the mass center of Δ, for the loops φband [Formula: see text] to be homotopically inequivalent.
ON THE PAIRWISE COMPATIBILITY PROPERTY OF SOME SUPERCLASSES OF THRESHOLD GRAPHS
Authors: CALAMONERI TIZIANA , PETRESCHI ROSSELLA , SINAIMERI BLERINA
Published: June 2013

A graph G is called a pairwise compatibility graph (PCG) if there exists a positive edge weighted tree T and two non-negative real numbers d min and d max such that each leaf lu of T corresponds to a node u ∈ V and there is an edge (u, v) ∈ E if and only if d min ≤ dT (lu, lv) ≤ d max , where dT (lu, lv) is the sum of the weights of the edges on the unique path from lu to lv in T. In this paper we study the relations between the pairwise compatibility property and superclasses of threshold graphs, i.e., graphs where the neighborhoods of any couple of nodes either coincide or are included one into the other. Namely, we prove that some of these superclasses belong to the PCG class. Moreover, we tackle the problem of characterizing the class of graphs that are PCGs of a star, deducing that also these graphs are a generalization of threshold graphs.
COMPARING AND AGGREGATING PARTIAL ORDERS WITH KENDALL TAU DISTANCES
Authors: BRANDENBURG FRANZ J. , GLEIßNER ANDREAS , HOFMEIER ANDREAS
Published: June 2013

Comparing and ranking information is an important topic in social and information sciences, and in particular on the web. Its objective is to measure the difference of the preferences of voters on a set of candidates and to compute a consensus ranking. Commonly, each voter provides a total order or a bucket order of all candidates, where bucket orders allow ties.

In this work we consider the generalization of total and bucket orders to partial orders and compare them by the nearest neighbor and the Hausdorff Kendall tau distances. For total and bucket orders these distances can be computed in [Formula: see text] time. We show that the computation of the nearest neighbor Kendall tau distance is NP-hard, 2-approximable and fixed-parameter tractable for a total and a partial order. The computation of the Hausdorff Kendall tau distance for a total and a partial order is shown to be coNP-hard.

The rank aggregation problem is known to be NP-complete for total and bucket orders, even for four voters and solvable in [Formula: see text] time for two voters. We show that it is NP-complete for two partial orders and the nearest neighbor Kendall tau distance. For the Hausdorff Kendall tau distance it is in [Formula: see text], but not in NP or coNP unless NP = coNP, even for four voters.
FAT HEAPS WITHOUT REGULAR COUNTERS
Authors: ELMASRY AMR , KATAJAINEN JYRKI
Published: June 2013

We introduce a variant of fat heaps that does not rely on regular counters, and still achieves the optimal worst-case bounds: O(1) for find-min, insert and decrease, and O( log n) for delete and delete-min. Compared to the original, our variant is simpler to explain, more efficient, and easier to implement. Experimental results suggest that our implementation is superior to structures, like run-relaxed heaps, that achieve the same worst-case bounds, and competitive to structures, like Fibonacci heaps, that achieve the same bounds in the amortized sense.
A COMPONENT-BASED MODELING AND SIMULATION SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENT
Authors: DA TENG , XIAO SONG
Published: June 2013

Simulation modelers, engineers and managers are faced with new challenges at large-scale complex simulation application development. To reduce the difficulty of developing such simulation applications, the simulation environment is required to be extensible, reusable and composable. In order to promote the reusability from coarse-grained federate to fine-grained components, this paper proposes a modeling and simulation environment which consists of component-based architecture, modeling methods, and simulation services to support and simplify the process of complex simulation application construction. Moreover, a standard process and simulation tools are developed to ensure the rapid and effective development of simulation applications.
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF HIGH-INDEX DAE FOR PROCESS SIMULATION
Authors: QIN XIAOLIN , WU WENYUAN , FENG YONG , REID GREG
Published: June 2013

This paper deals with the structural analysis problem of dynamic lumped process high-index differential algebraic equations (DAE) models. The existing graph theoretical method depends on the change in the relative position of underspecified and overspecified subgraphs and has an effect to the value of the differential index for complex models. In this paper, we consider two methods for index reduction of such models by differentiation: Pryce's method and the symbolic differential elimination algorithm rifsimp. They can remedy the above drawbacks. Discussion and comparison of these methods are given via a class of fundamental process simulation examples. In particular, the efficiency of Pryce's method is illustrated as a function of the number of tanks in process design. Moreover, a range of nontrivial problems are demonstrated by the symbolic differential elimination algorithm and fast prolongation.
Quantitative analysis of parameters' influence on the stability of coal roadway clamped by upper and lower soft rock with extra thickness
Authors: Zhao Zenghui , Wang Weiming , Yan Jixing
Published: June 2013

In this paper, a physical model of coal roadway which is clamped by upper and lower soft rock with extra thickness was built according to the characteristics of soft rock strata in china's western mining area. Then, a series of orthogonal numerical experiments were carried out by selecting the strength and stiffness parameters of soft rock and coal seam as well as the in situ stress of soft rock strata as experimental factors and roadway displacements (convergence displacements of sides, displacement of roof to floor) as experimental indexes. By constructing the F statistics with different inspection levels, evaluation method for influence of the experimental factors on stability indexes were defined. Thus, influence degrees of specified parameters on the stability of roadway were divided into five classes as follows: highly significant influence, significant influence, relatively significant influence, little significant influence, and no influence respectively which realize the quantitative analysis of the influence degrees of experimental factors. The finite element calculation results showed that main failure mode of coal roadway that usually showed as tension failure of coal seam in roof and deformation factors of coal seam had the most remarkable effect on roadway displacements. The conclusions provide theoretical basis for further analysis of the mechanism of "roof burst" in roadway maintenance.
Parallelization of Lattice Boltzmann method using MPI domain decomposition technology for a drop impact on a wetted solid wall
Authors: Shang Zhi , Cheng Ming , Lou Jing
Published: June 2013

Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is a new attractive computational approach for simulating isothermal multi-phase flows in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). It is based on the kinetic theory and easy to be parallelized. This study aims to analyze the performance of parallel LBM programming for the incompressible two-phase flows at high density and viscosity ratio. For this purpose, a liquid drop impact on a wetted wall with a pre-existing thin film of the same liquid is simulated by using the parallel LBM code. During the simulations, the domain decomposition, data communication and parallelization of the LBM code using the message passing interface (MPI) library have been investigated. The computational results show that the parallel LBM code exhibits a good high performance computing (HPC) on the parallel speed-up.
An Almost Optimal Unrestricted Fast Johnson-Lindenstrauss Transform
Authors: Ailon Nir , Liberty Edo
Published: June 2013

The problems of random projections and sparse reconstruction have much in common and individually received much attention. Surprisingly, until now they progressed in parallel and remained mostly separate. Here, we employ new tools from probability in Banach spaces that were successfully used in the context of sparse reconstruction to advance on an open problem in random pojection. In particular, we generalize and use an intricate result by Rudelson and Veshynin [2008] for sparse reconstruction which uses Dudley’s theorem for bounding Gaussian processes. Our main result states that any set of
N
= exp(
Õ
(
n
)) real vectors in
n
dimensional space can be linearly mapped to a space of dimension
k
=
O
(log
N
polylog(
n
)), while (1) preserving the pairwise distances among the vectors to within any constant distortion and (2) being able to apply the transformation in time
O
(
n
log
n
) on each vector. This improves on the best known bound
N
= exp(
Õ
(
n
1/2
)) achieved by Ailon and Liberty [2009] and
N
= exp(
Õ
(
n
1/3
)) by Ailon and Chazelle [2010]. The dependence in the distortion constant however is suboptimal, and since the publication of an early version of the work, the gap between upper and lower bounds has been considerably tightened obtained by Krahmer and Ward [2011]. For constant distortion, this settles the open question posed by these authors up to a polylog(
n
) factor while considerably simplifying their constructions.
Optimal Pattern Matching in LZW Compressed Strings
Authors: Gawrychowski Paweł
Published: June 2013

We consider the following variant of the classical pattern matching problem: given an uncompressed pattern
p
[1..
m
] and a compressed representation of a string
t
[1..
N
], does
p
occur in
t
? When
t
is compressed using the LZW method, we are able to detect the occurrence in optimal linear time, thus answering a question of Amir et al. [1994]. Previous results implied solutions with complexities
O
(
n
log
m
+
m
) Amir et al. [1994],
O
(
n
+
m
1+ε
) [Kosaraju 1995], or (randomized)
O
(
n
log
Nn
+
m
) [Farach and Thorup 1995], where
n
is the size of the compressed representation of
t
. Our algorithm is conceptually simple and fully deterministic.
Improved Deterministic Algorithms for Decremental Reachability and Strongly Connected Components
Authors: Łącki Jakub
Published: June 2013

This article presents a new deterministic algorithm for decremental maintenance of the transitive closure in a directed graph. The algorithm processes any sequence of edge deletions in
O
(
mn
) time and answers queries in constant time. Previously, such time bound has only been achieved by a randomized Las Vegas algorithm. In addition to that, a few decremental algorithms for maintaining strongly connected components are shown, whose time complexity is
O
(
n
1.5
) for planar graphs,
O
(
n
log
n
) for graphs with bounded treewidth and
O
(
mn
) for general digraphs.
The Naming of Hosts is a Difficult Matter
Authors: Neville-Neil George
Published: June 2013

The naming of hosts is a difficult matter that ranks with coding style, editor choice, and language preference in the pantheon of things computer people fight about that don’t matter to anyone else in the whole world.
ACE
Authors: Wang Di , Ren Chuangang , Govindan Sriram , Sivasubramaniam Anand , Urgaonkar Bhuvan , Kansal Aman , Vaid Kushagra
Published: June 2013

Peak power management of datacenters has tremendous cost implications. While numerous mechanisms have been proposed to cap power consumption, real datacenter power consumption data is scarce. To address this gap, we collect power demands at multiple spatial and fine-grained temporal resolutions from the load of geo-distributed datacenters of Microsoft over 6 months. We conduct aggregate analysis of this data, to study its statistical properties. With workload characterization a key ingredient for systems design and evaluation, we note the importance of better abstractions for capturing power demands, in the form of peaks and valleys. We identify and characterize attributes for peaks and valleys, and important correlations across these attributes that can influence the choice and effectiveness of different power capping techniques. With the wide scope of exploitability of such characteristics for power provisioning and optimizations, we illustrate its benefits with two specific case studies.
Stable and scalable universal swarms
Authors: Zhu Ji , Ioannidis Stratis , Hegde Nidhi , Massoulie Laurent
Published: June 2013

Hajek and Zhu recently showed that the BitTorrent protocol can become unstable when peers depart immediately after downloading all pieces of a file. In light of this result, Zhou
et al.
propose bundling swarms together, allowing peers to exchange pieces across different swarms, and claim that such "universal swarms" can increase BitTorrent's stability region. In this work, we formally characterize the stability region of universal swarms and show that they indeed exhibit excellent stability properties. In particular, bundling allows a single seed with limited upload capacity to serve an arbitrary number of disjoint swarms if the arrival rate of peers in each swarm is lower than the seed upload capacity. Our result also shows that the stability region is insensitive to peers' upload capacity, piece selection policies and number of swarms.
Trap array
Authors: Tan Guang , Yin Zhimeng , Jiang Hongbo
Published: June 2013

Scalable routing for large-scale wireless networks needs to find near shortest paths with low state on each node, preferably sub-linear with the network size. Two approaches are considered promising toward this goal: compact routing and geometric routing (geo-routing). To date the two lines of research have been largely independent, perhaps because of the distinct principles they follow. In particular, it remains unclear how they compare with each other in the worst case, despite extensive experimental results showing the superiority of one or another in particular cases. We develop a novel Trap Array topology model that provides a unified framework to uncover the limiting behavior of ten representative geo-routing algorithms. We present a series of new theoretical results, in comparison with the performance of compact routing as a baseline. In light of their pros and cons, we further design a Compact Geometric Routing (CGR) algorithm that attempts to leverage the benefits of both approaches. Theoretic analysis and simulations show the advantages of the topology model and the algorithm.
Scheduling of users with markovian time-varying transmission rates
Authors: Cecchi Fabio , Jacko Peter
Published: June 2013

We address the problem of developing a well-performing and implementable scheduler of users with wireless connection to the base station. The main feature of such real-life systems is that the quality conditions of the user channels are time-varying, which turn into the time-varying transmission rate due to different modulation and coding schemes. We assume that this phenomenon follows a Markovian law and most of the discussion is dedicated to the case of three quality conditions of each user, for which we characterize an optimal index policy and show that threshold policies (of giving higher priority to users with higher transmission rate) are not necessarily optimal. For the general case of arbitrary number of quality conditions we design a scheduler and propose its two practical approximations, and illustrate the performance of the proposed index-based schedulers and existing alternatives in a variety of simulation scenarios.
Online energy generation scheduling for microgrids with intermittent energy sources and co-generation
Authors: Lu Lian , Tu Jinlong , Chau Chi-Kin , Chen Minghua , Lin Xiaojun
Published: June 2013

Microgrids represent an emerging paradigm of future electric power systems that can utilize both distributed and centralized generations. Two recent trends in microgrids are the integration of local renewable energy sources (such as wind farms) and the use of co-generation (
i.e.,
to supply both electricity and heat). However, these trends also bring unprecedented challenges to the design of intelligent control strategies for microgrids. Traditional generation scheduling paradigms rely on perfect prediction of future electricity supply and demand. They are no longer applicable to microgrids with unpredictable renewable energy supply and with co-generation (that needs to consider both electricity and heat demand). In this paper, we study online algorithms for the microgrid generation scheduling problem with intermittent renewable energy sources and co-generation, with the goal of maximizing the cost-savings with local generation. Based on the insights from the structure of the offline optimal solution, we propose a class of competitive online algorithms, called CHASE (Competitive Heuristic Algorithm for Scheduling Energy-generation), that track the offline optimal in an online fashion. Under typical settings, we show that CHASE achieves the best competitive ratio among all deterministic online algorithms, and the ratio is no larger than a small constant 3. We also extend our algorithms to intelligently leverage on
limited prediction
of the future, such as near-term demand or wind forecast. By extensive empirical evaluations using real-world traces, we show that our proposed algorithms can achieve near offline-optimal performance. In a representative scenario, CHASE leads to around 20% cost reduction with no future look-ahead, and the cost reduction increases with the future look-ahead window.
High-throughput low-latency fine-grained disk logging
Authors: Simha Dilip Nijagal , Chiueh Tzi-cker , Rajagopalan Ganesh Karuppur , Bose Pallav
Published: June 2013

Synchronously logging updates to persistent storage first and then asynchronously committing these updates to their rightful storage locations is a well-known and heavily used technique to improve the sustained throughput of write-intensive disk-based data processing systems, whose latency and throughput accordingly are largely determined by the latency and throughput of the underlying logging mechanism. The conventional wisdom is that logging operations are relatively straightforward to optimize because the associated disk access pattern is largely sequential. However, it turns out that to achieve both high throughput and low latency for fine-grained logging operations, whose payload size is smaller than a disk sector, is extremely challenging. This paper describes the experiences and lessons we have gained from building a disk logging system that can successfully deliver over 1.2 million 256-byte logging operations per second, with the average logging latency below 1 msec.
Sustainability of service provisioning systems under attack
Authors: Paschos Georgios S. , Tassiulas Leandros
Published: June 2013

We propose a resource allocation model that captures the interaction between legitimate users of a distributed service provisioning system with malicious intruders attempting to disrupt its operation. The system consists of a bank of servers providing service to incoming requests. Malicious intruders generate fake traffic to the servers attempting to degrade service provisioning. Legitimate traffic may be balanced using available mechanisms in order to mitigate the damage from the attack. We characterize the guaranteed region, i.e. the set of legitimate traffic intensities that are sustainable given specific intensities of the fake traffic, under the assumption that the fake traffic is routed using static policies. This assumption will be relaxed, allowing arbitrary routing policies, in the full version of this work.
An empirical analysis of intra- and inter-datacenter network failures for geo-distributed services
Authors: Potharaju Rahul , Jain Navendu
Published: June 2013

As cloud services continue to grow, a key requirement is delivering an 'always-on' experience to end users. Of the several factors affecting service availability, network failures in the hosting datacenters have received little attention. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of intra-datacenter and inter-datacenter network failures from a service perspective. We describe an empirical study analyzing and correlating network failure events over an year across multiple datacenters in a service provider. Our broader goal is to outline steps leveraging existing network mechanisms to improve end-to-end service availability.
Data center asset tracking using a mobile robot
Authors: Nelson John C. , Connell Jonathan , Isci Canturk , Lenchner Jonathan
Published: June 2013

Management and monitoring of data centers is a growing field of interest, with much current research, and the emergence of a variety of commercial products aiming to improve performance, resource utilization and energy efficiency of the computing infrastructure. Despite the large body of work on optimizing data center operations, few studies actually focus on discovering and tracking the physical layout of assets in these centers. Such asset tracking is a prerequisite to faithfully performing administration and any form of optimization that relies on physical layout characteristics.

In this work, we describe an approach to completely automated asset tracking in data centers, employing a vision-based mobile robot in conjunction with an ability to manipulate the indicator LEDs in blade centers and storage arrays. Unlike previous large-scale asset-tracking methods, our approach does not require the tagging of assets (e.g., with RFID tags or barcodes), thus saving considerable expense and human labor. The approach is validated through a series of experiments in a production industrial data center.
Profiling and analyzing the I/O performance of NoSQL DBs
Authors: Schindler Jiri
Published: June 2013

The advent of the so-called NoSQL databases has brought about a new model of using storage systems. While traditional relational database systems took advantage of features offered by centrally-managed, enterprise-class storage arrays, the new generation of database systems with weaker data consistency models is content with using and manag- ing locally attached individual storage devices and providing data reliability and availability through high-level software features and protocols. This tutorial aims to review the architecture of selected NoSQL DBs to lay the foundations for understanding how these new DB systems behave. In particular, it focuses on how (in)efficiently these new systems use I/O and other resources to accomplish their work. The tutorial examines the behavior of several NoSQL DBs with an emphasis on Cassandra - a popular NoSQL DB system. It uses I/O traces and resource utilization profiles captured in private cloud deployments that use both dedicated directly attached storage as well as shared networked storage.
Characterization of a cellular denitrase activity that reverses nitration of cyclooxygenase
Authors: Deeb Ruba S. , Nuriel Tal , Cheung Cynthia , Summers Barbara , Lamon Brian D. , Gross Steven S. , Hajjar David P.
Published: June 2013

Protein 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) formation is frequently regarded as a simple biomarker of disease, an irreversible posttranslational modification that can disrupt protein structure and function. Nevertheless, evidence that protein 3-NT modifications may be site selective and reversible, thus allowing for physiological regulation of protein activity, has begun to emerge. We have previously reported that cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 undergoes heme-dependent nitration of Tyr385, an internal and catalytically essential residue. In the present study, we demonstrate that nitrated COX-1 undergoes a rapid reversal of nitration by substrate-selective and biologically regulated denitrase activity. Using nitrated COX-1 as a substrate, denitrase activity was validated and quantified by analytic HPLC with electrochemical detection and determined to be constitutively active in murine and human endothelial cells, macrophages, and a variety of tissue samples. Smooth muscle cells, however, contained little denitrase activity. Further characterizing this denitrase activity, we found that it was inhibited by free 3-NT and may be enhanced by endogenous nitric oxide and exogenously administered carbon monoxide. Finally, we describe a purification protocol that results in significant enrichment of a discrete denitrase-containing fraction, which maintains activity throughout the purification process. These findings reveal that nitrated COX-1 is a substrate for a denitrase in cells and tissues, implying that the reciprocal processes of nitration and denitration may modulate bioactive lipid synthesis in the setting of inflammation. In addition, our data reveal that denitration is a controlled process that may have broad importance for regulating cell signaling events in nitric oxide-generating systems during oxidative/nitrosative stress.
On Symmetric Left Bi-Derivations inBCI-Algebras
Authors: Muhiuddin G. , Al-roqi Abdullah M. , Jun Young Bae , Ceven Yilmaz
Published: June 2013

The notion ofsymmetric left bi-derivationof aBCI-algebraXis introduced, and related properties are investigated. Some results on componentwise regular andd-regularsymmetric left bi-derivationsare obtained. Finally, characterizations of ap-semisimpleBCI-algebra are explored, and it is proved that, in ap-semisimpleBCI-algebra,Fis asymmetric left bi-derivationif and only if it is asymmetric bi-derivation.
An Extension of Modular Sequence Spaces
Authors: Dutta Hemen , Jebril Iqbal H.
Published: June 2013

The main aim of this paper is to present an extension of the modular sequence spaces by means of Cesàro mean of order one, to investigate several relevant algebraic and topological properties, and derive some other spaces in the sequel.
A TDMA Scheme for Mobile Sensor Networks
Authors: Abdullah-Al-Wadud M.
Published: June 2013

We propose a TDMA-based protocol for mobile sensor networks. The proposed protocol overcomes the shortcomings of the other available TDMA-based protocols in a dynamic network where the cluster membership may change frequently. Unlike other existing TDMA-based protocols, we propose to vary the number of timeslots in the TDMA frame to allow underutilization of unused slots and successful allocation of timeslots to the newly joined sensors through minimizing collisions. The approach is fully decentralized and efficient to be used by the cluster head (leader) and the sensor nodes in a cluster. Simulations also show that the proposed mechanism provides significant performance improvements compared to the other existing approaches in terms of different network performance metrics.
The Dormancy Dilemma: Quiescence versus Balanced Proliferation
Authors: Wells Alan , Griffith Linda , Wells Jakob Z. , Taylor Donald P.
Published: June 2013

Metastatic dissemination with subsequent clinical outgrowth leads to the greatest part of morbidity and mortality from most solid tumors. Even more daunting is that many of these metastatic deposits silently lie undetected, recurring years to decades after primary tumor extirpation by surgery or radiation (termed metastatic dormancy). As primary tumors are frequently curable, a critical focus now turns to preventing the lethal emergence from metastatic dormancy. Current carcinoma treatments include adjuvant therapy intended to kill the cryptic metastatic tumor cells. Because such standard therapies mainly kill cycling cells, this approach carries an implicit assumption that metastatic cells are in the mitogenic cycle. Thus, the pivotal question arises as to whether clinically occult micrometastases survive in a state of balanced proliferation and death, or whether these cells undergo at least long periods of quiescence marked by cell-cycle arrest. The treatment implications are thus obvious—if the carcinoma cells are cycling then therapies should target cycling cells, whereas if cells are quiescent then therapies should either maintain dormancy or be toxic to dormant cells. Because this distinction is paramount to rational therapeutic development and administration, we investigated whether quiescence or balanced proliferation is the most likely etiology underlying metastatic dormancy. We recently published a computer simulation study that determined that balanced proliferation is not the likely driving force and that quiescence most likely participates in metastatic dormancy. As such, a greater emphasis on developing diagnostics and therapeutics for quiescent carcinomas is needed. Cancer Res; 73(13); 3811–6. ©2013 AACR.
Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Using High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Ferrandis-Cortes Cristina , Martínez-Jabaloyas José M. , Díez-Calzadilla Nelson A. , Hernández-Medina José A. , Chuan-Nuez Pascual
Published: June 2013

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is associated with cardiovascular events. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a cardiovascular risk marker. The aim of this study is to determine whether hsCRP is useful in evaluating ED. Methods: In 121 patients with ED, age, ED type and severity, time since onset of ED, weight, height, BMI, body fat percentage, waist and hip circumference, hsCRP and hormone profile were studied. Patients were classified as low or moderate-high cardiovascular risk based on hsCRP levels. A descriptive and univariate study was performed. A logistic regression was used to establish factors associated with low versus moderate-high cardiovascular risk and hsCRP. Results: Most patients had moderate-severe ED (70%). 74% had a moderate-high cardiovascular risk based on hsCRP levels, and 33.9 and 34.7% had hypogonadism according to total (TT) and free testosterone. In the univariate analysis, a relationship between hsCRP and TT and physical examination variables was observed (p < 0.05). In the multivariate analysis, TT was found to be a predictor (OR: 0.676; 95% CI: 0.491-0.029). Higher cardiovascular risk was found in the hypogonadic group (OR: 5.51; 95% CI: 1.185-25.662) and waist- to-hip ratio (p = 0.008; OR: 1.361; 95% CI: 1.075-1.612). Conclusions: A majority of patients with ED have high cardiovascular risk based on hsCRP levels and there is an association with hypogonadism and obesity.
Incidence and Main Determinants of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy following Coronary Angiography or Subsequent Balloon Angioplasty
Authors: Nough Hossein , Eghbal Fatemeh , Soltani Mohammadhossein , Nejafi Farzaneh , Falahzadeh Hossein , Fazel Habib , Sheikhvatan Mehrdad
Published: June 2013

Background/Aims: Patient assessment by imaging studies using contrast media is currently replacing open procedures, especially in high-risk patients. However, the use of such contrast media might result in acute events and injuries after the procedure. In the present study, we first determined the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in a sample of Iranian patients who candidated for coronary angiography and/or angioplasty, and then assessed major risk factors predicting the appearance of CIN following these procedures. Methods: Two hundred and fifty consecutive, eligible patients scheduled for coronary angiography and/or angioplasty at the Afshar Hospital in Yazd between January 2009 and August 2010 were considered for enrollment. Renal function was measured at baseline and 48 h after the intervention, and CIN was defined by an increase in creatinine of >0.5 mg/dl or 25% of the initial value. The predictive role of potential risk factors was determined in a multivariate model adjusted for comorbidities, preexisting renal impairment, and angiographic data. Results: CIN following coronary angiography or angioplasty appeared in 12.8% of the cases. A myocardial infarction before the procedure (OR = 2.121, p = 0.036) and a prior history of hypertension (OR = 2.789, p = 0.025) predicted the appearance of acute renal failure following angiography or subsequent angioplasty. A low estimated glomerular filtration rate at baseline slightly predicted CIN after these interventions. Conclusion: Transient acute renal dysfunction occurred in 12.8% of the patients within 48 h after angiography or subsequent angioplasty and could be predicted by a myocardial infarction before the procedure or by a prior history of systolic hypertension.
The Novel Angiotensin II Receptor Blocker Azilsartan Medoxomil Ameliorates Insulin Resistance Induced by Chronic Angiotensin II Treatment in Rat Skeletal Muscle
Authors: Lastra Guido , Santos Fernando R. , Hooshmand Payam , Hooshmand Paria , Mugerfeld Irina , Aroor Annayya R. , DeMarco Vincent G. , Sowers James R. , Henriksen Erik J.
Published: June 2013

Angiotensin receptor (type 1) blockers (ARBs) can reduce both hypertension and insulin resistance induced by local and systemic activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. The effectiveness of azilsartan medoxomil (AZIL-M), a novel imidazole-based ARB, to facilitate metabolic improvements in conditions of angiotensin II (Ang II)-associated insulin resistance is currently unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of chronic AZIL-M treatment on glucose transport activity and key insulin signaling elements in red skeletal muscle of Ang II-treated rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated for 8 weeks with or without Ang II (200 ng/kg/min) combined with either vehicle or AZIL-M (1 mg/kg/day). Ang II induced significant (p < 0.05) increases in blood pressure, which were completely prevented by AZIL-M. Furthermore, Ang II reduced insulin-mediated glucose transport activity in incubated soleus muscle, and AZIL-M co-treatment increased this parameter. Moreover, AZIL-M treatment of Ang II-infused animals increased the absolute phosphorylation of insulin signaling molecules, including Akt [both Ser473 (81%) and Thr308 (23%)] and AS160 Thr642 (42%), in red gastrocnemius muscle frozen in situ. Absolute AMPKα (Thr172) phosphorylation increased (98%) by AZIL-M treatment, and relative Thr389 phosphorylation of p70 S6K1, a negative regulator of insulin signaling, decreased (51%) with AZIL-M treatment. These results indicate that ARB AZIL-M improves the in vitro insulin action on glucose transport in red soleus muscle and the functionality of the Akt/AS160 axis in red gastrocnemius muscle in situ in Ang II-induced insulin-resistant rats, with the latter modification possibly associated with enhanced AMPKα and suppressed p70 S6K1 activation.
The Soldiers’ Inscription and the Angel’s Word
Authors: Ferda Tucker S.
Published: June 2013

Abstract

This article defends the rarely encountered suggestion that Matthew’s insertion of “Jesus” in the titulus (27:37) recalls the word of the Angel to Joseph: “You will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (1:21). The reading has precedent in the work of John Gill but is altogether absent from Matthew commentaries and mentioned only in passing in a select few exegetical studies. The structure of Matthew’s gospel, components of his form and style, the narrative shape of his crucifixion scene, and his attempt to associate the death of Jesus with the forgiveness of sins, all suggest that “Jesus” on the titulus is more significant than hitherto realized. Like the fulfillment of Scripture in the casting of lots and the words of mockery from the passersby, the inscription unwittingly witnesses to Jesus as the Savior of his people.
Morphological variability and taxonomy of Coraebus hastanus Gory & Laporte de Castelnau, 1839 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae: Agrilinae: Coraebini: Coraebina)
Authors: XU HONGXIA , KUBÁŇ VÍTĚZSLAV , VOLKOVITSH MARK G. , GE SIQIN , BAI MING , YANG XINGKE
Published: June 2013

Coraebus hastanus Gory & Laporte de Castelnau, 1839 is easily distinguished from the other species of the genus Corae-bus Gory & Laporte de Castelnau, 1839. It was divided into three subspecies, but the main diagnostic characters were vari-able. In order to understand the morphological variability and taxonomy of subspecies of C. hastanus, shape of elytral apex, lateral margin of elytra and the aedeagi were analyzed using geometric morphometric and traditional morphometric approaches. Based on the results and distribution patterns of the three subspecies, C. hastanus oberthueri Lewis, 1896 is treated as synonym of C. hastanus Gory & Laporte de Castelnau, 1839, and C. hastanus ephippiatus Théry, 1938 is ele-vated to species rank, and these two species are also redescribed and illustrated.
The Calibration Simplex: A Generalization of the Reliability Diagram for Three-Category Probability Forecasts
Authors: Wilks Daniel S.
Published: June 2013

Full exposition of the performance of a set of forecasts requires examination of the joint frequency distribution of those forecasts and their corresponding observations. In settings involving probability forecasts, this joint distribution has a high dimensionality, and communication of its information content is often best achieved graphically. This paper describes an extension of the well-known reliability diagram, which displays the joint distribution for probability forecasts of dichotomous events, to the case of probability forecasts for three disjoint events, such as “below,” “near,” and “above normal.” The resulting diagram, called the calibration simplex, involves a discretization of the 2-simplex, which is an equilateral triangle. Characteristics and interpretation of the calibration simplex are illustrated using both idealized verification datasets, and the 6–10- and 8–14-day temperature and precipitation forecasts produced by the U.S. Climate Prediction Center.
Transforming Able-Bodied Normativity: The Wounded Christ and Human Vulnerability
Authors: Morris Wayne
Published: June 2013

What does it mean to be a human being? This question takes on particular significance when it is brought into conversation with the history and lives of people with disabilities. For centuries, disabled people have been subjected to attitudes and practices that have served as tools of their dehumanization. In response, disability theologies such as those of Jean Vanier and Thomas Reynolds have sought to reconstruct alternative ways of speaking about what it means to be a human being that begin with the lives of people with disabilities and the quality of vulnerability. Drawing on Nancy Eiesland’s interpretation of the wounded Christ of the resurrection, this article argues that if what makes us human is our vulnerability, this understanding is only truly liberating and transformative when it is accompanied by a commitment to resisting the injustices and sins that threaten the lives of the most vulnerable in the first place.
The Transforming Power of Vulnerability
Authors: Kearney Timothy
Published: June 2013

Vulnerability is intrinsic to the human condition, and in a particular way, to the person with a disability. It can be a source of exclusion, rejection, and pain, just as it can be a source of inclusion, transformation, and growth.  The transforming power of vulnerability is explored in relation to three fundamental areas of human existence: the experience of friendship as mutuality, the experience of forgiveness as healing, and, finally, the experience of prayer as interiority and encounter.  All three experiences highlight the power of vulnerability to transform the human person. The person with a disability is our teacher and a source of inspiration in the transformative logic of the heart.  Weakness and vulnerability in a person, rather than being an obstacle to union with God, can foster it. It is a matter of encountering God, not as a God of power and totality but as a God of littleness and vulnerability.
‘As if my eye were still growing’: Living Disability
Authors: Conway Michael A.
Published: June 2013

This article sets disability discourse within the context of two foundational ideas. Our Western tradition has inherited these two ideas from the Christian understanding of the human condition, and they need to be taken together if we are to realize a wholesome humanism. The first is the incommensurable value of every individual human being, which, however, if taken on its own as a foundation, can lead to severe isolationism. It requires the corrective of the second; namely, the realization that humanity itself is a substantial unity. We cannot stand absolutely apart, and knowing this raises the crucial issue of our relationship to those who in certain circumstances are self-helpless.
Religion in 21st-Century Europe: Framing the Debate
Authors: Davie Grace
Published: June 2013

This article engages the debate about religion in Europe in two ways. It starts by setting out the factors that must be taken into account in understanding the present situation in Europe with regard to religion. It continues by reflecting on these changes in terms of three atypical cases: Ireland, the former East Germany, and Romania. The article concludes with an affirmation of the overall framework. Though distinctive, each of the three cases can be ‘contained’ in this approach.
Novel multidrug therapy for disseminated rhinosporidiosis, refractory to dapsone – case report
Authors: George Leni , Dincy Peter , Chopra Manu , Agarwala Manoj , Maheswaran S , Deodhar Divya , Rupali Priscilla , Thomas Meera , Pulimood Susanne
Published: June 2013

Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic granulomatous disorder, caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi endemic in India and Sri Lanka. The most common sites are the nasal mucosa and the nasopharynx and cutaneous lesions usually occur as a part of disseminated rhinosporidiosis. Dapsone has been frequently used in treating disseminated disease in immunocompetent individuals. Here we report a case of disseminated rhinosporidiosis in an immunocompromised individual on antiretroviral drugs, non-responsive to Dapsone and therefore treated with a multidrug therapy of Cycloserine, Dapsone and Ketoconazole with good response.
The Institutional Work of Oppression and Resistance: Learning from the Holocaust
Authors: Martí Ignasi , Fernández Pablo
Published: June 2013

In recent years there has been an outburst of studies aiming to advance our understanding of how actors do work to create, maintain and disrupt institutions. Drawing on work on the Holocaust, a largely neglected event in organization theory, we explore types of institutional work through which actors first maintain domination and grant acquiescence to oppression and, second, target oppressive systems through acts of resistance. This approach offers an opportunity to study a familiar set of processes and phenomena on fresh terms and to focus on key elements that existing studies on institutional work have neglected.
‘If we do not cut social spending, we will end up like Greece’: Challenging consent to austerity through social work action
Authors: Pentaraki Maria
Published: June 2013

‘If we do not cut social spending, we will end up like Greece’. Establishment politicians and media figures use this new ideological mantra throughout the Western world to frighten people into consenting to further neo-liberal restructuring along with cuts in social spending. This phrase and other ideologically laden assertions hide the real causes of the Greek public debt crisis. This commentary challenges the dominant discourse by contextualizing the Greek case within the larger global neo-liberal restructuring processes and then, drawing upon Gramsci’s concept of the organic intellectual, proposes ways that the members of the Professional Association of Social Workers (PASW) can engage in a war of ideas and action, as organic intellectuals, to delegitimize the dominant discourse, which seeks consent for social spending cuts and further neo-liberal restructuring of society.
Reassessing the Effects of Early Adolescent Alcohol Use on Later Antisocial Behavior
Authors: Hemphill Sheryl A. , Heerde Jessica A. , Scholes-Balog Kirsty E. , Smith Rachel , Herrenkohl Todd I. , Toumbourou John W. , Catalano Richard F.
Published: June 2013

The effect of early adolescent alcohol use on antisocial behavior was examined at 1- and 2-year follow-up in Washington State, United States, and Victoria, Australia. Each state used the same methods to survey statewide representative samples of students ( N = 1,858, 52% female) in 2002 (Grade 7 [G7]), 2003 (Grade 8 [G8]), and 2004 (Grade 9 [G9]). Rates of lifetime, current, frequent, and heavy episodic alcohol use were higher in Victoria than Washington State, whereas rates of five antisocial behaviors were generally comparable across states. After controlling for established risk factors, few associations between alcohol use and antisocial behavior remained, except that G7 current use predicted G8 police arrests and stealing and G9 carrying a weapon and stealing; G7 heavy episodic use predicted G8 and G9 police arrests; and G7 lifetime use predicted G9 carrying a weapon. Hence, risk factors other than alcohol were stronger predictors of antisocial behaviors.
Proposed water balance equation for municipal solid waste landfills in Jordan
Authors: Aljaradin Mohammad , Persson Kenneth M
Published: June 2013

This article presents a water balance equation for predicting leachate generation in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills located in semi-arid areas, using the Akaider landfill in Jordan as an example. HYDRUS-2D/3D software was used to model the effect of co-disposal of wastewater into the landfill on the leachate production rates and for comparison with the results of the simulation of the proposed water balance equation parameters. A series of simulations was carried out for a 30-year period. The suggested water balance equation predicted that leachate will percolate to a depth of 50 m in the simulated period. The result indicates that the co-disposed wastewater plays a major role in controlling the rate and magnitude of the contaminants that percolate from the MSW leachate. As the initial water content of the waste increases, there is greater mobilisation of salts. The concentration of chloride at a given location increased and the time required for the chloride to reach this location decreased as a consequence. However, eliminating the co-disposed wastewater will significantly minimise leachate generation and decrease possible groundwater contamination. This equation is applicable to areas that have geological and hydrological properties similar to Jordan.