bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Oculo‐visual changes and clinical considerations affecting older patients with dementia
Authors: Armstrong Richard , Kergoat Hélène
Published: June 2015

Purpose

Dementia is associated with various alterations of the eye and visual function. Over 60% of cases are attributable to Alzheimer's disease, a significant proportion of the remainder to vascular dementia or dementia with Lewy bodies, while frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson's disease dementia are less common. This review describes the oculo‐visual problems of these five dementias and the pathological changes which may explain these symptoms. It further discusses clinical considerations to help the clinician care for older patients affected by dementia.

Recent findings

Visual problems in dementia include loss of visual acuity, defects in colour vision and visual masking tests, changes in pupillary response to mydriatics, defects in fixation and smooth and saccadic eye movements, changes in contrast sensitivity function and visual evoked potentials, and disturbance of complex visual functions such as in reading ability, visuospatial function, and the naming and identification of objects. Pathological changes have also been reported affecting the crystalline lens, retina, optic nerve, and visual cortex. Clinically, issues such as cataract surgery, correcting the refractive error, quality of life, falls, visual impairment and eye care for dementia have been addressed.

Many visual changes occur across dementias, are controversial, often based on limited patient numbers, and no single feature can be regarded as diagnostic of any specific dementia. Nevertheless, visual hallucinations may be more characteristic of dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia than Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia. Differences in saccadic eye movement dysfunction may also help to distinguish Alzheimer's disease from frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson's disease dementia from dementia with Lewy bodies. Eye care professionals need to keep informed of the growing literature in vision/dementia, be attentive to signs and symptoms suggestive of cognitive impairment, and be able to adapt their practice and clinical interventions to best serve patients with dementia.
“It Don't Make Sense”: Willie Dixon, The Blues, War, and Peace
Authors: Garabedian Steven
Published: June 2015

Drawing its inspiration from blues “poet‐philosopher” Willie Dixon, this article highlights an overlooked stream of expressive protest on U.S. war and peace in African American blues tradition from the 1940s to the 1970s. Dixon, the author of more than five hundred compositions, was also a rebel for peace and social justice. In the 1980s, Dixon wrote “It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace).” The song exemplified what Dixon argued was the deep wisdom of the blues; it is only one among many blues, by multiple artists, addressing the absurdities and contradictions of modern war from World War II to Vietnam. In the 1960s, blues crossed over to mainstream popularity. Unfortunately, African American blues songs on war went off the radar. This article argues that blues has been underappreciated as part of a global movement for peace.
Waging Peace in a Disarmed World: Arthur Waskow's Vision of a Nonlethal Cold War
Authors: Mueller Brian S.
Published: June 2015

This article explores the writings of Arthur Waskow, who epitomized what the historian Charles DeBenedetti has termed the “Cold War peace opposition.” Writing on topics that included disarmament, civil defense, an international police force, and “nonlethal equivalents of war,” Waskow offered a nuanced critique of the Cold War. Far from being a utopian idealist, Waskow, as this article shows, offered a series of pragmatic proposals to end the nuclear arms race and prevent an atomic war. Waskow's involvement with the Peace Research Institute, furthermore, sheds light on the often ignored peace research movement that developed in the 1950s and early 1960s as an alternative to the think tanks occupied by defense intellectuals. Despite his best efforts, Waskow could convince neither pacifists nor Cold Warriors of the benefits of a nonlethal Cold War.
His Voice Must Be Heard: Dennis Brutus, the Anti‐Apartheid Movement, and the Struggle for Political Asylum in the United States
Authors: Morgan Eric J.
Published: June 2015

After receiving a surprise deportation order in 1981, exiled South African poet and activist Dennis Brutus embarked on a 2‐year struggle with the Reagan administration and its constructive engagement policies, underscoring the growing rift between public condemnation of apartheid and the U.S. government's continued support of the South African government. In the twenty years since the Sharpeville Massacre vaulted apartheid into America's collective public consciousness, the anti‐apartheid forces in the United States had won few victories against the U.S. government. Brutus's ensuing deportation offered a unique opportunity to directly challenge the U.S. government and its support of South Africa. This article explores Brutus's struggle, which offers insight into not only the complicated experience of exile, but also the complex interplay between activism and foreign policy that manifested itself through the burgeoning anti‐apartheid movement and the recalcitrant U.S. government at the beginning of the 1980s.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Riverside Speech and Cold War Civil Rights
Authors: Lucks Daniel S.
Published: June 2015

This article examines Martin Luther King, Jr.'s controversial Riverside Speech where he denounced the Vietnam War. Although King's biographers and other scholars have written about the Riverside speech, they have not analyzed King's Riverside speech through the prism of Cold War Civil Rights. This examination of King's Riverside speech remedies this omission by explaining why King waited so long to speak out against the war, and why civil rights activists as late as 1967 were still wary about criticizing American Cold War foreign policy because of the legacy of the Red Scare. While the Cold War helped spur civil rights advances, this article demonstrates that the civil rights movement was a casualty of the Vietnam War.
Thinking About Different Nonexistents of the Same Kind: Reid's Account of the Imagination and its Nonexistent Objects
Authors: Folescu Marina
Published: June 2015

How is it that, as fiction readers, we are nonplussed by J. K. Rowling's prescription to imagine Ronan, Bane, and Magorian, three different centaurs of the Forbidden Forrest at Hogwarts? It is usually held in the philosophical literature on fictional discourse that singular imaginings of fictional objects are impossible, given the blatant nonexistence of such objects. In this paper, I have a dual purpose: (i) on the one hand, to show that, without being committed to Meinongeanism, we can explain the phenomenon of singular imaginings of different nonexistents of the same (fictional) kind; (ii) while, at the same time, to attribute this position to Thomas Reid, thus correcting some misunderstandings of his view on imagination.
Correlates of rigorous and credible transnational governance: A cross‐sectoral analysis of best practice compliance in eco‐labeling
Authors: van der Ven Hamish
Published: June 2015

The number of eco‐labeling schemes is rising dramatically, yet the rigor and credibility of such schemes remains uneven. Whereas some eco‐labeling organizations (ELOs) comply with best practice guidelines designed to increase the credibility of their standards through attention to good operating principles, such as transparency and impartiality, others do not. Within this article, I attempt to explain this variation through multivariate regression analysis of an original cross‐sectoral dataset of transnational ELO policies and practices. I find compelling evidence to suggest that ELOs with environmental non‐governmental organization (ENGO) partners, nonprofit structures, or broad transnational reach are most likely to comply with best practices. I also find that private ELOs are more likely to disregard best practices than public ones. Conversely, I find little evidence that levels of industry funding or sector‐specific competition dynamics affect best practice compliance. This study contributes new data, a new method of comparison, and new findings to the growing literature on transnational governance.
Antidrug Antibodies: B Cell Immunity Against Therapy
Authors: Fogdell‐Hahn A.
Published: June 2015

Chronic inflammatory diseases are now treated with a range of different biopharmaceuticals, often requiring lifelong parenteral administrations. This exposure to drugs is unnatural and can trigger the immune system and result in the formation of antidrug antibodies. Drug‐specific antibodies will, if of sufficiently high titre and affinity, block the intended effect of the drug, increase its clearance and make continued treatment worthless. We expect the immune system to react towards therapies against which tolerance has never been established, which is the case for factor VIII treatment in patients with haemophilia A. However, even biopharmaceutical molecules that we should be tolerant against can elicit antidrug antibodies, for instance in treatment of multiple sclerosis patients with recombinant human interferon‐beta. Possible immunological mechanisms behind the breaking of tolerance against drugs, the impact this has on continuous treatment success, clinical practice and drug development, will be discussed in this review.
Foraging in Semantic Fields: How We Search Through Memory
Authors: Hills Thomas T. , Todd Peter M. , Jones Michael N.
Published: June 2015

When searching for concepts in memory—as in the verbal fluency task of naming all the animals one can think of—people appear to explore internal mental representations in much the same way that animals forage in physical space: searching locally within patches of information before transitioning globally between patches. However, the definition of the patches being searched in mental space is not well specified. Do we search by activating explicit predefined categories (e.g., pets) and recall items from within that category (categorical search), or do we activate and recall a connected sequence of individual items without using categorical information, with each item recalled leading to the retrieval of an associated item in a stream (associative search), or both? Using semantic representations in a search of associative memory framework and data from the animal fluency task, we tested competing hypotheses based on associative and categorical search models. Associative, but not categorical, patch transitions took longer to make than position‐matched productions, suggesting that categorical transitions were not true transitions. There was also clear evidence of associative search even within categorical patch boundaries. Furthermore, most individuals' behavior was best explained by an associative search model without the addition of categorical information. Thus, our results support a search process that does not use categorical information, but for which patch boundaries shift with each recall and local search is well described by a random walk in semantic space, with switches to new regions of the semantic space when the current region is depleted.
Febrile reaction associated with the infusion of haploidentical peripheral blood stem cells: incidence, clinical features, and risk factors
Authors: Chen Yao , Huang Xiao‐Jun , Wang Yu , Liu Kai‐Yan , Chen Huan , Chen Yu‐Hong , Zhang Xiao‐Hui , Wang Feng‐Rong , Han Wei , Wang Jing‐Zhi , Yan Chen‐Hua , Zhang Yuan‐Yuan , Sun Yu‐Qian , Xu Lan‐Ping
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND

We reported febrile reaction after the infusion of haploidentical peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs). The aim of this study was to better characterize this new clinical entity named by infusion‐related febrile reaction (IRFR).

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis of 490 patients received allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) between October 2009 and December 2011 at our institution.

RESULTS

The distribution of transplant type was 173 patients in HLA‐identical siblings, 30 in unrelated, and 287 in haploidentical. IRFR was defined as unexplained fever of more than 38°C within 24 hours after the infusion of allogeneic PBSCs. We did not observe any IRFRs in patients undergoing HLA‐identical sibling and unrelated transfusions. After excluding patients with a known source of infection, we classified haploidentical patients into IRFR and non‐IRFR groups. Eighty‐eight patients (30.7%) of 287 cases after the infusion of haploidentical PBSCs were diagnosed as IRFRs, chills in 3.5% (10/88), diarrhea in 21.6% (19/88), an erythematous skin rash in 0.3% (1/88), hypoxemia in 1.0% (3/88), and no other accompanying symptoms in 62.5% (55/88). Significantly higher elevation of C‐reactive protein and complement C3 was seen in the IRFR group compared with the non‐IRFR group. Multivariate analysis showed higher CD34+ dose was a significant predictor for IRFR (p=0.023; hazard ratio = 1.848; 95% confidence interval, 1.087‐3.142).

CONCLUSION

As a clinical feature belonging to haploidentical SCT, IRFR was associated with the higher numbers of CD34+ from PBSCs.
Comparative effectiveness of a bioengineered living cellular construct vs. a dehydrated human amniotic membrane allograft for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers in a real world setting
Authors: Kirsner Robert S. , Sabolinski Michael L. , Parsons Nathan B. , Skornicki Michelle , Marston William A.
Published: June 2015

We evaluated the comparative effectiveness of a bioengineered living cellular construct (BLCC) and a dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane allograft (dHACM) for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). Using a wound care–specific electronic medical record database, we assessed real‐world outcomes in 218 patients with 226 DFUs receiving treatment in 2014 at 99 wound care centers. The analysis included DFUs ≥1 and <25 cm2 with duration <=1 year and area reduction ≤20% in 14 days prior to treatment (N=163, BLCC; N=63, dHACM). The average baseline areas and durations were 6.0 cm2 and 4.4 months for BLCC and 5.2 cm2 and 4.6 months for dHACM, respectively. Patients treated with dHACM had more applications compared to those treated with BLCC (median 3.0 vs. 2.0) (p=0.003). A Cox model adjusted for key covariates including area and duration found the median time to closure for BLCC was 13.3 weeks compared to 26 weeks for dHACM, and the proportion of wounds healed were significantly higher for BLCC by 12 weeks (48% vs. 28%) and 24 weeks (72% vs. 47%) (p=0.01). Treatment with a bioengineered living cellular technology increased the probability of healing by 97% compared with a dehydrated amniotic membrane (hazard ratio = 1.97 [95% confidence interval 1.17, 3.33], p=0.01).
Becoming a “Pusher”: Gender and Personal Transformation during Union Recognition Campaigns
Authors: Rooks Daisy , Penney Robert A.
Published: June 2015

Workers rarely emerge from union recognition campaigns unchanged. During union recognition campaigns, workers often become informed, empowered, confident leaders. This is especially true of workers who support the unionization effort. In this article, we draw upon 153 in‐depth interviews with workers and organizers in order to answer two questions: how do organizers facilitate workers' personal transformations and how gendered is this process? Our analysis of our dataset generated three findings. First, the organizers in our dataset used personal relationships, empathy, and pushing to help workers change from uninformed, fearful followers to knowledgeable, confident workplace leaders. Second, many of the organizers in our dataset experienced their own personal transformation during union recognition campaigns. They became pushers, organizers who are comfortable with confrontation, by connecting to their own anger, tapping into their emotional strength, and getting help from supervisors and coworkers. Finally, we uncovered limited evidence for the gendered nature of union organizing. Gender did not appear to shape the workers in our dataset's perceptions of organizers, nor did it shape how the organizers in our dataset became pushers.
Interactions between local dilator and sympathetic vasoconstrictor influences in skeletal muscle in acute and chronic hypoxia
Authors: Marshall Janice M.
Published: June 2015

New Findings

What is the topic of this review?

This review considers how local dilator mechanisms and increased sympathetic nerve activity interact during acute systemic hypoxia and then reviews current understanding of some of the modifications induced by chronic hypoxia.

What advances does it highlight?

During acute hypoxia, local levels of hypoxia determine the release of vasodilators and magnitude of arteriolar dilatation, as well as the extent to which sympathetically evoked vasoconstriction is blunted, so maximizing distribution of O2 to muscle fibres. Chronic hypoxia in adult life and fetal programming induced by chronic hypoxia in utero lead to increased responsiveness to acute hypoxia and further blunting of sympathetic vasoconstriction, but are also associated with hypertension.

In resting skeletal muscle, acute systemic hypoxia evokes vasodilatation, while vasoconstriction evoked by increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity is blunted, referred to herein as hypoxic sympatholysis. This review considers the contributions of adenosine, prostaglandin I2, nitric oxide, ATP and endothelium‐derived hyperpolarizing factors to the muscle vasodilatation, with particular attention being given to the release and actions of adenosine, which plays a dominant role. It is argued that the dilator substances are released in proportion to the local level of hypoxia, notably, allowing terminal arterioles to regulate O2 distribution through the capillaries. Correspondingly, hypoxic sympatholysis can be attributed to the ability of local hypoxia to blunt vasoconstriction evoked by noradrenaline acting on α1‐ and α2‐adrenoceptors. The synergistic actions of ATP as cotransmitter may be depressed in parallel, but the actions of neuropeptide Y persist. Consideration is also given to the changes induced by chronic hypoxia in adult life and to the consequences in adult life of fetal programming induced by chronic hypoxia during pregnancy. In both conditions, dilator responsiveness to acute hypoxia is maintained, but the action or release of adenosine is altered in ways that are not yet understood. Both conditions are also accompanied by blunted sympathetically evoked vasoconstriction, tonically raised muscle sympathetic nerve activity, and increased muscular vascular tone and arterial blood pressure. With hypoxia‐induced fetal programming, arterial pressure is increased in young adults and increases with age. The mechanisms underlying these changes are discussed, and it is argued that chronic hypoxia in adult life or in utero may facilitate development of hypertension.
Facilitation of breathing by leptin effects in the central nervous system
Authors: Bassi M. , Furuya W. I. , Zoccal D. B. , Menani J. V. , Colombari D. S. A. , Mulkey D. K. , Colombari E.
Published: June 2015

With the global epidemic of obesity, breathing disorders associated with excess body weight have markedly increased. Respiratory dysfunctions caused by obesity were originally attributed to mechanical factors; however, recent studies have suggested a pathophysiological component that involves the central nervous system (CNS) and hormones such as leptin produced by adipocytes as well as other cells. Leptin is suggested to stimulate breathing and leptin deficiency causes an impairment of the chemoreflex, which can be reverted by leptin therapy. This facilitation of the chemoreflex may depend on the action of leptin in the hindbrain areas involved in the respiratory control such as the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), a site that receives chemosensory afferents, and the ventral surface of the medulla that includes the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), a central chemosensitive area, and the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). Although the mechanisms and pathways activated by leptin to facilitate breathing are still not completely clear, evidence suggests that the facilitatory effects of leptin on breathing require the brain melanocortin system, including the POMC–MC4R pathway, a mechanism also activated by leptin to modulate blood pressure. The results of all the studies that have investigated the effect of leptin on breathing suggest that disruption of leptin signalling as caused by obesity‐induced reduction of central leptin function (leptin resistance) is a relevant mechanism that may contribute to respiratory dysfunctions associated with obesity.

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Detection of urinary bladder mass in CT urography with SPAN
Authors: Cha Kenny , Hadjiiski Lubomir , Chan Heang‐Ping , Cohan Richard H. , Caoili Elaine M. , Zhou Chuan
Published: June 2015

Purpose:

The authors are developing a computer‐aided detection system for bladder cancer on CT urography (CTU). In this study, the authors focused on developing a system for detecting masses fully or partially within the contrast‐enhanced (C) region of the bladder.

Methods:

With IRB approval, a data set of 70 patients with biopsy‐proven bladder lesions fully or partially immersed within the contrast‐enhanced region (C region) of the bladder was collected for this study: 35 patients for the training set (39 malignant, 7 benign lesions) and 35 patients for the test set (49 malignant, 4 benign lesions). The bladder in the CTU images was automatically segmented using the authors’ conjoint level set analysis and segmentation system, which they developed specifically to segment the bladder. A closed contour of the C region of the bladder was generated by maximum intensity projection using the property that the dependently layering contrast material in the bladder will be filled consistently to the same level along all CTU slices due to gravity. Potential lesion candidates within the C region contour were found using the authors’ Straightened Periphery ANalysis (SPAN) method. SPAN transforms a bladder wall to a straightened thickness profile, marks suspicious pixels on the profile, and clusters them into regions of interest to identify potential lesion candidates. The candidate regions were automatically segmented using the authors’ autoinitialized cascaded level set segmentation method. Twenty‐three morphological features were automatically extracted from the segmented lesions. The training set was used to determine the best subset of these features using simplex optimization with the leave‐one‐out case method. A linear discriminant classifier was designed for the classification of bladder lesions and false positives. The detection performance was evaluated on the independent test set by free‐response receiver operating characteristic analysis.

Results:

At the prescreening step, the authors’ system achieved 84.4% sensitivity with an average of 4.3 false positives per case (FPs/case) for the training set, and 84.9% sensitivity with 5.4 FPs/case for the test set. After linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classification with the selected features, the FP rate improved to 2.5 FPs/case for the training set, and 4.3 FPs/case for the test set without missing additional true lesions. By varying the threshold for the LDA scores, at 2.5 FPs/case, the sensitivities were 84.4% and 81.1% for the training and test sets, respectively. At 1.7 FPs/case, the sensitivities decreased to 77.8% and 75.5%, respectively.

Conclusions:

The results demonstrate the feasibility of the authors’ method for detection of bladder lesions fully or partially immersed in the contrast‐enhanced region of CTU.
Neuro-Behçet's disease mimicking a cranial tumour
Authors: Senol Serkan , Ucar Mehmet , İmamoğlu Hakan , Yildirim Afra
Published: June 2015

Behçet's disease affects many systems and has been described as a multisystem disorder. In Behçet's disease, neurological involvement is responsible for morbidity and mortality, and can sometimes mimic other neurological disorders. We present a case of neuro-Behçet's disease that mimicked a cranial tumour.
A role for chromatin topology in imprinted domain regulation
Authors: MacDonald William A. , Sachani Saqib S. , White Carlee R. , Mann Mellissa R.W.
Published: June 2015

Recently, many advancements in genome-wide chromatin topology and nuclear architecture have unveiled the complex and hidden world of the nucleus, where chromatin is organized into discrete neighbourhoods with coordinated gene expression. This includes the active and inactive X chromosomes. Using X chromosome inactivation as a working model, we utilized publicly available datasets together with a literature review to gain insight into topologically associated domains, lamin-associated domains, nucleolar-associating domains, scaffold/matrix attachment regions, and nucleoporin-associated chromatin and their role in regulating monoallelic expression. Furthermore, we comprehensively review for the first time the role of chromatin topology and nuclear architecture in the regulation of genomic imprinting. We propose that chromatin topology and nuclear architecture are important regulatory mechanisms for directing gene expression within imprinted domains. Furthermore, we predict that dynamic changes in chromatin topology and nuclear architecture play roles in tissue-specific imprint domain regulation during early development and differentiation.
The influence of climate on pool inception in boreal fens
Authors: Arlen-Pouliot Yann , Payette Serge
Published: June 2015

Fens are one of the two most important peatland types of the boreal biome. The fen surface is often made of contrasted microenvironments, pools and strings, distributed in a geometric arrangement known as patterned fen. The fens are under the influence of varying water regimes causing the formation of pools, a process that we named aqualysis. The term refers to the physical degradation of the vegetation cover under the influence of water ponding. It is proposed here that pool inception is among a set of differential responses of peatland ecosystems to changes in hydrology caused by climate. In this study, we have evaluated the influence of climate on pool inception using the spatiotemporal distribution of trees found dead in pools of four boreal fens of northwestern Quebec. Tree-ring dating of tree mortality allowed the determination of the most recent and synchronized periods of pool formation in the studied fens. Most trees died over the last centuries, particularly after 1750 AD. The demographic pattern of tree establishment and mortality highlights a climatic forcing linked to the Little Ice Age oscillation opposing less humid events facilitating tree colonization succeeded by more humid events causing massive tree death and pool inception. We conclude that peatland aqualysis is among the processes controlled by climate contributing to the dynamics of patterned fens through pool formation.
Molecular dynamics screening for new kinetic inhibitors of methane hydrate
Authors: Oluwunmi Paul A. , Finney Aaron R. , Rodger P. Mark
Published: June 2015

The development of polymeric and oligomeric chemical additives that can control the nucleation and growth of gas hydrates remains a topic of major research interest, with important implications for energy security and the environment. In this paper we present a molecular dynamics study of eight different oligomeric compounds that have been proposed as potential kinetic inhibitors for methane hydrate. The results show that statistically significant variations in hydrate formation, induced by the chemical additive, can be observed within a relatively modest series of molecular dynamics simulations, thus opening the way for computational screening for optimal additives to control hydrate formation. One amino acid oligomer, asparagine, was found to be more active than a number of synthetic inhibitors, including PVCap.
Lepton number violation and the baryon asymmetry of the universe
Authors: Harz Julia , Huang Wei-Chih , Päs Heinrich
Published: June 2015

Neutrinoless double beta decay, lepton number violating collider processes and the Baryon Asymmetry of the Universe (BAU) are intimately related. In particular, lepton number violating processes at low energies in combination with sphaleron transitions will typically erase any preexisting BAU. In this contribution, we briefly review the tight connection between neutrinoless double beta decay, lepton number violating processes at the LHC and constraints from successful baryogenesis. We argue that far-reaching conclusions can be drawn unless the baryon asymmetry is stabilized via some newly introduced mechanism.
Model-independent analysis of CP violation in charmed meson decays
Authors: Dhir Rohit , Kim C. S. , Oh Sechul
Published: June 2015

We present a model-independent analysis of CP violation, inspired by recent experimental observations, in charmed meson decays. The topological diagram approach is used to study direct CP asymmetries for singly Cabibbo-suppressed two-body hadronic decays of charmed mesons. We extract the magnitudes and relative phases of the corresponding topological amplitudes from available experimental information. In order to get more precise and reliable estimates of direct CP asymmetries, we take into account contributions from all possible strong penguin amplitudes, including the internal [Formula: see text]-quark penguin contributions. We also study flavor SU(3) symmetry breaking effects in these decay modes and consequently predict direct CP asymmetries of unmeasured modes.
Bayesian Classifier for Sparsity-Promoting Feature Selection
Authors: Xu Danlei , Du Lan , Liu Hongwei , Wang Penghui
Published: June 2015

A Bayesian classifier for sparsity-promoting feature selection is developed in this paper, where a set of nonlinear mappings for the original data is performed as a pre-processing step. The linear classification model with such mappings from the original input space to a nonlinear transformation space can not only construct the nonlinear classification boundary, but also realize the feature selection for the original data. A zero-mean Gaussian prior with Gamma precision and a finite approximation of Beta process prior are used to promote sparsity in the utilization of features and nonlinear mappings in our model, respectively. We derive the Variational Bayesian (VB) inference algorithm for the proposed linear classifier. Experimental results based on the synthetic data set, measured radar data set, high-dimensional gene expression data set, and several benchmark data sets demonstrate the aggressive and robust feature selection capability and comparable classification accuracy of our method comparing with some other existing classifiers.
Generating 3D Visual Language Editors: Encapsulating Interaction Techniques in Visual Patterns
Authors: Wolter Jan , Kastens Uwe
Published: June 2015

The implementation of three-dimensional visual languages requires a wide range of conceptual and technical knowledge on issues for 3D graphics and textual language processing. Our generator framework DEViL3D incorporates such knowledge and supports the design of visual 3D languages and their implementation from high-level specifications. Such 3D languages arise from different modeling domains that make use of three-dimensional representations, e.g. the "ball-and-stick" models of molecules. The front-end of a 3D language implementation is a dedicated 3D graphical structure editor, which offers interaction and navigation techniques to construct programs in their domain. These techniques allow to manipulate the 3D program directly using operations to insert, move, and restructure objects. We have developed canned solutions for all such techniques that are encapsulated in visual patterns, which are provided by our generator. The designer of a particular 3D language only has to apply visual patterns to constructs of the abstract syntax, which defines the basic structure of the language. We have complemented our development with a usability study. Participants had to solve several tasks with different interaction or navigation techniques. Furthermore, we equipped the 3D editors with the opportunity to let users gain an immersive 3D perception by using stereoscopic hardware.
An FSI solution technique based on the DSD/SST method and its applications
Authors: Tian Fang-Bao , Wang Yong , Young John , Lai Joseph C. S.
Published: June 2015

This paper presents a fluid–structure interaction (FSI) solution technique in which the incompressible fluid dynamics involving moving boundaries is solved with the deforming-spatial-domain/stabilized space–time (DSD/SST) method and the structural dynamics is solved with the finite difference (FD) method. The DSD/SST and FD solvers are coupled by an implicit partitioned coupling strategy based on staggered subiterations. Three types of relaxation are applied on the FSI surface velocity and hydrodynamic force. The first one is applied to delay the coupling conditions at the beginning of each simulation; the second one is applied to relax the increment during each subiteration; and the third one is applied to filter high frequency oscillations between each time step. A pitching plate in a uniform flow is calculated to validate the FSI technique. The present results are in good agreement with data predicted by other methods. In addition, two problems are calculated to demonstrate the capability of this solver: an orbital flow over flapping foil propulsion and energy harvesting and a flexible plate in a cavity excited by an external force.
Performance of Multi-User Transmitter Pre-Processing Assisted Multi-Cell IDMA System for Downlink Transmission
Authors: Partibane B. , Nagarajan V. , Vishvaksenan K. S. , Kalidoss R.
Published: June 2015

In this paper, we present the performance of multi-user transmitter pre-processing (MUTP) assisted coded-interleave division multiple access (IDMA) system over correlated frequency-selective channels for downlink communication. We realize MUTP using singular value decomposition (SVD) technique, which exploits the channel state information (CSI) of all the active users that is acquired via feedback channels. We consider the MUTP technique to alleviate the effects of co-channel interference (CCI) and multiple access interference (MAI). To be specific, we estimate the CSI using least square error (LSE) algorithm at each of the mobile stations (MSs) and perform vector quantization using Lloyd's algorithm, and feedback the bits that represents the quantized magnitudes and phases to the base station (BS) through the dedicated low rate noisy channel. Finally we recover the quantized bits at the BS to formulate the pre-processing matrix. The performance of MUTP aided IDMA systems are evaluated for five types of delay spread distributions pertaining to long-term evolution (LTE) and Stanford University Interim (SUI) channel models. We also compare the performance of MUTP with minimum mean square error (MMSE) detector for the coded IDMA system. The considered TP scheme alleviates the effects of CCI with less complex signal detection at the MSs when compared to MMSE detector. Further, our simulation results reveal that SVD-based MUTP assisted coded IDMA system outperforms the MMSE detector in terms of achievable bit error rate (BER) with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) requirement by mitigating the effects of CCI and MAI.
Classical cryptographic protocols in a quantum world
Authors: Hallgren Sean , Smith Adam , Song Fang
Published: June 2015

Cryptographic protocols, such as protocols for secure function evaluation (SFE), have played a crucial role in the development of modern cryptography. The extensive theory of these protocols, however, deals almost exclusively with classical attackers. If we accept that quantum information processing is the most realistic model of physically feasible computation, then we must ask: What classical protocols remain secure against quantum attackers?

Our main contribution is showing the existence of classical two-party protocols for the secure evaluation of any polynomial-time function under reasonable computational assumptions (for example, it suffices that the learning with errors problem be hard for quantum polynomial time). Our result shows that the basic two-party feasibility picture from classical cryptography remains unchanged in a quantum world.
Metrical property for GCFϵ expansion with the parameter function ϵ(k) = c(k + 1)
Authors: Zhong Ting , Mu Quanwu , Shen Luming
Published: June 2015

This paper is concerned with the metric properties of the generalized continued fractions (GCFϵ) with the parameter function ϵ(kn), where kn is the nth partial quotient of the GCFϵ expansion. When -1 < ϵ(kn) ≤ 1, Zhong [Metrical properties for a class of continued fractions with increasing digits, J. Number Theory128 (2008) 1506–1515] obtained the following metrical properties: [Formula: see text] which are entirely unrelated to the choice of ϵ(kn) ∈ (-1, 1]. Here we deal with the case of ϵ(k) = c(k + 1) with constant c ∈ (0, ∞). It is proved that: [Formula: see text] which change with the real c ∈ (0, ∞). Note that [Formula: see text] as c → 0, it indicates that when c → 0, the GCFϵ has the same metrical property as the case of -1 < ϵ(kn) ≤ 1.
Newton representation of functions over natural integers having integral difference ratios
Authors: Cégielski Patrick , Grigorieff Serge , Guessarian Irène
Published: June 2015

Different questions lead to the same class of functions from natural integers to integers: those which have integral difference ratios, i.e. verifying f(a) - f(b) ≡ 0 ( mod (a - b)) for all a > b. We characterize this class of functions via their representations as Newton series. This class, which obviously contains all polynomials with integral coefficients, also contains unexpected functions, for instance, all functions x ↦ ⌊e1/aaxx!⌋, with a ∈ ℤ\{0, 1}, and a function equal to ⌊e x!⌋ except on 0. Finally, to study the complement class, we look at functions ℕ → ℝ which are not uniformly close to any function having integral difference ratios.
New algorithms for pattern matching with wildcards and length constraints
Authors: Arslan Abdullah N. , George Betsy , Stor Kirsten
Published: June 2015

The pattern matching with wildcards and length constraints problem is an interesting problem in the literature whose computational complexity is still open. There are polynomial time exact algorithms for its special cases. There are heuristic algorithms, and online algorithms that do not guarantee an optimal solution to the original problem. We consider two special cases of the problem for which we develop offline solutions. We give an algorithm for one case with provably better worst case time complexity compared to existing algorithms. We present the first exact algorithm for the second case. This algorithm uses integer linear programming (ILP) and it takes polynomial time under certain conditions.
Lead-free piezoelectric materials and ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging
Authors: Taghaddos Elaheh , Hejazi Mehdi , Safari Ahmad
Published: June 2015

Piezoelectric materials have been vastly used in ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging. In this paper, firstly, the most promising lead-free compositions with perovskite structure for medical imaging applications have been reviewed. The electromechanical properties of various lead-free ceramics, composites, and single crystals based on barium titanate, bismuth sodium titanate, potassium sodium niobate, and lithium niobate are presented. Then, fundamental principles and design considerations of ultrasonic transducers are briefly described. Finally, recent developments in lead-free ultrasonic probes are discussed and their acoustic performance is compared to lead-based transducers. Focused transducers with different beam focusing methods such as lens focusing and mechanical shaping are explained. Additionally, acoustic characteristics of lead-free probes including the pulse-echo results as well as their imaging capabilities for various applications such as phantom imaging, in vitro intravascular ultrasound imaging of swine aorta, and in vivo or ex vivo imaging of human eyes and skin are reviewed.
Phase diagram and dielectric properties of Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 ceramics
Authors: Lin Dabin , Chen Haohua , Li Zhenrong , Xu Zhuo
Published: June 2015

x Pb ( In 1/2 Nb 1/2) O 3- Pb ( Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3) O 3- PbTiO 3(x PIN –y PMN –z PT ) ternary ceramics with morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) composition were synthesized by columbite precursor method. x PIN –y PMN –z PT phase diagram was investigated by x-ray diffraction and dielectric measurements. According to the results of dielectric measurements, the Curie temperatures (Tc) and rhombohedral to tetragonal phase transition temperature (Tr−t) were found to be in the range of 173–212°C and 114–155°C, respectively, indicating that the Tr-t was increased with adding PIN component. In the MPB region, the highest Tr-t = 155° C was found in 0.32PIN–0.38PMN–0.30PT ceramic, that greatly expanded temperature usage range.
Self-assembled domain structures: From micro- to nanoscale
Authors: Shur Vladimir , Akhmatkhanov Andrey , Lobov Alexey , Turygin Anton
Published: June 2015

The recent achievements in studying the self-assembled evolution of micro- and nanoscale domain structures in uniaxial single crystalline ferroelectrics lithium niobate and lithium tantalate have been reviewed. The results obtained by visualization of static domain patterns and kinetics of the domain structure by different methods from common optical microscopy to more sophisticated scanning probe microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and confocal Raman microscopy, have been discussed. The kinetic approach based on various nucleation processes similar to the first-order phase transition was used for explanation of the domain structure evolution scenarios. The main mechanisms of self-assembling for nonequilibrium switching conditions caused by screening ineffectiveness including correlated nucleation, domain growth anisotropy, and domain–domain interaction have been considered. The formation of variety of self-assembled domain patterns such as fractal-type, finger and web structures, broad domain boundaries, and dendrites have been revealed at each of all five stages of domain structure evolution during polarization reversal. The possible applications of self-assembling for micro- and nanodomain engineering were reviewed briefly. The review covers mostly the results published by our research group.
Numerical modeling of non-woven fiber mats: Their effective mechanical and electrical properties
Authors: Tuncer Enis , l'Abee Roy
Published: June 2015

Numerical simulations on non-woven fibrous, porous structures were performed to determine material design space for energy storage device (battery and ultra-capacitor) separators. Material simulations were performed initially with a commercial program called GeoDict using its demo version. Later, in-house computational tools were developed and employed. The numerical routines were created to model mechanical and electrical properties of porous structures. The tools were built as a pre-processor for a commercial finite element package. Effective properties were estimated in the post-processing phase using the current and stress distributions. No multi-physics assumptions were considered to couple electrical and mechanical fields at this stage. The numerical results between two numerical platforms, GeoDict and in-house tools. Regions of interest in porosity for battery separators are discussed.
Structural Symmetry in Membrane Proteins
Authors: Forrest Lucy R.
Published: June 2015

Symmetry is a common feature among natural systems, including protein structures. A strong propensity toward symmetric architectures has long been recognized for water-soluble proteins, and this propensity has been rationalized from an evolutionary standpoint. Proteins residing in cellular membranes, however, have traditionally been less amenable to structural studies, and thus the prevalence and significance of symmetry in this important class of molecules is not as well understood. In the past two decades, researchers have made great strides in this area, and these advances have provided exciting insights into the range of architectures adopted by membrane proteins. These structural studies have revealed a similarly strong bias toward symmetric arrangements, which were often unexpected and which occurred despite the restrictions imposed by the membrane environment on the possible symmetry groups. Moreover, membrane proteins disproportionately contain internal structural repeats resulting from duplication and fusion of smaller segments. This article discusses the types and origins of symmetry in membrane proteins and the implications of symmetry for protein function.
Biophysics of Channelrhodopsin
Authors: Schneider Franziska , Grimm Christiane , Hegemann Peter
Published: June 2015

Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are directly light-gated ion channels that function as sensory photoreceptors in flagellated green algae, allowing these algae to identify optimal light conditions for growth. In neuroscience, ChRs constitute the most versatile tools for the light-induced activation of selected cells or cell types with unprecedented precision in time and space. In recent years, many ChR variants have been discovered or engineered, and countless electrical and spectroscopic studies of these ChRs have been carried out, both in host cells and on purified recombinant proteins. With significant support from a high-resolution 3D structure and from molecular dynamics calculations, scientists are now able to develop models that conclusively explain ChR activation and ion conductance on the basis of chromophore isomerization, structural changes, proton transfer reactions, and water rearrangement on timescales ranging from femtoseconds to minutes.
The Synaptic Vesicle Release Machinery
Authors: Rizo Josep , Xu Junjie
Published: June 2015

Extensive research has yielded crucial insights into the mechanism of neurotransmitter release, and working models for the functions of key proteins involved in release. The SNAREs Syntaxin-1, Synaptobrevin, and SNAP-25 play a central role in membrane fusion, forming SNARE complexes that bridge the vesicle and plasma membranes and that are disassembled by NSF–SNAPs. Exocytosis likely starts with Syntaxin-1 folded into a self-inhibited closed conformation that binds to Munc18-1. Munc13s open Syntaxin-1, orchestrating SNARE complex assembly in an NSF–SNAP–resistant manner together with Munc18-1. In the resulting primed state, with partially assembled SNARE complexes, fusion is inhibited by Synaptotagmin-1 and Complexins, which also perform active functions in release. Upon influx of Ca2+, Synaptotagmin-1 activates fast release, likely by relieving the inhibition caused by Complexins and cooperating with the SNAREs in bringing the membranes together. Although alternative models exist and fundamental questions remain unanswered, a definitive description of the basic release mechanism may be available soon.
Specification of Architecture and Function of Actin Structures by Actin Nucleation Factors
Authors: Skau Colleen T. , Waterman Clare M.
Published: June 2015

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for diverse processes in mammalian cells; these processes range from establishing cell polarity to powering cell migration to driving cytokinesis to positioning intracellular organelles. How these many functions are carried out in a spatiotemporally regulated manner in a single cytoplasm has been the subject of much study in the cytoskeleton field. Recent work has identified a host of actin nucleation factors that can build architecturally diverse actin structures. The biochemical properties of these factors, coupled with their cellular location, likely define the functional properties of actin structures. In this article, we describe how recent advances in cell biology and biochemistry have begun to elucidate the role of individual actin nucleation factors in generating distinct cellular structures. We also consider how the localization and orientation of actin nucleation factors, in addition to their kinetic properties, are critical to their ability to build a functional actin cytoskeleton.