bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Locality-Aware Network Utilization Balancing in NoCs
Authors: More Ankit , Taskin Baris
Published: December 2015

Hierarchical and multi-network networks-on-chip (NoCs) have been proposed in the literature to improve the energy- and performance-efficient scalability of the traditional flat-mesh NoC architecture. Theoretically, based on a small-world network-based analysis, traditional hierarchical NoCs are expected to provide good scalability. However, the traditional theoretical analysis (e.g. for small-worldness) does not take into account the congestion phenomenon experienced in such networks. Counterintuitively, as shown in this work, breaking the hierarchy in traditional hierarchical NoCs and utilizing the proposed locality-aware network utilization (NU) balancing technique performs better. This improvement in performance is observed through experimental analysis, which is contrasted with the theoretical analysis that does not account for congestion. In addition to the novelties for hierarchical networks, the application of the proposed locality-aware NU balancing scheme is extended to multi-network NoC topologies (with already separated networks). Results of the analysis show the superiority of applying the locality-aware NU balancing technique for a throughput and energy-efficient scaling of the multi-network NoC architectures, much like those of the hierarchical NoCs. For instance, for a NoC with 1024 nodes, the proposed NU balancing technique provides up to 95% higher throughput efficiency and consumes up to 29% less energy per flit compared to the best NoC topology without the NU balancing technique. The analysis also helps to render the choice of a NoC topology for traffic patterns varying in locality and nonlocality on exascale computing CMPs.
Adaptive Burst-Writes (ABW)
Authors: Cheng Hsiang-Yun , Irwin Mary Jane , Xie Yuan
Published: December 2015

Main memory latencies have become a major performance bottleneck for chip-multiprocessors (CMPs). Since reads are on the critical path, existing memory controllers prioritize reads over writes. However, writes must be eventually processed when the write queue is full. These writes are serviced in a burst to reduce the bus turnaround delay and increase the row-buffer locality. Unfortunately, a large number of reads may suffer long queuing delay when the burst-writes are serviced. The long write latency of future nonvolatile memory will further exacerbate the long queuing delay of reads during burst-writes.

In this article, we propose a run-time mechanism, Adaptive Burst-Writes (ABW), to reduce the queuing delay of reads. Based on the row-buffer hit rate of writes and the arrival rate of reads, we dynamically control the number of writes serviced in a burst to trade off the write service time and the queuing latency of reads. For prompt adjustment, our history-based mechanism further terminates the burst-writes earlier when the row-buffer hit rate of writes in the previous burst-writes is low. As a result, our policy improves system throughput by up to 28% (average 10%) and 43% (average 14%) in CMPs with DRAM-based and PCM-based main memory.
FuzzRoute
Authors: Roy Debashri , Ghosal Prasun , Mohanty Saraju
Published: December 2015

The high density of interconnects, closer proximity of modules, and routing phase are pivotal during the layout of a performance-centricthree-dimensional integrated circuit(3D IC). Heuristic-based approaches are typically used to handle such NP-complete problems of global routing in 3D ICs. To overcome the inherent limitations of deterministic approaches, a novel methodology for multi-objective global routing based on fuzzy logic has been proposed in this article. The guiding information generated after the placement phase is used during routing with the help of a fuzzy expert system to achieve thermally efficient and congestion-free routing. A complete global routing solution is designed based on the proposed algorithms and the results are compared with selected fully established global routers, namely Labyrinth, FastRoute3.0, NTHU-R, BoxRouter 2.0, FGR, NTHU-Route2.0, FastRoute4.0, NCTU-GR, MGR, and NCTU-GR2.0. Experiments are performed over ISPD 1998 and 2008 benchmarks. The proposed router, calledFuzzRoute, achieves balanced superiority in terms of routability, runtime, and wirelength over others. The improvements on routing time for Labyrinth, BoxRouter 2.0, and FGR are 91.81%, 86.87%, and 32.16%, respectively, for ISPD 1998 benchmarks. It may be noted that, though FastRoute3.0 achieves fastest runtime, it fails to generate congestion-free solutions for all benchmarks, which is overcome by the proposed FuzzRoute of the current article. It also shows wirelength improvements of 17.35%, 2.88%, 2.44%, 2.83%, and 2.10%, respectively, over others for ISPD 1998 benchmarks. For ISPD 2008 benchmark circuits it also provides 2.5%, 2.6%, 1 %, 1.1%, and 0.3% lesser wirelength and averagely runs 1.68×, 6.42×, 2.21×, 0.76×, and 1.54× faster than NTHU-Route2.0, FastRoute4.0, NCTU-GR, MGR, and NCTU-GR2.0, respectively.
Do Automatically Generated Test Cases Make Debugging Easier? An Experimental Assessment of Debugging Effectiveness and Efficiency
Authors: Ceccato Mariano , Marchetto Alessandro , Mariani Leonardo , Nguyen Cu D. , Tonella Paolo
Published: December 2015

Several techniques and tools have been proposed for the automatic generation of test cases. Usually, these tools are evaluated in terms of fault-revealing or coverage capability, but their impact on the manual debugging activity is not considered. The question is whether automatically generated test cases are equally effective in supporting debugging as manually written tests.

We conducted a family of three experiments (five replications) with humans (in total, 55 subjects) to assess whether the features of automatically generated test cases, which make them less readable and understandable (e.g., unclear test scenarios, meaningless identifiers), have an impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of debugging. The first two experiments compare different test case generation tools (Randoop vs. EvoSuite). The third experiment investigates the role of code identifiers in test cases (obfuscated vs. original identifiers), since a major difference between manual and automatically generated test cases is that the latter contain meaningless (obfuscated) identifiers.

We show that automatically generated test cases are as useful for debugging as manual test cases. Furthermore, we find that, for less experienced developers, automatic tests are more useful on average due to their lower static and dynamic complexity.
Clock Period Minimization with Minimum Leakage Power
Authors: Huang Shih-Hsu , Yeh Hua-Hsin , Nieh Yow-Tyng
Published: December 2015

In the design of nonzero clock skew circuits, an increase of the short-path delay may improve circuit speed or reduce leakage power. However, the impact of increasing the short-path delay on the trade-off between circuit speed and leakage power has not been well studied. An analysis of previous works shows that they can be classified into two independent groups. One group uses extra buffers to increase the short-path delay for achieving the lower bound of the clock period; however, this group has a large overhead of leakage power. The other group uses the combination of threshold voltage assignment and gate sizing (TVA/GS) to increase the short-path delay as possible for reducing leakage power; however, this group often does not work with the lower bound of the clock period. Accordingly, this article considers the simultaneous application of buffer insertion and TVA/GS during clock skew scheduling. Our objective is to minimize the leakage power for working with the lower bound of the clock period. To the best of our knowledge, our approach is the first leakage-power-aware clock skew scheduling that guarantees working with the lower bound of the clock period. Benchmark data consistently show that our approach achieves good results in terms of both the circuit speed and the leakage power.
Exploiting Instruction Set Encoding for Aging-Aware Microprocessor Design
Authors: Oboril Fabian , Tahoori Mehdi B.
Published: December 2015

Microprocessors fabricated at nanoscale nodes are exposed to accelerated transistor aging due to bias temperature instability and hot carrier injection. As a result, device delays increase over time, reducing the
mean time to failure
(MTTF) and hence lifetime of the processor. To address this challenge, many (micro)-architectural techniques target the execution stage of the instruction pipeline, as this one is typically most critical. However, also the decoding stages can become aging critical and limit the microprocessor lifetime, as we will show in this work. Therefore, we propose a novel aging-aware instruction set-encoding methodology (ArISE) that improves the instruction encoding iteratively using a heuristic algorithm. In addition, the switching activities of the affected memory elements are considered in order to co-optimize lifetime and energy efficiency. Our experimental results show that MTTF of the decoding stages can be improved by 2.3× with negligible implementation costs.
Test Case Prioritization Using Extended Digraphs
Authors: Emam Seyedeh Sepideh , Miller James
Published: December 2015

Although many test case prioritization techniques exist, their performance is far from perfect. Hence, we propose a new fault-based test case prioritization technique to promote fault-revealing test cases inmodel-based testing(MBT) procedures. We seek to improve the fault detection rate—a measure of how fast a test suite is able to detect faults during testing—in scenarios such as regression testing. We propose an extended digraph model as the basis of this new technique. The model is realized using a novelreinforcement-learning(RL)- and hidden-Markov-model (HMM)-based technique which is able to prioritize test cases for regression testing objectives. We present a method to initialize and train an HMM based upon RL concepts applied to an application's digraph model. The model prioritizes test cases based upon forward probabilities, a new test case prioritization approach. In addition, we also propose an alternative approach to prioritizing test cases according to the amount of change they cause in applications. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques, we perform experiments ongraphical user interface(GUI)-based applications and compare the results with state-of-the-art test case prioritization approaches. The experimental results show that the proposed technique is able to detect faults early within test runs.
DFT Assisted Techniques for Peak Launch-to-Capture Power Reduction during Launch-On-Shift At-Speed Testing
Authors: Potluri Seetal , Trinadh A. Satya , Ch. Sobhan Babu , Kamakoti V. , Chandrachoodan Nitin
Published: December 2015

Scan-based testing is crucial to ensuring correct functioning of chips. In this scheme, the scan and capture phases are interleaved. It is well known that for large designs, excessive switching activity during the launch-to-capture window leads to high
voltage droop
on the power grid, ultimately resulting in false delay failures during at-speed test. This article proposes a new design-for-testability (DFT) scheme for launch-on-shift (LOS) testing, which ensures that the combinational logic remains undisturbed between the interleaved capture phases, providing computer-aided-design (CAD) tools with extra search space for minimizing launch-to-capture switching activity through test pattern ordering (TPO). We further propose a new TPO algorithm that keeps track of the don't cares during the ordering process, so that the don't care filling step after the ordering process yields a better reduction in launch-to-capture switching activity compared to any other technique in the literature. The proposed DFT-assisted technique, when applied to circuits in ITC99 benchmark suite, produces an average reduction of 17.68% in peak launch-to-capture switching activity (CSA) compared to the best known lowpower TPO technique. Even for circuits whose test cubes are not rich in don't care bits, the proposed technique produces an average reduction of 15% in peak CSA, while for the circuits with test cubes rich in don't care bits (≥75%), the average reduction is 24%. The proposed technique also reduces the average power dissipation (considering both scan cells and combinational logic) during the scan phase by about 43.5% on an average, compared to the adjacent filling technique.
An MDE Approach for Rapid Prototyping and Implementation of Dynamic Reconfigurable Systems
Authors: Ochoa-Ruiz Gilberto , Guillet Sébastien , Lamotte Florent De , Rutten Eric , Bourennane El-Bay , Diguet Jean-Philippe , Gogniat Guy
Published: December 2015

This article presents a co-design methodology based on RecoMARTE, an extension to the well-known UML MARTE profile, which is used for the specification and automatic generation of Dynamic and Partially Reconfigurable Systems-on-Chip (DRSoC). This endeavor is part of a larger framework in which Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques are extensively used for modeling and via model transformations, generating executable models, which are exploited by implementation tools to create reconfigurable systems. More specifically, the methodological aspects presented in this article are concerned with expediting the conception and implementation of the hardware platform and the integration of correct by construction reconfiguration controller. This article builds upon previous research by integrating previously separated endeavors to obtain a complete PR system generation chain, which aims at shielding the designer of many of the burdensome technological and tool-specific requirements. The methodology permits for the verification of the platform description at different stages in the development process (i.e., HDL for simulation, static FPGA implementation, controller simulation and verification). Furthermore, automation capabilities embedded in the flow enable the generation of the platform description and the integration of the reconfiguration controller executive seamlessly. In order to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed approach, we present a case study in which we target the creation of an image-processing application to be deployed onto an FPGA board. We present the required modeling strategies and we discuss how the generation chains are integrated with the back-end Xilinx tools (the most mature version of PR technology) to produce the necessary executable artifacts: VHDL for the platform description and a C description of the reconfiguration controller to be executed by an embedded processor.
Event Extraction using Structured Learning and Rich Domain Knowledge
Authors: Minkov Einat
Published: December 2015

We consider the task of record extraction from text documents, where the goal is to automatically populate the fields of target relations, such as scientific seminars or corporate acquisition events. There are various inferences involved in the record-extraction process, including mention detection, unification, and field assignments. We use structured learning to find the appropriate field-value assignments. Unlike previous works, the proposed approach generates feature-rich models that enable the modeling of domain semantics and structural coherence at all levels and across fields. Given labeled examples, such an approach can, for instance, learn likely event durations and the fact that start times should come before end times. While the inference space is large, effective learning is achieved using a perceptron-style method and simple, greedy beam decoding. A main focus of this article is on practical aspects involved in implementing the proposed framework for real-world applications. We argue and demonstrate that this approach is favorable in conditions of data shift, a real-world setting in which models learned using a limited set of labeled examples are applied to examples drawn from a different data distribution. Much of the framework’s robustness is attributed to the modeling of domain knowledge. We describe design and implementation details for the case study of seminar event extraction from email announcements, and discuss design adaptations across different domains and text genres.
Security-Aware Design Methodology and Optimization for Automotive Systems
Authors: Lin Chung-Wei , Zheng Bowen , Zhu Qi , Sangiovanni-Vincentelli Alberto
Published: December 2015

In this article, we address both security and safety requirements and solve security-aware design problems for the controller area network (CAN) protocol and time division multiple access (TDMA)-based protocols. To provide insights and guidelines for other similar security problems with limited resources and strict timing constraints, we propose a general security-aware design methodology to address security with other design constraints in a holistic framework and optimize design objectives. The security-aware design methodology is further applied to solve a security-aware design problem for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications with dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) technology. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approaches in system design without violating design constraints and indicate that it is necessary to consider security together with other metrics during design stages.
Robust Query Optimization Methods With Respect to Estimation Errors
Authors: Yin Shaoyi , Hameurlain Abdelkader , Morvan Franck
Published: December 2015

The quality of a query execution plan chosen by a Cost-Based Optimizer (CBO) depends greatly on the estimation accuracy of input parameter values. Many research results have been produced on improving the estimation accuracy, but they do not work for every situation. Therefore, "robust query optimization" was introduced, in an effort to minimize the sub-optimality risk by accepting the fact that estimates could be inaccurate. In this survey, we aim to provide an overview of robust query optimization methods by classifying them into different categories, explaining the essential ideas, listing their advantages and limitations, and comparing them with multiple criteria.
Hyperammonemia results in reduced muscle function independent of muscle mass
Authors: McDaniel John , Davuluri Gangarao , Hill Elizabeth Ann , Moyer Michelle , Runkana Ashok , Prayson Richard , van Lunteren Erik , Dasarathy Srinivasan
Published: December 2015

The mechanism of the nearly universal decreased muscle strength in cirrhosis is not known. We evaluated whether hyperammonemia in cirrhosis causes contractile dysfunction independent of reduced skeletal muscle mass. Maximum grip strength and muscle fatigue response were determined in cirrhotic patients and controls. Blood and muscle ammonia concentrations and grip strength normalized to lean body mass were measured in the portacaval anastomosis (PCA) and sham-operated pair-fed control rats ( n = 5 each). Ex vivo contractile studies in the soleus muscle from a separate group of Sprague-Dawley rats ( n = 7) were performed. Skeletal muscle force of contraction, rate of force development, and rate of relaxation were measured. Muscles were also subjected to a series of pulse trains at a range of stimulation frequencies from 20 to 110 Hz. Cirrhotic patients had lower maximum grip strength and greater muscle fatigue than control subjects. PCA rats had a 52.7 ± 13% lower normalized grip strength compared with control rats, and grip strength correlated with the blood and muscle ammonia concentrations ( r2 = 0.82). In ex vivo muscle preparations following a single pulse, the maximal force, rate of force development, and rate of relaxation were 12.1 ± 3.5 g vs. 6.2 ± 2.1 g; 398.2 ± 100.4 g/s vs. 163.8 ± 97.4 g/s; −101.2 ± 22.2 g/s vs. −33.6 ± 22.3 g/s in ammonia-treated compared with control muscle preparation, respectively ( P < 0.001 for all comparisons). Tetanic force, rate of force development, and rate of relaxation were depressed across a range of stimulation from 20 to 110 Hz. These data provide the first direct evidence that hyperammonemia impairs skeletal muscle strength and increased muscle fatigue and identifies a potential therapeutic target in cirrhotic patients.
Homeostasis alteration within small intestinal mucosa after acute enteral refeeding in total parenteral nutrition mouse model
Authors: Feng Yongjia , Barrett Meredith , Hou Yue , Yoon Hong Keun , Ochi Takanori , Teitelbaum Daniel H.
Published: December 2015

Feeding strategies to care for patients who transition from enteral nutrient deprivation while on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) to enteral feedings generally proceed to full enteral nutrition once the gastrointestinal tract recovers; however, an increasing body of literature suggests that a subgroup of patients may actually develop an increased incidence of adverse events, including death. To examine this further, we studied the effects of acute refeeding in a mouse model of TPN. Interestingly, refeeding led to some beneficial effects, including prevention in the decline in intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) proliferation. However, refeeding led to a significant increase in mucosal expression of proinflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), as well as an upregulation in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4). Refeeding also failed to prevent TPN-associated increases in IEC apoptosis, loss of epithelial barrier function, and failure of the leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5-positive stem cell expression. Transitioning from TPN to enteral feedings led to a partial restoration of the small bowel microbial population. In conclusion, while acute refeeding led to some restoration of normal gastrointestinal physiology, enteral refeeding led to a significant increase in mucosal inflammatory markers and may suggest alternative strategies to enteral refeeding should be considered.
Angiotensin-(1–7)/mas inhibits apoptosis in alveolar epithelial cells through upregulation of MAP kinase phosphatase-2
Authors: Gopallawa Indiwari , Uhal Bruce D.
Published: December 2015

Earlier work from this laboratory showed that autocrine generation of angiotensin II and c-Jun-NH2-terminal kinase phosphorylation (p-JNK) are both required events in alveolar epithelial cell (AEC) apoptosis. Although earlier data showed that angiotensin-(1–7) [ANG-(1–7)] protects against AEC apoptosis, the pathways by which ANG-(1–7)/mas activation prevent JNK phosphorylation and apoptosis are poorly understood. Therefore, in the current study, it was theorized that ANG-(1–7) activates a mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase (MKP) and thereby reduces JNK phosphorylation to inhibit apoptosis and promote cell survival. This hypothesis was evaluated in the human A549 and mouse MLE12 AEC lines and primary cultures of human AECs. Cells were transfected with small-interfering RNAs, antisense oligonucleotides, or inhibitors specific for MKP-2 or mas, and were then assayed for phospho-JNK, caspase-9, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and nuclear fragmentation. Silencing of MKP-2 significantly prevented the blockade of all apoptotic markers by ANG-(1–7). Knockdown or blockade of mas receptor by antisense oligonucleotides or by the receptor antagonist A779, respectively, caused significant decreases in MKP-2, and simultaneously increased the apoptotic markers of caspase-9 activation and nuclear fragmentation. These data show that the ANG-(1–7)/mas pathway constitutively prevents JNK phosphorylation and apoptosis of AECs by maintaining activation of the JNK-selective phosphatase MKP-2, and further demonstrate the critical role of the ANG-(1–7) receptor mas in AEC survival.
RNF2 E3 or Not to E3: Dual Roles of RNF2 Overexpression in Melanoma
Authors: Black Joshua C. , Whetstine Johnathan R.
Published: December 2015

Summary: RNF2/RING1B is amplified and overexpressed in numerous tumors and contributes to tumorigenicity; however, the biologic importance is poorly understood. Surprisingly, the role of RNF2 in tumorigenesis and invasion can be separated into catalytically independent and catalytically dependent processes. Cancer Discov; 5(12); 1241–3. ©2015 AACR.

See related article by Rai et al., p. 1314.
The Effects of Language Dominance in the Perception and Production of the Galician Mid Vowel Contrasts
Authors: Amengual Mark , Chamorro Pilar
Published: December 2015

Aims: This study investigates the perception and production of the Galician mid vowel contrasts by 54 early Spanish-Galician bilinguals in the cities of Vigo and Santiago (Galicia, Spain). Empirical data is provided to examine the role of language dominance in the perception and production of Galician mid vowel contrasts in order to determine whether the Galician vowel system is becoming more Spanish-like as a result of extensive contact with Spanish in urban areas. Methods: Perception and production data for each mid vowel contrast were collected in (1) binary forced-choice identification tasks, (2) AX discrimination tasks and (3) a reading-aloud task. Results: Results from binary forced-choice identification and AX discrimination tasks indicate that Spanish-dominant bilinguals have great difficulty in discriminating between these mid vowels while Galician-dominant subjects display a robust categorical identification of the two mid vowel categories. Acoustic analyses of their productions show that Galician-dominant bilinguals implement a Galician-specific /e/-/ɛ/ contrast but Spanish-dominant ones produce a single, merged Spanish-like front mid vowel. However, both language dominance groups seem to maintain a more robust /o/-/ɔ/ contrast. This asymmetry between front and back mid vowels is found in the productions of both language dominance groups. Conclusion: These results show that language dominance is a strong predictor of the production and perception abilities of Spanish-Galician bilinguals, and that only Galician-dominant subjects in these urban areas possess two independent phonetic categories in the front and back mid vowel space.
Two Fatal Cases of Accidental Intrathecal Vincristine Administration: Learning from Death Events
Authors: Chotsampancharoen Thirachit , Sripornsawan Pornpun , Wongchanchailert Malai
Published: December 2015

We report 2 cases of accidental intrathecal vincristine administration. These injections were scheduled as intravenous injections of vincristine at the same time as other intrathecal drugs were scheduled. The mistakes were recognized immediately after administration, and a lumbar puncture was performed to lavage the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) immediately after the incident. However, both cases developed progressive sensorimotor and radiculo-myelo-encephalopathy and the patients died 3 and 6 days after the incidents due to decerebration. A number of cases of accidental intrathecal vincristine administration have occurred in recent years in other settings, and we add our events to emphasize the need for a preventative and strictly followed protocol in oncology treatment units to prevent further unnecessary deaths. The best ‘cure' for mistakenly administered vincristine via lumbar puncture is prevention, which can be improved by strict adherence to a comprehensive guideline. Oncologic treatment centers should be aware of this guideline and evaluate their protocol for vincristine administration to prevent future incidents. Based on our past experiences, we strongly recommend ‘time-independent' procedures to prevent this type of incident.
Eosinopenia in Children following Traumatic Intracranial Hemorrhage Is Associated with Poor Prognosis and Prolonged Hospital Admission
Authors: Hori Yusuke S. , Fukuhara Toru , Aoi Mizuho , Namba Yoichiro
Published: December 2015

Background: Neutrophilia is associated with brain injury and is frequently accompanied by eosinopenia. Although eosinopenia is a poor prognostic indicator for various diseases, its significance in intracranial events has not been investigated. Methods: We retrospectively included 22 pediatric patients (≤18 years old) who experienced traumatic intracranial hemorrhage between 2002 and 2015. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of eosinopenia on admission, i.e. the proportion of eosinophils to total white blood cells <1.0%. Results: The mean Glasgow Coma Scale score was marginally lower in the eosinopenia group (14.1 vs. 12.0, p = 0.06). The mean Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOSE) score was significantly lower in the eosinopenia group (7.5 vs. 5.7, p = 0.02), and the mean length of hospital stay tended to be longer in patients with eosinopenia (7.8 vs. 28.4, p = 0.10). In our multivariate logistic regression analysis, eosinopenia was the only significant risk factor for poor outcome (GOSE score 1-7, OR 29.7, p = 0.03) and prolonged hospital stay (>2 weeks, OR 7.1, p = 0.047). Conclusion: These results demonstrate the significance of eosinopenia as a novel prognostic factor in traumatic intracranial hemorrhage in children.
Comparison of Two Test Strategies for Clarification of Reactive Results for Anti-HBc in Blood Donors
Authors: Juhl David , Knobloch Johannes K.-M. , Görg Siegfried , Hennig Holger
Published: December 2015

Objective: Testing for antibodies against hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) was introduced to detect blood donors suffering from occult hepatitis B infection. Confirmation of specification of reactive results in the anti-HBc screening assay is still a challenge for blood donation services. Methods: Two different test strategies for confirmation of specification of reactive anti-HBc tests, one performed in our institute and one suggested by the German authority (Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI)), were compared. The first strategy is based on one supplemental anti-HBc test, the other requires two supplemental anti-HBc tests. Results: 389 samples from 242 donors were considered. Both test strategies yielded concordant results in 117 reactive samples termed ‘true-positive' or ‘specificity confirmed', in 156 reactive samples termed ‘false-positive' or ‘specificity not confirmed', and in 99 negative samples. In 17 samples obtained from 11 donors, both test strategies gave discrepant results (‘false-positive' but ‘specificity confirmed'). In 10 of 11 donors, a real HBV infection was very unlikely, one remained unclear. 30 donors considered ‘false-positive' became negative in all anti-HBc tests after follow-up testing and thus eligible for donor re-entry. Conclusions: The test strategy suggested by the PEI yielded no additional information but induced an overestimation of HBV infections and unnecessary look-back procedures. Many anti-HBc-reactive donors can be regained after follow-up testing.
Voice Register in Mon: Acoustics and Electroglottography
Authors: Abramson Arthur S. , Tiede Mark K. , Luangthongkum Theraphan
Published: December 2015

Mon is spoken in villages in Thailand and Myanmar. The dialect of Ban Nakhonchum, Thailand, has 2 voice registers, modal and breathy; these phonation types, along with other phonetic properties, distinguish minimal pairs. Four native speakers of this dialect recorded repetitions of 14 randomized words (7 minimal pairs) for acoustic analysis. We used a subset of these pairs in a listening test to verify the perceptual robustness of the register distinction. Acoustic analysis found significant differences in noise component, spectral slope and fundamental frequency. In a subsequent session 4 speakers were also recorded using electroglottography, which showed systematic differences in the contact quotient. The salience of these properties in maintaining the register distinction is discussed in the context of possible tonogenesis for this language.
Effect of Timing of Proton Pump Inhibitor Administration on Acid Suppression
Authors: Furuta Kenji , Adachi Kyoichi , Aimi Masahito , Shimura Shino , Mikami Hironobu , Nishimura Nobuhiro , Ishimura Norihisa , Ishihara Shunji , Naora Kohji , Kinoshita Yoshikazu
Published: December 2015

Background: Esomeprazole has been reported to show a strong acid suppression following preprandial as compared to postprandial administration, though no known study has compared the acid suppressing effects of other proton pump inhibitors between those administrations. The aim of this study was to compare intragastric pH levels following pre- and postprandial administrations of rabeprazole and esomeprazole. Methods: In 15 Helicobacter pylori-negative healthy volunteers, we measured intragastric pH after 7 days of pre- and postprandial administrations of rabeprazole (10 mg) or esomeprazole (20 mg) using a 5-way crossover design. Results: Preprandial administration of esomeprazole showed stronger acid suppression than postprandial administration. The values for percent time at pH >4.0 over a 24-hour period increased from 45.3% with postprandial administration of esomeprazole to 54.4% with preprandial administration, while the percent time at pH >4.0 during daytime was increased to a greater extent from 51.4 to 66.5% with preprandial administration (p = 0.05). On the other hand, the acid suppressing effect of rabeprazole was not influenced by the timing of administration. Conclusions: The acid suppressing effect of esomeprazole is influenced by administration timing. In contrast, the acid suppressing effect of rabeprazole is not augmented by preprandial administration.
Postoperative Endophthalmitis Caused by Staphylococcus haemolyticus following Femtosecond Cataract Surgery
Authors: Wong Margaret , Baumrind Benjamin R. , Frank James H. , Halpern Robert L.
Published: December 2015

A 53-year-old Caucasian man underwent femtosecond cataract surgery and then presented with pain and hand motions vision 1 day following surgery. Anterior segment examination showed a 2-mm-layered hypopyon, a well-centered intraocular lens in the sulcus, and an obscured view to the fundus. B-scan ultrasonography showed significant vitritis and that the retina was attached. A tap and an injection of vancomycin 1 mg per 0.1 ml and of ceftazidime 2.25 mg per 0.1 ml were performed. The tap eventually yielded culture results positive for Staphylococcus haemolyticus, which was sensitive to vancomycin. We report a case of endophthalmitis that occurred on postoperative day 1 following complicated cataract surgery. This is an uncommon bacterium that is not widely reported in the literature as a cause of endophthalmitis in the postoperative period. We urge clinicians to consider S. haemolyticus as an offending agent, especially when the infection presents very early and aggressively in the postoperative period.
Diagnostic Accuracy and Impact on Management of Ultrasonography-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration to Detect Axillary Metastasis in Breast Cancer Patients: A Prospective Study
Authors: Diaz-Ruiz María Jesús , Arnau Anna , Montesinos Jesus , Miguel Ana , Culell Pere , Solernou Lluis , Tortajada Lidia , Vergara Carmen , Yanguas Carlos , Salvador-Tarrasón Rafael
Published: December 2015

Background: The axillary nodal status is essential to determine the stage of disease at diagnosis. Our aim was to prospectively assess the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration (US-FNA) for the detection of metastasis in axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer (BC) and its impact on the therapeutic decision. Materials and Methods: Ultrasonography (US) was performed in 407 axillae of 396 patients who subsequently underwent surgery. US-FNA was conducted when lymph nodes were detected by US. Axillary dissection (AD) was performed when US-FNA was positive for metastasis. Patients with negative US-FNA and breast tumors of 30 mm in size were candidates for selective sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). The anatomopathological results of AD or SLNB were used as reference tests. Results: Lymph nodes were detected by US in 207 (50.8%) axillae. Of these, US-FNA was performed on 180 (86.9%). 94 axillae (52.2%) were positive for carcinoma and 79 women received AD. US-FNA had 77.5% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predictive value, 69.3% negative predictive value, and 85.1% diagnostic accuracy. US-FNA avoided SLNB in 18.1% of patients who underwent AD. Conclusions: Axillary US-FNA is an accurate technique in the staging of patients with BC. It allows reducing the number of SLNB and, when positive, offers a fast and useful tool.
The wolf spider Pardosa milvina detects predator threat level using only vibratory cues
Authors: Sitvarin Michael I. , Gordon Shira D. , Uetz George W. , Rypstra Ann L.
Published: December 2015

Predators may inadvertently signal their presence and threat level by way of signals in multiple modalities. We used a spider, Pardosa milvina, known to respond adaptively to chemotactile predator cues (i.e., silk, faeces and other excreta) to evaluate whether it could also discriminate predation risk from isolated vibratory cues. Vibrations from its prey, conspecifics, and predators (Tigrosa helluo and Scarites quadriceps) were recorded and played back to Pardosa. In addition, we recorded predator vibrations with and without access to chemotactile cues from Pardosa, indicating the presence of prey. Pardosa did not appear to discriminate between vibrations from prey or conspecifics, but the response to predators depended on the presence of cues from Pardosa. Vibrations from predators with access to chemotactile cues from prey induced reductions in Pardosa activity. Predator cues typically occur in multiple modalities, but prey are capable of imperfectly evaluating predation risk using a limited subset of information.
Deep-sea spider crabs of the genus Oxypleurodon Miers, 1885 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Majoidea, Epialtidae), from the Nan Hai 2014 Cruise in the South China Sea, with a description of a new species
Authors: Lee B. Y. , Corbari L. , Richer de Forges B.
Published: December 2015

During a recent expedition in the South China Sea, three species of the deep-sea epialtid genusOxypleurodonMiers, 1885 were collected. Two species,O. stimpsoniMiers, 1886, andO. auritum(Rathbun, 1916), are new records for the area. The third species, one of the largest knownOxypleurodonspecies, is described here as new. It is most similar toO. luzonicum(Rathbun, 1916) andO. sanctaeclausiRicher de Forges & Ng, 2009, in possessing a rounded cardiac plate, but can be separated by the structures of the branchial and pseudorostral spines.
Problems with the use of liposome- and retrovirus-mediated gene transfer methods in the primary lymphoid cells of the Oka organs of the greasyback shrimp, Metapenaeus ensis (De Haan, 1844)
Authors: Han Qian , Dong Dandan , Zhang Xiaojuan , Liang Cuicui , Lu Qiongxuan , Guo Huarong
Published: December 2015

In this study, both liposome- and retrovirus-mediated gene transfer methods were examined for their potential to transfer and express two retroviral vectors containing the mouse c-Myc or the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene into the primary lymphoid cell cultures (OKA) derived from “Oka” organs (= organs of the lymphoid system) of the greasyback shrimp Metapenaeus ensis (De Haan, 1844). It was found that the c-Myc gene could be delivered into OKA cells by the liposome-mediated method, but the introduced c-Myc gene could not be effectively transcribed into mRNA. In contrast, the pantropic retrovirus-mediated method failed to introduce the c-Myc gene into OKA cells, and GFP was not detected in the transformed cells, either. This work inferred two problems for the use of the two above-mentioned gene transfer methods in the non-dividing OKA cells: (1) the viral promoter of long terminal repeats (LTRs) had low activity in shrimp cells; (2) the pantropic retrovirus-mediated gene transfer system had a low tropism to shrimp lymphoid cells.
When was the Second Temple Destroyed? Chronology and Ideology in Josephus and in Rabbinic Literature
Authors: Shahar Meir Ben
Published: December 2015

Jewish tradition holds that both the first and second Jerusalem temples were destroyed on the 9th of Av (m. Taʿan. 4:6). According to Josephus both temples were destroyed on the 10th of Av (J.W. 6.250). Although Josephus proffers an elaborately detailed chronology of the temple’s final days, an attentive reading reveals that he in fact delayed the destruction of the temple by one day. Ideological motives impelled Josephus to defer the date of the destruction of the Second Temple to the date he had for the destruction of the First Temple (the 10th of Av). He proposes an analogy between the two in support of his position that God was punishing the rebels for their sins. Finally, the article suggests that the Jewish tradition that establishes the 9th of Av as the date for the destruction of both temples, derives from a mythical conception of history.
“India” in Early Jewish Literature
Authors: van der Horst Pieter W.
Published: December 2015

Several Jewish sources from late antiquity use the name India for what is patently not the country on the Asian subcontinent we call India today. In the light of Graeco-Roman usage in sources of the same period it becomes clear that the country meant is either Ethiopia or (a part of) Arabia.
Borrowing, Character Weighting, and Preliminary Cluster Analysis in a Phylogenetic Analysis of the Ancient Greek Dialects
Authors: Skelton Christina Michelle
Published: December 2015

Phylogenetic systematics is an increasingly popular tool in historical linguistics for reconstructing the evolutionary histories of groups of languages. One problem in applying phylogenetic methods to languages is that phylogenetic methods assume evolution takes place strictly by descent with modification, whereas borrowing between languages is common. This paper tests two different methods for addressing borrowing in phylogenetic analysis of language on a dataset representing the dialects of ancient Greek: character weighting and preliminary cluster analysis. Both methods show promise; they correctly recovered the subgrouping of the Greek dialects and were able to improve the resolution of the tree compared to the preliminary analysis. However, they recovered conflicting subgroupings of the West Greek dialects. This result is most likely due to a circular dialect continuum within West Greek. Using phylogenetic methods in situations which match their assumptions is crucial; for the West Greek dialects, phylogenetic network methods would be more appropriate.
The Genitive-Accusative of the Personal Pronouns in Old Church Slavonic
Authors: Weiss Michael
Published: December 2015

In those Slavic languages that retain both a case system and clitic pronominal forms two case-related phenomena partially overlap: (1) Masculine animate nouns and gendered pronouns display differential object marking with sensitivity to the animacy hierarchy. Some subset of these forms with the highest score on the animacy hierarchy show the original genitive form instead of the expected accusative in contexts that otherwise call for that case, the so-called genitive-accusative. (2) Personal pronouns also show instances of the genitive for the accusative but with important differences. In languages with a clitic~stressed contrast for oblique pronominals the accusative forms generally are continued as clitics and the genitive forms as stressed. It is unlikely that the nominal and personal-pronominal gen.-acc. are unrelated. On the other hand, the case choice for nouns and gendered pronouns is sensitive to the animacy hierarchy, but for the personal pronouns the choice between genitive and accusative is phono-semantic. Whatever semantic structure evokes the stressed forms leads to the production of the gen.-acc. I suggest that gen.-acc. began with o-stem masculine personal names, the most prototypical expression of the semantic class [+human, +male, +free, +definite] and was extended to the interrogative pronoun (gen.-acc. kogo). The interrogative pronoun had just those properties that allowed the remapping of an animacy hierarchy into a tonicity distinction.
Drop-in sessions as an effective format for teaching information literacy:
Authors: Funnell Paula
Published: December 2015

Information literacy (IL) skills are increasingly becoming acknowledged as vital lifelong skills, necessary to thrive in education, research and the workplace. IL is taught in a variety of formats in higher education. The purpose of this study is to examine the use of drop-in sessions as an effective format to meet the need for ongoing IL teaching. Although research has previously been carried out on various formats of IL teaching, there is little research specifically investigating the effectiveness of drop-in sessions. This study aims to add to the current body of knowledge by examining the experience of providing drop-in IL sessions at the Medical and Dental Libraries at Queen Mary University of London. These sessions have now been running for five years and data has been gathered from attendance statistics, evaluation forms and follow-up questionnaires in order to evaluate their effectiveness for teaching IL skills. The study shows that drop-in sessions can provide the desired one-to-one, personalised, hands-on teaching, delivered in an informal environment. Good attendance figures, high levels of satisfaction and the perceived positive impact on IL skills demonstrate that drop-in sessions can be used as an effective format for IL teaching. The study provides evidence of good practice for those looking at how best to provide ongoing IL teaching.
Using connectivism to guide information literacy instruction with tablets
Authors: Wilcox Brooks Andrea
Published: December 2015

Connectivism provides a lens for librarians to design meaningful information literacy (IL) instruction because it integrates student learning with the digital age and with the constantly-evolving nature of information. The purpose of this paper is to extend the discussion on connectivism and IL to the use of tablet devices. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are popular on college campuses and are gaining ground as an educational tool. However, prior to implementing new technology in the classroom, educators should be able to explain the instructional purpose of the technology and how it will enhance or enable learning. This article presents an overview of connectivist theory, the theory’s relationship to IL, and the use of tablets during instruction. The author provides examples of a connectivist approach to IL instruction that incorporates the use of iPads.
Volutellonectria (Ascomycota, Fungi), a new genus with Volutella anamorphs

Authors: LUO JING , ZHUANG WEN-YING
Published: December 2015

A new genus, Volutellonectria with Volutella anamorphs is established, based on and typified by Cosmospora consors. It is characterized by small, red perithecia which may collapse laterally when dry, a Cosmospora-like perithecial wall structure, clavate asci with an apical ring, fusiform ascospores with smooth surface, and growing on decaying plant debris or woody substrates. Two new species are added to the new genus and described as Volutellonectria asiana and V. ciliata. Phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS and 28S partial) strongly support the separation of Volutellonectria from Cosmospora and some other species with Volutella anamorphs in Nectriaceae, as well as recognition of the new species.
Ligustrum sinense var. chayuense, a new combination of Chinese Oleaceae

Authors: DENG YUN-FEI , XU BING-QIANG
Published: December 2015

Ligustrum L. (Oleaceae) is a genus of erect, deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes forming small or medium-sized trees. It comprises about fourty species and is distributed in Asia, Europe and Australia (Chang & Miau 1986, Chang et al. 1996, Qin 2009). The genus was recently studied by Qin (2009) with 23 species recognized in China.
Checklist of diatoms (Bacillariophyta) from Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa (Macedonia), and their watersheds
Authors: LEVKOV ZLATKO , WILLIAMS DAVID M.
Published: December 2015

A century of diatom research on Lakes Ohrid and Prespa (Macedonia) has yielded 900 different taxonomic entities including species, varieties and unidentified species. This checklist is based on a comprehensive compilation of diatom names sourced from all available published data. The intention is to provide a basis for future diatom research on these diverse ancient lakes and their watersheds. The checklist is organized around the classification in Round et al. (1990), with a few minor modifications.