bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EOLE
Authors: Perais Arthur , Seznec André
Published: October 2014

Even in the multicore era, there is a continuous demand to increase the performance of single-threaded applications. However, the conventional path of increasing both issue width and instruction window size inevitably leads to the power wall. Value prediction (VP) was proposed in the mid 90's as an alternative path to further enhance the performance of wide-issue superscalar processors. Still, it was considered up to recently that a performance-effective implementation of Value Prediction would add tremendous complexity and power consumption in almost every stage of the pipeline

Nonetheless, recent work in the field of VP has shown that given an efficient confidence estimation mechanism, prediction validation could be removed from the out-of-order engine and delayed until commit time. As a result, recovering from mispredictions via selective replay can be avoided and a much simpler mechanism -- pipeline squashing -- can be used, while the out-of-order engine remains mostly unmodified.

Yet, VP and validation at commit time entails strong constraints on the Physical Register File. Write ports are needed to write predicted results and read ports are needed in order to validate them at commit time, potentially rendering the overall number of ports unbearable. Fortunately, VP also implies that many single-cycle ALU instructions have their operands predicted in the front-end and can be executed in-place, in-order. Similarly, the execution of single-cycle instructions whose result has been predicted can be delayed until commit time since predictions are validated at commit time

Consequently, a significant number of instructions -- 10% to 60% in our experiments -- can bypass the out-of-order engine, allowing the reduction of the issue width, which is a major contributor to both out-of-order engine complexity and register file port requirement. This reduction paves the way for a truly practical implementation of Value Prediction. Furthermore, since Value Prediction in itself usually increases performance, our resulting {Early | Out-of-Order | Late} Execution architecture, EOLE, is often more efficient than a baseline VP-augmented 6-issue superscalar while having a significantly narrower 4-issue out-of-order engine
Improving the energy efficiency of big cores
Authors: Czechowski Kenneth , Lee Victor W. , Grochowski Ed , Ronen Ronny , Singhal Ronak , Vuduc Richard , Dubey Pradeep
Published: October 2014

Traditionally, architectural innovations designed to boost single-threaded performance incur overhead costs which significantly increase power consumption. In many cases the increase in power exceeds the improvement in performance, resulting in a net increase in energy consumption. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that modern attempts to improve singlethreaded performance will have a negative impact on energy efficiency. This has led to the belief that "Big Cores" are inherently inefficient. To the contrary, we present a study which finds that the increased complexity of the core microarchitecture in recent generations of the IntelR Core™ processor have reduced both the time and energy required to run various workloads. Moreover, taking out the impact of process technology changes, our study still finds the architecture and microarchitecture changes ---such as the increase in SIMD width, addition of the frontend caches, and the enhancement to the out-of-order execution engine--- account for 1.2x improvement in energy efficiency for these processors. This paper provides real-world examples of how architectural innovations can mitigate inefficiencies associated with "Big Cores" ---for example, micro-op caches obviate the costly decode of complex x86 instructions--- resulting in a core architecture that is both high performance and energy efficient. It also contributes to the understanding of how microarchitecture affects performance, power and energy efficiency by modeling the relationship between them
General-purpose code acceleration with limited-precision analog computation
Authors: St. Amant Renée , Yazdanbakhsh Amir , Park Jongse , Thwaites Bradley , Esmaeilzadeh Hadi , Hassibi Arjang , Ceze Luis , Burger Doug
Published: October 2014

As improvements in per-transistor speed and energy efficiency diminish, radical departures from conventional approaches are becoming critical to improving the performance and energy efficiency of general-purpose processors. We propose a solution--from circuit to compiler-that enables general-purpose use of limited-precision, analog hardwareto accelerate "approximable" code---code that can tolerate imprecise execution. We utilize an algorithmic transformation that automatically converts approximable regions of code from a von Neumann model to an "analog" neural model. We outline the challenges of taking an analog approach, including restricted-range value encoding, limited precision in computation, circuit inaccuracies, noise, and constraints on supported topologies. We address these limitations with a combination of circuit techniques, a hardware/software interface, neuralnetwork training techniques, and compiler support. Analog neural acceleration provides whole application speedup of 3.7x and energy savings of 6.3x with quality loss less than 10% for all except one benchmark. These results show that using limited-precision analog circuits for code acceleration, through a neural approach, is both feasible and beneficial over a range of approximation-tolerant, emerging applications including financial analysis, signal processing, robotics, 3D gaming, compression, and image processing
The Archaeology of Ethnogenesis
Authors: Weik T.M.
Published: October 2014

Over more than a century, a growing body of books, articles, and dissertations has emerged that can now be recognized as part of the archaeology of ethnogenesis. Regardless of whether this work concerns people in the far reaches of antiquity or the more recent past, archaeologists are grappling with a variety of social forces, historical processes, contexts, and dimensions of social identity making. As with much contemporary anthropological social theory, prevalent themes include politics and economics as well as specific topics such as colonialism, frontiers, ethnonymy, persistence, nativism, migration, instrumentalism, slavery, and religion. There are few major regions of the world where archaeologists have not applied ethnicity or ethnogenesis theories. Although many archaeologists' attitudes toward investigating these forms of social identity involve skepticism or ambivalence, there is growing support. For similar and different reasons, native and descendent communities share this range of opinions about ethnogenetic research.
World Anthropologies: Anthropological Cosmopolitanisms and Cosmopolitics
Authors: Lins Ribeiro Gustavo
Published: October 2014

To present the world anthropologies project (WA), this article explores the existence of three kinds of anthropological cosmopolitanisms and cosmopolitics: imperial, liberal, and radical. Imperial cosmopolitics reproduces the hegemony of the Anglo-American core in the world system of anthropological production. Liberal cosmopolitics is a step ahead but naturalizes the West's prominent place in the global production of knowledge. Radical cosmopolitics is currently epitomized by the WA. It problematizes Anglo-American centrality and criticizes Eurocentrism. The WA is a hybrid of diverse theoretical and political debates. It has important singularities: It is not located in the discipline's center, and it is a political critique of and action against the existing global anthropological hierarchy. Critical transnationalism and cosmopolitanism are sources of inspiration for the WA. The WA believes that anthropologists can take advantage of globalization's heterodox opportunities to go beyond metropolitan provincialism, to improve the conditions of conversability, and to benefit from the diversity of anthropologies and from the resulting heteroglossic cross-fertilizations.
Optimization of Biosorptive Removal of Dye from Aqueous System by Cone Shell of Calabrian Pine
Authors: Deniz Fatih
Published: October 2014

The biosorption performance of raw cone shell of Calabrian pine for C.I. Basic Red 46 as a model azo dye from aqueous system was optimized using Taguchi experimental design methodology. L9(33) orthogonal array was used to optimize the dye biosorption by the pine cone shell. The selected factors and their levels were biosorbent particle size, dye concentration, and contact time. The predicted dye biosorption capacity for the pine cone shell from Taguchi design was obtained as 71.770 mg g−1under optimized biosorption conditions. This experimental design provided reasonable predictive performance of dye biosorption by the biosorbent (R2: 0.9961). Langmuir model fitted better to the biosorption equilibrium data than Freundlich model. This displayed the monolayer coverage of dye molecules on the biosorbent surface. Dubinin-Radushkevich model and the standard Gibbs free energy change proposed physical biosorption for predominant mechanism. The logistic function presented the best fit to the data of biosorption kinetics. The kinetic parameters reflecting biosorption performance were also evaluated. The optimization study revealed that the pine cone shell can be an effective and economically feasible biosorbent for the removal of dye.
The Influence of Topography on East African October to December Climate: Sensitivity Experiments with RegCM4
Authors: Ogwang Bob Alex , Chen Haishan , Li Xing , Gao Chujie
Published: October 2014

The influence of topography on east African climate is investigated using the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Regional Climate Model, with focus on October to December season. Results show that the mean rainfall (temperature) significantly reduces (increases) over the region when topography elevation is reduced. Based on the model, when topography over the selected region (KTU) is reduced to 25%, the mean rainfall (temperature) over east Africa is reduced (increased) by about 19% (1.4°C). The maximum rainfall (temperature) reduction (increase) is however observed around the region over which topography is reduced. The reduction in topography elevation resulted in an anomalous moisture divergence at low level and descending motion over the region. KTU topography enhances the surface heat flux over KTU region and tends to enhance convection over both KTU and the east African region. The topography also helps in the generation of the high frequency mesoscale and subsynoptic disturbances over the region. These disturbances produce precipitation over the region and may also enhance precipitation systems over remote areas due to propagation of the disturbances. The magnitude of the zonal wind speed at 850 hpa increases with the decrease in topography elevation.
Identification and Evaluation of Strain B37 ofBacillus subtilisAntagonistic to Sapstain Fungi on Poplar Wood
Authors: Zhang XiaoHua , Zhao GuiHua , Li DeWei , Li ShunPeng , Hong Qing
Published: October 2014

Devaluation of poplar products by sapstain accounts for huge and unpredictable losses each year in China. We had isolated four poplar sapstain fungi,Ceratocystis adiposaHz91,Lasiodiplodia theobromaeYM0737,L. theobromaeFx46, andFusariumsp. YM05, from five poplar varieties and 13 antagonistic bacteria from nine diverse varieties. After being experimented with agar plates, wood chips, and enzyme activities, strain B37 was identified as the best poplar sapstain biocontrol bacterium. The strain B37 was identified asBacillus subtilisusing sequences of the 16S rRNA gene, physiological biochemical, and morphological characteristics.
Analysis of Factors Influencing Telephone Call Response Rate in an Epidemiological Study
Authors: Matías-Guiu Jorge , Serrano-Castro Pedro Jesús , Mauri-Llerda José Ángel , Hernández-Ramos Francisco José , Sánchez-Alvarez Juan Carlos , Sanz Marisa
Published: October 2014

Descriptive epidemiology research involves collecting data from large numbers of subjects. Obtaining these data requires approaches designed to achieve maximum participation or response rates among respondents possessing the desired information. We analyze participation and response rates in a population-based epidemiological study though a telephone survey and identify factors implicated in consenting to participate. Rates found exceeded those reported in the literature and they were higher for afternoon calls than for morning calls. Women and subjects older than 40 years were the most likely to answer the telephone. The study identified geographical differences, with higher RRs in districts in southern Spain that are not considered urbanized. This information may be helpful for designing more efficient community epidemiology projects.
Accurate Object Recognition with Assembling Appearance and Motion Information
Authors: Chang Yongxin , Yu Huapeng , Xu Zhiyong , Zhang Jing , Gao Chunming
Published: October 2014

How to effectively detect object and accurately give out its visible parts is a major challenge for object detection. In this paper we propose an explicit occlusion model through integrating appearance and motion information. The model combines together two parts: part‐level object detection with single frame and object occlusion estimation with continuous frames. It breaks through the performance bottleneck caused by lack of information and effectively improves object detection rate under severe occlusion. Through reevaluating the semantic parts, the detecting performance of partial object detectors is largely enhanced. The explicit model enables the partial detectors to have the capability of occlusion estimation. By discarding the geometric representation in rigid single‐angle perspective and applying effective pattern of objective shape, our proposed approaches greatly improve the performance and robustness of similarity measurement. For validating the performance of proposed methods, we designed a comparative experiment on challenging pedestrian frame sequences database. The experimental results on challenging pedestrian frame sequence demonstrate that, compared to the traditional algorithms, the methods proposed in this paper have significantly improved the detection rate for severe occlusion. Furthermore, it also can achieve better localization of semantic parts and estimation of occluding.
Magnolin Protects against Contrast-Induced Nephropathy in Rats via Antioxidation and Antiapoptosis
Authors: Wang Feng , Zhang Guangyuan , Zhou Yang , Gui Dingkun , Li Junhui , Xing Tao , Wang Niansong
Published: October 2014

Background. Magnolin is the major active ingredient of the herbMagnolia fargesiiwhich has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. Oxidative stress and apoptosis are involved in the pathogenesis of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). We hypothesize that Magnolin could protect against CIN through antioxidative and antiapoptotic properties.Methods. To test whether Magnolin could attenuate CIN, oxidative stress and apoptosis,in vivoandin vitro, we utilized a rat model of ioversol-induced CIN and a cell model of oxidative stress in which HK2 cells were treated with H2O2. Rats were assigned to 4 groups (n=6per group): control group, ioversol group (ioversol-induced CIN), vehicle group (CIN rats pretreated with vehicle), and Magnolin group (CIN rats pretreated with 1 mg/kg Magnolin).Results. The results showed that magnolin ameliorated the renal tubular necrosis, apoptosis, and the deterioration of renal function (P<0.05). Furthermore, Magnolin reduced the renal oxidative stress, suppressed caspase-3 activity, and increased Bcl-2 expressionin vivoandin vitro.Conclusion. Magnolin might protect CIN in rats through antioxidation and antiapoptosis.
Effects of Quinizarin and Five Synthesized Derivatives on Fifth Larval Instar Midgut Ecdysone 20-Monooxygenase Activity of the Tobacco HornwormManduca sexta
Authors: Drummond Christopher A. , Molina Maria Teresa , Taliansky Sandra , Breidenbach Carl R. , Fioravanti Carmen F.
Published: October 2014

The plant allelochemical, quinizarin (1,4-dihydroxy-9,10-anthraquinone), and five anthraquinones that were synthesized from quinizarin, namely, 1,4-anthraquinone; 2-hydroxy-1,4-anthraquinone; 2-methoxy-1,4-anthraquinone; 9-hydroxy-1,4-anthraquinone; and 9-methoxy-1,4-anthraquinone, were assessed as to their effects on the essential, P450-dependent ecdysone 20-monooxygenase system of the insect modelManduca sexta(tobacco hornworm). This steroid hydroxylase converts the arthropod molting hormone, ecdysone, to the physiologically required 20-hydroxyecdysone form.M. sextafifth larval instar midgut homogenates were incubated with increasing concentrations (10−8to 10−3 M) of each of the six anthraquinones followed by ecdysone 20-monooxygenase assessments using a radioenzymological assay. Four of the five anthraquinones exhibitedI50’s of about4×10-6to6×10-2 M. The most effective inhibitors were 2-methoxy-1,4-anthraquinone and 1,4-anthraquinone followed by 9-hydroxy-1,4 anthraquinone and 9-methoxy-1,4-anthraquinone. At lower concentrations the latter anthraquinone stimulated E20M activity. Quinizarin was less inhibitory and 2-hydroxy-1,4-anthraquinone was essentially without effect. Significantly, these studies make evident for the first time that anthraquinones can affect insect E20M activity, and thus insect endocrine regulation and development, and that a relationship between anthraquinone structure and effectiveness is apparent. These studies represent the first demonstrations of anthraquinones affecting any steroid hydroxylase system.
Comparison of Two Techniques for the Detection of Flea Faeces in Canine and Feline Coat Brushings
Authors: Cadiergues Marie-Christine , Cabaret-Mandin Caroline , Solatges Chloé
Published: October 2014

Flea infestation is diagnosed after the detection of either adult parasites or flea faeces in the fur. The latter is generally tested with the wet blotting paper technique (WBPT). However, microscopical examination (MT) of the coat brushing material is sometimes suggested as an alternative. This study aimed to compare the efficiency of the two techniques. In dogs, the entire body was hand-brushed and cats were combed. One half of the collected material was mounted in liquid paraffin on a glass slide and examined microscopically at low magnification. The second half was placed on a blotting paper and sterile water was added. After drying, reddish aureoles were counted. 255 animals (158 dogs and 97 cats) were included. 119 (47%) and 94 (37%) samples were revealed to be positive with WBPT and MT, respectively. 13 cases (5%) were positive with MT only and 38 cases (15%) were positive with WBPT only. 81 cases (32%) were positive and 123 (48%) were negative with both techniques. More positive cases were detected by WBPT than MT(P<0.001). Amongst the 51 samples which were found positive with a sole technique, infestation was considered low in 43 cases and WBPT detected significantly more positive samples (31) than MT (12),P<0.01.
A Greedy Multistage Convex Relaxation Algorithm Applied to Structured Group Sparse Reconstruction Problems Based on Iterative Support Detection
Authors: He Liangtian , Wang Yilun
Published: October 2014

We propose a new effective algorithm for recovering a group sparse signal from very limited observations or measured data. As we know that a better reconstruction quality can be achieved when encoding more structural information besides sparsity, the commonly employed ‐regularization incorporating the prior grouping information has a better performance than the plain ‐regularized models as expected. In this paper we make a further use of the prior grouping information as well as possibly other prior information by considering a weighted model. Specifically, we propose a multistage convex relaxation procedure to alternatively estimate weights and solve the resulted weighted problem. The procedure of estimating weights makes better use of the prior grouping information and is implemented based on the iterative support detection (Wang and Yin, 2010). Comprehensive numerical experiments show that our approach brings significant recovery enhancements compared with the plain model, solved via the alternating direction method (ADM) (Deng et al., 2013), either in noiseless or in noisy environments.
An Option of Conservative Management of a Duodenal Injury Following Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy
Authors: Modi MA , Deolekar SS , Gvalani AK
Published: October 2014

Duodenal injury following laparoscopic cholecystectomy is rare complications with catastrophic sequelae. Most injuries are attributed to thermal burns with electrocautery following adhesiolysis and have a delayed presentation requiring surgical intervention. We present a case of a 47-year-old gentleman operated on for laparoscopic cholecystectomy with a bilious drain postoperatively; for which an ERC was done showing choledocholithiasis with cystic duct stump blow-out and a drain in the duodenum suggestive of an iatrogenic duodenal injury. He was managed conservatively like a duodenal fistula and recovered without undergoing any intervention.
Antidiabetic Activity ofPterospermum acerifoliumFlowers and Glucose Uptake Potential of Bioactive Fraction in L6 Muscle Cell Lines with Its HPLC Fingerprint
Authors: Paramaguru Rathinavelusamy , Mazumder Papiya Mitra , Sasmal Dinakar , Jayaprakash Venkatesan
Published: October 2014

The present study was designed to estimate the detailed antidiabetic activity ofPterospermum acerifolium(L.) Willd flowers.In vitroalpha amylase inhibition study was carried out on 50% ethanol extract of flowers (PAFEE) and its various fractions. The active ethyl acetate fraction (PAFEF) was subfractionated into three subfractions (PAFE1, PAFE2, and PAFE3) and subjected to acute toxicity studies followed by antidiabetic screeningin vivoby streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced type II diabetes. Diabetic animals treated with PAFE2 (30 mg/kg) reduced the levels of fasting blood glucose, significantly (P<0.001) compared to that of diabetic control animals. Histological studies on drug treated groups did not show remarkable positive changes inβ-cells. PAFE2 showed32.6±1.93% glucose uptake over control and, in the presence of PI3K inhibitor wortmannin, declined to13.7±2.51%. HPLC analysis of PAFE2 reveals the presence of quercetin and apigenin as major constituents and both are inhibiting the glycogen phosphorylase enzyme in molecular modelling studies. The study evidenced strongly that the probable glucose lowering mechanism of action of active subfraction PAFE2 is by increasing the glucose uptake in peripheral tissues and by inhibition of gluconeogenesis.
Study of Hematological Parameters in Children Suffering from Iron Deficiency Anaemia in Chattagram Maa-o-Shishu General Hospital, Chittagong, Bangladesh
Authors: Mohammed Mujib Abu Syed , Mohammad Mahmud Abu Sayeed , Halder Milton , Monirul Hasan Chowdhury Mohammad
Published: October 2014

A total of 150 (30.61%) anemic patients out of 490 patients diagnosed to have iron deficiency anemia (IDA) have been selected for the first time in Bangladesh. For detailed study, blood samples from 150 anemic patients along with 25 controls were analyzed. Analysis of variance showed significantPvalue between mean platelet volume (MPV) in females (8.08 μm3) and males (7.59 μm3) (P<0.05) in iron deficiency anemia patients. Besides, the value of white blood cells (WBC) in males (10946.08/cmm) was significantly higher than in females (9470.833/cmm) (P<0.05). The significant correlation was observed among hemoglobin levels with hematocrits, hemoglobin with RBC, RBC with hematocrits, and MCV with MCH as well as MCH with MCHC. However, the negative correlation was observed between the hematological variables neutrophils and lymphocytes (r=-0.989). The common complaints we have found in the survey were weight loss 73.33%, attention problem 68%, dyspepsia 65%, decrease of appetite 72%, weakness 68%, diarrhea 65%, and headache 55% among IDA patients. ANOVA showed significant statistical difference in all the hematological and biochemical parameters. Analysis of variance test between anemias with only one of three biochemical parameters decreased and control showed that this group does not have iron deficiency.
Security Threat Assessment of an Internet Security System Using Attack Tree and Vague Sets
Authors: Chang Kuei-Hu
Published: October 2014

Security threat assessment of the Internet security system has become a greater concern in recent years because of the progress and diversification of information technology. Traditionally, the failure probabilities of bottom events of an Internet security system are treated as exact values when the failure probability of the entire system is estimated. However, security threat assessment when the malfunction data of the system’s elementary event are incomplete—the traditional approach for calculating reliability—is no longer applicable. Moreover, it does not consider the failure probability of the bottom events suffered in the attack, which may bias conclusions. In order to effectively solve the problem above, this paper proposes a novel technique, integrating attack tree and vague sets for security threat assessment. For verification of the proposed approach, a numerical example of an Internet security system security threat assessment is adopted in this paper. The result of the proposed method is compared with the listing approaches of security threat assessment methods.
Effect of CPP/ACP on Initial Bioadhesion to Enamel and DentinIn Situ
Authors: Grychtol Susann , Basche Sabine , Hannig Matthias , Hannig Christian
Published: October 2014

The presentin situstudy investigated the influence of a preparation containing CPP/ACP (caseinphosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate) (GC Tooth mousse) on initial bacterial colonization of enamel and dentin. Therefore, pellicle formation was performedin situon bovine enamel and dentin specimens fixed to individual upper jaw splints worn by 8 subjects. After 1 min of pellicle formation GC Tooth mousse was used according to manufacturer’s recommendations. Rinses with chlorhexidine served as positive controls. Specimens carried without any rinse served as negative controls. After 8 h overnight exposure of the splints, bacterial colonization was quantified by fluorescence microscopy (DAPI and BacLight live/dead staining). Additionally, the colony forming units (CFU) were determined after desorption. Furthermore, the effects onStreptococcus mutansbacteria were testedin vitro(BacLight). There was no significant impact of CPP/ACP on initial bacterial colonization proved with DAPI and BacLight. Determination of CFU showed statistical significance for CPP/ACP to reduce bacterial adherence on enamel. Thein vitroinvestigation indicated no antimicrobial effects for CPP/ACP onStreptococcus mutanssuspension. Under the chosen conditions, CPP/ACP (GC Tooth mousse) had no significant impact on initial biofilm formation on dental hard tissues. The tested preparation cannot be recommended for biofilm management.
Classification Identification of Acoustic Emission Signals from Underground Metal Mine Rock by ICIMF Classifier
Authors: Zuo Hongyan , Luo Zhouquan , Wu Chao
Published: October 2014

To overcome the drawback that fuzzy classifier was sensitive to noises and outliers, Mamdani fuzzy classifier based on improved chaos immune algorithm was developed, in which bilateral Gaussian membership function parameters were set as constraint conditions and the indexes of fuzzy classification effectiveness and number of correct samples of fuzzy classification as the subgoal of fitness function. Moreover, Iris database was used for simulation experiment, classification, and recognition of acoustic emission signals and interference signals from stope wall rock of underground metal mines. The results showed that Mamdani fuzzy classifier based on improved chaos immune algorithm could effectively improve the prediction accuracy of classification of data sets with noises and outliers and the classification accuracy of acoustic emission signal and interference signal from stope wall rock of underground metal mines was 90.00%. It was obvious that the improved chaos immune Mamdani fuzzy (ICIMF) classifier was useful for accurate diagnosis of acoustic emission signal and interference signal from stope wall rock of underground metal mines.
Asexual Reproduction in Holothurians
Authors: Dolmatov Igor Yu.
Published: October 2014

Aspects of asexual reproduction in holothurians are discussed. Holothurians are significant as fishery and aquaculture items and have high commercial value. The last review on holothurian asexual reproduction was published 18 years ago and included only 8 species. An analysis of the available literature shows that asexual reproduction has now been confirmed in 16 holothurian species. Five additional species are also most likely capable of fission. The recent discovery of new fissiparous holothurian species indicates that this reproduction mode is more widespread in Holothuroidea than previously believed. New data about the history of the discovery of asexual reproduction in holothurians, features of fission, and regeneration of anterior and posterior fragments are described here. Asexual reproduction is obviously controlled by the integrated systems of the organism, primarily the nervous system. Special molecular mechanisms appear to determine the location where fission occurs along the anterior-posterior axis of the body. Alteration of the connective tissue strength of the body wall may play an important role during fission of holothurians. The basic mechanism of fission is the interaction of matrix metalloproteinases, their inhibitors, and enzymes forming cross-link complexes between fibrils of collagen. The population dynamics of fissiparous holothurians are discussed.
Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Parotid: Extracapsular Dissection Compared with Superficial Parotidectomy—A 10-Year Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Cristofaro Maria Giulia , Allegra Eugenia , Giudice Amerigo , Colangeli Walter , Caruso Davide , Barca Ida , Giudice Mario
Published: October 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the complication rates and effectiveness of extracapsular dissection compared with superficial parotidectomy for pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland from 2002 to 2012. The authors carried out a retrospective cohort study of 198 patients with pleomorphic adenomas of the parotid gland. Extracapsular dissection (ED) or superficial parotidectomy (SP) was performed. The recurrence rate and complications of the two surgical techniques were measured with a univariate analysis of each variable using the appropriate statistical analysis (chi-squared test ort-test). A total of 198 patients were enrolled between January 2003 and December 2012. The study included 97 females (48.99%) and 101 males (51.01%) whose mean age was 50.97 years (range 14–75). The type of surgery performed was ED in 153 patients (77.27%, 80 males and 73 females) and SP in 45 patients (22.73%, 21 males and 24 females). The mean follow-up time was 61.02 +/− 4.9 months for the patients treated with ED and 66.4 +/− 4.5 months for the patients treated with SP. Transient facial nerve injury and facial paralysis were significantly more frequent after SP than after ED (P=0.001andP=0.065, resp.). No significant differences in capsular rupture, recurrence, and salivary fistula were observed after SP or ED: 2.2% versus 3.9%, 2.2% versus 3.3%, and 2.2% versus 0.65%, respectively. Extracapsular dissection may be considered the treatment of choice for pleomorphic adenomas located in the superficial portion of the parotid gland because this technique showed similar effectiveness and fewer side effects than superficial parotidectomy.
Architecture and Application-Aware Management of Complexity of Mapping Multiplication to FPGA DSP Blocks in High Level Synthesis
Authors: Sinha Sharad , Srikanthan Thambipillai
Published: October 2014

Multiplication is a common operation in many applications and there exist various types of multiplication operations. Current high level synthesis (HLS) flows generally treat all multiplication operations equally and indistinguishable from each other leading to inefficient mapping to resources. This paper proposes algorithms for automatically identifying the different types of multiplication operations and investigates the ensemble of these different types of multiplication operations. This distinguishes it from previous works where mapping strategies for an individual type of multiplication operation have been investigated and the type of multiplication operation is assumed to be knowna priori. A new cost model, independent of device and synthesis tools, for establishing priority among different types of multiplication operations for mapping to on-chip DSP blocks is also proposed. This cost model is used by a proposed analysis and priority ordering based mapping strategy targeted at making efficient use of hard DSP blocks on FPGAs while maximizing the operating frequency of designs. Results show that the proposed methodology could result in designs which were at least 2× faster in performance than those generated by commercial HLS tool: Vivado-HLS.
Sodium Bicarbonate Therapy in Patients with Metabolic Acidosis
Authors: Adeva-Andany María M. , Fernández-Fernández Carlos , Mouriño-Bayolo David , Castro-Quintela Elvira , Domínguez-Montero Alberto
Published: October 2014

Metabolic acidosis occurs when a relative accumulation of plasma anions in excess of cations reduces plasma pH. Replacement of sodium bicarbonate to patients with sodium bicarbonate loss due to diarrhea or renal proximal tubular acidosis is useful, but there is no definite evidence that sodium bicarbonate administration to patients with acute metabolic acidosis, including diabetic ketoacidosis, lactic acidosis, septic shock, intraoperative metabolic acidosis, or cardiac arrest, is beneficial regarding clinical outcomes or mortality rate. Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease usually show metabolic acidosis due to increased unmeasured anions and hyperchloremia. It has been suggested that metabolic acidosis might have a negative impact on progression of kidney dysfunction and that sodium bicarbonate administration might attenuate this effect, but further evaluation is required to validate such a renoprotective strategy. Sodium bicarbonate is the predominant buffer used in dialysis fluids and patients on maintenance dialysis are subjected to a load of sodium bicarbonate during the sessions, suffering a transient metabolic alkalosis of variable severity. Side effects associated with sodium bicarbonate therapy include hypercapnia, hypokalemia, ionized hypocalcemia, and QTc interval prolongation. The potential impact of regular sodium bicarbonate therapy on worsening vascular calcifications in patients with chronic kidney disease has been insufficiently investigated.
Hemoglobin Variant (Hemoglobin Aalborg) Mimicking Interstitial Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Panou Vasiliki , Jensen Peter-Diedrich Mathias , Pedersen Jan Freddy , Thomsen Lars Pilegaard , Weinreich Ulla Møller
Published: October 2014

Hemoglobin Aalborg is a moderately unstable hemoglobin variant with no affiliation to serious hematological abnormality or major clinical symptoms under normal circumstances. Our index person was a healthy woman of 58, not previously diagnosed with hemoglobinopathy Aalborg, who developed acute respiratory failure after a routine cholecystectomy. Initially she was suspected of idiopathic interstitial lung disease, yet a series of tests uncovered various abnormal physiological parameters and set the diagnosis of hemoglobinopathy Aalborg. This led us to examine a group of the index person’s relatives known with hemoglobinopathy Aalborg in order to study whether the same physiological abnormalities would be reencountered. They were all subjected to spirometry and body plethysmography, six-minute walking test, pulse oximetry, and arterial blood gas samples before and after the walking test. The entire study population presented the same physiological anomalies: reduction in diffusion capacity, and abnormalities inPaO2and p50 values; the latter could not be presented by the arterial blood gas analyzer; furthermore there was concordance between pulse oximetry and arterial blood gas samples regarding saturation. These data suggest that, based upon the above mentioned anomalies in physiological parameters, the diagnosis of hemoglobinopathy Aalborg should be considered.
Identification of Parton Pairs in a Dijet Event and Investigation of Its Effects on Dijet Resonance Search
Authors: Ozturk Sertac
Published: October 2014

Being able to distinguish parton pair type in a dijet event could significantly improve the search for new particles that are predicted by the theories beyond the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider. To explore whether parton pair types manifesting themselves as a dijet event could be distinguished on an event-by-event basis, I performed a simulation based study considering observable jet variables. I found that using a multivariate approach can filter out about 80% of the other parton pairs while keeping more than half of the quark-quark or gluon-gluon parton pairs in an inclusive QCD dijet distribution. The effects of event-by-event parton pair tagging for dijet resonance searches were also investigated and I found that improvement on signal significance after applying parton pair tagging can reach up to 4 times for gluon-gluon resonances.
Cetacean Presence in the Trincomalee Bay and Adjacent Waters, Sri Lanka
Authors: Nanayakkara Ranil P. , Herath Jayampathi , de Mel Ruvinda K.
Published: October 2014

In Sri Lanka thirty species of cetaceans have been recorded to date. The canyon at Trincomalee bay is a multiple submarine canyon complex and anecdotal reports suggest that the Trincomalee bay and its adjacent waters are utilised by a number of cetacean species. Though Cetaceans are known to be abundant in the waters off Trincomalee there is a dearth of research and data pertaining to the abundance and species frequenting the Trincomalee bay and its adjacent waters. As such the current study was initiated, to get a consensus of the abundance and occurrences of species in Trincomalee Bay and its adjacent waters. Field surveys were carried out for 19 months and the research platform was a 35-foot commercial fishing vessel. 177 cetacean encounters were recorded on 67 of the 75 field days. Remarkably a total of 11 species of cetaceans which composed of two species of Baleen Whales and nine species of Toothed Whales were recorded. Delphinidae was the most common family recorded, followed by Balaenopteridae, Ziphiidae, Physeteridae, and Kogiidae. Spinner Dolphins were the most abundant cetacean owing to the large pods observed and the regularity of the sightings. They were the only species seen feeding/traveling with birds and fish (tuna). Sperm Whales, Blue Whales, and Bryde’s Whales were also relatively common. Two records of interspecific association between cetaceans were recorded. The increase in the human population in the study area has resulted in the overexploitation of marine resources which has dire repercussions on the marine mammal communities found in these waters.
Identification of Endothelial Progenitor Cells in the Corpus Cavernosum in Rats
Authors: Lee Jun Sik , Hwang In Sang , Lee Hyun-Suk , Kim Mi Eun , Seo Young-Woo , Park Kwangsung
Published: October 2014

The vascular wall resident progenitor cells seem to serve as a local reservoir of cells for vascular repair. It was hypothesized that the corpus cavernosum may contain vascular wall endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). In this study, we investigated the identification and localization of EPCs in the corpus cavernosum in a rat model. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to isolate EPCs from corpora cavernosum. To verify the existence and localization of EPCs, EPC-specific markers (CD34, Flk-1, and VE-cadherin) were evaluated by flow cytometric analysis and confocal microscopy. The EPC markers were mainly expressed in the cavernosal sinusoidal endothelial space. EPC-marker-positive cells made up about 3.31% of the corpus cavernosum of normal rat by FACS analysis. As shown by confocal microscopy, CD34+/Flk-1+and CD34+/VE-cadherin+positive cells existed in the corpus cavernosum. Our findings imply that regulation of corpus cavernosal EPCs may be a new therapeutic strategy in the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
SOPROLIFE System: An Accurate Diagnostic Enhancer
Authors: Zeitouny Mona , Feghali Mireille , Nasr Assaad , Abou-Samra Philippe , Saleh Nadine , Bourgeois Denis , Farge Pierre
Published: October 2014

Objectives.The aim of this study was to evaluate a light-emitting diode fluorescence tool, the SOPROLIFE light-induced fluorescence evaluator, and compare it to the international caries detection and assessment system-II (ICDAS-II) in the detection of occlusal caries. Methods. A total of 219 permanent posterior teeth in 21 subjects, with age ranging from 15 to 65 years, were examined. An intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was computed to assess the reliability between the two diagnostic methods.Results.The results showed a high reliability between the two methods (ICC = 0.92; IC = 0.901–0.940;P<0.001). The SOPROLIFE blue fluorescence mode had a high sensitivity (87%) and a high specificity (99%) when compared to ICDAS-II.Conclusion.Compared to the most used visual method in the diagnosis of occlusal caries lesions, the finding from this study suggests that SOPROLIFE can be used as a reproducible and reliable assessment tool. At a cut-off point, categorizing noncarious lesions and visual change in enamel, SOPROLIFE shows a high sensitivity and specificity. We can conclude that financially ICDAS is better than SOPROLIFE. However SOPROLIFE is easier for clinicians since it is a simple evaluation of images. Finally in terms of efficiency SOPROLIFE is not superior to ICDAS but tends to be equivalent with the same advantages.
Mediators of Mast Cells in Bullous Pemphigoid and Dermatitis Herpetiformis
Authors: Zebrowska Agnieszka , Wagrowska-Danilewicz Malgorzata , Danilewicz Marian , Stasikowska-Kanicka Olga , Kulczycka-Siennicka Lilianna , Wozniacka Anna , Waszczykowska Elzbieta
Published: October 2014

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) are skin diseases associated with inflammation. However, few findings exist concerning the role of mast cells in autoimmune blistering disease. Skin biopsies were taken from 27 BP and 14 DH patients, as well as 20 healthy individuals. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify the localization and mast cell expression of TNFαand MMP9 in skin lesions and perilesional skin. The serum concentrations of TNFα, MMP9, chymase, tryptase, PAF, and IL-4 were measured by immunoassay. TNFαand MMP9 expression in the epidermis and in inflammatory influxed cells in the dermis was detected in skin biopsies from patients. Although these mediators were found to be expressed in the perilesional skin of all patients, the level was much lower than that in lesional skin. Increased serum PAF levels were observed in BP patients. Mast cells may play an essential role in activating inflammation, which ultimately contributes to the tissue damage observed in BP and DH. Our findings suggest that differences in the pattern of cytokine expression directly contribute to variations in cellular infiltration in DH and BP.
Multiple Model ILC for Continuous-Time Nonlinear Systems
Authors: Li Xiaoli , Wang Kang , Li Yang
Published: October 2014

Multiple model iterative learning control (MMILC) method is proposed to deal with the continuous-time nonlinear system with uncertain and iteration-varying parameters. In this kind of control strategy, multiple models are established to cover the uncertainty of system; a switching mechanism is used to decide the most appropriate model for system in current iteration. For system operating iteratively in a fixed time interval with uncertain or jumping parameters, this kind of MMILC can improve the transient response and control property greatly. Asymptotical convergence is demonstrated theoretically, and the control effectiveness is illustrated by numerical simulation.
Chemotherapy and Targeted Therapy in Advanced Biliary Tract Carcinoma: A Pooled Analysis of Clinical Trials
Authors: Eckel Florian , Schmid Roland M.
Published: October 2014

Background: In biliary tract cancer, gemcitabine platinum (GP) doublet palliative chemotherapy is the current standard treatment. The aim of this study was to analyze recent trials, even those small and nonrandomized, and identify superior new regimens. Methods: Trials published in English between January 2000 and January 2014 were analyzed, as well as ASCO abstracts from 2010 to 2013. Results: In total, 161 trials comprising 6,337 patients were analyzed. The pooled results of standard therapy GP (no fluoropyrimidine, F, or other drug) were as follows: the median response rate (RR), tumor control rate (TCR), time to tumor progression (TTP) and overall survival (OS) were 25.9 and 63.5%, and 5.3 and 9.5 months, respectively. GFP triplets as well as G-based chemotherapy plus targeted therapy were significantly superior to GP concerning tumor control (TCR, TTP) and OS, with no difference in RR. Conclusion: Triplet combinations of GFP as well as G-based chemotherapy with (predominantly EGFR) targeted therapy are most effective concerning tumor control and survival.
Cerebrovascular Biomarker Profile Is Related to White Matter Disease and Ventricular Dilation in a LADIS Substudy
Authors: Bjerke Maria , Jonsson Michael , Nordlund Arto , Eckerström Carl , Blennow Kaj , Zetterberg Henrik , Pantoni Leonardo , Inzitari Domenico , Schmidt Reinhold , Wallin Anders
Published: October 2014

Background: Small vessel disease (SVD) represents a common often progressive condition in elderly people contributing to cognitive disability. The relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and imaging correlates of SVD was investigated, and the findings were hypothesized to be associated with a neuropsychological profile of SVD. Methods: CSF SVD-related biomarkers [neurofilament light (NF-L), myelin basic protein (MBP), soluble amyloid precursor protein-β (sAPPβ), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)] were analysed in 46 non-demented elderly with imaging findings of SVD. We assessed the relationship between the CSF biomarkers and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume, diffusion-weighted imaging and atrophy as well as their association with neuropsychological profiles. Results: The WMH volume correlated with ventricular dilation, which was associated with executive function and speed and attention. Increased WMH and ventricular dilation were related to increased CSF levels of TIMP-1, NF-L and MBP and to decreased sAPPβ. A positive correlation was found between the CSF biomarker MMP-9 and WMH progression. Conclusions: The link between progressive WMH and MMP-9 suggests an involvement of the enzyme in white matter degeneration. CSF TIMP-1, NF-L, MBP and sAPPβ may function as biological markers of white matter damage.