bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Uncommon antenatal presentation of tuberous sclerosis
Authors: Paleologou Eleni , Nicholl Richard
Published: June 2014

This is a case of a newborn male who was diagnosed in the first month of life with tuberous sclerosis following an incidental ultrasound finding of unilateral ventriculomegaly at 36+6 weeks gestation. The antenatal ultrasound scan at 36+6 weeks was performed to establish fetal lie. Subsequent fetal brain MRI showed lesions that were initially thought to be haemorrhages, but turned out to be features of tuberous sclerosis. The baby also had five cardiac rhabdomyomas and multiple ash leaf macules. This was an unusual presentation of tuberous sclerosis, which on average is diagnosed later (mean age of diagnosis is 5 years). It also illustrates two important points: that subependymal nodules and haemorrhage can have a similar radiological appearance on antenatal MRI and cranial ultrasound and that routine antenatal ultrasound screening will miss the majority of cardiac rhabdomyomas.
Acute three-vessel cervical arterial occlusion due to spontaneous quadruple cervical artery dissection
Authors: Aronov Moisey , Shevchenko Natalia S , Amosova Natalia A , Kotenko Konstantin V
Published: June 2014

Cervical artery dissection (CAD) is one of the most frequent causes (14.5%) of stroke in young adults. Cases with involvement of more than two arteries are rare. Arnoldet aldescribed 11 cases (1.5%) with triple CAD of a reported 740 patients and just a single (0.1%) quadruple case in the same population. Simultaneous dissection of the four principal vessels is extremely rare. According to Papagiannakiet al, the incidence of simultaneous three or four CADs is 1–3/million in the general population. To the best of our knowledge, there are only three published cases of spontaneous quadruple CAD.
Addressing the evidence to practice gap for complex interventions in primary care: a systematic review of reviews protocol
Authors: Lau Rosa , Stevenson Fiona , Ong Bie Nio , Dziedzic Krysia , Eldridge Sandra , Everitt Hazel , Kennedy Anne , Kontopantelis Evangelos , Little Paul , Qureshi Nadeem , Rogers Anne , Treweek Shaun , Peacock Richard , Murray Elizabeth
Published: June 2014

Introduction

Getting the results of research implemented into routine healthcare is often a challenge. The disconnect between the development and implementation of evidence into practice is called the ‘second translational gap’ and is particularly apparent in primary care. To address this gap, we plan to identify, summarise and synthesise currently available evidence by undertaking a systematic review of reviews to: (1) explore barriers and facilitators of implementation of research evidence or complex interventions, and (2) assess the effectiveness of strategies in facilitating implementation of complex interventions in primary care.

Methods and analysis

This is a protocol for a systematic review of reviews. We will search MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsycINFO up until December 2013. We will check reference lists of included studies for further studies. Two authors will independently screen the titles and abstracts identified from the search; any discrepancies will be resolved by discussion and consensus. Full-text papers will be obtained and relevant reviews will be selected against inclusion criteria. Eligible reviews have to be based on predominantly primary care in developed countries and examine either factors to implementation or, the effectiveness of strategies to optimise implementation. Data from eligible reviews will be extracted using standardised data abstraction forms. For barriers and facilitators, data will be synthesised using an interpretative meta-synthesis approach. For implementation strategies, findings will be summarised and described narratively and synthesised using a framework approach. All findings will be reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethical approval is not required. The review findings will inform the work of the design and implementation of future studies and will be of interest to a wide audience including health professionals, researchers, health service or commissioning managers and policymakers.

Trial registration number

Protocol registration number (PROSPERO CRD42014009410).
Effectiveness of the 2005 compulsory personal flotation device (PFD) wearing regulations in reducing drowning deaths among recreational boaters in Victoria, Australia
Authors: Bugeja Lyndal , Cassell Erin , Brodie Lisa R , Walter Simon J
Published: June 2014

Objective

To investigate whether the Victorian mandatory personal flotation device wearing regulations that came into effect on 1 December 2005 reduced drowning deaths among recreational boaters in Victoria, Australia.

Design

A retrospective population-based ‘before and after’ study using Victorian coronial data on drowning deaths of occupants of recreational vessels operating in Victorian waters.

Methods

The annual numbers of deaths in the 5 years after the transition year of the regulations (2005) was compared with the annual numbers of deaths in the 6 years prior to the transition year, using the Mann-Whitney U test.

Results

There were 59 recreational boating drowning deaths in the 6-year preintervention period (1 December 1998 to 30 November 2004) compared with 16 in the 5-year postintervention period (1 December 2005 to 30 November 2010). The analysis showed a significant decrease in drowning deaths among all recreational boaters (U=30.0, p=0.01) and among these strata: vessel occupants aged 0–29 years (U=28.0, p=0.02) and 30–59 years (U=27.5, p=0.02), vessel occupants engaged in pleasure cruising (U=29.0, p=0.01) and in ‘other’ boating activities (U=25.0, p=0.04), boaters on small powerboats ≤4.8 m in length (U=29.5; p=0.01), boaters on motorised (U=29.5; p=0.01) and sail-powered vessels (U=26.0; p=0.04), and occupants of vessels operating in inland waterways (U=30.0; p=0.01).

Conclusions

These findings provide further support for the adoption of a regulatory approach to personal flotation device wearing to reduce drowning among recreational boaters.
Inhibition of HDAC increases the senescence induced by natural polyphenols in glioma cells
Authors: Vargas José E. , Filippi-Chiela Eduardo C. , Suhre Tais , Kipper Franciele C. , Bonatto Diego , Lenz Guido
Published: June 2014

Cellular senescence is an irreversible block of cellular division, and induction of senescence is being considered for treatment of many cancer types, mainly those resistant to classical pro-apoptotic therapies. Resveratrol (Rsv) and quercetin (Quer), two natural polyphenols, are able to induce senescence in different cancer models, including gliomas, the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor. These polyphenols modulate the activity of several proteins involved in cell growth and death in cancer cells, including histone deacetylases (HDAC), but the role of HDAC in senescence induced by Rsv and Quer is unclear. The HDAC inhibitor sodium butyrate (NaB) potentiated the pro-senescent effect of Rsv and Quer in human and rat glioma cell lines but not in normal rat astrocytes. Furthermore, the increment of Quer-induced senescence by NaB was accompanied by an increase of reactive oxygen species levels and an increment of the number of cells with nuclear abnormalities. Altogether, these data support a positive role of HDAC inhibition on the senescence induced by these polyphenols, and therefore co-treatment of HDAC inhibitors and polyphenols emerges as a potential alternative for gliomas.
Theoretical calculation of the low-lying electronic states of the LaH molecule
Authors: Mahmoud Salman , Korek Mahmoud
Published: June 2014

The potential energy curves of the low-lying electronic states of the LaH molecule are reported via the CASSCF method with multireference calculations (single and double excitations with Davidson corrections). Twenty-four low-lying electronic states of the LaH molecule in the representation 2s+1Λ(+/−) below 20 000 cm−1 were investigated along with five lower electronic states in the Ω representation. The harmonic frequency ωe, the equilibrium internuclear distance Re, the rotational constants Be, and the electronic energy with respect to the ground state Te were calculated for these states. Twelve new electronic states are investigated in the present work for the first time that have not yet been observed experimentally. Using the canonical functions approach, the eigenvalues Ev, the rotational constants Bv, the centrifugal distortion constants Dv, and the abscissas of the turning points Rmin and Rmax were calculated for the investigated electronic states up to vibrational level v = 43.
Galaxies as simple dynamical systems: observational data disfavor dark matter and stochastic star formation
Authors: Kroupa Pavel
Published: June 2014

According to modern theory, galactic evolution is driven by the dynamics of dark matter and stochastic star formation, but galaxies are observed to be simple systems. The existence of dark matter particles is a key hypothesis in present-day cosmology and galactic dynamics. Given the large body of high-quality work within the standard model of cosmology (SMoC), the validity of this hypothesis is challenged significantly by two independent arguments: (i) The dual dwarf galaxy theorem must be true in any realistic cosmological model. But the data now available appear to falsify this postulate when the dark-matter-based model is compared with the observational data. A consistency test for this conclusion comes from the significantly anisotropic distributions of satellite galaxies (baryonic mass <108M⊙) that orbit in the same direction around their hosting galaxies in disk-like structures, which cannot be derived from dark matter models. (ii) The action of dynamical friction due to expansive and massive dark matter halos must be evident in the galaxy population. The evidence for dynamical friction is poor or even absent. Indendently of this, the long history of failures of the SMoC have reduced the likelihood that it describes the observed Universe to less than 10−4%. The implication for fundamental physics is that exotic dark matter particles do not exist and that consequently effective gravitational physics on the scales of galaxies and beyond ought to be non-Newtonian and (or) non-Einsteinian. An analysis of the kinematic data in galaxies shows them to be described elegantly in the weak-gravitational regime by scale-invariant dynamics, as discovered by Milgrom. The full classical regime of gravitation is effectively described by Milgromian dynamics. This leads to a natural emergence of the simple laws that galaxies are indeed observed to obey. Such success has not been forthcoming in dark-matter-based models. Observations of stellar populations in galaxies suggest that the galaxy-wide initial mass function varies with star formation rate and that stochastic descriptions of star formation are inconsistent with the data. This requires a reinterpretation of the stellar mass assembly in galaxies and thus of the accretion rates onto galaxies. A consequence of this understanding of galactic astrophysics is that most dwarf satellite galaxies are formed as tidal dwarf galaxies in galaxy–galaxy encounters, that they follow the mass–metallicity relation, that galactic mergers are rare, that galaxies immersed in external potentials are physically larger than isolated galaxies, and that star-forming galaxies form a main sequence. Eight predictions are offered that will allow the concepts raised here to be tested. A very conservative, cold- and warm-dark-matter-free cosmological model may be emerging from these considerations.
An Intrinsically Three-Dimensional Fractal
Authors: Fernández-Guasti M.
Published: June 2014

The quadratic iteration is mapped using a nondistributive real scator algebra in three dimensions. The bound set S has a rich fractal-like boundary. Periodic points on the scalar axis are necessarily surrounded by off axis divergent magnitude points. There is a one-to-one correspondence of this set with the bifurcation diagram of the logistic map. The three-dimensional S set exhibits self-similar 3D copies of the elementary fractal along the negative scalar axis. These 3D copies correspond to the windows amid the chaotic behavior of the logistic map. Nonetheless, the two-dimensional projection becomes identical to the nonfractal quadratic iteration produced with hyperbolic numbers. Two- and three-dimensional renderings are presented to explore some of the features of this set.
Energy Harvesting Enhancement by Vibrational Resonance
Authors: Coccolo Mattia , Litak Grzegorz , Seoane Jesús M. , Sanjuán Miguel A. F.
Published: June 2014

The idea to use environmental energy to power electronic portable devices is becoming very popular in recent years. In fact, the possibility of not relying only on batteries can provide devices longer operating periods in a fully sustainable way. Vibrational kinetic energy is a reliable and widespread environmental energy, that makes it a suitable energy source to exploit. In this paper, we study the electrical response of a bistable system, by using a double-well Duffing oscillator, connected to a circuit through piezoceramic elements and driven by both a low (LF) and a high frequency (HF) forcing, where the HF forcing is the environmental vibration, while the LF is controlled by us. The response amplitude at low-frequency increases, reaches a maximum and then decreases for a certain range of HF forcing. This phenomenon is called vibrational resonance. Finally, we demonstrate that by enhancing the oscillations we can harvest more electric energy. It is important to take into account that by doing so with a forcing induced by us, the amplification effect is highly controllable and easily reproducible.
Bifurcation Analysis and Spatiotemporal Patterns in a Diffusive Predator–Prey Model
Authors: Hu Guangping , Li Xiaoling , Lu Shiping , Wang Yuepeng
Published: June 2014

In this paper, we consider a species predator–prey model given a reaction–diffusion system. It incorporates the Holling type II functional response and a quadratic intra-predator interaction term. We focus on the qualitative analysis, bifurcation mechanisms and pattern formation. We present the results of numerical experiments in two space dimensions and illustrate the impact of the diffusion on the Turing pattern formation. For this diffusion system, we also observe non-Turing structures such as spiral wave, target pattern and spatiotemporal chaos resulting from the time evolution of these structures.
Difference Between Intermittent Chaotic Bursting and Spiking of Neural Firing Patterns
Authors: Gu Huaguang , Xiao Weiwei
Published: June 2014

The chaotic spiking and intermittent chaotic bursting were observed from biological experiment on a neural pacemaker. The intermittent chaotic bursting manifested alternation between a phase of nearly period-3 bursting and another phase of irregular bursting, and exhibited a nonsmooth-like structure in the first return map of interspike interval (ISI) series. The chaotic spiking manifested a smooth structure. The intermittent chaotic bursting and spiking simulated in the Chay model were identified by the dissection of the fast-slow variables. The intermittent chaotic bursting manifested nonsmooth-like structures in the first return map of both ISI and slow variable, while spiking exhibited smooth structures. The intermittent chaotic bursting and spiking manifested different scale laws of the averaged length of periodic phase with respect to the changes of parameter value. The scale law of bursting was similar to those of both type V intermittent chaos generated in a nonsmooth map and type I in a smooth system, while that of spiking resembled type I more than type V. The results revealed the dynamics of intermittent chaotic firing patterns, the differences between the intermittent chaotic bursting and spiking patterns and the relationships to the smooth and nonsmooth-like characteristics, provided a deep understanding of intermittent chaotic firing patterns, and indicated different mechanisms of the adjustment of variables from slow to fast between bursting and spiking patterns.
Seven Limit Cycles Around a Focus Point in a Simple Three-Dimensional Quadratic Vector Field
Authors: Tian Yun , Yu Pei
Published: June 2014

In this paper, we show that a simple three-dimensional quadratic vector field can have at least seven small-amplitude limit cycles, bifurcating from a Hopf critical point. This result is surprisingly higher than the Bautin's result for quadratic planar vector fields which can only have three small-amplitude limit cycles bifurcating from an elementary focus or an elementary center. The methods used in this paper include computing focus values, and solving multivariate polynomial systems using modular regular chains. In order to obtain higher-order focus values for nonplanar dynamical systems, computationally efficient approaches combined with center manifold computation must be adopted. A recently developed explicit, recursive formula and Maple program for computing the normal form and center manifold of general n-dimensional systems is applied to compute the focus values of the three-dimensional vector field.
Search for Periodic Orbits in Delay Differential Equations
Authors: Cobiaga Romina , Reartes Walter
Published: June 2014

In a previous paper, we developed a new way to apply the Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM) in the search for periodic orbits in dynamical systems modeled by ordinary differential equations. This method differs from the original in the heuristic search of the frequencies of the cycles. In this paper, we show that the method can be extended to the search for periodic orbits in delay differential equations. Herein, this methodology is applied twice, firstly in an equation of van der Pol type and secondly in an anharmonic oscillator, both systems with a delayed feedback.
Dynamics and Synchronization of a Novel Hyperchaotic System Without Equilibrium
Authors: Pham Viet-Thanh , Rahma Fadhil , Frasca Mattia , Fortuna Luigi
Published: June 2014

A novel four-dimensional continuous-time autonomous hyperchaotic system which has no equilibrium is proposed in this paper. By starting from a third-order chaotic system and introducing a further variable performing state feedback, a four-dimensional system exhibiting hyperchaos is obtained. The basic dynamical properties of this system are investigated, such as equilibria and stability, Lyapunov exponent spectrum, and bifurcation diagrams. Furthermore, synchronization via diffusive coupling or control has been addressed. In the latter, parameter identification and synchronization are performed simultaneously. The circuit realization and experimental results are also presented.
Time evolution of a warped cosmic string
Authors: Slagter Reinoud Jan
Published: June 2014

The time evolution of a self-gravitating U(1) cosmic string on a warped five-dimensional (5D) axially symmetric spacetime is numerically investigated. Although cosmic strings are theoretically predicted in four-dimensional (4D) general relativistic models, there is still no observational evidence of their existence. From recent observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), it is concluded that these cosmic strings cannot provide a satisfactory explanation for the bulk of density perturbations. They even could not survive inflation. It is conjectured that only in a 5D warped braneworld model there will be observable imprint of these so-called cosmic superstrings on the induced effective 4D brane metric for values of the symmetry breaking scale larger than the grand unified theory (GUT) values. The warp factor makes these strings consistent with the predicted mass per unit length on the brane. However, in a time-dependent setting, it seems that there is a wavelike energy–momentum transfer to infinity on the brane, a high-energy braneworld behavior. This in contrast to earlier results in approximation models. Evidence of this information from the bulk geometry could be found in the gravitational cosmic background radiation via gravitational wave energy–momentum affecting the brane evolution. Fluctuations of the brane when there is a U(1) gauge field present, are comparable with the proposed brane tension fluctuations, or branons, whose relic abundance can be a dark matter candidate. We briefly made a connection with the critical behavior at the threshold of black hole formation found by Choptuik several decades ago in self-gravitating time-dependent scalar field models. The critical distinction between dispersion of the scalar waves and singular behavior fade away when a time-dependent warp factor is present.
An update of muon capture on hydrogen
Authors: Pastore Saori , Myhrer Fred , Kubodera Kuniharu
Published: June 2014

The successful precision measurement of the rate of muon capture on a proton by the MuCap Collaboration allows for a stringent test of the current theoretical understanding of this process. Chiral perturbation theory (χPT), which is a low-energy effective field theory (EFT) that preserves the symmetries and the pattern of symmetry breaking in the underlying theory of QCD, offers a systematic framework for describing μp capture and provides a basic test of QCD at the hadronic level. We describe how this effective theory with no free parameters reproduces the measured capture rate. A recent study has addressed new sources of uncertainties that were not considered in the previous works, and we review to what extent these uncertainties are now under control. Finally, the rationale for studying muon capture on the deuteron and some recent theoretical developments regarding this process are discussed.
Dynamic Transaction Aware Web Service Selection
Authors: Rajaram Kanchana , Babu Chitra , Adiththan Arun
Published: June 2014

Web service composition, that recursively constructs a composite web service out of the existing services based on a business workflow has been acknowledged as a promising approach to meet the user demands, whenever a single service alone cannot fulfil the needs. In view of frequent failures in the internet environment where the composed service is executed, reliability of the composed service must be ensured. The reliability is determined by the behavioral or transactional properties of component services. The component services for each activity of the workflow must be selected based on their behavior so that their execution results in a consistent termination. Service selection must happen at run-time in order to consider the services available in a service registry at the time of execution. Towards this need, a dynamic transaction aware web service selection approach is proposed in this paper. Further, whenever user requirements change, a long running transaction must be interrupted and cancelled which is not addressed by any of the existing works. Hence, service cancellability property is proposed in this paper and incorporated in the dynamic selection approach. The overhead of the proposed run-time selection approach is assessed and the impact of increased services on its performance is also measured.
CALIBRATING THE SMILE WITH MULTIVARIATE TIME-CHANGED BROWNIAN MOTION AND THE ESSCHER TRANSFORM
Authors: TASSINARI GIAN LUCA , BIANCHI MICHELE LEONARDO
Published: June 2014

In this study, we investigate two multivariate time-changed Brownian motion option pricing models in which the connection between the historical measure P and the risk-neutral measure Q is given by the Esscher transform. The models incorporate skewness, kurtosis and more complex dependence structures among stocks log-returns than the simple correlation matrix. The two models can be seen as a multivariate extension of the normal inverse Gaussian (NIG) model and the variance gamma (VG) model, respectively. We discuss two possible approaches to estimate historical asset returns and calibrate univariate option implied volatilities. While the first approach considers only time series of log-returns, the second approach makes use of both time series of log-returns and univariate observed volatility surfaces. To calibrate the models, there is no need of liquid multivariate derivative quotes.
How Formalization Hinders Different Firm Innovativeness Types: Opening the Black Box with Evidence from a Service Industry
Authors: Nayir Dilek Zamantili , Tamm Ulrich , Durmusoglu Serdar S.
Published: June 2014

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of organizational formalization on the behavioral, market, product, and process types of firm innovativeness as well as the interplay between these different innovativeness types. Based on data collected through a survey of the financial services industry in Turkey, the analyses show that formalization directly hinders both behavioral and market innovativeness. Moreover, as behavioral innovativeness influences product and process innovativeness, formalization's effect on these types of innovativeness are indirect. As expected, the study also finds that process innovativeness facilitates both product and market innovativeness and that product innovativeness foster market innovativeness. This study makes a contribution to the literature by examining the linkages between formalization in firms and the various firm innovativeness types, which have previously been studied only separately. The study thus provides a richer understanding of the relationship between formalization and firm innovativeness types.
A Note on Quadratically Parametrized Surfaces
Authors: Hoffman J. William , Wang Haohao
Published: June 2014

Let f0, f1, f2, f3 be linearly independent homogeneous quadratic forms in the standard ℤ-graded ring R:= 𝕂[s,t,u], and gcd (f0,f1,f2,f3)=1. This defines a rational map φ: ℙ2→ ℙ3. The Rees algebra Rees (I)=R ⊕ I ⊕ I2⊕ ⋯ of the ideal I= 〈f0,f1,f2,f3〉 is the graded R-algebra which can be described as the image of an R-algebra homomorphism h: R[x,y,z,w] → Rees (I). This paper discusses the free resolutions of I, and the structure of ker (h).
On the Successive Minima of Subbases of Low-Dimensional Lattices
Authors: Gao Feng , Shang Shikui
Published: June 2014

In this paper we discuss the global optimality of vector lengths for lattice bases. By introducing a partial order on lattice bases and the concept of successive minimal basis (SMB for short), we show that any of its minimal elements is a general greedy-reduced basis, and its least element (if exists) is an SMB. Furthermore, we prove the existence of SMB for lattices of dimension up to 6.
On the Finiteness Dimension of Local Cohomology Modules
Authors: Saremi Hero , Mafi Amir
Published: June 2014

Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring, 𝔞 an ideal of R, and M a non-zero finitely generated R-module. Let t be a non-negative integer. In this paper, it is shown that [Formula: see text] for all i < t if and only if there exists an ideal 𝔟 of R such that dim R/𝔟 ≤ 1 and [Formula: see text] for all i < t. Moreover, we prove that [Formula: see text] for all i.
Convective heat and mass transfer analysis on peristaltic flow of Williamson fluid with Hall effects and Joule heating
Authors: Yasmin Humaira , Hayat T. , Alotaibi Naif , Gao Huijun
Published: June 2014

This paper is retracted from IJB due to misconduct.
The Effectiveness of a Jawi Stemmer for Retrieving Relevant Malay Documents in Jawi Characters
Authors: Sulaiman Suliana , Omar Khairuddin , Omar Nazlia , Murah Mohd Zamri , Rahman Hamdan Abdul
Published: June 2014

The Malay language has two types of writing script, known as Rumi and Jawi. Most previous stemmer results have reported on Malay Rumi characters and only a few have tested Jawi characters. In this article, a new Jawi stemmer has been proposed and tested for document retrieval. A total of 36 queries and datasets from the transliterated Jawi Quran were used. The experiment shows that the mean average precision for a “stemmed Jawi” document is 8.43%. At the same time, the mean average precision for a “nonstemmed Jawi” document is 5.14%. The result from a paired sample t-test showed that the use of a “stemmed Jawi” document increased the precision in document retrieval. Further experiments were performed to examine the precision of the relevant documents that were retrieved at various cutoff points for all 36 queries. The results for the “stemmed Jawi” document showed a significantly different start, at a cutoff of 40, compared with the “nonstemmed Jawi” documents. This result shows the usefulness of a Jawi stemmer for retrieving relevant documents in the Jawi script.
The Science of Computer Science: Closing Statement
Authors: Snodgrass Richard , Denning Peter
Published: June 2014

Where does computer science as an intellectual discipline fit in human discourse? Over a dozen contributors have looked at this question of identity from as many viewpoints. In this closing statement, we emphasize six themes running through these 16 commentaries and draw some conclusions that seem to be supported by the symposium.
NTPDase5/PCPH as a New Target in Highly Aggressive Tumors: A Systematic Review
Authors: Bracco Paula Andreghetto , Bertoni Ana Paula Santin , Wink Márcia Rosângela
Published: June 2014

The protooncogenePCPHwas recently identified as being the ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase 5 (ENTPD5). This protooncogene is converted into an oncogene by a single base pair deletion, resulting in frame change and producing a premature stop codon, leading to a mutated protein (mt-PCPH) with only 27 kDa, which is much smaller than the original 47 kDa protein. Overexpression of the PCPH as well as the mutated PCPH increases the cellular resistance to stress and apoptosis. This is intriguing considering that the active form, that is, the oncogene, is the mutated PCPH. Several studies analyzed the expression of NTPDase5/mt-PCPH in a wide range of tumor cells and evaluated its role and mechanisms in cancer and other pathogenic processes. The main point of this review is to integrate the findings and proposed theories about the role played by NTPDase5/mt-PCPH in cancer progression, considering that these proteins have been suggested as potential early diagnostic tools and therapy targets.
Musculoskeletal Regenerative Engineering: Biomaterials, Structures, and Small Molecules
Authors: James Roshan , Laurencin Cato T.
Published: June 2014

Musculoskeletal tissues are critical to the normal functioning of an individual and following damage or degeneration they show extremely limited endogenous regenerative capacity. The future of regenerative medicine is the combination of advanced biomaterials, structures, and cues to re-engineer/guide stem cells to yield the desired organ cells and tissues. Tissue engineering strategies were ideally suited to repair damaged tissues; however, the substitution and regeneration of large tissue volumes and multi-level tissues such as complex organ systems integrated into a single phase require more than optimal combinations of biomaterials and biologics. We highlight bioinspired advancements leading to novel regenerative scaffolds especially for musculoskeletal tissue repair and regeneration. Tissue and organ regeneration relies on the spatial and temporal control of biophysical and biochemical cues, including soluble molecules, cell-cell contacts, cell-extracellular matrix contacts, and physical forces. Strategies that recapitulate the complexity of the local microenvironment of the tissue and the stem cell niche play a crucial role in regulating cell self-renewal and differentiation. Biomaterials and scaffolds based on biomimicry of the native tissue will enable convergence of the advances in materials science, the advances in stem cell science, and our understanding of developmental biology.
Liquid Cooling System for CPU by Electroconjugate Fluid
Authors: Sakurai Yasuo , Nakada Takeshi , Edamura Kazuya
Published: June 2014

The dissipated power of CPU for personal computer has been increased because the performance of personal computer becomes higher. Therefore, a liquid cooling system has been employed in some personal computers in order to improve their cooling performance. Electroconjugate fluid (ECF) is one of the functional fluids. ECF has a remarkable property that a strong jet flow is generated between electrodes when a high voltage is applied to ECF through the electrodes. By using this strong jet flow, an ECF-pump with simple structure, no sliding portion, no noise, and no vibration seems to be able to be developed. And then, by the use of the ECF-pump, a new liquid cooling system by ECF seems to be realized. In this study, to realize this system, an ECF-pump is proposed and fabricated to investigate the basic characteristics of the ECF-pump experimentally. Next, by utilizing the ECF-pump, a model of a liquid cooling system by ECF is manufactured and some experiments are carried out to investigate the performance of this system. As a result, by using this system, the temperature of heat source of 50 W is kept at 60°C or less. In general, CPU is usually used at this temperature or less.
Data-Centric Knowledge Discovery Strategy for a Safety-Critical Sensor Application
Authors: Mishra Nilamadhab , Chang Hsien-Tsung , Lin Chung-Chih
Published: June 2014

In an indoor safety-critical application, sensors and actuators are clustered together to accomplish critical actions within a limited time constraint. The cluster may be controlled by a dedicated programmed autonomous microcontroller device powered with electricity to perform in-network time critical functions, such as data collection, data processing, and knowledge production. In a data-centric sensor network, approximately 3–60% of the sensor data are faulty, and the data collected from the sensor environment are highly unstructured and ambiguous. Therefore, for safety-critical sensor applications, actuators must function intelligently within a hard time frame and have proper knowledge to perform their logical actions. This paper proposes a knowledge discovery strategy and an exploration algorithm for indoor safety-critical industrial applications. The application evidence and discussion validate that the proposed strategy and algorithm can be implemented for knowledge discovery within the operational framework.
Oxygen Radicals Elicit Paralysis and Collapse of Spinal Cord Neuron Growth Cones upon Exposure to Proinflammatory Cytokines
Authors: Kuhn Thomas B.
Published: June 2014

A persistent inflammatory and oxidative stress is a hallmark of most chronic CNS pathologies (Alzheimer’s (ALS)) as well as the aging CNS orchestrated by the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). Loss of the integrity and plasticity of neuronal morphology and connectivity comprises an early step in neuronal degeneration and ultimate decline of cognitive function. We examinedin vitrowhether TNFαor IL-1βimpaired morphology and motility of growth cones in spinal cord neuron cultures. TNFαand IL-1βparalyzed growth cone motility and induced growth cone collapse in a dose-dependent manner reflected by complete attenuation of neurite outgrowth. Scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) or inhibiting NADPH oxidase activity rescued loss of neuronal motility and morphology. TNFαand IL-1βprovoked rapid, NOX-mediated generation of ROS in advancing growth cones, which preceded paralysis of motility and collapse of morphology. Increases in ROS intermediates were accompanied by an aberrant, nonproductive reorganization of actin filaments. These findings suggest that NADPH oxidase serves as a pivotal source of oxidative stress in neurons and together with disruption of actin filament reorganization contributes to the progressive degeneration of neuronal morphology in the diseased or aging CNS.
A New AILC for a Class of Nonlinearly Parameterized Systems with Unknown Delays and Input Dead-Zone
Authors: Wei Jian-ming , Hu Yun-an , Sun Mei-mei
Published: June 2014

This paper presents an adaptive iterative learning control (AILC) scheme for a class of nonlinear systems with unknown time-varying delays and unknown input dead-zone. A novel nonlinear form of deadzone nonlinearity is presented. The assumption of identical initial condition for ILC is removed by introducing boundary layer functions. The uncertainties with time-varying delays are compensated for with assistance of appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and Young’s inequality. The hyperbolic tangent function is employed to avoid the possible singularity problem. According to a property of hyperbolic tangent function, the system output is proved to converge to a small neighborhood of the desired trajectory by constructing Lyapunov-like composite energy function (CEF) in two cases, while maintaining all the closed-loop signals bounded. Finally, a simulation example is presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Antimicrobial Edible Films and Coatings for Meat and Meat Products Preservation
Authors: Sánchez-Ortega Irais , García-Almendárez Blanca E. , Santos-López Eva María , Amaro-Reyes Aldo , Barboza-Corona J. Eleazar , Regalado Carlos
Published: June 2014

Animal origin foods are widely distributed and consumed around the world due to their high nutrients availability but may also provide a suitable environment for growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. Nowadays consumers demand high quality food with an extended shelf life without chemical additives. Edible films and coatings (EFC) added with natural antimicrobials are a promising preservation technology for raw and processed meats because they provide good barrier against spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms. This review gathers updated research reported over the last ten years related to antimicrobial EFC applied to meat and meat products. In addition, the films gas barrier properties contribute to extended shelf life because physicochemical changes, such as color, texture, and moisture, may be significantly minimized. The effectiveness showed by different types of antimicrobial EFC depends on meat source, polymer used, film barrier properties, target microorganism, antimicrobial substance properties, and storage conditions. The perspective of this technology includes tailoring of coating procedures to meet industry requirements and shelf life increase of meat and meat products to ensure quality and safety without changes in sensory characteristics.
The Jacobi Elliptic Equation Method for Solving Fractional Partial Differential Equations
Authors: Zheng Bin , Feng Qinghua
Published: June 2014

Based on a nonlinear fractional complex transformation, the Jacobi elliptic equation method is extended to seek exact solutions for fractional partial differential equations in the sense of the modified Riemann-Liouville derivative. For demonstrating the validity of this method, we apply it to solve the space fractional coupled Konopelchenko-Dubrovsky (KD) equations and the space-time fractional Fokas equation. As a result, some exact solutions for them including the hyperbolic function solutions, trigonometric function solutions, rational function solutions, and Jacobi elliptic function solutions are successfully found.
Model for Dynamic Multiple of CPPI Strategy
Authors: Xing Guangyuan , Xue Yong , Feng Zongxian , Wu Xiaokang
Published: June 2014

Focusing on the parameter “Multiple” of CPPI strategy, this study proposes a dynamic setting model of multiple for gap risk management purpose. First, CPPI gap risk is measured as the probability that the value loss of active asset exceeds its allowed maximum drop determined by a given multiple setting. Moreover, according to the statistical estimation using SV-EVT approach, a dynamic choice of multiple is detailed as a function of time-varying asset volatility, expected loss, and the possibility of occurrence of extreme events in the active asset returns illustrated empirically on Shanghai composite index data. This study not only enriches the literature of dynamic proportion portfolio insurance, but also provides a practical reference for CPPI investors to choose a moderate risky exposure achieving gap risk management, which promotes CPPI’s application in emerging capital market.
Variable Is Better Than Invariable: Sparse VSS-NLMS Algorithms with Application to Adaptive MIMO Channel Estimation
Authors: Gui Guan , Chen Zhang-xin , Xu Li , Wan Qun , Huang Jiyan , Adachi Fumiyuki
Published: June 2014

Channel estimation problem is one of the key technical issues in sparse frequency-selective fading multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme. To estimate sparse MIMO channels, sparseinvariable step-size normalized least mean square(ISS-NLMS) algorithms were applied to adaptive sparse channel estimation (ACSE). It is well known that step-size is a critical parameter which controls three aspects: algorithm stability, estimation performance, and computational cost. However, traditional methods are vulnerable to cause estimation performance loss because ISS cannot balance the three aspects simultaneously. In this paper, we propose two stablesparse variable step-sizeNLMS (VSS-NLMS) algorithms to improve the accuracy of MIMO channel estimators. First, ASCE is formulated in MIMO-OFDM systems. Second, different sparse penalties are introduced to VSS-NLMS algorithm for ASCE. In addition, difference between sparse ISS-NLMS algorithms and sparse VSS-NLMS ones is explained and their lower bounds are also derived. At last, to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms for ASCE, several selected simulation results are shown to prove that the proposed sparse VSS-NLMS algorithms can achieve better estimation performance than the conventional methods via mean square error (MSE) and bit error rate (BER) metrics.
Numerical and Experimental Research of Heat and Mass Transfer at the Heterogeneous System Ignition by Local Energy Source with Limited Heat Content
Authors: Glushkov Dmitrii O. , Kuznetsov Genii V. , Strizhak Pavel A.
Published: June 2014

Numerical and experimental investigations were executed for determination of macroscopic regularities of heat and mass transfer processes under the conditions of the phase transformations and chemical reaction at the ignition of vapors coming from fabrics impregnated by combustible liquid into oxidant area at the local power supply. It was established that initial temperature Θp > 1 of local energy source and volume fraction φ > 30% of combustible liquid vapors in fabric are necessary for realization of ignition conditions in a system “fabric—combustible liquid—oxidant.”. Thus three ignition modes are possible for such system. The most widespread mode is an arrangement of ignition zone near the lateral side of local energy source. Also we obtained approximating expressions of ignition delay time on initial temperature and characteristic size of a local energy source for fabrics impregnated by some kinds of combustible liquids (gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel). Its dependences may be useful at engineering calculations of fire danger for processes of single hot particles interaction with liquid combustible substances.
Left Atrial Anatomy Relevant to Catheter Ablation
Authors: Sánchez-Quintana Damián , López-Mínguez José Ramón , Macías Yolanda , Cabrera José Angel , Saremi Farhood
Published: June 2014

The rapid development of interventional procedures for the treatment of arrhythmias in humans, especially the use of catheter ablation techniques, has renewed interest in cardiac anatomy. Although the substrates of atrial fibrillation (AF), its initiation and maintenance, remain to be fully elucidated, catheter ablation in the left atrium (LA) has become a common therapeutic option for patients with this arrhythmia. Using ablation catheters, various isolation lines and focal targets are created, the majority of which are based on gross anatomical, electroanatomical, and myoarchitectual patterns of the left atrial wall. Our aim was therefore to review the gross morphological and architectural features of the LA and their relations to extracardiac structures. The latter have also become relevant because extracardiac complications of AF ablation can occur, due to injuries to the phrenic and vagal plexus nerves, adjacent coronary arteries, or the esophageal wall causing devastating consequences.
Neuroprotective Activity of Water Soluble Extract fromChorispora bungeanaagainst Focal Cerebral Ischemic/Reperfusion Injury in Mice
Authors: Sun Ya-Xuan , Liu Ting , Dai Xue-Ling , Li Ya-Bo , Li Yu-Yao , Zhang Hua , An Li-Zhe
Published: June 2014

The purpose of the present study was to clarify whether the water extract ofChorispora bungeanawas an antioxidant agent against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Our results showed that water extract ofChorispora bungeanatreatment significantly reduced neurological deficit scores, infarct size, MDA and carbonyl contents, and GSH/GSSG ratio compared with the model control group. After being treated byChorispora bungeana, SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px activities remarkably increased.Chorispora bungeanatreatment also improved 8-OHdG expression and cell apoptosis. Our findings indicated that the water extract ofChorispora bungeanapossesses neuroprotective effect which is most likely achieved by antioxidant and antiapoptotic activities.
Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of a Thermoelectric-Solar Hybrid Energy System Using an Inverse Dynamic Analysis Input Shaper
Authors: Yusop A. M. , Mohamed R. , Ayob A. , Mohamed A.
Published: June 2014

This study presents the behavioral model of thermal temperature and power generation of a thermoelectric-solar hybrid energy system exposed to dynamic transient sources. In the development of thermoelectric-solar hybrid energy system, studies have focused on the regulation of both systems separately. In practice, a separate control system affects hardware pricing. In this study, an inverse dynamic analysis shaping technique based on exponential function is applied to a solar array (SA) to stabilize output voltage before this technique is combined with a thermoelectric module (TEM). This method can be used to estimate the maximum power point of the hybrid system by initially shaping the input voltage of SA. The behavior of the overall system can be estimated by controlling the behavior of SA, such that SA can follow the output voltage of TEM as the time constant of TEM is greater than that of SA. Moreover, by employing a continuous and differentiable function, the acquired output behavior of the hybrid system can be attained. Data showing the model is obtained from current experiments with predicted values of temperature, internal resistance, and current attributes of TEM. The simulation results show that the proposed input shaper can be used to trigger the output voltage of SA to follow the TEM behavior under transient conditions.
HPM-Based Dynamic Sparse Grid Approach for Perona-Malik Equation
Authors: Mei Shu-Li , Zhu De-Hai
Published: June 2014

The Perona-Malik equation is a famous image edge-preserved denoising model, which is represented as a nonlinear 2-dimension partial differential equation. Based on the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) and the multiscale interpolation theory, a dynamic sparse grid method for Perona-Malik was constructed in this paper. Compared with the traditional multiscale numerical techniques, the proposed method is independent of the basis function. In this method, a dynamic choice scheme of external grid points is proposed to eliminate the artifacts introduced by the partitioning technique. In order to decrease the calculation amount introduced by the change of the external grid points, the Newton interpolation technique is employed instead of the traditional Lagrange interpolation operator, and the condition number of the discretized matrix different equations is taken into account of the choice of the external grid points. Using the new numerical scheme, the time complexity of the sparse grid method for the image denoising is decreased toO(4J+2j) fromO(43J), (j≪J). The experiment results show that the dynamic choice scheme of the external gird points can eliminate the boundary effect effectively and the efficiency can also be improved greatly comparing with the classical interval wavelets numerical methods.