bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coordination of Independent Loops in Self-Adaptive Systems
Authors: Panerati Jacopo , Maggio Martina , Carminati Matteo , Sironi Filippo , Triverio Marco , Santambrogio Marco D.
Published: July 2014

Nowadays, the same piece of code should run on different architectures, providing performance guarantees in a variety of environments and situations. To this end, designers often integrate existing systems with ad-hoc adaptive strategies able to tune specific parameters that impact performance or energy—for example, frequency scaling. However, these strategies interfere with one another and unpredictable performance degradation may occur due to the interaction between different entities. In this article, we propose a software approach to reconfiguration when different strategies, called
loops
, are encapsulated in the system and are available to be activated. Our solution to loop coordination is based on machine learning and it selects a policy for the activation of loops inside of a system without prior knowledge. We implemented our solution on top of GNU/Linux and evaluated it with a significant subset of the PARSEC benchmark suite.
Design Tools for Implementing Self-Aware and Fault-Tolerant Systems on FPGAs
Authors: Beckhoff Christian , Koch Dirk , Torresen Jim
Published: July 2014

To fully exploit the capabilities of runtime reconfigurable FPGAs in self-aware systems, design tools are required that exceed the capabilities of present vendor design tools. Such tools must allow the implementation of scalable reconfigurable systems with various different partial modules that might be loaded to different positions of the device at runtime. This comprises several complex tasks, including floorplanning, communication architecture synthesis, physical constraints generation, physical implementation, and timing verification all the way down to the final bitstream generation. In this article, we present how our
GoAhead
framework helps in implementing self-aware systems on FPGAs with a minimum of user interaction.
The difficulty of teaching programming languages, and the benefits of hands-on learning
Authors: Guzdial Mark , Guo Philip
Published: July 2014

The
Communications
Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of
Communications
, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.

twitter

Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM

http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm

Mark Guzdial considers the "poor learnability" of programming languages, while Philip Guo enumerates some practical benefits to working in a CS lab.
Big data meets big science
Authors: Wright Alex
Published: July 2014

Next-generation scientific instruments are forcing researchers to question the limits of massively parallel computing.
Holographic projection systems provide eternal life
Authors: Shein Esther
Published: July 2014

Optical tricks help deceased entertainers keep on performing.
Structural challenges and the need to adapt
Authors: Friedman Batya
Published: July 2014

Broadening the conversation about scholars and scholarship in computing and information research.
Auto-tuning parallel software: an interview with Thomas Fahringer
Authors: Tichy Walter
Published: July 2014

In this interview conducted by Ubiquity editor Walter Tichy, Prof. Thomas Fahringer of the Institute of Computer Science, University of Innsbruck (Austria) discusses the difficulty in predicting the performance of parallel programs, and the subsequent popularity of auto-tuning to automate program optimization.
The behavior of epidemics under bounded susceptibility
Authors: Krishnasamy Subhashini , Banerjee Siddhartha , Shakkottai Sanjay
Published: July 2014

We investigate the sensitivity of epidemic behavior to a
bounded susceptibility
constraint -- susceptible nodes are infected by their neighbors via the regular SI/SIS dynamics, but subject to a
cap on the infection rate
. Such a constraint is motivated by modern social networks, wherein messages are broadcast to all neighbors, but attention spans are limited. Bounded susceptibility also arises in distributed computing applications with download bandwidth constraints, and in human epidemics under quarantine policies.

Network epidemics have been extensively studied in literature; prior work characterizes the graph structures required to ensure fast spreading under the SI dynamics, and long lifetime under the SIS dynamics. In particular, these conditions turn out to be meaningful for two classes of networks of practical relevance -- dense, uniform (i.e.,
clique-like
) graphs, and sparse, structured (i.e.,
star-like
) graphs. We show that bounded susceptibility has a surprising impact on epidemic behavior in these graph families. For the SI dynamics, bounded susceptibility has no effect on star-like networks, but dramatically alters the spreading time in clique-like networks. In contrast, for the SIS dynamics, clique-like networks are unaffected, but star-like networks exhibit a sharp change in extinction times under bounded susceptibility.

Our findings are useful for the design of disease-resistant networks and infrastructure networks. More generally, they show that results for existing epidemic models are sensitive to modeling assumptions in non-intuitive ways, and suggest caution in directly using these as guidelines for real systems.
Serving content with unknown demand
Authors: Moharir Sharayu , Ghaderi Javad , Sanghavi Sujay , Shakkottai Sanjay
Published: July 2014

In this paper we look at content placement in the high-dimensional regime: there are
n
servers, and O(
n
) distinct types of content. Each server can store and serve O(1) types at any given time. Demands for these content types arrive, and have to be served in an online fashion; over time, there are a total of O(
n
) of these demands. We consider the algorithmic task of content placement: determining which types of content should be on which server at any given time, in the setting where the demand statistics (i.e. the relative popularity of each type of content) are not known a-priori, but have to be inferred from the very demands we are trying to satisfy. This is the high-dimensional regime because this scaling (everything being O(
n
)) prevents consistent estimation of demand statistics; it models many modern settings where large numbers of users, servers and videos/webpages interact in this way.

We characterize the performance of
any
scheme that separates learning and placement (i.e. which use a portion of the demands to gain some estimate of the demand statistics, and then uses the same for the remaining demands), showing it is order-wise strictly suboptimal. We then study a simple adaptive scheme - which myopically attempts to store the most recently requested content on idle servers - and show it outperforms schemes that separate learning and placement. Our results also generalize to the setting where the demand statistics change with time. Overall, our results demonstrate that separating the estimation of demand, and the subsequent use of the same, is strictly suboptimal.
Index policies for a multi-class queue with convex holding cost and abandonments
Authors: Larrañaga Maialen , Ayesta Urtzi , Verloop Ina Maria
Published: July 2014

We investigate a resource allocation problem in a multi-class server with convex holding costs and user impatience under the average cost criterion. In general, the optimal policy has a complex dependency on all the input parameters and state information. Our main contribution is to derive index policies that can serve as heuristics and are shown to give good performance. Our index policy attributes to each class an index, which depends on the number of customers currently present in that class. The index values are obtained by solving a relaxed version of the optimal stochastic control problem and combining results from restless multi-armed bandits and queueing theory. They can be expressed as a function of the steady-state distribution probabilities of a one-dimensional birth-and-death process. For linear holding cost, the index can be calculated in closed-form and turns out to be independent of the arrival rates and the number of customers present. In the case of no abandonments and linear holding cost, our index coincides with the
c
μ-rule, which is known to be optimal in this simple setting. For general convex holding cost we derive properties of the index value in limiting regimes: we consider the behavior of the index (i) as the number of customers in a class grows large, which allows us to derive the asymptotic structure of the index policies, and (ii) as the abandonment rate vanishes, which allows us to retrieve an index policy proposed for the multi-class M/M/1 queue with convex holding cost and no abandonments. In fact, in a multi-server environment it follows from recent advances that the index policy is asymptotically optimal for linear holding cost. To obtain further insights into the index policy, we consider the fluid version of the relaxed problem and derive a closed-form expression for the fluid index. The latter coincides with the stochastic model in case of linear holding costs. For arbitrary convex holding cost the fluid index can be seen as the
Gc
μθ-rule, that is, including abandonments into the generalized
c
μ-rule (
Gc
μ-rule). Numerical experiments show that our index policies become optimal as the load in the system increases.
ANATOMY
Authors: Gulur Nagendra , Mehendale Mahesh , Manikantan Raman , Govindarajan Ramaswamy
Published: July 2014

Memory system design is increasingly influencing modern multi-core architectures from both performance and power perspectives. However predicting the performance of memory systems is complex, compounded by the myriad design choices and parameters along multiple dimensions, namely (i) technology, (ii) design and (iii) architectural choices. In this work, we construct an analytical model of the memory system to comprehend this diverse space and to study the impact of memory system parameters from latency and bandwidth perspectives. Our model, called ANATOMY, consists of two key components that are coupled with each other, to model the memory system accurately. The first component is a queuing model of memory which models in detail various design choices and captures the impact of technological choices in memory systems. The second component is an analytical model to summarize key workload characteristics, namely row buffer hit rate (RBH), bank-level parallelism (BLP), and request spread (S) which are used as inputs to the queuing model to estimate memory performance. We validate the model across a wide variety of memory configurations on 4, 8 and 16 cores using a total of 44 workloads. ANATOMY is able to predict memory latency with an average error of 8.1%, 4.1% and 9.7% over 4, 8 and 16 core configurations. We demonstrate the extensibility and applicability of our model by exploring a variety of memory design choices such as the impact of clock speed, benefit of multiple memory controllers, the role of banks and channel width, and so on. We also demonstrate ANATOMY's ability to capture architectural elements such as scheduling mechanisms (using FR_FCFS and PAR_BS) and impact of DRAM refresh cycles. In all of these studies, ANATOMY provides insight into sources of memory performance bottlenecks and is able to quantitatively predict the benefit of redressing them.
Collecting, organizing, and sharing pins in pinterest
Authors: Han Jinyoung , Choi Daejin , Chun Byung-Gon , Kwon Ted , Kim Hyun-chul , Choi Yanghee
Published: July 2014

Pinterest, a popular
social curating service
where people collect, organize, and share content (pins in Pinterest), has gained great attention in recent years. Despite the increasing interest in Pinterest, little research has paid attention to how people collect, manage, and share pins in Pinterest. In this paper, to shed insight on such issues, we study the following questions. How do people collect and manage pins by their tastes in Pinterest? What factors do mainly drive people to share their pins in Pinterest? How do the characteristics of users (e.g., gender, popularity, country) or properties of pins (e.g., category, topic) play roles in propagating pins in Pinterest? To answer these questions, we have conducted a measurement study on patterns of pin curating and sharing in Pinterest. By keeping track of all the newly posted and shared pins in each category (e.g., animal, kids, women's fashion) from June 5 to July 18, 2013, we built 350 K pin propagation trees for 3 M users. With the dataset, we investigate: (1) how users collect and curate pins, (2) how users share their pins and why, and (3) how users are related by shared pins of interest. Our key finding is that pin propagation in Pinterest is mostly driven by pin's properties like its topic, not by user's characteristics like her number of followers. We further show that users in the same community in the interest graph (i.e., representing the relations among users) of Pinterest share pins (i) in the same category with 94% probability and (ii) of the same URL where pins come from with 89% probability. Finally, we explore the implications of our findings for predicting how pins are shared in Pinterest.
Privacy tradeoffs in predictive analytics
Authors: Ioannidis Stratis , Montanari Andrea , Weinsberg Udi , Bhagat Smriti , Fawaz Nadia , Taft Nina
Published: July 2014

Online services routinely mine user data to predict user preferences, make recommendations, and place targeted ads. Recent research has demonstrated that several private user attributes (such as political affiliation, sexual orientation, and gender) can be inferred from such data. Can a privacy-conscious user benefit from personalization while simultaneously protecting her private attributes? We study this question in the context of a rating prediction service based on matrix factorization. We construct a protocol of interactions between the service and users that has remarkable optimality properties: it is
privacy-preserving
, in that no inference algorithm can succeed in inferring a user's private attribute with a probability better than random guessing; it has
maximal accuracy
, in that no other privacy-preserving protocol improves rating prediction; and, finally, it involves a
minimal disclosure
, as the prediction accuracy strictly decreases when the service reveals less information. We extensively evaluate our protocol using several rating datasets, demonstrating that it successfully blocks the inference of gender, age and political affiliation, while incurring less than 5% decrease in the accuracy of rating prediction.
Impact of correlated mobility and cluster scalability on connectivity of wireless networks
Authors: Wang Qi , Liu Liang , Zhang Jinbei , Wang Xinyu , Wang Xinbing , Lu Songwu
Published: July 2014

We propose the
correlated mobile k-hop clustered networks model
to implement correlated node movements and scalable clusters. We divide network states into three categories, i.e.,
cluster-sparse state
,
cluster-dense state
and
cluster-inferior dense state
, and achieve the critical transmission range for the last two states. Furthermore, we find that correlated mobility and cluster scalability are closely related with each other and the impact of these two properties on connectivity is mainly through influencing network state transition.
Scheduling using interactive oracles
Authors: Shin Jinwoo , Suk Tonghoon
Published: July 2014

Since Tassiulas and Ephremides proposed the maximum weight scheduling algorithm of throughput-optimality for constrained queueing networks in 1992, extensive research efforts have been made for resolving its high complexity issue under various directions. In this paper, we resolve this issue by developing a generic framework for designing throughput-optimal and low-complexity scheduling algorithms. Under the framework, an algorithm updates current schedules via an interaction with a given oracle system that generates a solution of a certain discrete optimization problem in a finite number of interactive queries. The complexity of the resulting algorithm is decided by the number of operations required for an oracle processing a single query, which is typically very small. Somewhat surprisingly, we prove that an algorithm using any such oracle is throughput-optimal for general constrained queueing network models that arise in the context of emerging large-scale communication networks. To our best knowledge, our result is the first that establishes a rigorous connection between iterative optimization methods and low-complexity scheduling algorithms, which we believe provides various future directions and new insights in both areas.
On the energy and performance of commodity hardware transactional memory
Authors: Diegues Nuno , Romano Paolo , Rodrigues Luís
Published: July 2014

The advent of multi-core architectures has brought concurrent programming to the forefront of software development. In this context, Transactional Memory (TM) has gained increasing popularity as a simpler, attractive alternative to traditional lock-based synchronization. The recent integration of Hardware TM (HTM) in the last generation of Intel commodity processors turned TM into a mainstream technology, raising a number of questions on its future and that of concurrent programming.

To evaluate the potential impact of Intel's HTM, we conducted the largest study on TM to date, comparing different locking techniques, hardware and software TMs, as well as different combinations of these mechanisms, from the dual perspective of performance and power consumption. As a result we perform a workload characterization, to help programmers better exploit the currently available TM facilities, and identify important research directions.
Distributed optimal load shedding for disaster recovery in smart electric power grids
Authors: Liu Jia , Xia Cathy H. , Shroff Ness B. , Sherali Hanif D.
Published: July 2014

In this paper, we consider the problem of distributed load shedding optimization for disaster recovery in smart grids. We develop distributed second-order interior-point based load shedding algorithms that enjoy a fast quadratic convergence rate. Our main contributions are two-fold: (i) We propose a rooted spanning tree based reformulation that enables our distributed algorithm design; (ii) Based on the spanning tree reformulation, we design distributed computation schemes for our proposed second-order interior-point based load shedding. Collectively, these results serve as an important first step in load shedding and disaster recovery that uses second-order distributed techniques.
TARDIS
Authors: Clegg Richard G. , Landa Raul , Araújo João Taveira , Mykoniati Eleni , Griffin David , Rio Miguel
Published: July 2014

This paper describes TARDIS (Traffic Assignment and Retiming Dynamics with Inherent Stability) which is an algorithmic procedure designed to reallocate traffic within Internet Service Provider (ISP) networks. Recent work has investigated the idea of shifting traffic in time (from peak to off-peak) or in space (by using different links). This work gives a unified scheme for both time and space shifting to reduce costs. Particular attention is given to the commonly used 95th percentile pricing scheme.

The work has three main innovations: firstly, introducing the Shapley Gradient, a way of comparing traffic pricing between different links at different times of day; secondly, a unified way of reallocating traffic in time and/or in space; thirdly, a continuous approximation to this system is proved to be stable. A trace-driven investigation using data from two service providers shows that the algorithm can create large savings in transit costs even when only small proportions of the traffic can be shifted.
Efficient task replication for fast response times in parallel computation
Authors: Wang Da , Joshi Gauri , Wornell Gregory
Published: July 2014

Large-scale distributed computing systems divide a job into many independent tasks and run them in parallel on different machines. A challenge in such parallel computing is that the time taken by a machine to execute a task is inherently variable, and thus the slowest machine becomes the bottleneck in the completion of the job. One way to combat the variability in machine response is to replicate tasks on multiple machines and waiting for the machine that finishes first. While task replication reduces response time, it generally increases resource usage. In this work, we propose a theoretical framework to analyze the trade-off between response time and resource usage. Given an execution time distribution for machines, our analysis gives insights on when and why replication helps. We also propose efficient scheduling algorithms for large-scale distributed computing systems.
Scalaness/nesT
Authors: Chapin Peter , Skalka Christian , Smith Scott , Watson Michael
Published: July 2014

Programming wireless embedded networks is challenging due to severe limitations on processing speed, memory, and bandwidth. Staged programming can help bridge the gap between high level code refinement techniques and efficient device level programs by allowing a first stage program to specialize device level code. Here we introduce a two stage programming system for wireless sensor networks. The first stage program is written in our extended dialect of Scala, called Scalaness, where components written in our type safe dialect of nesC, called nesT, are composed and specialized. Scalaness programs can dynamically construct TinyOS-compliant nesT device images that can be deployed to motes. A key result, called cross-stage type safety, shows that successful static type checking of a Scalaness program means no type errors will arise either during programmatic composition and specialization of WSN code, or later on the WSN itself. Scalaness has been implemented through direct modification of the Scala compiler. Implementation of a staged public-key cryptography calculation shows the sensor memory footprint can be significantly reduced by staging.
Forge
Authors: Sujeeth Arvind K. , Gibbons Austin , Brown Kevin J. , Lee HyoukJoong , Rompf Tiark , Odersky Martin , Olukotun Kunle
Published: July 2014

Domain-specific languages provide a promising path to automatically compile high-level code to parallel, heterogeneous, and distributed hardware. However, in practice high performance DSLs still require considerable software expertise to develop and force users into tool-chains that hinder prototyping and debugging. To address these problems, we present Forge, a new meta DSL for declaratively specifying high performance embedded DSLs. Forge provides DSL authors with high-level abstractions (e.g., data structures, parallel patterns, effects) for specifying their DSL in a way that permits high performance. From this high-level specification, Forge automatically generates both a naïve Scala library implementation of the DSL and a high performance version using the Delite DSL framework. Users of a Forge-generated DSL can prototype their application using the library version, and then switch to the Delite version to run on multicore CPUs, GPUs, and clusters without changing the application code. Forge-generated Delite DSLs perform within 2x of hand-optimized C++ and up to 40x better than Spark, an alternative high-level distributed programming environment. Compared to a manually implemented Delite DSL, Forge provides a factor of 3-6x reduction in lines of code and does not sacrifice any performance. Furthermore, Forge specifications can be generated from existing Scala libraries, are easy to maintain, shield DSL developers from changes in the Delite framework, and enable DSLs to be retargeted to other frameworks transparently.
Open pattern matching for C++
Authors: Solodkyy Yuriy , Dos Reis Gabriel , Stroustrup Bjarne
Published: July 2014

Pattern matching is an abstraction mechanism that can greatly simplify source code. We present functional-style pattern matching for C++ implemented as a library, called

Mach7
1

. All the patterns are user-definable, can be stored in variables, passed among functions, and allow the use of class hierarchies. As an example, we implement common patterns used in functional languages.

Our approach to pattern matching is based on compile-time composition of pattern objects through concepts. This is superior (in terms of performance and expressiveness) to approaches based on run-time composition of polymorphic pattern objects. In particular, our solution allows mapping functional code based on pattern matching directly into C++ and produces code that is only a few percent slower than hand-optimized C++ code.

The library uses an efficient type switch construct, further extending it to multiple scrutinees and general patterns. We compare the performance of pattern matching to that of double dispatch and open multi-methods in C++.
Generation of conjoint domain models for system-of-systems
Authors: Dhungana Deepak , Falkner Andreas , Haselböck Alois
Published: July 2014

Software solutions in complex environments, such as railway control systems or power plants, are assemblies of heterogeneous components, which are very large and complex systems themselves. Interplay of these systems requires a thorough design of a system-of-systems (SoS) encompassing the required interactions between the involved systems. One of the challenges lies in reconciliation of the domain data structures and runtime constraints to ensure consistency of the SoS behavior. In this paper, we present a generative approach that enables reconciliation of a common platform based on reusable domain models of the involved systems. This is comparable to a product line configuration problem where we generate a common platform model for all involved systems. We discuss the specific requirements for model composition in a SoS context and address them in our approach. In particular, our approach addresses the operational and managerial independence of the individual systems and offers appropriate modeling constructs. We report on our experiences of applying the approach in several real world projects and share the lessons learned.
Robert Hooke: Early Respiratory Physiologist, Polymath, and Mechanical Genius
Authors: West John B.
Published: July 2014

Robert Hooke (1635–1703) was a polymath who made important contributions to respiratory physiology and many other scientific areas. With Robert Boyle, he constructed the first air pump that allowed measurements on small animals at a reduced atmospheric pressure, and this started the discipline of high-altitude physiology. He also built the first human low-pressure chamber and described his experiences when the pressure was reduced to the equivalent of an altitude of ∼2,400 m. Using artificial ventilation in an animal preparation, he demonstrated that movement of the lung was not essential for life. His book Micrographia describing early studies with a microscope remains a classic. He produced an exquisite drawing of the head of a fly, showing the elaborate compound eye. There is also a detailed drawing of a flea, and Hooke noted how the long, many-jointed legs enable the insect to jump so high. For 40 years, he was the curator of experiments for the newly founded Royal Society in London and contributed greatly to its intellectual ferment. His mechanical inventions covered an enormous range, including the watch spring, the wheel barometer, and the universal joint. Following the Great Fire of London in 1666, he designed many of the new buildings in conjunction with Christopher Wren. Unfortunately, Hooke had an abrasive personality, which was partly responsible for a lack of recognition of his work for many years. However, during the last 25 years, there has been renewed interest, and he is now recognized as a brilliant scientist and innovator.
You're Only as Old as Your Arteries: Translational Strategies for Preserving Vascular Endothelial Function with Aging
Authors: Seals Douglas R. , Kaplon Rachelle E. , Gioscia-Ryan Rachel A. , LaRocca Thomas J.
Published: July 2014

Endothelial dysfunction develops with age and increases the risk of age-associated vascular disorders. Nitric oxide insufficiency, oxidative stress, and chronic low-grade inflammation, induced by upregulation of adverse cellular signaling processes and imbalances in stress resistance pathways, mediate endothelial dysfunction with aging. Healthy lifestyle behaviors preserve endothelial function with aging by inhibiting these mechanisms, and novel nutraceutical compounds that favorably modulate these pathways hold promise as a complementary approach for preserving endothelial health.
Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and ROS-Induced ROS Release
Authors: Zorov Dmitry B. , Juhaszova Magdalena , Sollott Steven J.
Published: July 2014

Byproducts of normal mitochondrial metabolism and homeostasis include the buildup of potentially damaging levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), Ca2+, etc., which must be normalized. Evidence suggests that brief mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) openings play an important physiological role maintaining healthy mitochondria homeostasis. Adaptive and maladaptive responses to redox stress may involve mitochondrial channels such as mPTP and inner membrane anion channel (IMAC). Their activation causes intra- and intermitochondrial redox-environment changes leading to ROS release. This regenerative cycle of mitochondrial ROS formation and release was named ROS-induced ROS release (RIRR). Brief, reversible mPTP opening-associated ROS release apparently constitutes an adaptive housekeeping function by the timely release from mitochondria of accumulated potentially toxic levels of ROS (and Ca2+). At higher ROS levels, longer mPTP openings may release a ROS burst leading to destruction of mitochondria, and if propagated from mitochondrion to mitochondrion, of the cell itself. The destructive function of RIRR may serve a physiological role by removal of unwanted cells or damaged mitochondria, or cause the pathological elimination of vital and essential mitochondria and cells. The adaptive release of sufficient ROS into the vicinity of mitochondria may also activate local pools of redox-sensitive enzymes involved in protective signaling pathways that limit ischemic damage to mitochondria and cells in that area. Maladaptive mPTP- or IMAC-related RIRR may also be playing a role in aging. Because the mechanism of mitochondrial RIRR highlights the central role of mitochondria-formed ROS, we discuss all of the known ROS-producing sites (shown in vitro) and their relevance to the mitochondrial ROS production in vivo.
Multi-Item Multiperiodic Inventory Control Problem with Variable Demand and Discounts: A Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Mousavi Seyed Mohsen , Niaki S. T. A. , Bahreininejad Ardeshir , Musa Siti Nurmaya
Published: July 2014

A multi-item multiperiod inventory control model is developed for known-deterministic variable demands under limited available budget. Assuming the order quantity is more than the shortage quantity in each period, the shortage in combination of backorder and lost sale is considered. The orders are placed in batch sizes and the decision variables are assumed integer. Moreover, all unit discounts for a number of products and incremental quantity discount for some other items are considered. While the objectives are to minimize both the total inventory cost and the required storage space, the model is formulated into a fuzzy multicriteria decision making (FMCDM) framework and is shown to be a mixed integer nonlinear programming type. In order to solve the model, a multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) approach is applied. A set of compromise solution including optimum and near optimum ones via MOPSO has been derived for some numerical illustration, where the results are compared with those obtained using a weighting approach. To assess the efficiency of the proposed MOPSO, the model is solved using multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) as well. A large number of numerical examples are generated at the end, where graphical and statistical approaches show more efficiency of MOPSO compared with MOGA.
Molecular Cloning and Bioinformatics Analysis of a New Plasma Membrane Na+/H+Antiporter Gene from the HalophyteKosteletzkya virginica
Authors: Wang Hongyan , Tang Xiaoli , Shao Chuyang , Shao Hongbo , Wang Honglei
Published: July 2014

A new plasma membrane Na+/H+antiporter gene (named asKvSOS1) was cloned from the halophyteKosteletzkya virginicaby reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technology, which is a homologue of SOS1 (salt overly sensitive 1). The full-length cDNA is 3850 bp and contains an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a protein of 1147 amino acids with a molecular weight of 127.56 kDa and a theoretical pI of 6.18. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the deduced protein appears to be a transmembrane protein with 12 transmembrane domains at the N-terminal region and a long hydrophilic tail in cytoplasm at its C-terminal region and shares 72–82% identity at the peptide level with other plant plasma membrane Na+/H+antiporters.
Inhibition of Human Cytochrome P450 Enzymes by Allergen Removed Rhus verniciflua Stoke Standardized Extract and Constituents
Authors: Jung Hyunsik , Lee Sanghun
Published: July 2014

Objective. Potential interactions between herbal extracts and the cytochrome P450 (CYP) system lead to serious adverse events or decreased drug efficacy. Rhus verniciflua stoke (RVS) and its constituents have been reported to have various pharmacological properties. We evaluated the inhibitory potential of RVS and its constituents on the major CYP isoforms. Methods. The effects of allergen removed RVS (aRVS) standardized extract and major components, fustin and fisetin isolated from aRVS, were evaluated on CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, and CYP3A4 isoenzyme activity by a luminescent CYP recombinant human enzyme assay. Results. The aRVS extract showed relative potent inhibitory effects on the CYP2C9 (IC50, <0.001 μg/mL), CYP2C19 (IC50, 9.68 μg/mL), and CYP1A2 (IC50, 10.0 μg/mL). However, it showed weak inhibition on CYP3A4 and CYP2D6. Fustin showed moderate inhibitory effects on the CYP2C19 (IC50, 64.3 μg/mL) and weak inhibition of the other CYP isoforms similar to aRVS. Fisetin showed potent inhibitory effects on CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP1A2. Fisetin showed moderate inhibition of CYP2D6 and weak inhibition of CYP3A4. Conclusions. These results indicate that aRVS, a clinically available herbal medicine, could contribute to herb‐drug interactions when orally coadministered with drugs metabolized by CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP1A2.
Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes in District Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Authors: Saleha Shamim , Kamal Anwar , Ullah Farman , Khan Nasar , Mahmood Asif , Khan Sanaullah
Published: July 2014

Determination of an individual’s hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes prior to antiviral therapy has become increasingly important for the clinical management and prognosis of HCV infection. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of HCV genotypes in HCV infected patients of district Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan. Serum samples of 117 seropositive patients were screened for HCV-RNA by using reverse transcriptase-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) and then PCR positive samples were subjected to HCV genotyping. Out of 117 seropositive samples, 110 samples were found positive by PCR analysis. Genotype 3a was the most prevalent one detected in 38% of patients, followed by genotype 3b in 21% of patients, and then genotype 2a in 12% of patients. However 21% of HCV-PCR positive samples could not be genotyped by method used in this study. Genotype 3a was the most prevalent genotype in patients of all age groups and its prevalence was found high among patients with increasing age (>34 years). Moreover, genotypes 3a and 3b were found to be the most prevalent genotypes in patients with history of shaving by barbers, receiving multiple injections, and dental procedures. In conclusion there is need of further investigation of genotypes of HCV by using more sensitive assays and considering large sample size in district Bannu.
A Numerical Study on a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine with Inclined Arms
Authors: De Marco Agostino , Coiro Domenico P. , Cucco Domenico , Nicolosi Fabrizio
Published: July 2014

This work focuses on a particular type of vertical-axis wind turbine, in which a number of inclined arms with airfoil-shaped cross-sections are mounted to connect the principal blades to their hub. While the majority of the known studies on vertical-axis turbines is devoted to the role of principal blades, in most of the cases without taking into account other parts of the wind turbine, the objective of this work is to investigate the effect of uncommon arm geometries, such as the inclined arms. The inclined arms are known to have a potentially beneficial role in the power extraction from the wind current but, due to the complexity of the phenomena, the investigation on aerodynamics of this type of turbine is often impossible through analytical models, such as blade-element momentum theory. It turns out that adequate studies can only be carried out by wind tunnel experiments or CFD simulations. This work presents a methodical CFD study on how inclined arms can be used on a selected wind turbine configuration to harvest additional power from the wind. The turbine configuration, geometry, and some fundamental definitions are introduced first. Then an in-depth CFD analysis is presented and discussed.
Molecular Cloning and Optimization for High Level Expression of Cold-Adapted Serine Protease from Antarctic Yeast Glaciozyma antarctica PI12
Authors: Alias Norsyuhada , Ahmad Mazian Mu’adz , Salleh Abu Bakar , Basri Mahiran , Rahman Raja Noor Zaliha Raja Abd.
Published: July 2014

Psychrophilic basidiomycete yeast, Glaciozyma antarctica strain PI12, was shown to be a protease-producer. Isolation of the PI12 protease gene from genomic and mRNA sequences allowed determination of 19 exons and 18 introns. Full-length cDNA of PI12 protease gene was amplified by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) strategy with an open reading frame (ORF) of 2892 bp, coded for 963 amino acids. PI12 protease showed low homology with the subtilisin-like protease from fungus Rhodosporidium toruloides (42% identity) and no homology to other psychrophilic proteases. The gene encoding mature PI12 protease was cloned into Pichia pastoris expression vector, pPIC9, and positioned under the induction of methanol-alcohol oxidase (AOX) promoter. The recombinant PI12 protease was efficiently secreted into the culture medium driven by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-factor signal sequence. The highest protease production (28.3 U/ml) was obtained from P. pastoris GS115 host (GpPro2) at 20°C after 72 hours of postinduction time with 0.5% (v/v) of methanol inducer. The expressed protein was detected by SDS-PAGE and activity staining with a molecular weight of 99 kDa.
Uniform Stability Analysis of Fractional-Order BAM Neural Networks with Delays in the Leakage Terms
Authors: Yang Xujun , Song Qiankun , Liu Yurong , Zhao Zhenjiang
Published: July 2014

A class of fractional-order BAM neural networks with delays in the leakage terms is considered. By using inequality technique and analysis method, several delay-dependent sufficient conditions are established to ensure the uniform stability of such networks. Moreover, the sufficient conditions guaranteeing the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the equilibrium point are also obtained. In addition, three simulation examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.
Translational Research: From Biological Discovery to Public Benefit (or Not)
Authors: Emmert-Buck Michael R.
Published: July 2014

Advances in biology are occurring at a breathtaking pace today, from genetic insights facilitated by the Human Genome Project and next generation DNA sequencing technologies, to global nucleic acid and proteomic expression measurement using new high-throughput methods. Less publicized in recent years, yet still the central driver of progress, are the steadily proceeding biological insights gained through tried and true hypothesis-driven investigation into the complex worlds of metabolism, growth, development, and regulation. Certainly, the basic science ecosystem is productive and this portends well for the myriad new applications that will benefit mankind; drugs, vaccines, devices, and related economic growth—or perhaps not—in stark contrast to the generation of fundamental biological knowledge are inefficiencies in applying this information to real-world problems, especially those of the clinic. While investigation hums along at light speed, translation often does not. The good news is that obstacles to progress are tractable. The bad news, however, is that these problems are difficult. The present paper examines translational research from multiple perspectives, beginning with a historical account and proceeding to the current state of the art. Included are descriptions of successes and challenges, along with conjecture on how the field may need to evolve in the future.
Dechlorination of Hexachloroethane in Water Using Iron Shavings and Amended Iron Shavings: Kinetics and Pathways
Authors: Wu D. L. , Liu Y. X. , Liu Z. G. , Ma L. M.
Published: July 2014

In contrast to previous studies which employed zero-valent iron powder, this paper investigated reductive dechlorination of hexachloroethane (HCA) using iron shavings and bimetallic iron shavings modified with Cu, Ag, or Pd. Results clearly show that iron shavings offer superior reductive dechlorination of HCA. In addition, surface-normalized pseudo first-order dechlorination rates of 0.0073 L·m−2·h−1, 0.0136 L·m−2·h−1, 0.0189 L·m−2·h−1, and 0.0084 L·m−2·h−1were observed in the presence of iron shavings (Fe0) and the bimetallic iron shavings Cu/Fe, Ag/Fe, and Pd/Fe, respectively. Bimetallic iron shavings consisting of Cu/Fe and Ag/Fe could greatly enhance the reductive reaction rate; Pd/Fe was used to achieve complete dechlorination of HCA within 5 hours. The additives of Ag and Pd shifted product distributions, and the reductive dechlorination of HCA occurred viaβreductive elimination and sequential hydrogenolysis in the presence of all iron shavings. This study consequently designed a reaction pathway diagram which reflected the reaction pathway and most prevalent dechlorination products. Iron shavings are a common byproduct of mechanical processing plants. While the purity of such Fe metals may be low, these shavings are readily available at low costs and could potentially be used in engineering applications such as contamination control technologies.
Bone Mineral Density in Cystic Fibrosis Patients with the CFTR I1234V Mutation in a Large Kindred Family Is Associated with Pancreatic Sufficiency
Authors: Abdul Wahab Atqah , Hammoudeh M. , Allangawi Mona , Al-Khalaf Fawziya , Chandra Prem
Published: July 2014

Objectives. To study bone mineral density (BMD) in cystic fibrosis (CF) children and adults with the CFTR I1234V mutation associated with pancreatic sufficiency.Methods. Lumbar spine, total hip, and whole-body mineral density were measured by dual-energy radiographic absorptiometry (DEXA) scan.Zscore was used for those less than 21 years andTscore was used for those 21 years or older.Results. Twenty-one CF patients were younger than 21 years and 5 CF patients were 21 years or older. Mean age was 17.29 ± 4.95 years, ranging from 10 to 33 years. The mean BMDZscores for patients younger than 21 years were −0.69 ± 0.96 (lumbar spine = L1–L4), −0.48 ± 0.92 (total hip), and −0.38 ± 0.86 (total body). The meanTscores for patients 21 years or older were 0.14 ± 0.7 (L1–L4), 0.38 ± 1 (total hip), and 0.52 ± 1.03 (total body). BMD reduction less than −1 was found in 7 (26.9%) CF patients. Vitamin D deficiency in 20 CF patients (76.9%) tended to be lower in CF patients with low BMD. BMD was significantly correlated with FEV1; however, no significant association was observed withP. aeruginosacolonization.Conclusion. BMD reduction does occur in patients with mild CFTR mutation associated with pancreatic sufficiency.
Zinc Phosphide Poisoning
Authors: Doğan Erdal , Güzel Abdulmenap , Çiftçi Taner , Aycan İlker , Çelik Feyzi , Çetin Bedri , Kavak Gönül Ölmez
Published: July 2014

Zinc phosphide has been used widely as a rodenticide. Upon ingestion, it gets converted to phosphine gas in the body, which is subsequently absorbed into the bloodstream through the stomach and the intestines and gets captured by the liver and the lungs. Phosphine gas produces various metabolic and nonmetabolic toxic effects. Clinical symptoms are circulatory collapse, hypotension, shock symptoms, myocarditis, pericarditis, acute pulmonary edema, and congestive heart failure. In this case presentation, we aim to present the intensive care process and treatment resistance of a patient who ingested zinc phosphide for suicide purposes.
Production of Silver Nanoparticles with Strong and Stable Antimicrobial Activity against Highly Pathogenic and Multidrug Resistant Bacteria
Authors: Saeb Amr T. M. , Alshammari Ahmad S. , Al-Brahim Hessa , Al-Rubeaan Khalid A.
Published: July 2014

Aims. To synthesize, characterize, and analyze antimicrobial activity of AgNPs ofEscherichia hermannii(SHE),Citrobacter sedlakii(S11P), andPseudomonas putida(S5).Methods. The synthesized AgNPs were examined using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) and, zeta potential, and the size and the morphology obtained from the three different isolates were also confirmed by TEM.Results. Among the three isolates tested, SHE showed the best antimicrobial activity due to the presence of small (4–12 nm) and stable (−22 mV) AgNPs. Stability of AgNPs was also investigated and found to be dependent on the nature of isolates.Conclusion. Produced AgNPs showed particle stability and antimicrobial efficacy up to 90 days of production. Our AgNPs exhibited greater antimicrobial activity compared with gentamicin againstP. aeruginosaisolates and vancomycin againstS. aureusand MRSA isolates at very low concentration (0.0002 mg per Microliters).
Global Existence of the Cylindrically Symmetric Strong Solution to Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations
Authors: Liu Jian , Lian Ruxu
Published: July 2014

This paper is concerned with the initial boundary value problem for the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with density-dependent viscosity. The cylindrically symmetric strong solution is shown to exist globally in time and tend to the equilibrium state exponentially as time grows up.
Simulated Annealing Based Hybrid Forecast for Improving Daily Municipal Solid Waste Generation Prediction
Authors: Song Jingwei , He Jiaying , Zhu Menghua , Tan Debao , Zhang Yu , Ye Song , Shen Dingtao , Zou Pengfei
Published: July 2014

A simulated annealing (SA) based variable weighted forecast model is proposed to combine and weigh local chaotic model, artificial neural network (ANN), and partial least square support vector machine (PLS-SVM) to build a more accurate forecast model. The hybrid model was built and multistep ahead prediction ability was tested based on daily MSW generation data from Seattle, Washington, the United States. The hybrid forecast model was proved to produce more accurate and reliable results and to degrade less in longer predictions than three individual models. The average one-week step ahead prediction has been raised from 11.21% (chaotic model), 12.93% (ANN), and 12.94% (PLS-SVM) to 9.38%. Five-week average has been raised from 13.02% (chaotic model), 15.69% (ANN), and 15.92% (PLS-SVM) to 11.27%.