bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EFFECT OF DISCHARGE TIME ON PLASMA ELECTROLYTIC BOROCARBONITRIDING OF PURE IRON
Authors: JIN XIAOYUE , WU JIE , WANG BIN , YANG XUAN , CHEN LIN , QU YAO , XUE WENBIN
Published: June 2016

The plasma electrolytic borocarbonitriding (PEB/C/N) process on pure iron was carried out in 25% borax solution with glycerine and carbamide additives under different discharge time at 360[Formula: see text]V. The morphology and structure of PEB/C/N hardened layers were analyzed by SEM and XRD. The hardness profiles of hardened layers were measured by microhardness test. Corrosion behavior of PEB/C/N layers was evaluated by potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Their wear performance was carried out using a pin-disc friction and wear tester under dry sliding test. The PEB/C/N samples mainly consisted of [Formula: see text]-Fe, Fe2B, Fe3C, FeN, FeB, Fe2O3 and Fe4N phases, and the Fe2B phase was the dominant phase in the boride layer. It was found that the thickness of boride layer increased with the discharge time and reached 14[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]m after 60[Formula: see text]min treatment. The microhardness of the boride layer was up to 2100[Formula: see text]HV, which was much higher than that of the bare pure iron (about 150[Formula: see text]HV). After PEB/C/N treatment, the corrosion resistance of pure iron was slightly improved. The friction coefficient of PEB/C/N treated pure iron decreased to 0.129 from 0.556 of pure iron substrate. The wear rate of the PEB/C/N layer after 60[Formula: see text]min under dry sliding against ZrO2 ball was only 1/10 of that of the bare pure iron. The PEB/C/N treatment is an effective way to improve the wear behavior of pure iron.
A note on existence for the fractional Yamabe problem
Authors: Wang Meng
Published: June 2016

The fractional Yamabe problem was proposed by González and Qing in [Fractional conformal Laplacians and fractional Yamabe problems, Anal. PDE 6(7) (2013) 1535–1576]. One of their results is that if the fractional Yamabe constant satisfies [Formula: see text], then the fractional Yamabe problem is solvable for [Formula: see text]. Using the method from Brezis–Lieb, we give a new, and shorter proof, of this statement.
W1,p(⋅) regularity for quasilinear problems with irregular obstacles on Reifenberg domains
Authors: Bui The Anh , Le Xuan Truong
Published: June 2016

In this paper, we prove the global gradient estimates on the generalized Lebesgue spaces for weak solutions to elliptic quasilinear obstacle problems. It is worth noticing that the coefficients related to the obstacle problems are merely measurable with small BMO norms and the underlying domain does not satisfy any smoothness conditions.
Boundary blow-up solutions to nonlocal elliptic equations with gradient nonlinearity
Authors: Chen Huyuan , Lv Guangying
Published: June 2016

Let [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] be a bounded open domain in [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) with a [Formula: see text] boundary [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] be a Hausdorff measure on [Formula: see text]. We denote by [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is the unit inward normal vector of [Formula: see text] at point [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] Our purpose of this paper is to study a nonlocal elliptic problem involving gradient nonlinearity [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text], the operator [Formula: see text] is the fractional Laplacian and [Formula: see text] is a locally Hölder continuous function satisfying some extra condition. We show that the above problem admits a nonnegative weak solution [Formula: see text], which is a classical solution of [Formula: see text]
Analyzing Fish Condition Factor Index Through Skew-Gaussian Information Theory Quantifiers
Authors: Contreras-Reyes Javier E.
Published: June 2016

Biological-fishery indicators have been widely studied. As such the condition factor (CF) index, which interprets the fatness level of a certain species based on length and weight, has been investigated, too. However, CF has been studied without considering its temporal features and distribution. In this paper, we analyze the CF time series via skew-gaussian distributions that consider the asymmetry produced by extreme events. This index is characterized by a threshold autoregressive model and corresponds to a stationary process depending on the shape parameter of the skew-gaussian distribution. Then we use the Jensen–Shannon (JS) distance to compare CF by length classes. This distance has mathematical advantages over other divergences such as Kullback–Leibler and Jeffrey’s, and the triangular inequality property. Our results are applied to a biological catalogue of anchovy (Engraulis ringens) from the northern coast of Chile, for the period 1990–2010 that consider monthly CF time series by length classes and sex. We find that for high values of shape parameter, JS distance tends to be more sensible to detect discrepancies than Jeffrey’s divergence. In addition, the body condition of male anchovies with higher lengths coincides with the ending of the moderate-strong El Niño event 91–92 and for both males and females, the smaller lengths coincide with the beginning of the strong El Niño event 97–98.
On a separation and irreducibility problem of polynomials arising from the nonlinear Schrödinger equation
Authors: Van Nguyen Bich
Published: June 2016

We discuss an algebraic problem (Separation and Irreducibility Conjecture) which arises from the study of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS for short). This problem is about separation and irreducibility (over the ring of integers) of the characteristic polynomials of the graphs, describing blocks of a normal form for the NLS. For the cubic NLS the problem has been completely solved (see [C. Procesi, M. Procesi and B. Van Nguyen, The energy graph of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, Rend. Lincei Mat. Appl. 24(2) (2013) 229–301]), meanwhile for higher degree NLS it is still open, even in small dimensions (see [C. Procesi, The energy graph of the non-linear Schrödinger equation, open problems. Int. J. Algebra Comput. 23(4) (2013) 943–962]). In this work, the author will give a partial answer for this problem, in particular, the author will prove Separation and Irreducibility Conjecture for NLS of arbitrary degree on one-dimensional and two-dimensional tori.
Competing Through Knowledge and Information Systems Strategies: A Study of Small and Medium-Sized Firms
Authors: Chan Yolande E. , Denford James S. , Jin Joyce Y.
Published: June 2016

In this study, we investigated strategies that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Canada employ to create, transfer, and apply knowledge, and we evaluated the importance of supporting dynamic knowledge capabilities and information systems. To examine the empirical support for a model based on the resource-based view of the firm, we conducted a survey of SMEs operating in knowledge-intensive industries. We tested relationships among knowledge strategy, information systems strategy, dynamic knowledge capabilities, and firm performance. SME performance was measured by their physical and financial capital, as well as four intangible types of capital: structural, human, innovation, and relational. We observed that dynamic knowledge capabilities only partially mediate the link between knowledge strategy and performance in SMEs. However, dynamic knowledge capabilities fully mediate the link between information systems (IS) strategy and performance in the small and medium-sized firms studied. We observed that information systems only indirectly influence firm performance, but they directly support the knowledge and innovation capital of SMEs. Further, our results indicated that, in SMEs, knowledge strategies directly influence IS strategies, and that alignment between knowledge strategies and IS strategies positively impacts dynamic knowledge capabilities, and hence firm performance.
Knowledge Creation in Hybrid Organisations: A Case Study in a Quasi-Governmental Organisation
Authors: de Sá Affonso da Costa Isabel , Tavares Elaine , Peixoto Arthur Marcelo Nicolau
Published: June 2016

The organisational structure of hybrid organisations is affected by multiple institutional influences, considering power flows and organisational processes from the public and private sectors. Given this dynamic, the process of knowledge creation presents some particularities. This article aims to understand the specificities of knowledge creation in large hybrid organisations characterized as large structures with multiple institutional influences, based on a case study of a Brazilian organisation — SESC. Data collection was based on four sources: (i) documental research; (ii) questionnaire with evocative phrases; (iii) structured interviews; and (iv) direct observation. The content analysis technique was used to codify and interpret information. The results offer significant contributions for these hybrid organisations, indicating that they need to access how the bureaucratic model inhibits their knowledge creation, while restricting tacit knowledge sharing, causing the lack of sense of urgency and reducing autonomy and creativity.
Quantum speed problem: Theoretical hints for control
Authors: Lisboa Alexandre Coutinho , Piqueira José Roberto Castilho
Published: June 2016

The transition time between states plays an important role in designing quantum devices as they are very sensitive to environmental influences. Decoherence phenomenon is responsible for possible destructions of the entanglement that is a fundamental requirement to implement quantum information processing systems. If the time between states is minimized, the decoherence effects can be reduced, thus, it is advantageous to the designer to develop expressions for time performance measures. Quantum speed limit (QSL) problem has been studied from the theoretical point of view, providing general results. Considering the implementation of quantum control systems, as the decoherence phenomenon is unavoidable, it is important to apply these general results to particular cases, developing expressions and performance measures, to assist control engineering designers. Here, a minimum time performance measure is defined for quantum control problems, for time-independent or time-dependent Hamiltonians, and applied to some practical examples, providing hints that may be useful for researchers pursuing optimization strategies for quantum control systems.
Small Hydro Development in the Indian Himalaya : Implications for Environmental Assessment Reform
Authors: Diduck Alan Paul , Sinclair Andrew John
Published: June 2016

India is promoting the vast hydropower potential of the Himalayan region, and the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are encouraging small, medium and major hydro projects. Our research examined the approval processes for small hydro in these states with a view to making recommendations for policy improvements. We describe local understandings of project impacts, review public participation in project approvals, and discuss extending the national environmental assessment law to small hydro. We used a retrospective case study of three hydro projects, semi-structured qualitative interviews, a review of policy and project-specific case documents, and field observations. We found that residents of affected communities held similar views respecting the positive and negative impacts these projects might have, whether the impacts occurred or not. We canvassed predicted impacts such as job creation, increased access to electricity, improved local infrastructure, loss of cultural assets, and removal of trees. Further, the case study revealed opportunities for earlier, more decentralized, and more active participation in small hydro approval processes. We conclude that the legal exemption for small hydro has left an important gap in India’s environmental assessment regime. Improved project-level assessments, catchment-based cumulative effects assessments, and better local involvement are needed for small hydro development.
On the zero-divisor graph of Rickart *-rings
Authors: Patil Avinash , Waphare B. N.
Published: June 2016

In this paper, we study the zero-divisor graph of Rickart *-rings. We determine the condition on Rickart *-ring so that its zero-divisor graph contains a cut vertex. It is proved that the set of cut vertices form a complete subgraph. We characterize Rickart *-rings for which the complement of the zero-divisor graph is connected. The diameter and girth of these graphs are characterized. Further, for a *-ring [Formula: see text] with unity we associate a graph, [Formula: see text], having all nonzero elements of [Formula: see text] as vertices and two distinct vertices [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are adjacent if and only if either [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] is a unit in [Formula: see text]. For a finite Rickart *-ring [Formula: see text] it is proved that [Formula: see text] is connected if and only if [Formula: see text] is not isomorphic to [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] (for any [Formula: see text].
Commutativity of rings with identities on subsets
Authors: Bell Howard E.
Published: June 2016

We prove commutativity of rings [Formula: see text] with 1 which satisfy certain [Formula: see text]th power identities on proper subsets of [Formula: see text].
Catching-Up Pattern Among Countries in Science-Based Industries: A Case Study in Pharmaceutical Industry
Authors: Lei Jiasu , Lin Bao , Sha Siting
Published: June 2016

The existence of catching-up countries is an ever-lasting phenomenon in history. It is also a popular topic that the academy is studying on. This paper studied catching-up cases among countries in the pharmaceutical industry. We initially proved “the catching-up pattern” in science-based industries by analyzing the similarities in successful cases and differences between successful and unsuccessful ones. We found that the catching-up pattern in science-based industries is quite different from technology-based industries, because the former relies on the interaction between industry and the corresponding science field. In science-based industries, manufacturing capacity can hardly transform into product innovation capacity, for product innovation relies heavily on new scientific findings. Catching-up in such industries requires catching-up in knowledge creation. The paper tries to give some insights into government’s science and technology policies and national economy developing strategies.
Innovation and critical thinking: contributions of the history and philosophy of geological sciences to teaching, especially undergraduate teaching
Authors: Figueirôa Silvia F. de M.
Published: June 2016

This article discusses some important relations between the history and philosophy of science and the education of future professional geoscientists and teachers. A brief survey is presented of the discussions about the relations between these fields over the past 50 years, with an emphasis on the pedagogical role of the history and philosophy of science. A recent geological example is considered to pull together the conclusions advanced by some classic papers in science and geoscience. These conclusions reinforce the relevance of historical and epistemological reflections in improving the development of the profession and renewing educational practices, pointing out the potential of interdisciplinary learning and new innovative teaching methods. The careful, well-selected and documented utilization of controversial historical cases can foster experimentation and the comprehension of diverse examples of important scientific changes, thus contributing to a better education in the geosciences.
Discrete Wavelet Transforms in the Large Time-Frequency Analysis Toolbox for MATLAB/GNU Octave
Authors: Průša ZdenĚK , Søndergaard Peter L. , Rajmic Pavel
Published: June 2016

The discrete wavelet transform module is a recent addition to the Large Time-Frequency Analysis Toolbox (LTFAT). It provides implementations of various generalizations of Mallat's well-known algorithm (iterated filterbank) such that completely general filterbank trees, dual-tree complex wavelet transforms, and wavelet packets can be computed. The resulting transforms can be equivalently represented as filterbanks and analyzed as filterbank frames using fast algorithms.
Algorithm 964
Authors: Lozano-Durán Adrián , Borrell Guillem
Published: June 2016

A simple and efficient algorithm to numerically compute the genus of surfaces of three-dimensional objects using the Euler characteristic formula is presented. The algorithm applies to objects obtained by thresholding a scalar field in a structured-collocated grid and does not require any triangulation of the data. This makes the algorithm fast, memory efficient, and suitable for large datasets. Applications to the characterization of complex surfaces in turbulent flows are presented to illustrate the method.
An Experimental Exploration of Marsaglia's xorshift Generators, Scrambled
Authors: Vigna Sebastiano
Published: June 2016

Marsaglia proposed xorshift generators are a class of very fast, good-quality pseudorandom number generators. Subsequent analysis by Panneton and L'Ecuyer has lowered the expectations raised by Marsaglia's article, showing several weaknesses of such generators. Nonetheless, many of the weaknesses of xorshift generators fade away if their result is scrambled by a nonlinear operation (as originally suggested by Marsaglia). In this article we explore the space of possible generators obtained by multiplying the result of a xorshift generator by a suitable constant. We sample generators at 100 points of their state space and obtain detailed statistics that lead us to choices of parameters that improve on the current ones. We then explore for the first time the space of high-dimensional xorshift generators, following another suggestion in Marsaglia's article, finding choices of parameters providing periods of length 2
1024
− 1 and 2
4096
− 1. The resulting generators are of extremely high quality, faster than current similar alternatives, and generate long-period sequences passing strong statistical tests using only eight logical operations, one addition, and one multiplication by a constant.
Target Acquisition vs. Expressive Motion
Authors: Perrotin Olivier , D’alessandro Christophe
Published: June 2016

The purpose of pitch correction is to assist a musician in playing notes with accuracy and precision, without preventing expressive pitch variations. This study presents and examines a new method for automatic pitch correction: Dynamic Pitch Warping (DPW). The analytic formulation of the warping function is derived. In the context of live playing of continuous pitch trajectories, the dynamics of pitch correction must be considered. Methods for triggering and releasing the correction are discussed, and a performance test is conducted. DPW is evaluated in the context of digital musical instruments that are controlled by a stylus on a graphic tablet. The results show significant improvement in note accuracy and precision with the addition of the correction method. Analyses of various types of modulations (including vibrato, portamento, and glissando) demonstrate that expressive pitch variations are preserved by the DPW correction. Perceptual tests show that the effects of DPW correction are well perceived and positively assessed by listeners. The proposed method allows for accurate pitch target acquisition together with preservation of expressive motion, a result that could be extended to other situations that require dynamic trajectory correction.
Computational Health Informatics in the Big Data Age
Authors: Fang Ruogu , Pouyanfar Samira , Yang Yimin , Chen Shu-Ching , Iyengar S. S.
Published: June 2016

The explosive growth and widespread accessibility of digital health data have led to a surge of research activity in the healthcare and data sciences fields. The conventional approaches for health data management have achieved limited success as they are incapable of handling the huge amount of complex data with high volume, high velocity, and high variety. This article presents a comprehensive overview of the existing challenges, techniques, and future directions for computational health informatics in the big data age, with a structured analysis of the historical and state-of-the-art methods. We have summarized the challenges into four Vs (i.e., volume, velocity, variety, and veracity) and proposed a systematic data-processing pipeline for generic big data in health informatics, covering data capturing, storing, sharing, analyzing, searching, and decision support. Specifically, numerous techniques and algorithms in machine learning are categorized and compared. On the basis of this material, we identify and discuss the essential prospects lying ahead for computational health informatics in this big data age.
Handling Boot Storms in Virtualized Data Centers—A Survey
Authors: Samant Durgesh , Bellur Umesh
Published: June 2016

Large-scale virtual machine (VM) deployment in virtualized data centers is a very slow process. This is primarily due to the resource bottlenecks that are created at the storage, network, and host physical machines when a large number of VMs are requested simultaneously. For companies that provide virtual desktops to their employees, it is common to encounter such requests each day, when their employees turn up for work. In addition, a large number of VMs are often required to be deployed instantly, in order to absorb a spike in the workload, at online e-commerce websites. In such scenarios, long deployment times are unacceptable, and reducing them is of paramount importance. In this article, we first abstract out the key techniques suggested in the literature to speed up this deployment process. We follow this with a classification of these techniques into a taxonomy and propose a framework that can be used to compare them. Finally, we identify problem areas that warrant further research and bring out the shortcomings of the current state-of-the-art solutions.
Allosterism and Structure in Thermally Activated Transient Receptor Potential Channels
Authors: Diaz-Franulic Ignacio , Poblete Horacio , Miño-Galaz Germán , González Carlos , Latorre Ramón
Published: June 2016

The molecular sensors that mediate temperature changes in living organisms are a large family of proteins known as thermosensitive transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels. These membrane proteins are polymodal receptors that can be activated by cold or hot temperatures, depending on the channel subtype, voltage, and ligands. The stimuli sensors are allosterically coupled to a pore domain, increasing the probability of finding the channel in its ion conductive conformation. In this review we first discuss the allosteric coupling between the temperature and voltage sensor modules and the pore domain, and then discuss the thermodynamic foundations of thermo-TRP channel activation. We provide a structural overview of the molecular determinants of temperature sensing. We also posit an anisotropic thermal diffusion model that may explain the large temperature sensitivity of TRP channels. Additionally, we examine the effect of several ligands on TRP channel function and the evidence regarding their mechanisms of action.
Chemical Principles in Tissue Clearing and Staining Protocols for Whole-Body Cell Profiling
Authors: Tainaka Kazuki , Kuno Akihiro , Kubota Shimpei I. , Murakami Tatzya , Ueda Hiroki R.
Published: June 2016

Mammalian bodies have more than a billion cells per cubic centimeter, which makes whole-body cell (WBC) profiling of an organism one of the ultimate challenges in biology and medicine. Recent advances in tissue-clearing technology have enabled rapid and comprehensive cellular analyses in whole organs and in the whole body by a combination of state-of-the-art technologies of optical imaging and image informatics. In this review, we focus mainly on the chemical principles in currently available techniques for tissue clearing and staining to facilitate our understanding of their underlying mechanisms. Tissue clearing is usually conducted by the following steps: (a) fixation, (b) permeabilization, (c) decolorizing, and (d) refractive index (RI) matching. To phenotype individual cells after tissue clearing, it is important to visualize genetically encoded fluorescent reporters and/or to stain tissues with fluorescent dyes, fluorescent labeled antibodies, or nucleic acid probes. Although some technical challenges remain, the chemical principles in tissue clearing and staining for WBC profiling will enable various applications, such as identifying cellular circuits across multiple organs and measuring their dynamics in stochastic and proliferative cellular processes, for example, autoimmune and malignant neoplastic diseases.
Cargo Capture and Bulk Flow in the Early Secretory Pathway
Authors: Barlowe Charles , Helenius Ari
Published: June 2016

Transport of newly synthesized proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi complex is highly selective. As a general rule, such transport is limited to soluble and membrane-associated secretory proteins that have reached properly folded and assembled conformations. To secure the efficiency, fidelity, and control of this crucial transport step, cells use a combination of mechanisms. The mechanisms are based on selective retention of proteins in the ER to prevent uptake into transport vesicles, on selective capture of proteins in COPII carrier vesicles, on inclusion of proteins in these vesicles by default as part of fluid and membrane bulk flow, and on selective retrieval of proteins from post-ER compartments by retrograde vesicle transport.
Endoplasmic Reticulum–Plasma Membrane Associations: Structures and Functions
Authors: Gallo Alessandra , Vannier Christian , Galli Thierry
Published: June 2016

Inside eukaryotic cells, membrane contact sites (MCSs), regions where two membrane-bound organelles are apposed at less than 30 nm, generate regions of important lipid and calcium exchange. This review principally focuses on the structure and the function of MCSs between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM). Here we describe how tethering structures form and maintain these junctions and, in some instances, participate in their function. We then discuss recent insights into the mechanisms by which specific classes of proteins mediate nonvesicular lipid exchange between the ER and PM and how such phenomena, already known to be crucial for maintaining organelle identity, are also emerging as regulators of cell growth and development.
TFEB and TFE3: Linking Lysosomes to Cellular Adaptation to Stress
Authors: Raben Nina , Puertollano Rosa
Published: June 2016

In recent years, our vision of lysosomes has drastically changed. Formerly considered to be mere degradative compartments, they are now recognized as key players in many cellular processes. The ability of lysosomes to respond to different stimuli revealed a complex and coordinated regulation of lysosomal gene expression. This review discusses the participation of the transcription factors TFEB and TFE3 in the regulation of lysosomal function and biogenesis, as well as the role of the lysosomal pathway in cellular adaptation to a variety of stress conditions, including nutrient deprivation, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein misfolding, and pathogen infection. We also describe how cancer cells make use of TFEB and TFE3 to promote their own survival and highlight the potential of these transcription factors as therapeutic targets for the treatment of neurological and lysosomal diseases.
The Regulation of Witchcraft and Sorcery Practices and Beliefs
Authors: Forsyth Miranda
Published: June 2016

This article reviews and analyzes the growing bodies of literature on the regulation of sorcery and witchcraft beliefs and practices. The most visible problems relating to these beliefs and practices are the violent exorcisms, banishment, torture, and killing inflicted upon those accused of practicing sorcery and witchcraft in many parts of the global South. Sorcery and witchcraft are also (once again) becoming a challenge for countries in the global North, mainly within migrant communities in relation to children accused of witchcraft and exorcized and also in the context of claims to refugee status and freedom of religion. The article covers scholarly literature (legal, anthropological, economic, historical), law reform commission reports, nongovernmental organization (NGO) reports, and UN documents over the past 15 years concerning the regulation of the negative societal impacts of sorcery and witchcraft practices and beliefs. It concludes that there is a need for greater empirical study of the impacts of various regulatory initiatives adopted and promoted by national governments, NGOs, and international organizations.
Impact of Judicial Elections on Judicial Decisions
Authors: Kritzer Herbert M.
Published: June 2016

Does the process of judicial selection and retention affect the decisions made by judges? Focusing on retention rather than initial selection, this article examines whether the method of retention directly or indirectly affects decisions. Extant literature shows clear effects related to criminal cases, particularly cases involving the death penalty, but also in criminal sentencing in trial courts. At the trial court level, there are also indications of election cycle effects. At the Supreme Court level, there is also some indication of effects in abortion-related cases and in cases involving government parties. This article also looks at the impact of two process-related features of judicial elections: advertising and campaign contributions. There is little research on the advertising question but substantial research on campaign contributions. That latter literature has struggled to overcome the problem of distinguishing friendly giving from actual effects on decisions; although there are growing indications that there may be some contribution effects in some situations, the research is far from definitive.
The Phage Shock Protein Response
Authors: Flores-Kim Josué , Darwin Andrew J.
Published: June 2016

The phage shock protein (Psp) system was identified as a response to phage infection in Escherichia coli, but rather than being a specific response to a phage, it detects and mitigates various problems that could increase inner-membrane (IM) permeability. Interest in the Psp system has increased significantly in recent years due to appreciation that Psp-like proteins are found in all three domains of life and because the bacterial Psp response has been linked to virulence and other important phenotypes. In this article, we summarize our current understanding of what the Psp system detects and how it detects it, how four core Psp proteins form a signal transduction cascade between the IM and the cytoplasm, and current ideas that explain how the Psp response keeps bacterial cells alive. Although recent studies have significantly improved our understanding of this system, it is an understanding that is still far from complete.
Triggering at the LHC
Authors: Smith Wesley H.
Published: June 2016

The trigger systems of the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments overcame substantial challenges to successfully take data and produce historically significant results from the first run of the LHC. This review describes the challenges, requirements, architecture, design, algorithms, technologies, operation, and performance of the LHC experiment trigger systems during the first LHC run.
Neutrino Interactions with Nucleons and Nuclei: Importance for Long-Baseline Experiments
Authors: Mosel Ulrich
Published: June 2016

This article reviews our present knowledge of neutrino interactions with nucleons and discusses the interactions with nuclei, the target material of all presently running and planned long-baseline experiments. I emphasize descriptions of semi-inclusive reactions and full descriptions of the final state; the latter are needed to reconstruct the incoming neutrino energy from final-state observations. I then discuss Monte Carlo generator and more advanced transport-theoretical approaches in connection with experimental results on various reaction mechanisms. Finally, I describe the effects of uncertainties in the reconstruction of the incoming neutrino energy on oscillation parameters. The review argues that the precision era of neutrino physics also needs precision-era generators.
The Neurobiology of “Food Addiction” and Its Implications for Obesity Treatment and Policy
Authors: Carter Adrian , Hendrikse Joshua , Lee Natalia , Yücel Murat , Verdejo-Garcia Antonio , Andrews Zane B. , Hall Wayne
Published: June 2016

There is a growing view that certain foods, particularly those high in refined sugars and fats, are addictive and that some forms of obesity can usefully be treated as a food addiction. This perspective is supported by a growing body of neuroscience research demonstrating that the chronic consumption of energy-dense foods causes changes in the brain's reward pathway that are central to the development and maintenance of drug addiction. Obese and overweight individuals also display patterns of eating behavior that resemble the ways in which addicted individuals consume drugs. We critically review the evidence that some forms of obesity or overeating could be considered a food addiction and argue that the use of food addiction as a diagnostic category is premature. We also examine some of the potential positive and negative clinical, social, and public policy implications of describing obesity as a food addiction that require further investigation.
Endoplasmic Reticulum–Associated Degradation and Lipid Homeostasis
Authors: Stevenson Julian , Huang Edmond Y. , Olzmann James A.
Published: June 2016

The endoplasmic reticulum is the port of entry for proteins into the secretory pathway and the site of synthesis for several important lipids, including cholesterol, triacylglycerol, and phospholipids. Protein production within the endoplasmic reticulum is tightly regulated by a cohort of resident machinery that coordinates the folding, modification, and deployment of secreted and integral membrane proteins. Proteins failing to attain their native conformation are degraded through the endoplasmic reticulum–associated degradation (ERAD) pathway via a series of tightly coupled steps: substrate recognition, dislocation, and ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal destruction. The same ERAD machinery also controls the flux through various metabolic pathways by coupling the turnover of metabolic enzymes to the levels of key metabolites. We review the current understanding and biological significance of ERAD-mediated regulation of lipid metabolism in mammalian cells.
Population Genomics of Fungal and Oomycete Pathogens
Authors: Grünwald Niklaus J. , McDonald Bruce A. , Milgroom Michael G.
Published: June 2016

We are entering a new era in plant pathology in which whole-genome sequences of many individuals of a pathogen species are becoming readily available. Population genomics aims to discover genetic mechanisms underlying phenotypes associated with adaptive traits such as pathogenicity, virulence, fungicide resistance, and host specialization, as genome sequences or large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms become readily available from multiple individuals of the same species. This emerging field encompasses detailed genetic analyses of natural populations, comparative genomic analyses of closely related species, identification of genes under selection, and linkage analyses involving association studies in natural populations or segregating populations resulting from crosses. The era of pathogen population genomics will provide new opportunities and challenges, requiring new computational and analytical tools. This review focuses on conceptual and methodological issues as well as the approaches to answering questions in population genomics. The major steps start with defining relevant biological and evolutionary questions, followed by sampling, genotyping, and phenotyping, and ending in analytical methods and interpretations. We provide examples of recent applications of population genomics to fungal and oomycete plant pathogens.
Disease Impact on Wheat Yield Potential and Prospects of Genetic Control
Authors: Singh Ravi P. , Singh Pawan K. , Rutkoski Jessica , Hodson David P. , He Xinyao , Jørgensen Lise N. , Hovmøller Mogens S. , Huerta-Espino Julio
Published: June 2016

Wheat is grown worldwide in diverse geographical regions, environments, and production systems. Although many diseases and pests are known to reduce grain yield potential and quality, the three rusts and powdery mildew fungi have historically caused major crop losses and continue to remain economically important despite the widespread use of host resistance and fungicides. The evolution and fast spread of virulent and more aggressive race lineages of rust fungi have only worsened the situation. Fusarium head blight, leaf spotting diseases, and, more recently, wheat blast (in South America and Bangladesh) have become diseases of major importance in recent years largely because of intensive production systems, the expansion of conservation agriculture, undesirable crop rotations, or increased dependency on fungicides. High genetic diversity for race-specific and quantitative resistance is known for most diseases; their selection through phenotyping reinforced with molecular strategies offers great promise in achieving more durable resistance and enhancing global wheat productivity.
Resistance to Tospoviruses in Vegetable Crops: Epidemiological and Molecular Aspects
Authors: Turina Massimo , Kormelink Richard , Resende Renato O.
Published: June 2016

During the past three decades, the economic impact of tospoviruses has increased, causing high yield losses in a variety of crops and ornamentals. Owing to the difficulty in combating thrips vectors with insecticides, the best way to limit/prevent tospovirus-induced diseases involves a management strategy that includes virus resistance. This review briefly presents current tospovirus taxonomy, diversity, molecular biology, and cytopathology as an introduction to a more extensive description of the two main resistance genes employed against tospoviruses: the Sw5 gene in tomato and the Tsw in pepper. Natural and experimental resistance-breaking (RB) isolates allowed the identification of the viral avirulence protein triggering each of the two resistance gene products; epidemiology of RB isolates is discussed to reinforce the need for allelic variants and the need to search for new/alternative resistance genes. Ongoing efforts for alternative resistance strategies are described not only for Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) in pepper and tomato but also for other vegetable crops heavily impacted by tospoviruses.
Role of Alternate Hosts in Epidemiology and Pathogen Variation of Cereal Rusts
Authors: Zhao Jie , Wang Meinan , Chen Xianming , Kang Zhensheng
Published: June 2016

Cereal rusts, caused by obligate and biotrophic fungi in the genus Puccinia, are important diseases that threaten world food security. With the recent discovery of alternate hosts for the stripe rust fungus (Puccinia striiformis), all cereal rust fungi are now known to be heteroecious, requiring two distinct plant species serving as primary or alternate hosts to complete their sexual life cycle. The roles of the alternate hosts in disease epidemiology and pathogen variation vary greatly from species to species and from region to region because of different climatic and cropping conditions. We focus this review on rust fungi of small grains, mainly stripe rust, stem rust, leaf rust, and crown rust of wheat, barley, oat, rye, and triticale, with emphases on the contributions of alternate hosts to the development and management of rust diseases.
A Multiscale Approach to Plant Disease Using the Metacommunity Concept
Authors: Borer Elizabeth T. , Laine Anna-Liisa , Seabloom Eric W.
Published: June 2016

Plant disease arises from the interaction of processes occurring at multiple spatial and temporal scales. With new tools such as next-generation sequencing, we are learning about the diversity of microbes circulating within and among plant populations and often coinhabiting host individuals. The proliferation of pathogenic microbes depends on single-species dynamics and multispecies interactions occurring within and among host cells, the spatial organization and genetic landscape of hosts, the frequency and mode of transmission among hosts and host populations, and the abiotic environmental context. Here, we examine empirical evidence from these multiple scales to assess the utility of metacommunity theory, a theoretical framework developed for free-living organisms to further our understanding of and assist in predicting plant-pathogen infection and spread. We suggest that deeper understanding of disease dynamics can arise through the application of this conceptual framework at scales ranging from individual cells to landscapes. In addition, we use this multiscale theoretical perspective to synthesize existing knowledge, generate novel hypotheses, and point toward promising future opportunities for the study of plant pathogens in natural populations.
Using Ecology, Physiology, and Genomics to Understand Host Specificity inXanthomonas
Authors: Jacques Marie-Agnès , Arlat Matthieu , Boulanger Alice , Boureau Tristan , Carrère Sébastien , Cesbron Sophie , Chen Nicolas W.G. , Cociancich Stéphane , Darrasse Armelle , Denancé Nicolas , Fischer-Le Saux Marion , Gagnevin Lionel , Koebnik Ralf , Lauber Emmanuelle , Noël Laurent D. , Pieretti Isabelle , Portier Perrine , Pruvost Olivier , Rieux Adrien , Robène Isabelle , Royer Monique , Szurek Boris , Verdier Valérie , Vernière Christian
Published: June 2016

How pathogens coevolve with and adapt to their hosts are critical to understanding how host jumps and/or acquisition of novel traits can lead to new disease emergences. The Xanthomonas genus includes Gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacteria that collectively infect a broad range of crops and wild plant species. However, individual Xanthomonas strains usually cause disease on only a few plant species and are highly adapted to their hosts, making them pertinent models to study host specificity. This review summarizes our current understanding of the molecular basis of host specificity in the Xanthomonas genus, with a particular focus on the ecology, physiology, and pathogenicity of the bacterium. Despite our limited understanding of the basis of host specificity, type III effectors, microbe-associated molecular patterns, lipopolysaccharides, transcriptional regulators, and chemotactic sensors emerge as key determinants for shaping host specificity.
Machine Translation: Mining Text for Social Theory
Authors: Evans James A. , Aceves Pedro
Published: June 2016

More of the social world lives within electronic text than ever before, from collective activity on the web, social media, and instant messaging to online transactions, government intelligence, and digitized libraries. This supply of text has elicited demand for natural language processing and machine learning tools to filter, search, and translate text into valuable data. We survey some of the most exciting computational approaches to text analysis, highlighting both supervised methods that extend old theories to new data and unsupervised techniques that discover hidden regularities worth theorizing. We then review recent research that uses these tools to develop social insight by exploring (a) collective attention and reasoning through the content of communication; (b) social relationships through the process of communication; and (c) social states, roles, and moves identified through heterogeneous signals within communication. We highlight social questions for which these advances could offer powerful new insight.
Nationalism in Settled Times
Authors: Bonikowski Bart
Published: June 2016

Due to a preoccupation with periods of large-scale social change, nationalism research had long neglected everyday nationhood in contemporary democracies. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to shift the focus of this scholarly field toward the study of nationalism not only as a political project but also as a cognitive, affective, and discursive category deployed in daily practice. Integrating insights from work on banal and everyday nationalism, collective rituals, national identity, and commemorative struggles with survey-based findings from political psychology, I demonstrate that meanings attached to the nation vary within and across populations as well as over time, with important implications for microinteraction and for political beliefs and behavior, including support for exclusionary policies and authoritarian politics. I conclude by suggesting how new developments in methods of data collection and analysis can inform future research on this topic.
An Energy-Efficient Secure Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Bok Kyoungsoo , Lee Yunjeong , Park Junho , Yoo Jaesoo
Published: June 2016

We propose an energy-efficient security scheme in wireless sensor networks. The proposed scheme converts sensing data using TinyMD5, which is a variation of MD5, a one-way hash function, and can solve the collision problem of hash value that occurs when MD5 is modified. In addition, it strengthens security capabilities by transmitting data through multiple paths after conversion with TinyMD5 and divides the data to make decryption of the original data difficult. To show the superiority of the proposed algorithm, we compare it with the existing schemes through simulations. The performance evaluation results show that the proposed scheme maintains security better than the existing scheme, improving the communication cost and the network lifetime.
Pediatric Myofibroma of the Palate with Ulceration and Bone Destruction
Authors: Capo Joseph A. , Moubayed Dina , Moubayed Sami P. , Hernandez-Prera Juan C. , Khorsandi Azita , Buchbinder Daniel , Urken Mark L.
Published: June 2016

Myofibroma is a rare benign neoplasm occurring in the head and neck, arising primarily in infants and children. Frequently, myofibromas grow rapidly leading to suspicion of malignancy and the potential for overaggressive surgical excision. We aim to report a rare case of myofibroma with ulceration and bone destruction. A nine-year-old female presented with an ulcerated left hard palate mass. Open biopsy was performed with pathology suggestive of myofibroma. A left partial maxillectomy and reconstruction with a buccal advancement flap were performed. Final pathology confirmed the diagnosis of a benign myofibroma. Myofibroma is a rare benign tumor of the head and neck which must be considered in the differential diagnosis by the clinician and the pathologist in order to prevent inappropriate and/or overaggressive treatment.
Distinct Expression Pattern of a Deafness Gene,KIAA1199, in a Primate Cochlea
Authors: Hosoya Makoto , Fujioka Masato , Okano Hideyuki , Ogawa Kaoru
Published: June 2016

Deafness is one of the most common types of congenital impairments, and at least half of the cases are caused by hereditary mutations. Mutations of the geneKIAA1199are associated with progressive hearing loss. Its expression is abundant in human cochlea, but interestingly the spatial expression patterns are different between mouse and rat cochleae; the pattern in humans has not been fully investigated. We performed immunohistochemical analysis of a nonhuman primate, common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus), cochlea with a KIAA1199-specific antibody. In the common marmoset cochlea, KIAA1199 protein expression was more widespread than in rodents, with all epithelial cells, including hair cells, expressing KIAA1199. Our results suggest that the primate pattern of KIAA1199 expression is wider in comparison with rodents and may play an essential role in the maintenance of cochlear epithelial cells.