bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Population genetic analysis of Helicobacter pylori by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis: extensive allelic diversity and recombinational population structure
Authors: Go M F , Kapur V , Graham D Y , Musser J M
Published: November 2016

Genetic diversity and relationships in 74 Helicobacter pylori isolates recovered from patients assigned to distinct clinical categories were estimated by examination of allelic variation in six genes encoding metabolic housekeeping enzymes by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. Seventy-three distinct allele profiles, representing multilocus chromosomal genotypes, were identified. All six loci were highly polymorphic, with an average of 11.2 alleles per locus. The mean genetic diversity in the sample was 0.735, a value that exceeds the level of diversity recorded in virtually all bacterial species studied by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis. A high frequency of occurrence of null alleles (lack of enzyme activity) was identified and warrants further investigation at the molecular level. Lack of linkage disequilibrium (nonrandom association (of alleles over loci) indicates that horizontal transfer and recombination of metabolic enzyme genes have contributed to the generation of chromosomal diversity in H. pylori. In this sample of isolates, there was no statistically significant association of multilocus enzyme electrophoretic types or cluster of related chromosomal types and disease category.
A simple gel electrophoretic method for analyzing the muropeptide composition of bacterial peptidoglycan
Authors: Young K D
Published: November 2016

The muropeptide composition of bacterial peptidoglycan is currently most efficiently determined by reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Though sensitive, the HPLC procedure is technically demanding and has been applied to a relatively small number of bacterial strains and species. We have found that fluorescence-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) is a simple, rapid method by which reducing muropeptides from multiple peptidoglycan samples can be visualized. Individual reducing muropeptides were covalently labeled with the fluorescent molecule 8-aminonaphthalene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid, after which they were separated by electrophoresis through a 35% polyacrylamide gel and visualized by exposure to UV light. FACE detected the appropriate numbers of reducing muropeptides in the proper proportions for four bacteria: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter cloacae, and Yersinia enterocolitica. As little as 2 to 5 pmol per muropeptide was detected when the intensity of the fluorescent signal was measured with a charge-coupled device camera, at a level of sensitivity between 50 and 250 times higher than that of the classic HPLC technique. Thus, FACE may be used to identify interesting peptidoglycan samples prior to more-extensive analysis by HPLC, or FACE may eventually replace HPLC for some applications.
Use of PCR to isolate genes encoding sigma54-dependent activators from diverse bacteria
Authors: Kaufman R I , Nixon B T
Published: November 2016

Degenerate PCR probes were used to amplify gene fragments encoding the catalytic domain of sigma54-dependent transcription activators. The procedure should be widely applicable, as it recovered both known and novel gene fragments: 5 from Rhizobium meliloti, 13 from Myxococcus xanthus, and 3 from Bacillus subtilis. No fragments were obtained from Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7002 or Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Rifampicin-induced adrenal crisis in a patient with tuberculosis: a therapeutic challenge
Authors: Denny Nicholas , Raghunath Sarika , Bhatia Praveen , Abdelaziz Muntasir
Published: November 2016

A 55-year-old Indian man presented with productive cough and a large left pleural effusion. Pleural fluid culture grewMycobacterium tuberculosis, and he was started on antituberculosis therapy. One week later, the patient presented to hospital with drowsiness, dehydration and hypotension. He was transferred to critical care and only improved after starting hydrocortisone and stopping rifampicin. His short synACTHen test subsequently confirmed primary adrenal insufficiency, and a CT of the abdomen showed bilateral adrenal enlargement. Rifampicin is known to accelerate cortisol metabolism. We report the rare case of a rifampicin-induced adrenal crisis as a first presentation of Addison's disease in a patient with tuberculous infiltration of the adrenal glands.
Hyper-IgD and periodic fever syndrome (HIDS) due to compound heterozygosity for G336S and V377I in a 44-year-old patient with a 27-year history of fever
Authors: Schlabe Stefan , Schwarze-Zander Carolynne , Lohse Peter , Rockstroh Jürgen Kurt
Published: November 2016

Hereditary autoinflammatory syndromes are a rare, but notable cause of fever of unknown origin. During the last few years, the knowledge of the genetic background has significantly increased. Here, we report a novel pathogenic mutation in theMVKgene as the cause of fever in a 44-year-old male patient with a history of fever over a period of 27 years.
Atypical presentation of anti-GBM nephritis in a 90-year-old patient
Authors: Okiro Julie Omolola , Ebad Chaudhry Adeel , Khan Amjad Zaman
Published: November 2016

A 90-year-old woman who had bloody diarrhoea, nausea, weakness and reduced urine output was found to have acute kidney injury. Her inflammatory markers were raised and her chest X-ray suggested an inflammatory process. She was initially suspected to have acute kidney injury secondary to dehydration and sepsis but when her autoimmune screen returned positive for antiglomerular basement membrane antibodies our diagnosis and management strategy was reconsidered. This is a case report of Goodpasture disease presenting in an elderly patient.
Association of eating behaviours with diurnal preference and rotating shift work in Japanese female nurses: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Yoshizaki Takahiro , Kawano Yukari , Noguchi Osamu , Onishi Junko , Teramoto Reiko , Sunami Ayaka , Yokoyama Yuri , Tada Yuki , Hida Azumi , Togo Fumiharu
Published: November 2016

Objectives

Our study examines differences in eating behaviour between day workers and rotating shift workers, and considers whether diurnal preference could explain the differences.

Methods

Japanese female nurses were studied (39 day workers and 123 rotating shift workers, aged 21–63 years) using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed eating behaviours, diurnal preference and demographic characteristics. The questionnaire in the Guidelines for the management of obesity disease issued by the Japan Society for the Study of Obesity was used to obtain scores for the levels of obesity-related eating behaviours, including cognition of constitution, motivation for eating, eating as a diversion, feeling of satiety, eating style, meal contents and temporal eating patterns. The Japanese version of the Morningness–Eveningness (ME) questionnaire was used to measure self-rated preference for the degree to which people prefer to be active in the morning or the evening (ME).

Results

The scores for meal contents and temporal eating patterns in rotating shift workers were significantly higher than those in day workers. The ME score of rotating shift workers was significantly lower, indicating greater eveningness/less morningness among rotating shift workers. Multivariate linear regression revealed that the ME score was significantly negatively associated with temporal eating patterns and showed a negative association with the score for meal contents at a trend level, while current work shift was not significantly correlated with the scores.

Conclusions

These results suggest that eating behaviours for rotating shift workers are associated with a more unbalanced diet and abnormal temporal eating patterns and that the associations may be explained by diurnal preference rather than by rotating shift work.
T cell-rich lymphoid infiltrates with large B cells: a review of key entities and diagnostic approach
Authors: Cheng Chee Leong , O'Connor Simon
Published: November 2016

Accurate diagnostic interpretation of a lymphoid population composed predominantly of small T cells, together with smaller numbers of large B cells, with or without a nodular architecture, is a common problem faced by the histopathologist. The differential diagnosis of this histological pattern is wide, ranging from reactive conditions such as drug reactions and viral infections, through borderline entities such as immunodeficiency-related lymphoproliferative disorders to lymphomas. The latter includes entities where the large B cells are primarily neoplastic (classical and nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphomas and T cell/histiocyte-rich large B cell lymphoma) as well as T cell lymphomas such as angioimmunoblastic T cell lymphoma where the large B cells represent an epiphenomenon and may or may not be neoplastic. Several rare variants of these conditions, and the fact that treatment can significantly modify appearances, add to the diagnostic difficulty of these pathological entities. Unlike monomorphic lymphoid infiltrates, the histological pattern of T cell-rich proliferation with large B cells requires close evaluation of the inter-relationship between B cells and T cells, follicular dendritic cells and sometimes other inflammatory cells. Epstein-Barr virus plays a key role in several of these scenarios, and interpreting not only its presence but also its distribution within cellular subgroups is essential to accurate diagnosis and the avoidance of some important diagnostic pitfalls. An understanding of normal immunoarchitecture and lymphoid maturational pathways is also fundamental to resolving these cases, as is a knowledge of their common patterns of spread, which facilitates correlation with clinical and radiological findings.
Differential cohomology and locally covariant quantum field theory
Authors: Becker Christian , Schenkel Alexander , Szabo Richard J.
Published: November 2016

We study differential cohomology on categories of globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds. The Lorentzian metric allows us to define a natural transformation whose kernel generalizes Maxwell's equations and fits into a restriction of the fundamental exact sequences of differential cohomology. We consider smooth Pontryagin duals of differential cohomology groups, which are subgroups of the character groups. We prove that these groups fit into smooth duals of the fundamental exact sequences of differential cohomology and equip them with a natural presymplectic structure derived from a generalized Maxwell Lagrangian. The resulting presymplectic Abelian groups are quantized using the [Formula: see text]-functor, which yields a covariant functor from our categories of globally hyperbolic Lorentzian manifolds to the category of [Formula: see text]-algebras. We prove that this functor satisfies the causality and time-slice axioms of locally covariant quantum field theory, but that it violates the locality axiom. We show that this violation is precisely due to the fact that our functor has topological subfunctors describing the Pontryagin duals of certain singular cohomology groups. As a byproduct, we develop a Fréchet–Lie group structure on differential cohomology groups.
Regularity of infinitesimal CR automorphisms
Authors: Fürdös Stefan , Lamel Bernhard
Published: November 2016

We study the regularity of infinitesimal CR automorphisms of abstract CR structures which possess a certain microlocal extension and show that there are smooth multipliers, completely determined by the CR structure, such that if [Formula: see text] is such an infinitesimal CR automorphism, then [Formula: see text] is smooth for all multipliers [Formula: see text]. As an application, we study the regularity of infinitesimal automorphisms of certain infinite type hypersurfaces in [Formula: see text].
Information Disclosure Model Under Supply Chain Competition with Asymmetric Demand Disruption
Authors: Chen Kebing , Xu Renxing , Fang Hanwei
Published: November 2016

This paper develops the game models of two symmetric supply chains, each consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer, while both retailers compete in the market with a linear function. The disclosure mechanism is designed when the information of the disrupted demand is asymmetric between supply side and retail side. We first study the model with the full information as a benchmark to explore the effect of asymmetric information on the system. In the case, each manufacturer maximizes her profit while the downstream retailer only obtains the reservation profit. For the case of asymmetric information, each manufacturer can obtain the real information of the disrupted demand by using a menu of contract bundles. For each information structure, there are always robust regions for each manufacturer’s original trading quantity scheme. That is, when the disrupted amount of the demand is sufficiently small, the trading quantity will be unchanged. However, some special measures, e.g., the higher unit wholesale price, should be taken to prevent the retailer from deviating the trading quantity scheme. The high-disruption retailer gets the higher profit due to the information rent. Compared with a single supply chain, Cournot competition results in the less retail price and the lower performance for the whole system.
A Fast Approach to Solve Matrix Games with Payoffs of Trapezoidal Fuzzy Numbers
Authors: Kumar Sanjiv , Chopra Ritika , Saxena Ratnesh R.
Published: November 2016

The aim of this paper is to develop an effective method for solving matrix game with payoffs of trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (TrFNs). The method always assures that players’ gain-floor and loss-ceiling have a common TrFN-type fuzzy value and hereby any matrix game with payoffs of TrFNs has a TrFN-type fuzzy value. The matrix game is first converted to a fuzzy linear programming problem, which is converted to three different optimization problems, which are then solved to get the optimum value of the game. The proposed method has an edge over other method as this focuses only on matrix games with payoff element as symmetric trapezoidal fuzzy number, which might not always be the case. A numerical example is given to illustrate the method.
Scheduling Deteriorating Jobs with Availability Constraints to Minimize the Makespan
Authors: Zhao Chuanli , Tang Hengyong
Published: November 2016

In this paper, we consider the scheduling problem in which the processing time of a job is a linear increasing function of its starting time and machine with availability constraints. The objective is to minimize the makespan. We first present a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme (FPTAS) for the case with a single machine. We then show that there exists no polynomial time approximation algorithm with a constant worst-case bound for the case with two identical machines unless [Formula: see text].
SIMULTANEOUS TRADING IN ‘LIT’ AND DARK POOLS
Authors: CRISAFI M. ALESSANDRA , MACRINA ANDREA
Published: November 2016

We consider an optimal trading problem over a finite period of time during which an investor has access to both a standard exchange and a dark pool. We take the exchange to be an order-driven market and propose a continuous-time setup for the best bid price and the market spread, both modeled by Lévy processes. Effects on the best bid price arising from the arrival of limit buy orders at more favorable prices, the incoming market sell orders potentially walking the book, and deriving from the cancellations of limit sell orders at the best ask price are incorporated in the proposed price dynamics. A permanent impact that occurs when ‘lit’ pool trades cannot be avoided is built in, and an instantaneous impact that models the slippage, to which all lit exchange trades are subject, is also considered. We assume that the trading price in the dark pool is the mid-price and that no fees are due for posting orders. We allow for partial trade executions in the dark pool, and we find the optimal trading strategy in both venues. Since the mid-price is taken from the exchange, the dynamics of the limit order book also affects the optimal allocation of shares in the dark pool. We propose a general objective function and we show that, subject to suitable technical conditions, the value function can be characterized by the unique continuous viscosity solution to the associated partial integro-differential equation. We present two explicit examples of the price and the spread models, derive the associated optimal trading strategy numerically. We discuss the various degrees of the agent's risk aversion and further show that roundtrips are not necessarily beneficial.
Derailment and Dynamic Analysis of Tilting Railway Vehicles Moving Over Irregular Tracks Under Environment Forces
Authors: Cheng Yung-Chang , Chen Chern-Hwa , Hsu Chin-Te
Published: November 2016

Utilizing a nonlinear creep model, the dynamic behavior of tilting railway vehicles moving over curved tracks with rail irregularities and under earthquakes and wind loads is studied. The car model adopted consists of 28 degrees of freedom, capable of simulating the lateral, vertical, roll and yaw motions for the wheelsets, truck frames and car body. The derailment quotient is investigated to analyze the running safety of a tilting railway vehicle using the linear and nonlinear creep models, while considering the rail irregularities and environmental forces for various tilting angles. Generally, the derailment risk of the tilting railway vehicle is higher than that of non-tilting railway vehicle with or without rail irregularities and environmental forces. The derailment quotients calculated by the linear creep model are underestimated for a tilting railway vehicle. In addition, the derailment quotients evaluated for rough rails and under environmental forces are higher than those obtained for smooth rails with no environmental forces. It is confirmed that rail irregularities and each type of environmental forces have decisive effects on derailment quotients. They are compared and ranked according to their significance.
Curvature variation factor and its application
Authors: Wang Aizeng , Zhao Gang
Published: November 2016

Evaluation on curvature variation is a significant problem in the field of curve fairing, and traditional evaluation is generally performed by observing curvature plots qualitatively. By using the theory of B-spline wavelet, the concept of curvature variation factor (CVF) is put forth in this paper to describe curvature variation quantitatively. It is verified that the quantitative evaluation results by the CVF method agree well with the traditional qualitative judgments. Based on CVF, a new curve-fairing algorithm is further put forward, whose validness is verified by an example. The advantage of the CVF-based algorithm is that it can realize different fairing effect to meet different requirements under diverse circumstances only by adjusting the shape error.
Approximate symmetry and solutions of the nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation with a small parameter
Authors: Rahimian Mohammad , Toomanian Megerdich , Nadjafikhah Mehdi
Published: November 2016

In this paper, the Lie approximate symmetry analysis is applied to investigate new solutions of the nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation with a small parameter. The nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation is used to model many nonlinear phenomena. The hyperbolic function method and Riccati equation method are employed to solve some of the obtained reduced ordinary differential equations. We construct new analytical solutions with a small parameter which is effectively obtained by the proposed method.
Tangent bundle geometry from dynamics: Application to the Kepler problem
Authors: Cariñena J. F. , Clemente-Gallardo J. , Jover-Galtier J. A. , Marmo G.
Published: November 2016

In this paper, we consider a manifold with a dynamical vector field and enquire about the possible tangent bundle structures which would turn the starting vector field into a second-order one. The analysis is restricted to manifolds which are diffeomorphic with affine spaces. In particular, we consider the problem in connection with conformal vector fields of second-order and apply the procedure to vector fields conformally related with the harmonic oscillator ([Formula: see text]-oscillators). We select one which covers the vector field describing the Kepler problem.
THE INFLUENCE OF THE INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS ON BUSINESS MODEL DESIGN: A QUALITATIVE-EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
Authors: LAUDIEN SVEN M. , DAXBÖCK BIRGIT
Published: November 2016

The Industrial Internet of Things is recently a widely discussed phenomenon. However, business level effects of this phenomenon are by now underresearched. We tackle this research gap by presenting an in-depth analysis of business model changes manufacturing firms employ to adequately react to this technological development. Against the background of a multiple-case study we identify and characterise three archetypes of business models manufacturing firm implement in order to benefit from opportunities provided by the Industrial Internet of Things. Furthermore, we present insights on how firms innovate their extant business model in this context. Thereby, our study considerably contributes to business model research and additionally bolsters up a strategic firm level perspective on the Industrial Internet of Things.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATIONAL CULTURE DIMENSIONS AND DEGREE OF INNOVATION
Authors: PRIM ALEXANDRE LUIS , FILHO LUIZ STEPHANY , ZAMUR GUILHERME AUGUSTO CAVALLARO , DI SERIO LUIZ CARLOS
Published: November 2016

The objective of this research is to analyse the relationship between cultural dimensions and the degree of innovation at the national level. For such, secondary data were collected relating to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the Global Innovation Index (GII). They were analysed using multiple linear technical regressions based on a sample of 72 countries. The results reveal the existence of three cultural dimensions associated with innovation outputs (technology and creativity): individualism, long-term orientation and indulgence, while a partially supported relationship was encountered for the power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity dimensions. National cultures were also classified as being competitive, planning, hierarchical or benevolent, to distinguish the most innovation-driven cultures. This evidence contributes to the innovation and competitiveness perspective, in which the intrinsic values of a national culture can favour the development of innovation and raise the competitiveness level of both nations and organisations.
NOT-INVENTED-HERE SYNDROME AND INNOVATION PERFORMANCE: THE CONFOUNDING EFFECT OF INNOVATION CAPABILITIES AS ORGANISATIONAL ROUTINES IN SERVICE FIRMS
Authors: ARIAS-PÉREZ JOSE , PERDOMO-CHARRY GEOVANNY , CASTAÑO-RÍOS CARLOS
Published: November 2016

Currently, it is commonly accepted that the not-invented-here syndrome (NIHS) refers to internal resistance against external knowledge, and that it has devastating consequences on innovation performance (IP). Nevertheless, studies on organisational practices that neutralise NIHS are incipient. Moreover, it is accepted that innovation capabilities (ICs) are perhaps the organisational routines with the highest positive influence on IP. In this study, based on the organisational routine framework and agency theory, we propose a model in which ICs (i.e., client-focused, marketing-focused, and technology-focused ICs) have a confounding effect on an NIHS–IP relation. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the proposed model with survey data from a sample of 161 service firms. We find that (1) NIHS influences IP negatively, and (2) ICs weaken NIHS–IP relation, practically turning it null. Finally, this paper provides insights for researchers and managers regarding a possible overestimation of the negative effects of NIHS on the literature.
THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN NETWORK COMMITMENT, ANTECEDENTS, AND INNOVATION IN STRATEGIC INNOVATION NETWORKS
Authors: HAMMARFJORD MAGNUS OLSÉN , ROXENHALL TOMMY
Published: November 2016

Strategic innovation networks, formed to stimulate innovation performance and economic growth for members and regions via collaborative activities, have recently become increasingly common. Numerous researchers have noted the effect of network structure on innovation performance and also discussed the mediating role of commitment. Many studies suggest that commitment strongly mediates firm and network outcome and performance. Studies of organisational behaviour, relationship marketing, and human resources demonstrate that commitment leads to better firm performance, inter-firm cooperation, network performance, market knowledge transfer, knowledge sharing, future intentions, retention, and enforcement mechanisms. Strangely, studies of the relationship between commitment and innovation from a network perspective are lacking. This study investigates the relationships between commitment, its antecedents, and innovation performance in strategic innovation networks. The antecedents examined are expectation gap, shared values, ego network density, and ego network size. A questionnaire was emailed to all members of three Swedish strategic innovation networks in different industries and regions to collect data; 150 completed questionnaires were received for a 27% response rate. Multiple regression, path, and mediation analyses demonstrate that commitment is an important mediating variable when firms in strategic networks jointly develop innovations. Expectation gap and shared values are strongly related to commitment, but ego network density and ego network size are not; however, the last two variables directly affect innovation. This means that relational influence is more important for commitment than the structural effects, while structural effects are more significant for innovation.
Three-dimensional finite element model to study temperature distribution in peripheral layers of human limbs immediately after physical exercise
Authors: Kumari Babita , Adlakha Neeru
Published: November 2016

The physical exercise imposes challenges on the human thermoregulatory system, as heat exchange between the body and environment is substantially impaired, which can lead to decrease in performance and increased risk of heat illness. In view of above a three-dimensional finite element model is proposed to study the effect of different intensities of physical exercise on temperature distribution in peripheral regions of human limbs under moderate climatic conditions. Human limb is assumed to have a cylindrical cross-section. The peripheral region of the human limb is divided into three natural components, namely epidermis, dermis and subdermal tissues. The model incorporates the effect of important physiological parameters like blood mass flow rate, metabolic heat generation, and thermal conductivity of the tissues. Appropriate boundary conditions have been framed based on the physical conditions of the problem. The model is transformed into the discretized variational form and finite element method (FEM) has been employed to obtain the solution. The numerical results have been used to obtain the temperature profiles in the region immediately after exercise for an unsteady state case. The thermal information generated from the model can be useful for developing protocols for improving performance of sportsmen, military persons and labor-intensive workers.
An Eshelbian homogenization solution for a coupled stress-diffusion moving interface problem in composites
Authors: Zhang Yang , Zhang Xian-Cheng , Tu Shan-Tung , Li Shaofan
Published: November 2016

In this work, we proposed a homogenization model to treat the coupled mechanical-diffusion moving interface problem. The Eshelbian homogenization method is applied to find the effective mechanical properties and diffusivity. On the one hand, the diffusion of solute elements would induce the formation of inclusion phases, affecting the mechanical equilibrium, properties and diffusivity. On the other hand, the stress condition will also have effects on the chemical potential and diffusion process. The coupling of the mechanical and diffusion processes were simulated using the present model, i.e., normal diffusion process and that with previous diffusion treatment. In the former case, thicknesses of outer and inner diffusion parts both increased with time. In the latter case, decomposition of the outer diffusion part might take place to maintain the growth of the inner part.
Single-Cell and Single-Molecule Analysis of Gene Expression Regulation
Authors: Vera Maria , Biswas Jeetayu , Senecal Adrien , Singer Robert H. , Park Hye Yoon
Published: November 2016

Recent advancements in single-cell and single-molecule imaging technologies have resolved biological processes in time and space that are fundamental to understanding the regulation of gene expression. Observations of single-molecule events in their cellular context have revealed highly dynamic aspects of transcriptional and post-transcriptional control in eukaryotic cells. This approach can relate transcription with mRNA abundance and lifetimes. Another key aspect of single-cell analysis is the cell-to-cell variability among populations of cells. Definition of heterogeneity has revealed stochastic processes, determined characteristics of under-represented cell types or transitional states, and integrated cellular behaviors in the context of multicellular organisms. In this review, we discuss novel aspects of gene expression of eukaryotic cells and multicellular organisms revealed by the latest advances in single-cell and single-molecule imaging technology.
Proteopathic Strains and the Heterogeneity of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Authors: Walker Lary C.
Published: November 2016

Most age-related neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the misfolding and aberrant accumulation of specific proteins in the nervous system. The proteins self-assemble and spread by a prion-like process of corruptive molecular templating, whereby abnormally folded proteins induce the misfolding and aggregation of like proteins into characteristic lesions. Despite the apparent simplicity of this process at the molecular level, diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, and others display remarkable phenotypic heterogeneity, both clinically and pathologically. Evidence is growing that this variability is mediated, at least in part, by the acquisition of diverse molecular architectures by the misfolded proteins, variants referred to as proteopathic strains. The structural and functional diversity of the assemblies is influenced by genetic, epigenetic, and local contextual factors. Insights into proteopathic strains gleaned from the classical prion diseases can be profitably incorporated into research on other neurodegenerative diseases. Their potentially wide-ranging influence on disease phenotype also suggests that proteopathic strains should be considered in the design and interpretation of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to these disorders.
Assessing the Economic Impact of Inversion Tillage, Cover Crops, and Herbicide Regimes in Palmer Amaranth(Amaranthus palmeri)Infested Cotton
Authors: Duzy Leah M. , Price Andrew J. , Balkcom Kipling S. , Aulakh Jatinder S.
Published: November 2016

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutumL.) producers in Alabama are faced with a rapidly expanding problem that decreases yields and increases production costs: herbicide-resistant weeds. Producers increasingly rely on integrated weed management strategies that raise production costs. This analysis evaluated how tillage, cover crops, and herbicide regime affected net returns above variable treatment costs (net returns) for cotton production in Alabama from 2009 to 2011 under pressure from Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeriS. Wats.). Annual net returns were compared for two tillage treatments (inversion and noninversion tillage), three cover crops (crimson clover [Trifolium incarnatumL.], cereal rye [Secale cerealL.], and winter fallow), and three herbicide regimes (PRE, POST, and PRE+POST). Results indicate that under heavy Palmer amaranth population densities one year of inversion tillage followed by two years of noninversion tillage, along with a POST or PRE+POST herbicide application had the highest net returns in the first year; however, the economic benefit of inversion tillage, across all herbicide treatments, was nonexistent in 2010 and 2011. Cotton producers with Palmer amaranth infestations would likely benefit from cultural controls, in conjunction with herbicide applications, as part of their weed management system to increase net returns.
Transcript Polymorphism Rates in Soybean Seed Tissue Are Increased in a Single Transformant ofGlycine max
Authors: Lambirth Kevin C. , Whaley Adam M. , Schlueter Jessica A. , Piller Kenneth J. , Bost Kenneth L.
Published: November 2016

Transgenic crops have been utilized for decades to enhance agriculture and more recently have been applied as bioreactors for manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Recently, we investigated the gene expression profiles of several in-house transgenic soybean events, finding one transformant group to be consistently different from our controls. In the present study, we examined polymorphisms and sequence variations in the exomes of the same transgenic soybean events. We found that the previously dissimilar soybean line also exhibited markedly increased levels of polymorphisms within mRNA transcripts from seed tissue, many of which are classified as gene expression modifiers. The results from this work will direct future investigations to examine novel SNPs controlling traits of great interest for breeding and improving transgenic soybean crops. Further, this study marks the first work to investigate SNP rates in transgenic soybean seed tissues and demonstrates that while transgenesis may induce abundant unanticipated changes in gene expression and nucleotide variation, phenotypes and overall health of the plants examined remained unaltered.
Posterior Segment Intraocular Foreign Body: Extraction Surgical Techniques, Timing, and Indications for Vitrectomy
Authors: Guevara-Villarreal Dante A. , Rodríguez-Valdés Patricio J.
Published: November 2016

Ocular penetrating injury with Intraocular Foreign Body (IOFB) is a common form of ocular injury. Several techniques to remove IOFB have been reported by different authors. The aim of this publication is to review different timing and surgical techniques related to the extraction of IOFB.Material and Methods. A PubMed search on “Extraction of Intraocular Foreign Body,” “Timing for Surgery Intraocular Foreign Body,” and “Surgical Technique Intraocular Foreign Body” was made.Results. Potential advantages of immediate and delayed IOFB removal have been reported with different results. Several techniques to remove IOFB have been reported by different authors with good results.Conclusion. The most important factor at the time to perform IOFB extraction is the experience of the surgeon.
Automatic Construction and Global Optimization of a Multisentiment Lexicon
Authors: Yang Xiaoping , Zhang Zhongxia , Zhang Zhongqiu , Mo Yuting , Li Lianbei , Yu Li , Zhu Peican
Published: November 2016

Manual annotation of sentiment lexicons costs too much labor and time, and it is also difficult to get accurate quantification of emotional intensity. Besides, the excessive emphasis on one specific field has greatly limited the applicability of domain sentiment lexicons (Wang et al., 2010). This paper implements statistical training for large-scale Chinese corpus through neural network language model and proposes an automatic method of constructing a multidimensional sentiment lexicon based on constraints of coordinate offset. In order to distinguish the sentiment polarities of those words which may express either positive or negative meanings in different contexts, we further present a sentiment disambiguation algorithm to increase the flexibility of our lexicon. Lastly, we present a global optimization framework that provides a unified way to combine several human-annotated resources for learning our 10-dimensional sentiment lexicon SentiRuc. Experiments show the superior performance of SentiRuc lexicon in category labeling test, intensity labeling test, and sentiment classification tasks. It is worth mentioning that, in intensity label test, SentiRuc outperforms the second place by 21 percent.
Pernicious Effects of Toe Sucking Habit in Children
Authors: Pai Deepika , Kumar Saurabh , Kamath Abhay T. , Bhaskar Vipin
Published: November 2016

Digit sucking is common nonnutritive sucking habit in childhood. However it is unusual to find toe sucking habit in children. We report a case of a seven-year-old child sucking great toe of the left foot. The child was referred by her paediatrician for dental evaluation due to her complaint of recurrent episodes of pyrexia. A dental evaluation was warranted as no particular system contributed to such recurrent episodes of fever in this child. Although dental examination did not reveal any cause for recurrent episodes of pyrexia, as a part of routine history taking we discovered that this child indulges frequently in sucking the great toe of her left foot since infancy. Any nonnutritive sucking habit is considered deleterious; this habit also caused significant effect on the child’s dentofacial structures, sucked toe, and her general health. Hence the treatment plan was formulated for immediate cessation of habit. Appropriate interception of habit and timely orthodontic intervention led to not only early interception of cross-bite but also decrease in pyrexial episodes. This case report describes the pernicious effects of toe sucking habit and its relevance to recurrent pyrexia in children.
A Self-Adaptive Fuzzyc-Means Algorithm for Determining the Optimal Number of Clusters
Authors: Ren Min , Liu Peiyu , Wang Zhihao , Yi Jing
Published: November 2016

For the shortcoming of fuzzyc-means algorithm (FCM) needing to know the number of clusters in advance, this paper proposed a new self-adaptive method to determine the optimal number of clusters. Firstly, a density-based algorithm was put forward. The algorithm, according to the characteristics of the dataset, automatically determined the possible maximum number of clusters instead of using the empirical rulenand obtained the optimal initial cluster centroids, improving the limitation of FCM that randomly selected cluster centroids lead the convergence result to the local minimum. Secondly, this paper, by introducing a penalty function, proposed a new fuzzy clustering validity index based on fuzzy compactness and separation, which ensured that when the number of clusters verged on that of objects in the dataset, the value of clustering validity index did not monotonically decrease and was close to zero, so that the optimal number of clusters lost robustness and decision function. Then, based on these studies, a self-adaptive FCM algorithm was put forward to estimate the optimal number of clusters by the iterative trial-and-error process. At last, experiments were done on the UCI, KDD Cup 1999, and synthetic datasets, which showed that the method not only effectively determined the optimal number of clusters, but also reduced the iteration of FCM with the stable clustering result.
A Safety Resource Allocation Mechanism against Connection Fault for Vehicular Cloud Computing
Authors: Ye Tianpeng , Su Zhou , Wu Jun , Guo Longhua , Li Jianhua , Li Gaolei
Published: November 2016

The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) becomes an important component of the smart city toward safer roads, better traffic control, and on-demand service by utilizing and processing the information collected from sensors of vehicles and road side infrastructure. In ITS, Vehicular Cloud Computing (VCC) is a novel technology balancing the requirement of complex services and the limited capability of on-board computers. However, the behaviors of the vehicles in VCC are dynamic, random, and complex. Thus, one of the key safety issues is the frequent disconnections between the vehicle and the Vehicular Cloud (VC) when this vehicle is computing for a service. More important, the connection fault will disturb seriously the normal services of VCC and impact the safety works of the transportation. In this paper, a safety resource allocation mechanism is proposed against connection fault in VCC by using a modified workflow with prediction capability. We firstly propose the probability model for the vehicle movement which satisfies the high dynamics and real-time requirements of VCC. And then we propose a Prediction-based Reliability Maximization Algorithm (PRMA) to realize the safety resource allocation for VCC. The evaluation shows that our mechanism can improve the reliability and guarantee the real-time performance of the VCC.
Mandibular Canal Widening and Bell’s Palsy: Sequelae of Perineural Invasion in Oral Cancer
Authors: Sundar Gopinath Thilak Parepady , Sherigar Vishwanath , Shetty Sameep S. , Satya Shree , Gohil Sourabh M.
Published: November 2016

Perineural invasion is an underrecognized route of metastatic spread along the nerve bundles within the nerve sheath into the surrounding tissues. It hinders the ability to establish local control as tumour cells can traverse along nerve tracts well beyond the extent of any local invasion rendering them inoperable and unresectable. Perineural invasion is a marker of poor prognosis. Oral submucous fibrosis with oral cancer constitutes a clinicopathologically distinct disease. Our case highlights an enigmatic presentation of oral submucous fibrosis and its coexistence with oral cancer presenting with unusual neurological disturbance of the inferior alveolar nerve and facial nerve and diffuse widening of the mandibular canal. The objective of this case report is to enumerate the significance of perineural invasion in determining the course of the disease and necessitate the need for future studies that can shed light on molecular mediators and pathogenesis of perineural spread.
Dysfunction of Autophagy: A Possible Mechanism Involved in the Pathogenesis of Vitiligo by Breaking the Redox Balance of Melanocytes
Authors: Qiao Zhuhui , Wang Xiuxiu , Xiang Leihong , Zhang Chengfeng
Published: November 2016

Vitiligo is a common chronic acquired pigmentation disorder characterized by loss of functional melanocytes from the epidermis and follicular reservoir. Among multiple hypotheses which have been proposed in the pathogenesis of vitiligo, autoimmunity and oxidative stress‐mediated toxicity in melanocytes remain most widely accepted. Macroautophagy is a lysosome‐dependent degradation pathway which widely exists in eukaryotic cells. Autophagy participates in the oxidative stress response in many cells, which plays a protective role in preventing damage caused by oxidative stress. Recent studies have enrolled autophagy as an important regulator in limiting damage caused by UV light and lipid oxidation, keeping oxidative stress in a steady state in epidermal keratinocytes and maintaining normal proliferation and aging of melanocytes. Impairment of autophagy might disrupt the antioxidant defense system which renders melanocytes to oxidative insults. These findings provide supportive evidence to explore new ideas of the pathogenesis of vitiligo and other pigmentation disorders.
Decision-Making Algorithm for Multisensor Fusion Based on Grey Relation and DS Evidence Theory
Authors: Ye Fang , Chen Jie , Li Yibing , Kang Jian
Published: November 2016

Decision-making algorithm, as the key technology for uncertain data fusion, is the core to obtain reasonable multisensor information fusion results. DS evidence theory is a typical and widely applicable decision-making method. However, DS evidence theory makes decisions without considering the sensors’ difference, which may lead to illogical results. In this paper, we present a novel decision-making algorithm for uncertain fusion based on grey relation and DS evidence theory. The proposed algorithm comprehensively takes consideration of sensor’s credibility and evidence’s overall discriminability, which can solve the uncertainty problems caused by inconsistence of sensors themselves and complexity of monitoring environment and simultaneously ensure the validity and accuracy of fusion results. The innovative decision-making algorithm firstly obtains the sensor’s credibility through the introduction of grey relation theory and then defines two impact factors as sensor’s credibility and evidence’s overall discriminability according to the focal element analyses and evidence’s distance analysis, respectively; after that, it uses the impact factors to modify the evidences and finally gets more reasonable and effective results through DS combination rule. Simulation results and analyses demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can overcome the trouble caused by large evidence conflict and one-vote veto, which indicates that it can improve the ability of target judgment and enhance precision of uncertain data fusion. Thus the novel decision-making method has a certain application value.
A Russian Keyword Spotting System Based on Large Vocabulary Continuous Speech Recognition and Linguistic Knowledge
Authors: Smirnov Valentin , Ignatov Dmitry , Gusev Michael , Farkhadov Mais , Rumyantseva Natalia , Farkhadova Mukhabbat
Published: November 2016

The paper describes the key concepts of a word spotting system for Russian based on large vocabulary continuous speech recognition. Key algorithms and system settings are described, including the pronunciation variation algorithm, and the experimental results on the real-life telecom data are provided. The description of system architecture and the user interface is provided. The system is based on CMU Sphinx open-source speech recognition platform and on the linguistic models and algorithms developed by Speech Drive LLC. The effective combination of baseline statistic methods, real-world training data, and the intensive use of linguistic knowledge led to a quality result applicable to industrial use.
Ketorolac Tromethamine Spray Prevents Postendotracheal-Intubation-Induced Sore Throat after General Anesthesia
Authors: Yang H. L. , Liu F. C. , Tsai S. C. , Tsay P. K. , Lin H. T. , Liu H. E.
Published: November 2016

Background. Postoperative sore throat is one of the major complaints of general anesthesia in the postanesthesia care unit. This prospective study investigated the preventive effect of ketorolac tromethamine spray in postendotracheal-intubation-induced sore throat after general anesthesia.Methods. Surgical patients undergoing general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation were recruited from a medical center. Patients were randomly assigned to group K (treated with 5% ketorolac tromethamine spray) or group D (treated with distilled water spray). Before intubation, each endotracheal tube was sprayed with the appropriate solution by physicians over the 20 cm length of the cuff. Each group comprised 95 patients fitting the inclusion and exclusion criteria for whom complete data sets were collected. The intensity of the sore throat was measured at 1, 3, 6, and 24 h after surgery, and data were compared.Results. The two groups had similar characteristics. Postoperative sore throat was significantly less frequent in group K than in group D (p<0.001) and the pain intensity was significantly lower in group K than in group D at each time point (allp<0.001).Conclusions. This study demonstrated that preanesthesia 5% ketorolac tromethamine spray could effectively decrease postendotracheal-intubation-induced sore throat in patients undergoing general anesthesia.