bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Colour in the city: Principles of nature-climate characteristics
Authors: Vasiljevic-Tomic Dragana , Maric Igor
Published: April 2012

The phenomenon of colour is examined through the evolution of colour and
development of culture of colour, principles of nature-climate
characteristics which significantly affects the colouristic priorities of
people and the colour of the city itself. The terms functional colour and
climate of colour are also considered, as some of the most important
characteristics of architectural and urban design practice. The role of the
urban public space in functioning of the city is defined through the
essential characteristics of urban public space, which are cultural identity,
nature, climate characteristics physical structure and its function. The
complexity of colouristic attributes of the urban public space is conditioned
by the basic characteristics: colouristic priorities, harmony of coloured
spatial structures and materials in designing the polychrome ambient in the
city. The factors that shape the colouristic ambient of the city are:
characteristics of nature and climate, interrelations of colour and shape, as
well as the experience of the form of the urban public space while preserving
its identity. Upon the newly formed principles, the transformed model of the
urban public space as a polychrome ambient is built.
Spatial and functional transformation of the city center structure in the process of transition
Authors: Velev Jelena , Mitkovic Petar , Vasilevska Ljiljana
Published: April 2012

Goal of this paper is to point to the ambivalent influence of transition
process on the urban environments. The phenomenon of "transition" is defined
as complex, multilayered process followed by new market and social
principles. By observing the chronological order of changes which occurred in
the city morphology, it gives recommendations for overcoming the city center
identity crisis as the most significant pubic city space. Through definition
and reconsideration of spatial and functional structure of the city center in
the context of modern influences of the transition process, this paper
emphasizes the elements which could be input in a direct or indirect way into
the future strategies and plans. Accordingly, it proposes a set of measures
for possible redefinition of the existing concept of the city centers and its
adaptation to the demands of the time ahead.
Effective melatonin protection of burn-induced hepatic disorders in rats
Authors: Bekyarova Ganka , Bratchkova Yordanka , Tancheva Stoyanka , Hristova Minka
Published: April 2012

We studied the effect of melatonin on morphological and functional disorders using serum markers of liver dysfunction such as cholinesterase and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase, hepatic protein content and malondialdehyde in a burned-rat model. Melatonin (10 mg/kg (−1), i.p) was administered immediately and then 12 h after 30% of total body surface area burns of male Wistar rats. The burns induced an increase of hepatic malondialdehyde levels by 166% (p<0.001), and also vascular congestion, leukocyte infiltration around the central veins, intracellular vacuolization, hepatic cell degeneration and apoptotic bodies (Councilman’s bodies). These changes were associated with significantly reduced serum cholinesterase (36%), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (76%), hepatic proteins (52%) and serum albumin (37%) (p<0.001–0.0001). Treatment with melatonin reduced elevated hepatic malondialdehyde values by 50% (p<0.01). Melatonin restricted degenerative alteration in the hepatocytes: it protected the burninduced decrease of serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase activity by 48% (p<0.01), hepatic proteins by 64% (p<0.01), and serum activity of cholinesterase as the only marker of liver damaged synthetic function by 57% (p<0.0001) but did not exert any significant influence on serum albumin concentration. Melatonin repaired the pathomorphological lesions and functional disorders. It could restore liver damage following thermal injury in humans.
Synthesis, Spectral and Antibacterial Studies of Copper(II) Tetraaza Macrocyclic Complexes
Authors: Reddy Puchakayala Muralidhar , Rohini Rondla , Krishna Edulla Ravi , Hu Anren , Ravinder Vadde
Published: April 2012

A novel family of tetraaza macrocyclic Cu(II) complexes [CuLX2] (where L = N4 donor macrocyclic ligands) and (X = Cl−, NO3−) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, magnetic moments, IR, EPR, mass, electronic spectra and thermal studies. The magnetic moments and electronic spectral studies suggest square planar geometry for [Cu(DBACDT)]Cl2 and [Cu(DBACDT)](NO3)2 complexes and distorted octahedral geometry to the rest of the ten complexes. The biological activity of all these complexes against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was compared with the activity of existing commercial antibacterial compounds like Linezolid and Cefaclor. Six complexes out of twelve were found to be most potent against both gram-positive as well as gram-negative bacteria due to the presence of thio group in the coordinated ligands.
Bone Substitute Effect on Vascularization and Bone Remodeling after Application of phVEGF165 Transfected BMSC
Authors: Geiger Florian , Beverungen Mirjam , Lorenz Helga , Wieland Julia , Fehr Michael , Kasten Philip
Published: April 2012

VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) promotes vascularization and remodeling of bone substitutes. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of distinct resorbable ceramic carriers on bone forming capacities of VEGF transfected bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC). A critical size defect of the radius in rabbits was filled either by a low surface scaffold called beta-TCP (tricalciumphsphate) or the high surface scaffold CDHA (calcium deficient hydroxy-apatite) loaded with autologous BMSC, which were either transfected with a control plasmid or a plasmid coding for phVEGF165. They were compared to unloaded scaffolds. Thus, six treatment groups (n = 6 in each group) were followed by X-ray over 16 weeks. After probe retrieval, the volume of new bone was measured by micro-CT scans and vascularization was assessed in histology. While only minor bone formation was found in both carriers when implanted alone, BMSC led to increased osteogenesis in both carriers. VEGF promoted vascularization of the scaffolds significantly in contrast to BMSC alone. Bone formation was increased in the beta-TCP group, whereas it was inhibited in the CDHA group that showed faster scaffold degradation. The results indicate that the interaction of VEGF transfected BMSC with resorbable ceramic carrier influences the ability to promote bone healing.
Method for Optimal Sensor Deployment on 3D Terrains Utilizing a Steady State Genetic Algorithm with a Guided Walk Mutation Operator Based on the Wavelet Transform
Authors: Unaldi Numan , Temel Samil , Asari Vijayan K.
Published: April 2012

One of the most critical issues of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is the deployment of a limited number of sensors in order to achieve maximum coverage on a terrain. The optimal sensor deployment which enables one to minimize the consumed energy, communication time and manpower for the maintenance of the network has attracted interest with the increased number of studies conducted on the subject in the last decade. Most of the studies in the literature today are proposed for two dimensional (2D) surfaces; however, real world sensor deployments often arise on three dimensional (3D) environments. In this paper, a guided wavelet transform (WT) based deployment strategy (WTDS) for 3D terrains, in which the sensor movements are carried out within the mutation phase of the genetic algorithms (GAs) is proposed. The proposed algorithm aims to maximize the Quality of Coverage (QoC) of a WSN via deploying a limited number of sensors on a 3D surface by utilizing a probabilistic sensing model and the Bresenham’s line of sight (LOS) algorithm. In addition, the method followed in this paper is novel to the literature and the performance of the proposed algorithm is compared with the Delaunay Triangulation (DT) method as well as a standard genetic algorithm based method and the results reveal that the proposed method is a more powerful and more successful method for sensor deployment on 3D terrains.
Paramyxovirus Fusion and Entry: Multiple Paths to a Common End
Authors: Chang Andres , Dutch Rebecca E.
Published: April 2012

The paramyxovirus family contains many common human pathogenic viruses, including measles, mumps, the parainfluenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus, and the zoonotic henipaviruses, Hendra and Nipah. While the expression of a type 1 fusion protein and a type 2 attachment protein is common to all paramyxoviruses, there is considerable variation in viral attachment, the activation and triggering of the fusion protein, and the process of viral entry. In this review, we discuss recent advances in the understanding of paramyxovirus F protein-mediated membrane fusion, an essential process in viral infectivity. We also review the role of the other surface glycoproteins in receptor binding and viral entry, and the implications for viral infection. Throughout, we concentrate on the commonalities and differences in fusion triggering and viral entry among the members of the family. Finally, we highlight key unanswered questions and how further studies can identify novel targets for the development of therapeutic treatments against these human pathogens.
Servitized Enterprises for Distributed Collaborative Commerce
Authors: Demirkan Haluk , Spohrer James C.
Published: April 2012

Agility and innovation are essential for survival in today’s business world. Mergers and acquisitions, new regulations, rapidly changing technology, increasing competition and heightened customer expectations mean companies must become more responsive to changing demands. This move to agility through innovation can be possible with the service oriented solutions offered by Collaborative Servitized Enterprises (CSE). In this article, the authors demonstrate the architecture of a CSE and develop a multidisciplinary research program, incorporating a more science-based approach to the effective, scalable, secure, and knowledge-driven design and development of collaborative servitized enterprises, to address some of today’s commoditization lead issues. The authors’ primary objective is to lay the foundation of an integrated service culture, which is characterized by a cross-disciplinary attitude that fulfills customers’ needs. A secondary attitude within that culture is an awareness of the complexities associated with service tradeoff decision-making, requiring a careful balance of value, risk, cost, and quality of service.
A Structured Test Approach for Service Concepts
Authors: Burger Thomas , Kim Kwang-Jae , Meiren Thomas
Published: April 2012

To assure new services attain a certain level of quality, services should be developed and tested systematically like products or software. In practice, this is rarely the case, especially in regards to the testing of service concepts due to appropriate solutions, processes, and methodology seem to be missing. In this paper, the authors propose an approach to how service testing can be realized in practice and present supporting processes, methods, and technologies for testing services in laboratory environments.
Service Blueprinting as a Failure Elimination Tool in the Case of Outsourcing Services
Authors: Yli-Viitala Pirjo , Kuusisto Jari , Meyer Kyrill
Published: April 2012

This paper applies the service blueprinting method as a tool that can produce a systematic description and analysis of an industrial outsourcing service process. The key objective is to characterise critical incidents and potential failure situations from the service provider’s perspective. The main benefit of the service blueprinting technique is that it makes the service provision process, failure situations, and relevant actors systematically visible. In this regard, it facilitates more detailed analysis and reveals opportunities for service improvements in the context of industrial outsourcing services. Suggested improvements can facilitate service process improvements that strengthen businesses competitiveness in the marketplace. The analysis also yields more specific suggestions for improvements.
Adaptive P2P Streaming
Authors: Bertone Fabrizio , Menkovski Vlado , Liotta Antonio
Published: April 2012

Widespread adoption of broadband Internet and the introduction of multimedia-capable mobile devices enable the proliferation of many streaming video services. However, best-effort networks are not natively designed to such a purpose. They do not provide any guarantees for delivering the content on time or offer constant service quality. Furthermore, video streaming presents a heavy load for servers. This is especially the case for special events that bring an enormous amount of users causing so called “flash crowds,” which overload unsuitable systems. Peer-to-peer (P2P) techniques can be successfully exploited to build scalable streaming systems using the distributed resources of users themselves. In this chapter, the authors explore the different techniques proposed in the context of adaptive streaming, both live and on demand. Each covered approach addresses the video streaming problem from a different perspective, and so, brings specific advantages and disadvantages in its solution.
Optimal Route Selection Algorithm for Multi-Homed Mobile Network
Authors: Mitra Sulata
Published: April 2012

This chapter develops the concept of route optimization in a multi-homed mobile network. In a future wireless network a user may have multiple mobile devices, each having multiple network interfaces and needing interconnection with each other as well as with other networks to form a mobile network. Such mobile networks may be multi-homed i.e. having multiple points of attachment to the Internet. It forwards packets of mobile network nodes inside it to Internet using suitable routes. But there may be multiple routes in a mobile network for forwarding packets of mobile network node. Moreover, the mobile network nodes inside a mobile network may have packets of different service types. So the optimal route selection inside a mobile network depending upon the service type of mobile network node is an important research issue. Two different route optimization schemes to create point to point network among mobile network nodes are elaborated in this chapter. This chapter is aimed at the researchers and the policy makers making them aware of the different means of efficient route selection in a multi-homed mobile network as well as understanding the problem areas that need further vigorous research.
Stability Analysis of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems
Authors: Mahmud M. A. , Hossain M. Jahangir , Pota H. R.
Published: April 2012

This chapter presents an overview Photovoltaic (PV) power generation and integration of PV systems with power grid. This chapter also presents a Feedback Linearizing Current Controller (FBLCC) to synchronize the PV system with the grid. This controller is designed based on the feedback linearization technique. The reference current for the controller is generated from the Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT). The stability of a single-phase grid connected PV system is analyzed through the Lyapunov function. To do these things, a suitable mathematical model of grid-connected PV system is also presented in this chapter. The performance of the designed controller is tested on a single-phase grid-connected PV system.
A Fresh Look at Graphical Web Browser Revisitation using an Organic Bookmark Management System
Authors: Shen Siu-Tsen , Prior Stephen D.
Published: April 2012

With roughly a third of the world’s population now having access to the internet, the area of web efficiency and its optimal use is of growing importance to all online users. We are approaching a tipping point where the majority of people will have spent more time online than offline. With this in mind, the function of revisitation, where a user wants to return to a website that they have visited in the recent past, becomes more important. Current static, textual-list approaches developed within the latest versions of mainstream web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome leave much to be desired. This chapter suggests a new approach via the use of organic, visual, and contextual cues to support users in this vital task area.
Evaluating Visualisations and Automatic Warning Cues for Visual Search in Vascular Images
Authors: van Schooten Boris W. , van Dijk Betsy , Suinesiaputra Avan , Nijholt Anton , Reiber Johan H. C.
Published: April 2012

Visual search is a task that is performed in various application domains. The authors examine it in the domain of radiological analysis of 3D vascular images. They compare several major visualisations used in this domain, and study the possible benefits of automatic warning systems that highlight the sections that may contain visual targets and hence require the user’s attention. With help of a literature study, the authors present some theory about what result can be expected given the accuracy of a particular visual cue. They present the results of two experiments, in which they find that the Curved Planar Reformation visualisation, which presents a cross-section based on knowledge about the position of the blood vessel, is significantly more efficient than regular 3D visualisations, and that automatic warning systems that produce false alarms could work if they do not miss targets.
Design and Evaluation of a Multimodal Representation for Conveying the Vast Range of Imperceptible Smallness
Authors: Song Minyoung
Published: April 2012

Teaching and learning the vast range of the sizes that are too small to see (called imperceptible sizes) has been a challenging topic, and a need for a novel form of representation that may provide learners with an alternative way of perceiving and conceptualizing imperceptible sizes emerged. From this, the author introduces a multimodal representation called Temporal-Aural-Visual Representation (TAVR). Unlike commonly used conventional representations (e.g., visual representation), TAVR employs a temporal modality as the main vehicle for conveying imperceptible sizes. In this chapter, the author elaborates on the design process and the details of TAVR. Informed by cognitive psychology research, the mental model and the challenges for learners in understanding imperceptible sizes were identified to form the design requirements of TAVR. Following the design and implementation, the evaluation of TAVR aimed to assess the changes in the participating students’ mental model of the range of imperceptible sizes, which showed TAVR’s positive impact on student learning.
Programming a User Model with Data Gathered from a User Profile
Authors: Scherer Daniel , Netto Ademar V. , Aguiar Yuska P. C. , Vieira Maria de Fátima Q.
Published: April 2012

In order to prevent human error, it is essential to understand the nature of the user’s behaviour. This chapter proposes a combined approach to increase knowledge of user behaviour by instantiating a programmable user model with data gathered from a user profile. Together, the user profile and user model represent, respectively, the static and dynamic characteristics of user behaviour. Typically, user models have been employed by system designers to explore the user decision-making process and its implications, since user profiles do not account for the dynamic aspects of a user interaction. In this chapter, the user profile and model are employed to study human errors—supporting an investigation of the relationship between user errors and user characteristics. The chapter reviews the literature on user profiles and models and presents the proposed user profile and model. It concludes by discussing the application of the proposed approach in the context of electrical systems’ operation.
The Cloud@Home Volunteer and Interoperable Cloud through the Future Internet
Authors: Distefano Salvatore , Puliafito Antonio
Published: April 2012

Cloud computing is the new consolidated trend in ICT, often considered as the panacea to all the problems of existing large-scale distributed paradigms such as Grid and hierarchical clustering. The Cloud breakthrough is the service oriented perspective of providing everything “as a service”. Different from the others large-scale distributed paradigms, it was born from commercial contexts, with the aim of selling the temporarily unexploited computing resources of huge datacenters in order to reduce the costs. Since this business model is really attractive and convenient for both providers and consumers, the Cloud paradigm is quickly growing and widely spreading, even in non commercial context. In fact, several activities on the Cloud, such as Nimbus, Eucalyptus, OpenNEbula, and Reservoir, etc., have been undertaken, aiming at specifying open Cloud infrastructure middleware.
Monitoring in Federated and Self-Manageable Clouds
Authors: Koutsoutos Stefanos , Gogouvitis Spyridon V. , Kyriazis Dimosthenis , Varvarigou Theodora
Published: April 2012

The emergence of Service Clouds and the Future Internet has lead to a lot of research taking place in the area of Cloud frameworks and solutions. The complexity of these systems has proven to be a challenge for the design of a successful platform that will be capable of meeting all possible needs and require the minimum time and effort put to its management. Current trends in the field move away from models of human managed networks and towards the self-manageable, cooperating Clouds. This goal is synonymous to building software that is able to make decisions required to reconfigure itself in a way that it resists failures and, at the same time, makes optimal use of the resources available to it. The heart of each decision making mechanism is always the data that is fed to it, which assigns a very central role to Monitoring mechanisms in federated and self-manageable Clouds.
On the use of the Hybrid Cloud Computing Paradigm
Authors: Sánchez Carlos Martín , Molina Daniel , Vozmediano Rafael Moreno , Montero Ruben S. , Llorente Ignacio M.
Published: April 2012

This chapter analyzes the Hybrid Cloud computing model, a paradigm that combines on-premise Private Clouds with the resources of Public Clouds. This new model is not yet fully developed, and there is still a lot of work to be done before true multi-Cloud installations become mature enough to be used in production environments. A review of some of its limitations and the challenges that have to be faced is done in this chapter, and some common techniques to address the challenges studied are also included. It also presents a Hybrid Cloud architecture based on the OpenNebula Cloud toolkit, trying to overcome some of the challenges, and present some real-life experiences with this proposed architecture and Amazon EC2.
CLEVER
Authors: Tusa Francesco , Paone Maurizio , Villari Massimo
Published: April 2012

This chapter describes both the design and architecture of the CLEVER cloud middleware, pointing out the possibilities it offers towards enlarging the concept of federation in more directions. CLEVER is able to accomplish such an enlargement enabling the interaction among whatever type of electronic device connected to Internet, thus offering the opportunity of implementing the Internet of Things. Together with this type of perspective, CLEVER aims to “aggregate” heterogeneous computing infrastructure by putting together Cloud and Grid, as an example. The chapter starts with a description of the cloud projects related to CLEVER, followed by a discussion on the middleware components that mainly focuses on the innovative features they have, in particular the communication mechanisms adopted. The second part of the chapter presents a real use case that exploits the CLEVER features that allow easy creation of federated clouds’ infrastructures that can be also based on integration with existing Grids; it is demonstrated thanks to the “oneshot” CLEVER deploying mechanism. It is possible to scale dynamically the cloud resources by taking advantage of the existing Grid infrastructures, and minimizing the changes needed at the involved management middleware.
Resource Management Mechanisms to Support SLAs in IaaS Clouds
Authors: Breitgand David , Epstein Amir , Rochwerger Benny
Published: April 2012

The authors consider elastic multi-VM workloads corresponding to multi-tier application and study the fundamental problems of VM placement optimization, subject to policy constraints, elasticity requirements, and performance SLAs. Numerous algorithmic and architecture proposals appeared recently in the area of resource provisioning in IaaS. The chapter provides a comprehensive review of related work in this field and presents the authors’ recent scientific findings in this area obtained in the framework of an EU funded project, RESERVOIR. The chapter discusses horizontal elasticity support in IaaS, its relationship to SLA protection, VM placement optimization and efficient capacity management to improve cost-efficiency of cloud providers. Elastic services comprise multiple virtualized resources that can be added and deleted on demand to match variability in the workload. A Service owner profiles the service to determine its most appropriate sizing under different workload conditions. This variable sizing is formalized through a service level agreement (SLA) between the service owner and the cloud provider. The Cloud provider obtains maximum benefit when it succeeds to fully allocate the resource set demanded by the elastic service subject to its SLA. Failure to do so may result in SLA breach and financial losses to the provider. The chapter defines a novel combinatorial optimization problem called elastic services placement problem to maximize the provider’s benefit from SLA compliant placement. It demonstrates the feasibility of our approach through a simulation study, showing that we are capable of consistently obtaining good solutions in a time efficient manner. In addition, we discuss how resource utilization level can be improved through an advanced capacity management leveraging elastic workload resource consumption variability.
Self-Management of Applications and Systems to Optimize Energy in Data Centers
Authors: Alvares de Oliveira Frederico , Lèbre Adrien , Ledoux Thomas , Menaud Jean-Marc
Published: April 2012

As a direct consequence of the increasing popularity of cloud computing solutions, data centers are growing amazingly and hence have to urgently face with the energy consumption issue. Available solutions are focused basically on the system layer, by leveraging virtualization technologies to improve energy efficiency. Another body of works relies on cloud computing models and virtualization techniques to scale up/down applications based on their performance metrics. Although those proposals can reduce the energy footprint of applications and by transitivity of cloud infrastructures, they do not consider the internal characteristics of applications to finely define a trade-off between applications Quality of Service and energy footprint. In this paper, the authors propose a self-adaptation approach that considers both application internals and system to reduce the energy footprint in cloud infrastructure. Each application and the infrastructure are equipped with control loops, which allow them to autonomously optimize their executions. The authors implemented the control loops and simulated them in order to show their feasibility. In addition, the chapter shows how the solution fits in federated clouds through a motivating scenario. Finally, it provides some discussion about open issues on models and implementation of the proposal.
Adapting Pathfinding with Potential Energy
Authors: Hartley Thomas
Published: April 2012

Movement through a computer game environment is an essential requirement of non-player characters (NPCs) in today’s computer games. Local movement is typically reactive and based on the current state of the game and the NPC. Long-range movement is concerned with determining a short and appropriate route from one location in the game environment to another. A desired destination is typically not known in advance. Therefore, techniques are needed to determine a route while a game is being played. This problem is known as pathfinding or path planning. Traditionally, pathfinding systems have focused on determining the shortest path between locations; however, many computer games are beginning to incorporate terrain and strategic reasoning (also known as tactical location analysis) into the pathfinding process. This chapter describes an approach to strategic and tactical pathfinding that learns in-game from an NPC’s experience of executing previously generated paths. The experience is used to adapt future pathfinding and therefore allows NPCs to avoid (or be attracted to) areas of the game world. Hence NPCs can improve their chance of success and encourage the human player to adapt their behavior.
Music Tutor Using Tower Defense Strategy
Authors: Ashraf Golam , Daniel Ho Kok Wei , Yee Kong Choong , Plemping Nur Aiysha , Zheng Ou Guo , Kern Teo Chee
Published: April 2012

Vivace is an online musical tower defense game using the tree-of-life metaphor, created using the Unity3D game engine. The game integrates basic music theory with the tower defense mechanic to motivate inspired learning. Vivace is different from most existing musical games, as it integrates notes and chords pedagogy in a puzzle-centric metaphor, as opposed to action/rhythm. This ensures that players undergo active learning by constantly applying and reiterating these musical concepts when tackling enemies and bosses through different levels. This article describes the procedural generation algorithms and game balancing strategies used to implement the game.
The Selection of a New Student Administration System at University of Southland
Authors: Todorova Nelly , Falls-Anderson Julie
Published: April 2012

This decision case describes the process of requirements definition and selection of a new student administration MIS to replace the existing legacy system. It provides a detailed account of the initiation of the project and how decisions have evolved. The case focuses on the interests and roles of internal stakeholders and the effect of unexpected external events. Finally, the case describes the evaluation process to select a vendor which best suits the needs of the university. The vendor proposals have been evaluated and a decision is imminent after four years of delay, indecision, and disagreement among the parties involved. The culmination of years of work now rests on the selection of the proposal which best suits the needs of the University of Southland.
Sharing Insights
Authors: Pérez-Fragoso Carmen
Published: April 2012

The case presents an analysis of the postings of a group of online teachers from a Mexican public university as they confront the challenges and rewards of their day-to-day teaching activities. They commented on their problems and accomplishments in a discussion forum during one semester. The problems included academic-administrative issues, difficulties of students in the appropriation of the platforms and the self-regulation of their learning, time management, negotiation and penalization of tasks delayed, and other pedagogical concerns to the lack of institutional support. The findings suggest that the problems that online teachers face share specific characteristics and, according to the teachers, are mostly due to the pedagogical relationship being technologically mediated. Through the analysis, the author hopes to illustrate the complex technological, organizational, and cultural issues that accompany online teaching and learning, and how the institution and the individual teachers dealt with them.
Modeling of Across-Chain Network Dynamic Competition for MNC in Industrial Cluster
Authors: Liu Chunling , Li Jizi , Li Guo , Cao Xiaogang
Published: April 2012

The huge market and perfect production system in China are attracting more multi-national companies’ interest to invest in China in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Therefore, multi-national companies are willing to integrate and optimize global supply chain networks of their own, which enable them to reduce cost and improve market response. As a result, multi-national companies usually embed into local industrial clusters through financial and technological comparative merits to sharpen their competitive edge. This paper considers the across-chain network equilibrium problem involving process of competition and melting between this new global chain and an already existing local chain. The authors model the optimizing behavior of these two chains, derive the equilibrium conditions, and establish the variational inequality formulation, and solve it by using the modified algorithm. Finally, the authors illustrate the model through numerical example and discuss relationships among the price, quantity, technological progress, and satisfaction among two dynamic phases.
Acute Herpetic Keratitis: What is the Role for Ganciclovir Ophthalmic Gel?
Authors: Sahin Afsun , Hamrah Pedram
Published: April 2012

Herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) is a major cause of corneal blindness in the world. Following the primary infection, the virus enters into a latent phase. Recurrent infectious or immune keratitis cause structural damage to the cornea, scarring, and may lead to blindness. Several commercially available topical and oral antiviral drugs for HSK are currently available. However, toxicity and low patient compliance hamper their use in HSK. Further, oral antiviral drugs alone are not always effective in HSK. Thus, there had been a need for safe and effective topical antiviral agents against HSK. Systemic ganciclovir has been in use for the treatment of cytomegalovirus infections. Recently, topical ganciclovir has become available for use in patients with HSK. Ganciclovir 0.15% ophthalmic gel has been shown to be both safe and effective against viruses of the herpes family. Topical ganciclovir ophthalmic gel is well tolerated and does not cause significant toxic effects on the ocular surface. Several multicenter studies have revealed the potential role of ganciclovir ophthalmic gel in the treatment and prophylaxis of epithelial HSK. In this paper, we have reviewed the pharmacology, efficacy, side effects, and the role of ganciclovir ophthalmic gel 0.15% in the treatment of acute herpetic keratitis.
Surfaces with pg = q = 2, K2 = 6, and Albanese Map of Degree 2
Authors: Penegini Matteo , Polizzi Francesco
Published: April 2012

We classify minimal surfaces of general type with pg = q = 2 and K2 = 6 whose Albanese map is a generically finite double cover. We show that the corresponding moduli space is the disjoint union of three generically smooth irreducible components MIa, MIb, MII of dimension 4, 4, 3, respectively.
Ergodic Properties of Randomly Coloured Point Sets
Authors: Müller Peter , Richard Christoph
Published: April 2012

We provide a framework for studying randomly coloured point sets in a locally compact second-countable space on which a metrizable unimodular group acts continuously and properly. We first construct and describe an appropriate dynamical system for uniformly discrete uncoloured point sets. For point sets of finite local complexity, we characterize ergodicity geometrically in terms of pattern frequencies. The general framework allows us to incorporate a random colouring of the point sets. We derive an ergodic theorem for randomly coloured point sets with finite-range dependencies. Special attention is paid to the exclusion of exceptional instances for uniquely ergodic systems. The setup allows for a straightforward application to randomly coloured graphs
Real Dimension Groups
Authors: Handelman David
Published: April 2012

Dimension groups (not countable) that are also real ordered vector spaces can be obtained as direct limits (over directed sets) of simplicial real vector spaces (finite dimensional vector spaces with the coordinatewise ordering), but the directed set is not as interesting as one would like; for instance, it is not true that a countable-dimensional real vector space that has interpolation can be represented as such a direct limit over a countable directed set. It turns out this is the case when the group is additionally simple, and it is shown that the latter have an ordered tensor product decomposition. In an appendix, we provide a huge class of polynomial rings that, with a pointwise ordering, are shown to satisfy interpolation, extending a result outlined by Fuchs.
Magnetic field amplification in electron phase-space holes and related effects
Authors: Treumann R. A. , Baumjohann W.
Published: April 2012

Abstract. Three-dimensional electron phase-space holes are shown to have positive charges on the plasma background, which produce a radial electric field and force the trapped electron component into an azimuthal drift. In this way electron holes generate magnetic fields in the hole. We solve the cylindrical hole model exactly for the hole charge, electric potential and magnetic field. In electron holes, the magnetic field is amplified on the flux tube of the hole; equivalently, in ion holes the field would be decreased. The flux tube adjacent to the electron hole is magnetically depleted by the external hole dipole field. This causes magnetic filamentation. It is also shown that holes are massive objects, each carrying a finite magnetic moment. Binary magnetic dipole interaction of these moments will cause alignment of the holes into chains along the magnetic field or, in the three-dimensional case, produce a magnetic fabric in the volume of hole formation. Since holes, in addition to being carriers of charges and magnetic moments, also have finite masses, they behave like quasi-particles, performing E × B, magnetic field, and diamagnetic drifts. In an inhomogeneous magnetic field, their magnetic moments experience torque, which causes nutation of the hole around the direction of the magnetic field, presumably giving rise to low frequency magnetic modulations like pulsations. A gas of many such holes may allow for a kinetic description, in which holes undergo binary dipole interactions. This resembles the polymeric behaviour. Both magnetic field generation and magnetic structure formation are of interest in auroral, solar coronal and shock physics, in particular in the problem of magnetic field filamentation in relativistic foreshocks and cosmic ray acceleration.
Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes in Second Hemoglobin Measurement in Nonanemic Women at First Booking: Effect of Altitude of Residence in Peru
Authors: Gonzales Gustavo F. , Tapia Vilma , Fort Alfredo L.
Published: April 2012

Objective. To determine changes in hemoglobin concentration at second measurements after a normal hemoglobin concentration was detected at first booking during pregnancy at low and at high altitudes. Methods. This is a secondary analysis of a large database obtained from the Perinatal Information System in Peru which includes 379,816 pregnant women and their babies from 43 maternity units in Peru. Results. Most women remained with normal hemoglobin values at second measurement (75.1%). However, 21.4% of women became anemic at the second measurement. In all, 2.8% resulted with moderate/severe anemia and 3.5% with erythrocytosis (Hb>14.5 g/dL). In all cases Hb was higher as altitude increased. Risk for moderate/severe anemia increased associated with higher gestational age at second measurement of hemoglobin, BMI <19.9 kg/m2, living without partner, <5 antenatal care visits, first parity, multiparity, and preeclampsia. Lower risk for moderate/severe anemia was observed with normal high Hb level at first booking living at moderate and high altitude, and high BMI. Conclusion. Prevalence of anemia increases as pregnancy progress, and that a normal value at first booking may not be considered sufficient as Hb values should be observed throughout pregnancy. BMI was a risk for anemia in a second measurement.
The Importance of Correct Punctuation and Capitalisation
Authors: Ninčević Siniša , Zanchi Željka
Published: April 2012

This paper concerns the correct usage of English capitalisation and punctuation. Devised as a sort of guide or manual, it is primarily intended for ESL learners. It lists a set of basic rules, as well as the accompanying examples, in order to facilitate their acquisition and to draw attention to the significance of the correct application of these rules since the failure to properly capitalise letters, omit, or to properly employ punctuation marks destroys the structure of the text and may lead to miscommunication between the writer and the reader, i.e., prevent the information from being properly conveyed, and your goals being properly met. Consequently, correct capitalisation and punctuation is an indispensable language tool in academic and scientific settings.
Molecular Spintronics Based on Single‐Molecule Magnets Composed of Multiple‐Decker Phthalocyaninato Terbium(III) Complex
Authors: Katoh Keiichi , Isshiki Hironari , Komeda Tadahiro , Yamashita Masahiro
Published: April 2012

Unlike electronics, which is based on the freedom of the charge of an electron whose memory is volatile, spintronics is based on the freedom of the charge, spin, and orbital of an electron whose memory is non‐volatile. Although in most GMR, TMR, and CMR systems, bulk or classical magnets that are composed of transition metals are used, this Focus Review considers the growing use of single‐molecule magnets (SMMs) that are composed of multinuclear metal complexes and nanosized magnets, which exhibit slow magnetic‐relaxation processes and quantum tunneling. Molecular spintronics, which combines spintronics and molecular electronics, is an emerging field of research. Using molecules is advantageous because their electronic and magnetic properties can be manipulated under specific conditions. Herein, recent developments in [LnPc]‐based multiple‐decker SMMs on surfaces for molecular spintronic devices are presented. First, we discuss the strategies for preparing single‐molecular‐memory devices by using SMMs. Next, we focus on the switching of the Kondo signal of [LnPc]‐based multiple‐decker SMMs that are adsorbed onto surfaces, their characterization by using STM and STS, and the relationship between the molecular structure, the electronic structure, and the Kondo resonance of [TbPc2]. Finally, the field‐effect‐transistor (FET) properties of surface‐adsorbed [LnPc2] and [Ln2Pc3] cast films are reported, which is the first step towards controlling SMMs through their spins for applications in single‐molecular memory and spintronics devices.
Revisiting the Specificity of an α‐(1→4)‐Mannosyltransferase Involved in Mycobacterial Methylmannose Polysaccharide Biosynthesis
Authors: Xia Li , Zheng Ruixiang Blake , Lowary Todd L.
Published: April 2012

In order to evaluate the proposed biosynthetic pathway for the methylmannose (MMPs) polysaccharides produced by mycobacteria, two homologous series of synthetic α‐(1→4)‐linked 3‐O‐methyl‐mannopyranosides, one terminated at the non‐reducing end by a free mannopyranose residue (unmethylated oligosaccharides; OS) and the other terminated by a 3‐O‐methyl‐mannopyranose residue (methylated OS), were prepared and evaluated as potential acceptors of an α‐(1→4)‐mannosyltransferase. Using a mycobacterial membrane preparation as the source of the transferase, it was found that unmethylated OS are better substrates for the enzyme compared to the methylated OS of the same length. These results are inconsistent with the proposed MMP biosynthetic pathway, which suggests only methylated OS are acceptors of this transferase. To confirm that the observed activity arose from the desired α‐(1→4)‐mannosyltransferase, as opposed to other mannosyltransferases present in the membrane preparation, the products resulting from tetrasaccharides 4 (unmethylated OS) and 9 (methylated OS), which only differ in the terminal residue, were further analyzed. MALDI‐MS, exo‐glycosidase digestion and 1H NMR spectroscopy were used to evaluate the structures of these reaction products. These experiments revealed that the enzymatic products of both 4 and 9 contain only α‐(1→4)‐linked mannose residues, confirming the activity of the α‐(1→4)‐mannosyltransferase. This supports the finding that both methylated and unmethylated OS are acceptors of the enzyme. It was also demonstrated that a homologous series of oligosaccharides with different number of mannose residues were formed from both 4 and 9, as opposed to a single reaction product. These results, again, challenge the previously proposed MMP biosynthetic pathway involving alternating methylation and mannosylation reactions.
Outcomes in patients with renal impairment undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and implantation of the Endeavor zotarolimus‐eluting stent: 1‐ and 2‐year data from the E‐Five Registry
Authors: Rothman Martin T. , Jain Ajay K. ,   for the E‐Five Registry Investigators
Published: April 2012

Objectives

Renal impairment (RI) is a predictor of poor outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease, but its influence in the setting of percutaneous coronary intervention and zotarolimus‐eluting stent (ZES) implantation has not been described. This study evaluated the impact of RI on clinical outcomes in patients participating in the E‐Five Registry. Background: E‐Five was a prospective, multicenter, global registry of 8,314 patients; 2,116 patients were followed to 2 years.

Methods

Patients (excluding those who had undergone renal transplantation) were grouped according to renal function (normal function/mild RI, serum creatinine <110 μmol/L; moderate RI, 110–200 μmol/L; severe RI, >200 μmol/L) and their outcomes evaluated retrospectively. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE; i.e., death, myocardial infarction, emergency cardiac bypass surgery, or target lesion revascularization) and stent thrombosis events at 1 and 2 years were compared between groups.

Results

The 1‐year MACE rate in patients with mild RI was 6.8%, compared with 8.9 and 18.1% in patients with moderate and severe RI (P = 0.002 across groups). At 2 years, death occurred in 16% of those with severe RI, compared with 2.0 and 4.7% in those with mild and moderate RI (P = 0.002). There was no significant difference in the rates of target lesion revascularization or target vessel failure.

Conclusions

Greater severity of RI at intervention is associated with greater mortality and MACE but unchanged revascularization rates after ZES implantation. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.