bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimized Production of Xylitol from Xylose Using a Hyper-Acidophilic Candida tropicalis
Authors: Tamburini Elena , Costa Stefania , Marchetti Maria , Pedrini Paola
Published: August 2015

The yeast Candida tropicalis DSM 7524 produces xylitol, a natural, low-calorie sweetener, by fermentation of xylose. In order to increase xylitol production rate during the submerged fermentation process, some parameters-substrate (xylose) concentration, pH, aeration rate, temperature and fermentation strategy-have been optimized. The maximum xylitol yield reached at 60–80 g/L initial xylose concentration, pH 5.5 at 37 °C was 83.66% (w/w) on consumed xylose in microaerophilic conditions (kLa = 2·h−1). Scaling up on 3 L fermenter, with a fed-batch strategy, the best xylitol yield was 86.84% (w/w), against a 90% of theoretical yield. The hyper-acidophilic behaviour of C. tropicalis makes this strain particularly promising for industrial application, due to the possibility to work in non-sterile conditions.
Dichotomy in the Epigenetic Mark Lysine Acetylation is Critical for the Proliferation of Prostate Cancer Cells
Authors: Pathak Ravi , Philizaire Marc , Mujtaba Shiraz
Published: August 2015

The dynamics of lysine acetylation serve as a major epigenetic mark, which regulates cellular response to inflammation, DNA damage and hormonal changes. Microarray assays reveal changes in gene expression, but cannot predict regulation of a protein function by epigenetic modifications. The present study employs computational tools to inclusively analyze microarray data to understand the potential role of acetylation during development of androgen-independent PCa. The data revealed that the androgen receptor interacts with 333 proteins, out of which at least 92 proteins were acetylated. Notably, the number of cellular proteins undergoing acetylation in the androgen-dependent PCa was more as compared to the androgen-independent PCa. Specifically, the 32 lysine-acetylated proteins in the cellular models of androgen-dependent PCa were mainly involved in regulating stability as well as pre- and post-processing of mRNA. Collectively, the data demonstrate that protein lysine acetylation plays a crucial role during the transition of androgen-dependent to -independent PCa, which importantly, could also serve as a functional axis to unravel new therapeutic targets.
Determination of the Antioxidant Status of the Skin by In Vivo-Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy
Authors: Lohan Silke , Lauer Anna-Christina , Arndt Sophia , Friedrich Annette , Tscherch Kathrin , Haag Stefan , Darvin Maxim , Vollert Henning , Kleemann Anke , Gersonde Ingo , Groth Norbert , Lademann Jürgen , Rohn Sascha , Meinke Martina
Published: August 2015

Organisms produce free radicals which are essential for various metabolic processes (enzymatic oxidation, cellular respiration, signaling). Antioxidants are important chemical compounds that specifically prevent the oxidation of substances by scavenging radicals, especially reactive oxygen species (ROS). Made up of one or two unpaired electrons, ROS are free radicals that are highly reactive and can attack other metabolites. By using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, it is possible to measure paramagnetic substances such as free radicals. Therefore the dermal antioxidant activity can be determined by applying semi-stable radicals onto the skin and measuring the antioxidant-induced radical scavenging activity in the skin. In recent years, EPR has been developed as a spectroscopic method for determining the antioxidant status in vivo. Several studies have shown that an additional uptake of dietary supplements, such as carotenoids or vitamin C in physiological concentrations, provide a protective effect against free radicals. Using the EPR technique it could be demonstrated that the radical production in stress situations, such as irradiation with infrared and visible light, was reduced with time. However, not only the oral uptake of antioxidants, but also the topical application of antioxidants, e.g., a hyperforin-rich cream, is very useful against the development of oxidative stress. Regular application of a hyperforin-rich cream reduced radical formation. The skin lipids, which are very important for the barrier function of the skin, were also stabilized.
Regeneration and Repair in Endodontics—A Special Issue of the Dentistry Journal
Authors: Lin Louis , Huang George
Published: August 2015

Endodontics is a specialized discipline in dentistry that concerns the morphology, physiology, and pathology of the pulp-dentin complex, root, and peri-radicular tissues. [...]
Biosurfactant Production by Bacillus salmalaya for Lubricating Oil Solubilization and Biodegradation
Authors: Dadrasnia Arezoo , Ismail Salmah
Published: August 2015

This study investigated the capability of a biosurfactant produced by a novel strain of Bacillus salmalaya to enhance the biodegradation rates and bioavailability of organic contaminants. The biosurfactant produced by cultured strain 139SI showed high physicochemical properties and surface activity in the selected medium. The biosurfactant exhibited a high emulsification index and a positive result in the drop collapse test, with the results demonstrating the wetting activity of the biosurfactant and its potential to produce surface-active molecules. Strain 139SI can significantly reduce the surface tension (ST) from 70.5 to 27 mN/m, with a critical micelle concentration of 0.4%. Moreover, lubricating oil at 2% (v/v) was degraded on Day 20 (71.5). Furthermore, the biosurfactant demonstrated high stability at different ranges of salinity, pH, and temperature. Overall, the results indicated the potential use of B. salmalaya 139SI in environmental remediation processes.
Genetic Polymorphisms of Glutathione-Related Enzymes (GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1) and Schizophrenia Risk: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Kim Su , Kang Sang , Chung Joo-Ho , Park Hae , Cho Kyu , Park Min-Su
Published: August 2015

The association between polymorphisms of glutathione-related enzyme (GST) genes and the risk of schizophrenia has been investigated in many published studies. However, their results were inconclusive. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to explore the association between the GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms and the risk of schizophrenia. Twelve case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to investigate the strength of the association. Our meta-analysis results revealed that GSTM1, GSTT1, and GSTP1 polymorphisms were not related to risk of schizophrenia (p > 0.05 in each model). Further analyses based on ethnicity, GSTM polymorphism showed weak association with schizophrenia in East Asian population (OR = 1.314, 95% CI = 1.025–1.684, p = 0.031). In conclusion, our meta-analysis indicated the GSTM1 polymorphism may be the only genetic risk factor for schizophrenia in East Asian population. However, more meta-analysis with a larger sample size were needed to provide more precise evidence.
Spatial Regulation of Root Growth: Placing the Plant TOR Pathway in a Developmental Perspective
Authors: Barrada Adam , Montané Marie-Hélène , Robaglia Christophe , Menand Benoît
Published: August 2015

Plant cells contain specialized structures, such as a cell wall and a large vacuole, which play a major role in cell growth. Roots follow an organized pattern of development, making them the organs of choice for studying the spatio-temporal regulation of cell proliferation and growth in plants. During root growth, cells originate from the initials surrounding the quiescent center, proliferate in the division zone of the meristem, and then increase in length in the elongation zone, reaching their final size and differentiation stage in the mature zone. Phytohormones, especially auxins and cytokinins, control the dynamic balance between cell division and differentiation and therefore organ size. Plant growth is also regulated by metabolites and nutrients, such as the sugars produced by photosynthesis or nitrate assimilated from the soil. Recent literature has shown that the conserved eukaryotic TOR (target of rapamycin) kinase pathway plays an important role in orchestrating plant growth. We will summarize how the regulation of cell proliferation and cell expansion by phytohormones are at the heart of root growth and then discuss recent data indicating that the TOR pathway integrates hormonal and nutritive signals to orchestrate root growth.
The Influence of Bed Roughness on Turbulence: Cabras Lagoon, Sardinia, Italy
Authors: Chirol Clémentine , Amos Carl , Kassem Hachem , Lefebvre Alice , Umgiesser Georg , Cucco Andrea
Published: August 2015

Estimates of bed roughness used for predictions of sediment transport are usually derived either from simple scalars of the physical roughness (i.e., ripple height or grain size) or from the hydrodynamic roughness length (Zo) based upon velocity gradient estimates in the benthic boundary layer. Neither parameter accounts for irregular bed features. This study re-evaluates the relation between hydrodynamic roughness and physical bed roughness using high-resolution seabed scanning in the inlet of a shallow lagoon. The statistically-robust relationship, based on a 1D statistical analysis of the seabed elevation at different locations of the Cabras lagoon. Sardinia, has been obtained between Zo and the topographical bed roughness Ks by defining Ks = 2*STD + skin friction, with STD the standard deviation of the seabed elevation variations. This correlation between Ks and Zo demonstrates that the roughness length is directly influenced by irregular bed features, and that the Reynolds number accounts for the total drag of the bed: the data points collapse on the Law of the Wall curves with a fitting factor x = 0.5. Further testing must be done in other locations and in the fully-rough domain in order to test how widely those new parameters can be applied.
Metal-Organic Frameworks to Metal/Metal Oxide Embedded Carbon Matrix: Synthesis, Characterization and Gas Sorption Properties
Authors: Chen Jiun-Jen , Chen Ya-Ting , Raja Duraisamy , Kang Yu-Hao , Tseng Pen-Chang , Lin Chia-Her
Published: August 2015

Three isostructural metal-organic frameworks, (MOFs), [Fe(OH)(1,4-NDC)] (1), [Al(OH)(1,4-NDC)] (2), and [In(OH)(1,4-NDC)] (3) have been synthesized hydrothermally by using 1,4-naphthalene dicarboxylate (1,4-NDC) as a linker. The MOFs were characterized using various techniques and further used as precursor materials for the synthesis of metal/metal oxide nanoparticles inserted in a carbon matrix through a simple thermal conversion method. The newly synthesized carbon materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis, powder X-ray diffraction and BET analysis. The results showed that the MOF-derived carbon composite materials maintained the morphology of the original MOF upon carbonization, and confirmed the insertion of metal/metal oxide particles in the carbon matrix.
Characterization of the Sublimation and Vapor Pressure of 2-(2-Nitrovinyl) Furan (G-0) Using Thermogravimetric Analysis: Effects of Complexation with Cyclodextrins
Authors: Ruz Vivian , González Mirtha , Winant Danny , Rodríguez Zenaida , Van den Mooter Guy
Published: August 2015

In the present work, the sublimation of crystalline solid 2-(2-nitrovinyl) furan (G-0) in the temperature range of 35 to 60 °C (below the melting point of the drug) was studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The sublimated product was characterized using Fourier-transformed-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The sublimation rate at each temperature was obtained using the slope of the linear regression model and followed apparent zero-order kinetics. The sublimation enthalpy from 35 to 60 °C was obtained from the Eyring equation. The Gückel method was used to estimate the sublimation rate and vapor pressure at 25 °C. Physical mixtures, kneaded and freeze-dried complexes were prepared with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and sulfobutyl ether-β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD) and analyzed using isothermal TGA at 50 °C. The complexation contributed to reducing the sublimation process. The best results were achieved using freeze-dried complexes with both cyclodextrins.
Estimating the Influence of Spectral and Radiometric Calibration Uncertainties on EnMAP Data Products—Examples for Ground Reflectance Retrieval and Vegetation Indices
Authors: Bachmann Martin , Makarau Aliaksei , Segl Karl , Richter Rudolf
Published: August 2015

As part of the EnMAP preparation activities this study aims at estimating the uncertainty in the EnMAP L2A ground reflectance product using the simulated scene of Barrax, Spain. This dataset is generated using the EnMAP End-to-End Simulation tool, providing a realistic scene for a well-known test area. Focus is set on the influence of the expected radiometric calibration stability and the spectral calibration stability. Using a Monte-Carlo approach for uncertainty analysis, a larger number of realisations for the radiometric and spectral calibration are generated. Next, the ATCOR atmospheric correction is conducted for the test scene for each realisation. The subsequent analysis of the generated ground reflectance products is carried out independently for the radiometric and the spectral case. Findings are that the uncertainty in the L2A product is wavelength-dependent, and, due to the coupling with the estimation of atmospheric parameters, also spatially variable over the scene. To further illustrate the impact on subsequent data analysis, the influence on two vegetation indices is briefly analysed. Results show that the radiometric and spectral stability both have a high impact on the uncertainty of the narrow-band Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI), and also the broad-band Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is affected.
Influence of Errors in Tactile Sensors on Some High Level Parameters Used for Manipulation with Robotic Hands
Authors: Sánchez-Durán José , Hidalgo-López José , Castellanos-Ramos Julián , Oballe-Peinado Óscar , Vidal-Verdú Fernando
Published: August 2015

Tactile sensors suffer from many types of interference and errors like crosstalk, non-linearity, drift or hysteresis, therefore calibration should be carried out to compensate for these deviations. However, this procedure is difficult in sensors mounted on artificial hands for robots or prosthetics for instance, where the sensor usually bends to cover a curved surface. Moreover, the calibration procedure should be repeated often because the correction parameters are easily altered by time and surrounding conditions. Furthermore, this intensive and complex calibration could be less determinant, or at least simpler. This is because manipulation algorithms do not commonly use the whole data set from the tactile image, but only a few parameters such as the moments of the tactile image. These parameters could be changed less by common errors and interferences, or at least their variations could be in the order of those caused by accepted limitations, like reduced spatial resolution. This paper shows results from experiments to support this idea. The experiments are carried out with a high performance commercial sensor as well as with a low-cost error-prone sensor built with a common procedure in robotics.
Use of Low-Cost Acquisition Systems with an Embedded Linux Device for Volcanic Monitoring
Authors: Moure David , Torres Pedro , Casas Benito , Toma Daniel , Blanco María , Del Río Joaquín , Manuel Antoni
Published: August 2015

This paper describes the development of a low-cost multiparameter acquisition system for volcanic monitoring that is applicable to gravimetry and geodesy, as well as to the visual monitoring of volcanic activity. The acquisition system was developed using a System on a Chip (SoC) Broadcom BCM2835 Linux operating system (based on DebianTM) that allows for the construction of a complete monitoring system offering multiple possibilities for storage, data-processing, configuration, and the real-time monitoring of volcanic activity. This multiparametric acquisition system was developed with a software environment, as well as with different hardware modules designed for each parameter to be monitored. The device presented here has been used and validated under different scenarios for monitoring ocean tides, ground deformation, and gravity, as well as for monitoring with images the island of Tenerife and ground deformation on the island of El Hierro.
In Situ 3D Segmentation of Individual Plant Leaves Using a RGB-D Camera for Agricultural Automation
Authors: Xia Chunlei , Wang Longtan , Chung Bu-Keun , Lee Jang-Myung
Published: August 2015

In this paper, we present a challenging task of 3D segmentation of individual plant leaves from occlusions in the complicated natural scene. Depth data of plant leaves is introduced to improve the robustness of plant leaf segmentation. The low cost RGB-D camera is utilized to capture depth and color image in fields. Mean shift clustering is applied to segment plant leaves in depth image. Plant leaves are extracted from the natural background by examining vegetation of the candidate segments produced by mean shift. Subsequently, individual leaves are segmented from occlusions by active contour models. Automatic initialization of the active contour models is implemented by calculating the center of divergence from the gradient vector field of depth image. The proposed segmentation scheme is tested through experiments under greenhouse conditions. The overall segmentation rate is 87.97% while segmentation rates for single and occluded leaves are 92.10% and 86.67%, respectively. Approximately half of the experimental results show segmentation rates of individual leaves higher than 90%. Nevertheless, the proposed method is able to segment individual leaves from heavy occlusions.
A Novel Thermal Sensor for the Sensitive Measurement of Chemical Oxygen Demand
Authors: Yao Na , Liu Zhuan , Chen Ying , Zhou Yikai , Xie Bin
Published: August 2015

A novel rapid methodology for determining the chemical oxygen demand (COD) based on a thermal sensor with a flow injection analysis system was proposed and experimentally validated. The ability of this sensor to detect and monitor COD was based on the degree of enthalpy increase when sodium hypochlorite reacted with the organic content in water samples. The measurement results were correlated with COD and were compared against the conventional method using potassium dichromate. The assay required only 5–7 min rather than the 2 h required for evaluation by potassium dichromate. The linear range was 5–1000 mg/L COD, and the limit of detection was very low, 0.74 mg/L COD. Moreover, this method exhibited high tolerance to chloride ions; 0.015 mol/L chloride ions had no influence on the response. Finally, the sensor was used to detect the COD of different water samples; the results were verified by the standard dichromate method.
Dendritic Cell Protection from Cisplatin Nephrotoxicity Is Independent of Neutrophils
Authors: Tadagavadi Raghu , Gao Guofeng , Wang Wei , Gonzalez Manuel , Reeves W.
Published: August 2015

Cisplatin is a very effective chemotherapeutic agent used against a wide range of solid tumors. A major adverse effect of cisplatin therapy is acute kidney injury (AKI). Neutrophils are reported to infiltrate and exacerbate injury in a wide range of sterile inflammatory models of tissue injury. Here, we studied the kinetics of neutrophil infiltration into kidneys and their role in cisplatin-mediated AKI. Mice treated with cisplatin showed an increase in circulating neutrophils 24 and 48 h after cisplatin administration. Cisplatin treatment caused an increase in kidney leukocytes with neutrophils accounting for the majority of the infiltrating leukocytes. The extent of neutrophil infiltration coincided with the severity of kidney injury and renal dysfunction. To examine the functional relevance of infiltrating neutrophils in cisplatin nephrotoxicity, we depleted neutrophils using a neutrophil-specific antibody (anti-Ly-6G). This antibody resulted in greater than 90% depletion of neutrophils in both the blood and kidney. Of note, depletion of neutrophils had no impact on the extent of cisplatin-induced AKI as compared to non-depleted mice. Earlier, we reported that dendritic cell depletion in CD11c-DTRtg mice causes exacerbation of AKI and a dramatic increase in renal neutrophils. Thus, we also examined the role of neutrophils in dendritic cell-depleted mice treated with cisplatin. Dendritic cell depletion exacerbated AKI in spite of neutrophil depletion. These data demonstrate that cisplatin nephrotoxicity is not mediated by neutrophils and that dendritic cells protect kidneys via neutrophil-independent mechanisms.
Extracellular Xylanolytic and Pectinolytic Hydrolase Production by Aspergillus flavus Isolates Contributes to Crop Invasion
Authors: Mellon Jay
Published: August 2015

Several atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus isolates, including some being used as biocontrol agents, and one toxigenic isolate were surveyed for the ability to produce extracellular xylanolytic and pectinolytic hydrolases. All of the tested isolates displayed good production of endoxylanases when grown on a medium utilizing larch xylan as a sole carbon substrate. Four of the tested isolates produced reasonably high levels of esterase activity, while the atoxigenic biocontrol agent NRRL 21882 isolate esterase level was significantly lower than the others. Atoxigenic A. flavus isolates 19, 22, K49, AF36 (the latter two are biocontrol agents) and toxigenic AF13 produced copious levels of pectinolytic activity when grown on a pectin medium. The pectinolytic activity levels of the atoxigenic A. flavus 17 and NRRL 21882 isolates were significantly lower than the other tested isolates. In addition, A. flavus isolates that displayed high levels of pectinolytic activity in the plate assay produced high levels of endopolygalacturonase (pectinase) P2c, as ascertained by isoelectric focusing electrophoresis. Isolate NRRL 21882 displayed low levels of both pectinase P2c and pectin methyl esterase. A. flavus appears capable of producing these hydrolytic enzymes irrespective of aflatoxin production. This ability of atoxigenic isolates to produce xylanolytic and pectinolytic hydrolases mimics that of toxigenic isolates and, therefore, contributes to the ability of atoxigenic isolates to occupy the same niche as A. flavus toxigenic isolates.
Regulation of the Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Pathway by Human Papillomavirus E6 and E7 Oncoproteins
Authors: Bello Jesus , Nieva Leslie , Paredes Adriana , Gonzalez Alma , Zavaleta Leticia , Lizano Marcela
Published: August 2015

Cell signaling pathways are the mechanisms by which cells transduce external stimuli, which control the transcription of genes, to regulate diverse biological effects. In cancer, distinct signaling pathways, such as the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, have been implicated in the deregulation of critical molecular processes that affect cell proliferation and differentiation. For example, changes in β-catenin localization have been identified in Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers as the lesion progresses. Specifically, β-catenin relocates from the membrane/cytoplasm to the nucleus, suggesting that this transcription regulator participates in cervical carcinogenesis. The E6 and E7 oncoproteins are responsible for the transforming activity of HPV, and some studies have implicated these viral oncoproteins in the regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Nevertheless, new interactions of HPV oncoproteins with cellular proteins are emerging, and the study of the biological effects of such interactions will help to understand HPV-related carcinogenesis. Viruses 2015, 7 4735 This review addresses the accumulated evidence of the involvement of the HPV E6 and E7 oncoproteins in the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
Forms of Nutrients in Rivers Flowing into Lake Chaohu: A Comparison between Urban and Rural Rivers
Authors: Zhang Lei , Shao Shiguang , Liu Cheng , Xu Tingting , Fan Chengxin
Published: August 2015

Nutrient inputs from rivers play an important role in lake eutrophication. To compare the forms characteristics of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in rivers flowing through rural and urban areas, water samples were collected seasonally from five urban rivers and six rural rivers flowing to Lake Chaohu, China. Higher total phosphorus (TP), particulate phosphorus (PP), soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), and dissolved nonreactive phosphorus (DNP) concentrations and SRP/TP percentages were observed in urban rivers than in rural rivers, and PP/TP and DNP/TP ratios were lower in urban rivers than in rural rivers. The concentrations of total nitrogen (TN) and all N forms other than dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) were significantly higher in urban rivers than in rural rivers. NH4+/TN levels were higher in urban rivers, whereas PN/TN and DON/TN ratios were significantly lower in urban rivers compared with rural rivers. NO3−/TN and NO2−/TN levels were similar between the two groups of rivers. TP, BD-P, and NaOH-P levels in urban river surface sediments were significantly higher than those in rural rivers. NaOH-P/TP ratios were significantly elevated in urban rivers, whereas HCl-P/TP and Res-P/TP ratios were significantly lower compared with rural rivers. Urban rivers have transferred large quantities of NH4+ and SRP into Lake Chaohu, resulting in higher TP and TN levels and NH4+/TN and SRP/TP ratios. Decreasing the input of NH4+ and SRP into urban rivers is a high priority for mitigating eutrophication and algal blooms in Lake Chaohu.
Effects of conventional and minimalist footwear on patellofemoral and Achilles tendon kinetics during netball specific movements
Authors: Sinclair J. , Atkins S. , Taylor P.J. , Vincent H.
Published: August 2015

Netball is a physically demanding sport that is associated with a high incidence of chronic injuries. Currently there is a trend towards the utilisation of minimalist footwear in netball players as opposed to more conventional netball trainers. The current investigation aimed to examine the effects of netball specific and minimalist footwear on patellofemoral and Achilles tendon loads during netball specific motions. Fifteen female netballers performed both run and cut movements when wearing conventional netball footwear and also a minimalist trainer. Kinematics of the lower extremities were quantified using a motion analysis system alongside ground reaction force information which was obtained using a force platform. Patellofemoral force (PTF), patellofemoral pressure (PP) and Achilles tendon forces (ATF) were quantified using predictive methods and examined between footwear using repeated measures ANOVA. The results indicate that patellofemoral loads (run – PTF: netball specific = 5.56 / minimalist = 4.74 body weight (BW); – PP: netball specific = 13.17 / minimalist = 11.89 MPa; cut – PTF: netball specific = 5.65 / minimalist = 4.82 BW; – PP; netball specific = 14.05 / minimalist = 12.88 MPa) were significantly larger in the conventional footwear compared to minimalist in both movements. Achilles tendon forces (run: netball specific = 4.43 / minimalist = 5.47; cut: netball specific = 4.32 / minimalist = 5.29 BW) were however significantly larger in the minimalist compared to the conventional footwear. Taking the proposed association between knee loading and patellofemoral pathology, the risk from knee injuries in netballers may be reduced via minimalist footwear. However, taking into account the equivalent increases in Achilles tendon forces, this may increase the likelihood of overuse Achilles tendon injuries.
Bipolar Disorder in Pregnancy and Breast-Feeding: A Practical Guide for the General Psychiatrist
Authors: Mittal Leena , Wichman Christina L. , Byatt Nancy
Published: August 2015

For a woman with bipolar disorder, decompensation during the course of pregnancy can have significant consequences for both her and the baby. Women with bipolar disorder are also at greater risk for unplanned pregnancy. Therefore, it is essential that psychiatric providers proactively discuss pregnancy plans and treatment options during pregnancy and lactation with all women of reproductive age. Mood stabilizing medications and nonpharmacologic treatment options are equally important components of treatment for bipolar disorder. A comprehensive treatment plan should include a thoughtful discussion about the risks of untreated illness, balanced alongside with the risks and benefits of treatment.

[
Psychiatr Ann
. 2015;45(8):411–416.]
Campaign Optimization through Mobility Network Analysis
Authors: Altshuler Yaniv , Shmueli Erez , Zyskind Guy , Lederman Oren , Oliver Nuria , Pentland Alex “Sandy”
Published: August 2015

Optimizing the use of available resources is one of the key challenges in activities that consist of interactions with a large number of “target individuals”, with the ultimate goal of affecting as many of them as possible, such as in marketing, service provision and political campaigns. Typically, the cost of interactions is monotonically increasing such that a method for maximizing the performance of these campaigns is required. This chapter proposes a mathematical model to compute an optimized campaign by automatically determining the number of interacting units and their type, and how they should be allocated to different geographical regions in order to maximize the campaign's performance. The proposed model is validated using real world mobility data.
Assessing Financial Well-Being of Merchants by Analyzing Behavioral Patterns in Historical Transactions
Authors: Srivastava Kumar Abhinav , Singh Vivek Kumar , Bozkaya Burcin , Pentland Alex “Sandy”
Published: August 2015

This study focuses on a new approach to estimate financial wellbeing indicators for merchants, by looking at behavioral patterns of their customers using transaction history. The transaction data for about 10,000 merchants in a specific country, was analyzed in terms of diversity and propensity of their customers using factors like age, distance travelled to shop, time of the day for shopping, day of the week for shopping, educational status, gender etc. These factors were used as independent variables to predict the financial well-being of merchants, particularly in two dimensions – total revenue and consistency in revenue, both relative to other merchants in the same industry. The merchants were then also divided into the categories of Essential, Non- essential and Luxury goods depending on the industry they belong to and it was interesting to observe the contrast across categories. The results suggest that behavioral patterns could be used to augment current methods of calculating credit score.
Developing a Method for Visualizing Population Movements
Authors: Kwan Matthew , Arrowsmith Colin , Cartwright William
Published: August 2015

This chapter describes a technique for visualizing the movements of a population in a region at a point in time. It is suitable for cases where a large population is spread throughout the region and can move in all directions, for example the population of a large city. By repeatedly clustering movement vector arrows it can visually summarize the movements of millions of individuals, and do so with moderate computing resources. The technique is designed to work with data captured from mobile phone networks, but other sources of data can also be used.
SPAM
Authors: Chauhan Ritu , Kaur Harleen
Published: August 2015

The tremendous increase in spatial database technology has created furious interest among the researchers to adopt new methodologies for discovery of interesting patterns among large databases. But the raw data gathered from various resources such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), business organizations, medical databases, climatic, market survey, remote sensing and several other resources might consist of data, which can be relevant, irrelevant or noisy in nature. However, retrieval of patterns from such databases can lead to serious concerns, which can frame inconsistent or irrelevant futuristic results. To deal with such issues, feature selection techniques are adopted to remove irrelevant, redundant and noisy features. Our approach focuses on retrieval of effective and efficient spatial clusters from large number of medical databases. In this chapter, we have defined our novel framework SpaGrid and SPAM algorithm to retrieve clusters of variant shape and size from large databases. The application of our framework is used with spatial medical databases where the implementation details are discussed with Matlab 7.1.
Demystifying Big Data in the Cloud
Authors: Gebremeskel Gebeyehu Belay , Chai Yi , He Zhongshi
Published: August 2015

Big data in the cloud are an emerging paradigm for huge and federated data processing, storing and distributing by deploying web applications. Scalability, elasticity, pay-per-use pricing, and an advance of ICT scale from large and dynamic applications and performance are the major reasons for the success and widespread adoption of big data cloud infrastructures. It is ‘no secret of the enterprise data', which is challenging for privacy and security. In this chapter, authors deeply discussed and introduce novel approaches and methodologies to easily understood big data phenomenon and technology towards data or web resources privacy and security. Nutshell, big data has a powerful potential to predict cloud risks to develop and deploy corporate security strategies. The chapter's contribution is, in general, to gain a meaningful insight of big data in the cloud and its applications, which is hot issues for today's businesses to make proactive and knowledge-driven decisions.
What Issues of Literary Analysis Can Differential Equations Clarify?
Authors: Zhuravlev Mikhail E. , Golovacheva Irina V. , de Mauny Polina V.
Published: August 2015

The authors investigate to what extent differential equations can describe the dynamics of love relations in masochistic novellas. Unlike previous researchers, they base their analysis not only on psychological credibility. They relate their model to the ideas of literary criticism. The authors compare Ivan Turgenev's Torrents of Spring with the most famous masochistic novella Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. To prove that the dynamics of masochistic relationships differ from that of the other types of romance they also investigate the plot of the undoubtedly non-masochistic story by Anton Chekhov “The Lady with the Dog.” Instruments of literary criticism coupled with mathematical modelling allow the authors to reproduce the temporal and spatial dynamics of love plots in fiction more precisely and clearly than it was done in previous research.
Entrepreneurship Education
Authors: Mani Mukta
Published: August 2015

Entrepreneurship education is believed to provide students with understanding of concepts of entrepreneurship, train and motivate them to indulge into entrepreneurial activities in future. This is an empirical study to explore the entrepreneurship education in engineering discipline from the perspective of students. The study also attempts to unearth the factors that motivate them to take entrepreneurial activities and their perceived hurdles. Data about the opinion of students regarding entrepreneurship education has been collected from 168 students. The data has been analyzed using various statistical tools. It is found that the students are highly interested in starting their own business. They consider that decision making skills, risk taking capacity, creativity, communication skills and ability to prepare business plan are the most important skills for a successful entrepreneur. They feel motivated to start their own business because of intrinsic factors like being their own boss, chasing their dreams. Lack of experience and lack of funds are the most deterring factors.
Customer Expansion Processes Mediating by Knowledge from Customer in the Jordanian Telecommunication Sector to Achieve Customer Profitability
Authors: Alhawari Samer
Published: August 2015

The topic of Customer profitability is a focal concern for telecommunication sector who seeks to identify its antecedents and causal structure with the aim of better understanding managing customer profitability. For this reason, Customer expansion processes and “Knowledge from Customer” is widely used in this competitive environment to achieve Customer profitability. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a model that defines how the combination between Customer expansion processes and “Knowledge from Customer” would achieve the Customer profitability. This paper adapts the quantitative research approach by using the survey strategy which is conducted by a questionnaire collected from 193 people working in the management position of Jordanian telecommunication organizations. The researcher uses the Smart Partial Least Square (PLS) as an analysis technique to test all hypotheses. The findings suggest that there is a positive effect on adapting the Customer expansion processes for improving the Customer profitability mediated by the “Knowledge from Customer”.
Assessing Elements of Storytelling in Chinese e-Entrepreneur Giant Alibaba's Business Information Graphics
Authors: Zhang Yuejiao
Published: August 2015

Alibaba Group is China's largest e-commerce company and leader in e-business infographic publishing. This study attempts to understand how Alibaba's infographics use texts, visual aids, and statistical graphics to facilitate understanding of their contents. A quantitative content analysis of its 460 infographics suggests that while Alibaba's content preference aligns with its mission to education small business owners, the design and forms of its infographics have much room for improvement. To facilitate better storytelling and visual communication, the infographic design needs to make better use of introductory and conclusive texts, to use visual aids that facilitate interdependent storytelling and that serve more functional than decorative purposes, and to better utilize the power of statistical graphics to quickly convey patterns behind numeric values.
A Secure Wireless Spectrum Control, Error Correction Scheme in Synchrophasors
Authors: Ranganathan Prakash , Faruque Saleh
Published: August 2015

There is an immediate need to find solution on spectrum crunch for communication framework and how to defend against cyber-attacks while sustaining energy delivery function specifically carried by Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) and Phasor Data concentrators (PDC) [Phadke, 2008]. The paper uses the concept of exploiting antenna directivity by assigning the same frequency to all three directions, and thus co-channel isolation will be increased, and eventually reducing the interference and increasing the channel capacity. The paper also discuss the error correction control, and security challenges that are required in existing TCP/IP networks for PMU and PDC devices.
Finite Element Analysis of Automotive Disk Brake and Pad in Frictional Model Contact
Authors: Ali Belhocine
Published: August 2015

The object of this work is to present a study of the thermomechanical behavior of the automobile disc brake during the braking phase. Then, a purely mechanical study of dry contact between the disc and pads is developed with a good prediction becomes a major stake for the industrialists while modeling the loading and the boundary conditions around the disc. The same computer code was used to visualize displacements, total deformations in the disc, shear stresses, Von Mises stresses and, the tools of contact pads. Also studied was the case of thermoelasticity while interpreting the various exits results during this simulation.
Tensile Fracture in Laser Welding Joints of Al-Cu-Li-Mg-X Alloy Bearing Gaseous Porosity
Authors: Akhtar Naveed , Wu SuJun
Published: August 2015

This article measures the impact of gaseous porosity on the mechanical performance of the laser welded thin sheet of an aerospace-grade Al-Cu-Li-Mg-X material. The laser fabricated joints were characterized by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to reveal the metallurgical features. A uniaxial tensile test was carried out to measure the mechanical strength of the porosity free welds, and porosity bearing welds. The results showed that the welds bearing gaseous porosity performed nearly 24% lower mechanically than the porosity free welds. Fractography exposed the presence of fine spherical holes in porosity bearing welds, which acted as crack nucleation sites, and their further growth lead to a sudden failure at higher strain rates. Microstructural observations revealed that the laser processing has transformed the superior age-hardened microstructure of the base metal into a new as-cast microstructure. The freshly evolved microstructure was held responsible for the low mechanical properties of the joints with respect to the base metal.
De-Identification of Health Data in Big Data using a Novel Bio-Inspired Apoptosis Algorithm
Authors: Rahmani Amine , Amine Abdelmalek , Hamou Reda Mohamed
Published: August 2015

In the last years, with the emergence of new technologies in the image of big data, the privacy concerns had grown widely. However, big data means the dematerialization of the data. The classical security solutions are no longer efficient in this case. Nowadays, sharing the data is much easier as well as saying hello. The amount of shared data over the web keeps growing from day to another which creates a wide gap between the purpose of sharing data and the fact that these last contain sensitive information. For that, the researches turned their attention to new issues and domains in order to minimize this gap. In other way, they intended to ensure a good utility of data by preserving its meaning while hiding sensitive information to prevent identity disclosure. Many techniques had been used for that. Some of it is mathematical and other ones using data mining algorithms. This paper deals with the problem of hiding sensitive data in shared structured medical data using a new bio-inspired algorithm from the natural phenomena of apoptosis cells in human body.
Supporting the Needs of Higher Educational Learners, through the ‘Postgraduate Pathways'
Authors: Costello Robert
Published: August 2015

This paper offers a case study in Adaptive Personalised Learning for Postgraduates within Higher Education: What is already known about this topic: Current State of Higher Education within supporting postgraduate careers and transferable skills Raised standards and improvements within universities expectations required by the QAA Research students and their academic and employability needs. What this paper adds: A postgraduate Recommender Systems for educational pathway to aid with on-line support towards selecting suitable transferable skills depending on departments. Engagement of postgraduate research students and their perception on transferable skills through additional training in Higher Education. Implications for practice: Development of an online postgraduate recommender system, that can guide students on individual modules, courses or programmes to take to benefit them while carrying out there PhD research. Capture a current snap shot of the current trends that the University is facing.
Gender and Age Differences in Internet Use among Czech Internet Users
Authors: Stříteský Václav , Stříteský Marek , Quigley Martin John David
Published: August 2015

The internet offers advertisers many opportunities for targeting their advertisements. The traditional approach to the demographic targeting of advertisements assumes the existence of internet servers with sufficient homogeneity of visits. The aim of this paper is to identify the variations in internet content consumption habits of different groups of Czech internet users, according to gender and age. On the basis of the research findings, the possibilities for the demographic targeting of internet advertisements by gender and age on the Czech internet were assessed. The analysis is based on the data from the extensive research which was carried out by the Netmonitor project, and which was provided for the purposes of this research study by the Association for Internet Development (SPIR). The research results show that the traditional affinity-based method of targeting according to gender and age is still possible on the Czech internet.
Using appreciative inquiry to transform student nurses’ image of nursing
Authors: Chauke Motshedisi E. , Van Der Wal Dirk , Botha Annalie
Published: August 2015

Introduction: Literature provides adequate evidence of a poor perception of nursing within the profession, resulting in high rates of attrition of student nurses and newly qualified nurses. The nursing profession, in particular nurse educators, has an ethical and professional responsibility to find innovative strategies to promote the positive image of nursing amongst student nurses.Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the potential of appreciative inquiry (AI) as an intervention teaching strategy to transform student nurses’ image of nursing.Design: A quantitative, quasi-experimental, explorative-descriptive design comprising the pretest, appreciative inquiry as intervention, and the post-test was used.Methods: Convenience sampling was used to select third and fourthyear college and university student nurses in the Gauteng province of South Africa for the pre- and the post-test respectively. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and analysed by SPSS version 20.0.Findings: The pretest results revealed a mix of positive and negative perceptions of the image of nursing amongst student nurses. The negative perceptions of the image of nursing that needed intervention included the working conditions of nurses, and the perception of nursing as a profession that was not respected and appreciated. The post-test results showed a significant and positive change in the student nurses’ perception of the image of nursing as a respected and appreciated profession. Although AI resulted in a negative to positive change in some aspects of student nurses’ image of nursing, the negative perceptions of the working conditions of nurses remained and became more negative. The positive image of gender in nursing was enhanced following the implementation of AI.Conclusion: Appreciative inquiry demonstrated potential as a teaching strategy to produce a positive nursing image change and positive orientation towards nursing amongst student nurses.
Locating nature and culture: Pan-Homo culture and theological primatology
Authors: Howell Nancy R.
Published: August 2015

Studies of chimpanzee and bonobo social and learning behaviours, as well as diverse explorations of language abilities in primates, suggest that the attribution of �culture� to primates other than humans is appropriate. The underestimation of primate cultural and cognitive characteristics leads to minimising the evolutionary relationship of humans and other primates. Consequently my claim in this reflection is about the importance of primate studies for the enhancement of Christian thought, with the specific observation that the bifurcation of nature and culture may be an unsustainable feature of any world view, which includes extraordinary status for humans (at least, some humans) as a key presupposition.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The scientific literature concerning primate studies is typically ignored by Christian theology. Reaping the benefits of dialogue between science and religion, Christian thought must engage and respond to the depth of primate language, social, and cultural skills in order to better interpret the relationship of nature and culture.