bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of cigarette smoking on hemoglobin levels compared between smokers and non-smokers
Authors: Shah BK , Nepal AK , Agrawal M , Sinha AK
Published: September 2013

Background: Smoking is one of the global problems causing different disease. Smoking cause variation in different parameters of blood among which hemoglobin is believed to be increased due to smoking. Objective: To compare the effect of cigarette smoking on hemoglobin levels between smokers and non smokers. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in Department of Pathology, Hematology Laboratory, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. Total of 100 sample size which compromised of 50 smokers and 50 non smokers were included the study. Hemoglobin was estimated by Cyanmethemoglobin method. Student ‘t’ test was applied for parametric data and Chi- Square test was applied for categorical data. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Mean±SD of hemoglobin for smokers was 14.14±1.3 g/dl and for non smokers was 12.37±2.36 g/dl. The awareness about smoking effect in both smokers and non smokers group was not significantly different (p=0.15). Similarly the mean±SD age was 32.78±9.27 years for smokers and 35.68±11.11 years for non smokers, and was not significantly different (p=0.18). Conclusion: The present study showed that the hemoglobin level of smoker group was higher than the non-smoker group. Further substantial studies in large population should be conducted to generalize this findings.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/stcj.v1i1.7985 Sunsari Technical College Journal Vol.1(1) 2012 42-44
Iodine status of school age children in the two hilly districts Dhankuta and Tehrathum of Eastern Nepal
Authors: Nepal AK , Gautam S , Khatiwada S , Shakya PR , Gelal B , Lamsal M , Brodie D , Baral N
Published: September 2013

Background: Iodine deficiency remains a significant health problem in developing countries, including Nepal.   Objective: This study was conducted to measure the iodine status of school children in two districts Dhankuta and Tehrathum of Eastern Nepal by estimating median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) as a population parameter in the school children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2010 to July 2011 in school children (6-12 years of age) of two hilly districts of Eastern Nepal, Dhankuta and Tehrathum. A total of 154 school age children from the two districts were chosen for the study after obtaining written consent from their guardians and school authority. UIC was estimated in these school children by ammonium persulphate digestion microplate method. Results: Among the school age children selected for the study median inter-quartile range (IQR) of urinary iodine in Dhankuta (n=63) and Tehrathum (n=91) districts were 214.04 (126.44; 323.0) μg/L and 252.34 (161.81; 301.63) μg/L. No significant differences were observed between the median UIC of these two districts (p=0.235). Among the school children in Dhankuta districts 2(3.2%) were severely deficient, 4(6.3%) were moderately deficient and 6(9.5%) were mildly deficient. In Tehrathum district 2(2.2%) were moderately deficient and 5(5.5%) were mildly deficient. Conclusion: The present study showed improved iodine status with optimal levels of median urinary iodine concentration in the two districts, Dhankuta and Tehrathum of Eastern Nepal. Regular monitoring of population median urinary iodine concentration is recommended for sustainable optimal iodine nutrition.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/stcj.v1i1.7986 Sunsari Technical College Journal Vol.1(1) 2012 38-41
Vitamin D and its implication in neurofibromyalgia
Authors: Khatri R , KC Sanjay , Shrestha P , Sinha JN
Published: September 2013

New and emerging roles of Vitamin D are being uncovered, except for its known traditional roles in Bone mineralisation and Calcium metabolism. Evidences associating it with cell proliferation and multiplication have linked with its potential role in cancer causation and treatment modality. Vitamin D is also finding its importance in mental disorders, proper immune functioning, and cognitive performances. Here we present a review article on association of Vitamin D with common but infrequently diagnosed cases non specific musculoskeletal pain, Neurofibromyalgia.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/stcj.v1i1.7987 Sunsari Technical College Journal Vol.1(1) 2012 45-47
Antimicrobial resistance pattern of Esherichia coli isolated from urine samples in patients visiting tertiary health care centre in Eastern Nepal
Authors: Thakur P , Ghimire P , Rijal KR , Singh GK
Published: September 2013

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the commonest bacterial infections caused by microbial invasion of tissue lining the urinary tract. Escherichia coli is the primary etiologic agent among both outpatients and inpatients. Antimicrobial resistance is an evolving and growing problem in UTI. Of more concern is increasing incidence of infections caused by strains of E. coli that are resistant to commonly used antimicrobial agents. Objective: The study was conducted with the objective to monitor the prevalence of E. coli and to assess the trend of drug resistance in patients visiting Nobel Medical College, Biratnagar, Nepal. Materials and Methods: Specimens were collected aseptically and cultured in bacteriological culture media and identified by using standard microbiological techniques as described in Bergey’s Manual of systemic bacteriology. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Results: Of 508 non-repeated urine samples the total growth was 18.30% (n=93). E. coli accounted for 86.02% (n=80). Highest samples were belonged to the age group 21-40 years and least samples belonged to the age group >61.Of total antibiotics used, amikacin showed the highest susceptibility of 96.25% followed by nitrofurantoin, gentamicin, cefotaxime and ceftazidime with 92.5%, 77.5%, 72.5% and 71.25% respectively among the isolates. Least susceptibility was shown by nalidixic acid with 22.5%. About half of the isolates were susceptible to norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin while no significant differences were seen among susceptibility to different antibiotics and age groups. Total multiple drug resistance (MDR) was 38.75% (n=31) with highest isolates belonged to the age group 21-40 years and least belonged to the age group <20 years. However, no significant difference was seen between MDR and age groups. The MDR was higher in male, 59.1% (13/22) than in female, 31.03% (18/58) which was statistically significant (p=0.021) showing about three times more MDR in male than in female. Conclusion: This study found more than one third of the urinary E. coli isolates were MDR. Higher resistance was seen to fluroquinolones and about one third to third generation cephalosporins. This necessitates a reevaluation of first and second line therapies for the treatment of UTI and regular monitoring of the usage of antimicrobials is done so as to optimize the empirical therapy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/stcj.v1i1.8657 Sunsari Technical College Journal Vol.1(1) 2012 22-26
Seroprevalence of Hepatitis B among blood donors in Jhapa, Nepal
Authors: Khanal H , Bhatta DR , Tiwari BR , Joshi DR
Published: September 2013

Background: Blood donation saves life of millions. However unsafe transfusion is also putting blood receivers in risk of Hepatitis B infections and window period is potential cause of transmission. Objectives: The objective of the study was to find out the seroprevalence of hepatitis B among blood donors. Materials and Methods: During the study period from July 2008 to April 2009, a total of 2277 donated blood samples from Nepal Red Cross Society Jhapa Branch and Damak Sub-branch were analyzed for present of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) on serum by using Hepacard, a rapid diagnostic chromatographic test kit. Results: On the study HBsAg seroprevalence were 7 out of 1340 (0.52%) and 6 out of 937(0.64%) in Bhadrapur and Damak respectively. The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) prevalence among male at Bhadrapur was found 7 out of 1172 (0.59%) and 6 at Damak out of 760 (0.79%) were positive. The overall seroprevalence of male blood donors in Jhapa district was 12 out of 1932 (0.62%). Among the 168 female blood donors only one female was seen positive at Bhadrapur with 0.59% of seroprevalence and overall seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen among female in Jhapa district was 1 out of 345 (0.29%). Conclusion: Hepatitis B infection is a most important threat associated with unscreened blood donations. It.s a great importance to perform and confirm donated blood by sensitive and specific tests. It is essential to prevent the transmission of hepatitis B virus from blood donors. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/stcj.v1i1.8659 Sunsari Technical College Journal Vol.1(1) 2012 33-37
Identification of Multiple Subtypes of Campylobacter jejuni in Chicken Meat and the Impact on Source Attribution
Authors: Devane Megan , Gilpin Brent , Robson Beth , Klena John , Savill Marion , Hudson John
Published: September 2013

Most source attribution studies for Campylobacter use subtyping data based on single isolates from foods and environmental sources in an attempt to draw epidemiological inferences. It has been suggested that subtyping only one Campylobacter isolate per chicken carcass incurs a risk of failing to recognise the presence of clinically relevant, but numerically infrequent, subtypes. To investigate this, between 21 and 25 Campylobacter jejuni isolates from each of ten retail chicken carcasses were subtyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using the two restriction enzymes SmaI and KpnI. Among the 227 isolates, thirteen subtypes were identified, the most frequently occurring subtype being isolated from three carcasses. Six carcasses carried a single subtype, three carcasses carried two subtypes each and one carcass carried three subtypes. Some subtypes carried by an individual carcass were shown to be potentially clonally related. Comparison of C. jejuni subtypes from chickens with isolate subtypes from human clinical cases (n = 1248) revealed seven of the thirteen chicken subtypes were indistinguishable from human cases. None of the numerically minor chicken subtypes were identified in the human data. Therefore, typing only one Campylobacter isolate from individual chicken carcasses may be adequate to inform Campylobacter source attribution.
Soluble VCAM-1 Alters Lipid Phosphatase Activity in Epicardial Mesothelial Cells: Implications for Lipid Signaling During Epicardial Formation
Authors: Ranganathan Manjari , Dokic Danijela , Sterrett Sonia , Dwyer Kathryn , Dettman Robert
Published: September 2013

Epicardial formation involves the attachment of proepicardial (PE) cells to the heart and the superficial migration of mesothelial cells over the surface of the heart. Superficial migration has long been known to involve the interaction of integrins expressed by the epicardium and their ligands expressed by the myocardium; however, little is understood about signals that maintain the mesothelium as it migrates. One signaling pathway known to regulate junctional contacts in epithelia is the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and this pathway can be modified by integrins. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the myocardially expressed, integrin ligand VCAM-1 modulates the activity of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by activating the lipid phosphatase activity of PTEN. We found that epicardial cells stimulated with a soluble form of VCAM-1 (sVCAM-1) reorganized PTEN from the cytoplasm to the membrane and nucleus and activated PTEN’s lipid phosphatase activity. Chick embryonic epicardial mesothelial cells (EMCs) expressing a shRNA to PTEN increased invasion in collagen gels, but only after stimulation by TGFβ3, indicating that loss of PTEN is not sufficient to induce invasion. Expression of an activated form of PTEN was capable of blocking degradation of junctional complexes by TGFβ3. This suggested that PTEN plays a role in maintaining the mesothelial state of epicardium and not in EMT. We tested if altering PTEN activity could affect coronary vessel development and observed that embryonic chick hearts infected with a virus expressing activated human PTEN had fewer coronary vessels. Our data support a role for VCAM-1 in mediating critical steps in epicardial development through PTEN in epicardial cells.
“The Mad”, “The Bad”, “The Victim”: Gendered Constructions of Women Who Kill within the Criminal Justice System
Authors: Weare Siobhan
Published: September 2013

Women commit significantly fewer murders than men and are perceived to be less violent. This belief about women’s non-violence reflects the discourses surrounding gender, all of which assume that women possess certain inherent essential characteristics such as passivity and gentleness. When women commit murder the fundamental social structures based on appropriate feminine gendered behaviour are contradicted and subsequently challenged. This article will explore the gendered constructions of women who kill within the criminal justice system. These women are labelled as either mad, bad or a victim, by both the criminal justice system and society, depending on the construction of their crime, their gender and their sexuality. Symbiotic to labelling women who kill in this way is the denial of their agency. That is to say that labelling these women denies the recognition of their ability to make a semi-autonomous decision to act in a particular way. It is submitted that denying the agency of these women raises a number of issues, including, but not limited to, maintaining the current gendered status quo within the criminal law and criminal justice system, and justice both being done, and being seen to be done, for these women and their victims.
Combined Effects of Green Tea Extracts, Green Tea Polyphenols or Epigallocatechin Gallate with Acarbose on Inhibition against α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase in Vitro
Authors: Gao Junjie , Xu Ping , Wang Yuefei , Wang Yiqi , Hochstetter Danielle
Published: September 2013

Green tea, green tea polyphenols and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) are confirmed to have beneficial effects in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, and a possible mechanism can be ascribed to their inhibitory effect against α-amylase and α-glucosidase in the digestive tract. In this paper, we first investigated the combined inhibitory effect of green tea extracts, green tea polyphenols or EGCG with acarbose on α-amylase and α-glucosidase in vitro. Our results indicated that the interaction between green tea extracts (green tea polyphenols or EGCG) and acarbose was complicated. The combination of green tea extracts, green tea polyphenols or EGCG with acarbose had a synergistic effect on α-amylase and α-glucosidase at low concentrations and the combined effect turned out to be antagonistic at high concentrations according to the Combination Index (CI) values. These findings not only provided some significant quantitative values, but also provide some valuable implications for the combined use of acarbose and GTE (GTP or EGCG) in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Lycopene Supplement and Blood Pressure: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Intervention Trials
Authors: Li Xinli , Xu Jiuhong
Published: September 2013

Epidemiological studies suggested that lycopene supplement could decrease blood pressure, but the results were conflicting. We conducted an updated meta-analysis by screening PubMed databases, and calculated the combined effect size using a random effect model. In addition, subgroup analysis stratified by baseline blood pressure, lycopene dosage, duration, study location and the funding support of the paper was also conducted. Six studies met our inclusion criteria, and the pooled analysis demonstrated a significant reduction of systolic blood pressure (SBP) (mean SBP = −4.953 [−8.820, −1.086], p = 0.012) with obvious heterogeneity (p = 0.034, I2 = 58.5%). Subgroup analysis results showed that higher dosage of lycopene supplement (>12 mg/day) could lower SBP more significantly, especially for participants with baseline SBP >120 mmHg, or Asians, while lycopene intervention had no statistical effect on diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (mean DBP = −3.809 [−8.177, 0.560], p = 0.087), and obvious heterogeneity was also observed (p = 0.074, I2 = 53.1%). Our present study suggests that lycopene supplement >12 mg/day might effectively decrease SBP, particularly among Asians or population with higher baseline SBP.
A Satellite-Based Surface Radiation Climatology Derived by Combining Climate Data Records and Near-Real-Time Data
Authors: Krähenmann Stefan , Obregon Andre , Müller Richard , Trentmann Jörg , Ahrens Bodo
Published: September 2013

This study presents a method for adjusting long-term climate data records (CDRs) for the integrated use with near-real-time data using the example of surface incoming solar irradiance (SIS). Recently, a 23-year long (1983–2005) continuous SIS CDR has been generated based on the visible channel (0.45–1 μm) of the MVIRI radiometers onboard the geostationary Meteosat First Generation Platform. The CDR is available from the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF). Here, it is assessed whether a homogeneous extension of the SIS CDR to the present is possible with operationally generated surface radiation data provided by CM SAF using the SEVIRI and GERB instruments onboard the Meteosat Second Generation satellites. Three extended CM SAF SIS CDR versions consisting of MVIRI-derived SIS (1983–2005) and three different SIS products derived from the SEVIRI and GERB instruments onboard the MSG satellites (2006 onwards) were tested. A procedure to detect shift inhomogeneities in the extended data record (1983–present) was applied that combines the Standard Normal Homogeneity Test (SNHT) and a penalized maximal T-test with visual inspection. Shift detection was done by comparing the SIS time series with the ground stations mean, in accordance with statistical significance. Several stations of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) and about 50 stations of the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) over Europe were used as the ground-based reference. The analysis indicates several breaks in the data record between 1987 and 1994 probably due to artefacts in the raw data and instrument failures. After 2005 the MVIRI radiometer was replaced by the narrow-band SEVIRI and the broadband GERB radiometers and a new retrieval algorithm was applied. This induces significant challenges for the homogenisation across the satellite generations. Homogenisation is performed by applying a mean-shift correction depending on the shift size of any segment between two break points to the last segment (2006–present). Corrections are applied to the most significant breaks that can be related to satellite changes. This study focuses on the European region, but the methods can be generalized to other regions. To account for seasonal dependence of the mean-shifts the correction was performed independently for each calendar month. In comparison to the ground-based reference the homogenised data record shows an improvement over the original data record in terms of anomaly correlation and bias. In general the method can also be applied for the adjustment of satellite datasets addressing other variables to bridge the gap between CDRs and near-real-time data.
Detection and Monitoring of Surface Motions in Active Open Pit Iron Mine in the Amazon Region, Using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry with TerraSAR-X Satellite Data
Authors: Hartwig Marcos , Paradella Waldir , Mura José
Published: September 2013

Persistent Scatterer interferometry (PSI) represents a powerful tool for the detection and monitoring of tiny surface deformations in vast areas, allowing a better understanding of its triggering mechanisms, planning of mitigation measures, as well as to find better solutions for social and environmental issues. However, there is no record hitherto of its use in active open pit mine in tropical rainforest environment. In this paper we evaluate the use of the PSI technique for the detection and monitoring of mine slope deformations in the N4W iron mine and its surroundings, Pará State, Northern Brazil. The PSI processing was performed with 18 ascending SAR scenes of the TerraSAR-X satellite acquired in the dry season of 2012. The results showed a significant number of widely distributed persistent scatterers. It was observed that most of the study area was stable during the time span. Nevertheless, high deformation rates (312 mm/year) were mapped over the mine waste piles, but do not offer any hazard, since they are expected displacements of meters in magnitude for these manmade land structures. Additionally, it was mapped tiny deformation rates in both the east and west flanks of pits 1 and 2. The main underlying reasons can be assigned to the accommodation phenomena of very poor rock masses, to the local geometric variations of the slope cuts, to the geological contact between ironstones and the country rocks, to the exploitation activities, as well as to the major geological structures. This study showed the applicability of the PSI technique using TerraSAR-X scenes in active open pit mines in tropical moist environment. However, the PSI technique is not capable in providing real-time warnings, and faces limitations due to SAR viewing geometry. In this sense, we strongly recommend the use of radar scenes acquired in both ascending and descending orbits, which would also provide a more complete understanding of the deformation patterns.
Ontology Alignment Architecture for Semantic Sensor Web Integration
Authors: Fernandez Susel , Marsa-Maestre Ivan , Velasco Juan , Alarcos Bernardo
Published: September 2013

Sensor networks are a concept that has become very popular in data acquisition and processing for multiple applications in different fields such as industrial, medicine, home automation, environmental detection, etc. Today, with the proliferation of small communication devices with sensors that collect environmental data, semantic Web technologies are becoming closely related with sensor networks. The linking of elements from Semantic Web technologies with sensor networks has been called Semantic Sensor Web and has among its main features the use of ontologies. One of the key challenges of using ontologies in sensor networks is to provide mechanisms to integrate and exchange knowledge from heterogeneous sources (that is, dealing with semantic heterogeneity). Ontology alignment is the process of bringing ontologies into mutual agreement by the automatic discovery of mappings between related concepts. This paper presents a system for ontology alignment in the Semantic Sensor Web which uses fuzzy logic techniques to combine similarity measures between entities of different ontologies. The proposed approach focuses on two key elements: the terminological similarity, which takes into account the linguistic and semantic information of the context of the entity’s names, and the structural similarity, based on both the internal and relational structure of the concepts. This work has been validated using sensor network ontologies and the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) tests. The results show that the proposed techniques outperform previous approaches in terms of precision and recall.
HIV-1 Infection of T Cells and Macrophages Are Differentially Modulated by Virion-Associated Hck: A Nef-Dependent Phenomenon
Authors: Cornall Alyssa , Mak Johnson , Greenway Alison , Tachedjian Gilda
Published: September 2013

The proline repeat motif (PxxP) of Nef is required for interaction with the SH3 domains of macrophage-specific Src kinase Hck. However, the implication of this interaction for viral replication and infectivity in macrophages and T lymphocytes remains unclear. Experiments in HIV-1 infected macrophages confirmed the presence of a Nef:Hck complex which was dependent on the Nef proline repeat motif. The proline repeat motif of Nef also enhanced both HIV-1 infection and replication in macrophages, and was required for incorporation of Hck into viral particles. Unexpectedly, wild-type Hck inhibited infection of macrophages, but Hck was shown to enhance infection of primary T lymphocytes. These results indicate that the interaction between Nef and Hck is important for Nef-dependent modulation of viral infectivity. Hck-dependent enhancement of HIV-1 infection of T cells suggests that Nef-Hck interaction may contribute to the spread of HIV-1 infection from macrophages to T cells by modulating events in the producer cell, virion and target cell.
Water Pollution Control Legislation in Israel: Understanding Implementation Processes from an Actor-Centered Approach
Authors: Hophmayer-Tokich Sharon
Published: September 2013

In the State of Israel, advanced legislation for the management of scarce water resources, including legislation to prevent water pollution, were put in place in the early stages of the State’s formation. Despite that, on-going uncontrolled pollution has deteriorated the quality of water sources for decades, with the main source of pollution being untreated or partially treated domestic wastewater. This has been mainly the result of lack of enforcement of the existing laws. During the 1990s and onwards, a shift to forceful enforcement has been observed and wastewater treatment substantially improved. The paper analyzes the implementation processes of the pollution control legislations (the lack-of and the shift to forceful enforcement) based on an actor-centered approach, using the contextual interaction theory.
Rex, J., et al. Mountain Pine Beetles, Salvage Logging, and Hydrologic Change: Predicting Wet Ground Areas. Water 2013, 5, 443–461
Authors: Rex John , Dubé Stéphane , Foord Vanessa
Published: September 2013

The authors wish to acknowledge a funding agency in their recently published paper [1] and make the following correction. [...]
Nouvelles inscriptions de Claros : décrets d'Aigai et de Mylasa pour des juges colophoniens
Authors: Gauthier Philippe
Published: September 2013

Publication, avec traduction et commentaire, de deux inscriptions trouvées à Claros dans le sanctuaire d'Apollon : 1) un décret d'Aigai (1re moitié du IIIe s. a.C.) honorant trois juges venus de Colophon, suivi de la réponse des Colophoniens ; 2) un décret de Mylasa (vers 250 a.C ?) honorant cinq juges de Colophon.
Les dactyles lyriques de la tragédie
Authors: Brunet Philippe
Published: September 2013

Dactylic verses that can be found in the lyric parts of the greek tragedy are interesting as far as they concern the epic dactyls too. Some prosodie rules are different (correptio attica, correption epica), but phraseology may be sometimes similar. The study requires a reexamination of catalexis and explains that some expressive hiatus in tragedy do have their roots in epics.
Gorgias et l'« invention » des γοργίεια σχήματα.
Authors: Noël Marie-Pierre
Published: September 2013

Since Antiquity, Gorgias has been linked with some figures of style, named after him γοργίεια σχήματα. But ancient testimonies are, on that matter, far less unanimous than modern ones. This paper deals with two main problems : why do some ancient testimonies ascribe to Gorgias the invention of those figures ? How was the phrase γοργίεια σχήματα created ? The criticism of excess in the use of antithesis, parisosis and paromoiosis (which are the main Gorgianic figures) can be traced back to Peripatetic and Stoic attacks against the Isocratic period. This criticism is first essentially focused on Isocrates. It is only during the Quarrel between Atticists and Asianists that Gorgias' name became more than an mere exemple, i. e. the paradigm of excess. The phrase γοργίεια σχήματα was probably forged by Denys of Halicarnassus for that purpose. Therefore one should be cautious when considering γοργίεια σχήματα as characteristic of Gorgias' style : it is an anachronistic (and rather isocratic) point of view, based on criterias inherited from Atticism.
Les grands de l'Iliade et les Achéménides
Authors: Bader Françoise
Published: September 2013

The Greats of the Iliad and the Achaemenian kings. Three points are chiefly studied here : first, the names of Ἀγα-μέμνων and Ἀχιλλεύς, etymologically linked to μέγα (*mgh₂-, whence discussions about some problems arising from laryngeals, either in phonology or in metrics) ; second, the Akhilleus's formulary ("Great, greatest bringer of booty among the Greats [who bring booty]"), in its archaisms : comparison of μέγα φέρτατ(ε) with the Indian Mahā-bhārata- ; metaphor of the warrior in his economical function of "he who brings booty" ; form of the superlative "great of the greats" ; comparison with the beginning of the Achaemenian's formulary "I am (Darius, etc.) the great king, king of the kings" (Agamemnon's formulary can be compared too, by other syntagms which are disseminated in' the Iliad, while Achaeans' formulary is partly related to Hittite) ; third, the relation between the narrative frame of the Iliad and the political programm included in O.P. Hahā-manis, "Companionship (and) Thought". This name is compound of *men- and *sekw- ; *men- (like in Ἀγα-μέμνων : *men-môn designating the king metonymically by his faculty of thinking), *sekw-, in *sokw-eh₂ (action noun besides the agent noun *sokw-h₂i-(o)- > skr. sakhi-, lat. socius), the meaning of which is to be explained by Gk. ὀπᾱ-Ϝων : it is an epithet of Mērionēs, a warrior initiated to the function of a "socius- secundus" by the other Cretan chief Idomeneus. So, there are two pairs in the Iliad exemplifying the good or bad performance of the association proposed by the Persian name : the Cretan one (Idomeneus-Mērionēs), harmonious, the Achaean one (Agamemnon-Akhilleus), conflicting. Their opposition will be neutralized by the reconciliation of the two Greats of the Iliad, the king and his warrior, socius who has to remain secundus : in the last of the funeral games of Patroklos, Akhilleus gives the first prize to the king Agamemnon, the second one to the όπα-Ρων (*men-...sekw-) Mērionēs, without the trial going on : these prizes are functional.
Pausanias à Rome en l'an 148?
Authors: Knoepfler Denis
Published: September 2013

Quoique attesté par plusieurs passages de la Périégèse, le voyage de Pausanias à Rome (et en Italie centrale) n'a pu, jusqu'ici, être daté même approximativement. On montre qu'au vu de la date de construction des édifices mentionnés, ce séjour romain ne doit pas être beaucoup postérieur au principat d'Hadrien (mort en 138). Une datation relativement haute dans la vie de Pausanias (environ 115-180) est confirmée par le fait qu'à l'époque de ce séjour le futur Périégète ne s'intéressait encore que médiocrement aux œuvres d'art — pourtant très nombreuses dans la capitale — , s'attachant davantage aux choses de la nature et tout particulièrement aux animaux exotiques. De fait, il ressort de trois excursus (V 12, VIII 17 et IX 21) que Pausanias vit à Rome beaucoup de bêtes peu communes pour un Hellène. Parmi elles figurent les « taureaux de Péonie », ou bisons (IX 21, 3 ; cf. X 13, 1). Comme l'enseignent les textes littéraires et les monuments figurés, l'exhibition, dans les venationes du cirque ou de l'amphithéâtre, de ces animaux très difficiles à capturer vivants devait être, même à Rome, exceptionnelle. Or, une dédicace latine récemment découverte en Bulgarie montre qu'en 147 une « chasse impériale » réalisée par des unités de l'armée de Mésie Inférieure permit la capture d'ours et de bisons. À cette date, les bêtes en question ne pouvaient être destinées qu'aux jeux qui marquèrent, l'année suivante, le 900e anniversaire de l'Urbs. C'est donc en 148 que, selon toute vraisemblance, Pausanias put voir à Rome, entre beaucoup d'autres animaux sauvages, des bisons de Péonie. En tout cas, cette datation précise du voyage en Italie s'intégrerait au mieux dans ce que l'on devine aujourd'hui de la biographie du Périégète ; et elle ne serait pas sans importance pour fixer plus sûrement la chronologie de l'œuvre elle-même.
Catecholamines influence myocardial 123I MIBG uptake in neuroblastoma patients
Authors: van der Palen R. L. F. , Mavinkurve-Groothuis A. M. C. , Bellersen L. , van Laarhoven H. W. M. , Kapusta L. , de Geus-Oei L. F. , Bulten B. F.
Published: September 2013

Aim: Cardiac 123I metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging can be influenced by several factors. We evaluated the relationship between catecholamine measurements and cardiac 123I MIBG uptake in neuroblastoma patients. Patients, methods: 30 neuroblastoma patients were retrospectively assessed on cardiac 123I MIBG uptake and urinary catecholamine dopamine and metabolites, homovanillic acid (HVA) and vanillylmandelic acid (VMA). Cardiac 123I MIBG uptake was quantified by heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratios, which were calculated into standard deviation scores (SDS) using age-specific reference values. Results: In 17 (57%) and 12 patients (40%) H/M ratio measurements were below –1.0 and –2.0 SDS at diagnosis. A significant inverse correlation between the average of urine metabolites HVA and VMA, and H/M ratio SDS was observed (r -.39, p = 0.04). Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the urinary catecholamine metabolite HVA and H/M ratio SDS (r -.40, p = 0.04). Conclusion: Routine calculation of H/M ratios in 123I MIBG scintigrams of neuroblastoma patients is not helpful because it will not identify cardiac ventricular dysfunction in this patient category. A low H/M ratio on 123I MIBG scintigraphy is explained by increased cathecholamine levels secreted by neuroblastoma tumours.
Can Reliable Sage-Grouse Lek Counts Be Obtained Using Aerial Infrared Technology?
Authors: Gillette Gifford L. , Coates Peter S. , Petersen Steven , Romero John P.
Published: September 2013

More effective methods for counting greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are needed to better assess population trends through enumeration or location of new leks. We describe an aerial infrared technique for conducting sage-grouse lek counts and compare this method with conventional ground-based lek count methods. During the breeding period in 2010 and 2011, we surveyed leks from fixed-winged aircraft using cryogenically cooled mid-wave infrared cameras and surveyed the same leks on the same day from the ground following a standard lek count protocol. We did not detect significant differences in lek counts between surveying techniques. These findings suggest that using a cryogenically cooled mid-wave infrared camera from an aerial platform to conduct lek surveys is an effective alternative technique to conventional ground-based methods, but further research is needed. We discuss multiple advantages to aerial infrared surveys, including counting in remote areas, representing greater spatial variation, and increasing the number of counted leks per season. Aerial infrared lek counts may be a valuable wildlife management tool that releases time and resources for other conservation efforts. Opportunities exist for wildlife professionals to refine and apply aerial infrared techniques to wildlife monitoring programs because of the increasing reliability and affordability of this technology.
Technologies for Big Data
Authors: Bakshi Kapil
Published: September 2013

This chapter provides a review and analysis of several key Big Data technologies. Currently, there are many Big Data technologies in development and implementation; hence, a comprehensive review of all of these technologies is beyond the scope of this chapter. This chapter focuses on the most popularly accepted technologies. The key Big Data technologies to be discussed include: Map-Reduce, NOSQL technology, MPP (Massively Parallel Processing), and In Memory Databases technologies. For each of these Big Data technologies, the following subtopics are discussed: the history and genesis of the Big Data technologies, problem set that this technology solves for Big Data analytics, the details of the technologies, including components, technical architecture, and theory of operations. This is followed by technical operation and infrastructure (compute, storage, and network), design considerations, and performance benchmarks. Finally, this chapter provides an integrated approach to the above-mentioned Big Data technologies.
Synchronizing Execution of Big Data in Distributed and Parallelized Environments
Authors: Jung Gueyoung , Mukherjee Tridib
Published: September 2013

In the modern information era, the amount of data has exploded. Current trends further indicate exponential growth of data in the future. This prevalent humungous amount of data—referred to as big data—has given rise to the problem of finding the “needle in the haystack” (i.e., extracting meaningful information from big data). Many researchers and practitioners are focusing on big data analytics to address the problem. One of the major issues in this regard is the computation requirement of big data analytics. In recent years, the proliferation of many loosely coupled distributed computing infrastructures (e.g., modern public, private, and hybrid clouds, high performance computing clusters, and grids) have enabled high computing capability to be offered for large-scale computation. This has allowed the execution of the big data analytics to gather pace in recent years across organizations and enterprises. However, even with the high computing capability, it is a big challenge to efficiently extract valuable information from vast astronomical data. Hence, we require unforeseen scalability of performance to deal with the execution of big data analytics. A big question in this regard is how to maximally leverage the high computing capabilities from the aforementioned loosely coupled distributed infrastructure to ensure fast and accurate execution of big data analytics. In this regard, this chapter focuses on synchronous parallelization of big data analytics over a distributed system environment to optimize performance.
Big Data Management in the Context of Real-Time Data Warehousing
Authors: Naeem M. Asif , Dobbie Gillian , Weber Gerald
Published: September 2013

In order to make timely and effective decisions, businesses need the latest information from big data warehouse repositories. To keep these repositories up to date, real-time data integration is required. An important phase in real-time data integration is data transformation where a stream of updates, which is huge in volume and infinite, is joined with large disk-based master data. Stream processing is an important concept in Big Data, since large volumes of data are often best processed immediately. A well-known algorithm called Mesh Join (MESHJOIN) was proposed to process stream data with disk-based master data, which uses limited memory. MESHJOIN is a candidate for a resource-aware system setup. The problem that the authors consider in this chapter is that MESHJOIN is not very selective. In particular, the performance of the algorithm is always inversely proportional to the size of the master data table. As a consequence, the resource consumption is in some scenarios suboptimal. They present an algorithm called Cache Join (CACHEJOIN), which performs asymptotically at least as well as MESHJOIN but performs better in realistic scenarios, particularly if parts of the master data are used with different frequencies. In order to quantify the performance differences, the authors compare both algorithms with a synthetic dataset of a known skewed distribution as well as TPC-H and real-life datasets.
Towards a Meditation Brain State Model for Scientific Study of Chan
Authors: Lin Hong , Kuskos Johnathan , Palma Manuel
Published: September 2013

Meditation has clear effects in bringing practitioners’ mind into a tranquil state and promoting both the mental and the physical health. The effect of meditation is measurable. The authors propose to establish a model for meditation state by applying modern experimental sciences to brain wave data. The authors start with a project that aims to create an application that takes electroencephalographic (EEG) data and exposes it to various analytical techniques so the resultant brain states can be studied and predicted. The authors present explanations of the design and implementation offered herein. Furthermore, a summary of the application’s functionality is elucidated. Upon completion, the authors anticipate that this software can be used to produce important and dependable conclusions about a given subject’s brain states and correlate that to an identified physical or psychological activity. Although their project is still in an early stage towards a model for meditation, through these studies, the authors believe they will be able to make meditation a beneficial practice to promote human’s life in modern society.
Bring the Noise
Authors: Johansson Michael
Published: September 2013

In this article the author will present how they developed different processes for collectively producing a series explorative soundscapes and mechanical artefacts using specific constraints influenced by theories from art and architecture. The author will show how they worked with a design methodology that brought together an editor and the final expression of the artwork into one surface of interaction and execution using a virtual cityscape as an iterative ground for sound and music explorations, and give some examples of the different prototypes and iterations. The author will also discuss how they tweaked/iterated with the parameters of the framework, the sounds and the final visual expression to match their artistic intention, and finally to bring some noise into Abadyl. Also infuencing the overall framework.
Vitruvius in Cyberspace
Authors: Ibáñez Luis A. Hernández , Naya Viviana Barneche
Published: September 2013

Nowadays, new forms of virtual architecture are appearing as virtual worlds based on the Metaverse concept are becoming increasingly more popular, holding all kind of virtual versions of human activities. This paper aims to make a reflection on the features of these new architectures compared with their equivalents in the real world by means of an analysis through the prism of the three fundamental conditions of the classic architecture: Firmitas, Utilitas and Venustas. The text describes how these principles once stated by Vitruvius are now affected, modulated or changed in the digital realm by the introduction of the Virtualitas concept.
Mechanisms of Innovation in the Space and Defense Sector
Authors: Szajnfarber Zoe , Weigel Annalisa L.
Published: September 2013

Despite a rich legacy of space sector technological achievements, agencies are increasingly being criticized for their inability to deliver on their innovative promises. Although the phenomenon of innovation has received substantial attention across multiple disciplines, it has largely focused on relatively simple products in nearly competitive markets, making its applicability to the space system context suspect. This paper reviews the economic, political science/strategic, business and operational literatures most relevant to complex product innovation in government markets. It categorizes their insights in terms of the sources of innovation as – external political-level leadership, internal bureaucratic politics, structure of the system, new technologies and user innovations – to illustrate the overlap and gaps among the disciplinary insights. It argues that past studies have over emphasized innovations that were generated by idiosyncratic events and have not adequately addressed the architectural dimension of complex product innovation. If useful prescriptions are to be developed, the process of normal complex product innovation in monopsony markets must be examined as a whole. To this end, the paper suggests several priorities for future work.
BOREAS Space and the Prospects for Private Spaceflight in Bulgaria
Authors: Dimitrov Zdravko , Nikov Boncho , Petrov Georgi , Tashev Boris
Published: September 2013

BOREAS Space is a private aerospace organisation based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was formed around the Sofia-based core of participants in the Bulgarian Orbital REsearch And Satellites (BOREAS) initiative, which included students in Bulgaria, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Since then, the team has launched its own private space effort, based around affordable new technologies like CubeSats. BOREAS Space aims to revitalise the domestic space technology sector with a series of pico- and nanosatellites and to promote space research as the cornerstone of a highly integrated knowledge economy.
ACNB
Authors: Odeh Fadi , Al-Najdawi Nijad
Published: September 2013

Integrating association rule discovery and classification in data mining brings a new approach known as associative classification. Associative classification is a promising approach that often constructs more accurate classification models (classifiers) than the traditional classification approaches such as decision trees and rule induction. In this research, the authors investigate the use of associative classification on the high dimensional data in text categorization. This research focuses on prediction, a very important step in classification, and introduces a new prediction method called Associative Classification Mining based on Naïve Bayesian method. The running time is decreased by removing the ranking procedure that is usually the first step in ranking the derived Classification Association Rules. The prediction method is enhanced using the Naïve Bayesian Algorithm. The results of the experiments demonstrate high classification accuracy.
Learning Control for an Xpilot-AI Agent Playing Capture the Flag
Authors: Parker Gary , Penrose Sarah
Published: September 2013

Xpilot-AI is an environment where researchers can test autonomous agent control and learning programs. It is based on Xpilot, which is an open source, 2d space combat game. Xpilot-AI allows a programmer to write scripts that control an agent playing a game of Xpilot. In previous work, a wide range of techniques have been used to develop controllers that are focused on the combat skills for an Xpilot agent. In this research, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to evolve the parameters for an expert agent solving the more challenging problem of capture the flag.
A New Cooperative PSO Approach with Landscape Estimation, Dimension Partition, and Velocity Control
Authors: Lee Wei-Po , Wang Ruei-Yang , Hsiao Yu-Ting
Published: September 2013

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) has been proposed as an alternative to traditional evolutionary algorithms. Yet, more efficient strategies are still needed to control the trade-off between exploitation and exploration in the search process for solving complex tasks with high dimensional and multimodal objective functions. In this work, the authors propose a new PSO approach to overcome the search difficulties. Their approach first predicts the landscape type of a function for initial search settings, and then focuses on two search strategies for multimodal functions. One is a two-swarm cooperative strategy that controls search region and integrates partial and full dimension PSO search. The other strategy is to control the velocity of the particles in an adaptive way, according to how they move in the space. To evaluate the proposed approach, extensive experiments have been conducted and comparisons to several popular PSO variants have been made. Our experiments prove that the proposed approach can have better performance than others in most of the test cases.
Still in Fashion?
Authors: Marcuzzo Alberto , Papadimitriou Thanos
Published: September 2013

The authors investigate the current state and future prospects of Facebook usage by means of data that they have collected using a survey at an Italian University. The authors show that usage is unaffected by how long users have used Facebook. The authors also examine a number of plausible determinants eventually showing that age, network size, and perceived usefulness all play an important part in explaining usage. Surprisingly, perceived privacy does not.