bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Serious Assault Victim and Incident Characteristics Associated With Police Notification and Treatment in Emergency Rooms in Rural, Suburban, and Urban Areas
Authors: Kaylen Maria , Pridemore William Alex
Published: July 2015

Two common sources of violence rates are police data and hospital data on injuries. It is unclear, however, if violence rates calculated using these sources have the same meaning across location types like rural, suburban, and urban areas. We know that characteristics of assault victims and incidents are associated with whether or not the victim reports the incident to the police. If community type moderates this help-seeking behavior—for example, if the impact of sex, age, race, victim–offender relationship, or injury severity on reporting to the police or being treated in an emergency room (ER) is different in rural relative to urban areas—then this selection bias is problematic for comparisons across location type and for including different location types in the same sample. The goal of this study was to determine which victim and incident characteristics are associated with police notification and ER treatment and to see if these characteristics are the same across rural, suburban, and urban areas. We used National Crime Victimization Survey data on reporting serious assaults to the police and being treated in an ER as a result of a serious assault. Results revealed that (1) police notification is much more likely to occur than ER treatment, (2) a majority of victim and incident characteristics are significantly associated with police notification, (3) few victim and incident characteristics are significantly associated with ER treatment, and (4) there is only chance moderation by location type. Findings suggest that both police and hospital data on serious assaults can be used to make comparisons across rural, suburban, and urban communities without being limited by disproportionate inclusion or exclusion of incidents associated with victim and incident characteristics. However, comparisons between the two data sources should be made with caution due to the different victim and incident characteristics associated with police notification and ER treatment.
The Impact of Certificate-of-Need Laws on Nursing Home and Home Health Care Expenditures
Authors: Rahman Momotazur , Galarraga Omar , Zinn Jacqueline S. , Grabowski David C. , Mor Vincent
Published: July 2015

Over the past two decades, nursing homes and home health care agencies have been influenced by several Medicare and Medicaid policy changes including the adoption of prospective payment for Medicare-paid postacute care and Medicaid-paid long-term home and community-based care reforms. This article examines how spending growth in these sectors was affected by state certificate-of-need (CON) laws, which were designed to limit the growth of providers and have remained unchanged for several decades. Compared with states without CON laws, Medicare and Medicaid spending in states with CON laws grew faster for nursing home care and more slowly for home health care. In particular, we observed the slowest growth in community-based care in states with CON for both the nursing home and home health industries. Thus, controlling for other factors, public postacute and long-term care expenditures in CON states have become dominated by nursing homes.
Defining transcomedy: Humor, tricksterism, and postcolonial affect from Gerald Vizenor to Sacha Baron Cohen
Authors: Moss Joshua Louis
Published: July 2015

This article examines the relationship between language, humor, and postcolonial affect in the work of British performer and satirist Sacha Baron Cohen. His four major characters, Ali G, Borat, Brüno, and Admiral General Shabazz Aladeen, each uses an intentionally unreliable pattern of inter-ethnic word substitutions as a defining characteristic of their performances. Guttural word-sounds, invented ‘foreign’ gibberish, and fractured English collectively offer a metatextual critique of the power of western spectatorship in contemporary global media. This linguistic fracturing technique, defined in this article as ‘transcomedy’, uses the incongruous sensibility of humor to visualize what Homi Bhabha describes as the bifurcated status of the colonized subject. An earlier example of transcomedy is located in this article in the work of Native American essayist Gerald Vizenor.
The satellite, the Screen, and the city: On Google Earth and the Life Narrative
Authors: Laforest Daniel
Published: July 2015

The implications of using satellite imagery like Google Earth to illustrate biographical narratives has scarcely been explored. The Wilderness Downtown, an interactive video by the band Arcade Fire that was launched in 2010, raises questions in this respect. The project uses geolocalization to demonstrate various points of view shown on Google Maps while shaping both the narrative and the generation of personal memory. However, in spite of the aesthetic novelty of this experience, the mental processes being activated are not without precedent, as we can see with the telling example of Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities. This opens a broader issue. To what epistemology of spatial distribution does such an encounter between satellite imagery and individual storytelling subscribe? We will see that Google Earth’s interface has a lot more in common with the city than we might initially think. Ultimately, we will see that the nature of the city involved is culturally specific and is in some ways confining.
Asiatic Aspie: Millennial (ab)use of Asperger’s Syndrome
Authors: Ma Sheng-mei
Published: July 2015

Instead of artistic or poetic license in general, millennial novelists and filmmakers have been taking a particular kind of “aspic license” in their use or abuse of Asperger’s Syndrome for characterization and plot. A mental disability turns out to enable lead characters in their respective pursuits, as in the British TV comedy Doc Martin (2004-2013) and Mai Jia’s Chinese spy thriller Decoded (2002). Doc Martin associates Aspie with Asiatic, both betokening the Other, the opposite to neurotypicals and Western universalism. When the mystique of Orientalized Aspies in Western texts morphs into that of their doppelganger of Occidentalized Aspies in Eastern texts, qualitative changes occur. Whereas Asiatic Aspies in the West don the Asiatic like the emperor’s new clothes, skin-deep and stylized, Asiatic Aspies in the East flaunt Asperger’s Syndrome like an imported luxury to boost the value of the East.
Back to the future: The politics of culture at the Shanghai Expo
Authors: Hubbert Jennifer
Published: July 2015

Mega-events such as the Olympics and international expositions have long been understood as staging platforms upon which host countries offer displays of nation-state splendor. This article examines representations at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, a largely state- and corporate-funded mega-event, to consider contemporary China’s particular narrative of the nation as it emerges as a global power in the 21st century. Through an analysis of Expo films, displays, and architecture, this article argues that the Shanghai Expo offered a model for the future that linked future progress to past glory, wedding traditional Chinese practices and belief systems to contemporary economic growth and technological advancement. While recognizing that the representations at the Expo were largely aspirational, the article demonstrates that studying such idealized forms of national identity can reveal much about China’s attempts to position itself as a prototype for global futures.
Ethno-epidemiological research challenges: Networks of long-haul truckers in the inner city
Authors: Sönmez Sevil , Apostolopoulos Yorghos , Tanner Amanda E. , Massengale Kelley , Brown Margaret
Published: July 2015

Long-haul truck drivers and members of their social networks in urban locales constitute a hard-to-reach population at risk for acquiring and disseminating STIs/HIV. This paper focuses on the unique logistical, methodological, and ethical challenges faced by population health scientists while studying long-haul truck drivers and members of their sexual networks in inner-city neighborhoods of a major US metropolitan center and the innovative strategies developed to overcome the challenges. Formative research and focus groups with several trucker-centered populations (N = 28) led to in-depth interviews and serologies with 60 truck drivers and 24 sexworkers. Various difficulties encountered by the research team are discussed, followed by strategies devised to overcome them.
The uncertain future of comprehensive schooling in England
Authors: Gorard Stephen
Published: July 2015

This is an article about secondary schools in England, and what type of school is fair and efficient for a national education system. It discusses what ‘fair’ could mean in this context, summarises some key policy revisions since 1944 in this light, and reminds readers of the damage caused by unfairness within education. Most notably it discusses the almost complete introduction of comprehensive schools by the 1970s, and the subsequent proliferation of new school types. The article then presents the methods used for the illustrations from secondary data that follow. Based on the Annual Schools Census 1989 to 2014, the article shows that the clustering of disadvantaged students using all available indicators has declined over historical time. This may be largely determined by an increase in prevalence created by immigration, sensitivity and improved diagnosis, and economic downturn. However, the system shows considerable variation between regions and areas linked to the local diversity of schools. Selective, faith-based, converter academies and free schools, as opposed to local authority comprehensives, are disproportionately in areas with the greatest segregation of disadvantaged students. And this occurs for no gain in improvement. The article concludes that the comprehensive ideal is not simply worth retaining, but that its implementation could be seen as the clear ethical duty of any secretary of state.
The comprehensive school in Spain: A review of its development cycle and crises
Authors: Bolívar Antonio
Published: July 2015

The purpose of this study is to describe, analyse and evaluate the successive comprehensive reforms in Spain as a paradigmatic example of the emergence, evolution and crisis of the comprehensive school. In the first part, we describe the development of the comprehensive school project (1970–2013), using the image of the life cycle, with its corresponding turning points. The second part consists of a diachronic and retrospective critical review of why a progressive educational reform like the one passed in 1990, which was intended to be comprehensive, has paradoxically led to high rates of academic failure and early school leaving. What factors managed to undermine the proposal, leading to the current return to less inclusive solutions? From the perspective of a certain change in cycle, a more objective view is possible.
The Effects of CPE on Primary Relationships – Is It Worth Exploring?
Authors: Strehlow Karin , Hewitson John
Published: July 2015

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) can be a life transforming experience for students, but does it also transform students’ primary relationships? An online survey of past CPE students at Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia, found that – overall – CPE had a positive effect on primary relations in key areas, in particular communication, intimacy and spirituality. Recent relationships were more negatively affected. Some relationships did not survive CPE. Structural and pedagogical implications require further research.
Re-conceptualizing the analysis of media development and trajectories hereof in post-colonial societies
Authors: Rodny-Gumede Ylva
Published: July 2015

Using South Africa as a case study, this article presents a new argument for an adaptation of the Comparative Media Systems Model by Hallin and Mancini. The article proposes that factors of race, class and gender and intersections hereof as well as nation-building be added to the model to better suit the analysis of media development in post-colonial societies. The article looks at media development in societies that have undergone social and political transitions since the late 1980s and early 1990s and highlights differences between transitional societies and young democracies in Eastern Europe and East Asia vis-a-vis transitions in post-colonial societies in the global South.
Tissue Doppler indices of diastolic function in critically ill patients and association with mortality – a systematic review
Authors: Garry David , Newton Jim , Colebourn Claire
Published: July 2015

Purpose

Systolic impairment is well reported in critically ill patients but diastolic function has been relatively understudied. The objective of this review was to assess tissue Doppler indices of diastolic function in critically ill patients along with any association with mortality.

Methods

A systematic review of articles in English using Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane database of systematic reviews. Search terms included diastolic function, diastolic dysfunction, diastolic abnormal*, diastolic heart failure, diastolic filling, ventricular relaxation, pulmonary artery occlusion pressure, left ventricular filling pressure, cardiac dysfunction, intensive care, critical care, critically ill, critical illness, sepsis and septic shock. Only studies of critically ill adult patients (excluding post-cardiac surgical patients) whose diastolic function was assessed using tissue Doppler imaging were included. Study quality was assessed using a modified version of the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS).

Results

Nineteen studies were included, with a total of 1365 patients. All trials were observational. There was a large heterogeneity in patient populations and the methodology of tissue Doppler assessment of diastology resulting in a descriptive analysis. Patient groups included severe sepsis or septic shock (5 studies), septic shock (5 studies), systemic inflammatory response syndrome and shock (1 study), septic shock and acute lung injury (1 study), cancer and septic shock (2 studies), general ICU patients (1 study), combined medical and surgical ICU (2 studies) and sub-arachnoid haemorrhage patients (2 studies). Seventeen studies scored 5/6 on the NOS with the remaining two scoring 4/6. Fourteen studies reported on numbers of patients diagnosed with diastolic dysfunction (500/999, mean 50%, range 20–92%). Three studies found that diastolic dysfunction was an independent predictor of mortality.

Conclusions

Current data shows a large range in the incidence of diastolic dysfunction in this patient population and a variable link with mortality. Future research should focus on the definition of normal values for diastolic function in critically ill patients along with the effects of ICU therapies and consensus criteria for its assessment in this patient population.
The clinical potential of inotuzumab ozogamicin in relapsed and refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia
Authors: Yilmaz Musa , Richard Samantha , Jabbour Elias
Published: July 2015

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are likely to make a significant contribution in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by combining the cytotoxicity of chemotherapy with the specificity of monoclonal antibodies. CD22, an endocytic receptor expressed by the majority of B cells, is an excellent target for ADCs. Inotuzumab ozogamicin (INO) is an ADC that consists of a cytotoxic moiety (derivative of calicheamicin) attached to a humanized monoclonal anti-CD22 antibody. As a single agent, INO, was shown to be effective with an objective response rate of 50% in the treatment of relapsed and refractory CD22 positive ALL patients. Clinical trials investigating the combination of INO with the conventional chemotherapies are ongoing. This review summarizes the clinical potential of INO in treatment of relapsed and refractory ALL, based on currently available data in the literature.
Incidental echocardiographic findings of a quadricuspid aortic valve associated with aortic regurgitation in a cat
Authors: Nakamura Takashi , Sawada Tamotsu , Takagi Mayumi
Published: July 2015

Case summary

A 10-month-old male domestic shorthair cat was brought to Kitanomori Animal Hospital for routine castration. Preoperative thoracic radiography revealed a mildly enlarged heart silhouette, and transthoracic echocardiography (ECHO) suggested a quadricuspid aortic valve associated with central aortic regurgitation (regurgitant fraction 31%). After sedation with intramuscular medetomidine and midazolam for castration, heart rate decreased from 193 to 76 beats per minute. ECHO under sedation revealed two equally small and two equally large aortic valve cusps, suggesting a type C quadricuspid aortic valve. The findings were confirmed by real-time three-dimensional ECHO.

Relevance and novel information

This case reveals the echocardiographic features of a feline quadricuspid aortic valve and shows that transthoracic ECHO is useful to examine aortic valve morphology in cats. It also suggests that echocardiographic screening may be beneficial for detecting congenital cardiac anomalies in apparently healthy cats.
Holocaust Cartoons as Ideographs
Authors: Meidani Mahdiyeh
Published: July 2015

The Holocaust cartoon competition of 2006 in Iran as an instance of social controversy has the potential to raise social and political arguments over various international and global issues. Through using McGee’s theory of ideograph and Edwards and Winkler’s theory of representative form, I identify the ideographs used in these cartoons and argue that the Holocaust cartoons function ideographically to portray Jews, Judaism, Palestine, Israel, Zionism, and the Holocaust. I explain how these controversial images function as representative characters and representative anecdotes and create different ideological interpretations of the Holocaust and associated issues, such as Israel–Palestine conflicts and Western freedom of speech. I argue that the cartoons suggest a connection between Nazism and Zionism, or the Nazi and Israeli regimes, by juxtaposing various elements and situations. I explain that the cartoons anecdotally refer to the Holocaust and represent it as myth or hoax used by Jews/Zionists to justify creation of the nation of Israel.
Effects of eltrombopag on platelet count and platelet activation in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome/X-linked thrombocytopenia
Authors: Gerrits Anja J. , Leven Emily A. , Frelinger Andrew L. , Brigstocke Sophie L. , Berny-Lang Michelle A. , Mitchell W. Beau , Revel-Vilk Shoshana , Tamary Hannah , Carmichael Sabrina L. , Barnard Marc R. , Michelson Alan D. , Bussel James B.
Published: July 2015

Key Points

Platelet function in WAS/XLT, measured by agonist-induced surface-activated GPIIb-IIIa and P-selectin, is proportional to platelet size. Eltrombopag increased platelet counts, but did not improve platelet activation, in most WAS/XLT patients.
Design of fusion technique-based mining engine for smart business
Authors: Sato Atsushi , Huang Runhe , Yen Neil Y
Published: July 2015

Keys to successful implementation of smart business require a wide spectrum of domain knowledge, experts, and their correlated experiences. Excluding those external factors—which can be collected by well-deployed sensors—being aware of user (or consumer) has the highest priority on the to-do-list. The more user is understood, the more user can be satisfied from an intuitive point of view, and thus, data plays a rather essential role in the scenario. However, it is never easy to achieve comprehensive understanding as the data requires further processing before its values can be extracted and used. So how the data can be properly transformed into something useful for smart business development is exactly what we pursue in this study. As a pioneer, three major tasks are focused. First, a data mining engine based on the concept of the KID model is designed and developed to be responsible for the universal collection of data and mining valuable information which is primarily from real world, cyber world, and social world. Second, we go further into the fusion process of the collected data and meaningful information extracted and interpreted by algorithms or fused algorithms in the data mining engine (e.g., the consumer purchase data shared by real-world company) and turn them into valuable knowledge about the situation of customers and business situations based on the concept of knowledge, information, and data. A three-layer analysis and mining procedure is designed to enhance the mining engine through conventional RFM (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary Value) model and a set of fusion techniques. And in the end, we make planning-based predictions for a real-world company for expansion of the business interests.
Marked alterations of neutrophil functions during sepsis-induced immunosuppression
Authors: Demaret Julie , Venet Fabienne , Friggeri Arnaud , Cazalis Marie-Angélique , Plassais Jonathan , Jallades Laurent , Malcus Christophe , Poitevin-Later Francoise , Textoris Julien , Lepape Alain , Monneret Guillaume
Published: July 2015

Severe septic syndromes deeply impair innate and adaptive immunity and are responsible for sepsis-induced immunosuppression. Although neutrophils represent the first line of defense against infection, little is known about their phenotype and functions a few days after sepsis, when the immunosuppressive phase is maximal (i.e., between d 3 and 8). The objective of the present study was to perform, for the first time, a global evaluation of neutrophil alterations in immunosuppressed septic patients (at d 3–4 and d 6–8) using phenotypic and functional studies. In addition, the potential association of these parameters and deleterious outcomes was assessed. Peripheral blood was collected from 43 septic shock patients and compared with that of 23 healthy controls. In the septic patients, our results highlight a markedly altered neutrophil chemotaxis (functional and chemokine receptor expressions), oxidative burst, and lactoferrin content and an increased number of circulating immature granulocytes (i.e., CD10dimCD16dim). These aspects were associated with an increased risk of death after septic shock. In contrast, phagocytosis and activation capacities were conserved. To conclude, circulating neutrophils present with phenotypic, functional, and morphologic alterations a few days after sepsis onset. These dysfunctions might participate in the deleterious role of sepsis-induced immunosuppression. The present results open new perspectives in the mechanisms favoring nosocomial infections after septic shock. They deserve to be further investigated in a larger clinical study and in animal models recapitulating these alterations.
Notable Effects of the Metal Salts on the Quenching Reaction of Singlet Oxygen by α-Tocopherol in Ethanol Solution
Authors: Mukai Kazuo , Nakamura Asuka , Nagaoka Shin-ichi , Ouchi Aya , Azuma Nagao
Published: July 2015

Measurement of the quenching rate constant (kQ) of singlet oxygen (1O2) by α-tocopherol was performed in ethanol solution including four kinds of alkali and alkaline earth metal salts (NaClO4, Mg(ClO4)2, MgCl2, and CaCl2) by varying concentrations of metal salts. A remarkable effect of metal salts on the kQ value of α-tocopherol was observed. The 1O2-quenching rate constant (kQ) decreased notably with increasing concentrations of metal salts, and reached a constant value for each salt at high concentration of the salt. For example, the kQ value (9.48 × 107 M−1 s−1) obtained in the presence of 20 mM of Mg(ClO4)2 was 46% of that (2.06 × 108 M−1 s−1) in the absence of metal salt. The kQ value decreased in the order of no metal salt > NaClO4 > CaCl2 > MgCl2 ≈ Mg(ClO4)2 at the same concentration of the metal salts. The metal salts having a smaller ionic radius and a larger charge of the cation gave a smaller kQ value. Effects of anions were negligible. These metal cations coexist with α-tocopherol in foods and biological systems, suggesting that the metal cations may give a notable effect to the 1O2-quenching rate constant (kQ).
Recent Advances in Phosphorescent Pt(II) Complexes Featuring Metallophilic Interactions: Properties and Applications
Authors: Aliprandi Alessandro , Genovese Damiano , Mauro Matteo , De Cola Luisa
Published: July 2015

Supramolecular weak interactions can be used for preparing functional self-assembled architectures by powerful bottom-up approaches. In particular, when closed-shell metallophilic and π–π interactions between adjacent transition-metal complexes are established, profound changes in compounds’ properties are obtained and novel features often achieved. In this Review, the most recent advances in the field of luminescent platinum(II) complexes aggregating through Pt–Pt interactions are highlighted and their potential application in different fields presented and discussed.
Boosting of the Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells through Systematic Introduction of Reduced Graphene Oxide in TiO2 Layers
Authors: Umeyama Tomokazu , Matano Daichi , Baek Jinseok , Gupta Satyajit , Ito Seigo , Subramanian Vaidyanathan (Ravi) , Imahori Hiroshi
Published: July 2015

The effects of the inclusion of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) in TiO2 layers on performance of perovskite solar cells were systematically investigated. For this purpose, a wet chemical approach was examined to embed graphene oxide (GO) across the thickness of compact TiO2 (cTiO2) and mesoporous TiO2 (mTiO2) layers, which was followed by a thermally driven in situ conversion from GO to RGO. The presence of RGO at loadings of 0.15 wt % in the cTiO2 layer and of 0.015 wt % in the mTiO2 layer led to a power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 6.6% to 9.3% by 40% increase.
How Business is Done in the Developing World: Deals versus Rules
Authors: Hallward-Driemeier Mary , Pritchett Lant
Published: July 2015

What happens in the developing world when stringent regulations characterizing the investment climate meet weak government willingness or capability to enforce those regulations? How is business actually done? The Doing Business project surveys experts concerning the legally required time and costs of regulatory compliance for various aspects of private enterprise—starting a firm, dealing with construction permits, trading across borders, paying taxes, getting credit, enforcing contracts, and so on—around the world. The World Bank's firm-level Enterprise Surveys around the world ask managers at a wide array of firms about their business, including questions about how long it took to go through various processes like obtaining an operating license or a construction permit, or bringing in imports. This paper compares the results of three broadly comparable indicators from the Doing Business and Enterprise Surveys. Overall, we find that the estimate of legally required time for firms to complete a certain legal and regulatory process provided by the Doing Business survey does not summarize even modestly well the experience of firms as reported by the Enterprise Surveys. When strict de jure regulation and high rates of taxation meet weak governmental capabilities for implementation and enforcement, we argue that researchers and policymakers should stop thinking about regulations as creating “rules” to be followed, but rather as creating a space in which “deals” of various kinds are possible.
Is a Cambrian Explosion Coming for Robotics?
Authors: Pratt Gill A.
Published: July 2015

About half a billion years ago, life on earth experienced a short period of very rapid diversification called the “Cambrian Explosion.” Many theories have been proposed for the cause of the Cambrian Explosion, one of the most provocative being the evolution of vision, allowing animals to dramatically increase their ability to hunt and find mates. Today, technological developments on several fronts are fomenting a similar explosion in the diversification and applicability of robotics. Many of the base hardware technologies on which robots depend—particularly computing, data storage, and communications—have been improving at exponential growth rates. Two newly blossoming technologies—“Cloud Robotics” and “Deep Learning”—could leverage these base technologies in a virtuous cycle of explosive growth. I examine some key technologies contributing to the present excitement in the robotics field. As with other technological developments, there has been a significant uptick in concerns about the societal implication of robotics and artificial intelligence. Thus, I offer some thoughts about how robotics may affect the economy and some ways to address potential difficulties.
Pre-Analysis Plans Have Limited Upside, Especially Where Replications Are Feasible
Authors: Coffman Lucas C. , Niederle Muriel
Published: July 2015

The social sciences—including economics—have long called for transparency in research to counter threats to producing robust and replicable results. In this paper, we discuss the pros and cons of three of the more prominent proposed approaches: pre-analysis plans, hypothesis registries, and replications. They have been primarily discussed for experimental research, both in the field including randomized control trials and the laboratory, so we focus on these areas. A pre-analysis plan is a credibly fixed plan of how a researcher will collect and analyze data, which is submitted before a project begins. Though pre-analysis plans have been lauded in the popular press and across the social sciences, we will argue that enthusiasm for pre-analysis plans should be tempered for several reasons. Hypothesis registries are a database of all projects attempted; the goal of this promising mechanism is to alleviate the “file drawer problem,” which is that statistically significant results are more likely to be published, while other results are consigned to the researcher's “file drawer.” Finally, we evaluate the efficacy of replications. We argue that even with modest amounts of researcher bias—either replication attempts bent on proving or disproving the published work—or modest amounts of poor replication attempts—designs that are underpowered or orthogonal to the hypothesis—replications correct even the most inaccurate beliefs within three to five replications. We offer practical proposals for how to increase the incentives for researchers to carry out replications.
Villain of Molecular Biology: Why are we not reproducible in research?
Authors: Bhardwaj Vikash
Published: July 2015

Worldwide, there is an issue of irreproducibility in life science research. In the USA alone $28 billion per year spent on preclinical research is not reproducible. Within this opinion article, I provide a brief historical account of the discovery of the Watson-Crick DNA model and introduce another neglected model of DNA. This negligence may be one of the fundamental reasons behind irreproducibility in molecular biology research.
Modeling of Activated Sludge with ASM1 Model, Case Study on Wastewater Treatment Plant of South of Isfahan
Authors: Mohamadi Farzaneh , Rahimi Somaye , Bina Bijan , Amin Mohamad
Published: July 2015

ASM1 model is one of the most widely used models of activated sludge process which is the interest of researchers. This model was first proposed in 1987 by the IAWQ group and it is the first formal model of activated sludge. In this research, to evaluate the consistent of model's result with the reality, the data of wastewater treatment plant of south of Isfahan was used. This treatment plant covers a population about 800000 people, and the activated sludge method is used for treating municipal wastewater. The components of ASM1 mode such as fast biodegradable substrate parameters (Ss) and slow biodegradable (Xs) and the concentration of total COD, total nitrogen, suspended solids, nitrate nitrogen and Kjeldahl nitrogen were measured within 68 days and were included in the model. For modeling, the STOAT software was used where the ASM1 model was implemented. To calibrate the model, four cases from bio-kinetic coefficients of ASM1 model was obtained based on the results and the model was corrected in the default values. These coefficients include maximum specific growth rate (µm), decay coefficient (Kd), yield coefficient(Y), and saturation constant (Ks). The model results were consistent with the reality‎.
Modifying Soil Shear Strength Parameters Using Additives in Laboratory Condition
Authors: Sadrjamali Marjan , Athar Seyed , Negahdar Alireza
Published: July 2015

Mechanical and chemical processes and/or reinforcing materials are used in order to increase soil shear strength. Necessity for reinforcing and strengthening of soil in geotechnical and civil engineering projects requires use of new materials and reinforces. In recent years, although researchers have used new chemical compounds, however, nano-particles have not found their suitable situation. In this study, we have tried to increase soil shear strength parameters using different additives. Clay minerals are considered as problematic soils due to their engineering features. So, it is essential to reclaim them. In this research, clay with low plasticity property has been studied. Soil shear strength is an important factor for any analysis associated with stability including slope stability analysis. Slope stability analysis is used in earth dams and trenches. In this study, we have tried to increase soil shear strength parameters, i.e. cohesion coefficient (C) and internal friction angle (φ) using different additives. Direct shear test has been used for obtaining shear strength parameters as well as Mohr-Coulomb theory has been utilized for calculating of them. Although direct shear machine has its defects and its accuracy is low in comparison with tri-axial machine, however in this study it has been selected due to its simplicity and cheapness. Since this investigation aims to compare various additives and all tests have been done at same condition by direct shear machine, its deficiencies have been neglected. Additives used in present research include: Nano-silica in various percentage, Micro-silica, cement, lime (Cao) and these materials’ combination with together. The reason to choose Nano-silica is that it is a very active super-pozzolanic additive. This additive increases strength of sample significantly through chemical actions. Using silica in soil stabilization depends on type and size of silica particles so that the more finely the more continuous gradation, so property of being finer leads to decrease pores among particles and results to increase strength while light gradation has been achieved. Silica is one of the most popular materials which play a significant role in cohesion and filling. Results of experiments have shown significant effect of these additives in increase of soil shear strength parameters. The lime leads to modify behavioral features of fine-grained soils containing clay (properties such as swelling, shear strength, water absorption ability and plasticity properties) but it should not be in vicinity of sulphate ions.Since, in this condition, presence of lime not only doesn’t play an effective role but also it results to decrease in strength as well as increase in swelling. With regard to this reason, Calcium sulfate (gypsum) was added to soils containing lime in order to study swelling of soils stabilized with lime and nano-silica. Nano-silica increases Soil shear strength parameters while it is efficient in increasing of soil swelling, too.
Considering the Five Senses in Architecture
Authors: Zaredar Arezou
Published: July 2015

Despite fully attention of most current architects to the sense of eyesight, architecture stimulates all of our senses. This paper discusses the perception of senses in architecture, explaining how they work and influence on each other and the differences between them. Besides giving examples of programs to improve conscious perception in an architectural space. In author`s Thesis announced with “Five Senses Museum” it has been attempted to consider all senses in frame of architecture because consciously or spontaneous they affect perception of space and also make it a place to remind with five senses. To approach this aim, this museum contains five main galleries to deal with five senses, notes the correct behavior to the senses and attempts to guide human to recognize itself with practicing domination to senses and recognizing them and learning to be in the moment concentrated. So a beyond perception among the traditional museums is possible.
The Emergence of Nature in Contemporary Iranian Architecture
Authors: Feizabadi Mahmood , Mahdavinejad Mohammadjavad , Mirhosseini Seyyed
Published: July 2015

In this study, we discuss ways of affecting nature on contemporary architecture and utilise them to survey the naturalism of case studies of Iranian architecture. The basic question in this study is: 'how ways of utilising nature have influenced on contemporary public works of Iran?' Descriptive-analytic method is used to achieve the results. The literature review was done by using archival methods, then the ways of affecting nature on contemporary architecture were listed as an evaluation criteria. Next, characteristics of sample projects were analyzed by using surveying methods, and their effects were submitted in qualitative and quantitative manner. The results of the study showed that some ways of affecting nature include scenery, material and conceptual have had the most usage in contemporary public buildings of Iran, and some others include spatial, functional and formal have been overlooked.
Philosophy and Wisdom in Islamic-Iranian Architecture, with Respect to External Veil in Architecture
Authors: Soltani Mahya
Published: July 2015

The result of centuries of experience of this country’s ancestors and great artists, are Memorabilia that nowadays referred to as Islamic architecture. Increasing crisis of identity and irregularities in the feature of contemporary cities and buildings, reveal the latent values of past experiences more than ever. Various definitions have been proposed to explain Islamic architecture, which mostly address its material and superficial aspects. This paper attempts to address the wisdom in Islamic architecture. Based on this view work of art that lies between the audience and the author, as the medium, contains spiritual teachings, and architect as a wayfarer seeking for spiritual growth and moral virtues, and by acquiring real knowledge of the world and reaching the perdition rank for the sake of god, revives the flow of god’s wisdom in his being and makes the grace of god appears in this worldly bodies (of architecture). In principle, this attitude toward Islamic architecture is endogenous in that it can redefine a leading Islamic architecture. This paper also purports to, extra to describing wisdom in Islamic architecture, investigate the internal and external views of Islamic wisdom toward architecture. Hence, this paper first describes the characteristics of Islamic art and then conducts an investigation on the internal and external aspects of Iranian architectural wisdoms, by defining the philosophy of Islamic architecture. Then the architecture of mosques, as the feature of Islamic buildings, is presented, along with the philosophy of each of its individual components. Finally, the philosophy of the veil in Islamic architecture is, briefly, explained. It should be noted that the future of Islamic architecture is only definable in the light of a philosophical and endogenous approach, the view that is imbedded, in best, in the Iranian style of architecture.
Indexing highly dynamic hierarchical data
Authors: Finis Jan , Brunel Robert , Kemper Alfons , Neumann Thomas , May Norman , Faerber Franz
Published: July 2015

Maintaining and querying hierarchical data in a relational database system is an important task in many business applications. This task is especially challenging when considering dynamic use cases with a high rate of complex, possibly skewed structural updates. Labeling schemes are widely considered
the
indexing technique of choice for hierarchical data, and many different schemes have been proposed. However, they cannot handle dynamic use cases well due to various problems which we investigate in this paper. We therefore propose our dynamic
Order Indexes
, which offer competitive query performance, unprecedented update efficiency, and robustness for highly dynamic workloads.
Community detection in social networks
Authors: Wang Meng , Wang Chaokun , Yu Jeffrey Xu , Zhang Jun
Published: July 2015

Revealing the latent community structure, which is crucial to understanding the features of networks, is an important problem in network and graph analysis. During the last decade, many approaches have been proposed to solve this challenging problem in diverse ways, i.e. different measures or data structures. Unfortunately, experimental reports on existing techniques fell short in validity and integrity since many comparisons were not based on a unified code base or merely discussed in theory.

We engage in an in-depth benchmarking study of community detection in social networks. We formulate a generalized community detection procedure and propose a procedure-oriented framework for benchmarking. This framework enables us to evaluate and compare various approaches to community detection systematically and thoroughly under identical experimental conditions. Upon that we can analyze and diagnose the inherent defect of existing approaches deeply, and further make effective improvements correspondingly.

We have re-implemented ten state-of-the-art representative algorithms upon this framework and make comprehensive evaluations of multiple aspects, including the efficiency evaluation, performance evaluations, sensitivity evaluations, etc. We discuss their merits and faults in depth, and draw a set of take-away interesting conclusions. In addition, we present how we can make diagnoses for these algorithms resulting in significant improvements.
Growing a graph matching from a handful of seeds
Authors: Kazemi Ehsan , Hassani S. Hamed , Grossglauser Matthias
Published: July 2015

In many graph--mining problems, two networks from different domains have to be matched. In the absence of reliable node attributes, graph matching has to rely on only the link structures of the two networks, which amounts to a generalization of the classic graph isomorphism problem. Graph matching has applications in social--network reconciliation and de-anonymization, protein--network alignment in biology, and computer vision.

The most scalable graph--matching approaches use ideas from percolation theory, where a matched node pair "infects" neighbouring pairs as additional potential matches. This class of matching algorithm requires an initial seed set of known matches to start the percolation. The size and correctness of the matching is very sensitive to the size of the seed set.

In this paper, we give a new graph--matching algorithm that can operate with a much smaller seed set than previous approaches, with only a small increase in matching errors. We characterize a phase transition in matching performance as a function of the seed set size, using a random bigraph model and ideas from bootstrap percolation theory. We also show the excellent performance in matching several real large-scale social networks, using only a handful of seeds.
Real-time targeted influence maximization for online advertisements
Authors: Li Yuchen , Zhang Dongxiang , Tan Kian-Lee
Published: July 2015

Advertising in social network has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. A main challenge is to identify key influencers who can effectively contribute to the dissemination of information. Although the influence maximization problem, which finds a seed set of
k
most influential users based on certain propagation models, has been well studied, it is not target-aware and cannot be directly applied to online advertising. In this paper, we propose a new problem, named Keyword-Based Targeted Influence Maximization (KB-TIM), to find a seed set that maximizes the expected influence over users who are relevant to a given advertisement. To solve the problem, we propose a sampling technique based on weighted reverse influence set and achieve an approximation ratio of (1 − 1/
e − ε
). To meet the instant-speed requirement, we propose two disk-based solutions that improve the query processing time by two orders of magnitude over the state-of-the-art solutions, while keeping the theoretical bound. Experiments conducted on two real social networks confirm our theoretical findings as well as the efficiency. Given an advertisement with 5 keywords, it takes only 2 seconds to find the most influential users in a social network with billions of edges.
Rethinking serializable multiversion concurrency control
Authors: Faleiro Jose M. , Abadi Daniel J.
Published: July 2015

Multi-versioned database systems have the potential to significantly increase the amount of concurrency in transaction processing because they can avoid read-write conflicts. Unfortunately, the increase in concurrency usually comes at the cost of transaction serializability. If a database user requests full serializability, modern multi-versioned systems significantly constrain read-write concurrency among conflicting transactions and employ expensive synchronization patterns in their design. In main-memory multi-core settings, these additional constraints are so burdensome that multi-versioned systems are often
significantly
outperformed by single-version systems.

We propose B
ohm
, a new concurrency control protocol for main-memory multi-versioned database systems. B
ohm
guarantees serializable execution while ensuring that reads
never
block writes. In addition, B
ohm
does not require reads to perform any bookkeeping whatsoever, thereby avoiding the overhead of tracking reads via contended writes to shared memory. This leads to excellent scalability and performance in multi-core settings. B
ohm
has all the above characteristics without performing validation based concurrency control. Instead, it is pessimistic, and is therefore not prone to excessive aborts in the presence of contention. An experimental evaluation shows that B
ohm
performs well in both high contention and low contention settings, and is able to dramatically outperform state-of-the-art multi-versioned systems despite maintaining the full set of serializability guarantees.
GraphMat
Authors: Sundaram Narayanan , Satish Nadathur , Patwary Md Mostofa Ali , Dulloor Subramanya R. , Anderson Michael J. , Vadlamudi Satya Gautam , Das Dipankar , Dubey Pradeep
Published: July 2015

Given the growing importance of large-scale graph analytics, there is a need to improve the performance of graph analysis frameworks without compromising on productivity. GraphMat is our solution to bridge this gap between a user-friendly graph analytics framework and native, hand-optimized code. GraphMat functions by taking vertex programs and mapping them to high performance sparse matrix operations in the backend. We thus get the productivity benefits of a vertex programming framework without sacrificing performance. GraphMat is a single-node multicore graph framework written in C++ which has enabled us to write a diverse set of graph algorithms with the same effort compared to other vertex programming frameworks. GraphMat performs 1.1-7X faster than high performance frameworks such as GraphLab, CombBLAS and Galois. GraphMat also matches the performance of MapGraph, a GPU-based graph framework, despite running on a CPU platform with significantly lower compute and bandwidth resources. It achieves better multicore scalability (13-15X on 24 cores) than other frameworks and is 1.2X off native, hand-optimized code on a variety of graph algorithms. Since GraphMat performance depends mainly on a few scalable and well-understood sparse matrix operations, GraphMat can naturally benefit from the trend of increasing parallelism in future hardware.