bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reducing Power Consumption and Latency in Mobile Devices Using an Event Stream Model
Authors: Marz Stephen , Zanden Brad Vander
Published: October 2016

Most consumer-based mobile devices use asynchronous events to awaken apps. Currently, event handling is implemented in either an application or an application framework such as Java’s virtual machine (VM) or Microsoft’s .NET, and it uses a “polling loop” that periodically queries an event queue to determine if an event has occurred. These loops must awaken the process, check for an event, and then put the process back to sleep many times per second. This constant arousal prevents the CPU from being put into a deep sleep state, which increases power consumption. Additionally, the process cannot check for events while it sleeps, and this delay in handling events increases latency, which is the time that elapses between when an event occurs and when the application responds to the event. We call this model of event handling a “pull” model because it needs to query hardware devices or software queues in order to “pull” events from them. Recent advances in input devices support direct, informative interrupts to the kernel when an event occurs. This allows us to develop a much more efficient event-handling model called the “Event Stream Model” (ESM). This model is a push model that allows a process to sleep as long as no event occurs but then immediately awakens a process when an event occurs. This model eliminates the polling loop, thus eliminating latency-inducing sleep between polls and reducing unnecessary power consumption. To work properly, the ESM model must be implemented in the kernel rather than in the application. In this article, we describe how we implemented the ESM model in Android operating system (OS). Our results show that with the event stream model, power consumption is reduced by up to 23.8% in certain circumstances, and latency is reduced by an average of 13.6ms.
A Framework for Interconnection-Aware Domain-Specific Many-Accelerator Synthesis
Authors: Sotiriou-Xanthopoulos Efstathios , Xydis Sotirios , Siozios Kostas , Economakos George , Soudris Dimitrios
Published: October 2016

Many-accelerator Systems-on-Chip (SoC) have recently emerged as a promising platform paradigm that combines parallelization with heterogeneity, in order to cover the increasing demands for high performance and energy efficiency. To exploit the full potential of many-accelerator systems, automated design verification and analysis frameworks are required, targeted to both computational and interconnection optimization. Accurate simulation of interconnection schemes should use real stimuli, which are produced from fully functional nodes, requiring the prototyping of the processing elements and memories of the many-accelerator system. In this article, we argue that the Hierarchical Network-on-Chip (HNoC) scheme forms a very promising solution for many-accelerator systems in terms of scalability and data-congestion minimization. We present a parameterizable SystemC prototyping framework for HNoCs, targeted to domain-specific many-accelerator systems. The framework supports the prototyping of processing elements, memory modules, and underlying interconnection infrastructure, while it provides an API for their easy integration to the HNoC. Finally, it enables holistic system simulation using real node data. Using as a case study a many-accelerator system of an MRI pipeline, an analysis on the proposed framework is presented to demonstrate the impact of the system parameters on the system. Through extensive experimental analysis, we show the superiority of HNoC schemes in comparison to typical interconnection architectures. Finally, we show that, adopting the proposed many-accelerator design flow, significant performance improvements are achieved, from 1.2 × up to 26 × , as compared to a x86 software implementation of the MRI pipeline.
PRIME
Authors: Chi Ping , Li Shuangchen , Xu Cong , Zhang Tao , Zhao Jishen , Liu Yongpan , Wang Yu , Xie Yuan
Published: October 2016

Processing-in-memory (PIM) is a promising solution to address the "memory wall" challenges for future computer systems. Prior proposed PIM architectures put additional computation logic in or near memory. The emerging metal-oxide resistive random access memory (ReRAM) has showed its potential to be used for main memory. Moreover, with its crossbar array structure, ReRAM can perform matrix-vector multiplication efficiently, and has been widely studied to accelerate neural network (NN) applications. In this work, we propose a novel PIM architecture, called PRIME, to accelerate NN applications in ReRAM based main memory. In PRIME, a portion of ReRAM crossbar arrays can be configured as accelerators for NN applications or as normal memory for a larger memory space. We provide microarchitecture and circuit designs to enable the morphable functions with an insignificant area overhead. We also design a software/hardware interface for software developers to implement various NNs on PRIME. Benefiting from both the PIM architecture and the efficiency of using ReRAM for NN computation, PRIME distinguishes itself from prior work on NN acceleration, with significant performance improvement and energy saving. Our experimental results show that, compared with a state-of-the-art neural processing unit design, PRIME improves the performance by ~2360× and the energy consumption by ~895×, across the evaluated machine learning benchmarks.
Automatic generation of efficient accelerators for reconfigurable hardware
Authors: Koeplinger David , Delimitrou Christina , Prabhakar Raghu , Kozyrakis Christos , Zhang Yaqi , Olukotun Kunle
Published: October 2016

Acceleration in the form of customized datapaths offer large performance and energy improvements over general purpose processors. Reconfigurable fabrics such as FPGAs are gaining popularity for use in implementing application-specific accelerators, thereby increasing the importance of having good high-level FPGA design tools. However, current tools for targeting FPGAs offer inadequate support for high-level programming, resource estimation, and rapid and automatic design space exploration.

We describe a design framework that addresses these challenges. We introduce a new representation of hardware using parameterized templates that captures locality and parallelism information at multiple levels of nesting. This representation is designed to be automatically generated from high-level languages based on parallel patterns. We describe a hybrid area estimation technique which uses template-level models and design-level artificial neural networks to account for effects from hardware place-and-route tools, including routing overheads, register and block RAM duplication, and LUT packing. Our runtime estimation accounts for off-chip memory accesses. We use our estimation capabilities to rapidly explore a large space of designs across tile sizes, parallelization factors, and optional coarse-grained pipelining, all at multiple loop levels. We show that estimates average 4.8% error for logic resources, 6.1% error for runtimes, and are 279 to 6533 times faster than a commercial high-level synthesis tool. We compare the best-performing designs to optimized CPU code running on a server-grade 6 core processor and show speedups of up to 16.7×.
APRES
Authors: Oh Yunho , Kim Keunsoo , Yoon Myung Kuk , Park Jong Hyun , Park Yongjun , Ro Won Woo , Annavaram Murali
Published: October 2016

Long memory latency and limited throughput become performance bottlenecks of GPGPU applications. The latency takes hundreds of cycles which is difficult to be hidden by simply interleaving tens of warp execution. While cache hierarchy helps to reduce memory system pressure, massive Thread-Level Parallelism (TLP) often causes excessive cache contention. This paper proposes Adaptive PREfetching and Scheduling (APRES) to improve GPU cache efficiency. APRES relies on the following observations. First, certain static load instructions tend to generate memory addresses having very high locality. Second, although loads have no locality, the access addresses still can show highly strided access pattern. Third, the locality behavior tends to be consistent regardless of warp ID.

APRES schedules warps so that as many cache hits generated as possible before any cache misses generated. This is to minimize cache thrashing when many warps are contending for a cache line. However, to realize this operation, it is required to predict which warp will hit the cache in the near future. Without directly predicting future cache hit/miss for each warp, APRES creates a group of warps that will execute the same load instruction in the near future. Based on the third observation, we expect the locality behavior is consistent over all warps in the group. If the first executed warp in the group hits the cache, then the load is considered as a high locality type, and APRES prioritizes all warps in the group. Group prioritization leads to consecutive cache hits, because the grouped warps are likely to access the same cache line. If the first warp missed the cache, then the load is considered as a strided type, and APRES generates prefetch requests for the other warps in the group. After that, APRES prioritizes prefetch targeted warps so that the demand requests are merged to Miss Status Holding Register (MSHR) or prefetched lines can be accessed. On memory-intensive applications, APRES achieves 31.7% performance improvement compared to the baseline GPU and 7.2% additional speedup compared to the best combination of existing warp scheduling and prefetching methods.
Eyeriss
Authors: Chen Yu-Hsin , Emer Joel , Sze Vivienne
Published: October 2016

Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are widely used in modern AI systems for their superior accuracy but at the cost of high computational complexity. The complexity comes from the need to simultaneously process hundreds of filters and channels in the high-dimensional convolutions, which involve a significant amount of data movement. Although highly-parallel compute paradigms, such as SIMD/SIMT, effectively address the computation requirement to achieve high throughput, energy consumption still remains high as data movement can be more expensive than computation. Accordingly, finding a dataflow that supports parallel processing with minimal data movement cost is crucial to achieving energy-efficient CNN processing without compromising accuracy.

In this paper, we present a novel dataflow, called
row-stationary
(RS), that minimizes data movement energy consumption on a spatial architecture. This is realized by exploiting local data reuse of filter weights and feature map pixels, i.e., activations, in the high-dimensional convolutions, and minimizing data movement of partial sum accumulations. Unlike dataflows used in existing designs, which only reduce certain types of data movement, the proposed RS dataflow can adapt to different CNN shape configurations and reduces all types of data movement through maximally utilizing the processing engine (PE) local storage, direct inter-PE communication and spatial parallelism. To evaluate the energy efficiency of the different dataflows, we propose an analysis framework that compares energy cost under the same hardware area and processing parallelism constraints. Experiments using the CNN configurations of AlexNet show that the proposed RS dataflow is more energy efficient than existing dataflows in both convolutional (1.4× to 2.5×) and fully-connected layers (at least 1.3× for batch size larger than 16). The RS dataflow has also been demonstrated on a fabricated chip, which verifies our energy analysis.
Efficiently scaling out-of-order cores for simultaneous multithreading
Authors: Sleiman Faissal M. , Wenisch Thomas F.
Published: October 2016

Simultaneous multithreading (SMT) out-of-order cores waste a significant portion of structural out-of-order core resources on instructions that do not need them. These resources eliminate false ordering dependences. However, because thread interleaving spreads dependent instructions, nearly half of instructions dynamically issue in program order after all false dependences have resolved. These
in-sequence
instructions interleave with other
reordered
instructions at a fine granularity within the instruction window. We develop a technique to efficiently scale in-flight instructions through a hybrid out-of-order/in-order microarchitecture, which can dispatch instructions to efficient in-order scheduling mechanisms---using a FIFO issue queue called the
shelf
---on an instruction-by-instruction basis. Instructions dispatched to the shelf do not allocate out-of-order core resources in the reorder buffer, issue queue, physical registers, or load-store queues. We measure opportunity for such hybrid microarchitectures and design and evaluate a practical dispatch mechanism targeted at 4-threaded cores. Adding a shelf to a baseline 4-thread system with 64-entry ROB improves normalized system throughput by 11.5% (up to 19.2% at best) and energy-delay product by 10.9% (up to 17.5% at best).
Power attack defense
Authors: Li Chao , Wang Zhenhua , Hou Xiaofeng , Chen Haopeng , Liang Xiaoyao , Guo Minyi
Published: October 2016

Battery systems are crucial components for mission-critical data centers. Without secure energy backup, existing under-provisioned data centers are largely unguarded targets for cyber criminals. Particularly for today's scale-out servers, power oversubscription unavoidably taxes a data center's backup energy resources, leaving very little room for dealing with emergency. Besides, the emerging trend towards deploying distributed energy storage architecture causes the associated energy backup of each rack to shrink, making servers vulnerable to power anomalies. As a result, an attacker can generate power peaks to easily crash or disrupt a power-constrained system. This study aims at securing data centers from malicious loads that seek to drain their precious energy storage and overload server racks without prior detection. We term such load as Power Virus (PV) and demonstrate its basic two-phase attacking model and characterize its behaviors on real systems. The PV can learn the victim rack's battery characteristics by disguising as benign loads. Once gaining enough information, the PV can be mutated to generate hidden power spikes that have a high chance to overload the system. To defend against PV, we propose power attack defense (PAD), a novel energy management patch built on lightweight software and hardware mechanisms. PAD not only increases the attacking cost considerably by hiding vulnerable racks from visible spikes, it also strengthens the last line of defense against hidden spikes. Using Google cluster traces we show that PAD can effectively raise the bar of a successful power attack: compared to prior arts, it increases the data center survival time by 1.6~11X and provides better performance guarantee. It enables modern data centers to safely exploit the benefits that power oversubscription may provide, with the slightest cost overhead.
Transcriptional regulation of importin-α1 by JunD modulates subcellular localization of RNA-binding protein HuR in intestinal epithelial cells
Authors: Xu Yan , Chen Jie , Xiao Lan , Chung Hee Kyoung , Zhang Yuan , Robinson Joseph C. , Rao Jaladanki N. , Wang Jian-Ying
Published: October 2016

The RNA-binding protein HuR is crucial for normal intestinal mucosal regeneration by modulating the stability and translation of target mRNAs, but the exact mechanism underlying HuR trafficking between the cytoplasm and nucleus remains largely unknown. Here we report a novel function of transcription factor JunD in the regulation of HuR subcellular localization through the control of importin-α1 expression in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs). Ectopically expressed JunD specifically inhibited importin-α1 at the transcription level, and this repression is mediated via interaction with CREB-binding site that was located at the proximal region of importin-α1 promoter. Reduction in the levels of importin-α1 by JunD increased cytoplasmic levels of HuR, although it failed to alter whole cell HuR levels. Increased levels of endogenous JunD by depleting cellular polyamines also inhibited importin-α1 expression and increased cytoplasmic HuR levels, whereas JunD silencing rescued importin-α1 expression and enhanced HuR nuclear translocation in polyamine-deficient cells. Moreover, importin-α1 silencing protected IECs against apoptosis, which was prevented by HuR silencing. These results indicate that JunD regulates HuR subcellular distribution by downregulating importin-α1, thus contributing to the maintenance of gut epithelium homeostasis.
Temporal coordination of olfactory cortex sharp-wave activity with up- and downstates in the orbitofrontal cortex during slow-wave sleep
Authors: Onisawa Naomi , Manabe Hiroyuki , Mori Kensaku
Published: October 2016

During slow-wave sleep, interareal communications via coordinated, slow oscillatory activities occur in the large-scale networks of the mammalian neocortex. Because olfactory cortex (OC) areas, which belong to paleocortex, show characteristic sharp-wave (SPW) activity during slow-wave sleep, we examined whether OC SPWs in freely behaving rats occur in temporal coordination with up- and downstates of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) slow oscillation. Simultaneous recordings of local field potentials and spike activities in the OC and OFC showed that during the downstate in the OFC, the OC also exhibited downstate with greatly reduced neuronal activity and suppression of SPW generation. OC SPWs occurred during two distinct phases of the upstate of the OFC: early-phase SPWs occurred at the start of upstate shortly after the down-to-up transition in the OFC, whereas late-phase SPWs were generated at the end of upstate shortly before the up-to-down transition. Such temporal coordination between neocortical up- and downstates and olfactory system SPWs was observed between the prefrontal cortex areas (OFC and medial prefrontal cortex) and the OC areas (anterior piriform cortex and posterior piriform cortex). These results suggest that during slow-wave sleep, OC and OFC areas communicate preferentially in specific time windows shortly after the down-to-up transition and shortly before the up-to-down transition.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Simultaneous recordings of local field potentials and spike activities in the anterior piriform cortex (APC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during slow-wave sleep showed that APC sharp waves tended to occur during two distinct phases of OFC upstate: early phase, shortly after the down-to-up transition, and late phase, shortly before the up-to-down transition, suggesting that during slow-wave sleep, olfactory cortex and OFC areas communicate preferentially in the specific time windows.
Changes in activity of fast-spiking interneurons of the monkey striatum during reaching at a visual target
Authors: Marche Kévin , Apicella Paul
Published: October 2016

Recent works highlight the importance of local inhibitory interneurons in regulating the function of the striatum. In particular, fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs), which likely correspond to a subgroup of GABAergic interneurons, have been involved in the control of movement by exerting strong inhibition on striatal output pathways. However, little is known about the exact contribution of these presumed interneurons in movement preparation, initiation, and execution. We recorded the activity of FSIs in the striatum of monkeys as they performed reaching movements to a visual target under two task conditions: one in which the movement target was presented at unsignaled left or right locations, and another in which advance information about target location was available, thus allowing monkeys to react faster. Modulations of FSI activity around the initiation of movement (53% of 55 neurons) consisted mostly of increases reaching maximal firing immediately before or, less frequently, after movement onset. Another subset of FSIs showed decreases in activity during movement execution. Rarely did movement-related changes in FSI firing depend on response direction and movement speed. Modulations of FSI activity occurring relatively early in relation to movement initiation were more influenced by the preparation for movement, compared with those occurring later. Conversely, FSI activity remained unaffected, as monkeys were preparing a movement toward a specific location and instead moved to the opposite direction when the trigger occurred. These results provide evidence that changes in activity of presumed GABAergic interneurons of the primate striatum could make distinct contributions to processes involved in movement generation.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY We explored the functional contributions of striatal fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs), presumed GABAergic interneurons, to distinct steps of movement generation in monkeys performing a reaching task. The activity of individual FSIs was modulated before and during the movement, consisting mostly of increased in firing rates. Changes in activity also occurred during movement preparation. We interpret this variety of modulation types at different moments of task performance as reflecting differential FSI control over distinct phases of movement.
The Genus Luehea (Malvaceae-Tiliaceae): Review about Chemical and Pharmacological Aspects
Authors: Calixto-Júnior João Tavares , Morais Selene Maia de , Colares Aracélio Viana , Coutinho Henrique Douglas Melo
Published: October 2016

Popularly known as “açoita-cavalo” (whips-horse), Luehea species (Malvaceae-Tilioideae) are native to America and are used in folk medicine as anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal, antiseptic, expectorant, and depurative and against skin infections. Although there are studies showing the chemical constituents of some species, the active substances have not been properly identified. A systematic study was carried out through a computer search of data on CAPES journals, SciELO, ISI Bireme, PubMed, ScienceDirect, ScienceDomain Medline, and Google Scholar from published articles using key words: Luehea, açoita-cavalo, and Malvaceae. Luehea divaricata was the species with the highest number of studies observed. Triterpenes (9), flavonoids (6), and steroids (4), including saponins, organic acids (4), and one lignan, are the main types of secondary metabolites registered and the most cited flavonoids were rutin and quercetin and among triterpenes there was maslinic acid, which might be associated with the popular indication of its anti-inflammatory action. The vitexin, a C-glycosylated flavone, isolated from three different species, is cited as a possible taxonomic marker of the genus. Studies confirm in part the medicinal uses of plants named as “açoita-cavalo” species. Some pharmacological activities, not assigned to the species of the genus Luehea by populations, were observed in laboratory experiments.
Nonrecurrent Laryngeal Nerve in the Era of Intraoperative Nerve Monitoring
Authors: Gurleyik Emin , Gurleyik Gunay
Published: October 2016

Nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve (non-RLN) is an anatomical variation increasing the risk of vocal cord palsy. Prediction and early identification of non-RLN may minimize such a risk of injury. This study assessed the effect of intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) on the detection of non-RLN. A total of 462 (236 right) nerves in 272 patients were identified and totally exposed, and all intraoperative steps of IONM were sequentially applied on the vagus nerve (VN) and RLN. Right predissection VN stimulation at a distal point did not create a sound signal in three cases (3/236; 1.27%). Proximal dissection of the right VN under IONM guidance established a proximal point, creating a positive signal. The separation point of non-RLN from VN was discovered in all three patients. Non-RLNs were exposed from separation to laryngeal entry. Positive IONM signals were obtained after resection of thyroid lobes, and postoperative period was uneventful in patients with non-RLN. Absence of distal VN signal is a precise predictor of the non-RLN. IONM-guided proximal dissection of the right VN leads to identification of the non-RLN. The prediction of non-RLN by the absence of the VN signal at an early stage of surgery may prevent or minimize the risk of nerve injury.
A Simple and Convenient Method for Simultaneous Determination ofSchizandrol A,Schizandrol B,Schisandrin A,γ-Schisandrin, andSchisandrin C
Authors: Zhou Yu , Wei Wu Ling , Hua Jiang Xing , Fan Qingsheng
Published: October 2016

A simple, rapid, and specific HPLC method was established for simultaneous determination of five major lignans (Schizandrol A,Schizandrol B,Schisandrin A,γ-Schisandrin, andSchisandrin C) inSchisandra chinensis. The five lignans can be separated completely on Kromasil C18column (250 nm × 4.6 nm) and then detected at 254 nm using methanol (mobile phase A) and water (mobile phase B) with gradient elution as the mobile phase at 1.0 mL/min flow rate. The column temperature was 30°C. The method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, stability, repeatability, and recovery. Results showed that the method is accurate and reproducible.
Evolutionary Game Analysis of the Supervision Behavior for Public-Private Partnership Projects with Public Participation
Authors: Li Congdong , Li Xiaoli , Wang Yu
Published: October 2016

The public can directly or indirectly participate in the PPP (public-private partnership) projects and then has an impact on the project profit and public or private behavior. To explore the influence of the public participation of the PPP projects supervision behavior, this paper analyzes the mutual evolutionary regularity of the private sector and government supervision department and the influence of public participation level on public and private behavior based on evolutionary game theory. The results show that the supervision strategy is not chosen when the supervision cost of government supervision department is greater than the supervision benefit; it can make private sector consciously provide the high-quality public products/services with the improvement of public participation level. Therefore, the government should reduce the cost of public participation and improve the public participation level and influence through the application of the Internet, big data, and other advanced technologies, in order to restrain the behavior of the private sector and improve the supervision efficiency.
Neurobrucellosis: A Case Report from Himachal Pradesh, India, and Review of the Literature
Authors: Raina Sujeet , Sharma Ashish , Sharma Rajesh , Bhardwaj Amit
Published: October 2016

Human brucellosis is a multisystem disease that commonly presents as a febrile illness along with variable spectrum of clinical manifestations. Neurological complications include encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, radiculitis, myelitis, peripheral and cranial neuropathies, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and psychiatric manifestations. We report a case diagnosed as neurobrucellosis who presented with fever and bilateral upper motor neuron symptoms and signs along with bilateral sensorineural deafness. Diagnosis was confirmed by Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and standard tube agglutination test (SAT).
In Vivo Antihypercholesterolemic Potential of Swietenia mahagoni Leaf Extract
Authors: Yelaware Puttaswamy Naveen , Urooj Asna
Published: October 2016

The present investigation aims to evaluate antihypercholesterolemic potential of Swietenia mahagoni leaf aqueous extract (MAE) in diet-induced hypercholesterolemic rat model. In the study, Wistar albino rats (170–220 g) were segregated into 5 groups; all the groups except normal control group were given high fat diet to induce hypercholesterolemia. After induction of cholesterolemia, normal control and positive control groups were treated with saline, statin group was treated with atorvastatin, and remaining two groups received MAE in two doses (250 and 500 mg kg−1 BW) for a treatment period of one month. After the treatment period, weight of rats was recorded and they were anesthetized and decapitated. Blood samples were taken and triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, malondialdehyde (MDA), and urea were determined. Liver and kidney were taken for the estimation of lipid peroxides. The positive control group showed higher values of triglycerides (109±5.1 mg/dL), total cholesterol (134±4.6 mg/dL), LDL-C (44±1.2 mg/dL), MDA, and bile acid content when compared to a normal control group (triglycerides (89±3.2 mg/dL), total cholesterol (72±3.4 mg/dL), and LDL-C (28±1.2 mg/dL)). Treatment with MAE decreased the cholesterol levels, HDL-C, ALT, AST, and bilirubin levels and the effect was dependent on the dose. The results of this study indicated that MAE possesses hypolipidemic potential and thus could be useful in the treatment of hypercholesterolemic condition.
Performance Characterization and Validation of Saliva as an Alternative Specimen Source for Detecting Hereditary Breast Cancer Mutations by Next Generation Sequencing
Authors: Meghnani Varsha , Mohammed Nadeem , Giauque Christopher , Nahire Rahul , David Thomas
Published: October 2016

Identification of pathogenic germline mutations by next generation sequencing is a widely accepted tool for predicting the risk of hereditary cancer development. Blood is the most common source of DNA for such tests. However, blood as a sample type has many drawbacks, including the invasive collection method, poor sample stability, and a relatively high cost of collection. Therefore, in the current study we have assessed the suitability of saliva as an alternative source of genomic DNA for the identification of germline mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes by next generation sequencing (NGS). Our results show that all of the samples yielded DNA concentrations sufficient for library preparation. The concentrations of the final libraries, which were generated by PCR using target specific primers, fall into the expected range with no notable difference between libraries generated from DNA derived from saliva or blood. Quality parameters indicate that sequencing performance is comparable across sample source. An average of (98±0.02)% variant calling concordance was obtained between the two specimen sources. Our data recommends saliva as a potential alternative for detecting germline mutation by next generation sequencing.
Innovative Monitoring of Atmospheric Gaseous Hydrogen Fluoride
Authors: Dugheri Stefano , Bonari Alessandro , Pompilio Ilenia , Monti Alessandro , Mucci Nicola , Arcangeli Giulio
Published: October 2016

Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is a basic raw material for a wide variety of industrial products, with a worldwide production capacity of more than three million metric tonnes. A novel method for determining particulate fluoride and gaseous hydrogen fluoride in air is presented herewith. Air was sampled using miniaturised 13 mm Swinnex two-stage filter holders in a medium-flow pumping system and through the absorption of particulate fluoride and HF vapours on cellulose ester filters uncoated or impregnated with sodium carbonate. Furthermore, filter desorption from the holders and the extraction of the pentafluorobenzyl ester derivative based on solid-phase microextraction were performed using an innovative robotic system installed on anxyzautosampler on-line with gas chromatography (GC)/mass spectrometry (MS). After generating atmospheres of a known concentration of gaseous HF, we evaluated the agreement between the results of our sampling method and those of the conventional preassembled 37 mm cassette (±8.10%; correlation coefficient: 0.90). In addition, precision (relative standard deviation forn=10, 4.3%), sensitivity (0.2 μg/filter), and linearity (2.0–4000 μg/filter; correlation coefficient: 0.9913) were also evaluated. This procedure combines the efficiency of GC/MS systems with the high throughput (96 samples/day) and the quantitative accuracy of pentafluorobenzyl bromide on-sample derivatisation.
Familial Hemiplegic Migraine with Severe Attacks: A New Report withATP1A2Mutation
Authors: Martínez E. , Moreno R. , López-Mesonero L. , Vidriales I. , Ruiz M. , Guerrero A. L. , Tellería J. J.
Published: October 2016

Introduction. Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is a rare disorder characterized by migraine attacks with motor weakness during the aura phase. Mutations in CACNA1A, ATP1A2, SCN1A, and PRRT2 genes have been described.Methods. To describe a mutation in ATP1A2 gene in a FHM case with especially severe and prolonged symptomatology.Results. 22-year-old woman was admitted due to migraine-type headache and sudden onset of right-sided weakness and aphasia; she had similar episodes in her childhood. Her mother was diagnosed with hemiplegic migraine without genetic confirmation. She presented with fever, decreased consciousness, left gaze preference, mixed aphasia, right facial palsy, right hemiplegia, and left crural paresis. Computed tomography (CT) showed no lesion and CT perfusion study evidenced oligohemia in left hemisphere. A normal brain magnetic resonance (MR) was obtained. Impaired consciousness and dysphasia began to improve three days after admission and mild dysphasia and right hemiparesis lasted for 10 days. No recurrences were reported during a follow-up of two years. We identified a variant in heterozygous state in ATP1A2 gene (p.Thr364Met), pathogenic according to different prediction algorithms (SIFT, PolyPhen2, MutationTaster, and Condel).Conclusion. Prolonged and severe attacks with diffuse hypoperfusion in a FHM seemed to be specially related to ATP1A2 mutations, and p.T364M should be considered.
Effects of Electroacupuncture for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Shim Jae-Woo , Jung Jae-Young , Kim Sung-Soo
Published: October 2016

Purpose. This study aims to verify the effects of electroacupuncture treatment on osteoarthritis of the knee. Methods. MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, AMED, CNKI, and five Korean databases were searched by predefined search strategies to screen eligible randomized controlled studies meeting established criteria. Any risk of bias in the included studies was assessed with the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool. Meta‐analysis was conducted using RevMan version 5.3 software. Results. Thirty‐one randomized controlled studies of 3,187 participants were included in this systematic review. Meta‐analysis was conducted with eight studies including a total of 1,220 participants. The electroacupuncture treatment group showed more significant improvement in pain due to knee osteoarthritis than the control group (SMD −1.86, 95% CI −2.33 to −1.39, I2 75%) and in total WOMAC score than the control group (SMD −1.34, CI 95% −1.85 to −0.83, I2 73%). Compared to the control group, the electroacupuncture treatment group showed more significant improvement on the quality of life scale. Conclusion. Electroacupuncture treatment can relieve the pain of osteoarthritis of the knees and improve comprehensive aspects of knee osteoarthritis and the quality of life of patients with knee osteoarthritis.
An Immunomodulatory Device Improves Insulin Resistance in Obese Porcine Model of Metabolic Syndrome
Authors: Westover Angela J. , Johnston Kimberly A. , Buffington Deborah A. , Humes H. David
Published: October 2016

Obesity is associated with tissue inflammation which is a crucial etiology of insulin resistance. This inflammation centers around circulating monocytes which form proinflammatory adipose tissue macrophages (ATM). Specific approaches targeting monocytes/ATM may improve insulin resistance without the adverse side effects of generalized immunosuppression. In this regard, a biomimetic membrane leukocyte processing device, called the selective cytopheretic device (SCD), was evaluated in an Ossabaw miniature swine model of insulin resistance with metabolic syndrome. Treatment with the SCD in this porcine model demonstrated a decline in circulating neutrophil activation parameters and monocyte counts. These changes were associated with improvements in insulin resistance as determined with intravenous glucose tolerance testing. These improvements were also reflected in lowering of homeostatic model assessment- (HOMA-) insulin resistant (IR) scores for up to 2 weeks after SCD therapy. These results allow for the planning of first-in-man studies in obese type 2 diabetic patients.
A Novel Robust Interval Kalman Filter Algorithm for GPS/INS Integrated Navigation
Authors: Jiang Chen , Zhang Shu-bi , Zhang Qiu-zhao
Published: October 2016

Kalman filter is widely applied in data fusion of dynamic systems under the assumption that the system and measurement noises are Gaussian distributed. In literature, the interval Kalman filter was proposed aiming at controlling the influences of the system model uncertainties. The robust Kalman filter has also been proposed to control the effects of outliers. In this paper, a new interval Kalman filter algorithm is proposed by integrating the robust estimation and the interval Kalman filter in which the system noise and the observation noise terms are considered simultaneously. The noise data reduction and the robust estimation methods are both introduced into the proposed interval Kalman filter algorithm. The new algorithm is equal to the standard Kalman filter in terms of computation, but superior for managing with outliers. The advantage of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated experimentally using the integrated navigation of Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Inertial Navigation System (INS).
Intraluminal Meckel’s Duplication Cyst Causing Bowel Obstruction in an Infant: A Role for Laparotomy
Authors: Ladd Mitchell R. , Garcia Alejandro V. , Allison Derek B. , Lukish Jeffrey R.
Published: October 2016

This report describes a two-month-old girl who presented with signs and symptoms of a distal small bowel obstruction. She underwent an abdominal ultrasound that revealed a right lower quadrant cystic mass. A Technetium-99 scan revealed increased activity in the right lower quadrant consistent with a Meckel’s diverticulum. Following a nondiagnostic laparoscopic evaluation, a laparotomy was performed to allow direct palpation of the small bowel and colon. Direct palpation of the ileum revealed a soft intraluminal mass at the ileocecal valve. The child underwent an ileocecectomy and anastomosis incorporating the intraluminal mass. Pathologic analysis revealed an intraluminal enteric duplication cyst containing ectopic gastric mucosa. This case represents the first report of such an entity in an infant. A discussion of the diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of the case and enteric duplication cysts is provided.
Molecular Cloning, Characterization, and mRNA Expression of Hemocyanin Subunit in Oriental River PrawnMacrobrachium nipponense
Authors: Kong Youqin , Chen Liqiao , Ding Zhili , Qin Jianguang , Sun Shengming , Wang Ligai , Ye Jinyun
Published: October 2016

Hemocyanin is a copper-containing protein with immune function against disease. In this study, a hemocyanin subunit named MnHc-1 was cloned fromMacrobrachium nipponense. The full-length cDNA of MnHc-1 was 2,163 bp with a 2,028-bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a polypeptide of 675 amino acids. The MnHc-1 mRNA was expressed in the hepatopancreas, gill, hemocytes, intestine, ovary, and stomach, with the highest level in the hepatopancreas. In the infection trial, the MnHc-1 mRNA transcripts in the hemocytes were significantly downregulated at 3 h after injection ofAeromonas hydrophilaand then upregulated at 6 h and 12 h, followed by a gradual recovery from 24 to 48 h. The MnHc-1 transcriptional expression in the hepatopancreas was measured afterM. nipponensewere fed seven diets with 2.8, 12.2, 20.9, 29.8, 43.1, 78.9, and 157.1 mg Cu kg−1for 8 weeks, respectively. The level of MnHc-1 mRNA was significantly higher in the prawns fed 43.1–157.1 mg Cu kg−1diet than in that fed 2.8–29.8 mg Cu kg−1diet. This study indicated that the MnHc-1 expression can be affected by dietary copper and the hemocyanin may potentially participate in the antibacterial defense ofM. nipponense.
Microwave Assisted Manufacturing and Repair of Carbon Reinforced Nanocomposites
Authors: Sosa Edward D. , Worthy Erica S. , Darlington Thomas K.
Published: October 2016

We report a composite capable of advanced manufacturing and damage repair. Microwave energy is used to induce thermal reversible polymerization of the matrix allowing for microwave assisted composite welding and repair. Composites can be bonded together in just a few minutes through microwave welding. Lap shear testing demonstrates that microwave welded composites exhibit 40% bond strength relative to composites bonded with epoxy resin. Double cantilever beam testing shows 60% recovery in delamination strength after microwave assisted composite repair. The interfacial adhesion and composite repair after microwave exposure are examined by X-ray computed tomography. The microwave processing is shown to be reproducible and consistent. The ability to perform scalable manufacturing is demonstrated by the construction of a large structure from smaller components.
Random Survival Forests for Predicting the Bed Occupancy in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Ruyssinck Joeri , van der Herten Joachim , Houthooft Rein , Ongenae Femke , Couckuyt Ivo , Gadeyne Bram , Colpaert Kirsten , Decruyenaere Johan , De Turck Filip , Dhaene Tom
Published: October 2016

Predicting the bed occupancy of an intensive care unit (ICU) is a daunting task. The uncertainty associated with the prognosis of critically ill patients and the random arrival of new patients can lead to capacity problems and the need for reactive measures. In this paper, we work towards a predictive model based on Random Survival Forests which can assist physicians in estimating the bed occupancy. As input data, we make use of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score collected and calculated from 4098 patients at two ICU units of Ghent University Hospital over a time period of four years. We compare the performance of our system with a baseline performance and a standard Random Forest regression approach. Our results indicate that Random Survival Forests can effectively be used to assist in the occupancy prediction problem. Furthermore, we show that a group based approach, such as Random Survival Forests, performs better compared to a setting in which the length of stay of a patient is individually assessed.
Genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates from Hormozgan Province of Iran Based on 15-Locus MIRU-VNTR and Spoligotyping
Authors: Zamani Samin , Haeili Mehri , Nasiri Mohammad Javad , Imani Fooladi Abbas Ali , Javadpour Sedigheh , Feizabadi Mohammad Mehdi
Published: October 2016

Background. Considering that Hormozgan province in Iran (southern part of Iran on the Persian Gulf) is among the areas with high prevalence of MDR-MTB and attracts so many sailors and tourists, genetic diversity of MTB isolates circulating in this part of Iran was evaluated. Pattern of TB transmission was also examined. Methods and Material. A total of 38 isolates of MTB were cultured from TB patients from Hormozgan province of Iran and standard MIRU-VNTR typing and spoligotyping were applied to genotype these isolates. Drug susceptibility testing was performed using proportion method. Results. There were 28 VNTR profiles comprising 5 clusters and 23 unique isolates compared to 21 spoligotyping profiles, which contained 9 clusters and 12 unique isolates. Latin American-Mediterranean (n=9, 23.6%) was found to be the most predominant lineage. MIRU-VNTR analysis, with an HGDI of 0.975, was more discriminating than spoligotyping, which had an HGDI of 0.955. The estimated proportion of TB cases due to recent transmission was 26.3% and 44.7% by MIRU-VNTR and spoligotyping, respectively. The rates of monodrug resistance and MDR were 15.8% and 7.9%, respectively. Two of 3 MDR strains were found to be related to MIRU-VNTR and belonged to the same spoligotyping cluster characterized with T1/SIT53 genotype. Conclusions. The high genetic diversity among MTB isolates suggests that transmission occurred from different sources to this area. Reactivation of a priori, latent MTB infection was found to contribute mainly to TB cases in this geographic region.
Effect of Concrete Age and Creep on the Behavior of Concrete-Filled Steel Tube Columns
Authors: Wang HaiYang , Zha XiaoXiong , Feng Wei
Published: October 2016

The influence of concrete age and creep on the ultimate axial loading capacity of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns is experimentally and numerically investigated. After validation of numerical models, a parametric study is conducted and the results are used to formulate empirical formulas for predicting the ultimate axial load-bearing capacity of the columns. Formulas are also proposed for predicting both the composite creep and aging coefficients of the CFST columns, which consider the confinement action of steel tubes on concrete. Then, the proposed formulas are validated independently by comparing their predictions with existing test results performed by other researchers. The comparisons show that the empirical formulas have the potential to be used in the practical design of CFST columns.
Redox Status ofβ2GPI in Different Stages of Diabetic Angiopathy
Authors: Ma Jun , Zhang Jing-Yun , Liu Yan , Yu De-Min , Yu Pei
Published: October 2016

We explored the redox status of beta 2 glycoprotein I (β2GPI) in different stages of diabetic angiopathy. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) had a significantly lower proportion of reducedβ2GPI as compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). There was a trend that the mild coronal atherosclerosis heart disease (CAD) had higher proportion of reducedβ2GPI than non-CAD and severe-CAD groups, however without significances (p>0.05). The mild-A-stenosis group and mild-diabetic retinopathy (DR) groups had higher proportion of reducedβ2GPI than their severely affected counterparts. The mild-slow nerve conduction velocity (NCVS) group had higher proportion of reducedβ2GPI than normal nerve conduction velocity (NCVN group) and severe-NCVS groups. The proportion of reducedβ2GPI was in positive correlation with 24 h urine microalbumin and total urine protein, and the proportion of reducedβ2GPI was in negative correlation with serum and skin advanced glycation end products (AGEs). Taken together, our data implicate that the proportion of reducedβ2GPI increased in the early stage of angiopathy and decreased with the aggravation of angiopathy.
No Contribution of GAD-65 and IA-2 Autoantibodies around Time of Diagnosis to the Increasing Incidence of Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes: A 9-Year Nationwide Danish Study
Authors: Thorsen Steffen U. , Pipper Christian B. , Mortensen Henrik B. , Pociot Flemming , Johannesen Jesper , Svensson Jannet
Published: October 2016

Aims.A new perspective on autoantibodies as pivotal players in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) has recently emerged. Our key objective was to examine whether increased levels of autoantibodies against theβ-cell autoantigens glutamic acid decarboxylase (isoform 65) (GADA) and insulinoma associated antigen-2A (IA-2A) mirrored the 3.4% annual increase in incidence of T1D.Methods.From the Danish Childhood Diabetes Register, we randomly selected 500 patients and 500 siblings for GADA and IA-2A analysis (1997 through 2005). Blood samples were taken within three months after onset. A robust log-normal regression model was used. Nine hundred children and adolescents had complete records and were included in the analysis. Cochran-Armitage test for trend was used to evaluate changes in prevalence of autoantibody positivity by period.Results.No significant changes in levels of GADA and IA-2A were found over our 9-year study period. No trends in autoantibody positivity—in either patients or siblings—were found. Levels of GADA and IA-2A were significantly associated with HLA risk groups and GADA with age.Conclusion.The prevalence of positivity and the levels of GADA and IA-2A have not changed between 1997 and 2005 in newly diagnosed patients with T1D and their siblings without T1D.