bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
EPC
Authors: Manousakis Ioannis , Nikolopoulos Dimitrios S.
Published: July 2012

In this work we propose and implement a real-time power monitor controller based on a simple 8-bit AVR controller and an analog Hall effect current sensor. Our setup imposes negligible degradation in the power efficiency, performance and the response time of the instrumented system. Those characteristics make it ideal for portable and battery critical applications. The use of an external controller enables the implementation of a function set for automated power measurement and energy accounting. In order to validate the correctness and the quality of our implementation we have used our setup to instrument a Linux Single Board Computer (SBC) based on an ARM micro-controller. During this instrumentation we have run various CPU and I/O intensive workloads that incur fast phase transitions.
Delay tails in MapReduce scheduling
Authors: Tan Jian , Meng Xiaoqiao , Zhang Li
Published: July 2012

MapReduce/Hadoop production clusters exhibit heavy-tailed characteristics for job processing times. These phenomena are resultant of the workload features and the adopted scheduling algorithms. Analytically understanding the delays under different schedulers for MapReduce can facilitate the design and deployment of large Hadoop clusters. The map and reduce tasks of a MapReduce job have fundamental difference and tight dependence between them, complicating the analysis. This also leads to an interesting starvation problem with the widely used Fair Scheduler due to its greedy approach to launching reduce tasks. To address this issue, we design and implement Coupling Scheduler, which gradually launches reduce tasks depending on map task progresses. Real experiments demonstrate improvements to job response times by up to an order of magnitude.

Based on extensive measurements and source code investigations, we propose analytical models for the default FIFO and Fair Scheduler as well as our implemented Coupling Scheduler. For a class of heavy-tailed map service time distributions, i.e., regularly varying of index -a, we derive the distribution tail of the job processing delay under the three schedulers, respectively. The default FIFO Scheduler causes the delay to be regularly varying of index -a+1. Interestingly, we discover a criticality phenomenon for Fair Scheduler, the delay under which can change from regularly varying of index -a to -a+1, depending on the maximum number of reduce tasks of a job. Other more subtle behaviors also exist. In contrast, the delay distribution tail under Coupling Scheduler can be one order lower than Fair Scheduler under some conditions, implying a better performance.
A first look at cellular machine-to-machine traffic
Authors: Shafiq Muhammad Zubair , Ji Lusheng , Liu Alex X. , Pang Jeffrey , Wang Jia
Published: July 2012

Cellular network based Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication is fast becoming a market-changing force for a wide spectrum of businesses and applications such as telematics, smart metering, point-of-sale terminals, and home security and automation systems. In this paper, we aim to answer the following important question: Does traffic generated by M2M devices impose new requirements and challenges for cellular network design and management? To answer this question, we take a first look at the characteristics of M2M traffic and compare it with traditional smartphone traffic. We have conducted our measurement analysis using a week-long traffic trace collected from a tier-1 cellular network in the United States. We characterize M2M traffic from a wide range of perspectives, including temporal dynamics, device mobility, application usage, and network performance.

Our experimental results show that M2M traffic exhibits significantly different patterns than smartphone traffic in multiple aspects. For instance, M2M devices have a much larger ratio of uplink to downlink traffic volume, their traffic typically exhibits different diurnal patterns, they are more likely to generate synchronized traffic resulting in bursty aggregate traffic volumes, and are less mobile compared to smartphones. On the other hand, we also find that M2M devices are generally competing with smartphones for network resources in co-located geographical regions. These and other findings suggest that better protocol design, more careful spectrum allocation, and modified pricing schemes may be needed to accommodate the rise of M2M devices.
Bundling practice in BitTorrent
Authors: Han Jinyoung , Kim Seungbae , Chung Taejoong , Kwon Ted Taekyoung , Kim Hyun-chul , Choi Yanghee
Published: July 2012

We conduct comprehensive measurements on the current practice of content bundling to understand the structural patterns of torrents and the participant behaviors of swarms on one of the largest BitTorrent portals: The Pirate Bay. From the datasets of the 120K torrents and 14.8M peers, we investigate what constitutes torrents and how users participate in swarms from the perspective of bundling, across different content categories: Movie, TV, Porn, Music, Application, Game and E-book. In particular, we focus on: (1) how prevalent content bundling is, (2) how and what files are bundled into torrents, (3) what motivates publishers to bundle files, and (4) how peers access the bundled files. We find that over 72% of BitTorrent torrents contain multiple files, which indicates that bundling is widely used for file sharing. We reveal that profit-driven BitTorrent publishers who promote their own web sites for financial gains like advertising tend to prefer to use the bundling. We also observe that most files (94%) in a bundle torrent are selected by users and the bundle torrents are more popular than the single (or non-bundle) ones on average. Overall, there are notable differences in the structural patterns of torrents and swarm characteristics (i) across different content categories and (ii) between single and bundle torrents.
Fluid limit of an asynchronous optical packet switch with shared per link full range wavelength conversion
Authors: Van Houdt Benny , Bortolussi Luca
Published: July 2012

We consider an asynchronous all optical packet switch (OPS) where each link consists of N wavelength channels and a pool of C ≤ N full range tunable wavelength converters. Under the assumption of Poisson arrivals with rate λ (per wavelength channel) and exponential packet lengths, we determine a simple closed-form expression for the limit of the loss probabilities P
loss
(N) as N tends to infinity (while the load and conversion ratio σ=C/N remains fixed). More specifically, for σ ≤ λ
2
the loss probability tends to (λ
2
-σ)/λ(1+λ), while for σ > λ
2
the loss tends to zero. We also prove an insensitivity result when the exponential packet lengths are replaced by certain classes of phase-type distributions. A key feature of the dynamical system (i.e., set of ODEs) that describes the limit behavior of this OPS switch, is that its right-hand side is discontinuous. To prove the convergence, we therefore had to generalize some existing result to the setting of piece-wise smooth dynamical systems.
Towards optimal error-estimating codes through the lens of Fisher information analysis
Authors: Hua Nan , Lall Ashwin , Li Baochun , Xu Jun
Published: July 2012

Error estimating coding (EEC) has recently been established as an important tool to estimate bit error rates in the transmission of packets over wireless links, with a number of potential applications in wireless networks. In this paper, we present an in-depth study of error estimating codes through the lens of Fisher information analysis and find that the original EEC estimator fails to exploit the information contained in its code to the fullest extent. Motivated by this discovery, we design a new estimator for the original EEC algorithm, which significantly improves the estimation accuracy, and is empirically very close to the Cramer-Rao bound. Following this path, we generalize the EEC algorithm to a new family of algorithms called gEEC generalized EEC. These algorithms can be tuned to hold 25-35% more information with the same overhead, and hence deliver even better estimation accuracy---close to optimal, as evidenced by the Cramer-Rao bound. Our theoretical analysis and assertions are supported by extensive experimental evaluation.
Beyond random walk and metropolis-hastings samplers
Authors: Lee Chul-Ho , Xu Xin , Eun Do Young
Published: July 2012

Graph sampling via crawling has been actively considered as a generic and important tool for collecting uniform node samples so as to consistently estimate and uncover various characteristics of complex networks. The so-called simple random walk with re-weighting (SRW-rw) and Metropolis-Hastings (MH) algorithm have been popular in the literature for such unbiased graph sampling. However, an unavoidable downside of their core random walks -- slow diffusion over the space, can cause poor estimation accuracy. In this paper, we propose non-backtracking random walk with re-weighting (NBRW-rw) and MH algorithm with delayed acceptance (MHDA) which are theoretically guaranteed to achieve, at almost no additional cost, not only unbiased graph sampling but also higher efficiency (smaller asymptotic variance of the resulting unbiased estimators) than the SRW-rw and the MH algorithm, respectively. In particular, a remarkable feature of the MHDA is its applicability for any non-uniform node sampling like the MH algorithm, but ensuring better sampling efficiency than the MH algorithm. We also provide simulation results to confirm our theoretical findings.
Provisioning for large scale cloud computing services
Authors: Tan Yue , Lu Yingdong , Xia Cathy H.
Published: July 2012

Resource provisioning, the task of planning sufficient amounts of resources to meet service level agreements, has become an important management task in emerging cloud computing services. In this paper, we present a stochastic modeling approach to guide the resource provisioning task for future service clouds as the demand grows large. We focus on on-demand services and consider service availability as the key quality of service constraint. A specific scenario under consideration is when resources can be measured in base instances. We develop an asymptotic provisioning methodology that utilizes tight performance bounds for the Erlang loss system to determine the minimum capacity levels that meet the service availability requirements. We show that our provisioning solutions are not only asymptotically exact but also provide better QoS guarantees at all load conditions.
On the efficacy of fine-grained traffic splitting protocols in data center networks
Authors: Dixit Advait Abhay , Prakash Pawan , Kompella Ramana Rao , Hu Charlie
Published: July 2012

Current multipath routing techniques split traffic at a per-flow level because, according to conventional wisdom, forwarding packets of a TCP flow along different paths leads to packet reordering which is detrimental to TCP. In this paper, we revisit this "myth" in the context of cloud data center networks which have regular topologies such as multi-rooted trees. We argue that due to the symmetry in the multiple equal-cost paths in such networks, simply spraying packets of a given flow among all equal-cost paths, leads to balanced queues across multiple paths, and consequently little packet reordering. Using a testbed comprising of NetFPGA switches, we show how cloud applications benefit from better network utilization in data centers.
Understanding performance anomalies of SSDs and their impact in enterprise application environment
Authors: Hu Jian , Jiang Hong , Manden Prakash
Published: July 2012

SSD is known to have the erase-before-write and out-of-place update properties. When the number of invalidated pages is more than a given threshold, a process referred to as garbage collection (GC) is triggered to erase blocks after valid pages in these blocks are copied somewhere else. GC degrades both the performance and lifetime of SSD significantly because of the read-write-erase operation sequence.

In this paper, we conduct intensive experiments on a 120GB Intel 320 SATA SSD and a 320GB Fusion IO ioDrive PCI-E SSD to show and analyze the following important performance issues and anomalies.

The commonly accepted knowledge that the performance drops sharply as more data is being written is not always true. This is because GC efficiency, a more important factor affecting SSD performance, has not been carefully considered. It is defined as the percentage of invalid pages of a GC erased block. It is possible to avoid the performance degradation by managing the addressable LBA range.

Estimating the residual lifetime of an SSD is a very challenging problem because it involves several interdependent and mutually interacting factors such as FTL, GC, wear leveling, workload characteristics, etc. We develop an analytical model to estimate the residual lifetime of a given SSD.

The high random-read performance is widely accepted as one of the advantages of SSD. We will show that this is not true if the GC efficiency is low.
Apelin-13 increases myocardial progenitor cells and improves repair postmyocardial infarction
Authors: Li Lanfang , Zeng Heng , Chen Jian-Xiong
Published: July 2012

Apelin is an endogenous ligand for the angiotensin-like 1 receptor (APJ) and has beneficial effects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Little is known about the role of apelin in the homing of vascular progenitor cells (PCs) and cardiac functional recovery postmyocardial infarction (post-MI). The present study investigated whether apelin affects PC homing to the infarcted myocardium, thereby mediating repair and functional recovery post-MI. Mice were infarcted by coronary artery ligation, and apelin-13 (1 mg·kg−1·day−1) was injected for 3 days before MI and for 14 days post-MI. Homing of vascular PCs [CD133+/c-Kit+/Sca1+, CD133+/stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α+, and CD133+/CXC chemokine receptor (CXCR)-4+] into the ischemic area was examined. Myocardial Akt, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), VEGF, jagged1, notch3, SDF-1α, and CXCR-4 expression were assessed at 24 h and 14 days post-MI. Functional analyses were performed on day 14 post-MI. Mice that received apelin-13 treatment demonstrated upregulation of SDF-1α/CXCR-4 expression and dramatically increased the number of CD133+/c-Kit+/Sca1+, CD133+/SDF-1α+, and c-Kit+/CXCR-4+ cells in infarcted hearts. Apelin-13 also significantly increased Akt and eNOS phosphorylation and upregulated VEGF, jagged1, and notch3 expression in ischemic hearts. This was accompanied by a significant reduction of myocardial apoptosis. Furthermore, treatment with apelin-13 promoted myocardial angiogenesis and attenuated cardiac fibrosis and hypertrophy together with a significant improvement of cardiac function at 14 days post-MI. Apelin-13 increases angiogenesis and improves cardiac repair post-MI by a mechanism involving the upregulation of SDF-1α/CXCR-4 and homing of vascular PCs.
Gelam Honey Inhibits the Production of Proinflammatory, Mediators NO,PGE2, TNF-α, and IL-6 in Carrageenan-Induced Acute Paw Edema in Rats
Authors: Hussein Saba Zuhair , Mohd Yusoff Kamaruddin , Makpol Suzana , Mohd Yusof Yasmin Anum
Published: July 2012

Natural honey is well known for its therapeutic value and has been used in traditional medicine of different cultures throughout the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of Malaysian Gelam honey in inflammation-induced rats. Paw edema was induced by a subplantar injection of 1% carrageenan into the rat right hind paw. Rats were treated with the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) Indomethacin (10 mg/kg, p.o.) or Gelam honey at different doses (1 or 2 g/kg, p.o.). The increase in footpad thickness was considered to be edema, which was measured using a dial caliper. Plasma and paw tissue were collected to analyze the production of inflammatory mediators, such as NO, PGE2, TNF-α, and IL-6, as well as iNOS and COX-2. The results showed that Gelam honey could reduce edema in a dose-dependent fashion in inflamed rat paws, decrease the production of NO, PGE2, TNF-α, and IL-6 in plasma, and suppress the expression of iNOS, COX-2, TNF-α, and IL-6 in paw tissue. Oral pretreatment of Gelam honey at 2 g/kg of body weight at two time points (1 and 7 days) showed a significantly decreased production of proinflammatory cytokines, which was similar to the effect of the anti-inflammatory drug Indomethacin (NSAID), both in plasma and tissue. Thus, our results suggest that Gelam honey has anti-inflammatory effects by reducing the rat paw edema size and inhibiting the production of proinflammatory mediators. Gelam honey is potentially useful for treating inflammatory conditions.
Ubiquitin C-Terminal Hydrolase L1 in Tumorigenesis
Authors: Hurst-Kennedy Jennifer , Chin Lih-Shen , Li Lian
Published: July 2012

Ubiquitin carboxyl-terminal hydrolase L1 (UCH-L1, aka PGP9.5) is an abundant, neuronal deubiquitinating enzyme that has also been suggested to possess E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase activity and/or stabilize ubiquitin monomersin vivo. Recent evidence implicates dysregulation of UCH-L1 in the pathogenesis and progression of human cancers. Although typically only expressed in neurons, high levels of UCH-L1 have been found in many nonneuronal tumors, including breast, colorectal, and pancreatic carcinomas. UCH-L1 has also been implicated in the regulation of metastasis and cell growth during the progression of nonsmall cell lung carcinoma, colorectal cancer, and lymphoma. Together these studies suggest UCH-L1 has a potent oncogenic role and drives tumor development. Conversely, others have observed promoter methylation-mediated silencing of UCH-L1 in certain tumor subtypes, suggesting a potential tumor suppressor role for UCH-L1. In this paper, we provide an overview of the evidence supporting the involvement of UCH-L1 in tumor development and discuss the potential mechanisms of action of UCH-L1 in oncogenesis.
The Tuberculous Granuloma: An Unsuccessful Host Defence Mechanism Providing a Safety Shelter for the Bacteria?
Authors: Silva Miranda Mayra , Breiman Adrien , Allain Sophie , Deknuydt Florence , Altare Frederic
Published: July 2012

One of the main features of the immune response toM. Tuberculosisis the formation of an organized structure called granuloma. It consists mainly in the recruitment at the infectious stage of macrophages, highly differentiated cells such as multinucleated giant cells, epithelioid cells and Foamy cells, all these cells being surrounded by a rim of lymphocytes. Although in the first instance the granuloma acts to constrain the infection, some bacilli can actually survive inside these structures for a long time in a dormant state. For some reasons, which are still unclear, the bacilli will reactivate in 10% of the latently infected individuals, escape the granuloma and spread throughout the body, thus giving rise to clinical disease, and are finally disseminated throughout the environment. In this review we examine the process leading to the formation of the granulomatous structures and the different cell types that have been shown to be part of this inflammatory reaction. We also discuss the differentin vivoandin vitromodels available to study this fascinating immune structure.
SnO2 Nanoparticle‐Based Passive Capacitive Sensor for Ethylene Detection
Authors: Agarwal Mangilal , Balachandran Mercyma D. , Shrestha Sudhir , Varahramyan Kody
Published: July 2012

A passive capacitor‐based ethylene sensor using SnO2 nanoparticles is presented for the detection of ethylene gas. The nanoscale particle size (10 nm to 15 nm) and film thickness (1300 nm) of the sensing dielectric layer in the capacitor model aid in sensing ethylene at room temperature and eliminate the need for microhotplates used in existing bulk SnO2‐resistive sensors. The SnO2‐sensing layer is deposited using room temperature dip coating process on flexible polyimide substrates with copper as the top and bottom plates of the capacitor. The capacitive sensor fabricated with SnO2 nanoparticles as the dielectric showed a total decrease in capacitance of 5 pF when ethylene gas concentration was increased from 0 to 100 ppm. A 7 pF decrease in capacitance was achieved by introducing a 10 nm layer of platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) alloy deposited on the SnO2 layer. This also improved the response time by 40%, recovery time by 28%, and selectivity of the sensor to ethylene mixed in a CO2 gas environment by 66%.
Procoagulant and Anticoagulant Factors in Childhood Hypothyroidism
Authors: Kilic Nevin , Dallar Yildiz , Simsek Enver , Karamercan Sirma , Tapci Ayse Esra , Alioglu Bulent
Published: July 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of thyroid hormone deficiencies in childhood on the elements of coagulation proteins. Consecutive 54 children with hypothyroidism and 55 healthy controls aged 1 month–16 years were enrolled. One year after Na-L-thyroxine treatment, the study parameters were reevaluated. Thyroid function tests, procoagulant and anticoagulant proteins were performed for children with hypothyroidism and healthy controls. Significant decreased results were found in children with hypothyroidism in terms of fibrinogen, TT, and anticoagulant proteins including AT, PC, PS, and fPS. Significant increases were found with respect to APTT, fibrinogen, and TT. In the evaluation of posttreatment changes a statistically significant increase was found in vWF, FVIII, AT, PC, PS, and fPS. A positive correlation was found between fT4 and vWF, FVIII, PC, and PS. We would like to emphasize that the coagulation system especially vWF and FVIII, and particularly the anticoagulant system, should be monitored closely in patients followed up for hypothyroidism. Thyroid hormones should be examined and, if necessary, hormone replacement therapy should be administered in patients followed up for a predisposition to coagulation. Additionally, further studies with larger series are needed to investigate the effects of hypothyroidism on the coagulation system.
Pathogen Recognition and Activation of the Innate Immune Response in Zebrafish
Authors: van der Vaart Michiel , Spaink Herman P. , Meijer Annemarie H.
Published: July 2012

The zebrafish has proven itself as an excellent model to study vertebrate innate immunity. It presents us with possibilities forin vivoimaging of host-pathogen interactions which are unparalleled in mammalian model systems. In addition, its suitability for genetic approaches is providing new insights on the mechanisms underlying the innate immune response. Here, we review the pattern recognition receptors that identify invading microbes, as well as the innate immune effector mechanisms that they activate in zebrafish embryos. We compare the current knowledge about these processes in mammalian models and zebrafish and discuss recent studies using zebrafish infection models that have advanced our general understanding of the innate immune system. Furthermore, we use transcriptome analysis of zebrafish infected withE. tarda, S. typhimurium, andM. marinumto visualize the gene expression profiles resulting from these infections. Our data illustrate that the two acute disease-causing pathogens,E. tardaandS. typhimurium, elicit a highly similar proinflammatory gene induction profile, while the chronic disease-causing pathogen,M. marinum, induces a weaker and delayed innate immune response.
A Protocol for Measurement of Noncoding RNA in Human Serum
Authors: Taylor Caroline J. , Satoor Sarang N. , Ranjan Amaresh K. , Pereira e Cotta Maria V. , Joglekar Mugdha V.
Published: July 2012

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that act as regulators of gene expression by targeting mature messenger RNAs. Following the initial report of the presence of miRNAs in serum and plasma a number of studies have successfully demonstrated the use of these miRNAs as biomarkers of disease. Currently, there are many methods of isolating total RNA from liquid samples. Here, we describe a simple, cost effective method for extraction of RNA from human serum as well as subsequent real time PCR analysis of miRNA levels.
Choosing Actuation Scheme for Optimal Performance of 3-DOF Planar Parallel Manipulators
Authors: Babu S. Ramana , Raju V. Ramachandra , Ramji K.
Published: July 2012

This paper describes how the actuation scheme affects the size and shape of the workspace of 3RPR and 3PRR, which are the two popular planar parallel manipulators. This study helps in achieving the required singularity-free zones for a specific task by adopting a suitable actuation scheme without resorting to changing the architecture of the manipulator. In addition, the performance index GCI for each actuation scheme has been evaluated and compared with each other. Finally, the GCI for each actuation scheme has been optimized subjected to the geometric constraints for the 3PRR planar parallel manipulator.
Simultaneous Elimination of Formaldehyde and Ozone Byproduct Using Noble Metal Modified TiO2Films in the Gaseous VUV Photocatalysis
Authors: Fu Pingfeng , Zhang Pengyi , Li Jia
Published: July 2012

Simultaneous removal of low concentration formaldehyde (HCHO) and ozone byproduct was investigated in the gaseous VUV (vacuum ultraviolet) photocatalysis by using noble metal modified TiO2films. Noble metal (Pt, Au, or Pd) nanoparticles were deposited on TiO2films with ultrafine particle size and uniform distribution. Under 35 h VUV irradiation, the HCHO gas (ca. 420 ppbv) was dynamically degraded to a level of 10~45 ppbv without catalyst deactivation, and over 50% O3byproduct wasin situdecomposed in the reactor. However, under the same conditions, the outlet HCHO concentration remained at 125~178 ppbv in the O3+ UV254 nmphotocatalysis process and 190~260 ppbv in the UV254 nmphotocatalysis process. And the catalyst deactivation also appeared under UV254 nmirradiation. Metallic Pt or Au could simultaneously increase the elimination of HCHO and ozone, but the PdO oxide seemed to inhibit the HCHO oxidation in the UV254 nmphotocatalysis. Deposition of metallic Pt or Au reduces the recombination of h+/e−pairs and thus increases the HCHO oxidation and O3reduction reactions. In addition, adsorbed O3may be partly decomposed by photogenerated electrons trapped on metallic Pt or Au nanoparticles under UV irradiation.
Feasibility of a Dual-Fuel Engine Fuelled with Waste Vegetable Oil and Municipal Organic Fraction for Power Generation in Urban Areas
Authors: De Simio L. , Gambino M. , Iannaccone S.
Published: July 2012

Biomass, in form of residues and waste, can be used to produce energy with low environmental impact. It is important to use the feedstock close to the places where waste are available, and with the shortest conversion pathway, to maximize the process efficiency. In particular waste vegetable oil and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste represent a good source for fuel production in urban areas. Dual fuel engines could be taken into consideration for an efficient management of these wastes. In fact, the dual fuel technology can achieve overall efficiencies typical of diesel engines with a cleaner exhaust emission. In this paper the feasibility of a cogeneration system fuelled with waste vegetable oil and biogas is discussed and the evaluation of performance and emissions is reported on the base of experimental activities on dual fuel heavy duty engine in comparison with diesel and spark ignition engines. The ratio of biogas potential from MSW and biodiesel potential from waste vegetable oil was estimated and it results suitable for dual fuel fuelling. An electric power installation of 70 kW every 10,000 people could be achieved.
Complexation of Copper(II) with Humic Acids Studied by Ultrasound Spectrometry
Authors: Klučáková Martina
Published: July 2012

Copper biogeochemistry is controlled by bonding to natural organic matter. The soluble forms of bonded copper can be more biologically active due to the higher migration in environmental systems and instability of some copper-humic complexes. In this work, the interactions of copper(II) ions with humic acids are studied by means of high-resolution ultrasound spectrometry. It was found that the stoichiometry of the formed complexes is strongly influenced by the organization of humic acid in solution and by the final pH value in equilibrium. Although the ratio between the added copper and humic acids in all used concentrations was constant and the initial pH value was neutral, we observed significant differences between the individual systems. The highest binding ability was determined for a humic content of 0.5 g·dm−3. More diluted and more concentrated systems were able to bind lower amounts of copper. The implemented method is very sensitive and can be utilized not only for monitoring copper binding but also as an indicator of conformational changes of humic acid in solutions with varying concentration.
Properties and Developments of Combustion and Gasification of Coal and Char in a CO2-Rich and Recycled Flue Gases Atmosphere by Rapid Heating
Authors: Li Zhigang , Zhang Xiaoming , Sugai Yuichi , Wang Jiren , Sasaki Kyuro
Published: July 2012

Combustion and gasification properties of pulverized coal and char have been investigated experimentally under the conditions of high temperature gradient of order 200°C·s−1by a CO2gas laser beam and CO2-rich atmospheres with 5% and 10% O2. The laser heating makes a more ideal experimental condition compared with previous studies with a TG-DTA, because it is able to minimize effects of coal oxidation and combustion by rapid heating process like radiative heat transfer condition. The experimental results indicated that coal weight reduction ratio to gases followed the Arrhenius equation with increasing coal temperature; further which were increased around 5% with adding H2O in CO2-rich atmosphere. In addition, coal-water mixtures with different water/coal mass ratio were used in order to investigate roles of water vapor in the process of coal gasification and combustion. Furthermore, char-water mixtures with different water/char mass ratio were also measured in order to discuss the generation ratio of CO/CO2, and specified that the source of Hydrocarbons is volatile matter from coal. Moreover, it was confirmed that generations of CO and Hydrocarbons gases are mainly dependent on coal temperature and O2concentration, and they are stimulated at temperature over 1000°C in the CO2-rich atmosphere.
Does Physical Activity Increase Life Expectancy? A Review of the Literature
Authors: Reimers C. D. , Knapp G. , Reimers A. K.
Published: July 2012

Physical activity reduces many major mortality risk factors including arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer. All-cause mortality is decreased by about 30% to 35% in physically active as compared to inactive subjects. The purpose of this paper was to synthesize the literature on life expectancy in relation to physical activity. A systematic PubMed search on life expectancy in physically active and inactive individuals was performed. In addition, articles comparing life expectancy of athletes compared to that of nonathletes were reviewed. Results of 13 studies describing eight different cohorts suggest that regular physical activity is associated with an increase of life expectancy by 0.4 to 6.9 years. Eleven studies included confounding risk factors for mortality and revealed an increase in life expectancy by 0.4 to 4.2 years with regular physical activity. Eleven case control studies on life expectancy in former athletes revealed consistently greater life expectancy in aerobic endurance athletes but inconsistent results for other athletes. None of these studies considered confounding risk factors for mortality. In conclusion, while regular physical activity increases life expectancy, it remains unclear if high-intensity sports activities further increase life expectancy.
Ion Channel Activities in Neural Stem Cells of the Neuroepithelium
Authors: Yamashita Masayuki
Published: July 2012

During the embryonic development of the central nervous system, neuroepithelial cells act as neural stem cells. They undergo interkinetic nuclear movements along their apico-basal axis during the cell cycle. The neuroepithelial cell shows robust increases in the nucleoplasmic [Ca2+] in response to G protein-coupled receptor activation in S-phase, during which the nucleus is located in the basal region of the neuroepithelial cell. This response is caused by Ca2+release from intracellular Ca2+stores, which are comprised of the endoplasmic reticulum and the nuclear envelope. The Ca2+release leads to the activation of Ca2+entry from the extracellular space, which is called capacitative, or store-operated Ca2+entry. These movements of Ca2+are essential for DNA synthesis during S-phase. Spontaneous Ca2+oscillations also occur synchronously across the cells. This synchronization is mediated by voltage fluctuations in the membrane potential of the nuclear envelope due to Ca2+release and the counter movement of K+ions; the voltage fluctuation induces alternating current (AC), which is transmitted via capacitative electrical coupling to the neighboring cells. The membrane potential across the plasma membrane is stabilized through gap junction coupling by lowering the input resistance. Thus, stored Ca2+ions are a key player in the maintenance of the cellular activity of neuroepithelial cells.
A Meta-Analysis of the Therapeutic Effects of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Agonist in Heart Failure
Authors: Munaf Mohammed , Pellicori Pierpaolo , Allgar Victoria , Wong Kenneth
Published: July 2012

We conducted a meta-analysis of the existing literature of the therapeutic effects of using GLP-1 agonists to improve the metabolism of the failing heart. Animal studies showed significant improvement in markers of cardiac function, such as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), with regular GLP-1 agonist infusions. In clinical trials, the potential effects of GLP-1 agonists in improving cardiac function were modest: LVEF improved by 4.4% compared to placebo (95% C.I 1.36–7.44, ). However, BNP levels were not significantly altered by GLP-1 agonists in heart failure. In two trials, a modest increase in heart rate by up to 7 beats per minute was noted, but meta-analysis demonstrated this was not significant statistically. The small number of studies plus variation in the concentration and length of the regime between the trials would limit our conclusions, even though statistically, heterogeneity chi-squared tests did not reveal any significant heterogeneity in the endpoints tested. Moreover, studies in non-diabetics with heart failure yielded conflicting results. In conclusion, the use of GLP-1 agonists has at best a modest effect on ejection fraction improvement in heart failure, but there was no significant improvement in BNP levels in the meta-analysis.
Stability and Local Hopf Bifurcation for a Predator‐Prey Model with Delay
Authors: Xue Yakui , Wang Xiaoqing
Published: July 2012

A predator‐prey system with disease in the predator is investigated, where the
discrete delay τ is regarded as a parameter. Its dynamics are studied in terms of local
analysis and Hopf bifurcation analysis. By analyzing the associated characteristic
equation, it is found that Hopf bifurcation occurs when τ crosses some critical values.
Using the normal form theory and center manifold argument, the explicit formulae
which determine the stability, direction, and other properties of bifurcating periodic
solutions are derived.
Hydromagnetic Natural Convection Flow in a Fluid-Saturated Porous Medium with Nonuniform Heat Generation
Authors: Saleh Habibis , Hashim Ishak
Published: July 2012

Convective flows can develop naturally within the porous materials if they are subject to external heating with/without internal heat source. In this work, the heat is assumed to be generated internally within the porous enclosure at a rate proportional to a power of the temperature difference. This relation is an approximation of the state of some exothermic chemical reaction. An inclined magnetic field is imposed to the porous enclosure. Darcy, model is used to formulate the porous layer and finite difference method is applied to solve the governing equations. The obtained results indicate that strong internal heating can generate significant maximum fluid temperatures above the heated wall temperature, and location of the maximum fluid temperature moves towards the center of the top wall by strengthening the magnetic field. Local heating exponent does not have a major effect on the flow and temperature distributions as well as the heat transfer performance within the porous medium. The large magnetic fields, regardless of direction, are effective to suppress the convective flows and reduce the rate of heat transfer.
Extracellular Matrix Proteins Modulate Antimigratory and Apoptotic Effects of Doxorubicin
Authors: Said Georges , Guilbert Marie , Morjani Hamid , Garnotel Roselyne , Jeannesson Pierre , El Btaouri Hassan
Published: July 2012

Anticancer drug resistance is a multifactorial process that includes acquired andde novodrug resistances. Acquired resistance develops during treatment, whilede novoresistance is the primary way for tumor cells to escape chemotherapy. Tumor microenvironment has been recently shown to be one of the important factors contributing tode novoresistance and called environment-mediated drug resistance (EMDR). Two forms of EMDR have been described: soluble factor-mediated drug resistance (SFM-DR) and cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR). Anthracyclines, among the most potent chemotherapeutic agents, are widely used in clinics against hematopoietic and solid tumors. Their main mechanism of action relies on the inhibition of topoisomerase I and/or II and the induction of apoptosis. Beyond this well-known antitumor activity, it has been recently demonstrated that anthracyclines may display potent anti-invasive effects when used at subtoxic concentrations. In this paper, we will describe two particular modes of EMDR by which microenvironment may influence tumor-cell response to one of these anthracyclines, doxorubicin. The first one considers the influence of type I collagen on the antimigratory effect of doxorubicin (CAM-DR). The second considers the protection of tumor cells by thrombospondin-I against doxorubicin-induced apoptosis (SFM-DR).
Enterocytozoon bieneusiIdentification Using Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism in HIV-Infected Humans from Kinshasa Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Wumba Roger , Jean Menotti , Benjamin Longo-Mbenza , Madone Mandina , Fabien Kintoki , Josué Zanga , Jean Sala , Eric Kendjo , AC Guillo-Olczyk , Marc Thellier
Published: July 2012

Objective. To determine the prevalence and the genotypes ofEnterocytozoon bieneusiin stool specimens from HIV patients.Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Kinshasa hospitals between 2009 and 2012. Detection of microsporidia includingE. bieneusiandE. intestinaliswas performed in 242 HIV-infected patients. Typing was based on DNA polymorphism of the ribosomal DNA ITS region ofE. bieneusi. PCRRFLP generated with two restriction enzymes (Nla III and Fnu 4HI) in PCR-amplified ITS products for classifying strains into different lineages. The diagnosis performance of the indirect immune-fluorescence-monoclonal antibody (IFI-AcM) was defined in comparison with real-time PCR as the gold standard.Results. Out of 242 HIV-infected patients, using the real-time PCR, the prevalence ofE. bieneusiwas 7.9% (n=19) among the 19E. bieneusi, one was coinfected withE. intestinalis. In 19E. bieneusipersons using PCR-RFLP method, 5 type I strains ofE. bieneusi(26.3%) and 5 type IV strains ofE. bieneusi(26.3%) were identified. The sensitivity of IFI-AcM was poor as estimated 42.1%.Conclusion. Despite different PCR methods, there is possible association between HIVinfection, geographic location (France, Cameroun, Democratic Republic of Congo), and the concurrence of type I and type IV strains.
Sternal Osteomyelitis and Abscess Caused by Elbowing during a Basketball Game
Authors: Ichimura Hideo , Ozawa Yuichiro , Sato Tetsuya , Matsuzaki Kanji , Yoshii Yuichi , Shiotani Seiji
Published: July 2012

A 15-year-old boy was referred to our hospital for further investigation and treatment of sternal osteomyelitis due to blunt chest trauma, more specifically elbowing during a basketball game 19 days earlier. On an initial presentation, his chest was markedly swollen and chest computed tomography demonstrated a sternal fracture and massive fluid collection in the chest wall. Since his general condition remained fairly good, we initially selected minimal drainage concomitant with antibiotics; if it was unsuccessful, we planned to switch to a more radical debridement procedure. The patient recovered without further invasive intervention and was discharged on postoperative day 26. There is no sign of recurrence six months after operation. This case report indicates that minimal drainage would be a good option for treatment in a phased strategy.
Pathological Roles of Wild-Type Cu, Zn-Superoxide Dismutase in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Furukawa Yoshiaki
Published: July 2012

Dominant mutations in a Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene cause a familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While it remains controversial how SOD1 mutations lead to onset and progression of the disease, manyin vitroandin vivostudies have supported a gain-of-toxicity mechanism where pathogenic mutations contribute to destabilizing a native structure of SOD1 and thus facilitate misfolding and aggregation. Indeed, abnormal accumulation of SOD1-positive inclusions in spinal motor neurons is a pathological hallmark in SOD1-related familial ALS. Furthermore, similarities in clinical phenotypes and neuropathology of ALS cases with and without mutations insod1gene have implied a disease mechanism involving SOD1 common to all ALS cases. Although pathogenic roles of wild-type SOD1 in sporadic ALS remain controversial, recent developments of novel SOD1 antibodies have made it possible to characterize wild-type SOD1 under pathological conditions of ALS. Here, I have briefly reviewed recent progress on biochemical and immunohistochemical characterization of wild-type SOD1 in sporadic ALS cases and discussed possible involvement of wild-type SOD1 in a pathomechanism of ALS.
Therapeutic Approach to Neurodegenerative Diseases by Medical Gases: Focusing on Redox Signaling and Related Antioxidant Enzymes
Authors: Fujita Kyota , Yamafuji Megumi , Nakabeppu Yusaku , Noda Mami
Published: July 2012

Oxidative stress in the central nervous system is strongly associated with neuronal cell death in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In order to overcome the oxidative damage, there are some protective signaling pathways related to transcriptional upregulation of antioxidant enzymes, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-1/-2. Their expression is regulated by several transcription factors and/or cofactors like nuclear factor-erythroid 2 (NF-E2) related factor 2 (Nrf2) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γcoactivator 1α(PGC-1α). These antioxidant enzymes are associated with, and in some cases, prevent neuronal death in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. They are activated by endogenous mediators and phytochemicals, and also by several gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and hydrogen (H2). These might thereby protect the brain from severe oxidative damage and resultant neurodegenerative diseases. In this paper, we discuss how the expression levels of these antioxidant enzymes are regulated. We also introduce recent advances in the therapeutic uses of medical gases against neurodegenerative diseases.
The 2D Dirichlet Problem for the Propagative Helmholtz Equation in an Exterior Domain with Cracks and Singularities at the Edges
Authors: Krutitskii P. A.
Published: July 2012

The Dirichlet problem for the 2D Helmholtz equation in an exterior domain with cracks is studied. The compatibility conditions at the tips of the cracks are assumed. The existence of a unique classical solution is proved by potential theory. The integral representation for a solution in the form of potentials is obtained. The problem is reduced to the Fredholm equation of the second kind and of index zero, which is uniquely solvable. The asymptotic formulae describing singularities of a solution gradient at the edges (endpoints) of the cracks are presented. The weak solution to the problem may not exist, since the problem is studied under such conditions that do not ensure existence of a weak solution.
Nitrogen Fertilizer and Growth Regulator Impacts on Tuber Deformity, Rot, and Yield for Russet Potatoes
Authors: Reiter Mark S. , Rideout Steven L. , Freeman Joshua H.
Published: July 2012

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are an important high-value commodity for producers in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Current production recommendations were based on white potatoes, and practices for Russet potatoes have not been researched in this region. The objective of this study was to test impacts of N rate (0, 67, 134, 201, and 268 kg N ha−1), N application timing (100% applied with planter, 2-way split (30% with planter and 70% band applied approximately 30 days after planting at dragoff), and three-way split (30% with planter, 50% band applied prior to drag-off, and 20% band applied at first sight of bloom)), and additions of the growth regulator maleic hydrazide (MH-30). We tested “Goldrush” and “Norkotah” Russet potato varieties on marketability, total yield, tuber deformity, and tuber soft rot incidence for sandy loam soils in the Mid-Atlantic. Overall, year variations were significant with substantial rots (up to 86.5%) occurring in year 3. Maleic hydrazide and N application timing had little consistent effect on any tested parameter. Nitrogen rate and variety factors had the greatest impacts on deformity, tuber rots, and yields for Russet potatoes in the Mid-Atlantic Region with 134 kg N ha−1producing the highest total yields in 2009 and 2010. If tuber rots can be controlled, both “Goldrush” and “Norkotah” are acceptable varieties under the Mid-Atlantic production practices.
Diphencyprone Induced Vitiligo: A Case Report
Authors: Nilforoushzadeh Mohammad Ali , Keshtmand Gelavizh , Jaffary Fariba , Kheirkhah Abbas
Published: July 2012

Diphencyprone (DCP) is a contact sensitizer which is used to treat dermatological disorders with an immunological origin, such as extensive alopecia areata (AA). Vitiligo is a rare but known side effect of DPCP therapy which is formed in the treatment site or remote areas. In this paper a 37-year-old man developed alopecia totalis with loss of eyebrows and eyelashes who presented some vitiligo patches on his scalp and arm distant from the location of DPCP application and a 42-year-old woman with 25 years history of hair loss and 3 months DPCP application who revealed some vitiligo patches on the scalp with distant to the site of application at the 6th week are reported. Considering the absence of personal and family history of Vitiligo in our two cases, the hypothesis of latent Vitiligo is not proved. The positive patch test in left arm of one of the patients also suggests the direct role of DPCP as the cause of Vitiligo occurrence. As the development of vitiligo by DCP is unpredictable and the depigmentation may persist indefinitely, it is important to inform all patients about this potential adverse effect before starting the treatment.