bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Alignment of Educational and Occupational Expectations Influences on Young Adult Educational Attainment, Income, and Underemployment*
Authors: Schmitt‐Wilson Sarah , Faas Caitlin
Published: February 2016

Objective

Educational and occupational ambitions are on the rise for adolescents in the United States and there is a national push for more postsecondary education. However, most young adults do not hold bachelor's degrees and many jobs do not require them. The objectives of this study were to focus on the need for aligned expectations and the longitudinal effect on educational attainment, personal income, and underemployment.

Methods

The methods used the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to examine how aligned expectations in 12th grade predict educational attainment, income, and underemployment at age 26.

Results

Results suggest aligned expectations in adolescence are predictive of educational attainment. Contrary to authors’ hypotheses, aligned expectations do not influence personal income or underemployment. Gender analyses revealed differences in the importance of aligned expectations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the alignment process during high school will be important for future research focused on postsecondary educational goals.
Molecular basis of Bombay phenotype in Mashhad, Iran: identification of a novel FUT1 deletion
Authors: Zanjani D. S. , Afzal Aghaee M. , Badiei Z. , Mehrasa R. , Roodsarabi A. , Khayyami M. E. , Shahabi M.
Published: February 2016

Background and objectives

Bombay phenotype is characterized by the lack of H substance both on red blood cell (RBC) surface and in body secretions. Mutations of fucosyltransferase 1 (FUT1) and fucosyltransferase 2 (FUT2) genes are resulted in this rare phenotype.

Materials and methods

Five unrelated patients were tested by hemagglutination and adsorption/elution techniques for the presence of ABH antigens. The saliva specimens were analysed by hemagglutination inhibition method. The exons 6 and 7 of ABO gene were sequenced to determine ABO genotype. The coding fragments of FUT1 and FUT2 were amplified and sequenced by specific primers.

Results

Serologic investigation confirmed Bombay phenotype in all individuals. FUT1 molecular analysis revealed a novel large deletion. Also two novel homozygous mutations were detected; one was a missense mutation (392T>C, L131P) and the other a three nucleotide deletion (668_670delACT, Y224del). FUT2 sequencing showed one reported null allele (428G>A, W143X) and one homozygous deletion of FUT2.

Conclusion

Although FUT2 deletion has been reported, this is the first report of FUT1 deletion. Finding two FUT1 novel alleles in Iranian people is indicative of mutation diversity in this gene.
MINING DENSE DATA: ASSOCIATION RULE DISCOVERY ON BENCHMARK CASE STUDY
Authors: Wan Abu Bakar Wan Aezwani , Md. Saman Md. Yazid , Abdullah Zailani , Abd Jalil Masita@Masila , Herawan Tutut
Published: February 2016

Data Mining (DM), is the process of discovering knowledge and previously unknown pattern from large amount of data. The association rule mining has been in trend where a new pattern analysis can be discovered to project for an important prediction about any issues. In this article, we present comparison result between Apriori and FP-Growth algorithm in generating association rules based on a benchmark data from frequent itemset mining data repository. Experimentation with the two (2) algorithms are done in Rapid Miner 5.3.007 and the performance result is shown as a comparison. The results obtained confirmed and verified the results from the previous works done.
INNER AABB FOR DISTANCE COMPUTATION IN COLLISION DETECTION
Authors: Sulaiman Hamzah Asyrani , Bade Abdullah , Abdullah Mohd Harun
Published: February 2016

Distance computation technique is one of the important elements for completing narrow phase collision detection system. Checking an accurate distance between two piece of polygons (or some researchers named it as primitives/triangles) is always a challenging tasks where it involves two common measurements, which is speed of the distance checking and the accuracy of the distance itself. In this paper, we performed an experiment using our latest technique called Inner AABB of Dynamic Pivot Point (DyOP) where it’s tremendously reduced number of testing and increase the speed of the distance computation. Based on the analyzed results, we believed that our technique is superior compared to other techniques in term of the speed of the detection.
EFFECTS OF INTERACTIVE DIGITAL MEDIA ON ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE LEARNING
Authors: A. Abubakar Juliana , Jahnkassim Puteri Shireen , Mahmud Murni
Published: February 2016

This study attempts to determine the effects of three modes of digital media (virtual reality, video, and Web) on architectural heritage learning. It also aims to determine the demographics' effects of museum visitors on learning using interactive digital media. The content of these media focuses on historical and architectural information of a cultural heritage monument at a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This study has employed quasi-experimental method with the use of designated tasks and retention test in real-world setting. It is found that there is a significant difference among these digital media on retention score. Further analysis reveals that virtual reality provides the lowest retention score and contributes to this significant difference when compared to video. There is no significant difference between gender and retention score. However, there is a significant difference among age and retention score. This study contributes towards empirical evidence on the significant use of interactive digital media on architectural heritage learning and provides insights about demographic effects of interactive digital media on architectural heritage learning.
INTEGRATING MULTIMEDIA LEARNING THEORY IN ASSISTIVE COURSEWARE FOR LOW VISION LEARNERS
Authors: Nurulnadwan A. , Ariffin A. M. , Siti Mahfuzah S.
Published: February 2016

This paper reports an ongoing study regarding the development of Assistive Courseware (AC) that is specifically designed to cater the needs of low vision learners in learning activities. Currently, as reported in the previous studies, low vision learners are facing various difficulties in their learning activities particularly in terms of information accessibility, navigationability, and pleasure. Previous literatures also state that, most of the available courseware means too little to them especially in terms of content presentation. Therefore, this study attempts to solve the problem by developing an AC which is named as AC for Low Vision Learners (AC4LV). The AC was developed by utilizing Multimedia Learning Theory as guidance. In addition, three basic steps, which are pre-production, production, and post-production have been utilized in developing the AC. As a result, an AC4LV based on Multimedia Learning Theory was successfully produced. Future works of this study is to test the experience of using AC4LV among the low vision learners particularly on primary school children from age nine to twelve.
SIMPLIFICATION OF GAME DEVELOPMENT LEARNING VIA MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES (MOOC): A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS
Authors: Seng Yue Wong , Wee Jing Tee
Published: February 2016

The complication of game development tools creates barriers of entry for the majority of students to eliminate a potential creative platform. Generally, this leads to students’ lack of interest in game development. Creativity among students remains highly untapped without a platform for creative development and engagement. Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offers a platform to teach a variety of courses without boundaries of time, space, and cost, including game development learning. Therefore, a preliminary analysis is conducted to identify current game development tools that can facilitate in the simplification of game development for students, to understand students’ perception on game development and their interest in engagement with it. The analysis is also to determine obstacles and hurdles they face in embracing it, to establish learning possibilities, and solutions that can be incorporated into a university program in hope that these tools can invigorate creative talents of students. This paper presents the review of literature on MOOCs and self-organized learning. The methodology of preliminary analysis is also discussed. Finally, the analysis of results and findings on student’s perceptions on applying game-based learning in education and their interest in game development courses, perception of game development-based learning are presented. The game development tool is evaluated to rate its specific features. The findings of preliminary analysis are hope ton help to improve enrolment, the suitability of MOOCs to engage students in creative learning of game development learning.
DANCE MODELLING, LEARNING AND RECOGNITION SYSTEM OF ACEH TRADITIONAL DANCE BASED ON HIDDEN MARKOV MODEL
Authors: Anbarsanti Nurfitri , S. Prihatmanto Ary
Published: February 2016

The whole dance of Likok Pulo are modeled by hidden markov model. Dance gestures are cast as hidden discrete states and phrase as a sequence of gestures. For robustness under noisy input of Kinect sensor, an angular representation of the skeleton is designed. A pose of dance is defined by this angular skeleton representation which has been quantified based on range of movement. One unique gesture of dance is defined by sequence of pose and learned and classified by HMM model. Six of dance's gesture classes from the phrase "Assalamualaikum" has been trained with hundreds of gesture instances recorded by the Kinect sensor which performed by three of subjects for each gesture class. The classifier system classify the input testing gesture into one of six classes of predefined gesture or one class of undefined gesture. The classifier system has an accuracy of 94.87% for single gesture.
BREAST CANCER AUGMENTATION USING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH OF REAL TIME SQUARE-ROI MARKER IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION TECHNIQUES
Authors: Lee Rechard , Bade Abdullah
Published: February 2016

The aim of this research is to develop a real-time Square-ROI marker identification and verification techniques by integrating the enhanced contour-corner approach. To enhance the  conventional contour and corner approach, we proposed a smoothing and adaptive thresholding to the input stream captured via a webcam and then apply subpixel corner detection in order to obtain better and accurate corner points. For testing purposes, two sets of experiment have been set up to evaluate the proposed technique. The first experiment conducted by drawing a series of square-ROI on a paper. The subsequent experiment conducted with the use of a mannequin. İnitially, during the experiment, the visual sensor (webcam) was positioned at 60 cm from the hand-drawn square-ROI in order to find the optimal distance needed by the proposed technique to define a marker. From the experiments, it reveals that the recognition technique in both testing setup was able to capture the real scene and convert the captured frame into a grey-scale image. Our evaluations on the series of square-ROI dataset shows that the proposed methods are robust to illumination changes and ROI’s size, low in computation time, and greater in accuracy.
THE SERIES OF FUZZIFIED FUZZY BEZIER CURVE
Authors: Zakaria Rozaimi , Wahab Abd. Fatah , Gobithaasan R. U.
Published: February 2016

This paper discusses about the series of fuzzified Bezier curves. This series of fuzzified Bezier curves constructed based on the fuzzy set theory especially fuzzy number concepts. The series of fuzzified represented by the alpha-cut of fuzzy number with various values of alpha. Then, the results were blended with Bezier curve function to produce the series of fuzzified fuzzy Bezier curves.
ONLINE 3D OIL PALM PLANTATION MANAGEMENT BASED ON GAME ENGINE: A CONCEPTUAL IDEA
Authors: Che Mat Ruzinoor , Zulkifli Abdul Nasir , Nordin Norani , Mohd Yusof Shahrul Azmi
Published: February 2016

The main commodity export of Malaysia is still oil palm which is known as the backbone of Malaysian agriculture. Various problems and techniques on managing oil palm plantation has been introduces by many researchers and found that monitoring the status of oil palm plantation through online facility is very important. This could be achieved by using game engine technology. This paper discussed the conceptual idea of developing an online 3D oil palm management system based on game engine technology. The game engine can be utilized to simulate the management of an oil palm plantation, as using 3D will allow a lot more information to be conveyed. Game engines allow so much customization as able to construct an online 3D oil palm plantation. This idea would be beneficial to everyone especially future developers who might expand this idea.
Significant radiation reduction in interventional fluoroscopy using a novel eye controlled movable region of interest
Authors: Balter Stephen , Simon Dan , Itkin Max , Granada Juan F. , Melman Haim , Dangas George
Published: February 2016

Purpose:

This paper reports the first results obtained using a novel technology called eye controlled region of interest (ECR) that substantially reduces both staff and patient irradiation during an interventional fluoroscopy procedure without interfering with workflow. Its collimator includes a partially x‐ray attenuating plate with a nonattenuating aperture. An eye tracker follows the operator's gaze to automatically position the aperture to the clinical region of interest (CROI) anywhere in the image in real‐time.

Methods:

Experiments were performed in a swine model using a mobile fluoroscope with a 30 cm image intensifier and manual control of fluoroscopic factors. The factory collimator and image display monitor were replaced with different components for this study. The full 30 cm field‐of‐view (FOV) of the image intensifier was irradiated at normal levels, and served as a baseline, when ECR was disengaged. With ECR engaged, most of the 30 cm FOV was irradiated to less than 20% of normal levels while the CROI was normally irradiated. Animal irradiation was determined by physical KAP (kerma area product) measurements. Operator irradiation was characterized by air kerma and air kerma rate measurements near the operator. Data were collected from three pairs of interventions in each of five swine models.

Results:

When ECR was engaged, KAP was reduced to 0.22 (p < 0.001) of baseline and operator irradiation to 0.27 (p < 0.001) of baseline. Overall procedure time had a borderline increase (p = 0.07) but fluoroscopy time was unchanged (p = 0.36) (Wilcoxon signed rank). Measured staff and patient radiation reductions are consistent with this collimator's design. Subjective impressions of imaging improvements are consistent with less scatter reaching the CROI. Engaging ECR reduced irradiation without subjectively or objectively increasing operator workload.

Conclusions:

The first in vivo evaluation of ECR demonstrated that this technology has objectively reduced KAP and operator irradiation by approximately 75% without interfering with the performance of fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures. In addition, reduced scatter production subjectively improved device visualization. These findings indicate the practicability of achieving better radiation optimization.
Incidence and impact of dog attacks on guide dogs in the UK: an update
Authors: Moxon R. , Whiteside H. , England G. C. W.
Published: February 2016

Data on dog attacks on Guide Dogs’ stock were reviewed to investigate the characteristics of the attacks. An average of 11.2 attacks occurred each month. Nearly all of the attacks occurred in public areas, 68.4 per cent of victim dogs were qualified guide dogs and 55.5 per cent of victim dogs were working in harness when they were attacked. Guide Dogs’ stock were injured in 43.2 per cent of attacks and veterinary costs for attacks were estimated at £34,514.30. Over 40 per cent of qualified guide dogs’ working ability was affected and >20 per cent of qualified guide dogs required some time off from working after a dog attack. Twenty dogs were permanently withdrawn from the Guide Dogs’ programme as a result of dog attacks, 13 of which were qualified and working with guide dog owners at the time of the withdrawal; this resulted in a financial cost of >£600,000 to the charity. More importantly perhaps, temporary and permanent withdrawals have a significant impact upon the mobility and independence of guide dog owners and in many cases significantly impacted their emotional well‐being.
The eucalypt karyogram resolved
Authors: Carvalho Guilherme M.A. , Carvalho Carlos R.
Published: February 2016

The genus Eucalyptus L’Herit. is the most cytologically studied group of plants in the family Myrtaceae. Despite the ecological and economic importance of this genus, much of its biology remains poorly understood. Cytological methods are useful in evolutionary studies; however, karyomorphological descriptions of the Eucalyptus species are limited. In this study, we developed a cytogenetic methodology that facilitates karyogram assembly and chromosome classification of Eucalyptus citriodora. The protocol includes treatment of root tips with amiprophos-methyl in Hoagland’s solution, slide preparation by cell dissociation, and an air-drying technique. Using this method, well-resolved metaphasic chromosomes with different compaction levels were obtained. A chromosome number of 2n = 22 was confirmed. On the basis of metaphasic chromosomes with limited condensation, E. citriodora showed six metacentric and four submetacentric chromosomes, and one submetacentric chromosome with a nucleolus organizer region (NOR). Thus, the informative chromosomes obtained in this study has enabled the most precise karyotype description of a Eucalyptus species, to date.
Faecal bacterial composition in dairy cows shedding Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in faeces in comparison with nonshedding cows
Authors: Kaevska Marija , Videnska Petra , Sedlar Karel , Bartejsova Iva , Kralova Alena , Slana Iva
Published: February 2016

The aim of this study was to determine possible differences in the faecal microbiota of dairy cows infected with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) in comparison with noninfected cows from the same herds. Faecal samples from cows in 4 herds were tested for M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis by real-time PCR, and faecal bacterial populations were analysed by 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The most notable differences between shedding and nonshedding cows were an increase in the genus Psychrobacter and a decrease in the genera Oscillospira, Ruminococcus, and Bifidobacterium in cows infected with M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis. The present study is the first to report the faecal microbial composition in dairy cows infected with M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis.
Organic acids, sugars, phenolic compounds, and some horticultural characteristics of black and white mulberry accessions from Eastern Anatolia
Authors: Gecer Mustafa Kenan , Akin Meleksen , Gundogdu Muttalip , Eyduran Sadiye Peral , Ercisli Sezai , Eyduran Ecevit
Published: February 2016

Mulberries, Morus spp., grow in different growing regions of Turkey with a high diversity providing an opportunity to select superior accessions. The goal of the study was to determine the differences in phytochemical components and horticultural characteristics between white and black mulberry accessions in the Igdir province. Fruits of black and white mulberries collected from Igdir province were assayed for various horticultural characteristics including berry width, berry length, berry weight, and berry peduncle length. Samples were also assayed for vitamin C, organic acids (citric, tartaric, malic, succinic, and fumaric), sugars (glucose and fructose), phenolic acids (catechin, rutin, quercetin, chlorogenic, ferulic, o-coumaric, p-coumaric, caffeic, syringic, vanillic, and gallic acids), and antioxidant capacity [Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay]. Differences (P < 0.05) were noted between accessions in berry length and berry weight. Malic acid was found to be the predominant organic acid regardless of species. Rutin (for black mulberry) and chlorogenic acid (for white mulberry) were the predominant phenolic acids. Black mulberry had higher glucose and fructose content than white mulberry. Analysis showed that black mulberry had higher content of tartaric acid, malic acid, TEAC, fructose, glucose, catechin, rutin, quercetin, o-coumaric acid, and caffeic acid compared with white mulberry (P < 0.01); however, white mulberry had higher content of succinic acid, vitamin C, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, syringic acid, and gallic acid (P < 0.01). Our results provide a reference for further studies of mulberry fruits in detection of organic acids, sugars, antioxidant capacity, and phenolic compounds. Also, it is clear that we need standardized testing, extraction, and analysis protocols to compare genotypes grown in different countries.
Plant species and mulch application rate affected decomposition of cover crop mulches used in organic rotational no-till systems
Authors: Halde Caroline , Entz Martin H.
Published: February 2016

Decomposition of cover crop mulches has received little attention in the scientific literature, particularly in the context of the organic rotational no-till systems adapted for the climatic conditions of the northern Great Plains of Canada. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of plant species and mulch application rate on cover crop decomposition and mulch quality parameters over time. Using the litter bag technique, six plant species and two mulch application rates were tested twice in field studies at Carman, Manitoba, Canada. Among the plant species tested, decomposition was the fastest with oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L.) and the slowest with barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). The effect of application rate on mulch biomass was not consistent between experiments. Mulches released a large amount (46.4%) of their initial N content after only 30 days of field placement, for all levels of plant species and mulch application rates combined. Forty-four percent of initial N content still remained in the mulches by early May (Day 250), and may be available for the subsequent crops seeded in the spring or later in the crop rotation. This research provides us with valuable information on nutrient release, soil cover, and potential weed control from mulches.
A deviation bound for α-dependent sequences with applications to intermittent maps
Authors: Dedecker Jérôme , Merlevède Florence
Published: February 2016

We prove a deviation bound for the maximum of partial sums of functions of [Formula: see text]-dependent sequences as defined in [2]. As a consequence, we extend the Rosenthal inequality of Rio [16] for [Formula: see text]-mixing sequences in the sense of Rosenblatt [18] to the larger class of [Formula: see text]-dependent sequences. Starting from the deviation inequality, we obtain upper bounds for large deviations and Hölderian invariance principle for the Donsker line. We illustrate our results through the example of intermittent maps of the interval, which are not [Formula: see text]-mixing in the sense of Rosenblatt.
Improving Flash-Based Disk Cache with Lazy Adaptive Replacement
Authors: Huang Sai , Wei Qingsong , Feng Dan , Chen Jianxi , Chen Cheng
Published: February 2016

For years, the increasing popularity of flash memory has been changing storage systems. Flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs) are widely used as a new cache tier on top of hard disk drives (HDDs) to speed up data-intensive applications. However, the endurance problem of flash memory remains a concern and is getting worse with the adoption of MLC and TLC flash. In this article, we propose a novel cache management algorithm for flash-based disk cache named Lazy Adaptive Replacement Cache (LARC). LARC adopts the idea of selective caching to filter out seldom accessed blocks and prevent them from entering cache. This avoids cache pollution and preserves popular blocks in cache for a longer period of time, leading to a higher hit rate. Meanwhile, by avoiding unnecessary cache replacements, LARC reduces the volume of data written to the SSD and yields an SSD-friendly access pattern. In this way, LARC improves the performance and endurance of the SSD at the same time. LARC is self-tuning and incurs little overhead. It has been extensively evaluated by both trace-driven simulations and synthetic benchmarks on a prototype implementation. Our experiments show that LARC outperforms state-of-art algorithms for different kinds of workloads and extends SSD lifetime by up to 15.7 times.
BenLem (A Bengali Lemmatizer) and Its Role in WSD
Authors: Chakrabarty Abhisek , Garain Utpal
Published: February 2016

A lemmatization algorithm for Bengali has been developed and evaluated. Its effectiveness for word sense disambiguation (WSD) is also investigated. One of the key challenges for computer processing of highly inflected languages is to deal with the frequent morphological variations of the root words appearing in the text. Therefore, a lemmatizer is essential for developing natural language processing (NLP) tools for such languages. In this experiment, Bengali, which is the national language of Bangladesh and the second most popular language in the Indian subcontinent, has been taken as a reference. In order to design the Bengali lemmatizer (named as BenLem), possible transformations through which surface words are formed from lemmas are studied so that appropriate reverse transformations can be applied on a surface word to get the corresponding lemma back. BenLem is found to be capable of handling both inflectional and derivational morphology in Bengali. It is evaluated on a set of 18 news articles taken from the FIRE Bengali News Corpus consisting of 3,342 surface words (excluding proper nouns) and found to be 81.95% accurate. The role of the lemmatizer is then investigated for Bengali WSD. Ten highly polysemous Bengali words are considered for sense disambiguation. The FIRE corpus and a collection of Tagore’s short stories are considered for creating the WSD dataset. Different WSD systems are considered for this experiment, and it is noticed that BenLem improves the performance of all the WSD systems and the improvements are statistically significant.
Cross-Layer Opportunistic Scheduling for Device-to-Device Video Multicast Services
Authors: Ji Wen , Chen Bo-Wei , Wang Xiangdong , Luo Haiyong , Kim Mucheol , Chen Yiqiang
Published: February 2016

In this article, we address the problem of how to make the wireless device-to-device (D2D) video multicast systems have better quality provision with consideration of internet-of-things (IoT) applications. We propose an opportunistic transmission and fair resource allocation framework, including joint application-layer and physical-layer transmission and optimization. First, we use a parallel subchannels structure by concatenating the Fountain codes and diversity-embedded space-time block codes to provide reliable and flexible transmission in heterogeneous circumstances. Second, we exploit the quality of heterogeneous user experience (quality of experience) metric under D2D video multicast systems, with consideration of various channel states, device capability, video content urgency, and the number of demanding users. Third, we formulate reliable multiple video streams broadcasting to heterogeneous devices as an aggregate maximum utility achieving problem, and we use opportunistic scheduling to select suitable users in each transmission interval to improve the broadcasting utility. Fourth, we use the utility fair scheme to guide rate allocation among multicontent video multicast. Extensive performance comparison and analysis are presented to demonstrate efficiency of the proposed solution.
Designing Parameterizable Hardware IPs in a Model-Based Design Environment for High-Level Synthesis
Authors: Butt Shahzad Ahmad , Roozmeh Mehdi , Lavagno Luciano
Published: February 2016

Model-based hardware design allows one to map a single model to multiple hardware and/or software architectures, essentially eliminating one of the major limitations of manual coding in C or RTL. Model-based design for hardware implementation has traditionally offered a limited set of microarchitectures, which are typically suitable only for some application scenarios. In this article we illustrate how digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms can be modeled as flexible intellectual property blocks to be used within the popular Simulink model-based design environment. These blocks are written in C and are designed for both functional simulation and hardware implementation, including architectural design space exploration and hardware implementation through high-level synthesis. A key advantage of our modeling approach is that the very same bit-accurate model is used for simulation and high-level synthesis. To prove the feasibility of our proposed approach, we modeled a fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm and synthesized it for different DSP applications with very different performance and cost requirements. We also implemented a high-level-synthesis (HLS) intellectual property (IP) generator that can generate flexible FFT HLS-IP blocks that can be mapped to multiple micro-/macroarchitectures, to enable design space exploration as well as being used for functional simulation in the Simulink environment.
Contract-Based Requirement Modularization via Synthesis of Correct Decompositions
Authors: Le Thi Thieu Hoa , Passerone Roberto , Fahrenberg Uli , Legay Axel
Published: February 2016

In distributed development of modern systems, contracts play a vital role in ensuring interoperability of components and adherence to specifications. It is therefore often desirable to verify the satisfaction of an overall property represented as a contract, given the satisfaction of smaller properties also represented as contracts. When the verification result is negative, designers must face the issue of refining the subproperties and components. This is an instance of the classical synthesis problems: “can we construct a model that satisfies some given specification?” In this work, we propose two strategies enabling designers to synthesize or refine a set of contracts so that their composition satisfies a given contract. We develop a generic algebraic method and show how it can be applied in different contract models to support top-down component-based development of distributed systems.
Exchange Transfusion for Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 2006 to 2011
Authors: Ballot Daynia E. , Rugamba Gilbert
Published: February 2016

Background. Severe hyperbilirubinaemia requiring exchange transfusion has become less common in recent years; however, kernicterus still occurs. The aim of this study was to review babies undergoing exchange transfusion for severe hyperbilirubinaemia in a Johannesburg hospital.Methodology. This was a retrospective review of babies who required exchange transfusion in both the neonatal and the paediatric wards from June 1, 2006, to December 31, 2011.Results. There were 64 patients who underwent 67 exchange transfusions. Isoimmune haemolysis (both Rh and ABO incompatibility) was the cause of jaundice in 9/64 (14%). Most babies who underwent exchange transfusion were sick or preterm and were admitted in hospital after birth (38/64; 59.5%); three of these babies died, but not during the exchange transfusion (3/38; 7.9%); all three had signs suggestive of neonatal sepsis. The remaining 26 babies (40.6%) were readmitted to the paediatric wards for exchange transfusion. Six of these babies (6/26; 23.0%) had signs of kernicterus. The most significant complication of exchange transfusion was apnoea requiring mechanical ventilation in three patients (3/64; 4.6%).Conclusion. Despite a relatively low number of babies undergoing exchange transfusion, kernicterus still occurs and must be prevented. Proper protocols for screening and management of severe hyperbilirubinaemia need to be enforced.
Minimum Delay Multipath Routing Based on TDMA for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network
Authors: Bai Weigang , Wang Haiyan , Shen Xiaohong , Zhao Ruiqin , Zhang Yuzhi
Published: February 2016

Multipath routing is an alternative routing technique, which uses redundant paths to deliver data from source to destination. Compared to single path routing protocols, it can address reliability, delay, and energy consumption issues. Thus, multipath routing is a potential technique to overcome the long propagation delay and adverse link condition in underwater environment. However, there are still some problems in multipath routing. For example, the multiple paths may interfere with each other and arouse large end-to-end delay difference amongst multiple paths. This paper proposes a novel multipath routing structure and a conflict-free algorithm based on TDMA scheme. The forwarding nodes are selected based on the propagation delay and location information. This special multiple routing structure not only can ensure parallel multiple transmission without collision, but also can get a small end-to-end delay difference amongst multiple paths. Simulation results show that the multipath routing scheme proposed in this paper outperforms the traditional strategy.
Algorithm for Automated Mapping of Land Surface Temperature Using LANDSAT 8 Satellite Data
Authors: Avdan Ugur , Jovanovska Gordana
Published: February 2016

Land surface temperature is an important factor in many areas, such as global climate change, hydrological, geo-/biophysical, and urban land use/land cover. As the latest launched satellite from the LANDSAT family, LANDSAT 8 has opened new possibilities for understanding the events on the Earth with remote sensing. This study presents an algorithm for the automatic mapping of land surface temperature from LANDSAT 8 data. The tool was developed using the LANDSAT 8 thermal infrared sensor Band 10 data. Different methods and formulas were used in the algorithm that successfully retrieves the land surface temperature to help us study the thermal environment of the ground surface. To verify the algorithm, the land surface temperature and the near-air temperature were compared. The results showed that, for the first case, the standard deviation was 2.4°C, and for the second case, it was 2.7°C. For future studies, the tool should be refined within situmeasurements of land surface temperature.
Combining Body Mass and Shape Indices in Clinical Practice
Authors: Krakauer Jesse C. , Krakauer Nir Y.
Published: February 2016

We present preliminary clinical experience with combined consideration of the commonly used BMI (body mass index) and the newly developed ABSI (a body shape index) using a point of care anthropometric calculator for comparisons of index values and associated relative risks to population normals. In a series of 282 patients, BMI and ABSI were close to being independently distributed, supporting the value of considering both indices. Three selected cases illustrate scenarios where assessment of ABSI together with BMI could inform patient care and counseling. These data suggest that combined assessment of BMI and ABSI may prove useful in clinical practice.
Sharp One-Parameter Mean Bounds for Yang Mean
Authors: Qian Wei-Mao , Chu Yu-Ming , Zhang Xiao-Hui
Published: February 2016

We prove that the double inequalityJα(a,b)<U(a,b)0witha≠bif and only ifα≤2/(π-2)=0.8187⋯andβ≥3/2, whereU(a,b)=(a-b)/[2arctan⁡((a-b)/2ab)], andJp(a,b)=p(ap+1-bp+1)/[(p+1)(ap-bp)]  (p≠0,-1),J0(a,b)=(a-b)/(log⁡a-log⁡b), andJ-1(a,b)=ab(log⁡a-log⁡b)/(a-b)are the Yang andpth one-parameter means ofaandb, respectively.
Effect of Blueberry Anthocyanins Malvidin and Glycosides on the Antioxidant Properties in Endothelial Cells
Authors: Huang Wuyang , Zhu Yunming , Li Chunyang , Sui Zhongquan , Min Weihong
Published: February 2016

The objective of this research was to survey the antioxidant functional role of the main anthocyanins of blueberries in endothelial cells. Changes on the reactive oxygen species (ROS), xanthine oxidase‐1 (XO‐1), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) in cells of malvidin and the two glycosides were investigated. The results showed that these anthocyanins decreased the levels of ROS and XO‐1 but increased the levels of SOD and HO‐1. Glycosides improved the antioxidant capacity of malvidin to a great extent. The changes in the antioxidant properties of malvidin‐3‐glucoside were more pronounced than malvidin‐3‐galactoside. Variation in levels of malvidin‐3‐glucoside and malvidin‐3‐galactoside had a significant impact on antioxidant properties to different extents. It indicates that blueberries are a good resource of anthocyanins, which can protect cells from oxidative deterioration and use blueberry as a potential functional food to prevent diseases related to oxidative stress.
Variational Multiscale Element Free Galerkin Method Coupled with Low-Pass Filter for Burgers’ Equation with Small Diffusion
Authors: Zhang Ping , Zhang Xiaohua , Song Laizhong
Published: February 2016

Variational multiscale element free Galerkin (VMEFG) method is applied to Burgers’ equation. It can be found that, for the very small diffusivity coefficients, VMEFG method still suffers from instability in the presence of boundary or interior layers. In order to overcome this problem, the high order low-pass filter is used to smooth the solution. Three test examples with very small diffusion are presented and the solutions obtained are compared with exact solutions and some other numerical methods. The numerical results are found in which the VMEFG coupled with low-pass filter works very well for Burgers’ equation with very small diffusivity coefficients.
Some Fixed Point Results forTAC-Type Contractive Mappings
Authors: Chandok Sumit , Tas Kenan , Hojat Ansari Arslan
Published: February 2016

We prove some fixed point results for new type of contractive mappings using the notion of cyclic admissible mappings in the framework of metric spaces. Our results extend, generalize, and improve some well-known results from literature. Some examples are given to support our main results.
Alginate Biosynthesis inAzotobacter vinelandii: Overview of Molecular Mechanisms in Connection with the Oxygen Availability
Authors: Pacheco-Leyva Ivette , Guevara Pezoa Felipe , Díaz-Barrera Alvaro
Published: February 2016

The Gram-negative bacteriumAzotobacter vinelandiican synthetize the biopolymer alginate that has material properties appropriate for plenty of applications in industry as well as in medicine. In order to settle the foundation for improving alginate production without compromising its quality, a better understanding of the polymer biosynthesis and the mechanism of regulation during fermentation processes is necessary. This knowledge is crucial for the development of novel production strategies. Here, we highlight the key aspects of alginate biosynthesis that can lead to producing an alginate with specific material properties with particular focus on the role of oxygen availability linked with the molecular mechanisms involved in the alginate production.
Depression and Anxiety following Coronary Artery Bypass Graft: Current Indian Scenario
Authors: Chaudhury Suprakash , Saini Rajiv , Bakhla Ajay Kumar , Singh Jaswinder
Published: February 2016

Epidemiological studies have shown a high prevalence of coronary artery disease among the Indian Population. Due to increasing availability and affordability of tertiary care in many parts of India, carefully selected patients undergo coronary artery bypass surgery to improve cardiac function. However, the procedure is commonly associated with depression and anxiety which can adversely affect overall prognosis. The objective of this review is to highlight early identifiable symptoms of depression and anxiety following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in Indian context so as to facilitate prompt intervention for better outcome. The current review was able to establish firm evidence in support of screening for depression and anxiety following CABG. Management of depression and anxiety following CABG is briefly reviewed.
System-Level Coupled Modeling of Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesting Systems by Joint Finite Element and Circuit Analysis
Authors: Cheng Congcong , Chen Zhongsheng , Shi Hongwu , Liu Ziniu , Xiong Yeping
Published: February 2016

A practical piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting (PVEH) system is usually composed of two coupled parts: a harvesting structure and an interface circuit. Thus, it is much necessary to build system-level coupled models for analyzing PVEH systems, so that the whole PVEH system can be optimized to obtain a high overall efficiency. In this paper, two classes of coupled models are proposed by joint finite element and circuit analysis. The first one is to integrate the equivalent circuit model of the harvesting structure with the interface circuit and the second one is to integrate the equivalent electrical impedance of the interface circuit into the finite element model of the harvesting structure. Then equivalent circuit model parameters of the harvesting structure are estimated by finite element analysis and the equivalent electrical impedance of the interface circuit is derived by circuit analysis. In the end, simulations are done to validate and compare the proposed two classes of system-level coupled models. The results demonstrate that harvested powers from the two classes of coupled models approximate to theoretic values. Thus, the proposed coupled models can be used for system-level optimizations in engineering applications.
Expressions of Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMP-2, MMP-7, and MMP-9) and Their Inhibitors (TIMP-1, TIMP-2) in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Authors: Jakubowska Katarzyna , Pryczynicz Anna , Iwanowicz Piotr , Niewiński Andrzej , Maciorkowska Elżbieta , Hapanowicz Jerzy , Jagodzińska Dorota , Kemona Andrzej , Guzińska-Ustymowicz Katarzyna
Published: February 2016

Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) belong to a group of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The aim of our study was to evaluate the expression of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The study group comprised 34 patients with UC and 10 patients with CD. Evaluation of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 expression in tissue samples was performed using immunohistochemistry. The overexpression of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 was dominant in both the glandular epithelium and inflammatory infiltration in UC patients. In contrast, in CD subjects the positive expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 was in glandular tubes while mainly MMP-7 and TIMP-2 expression was in inflammatory infiltration. Metalloproteinases’ expression was associated with the presence of erosions, architectural tissue changes, and inflammatory infiltration in the lamina propria of UC patients. The expression of metalloproteinase inhibitors correlated with the presence of eosinophils and neutrophils in UC and granulomas in CD patients. Our studies indicate that the overexpression of metalloproteinases and weaker expression of their inhibitors may determine the development of IBD. It appears that MMP-2, MMP-7, and MMP-9 may be a potential therapeutic target and the use of their inhibitors may significantly reduce UC progression.
Prostate Cancer Screening in Jamaica: Results of the Largest National Screening Clinic
Authors: Morrison Belinda F. , Aiken William , Mayhew Richard , Gordon Yulit , Reid Marvin
Published: February 2016

Prostate cancer is highly prevalent in Jamaica and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Our aim was to evaluate the patterns of screening in the largest organized screening clinic in Jamaica at the Jamaica Cancer Society. A retrospective analysis of all men presenting for screening at the Jamaica Cancer Society from 1995 to 2005 was done. All patients had digital rectal examinations (DRE) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests done. Results of prostate biopsies were noted. 1117 men of mean age 59.9 ± 8.2 years presented for screening. The median documented PSA was 1.6 ng/mL (maximum of 5170 ng/mL). Most patients presented for only 1 screen. There was a gradual reduction in the mean age of presentation for screening over the period. Prostate biopsies were requested on 11% of screening visits; however, only 59% of these were done. 5.6% of all persons screened were found to have cancer. Of the cancers diagnosed, Gleason 6 adenocarcinoma was the commonest grade and median PSA was 8.9 ng/mL (range 1.5–1059 ng/mL). Older men tend to screen for prostate cancer in Jamaica. However, compliance with regular maintenance visits and requests for confirmatory biopsies are poor. Screening needs intervention in the Jamaican population.
Stability Optimization of a Disc Brake System with Hybrid Uncertainties for Squeal Reduction
Authors: Lü Hui , Yu Dejie
Published: February 2016

A hybrid uncertain model is introduced to deal with the uncertainties existing in a disc brake system in this paper. By the hybrid uncertain model, the uncertain parameters of the brake with enough sampling data are treated as probabilistic variables, while the uncertain parameters with limited data are treated as interval probabilistic variables whose distribution parameters are expressed as interval variables. Based on the hybrid uncertain model, the reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) of a disc brake with hybrid uncertainties is proposed to explore the optimal design for squeal reduction. In the optimization, the surrogate model of the real part of domain unstable eigenvalue of the brake system is established, and the upper bound of its expectation is adopted as the optimization objective. The lower bounds of the functions related to system stability, the mass, and the stiffness of design component are adopted as the optimization constraints. The combinational algorithm of Genetic Algorithm and Monte-Carlo method is employed to perform the optimization. The results of a numerical example demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization on improving system stability and reducing squeal propensity of a disc brake under hybrid uncertainties.
NK Cell-Dependent Growth Inhibition of Lewis Lung Cancer by Yu-Ping-Feng, an Ancient Chinese Herbal Formula
Authors: Luo Yingbin , Wu Jianchun , Zhu Xiaowen , Gong Chenyuan , Yao Chao , Ni Zhongya , Wang Lixin , Ni Lulu , Li Yan , Zhu Shiguo
Published: February 2016

Little is known about Yu-Ping-Feng (YPF), a typical Chinese herbal decoction, for its antitumor efficacy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, we found that YPF significantly inhibited the growth of Lewis lung cancer, prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice, promoted NK cell tumor infiltration, increased the population of NK cells in spleen, and enhanced NK cell-mediated killing activity. The growth suppression of tumors by YPF was significantly reversed by the depletion of NK cells. Furthermore, we found that YPF significantly downregulated the expression of TGF-β, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, and IL-10 in tumor microenvironment. These results demonstrated that YPF has a NK cell-dependent inhibitory effect on Lewis lung cancer.