bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exercise per se masks oral contraceptive-induced postprandial lipid mobilization
Authors: Isacco Laurie , Thivel David , Meddahi-Pelle Anne , Lemoine-Morel Sophie , Duclos Martine , Boisseau Nathalie
Published: June 2014

Because of their hormonal content, oral contraceptives may alter lipolytic activity under resting or exercise conditions in women. The aim of the present study was to compare lipid mobilization in a postprandial state at rest and during exercise in oral contraceptive users (OC+) versus nonusers (OC–). The metabolic (glucose, glycerol, free fatty acids) and hormonal (insulin, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and catecholamines) concentrations were determined in 11 OC+ (monophasic low-dose oral contraceptives) and 10 OC– during a resting and an exercise session (45 min at 65% maximal oxygen consumption). Results were expressed as plasma concentrations and area under the concentration versus time curve values. ANP concentrations were higher in OC+ compared with OC– women at baseline (p = 0.04). Plasma concentrations of glycerol (p = 0.04), free fatty acids (p = 0.04), ANP (p = 0.02), and noradrenaline (p = 0.04) were higher in OC+ compared with OC– when both sessions were pooled. The plasma growth hormone, IGF-1, and adrenaline concentrations were not significantly different between the 2 groups. When the effect of exercise was isolated to overcome food intake and daytime variations (exercise per se using the area under the curve), no difference was observed between groups for all metabolic and hormonal variables. Overall, oral contraceptives increased lipid mobilization in the postprandial state, but this effect was blunted when lipolytic activity was stimulated by exercise per se. Oral contraceptive-induced greater lipolytic mobilization could be partly explained by greater ANP levels in OC users.
Modelling skin surface areas involved in water transfer in the Palmate Newt (Lissotriton helveticus)
Authors: Wardziak Thomas , Oxarango Laurent , Valette Sébastien , Mahieu-Williame Laurent , Joly Pierre
Published: June 2014

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based 3D reconstructions were used to derive accurate quantitative data on body volume and functional skin surface areas involved in water transfer in the Palmate Newt (Lissotriton helveticus (Razoumovsky, 1789)). Body surface area can be functionally divided into evaporative surface area that interacts with the atmosphere and controls the transepidermal evaporative water loss (TEWL); ventral surface area in contact with the substratum that controls transepidermal water absorption (TWA); and skin surface area in contact with other skin surfaces when amphibians adopt water-conserving postures. We generated 3D geometries of the newts via volume-rendering by a “segmentation” process carried out using a graph-cuts algorithm and a Web-based interface. The geometries reproduced the two postures adopted by the newts, i.e., an I-shaped posture characterized by a straight body without tail coiling and an S-shaped posture where the body is huddled up with the tail coiling along it. As a guide to the quality of the surface area estimations, we compared measurements of TEWL rates between living newts and their agar replicas (reproducing their two postures) at 20 °C and 60% relative humidity. Whereas the newts did not show any physiological adaptations to restrain evaporation, they expressed an efficient S-shaped posture with a resulting water economy of 22.9%, which is very close to the 23.6% reduction in evaporative surface area measured using 3D analysis.
Closedness of orbits in a space with SU(2) Poisson structure
Authors: Fatollahi Amir H. , Shariati Ahmad , Khorrami Mohammad
Published: June 2014

The closedness of orbits of central forces is addressed in a three-dimensional space in which the Poisson bracket among the coordinates is that of the SU(2) Lie algebra. In particular it is shown that among problems with spherically symmetric potential energies, it is only the Kepler problem for which all bounded orbits are closed. In analogy with the case of the ordinary space, a conserved vector (apart from the angular momentum) is explicitly constructed, which is responsible for the orbits being closed. This is the analog of the Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector. The algebra of the constants of the motion is also worked out.
HARDWARE-EFFICIENT MULTI-STANDARD VIDEO TRANSFORM CORE
Authors: CHEN YUAN-HO , LIU HSIAO-TZU
Published: June 2014

This study presents a unified hybrid architecture to compute the inverse discrete cosine transform (IDCT) of multiple modern video decoders such as moving picture experts group (MPEG-4), H.264, VC-1 and high efficiency video coding (HEVC). The proposed hardware sharing architecture requires a lower hardware cost than that for individual implementations, and maximizes the proportion of the circuit that is reused during the computation. The proposed architecture design needs only adders and shifters to significantly reduce the hardware cost. Thus, the resource sharing method can increase the circuit sharing capability and achieve high hardware efficiency. For verification, a TSMC 0.18-μm CMOS process is applied to implement the IDCT chip, and the maximum throughput rate of the proposed design is 1000 MP/s with a hardware cost of 16.5 k gates.
Gamification for Online Communities: A Case Study for Delivering Government Services
Authors: Bista Sanat Kumar , Nepal Surya , Paris Cécile , Colineau Nathalie
Published: June 2014

Gamification, the idea of inserting game dynamics into portals or social networks, has recently evolved as an approach to encourage active participation in online communities. For an online community to start and proceed on to a sustainable operation, it is important that members are encouraged to contribute positively and frequently. We decided to introduce gamification in an online community that we designed and developed with the Australian Government's Department of Human Services to support welfare recipients transitioning from one payment to another. We first defined a formal model of gamification and a gamification design process. In instantiating our model to the online community, we realised that our context applied a number of constraints on the gamification elements that could be introduced. In this paper, we outline the design and implementation of a gamification model for online communities and its instantiation into our context, with its specific requirements. While we cannot comment on the success of gamification to drive user engagement in our context (for lack of the possibility of a controlled experiment), we found our implementation of badges-based gamification a helpful way to provide a useful abstraction on the life of the community, providing feedback enabling us to monitor and analyze the community. We thus show how feedback provided by such gamification data has a potential to be useful to community providers to better understand the community needs and addressing them appropriately to maintain a level of engagement in the community.
Experimental and Theoretical Methods in Kinetic Studies of Heterogeneously Catalyzed Reactions
Authors: Reyniers Marie-Françoise , Marin Guy B.
Published: June 2014

This review aims to illustrate the potential of kinetic analysis in general and microkinetic modeling in particular for rational catalyst design. Both ab initio calculations and experiments providing intrinsic kinetic data allow us to assess the effects of catalytic properties and reaction conditions on the activity and selectivity of the targeted reactions. Three complementary approaches for kinetic analysis of complex reaction networks are illustrated, using select examples of acid zeolite–catalyzed reactions from the authors' recent work. Challenges for future research aimed at defining targets for synthesis strategies that enable us to tune zeolite properties are identified.
Extrasolar Cosmochemistry
Authors: Jura M. , Young E.D.
Published: June 2014

Evidence is now compelling that elements heavier than helium in many white dwarf atmospheres have accumulated by accretion from orbiting rocky bodies, often larger than 100 km in diameter, such as asteroids. Consequently, we now possess a powerful tool to measure the elemental constituents of extrasolar minor planets. To zeroth order, the accreted extrasolar parent bodies resemble bulk Earth: They are at least 85% by mass composed of oxygen, magnesium, silicon, and iron; carbon and ice are only trace constituents. Assembled data for white dwarf pollutions suggest that differentiation of extrasolar planetesimals, leading to iron-rich cores and aluminum-rich crusts, is common. Except for instances of unexpectedly high calcium abundances, the compositions of extrasolar planetesimals can be understood as resulting from processes similar to those controlling the formation and evolution of objects in the inner Solar System.
Thermal Maturation of Gas Shale Systems
Authors: Bernard Sylvain , Horsfield Brian
Published: June 2014

Shale gas systems serve as sources, reservoirs, and seals for unconventional natural gas accumulations. These reservoirs bring numerous challenges to geologists and petroleum engineers in reservoir characterization, most notably because of their heterogeneous character due to depositional and diagenetic processes but also because of their constituent rocks' fine-grained nature and small pore size—much smaller than in conventional sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Significant advances have recently been achieved in unraveling the gaseous hydrocarbon generation and retention processes that occur within these complex systems. In addition, cutting-edge characterization technologies have allowed precise documentation of the spatial variability in chemistry and structure of thermally mature organic-rich shales at the submicrometer scale, revealing the presence of geochemical heterogeneities within overmature gas shale samples and, notably, the presence of nanoporous pyrobitumen. Such research advances will undoubtedly lead to improved performance, producibility, and modeling of such strategic resources at the reservoir scale.
The Evolutionary Genomics of Cichlid Fishes: Explosive Speciation and Adaptation in the Postgenomic Era
Authors: Henning Frederico , Meyer Axel
Published: June 2014

With more than 1,500 species, cichlid fishes provide textbook examples of recent and diverse adaptive radiations, rapid rates of speciation, and the parallel evolution of adaptive phenotypes among both recently and distantly related lineages. This extraordinary diversity has attracted considerable interest from researchers across several biological disciplines. Their broad phenotypic variation coupled with recent divergence makes cichlids an ideal model system for understanding speciation, adaptation, and phenotypic diversification. Genetic mapping, genome-wide analyses, and genome projects have flourished in the past decade and have added new insights on the question of why there are so many cichlids. These recent findings also show that the sharing of older DNA polymorphisms is extensive and suggest that linage sorting is incomplete and that adaptive introgression played a role in the African radiation. Here, we review the results of genetic and genomic research on cichlids in the past decade and suggest some potential avenues to further exploit the potential of the cichlid model system to provide a better understanding of the genomics of adaptation and speciation.
Phenotypic Outcomes of Imprinted Gene Models in Mice: Elucidation of Pre- and Postnatal Functions of Imprinted Genes
Authors: Cleaton Mary A.M. , Edwards Carol A. , Ferguson-Smith Anne C.
Published: June 2014

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic process causing expression of a subset of genes in a parent-of-origin-specific manner. Among vertebrates, only therian mammals have been demonstrated to imprint, indicating that placentation and imprinting arose at similar time points in evolution and that imprinting may be involved in key mammal-specific processes. However, although several theories have been posited to explain the evolution of imprinting, each has shortcomings and none fully explains the wide variety of genes regulated by imprinting. In this review, we catalog the phenotypes associated with genetic mutation and overexpression at particular imprinted loci in order to consider the wide impact of imprinted genes on development. In addition to the well-described roles of imprinted genes in prenatal growth and placentation, more recent data emphasize that imprinted genes are critical for specific aspects of postnatal mammalian development involving adaptive processes, metabolism, and behavior.
Transepithelial glucose transport and Na+/K+ homeostasis in enterocytes: an integrative model
Authors: Thorsen Kristian , Drengstig Tormod , Ruoff Peter
Published: June 2014

The uptake of glucose and the nutrient coupled transcellular sodium traffic across epithelial cells in the small intestine has been an ongoing topic in physiological research for over half a century. Driving the uptake of nutrients like glucose, enterocytes must have regulatory mechanisms that respond to the considerable changes in the inflow of sodium during absorption. The Na-K-ATPase membrane protein plays a major role in this regulation. We propose the hypothesis that the amount of active Na-K-ATPase in enterocytes is directly regulated by the concentration of intracellular Na+ and that this regulation together with a regulation of basolateral K permeability by intracellular ATP gives the enterocyte the ability to maintain ionic Na+/K+ homeostasis. To explore these regulatory mechanisms, we present a mathematical model of the sodium coupled uptake of glucose in epithelial enterocytes. Our model integrates knowledge about individual transporter proteins including apical SGLT1, basolateral Na-K-ATPase, and GLUT2, together with diffusion and membrane potentials. The intracellular concentrations of glucose, sodium, potassium, and chloride are modeled by nonlinear differential equations, and molecular flows are calculated based on experimental kinetic data from the literature, including substrate saturation, product inhibition, and modulation by membrane potential. Simulation results of the model without the addition of regulatory mechanisms fit well with published short-term observations, including cell depolarization and increased concentration of intracellular glucose and sodium during increased concentration of luminal glucose/sodium. Adding regulatory mechanisms for regulation of Na-K-ATPase and K permeability to the model show that our hypothesis predicts observed long-term ionic homeostasis.
Chronic opioids regulate KATP channel subunit Kir6.2 and carbonic anhydrase I and II expression in rat adrenal chromaffin cells via HIF-2α and protein kinase A
Authors: Salman Shaima , Holloway Alison C. , Nurse Colin A.
Published: June 2014

At birth, asphyxial stressors such as hypoxia and hypercapnia are important physiological stimuli for adrenal catecholamine release that is critical for the proper transition to extrauterine life. We recently showed that chronic opioids blunt chemosensitivity of neonatal rat adrenomedullary chromaffin cells (AMCs) to hypoxia and hypercapnia. This blunting was attributable to increased ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel and decreased carbonic anhydrase (CA) I and II expression, respectively, and involved μ- and δ-opioid receptor signaling pathways. To address underlying molecular mechanisms, we first exposed an O2- and CO2-sensitive, immortalized rat chromaffin cell line (MAH cells) to combined μ {[d-Arg2,Ly4]dermorphin-(1–4)-amide}- and δ ([d-Pen2,5,P-Cl-Phe4]enkephalin)-opioid agonists (2 μM) for ∼7 days. Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that chronic opioids increased KATP channel subunit Kir6.2 and decreased CAII expression; both effects were blocked by naloxone and were absent in hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2α-deficient MAH cells. Chronic opioids also stimulated HIF-2α accumulation along a time course similar to Kir6.2. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays on opioid-treated cells revealed the binding of HIF-2α to a hypoxia response element in the promoter region of the Kir6.2 gene. The opioid-induced regulation of Kir6.2 and CAII was dependent on protein kinase A, but not protein kinase C or calmodulin kinase, activity. Interestingly, a similar pattern of HIF-2α, Kir6.2, and CAII regulation (including downregulation of CAI) was replicated in chromaffin tissue obtained from rat pups born to dams exposed to morphine throughout gestation. Collectively, these data reveal novel mechanisms by which chronic opioids blunt asphyxial chemosensitivity in AMCs, thereby contributing to abnormal arousal responses in the offspring of opiate-addicted mothers.
Transposed firing activation of motor units
Authors: De Luca Carlo J. , Kline Joshua C. , Contessa Paola
Published: June 2014

Muscles are composed of groups of muscle fibers, called motor units, each innervated by a single motoneuron originating in the spinal cord. During constant or linearly varying voluntary force contractions, motor units are activated in a hierarchical order, with the earlier-recruited motor units having greater firing rates than the later-recruited ones. We found that this normal pattern of firing activation can be altered during oscillatory contractions where the force oscillates at frequencies ≥2 Hz. During these high-frequency oscillations, the activation of the lower-threshold motor units effectively decreases and that of the higher-threshold motor units effectively increases. This transposition of firing activation provides means to activate higher-threshold motor units preferentially. Our results demonstrate that the hierarchical regulation of motor unit activation can be manipulated to activate specific motoneuron populations preferentially. This finding can be exploited to develop new forms of physical therapies and exercise programs that enhance muscle performance or that target the preferential atrophy of high-threshold motor units as a result of aging or motor disorders such as stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Stabilization of cat paw trajectory during locomotion
Authors: Klishko Alexander N. , Farrell Bradley J. , Beloozerova Irina N. , Latash Mark L. , Prilutsky Boris I.
Published: June 2014

We investigated which of cat limb kinematic variables during swing of regular walking and accurate stepping along a horizontal ladder are stabilized by coordinated changes of limb segment angles. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) animals stabilize the entire swing trajectory of specific kinematic variables (performance variables); and 2) the level of trajectory stabilization is similar between regular and ladder walking and 3) is higher for forelimbs compared with hindlimbs. We used the framework of the uncontrolled manifold (UCM) hypothesis to quantify the structure of variance of limb kinematics in the limb segment orientation space across steps. Two components of variance were quantified for each potential performance variable, one of which affected it (“bad variance,” variance orthogonal to the UCM, VORT) while the other one did not (“good variance,” variance within the UCM, VUCM). The analysis of five candidate performance variables revealed that cats during both locomotor behaviors stabilize 1) paw vertical position during the entire swing ( VUCM> VORT, except in mid-hindpaw swing of ladder walking) and 2) horizontal paw position in initial and terminal swing (except for the entire forepaw swing of regular walking). We also found that the limb length was typically stabilized in midswing, whereas limb orientation was not ( VUCM≤ VORT) for both limbs and behaviors during entire swing. We conclude that stabilization of paw position in early and terminal swing enables accurate and stable locomotion, while stabilization of vertical paw position in midswing helps paw clearance. This study is the first to demonstrate the applicability of the UCM-based analysis to nonhuman movement.
Boundary Stabilization of a Nonlinear Viscoelastic Equation with Interior Time-Varying Delay and Nonlinear Dissipative Boundary Feedback
Authors: Zhang Zaiyun , Huang Jianhua , Liu Zhenhai , Sun Mingbao
Published: June 2014

We investigate a nonlinear viscoelastic equation with interior time-varying delay and nonlinear dissipative boundary feedback. Under suitable assumptions on the relaxation function and time-varying delay effect together with nonlinear dissipative boundary feedback, we prove the global existence of weak solutions and asymptotic behavior of the energy by using the Faedo-Galerkin method and the perturbed energy method, respectively. This result improves earlier ones in the literature, such as Kirane and Said-Houari (2011) and Ammari et al. (2010). Moreover, we give an positive answer to the open problem given by Kirane and Said-Houari (2011).
Recommendation Based on Trust Diffusion Model
Authors: Yuan Jinfeng , Li Li
Published: June 2014

Recommender system is emerging as a powerful and popular tool for online information relevant to a given user. The traditional recommendation system suffers from the cold start problem and the data sparsity problem. Many methods have been proposed to solve these problems, but few can achieve satisfactory efficiency. In this paper, we present a method which combines the trust diffusion (DiffTrust) algorithm and the probabilistic matrix factorization (PMF). DiffTrust is first used to study the possible diffusions of trust between various users. It is able to make use of the implicit relationship of the trust network, thus alleviating the data sparsity problem. The probabilistic matrix factorization (PMF) is then employed to combine the users' tastes with their trusted friends' interests. We evaluate the algorithm on Flixster, Moviedata, and Epinions datasets, respectively. The experimental results show that the recommendation based on our proposed DiffTrust + PMF model achieves high performance in terms of the root mean square error (RMSE), Recall, andFMeasure.
Real-Time Linux Analysis Using Low-Impact Tracer
Authors: Rajotte François , Dagenais Michel R.
Published: June 2014

Debugging real-time software presents an inherent challenge because of the nature of real-time itself. Traditional debuggers use breakpoints to stop the execution of a program and allow the inspection of its status. The interactive nature of a debugger is incompatible with the strict timing constraints of a real-time application. In order to observe the execution of a real-time application, it is therefore necessary to use a low-impact instrumentation solution. Tracing allows the collection of low-level events with minimal impact on the traced application. These low-level events can be difficult to use without appropriate tools. We propose an analysis framework to model real-time tasks from tracing data recovered using the LTTng tracer. We show that this information can be used to populate views and help developers discover interesting patterns and potential problems.
Pancreas-Preserving Approach to “Paraduodenal Pancreatitis” Treatment: Why, When, and How? Experience of Treatment of 62 Patients with Duodenal Dystrophy
Authors: Egorov V. I. , Vankovich A. N. , Petrov R. V. , Starostina N. S. , Butkevich A. Ts. , Sazhin A. V. , Stepanova E. A.
Published: June 2014

Background. The term “paraduodenal pancreatitis” (PP) was proposed as a synonym for duodenal dystrophy (DD) and groove pancreatitis, but it is still unclear what organ PP originates from and how to treat it properly.Objective. To assess the results of different types of treatment for PP.Method. Prospective analysis of 62 cases of PP (2004–2013) with histopathology of 40 specimens was performed; clinical presentation was assessed and the results of treatment were recorded.  Results. Preoperative diagnosis was correct in all the cases except one (1.9%). Patients presented with abdominal pain (100%), weight loss (76%), vomiting (30%), and jaundice (18%). CT, MRI, and endoUS were the most useful diagnostic modalities. Ten patients were treated conservatively, 24 underwent pancreaticoduodenectomies (PD), pancreatico- and cystoenterostomies (8), Nakao procedures (5), duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resections (5), and 10 pancreas-preserving duodenal resections (PPDR) without mortality. Full pain control was achieved after PPRDs in 83%, after PDs in 85%, and after PPPH resections and draining procedures in 18% of cases. Diabetes mellitus developed thrice after PD.Conclusions. PD is the main surgical option for PP treatment at present; early diagnosis makes PPDR the treatment of choice for PP; efficacy of PPDR for DD treatment provides proof that so-called PP is an entity of duodenal, but not “paraduodenal,” origin.
Impact of Bundle Structure on Performance of on-Chip CNT Interconnects
Authors: Kuruvilla Nisha , Raina J. P.
Published: June 2014

CNTs are proposed as a promising candidate against copper in deep submicron IC interconnects. Still this technology is in its infancy. Most available literatures on performance predictions of CNT interconnects, have focused only on interconnect geometries using segregated CNTs. Yet during the manufacturing phase, CNTs are obtained usually as a mixture of single-walled and multi-walled CNTs (SWCNTs and MWCNTs). Especially in case of SWCNTs; it is usually available as a mixture of both Semi conducting CNTs and metallic CNTs. This paper attempts to answer whether segregation is inevitable before using them to construct interconnects. This paper attempt to compare the performance variations of bundled CNT interconnects, where bundles are made of segregated CNTs versus mixed CNTs, for future technology nodes using electrical model based analysis. Also a proportionate mixing of different CNTs has been introduced so as to yield a set of criteria to aid the industry in selection of an appropriate bundle structure for use in a specific application with optimum performance. It was found that even the worst case performance of geometries using a mixture of SWCNTs and MWCNTs was better than copper. These results also reveal that, for extracting optimum performance vide cost matrix, the focus should be more on diameter controlled synthesis than on segregation.
Carbon Ion Beam Radiotherapy for Sinonasal Malignant Tumors Invading Skull Base
Authors: Ohta Nobuo , Suzuki Yusuke , Hasegawa Azusa , Aoyagi Masaru , Kakehata Seiji
Published: June 2014

Objective. To evaluate the treatment outcome and prognostic factors in patients with sinonasal malignant tumors invading skull base.Study Design and Setting. A retrospective clinical study at the Yamagata University School of Medicine.Subjects and Methods. Three patients with sinonasal malignant tumors invading skull base were presented in present study. All patients were treated with carbon ion beam radiotherapy. The prescribed dose to the center of the clinical target volume was 64.0 GyE/16 fractions over 4 weeks at 4.0 GyE/fraction per day.Results. All patients completed carbon ion beam radiotherapy without an interval. The mean observation period was 39.6 months (range: 11–54 months). There were no local or regional recurrences in all cases; however, one patient had a metastasis in distant organs. Regarding the complications, visual loss was observed in one eye of one patient whose optic nerve was entirely involved by the tumor and field of carbon ion beam radiotherapy. Radiation induced brain injury was observed in two patients; however, these patients do not complain about neurological abnormality and had no treatment for radiation induced brain necrosis.Conclusions. Carbon ion beam radiotherapy for sinonasal malignant tumors invading the skull base showed therapeutic effectiveness.
Intramuscular Haemangioma with Diagnostic Challenge: A Cause for Strange Pain in the Masseter Muscle
Authors: Chandrasekar Lakshmi Krithika , Sankarapandiyan Sathasivasubramanian , Pulivadula Mohanarangam Venkata Sai
Published: June 2014

Intramuscular hemangiomas are unique vascular tumors which are benign in nature, most commonly occurring in the trunk and extremities. When present in head and neck, they most frequently involve the masseter and trapezius muscles, accounting for less than 1% of all hemangiomas. Most of these lesions present with pain and discomfort and some patients may demonstrate progressive enlargement. Due to their infrequency, deep location, and unfamiliar presentation, these lesions are seldom correctly diagnosed clinically. Our report is a clinically misdiagnosed case of a painful soft tissue mass in the right side masseteric region of a 23-year-old female patient, confirmed as intramuscular hemangioma based on imaging studies and histopathologic examination, treated by surgical excision which had no recurrence after a 3-year followup.
Design of a Microgrid with Low-Voltage Ride-Through Capability and Simulation Experiment
Authors: Fan Wenchao , Wu Zaijun , Dou Xiaobo , Hu Minqiang , Wei Jieru , Lv Zhenyu
Published: June 2014

A microgrid with low-voltage ride-through capability is designed. The designed microgrid avoids operating in unplanned islanded mode during an asymmetric ground fault which occurs in the low voltage distribution network and supports fault recovery for distribution network. Furthermore, compared with the traditional microgrid topology, the proposed microgrid topology also saves a lot of power electronic devices. The simulation results with PSCAD/EMTDC show that the microgrid can keep the distributed generations and loads operate normally when an asymmetric ground fault occurs in the low voltage distribution grid. It can also increase the active power output according to the requirement of the distribution network to support the distribution network fault recovery.
A Postmarket Surveillance Study on Electro‐Neuro‐Adaptive‐Regulator Therapy
Authors: Bonello Rod P. , Cohen Marc , Reece John , Aggarwal Arun , Rigney Curtis
Published: June 2014

The Electro‐Neuro‐Adaptive‐Regulator (ENAR) device is a hand‐held electrotherapy which is applied using energetic medicine principles and aspects of acupuncture theory. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of a postmarket survey of persons who have used the ENAR device. The conditions for which the therapy was used and its perceived effectiveness are discussed. A web‐based survey of Australian recipients of ENAR therapy was completed by 481 respondents. Most (76%) used ENAR exclusively for pain relief for musculoskeletal disorders, especially back, shoulder, and neck pain; 8% used ENAR exclusively for nonmusculoskeletal disorders; while 16% used ENAR for both. Respondents reported a mean reduction in pain of 70% (t(423) = 38.73, P < .001) and functional improvement of 62% (t(423) = 10.45, P < .001) using 11‐point numerical rating scales. Following ENAR treatment, medication reduction was reported by 91% of respondents. Most respondents reported high satisfaction following ENAR therapy, with between 15 and 20% achieving complete pain relief. The self‐delivery of ENAR may, in part, account for the high level of satisfaction.
Strong Convergence to a Solution of a Variational Inequality Problem in Banach Spaces
Authors: Kimura Yasunori , Nakajo Kazuhide
Published: June 2014

We consider the variational inequality problem for a family of operators of a nonempty closed convex subset of a 2-uniformly convex Banach space with a uniformly Gâteaux differentiable norm, into its dual space. We assume some properties for the operators and get strong convergence to a common solution to the variational inequality problem by the hybrid method proposed by Haugazeau. Using these results, we obtain several results for the variational inequality problem and the proximal point algorithm.
Peak Serum AST Is a Better Predictor of Acute Liver Graft Injury after Liver Transplantation When Adjusted for Donor/Recipient BSA Size Mismatch (ASTi)
Authors: Fukazawa Kyota , Nishida Seigo , Pretto Ernesto A.
Published: June 2014

Background. Despite the marked advances in the perioperative management of the liver transplant recipient, an assessment of clinically significant graft injury following preservation and reperfusion remains difficult. In this study, we hypothesized that size-adjusted AST could better approximate real AST values and consequently provide a better reflection of the extent of graft damage, with better sensitivity and specificity than current criteria.Methods. We reviewed data on 930 orthotopic liver transplant recipients. Size-adjusted AST (ASTi) was calculated by dividing peak AST by our previously reported index for donor-recipient size mismatch, the BSAi. The predictive value of ASTi of primary nonfunction (PNF) and graft survival was assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve, logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier survival, and Cox proportional hazard model.Results. Size-adjusted peak AST (ASTi) was significantly associated with subsequent occurrence of PNF and graft failure. In our study cohort, the prediction of PNF by the combination of ASTi and PT-INR had a higher sensitivity and specificity compared to current UNOS criteria.Conclusions. We conclude that size-adjusted AST (ASTi) is a simple, reproducible, and sensitive marker of clinically significant graft damage.
On the Deformations and Derivations ofn-Ary Multiplicative Hom-Nambu-Lie Superalgebras
Authors: Guan Baoling , Chen Liangyun , Ma Yao
Published: June 2014

We introduce the relevant concepts ofn-ary multiplicative Hom-Nambu-Lie superalgebras and construct three classes ofn-ary multiplicative Hom-Nambu-Lie superalgebras. As a generalization of the notion of derivations forn-ary multiplicative Hom-Nambu-Lie algebras, we discuss the derivations ofn-ary multiplicative Hom-Nambu-Lie superalgebras. In addition, the theory of one parameter formal deformation ofn-ary multiplicative Hom-Nambu-Lie superalgebras is developed by choosing a suitable cohomology.
Measuring Contagion of Subprime Crisis Based on MVMQ-CAViaR Method
Authors: Ye Wuyi , Luo Kebing , Du Shaofu
Published: June 2014

The analysis of financial contagion is a topical issue in international finance and portfolio management. In this paper, we investigate whether the global financial crisis originating from American subprime crisis spreads to China, Japan, UK, France, and Germany. Firstly, multivariate conditional autoregressive value at risk (MV-CAViaR) models are applied to the whole sample to analyze the variation of market risk among these countries. By dividing the sampling period into three important subperiods (precrisis period, crisis period, and recovery period), we examine the changes of the dependence structure of risk during each period. Comparing with the situations in precrisis period, if the estimated coefficients become significant or market risk increases during the crisis, it implies the existence of contagion from the angle of coefficient significance or risk. The findings show that the concerned coefficients are significant or the market risks of the tested countries increase during the crisis except for China. The results imply that there is contagion from the US to all other countries, except for China. Furthermore, the changes of the market risk are found to be consistent with market events and media reports during that period.
Effects of Modified Simiao Decoction on IL‐1β and TNFα Secretion in Monocytic THP‐1 Cells with Monosodium Urate Crystals‐Induced Inflammation
Authors: Liu Ya-Fei , Tu Sheng-Hao , Chen Zhe , Wang Yu , Hu Yong-Hong , Dong Hui
Published: June 2014

Simiao pill, a Chinese herbal formula containing four herbs, has been used in the treatment of gouty arthritis for many years. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of modified Simiao decoction (MSD) on IL‐1β and TNFα secretion in monocytic THP‐1 cells with monosodium urate (MSU) crystals‐induced inflammation. The MSU crystals‐induced inflammation model in THP‐1 cells was successfully established by the stimulation of phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA) and MSU crystals. Then, the MSD‐derived serum or control serum extracted from rat was administered to different treatment groups. The morphology of MSU crystals and THP‐1 cells was observed. IL‐1β and TNFα protein expression in supernatant of THP‐1 cells were determined by ELISA. Our data demonstrated that MSU crystals induced time‐dependent increase of IL‐1β and TNFα. Moreover, MSD significantly decreased IL‐1β release in THP‐1 cells with MSU crystals‐induced inflammation. These results suggest that MSD is promising in the treatment of MSU crystals‐induced inflammation in THP‐1 cells. MSD may act as an anti‐IL‐1 agent in treating gout. The underlying mechanism may be related to NALP3 inflammasome which needs to be validated in future studies.
Evaluation and Prediction of the HIV-1 Central Polypurine Tract Influence on Foamy Viral Vectors to Transduce Dividing and Growth-Arrested Cells
Authors: Shityakov Sergey , Förster Carola , Rethwilm Axel , Dandekar Thomas
Published: June 2014

Retroviral vectors are potent tools for gene delivery and various biomedical applications. To accomplish a gene transfer task successfully, retroviral vectors must effectively transduce diverse cell cultures at different phases of a cell cycle. However, very promising retroviral vectors based on the foamy viral (FV) backbone lack the capacity to efficiently transduce quiescent cells. It is hypothesized that this phenomenon might be explained as the inability of foamy viruses to form a pre-integration complex (PIC) with nuclear import activity in growth-arrested cells, which is the characteristic for lentiviruses (HIV-1). In this process, the HIV-1 central polypurine tract (cPPT) serves as a primer for plus-strand synthesis to produce a “flap” element and is believed to be crucial for the subsequent double-stranded cDNA formation of all retroviral RNA genomes. In this study, the effects of the lentiviral cPPT element on the FV transduction potential in dividing and growth-arrested (G1/S phase) adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial (A549) cells are investigated by experimental and theoretical methods. The results indicated that the HIV-1 cPPT element in a foamy viral vector background will lead to a significant reduction of the FV transduction and viral titre in growth-arrested cells due to the absence of PICs with nuclear import activity.
RCAN1 Regulates Mitochondrial Function and Increases Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress in Mammalian Cells
Authors: Peiris Heshan , Dubach Daphne , Jessup Claire F. , Unterweger Petra , Raghupathi Ravinarayan , Muyderman Hakan , Zanin Mark P. , Mackenzie Kimberly , Pritchard Melanie A. , Keating Damien J.
Published: June 2014

Mitochondria are the primary site of cellular energy generation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Elevated ROS levels are detrimental to normal cell function and have been linked to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Down's syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). RCAN1 is abundantly expressed in the brain and overexpressed in brain of DS and AD patients. Data from nonmammalian species indicates that increased RCAN1 expression results in altered mitochondrial function and that RCAN1 may itself regulate neuronal ROS production. In this study, we have utilized mice overexpressing RCAN1RCAN1oxand demonstrate an increased susceptibility of neurons from these mice to oxidative stress. Mitochondria from these mice are more numerous and smaller, indicative of mitochondrial dysfunction, and mitochondrial membrane potential is altered under conditions of oxidative stress. We also generated a PC12 cell line overexpressing RCAN1PC12RCAN1. Similar toRCAN1oxneurons,PC12RCAN1cells have an increased susceptibility to oxidative stress and produce more mitochondrial ROS. This study demonstrates that increasing RCAN1 expression alters mitochondrial function and increases the susceptibility of neurons to oxidative stress in mammalian cells. These findings further contribute to our understanding of RCAN1 and its potential role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as AD and DS.
The Cytotoxicity of Benzaldehyde Nitrogen Mustard-2-Pyridine Carboxylic Acid Hydrazone Being Involved in Topoisomerase IIαInhibition
Authors: Fu Yun , Zhou Sufeng , Liu Youxun , Yang Yingli , Sun Xingzhi , Li Changzheng
Published: June 2014

The antitumor property of iron chelators and aromatic nitrogen mustard derivatives has been well documented. Combination of the two pharmacophores in one molecule in drug designation is worth to be explored. We reported previously the syntheses and preliminary cytotoxicity evaluation of benzaldehyde nitrogen mustard pyridine carboxyl acid hydrazones (BNMPH) as extended study, more tumor cell lines (IC50for HepG2: 26.1 ± 3.5 μM , HCT-116: 57.5 ± 5.3 μM, K562: 48.2 ± 4.0 μM, and PC-12: 19.4 ± 2.2 μM) were used to investigate its cytotoxicity and potential mechanism.In vitroexperimental data showed that the BNMPH chelating Fe2+caused a large number of ROS formations which led to DNA cleavage, and this was further supported by comet assay, implying that ROS might be involved in the cytotoxicity of BNMPH. The ROS induced changes of apoptosis related genes, but the TFR1 and NDRG1 metastatic genes were not obviously regulated, prompting that BNMPH might not be able to deprive Fe2+of ribonucleotide reductase. The BNMPH induced S phase arrest was different from that of iron chelators (G1) and alkylating agents (G2). BNMPH also exhibited its inhibition of human topoisomerase IIα. Those revealed that the cytotoxic mechanism of the BNMPH could stem from both the topoisomerase II inhibition, ROS generation and DNA alkylation.
Reliability-Based Robust Design of Mechanical Components with Correlated Failure Modes Based on Moment Method
Authors: Lu Hao , He Yonghui , Zhang Yimin
Published: June 2014

There are usually several potential failure modes in mechanical components. The conventional model for the system analysis is built under the condition that all failure modes are independent of each other. However, in engineering practice, failure modes are mostly dependent due to the fact that the elements involved in each failure mode are closely interrelated. System reliability analysis and evaluation simply conducted under independent assumption often result in excessive errors or even wrong conclusion. A novel method to evaluate system reliability of mechanical components with multiple failure modes based on moment method are proposed here. Firstly, the moment-based reliability and reliability sensitivity analysis method is proposed with independent assumption. Secondly, the proposed method is deduced by taking the correlation between failure modes into account and the correlation model is established with the copula function, which is proved to be a useful tool to model nonlinear correlation with marginal distributions. The robust design is performed as a biobjection optimization process based on the reliability sensitivity. The numerical examples show that the applied procedure is able to efficiently consider various failure modes of mechanical components in probabilistic assessment and reliability-based optimization.
Effect of Experimentally Induced Hepatic and Renal Failure on the Pharmacokinetics of Topiramate in Rats
Authors: Matar Kamal M. , Tayem Yasin I.
Published: June 2014

We aimed to investigate the effect of induced hepatic and renal failure on the pharmacokinetics of topiramate (TPM) in rats. Twenty-four Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. Renal or hepatic failure was induced by a single i.p. dose of 7.5 mg/kg cisplatin (n=8) or 0.5 mL/kg carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) (n=8), respectively. Three days after cisplatin dose or 24 h after CCl4dose, the rats were administered a single oral dose of 20 mg/kg TPM. The plasma samples were quantified by LC-MS/MS method. Compared to control, plasma concentration-time profile in CCl4-treated and, to a lesser extent, in cisplatin-treated rats decreased more slowly particularly in the elimination phase. TPM oral clearance (CL/F) in CCl4-treated group was significantly lower than that in control (P<0.001), whereasAUC0−∞, T1/2, and Vd/F were significantly higher in CCl4-treated rats compared to the control (P<0.01). The CL/F was not significantly different between cisplatin-treated rats and control (P>0.05). However, in cisplatin-treated rats, the T1/2 and Vd/F were significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). Both conditions failed to cause a significant effect onCmaxorTmax. The present findings suggest that induced hepatic or renal failure could modify the pharmacokinetic profile of TPM in the rat.
Autoregressive Prediction with Rolling Mechanism for Time Series Forecasting with Small Sample Size
Authors: Wang Zhihua , Zhang Yongbo , Fu Huimin
Published: June 2014

Reasonable prediction makes significant practical sense to stochastic and unstable time series analysis with small or limited sample size. Motivated by the rolling idea in grey theory and the practical relevance of very short‐term forecasting or 1‐step‐ahead prediction, a novel autoregressive (AR) prediction approach with rolling mechanism is proposed. In the modeling procedure, a new developed AR equation, which can be used to model nonstationary time series, is constructed in each prediction step. Meanwhile, the data window, for the next step ahead forecasting, rolls on by adding the most recent derived prediction result while deleting the first value of the former used sample data set. This rolling mechanism is an efficient technique for its advantages of improved forecasting accuracy, applicability in the case of limited and unstable data situations, and requirement of little computational effort. The general performance, influence of sample size, nonlinearity dynamic mechanism, and significance of the observed trends, as well as innovation variance, are illustrated and verified with Monte Carlo simulations. The proposed methodology is then applied to several practical data sets, including multiple building settlement sequences and two economic series.
Numerical Simulation on Slabs Dislocation of Zipingpu Concrete Faced Rockfill Dam during the Wenchuan Earthquake Based on a Generalized Plasticity Model
Authors: Xu Bin , Zhou Yang , Zou Degao
Published: June 2014

After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, the Zipingpu concrete faced rockfill dam (CFRD) was found slabs dislocation between different stages slabs and the maximum value reached 17 cm. This is a new damage pattern and did not occur in previous seismic damage investigation. Slabs dislocation will affect the seepage control system of the CFRD gravely and even the safety of the dam. Therefore, investigations of the slabs dislocation’s mechanism and development might be meaningful to the engineering design of the CFRD. In this study, based on the previous studies by the authors, the slabs dislocation phenomenon of the Zipingpu CFRD was investigated. The procedure and constitutive model of materials used for finite element analysis are consistent. The water elevation, the angel, and the strength of the construction joints were among major variables of investigation. The results indicated that the finite element procedure based on a modified generalized plasticity model and a perfect elastoplastic interface model can be used to evaluate the dislocation damage of face slabs of concrete faced rockfill dam during earthquake. The effects of the water elevation, the angel, and the strength of the construction joints are issues of major design concern under seismic loading.