bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DOUBLE SHEAR TEST BEHAVIOUR OF BALAU SPECIES FOR DIFFERENT END DISTANCE
Authors: Abd Malek Nor Jihan , Hassan Rohana , Mohamed Ali Elamin , Shakimon Mohd Nizam
Published: May 2016

Timber connection is the most important part in timber structural building. In design, it depends on parameter criteria such as bolt diameter, bolt spacing, edge and end distance. End distance is one of design criteria that will influence mechanical timber joint such in single and double shear. This study focuses for a single fastener joint loaded in double shear with 12mm and 16mm bolt diameters having 30mm and 40mm end distance respectively. Double shear test was conducted on Balau timber species and the finding also focuses on the pattern failure modes with reference to European Yield Model (EYM) theory according to National Design Specification (NDS) 2005. It shows that the joint ability to withstand load decreased when the bolt diameter and end distance smaller and conversely with larger bolt diameter. The failure behavior for 12mm diameter tends to fail into category IIIs which described two plastic hinges formed with crushing of wood fibres in the side members. While, 16mm diameter bolt tends to fail under categories of mode Is which dowel bearing failure or crushing of the side members. Eventually, 12mm bolt diameter produces lower shear strength compared to 16mm bolt diameter.
WASTE MANAGEMENT – REVERSE LOGISTICS THAILAND PREPARING FOR ASEAN
Authors: Gruenwald Hermann
Published: May 2016

With the Advent of ASEAN municipal solid waste (MSW) is estimated to increase 2-4% per year benchmarking waste management practices becomes of interest for the partner countries. This study surveyed logistics professionals from various parts ofThailandto obtain their feedback regarding waste management practices in their specific geographic location in terms of collection, transportation and disposal of the household and commercial waste.Refuse is collected in containers of various shapes and sizes ranging from baskets to metal and plastic garbage tons and dumpsters. The garbage truck size and type varies throughout Thailand but is more or less consistent within a municipality, rear loading with a crew of four including driver appears to be the standard, with sorting of garbage taking place at the truck at time of collection.
DIFFERENT GLUELINE THICKNESSES PULL-OUT BEHAVIOUR OF MENGKULANG GLULAM
Authors: Raja Hussin Tengku Anita , Vincent Oon , Hassan Rohana
Published: May 2016

Timber connection is still facing inadequacy of engineering studies. Mechanical and adhesive joints are the two main types of connections being used for timber connection. In this study, pull-out strength test is carried to determine the best glue line thickness and the failure modes occur. Three different glue-line thicknesses of 2mm, 3mm and 4mm was tested with holes thicknesses of 14mm, 16mm and 18mm  respectively were drilled on 9 with 3 specimens of each thickness. This test is carried out until failure in the specimen by using the Universal Testing Machine with load capacity of 1000kN and at the rate of 2mm/min. Phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde (PRF) is the adhesive used for the strengthening purposes with ratio of PRF hardener and resin of 1:5 was used in this experiment. The dowel glued-in steel dowel is 10 mm in diameter from S 235 steel type. For the results; The data shows that glue line thickness of 2mm does generate the highest maximum load compared to 3mm and 4mm of glue line thickness with the value of 2.394kN compared to 2.223kN and 1.789kN respectively. However, glue line thickness of 3mm shows highest breaking load of 1.714kN compared to 1.631kN of 2mm glue line thickness and 1.454kN of 4mm glue line thickness. Therefore, it is proven that the 2mm glue line thickness is more superior in strength and shear stress than 3mm and 4mm of glue line thickness.
SLOPE FAILURE INVESTIGATION USING ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY PROFILING
Authors: Awang Haryati , Abu Bakar Ilyani Akmar , Ismail Fauzilah , Alisibramulisi Anizahyati , Benjamin Emanuel
Published: May 2016

This study elaborates on the destructive and non-destructive test methods in investigation of slope failure. Borehole method is the conventional destructive test method which commonly used to investigate the slope failure. Due to the sensitivity of the slope failure, the non-destructive investigation was conducted using electrical resistivity method. Both methods were used to investigate the slope failure area and to obtain the engineering properties of the study area. Field resistivity test was carried out using ABEM Terrameter SAS400 instrument for resistivity profiling. Borehole drilling works were conducted to provide bore log data. The results of resistivity are illustrated in imaging profile and engineering properties such as soil classifications, moisture content, soil hardness and SPT N-value were analysed from the laboratory tests. In order to develop the relationships of both resistivity and engineering properties, a comparison between soil hardness and resistivity value was determined. The findings of this study show that both methods are reliable to investigate the slope failure via sub-surface profile and engineering properties.
THE FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING OF GLULAM TROPICAL TIMBER BEAM IN BENDING
Authors: Shakimon Mohd Nizam , Abd Malek Nor Jihan , Hassan Rohana , Ahmad Zakiah
Published: May 2016

A full scale bending testing of glued laminated (glulam) timber beam can be costly and time consuming.  Therefore, computer modeling is an economical and an efficient tool to achieve the result within the acceptable accuracy. Among other modeling techniques, the finite element modeling (FEM) is widely used for its reliability to simulate and to verify the behaviour of structural elements exactly in the same way the elements perform in the experimental test. Further results of different structural element dimensions or materials can be predicted by modifying the input parameters that are of interest to the study.  This study presents the verification of FEM with experimental bending test results on simply supported glulam timber beams made of Keruing and Resak species. The two dimensional (2D) FEM with LUSAS 14.3 software was used. The verification showed an acceptable agreement between the FEM and the experimental results.
INVESTIGATION ON THE WATER ABSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF PLYWOOD MANUFACTURED USING VENEERS FROM OIL PALM STEM
Authors: Khalid Hasmawi , Ahmad Zakiah , Md. Tahir Paridah , Kasim Jamaludin
Published: May 2016

There are four main weaknesses in using Oil Palm Stem (OPS) as a material for plywood manufacturing. High variation in density, moisture contents (MC), high water absorption and surface roughness. This paper report the investigation on the effect of water on physical properties of OPS plywood (PTA) namely water absorption, thickness swelling and delamination. These properties were compared with the properties of another two types of commercial OPS plywood denoted as PTB and PTC which were manufactured using OPS veneer with tropical hardwood veneer for face and back veneer and control plywood denoted as PTD which was manufactured using 100% tropical hardwood veneer. The results showed that PTA has lowest value of water absorption but has highest value of thickness swelling and delaminating.
FLEXURAL PROPERTIES OF COMPRESSION MOULDED KENAF POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITE
Authors: Abdul Aziz Nurul Faiizin , Ibrahim Azmi , Ahmad Zakiah , Dahan Rozana
Published: May 2016

The use of natural fibres at high percentages of loading in thermoplastic composites for the production of sustainable and green materials in consumer goods, furniture, automotive industry and construction industry is encourage. Several studies have been conducted by many researchers to improve the mechanical properties of the fibres and the fibre-matrix interface for better bonding and load transfer especially when high fibre loading is used. The natural fibre hydrophilic properties make the poor interface and poor resistance to moisture absorption when used to reinforce hydrophobic matrices. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of different surface treatment of kenaf bast fibre on the flexural strength of kenaf polyethylene composite (KPC). These composites, made using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) as the matrix polymer, kenaf core and kenaf bast fibre as the reinforcing filler at different percentages of filler and maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE) as compatibilizing agents. Overall, KPCs with bast fibre treated with 0.06M MgCl2 and 0.06M NaOH enhanced the flexural strength of the composites as compared to untreated bast fibre in the composite. Besides, the flexural properties of the KPCs significantly decreased with increasing kenaf bast fibre content, due to the reduction of interface bond between the fibre and matrix.
IP25 AND BRASSICASTEROL: THE BIOMARKER AS ICE PROXY FOR THE SEA ICE COVERING IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN
Authors: Manurung Adelina
Published: May 2016

Stable biomolecules play an important role in the oceans because they can be used to determine the origin and the translocation of the organic material such as sterols which are synthesized by plants. In recent times, a major focus has been on a new biomarker in the high latitudes, a highly branched Isoprenoid (HBI) as the new sea ice proxy 2,6,10,14-tetramethyl-7-(3-methylpent-4-enyl) Pentadecane (IP25, Ice Proxy with 25 carbon atoms). The stability of the proxies such as sterols and HBI is important because only an almost inert character of the molecules ensures its reproducible use as biomarker proxy.In this research, different analytical methods were used to check whether these components actually fulfill the requirements of duration and storage to be stable that possible degradation processes such as microbial degradation and autoxidation. However, duration and storage are proven negligible or can be treated as the secondary essential factors. For this purpose, samples of a sediment core from the continental shelf of the East Siberian Sea were analyzed. Samples from this core were stored (1) deep frozen directly after sampling (-30°C) and (2) at 5°C for an extended time period.The results show that the degradation processes are negligible or least only of secondary importance. The concentrations of the biomarker show good correlations. The ratio between Brassicasterol and IP25 (PIP25-Index) is not affected by the different storages. In addition, all measurements using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry result in nearly the same concentrations of the compounds.
USING ASSOCIATION RULES TO STUDY PATTERNS OF MEDICINE USE IN THAI ADULT DEPRESSED PATIENTS
Authors: Sukontavaree Chumpoonuch , Lertnattee Verayuth
Published: May 2016

Depression is a mental disorder which is characterized by feeling of guilt, suicidal tendencies and disturbed bodily functions. In 2002, depression is ranked as the fourth of disease burden in worldwide and it will be changed to the second rank in 2030. Furthermore, more than 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. Clinician staffs must take care of patients closely because these patients have medication adherence problem. To alleviate this problem, an adherence training program is introduced. Due to the limitation of budget and clinical stuffs, it is hard to educate all depressed patients. To deal with this problem, a method for finding rules of medicine use is proposed in three steps, The first step is finding the commonly used medicines with their adherences. In the second step, two groups of patients are classified, i.e., adherence and non-adherence groups for each commonly used medicines. For the last step, association rules are applied on each group of patients. From results, fluoxetine is a popular medicine for treatment depression. The numbers of medicines for a non-adherent group are more than those of an adherent group. Several patterns of drug interactions are found. These patterns should be reported to clinical staffs. In conclusion, results from the proposed method are applied for selecting a set of patients and drugs, which are filled in the adherence training program.
SELECTIVITY OF CANDIDA RUGOSA LIPASE IMMOBILIZED ONTO LAYERED DOUBLE HYDROXIDES AS CATALYST IN SYNTHESIS OF FATTY ACID ESTERS
Authors: Abdul Rahman Mohd Basyaruddin , Othman Siti Salhah , Md Yunus Noor Mona
Published: May 2016

The enzymatic selectivity of Lipase from Candida rugosa immobilized onto a calcined layered double hydroxide (CLDHs-CRL) towards the chain-length of fatty acids and alcohols in the synthesis of fatty acid esters was investigated.  The results showed that CMAN-CRL catalyzed the esterification process with fatty acids of medium chain lengths (C10-C14) effectively while, CNAN-CRL and CZAN-CRL exhibited high percentage conversion in fatty acids with carbon chain lengths of C8-C12 and C10-C18, respectively. In the alcohol selectivity study, CMAN-CRL showed high selectivity toward alcohols with carbon chain lengths of C4, C6 and C10.  On the other hand, both CNAN-CRL and CZAN-CRL exhibited rather low selectivity towards longer carbon chain length of alcohols.
Long‐term leucine supplementation aggravates prolonged strenuous exercise‐induced cardiovascular changes in trained rats
Authors: dos Santos Gustavo Barbosa , de Oliveira André Gustavo , Ramos Luiz Alberto Ferreira , Gomes‐Marcondes Maria Cristina Cintra , Areas Miguel Arcanjo
Published: May 2016

New Findings

What is the central question of this study?

Can long‐term leucine supplementation prevent prolonged strenuous endurance exercise induced cardiac injury?

What is the main finding and its importance?

Prolonged endurance exercise does not seem to exceed cardiac energetic capacity, hence it does not represent an energy threat to this organ, at least in trained subjects. However, it may induce, in susceptible individuals, a state of cardiac electrical instability, which has been associated with ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. This situation might be worsened when combined with leucine supplementation, which leads to increased blood pressure and cardiac injury. Leucine supplementation failed to prevent cardiac fatigue symptoms and may aggravate prolonged strenuous exercise‐induced cardiovascular disturbances in trained rats.

Observational studies have raised concerns that prolonged strenuous exercise training may be associated with increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia and even primary cardiac arrest or sudden death. It has been demonstrated that leucine can reduce prolonged exercise‐induced muscle damage and accelerate the recovery process. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of prolonged strenuous endurance exercise on cardiovascular parameters and biomarkers of cardiac injury in trained adult male rats and assess the use of leucine as an auxiliary substance to prevent the likely cardiac adverse effects caused by strenuous exercise. Twenty‐four male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to receive a balanced control diet (18% protein) or a leucine‐rich diet (15% protein plus 3% leucine) for 6 weeks. The rats were submitted to 1 h of exercise, 5 days per week for 6 weeks. Three days after the training period, the rats were submitted to swimming exercise until exhaustion, and cardiac parameters were assessed. Exercising until exhaustion significantly increased cardiac biomarker levels, cytokines and glycogen content inhibited protein synthesis signalling and led to cardiac electrical disturbances. When combined with exercise, leucine supplementation led to greater increases in the aforementioned parameters and also a significant increase in blood pressure and protein degradation signalling. We report, for the first time, that leucine supplementation not only fails to prevent cardiac fatigue symptoms, but may also aggravate prolonged strenuous exercise‐induced cardiovascular disturbances in trained rats. Furthermore, we find that exercising until exhaustion can cause cardiac electrical disturbances and damage cardiac myocytes.
Quantitative Characterization of Dynamic Heterogeneity in Reservoirs With Stratified Noncommunicating Layers
Authors: Liu Yongge , Liu Huiqing , Hou Jian , Wang Qing , Dong Kai
Published: May 2016

Due to the difference of permeability in reservoir and viscosities between oil and water, oil displacement efficiencies at different locations differ significantly. Also, along with the water flooding process, the differences of oil displacement efficiencies change in time and manifest dynamic characteristics, which is called dynamic heterogeneity in this paper. A new parameter called “conductivity index” (IC) is defined, and the Gini coefficient of IC (GCIC) is selected to quantitatively characterize the dynamic heterogeneity in reservoirs with stratified noncommunicating layers. Then, the changing laws and influential factors of GCIC are investigated by physical experiments and numerical simulation methods. Finally, the application of dynamic heterogeneity in individual-layer water injection technique is studied. Based on the theory of seepage flow mechanics, the formula of IC is derived. IC not only contains static parameters including permeability, water, and oil viscosity but also contains dynamic parameters including water and oil relative permeabilities, which are both function of water saturation and also function of rock type. Therefore, IC can reflect the dynamic heterogeneity caused by water flooding process. A five parallel sandpacks' water flooding experiment is conducted to investigate the changes of dynamic heterogeneity. Results show that the value of GCIC increases rapidly before the water breakthrough of the sandpack with highest permeability. Then, after water breakthrough, GCIC decreases slowly. A new parameter GCI is defined to represent the average increase of GCIC during the water flooding process. By numerical simulation method, the influences of Gini coefficient of permeability (GCP) and oil viscosity on GCI are studied. Results show that GCI increases along with the increase of oil viscosity. And GCI first increases and then decreases along with the increase of GCP. When GCP equals 0.6, GCI gets its maximum value. Taking block P of Shengli Oilfield in China, for example, the changes of dynamic heterogeneity along the water flooding process are studied. Results show that the dynamic heterogeneity of each well group varies greatly before and after water flooding. For some well groups, the relative sizes of GCIC even reverse. The performances of different cases in individual-layer water injection technique are investigated by numerical simulation method. Results show that the case both considering dynamic heterogeneity and the remaining oil volume gets the best performance.
Energy Conservation Via Greywater Reuse for Power Plant Cooling and Wastes Minimization
Authors: Wong Kaufui , Pape Marie Jacqueline
Published: May 2016

Sustainable engineering brings about multidisciplinary solutions to environmental, sociocultural, and economic needs. Sustainable methods and technologies ensure the effectiveness of products, designs, and infrastructure, and minimize waste. Managing waste is critical in the successful practice of sustainable engineering. Success in the implementation of a waste management program must consider a very important strategy, namely, waste reduction which is highly dependent on social stewardship, education, and waste conversion. A sustainable program mix must include public policy, health management, and engineering. This paper presents a number of proven sources and techniques for wastes minimization and conversion and a discussion about the development of effective decision-making tools to implement the most feasible and cost-effective applications. Specifically, the conversion of waste as a resource is presented including the use of wastewater (greywater) for condenser cooling in a power plant; conversion of restaurant grease into biodiesel; the use of phosphate mine tailings as a road surface material; recycling and reuse of glass, metal, and plastics; reuse of rare metals from discarded computers; and the use of cattle waste as building materials. In all of these, the conservation of energy is realized practically. More emphasis has been focused on the use of greywater because it has direct impact on the energy–water nexus.
Three-dimensional ultrasound radiance mode imaging of a uterine lipoleiomyoma.
Authors: Raga Francisco , Cholvi Sara , Esquembre Maria José , Boigues Diana , Lucas Carolina , Bonilla-Musoles Fernando
Published: May 2016

In this case report the diagnosis of a uterine lipoleiomyoma is depicted by means of a three-dimensional radiance mode. The advent of radiance or silhouette mode as a new tool in ultrasound diagnosis is intended to assist by generating additional realistic image visualization and a better distinction among different tissues.
Qualitative strain elastography – strain ratio evaluation - an important tool in breast cancer diagnostic
Authors: Stoian Dana , Timar Bogdan , Craina Marius , Bernad Elena , Petre Izabela , Craciunescu Mihaela
Published: May 2016

Aims: To assess the quality of real time elastography as a differential diagnosis tool for breast nodules and to compare it with standard ultrasonography. Material and methods: In this prospective study we enrolled 174 patients in which 174 dominant breast nodules were considered for the final diagnosis. The results of ultrasonography and real time elastography, both qualitative and quantitative, were compared with pathology findings from the biopsy specimens. Results: Pathology examinations determined 102 nodules were benign and 72 malignant. Qualitative elastography had a better diagnostic performance (82.4% sensitivity and 81.9% specificity) than ultrasonography plus Doppler evaluation (70.3% sensitivity and 73.5% specificity). Quantitative elastography, assessed using the fat-to-lesion ratio, was a good discriminant for malignancy (AUROC = 0.93, p < 0.001). Our results pointed to an optimal threshold for malignancy of > 4.88; by using this threshold, the diagnostic reliability of the fat-to-lesion ratio was better than both ultrasonography and qualitative elastography (86.5% sensitivity and 90.4% specificity). Conclusion: Real time elastography is superior to ultrasonography in diagnosing malignant breast nodules. The evaluation of nodules using a fat-to-lesion ratio was a better discriminant for malignancy than qualitative elastography.
Ultrasound: “one stop shop” in hepatology
Authors: Sporea Ioan
Published: May 2016

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Kurtosis of room impulse responses as a diffuseness measure for reverberation chambers
Authors: Jeong Cheol-Ho
Published: May 2016

This study presents a kurtosis analysis of room impulse responses as a potential room diffuseness measure. The early part of an impulse response contains a direct sound and strong reflections. As these reflections are sparse and strong, the sound field is unlikely to be diffuse. Such deterministic reflections are extreme events, which prevent the pressure samples from being distributed Gaussianly, leading to a high kurtosis. This indicates that the kurtosis can be used as a diffuseness measure. Two rooms are analyzed. A non-uniform surface absorption distribution tends to increase the kurtosis significantly in a small room. A full scale reverberation chamber is tested with different diffuser settings, which shows that the kurtosis calculated from broadband impulse responses from 125 Hz to 4 kHz has a good correlation with the Sabine absorption coefficient according to ISO 354 (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2003).
Following the trail of lipids: Signals initiated by PI3K function at multiple cellular membranes
Authors: Naguib Adam
Published: May 2016

Phosphatidylinositol lipid signaling serves multiple functions at the plasma membrane and internal membranes.
Bile Acids Function Synergistically To Repress Invasion Gene Expression in Salmonella by Destabilizing the Invasion Regulator HilD
Authors: Eade Colleen R. , Hung Chien-Che , Bullard Brian , Gonzalez-Escobedo Geoffrey , Gunn John S. , Altier Craig
Published: May 2016

Salmonella
spp. are carried by and can acutely infect agricultural animals and humans. After ingestion, salmonellae traverse the upper digestive tract and initiate tissue invasion of the distal ileum, a virulence process carried out by the type III secretion system encoded within
Salmonella
pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1). Salmonellae coordinate SPI-1 expression with anatomical location via environmental cues, one of which is bile, a complex digestive fluid that causes potent repression of SPI-1 genes. The individual components of bile responsible for SPI-1 repression have not been previously characterized, nor have the bacterial signaling processes that modulate their effects been determined. Here, we characterize the mechanism by which bile represses SPI-1 expression. Individual bile acids exhibit repressive activity on SPI-1-regulated genes that requires neither passive diffusion nor OmpF-mediated entry. By using genetic methods, the effects of bile and bile acids were shown to require the invasion gene transcriptional activator
hilD
and to function independently of known upstream signaling pathways. Protein analysis techniques showed that SPI-1 repression by bile acids is mediated by posttranslational destabilization of HilD. Finally, we found that bile acids function synergistically to achieve the overall repressive activity of bile. These studies demonstrate a common mechanism by which diverse environmental cues (e.g., certain short-chain fatty acids and bile acids) inhibit SPI-1 expression. These data provide information relevant to
Salmonella
pathogenesis during acute infection in the intestine and during chronic infection of the gallbladder and inform the basis for development of therapeutics to inhibit invasion as a means of repressing
Salmonella
pathogenicity.
Regulatory Requirements for Staphylococcus aureus Nitric Oxide Resistance
Authors: Grosser Melinda R. , Weiss Andy , Shaw Lindsey N. , Richardson Anthony R.
Published: May 2016

The ability of
Staphylococcus aureus
to resist host innate immunity augments the severity and pervasiveness of its pathogenesis. Nitric oxide (NO˙) is an innate immune radical that is critical for the efficient clearance of a wide range of microbial pathogens. Exposure of microbes to NO˙ typically results in growth inhibition and induction of stress regulons.
S. aureus
, however, induces a metabolic state in response to NO˙ that allows for continued replication and precludes stress regulon induction. The regulatory factors mediating this distinctive response remain largely undefined. Here, we employ a targeted transposon screen and transcriptomics to identify and characterize five regulons essential for NO˙ resistance in
S. aureus
: three virulence regulons not formerly associated with NO˙ resistance, SarA, CodY, and Rot, as well as two regulons with established roles, Fur and SrrAB. We provide new insights into the contributions of Fur and SrrAB during NO˙ stress and show that the
S. aureus
Δ
sarA
mutant, the most sensitive of the newly identified mutants, exhibits metabolic dysfunction and widespread transcriptional dysregulation following NO˙ exposure. Altogether, our results broadly characterize the regulatory requirements for NO˙ resistance in
S. aureus
and suggest an intriguing overlap between the regulation of NO˙ resistance and virulence in this well-adapted human pathogen.

IMPORTANCE
The prolific human pathogen
Staphylococcus aureus
is uniquely capable of resisting the antimicrobial radical nitric oxide (NO˙), a crucial component of the innate immune response. However, a complete understanding of how
S. aureus
regulates an effective response to NO˙ is lacking. Here, we implicate three central virulence regulators, SarA, CodY, and Rot, as major players in the
S. aureus
NO˙ response. Additionally, we elaborate on the contribution of two regulators, SrrAB and Fur, already known to play a crucial role in
S. aureus
NO˙ resistance. Our study sheds light on a unique facet of
S. aureus
pathogenicity and demonstrates that the transcriptional response of
S. aureus
to NO˙ is highly pleiotropic and intrinsically tied to metabolism and virulence regulation.
Infinitely generated semigroups and polynomial complexity
Authors: Birget J. C.
Published: May 2016

This paper continues the functional approach to the [Formula: see text]-vs.-[Formula: see text] problem, begun in [J. C. Birget, Semigroups and one-way functions, Internat. J. Algebra Comput. 25 (1–2) (2015) 3–36]. Here, we focus on the monoid [Formula: see text] of right-ideal morphisms of the free monoid, that have polynomial input balance and polynomial time-complexity. We construct a machine model for the functions in [Formula: see text], and evaluation functions. We prove that, [Formula: see text] is not finitely generated, and use this to show separation results for time-complexity.
Nano-Impact Tests with Ultra-High Strain Rate Loading Using Graphene and Ion Impact
Authors: Chen Shu Jian , Yao Xu Pei , Lu Guoxing , Ma Guowei , Duan Wen Hui
Published: May 2016

Strain rate is essential in study of the physics of fluids and solids undergoing deformation. State-of-art high strain rate tests have mainly been in macro-scale with an upper limit of [Formula: see text]. A graphene-based layered system is proposed to conduct nanometer-scale high strain rate testing. The process is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Accelerated single ion or group of ions are used to impact on the proposed system to generate ballistic or plate-like impact scenarios. The effects of impact energy, shape of impact absorber and the impaction location are investigated. The graphene layer is the key of the proposed system to spread the load and protect the sample. The results indicate that ion group and single ion impacts produce strain rates of [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text], respectively. Ion group impact produces a more significant signal than single ion impact on the sensing nano-layer in the system. The ultimate strength of an Al-Cu alloy sample during ion impact is estimated to be 215[Formula: see text]MPa to 251[Formula: see text]MPa, significantly lower than predicted by the Johnson–Cook model because of the rapidly increased temperature and melting in the sample. The results demonstrate new possibilities for understanding high strain rate effects at nano-scale.
Hybrid Natural Element Method for Elastic Large Deformation Problems
Authors: Ma Yongqi , Zhou Yankai , Dong Yi , Feng Wei
Published: May 2016

Elastic large deformation analysis based on the hybrid natural element method (HNEM) is presented in this paper. The natural neighbor interpolation is adopted to construct the shape functions for the HNEM. The incremental formulation of Hellinger–Reissner variational principle is used to derive discrete system of incremental equations under the total Lagrangian formulation. And the Newton-Raphson iteration is applied to solve these incremental equations. Compared with the natural element method (NEM), the HNEM can directly obtain nodal stresses of higher precision, which will bring advantage in the iteration process and improve computational efficiency in solving elastic large deformation problems. Some numerical examples demonstrate the validity of the HNEM for elastic large deformation problems.
A Multiple-Mechanism-Based Model for Prediction of Yield Strength in Bicrystals
Authors: Huang Gan-Yun , Peng Xiang-Long
Published: May 2016

Different mechanisms such as glide of lattice dislocation and grain boundary mediated processes may be active during the plastic deformation of polycrystals with small grain size. A continuum model for polycrystal plasticity has been developed to capture such a feature. Specifically, the strain gradient effect due to dislocation pile-up, dislocation emission/absorption at surface and grain boundary sliding have been taken into account from the perspective of energy storage. As an application of the model, a bicrystal under plane constrained shear has been considered. The dependence of yield strength on the thickness of the bicrystal has been investigated. It has been demonstrated the present model predicts the yield strength of the bicrystal first increases and then decrease with decrease in the thickness, which is similar to the inverse Hall–Petch behavior but with a different scaling. Such behavior is attributed to the transition in different dominant deformation mechanisms at different values of the thickness.
On the Dependency of Ductile Damage Evolution to Stress State with Shock Loading Pre-Mechanical Working in 7075-T6 Aluminum Alloy
Authors: Rad Sina Gohari , Alitavoli Majid , Zajkani Asghar , Darvizeh Abolfazl
Published: May 2016

In this paper, the evolution of a ductile damage in the 7075-T6 aluminum alloy is considered based on stress state parameters with a special focus on pre-mechanical working dependency. Uniaxial stress–strain curves are investigated experimentally for two conditions; specimens with shock loaded pre-mechanical working and without it. This kind of loading is applied in order to find out impulsive pressure effects of damage variation procedure. Some experiments are done to take different stress states. Applying two fracture initiations criteria, i.e., Hosford–Coulomb and Xue models, two types of fracture locus of Al-7075-T6 are predicted in terms of plastic strains and stress state parameters under above conditions. By considering experimental data, a new ductile damage evolution model is proposed among plastic behavior. It is introduced by explicating an uncoupled plasticity and related to initial rate dependent stress state. By using both fracture models, our damage evolution model is implemented, phenomenologically as well as the Xue damage model, to compare results.
From Image to Translation
Authors: Zhang Tongtao , Chowdhury Aritra , Dhulekar Nimit , Xia Jinjing , Knight Kevin , Ji Heng , Yener Bülent , Zhao Liming
Published: May 2016

The lack of computational support has significantly slowed down automatic understanding of endangered languages. In this paper, we take Nyushu (simplified Chinese: 女书; literally: “women’s writing”) as a case study to present the first computational approach that combines Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing techniques to deeply understand an endangered language. We developed an end-to-end system to read a scanned hand-written Nyushu article, segment it into characters, link them to standard characters, and then translate the article into Mandarin Chinese. We propose several novel methods to address the new challenges introduced by noisy input and low resources, including Nyushu-specific feature selection for character segmentation and linking, and character linking lattice based Machine Translation. The end-to-end system performance indicates that the system is a promising approach and can serve as a standard benchmark.
EBL Overlapping Aware Stencil Planning for MCC System
Authors: Yu Bei , Yuan Kun , Gao Jhih-Rong , Hu Shiyan , Pan David Z.
Published: May 2016

Electron beam lithography (EBL) is a promising, maskless solution for the technology beyond 14nm logic nodes. To overcome its throughput limitation, industry has proposed character projection (CP) technique, where some complex shapes (characters) can be printed in one shot. Recently, the traditional EBL system was extended into a multi-column cell (MCC) system to further improve the throughput. In an MCC system, several independent CPs are used to further speed-up the writing process. Because of the area constraint of stencil, the MCC system needs to be packed/planned carefully to take advantage of the characters. In this article, we prove that the overlapping aware stencil planning (OSP) problem is NP-hard. Then we propose E-BLOW, a tool to solve the MCC system OSP problem. E-BLOW involves several novel speedup techniques, such as successive relaxation and dynamic programming. Experimental results show that, compared with previous works, E-BLOW demonstrates better performance for both the conventional EBL system and the MCC system.
Steroid Avoidance in Liver Transplantation
Authors: Oberholzer José , Al-Saghier Mohammed , Kneteman Norman M
Published: May 2016

Corticosteroids have always played a valuable role in transplantation. Unfortunately, they are subject to a wide range of side effects, such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, growth retardation and Cushingoid appearance. Steroids may also exacerbate problems that existed before surgery, including malignancy, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. New, powerful immunosuppressants have allowed steroid use to be reduced or avoided altogether, but use of these regimens is not simple and may be associated with late acute rejection and recurrence of autoimmune disease. The present review examines the rationale for steroid avoidance in liver transplantation and assesses the new regimens that are currently being developed.
The Challenge of Recurrent Hepatitis C Virus in Liver Transplant Recipients
Authors: Marotta Paul J
Published: May 2016

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has become the leading indication for liver transplantation (LT) worldwide. Short-term graft and patient survival after LT in these individuals is comparable with other indications for LT. There is, however, a disturbing trend for decreased survival over the longer term. The natural history of HCV infection after LT is evolving. Its early recurrence and the wide spectrum of recurrent disease is recognized, from minimal histological and clinical disease to very aggressive forms of hepatic damage such as fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis. There is growing concern that recurrent HCV is becoming more aggressive. Although many factors have been implicated, the causes have not been fully elucidated. Interferon-based antiviral therapy is challenging to use in this patient population because of significant toxicity. Nevertheless, these agents have some efficacy, and pegylated interferons, which are now being used more frequently, achieve superior response rates. The role of liver retransplantation in this patient population is controversial, because of both a reduced survival rate and an overall shortage of organ donors. The present review discusses the challenges that occur in LT recipients with HCV.
Modelling of P2P-Based Video Sharing Performance for Content-Oriented Community-Based VoD Systems in Wireless Mobile Networks
Authors: Jia Shijie , Ma Youzhong , Zhang Yongxin , Wang Tianyin , Zhang Mingchuan
Published: May 2016

The video sharing performance is a key factor for scalability and quality of service of P2P VoD systems in wireless mobile networks. There are some impact factors for the video sharing performance, such as available upload bandwidth, resource distribution in overlay networks, and mobility of mobile nodes. In this paper, we firstly model user behaviors: joining, playback, and departure for the content-oriented community-based VoD systems in wireless mobile networks and construct a resource assignment model by the analysis of transition of node state: suspend, wait, and playback. We analyze the influence of the above three factors: upload bandwidth, startup delay, and resource distribution for the sharing performance and QoS of systems. We further propose the improved resource sharing strategies from the perspectives of community architecture, resource distribution, and data transmission for the systems. Extensive tests show how the improved strategies achieve much better performance results in comparison with original strategies.
Dynamic Environmental/Economic Scheduling for Microgrid Using Improved MOEA/D-M2M
Authors: Li Xin , Fang Yanjun
Published: May 2016

The environmental/economic dynamic scheduling for microgrids (MGs) is a complex multiobjective optimization problem, which usually has dynamic system parameters and constraints. In this paper, a biobjective optimization model of MG scheduling is established. And various types of microsources (like the conventional sources, various types of renewable sources, etc.), electricity markets, and dynamic constraints are considered. A recently proposed MOEA/D-M2M framework is improved (I-MOEA/D-M2M) to solve the real-world MG scheduling problems. In order to deal with the constraints, the processes of solutions sorting and selecting in the original MOEA/D-M2M are revised. In addition, a self-adaptive decomposition strategy and a modified allocation method of individuals are introduced to enhance the capability of dealing with uncertainties, as well as reduce unnecessary computational work in practice and meet the time requirements for the dynamic optimization tasks. Thereafter, the proposed I-MOEA/D-M2M is applied to the independent MG scheduling problems, taking into account the load demand variation and the electricity price changes. The simulation results by MATLAB show that the proposed method can achieve better distributed fronts in much less running time than the typical multiobjective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) like the improved strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA2) and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGAII). Finally, I-MOEA/D-M2M is used to solve a 24-hour MG dynamic operation scheduling problem and obtains satisfactory results.
Environment Parameters Control Based on Wireless Sensor Network in Livestock Buildings
Authors: Zhang Yu , Chen Qiyu , Liu Guanting , Shen Weizheng , Wang Guanlin
Published: May 2016

The products quality and welfare of animals are closely related to the environment parameters in livestock buildings. A monitoring and control method of environment parameters in livestock buildings based on wireless sensor network is proposed in this paper. Temperature, humidity, light, carbon dioxide concentration, ammonia concentration, and hydrogen sulfide concentration can be monitored in real time by this method. The above six parameters will be adjusted and controlled through WLS algorithm and the minimizing deviation criteria. Compared with the traditional method, the high labor cost will be saved and energy consumption will be decreased. The experimental results show that this method can in real time monitor, effectively adjust, and control the environmental parameters in livestock buildings.
GM-CSF Mediates Mesenchymal–Epithelial Cross-talk in Pancreatic Cancer
Authors: Waghray Meghna , Yalamanchili Malica , Dziubinski Michele , Zeinali Mina , Erkkinen Marguerite , Yang Huibin , Schradle Kara A. , Urs Sumithra , Pasca Di Magliano Marina , Welling Theodore H. , Palmbos Phillip L. , Abel Ethan V. , Sahai Vaibhav , Nagrath Sunitha , Wang Lidong , Simeone Diane M.
Published: May 2016

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) is characterized by a dense stroma consisting of a prevalence of activated fibroblasts whose functional contributions to pancreatic tumorigenesis remain incompletely understood. In this study, we provide the first identification and characterization of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) within the human PDA microenvironment, highlighting the heterogeneity of the fibroblast population. Primary patient PDA samples and low-passage human pancreatic cancer–associated fibroblast cultures were found to contain a unique population of cancer-associated MSCs (CA-MSC). CA-MSCs markedly enhanced the growth, invasion, and metastatic potential of PDA cancer cells. CA-MSCs secreted the cytokine GM-CSF that was required for tumor cell proliferation, invasion, and transendothelial migration. Depletion of GM-CSF in CA-MSCs inhibited the ability of these cells to promote tumor cell growth and metastasis. Together, these data identify a population of MSCs within the tumor microenvironment that possesses a unique ability, through GM-CSF signaling, to promote PDA survival and metastasis.

Significance: The role of stroma in pancreatic cancer is controversial. Here, we provide the first characterization of MSCs within the human PDA microenvironment and demonstrate that CA-MSCs promote tumorigenesis through the production of GM-CSF. These data identify a novel cytokine pathway that mediates mesenchymal–epithelial cross-talk and is amenable to therapeutic intervention. Cancer Discov; 6(8); 886–99. ©2016 AACR.

This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 803
Access to Rehabilitation at Six Months Post Stroke: A Profile from the Action on Secondary Prevention Interventions and Rehabilitation in Stroke (ASPIRE-S) Study
Authors: Hall Patricia , Williams David , Hickey Anne , Brewer Linda , Mellon Lisa , Dolan Eamon , Kelly Peter J. , Shelley Emer , Horgan N. Frances ,   on behalf of the ASPIRE-S study group
Published: May 2016

Background and Purpose: Stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability. Few studies have assessed the profile and adequacy of access to rehabilitation services after ischaemic stroke both in the inpatient and community setting. The objectives of the Action on Secondary Prevention Interventions and Rehabilitation in Stroke (ASPIRE-S) study were to assess the disability and rehabilitation profile, adherence with rehabilitation recommendations and needs of patients 6 months following hospital admission for stroke. Methods: A rehabilitation prescription was completed before hospital discharge for each participant, and adherence to this prescription was assessed at 6 months to determine whether patients received their recommended rehabilitation needs. Results: Two hundred and fifty six patients were recruited to ASPIRE-S. The average age was 69 (SD 12.8). A majority (n = 221, 86%) were referred to the hospital multidisciplinary team, 59% (n = 132) were referred to all services (physiotherapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), speech and language therapy (SLT)). Fifty-four percent (n = 119) of patients (seen by the multidisciplinary team) were referred for further rehabilitation in the community on discharge. Of these 119 patients, 112 (95%) recalled receiving community rehabilitation services. However, while most (68%) patients were referred for several disciplines (PT, OT, SLT), the most commonly recalled therapy (55%) was from a single discipline. The most commonly recommended frequency of therapy required was on a weekly basis. Sixty-one patients (51%) reported a delay in services, with some still awaiting services at 6 months. Conclusion: Results from this prospective study revealed that a significant number of patients (57%) did not receive the therapy recommended on discharge. Future initiatives should include the development of policies, which support more effective, equitable multidisciplinary rehabilitation for stroke patients in the community.
Disabled Persons under the Jordanian Sales Tax and Customs Laws: Favourable Treatment among Conflicting Rules
Authors: Al Shawabkeh Ibrahim Kamel
Published: May 2016

This paper explores the legal attitude toward people with disability according to the provisions of the General Sales Tax Law and the Customs Law in order to determine whether or not the Jordanian legislator gives due attention and favourable tax treatment for disabled persons and their organizations in Jordan. Despite the conflict between some relevant legal provisions that govern such issue, this paper concludes that the current legal framework in Jordan provides adequate protection to disabled persons so that they can take part in everyday activities on an equal footing with other people.