bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Construction of genetic linkage map and mapping of QTL for seed color inBrassica rapa
Authors: Kebede Berisso , Cheema Kuljit , Greenshields David L. , Li Changxi , Selvaraj Gopalan , Rahman Habibur
Published: December 2012

A genetic linkage map of Brassica rapa L. was constructed using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between yellow-seeded cultivar Sampad and a yellowish brown seeded inbred line 3-0026.027. The RILs were evaluated for seed color under three conditions: field plot, greenhouse, and controlled growth chambers. Variation for seed color in the RILs ranged from yellow, like yellow sarson, to dark brown/black even though neither parent had shown brown/black colored seeds. One major QTL (SCA9-2) and one minor QTL (SCA9-1) on linkage group (LG) A9 and two minor QTL (SCA3-1, SCA5-1) on LG A3 and LG A5, respectively, were detected. These collectively explained about 67% of the total phenotypic variance. SCA9-2 mapped in the middle of LG A9, explained about 55% phenotypic variance, and consistently expressed in all environments. The second QTL on LG A9 was ∼70 cM away from SCA9-2, suggesting that independent assortment of these QTLs is possible. A digenic epistatic interaction was found between the two main effect QTL on LG A9; and the epistasis × environment interaction was nonsignificant, suggesting stability of the interaction across the environments. The QTL effect on LG A9 was validated using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from the two QTL regions of this LG on a B1S1population (F1backcrossed to Sampad followed by self-pollination) segregating for brown and yellow seed color, and on their self-pollinated progenies (B1S2). The SSR markers from the QTL region SCA9-2 showed a stronger linkage association with seed color as compared with the marker from SCA9-1. This suggests that the QTL SCA9-2 is the major determinant of seed color in the A genome of B. rapa.
FISH using a gag-like fragment probe reveals a common Ty3-gypsy-like retrotransposon in genome of Coffea species
Authors: Yuyama Priscila Mary , Pereira Luiz Filipe Protasio , dos Santos Tiago Benedito , Sera Tumoru , Vilas-Boas Laurival Antonio , Lopes Fabrício Ramon , Carareto Claudia Marcia Aparecida , Vanzela André Luís Laforga
Published: December 2012

The genus Coffea possesses about 100 species, and the most economically important are Coffea canephora and Coffea arabica. The latter is predominantly self-compatible with 2n = 4x = 44, while the others of the genus are diploid with 2n = 2x = 22 and mostly self-incompatible. Studies using molecular markers have been useful to detect differences between genomes in Coffea; however, molecular and cytogenetic studies have produced only limited information on the karyotypes organization. We used DOP–PCR to isolate repetitive elements from genome of Coffea arabica var. typica. The pCa06 clone, containing a fragment of 775 bp length, was characterized by sequencing and used as a probe in chromosomes of C. arabica and six other species: C. canephora, Coffea eugenioides, Coffea kapakata, Coffea liberica var. dewevrei, Coffea racemosa, and Coffea stenophylla. This insert shows similarities with a gag protein of the Ty3-gypsy-like super-family. Dot blot and FISH analyses demonstrated that pCa06 is differentially accumulated between species and chromosomes. Signals appeared scattered and clustered on the chromosomes and were also associated with heterochromatic regions. While the literature shows that there is a high karyotype similarity between Coffea species, our results point out differences in the accumulation and dispersion of this Ty3-gypsy-like retrotransposon during karyotype differentiation of Coffea.
Stronger purifying selection against gene conversions in a pathogenicSaccharomyces cerevisiaestrain
Authors: Pagé Benoît , Drouin Guy
Published: December 2012

Gene conversions most often have no selective impact, but some are selectively disadvantageous whereas others are selectively advantageous. Although gene conversions have been extensively studied in yeasts, very little is known about their selective impact in pathological yeasts. Here, we used the GENECONV software to compare the characteristics of candidate gene conversions found in a pathogenic strain (YJM789) and a nonpathogenic strain (S288c) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Interestingly, the pathogenic strain has fewer gene conversions when compared with the nonpathogenic strain. Of the 123 conversions we identified, 27 were identical or similar between the two strains, 62 were specific to the S288c strain, and 34 were specific to the YJM789 strain. Identical and similar conversions likely represent conversions that are under similar levels of purifying selection in both strains. The lower number of gene conversions in most gene families of the pathogenic strain is likely the result of higher purifying selection in this strain. In contrast, the higher number of conversions found in the YRF1 helicase gene family of the pathogenic strain could represent an example of adaptive gene conversions involved in maintaining its telomeres.
Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells from polymer-templated TiO2 bilayer thin films
Authors: Fei Honghan , Fan Xiaojuan , Rogow David L. , Oliver Scott R.J.
Published: December 2012

We report an inexpensive method using solvent-swollen poly(methyl methacrylate) as a sacrificial template for mesoporous titanium oxide thin films with tunable meso/nano morphology. The conversion efficiency reaches 4.2% despite using a solid-state electrolyte, which circumvents the longevity issues of liquid electrolytes. The cells show a large short-circuit photocurrent density of 7.98 mA, open-circuit voltage of 0.78 V, and maximum conversion efficiency of 4.2% under air-mass 1.5 global illumination. At higher titania precursor ratios, nanodisk particles are formed that increase light scattering and double the efficiency over our previous reports. The tunability of the semiconductor morphology and all solid-state nature of the cells makes the method a viable alternative to existing solar cell technology.
Nanomorphology tuning of the thermal response of TiO2/SiO2 Bragg stacks
Authors: Pavlichenko Ida , Exner Armin T. , Logvenov Gennady , Scarpa Giuseppe , Lugli Paolo , Lotsch Bettina V.
Published: December 2012

Herein, we present a comparative study of thermo- and environmentally responsive TiO2/SiO2 one-dimensional photonic crystals (Bragg stacks) fabricated by different deposition methods and fabrication schemes, featuring various multilayer nanomorphologies. These include dense multilayer systems processed by physical vapor deposition and wet-chemistry protocols, as well as porous systems, namely, nanoparticle-based optical filters exhibiting textural porosity, and evaporation-induced self-assembled mesoporous Bragg stacks exhibiting predominantly structural porosity, as well as hybrid structures comprising both dense and porous layers. We investigate the spectral shift of the photonic stop band for the different Bragg stack nanomorphologies induced by the humidity-enhanced thermo-optic effect in a temperature range from 15 to 60 °C. We also demonstrate the response and recovery kinetics of the multilayer systems during external changes in ambient humidity. Notably, the choice of fabrication method plays a significant role in the thermal and humidity response of the system. Taking advantage of different material nanomorphologies we can tune the thermal shift of the photonic stop band in the range 0.2–32.9 nm for the Bragg stacks at ambient relative humidity. In addition, we can design dense multilayer systems nonresponsive to humidity and achieve time responses of the porous systems to external changes in humidity ranging from about 1 to 3 s.
A DFT study of reversed isotope shifts in H/D substitution of free-base porphyrin and related free-base tetrapyrroles
Authors: Henchy Christopher , Murray Ciaran , Crépin Claudine , McCaffrey John G.
Published: December 2012

DFT/B3LYP calculations are used to analyse the occurrence of reverse isotope shift ratios (ISR) in H/D substitution of the free-base tetrapyrroles, in situations where the frequency ratio νH/νDis less than 1. The reverse ISR effect is found to be most evident in the out-of-plane bending modes (b2gand b3usymmetry) involving some N–H motion for the four molecules studied, viz., porphine (H2P), tetraaza-porphine (H2TAP), tetrabenzo-porphine (H2TBP), and phthalocyanine (H2Pc). It was analysed by following the evolution of the normal mode frequencies with incremental variation of the H atom masses from 1 to 2 amu. This method allows direct, unambiguous mode correlations to be established between the light and the heavy isotopologues. When the NH(D) motion is predominant, the H to D frequency evolution decreases in a continuous manner for a particular normal mode. In the case of two modes of the same symmetry and whose frequencies are similar, their frequency evolutions could cross, depending on the extent of NH(D) motion involved in them. The evolution diagrams may show avoided crossings of various extents, which thereby reflects the degree of the NH(D) motion in the modes. The reverse ISR effect is directly correlated to these avoided crossings. Because the isotope shifts are quite small (<10 cm–1) and occur in the congested 1500–500 cm–1spectral region, high-resolution methods yielding narrow line transitions are required for experimental analysis. The matrix isolation technique is particularly well suited for this work and is proposed for use in a search for this effect.
Batcheler-corrected point distance versus belt transect for sampling habitat and woody vegetation
Authors: Rempel Robert S. , Reid Douglas E.B. , Jackson Janet
Published: December 2012

Density estimates for habitat objects are used for a variety of forestry and wildlife management applications, but supporting field work can be costly. We used point simulations and field studies of snags and shrub stems to evaluate and compare the plotless Batcheler-corrected point distance (BCPD) method of data collection with the plot-based belt transect (BT) method for estimating object density (snags and shrub stems). The program Transect Point Density ( http://www.cnfer.on.ca/SEP/ ) was used to calculate density and confidence limits. Relative to the BT method, we found the BCPD method performs well under a range of clustered and random dispersion patterns and point densities, with measurements made to the nearest neighbour of the initial point object allowing correction of bias caused by nonrandom spatial dispersion patterns. The BCPD parameter of spatial dispersion, A1, was correlated with I, the variance-to-mean ratio used to estimate spatial dispersion in plot-based samples. The BCPD method also allows measurement to the third object (next-nearest neighbour) to account for second-order clumping, but we found that this estimate was sensitive to measurement error or technique where dense mats of wetland shrub species Ledum groenlandicum Oeder or Myrica gale L. occurred. We also used BCPD to characterize shrub community structure and found no evident bias, relative to BT data, for estimating relative species composition, richness, and diversity. The BCPD method was cost-effective relative to the BT method, with cost ratios 4–47 times higher for the BT method, and for a given investment allowed sampling of a greater area and diversity of stand conditions. Consequently, the BCPD method will facilitate collection of better data for developing and testing habitat models as well as evaluating the effects and effectiveness of forest management options at both the stand and landscape scales.
SOLVING VARIATIONAL PROBLEMS VIA EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM
Authors: KORDA V. YU. , BEREZOVSKY S. V. , MOLEV A. S. , KLEPIKOV V. F. , KORDA L. P.
Published: December 2012

We present the evolutionary algorithm that evolves the population of numerical solutions of the variational problem. The evolved solutions are model-independent, smooth, can have a predefined shape (if needed), and satisfy boundary or any other additional conditions (if imposed). To exemplify the performance of the proposed algorithm, we show how to solve the variational problem of searching for the spatially modulated distribution of the field of order parameter that gives a minimum to the Landau-type thermodynamic potential in the theory of ferroelectrics with incommensurate phases.
Weight Reduction Effects of Acupuncture for Obese Women With or Without Perimenopausal Syndrome: A Pilot Observational Study
Authors: Wang Qiong , Li Wei-Hong , Zhou Qing-Hui , Tang Xiao-Dong , Zhang Xin-Xin , Shu Shi
Published: December 2012

This study was designed to compare the weight reduction effects of acupuncture for obese women with or without perimenopausal syndrome. We observed 60 women with either simple obesity or perimenopausal obesity (obesity complicated with perimenopausal syndrome) treated by five acupuncture treatments given in the first week of three successive four-week treatment courses, and obesity indexes including body weight, body mass index, obesity degree and waist/hip ratio were evaluated. Versus baseline, the obesity indexes decreased at the end of each treatment course in women with simple obesity (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01), while women with perimenopausal obesity showed no decrease at the end of the first course of treatment, and these indexes decreased at the end of the second and the third courses of treatment (p < 0.05). There was no difference when comparing obesity indexes recorded at the end of three courses of treatment and at the end of three-month follow-up between women with simple obesity and those with perimenopausal obesity. The results suggest that acupuncture reduced body weight in the obese women, and the weight loss occurred earlier in the treatment process for simple obesity than perimenopausal obesity.
Dendrobium moniliforme Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Induced Renal Damage in Mice through the Regulation of Lipid-Induced Oxidative Stress
Authors: Lee Woojung , Eom Dae-Woon , Jung Yujung , Yamabe Noriko , Lee Seungyong , Jeon Youngsic , Hwang Ye Ran , Lee Ji Hwan , Kim Yong Kee , Kang Ki Sung , Kim Su-Nam
Published: December 2012

Obesity is an important and preventable risk factor for renal disease. The administration of an antioxidant with a lipid-lowering effect is an important therapeutic approach for kidney disease in obese patients. The present study was conducted to examine whether methanolic extract of Dendrobium moniliforme (DM), one of the most famous traditional medicines used in many parts of the world, has an antioxidant effect in vitro and an ameliorative effect on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced alterations such as renal dysfunction and lipid accumulation in vivo. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity of DM extract (IC50 = 29.6 μg/mL) was increased in a dose-dependent manner. The LLC-PK1 kidney cell damage induced by oxidative stress was significantly inhibited by the treatments with DM extract. In the animal study, DM extract (200 mg/kg) was orally administered every day for nine weeks to HFD-fed mice, and its effect was compared with that of metformin. The administration of DM extract decreased the elevated serum glucose, total cholesterol concentration and renal lipid accumulation in HFD-fed mice. It also ameliorated renal dysfunction biomarkers including serum creatinine and renal collagen IV deposition. Taken together, these results provide important evidence that DM extract exhibits a pleiotropic effect on obesity induced parameters and exerted a renoprotective effect in HFD-fed mice.
Effect of Curculigo orchioides on Reflux Esophagitis by Suppressing Proinflammatory Cytokines
Authors: Ku Sae-Kang , Kim Jae-Soo , Seo Young-Bae , Kim Yong-Ung , Hwang Seung-Lark , Lee Young-Chul , Yang Chae-Ha , Kim Hui-Young , Seo Bu-Il , Park Ji-Ha , Min You-Hong , Roh Seong-Soo
Published: December 2012

This study was performed to investigate effects of Curculigo orchioides rhizome (curculiginis rhizome) on acute reflux esophigitis (RE) in rats that are induced by pylorus and forestomach ligation operation. Proinflammatory cytokine, as well as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 were all assayed and the expression of TNF-α and COX2 analyzed by RT-PCR. The esophagic tissue damage of reflux esophagitis rat was increased compared to that of normal intact group. However, the esophagic damage percentage from the extract of curculiginis rhizoma (ECR) 600 mg/kg and ECR 300 mg/kg were significantly lower than that of the RE control group. Administration of α-tocopherol (30 mg/kg) and ECR (600 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg, and 150 mg/kg) had a significant effect on the gastric acid pH in rats with induced reflux esophagitis (p < 0.05). The treatment with ECR significantly reduced the production of cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 levels compared to the model group (p < 0.05). The expression of TNF-α and COX2 in the intact esophageal mucosa was low while those of the RE control group were significantly higher due to an inflammatory reaction in the esophagus. Compare to the model group, treatment with α-tocopherol or ECR significantly inhibited the expression levels of COX2 and TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that anti-inflammatory and protective effects of ECR could attenuate the severity of reflux esophagitis and prevent esophageal mucosal damage.
Aqueous Extract ofMosla chinensisInhibits Mast Cell-Mediated Allergic Inflammation
Authors: Kim Hui-Hun , Yoo Jin-Su , Shin Tae-Yong , Kim Sang-Hyun
Published: December 2012

Allergic inflammatory diseases such as food allergy, asthma, sinusitis, and atopic dermatitis are increasing worldwide. In this study, we investigated the effects of aqueous extract of Mosla chinensis Max. (AMC) on mast cell-mediated allergic inflammation and studied the possible mechanism of this action. AMC inhibited compound 48/80-induced systemic and immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated local anaphylaxis. AMC reduced intracellular calcium levels and downstream histamine release from rat peritoneal mast cells activated by compound 48/80 or IgE. In addition, AMC decreased gene expression and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 in human mast cells. The inhibitory effect of AMC on cytokine expression was nuclear factor (NF)-κB dependent. Our results indicate that AMC inhibits mast cell-mediated allergic inflammatory reaction by suppressing histamine release and expression of proinflammatory cytokines and the involvement of calcium and NF-κB in these effects. AMC might be a possible therapeutic candidate for allergic inflammatory disorders.
Osteogenic Activity of Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) Extract Modulating Differentiation of Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts
Authors: Kim Jung-Lye , Li Hong Mei , Kim Yun-Ho , Lee Yong-Jin , Shim Jae-Hoo , Lim Soon Sung , Kang Young-Hee
Published: December 2012

Bone integrity is maintained through a balance between bone formation by osteoblasts and bone resorption by osteoclasts. Imbalance of the process results in metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis. This study investigated the yellow flag iris extract (YFIE) and revealed its anti-osteoporotic effects in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 mouse cells and RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. When osteoblasts were treated with 1–20 μg/ml YFIE in an osteogenic medium, the bone nodule formation by calcium deposits was markedly enhanced during differentiation. Consistently, YFIE stimulated alkaline phosphatase activity and collagen type I secretion with a substantial effect on osteoblast proliferation. On the other hand, RAW 264.7 macrophages were pre-incubated with 1–20 μg/ml YFIE for 5 days in the presence of receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL). Non-toxic YFIE markedly attenuated the differentiation of macrophages to multi-nucleated osteoclasts. YFIE diminished RANKL-elevated tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity and bone resorption. In addition, the YFIE treatment retarded RANKL-induced cathepsin K production and carbonic anhydrase II expression, both of which are involved in bone resorption. Therefore, YFIE potentially posesses therapeutic agents that may prevent osteoporosis through promoting bone formation and reducing bone resorption.
JONES POLYNOMIALS OF LONG VIRTUAL KNOTS
Authors: ITO NOBORU
Published: December 2012

This paper defines versions of the Jones polynomial and Khovanov homology by using several maps from the set of Gauss diagrams to its variant. Through calculation of some examples, this paper also shows that these versions behave differently from the original ones.
SEARCHES FOR $K_L^0\rightarrow\pi^0\nu\bar{\nu}$
Authors: MA JIASEN , WAH YAU W.
Published: December 2012

The physics potential of the [Formula: see text] search is summarized. Past experiments and the challenges discovered in them are reviewed. The innovative methods employed by the current experiment are discussed. Future experimental prospects are given.
GROUND STATE PROPERTIES AND BUBBLE STRUCTURE OF SYNTHESIZED SUPERHEAVY NUCLEI
Authors: SINGH S. K. , IKRAM M. , PATRA S. K.
Published: December 2012

We calculate the ground state properties of recently synthesized superheavy elements (SHEs) from Z = 105–118 along with the predicted proton magic Z = 120. The relativistic and nonrelativistic mean field formalisms are used to evaluate the binding energy (BE), charge radius, quadrupole deformation parameter and the density distribution of nucleons. We analyzed the stability of the nuclei based on BE and neutron to proton ratio. We also studied the bubble structure which reveals the special features of the superheavy nuclei.
BIFURCATION DIAGRAM AND CONTROL OF LOCALIZED LASER STRUCTURES
Authors: GENEVET P. , TURCONI M. , BARLAND S. , GIUDICI M. , TREDICCE J.
Published: December 2012

We describe experimentally the bifurcation diagram of localized lasing states in a cavity soliton laser (CSL). The CSL is based on two coupled semiconductor microcavities, one providing gain and the other providing saturable absorption. We show how single-peak lasing structures bifurcate from homogeneous background, how localized lasing complexes form and how their coexistence can be controlled. The relation between the local bifurcation diagram obtained and distant localized states is discussed.
RACETRACK ADD-DROP RESONATOR WITH AN ORGANIC COVER FOR NONLINEAR SWITCHING ENHANCEMENT
Authors: FRAILE-PELÁEZ F. J. , CHAMORRO-POSADA P. , GÓMEZ-ALCALÁ R.
Published: December 2012

In this paper we propose and analyze numerically an hybrid nonlinear microring structure implemented in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform with a cover of organic material. We study its (off-resonance) bistable switching behavior, as well as its resonant operation (add-drop), and asses the effect of the organic material, namely 2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-3-{[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethynyl} buta-1,3-diene-1,1,4,4-tetracarbonitrile, in the device performance.
CHARACTERIZATION OF DIFFERENT REGIMES IN NONLINEAR LIQUID CRYSTAL MODELS
Authors: ORQUÍN-SERRANO I. , VILLATORO F. R. , FERRANDO A. , DE CÓRDOBA P. FERNÁNDEZ , MICHINEL H.
Published: December 2012

The range of validity of two models for nonlocal nonlinear optics in Nematic Liquid Crystals (NLC) is studied. Particularly the influence of the optical power and the initial position of the beam over its trajectory is studied when launching the beam with an offset in a planar cell. The main difference between both models is the dependence of the orientational angle with the optical field, either linear or nonlinear. The results demonstrate the critical role of the nonlinearity in the propagation of nematicons in NLC planar cells.
ANALYSIS OF COLLAGEN PROFILE AND ORIENTATION IN A CHRONIC RUPTURED EXTENSOR POLLICIS LONGUS TENDON
Authors: Sasaki Koichi , Kunamneni Adinarayana , Sinai Anthony , Kamineni Srinath
Published: December 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the collagen profile and orientation in a ruptured extensor pollicis longus (EPL) tendon, in order to better understand the collagen response to loss of tensile forces. Methods: A 76-year-old male with a history of rheumatoid arthritis required surgical reconstruction of a chronic EPL rupture using EIP tendon transfer; the refreshed tip of the distal EPL tendon, along with the intervening tubular scar and EIP tendon were further analyzed. Picrosirus red (PSR) staining was performed, and the levels of collagen isoform were determined with western blotting. Results: The results obtained from PSR staining under polarized microscopy showed thin, weakly birefringent, green fibers (collagen III-like) and thick, yellow-red, strongly birefringent fibers (collagen I-like). The arrangement was noted to be much less organized and directional in the ruptured tendon compared to the EIP tendon. Western blotting results showed the presence of collagen I, II, III, V, VI and X, with the ratio comparison to collagen I markedly different between a normal EIP tendon and the ruptured EPL tendon. Conclusion: EPL tendon rupture is accompanied by collagen disorganization and significant alteration in the collagen isoform expression, postulated to be a consequence of the loss of tensile forces.
DECOMPOSING ELEMENTS OF A RIGHT SELF-INJECTIVE RING
Authors: SIDDIQUE FEROZ , SRIVASTAVA ASHISH K.
Published: December 2012

It was proved independently by both Wolfson [An ideal theoretic characterization of the ring of all linear transformations, Amer. J. Math.75 (1953) 358–386] and Zelinsky [Every linear transformation is sum of nonsingular ones, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc.5 (1954) 627–630] that every linear transformation of a vector space V over a division ring D is the sum of two invertible linear transformations except when V is one-dimensional over ℤ2. This was extended by Khurana and Srivastava [Right self-injective rings in which each element is sum of two units, J. Algebra Appl.6(2) (2007) 281–286] who proved that every element of a right self-injective ring R is the sum of two units if and only if R has no factor ring isomorphic to ℤ2. In this paper we prove that if R is a right self-injective ring, then for each element a ∈ R there exists a unit u ∈ R such that both a + u and a - u are units if and only if R has no factor ring isomorphic to ℤ2 or ℤ3.
APPLICATION ANALYSIS OF FAR INFRARED CERAMICS IN THE REHABILITATION OF SPORTS INJURY
Authors: CAO QINGLEI , YANG JINLONG , MEI XIAOGUANG , CHEN XIAOPING , HU YANG
Published: December 2012

Far infrared ceramic beads can release far infrared light with wavelengths in the range of 8–14μm, which matches the waveband of living organisms. They exhibit the pyrometric effect and resonance effect through fomentation and radiation, which can accelerate blood circulation and metabolism and can aid in human body rehabilitation. Therefore, it is of great significance to use far infrared ceramics for the rehabilitation of sports injuries. In this study, we fabricated a new type of infrared ceramic bead and applied these beads on the human body. The results showed their reliable application on the rehabilitation of sports injuries.
VERTICAL TANGENTIAL INVARIANTS ON SOME FOLIATED LAGRANGE SPACES
Authors: IDA CRISTIAN
Published: December 2012

In this paper we consider a decomposition of tangentially differential forms with respect to the lifted foliation [Formula: see text] to the tangent bundle of a Lagrange space [Formula: see text] endowed with a regular foliation [Formula: see text]. First, starting from a natural decomposition of the tangential exterior derivative along the leaves of [Formula: see text], we define some vertical tangential cohomology groups of the foliated manifold [Formula: see text], we prove a Poincaré lemma for the vertical tangential derivative and we obtain a de Rham theorem for this cohomology. Next, in a classical way, we construct vertical tangential characteristic classes of tangentially smooth complex bundles over the foliated manifold [Formula: see text].
EMERGENT QUANTUM MECHANICS AS A CLASSICAL, IRREVERSIBLE THERMODYNAMICS
Authors: ACOSTA D. , FERNÁNDEZ DE CÓRDOBA P. , ISIDRO J. M. , SANTANDER J. L. G.
Published: December 2012

We present an explicit correspondence between quantum mechanics and the classical theory of irreversible thermodynamics as developed by Onsager, Prigogine et al. Our correspondence maps irreversible Gaussian Markov processes into the semiclassical approximation of quantum mechanics. Quantum-mechanical propagators are mapped into thermodynamical probability distributions. The Feynman path integral also arises naturally in this setup. The fact that quantum mechanics can be translated into thermodynamical language provides additional support for the conjecture that quantum mechanics is not a fundamental theory but rather an emergent phenomenon, i.e. an effective description of some underlying degrees of freedom.
ON THE MAXIMAL DISTANCE SPECTRAL RADIUS IN A CLASS OF BICYCLIC GRAPHS
Authors: PAUL SOMNATH
Published: December 2012

Bicyclic graphs are connected graphs in which the number of edges equals the number of vertices plus one. Let Pp+1 = x1x2⋯xp+1, Pt+1 = y1y2⋯yt+1 and Pq+1 = z1z2⋯zq+1 be three vertex-disjoint paths. Identifying the initial vertices as u0 and the terminal vertices as v0, the resultant graph, denoted by θ(p; t; q), is called a θ-graph. Let [Formula: see text] be the class of all bicyclic graphs on n vertices, which contain a θ-graph as an induced subgraph. In this paper, we study the distance spectral radius of bicyclic graphs in [Formula: see text], and determine the graph with the largest distance spectral radius.
On the directional geomagnetic signature of the Pringle Falls excursion recorded at Pringle Falls, Oregon, USA
Authors: Herrero-Bervera Emilio , Cañón-Tapia Edgardo
Published: December 2012

We studied the detailed characteristics of the Pringle Falls excursion from samples at the original site recovered from four profiles drilled along the Deschutes River, Oregon. We drilled 827 samples spaced along 5 km for their detailed directional study. The profiles registered a high-resolution (>10 cm/ka) palaeomagnetic record of the excursion (
c.
211±13 ka) recorded by diatomaceous lacustrine sediments. We conducted palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic studies to investigate the reproducibility of the signal throughout the profiles. We performed low-field susceptibility v. temperature analysis that indicated that the main magnetic carrier is pure magnetite (Curie point 575 °C). The magnetic grain size also indicated single domain–multi domain (SD–MD) magnetite. The demagnetization was performed by alternating field experiments and the mean directions were determined by principal component analyses. The detailed behaviour of the palaeosignal is highly consistent since they are rapidly deposited sediments providing a detailed representation of the palaeofield. The dissected virtual geomagnetic pole paths in three different phases are highly internally consistent and are defined by clockwise and anticlockwise loops travelling from high northern latitudes over eastern North America and the North Atlantic to South America and then to high southern latitudes; then they return to high northern latitudes through the Pacific and over to Kamchatka.
Survey of scheduling techniques for addressing shared resources in multicore processors
Authors: Zhuravlev Sergey , Saez Juan Carlos , Blagodurov Sergey , Fedorova Alexandra , Prieto Manuel
Published: December 2012

Chip multicore processors (CMPs) have emerged as the dominant architecture choice for modern computing platforms and will most likely continue to be dominant well into the foreseeable future. As with any system, CMPs offer a unique set of challenges. Chief among them is the shared resource contention that results because CMP cores are not independent processors but rather share common resources among cores such as the last level cache (LLC). Shared resource contention can lead to severe and unpredictable performance impact on the threads running on the CMP. Conversely, CMPs offer tremendous opportunities for mulithreaded applications, which can take advantage of simultaneous thread execution as well as fast inter thread data sharing. Many solutions have been proposed to deal with the negative aspects of CMPs and take advantage of the positive. This survey focuses on the subset of these solutions that exclusively make use of OS thread-level scheduling to achieve their goals. These solutions are particularly attractive as they require no changes to hardware and minimal or no changes to the OS. The OS scheduler has expanded well beyond its original role of time-multiplexing threads on a single core into a complex and effective resource manager. This article surveys a multitude of new and exciting work that explores the diverse new roles the OS scheduler can successfully take on.
A comparison of index-based lempel-Ziv LZ77 factorization algorithms
Authors: Al-Hafeedh Anisa , Crochemore Maxime , Ilie Lucian , Kopylova Evguenia , Smyth W.F. , Tischler German , Yusufu Munina
Published: December 2012

Since 1977, when Lempel and Ziv described a kind of string factorization useful for text compression, there has been a succession of algorithms proposed for computing “LZ factorization”. In particular, there have been several recent algorithms proposed that extend the usefulness of LZ factorization, for example, to the calculation of maximal repetitions. In this article, we provide an overview of these new algorithms and compare their efficiency in terms of their usage of time and space.
Agent-based simulation for large-scale emergency response
Authors: Hawe Glenn I. , Coates Graham , Wilson Duncan T. , Crouch Roger S.
Published: December 2012

When attempting to determine how to respond optimally to a large-scale emergency, the ability to predict the consequences of certain courses of actionin silicois of great utility. Agent-based simulations (ABSs) have become the de facto tool for this purpose; however, they may be used and implemented in a variety of ways. This article reviews existing implementations of ABSs for large-scale emergency response, and presents a taxonomy classifying them by usage. Opportunities for improving ABS for large-scale emergency response are identified.
Label-to-region with continuity-biased bi-layer sparsity priors
Authors: Liu Xiaobai , Yan Shuicheng , Cheng Bin , Tang Jinhui , Chua Tat-Sheng , Jin Hai
Published: December 2012

In this work, we investigate how to reassign the fully annotated labels at image level to those contextually derived semantic regions, namely Label-to-Region (L2R), in a collective manner. Given a set of input images with label annotations, the basic idea of our approach to L2R is to first discover the patch correspondence across images, and then propagate the common labels shared in image pairs to these correlated patches. Specially, our approach consists of following aspects. First, each of the input images is encoded as a Bag-of-Hierarchical-Patch (BOP) for capturing the rich cues at variant scales, and the individual patches are expressed by patch-level feature descriptors. Second, we present a sparse representation formulation for discovering how well an image or a semantic region can be robustly reconstructed by all the other image patches from the input image set. The underlying philosophy of our formulation is that an image region can be sparsely reconstructed with the image patches belonging to the other images with common labels, while the robustness in label propagation across images requires that these selected patches come from very few images. This preference of being sparse at both patch and image level is namedbi-layer sparsity prior. Meanwhile, we enforce the preference of choosing larger-size patches in reconstruction, referred to ascontinuity-biased priorin this work, which may further enhance the reliability of L2R assignment. Finally, we harness the reconstruction coefficients to propagate the image labels to the matched patches, and fuse the propagation results over all patches to finalize the L2R task. As a by-product, the proposed continuity-biased bi-layer sparse representation formulation can be naturally applied to perform image annotation on new testing images. Extensive experiments on three public image datasets clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed framework in both L2R assignment and image annotation.
Efficient targeted search using a focus and context video browser
Authors: Rooij Ork De , Worring Marcel
Published: December 2012

Currently there are several interactive content-based video retrieval techniques and systems available. However, retrieval performance depends heavily on the means of interaction. We argue that effective CBVR requires efficient, specialized user interfaces. In this article we propose guidelines for such an interface, and we propose an effective CBVR engine: the ForkBrowser, which builds upon the principle of focus and context. This browser is evaluated using a combination of user simulation and real user evaluation. Results indicate that the ideas have merit, and that the browser performs very well when compared to the state-of-the-art in video retrieval.
User perception of media content association in olfaction-enhanced multimedia
Authors: Ghinea Gheorghita , Ademoye Oluwakemi
Published: December 2012

Olfaction is an exciting challenge facing multimedia applications. In this article we have investigated user perception of the association between olfactory media content and video media content in olfactory-enhanced multimedia. Results show that the association between scent and content has a significant impact on the user-perceived experience of olfactory-enhanced multimedia.
NextSlidePlease
Authors: Spicer Ryan , Lin Yu-Ru , Kelliher Aisling , Sundaram Hari
Published: December 2012

Presentation support tools, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, pose challenges both in terms of creating linear presentations from complex data and fluidly navigating such linear structures when presenting to diverse audiences. NextSlidePlease is a slideware application that addresses these challenges using a directed graph structure approach for authoring and delivering multimedia presentations. The application combines novel approaches for searching and analyzing presentation datasets, composing meaningfully structured presentations, and efficiently delivering material under a variety of time constraints. We introduce and evaluate a presentation analysis algorithm intended to simplify the process of authoring dynamic presentations, and a time management and path selection algorithm that assists users in prioritizing content during the presentation process. Results from two comparative user studies indicate that the directed graph approach promotes the creation of hyperlinks, the consideration of connections between content items, and a richer understanding of the time management consequences of including and selecting presentation material.
Object-based image retrieval with kernel on adjacency matrix and local combined features
Authors: Qi Heng , Li Keqiu , Shen Yanming , Qu Wenyu
Published: December 2012

In object-based image retrieval, there are two important issues: an effective image representation method for representing image content and an effective image classification method for processing user feedback to find more images containing the user-desired object categories. In the image representation method, the local-based representation is the best selection for object-based image retrieval. As a kernel-based classification method, Support Vector Machine (SVM) has shown impressive performance on image classification. But SVM cannot work on the local-based representation unless there is an appropriate kernel. To address this problem, some representative kernels are proposed in literatures. However, these kernels cannot work effectively in object-based image retrieval due to ignoring the spatial context and the combination of local features.

In this article, we present Adjacent Matrix (AM) and the Local Combined Features (LCF) to incorporate the spatial context and the combination of local features into the kernel. We propose the AM-LCF feature vector to represent image content and the AM-LCF kernel to measure the similarities between AM-LCF feature vectors. According to the detailed analysis, we show that the proposed kernel can overcome the deficiencies of existing kernels. Moreover, we evaluate the proposed kernel through experiments of object-based image retrieval on two public image sets. The experimental results show that the performance of object-based image retrieval can be improved by the proposed kernel.
Mining anatomical, physiological and pathological information from medical images
Authors: Zhou Xiang Sean , Zhan Yiqiang , Raykar Vikas C. , Hermosillo Gerardo , Bogoni Luca , Peng Zhipang
Published: December 2012

The field of medical imaging has shown substantial growth over the last decade. Even more dramatic increase was observed in the use of machine learning and data mining techniques within this field. In this paper, we discuss three aspects related to information mining in the domain of medical imaging: the target user groups (for whom), the information to mine (what), and technologies to enable mining (how). Specifically, we focus on three types of information: anatomical, physiological and pathological, and present use cases for each one of them. Furthermore, we introduce representative methods and algorithms that are effective for solving these problems. We conclude the paper by discussing some major trends in the related domains for the coming decade.
Data mining methodologies for pharmacovigilance
Authors: Liu Mei , Matheny Michael E. , Hu Yong , Xu Hua
Published: December 2012

Medicines are designed to cure, treat, or prevent diseases; however, there are also risks in taking any medicine - particularly short term or long term adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can cause serious harm to patients. Adverse drug events have been estimated to cause over 700,000 emergency department visits each year in the United States. Thus, for medication safety, ADR monitoring is required for each drug throughout its life cycle, including early stages of drug design, different phases of clinical trials, and postmarketing surveillance. Pharmacovigilance (PhV) is the science that concerns with the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of ADRs. In the pre-marketing stages of a drug, PhV primarily focuses on predicting potential ADRs using preclinical characteristics of the compounds (e.g., drug targets, chemical structure) or screening data (e.g., bioassay data). In the postmarketing stage, PhV has traditionally involved in mining spontaneous reports submitted to national surveillance systems. The research focus is currently shifting toward the use of data generated from platforms outside the conventional framework such as electronic medical records (EMRs), biomedical literature, and patient-reported data in online health forums. The emerging trend of PhV is to link preclinical data from the experimental platform with human safety information observed in the postmarketing phase. This article provides a general overview of the current computational methodologies applied for PhV at different stages of drug development and concludes with future directions and challenges.
Next challenges for adaptive learning systems
Authors: Zliobaite Indre , Bifet Albert , Gaber Mohamed , Gabrys Bogdan , Gama Joao , Minku Leandro , Musial Katarzyna
Published: December 2012

Learning from evolving streaming data has become a 'hot' research topic in the last decade and many adaptive learning algorithms have been developed. This research was stimulated by rapidly growing amounts of industrial, transactional, sensor and other business data that arrives in real time and needs to be mined in real time. Under such circumstances, constant manual adjustment of models is in-efficient and with increasing amounts of data is becoming infeasible. Nevertheless, adaptive learning models are still rarely employed in business applications in practice. In the light of rapidly growing structurally rich 'big data', new generation of parallel computing solutions and cloud computing services as well as recent advances in portable computing devices, this article aims to identify the current key research directions to be taken to bring the adaptive learning closer to application needs. We identify six forthcoming challenges in designing and building adaptive learning (pre-diction) systems: making adaptive systems scalable, dealing with realistic data, improving usability and trust, integrat-ing expert knowledge, taking into account various application needs, and moving from adaptive algorithms towards adaptive tools. Those challenges are critical for the evolving stream settings, as the process of model building needs to be fully automated and continuous.
How expensive are free smartphone apps?
Authors: Zhang Li , Gupta Dhruv , Mohapatra Prasant
Published: December 2012

Proliferation of data-enabled mobile devices has fueled the popularity of smartphone applications (apps) at a rapid pace, and the trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Along with the increase in popularity, the characteristics and concept of paid apps and free apps is also changing. In general, paid smartphone apps generate their revenue simply from the cost of downloading the app. On the other hand, free apps rely on advertisements, and/or virtual currencies, for their revenue generation. There are several variants of these generalized approaches. In this work, we focus on identifying the overhead traffic that is generated by the free apps with respect to the paid apps. The overhead traffic is not associated with the operation of the app itself and thus should not impact the usage experience of the apps. Specifically, we consider advertisements, and the transmission of analytic data, as the main components of overhead traffic. With the gradual disappearance of unlimited data plans, the overhead traffic does not come for free. The goal of this paper is quantify the cost of the overhead traffic of the popular free apps and compare it with the paid apps. We have developed an intricate methodology for identifying and measuring the bandwidth requirements of the overheads associated with the free apps. Through comprehensive measurements, we have shown that in most cases, the paid versions of the apps will indeed be a fraction of the cost to the end users when compared to the actual cost of the free versions.
Evaluation of a Bladder Cancer Cluster in a Population of Criminal Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives—Part 1: The Cancer Incidence
Authors: Davis Susan R. , Tao Xuguang , Bernacki Edward J. , Alfriend Amy S.
Published: December 2012

This study investigated a bladder cancer cluster in a cohort of employees, predominately criminal investigators, participating in a medical surveillance program with the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) between 1995 and 2007. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were used to compare cancer incidences in the ATF population and the US reference population. Seven cases of bladder cancer (five cases verified by pathology report at time of analysis) were identified among a total employee population of 3,768 individuals. All cases were white males and criminal investigators. Six of seven cases were in the 30 to 49 age range at the time of diagnosis. The SIRs for white male criminal investigators undergoing examinations were 7.63 (95% confidence interval = 3.70–15.75) for reported cases and 5.45 (2.33–12.76) for verified cases. White male criminal investigators in the ATF population are at statistically significant increased risk for bladder cancer.