bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Quantitative relaxation of concurrent data structures
Authors: Henzinger Thomas A. , Kirsch Christoph M. , Payer Hannes , Sezgin Ali , Sokolova Ana
Published: November 2016

There is a trade-off between performance and correctness in implementing concurrent data structures. Better performance may be achieved at the expense of relaxing correctness, by redefining the semantics of data structures. We address such a redefinition of data structure semantics and present a systematic and formal framework for obtaining new data structures by quantitatively relaxing existing ones. We view a data structure as a sequential specification S containing all "legal" sequences over an alphabet of method calls. Relaxing the data structure corresponds to defining a distance from any sequence over the alphabet to the sequential specification: the k-relaxed sequential specification contains all sequences over the alphabet within distance k from the original specification. In contrast to other existing work, our relaxations are semantic (distance in terms of data structure states). As an instantiation of our framework, we present two simple yet generic relaxation schemes, called out-of-order and stuttering relaxation, along with several ways of computing distances. We show that the out-of-order relaxation, when further instantiated to stacks, queues, and priority queues, amounts to tolerating bounded out-of-order behavior, which cannot be captured by a purely syntactic relaxation (distance in terms of sequence manipulation, e.g. edit distance). We give concurrent implementations of relaxed data structures and demonstrate that bounded relaxations provide the means for trading correctness for performance in a controlled way. The relaxations are monotonic which further highlights the trade-off: increasing k increases the number of permitted sequences, which as we demonstrate can lead to better performance. Finally, since a relaxed stack or queue also implements a pool, we actually have new concurrent pool implementations that outperform the state-of-the-art ones.
Plan B
Authors: Demange Delphine , Laporte Vincent , Zhao Lei , Jagannathan Suresh , Pichardie David , Vitek Jan
Published: November 2016

Recent advances in verification have made it possible to envision trusted implementations of real-world languages. Java with its type-safety and fully specified semantics would appear to be an ideal candidate; yet, the complexity of the translation steps used in production virtual machines have made it a challenging target for verifying compiler technology. One of Java's key innovations, its memory model, poses significant obstacles to such an endeavor. The Java Memory Model is an ambitious attempt at specifying the behavior of multithreaded programs in a portable, hardware agnostic, way. While experts have an intuitive grasp of the properties that the model should enjoy, the specification is complex and not well-suited for integration within a verifying compiler infrastructure. Moreover, the specification is given in an axiomatic style that is distant from the intuitive reordering-based reasonings traditionally used to justify or rule out behaviors, and ill suited to the kind of operational reasoning one would expect to employ in a compiler. This paper takes a step back, and introduces a Buffered Memory Model (BMM) for Java. We choose a pragmatic point in the design space sacrificing generality in favor of a model that is fully characterized in terms of the reorderings it allows, amenable to formal reasoning, and which can be efficiently applied to a specific hardware family, namely x86 multiprocessors. Although the BMM restricts the reorderings compilers are allowed to perform, it serves as the key enabling device to achieving a verification pathway from bytecode to machine instructions. Despite its restrictions, we show that it is backwards compatible with the Java Memory Model and that it does not cripple performance on TSO architectures.
Logical relations for fine-grained concurrency
Authors: Turon Aaron J. , Thamsborg Jacob , Ahmed Amal , Birkedal Lars , Dreyer Derek
Published: November 2016

Fine-grained concurrent data structures (or FCDs) reduce the granularity of critical sections in both time and space, thus making it possible for clients to access different parts of a mutable data structure in parallel. However, the tradeoff is that the implementations of FCDs are very subtle and tricky to reason about directly. Consequently, they are carefully designed to be contextual refinements of their coarse-grained counterparts, meaning that their clients can reason about them as if all access to them were sequentialized.

In this paper, we propose a new semantic model, based on Kripke logical relations, that supports direct proofs of contextual refinement in the setting of a type-safe high-level language. The key idea behind our model is to provide a simple way of expressing the "local life stories" of individual pieces of an FCD's hidden state by means of protocols that the threads concurrently accessing that state must follow. By endowing these protocols with a simple yet powerful transition structure, as well as the ability to assert invariants on both heap states and specification code, we are able to support clean and intuitive refinement proofs for the most sophisticated types of FCDs, such as conditional compare-and-set (CCAS).
Linear dependent types for differential privacy
Authors: Gaboardi Marco , Haeberlen Andreas , Hsu Justin , Narayan Arjun , Pierce Benjamin C.
Published: November 2016

Differential privacy offers a way to answer queries about sensitive information while providing strong, provable privacy guarantees, ensuring that the presence or absence of a single individual in the database has a negligible statistical effect on the query's result. Proving that a given query has this property involves establishing a bound on the query's sensitivity---how much its result can change when a single record is added or removed.

A variety of tools have been developed for certifying that a given query differentially private. In one approach, Reed and Pierce [34] proposed a functional programming language, Fuzz, for writing differentially private queries. Fuzz uses linear types to track sensitivity and a probability monad to express randomized computation; it guarantees that any program with a certain type is differentially private. Fuzz can successfully verify many useful queries. However, it fails when the sensitivity analysis depends on values that are not known statically.

We present DFuzz, an extension of Fuzz with a combination of linear indexed types and lightweight dependent types. This combination allows a richer sensitivity analysis that is able to certify a larger class of queries as differentially private, including ones whose sensitivity depends on runtime information. As in Fuzz, the differential privacy guarantee follows directly from the soundness theorem of the type system. We demonstrate the enhanced expressivity of DFuzz by certifying differential privacy for a broad class of iterative algorithms that could not be typed previously.
A model-learner pattern for bayesian reasoning
Authors: Gordon Andrew D. , Aizatulin Mihhail , Borgstrom Johannes , Claret Guillaume , Graepel Thore , Nori Aditya V. , Rajamani Sriram K. , Russo Claudio
Published: November 2016

A Bayesian model is based on a pair of probability distributions, known as the prior and sampling distributions. A wide range of fundamental machine learning tasks, including regression, classification, clustering, and many others, can all be seen as Bayesian models. We propose a new probabilistic programming abstraction, a typed Bayesian model, which is based on a pair of probabilistic expressions for the prior and sampling distributions. A sampler for a model is an algorithm to compute synthetic data from its sampling distribution, while a learner for a model is an algorithm for probabilistic inference on the model. Models, samplers, and learners form a generic programming pattern for model-based inference. They support the uniform expression of common tasks including model testing, and generic compositions such as mixture models, evidence-based model averaging, and mixtures of experts. A formal semantics supports reasoning about model equivalence and implementation correctness. By developing a series of examples and three learner implementations based on exact inference, factor graphs, and Markov chain Monte Carlo, we demonstrate the broad applicability of this new programming pattern.
Hyperstream processing systems
Authors: Suenaga Kohei , Sekine Hiroyoshi , Hasuo Ichiro
Published: November 2016

We exploit the apparent similarity between (discrete-time) stream processing and (continuous-time) signal processing and transfer a deductive verification framework from the former to the latter. Our development is based on rigorous semantics that relies on nonstandard analysis (NSA).

Specifically, we start with a discrete framework consisting of a Lustre-like stream processing language, its Kahn-style fixed point semantics, and a program logic (in the form of a type system) for partial correctness guarantees. This stream framework is transferred as it is to one for hyperstreams---streams of streams, that typically arise from sampling (continuous-time) signals with progressively smaller intervals---via the logical infrastructure of NSA. Under a certain continuity assumption we identify hyperstreams with signals; our final outcome thus obtained is a deductive verification framework of signals. In it one verifies properties of signals using the (conventionally discrete) proof principles, like fixed point induction.
Principled parsing for indentation-sensitive languages
Authors: Adams Michael D.
Published: November 2016

Several popular languages, such as Haskell, Python, and F#, use the indentation and layout of code as part of their syntax. Because context-free grammars cannot express the rules of indentation, parsers for these languages currently use ad hoc techniques to handle layout. These techniques tend to be low-level and operational in nature and forgo the advantages of more declarative specifications like context-free grammars. For example, they are often coded by hand instead of being generated by a parser generator.

This paper presents a simple extension to context-free grammars that can express these layout rules, and derives GLR and LR(k) algorithms for parsing these grammars. These grammars are easy to write and can be parsed efficiently. Examples for several languages are presented, as are benchmarks showing the practical efficiency of these algorithms.
Complete instantiation-based interpolation
Authors: Totla Nishant , Wies Thomas
Published: November 2016

Craig interpolation has been a valuable tool for formal methods with interesting applications in program analysis and verification. Modern SMT solvers implement interpolation procedures for the theories that are most commonly used in these applications. However, many application-specific theories remain unsupported, which limits the class of problems to which interpolation-based techniques apply. In this paper, we present a generic framework to build new interpolation procedures via reduction to existing interpolation procedures. We consider the case where an application-specific theory can be formalized as an extension of a base theory with additional symbols and axioms. Our technique uses finite instantiation of the extension axioms to reduce an interpolation problem in the theory extension to one in the base theory. We identify a model-theoretic criterion that allows us to detect the cases where our technique is complete. We discuss specific theories that are relevant in program verification and that satisfy this criterion. In particular, we obtain complete interpolation procedures for theories of arrays and linked lists. The latter is the first complete interpolation procedure for a theory that supports reasoning about complex shape properties of heap-allocated data structures. We have implemented this procedure in a prototype on top of existing SMT solvers and used it to automatically infer loop invariants of list-manipulating programs.
Automatic detection of floating-point exceptions
Authors: Barr Earl T. , Vo Thanh , Le Vu , Su Zhendong
Published: November 2016

It is well-known that floating-point exceptions can be disastrous and writing exception-free numerical programs is very difficult. Thus, it is important to automatically detect such errors. In this paper, we present Ariadne, a practical symbolic execution system specifically designed and implemented for detecting floating-point exceptions. Ariadne systematically transforms a numerical program to explicitly check each exception triggering condition. Ariadne symbolically executes the transformed program using real arithmetic to find candidate real-valued inputs that can reach and trigger an exception. Ariadne converts each candidate input into a floating-point number, then tests it against the original program. In general, approximating floating-point arithmetic with real arithmetic can change paths from feasible to infeasible and vice versa. The key insight of this work is that, for the problem of detecting floating-point exceptions, this approximation works well in practice because, if one input reaches an exception, many are likely to, and at least one of them will do so over both floating-point and real arithmetic. To realize Ariadne, we also devised a novel, practical linearization technique to solve nonlinear constraints. We extensively evaluated Ariadne over 467 scalar functions in the widely used GNU Scientific Library (GSL). Our results show that Ariadne is practical and identifies a large number of real runtime exceptions in GSL. The GSL developers confirmed our preliminary findings and look forward to Ariadne's public release, which we plan to do in the near future.
A Polylogarithmic Approximation Algorithm for Edge-Disjoint Paths with Congestion 2
Authors: Chuzhoy Julia , Li Shi
Published: November 2016

In the Edge-Disjoint Paths with Congestion problem (EDPwC), we are given an undirected
n
-vertex graph
G
, a collection
M
={ (
s
1
,
t
1
),… ,(
s

k

,
t

k

) } of pairs of vertices called demand pairs, and an integer
c
. The goal is to connect the maximum possible number of the demand pairs by paths, so that the maximum edge congestion - the number of paths sharing any edge - is bounded by
c
. When the maximum allowed congestion is
c
= 1, this is the classical Edge-Disjoint Paths problem (EDP).

The best current approximation algorithm for EDP achieves an
O
(√
n
)-approximation by rounding the standard multi-commodity flow relaxation of the problem. This matches the Ω (√
n
) lower bound on the integrality gap of this relaxation. We show an
O
(poly log
k
)-approximation algorithm for EDPwC with congestion
c
= 2 by rounding the same multi-commodity flow relaxation. This gives the best possible congestion for a sub-polynomial approximation of EDPwC via this relaxation. Our results are also close to optimal in terms of the number of pairs routed, since EDPwC is known to be hard to approximate to within a factor of ~ Ω ((log
n
)

1/(
c
+1)

) for any constant congestion
c
. Prior to our work, the best approximation factor for EDPwC with congestion 2 was Õ(
n
3/7
), and the best algorithm achieving a polylogarithmic approximation required congestion 14.
Content-Adaptive Display Power Saving for Internet Video Applications on Mobile Devices
Authors: Liu Yao , Xiao Mengbai , Zhang Ming , Li Xin , Dong Mian , Ma Zhan , Li Zhenhua , Guo Lei , Chen Songqing
Published: November 2016

Backlight scaling is a technique proposed to reduce the display panel power consumption by strategically dimming the backlight. However, for mobile video applications, a computationally intensive luminance compensation step must be performed in combination with backlight scaling to maintain the perceived appearance of video frames. This step, if done by the Central Processing Unit (CPU), could easily offset the power savings via backlight dimming. Furthermore, computing the backlight scaling values requires per-frame luminance information, which is typically too energy intensive to compute on mobile devices.

In this article, we propose Content-Adaptive Display (CAD) for two typical Internet mobile video applications: video streaming and real-time video communication. CAD uses the mobile device’s Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) rather than the CPU to perform luminance compensation at reduced power consumption. For video streaming where video frames are available in advance, we compute the backlight scaling schedule using a more efficient dynamic programming algorithm than existing work. For real-time video communication where video frames are generated on the fly, we propose a greedy algorithm to determine the backlight scaling at runtime. We implement CAD in one video streaming application and one real-time video call application on the Android platform and use a Monsoon power meter to measure the real power consumption. Experiment results show that CAD can save more than 10% overall power consumption for up to 55.7% videos during video streaming and up to 31.0% overall power consumption in real-time video calls.
Visual abstraction in an interactive programming environment
Authors: Powell Michael L. , Linton Mark A.
Published: November 2016

We are designing a software development system that implements “what you see is what you get” for programming. The system, called OMEGA, allows software to be displayed, processed, and modified, using pictorial representations to convey the structure and levels of abstraction of the program.

OMEGA takes advantage of the interactive user interface to provide syntax-free input, user selectable display format, and incremental semantic analysis. By distinguishing input specification from output display, and exploiting interaction in semantic analysis, we are able to unify the different abstraction mechanisms present in traditional programming environments.
Attribute grammars and data-flow languages
Authors: Farrow Rodney
Published: November 2016

This paper examines the similarity between attribute grammars and data-flow languages. For any attribute grammar there is a data-flow program that is an evaluator for it, and we describe how to build this data-flow program. The design of semantic functions for an attribute grammar is seen to be a problem of programming in a data-flow language. Reinterpreting our experience writing attribute grammars, we suggest some techniques to use in data-flow programming and propose language features that will support them. We also propose using data-flow notation to specify the semantic functions of attribute grammars and implementing attribute evaluators in a data-flow language.
A programmer controlled approach to data and control abstraction
Authors: Heinänen Juha
Published: November 2016

Traditionally, data abstraction languages have only provided a means to extend the language “upward” to include new procedures and data types not present in the base language. This paper introduces a complementary approach, which also allows programmers to extend the language “downward” and thus to override many of the previously preempted decisions concerning the nature and implementation of various language constructs. In order to illustrate the approach, several extension examples are presented that involve control of decisions below the level of Pascal-like languages. Implementation of the programmer defined language constructs is also discussed and benchmark results are reported that show them comparable—and in many cases exceeding—in efficiency the corresponding built-in constructs of conventional languages.
NIL
Authors: Strom Robert E. , Yemini Shaula
Published: November 2016

This paper presents features of the NIL programming language which support the construction of distributed software systems: (1) a process model in which no pointers or shared data are visible, (2) interprocess communication via synchronous and asynchronous message passing, (3) compile-time
typestate checking
, guaranteeing module isolation and correct finalization of data, (4) dynamic binding of statically typed ports under the control of
capabilities.

We discuss how these features are defined in NIL, illustrate the consequences of these decisions for the design of distributed systems, and compare these decisions with those made in other programming languages with similar objectives.
Action and transaction skeletons:
Authors: Ridjanovic Dzenan , Brodie Michael L.
Published: November 2016

The relational data model (RDM) provides a powerful basis for high level language constructs that are used in representing structural (static) and behavioural (dynamic) properties of data intensive applications. A fundamental class of semantic integrity constraints, called interrelational constraints, cannot adequately be represented by structural or behavioural constructs alone. The required structural concept is provided directly by the RDM, but a complementary behavioural concept must be added. The language design issues concern a behavioural concept, called an action skeleton, and its integration with the structural concept. An action skeleton enforces a disciplined design and implementation of database transactions that maintain interrelational constraints. Another design issue concerns the use of syntax to constrain design and implementation choices.
Descartes
Authors: Shaw Mary , Borison Ellen , Horowitz Michael , Lane Tom , Nichols David , Pausch Randy
Published: November 2016

This paper shows how the principles of programming methodology and language design can help solve the problem of specifying and creating interactive display interfaces for software systems. Abstraction techniques, such as abstract data types, can support both the specification of display interfaces and the implementation of those interfaces in a variety of styles. These abstraction techniques also guide the organization of software systems that will use display interfaces. We are developing a system that includes specifications, interface description tools, prototype organizations, and runtime support. The emphasis is on flexibility and on the separation of policy from particular instances. Preliminary results from implementations in a prototype domain indicate the feasibility of the approach.
Who needs languages, and why do they need them? or no matter how high the level, it's still programming
Authors: Smoliar Stephen W. , Barstow David
Published: November 2016

Increased research interest in the software development process is threatening to crowd out the concerns of the end user. Computer science provides an abundance of tools, including specification languages, design languages, special-purpose programming languages, and even wide spectrum languages, capable of accommodating the goals of all the preceding languages in a single, unified package. Unfortunately, as computer scientists become more involved with the software development process, the role of the end user tends to diminish. Throwing languages at a problem domain, either in greater numbers or in great flexibility, does not necessarily properly address the needs of the party who wanted the software in the first place. The problem is that, however noble the intentions of language designers may be, the end user will ultimately confront situations in which the major obstacle is one of mastery of the language, rather than difficulties in the problem domain. As an alternative, we propose that more attention be paid to the
environment
in which software development takes place than to the
languages
in which the stages of development are expressed. This talk will discuss environmental facilities which enhance a user's syntactic and semantic understanding of his software tools.
Type hierarchies and Semantic Data Models
Authors: Albano Antonio
Published: November 2016

The basic abstraction mechanisms of Semantic Data Models - aggregation, classification and generalization - are considered the essential features to overcome the limitations of traditional data models in terms of semantic expressiveness. An important issue in database programming language design is which features should a programming language have to support the abstraction mechanisms of Semantic Data Models. This paper shows that when using a strongly typed programming language, that language should support the notion of type hierarchies to achieve a full integration of Semantic Data Models abstraction mechanisms within the language's type system. The solution is presented using the language Galileo, a strongly typed, interactive programming language specifically designed for database applications.
Decentralised control flow - based on UNIX
Authors: Lima Isabel Gouveia , Hopkins Richard , Marshall Lindsay , Mundy David , Treleaven Philip
Published: November 2016

In the computing science community there is a growing belief that the traditional von Neumann programming model will be superceded in the 1990's by a new decentralised programming model. Various “revolutionary” approaches are being promoted: data flow, reduction, actor and logic models. We propose an alternative “evolutionary” approach, namely a decentralised control flow model. This model, a generalisation of the von Neumann model, can already be recognised as providing the basis of modern operating systems such as UNIX. In this paper we discuss initially the programming of future decentralised computing systems that represent a convergence of computer networks and parallel architectures. Next we describe the decentralised control flow model, and finally we present a simple programming language called BASIX that embodies the model.
A high-level programming and command language
Authors: Fraser Christopher W. , Hanson David R.
Published: November 2016

Unifying programming and command languages is a promising idea that has yet to be thoroughly exploited. Most attempts at such unification have used Lisp or traditional languages, such as Pascal. This paper describes the command and programming language
EZ
, which attempts to unify command and programming languages by using high-level string-processing concepts, such as those in SNOBOL4 and Icon.
EZ
has particularly simple data abstractions that attempt to bridge the gap between the data abstractions of command languages and those of programming languages. This is accomplished by
type fusion
, which pushes the differences between some classes of types, such as strings and text files, out of the language and into the implementation. The language, its use, and its implementation are described.
Attention span during lectures: 8 seconds, 10 minutes, or more?
Authors: Bradbury Neil A.
Published: November 2016

In the current climate of curriculum reform, the traditional lecture has come under fire for its perceived lack of effectiveness. Indeed, several institutions have reduced their lectures to 15 min in length based upon the “common knowledge” and “consensus” that there is a decline in students’ attention 10–15 min into lectures. A review of the literature on this topic reveals many discussions referring to prior studies but scant few primary investigations. Alarmingly, the most often cited source for a rapid decline in student attention during a lecture barely discusses student attention at all. Of the studies that do attempt to measure attention, many suffer from methodological flaws and subjectivity in data collection. Thus, the available primary data do not support the concept of a 10- to 15-min attention limit. Interestingly, the most consistent finding from a literature review is that the greatest variability in student attention arises from differences between teachers and not from the teaching format itself. Certainly, even the most interesting material can be presented in a dull and dry fashion, and it is the job of the instructor to enhance their teaching skills to provide not only rich content but also a satisfying lecture experience for the students.
Kupffer cells facilitate the acute effects of leptin on hepatic lipid metabolism
Authors: Metlakunta Anantha , Huang Wan , Stefanovic-Racic Maja , Dedousis Nikolaos , Sipula Ian , O’Doherty Robert M.
Published: November 2016

Leptin has potent effects on lipid metabolism in a number of peripheral tissues. In liver, an acute leptin infusion (~120 min) stimulates hepatic fatty acid oxidation (~30%) and reduces triglycerides (TG, ~40%), effects that are dependent on phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) activity. In the current study we addressed the hypothesis that leptin actions on liver-resident immune cells are required for these metabolic effects. Myeloid cell-specific deletion of the leptin receptor (ObR) in mice or depletion of liver Kupffer cells (KC) in rats in vivo prevented the acute effects of leptin on liver lipid metabolism, while the metabolic effects of leptin were maintained in mice lacking ObR in hepatocytes. Notably, liver TG were elevated in both lean and obese myeloid cell ObR, but the degree of obesity and insulin resistance induced by a high-fat diet was similar to control mice. In isolated primary hepatocytes (HEP), leptin had no effects on HEP lipid metabolism and only weakly stimulated PI3K. However, the coculture of KC with HEP restored leptin action on HEP fatty acid metabolism and stimulation of HEP PI3K. Notably, leptin stimulated the release from KC of a number of cytokines. However, the exposure of HEP to these cytokines individually [granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-18] or in combination had no effects on HEP lipid metabolism. Together, these data demonstrate a role for liver mononuclear cells in the regulation of liver lipid metabolism by leptin.
Dispatching Plan Based on Route Optimization Model Considering Random Wind for Aviation Emergency Rescue
Authors: Zhang Ming , Yu Hui , Yu Jue , Zhang Yifan
Published: November 2016

Aviation emergency rescue is an effective means of nature disaster relief that is widely used in many countries. The dispatching plan of aviation emergency rescue guarantees the efficient implementation of this relief measure. The conventional dispatching plan that does not consider random wind factors leads to a nonprecise quick-responsive scheme and serious safety issues. In this study, an aviation emergency rescue framework that considers the influence of random wind at flight trajectory is proposed. In this framework, the predicted wind information for a disaster area is updated by using unscented Kalman filtering technology. Then, considering the practical scheduling problem of aircraft emergency rescue at present, a multiobjective model is established in this study. An optimization model aimed at maximizing the relief supply satisfaction, rescue priority satisfaction, and minimizing total rescue flight distance is formulated. Finally, the transport times of aircraft with and without the influence of random wind are analyzed on the basis of the data of an earthquake disaster area. Results show that the proposed dispatching plan that considers the constraints of updated wind speed and direction is highly applicable in real operations.
The Biochemical Profile of Familial Hypocalciuric Hypercalcemia and Primary Hyperparathyroidism during Pregnancy and Lactation: Two Case Reports and Review of the Literature
Authors: Ghaznavi S. A. , Saad N. M. A. , Donovan L. E.
Published: November 2016

Background. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and Familial Hypocalciuric Hypercalcemia (FHH) result in different maternal and fetal complications in pregnancy. Calcium to creatinine clearance ratio (CCCR) is commonly used to help distinguish these two conditions. Physiological changes in calcium handling during pregnancy and lactation can alter CCCR, making it a less useful tool to distinguish PHPT from FHH. Cases. A 25-year-old female presented with hypercalcemia and an inappropriately normal PTH. Her CCCR was 0.79% before pregnancy and rose to 1.99% in her second trimester. The proband’s mother and neonate had asymptomatic hypercalcemia. Genetic analysis revealed a CaSR mutation consistent with FHH. A 19-year-old female presented with a history of nephrolithiasis who underwent emergent caesarean section at 29 weeks of gestation for severe preeclampsia. At delivery, she was diagnosed with hypercalcemia with an inappropriately normal PTH and a CCCR of 2.67%, which fell to 0.88% during lactation. Parathyroidectomy cured her hypercalcemia. Pathology confirmed a parathyroid adenoma. Conclusion. These cases illustrate the influence of pregnancy and lactation on renal calcium indices, such as the CCCR. To avoid diagnostic error of women with hypercalcemia during pregnancy and lactation, calcium biochemistry of first-degree relatives and genetic testing of select patients are recommended.
A Moving Frame Trajectory Tracking Method of a Flying-Wing UAV Using the Differential Geometry
Authors: Zhu Yi , Chen Xin , Li Chuntao
Published: November 2016

The problem of UAV trajectory tracking is a difficult issue for scholars and engineers, especially when the target curve is a complex curve in the three-dimensional space. In this paper, the coordinate frames during the tracking process are transformed to improve the tracking result. Firstly, the basic concepts of the moving frame are given. Secondly the transfer principles of various moving frames are formulated and the Bishop frame is selected as a final choice for its flexibility. Thirdly, the detailed dynamic equations of the moving frame tracking method are formulated. In simulation, a moving frame of an elliptic cylinder helix is formulated precisely. Then, the devised tracking method on the basis of the dynamic equations is tested in a complete flight control system with 6 DOF nonlinear equations of the UAV. The simulation result shows a satisfactory trajectory tracking performance so that the effectiveness and efficiency of the devised tracking method is proved.
Evaluation of Lethal Giant Larvae as a Schistosomiasis Vaccine Candidate
Authors: Cao Yufan , Qiao Hongbin , Shi Yanli , Han Yu , Liu Jinming , Li Hao , Lu Ke , Lin Jiaojiao , Jin Yamei
Published: November 2016

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease of humans, and it is considered to be the second most devastating parasitic disease after malaria. Eggs produced by normally developed female worms are important in the transmission of the parasite, and they responsible for the pathogenesis of schistosomiasis. The tumor suppressor genelethal giant larvae (lgl)has an essential function in establishing apical-basal cell polarity, cell proliferation, differentiation, and tissue organization. In our earlier study, downregulation of thelglgene induced a significant reduction in the egg hatching rate ofSchistosoma japonicum (Sj)eggs. In this study, theSjlglgene was used as a vaccine candidate against schistosomiasis, and vaccination achieved and maintained a stable reduction of the egg hatching rate, which is consistent with previous studies, in addition to reducing the worm burden and liver egg burden in some trials.
Polymer Nanoparticle-Based Chemotherapy for Spinal Malignancies
Authors: Ma Hongyun , Jiang Weiqian , Ding Jianxun , Li Mingqiang , Cheng Yilong , Sun Shuo , Fu Changfeng , Liu Yi
Published: November 2016

Malignant spinal tumors, categorized into primary and metastatic ones, are one of the most serious diseases due to their high morbidity and mortality rates. Common primary spinal tumors include chordoma, chondrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, and multiple myeloma. Spinal malignancies are not only locally invasive and destructive to adjacent structures, such as bone, neural, and vascular structures, but also disruptive to distant organs (e.g., lung). Current treatments for spinal malignancies, including wide resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, have made significant progress like improving patients’ quality of life. Among them, chemotherapy plays an important role, but its potential for clinical application is limited by severe side effects and drug resistance. To ameliorate the current situation, various polymer nanoparticles have been developed as promising excipients to facilitate the effective treatment of spinal malignancies by utilizing their potent advantages, for example, targeting, stimuli response, and synergetic effect. This review overviews the development of polymer nanoparticles for antineoplastic delivery in the treatment of spinal malignancies and discusses future prospects of polymer nanoparticle-based treatment methods.
First Electrochemical Method of Nitrothal-Isopropyl Determination in Water Samples
Authors: Guziejewski Dariusz , Nosal-Wiercińska Agnieszka , Skrzypek Sławomira , Ciesielski Witold , Smarzewska Sylwia
Published: November 2016

The aim of the research was the use of square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry (SWAdSV) in conjunction with a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) for the determination of nitrothal-isopropyl. It was found that optimal SW technique parameters were frequency, 200 Hz; amplitude, 50 mV; and step potential, 5 mV. Accumulation time and potential were studied to select the optimal conditions in adsorptive stripping voltammetry: 45 s at 0.0 V, respectively. The calibration curve (SWSV) was linear in the nitrothal-isopropyl concentration range from 2.0 × 10−7 to 2.0 × 10−6 mol L−1 with detection limit of 3.46 × 10−8 mol L−1. The repeatability of the method was determined at a nitrothal-isopropyl concentration level equal to 6.0 × 10−7 mol L−1 and expressed as RSD = 5.5% (n=6). The proposed method was successfully validated by studying the recovery of nitrothal-isopropyl in spiked environmental samples.
Synthesis and Applications of Semiconducting Graphene
Authors: Maharubin Shahrima , Zhang Xin , Zhu Fuliang , Zhang Hong-Chao , Zhang Gengxin , Zhang Yue
Published: November 2016

Semimetal-to-semiconductor transition in graphene can bestow graphene with numerous novel and enhanced structural, electrical, optical, and physicochemical characteristics. The scope of graphene and its prospective for an array of implications could be significantly outspread by this transition. In consideration of the recent advancements of semiconducting graphene, this article widely reviews the properties, production, and developing operations of this emergent material. The comparisons among the benefits and difficulties of current methods are made, intending to offer evidences to develop novel and scalable synthesis approaches. The emphasis is on the properties and applications resulting from various conversion methods (doping, controlled reduction, and functionalization), expecting to get improved knowledge on semiconducting graphene materials. Intending to motivate further efficient implications, the mechanisms leading to their beneficial usages for energy conversion and storage are also emphasized.
Robust Stability Criteria for T-S Fuzzy Systems with Time-Varying Delays via Nonquadratic Lyapunov-Krasovskii Functional Approach
Authors: Kim Sung Hyun
Published: November 2016

This paper tackles the issue of stability analysis for uncertain T-S fuzzy systems with interval time-varying delays, especially based on the nonquadratic Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (NLKF). To this end, this paper first provides a less conservative relaxation technique and then derives a relaxed robust stability criterion that enhances the interactions among delayed fuzzy subsystems. The effectiveness of our method is verified by two examples.
Phytochemical and Pharmacological Studies on the Genus Psoralea: A Mini Review
Authors: Li Cong-Cong , Wang Teng-Long , Zhang Zhong-Qun , Yang Wen-Qiang , Wang Yue-Fei , Chai Xin , Wang Chun-Hua , Li Zheng
Published: November 2016

The genus Psoralea, which belongs to the family Fabaceae, comprises ca. 130 species distributed all over the world, and some of the plants are used as folk medicine to treat various diseases. Psoralea corylifolia is a typical example, whose seeds have been widely used in many traditional Chinese medicine formulas for the treatment of various diseases such as leucoderma and other skin diseases, cardiovascular diseases, nephritis, osteoporosis, and cancer. So, the chemical and pharmacological studies on this genus were performed in the past decades. Here, we give a mini review on this genus about its phytochemical and pharmacological studies from 1910 to 2015.
Positive Solutions to Periodic Boundary Value Problems of Nonlinear Fractional Differential Equations at Resonance
Authors: Hu Lei
Published: November 2016

By Leggett-Williams norm-type theorem for coincidences due to O’Regan and Zima, we discuss the existence of positive solutions to fractional order with periodic boundary conditions at resonance. At last, an example is presented to demonstrate the main results.
Case Report of a Child after Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation with Acute Aspergillus Tracheobronchitis as a Cause for Respiratory Failure
Authors: Gauguet Stefanie , Madden Kate , Wu Jennifer , Duncan Christine , Lee Gi Soo , Miller Tonya , Klingensmith William C. , Burchett Sandra K. , van der Velden Meredith
Published: November 2016

Rapid respiratory failure due to invasive mycosis of the airways is an uncommon presentation of Aspergillus infection, even in immunocompromised patients, and very few pediatric cases have been reported. Patients with Aspergillus tracheobronchitis present with nonspecific symptoms, and radiologic studies are often noninformative, leading to a delay in diagnosis. Prompt initiation of adequate antifungal therapies is of utmost importance to improve outcome. We report the case of a 9-year-old girl with chronic myelogenous leukemia who developed respiratory distress 41 days after hematopoietic cell transplantation and rapidly deteriorated despite multiple interventions and treatment modalities.
Research and Application of Fire Forecasting Model for Electric Transmission Lines Incorporating Meteorological Data and Human Activities
Authors: Lu Jiazheng , Guo Jun , Yang Li , Feng Tao , Zhang Jie
Published: November 2016

Recently, there is a rise in frequency of fires which pose a serious threat to the safety operation of electric transmission lines. Several ultrahigh voltage (UHV) electric transmission lines, including Fufeng line, Jinsu line, Longzheng line, and Changnan line, showed many times tripping or bipolar latching caused by fire disasters. Fire disasters have tended to be the biggest threat to the safety operation of electric transmission lines and even can cause power grid collapse in some severe situations. Researchers have made much research on fires forecasting. However, these studies are mainly concentrated on predicting fires based on measured or forecasting meteorological data and do not take into account the effect of human activities. In fact, fire disasters have a very close relationship with human activities. In our research, a fire prediction model is proposed incorporating meteorological data as well as human activities. And this model is applied in Hunan province and Anhui province, which seriously suffer from fire disasters. The results show that the model has good prediction precision and can be a powerful tool for practical application.
Bone-Anchored Titanium Implants in Patients with Auricular Defects: Three Years and 27 Patients’ Experience
Authors: Mevio Emilio , Facca Luca , Schettini Stefano , Mullace Mauro
Published: November 2016

Different surgical solutions have been proposed for reconstruction of the auricle following loss of the pinna through traumatic injury or neoplastic disease or in patients with congenital defects. Surgical treatment may involve the insertion of an autogenous rib cartilage framework or the use of a porous polymer material inserted into an expanded postauricular flap. Reconstruction with rib cartilage has yielded good results but requires more than one surgical step, and adverse events can occur both at the donor and at the acceptor site; cases of prosthesis rejection have also been described following application of the polymeric prosthesis. The use of a titanium, dowel-retained silicone prosthetic pinna, fixed to the temporal bone, has recently been proposed. This useful surgical approach is indicated particularly after resection of the pinna caused by neoplastic disease or in traumatic auricular injury. Osseointegrated titanium implants used in 27 patients in this study provided them with a safe, reliable, adhesive-free method of anchoring the auricular prostheses. The prostheses allowed recovery of normal physical appearance and all the patients reported that they were completely satisfied with the outcome of the surgical reconstruction. No surgical complications, implant failures, or prosthetic failures were encountered over six months to three years.
miRNA-487a Promotes Proliferation and Metastasis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Chang Rui-Min , Xiao Shuai , Lei Xiong , Yang Hao , Fang Feng , Yang Lian-Yue
Published: November 2016

Purpose: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) harbors highly metastatic properties, accounting for postoperative recurrence and metastasis. However, the mechanisms for metastasis and recurrence remain incompletely clear. This study aimed to investigate the role of hsa-miR-487a (miR-487a) in promoting the proliferation and metastasis of HCC and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Experimental Design: 198 HCC samples were analyzed for association between miR-487a expression and patient clinicopathological features and prognosis. The roles of miR-487a in proliferation and metastasis were validated both in vivo and in vitro. The upstream regulator and downstream targets of miR-487a were determined using a dual luciferase reporter assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation and immunohistochemistry.

Results: Our results demonstrate that upregulated miR-487a correlates with a poor prognosis for HCC patients. miR-487a enhances proliferation and metastasis of HCC cells by directly binding to sprouty-related EVH1 domain containing 2 (SPRED2) or phosphoinositide-3-Kinase regulatory subunit 1 (PIK3R1). Interestingly, miR-487a mainly promotes metastasis via SPRED2 induced mitogen activated protein kinase signaling and promotes proliferation via PIK3R1 mediated AKT signaling. Transcription of miR-487a was found to be activated by up-regulated heat shock factor 1, which we previously demonstrated to be an important metastasis-associated transcription factor in a previous study. Phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers effectively silenced miR-487a and inhibited HCC tumor progression in mouse models.

Conclusions: Our findings show that miR-487a, mediated by heat shock factor 1, promotes proliferation and metastasis of HCC by PIK3R1 and SPRED2 binding, respectively. Our study provides a rationale for developing miR-487a as a potential prognostic marker or a potential therapeutic target against HCC. Clin Cancer Res; 23(10); 2593–604. ©2016 AACR.