bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Battery State of Health and Charge Estimation Using Polynomial Chaos Theory
Authors: Bashash Saeid , Fathy Hosam K.
Published: March 2014

In this effort, we use the generalized Polynomial Chaos theory (gPC) for the real-time state and parameter estimation of electrochemical batteries. We use an equivalent circuit battery model, comprising two states and five parameters, and formulate the online parameter estimation problem using battery current and voltage measurements. Using a combination of the conventional recursive gradient-based search algorithm and gPC framework, we propose a novel battery parameter estimation strategy capable of estimating both battery state-of-charge (SOC) and parameters related to battery health, e.g., battery charge capacity, internal resistance, and relaxation time constant. Using a combination of experimental tests and numerical simulations, we examine and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed battery estimation method.
Discrimination of Steady State and Transient State of Extremum Seeking Control via Sinusoidal Detection
Authors: Mu Baojie , Li Yaoyu , Seem John E.
Published: March 2014

A major class of extremum seeking control is based on the use of periodic dither perturbation of plant input for extracting the gradient information. Presence of the dither input into the steady state operation is undesirable in practice due to the possible excessive wear of actuators. It is thus beneficial to stop the dithering action after the extremum seeking process reaches its steady state. In this paper, we propose a method for automatically discriminate between the steady state and the transient state modes of extremum seeking control process using the sinusoidal detection techniques. Some design guidelines are proposed for the parameter selection of the relevant sinusoidal detection scheme. The proposed scheme is validated with simulation study.
Comparison of Several Self-Optimizing Control Methods for Efficient Operation for a Chilled Water Plant
Authors: Mu Baojie , Li Yaoyu , Seem John E.
Published: March 2014

Self-optimizing control methods have received significant attention recently, due to the merit of nearly model-free capability of real-time optimization. Of particular interest in our study are two classes of self-optimizing control strategies, i.e. the Extremum Seeking Control (ESC) and Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (SPSA). Six algorithms, including dither ESC, adaptive dither ESC, switching ESC, one-measurement SPSA, and adaptive one-measurement SPSA are compared based on simulation study with a Modelcia based virtual plant of chiller-tower plant. The integral performance indices are evaluated to incorporate both transient and steady-state characteristics. Some design procedures are summarized for these self-optimizing control algorithms.
Using a Path-Fitting Algorithm to Analyze the Racing Techniques of a Skilled Driver
Authors: Samper Mejia Juan Pablo , Theodosis Paul A. , Gerdes J. Christian
Published: March 2014

Racecar drivers are skilled at tracking a path, avoiding accidents, and controlling their vehicles at the limits of handling. Better understanding of how a skilled driver selects and drives a racing line, could potentially lead to a new technique for obstacle avoidance. To investigate this, the characteristics of a racecar driver’s line must be captured mathematically. This paper describes an algorithm for fitting a path to the GPS data of a driver’s racing line. A family of path primitives composed of straights, clothoids, and constant radius arcs are used to describe the racing line. The fitted paths provide a method for analyzing racing lines and the different techniques used by skilled drivers to navigate the track.
Control of Autonomous Robots Using the Principles of Neuromodulation
Authors: Prince Akimul , Samanta Biswanath
Published: March 2014

The paper presents a control approach based on vertebrate neuromodulation and its implementation on an autonomous robot platform. A simple neural network is used to model the neuromodulatory function for generating context based behavioral responses to sensory signals. The neural network incorporates three types of neurons — cholinergic and noradrenergic (ACh/NE) neurons for attention focusing and action selection, dopaminergic (DA) neurons for curiosity-seeking, and serotonergic (5-HT) neurons for risk aversion behavior. The implementation of the neuronal model on a relatively simple autonomous robot illustrates its interesting behavior adapting to changes in the environment. The integration of neuromodulation based robots in the study of human-robot interaction would be worth considering in future.
Effect of stacking sequence on crystallization in Al/a-Ge bilayer thin films
Authors: Zhang Tianwei , Huang Yuhong , Zhang Weilin , Ma Fei , Xu Kewei
Published: March 2014

Two types of bilayer thin films with different deposition sequences, i.e., amorphous Ge under Al (a-Ge/Al) and the inverse (Al/a-Ge), were prepared by magnetron sputtering at room temperature. In-situ and ex-situ thermal annealing were compared to study the effect of the stacking sequence on crystallization of amorphous Ge. Although metal-induced crystallization occurred in both cases at low temperature, layer exchange was observed only in a-Ge/Al. In fact, compressive stress could usually be produced when Ge atoms diffused into Al grain boundaries and crystallized there. In the a-Ge/Al system, the stress could be released through diffusion of Al atoms onto the surface and formation of hillocks. Thus, grain boundary (GB) mediated crystallization was dominant in the whole process and layer exchange occurred. However, in the Al/a-Ge system, it was difficult for stress to be relaxed because the Ge sublayer and substrate restricted the diffusion of Al atoms. GB-mediated crystallization was, therefore, considerably suppressed and interface-mediated crystallization was preferred without layer exchange. This leads to distinct morphologies of dendrites in the two systems.
Chronic Q Fever in the Netherlands 5 Years after the Start of the Q Fever Epidemic: Results from the Dutch Chronic Q Fever Database
Authors: Kampschreur Linda M. , Delsing Corine E. , Groenwold Rolf H. H. , Wegdam-Blans Marjolijn C. A. , Bleeker-Rovers Chantal P. , de Jager-Leclercq Monique G. L. , Hoepelman Andy I. M. , van Kasteren Marjo E. , Buijs Jacqueline , Renders Nicole H. M. , Nabuurs-Franssen Marrigje H. , Oosterheert Jan Jelrik , Wever Peter C.
Published: March 2014

Coxiella burnetii
causes Q fever, a zoonosis, which has acute and chronic manifestations. From 2007 to 2010, the Netherlands experienced a large Q fever outbreak, which has offered a unique opportunity to analyze chronic Q fever cases. In an observational cohort study, baseline characteristics and clinical characteristics, as well as mortality, of patients with proven, probable, or possible chronic Q fever in the Netherlands, were analyzed. In total, 284 chronic Q fever patients were identified, of which 151 (53.7%) had proven, 64 (22.5%) probable, and 69 (24.3%) possible chronic Q fever. Among proven and probable chronic Q fever patients, vascular infection focus (56.7%) was more prevalent than endocarditis (34.9%). An acute Q fever episode was recalled by 27.0% of the patients. The all-cause mortality rate was 19.1%, while the chronic Q fever-related mortality rate was 13.0%, with mortality rates of 9.3% among endocarditis patients and 18% among patients with a vascular focus of infection. Increasing age (
P
= 0.004 and 0.010), proven chronic Q fever (
P
= 0.020 and 0.002), vascular chronic Q fever (
P
= 0.024 and 0.005), acute presentation with chronic Q fever (
P
= 0.002 and
P
< 0.001), and surgical treatment of chronic Q fever (
P
= 0.025 and
P
< 0.001) were significantly associated with all-cause mortality and chronic Q fever-related mortality, respectively.
Rapid Detection of Isoniazid Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates by Use of Real-Time-PCR-Based Melting Curve Analysis
Authors: Hu Siyu , Li Guoli , Li Hui , Liu Xiaoli , Niu Jianjun , Quan Shengmao , Wang Feng , Wen Huixin , Xu Ye , Li Qingge
Published: March 2014

The MeltPro TB/INH assay, recently approved by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration, is a closed-tube, dual-color, melting curve analysis-based, real-time PCR test specially designed to detect 30 isoniazid (INH) resistance mutations in
katG
position 315 (
katG
315), the
inhA
promoter (positions −17 to −8),
inhA
position 94, and the
ahpC
promoter (positions −44 to −30 and −15 to 3) of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
. Here we evaluated both the analytical performance and clinical performance of this assay. Analytical studies with corresponding panels demonstrated that the accuracy for detection of different mutation types (10 wild-type samples and 12 mutant type samples), the limit of detection (2 × 10
3
to 2 × 10
4
bacilli/ml), reproducibility (standard deviation [SD], <0.4°C), and the lowest heteroresistance level (40%) all met the parameters preset by the kit. The assay could be run on five types of real-time PCR machines, with the shortest running time (105 min) obtained with the LightCycler 480 II. Clinical studies enrolled 1,096 clinical isolates collected from three geographically different tuberculosis centers, including 437 INH-resistant isolates and 659 INH-susceptible isolates characterized by traditional drug susceptibility testing on Löwenstein-Jensen solid medium. The clinical sensitivity and specificity of the MeltPro TB/INH assay were 90.8% and 96.4%, respectively. DNA sequencing analysis showed that, except for the 5 mutants outside the detection range of the MeltPro assay, a concordance rate between the two methods of 99.1% (457/461) was obtained. Among the 26 mutation types detected,
katG
S315T (AGC→ACC),
inhA
−15C→T,
katG
S315N (AGC→AAC), and
ahpC
promoter −10C→T accounted for more than 90%. Overall, the MeltPro TB/INH assay represents a reliable and rapid tool for the detection of INH resistance in clinical isolates.
Cell- and Virus-Mediated Regulation of the Barrier-to-Autointegration Factor's Phosphorylation State Controls Its DNA Binding, Dimerization, Subcellular Localization, and Antipoxviral Activity
Authors: Jamin Augusta , Wicklund April , Wiebe Matthew S.
Published: March 2014

Barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) is a DNA binding protein with multiple cellular functions, including the ability to act as a potent defense against vaccinia virus infection. This antiviral function involves BAF's ability to condense double-stranded DNA and subsequently prevent viral DNA replication. In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that dynamic phosphorylation involving the vaccinia virus B1 kinase and cellular enzymes is likely a key regulator of multiple BAF functions; however, the precise mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we analyzed how phosphorylation impacts BAF's DNA binding, subcellular localization, dimerization, and antipoxviral activity through the characterization of BAF phosphomimetic and unphosphorylatable mutants. Our studies demonstrate that increased phosphorylation enhances BAF's mobilization from the nucleus to the cytosol, while dephosphorylation restricts BAF to the nucleus. Phosphorylation also impairs both BAF's dimerization and its DNA binding activity. Furthermore, our studies of BAF's antiviral activity revealed that hyperphosphorylated BAF is unable to suppress viral DNA replication or virus production. Interestingly, the unphosphorylatable BAF mutant, which is capable of binding DNA but localizes predominantly to the nucleus, was also incapable of suppressing viral replication. Thus, both DNA binding and localization are important determinants of BAF's antiviral function. Finally, our examination of how phosphatases are involved in regulating BAF revealed that PP2A dephosphorylates BAF during vaccinia infection, thus counterbalancing the activity of the B1 kinase. Altogether, these data demonstrate that phosphoregulation of BAF by viral and cellular enzymes modulates this protein at multiple molecular levels, thus determining its effectiveness as an antiviral factor and likely other functions as well.

IMPORTANCE
The barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) contributes to cellular genomic integrity in multiple ways, the best characterized of which are as a host defense against cytoplasmic DNA and as a regulator of mitotic nuclear reassembly. Although dynamic phosphorylation involving both viral and cellular enzymes is likely a key regulator of multiple BAF functions, the precise mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that phosphorylation coordinately regulates BAF's DNA binding, subcellular localization, dimerization, and antipoxviral activity. Overall, our findings provide new insights into how phosphoregulation of BAF modulates this protein at multiple levels and governs its effectiveness as an antiviral factor against foreign DNA.
Coronaviruses: Important Emerging Human Pathogens
Authors: Coleman Christopher M. , Frieman Matthew B.
Published: March 2014

The identification of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in 2012 reaffirmed the importance of understanding how coronaviruses emerge, infect, and cause disease. By comparing what is known about severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) to what has recently been found for MERS-CoV, researchers are discovering similarities and differences that may be important for pathogenesis. Here we discuss what is known about each virus and what gaps remain in our understanding, especially concerning MERS-CoV.
Solitary tubercular caecal ulcer causing massive lower gastrointestinal bleed: a formidable diagnostic challenge
Authors: Ram Duvuru , Karthikeyan Vilvapathy Senguttuvan , Sistla Sarath Chandra , Ali Sheik Manwar
Published: March 2014

Gastrointestinal (GI) haemorrhage is a common surgical emergency accounting for approximately 1% of acute hospital admissions. Lower GI bleed is less common and less severe than upper GI bleed and is usually caused by diverticulosis, neoplasms, angiodysplasia and inflammatory bowel disease. A 51-year-old man presented with massive lower GI bleed. He had no history of tuberculosis. He underwent colonoscopy and an isolated caecal ulcer was noted. Segmental ileocaecal resection was performed and no specific cause was identifiable on histopathology. PCR was performed on this specimen and it was positive forMycobacterium tuberculosis.This case reports the unusual presentation of tuberculosis as solitary caecal ulcer with massive lower GI bleed and highlights the role of PCR as an adjuvant diagnostic tool for its diagnosis when characteristic histopathological findings are absent.
Merosin-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy with cerebral white matter changes: a clue to its diagnosis beyond infancy
Authors: Kumar Sandeep , Aroor Shrikiran , Mundkur Suneel , Kumar Maneesh
Published: March 2014

A 6-year-old boy born by a third-degree consanguineous marriage presented with progressive muscle weakness and delayed motor milestones noticed in early infancy with preserved language and social milestones. Examination revealed generalised hypotonia and hyporeflexia. Baseline haematological and biochemical investigations were normal except for mildly elevated creatine kinase. Provisional diagnosis of congenital myopathy was entertained. We performed brain imaging to look for abnormalities associated with congenital muscular dystrophy even though there were only features of myopathy with normal mentation. An MRI of the brain revealed periventricular and subcortical white matter hyperintensities suggestive of leucoencephalopathy. Muscle biopsy findings were consistent with degenerative muscle changes and immunohistochemical staining for merosin was negative, thus confirming the diagnosis of merosin-deficient congenital muscular dystrophy. Supportive care in the form of physiotherapy was initiated. The family was offered genetic counselling in their second pregnancy and immunohistochemistry at 12 weeks confirmed the fetus to be affected, which was then terminated.
Adenomyomatous hyperplasia of the ampulla of Vater presenting as acute pancreatitis
Authors: Rafiullah  , Tanimu Sabo
Published: March 2014

We report an interesting and rare case of a man with adenomyomatous hyperplasia of the ampulla of Vater presenting as acute pancreatitis, which to our knowledge, is only the second reported case in the English literature. The patient presented with an acute onset of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, without fever, chills or rigours. CT of the abdomen revealed changes of acute pancreatitis with a peripancreatic adenopathy, and abdominal ultrasound revealed a slightly hyperechoic and oedematous head of the pancreas, consistent with acute pancreatitis. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography revealed an ampullary lesion. Pathology of the ampullary lesion revealed an inflammatory polyp. Endoscopic ultrasound with endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion revealed an adenomyomatous hyperplasia. The patient recovered well postendoscopic resection without recurrent pancreatitis or cholestasis.
Adherence to guidelines in the use of biological agents to treat psoriasis in Brazil
Authors: Silveira Miriam Sanches do Nascimento , de Camargo Iara Alves , Osorio-de-Castro Claudia Garcia Serpa , Barberato-Filho Silvio , Del Fiol Fernando de Sá , Guyatt Gordon , de Camargo Mayara Costa , Lopes Luciane Cruz
Published: March 2014

Objective

In São Paolo, Brazil, patients can appeal to the courts, registering law suits against the government claiming the need for biological agents for treatment of psoriasis. If the lawsuits are successful, which is usually the case, the government then pays for the biologic agent. The extent to which the management of such patients, after gaining access to government payment for their biologic agents, adheres to authoritative guidelines, is uncertain.

Methods

We identified patients through records of the State Health Secretariat of São Paulo from 2004 to 2011. We consulted guidelines from five countries and chose as standards only those recommendations that the guidelines uniformly endorsed. Pharmacy records provided data regarding biological use. Guidelines not only recommended biological agents only in patients with severe psoriasis who had failed to respond to topical and systemic therapies (eg, ciclosporin and methotrexate) but also yearly monitoring of blood counts and liver function.

Results

Of 218 patients identified in the database, 3 did not meet eligibility criteria and 12 declined participation. Of the 203 patients interviewed, 91 were still using biological medicine; we established adherence to laboratory monitoring in these patients. In the total sample, management failed to meet standards of prior use of topical and systemic medication in 169 (83.2%) patients. Of the 91 patients using biological medicine at the time of the survey, 23 (25.2%) did not undergo appropriate laboratory tests.

Conclusions

Important discrepancies exist between clinical practice and the recommendations of guidelines in the management of plaintiffs using biological drugs to treat psoriasis.
The interpretability of doctor identification badges in UK hospitals: a survey of nurses and patients
Authors: Hickerton Bethan C , Fitzgerald Daniel John , Perry Elizabeth , De Bolla Alan R
Published: March 2014

Introduction

Hospital badges have multiple important purposes, but their essential role remains the clear identification of the bearer, including their professional status. The modernisation of medical careers in the National Health Service has changed terminology dramatically, resulting in a plethora of new job titles emerging among both doctors and nurses.

Objective

To determine whether the new or old terminology allowed clearer identification of medical doctors by patients and nurses.

Method

We replicated 11 identification badges used in the Royal Cornwall Hospital and Wrexham Maelor Hospital, both current and before the introduction of new medical training terminology. Data were collected from 114 patients and 67 nurses, by asking them to (1) identify which name badges represented doctors and (2) rank them in order of seniority.

Results

Only 11% of patients and 60% of nurses identified a ‘Foundation Year 1 Trainee’ as a qualified medical doctor. Indeed, only ‘General Practice Vocational Trainee’ and ‘Consultant’ were both readily identifiable as qualified doctors to both patients and nurses. Ranking was also a problem, with only 19% of patients and 45% of nurses able to correctly grade medical doctors using the current terminology.

The old terminology allowed more accurate identification by nurses, with over 80% successfully ranking and marking the title appropriately.

Conclusions

Current terminology is a source of confusion to both patients and members of the immediate medical care team, with nurses unable to correctly identify medical doctors. Our study indicates that a review of terminology is necessary to ensure patients, and staff, are able to communicate effectively.
Are national injury prevention and research efforts matching the distribution of injuries across sectors?
Authors: Jaldell Henrik , Ryen Linda , Sund Björn , Andersson Ragnar
Published: March 2014

In 2011, 88% of all unintentional injury fatalities occurred in home and leisure environments in Sweden, while transportation fatalities accounted for 10% and work/school injuries for 2%. The corresponding proportions among non-fatal injuries were 75, 12 and 13%, respectively. However, 83% of the national governmental expenditure on unintentional injury prevention in 2011 was allocated to transportation safety, 7% to home and leisure, and 10% to the work sector including schools. Likewise, around 85% of the governmental research budget aimed for unintentional injury research was allocated to the transportation sector, 9% to home and leisure environments, and 6% to the work and school sector. Our results reveal a striking lack of correspondence between problem profile and governmental countermeasures.
Veterinary management of starved and neglected horses
Authors: Johns Imogen
Published: March 2014

Starved and neglected horses can be encountered in equine practice, and veterinary surgeons have a responsibility to both treat the animal and educate the owners on animal welfare; in some cases, they may also have to deal with the authorities to seize the animal. This article considers clinical conditions affecting neglected horses and how best to manage them.
The Clostridium difficile proline racemase is not essential for early logarithmic growth and infection
Authors: Wu Xiaoqian , Hurdle Julian G.
Published: March 2014

Proline racemase (PrdF), which is important for energy metabolism via the Stickland pathway and is unique to certain clostridia, was investigated as a potential anti-Clostridium difficile target by examining its effects on the growth and virulence of C. difficile. Inactivation of PrdF by insertional mutagenesis did not affect early logarithmic growth but only attenuated growth in the mid- and late logarithmic phases. There was no effect on virulence in vivo, suggesting that PrdF is also not required for C. difficile infection. These findings indicate that PrdF as well as other enzymes encoded by the proline reductase operon are all nonessential and are unsuitable targets for anti-C. difficile drug discovery.
Melnikov-Type Method for a Class of Discontinuous Planar Systems and Applications
Authors: Li Shuangbao , Zhang Wei , Hao Yuxin
Published: March 2014

In this paper, we extend the well-known Melnikov method for smooth systems to a class of periodic perturbed piecewise smooth planar system. We assume that the unperturbed system is a piecewise Hamiltonian system which possesses a piecewise smooth homoclinic solution transversally crossing the switching manifold. The Melnikov-type function is explicitly derived by using the Hamiltonian function to measure the distance of the perturbed stable and unstable manifolds. Finally, we apply the obtained results to study the chaotic dynamics of a concrete piecewise smooth system.
LEARNING DECISION REGIONS BASED ON ADAPTIVE ELLIPSOIDS
Authors: YAO LEEHTER , WENG KUEI-SUNG
Published: March 2014

A fuzzy classifier using multiple ellipsoids to approximate decision regions for classification is designed in this paper. To learn the sizes and orientations of ellipsoids, an algorithm called evolutionary ellipsoidal classification algorithm (EECA) that integrates the genetic algorithm (GA) with the Gustafson-Kessel algorithm (GKA) is proposed. Within EECA the GA is employed to learn the size of every ellipsoid. With the size of every ellipsoid encoded and intelligently estimated in the GA chromosome, GKA is utilized to learn the corresponding ellipsoid. GKA is able to adapt the distance norm to the underlying distribution of the prototype data points for an assigned ellipsoid size. A process called directed initialization is proposed to improve EECA's learning efficiency. Because EECA learns the data point distribution in every cluster by adjusting an ellipsoid with suitable size and orientation, the information contained in the ellipsoid is further utilized to improve the cluster validity. A cluster validity measure based on the ratio of summation for each intra-cluster scatter with respect to the inter-cluster separation is defined in this paper. The proposed cluster validity measure takes advantage of EECA's learning capability and serves as an effective index for determining the adequate number of ellipsoids required for classification.
NUMERICAL APPROACH TO AN OPTIMAL MULTI-ITEM IMPERFECT PRODUCTION CONTROL PROBLEM IN UNCERTAIN ENVIRONMENT
Authors: JANA DIPAK KUMAR , MAITY K. , MAITI M.
Published: March 2014

In this paper, some multi-item imperfect production-inventory models without shortages for defective and deteriorating items with uncertain/imprecise holding and production costs and resource constraint have been formulated and solved for optimal production. Here, the rate of production is assumed to be a function of time and considered as a control variable. Also the demand is time dependent and known. Uncertain or imprecise space constraint is also considered. The uncertain and imprecise holding and production costs are represented by uncertain and fuzzy variables respectively. These are converted to crisp constraint/numbers using uncertain measure theory for uncertain variable and possibility/necessity measure for fuzzy variable. The multi-item production inventory model is formulated as a constrained single objective cost minimization problem with the help of global criteria method. The reduced problem is then solved using Kuhn-Tucker conditions and generalized reduced gradient(GRG-LINGO 10.0) technique. Form the general model, models for particular cases with different production and demand functions are derived. Models for a single item are also presented. The optimum results for different models are presented in both tabular and graphical forms. Sensitivity analysis of average cost for the general model with respect to the changes in holding and production costs are presented.
Complete caps in AG(3, q) from elliptic curves
Authors: Platoni Irene
Published: March 2014

In a three-dimensional Galois space of odd order q, the known infinite families of complete caps have size far from the theoretical lower bounds. In this paper, we investigate some caps defined from elliptic curves. In particular, we show that for each q between 100 and 350 they can be extended to complete caps, which turn out to be the smallest complete caps known in the literature.
Life Insurance Companies' Performance and Intellectual Capital: A long-term perspective
Authors: Kweh Qian Long , Lu Wen-Min , Wang Wei-Kang , Su Meng-Hsu
Published: March 2014

This study used dynamic data envelopment analysis (dynamic DEA) to evaluate the operating performance of life insurance companies in Taiwan and China. In addition, this study adopted panel data regression, which employs the cross-section and time-series approaches, to investigate the impact of intellectual capital (IC) on operating performance. The results indicated that the overall performance of life insurance companies in China was better than that of life insurance companies in Taiwan. Furthermore, in both countries, the performance of life insurance companies with local capital was better than that of companies with foreign capital. The results also showed that human capital (HC) and structural capital (SC) had impacts on the operating performance of life insurance companies. The potential applications and strengths of DEA in assessing the life insurance industries in Taiwan and China are highlighted.
An Evolutionary Algorithm for Finding Efficient Solutions in Multi-Attribute Auctions
Authors: Köksalan Murat , Karakaya Gülşah
Published: March 2014

There is a growing interest in electronic auctions. Many researchers consider a single-attribute, although auctions are multi-attribute in nature in practice. Addressing multiple attributes increases the difficulty of the problem substantially. We develop an evolutionary algorithm (EA) for multi-attribute multi-item reverse auctions. We try to generate the whole Pareto front using the EA. We also develop heuristic procedures to find several good initial solutions and insert those in the initial population of the EA. We test the EA on a number of randomly generated problems and report our findings.
A Multicriteria Clustering Approach Based on Similarity Indices and Clustering Ensemble Techniques
Authors: Rouba Baroudi , Bahloul Safia Nait
Published: March 2014

This paper deals with the problem of multicriteria clusters construction. The aim is to propose a multicriteria clustering procedure aiming at discovering data structures from a multicriteria perspective by defining a dissimilarity measure which takes into account the multicriteria nature of the problem. Comparing two objects in the multicriteria context is based on the preference information that expresses whether these objects are indifferent, incomparable or one is preferred to the other. The proposed approach uses this preference information with an agreement–disagreement similarity index to compute a dissimilarity measure. The approach generates, according to the preference relations, a set of clusterings. Each clustering expresses a way of grouping objects according to the preference relation used. A good quality final clustering is obtained by combining the clusterings generated previously using a clustering ensemble technique.
After-Sales Services: Technology Management and Beyond
Authors: Taifi Nouha
Published: March 2014

This paper presents the findings of a long-term scientific research about the role of the after-sales services as a major player in both the supply and value chain. Through an investigation in an epistemological and ontological manner about the innovation and business processes, the organisational infrastructures and collaborations, and the information and communication technologies, the results show in an automotive context that these types of services are indeed involved in both the new product development process and in the operations management. Besides, as a part of the service sector, the after-sales service, in this context and this research, provides significant contributions to change management, since it is now a full actor in technology management and beyond.
The Strategic Alignment between Knowledge Management and Information Systems Strategy: The Impact of Contextual and Cultural Factors
Authors: Al-Ammary Jaflah
Published: March 2014

A knowledge asset has been increasingly recognised as the most valuable asset in organisations as it playing an enabling role in formulating a successful strategies and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. However, to continuously capture, maintain and reuse the key information, and arbitrates the strategic knowledge assets, KM should be aligned with business process, organisations and IT. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate the direct effect of the contextual factors such as IT infrastructure and skills, existence of CKO and knowledge sharing on the KM strategic alignment between KM and IS strategy (KMSA-IS) in the banking sector at Arabian Gulf countries. However, cultural factors such as openness to change, organisational structure and trust were examined to have indirect effect on KMSA-IS via the knowledge sharing. In addition, the impact of KMSA-IS on the organisational performance was examined. The results revealed that the contextual factors such as IT infrastructure and skills and existence of CKO as well as the knowledge sharing have shown a significant contribution on KMSA-IS. Organisational structure and trust however, revealed to have indirect impact on KMSA-IS via the knowledge sharing. Therefore, executive managers in the Arabian Gulf banking sectors should adopt new rules using flexible organisational culture, reforming and redesigning their organisational structure and incorporating an advanced IT in their operations for competitive advantage. Moreover, they need to establish an alignment between KM and IS strategy in order to move their KM systems in a direction that holds promise for long-lasting competitive advantage.
Knowledge Sharing Attitude: An Empirical Test of a Multifactor Model
Authors: Hasan Bassam
Published: March 2014

Knowledge sharing (KS) attitude is a psychological variable that affects individuals' decisions to share or hoard their knowledge. While attitude theory describes attitude as a multi-component construct, past research has overlooked the multidimensional structure of the attitude construct in KS contexts. Accordingly, this study focusses on KS attitude as a concept with cognitive, affective, and behavioural components. Data were collected from 89 participants involved in systems development projects to empirically test the expanded structure of KS attitude. The results provide strong support for the tertiary structure of KS attitude and demonstrate three conceptually and empirically distinguishable components of KS attitudinal. The results also show that the cognitive and affective components of KS attitude have significant effects on behavioural attitude to share knowledge. Several practical and research implications can be drawn from the results of this study.
Large Scale, Complex Processing of Health Data with MapReduce
Authors: Nguyen Khanh Luan P. , Ashish Naveen
Published: March 2014

The article describes a solution to process large volumes of unstructured health social media data in a scalable fashion using the MapReduce framework. Our work is in the context of health informatics applications involving complex text and language processing as well as large resources such as ontologies, due to which the text processing of a single unit of text takes time. Even with a throughput of an order processing time of one second per unit, it takes over a week to process a million units, which is unacceptable. We present a solution where we take the processing to a MapReduce framework and achieve significant improvement in processing performance by dividing the processing across a cluster of processors. This paper describes the technical details of our work in terms of the design, modeling, and implementation of such an approach. We also present experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach.
A drug similarity network for understanding drug mechanism of action
Authors: Karabulut Nermin Pinar , Akhmedov Murodzhon , Cokol Murat
Published: March 2014

Chemogenomic experiments, where genetic and chemical perturbations are combined, provide data for discovering the relationships between genotype and phenotype. Traditionally, analysis of chemogenomic datasets has been done considering the sensitivity of the deletion strains to chemicals, and this has shed light on drug mechanism of action and detecting drug targets. Here, we computationally analyzed a large chemogenomic dataset, which combines more than 300 chemicals with virtually all gene deletion strains in the yeast S. cerevisiae. In addition to sensitivity relation between deletion strains and chemicals, we also considered the deletion strains that are resistant to chemicals. We found a small set of genes whose deletion makes the cell resistant to many chemicals. Curiously, these genes were enriched for functions related to RNA metabolism. Our approach allowed us to generate a network of drugs and genes that are connected with resistance or sensitivity relationships. As a quality assessment, we showed that the higher order motifs found in this network are consistent with biological expectations. Finally, we constructed a biologically relevant network projection pertaining to drug similarities, and analyzed this network projection in detail. We propose this drug similarity network as a useful tool for understanding drug mechanism of action.
In silicoevolution of thehunchbackgene indicates redundancy in cis-regulatory organization and spatial gene expression
Authors: Zagrijchuk Elizaveta A. , Sabirov Marat A. , Holloway David M. , Spirov Alexander V.
Published: March 2014

Biological development depends on the coordinated expression of genes in time and space. Developmental genes have extensive cis-regulatory regions which control their expression. These regions are organized in a modular manner, with different modules controlling expression at different times and locations. Both how modularity evolved and what function it serves are open questions. We present a computational model for the cis-regulation of the hunchback (hb) gene in the fruit fly (Drosophila). We simulate evolution (using an evolutionary computation approach from computer science) to find the optimal cis-regulatory arrangements for fitting experimental hb expression patterns. We find that the cis-regulatory region tends to readily evolve modularity. These cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) do not tend to control single spatial domains, but show a multi-CRM/multi-domain correspondence. We find that the CRM-domain correspondence seen in Drosophila evolves with a high probability in our model, supporting the biological relevance of the approach. The partial redundancy resulting from multi-CRM control may confer some biological robustness against corruption of regulatory sequences. The technique developed on hb could readily be applied to other multi-CRM developmental genes.
Admixture mapping of growth related traits in F2 mice dataset using ancestry informative markers
Authors: Karacaören Burak
Published: March 2014

Most of the associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for genome wide association studies (GWAS) explain very little proportion of phenotypic variance in outbred populations. One reason is; large number of markers raises the problem of multiple hypothesis testing correction using conservative statistical tests in single marker models. Admixture mapping could be used as alternative model to detect the genes associated with quantitative traits by less number of ancestry informative markers. Ancestral genotypes of founder populations were available for the F 2 mice dataset for growth related traits. The objectives of this study were (1) to detect genomic signals by admixture mapping for growth related traits by ancestry informative markers and ancestral genotypes (2) to detect genomic signals for growth related traits by Bayes C(π) model and compare results with those obtained by use of admixture mapping. Bayes C(π) model detected more SNPs that has high ancestry informative markers. But due to stringent significance tests and small SNPs effects admixture model did not detect the same SNPs in Bayes C(π). As was expected higher ancestral informative markers lead to higher Z values in admixture model with a little variation. Admixture model could incorporate and use ancestral genomic information.
Changes in EMG–EMG Coherence During Hand Grasp Movements
Authors: Ouyang Gaoxiang , Ju Zhaojie , Liu Honghai
Published: March 2014

It is challenging to recognize human hand grasp movements through electromyogram (EMG) signals. In this paper, EMG–EMG coherence measure is used to describe correlations of EMG recordings during different hand grasp movements. Meanwhile, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is utilized to evaluate the performance of the EMG–EMG coherence measure for identifying the grasp movements. Experimental results show that the EMG–EMG coherence measure is effective to extract correlations among EMG recordings, with which different types of hand grasp movements have been successfully distinguished. It is shown that the EMG–EMG coherence measure might be a potential tool to reveal the EMG–EMG correlation between the intermuscular interactions during hand grasp movements.
SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS OF THE ISPIM INNOVATION MANAGEMENT COMMUNITY IN 2009–2011
Authors: SANTONEN TEEMU , RITALA PAAVO
Published: March 2014

Scientific communities are bound together by common purpose and interests, and tangible evidence of the structure of such communities may be found by investigating co-authorship networks. We utilise social network analysis to examine the network structure of International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM), using co-authorship data from six ISPIM events during the years 2009–2011. We find interesting evidence of the network structure, illustrating vividly the central authors and sub-components of the network. Related to this, results reveal surprisingly tight clustering based on geographical and institutional boundaries. We also find evidence of high performing authors which span these boundaries via significantly different strategies. Overall, the results help to uncover the underlying structure of the scholarly network behind ISPIM, which helps to better understand the key contributors and their networks, and also the development points and promising research collaboration opportunities.
SIMULTANEOUS OPTIMIZATION OF FOUR PARAMETERS IN THE STACK UNIT OF A THERMOACOUSTIC REFRIGERATOR
Authors: ZOLPAKAR NOR ATIQAH , MOHD-GHAZALI NORMAH , AHMAD ROBIAH
Published: March 2014

Thermoacoustic refrigerators are environmentally friendly cooling systems that use no refrigerants. Optimization of the performance of any cooling system is crucial for an efficient energy management. Most of the optimization techniques in thermoacoustic systems utilized to date involved experimental and numerical parametric studies which are generally limited to the variations of the parameters to be optimized at discrete values. This study reports on the optimization of a thermoacoustic refrigerator using multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA). The study introduces the ability of MOGA to optimize four different variables which are length of stack, center position of stack, blockage ratio and drive ratio simultaneously. The four variables are optimized to achieve the two objectives; a maximum cooling and minimum acoustic power required at the stack and provide the optimum coefficient of performance, COP. The results show that the optimum COP = 1.35 with a cooling power of Qc = 6.57 W, acoustic power of Wn = 4.86 W and with the resonator diameter of D = 3.8 cm.
5-HT neurons of the area postrema become c-Fos-activated after increases in plasma sodium levels and transmit interoceptive information to the nucleus accumbens
Authors: Miller Rebecca L. , Loewy Arthur D.
Published: March 2014

Serotonergic (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) neurons of the area postrema (AP) represent one neuronal phenotype implicated in the regulation of salt appetite. Tryptophan hydroxylase (Tryp-OH, synthetic enzyme-producing 5-HT) immunoreactive neurons in the AP of rats become c-Fos-activated following conditions in which plasma sodium levels are elevated; these include intraperitoneal injections of hypertonic saline and sodium repletion. Non-Tryp-OH neurons also became c-Fos-activated. Sodium depletion, which induced an increase in plasma osmolality but caused no significant change in the plasma sodium concentration, had no effect on the c-Fos activity in the AP. Epithelial sodium channels are expressed in the Tryp-OH-immunoreactive AP neurons, possibly functioning in the detection of changes in plasma sodium levels. Since little is known about the neural circuitry of these neurons, we tested whether the AP contributes to a central pathway that innervates the reward center of the brain. Stereotaxic injections of pseudorabies virus were made in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and after 4 days, this viral tracer produced retrograde transneuronal labeling in the Tryp-OH and non-Tryp-OH AP neurons. Both sets of neurons innervate the NAc via a multisynaptic pathway. Besides sensory information regarding plasma sodium levels, the AP→NAc pathway may also transmit other types of chemosensory information, such as those related to metabolic functions, food intake, and immune system to the subcortical structures of the reward system. Because these subcortical regions ultimately project to the medial prefrontal cortex, different types of chemical signals from visceral systems may influence affective functions.
Encoding frequency contrast in primate auditory cortex
Authors: Malone Brian J. , Scott Brian H. , Semple Malcolm N.
Published: March 2014

Changes in amplitude and frequency jointly determine much of the communicative significance of complex acoustic signals, including human speech. We have previously described responses of neurons in the core auditory cortex of awake rhesus macaques to sinusoidal amplitude modulation (SAM) signals. Here we report a complementary study of sinusoidal frequency modulation (SFM) in the same neurons. Responses to SFM were analogous to SAM responses in that changes in multiple parameters defining SFM stimuli (e.g., modulation frequency, modulation depth, carrier frequency) were robustly encoded in the temporal dynamics of the spike trains. For example, changes in the carrier frequency produced highly reproducible changes in shapes of the modulation period histogram, consistent with the notion that the instantaneous probability of discharge mirrors the moment-by-moment spectrum at low modulation rates. The upper limit for phase locking was similar across SAM and SFM within neurons, suggesting shared biophysical constraints on temporal processing. Using spike train classification methods, we found that neural thresholds for modulation depth discrimination are typically far lower than would be predicted from frequency tuning to static tones. This “dynamic hyperacuity” suggests a substantial central enhancement of the neural representation of frequency changes relative to the auditory periphery. Spike timing information was superior to average rate information when discriminating among SFM signals, and even when discriminating among static tones varying in frequency. This finding held even when differences in total spike count across stimuli were normalized, indicating both the primacy and generality of temporal response dynamics in cortical auditory processing.