bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Location, location, location: The variable lifespan of the Laramide orogeny
Authors: Copeland Peter , Currie Claire A. , Lawton Timothy F. , Murphy Michael A.
Published: January 2017

The Laramide orogeny had a spatially variable lifespan, which we explain using a geodynamic model that incorporates onset and demise of flat-slab subduction. Laramide shortening and attendant uplift began in southeast California (USA) at ca. 90 Ma, swept to the northeast to arrive in the Black Hills of South Dakota (USA) at ca. 60 Ma, and concluded in South Dakota within ∼10 m.y. During subsequent slab rollback, the areal extent of Laramide deformation decreased as the eastern edge of active deformation retreated to the southwest rapidly from ca. 55 to 45 Ma and more slowly from ca. 45 to 40 Ma, with deformation ultimately ceasing in the southwestern part of the orogen at ca. 30 Ma. Geodynamic modeling of this process suggests that changes in the strength of the North America plate and densification of the Farallon plate played important roles in controlling the areal extent of the Laramide orogen and hence the lifespan of the orogenic event at any particular location in western North America.
Controls and feedbacks in the coupling of mountain channels and hillslopes
Authors: Golly Antonius , Turowski Jens M. , Badoux Alexandre , Hovius Niels
Published: January 2017

Mountain channels can be strongly coupled with adjacent hillslopes, exchanging both mass and energy. However, hypotheses of the underlying cause and effect relations are based on indirect observations that do not resolve the mechanics of channel-hillslope coupling at the process scale. Here we present direct observational data of a coupled channel-hillslope system in the catchment area of the Erlenbach, a mountain stream in Switzerland. A slow-moving landslide flanking this alpine stream failed after a flood had eroded an alluvial step in the channel at its base, representing evidence for an upsystem link in channel-hillslope coupling. Progressive accumulation of landslide debris in the channel resulted in a renewed step, stabilizing the hillslope and restoring the channel step in a downsystem link. Thus, upsystem and downsystem coupling mechanisms are joined in a negative feedback cycle. In this cycle, debuttressing and rebuttressing due to channel bed erosion and alluviation are the dominant controls on hillslope stability. Based on an order of magnitude estimate it is plausible that the observed feedback mechanism is a relevant process in the production of coarse (>2 mm) sediment in the Erlenbach.
Myocardial infarction in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study: the interaction among environmental, health, social, behavioural and genetic factors
Authors: Gonzales Tina K , Yonker James A , Chang Vicky , Roan Carol L , Herd Pamela , Atwood Craig S
Published: January 2017

Objectives

This study examined how environmental, health, social, behavioural and genetic factors interact to contribute to myocardial infarction (MI) risk.

Design

Survey data collected by Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), USA, from 1957 to 2011, including 235 environmental, health, social and behavioural factors, and 77 single- nucleotide polymorphisms were analysed for association with MI. To identify associations with MI we utilized recursive partitioning and random forest prior to logistic regression and chi-squared analyses.

Participants

6198 WLS participants (2938 men; 3260 women) who (1) had a MI before 72 years and (2) had a MI between 65 and 72 years.

Results

In men, stroke (LR OR: 5.01, 95% CI 3.36 to 7.48), high cholesterol (3.29, 2.59 to 4.18), diabetes (3.24, 2.53 to 4.15) and high blood pressure (2.39, 1.92 to 2.96) were significantly associated with MI up to 72 years of age. For those with high cholesterol, the interaction of smoking and lower alcohol consumption increased prevalence from 23% to 41%, with exposure to dangerous working conditions, a factor not previously linked with MI, further increasing prevalence to 50%. Conversely, MI was reported in <2.5% of men with normal cholesterol and no history of diabetes or depression. Only stroke (4.08, 2.17 to 7.65) and diabetes (2.71, 1.81 to 4.04) by 65 remained significantly associated with MI for men after age 65. For women, diabetes (5.62, 4.08 to 7.75), high blood pressure (3.21, 2.34 to 4.39), high cholesterol (2.03, 1.38 to 3.00) and dissatisfaction with their financial situation (4.00, 1.94 to 8.27) were significantly associated with MI up to 72 years of age. Conversely, often engaging in physical activity alone (0.53, 0.32 to 0.89) or with others (0.34, 0.21 to 0.57) was associated with the largest reduction in odds of MI. Being non-diabetic with normal blood pressure and engaging in physical activity often lowered prevalence of MI to 0.2%. Only diabetes by 65 (4.25, 2.50 to 7.24) and being exposed to dangerous work conditions at 54 (2.24, 1.36 to 3.69) remained significantly associated with MI for women after age 65, while still menstruating at 54 (0.46, 0.23 to 0.91) was associated with reduced odds of MI.

Conclusions

Together these results indicate important differences in factors associated with MI between the sexes, that combinations of factors greatly influence the likelihood of MI, that MI-associated factors change and associations weaken after 65 years of age in both sexes, and that the limited genotypes assessed were secondary to environmental, health, social and behavioral factors.
Cohort study investigating the effects of first stage of the English tobacco point-of-sale display ban on awareness, susceptibility and smoking uptake among adolescents
Authors: Bogdanovica Ilze , McNeill Ann , Britton John
Published: January 2017

Objective

A prospective evaluation of the effect of 2012 point-of-sale (PoS) display ban in supermarkets in England on perceived exposure to PoS displays, and on changes in susceptibility and smoking uptake among young people.

Design

Cohort study.

Settings

Seven schools in Nottinghamshire, England.

Participants

1035 11–16-year-old school children.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Changes in reported exposure to PoS displays before and after prohibition, and the association between exposure to and awareness of PoS displays and change in susceptibility to smoking and smoking status between 2011 and 2012 (before the ban) and 2012 and 2013 (after the ban).

Results

The proportion of children noticing tobacco PoS displays in supermarkets most or every time they visited a shop changed little between 2011 and 2012 (59.6% (95% CI 56.6% to 62.6%) and 58.8% (95% CI 55.8% to 61.8%), respectively); but decreased by about 13 percentage points to 45.7% (95% CI 42.7% to 48.7%) in 2013, after the ban. However, after adjusting for confounders, implementation of the first stage of the PoS ban in 2012 did not result in significant changes in the relation between susceptibility to smoking and smoking status and exposure to and awareness of PoS displays.

Conclusions

Prohibition of PoS in large supermarkets resulted in a decline in the proportion of young people noticing PoS displays in large shops, but little or no change in smoking uptake or susceptibility. It remains to be seen whether extension of the PoS ban to all shops in 2015 has a more marked effect.
Capacity of English NHS hospitals to monitor quality in infection prevention and control using a new European framework: a multilevel qualitative analysis
Authors: Iwami Michiyo , Ahmad Raheelah , Castro-Sánchez Enrique , Birgand Gabriel , Johnson Alan P , Holmes Alison
Published: January 2017

Objective

(1) To assess the extent to which current English national regulations/policies/guidelines and local hospital practices align with indicators suggested by a European review of effective strategies for infection prevention and control (IPC); (2) to examine the capacity of local hospitals to report on the indicators and current use of data to inform IPC management and practice.

Design

A national and local-level analysis of the 27 indicators was conducted. At the national level, documentary review of regulations/policies/guidelines was conducted. At the local level data collection comprised: (a) review of documentary sources from 14 hospitals, to determine the capacity to report performance against these indicators; (b) qualitative interviews with 3 senior managers from 5 hospitals and direct observation of hospital wards to find out if these indicators are used to improve IPC management and practice.

Setting

2 acute English National Health Service (NHS) trusts and 1 NHS foundation trust (14 hospitals).

Participants

3 senior managers from 5 hospitals for qualitative interviews.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

As primary outcome measures, a ‘Red-Amber-Green’ (RAG) rating was developed reflecting how well the indicators were included in national documents or their availability at the local organisational level. The current use of the indicators to inform IPC management and practice was also assessed. The main secondary outcome measure is any inconsistency between national and local RAG rating results.

Results

National regulations/policies/guidelines largely cover the suggested European indicators. The ability of individual hospitals to report some of the indicators at ward level varies across staff groups, which may mask required improvements. A reactive use of staffing-related indicators was observed rather than the suggested prospective strategic approach for IPC management.

Conclusions

For effective patient safety and infection prevention in English hospitals, routine and proactive approaches need to be developed. Our approach to evaluation can be extended to other country settings.
Do perceived job insecurity and annoyance due to air and noise pollution predict incident self-rated poor health? A prospective analysis of independent and joint associations using a German national representative cohort study
Authors: Riedel Natalie , Loerbroks Adrian , Bolte Gabriele , Li Jian
Published: January 2017

Background

Current economic and social change has contributed to increasing job insecurity and traffic-related pollution in residential areas. Both job insecurity and exposure to noise and air pollution are known determinants of population health and can concur in peoples' lives. This may hold true particularly for socially disadvantaged subpopulations. Nevertheless, the potential independent and joint links of those exposures to health have been rarely examined so far. We aimed to contribute to the scarce body of evidence.

Methods

Information on perceived job insecurity and exposures to noise and air pollution as expressed by annoyance as well as on self-rated health were gathered from 2 waves of the population-based German Socio-Economic Panel (2009 and 2011, N=6544). We performed multivariable Poisson regression to examine the independent and joint risk of poor health in 2011 by perceived job insecurity and annoyance due to noise and air pollution in 2009.

Results

After the 2-year follow-up in 2011, 571 (8.7%) participants rated their health as poor. The risk of reporting incident poor health was increased by roughly 40% in employees reporting high versus low perceived job insecurity and annoyance due to noise and air pollution, respectively. This risk increased when both exposures were present at higher levels (risk ratio=1.95 (1.49 to 2.55)).

Conclusions

Work-related and environmental exposures may accumulate and have a joint health impact. Elaboration on the link between occupational and residential exposures is warranted in the light of their concurrence and their implications for health inequities.
Clinical efficacy of β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combinations for the treatment of bloodstream infection due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producingEnterobacteriaceaein haematological patients with neutropaenia: a study protocol for a retrospective observational study (BICAR)
Authors: Gudiol C , Royo-Cebrecos C , Tebe C , Abdala E , Akova M , Álvarez R , Maestro-de la Calle G , Cano A , Cervera C , Clemente W T , Martín-Dávila P , Freifeld A , Gómez L , Gottlieb T , Gurguí M , Herrera F , Manzur A , Maschmeyer G , Meije Y , Montejo M , Peghin M , Rodríguez-Baño J , Ruiz-Camps I , Sukiennik T C , Carratalà J
Published: January 2017

Introduction

Bloodstream infection (BSI) due to extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacilli (ESBL-GNB) is increasing at an alarming pace worldwide. Although β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (BLBLI) combinations have been suggested as an alternative to carbapenems for the treatment of BSI due to these resistant organisms in the general population, their usefulness for the treatment of BSI due to ESBL-GNB in haematological patients with neutropaenia is yet to be elucidated. The aim of the BICAR study is to compare the efficacy of BLBLI combinations with that of carbapenems for the treatment of BSI due to an ESBL-GNB in this population.

Methods and analysis

A multinational, multicentre, observational retrospective study. Episodes of BSI due to ESBL-GNB occurring in haematological patients and haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with neutropaenia from 1 January 2006 to 31 March 2015 will be analysed. The primary end point will be case-fatality rate within 30 days of onset of BSI. The secondary end points will be 7-day and 14-day case-fatality rates, microbiological failure, colonisation/infection by resistant bacteria, superinfection, intensive care unit admission and development of adverse events.

Sample size

The number of expected episodes of BSI due to ESBL-GNB in the participant centres will be 260 with a ratio of control to experimental participants of 2.

Ethics and dissemination

The protocol of the study was approved at the first site by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge. Approval will be also sought from all relevant RECs. Any formal presentation or publication of data from this study will be considered as a joint publication by the participating investigators and will follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The study has been endorsed by the European Study Group for Bloodstream Infection and Sepsis (ESGBIS) and the European Study Group for Infections in Compromised Hosts (ESGICH).
Improvement of activity-related knee joint discomfort following supplementation of specific collagen peptides
Authors: Zdzieblik Denise , Oesser Steffen , Gollhofer Albert , König Daniel
Published: January 2017

The aim of the study was to evaluate the use of specific collagen peptides in reducing pain in athletes with functional knee problems during sport. Athletic subjects (n = 139) with functional knee pain ingested 5 g of bioactive collagen peptides (BCP) or a placebo per day for 12 weeks. The primary outcome of the study was a change in pain intensity during activity, which was evaluated by the participants and the attending physicians using a visual analogue scale (VAS). As secondary endpoints, pain intensity under resting conditions, the range of motion of the knee joint, and the use of additional therapeutic options were assessed. The results revealed a statistically significant improvement in activity-related pain intensity in the verum group compared with placebo. (ΔVASBCP= 19.5 ± 2.4; ΔVASPlacebo= 13.9 ± 2.1; p = 0.046). The results were confirmed by the physician’s assessment. (ΔVASBCP= 16.7 ± 1.8; ΔVASPlacebo= 12.2 ± 1.8; p = 0.021). Pain under resting conditions was also improved, but no significance compared with placebo was detected (ΔVASBCP= 10.2 ± 18.4; ΔVASPlacebo= 7.4 ± 15.2; p = 0.209). Due to the high joint mobility at baseline, no significant changes of this parameter could be detected. The use of additional treatment options was significantly reduced after BCP intake. The study demonstrated that the supplementation of specific collagen peptides in young adults with functional knee problems led to a statistically significant improvement of activity-related joint pain.
Finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) in the East China Sea: insights into feeding habits using morphological, molecular, and stable isotopic techniques
Authors: Chen Bingyao , Wang Lin , Wang Hui , Li Shanshan , Jefferson Thomas A. , Wang Lian , Tang Erin K. , Xu Xinrong , Yang Guang
Published: January 2017

Describing feeding habits of cetaceans is crucial to understanding their feeding strategies and conservation status. Here, both morphological and molecular techniques were employed to identify the stomach contents of 122 finless porpoises (Neophocaena spp.) in the East China Sea for insight into their short-term feeding habits, and stable isotopes of δ13C and δ15N were used to analyze prey resource use and trophic position as a manifestation of their long-term feeding habits. In total, 33 prey species consisting of 19 teleosts, seven crustaceans, five cephalopods, and two gastropods were identified. In both short- and long-term analyses, teleosts represented primary prey, cephalopods and crustaceans were secondary prey, and gastropods were occasional prey; but the primary prey species composition differs between the short- and long-term diets. The composition of stomach contents showed sexual and age-related variation. This finding is supported by stable isotopic analyses, which indicated the separation of trophic position of adult males, adult females, and young males. In general, finless porpoises prey on species that are primarily caught by fisheries.
One-dimensional thermoelastic problem of a laser pulse under fractional order equation of motion
Authors: Bassiouny E. , Abouelnaga Zeinab , Youssef Hamdy M.
Published: January 2017

In this work, we study the thermoelastic properties of an isotropic and homogeneous one-dimensional semi-infinite elastic medium subjected to a laser short-pulse heating with time exponentially decaying pulse type in light of the new theory of fractional order strain thermoelasticity. The solution for temperature, stress, and strain distribution functions has been obtained in the Laplace domain. To obtain the different inverse field functions numerically we used a complex inversion formula of Laplace transform based on a Fourier expansion. The effects of different parameters, namely, the pulse intensity, time, fractional order, and relaxation time on the thermodynamical temperature, stress, and on the strain distribution, are presented graphically.
Beta-sitosterol upregulated paraoxonase-1 via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ in irradiated rats
Authors: Moustafa Enas Mahmoud , Thabet Noura Magdy
Published: January 2017

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of beta-sitosterol (BS) on the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) gene expression role in the activity of paraoxonase (PON-1) enzyme in oxidative stress status of irradiated rats. Animals were exposed to whole body γ-radiation single dose 6 Gy and received BS dose (40 mg·(kg body mass)−1·day−1, orally). In liver tissue, gene expression of PPAR-γ ligand was determined. Oxidative stress marker (malondialdehyde, MDA) and antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), PON-1, and arylesterase (ARE)) were assayed in serum and liver tissue. Also, serum lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c)) was measured. In irradiated animals that received BS, expression of PPAR-γ ligand increase significantly associated with increase in PON-1 and ARE enzyme activities. Also, the activities of SOD, CAT enzymes, and HDL-c levels display elevation. By contrast, significant decrease in MDA content, cholesterol, TG, and LDL-c levels were revealed after BS administration. Our findings in this study provide the evidence that BS has radio-protective effect via regulating the gene expression of PPAR-γ, causing an increase in PON-1 and ARE enzyme activities. This action of BS is due to its free radical scavenging properties, antioxidant effect, lowering of cholesterol, and PPAR-γ agonist properties.
Behavior Trees for Computer Games
Authors: Sekhavat Yoones A.
Published: January 2017

Although a Finite State Machine (FSM) is easy to implement the behaviors of None-Player Characters (NPC) in computer games, it is difficult to maintain and control the behaviors with increasing the number of states. Alternatively, Behavior Tree (BT), which is a tree of hierarchical nodes to control the ow of decision making, is widely used in computer games to address the scalability issues. This paper reviews the structure and semantics of BTs in computer games. Different techniques to automatically learn and build BTs as well as strengths and weaknesses of these techniques are discussed. This paper provides a taxonomy of BT features and shows to what extent these features are taken into account in computer games. Finally, the paper shows how BTs are used in practice in the gaming industry.
Artificial Immune System-Based Classification in Extremely Imbalanced Classification Problems
Authors: Sotiropoulos Dionisios N. , Tsihrintzis George A.
Published: January 2017

This paper focuses on a special category of machine learning problems arising in cases where the set of available training instances is significantly biased towards a particular class of patterns. Our work addresses the so-called Class Imbalance Problem through the utilization of an Artificial Immune System-(AIS)based classification algorithm which encodes the inherent ability of the Adaptive Immune System to mediate the exceptionally imbalanced “self” / “non-self” discrimination process. From a computational point of view, this process constitutes an extremely imbalanced pattern classification task since the vast majority of molecular patterns pertain to the “non-self” space. Our work focuses on investigating the effect of the class imbalance problem on the AIS-based classification algorithm by assessing its relative ability to deal with extremely skewed datasets when compared against two state-of-the-art machine learning paradigms such as Support Vector Machines (SVMs) and Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLPs). To this end, we conducted a series of experiments on a music-related dataset where a small fraction of positive samples was to be recognized against the vast volume of negative samples. The results obtained indicate that the utilized bio-inspired classifier outperforms SVMs in detecting patterns from the minority class while its performance on the same task is competently close to the one exhibited by MLPs. Our findings suggest that the AIS-based classifier relies on its intrinsic resampling and class-balancing functionality in order to address the class imbalance problem.
Sobha Developers Limited: Competitive Advantage through CRM
Authors: Sarathy P. Sanjay , Patro Sanjay
Published: January 2017

Sobha Developers was a public-listed real estate company. It developed a self-sustaining integrated customer relationship management (CRM) model which was tested over a period for its robustness. Several concerns and issues were raised and business decisions were taken over these. The model enabled an increase in customer retention growth rate.

The company’s vision for the next five years was to make Sobha Developers an industry leader and incorporate the integrated CRM model in every real estate company in India and Asia. Having achieved the strongest growth rate in the past few years, Sobha Developers had stabilized its real estate operations not only in Bangalore but also in other cities of India. The contract works with corporates could potentially treble the revenues of Sobha Developers in the coming two years and lend further financial strength and muscle to the company’s operations.
KB Kookmin Bank in Korea
Authors: Cho Moon-Kyung , Lee Ho-Young , Song Dan-Bee
Published: January 2017

KB Kookmin Bank (KB) was the most prominent commercial bank in Korea. However, KB faced two challenges: declining firm performance and a lack of transparency in corporate governance at the level of its financial group, KB Financial Group (KBFG). By the end of 2012, KB was not a market leader in Korea any more. In addition, a conflict arose between the CEO and some members of the board of directors (BOD) of KBFG when an insider leaked private information to the International Shareholders Services (ISS). The insider reported that certain BOD members decreased firm value by disrupting the senior management’s strategic plan to increase the firm’s long-term competitiveness, which required attention from institutional investors.

KBFG had three issues based on the inside information provided and an independent analysis. First, its CEO had been selected from outside KBFG, and he was under pressure to improve firm performance before his term was over. Second, some KBFG BOD members did not represent the interests of the company’s general shareholders, including foreign institutional investors and the National Pension Services of Korea. Finally, the heavy influence of the Korean government was culturally ingrained within the corporate governance structure of KBFG.
Heart Rate Dynamics and their Relation with the Cyclic Alternating Pattern of Sleep in Normal Subjects and NFLE Patients
Authors: González Jose S. , Dorantes Guadalupe , Alba Alfonso , Méndez Martin O. , Camacho Sergio , Luna-Rivera Martin , Parrino Liborio , Riccardi Silvia , Terzano Mario G. , Milioli Giulia
Published: January 2017

The aim of this work is to study the behavior of the autonomic system through variations in the heart rate (HR) during the Cyclic Alternating Pattern (CAP) which is formed by A-phases. The analysis was carried out in 10 healthy subjects and 10 patients with Nocturnal Front Lobe Epilepsy (NFLE) that underwent one whole night of polysomnographic recordings. In order to assess the relation of A-phases with the cardiovascular system, two time domain features were computed: the amplitude reduction and time delay of the minimum of the R-R intervals with respect to A-phases onset. In addition, the same process was performed over randomly chosen R-R interval segments during the NREM sleep for baseline comparisons. A non-parametric bootstrap procedure was used to test differences of the kurtosis values of two populations. The results suggest that the onset of the A-phases is correlated with a significant increase of the HR that peaks at around 4[Formula: see text]s after the A-phase onset, independently of the A-phase subtype and sleep time for both healthy subjects and NFLE patients. Furthermore, the behavior of the reduction in the R-R intervals during the A-phases was significantly different for NFLE patients with respect to control subjects.
Copper Oxide of Plasma-Chemical Synthesis for Doping Superconducting Materials
Authors: Ushakov A. V. , Karpov I. V. , Lepeshev A. A. , Fedorov L. Yu.
Published: January 2017

Properties of nanodispersed powder copper oxide, synthesized during arc sputtering of copper in a gas mixture of low pressure oxygen, were studied. It was shown that the particles possess nanometer size and narrow size distribution. The issue of reduction, recrystallization and sintering of nanodispersed powder were discussed.
Preparation of Silver Nanoparticles in Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone)/Ethanol Solutions
Authors: Zhang Shu , Tang Yongan , Vlahovic Branislav
Published: January 2017

Silver nanoparticles have been synthesized from Poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)/ethanol solutions, and six different PVP to silver nitrate weight ratios (PVP:AgNO3) are studied in reduction of silver nitrate in ethanol with the presence of PVP as a stabilizer. The produced silver nanoparticles showed strong plasmon resonance peak centered at around 405[Formula: see text]nm in UV-Vis spectra. The particle morphologies were also examined and compared under secondary electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was utilized to determine the formation of silver nanoparticles. We found that the particle size and morphology were strongly dependent on the PVP:AgNO3 weight ratio. The average size of silver particles decreased from 19.25[Formula: see text]nm to 10.03[Formula: see text]nm as the weight ratio of PVP:AgNO3 increased from 1:1 to 20:1.
Effects of Temperature Dependence of Energy Bandgap on I–V Characteristics in CNTFETs Models
Authors: Marani R. , Perri A. G.
Published: January 2017

In this paper, we analyze the effects of temperature dependence of energy bandgap on [Formula: see text] characteristics in some carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs) models proposed in literature in order to identify the one more suitable for computer aided design (CAD) applications. At first we consider a compact, semi-empirical model, already proposed by us, performing [Formula: see text] characteristic simulations at different temperatures. Our results are compared with those obtained with the Stanford-Source virtual carbon nanotube field-effect transistor model (VS-CNFET), obtaining [Formula: see text] characteristics comparable, but with lower CPU calculation time.
Engineering the Cambrian explosion: the earliest bioturbators as ecosystem engineers
Authors: Herringshaw Liam G. , Callow Richard H. T. , McIlroy Duncan
Published: January 2017

By applying modern biological criteria to trace fossil types and assessing burrow morphology, complexity, depth, potential burrow function and the likelihood of bioirrigation, we assign ecosystem engineering impact (EEI) values to the key ichnotaxa in the lowermost Cambrian (Fortunian). Surface traces such as
Monomorphichnus
have minimal impact on sediment properties and have very low EEI values; quasi-infaunal traces of organisms that were surficial modifiers or biodiffusors, such as
Planolites
, have moderate EEI values; and deeper infaunal, gallery biodiffusive or upward-conveying/downward-conveying traces, such as
Teichichnus
and
Gyrolithes
, have the highest EEI values. The key Cambrian ichnotaxon
Treptichnus pedum
has a moderate to high EEI value, depending on its functional interpretation. Most of the major functional groups of modern bioturbators are found to have evolved during the earliest Cambrian, including burrow types that are highly likely to have been bioirrigated. In fine-grained (or microbially bound) sedimentary environments, trace-makers of bioirrigated burrows would have had a particularly significant impact, generating advective fluid flow within the sediment for the first time, in marked contrast with the otherwise diffusive porewater systems of the Proterozoic. This innovation is likely to have created significant ecospace and engineered fundamentally new infaunal environments for macrobiotic and microbiotic organisms alike.
Risk-informed tsunami warnings
Authors: Woo Gordon
Published: January 2017

Tsunami warning traditionally has been perceived within the scientific community as an essentially deterministic process. This may be satisfactory in regions where tsunami monitoring is very extensive and the uncertainty in tsunami forecasting is low. However, where there is significant uncertainty, the worthy aspiration to achieve a zero-tolerance policy on tsunami fatalities is set against the reduction in public alert compliance associated with previous false alerts. A risk-informed approach is presented, which outlines a decision process that allows for a decline in alert compliance due to false alerts. This risk-informed approach assesses probabilistically the tsunamigenicity of fault rupture, using data not just from historical catalogues but also the geological record. Prior probabilities could be automatically updated in real time by a Bayesian Belief Network from observations obtained in real time: earthquake depth information; pressure sensor recordings, tide gauge measurements; or visual reports of coastal inundation. A decision to issue a general evacuation warning in a specific region might be made provided the updated posterior probability reached a critical threshold.
Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Dong Yan , Liao Jiangquan , Yao Kuiwu , Jiang Wenrui , Wang Jie
Published: January 2017

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, which is related to many cardiac and cerebral vascular diseases, especially stroke. It can therefore increase cardiovascular mortality and all‐cause death. The current treatments of AF remain to be western drugs and radiofrequency ablation which are limited by the tolerance of patients, adverse side effects, and high recurrence rate, especially for the elderly. On the contrary, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with long history of use involves various treatment methods, including Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) or bioactive ingredients, Chinese patent medicines, acupuncture, Qigong, and Tai Chi Chuan. With more and more researches reported, the active roles of TCM in AF management have been discovered. Then it is likely that TCM would be effective preventive means and valuable additional remedy for AF. The potential mechanisms further found by numerous experimental studies showed the distinct characteristics of TCM. Some CHMs or bioactive ingredients are atrial‐selective, while others are multichannel and multifunctional. Therefore, in this review we summarized the treatment strategies reported in TCM, with the purpose of providing novel ideas and directions for AF management.
CNS Metastases from Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults: Are They Really So Rare?
Authors: Bekiesinska-Figatowska Monika , Duczkowska Agnieszka , Duczkowski Marek , Bragoszewska Hanna , Romaniuk-Doroszewska Anna , Iwanowska Beata , Szkudlinska-Pawlak Sylwia , Madzik Jaroslaw , Bilska Katarzyna , Raciborska Anna
Published: January 2017

Purpose. To check whether primary involvement of brain/spinal cord by bone/soft tissue sarcomas’ metastases in children is as rare as described and to present various morphological forms of bone/soft tissue sarcomas’ CNS metastases. Methods. Patients with first diagnosis in 1999–2014 treated at single center were included with whole course of disease evaluation. Brain/spinal canal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/computed tomography were performed in cases suspicious for CNS metastases. Extension from skull/vertebral column metastases was excluded. Results. 550 patients were included. MRI revealed CNS metastases in 19 patients (incidence 3.45%), 14 boys, aged 5–22 years. There were 12/250 osteosarcoma cases, 2/200 Ewing’s sarcoma, 1/50 chondrosarcoma, 3/49 rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), and 1/1 malignant mesenchymoma. There were 10 single metastases and 7 cases of multiple ones; in 2 RMS cases only leptomeningeal spread in brain and spinal cord was found. Calcified metastases were found in 3 patients and hemorrhagic in 4. In one RMS patient there were numerous solid, cystic, hemorrhagic lesions and leptomeningeal spread. Conclusions. CNS metastases are rare and late in children with bone/soft tissue sarcomas, although in our material more frequent (3.45%) than in other reports (0.7%). Hematogenous spread to brain and hemorrhagic and calcified lesions dominated in osteosarcoma. Ewing sarcoma tended to metastasize to skull bones. Soft tissue sarcomas presented various morphological forms.
Electrowetting Actuation of Polydisperse Nanofluid Droplets
Authors: Patacsil Crismar , Calupitan Jan Patrick , Enriquez Erwin , Guerrero Raphael A.
Published: January 2017

We present results of electrowetting experiments employing droplets formed from aqueous suspensions of Au nanoparticles. A planar electrowetting system, consisting of a Pt wire electrode and a bottom Cu electrode with an insulating silicone layer, is used to observe changes in droplet contact angle when an external electric field is applied. The equilibrium contact angle at 0 V decreases with increasing nanoparticle concentration, dropping from 100.4° for pure deionized water to 94.7° for a 0.5 μM nanofluid. Increasing the nanoparticle content also lowers the required voltage for effective actuation. With actuation at 15 V, contact angle decreases by 9% and 35% for droplets formed from pure water and a 0.5 μM nanoparticle suspension, respectively. Contact angle saturation is observed with nanofluid droplets, with the threshold voltage decreasing as nanoparticle concentration rises. Maximum droplet actuation before contact angle saturation is achieved at only 10 V for a concentration of 0.5 μM. A proposed mechanism for the enhanced electrowetting response of a nanofluid droplet involves a reduction in surface tension of the droplet as nanoparticles accumulate at the liquid-vapor interface.
Early Effect of Amyloidβ-Peptide on Hippocampal and Serum Metabolism in Rats Studied by an Integrated Method of NMR-Based Metabolomics and ANOVA-Simultaneous Component Analysis
Authors: Du Yao , Zheng Hong , Xia Huanhuan , Zhao Liangcai , Hu Wenyi , Bai Guanghui , Yan Zhihan , Gao Hongchang
Published: January 2017

Amyloidβ(Aβ) deposition has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the early effect of Aβdeposition on metabolism remains unclear. In the present study, thus, we explored the metabolic changes in the hippocampus and serum during first 2 weeks of Aβ25–35injection in rats by using an integrated method of NMR-based metabolomics and ANOVA-simultaneous component analysis (ASCA). Our results show that Aβ25–35injection, time, and their interaction had statistically significant effects on the hippocampus and serum metabolome. Furthermore, we identified key metabolites that mainly contributed to these effects. After Aβ25–35injection from 1 to 2 weeks, the levels of lactate, N-acetylaspartate, creatine, and taurine were decreased in rat hippocampus, while an increase in lactate and decreases in LDL/VLDL and glucose were observed in rat serum. Therefore, we suggest that the reduction in energy and lipid metabolism as well as an increase in anaerobic glycolysis may occur at the early stage of Aβ25–35deposition.
Nanocrystalline Porous Hydrogen Storage Based on Vanadium and Titanium Nitrides
Authors: Goncharov A. , Guglya A. , Kalchenko A. , Solopikhina E. , Vlasov V. , Lyubchenko E.
Published: January 2017

This review summarizes results of our study of the application of ion-beam assisted deposition (IBAD) technology for creation of nanoporous thin-film structures that can absorb more than 6 wt.% of hydrogen. Data of mathematical modeling are presented highlighting the structure formation and component creation of the films during their deposition at the time of simultaneous bombardment by mixed beam of nitrogen and helium ions with energy of 30 keV. Results of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that VNxfilms consist of 150–200 nm particles, boundaries of which contain nanopores of 10–15 nm diameters. Particles themselves consist of randomly oriented 10–20 nm nanograins. Grain boundaries also contain nanopores (3–8 nm). Examination of the absorption characteristics of VNx, TiNx, and(V,Ti)Nxfilms showed that the amount of absorbed hydrogen depends very little on the chemical composition of films, but it is determined by the structure pore. The amount of absorbed hydrogen at 0.3 MPa and 20°C is 6-7 wt.%, whereas the bulk of hydrogen is accumulated in the grain boundaries and pores. Films begin to release hydrogen even at 50°C, and it is desorbed completely at the temperature range of 50–250°C. It was found that the electrical resistance of films during the hydrogen desorption increases 104times.
Semantical Markov Logic Network for Distributed Reasoning in Cyber-Physical Systems
Authors: Mohammed Abdul-Wahid , Xu Yang , Liu Ming , Hu Haixiao
Published: January 2017

The challenges associated with developing accurate models for cyber-physical systems are attributable to the intrinsic concurrent and heterogeneous computations of these systems. Even though reasoning based on interconnected domain specific ontologies shows promise in enhancing modularity and joint functionality modelling, it has become necessary to build interoperable cyber-physical systems due to the growing pervasiveness of these systems. In this paper, we propose a semantically oriented distributed reasoning architecture for cyber-physical systems. This model accomplishes reasoning through a combination of heterogeneous models of computation. Using the flexibility of semantic agents as a formal representation for heterogeneous computational platforms, we define autonomous and intelligent agent-based reasoning procedure for distributed cyber-physical systems. Sensor networks underpin the semantic capabilities of this architecture, and semantic reasoning based on Markov logic networks is adopted to address uncertainty in modelling. To illustrate feasibility of this approach, we present a Markov logic based semantic event model for cyber-physical systems and discuss a case study of event handling and processing in a smart home.
Age and Environment Influences on Mouse Prion Disease Progression: Behavioral Changes and Morphometry and Stereology of Hippocampal Astrocytes
Authors: Bento-Torres J. , Sobral L. L. , Reis R. R. , de Oliveira R. B. , Anthony D. C. , Vasconcelos P. F. C. , Picanço Diniz Cristovam Wanderley
Published: January 2017

Because enriched environment (EE) and exercise increase and aging decreases immune response, we hypothesized that environmental enrichment and aging will, respectively, delay and increase prion disease progression. Mice dorsal striatum received bilateral stereotaxic intracerebral injections of normal or ME7 prion infected mouse brain homogenates. After behavior analysis, animals were euthanized and their brains processed for astrocyte GFAP immunolabeling. Our analysis related to the environmental influence are limited to young adult mice, whereas age influence refers to aged mice raised on standard cages. Burrowing activity began to reduce in ME7‐SE two weeks before ME7‐EE, while no changes were apparent in ME7 aged mice (ME7‐A). Object placement recognition was impaired in ME7‐SE, NBH‐A, and ME7‐A but normal in all other groups. Object identity recognition was impaired in ME7‐A. Cluster analysis revealed two morphological families of astrocytes in NBH‐SE animals, three in NBH‐A and ME7‐A, and four in NBH‐EE, ME7‐SE, and ME7‐EE. As compared with control groups, astrocytes from DG and CA3 prion‐diseased animals show significant numerical and morphological differences and environmental enrichment did not reverse these changes but induced different morphological changes in GFAP+ hippocampal astroglia. We suggest that environmental enrichment and aging delayed hippocampal‐dependent behavioral and neuropathological signs of disease progression.
Error Correction of Measured Unstructured Road Profiles Based on Accelerometer and Gyroscope Data
Authors: Han Jinhua , Yang Xiaoqiang , Li Huanliang , Cui Hongxin
Published: January 2017

This paper describes a noncontact acquisition system composed of several time synchronized laser height sensors, accelerometers, gyroscope, and so forth in order to collect the road profiles of vehicle riding on the unstructured roads. A method of correcting road profiles based on the accelerometer and gyroscope data is proposed to eliminate the adverse impacts of vehicle vibration and attitudes change. Because the power spectral density (PSD) of gyro attitudes concentrates in the low frequency band, a method called frequency division is presented to divide the road profiles into two parts: high frequency part and low frequency part. The vibration error of road profiles is corrected by displacement data obtained through two times integration of measured acceleration data. After building the mathematical model between gyro attitudes and road profiles, the gyro attitudes signals are separated from low frequency road profile by the method of sliding block overlap based on correlation analysis. The accuracy and limitations of the system have been analyzed, and its validity has been verified by implementing the system on wheeled equipment for road profiles’ measuring of vehicle testing ground. The paper offers an accurate and practical approach to obtaining unstructured road profiles for road simulation test.
An SDN-Based Authentication Mechanism for Securing Neighbor Discovery Protocol in IPv6
Authors: Lu Yiqin , Wang Meng , Huang Pengsen
Published: January 2017

The Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) is one of the main protocols in the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) suite, and it provides many basic functions for the normal operation of IPv6 in a local area network (LAN), such as address autoconfiguration and address resolution. However, it has many vulnerabilities that can be used by malicious nodes to launch attacks, because the NDP messages are easily spoofed without protection. Surrounding this problem, many solutions have been proposed for securing NDP, but these solutions either proposed new protocols that need to be supported by all nodes or built mechanisms that require the cooperation of all nodes, which is inevitable in the traditional distributed networks. Nevertheless, Software-Defined Networking (SDN) provides a new perspective to think about protecting NDP. In this paper, we proposed an SDN-based authentication mechanism to verify the identity of NDP packets transmitted in a LAN. Using the centralized control and programmability of SDN, it can effectively prevent the spoofing attacks and other derived attacks based on spoofing. In addition, this mechanism needs no additional protocol supporting or configuration at hosts and routers and does not introduce any dedicated devices.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Drug Delivery from pH- and Thermoresponsive Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide)/Chitosan Core/Shell Nanocomposites Made by Semicontinuous Heterophase Polymerization
Authors: Alvarado Abraham G. , Ortega Andres , Pérez-Carrillo Lourdes A. , Ceja Israel , Arellano Martin , López R. Guillermo , Puig Jorge E.
Published: January 2017

Temperature- and pH-responsive core/shell nanoparticles were prepared by semicontinuous heterophase polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA) in the presence of chitosan micelles for drug delivery purposes. Micelles of chitosan, formed in an acetic acid aqueous solution at 70°C containing potassium persulfate, were fed with N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA) at a controlled rate, to produce PNIPA/chitosan core/shell nanoparticles of about 350 nm. Then, the crosslinking agent, glutaraldehyde, was added to crosslink the nanoparticles. These nanocomposites were temperature- and pH-responsive, which make them suitable as controlled drug releasing agents. The nanoparticles exhibit thermoreversibility to heating-and-cooling cycles and show different responses depending on the releasing medium’s pH. Drug delivery tests were performed, employing as a model drug, doxycycline hyclate.
Medical Image Fusion Algorithm Based on Nonlinear Approximation of Contourlet Transform and Regional Features
Authors: Huang Hui , Feng Xi’an , Jiang Jionghui
Published: January 2017

According to the pros and cons of contourlet transform and multimodality medical imaging, here we propose a novel image fusion algorithm that combines nonlinear approximation of contourlet transform with image regional features. The most important coefficient bands of the contourlet sparse matrix are retained by nonlinear approximation. Low-frequency and high-frequency regional features are also elaborated to fuse medical images. The results strongly suggested that the proposed algorithm could improve the visual effects of medical image fusion and image quality, image denoising, and enhancement.