bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Late Onset Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: Possible Etiology and Postsurgical Seizure Outcome
Authors: Tottori Takayasu , Mihara Tadahiro , Baba Koichi , Matsuda Kazumi , Ohtsubo Toshiaki , Usui Naotaka , Inoue Yushi , Fujiwara Tateki , Yagi Kazuichi
Published: August 2005

Purpose: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy usually have initial seizures during childhood. Of 256 patients who underwent surgical resection of the temporal lobe, however, 55 (21%) had initial seizures at 16 years of age or older, We tentatively designated these 55 patients the late onset (LO) type. The purpose of this study was to examine the possible etiology and post‐surgical seizure outcome in LO patients compared to patients who had initial seizures at >15 years of age (childhood onset: CO).

Methods: Thirty‐four LO patients were inale and 21 were female. Age at seizure onset ranged from 16 to 4.5 years (mean 2 1.3 years). To obtain information on past illness, we retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of all the patients. Status epilepticus was defined as seizures lasting >30 minutes with or without fever. Complex febrilc convulsions were defined according to Nelson. Prior to resection surgery, 30 of 55 LO patients underwent long‐term invasive EEG/video monitoring. Their age at surgery ranged from 17 to 55 years (mcan 33.2 years). Post‐surgical seizure outcome was compared between 46 LO patients and 141 CO patients who had been followed for >2 years after surgery.

Results: Thirty‐nine of 55 LO patients (7 I %) had no relevant past illness, but CT/MRI revealed localized lesions in 82% (32/39), comprising dysembryoplastic epithelial tumor (N = 17), focal cortical dysplasia (N = 3), cavernous angionia (N = 10). and arteriovenous malformation (N = 2). The remaining 16 patients had a history of head trauma (N = 6), CNS infection (N = 3), convulsive status (N = 4), complex febrile convulsions (N=I), or nephrosis (N=2). On the contrary, 101 of 201 CO patients (50%) had no relevant past illness, and CTiMRI revealed localized lesions in 44% (44/101), whereas 73 of 201 CO patients (36%) had a history of convulsive status or complex febrile convulsions. Thirty‐three (72%) of 46 LO patients were in Class I of Engel's outcome classification, although 5 of 8 patients with a history of head trauma or CNS infection were in Class I1 ‐ IV. On the contrary, I14 (81%) of 141 CO patients were in Class I, including 8 of 12 with a history of head trauma or CNS infection.

Conclusions: I. Approximately 21 %I of patients who underwent surgical resection of the temporal lobe were late onset patients in whom initial seizures begin at 16 years of age or older. 2. Most of the LO patients had no relevant past illness but had localized lesions detected by CT or MRI. 3. The post‐surgical seizure outcome in LO patients was slightly worse than that in CO patients, although the difference was not statistically significant. 4. Surgical indication for LO patients with a history of head trauma or CNS infection should be carefully considered.
Application of the Fuzzy Weighted Average in Strategic Portfolio Management*
Authors: Lin Chinho , Tan Bertram , Hsieh Ping‐Jung
Published: August 2005

We propose a systematic approach that incorporates fuzzy set theory in conjunction with portfolio matrices to assist managers in reaching a better understanding of the overall competitiveness of their business portfolios. Integer linear programming is also accommodated in the proposed integrated approach to help select strategic plans by using the results derived from the previous portfolio analysis and other financial data. The proposed integrated approach is designed from a strategy‐oriented perspective for portfolio management at the corporate level. It has the advantage of dealing with the uncertainty problem of decision makers in doing evaluation, providing a technique that presents the diversity of confidence and optimism levels of decision makers. Furthermore, integer linear programming is used because it offers an effective quantitative method for managers to allocate constrained resources optimally among proposed strategies. An illustration from a real‐world situation demonstrates the integrated approach. Although a particular portfolio matrix model has been adopted in our research, the procedure proposed here can be modified to incorporate other portfolio matrices.
Testing a Model: A Developmental Perspective of Adolescent Male Sexuality
Authors: Smith Laureen H. , Guthrie Barbara J.
Published: August 2005

PURPOSE.  This study tested a model of adolescent male sexuality and evaluated its usefulness for predicting sexual behaviors among a diverse sample.

DESIGN AND METHODS.  Secondary analysis using a national sample was conducted. Sexuality was conceptualized as depending on family, peers, and school. Neighborhood was hypothesized to influence sexuality indirectly. Sexuality was hypothesized to influence sexual behaviors and age at first sex. Structural equation modeling techniques were used with ethnic comparisons.

RESULTS.  Family was the strongest predictor of sexuality. Males who were closer to their family were sexually conservative; males closer to peers were sexually permissive. Neighborhood's influence was moderated through family and school. Ethnic differences were not found.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.  Sexuality assessments and strengthening family relationships are essential.
EFFECT OF PRETREATMENTS AND PROCESSING CONDITIONS ON THE CHEMICAL, PHYSICAL, MICROBIOLOGICAL AND SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS OF GARLIC PASTE
Authors: CONSTENLA D.T. , LOZANO J.E.
Published: August 2005

The influence of storage temperature of garlic bulb and chemical additives (including ascorbic acid, citric acid and potassium sorbate) on the chemical, physical, microbiological and sensory characteristics of garlic paste was evaluated. Formation of undesirable greenish pigment was avoided by storing fresh garlic bulbs at 25 and 40C. Moreover, heating bulbs to 40C a few minutes before processing facilitated skin removal. Garlic paste was processed, packed and thermally treated at 85C for 5 min. The color of garlic paste was affected by chemical treatment, temperature and storage period. The rate of color difference (ΔE) increase was divided into two linear periods with different slopes. Garlic paste exhibited pseudoplasticity with yield stress and flow adequately described by the Herschel–Bulkley model (r2 > 0.990). Both consistency index and apparent viscosity decreased with increase in temperature.
Damage Tolerance of Well-Completion and Stimulation Techniques in Coalbed Methane Reservoirs
Authors: Jahediesfanjani Hossein , Civan Faruk
Published: August 2005

Coalbed methane (CBM) reservoirs are characterized as naturally fractured, dual porosity, low permeability, and water saturated gas reservoirs. Initially, the gas, water, and coal are at thermodynamic equilibrium under prevailing reservoir conditions. Dewatering is essential to promote gas production. This can be accomplished by suitable completion and stimulation techniques. This paper investigates the efficiency and performance of the openhole cavity, hydraulic fractures, frack and packs, and horizontal wells as potential completion methods which may reduce formation damage and increase the productivity in coalbed methane reservoirs. Considering the dual porosity nature of CBM reservoirs, numerical simulations have been carried out to determine the formation damage tolerance of each completion and stimulation approach. A new comparison parameter, named as the normalized productivity index Jnp(t) is defined as the ratio of the productivity index of a stimulated well to that of a nondamaged vertical well as a function of time. Typical scenarios have been considered to evaluate the CBM properties, including reservoir heterogeneity, anisotropy, and formation damage, for their effects on Jnp(t) over the production time. The results for each stimulation technique show that the value of Jnp(t) declines over the time of production with a rate which depends upon the applied technique and the prevailing reservoir conditions. The results also show that horizontal wells have the best performance if drilled orthogonal to the butt cleats. Long horizontal fractures improve reservoir productivity more than short vertical ones. Open-hole cavity completions outperform vertical fractures if the fracture conductivity is reduced by any damage process. When vertical permeability is much lower than horizontal permeability, production of vertical wells will improve while productivity of horizontal wells will decrease. Finally, pressure distribution of the reservoir under each scenario is strongly dependent upon the reservoir characteristics, including the hydraulic diffusivity of methane, and the porosity and permeability distributions in the reservoir.
An Efficient Pareto Set Identification Approach for Multiobjective Optimization on Black-Box Functions
Authors: Shan Songqing , Wang G. Gary
Published: August 2005

Both multiple objectives and computation-intensive black-box functions often exist simultaneously in engineering design problems. Few of existing multiobjective optimization approaches addresses problems with expensive black-box functions. In this paper, a new method called the Pareto set pursuing (PSP) method is developed. By developing sampling guidance functions based on approximation models, this approach progressively provides a designer with a rich and evenly distributed set of Pareto optimal points. This work describes PSP procedures in detail. From testing and design application, PSP demonstrates considerable promises in efficiency, accuracy, and robustness. Properties of PSP and differences between PSP and other approximation-based methods are also discussed. It is believed that PSP has a great potential to be a practical tool for multiobjective optimization problems.
Formation Damage Induced by Chemical Treatments: Case Histories
Authors: Nasr-El-Din Hisham A.
Published: August 2005

This study discusses formation damage mechanisms that were caused by commonly used chemical treatments. The chemicals used in these treatments included a scale inhibitor, a biocide-corrosion inhibitor, an in situ gelled acid, a full-strength mud acid, and a mutual solvent. These treatments were designed to remove a known form of formation damage. However, they created new forms of formation damage, which resulted in a significant decline in the performance of the treated wells. Case histories that illustrate the initial and new formation damage mechanisms are explained in detail. Laboratory and field studies that were performed to identify these mechanisms are discussed. Moreover, this paper highlights the remedial actions and field application that resulted in restoring the performance of various wells without affecting the integrity of the formation (both carbonate and sandstone). Finally, recommendations are given to minimize formation damage due to various chemical treatments.
Microemulsion Additives Enable Optimized Formation Damage Repair and Prevention
Authors: Penny Glenn , Pursley John T. , Holcomb David
Published: August 2005

A new microemulsion additive has been developed that is effective in remediating damaged wells and is highly effective in fluid recovery and relative permeability enhancement when applied in drilling and stimulation treatments at dilute concentrations. The microemulsion is a unique blend of biodegradable solvent, surfactant, co-solvent and water. The nanometer-sized structures are modeled after Veronoi structures which when dispersed in the base treating fluid of water or oil permit a greater ease of entry into a damaged area of the reservoir or fracture system. The structures maximize surface energy interaction by expanding to twelve times their individual surface areas to allow maximum contact efficiency at low concentrations (0.1–0.5%). Higher loadings on the order of 2% can be applied in the removal of water blocks and polymer damage. Lab data are shown for the microemulsion in speeding the cleanup of injected fluids in tight gas cores. Further tests show that the microemulsion additive results in lower pressures to displace frac fluids from propped fractures resulting in lower damage and higher production rates. This reduced pressure is also evident in pumping operations where friction is lowered by 10–15% when the microemulsion is added to fracturing fluids. Field examples are shown for remediation and fracture treating of coals, shales and sandstone reservoirs, where productivity is increased by 20–50% depending on the treatment parameters. Drilling examples are shown in horizontal drilling where wells cleanup without the aid of workover rigs where offsets typically require weeks of workover.
Simultaneously Solving Process Selection, Machining Parameter Optimization, and Tolerance Design Problems: A Bi-Criterion Approach
Authors: Wang Pei , Liang Ming
Published: August 2005

This paper reports an integrated approach for jointly solving the process selection, machining parameter selection, and tolerance design problems to avoid inconsistent and infeasible decisions. The integrated problem is formulated as a bicriterion model to handle both tangible and intangible costs. The model is solved using a modified Chebyshev goal programming method to achieve a preferred compromise between the two conflicting and noncommensurable criteria. Examples are provided to illustrate the application of the model and the solution procedure. The results show that the decisions on process selection, machining parameter selections, and tolerance design can be made simultaneously with the model.
Prediction of Local Part-Mold and Ejection Force in Injection Molding
Authors: Bataineh Omar M. , Klamecki Barney E.
Published: August 2005

A numerical simulation system was developed to predict local part-mold forces and local and total ejection forces in injection molding. Local reaction forces between the part and mold surfaces are calculated first using numerical molding process and structural simulations. Using experimentally obtained coefficients of friction the friction force and ejection force are calculated. Ring moldings were used to measure the coefficient of friction. Box moldings were used to validate predictions of local and total ejection forces and to demonstrate the use of the system in mold design. Calculated ejection force was maximum at the beginning of ejection and differed by 10%–16% from experimental values, with the difference being much less over the main part of the ejection process. The maximum number of ejector pins for failed ejection was predicted. The difference between the predicted and observed number of ejector pins was at most four pins for a twenty ejector pin system.
Prediction of Central Bursting in Drawing and Extrusion of Metals
Authors: Ragab A. R. , Samy S. N. , Saleh Ch. A. R.
Published: August 2005

In this work central bursting in drawing and extrusion of metals is investigated. The analysis is based on a modified stress distribution within the die zone due to Shield (Shield, R. T., 1955, J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 3, pp. 246–258) together with Gurson–Tvergaard’s yield function (Tvergaard, V., 1981, Int. J. Fract., 17, pp. 389–407) and its associated flow rule for voided solids. The effects of hardening and evolution of void shape on void growth are considered. Various fracture criteria are employed to predict the process conditions at which central bursting occurs. The first criterion is due to Avitzur (Avitzur, B., 1968, ASME J. Eng. Ind., 90, pp. 79–91 and Avitzur, B., and Choi, J. C., 1986, ASME J. Eng. Ind., 108, pp. 317–321), the second and simplest criterion is based on vanishing mean stress while a suggested third criterion depends on the current value of the void volume fraction. Two other criteria which are basically due to Thomason’s internal necking condition (Thomason, P. F., 1990, Ductile Fracture of Metals, Pergamon, Oxford) as well as McClintock’s shear band formation criterion are applied (McClintock, F. A., Kaplan, S. M., and Berg, C. S., 1966, Int. J. Fract. Mech., 2, p. 614, and McClintock, F. A., 1968, in Ductility, ASM, Metals, Park, OH). The critical process conditions are predicted and compared with the available experimental data. Comparison showed that predictions based on the vanishing mean stress and the current void volume fraction criteria are closer to experiments than those based on Thomason’s internal necking and McClintock criteria.
Evolution and Molecular Phylogeny ofListeria monocytogenesIsolated from Human and Animal Listeriosis Cases and Foods
Authors: Nightingale K. K. , Windham K. , Wiedmann M.
Published: August 2005

To probe the evolution and phylogeny ofListeria monocytogenesfrom defined host species and environments,L. monocytogenesisolates from human (n= 60) and animal (n= 30) listeriosis cases and food samples (n= 30) were randomly selected from a larger collection of isolates (n= 354) obtained in New York State between 1999 and 2001. Partial sequencing of four housekeeping genes (gap,prs,purM, andribC), one stress response gene (sigB), and two virulence genes (actAandinlA) revealed between 11 (gap) and 33 (inlA) allelic types as well as 52 sequence types (unique combination of allelic types).actA,ribC, andpurMdemonstrated the highest levels of nucleotide diversity (π > 0.05).actAandinlAas well asprsand the hypervariable housekeeping genesribCandpurMshowed evidence of horizontal gene transfer and recombination.actAandinlAalso showed evidence of positive selection at specific amino acid sites. Maximum likelihood phylogenies for all seven genes confirmed thatL. monocytogenescontains two deeply separated evolutionary lineages. Lineage I was found to be highly clonal, while lineage II showed greater diversity and evidence of horizontal gene transfer. Allelic types were exclusive to lineages, except for a singlegapallele, and nucleotide distance within lineages was much lower than that between lineages, suggesting that genetic exchange between lineages is rare. Our data show that (i)L. monocytogenesis a highly diverse species with at least two distinct phylogenetic lineages differing in their evolutionary history and population structure and (ii) horizontal gene transfer as well as positive selection contributed to the evolution ofL. monocytogenes.
Interactions between Partner Switcher Orthologs BtrW and BtrV Regulate Type III Secretion in
Bordetella
Authors: Kozak Natalia A. , Mattoo Seema , Foreman-Wykert Amy K. , Whitelegge Julian P. , Miller Jeff F.
Published: August 2005

We have recently described a multicomponent cascade that regulates type III secretion in
Bordetella
. This cascade includes a group of proteins, BtrU, BtrW, and BtrV, that contain an array of domains that define partner-switching complexes previously characterized in gram-positive bacteria. BtrU contains a PP2C-like serine phosphatase domain, BtrW contains a serine kinase/anti-sigma factor motif, and BtrV includes an anti-sigma factor antagonist domain. On the basis of genetic studies and sequence similarity with the RsbU-RsbW-RsbV and SpoIIE-SpoIIAB-SpoIIAA partner switchers of
Bacillus subtilis
, a series of interactions between
Bordetella
orthologs have been proposed. Bacterial two-hybrid analysis, tagged protein pull-downs, and in vitro phosphorylation assays were used to characterize interactions between BtrW and BtrV. In addition, BtrV mutants predicted to mimic a constitutively phosphorylated form of BtrV or to be nonphosphorylatable and BtrW mutants defective in serine kinase activity or the ability to bind BtrV were constructed and analyzed. Our results demonstrate that (i) BtrW and BtrV interact with each other, (ii) BtrW phosphorylates BtrV at serine S55, (iii) the conserved serine residue S55 of BtrV plays a key role in BtrV-BtrW interactions, and (iv) the ability of BtrW to phosphorylate BtrV and disrupt BtrV-BtrW binding is essential for the type III secretion process.
Deletion of the
Mycobacterium tuberculosis pknH
Gene Confers a Higher Bacillary Load during the Chronic Phase of Infection in BALB/c Mice
Authors: Papavinasasundaram K. G. , Chan Bosco , Chung Ji-Hae , Colston M. Joseph , Davis Elaine O. , Av-Gay Yossef
Published: August 2005

The role of the serine/threonine kinase PknH in the physiology and virulence of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
was assessed by the construction of a
pknH
deletion mutant. Deletion of the
pknH
gene did not affect sensitivity to the antimycobacterial drug ethambutol, although it was previously thought to be involved in regulating expression of
emb
genes encoding arabinosyl transferases, the targets of ethambutol. Nevertheless, transcription analyses revealed that genes associated with mycobacterial cell wall component synthesis, such as
emb
and
ini
operons, are downstream substrates of the PknH signaling cascade. In vitro survival studies revealed that a mutant with a deletion of the
pknH
gene displayed increased resistance to acidified nitrite stress, suggesting that nitric oxide is one of the potential environmental triggers for PknH activation. The effect of
pknH
deletion on mycobacterial virulence was investigated in BALB/c mice. In this model, the Δ
pknH
mutant was found to survive and replicate to a higher bacillary load in mouse organs than its parental strain and the
pknH
-complemented strain. In contrast, another closely related kinase mutant, the Δ
pknE
mutant, obtained from the same parental strain, was not affected in its virulence phenotype. Infection of THP-1 cells or in vitro growth studies in 7H9 medium did not reveal a significant in vitro growth advantage phenotype for the Δ
pknH
mutant. In conclusion, we propose that the serine/threonine kinase PknH plays a role in regulating bacillary load in mouse organs to facilitate adaptation to the host environment, possibly by enabling a regulated chronic infection by
M. tuberculosis
.
The
pnhA
Gene of
Pasteurella multocida
Encodes a Dinucleoside Oligophosphate Pyrophosphatase Member of the Nudix Hydrolase Superfamily
Authors: Urick Tonia , I-Chang Chien , Arena Ellen , Xu WenLian , Bessman Maurice J. , Ruffolo Carmel G.
Published: August 2005

The
pnhA
gene of
Pasteurella multocida
encodes PnhA, which is a member of the Nudix hydrolase subfamily of dinucleoside oligophosphate pyrophosphatases. PnhA hydrolyzes diadenosine tetra-, penta
-
, and hexaphosphates with a preference for diadenosine pentaphosphate, from which it forms ATP and ADP. PnhA requires a divalent metal cation, Mg
2+
or Mn
2+
, and prefers an alkaline pH of 8 for optimal activity. A
P. multocida
strain that lacked a functional
pnhA
gene, ACP13, was constructed to further characterize the function of PnhA. The cellular size of ACP13 was found to be 60% less than that of wild-type
P. multocida
, but the growth rate of ACP13 and its sensitivity to heat shock conditions were similar to those of the wild type, and the wild-type cell size was restored in the presence of a functional
pnhA
gene. Wild-type and ACP13 strains were tested for virulence by using the chicken embryo lethality model, and ACP13 was found to be up to 1,000-fold less virulent than the wild-type strain. This is the first study to use an animal model in assessing the virulence of a bacterial strain that lacked a dinucleoside oligophosphate pyrophosphatase and suggests that the pyrophosphatase PnhA, catalyzing the hydrolysis of diadenosine pentaphosphates, may also play a role in facilitating
P. multocida
pathogenicity in the host.
Computer science and bioinformatics
Authors: Cohen Jacques
Published: August 2005

In barely half a century computer science has grown from infancy to maturity. Employment in computer science was assured until a few years ago. Today, however, like in the 1960s, when demand for physicists waned, computer scientists are eager to explore new possibilities in promising fields. Biology and its related disciplines like bioinformatics are at the top of the list.
Legislative challenges to the
Sony
safe harbor rule
Authors: Samuelson Pamela
Published: August 2005

Congressional proposals to regulate infringement-enabling technologies are described and the implications discussed.
Extrovert gadgets
Authors: Kameas Achilles , Mavrommati Irene
Published: August 2005

Configuring and reconfiguring ubiquitous applications composed of communicating artifacts.
The state of funding for new initiatives in computer science and engineering
Authors: Patterson David A.
Published: August 2005

The intellectual opportunities are huge, the social benefits transforming, yet redesigning a workable funding model for CS&E research will require our collective imagination and collaboration between many IT sectors.
Is computer science science?
Authors: Denning Peter J.
Published: August 2005

Computer science meets every criterion for being a science, but it has a self-inflicted credibility problem.
A new technonationalism?
Authors: Suttmeier Richard P.
Published: August 2005

Chinese technology executives, government officials, and members of its research community are debating how far to push the country's strategy for promoting technology standards at home and abroad.
Semantic grid
Authors: Zhuge Hai
Published: August 2005

Creating a new interconnection environment incorporating the Internet, sensor networks, mobile devices, and the interconnection semantics.
On Plug-ins and Extensible Architectures
Authors: Birsan Dorian
Published: August 2005

In a world of increasingly complex computing requirements, we as software developers are continually searching for that ultimate, universal architecture that allows us to productively develop high-quality applications. This quest has led to the adoption of many new abstractions and tools. Some of the most promising recent developments are the new pure plug-in architectures. What began as a callback mechanism to extend an application has become the very foundation of applications themselves. Plug-ins are no longer just add-ons to applications; today’s applications are made entirely of plug-ins. This field has matured quite a bit in the past few years, with significant contributions from a number of successful projects.
UML Fever: Diagnosis and Recovery
Authors: Bell Alex E.
Published: August 2005

The Institute of Infectious Diseases has recently published research confirming that the many and varied strains of UML Fever1 continue to spread worldwide, indiscriminately infecting software analysts, engineers, and managers alike. One of the fever’s most serious side effects has been observed to be a significant increase in both the cost and duration of developing software products. This increase is largely attributable to a decrease in productivity resulting from fever-stricken individuals investing time and effort in activities that are of little or no value to producing deliverable products. For example, afflictees of Open Loop Fever continue to create UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagrams for unknown stakeholders. Victims of Comfort Zone Fever remain glued in the modeling space, postponing the development of software. And those suffering from Gnat’s Eyebrow Fever continue creating models that glorify each and every Boolean value of prospective software implementations.
Access control in collaborative systems
Authors: Tolone William , Ahn Gail-Joon , Pai Tanusree , Hong Seng-Phil
Published: August 2005

Balancing the competing goals of collaboration and security is a difficult, multidimensional problem. Collaborative systems often focus on building useful connections among people, tools, and information while security seeks to ensure the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of these same elements. In this article, we focus on one important dimension of this problem---access control. The article examines existing access control models as applied to collaboration, highlighting not only the benefits, but also the weaknesses of these models.
Trade-offs in probabilistic packet marking for IP traceback
Authors: Adler Micah
Published: August 2005

There has been considerable recent interest in probabilistic packet marking schemes for the problem of tracing a sequence of network packets back to an anonymous source. An important consideration for such schemes is the number of packet header bits that need to be allocated to the marking protocol. Let
b
denote this value. All previous schemes belong to a class of protocols for which
b
must be at least log
n
, where
n
is the number of bits used to represent the path of the packets. In this article, we introduce a new marking technique for tracing a sequence of packets sent along the same path. This new technique is effective even when
b
= 1. In other words, the sequence of packets can be traced back to their source using only a single bit in the packet header. With this scheme, the number of packets required to reconstruct the path is
O
(2

2
n

), but we also show that Ω(2

n

) packets are required for any protocol where
b
= 1. We also study the trade-off between
b
and the number of packets required. We provide a protocol and a lower bound that together demonstrate that for the optimal protocol, the number of packets required (roughly) increases exponentially with
n
, but decreases doubly exponentially with
b
. The protocol we introduce is simple enough to be useful in practice. We also study the case where the packets are sent along
k
different paths. For this case, we demonstrate that any protocol must use at least log(2
k
− 1) header bits. We also provide a protocol that requires ⌈log(2
k
+ 1)⌉ header bits in some restricted scenarios. This protocol introduces a new coding technique that may be of independent interest.
Voltage scheduling under unpredictabilities: a risk management paradigm
Authors: Davoodi Azadeh , Srivastava Ankur
Published: August 2005

This article addresses the problem of voltage scheduling in unpredictable situations. The voltage scheduling problem assigns voltages to operations such that the power is minimized under a clock delay constraint. In the presence of unpredictabilities, meeting the clock latency constraint cannot be guaranteed. This article proposes a novel risk management based technique to solve this problem. Here, the risk management paradigm assigns a quantified value to the amount of risk the designer is willing to take on the clock cycle constraint. The algorithm then assigns voltages in order to meet the expected value of clock cycle constraint while keeping the maximum delay within the specified “risk” and minimizing the power. The proposed algorithm is based on dynamic programming and is optimal for trees. Experimental results show that the traditional voltage scheduling approach is incapable of handling unpredictabilities. Our approach is capable of generating an effective tradeoff between power and “risk”: the more the risk, the less the power. The results show that a small increase in design risk positively affects the power dissipation.
Simulating markov-reward processes with rare events
Authors: Grassmann Winfried K. , Luo Jingxiang
Published: August 2005

Simulating continuous-time Markov reward processes containing rarely visited, but economically important states requires long simulation times unless special measures are taken. In this article, we consider Markov reward processes in equilibrium, and we use the equilibrium equations to reallocate rewards. The effect of this reallocation is determined analytically for a number of small examples. In these examples, significant savings in run lengths were possible, especially in the case where the expected rewards are strongly influenced by low-probability boundary states. The emphasis of the article is on exploration; no large simulation problems have been considered.
It's the FCC on the line
Authors: Shannon Meg McGinity
Published: August 2005

Indecency is just one channel of a post-Powell FCC show.
Potential pitfalls in packaged software adoption
Authors: Light Ben
Published: August 2005

Numerous organizational considerations influence packaged software purchasing.
Introduction
Authors: Rosenbloom Andrew
Published: August 2005

The growing interest among the graphics, vision, and manufacturing communities in transmitting 3D computer-aided design (CAD) image files directly to inexpensive fabrication machines promises on-demand physical prototype consumer products, industrial components, mechanical parts, biomedical parts, scientific visualizations, heritage reproductions, and even abstract artwork.
Rapid prototyping
Authors: Séquin Carlo H.
Published: August 2005

Many technical and scientific objects are far too complex to be properly understood through pictures. 3D representations that can be touched and physically manipulated by the observer convey information not obtainable from 2D projections. Thanks to some emerging affordable rapid prototyping (RP) technologies, such models are beginning to find a role in design, science, and manufacturing. RP is already firmly established in the automotive industry and among designers of consumer products, including household appliances, toys, and electronics. With this personal case study from the arts and mathematics, I hope to encourage designers from other application domains to use RP technologies as a truly 3D physical visualization tool.
How long must I wait for broadband?
Authors: Weiss Aaron
Published: August 2005

I might be a little sensitive about the broadband issue. Where I live, there are more cows than people. Cows don't have much use for broadband, but people---some of us, at least---do.
Efficient and effective array bound checking
Authors: Nguyen Thi Viet Nga , Irigoin François
Published: August 2005

Array bound checking refers to determining whether all array references in a program are within their declared ranges. This checking is critical for software verification and validation because subscripting arrays beyond their declared sizes may produce unexpected results, security holes, or failures. It is available in most commercial compilers but current implementations are not as efficient and effective as one may have hoped: (1) the execution times of array bound checked programs are increased by a factor of up to 5, (2) the compilation times are increased, which is detrimental to development and debugging, (3) the related error messages do not usually carry information to locate the faulty references, and (4) the consistency between actual array sizes and formal array declarations is not often checked.This article presents two optimization techniques that deal with Points 1, 2, and 3, and a new algorithm to tackle Point 4, which is not addressed by the current literature. The first optimization technique is based on the elimination of redundant tests, to provide very accurate information about faulty references during development and testing phases. The second one is based on the insertion of unavoidable tests to provide the smallest possible slowdown during the production phase. The new algorithm ensures the absence of bound violations in every array access in the called procedure with respect to the array declarations in the calling procedure. Our experiments suggest that the optimization of array bound checking depends on several factors, not only the percentage of removed checks, usually considered as the best improvement measuring metrics. The debugging capability and compile-time and run-time performances of our techniques are better than current implementations. The execution times of SPEC95 CFP benchmarks with range checking added by PIPS, our Fortran research compiler, are slightly longer, less than 20%, than that of unchecked programs. More problems due to functional and data recursion would have to be solved to extend these results from Fortran to other languages such as C, C++, or Java, but the issues addressed in this article are nevertheless relevant.
News 2.0
Authors: Stanik John
Published: August 2005

Debates about the relative robustness and security of various operating systems have raged for years. A few months ago the Linux community got some concrete numbers to back up its claims of superiority. A study conducted by Stanford researchers revealed that the Linux 2.6 kernel, which has 5.7 million lines of code, contains “only” 985 bugs. This number pales in comparison to the average number for commercial software, which a Carnegie Mellon University team determined to be 20 to 30 bugs per 1,000 lines of code. Based on this ratio, one would expect 114,000 to 171,000 bugs in the Linux kernel. What’s more—of the kernel’s 985 bugs, only about 10 percent were security related. Not bad, huh?
Mobile Media: Making It a Reality
Authors: Kitson Fred
Published: August 2005

Many future mobile applications are predicated on the existence of rich, interactive media services. The promise and challenge of such services is to provide applications under the most hostile conditions - and at low cost to a user community that has high expectations. Context-aware services require information about who, where, when, and what a user is doing and must be delivered in a timely manner with minimum latency. This article reveals some of the current state-of-the-art "magic" and the research challenges.
A speech synthesizer for Persian text using a neural network with a smooth ergodic HMM
Authors: Hendessi F. , Ghayoori A. , Gulliver T. A.
Published: August 2005

The feasibility of converting text into speech using an inexpensive computer with minimal memory is of great interest. Speech synthesizers have been developed for many popular languages (e.g., English, Chinese, Spanish, French, etc.), but designing a speech synthesizer for a language is largely dependant on the language structure. In this article, we develop a Persian synthesizer that includes an innovative text analyzer module. In the synthesizer, the text is segmented into words and after preprocessing, a neural network is passed over each word. In addition to preprocessing, a new model (SEHMM) is used as a postprocessor to compensate for errors generated by the neural network. The performance of the proposed model is verified and the intelligibility of the synthetic speech is assessed via listening tests.
Beyond proof-of-compliance: security analysis in trust management
Authors: Li Ninghui , Mitchell John C. , Winsborough William H.
Published: August 2005

Trust management is a form of distributed access control that allows one principal to delegate some access decisions to other principals. While the use of delegation greatly enhances flexibility and scalability, it may also reduce the control that a principal has over the resources it owns. Security analysis asks whether safety, availability, and other properties can be maintained while delegating to partially trusted principals. We show that in contrast to the undecidability of classical Harrison--Ruzzo--Ullman safety properties, our primary security properties are decidable. In particular, most security properties we study are decidable in polynomial time. The computational complexity of containment analysis, the most complicated security property we study, varies according to the expressive power of the trust management language.
Algorithm 844
Authors: Berry Michael W. , Pulatova Shakhina A. , Stewart G. W.
Published: August 2005

In many applications---latent semantic indexing, for example---it is required to obtain a reduced rank approximation to a sparse matrix
A
. Unfortunately, the approximations based on traditional decompositions, like the singular value and QR decompositions, are not in general sparse. Stewart [(1999), 313--323] has shown how to use a variant of the classical Gram--Schmidt algorithm, called the quasi--Gram-Schmidt--algorithm, to obtain two kinds of low-rank approximations. The first, the SPQR, approximation, is a pivoted, Q-less QR approximation of the form (
XR
11
−1
)(
R
11
R
12
), where
X
consists of columns of A. The second, the SCR approximation, is of the form the form
A
≅
XTY
T
, where
X
and
Y
consist of columns and rows
A
and
T
, is small. In this article we treat the computational details of these algorithms and describe a MATLAB implementation.
Algorithm 845
Authors: Money James H. , Ye Qiang
Published: August 2005

eigifp is a MATLAB program for computing a few extreme eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the large symmetric generalized eigenvalue problem
Ax
= λ
Bx
. It is a black-box implementation of an inverse free preconditioned Krylov subspace projection method developed by Golub and Ye [2002]. It has important features that allow it to solve some difficult problems without any input from users. It is particularly suitable for problems where preconditioning by the standard shift-and-invert transformation is not feasible.
A closer look at attention to detail
Authors: Cappel James J. , Prybutok Victor R. , Varghese Benny
Published: August 2005

Beyond communications, interpersonal, and leadership skills, there's another `non-technical skill' fundamental to success in IT.
A carrier's perspective on creating a mobile multimedia service
Authors: Balaji T. S. , Landers Brian , Kates Jesse , Moritz Bob
Published: August 2005

Carriers sit at the center of the complex intercompany ecosystems that bring mobile products and services to the consumer mass market. In fact, to a large extent, carriers create, shape, and coordinate these systems. Carriers provide the large monetary investments needed to begin development and are responsible for creating and maintaining the long-term customer relationships that sustain products once they are launched. This article describes the creation of Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Services launched in August 2004 from the view of the design team within the carrier. This view provides insight into how business and research constraints play out to influence the design of mass market services.
Ambient intelligence drives open innovation
Authors: Aarts Emile
Published: August 2005

Future interaction environments will only develop through joint efforts between academia, research and funding bodies. In this Connections column, Emile Aarts discusses some strategic anchors of Ambient Intelligence as instances of upcoming developments.---Manfred Tscheligi
Programmers Are People, too
Authors: Arnold Ken
Published: August 2005

I would like to start out this article with an odd, yet surprisingly uncontroversial assertion, which is this: programmers are human. I wish to use this as a premise to explore how to improve the programmer’s lot. So, please, no matter your opinion on the subject, grant me this assumption for the sake of argument.
Review of "IPv6 Network Programming by Jun-ichiro itojun Hagino," Digital Press, 2004, $49.95, ISBN: 1555583180
Authors: Mariën A.
Published: August 2005

Review of "IPv6 Network Programming by Jun-ichiro itojun Hagino," Digital Press, 2004, $49.95, ISBN: 1555583180
Emerging information technologies
Authors: Cegielski Casey G. , Reithel Brian J. , Rebman Carl M.
Published: August 2005

A model for quickly sifting through emerging technologies to find the best organizational fit.
"Silver bullet" milestones in software history
Authors: Glass Robert L.
Published: August 2005

In this second installment of a three-part series, the succession of interconnected creative milestones is traced.
The deceptive behaviors that offend us most about spyware
Authors: Awad Neveen Farag , Fitzgerald Kristina
Published: August 2005

Before effective legislation against spyware can be drawn, lawmakers and vendors must understand what users find most deceptive and offensive about this stealth software.
Busting the ghost in the machine
Authors: Arnett Kirk P. , Schmidt Mark B.
Published: August 2005

This article describes an attempt to infect two new Dell WindowsXP-SP2 PCs (named Grease and Grime) with spyware and examines the results of the spyware infections. Each PC carried Symantec Antivirus 8.1.0.125, Spyware Doctor 3.1 (Doc), Spybot Search and Destroy 1.3 (SSD), and Sandra 2005 software, but no inoculation options were active during the infection and examination processes. Table 1 illustrates the initial benchmark metrics from Sandra 2005 obtained from SI Software at www.sisoftware.net/.
Otolith Deprivation Induces Optokinetic Compensation
Authors: Andreescu Corina E. , De Ruiter Martijn M. , De Zeeuw Chris I. , De Jeu Marcel T. G.
Published: August 2005

According to the multisensory integration theory vestibular, optokinetic and proprioceptive inputs act in concert to maintain a stable retinal image of the visual world. Yet, it remains elusive to what extent the otolith organs contribute to this process and whether a specific loss of otolith input is compensated for. Here we investigated the compensatory eye movements in tilted mice, which lack otoconia because of a mutation in otopetrin 1. Tilted mice showed very small displacements of the eyes in the orbit during static roll paradigms, suggesting the absence of functional otolith organs. Independent of head position with respect to gravity, the gain and phase lead of angular vestibuloocular reflex of tilted mice were decreased and increased, respectively (frequencies 0.2 to 1 Hz and peak accelerations 8 to 197°/s2, respectively). Furthermore, lack of otolith input increases the dependency of the vestibular system on stimulus frequency. In contrast, the gain of optokinetic reflex in tilted mice was significantly higher in the low-frequency range than in control mice, regardless of the position of the mice in space or the plane of the eye movements. To explain these results, a simple model was used in which a multisensory integration unit was embedded. With this model, we were able to simulate all the behaviors observed. Thus our data and the model support the presence of the multisensory integration system and revealed a compensatory enhanced optokinetic reflex in tilted mice, indicating an adaptive synergism in the processing of otolith and visually driven signals.
Ophite Gnosticism, Sethianism and the Nag Hammadi Library
Authors: Rasimus Tuomas
Published: August 2005

This article discusses the definition of Ophite Gnosticism, its relationship to Sethian Gnosticism, and argues that Eugnostos, Soph. Jes. Chr., Orig. World, Hyp. Arch. and Ap. John not only have important links with each other but also draw essentially on the mythology the heresiologists called that of the Ophites. Before the Nag Hammadi findings, Ophite Gnosticism was often seen as an important and early form of Gnosticism, rooted in Jewish soil, and only secondarily Christianized. Today, not only are similar claims made of Sethian Gnosticism, but also some of the above-mentioned texts are classified as Sethian. In many recent studies, the Ophite mythology is connected with Sethian Gnosticism, even though the exact relationship between these two forms of Gnosticism has remained unclear. It is argued here that the Sethian Gnostic authors drew on earlier forms of Gnosticism, especially on the Ophite mythology, in composing some of the central Sethian texts.
Calcium mobilization stimulatesDictyostelium discoideumshear-flow-induced cell motility
Authors: Fache Sébastien , Dalous Jérémie , Engelund Mads , Hansen Christian , Chamaraux François , Fourcade Bertrand , Satre Michel , Devreotes Peter , Bruckert Franz
Published: August 2005

Application of hydrodynamic mild shear stress to adherent Dictyostelium discoideum vegetative cells triggers active actin cytoskeleton remodeling resulting in net cell movement along the flow. The average cell speed is strongly stimulated by external calcium (Ca2+, K50%=22 μM), but the directionality of the movement is almost unaffected. This calcium concentration is ten times higher than the one promoting cell adhesion to glass surfaces (K50%=2 μM). Addition of the calcium chelator EGTA or the Ca2+-channel blocker gadolinium (Gd3+) transiently stops cell movement. Monitoring the evolution of cell-surface contact area with time reveals that calcium stimulates cell speed by increasing the amplitude of both protrusion and retraction events at the cell edge, but not the frequency. As a consequence, with saturating external calcium concentrations, cells are sensitive to very low shear forces (20 pN; σ=0.1 Pa). Moreover, a null-mutant lacking the unique Gβ subunit does not respond to external Ca2+ changes (K50%>1000 μM), although the directionality of the movement is comparable with that of wild-type cells. Furthermore, cells lacking the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3-receptor) exhibit a markedly reduced Ca2+ sensitivity. Thus, calcium release from internal stores and calcium entry through the plasma membrane modulate cell speed in response to shear stress.