bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A visual context-based market analysis of mobile application services
Authors: Kim Jieun , Lee Sungjoo , Park Yongtae
Published: October 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of a user-centric service map to facilitate the visual exploration and monitoring of user context information for proactive market analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper supports a context-based market analysis by developing a user-centric service map which comprehensively visualizes a variety of contexts, users, and services. Empirical data were gathered from service descriptions and reviews of 100 mobile application services in the Apple App Store’s lifestyle and healthcare and fitness categories.

Findings

The user-centric service map supports the analysis of the context information from using various mobile app services, and can therefore be effectively applied for market-segment analysis and user-value analysis.

Practical implications

The user-centric service map involves implications in terms of multi-disciplinary proactive market orientation and data-driven strategy development, allowing firms to respond to changing market conditions in the mobile business promptly and even preemptively.

Originality/value

The initiative uncovering of latent needs through examining context of use have been an important focus of prior work, but little attempt has been presented in the way of frameworks for converting abundant context data into strategic information. The paper provides new methods and procedures to establish and interpret service maps using flexible visual features.
Adolescent deliberate self‐poisoning in South‐East Melbourne
Authors: Hiremath Mandira , Craig Simon , Graudins Andis
Published: October 2016

Objective

To describe the characteristics of adolescents presenting with deliberate self‐poisoning (DSP) to a large Australian healthcare network.

Method

This is a retrospective chart review of 12–17 year olds presenting to three Monash Health EDs with self‐poisoning from January 2012 to December 2014.

Results

There were 35 207 adolescent presentations in the study period. A total of 721 cases were for DSP (2%), and 501 (1.4%) presented with recreational or accidental self‐poisoning. The most common DSP toxicants were paracetamol (28%), non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory agents (15%) and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (10%). Of the DSP presentations, 96% were impulsive events; 23% of patients (n = 129) presented on multiple occasions, and 67% of all DSP cases had a past psychiatric history, particularly depression (57%). Disposition for DSP patients included 60% discharged home, 6% short stay unit, 19% medical admission, 13% psychiatric admission and 2% intensive care unit admission. There were no mortalities.

Conclusion

Adolescent DSP presentations frequently involved impulsive ingestion of over‐the‐counter medications, suggesting less access to prescription medications. Additionally, pre‐existing mental health history and re‐presentation were common. Initiatives to prevent DSP might include an increased focus on the early identification and management of mental health problems in adolescents in the community.
Identification of LmUAP1 as a 20‐hydroxyecdysone response gene in the chitin biosynthesis pathway from the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria
Authors: Liu Xiao‐Jian , Sun Ya‐Wen , Li Da‐Qi , Li Sheng , Ma En‐Bo , Zhang Jian‐Zhen
Published: October 2016

In Locusta migratoria, we found that two chitin biosynthesis genes, UDP N‐acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase gene LmUAP1 and chitin synthase gene LmCHS1, are expressed mainly in the integument and are responsible for cuticle formation. However, whether these genes are regulated by 20‐hydroxyecdysone (20E) is still largely unclear. Here, we showed the developmental expression pattern of LmUAP1, LmCHS1 and the corresponding 20E titer during the last instar nymph stage of locust. RNA interference (RNAi) directed toward a common region of the two isoforms of LmEcR (LmEcRcom) reduced the expression level of LmUAP1, while there was no difference in the expression of LmCHS1. Meantime, injection of 20E in vivo induced the expression of LmUAP1 but not LmCHS1. Further, we found injection‐based RNAi of LmEcRcom resulted in 100% mortality. The locusts failed to molt with no apolysis, and maintained in the nymph stage until death. In conclusion, our preliminary results indicated that LmUAP1 in the chitin biosynthesis pathway is a 20E late‐response gene and LmEcR plays an essential role in locust growth and development, which could be a good potential target for RNAi‐based pest control.
The Origins of the Ukraine Crisis and the Need for Collective Security between Russia and the West
Authors: Sauer Tom
Published: October 2016

The relationship between major powers in the world determines the level of global stability. Two constellations are imaginable: balance of power and collective security. The end of major (world or cold) wars offers possibilities for change from one constellation to another. This article tries to explain the origins of the Ukraine crisis. It posits that the crisis in Ukraine is only a symptom of a wider conflict between two major powers (or power blocs), whose origins can only be understood by assessing the post‐Cold War security architecture in Europe. Instead of having integrated Russia in a collective security organization on an equal level, the West kept NATO alive and by doing so deteriorated the relationship with Russia. Despite different warnings from Moscow, NATO invited Ukraine to become member, and the EU offered Trade and Association Agreement talks to Ukraine. As a result, the relationship glided back towards a classic balance of power relation with spheres of influences. To prevent similar conflicts in the future, Russia should be integrated into the Euro‐Atlantic security architecture. Ideally, the existing collective defence organization (NATO) should be transformed into a collective security organization with the inclusion of both Russia and Ukraine.
Social Centers in Southern Italy: The Caserta Ex‐Canapificio Between Illegality, Migration, and Rurality
Authors: Filhol Romain
Published: October 2016

From the 1980s to the 1990s, squatting for Social Centers (Centri Sociali) has developed as radical left activists engaged in occupying empty buildings all over Italy. While most of the occupations happened in big cities in the Centre and North of Italy, this paper examines the peculiarity of the Social Center Ex‐Canapificio, located in a medium‐size city of an agricultural plain of Southern Italy. More specifically, three particular points are discussed. First, I show how the Social Center has been able to produce access to rights in a context of informality and illegality. Then, I analyze how the Social Center has allowed the setting up of an original social movement fighting for the rights of the poor immigrant workers living in the Campanian Plain. Finally, I enlighten how Ex‐Canapificio's activists have promoted new strategies to succeed in their struggles, despite their geographical distance from the main center of powers. In brief, this paper provides several themes of discussion about the spatialities of squatting and social movements.
Predator–prey interactions amongst Permo‐Triassic terrestrial vertebrates as a deterministic factor influencing faunal collapse and turnover
Authors: Codron J. , Botha‐Brink J. , Codron D. , Huttenlocker A. K. , Angielczyk K. D.
Published: October 2016

Unlike modern mammalian communities, terrestrial Paleozoic and Mesozoic vertebrate systems were characterized by carnivore faunas that were as diverse as their herbivore faunas. The comparatively narrow food base available to carnivores in these paleosystems raises the possibility that predator–prey interactions contributed to unstable ecosystems by driving populations to extinction. Here, we develop a model of predator–prey interactions based on diversity, abundance and body size patterns observed in the Permo‐Triassic vertebrate fossil record of the Karoo Basin, South Africa. Our simulations reflect empirical evidence that despite relatively high carnivore: herbivore species ratios, herbivore abundances were sufficient for carnivores to maintain required intake levels through most of the Karoo sequence. However, high mortality rates amongst herbivore populations, even accounting for birth rates of different‐sized species, are predicted for assemblages immediately preceding the end‐Guadalupian and end‐Permian mass extinctions, as well as in the Middle Triassic when archosaurs replaced therapsids as the dominant terrestrial fauna. These results suggest that high rates of herbivore mortality could have played an important role in biodiversity declines leading up to each of these turnover events. Such declines would have made the systems especially vulnerable to subsequent stochastic events and environmental perturbations, culminating in large‐scale extinctions.
A social‐technological epistemology of clinical decision‐making as mediated by imaging
Authors: van Baalen Sophie , Carusi Annamaria , Sabroe Ian , Kiely David G.
Published: October 2016

In recent years there has been growing attention to the epistemology of clinical decision‐making, but most studies have taken the individual physicians as the central object of analysis. In this paper we argue that knowing in current medical practice has an inherently social character and that imaging plays a mediating role in these practices. We have analyzed clinical decision‐making within a medical expert team involved in diagnosis and treatment of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), a rare disease requiring multidisciplinary team involvement in diagnosis and management. Within our field study, we conducted observations, interviews, video tasks, and a panel discussion. Decision‐making in the PH clinic involves combining evidence from heterogeneous sources into a cohesive framing of a patient, in which interpretations of the different sources can be made consistent with each other. Because pieces of evidence are generated by people with different expertise and interpretation and adjustments take place in interaction between different experts, we argue that this process is socially distributed. Multidisciplinary team meetings are an important place where information is shared, discussed, interpreted, and adjusted, allowing for a collective way of seeing and a shared language to be developed. We demonstrate this with an example of image processing in the PH service, an instance in which knowledge is distributed over multiple people who play a crucial role in generating an evaluation of right heart function. Finally, we argue that images fulfill a mediating role in distributed knowing in 3 ways: first, as enablers or tools in acquiring information; second, as communication facilitators; and third, as pervasively framing the epistemic domain. With this study of clinical decision‐making in diagnosis and treatment of PH, we have shown that clinical decision‐making is highly social and mediated by technologies. The epistemology of clinical decision‐making needs to take social and technological mediation into account.
Virology analyses of HCV genotype 4 isolates from patients treated with simeprevir and peginterferon/ribavirin in the Phase III RESTORE study
Authors: Fevery B. , Verbinnen T. , Peeters M. , Janssen K. , Witek J. , Jessner W. , De Meyer S. , Lenz O.
Published: October 2016

Simeprevir is a hepatitis C virus NS3/4A protease inhibitor. Hepatitis C virus baseline NS3/4A polymorphisms and emerging mutations were characterized in treatment‐naїve and treatment‐experienced genotype 4‐infected patients treated with simeprevir+peginterferon/ribavirin in the RESTORE study. Population sequencing of the NS3/4A region was performed and in vitro simeprevir activity against site‐directed mutants or chimeric replicons with patient‐derived NS3 protease sequences was assessed in a transient replicon assay. Simeprevir remained active against most (83/91 [91%]) baseline isolates tested in the chimeric replicon assay. Eight baseline isolates reduced simeprevir activity; these carried I132L or D168E substitutions reducing simeprevir median activity by 4.6‐ and 39‐fold, respectively. Six of these eight isolates were from patients achieving sustained virologic response. Baseline NS3 Q80K polymorphism was not observed in the genotype 4‐infected patients. Of the 107 simeprevir‐treated patients, 37 did not achieve sustained virologic response for any reason. Of the 32 patients who failed treatment and had sequencing information, 28 (88%) had emerging mutations at NS3 positions 80, 122, 155, 156 and/or 168 at time of failure, similar to those in genotype 1. Emerging mutations were mainly D168V and D168E alone or combined with mutations at position 80. In general, isolates obtained at time of failure displayed high‐level in vitro resistance to simeprevir (fold change ≥50) in a chimeric replicon assay with a median simeprevir fold change value of 440, consistent with observed mutations. In conclusion, emerging mutations in genotype 4 patients failing simeprevir+peginterferon/ribavirin treatment were similar to those in genotype 1 and conferred high‐level resistance to simeprevir.
A qualitative systematic review of maternal infant feeding practices in transitioning from milk feeds to family foods
Authors: Harrison Michelle , Brodribb Wendy , Hepworth Julie
Published: October 2016

Evidence supports the establishment of healthy feeding practices early in life to promote lifelong healthy eating patterns protective against chronic disease such as obesity. Current early childhood obesity prevention interventions are built on extant understandings of how feeding practices relate to infant's cues of hunger and satiety. Further insights regarding factors that influence feeding behaviors in early life may improve program designs and outcomes. Four electronic databases were searched for peer‐reviewed qualitative studies published between 2000 to 2014 with transitional infant feeding practice rationale from developed countries. Reporting transparency and potential bias was assessed using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research quality checklist. Thematic synthesis of 23 manuscripts identified three themes (and six sub‐themes): Theme 1. Infant (physical cues and behavioural cues) focuses on the perceived signs of readiness to start solids and the feeding to influence growth and “health happiness.” Theme 2. Mother (coping strategies and knowledge and skills) focuses on the early survival of the infant and the family and the feeding to satisfy hunger and influence infant contentment, and sleep. Theme 3. Community (pressure and inconsistent advice) highlights the importance of generational feeding and how conflicting feeding advice led many mothers to adopt valued familial or culturally established practices. Overall, mothers were pivotal to feeding decisions. Satisfying infant's needs to reach “good mothering” status as measured by societal expectations was highly valued but lacked consideration of nutrition, obesity, and long term health. Maternal interpretation of healthy infant feeding and successful parenting need attention when developing strategies to support new families.
Hybrid Minimal Core Streptavidin–Obelin as a Versatile Reporter for Bioluminescence‐based Bioassay
Authors: Bashmakova Eugenia E. , Krasitskaya Vasilisa V. , Kudryavtsev Alexander N. , Grigorenko Vitaly G. , Frank Ludmila A.
Published: October 2016

Ca2+‐regulated photoprotein obelin was genetically fused with a minimum‐sized core streptavidin. Hybrid protein (SAV–OL) was produced by bacterial expression and applied as a specific bioluminescent probe in diverse solid‐phase assays. The obtained results clearly demonstrate specific activity of each domain indicating its proper folding with favorable space orientation. SAV–OL has been shown to be a much more sensitive label than the chemical conjugate of a full‐length streptavidin with obelin.
Remote sensing for restoration planning: how the big picture can inform stakeholders
Authors: Cordell Susan , Questad Erin J. , Asner Gregory P. , Kinney Kealoha M. , Thaxton Jarrod M. , Uowolo Amanda , Brooks Sam , Chynoweth Mark W.
Published: October 2016

The use of remote sensing in ecosystem management has transformed how land managers, practitioners, and policymakers evaluate ecosystem loss, gain, and change at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Less developed is the use of these spatial tools for planning, implementing, and evaluating ecosystem restoration projects and especially so in multifunctional landscapes. We use a case study approach in a multistakeholder tropical dryland restoration project to highlight the potential of remotely sensed products to quantitatively and economically guide often conflicting restoration priorities with stakeholder objectives. High‐resolution digital elevation models derived from an airborne remote sensing platform informed land managers tasked with endangered species restoration by guiding their efforts to highly suitable areas of the landscape where plant growth, performance, and survival should be greater. In turn, satellite‐based monitoring offered a temporal approach to broadly quantify vegetation fire risk in order to restrict fire promoting activities in dry landscapes most modified by fire promoting invasive grasses. Together, the delineation of high suitability areas for plant‐based restoration and low suitability areas for wildfire management ultimately releases moderate suitability land for alternative land uses deemed important in multistakeholder landscapes. We review the benefits of using remotely sensed data for restoration planning, and highlight the costs and benefits of various data sources.
Risk factors of diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis
Authors: Dafaalla Mohamed D , Nimir Mohammed N , Mohammed Mosab I , Ali Omer A , Hussein Abbashar
Published: October 2016

Objectives

We aimed to stratify the possible risk factors for diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN).

Methods

We did a meta-analysis of risk factors of CAN. We did a web-based search for literature in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus database and CENTRAL database up to August 2015. We included clinical trials or cohort studies that provide data about relationship between CAN and variables of interest. Our risk factors of interest were age, sex, duration of diabetes, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (sBP) and diastolic blood pressure (dBP), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein (HDL and LDL), triglycerides, retinopathy and nephropathy. We generated Forest plots, χ2test and I2as tests for heterogeneity, risk ratio (RR), mean difference (MD), CIs and p values by ReVMan V.5.3 software.

Results

We found a total of 882 related items. We excluded 873 studies from the title and abstract and 4 studies after review of full reports. Four studies were included. Our meta-analysis showed significant association between CAN and age (MD=4.94 (3.46 to 6.42)), duration of diabetes (MD=4.51 (2.51 to 6.52)), HbA1c (MD=0.48 (0.28 to 0.67)), BMI (MD=0.55 (0.08 to 1.01)), serum triglycerides (MD=0.09 (0.01 to 0.17)), proliferative retinopathy (RR=3.69 (1.20 to 11.34)), microalbuminuria (RR=2.47 (1.43 to 4.29)), hypertension (RR=4.18 (2.52 to 6.91)) and sBP (MD=4.10 (2.20 to 6.00)). We neither discovered the absence of significant association between the development of CAN and male sex (RR=1.57 (0.45 to 5.39)), dBP (MD=0.89 (−0.36 to 2.14)), cholesterol level (MD=1.19 (−0.99 to 3.36)), LDL (MD=0.12 (−0.15 to 0.39)), nor HDL level (MD=−0.28 (−0.58 to 0.03)).

Conclusions

Age, duration of diabetes, HbA1c, BMI, serum triglycerides, proliferative retinopathy, microalbuminuria, hypertension and sBP are directly related to the risk of development of diabetic CAN.
Transcript analysis in two alfalfa salt tolerance selected breeding populations relative to a non-tolerant population
Authors: Gruber M.Y. , Xia J. , Yu M. , Steppuhn H. , Wall K. , Messer D. , Sharpe A.G. , Acharya S.N. , Wishart D.S. , Johnson D. , Miller D.R. , Taheri A.
Published: October 2016

With the growing limitations on arable land, alfalfa (a widely cultivated, low-input forage) is now being selected to extend cultivation into saline lands for low-cost biofeedstock purposes. Here, minerals and transcriptome profiles were compared between two new salinity-tolerant North American alfalfa breeding populations and a more salinity-sensitive western Canadian alfalfa population grown under hydroponic saline conditions. All three populations accumulated two-fold higher sodium in roots than shoots as a function of increased electrical conductivity. At least 50% of differentially expressed genes (p < 0.05) were down-regulated in the salt-sensitive population growing under high salinity, while expression remained unchanged in the saline-tolerant populations. In particular, most reduction in transcript levels in the salt-sensitive population was observed in genes specifying cell wall structural components, lipids, secondary metabolism, auxin and ethylene hormones, development, transport, signalling, heat shock, proteolysis, pathogenesis-response, abiotic stress, RNA processing, and protein metabolism. Transcript diversity for transcription factors, protein modification, and protein degradation genes was also more strongly affected in salt-tolerant CW064027 than in salt-tolerant Bridgeview and salt-sensitive Rangelander, while both saline-tolerant populations showed more substantial up-regulation in redox-related genes and B-ZIP transcripts. The report highlights the first use of bulked genotypes as replicated samples to compare the transcriptomes of obligate out-cross breeding populations in alfalfa.
Uncertainty in Trust: A Risk-Aware Approach
Authors: Nogoorani Sadegh Dorri , Jalili Rasool
Published: October 2016

Uncertainty and its imposed risk have significant impacts on decision-making. However, both are disregarded in many trust-based applications. In this paper, we propose a risk-aware approach to explicitly take uncertainty of trust and its effects into account. Our approach consists of a trust, a confidence, and a risk model. We do not prescribe a specific trust model, and any probabilistic trust model can be empowered by our approach. The confidence model calculates the uncertainty of the trust model in the form of a confidence interval, and is independent of the inner-workings of the trust model. This interval is used by the utility-based risk model which assesses the effects of uncertainty on trust-based decisions. We evaluated our approach by a four-state HMM-based simulated trustee, and employed the Beta, HMM and evidence-based trust models. We proposed and compared different methods for calculating confidence intervals, as well as methods for determining the risk and opportunity of a trust-based interaction. The results demonstrate how our approach should be used to improve the correctness of decision-making in trust-based applications. According to the statistical analysis of the simulation results, confidence intervals can properly represent the trust value and its uncertainty, and strongly improve trust-based decisions.
Miner*: A Weighted Distance Sum based Outlier Mining System of Star Spectrum Data
Authors: Zhang Chaowei , Zhang Jifu , Qin Xiao , Zhang Sulan
Published: October 2016

Existing distance-based outlier mining methods do not consider the impact of each attribute's importance degree, thereby resulting in poor mining accuracies. To address this problem, we propose a new outlier mining algorithm – Miner* – that makes use of information entropy and Weighted Distance Sum to substantially improve mining accuracies. Miner* employs information entropy to determine weight values indicating the importance degrees of data attributes. An input dataset is reduced by Miner* through the neighbour-radius-based pruning technologies. Thus, Miner* obtains a candidate outlier set by removing any data objects that are unlikely to be outliers. Miner* calculates the weighted distance sum value Wkof each object in the candidate outlier set; Wkvalue ranks the top n to be regarded as outliers. Due to the sum of distance, which takes full advantage of the clustering characteristics of the dataset, edge distribution data objects and local outliers can be effectively mined out. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the Miner* algorithm, we implement Miner* in a prototype system to detect star spectrum data objects with abnormal characteristic lines. Our experimental results show that the algorithm in Miner* achieves high accuracy, high scalability, and low man-made influence by utilizing UCI and star spectrum dataset. Our results also confirm that Miner* is feasible and effective in mining spectrum data with abnormal characteristic lines from massive star spectrum dataset.
Designing an Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System for Prediction of Customers Satisfaction
Authors: Neshat Mehdi , Pourahmad Ali Akbar , Hasani Mohammad Reza
Published: October 2016

Nowadays, in order to succeed in business and presence in the world markets, it is essential to outperform the competitors to get bigger market share. To get customers satisfaction of products is the first stage of success in business. Studying the different factors involved in increasing the level of customer's satisfaction and researching in this field has caused development in several companies. In this paper, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and a fuzzy inference system (FIS) are designed for marketing mix model. By using the P4 principle (price, product, place, promotion) and by combining it with the marketing experts' knowledge, good results were achieved using ANFIS. This system as an advisor with high accuracy can reduce the human errors and play a significant role in decision making by corporate managers. The results of two systems were compared and it was seen that ANFIS had a better performance than FIS with mean accuracies of 98.6% and 87.25%, respectively.
Walking Engine Using ZMP Criterion and Feedback Control for Child-Sized Humanoid Robot
Authors: Ryoo Young-Jae
Published: October 2016

In this paper, a walking engine that achieves dynamic stable walking using zero moment point (ZMP) criterion and feedback control from a gyro sensor is proposed. The ZMP criterion is used for the dynamic walking, and the feedback control from a gyro sensor is adopted for stabilization. The proposed walking engine consists of ZMP controller and the gait generator. The three-dimensional linear inverted pendulum model (3D-LIPM) is adopted for a simplified model of the humanoid robot. The ZMP equations are derived based on the 3D-LIPM and are applied to the gait generator. The walking engine is tested on a child-sized, 21-degree-of-freedom (DOF) humanoid robot cognitive humanoid autonomous robot with learning and evolutionary system (CHARLES) which stands 110[Formula: see text]cm tall and weighs only 8[Formula: see text]kg. The design concept of CHARLES is low development cost, lightweight, and simple design, which all match well with the proposed walking engine. The results of the experiments present the efficacy of the proposed walking engine.
A MFE method combined with L1-approximation for a nonlinear time-fractional coupled diffusion system
Authors: Hou Yaxin , Feng Ruihan , Liu Yang , Li Hong , Gao Wei
Published: October 2016

In this paper, a nonlinear time-fractional coupled diffusion system is solved by using a mixed finite element (MFE) method in space combined with L1-approximation and implicit second-order backward difference scheme in time. The stability for nonlinear fully discrete finite element scheme is analyzed and a priori error estimates are derived. Finally, some numerical tests are shown to verify our theoretical analysis.
A Comparative Study of the Costs of Fixed Input in the Urbanization of Chinese Cities at Prefecture Level and Above
Authors: LI Enping
Published: October 2016

The incomplete corresponding relationship between the input and output of urbanization makes it extremely complex to estimate the urbanization cost. As the estimation has to be based on the costs of urban development, big estimate errors could probably result from different demographic characteristics among cities. The author, by eliminating the factor of demographic characteristics, proposes a three-step estimation method of the costs of fixed input in the urbanization of population: (1) estimating the per capita capital stock of the city; (2) simulating and measuring the corresponding relationship between per capita capital stock and the factor of demographic characteristics of the city; (3) estimating per capita capital stock of the standard population excluding the factor of demographic characteristics of the city, namely the costs of fixed input in urbanization. Meanwhile, the author makes an estimation and comparison of the costs of fixed input in the urbanization of Chinese cities at prefecture level and above in 2010. The result shows that (1) the costs of fixed input in urbanization significantly decrease with the expansion of population; (2) the costs of fixed input in the urbanization of national and provincial capitals are significantly lower than those of other cities; (3) the costs of fixed input in the urbanization of central cities are significantly lower than those of eastern cities.
Senescence‐Associated Molecular and Epigenetic Alterations in Mesenchymal Stem Cell Cultures from Amniotic Fluid of Normal and Fetus‐Affected Pregnancy
Authors: Savickienė Jūratė , Baronaitė Sandra , Zentelytė Aistė , Treigytė Gražina , Navakauskienė Rūta
Published: October 2016

Human amniotic‐fluid‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (AF‐MSCs) are interesting for their multilineage differentiation potential and wide range of therapeutic applications due to the ease of culture expansion. However, MSCs undergo replicative senescence. So far, the molecular mechanisms that underlie fetal diseases and cell senescence are still poorly understood. Here, we analyzed senescence‐associated morphologic, molecular, and epigenetic characteristics during propagation of MSCs derived from AF of normal and fetus‐affected pregnancy. AF‐MSCs cultures from both cell sources displayed quite similar morphology and expression of specific cell surface (CD44, CD90, and CD105) and stemness (Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, and Rex1) markers but had interindividual variability in proliferation capability and time to reach senescence. Within passages 4 and 8, senescent cultures exhibited typical morphological features, senescence‐associated β‐galactosidase activity, increased levels of p16, and decreased levels of miR‐17 and miR‐21 but showed differential expression of p21, p53, and ATM dependently on the onset of cell senescence. These differences correlated with changes in the level of chromatin modifiers (DNMT1 and HDAC1) and polycomb group proteins (EZH2, SUZ12, and BMI1) paralleling with changes in the expression of repressive histone marks (H3K9me3 and H3K27me3) and stemness markers (Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, and Rex1). Therefore epigenetic factors are important for AF‐MSCs senescence process that may be related with individuality of donor or a fetus malignancy status.
Use of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells to Support Topical Skin Adhesive for Wound Closure: A Preliminary Report from Animal In Vivo Study
Authors: Nowacki Maciej , Pietkun Katarzyna , Jundziłł Arkadiusz , Kloskowski Tomasz , Grzanka Dariusz , Skopinska-Wisniewska Joanna , Scibior Kinga , Gagat Maciej , Pokrywczyńska Marta , Grzanka Alina , Zegarski Wojciech , Czajkowski Rafał , Drewa Tomasz , Zegarska Barbara
Published: October 2016

The aim of this study was to determine the local and systemic effects of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) as a component of topical skin adhesive in an animal artificial wound closure model. In presented study the cosmetic effects, histological analysis, mechanical properties, and cell migration have been assessed to evaluate the usefulness of ADSCs as supporting factor for octyl blend cyanoacrylate adhesive. The total of 40 rats were used and divided into six groups. In the Study Group, ADSCs were administered by multipoint injection of the six surrounding intrawound areas with additional freely leaving procedure of the cells between the skin flaps just before applying adhesive to close the wound. Five control groups without using ADSCs, utilizing different types of standard wound closure, were created in order to check efficiency of experimental stem cell therapy. In our study, we proved that ADSCs could be used effectively also as a supportive tool in topical skin adhesive for wound closure. However we did not achieve any spectacular differences related to such aspects as better mechanical properties or special biological breakthroughs in wound healing properties. The use of stem cells, especially ADSCs for wound closure can provide an inspiring development in plastic and dermatologic surgery.
Distributed Parallel Endmember Extraction of Hyperspectral Data Based on Spark
Authors: Wu Zebin , Gu Jinping , Li Yonglong , Xiao Fu , Sun Jin , Wei Zhihui
Published: October 2016

Due to the increasing dimensionality and volume of remotely sensed hyperspectral data, the development of acceleration techniques for massive hyperspectral image analysis approaches is a very important challenge. Cloud computing offers many possibilities of distributed processing of hyperspectral datasets. This paper proposes a novel distributed parallel endmember extraction method based on iterative error analysis that utilizes cloud computing principles to efficiently process massive hyperspectral data. The proposed method takes advantage of technologies including MapReduce programming model, Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), and Apache Spark to realize distributed parallel implementation for hyperspectral endmember extraction, which significantly accelerates the computation of hyperspectral processing and provides high throughput access to large hyperspectral data. The experimental results, which are obtained by extracting endmembers of hyperspectral datasets on a cloud computing platform built on a cluster, demonstrate the effectiveness and computational efficiency of the proposed method.
A New Approach for Large-Scale Scene Image Retrieval Based on Improved Parallelk-Means Algorithm in MapReduce Environment
Authors: Cao Jianfang , Wang Min , Shi Hao , Hu Guohua , Tian Yun
Published: October 2016

The rapid growth of digital images has caused the traditional image retrieval technology to be faced with new challenge. In this paper we introduce a new approach for large-scale scene image retrieval to solve the problems of massive image processing using traditional image retrieval methods. First, we improved traditionalk-Means clustering algorithm, which optimized the selection of the initial cluster centers and iteration procedure. Second, we presented a parallel design and realization method for improvedk-Means algorithm applied it to feature clustering of scene images. Finally, a storage and retrieval scheme for large-scale scene images was put forward using the large storage capacity and powerful parallel computing ability of the Hadoop distributed platform. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method achieved good performance. Compared with the traditional algorithms with single node architecture and parallelk-Means algorithm, the proposed method has obvious advantages for use in large-scale scene image data retrieval in terms of retrieval accuracy, retrieval time overhead, and computational performance (speedup and efficiency, sizeup, and scaleup), which is a significant improvement from applying parallel processing to intelligent algorithms with large-scale datasets.
Exploring an Interactive Value-Adding Data-Driven Model of Consumer Electronics Supply Chain Based on Least Squares Support Vector Machine
Authors: Wan Xiao-le , Zhang Zhen , Rong Xiao-xia , Meng Qing-chun
Published: October 2016

The differences in supply chains and their competitiveness depend on the differences in supply chain value creation systems. On the basis of the theory of value cocreation, this study investigates the interactive value creation of consumer electronics supply chains from the perspective of the interaction and added value created by the main value creation bodies in supply chains. Least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) is innovatively introduced into the study on consumer electronics supply chains. A data-driven model is also established, the parameters of the method and kernel functions are optimized and selected, and an LS-SVM algorithm of consumer electronics supply chains is proposed to deal with the limited number of samples. Then, an empirical analysis of the top 10 smartphone supply chains in the Chinese market is conducted, and the LS-SVM model and other forecasting methods are compared. Results suggest that the LS-SVM model achieves a good predictive accuracy. This study also analyzes the value-adding structure of supply chains from the perspective of interaction and enriches the theory of value creation among supply chains. This study is conducive to helping consumer electronics enterprises to conduct market analyses and determine value growth points accurately.
Near-Infrared Fluorescence-Enhanced Optical Tomography
Authors: Zhu Banghe , Godavarty Anuradha
Published: October 2016

Fluorescence-enhanced optical imaging using near-infrared (NIR) light developed forin vivomolecular targeting and reporting of cancer provides promising opportunities for diagnostic imaging. The current state of the art of NIR fluorescence-enhanced optical tomography is reviewed in the context of the principle of fluorescence, the different measurement schemes employed, and the mathematical tools established to tomographically reconstruct the fluorescence optical properties in various tissue domains. Finally, we discuss the recent advances in forward modeling and distributed memory parallel computation to provide robust, accurate, and fast fluorescence-enhanced optical tomography.
Structural Preservation Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Interlaminar Discectomy for L5-S1 Herniated Nucleus Pulposus
Authors: Lee Jung-Sup , Kim Hyeun-Sung , Jang Jee-Soo , Jang Il-Tae
Published: October 2016

Objective. Structures such as ligamentum flavum, annulus, and lamina play an important role in the segmental function. We proposed the surgical technique for achieving the sufficient preservation of segmental structures, in spite of sufficient removal of pathologic disc in the L5-S1 using the ligamentum flavum splitting and sealing technique.Methods. We retrospectively analyzed 80 cases that underwent percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for L5-S1 herniated nucleus pulposus, using the ligamentum flavum splitting and sealing technique between January 2011 and June 2013. Outcomes were assessed using VAS (leg, back), MacNab’s criteria, and the immediate postoperative MRI for all patients. Structural preservation was classified as complete, sufficient, and incomplete.Results. The surgical results are as follows: 65 cases were complete, 15 cases were sufficient, and 0 cases were incomplete. The VAS was decreased at the last follow-up (leg: from7.91±0.73to1.15±0.62; back: from5.15±0.71to1.19±0.75). A favorable outcome (excellent or good outcome by MacNab’s criteria) was achieved in 77 patients (96.25%). During the follow-up period, 2 cases (2.5%) of recurrence have occurred.Conclusion. According to the result, we could obtain the favorable clinical and radiological outcomes while simultaneously removing pathologic discs using the ligamentum flavum splitting and annular fissure sealing technique.
Survivin as a Novel Biomarker in the Pathogenesis of Acne Vulgaris and Its Correlation to Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I
Authors: Assaf Hanan A. , Abdel-Maged Wafaa M. , Elsadek Bakheet E. M. , Hassan Mohammed H. , Adly Mohamed A. , Ali Soher A.
Published: October 2016

Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, has an important role in cell cycle regulation. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a polypeptide hormone with wide range of biologic effects including stimulation of lipogenesis in sebaceous glands. Their overexpression in some fibrotic disorders suggests a possible implication of both IGF-I and survivin in the pathogenesis of acne and/or acne scars. The current study aimed to assess and correlate serum levels of IGF-I and survivin in patients with active acne vulgaris and postinflammatory acne scars and to evaluate their lesional expressions in comparison to healthy controls. Serum IGF-I and survivin were estimated using commercially available ELISA kits and their tissues expressions were investigated using Western blotting. Our findings suggest that IGF-I and survivin could play potential roles in the pathogenesis of active acne vulgaris and more importantly in postinflammatory acne scars with significant positive correlation coefficient between serum levels of IGF-I and survivin which support IGF-I-/PI3K-/AKT-mediated downregulation of nuclear expression of FoxO transcription factors resulting in enhanced survivin expression.
CPW Fed Miniaturized UWB Tri-Notch Antenna with Bandwidth Enhancement
Authors: Rahman MuhibUr
Published: October 2016

A Coplanar Waveguide (CPW) fed miniaturized ultra-wideband (UWB) tri-notch antenna with bandwidth enhancement is proposed. The antenna is prototyped for ultra-wideband (UWB) communication applications with bandwidth enhancement. By implementing asymmetric structure, the miniaturization in the antenna has been achieved with a very compact size of 22 × 13 × 1.5 mm3 making it suitable for USB dongle applications. The antenna is first simulated with partial rectangular ground plane which shows that operating bandwidth ranges from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. Then the antenna is measured and simulated by cutting the ground plane with specific geometry which shows that operating bandwidth now ranges from 3.1 to 20 GHz which provides a wide usable fractional bandwidth of more than 150%. The antenna is then modified for tri-notch applications in order to reject worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) band (3.3–3.6 GHz) and wireless local area network (WLAN) frequency bands (lower WLAN (5.15–5.325) and upper WLAN (5.725–5.825) GHz). Triple Band rejection capability has been achieved by introducing three complementary split ring resonators (CSRR) in the radiating patch.
Measuring the Uncertainty of Probabilistic Maps Representing Human Motion for Indoor Navigation
Authors: Kaiser Susanna , Garcia Puyol Maria , Robertson Patrick
Published: October 2016

Indoor navigation and mapping have recently become an important field of interest for researchers because global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) are very often unavailable inside buildings. FootSLAM, a SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) algorithm for pedestrians based on step measurements, addresses the indoor mapping and positioning problem and can provide accurate positioning in many structured indoor environments. In this paper, we investigate how to compare FootSLAM maps via two entropy metrics. Since collaborative FootSLAM requires the alignment and combination of several individual FootSLAM maps, we also investigate measures that help to align maps that partially overlap. We distinguish between the map entropy conditioned on the sequence of pedestrian’s poses, which is a measure of the uncertainty of the estimated map, and the entropy rate of the pedestrian’s steps conditioned on the history of poses and conditioned on the estimated map. Because FootSLAM maps are built on a hexagon grid, the entropy and relative entropy metrics are derived for the special case of hexagonal transition maps. The entropy gives us a new insight on the performance of FootSLAM’s map estimation process.
Thiol-Functionalized Mesoporous Silica for Effective Trap of Mercury in Rats
Authors: Zhao Wei , Song Bo , Tao Jie , Zhang Jiumeng , Huang Meijuan , Wang Chun , Gou Maling
Published: October 2016

The chance of exposure to heavy metal for human being rises severely today due to the increasing water contamination and air pollution. Here, we prepared a series of thiol-functionalized mesoporous silica as oral formulation for the prevention and treatment of heavy metal poisoning. The successful incorporation of thiol was verified by the FTIR spectra. SBA15-SH-10 was used for the study as it is of uniform mesopores and fine water dispersibility. In simulated gastrointestinal fluid, the thiol-functionalized mesoporous silica can selectively capture heavy metal, showing a very high affinity for inorganic mercury (II). The blood and urine mercury levels of rats fed with a diet containing Hg (II) and material were significantly lower than those of rats fed with the metal-rich diet only. On the contrary, the mercury content in fecal excretion of the treatment group increased more than twice as much as that of the control group. This result indicated that SBA15-SH-10 could effectively remove mercury (II)in vivoand the mercury loaded on SBA15-SH-10 would be excreted out. Hence, SBA15-SH-10 has potential application in preventing and treating heavy metal poisoningviadigestive system.
Glioblastoma Multiforme Developed during Chronic Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson Disease
Authors: Yamamoto Takamitsu , Fukaya Chikashi , Obuchi Toshiki , Watanabe Mitsuru , Ohta Takashi , Kobayashi Kazutaka , Oshima Hideki , Yoshino Atsuo
Published: October 2016

Background: In this reported case, 7 years after the start of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) developed around the implanted DBS lead. Case Report: The brain tumor formed from the subcortical white matter to the corpus callosum bilaterally around the DBS lead but did not extend in the direction of the contact points of the lead. The GBM showed a typical invasion pattern of the butterfly type. We report the first case of GBM that developed 7 years after the start of STN-DBS. Conclusion: Considering the low rate of GBM occurrence in association with DBS, the location of the glioma, and the pattern of tumor invasion, we speculate that GBM developed spontaneously and extended to some degree around the DBS lead. Moreover, there is a very slight possibility that continuous electrical brain stimulation itself induced the development of the brain glioma.
Contralateral Hippocampal Stimulation for Failed Unilateral Anterior Temporal Lobectomy in Patients with Bilateral Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
Authors: Ding Ping , Zhang Shaohui , Zhang Junchen , Hu Xiaohong , Yu Xiaoman , Liang Shuangshuang , Gao Chao , Liang Shuli
Published: October 2016

Aims: To prospectively study the surgical outcomes of unilateral anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) in patients with intractable bilateral temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) as well as two-staged contralateral hippocampal stimulation in patients after failed unilateral ATL. Methods: Eighteen carefully selected patients with bilateral TLE underwent unilateral ATL. Five cases with failed ATL underwent two-staged contralateral hippocampal stimulation. Seizure control and changes in intelligence quotient (IQ), memory quotient, and quality of life (QOL) were analyzed 2-5 years after treatment. Results: In the patients with unilateral ATL, the percentages seizure free were 55.6% (10/18), 50.0% (9/18), and 44.4% (4/9) at the 1-, 2-, and 5-year follow-up visits, respectively. There were significant difference in seizure control between the patients with unilateral ATL and the 12 cases in the medication group. Significant differences were also found in changes in the patients' QOL and full-scale IQ at the 2-year follow-up between the surgical and medication groups. Five patients who underwent contralateral hippocampal stimulation after failed unilateral ATL experienced 80-100% seizure reductions, and 80% were seizure free 1 year after hippocampal stimulation. Conclusion: Unilateral ATL provides good seizure control and does not cause serious memory or IQ injury in carefully selected patients with true bilateral TLE. Contralateral hippocampal stimulation is a useful approach for patients who experience unilateral ATL failure.