bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of adjuvant chemoradiation for adenocarcinoma of stomach after curative gastrectomy in Chinese: A 7‐year audit
Authors: Ng Dennis Chung‐Kei , Wong Simon Kin‐Hung , Ng Wai‐Tong , Lee Anne Wing‐Mui , Li Michael Ka‐Wah
Published: June 2010

Background and Aim:  Adjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) after curative gastrectomy was introduced to our hospital in 1998. The present study aims to examine the impact of CRT on survival among Chinese.

Methods:  From our gastric cancer registry, patients who received R0 gastrectomy, with UICC stage II or above, M0 disease and ASA grades I and II were analyzed. Adjuvant CRT was offered and given if patients agreed. The regimen consisted of five cycles of 5‐fluoruracil (5FU)/leucovorin chemotherapy and 45 Gy/25 fractions concurrent with cycles 2 and 3.

Results:  From January 1998 to December 2004, 134 patients fulfilled the criteria. Sixty had surgery alone and 74 patients received CRT after gastrectomy. One hundred and two (76%) patients received radical gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy. Toxicity ≥ grade 3 was seen in 65% of patients without mortality. The overall and relapse‐free 5‐year survival rates were 45.8% and 42.0%, respectively. On univariate analysis, early disease stage and adjuvant CRT were associated with better prognosis. Cox regression analysis showed that adjuvant CRT (P = 0.01, HR 2.31, 95% CI: 1.4–3.9) predict better survival after adjustment with the other factors.

Conclusion:  In the present study, postoperative adjuvant chemoradiation is associated with better overall survival in patients with adenocarcinoma of the stomach after curative gastrectomy.
Causes and treatment outcome of perforation peritonitis in north eastern Nigeria
Authors: Ali Nuhu , Gali Bata Mtaku
Published: June 2010

Background:  Intestinal perforations cause generalized peritonitis and overwhelming sepsis resulting in high morbidity and mortality. The purpose of the present study was to review the causes and treatment outcome of non‐traumatic perforation peritonitis in a government referral hospital in north‐eastern Nigeria.

Patients and Methods:  In a retrospective study, the clinical records of 153 patients with intraoperative diagnosis of non‐traumatic perforation associated peritonitis managed in the Federal Medical Centre, Azare, Nigeria between June 2004 and May 2009 were reviewed.

Results:  One hundred and fifty‐three patients, comprising 112 males (73.2%) and 41 females were operated for perforation peritonitis, including 31 (20.3%) children. The mean age was 21.88 years ± 14.51 (range 4–70). The mean time lapse between onset of symptoms and presentation to hospital was 5.4 ± 3.7 days (range 0.75–21). Forty‐eight (31.4%) of the patients were operated within 24 h of presentation and 105 (68.3%) after 24 h. The main symptoms were abdominal pain in 150 (98.9%), fever in 108 (70.6%), and abdominal distention in 108 (70.6%). The main causes of perforation peritonitis were typhoid ileal perforation in 98 (64.0%), perforated peptic ulcer in 25 (16.3%) and perforated appendix in 22. Tuberculous ileal perforation was seen in one (0.6%) patient. Wound infection 39 (25.5%) and wound dehiscence 15 (9.8%), were the most common postoperative complications. Enterocutaneous fistula was seen in 21 (13.7%) of the patients and was associated with mortality in nine (42.8%) patients. The overall mortality rate was 26.1%, mainly from overwhelming sepsis and severe electrolyte derangement.

Conclusion:  The outcome of perforation peritonitis depended on the underlying cause, the duration of symptoms before treatment, and the general health of the patient. Typhoid ileal perforation is the most common cause of perforation peritonitis in our environment.
PTPN22, PDCD1 and CYP27B1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to type 1 diabetes in Polish patients
Authors: Fichna M. , Żurawek M. , Januszkiewicz‐Lewandowska D. , Fichna P. , Nowak J.
Published: June 2010

Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is a common autoimmune disease with a complex genetic background. This study was aimed to investigate the association of PTPN22 G(‐1123)C and C1858T, PDCD1 G7146A and CYP27B1 C(‐1260)A polymorphisms with T1DM among Polish subjects. The PTPN22 gene encodes lymphoid tyrosine phosphatase, a potent negative regulator of T cell activation. PDCD1 gene gives rise to an inhibitory cell‐surface receptor, expressed on activated lymphocytes. CYP27B1 encodes 1‐alpha hydroxylase, responsible for conversion of the vitamin D3 precursor into its active form, involved in the immune function. Polymorphic variants of these genes have previously been associated with various autoimmune disorders. The four polymorphisms were genotyped by PCR‐restriction fragment assays in a case–control study comprising 215 T1DM patients and 236 healthy controls. The PTPN22 T1858 allele appeared significantly increased in T1DM compared to the control group (P = 0.004), yielding an OR of 1.73 (95% CI 1.19–2.51). The difference in distribution of C1858T genotypes also demonstrated statistical significance (P = 0.015). The frequencies of PTPN22 G(‐1123)C alleles and genotypes did not differ between T1DM cases and controls, although the haplotype comprising both mutant PTPN22 alleles, C(‐1123) and T1858, was significantly more frequent in affected individuals (P = 0.003). G(‐1123)C and C1858T were in linkage disequilibrium (D′ = 0.98; r2 = 0.61 in T1DM and D′ = 0.97; r2 = 0.41 in controls). No significant differences in the allele and genotype frequencies of PDCD1 and CYP27B1 polymorphisms were found between patients and controls. This study confirms the association of PTPN22 C1858T polymorphism with T1DM, whereas the effects of PTPN22 G(‐1123)C, PDCD1 G7146A and CYP27B1 C(‐1260)A seem unlikely, at least in the Polish population.
Punishment: Consequentialism
Authors: Wood David
Published: June 2010

Punishment involves deliberating harming individuals. How, then, if at all, is it to be justified? This, the first of three papers on the philosophy of punishment (see also ‘Punishment: Nonconsequentialism’ and ‘Punishment: The Future’), examines attempts to justify the practice or institution according to its consequences. One claim is that punishment reduces crime, and hence the resulting harms. Another is that punishment functions to rehabilitate offenders. A third claim is that punishment (or some forms of punishment) can serve to make restitution to victims, and a fourth is that it can strengthen social values. The paper examines these claims, and finally considers pluralist theories which combine retributive and harm‐reductive or utilitarian considerations. (Retributive theories are examined in their own right in ‘Punishment: Nonconsequentialism’.)
Anaxagoras Betwixt Parmenides and Plato
Authors: Sisko John E.
Published: June 2010

In this article, it is argued that, although there is significant debate over the nature of Anaxagoras’ response to Parmenides, it is likely that Anaxagoras advances his physical theory in opposition to Parmenides’ Numerical Monism. It is unlikely that Anaxagoras aims to develop a theory that harmonizes with the Predicational Monism that is sometimes ascribed to Parmenides. In addition, it is argued that, although some modern scholars suggest that Anaxagoras posits nous as a planning cause, no compelling argument has yet been advanced against Plato's interpretation, according to which Anaxagoras is not a proponent of teleological explanation.
Religious Language
Authors: Scott Michael
Published: June 2010

This study reviews some of the principal themes in contemporary work on religious language. Unlike other recent surveys, the most pressing issues about religious language are addressed from the perspective of the philosophy of language; different positions taken on these issues by philosophers of religion and theologians are considered. Topics that are covered include: the subject matter of religious discourse, reductionism and subjectivism, expressivism, the nature of religious metaphor, religious fictionalism and truth in religious discourse. The study also looks at the relationship between questions about religious language and cognate areas of philosophy of religion such as epistemology and metaphysics, and potential future directions of research.
La sécurité sociale en période de crise
Authors: Bonnet Florence , Ehmke Ellen , Hagemejer Krzysztof
Published: June 2010

Pour contrer les conséquences sociales négatives de la crise actuelle, les Etats doivent prendre des mesures destinées à offrir une aide au revenu et de nouvelles perspectives d'emploi aux travailleurs victimes de la crise et à leur famille. Cet article dresse un inventaire des mesures adoptées dans différents pays face à la crise dans le domaine de la protection contre le chômage, qui constitue la branche de la sécurité sociale la plus directement touchée par le ralentissement. Il décrit également les dilemmes auxquels sont confrontés tous les régimes de sécurité sociale en période de crise économique, les recettes de cotisations et les recettes fiscales affectées au financement des programmes diminuant, tandis que les dépenses de prestations augmentent. Une attention particulière est accordée aux problèmes relatifs à la retraite. L'article se termine par un examen de l'initiative lancée par les Nations Unies pour mettre en place un «socle de protection sociale» mondial. Son but est de permettre à la majorité de la population mondiale actuellement dépourvue de couverture et exposée à tous les risques économiques et sociaux de bénéficier, au minimum, d'une protection sociale de base.
Folgen der Krise von 2007‐2009 für Reservefonds der sozialen Sicherheit und private Pensionskassen: Ist ihre finanzielle Solidität in Gefahr?
Authors: Pino Ariel , Yermo Juan
Published: June 2010

Auszug

Reservefonds der sozialen Sicherheit und Pensionskassen wurden in beispielloser Art von der jüngsten Finanzkrise getroffen. Sie verzeichneten massive nicht realisierte Anlageverluste. Ihre Governance‐Mechanismen wurden infrage gestellt, was ihre finanzielle Solidität und ihre Fähigkeit zur Bereitstellung angemessener Leistungen gefährdete. Das Jahr 2009 endete mit einer Erholung der Finanzmärkte, aber auch mit Portfolioumschichtungen und einer Überprüfung traditioneller Risikomanagementansätze. Die Regierungen reagierten auf die Krise und setzten Rettungspläne um, die mittelfristig eine alarmierende Haushaltslage zur Folge haben könnten. Der Haushaltsdruck im Gefolge der Krise kann bedeuten, dass zwischen der Wiederherstellung einer soliden Haushaltslage und einer Reduktion der Sozialausgaben eine Wahl getroffen werden muss. Der vorliegende Artikel analysiert die Auswirkungen der Krise auf Reservefonds der sozialen Sicherheit und auf Pensionskassen und geht auf die genannten Probleme ein.
Die Auswirkungen der globalen Finanzkrise auf den Sozialschutz in Entwicklungsländern
Authors: McCord Anna
Published: June 2010

Auszug

Die globale Finanzkrise hat zu einer drastischen Verschärfung der Armut in Entwicklungsländern geführt. Aufgrund der schwachen Sozialschutzsysteme und der bereits zuvor bestehenden geringen Deckung konnte bislang nur sehr begrenzt darauf reagiert werden. Die Entwicklungsländer hatten wegen rückläufiger Einnahmen Schwierigkeiten, vor der Krise gemachte sozialschutzpolitische Zusagen einzuhalten. In diesem Kontext bestehen kaum Chancen auf die Ausweitung der Deckung sowohl auf die noch stärker von Armut Betroffenen als auch auf die „neuen Armen“. Trotz der expansiven Haushaltspolitik, die viele Entwicklungsländer betrieben hatten, ging es bei den Reaktionen auf die Krise besonders darum, das Wachstum zu schützen und anzuregen. Der Schwerpunkt lag nicht auf der Bereitstellung von Sozialschutz zur unmittelbaren Unterstützung der Armen. Wo indes auf Sozialschutz gerichtete Interventionen vorgenommen wurden, waren sie nicht systematischer Natur oder etwa Massnahmen zugunsten der Armen, sondern vielfach auf Ad‐hoc‐ und häufig auf regressive Maßnahmen wie allgemeine Nahrungsmittel‐ oder Kraftstoffsubventionen beschränkt. Einen gewissen Anlass zu Optimismus könnte es allerdings dennoch geben, weil die Krise den Anstoß zu einer Reihe von Initiativen zur Förderung der Geberkoordinierung und der Programmplanungskohärenz gegeben hat, die zu Steigerung von Effizienz und Wirkung zukünftiger Sozialschutzprogrammplanung führen können.
Wirtschaftskrise und Sozialschutz in der Europäischen Union: Langfristige Ansätze suchen
Authors: Euzéby Alain
Published: June 2010

Auszug

Die Wirtschaftskrise hat zumindest das Verdienst, uns daran zu erinnern, dass der Sozialschutz ein Mechanismus zur sozialen Abfederung und wirtschaftlichen Stabilisierung ist, der die Schwere der Rezession mildert. Die Länder der Europäischen Union und im Rahmen ihres Konjunkturprogramms die Union selbst nutzen die Sozialleistungen, um den Opfern der Krise zu helfen, Konsumanreize für die Haushalte zu setzen und so die Unternehmenstätigkeit und die Beschäftigung zu fördern. Die Krise könnte aber auch Anlass für die Europäische Union sein, ihre Sozialschutzsysteme zu stärken und sich dabei von den wichtigsten Prinzipien des internationalen Sozialrechts leiten zu lassen, indem sie ein hohes Sozialschutzniveau verteidigt, eine Konvergenz der Sozialschutzsysteme in den Mitgliedsstaaten auf hohem Niveau begünstigt und ihre Haushaltsmittel erhöht.
Minimally invasive surgery for esophageal cancer
Authors: Greenstein AJ , Pham T , Harrison VL , Sheppard BC , Hunter JG
Published: June 2010

Background: Esophageal cancer is among the most deadly cancers worldwide, and esophagectomy remains the standard of care in trying to cure this. Efforts to decrease the incidence of complications in esophagectomy without compromising the efficacy of the procedure have stimulated interest in minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE), and a wide variety of MIE techniques have been refined by surgeons at specialized centers worldwide.

Data sources: Systematic PubMed searches identified articles related to MIE technique, complications, and outcomes.

Conclusions: Several techniques have been developed for MIE, none of which has been deemed superior, but as a whole, they represent a safe alternative to open surgery. Available results from case series and comparative studies suggest trends towards improved short‐term outcomes with equivalent efficacy but without definitive advantages.
Comparison between anatomical polyester (Parietex) mesh and polypropylene (Prolene) mesh with fixation in total extraperitoneal repair for inguinal hernia
Authors: Cu EG , Katara AN , Domino JP , Wong HB , So JB , Lomanto D , Cheah WK
Published: June 2010

Introduction: Laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery has been gaining in worldwide popularity, with the total extraperitoneal (TEP) repair gaining greater acceptance than the transabdominal pre‐peritoneal repair. Most techniques using TEP advocate some form of fixation of the prosthesis, but newer meshes avoid the use of fixation.

Methods: We compared the use of the polyester mesh (Parietex; Tyco, Princeton, USA) without fixation and polypropylene (Prolene; Ethicon, USA) mesh with fixation using either ProTack (Tyco, USA) or EndoAnchor (Ethicon, Cincinnati, USA) in a consecutive series of patients who underwent total TEP endoscopic inguinal hernia repair.

Results: Of 127 patients who underwent TEP repairs, 60 had Parietex mesh while 67 had Prolene mesh with fixation. The mean age was 50 years old and 97% were men. There was no difference in patient demographics or complication rate. The most common complication was small seroma or hematoma formation in 14% of patients and none required re‐operation. There was no hernia recurrence in either group with a mean follow‐up period of 13 months.

Conclusion: This study shows that in laparoscopic TEP inguinal hernia repair, early results indicate comparable results between the use of polyester (Parietex) mesh without fixation and polypropylene (Prolene) mesh with fixation.
Laparoscopic cytoreductive nephrectomy with cytokine therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinomas compared with open nephrectomy
Authors: Fujita T , Hattori R , Kinukawa T , Yamada S , Kamihira O , Yoshino Y , Kato M , Goto M
Published: June 2010

Introduction: We retrospectively reviewed and compared the operation records and long‐term results of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) who underwent laparoscopic cytoreductive nephrectomy and those who underwent open procedure.

Methods: A total of 75 patients with mRCC who underwent cytoreductive nephrectomy between 1997 and 2007 were studied: 23 patients in the laparoscopy group (LCN group) and 52 in the open group (OCN group). Most patients received interferon‐based cytokine therapy after surgery. Patients with tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava were excluded from this study.

Results: Operating time in the LCN group was significantly longer than in the OCN group (320.3 min vs 269.6 min, P=0.049). Blood loss was less in the LCN group (527.8 ml) than in the OCN group (1372.3 ml, P=0.072). Convalescence was shorter in the LCN group (18.1 d) than in the OCN group (32.9 d, P<0.0001). Median follow‐up periods were 15 months (range 2–110 months) and 17 months (range 1–103 months) in the LCN group and OCN group, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups with regard to disease‐specific patient survival and progression‐free survival.

Conclusions: Laparoscopic cytoreductive nephrectomy is a feasible alternative for patients with mRCC because its benefits include less blood loss and shorter convalescence. In addition, the long‐term oncological results of laparoscopic cytoreductive nephrectomy are comparable to those of the open procedure.
No Transcription Required
Authors: Gough Nancy R.
Published: June 2010

The transcription factor IRF-3 acts at the mitochondria to trigger apoptosis of virally infected cells.
Proliferation Control
Authors: Ray L. Bryan
Published: June 2010

Control of cell proliferation and control of cell size are separately regulated in mammals.
Fat-Burning Fat
Authors: Kiberstis Paula A.
Published: June 2010

In mice, the development of energy-burning brown fat is regulated by an enzyme that is critical for prostaglandin synthesis.
Ammonia: A Diffusible Factor Released by Proliferating Cells That Induces Autophagy
Authors: Mariño Guillermo , Kroemer Guido
Published: June 2010

A volatile metabolic by-product can induce autophagy in an autocrine and paracrine fashion.
Thermodynamics and structure of the {water + methanol} system viewed from three simple additive pair-wise intermolecular potentials based on the rigid molecule approximation
Authors: Dopazo-Paz Ana , Gómez-Álvarez Paula , González-Salgado Diego
Published: June 2010

The ability of three additive pair-wise intermolecular potentials to reproduce both thermodynamics and structure of the {methanol + water} system is analysed in detail using Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations. The three potentials were constructed using the OPLS model for methanol and for water, in each case, were used the TIP4P, TIP4P/2005, and TIP4P/ice, respectively. For all the potentials, the Lorentz–Berthelot combining rule was considered to calculate water–methanol cross interactions. A wide set of first- and second-order excess thermodynamic derivatives and the site–site radial distribution functions were chosen for the study. The properties were obtained at room conditions over the whole composition range and were critically compared with selected experimental data. It turns out that the simulation results of the different potentials show no qualitative differences in the radial distribution functions whereas that the excess thermodynamic properties usually decreases in the sense TIP4P > TIP4P/2005 > TIP4P/ice. The best agreement with the experiments has been found for the potential that uses the TIP4P/2005 model which demonstrates that using potentials based on phase diagram calculations significantly improve the results for this mixture. However, even in this case only partial success was found. As regards thermodynamics, it has been detected problems to describe the excess compressibility and the excess molar enthalpy. As regards structure, although it predicts clustering of methanol molecules via methyl groups after mixing, it was unable to reproduce the preservation of the pure water structure in the mixture, a well-established phenomenon observed by neutron scattering experiments.
STOCHASTIC INERTIAL MANIFOLDS FOR DAMPED WAVE EQUATIONS
Authors: LIU ZHENXIN
Published: June 2010

In this paper, stochastic inertial manifold for damped wave equations subjected to additive white noise is constructed by the Lyapunov–Perron method. It is proved that when the intensity of noise tends to zero, the stochastic inertial manifold converges to its deterministic counterpart almost surely.
WEAK CONVERGENCE TO LÉVY STABLE PROCESSES IN DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS
Authors: TYRAN-KAMIŃSKA MARTA
Published: June 2010

We study convergence of normalized ergodic sum processes to Lévy stable process in the Skorohod space with J1-topology. Our necessary and sufficient conditions allow us to prove or disprove such convergence for specific examples.
EIGENVALUES OF FIBONACCI STOCHASTIC ADDING MACHINE
Authors: MESSAOUDI A. , SMANIA D.
Published: June 2010

In this work, we compute the eigenvalues of the transition operator associated to the Fibonacci stochastic adding machine. In particular, we show that the eigenvalues are connected to the set [Formula: see text] of complex numbers z where (z2, z) belongs to the filled Julia set of a particular endomorphism of ℂ2. We also study some topological properties of the set [Formula: see text].
LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BOHR COMPLEMENTARITY PRINCIPLE IN AFSHAR'S EXPERIMENT UNDER THE NAFL INTERPRETATION
Authors: SRINIVASAN RADHAKRISHNAN
Published: June 2010

The NAFL (non-Aristotelian finitary logic) interpretation of quantum mechanics requires that no "physical" reality can be ascribed to the wave nature of the photon. The NAFL theory QM, formalizing quantum mechanics, treats the superposed state (S) of a single photon taking two or more different paths at the same time as a logical contradiction that is formally unprovable in QM. Nevertheless, in a nonclassical NAFL model for QM in which the law of noncontradiction fails, S has a meaningful metamathematical interpretation that the classical path information for the photon is not available. It is argued that the existence of an interference pattern does not logically amount to a proof of the self-interference of a single photon. This fact, when coupled with the temporal nature of NAFL truth, implies the logical validity of the retroactive assertion of the path information (and the logical superfluousness of the grid) in Afshar's experiment. The Bohr complementarity principle, when properly interpreted with the time dependence of logical truth taken into account, holds in Afshar's experiment. NAFL supports, but not demands, a metalogical reality for the particle nature of the photon even when the semantics of QM requires the state S.
PATTERN FORMATION IN NONEQUILIBRIUM LIPID MEMBRANES: FROM MEMBRANE UNDULATIONS TO LIPID RAFTS
Authors: REIGADA RAMON , GÓMEZ JORDI , BUCETA JAVIER , LINDENBERG KATJA , SAGUÉS FRANCESC
Published: June 2010

Lipid membranes, particularly under nonequilibrium conditions, have recently been investigated ever more vigorously because of their relevance in the biological context. We survey our recent approaches to the theoretical study of lipid bilayers that are perturbed in different ways. Self-organization phenomena involving curvature and/or composition spatiotemporal organization are investigated in membrane systems subjected to externally induced chemical reactions, transversal mass transport and insertion of proteins. The outcomes of these studies are expected to be applicable to different curvature and lateral organization phenomena in synthetic lipid bilayers and also in plasmatic cell membranes.
THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL AND GEOMETRICAL FACTORS IN THE GROWTH OF LIVING ORGANISMS
Authors: SHESTOPALOFF YURI K.
Published: June 2010

The relationship between the organism's growth and its geometrical form was suggested by many ancient and modern thinkers. Many other factors influence growth and replication. All these numerous factors, such as biochemical, physical, work in cooperation. In this paper, we consider the impact of geometrical and physical characteristics of organisms, such as surface, volume and geometrical form, on organisms' growth and replication. The mathematical basis of our study is the growth equation, which describes growth from the physical perspective. First, we model the growth of cells by different shapes, and compare theoretical results to experimental data. We discover that the growth dependencies produced by the growth equation fit experimental data very accurately if we take into account two considerations. First, the cell, or a multicellular growing object, can switch into a replication phase before its physical growth potential is exhausted. Second, the inflow of substance through a unit of the membrane's surface increases during growth, because the cell's growing volume allows it to process more nutrients. Then, we consider overgrowth from the physical perspective, introduce the notion of a growth ratio as an important geometrical characteristic of the growth and overgrowth processes, and generalize our findings.
L2-TORSION, THE MEASURE-THEORETIC DETERMINANT CONJECTURE, AND UNIFORM MEASURE EQUIVALENCE
Authors: LÜCK WOLFGANG , SAUER ROMAN , WEGNER CHRISTIAN
Published: June 2010

We show an invariance result for the L2-torsion of groups under uniform measure equivalence provided a measure-theoretic version of the determinant conjecture holds. The measure-theoretic determinant conjecture is discussed and, for instance, proved for Bernoulli actions of residually amenable groups.
Subaerial exposure and meteoric diagenesis of the Cenomanian-Turonian Upper Sarvak Formation, southwestern Iran
Authors: Hajikazemi E. , Al-Aasm I. S. , Coniglio M.
Published: June 2010

The Sarvak Formation (Cenomanian–Turonian) forms one of the main reservoir rocks in many oilfields in southern Iran. Extensive lateral and vertical facies variations as well as effects caused mainly by the subaerial exposure associated with the regional Turonian unconformity have resulted in variable porosity and permeability. Dissolution affected the entire upper part of the Sarvak Formation and is the most important process related to subaerial exposure. Brecciation, development of palaeosol and formation of bauxite deposits are also limited to the upper few metres of the top of the Sarvak Formation and indicate warm and humid climatic conditions. Subaerial exposure had varying effects on the diagenesis depending on its duration, palaeotopography and the availability of meteoric water. The δ
18
O and δ
13
C values obtained from calcitic matrix, various generations of calcite cements and calcitic rudist shells in the Upper Sarvak overlap to a large extent, indicating their equilibration with fluids of similar isotopic composition. Negative δ
18
O values (i.e. −6.6‰ to −1.7‰) suggest a significant meteoric component. More
18
O-depleted values (e.g. −12.3‰) obtained from late calcite cements indicate their precipitatation from warm fluids. Positive δ
13
C values (i.e. 0.00‰ to 3.4‰) in the various carbonate phases reflect values of seawater coeval with an Oceanic Anoxic Event and later modified by meteoric waters.
Mesozoic extensional brittle tectonics of the Arabian passive margin, inverted in the Zagros collision (Iran, interior Fars)
Authors: Navabpour Payman , Angelier Jacques , Barrier Eric
Published: June 2010

The present Zagros mountain belt of SW Iran is known to be the former NE Arabian passive continental margin of the southern Neo-Tethyan basin, which originated by Permian–Triassic rifting, and has a late Cenozoic collisional imbricate structure. We carried out brittle tectonic analyses of syndepositional normal fault slip data in the High Zagros Belt of the Fars Province to reconstruct the extensional deformation of the passive margin during the Mesozoic era in terms of stress tensor inversion. This reconstruction revealed two main directions of extension, developing from a north–south margin-oblique trend to a NE–SW margin-perpendicular one. Considering the basement structures and the existence of the basal Infracambrian salt detachment, we infer that a transtensional extension could have initiated two major periods of crustal stretching: a Permian–Triassic thick-skinned phase with the basement faults developing in an oblique rifting, and a Mesozoic thin-skinned phase with the sedimentary cover being affected by successive extensional structures and block tilting. This extensional tectonic history probably continued during the early Tertiary period, prior to the continental collision. Fault slip geometries and structural patterns of both the Mesozoic extension and the late Cenozoic compression indicate inversion of the inherited structures in the Zagros collision during the subsequent thin- and thick-skinned stages of crustal shortening.
New magnetic fabric data and their comparison with palaeostress markers in the Western Fars Arc (Zagros, Iran): tectonic implications
Authors: Aubourg Charles , Smith Brigitte , Eshraghi Ali , Lacombe Olivier , Authemayou Christine , Amrouch Khaled , Bellier Olivier , Mouthereau Frédéric
Published: June 2010

The Zagros Simply Folded Belt (ZSFB) is an active fold-and-thrust belt resulting from the still continuing continental collision between the Arabian plate and the Iranian plate, which probably started in the Oligocene. The present-day shortening (N25°) is well documented by focal mechanisms of earthquakes and global positioning system (GPS) surveys. We propose in this study a comparison of published palaeostress markers, including magnetic fabric, brittle deformation and calcite twinning data. In addition, we describe the magnetic fabric from Palaeocene carbonates (10 sites) and Mio-Pliocene clastic deposits (15 sites). The magnetic fabrics are intermediate, with magnetic foliation parallel to the bedding, and a magnetic lineation mostly at right angles to the shortening direction. This suggests that the magnetic fabric retains the record of an early layer-parallel shortening (LPS) that occurred prior to folding. The record of LPS allows the identification of originally oblique folds such as the Mand Fold, which have developed in front of the Kazerun Fault. The shape parameter of the magnetic fabric indicates a weak strain compatible with the development of detachment folds in the ZSFB. The palaeostress datasets, covering the Palaeocene to Pleistocene time interval, support several folding episodes accompanied by a counter-clockwise rotation of the stress field direction. The Palaeocene carbonates in the ZSFB record a N47 LPS during early to middle Miocene detachment folding in the High Zagros Belt (HZB). The Mio-Pliocene clastic deposits recorded a N38 LPS prior to and during detachment folding within the ZSFB at the end of the Miocene–Pliocene. Similarly, fault slip and calcite twin data from the ZSFB also support a counter-clockwise rotation from NE to N20 between the pre-folding stage and the late rejuvenation of folds. This counter-clockwise trend of palaeostress data agrees with fault slip data from the HZB. During the late stage of folding in the ZSFB, the Plio-Quaternary palaeostress trends are consistently parallel to the present-day shortening direction.
Structure, timing and morphological signature of hidden reverse basement faults in the Fars Arc of the Zagros (Iran)
Authors: Leturmy Pascale , Molinaro Matteo , de Lamotte Dominique Frizon
Published: June 2010

In the Zagros Fold–Thrust Belt (ZFTB) of Iran it is firmly established that the basement is involved in the deformation. The strongest line of evidence for this assertion comes from the relatively intense mid-crustal seismic activity. On one hand, the main basement structures such as the Main Zagros Fault (MZT) and High Zagros Fault (HZF) reach the surface and are therefore well identified. On the other hand, basement faults south of the HZF are hidden by sedimentary cover and their location is uncertain. In the Eastern Zagros, basement control on surface structures occurred only at a late stage of the tectonic evolution. In other words, the current thick-skinned style of Zagros deformation succeeded a more general thin-skinned phase of orogeny. This chronology is particularly well illustrated by spectacular interference patterns, in which early detachment folds are cut by late oblique basement faults. We present a combined morphological and structural analysis of such structures, and we explore their impact on the river network. We confirm that basement involvement occurred at a late stage of deformation and we show that thick-skinned deformation progressively propagated towards the foreland. An overview of basement steps throughout the Zagros based on published cross-sections allows us to conclude that although basement deformation is concentrated on two major faults in the Central Zagros, it is distributed on several segmented faults in the Fars Arc. This segmentation increases to the SE towards the so-called Oman line and the transition to the Makran accretionary prism.
A study of fold characteristics and deformation style using the evolution of the land surface: Zagros Simply Folded Belt, Iran
Authors: Burberry C. M. , Cosgrove J. W. , Liu J.-G.
Published: June 2010

Deformation styles within a fold–thrust belt can be understood in terms of the spatial organization and geometry of the fold structures. In young fold–thrust belts such as the Zagros, this geometry is reflected topographically by concordant landform morphology. Thus, the distribution of deformation structures can be characterized using satellite image analysis, digital elevation models, the drainage network and geomorphological indicators. The two distinct fold types considered in this study (fault-bend folds and detachment folds) both trending NW–SE, interact with streams flowing NE–SW from the High Zagros Mountains into the Persian Gulf. Multiple abandoned stream channels cross fault-bend folds related to deep-seated thrust faults. In contrast, detachment folds, which propagate laterally relatively rapidly, are characterized by diverted major stream channels and dendritic minor channels at the fold tips. Thus these two fold types can be differentiated on the basis of their geometry (fault-bend folds, being long, linear and asymmetrical, can be distinguished from detachment folds, which tend to be shorter and symmetrical) and on their associated geomorphological structures. The spatial organization of these structures in the Zagros Simply Folded Belt indicates that deformation is the result of the interaction of footwall collapse and the associated formation of long, linear fault-bend folds, and serial folding characterized by relatively short periclinal folds. Footwall collapse occurs first, followed by serial folding to the NE (i.e. in the hanging wall of the fault-bend folds), often on higher detachments within the sediment pile.
The chaos of the internet as an external brain; and more
Authors: Linden Greg , Chi Ed H. , Guzdial Mark
Published: June 2010

The
Communications
Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of
Communications
, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.

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Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM

Greg Linden writes about the Internet as a peripheral resource; Ed H. Chi discusses lessons learned from the DARPA Network Challenge; and Mark Guzdial asks if there are too many IT workers or too many IT jobs.
Beyond the smart grid
Authors: Geller Tom
Published: June 2010

Sensor networks monitor residential and institutional devices, motivating energy conservation.
Mine your business
Authors: Hoffmann Leah
Published: June 2010

Researchers are developing new techniques to gauge employee productivity from information flow.
Robin Milner
Authors: Hoffmann Leah
Published: June 2010

Remembering a rich legacy in verification, languages, and concurrency.
The resurgence of parallelism
Authors: Denning Peter J. , Dennis Jack B.
Published: June 2010

Parallel computation is making a comeback after a quarter century of neglect. Past research can be put to quick use today.
Securing elasticity in the cloud
Authors: Owens Dustin
Published: June 2010

Elastic computing has great potential, but many security challenges remain.
Efficiently searching for similar images
Authors: Grauman Kristen
Published: June 2010

New algorithms provide the ability for robust but scalable image search.
Puzzled: Solutions and sources
Authors: Winkler Peter
Published: June 2010

Last month (May 2010, p. 120) we posted a trio of brainteasers, including one as yet unsolved, concerning variations on the Ham Sandwich Theorem.
Future Tense: How the Net ensures our cosmic survival
Authors: Brin David
Published: June 2010

Future Tense, one of the revolving features on this page, presents stories and essays from the intersection of computational science and technological speculation, their boundaries limited only by our ability to imagine what will and could be. Give adolescent wonder an evolutionary jolt.
Future Tense: I, myself and e-myself
Authors: Rhee Cheul , Sanders G. Lawrence , Simpson Natalie C.
Published: June 2010

Introduction

The Internet has revolutionized the manner in which people interact. Once regarded as merely a convenient platform for the collection and dissemination of information, the Internet is increasingly used for intensely personal and creative purposes. Web 2.0 applications supporting Web-based social networking through blogs, wikis and folksonomies have proven potent in changing users' perception and use of the Internet.

Using the Internet has thus acquired a new and more personal dimension. People increasingly rely on it to provide them with societal and communal structures that were hitherto the remit of their families and work-groups. Internet users may either own their own Web space or use facilities provided by an online host, increasingly personalizing these virtual properties. While residing in their virtual places, users socialize, share ideas, and attempt to personalize their virtual property.

The search for a suitable online residence entails significant costs in terms of time and effort that are commensurate with the anticipated gain. The process of settling down in a virtual place includes searching for communities (or services), creating new online IDs, managing profiles judiciously, and adapting to new environments. Settling-in increases users' switching costs and this locks the users into a virtual place. The more time and effort a user spends on a specific place, the greater the cost and the disincentive of switching to another place. A primary goal of Web 2.0 application providers is to retain membership in their communities. Understanding the psychological dynamics of online behaviors is an essential part of identifying and retaining membership in online communities.

Although it is useful to understand the psychological underpinning of online users, the adoption of psychological theories and instances should be performed with caution and with due regard to applicability. Many Web developers start with the premise that an individual's perceptions, thoughts and online behaviors are similar to their personality in the real world. However, if this premise itself is wrong - that is, if an individual becomes a different person when online, then our theories along with our business strategies may require modification. It is our position that study of the development of the virtual personality is vital because human beings perceive, think, and behave differently when they are online.
Analyzing knowledge communities using foreground and background clusters
Authors: Kandylas Vasileios , Upham S. Phineas , Ungar Lyle H.
Published: June 2010

Insight into the growth (or shrinkage) of “knowledge communities” of authors that build on each other's work can be gained by studying the evolution over time of clusters of documents. We cluster documents based on the documents they cite in common using the Streemer clustering method, which finds cohesive foreground clusters (the knowledge communities) embedded in a diffuse background. We build predictive models with features based on the citation structure, the vocabulary of the papers, and the affiliations and prestige of the authors and use these models to study the drivers of community growth and the predictors of how widely a paper will be cited. We find that scientific knowledge communities tend to grow more rapidly if their publications build on diverse information and use narrow vocabulary and that papers that lie on the periphery of a community have the highest impact, while those not in any community have the lowest impact.
Visual analysis of mixed data sets using interactive quantification
Authors: Johansson Sara , Johansson Jimmy
Published: June 2010

It is often difficult to analyse data sets including a combination of categorical and numerical variables (mixed data sets) since there does not exist any similarity measure which is as straight forward and general as the numerical distance between numerical items. Quantification of categorical variables enables analysis using commonly used visual representations and analysis techniques for numerical data. This paper presents a tool for exploratory analysis of categorical and mixed data which uses a quantification process introduced in [17]. The application enables analysis of mixed data sets by providing an environment for exploratory analysis using common visual representations in multiple coordinated views and algorithmic analysis that facilitates detection of potentially interesting patterns within combinations of categorical and numerical variables. The generality and usefulness of the quantification process and of the features of the application is demonstrated through a case scenario using a data set from the IEEE VAST 2008 Challenge [13].
FpVAT
Authors: Leung Carson Kai-Sang , Carmichael Christopher L.
Published: June 2010

As frequent pattern mining plays an essential role in many knowledge discovery and data mining (KDD) tasks, numerous algorithms for finding frequent patterns have been proposed over the past 15 years. However, most of these algorithms return the mining results in the form of textual lists containing frequent patterns showing those frequently occurring sets of items. It is well known that "a picture is worth a thousand words". The use of visual representation can enhance the user's understanding of the inherent relations in a collection of frequent patterns. In this paper, we develop a simple yet useful
visual analytic tool for supporting frequent pattern mining
called
FpVAT
. Such a visual analytic tool consists of two modules: One module gives users an overview so that they can derive insight from a massive amount of raw data; another module enables users to perform analytical reasoning on the mining results via interactive visual interfaces so that users can detect the expected frequent patterns and discover the unexpected frequent patterns. As a visual analytic tool, our FpVAT is equipped with several interactive features for effective visual support in the data analysis and KDD process for various real-life applications.
Novel tools to streamline the conference review process
Authors: Flach Peter A. , Spiegler Sebastian , Golénia Bruno , Price Simon , Guiver John , Herbrich Ralf , Graepel Thore , Zaki Mohammed J.
Published: June 2010

The SIGKDD'09 Research Track received 537 paper submissions, which were reviewed by a Program Committee of 199 members, and a Senior Program Committee of 22 members. We used techniques from artificial intelligence and data mining to streamline and support this complicated process at three crucial stages: bidding by PC members on papers, assigning papers to reviewers, and calibrating scores obtained from the reviews. In this paper we report on the approaches taken, evaluate how well they worked, and describe some further work done after the conference.
StReBio'09
Authors: Ramon Jan , Costa Fabrizio , Florencio Christophe Costa , Kok Joost
Published: June 2010

Bioinformatics is an application domain where information is naturally represented in terms of relations between heterogenous objects. Modern experimentation and data acquisition techniques allow the study of complex interactions in biological systems. This raises interesting challenges for machine learning and data mining researchers, as the amount of data is huge, some information can not be observed, and measurements may be noisy.

This report presents a review on the ACM SIGKDD 2009 Workshop on Statistical Relational Learning and Mining in Bioinformatics (StReBio'09) which was held in Paris on June 28th, 2009. The aim of this workshop was to provide a forum to share challenges, results and ideas at the frontier between the field of statistical relational learning and the field of bioinformatics.
Online phishing classification using adversarial data mining and signaling games
Authors: L'Huillier Gaston , Weber Richard , Figueroa Nicolas
Published: June 2010

In adversarial systems, the performance of a classifier decreases after it is deployed, as the adversary learns to defeat it. Recently, adversarial data mining was introduced, where the classification problem is viewed as a game mechanism between an adversary and an intelligent and adaptive classifier. Over the last years, phishing fraud through malicious email messages has been a serious threat that affects global security and economy, where traditional spam filtering techniques have shown to be ineffective. In this domain, using dynamic games of incomplete information, a game theoretic data mining framework is proposed in order to build an adversary-aware classifier for phishing fraud detection. To build the classifier, an online version of theWeighted Margin Support Vector Machines with a game theoretic prior knowledge function is proposed. In this paper, a new contentbased feature extraction technique for phishing filtering is described. Experiments show that the proposed classifier is highly competitive compared with previously proposed online classification algorithms in this adversarial environment, and promising results were obtained using traditional machine learning techniques over extracted features.
Financial incentives and the "performance of crowds"
Authors: Mason Winter , Watts Duncan J.
Published: June 2010

The relationship between financial incentives and performance, long of interest to social scientists, has gained new relevance with the advent of web-based "crowd-sourcing" models of production. Here we investigate the effect of compensation on performance in the context of two experiments, conducted on Amazon's Mechanical Turk (AMT). We find that increased financial incentives increase the quantity, but not the quality, of work performed by participants, where the difference appears to be due to an "anchoring" effect: workers who were paid more also perceived the value of their work to be greater, and thus were no more motivated than workers paid less. In contrast with compensation levels, we find the details of the compensation scheme do matter--specifically, a "quota" system results in better work for less pay than an equivalent "piece rate" system. Although counterintuitive, these findings are consistent with previous laboratory studies, and may have real-world analogs as well.