bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Successful Management of Repetitive Urinary Obstruction and Anuria Caused by Double J Stent Calculi Formation after Renal Transplantation
Authors: Hao Zongyao , Zhang Li , Zhou Jun , Zhang Xiansheng , Shi Haoqiang , Zhang Yifei , Wei Pengfei , Liang Chaozhao
Published: July 2014

This report firstly describes an extremely rare case of repetitive double J stent calculi formation after renal transplantation caused by the antihyperparathyroidism (HPT) drug calcitriol. In 2012, a woman initially presented to our hospital for anuria with lower abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with allograft hydronephrosis and double J stents obstruction by calculi formation after transplantation and treated with triplicate stents replacements in another hospital without clinical manifestations improvements. Through detailed exploration of medical history, we conclude that the abnormal calculi formation is due to the calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) administration, a drug which can increase renal tubular reabsorption of calcium for treating posttransplant HPT bone disease. After discontinuing calcitriol, the patient was stone-free and had a good recovery without severe complications during the 9-month follow-up. Our novel findings may provide an important clue and approach to managing formidable repetitive double J stent calculi formation in the clinical trial.
The Influences of Canopy Species and Topographic Variables on Understory Species Diversity and Composition in Coniferous Forests
Authors: Huo Hong , Feng Qi , Su Yong-hong
Published: July 2014

Understanding the factors that influence the distribution of understory vegetation is important for biological conservation and forest management. We compared understory species composition by multi-response permutation procedure and indicator species analysis between plots dominated by Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifoliaKom.) and Qilian juniper (Sabina przewalskiiKom.) in coniferous forests of the Qilian Mountains, northwestern China. Understory species composition differed markedly between the forest types. Many heliophilous species were significantly associated with juniper forest, while only one species was indicative of spruce forest. Using constrained ordination and the variation partitioning model, we quantitatively assessed the relative effects of two sets of explanatory variables on understory species composition. The results showed that topographic variables had higher explanatory power than did site conditions for understory plant distributions. However, a large amount of the variation in understory species composition remained unexplained. Forward selection revealed that understory species distributions were primarily affected by elevation and aspect. Juniper forest had higher species richness andα-diversity and lowerβ-diversity in the herb layer of the understory plant community than spruce forest, suggesting that the former may be more important in maintaining understory biodiversity and community stability in alpine coniferous forest ecosystems.
Expanding Thermal Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition of ZnO:Al Layers for CIGS Solar Cells
Authors: Sharma K. , Williams B. L. , Mittal A. , Knoops H. C. M. , Kniknie B. J. , Bakker N. J. , Kessels W. M. M. , Schropp R. E. I. , Creatore M.
Published: July 2014

Aluminium-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) grown by expanding thermal plasma chemical vapour deposition (ETP-CVD) has demonstrated excellent electrical and optical properties, which make it an attractive candidate as a transparent conductive oxide for photovoltaic applications. However, when depositing ZnO:Al on CIGS solar cell stacks, one should be aware that high substrate temperature processing (i.e., >200°C) can damage the crucial underlying layers/interfaces (such as CIGS/CdS and CdS/i-ZnO). In this paper, the potential of adopting ETP-CVD ZnO:Al in CIGS solar cells is assessed: the effect of substrate temperature during film deposition on both the electrical properties of the ZnO:Al and the eventual performance of the CIGS solar cells was investigated. For ZnO:Al films grown using the high thermal budget (HTB) condition, lower resistivities, ρ, were achievable (~5 × 10−4 Ω·cm) than those grown using the low thermal budget (LTB) conditions (~2 × 10−3 Ω·cm), whereas higher CIGS conversion efficiencies were obtained for the LTB condition (up to 10.9%) than for the HTB condition (up to 9.0%). Whereas such temperature-dependence of CIGS device parameters has previously been linked with chemical migration between individual layers, we demonstrate that in this case it is primarily attributed to the prevalence of shunt currents.
Oscillatory Behavior of Solutions of Certain Integrodynamic Equations of Second Order on Time Scales
Authors: Grace Said R. , El-Beltagy Mohamed A.
Published: July 2014

This paper deals with the oscillatory behavior of forced second-order integrodynamic equations on time scales. The results are new for the continuous and discrete cases and can be applied to Volterra integral equation on time scale. We also provide a numerical example in the continuous case to illustrate the results.
Matrix Metalloproteinases 2 and 9 Immunoexpression in Prostate Carcinoma at the Positive Margin of Radical Prostatectomy Specimens
Authors: Oguić Romano , Mozetič Vladimir , Cini Tešar Eleonora , Fučkar Čupić Dora , Mustać Elvira , Đorđević Gordana
Published: July 2014

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in prostate cancer in the main tumor mass and tumor cells at the positive margin as well as the influence of these biomarkers on the biochemical recurrence of the disease in prostatectomy patients. Tissue microarrays of 120 archival prostate carcinoma samples were immunohistochemically evaluated for MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression and compared with clinicopathological parameters. Tumors with positive surgical margins showed significantly higher overall expression of MMP-9 versus tumors with negative resection marginsP=0.0121. MMP-9 expression was significantly elevated in tumors from patients who had biochemical recurrenceP=0.0207. In the group of patients with negative margins, MMP-9 expression above the cut-off value was significantly associated with recurrenceP=0.0065. Multivariate analysis indicated that MMP-9 is a good predictor of biochemical recurrence (odds ratio = 10.29;P=0.0052). Expression of MMP-2 in tumor cells was significantly higher at the positive margins than in the main tumor massP=0.0301. The present results highlight the potential value of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression for predicting the behavior of prostate tumors after prostatectomy with both positive and negative surgical margins.
Designing Peptide-Based HIV Vaccine for Chinese
Authors: Shu Jiayi , Fan Xiaojuan , Ping Jie , Jin Xia , Hao Pei
Published: July 2014

CD4+ T cells are central to the induction and maintenance of CD8+ T cell and antibody-producing B cell responses, and the latter are essential for the protection against disease in subjects with HIV infection. How to elicit HIV-specific CD4+ T cell responses in a given population using vaccines is one of the major areas of current HIV vaccine research. To design vaccine that targets specifically Chinese, we assembled a database that is comprised of sequences from 821 Chinese HIV isolates and 46 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR alleles identified in Chinese population. We then predicted 20 potential HIV epitopes using bioinformatics approaches. The combination of these 20 epitopes has a theoretical coverage of 98.1% of the population for both the prevalent HIV genotypes and also Chinese HLA-DR types. We suggest that testing this vaccine experimentally will facilitate the development of a CD4+ T cell vaccine especially catered for Chinese.
Assessment of the Optic Disc Morphology Using Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography and Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy
Authors: Calvo Pilar , Ferreras Antonio , Abadia Beatriz , Ara Mirian , Figus Michele , Pablo Luis E. , Frezzotti Paolo
Published: July 2014

Objective. To compare the equivalent optic nerve head (OHN) parameters obtained with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (HRT3) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in healthy and glaucoma patients.Methods. One hundred and eighty-two consecutive healthy subjects and 156 patients with open-angle glaucoma were divided into 2 groups according to intraocular pressure and visual field outcomes. All participants underwent imaging of the ONH with the HRT3 and the Cirrus OCT. The ONH parameters and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were compared between both groups.Results. Mean age did not differ between the normal and glaucoma groups (59.55 ± 9.7 years and 61.05 ± 9.4 years, resp.;P=0.15). Rim area, average cup-to-disc (C/D) ratio, vertical C/D ratio, and cup volume were different between both instruments (P<0.001). All equivalent ONH parameters, except disc area, were different between both groups (P<0.001). The best areas under the ROC curve were observed for vertical C/D ratio (0.980 for OCT and 0.942 for HRT3;P=0.11). Sensitivities at 95% fixed-specificities of OCT parameters were higher than those of HRT3.Conclusions. Equivalent ONH parameters of Cirrus OCT and HRT3 are different and cannot be used interchangeably. ONH parameters measured with OCT yielded a slightly better diagnostic performance.
Fast Transforms in Image Processing: Compression, Restoration, and Resampling
Authors: Yaroslavsky Leonid P.
Published: July 2014

Transform image processing methods are methods that work in domains of image transforms, such as Discrete Fourier, Discrete Cosine, Wavelet, and alike. They proved to be very efficient in image compression, in image restoration, in image resampling, and in geometrical transformations and can be traced back to early 1970s. The paper reviews these methods, with emphasis on their comparison and relationships, from the very first steps of transform image compression methods to adaptive and local adaptive filters for image restoration and up to “compressive sensing” methods that gained popularity in last few years. References are made to both first publications of the corresponding results and more recent and more easily available ones. The review has a tutorial character and purpose.
Convergence Theorems for Hierarchical Fixed Point Problems and Variational Inequalities
Authors: Karahan Ibrahim , Ozdemir Murat
Published: July 2014

This paper deals with a modified iterative projection method for approximating a solution of hierarchical fixed point problems for nearly nonexpansive mappings. Some strong convergence theorems for the proposed method are presented under certain approximate assumptions of mappings and parameters. As a special case, this projection method solves some quadratic minimization problem. It should be noted that the proposed method can be regarded as a generalized version of Wang and Xu (2013), Ceng et al. (2011), Sahu et al. (2012), and many other authors.
Fuzzy B-Spline Surface Modeling
Authors: Zakaria Rozaimi , Wahab Abd. Fatah , Gobithaasan R. U.
Published: July 2014

This paper discusses the construction of a fuzzy B-spline surface model. The construction of this model is based on fuzzy set theory which is based on fuzzy number and fuzzy relation concepts. The proposed theories and concepts define the uncertainty data sets which represent fuzzy data/control points allowing the uncertainties data points modeling which can be visualized and analyzed. The fuzzification and defuzzification processes were also defined in detail in order to obtain the fuzzy B-spline surface crisp model. Final section shows an application of fuzzy B-spline surface modeling for terrain modeling which shows its usability in handling uncertain data.
Stability Analysis of Competing Insect Species for a Single Resource
Authors: Mwalusepo Sizah , Tonnang Henri E. Z. , Massawe Estomih S. , Johansson Tino , Le Ru Bruno Pierre
Published: July 2014

The models explore the effects of resource and temperature on competition between insect species. A system of differential equations is proposed and analysed qualitatively using stability theory. A local study of the models is performed around axial, planar, and interior equilibrium points to successively estimate the effect of (i) one species interacting with a resource, (ii) two competing species for a single resource, and (iii) three competing species for a single resource. The local stability analysis of the equilibrium is discussed using Routh-Hurwitz criteria. Numerical simulation of the models is performed to investigate the sensitivity of certain key parameters. The models are used to predict population dynamics in the selected cases studied. The results show that when a single species interacts with a resource, the species will be able to establish and sustain a stable population. However, in competing situation, it is observed that the combinations of three parameters (half-saturation, growth rate, and mortality rate) determine which species wins for any given resource. Moreover, our results indicate that each species is the superior competitor for the resource for the range of temperature for which it has the lowest equilibrium resource.
Gonadal Transcriptome Analysis of Male and Female Olive Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus)
Authors: Fan Zhaofei , You Feng , Wang Lijuan , Weng Shenda , Wu Zhihao , Hu Jinwei , Zou Yuxia , Tan Xungang , Zhang Peijun
Published: July 2014

Olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is an important commercially cultured marine flatfish in China, Korea, and Japan, of which female grows faster than male. In order to explore the molecular mechanism of flounder sex determination and development, we used RNA-seq technology to investigate transcriptomes of flounder gonads. This produced 22,253,217 and 19,777,841 qualified reads from ovary and testes, which were jointly assembled into 97,233 contigs. Among them, 23,223 contigs were mapped to known genes, of which 2,193 were predicted to be differentially expressed in ovary and 887 in testes. According to annotation information, several sex-related biological pathways including ovarian steroidogenesis and estrogen signaling pathways were firstly found in flounder. The dimorphic expression of overall sex-related genes provides further insights into sex determination and gonadal development. Our study also provides an archive for further studies of molecular mechanism of fish sex determination.
An Improved Ant Colony Optimization Approach for Optimization of Process Planning
Authors: Wang JinFeng , Fan XiaoLiang , Ding Haimin
Published: July 2014

Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) is an important interface between computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) in computer-integrated manufacturing environments (CIMs). In this paper, process planning problem is described based on a weighted graph, and an ant colony optimization (ACO) approach is improved to deal with it effectively. The weighted graph consists of nodes, directed arcs, and undirected arcs, which denote operations, precedence constraints among operation, and the possible visited path among operations, respectively. Ant colony goes through the necessary nodes on the graph to achieve the optimal solution with the objective of minimizing total production costs (TPCs). A pheromone updating strategy proposed in this paper is incorporated in the standard ACO, which includes Global Update Rule and Local Update Rule. A simple method by controlling the repeated number of the same process plans is designed to avoid the local convergence. A case has been carried out to study the influence of various parameters of ACO on the system performance. Extensive comparative experiments have been carried out to validate the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed approach.
Weak Nonlinear Double-Diffusive Magnetoconvection in a Newtonian Liquid under Temperature Modulation
Authors: Bhadauria B. S. , Kiran Palle
Published: July 2014

The present paper deals with a weak nonlinear theory of double-diffusive magnetoconvection in an electrically conducting Newtonian liquid, confined between two horizontal surfaces, under a constant vertical magnetic field, and subjected to imposed time-periodic thermal boundaries. The temperature of both walls is varied time periodic in this case. The disturbances are expanded in terms of power series of amplitude of convection, which is assumed to be small. Using nonautonomous Ginzburg-Landau equation, the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers obtained analytically and studied heat and mass transport in the system. Effect of various parameters on the heat and mass transport is discussed extensively. It is found that the effect of magnetic field is to stabilize the system. Further, it is also notified that the heat and mass transport can be controlled by suitably adjusting the external parameters of the system.
Optimal Control of a Make-to-Stock System with Outsourced Production and Price-Sensitive Demand
Authors: Chen Liuxin , Hao Gang , Wang Huimin
Published: July 2014

We consider a make-to-stock system with controllable demand rate (by varying product selling price) and adjustable service rate (by outsourcing production). With one outsourcing alternative and a choice of either high or low price, the system decides at any point in time whether to produce or even outsource for additional capacity as well as which price to sell the product at. We show in the paper that the optimal control policy is of dynamic threshold type: all decisions are based on the product inventory position which represents the state of the system; there is a state dependent base stock level to decide on production and a higher level on outsourcing; and there is a state dependent threshold which divides the choice of high and low prices.
Concept Modelling of Vehicle Joints and Beam-Like Structures through Dynamic FE-Based Methods
Authors: De Gaetano G. , Mundo D. , Cosco F. I. , Maletta C. , Donders S.
Published: July 2014

This paper presents dynamic methodologies able to obtain concept models of automotive beams and joints, which compare favourably with the existing literature methods, in terms of accuracy, easiness of implementation, and computational loads. For the concept beams, the proposed method is based on a dynamic finite element (FE) approach, which estimates the stiffness characteristics of equivalent 1D beam elements using the natural frequencies, computed by a modal analysis of the detailed 3D FE model of the structure. Concept beams are then connected to each other by a concept joint, which is obtained through a dynamic reduction technique that makes use of its vibration normal modes. The joint reduction is improved through the application of a new interface beam-to-joint element, able to interpolate accurately the nodal displacements of the outer contour of the section, to obtain displacements and rotations of the central connection node. The proposed approach is validated through an application case that is typical in vehicle body engineering: the analysis of a structure formed by three spot-welded thin-walled beams, connected by a joint.
Direct Numerical Simulation of Twin Swirling Flow Jets: Effect of Vortex-Vortex Interaction on Turbulence Modification
Authors: Xu Wenkai , Gui Nan , Ge Liang , Yan Jie
Published: July 2014

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) was carried out to study twin swirling jets which are issued from two parallel nozzles at a Reynolds number of Re = 5000 and three
swirl levels of S = 0.68, 1.08, and 1.42, respectively. The basic structures of vortex-vortex interaction and temporal evolution are illustrated. The characteristics of axial variation of turbulent fluctuation velocities, in both the near and far field, in comparison to a single swirling jet, are shown to explore the effects of vortex-vortex interaction on turbulence modifications. Moreover, the second order turbulent fluctuations are also shown, by which the modification of turbulence associated with the coherent or correlated turbulent fluctuation and turbulent kinetic energy transport characteristics are clearly indicated. It is found that the twin swirling flow has a fairly strong localized vortex-vortex interaction between a pair of inversely rotated vortices. The location and strength of interaction depend on swirl level greatly. The modification of vortex takes place by transforming large-scale vortices into complex small ones, whereas the modulation of turbulent kinetic energy is continuously augmented by strong vortex modification.
Endovascular and Surgical Options for Ruptured Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms: Review of the Literature
Authors: Santiago-Dieppa David R. , Pannell Jeffrey S. , Khalessi Alexander A.
Published: July 2014

Middle cerebral artery (MCA) aneurysms are common entities, and those of the bifurcation are the most frequently encountered sublocation of MCA aneurysm. MCA bifurcation (MBIF) aneurysms commonly present with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), are devastating, and are often lethal. At the present time, the treatment of ruptured MBIF aneurysms entails either endovascular or open microneurosurgical methods to permanently secure the aneurysm(s). The purpose of this report is to review the current available data regarding the relative superiority of endovascular versus open microneurosurgical clipping for the treatment of ruptured middle cerebral artery bifurcation aneurysms.
Some Elements of Operational Modal Analysis
Authors: Brincker Rune
Published: July 2014

This paper gives an overview of the main components of operational modal analysis (OMA) and can serve as a tutorial for research oriented OMA applications. The paper gives a short introduction to the modeling of random responses and to the transforms often used in OMA such as the Fourier series, the Fourier integral, the Laplace transform, and the Z-transform. Then the paper introduces the spectral density matrix of the random responses and presents the theoretical solutions for correlation function and spectral density matrix under white noise loading. Some important guidelines for testing are mentioned and the most common techniques for signal processing of the operating signals are presented. The algorithms of some of the commonly used time domain and frequency domain identification techniques are presented and finally some issues are discussed such as mode shape scaling, and mode shape expansion. The different techniques are illustrated on the difficult case of identifying the three first closely spaced modes of the Heritage Court Tower building.
On Comparison Theorems for Splittings of Different Semimonotone Matrices
Authors: Miao Shu-Xin , Cao Yang
Published: July 2014

Comparison theorems between the spectral radii of different matrices are useful tools for judging the efficiency of preconditioners. In this paper, some comparison theorems for the spectral radii of matrices arising from proper splittings of different semimonotone matrices are presented.
Temperature Effects on a‐IGZO Thin Film Transistors Using HfO2 Gate Dielectric Material
Authors: Lin Yu-Hsien , Chou Jay-Chi
Published: July 2014

This study investigated the temperature effect on amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a‐IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) using hafnium oxide (HfO2) gate dielectric material. HfO2 is an attractive candidate as a high‐κ dielectric material for gate oxide because it has great potential to exhibit superior electrical properties with a high drive current. In the process of integrating the gate dielectric and IGZO thin film, postannealing treatment is an essential process for completing the chemical reaction of the IGZO thin film and enhancing the gate oxide quality to adjust the electrical characteristics of the TFTs. However, the hafnium atom diffused the IGZO thin film, causing interface roughness because of the stability of the HfO2 dielectric thin film during high‐temperature annealing. In this study, the annealing temperature was optimized at 200°C for a HfO2 gate dielectric TFT exhibiting high mobility, a high ION/IOFF ratio, low IOFF current, and excellent subthreshold swing (SS).
Novel Approach to Reactive Oxygen Species in Nontransfusion-Dependent Thalassemia
Authors: Tyan Paul I. , Radwan Amr H. , Eid Assaad , Haddad Anthony G. , Wehbe David , Taher Ali T.
Published: July 2014

The term Nontransfusion dependent thalassaemia (NTDT) was suggested to describe patients who had clinical manifestations that are too severe to be termed minor yet too mild to be termed major. Those patients are not entirely dependent on transfusions for survival. If left untreated, three main factors are responsible for the clinical sequelae of NTDT: ineffective erythropoiesis, chronic hemolytic anemia, and iron overload. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in NTDT patients is caused by 2 major mechanisms. The first one is chronic hypoxia resulting from chronic anemia and ineffective erythropoiesis leading to mitochondrial damage and the second is iron overload also due to chronic anemia and tissue hypoxia leading to increase intestinal iron absorption in thalassemic patients. Oxidative damage by reactive oxygen species (generated by free globin chains and labile plasma iron) is believed to be one of the main contributors to cell injury, tissue damage, and hypercoagulability in patients with thalassemia. Independently increased ROS has been linked to a myriad of pathological outcomes such as leg ulcers, decreased wound healing, pulmonary hypertension, silent brain infarcts, and increased thrombosis to count a few. Interestingly many of those complications overlap with those found in NTDT patients.
A Strong Convergence Algorithm for the Two-Operator Split Common Fixed Point Problem in Hilbert Spaces
Authors: Hong Chung-Chien , Huang Young-Ye
Published: July 2014

The two-operator split common fixed point problem (two-operator SCFP) with firmly nonexpansive mappings is investigated in this paper. This problem covers the problems of split feasibility, convex feasibility, and equilibrium and can especially be used to model significant image recovery problems such as the intensity-modulated radiation therapy, computed tomography, and the sensor network. An iterative scheme is presented to approximate the minimum norm solution of the two-operator SCFP problem. The performance of the presented algorithm is compared with that of the last algorithm for the two-operator SCFP and the advantage of the presented algorithm is shown through the numerical result.
Role of Lectin-Like Oxidized Low Density Lipoprotein-1 in Fetoplacental Vascular Dysfunction in Preeclampsia
Authors: Zuniga Felipe A. , Ormazabal Valeska , Gutierrez Nicolas , Aguilera Valeria , Radojkovic Claudia , Veas Carlos , Escudero Carlos , Lamperti Liliana , Aguayo Claudio
Published: July 2014

The bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) represents a key marker in vascular health. A decrease in NO induces a pathological condition denominated endothelial dysfunction, syndrome observed in different pathologies, such as obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and preeclampsia (PE). PE is one of the major risks for maternal death and fetal loss. Recent studies suggest that the placenta of pregnant women with PE express high levels of lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1), which induces endothelial dysfunction by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreasing intracellular NO. Besides LOX-1 activation induces changes in migration and apoptosis of syncytiotrophoblast cells. However, the role of this receptor in placental tissue is still unknown. In this review we will describes the physiological roles of LOX-1 in normal placenta development and the potential involvement of this receptor in the pathophysiology of PE.
Strategy and Software Application of Fresh Produce Package Design to Attain Optimal Modified Atmosphere
Authors: Lee Dong Sun , Jo Yun Hee , Kwon Min-Ji , An Duck Soon
Published: July 2014

Modified atmosphere packaging of fresh produce relies on the attainment of desired gas concentration inside the package resulting from product respiration and package’s gas transfer. Systematic package design method to achieve the target modified atmosphere was developed and constructed as software in terms of selecting the most appropriate film, microperforations, and/or CO2 scavenger. It incorporates modeling and/or database construction on the produce respiration, gas transfer across the plastic film and microperforation, and CO2 absorption by the scavenger. The optimization algorithm first selects the packaging film and/or microperforations to have the target O2 concentration in response to the respiration and then tunes the CO2 concentration by CO2 absorber when it goes above its tolerance limit. The optimization method tested for green pepper, strawberry, and king oyster mushroom packages was shown to be effective to design the package and the results obtained were consistent with literature work and experimental atmosphere.
Effects of Presowing Pulsed Electromagnetic Treatment of Tomato Seed on Growth, Yield, and Lycopene Content
Authors: Efthimiadou Aspasia , Katsenios Nikolaos , Karkanis Anestis , Papastylianou Panayiota , Triantafyllidis Vassilios , Travlos Ilias , Bilalis Dimitrios J.
Published: July 2014

The use of magnetic field as a presowing treatment has been adopted by researchers as a new environmental friendly technique. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of magnetic field exposure on tomato seeds covering a range of parameters such as transplanting percentage, plant height, shoot diameter, number of leaves per plant, fresh weight, dry weight, number of flowers, yield, and lycopene content. Pulsed electromagnetic field was used for 0, 5, 10, and 15 minutes as a presowing treatment of tomato seeds in a field experiment for two years. Papimi device (amplitude on the order of 12.5 mT) has been used. The use of pulsed electromagnetic field as a presowing treatment was found to enhance plant growth in tomato plants at certain duration of exposure. Magnetic field treatments and especially the exposure of 10 and 15 minutes gave the best results in all measurements, except plant height and lycopene content. Yield per plant was higher in magnetic field treatments, compared to control. MF-15 treatment yield was 80.93% higher than control treatment. Lycopene content was higher in magnetic field treatments, although values showed no statistically significant differences.
Isolation of Environmental Bacteria from Surface and Drinking Water in Mafikeng, South Africa, and Characterization Using Their Antibiotic Resistance Profiles
Authors: Mulamattathil Suma George , Bezuidenhout Carlos , Mbewe Moses , Ateba Collins Njie
Published: July 2014

The aim of this study was to isolate and identify environmental bacteria from various raw water sources as well as the drinking water distributions system in Mafikeng, South Africa, and to determine their antibiotic resistance profiles. Water samples from five different sites (raw and drinking water) were analysed for the presence of faecal indicator bacteria as well asAeromonasandPseudomonasspecies. Faecal and total coliforms were detected in summer in the treated water samples from the Modimola dam and in the mixed water samples, withPseudomonasspp. being the most prevalent organism. The most prevalent multiple antibiotic resistance phenotype observed was KF-AP-C-E-OT-K-TM-A. All organisms tested were resistant to erythromycin, trimethoprim, and amoxicillin. All isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin and faecal coliforms andPseudomonasspp. to neomycin and streptomycin. Cluster analysis based on inhibition zone diameter data suggests that the isolates had similar chemical exposure histories. Isolates were identified usinggyrB,toxA, ecfX, aerA,andhylHgene fragments andgyrB,ecfX,andhylHfragments were amplified. These results demonstrate that (i) the drinking water from Mafikeng contains various bacterial species and at times faecal and total coliforms. (ii) The various bacteria are resistant to various classes of antibiotics.
Multiband CCD Image Compression for Space Camera with Large Field of View
Authors: Li Jin , Xing Fei , Sun Ting , You Zheng
Published: July 2014

Space multiband CCD camera compression encoder requires low-complexity, high-robustness, and high-performance because of its captured images information being very precious and also because it is usually working on the satellite where the resources, such as power, memory, and processing capacity, are limited. However, the traditional compression approaches, such as JPEG2000, 3D transforms, and PCA, have the high-complexity. The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems-Image Data Compression (CCSDS-IDC) algorithm decreases the average PSNR by 2 dB compared with JPEG2000. In this paper, we proposed a low-complexity compression algorithm based on deep coupling algorithm among posttransform in wavelet domain, compressive sensing, and distributed source coding. In our algorithm, we integrate three low-complexity and high-performance approaches in a deeply coupled manner to remove the spatial redundant, spectral redundant, and bit information redundancy. Experimental results on multiband CCD images show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperforms the traditional approaches.
Study of the Thermal Decomposition of PFPEs Lubricants on a Thin DLC Film Using Finitely Extensible Nonlinear Elastic Potential Based Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Authors: Deb Nath S. K. , Wong C. H.
Published: July 2014

Perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) are widely used as hard disk lubricants for protecting carbon overcoat reducing friction between the hard disk interface and the head during the movement of head during reading and writing data in the hard disk. Due to temperature rise of PFPE Zdol lubricant molecules on a DLC surface, how polar end groups are detached from lubricant molecules during coating is described considering the effect of temperatures on the bond/break density of PFPE Zdol using the coarse-grained bead spring model based on finitely extensible nonlinear elastic potential. As PFPE Z contains no polar end groups, effects of temperature on the bond/break density (number of broken bonds/total number of bonds) are not so significant like PFPE Zdol. Effects of temperature on the bond/break density of PFPE Z on DLC surface are also discussed with the help of graphical results. How bond/break phenomenonaffects the end bead density of PFPE Z and PFPE Zdol on DLC surface is discussed elaborately. How the overall bond length of PFPE Zdol increases with the increase of temperature which is responsible for its decomposition is discussed with the help of graphical results. At HAMR condition, as PFPE Z and PFPE Zdol are not suitable lubricant on a hard disk surface, it needs more investigations to obtain suitable lubricant. We study the effect of breaking of bonds of nonfunctional lubricant PFPE Z, functional lubricants such as PFPE Zdol and PFPE Ztetrao, and multidented functional lubricants such as ARJ-DS, ARJ-DD, and OHJ-DS on a DLC substrate with the increase of temperature when heating of all of the lubricants on a DLC substrate is carried out isothermally using the coarse-grained bead spring model by molecular dynamics simulations and suitable lubricant is selected which is suitable on a DLC substrate at high temperature.
Beneficial Effects of Testosterone Therapy on Functional Capacity, Cardiovascular Parameters, and Quality of Life in Patients with Congestive Heart Failure
Authors: Mirdamadi Ahmad , Garakyaraghi Mohammad , Pourmoghaddas Ali , Bahmani Alireza , Mahmoudi Hamideh , Gharipour Mojgan
Published: July 2014

Background.According to the present evidences suggesting association between low testosterone level and prediction of reduced exercise capacity as well as poor clinical outcome in patients with heart failure, we sought to determine if testosterone therapy improves clinical and cardiovascular conditions as well as quality of life status in patients with stable chronic heart failure.Methods.A total of 50 male patients who suffered from congestive heart failure were recruited in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial and randomized to receive an intramuscular (gluteal) long-acting androgen injection (1 mL of testosterone enanthate 250 mg/mL) once every four weeks for 12 weeks or receive intramuscular injections of saline (1 mL of 0.9% wt/vol NaCl) with the same protocol.Results.The changes in body weight, hemodynamic parameters, and left ventricular dimensional echocardiographic indices were all comparable between the two groups. Regarding changes in diastolic functional state and using Tei index, this parameter was significantly improved. Unlike the group received placebo, those who received testosterone had a significant increasing trend in 6-walk mean distance (6MWD) parameter within the study period (P=0.019). The discrepancy in the trends of changes in 6MWD between study groups remained significant after adjusting baseline variables (mean square = 243.262,Findex = 4.402, andP=0.045).Conclusion.Our study strengthens insights into the beneficial role of testosterone in improvement of functional capacity and quality of life in heart failure patients.
Smokeless Tobacco and Oral Cancer in South Asia: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
Authors: Khan Zohaib , Tönnies Justus , Müller Steffen
Published: July 2014

Introduction. Smokeless tobacco is considered one of the major risk factors for oral cancer. It is estimated that over 90% of the global smokeless tobacco use burden is in South Asia. This paper aims to systematically review publications reporting epidemiological observational studies published in South Asia from 1984 till 2013.Methods. An electronic search in “Medline” and “ISI Web of Knowledge” yielded 734 publications out of which 21 were included in this review. All publications were assessed for quality using a standard quality assessment tool. Effect estimates (odds ratios (OR)) were abstracted or calculated from the given data. A random effects meta-analysis was performed to assess the risk of oral cancer with the use of different forms of smokeless tobacco.Results and Conclusion. The pooled OR for chewing tobacco and risk of oral cancer was 4.7 [3.1–7.1] and for paan with tobacco and risk of oral cancer was 7.1 [4.5–11.1]. The findings of this study suggest a strong causal link between oral cancer and various forms of smokeless tobacco. Public health policies in affected countries should consider SLT specific cessation programs in addition to campaigns and activities incorporated into smoking cessation programs.
Hyers-Ulam Stability of Differentiation Operator on Hilbert Spaces of Entire Functions
Authors: Wang Chun , Xu Tian-Zhou
Published: July 2014

We investigate the Hyers-Ulam stability of differentiation operator on Hilbert spaces of entire functions. We give a necessary and sufficient condition in order that the operator has the Hyers-Ulam stability and also show that the best constant of Hyers-Ulam stability exists.
An Iterative Scheme for Solving Systems of Nonlinear Fredholm Integrodifferential Equations
Authors: Berenguer M. I. , Gámez D. , López Linares A. J.
Published: July 2014

Using fixed-point techniques and Faber-Schauder systems in adequate Banach spaces, we approximate the solution of a system of nonlinear Fredholm integrodifferential equations of the second kind.
Lipid Isolated from aLeishmania donovaniStrain ReducesEscherichia coliInduced Sepsis in Mice through Inhibition of Inflammatory Responses
Authors: Das Subhadip , Chatterjee Nabanita , Bose Dipayan , Banerjee Somenath , Pal Prajnamoy , Jha Tarun , Das Saha Krishna
Published: July 2014

Sepsis is the reflection of systemic immune response that manifests in the sequential inflammatory process in presence of infection. This may occur as a result of gram-negative bacterial sepsis includingEscherichia coliinfection that gives rise to excessive production of inflammatory mediators and causes severe tissue injuries. We have reported earlier that the lipid of attenuatedLeishmania donovanisuppresses the inflammatory responses in arthritis patients. Using heat killedE. colistimulated macrophages, we have now investigated the effect of leishmanial total lipid (LTL) isolated fromLeishmania donovani(MHO/IN/1978/UR6) for amelioration of the inflammatory mediators and transcriptional factor with suppression of TLR4-CD14 expression. To evaluate thein vivoeffect,E. coliinduced murine sepsis model was used focusing on the changes in different parameter(s) of lung injury caused by sepsis, namely, edema, vascular permeability, and pathophysiology, and the status of different cytokine-chemokine(s) and adhesion molecule(s). Due to the effect of LTL,E. coliinduced inflammatory cytokine-chemokine(s) levels were significantly reduced in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid simultaneously. LTL also improved the lung injury and suppressed the cell adhesion molecules in lung tissue. These findings indicate that LTL may prove to be a potential anti-inflammatory agent and provide protection against gram-negative bacterial sepsis with pulmonary impairment.
Effects of Anti-TNF Alpha Drugs on Disability in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Long-Term Real-Life Data from the Lorhen Registry
Authors: Filippini Matteo , Bazzani Chiara , Atzeni Fabiola , Sarzi Puttini Piercarlo , Marchesoni Antonio , Favalli Ennio Giulio , Caporali Roberto , Cavagna Lorenzo , Gorla Roberto
Published: July 2014

This study involving 1033 patients with RA confirms the effectiveness of etanercept, adalimumab, and infliximab in reducing RA-related disability even in patients with a history of highly active and longstanding RA. Moreover, we found that the improvement in disability was biphasic, with a marked improvement during the first year of anti-TNF therapy, followed by slower but significant recovery over the subsequent four years.
Harvesting as an Alternative to Burning for Managing Spinifex Grasslands in Australia
Authors: Gamage Harshi K. , Memmott Paul , Firn Jennifer , Schmidt Susanne
Published: July 2014

Sustainable harvesting of grasslands can buffer large scale wildfires and the harvested biomass can be used for various products. Spinifex (Triodiaspp.) grasslands cover ≈30% of the Australian continent and form the dominant vegetation in the driest regions. Harvesting near settlements is being considered as a means to reduce the occurrence and intensity of wildfires and to source biomaterials for sustainable desert living. However, it is unknown if harvesting spinifex grasslands can be done sustainably without loss of biodiversity and ecosystem function. We examined the trajectory of plant regeneration of burned and harvested spinifex grassland, floristic diversity, nutrient concentrations in soil and plants, and seed germination in controlledex situconditions. After two to three years of burning or harvesting in dry or wet seasons, species richness, diversity, and concentrations of most nutrients in soil and leaves of regenerating spinifex plants were overall similar in burned and harvested plots. Germination tests showed that 20% of species require fire-related cues to trigger germination, indicating that fire is essential for the regeneration of some species. Further experimentation should evaluate these findings and explore if harvesting and intervention, such as sowing of fire-cued seeds, allow sustainable, localised harvesting of spinifex grasslands.
Sparse Adaptive Channel Estimation Based onlp-Norm-Penalized Affine Projection Algorithm
Authors: Li Yingsong , Li Wenxing , Yu Wenhua , Wan Jian , Li Zhiwei
Published: July 2014

We propose anlp-norm-penalized affine projection algorithm (LP-APA) for broadband multipath adaptive channel estimations. The proposed LP-APA is realized by incorporating anlp-norm into the cost function of the conventional affine projection algorithm (APA) to exploit the sparsity property of the broadband wireless multipath channel, by which the convergence speed and steady-state performance of the APA are significantly improved. The implementation of the LP-APA is equivalent to adding a zero attractor to its iterations. The simulation results, which are obtained from a sparse channel estimation, demonstrate that the proposed LP-APA can efficiently improve channel estimation performance in terms of both the convergence speed and steady-state performance when the channel is exactly sparse.
A New Classification Method of Infrasound Events Using Hilbert‐Huang Transform and Support Vector Machine
Authors: Liu Xueyong , Li Mei , Tang Wei , Wang Shichao , Wu Xiong
Published: July 2014

Infrasound is a type of low frequency signal that occurs in nature and results from man‐made events, typically ranging in frequency from 0.01 Hz to 20 Hz. In this paper, a classification method based on Hilbert‐Huang transform (HHT) and support vector machine (SVM) is proposed to discriminate between three different natural events. The frequency spectrum characteristics of infrasound signals produced by different events, such as volcanoes, are unique, which lays the foundation for infrasound signal classification. First, the HHT method was used to extract the feature vectors of several kinds of infrasound events from the Hilbert marginal spectrum. Then, the feature vectors were classified by the SVM method. Finally, the present of classification and identification accuracy are given. The simulation results show that the recognition rate is above 97.7%, and that approach is effective for classifying event types for small samples.
Prevalence and Correlation between TMD Based on RDC/TMD Diagnoses, Oral Parafunctions and Psychoemotional Stress in Polish University Students
Authors: Wieckiewicz Mieszko , Grychowska Natalia , Wojciechowski Kamil , Pelc Anna , Augustyniak Michal , Sleboda Aleksandra , Zietek Marek
Published: July 2014

The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and oral parafunctions, as well as their correlation with psychoemotional factors in Polish university students. The research was conducted in a group of 456 students (N=456). The examination form comprised of two parts: survey and clinical examination. The research diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD) was used in order to assess TMD. Symptoms of TMD were observed in 246 (54%) students after clinical examination. The largest group involved students with disc displacement (women: 132, 29%; men: 70, 15%). Women (164; 36%) suffered more frequently than men (82; 18%) from problems related to the stomatognathic system (P<0.05), described themselves as easily excitable and emotionally burdened, and reported symptoms as tightness of the facial and neck muscles (P<0.05). In 289 (64%) students intraoral symptoms concerning occlusal parafunctions were observed. In 404 (89%) examined students, nonocclusal parafunctions were recorded. A significant correlation between TMD and psychoemotional problems could be detected. TMD symptoms more often concern women. Emotional burden and excitability are factors predisposing muscular disorders.
P-Fuzzy Diffusion Equation Using Rules Base
Authors: Leite Jefferson , Bassanezi R. C. , Leite Jackellyne , Cecconello Moiseis
Published: July 2014

We propose a fuzzy system that simulates dispersion of individuals whose movements are described by diffusion. We will use only the position of the population as an input variable for describing the process. We emphasize that the classical diffusion equation along with its analytical solution in no time was used for obtaining our solution.