bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Control of paleoshorelines by trench forebulge uplift, Loyalty Islands
Authors: Dickinson William R.
Published: June 2013

Unlike most tropical Pacific islands, which lie along island arcs or hotspot chains, the Loyalty Islands between New Caledonia and Vanuatu owe their existence and morphology to the uplift of pre-existing atolls on the flexural forebulge of the New Hebrides Trench. The configuration and topography of each island is a function of distance from the crest of the uplifted forebulge. Both Maré and Lifou are fully emergent paleoatolls upon which ancient barrier reefs form highstanding annular ridges that enclose interior plateaus representing paleolagoon floors, whereas the partially emergent Ouveapaleoatoll rim flanks a drowned remnant lagoon. Emergent paleoshoreline features exposed by island uplift include paleoreef flats constructed as ancient fringing reefs built to past low tide levels and emergent tidal notches incised at past high tide levels. Present paleoshoreline elevations record uplift rates of the islands since last-interglacial and mid-Holocene highstands in global and regional sea levels, respectively, and paleoreef stratigraphy reflects net Quaternary island emergence. The empirical uplift rates vary in harmony with theoretical uplift rates inferred from the different positions of the islands in transit across the trench forebulge at the trench subduction rate. The Loyalty Islands provide a case study of island environments controlled primarily by neotectonics.
Personality Traits and South Koreans' Attitudes Toward North Korea
Authors: Ha Shang E.
Published: June 2013

Recent studies suggest that personality traits affect not only ordinary citizens’ political ideology but also their opinions on specific social or political issues. In line with these studies, this article examines the relationship between personality traits — measured by the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) — and South Koreans’ attitudes toward North Korea. The results from statistical analysis of two nationally representative surveys reveal that people who are conscientious are less likely to feel close to North Korea and more likely to believe North Korea is a hostile nation, whereas those high on Openness are more likely to harbour positive attitudes toward North Korea. Given that attitudes toward North Korea have been the most important determinant of political ideology in South Korea, these findings seem to be consistent with those of pre-existing studies.
ON NONINNER AUTOMORPHISMS OF FINITE NONABELIAN -GROUPS
Authors: GHORAISHI S. M.
Published: June 2013

A long-standing conjecture asserts that every finite nonabelian $p$-group has a noninner automorphism of order $p$. In this paper the verification of the conjecture is reduced to the case of $p$-groups $G$ satisfying ${ Z}_{2}^{\star } (G)\leq {C}_{G} ({ Z}_{2}^{\star } (G))= \Phi (G)$, where ${ Z}_{2}^{\star } (G)$ is the preimage of ${\Omega }_{1} ({Z}_{2} (G)/ Z(G))$ in $G$. This improves Deaconescu and Silberberg’s reduction of the conjecture: if ${C}_{G} (Z(\Phi (G)))\not = \Phi (G)$, then $G$ has a noninner automorphism of order $p$ leaving the Frattini subgroup of $G$ elementwise fixed [‘Noninner automorphisms of order $p$ of finite $p$-groups’, J. Algebra 250 (2002), 283–287].
Amla (Emblica officinalisGaertn.) extract inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced procoagulant and pro-inflammatory factors in cultured vascular endothelial cells
Authors: Pradyumna Rao Theertham , Okamoto Takayuki , Akita Nobuyuki , Hayashi Tatsuya , Kato-Yasuda Naomi , Suzuki Koji
Published: June 2013

Amla (Emblica officinalisGaertn.) has been used for many centuries in traditional Indian Ayurvedic formulations for the prevention and treatment of many inflammatory diseases. The present study evaluated the anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties of amla fruit extract. The amla fruit extract potentially and significantly reduced lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tissue factor expression and von Willebrand factor release in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC)in vitroat clinically relevant concentrations (1–100 μg/ml). In a leucocyte adhesion model of inflammation, it also significantly decreased LPS-induced adhesion of human monocytic cells (THP-1) to the HUVEC, as well as reduced the expression of endothelial-leucocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin) in the target cells. In addition, thein vivoanti-inflammatory effects were evaluated in a LPS-induced endotoxaemia rat model. Oral administration of the amla fruit extract (50 mg/kg body weight) significantly decreased the concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-6 in serum. These results suggest that amla fruit extract may be an effective anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory agent.
Molecular weight of barley β-glucan influences energy expenditure, gastric emptying and glycaemic response in human subjects
Authors: Thondre P. S. , Shafat A. , Clegg M. E.
Published: June 2013

Barley β-glucan (BG) has been shown to reduce glycaemic response (GR) in some studies. It is hypothesised that this reduction may be a function of its physical properties that delay gastric emptying (GE). The effect of these changes in GR and GE on diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) is not known. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of BG of different molecular weights and purities on GR, GE and DIT in healthy subjects. This was a randomised, single-blind, repeated-measures design where fifteen healthy subjects were tested on three occasions following an overnight fast. Following the baseline measurements, the volunteers were fed a soup containing high-molecular-weight BG (HBG), a soup containing low-molecular-weight BG (LBG) or a control soup with no BG (CHO). Following the consumption of the breakfast, GR was measured using finger-prick blood samples, GE was determined using the 13C-octanoic acid breath test and DIT was measured using indirect calorimetry. There was a difference in GR AUC between the soups after 60 min but not after 120 min. The CHO and LBG meals had a greater GR than the HBG meal. There were differences in all GE time points, with the HBG meal having the slowest GE time. There was a correlation between the GR and the initial GE times. There were differences in total DIT between the three test meals with the HBG meal having the lowest DIT. The present study indicates that HBG has the ability to delay GE due to increased viscosity, resulting in a decreased GR and DIT.
THE WATER RELATIONS AND IRRIGATION REQUIREMENTS OF PAPAYA (CARICA PAPAYAL.): A REVIEW
Authors: CARR M. K. V.
Published: June 2013

Papaya has never been found in the wild, but is believed to have originated in tropical America from where it has spread throughout the tropics and subtropics. This fruit crop is particularly important in India and Brazil. Most research on the water relations of papaya has been undertaken in Brazil and on the island of Guam (United States of America). Papaya is a short-lived large herb, growing to a height of up to 10 m. Leaves emerge from the upper part of the unbranched stem. After a juvenile period, lasting for about two months, flowers begin to develop in leaf axils. Flowering continues throughout the year as new leaves emerge. The plants, which are dioecious, begin to bear fruit within a year after planting, sustaining high yields for two years before yields decline. The ‘effective’ root depth varies with the method of irrigation, but can reach 0.55 m. The seedlings and the trees are susceptible to wind damage, a topic that has been well researched. Stomata are only found on the abaxial leaf surface. They are sensitive to changes in the saturation deficit of the air. Stomata also respond quickly to changing light conditions. On clear days, midday suppression of photosynthesis occurs as a result of partial closure of the stomata. In the morning, there is a time lag between water loss by transpiration and sap flow, as water is taken from storage in the hollow stem. Few attempts have been made to measure the actual water use of papaya, and there are no reliable published values for the crop coefficient. Limitations to the design of the papaya irrigation experiments reported so far make it difficult to reconcile the results in practical ways. Water productivities equivalent to 1.8 to 2.8 kg (fresh fruit) m−3(irrigation water) have been obtained. Although papaya is generally considered to be drought sensitive and responsive to irrigation, there is a shortage of good experimental evidence to support this view. There is a need to establish practical irrigation schedules for this remarkable crop. A uniformity of approach to irrigation experimentation and a common, universally agreed nomenclature would facilitate this process.
Proline modulates the effect of bisphosphonate on calcium levels and adenosine triphosphate production in cell lines derived from bovine Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces
Authors: Fuchs A.G. , Echeverría C.I. , Pérez Rojo F.G. , Prieto González E.A. , Roldán E.J.A.
Published: June 2013

Bisphosphonates have been proposed as pharmacological agents against parasite and cancer cell growth. The effect of these compounds on helminthic cell viability and acellular compartment morphology, however, has not yet been studied. The effects of different types of bisphosphonates, namely etidronate (EHDP), pamidronate (APD), alendronate (ABP), ibandronate (IB) and olpadronate (OPD), and their interaction with amiloride, 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (D3) and proline were evaluated on a cell line derived from bovine Echinococcus granulousus protoscoleces (EGPE) that forms cystic colonies in agarose. The EGPE cell line allowed testing the effect of bisphosphonates alone and in association with other compounds that could modulate calcium apposition/deposition, and were useful in measuring the impact of these compounds on cell growth, cystic colony formation and calcium storage. Decreased cell growth and cystic colony formation were found with EHDP, IB and OPD, and increased calcium storage with EHDP only. Calcium storage in EGPE cells appeared to be sensitive to the effect of amiloride, D3 and proline. Proline decreased calcium storage and increased colony formation. Changes in calcium storage may be associated with degenerative changes of the cysts, as shown in the in vitro colony model and linked to an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) decrease. In conclusion, bisphosphonates could be suitable tempering drugs to treat cestode infections.
Molecular cloning and characterization ofNcROP2Fam-1, a member of the ROP2 family of rhoptry proteins inNeospora caninumthat is targeted by antibodies neutralizing host cell invasionin vitro
Authors: ALAEDDINE FERIAL , HEMPHILL ANDREW , DEBACHE KARIM , GUIONAUD CHRISTOPHE
Published: June 2013

Recent publications demonstrated that a fragment of aNeospora caninumROP2 family member antigen represents a promising vaccine candidate. We here report on the cloning of the cDNA encoding this protein,N. caninumROP2 family member 1 (NcROP2Fam-1), its molecular characterization and localization. The protein possesses the hallmarks of ROP2 family members and is apparently devoid of catalytic activity. NcROP2Fam-1 is synthesized as a pre-pro-protein that is matured to 2 proteins of 49 and 55 kDa that localize to rhoptry bulbs. Upon invasion the protein is associated with the nascent parasitophorous vacuole membrane (PVM), evacuoles surrounding the host cell nucleus and, in some instances, the surface of intracellular parasites. Staining was also observed within the cyst wall of ‘cysts’ producedin vitro. Interestingly, NcROP2Fam-1 was also detected on the surface of extracellular parasites entering the host cells and antibodies directed against NcROP2Fam-1-specific peptides partially neutralized invasionin vitro. We conclude that, in spite of the general belief that ROP2 family proteins are intracellular antigens, NcROP2Fam-1 can also be considered as an extracellular antigen, a property that should be taken into account in further experiments employing ROP2 family proteins as vaccines.
Effect of compliance location in series elastic actuators
Authors: Sensinger Jonathon W. , Burkart Lawrence E. , Pratt Gill A. , Weir Richard F. ff.
Published: June 2013

Series elastic actuators have beneficial properties for some robot applications. Several recent implementations contain alternative placements of the compliant element to improve instrumentation design. We use a class 1 versus class 2 lever model and energy-port methods to demonstrate in this paper that these alternative placements should still be classified as series elastic actuators. We also note that the compliance of proximal series elastic actuators is reflected by an augmented gear ratio dependent on the nominal gear ratio, which is significant for small gear ratios and approaches unity for large gear ratios. This reflected compliance is shown to differ depending on the sign of the gear ratio. We demonstrate that although the reflected compliance is only marginally influenced by the magnitude of the gear ratio, there are several notable differences, particularly for small gear ratios.
Characterization of Dual-Phase Steel Microstructure by Combined Submicrometer EBSD and EPMA Carbon Measurements
Authors: Pinard Philippe T. , Schwedt Alexander , Ramazani Ali , Prahl Ulrich , Richter Silvia
Published: June 2013

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) measurements are combined to characterize an industrial produced dual-phase steel containing some bainite fraction. High-resolution carbon mappings acquired on a field emission electron microprobe are utilized to validate and improve the identification of the constituents (ferrite, martensite, and bainite) performed by EBSD using the image quality and kernel average misorientation. The combination eliminates the ambiguity between the identification of bainite and transformation-induced dislocation zones, encountered if only the kernel average misorientation is considered. The detection of carbon in high misorientation regions confirms the presence of bainite. These results are corroborated by secondary electron images after nital etching. Limitations of this combined method due to differences between the spatial resolution of EBSD and EPMA are assessed. Moreover, a quantification procedure adapted to carbon analysis is presented and used to measure the carbon concentration in martensite and bainite on a submicrometer scale. From measurements on reference materials, this method gives an accuracy of 0.02 wt% C and a precision better than 0.05 wt% C despite unavoidable effects of hydrocarbon contamination.
Zyxin Regulates Cell Migration and Differentiation in EMT during Chicken AV Valve Morphogenesis
Authors: Li Na , Goodwin Richard L. , Potts Jay D.
Published: June 2013

During heart valve development, epithelial–mesenchymal transformation (EMT) is a key process for valve formation. EMT leads to the generation of mesenchymal cells that will eventually become the interstitial cells (fibroblasts) of the mature valve. During EMT, cell architecture and motility change markedly; significant changes are also observed in various signaling pathways. Here we systematically examined the expression, localization, and function of zyxin, a focal adhesion protein, in EMT during atrioventricular (AV) valve morphogenesis. Expression and localization studies showed that zyxin was expressed in the AV canal region during crucial stages of valve development. Anin vitro3D collagen gel culture system was used to determine zyxin function either after siRNA gene knockdown or after overexpression. Our studies revealed that zyxin overexpression inhibited endocardial cell migration and cell differentiation and also led to a decrease in the number of migrating mesenchymal cells. Moreover, correlative cytoskeletal changes were apparent in response to both overexpression and knockdown treatments. Thus, zyxin appears to play a role as a regulator of cell migration and differentiation during EMT in chicken AV valve formation.
Multiple Morphologies of Gold–Magnetite Heterostructure Nanoparticles are Effectively Functionalized with Protein for Cell Targeting
Authors: Krystofiak Evan S. , Mattson Eric C. , Voyles Paul M. , Hirschmugl Carol J. , Albrecht Ralph M. , Gajdardziska-Josifovska Marija , Oliver Julie A.
Published: June 2013

Nanoparticles composed of a magnetic iron oxide core surrounded by a metal shell have utility in a broad range of biomedical applications. However, the presence of surface energy differences between the two components makes wetting of oxide with metal unfavorable, precluding a “core–shell” structure of an oxide core completely surrounded by a thin metal shell. Three-dimensional island growth followed by island coalescence into thick shells is favored over the two-dimensional layer-by-layer growth of a thin, continuous metal coating of a true core–shell. Aqueous synthesis of gold-coated magnetite nanoparticles with analysis by infrared, energy-dispersive X-ray, and electron energy loss spectroscopies; high-resolution transmission electron microscopy; selected area electron diffraction; and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy showed two distinct morphologies that are inconsistent with an idealized core–shell. The majority were isolated ~16–22-nm-diameter nanoparticles consisting of ~7-nm-diameter magnetite and a thick deposition of gold, most often discontinuous, with some potentially “sandwiched” morphologies. A minority were aggregates of agglomerated magnetite decorated with gold but displaying significant bare magnetite. Both populations were successfully conjugated to fibrinogen and targeted to surface-activated platelets, demonstrating that iron oxide–gold nanoparticles produced by aqueous synthesis do not require an ideal core–shell structure for biological activity in cell labeling and targeting applications.
NON-POINTED EXACTNESS, RADICALS, CLOSURE OPERATORS
Authors: GRANDIS M. , JANELIDZE G. , MÁRKI L.
Published: June 2013

In this paper it is shown how nonpointed exactness provides a framework which allows a simple categorical treatment of the basics of Kurosh–Amitsur radical theory in the nonpointed case. This is made possible by a new approach to semi-exactness, in the sense of the first author, using adjoint functors. This framework also reveals how categorical closure operators arise as radical theories.
UNKNOTTING TUNNELS, BRACELETS AND THE ELDER SIBLING PROPERTY FOR HYPERBOLIC 3-MANIFOLDS
Authors: ADAMS COLIN , KNUDSON KARIN
Published: June 2013

An unknotting tunnel in a 3-manifold with boundary is a properly embedded arc, the complement of an open neighborhood of which is a handlebody. A geodesic with endpoints on the cusp boundary of a hyperbolic 3-manifold and perpendicular to the cusp boundary is called a vertical geodesic. Given a vertical geodesic $\alpha $ in a hyperbolic 3-manifold $M$, we find sufficient conditions for it to be an unknotting tunnel. In particular, if $\alpha $ corresponds to a 4-bracelet, 5-bracelet or 6-bracelet in the universal cover and has short enough length, it must be an unknotting tunnel. Furthermore, we consider a vertical geodesic $\alpha $ that satisfies the elder sibling property, which means that in the universal cover, every horoball except the one centered at $\infty $ is connected to a larger horoball by a lift of $\alpha $. Such an $\alpha $ with length less than $\ln (2)$ is then shown to be an unknotting tunnel.
THE PLUS/MINUS SELMER GROUPS FOR SUPERSINGULAR PRIMES
Authors: KIM BYOUNG DU
Published: June 2013

Suppose that an elliptic curve $E$ over $ \mathbb{Q} $ has good supersingular reduction at $p$. We prove that Kobayashi’s plus/minus Selmer group of $E$ over a ${ \mathbb{Z} }_{p} $-extension has no proper $\Lambda $-submodule of finite index under some suitable conditions, where $\Lambda $ is the Iwasawa algebra of the Galois group of the ${ \mathbb{Z} }_{p} $-extension. This work is analogous to Greenberg’s result in the ordinary reduction case.
OBSTRUCTIONS TO A GENERAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GRAPH CORRESPONDENCES
Authors: KALISZEWSKI S. , PATANI NURA , QUIGG JOHN
Published: June 2013

For a countable discrete space $V$, every nondegenerate separable ${C}^{\ast } $-correspondence over ${c}_{0} (V)$ is isomorphic to one coming from a directed graph with vertex set $V$. In this paper we demonstrate why the analogous characterizations fail to hold for higher-rank graphs (where one considers product systems of ${C}^{\ast } $-correspondences) and for topological graphs (where $V$ is locally compact Hausdorff), and we discuss the obstructions that arise.
“Westphalian” Meets “Eastphalian” Sovereignty: China in a Globalized World
Authors: COLEMAN Andrew , MAOGOTO Jackson Nyamuya
Published: June 2013

It is the purpose of this paper to examine what challenges globalization poses to China, and “Eastphalian” sovereignty. Some commentators have suggested that globalization's advance will transform the globe into something more closely resembling the West. Accordingly, it could be said that it is inevitable that globalization's influences will bring Western perceptions of liberalism and democracy to China. The paper will briefly sketch the broad outlines of sovereignty and globalization to enable working definitions of “Westphalian” and “Eastphalian” sovereignty. The authors then discuss and assess the engagement of European powers with China as a means of contextualizing Eastphalian sovereignty's essence as ideology and worldview. This discussion sets the background for the following analysis of China's and Eastphalian sovereignty's reaction to the notion of a global community.
CCRK depletion inhibits glioblastoma cell proliferation in a cilium‐dependent manner
Authors: Yang Ying , Roine Niina , Mäkelä Tomi P
Published: June 2013

Loss of primary cilia is frequently observed in tumour cells, including glioblastoma cells, and proposed to benefit tumour growth, but a causal link has not been established. Here, we show that CCRK (cell cycle‐related kinase) and its substrate ICK (intestinal cell kinase) inhibit ciliogenesis. Depletion of CCRK leads to accumulation of ICK at ciliary tips, altered ciliary transport and inhibition of cell cycle re‐entry in NIH3T3 fibroblasts. In glioblastoma cells with deregulated high levels of CCRK, its depletion restores cilia through ICK and an ICK‐related kinase MAK, thereby inhibiting glioblastoma cell proliferation. These results indicate that inhibition of ciliogenesis might be a mechanism used by cancer cells to provide a growth advantage.
Metal ions in macrophage antimicrobial pathways: emerging roles for zinc and copper
Authors: Stafford Sian L. , Bokil Nilesh J. , Achard Maud E. S. , Kapetanovic Ronan , Schembri Mark A. , McEwan Alastair G. , Sweet Matthew J.
Published: June 2013

The immunomodulatory and antimicrobial properties of zinc and copper have long been appreciated. In addition, these metal ions are also essential for microbial growth and survival. This presents opportunities for the host to either harness their antimicrobial properties or limit their availability as defence strategies. Recent studies have shed some light on mechanisms by which copper and zinc regulation contribute to host defence, but there remain many unanswered questions at the cellular and molecular levels. Here we review the roles of these two metal ions in providing protection against infectious diseases in vivo, and in regulating innate immune responses. In particular, we focus on studies implicating zinc and copper in macrophage antimicrobial pathways, as well as the specific host genes encoding zinc transporters (SLC30A, SLC39A family members) and CTRs (copper transporters, ATP7 family members) that may contribute to pathogen control by these cells.
Relaxin improves multiple markers of wound healing and ameliorates the disturbed healing pattern of genetically diabetic mice
Authors: Bitto Alessandra , Irrera Natasha , Minutoli Letteria , Calò Margherita , Lo Cascio Patrizia , Caccia Paolo , Pizzino Gabriele , Pallio Giovanni , Micali Antonio , Vaccaro Mario , Saitta Antonino , Squadrito Francesco , Altavilla Domenica
Published: June 2013

Diabetic mice are characterized by a disrupted expression pattern of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), and impaired vasculogenesis during healing. Experimental evidence suggests that RLX (relaxin) can improve several parameters associated with wound healing. Therefore we investigated the effects of porcine-derived RLX in diabetes-related wound-healing defects in genetically diabetic mice. An incisional wound model was produced on the back of female diabetic C57BL/KsJ-m+/+Leptdb (db+/db+) mice and their normal littermates (db+/+m). Animals were treated daily with porcine RLX (25 μg/mouse per day, subcutaneously) or its vehicle. Mice were killed on 3, 6 and 12 days after skin injury for measurements of VEGF mRNA and protein synthesis, SDF-1α (stromal cell-derived factor-1α) mRNA and eNOS (endothelial NO synthase) expression. Furthermore, we evaluated wound-breaking strength, histological changes, angiogenesis and vasculogenesis at day 12. Diabetic animals showed a reduced expression of VEGF, eNOS and SDF-1α compared with non-diabetic animals. At day 6, RLX administration resulted in an increase in VEGF mRNA expression and protein wound content, in eNOS expression and in SDF-1α mRNA. Furthermore, the histological evaluation indicated that RLX improved the impaired wound healing, enhanced the staining of MMP-11 (matrix metalloproteinase-11) and increased wound-breaking strength at day 12 in diabetic mice. Immunohistochemistry showed that RLX in diabetic animals augmented new vessel formation by stimulating both angiogenesis and vasculogenesis. RLX significantly reduced the time to complete skin normalization and this effect was abrogated by a concomitant treatment with antibodies against VEGF and CXCR4 (CXC chemokine receptor 4), the SDF-1α receptor. These data strongly suggest that RLX may have a potential application in diabetes-related wound disorders.
Sex and gender differences in control of blood pressure
Authors: Maranon Rodrigo , Reckelhoff Jane F.
Published: June 2013

In recent years, the interest in studying the impact of sex steroids and gender on the regulation of blood pressure and cardiovascular disease has been growing. Women are protected from most cardiovascular events compared with men until after menopause, and postmenopausal women are at increased risk of cardiovascular complications compared with premenopausal women. The pathophysiological mechanisms have not been elucidated, but are not likely to be as simple as the presence or absence of oestrogens, since hormone replacement therapy in elderly women in the Women's Health Initiative or HERS (Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study) did not provide primary or secondary prevention against cardiovascular events. Men are also thought to be at risk of cardiovascular disease at earlier ages than women, and these mechanisms too are not likely to be as simple as the presence of testosterone, since androgen levels fall in men with cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. In fact, many investigators now believe that it is the reduction in androgen levels that frequently accompanies chronic disease and may exacerbate cardiovascular disease in men. In the present review, the roles of sex steroids and gender in mediating or protecting against hypertension and cardiovascular disease will be discussed.
Glycine restores glutathione and protects against oxidative stress in vascular tissue from sucrose-fed rats
Authors: Ruiz-Ramírez Angélica , Ortiz-Balderas Ely , Cardozo-Saldaña Guillermo , Diaz-Diaz Eulises , El-Hafidi Mohammed
Published: June 2013

The attenuation of oxidative stress could be an important mechanism whereby the incidence of vascular complications in the MS (metabolic syndrome) may be diminished. The present study was undertaken to investigate the mechanism by which glycine, supplemented to the diet of SF (sucrose-fed) rats, modulates glutathione biosynthesis and protects against oxidative stress and altered endothelium-dependent relaxation in isolated aorta. Glycine reduced O2•− (superoxide anion radical) release in the presence of NADPH, and decreased protein carbonyl and lipid peroxidation. This effect of glycine could be because of the increased amount of glutathione synthetase, which may be responsible for increased glutathione (GSH) content in vascular tissue from SF rats. Moreover, glycine increased the amount of Cu,Zn-SOD (copper/zinc superoxide dismutase) and eNOS (endothelial NO synthase) in aorta from SF animals. Finally, it improved the relaxation response to ACh (acetylcholine) found impaired in aortic rings from SF rats. In the presence of NAC (N-acetylcysteine), a precursor of GSH, an improved ACh-mediated aortic relaxation of aortic rings from SF rats was observed, whereas BSO (buthionine sulfoximine), an inhibitor of glutathione biosynthesis, inhibited the relaxing effect of NAC in aortas from both control and SF rats. This experiment emphasizes the role of GSH in endothelial function in SF rats. The present data suggest that glycine rectifies vascular reactivity by increasing the biosynthesis of glutathione. Glutathione protects vascular tissue against oxidative stress, and enhances the availability of NO, which exerts its relaxing effect, thus contributing to the reduction of high BP (blood pressure) in the SF rats.
Compact and high isolation microstrip diplexer for GPS and UWB application
Authors: Deng H.W. , Zhao Y.J. , Fu F. , Zhou X.J. , Liu Y.Y.
Published: June 2013

A novel microstrip diplexer with low insertion loss, high selectivity and isolation performance is proposed through the combination of two compact filters composed of short‐circuit centred stepped impedance resonators and, a side‐coupled shorted microstrip line, which are designed for GPS and UWB application, respectively. Due to the intrinsic characteristics and mutual loading effect of the two filters, multiple transmission zeros can be created to improve the out‐of‐band rejection and isolation of the diplexer. More compact size is obtained without an extra junction matching networks. Simulated results of the fabricated diplexer agree well with measured ones.
Start‐up circuit for low‐power indoor light energy harvesting applications
Authors: Carvalho C. , Paulino N.
Published: June 2013

A start‐up circuit, used in a micro‐power indoor light energy harvesting system, is described. This start‐up circuit achieves two goals: first, to produce a reset signal, power‐on‐reset (POR), for the energy harvesting system, and secondly, to temporarily shunt the output of the photovoltaic (PV) cells, to the output node of the system, which is connected to a capacitor. This capacitor is charged to a suitable value, so that a voltage step‐up converter starts operating, thus increasing the output voltage to a larger value than the one provided by the PV cells. A prototype of the circuit was manufactured in a 130 nm CMOS technology, occupying an area of only 0.019 mm2. Experimental results demonstrate the correct operation of the circuit, being able to correctly start‐up the system, even when having an input as low as 390 mV using, in this case, an estimated energy of only 5.3 pJ to produce the start‐up.
Improved anisotropic diffusion filtering for SAR image despeckling
Authors: Fabbrini L. , Greco M. , Messina M. , Pinelli G.
Published: June 2013

In synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, the speckle noise often corrupts salient information that is of interest (e.g. textures, small hard targets, object boundaries, etc.). To tackle such an issue, proposed is a novel anisotropic diffusion filter that manages to simultaneously fulfil competing requirements: noise reduction on homogeneous regions, weak edges preservation, and keeping hard targets intact. The capabilities of the proposed filter were proved by comparing it with another two non‐linear diffusion filters applied on a Lena image corrupted by a multiplicative speckle noise and on a real SAR image acquired by the Cosmo‐SkyMed satellite constellation.
Wide‐range (25 ns) and high‐resolution (48.8 ps) clock phase shifter
Authors: Wu Guoying , Yu Bryan , Gui Ping , Moreira P.
Published: June 2013

A wide‐range (25 ns), high‐resolution (48.8 ps) clock phase shifter developed and fabricated using a 0.13 µm CMOS technology is presented. To achieve both wide range and high resolution with good linearity while minimising area and power consumption, a coarse–fine two‐step phase‐shifting structure is proposed. A delay‐locked loop with an unconventional clock input setup is used in the fine‐shifting stage to ahieve the high resolution. Test results show that the standard deviations of the differential nonlinearity and integral nonlinearity are 4.7 ps and 4.3 ps, respectively.
Mathematical morphology based reference signals generation for active power filters
Authors: Shintemirov A.
Published: June 2013

In this reported work mathematical morphology theory is applied to implement the instantaneous power p − q control strategy of a shunt active power filter. The simulation results indicate that the implemented control strategy is able to completely compensate for the harmonic components in the load current and reactive power required by nonlinear loads in the power system.
Multiband monopole antenna with complementary split‐ring resonators for WLAN and WiMAX applications
Authors: Basaran S.C. , Olgun U. , Sertel K.
Published: June 2013

Presented is an electrically small multiband monopole antenna based on complementary split‐ring resonators, which are used to reduce antenna size. The antenna is fed by a three‐stage microstrip line and provides 13, 17 and 16% impedance bandwidth performance covering the 3.5 GHz WiMAX and 2.4/5.2 GHz WLAN bands. Also, the proposed antenna exhibits almost an omnidirectional radiation pattern in the H‐plane and a dipole‐like radiation pattern in the E‐plane. The return loss and radiation pattern measurements of the fabricated antenna are in very good agreement with simulation results.
Adaptive scanning methodology for object‐oriented visual information processing
Authors: Chew Li Wern
Published: June 2013

The raster scan method in visual information processing is the rectangular pattern of image capture and reconstruction which systematically covers the area progressively, one line at a time starting from the top left corner. This traditional scanning method might work well for still image processing but for moving images, a scanning method such as diagonal snake scan can provide a better object correlation in a sequence of image frames. A novel adaptive scanning method for object‐oriented visual information processing is proposed. Here, image pixels are collected starting from the centre of the image area and progressively extended outwards similar to the water drop ripple effect. Simulation results have shown that the proposed work uses up to 33% less processing time to cover the region‐of‐interest in an image compared to the raster scan method. Preliminary simulation results have also shown that with the proposed adaptive scanning methodology, there is a significant improvement in the performance of the object‐oriented visual compression.
Energy efficient 40 Gbit/s transmission with 850 nm VCSELs at 108 fJ/bit dissipated heat
Authors: Wolf P. , Moser P. , Larisch G. , Li H. , Lott J.A. , Bimberg D.
Published: June 2013

Energy‐efficient oxide‐confined 850 nm vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting lasers (VCSELs) for optical interconnects are presented. Error‐free data transmission at 40 Gbit/s is achieved with a record low dissipated heat per bit (energy efficiency) of only 108 fJ/bit. At 36 Gbit/s across 200 m and at 40 Gbit/s across 50 m of OM3 plus multimode optical fibre error‐free operation is achieved with energy efficiencies of 127 and 119 fJ/bit, respectively.
Tri‐band superconducting bandpass filter with high selectivity
Authors: Heng Yong , Guo Xubo , Cao Bisong , Wei Bin , Zhang Xiaoping , Chen Wei , Ying Zhijun , Song Xiaoke
Published: June 2013

A tri‐band superconducting filter at L‐band comprising three high‐pole single‐band sub‐filters with sharp band‐edges is presented to meet the high selectivity requirement. Matching junctions with high‐impedance branch lines are used to connect the sub‐filters and to reduce the channel interactions. MgO and LaAlO3 substrates are utilised in the design and fabrication procedure to reduce the filter size and achieve a high performance. The whole filter has a compact size of 43 × 39.1 mm, and the measured results match well with the simulations.
1.9 µm hybrid silicon/III‐V semiconductor laser
Authors: Dong P. , Hu T.‐C. , Zhang L. , Dinu M. , Kopf R. , Tate A. , Buhl L. , Neilson D.T. , Luo X. , Liow T.‐Y. , Lo G.‐Q. , Chen Y.‐K.
Published: June 2013

A 1.9 µm hybrid silicon/III‐V laser based on a wafer bonding technique is reported. The gain materials are InGaAs multiple quantum wells grown on InP substrate, with strain compensation between barriers and wells. The III‐V wafer is bonded to a silicon‐on‐insulator wafer with processed silicon waveguides and transition tapers. Laser emission with a threshold current of 95 mA at room temperature and 45 mA at 5 °C is demonstrated.
Pipelined ADC based design of bandpass ΔΣ‐ADC
Authors: Sarma V. , Sahoo B.
Published: June 2013

A high‐speed, large dynamic range fS/4 bandpass ΔΣ‐modulator using a first‐order error‐feedback loop is proposed. The internal quantiser is realised using a high‐speed pipelined ADC. Error feedback is achieved by exploiting the implicit latency in a pipelined ADC. The proposed architecture achieves an SNR of 94 dB with an OSR of 32.
Using unscented transform as alternative to Monte Carlo in bit error rate calculations
Authors: de Menezes L.R.A.X. , Soares A.J.M. , Silva L.M. , Ishihara J.Y.
Published: June 2013

The unscented transform (UT) is applied to the calculation of bit error rates of noisy communication channels. The UT is faster than and as accurate as the Monte Carlo method. The technique was successfully applied to several modulation schemes with different noise statistics. The UT has also the advantage of being completely defined by the moments of the random process, instead of demanding full knowledge of the probability distribution.
Achieving reproducibility needed for manufacturing semiconductor tunnel devices
Authors: Shao C. , Sexton J. , Missous M. , Kelly M.J.
Published: June 2013

Fifty years after tunnelling through semiconductor heterojunctions was originally investigated, the present authors are the first to demonstrate the required reproducibility, in wafer, between wafers in a given growth run, and from run to run, of the electrical properties required for manufacturing a microwave and millimetre‐wave detector based on electron tunnelling through a thin semiconductor tunnel barrier layer.
Ultra‐low‐power adaptable ASK clock and data recovery circuit for wireless implantable systems
Authors: Yu H. , Li Y. , Jiang L. , Ji Z.
Published: June 2013

Amplitude shift keying (ASK) and pulse position modulation (PPM) can be used to provide self‐synchronised data and clock for wireless implantable neural recoding systems, and therefore simplifies the circuit architecture. Presented is a novel ultra‐low‐power clock and data recovery (CDR) circuit based on ASK‐PPM. The CDR includes a 1 MHz gain‐boosted front‐end amplifier with an inductive load for ASK demodulation, and a charge‐bump based circuit to extract and recover clock and non‐return‐to‐zero (NRZ) data from the demodulated PPM signal. To increase the input data rate range that is able to be processed by this CDR, the reference voltage required for data recovery is adaptively generated, also from the PPM. The proposed design is fabricated in a standard CMOS 0.25 µm process. It exhibits an input sensitivity of − 13 dBm with 1 MHz input, covers an input data rate range between 19 and 76 kbit/s, and consumes only ∼ 100 µW of power.
Bit by bit row/column interleaving of block accumulate codes
Authors: Han Sang Ik , Fonseka J.P. , Dowling E.M.
Published: June 2013

A novel bit by bit row/column interleaver (BBRCI) design technique is proposed to significantly increase the minimum Hamming distance (MHD) of block accumulate codes (BACs), making them suitable for optical applications. The proposed BBRCI design method employs a separate row/column interleaver (RCI) for the transmission of each bit position of the outer block code. The numbers of rows of these individual RCIs are properly selected to increase the MHD of the resulting BAC and to reduce the frame size. It is demonstrated that BACs constructed with a BBRCI can be designed to have significantly higher MHD than similar BACs constructed with uniform interleavers (UI) and S type interleavers. Simulations show example BACs constructed with BBRCIs that perform significantly better than those BACs constructed with a UI.
Efficient algorithms for detection of face, eye and eye state
Authors: Kalbkhani Hashem , Shayesteh Mahrokh G. , Mohsen Mousavi Seyyed
Published: June 2013

Eye state analysis (open or closed) is an important step in fatigue detection. In this study, an efficient algorithm for eye state detection is proposed. At first, a new face detection method is presented for noisy images that finds the face area in the input image well. Then, novel algorithms for detection of eye region and eye state are introduced. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated on four different databases namely FERET, Aberdeen, IMM and CVL which contain more than 5700 images with different descents, positions, light conditions and glasses. The results show that the new method achieves more accuracy rate than the previously presented algorithms, while it does not need training data and is also computationally efficient.
Shape and appearance priors for level set‐based left ventricle segmentation
Authors: Yang Ronghua , Mirmehdi Majid , Xie Xianghua , Hall David
Published: June 2013

The authors propose a novel spatiotemporal constraint based on shape and appearance and combine it with a level‐set deformable model for left ventricle (LV) segmentation in four‐dimensional gated cardiac SPECT, particularly in the presence of perfusion defects. The model incorporates appearance and shape information into a ‘soft‐to‐hard’ probabilistic constraint, and utilises spatiotemporal regularisation via a maximum a posteriori framework. This constraint force allows more flexibility than the rigid forces of shape constraint‐only schemes, as well as other state of the art joint shape and appearance constraints. The combined model can hypothesise defective LV borders based on prior knowledge. The authors present comparative results to illustrate the improvement gain. A brief defect detection example is finally presented as an application of the proposed method.
Assessment of stereo camera calibration techniques for a portable mobile mapping system
Authors: Brogan Michael , McLoughlin Simon , Deegan Catherine
Published: June 2013

Mobile mapping systems that detect and geo‐reference road markings almost always consist of a stereo camera system integrated with a global positioning system/inertial navigation system. The data acquired by this navigational system allows features detected in the stereo images to be assigned global co‐ordinates. An essential step in this process is the calibration of the cameras, as it relates the pose of the two cameras to each other and a world co‐ordinate system. In Europe, road markings must be evaluated from a 35 m range, so the cameras are required to have a wide field of view. Traditional calibration methods supposedly require a calibration object that would fill most of the calibration images. This large field of view would require a calibration object of substantial size that would be impractical for the purposes of this portable system. This study explores the theory of camera calibration and then details two camera calibration techniques (using portable 3D and 2D calibration objects). The accuracy of these methods is then evaluated using a ground‐truth experiment.
Mutual information‐based binarisation of multiple images of an object: an application in medical imaging
Authors: Gal Yaniv , Mehnert Andrew , Rose Stephen , Crozier Stuart
Published: June 2013

A new method for image thresholding of two or more images that are acquired in different modalities or acquisition protocols is proposed. The method is based on measures from information theory and has no underlying free parameters nor does it require training or calibration. The method is based on finding an optimal set of global thresholds, one for each image, by maximising the mutual information above the thresholds while minimising the mutual information below the thresholds. Although some assumptions on the nature of images are made, no assumptions are made by the method on the intensity distributions or on the shape of the image histograms. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated both on synthetic images and medical images from clinical practice. It is then compared against three other thresholding methods
Locally discriminative stable model for visual tracking with clustering and principle component analysis
Authors: Zhang Canlong , Jing Zhongliang , Tang Yanping , Jin Bo , Xiao Gang
Published: June 2013

The challenge of visual tracking mainly comes from intrinsic appearance variations of the target and extrinsic environment changes around the target in a long duration, so the tracker that can simultaneously tolerate these variabilities is largely expected. In this study, the authors propose a new tracking approach based on discriminative stable regions (DSRs). The DSRs are obtained based on the criterion of maximal local entropy and spatial discrimination, which enables the tracker to handle well distractors and appearance variations. The collaborative tracking incorporated hierarchical clustering can tolerate motion noise and occlusions. In addition, as an efficient tool, the principle component analysis is used to discover the potential affine relation between DSR and the target, which timely adapts to the shape deformation of the target. Extensive experiments show that the proposed method achieves superior performance in many challenging target tracking tasks.
Dismantling the Face: Landscape for Another Politics?
Authors: Edkins Jenny
Published: June 2013

The face is central to contemporary politics: it is photographed, pinned down, stored, documented, and presented as proof of identity in passports and ID cards. Automatic face recognition and face-processing systems are key to biopolitical control. However, Deleuze and Guattari argue that the face is a particular politics, and dismantling the face is also a politics. This paper explores what it might mean to dismantle the face, and what politics this might entail. It examines prosopagnosia, or face-blindness, as described by Oliver Sacks and exemplified by Chuck Close's paintings, which see the face as landscape. It asks whether the use of grid and screen in Close's portraits amounts to a dismantling of the face, and compares his approach to that seen in Francis Bacon's heads. It argues that Close's portraits trace a politics of becomings, a distribution of the sensible where we cannot, and do not, know who we are.