bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Some Aspects of Variable Geometry Gas Turbine Operation
Authors: Roy-Aikins J. E. A.
Published: March 2015

Many gas turbine thermodynamic cycles have been proposed which were designed to meet the propulsion requirements of future advanced aircraft. A thoughtful consideration of such designs is warranted as engines operating on such cycles will give a significant improvement in off-design performance. Such performance improvements can be brought about chiefly by the extensive use of variable geometry components. With the advent of the variable area turbine, a greater flexibility will be obtained in engine control and, hence, in aircraft operation.

This paper examines the performance of a variable geometry engine that is suitable for V/STOL aircraft operation, and it discusses how certain aerodynamic and mechanical phenomena associated with variable area turbines may influence the design and limit the operation of future advanced gas turbines.
Using Contra-Rotating Rotors for Decreasing Sizes and Component Number in Small GTE
Authors: Ponomariov B. A. , Sotsenko Y. V.
Published: March 2015

Using the contra-rotating high and low rotors influences effectively on the turbocompressor parameters and configuration and improves its mass-dimension characteristics and reduces in component number if the required level of the fuel efficiency is provided. Two groups of the engines: 400–1000 shp class and 1000–2000 shp class are chosen with allowance for the small GTE specificity. Conformably to first group the influence of the gas generator turbine (GGT) diameter on the possibility of obtaining the optimal combination of the GGT wheel blade gas dynamic loading, clearance losses and flow swirl before the power turbine (PT) is studied. Used for the second group is the approach of which the main point lies in the utilization of a high-loading, single-stage GG turbine, permitting the cooling air flow to be reduced (or the gas temperature to be increased) and the flow swirl before the PT to be profitably realized against the engine having two-stage GGT.

The key point while solving the specified problem is the gas dynamic characteristics of the engine hot section and its influence on the engine parameters. The investigations are carried out in the engine system using the experimental data on the losses in the rectilinear turbine cascades of the slightly curved profiles.
Erosion Resistant Titanium Nitride Coating for Turbine Compressor Applications
Authors: Liburdi J. , Nagy D. R. , Parameswaran V. R.
Published: March 2015

While operating in dusty environments, the blades and vanes in turbine compressors are prone to degradation by solid particle erosion which causes surface roughening as well as loss of airfoil contour and changes in airfoil geometry. This results in decreased compressor performance, higher specific fuel consumption, and significantly increased operational costs. Erosion damage is more prominent in flight engines that cannot be protected by inlet filters.

This paper describes the development and application of a thin ceramic titanium nitride coating to improve the erosion resistance of compressor airfoils. The coatings were produced by a Reactive Ion Coating (RIC) process and optimized to produce a very adherent erosion resistant coating structure.

The coating process was successfully scaled up and applied to a complete Allison T56 compressor for engine test. The control laboratory tests showed that the thin coating had no significant influence on either the resonance frequency or the fatigue resistance of the blades and the instrumented engine tests confirmed that the performance was typical of overhauled engines. Therefore, titanium nitride coatings are suitable for service and can be retrofitted on existing engines to improve the life of the compressors.
Structural and nanomechanical properties of nanocrystalline carbon thin films for photodetection
Authors: Rawal Ishpal , Panwar Omvir Singh , Tripathi Ravi Kant , Srivastava Avanish Kumar , Kumar Mahesh , Chockalingam Sreekumar
Published: March 2015

This paper reports the effect of helium gas pressure upon the structural, nanomechanical, and photoconductive properties of nanocrystalline carbon thin (NCT) films deposited by the filtered cathodic jet carbon arc technique. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images confirm the nanocrystalline nature of the deposited films with different crystallite sizes (3–7 nm). The chemical structure of the deposited films is further analyzed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, which suggest that the deposited films change from graphitelike to diamondlike, increasing in sp3 content, with a minor change in the dilution of the inert gas (helium). The graphitic character is regained upon higher dilution of the helium gas, whereupon the films exhibit an increase in sp2 content. The nanomechanical measurements show that the film deposited at a helium partial pressure of 2.2 × 10−4 has the highest value of hardness (37.39 GPa) and elastic modulus (320.50 GPa). At a light intensity of 100 mW/cm2, the NCT films deposited at 2.2 × 10−4 and 0.1 mbar partial pressures of helium gas exhibit good photoresponses of 2.2% and 3.6%, respectively.
30S Subunit-Dependent Activation of the Sorangium cellulosum So ce56 Aminoglycoside Resistance-Conferring 16S rRNA Methyltransferase Kmr
Authors: Savic Miloje , Sunita S. , Zelinskaya Natalia , Desai Pooja M. , Macmaster Rachel , Vinal Kellie , Conn Graeme L.
Published: March 2015

Methylation of bacterial 16S rRNA within the ribosomal decoding center confers exceptionally high resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics. This resistance mechanism is exploited by aminoglycoside producers for self-protection while functionally equivalent methyltransferases have been acquired by human and animal pathogenic bacteria. Here, we report structural and functional analyses of the
Sorangium cellulosum
So ce56 aminoglycoside resistance-conferring methyltransferase Kmr. Our results demonstrate that Kmr is a 16S rRNA methyltransferase acting at residue A1408 to confer a canonical aminoglycoside resistance spectrum in
Escherichia coli
. Kmr possesses a class I methyltransferase core fold but with dramatic differences in the regions which augment this structure to confer substrate specificity in functionally related enzymes. Most strikingly, the region linking core β-strands 6 and 7, which forms part of the
S
-adenosyl-
l
-methionine (SAM) binding pocket and contributes to base flipping by the m
1
A1408 methyltransferase NpmA, is disordered in Kmr, correlating with an exceptionally weak affinity for SAM. Kmr is unexpectedly insensitive to substitutions of residues critical for activity of other 16S rRNA (A1408) methyltransferases and also to the effects of by-product inhibition by
S
-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH). Collectively, our results indicate that adoption of a catalytically competent Kmr conformation and binding of the obligatory cosubstrate SAM must be induced by interaction with the 30S subunit substrate.
Mass Spectrometry Imaging Reveals Heterogeneous Efavirenz Distribution within Putative HIV Reservoirs
Authors: Thompson Corbin G. , Bokhart Mark T. , Sykes Craig , Adamson Lourdes , Fedoriw Yuri , Luciw Paul A. , Muddiman David C. , Kashuba Angela D. M. , Rosen Elias P.
Published: March 2015

Persistent HIV replication within active viral reservoirs may be caused by inadequate antiretroviral penetration. Here, we used mass spectrometry imaging with infrared matrix-assisted laser desorption–electrospray ionization to quantify the distribution of efavirenz within tissues from a macaque dosed orally to a steady state. Intratissue efavirenz distribution was heterogeneous, with the drug concentrating in the lamina propria of the colon, the primary follicles of lymph nodes, and the brain gray matter. These are the first imaging data of an antiretroviral drug in active viral reservoirs.
Effects of Azithromycin, Metronidazole, Amoxicillin, and Metronidazole plus Amoxicillin on anIn VitroPolymicrobial Subgingival Biofilm Model
Authors: Soares Geisla M. S. , Teles Flavia , Starr Jacqueline R. , Feres Magda , Patel Michele , Martin Lynn , Teles Ricardo
Published: March 2015

Chronic periodontitis is one of the most prevalent human diseases and is caused by dysbiosis of the subgingival microbiota. Treatment involves primarily mechanical disruption of subgingival biofilms and, in certain cases, adjunctive use of systemic antibiotic therapy.In vitrobiofilm models have been developed to study antimicrobial agents targeting subgingival species. However, these models accommodate a limited number of taxa, lack reproducibility, and have low throughput. We aimed to develop anin vitromultispecies biofilm model that mimics subgingival plaque, to test antimicrobial agents. Biofilms were cultivated using the Calgary Biofilm Device and were exposed to amoxicillin (AMX), metronidazole (MTZ), azithromycin (AZM), and AMX-MTZ at four different concentrations for 12, 24, or 36 h. Chlorhexidine (CHX) (0.12%) was used as the positive control. The compositions of the biofilms were analyzed by checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization, and the percent reduction in biofilm metabolic activity was determined using 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride and spectrophotometry. Thirty-five of the 40 species used in the inoculum were consistently recovered from the resultingin vitrobiofilms. After 36 h of exposure at the 1:27 dilution, AMX-MTZ reduced metabolic activity 11% less than CHX (q= 0.0207) but 54% more than AMX (q= 0.0031), 72% more than MTZ (q= 0.0031), and 67% more than AZM (q= 0.0008). Preliminary evidence of a synergistic interaction between AMX and MTZ was also observed. In summary, we developed reproducible biofilms with 35 subgingival bacterial species, and our results suggested that the combination of AMX and MTZ had greater antimicrobial effects on thesein vitromultispecies biofilms than expected on the basis of the independent effects of the drugs.
Heteroresistance to Colistin in Klebsiella pneumoniae Associated with Alterations in the PhoPQ Regulatory System
Authors: Jayol Aurélie , Nordmann Patrice , Brink Adrian , Poirel Laurent
Published: March 2015

A multidrug-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae
isolate exhibiting heteroresistance to colistin was investigated. The colistin-resistant subpopulation harbored a single amino acid change (Asp191Tyr) in protein PhoP, which is part of the PhoPQ two-component system that activates
pmrHFIJKLM
expression responsible for
l
-aminoarabinose synthesis and polymyxin resistance. Complementation assays with a wild-type
phoP
gene restored full susceptibility to colistin. Then, analysis of the colistin-susceptible subpopulation showed a partial deletion (25 bp) in the
phoP
gene compared to that in the colistin-resistant subpopulation. That deletion disrupted the reading frame of
phoP
, leading to a longer and inactive protein (255 versus 223 amino acids long). This is the first report showing the involvement of mutation(s) in PhoP in colistin resistance. Furthermore, this is the first study to decipher the mechanisms leading to colistin heteroresistance in
K. pneumoniae
.
Impact of β-Lactamase Inhibition on the Activity of Ceftaroline against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus
Authors: Dubée Vincent , Soroka Daria , Cortes Mélanie , Lefebvre Anne-Laure , Gutmann Laurent , Hugonnet Jean-Emmanuel , Arthur Michel , Mainardi Jean-Luc
Published: March 2015

The production of β-lactamases Bla
Mab
and BlaC contributes to β-lactam resistance in
Mycobacterium abscessus
and
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
, respectively. Ceftaroline was efficiently hydrolyzed by these enzymes. Inhibition of
M. tuberculosis
BlaC by clavulanate decreased the ceftaroline MIC from ≥256 to 16 to 64 μg/ml, but these values are clinically irrelevant. In contrast, the ceftaroline-avibactam combination should be evaluated against
M. abscessus
since it inhibited growth at lower and potentially achievable drug concentrations.
Escherichia coli EDL933 Requires Gluconeogenic Nutrients To Successfully Colonize the Intestines of Streptomycin-Treated Mice Precolonized with E. coli Nissle 1917
Authors: Schinner Silvia A. C. , Mokszycki Matthew E. , Adediran Jimmy , Leatham-Jensen Mary , Conway Tyrrell , Cohen Paul S.
Published: March 2015

Escherichia coli
MG1655, a K-12 strain, uses glycolytic nutrients exclusively to colonize the intestines of streptomycin-treated mice when it is the only
E. coli
strain present or when it is confronted with
E. coli
EDL933, an O157:H7 strain. In contrast,
E. coli
EDL933 uses glycolytic nutrients exclusively when it is the only
E. coli
strain in the intestine but switches in part to gluconeogenic nutrients when it colonizes mice precolonized with
E. coli
MG1655 (R. L. Miranda et al., Infect Immun 72:1666–1676, 2004,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/IAI.72.3.1666-1676.2004
). Recently, J. W. Njoroge et al. (mBio 3:e00280-12, 2012,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00280-12
) reported that
E. coli
86-24, an O157:H7 strain, activates the expression of virulence genes under gluconeogenic conditions, suggesting that colonization of the intestine with a probiotic
E. coli
strain that outcompetes O157:H7 strains for gluconeogenic nutrients could render them nonpathogenic. Here we report that
E. coli
Nissle 1917, a probiotic strain, uses both glycolytic and gluconeogenic nutrients to colonize the mouse intestine between 1 and 5 days postfeeding, appears to stop using gluconeogenic nutrients thereafter in a large, long-term colonization niche, but continues to use them in a smaller niche to compete with invading
E. coli
EDL933. Evidence is also presented suggesting that invading
E. coli
EDL933 uses both glycolytic and gluconeogenic nutrients and needs the ability to perform gluconeogenesis in order to colonize mice precolonized with
E. coli
Nissle 1917. The data presented here therefore rule out the possibility that
E. coli
Nissle 1917 can starve the O157:H7
E. coli
strain EDL933 of gluconeogenic nutrients, even though
E. coli
Nissle 1917 uses such nutrients to compete with
E. coli
EDL933 in the mouse intestine.
Adrenal Steroids Modulate the Immune Response during Brucella abortus Infection by a Mechanism That Depends on the Regulation of Cytokine Production
Authors: Gentilini María Virginia , Velásquez Lis Noelia , Barrionuevo Paula , Arriola Benitez Paula Constanza , Giambartolomei Guillermo Hernán , Delpino María Victoria
Published: March 2015

Human brucellosis is a protean disease with a diversity of clinical signs and symptoms resulting from infection withBrucellaspecies. Recent reports suggest a cross-regulation between adrenal steroids (cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA]) and the immune system. Monocytes and macrophages are the main replication niche forBrucella. Therefore, we investigated the role of adrenal hormones on the modulation of the immune response mediated by macrophages inB. abortusinfection. Cortisol treatment duringB. abortusinfection significantly inhibits cytokine, chemokine, and MMP-9 secretion. In contrast, DHEA treatment had no effect. However, DHEA treatment increases the expression of costimulatory molecules (CD40, CD86), the adhesion molecule CD54, and major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) and MHC-II expression on the surface ofB. abortus-infected monocytes. It is known thatB. abortusinfection inhibits MHC-I and MHC-II expression induced by gamma interferon (IFN-γ) treatment. DHEA reversesB. abortusdownmodulation of the MHC-I and -II expression induced by IFN-γ. Taken together, our data indicate that DHEA immune intervention may positively affect monocyte activity duringB. abortusinfection.
Anti-CD20 Antibody Therapy and Susceptibility to Pneumocystis Pneumonia
Authors: Elsegeiny Waleed , Eddens Taylor , Chen Kong , Kolls Jay K.
Published: March 2015

Anti-CD20 antibody therapy has been a useful medication for managing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as well as autoimmune diseases characterized by autoantibody generation. CD20 is expressed during most developmental stages of B lymphocytes; thus, CD20 depletion leads to B-lymphocyte deficiency. As the drug has become more widely used, there has been an increase in the number of case reports of patients developing
Pneumocystis
pneumonia. The role of anti-CD20 in
Pneumocystis jirovecii
infection is under debate due to the fact that most patients receiving it are on a regimen of multiple immunosuppressive medications. To address the specific role of CD20 depletion in host immunity against
Pneumocystis
, we examined a murine anti-CD20 depleting antibody. We demonstrated that anti-CD20 alone is permissive for
Pneumocystis
infection and that anti-CD20 impairs components of type II immunity, such as production of interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and IL-13 by whole-lung cells, in response to
Pneumocystis murina
. We also demonstrated that CD4
+
T cells from mice treated with anti-CD20 during
Pneumocystis
infection are incapable of mounting a protective immune response when transferred into Rag1
−/−
mice. Thus, CD20
+
cells are critical for generating protective CD4
+
T-cell immune responses against this organism.
Heterotrimeric NADH-Oxidizing Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase from the Acetogenic Bacterium Acetobacterium woodii
Authors: Bertsch Johannes , Öppinger Christian , Hess Verena , Langer Julian D. , Müller Volker
Published: March 2015

The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) of acetogenic bacteria catalyzes the reduction of methylene-THF, which is highly exergonic with NADH as the reductant. Therefore, the enzyme was suggested to be involved in energy conservation by reducing ferredoxin via electron bifurcation, followed by Na+translocation by the Rnf complex. The enzyme was purified fromAcetobacterium woodiiand shown to have an unprecedented subunit composition containing the three subunits RnfC2, MetF, and MetV. The stable complex contained 2 flavin mononucleotides (FMN), 23.5 ± 1.2 Fe and 24.5 ± 1.5 S, which fits well to the predicted six [4Fe4S] clusters in MetV and RnfC2. The enzyme catalyzed NADH:methylviologen and NADH:ferricyanide oxidoreductase activity but also methylene-tetrahydrofolate (THF) reduction with NADH as the reductant. The NADH:methylene-THF reductase activity was high (248 U/mg) and not stimulated by ferredoxin. Furthermore, reduction of ferredoxin, alone or in the presence of methylene-THF and NADH, was never observed. MetF or MetVF was not able to catalyze the methylene-THF-dependent oxidation of NADH, but MetVF could reduce methylene-THF using methyl viologen as the electron donor. The purified MTHFR complex did not catalyze the reverse reaction, the endergonic oxidation of methyl-THF with NAD+as the acceptor, and this reaction could not be driven by reduced ferredoxin. However, addition of protein fractions made the oxidation of methyl-THF to methylene-THF coupled to NAD+reduction possible. Our data demonstrate that the MTHFR ofA. woodiicatalyzes methylene-THF reduction according to the following reaction: NADH + methylene-THF → methyl-THF + NAD+. The differences in the subunit compositions of MTHFRs of bacteria are discussed in the light of their different functions.

IMPORTANCEEnergy conservation in the acetogenic bacteriumAcetobacterium woodiiinvolves ferredoxin reduction followed by a chemiosmotic mechanism involving Na+-translocating ferredoxin oxidation and a Na+-dependent F1FoATP synthase. All redox enzymes of the pathway have been characterized except the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). Here we report the purification of the MTHFR ofA. woodii, which has an unprecedented heterotrimeric structure. The enzyme reduces methylene-THF with NADH. Ferredoxin did not stimulate the reaction; neither was it oxidized or reduced with NADH. Since the last enzyme with a potential role in energy metabolism ofA. woodiihas now been characterized, we can propose a quantitative bioenergetic scheme for acetogenesis from H2plus CO2in the model acetogenA. woodii.
Interaction Network and Localization of Brucella abortus Membrane Proteins Involved in the Synthesis, Transport, and Succinylation of Cyclic β-1,2-Glucans
Authors: Guidolin Leticia S. , Morrone Seijo Susana M. , Guaimas Francisco F. , Comerci Diego J. , Ciocchini Andrés E.
Published: March 2015

Cyclic β-1,2-glucans (CβG) are periplasmic homopolysaccharides that play an important role in the virulence and interaction ofBrucellawith the host. Once synthesized in the cytoplasm by the CβG synthase (Cgs), CβG are transported to the periplasm by the CβG transporter (Cgt) and succinylated by the CβG modifier enzyme (Cgm). Here, we used a bacterial two-hybrid system and coimmunoprecipitation techniques to study the interaction network between these three integral inner membrane proteins. Our results indicate that Cgs, Cgt, and Cgm can form both homotypic and heterotypic interactions. Analyses carried out with Cgs mutants revealed that the N-terminal region of the protein (Cgs region 1 to 418) is required to sustain the interactions with Cgt and Cgm as well as with itself. We demonstrated by single-cell fluorescence analysis that inBrucella, Cgs and Cgt are focally distributed in the membrane, particularly at the cell poles, whereas Cgm is mostly distributed throughout the membrane with a slight accumulation at the poles colocalizing with the other partners. In summary, our results demonstrate that Cgs, Cgt, and Cgm form a membrane-associated biosynthetic complex. We propose that the formation of a membrane complex could serve as a mechanism to ensure the fidelity of CβG biosynthesis by coordinating their synthesis with the transport and modification.

IMPORTANCEIn this study, we analyzed the interaction and localization of the proteins involved in the synthesis, transport, and modification ofBrucella abortuscyclic β-1,2-glucans (CβG), which play an important role in the virulence and interaction ofBrucellawith the host. We demonstrate that these proteins interact, forming a complex located mainly at the cell poles; this is the first experimental evidence of the existence of a multienzymatic complex involved in the metabolism of osmoregulated periplasmic glucans in bacteria and argues for another example of pole differentiation inBrucella. We propose that the formation of this membrane complex could serve as a mechanism to ensure the fidelity of CβG biosynthesis by coordinating synthesis with the transport and modification.
Endoscopic mucosal resection of early stage colon neuroendocrine carcinoma
Authors: Yamasaki Yasushi , Uedo Noriya , Ishihara Ryu , Tomita Yasuhiko
Published: March 2015

Early stage colorectal neuroendocrine carcinoma is rare. A small colon tumour was found in a 56-year-old man during diagnostic colonoscopy performed after a positive faecal occult blood test, and he was referred for treatment. A slightly reddish superficial elevated lesion with a shallow depression 10 mm in size was found in the transverse colon. Magnifying narrow-band imaging revealed disrupted irregular microvessels and the absence of a surface pattern in the depressed area. En bloc endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of the tumour was undertaken. The tumour was positive for chromogranin A and synaptophysin, and had a mitotic rate of >20/10 high-power fields and a Ki-67 proliferative index of >50%; it was diagnosed as a neuroendocrine carcinoma. The tumour minimally invaded the submucosa (300 μm) without lymphovascular involvement. The patient was followed up carefully, and at 1 year after EMR, no recurrence was found using colonoscopy and CT scans.
Alarm system management: evidence-based guidance encouraging direct measurement of informativeness to improve alarm response
Authors: Rayo Michael F , Moffatt-Bruce Susan D
Published: March 2015

Although there are powerful incentives for creating alarm management programmes to reduce ‘alarm fatigue’, they do not provide guidance on how to reduce the likelihood that clinicians will disregard critical alarms. The literature cites numerous phenomena that contribute to alarm fatigue, although many of these, including total rate of alarms, are not supported in the literature as factors that directly impact alarm response. The contributor that is most frequently associated with alarm response is informativeness, which is defined as the proportion of total alarms that successfully conveys a specific event, and the extent to which it is a hazard. Informativeness is low across all healthcare applications, consistently ranging from 1% to 20%. Because of its likelihood and strong evidential support, informativeness should be evaluated before other contributors are considered. Methods for measuring informativeness and alarm response are discussed. Design directions for potential interventions, as well as design alternatives to traditional alarms, are also discussed. With the increased attention and investment in alarm system management that alarm interventions are currently receiving, initiatives that focus on informativeness and the other evidence-based measures identified will allow us to more effectively, efficiently and reliably redirect clinician attention, ultimately improving alarm response.
Protein expression of HER2, 3, 4 in gastric cancer: correlation with clinical features and survival
Authors: He Xiao Xiao , Ding Li , Lin Yuan , Shu Man , Wen Jian Ming , Xue Ling
Published: March 2015

Background and aims

Despite significant improvements in targeted therapies for patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC), the prognosis of those patients remains poor. This study explores the expression and clinicopathological significance of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, 3 and 4 (HER2, HER3, HER4) in GC, in order to find more prognostic biomarkers of GC and putative targets of therapy.

Methods

Immunohistochemistry was performed for HER2, HER3 and HER4 in 498 patients with GC using tissue microarray. Correlations between the receptor expression and clinicopathological features, as well as prognosis of the patients were statistically analysed.

Results

The high expression rates of HER2, HER3 and HER4 proteins in the patients were 8.6% (43/498), 20.7% (103/498) and 13.3% (66/498), respectively. High expression of HER2 and HER3 was correlated with proximal GC of the cardia (p<0.05). High expression of HER3 was associated with the tumour depth, tumour node metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). High expression of HER4 was associated with TNM stage (p<0.05) only. According to a regression model, high expression of HER3 was significantly associated with patients’ poor survival (p=0.004). High expression rates of HER2, HER3 and HER4 were correlated with each other, but they were all associated merely with histologically intestinal-type adenocarcinoma of GC (p<0.05).

Conclusions

HER3 is correlated with the malignant biological behaviour of GC. Expression of HER3 is a significant predictor of poor survival in GC. Therefore, the development of HER3-targeted agents may provide new possibilities in the treatment of GC.
Dinitroxide biradical crystals with polar order
Authors: Ysacco Cédric , Giorgi Michel , Tordo Paul , Bardelang David , Ouari Olivier
Published: March 2015

A dinitroxide biradical (dCdO) has the peculiar tendency to crystallize in non-centrosymmetric polar space groups either as a stable dichloromethane solvate or as a pure phase. The molecules arrange with no compensation of their dipolar moment resulting in net macroscopic polar order.
Methodology of parking analysis
Authors: Diallo Abdoulaye , Bourdeau Jean-Simon , Morency Catherine , Saunier Nicolas
Published: March 2015

Cities are facing many challenges, in particular in relation to the mobility of people and the structure of land use. Parking management, which makes the link between land use and transportation, is one of the crucial ways to meet these challenges. In the Greater Montreal Area, data from origin–destination (OD) surveys is helpful in understanding typical travel behaviour. This study processes car driver trips from travel surveys to develop vehicle accumulation profiles and derive theoretical parking supplies from the observed parking demand, defined as the maximal number of cars parked in an area at a given time. This research also provides an assessment of the quality of the estimation by comparing the parking supplies derived from an OD survey to parking supplies estimated from public geographical information systems and field surveys. The paper shows that parking supply is subject to high variability and highlights that its assessment must take into account regulation data (obtained from on-street regulation parking signs data) that modulates the availability of the raw parking supply according to different days and hours of the day.
Unification of coupling constants, dimension 6 operators and the spectral action
Authors: Devastato Agostino , Lizzi Fedele , Flores Carlos Valcárcel , Vassilevich Dmitri
Published: March 2015

We investigate whether inclusion of dimension 6 terms in the Standard Model Lagrangian may cause the unification of the coupling constants at a scale comprised between 1014and 1017GeV. Particular choice of the dimension 6 couplings is motivated by the spectral action. Given the theoretical and phenomenological constraints, as well as recent data on the Higgs mass, we find that the unification is indeed possible, with a lower unification scale slightly favored.
Chapter 11 Palaeoproterozoic supracrustals of the Bastar Craton: Dongargarh Supergroup and Sausar Group
Authors: Mohanty Sarada Prasad
Published: March 2015

The Bastar Craton of India is composed of Archaean nuclei of tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite gneisses, enveloped by an older granite–greenstone belt (>3000 Ma) with banded iron formation (BIF), and an auriferous younger granite–greenstone belt with BIF. Available geological, geochemical and geochronological data indicate multiple episodes of orogeny with high-grade metamorphism at 3200–3300, 2600–2700, 2100–2200, 1900–2000, 1800–1850, 1500–1600 and 1400–1450 Ma, and continental rifting and basin development marked by emplacement of mafic dyke swarms at
c.
2900 (subalkaline mafic dykes; BD-1A), 2480 (high-Mg mafic dykes; BD-1B), 2100 (Fe–tholeiite dykes; BD-2A), 1880 (Fe–tholeiites dykes; BD-2B), 1776 and 1422 Ma. Associations of extensive bimodal volcanics and riftogenic sediments are found in the Neoarchaean and Palaeoproterozoic basins of the craton. Evidence of Palaeoproterozoic (Huronian) glaciation and associated ‘cap carbonate’ followed by deposition of fine clastics with manganese ore is found in the Palaeoproterozoic Sausar Group. The lithological association of the Sausar Group is comparable to the carbonate–tillite association of the Huronian Supergroup, Snowy Pass Supergroup, Transvaal Supergroup and Turee Creek Group. The geological evolution of the Bastar Craton matches that of Western Australia and South Africa. Such similarities can be analysed to develop a unified Palaeoproterozoic assembly for these provinces.
Chapter 12 Conflicts in stratigraphic classification of the Puranas of the Pranhita–Godavari Valley: review, recommendations and status of the ‘Penganga’ sequence
Authors: Chaudhuri Asru Kumar , Deb Gautam Kumar , Patranabis-Deb Sarbani
Published: March 2015

Understanding of the incompatibility of King's three-fold classification of the Proterozoic (‘Purana’) rocks of the Pranhita–Godavari Valley, south India, and renewed mapping and stratigraphic studies, reveal that syn-depositional basin dynamics, with differential uplift and subsidence, was the major control on basin evolution and the development of multiple unconformity-bound successions. The unconformities demarcate six major successions, the Mallampalli/Devalmari, Somanpalli, Mulug, Penganga, Albaka and Sullavai groups, each with a very distinctive set of sedimentological attributes. There are at least five different conflicting classification schemes so far. The major problems in the classification of the succession appear to lie in the recognition of unconformities and unconformity-bound successions, and in stratigraphic nomenclature. Based on field geology, available age data and the concept of the megasequence, the Mallampali, Devalmari, Mulug and Somanpalli groups have been grouped into the Pakhal Supergroup. The question of combining the rest of the groups has been deferred until the resolution of the Albaka–Penganga relationship is achieved beyond doubt. The relationships between different stratigraphic units have been critically examined to reconstruct the stratigraphic history, events of sea-level change and palaeogeographical evolution.
Chapter 14
c.
1450 Ma regional felsic volcanism at the fringe of the East Indian Craton: constraints from geochronology and geochemistry of tuff beds from detached sedimentary basins
Authors: Das Kaushik , Chakraborty Partha Pratim , Hayasaka Yasutaka , Kayama Masahiro , Saha Subhojit , Kimura Kosuke
Published: March 2015

New geochronological and geochemical data from bedded porcellanitic tuffs present within two sedimentary basins at the eastern fringe of the Archaean Bastar Craton, eastern India (the Ampani and Khariar basins) are presented and compared with data available from tuffaceous beds present within adjoining basins. U–Th–total Pb electron probe microanalysis data of monazite grains from the Ampani tuff revealed several age data clusters:
c.
2400,
c.
2130,
c.
1600,
c.
1450 and
c.
1000 Ma. An age of 1446±21 Ma is proposed as the depositional/crystallization age for the Ampani tuff, considering its maximum probability. Comparable ages for the tuffaceous units from the Khariar (1455±47 Ma) and Singhora (
c.
1500 Ma) basins allow us to infer a major felsic volcanic event during
c.
1450 Ma at the eastern margin of the Indian Craton. Detailed geochemical data suggest rhyolite to andesite character for the siliceous tuff units from three geographically separated basins and point towards the presence of an active volcanic arc in a subduction-related setting in the region. The geochronological and geochemical data prompted us to search for other contemporaneous events in the Indian continent and beyond, that is, within its erstwhile neighbours in the Precambrian supercontinent ‘Columbia’.
Chapter 20 Provenance, timing of sedimentation and metamorphism of metasedimentary rock suites from the Southern Granulite Terrane, India
Authors: Sengupta Pulak , Raith Michael M. , Kooijman Ellen , Talukdar Moumita , Chowdhury Priyadarshi , Sanyal Sanjoy , Mezger Klaus , Mukhopadhyay Dhruba
Published: March 2015

The Southern Granulite Terrane of India exposes remnants of an interbanded sequence of orthoquartzite–metapelite–calcareous rocks across the enigmatic Palghat–Cauvery Shear Zone (PCSZ), which has been interpreted as a Pan-African terrane boundary representing the eastward extension of the Betsimisaraka Suture Zone of Madagascar. Zircon U–Pb geochronology of metasedimentary rocks from both sides of the PCSZ shows that the precursor sediments of these rocks were sourced from the Dharwar Craton and the adjoining parts of the Indian shield. The similarity of the provenance and the vestiges of Grenvillian-age orogenesis in some metasedimentary rocks contradict an interpretation that the PCSZ is a Pan-African terrane boundary. The lithological association and the likely basin formation age of the metasedimentary rocks of the Southern Granulite Terrane show remarkable similarity to the rock assemblage and timing of sedimentation of the Palaeoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic shallow-marine deposits of the Purana basins lying several hundred kilometres north of this terrane. Integrating the existing geological information, it is postulated that the shallow-marine sediments were deposited on a unified land-mass consisting of a large part of Madagascar and the Indian shield that existed before Neoproterozoic time, part of which was later involved in the Pan-African orogeny.

Supplementary material:

Details of the zircon U–Pb LA-MC-ICP-MS analyses of samples are available at
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18793
.
Chapter 23 A brief synthesis of Indian Precambrian basins: classification and genesis of basin-fills
Authors: Miall Andrew D. , Catuneanu Octavian , Eriksson Patrick G. , Mazumder Rajat
Published: March 2015

The geology, inferred evolution and classification according to widely accepted schemes of 22 basins from the Indian Precambrian record on the Arravali–Bundelkhand, Singhbhum, Bastar and Dharwar cratons are discussed in this volume. Although their classification is biased owing to all depositories having continental lithospheric substrates, most of the basins reflect divergent plate motion and thus lithospheric stretching and cooling. Convergent plate motion and concomitant lithospheric flexure owing to loading are postulated for the Kurnool Basin and the Eastern Dharwar Craton supracrustals. Transcurrent plate motion is interpreted for the Bhima and Kaladgi–Badami basins. The Cuddapah Basin suggests a complex polyhistory influenced by both mantle circulation/dynamic topography and loading-related flexure of the lithosphere. Mantle circulation and dynamic topography may have played a role in the evolution of the Dhalbhum and Dalma–Chandil basins. Examination of possible time trends indicates that pre-
c.
2.0 Ga basins were mostly continental rifts, followed by some intracratonic basins and lesser rift-sag and back-arc basins; post-
c.
2.0 Ga basins exhibit a much larger range of basin types. While this Memoir offers a broad sample of the application of plate-tectonic principles to the Precambrian basins of the large Indian shield, it also underscores that Phanerozoic-style plate tectonics and basin evolution histories are widely identified within the Precambrian sedimentary rock record. Analogously, the case studies in this book support the essential similarity between the features observed within the Precambrian basins of India and the norms that describe Phanerozoic successions in terms of sequence stratigraphic architecture. The Indian Precambrian basin-fill record shows that all types of sequence, systems tract and sequence stratigraphic surface that are known from the Phanerozoic record also occur within Precambrian successions. Differences between the stratigraphic architecture of Precambrian and Phanerozoic basin-fill successions can be ascribed to variable rates and intensities of the controls on accommodation and sediment supply, the changes inherent in the evolution of the hydrosphere–atmosphere system and related physical processes, and the evolution of the biosphere system and associated biogenic processes.
Chapter 6 Proterozoic Vindhyan Basin: configuration and evolution
Authors: Bose P. K. , Sarkar S. , Das N. G. , Banerjee S. , Mandal A. , Chakraborty N.
Published: March 2015

This chapter attempts an understanding of the Proterozoic Vindhyan Basin history in the broad framework of central India. Although the entire Vindhyan Supergroup is within the scope of this work, particular attention is paid to the little-known northwestern fringe exposures. Distinctive facies assemblages and diverse palaeocurrents in these exposures of the Lower Vindhyan play a pivotal role in the interpretation. Analysis of outcrop and subsurface data that extend under the Gangetic alluvium to the north of the Vindhyan outcrops further supports the hypothesis that an east–west-elongated basement ridge initially separated the master Vindhyan Basin from smaller contemporary basins to the north. Deposition took place in isolated lacustrine and fluvial basins north of the divide and largely in a marine realm south. Dextral shear accompanying rifting generated ridges that criss-crossed the Lower Vindhyan seafloor to the south. The uniform character of the Upper Vindhyan throughout, nevertheless, testifies to later drowning of the divide and unification of all of the basins as a consequence of regional tilt northward. However, the extended Vindhyan Sea was restricted by a second east–west-elongated ridge from merger with the contemporary Proterozoic sea further north, disparate sediments of which have been encountered in a few drill cores only.
Natural hazards revealed to children: the other side of prevention
Authors: Piangiamore Giovanna Lucia , Musacchio Gemma , Pino Nicola Alessandro
Published: March 2015

Risk misperception often ineffectively drives us to choose recovery over prevention; the latter being usually conceived with actions aimed at mitigation of infrastructure vulnerability. Although it is fundamental to implant the culture of prevention and therefore have an impact on risk mitigation and community disaster resilience, long-term programmes encompassing knowledge, innovation and education are often underestimated. If education involves children, we more efficiently spread the culture of risk reduction through a chain reaction dissemination mechanism and prompt behaviours that are better imprinted on the mind, reinforce awareness of hazard response, and foster citizens who tomorrow might be part of the process of making crucial decisions on prevention strategies. For the past 10 years, our learn-by-playing, hands-on, emotional-driven, curiosity-driven approach activities have involved more than 20 000 students and teachers living in areas prone to natural hazards. In addition to requests and appreciation from the public, questionnaires handed out to teachers and students have proved that our approach to prevention best practice is successful. Questionnaires filled in by children and their families encouraged us to promote the strong potential for dissemination in the local environment. We are engaged in on-going research on risk reduction oriented science outreach activities to implement models focused on geoscience education and to give citizens tools to affect the process of risk reduction decision-making.
Approximating Minimum Bounded Degree Spanning Trees to within One of Optimal
Authors: Singh Mohit , Lau Lap Chi
Published: March 2015

In the
Minimum Bounded Degree Spanning Tree
problem, we are given an undirected graph
G
= (
V, E
) with a degree upper bound

B
v

on each vertex
v
∈
V
, and the task is to find a spanning tree of minimum cost that satisfies all the degree bounds. Let
OPT
be the cost of an optimal solution to this problem. In this article we present a polynomial-time algorithm which returns a spanning tree
T
of cost at most
OPT
and

d
T

(
v
) ≤

B
v

+ 1 for all
v
, where

d
T

(
v
) denotes the degree of
v
in
T
. This generalizes a result of Fürer and Raghavachari [1994] to weighted graphs, and settles a conjecture of Goemans [2006] affirmatively. The algorithm generalizes when each vertex
v
has a degree lower bound

A
v

and a degree upper bound

B
v

, and returns a spanning tree with cost at most
OPT
and

A
v

- 1 ≤

d
T

(
v
) ≤

B
v

+ 1 for all
v
∈
V
. This is essentially the best possible. The main technique used is an extension of the iterative rounding method introduced by Jain [2001] for the design of approximation algorithms.
Automated Iterative Pipelining for ASIC Design
Authors: Kim Lok-Won , Lee Dong-U , Villasenor John
Published: March 2015

We describe an automated pipelining approach for optimally balanced pipeline implementation that achieves low area cost as well as meeting timing requirements. Most previous automatic pipelining methods have focused on Instruction Set Architecture (ISA)-based designs and the main goal of such methods generally has been maximizing performance as measured in terms of instructions per clock (IPC). By contrast, we focus on datapath-oriented designs (e.g., DSP filters for image or communication processing applications) in ASIC design flows. The goal of the proposed pipelining approach is to find the optimally pipelined design that not only meets the user-specified target clock frequency, but also seeks to minimize area cost of a given design. Unlike most previous approaches, the proposed methods incorporate the use of accurate area and timing information (iteratively achieved by synthesizing every interim pipelined design) to achieve higher accuracy during design exploration. When compared with exhaustive design exploration that considers all possible pipeline patterns, the two heuristic pipelining methods presented here involve only a small area penalty (typically under 5%) while offering dramatically reduced computational complexity. Experimental validation is performed with commercial ASIC design tools and described for applications including polynomial function evaluation, FIR filters, matrix multiplication, and discrete wavelet transform filter designs with a 90nm standard cell library.
A Distributed Reconfiguration Approach for Quality-of-Service Provisioning in Dynamic Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Steine Marcel , Geilen Marc , Basten Twan
Published: March 2015

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are commonly deployed in dynamic environments where events, such as moving sensor nodes and changing external interference, impact the performance, or Quality of Service (QoS), of the network. QoS is expressed by the values of multiple, possibly conflicting, network quality metrics, such as network lifetime and maximum latency of communicating a packet to the sink. Sufficient QoS should be provided by the WSN to ensure that the end-user can successfully use the WSN to perform its application. We propose a distributed reconfiguration approach that actively maintains a sufficient level of QoS at runtime for a heterogeneous WSN in a dynamic environment. Every node uses a feedback control strategy to resolve any difference between the current and required QoS of the network by adapting controllable parameters of the protocol stack. Example parameters are the transmission power and maximum number of packet retransmissions. Nodes collaborate such that, with the combined adaptations, the required network QoS is achieved. The behavior of the reconfiguration approach and the tradeoffs involved are analyzed in detail. With the use of simulations and experiments with actual deployments, we show that our approach allows a better optimization of QoS objectives while constraints are met; for example, it achieves the same packet loss with a significantly longer lifetime, compared to current (re-)configuration approaches.
Robust Design Space Modeling
Authors: Guo Qi , Chen Tianshi , Zhou Zhi-Hua , Temam Olivier , Li Ling , Qian Depei , Chen Yunji
Published: March 2015

Architectural design spaces of microprocessors are often exponentially large with respect to the pending processor parameters. To avoid simulating all configurations in the design space, machine learning and statistical techniques have been utilized to build regression models for characterizing the relationship between architectural configurations and responses (e.g., performance or power consumption). However, this article shows that the accuracy variability of many learning techniques over different design spaces and benchmarks can be significant enough to mislead the decision-making. This clearly indicates a high risk of applying techniques that work well on previous modeling tasks (each involving a design space, benchmark, and design objective) to a new task, due to which the powerful tools might be impractical.

Inspired by ensemble learning in the machine learning domain, we propose a robust framework called ELSE to reduce the accuracy variability of design space modeling. Rather than employing a single learning technique as in previous investigations, ELSE employs distinct learning techniques to build multiple base regression models for each modeling task. This is not a trivial combination of different techniques (e.g., always trusting the regression model with the smallest error). Instead, ELSE carefully maintains the diversity of base regression models and constructs a metamodel from the base models that can provide accurate predictions even when the base models are far from accurate. Consequently, we are able to reduce the number of cases in which the final prediction errors are unacceptably large. Experimental results validate the robustness of ELSE: compared with the widely used artificial neural network over 52 distinct modeling tasks, ELSE reduces the accuracy variability by about 62%. Moreover, ELSE reduces the average prediction error by 27% and 85% for the investigated MIPS and POWER design spaces, respectively.