bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measurement of thermal transport using time-resolved thermal wave microscopy
Authors: Khafizov Marat , Hurley David H.
Published: October 2011

A theoretical and experimental analysis of a time resolved thermal wave microscopy (TRTWM) technique used for thermal transport measurements is presented. TRTWM utilizes elements of frequency and time domain laser based thermoreflectance techniques and is well suited to measure both lateral and cross plane thermal transport. A primary advantage of this method is that the pump and probe spot sizes do not have to be known accurately. Implementation of TRTWM to measure thermal transport in oxide substrates coated with thin metal films is demonstrated.
Effect of Fe substitution on magnetic and magnetocaloric effect in Gd(Co1−xFex)2B2 compounds
Authors: Li Lingwei , Nishimura Yasuhiro , Huo Dexuan , Qian Zhenghong , Nishimura Katsuhiko
Published: October 2011

Polycrystalline samples of Gd(Co1−xFex)2B2 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4) compounds have been prepared and their magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) have been studied by the magnetization and heat capacity measurements. As the Fe content x increases up to 0.4, the magnetic ordering temperature TM increases gradually from 19 to 32 K, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change −ΔSMmax decreases gradually from 17.1 to 12.1 J/kg K without obvious hysteresis around its own TM for a field change of 5 T, and the corresponding adiabatic temperature change ΔTadmax also decreases gradually from 15.4 to 8 K. The reduction in the MCE of Gd(Co1−xFex)2B2 system could be explained by the fact that the increase in the Fe content transforms the magnetic transition type from a first order type to a second order type. The values of relative cooling power (RCP) are 462, 434, 499, and 415 J/kg for x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 in Gd(Co1−xFex)2B2, respectively. The magnetic transition and Fe substitution effect on MCE as well as its potential application in Gd(Co1−xFex)2B2 system were discussed.
Flow-induced control of chemical turbulence
Authors: Berenstein Igal , Beta Carsten
Published: October 2011

We report spatiotemporal chaos in the Oregonator model of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. Spatiotemporal chaos spontaneously develops in a regime, where the underlying local dynamics show stable limit cycle oscillations (diffusion-induced turbulence). We show that spatiotemporal chaos can be suppressed by a unidirectional flow in the system. With increasing flow velocity, we observe a transition scenario from spatiotemporal chaos via a regime of travelling waves to a stationary steady state. At large flow velocities, we recover the known regime of flow distributed oscillations.
N-polar III-nitride quantum well light-emitting diodes with polarization-induced doping
Authors: Verma Jai , Simon John , Protasenko Vladimir , Kosel Thomas , Grace Xing Huili , Jena Debdeep
Published: October 2011

Nitrogen-polar III-nitride heterostructures present unexplored advantages over Ga(metal)-polar crystals for optoelectronic devices. This work reports N-polar III-nitride quantum-well ultraviolet light-emitting diodes grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy that integrate polarization-induced p-type doping by compositional grading from GaN to AlGaN along N-face. The graded AlGaN layer simultaneously acts as an electron blocking layer while facilitating smooth injection of holes into the active region, while the built-in electric field in the barriers improves carrier injection into quantum wells. The enhanced doping, carrier injection, and light extraction indicate that N-polar structures have the potential to exceed the performance of metal-polar ultraviolet light-emitting diodes.
Transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily C, member 5 (TRPC5) is a cold-transducer in the peripheral nervous system
Authors: Zimmermann Katharina , Lennerz Jochen K. , Hein Alexander , Link Andrea S. , Kaczmarek J. Stefan , Delling Markus , Uysal Serdar , Pfeifer John D. , Riccio Antonio , Clapham David E.
Published: October 2011

Detection and adaptation to cold temperature is crucial to survival. Cold sensing in the innocuous range of cold (>10–15 °C) in the mammalian peripheral nervous system is thought to rely primarily on transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels, most notably the menthol receptor, TRPM8. Here we report that TRP cation channel, subfamily C member 5 (TRPC5), but not TRPC1/TRPC5 heteromeric channels, are highly cold sensitive in the temperature range 37–25 °C. We found that TRPC5 is present in mouse and human sensory neurons of dorsal root ganglia, a substantial number of peripheral nerves including intraepithelial endings, and in the dorsal lamina of the spinal cord that receives sensory input from the skin, consistent with a potential TRPC5 function as an innocuous cold transducer in nociceptive and thermosensory nerve endings. Although deletion of TRPC5 in 129S1/SvImJ mice resulted in no temperature-sensitive behavioral changes, TRPM8 and/or other menthol-sensitive channels appear to underpin a much larger component of noxious cold sensing after
TRPC5
deletion and a shift in mechanosensitive C-fiber subtypes. These findings demonstrate that highly cold-sensitive TRPC5 channels are a molecular component for detection and regional adaptation to cold temperatures in the peripheral nervous system that is distinct from noxious cold sensing.
STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology – Molecular Epidemiology (STROBE‐ME): An extension of the STROBE statement
Authors: Gallo Valentina , Egger Matthias , McCormack Valerie , Farmer Peter B. , Ioannidis John P. A. , Kirsch‐Volders Micheline , Matullo Giuseppe , Phillips David H. , Schoket Bernadette , Stromberg Ulf , Vermeulen Roel , Wild Christopher , Porta Miquel , Vineis Paolo
Published: October 2011

Eur J Clin Invest 2012; 42 (1): 1–16

Summary points

Advances in laboratory techniques have led to a rapidly increasing use of biomarkers in epidemiological studies. Biomarkers of internal dose, early biological change, susceptibility and clinical outcomes are used as proxies for investigating interactions between external and/or endogenous agents and body components or processes. The need for improved reporting of scientific research led to influential statements of recommendations such as the STrengthening Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement. The STROBE initiative established in 2004 aimed to provide guidance on how to report observational research. Its guidelines provide a user‐friendly checklist of 22 items to be reported in epidemiological studies, with items specific to the three main study designs: cohort studies, case–control studies and cross‐sectional studies. The present STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology –Molecular Epidemiology (STROBE‐ME) initiative builds on the STROBE statement implementing nine existing items of STROBE and providing 17 additional items to the 22 items of STROBE checklist. The additions relate to the use of biomarkers in epidemiological studies, concerning collection, handling and storage of biological samples; laboratory methods, validity and reliability of biomarkers; specificities of study design; and ethical considerations. The STROBE‐ME recommendations are intended to complement the STROBE recommendations.
Does delivery mode affect women’s postpartum quality of life in rural China?
Authors: Huang Kun , Tao Fangbiao , Liu Liu , Wu Xiaoyan
Published: October 2011

Aims and objectives.  To explore the impact of delivery mode on women’s postpartum quality of life in rural China and probe factors influencing postnatal quality of life.

Background.  Childbirth significantly affects puerpera’s physical, psychological and social domains of quality of life. Under the circumstance of increasing high caesarean section rate in rural China, the impact of delivery mode on postnatal quality of life remains unclear.

Design.  Cross‐sectional study design.

Methods.  Women residing in rural areas and in their 0–12 months after childbirth from 30 rural townships participated in a household survey. A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate women’s socio‐demographic characteristics, previous pregnant experiences, foetal characteristics and use of maternal health services. The scale for rural postnatal quality of life was adopted to assess postnatal quality of life from six dimensions: physical complaints and pain, sleep and energy, sex satisfaction, interpersonal communication, self‐evaluated living stress and perceived life satisfaction.

Results.  The overall caeserean section rate was 70·0% (962/1375), and most of them (59·7%) were selected by maternal request. None of six dimensions and total score of quality of life displayed significant difference between women with normal delivery and cesaerean section. It was found that postnatal home visit related to good postnatal quality of life and lower husband education level, male gender of infant were associated with poor quality of life.

Conclusions.  Delivery mode did not affect postpartum quality of life in rural China. Socio‐cultural determinants may contribute more in influencing postnatal quality of life.

Relevance to clinical practice.  Null findings in impact of delivery mode on postpartum quality of life may cause more difficulties in maternal decision‐making for vaginal delivery in rural China. The importance of postnatal home visit could justify available and quality postnatal care in improving postpartum quality of life. Further research needs to explore the effective prevention programmes, especially attention for parenting boys.
Promoting argumentation in primary science contexts: an analysis of students' interactions in formal and informal learning environments
Authors: Simon S. , Johnson S , Cavell S. , Parsons T.
Published: October 2011

The paper reports on the outcomes of a study that utilized a graphical tool, Digalo, to stimulate argumentative interactions in both school and informal learning settings. Digalo was developed in a European study to explore argumentation in a range of learning environments. The focus here is on the potential for using Digalo in promoting argumentative interactions of students in primary science, first, in a school‐based context of students investigating and learning about electricity, and second, in a hands‐on science discovery centre where students are interacting with different scientific phenomena. Data sources included observations of students using Digalo in the two contexts and the resultant Digalo maps. Analysis of observations focused on students' engagement and interactions, and of Digalo maps in terms of the process and content of argumentation. A previously developed level system was used to evaluate the process of argumentation. The study has revealed some limitations of Digalo as a teaching resource, but has provided insights into ways in which students build their knowledge with the help of Digalo as they interact with each other and with scientific phenomena.
The messages they send: e‐mail use by adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI)
Authors: Conti‐Ramsden Gina , Durkin Kevin , Walker Allan J.
Published: October 2011

Background: Contemporary adolescents use e‐mail for a variety of purposes, including peer communication and education. Research into these uses has focused on typically developing individuals; much less is known about the use of e‐mail by exceptional youth.

Aims: The present study examined the structure and form of e‐mail messages sent by adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI).

Methods & Procedures: Thirty‐eight adolescents with a history of SLI and 56 typically developing (TD) peers were assessed on measures of nonverbal abilities, core language skills and literacy skills (reading and spelling). The participants were asked to compose an e‐mail reply to a standard e‐mail sent by an experimenter. These reply e‐mails were coded for linguistic structure, readability and spelling errors. Two adult raters, blind to the participants’ language ability, judged how understandable the e‐mails were, how grammatically correct the e‐mails were, and also the sender's command of the English language.

Outcomes & Results: Adolescents with a history of SLI produced e‐mails that were similar to those sent by their TD peers in terms of structure and readability. However, they made significantly more spelling errors. Furthermore, the adult raters considered the messages from participants with a history of SLI to be of poorer standard than those sent by their TD peers.

Conclusions & Implications: The findings suggest that the e‐mail messages of adolescents with a history of SLI provide indicators of the sender's language and literacy skills. Implications for intervention and technology development are discussed.
John Inkster
Authors: Brown T.C.K.
Published: October 2011

John Inkster

John Inkster died on September 10th 2011. He started life early, weighing only 2 pounds (0.9 kg). The outlook for him and his twin sister was poor so his mother, who was a nurse trained at the Childrens Hospital, Great Ormond Street, took them home to look after them herself. This showed that very small premature babies could survive with special care that did not include all the modern techniques.

He was educated at Epsom College and graduated as a doctor from Aberdeen University in 1945. His first job was at Hampstead where they did their ward work in the morning and took over the anesthetics in the afternoon from the anesthetists – a frightening situation as they had no training. He was in the army for 3½ years, still giving anesthetics with little training. In 1950, he went to Newcastle where he undertook 3 years training. He worked with Professor E.A. Pask, as his first assistant, and Philip Ayre who had a particular interest in cleft lips and palates.
Technology Vision: a scale development
Authors: Reid Susan E. , Roberts Deborah L.
Published: October 2011

Researchers have cited significant gaps in our knowledge regarding the early stages of vision formation in the radical innovation context and have emphasised the importance of further investigation in this area. As such, this paper aims first to build on the extant literature on organizational, project and Market Vision in order to construct a measure for Technology Vision through theory construction, scale development and modeling. The second goal is to help firms to better understand what the underlying components of Technology Vision are in order to offer themselves the best possible chance of success with the development of radically new, high‐tech products. Based on samples of firms involved with radical innovation research and development in high‐tech sectors in North America and the United Kingdom, conceptual and measurement studies conducted herewith suggest there are five factors related to Technology Vision: Technology Vision benefits, Technology Vision efficiency, Technology Vision magnetism, Technology Vision specificity, and infrastructure clarity. The paper concludes with an examination of the implications of these components of Technology Vision and discusses the need to understand its relationship with Market Vision and the performance of the firm.
Sex and age‐related anxiety in a community sample of Norwegian adolescents
Authors: LEIKANGER EINAR , INGUL JO MAGNE , LARSSON BO
Published: October 2011

Leikanger, E., Ingul, J. M. & Larsson, B. (2012). Sex and age‐related anxiety in a community sample of Norwegian adolescents. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 150–157.

The first aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and DSM‐related anxiety symptom‐clusters among adolescents (13–19 years of age) in middle Norway. A second aim was to examine the developmental trajectories of anxiety symptoms for boys and girls during adolescence. In a cross‐sectional study, 1,802 students in junior high schools and high schools in the Mid‐Norway Health Region filled out a questionnaire (a response‐rate of 77%) including the SCARED self‐report form (Birmaher et al., 1997) during one school hour. In line with findings of previous studies, girls reported higher anxiety‐levels than did boys. A large gender‐specific increase in anxiety in 14–15‐year‐old girls was also found. Apart from this age‐specific effect, the results indicated a general reduction in anxiety during adolescence for all symptom groups except generalized anxiety and school phobia. The high anxiety levels in girls aged 13 to 14 years implicate a need for caution by clinicians because such high anxiety levels may be mistaken for the existence of an anxiety disorder. The rapid increase in anxiety symptoms among girls in early adolescence may reflect a heightened sensitivity in this age group, and may have implications for when to implement secondary prevention programs.
Attachment insecurity and strategies for regulation: When emotion triggers attention
Authors: SILVA CATARINA , SOARES ISABEL , ESTEVES FRANCISCO
Published: October 2011

Silva, C., Soares, I. & Esteves, F. (2012). Attachment insecurity and strategies for regulation: When emotion triggers attention. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 9–16.

Attachment‐related strategies are thought to be critical for regulation and processing of emotional information. This study examined biases in selective attention to emotional stimuli as a function of insecure attachment. Participants searched for a single target image preceded by to‐be‐ignored distracters depicting emotional images varying in valence and arousal. Results revealed that, in general, negative distracters affected accuracy levels, and that the anxious attached participants showed a clear interference of the emotional distracters. In contrast, the avoidant group evinced a higher control on such interference. In addition, arousal ratings to distracter images indicated superior emotional activation only for anxious attached participants. Consistent with the evolutionary‐based attachment theory threat‐related stimuli prompted priority attentional responses. Present findings are in line with evidence showing the deployment of distinct strategies in insecurely attached individuals for the regulation of attention to emotional information.
Cup‐to‐disc and arteriole‐to‐venule ratios in children aged 6–7 and 12–13 years
Authors: McClelland Julie F , O’Donoghue Lisa , McIntyre Marta , Saunders Kathryn J
Published: October 2011

Citation information: McClelland JF, O’Donoghue L, McIntyre M & Saunders KJ. Cup‐to‐disc and arteriole‐to‐venule ratios in children aged 6–7 and 12–13 years. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2011. doi: 10.1111/j.1475‐1313.2011.00878.x

Purpose:  Little data exist detailing the normal cup‐to‐disc (CD) ratios and arteriole‐to‐venule (A/V) ratios of school age children. In addition, controversy exists in the literature regarding associations between CD and A/V ratios and visual and biometric parameters. The present study investigates the success rates of obtaining useable optic disc images from the portable Nidek Handheld Non‐Mydriatic Fundus Camera (NM‐200D) from school‐age children and describes the distribution of CD ratios and A/V ratios in children aged 6–7 years of age and 12–13 years of age. In addition, the present study explores associations between CD and A/V ratios and a range of visual function and biometric parameters in children.

Methods:  Fundus images were obtained from 195 6–7 year old children and 227 12–13 year old children participating in a wider study of visual function in childhood (Northern Ireland Childhood Errors of Refraction Study or NICER). ImageJ software was used to obtain CD and A/V ratios from the digital images. Visual function measures and biometric parameters were also available for all participants including; cycloplegic refractive error, vision, corneal curvature, axial length, height and weight.

Results:  One hundred and eighty fundus images (92.3%) from the 6–7 year olds and 194 images (85.5%) from the 12–13 year olds children were considered useable. Analysis (one way anova) demonstrated statistically significant differences between CD ratios and A/V ratios between the age groups. Participants aged 12–13 years had larger CD ratios and smaller A/V ratios (mean CD ratio 0.37 ± 0.09, mean A/V ratio 0.75 ± 0.10) than 6–7 year old participants (mean CD ratio 0.30 ± 0.09, mean A/V ratio 0.78 ± 0.12). No significant associations were noted between CD ratios and A/V ratio and any visual, ocular or biometric parameters.

Conclusions:  The present study provides novel normative data on CD and A/V ratios in UK school age children for clinicians in practice.
Accelerated removal of antibody‐coated red blood cells from the circulation is accurately tracked by a biotin label
Authors: Mock Donald M. , Lankford Gary L. , Matthews Nell I. , Burmeister Leon F. , Kahn Daniel , Widness John A. , Strauss Ronald G.
Published: October 2011

BACKGROUND: Safe, accurate methods to reliably measure circulating red blood cell (RBC) kinetics are critical tools to investigate pathophysiology and therapy of anemia, including hemolytic anemias. This study documents the ability of a method using biotin‐labeled RBCs (BioRBCs) to measure RBC survival (RCS) shortened by coating with a highly purified monomeric immunoglobulin G antibody to D antigen.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Autologous RBCs from 10 healthy D+ subjects were labeled with either biotin or 51Cr (reference method), coated (opsonized) either lightly (n = 4) or heavily (n = 6) with anti‐D, and transfused. RCS was determined for BioRBCs and for 51Cr independently as assessed by three variables: 1) posttransfusion recovery at 24 hours (PTR24) for short‐term RCS; 2) time to 50% decrease of the label (T50), and 3) mean potential life span (MPL) for long‐term RCS.

RESULTS: BioRBCs tracked both normal and shortened RCS accurately relative to 51Cr. For lightly coated RBCs, mean PTR24, T50, and MPL results were not different between BioRBCs and 51Cr. For heavily coated RBCs, both short‐term and long‐term RCS were shortened by approximately 17 and 50%, respectively. Mean PTR24 by BioRBCs (84 ± 18%) was not different from 51Cr (81 ± 10%); mean T50 by BioRBCs (23 ± 17 days) was not different from 51Cr (22 ± 18 days).

CONCLUSION: RCS shortened by coating with anti‐D can be accurately measured by BioRBCs. We speculate that BioRBCs will be useful for studying RCS in conditions involving accelerated removal of RBCs including allo‐ and autoimmune hemolytic anemias.
Reversal of antibiotic resistance in Gram‐positive bacteria by the antihistaminic azelastine
Authors: EL‐NAKEEB MOUSTAFA A. , ABOU‐SHLEIB HAMIDA M. , KHALIL AMAL M. , OMAR HODA G. , EL‐HALFAWY OMAR M.
Published: October 2011

El‐Nakeeb MA, Abou‐Shleib HM, Khalil AM, Omar HG, El‐Halfawy OM. Reversal of antibiotic resistance in Gram‐positive bacteria by the antihistaminic azelastine. APMIS 2012; 120: 215–20.

Antibiotic resistance represents a serious problem that complicates microbial infection. The use of ‘helper compounds’ capable of enhancing the antimicrobial activity of antibiotics is being investigated. Azelastine, a new generation antihistaminic, possesses certain antibacterial activity and is capable of inducing alteration in the bacterial membrane permeability. Hence, we hypothesized that it could reverse resistance to antibiotics. Azelastine significantly increased the antibacterial activity of eight antibiotics belonging to five different classes (β‐lactams, macrolides, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides and tetracyclines) against nine Gram‐positive clinical isolates: five Staphylococcus aureus, two Staphylococcus epidermidis and two Enterococcus faecium, seven of which were multi‐drug resistant, reversing their resistance to the tested antibiotics. The synergistic effects of azelastine with the studied antibiotics increased with raising the pH from 5 to 8. Antibiotics did not affect the ability of azelastine to alter the permeability of a liposomal artificial membrane model, an effect thought to be critical for the interaction with antibiotics. The findings of this study present azelastine as a potential ‘helper compound’ that could reverse the resistance of multi‐drug resistant Gram‐positive clinical isolates to antibiotics.
Discovery of Safe and Orally Effective 4-Aminoquinaldine Analogues as Apoptotic Inducers with Activity against Experimental Visceral Leishmaniasis
Authors: Palit Partha , Hazra Abhijit , Maity Arindam , Vijayan R. S. K. , Manoharan Prabu , Banerjee Sukdeb , Mondal Nirup B. , Ghoshal Nanda , Ali Nahid
Published: October 2011

Novel antileishmanials are urgently required to overcome emergence of drug resistance, cytotoxic effects, and difficulties in oral delivery. Toward this, we investigated a series of novel 4-aminoquinaldine derivatives, a new class of molecules, as potential antileishmanials. 4-Aminoquinaldine derivatives presented inhibitory effects onL. donovanipromastigotes and amastigotes (50% inhibitory concentration range, 0.94 to 127 μM). Of these, PP-9 and PP-10 were the most effectivein vitroand demonstrated strong efficaciesin vivothrough the intraperitoneal route. They were also found to be effective against both sodium antimony gluconate-sensitive and -resistantLeishmania donovanistrains in BALB/c mice when treated orally, resulting in more than 95% protection. Investigation of their mode of action revealed that killing by PP-10 involved moderate inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase and elicitation of the apoptotic cascade. Our studies implicate that PP-10 augments reactive oxygen species generation, evidenced from decreased glutathione levels and increased lipid peroxidation. Subsequent disruption ofLeishmaniapromastigote mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of cytosolic proteases initiated the apoptotic pathway, resulting in DNA fragmentation and parasite death. Our results demonstrate that PP-9 and PP-10 are promising lead compounds with the potential for treating visceral leishmaniasis (VL) through the oral route.
Do Firms' Comply with the Shorter Form 8-K Reporting Deadlines? Initial Evidence on the Effectiveness of the SEC's 2004 Current Report Rule
Authors: Karim Khondkar , Pinsker Robert
Published: October 2011

When examining Form 8-K filings under the Securities and Exchange Commissions' (SEC) Rule 10b-5, Carter and Soo (1999) found that over 26% are filed after the statutory due date. "Bad news" filings resulted in over 30% tardiness. Effective August 23, 2004, the SEC passed the Additional Form 8-K Disclosure and Acceleration of Filing Date Rule (henceforth, the 2004 Current Report Rule), which expanded the number of disclosures required to be submitted on the Form 8-K, while decreasing the reporting deadline from 15 calendar days (for most events) to only four business days after event occurrence. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to assess the immediate compliance behavior of firms, consequent to the passage of the 2004 Current Report Rule (CRR).

In order to examine immediate effects, our sample consists of 2004 fourth quarter Form 8-K filings. Results indicate that compliance with stated Form 8-K deadlines has significantly improved. Relative to the other events examined, Form 8-K filings are more likely to be late if they report director resignations (i.e. "bad news"). Other results indicate no discernable differences between the number of days to file within the four day requirement and no industry is more likely than another to be noncompliant. In sum, this paper's findings should be of interest to the SEC, because they support the SEC's policy (i.e. the 2004 CRR) of firms providing material information to investors in a more timely fashion.
GALS-Designer
Authors: Sun Wei-Tsun , Salcic Zoran
Published: October 2011

GALS-Designer is a framework for the design of software systems which comply with the formal Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous model of computation (GALS). Those systems consist of single or multiple GALS programs and their immediate environment, which can be other programs and any other modules described in SystemC. The framework integrates our libGALS library for writing GALS programs and SystemC. It enables modeling and simulation of single and multiple GALS programs within the single SystemC executable model on the host (simulation) operating system. The same GALS programs can then be run without SystemC on a target operating system for which the libGALS runtime library is available. The use of the GALS-Designer is demonstrated on an example of a complex embedded system. As libGALS can execute on multiprocessor platforms both the simulation and target models of the GALS system can take advantage of multiprocessor and multicore systems, which is not possible when using standard SystemC. Results of running simulation models of GALS programs demonstrate simulation performance improvement when executing on multicore platforms.
IO connection assignment and RDL routing for flip-chip designs
Authors: Yan Jin-Tai
Published: October 2011

Given a set of IO buffers and a set of bump balls with the capacity constraints between two adjacent bump balls, based on the construction of the Delaunary triangulation and a Manhattan Voronoi diagram, an O(
n
2
) assignment algorithm is proposed to assign all the IO connections in a single redistribution layer for IO connection assignment, where
n
is the number of bump balls in a flip-chip design. Furthermore, based on the computation of the probabilistic congestion for the assigned IO connections, an O(
n
2
) routing algorithm is proposed to minimize the total wirelength to route all the assigned IO connections while satisfying the capacity constraints for single-layer RDL routing. Compared with the combination of a greedy IO assignment and our RDL routing, our IO assignment reduces the total wirelength by 9.9% and improves the routability by 8.8% on the average for 6 tested circuits. Compared with the combination of a greedy IO assignment, the single-layer BGA global router [Tomioka and Takahashi 2006] and our RDL detailed routing, our IO connection assignment and RDL routing reduces the total wirelength by 12.9% and improve the routability by 10.2% on the average for 6 tested circuits. Besides that the experimental results show that our IO connection assignment and RDL routing can reduce 52.1% of the total wirelength on the average to achieve 100% routability for 12 tested industrial circuits under reasonable CPU time.
Clock buffer polarity assignment with skew tuning
Authors: Lu Jianchao , Taskin Baris
Published: October 2011

A clock polarity assignment method is proposed that reduces the peak current on the vdd/gnd rails of an integrated circuit. The impacts of (i) the output capacitive load on the peak current drawn by the sink-level clock buffers, and (ii) the buffer/inverter replacement scheme of polarity assignment on timing accuracy are considered in the formulation. The proposed sink-level-only polarity assignment is performed by a lexi-search algorithm in order to balance the peak current on the clock tree. Most of the previous polarity assignment methods that do not include clock tree resynthesis lead to an undesirable increase in the worst corner clock skew. Hence, a skew-tuning scheme is proposed that reduces the clock skew through polarity refinement and not through clock tree resynthesis. The proposed polarity assignment method with the skew-tuning scheme is implemented within an industrial design flow for practicality. Experimental results show that the worst-case peak current drawn by the clock tree can be reduced by an average of 36.5%. The worst corner clock skew is increased from 60.7ps to 76.2ps by applying the proposed polarity assignment method. The proposed skew-tuning scheme reduces the worst-case clock skew from 76.2ps to 61.5ps, on average, with a limited degradation in the peak current improvement (36.5% to 31.2%, on average).
Modeling chaotic storms
Authors: Kroeker Kirk L.
Published: October 2011

Scientists say improvements to extreme-weather prediction are possible with new weather models and a reinvention of the modeling technologies used to process them.
Why the Google book settlement failed
Authors: Samuelson Pamela
Published: October 2011

Assessing the implications of the Google Book Search settlement.
The software industry
is
the problem
Authors: Kamp Poul-Henning
Published: October 2011

The time has come for software liability laws.
Information seeking
Authors: Garcia-Molina Hector , Koutrika Georgia , Parameswaran Aditya
Published: October 2011

How to address user information needs amidst a preponderance of data.
Distinct Epigenomic Features in End-Stage Failing Human Hearts
Authors: Movassagh Mehregan , Choy Mun-Kit , Knowles David A. , Cordeddu Lina , Haider Syed , Down Thomas , Siggens Lee , Vujic Ana , Simeoni Ilenia , Penkett Chris , Goddard Martin , Lio Pietro , Bennett Martin R. , Foo Roger S.-Y.
Published: October 2011

Background—

The epigenome refers to marks on the genome, including DNA methylation and histone modifications, that regulate the expression of underlying genes. A consistent profile of gene expression changes in end-stage cardiomyopathy led us to hypothesize that distinct global patterns of the epigenome may also exist.

Methods and Results—

We constructed genome-wide maps of DNA methylation and histone-3 lysine-36 trimethylation (H3K36me3) enrichment for cardiomyopathic and normal human hearts. More than 506 Mb sequences per library were generated by high-throughput sequencing, allowing us to assign methylation scores to ≈28 million CG dinucleotides in the human genome. DNA methylation was significantly different in promoter CpG islands, intragenic CpG islands, gene bodies, and H3K36me3-enriched regions of the genome. DNA methylation differences were present in promoters of upregulated genes but not downregulated genes. H3K36me3 enrichment itself was also significantly different in coding regions of the genome. Specifically, abundance of RNA transcripts encoded by the
DUX4
locus correlated to differential DNA methylation and H3K36me3 enrichment. In vitro,
Dux
gene expression was responsive to a specific inhibitor of DNA methyltransferase, and
Dux
siRNA knockdown led to reduced cell viability.

Conclusions—

Distinct epigenomic patterns exist in important DNA elements of the cardiac genome in human end-stage cardiomyopathy. The epigenome may control the expression of local or distal genes with critical functions in myocardial stress response. If epigenomic patterns track with disease progression, assays for the epigenome may be useful for assessing prognosis in heart failure. Further studies are needed to determine whether and how the epigenome contributes to the development of cardiomyopathy.
MicroRNA-130a–mediated down-regulation of Smad4 contributes to reduced sensitivity to TGF-β1 stimulation in granulocytic precursors
Authors: Häger Mattias , Pedersen Corinna Cavan , Larsen Maria Torp , Andersen Mette Klarskov , Hother Christoffer , Grønbæk Kirsten , Jarmer Hanne , Borregaard Niels , Cowland Jack Bernard
Published: October 2011

Smad4 is important in the TGF-β pathway and required for transcriptional activation and inhibition of cell growth after TGF-β1 stimulation. We demonstrate that miR-130a is differentially expressed during granulopoiesis and targets Smad4 mRNA. The transcript for Smad4 is present throughout neutrophil maturation, but Smad4 protein is undetectable in the most immature cells, where miR-130a is highly expressed. Two miR-130a binding sites were identified in the 3′-untranslated region of the Smad4 mRNA. Overexpression of miR-130a in HEK293, A549, and 32Dcl3 cells repressed synthesis of Smad4 protein without affecting Smad4 mRNA level. Repression of Smad4 synthesis in a granulocytic cell line by miR-130a reduced its sensitivity to TGF-β1–induced growth inhibition. This effect was reversed by inhibiting the activity of miR-130a with an antisense probe or by expressing a Smad4 mRNA lacking miR-130a binding sites. High endogenous miR-130a and Smad4 mRNA levels and low expression of Smad4 protein were found in the t(8;21)(q22;q22) acute myelogenous leukemia–derived cell line Kasumi-1. When miR-130a was inhibited by an antisense RNA, the amount of Smad4 protein increased in Kasumi-1 cells and rendered it susceptible for TGF-β1–mediated cell growth inhibition. Our data indicate that miR-130a is involved in cell cycle regulation of granulocytic cells through engagement of Smad4 in the TGF-β pathway.
PMS5: an efficient exact algorithm for the (ℓ, d)-motif finding problem
Authors: Dinh Hieu , Rajasekaran Sanguthevar , Kundeti Vamsi K
Published: October 2011

Background

Motifs are patterns found in biological sequences that are vital for understanding gene function, human disease, drug design, etc. They are helpful in finding transcriptional regulatory elements, transcription factor binding sites, and so on. As a result, the problem of identifying motifs is very crucial in biology.

Results

Many facets of the motif search problem have been identified in the literature. One of them is (ℓ, d)-motif search (or Planted Motif Search (PMS)). The PMS problem has been well investigated and shown to be NP-hard. Any algorithm for PMS that always finds all the (ℓ, d)-motifs on a given input set is called an exact algorithm. In this paper we focus on exact algorithms only. All the known exact algorithms for PMS take exponential time in some of the underlying parameters in the worst case scenario. But it does not mean that we cannot design exact algorithms for solving practical instances within a reasonable amount of time. In this paper, we propose a fast algorithm that can solve the well-known challenging instances of PMS: (21, 8) and (23, 9). No prior exact algorithm could solve these instances. In particular, our proposed algorithm takes about 10 hours on the challenging instance (21, 8) and about 54 hours on the challenging instance (23, 9). The algorithm has been run on a single 2.4GHz PC with 3GB RAM. The implementation of PMS5 is freely available on the web at http://www.pms.engr.uconn.edu/downloads/PMS5.zip.

Conclusions

We present an efficient algorithm PMS5 that uses some novel ideas and combines them with well-known algorithm PMS1 and PMSPrune. PMS5 can tackle the large challenging instances (21, 8) and (23, 9). Therefore, we hope that PMS5 will help biologists discover longer motifs in the futures.
Regulation of the HIV-1 promoter by HIF-1α and Vpr proteins
Authors: Deshmane Satish L , Amini Shohreh , Sen Satarupa , Khalili Kamel , Sawaya Bassel E
Published: October 2011

We previously demonstrated the ability of HIV-1 Vpr protein to activate the oxidative stress pathway, thus leading to the induction of the hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α). Therefore, we sought to examine the interplay between the two proteins and the impact of HIF-1α activation on HIV-1 transcription. Using transient transfection assays, we identified the optimal concentration of HIF-1α necessary for the activation of the HIV-1 promoter as well as the domain within HIF-1α responsible for this activation. Our findings indicated that activation of the HIV-1 LTR by Vpr is HIF-1α dependent. Furthermore, we showed that both Vpr and HIF-1α activate the HIV-1 promoter through the GC-rich binding domain within the LTR. Taken together, these data shed more light on the mechanisms used by Vpr to activate the HIV-1 promoter and placed HIF-1α as a major participant in this activation.
Health system determinants of infant, child and maternal mortality: A cross-sectional study of UN member countries
Authors: Muldoon Katherine A , Galway Lindsay P , Nakajima Maya , Kanters Steve , Hogg Robert S , Bendavid Eran , Mills Edward J
Published: October 2011

Objective

Few studies have examined the link between health system strength and important public health outcomes across nations. We examined the association between health system indicators and mortality rates.

Methods

We used mixed effects linear regression models to investigate the strength of association between outcome and explanatory variables, while accounting for geographic clustering of countries. We modelled infant mortality rate (IMR), child mortality rate (CMR), and maternal mortality rate (MMR) using 13 explanatory variables as outlined by the World Health Organization.

Results

Significant protective health system determinants related to IMR included higher physician density (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] 0.81; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.71-0.91), higher sustainable access to water and sanitation (aRR 0.85; 95% CI 0.78-0.93), and having a less corrupt government (aRR 0.57; 95% CI 0.40-0.80). Out-of-pocket expenditures on health (aRR 1.29; 95% CI 1.03-1.62) were a risk factor. The same four variables were significantly related to CMR after controlling for other variables. Protective determinants of MMR included access to water and sanitation (aRR 0.88; 95% CI 0.82-0.94), having a less corrupt government (aRR 0.49; 95%; CI 0.36-0.66), and higher total expenditures on health per capita (aRR 0.84; 95% CI 0.77-0.92). Higher fertility rates (aRR 2.85; 95% CI: 2.02-4.00) were found to be a significant risk factor for MMR.

Conclusion

Several key measures of a health system predict mortality in infants, children, and maternal mortality rates at the national level. Improving access to water and sanitation and reducing corruption within the health sector should become priorities.
Preliminary Efficacy of the Anti-Insulin–Like Growth Factor Type 1 Receptor Antibody Figitumumab in Patients With Refractory Ewing Sarcoma
Authors: Juergens Heribert , Daw Najat C. , Geoerger Birgit , Ferrari Stefano , Villarroel Milena , Aerts Isabelle , Whelan Jeremy , Dirksen Uta , Hixon Mary L. , Yin Donghua , Wang Tao , Green Stephanie , Paccagnella Luisa , Gualberto Antonio
Published: October 2011

Purpose

Patients with Ewing sarcoma (ES) with metastases and those who relapse fare poorly and receive therapies that carry significant toxicity. This phase 1/2 study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of figitumumab in advanced ES.

Patients and Methods

Patients with sarcoma 10 to 18 years old were enrolled in two dose escalation cohorts (20 and 30 mg/Kg intravenously every 4 weeks) in the phase 1 portion of the study. Patients with ES 10 years old or older were enrolled in the phase 2 portion of the study. The primary phase 2 objective was objective response rate (ORR).

Results

Thirty-one patients with ES (n = 16), osteosarcoma (n = 11), or other sarcomas (n = 4) were enrolled in the phase 1 portion of the study. Dose escalation proceeded to 30 mg/kg every 4 weeks with no dose-limiting toxicity identified. In the phase 2 portion of the study, 107 patients with ES received figitumumab at 30 mg/kg every 4 weeks for a median of 2 cycles (range, 1 to 16). Sixty three percent of phase 2 patients had received at least three prior treatment regimens. Of 106 evaluable patients, 15 had a partial response (ORR, 14.2%) and 25 had stable disease. Median overall survival was 8.9 months. Importantly, patients with a pretreatment circulating free insulin-like growth factor (IGF) -1 lower than 0.65 ng/mL (n = 14) had a median OS of 3.6 months, whereas those with a baseline free IGF-1 ≥ 0.65 ng/mL (n = 84) had a median OS of 10.4 months (P < .001).

Conclusion

Figitumumab had modest activity as single agent in advanced ES. A strong association between pretreatment serum IGF-1 and survival benefit was identified.
Screening for mutations in the α-globin genes leading to abnormal hemoglobin variants with high resolution melting analysis
Authors: Liu Ying-Na , Li Ru , Zhou Jian-Ying , Xie Xing-Mei , Li Jian , Liao Can , Li Dong-Zhi
Published: October 2011

α-Thalassemia is one of the most commonly inherited single-gene disorders in southern China. It is important to identify non-deletional α-thalassemia in areas where α-thalassemia is prevalent, since non-deletional HbH disease (

An approach based on high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis was used. A total of 74 samples, including 54 abnormal α-chain samples and 20 control samples, were tested.

All of the 54 samples with point mutations at the exons 1, 2 or 3 of the α-globin genes, including 33 non-deletional α-thalassemia, were successfully detected.

HRM has the potential to become an efficient, rapid screening method for non-deletional α-thalassemia.
Surface Interactions for Controlling the Microfluidic Separation of Polymeric Microspheres
Authors: Sadeghi Alireza , Howse Jonathan , Ebbens Steve , De Geest Bruno
Published: October 2011

Applications of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed by the adsorption of alkanethiols onto gold surfaces have had a widespread growth in adhesion investigations, interfacial interaction investigations and other interfacial phenomena in recent years. As computational modelling showed that modified surfaces can segregate compliant microspheres, a microfluidic flow cell was designed to roll polymeric microcapsules on surfaces with different chemistries, in order to obtain experimental data to validate previous results. Particle image velocimetry showed that rolling speed of microcapsules is affected by surface chemistry. The velocity of vesicles rolling on thiol surfaces with positive of negative charged head groups was significantly lower than vesicles rolling on thiol surfaces with a hydrocarbon chain head group and pure gold surface respectively. Since fabrication of patterned SAMs with different thiol surfaces is possible through oxidation by UV light, our results point to a facile method for carrying out a continuous separation process.
Design and construction of an experimental pervious paved parking area to harvest reusable rainwater
Authors: Gomez-Ullate E. , Novo A. V. , Bayon J. R. , Hernandez Jorge R. , Castro-Fresno Daniel
Published: October 2011

Pervious pavements are sustainable urban drainage systems already known as rainwater infiltration techniques which reduce runoff formation and diffuse pollution in cities. The present research is focused on the design and construction of an experimental parking area, composed of 45 pervious pavement parking bays. Every pervious pavement was experimentally designed to store rainwater and measure the levels of the stored water and its quality over time. Six different pervious surfaces are combined with four different geotextiles in order to test which materials respond better to the good quality of rainwater storage over time and under the specific weather conditions of the north of Spain. The aim of this research was to obtain a good performance of pervious pavements that offered simultaneously a positive urban service and helped to harvest rainwater with a good quality to be used for non potable demands.
Influence of radiation on the properties of solar cells
Authors: Zdravkovic Milos , Vasic Aleksandra , Radosavljevic Radovan , Vujisic Milos , Osmokrovic Predrag
Published: October 2011

The wide substitution of conventional types of energy by solar energy lies in
the rate of developing solar cell technology. Silicon is still the mostly
used element for solar cell production, so efforts are directed to the
improvement of physical properties of silicon structures. There are several
trends in the development of solar cells, but mainly two directions are
indicated: the improvement of the conventional solar cell characteristics
based on semiconductor materials, and exploring the possibilities of using
some new materials. The aim of this paper is to present some different
approaches of improvement of solar cell properties through the investigation
of radiation effects on the main solar cell characteristics.