bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Agent-Based Fault Tolerance Mechanism for Dependable Medical Systems
Authors: Zaiter Meriem , Hacini Salima , Boufaida Zizette
Published: July 2016

The use of distributed systems and IT is growing, with automation being used more and more to facilitate our daily tasks. The need to remotely monitor a patient has driven one of important results of this growth: domestic medical systems. The latter are able to follow and maintain the condition of a patient in the patient's home. Monitoring is important in terms of saving time and also money. However, the critical nature of this task requires a high level of dependability. The aim of dependability is to satisfy the user's goal, which is that whatever the state and context of the overall system, its ability to control the operation of the medical device and to transmit files reporting the patient's condition (normal, critical, alert, etc.) must be continuously assured. This can be ensured by fault tolerance techniques. The authors' objective in this paper is to present a technique for fault tolerance in a domestic medical system. Briefly, their proposal integrates a smart concept into the system: agents for controlling the operation of the medical system and tolerating the faults that can occur.
Service Intelligence and Communication Security for Ambient Assisted Living
Authors: Korzun Dmitry G. , Nikolaevskiy Ilya , Gurtov Andrei
Published: July 2016

Mobile health (m-Health) scenarios and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies form an important direction for enhancing medical systems for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). Yet current development meets with two challenges: 1) use of patient's health data with strong security guarantees in mobile network and resource-constrained assumptions and in emergency situations, 2) inclusion of personal data to the entire system for “smart” service construction and delivery. This paper presents a smart space based architectural model that adopts emerging IoT technologies to enable security of personal mobile data and their intelligent utilization in health services. To support the service intelligence, the authors employ the smart spaces approach with its prominent technologies adopted from IoT and Semantic Web. The intelligence and security solutions are considered symbiotic to present better user-experience, security level, and utility of a system.
A SysML and CLEAN Based Methodology for RISC Processor Micro-Architecture Design
Authors: Lakhdara Zakaria , Merniz Salah
Published: July 2016

Nowadays, processor micro-architectures are becoming more and more complex. Consequently, designers increasingly need powerful abstraction and structuration mechanisms, as well as design methodologies that automatically and formally derive low-level concrete designs from high-level abstract ones. In this context, this paper proposes a methodology for RISC processor micro-architecture design. The proposed methodology uses mainly SysML to model both ISA and MA levels and the functional language CLEAN to describe them. Functional specifications in CLEAN are automatically generated from the ISA and MA models. These specifications, which are executable and formally verifiable, are used for simulation and verification. The proposed approach is validated by a case study that consists of designing the micro-architecture of MIPS processor. It shows how to easily model and generate CLEAN specifications describing the ISA and MA levels. It also illustrates, with multiple cases, how the generated specifications are used to simulate the MA. The results of the simulation phase prove the efficiency of the proposed modeling and code generation techniques.
Cloud Storage Privacy and Security User Awareness
Authors: Mijuskovic Adriana , Ferati Mexhid
Published: July 2016

There are many factors influencing the user awareness level of privacy and security concerns when storing data on the cloud. One such factor is the users' cultural background, which has been an inspiration to many studies comparing various cultures. Along those lines, this paper compares the user awareness level between Dutch and Macedonian users, which has not been investigated before. An online study was conducted to measure users' attitude towards privacy and security of data in the cloud-based systems. The research process was conducted by delivering an online survey to Computer Science students and employees working in different software companies in the Netherlands and Macedonia. The comparative analysis indicates that there are differences in user's attitude towards storing private data in the cloud. The results of this paper demonstrate that Dutch compared to Macedonian users in general have higher level of awareness regarding the privacy and security of cloud storage.
FCE
Authors: Tellioğlu Hilda
Published: July 2016

This paper is an attempt to conceptualise the scope of an evaluation framework for curricula in higher education. The framework presented in this paper (FCE) considers static and dynamic aspects of curricula. While briefly showing the state of the art requirements to an evaluation framework are summarised. After introducing the research setting and the methodology applied for this work, the Framework for Curriculum Evaluation (FCE) is presented with its two levels: definition level and execution level. For the execution level the questionnaires used for students, teachers and administration staff are briefly presented to make the utilisation of the FCE explicit. Some of the questions are exemplified to demonstrate their use in real settings. Discussion and conclusions finalise the paper.
Creating Student Interaction Profiles for Adaptive Collaboration Gamification Design
Authors: Knutas Antti , Ikonen Jouni , Maggiorini Dario , Ripamonti Laura , Porras Jari
Published: July 2016

Benefits of collaborative learning are established and gamification methods have been used to motivate students towards achieving course goals in educational settings. However, different users prefer different game elements and rewarding approaches and static gamification approaches can be inefficient. The authors present an evidence-based method and a case study where interaction analysis and k-means clustering are used to create gamification preference profiles. These profiles can be used to create adaptive gamification approaches for online learning or collaborative learning environments, improving on static gamification designs. Furthermore, the authors discuss possibilities for using our approach in collaborative online learning environments.
Partial Solution for a Problem of Developing a Large Number of eLearning Resources
Authors: Putnik Zoran , Ivanović Mirjana , Budimac Zoran , Bothe Klaus
Published: July 2016

Through a careful organization of a teaching curriculum at their Department, the authors managed to organize nice and fruitful cooperation with their students in the eLearning area. In particular, what they find as the most positive result is the fact that an excellent cooperation between students and lecturers was developed. This cooperation lead to creation of digital learning objects by the students, as a result of the requirements for passing an exam dealing with eLearning. The authors' experience is limited to the students of the computer science study program, since only a small number of students of other study programs elected this course, but the number of students they observed is large enough for qualitative conclusions. Based on a static teaching material, students developed several types of eLearning resources for various subjects, not restricted to computer science courses. Developed materials (usually) required some additional work to make them fully usable as a part of university courses. Still, generally, all of the technical work was performed, a large part of texts, images, assessment questions, and other learning objects were created, and resources typically were very usable after some additional polishing. Yet, what is probably of even a greater value is the fact that the authors managed to join several important things within this one course. First of all, and probably the most important, students were introduced to principles and methodology of eLearning in some real situation, preparing some practically usable material, thus being able to see all of the problems they might encounter in the future. Secondary, as a result, the authors received a lot of draft versions of teaching materials to improve it further, thus relaxing efforts for eLearning material creation. Finally, the most creative part of the result is the fact that these resources introduced the authors to different, sometimes rather interesting views on problems and materials in question, or on teaching methodology. Essentially it offers them new ideas, notions, and concepts to work with.
iPhone Forensics
Authors: Mistry Nilay R. , Koshy Binoj , Dahiya Mohindersinh , Chaudhary Chirag , Patel Harshal , Parekh Dhaval , Kotak Jaidip , Nayi Komal , Badva Priyanka
Published: July 2016

Smartphone usage has increased in the recent past and has become an extension of the personal computer, so has the complexity of forensic investigation. Vital information on these devices makes them more critical especially when it is part of investigative evidences. The challenge here is the extraction of data, especially when the phone is logically or physically damaged. Chip-off is a niche technique, involving removal of Flash Memory chip with due sophistication, this then is subjected to direct extraction and analysis. Apple iPhones are robust and well locked; the study performed chip-off on model A1203 that revealed vital forensic evidences.
Preventing Identity Disclosure in Social Networks Using Intersected Node
Authors: Singh Amardeep , Bansal Divya , Sofat Sanjeev
Published: July 2016

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. provide data of its users to the demanding organizations to better comprehend the quality of their potential clients. Publishing confidential data of social network users in its raw form raises several privacy and security concerns. Recently, some anonymization techniques have been developed to address these issues. In this paper, a technique to prevent identity disclosure through structure attacks has been proposed which not only prevents identity disclosure but also preserves utility of data published by online social networks. Algorithms have been developed by using noise nodes/edges with the consideration of introducing minimum change in the original graphical structure of social networks. The authors' work is unique in the sense that previous works are based on edge editing only but their proposed work protects against structure attacks using mutual nodes in the social network and the effectiveness of the proposed technique has been proved using APL (Average Path Length) and information loss as parameters.
Metamorphic malware detection using opcode frequency rate and decision tree
Authors: Fazlali Mahmood , Khodamoradi Peyman , Mardukhi Farhad , Nosrati Masoud , Dehshibi Mohammad Mahdi
Published: July 2016

Malware is defined as any type of malicious code that is the potent to harm a computer or a network. Modern malwares are accompanied with mutation characteristics, namely polymorphism and metamorphism. They let malwares to generate enormous number of variants. Rising number of metamorphic malwares entails hardship in analyzing them for signature extraction and database updates. In spite of the broad use of signature-based methods in the security products, they are not able detect the new unseen morphs of malware, and it is stemmed from changing the structure of malware as well as the signature in each infection. In this paper, a novel method is proposed in which the proportion of opcodes is used for detecting the new morphs. Decision trees are utilized for classification and detection of malware variants based on the rate of opcode frequencies. Three metrics for evaluating the proposed method are speed, efficiency and accuracy. It was observed in the course of experiments that speed and time complexity will not be challenging factors; because of the fast nature of extracting the frequencies of opcodes from source assembly file. Empirical validation reveals that the proposed method outperforms the entire commercial antivirus programs with a high level of efficiency and accuracy.
AHP-Driven Knowledge Leakage Risk Assessment Model
Authors: Tsang Haley Wing Chi , Lee Wing Bun , Tsui Eric
Published: July 2016

Intellectual Capital (IC) is becoming more widely understood by the academic and business communities, especially its important role in value creation of an organization. However, few people are aware that IC, if not managed properly, may also pose threats, sometime serious, to an organization. Knowledge leakage from an organization, for example, may come about when an experienced employee leaves for another job. Knowledge leakage is pervasive throughout an organization but is seldom noticed until the consequence is felt. This intellectual capital risk has to be systematically and effectively identified, assessed and controlled in the whole value chain of an organization. An AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) based multi-dimensional decision making and assessment model is developed to determine knowledge leakage risk in an organization.
The Management of Knowledge Risks: What do We Really Know?
Authors: Durst Susanne , Bruns Guido , Henschel Thomas
Published: July 2016

The purpose of this paper is to review extant research on knowledge risk management (KRM) to establish our body of knowledge and to identify gaps justifying further research activities. The study is based on a systematic review of peer reviewed empirical and conceptual articles on the management of knowledge risks. This proceeding proves evidence that there are a small number of papers addressing knowledge risks and its management. The recommendations derived from the findings can assist researchers, managers and consultants to better understand the critical importance of integrating KRM in the firms' enterprise risk management. This increased understanding can particularly be useful for managers as better decisions will be possible.
An Exploratory Study of the Security Design Pattern Landscape and their Classification
Authors: Ponde Poonam , Shirwaikar Shailaja
Published: July 2016

Security is a critical part of information systems and must be integrated into every aspect of the system. It requires a lot of expertise to design and implement secure systems due to the broad coverage of security issues and threats. A good system design is based on sound software engineering principles which leverages proven best practices in the form of standard guidelines and design patterns. A design pattern represents a reusable solution to a recurring problem in a specific context. The current security design pattern landscape contains several patterns, pattern catalogs and pattern classification schemes. To apply appropriate patterns for a specific problem context, a deeper understanding of this domain is essential. A survey of patterns and their classification schemes will aid in understanding pattern coverage and identifying gaps. In this paper, the authors have presented a detailed exploratory study of the security design pattern landscape. Based on their study, the authors have identified shortcomings and presented future research directions.
New Evolutionary Algorithm Based on 2-Opt Local Search to Solve the Vehicle Routing Problem with Private Fleet and Common Carrier
Authors: Euchi Jalel , Chabchoub Habib , Yassine Adnan
Published: July 2016

Mismanagement of routing and deliveries between sites of the same company or toward external sites leads to consequences in the cost of transport. When shipping alternatives exist, the selection of the appropriate shipping alternative (mode) for each shipment may result in significant cost savings. In this paper, the authors examine a class of vehicle routing in which a fixed internal fleet is available at the warehouse in the presence of an external transporter. The authors describe hybrid Iterated Density Estimation Evolutionary Algorithm with 2-opt local search to determine the specific assignment of each tour to a private vehicle (internal fleet) or an outside carrier (external fleet). Experimental results show that this method is effective, allowing the discovery of new best solutions for well-known benchmarks.
ANALYSIS OF THE MAIN FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF WINE FROM MECHANICALLY HARVESTED GRAPES
Authors: Catania Pietro , Vallone Mariangela , Pipitone Felice
Published: July 2016

The present paper consisted in the study of the main factors influencing the quality of wines produced from mechanically harvested grapes. In particular, 8 samples of grape clusters were examined, different for the harvesting technique, grape juice production, time of exposure to the ambient conditions and addition of an antioxidant The results confirm that the control of some parameters such as grape juice production, ambient temperature and time of exposure of the harvested grapes to the ambient conditions is essential in order to obtain wines of quality from mechanically harvested grapes.
Enhancing public sectors’ capacity for inclusive economic participation of disabled youth in rural communities
Authors: Ned Lieketseng , Lorenzo Theresa
Published: July 2016

Background: The capacity of service providers in the public sector to deliver inclusive services is essential to implement strategies that will allow the full participation of disabled youth in development opportunities in the rural context. Objective: The article sets to describe the capacity of service providers in facilitating participation of disabled youth in economic development opportunities. Method: An instrumental, embedded single case study informed the research design. The sample consisted of five disabled youth, four family members as well as six service providers. Data was gathered through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions. Data analysis was done inductively and thematically. In the discussion, the interpretation used organisational capacity elements as a framework. Findings: The theme on service providers indicates their understanding of disability as still a multifaceted and a challenging issue with different orientations to service delivery based on understanding of impairment and disability. There is a dominant focus on impairment and negative attitudes. Discussion: An asset building approach could facilitate awareness of capacities of disabled youth and thus shift negative attitudes to an enabling attitude. The vague strategies for youth and women that are described as inclusive are a misrepresentation of the reality of experiences of disabled youth. Conclusion: An appreciative process of facilitating a holistic understanding of the needs of disabled people is needed to assist service providers to reconceptualise disability within an expansive framework.
Die helende krag van regverdige vergifnis, sonder kondonering van onreg
Authors: Denton Rudy
Published: July 2016

The healing power of just forgiveness, without excusing injustice. Justice is closely related to forgiveness and the extent of the injustice gap experienced depends on how much or how little personal justice a wounded person desires. The experience of forgiveness includes two diverse forms of forgiveness: decisional and emotional forgiveness. Decisional forgiveness is controlling humans’ behavioural intentions, while emotional forgiveness replaces negative, unforgiving emotions with positive, other-orientated emotions. A victim may make a decision to forgive, but never feels emotional peace about the decision to forgive. Both decisional and emotional forgiveness are experienced internally within a wounded person and depends on the social context of the transgression and the response to it. Justice can narrow the injustice gap, but rarely closes it, while forgiveness can heal the pain within the injustice gap. The sense of desired justice is to some degree justifiable, but by granting decisional forgiveness and experiencing emotional forgiveness a wounded person can slow down if not stop ruminating vengeful thoughts. Christians can forgive transgression and wrongdoing because they are responding in gratitude to God’s mercy, loving-kindness and forgiveness through Jesus’ death on the cross. God guides Christian believers through the example of Jesus’s humility to forgive wrongdoing and ultimately grow spiritually when Jesus requires decisional forgiveness and desires emotional forgiveness between victim and offender. Forgiveness is based on God’s forgiveness, while humans tend to both forgive and also pursue justice without excusing injustice. Humans are in their own power incapable of justly forgiving transgression, but God can guide people through the Holy Spirit to just forgiveness.
Facebook versus Twitter: Which one is more credible in a South African context?
Authors: Viljoen Kim L. , Dube Langelihle , Murisi Tichaona
Published: July 2016

Background: Studies conducted have shown that half of the South African population uses either or both Facebook and Twitter social networking sites for social satisfaction and for the evaluation of products and purchase decisions. This is a direct result of the continuous technological advancements worldwide and the permeative nature of social media.Objective: The focus of this study is to evaluate the credibility of Facebook and Twitter messages while establishing which of the mediums is perceived as more believable by consumers. The results of this research direct information technology practitioners, business managers, business owners, and marketing managers on the viability of these communication mediums.Method: A positivistic paradigm was used in this study through the use of a descriptive research design which consisted of a survey of 446 respondents located in East London, Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Respondents were either selected randomly or through convenience sampling and were between age 18 and 55.Results: It was established that both Facebook and Twitter are significantly related to the independent variable of ‘intention to purchase’, with Twitter having a stronger correlation with the independent variable than Facebook. The context of the study was set in relation to the purchase intention of specific mobile phone brands.Conclusion: Based on these results, it can be concluded that Twitter electronic word-of-mouth can be considered to be more credible than Facebook electronic word-of-mouth; thus this should be considered when advertising or promoting products via these mediums.
A Chair-side Technique to verify the Parallelism of Fixed Partial Denture Abutments
Authors: Farah Rafat I
Published: July 2016

This report describes a chair-side technique to verify the parallelism of fixed partial denture abutments; this technique facilitates assessment of extraoral preparation and the detection of undercuts prior to making a definitive impression. This technique utilizes casts fabricated from polyvinyl siloxane impression material and a class II laser module attached to a dental surveyor.

How to cite this article

Farah RI. A Chair-side Technique to verify the Parallelism of Fixed Partial Denture Abutments. Int J Prosthodont Restor Dent 2016;6(1):21-23.
Increased circulating soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) levels in patients with slow coronary flow
Authors: Emrah Acar , Akın İzgi İbrahim , Servet İzci , Muzaffer Kahyaoğlu , Fatih Yılmaz Mehmet , Yeliz Güler , Çağan Efe Süleyman , Ahmet Güler , Alev Kılıçgedik , Cevat Kırma
Published: July 2016

Introduction: Slow coronary flow (SCF) is an angiographic phenomenon characterized by delayed opacification of epicardial coronary arteries without an obstructive coronary disease. Serum soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) levels seem closely related to atherosclerosis due to increased inflammation and prothrombotic state. We studied whether circulating suPAR is related to SCF.

Material and methods: The present study was cross-sectional and observational. It included 75 individuals who underwent coronary angiography with suspected CAD and had angiographically normal coronary arteries of varying coronary flow rates. The relationship between suPAR, C-reactive protein (CRP) and SCF was investigated. Forty patients with isolated SCF (mean age: 46.0 ±4.14 years) and 35 age- and gender-matched control participants with normal coronary flow (NCF) and normal coronary arteries (NCA) (mean age: 46.0 ±5.7 years) were included in the study. We used logistic regression analysis to determine the predictors of SCF.

Results: The clinical characteristics were not statistically significantly different between SCF and NCA groups. Serum suPAR level was significantly higher in the SCF group than the control group (2.5–5.4 ng/ml vs. 0.1–1.4 ng/ml; p < 0.001). Also the serum CRP level was higher in the CSF group than the control group (1.57 ±0.43 mg/l vs. 0.53 ±0.23 mg/l; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: This study revealed significantly increased serum suPAR levels in patients with SCF. Although we cannot draw conclusions on the underlying pathological process of SCF, we believe that these findings may be pioneering for further studies investigating the specific roles of circulating suPAR in the SCF phenomenon in the coronary vasculature.
Willpower building: a new element in relapse prevention
Authors: Kemp Ryan , Channer Kerrie , Zahn Ariana
Published: July 2016

Willpower, self-control and self-regulation may be important ingredients in recovering from addiction. The authors contend that findings from controlled experiments into self-control and self-regulation can be usefully translated into clinical practice as part of a relapse prevention programme. This would be in the form of willpower building, with willpower being broadly synonymous with self-control and self-regulation. Numerous studies indicate that self-control is a capacity which functions like a muscle. In this sense, self-control can be built up, but is also subject to depletion when utilised. Findings suggest that there is direct applicability for self-control in relation to addiction, and recovery in general. It is possible that this capacity can be developed through individual or group sessions. It is argued that clinical sessions should focus on: awareness, planning, building protective habits and exercising self-regulation. While some of these areas are covered in traditional psychological treatments of addiction (i.e., Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Motivational Interviewing), making this capacity more explicit would be advantageous. Our challenge is for researchers to test these notions in controlled clinical studies.
Psychological profiles of patients with multiple sclerosis based on Hobfoll’s conservation of resources theory
Authors: Nowaczyk Natalia , Cierpiałkowska Lidia
Published: July 2016

Background

The psychological perspective plays a crucial role in designing therapy for people suffering from multiple sclerosis. The aim of the article is to distinguish different psychological profiles of patients.

Participants and procedure

The study was conducted using the paper-and-pencil method on 77 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. The theory we applied was Hobfoll’s conservation of resources theory. We also analyzed the impact of personal and situational variables on the functioning of patients with different kinds of resources.

Results

Cluster analysis was used to construct the profiles of patients. Based on statistical analyses using the k-means method, we distinguished: Profile 1, with a prevalence of resource losses (n = 30), Profile 2, covering people who value their resources the most (n = 25), and Profile 3, with a prevalence of resource gains (n = 18).

Conclusions

The obtained psychological profiles reflect the varied dynamics of the patients’ functioning and should inspire an improvement of multidisciplinary rehabilitation.
Different expression of chemokines in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis bone marrow
Authors: Kuca-Warnawin Ewa H. , Kurowska Weronika J. , Radzikowska Anna , Massalska Magdalena A. , Burakowski Tomasz , Kontny Ewa , Słowińska Iwona , Gasik Robert , Maśliński Włodzimierz
Published: July 2016

Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease leading to joint destruction. In addition to involvement of the joints, there is growing evidence that inflammatory/autoimmune processes take place in bone marrow, beginning the disease onset. Activated T and B cells accumulate in bone marrow, where also effective antigen presentation takes place. An increased number of activated T cells was observed in RA in comparison to osteoarthritis (OA) bone marrow. In the present study we analyzed the levels of chemokines that may be responsible for accumulation/retention of T-cells in the bone marrow of RA and OA patients.

Material and methods:  Bone marrow samples were obtained from RA and OA patients during total hip replacement surgery, and bone marrow plasma was obtained by gradient centrifugation. Levels of the chemokines CX3CL1, CCL5, CCL2, CXCL12 and CXCL1 were measured in bone marrow plasma by specific ELISAs. Comparison between the groups of patients and statistical significance were analyzed by the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test.

Results:  Increased levels of CX3CL1 (818 ±431 pg/ml vs. 502 ±131 pg/ml, p < 0.0007) and CCL5 (5967 ±1680 pg/ml vs. 4878 ±2360 pg/ml, p < 0.05) respectively in bone marrow plasma from RA in comparison with OA patients were observed. In contrast, similar levels of CCL2, CXCL12 and CXCL1 in RA and OA bone marrow suggest that these cytokines do not play a significant role in the observed T cell accumulation in RA bone marrow.

Conclusions: CX3CL1 and CCL5 overproduced in RA bone marrow may contribute to the accumulation of T cells observed in RA bone marrow.
Differences in selected medical care parameters in rheumatic disease ward patients of different ages of life
Authors: Pobrotyn Piotr , Susło Robert , Witczak Izabela , Milczanowski Piotr , Drobnik Jarosław
Published: July 2016

Introduction: Rheumatic diseases are becoming more and more common in Poland with the ageing of the population. Nearly 18% of the total hospital admissions in Poland result from rheumatic diseases, which was equivalent to 350 thousand cases in the year 2008. These diseases tend to last for many decades, decreasing both the quality of life and income of the patients as well as increasing the medical institutions’ workload and society’s financial burden.

The aim of the study was to determine whether the medical care parameters in a rheumatic disease hospital ward show any significant differences among different patient age groups – especially such that would support taking them into account as a basis for adjusting the financial coverage level of medical services.

Material and methods: Data on hospitalizations at the Rheumatic Diseases Ward of Wroclaw University Hospital in Wroclaw in the years 2009–2015 were analyzed, taking into account the age groups, number of hospital admissions, their duration and causes. Relevant statistical data analysis was performed.

Discussion:  The study revealed that the number of old patients hospitalized at the rheumatic diseases ward increased over the last 6 years and that such statistically significant differences do exist: on average the old patients not only tend to stay much longer at the hospital, but also suffer from a different and more diverse spectrum of diseases in comparison to their younger counterparts.

Conclusions: The detected differences in medical care parameters support the need for more individualized medical care and increased cost of the hospital stay in the case of older patients. Consequently, those factors justify the necessity to increase the value of medical services in the case of old patients, possibly also taking into account the variation between age subgroups.
The role of cell-free circulating microRNA in diagnostics in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Paradowska-Gorycka Agnieszka , Stypińska Barbara
Published: July 2016

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, autoimmune disease, which is characterized by inflammation and progressive destruction of the synovial joints leading to pain, long term disability, and reduced quality of life in many patients. Human genetic and epidemiology studies have shown that causal factors of disease include pre-determined contributions from at least 40 different genes and the effect of environmental factors. Epigenetic represent a new aspect in autoimmunity, which refers to changes in gene expression that do not involve changes in DNA sequence. Recently, the list of molecules important for RA pathogenesis has been extended by microRNAs (miRNAs), which play a key role in regulating both adaptive and innate immune response, development and differentiation of immune cells, and the prevention of autoimmunity.
Antibody profile to Borrelia burgdorferi in veterinarians from Nuevo León, Mexico, a non-endemic area of this zoonosis
Authors: Skinner-Taylor Cassandra M. , Flores Maria S. , Salinas José A. , Arevalo-Nińo Katiushka , Galán-Wong Luis J. , Maldonado Guadalupe , Garza-Elizondo Mario A.
Published: July 2016

Objectives: Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease caused by infections with Borrelia. Persons infected with Borrelia can be asymptomatic or can develop disseminated disease. Diagnosis and recognition of groups at risk of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi is of great interest to contemporary rheumatology. There are a few reports about Borrelia infection in Mexico, including lymphocytoma cases positive to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto by PCR and a patient with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans. Veterinarians have an occupational risk due to high rates of tick contact.
 The aim of this work was to investigate antibodies to Borrelia in students at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, at Nuevo León, Mexico, and determine the antibody profile to B. burgdorferi antigens.
 Material and methods:  Sera were screened using a C6 ELISA, IgG and IgM ELISA using recombinant proteins from B. burgdorferi, B. gariniii and B. afzelii. Sera with positive or grey-zone values were tested by IgG Western blot to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto.
 Results: All volunteers reported tick exposures and 72.5% remembered tick bites. Only nine persons described mild Lyme disease related symptoms, including headaches, paresthesias, myalgias and arthralgias. None of the volunteers reported erythema migrans. Nine samples were confirmed by IgG Western blot. The profile showed 89% reactivity to OspA, 67% to p83, and 45% to BmpA.
 Conclusions: Positive sera samples shared antibody reactivity to the markers of late immune response p83 and BmpA, even if individuals did not present symptoms of Lyme arthritis or post-Lyme disease. The best criterion to diagnose Lyme disease in our country remains to be established, because it is probable that different strains coexist in Mexico. This is the first report of antibodies to B. burgdorferi in Latin American veterinarians. Veterinarians and high-risk people should be alert to take precautionary measures to prevent tick-borne diseases.
Radionuclide synovectomy – essentials for rheumatologists
Authors: Chojnowski Marek M. , Felis-Giemza Anna , Kobylecka Małgorzata
Published: July 2016

Radionuclide synovectomy is a minimally invasive method of treating persistent joint inflammation. It involves intra-articular injection of radioactive colloids which induce necrosis and fibrosis of hypertrophic synovial membrane. The most common indication for radiosynovectomy is rheumatoid arthritis, although patients with seronegative spondyloarthropathies, unclassified arthritis, haemophilic arthropathy and other less common arthropathies can also benefit from this method. Radiosynovectomy is safe, well tolerated and efficacious. About 70–80% of patients respond well to the therapy. However, the therapeutic effects are considerably worse in patients with co-existent osteoarthritis and advanced joint degeneration. Despite its advantages, radionuclide synovectomy is not performed as often as it could be, so greater knowledge and understanding of this method are needed. The authors present the most important facts about radiosynovectomy that may help rheumatologists in their daily clinical practice.
Cardiovascular risk assessment in rheumatoid arthritis – controversies and the new approach
Authors: Bonek Krzysztof , Głuszko Piotr
Published: July 2016

The current methods of cardiovascular (CV) risk assessment in the course of inflammatory connective tissue diseases are a subject of considerable controversy. Comparing different methods of CV risk assessment in current rheumatoid arthritis (RA) guidelines, only a few of them recommend the use of formal risk calculators. These are the EULAR guidelines suggesting the use of SCORE and the British Society for Rheumatology guidelines performed in collaboration with NICE preferring the use of QRISK-2. Analyzing the latest American and British reports, two main concepts could be identified. The first one is to focus on risk calculators developed for the general population taking into account RA, and the calculator that might fulfill this role is the new QRISK-2 presented by NICE in 2014. The second concept is to create RA-specific risk calculators, such as the Expanded Cardiovascular Risk Prediction Score for RA. In this review we also discuss the efficiency of a new Pooled Cohort Equation and other calculators in the general and RA population.
The paediatric rheumatologist and orphan disease – a story without happy ending
Authors: Roszkiewicz Justyna , Biernacka-Zielińska Małgorzata , Smolewska Elżbieta
Published: July 2016

Orphan diseases are not a common challenge in the everyday practice of the rheumatologist. Despite their extremely rare occurrence one of the patients under our care developed one of them – neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, the most frequent neurodegenerative disease observed in the paediatric population. We report a case of 2-year-old girl diagnosed with oligoarticular form of juvenile idiopathic arthritis treated in our Department with steroids and methotrexate and staying in the stage of disease remission. During routine checkups at Outpatient Clinic we observed progressive deterioration of girls neurological condition resulting in ataxia, gait disturbances with no rheumatological cause behind and speech impairment. The appearance of the symptoms was accompanied by frequent episodes of epileptic seizures, with little clinical improvement on combined antiepileptic treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging that we performed showed a picture highly suggestive of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis – atrophy of the patients cerebrum and cerebellum. Genetic testing conducted resulted in the diagnosis of late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (LINCL).
Los Angeles megacity: a high-resolution land–atmosphere modelling system for urban CO2 emissions
Authors: Feng Sha , Lauvaux Thomas , Newman Sally , Rao Preeti , Ahmadov Ravan , Deng Aijun , Díaz-Isaac Liza I. , Duren Riley M. , Fischer Marc L. , Gerbig Christoph , Gurney Kevin R. , Huang Jianhua , Jeong Seongeun , Li Zhijin , Miller Charles E. , O'Keeffe Darragh , Patarasuk Risa , Sander Stanley P. , Song Yang , Wong Kam W. , Yung Yuk L.
Published: July 2016

Abstract. Megacities are major sources of anthropogenic fossil fuel CO2 (FFCO2) emissions. The spatial extents of these large urban systems cover areas of 10 000 km2 or more with complex topography and changing landscapes. We present a high-resolution land–atmosphere modelling system for urban CO2 emissions over the Los Angeles (LA) megacity area. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)-Chem model was coupled to a very high-resolution FFCO2 emission product, Hestia-LA, to simulate atmospheric CO2 concentrations across the LA megacity at spatial resolutions as fine as  ∼  1 km. We evaluated multiple WRF configurations, selecting one that minimized errors in wind speed, wind direction, and boundary layer height as evaluated by its performance against meteorological data collected during the CalNex-LA campaign (May–June 2010). Our results show no significant difference between moderate-resolution (4 km) and high-resolution (1.3 km) simulations when evaluated against surface meteorological data, but the high-resolution configurations better resolved planetary boundary layer heights and vertical gradients in the horizontal mean winds. We coupled our WRF configuration with the Vulcan 2.2 (10 km resolution) and Hestia-LA (1.3 km resolution) fossil fuel CO2 emission products to evaluate the impact of the spatial resolution of the CO2 emission products and the meteorological transport model on the representation of spatiotemporal variability in simulated atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We find that high spatial resolution in the fossil fuel CO2 emissions is more important than in the atmospheric model to capture CO2 concentration variability across the LA megacity. Finally, we present a novel approach that employs simultaneous correlations of the simulated atmospheric CO2 fields to qualitatively evaluate the greenhouse gas measurement network over the LA megacity. Spatial correlations in the atmospheric CO2 fields reflect the coverage of individual measurement sites when a statistically significant number of sites observe emissions from a specific source or location. We conclude that elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations over the LA megacity are composed of multiple fine-scale plumes rather than a single homogenous urban dome. Furthermore, we conclude that FFCO2 emissions monitoring in the LA megacity requires FFCO2 emissions modelling with  ∼  1 km resolution because coarser-resolution emissions modelling tends to overestimate the observational constraints on the emissions estimates.
Assessing the Performance of Troposphere Tomographic Modeling
Using Multi-Source Water Vapor Data During Hong Kong’s Rainy
Season from May to October 2013
Authors: Chen Biyan , Liu Zhizhao
Published: July 2016

Abstract. Acquiring accurate atmospheric water vapor spatial information remains one of the most challenging tasks in meteorology. Tomographic technique is a powerful tool to model atmospheric water vapor and monitor the water vapor spatial and temporal distribution/variation information. This paper presents a study on monitoring of water vapor variations using tomographic technique based on multi-source water vapor data, including GPS (Global Positioning System), radiosonde, WVR (Water Vapor Radiometer), NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction), AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) sun photometer and synoptic stations. An extensive investigation has been carried out using multi-source data collected from May to October 2013 in Hong Kong. With the use of radiosonde observed profiles, five different vertical a priori information schemes were designed and examined. Analysis results revealed that the best vertical constraint is to employ the average radiosonde profiles over the three days prior to the tomographic time and that the assimilation of multi-source data can increase the tomography modeling accuracy. Based on the best vertical a priori information scheme, comparisons of SWD measurements between GPS and multi-observational tomography showed that the RMS error of their differences is 10.85 mm. Multi-observational tomography achieved an accuracy of 7.13 mm/km when compared with radiosonde wet refractivity observations. The vertical layer tomographic modeling accuracy was also assessed using radiosonde water vapor profiles. An accuracy of 11.44 mm/km at the lowest layer (0 to 0.4 km) and an RMS error of 3.30 mm/km at the uppermost layer (7.5 km to 8.5 km) were yielded. At last, a test of the tomographic modeling in a torrential storm occurring on 21~22 May 2013 in Hong Kong demonstrated that the tomographic modeling is very robust even during severe precipitation conditions.
Identification of Tower Wake Distortions Using Sonic
Anemometer and Lidar Measurements
Authors: McCaffrey Katherine , Quelet Paul , Choukulkar Aditya , Wilczak James M. , Wolfe Daniel E. , Oncley Steven , Brewer Alan , Debnath Mithu , Ashton Ryan , Iungo G. Valerio , Lundquist Julie K.
Published: July 2016

Abstract. The eXperimental Planetary boundary layer Instrumentation Assessment (XPIA) field campaign took place in March through May 2015 at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory, utilizing its 300-meter meteorological tower, instrumented with two sonic anemometers mounted on opposite sides of the tower at six heights. This allowed for at least one sonic anemometer at each level to be upstream of the tower at all times, and for identification of the times when a sonic anemometer is in the wake of the tower frame. Other instrumentation, including profiling and scanning lidars aided in the identification of the tower wake. Here we compare pairs of sonic anemometers at the same heights to identify the range of directions that are affected by the tower for each of the opposing booms. The mean velocity and turbulent kinetic energy are used to quantify the wake impact on these first- and second-order wind measurements, showing up to a 50 % reduction in wind speed and an order of magnitude increase in turbulent kinetic energy. Comparisons of wind speeds from profiling and scanning lidars confirmed the extent of the tower wake, with the same reduction in wind speed observed in the tower wake, and a speed-up effect around the wake boundaries. Wind direction differences between pairs of sonic anemometers and between sonic anemometers and lidars can also be significant, as the flow is deflected by the tower structure. Comparisons of lengths of averaging intervals showed a decrease in wind speed deficit with longer averages, but the flow deflection remains constant over longer averages. Furthermore, asymmetry exists in the tower effects due to the geometry and placement of the booms on the triangular tower. An analysis of the percentage of observations in the wake that must be removed from 2-min mean wind speed and 20-min turbulent values showed that removing even small portions of the time interval due to wakes impacts these two quantities. However, a vast majority of intervals have no observations in the tower wake, so removing the full 2- or 20-min intervals does not diminish the XPIA dataset.
Regional climate signal vs. local noise: a two-dimensional view
of water isotopes in Antarctic firn at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud
Land
Authors: Münch Thomas , Kipfstuhl Sepp , Freitag Johannes , Meyer Hanno , Laepple Thomas
Published: July 2016

Abstract. In low-accumulation regions, the reliability of δ18O-derived temperature signals from ice cores within the Holocene is unclear, primarily due to the small climate changes relative to the intrinsic noise of the isotopic signal. In order to learn about the representativity of single ice cores and to optimise future ice-core-based climate reconstructions, we studied the stable-water isotope composition of firn at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica. Analysing δ18O in two 50 m long snow trenches allowed us to create an unprecedented, two-dimensional image characterising the isotopic variations from the centimetre to the 100-metre scale. Our results show seasonal layering of the isotopic composition but also high horizontal isotopic variability caused by local stratigraphic noise. Based on the horizontal and vertical structure of the isotopic variations, we derive a statistical noise model which successfully explains the trench data. The model further allows one to determine an upper bound for the reliability of climate reconstructions conducted in our study region at seasonal to annual resolution, depending on the number and the spacing of the cores taken.