bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Video and Multimedia Indexing
Authors: Aref Walid G. , McIver William J. , Al‐Khatib Wasfi , Ghafoor Arif , Bruce Berra P.
Published: February 2015

With the continuous evolution of telecommunication and computing technologies, more and more repositories of digital video data are being developed to support a wide range of applications in digital libraries, telemedicine, distance learning, tourism, entertainment, etc. With the rapid proliferation of the Web, these applications are rapidly emerging. Content‐based retrieval of video data has been the subject of extensive research since 1990. Because of the huge volume of data, it becomes crucial to develop indexing techniques that will carry out the process of content‐based retrieval more efficiently.

The problem of video indexing is to create and maintain index structures and algorithms that support the efficient execution of queries about the contents of video presentations. Such queries may ask about features of objects or regions contained within a video, or relationships between objects or regions contained within a video. Additionally, queries may concern these features or relationships in relation to time. The spatial and temporal aspects of video indexing taken separately are nontrivial problems. Each type of indexing has been studied widely, and many research problems remain. Indexing of video, however, must be differentiated from spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal indexing techniques in that information to be indexed may include not only spatiotemporal information, but possibly highly dimensional feature data such as texture, textual closed captioning information, shape, color histograms, and object trajectories or animation operations. A video indexing technique must, therefore, support efficient searches for objects and images on the basis of the three major facets of a video: its spatial, temporal, and feature values.

A simple multimedia object model is presented to provide a common reference point for discussing multimedia indexing in the remainder of this chapter. The model is contained in the following definitions discussed.
Object‐Oriented Measurement of Software
Authors: Ott Linda M.
Published: February 2015

The 1990s saw an insurgence in the use of object‐oriented (OO) technologies. Along with this shift has been an increase in the demand for metrics to aid in evaluating the processes and the products associated with these new technologies. OO measurement focuses primarily on those metrics that have been specifically developed to be used with OO technologies and products.

Many traditional metrics are paradigm neutral and, therefore, can still be used in the OO paradigm to answer certain kinds of questions. As a trivial example, lines of code is as valid a size metric in the OO paradigm on which to base an estimate of the amount of paper needed to print out a software package as it is in the procedural paradigm. New language constructs, however, imply significant differences in OO program structure. Thus, metrics specifically developed for OO technologies are often required. In particular, measurements associated with classes and class structure take on significant importance in OO products. For example, measurements of reuse via class inheritance are not found in traditional procedural paradigm metric sets.

Besides the change in language constructs, the OO development process frequently differs from traditional processes in several ways. Much greater emphasis is often placed on more formal documentation during the early phases of development, such as the use of UML (Unified Modeling Language); and a clearer, more direct component to component relationship can be seen across the artifacts of the system through requirements, design, coding, and testing. This increase in visibility at the earlier phases of development has resulted in a greater desire for and emphasis on metrics for measuring the products of the early phases, particularly OO requirements and design.
Parallel Systems
Authors: Williams Shirley A.
Published: February 2015

A parallel system can be simply defined as any system in which more than one action may happen at once. In human terms this it is a concept similar to sharing dish washing, “You wash and I'll dry,” or a squad of soldiers marching along to the commands of their leader, “Left, right, left, halt.” In computer terms a parallel system is made up of a number of processes cooperating on a job. The execution of the processes is mapped on to physical processors and the cooperation between the processes must be carefully planned and programmed (Almasi and Gottlieb, 1989). There are a number of programming models that can be used to represent parallel systems, these programming models can be seen to be similar to the underlying architectural model of the appropriate parallel processors. However, it is not necessary that a particular parallel system be executed on a corresponding architecture, it is possible to map any model of parallel processing on to any other model.

Parallel systems can be categorized according to the underlying architectural model to which they are most matched, alternatively they can be categorized according to the way in which the parallelism is represented in the software. For a real understanding of a parallel system it is necessary to use both.

The execution of a conventional sequential program on a single processor is sometimes called a process, and it is this concept that is used when trying to define a parallel process.

When a program consists of a number of processes, it is necessary to have mechanisms for ordering their execution and allowing processes to share information.

The future success of parallel systems lies with their ease of use.
Peer Reviews
Authors: O'Neill Don
Published: February 2015

Peer reviews began as formal software inspections and now include the less formal software walkthroughs. They provide value by improving reliability, availability, and maintainability.

Peer Reviews are considered a best industry practice for use on software projects. Senior managers consistently ranked Peer Reviews as the significant enabler of software product quality among all key process areas. These reviews are integral to the software product engineering life‐cycle activities associated with software requirements and specifications, designs and code, and test plans and procedures.

The Peer Reviews process is made up of several elements—the structured review process, defined roles of participants, system of checklists, and forms and reports (see Figs.

and

):

Software inspections are a reasoning activity performed by practitioners playing the defined roles of moderator, recorder, reviewer, reader, and producer. Some may name these roles facilitator, scribe, inspector, and author. Each role carries with it the specific behaviors, skills, and knowledge needed to achieve the expert practice of software inspections.

Individuals attending the inspection session may take on more than one role. For example, the producer may also be a reviewer. The moderator and recorder roles are demanding ones, and the individual assigned is usually dedicated to the single role. The reader role is not always utilized in software inspections. When the reader is used, one of the reviewers, not the producer, is assigned this role. In software walkthroughs, the producer serves as reader.

Peer Reviews deliver value to the organization through the close and strict examinations on life‐cycle product artifacts that detect defects early and promote the deepest possible understanding of the artifact. The organization that sets the standard of excellence for its software engineered products in terms of completion, correctness, style, rules of construction, and multiple views and disciplines its practitioners to meet the standard set is able to reap an attractive return on investment while earning higher customer satisfaction. The measurements taken during software inspections promote an understanding of common problems and reveal opportunities for product and process improvement.
Personal Software Process (PSP)
Authors: Humphrey Watts S.
Published: February 2015

The Personal Software Process (PSP)SM(Personal Software Process and PSP are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University.) provides engineers a disciplined personal framework for doing software work. The PSP process consists of a set of methods, forms, and scripts that show software engineers how to plan, measure, and manage their work. It is introduced with a textbook and a course that are designed for both industrial and academic use. The PSP is designed for use with any programming language or design methodology, and it can be used for most aspects of software work, including writing requirements, running tests, defining processes, and repairing defects. When engineers use the PSP, the recommended process goal is to produce zero‐defect products on schedule and within planned costs. When used with the Team Software Process (TSP)SM, (Team Software Process and TSP are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University.) the PSP has been effective in helping engineers achieve these objectives.

This article describes in detail what the PSP is and how it works. Starting with a brief discussion of the relationship of the PSP to general quality principles, the article describes how the PSP was developed, its principles, and its methods. A summary of the PSP courses, the strategy used for teaching the PSP, selected data on PSP experience, PSP adoption in university curricula, and the status of PSP introduction into industry is given. The article concludes with comments on likely future trends involving the PSP.
Process Models in Software Engineering
Authors: Scacchi Walt
Published: February 2015

Software systems come and go through a series of passages that account for their inception, initial development, productive operation, upkeep, and retirement from one generation to another. This article categorizes and examines a number of methods for describing or modeling how software systems are developed. It begins with background and definitions of traditional software life‐cycle models that dominate most textbook discussions and current software development practices. This is followed by a more comprehensive review of the alternative models of software evolution that are of current use as the basis for organizing software engineering projects and technologies.
Quality Factors
Authors: McCall James A.
Published: February 2015

All engineering disciplines have some basis in measurement. Software quality measurement frameworks have been developed to provide a measurement approach for software engineering.

The frameworks have a common structure. At the highest level of the framework are quality factors. These quality factors comprise a definition of software quality and represent attributes or characteristics of the software that a user, or customer of the software product, would relate to its overall quality. The second level of the framework provides the criteria or software attributes that relate to the factors, and their existence provides the related characteristics of quality. The third level provides the “metrics” or measurements that measure the degree to which those attributes exist.

The quality factors provide:

A goal‐oriented methodology for measuring software quality,

Another dimension by which software requirements can be addressed complimenting the traditional, functional, schedule and budgetary requirements, typically specified, for a software product,

A life cycle perspective to software, ie, identifying attributes important in a software product that will have impact later in its life cycle,

A basis for process improvement (TQM).

The use of software quality factors and metrics has become a common practice in the industry, although the applications are not consistent, systematic or typically applied across projects or organizations. With consistency, corporate quality measurement databases will facilitate further analysis of the cost issues/tradeoffs between factors and the costs to achieve various levels of quality.

Consequently, quality factors will be used more consistently in specifications, quality assurance plans, in test plans and acceptance test procedures. Software reliability and maintainability demonstrations will become an accepted contractual requirement.
Rate‐Monotonic Analysis
Authors: Sha Lui , Rajkumar Ragunathan
Published: February 2015

Real‐time computing systems are critical to an industrialized nation's technological infrastructure. Modem telecommunication systems, automated factories, sophisticated defense systems, power plants, aircrafts, airports, space stations, and high energy physics experiments cannot operate without them. Indeed, real‐time computing systems control the very systems that keep us productive, and enable us to explore new frontiers of science and engineering.

In real‐time applications, the correctness of a computation depends not only on its results but also on the time at which its outputs are generated. The measures of merit in a real‐time system include: predictably fast response to urgent events; high degree of schedulability. Schedulability is the degree of resource utilization at or below which the timing requirements of tasks can be satisfied. It can be thought of as a measure of the number oftimely‐transactions per second; and stability under transient overload. When the system is overloaded by events and it is impossible to meet all the deadlines, the deadlines of selected critical tasks must still be guaranteed.

Generalized rate‐monotonic scheduling (GRMS) theory allows developers of real‐time systems to meet application timing requirements by managing system concurrency and timing constraints at the level of tasking and message passing. In essence, GRMS theory guarantees that all tasks will meet their deadlines if the total system utilization of these tasks lies below a known bound, and these tasks are scheduled using appropriate algorithms. This analytic, engineering basis makes real‐time systems considerably easier to develop, modify and maintain.

The rate‐monotonic scheduling algorithm with all its extensions is referred to asgeneralized rate‐monotonic scheduling(GRMS).

Because of its versatility and ease of use, GRMS has gained rapid acceptance. For example, it is used for developing real‐time software in the NASA Space Station Freedom Program, the European Space Agency (ESA),, and is supported by the IEEE Futurebus + Standardand IEEE POSIX.4. A review of the basic results are described and then these results are illustrated with example applications.
Reviews and Audits
Authors: Marciniak John J.
Published: February 2015

Reviews and audits are valuable tools used in software development projects. Reviews come in different forms and names. Some of these are formal reviews, inspections, audits, and walkthroughs. The most common characteristics that distinguish these forms are purpose, scope, and method. The purpose of this article is to introduce these forms, explain the basic differences between them, and provide insight into how they are applied in software development practice. depicts these general characteristics, which are detailed.

The scope of a review may range from the entire project to a review of the design, or a single document such as a user's guide. The purpose may range from an inspection of a product to a review of the completion of a development milestone. The method may vary from free form, or informal, to a specific methodology such as formal inspections.
Risk Management
Authors: Charette Robert N.
Published: February 2015

The art of management has been defined as the distribution of current resources to shape a more desirable future state. However, the future is not always as envisioned, because the path to the future is neither immutable nor totally predictable. How well one manages the risks, as well as the opportunities, that materialize along the way will determine whether a more desirable state is achieved. Thus risk management can be described as the continuous analysis of the current situation to realign current resources and management policies against current and future threats, or to maximize the opportunities that are present, thus helping to ensure that the state originally envisioned or one that is better occurs. The following basic questions:

The prime motivation for the currently rising interest in risk management and software engineering can be directly traced to two overriding business, as opposed to technology, considerations. The first is the ever increasing complexity and cost of developing software‐intensive systems, coupled with the intensifying negative impact on businesses and individuals when they go awry. The second is that software‐intensive systems have finally achieved the long promised state of becoming the paramount strategic element in an organization's short‐term and long‐term competitive success equation.

The risk management field as it applies specifically to software engineering is currently experiencing a period of rapid growth and increased stature, with many governmental and commercial initiatives being pursued to codify the many diverse aspects of the subject into a unified whole. Current research and application efforts undertaken in software engineering related risk management have been concentrated in three overlapping provinces: theory, mechanics, and practice. An overview of each is provided here with the main concentration placed on risk management mechanics. International standards are detailed.
Security Kernel
Authors: Schell Roger R. , Brinkley Donald L.
Published: February 2015

Information is a valuable and vital asset that requires security against unwanted modification and disclosure. The security kernel concept provides highly effective controls, internal to a computer system, to mediate access of people to information, thereby preventing unwanted modification and disclosure. The need for such internal security controls has grown with the need to share computing resources and information. The security kernel is designed to meet three engineering principles: (
1
) completeness‐all accesses to information must go through the kernel; (
2
) isolation—the kernel must be protected from unauthorized alteration; and (
3
) verifiability—the kernel must be small, well‐structured, and understandable enough to be completely analyzed and verified to perform its functions properly.
Simulation
Authors: Madachy Ray
Published: February 2015

Simulation is the numerical evaluation of a mathematical model describing a system of interest. To support software engineering, simulation emulates aspects of software systems in order to assess them. The system under analysis may be a software application, the application environment, or the process used to develop and maintain the applications. Simulation models real‐world elements to assess how a system performs in a cost‐effective manner without needing the actual system. Simulations come in various forms (like paper analyses), and this article focuses on computer‐based simulations where a time‐based execution of a system model is generally performed.

Many systems are not available in the real environment or are too complex for analytical solutions; hence simulation is used to exercise models with given inputs to see how the system performs. For example, a satellite system with many software and hardware components will undergo simulation testing before the hardware is launched in space. Simulation can be used to benchmark performance, explain system behavior, improve existing systems, or design new systems too complex to be analyzed by spreadsheets, flowcharts or other methods.

Use of simulation is increasing in many disparate fields due to constantly improving computer capabilities. Simulations are computationally intensive, so they are much more cost‐effective than in the past. The simulation process involves designing a system model and carrying out experiments with it. The purpose of these “what if” experiments is to determine how the real or proposed system performs and to predict the effect of changes to the system as time progresses.

Simulation has a wide variety of uses in software engineering to support software development and management. It can be applied in product feasibility analysis, systems acquisition, requirements and design, testing, process definition and improvement, training, and others areas.
Software Engineering Ethics
Authors: Gotterbarn Donald
Published: February 2015

Software engineering ethics can be approached from three directions: (1) it can describe the activity of software engineers making practical choices that affect other people in significant ways; (2) it can be used to describe a collection of principles, guidelines, or ethical imperatives that guide or legislative action; and (3) it can be used to name a discipline that studies the relationship between the other two senses of ethics. Software engineering ethics is clearly both an activity and a body of principles. The discipline of software engineering ethics that studies this activity and formalizes these principles, however, is in its infancy.

Principle of ethics, the discipline of software engineering ethics, models and professional ethics are detailed.
Software Demographics
Authors: Jones Capers
Published: February 2015

As computers and software expand their roles in business, government, and military domains, there is an increasing demand for software workers. It would be useful to know the current software population in order to judge the magnitude of future opportunities. Unfortunately software demographic data is difficult to gather with accuracy. There is considerable ambiguity associated with the software workforce. More than 90 occupations have been identified within the software organizations of major corporations and government groups. There is no agreement from company to company as to the job titles of some of these occupation groups, or of the work that they perform. Further, there is no clearcut set of occupations that represent overall software workforce. For example, it is ambiguous whether software quality assurance personnel, software systems analysts, and software testing specialists are included in every demographic survey within the software domain. These issued are disscussed here.
Systems Engineering Sciences
Authors: Eisner Howard
Published: February 2015

Systems engineering is an integrated set of engineering disciplines that support the design, development, and operation of large‐scale systems. It may be more formally defined as “an iterative process of top‐down synthesis, development, and operation of a real‐world system that satisfies, in a near‐optimal manner, the full range of requirements for the system”. By way of further definition, systems engineering may be viewed in terms of its basic elements. Each of these elements is carried out as part of the systems engineering process in as integrated a manner as possible, meaning that each element must be executed with due regard for its compatibility with all other appropriate elements. Thus the interfaces and interactions between elements is important as practitioners seek an integrated and wholistic systems engineering approach and process.

Systems engineering is supported by both engineering and scientific disciplines.

The elements of systems engineering, are discussed here in greater. The order listed does not necessarily represent their time sequence. Each element may properly be the subject of a text in its own right.

A special discipline that supports systems engineering is computer‐aided systems engineering. This subject is to systems engineering what computer‐aided design (CAD) and computer‐aided manufacturing (CAM) are to engineering design and manufacturing, respectively. In addition, the subsidiary subject of software engineering is supported as well by computer‐aided software engineering.

Expansions in systems engineering sciences and related information technologies are expected both in scope and in basic capabilities. Six areas of particular significance include: Rapid evolution of workstation technology, Extensive networking, Integrated environments, Standardization, Recognition by academic community, and Meta‐systems engineering.
Team Software Process (
TSP
)
Authors: Humphrey Watts S.
Published: February 2015

The Team Software Process (TSP)
SM
(Team Software Process and TSP are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University.) guides engineering teams in developing software‐intensive products. Early experience with the TSP shows that its use improves the quality and productivity of engineering teams while helping them to more precisely meet cost and schedule commitments. The TSP is designed for use with teams of 2–20 members, and the larger multi‐team TSPm
SM
(Multi‐team Team Software Process and TSPm are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University.) process is designed for teams of up to about 150 members. While TSP versions are planned for larger projects, they are not available at the time of this writing.

This article describes the TSP and how it was developed. Starting with a brief background discussion of software quality, the article provides an overview of the basic elements of teamwork. It then describes the relationships among the TSP, PSP
SM
, (The Personal Software Process and PSP are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University.) and CMM® (Capability Maturity Model and CMM are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.) process improvement initiatives. The article also describes how the TSP was developed, the TSP process structure, launching a TSP team, the TSP teamworking process, and the issues and methods for introducing the TSP. The article concludes with a review of TSP experience, current status, and trends.
Unix
Authors: Fox Christopher
Published: February 2015

The UNIX system is a computer operating system and a collection of software tools created at AT&T Bell Laboratories in the early 1970s. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. Today the UNIX system is among the most popular and widely used computing environments, and is found on computers ranging from laptops through supercomputers. This article discusses the history and development of the UNIX system, its structure, its influence, its strengths and weaknesses as a software engineering environment, and its future.
Viruses
Authors: Chess David M. , Spafford Eugene H.
Published: February 2015

Computers are designed to execute instructions one after another. Those instructions usually do something useful—calculate values, maintain databases, and communicate with users and with other systems. Sometimes, however, the instructions executed can be damaging or otherwise undesirable. When that happens by accident, we call the code involved a “software bug”—perhaps the most common cause of unexpected program behavior. If the source of the instructions was an individual who intended that the abnormal behavior occur, then we consider this malicious coding; programs containing malicious code are sometimes referred to asmalwareorvandalware.

Many distinct programmed threats are characterized by the way they behave, how they are triggered, and how they spread. Occurrences of malware have been described almost uniformly by the media ascomputer viruses. Viruses are widespread, but they are not responsible for many of the problems attributed to them.

The essential quality of a computer virus, which differentiates it from other types of malware and software misbehavior, is the ability to spread.

A typical computer virus is a segment of machine code or other programming instructions that will copy itself (or a modified version of itself) into one or more larger “host” programs when it is activated. When these infected programs are run, the viral code is executed and the virus spreads further. Sometimes, what constitutes “programs” is more than simply applications; boot code, device drivers, command interpreters, and even electronic documents also can be infected.

Several informal definition of viruses are described. Examples of real‐life viruses are given. Virus structure technology and operation are discussed. Defences against viruses such as Scanners, activity monitor, and integrity checkers are detailed.
Earned Value
Authors: Servello Mark , Marciniak John J.
Published: February 2015

The concept of earned value is a powerful method to track the cost, schedule, and work progress of a project. Earned value relies on budgeting labor and costs against tasks in the project hierarchy, typically against a work breakdown structure (WBS) defining meaningful tasks that accomplish pieces of the total project work. In a product development or modification project, tasks create pieces of the product, so task accomplishment is a direct measure of progress. When costs incurred by the project are collected against tasks in the WBS, earned value is integrated with progress, cost and schedule status reporting. In the U.S. government, this is typically through systems such as
cost/schedule control systems criteria
(C/SCSC). These systems provide a method for reporting on the costs associated with systems development.

In an earned‐value system, development or modification of a product is broken down into measurable, manageable pieces of work called
tasks
. The resulting projection is the planned work to complete the project, termed the
budgeted cost of work scheduled
(BCWS). By comparing this projection with actual tasks accomplished, labor consumed, and costs incurred from the ongoing project, we can arrive at cost and schedule status and variances.

The basic terms of earned value are BCWS
Pi2 pulsations observed around the dawn terminator
Authors: Imajo S. , Yoshikawa A. , Uozumi T. , Ohtani S. , Nakamizo A. , Marshall R. , Shevtsov B. M. , Akulichev V. A. , Sukhbaatar U. , Liedloff A. , Yumoto K.
Published: February 2015

We examined Pi2 pulsations observed simultaneously at low‐latitude stations (L = 1.15 − 2.33) around the dawn terminator. Those Pi2 pulsations observed in the sunlit region were polarized in the azimuthal (D, positive eastward) direction. We found that the D component oscillations in the dark and sunlit regions were in antiphase, whereas the H component oscillated in phase. A statistical analysis indicates that these D component phase reversals occurred about 0.5 h sunward of the dawn terminator at 100 km in altitude, corresponding to the highly conducting E layer. The azimuthal polarization and D component phase reversals related to the dawn terminator cannot be explained by the existing models of low‐latitude Pi2s (e.g., cavity resonance or substorm current wedge oscillations). Similar D component phase reversals were also found on the dusk side although the amplitude of the D component is smaller than that of the H component. We suggest that the meridional ionospheric current in the sunlit region adjacent to the dawn terminator drives the D component oscillations in antiphase with those D oscillations produced by the oscillatory field‐aligned current (FAC) on the postmidnight side. The meridional current is expected to form a part of a current system that extends from the postmidnight FAC to the equatorial Cowling current. The D component oscillations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are also in antiphase, indicating that the current system is symmetric with respect to the equator.
Nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes from watersheds of the northeast U.S. from 1930 to 2000: Role of anthropogenic nutrient inputs, infrastructure, and runoff
Authors: Hale Rebecca L. , Grimm Nancy B. , Vörösmarty Charles J. , Fekete Balazs
Published: February 2015

An ongoing challenge for society is to harness the benefits of nutrients, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), while minimizing their negative effects on ecosystems. While there is a good understanding of the mechanisms of nutrient delivery at small scales, it is unknown how nutrient transport and processing scale up to larger watersheds and whole regions over long time periods. We used a model that incorporates nutrient inputs to watersheds, hydrology, and infrastructure (sewers, wastewater treatment plants, and reservoirs) to reconstruct historic nutrient yields for the northeastern U.S. from 1930 to 2002. Over the study period, yields of nutrients increased significantly from some watersheds and decreased in others. As a result, at the regional scale, the total yield of N and P from the region did not change significantly. Temporal variation in regional N and P yields was correlated with runoff coefficient, but not with nutrient inputs. Spatial patterns of N and P yields were best predicted by nutrient inputs, but the correlation between inputs and yields across watersheds decreased over the study period. The effect of infrastructure on yields was minimal relative to the importance of soils and rivers. However, infrastructure appeared to alter the relationships between inputs and yields. The role of infrastructure changed over time and was important in creating spatial and temporal heterogeneity in nutrient input‐yield relationships.
Thermoelasticity of Fe2+‐bearing bridgmanite
Authors: Shukla Gaurav , Wu Zhongqing , Hsu Han , Floris Andrea , Cococcioni Matteo , Wentzcovitch Renata M.
Published: February 2015

We present local density approximation augmented by the Hubbard‐type correction calculations of high‐temperature elastic properties of bridgmanite with composition for 0≤×≤0.125. Results of elastic moduli and acoustic velocities for the Mg end‐member (x=0) agree very well with the latest high‐pressure and high‐temperature experimental measurements. In the iron‐bearing system, we focus particularly on the change in thermoelastic parameters across the state change that occurs in ferrous iron above ∼30 GPa, often attributed to a high‐spin (HS) to intermediate‐spin (IS) crossover but explained by first‐principles calculations as a lateral displacement of substitutional iron in the perovskite cage. We show that the measured effect of this change on the equation of state of this system can be explained by the lateral displacement of substitutional iron and not by the HS to IS crossover. The calculated elastic properties of along an adiabatic mantle geotherm somewhat overestimate longitudinal velocities but produce densities and shear velocities quite consistent with the Preliminary Reference Earth Model data throughout most of the lower mantle.
Ionospheric plasma bubbles observed concurrently by multi‐instruments over low‐latitude station Hainan
Authors: Wang G. J. , Shi J. K. , Reinisch B. W. , Wang X. , Wang Z.
Published: February 2015

Previous studies have shown that the ionospheric “strong range spread F” (SSF) closely correlates with the occurrence of scintillations caused by equatorial plasma bubbles. However, there is no report on concurrent observations of SSF and bubbles with in situ measurement. This paper discusses two cases of concurrent observations with a DPS4 Digisonde and a collocated scintillation monitor at the low‐latitude station Hainan (19.5°N, 109.1°E), and with in situ ion density measurements made by the ROCSAT‐1 satellite. Two case studies were made for 10 and 23 April 2004, respectively. In both cases, the SSF occurred before midnight and lasted more than 3.5 h. The scintillations were accompanied with strong range SF. Concurrently, the ROCSAT‐1 satellite observed plasma bubbles over Hainan station. In the first case, two bubbles were observed by the satellite with east‐west sizes of more than ~200 km over Hainan station. Two bubbles were also observed in the second case with east‐west extensions of about 220 km and 35 km, respectively. For the first time, direct observational evidence is provided for the causal relationship between equatorial plasma bubbles with in situ measurement and the concurrent occurrence of SSF and strong scintillations.
Dynamics of sprite streamers in varying air density
Authors: Qin Jianqi , Pasko Victor P.
Published: February 2015

Similarity laws for streamer discharges, which state that the properties of streamers such as streamer radius, electric field, and electron density should respectively scale as N−1, N1, and N2 in different but uniform air densities N, are important relations that have provided a general understanding of the mesospheric sprite discharges based on existing knowledge of streamers in laboratory conditions. Recent modeling studies, however, show that the properties of sprite streamers in varying air density do not follow exactly or even contradict the similarity relations. We present here simulation results and related analysis of sprite streamers to provide a unified view and resolve these contradictions. Our results indicate that the properties of streamers in varying air density are determined by the physical dimensions of streamers and the reduced electric field E/N, with the varying air density N being only one of the three factors controlling the streamer properties.
Post‐traumatic Stress Disorder
Authors: Frueh B. Christopher
Published: February 2015

Traumatic event exposure is common and is a risk factor for post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric problems. Fortunately, rates of PTSD after trauma are relatively low in both civilians and combat veterans (2–14%), and about half of those who develop the disorder will remit over time. Nevertheless, because of its etiological component (i.e., trauma) PTSD has become one of the most common conditions invoked in forensic contexts (both criminal justice and disability). For example, PTSD disability claims by veterans has reached historically unprecedented high levels and continue to rise. Careful forensic assessment is necessary to separate malingering and symptom overreporting from actual PTSD. Strategies for thorough assessment of clinical symptoms and functioning are suggested.
Magnesiothermic Reduction of Thin Films: Towards Semiconducting Chiral Nematic Mesoporous Silicon Carbide and Silicon Structures
Authors: Nguyen Thanh‐Dinh , Kelly Joel A. , Hamad Wadood Y. , MacLachlan Mark J.
Published: February 2015

There is a growing demand for new methods to prepare porous Si‐based materials for applications in optoelectronic and microelectronic devices. In this work, the preparation of SiC and Si from magnesiothermic reduction of chiral nematic SiO2/C composites and mesoporous SiO2, respectively, is reported. The SiO2/C composites are prepared by cocondensing SiO2 with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) followed by pyrolysis. The magnesiothermic reduction of the composites produces SiC after prolonged solid‐state reaction, with mixed MgC2/SiC intermediates. Iridescent mesoporous tetragonal MgC2/SiC structures that retain the long‐range twisted organization of the starting composites transform to mesoporous cubic SiC with a chiral nematic hierarchical structure, but with some loss of order. On the other hand, the magnesiothermic reduction of the chiral nematic mesoporous SiO2 templated from CNCs affords mesoporous Si materials with a layered hierarchical structure. The structural properties and the conductivity of the products, as well as the reaction pathways by analysis of the materials at intermediate stages, are investigated. These experimental results show that the magnesiothermic reduction is a promising way to obtain new porous semiconducting materials with chiral nematic structures.
Remotely Controlled Red Blood Cell Carriers for Cancer Targeting and Near‐Infrared Light‐Triggered Drug Release in Combined Photothermal–Chemotherapy
Authors: Sun Xiaoqi , Wang Chao , Gao Min , Hu Aiyan , Liu Zhuang
Published: February 2015

Red blood cells (RBCs), the “innate carriers” in blood vessels, are gifted with many unique advantages in drug transportation over synthetic drug delivery systems (DDSs). Herein, a tumor angiogenesis targeting, light stimulus‐responsive, RBC‐based DDS is developed by incorporating various functional components within the RBC platform. An albumin bound near‐infrared (NIR) dye, together with a chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, is encapsulated inside RBCs, the surfaces of which are modified with a targeting peptide to allow cancer targeting. Under stimulation by an external NIR laser, the membrane of the RBCs would be destroyed by the light‐induced photothermal heating, resulting in effective drug release. As a proof of principle, RBC‐based cancer cell targeted drug delivery and light‐controlled drug release is demonstrated in vitro, achieving a marked synergistic therapeutic effect through the combined photothermal–chemotherapy. This work presents a novel design of smart RBC carriers, which are inherently biocompatible, promising for targeted combination therapy of cancer.
Refinement of genotype‐phenotype correlation in 18 patients carrying a 1q24q25 deletion
Authors: Chatron Nicolas , Haddad Véronique , Andrieux Joris , Désir Julie , Boute Odile , Dieux Anne , Baumann Clarisse , Drunat Séverine , Gérard Marion , Bonnet Céline , Leheup Bruno , Till Marianne , Rossi Massimiliano , Flori Elisabeth , Alembik Yves , Stewart Helen , McParland Joanna , Bernardini Laura , Castelluccio Pia , Roos Laura , Tümer Zeynep , Fagan Kerry , Hackett Anna , Bain Nicole , van Haeringen Arie , Ruivenkamp Claudia , Benzacken Brigitte , Sanlaville Damien , Edery Patrick , Aboura Azzedine , Schluth‐Bolard Caroline
Published: February 2015

Interstitial deletion 1q24q25 is a rare rearrangement associated with intellectual disability, growth retardation, abnormal extremities and facial dysmorphism. In this study, we describe the largest series reported to date, including 18 patients (4M/14F) aged from 2 days to 67 years and comprising two familial cases. The patients presented with a characteristic phenotype including mild to moderate intellectual disability (100%), intrauterine (92%) and postnatal (94%) growth retardation, microcephaly (77%), short hands and feet (83%), brachydactyly (70%), fifth finger clinodactyly (78%) and facial dysmorphism with a bulbous nose (72%), abnormal ears (67%) and micrognathia (56%). Other findings were abnormal palate (50%), single transverse palmar crease (53%), renal (38%), cardiac (38%), and genital (23%) malformations. The deletions were characterized by chromosome microarray. They were of different sizes (490 kb to 20.95 Mb) localized within chromosome bands 1q23.3–q31.2 (chr1:160797550–192912120, hg19). The 490 kb deletion is the smallest deletion reported to date associated with this phenotype. We delineated three regions that may contribute to the phenotype: a proximal one (chr1:164,501,003–167,022,133), associated with cardiac and renal anomalies, a distal one (chr1:178,514,910–181,269,712) and an intermediate 490 kb region (chr1:171970575–172460683, hg19), deleted in the most of the patients, and containing DNM3, MIR3120 and MIR214 that may play an important role in the phenotype. However, this genetic region seems complex with multiple regions giving rise to the same phenotype. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sex ratios among infants with birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997–2009
Authors: Michalski Adrian M. , Richardson Sandra D. , Browne Marilyn L. , Carmichael Suzan L. , Canfield Mark A. , VanZutphen Alissa R. , Anderka Marlene T. , Marshall Elizabeth G. , Druschel Charlotte M.
Published: February 2015

A small number of population‐based studies have examined sex differences among infants with birth defects. This study presents estimates of sex ratio for both isolated cases and those with multiple congenital anomalies, as well as by race/ethnicity. Male–female sex ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated for 25,952 clinically reviewed case infants included in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (1997–2009), a large population‐based case‐control study of birth defects. The highest elevations in sex ratios (i.e., male preponderance) among isolated non‐cardiac defects were for craniosynostosis (2.12), cleft lip with cleft palate (2.01), and cleft lip without cleft palate (1.78); the lowest sex ratios (female preponderance) were for choanal atresia (0.45), cloacal exstrophy (0.46), and holoprosencephaly (0.64). Among isolated cardiac defects, the highest sex ratios were for aortic stenosis (2.88), coarctation of the aorta (2.51), and d‐transposition of the great arteries (2.34); the lowest were multiple ventricular septal defects (0.52), truncus arteriosus (0.63), and heterotaxia with congenital heart defect (0.64). Differences were observed by race/ethnicity for some but not for most types of birth defects. The sex differences we observed for specific defects, between those with isolated versus multiple defects, as well as by race/ethnicity, demonstrate patterns that may suggest etiology and improve classification. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Analysis of invdupdel(8p) rearrangement: Clinical, cytogenetic and molecular characterization
Authors: García‐Santiago Fe Amalia , Martínez‐Glez Víctor , Santos Fernando , García‐Miñaur Sixto , Mansilla Elena , Meneses Antonio González , Rosell Jordi , Granero Ángeles Pérez , Vallespín Elena , Fernández Luis , Sierra Blanca , Oliver‐Bonet María , Palomares María , de Torres María Luisa , Mori María Ángeles , Nevado Julián , Heath Karen E. , Delicado Alicia , Lapunzina Pablo
Published: February 2015

Inverted duplication 8p associated with deletion of the short arms of chromosome 8 (invdupdel[8p]) is a relatively uncommon complex chromosomal rearrangement, with an estimated incidence of 1 in 10,000–30,000 live borns. The chromosomal rearrangement consists of a deletion of the telomeric region (8p23‐pter) and an inverted duplication of the 8p11.2–p22 region. Clinical manifestations of this disorder include severe to moderate intellectual disability and characteristic facial features. In most cases, there are also CNS associated malformations and congenital heart defects. In this work, we present the cytogenetic and molecular characterization of seven children with invdupdel(8p) rearrangements. Subsequently, we have carried out genotype–phenotype correlations in these seven patients. The majority of our patients carry a similar deletion but different size of duplications; the latter probably explaining the phenotypic variability among them. We recommend that complete clinical evaluation and detailed chromosomal microarray studies should be undertaken, enabling appropriate genetic counseling. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A South African mixed race lip/philtrum guide for diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Authors: Hoyme H. Eugene , Hoyme Derek B. , Elliott Amy J. , Blankenship Jason , Kalberg Wendy O. , Buckley David , Abdul‐Rahman Omar , Adam Margaret P. , Robinson Luther K. , Manning Melanie , Bezuidenhout Heidre , Jones Kenneth L. , May Philip A.
Published: February 2015

The adverse effects of maternal alcohol use during pregnancy represent a spectrum of growth restriction, facial dysmorphology, and neurocognitive challenges in the offspring. The continuum of diagnoses is referred to as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Short palpebral fissures, a smooth philtrum, and a thin vermilion border of the upper lip comprise the three cardinal facial features of FASD. Early attempts to define a smooth philtrum and thin vermilion border of the upper lip were subjective. Astley and colleagues introduced a 5‐point Likert‐scaled lip/philtrum guide based on Caucasian North American subjects as an objective tool for the evaluation of the facial dysmorphology in FASD. This Caucasian guide has been incorporated into all current diagnostic schemes for FASD. However, broad international clinical experience with FASD indicates racial and ethnic differences with respect to the facial morphology. Because of the substantial number of children with FASD in South Africa among the Cape Coloured (mixed race) population in the Western Cape Province, we developed a specific lip/philtrum guide for that population. The guide incorporates a 45‐degree view of the philtrum that enables an enhanced 3‐dimensional evaluation of philtral height not possible with a frontal view alone. The guide has proven to be a more specific and sensitive tool for evaluation of the facial dysmorphology of FASD in the Cape Coloured population than the use of the previous North American Caucasian guide and points to the utility of racial and ethnic‐specific dysmorphology tools in the evaluation of children with suspected FASD. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.