bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Computational Method for the Inelastic Postbuckling of Steel Space Structures with Bolt Slip
Authors: Ramalingam Raghavan , Jayachandran S. Arul
Published: June 2016

The nonlinear behavior of space structures has been researched by various authors using the total and updated Lagrangian formulations. In this paper, a corotated-updated Lagrangian (CR-UL) formulation is used for studying the postbuckling behavior of steel reticulated systems. This formulation is used since space truss elements contain large components of rigid body displacements. The global tangent stiffness is derived from the corotation (CR) principle and the local (natural) tangent stiffness is derived using the updated Lagrangian (UL) finite element formulation. A state determination procedure is used for including the inelastic behavior with mixed hardening. Here members are assumed to reach the material strength limit state, which is reasonable in large span space structures based on serviceability governed design, with no consideration made for member buckling. The effect of bolt slip in the member joints is included by using a sudden slip model under the service loads. The global nodal displacements and coordinates are updated based on the analytical model of the bolt slip displacement using a simple affine transformation. The effect of bolt slip on the global displacements and member forces has been studied and compared with the results of previous authors.
Report on the First International Workshop on the Evaluation on Collaborative Information Seeking and Retrieval (ECol'2015)
Authors: Soulier Laure , Tamine Lynda , Sakai Tetsuya , Azzopardi Leif , Pickens Jeremy
Published: June 2016

The workshop on the evaluation of collaborative information retrieval and seeking (ECol) was held in conjunction with the 24th Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM) in Melbourne, Australia. The workshop featured three main elements. First, a keynote on the main dimensions, challenges, and opportunities in collaborative information retrieval and seeking by Chirag Shah. Second, an oral presentation session in which four papers were presented. Third, a discussion based on three seed research questions: (1) In what ways is collaborative search evaluation more challenging than individual interactive information retrieval (IIIR) evaluation? (2) Would it be possible and/or useful to standardise experimental designs and data for collaborative search evaluation? and (3) For evaluating collaborative search, can we leverage ideas from other tasks such as diversified search, subtopic mining and/or e-discovery? The discussion was intense and raised many points and issues, leading to the proposition that a new evaluation track focused on collaborative information retrieval/seeking tasks, would be worthwhile.
Report on the 1st International Workshop on Recent Trends in News Information Retrieval (NewsIR16)
Authors: Martinez Miguel , Kruschwitz Udo , Kazai Gabriella , Hopfgartner Frank , Corney David , Campos Ricardo , Albakour Dyaa
Published: June 2016

The news industry has gone through seismic shifts in the past decade with digital content and social media completely redefining how people consume news. Readers check for accurate fresh news from multiple sources throughout the day using dedicated apps or social media on their smartphones and tablets. At the same time, news publishers rely more and more on social networks and citizen journalism as a frontline to breaking news. In this new era of fastflowing instant news delivery and consumption, publishers and aggregators have to overcomea great number of challenges. These include the verification or assessment of a source's reliability; the integration of news with other sources of information; real-time processing of both news content and social streams in multiple languages, in different formats and in high volumes; deduplication; entity detection and disambiguation; automatic summarization; and news recommendation. Although Information Retrieval (IR) applied to news has been a popular research area for decades, fresh approaches are needed due to the changing type and volume of media content available and the way people consume this content. Hence, the first international workshop on recent trends in News Information Retrieval (NewsIR) was held in conjunction with ECIR 2016. As part of the workshop, we released a new dataset consisting of one million news articles to the research community. The workshop was very well attended with around 70 registered participants. We received a healthy number of 19 submissions in total of which 12 were accepted for presentation. In addition to that, we were pleased to have two keynote talks by well-known experts in the field - on with an industry background (Jochen Leidner) and one from academia (Julio Gonzalo). The workshop also included a breakout session to discuss ideas for a future data challenge in news IR and closed with a focused panel discussion to reflect on the day. Throughout the day the workshop stimulated discussions around new and powerful uses of IR applied to news sources and the intersection of multiple IR tasks to solve real user problems. In particular, several ideas were presented on solving complex information needs for media monitoring, event detection and summarisation. Moreover, and going forward, the workshop concluded with a long list of suggestions for shared tasks, and dataset requirements.
Novel insights into development of diabetic bladder disorder provided by metabolomic analysis of the rat nondiabetic and diabetic detrusor and urothelial layer
Authors: Wang Yi , Deng Gary G. , Davies Kelvin P.
Published: June 2016

There are at present no published studies providing a global overview of changes in bladder metabolism resulting from diabetes. Such studies have the potential to provide mechanistic insight into the development of diabetic bladder disorder (DBD). In the present study, we compared the metabolome of detrusor and urothelial layer in a 1-mo streptozotocin-induced rat model of type 1 diabetes with nondiabetic controls. Our studies revealed that diabetes caused both common and differential changes in the detrusor and urothelial layer's metabolome. Diabetes resulted in similar changes in the levels of previously described diabetic markers in both tissues, such as glucose, lactate, 2-hydroxybutyrate, branched-chain amino acid degradation products, bile acids, and 1,5-anhydroglucitol, as well as markers of oxidative stress. In the detrusor (but not the urothelial layer), diabetes caused activation of the pentose-phosphate and polyol pathways, concomitant with a reduction in the TCA cycle and β-oxidation. Changes in detrusor energy-generating pathways resulted in an accumulation of sorbitol that, through generation of advanced glycation end products, is likely to play a central role in the development of DBD. In the diabetic urothelial layer there was decreased flux of glucose via glycolysis and changes in lipid metabolism, particularly prostaglandin synthesis, which also potentially contributes to detrusor dysfunction.
Biological underpinnings of breastfeeding challenges: the role of genetics, diet, and environment on lactation physiology
Authors: Lee Sooyeon , Kelleher Shannon L.
Published: June 2016

Lactation is a dynamic process that has evolved to produce a complex biological fluid that provides nutritive and nonnutritive factors to the nursing offspring. It has long been assumed that once lactation is successfully initiated, the primary factor regulating milk production is infant demand. Thus, most interventions have focused on improving breastfeeding education and early lactation support. However, in addition to infant demand, increasing evidence from studies conducted in experimental animal models, production animals, and breastfeeding women suggests that a diverse array of maternal factors may also affect milk production and composition. In this review, we provide an overview of our current understanding of the role of maternal genetics and modifiable factors, such as diet and environmental exposures, on reproductive endocrinology, lactation physiology, and the ability to successfully produce milk. To identify factors that may affect lactation in women, we highlight some information gleaned from studies in experimental animal models and production animals. Finally, we highlight the gaps in current knowledge and provide commentary on future research opportunities aimed at improving lactation outcomes in breastfeeding women to improve the health of mothers and their infants.
Glia-Neuron Interactions in the Retina Can Be Studied in Cocultures of Müller Cells and Retinal Ganglion Cells
Authors: Skytt D. M. , Toft-Kehler A. K. , Brændstrup C. T. , Cejvanovic S. , Gurubaran I. S. , Bergersen L. H. , Kolko M.
Published: June 2016

Glia-neuron partnership is important for inner retinal homeostasis and any disturbances may result in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. Müller cells support RGCs with essential functions such as removing excess glutamate and providing energy sources. The aim was to explore the impact of Müller cells on RGC survival. To investigate the Müller cell/RGC interactions we developed a coculture model, in which primary Müller cells were grown in inserts on top of pure primary RGC cultures. The impact of starvation and mitochondrial inhibition on the Müller cell ability to protect RGCs was studied. Moreover, the ability of Müller cells to remove glutamate from the extracellular space was investigated. RGC survival was evaluated by cell viability assays and glutamate uptake was assessed by kinetic uptake assays. We demonstrated a significantly increased RGC survival in presence of untreated and prestarved Müller cells. Additionally, prestarved Müller cells significantly increased RGC survival after mitochondrial inhibition. Finally, we revealed a significantly increased ability to take up glutamate in starved Müller cells. Overall, our study confirms essential roles of Müller cells in RGC survival. We suggest that targeting Müller cell function could have potential for future treatment strategies to prevent blinding neurodegenerative retinal diseases.
The Dysregulation of Polyamine Metabolism in Colorectal Cancer Is Associated with Overexpression of c‐Myc and C/EBPβ rather than Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis Infection
Authors: Snezhkina Anastasiya V. , Krasnov George S. , Lipatova Anastasiya V. , Sadritdinova Asiya F. , Kardymon Olga L. , Fedorova Maria S. , Melnikova Nataliya V. , Stepanov Oleg A. , Zaretsky Andrew R. , Kaprin Andrey D. , Alekseev Boris Y. , Dmitriev Alexey A. , Kudryavtseva Anna V.
Published: June 2016

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. It is well known that the chronic inflammation can promote the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Recently, a number of studies revealed a potential association between colorectal inflammation, cancer progression, and infection caused by enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF). Bacterial enterotoxin activates spermine oxidase (SMO), which produces spermidine and H2O2 as byproducts of polyamine catabolism, which, in turn, enhances inflammation and tissue injury. Using qPCR analysis, we estimated the expression of SMOX gene and ETBF colonization in CRC patients. We found no statistically significant associations between them. Then we selected genes involved in polyamine metabolism, metabolic reprogramming, and inflammation regulation and estimated their expression in CRC. We observed overexpression of SMOX, ODC1, SRM, SMS, MTAP, c-Myc, C/EBPβ (CREBP), and other genes. We found that two mediators of metabolic reprogramming, inflammation, and cell proliferation c‐Myc and C/EBPβ may serve as regulators of polyamine metabolism genes (SMOX, AZIN1, MTAP, SRM, ODC1, AMD1, and AGMAT) as they are overexpressed in tumors, have binding site according to ENCODE ChIP‐Seq data, and demonstrate strong coexpression with their targets. Thus, increased polyamine metabolism in CRC could be driven by c‐Myc and C/EBPβ rather than ETBF infection.
Handwriting Recognition in Free Space Using WIMU-Based Hand Motion Analysis
Authors: Patil Shashidhar , Kim Dubeom , Park Seongsill , Chai Youngho
Published: June 2016

We present a wireless-inertial-measurement-unit- (WIMU-) based hand motion analysis technique for handwriting recognition in three-dimensional (3D) space. The proposed handwriting recognition system is not bounded by any limitations or constraints; users have the freedom and flexibility to write characters in free space. It uses hand motion analysis to segment hand motion data from a WIMU device that incorporates magnetic, angular rate, and gravity sensors (MARG) and a sensor fusion algorithm to automatically distinguish segments that represent handwriting from nonhandwriting data in continuous hand motion data. Dynamic time warping (DTW) recognition algorithm is used to recognize handwriting in real-time. We demonstrate that a user can freely write in air using an intuitive WIMU as an input and hand motion analysis device to recognize the handwriting in 3D space. The experimental results for recognizing handwriting in free space show that the proposed method is effective and efficient for other natural interaction techniques, such as in computer games and real-time hand gesture recognition applications.
An Algorithmic Approach to Wireless Sensor Networks Localization Using Rigid Graphs
Authors: Rai B Shamantha , Varma Shirshu
Published: June 2016

In this work estimating the position coordinates of Wireless Sensor Network nodes using the concept of rigid graphs is carried out in detail. The range based localization approaches use the distance information measured by the RSSI, which is prone to noise, due to effects of path loss, shadowing, and so forth. In this work, both the distance and the bearing information are used for localization using the trilateration technique. Rigid graph theory is employed to analyze the localizability, that is, whether the nodes of the WSN are uniquely localized. The WSN graph is divided into rigid patches by varying appropriately the communication power range of the WSN nodes and then localizing the patches by trilateration. The main advantage of localizing the network using rigid graph approach is that it overcomes the effect of noisy perturbed distance. Our approach gives a better performance compared to robust quads in terms of percentage of localizable nodes and computational complexity.
High-Voltage Converter for the Traction Application
Authors: Volskiy Sergey , Skorokhod Yury , Sorokin Dmitriy
Published: June 2016

High-voltage converter employing IGCT switches (VDC=2800 V) for traction application is presented. Such a power traction drive operates with an unstable input voltage over 2000⋯4000 V DC and with an output power up to 1200 kW. The original power circuit of the high-voltage converter is demonstrated. Development of the attractive approach to designing the low-loss snubber circuits of the high-frequency IGCT switches is proposed. It is established on the complex multilevel analysis of the transient phenomena and power losses. The essential characteristics of the critical parameters under transient modes and the relation between the snubber circuit parameters and the losses are discussed. Experimental results for the prototype demonstrate the properties of new power circuit. The test results confirm the proposed high-voltage converter performance capability as well as verifying the suitability of the conception for its use in the Russian suburban train power system and other high-voltage applications.
Energy-Dissipation Performance of Combined Low Yield Point Steel Plate Damper Based on Topology Optimization and Its Application in Structural Control
Authors: He Haoxiang , Wang Xiaobing , Zhang Xiaofu
Published: June 2016

In view of the disadvantages such as higher yield stress and inadequate adjustability, a combined low yield point steel plate damper involving low yield point steel plates and common steel plates is proposed. Three types of combined plate dampers with new hollow shapes are proposed, and the specific forms include interior hollow, boundary hollow, and ellipse hollow. The “maximum stiffness” and “full stress state” are used as the optimization objectives, and the topology optimization of different hollow forms by alternating optimization method is to obtain the optimal shape. Various combined steel plate dampers are calculated by finite element simulation, the results indicate that the initial stiffness of the boundary optimized damper and interior optimized damper is lager, the hysteresis curves are full, and there is no stress concentration. These two types of optimization models made in different materials rations are studied by numerical simulation, and the adjustability of yield stress of these combined dampers is verified. The nonlinear dynamic responses, seismic capacity, and damping effect of steel frame structures with different combined dampers are analyzed. The results show that the boundary optimized damper has better energy-dissipation capacity and is suitable for engineering application.
Optimizing the Shunting Schedule of Electric Multiple Units Depot Using an Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Wang Jiaxi , Lin Boliang , Jin Junchen
Published: June 2016

The shunting schedule of electric multiple units depot (SSED) is one of the essential plans for high-speed train maintenance activities. This paper presents a 0-1 programming model to address the problem of determining an optimal SSED through automatic computing. The objective of the model is to minimize the number of shunting movements and the constraints include track occupation conflicts, shunting routes conflicts, time durations of maintenance processes, and shunting running time. An enhanced particle swarm optimization (EPSO) algorithm is proposed to solve the optimization problem. Finally, an empirical study from Shanghai South EMU Depot is carried out to illustrate the model and EPSO algorithm. The optimization results indicate that the proposed method is valid for the SSED problem and that the EPSO algorithm outperforms the traditional PSO algorithm on the aspect of optimality.
Kinetics of the Leaching Process of an Australian Gibbsitic Bauxite by Hydrochloric Acid
Authors: Zhao Aichun , Zhang Ting-an , Lv Guozhi , Tian Wenyan
Published: June 2016

Gibbsitic bauxite from Australia was leached by hydrochloric acid in this work. Analysis on kinetics for the extraction of Al2O3was quantitatively studied. It was concluded that the hydrochloric acid leaching process of gibbsitic bauxite was controlled by chemical reaction. Moreover, the mechanism for the dissolution followed the equation,ln⁡k=39.44-1.66×104(1/T), with an apparent activation energy of 137.90 kJ/mol, according to the equation ofk=Ae-Ea/RT. This work aims to provide a good theory support for the process control by using a new method of alumina production from the low grade bauxite.
Nanomechanical Characterization of Amyloid Fibrils Using Single-Molecule Experiments and Computational Simulations
Authors: Choi Bumjoon , Kim Taehee , Lee Sang Woo , Eom Kilho
Published: June 2016

Amyloid fibrils have recently received much attention due to not only their important role in disease pathogenesis but also their excellent mechanical properties, which are comparable to those of mechanically strong protein materials such as spider silk. This indicates the necessity of understanding fundamental principles providing insight into how amyloid fibrils exhibit the excellent mechanical properties, which may allow for developing biomimetic materials whose material (e.g., mechanical) properties can be controlled. Here, we describe recent efforts to characterize the nanomechanical properties of amyloid fibrils using computational simulations (e.g., atomistic simulations) and single-molecule experiments (e.g., atomic force microscopy experiments). This paper summarizes theoretical models, which are useful in analyzing the mechanical properties of amyloid fibrils based on simulations and experiments, such as continuum elastic (beam) model, elastic network model, and polymer statistical model. In this paper, we suggest how the nanomechanical properties of amyloid fibrils can be characterized and determined using computational simulations and/or atomic force microscopy experiments coupled with the theoretical models.
Determination of the Creep Parameters of Linear Viscoelastic Materials
Authors: Iskakbayev Alibay , Teltayev Bagdat , Alexandrov Sergei
Published: June 2016

Creep process of linear viscoelastic materials is described by the integral equation of Boltzmann-Volterra in which creep kernel is approximated by Rabotnov’s fractional exponential function. The creep equation contains four unknown parameters:α, singularity parameter;β, fading parameter;λ, rheological parameter; andε0, conditionally instantaneous strain. Two-stage determination method of creep parameters is offered. At the first stage, taking into account weak singularity properties of Abel’s function at the initial moment of loading, parametersε0andαare determined. At the second stage, using already known parametersε0andα, parametersβandλare determined. Analytical expressions for calculating these parameters are obtained. An accuracy evaluation of the offered method with using experimentally determined creep strains of material Nylon 6 and asphalt concrete showed its high accuracy.
Massive Pleural Fluid Collection in Adult Nigerians
Authors: Okonta Kelechi E. , Ocheli Emmanuel O. , Okoh Peter D.
Published: June 2016

Background. There are no available literatures on massive pleural effusions (MPE) in our country.Aim. To determine the aetiology of MPE and compare the mortality rate between malignant and nonmalignant MPE in adult Nigerians.Methods. A prospective study of all the patients diagnosed with nontraumatic pleural fluid collections for one year in two tertiary federal hospitals in Southern Nigeria. A total of 101 consecutive patients with pleural fluid collections were studied. Diagnoses were made by clinical features and laboratory and radiological investigations.Results. Forty-eight patients (47.5%) had MPE with a mean age of 43 years ± 14.04 and 35 were females. Thirty patients (62.5%) were diagnosed with nonmalignant conditions (21 from pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and 9 from other causes). Haemorrhagic pleural collections were from malignancy in 12 (30.8%) and from PTB in 6 (15.4%). Straw-coloured collections were from malignancy in 9 (23.1%), from PTB in 8 (20.1%), and from posttraumatic exudative effusion in 3 (7.7%). Compared with nonmalignant MPE, patients with malignant collections had higher mortality within 6 months (8/18 versus 0/30 with aPvalue of 0.000).Conclusion. The presentation of patients with nontraumatic haemorrhagic or straw-coloured MPE narrows the diagnosis to PTB and malignancy with MPE cases being a marker for short survival rate.
Anesthetic Propofol-Induced Gene Expression Changes in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Based on Dynamical Differential Coexpression Network Analysis
Authors: Yu Da , Huang Li-Jun , Chen Na-Mi
Published: June 2016

We aimed to determine the influence of anesthetic propofol on gene expression in patients treated by coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery based on differential coexpression network (DCN) and to further reveal the novel mechanisms of the cardioprotective effects of propofol. Firstly, we constructed the DCN for disease condition based on Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) and weight value. Secondly, the inference of modules was applied to search modules from DCN with same members but varied connectivity. Furthermore, we measured the statistical significance of the modules for selecting differential modules (DMs). Finally, attract method was used for DMs analysis to select key modules. Based on theδvalue, 11928 edges and 2956 nodes were chosen to construct DCNs. A total of 29 seed genes were selected. Moreover, by quantifying connectivity changes in shared gene modules across different conditions, 8 DMs with higher connectivity dynamics were identified. Then, we extracted key modules using attract method, there were 8 key modules, and the top 3 modules were module 1, 2, and 3. Furthermore, GCG, PPY, and PON1 were initial seed genes of these 3 key modules, respectively. Accordingly, GCG and PON1 might exert important roles in the cardioprotective effects of propofol during CABG.
Liver Governs Tendon: A Theory from Traditional Chinese Medicine—Evidence from a Population‐Based Matched Cohort Study in Taiwan for the Association of Chronic Liver Disease and Common Diseases in the Chiropractic Office
Authors: Ma Chia-Man , Lin Lih-Hwa , Chen Yung-Hsiang , Chen Huey-Yi , Chiang Jen-Huai , Chen Wen-Chi
Published: June 2016

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, the liver governs the tendons. This retrospective cohort study investigated the relationship between chronic liver disease and common orthopedic conditions by utilizing the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. The populations included within this study were chronic liver disease patients (International Classification of Diseases/ICD‐9 code: 571) and a comparison group composed of patients with nonchronic liver disease. The medical event that was evaluated was internal derangement of joints (ICD‐9 codes: 717‐718). In comparison with the control group, patients with chronic liver disease were 1.29 times more likely to develop internal derangement of joints when major trauma had also occurred. We did not find the association of viral hepatitis with internal derangement of joints. Patients with chronic liver disease as well as anemia were 3.01 times more likely to develop joint derangements. Our study shows that patients with anemia in addition to chronic liver disease are more prone to develop joint derangements. This is the first documented research study that endorses “the liver governs the tendons which gives the body the ability to move” theory of TCM. The incidence rate of internal derangement of knee joints was higher in patients with chronic liver disease.
Robust Structure Preserving Nonnegative Matrix Factorization for Dimensionality Reduction
Authors: Li Bingfeng , Tang Yandong , Han Zhi
Published: June 2016

As a linear dimensionality reduction method, nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) has been widely used in many fields, such as machine learning and data mining. However, there are still two major drawbacks for NMF: (a) NMF can only perform semantic factorization in Euclidean space, and it fails to discover the intrinsic geometrical structure of high-dimensional data distribution. (b) NMF suffers from noisy data, which are commonly encountered in real-world applications. To address these issues, in this paper, we present a new robust structure preserving nonnegative matrix factorization (RSPNMF) framework. In RSPNMF, a local affinity graph and a distant repulsion graph are constructed to encode the geometrical information, and noisy data influence is alleviated by characterizing the data reconstruction term of NMF withl2,1-norm instead ofl2-norm. With incorporation of the local and distant structure preservation regularization term into the robust NMF framework, our algorithm can discover a low-dimensional embedding subspace with the nature of structure preservation. RSPNMF is formulated as an optimization problem and solved by an effective iterative multiplicative update algorithm. Experimental results on some facial image datasets clustering show significant performance improvement of RSPNMF in comparison with the state-of-the-art algorithms.
Elimination of the Redundancy Related to Combining Algorithms to Improve the PDP Evaluation Performance
Authors: Deng Fan , Zhang Li-Yong , Zhou Bo-Yu , Zhang Jia-Wei , Cao Hong-Yang
Published: June 2016

If there are lots of redundancies in the policies loaded on the policy decision point (PDP) in the authorization access control model, the system will occupy more resources in operation and consumes plenty of evaluation time and storage space. In order to detect and eliminate policy redundancies and then improve evaluation performance of the PDP, aredundancy related to combining algorithmsdetecting and eliminating engine is proposed in this paper. This engine cannot only detect and eliminate theredundancy related to combining algorithms, but also evaluate access requests. AResource Brick Wallis constructed by the engine according to the resource attribute of a policy’s target attributes. By theResource Brick Walland the policy/rule combining algorithms, three theorems for detectingredundancies related to combining algorithmsare proposed. A comparison of the evaluation performance of theredundancy related to combining algorithmsdetecting and eliminating engine with that of Sun PDP is made. Experimental results show that the evaluation performance of the PDP can be prominently improved by eliminating theredundancy related to combining algorithms.
Some Important Observations on the Populations of Hooded VulturesNecrosyrtes monachusin Urban Ghana
Authors: Gbogbo Francis , Roberts Japheth S. T. , Awotwe-Pratt Vincent
Published: June 2016

Despite major declines in the population of vultures around the world, noticeable increases were reported in the populations of Hooded VulturesNecrosyrtes monachusover the past decade in Accra—an important vulture habitat in Ghana. In recent times, however, there is a growing concern that the vulture numbers are decreasing even though scientific data to support this is nonexisting. As a vital zoogeographical and conservation tool, it is important to keep an up-to-date knowledge about urban bird populations amidst rapid urbanization and associated changes. Using a combination of field data, literature review, and stakeholder consultations, it was indicative that severe decline might have indeed occurred in the populations of Hooded Vultures in Accra. Evidence suggests the killing of vultures for consumption, traditional medicine, and black magic in an undercover trade with possible transboundary connections as important underlying factor. Additional factors suspected to underlie the declines include changes in management of urban facilities and destruction of roosting and nesting trees. The implications of interspecific competition with Pied CrowsCorvus albuson Hooded Vultures however remain unclear. There is an urgent need for conservation campaign and education to save the Hooded Vulture in Ghana.
Sickness-Associated Anorexia: Mother Nature’s Idea of Immunonutrition?
Authors: van Niekerk Gustav , Isaacs Ashwin W. , Nell Theo , Engelbrecht Anna-Mart
Published: June 2016

During an infection, expansion of immune cells, assembly of antibodies, and the induction of a febrile response collectively place continual metabolic strain on the host. These considerations also provide a rationale for nutritional support in critically ill patients. Yet, results from clinical and preclinical studies indicate that aggressive nutritional support does not always benefit patients and may occasionally be detrimental. Moreover, both vertebrates and invertebrates exhibit a decrease in appetite during an infection, indicating that such sickness-associated anorexia (SAA) is evolutionarily conserved. It also suggests that SAA performs a vital function during an infection. We review evidence signifying that SAA may present a mechanism by which autophagic flux is upregulated systemically. A decrease in serum amino acids during an infection promotes autophagy not only in immune cells, but also in nonimmune cells. Similarly, bile acids reabsorbed postprandially inhibit hepatic autophagy by binding to farnesoid X receptors, indicating that SAA may be an attempt to conserve autophagy. In addition, augmented autophagic responses may play a critical role in clearing pathogens (xenophagy), in the presentation of epitopes in nonprovisional antigen presenting cells and the removal of damaged proteins and organelles. Collectively, these observations suggest that some patients might benefit from permissive underfeeding.
Adaptive Backoff Algorithm for Contention Window for Dense IEEE 802.11 WLANs
Authors: Syed Ikram , Roh Byeong-hee
Published: June 2016

The performance improvement in IEEE 802.11 WLANs in widely fluctuating network loads is a challenging task. To improve the performance in this saturated state, we develop an adaptive backoff algorithm that maximizes the system throughput, reduces the collision probability, and maintains a high fairness for the IEEE 802.11 DCF under dense network conditions. In this paper, we present two main advantages of the proposed ABA-CW algorithm. First, it estimates the number of active stations and then calculates an optimal contention window based on the active station number. Each station calculates the channel state probabilities by observing the channel for the total backoff period. Based on these channel states probabilities, each station can estimate the number of active stations in the network, after which it calculates the optimal CW utilizing the estimated active number of stations. To evaluate the proposed mechanism, we derive an analytical model to determine the network performance. From our results, the proposed ABA-CW mechanism achieved better system performance compared to fixed-CW (BEB, EIED, LILD, and SETL) and adaptive-CW (AMOCW, Idle Sense) mechanisms. The simulation results confirmed the outstanding performance of the proposed mechanism in that it led to a lower collision probability, higher throughput, and high fairness.
On a Neutral Particle with a Magnetic Quadrupole Moment in a Uniform Effective Magnetic Field
Authors: Fonseca I. C. , Bakke K.
Published: June 2016

Quantum effects on a Landau-type system associated with a moving atom with a magnetic quadrupole moment subject to confining potentials are analysed. It is shown that the spectrum of energy of the Landau-type system can be modified, where the degeneracy of the energy levels can be broken. In three particular cases, it is shown that the analogue of the cyclotron frequency is modified, and the possible values of this angular frequency of the system are determined by the quantum numbers associated with the radial modes and the angular momentum and by the parameters associated with confining potentials in order that bound states solutions can be achieved.
Hsp90 Inhibitor Ganetespib Sensitizes Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer to Radiation but Has Variable Effects with Chemoradiation
Authors: Wang Yifan , Liu Hui , Diao Lixia , Potter Adam , Zhang Jianhu , Qiao Yawei , Wang Jing , Proia David A. , Tailor Ramesh , Komaki Ritsuko , Lin Steven H.
Published: June 2016

Purpose: HSP90 inhibition is well known to sensitize cancer cells to radiation. However, it is currently unknown whether additional radiosensitization could occur in the more clinically relevant setting of chemoradiation (CRT). We used the potent HSP90 inhibitor ganetespib to determine whether it can enhance CRT effects in NSCLC.

Experimental Design: We first performed in vitro experiments in various NSCLC cell lines combining radiation with or without ganetespib. Some of these experiments included clonogenic survival assay, DNA damage repair, and cell-cycle analysis, and reverse-phase protein array. We then determined whether chemotherapy affected ganetespib radiosensitization by adding carboplatin–paclitaxel to some of the in vitro and in vivo xenograft experiments.

Results: Ganetespib significantly reduced radiation clonogenic survival in a number of lung cancer cell lines, and attenuated DNA damage repair with irradiation. Radiation caused G2–M arrest that was greatly accentuated by ganetespib. Ganetespib with radiation also dose-dependently upregulated p21 and downregulated pRb levels that were not apparent with either drug or radiation alone. However, when carboplatin–paclitaxel was added, ganetespib was only able to radiosensitize some cell lines but not others. This variable in vitro CRT effect was confirmed in vivo using xenograft models.

Conclusions: Ganetespib was able to potently sensitize a number of NSCLC cell lines to radiation but has variable effects when added to platinum-based doublet CRT. For optimal clinical translation, our data emphasize the importance of preclinical testing of drugs in the context of clinically relevant therapy combinations. Clin Cancer Res; 22(23); 5876–86. ©2016 AACR.
MiR-548an, Transcriptionally Downregulated by HIF1α/HDAC1, Suppresses Tumorigenesis of Pancreatic Cancer by Targeting Vimentin Expression
Authors: Zhu Shuai , He Chi , Deng Shijiang , li Xiang , Cui Shipeng , Zeng Zhu , Liu Mingliang , Zhao Shufeng , Chen Jingyuan , Jin Yan , Chen Hengyu , Deng Shichang , Liu Yang , Wang Chunyou , Zhao Gang
Published: June 2016

Hypoxic microenvironments contribute to the tumorigenesis of numerous cancers by regulating the expression of a subset of miRNAs called “hypoxiamiRs.” However, the function and mechanism of these deregulated miRNAs in hypoxic microenvironments within pancreatic cancers remain undefined. This study demonstrates that miR-548an is significantly downregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues and correlates with increased tumor size, advanced TNM stage, distant metastasis, and poor prognosis. Moreover, the overexpression of miR-548an significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. We further revealed that hypoxia-induced factor-1α (HIF-1α) induces the downregulation of miR-548an in pancreatic cancer cells during hypoxia. Our co-IP and ChIP assays revealed that HIF-1α and histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) form a complex and bind to the hypoxia response elements (HRE) on the miR-548an promoter. In addition, inhibition of HDAC1 with trichostatin A antagonizes the suppression of miR-548 by hypoxia. Our dual luciferase assay validated that miR-548an directly binds to the 3′ untranslated region of vimentin mRNA. The downregulation of vimentin suppresses the proliferation and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. In addition, vimentin was inversely correlated with miR-548an expression in pancreatic cancer samples. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the HIF-1α–HDAC1 complex transcriptionally inhibits miR-548an expression during hypoxia, resulting in the upregulation of vimentin that facilitates the pancreatic tumorigenesis. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(9); 2209–19. ©2016 AACR.
Notch Signaling Activation Is Associated with Patient Mortality and Increased FGF1-Mediated Invasion in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity
Authors: Weaver Alice N. , Burch M. Benjamin , Cooper Tiffiny S. , Della Manna Deborah L. , Wei Shi , Ojesina Akinyemi I. , Rosenthal Eben L. , Yang Eddy S.
Published: June 2016

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a cancer subtype that lacks validated prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers, and human papillomavirus status has not proven beneficial in predicting patient outcomes. A gene expression pathway analysis was conducted using OSCC patient specimens to identify molecular targets that may improve management of this disease. RNA was isolated from 19 OSCCs treated surgically at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB; Birmingham, AL) and evaluated using the NanoString nCounter system. Results were confirmed using the oral cavity subdivision of the Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cancer (HNSCC) study generated by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network. Further characterization of the in vitro phenotype produced by Notch pathway activation in HNSCC cell lines included gene expression, proliferation, cell cycle, migration, invasion, and radiosensitivity. In both UAB and TCGA samples, Notch pathway upregulation was significantly correlated with patient mortality status and with expression of the proinvasive gene FGF1. In vitro Notch activation in HNSCC cells increased transcription of FGF1 and induced a marked increase in cell migration and invasion, which was fully abrogated by FGF1 knockdown. These results reveal that increased Notch pathway signaling plays a role in cancer progression and patient outcomes in OSCC. Accordingly, the Notch–FGF interaction should be further studied as a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

Implications: Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity who succumb to their disease are more likely to have upregulated Notch signaling, which may mediate a more invasive phenotype through increased FGF1 transcription. Mol Cancer Res; 14(9); 883–91. ©2016 AACR.
Chorioamnionitis and Five-Year Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Preterm Infants
Authors: Ylijoki Milla , Lehtonen Liisa , Lind Annika , Ekholm Eeva , Lapinleimu Helena , Kujari Harry , Haataja Leena ,   on behalf of the PIPARI Study Group
Published: June 2016

Background: Chorioamnionitis, a risk factor for preterm delivery, has been suggested to be associated with suboptimal neurological development in premature infants. Objective: To evaluate the association between chorioamnionitis and neurodevelopment in preterm infants at 5 years of age. Methods Very low birth weight and very low gestational age infants (n = 197) were recruited. Placental samples (n = 117) were evaluated for histological chorioamnionitis. Fetal histological chorioamnionitis was analyzed as a subgroup. The diagnosis of clinical chorioamnionitis was derived from medical records. Neurodevelopmental impairments were evaluated at 2 years of age, and cognitive development (n = 188) and neuropsychological performance (n = 193) were evaluated at 5 years of age. Results: There were no associations between histological or clinical chorioamnionitis and neurodevelopmental impairments at 2 years of age. Clinical chorioamnionitis and fetal histological chorioamnionitis were not associated with cognitive development or neuropsychological performance, but histological chorioamnionitis was associated with poorer cognitive outcome (regression coefficient = -7.22, 95% CI: -14.31 to -0.13) and weaker memory and learning functions (regression coefficient = -1.29, 95% CI: -2.40 to -0.18) at 5 years of age. Conclusion: Our study findings do not support clinical chorioamnionitis having a major independent role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental problems in very preterm infants. Histological chorioamnionitis was associated with slightly less optimal performance at 5 years of age, but further studies are needed to verify the clinical significance of these findings.
Induction of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells in Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes
Authors: Ballbach Marlene , Hall Tobias , Brand Alina , Neri Davide , Singh Anurag , Schaefer Iris , Herrmann Eva , Hansmann Sandra , Handgretinger Rupert , Kuemmerle-Deschner Jasmin , Hartl Dominik , Rieber Nikolaus
Published: June 2016

Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are caused by mutations in the NLRP3 gene leading to overproduction of IL-1β and other NLRP3 inflammasome products. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) represent a novel innate immune cell subset capable of suppressing T-cell responses. As inflammasome products were previously found to induce MDSCs, we hypothesized that NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent factors induce the generation of MDSCs in CAPS. We studied neutrophilic MDSCs, their clinical relevance, and MDSC-inducing factors in a unique cohort of CAPS patients under anti-IL-1 therapy. Despite anti-IL-1 therapy and low clinical disease activity, CAPS patients showed significantly elevated MDSCs compared to healthy controls. MDSCs were functionally competent, as they suppressed polyclonal T-cell proliferation, as well as Th1 and Th17 responses. In addition, MDSCs decreased monocytic IL-1β secretion. Multiplex assays revealed a distinct pattern of MDSC-inducing cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. Experimental analyses demonstrated that IL-1 cytokine family members and autoinflammation-associated alarmins differentially induced human MDSCs. Increased MDSCs might represent a novel autologous anti-inflammatory mechanism in autoinflammatory conditions and may serve as a future therapeutic target.
Impact of Interpersonal Problems in Borderline Personality Disorder Inpatients on Treatment Outcome and Psychopathology
Authors: Dammann Gerhard , Riemenschneider Anke , Walter Marc , Sollberger Daniel , Küchenhoff Joachim , Gündel Harald , Clarkin John F. , Gremaud-Heitz Daniela J.
Published: June 2016

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a very common illness; interpersonal problems are one of the core features. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in interpersonal problems after transference-focused psychotherapy (TFP)-based disorder-specific treatment and to explore whether the severity of interpersonal problems could serve as a predictor for other variables. Sampling and Methods: A sample of 37 inpatients with BPD was assessed with the Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-IV Axis I and II Disorders (SCID I and II) and had to complete a questionnaire including the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-C), Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Spielberger State and Trait Inventory (STAI), Spielberger State and Trait Anger Inventory (STAXI), and Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90-R). After 12 weeks of TFP-based disorder-specific treatment, the patients repeated the same questionnaire; 7 patients had to be excluded from the study, and thus calculations were conducted with 30 patients. Results: After treatment, the patients showed a significant decrease in the IIP total item score and all 8 subscales except the domineering, intrusive, and cold scales. The IIP total item baseline score was correlated with borderline symptomatic and psychopathology [e.g. anxiety, Global Severity Index (GSI)] after 12 weeks as well as with most IIP postsubscales. Conclusions: Although interpersonal problems are considered one of the more stable features of BPD, our results showed a significant improvement after 12 weeks of TFP-based disorder-specific inpatient treatment, especially in the total score and the subscales on the friendly submissive level. The severity of interpersonal problems at baseline was connected to outcome values of other borderline features as well as general psychiatric complaints. It therefore seems important to consider the treatment of interpersonal problems in therapy to be of greater significance.
An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System in Assessment of Technical Losses in Distribution Networks
Authors: Mlakić Dragan , Nikolovski Srete N , Knežević Goran
Published: June 2016

The losses in distribution networks have always been key elements in predicting investment, planning work, evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of a network. This paper elaborates on the use of fuzzy logic systems in analyzing the data from a particular substation area predicting losses in the low voltage network. The data collected from the field were obtained from the Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and Automatic Meter Management (AMM) systems. The AMR system is fully implemented in EPHZHB and integrated within the network infrastructure at secondary level substations 35/10kV and 10(20)/0.4 kV. The AMM system is partially implemented in the areas of electrical energy consumers; precisely, in accounting meters. Daily information gathered from these systems is of great value for the calculation of technical and non-technical losses. Fuzzy logic in combination with the Artificial Neural Networks implemented via the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is used. Finally, FIS Sugeno, FIS Mamdani and ANFIS are compared with the measured data from smart meters and presented with their errors and graphs.
Load Balancing Techniques for Efficient Traffic Management in Cloud Environment
Authors: Sasidhar Talasila , Havisha Vani , Koushik Sai , Deep Mani , Reddy V Krishna
Published: June 2016

Cloud computing is an internet based computing. This computing paradigm has enhanced the use of network where the capability of one node can be utilized by other node. Cloud service provides access on demand to distributive resources such as database, servers, software, infrastructure etc. in pay as you go basis. Load balancing is one of the vexing issues in distributed environment. Resources of service provider need to balance the load of client request. Load balancing is adapted in order to increase the resource consumption in Data centers that leads to enhance the overall performance of system achieving client satisfaction.