bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Cultural Elements in the Textbook “Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese”
Authors: Er Onur
Published: August 2017

This study aims to examine the textbook “Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese” in terms of cultural elements. The data of this qualitative research were collected by means of the document review method. Content analysis, one of the qualitative analysis techniques, was used in the evaluation of the research data. A second coding was carried out by a second researcher to ensure the reliability of the study. The categories in the study were formed in the line of the cultural product, thought and behavior classifications developed by Tomalin & Stempleski (1993). In addition, the tools for cultural instruction, as taught by Qu (2010), Frank (2013), Peterson & Coltrane (2003), have helped to create the relevant codes.In comparison of the cultural elements in the textbook “Genki I: an Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese”, this study found that the textbook emphasizes more on the elements related to behavioral dimension of the culture, but does not give much room for the elements related to belief dimension. Also, the textbook “Genki I: an Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese” was observed to use the device of “describing and explaining the culture”, at most.
Atom sieve for nanometer resolution neutral helium microscopy
Authors: Flatabø Ranveig , Greve Martin M. , Eder Sabrina D. , Kalläne Matthias , Palau Adrià Salvador , Berggren Karl K. , Holst Bodil
Published: August 2017

Neutral helium microscopy is a new tool for imaging fragile and/or insulating structures as well as structures with large aspect ratios. In one configuration of the microscope, neutral helium atoms are focused as de Broglie matter waves using a Fresnel zone plate. The ultimate resolution is determined by the width of the outermost zone. Due to the low-energy beam (typically less than 0.1 eV), the neutral helium atoms do not penetrate solid materials and the Fresnel zone plate therefore has to be a free-standing structure. This creates particular fabrication challenges. The so-called Fresnel photon sieve structure is especially attractive in this context, as it consists merely of holes. Holes are easier to fabricate than the free-standing rings required in a standard Fresnel zone plate for helium microscopy, and the diameter of the outermost holes can be larger than the width of the zone that they cover. Recently, a photon sieve structure was used for the first time, as an atom sieve, to focus a beam of helium atoms down to a few micrometers. The holes were randomly distributed along the Fresnel zones to suppress higher order foci and side lobes. Here, the authors present a new atom sieve design with holes distributed along the Fresnel zones with a fixed gap. This design gives higher transmission and higher intensity in the first order focus. The authors present an alternative electron beam lithography fabrication procedure that can be used for making high transmission atom sieves with a very high resolution, potentially smaller than 10 nm. The atom sieves were patterned on a 35 nm or a 50 nm thick silicon nitride membrane. The smallest hole is 35 nm, and the largest hole is 376 nm. In a separate experiment, patterning micrometer-scale areas with hole sizes down to 15 nm is demonstrated. The smallest gap between neighboring holes in the atom sieves is 40 nm. They have 47011 holes each and are 23.58 μm in diameter. The opening ratio is 22.60%, and the Fresnel zone coverage of the innermost zones is as high as 0.68. This high-density pattern comes with certain fabrication challenges, which the authors discuss.
Molecular Determinants of the Thickened Matrix in a Dual-Species Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis Biofilm
Authors: Lee Keehoon , Lee Kang-Mu , Kim Donggeun , Yoon Sang Sun
Published: August 2017

Biofilms are microbial communities that inhabit various surfaces and are surrounded by extracellular matrices (ECMs). Clinical microbiologists have shown that the majority of chronic infections are caused by biofilms, following the introduction of the first biofilm infection model by J. W. Costerton and colleagues (J. Lam, R. Chan, K. Lam, and J. W. Costerton, Infect Immun 28:546–556, 1980). However, treatments for chronic biofilm infections are still limited to surgical removal of the infected sites.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
and
Enterococcus faecalis
are two frequently identified bacterial species in biofilm infections; nevertheless, the interactions between these two species, especially during biofilm growth, are not clearly understood. In this study, we observed phenotypic changes in a dual-species biofilm of
P. aeruginosa
and
E. faecalis
, including a dramatic increase in biofilm matrix thickness. For clear elucidation of the spatial distribution of the dual-species biofilm,
P. aeruginosa
and
E. faecalis
were labeled with red and green fluorescence, respectively.
E. faecalis
was located at the lower part of the dual-species biofilm, while
P. aeruginosa
developed a structured biofilm on the upper part. Mutants with altered exopolysaccharide (EPS) productions were constructed in order to determine the molecular basis for the synergistic effect of the dual-species biofilm. Increased biofilm matrix thickness was associated with EPSs, not extracellular DNA. In particular, Pel and Psl contributed to interspecies and intraspecies interactions, respectively, in the dual-species
P. aeruginosa
and
E. faecalis
biofilm. Accordingly, targeting Pel and Psl might be an effective part of eradicating
P. aeruginosa
polymicrobial biofilms.

IMPORTANCE
Chronic infection is a serious problem in the medical field. Scientists have observed that chronic infections are closely associated with biofilms, and the vast majority of infection-causing biofilms are polymicrobial. Many studies have reported that microbes in polymicrobial biofilms interact with each other and that the bacterial interactions result in elevated virulence, in terms of factors, such as infectivity and antibiotic resistance.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
and
Enterococcus faecalis
are frequently isolated pathogens in chronic biofilm infections. Nevertheless, while both bacteria are known to be agents of numerous nosocomial infections and can cause serious diseases, interactions between the bacteria in biofilms have rarely been examined. In this investigation, we aimed to characterize
P. aeruginosa
and
E. faecalis
dual-species biofilms and to determine the molecular factors that cause synergistic effects, especially on the matrix thickening of the biofilm. We suspect that our findings will contribute to the development of more efficient methods for eradicating polymicrobial biofilm infections.
A Highly Conserved Basidiomycete Peptide Synthetase Produces a Trimeric Hydroxamate Siderophore
Authors: Brandenburger Eileen , Gressler Markus , Leonhardt Robin , Lackner Gerald , Habel Andreas , Hertweck Christian , Brock Matthias , Hoffmeister Dirk
Published: August 2017

The model white-rot basidiomycete,
Ceriporiopsis
(
Gelatoporia
)
subvermispora
B, encodes putative natural product biosynthesis genes. Among them is the gene for the seven-domain nonribosomal peptide synthetase CsNPS2. It is a member of the as-yet-uncharacterized fungal type VI siderophore synthetase family, which is highly conserved and widely distributed among the basidiomycetes. These enzymes include only one adenylation (A) domain, i.e., one complete peptide synthetase module, and two thiolation/condensation (T-C) didomain partial modules which together constitute an AT
1
C
1
T
2
C
2
T
3
C
3
domain setup. The full-length CsNPS2 enzyme (274.5 kDa) was heterologously produced as a polyhistidine fusion in
Aspergillus niger
as a soluble and active protein.
N
5
-acetyl-
N
5
-hydroxy-
l
-ornithine (
l
-AHO) and
N
5
-
cis
-anhydromevalonyl-
N

5

-hydroxy-
l
-ornithine (
l
-AMHO) were accepted as the substrates, based on results of an
in vitro
substrate-dependent [
32
P]ATP-pyrophosphate radioisotope exchange assay. Full-length
holo
-CsNPS2 catalyzed amide bond formation between three
l
-AHO molecules to release the linear
l
-AHO trimer, called basidioferrin, as the product
in vitro
, which was verified by liquid chromatography–high-resolution electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry analysis. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that type VI family siderophore synthetases are widespread in mushrooms and evolved in a common ancestor of basidiomycetes.

IMPORTANCE
The basidiomycete nonribosomal peptide synthetase CsNPS2 represents a member of a widely distributed but previously uninvestigated class (type VI) of fungal siderophore synthetases. Genes orthologous to
CsNPS2
are highly conserved across various phylogenetic clades of the basidiomycetes. Hence, our work serves as a broadly applicable model for siderophore biosynthesis and iron metabolism in higher fungi. Also, our results on the amino acid substrate preference of CsNPS2 support a further understanding of the substrate selectivity of fungal adenylation domains. Methodologically, this report highlights the
Aspergillus niger
/SM-Xpress-based system as a suitable platform to heterologously express multimodular basidiomycete biosynthesis enzymes in the >250-kDa range in soluble and active form.
Is Staphylococcus lugdunensis Significant in Clinical Samples?
Authors: Argemi Xavier , Hansmann Yves , Riegel Philippe , Prévost Gilles
Published: August 2017

The implication of coagulase-negative staphylococci in human diseases is a major issue, particularly in hospital settings wherein these species often act as opportunistic pathogens. In addition, some coagulase-negative staphylococci such as
S. lugdunensis
have emerged as pathogenic bacteria, implicated in severe infections, particularly, osteoarticular infections, foreign-body-associated infections, bacteremia, and endocarditis.
In vitro
studies have shown the presence of several putative virulence factors such as adhesion factors, biofilm production, and proteolytic factors that might explain clinical manifestations. Taken together, the clinical and microbiological data might change the way clinicians and microbiologists look at
S. lugdunensis
in clinical samples.
Structural Transitions of the Conserved and Metastable Hantaviral Glycoprotein Envelope
Authors: Rissanen Ilona , Stass Robert , Zeltina Antra , Li Sai , Hepojoki Jussi , Harlos Karl , Gilbert Robert J. C. , Huiskonen Juha T. , Bowden Thomas A.
Published: August 2017

Hantaviruses are zoonotic pathogens that cause severe hemorrhagic fever and pulmonary syndrome. The outer membrane of the hantavirus envelope displays a lattice of two glycoproteins, Gn and Gc, which orchestrate host cell recognition and entry. Here, we describe the crystal structure of the Gn glycoprotein ectodomain from the Asiatic Hantaan virus (HTNV), the most prevalent pathogenic hantavirus. Structural overlay analysis reveals that the HTNV Gn fold is highly similar to the Gn of Puumala virus (PUUV), a genetically and geographically distinct and less pathogenic hantavirus found predominantly in northeastern Europe, confirming that the hantaviral Gn fold is architecturally conserved across hantavirus clades. Interestingly, HTNV Gn crystallized at acidic pH, in a compact tetrameric configuration distinct from the organization at neutral pH. Analysis of the Gn, both in solution and in the context of the virion, confirms the pH-sensitive oligomeric nature of the glycoprotein, indicating that the hantaviral Gn undergoes structural transitions during host cell entry. These data allow us to present a structural model for how acidification during endocytic uptake of the virus triggers the dissociation of the metastable Gn-Gc lattice to enable insertion of the Gc-resident hydrophobic fusion loops into the host cell membrane. Together, these data reveal the dynamic plasticity of the structurally conserved hantaviral surface.

IMPORTANCE
Although outbreaks of Korean hemorrhagic fever were first recognized during the Korean War (1950 to 1953), it was not until 1978 that they were found to be caused by Hantaan virus (HTNV), the most prevalent pathogenic hantavirus. Here, we describe the crystal structure of HTNV envelope glycoprotein Gn, an integral component of the Gn-Gc glycoprotein spike complex responsible for host cell entry. HTNV Gn is structurally conserved with the Gn of a genetically and geographically distal hantavirus, Puumala virus, indicating that the observed α/β fold is well preserved across the
Hantaviridae
family. The combination of our crystal structure with solution state analysis of recombinant protein and electron cryo-microscopy of acidified hantavirus allows us to propose a model for endosome-induced reorganization of the hantaviral glycoprotein lattice. This provides a molecular-level rationale for the exposure of the hydrophobic fusion loops on the Gc, a process required for fusion of viral and cellular membranes.
Cysteines and N-Glycosylation Sites Conserved among All Alphaherpesviruses Regulate Membrane Fusion in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection
Authors: Rider Paul J. F. , Naderi Misagh , Bergeron Scott , Chouljenko Vladimir N. , Brylinski Michal , Kousoulas Konstantin G.
Published: August 2017

Neurotropism is a defining characteristic of alphaherpesvirus pathogenicity. Glycoprotein K (gK) is a conserved virion glycoprotein of all alphaherpesviruses that is not found in other herpesvirus subfamilies. The extracellular amino terminus of gK has been shown to be important to the ability of the prototypic alphaherpesvirus herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) to enter neurons via axonal termini. Here, we determined the role of the two conserved N-linked glycosylation (N48 and N58) sites of gK in virus-induced cell fusion and replication. We found that N-linked glycosylation is important to the regulation of HSV-1-induced membrane fusion since mutating N58 to alanine (N58A) caused extensive virus-induced cell fusion. Due to the known contributions of N-linked glycosylation to protein processing and correct disulfide bond formation, we investigated whether the conserved extracellular cysteine residues within the amino terminus of gK contributed to the regulation of HSV-1-induced membrane fusion. We found that mutation of C37 and C114 residues led to a gK-null phenotype characterized by very small plaque formation and drastic reduction in infectious virus production, while mutation of C82 and C243 caused extensive virus-induced cell fusion. Comparison of N-linked glycosylation and cysteine mutant replication kinetics identified disparate effects on infectious virion egress from infected cells. Specifically, cysteine mutations caused defects in the accumulation of infectious virus in both the cellular and supernatant fractions, while glycosylation site mutants did not adversely affect virion egress from infected cells. These results demonstrate a critical role for the N glycosylation sites and cysteines for the structure and function of the amino terminus of gK.

IMPORTANCE
We have previously identified important entry and neurotropic determinants in the amino terminus of HSV-1 glycoprotein K (gK). Alphaherpesvirus-mediated membrane fusion is a complex and highly regulated process that is not clearly understood. gK and UL20, which are highly conserved across all alphaherpesviruses, play important roles in the regulation of HSV-1 fusion in the context of infection. A greater understanding of mechanisms governing alphaherpesvirus membrane fusion is expected to inform the rational design of therapeutic and prevention strategies to combat herpesviral infection and pathogenesis. This work adds to the growing reports regarding the importance of gK to alphaherpesvirus pathogenesis and details important structural features of gK that are involved in gK-mediated regulation of virus-induced membrane fusion.
Butyrate Supplementation at High Concentrations Alters Enteric Bacterial Communities and Reduces Intestinal Inflammation in Mice Infected with Citrobacter rodentium
Authors: Jiminez Janelle A. , Uwiera Trina C. , Abbott D. Wade , Uwiera Richard R. E. , Inglis G. Douglas
Published: August 2017

The study findings provide evidence that administration of butyrate in a dose-dependent manner can improve the weight gain of infected mice, enhance clearance of the infection, reduce inflammation through altered cytokine expression, and enhance tissue repair and mucus secretion. Moreover, butyrate treatment also affected the abundance of bacterial populations in both noninflamed and inflamed intestines. Notably, this investigation provides foundational information that can be used to determine the effects of prebiotics and other functional foods on the production of butyrate by enteric bacteria and their impact on intestinal health and host well-being.
Cost-effectiveness of age-related macular degeneration study supplements in the UK: combined trial and real-world outcomes data
Authors: Lee Aaron Y , Butt Thomas , Chew Emily , Agron Elvira , Clemons Traci E , Egan Catherine A , Lee Cecilia S , Tufail Adnan
Published: August 2017

Aims

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) 1 & 2 supplements in patients with either bilateral intermediate age-related macular degeneration, AREDS category 3, or unilateral neovascular age-related macular degeneration AMD (nAMD), AREDS category 4.

Methods

A patient-level health state transition model based on levels of visual acuity in the better-seeing eye was constructed to simulate the costs and consequences of patients taking AREDS vitamin supplements. Setting: UK National Health Service (NHS). The model was populated with data from AREDS and real-world outcomes and resource use from a prospective multicentre national nAMD database study containing 92 976 ranibizumab treatment episodes.

Interventions

Two treatment approaches were compared: immediate intervention with AREDS supplements or no supplements. Main outcome measures: quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and healthcare costs were accrued for each strategy, and incremental costs and QALYs were calculated for the lifetime of the patient. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were employed to test the uncertainty of the model.

Results

For AREDS category 3, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was £30 197. For AREDS category 4 compared with no intervention, AREDS supplements are more effective (10.59 vs 10.43 QALYs) and less costly (£52 074 vs 54 900) over the lifetime of the patient.

Conclusions

The recommendation to publicly fund AREDS supplements to category 3 patients would depend on the healthcare system willingness to pay. In contrast, initiating AREDS supplements in AREDS category 4 patients is both cost saving and more effective than no supplement use and should therefore be considered in public health policy.
Towards a three-dimensional framework of centrally regulated and goal-directed exercise behaviour: a narrative review
Authors: Venhorst Andreas , Micklewright Dominic , Noakes Timothy D
Published: August 2017

The Central Governor Model (CGM) ignited a paradigm shift from concepts of catastrophic failure towards central regulation of exercise performance. However, the CGM has focused on the central integration of afferent feedback in homeostatic control. Accordingly, it neglected the important role of volitional self-regulatory control and the integration of affective components inherently attached to all physiological cues. Another limitation is the large reliance on the Gestalt phenomenon of perceived exertion. Thus, progress towards a comprehensive multidimensional model of perceived fatigability and exercise regulation is needed. Drawing on Gate Control Theory of pain, we propose a three-dimensional framework of centrally regulated and goal-directed exercise behaviour, which differentiates between sensory, affective and cognitive processes shaping the perceptual milieu during exercise. We propose that: (A) perceived mental strain and perceived physical strain are primary determinants of pacing behaviour reflecting sensory-discriminatory processes necessary to align planned behaviour with current physiological state, (B) core affect plays a primary and mediatory role in exercise and performance regulation, and its underlying two dimensions hedonicity and arousal reflect affective-motivational processes triggering approach and avoidance behaviour, and (C) the mindset-shift associated with an action crisis plays a primary role in volitional self-regulatory control reflecting cognitive-evaluative processes between further goal-pursuit and goal-disengagement. The proposed framework has the potential to enrich theory development in centrally regulated and goal-directed exercise behaviour by emphasising the multidimensional dynamic processes underpinning perceived fatigability and provides a practical outline for investigating the complex interplay between the psychophysiological determinants of pacing and performance during prolonged endurance exercise.
Systematic review of pharmacological therapies for the management of ischaemic pain in patients with non-reconstructable critical limb ischaemia
Authors: Laoire Áine Ní , Murtagh Fliss E M
Published: August 2017

Background

Critical limb ischaemia (CLI) is a severe manifestation of peripheral arterial disease, characterised by chronic ischaemic rest pain, ulcers or gangrene. Management of ischaemic pain is challenging in patients with no options for revascularisation and optimal pharmacological therapies have not been established.

Objectives

To identify and evaluate the effectiveness of pharmacological therapies to treat ischaemic pain secondary to non-reconstructable CLI.

Methods

This systematic review was reported in accordance with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guideline. Comprehensive searches of three electronic databases, a PubMed-related articles link search, grey literature search and hand-searches of the bibliographies of relevant papers and textbooks were performed. Studies recruiting adult patients with CLI of any aetiology were eligible for inclusion. Surgical and revascularisation procedures, and all invasive interventions were excluded.

Results

Of 792 studies, six met full inclusion criteria. These studies researched the use of intravenous lidocaine, intravenous ketamine, oral gabapentin and the combination of transdermal buprenorphine and epidural morphine/ropivacaine infusion. All studies showed an improvement in severity of ischaemic pain in CLI but with varying side effect profiles and quality. The extracted studies showed substantial heterogeneity and therefore a meta-analysis was not performed.

Conclusion

The pharmacological management of pain secondary to non-reconstructable CLI is a challenging review topic. No recommendations of pharmacological agents can be made following this review but a number of novel approaches to manage pain in this cohort have shown positive results and require further investigation.
Injuries and alcohol management plans in remote Indigenous communities: a two-community comparison
Authors: West Caryn , Muller Reinhold , Clough Alan R
Published: August 2017

To curb high rates of alcohol-related violence and injury in Indigenous communities, alcohol management plans (AMPs) were implemented in 2002–2003 and tightened in 2008. This project compares injury presentations and alcohol involvement from two Indigenous Cape York communities, one that entered full prohibition and one that did not. Aclinical file audit was performed for the period 2006–2011, capturing changes in alcohol availability. Medical files were searched for injury presentation documenting type of injury, cause of injury (including alcohol), date of injury and outcomes of all presenting injuries for the time period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2011, capturing the major changes of the 2008 AMP restrictions. Findings indicated injury presentation rates were higher in both communities before prohibition than afterwards andreduction was more pronounced in community 2 (prohibition). Ongoing research is imperative, as this area is characterised by a near-absence of evidence.
Non-battle injury among repatriated UK armed forces since cessation of combat operations: a prospective observational study
Authors: Toman Emma , Beaven A , Naumann D N , Myatt R W , Parker P J , Kay A R
Published: August 2017

Aim

To describe the mechanisms, burden of injury, inpatient management and rehabilitation requirements of wounded military personnel at the UK Role 4 (R4) facility within the first 12 months following cessation of combat operations in Afghanistan.

Methods

All aeromedical evacuations were recorded prospectively between October 2014 and October 2015. Demographic, logistical and clinical data were derived manually from referring medical unit and patient movement requests in addition to host nation and R4 medical records.

Results

Ninety-five patients were repatriated to R4 following traumatic injury: 98.9% (n=94) were male, and median age was 27 years (IQR 25–36 years). The most common mechanisms of injury (MOIs) were sports 26.3% (n=25), falls <2 m 11.6% (n=11) and road traffic collisions 9.8% (n=9). The most common anatomical regions of injury were isolated lower limb 24.1% (n=22), isolated hand 20.0% (n=19) and polytrauma 14.7% (n=14). Median Injury Severity Score was 4 (IQR 4–9), mean 8 (range 1–41). Eleven patients (11.6%) were discharged to rehabilitation units, of whom 7 (63.6%) required neurorehabilitation.

Conclusion

Although service personnel sustain civilian-type injuries, the specific rehabilitation goals and shift in the acute rehabilitation requirements for military personnel must be considered in the absence of enduring combat operations. It is notable that permanent medical downgrading secondary to trauma still occurs outside of warfare. The colocation of civilian major trauma services and R4 has ensured a mutually beneficial partnership that contributes to institutional memory and improves the coordination of patient pathways. The importance of relevant resource allocation, training, support and logistical considerations remain, even during the current scale of military activity overseas.
Long-term prognosis for neck-shoulder pain and disorders: a 14-year follow-up study
Authors: Jakobsen Emma Lise Thorlund , Biering Karin , Kærgaard Anette , Dalbøge Annett , Andersen Johan Hviid
Published: August 2017

Objectives

The long-term prognosis for neck-shoulder pain and disorders and the impact of shoulder exposure among former sewing machine operators were investigated in a 14-year follow-up study.

Methods

Information on neck-shoulder pain and disorders was collected by questionnaire and clinical examination at baseline in 243 female sewing machine operators and by questionnaire 14 years later. During follow-up, information on comorbidity and job exposures was obtained from registers and by linking register-based D-ISCO 88 codes with a job exposure matrix. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between neck-shoulder pain and disorders at baseline and neck-shoulder pain and physical functioning at follow-up.

Results

We found an association between neck-shoulder disorders at baseline and neck-shoulder pain at follow-up (OR 5.9;95% CI 1.9 to 17.7), and between neck-shoulder pain at baseline and neck-shoulder pain at follow-up (OR 8.2;95% CI 3.5 to 19.2). Associations between neck-shoulder disorders and pain at baseline and limited physical functioning at follow-up had ORs of 5.0 (95% CI 1.5 to 16.1) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.1 to 4.6), respectively. In women still working in 2008, the association between neck-shoulder pain in 1994 and in 2008 seemed to be stronger for those in jobs with high job shoulder exposure.

Conclusions

The results suggest a long-term adverse prognosis for neck-shoulder pain. High job shoulder exposure can worsen this prognosis for those who continue working. This knowledge could influence the counselling given to similar workers and emphasises the need to prevent neck-shoulder pain.
Geochemistry of volcanic and plutonic rocks from the Nahlin ophiolite with implications for a Permo–Triassic arc in the Cache Creek terrane, northwestern British Columbia
Authors: McGoldrick Siobhan , Zagorevski Alex , Canil Dante
Published: August 2017

In northwestern British Columbia, the Permian Nahlin ophiolite in the northern Cache Creek terrane comprises spinel harzburgite tectonite with minor lherzolite, lower crustal mafic and ultramafic cumulates, gabbroic rocks including dikes intruding mantle harzburgite, and basaltic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. New lithogeochemical data from the Menatatuline Range area confirm that plutonic and volcanic rocks of the ophiolite are tholeiitic and arc related, while only a minor component of volcanic rocks are alkaline intraplate basalts. Tholeiitic basalts of the Nahlin ophiolite represent the products of 2%–20% fractional melting, and their complementary residue may be peridotite from the ophiolite mantle section. Correlative tholeiitic volcanic sections can be found elsewhere in the northern Cache Creek terrane, and they may be linked to a regionally extensive (∼200 km) intraoceanic arc. The arc tholeiite geochemistry of the plutonic and volcanic rocks, and the highly depleted nature of the mantle residues, imply that the Nahlin ophiolite formed in a supra-subduction zone environment. The Nahlin ophiolite therefore occupied the upper plate during intraoceanic collision prior to emplacement of the Cache Creek terrane. The volumetrically minor ocean island basalt type volcanic rocks in the northern Cache Creek terrane are associated with carbonate successions bearing Tethyan fauna. These sequences are likely fragments of oceanic plateaux and their carbonate atolls sliced off of the subducting plate and are unrelated to the Nahlin ophiolite-arc system.
Differential cross sections in a thick brane world scenario
Authors: Arceo R. , Pedraza Omar , López L.A. , Flores-Rosas Ariel , León-Soto G.
Published: August 2017

The elastic differential cross section is calculated at low energies for the elements 3He, 20Ne, 40Ar, 14N, 12C, and for 208Pb using an effective 4D electromagnetic potential coming from the contribution of the massive Kaluza–Klein modes of the 5D vector field in a thick brane scenario. The length scale is adjusted in the potential to compare with known experimental data and to set bounds for the parameter of the model.
Sandwich structure panel subjected to thermal loading using fractional order equation of motion and moving heat source
Authors: Bassiouny E. , Youssef Hamdy M.
Published: August 2017

The present work studies the thermoelastic behaviour of a model for a layered thin plate called sandwich structure subjected to a thermal shock wave in light of the generalized thermoelasticity theory using fractional order equation of motion in the presence of a moving heat source. The governing equations are solved using Laplace transform. To obtain the different inverse field functions numerically, we used a complex inversion formula of Laplace transform based on Fourier expansion. The effect of different parameters; namely, the speed, the strength of the heat source, fractional order and time on the thermodynamical temperature, stress, and strain distribution, are discussed and presented graphically. Comparison with previous work in the context of the theory of generalized thermoelasticity shows that the present model is more reliable than the previous. The present model removes the points of discontinuity present in the stress and temperature distributions in the previous model. In the present model we found that the middle layer was affected slightly by some of these parameters. The other new results are discussed.
Adsorption of self-assembled monolayer on Cu(111): First-principles study
Authors: Wang Jian , Cheng Jiang-Tao , Ma Shang-Yi , Wang Hong-De
Published: August 2017

The density function theory is used to explore the structures of alkyl-thiolate (RS, R=CH3, CF3) monolayer on the Cu(111) surface. By performing the total energy calculations for RS at three possible adsorption sites (fcc, hcp, bridge) with five different coverages (1/12, 1/9, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3), we obtained the stable adsorption configurations of the Cu–RS system. Especially, the effect of Van der Waals interaction on the adsorption configurations was studied by the DFT-D2 method. The work functions for Cu–RS (R=CH3, CF3) systems were calculated, we find that the CH3S adsorbed on the Cu(111) surface decreases the metal work function remarkably, and the work functions strongly depend on the coverage. In the case of the Cu–CF3S system, the results are just the opposite. Thus, controlling the kind and coverage of the surface adsorbates would be an effective technique to tune the work function of the metal.
Modeling service time reliability in urban ferry system
Authors: Chen Yifan , Luo Sida , Zhang Mengke , Shen Hanxia , Xin Feifei , Luo Yujie
Published: August 2017

The urban ferry system can carry a large number of travelers, which may alleviate the pressure on road traffic. As an indicator of its service quality, service time reliability (STR) plays an essential part in attracting travelers to the ferry system. A wide array of studies have been conducted to analyze the STR of land transportation. However, the STR of ferry systems has received little attention in the transportation literature. In this study, a model was established to obtain the STR in urban ferry systems. First, the probability density function (PDF) of the service time provided by ferry systems was constructed. Considering the deficiency of the queuing theory, this PDF was determined by Bayes’ theorem. Then, to validate the function, the results of the proposed model were compared with those of the Monte Carlo simulation. With the PDF, the reliability could be determined mathematically by integration. Results showed how the factors including the frequency, capacity, time schedule and ferry waiting time affected the STR under different degrees of congestion in ferry systems. Based on these results, some strategies for improving the STR were proposed. These findings are of great significance to increasing the share of ferries among various urban transport modes.
Delamination of Multilayered Functionally Graded Beams with Material Nonlinearity
Authors: Rizov V.
Published: August 2017

Delamination fracture in multilayered functionally graded, split cantilever beams is analyzed with account taken of the nonlinear behavior of the material. The fracture is studied analytically in terms of the strain energy release rate. The mechanical behavior of the material is described by a power-law stress–strain relation that is not symmetric for tension and compression. The beam can have an arbitrary number of vertical layers of different thickness. Each layer can have different material properties. Besides, the material in each layer is functionally graded along the layer thickness. Also, the delamination fracture can occur at any interface. The strain energy release rate is derived by analyzing the complementary strain energy of the beam. The solution obtained is applied to elucidating the effects of crack location, material gradient and material nonlinearity on the delamination fracture behavior of multilayered functionally graded beam configuration. It is found that the material nonlinearity leads to increase of the strain energy release rate, which implies that the material nonlinearity should be taken into account in the fracture mechanics based safety design of multilayered functionally graded structural members and components.
An Anisotropic Hyperelastic Constitutive Model with Tension–Shear Coupling for Woven Composite Reinforcements
Authors: Gong Youkun , Yan Dongxiu , Yao Yuan , Wei Ran , Hu Hongling , Xu Peng , Peng Xiongqi
Published: August 2017

An anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive model with tension–shear coupling was developed for woven composite reinforcements based on fiber reinforced continuum mechanics theory. The strain energy of the model was additively decomposed into two parts nominally representing the fiber stretches and fiber–fiber interaction considering shear–tension coupling, respectively. Experimental data were used to identify material parameters orderly and simply in the constitutive model for a specific balanced plain woven carbon fabric. The developed model was validated by comparing numerical results with picture-frame shear tests under different pre-stretch ratios, and was then applied to the simulation of a hemispherical stamping experiment, demonstrating that the developed constitutive model is highly suitable to characterize the nonlinear and anisotropic mechanical behaviors of woven composite reinforcements under large deformation. The proposed model establishes a theoretical foundation for more accurate forming simulation and processing optimization of woven fabric composites.
SOUTH-EAST ASIAN RICARDIAN STUDIES: BANGLADESH, SRI LANKA, THAILAND, AND VIETNAM
Authors: ABIDOYE BABATUNDE O. , MENDELSOHN ROBERT , AHMED SULTAN , AMANULLAH SELIM , CHASIDPON CHANAKOD , BAKER LEE , DOBIAS ROBERT , GHOSH BIKRAM , GUNARATNE L. H. P. , HEDEYETULLAH MUNSHI MOHAMMAD , MUNGATANA ERIC , ORTIZ CLAUDIA , SIMÕES MARIANA , KURUKULASURIYA PRADEEP , PERERA CHAMILA , SOORIYAARACHCHI ARUNA , SUPNITHADNAPORN ANUPIT , TRUONG THUY
Published: August 2017

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam each conducted a Ricardian analysis of crop net revenue (NR) in their country. The countries defined seasons slightly differently depending on their monsoon and dry periods. They also sometimes included slightly different variables in their regressions. The countries are small so that the climate results are often insignificant. However, the Ricardian model does predict near term damage in Bangladesh in the CanESM climate scenario and near and far term damage in Thailand in the CMCC climate scenario.
SOUTH-EAST ASIAN FARMER PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Authors: ABIDOYE BABATUNDE O. , KURUKULASURIYA PRADEEP , MENDELSOHN ROBERT
Published: August 2017

A survey of farmers in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam reveals that farmers are keenly aware of even slight changes in their climate. Over 90% of the farmers interviewed perceived small changes in temperature or precipitation patterns where they lived. Over half claimed to have changed their irrigation, timing, or crop choices because of climate change. Although the link between perceived changes and stated adaptations is weak, farmers are aware of the types of changes they need to make in response to climate change in South-East Asia. Adaptation responses must be firmly grounded in not only local conditions, but also the views of participants at the front lines of climate change impacts. The knowledge base of farmers grappling with the challenges of climate change must be taken into account when policy responses to support adaptation are formulated.
A Canonical Form for PROV Documents and Its Application to Equality, Signature, and Validation
Authors: Moreau Luc
Published: August 2017

We present a canonical form for
prov
that is a normalized way of representing
prov
documents as mathematical expressions. As opposed to the normal form specified by the
prov-constraints
recommendation, the canonical form we present is defined for all
prov
documents, irrespective of their validity, and it can be serialized in a unique way. The article makes the case for a canonical form for
prov
and its potential uses, namely comparison of
prov
documents in different formats, validation, and signature of
prov
documents. A signature of a
prov
document allows the integrity and the author of provenance to be ascertained; since the signature is based on the canonical form, these checks are not tied to a particular encoding, but can be performed on any representation of
prov
.
Managing Provenance of Implicit Data Flows in Scientific Experiments
Authors: Neves Vitor C. , Oliveira Daniel De , Ocaña Kary A. C. S. , Braganholo Vanessa , Murta Leonardo
Published: August 2017

Scientific experiments modeled as scientific workflows may create, change, or access data products not explicitly referenced in the workflow specification, leading to implicit data flows. The lack of knowledge about implicit data flows makes the experiments hard to understand and reproduce. In this article, we present ProvMonitor, an approach that identifies the creation, change, or access to data products even within implicit data flows. ProvMonitor links this information with the workflow activity that generated it, allowing for scientists to compare data products within and throughout trials of the same workflow, identifying side effects on data evolution caused by implicit data flows. We evaluated ProvMonitor and observed that it could answer queries for scenarios that demand specific knowledge related to implicit provenance.
Algorithm 980
Authors: Yeralan Sencer Nuri , Davis Timothy A. , Sid-Lakhdar Wissam M. , Ranka Sanjay
Published: August 2017

Sparse matrix factorization involves a mix of regular and irregular computation, which is a particular challenge when trying to obtain high-performance on the highly parallel general-purpose computing cores available on graphics processing units (GPUs). We present a sparse multifrontal QR factorization method that meets this challenge and is significantly faster than a highly optimized method on a multicore CPU. Our method factorizes many frontal matrices in parallel and keeps all the data transmitted between frontal matrices on the GPU. A novel
bucket scheduler
algorithm extends the communication-avoiding QR factorization for dense matrices by exploiting more parallelism and by exploiting the staircase form present in the frontal matrices of a sparse multifrontal method.
Exploiting the analog properties of digital circuits for malicious hardware
Authors: Yang Kaiyuan , Hicks Matthew , Dong Qing , Austin Todd , Sylvester Dennis
Published: August 2017

While the move to smaller transistors has been a boon for performance it has dramatically increased the cost to fabricate chips using those smaller transistors. This forces the vast majority of chip design companies to trust a third party---often overseas---to fabricate their design. To guard against shipping chips with errors (intentional or otherwise) chip design companies rely on post-fabrication testing. Unfortunately, this type of testing leaves the door open to malicious modifications since attackers can craft attack triggers requiring a sequence of unlikely events, which will never be encountered by even the most diligent tester. In this paper, we show how a fabrication-time attacker can leverage analog circuits to create a hardware attack that is small (i.e., requires as little as one gate) and stealthy (i.e., requires an unlikely trigger sequence before affecting a chip's functionality). In the open spaces of an already placed and routed design, we construct a circuit that uses capacitors to siphon charge from nearby wires as they transit between digital values. When the capacitors are fully charged, they deploy an attack that forces a victim flip-flop to a desired value. We weaponize this attack into a remotely controllable privilege escalation by attaching the capacitor to a controllable wire and by selecting a victim flip-flop that holds the privilege bit for our processor. We implement this attack in an OR1200 processor and fabricate a chip. Experimental results show that the purposed attack works. It eludes activation by a diverse set of benchmarks and evades known defenses.
PRISM
Authors: Tu Cunchao , Liu Zhiyuan , Luan Huanbo , Sun Maosong
Published: August 2017

Profession is an important social attribute of people. It plays a crucial role in commercial services such as personalized recommendation and targeted advertising. In practice, profession information is usually unavailable due to privacy and other reasons. In this article, we explore the task of identifying user professions according to their behaviors in social media. The task confronts the following challenges that make it non-trivial: how to incorporate heterogeneous information of user behaviors, how to effectively utilize both labeled and unlabeled data, and how to exploit community structure. To address these challenges, we present a framework called Profession Identification in Social Media. It takes advantage of both personal information and community structure of users in the following aspects: (1) We present a cascaded two-level classifier with heterogeneous personal features to measure the confidence of users belonging to different professions. (2) We present a multi-training process to take advantages of both labeled and unlabeled data to enhance classification performance. (3) We design a profession identification method synthetically considering the confidences from personal features and community structure. We collect a real-world dataset to conduct experiments, and experimental results demonstrate the significant effectiveness of our method compared with other baseline methods. By applying prediction on large-scale users, we also analyze characteristics of microblog users, finding that there are significant diversities among users of different professions in demographics, social network structures, and linguistic styles.
Bounds on Monotone Switching Networks for Directed Connectivity
Authors: Potechin Aaron
Published: August 2017

We separate monotone analogues of
L
and
NL
by proving that any monotone switching network solving directed connectivity on
n
vertices must have size at least
n

Ω(lg
n
)

.
Energy-Efficient Collection of Sparse Data in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Sparse Random Matrices
Authors: Yu Xiaohan , Baek Seung Jun
Published: August 2017

We consider the energy efficiency of collecting sparse data in wireless sensor networks using compressive sensing (CS). We use a sparse random matrix as the sensing matrix, which we call Sparse Random Sampling (SRS). In SRS, only a randomly selected subset of nodes, called the source nodes, are required to report data to the sink. Given the source nodes, we intend to construct a data gathering tree such that (1) it is rooted at the sink and spans every source node and (2) the minimum residual energy of the tree nodes after the data collection is maximized. We first show that this problem is NP-complete and then develop a polynomial time algorithm to approximately solve the problem. We greedily construct a sequence of data gathering trees over multiple rounds and propose a polynomial-time algorithm to collect linearly combined measurements at each round. We show that the proposed algorithm is provably near-optimal. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm excels not only in increasing the minimum residual energy, but also in extending the network lifetime.