bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design Tools for the Performance Improvement of a 76 MW Francis Turbine Runner
Authors: Franco-Nava Jose´ Manuel , Dorantes-Go´mez Oscar , Rosado-Tamariz Erik , Ferna´ndez-Da´vila Jose´ Manuel , Rangel-Espinosa Reynaldo
Published: September 2010

Application of two mayor design tools, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), for the performance improvement of a 76 MW Francis turbine runner is presented. In order to improve the performance of the runner, not only a CFD based optimization for the runner but also its structural integrity evaluation was carried out. In this paper, a number of analyses included within the design tools-based runner optimization process are presented. Initially, a reference condition for the fluid behaviour through turbine components was carried out by means of the computation of fluid conditions through the spiral case and stays vanes, followed by CFD-based fluid behaviour for the wicket so as to include the flow effects induced by these components in the final CFD analysis for the runner. All CFD computations were generated within the three dimensional Navier-Stoke commercial turbomachinery oriented CFD code FINE™/Turbo from NUMECA. The whole hydraulic turbine performance was then compared against actual data from a medium-head Francis type hydro turbine (76 MW). Then, CFD-based flow induced stresses in the turbine runner were computed by using a three dimensional finite element model built within the FEA commercial code ANSYS. Appropriate boundary conditions were set in order to obtain the results due to the different type loads (pressure and centrifugal force). The FEM model was able to capture the pressure gradients on the blade surfaces obtained from the CFD results. Improvement of efficiency and power for the runner was computed by using a parametric model built within 3D CFD code integrated environment FINETM/Design3D from NUMECA which combines genetic algorithms and a trained artificial neural network. During the optimization process the artificial neural network is trained with a database of geometries and their respective CFD computations in order to determine the optimum geometry for a given objective function. The optimisation process and the trend curve of the optimization or design cycle that included 29 parameters (corresponding to the control points of runner blade primary sections) which could vary during the process is presented. Finally, the flow induced stresses of the optimized Francis turbine runner was computed so as to evaluate the final blade geometry modifications related to the efficiency and power improvement.
Afton Generating Station, Including Unique Hybrid Cooling
Authors: Groves Jack , Krankkala Todd , Nugent Greg
Published: September 2010

The paper describes the evolution of a successful new combined cycle utility generation plant over nearly two decades in response to external and internal requirements for commercial, environmental and functional performance. The Afton Project followed an evolutionary path from initial development as a peaking unit into its full realization as an innovative combined cycle station utilizing a hybrid cooling system to realize its owner’s objectives for water conservation and the ability to respond to load demands in the arid Southwest. Afton, a state-of-the-art 225 MW combined cycle facility, entered commercial operation in October of 2007, delivering critically needed capacity with NOx at 3.5 ppm or less.
Radiation Modeling in Oxy-Fuel Combustion Scenarios
Authors: Krishnamoorthy Gautham , Sami Muhammad , Orsino Stefano , Perera Anura , Shahnam Mehrdad , Huckaby E. David
Published: September 2010

Three gray models for the radiative properties of gases were examined for their usage in oxy-combustion simulations of a full scale boiler with flue gas recycle. Fully coupled computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of a full scale boiler were carried out employing the weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model (WSGGM) at air burn, dry-recycle and wet-recycle conditions. The resulting thermal and composition fields were then frozen and the radiative properties of the gaseous media recomputed employing the Exponential Wide Band Model (EWBM) and correlations for total emissivities of gas mixtures. It is shown that when high CO2/H2O ratios were encountered within the boiler such as in dry-recycle scenarios, employing emissivity correlations developed for purely CO2 media within the models can result in incorrect gas properties. The errors associated with this can be significant when there are large pockets within the furnace where the gas radiation dominates the particle radiation.
Integrated Performance Monitoring for Asset Optimization
Authors: Holzworth Robert , Walejeski Walter
Published: September 2010

Utilities need technology that is able to accurately estimate the performance and health of the power plant, and assess and optimize the plant’s current generation position for the purposes of generating accurate market pricing and operating cash-flows forecasts. The technology must be able to provide the utility with the required information to support robust power trading and risk management strategies, and ultimately increase the profitability of the business. This paper will address the utilization of integrated performance monitoring technologies to improve asset optimization at power generating facilities and report on the health of the power plant. Additionally, this paper will provide insight to some specific advanced monitoring technologies, how integration of the technologies can provide increased value for plant operations, and address the impact on key performance indicators that almost all utilities track, formally or informally. Case studies related to the technical information presented will also be presented.
Errors in Boiler Efficiency Standards
Authors: Lang Fred D.
Published: September 2010

This paper presents both criticism and suggested changes to boiler efficiency standards associated with fossil-fired steam generators. These standards include the widely used ASME PTC 4.1, PTC 4 and DIN 1942, and others. The chief criticism is inconsistent application of thermodynamic principles. Specifically, conceptual errors are made with application of reference temperatures and the treatment of shaft powers. When using computed fuel flow as a touchstone, it becomes obvious that arbitrary use of reference temperatures and/or use of capricious energy credits cannot dictate a system’s computed fuel flow. Efficiency, calorific value and fuel flow must have fixed definitions concomitant with a system’s useful energy flow. Thermodynamics is not an arbitrary discipline, the computed fuel needs of a system must describe the actual. Boiler efficiency requires the same treatment, as an absolute value, as actual fuel feed and emission flow. Boiler efficiencies and associated calorific values have obvious standing when judging contractual obligations, for thermal performance monitoring, and for confirming carbon emissions. Note that a 0.5 to 1% change in efficiency may well have significant financial consequences when testing a new unit, or the on-going costs associated with fuel and carbon taxes. This paper demonstrates that errors greater than 2% are entirely possible if following the current standards. This paper appeals to the resolution of efficiency at the 0.1% level. The power plant engineer is encouraged to read the Introduction and Summary & Recommendations sections while the thermodynamicist is requested to throughly review and critique the mid-sections. The author hopes such reviews will advocate for improvement of these important industrial standards.
Operation Improvement, Reliability and Performance Optimization With Analysis and Simulation
Authors: Diwakar Philip , Berkoe Jonathan
Published: September 2010

Rapid development in computers has led to significant advancement in simulation technology. The analysis tools such as CFD and FEA are now household tools used for improving plant operations, building reliable equipment with enhanced safety features with an eye on improving and optimizing performance. In this paper a few case studies are selectively presented to demonstrate the value of these tools to the customer — improved efficiency, reduced schedule times and cost. These examples are chosen to show how these technologies are used to identify and mitigate any safety and operational risks associated with plant design and improve the design over the projects life cycle. The first example considers a design and operation improvement in a Heat recovery Steam generator (HRSG). To reduce material and equipment costs, it is very easy to design the HRSG with sharp corners and steep angles from one module to another and keep them closer to each other. This essentially reduces the overall efficiency of the plant due to gas turbine exhaust flow non-uniformity and re-circulation zones. The existing flow correction device consisting of 32 large tubes running across the sides produces a very large pressure drop. Using CFD, a flow distribution grid is designed, providing at least a 20% improvement in velocity distribution. The second example considers a coal burning boiler performance optimization. In this boiler upgrade project, CFD is used to confirm the feasibility of increasing the capacity and reducing the particulate emissions of the coal fired furnace and steam boiler units. Some of these factors were difficult to evaluate reliably using physical scale modeling techniques that were performed mainly only for cold flow pressure drop analysis. However the experimental results were used for benchmarking the CFD results. A third example shows how fluid dynamic analysis combined with thermal and structural analysis may be used to obtain the thermal fatigue life of various components of a molecular sieve dehydrator unit, where the design life is governed by the thermal loads generated during the regeneration cycle. Based on the fatigue analysis a more effective support is designed to withstand a higher flow capacity thus increasing production.
A Naturally Occurring Human Minidysferlin Protein Repairs Sarcolemmal Lesions in a Mouse Model of Dysferlinopathy
Authors: Krahn Martin , Wein Nicolas , Bartoli Marc , Lostal William , Courrier Sébastien , Bourg-Alibert Nathalie , Nguyen Karine , Vial Christophe , Streichenberger Nathalie , Labelle Véronique , DePetris Danielle , Pécheux Christophe , Leturcq France , Cau Pierre , Richard Isabelle , Lévy Nicolas
Published: September 2010

A naturally occurring miniversion of the dysferlin protein found in a patient shows that gene therapy by minigene transfer may be possible in dysferlinopathies.
Long Synthetic Peptides for the Production of Vaccines and Drugs: A Technological Platform Coming of Age
Authors: Corradin Giampietro , Kajava Andrey V. , Verdini Antonio
Published: September 2010

Improved methods for producing long synthetic peptides, together with bioinformatics approaches, offer promise for the development of clinically relevant products.
Response to Comment on "The Origins of Sexually Transmitted HIV Among Men Who Have Sex with Men"
Authors: Smith Davey , Delport Wayne , Butler David , Little Susan , Richman Douglas , Pond Sergei Kosakovsky
Published: September 2010

The excessive viral diversity noted by Heath
et al
. in our sample of infected HIV patients prompted us to reexamine our data. Doing so uncovered several mislabeled samples, but no sources of contamination were identified. Investigations into additional transmission pairs will be needed to further investigate these issues.
PPARγ and the Placenta: Lessons That Could Inform Cancer Therapy
Authors: Bentley-Lewis Rhonda
Published: September 2010

Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ plays a role in placental angiogenesis, a finding with possible relevance for the treatment of metastatic cancer.
Breath of Fresh Air: Tissue-Engineered Tracheas for Airway Repair
Authors: Ng Kenneth W.
Published: September 2010

Tissue-engineered tracheas move one step closer as a clinical treatment.
Economy of Operon Formation: Cotranscription Minimizes Shortfall in Protein Complexes
Authors: Sneppen Kim , Pedersen Steen , Krishna Sandeep , Dodd Ian , Semsey Szabolcs
Published: September 2010

Genes of prokaryotes and
Archaea
are often organized in cotranscribed groups, or operons. In contrast, eukaryotic genes are generally transcribed independently. Here we show that there is a substantial economic gain for the cell to cotranscribe genes encoding protein complexes because it synchronizes the fluctuations, or noise, in the levels of the different components. This correlation substantially reduces the shortfall in production of the complex. This benefit is relatively large in small cells such as bacterial cells, in which there are few mRNAs and proteins per cell, and is diminished in larger cells such as eukaryotic cells.
Partial recanalization of concomitant internal carotid–middle cerebral arterial occlusions promotes distal recanalization of residual thrombus within 24 h
Authors: Loh Y , Liebeskind D S , Shi Z S , Jahan R , Gonzalez N R , Tateshima S , Vespa P M , Starkman S , Saver J L , Viñuela F , Duckwiler G R
Published: September 2010

Objectives

Acute, simultaneous, concomitant internal carotid artery (ICA) and middle cerebral arteries (MCA) occlusions almost invariably lead to significant neurological disability if left untreated. Endovascular therapy is frequently the method of treatment in such situations but there remains a chance of incomplete recanalization. Successful recanalization of the proximal aspect of the occlusion may allow for endogenous thrombolysis and facilitate further endogenous recanalization of any residual MCA occlusion.

Methods

Consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing endovascular therapy for tandem extracranial ICA–MCA or contiguous intracranial ICA–MCA occlusions were retrospectively analyzed. Rates of facilitated endogenous recanalization at 24 h (FER24) were compared by imaging within the immediate post-intervention 5–24 h period in those with proximal recanalization and in those without.

Results

17 patients were included in the analysis. 12 patients had good initial proximal recanalization but a residual partial or total occlusion of the MCA while five patients failed any recanalization. Seven patients (58.3%) in the first group and none in the second had FER24on interval imaging after intervention (p=0.04). The probability of death and disability at discharge was less in patients with FER24than those without (p=0.05).

Conclusions

More than half of all patients who present with both ICA and MCA occlusions who are only partially recanalized will undergo facilitated endogenous recanalization within the subsequent 24 h following intervention.
Reporting standards for endovascular repair of saccular intracranial cerebral aneurysms
Authors: Meyers Philip M , Schumacher H Christian , Higashida Randall T , Derdeyn Colin P , Nesbit Gary M , Sacks David , Wechsler Lawrence R , Bederson Joshua B , Lavine Sean D , Rasmussen Peter
Published: September 2010

Background and purpose

The goal of this article is to provide consensus recommendations for reporting standards, terminology, and written definitions when reporting on the radiological evaluation and endovascular treatment of intracranial, cerebral aneurysms. These criteria can be used to design clinical trials, to provide uniformity of definitions for appropriate selection and stratification of patients, and to allow analysis and meta-analysis of reported data.

Methods

This article was written under the auspices of the Joint Writing Group of the Technology Assessment Committee, Society of Neurolnterventional Surgery, Society of Interventional Radiology; Joint Section on Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons; and Section of Stroke and Interventional Neurology of the American Academy of Neurology. A computerized search of the National Library of Medicine database of literature (PubMed) from January 1991 to December 2007 was conducted with the goal to identify published endovascular cerebrovascular interventional data about the assessment and endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms useful as benchmarks for quality assessment. We sought to identify those risk adjustment variables that affect the likelihood of success and complications. This article offers the rationale for different clinical and technical considerations that may be important during the design of clinical trials for endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms. Included in this guidance article are suggestions for uniform reporting standards for such trials. These definitions and standards are primarily intended for research purposes; however, they should also be helpful in clinical practice and applicable to all publications.

Conclusions

The evaluation and treatment of brain aneurysms often involve multiple medical specialties. Recent reviews by the American Heart Association have surveyed the medical literature to develop guidelines for the clinical management of ruptured and unruptured cerebral aneurysms. Despite efforts to synthesize existing knowledge on cerebral aneurysm evaluation and treatment, significant inconsistencies remain in nomenclature and definition for research and reporting purposes. These operational definitions were selected by consensus of a multidisciplinary writing group to provide consistency for reporting on imaging in clinical trials and observational studies involving cerebral aneurysms. These definitions should help different groups to publish results that are directly comparable.
Pollen grains and biosystematics
Authors: Crompton C. W.
Published: September 2010

A review of the history of palynology and its usefulness in biosystematics, taxonomy, geology, and allergology is presented. In addition, its application to the taxonomic study of Plantago, Trifolium, Tamarix, Clarkia, and Suaeda as used by the staff at Agriculture Canada is summarized. Scanning electron photomicrographs and light photomicrographs representing segments of these studies are included.
Geographic variation in the shoot productivity of bog shrubs and some environmental correlates
Authors: Reader R. J.
Published: September 2010

The pattern of geographic variation in the annual shoot production of the three bog shrubs (leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia), and Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum) was examined using data collected at eight peatland sites along an 800-km latitudinal transect. Productivity varied significantly among sites, with L. groenlandicum exhibiting the greatest range of values (114–505 mg/shoot), followed by K. polifolia (83–341) and C. calyculata (73–241). This variation could be best interpreted by including both climatic and substrate variables in a multiple regression equation. The combination of three site variables (heat sum, depth to standing water, and water conductivity) accounted for between 63 and 86% of the observed variation in shoot productivity. Adding four other variables increased the percentage of variation explained to between 95 and 99%.
Calculating and interpreting forest fire intensities
Authors: Alexander Martin E.
Published: September 2010

Frontal fire intensity is a valid measure of forest fire behavior that is solely a physical attribute of the fire itself. It is defined as the energy output rate per unit length of fire front and is directly related to flame size. Numerically, it is equal to the product of net heat of combustion, quantity of fuel consumed in the active combustion zone, and a spreading fire's linear rate of advance. The recommended International System (SI) units are kilowatts per metre. This concept of fire intensity provides a quantitative basis for fire description useful in evaluating the impact of fire on forest ecosystems.
Croissance et fructification de Ceratocystis spp. avec attention particulière à C. piceae et C. fimbriata, en fonction du substrat
Authors: Thuillier A. , Neumann P.
Published: September 2010

Ceratocystis coerulescens, C. fimbriata, C. ips, and C. minor were tested for production of sexual fruiting bodies, and C. penicillata and C. piceae for asexual fruiting bodies. Ceratocystis fimbriata produced perithecia easily on standard culture media, but there were marked differences between the two strains tested (503, 560). Strain 503 had a good production of fruiting bodies on malt agar (M) and a basal nutrient solution (N). Strain 560 fared better than 503 on Leonian agar (L), but did not fructify on M and N. Supplementing media with various wood extracts produced better results. M + maple sapwood extracts and L + poplar sapwood extracts gave the best results with strain 503, and L + pine sapwood extracts was the best with strain 560.Production of coremia was also influenced by the basal medium and the kind of extracts added as supplements. Fir and maple extracts stimulated the production of fruiting bodies, whereas pine and poplar extracts had no or very little stimulating effects. In every other species tested, the production of fruiting bodies was none or very irregular. [Journal translation]
The genus Gastrosporium in North America
Authors: Miller Jr. Orson K. , Askew W. Blain
Published: September 2010

Calvatia defodiodis Lloyd (Disciseda defodiodis (Lloyd) Zeller) has been found to be conspecific with Gastrosporium simplex Matt. Previously known only from Europe, G. simplex is reported from western Canada and the United States. Distinctive features are the low warted surface of the spores, distinctive calcium deposits in the exoperidium, a gelatinized endoperidium, and a paracapillitium with clamp connections. Information on its known range in North America, microhabitats in which it grows, and its relationship to other Gasteromycetes is presented.
Hyphomycetes from freshwater swamps and hammocks
Authors: Crane J. L. , Schoknecht Jean D.
Published: September 2010

Some Hyphomycetes collected on decayed plant material from freshwater swamps and hammocks include Parasympodiella minima sp. nov., Paratomenticola georgiana sp. no v., Scolecobasidium cylindrosporum sp. nov., Chaetopsina ludoviciana sp. nov., and Taeniolella americana sp. nov. In addition, Cryptophiale udagawae Pirozynski & Ichinoe, Exserticlava vasiformis (Matsushima) Hughes, Mycoenterolobium platysporum Goos, and Phragmospathula phoenicis Subram. & Nair are reported as new records for North America.
Karyotypic analysis of Plasmodiophora brassicae based on serial thin sections of pachytene nuclei
Authors: Braselton James P.
Published: September 2010

Reconstructions based on electron microscopy of serial thin sections of three pachytene nuclei of Plasmodiophora brassicae Woron. showed 20 synaptonemal complexes (SCs) and thus indicated a haploid chromosomal number of 20. No recombination nodules were observed, but modified regions with lateral elements more electron opaque than the rest of the SCs were reported. Ends of SCs attached to the nuclear envelope and clustered near the two centriole pairs.
Vegetation structure and diversity components of a Fraser estuary tidal marsh
Authors: Bradfield Gary E. , Porter Glendon L.
Published: September 2010

Vegetation data from a predominantly freshwater-influenced tidal marsh in the Fraser River estuary are analysed to investigate different properties of community structure. Three main vegetation zones are recognized, dominated respectively by Carex lyngbyei, Festuca arundinacea, and Menyanthes trifoliata. The zones occupy parts of the marsh which differ primarily in hydrological regime: the Carex zone occurs in regularly flooded and drained areas, mainly along tidal creeks; the Festuca zone occurs on infrequently flooded levees; the Menyanthes zone occurs in areas of impeded drainage, mainly between tidal creeks.Principal components analysis and reciprocal averaging gave similar results except for a 90° rotation of ordination axes. The combined results from cluster analysis and ordination give a useful summary of the marsh vegetation structure. The evaluation of various diversity measures including species richness, species density, beta diversity, and species evenness provided a useful basis for making comparisons and helped to focus attention on factors influencing community development.
Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) root nodules: morphogenesis and the effect of forage harvest on structure and function
Authors: Vance C. P. , Johnson L. E. B. , Stade S. , Groat R. G.
Published: September 2010

Nodule structure, nodule enzymes of ammonia assimilation, nitrogenase-dependent acetylene reduction, and nodule soluble protein were studied during vegetative regrowth of detopped birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) seedlings grown in the glasshouse. Nodules senesced rapidly for a period of 14 days following shoot removal, but then pink nodule populations increased as shoot regrowth occurred. The structural sequence of senescence was similar in nodules whether the result of either aging or shoot removal. Membranes surrounding bacteroids showed degenerative changes as bacteroids senesced. Bacteroids aggregated within the nodule cells and ultimately disappeared in senescent cells. Infection threads and bacteria inside infection threads did not disintegrate.Nodule senescence as a result of shoot removal was accompanied by a marked decline in acetylene reduction, nodule soluble protein, nodule host plant glutamine synthetase (GS), and glutamate synthase (GOGAT). Nodule enzyme activity, soluble protein, and acetylene reduction activity recovered to initial values as shoot regrowth occurred and pink nodule populations increased. Nodule host plant glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) did not change after shoot removal.This study shows that birdsfoot trefoil nodules respond to shoot removal by an increased senescence. Recovery of nodule function is associated with the formation of a new nodule population. The data also indicate that host plant GS and GOGAT function to assimilate fixed N. Spherical nodules with determinant growth may be less efficient than elongate nodules with indeterminant growth in nodule maintenance and function.
Mesure en place des coefficients de perméabilité et des coefficients de consolidation horizontaux et verticaux
Authors: Mieussens C. , Ducasse P.
Published: September 2010

A method for the in situ measurement of the horizontal and vertical coefficients of permeability and consolidation is presented in this paper.Following a brief review of the theories developed by Gibson for the constant and falling head tests, the results of the integration of the consolidation equations are given in the case of a cylindrical permeameter in an orthotropic soil. An experimental method for measuring kv, kh, cv, and ch is described. The main difficulties are related to the placement of the permeameter with the least possible disturbance of the soil and to the accurate measurement of the flow.The first problem has found a satisfactory solution by using the self-boring technique for the placement of the permeameters. The flow is measured with an automated unit, described in this paper, which allows for a rigorous stabilisation of the applied depression and a resolution of 10 mm3 in the measurement of the volumes.

[Journal translation]
An extension of the Bishop and Morgenstern slope stability charts
Authors: O'Connor M. J. , Mitchell R. J.
Published: September 2010

Design charts have been produced for slope stability analysis in natural earth slopes where c′/γH = 0.075 and c′/γH = 0.100. This permits use of the Bishop and Morgenstern stability method in sensitive clay soils such as Leda clay.
STUDY ON THE RECOGNITION OF OBJECTIONABLE AUDIO
Authors: SHI ZIQIANG , GAO BOYANG , ZHENG TIERAN , HAN JIQING
Published: September 2010

In this paper, a novel method from the feature — porno-sounds recognition — point of view is proposed to detect adult video sequences automatically which may serve as a verification step, a supplementary method or an independent detector. To the specificity of erotic sound, its feature analysis is given. Based on the popular features, histograms and contours are introduced as new sets of features. At the same time due to the complexity of outside data, a general framework called in-class clustering is proposed which selects the most representative subclass for training and classification. All these efforts increase the recall rate and decrease the false positive rate. Experiments on real data from the Internet indicate that the proposed method yields superior performance with 89.17% recall rate and 10.78% false positive rate being achieved.
Sub-Word Indexing and Blind Relevance Feedback for English, Bengali, Hindi, and Marathi IR
Authors: Leveling Johannes , Jones Gareth J. F.
Published: September 2010

The Forum for Information Retrieval Evaluation (FIRE) provides document collections, topics, and relevance assessments for information retrieval (IR) experiments on Indian languages. Several research questions are explored in this article: 1) How to create create a simple, language-independent corpus-based stemmer, 2) How to identify sub-words and which types of sub-words are suitable as indexing units, and 3) How to apply blind relevance feedback on sub-words and how feedback term selection is affected by the type of the indexing unit. More than 140 IR experiments are conducted using the BM25 retrieval model on the topic titles and descriptions (TD) for the FIRE 2008 English, Bengali, Hindi, and Marathi document collections.

The major findings are: The corpus-based stemming approach is effective as a knowledge-light term conflation step and useful in the case of few language-specific resources. For English, the corpus-based stemmer performs nearly as well as the Porter stemmer and significantly better than the baseline of indexing words when combined with query expansion. In combination with blind relevance feedback, it also performs significantly better than the baseline for Bengali and Marathi IR.

Sub-words such as consonant-vowel sequences and word prefixes can yield similar or better performance in comparison to word indexing. There is no best performing method for all languages. For English, indexing using the Porter stemmer performs best, for Bengali and Marathi, overlapping 3-grams obtain the best result, and for Hindi, 4-prefixes yield the highest MAP. However, in combination with blind relevance feedback using 10 documents and 20 terms, 6-prefixes for English and 4-prefixes for Bengali, Hindi, and Marathi IR yield the highest MAP.

Sub-word identification is a general case of decompounding. It results in one or more index terms for a single word form and increases the number of index terms but decreases their average length. The corresponding retrieval experiments show that relevance feedback on sub-words benefits from selecting a larger number of index terms in comparison with retrieval on word forms. Similarly, selecting the number of relevance feedback terms depending on the ratio of word vocabulary size to sub-word vocabulary size almost always slightly increases information retrieval effectiveness compared to using a fixed number of terms for different languages.
A tool for designing high-confidence implantable biosensor networks for medical monitoring
Authors: Gupta Sandeep K. S.
Published: September 2010

In this work we describe a software tool for designing implantable biosensor network (BSN) applications. BSNs are next generation medical monitoring systems, which provide continuous monitoring and actuation capabilities to medical personnel. They usually form a wireless network on a subject's body and can be controlled remotely. Before deploying any mission critical systems, it is important to be able to evaluate their performnce in the appropriate settings, and fine tune the design choices made. This is especially important for BSNs which are cyber-physical in nature --- they interact and influence their environment of deployment.

Toward this goal we present the development of a software tool which can be used by developers and medical personnel to emulate an actual deployment of biosensor applications and evaluate its performance in different scenarios. We use Architecture Analysis and Design Language (AADL) in order to implement our tool as it provides an easy to use interface for specifying complex systems, and their environments. In this paper we discuss various aspects of developing such a tool including prinicipal characteristics of BSNs that need to be considered by it along with its functional architecture. We also provide an example scenario of how the tool can be used to evlauate a specific biosensor application.
Flexible RFID location system based on artificial neural networks for medical care facilities
Authors: Wu Hao-Ju , Chang Yi-Hsin , Hwang Min-Shiang , Lin Iuon-Chang
Published: September 2010

RFID location systems are often used in real-time location systems that come up with the problems like multipath phenomenon and layout changing. These make locating difficult because most of the location systems are based on fixed mathematical calculation that cannot take these situations into account. Using artificial neural network, our location scheme can learn the geography features to adapt to the real world. It could avoid multipath phenomenon effect and be flexibly applied to any environment. The experimental processes and result are shown in the end of the paper.
What is model-based computing?
Authors: Feldman Michael
Published: September 2010

For the past year or so, Intel has been talking up RMS, an application software model for terascale computing. RMS, which stands for Recognition, Mining and Synthesis, is the class of software that Intel believes will represent the killer apps of the not-too-distant future -- 2010 and beyond. These applications will require the capabilities of terascale processors -- teraflop performance processing terabytes of data.
The declarative imperative
Authors: Hellerstein Joseph M.
Published: September 2010

The rise of multicore processors and cloud computing is putting enormous pressure on the software community to find solutions to the difficulty of parallel and distributed programming. At the same time, there is more--and more varied--interest in data-centric programming languages than at any time in computing history, in part because these languages parallelize naturally. This juxtaposition raises the possibility that the theory of declarative database query languages can provide a foundation for the next generation of parallel and distributed programming languages.

In this paper I reflect on my group's experience over seven years using Datalog extensions to build networking protocols and distributed systems. Based on that experience, I present a number of theoretical conjectures that may both interest the database community, and clarify important practical issues in distributed computing. Most importantly, I make a case for database researchers to take a leadership role in addressing the impending programming crisis.

This is an extended version of an invited lecture at the ACM PODS 2010 conference [32].
Beyond isolation
Authors: Kot Lucja , Gupta Nitin , Roy Sudip , Gehrke Johannes , Koch Christoph
Published: September 2010

There are many database applications that require users to coordinate and communicate. Friends want to coordinate travel plans, students want to jointly enroll in the same set of courses, and busy professionals want to coordinate their schedules. These tasks are difficult to program using existing abstractions provided by database systems because in addition to the traditional ACID properties provided by the system they all require some type of coordination between users. This is fundamentally incompatible with isolation in the classical ACID properties.

In this position paper, we argue that it is time for the database community to look beyond isolation towards principled and elegant abstractions that allow for communication and coordination between some notion of (suitably generalized) transactions. This new area of declarative data-driven coordination (D3C) is motivated by many novel applications and is full of challenging research problems. We survey existing abstractions in database systems and explain why they are insufficient for D3C, and we outline a plethora of exciting research problems.
Minimizing paging in Lisp applications
Authors: Andre David L.
Published: September 2010

Paging is an important aspect of performance in any program and can be the overriding consideration in a large system. When developing large applications, the programmer should be as aware of paging overhead as he is of runtime overhead. The programmer should seek to avoid large working sets that cause page faults, just as he avoids order
n
2
and exponential algorithms.
Programming environments
Authors: Foderaro John
Published: September 2010

We know that computers are powerful problem solvers and it is only natural to focus some of that power to the problem of writing programs. A programming environment is the set of programs which make programming possible. A good programming environment makes it easier to write good programs. I'm not sure if a bad programming environment makes it easier to write bad programs or harder to write good programs; probably a bit of both. What we all strive for is a better environment and I urge readers to contribute their ideas on how we can improve our programming environments.
The key of Lisp
Authors: Ennis Susan
Published: September 2010

This is the first of what are hoped to be a series of columns devoted to presenting the point of view of the users of LISP. There are two conditions needed to support a column of this kind. The first and most important is that real users of LISP exist in the real world. I am not talking about university types, implementers of large software packages, or researchers in high-priced think tanks. I am talking about the possibility that there are application programmers in various companies spread across the breadth of the land (world?) who are turning to LISP as a viable programming language for applications instead of using FORTRAN, C, Ada, or even (heaven forbid) COBOL.
Approximate and probabilistic methods
Authors: Ciaccia Paolo , Patella Marco
Published: September 2010

Why?
The metric search paradigm has been to this day successfully applied to several real-world problems, ranging from multimedia to data mining, from decision support to pattern recognition, to statistical and medical applications. Indeed, its simplicity makes it a perfect candidate for solving a variety of similarity problems arising in applications [4, 11]. The casual reader may wonder what prevents the metric space paradigm to become ubiquitously applicable to the ever-increasing range of applications that can benefit from it. The answer to this question is so dreadful that researchers have given it the hideous name of "
curse of dimensionality"
(an entry in this issue of the bulletin is devoted to this concept). In its essence, the curse of dimensionality says that, whenever the (intrinsic) dimensionality
D
of the metric space is high, an efficient solution to NN (nearest neighbor) queries. is impossible, and only a sequential scan of the whole dataset could guarantee that the correct result is found. This behavior is basically due to the fact that the variance of the distances to the query object
q
vanishes with increasing values of
D
, so that all data objects have almost the same distance to
q
. In such scenarios, one may however argue that NN queries lose of significance, since any data object would have a distance to the query object comparable to the minimal one [2]. On the other hand, in several real-world cases searching for the exact NN is still difficult, yet the distribution of distances exhibits a sufficiently high variance to make the problem worth solving. In such cases, it is also observed that locating the NN of a query point is, in itself, a relatively easy task, whose complexity indeed
decreases
with space dimensionality. As a matter of fact, the hard problem in high-
D
exact NN search is to determine how to stop, i.e., how to guarantee that the current result is the correct one. From this it follows that
most of the time spent in an (exact) NN search is wasted time, during which little (or no) improvement is obtained
[5].
MKP-1 mediates glucocorticoid-induced ERK1/2 dephosphorylation and reduction in pancreatic β-cell proliferation in islets from early lactating mothers
Authors: Nicoletti-Carvalho José E. , Lellis-Santos Camilo , Yamanaka Tatiana S. , Nogueira Tatiane C. , Caperuto Luciana C. , Leite Adriana R. , Anhê Gabriel F. , Bordin Silvana
Published: September 2010

Maternal pancreatic islets undergo a robust increase of mass and proliferation during pregnancy, which allows a compensation of gestational insulin resistance. Studies have described that this adaptation switches to a low proliferative status after the delivery. The mechanisms underlying this reversal are unknown, but the action of glucocorticoids (GCs) is believed to play an important role because GCs counteract the pregnancy-like effects of PRL on isolated pancreatic islets maintained in cell culture. Here, we demonstrate that ERK1/2 phosphorylation (phospho-ERK1/2) is increased in maternal rat islets isolated on the 19th day of pregnancy. Phospho-ERK1/2 status on the 3rd day after delivery (L3) rapidly turns to values lower than that found in virgin control rats (CTL). MKP-1, a protein phosphatase able to dephosphorylate ERK1/2, is increased in islets from L3 rats. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that binding of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) to MKP-1 promoter is also increased in islets from L3 rats. In addition, dexamethasone (DEX) reduced phospho-ERK1/2 and increased MKP-1 expression in RINm5F and MIN-6 cells. Inhibition of transduction with cycloheximide and inhibition of phosphatases with orthovanadate efficiently blocked DEX-induced downregulation of phospho-ERK1/2. In addition, specific knockdown of MKP-1 with siRNA suppressed the downregulation of phospho-ERK1/2 and the reduction of proliferation induced by DEX. Altogether, our results indicate that downregulation of phospho-ERK1/2 is associated with reduction in proliferation found in islets of early lactating mothers. This mechanism is probably mediated by GC-induced MKP-1 expression.
Maintenance of the thyroid axis during diet-induced obesity in rodents is controlled at the central level
Authors: Perello Mario , Çakir Isin , Cyr Nicole E. , Romero Amparo , Stuart Ronald C. , Chiappini Franck , Hollenberg Anthony N. , Nillni Eduardo A.
Published: September 2010

The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis is a major contributor in maintaining energy expenditure and body weight, and the adipocyte hormone leptin regulates this axis by increasing TRH levels in the fed state. Leptin stimulates TRH directly in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN; direct pathway) and indirectly by regulating proopiomelnocortin neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARC; indirect pathway). Whereas the indirect pathway is fully functional in lean animals, it is inactive during diet-induced obesity (DIO) because of the establishment of leptin resistance. Despite this, the HPT axis activity in obese humans and rodents remains within the normal levels or slightly higher. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine the mechanism(s) by which the HPT axis is still active despite leptin resistance. With a combination of using the Sprague-Dawley rat physiological model and the Zuker rat that bears a mutation in the leptin receptor, we were able to demonstrate that under DIO conditions the HPT axis is regulated at the central level, but only through the direct pathway of leptin action on TRH neurons. Deiodinase enzymes, which are present in many tissues and responsible for converting thyroid hormones, were not statistically different between lean and DIO animals. These data suggest that the increase in T4/3seen in obese animals is due mostly to central leptin action. We also found that T3feedback inhibition on the prepro-TRH gene is controlled partially by leptin-induced pSTAT3 signaling via the TRH promoter. This interactive relationship between T3and pSTAT3 signaling appears essential to maintain the HPT axis at normal levels in conditions such as obesity.
Signaling and cytotoxic functions of 4-hydroxyalkenals
Authors: Riahi Yael , Cohen Guy , Shamni Ofer , Sasson Shlomo
Published: September 2010

The peroxidation of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and of their hydroperoxy metabolites is a complex process. It is initiated by free oxygen radical-induced abstraction of a hydrogen atom from the lipid molecule followed by a series of nonenzymatic reactions that ultimately generate the reactive aldehyde species 4-hydroxyalkenals. The molecule 4-hydroxy- 2E-hexenal (4-HHE) is generated by peroxidation of n-3 PUFAs, such as linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid. The aldehyde product 4-hydroxy-2 E-nonenal (4-HNE) is the peroxidation product of n-6 PUFAs, such as arachidonic and linoleic acids and their 15-lipoxygenase metabolites, namely 15-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HpETE) and 13-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (13-HpODE). Another reactive peroxidation product is 4-hydroxy-2 E,6 Z-dodecadienal (4-HDDE), which is derived from 12-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HpETE), the 12-lipoxygenase metabolite of arachidonic acid. Hydroxyalkenals, notably 4-HNE, have been implicated in various pathophysiological interactions due to their chemical reactivity and the formation of covalent adducts with macromolecules. The progressive accumulation of these adducts alters normal cell functions that can lead to cell death. The lipophilicity of these aldehydes positively correlates to their chemical reactivity. Nonetheless, at low and noncytotoxic concentrations, these molecules may function as signaling molecules in cells. This has been shown mostly for 4-HNE and to some extent for 4-HHE. The capacity of 4-HDDE to generate such “mixed signals” in cells has received less attention. This review addresses the origin and cellular functions of 4-hydroxyalkernals.
On P‐ and p‐Convexity of Banach Spaces
Authors: Muñiz-Pérez Omar
Published: September 2010

We show that every U‐space and every Banach space X satisfying δX(1) > 0 are P(3)‐convex, and we study the nonuniform version of P‐convexity, which we call p‐convexity.
Non‐Gaussianity and the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies
Authors: Bartolo N. , Matarrese S. , Riotto A.
Published: September 2010

We review in a pedagogical way the present status of the impact of non‐Gaussianity (NG) on the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) anisotropies. We first show how to set the initial conditions at second order for the CMB anisotropies when some primordial NG is present. However, there are many sources of NG in CMB anisotropies, beyond the primordial one, which can contaminate the primordial signal. We mainly focus on the NG generated from the post inflationary evolution of the CMB anisotropies at second order in perturbation theory at large and small angular scales, such as the ones generated at the recombination epoch. We show how to derive the equations to study the second‐order CMB anisotropies and provide analytical computations to evaluate their contamination to primordial NG (complemented with numerical examples). We also offer a brief summary of other secondary effects. This paper requires basic knowledge of the theory of cosmological perturbations at the linear level.