bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Floating Ice Load Reduction of Offshore Wind Turbines by Two Approaches
Authors: Ye Kehua , Li Chun , Chen Fudong , Xu Zifei , Zhang Wanfu , Zhang Junwei
Published: March 2018

The offshore wind turbines (OWTs) constructed at the northern sea areas under cold climate are frequently subjected to floating ice loads. It is imperative to reduce the damage owing to the floating ice with some appropriate approaches. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the effectiveness of the tuned mass damper (TMD) and the ice-breaking cone for reducing floating ice loads on OWTs. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) 5 MW OWT, which is treated as a multibody system with rigid and flexible parts, is adopted as the example model here. The multiple loads taken into consideration in the fully coupled simulation include floating ice and turbulent wind. The aerodynamic load acting on the blades is solved by the blade element momentum method based on a full-field turbulent wind farm generated by the Kaimal spectrum. The Matlock model and the Ralston model are adopted for evaluating the floating ice loads on the cylindrical and conical structures, respectively. The TMD system in the nacelle and the ice-breaking cone on the tower at the mean sea level are the two load reduction approaches of concern in this paper. A weak aeroelastic simulation of the OWT model is conducted. The solution of flexibility effectiveness depends on some accurate mode shapes by the linear modal representation. Finally, Kane's method is used for predicting the motion of the whole OWT. The relevant results reveal some positive effectiveness of the TMD system and the ice-breaking cone for reducing the floating ice load. The displacement of tower top decreases significantly with the utilization of the two approaches. The TMD system has a better performance for the side-side displacement than the fore-aft displacement. By switching the ice failure mode from crushing to bending, the ice-breaking cone reduces the floating load more effectively than the TMD system. It affects equally significantly the fore-aft and side-side displacements.
Elastic Rebound of a Blast Door Under Explosion Loadings
Authors: Yan Qiushi , Guo Dong
Published: March 2018

Rebound effects can be caused for a blast door under explosion loadings of conventional weapons. Such effects reaching a certain extent can lead to severe reversed stresses and even destroy the hinge and lock system before the door leaf. In this study, an analytical model for the elastic rebound of a blast door under explosion loadings was proposed and analyzed. Based on the calculations, the effects of aspect ratio and load duration on the rebound behavior were analyzed. Furthermore, for extension of the analysis from the elastic to plastic range, comparison of the solutions with the analytical ones was made. The results showed that the positive and negative dynamic shear force peaks of the blast door deceased gradually with the aspect ratio, whereas the rebound strength was inversely proportional to the load duration. For blast doors entering into the plastic stage, the rebound behavior was similar to the elastic stage, implying that the design of a blast door can be based on its characteristics in elastic stage.
Livšic theorem for matrix cocycles over nonuniformly hyperbolic systems
Authors: Zou Rui , Cao Yongluo
Published: March 2018

We prove a nonuniformly hyperbolic version of the Livšic-type theorem, with cocycles taking values in [Formula: see text]. To be more precise, let [Formula: see text] Diff[Formula: see text] preserving an ergodic hyperbolic measure [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] be Hölder continuous satisfying [Formula: see text] for each periodic point [Formula: see text], then there exists a measurable function [Formula: see text] satisfying [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text]-almost every [Formula: see text].
New estimates of the distance between two surfaces in terms of the distance between their fundamental forms
Authors: Ciarlet Philippe G. , Malin Maria , Mardare Cristinel
Published: March 2018

A nonlinear Korn inequality on a surface is any estimate of the distance, up to a proper isometry of [Formula: see text], between two surfaces measured by some appropriate norms (the “left-hand side” of the inequality) in terms of the distances between their three fundamental forms measured by some appropriate norms (the “right-hand side” of the inequality). The first objective of this paper is to provide several extensions of a nonlinear Korn inequality on a surface obtained in 2006 by the first and third authors and Gratie, then measured by means of [Formula: see text]-norms on the left-hand side and [Formula: see text]-norms on the right-hand side. First, we extend this inequality to [Formula: see text]-norms on the left-hand side and [Formula: see text]-norms on the right-hand side for any [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] that satisfy [Formula: see text]; second, we show how the third fundamental forms can be disposed in the right-hand side; and third, we show that there is no need to introduce proper isometries of [Formula: see text] in the left-hand side if the surfaces satisfy appropriate boundary conditions. The second objective is to provide nonlinear Korn inequalities on a surface where the left-hand sides are now measured by means of [Formula: see text]-norms while the right-hand sides are measured by means of [Formula: see text]-norms, for any [Formula: see text]. These nonlinear Korn inequalities on a surface themselves rely on various nonlinear Korn inequalities in a domain in [Formula: see text], recently obtained by the first and third authors in 2015 and by the first author and Sorin Mardare in 2016.
Mechanisms for the increased fatigability of the lower limb in people with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Senefeld Jonathon , Magill Steven B. , Harkins April , Harmer Alison R. , Hunter Sandra K.
Published: March 2018

Fatiguing exercise is the basis of exercise training and a cornerstone of management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D); however, little is known about the fatigability of limb muscles and the involved mechanisms in people with T2D. The purpose of this study was to compare fatigability of knee extensor muscles between people with T2D and controls without diabetes and determine the neural and muscular mechanisms for a dynamic fatiguing task. Seventeen people with T2D [ten men and seven women: 59.6 (9.0) yr] and twenty-one age-, body mass index-, and physical activity-matched controls [eleven men and ten women: 59.5 (9.6) yr] performed one hundred twenty high-velocity concentric contractions (one contraction/3 s) with a load equivalent to 20% maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque with the knee extensors. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electrical stimulation of the quadriceps were used to assess voluntary activation and contractile properties. People with T2D had larger reductions than controls in power during the fatiguing task [42.8 (24.2) vs. 26.4 (15.0)%; P < 0.001] and MVIC torque after the fatiguing task [37.6 (18.2) vs. 26.4 (12.1)%; P = 0.04]. People with T2D had greater reductions than controls in the electrically evoked twitch amplitude after the fatiguing task [44.0 (20.4) vs. 35.4 (12.1)%, respectively; P = 0.01]. However, the decrease in voluntary activation was similar between groups when assessed with electrical stimulation [12.1 (2.6) vs. 12.4 (4.4)% decrease; P = 0.84] and TMS ( P = 0.995). A greater decline in MVIC torque was associated with larger reductions of twitch amplitude ( r2 = 0.364, P = 0.002). Although neural mechanisms contributed to fatigability, contractile mechanisms were responsible for the greater knee extensor fatigability in men and women with T2D compared with healthy controls.

NEW & NOTEWORTHY Transcranial magnetic stimulation and percutaneous muscle stimulation were used to determine the contributions of neural and contractile mechanisms of fatigability of the knee extensor muscles after a dynamic fatiguing task in men and women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and healthy age-, body mass index-, and physical activity-matched controls. Although neural and contractile mechanisms contributed to greater fatigability of people with T2D, fatigability was primarily associated with impaired contractile mechanisms and glycemic control.
Pathological Internet Use—An Important Comorbidity in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Prevalence and Correlation Patterns in a Naturalistic Sample of Adolescent Inpatients
Authors: Fuchs Martin , Riedl David , Bock Astrid , Rumpold Gerhard , Sevecke Kathrin
Published: March 2018

Background. Few studies have examined the prevalence of problematic internet use (PIU) in young people undergoing inpatient treatment in child and adolescent psychiatry centers. The aims of our study were thus (a) to assess the frequency of comorbid PIU in a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients and compare it with a control group of nonreferred adolescents and (b) to gain insights into correlations between PIU and psychiatric comorbidities. Methods. 111 child and adolescent psychiatry inpatients (CAP-IP, mean age 15.1±1.4 years; female : male 72.4% : 27.6%) undergoing routine psychodiagnostics were screened for the presence of PIU. The widely used Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) was chosen for this purpose. Prevalence rates of PIU were then compared to matched nonreferred control subjects from a school sample. Additionally, comorbidities of inpatients with PIU were compared to inpatients without PIU. Results. Our inpatient sample showed a much higher prevalence of PIU than that found in previous populational samples of young people. Compared with a matched school sample, addictive internet use was 7.8 times higher and problematic internet use 3.3 times higher among our adolescent sample. PIU was significantly associated with characteristic patterns of psychopathology, that is, suicidality, difficulties in establishing stable and consolidated identity, and peer victimization. Conclusion. PIU among adolescents undergoing inpatient psychiatric treatment is much more frequent than among their peers in the general population and is associated with specific patterns of psychopathology.
Ray‐Tracing‐Based Modeling of Clad‐Removed Step‐Index Plastic Optical Fiber in Smart Textiles: Effect of Curvature in Plain Weave Fabric
Authors: Moon Sun Hee , Lee Joon Seok , Sul In Hwan
Published: March 2018

Plastic optical fiber was chosen for information delivery media in smart textile. Cladding layer was peeled off by chemical and mechanical methods to find optimal peeling conditions. Both radial side illumination and longitudinal end‐tip illumination were measured for visible light of 627 µm wavelength. A half‐cone‐shaped jig was manufactured using 3D printing to give various curvature conditions to fibers. Also POFs were embedded in plain weave textile structure to measure the light dissipation effect. The waveguide phenomenon was modeled using discrete ray tracing technique and ray‐to‐interface collision detection algorithm. Results from the proposed modeling technique showed linear relationship with those from experiment.
Timing of Exercise Affects Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes Patients Treated with Metformin
Authors: Huang Tao , Lu Chunyan , Schumann Moritz , Le Shenglong , Yang Yifan , Zhuang Haihui , Lu Qingwei , Liu Jinsheng , Wiklund Petri , Cheng Sulin
Published: March 2018

Objective. The purpose of the study was to examine the acute effects of the timing of exercise on the glycemic control during and after exercise in T2D. Methods. This study included 26 T2D patients (14 women and 12 men) who were treated with metformin. All patients were tested on four occasions: metformin administration alone (Metf), high-intensity interval training (HIIT) performed at 30 minutes (EX30), 60 minutes (EX60), and 90 minutes (EX90) postbreakfast, respectively. Glucose, insulin, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were examined. Results. Glucose decreased significantly after the exercise in EX30, EX60, and EX90. Compared with Metf, the decline in glucose immediately after the exercise was larger in EX30 (−2.58 mmol/L; 95% CI, −3.36 to −1.79 mmol/L; p<0.001), EX60 (−2.13 mmol/L; 95% CI, −2.91 to −1.34 mmol/L; p<0.001), and EX90 (−1.87 mmol/L; 95% CI, −2.65 to −1.08 mmol/L; p<0.001), respectively. Compared with Metf, the decrease in insulin was larger in EX30 and EX60 (both p<0.001). Conclusions. Timing of exercise is a factor to consider when prescribing exercise for T2D patients treated with metformin. This trial is registered with ChiCTR-IOR-16008469 on 13 May 2016.
miR-142-5p in Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Promotes Osteoporosis Involving Targeting Adhesion Molecule VCAM-1 and Inhibiting Cell Migration
Authors: Teng Zhaowei , Xie Xueguan , Zhu Yun , Liu Jianping , Hu Xingbo , Na Qiang , Zhang Xiongwen , Wei Guojun , Xu Shen , Liu Yugang , Zhang Xiguang , Xian Cory J.
Published: March 2018

Osteoporosis is a systemic bone metabolic disease that is highly prevalent in the elderly population, particularly in postmenopausal women, which results in enhanced bone fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures. However, the underlying molecular pathogenesis mechanisms still remain to be further elucidated. In this study, in a rat ovariectomy- (OVX-) induced postmenopausal osteoporosis model, aberrant expression of a microRNA miR-142-5p and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) was found by RNA sequencing analysis and qRT-PCR. Using a dual-luciferase reporter assay, we found that miR-142-5p can bind to and decrease expression of VCAM-1 mRNA. Such reduction was prohibited when the miR-142-5p binding site in VCAM-1 3′UTR was deleted, and Western blotting analyses validated the fact that miR-142-5p inhibited the expression of VCAM-1 protein. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) transfected with miR-142-5p showed a significantly decreased migration ability in a Transwell migration assay. Collectively, these data indicated the important role of miR-142-5p in osteoporosis development involving targeting VCAM-1 and inhibiting BMMSC migration.
Canine Leishmaniasis: An Overview of the Current Status and Strategies for Control
Authors: Ribeiro Raul Rio , Michalick Marilene Suzan Marques , da Silva Manoel Eduardo , dos Santos Cristiano Cheim Peixoto , Frézard Frédéric Jean Georges , da Silva Sydnei Magno
Published: March 2018

Canine leishmaniasis (CanL) is a vector-borne disease caused byLeishmania infantumand is transmitted by female phlebotomine sand flies primarily between animals and secondarily to humans. The course of infection may be different from one individual dog to another, ranging from spontaneous cure to acute evolution that leads to death, if proper management and therapy are not adopted. A parasitological cure is rarely achieved and clinical recurrences in CanL are frequent. Vaccination associated with the use of topical insecticides is undoubtedly the most effective form of prevention and control of the disease. In order to integrate the most important scientific knowledge of the literature in one objective publication, this review proposes a short overview of the main points of CanL.
An Evaluation Model and Benchmark for Parallel Computing Frameworks
Authors: Fan Weibei , Han Zhijie , Wang Ruchuan
Published: March 2018

MARS and Spark are two popular parallel computing frameworks and widely used for large-scale data analysis. In this paper, we first propose a performance evaluation model based on support vector machine (SVM), which is used to analyze the performance of parallel computing frameworks. Furthermore, we give representative results of a set of analysis with the proposed analytical performance model and then perform a comparative evaluation of MARS and Spark by using representative workloads and considering factors, such as performance and scalability. The experiments show that our evaluation model has higher accuracy than multifactor line regression (MLR) in predicting execution time, and it also provides a resource consumption requirement. Finally, we study benchmark experiments between MARS and Spark. MARS has better performance than Spark in both throughput and speedup in the executions of logistic regression and Bayesian classification because MARS has a large number of GPU threads that can handle higher parallelism. It also shows that Spark has lower latency than MARS in the execution of the four benchmarks.
A Clone Detection Algorithm with Low Resource Expenditure for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Zhang Zhihua , Luo Shoushan , Zhu Hongliang , Xin Yang
Published: March 2018

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are facing the threats of clone attacks which can launch a variety of other attacks to control or damage the networks. In this paper, a novel distributed clone detection protocol with low resource expenditure is proposed for randomly deployed networks. The method consisting of witness chain establishment and clone detection route generation is implemented in the nonhotspot area of the network organized in a ring structure, which balances the resource consumption in the whole network. The witness chains and detection routes are in the centrifugal direction and circumferential direction, respectively, which can ensure the encounter of witnesses and detection routes of nodes with the same ID but different positions to detect clone attacks. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that the detection probability can be up to 1 with reliable witnesses. Moreover, both theoretical analysis and simulation results manifest that the proposed method can achieve better network lifetime and storage requirements with low resource expenditure and outperforms most methods in the literature.
Impact of Static Magnetic Field on the Antioxidant Defence System of Mice Fibroblasts
Authors: Glinka Marek , Gawron Stanisław , Sieroń Aleksander , Pawłowska-Góral Katarzyna , Cieślar Grzegorz , Sieroń Karolina
Published: March 2018

Results of research assessing the biological impact of static magnetic fields are controversial. So far, they have not provided a clear answer to their influence on cell functioning. Since the use of permanent magnets both in everyday life and in industry becomes more and more widespread, the investigations are continued in order to explain these controversies and to evaluate positive applications. The goal of current work was to assess the impact of static magnetic field of different intensities on redox homeostasis in cultures of fibroblasts. The use of permanent magnets allowed avoiding the thermal effects which are present in electromagnets. During the research we used 6 chambers, designed exclusively by us, with different values of field flux density (varying from 0.1 to 0.7 T). We have noted the decrease in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). The static magnetic fields did not modify the energy state of fibroblasts— adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration was stable, as well as the generation of malondialdehyde (MDA)—which is a marker of oxidative stress. Results of research suggest that static magnetic fields generated by permanent magnets do not cause oxidative stress in investigated fibroblasts and that they may show slight antioxidizing activity.
The Impact of a Clinical Asthma Pathway on Resident Education
Authors: Talib Hina J. , Lax Yonit , Reznik Marina
Published: March 2018

Clinical pathways for asthma management decrease hospital cost and length of stay; however little is known about the educational impact of pathways on residents. Pediatric residents at a children’s hospital (N=114) were invited to complete a 22-item computerized, anonymous survey 6 months before and 6 months after asthma pathway implementation. The survey assessed pathway use and residents (1) pathway knowledge, (2) attitudes and experiences with managing asthma, and (3) perceived educational benefits. Mean pathway knowledge score increased from the case before to the case after implementation [1.5±1.0 versus 2.6±1.3, p<0.001], as did high preparedness to manage asthma [61% versus 91%, p<0.001] and electronic order set use [28% versus 80%, p<0.001]. The top three educational benefits of the pathway endorsed by residents were application of evidence-based medicine (57%), ability to assess exacerbations (52%), and skill at communicating respiratory status (47%). After implementation, residents’ knowledge and preparedness to manage asthma improved as well as many endorsed educational benefits.
Global Stability of Malaria Transmission Dynamics Model with Logistic Growth
Authors: Gebremeskel Abadi Abay
Published: March 2018

Mathematical models become an important and popular tools to understand the dynamics of the disease and give an insight to reduce the impact of malaria burden within the community. Thus, this paper aims to apply a mathematical model to study global stability of malaria transmission dynamics model with logistic growth. Analysis of the model applies scaling and sensitivity analysis and sensitivity analysis of the model applied to understand the important parameters in transmission and prevalence of malaria disease. We derive the equilibrium points of the model and investigated their stabilities. The results of our analysis have shown that if R0≤1, then the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable, and the disease dies out; if R0>1, then the unique endemic equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable and the disease persists within the population. Furthermore, numerical simulations in the application of the model showed the abrupt and periodic variations.
Security and Privacy in the Medical Internet of Things: A Review
Authors: Sun Wencheng , Cai Zhiping , Li Yangyang , Liu Fang , Fang Shengqun , Wang Guoyan
Published: March 2018

Medical Internet of Things, also well known as MIoT, is playing a more and more important role in improving the health, safety, and care of billions of people after its showing up. Instead of going to the hospital for help, patients’ health-related parameters can be monitored remotely, continuously, and in real time, then processed, and transferred to medical data center, such as cloud storage, which greatly increases the efficiency, convenience, and cost performance of healthcare. The amount of data handled by MIoT devices grows exponentially, which means higher exposure of sensitive data. The security and privacy of the data collected from MIoT devices, either during their transmission to a cloud or while stored in a cloud, are major unsolved concerns. This paper focuses on the security and privacy requirements related to data flow in MIoT. In addition, we make in-depth study on the existing solutions to security and privacy issues, together with the open challenges and research issues for future work.
Successful Formulation and Application of Plant Growth-PromotingKosakonia radicincitansin Maize Cultivation
Authors: Berger Beatrice , Patz Sascha , Ruppel Silke , Dietel Kristin , Faetke Sebastian , Junge Helmut , Becker Matthias
Published: March 2018

The global market for biosupplements is expected to grow by 14 percent between 2014 and 2019 as a consequence of the proven benefits of biosupplements on crop yields, soil fertility, and fertilizer efficiency. One important segment of biosupplements is plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). Although many potential PGPB have been discovered, suitable biotechnological processing and shelf-life stability of the bacteria are challenges to overcome for their successful use as biosupplements. Here, the plant growth-promoting Gram-negative strainKosakonia radicincitansDSM16656T(family Enterobacteriaceae) was biotechnologically processed and applied in the field. Solid or liquid formulations ofK. radicincitanswere diluted in water and sprayed on young maize plants (Zea maysL.). Shelf-life stability tests of formulated bacteria were performed under 4°C and −20°C storage conditions. In parallel, the bacterial formulations were tested at three different farm level field plots characterized by different soil properties. Maize yield was recorded at harvest time, and both formulations increased maize yields in silage as well as grain maize, underlining their positive impact on different agricultural systems. Our results demonstrate that bacteria of the familyEnterobacteriaceae,although incapable of forming spores, can be processed to successful biosupplements.
Pricing Strategies of a Traditional Retailer and a Direct Distributor When Consumers Hold Channel Preferences
Authors: Fu Xiao , Han Guanghua
Published: March 2018

This paper studies the price game between a traditional retailer and a direct distributor who have different channel preferences. Both of the decision makers’ objectives are to maximize their individual expected utilities. We formulate the two decision makers’ utility functions and find out their corresponding equilibrium solutions after a game process. We conclude that the traditional retailer has an advantage over the direct distributor in the market full of unconstrained competition. The traditional retailer’s equilibrium price increases with the reduction of its consumer’s purchasing-intention sensitiveness to the distance of consumption. Based on the result, we find that the game is not able to arrive at the Nash equilibrium solution in certain situations. Moreover, the transportation cost and bargain cost strongly influence the equilibrium solutions of the price game if the market constraints become tighter. Along with the increasing tightness of the market constraints, it appears that both the traditional retailer and the direct distributor dynamically adjust their solutions according to the same strategy. Finally, we draw a conclusion and suggest the potential directions for future research.
Fluorescent Rosamine/TiO2 Composite Films for the Optical Detection of NO2
Authors: Guillén María G. , Suárez Belén , Roales Javier , Gámez Francisco , Vargas Alejandro P. , Moscoso Francisco G. , Lopes-Costa Tânia , Queirós Carla , Silva Ana M. G. , Pedrosa José M.
Published: March 2018

Two rosamine derivatives were used as fluorescent sensors for the detection of NO2, a toxic and oxidant gas whose presence in populated areas needs to be controlled. Both compounds shared the same molecular structure but had different peripheral substituents: a carboxylic acid and an amino group. Transparent nanocrystalline TiO2 films were prepared by screen printing and used as substrates, where the rosamines were incorporated by simple immersion into their respective solutions to form composite films. According to the molecular structures of the rosamines, the anchoring to the substrates was proposed to be by either covalent bonding and electrostatic interaction, or only electrostatic interaction, and was determined by the different substituents in each rosamine. Upon their exposure to increasing concentrations of NO2, both types of composite films showed intense and fast spectral changes, and the speed of response was related to the concentration of the gas. The anchoring mode and the electrophilic effect of the substituents determined the better sensing capability and the faster response shown by the carboxylic derivative in all cases.
Runtime Detection Framework for Android Malware
Authors: Kim TaeGuen , Kang BooJoong , Im Eul Gyu
Published: March 2018

As the number of Android malware has been increased rapidly over the years, various malware detection methods have been proposed so far. Existing methods can be classified into two categories: static analysis-based methods and dynamic analysis-based methods. Both approaches have some limitations: static analysis-based methods are relatively easy to be avoided through transformation techniques such as junk instruction insertions, code reordering, and so on. However, dynamic analysis-based methods also have some limitations that analysis overheads are relatively high and kernel modification might be required to extract dynamic features. In this paper, we propose a dynamic analysis framework for Android malware detection that overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings. The framework uses a suffix tree that contains API (Application Programming Interface) subtraces and their probabilistic confidence values that are generated using HMMs (Hidden Markov Model) to reduce the malware detection overhead, and we designed the framework with the client-server architecture since the suffix tree is infeasible to be deployed in mobile devices. In addition, an application rewriting technique is used to trace API invocations without any modifications in the Android kernel. In our experiments, we measured the detection accuracy and the computational overheads to evaluate its effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed framework.
Inheritance of Early Maturity in Some Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) Genotypes under Rain Fed Conditions in Northern Ghana
Authors: Owusu Emmanuel Yaw , Akromah Richard , Denwar Nicholas Ninju , Adjebeng-Danquah Joseph , Kusi Francis , Haruna Mohammed
Published: March 2018

A field experiment was conducted at Savanna Agricultural Research Institute in 2015 cropping season to examine the inheritance of early maturity among an extra-early maturing landrace Sanzi and a medium maturing variety Padi-Tuya and their progenies. The results indicated highly significant (P<0.01) genetic variations for the maturity indices, namely, days to first flower initiation (DFFI), days to 50% flowering (DFF), days to first pod maturity (DFPM), days to 90% pod maturity (DNPM), and plant height (P_PLT), seed per pod (S_Pod), and hundred seed weight (H_SWT). Heritability estimates for these traits varied from 74% to 99%. No significant differences (P>0.05) were observed between F1 and RF1, implying absence of maternal effect. The segregation ratio in the F2 population for early and medium maturity fitted into the ratio 3 : 1, indicating single dominant gene mode of inheritance. Significant positive correlations were found between DNPM, DFFI, DFF, and DFPM; hence selection criteria to improve early maturity of cowpea should focus on these traits. Grain yield also had significant positive correlations with maturity indices indicating high grain yield is associated with late maturity; therefore, high grain yield should be considered alongside early maturity when selecting progenies for earliness.
Strip Steel Surface Defects Recognition Based on SOCP Optimized Multiple Kernel RVM
Authors: Jingzhong Hou , Kewen Xia , Fan Yang , Baokai Zu
Published: March 2018

Strip steel surface defect recognition is a pattern recognition problem with wide applications. Previous works on strip surface defect recognition mainly focus on feature selection and dimension reduction. There are also approaches on real-time systems that mainly exploit the autocorrection within some given picture. However, the instances cannot be used in practical applications because of a bad recognition rate and low efficiency. In this paper, we study the intelligent algorithm of strip steel surface defect recognition, where the goal is to improve the accuracy and save running time. This problem is very important in various applications, especially the process testing of steel manufacturing. We propose an approach called the second-order cone programming (SOCP) optimized multiple kernel relevance vector machine (MKRVM), which can recognize strip surface defects much better than other methods. The method includes the model parameter estimation, training, and optimization of the model based on SOCP and the classification test. We compare our approach with existing methods on strip surface defect recognition. The results demonstrate that our proposed approach can improve the recognition accuracy and reduce the time costs of the strip surface defect.
Real-Time Measurement of Ocular Wavefront Aberrations in Symptomatic Subjects
Authors: Franco Sandra , Gomes Jessica
Published: March 2018

The purpose of this work was to study the real-time changes of the optical properties of the eye with accommodation in subjects with symptoms of accommodative disorders. From ocular aberrations, it is possible to compute several parameters like the response and lag of accommodation. The ocular aberrations were measured in 4 subjects, with different accommodative disorders, during several cycles of accommodation/disaccommodation and for different accommodative stimuli. The measurement was done continuously and in real time during different accommodative stimuli. It was possible to see the changes in accommodative response during the several stimuli of accommodation. Subjects with accommodative disorders showed different accommodative responses. The use of wavefront ocular aberrations can be a tool to diagnose accommodative disorders. In some subjects with complaints, this method showed irregularities even when the results of the usual clinical exams were normal.
Functional Precision Medicine Identifies Novel Druggable Targets and Therapeutic Options in Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Xu Chang , Nikolova Olga , Basom Ryan S. , Mitchell Ryan M. , Shaw Reid , Moser Russell D. , Park Heuijoon , Gurley Kay E. , Kao Michael C. , Green Carlos L. , Schaub Franz X. , Diaz Robert L. , Swan Hallie A. , Jang In S. , Guinney Justin , Gadi Vijayakrishna K. , Margolin Adam A. , Grandori Carla , Kemp Christopher J. , Méndez Eduardo
Published: March 2018

Purpose: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, with high mortality and a lack of targeted therapies. To identify and prioritize druggable targets, we performed genome analysis together with genome-scale siRNA and oncology drug profiling using low-passage tumor cells derived from a patient with treatment-resistant HPV-negative HNSCC.

Experimental Design: A tumor cell culture was established and subjected to whole-exome sequencing, RNA sequencing, comparative genome hybridization, and high-throughput phenotyping with a siRNA library covering the druggable genome and an oncology drug library. Secondary screens of candidate target genes were performed on the primary tumor cells and two nontumorigenic keratinocyte cell cultures for validation and to assess cancer specificity. siRNA screens of the kinome on two isogenic pairs of p53-mutated HNSCC cell lines were used to determine generalizability. Clinical utility was addressed by performing drug screens on two additional HNSCC cell cultures derived from patients enrolled in a clinical trial.

Results: Many of the identified copy number aberrations and somatic mutations in the primary tumor were typical of HPV(−) HNSCC, but none pointed to obvious therapeutic choices. In contrast, siRNA profiling identified 391 candidate target genes, 35 of which were preferentially lethal to cancer cells, most of which were not genomically altered. Chemotherapies and targeted agents with strong tumor-specific activities corroborated the siRNA profiling results and included drugs that targeted the mitotic spindle, the proteasome, and G2–M kinases WEE1 and CHK1. We also show the feasibility of ex vivo drug profiling for patients enrolled in a clinical trial.

Conclusions: High-throughput phenotyping with siRNA and drug libraries using patient-derived tumor cells prioritizes mutated driver genes and identifies novel drug targets not revealed by genomic profiling. Functional profiling is a promising adjunct to DNA sequencing for precision oncology. Clin Cancer Res; 24(12); 2828–43. ©2018 AACR.
Brain Activation Patterns in Response to Conspecific and Heterospecific Social Acoustic Signals in Female Plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus
Authors: Mohr Robert A. , Chang Yiran , Bhandiwad Ashwin A. , Forlano Paul M. , Sisneros Joseph A.
Published: March 2018

While the peripheral auditory system of fish has been well studied, less is known about how the fish’s brain and central auditory system process complex social acoustic signals. The plainfin midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, has become a good species for investigating the neural basis of acoustic communication because the production and reception of acoustic signals is paramount for this species’ reproductive success. Nesting males produce long-duration advertisement calls that females detect and localize among the noise in the intertidal zone to successfully find mates and spawn. How female midshipman are able to discriminate male advertisement calls from environmental noise and other acoustic stimuli is unknown. Using the immediate early gene product cFos as a marker for neural activity, we quantified neural activation of the ascending auditory pathway in female midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls, heterospecific white seabass calls, or ambient environment noise. We hypothesized that auditory hindbrain nuclei would be activated by general acoustic stimuli (ambient noise and other biotic acoustic stimuli) whereas auditory neurons in the midbrain and forebrain would be selectively activated by conspecific advertisement calls. We show that neural activation in two regions of the auditory hindbrain, i.e., the rostral intermediate division of the descending octaval nucleus and the ventral division of the secondary octaval nucleus, did not differ via cFos immunoreactive (cFos-ir) activity when exposed to different acoustic stimuli. In contrast, female midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls showed greater cFos-ir in the nucleus centralis of the midbrain torus semicircularis compared to fish exposed only to ambient noise. No difference in cFos-ir was observed in the torus semicircularis of animals exposed to conspecific versus heterospecific calls. However, cFos-ir was greater in two forebrain structures that receive auditory input, i.e., the central posterior nucleus of the thalamus and the anterior tuberal hypothalamus, when exposed to conspecific calls versus either ambient noise or heterospecific calls. Our results suggest that higher-order neurons in the female midshipman midbrain torus semicircularis, thalamic central posterior nucleus, and hypothalamic anterior tuberal nucleus may be necessary for the discrimination of complex social acoustic signals. Furthermore, neurons in the central posterior and anterior tuberal nuclei are differentially activated by exposure to conspecific versus other acoustic stimuli.
The Staining of Mast Cells: A Historical Overview
Authors: Ribatti Domenico
Published: March 2018

The specificity of several staining methods for mast cells provides the pathologist with a useful means for the differential diagnosis of mast cell tumors. Mast cells stain metachromatically with toluidine blue with greater intensity in cells containing smaller granules. Most stains for mast cells rely on the cell’s content of heparin, other glycosaminoglycans, and esterase. As an alternative to histochemical stains, different antibodies have been used to identify mast cells in humans.
The Primitive Palmomental Reflex in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Authors: Taiello Alfonsa Claudia , Spataro Rossella , La Bella Vincenzo
Published: March 2018

Background and Purpose: The palmomental reflex (PMR) is a primitive reflex that might be released due to inhibition in adulthood. It has been associated with several neurodegenerative conditions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of PMR in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Patients and Methods: Non-demented ALS patients (n = 179) were recruited. Two groups of disease controls were enrolled: (a) non-demented patients with other neurological disorders (NC; n = 86, mean age 60 ± 14 years); (b) healthy subjects, healthy controls (HC; n = 175, mean age 61 ± 12 years). PMR was elicited by a brisk stroke along the thenar eminence of the right hand with a key or a pen. Results: The PMR could be elicited in 46% of the ALS patients, compared to 29% of NC and 16% of HC (p < 0.001). A multivariate analysis showed that bulbar-onset and female gender are associated with an increased risk of PMR. Conclusion: We demonstrate a higher frequency of the PMR in ALS patients compared to NC or HC. Its expression increases with age, being higher in bulbar-onset patients. Given that the reflex circuit is located in the brain stem, its release due to inhibition might be associated to the presence of a cortico-bulbar tract dysfunction in ALS.
The Spectrum of Glomerulopathies in Kashmir: A Tertiary Care Experience
Authors: Sirwal Irshad , Masoodi Ibrahim
Published: March 2018

Background: There is a paucity of data on the spectrum of renal diseases prevalent in the Jammu and Kashmir region. Objectives: To determine the spectrum of glomerulopathies in adult patients attending a tertiary care centre. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-one adequate biopsies from native kidneys of adult patients who presented with features suggestive of glomerular diseases at Sheri Kashmir Institute of medical sciences Srinagar Kashmir for the last 8 years were studied in a retrospective manner. Light and immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy were performed to evaluate these biopsies after obtaining well-informed consent from each patient. Results: Of the 221 biopsies carried out, 150 were performed on males and 71 on females with the mean age of 29 ± 13.5 years. The main presentation was the nephrotic syndrome in 177 (80%), hypertension in 60 (27%), renal insufficiency in 48 (21.7%), and abnormal urinary sediment in 42 (20.3%) of patients. The histopathology revealed minimal change disease (MCD) in 69 (31.2%), membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) in 48 (21.7%), focal segmental glomerulsclerosis (FSG) in 49 (18%), and mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis in 16 (7.2%). Patients with atypical presentation of diabetes mellitus showed diabetic nephropathy in 12 (5.4%) patients. Lupus nephritis was in 5 (2.2%) patients. Majority of the patients with MPGN had Immunoglobulin A deposits on IF. While evaluating the underlying cause of MGN, only 1 patient, a 62-year-old male, proved to have adenocarcinoma of the stomach. In the remaining patients, no secondary cause could be found. Thrombotic complications seen in our study were deep venous thrombosis, renal vein thrombosis and middle cerebral artery thrombosis. Conclusion: MCD and MGN were the most common primary glomerular diseases observed in our centre.
Vitamin B12 Deficiency and the Role of Gender: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Large Cohort
Authors: Margalit Ili , Cohen Eytan , Goldberg Elad , Krause Ilan
Published: March 2018

Background: Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with hematological, neurological, and cardiovascular consequences. Epidemiologic data on these related illnesses indicate gender differences. Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed to examine gender differences in vitamin B12 deficiency among a healthy population. Data from healthy individuals aged 18–65, who were provided with a routine medical evaluation during 2000–2014, were retrieved from the medical charts. Individuals with background illnesses and those who had used medications or nutritional supplements were excluded. Vitamin B12 deficiency was defined by 2 cutoff values (206 and 140 pmol/L). The multivariate analysis was adjusted for age, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, hyperhomocysteinemia, folate deficiency, albumin, and transferrin saturation. Sensitivity analyses were implemented by excluding individuals with anemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, or folate deficiency and by age stratification. Results: In all, 7,963 individuals met the inclusion criteria. Serum vitamin B12 mean levels were 312.36 and 284.31 pmol/L for women and men respectively (p < 0.001). Deficiency prevalence was greater for men (25.5%) in comparison with women (18.9%; p < 0.001). Men were strongly associated with severe deficiency (adjusted OR 2.26; 95% CI 1.43–3.56). Conclusions: Among the healthy population, men are susceptible to vitamin B12 deficiency. This can be explained by neither diet habits nor estrogen effects. Genetic variations are therefore hypothesized to play a role.
Construction of contextualized knowledge and popular culture in the teaching of sciences through the production of digital videos in the context of scientific and technological folkcommunication
Authors: Vieira Sebastião Da Silva , Sabbatini Marcelo
Published: March 2018

Esse trabalho aborda a construção do conhecimento contextualizado através da participação popular no ensino de ciências através da produção de vídeos digitais no contexto da folkcomunicação. A partir do reconhecimento das limitações da escola e da concepção tradicional de educação apresentamos os resultados de uma pesquisa de intervenção participante que analisou como a produção de vídeos digitais por discentes de uma escola da Rede Municipal do município de Itapissuma (PE) contribui para a construção do conhecimento contextualizado no ensino de Ciências. A metodologia utilizada foi de natureza qualitativa, empregando entrevistas semiestruturadas e observação participante para a coleta de dados junto a dezoito discentes e um docente. Anteriormente ao início dos trabalhos dos alunos foram realizadas oficinas de criação de vídeo digital, seguidas de entrevistas, na fase pós-produção. Os resultados evidenciam que a assunção do papel de produtores culturais contribui significativamente para o processo de construção do conhecimento, e para a posta em prática, forma contextualizada, dos conteúdos curriculares abordados. A publicação dos vídeos em redes sociais, seguida de debates e diálogos a respeito de conceitos científicos que impactam o cotidiano da comunidade onde vivem (poluição, doenças sexualmente transmissíveis) estabeleceu por outro lado um nexo entre vida, cultura popular e o ensino em Ciências, conforme os elementos de uma Folkcomunicação Científica e Tecnológica. Dessa forma, reconhecendo a importância e a necessidade de mediações pedagógicas que promovam a interação, a colaboração, o trabalho em equipe e o desenvolvimento da autonomia, nossos resultados validam a produção de vídeo digital enquanto tecnologia educacional capaz de estabelecer novas formas de compreensão do mundo.
Body, education and culture with teenagers in formation. Learning to learn and the experiences of the Afro-Brazilian Art Center of the University of São Paulo
Authors: Funari Eliany Cristina Ortiz , Cardoso Luiz Antônio Nascimento , Mendes Thiago Marcelo
Published: March 2018

Apresentamos no texto a seguir um emaranhado de provocações gingadas e malandreadas que nascem da vivência e saberes populares do Contramestre Pinguim , colocados aqui como pontos de reflexão para pensarmos a cultura como mediadora de políticas para a educação escolar. Partimos de um panorama de apropriação juvenil do “fazer cultura” na cidade por meio de movimentos artístico-culturais autônomos e não institucionalizados que ganham força nas duas últimas décadas, sendo muitos deles nas periferias, onde é crítico o índice de mortalidade de jovens negros por violência. Passamos em seguida a apresentar o Núcleo de Artes Afro-brasileiras da USP como uma ocupação artístico-cultural, logo, de reverberações políticas, na Universidade de São Paulo desde 1997. Abordamos sua concepção extensionista e mostramos algumas de suas ações, não para apresentá-las como modelos fechados, mas como propostas educativas em constante construção que podem contribuir com o debate “Educação e universidade sob a ótica da cultura e extensão" proposto pela Pró-reitoria de Cultura e Extensão Universitária (PRCEU USP), na esperança de que a discussão possa se transformar em futuras políticas afirmativas universitárias de interação com a comunidade escolar. Dentre essas experiências destacamos também um relato sobre a passagem de pesquisadores na condição de arte-educadores na antiga Fundação Para o Bem Estar do Menor do Estado de São Paulo (FEBEM), atual Fundação Casa.